The USA knows how to beat Mexico as a national team. But of course in club football, it is different, and when it comes to facing the best teams in the world like Brasil or Argentina or whomever, Mexico has been showing much better. The last time Brasil and Mexico played, Mexico lost. And I don't like that result, and that result was away from Azteca. This is interesting. But IMO the growth of the sport in the USA is something that will take an extended period of time, and it will be gradual. They have to get to a certain level before they can splash out the kind of money that would attract a higher tier or players - simply selling the lifestyle of being in the US may not be good enough for many. When the wages go up in MLS, then MLS will be able to compete with the MFL in terms of the wages offered to players and the leagues may be more competitive. But... this is a huge issue, and just as there are several plus's, there are also many negatives and hurdles. Don't know about this bit. But I don't understand the obsession with Eurosnobs. IMO, Eurosnobs and SA Spazzos are one in the same. Both will justify their horrible loses while tarnishing the victories of others. That's just what biased fans do. However in the case of out of season clubs and friendlies... there's really no need to look more into them than what they are at face value... intriguiging, glorified scrimmages. Sure. As a player you always want to play well. Chelsea is a competitive team where there really are no guaranteed spots. Mourinho said that they did play poorly, which I agree with. But reading between the line, that can also mean that he knows those players are capable of playing much better and it's possible that, no offense, they played down to DC's level. As for the 'jobs on the line last night' comment... that may be true but then you can now see the value of 'pre-season' matches and the depth of a club like Chelsea. They can afford not just quality replacements, but exceptional ones. If there are players that are not given many more chances, then so be it. They probably should have played better in the match. But that's life at a pressure-cooker club like Chelsea who are demanding results when it matters. As for the comments on the articles... why do any of you care? Arrogant or not, it seems silly to get worked up over what they say. Just like it would be silly for fans to get worked up over twisting this result. I mean... look at the amazing positive - Chelsea are clearly still interested in Adu's potential and ability even if he didn't have the best of matches.
Good for you! And I'd rather have Dr. Pepper than Coke, but then again that isn't what we are discussing, is it. In related news, I'd rather wear Puma to Nike (damn my wide feet) and I much prefer vanilla (bean) to chocolate. The post I responded to stated "If you look at Chelsea's roster they have 8/25 from England. That's as high a percentage as any team in the Premier League. That's roughly 1/3 of Chelsea's first team roster." Charlton has a dozen English players and Birmingham has 10. I'm not going to go down every EPL roster for you, but the point has been made that 8/25 is NOT as high a percentage as any team in the premier league. Do you have anything to add to this discussion? Don't try to tell me that the poster may have meant something else, since the fact is you did not make that post and have no idea what else he may have meant. The fact remains, his statement is false. Period. Here's a hint for you. If you don't someone to end a discussion with Shut the Fvck Up, then know when to walk away gracefully. There are a lot of quality posters on these DC boards you could learn from.
The fact that geremi played...at left back, and we starter Tiago and jurassic in midfield together should tell you something. Its a tuneup for the season, a chance for players to regain fitness, jobs were not on the line.
Aren't pre-season matches in any sport about figuring out who will play and who might sit the bench or maybe even get cut? Isn't Chelsea about to start their season? Didn't Mourinho play so many players to see how they looked to get a better sense for himself, as manager, of how his club is shaping up? Yeah, I think jobs were on the line. I also think you needn't have a conversation with Mourinho or Kenyon to realize such.
Does anybody have a good copy of the ESPN2 broadcast of the game? I was at the game but did not properly set my satellite system at home to record it. Perhaps we could trade for (a) game(s) of which you don't have a copy. I am also missing the last three DC United regular games on Comcast Sportsnet: 7/15 vs SJ; 7/20 at KC; 7/23 at LA. Darn these vacations that keep me away from my satellite system in-season!!! Anybody who can help with one or more games can have their choice from my extensive collection, or cash, if you prefer, for your troubles. I will return your game with a free copy of it on DVD, for your budding collection. Thanks! Chris, the soccer-on-DVD guy; USMNT;USWNT;MLS;DCU:WUSA;Wash.Freedom;futsal;indoor/MISL/CISL/NPSL;USL/A-League,etc....
The writer didn't need to make any inferences because he was too busy filling the report with backhanded compliments about DCU's play. The text pretty much speaks for itself.
To be honest with you, I think it's something that's hard to understand unless you are an MLS/USMNT fan and see the pattern of comments. MLS fans respect European football and acknowledge its clear superiority. On the other hand, there are a lot of "Eurosnobs" (which is the term given to Americans who watch Europeans leagues but thumb their nose at MLS) who won't give MLS a chance, or are always underestimating it. The reason that we get annoyed is because MLS fans want football to grow in this country, and MLS' development is a key to this. So the "Eurosnob" arrogance, which frankly definitely does exist, gets particularly annoying to us. After all, if you live in this country and love football, we'd think you'd actually want to help it grow, instead of turning your back on a league that will be very important to the sport's growth. Forget the spin that you hear from people like Don Garber. Most of us know where MLS stands in the world. We don't pretend to think it's more than what it is. At the same time, we love it, and want it to succeed. In that sense, we share a bond with other passionate supporters of lower-level teams who have a similar love of club, even if their club may not be of world class quality. When the Chelsea "glory hunters" show up, it's not surprising that we find them ignorant and arrogant, as I'm guessing a lot of fans of smaller clubs around the world do. In fact, it's interesting that when Nottingham Forest was here last year, the supporters of both clubs got along great, including on this board. None of the snobbery and need for excuses that you see from the Chelski crowd.
I've made no such assertion. My only assertion is that too many MLS fans hold too much store by the results of these games. The fact that non-MLS fans don't generally share this view doesn't make them 'arrogant'. In the bigger picture of things, it was. Mourinho knows it's early pre-season and that his players are in early pre-season form. By the standards that are expected in the Premiership, they did perform poorly - that's the nature of pre-season.
The fact that geremi played...at left back, and we starter Tiago and jurassic in midfield together should tell you something. Its a tuneup for the season, a chance for players to regain fitness, jobs were not on the line.
DC defnitely reped the MLS well tonight specialy in the first half when they controlled much of the play, they defnitely earned the goal. In the second half they seemed to have a let down, they were giving the ball up too easily and not playing with the fire they had in the first half. As far as Freddy is concerned I thought he looked great, dribbling around defenders consistantly, and although his shotswere not on goal I liked that he was being aggresive offensively and not playing scared like many DC players did in the second half
Shame that this thread has to degenerate into yet another pissing match about perceived lack of respect on the part of Euro teams and their fans. While Eurosnobbery certainly exists there are also a lot of, I'll call them 'MLS Zealots', who seem to take delight in pouncing on any apparent slight to US Soccer, whether real or imagined. My advice is to stop caring so much about whether anonymous hacks working for Chelseafc.com 'respect' DC or not, and get a life. I thought last night's match was great, a nice break from the MLS grind. Chelsea have some fantastic players and it was great to see DC go up against them and stay competitive. That said, it seemed pretty clear that Chelsea could put their game into at least one if not two extra gears, whereas DC was playing pretty much as well as they could. Was pleasantly surprised by Fedex field, actually, the pitch looked fantastic and the place was not as much of a anonymous bowl as I expected. Staff seemed friendlier, too.
It tells me that Mourinho is giving everyone a look, since this is a pre-season friendly. Does that mean that there's not a competitive battle for many starting slots, and that performance in competitive matches, friendlies and practice will determine who starts? Of course not. Do you ever get tired of hearing your own excuses?
Actually, it seems clear from his comments that in Mourinho's eyes, they performed poorly not just by the standard that is expected in the Premiership, but by the standard that is expected in the pre-season. Frankly, even in the pre-season context, Chelsea should be able to get a better result than that against an MLS side. To suggest that this was what they expected going in is revisionist history.
Early pre-season??? Doesn't their season start in like 10 days? What would you consider 'late pre-season'? My guess is that Mourinho will take into account how his players performed when setting his lineup for Wiggan. If so, one would think that every player on the field for Chelsea would be working to get into that group. I mean come on, these are some of the best professional athletes in the world, you wouldn't think that they were naturally competitive individuals?
Actually, it starts even sooner than that -- Chelsky play Arsenal in the Community Shield next Saturday. It's not a terribly important piece of silverware, but I highly doubt Mourinho will treat that game lightly.
Mm-hmm. By all accounts? I challenge you to find me anyone, anyone at all, who's watched Adu a fair number of times who'd call that his best 45 minutes. To make that assertion out of ignorance is arrogance.
Almost did not go last night, ended up going and very glad I did. Great seats at midfield. Great atmosphere, really a lot of fun. I've been mulling the differences all day, speed of play, intensity, technical skill, tactical sense are all good candidates. But one important thing that I think has been overlooked here is being able to punish the opponents mistakes. Their 1st goal was a weak pass that led to a turnover, and the Duff being unmarked. Second goal was another dumb turnover and Pridaux spending his time grabbing his head in disbelief at his dumb pass instead of trying to stop the counter. But the larger point is, when those opportunities were presented, Chelsea turned them into goals. We were not as good at punishing their mistakes.
The season begins on Aug 14, i.e, just over two weeks away. They have the game against Milan and The Community Shield, plus maybe another midweek game between these two? Anyway, mid pre-season is a more accurate moniker.
Thanks for the advice. I think your point is fairly taken, for the most part. Shame you weren't able to make your point without adding an insult on the end; that kinda defeats the purpose of having people give fair consideration to your advice, doesn't it?
It's a throw-away line by a hack journalist who knows his audience only know Adu... quite why you get bent out of shape by this I don't know; perhaps you actually want to get bent out of shape?
Just got back from the game and wanted to add my .02. DC's strengths in MLS were also apparent vs Chelsea - strong midfield passing Our weaknesses in MLS were also apparent - lack of finishing, speed in defense, Moreno sometimes dribbling too much. This is good in that Chelsea did not take us out of our game. Novak's substitution pattern was interesting to contrast vs Chicago. The Fire, practically on top of the division, subbed in everybody to give them an experience. Novak, with an up and down team, only used his usual substitutes to sharpen up his squad for a 2nd half push. Boswell's shoulder charge on Robben was a beauty. SWP will not be as effective as hoped for this season. C. Cole is ineffective and will be heartily booed by his own fans several times this season. What a bogus charge on Boswell - glad he hurt himself on it.
Very good points and back to the game itself. I would add the crispness and speed of passes as something that stood out to me. There was a point in the first half in which a DC midfielder played the ball out left to Gros. My thought as I watched Chelsea easily intercept was that in a typical MLS game, that pass would make it to Gros and a chance would be created out of it. Not so last night. That said, I think many DC players realized this and put some extra zing on some of their passes. Another thought on passing: our short passes were very good at times which, IMO surprised some of the Chelsea players. Not all of our passing was good, especially from a few players.