Compelling Soccer

The World Cup field is set but as is the way in soccer, it was not without controversy. The France-Ireland game ended in disaster for the green and orange as France drew level in extra time to win 2-1 on aggregate. The goal was scored after Thierry Henry played a ball with his hand (twice!) and then passed it on to William Gallas, who buried it with his head. The referee flat out missed the call. France went up 2-1 and Ireland couldn't find another goal. Thus France is going to South Africa. Ireland is going home. Naturally, Ireland and many others are rightfully upset at the non call.

It's bad, but let's put it in perspective here. This hurt their chances of qualifying but it alone did not eliminate the Irish. If the handball is called, Ireland still has to score. Otherwise, it goes to penalties. I'm sure they'd have taken that, but penalties does not necessarily a World Cup berth make. It stinks they got potentially deprived of the opportunity but let's also not pretend they didn't blow opportunities of their own.

Denmark v. US

US Starting Lineup

--------Altidore----Cunningham---------

-Feilhaber--Bradley----Clark----Holden--

Bornstein?!--Bocanegra--Spector--Hedjuk

-------------Guzan--------------------

Stakes: For the teams? Zip, zilch, this is a friendly after all. For the US players, there's a lot of the line for some. Some players will be fighting to make arguments why they should be in contention for a spot on the team headed to SA. This is especially big for MLS players who won't have the next few months to state their case in their league. I'm looking at you Jeff Cunningham.

Questions I Have: The pregame lineups have Jeff Cunningham in the lineup up top with Altidore. This is his shot. With few games remaining in International competition, a Conor Casey v. Honduras performance would go a long way to getting him on the 23, especially with the uninspiring competition he's got up top. Benny Feilhaber is on the wing today, not the center. Clark takes his spot there. Stuart Holden replaces Dempsey. Robbie Rogers heads back to the bench.

Now for the WTF moment. Jonathan Bornstein and Frankie Hedjuk? Really? REALLY? At this point what on earth is Bornstein going to show us that we don't already know? He's MLS quick, talented offensively and is a terrible, terrible international defender. And Hedjuk? He's old and he tries hard. He should be nowhere near South Africa. Why isn't Bradley getting a look at Edgar Castillo OR Heath Pearce in the LB spot with Jimmy Conrad or someone else in the center with Boca? (Spector out at RB) It makes no sense. You don't care about winning friendlies as much as you care about seeing who is worth your time. Hedjuk isn't. Bornstein is a known quantity.

Seriously, I'm just sitting here shaking my head.

Will I Be Watching: Will try to keep tabs if nothing else.

Expectations: Bornstein to crap himself again count? Hedjuk to run really hard but not get anywhere quickly? (But people still liking it because he does run hard) Whatever. I just hope we get a look at some of the other guys in place of the left and right backs.

So the Slovakia game was an ugly affair for the US team. Let's face it; the Slovaks are a team the US should be able to handle. Unfortunately, the US attack stagnated without Landon Donovan and became a complete non-entity once Clint Dempsey checked out of this one. With the two nowhere to be found for this game, that doesn't bode well for the team's chances against a much stronger Danish side. In theory it could provide plenty of opportunity for someone to step up, especially in the midfield, and show something that cements their place in the South Africa squad. In practice, that probably won't happen, though it's probably wise to keep an eye on Danish based Benny Feilhaber.

What lineup can we expect from Bob Bradley? Here's my educated guess:

---Altidore-----------Cunningham----


---Holden-------------------Rogers---


-------Feilhaber----Bradley-----------

Castillo----Bocanegra----Conrad----Spector


---------------Guzan----------------------

ESPN's just posted Nate Silver's SPI rankings, which is his system of ranking the world of International soccer. Never too early to get started on the WC promotion right? Slow Wednesday in November just before the final part of qualification is just as good a time as any to launch a system.

Since it's Nate Silver, I'm looking at this with intrigue. The guy's had a lot of success with this type of thing; from Baseball Prospectus to FiveThirtyEight.com. He discloses his methodology which nice. Some of it goes off leaps of faith, which he admits, but overall I don't see too many problems with it thus far. Or at least I think it makes more sense than a personal ranking or heaven forbid, FIFA's. Having read through the length explanation, I can't say I understand all of it, but I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt for now. The real test comes in SA next year. Until then every ranking has to be taken with a grain of salt anyway.

Expanding on the David Ngog furor from the past two days, I thought I'd go into a little exploration of the FIFA guidelines on fouls. Partial credit goes to my roommate for this idea; he broke out the FIFA rule book when he was discussing how the rules were applied in FIFA 10.

Anyway, I found the section on free kicks and ended up posting a smaller summary of my take as a comment on the SBI forums. Basically, the rules show why this certainly wasn't an egregious dive and could have been called a penalty either way.

This is the section on direct free kicks:

A direct free kick is awarded to the opposing team if a player commits any
of the following seven offences in a manner considered by the referee to be
careless, reckless or using excessive force:
• kicks or attempts to kick an opponent
• trips or attempts to trip an opponent
• jumps at an opponent
• charges an opponent
• strikes or attempts to strike an opponent
• pushes an opponent
• tackles an opponent
A direct free kick is also awarded to the opposing team if a player commits any
of the following three offences:
• holds an opponent
• spits at an opponent
• handles the ball deliberately (except for the goalkeeper within his own
penalty area)
A direct free kick is taken from the place where the offence occurred
(see Law 13 – Position of Free Kick).

So the soccer world is abuzz with Liverpool's controversial draw against Birmingham City. The reason it's being talked about? David Ngog drew a penalty after a "tackle" by Lee Carsley. It has been almost universally hailed as a dive and Ngog is being blasted by Carsley and the media as a result.

It was a dive, though not an egregious one. People are whining because it's Liverpool and because it was the biggest game on a Monday. But the reality was the tackle was bad. He slid, impeded his progress to the goal and never got the ball. If Ngog doesn't jump, he trips over him and it's a penalty. You can say he intended to go down but that's irrelevant (and also probably impossible to tell). The bottom line is if you go to the ground and don't get the ball, you're asking for trouble. If it happened at midfield, no one would complain. It certainly isn't the worst dive ever, nor does it prove Ngog is a cheat. It is unfortunate this happened, because the goal he scored earlier was quite the finish.

One step forward: Glen Johnson back in the starting lineup.

Half step forward: Steven Gerrard on the bench.

Status quo: Alberto Aquilani on the bench; not starting.

Twelve steps back: Fernando Torres nowhere to be found.

That is all.

Er... 22. Can't say I was too surprised by any of the choices. That isn't to say I agree with all of them. However we'll get to that in a second. First the list as per Soccernet:

GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton), Troy Perkins (Valerenga).

DEFENDERS (9): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham).

MIDFIELDERS (6): Michael Bradley (Borussia M'gladbach), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew).

FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (Hull City), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Eddie Johnson (Fulham)

With an international break a week away and the US with two Friendlies upcoming, one would expect Bob Bradley will announce the group heading over to Europe this weekend. Speculation is that it will occur after this round of the MLS playoffs concludes this weekend, which sounds about right. That gives me time to throw up a list of players I'd take if I were running the US team.

That was going to say "BABEL!!!!!" up until the 90th minute. Then Sotirios Krygiakos committed his second error of the match and this time Pepe Reina couldn't bail him out. Lisandro Lopez buried the chance and Liverpool's CL hopes likely with it.

There's almost a strange symmetry between Liverpool and my favorite baseball team, the New York Mets these days. Injuries to two of their best players hurt badly, but the subsequent injuries are what does the team in. Today missing Steven Gerrard hurt as did not having Fernando Torres at full strength. But what proved to be the death blow was the lack of Glen Johnson on the backline. If Johnson plays, Jaime Carragher is in the center with Daniel Agger and Krygiakos is on the bench. Does Liverpool then walk away with the victory? It's impossible to say, even if it is tempting to superimpose Johnson into that moment instead of Krygiakos. But what we do know is that we can't do that; he wasn't there and the end result is a Liverpool draw that may as well have been a loss.

Lyon v. Liverpool

Lyon: 3-0-0, 9 pts, top of Group E

Liverpool: 1-0-2, 3 pts, 3rd in Group E

Stakes: As the title indicates, this is it for the Reds. As unlikely a run into the knockout stages of the Champions League is at this point, it has to begin with a win in Lyon. Down by six points with three games to play, they need a lot to go right to vault ahead of Fiorentina or Lyon. If they don't get a result here, they might as well forget about advancing past the group stage. With the Premiership already lost, that would end Liverpool's hope of hardware, unless you want to start rationalizing the FA Cup. Realistically though, that probably wouldn't be enough to save Rafa's job if it came on the line here. Rational or not, the CL is the last chance for Liverpool to bring back something meaningful from this campaign. This is their last shot in the CL so you can do the math. And for everything to be essentially removed from the conversation in November; such talk has been unheard of at Anfield in years.

For Lyon, a point sends them through to the second round. This game is anything but essential for them.

Thoughts on the Opposing Side: Not much. Lyon showed their worth when they beat the Reds at Anfield two weeks ago. This time they'll be at home, where they've already beaten Fiorentina.

Questions I Have: Gerrard? Out. Torres? He's playing but how will he look? He's managed in his first two games back, but with reports surfacing that surgery maybe necessary for him and Stevie G, one wonders how much more he can push it. It certainly makes Rafa's decision against Fulham more defensible, though potentially also more of a stalling tactic than anything else. If they both need surgery, then the Reds are absolutely finished for this season no matter if they beat Lyon 10-0 today. As for today, you have to wonder when you here quotes like this from Rafa:

"We have to take Fernando to Lyon because we don't have too many options."

Does that inspire you with confidence over his fitness?

Aside from that, little else matters. You might bring up the usage of Yossi Benayoun, but really, it's all about Torres. We know Gerrard is out. If Fernando Torres is 90% of Fernando Torres, then the Reds are in business. If his injury is getting worse, then Lyon is definitely going to the knockout stages today and Liverpool is certainly crashing out.

Will I Be Watching: I'll try to keep track. But as usual, work days prevent me from paying extremely close attention.

Expectations: Liverpool's supposed Premiership last stand against Man U ended with the Reds playing spirited and coming away with a 2-0 victory. But that was at home and we saw Torres make it happen. On the road with Torres remaining a question mark, I don't expect much. A draw is possible, but a win? I just can't see it happening.

Yesterday I went to a basketball game with my roommate who runs a blog of the home team. He mentioned how he used the official tags of his blog. So in that vein I decided to codify a few guys of my own. These things may be obvious to those who have read the blog since it started a few months ago, but I'm always a fan of award things and that's pretty much what this is. Like I said, for those who have been reading (hi mom!) these are just affirmations of things you've probably already figured out. If you're a new reader, feel free to accept this as a brief look into where my warped mind stands on the soccer world.

So without further ado (resisted the Adu urge) here at the official Officials of Compelling Soccer:

Jonathan Bornstein's last action for the US National team was the game tying finisher against Costa Rica that secured the first place in CONCACAF qualifying. Could it also have been his last start for the US squad in International tournament competition? Bob Bradley has called in Edgar Castillo for the US' European friendlies in November. Castillo is the New Mexico born left back who plays for Tigres UANL in Mexico's first division. He also played for Mexico's national team until losing his spot under Sven Goran Eriksson. Under the new FIFA regulations, he was allowed to switch to the US national team. Yeah, we get Mexico's sloppy seconds. But I'm perfectly okay with that; I mean honestly, would you care if Sean Avery made fun of you for dating Elisha Cuthbert? No, because you're hooking up with Elisha Cuthbert. Not that Castillo could be compared to the Girl Next Door. However US national team isn't in any position to refuse talent here.

Remember when Liverpool rose from the ashes against Manchester United and gave the Anfield faithful hope as they managed to down the Red Devils 2-0? Remember how Fernando Torres returned from injury and fought off Rio Ferdnand's constant fouling to put home the winner? Remember how that Lazarus performance was going to rekindle the Reds season?

One trip to London ended all that.

Fulham v. Liverpool

Fulham: 3-4-2, 13th in the Premiership, 11 Pts

Liverpool: 6-4-0, 5th in the Premiership, 18 Pts

Stakes: If this were American football, this one would be called the "Disappointment Bowl." Of course, Liverpool's recent failures need no introduction, though they will get standard qualification, i.e. no Torres or Gerrard for most of the recent stretch. Torres return against Man U sparked them to a season saving win. On the other side Fulham was a club with big dreams after qualifying for Europe this year but have gotten off to a rough start. They're out of the relegation zone right now, but 13th isn't exactly where the boys from Craven Cottage expected to be residing at this point of the season. A win should send them back into the top ten.

Thoughts on the Opposing Side: Clint Dempsey, you are an American who I can write about who will almost certainly play against the Reds, seeing as that my streak has been rather lousy with that. (Neither Jozy Altidore or Jonathan Spector played when I wrote I was looking forward to watching them) Dempsey finally scored in Fulham's draw against Man City last week as he looks to be fully recovered from his shoulder injury. Another American who we will NOT likely see is Eddie Johnson, though he did find his way to the bench against City. (Steps in the right direction I suppose)

Other names I'm familiar with are Danny Murphy, Damien Duff and Bobby Zamora. Zamora is the American fan whipping boy for why players in the Premiership are overrated. He also could, in theory, play for Trinidad and Tobago, though he still has yet to suit up for them. Zamora used to be good, he isn't these days. But he'd still probably be one of the best players in MLS, no matter how much American fans like to rag on him. Duff remember as being an odd man out when Chelsea went on their spending spree. He was rumored to be headed to Liverpool when he ended up on the outs in Chelsea but went to Newcastle instead. Danny Murphy was a Liverpool man and got sent packing when Rafa got there. Not a bad player, but not as good as the guys who were brought in.

Questions I have: No Gerrard, no surprise. But no Glen Johnson too? Yeah, I didn't see that coming. Thankfully Johnson is more easily replaceable. I might have guessed at a Fabio Aurelio/Emilano Insua back pairing, but Aurelio will probably stay in the midfield. Sotirios Kyrgiakos maybe? Who ever replaces Johnson will not be as proficient at the offensive end, so this constitutes a major loss. I wonder if this will force Liverpool to attack more on the left side with Insua, and possibly end up with an unbalanced attack pattern.

There will again be questions of Torres fitness, but hopefully he channels what he summoned in the second half against Man U.

The Liverpool backline faired much better against the Man U forward, but that's because they lack speed. Thankfully blazers aren't what Fulham are known for. Of course, if Eddie Johnson actually got in...

Will I Be Watching: I don't get Setanta so I'll have to find other means.

Expectations: Perhaps the Man U game has me too giddy, but for all the talk of Liverpool's poor form, it's not as if Fulham has been that grand either. Even on the road, I suspect the Reds pull this one out.

Anti Football; thy name is Houston.

Okay, that's a little harsh. Houston has some players who can create well; namely Stuart Holden. But after watching their game against Seattle last night, I came away disgusted on so many levels. The Dynamo played a downright dirty game and should have finished with nine men on the field. Instead a lenient official decided to give talk to the players rather than hand out fair punishment, which in essence, reward Houston for it's play. The result was a 0-0 draw with the return leg of their first round playoff match up taking place on November 8th.

Because you just might get it.

So yesterday rumors circulated that Hull City manager Phil Brown had been sacked. It turned out not to be the case, though Hull chairman Paul Duffen did resign. In the interim when it seemed like Brown was gone, there were a lot of US fans who were jumping for joy. Their rationale; Jozy Altidore was relegated to the bench by Brown. Therefore if Brown has been canned, Altidore would get a chance to play. It makes some degree of sense. When a new coach comes in, roles can change. So yeah, if Brown did lose his job, there's a chance Altidore would see more PT.

Arensal v. Liverpool

Last Cup Match:

One of my favorite things to do in any sports game is to play the role of GM. As a typical know it all, I like to think I hold the blueprint from which the worst team in sports could find it's way to prominence. Plus, it combines one of my other favorite video game genres, RPGs, into sports. Nothing is more satisfying than finding a diamond in the rough and turning him into the player you always believed he can be. And without the problems of having actual personality and the media to deal with, the fictional sports world can be your oyster.

The FIFA manager modes have always interested me because the soccer landscape is so different from the american sports. Every player is available provided you have the right funds, but there is always a way to handicap yourself readily available. Plus you can have fun with promotion, league cups (little League One side against those Premiership giants) and of course European cup action.

I mean it. I turned on my console and then the next thing I knew it was 7:30 PM, Sunday night.

The patch which makes Manager Mode slightly less glitchy was released for the Xbox360 on Friday so it was time for me to dive into the mode fit for obsessive compulsive weirdos. (Hey, the first step to recovery is admission) I had places to be Friday night, so a lost night was impossible until Saturday. Then there were delays Saturday morning. But around noon on Saturday the TV was mine and I didn't relinquish it. I ended up playing almost half a season and could have played more. The hours flew by on Saturday and Sunday with only Liverpool v. Man U keeping me from turning it into an all day affair. But we'll get to that later. First, the nitty gritty, how the in game action feels.

Well they needed this.

If there was a question about Rafa's job security it should be answered for at least one week with this inspiring effort. Fernando Torres made it clear he's the most irreplaceable man in the Premiership, if not in soccer in general, as his goal was the game winner. Yossi Benayoun proved how much of a difference maker he could be. And perhaps Liverpool showed the faults of loyalty in this one; Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand were both abused. The United vets looked old. Even Ryan Giggs was rendered a non factor.

A belated start to this live blog. We start five minutes in, but the score is still level. I've seen a good run by Yossi Benayoun and now beachballs hitting the field. Stay classy Man U fans.

Liverpool. v. Manchester United

Tables:

Liverpool: 15 pts, 8th in the Premiership

Man U: 22 pts, 2nd in the Premiership

Stakes: After four straight losses for Liverpool, things are arguably at crisis point. In reality, an undermanned squad probably should have trouble with the Red Devils. However any leeway was used up long ago. Despite votes of confidence, Rafa Benitez's job could be on the line. I wouldn't do it, but I'm running not running the show. Consider that right now, Liverpool is closer to relegation than they are to Chelsea up at the top of the table. That's just not going to cut it.

In the last few days we've talked about formations in light of the loss of Charlie Davies. It began with the 4-4-2, the standard formation the US puts out. Yesterday we looked into the possibilities of the 4-5-1, since the US might be down to one competent striker. But today we do a complete 180 and look at what might happen if the US went with a 4-3-3.

4-3-3? Yeah, I know, it sounds crazy.

Yesterday we examined some of the options for the US national squad if they stuck with the 4-4-2 formation even in light of Charlie Davies injury. After all, the US was playing 4-4-2 before Davies' emergence this summer. That formation is flexible and can be used in both offensive and defensive methods. However, this US team seems to have plenty of intriguing options in the midfield while lacking that dynamic striker to go with Jozy Altidore. Right now they are facing choices that are uninspiring, unproven or could hurt the team in other spots. So if you don't have two forwards, why not play with one?

Kicking off through the haze of early mornings, failing laptops and hockey. Decipher from that what you will.

-Well anytime you start an injured player you gamble. Rafa rolled and got snake eyes with Steven Gerrard Tuesday, as he had to come out before the 30 minute mark. For the record Fabio Aureilo didn't do a bad job. You just can't replicate what a healthy Gerrard will give you, much like the Reds were reminded yesterday with the absence of Fernando Torres. I also find it hard to chastise Benitez for his decision to take the chance.

Liverpool vs. Lyon

Liverpool: 3 pts, 3rd place in group E, -1 GD

Lyon: 6 pts, 1st place in group E, +5 GD

Stakes: With the EPL season in disarray, Liverpool's best hope for hardware comes in the form of the Champions League. Groin problems or not, the game is important enough that Steven Gerrard will be in the starting XI and Rafa is hoping that's just what the struggling Reds need. This one is a home game for Liverpool, so if they'll need three points if they want to put themselves back into the mix for the knockout stages.

A month ago, the US looked to have solved what had long been it's longest running hole, lack of dynamic strikers. Sure in the past the US has had some decent guys and even a pretty solid target man in Brian McBride. But creativity and forward have never really been words that go together when describing US forwards. That changed with Jozy Altidore and Charlie Davies. The US finally had a pair of guys who could survive a bit without solid midfield play and create on their own. We saw that at times in qualifying.

However Davies' injury means, barring a miracle, he's out for the World Cup. That means Altidore will have to be paired with someone else up top. Who that someone is will be heavily scrutinized over the next eight months. Unfortunately, the options are not pretty.

I would like to hereby apologize to all Liverpool supporters. I fully take the blame for everything that's gone awry so far this season. Because I decided to really start following them week in and week out, watching every game I can and following online if possible the ones I can't, they have suffered the same fate as all the rest of my teams. What's that fate? Doomed suckage. See Jets, Mets, Nets and Rangers. It just fits that a team I root for would lose on a goal going in off a beach ball on the field. Seriously. A beach ball on the field. Say nothing to whether it should have counted; to lose that way is just, Jets-esque. Or Mets-esque. Or... well you get the picture.

Sunderland v. Liverpool

Sunderland: 13 pts, 8th in the Premiership

Liverpool: 15 pts, 6th in the Premiership

Stakes: The standings these days aren't a pretty sight for the Reds. After the battle at Stamford Bridge could have seen Liverpool ascend to the top of the table, instead defeat has sent them spiraling back to the back. Whether or not it's a death spiral for the league title hopes remains to be seen, but things are not looking good for this clash with Sunderland. Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres are out for this one, and to make matters worse it's on the road. 1st place? Try down near tenth if this one doesn't end well.

Well, there goes the Premiership. We'll see if Liverpool decides they want to demand England and Spain pay their wages because both played for a team that had already qualified. I mean they're a little more important than a guy who was sitting on the bench for Milan, right? Seriously, Milan was paying Onweyu not to play anyway, so why are they upset?

Now that qualification is in the books, it seems like as good a time as any to look at the state of the US soccer team. And of course whenever you look at the state of a squad, it always starts with the head. In this case it is the much debated Bob Bradley, a man whom many didn't want to get the job, many still want fired but who also has picked up plenty of supporters along the way.

Your view on Bradley probably comes down to where you perception of the US Soccer team in the world spectrum. You can see it in the arguments on both sides. Critics decry his conservative style and boring defensive tactics. (Two defensive mids, hooray for bunker ball!) Supporters will tell you the US simply doesn't have the talent to get by consistently any other way. Meanwhile supporters will tell you Bradley's had more success than any other US coach, with the highest win percentage and qualifying for the World Cup at the top of CONCACAF. Critics will retort qualifying for the Cup is the bare minimum these days; anyone should do be able to do that with this group of players. The true test comes in South Africa, where Bradley's tactics will inevitably lead to a knock out in the group stage.

Yesterday, I couldn't help but get the feeling that things had come full circle.

As the US got a stunning point in a meaningless game, so much of the talk and criticism of the summer seemed to reverse itself last night. After blowing leads to multiple teams, but most famously Brazil in the Confederations Cup final, the US pulled one on Costa Rica last night. They went on attack, dominated possession and even overcame the blow of losing Oguchi Onewyu with about ten minutes left (and likely for much longer). Their dominance of possession was unheard of for a US team. It was an inspiring effort and to score the equalizer with seconds to go, with just ten men, made it even sweeter.

Pre Game:

The US starting lineup is slightly different from the Honduras game, but is still the "A" lineup.

GK: Howard
RB: Cherundolo
CB: Onewyu
CB: Bocanegra
LB: Bornstein
RM: Holden
CM: Bradley
CM: Feilhaber
LM: Donovan
ST: Altidore
ST: Casey

USA v. Costa Rica 8 PM Eastern

USA: 19 pts, 1st in the table, +6 GD

Costa Rica: 15 pts, 3rd in the table, 0 GD

Stakes: The US has nothing on the line in this one except pride. That factor might be upped more than normal tonight as the team tries to overcome the loss of Charlie Davies for likely through the World Cup after the striker was involved in a horrific car crash. For Costa Rica, the World Cup is on the line. A victory sends them to South Africa. Anything else means a Honduras win in El Salvador would send them home. Not even a draw would help; the teams would finish tied and Costa Rica's awful goal differential would leave them empty handed.

Charlie Davies.

The talented speedy striker had taken the US soccer world by storm after his marvelous Confederations Cup. In mere months he had gone from untested substitute/reserve to a guy who had all but locked down his spot on the 2010 World Cup roster. It was meteoric rise unlike any that I can remember, at least in the soccer world. Such things are usually reserved for workout wonders at the NFL draft; not players on the International soccer stage.

Then in an instant, the rise became a crash.

Four days ago, this was supposed to be do or die time for the US men's national team. They were supposed to be fighting for their World Cup lives in the nation's capital against Costa Rica. The winner went to South Africa. The loser likely had two dates with Argentina complete with a probable complementary trip home. It represented the doomsday possibility for the US. As unlikely as a loss on the home turf would be, the lead up and game was going to be a nerve wracking experience.

And then the US won in Honduras and made the game completely inconsequential.

The story of Saturday night's road victory over Honduras, outside of the US locking up it's sixth straight World Cup appearance, was the surprise star of the match Conor Casey. How big of a surprise was Casey's heroics? For starters, if you polled media people or US fans, he probably would have been deemed least likely player to start the game outside of Brad Guzan and maybe Robbie Rogers. Then when you combine that with the situation, supposed difficulty of the game, the stakes and his perceived skill level and you have one of the most unlikely performances in US soccer history.

Did anyone else feel more relieved than overjoyed at the US qualifying for the World Cup? Is it a sign my expectations are getting too far out of whack? Naahh, I live in 2009, not 1989.

-Ives Garlarcep has one of my favorite soccer blogs out there, but his logic about the US qualification somehow vindicates Bob Bradley is a fallacy. The logic only holds if the World Cup was an open competition in qualifying where the 32 best teams make it. But we know that's not the case.

So, as I mentioned in prior posts, a near perfect situation opened up. A bar by my place was showing the US Honduras match. I also mentioned that I would shun internet feeds and pay to watch the game at the bar. I was looking forward to the experience of getting to watch a soccer game with passionate US fans, something that I haven't done in the past.

Yet, on the night when the US team exceeded the general expectations and beat Honduras on the road, coming from behind to do it, I missed out on most of the fan base euphoria. Why?

Because I watched the game on my computer.

CONCACAF Qualifying

Honduras: 3rd in Group, 13 Pts, +6 GD

United States: 1st in Group, 16 Pts, +5 GD

Stakes: The are but two games remaining in World Cup qualification and while both of these teams are locks to make the top four, neither wishes to end up in that 4th spot. Why? That spot will result in a playoff with a team from South America, most likely Argentina. In other words, you can forget the World Cup.

I've got my place to watch the game and I'm excited for what could be the US team's ticket punching to South Africa in 2010. Of course, I'm not necessarily optimistic; the team has struggled on the road thus far and Honduras has been dominant at home, unbeaten in Hexagonal play. However, it will be a nice test to see how far this squad has come.

So it looks like I have my answer to "what will I do for the Honduras v. US match" Saturday night. I was debating having to cab my way over to a Mexican Restaurant to watch a Spanish feed of the game with most likely, Honduran fans. That might have been an experience on to itself, but a new option has opened up. Connolly's, a bar within walking distance of my place is now listed as one of places showing the game, in English. This is seriously a lucky break for me; many people don't have a place within miles and I've got one within ten minutes walking. Not that I believe in signs, but this is the closest thing to one there can be. I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth; I'll be there Saturday.

Of course, that means no live blog, but I can always do that for the Costa Rica game Wednesday.

It was the best of times.... It was the blurst of times...

-Remember all that hype when German midfielder Jermaine Jones switched FIFA allegiances to the US? He was going to right in a be the best midfielder on the squad right?

The US addition of Frankie Hejduk to the 22 man roster for Clint Dempsey yesterday caused me to grimace. This is nothing against Hejduk; he's been a contributor to the National team for years. However that's part of the problem. He's old, 35, and his skills have declined to the point where he should not be on the roster of a national side with aspirations of making it out of a World Cup round robin.

As you've no doubt heard by now, Clint Dempsey sustained a shoulder injury in last week's Fulham 2-2 draw with West Ham. Yesterday it was announced Deuce is out for the Honduras v. US qualifier Saturday night in Honduras, meaning the US will have to do without one if it's midfield mainstays of the past few years.

Despite his poor form nationally as of late, this is a crippling blow to the US team. I've been critical of him lately, but talent wise, it's arguable that Dempsey is the best player in the US midfield and the most irreplaceable. Conventional wisdom says Landon Donovan is both, but something has to be said for Deuce being the only player in the US midfield/forward position to hold down a starting job at in a top level league in some time.

It's Monday, which feels less like a Monday than normal when you have to work Sunday.


-Funny thing watching the Hull City v. Wigan game. At one point a Wigan player dove in the box in a one goal game. It was clear he was trying to draw a penalty and the referee rightly produced the yellow card. Okay, no harm done. But what blew my mind was the announcers. They spoke of how diving was a part of a "foreign" element to the Premiership, going as far to say as while that might be acceptable in Spain, is not in England. Seriously, are you for real?

I planned to Live Blog this one, but work made a surprise appearance and got in the way. Despite the poor result, I would have much rather parlayed my streams of consciousness than deal with work today.

That said, I was able to watch the whole game and pay attention to most of it. Overall, Chelsea was the better side, but Liverpool wasn't awful. Unfortunately, their big guys were unable to cash in on opportunities.

Chelski v. Liverpool

Chelsea: 18 pts, 2nd in the Premiership

Liverpool: 15 pts, 4th in the Premiership
Stakes: The Reds were streaking until a trip to Italy mid week resulted in a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Fiorentina. Liverpool's reward? A visit to Stamford Bridge and a showdown with Chelsea. During this run, Liverpool's been beating up on the weaker sisters of the Premiership; victories over Hull City, West Ham, Bolton and Burnley are necessary if you want to win the league. But they don't show where you rank among the top squads.

I didn't see all of the US junior squad's game against South Korea Friday, but I had more than my fill. The 3-0 scoreline told only part of the debacle for the US. While they got the better of possession, they did little with it and ended up barely troubling their opponents despite being down by two goals for most of the second half. But that wasn't the worst of it.

When on Wednesday Honduras named it's squad in advance of the upcoming October 10th clash against the US, I really didn't bat much of an eye. After all, the US team never reveals their team publicly until a few days before the game. It's Bob Bradley no doubt channeling his inner Bill Belichick, except you know, without the winning and stuff. He also tends to make a mockery of it all by doing things like revealing it piece mail on the internet. So I guess you have to refrain from calling it Belichikian and refer it as Mangini-esque.

Kickoff runs a little late today, but I'll make up for it by providing a big run down on the US roster for their final two qualifying games.

-Trinidad's Under 20 team finished up their World Cup run garnering a point against Paraguay's lesser squad. The game was a poor one with pretty poor finishing on both ends, so it was little surprise when it ended a scoreless draw. I would have liked the team to have shown more urgency in the closing minutes and try to get three points rather than settling for the one.

I caught two thirds of the Houston v. Pachuca battle yesterday. It might have been the best effort I've seen from an MLS side thus far, ranking up there with the Sounders' game against Chivas USA. And wouldn't you know it, like the Sounders game, Houston failed to register a goal. This was an even worse result for the Dynamo though, as they fell 1-0 to Pachuca, putting them in a dangerous spot heading into their final game of the CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage. They can still advance, but the road becomes more difficult.

This kickoff comes as a sorry replacement for the Match Day recap, which had to be cancelled due to work related commitments. Or you know, me having a job on a weekday afternoon.

-A busy day yesterday kept be from watching Liverpool's 2-0 loss at Fiorentina (a coincidence that I couldn't follow a loss, I swear). It's too bad in a way, critiquing a team when it loses can be even more educating than a when a team wins. On the other hand, I figure I might have pulled my hair out if I had to watch the squandered chances.

I've mentioned before how much MLS tends to annoy me with it's the strange attempt to appear soccer-ish in name but not in principle. There was a strange dichotomy set up, especially at the beginning, when you had this allusion to traditional sounding soccer names like DC United, while setting up rules to differentiate it from international soccer like it's old way of doing penalty kicks and the fourth substitution. In fairness to MLS, while that naming convention has continued (Real Salt Lake, FC Dallas, Seattle Sounders FC) they've gone much more towards the traditional format in terms of rules. However one thing that is missing is the thing that would make a soccer league in this country truly unique; relegation.

As I begin this Tuesday kickoff, I'm left wondering if the US Under 20 team must always play on the same day as Liverpool...

-I caught the second game for the Trinidad Under 20s yesterday and the effort was loads better. Perhaps the raucous crowd in the first game, they were playing hosts Egypt, affected the players. Or maybe it was just nerves of a different sort as many haven't been in a competition this large before. Either way, things were better in this one, even if the results ended up being the same points wise as they fell 2-1 to Italy.

These thoughts come courtesy of a man whose wallet is 88 dollars lighter thanks to Arizona's ineptitude...

-I didn't follow much of the US-Germany under 20 opener but the scoreline told me all I needed to know. Three unanswered goals later, things couldn't have started more poorly for the US squad. To make matters worse, this supposedly wasn't even the best and brightest the German youth had to offer.

Win Rating: 8- Expected Massacre

This one was what Liverpool was supposed to do. There were some tense moments after Hull City drew level as Liverpool's suspect defending again let them down. But Pepe Reina was there when necessary and it was only a matter of time before the brilliant Liverpool attack went back to work. And by "Brilliant Liverpool attack" I actually mean Fernando Torres. Three Torres goals later and Liverpool had more than enough to pick up three points.

Thoughts on the Starting Lineups:

Liverpool: One change from last weeks' starting XI against West Ham. Alberto Riera's back in for Javier Mascherano. I wondered if Mascherano had officially been suspended, but he's on the bench. I've been less than impressed with Riera thus far so we'll see how he handles today.

Hull City: Much to my disappointment, no Jozy Altidore in the starting lineup. Don't know much about Jan Vennegoor but he's 6'2. If he has speed, then he could pose trouble. If he's just size, then hopefully Jaime Carragher can handle him.

Liverpool v. Hull City

Liverpool 12 points, 3rd in the Premiership
Hull City 4 points, 19th in the Premiership

Stakes: Liverpool is rolling; since dropping two of the first three, Liverpool has won three straight Premiership games and five straight overall. Hull City comes in having dropped two straight home games. It's early, but Hull City could use road points to get themselves out of the relegation zone. Hull's at the bottom of the table, tied with 4 teams for the 16-19 spots. Hull's lousy goal differential (-8) drops them down to 19th. Liverpool needs to beat up teams like this to get truly back into the Premiership title battle. Hull needs to steal points from teams like this to make up for losses at home to teams like Birmingham City.

Thoughts on the Opposing Side: My interest in Hull City is entirely based around the development of one Josimer Altidore. American fans love to rank on manager Phil Brown, but he's been true to his word in giving Altidore time and Jozy seems to be acclimating to the English game well. He could have a very interesting match up against a suddenly struggling Jamie Carragher, who struggled with the speed of Zevon Hines and the size of Charlton Cole in last week's game against West Ham United. Altidore possesses both size and speed, though it is raw. He could cause lots of problems for the Liverpool back line.

Questions I Have: As mentioned, how does the Liverpool center backs, namely Carragher but to a lesser degree Martin Skrtel, handle Altidore? The answer to that could well decide whether this game is an easy win like Burnley or a nail biter like West Ham.

I'll also be trying to watch two games at once; the US Under 20 World Cup team is playing. My focus will be on the Liverpool game since it interests me more, but I'll see how much of both I can absorb.

Will I Be Watching: Barring my cable going out, I plan on it.

Expectations: Hull City's down in the relegation zone. Even if they're better than that, they should not be able to walk into Anfield and pick up a point, let alone three. Liverpool showed Burnley what playing a top draw side on the road entails a few weeks back. One would think Hull gets a similar lesson today.

Youth Served

-I checked out the opening game of the Under 20 World Cup yesterday, for no other reason than to see the future Soca Warriors go at it against Egypt's under 20 team. In theory your under 20 team doing well and making it this far, there are less teams in the Under 20 Cup than the actual World Cup, should be indicative of a bright future. It's not a moment too soon for Trinidad, who has gotten very old, very quickly and haven't found suitable replacements for the likes of Dwight Yorke, Stern John and Russell Latapy, or the quickly declining Dennis Lawrence.

Some thoughts to kick off your Thursday morning, which isn't as good as Friday morning, but much better than Wednesday or Tuesday morning.

-It was a mixed day for Americans playing overseas yesterday. The highlight would probably have to go to Kenny Cooper, netting a goal for TSV 1860 Munich. The goal put Munich up 2-0 though they'd piss away the lead in three minutes and eventually go on to win in penalties. The goal was Cooper's third in seven starts with the team.

Cooper has become the anti Brian Ching; a polarizing figure whom non Ching fans want to get Ching's spot on the US national team. Their argument is Cooper is young, talented and scores whenever he plays. Seriously, he scored seven goals in 15 games in MLS, 18 in 30 last year and 2 goals in five gold cup appearances (one start). His clip is impressive and he seems to have carried that over to the second level of the Bundesliga, which is still a higher level than MLS. Ching's supporters say Cooper doesn't play like a player with his 6'3 size should and that he tends to be selfish, never feeding to teammates.

The good: The final outcome: 1-0 Liverpool. David Ngog's winner puts them through to round four.

The bad: Everything else.

Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit. This side was filled with B teamers; only Jaime Carragher and Javier Mascherano started for the Reds. And hey, they won with that side plus about fifteen minutes of contributions from Glen Johnson and Steven Gerrard. That's a victory in itself.

Last week, news broke about the Premiership instituting a home grown player quota on it's squads starting next year. What does that mean? In short, every team in the Premiership is required to name a 25 man roster at the end of each transfer period (August and then in January) in which no less than eight players are "home grown".

Naturally, I had questions about it. A mandate on "home grown" players? I tried to imagine what it would be like to see such a rule implemented in baseball, hockey or basketball here. What if MLB decided that 15 home grown players were necessary per team. What would that do? It seemed strange at least and a bit xenophobic at worst.

I'm still experimenting with the features here at Compelling Soccer; IE things I'll want to do on a weekly basis. This week, I figure I'll try out the good old weekend in review, or the roundup of the games I checked out this weekend. This one features nothing on West Ham v. Liverpool because I wrote enough about that on Saturday.

The games I watched this weekend:

West Ham v. Liverpool (Prem)
Seattle Sounders v. Chivas USA (MLS)
Houston Dynamo v. Real Salt Lake (MLS)
*Manchester United v. Manchester City (Prem)
Valencia v. Sporting Gijon (La Liga)

*- denotes best game I watched

These are times when I don't mind being wrong.

I said I expected a draw for Liverpool in their showdown with West Ham at Upton Park in London. But the Reds, namely Fernando Torres, did one better, pulling out a 3-2 win. So much for his talk about poor form, huh?

I'm here so why not do a live blog. I plan to do these for US MT games to let's test it out.

Liverpool is running out 10 of the starting 11 they used against Debrecen mid week. The only change us Javier Maschereno in for Alberto Riera. Considering Riera's poor play in that game, this isn't a huge surprise for the Reds.

For my mention of Jonathan Spector playing for West Ham, he is not in the starting XI at Upton Park today.

West Ham v. Liverpool

Points:

West Ham: 4 Pts, 13th out of 20

Liverpool: 9 Pts, 5th out of 20

Stakes: A sluggish start means different things when you are in different places to start a season. Liverpool is considered down right now, being in the 5th spot in the league some expected them to challenge for this year. West Ham's placement doesn't look terrible, 13th, but in reality they sit just a point above the relegation zone. Granted it's early to think about that, but giving up points at home is a surefire way to find yourself in the Championship next year.

Thoughts on the Opposing Side: West Ham leaves me indifferent. I know they've been up and down in recent years. If I were rooting for strictly Americans, I'd have to pull for them as they usually start USMT defender Jonathan Spector on the back line. Looking over their Soccernet page, I see a few names I'm familiar with; Matthew Upson, Kieron Dyer, Luis Boa Morte. (Sorry an aside, having taken french and knowing what "morte" means, when I translate that name in my head it reads as Louis Dead Snake. That is all) So West Ham doesn't bother me. That said, they would be a nice place to get points.

Update: I just remembered the clip to the right of Steven Gerrard's goal in the FA Cup final came against West Ham.

Will I Be Watching: I'll be out during the morning but plan to back in time. The late start (12:30) helps a lot.

Questions I have: Three games in a week is a lot, even for men in peak physical condition. How does Liverpool not come out sluggish after having to work harder than expected against Debrecen on Wednesday? When you have players like Fernando Torres admitting poor form already, it makes you nervous during a tough stretch like this.

Expectations: A win would be nice, but a draw seems reasonable. Road points are never easy to come by and Liverpool is playing their third game in seven days.

Game Thoughts Will Come Later.

It's Friday and I didn't feel like my rant on Marathon's inability to comprehend competent play warranted enough in the weekend lead up. So, here's what's kicking around on my brain today.

Continuing my journey through the CONCACAF Champions league last night, I checked out the Mexican side Toluca face off against Marathon. Pre game anticipating was me wondering where Marathon was exactly. Greece would be a normal guess, but since Greece isn't part of CONCACAF, they could safely be removed. Turns out they're from Honduras. It also turns out it didn't matter, because stink smells the same no matter where you're from, Central America or a swamp. What do I mean? After seven Toluca goals, I don't know what else to say except my opinion of DC United just fell through the floor.

The first thing I learned is that player evaluations are a lot harder when you don't know a lot of guys in the game and you don't speak the language of the broadcast you are watching it in.

So as promised, I checked out another MLS team in action on Wednesday night. This time it was the Houston Dynamo in action in the CONCACAF Champions League group stage game against the Mexican side Pachuca south of the border. I was hoping to see play better than I did from DC United Tuesday night and for the most part, they delivered. Unfortunately for them, Pachuca was much better than San Juan Jabloteh.

Liverpool v. Debrecen

Champions League Group Stages Game 1

Stakes: The Reds see a team I've never heard of at Anfield to kick off Group E. Lyon and Fiorentina, two squads I most definitely have heard of await. Needless to say, three points is essential and expected.

Thoughts on the opposing side: Debrecen's team page on Soccernet has links to just seven player names. That can't bode well for their talent level. After a little bit of research I've learned they are a Hungarian side and apparently the second team in the last 14 years from Hungary to qualify for the Group stages. Congrats to them. Nonetheless, these are the match ups where you got your cheap wins in club mode for FIFA.

Will I be watching? Workday, so I'll try to pick up some updates and maybe grab a feed. But watching with intent is going to be impossible.

Questions I have: Will Liverpool bring out their typical starting XI? It's the Champions League after all, but this side shouldn't pose problems. Meanwhile the Carling Cup is next week and could provide a better spot to give the big guys a rest.

Expectations: Anything less than a win will be surprising. Anything less than a convincing win would be disappointing. I may not be an expert, but I know this: a top tier English side should smack down an Hungarian side 10 out of 10 times at home. Another thing I have learned, even in my periods of waning interest, Rafa's squads always perform well in Europe.

Lineup: Turns out Rafa is using the same starting XI as Saturday against Burnley.

Game Thoughts and More After the Break:

So I'm laying my cards on the table: Major League Soccer has never been my thing. As hinted at in my intro on Saturday, I've never been able to get past the fact that it wasn't the best, or the second best, or third best talent out there. At times, I might have been able to talk myself into it being the equivalent of the lower leagues in Europe, like Sweden, Denmark or Austria. But the fact remained that you are likely to find better play in English League One. And that's has been too large an obstacle to overcome, especially when I'd see a relatively slow, dull long ball style of soccer.

I'm not alone. Snobbery towards MLS is fast becoming the soccer tradition in this country. With a better product available now quite easily, it's quite simple to say "MLS sucks, so why bother with it when you can check out the Premiership?" And you know what? There's merit to the argument. If someone said they didn't want to watch minor league baseball because they found it vastly inferior to the majors, would we begrudge them? No more so than the people who stopped watching the XFL after two weeks because the game was more hype than substance.

On the other hand, MiLB has never sold itself as an authentic MLB experience. It's always tried to say it is something different with it's own unique charms. Unique charms aren't for everyone of course, but a niche can be profitable if embraced and handled correctly. MLS has in the past seemed reluctant to do than in the mainstream, going more for the XFL strategy outwardly of trying to bill itself as something more. It seems to try to pass itself off as the cool kid at the party when it just ends up looking like a poser. Not only do you have the occasional fan/league employee spouting off how it's on par with Europe, the league has long been populated with ideas to try to make it sound traditional "soccery". FC Dallas? FC stands for Football Club. You can call it Liverpool FC because in Liverpool, they call it football. Nobody in America calls it that. Who are you trying to impress by naming a team FC? If it were SC Dallas, then yeah, you'd be naming it Soccer Club Dallas, but it'd make more sense. Or DC United? What has been United? There only has been one club in DC. Or Real Salt Lake? Apposed to the non existent Athletico Salt Lake?

As pathetic as it is, I'd rather a team named New York Red Bull. Is tacky a company names a team after itself? Sure, though I suppose Robert Johnson and the Charlotte BOBcats would argue otherwise. However, the team is what it is naming wise. It comes off as stupid when you try to tap into a culture that isn't yours just to make it seem more official. You are a soccer team in America; if you embraced that, you might have more luck carving out an identity.

Ironically, they pretend with names, but skip out on the nuts and bolts. The season takes place off from the FIFA calendar, making transfers tougher. And of course, there's no promotion relegation, with the argument that the fan bases could not handle it. It's funny in a way, the concept of "success due to merit" is such an American ideal that the relegation system makes so much sense for us. Why should the bottom teams continue to get paid? Let someone more deserving come up. How can one of the most capitalistic societies in the world not have a relegation system anywhere? Alas, at least with the near future, it's not to be.

But as someone who has willfully participated in said snobbery, dismissing it outright for such injustices and faux pas probably isn't the right way to approach matters. Just as there's a place and purpose for minor league baseball, MLS exists for a reason. It isn't the highest quality, but soccer is still great to watch when it's played right. Getting over the names on the unis, the knowledge of the level of play; strip all of it away and do you have an entertaining product?

Yesterday, I laid out my thought process in choosing a team. But while my situation maybe informative, it's not nearly as nice as a guide, clearly laying out your options.

Today, I'm happy to provide a nice handy breakdown with the pros and cons of any choice you make when selecting your team. There's no such thing as a perfect choice after all. But with this you can make the selection which works best for you.


Joining The Big Dogs: Picking the team that's winning.

Rationale: Everyone loves a winner.

Irrationale: Who would resent me? The more the merrier!

Fan Reaction: "Oh great another one. Bet he can't name four players off this team."

Integrity: None. Have you no shame sir? You earned nothing, nothing!

Jersey Purchase: Essential. Name player is also required. Positive points if you choose an obscure jersey for odd reasons.

Best Outcome: The team keeps winning for years to come. They stay on top so long that you stick around long enough people stop caring that you joined up 10 years ago because they won. This especially helps if you've taken the 10 years to learn four players off the team. Really though, you're just setting it up for your kids. They can claim they were fans for life and how their mom/dad always cared about the team. Plus, their innocence will prevent them from questioning your integrity for at least 10 years.

Worst Outcome: Team falls off and you bolt with them. Your remaining credibility is shot and all your affiliations will be questioned from here on out. I mean every one. Your friends will secretly joke you're only with your girlfriend until someone "better" comes around. Of course it's insecurity because they know you'll ditch them if given the opportunity to hang out with someone cooler. Think I'm going overboard? Remember when Lebron loved Bassy Telfair? Now he's all about Steph Curry. If I was you Steph, I'd start looking for someone a little more reliable.

Likely Outcome: Unless you're an idiot front runner who literally just took the last team that won, you'll probably get the medium. Top teams like Man U, Arsenal or stateside, the Yankees, tend to be stay on top for a while. Invariably, there will be lean years though. How you react will determine your worth as a human being.

When you're a kid picking teams is easy. Being young, dumb and impressionable, you go for who your parents like. Or if your parents aren't into sports, you pick who your friends do. Or failing that, because kids always like happy endings, you pick the winning team. You know, like LeBron James does. And then in theory, you stick with those teams forever. You know, like LeBron James did with the Yankees and Cowboys when he was growing up in the early 90's in Ohio and the Yankees were terrible.

But what happens when you are old enough to make conscious decisions with your teams? What if you actually entered the sports world as a true free agent, the ability to sign up for fandom with any team in a particular sport? What exactly do you do then? Careful how you answer, because much like an athlete when his contract is up, your decision will say more about you than you might care for it to.

For example, say you decide you want to go with the recent champion. Then it's clear who you are, front runner. You picked them because they won. Your connection is hollow, your ties shallow, much like you are as you're already likely to run off with the next pretty thing that comes your way. The die hards are on to you. You'll never get respect at games and you'll always be the unwelcome outsider; a mercenary if you will, to pad the numbers of the owners of the team who will gladly take your money for jerseys you'll stop wearing when the team drops to third.

Or perhaps do you try to buy low and join up with a lower tier team? Here you'll be much more accepted and your motives unlikely to be questioned. Your sanity maybe, but your integrity will remain pure. Enjoy that good feeling; odds are it will be the last thing you get out of that deal for a while. Your team is probably not winning any championships anytime soon and heartbreak will follow, if you are lucky. If you're unlucky, you picked the LA Clippers and are stuck rooting for unrealistic things like the best player in the league suddenly deciding to make the same mistake you did. You'll suffer or burn out. Neither is preferable.

First posts are for hellos. I tend to get long winded, so for those who prefer, there's a short version at the end.

I'm no expert. I like to consider myself well informed on a lot of things in sports, but I would fully admit to knowing less about soccer than I do about say, baseball. That said, I'm no novice. I played as a kid through junior high school and have watched plenty of games over the course of my life. I've written about it in blog form before, but on an individual basis rather than as the general subject matter for the blog itself. Like many Americans I watch the World Cup intently, though I also have a working knowledge of the club scene in Europe. In other words, I can name most of the teams currently up in the Premiership, I know all about relegation and can name players other than Beckham, Ronaldo, Rooney and Donovan.

Yeah, I can name the guy to the right. Points to you if you can too.

I've seen enough to be able to make decent player judgments. For example, when Alexei Lalas says Landon Donovan is a top 20 player in the world, I can laugh heartily, knowing he's talking out his ass. It also won't stop me from making my share of commentary, because how entertaining could this be if I didn't think I knew more than some people. *coughBobBradleycough*

In any case, this is a journey as I see how far my soccer fandom can grow now that it has proper outlets. I also hope that perhaps I can infect those around me with the bug a bit, because seeing soccer take off in the US has always been a dream of mine. It's closer now than it's ever been, though as many astute people have pointed out, not in the form people would have expected back in the 70's and 80's or even the early 90's. Back then, it was always about creating a league here that people would fall in love with. That would get kids into it. That's how soccer would take off. Instead, the shrinking of the world we live in has changed matters. It's brought the global game to the US and is part of the reason for my enhanced interest.

I've always liked the game. But the means for me following it were more time consuming than my interest would allow at the time. Soccer simply was not readily available in mainstream America for a long time; or at least soccer I considered watching. There were two forms of soccer that one could get easily four or so years ago; MLS and Mexican League soccer. The Mexican league games could be and were entertaining, but often were on Sunday afternoons when NFL games were on. Plus they are in Spanish which, despite what people might think when they look at me, I do not speak.

MLS is it's own separate issue. The quality just hasn't been good enough on the times I've watched to make it commitment worthy. The speed of the game, the finesse, the things that make it fun to watch are less apparent in MLS. It's a lot of long ball, lobs into the box and generally is boring. You didn't see runs like you did in the World Cup or European leagues or even the Mexican leagues. And of course, there was always a general sense that what you were watching was third or fourth tier action. If it was fast pace and fun, that wouldn't matter so much. But when it's slow plodding and methodical, you lose interest. Whenever I'd catch glimpses of other leagues, whether it was England, Italy, Mexico or hell, Argentina, what always amazed me was the speed of the games compared to MLS. In the case with Mexico and Argentina, the fundamentals might be less, but it was more entertaining to watch.

But the times they are changing. Top flight soccer is now becoming more and more available. ESPN is showing a premiership game every Saturday morning and La Liga every Sunday. And for those who are persistent, there are also ways to watch games on the internet. Plus, now that I'm no longer a college student who wakes up at 1 PM every weekend, or an unemployed young adult whose body clock functions like a college student's, it doesn't take an extra effort to wake up in time to watch European games anymore.

I've now watched soccer every weekend since the start of the Premiership season and I've seen part of every Liverpool game this year. Five years ago, that wasn't possible, at least for me, without having to wake up at 9 AM and walking to a soccer bar. Considering I barely was capable of waking up in time for New York Jets games which started at 1 PM and I could watch from my dorm room bed, it was simply not happening.

With the best club soccer available now for consumption and the international game at it's peak with World Cup qualifying winding down, there simply is no time better for me to embrace my interest.



And for those of you who only wanted the short version, here it is:

-I've watched soccer since I was 11

-I have a love/hate relationship with US Soccer, personified by Clint Dempsey

-The Soca Warriors have a special place in my heart

-Steven Gerrard's goal against West Ham in the 2006 FA Cup final makes me feel tingly inside

-Landon Donovan is overrated in America, underrated to non Americans

-MLS isn't my thing, as in, I'd consider watching the Danish league over it.

Note: the short version actually contained nothing from the actual introduction. But they are things I'll be discussing here in the near future.

Welcome again to compelling soccer, where the pitch is always open and there's plenty of room on the bandwagon. Hop aboard.