Pseudo Corner Kick

Here it is:

Grant Wahl has an incredible article about Bruce Arena which you must read. Makes me want to order one of these. I am also hereby starting “Bloggers for Bruce” for those of us would like to see Arena offered a contract extension. Leave your info in the comments (name and/or blog) and when I get enough I will add a side bar of those supporting the Bruce.

There was one quote I couldn’t let go by without comment. Wahl spoke with former Mexican coach Javier Aguirre about the Bruce. Aguirre had this to say about the US - Mexico Round of 16 match in Korea (2-0, heh):

I think Bruce wanted the game to be 0-0 and go to overtime and penalty kicks. I’m quite sure of that.

And I’m quite sure that you are a moron.

Now that the weekend’s MLS action is over (geeze does RBNY suck or what; better luck next time RSL), I would like to turn your attention to the first ever Carnival of American Soccer. The first Carnival is hosted by its creator, D of The DCenters. It has a great collection of random American soccer related posts, including one by yours truly. I think that post has now become our most commented on post. Hat tip to D for coming up with the idea and running with it. Pseudo Corner Kick looks forward to hosting a Carnival in the future.

This focus of this site it soccer in the United States. The most common topic of discussion is the Men’s National Team (WNT is ok too, but there is not the same level of world wide competitiveness to keep me interested). I try not to delve too deeply into the world of MLS since there are many other blogs out there which provide much more intelligent and comprehensive coverage (see blogroll to the left, which needs updating). However PCK will often feature a MLS post, since, well, it is soccer, and they do play it in the United States (for now, see below). What follows is a bunch of random MLS related rants that have been building up over the past few days.

• I haven’t seen this floated elsewhere, so I’ll throw it out there: When do we start reaching the point that we are diluting the talent pool with expansion? Let’s face it, there are not a lot of soccer playing athletes in our country. If you are athletic enough to chase a ball around for 90 minutes, you are probably already playing baseball, basketball or football (of the American sort). Or am I just crazy for thinking this?

• Harrison? Glassboro? Bridgeview? Why don’t the teams play in the cities they are named after? Hell, I would be happy if the played in the same state (yea I’m talking to you RBNY).

• When are we going to land a major international star? And I don’t mean David Beckham when he is 63 years old. Or even stop implicitly admitting that the MLS is inferior by stemming the flow of our guys overseas (Josh Grenier?). Why is it inevitable that Freddy Adu or Clint Dempsey will be heading to Europe? People swim 90 miles across shark infested waters and walk days through the desert to get here, I’m sure there are some good players who would be willing to take a pay cut to play here. I mean Klinsmann loves it so much he coaches the German National Team from California.

• What the hell is the point of the All-Star Game? Publicity? Maybe some new people will tune in to see Chelsea take on the MLS All Stars? Great idea! Will they tune back in after Chelsea annihilates the All Stars? There are some American sporting tradition I would like to see the MLS continue, for instance, stop trying to be European and just name the teams after a local animal or something. Other American traditions I could live without, for instance, this All Star game idea.

• Did we really need a team in Toronto? What happened to our ‘domestic league’. ‘Domestic’ slots for Inter Real Toronto Rovers FC Red 1834 Northmen will be going to Canadians. So now the MLS is helping the Canadians build up their domestic pool? Sure, that was de facto happening already, but now it’s official. Call me xenophobic, but why can’t the Canadians get their own league? It’s not the MLS‘ fault all the Canadian hockey teams want to move to the US. Hey Canada, our dollar is still better than your dollar! There, take that!

• Random thought I had the other day: these Soccer (and don’t forget those concerts) Specific Stadiums better have been designed to be easily upgradeable. Some day FIFA is going to come knocking because it likes the idea of making lots of money on another World Cup in the US. Which would be great. But I don’t want to have to go to Giants Stadium or RFK to watch a game.

• I think in MLS-speak “improper remarks” means bad but not racist. Logically, all racist language is ‘improper’, but not all ‘improper’ language is racist. The geniuses who came up with the Peter Nowak “improper remarks” statement clearly understood this but they failed to recognize that after being accused of being a racist, most people interpret “improper remarks” as tantamount to saying ‘yea, he’s a racist’. That the Nowak comment was not racist is backed up by recent revelations from two sources. And what is the deal with Real Salt Lake crying racism? Now they’ve got RBNY in their sights. Don’t they realize that you can’t be awarded points for being the victim of a racist comment? At best the other team could have points taken away. You actually have to win a game on the field to get points?

Don’t take this post the wrong way. I love the MLS and want to see it thrive. I’m not one of the MLS haters that worship at the Altar of Barclays. Once I get a real job and a stable financial situation I’m hoping to buy DC United season tickets. It just seems that the MLS makes some pretty boneheaded moves sometimes. My conclusion: An oligarchy of soccer bloggers to rule the MLS would be ideal.

Feel free to leave a comment telling me I’m an idiot, saying hello, or “Damn it don’t pick on little old Glassboro!”.

Sadly, Jonathan Spector will not be going to the World Cup. Spector separated his shoulder over the weekend in an EPL game and will need surgery. There is no date set for his return, but he will not be ready in time for the World Cup.

I’m not sure what The Bruce was thinking, but I had Spector as one of the last additions to my World Cup roster. Whether you agree or not, it’s still unfortunate to watch someone’s World Cup dreams go down to an injury (hello Chris Armas). Spector is young and will hopefully have a few World Cups by the time he retires.

Some MLS News:

-Major League Soccer and Chelsea FC today announced that EPL champions will face the MLS All-Stars in the MLS All-Star Game to be played at the new stadium of the Chicago Fire on Saturday, August 5. Should be interesting, hopefully the MLS All-Stars will put up a good fight and gain some respect for the MLS overseas.
- Alexi Lalas resigned as President and GM of Red Bull and will become President and GM of L.A. Galaxy. He didn’t stay in NY very long.

DaMarcus Beasley is in trouble with the law for an apparent DUI. I wonder how this will affect his status in Holland. I also can’t imagine The Bruce will be looking upon this too kindly.

Hello all. I am back. I was disgruntled with not getting tickets and busy with school, but now that all of that is coming to a close I’m here to stay. What an exciting time to come back:

-One of my favorite all-time players John O’Brien is back and in the MLS. He will stay healthy and he will lead Team USA in the WC. Mark my words.

-Metrostars are now Red Bull. Those jerseys could use some work. They are the only team without any assists on their goals. Did I hear Lalas is looking to move west? Somebody save me from Wynalda’s comments. I yearn for Jack and Ty.
-We got tickets to the WC. Last time was our coming out party- now its time for a good sequel. Mulling over line-ups in my mind is fun. . .
Let’s take a look at the MLS Goal leaders:

Name Team Goals
Brian Ching HOU 5
Ante Razov CHV 3
Jovan Kirovski COL 3
Kyle Beckerman COL 2
Kenny Cooper DAL 2
Cornell Glen LA 2
Roberto Mina DAL 2
Jaime Moreno DC 2
Chris Rolfe CHI 2

Ching trying to make a statement?
-No surprise that DeWayne DeRosario is the league leader with 4 assists. What is surprising is the tie for second: Terry Cooke of Colorado with 3 and, that’s right, Freddy Adu with 3 as well.

I don’t think any of us saw the game last night. I was out celebrating getting engaged and the completion of my fiancees comprehensive exams, David was en route to my place after vacation in Virginia and Bobby was at the Islanders - Rangers game. When I got home I sped through my TiVo to the goals, both of which were pretty weak. Nice run by Jamaican Teafore Bennett, but having our defense in shambles didn’t hurt his cause either. Two quick thoughts: 1)What in the hell was Frankie Hejduk doing in the middle of the field? Doesn’t he know he is not allowed more than 10 yards away from the touchline? Was the central defense that far out of position? Geeze. 2) Meola looked a little silly on that goal, chasing after Bennett. I like the quick restart action by Donovan and Ben Olsen (didn’t recognize him for a second there without the beard). The Jamaican keeper probably should have made that save, but at any rate it’s not about the result so much as individual performances.

In the absence of insightful and witty commentary from the brains behind PCK, Robert Wagman of the SoccerTimes has a nice roundup which you should read.

Nice Washington Post article on Oguchi Onyewu.