Chicago1871
24 Aug 2004, 09:34 PM
Until fairly recently the weekly MLS AAXI has been a good source of information, sprinkled with the occasional rant by some idiot about how we ignore the Wizards, or how we never seem to put Pat Onstad/Amando Guevarra on the team. Lord knows its tough to find news about MLS, and I've enjoyed using this thread to keep up.
After reading a few posts about this week’s games, however, I'm done with it. A few posters (everyone knows who they are) need a large does of perspective. All I read this weekend on the MLS boards was “Bring back the shootout,” “the clock should count up,” Why can’t all ten teams make the playoffs,” “Why not play four of seven for MLS Cup like the World Series,” “Bring back the Cosmos,” “Bring back Team America,” “Sign David Beckham,” “Move the Galaxy to San Diego,” and “Dema Kovalenko needs to play more aggressively,” ad nauseum. And Garber should certainly be fired, in spite of MLS having more new investor interest and stadium projects than at any time in its history.
Let's look for some perspective:
1. MLS has done irreparable damage to the national team program. The fact that a Gonzaga/Sounders/Quakes product took the field in a crucial road qualifier and failed to score the necessary two goals to give the team the win is clear evidence of this.
2. Dallas’ defense fails to grasp that they are not supposed to put the ball in their own net. Cory Gibbs continues to run neck-in-neck with Steve Jolley to see who will lead the team and the league in own goals. Additionally, I believe that youth coaches need to starting teaching goalies like Jeff Cassar not to save the ball with their face. I blame Title IX.
3. The Crew clearly need to be moved. There is no excuse for only drawing 24,000 for the Columbus debut of Freddy Adu. Pathetic. As punishment, they should be forced (for real this time), to trade Danny Szetela to the Metros, who will quickly sign and trade Sanneh to complete the deal, after being allocated Sanneh under a new MLS rule that guys named Tony belong in Jersey.
4. The quality of MLS’ reserve keepers needs to be improved. Bo Oshoniyi’s “Best Performance by Worst Goalkeeper” effort on Saturday only serves as the exception that proves this rule. Good thing only friends and family of the Revs were on hand to see it.
5. The new “Jordan Cila” rule, under which Cila (who only scores against the Metros) will be traded to whichever team plays the Metros that week, has been imposed, guaranteeing that the Metros will fail to make the playoffs after losing their last eight games.
3-6-1. Steve Sampson began his reign as the best-ever manager in MLS with a draw. I state this with certainty, given his status as the best-ever manager for the US National Team.
7. If I appear to he a hostile/complainer/whining poster, so be it. I reserve the right to tell you all you’re a bunch of blithering idiots who don’t know the first thing about calcio if I damn well please. Plus, I spent all weekend at a two-day bachelor party and my wife’s birthday and didn’t watch a single damn minute of soccer for the first time in hundreds of weekends. So you probably shouldn’t trust anything I have to say about this weekend in MLS anyway.
Enough of this. Flame away, but I won't be back to read it.*
This week the AAXI is lining up in a 3-4-3. This is a tough lineup. There isn’t a guy on this team who couldn’t dump you on your ass one minute then lay off a perfect pass to a teammate for a spectacular goal. Pick a way to get burned/beat/or thrown off the ball and each of these guys can do it. Possibly one of the more dangerous AAXI squads to date.
Bo Oshoniyi (1): Bo knows, but the rest of us don’t…how to spell his name that is. Despite not many people being able to spell the man’s name from memory, he made some nice stops against the Revolution. Filled in well for Meola at the last minute, and solidified his spot on the AAXI with a superb diving stop to his left against a well-taken Noonan header that saved the win for KC on the road. His big play helped KC tie LA for the Western Conference lead.
Jim Curtin (4): Another solid performance (which is usually how one describes Curtin day in and day out). His marking was good, his distribution was spot-on, and he constantly cleared balls and knocked opposing forwards around just enough to win the ball. He is so smooth and calm on the ball you’d think he was a 10 year veteran, and he always seems to be in the right position.
CJ Brown (3): As Wynada said late in the first half, "CJ Brown came to play." Similarly to Curtin, Brown marked well, cleared passes, and knocked around just about anyone who challenged him. CJ is the kind of guy you want playing WITH you, not against you. Jovan Kirovski learned the hard way that CJ is not a softy. He is one tough guy but isn't just a thug. He's a smart player who knows how to get in good positions to defend and disrupt the offense.
Chad Marshall (4): [Again] like Curtin, Marshall always seems to be in the right place at the right time. He's just a good, smart, tough defender. Some people out there still aren’t convinced that Marshall is as good as others proclaim, but his quality was on display Saturday night. He looked comfortable and confident defending and dangerous in front of DC's goal.
Ned Grabavoy (2): Played a big-time game. He was out there to prove to Sampson that he deserves a starting spot. His passing was near perfect, and his slicing runs were extremely dangerous. Grabavoy took the opportunity to impress his new coach by becoming Ned the dribbling machine, embarrassing Chris Armas' attempts to defend him and Dave Sarachan's failure to draft him (Scott Buete?) despite being a local and former Chicago Fire Reserves star. On one play, Ned went full on Freddy Adu dribbling between at least six Fire players before his shot was barely stopped by a sliding Henry Ring. Chris Armas tried to ride him off the ball another time as he dribbled into the box, and Grabavoy barely seemed to notice as he went right on by leaving Armas flopping on the turf like a mackerel. Is Grabavoy the only ‘Ned’ in the history of MLS? Something to ponder.
Ramiro Corrales (1): It would be simply wrong to not nominate Corrales this week. Maybe he's caught some sort of bug, or maybe he's just found the position where he belongs in the SJ scheme, but the guy has been a force for the past few weeks. He was great against Dallas. He's a player who when he is on plays to his strengths, and gets the most out of the game he's got. Banged a side-netter home and then hit a bank shot off of Cory Gibbs to get the Quakes a 2-0 lead. Was a major part of a dominating Quakes side.
Mark Chung (2): Finally showed why he was once an MVP candidate in the league. He was creative and assertive in his play. He took chances, and he reminded us that he has a freakin’ cannon of a shot. That left-footed blast that led to Cila's goal was beautiful. He also had a nice chip that almost made Walker look silly, and got himself in position to put one more away, but couldn't find the necessary touch. Along the way, he kept the Colorado offense flowing, finding and supporting his teammates. An all-around good game.
Kyle Martino (4): Probably the most dangerous player with the ball at his feet this weekend: yes, even more dangerous than Jamie Moreno because Martino is willing to run more. He beat DC's defenders off the dribble, seemingly at will. Some have come to the conclusion that the name of the game for this kid is ‘space.’ Putting him up top has given Kyle the room he needs to operate, and it has resulted in a "massive" change in his game. He's beating guys on the dribble again. He's finding his teammates in dangerous spots, and he's drawing free kicks that lead to goals. The fire has returned, and the Crew are better for it.
Landon Donovan (7): How would you like that dish served, sir? Twice Donovan set the plate perfectly for his teammates. San Jose was playing its vintage style this week, and really - is there a team in MLS that’s more fun to watch than San Jose when they are on their game? The ball moves so quickly sometimes the camera has a hard time keeping up. And even more impressive are the players moving away from the ball. That's Donovan. Runs his tail off, knows what he's going to do with the ball before it gets to his feet, and then executes flawlessly. He and his Quakes teammates dismantled the Dallas defense with quick, smart passing and great off-the-ball running. Just good soccer.
Nate Jaqua (5): The kid showed a lot of heart (as did most of the Fire for the first time in a long while). If Jaqua had scored on the rocket in the first half he might have been a popular vote for GOTY. As it is, he displayed go form in the air, comfort holding the ball, the ability to shoot, and the willingness to take on defender. What more could you want? Oh, yeah: a goal.
Alecko Eskandarian (5): Alecko did not have a lot of service to work with. He did, however, make the most of his opportunities by hitting a laser to score DC's first goal. He created the set piece with some nice dribbling and theatrics once again proving that there is another young, left-footed talent in DC
*header provided by Casper. If you don’t understand it, please PM him for an explanation or call him at home as early as you like...or check out a recently popular thread in the ‘Journal’ area.
After reading a few posts about this week’s games, however, I'm done with it. A few posters (everyone knows who they are) need a large does of perspective. All I read this weekend on the MLS boards was “Bring back the shootout,” “the clock should count up,” Why can’t all ten teams make the playoffs,” “Why not play four of seven for MLS Cup like the World Series,” “Bring back the Cosmos,” “Bring back Team America,” “Sign David Beckham,” “Move the Galaxy to San Diego,” and “Dema Kovalenko needs to play more aggressively,” ad nauseum. And Garber should certainly be fired, in spite of MLS having more new investor interest and stadium projects than at any time in its history.
Let's look for some perspective:
1. MLS has done irreparable damage to the national team program. The fact that a Gonzaga/Sounders/Quakes product took the field in a crucial road qualifier and failed to score the necessary two goals to give the team the win is clear evidence of this.
2. Dallas’ defense fails to grasp that they are not supposed to put the ball in their own net. Cory Gibbs continues to run neck-in-neck with Steve Jolley to see who will lead the team and the league in own goals. Additionally, I believe that youth coaches need to starting teaching goalies like Jeff Cassar not to save the ball with their face. I blame Title IX.
3. The Crew clearly need to be moved. There is no excuse for only drawing 24,000 for the Columbus debut of Freddy Adu. Pathetic. As punishment, they should be forced (for real this time), to trade Danny Szetela to the Metros, who will quickly sign and trade Sanneh to complete the deal, after being allocated Sanneh under a new MLS rule that guys named Tony belong in Jersey.
4. The quality of MLS’ reserve keepers needs to be improved. Bo Oshoniyi’s “Best Performance by Worst Goalkeeper” effort on Saturday only serves as the exception that proves this rule. Good thing only friends and family of the Revs were on hand to see it.
5. The new “Jordan Cila” rule, under which Cila (who only scores against the Metros) will be traded to whichever team plays the Metros that week, has been imposed, guaranteeing that the Metros will fail to make the playoffs after losing their last eight games.
3-6-1. Steve Sampson began his reign as the best-ever manager in MLS with a draw. I state this with certainty, given his status as the best-ever manager for the US National Team.
7. If I appear to he a hostile/complainer/whining poster, so be it. I reserve the right to tell you all you’re a bunch of blithering idiots who don’t know the first thing about calcio if I damn well please. Plus, I spent all weekend at a two-day bachelor party and my wife’s birthday and didn’t watch a single damn minute of soccer for the first time in hundreds of weekends. So you probably shouldn’t trust anything I have to say about this weekend in MLS anyway.
Enough of this. Flame away, but I won't be back to read it.*
This week the AAXI is lining up in a 3-4-3. This is a tough lineup. There isn’t a guy on this team who couldn’t dump you on your ass one minute then lay off a perfect pass to a teammate for a spectacular goal. Pick a way to get burned/beat/or thrown off the ball and each of these guys can do it. Possibly one of the more dangerous AAXI squads to date.
Bo Oshoniyi (1): Bo knows, but the rest of us don’t…how to spell his name that is. Despite not many people being able to spell the man’s name from memory, he made some nice stops against the Revolution. Filled in well for Meola at the last minute, and solidified his spot on the AAXI with a superb diving stop to his left against a well-taken Noonan header that saved the win for KC on the road. His big play helped KC tie LA for the Western Conference lead.
Jim Curtin (4): Another solid performance (which is usually how one describes Curtin day in and day out). His marking was good, his distribution was spot-on, and he constantly cleared balls and knocked opposing forwards around just enough to win the ball. He is so smooth and calm on the ball you’d think he was a 10 year veteran, and he always seems to be in the right position.
CJ Brown (3): As Wynada said late in the first half, "CJ Brown came to play." Similarly to Curtin, Brown marked well, cleared passes, and knocked around just about anyone who challenged him. CJ is the kind of guy you want playing WITH you, not against you. Jovan Kirovski learned the hard way that CJ is not a softy. He is one tough guy but isn't just a thug. He's a smart player who knows how to get in good positions to defend and disrupt the offense.
Chad Marshall (4): [Again] like Curtin, Marshall always seems to be in the right place at the right time. He's just a good, smart, tough defender. Some people out there still aren’t convinced that Marshall is as good as others proclaim, but his quality was on display Saturday night. He looked comfortable and confident defending and dangerous in front of DC's goal.
Ned Grabavoy (2): Played a big-time game. He was out there to prove to Sampson that he deserves a starting spot. His passing was near perfect, and his slicing runs were extremely dangerous. Grabavoy took the opportunity to impress his new coach by becoming Ned the dribbling machine, embarrassing Chris Armas' attempts to defend him and Dave Sarachan's failure to draft him (Scott Buete?) despite being a local and former Chicago Fire Reserves star. On one play, Ned went full on Freddy Adu dribbling between at least six Fire players before his shot was barely stopped by a sliding Henry Ring. Chris Armas tried to ride him off the ball another time as he dribbled into the box, and Grabavoy barely seemed to notice as he went right on by leaving Armas flopping on the turf like a mackerel. Is Grabavoy the only ‘Ned’ in the history of MLS? Something to ponder.
Ramiro Corrales (1): It would be simply wrong to not nominate Corrales this week. Maybe he's caught some sort of bug, or maybe he's just found the position where he belongs in the SJ scheme, but the guy has been a force for the past few weeks. He was great against Dallas. He's a player who when he is on plays to his strengths, and gets the most out of the game he's got. Banged a side-netter home and then hit a bank shot off of Cory Gibbs to get the Quakes a 2-0 lead. Was a major part of a dominating Quakes side.
Mark Chung (2): Finally showed why he was once an MVP candidate in the league. He was creative and assertive in his play. He took chances, and he reminded us that he has a freakin’ cannon of a shot. That left-footed blast that led to Cila's goal was beautiful. He also had a nice chip that almost made Walker look silly, and got himself in position to put one more away, but couldn't find the necessary touch. Along the way, he kept the Colorado offense flowing, finding and supporting his teammates. An all-around good game.
Kyle Martino (4): Probably the most dangerous player with the ball at his feet this weekend: yes, even more dangerous than Jamie Moreno because Martino is willing to run more. He beat DC's defenders off the dribble, seemingly at will. Some have come to the conclusion that the name of the game for this kid is ‘space.’ Putting him up top has given Kyle the room he needs to operate, and it has resulted in a "massive" change in his game. He's beating guys on the dribble again. He's finding his teammates in dangerous spots, and he's drawing free kicks that lead to goals. The fire has returned, and the Crew are better for it.
Landon Donovan (7): How would you like that dish served, sir? Twice Donovan set the plate perfectly for his teammates. San Jose was playing its vintage style this week, and really - is there a team in MLS that’s more fun to watch than San Jose when they are on their game? The ball moves so quickly sometimes the camera has a hard time keeping up. And even more impressive are the players moving away from the ball. That's Donovan. Runs his tail off, knows what he's going to do with the ball before it gets to his feet, and then executes flawlessly. He and his Quakes teammates dismantled the Dallas defense with quick, smart passing and great off-the-ball running. Just good soccer.
Nate Jaqua (5): The kid showed a lot of heart (as did most of the Fire for the first time in a long while). If Jaqua had scored on the rocket in the first half he might have been a popular vote for GOTY. As it is, he displayed go form in the air, comfort holding the ball, the ability to shoot, and the willingness to take on defender. What more could you want? Oh, yeah: a goal.
Alecko Eskandarian (5): Alecko did not have a lot of service to work with. He did, however, make the most of his opportunities by hitting a laser to score DC's first goal. He created the set piece with some nice dribbling and theatrics once again proving that there is another young, left-footed talent in DC
*header provided by Casper. If you don’t understand it, please PM him for an explanation or call him at home as early as you like...or check out a recently popular thread in the ‘Journal’ area.