I think that Oscar said it best - the Latin game is different. My take is this - there is a time and place for flair. Like a good pitcher in baseball, if you change your pace, you will have more success. I'd love to see Nunez play it straight a lot more so than when he does pull a series of moves, he surprised the opponent and make the play. MLS is not a Latin/Hispanic league. It has Latin/Hispanic players. It has skill players (and needs more). But it is still primarily a speed/tactical/disciplined league. This is why ROB is such a breath of fresh air - he has both. The problem here is one of perception - and you can see it all over the article, and really it is all about positioning and posturing. The Hispanic locals want to be catered to and have an ego about their players. Some of it is real (historical ability, etc.), some not. Practically speaking, the local hispanic folk aren't better than even the reserve squad. There was a game recently wherein the local hispanic players lost, 10-0, and the game was called early because it just wasn't even close. They simply can't handle the truth because they believe so much in their players and style. But time will take care of all that. Hopefully with the new FC Texas club system, they can try to take some of the younger Hispanic players under their wing and try to give them the development than Torres obviously never got. I agree with them on this front - the raw talent might be there. There in fact could be a player in the MetroPlex who has the talent to one day play in MLS, *if he is developed right.* But clearly they take that attitude too far.
I actually thought Ramon had a better game than he has in some time last night. The first half was terrible when he was up top (and out of position really), but in the second half when he moved to midfield (after Mina came in) he was much more focused and direct. After that 60' (or so ) mark he tried to be creative and dictate play, popping up in the box numerous times... just like CC asks those two non-holding mids to do. So he didn't get on the score sheet. I at least saw him working hard to pressure high and play defense. He also was though and didn't et the physical Hammerheads push him around. Those are all things he has been deficient at and the coaches have asked him to do more of. That is progress and a step forward in his development. I call that a positive night.
A great example. Funny that he wasn't mentioned much in the article even though he is a local kid. Hm. But a great example. Once he learns to play quicker (like Oscar does/did) and save his dribbling for the Right Moment, he will be really dangerous in this league. His vision is certainly there, no doubt.
I think this article was all over the map. I had a hard time figuring out what the point was. I think it was trying to say that 1) area Hispanics all think FC Dallas/Burn suck and that 2) if the play Torres more, Hispanics would come in great numbers. Both points are of course false. 1. Not all Hispanics in the area hate FCD or think they suck. The writer obvsiouly did a good job of finding a couple with agendas. In actuallity, I simply think many are uninformed about how well the team is doing now and assume that things are still "soutlake-like" on the field. History has shown that in MLS, winning is NOT everything when it comes to getting good crowds (see San Jose, Kansas City, New England). From 1996 to 2002, Burn walkup crowds averaged in the thousands, second in MLS only to Rose-bowl Galaxy walkup numbers, in years when the team was good, bad and/or mediocre. I tend to think that good Hispanic marketing had something to do with that. "Winning is our ethnicity" is a cool phrase, and one that hopefully someday is all that is needed in the US to get good crowds, but unfortunately, present US soccer market conditions dictate that you have to do more than that (and not just to get Hispanics). The article also implied that if the team played more of a "Latin Style," Hispanics would come back. But just like having the best record in team history is simply not enough, a certain style of play is not enough either. Proper marketing is 50% (or more in soccer) of the battle. In the 60's McDonalds wasn't considered the best hamburger chain in the country, but Ray Kroc's saavy marketing overcame other chain's superior burgers, and the rest is history. 2. Torres starting might bump attendance some for a couple of games, but it will not bring back the walkup numbers the team was used to getting. It certainly wouldn't "fill the stadium" as the article quoted someone as saying. There are very few players that could bump attendance over a sustained period of time. Hugo Sanchez was certainly one. But even Luis Hernandez did very little to bump attendance after his first few games in LA. Again, it takes more than the token player to deliver the goods. It has to be a combination of things .... a good team + a key starter here and there + a strong relationship with the community + solid grassroots marketing efforts.
being a dumb gringo I thend to think of latin america as more central america and not really counting south america... but then again I know nothing about it.
I snipped the rest, but wanted to highlight this. Well said, P&S. (I'm out of rep - can someone help me out here?) I was just surprised that they got as much stuff from Oscar as they did.
In my humble opinion the leagues in Brazil and Argentina are latin american in style. But their national teams seem to be a bastardization of both Europeon and latin american style (and really that what a good team should be.) Not surprising considering that almost all of the players on those two national sides play in Europe.
Speaking of Oscar, there's the two-time Burn MVP is another example of a small player that holds his own. I do think this, if you are small ... a la Pareja, Pele, Maradona, etc ... you better be quick and have the ball skills to compensate. Conversely, you can be a big guy, but if you don't have the touch, you won't get far. What we have in this country is the opportunity to one day have a national team that combines the best of both worlds. And then look out ....
Maradona was short, but he had tree-trunk legs. Built like Roberto Carlos. -- To defend "Latin Style" a bit, DC has mostly played a somewhat (but not completely) Latin style over the years and won four championships that way. Marco Etcheverry wouldn't hesitate to take on two defenders on the dribble. And he often beat them. When that works, you find an acre of space in front of you, so it's often worth trying. (My maxim is: in the final third, anything that results in a real chance one time in ten is worth doing. Soccer being such a low-scoring sport, even if you fail nine times out of ten, that will still tend to score you more goals than most.) Not that Clarke's mostly (but not compeltely) European style is wrong or doesn't work--we can all see the results this year.
Argentina is the team I think combines both the best. Man would I love to have the Nats and FCD play like that.
I agree. Those two countries have enough talent to field a team that combines the best of both worlds. I think its a big reason why those two have combined to win seven senior world cups and why they have a monopoly on the U-20 world cup trophy. And I think that the U.S. has the potential to one day field the same kind of "style."
You mean if you combined Landon Donovan's abilities with an actual American attitude about sports? As in, Tiger Woods or Lance Armstrong's way of playing? (As in, Landon already has a lot of the "best of both worlds" in one player, but amazingly lacks the one thing most American players tend to have innately - balls.)
I get what you're saying there: if all you watched was the NTs, you'd say "these guys are playing Latin style" but if you then watch the leagues, you'll realize that they are a whole lot more Latin than the NTs are.
I actually meant combining the different playing styles, which btw, I think Landon is a perfect example of. If the nats had 11 starters with Landon's combined abilities, but only half had the "attitude" you are speaking of, I think we'd be just fine ...
Re: Dallas Observer article Pelaez, too, is convinced the Latino style is superior. "If I'm wrong with this, why are the Brazilians six-time world champions *snrk*
Re: Dallas Observer article Brazil, actually, has won five world cups, not six. The sixth of course, will come in 2006.
Re: Dallas Observer article Armando had an axe to grind the size of New Jersey. His comments in this article don't surprise me in the least.
By the way, what is Pelaez doing nowadays? I mean, other than being the media's go-to guy for some wacky quote about how the Burn/FC Dallas are run by a bunch of crackers?
Some of my thoughts on the article. "FC Dallas' Mario Torres carries the hopes of Latino soccer fans. But is he the future--or just a cynical marketing ploy?" Isn't "cynical" the wrong word here. When you have members in the Latino community complaining about the lack of hispanics why would it be wrong to try out some of the locals. Anyway you have a team in LA who is entirely based on this "cynical" approach. "But the eyes of Dallas' Latino community are not the only ones fixed on El Gato. Torres is also called on to represent his community on a team dominated by Anglos" Uh, am I missing something. What about Nunez, Alvarez, Mina, Pareja, and Ruiz. "Hunt owns two other MLS teams, the relatively successful Columbus Crew and the dismal Kansas City Wiz," Dismal K.C and relatively successful Crew? Clearly the Observer couldn't be bothered to do a little research. The Crew it in the basement in the East and even if you consider the treams histories at least KC has won the championship. My goodness they even called them the "Wiz" They haven't been called that since 1996. "Clarke's apparent preference for Anglo players made him, in the words of Latino league federation President Roberto Castillo, "a bit of a racist." The perception was reinforced as the number of Latino players on the roster dwindled." Wasn't it Jeffries that diminished that number of latinos on the roster. Jeffries traded Graziani, Suarez, Martiniez and hardly ever used Cerritos when we had him eventhough he was one of the best players on the team. Clarke has actually built up the number of hispanic players. Again, Alvarez, Nunez, Pareja, Mina, and Ruiz. I wonder if Roberto Castillo considers the people envolved in Chivas USA to be "a bit of a racist" That entire team revolves around ethicity. "That is the biggest tragedy," says Pelaez, the former FC Dallas assistant coach, shaking his head. "[Pareja] is a gentleman, but I can tell you that inside he is totally destroyed." Is Palaez trying to say that Pareja is actually being fired because of his race? Does he have anthing to back this up or is he just pulling this out of his asss? "You've got to do the mix--and you've got to have somebody as a coach that can mold that mentality," Pelaez says in a thinly veiled criticism of Clarke. " Dude, we are in first place in the west. And with the exception of Torres (who I had never heard of before this article) all the other hispanic players get regular playing time. "Pareja is unsparing in his criticism of Torres. "He has to speed up his game a little bit. He has to play with more intensity. He has to become stronger physically. He knows the game, but he has more to learn." Perhaps this is Torres's problem, not discrimination. Torres does understand that we do want to win. I think the Observer wants to stir up controvery where there isn't any. Next they will probably talk to memebers of the German community to complain about why Wagenfurh is not getting enough playing time. Clearly Clarke is "a bit of a racists" towards Germans.