That may be true, but I for one relish the opportunity to see us go up against top-notch opposition in a competitive setting not for its predictive value to assess how we'll perform in the future but for its entertainment value and the chance to see how we're performing at a given moment in time. Me too.
And now Galliani denies that Leonardo will be leaving: http://www.milannews.it/?action=read&idnotizia=23589 Could just be trying to protect the image of the team until the season is over, but for now I'll put the crow on ice.
1) Congrats to people who predicted Leo's departure. You deserve a beer. 2) I think it's too soon to tell how the new coach will affect Gooch. If Leo's assistant--I can't remember his name--takes over, then we're looking at a coach who already knows Gooch. 3) Good news that Gooch is back to fill training. In the lineup for this weekend's match?
Counter-argument, which is increasingly off topic... Back in 2007, the question was: how do we divide limited resources for the Gold Cup and Copa America? The answer was -- try to win the Gold Cup so we get to the Confederations Cup so we can prepare for the World Cup. Thus, A team to Gold Cup and B (or C) team to Copa America, which stopped inviting us since we didn't take it seriously. If the US emphasized Copa America, then we'd have had several games against top opposition in a tournament our opponents are likely to take more seriously than the Confederations Cup, and more likely to get invited back. Not necessarily, true. But it doesn't support the conclusion it was a great benefit either.
Gooch has been listed as unavailable for this weekend's match: http://www.newnotizie.it/2010/04/29...do-e-prandelli-si-giocano-il-tutto-per-tutto/ It's only a newspaper, and doesn't represent official team policy, but it's not looking good. He's running out of matches to play in this season.
Some more shots of Gooch in today's training video: http://milantime.acmilan.com/it--allenamento_a_milanello-h-0-0-11457-0 Running with the team, then partaking in the 10-v-10 (not quite sure what the white pinnie means, maybe that he's playing for both sides?), then laying it off to Zambrotta near the end.
Why do the Milan films always have 70s porno music? i bet Gooch's white shirt represents the fact that he's still recovering from injury. White = don't slide tackle me.
white pinnie to signify that a player is coming back from injury and should not be tackled (hard)????? I am not an American football fan, but somehow I recall that they do something like this in pointy ball.
Might be moot if UEFA gets its way and teams aren't allowed to compete in other confederations' tournaments. As for the Confed Cup, games against top opponents at neutral venues and with a degree of pressure sound like something that could only benefit a team, however big or small that may be. Let's just agree to disagree.
A recent update: AC Milan said Thursday he has been alternating training on his own and with the team but still wasn’t ready to play. Even before getting hurt, Onyewu appeared in just one of 10 competitive matches for AC Milan, entering as a 60th-minute substitute in a Champions League match against Zurich on Sept. 30. “Our expectation is that it may be hard for him at the end of the year to get back into the team there, play games, but certainly good news just in terms of regular training,” Bradley said.http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=ap-wcup-us-bradley
You're giving the Confed Cup short shrift. The venue isn't just a neutral venue-- it's the WCF host, a year in advance. It's a trial run through the World Cup finals. You get to use the facilities, practice on the fields, scout out the good trainings spots, etc., etc. Probably less useful in Germany than South Africa, but with 2014 being in Brazil, going to the confed cup will, once again, be a very useful exercise for the teams that are there.
That's the theory anyway, which makes sense. Whether that results in an appreciable difference in performance remains to be seen.
Gooch is still "indisponible." He didn't make the squad. Kaladze, Bonera and Favalli did. Questi i 22 convocati di Mister Leonardo per la gara di domani contro la Fiorentina: Abbiati, Dida, Albertazzi (n.59), Antonini, Bonera, Favalli, Jankulovski, Kaladze, Oddo, Thiago Silva, Zambrotta, Ambrosini, Flamini, Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf, Adiyiah, Borriello, Huntelaar, Inzaghi, Mancini, Ronaldinho. Giocatori indisponibili: Abate, Nesta, Onyewu, Beckham, Pato
Seedorf on Oguchi Onyewu: "He’s been unlucky, but we have become good friends. I think he potential is a great defender for AC Milan in the long term, and I really wish for him to have a great world Cup where he can the tone for his next season with us. He is on a mission. I told him he is on a mission. He can be one of the first American player to really make it at the highest level with a big team, a big club like AC Milan. I know he’s very much concentrating his focus on getting in great shape. He’s doing well so let’s hope he can help his team, the U.S. team, during the World Cup, to play a good World Cup." Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/s...ilan-coming-to-DC-92502439.html#ixzz0mbXuYsvk
http://milantime.acmilan.com/it--allenamento_a_milanello-h-0-0-11467-0 If you take a look at today's practice session you can notice two things that I would consider negative: 1. He is wearing a protective knee guard and almost seems to be limping 2. He is running and warmin up along the other players, but disappears toward the end when they are sprinting This tells me he is not ready for a return to the field. Also, I hate adding to the negativity, but I will disclose some important facts for anybody here who wants to see him succeed at Milan. FYI, I am from Milan and grew up wth season tickets for the club until I moved to the US at the end of high school to play DI college soccer right around the same time Onyewu was at Clemson and have been here in the US ever since. I am a die hard AC Milan fan and especially when visiting back home a huge fan of US soccer in general as any US player succeding in Europe brings me the respect of my friends in Italy who still tease me nowdays for playing in the US. I was very excited when Onyewu signed for Milan. However, what I read constantly on Italian boards and the press is that Onyewu is unanimously considered and being labeled as a joke of a player, "the next Bogarde" and that along many others needs to be sold this summer. I am not sure if Galliani shares this opinion, but this is really the only opinions I come across. I pretty much never found an Italian language piece of press or fans review with any positivity on him.
To be fair, there have only been three Confed Cups in the year preceding a World Cup. In '97, Brazil won the CC and reached the final of the WC. In '01, France won the CC and crashed out in the group stage of the WC. In '05, Brazil won the CC and lost in the quarterfinals. Not exactly a big enough sample space to make any kind of conclusion. But beyond the WC prep, what about the idea of actually just winning the Confed Cup? I mean, there are just three tournaments every four years (if you don't want to count that second, "lesser" Gold Cup), which means just three chances every four years to win a trophy. Are we really just going to dismiss one of those? Of course, winning the CC wouldn't be nearly as great as winning the WC, but it'd be pretty damn awesome, and the enthusiasm around these parts during the '09 run would seem to indicate that many others felt the same way. The WC is the big goal and what the team is working towards each cycle, but let's not ignore other prizes along the way. If I were to make a terrible analogy, it'd be like comparing the Gold Cup, CC, and WC to winning the division, league, and World Series in baseball. Each is an achievement worth celebrating, but to varying extents.
Thanks for the info. Seems pretty harsh that such concrete opinions of Gooch have been formed when he's been hurt since October and didn't get much of a chance before that. Meh, Gooch seems to feed off that kind of doubt, so let's see where he goes...
what are the fans basing their opinions on out of curiosity? He played in a few preseason games and 30 minutes of one other game. I'm not sure how anyone could say he's a joke after that small of a sample.
And, it wasn't until 2003 that teams consistently started bringing representative sides to the tournament. For instance, even in 2001, Brazil brought a 2nd or 3rd choice squad to the tournament. So in reality, we have a sample size of 1 there.
But what's this based on? During the Confederation's Cup, the Italian Media was VERY positive regarding Onyewu. I mean it wasn't the love affair they had with Landon, but it was still pretty high praise. It's not like he played that much with Milan, so why doesn't he even get a shot?
It's an anti-American soccer driven criticism I believe for the most part. It maks fans see the player through different lenses than if he was Brazilian for instance. I thought he had a decent pre-season (considering it was without training) in the US tour. Made some errors but also shown potentials. He had a bad 30 minutes against Zurich. However, he was pretty much labeled a joke by the fans and the public opinion after the Milito's trick in Boston during the Inter-Milan pre-season game. Sad but true.