Friday, June 25, 2004
The Pink Slip Derby
The Columbus Crew returns home this weekend for a match against the Colorado Rapids. Both coaches (Greg Andrulis for the Crew and Tim Hankinson) are on the hot seat as the season moves towards the mid-season point and a win here would do much to relieve one of some pressure while pushing the other further toward an inevitable sacking. The one area where the Rapids exceed the Crew is in the front office, where former Hermann Award winner (given to the best player in college soccer) Dan Counce (1973) steers the ship of the Mile High side, but all of his soccer know-how has not been able to make up for bad decisions by the manager. Anyways, onto the gameplan:
* Puncture the center! The Rapids enter this match missing three guys who can play in the center of midfield due to suspension (Daryl Powell, Kyle Beckerman, and John Spencer) and therefore can be exploited down the middle of the pitch.
* Leave Simon out. Because of the suspensions and a weakened Colorado side (they will be arriving with just 12 field players and the two goalkeepers), the Crew should attack this team in droves, and that means playing three offense-minded players in the center of the formation. The Rapids frontline, consisting of Jean-Philippe Peguero and Jordan Cila, are less-threatening on the whole and can be defended adequately by our three-man backline. Holding Frankie Hejduk and Eric Denton back a little to contend with their flank players (Chris Henderson and Joey DiGiamarino) will open up space behind them for the outer attacking midfielders (Devin Barclay and Manny Lagos) to make diagonal runs into and take on players.
* Use your bench! This side is weakened (have I said that enough already?) and thus we need to make intelligent decisions with the roster to best win this game. That means having Jamal Sutton and David Testo available as substitutions (and USING THEM) if we need more attack out of the wide positions on the field.
The First XI
Busch
Akwari--Fraser--Marshall
Hejduk----------------------------Denton
Barclay----Martino----Lagos
Scott--Cunningham
Prediction: Crew 3, (c)Rapids 1.
* Puncture the center! The Rapids enter this match missing three guys who can play in the center of midfield due to suspension (Daryl Powell, Kyle Beckerman, and John Spencer) and therefore can be exploited down the middle of the pitch.
* Leave Simon out. Because of the suspensions and a weakened Colorado side (they will be arriving with just 12 field players and the two goalkeepers), the Crew should attack this team in droves, and that means playing three offense-minded players in the center of the formation. The Rapids frontline, consisting of Jean-Philippe Peguero and Jordan Cila, are less-threatening on the whole and can be defended adequately by our three-man backline. Holding Frankie Hejduk and Eric Denton back a little to contend with their flank players (Chris Henderson and Joey DiGiamarino) will open up space behind them for the outer attacking midfielders (Devin Barclay and Manny Lagos) to make diagonal runs into and take on players.
* Use your bench! This side is weakened (have I said that enough already?) and thus we need to make intelligent decisions with the roster to best win this game. That means having Jamal Sutton and David Testo available as substitutions (and USING THEM) if we need more attack out of the wide positions on the field.
Busch
Akwari--Fraser--Marshall
Hejduk----------------------------Denton
Barclay----Martino----Lagos
Scott--Cunningham
Prediction: Crew 3, (c)Rapids 1.
Monday, June 21, 2004
Next stop: Kingston
The United States National Team sloghed their way into the semifinal round of World Cup qualifying with a 3-2 victory over Grenada in St. George's to win the series 6-2 on aggregate. It was not pretty at ALL, but the job was completed and now Bruce Arena and the boys can begin focusing on their next opponent, the Reggae Boyz of Jamaica. Their opening tilt on August 18th will set the tone for the group, from which both sides are expected to advance. Some thoughts from yesterday's game and on the adventure ahead in CONCACAF:
* VERY typical road qualifier. The pitch was lousy, the reffing was haphazard at best and corruptible at worst. We played sluggish and the weather made it difficult to play our style of game. That said, we got the job done! We overcame the penalty kick and the cards and the weather to get a result. Granted, this was Grenada and not a team like Costa Rica or Mexico, but the match was very good education for some of our neophytes (Gibbs, Mastroeni, Convey, Donovan, Beasley). We will move forward form this match having learned a few things that can be used in the match in Kingston in two months and the dens of Panama City and San Salvador later on in this round.
* Good peformances from Armas (this was his type of game), Wolff, Donovan, and Beasley. Thought Reyna was out of his element due to the weather. The defense in general bit badly (ESPECIALLY Mastroeni, who was to blame for both goals), but this game was more about learning how to play on the road in CONCACAF than about keeping a clean sheet. Gibbs stepped up when he took over marking Roberts (Mastro got thumped worse yesterday than Pope did last week by the England-based striker). Convey showed yesterday that he is not yet at the level needed to play left back on the international level (got beat down the side on the second goal), which means we will need to use a more-defensive option on that side to contend with the speed of our opponents (but we have always played an unbalanced style under Bruce).
* Group A (USA, Jamaica, El Salvador, Panama) should run pretty true-to-form. The US SHOULD have somewhat smooth sailing after their opener against Jamaica and will probably win the group. The Reggae Boyz need to win that first game and then find points at El Salvador and/or Panama to be in position to advance before the final qualifier against the Americans in November. El Salvador and Panama are pretty much in the same boat in that they need to defend their home turf and try to outright steal their road match against the other to put any pressure on the giants of the group.
* Group B (Canada, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala) is an absolute mess waiting to happen. The quintessential group of death in this region without a doubt. All four of these teams could with the right set of results find their way to Germany in that they CAN win the playoff series against whoever their opponent from Asia would be. Costa Rica and Canada are probably the most-stable sides in this group heading into the round and would advance if this were a round-robin at a neutral site, but it's not. Canada needs to take advantage of being home for the first two matches and get all six points from them heading into the Matchday 3 tilt against Costa Rica. With Saprissa out of the rotation for qualifers due to having FieldTurf, Les Rouges could very well get a point or three from the Ticos in Alajuela because they are, pound-for-pound, one of only three teams in the region with enough talent to beat Costa Rica when the crowd is not a factor (the others being the US and Mexico). Costa Rica's way of advancing is by getting a result at Honduras and staving off the scare they WILL get from Canada at home. Guatemala needs to play the classic style for qualfying (win at home, draw on the road) and hope for some help along the way. The Catrachos will have to be the most aggressive road side in this group, because they WILL drop points at home.
* Group C (Mexico, Trinidad/Tobago, St. Kitts/Nevis, St. Vincent/Grenadines) will be a walk in the park for El Tri. Trinidad and Tobago are the only team that could conceivably take points from Mexico, and that would be if our friends to the south decide to laze their way through that Matchday 3 fixture in Port-of-Spain. The Soca Warriors will be the second team through in this group with the other two sides playing for the third spot and whatever advantage that might bring for 2010 qualifying.
* The obligatory slam on USSF for its placement of qualifiers. Yes, I understand we need to have consideration for the European-based players in the pool and that is why most of the home qualifiers are on the East coast. And yes, I know that the luck of the draw didn't provide us with a one-off match against either of the lesser teams in our group, where perhaps we could have placed the match in a less-convenient locale for the opposition and gone with a domestic-based roster. But WHY must we hand over home-field advantage to our opponents? Placing the El Salvador match in Foxboro on a holiday weekend is just STUPID! And Panama in RFK, which has proven itself INCAPABLE of providing our team a pro-US environment in which to play? At least Frank Yallop has the right idea with his matches, playing Guatemala in Vancouver and Honduras in Edmonton, far away from their natural fan bases in the United States. Their match in Montreal, versus Costa Rica, is significantly away from its base of support and is placed there due to consideration for their European-based players (it's the second match of the October pair and would allow his playes to be available for Satuday tilts across the pond). The RFK disaster in 2001 nearly cost us a trip to Korea/Japan, and some day we WILL miss the World Cup because of bad site management on the part of the USSF.
* VERY typical road qualifier. The pitch was lousy, the reffing was haphazard at best and corruptible at worst. We played sluggish and the weather made it difficult to play our style of game. That said, we got the job done! We overcame the penalty kick and the cards and the weather to get a result. Granted, this was Grenada and not a team like Costa Rica or Mexico, but the match was very good education for some of our neophytes (Gibbs, Mastroeni, Convey, Donovan, Beasley). We will move forward form this match having learned a few things that can be used in the match in Kingston in two months and the dens of Panama City and San Salvador later on in this round.
* Good peformances from Armas (this was his type of game), Wolff, Donovan, and Beasley. Thought Reyna was out of his element due to the weather. The defense in general bit badly (ESPECIALLY Mastroeni, who was to blame for both goals), but this game was more about learning how to play on the road in CONCACAF than about keeping a clean sheet. Gibbs stepped up when he took over marking Roberts (Mastro got thumped worse yesterday than Pope did last week by the England-based striker). Convey showed yesterday that he is not yet at the level needed to play left back on the international level (got beat down the side on the second goal), which means we will need to use a more-defensive option on that side to contend with the speed of our opponents (but we have always played an unbalanced style under Bruce).
* Group A (USA, Jamaica, El Salvador, Panama) should run pretty true-to-form. The US SHOULD have somewhat smooth sailing after their opener against Jamaica and will probably win the group. The Reggae Boyz need to win that first game and then find points at El Salvador and/or Panama to be in position to advance before the final qualifier against the Americans in November. El Salvador and Panama are pretty much in the same boat in that they need to defend their home turf and try to outright steal their road match against the other to put any pressure on the giants of the group.
* Group B (Canada, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala) is an absolute mess waiting to happen. The quintessential group of death in this region without a doubt. All four of these teams could with the right set of results find their way to Germany in that they CAN win the playoff series against whoever their opponent from Asia would be. Costa Rica and Canada are probably the most-stable sides in this group heading into the round and would advance if this were a round-robin at a neutral site, but it's not. Canada needs to take advantage of being home for the first two matches and get all six points from them heading into the Matchday 3 tilt against Costa Rica. With Saprissa out of the rotation for qualifers due to having FieldTurf, Les Rouges could very well get a point or three from the Ticos in Alajuela because they are, pound-for-pound, one of only three teams in the region with enough talent to beat Costa Rica when the crowd is not a factor (the others being the US and Mexico). Costa Rica's way of advancing is by getting a result at Honduras and staving off the scare they WILL get from Canada at home. Guatemala needs to play the classic style for qualfying (win at home, draw on the road) and hope for some help along the way. The Catrachos will have to be the most aggressive road side in this group, because they WILL drop points at home.
* Group C (Mexico, Trinidad/Tobago, St. Kitts/Nevis, St. Vincent/Grenadines) will be a walk in the park for El Tri. Trinidad and Tobago are the only team that could conceivably take points from Mexico, and that would be if our friends to the south decide to laze their way through that Matchday 3 fixture in Port-of-Spain. The Soca Warriors will be the second team through in this group with the other two sides playing for the third spot and whatever advantage that might bring for 2010 qualifying.
* The obligatory slam on USSF for its placement of qualifiers. Yes, I understand we need to have consideration for the European-based players in the pool and that is why most of the home qualifiers are on the East coast. And yes, I know that the luck of the draw didn't provide us with a one-off match against either of the lesser teams in our group, where perhaps we could have placed the match in a less-convenient locale for the opposition and gone with a domestic-based roster. But WHY must we hand over home-field advantage to our opponents? Placing the El Salvador match in Foxboro on a holiday weekend is just STUPID! And Panama in RFK, which has proven itself INCAPABLE of providing our team a pro-US environment in which to play? At least Frank Yallop has the right idea with his matches, playing Guatemala in Vancouver and Honduras in Edmonton, far away from their natural fan bases in the United States. Their match in Montreal, versus Costa Rica, is significantly away from its base of support and is placed there due to consideration for their European-based players (it's the second match of the October pair and would allow his playes to be available for Satuday tilts across the pond). The RFK disaster in 2001 nearly cost us a trip to Korea/Japan, and some day we WILL miss the World Cup because of bad site management on the part of the USSF.
Sunday, June 20, 2004
Going back to a pet peeve
As I mentioned in my entry on the proper use of force in World Cup qualifying, I would be interested in seeing what the CONCACAF giants did with their opponents. It took until last night for someone to step over the line (and that even forgives Bermuda's 20-0 aggregate on last-in-the-world Montserrat from the earlier playoff round). Mexico laid the wood to Dominica in a most unpleasant way, winning their first-leg encounter 10-0 when it was not needed. El Cribabies were up 5-0 at the half and had for all intents and purposes secured its advancement considering this was the AWAY leg and Dominica was showing no bite in the attack to be capable of reversing the result. When the score reached 8-0 with more than 20 minutes remaining, I thought enough would be enough. Then came the ninth and what followed was an all-out attack to hang the double-digit scoreline on their opponent.
Frank Farina would have been proud of the heartless display these bums showed the paying fans in San Antonio and those watching across the US on Telemundo. Their need to pile it on was in my opinion classless, but then again we've never known our neighbors to the south to be at the head of the regional pecking order in that category, now have we?
Frank Farina would have been proud of the heartless display these bums showed the paying fans in San Antonio and those watching across the US on Telemundo. Their need to pile it on was in my opinion classless, but then again we've never known our neighbors to the south to be at the head of the regional pecking order in that category, now have we?
MLS' impact on World Cup qualifying
MLS has been a fertile training ground for the US National Team, and as DrChuck said sometime ago , it has the potential of providing playing opportunities for talented players on other national teams in the region. But have you thought about how much impact this league has had so far in this cycle of World Cup qualifying? Some numbers for consideration:
* 26 goals by 11 current or former MLS players (yes, I'm counting former Crew draft pick and current Toronto Lynx striker John Barry Nusum in that total) representing 10 countries OTHER than the United States in 3 confederations.
* 26 goals by 11 current or former MLS players (yes, I'm counting former Crew draft pick and current Toronto Lynx striker John Barry Nusum in that total) representing 10 countries OTHER than the United States in 3 confederations.
John Barry Nusum (Bermuda) 7
Dipsy Selolwane (Botswana) 4
Dwayne DeRosario (Canada) 2
Duncan Oughton (New Zealand) 2
Ryan Nelsen (New Zealand) 2
Jean-Philippe Peguero (Haiti) 2
Stern John (Trinidad/Tobago) 2
Carlos Ruiz (Guatemala) 2
Zizi Roberts (Liberia) 1
Amado Guevara (Honduras) 1
Shaun Bartlett (South Africa)1
* SEVEN of the 11 teams in CONCACAF's semifinal round of qualifying (not including the US) will have players from MLS on their rosters (Jamaica, Canada, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, St. Vincent/Grenadines, and Trinidad/Tobago), including such studs as DeRosario, Guevara, and Carlos Ruiz. Moreover, EVERY TEAM in Group B has an attacking player based in MLS (DeRosario; Guevara; Ruiz; and Erick Scott, Columbus/Costa Rica)
* Three of the twelve teams in the semifinal round will be managed by guys who used to troll MLS sidelines (Bruce Arena, DC United/USA; Frank Yallop, San Jose/Canada; Bora Milutinovic, Metrostars/Honduras), with a fourth former MLS gaffer heading up Brazil's qualifying campaign (Carlos Alberto Parreira, Metrostars) and a former MLS player (Lothar Matthaus, Metrostars) leading Hungary into qualifying in August.
This will be a feature throughout the campaign as information is available.
Laying an egg
The Crew saw its seven-game unbeaten streak brought to an unceremonious end by way of a 3-1 loss to DC United that was not as close as the scoreline indicates. There are few words to describe the horrendous display which took place on behalf of our beloved side, so here goes with the backseat gaffering:
* Fozzie got outmanaged. Nowak made mincemeat of Andrulis by playing with three forwards (Cerritos, Eskandarian, and Moreno) to cover up for the lack of midfield depth in his side, to which Big Greg was unable to counter. The interchanging midfield also was allowed to roam and create mischief on the flanks.
* Oughton, BE GONE! Duncan is vasty incapable of playing the two-way position on the right flank inthe absence of Frankie Hejduk and it showed in spades last night. He allowed the first two goals to occur by simply not playing defense on whoever came into his space (usually a combination of Eskandarian, Moreno, Cerritos, and Kovalenko), thus pulling Akwari out of the center to pick up the mark and leaving gaps to be exploited. Frankie, how we missed ye!
* Manny is the man. He was one of the few bright spots on this team (again) because he makes things happen when he has the ball or is played into dangerous positions on the field. Sadly, there were few chances for him to use his talent because the players behind him seemed content to play away from him to either Denton or Oughton when the open space in the middle was available for the taking. (yes, it seems I am becoming the official Lagos apologist around here)
* The scheme is off its wheels. With Hejduk missing, I am now convinced there is no way we can play a sound defensive strategy along the flanks. Once it became apparent that Duncan was not up to the task of playing the two-way position on the right, Andrulis should have juggled his midfield to create a more natural 3-5-2 (Elliot and Oughton at d-mid, Denton and Paule on the flanks with Lagos pressed up behind Jeffro and Testo). This is a recurring theme with Fozzie, in that he does not seem capable of making in-game adjustments once the first XI proves not up to the job as they are currently situated.
* The youngins are coming along. Marshall put in another good performance aside from being nosed-out for the ball on the first goal. He is bound to put away one of those set pieces in the near future. Testo showed some talent and skills, but is a bundle of nerves out there. He will get it together once he realizes he CAN play at this level and gets more playing time.
* ALL THE KEYS WERE MISSED! We did NOT use the space on the flanks (rather, we had it used against us), we did not move the ball out of the back quickly through the midfield, and we did not mark up on the set pieces (and if anyone didn't think Eskandarian would not be thinking goal on the free kick, get a tape of the Olympic qualifier against Honduras...the shot was almost a carbon copy of his from that match). Jeff was invisible for most of the match because we were not making good decisions with the ball to utilize him properly.
*sigh* onto the less-than-stellar (c)Rapids on Saturday. Maybe having Frankie back will get us on track, or maybe the gloss of the streak made all the bad football of this season seem palatable and we're no better now than we were when we went winless in the first five. *shrug*
* Fozzie got outmanaged. Nowak made mincemeat of Andrulis by playing with three forwards (Cerritos, Eskandarian, and Moreno) to cover up for the lack of midfield depth in his side, to which Big Greg was unable to counter. The interchanging midfield also was allowed to roam and create mischief on the flanks.
* Oughton, BE GONE! Duncan is vasty incapable of playing the two-way position on the right flank inthe absence of Frankie Hejduk and it showed in spades last night. He allowed the first two goals to occur by simply not playing defense on whoever came into his space (usually a combination of Eskandarian, Moreno, Cerritos, and Kovalenko), thus pulling Akwari out of the center to pick up the mark and leaving gaps to be exploited. Frankie, how we missed ye!
* Manny is the man. He was one of the few bright spots on this team (again) because he makes things happen when he has the ball or is played into dangerous positions on the field. Sadly, there were few chances for him to use his talent because the players behind him seemed content to play away from him to either Denton or Oughton when the open space in the middle was available for the taking. (yes, it seems I am becoming the official Lagos apologist around here)
* The scheme is off its wheels. With Hejduk missing, I am now convinced there is no way we can play a sound defensive strategy along the flanks. Once it became apparent that Duncan was not up to the task of playing the two-way position on the right, Andrulis should have juggled his midfield to create a more natural 3-5-2 (Elliot and Oughton at d-mid, Denton and Paule on the flanks with Lagos pressed up behind Jeffro and Testo). This is a recurring theme with Fozzie, in that he does not seem capable of making in-game adjustments once the first XI proves not up to the job as they are currently situated.
* The youngins are coming along. Marshall put in another good performance aside from being nosed-out for the ball on the first goal. He is bound to put away one of those set pieces in the near future. Testo showed some talent and skills, but is a bundle of nerves out there. He will get it together once he realizes he CAN play at this level and gets more playing time.
* ALL THE KEYS WERE MISSED! We did NOT use the space on the flanks (rather, we had it used against us), we did not move the ball out of the back quickly through the midfield, and we did not mark up on the set pieces (and if anyone didn't think Eskandarian would not be thinking goal on the free kick, get a tape of the Olympic qualifier against Honduras...the shot was almost a carbon copy of his from that match). Jeff was invisible for most of the match because we were not making good decisions with the ball to utilize him properly.
*sigh* onto the less-than-stellar (c)Rapids on Saturday. Maybe having Frankie back will get us on track, or maybe the gloss of the streak made all the bad football of this season seem palatable and we're no better now than we were when we went winless in the first five. *shrug*
Friday, June 18, 2004
We Hate DC!
Our beloved Crew's unbeaten streak, now at seven games, gets tested at our venerable House of Horrors, RFK Stadium, in tomorrow's fixture against DC United. Both teams will be missing players due to World Cup qualifying and injury, so it very well could be a battle of attrition. Game plan for the night:
* Play into space. The United midfield is a mess at the moment, and will be more so tomorrow due to the absences of Earnie Stewart and Bobby Convey for the United States' second-leg match against Grenada. In addition, Piotr Nowak's side plays a similar scheme to that of Columbus, but he attacks off the flanks and overlaps his insider midfielders, leaving plenty of space behind them and in front of the back three and defensive midfielder. This is another game where Manny Lagos teaming with Kyle Martino and Jeff Cunningham can wreak havoc on DC.
* Take advantage of transition play. Because of the lack of bodies available for DC and a four-headed monster on the front line (Moreno, Eskandarian, Cerritos, and Adu), they are not very adept at scoring. The Crew needs to move quickly out of the back through Paule to either Denton or Oughton and then onto KMart, Manny, or Jeffro into the flank space to then take on the cobbled-together defense of United with the dribble and additional runners.
* MARK UP ON SET PIECES! Despite DC being less of an aerial threat than Kansas City was last week, there are a number of dangerous players on this side. Moreno. Kovalenko. Nelsen. Olsen. Adu. Cerritos. Any or all of them can get to a free ball and put it past Busch. United scored its lone goal in the first match off a cross to an unmarked Kovalenko by Olsen, and we gave up TWO corner kick redirects last week.
* Play into space. The United midfield is a mess at the moment, and will be more so tomorrow due to the absences of Earnie Stewart and Bobby Convey for the United States' second-leg match against Grenada. In addition, Piotr Nowak's side plays a similar scheme to that of Columbus, but he attacks off the flanks and overlaps his insider midfielders, leaving plenty of space behind them and in front of the back three and defensive midfielder. This is another game where Manny Lagos teaming with Kyle Martino and Jeff Cunningham can wreak havoc on DC.
* Take advantage of transition play. Because of the lack of bodies available for DC and a four-headed monster on the front line (Moreno, Eskandarian, Cerritos, and Adu), they are not very adept at scoring. The Crew needs to move quickly out of the back through Paule to either Denton or Oughton and then onto KMart, Manny, or Jeffro into the flank space to then take on the cobbled-together defense of United with the dribble and additional runners.
* MARK UP ON SET PIECES! Despite DC being less of an aerial threat than Kansas City was last week, there are a number of dangerous players on this side. Moreno. Kovalenko. Nelsen. Olsen. Adu. Cerritos. Any or all of them can get to a free ball and put it past Busch. United scored its lone goal in the first match off a cross to an unmarked Kovalenko by Olsen, and we gave up TWO corner kick redirects last week.
Starting XI
Busch
Akwari-Fraser-Marshall
Oughton-Paule-Martino-Denton
Lagos
Barclay-Cunningham
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Home field advantage
One of the toughest things for the United States to secure in World Cup qualifying is a bonafide home-field advantage. The team regularly plays in this country in front of crowds which have very sizable contingents of support for that day's opposition. Despite the supposed "best efforts" of the USSF and the host facility, various means of trying to ensure a pro-US crowd have not helped. Below are several ways the USSF and host facilities can "help the cause", if you will, so a repeat of September 1, 2001 can NEVER happen.
* A LIMITED number of tickets are given to the away federation, with any requests made to the host facility for those seats (split up to ensure no central source of support in the stadium) channeled to the federation. When they're gone, THEY'RE GONE! If there are unsold tickets within that allotment, the visiting federation is to absorb the cost of said seats.
* NO sales by means of Ticketmaster nor point-of-sale tickets in advance of the event. All ticket requests are made by mail, automated telephone system, or the Internet to either the USSF or the host facility's ticket office, with priority ticketing for those with a proven record of prior purchases (it works for the NCAA with respect to the Final Four and Frozen Four, and the USSF should have this information available somewhere at Soccer House). There is NO guarantee of receiving tickets and the USSF and/or the host facility reserve the right to deny ticket requests which might enhance the potential of an adverse game-day experience outcome.
* Group sales are made only to registered USSF organizations (Sam's Army, youth soccer organizations, supporters' clubs of MLS/USL teams, etc.), with a specific member of the host facility's ticket office placed in charge of handling group ticket orders.
* Place opponents strategically. Utilize stadiums which are "out of the way" against opponents who have the potential to bring large traveling parties. Columbus and Kansas City are two good locations for the United States because the local demographics help ensure pro-US support and because they are not easily accessible by air. Foxboro is a great facility because it is in the middle of nowhere between Boston and Providence. Now, if the Revs ticket office would NOT intentionally market matches to fans of the opposition, it would be a perfect facility for qualifiers.
I am looking for feedback, so fire away! Got other ideas? Think mine are dead-wrong? Have at it!
* A LIMITED number of tickets are given to the away federation, with any requests made to the host facility for those seats (split up to ensure no central source of support in the stadium) channeled to the federation. When they're gone, THEY'RE GONE! If there are unsold tickets within that allotment, the visiting federation is to absorb the cost of said seats.
* NO sales by means of Ticketmaster nor point-of-sale tickets in advance of the event. All ticket requests are made by mail, automated telephone system, or the Internet to either the USSF or the host facility's ticket office, with priority ticketing for those with a proven record of prior purchases (it works for the NCAA with respect to the Final Four and Frozen Four, and the USSF should have this information available somewhere at Soccer House). There is NO guarantee of receiving tickets and the USSF and/or the host facility reserve the right to deny ticket requests which might enhance the potential of an adverse game-day experience outcome.
* Group sales are made only to registered USSF organizations (Sam's Army, youth soccer organizations, supporters' clubs of MLS/USL teams, etc.), with a specific member of the host facility's ticket office placed in charge of handling group ticket orders.
* Place opponents strategically. Utilize stadiums which are "out of the way" against opponents who have the potential to bring large traveling parties. Columbus and Kansas City are two good locations for the United States because the local demographics help ensure pro-US support and because they are not easily accessible by air. Foxboro is a great facility because it is in the middle of nowhere between Boston and Providence. Now, if the Revs ticket office would NOT intentionally market matches to fans of the opposition, it would be a perfect facility for qualifiers.
I am looking for feedback, so fire away! Got other ideas? Think mine are dead-wrong? Have at it!
Sunday, June 13, 2004
Three up heading to the Spice Islands
United States 3, Grenada 0. Not the prettiest way to open qualifying for the Americans, but a win's a win. The second leg in St. George's should be eventful for no reason other than to see if Lewis or Pope pick up that second card which would keep them out of the opening semifinal match against the winner of Haiti/Jamaica and to see if we can correct some of the missteps from today's match, since rumors indicate that the same players will be on the roster for that match, with only Pablo Mastroeni and Josh Wolff added to camp. Anyways, onto the review:
* First things first, WE WON! We have a workable margin heading into the second leg of the tie. We nearly lost our best defender on a red card. We lost half our strike force midway through the first half, and nearly lost the other half on a possible concussion or neck contusion. We broke their backs at the ends of both halves, and settled the tie on a well-struck goal by Vanney. We CAN play better than today and we will.
* We REALLY missed Josh Wolff today. With McBride and Casey up top, the entire game plan was to play the cross or have Donovan and Beasley dribble into the box. We needed a speedster up top to play onto who could make something happen with his feet instead of his head to open up the game early.
* Give credit to Grenada. They played the type of match necessary to hold the goal margin down so that they could POSSIBLY snag the tie in the home leg. Unfortunately, they were beaten BADLY on the second and third goals (the first by having NO ONE come back to pick up the dashing DMB, the second by giving Vanney space to tee up shots over-and-over on the left side…he was bound to cash in on one of those attempts).
* Thought the Lewis-for-Armas substitution was interesting in that it didn't seem to mesh with either the diamond or the box. I’m not sure I have an opinion on the gift cap for Earnie at the moment (it puts him on 99 for his career). Bad luck having to bring Kirovski on for Casey, and I don’t think he found his place in the match AT ALL. Felt Pope played with fire too often in dealing with Jason Roberts and could have easily been sent off on more than one occasion in the second half for shirt-tugs when Roberts had him beat and was alone on goal.
* Was thinking Beasley would be pulled at the half for Lewis not 60 seconds before he scored the first goal. His off-the-ball run to pick up the brace reminded me of Landon’s streak through the center for the insurance tally against Mexico in Jeonju.
* Thumbs up: Beasley, Cherundolo, McBride (was forced to play out-of-position because of Jovan’s ineptness), Donovan, Reyna, Vanney. So-So: Keller (not much work, so a definite up/down cannot be reached), Bocanegra, Armas, Stewart (no time on the field), Lewis (be decisive with the shot!), Casey (injury happened too early to know how he’d fare on the day). Thumbs down: Pope (trust your teammates), Kirovski (be gone, ManU reject!).
* First things first, WE WON! We have a workable margin heading into the second leg of the tie. We nearly lost our best defender on a red card. We lost half our strike force midway through the first half, and nearly lost the other half on a possible concussion or neck contusion. We broke their backs at the ends of both halves, and settled the tie on a well-struck goal by Vanney. We CAN play better than today and we will.
* We REALLY missed Josh Wolff today. With McBride and Casey up top, the entire game plan was to play the cross or have Donovan and Beasley dribble into the box. We needed a speedster up top to play onto who could make something happen with his feet instead of his head to open up the game early.
* Give credit to Grenada. They played the type of match necessary to hold the goal margin down so that they could POSSIBLY snag the tie in the home leg. Unfortunately, they were beaten BADLY on the second and third goals (the first by having NO ONE come back to pick up the dashing DMB, the second by giving Vanney space to tee up shots over-and-over on the left side…he was bound to cash in on one of those attempts).
* Thought the Lewis-for-Armas substitution was interesting in that it didn't seem to mesh with either the diamond or the box. I’m not sure I have an opinion on the gift cap for Earnie at the moment (it puts him on 99 for his career). Bad luck having to bring Kirovski on for Casey, and I don’t think he found his place in the match AT ALL. Felt Pope played with fire too often in dealing with Jason Roberts and could have easily been sent off on more than one occasion in the second half for shirt-tugs when Roberts had him beat and was alone on goal.
* Was thinking Beasley would be pulled at the half for Lewis not 60 seconds before he scored the first goal. His off-the-ball run to pick up the brace reminded me of Landon’s streak through the center for the insurance tally against Mexico in Jeonju.
* Thumbs up: Beasley, Cherundolo, McBride (was forced to play out-of-position because of Jovan’s ineptness), Donovan, Reyna, Vanney. So-So: Keller (not much work, so a definite up/down cannot be reached), Bocanegra, Armas, Stewart (no time on the field), Lewis (be decisive with the shot!), Casey (injury happened too early to know how he’d fare on the day). Thumbs down: Pope (trust your teammates), Kirovski (be gone, ManU reject!).
Friday, June 11, 2004
A shot at the top
Columbus heads into tomorrow night's match with Kansas City just two points out of first place in the Eastern Conference. With the Fire playing the afternoon match at LA, the Crew will know before they take the field for warm-ups whether they can jump Chicago in the standings and take hold of the top spot 10 games into the MLS season. So, Greg, if the opportunity to get out front is there, do you trot out the safe XI that will try to gut out a result and keep the streak and run of good form alive or do you take a risk and attempt to seize control of the Eastern Conference race heading into the middle-third of the schedule?
The game plan against the Wizards:
* Use your home-field advantage. Being at home is an advantage in MLS, and not because of the crowd. A manager has at his disposal his entire roster (excluding those out due to injuries, cards, or call-ups) whereas the road team only travels 16 (2 of which are goalkeepers). With a short bench, Gansler has limited options for countering what Andrulis might do, either in the starting line-up or with situational substitutions, and the run of games (five in 14 days, including the last three on the road) is bound to take a toll on the "freshness" of the side.
* Man-and-sweep Wolff. No member of the Crew defense can effectively man-mark El Lobo Rabido, so he needs to be doubled. Marshall matches up with him and Fraser plays deeper to pick him up when he DOES get loose. Arnaud can be handled by Akwari sufficiently.
* Get Lagos involved. Denton's only job tomorrow night should be to keep track of Chris Klein and NOT get stuck upfield. When Klein presses his advantage against Denton, Manny needs to exploit the space behind him and receive the early ball so he can run at the backline (sort of like how Landon always get played into large areas of space to wreak havoc on the defense).
* Attack! Kansas City's major threat is Klein playing the early cross to Wolff so he can use his speed against the backline. Their central midfield is less-than-stunning (Walsh or Gomez paired with Zavagnin) and Gutierrez is a two-way winger (like Hejduk and Denton), so we can take control of the match by utilizing our talent in the midfield to create chances. Playing KMart out wide would allow him to pinch into the middle when we attack while providing enough defensive cover to keep Gutierrez from taking advantage of the gap on the flank when he does so. As I mentioned in my opinions on the Revolution match, Lagos is just more capable of going AT people and making use of his teammates than Martino at this point and thus should be slotted behind the strikers.
My First XI:
Busch
Akwari-Fraser-Marshall
Martino-Elliott-Paule-Denton
Lagos
Ritch-Cunningham
Prediction: Crew 2 Wizards 0
The game plan against the Wizards:
* Use your home-field advantage. Being at home is an advantage in MLS, and not because of the crowd. A manager has at his disposal his entire roster (excluding those out due to injuries, cards, or call-ups) whereas the road team only travels 16 (2 of which are goalkeepers). With a short bench, Gansler has limited options for countering what Andrulis might do, either in the starting line-up or with situational substitutions, and the run of games (five in 14 days, including the last three on the road) is bound to take a toll on the "freshness" of the side.
* Man-and-sweep Wolff. No member of the Crew defense can effectively man-mark El Lobo Rabido, so he needs to be doubled. Marshall matches up with him and Fraser plays deeper to pick him up when he DOES get loose. Arnaud can be handled by Akwari sufficiently.
* Get Lagos involved. Denton's only job tomorrow night should be to keep track of Chris Klein and NOT get stuck upfield. When Klein presses his advantage against Denton, Manny needs to exploit the space behind him and receive the early ball so he can run at the backline (sort of like how Landon always get played into large areas of space to wreak havoc on the defense).
* Attack! Kansas City's major threat is Klein playing the early cross to Wolff so he can use his speed against the backline. Their central midfield is less-than-stunning (Walsh or Gomez paired with Zavagnin) and Gutierrez is a two-way winger (like Hejduk and Denton), so we can take control of the match by utilizing our talent in the midfield to create chances. Playing KMart out wide would allow him to pinch into the middle when we attack while providing enough defensive cover to keep Gutierrez from taking advantage of the gap on the flank when he does so. As I mentioned in my opinions on the Revolution match, Lagos is just more capable of going AT people and making use of his teammates than Martino at this point and thus should be slotted behind the strikers.
Busch
Akwari-Fraser-Marshall
Martino-Elliott-Paule-Denton
Lagos
Ritch-Cunningham
Prediction: Crew 2 Wizards 0
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Soccer Woodstock
Now that you know a little about what our team will go through to make the World Cup and have some helpful hints to follow the action, I want to take you inside the crucible that is a qualifier as an attendee.
A World Cup qualifier can be construed to being the closest one might come to war in the sporting realm. It is your nation - your way of life, your history - placed smack-dab up against another nation - its history, its way of life. In the United States, this passion spills over to the fans because in nearly every match we play, there is a sizable contingent of support for the opposition. In many parts of the world, the home side goes to extreme measures to maintain home-field advantage, such as allowing only a limited number of tickets for fans of the away team, placing matches in venues which are advantageous based on geography and climate, and making mischief during the opponents’ stay in the country. In previous qualifying rounds, we have had to deal with all-night block parties, misdirected busses that send the team to the wrong stadium, matches moved at the behest of the home federation only days ahead of time, and that’s just BEFORE the match. Once the match starts, the incessant noise made by the crowd can cause confusion on the part of the away side. In addition, at times objects find their way onto the field and in some venues, racially insensitive language is directed at specific players of the opposition. A qualifier is NOTHING like your run-of-the-mill league match, not even heated rivalries like Dallas-Chicago, San Jose-Los Angeles, or DC United-Metrostars. The only league match-up in Europe I can compare a World Cup qualifier to is Celtic-Rangers in Scotland, where religion and allegiance to the Crown add to the fuel between these top-level sides in the Premiership.
However, there are positives in attending a qualifier in the States. For one, tens of thousands of fans from all over the country congregate upon the host city and plan weeks if not months ahead for those few times when their country defends its colors on the qualifying trail. There are multiple gatherings scheduled for the match weekend, from pub confabs to kickarounds to the pre-game tailgate. It is like a mini-Woodstock for soccer fans.
If you are heading to Columbus for Sunday’s match, know that you will be taking your place alongside tested veterans of the qualifying trail and fellow rookies to the trials and tribulations of supporting the Red, White, and Blue. Gates open at 10am, and stop by the tailgate on the south side of the stadium at the west end of the paved parking. Introduce yourselves. Get some eats. March in with the crowd at 11:30. More than anything, ENJOY YOURSELF! Once you’ve experienced a qualifier live, you will want to attend another…and another…and another.
A World Cup qualifier can be construed to being the closest one might come to war in the sporting realm. It is your nation - your way of life, your history - placed smack-dab up against another nation - its history, its way of life. In the United States, this passion spills over to the fans because in nearly every match we play, there is a sizable contingent of support for the opposition. In many parts of the world, the home side goes to extreme measures to maintain home-field advantage, such as allowing only a limited number of tickets for fans of the away team, placing matches in venues which are advantageous based on geography and climate, and making mischief during the opponents’ stay in the country. In previous qualifying rounds, we have had to deal with all-night block parties, misdirected busses that send the team to the wrong stadium, matches moved at the behest of the home federation only days ahead of time, and that’s just BEFORE the match. Once the match starts, the incessant noise made by the crowd can cause confusion on the part of the away side. In addition, at times objects find their way onto the field and in some venues, racially insensitive language is directed at specific players of the opposition. A qualifier is NOTHING like your run-of-the-mill league match, not even heated rivalries like Dallas-Chicago, San Jose-Los Angeles, or DC United-Metrostars. The only league match-up in Europe I can compare a World Cup qualifier to is Celtic-Rangers in Scotland, where religion and allegiance to the Crown add to the fuel between these top-level sides in the Premiership.
However, there are positives in attending a qualifier in the States. For one, tens of thousands of fans from all over the country congregate upon the host city and plan weeks if not months ahead for those few times when their country defends its colors on the qualifying trail. There are multiple gatherings scheduled for the match weekend, from pub confabs to kickarounds to the pre-game tailgate. It is like a mini-Woodstock for soccer fans.
If you are heading to Columbus for Sunday’s match, know that you will be taking your place alongside tested veterans of the qualifying trail and fellow rookies to the trials and tribulations of supporting the Red, White, and Blue. Gates open at 10am, and stop by the tailgate on the south side of the stadium at the west end of the paved parking. Introduce yourselves. Get some eats. March in with the crowd at 11:30. More than anything, ENJOY YOURSELF! Once you’ve experienced a qualifier live, you will want to attend another…and another…and another.
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Arena 2, Hankinson 1 (AET)
The row between US National Team manager Bruce Arena and Colorado Rapids gaffer Tim Hankinson has taken some attention away form the upcoming qualifier against Grenada. However, this issue was bound to come up at some point on the road to Leipzig. Just never thought it would be on THIS side of the Atlantic.
Hankinson requested that his player, defender Pablo Mastroeni, be allowed to play in the Rapids' Wednesday night match against Kansas City before joining the US camp for Sunday's tilt with the Spice Boys. Upon this request, Arena chose not to call Mastroeni into camp, believing that players needed to be in Columbus for the entire week prior to the fixture. On top of that, he also chose not to call in three players from the Wizards (goalkeeper Tony Meola, striker Josh Wolff, and midfielder Kerry Zavagnin) so that the Rapids would not gain an advantage by hanging onto its player. Much has been written about who's right and who's wrong in this situation, and thus here is my take:
* Both sides dropped the ball here, for different reasons. On Hankinson's part, he chose to use the bully pulpit when it wasn't necessary. As for Arena, he did not make an effort to contact Hankinson after receiving word that the FIFA rule concerning call-ups would be invoked.
* A REASONABLE compromise could have been reached, whereby Pablo and the KC guys would be in camp for Monday and Tuesday, head out to play the Wednesday match, then return to Columbus either that night or early on Thursday. Had the two men talked, this could have been accomplished.
* What this set-to has done has been to draw a line in the sand for Arena concerning camp and the expectation placed on those called-in. HE will make decisions as to who is in camp or not, NOT the club manager, and if a player cannot be made available for a length of time satisfactory to Bruce, he will not call the player in.
* On a side note, isn't it nice to have this flexibility within the player pool, to be able to stick to an up-front position because there are enough decent players that a moderately-strong roster can be brought together even with absences due to injuries, personal requests, and club managers' tantrums.
At this point, I expect all four players to be brought into camp for the second leg unless there is an injury to one of them tonight in Denver. I also expect Bruce to call in some additional players and allow those who are "needed" by their club sides to rejoin them since we will have a healthy margin in the aggregate heading down to St. George's.
Hankinson requested that his player, defender Pablo Mastroeni, be allowed to play in the Rapids' Wednesday night match against Kansas City before joining the US camp for Sunday's tilt with the Spice Boys. Upon this request, Arena chose not to call Mastroeni into camp, believing that players needed to be in Columbus for the entire week prior to the fixture. On top of that, he also chose not to call in three players from the Wizards (goalkeeper Tony Meola, striker Josh Wolff, and midfielder Kerry Zavagnin) so that the Rapids would not gain an advantage by hanging onto its player. Much has been written about who's right and who's wrong in this situation, and thus here is my take:
* Both sides dropped the ball here, for different reasons. On Hankinson's part, he chose to use the bully pulpit when it wasn't necessary. As for Arena, he did not make an effort to contact Hankinson after receiving word that the FIFA rule concerning call-ups would be invoked.
* A REASONABLE compromise could have been reached, whereby Pablo and the KC guys would be in camp for Monday and Tuesday, head out to play the Wednesday match, then return to Columbus either that night or early on Thursday. Had the two men talked, this could have been accomplished.
* What this set-to has done has been to draw a line in the sand for Arena concerning camp and the expectation placed on those called-in. HE will make decisions as to who is in camp or not, NOT the club manager, and if a player cannot be made available for a length of time satisfactory to Bruce, he will not call the player in.
* On a side note, isn't it nice to have this flexibility within the player pool, to be able to stick to an up-front position because there are enough decent players that a moderately-strong roster can be brought together even with absences due to injuries, personal requests, and club managers' tantrums.
At this point, I expect all four players to be brought into camp for the second leg unless there is an injury to one of them tonight in Denver. I also expect Bruce to call in some additional players and allow those who are "needed" by their club sides to rejoin them since we will have a healthy margin in the aggregate heading down to St. George's.
Sunday, June 06, 2004
Four in a row!
The Crew cobbled together another less-than-stellar performance today against New England. Yet when the dust settled, our boys in Black-and-Gold brought home three points from the east coast and now sit in second place in the Eastern Conference on 14 points (4-3-2), just two behind Chicago with a game in hand. My thoughts on the match:
* Greg seems to have found a "better" scheme for the five-man midfield in the absence of Simon Elliott through the use of two-way midfielders in the center behind Kyle Martino (Ross Paule and Brian Maissoneuve against San Jose last week; Paule and Manny Lagos today). With the Crew playing with defensive-minded wingers in Eric Denton and Frankie Hejduk, the offense must come through the center of the field, and while today's adventure at Estadio Gillette didn't look a WHOLE lot better than previous matches, the flow of the game is starting to move away from the long-ball over-the-top and speed moves of Surfer Dude to a possession game with reasonable passing across and down the field. It reminds me of how the 2003 Crew play in Championship Manager (3-4-3, with Martino/Maissoneuve in the center of midfield and Denton/Hejduk on the flanks). Now if we can just get a more offensive option at attacking mid than KMart has shown himself to be lately (Lagos, maybe?), we could make the 3 goal/game offense flow at the House that Lamar Built.
* The two penalty kicks conceded by the Crew in the match has to be cause for concern for Andrulis. For a team that gets results ugly, giving away prime scoring opportunities to the opposition via the spot-kick will eventually cost the team points as the season progresses.
* Manny Lagos continues to prove why he is such a valuable player to every team he has played for in the league (and I'm not saying that because he happens to be a fellow UW-Milwaukee alum). He works hard, can run off the ball AND with the ball, and gets himself into positions where his teammates can use him. Of the Crew's trades in the off-season, this was the best one.
About the streak: it doesn't have to end. The next three matches are Kansas City, DC Scum, and the (c)Rapids, so it's possible we could be unbeaten in nine games (ten if you include the US Open Cup match on June 30th) heading into the July 3rd match against the bums from the Windy City. Who could have said that on May 15th when we were 0-3-2 and staring at a fifth-anniversary celebration in a projected half-empty Crew Stadium against the Revolution? Surely not I!
Bring on the Lollipop Guild!
* Greg seems to have found a "better" scheme for the five-man midfield in the absence of Simon Elliott through the use of two-way midfielders in the center behind Kyle Martino (Ross Paule and Brian Maissoneuve against San Jose last week; Paule and Manny Lagos today). With the Crew playing with defensive-minded wingers in Eric Denton and Frankie Hejduk, the offense must come through the center of the field, and while today's adventure at Estadio Gillette didn't look a WHOLE lot better than previous matches, the flow of the game is starting to move away from the long-ball over-the-top and speed moves of Surfer Dude to a possession game with reasonable passing across and down the field. It reminds me of how the 2003 Crew play in Championship Manager (3-4-3, with Martino/Maissoneuve in the center of midfield and Denton/Hejduk on the flanks). Now if we can just get a more offensive option at attacking mid than KMart has shown himself to be lately (Lagos, maybe?), we could make the 3 goal/game offense flow at the House that Lamar Built.
* The two penalty kicks conceded by the Crew in the match has to be cause for concern for Andrulis. For a team that gets results ugly, giving away prime scoring opportunities to the opposition via the spot-kick will eventually cost the team points as the season progresses.
* Manny Lagos continues to prove why he is such a valuable player to every team he has played for in the league (and I'm not saying that because he happens to be a fellow UW-Milwaukee alum). He works hard, can run off the ball AND with the ball, and gets himself into positions where his teammates can use him. Of the Crew's trades in the off-season, this was the best one.
About the streak: it doesn't have to end. The next three matches are Kansas City, DC Scum, and the (c)Rapids, so it's possible we could be unbeaten in nine games (ten if you include the US Open Cup match on June 30th) heading into the July 3rd match against the bums from the Windy City. Who could have said that on May 15th when we were 0-3-2 and staring at a fifth-anniversary celebration in a projected half-empty Crew Stadium against the Revolution? Surely not I!
Bring on the Lollipop Guild!
World Cup Qualifying for Dummies
World Cup Qualifying. The mere mention of it brings chills to the spines of football fans from Auckland to Ottawa, from Lusaka to Tashkent, from Quito to Belfast. For our beloved Red, White, and Blue, it involves 18 games over 16 months in 3 separate and distinct stages. It’s not for the weak of heart, and it definitely is not a slam-dunk ANYWHERE in the world. For the United States, the preceding is the path it must travel to reach the ultimate goal of this journey: one of 3 guaranteed places from CONCACAF in the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany and the opportunity to compete with 31 other nations for the greatest prize in all of sport. The following is a list of key things to remember during qualifying that will make the experience more pleasant and less stressful for you, the fan.
1) It’s a LONG road to travel from the beginning of qualifying (June 13th, 2004) to its conclusion (October 12th, 2005), and things will happen along the way. Injuries will come into play, club managers will be less-than-cordial about releasing players, and team form will go up-and-down (and up-and-down and up-and-down). Trinidad and Tobago went 5-1-0 in its 2000 semifinal group, but 1-7-2 in the final group in 2001, getting four of their five points in its final two matches. Costa Rica went from needing to win a neutral-site playoff over Guatemala at the end of 2000 to qualify for the Hexagonal to clinching qualification for the World Cup with two matches to spare in September of 2001 and giving Mexico its first-ever qualifying loss as home. The US started qualifying with one point from two matches, ran off nine matches without a loss over the following 10 months, then dropped three straight before a combination of results (a win against Jamaica and help from other lands) put them into the World Cup one match early in October of 2001.
2) We will lose matches. There is no denying this fact, other than to live in an antiseptic dream world. Getting points on the road in CONCACAF is a very difficult task, so coming away from anywhere with a point or three should NOT be taken for granted. Over the past two qualifying cycles, the US was 4-5-7 on foreign soil, which included going 0-4-0 in Costa Rica, 0-1-1 in Mexico, 0-0-2 in Guatemala, and 0-0-2 in Jamaica. On home soil, we managed to go 12-1-3 over that time span, with two “good” draws (Mexico in 1997 and Costa Rica in 2000), one “bad” draw (Jamaica in 1997), and a horrendous loss on Labor Day Weekend 2001 to Honduras. Just as getting points away from home is hard, so is running the table at home. If you glean nothing else from my words, remember this mantra: Win at home, tie on the road.
3) Surprises happen. As I am typing this, the Solomon Islands pulled off the biggest result in its international football history with a 2-2 draw against a ten-man Australia side that advanced them to the final stage of Oceania World Cup qualifying ahead of defending Oceania Nations Cup champion New Zealand, a team who defeated the Solomons earlier in the round. The Kiwis, however, did one better a few days earlier when they lost 4-2 to Vanuatu (a result that ultimately cost them advancement). Costa Rica opened qualifying in 2000 by losing to Barbados, a result that almost came back to bite them at the end of the round. Trinidad and Tobago, a team on a tragically-bad run of form (1 point from 8 matches), shocked Honduras IN HONDURAS on Matchday 9 of the 2001 Hex to set the stage for the Catrachos’ elimination from qualifying on the final day at the hands of Mexico (and coincidentally clinched a berth in Korea/Japan for the United States).
4) The factors that affect national team call-ups are numerous, and change from match to match. At times, a solid member of the first XI will not be called in for a match. There are questionable call-ups for EVERY national team camp. Opponents change from match to match, and the proper personnel needed to get the result needs to change as well. Playing a team at home might necessitate different players than playing the same opponent on the road. Club matches and priorities affect at times the ability of a manager to call in certain players (e.g. John O’Brien not being available for the match at Mexico in 2001, the four players dismissed from camp just a couple days ago), and the schedule will at times affect the feasibility of calling up players stationed in Europe. The team’s formation, the personnel available, and “chemistry” all play a key role in determining whom to bring to camp. The camp roster for a one-off match will probably be different than that for a Saturday/Wednesday set of fixtures (the US will play two of these in its six-match semifinal group should it advance past Grenada). Another important thing to remember: EVERY player on the roster for a qualifier is there for a specific reason (some more obvious than others).
5) No two results are exactly the same. Hearing that the US won a qualifier 1-0 only tells part of the story. Who was the opponent? Where? How did they set up? How did WE set up? Who was/wasn’t available? The 1-0 win over Costa Rica in 2001 was MUCH different than the 1-0 win over them in 1997. Same for the 0-0 draws against Jamaica (1997 and 2001). Context means so much on the qualification road, and a result that might make one jump for joy at one time in the journey will make the same person curse the ancestors of the starting XI at another time. It comes with the territory.
6) Winning at home is CRUCIAL to advancing. The mantra I mentioned above holds true, as does the following axiom: If you take more road points than you surrender home points, you will advance. The US has gotten to the World Cup each of the past two times because they have defended home court well (no fewer than 11 points in either Hex) and gotten key road points along the way (the series of road draws in the 1997 Hex, a 30-match competition that saw only TWO road victories; the win at Honduras on Matchday 2 of the 2001 Hex). Honduras missed out on the 2002 World Cup because they lost THREE home matches (to the US, Costa Rica, and Trinidad/Tobago) out of five, not because Mexico got hot over the final five matches. You cannot make up ground on the road fast enough to negate dropped points at home. Below is a simple computation to keep in mind over the qualifying season:
--Every team starts with 0 points.
--As the group phase progresses, assign points based on the results according to this scale:
7) Just as the home crowd influences teams for good or bad, so they can influence the officials. The referee and linesmen are not immune to home-crowd pressure, especially in many of the locales in CONCACAF. Phantom penalties are called, legitimate fouls are not called, cards are/are not given on a seemingly random basis, and any or all of these can contribute to what might seem an unjust result. Having said that, the odd thing is that good teams tend to get breaks down the road that counteract the bad things that happen. No-calls on possible handballs against John O’Brien, Clint Mathis, and Jeff Agoos in the last qualifying cycle and World Cup are karmic counters to the phantom handball against Gregg Berhalter in Costa Rica in 2000 and the no-call on Thorsten Frings’ handball on the goal line in the World Cup quarterfinal against us.
8) At least one member of the starting XI in the first qualifier will be out of the player pool by the time the final qualifier is played, and several players off the radar today will make the final 23 for the World Cup should we qualify. Players that are in hot demand today might fall out of favor as the level of competition, the style of play, and the rise of players out of the pool changes. As a result of this, the manager might perceivably shaft your pet player. Deal with it!
9) Trust in our manager to get us to Germany. Sometimes he will look like he has no clue. Sometimes he will seem out-of-touch with the soccer-loving public. We must believe that Bruce will put us in position to qualify until such time as he has proven himself unable to do so.
10) WEAR RED on every matchday, attend every game you possible can (home and away), and support the boys in every way you can. We are ALL in this together, and the final destination is Leipzig in December of 2005 to find out who we will play in the group phase of the World Cup Finals the following June.
11) ENJOY THE RIDE!
1) It’s a LONG road to travel from the beginning of qualifying (June 13th, 2004) to its conclusion (October 12th, 2005), and things will happen along the way. Injuries will come into play, club managers will be less-than-cordial about releasing players, and team form will go up-and-down (and up-and-down and up-and-down). Trinidad and Tobago went 5-1-0 in its 2000 semifinal group, but 1-7-2 in the final group in 2001, getting four of their five points in its final two matches. Costa Rica went from needing to win a neutral-site playoff over Guatemala at the end of 2000 to qualify for the Hexagonal to clinching qualification for the World Cup with two matches to spare in September of 2001 and giving Mexico its first-ever qualifying loss as home. The US started qualifying with one point from two matches, ran off nine matches without a loss over the following 10 months, then dropped three straight before a combination of results (a win against Jamaica and help from other lands) put them into the World Cup one match early in October of 2001.
2) We will lose matches. There is no denying this fact, other than to live in an antiseptic dream world. Getting points on the road in CONCACAF is a very difficult task, so coming away from anywhere with a point or three should NOT be taken for granted. Over the past two qualifying cycles, the US was 4-5-7 on foreign soil, which included going 0-4-0 in Costa Rica, 0-1-1 in Mexico, 0-0-2 in Guatemala, and 0-0-2 in Jamaica. On home soil, we managed to go 12-1-3 over that time span, with two “good” draws (Mexico in 1997 and Costa Rica in 2000), one “bad” draw (Jamaica in 1997), and a horrendous loss on Labor Day Weekend 2001 to Honduras. Just as getting points away from home is hard, so is running the table at home. If you glean nothing else from my words, remember this mantra: Win at home, tie on the road.
3) Surprises happen. As I am typing this, the Solomon Islands pulled off the biggest result in its international football history with a 2-2 draw against a ten-man Australia side that advanced them to the final stage of Oceania World Cup qualifying ahead of defending Oceania Nations Cup champion New Zealand, a team who defeated the Solomons earlier in the round. The Kiwis, however, did one better a few days earlier when they lost 4-2 to Vanuatu (a result that ultimately cost them advancement). Costa Rica opened qualifying in 2000 by losing to Barbados, a result that almost came back to bite them at the end of the round. Trinidad and Tobago, a team on a tragically-bad run of form (1 point from 8 matches), shocked Honduras IN HONDURAS on Matchday 9 of the 2001 Hex to set the stage for the Catrachos’ elimination from qualifying on the final day at the hands of Mexico (and coincidentally clinched a berth in Korea/Japan for the United States).
4) The factors that affect national team call-ups are numerous, and change from match to match. At times, a solid member of the first XI will not be called in for a match. There are questionable call-ups for EVERY national team camp. Opponents change from match to match, and the proper personnel needed to get the result needs to change as well. Playing a team at home might necessitate different players than playing the same opponent on the road. Club matches and priorities affect at times the ability of a manager to call in certain players (e.g. John O’Brien not being available for the match at Mexico in 2001, the four players dismissed from camp just a couple days ago), and the schedule will at times affect the feasibility of calling up players stationed in Europe. The team’s formation, the personnel available, and “chemistry” all play a key role in determining whom to bring to camp. The camp roster for a one-off match will probably be different than that for a Saturday/Wednesday set of fixtures (the US will play two of these in its six-match semifinal group should it advance past Grenada). Another important thing to remember: EVERY player on the roster for a qualifier is there for a specific reason (some more obvious than others).
5) No two results are exactly the same. Hearing that the US won a qualifier 1-0 only tells part of the story. Who was the opponent? Where? How did they set up? How did WE set up? Who was/wasn’t available? The 1-0 win over Costa Rica in 2001 was MUCH different than the 1-0 win over them in 1997. Same for the 0-0 draws against Jamaica (1997 and 2001). Context means so much on the qualification road, and a result that might make one jump for joy at one time in the journey will make the same person curse the ancestors of the starting XI at another time. It comes with the territory.
6) Winning at home is CRUCIAL to advancing. The mantra I mentioned above holds true, as does the following axiom: If you take more road points than you surrender home points, you will advance. The US has gotten to the World Cup each of the past two times because they have defended home court well (no fewer than 11 points in either Hex) and gotten key road points along the way (the series of road draws in the 1997 Hex, a 30-match competition that saw only TWO road victories; the win at Honduras on Matchday 2 of the 2001 Hex). Honduras missed out on the 2002 World Cup because they lost THREE home matches (to the US, Costa Rica, and Trinidad/Tobago) out of five, not because Mexico got hot over the final five matches. You cannot make up ground on the road fast enough to negate dropped points at home. Below is a simple computation to keep in mind over the qualifying season:
--Every team starts with 0 points.
--As the group phase progresses, assign points based on the results according to this scale:
0 points for a home win--If your team is above 0, you’re in good shape; if below 0, you should worry.
–2 for a home draw
–3 points for a home loss
0 for a road loss
1 point for a road draw
3 points for a road win
7) Just as the home crowd influences teams for good or bad, so they can influence the officials. The referee and linesmen are not immune to home-crowd pressure, especially in many of the locales in CONCACAF. Phantom penalties are called, legitimate fouls are not called, cards are/are not given on a seemingly random basis, and any or all of these can contribute to what might seem an unjust result. Having said that, the odd thing is that good teams tend to get breaks down the road that counteract the bad things that happen. No-calls on possible handballs against John O’Brien, Clint Mathis, and Jeff Agoos in the last qualifying cycle and World Cup are karmic counters to the phantom handball against Gregg Berhalter in Costa Rica in 2000 and the no-call on Thorsten Frings’ handball on the goal line in the World Cup quarterfinal against us.
8) At least one member of the starting XI in the first qualifier will be out of the player pool by the time the final qualifier is played, and several players off the radar today will make the final 23 for the World Cup should we qualify. Players that are in hot demand today might fall out of favor as the level of competition, the style of play, and the rise of players out of the pool changes. As a result of this, the manager might perceivably shaft your pet player. Deal with it!
9) Trust in our manager to get us to Germany. Sometimes he will look like he has no clue. Sometimes he will seem out-of-touch with the soccer-loving public. We must believe that Bruce will put us in position to qualify until such time as he has proven himself unable to do so.
10) WEAR RED on every matchday, attend every game you possible can (home and away), and support the boys in every way you can. We are ALL in this together, and the final destination is Leipzig in December of 2005 to find out who we will play in the group phase of the World Cup Finals the following June.
11) ENJOY THE RIDE!
Friday, June 04, 2004
The Proper Use of Force
New Zealand 10, Tahiti 0. After my entry yesterday, you would think that I’d be outraged by the scoreline. I’m not, because I understand the reason behind it. The Kiwis were tied for third place in the Oceania World Cup qualifying table heading into the match (their next-to-last of the campaign, and the first one of the matchday in Adelaide) and need to finish second in order to advance to a two-leg playoff with Australia for the confederation’s place in a tie against CONMEBOL’s fifth-place team for the right to play in the 2006 World Cup Finals (try saying that quickly a few times). Because they will be tied with the Solomon Islands for second place at nine points (the Solomons have nine heading into their final group match against Australia), goal differential (goals scored minus goals allowed) will be used to determine the qualifier. The ten-spot hung by the All Whites on the Tahitians has settled that argument (supposing 1-0 results for New Zealand and Australia, the Kiwis will advance with a GD of +11 with the Solomons’ GD being +2), which is why I believe it was a proper use of force.
I return to the United States’ 7-0 win over Barbados in 2000 as a prime example of being forceful with purpose. The Yanks were sitting on one point and in last place of their semifinal group after their first two qualifiers. From that position, the likelihood of finishing tied for second was substantial. Therefore, putting up a big number on the group’s perceived minnow when no one in the group had done so (the Ticos LOST 2-1 to the Bajans on Matchday 1 and the Guatemalans beat them 2-0 on Matchday 2) would give them the key tiebreaker should it be needed.
When groups are used in qualifying, sometimes a team has to put up a lopsided scoreline to take control of the goal differential tiebreaker. Even in those cases, it usually takes only one such score to accomplish the mission (now if all sides are racking up the goals against a weak sister, such as a three-legged playoff involving the US, Mexico, and Belize, then it’s another story). What Frank Farina did in Oceania qualifying the last go-around was downright despicable and unsporting. What Mick Waitt did today, and what Bruce did in 2000, was necessary and proper. In two-leg qualifying playoffs, there is absolutely NO reason to pile it on once the overall result has been determined. As such, there should NEVER be a run-up in the second leg of a tie and only enough of one in the first leg to make the second leg moot. I will interested in seeing what the behemoths of CONCACAF do in their qualifying playoffs, for there is such a thing as winning big with honor and grace.
I return to the United States’ 7-0 win over Barbados in 2000 as a prime example of being forceful with purpose. The Yanks were sitting on one point and in last place of their semifinal group after their first two qualifiers. From that position, the likelihood of finishing tied for second was substantial. Therefore, putting up a big number on the group’s perceived minnow when no one in the group had done so (the Ticos LOST 2-1 to the Bajans on Matchday 1 and the Guatemalans beat them 2-0 on Matchday 2) would give them the key tiebreaker should it be needed.
When groups are used in qualifying, sometimes a team has to put up a lopsided scoreline to take control of the goal differential tiebreaker. Even in those cases, it usually takes only one such score to accomplish the mission (now if all sides are racking up the goals against a weak sister, such as a three-legged playoff involving the US, Mexico, and Belize, then it’s another story). What Frank Farina did in Oceania qualifying the last go-around was downright despicable and unsporting. What Mick Waitt did today, and what Bruce did in 2000, was necessary and proper. In two-leg qualifying playoffs, there is absolutely NO reason to pile it on once the overall result has been determined. As such, there should NEVER be a run-up in the second leg of a tie and only enough of one in the first leg to make the second leg moot. I will interested in seeing what the behemoths of CONCACAF do in their qualifying playoffs, for there is such a thing as winning big with honor and grace.
Thursday, June 03, 2004
Columbus and St. George's
Well, now that Arena the Bruce has set the 22 for the two-leg playoff against Grenada, we can critique it and see where his mind is with respect to advancing from this round. The boy is NOT playing around, bringing almost every big dog on the block (there are a couple about which I have questions). The squad he has brought in is capable of going Farina on the Spice Boyz in the aggregate. Is that what we want to have happen, to run out a 15-0 or more two-game total by using the absolute best we have, or should we look at this as two separate games, with personnel and outcomes different for each? If the result is decided after the first leg, should we re-consider our objective for the second match and further deepen our pool of talent, or is it more important to get this top XI on the same page for the later rounds?
From my perspective, BA should have two scenarios in mind for the second match’s roster, based on the result of the first leg. If we do not have a sizable margin after the first match, then we bring the big dogs to St. George's and lay the wood a second time. If we do have such a margin after the home leg (6-0 or 7-0, minimum), then Bruce should use the second match to get some guys who could play significant roles later on in qualifying (because players can and do get injured; because European club managers can be snippy about releasing players for single matches on this side of the Atlantic, even if it IS an international matchdate; and because different opponents require different personnel) some valuable experience in a road qualifier. Therefore, he should have a sizeable list of alternates for the match on the 20th that he can bring to camp and give minutes to in St. George’s if the result is not in question. No, I am NOT calling for Freddy to get his maiden senior cap in the second leg of the Grenada playoff, because that would be an inane suggestion. What I am advocating, however, is that Bruce have a list of goals for the second match that are NOT tied AT ALL to those for the first leg. Because I am pimping this idea, here is a short list of goals and ideas surrounding that match:
1) The match MUST be won! That said, 1-0 is as acceptable a result as 12-0 for the second leg, assuming the first leg theoretically settles the tie. Therefore, call in a team that can get a minimalist result while providing experience to players capable of a Beasley-like jump between now and the Hex.
2) The US style of play must continue to be applied with these new players so that they are able to step in should an opening in the line-up come available in later rounds. We do NOT change formations from match one to match two, nor do we change the mentality of the scheme either. The preferred scheme now seems to be a box midfield with width provided by the wingbacks. We need to get more players acclimated to this in game competition, especially in positions where we do not currently have ample depth.
3) Certain players need to be included in the first XI so that this “education” can take place. Having a solid central defense that has played together in several matches (even if none have been of this magnitude) along with a tested international between the pipes is critical to that.
4) Matches such as this second leg tend to be both good and bad. Good in the sense that you get to see how neophytes do when thrown into the fire of qualifying, but bad because you are bound to a maximum of fourteen players participating (starting XI and three subs).
5) As for lineup, I am unsure exactly who should be in it, but here are some ideas. I see Bocanegra and Gibbs playing the central defense core with Meola backing them up in net. Convey starts on the left with Cherundolo on the right. Reyna plays one defensive midfield position with Mastroeni playing the other. The attacking midfielders should be guys not named Landon and DeMarcus, but I’m lost as to who goes here. Casey starts up top, but I can’t pick out a partner at the moment. In short, tons of guys playing different places and guys playing who are a step or two down the depth chart.
First leg: 8-0 at least. Second leg: depends on BA’s mood and motives.
On to Soccer Mecca in ten days to begin the eighteen-month trek that will hopefully end in Leipzig in early December 2005 when our country’s name is pulled from one of the pots and placed in its fifth consecutive World Cup Finals. Save me a seat at the tailgate!
From my perspective, BA should have two scenarios in mind for the second match’s roster, based on the result of the first leg. If we do not have a sizable margin after the first match, then we bring the big dogs to St. George's and lay the wood a second time. If we do have such a margin after the home leg (6-0 or 7-0, minimum), then Bruce should use the second match to get some guys who could play significant roles later on in qualifying (because players can and do get injured; because European club managers can be snippy about releasing players for single matches on this side of the Atlantic, even if it IS an international matchdate; and because different opponents require different personnel) some valuable experience in a road qualifier. Therefore, he should have a sizeable list of alternates for the match on the 20th that he can bring to camp and give minutes to in St. George’s if the result is not in question. No, I am NOT calling for Freddy to get his maiden senior cap in the second leg of the Grenada playoff, because that would be an inane suggestion. What I am advocating, however, is that Bruce have a list of goals for the second match that are NOT tied AT ALL to those for the first leg. Because I am pimping this idea, here is a short list of goals and ideas surrounding that match:
1) The match MUST be won! That said, 1-0 is as acceptable a result as 12-0 for the second leg, assuming the first leg theoretically settles the tie. Therefore, call in a team that can get a minimalist result while providing experience to players capable of a Beasley-like jump between now and the Hex.
2) The US style of play must continue to be applied with these new players so that they are able to step in should an opening in the line-up come available in later rounds. We do NOT change formations from match one to match two, nor do we change the mentality of the scheme either. The preferred scheme now seems to be a box midfield with width provided by the wingbacks. We need to get more players acclimated to this in game competition, especially in positions where we do not currently have ample depth.
3) Certain players need to be included in the first XI so that this “education” can take place. Having a solid central defense that has played together in several matches (even if none have been of this magnitude) along with a tested international between the pipes is critical to that.
4) Matches such as this second leg tend to be both good and bad. Good in the sense that you get to see how neophytes do when thrown into the fire of qualifying, but bad because you are bound to a maximum of fourteen players participating (starting XI and three subs).
5) As for lineup, I am unsure exactly who should be in it, but here are some ideas. I see Bocanegra and Gibbs playing the central defense core with Meola backing them up in net. Convey starts on the left with Cherundolo on the right. Reyna plays one defensive midfield position with Mastroeni playing the other. The attacking midfielders should be guys not named Landon and DeMarcus, but I’m lost as to who goes here. Casey starts up top, but I can’t pick out a partner at the moment. In short, tons of guys playing different places and guys playing who are a step or two down the depth chart.
First leg: 8-0 at least. Second leg: depends on BA’s mood and motives.
On to Soccer Mecca in ten days to begin the eighteen-month trek that will hopefully end in Leipzig in early December 2005 when our country’s name is pulled from one of the pots and placed in its fifth consecutive World Cup Finals. Save me a seat at the tailgate!
