"my weekend watching puts me in a splendid position to tell you which club is going to take mls 2003. It is my carefully considered opinion that none of them can win it... "I'm looking at these 10 teams and the questions keeps recurring: where are the soccer brains, where are the midfield maestros...? Once upon a time we hade mauricio cienfuegos and Marco Etcheverry and Carlos Valderrama. Now Carlos has gone, while Mauricio and marco are shadows of what once was... Mathis for all his skill and the high hopes that Bruce arena once had and Bradley apparently still has of him has utterly failed to do the job......As for the galaxy the 'service' that the team's uninspired midfield offers the supremely gifted carlos Ruiz is frankly pathetic..." . This and much more in the latest column by Paul Gardner. True? not true?
"Where are the midfield maestros?" Preki's as good as he ever was. Jose Carlos Cancela is the most underrated player in MLS. Guevara is capable of amazing stuff, though lately not delivering it in such quantities. It takes a helluva pair of rose tinted 3-D glasses to look back on the old MLS fondly when it comes to quality. Maybe it's because the days when such a "maestro" could play no defense, stand still and pepper a static back line with thru-balls are gone. And from my recent viewing, it appears they're running more in the Mexican league than they EVER have before--(without "la pausa")--Gardner must be mortified!
Individually the players from '96 were better then anything we have to offer now in my opinion. Etch was a very good player back then, Moreno, Valdreama in early 30's, etc. Now, the teams overall I think are much better. The reason for this is better coaching as a whole (only three teams were well "coached" that year, and all three were based on a very strong "10", DC, LA, and TB). Also, the fact is that the young American players have improved over then. Back then, they just had these big open try outs to try and find quality players. Now, the level of scouting has improved, etc. However, we have brought in a fair amount of quality players. Cancela is pretty good. Gueverra is easily the best "10" right now, and could hold up with the big names from back then. We also have some pretty good scorers.
Yeah, and people have learned (for the most part) how to pass the ball. The teams are so much better these days, even if there isn't a "number 10" on many of them. Not every team has to have a number 10, if you play a different style. I mean, Man Utd survives without one...
Let's get this straight. This moron says he's been spending his weekends watching MLS. And he decides that nobody can win MLS Cup 2003 because nobody has a midfield maestro. He calls out Mathis by name. He's apparently unaware of Amado Guevara. He should be fired. Not from his job, but from a cannon. I just get tired of lazy-ass journos. The industry is undergoing a crisis. It's one thing when Judith Miller's lazy reporting leads us into a pointless costly war. But we're talking about soccer here.
He doesn't even try to hide his Latin bias, does he? Every midfielder he mentions is from Latin America and the single greatest midfielder MLS ever had, Peter Nowak, he leaves off the list. If he isn't objective on this point, he can't be objective on anything else regarding MLS.
I, for one, am greatly encouraged that MLS is finally developing AMERICAN offensive midfielders - Martino and (sometimes) Donovan come to mind. I think it has caused a gap in play, but overall this trend will help MLS and US Soccer tremendously. It takes a lot of courage for a MLS coach to put an American player in charge of the offense, but its happening bit by bit. FWIW, Paul Gardner was, is and always will be a *#*#*#*#ing *#*#*#*#*#*#*# not worthy of mention.
Re: Re: quote of the year - ouch! No disrespect intended, but this is so obvious that it goes without saying. And, it isn't just an oversight, he has always disparaged Nowak and the other Eastern Europeans in MLS (and probably everywhere else, too!) at every opportunity. His schtick has always been, Latin=good, European=bad, then slam the brain shut.
I've actually been looking forward to these Revs/Metros games because (among other things) Guevara and Cancela are both so good at the a-mid spot. Unfortunately, Cancela was out of the last meeting, and Guevara wasn't able to get into his usual form. It's significant that Cancela has only been in the league a couple of months and he's already got the highest fouls against ratio in mls. There is basically no other choice for shutting him down. On the Revs, probably due to missing so many starters, he looks like he's coming from a whole different soccer universe than his mates.
I think Gardner wants EVERY player on the pitch to do that. Nobody better start moving at a pace quicker than a relaxing jog.
I am one of the rare Paul Gardner admirers on these boards, and I still think that people misunderstand him. I don't think he is arguing that the league was 'better' in 1996. I think he is arguing that none of the ten teams have the creativity and flair to grab the bull by its horns and outplay the competition and DESERVE the cup. I happen to agree--I don't get very inspired watching MLS lately. No, I'm not a Euro-snob. I prefer watching my own domestic league to following teams half a world away. And I see a lot of good things in the progress MLS has made. But if anybody thinks that any team in the league RIGHT NOW plays consistantly with flair and imagination--as opposed to playing with discipline and athleticism--I'd like to hear it. And if you have tapes of recent games to make your point with, I'd love to see them, because I seem to have missed those games this year.
Sorry folks but Gardner does mention Guevara. After accusing Mathis of "utterly" faliling "to do the job" he says that "along side hime there's the foreigner Amado Guevara who looks much more the part but is fdar too inconsitent".
i stopped subscribing to SA mainly because of Gardner.... The thought that part of my money went to pay him irked me. In general, all he does is whine and complain about everything involving US Soccer. He's a glass half empty kind of guy. I'm not looking for a cheerleader, but his articles are just too much. When people like Gardner retire...it'll be good for MLS. I put him in the same group as the old media gatekeepers, who refuse to acknowledge soccer's existence in america.... nothing from gardner deserves a "quote of the year" title, nothing.