Compelling Soccer

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.

The downside is that Liverpool was consistently outplayed by Leeds up until then. Sure Leeds was at home and up for this game, but they're also a League One side. For those of you who don't know English soccer, League One is a misnomer. It's actually their third division, behind the Premiership and the Championship division. The reserves should be good enough to bury a team of that level, even if they are on the road. And they didn't, needing a fortunate offside call which disallowed a goal to come out on top.

Because I was at work, I couldn't follow this one as intently as I would have liked. So there won't be any player ratings or awards for this one. Just some general thoughts on things that stood out for me.

Props go to Cavalieri Diego, Liverpool's backup keeper. He did his part to make sure Liverpool went through, making a couple of key saves and bailing out a questionable Liverpool back line on multiple occasions.

Rafa had good things to say about the goalscorer, Ngog. He's only 20, so this performance could bode well for him. That said, he also nearly played everyone onside on the disallowed Leeds' goal, so it wasn't a perfect night for him. One figures his role might end up the one Dirk Kuyt is currently filling; as a secondary striker type who mainly plays the support role behind Fernando Torres. Ryan Babel might be the guy who wants that role, but we'll get to him in a bit.

Jamie Carragher had another poor performance. He struggled with the pace Leeds was able to generate and was completely undressed on a play that nearly resulted in a Leeds goal. The ball was sent long up the field and the forward flat out beat Carragher to it and then pushed in on goal but was stopped by Cavalieri. A center back's speed usually isn't something that is called into question, but Carragher's struggles against West Ham Saturday could also be attributed to issues with Zavon Hines' speed. It looks like the best way to attack the Liverpool veteran is with speedy forwards and I'm not sure what Rafa can do about it at this point. Maybe it's just a bad spell or perhaps Carragher is nursing an injury. If it doesn't resolve itself soon, Liverpool's back line could fine itself in trouble.

Watching Ryan Babel is a testament to frustration. He reminds me of a hard throwing pitcher who can't hit the strike zone consistently. He'll make the marvelous play (see his assist on Torres' game winner Saturday) but he'll also make you tear your hair out with his persistence of turn overs and poor shot selection. It's clear why Liverpool wanted Babel. He's got the talent to be a real asset to the squad. But does he have the mind set for it? It's hard to tell. One suspects he might be pushing too hard to earn a place on the first team right now.

Other Thoughts For This Wednesday

-El Hadji Diouf is claiming some pretty extreme cases of a racism happened in Liverpool with Everton's fans. Diouf has always been a player I liked but whose actions make it difficult to defend. He is Milton Bradley times five; since Bradley's never been accused of spitting on anyone, repeatedly. And the charges themselves are almost so fantastical, people actually throwing bananas, that you hesitate to believe them. (Especially after nothing was found after the game) That said, I will never underestimate the capability of humanity to find new ways to embarrass itself, so I will wait until the investigations finish before jumping to the conclusion that nothing at all occurred. Stuff of this nature has happened before and since Diouf is a lightning rod, it wouldn't surprise me if he were targeted in some fashion.

-I watched the first half of the Houston Dynamo, with Houston going up 1-0. Exhausted, I went to bed at that point. Turns out I missed some fireworks, though only the Dynamo was firing them off. A 5-1 win will certainly help their chances of advancing in the CONCACAF Champions League, with the added bonus of helping greatly in their goal differential.

One thing I noticed watching the first half is that Houston and a lot of other MLS teams don't play possession soccer. It's one thing to maintain possession but it's another to actually have it as a style. What do I mean? Well, a possession team treats it like something that isn't to be given away quickly. They are quick on the ball and are constantly moving it around, looking for an opportunity to make a through pass. But they don't make them frequently. You'll often see resets, where they play it back to defense, or have two or three players passing it back and forth between another, looking to set up a run. At one point in the Liverpool game, Alberto Riera, Glen Johnson and someone else who I can't remember, essentially did that. They kept passing it between one another in the same seven yard area, making the defenders chase until finally they sprang Johnson for a run down the side.

I didn't notice Houston doing that and so far have yet to see an MLS team play such a style. They'll make a few passes, but in the end they can only go so far before they charge down the wing and try to whip in a cross, or try to lay it to someone in the middle of the field (which usually results in that player being in constant pressure). It feels like you don't see as many players get the ball in space in MLS as you do elsewhere.

It could be my imagination, or it could be something stylistically. Makes me wonder what would happen if someone tried to bring a true possession style to MLS. I would think you could find players to execute it. Mexican league teams do it (I know Pachuca did against Houston) and the level between the leagues isn't that great.

Anyway, I would have liked to have seen what Houston did in the second half because I imagine it was impressive. Unfortunately when you have to wake up the next morning...

-Sol Campbell quit Notts County after being one of Sven Goran Eriksson's big signings as he tries to push the club from League Two all the way to the Premiership. Or, what I did in in FIFA '07 a few years ago. (Yes, I really took Notts County and no, I don't believe that doing it in a video game anyway compares with actually doing it in real life, if it can be done) Things were off to a roaring start for Sven and company, winning their first two games of the campaign by a total of 9-0. Unfortunately they've won just two out of the six games since and are now apparently the owners are having their take over of the team investigated. The hopes of grandeur was may be collapsing faster than Sven's career as Mexico's manager. And if it does, one would have to think that's it for Sven managing anywhere.

But knowing my luck, he'll be appointed US head coach after Bob Bradley likely fails in 2010.