Monthly Archives: August 2012

Surveying the Soccer Scene: American Youth Soccer

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The strides that the United States Soccer Federation’s Development Academy has made since its inception has produced much hullabaloo recently.  Just last month, both the u15/16 and u17/18 age divisions wrapped up their national playoffs with the New York Red Bulls and FC Dallas claiming the respective trophies.  This season’s playoffs saw more exciting American youth prospects than prior years.  The Development Academy (DA) has become the preeminent choice of age eligible soccer players in the United States.  But what about after high school?

If players are good enough, can find a national amateur team near their hometown or college’s town, and are willing to put in the time without an immediate tangible gain… they can play in the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League or in the National Premier Soccer League during the summers of their college career.

What can players do if they don’t live near clubs in these leagues?  Or if a young player and his parents decide to pursue soccer before age 15?  What if players are competitive at a u18 level but can’t yet make the cut in the PDL or NPSL?  These are the questions I’m trying to probe in this exercise on the multiple structures of youth soccer in the United States.

During college, there are currently several paths for players to get from “youth” leagues to the “professional” leagues.  Most of these paths include college soccer during the NCAA season, as even promising prospects from MLS academies still play college ball, but in the summer athletes have a number of options.  Considered the most professional of the various summer leagues for college-aged players, United Soccer Leagues’ Premier Development League (PDL) offers a high level of competition with established clubs that are often scouted by Major League Soccer teams.

The second most well regarded national amateur league, the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), is growing in its number of teams and nation-wide profile.  NPSL allows new clubs to join for smaller expansion fees and operate a lower-cost business model while claiming to provide the same level of play on the field as the PDL.  United Soccer Leagues’ Super-20 League is a u-20 league that was designed as a stepping stone between youth leagues (Super Y-League) and the PDL.  There are many S-20 clubs in areas without PDL teams and several S-20 teams that also operate youth development structures. Continue reading →

The College Soccer Season is Kicking Off

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NCAA Division 1 has 203 nationally ranked teams, 13 of which are in Upstate New York in 7 different athletic conferences.  Teams are ranked according to the Rankings Percentage Index (RPI) was released today, a system in based on a school’s record and the strength of their schedule.

The 13 Upstate Division 1 Men’s Soccer programs from a variety of conferences finished the 2011 season with varying degrees of success.  SUNY Binghamton (154) and SUNY Albany (156) play in America East.  Syracuse (179) plays in the Big East.  Niagara (105), Siena (173), Marist (122), and Canisius (197) play in Metro Atlantic. Hartwick (108) and Universtity at Buffalo (146) play in Mid-American.  Colgate (90) and Army (177) play in Patriot.  Cornell (64) plays in Ivy.  St Bonaventure (198) plays in Atlantic 10.

In the full list of rankings for the 2011 season can be found here.  The best represented conference is the Atlantic Coast, which has 3 teams in the top 10.  Sadly my college (Hamilton) does not have a Division 1 athletic program, but I will be following these 13 teams throughout the season and living vicariously through their relative successes.  Somehow the NCAA secured a TV deal with Fox Soccer Channel to broadcast a couple games a week for the duration of the college soccer season.  Unfortunately none of the Upstate schools will be broadcast this year.

Every year after the MLS Draft, dozens of promising college soccer talents are signed by the MLS club while several others are waived.  Some of these players wind up in the lower divisions of American soccer like Rhinos break out star J.C. Banks.  Others still opt to ply their trade in Europe with Scandinavia still a popular destination. Continue reading →

Robbie Keane’s Red Card, José Alfredo Peñaloza Soto, and CCL Refereeing

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This probably isn’t the first time you’ve heard of a controversy with CONCACAF referees and, undoubtedly, it won’t be the last.  In the past week there has been a big fuss about referees in MLS.  Mark Geiger seemingly threw a game between Philadelphia and D.C. United out of whack by himself.  Jasen Anno pretended no one has ears or eyes and tried to take back a penalty he called in Portland’s visit to the New York Red Bulls.  Neither of those botched referee calls can compare to the performance of José Alfredo Peñaloza Soto on Thursday night in Los Angeles.

“Hold on guys, hold on, hold on.. I totally got this!” says a clearly confused Peñaloza during Thursday night’s CCL match.

Because the Champions League is a CONCACAF competition, the referees are provided by all (or most) member nation federations.  Peñaloza became a referee in Mexico’s Primera Division in 2007 but has not demonstrated an improved control of games since that time.  

Players and coaches and spectators look for a few things in a good referee.  First is fairness, followed by consistency, and then maybe modesty.  You could make an argument that Peñaloza displayed none of those traits in his controversial performance.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about by now, have a look at the following incident.

Robbie Keane audaciously tries to run between two Metapan defenders and is clipped in the process.  Instead of awarding the free kick, Peñaloza penalizes Keane for diving and produces the yellow card.  If you’ve followed any part of Robbie Keane’s career, you could have guessed that wouldn’t go over well with the Irishman.  In the video you can see Robbie Keane signal for a substitution and yell “No!” at the referee.  He may have said other things that this highlight video doesn’t show as Mike Magee tries to separate him from Peñaloza and Beckham looks on in disbelief.  I watched the game last night and there wasn’t any physical contact on the referee and Keane didn’t stand yelling in his face.

Keane disagreed with the call and wanted to get off the field.  This was an immature move by Robbie Keane but an even more egregious act by the referee.  Peñaloza wanted the spotlight on himself.  What’s particularly interesting was the fact that Keane was not shown a second yellow, but rather a straight red card for apparent dissent.  Saying “No!” to a referee and gesturing to your bench is now worthy of a red card in CONCACAF competitions.

At one end of the spectrum, Peñaloza had it out for the American team.  At the other, Keane dove to earn a foul in a promising position and then exploded at a match official.  The truth is Keane may have been looking for a foul but he was hit.  There was contact on his shin before he went down  and then he was stepped on.  Even if Keane went down softly that’s still a foul anywhere, even in Mexico.

Peñaloza has been refereeing professionally in Mexico’s top flight since 2007.  In 2010 he was FIFA certified which allowed him to officiate international matches and the CONCACAF Champions League.  But his track record is more than a bit baffling.  In the calendar year of 2012, which includes the Clausura 2012 and the handful of matches in the Apertura of the reformatted Liga MX, Peñaloza has officiated 13 league games and issued 53 cautions and 11 ejections.  That makes 4.08 yellow cards per game and .85 red cards per game in 2012.  While the 4 yellows is about average across the board, averaging almost one red card in every game is alarming for a professional referee.

In his first match of the new season, between León and Querétaro, he showed 7 yellow cards and 2 straight red cards.  While many of those calls may have been warranted on an individual basis, if you put them all in context Peñaloza has absolutely no game-management skills.  Unless you’re talking about great club rivalries in global football, the referee should be able to control the wild tackles and late hits in a game.  A referee’s consistency provides the benchmark for players to know what is acceptable and what isn’t in each game.  This is why the first yellow card in a game is so important to the complexion of the rest of the match.  The first yellow card sets the tone for fouls during the remainder of the game.  Peñaloza showed no such sense and absolutely zero professionalism.

Peñaloza showed three yellow cards in the game on Thursday night; one to A.J. DeLaGarza early in the game, one to Robbie Keane and one to either Michael Stephens or David Beckham.  It appeared that Michael Stephens received the card for time wasting as he came on for Beckham in the 80th minute.  The card was later charged to Beckham for taking his time getting off the field while he was actually trying to give the captain’s armband to Mike Magee.  No Metapan players were issued yellow cards.

Here are Todd Dunivant’s postgame quotes:
(On his perspective of the Keane red card…)

DUNIVANT:  “Your guess is as good as mine. First he gives a yellow card for diving, and then compounds that mistake by giving him a red card. But a lot of times referees like to be bigger than the game and that was the case tonight.”

(On whether or not the referee was a typical CCL moment…)

DUNIVANT: “It was strange. You’d have to ask him. It’s crazy that a professional referee would come out and want to take over a game like that. It’s about the guys on the field; it’s not about the guys in the stripes. It blows your mind when things like that happen. There was a lot of frustration on our part with that, and we’ve got to learn from it and on move on.”

And Bruce Arena’s postgame quotes:
(On Robbie Keane’s red card…)

ARENA: “I don’t know. The ref missed the call and typical, we’ve seen in these competitions, the referees think they’re bigger than the game itself and they’ve got to put themselves ahead of everything, I guess he felt he should not be, I don’t know.  Robbie spoke, said something, whatever, but when a referee misses a call like that, he’s got to be big enough to kind of ignore it and let the game go on. So a player gets a yellow card for diving when he’s fouled and then obviously a red card for, I don’t even know. They didn’t explain anything to us.”

From CCL’s website, “Robbie Keane was yellow carded for what Mexican referee Alfredo Penaloza apparently thought was a dive and then was ejected for complaining.”  Since when has “complaining” been a red card warranted offense?

Sifting through CONCACAF Champions League’s regulations, I’ve found there is an appeal process.  However, there is no mention of a club appealing a red card.  In other leagues a player can’t appeal if he is sent off through two yellows, however Keane was shown a straight red card by Peñaloza.

For his dismissal Keane will have to sit for two games in the CCL, an appeal of which is strictly forbidden.  This is just one more example of how crooked and backward CONCACAF is.  If ever there is an apt red card to appeal, it is Keane’s.  In a better world, CONCACAF would use this incident as an opportunity to improve their disciplinary practices.  Writing into the competition regulations that players cannot appeal red cards is a way for the tournament organizers and federation to cover themselves from the stink of incompetent referees.  Instead of hiding behind the league regulations, CONCACAF should take a stand to refine both officiating and the appeals process.

6.5 The following decisions of the CONCACAF Disciplinary Committee shall not be subject to appeal:
a. Cautions and censures imposed on players, referees, assistant referees, fourth officials, team staff and officials, other persons or national associations.
b. Suspensions of up to two matches, or of up to two months, imposed on players, referees, assistant referees, fourth officials, team staff and officials or other persons.
c. Fines imposed on players, referees, assistant referees, fourth officials, team staff and officials, other persons (not exceeding $10,000US) or Member Associations (not exceeding $30,000US).

6.22 No protests may be made against the referee’s decisions on points of fact connected with play, such decisions being final.

6.27 Notwithstanding the above provisions, any player cautioned or sent from the field of play by the referee shall be subject to the punishments specified in 6.28, 6.29 and 6.30. Such punishments are automatic and are not subject to appeal. These punishments may be augmented by the CONCACAF Disciplinary Committee and any such augmentation is subject to the appeals process previously defined.

Response to “MLS needs to clampdown on the F-word chanting at referees”

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I haven’t done this before but I love berating the opinions of others so I’m going to go through point and point and write why this article was a waste of time.

“It’s time for Major League Soccer to clean up its game. R-rated chants should not be welcome at a PG-rated sport.”

In this country, as long as there are actual fans in the seats there is no PG-rated sporting event.  This isn’t Chuck E Cheese’s; this is a match in which supporters have emotional vested interest.  There is a legitimate discussion that needs to take place in the American soccer community about the use of offensive chants but that discussion does not revolve around referees.

“What a perfect moment to introduce young people to the beautiful game…. Those youngsters got to see an ugly side of the sport and left with their ears ringing from the foul-mouth chants spewed out by a certain section of fans upset over a number of referee decisions.”

That “certain section” is the Barra Brava, D.C. United’s supporters’ group, and is the lifeblood of the league.  Supporter’s Groups are the reason why attendance has swelled in MLS (making MLS 8th in the world) and they deserve the praise of the league’s fans.  Perhaps Supporter’s Groups across the country have also earned the scorn of over protective suburban soccer moms but SG members are season ticket holders while the author of this article is talking about a parent taking his or her children to a soccer game for the first time.  If it came down to it, the league would have to choose season ticket holding fans over mildly interested families attending their first game.

“Do these type of organized R-rated chants take place at baseball, basketball, hockey, and gridiron football games? I don’t know.”

The answer to that is quite simply, yes.  In any given game in any number of sports in America when a refereeing official makes a bad call, it is not unusual for the crowd to yell ‘Bullshit’ in unison.  I have witnessed and participated in much worse chants about the referees at a Buffalo Sabres hockey game.  The difference between soccer and other sports is the use of organized chants instead of a child hearing hundreds of individuals slinging obscenities towards the referees.

“Would a young person watching a referee face such abuse be encouraged to take up the referee’s whistle?”

Does a “Fuck You Ref” chant discourage prospective referees more than a “You Suck Asshole” chant discourages kids from becoming goalkeepers?  This point is just irrelevant and the author plugged it in to distract from the fact that he has no real argument.

“How about protecting and respecting our young people and fellow fans in the stands? Commissioner Don Garber are you listening?”

Is it not the responsibility of league commissioner or other fans (especially the supporters’ groups) to shield sheltered young people from hearing foul language.  Why should it be my duty to do some parent’s job?  This is just a cop-out for crappy and lazy parents.  Hearing language is one thing, repeating it is another.  If you, as a parent, can’t prevent your own child from copying any behavior he observes then the problem is not what comes out of my mouth at a soccer game.

I recently lived in Mexico for five months.  While I was there I attended several Puebla FC (first division) and Lobos BUAP (second division) soccer games.  Mexican soccer games are pretty notorious for the widespread use of obscene chants during opposition goal kicks.  When the other team’s goalkeeper takes the kick, fans throughout the stadium yell ‘Puto’, which can mean bitch but also implies a question of manhood and masculinity.  At the first game I attended, I felt weird yelling offensive terms while I was sitting near or around children.  During that first Lobos BUAP game there were children sitting in the row in front of me and I was shocked to see them participating in the chant along with their parents.  The whole family took part in berating the opposition.  After that I realized that behavior at sporting events was not necessarily indicative of those people’s behavior in daily life.  Children can hear or even participate in obscene yelling at a soccer game without turning into juvenile delinquents.

This issue has also come up at Rochester Rhinos games this season.  When our star player, J.C. Banks, was issued a second yellow for a foul on an Orlando City player who dove, the stadium rang with the chant “Bullshit.”  Less than ten minutes later, the player who drew the foul against Banks was himself sent off.  The same people yelled “Asshole” at the Orlando player.  I looked around and could see some children and parents looking nervous about the spontaneous fountain of hatred.  All of this was in the general seating sections.

During an earlier match I sat with the Supporters’ Group, the Stampede, in their section.  Despite the fact that the section was in a corner (the home side goal has no stands behind it) and that there were no children in the section or close in the next section, event staff tried to stop obscene chants.  ’Sparrow’, a song that includes the line ‘shit on the bastards below’, motivated a security officer to approach the group about stopping.  And stop is exactly what they did.  The next game the Stampede was nowhere to be found.  Even though several players and other spectators publicly praised the Supporters’ Group for the atmosphere it created, the club staff was unwilling to work with the Stampede and the rest of the games this season were eerily silent.

The lack of a Supporters’ Group made Rochester Rhinos games less exciting and this lack of atmosphere was noticeable.  Supporters’ Groups can actually make general seating sections more family friendly.  With the exception of outlying situations, such as the refereeing controversies of the past week, allowing a section for rowdy and passionate fans to sit means that an overprotective soccer mom can better insulate her sheltered children from the obscene horrors of foul language.  This has not happened in Rochester but the rise of SG culture in MLS is a tremendous positive for the league and should not be dismantled for the sake of the casual family spectators.

Hoxie’s Late Goal Squeaks the Rhinos Past Pittsburgh Riverhounds

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The game wasn’t pretty but at the end of 90 minutes the Rhinos had done enough to claim victory in their regular season finale.  In the 87th minute of the match Andrew Hoxie played a give and go with Tyler Rosenlund at the top of the opposition box before curling a shot to the far post.  While certainly on different levels, Hoxie’s goal reminded a beleaguered Tottenham supporter of Demba Ba’s goal earlier in the day.

Even though the game was scoreless for 86 minutes, doesn’t mean the match was boring.  Kristian Nicht was going nuts all game.  Each time the ball went out of play for a goal kick, Nicht immediately turned to the ball-boys behind the net screaming, “Ball! Now! Ball! C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!”  Rochester had one goal kick late in the game after going ahead.  When the ball went out, Nicht pointed at the ball-boys and yelled “No!” so then he could walk over and retrieve the ball himself.

Nicht was as animated as I have ever seen a professional athlete.  He was screaming the entire game; at ball-boys, at linesmen, at the center ref, at his teammates, at the crowd at end of the game… At one point in the game, Nicht yelled the greatest thing I have ever heard hurled at a referee.  When a Rhinos player was clearly fouled but the official decided not to blow his whistle Nicht yelled from half the field away in his thick accent, “What! Do you have eyes?!” Continue reading →

El Tri Stutters Against the United States

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I was lucky enough to be a part of something special on Wednesday night.  Not only was I with a group of other American Outlaws watching the United States Men’s National Team make history with their 1-0 victory at Estadio Azteca, but we were part of a dual fan base effort at a Rochester area Mexican restaurant.  I said in an earlier post about the U.S.-Mexico rivalry that the two footballing nations are intrinsically intertwined and this came to light on Wednesday as well.  Here are the conclusions I reached about the Mexican national team after two car ride discussions Thursday afternoon with my girlfriend, a lifelong Mexico supporter.

By most accounts, Mexico should have done better than they did against their biggest rivals.  El Tri was missing two players from their first choice XI, Carlos Salcido and Giovani dos Santos, but Mexico still trotted out a much more experienced starting lineup than the United States.  Mexico dominated in all statistics but one; the score.  Mexico had 19 attempts on goal to 7 for the United States, 13 total shots to 7, 10 corner kicks to 0, 34 crosses to 4, 490 passes to 248, 66.2% possession to 33.8%.  The point is, quite simply, that Mexico could not score.

Jorge Torres Nilo is Mexico’s first choice left back and the pairing of Hector Moreno and Maza (Francisco Javier Rodriguez) is the partnership for the next World Cup cycle.  Hiram Mier, an Olympic breakout player, is one for the future but at age 22 he isn’t better than either center back who started.  Severo Meza is the right back that started the last two World Cup Qualifiers and he is some way better than late game substitute Enrique Perez and Efrain Juarez at the moment.  This means that in each of the four defensive positions, Mexico played their strongest option.

Jesus Zavala is a starting XI player for Mexico in central midfield.  The other starter in Chepo de la Torre’s 4-2-3-1 is Carlos Salcido.  The former Fulham left back now plays one of the two holding midfield roles for Mexico and he was missed against the United States  In his place, 24 year old Manuel Viniegra made his debut for El Tri as Salcido recovered from his participation in the Olympic Games.

In the Olympic Final, Mexico was solid for many of the same reasons the U.S. was strong against Mexico Wednesday night.  All of the pressure was on Mexico to beat the United States because El Tri has never lost to the Yanks on home soil.  Similarly, in the Olympics there was an overwhelming pressure on Brazil to win gold.  In the gold medal match, Mexico had already surpassed expectations by guaranteeing themselves at least a silver medal.  In the same way, the U.S. had already met expectations by holding off Mexico for so long and even controlling play for stretches in the first half.  Mexico was forced to press harder in the second half and left themselves vulnerable to a U.S. counterattack.  The Mexican players were almost solely focused on pushing up the field to support the attack, that’s why Severo Meza was embarrassingly swept aside by Brek Shea, Maza was dragged out of position to the byline by the FC Dallas winger, nobody stepped in front of the passing lane to Terrence Boyd, and no Mexican player was able to put a body on Michael Orozco Fiscal.

Missing Giovani dos Santos hurt Mexico a great deal against the United States.  Everything going forward for Mexico runs through Gio.  The two holding midfielders consistently using Gio as their outlet from the back.  Gio can dependably spread the play wide with accurate passes to Guardado and Barrera in the channels.  When the cross isn’t available for the wingers, Gio is usually open at the top of the box to lay the ball off to after cutting inside.  Gio has the composure on the ball and foot skills to open up a yard of space to get his shot off or play a ball into the stride of Chicharito.  During the Olympics, Marco Fabian announced himself to Mexico fans as the heir apparent to Giovani’s role playing in the hole.  If ever Gio is hurt for a major fixture in the future, Fabian should be able to slot into the trequarista position for Mexico rather seamlessly.

Instead of either of those players, who both participated in the Olympics along with Salcido, Mexico had a few choices for that position.  In the World Cup Qualifier against Guyana, Mexico played Chicharito in the hole behind Aldo de Nigris.  This experiment wasn’t very successful but it would have still been an option.  Angel Reyna beat out Edgar Gerardo Lugo and Elias Hernandez for the start behind Chicharito.  Reyna is a decent attacking midfielder who has excelled at the highest levels in Mexican domestic football with América and Monterrey, but that isn’t his natural position or role on the field.

The other three attacking positions are Mexico’s star players; recent Valencia signing Andres Guardado, recent Cruz Azul signing Pablo Barrera, and still Manchester United striker Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez.  These three players were Mexico’s starters in their triumphant Gold Cup run and look to be very important on the road to Brazil 2014.  There were a couple notes to take away from the front three against the United States though.

Barrera wasn’t altogether poor, but he did not have a great game against the U.S. and was subbed out at halftime.  His replacement Elias Hernandez was explosive down the right side and almost instinctively attacked directly at American left back Edgar Castillo.  Mexico’s right flank was much more dangerous in the second half than it was in the first.

And then there’s Chicharito.  The hopes and dreams of an entire nation of football fans rest on the striker’s diminutive shoulders.  There’s certainly an argument to be made for saying Chicharito is out of form.  He didn’t really play consistently for Manchester United last season due to concussion symptoms and the meteoric rise of Danny Welbeck.  Perhaps Chicharito just never showed up for the match mentally.  But then there’s also a lot to be said for the job Geoff Cameron did on Mexico’s forward.  Cameron made his presence known to Chicharito often and early by putting a body on him.

Chicharito is not a big guy so when he gets pushed around by guys half a foot taller than him and maybe 60 pounds heavier than him… he’s going to feel it.  A player only has to get hit three or four times like that before he decides maybe not to go for a header or not to drive at defenders with the ball at his foot.  When Chicharito plays in England, all the defenders are bigger and stronger than him but he’s as good as anyone in the world at making darting runs in the box to open up yards of space for himself.  Perhaps he just didn’t feel the same hunger on Wednesday night that he has in the past for big club games against the likes of Chelsea.

Chicharito’s dramatics after missing his headers late in the game, laying face down on the field, aptly displayed the frustration that all of the Mexican players must have felt internally.  After the U.S. scored Mexico went into full panic mode and everyone was sprinting up the field like chickens with their heads cut off.

I had the game going down as a 2-1 victory to Mexico.  I thought Mexico would control more of the ball and have a lot more chances and corner kicks than their rivals; which came true.  I thought the U.S. would be able to battle back through grit and determination to snatch a goal on the counterattack; which also came true.  However Mexico just couldn’t figure out a way to get past the back four and Tim Howard.

While El Tricolor is still very much a stronger team than the United States, especially looking at future national team prospects, this loss will hurt Mexico.  Despite all of the recent successes of Mexico at the u-17, u-20, u-23 and senior level, there is still the feeling among Mexico fans that they could falter.  How typical of the old Mexico national team to hit their ceiling just as they approach the pinnacle of global football, to fumble as they are nearing favorites status for the 2014 World Cup.

This Mexico squad was very much a first choice team at the kickoff against a United States lineup that was purposely weakened by Jurgen Klinsmann.  Losing to the U.S. B-team hurts even more than the obvious shock of losing in the Azteca for just the ninth time since 1966.  Not only was it the first loss to the United States in their football cathedral, their national cauldron, but the U.S. was missing players at right back, both center backs, central midfield and forward.  I feel a bit sorry for Costa Rica who have to brace themselves for the full wrath of Mexico when they play two World Cup Qualifiers against El Tri in September.  Mexico will be champing at the bit to get back on the field and show the clinical finishing and desire to win that was lacking against the United States on Wednesday night.

Sober Reactions to the Historic U.S. Mexico Match

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My initial reaction Wednesday night and most of Thursday was jumping up and down yelling U-S-A! U-S-A!  Now that it’s Friday I feel as though I should post my thoughts about the game from the American perspective.

First and foremost: Geoff Cameron, where have you been all my life?  The recent Stoke City signing was a star of the game for the U.S. along with goalkeeper Tim Howard.  Cameron was dominant in the air and made a point to put a body on Chicharito early and often.  Cameron’s constant reminders to the forward were one of the reasons why Chicharito was unable to put his mark on the contest.  

Tim Howard had his best game for the national team in a calendar year, perhaps with the exception of the match against Italy in Genoa.  Howard was absolutely fantastic in goal on Wednesday night and made two of the biggest saves of recent memory late in the game to preserve the U.S. lead.

Maurice Edu did not earn similar plaudits.  He sometimes looked lost playing in defense instead of his normal midfield role but was physically strong enough to adapt quickly.

Fabian Johnson has proved in the past that he is Klinsmann’s first choice left back.  Klinsmann trusted him so much that he played Johnson on the right side and employed Castillo on the left side.  Edgar Castillo played well in the first half but once Mexico opened the game up in the second period, the Tijuana left back appeared to struggle with the pace and intensity of the match.

Jermaine Jones was solid defensively but lacked quality going forward.  Kyle Beckerman played a strong game and wasn’t intimidated by the atmosphere in the Azteca.  Danny Williams made a couple of quality runs in the first half but didn’t do much else to impress while playing in an unusual formation.  The 4-3-1-2 also failed to get the best out of Jose Francisco Torres.  Pachuca’s talismanic attacking midfielder was largely absent from the game and he was subbed out at halftime. Continue reading →

Predictions for the Last Week of the USL-Pro Season

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There are 9 games in this final weekend of regular season action in the USL-Pro.  Almost all of these matches have implications on how the final standings shake out (all except Dayton at Orlando).

Wilmington at Charlotte, 2-2
Richmond at Antigua, 2-0
Harrisburg at L.A., 1-0
Dayton at Orlando, 0-4

Pittsburgh at Rochester, 0-3
Dayton at Charleston, 0-2
Charlotte at Wilmington, 1-2

Richmond at Antigua, 2-1
Harrisburg at L.A., 2-3

Rochester can still grab second place but only if Richmond doesn’t win both of its games in Antigua.  The 4-0 scoreline of their defeat at home to Charleston hurt the Rhinos’ goal differential enough to make a victory against Pittsburgh not good enough for Rochester.  The silver lining for Rochester is that Antigua tends to improve in the second game of a 2 games in 3 nights stand at home this season (3 out of 4 times).  Here’s to hoping that Antigua can fire a few home against Richmond.

Dayton probably won’t win either remaining on the road, giving three points to Charleston.  A home and home series between Wilmington and Charlotte will be tipped in the Hammerheads favor by the strong play of on-loan Corey Hertzog.

Harrisburg has strong players but I don’t like the team and I don’t want the Rhinos to face them in the playoffs.  Los Angeles has to win their two remaining games to take a spot in the playoffs, which I think is unlikely given the circus nature of the team out west.

I hope the Blues can manage to pull off both victories and dump Harrisburg out of the playoffs, but I might have to use all my wishes on Antigua taking a point away from visiting Richmond.

Rochester: currently has 38 points (and plus 3 goal differential)
vs Pittsburgh – win
= would end the season with 41 points (and plus 6 goal differential) Continue reading →

Breakdown of Rosters Ahead of U.S.-Mexico Friendly

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The main things to say about these rosters is that José Manuel “Chepo” de la Torre has chosen a much more experienced squad than his counterpart Jurgen Klinsmann.  This is by far the most experimental roster named by the German, whereas Chepo couldn’t select any of the players who just won gold in the London Olympics.

Something to remember about these national team roster announcements is that the position a player is listed under means little.  For instance, Adrian Aldrete is listed as a midfielder but he plays primarily as a defender.  On the U.S. side, DaMarcus Beasley is listed as a midfielder but he will play as a winger in Klinsmann’s 4-3-3 system.

It will be interesting to see if Mexico line up in their now trademark 4-2-3-1 with two holding midfielders, advanced wingers, and an attacking midfielder that pops up in open spaces all over the field.  Without Gio dos Santos or Marco Fabian to play that trequarista role, it is anybody’s guess who plays in the hole for this game.  Chicharito did play there against Guyana in the most recent set of World Cup Qualifiers, but to little success.  In the last year, Angel Reyna has started centrally almost as many time as he’s started on the wings.  Reyna could fill in that role, but so could Edgar Lugo.

Zavala will start as one of the holding midfielders but his partner Carlos Salcido played in the Olympics.  Guardado and Barrera should start as the wingers for Mexico and look to constantly apply pressure to an inexperienced American back four.  As for Mexico’s defense, it should be the same players who started their recent qualifying matches.

Mexico’s 18 man roster includes 13 domestically based players.

GOALKEEPERS (2): Alfredo Talavera (Toluca) [is 29 years old, has 9 senior caps], Guillermo Ochoa (AC Ajaccio, France) [27 year old, 49 senior caps] =58 caps total

DEFENDERS (6): Francisco Javier Rodriguez (VfB Stuttgart, Germany) [30, 70], Hector Moreno (RCD Espanyol, Spain) [24, 34], Severo Meza (Monterrey) [26, 5], Hugo Ayala (Tigres UANL) [25, 6], Jorge Torres Nilo (Tigres UANL) [24, 23], Enrique Perez (Morelia) [23, 1] =139 caps (69 without Maza)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Jesus Zavala (Monterrey) [25, 13], Manuel Viniegra (Tigres UANL) [24, 0], Edgar Lugo (Santos Laguna) [27, 3], Adrian Aldrete (Club America) [24, 8], Pablo Barrera (Cruz Azul) [25, 49], Andres Guardado (Valencia C.F., Spain) [25, 82], Angel Reyna (Monterrey) [27, 13] =168 caps (86 without Guardado)

FORWARDS (3): Aldo de Nigris (Monterrey) [29, 18], Javier Hernandez (Manchester United) [24, 38], Elias Hernandez (Tigres UANL) [23, 7] =63 caps (25 without Chicharito)

Mexico’s starting 11 could look a lot like this:

The U.S. team is more of a tryout than anything else.  Only three players in the squad have more than 37 caps for the senior national team (Howard, Donovan and Beasley).  If Klinsmann sticks with his 4-3-3 formation, look for Donovan and Beasley to start as the wide forwards.  Donovan is the main threat for the U.S. with the exclusion of Clint Dempsey and Beasley, when healthy, has been a man on fire playing club football down in Mexico.  It’s a toss up as to who will start up top among Wondolowski, Gomez and Terrence Boyd.

San Jose defender Steven Beitashour should get the nod at right back.  Orozco Fiscal can play, and has played this calendar year, as a center back, left back, right back, and sweeper.  Because of this versatility, Klinsmann may keep him on the bench as a utility substitute for the defense.  Besler could then partner recent Stoke City signing Geoff Cameron in central defense while Johnson battles Castillo for the starting spot at left back.

Klinsmann has shown that he likes to play at least two defensive minded midfielders.  With Michael Bradley left in Rome to settle into his new club, any two of Beckerman, Edu and Jones should start.  That leaves one midfield slot left for a creative attacking player.  Based on experience, I’d say Jose Francisco Torres starts and Joe Corona is a replacement option off the bench.

The U.S.’s 23 man roster includes 10 domestically based players.

GOALKEEPERS (3): Tim Howard (Everton) [is 33 years old, has 78 caps], Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire) [23, 2], Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake) [33, 6] =86 caps

DEFENDERS (6): Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City) [25, 0], Steven Beithashour (San Jose Earthquakes) [25, 0], Geoff Cameron (Stoke City) [27, 5], Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana) [25, 6], Michael Orozco Fiscal (San Luis) [26, 4], Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim) [24, 6] =21 caps (15 without Castillo or Johnson)

MIDFIELDERS (9): DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla) [30, 96], Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake) [30, 21], Joe Corona (Club Tijuana) [22, 1], Maurice Edu (Rangers) [26, 37], Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04) [30, 21], Jose Francisco Torres (Pachuca) [24, 18], Brek Shea (FC Dallas) [22, 12], Danny Williams (Hoffenheim) [23, 5], Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City) [25, 2] =213 caps (117 without Beasley)

FORWARDS (4): Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna) [21, 4], Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy) [30, 143], Herculez Gomez (Santos) [30, 13], Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes) [29, 8] Alan Gordon [30, 0] =168 caps (25 without Donovan)

I think the starting 11 for the U.S. will look like this.

Based solely on the international experience of the players selected, Mexico is a clear favorite for this match being played at Estadio Azteca.  However, the grit and determination of MLS players along with Alan Gordon’s penchant for late game heroics, the match might not be as easy for Mexico as their pundits have been saying.

What to Make of the Rhinos’ 4-0 Loss at Home to Charleston

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I’ve purposely waited to write this post because I was too upset Saturday night when I got home after the game.  It’s hard not to blame everyone for the disgrace that was the team’s performance against Charleston but I’ll try to make sense of that disaster.

Team MVP J.C. Banks and fellow starters Tyler Rosenlund and Tam McManus were all ineligible to play against Charleston.  Any team in the world would stutter with the loss of three players from its starting XI, but in that case of the Rhinos not all of these players should have been starters.  Head coach Jesse Myers has continued to select Rosenlund and McManus together despite the fact that they occupy the same space on the field and try to operate in the same manner.  The loss of Rosenlund or McManus to suspension should have been a blessing in disguise because it allowed the team to play a 4-4-2.  Unfortunately it didn’t play out that way on the field.

Jesse Myers had 7 days to figure out his starting line-up and instruct the team during training sessions.  Despite this amount of time, Myers sent out a team that looked lost and  lacked out sort of direction.  In the seven games the team has played since signing Kendell McFayden, the speedster has been on the field with Andrew Hoxie for 149 minutes total for an average of 21.3 minutes per appearance or 23.65% of the 630 minutes before the game against Charleston.  Hoxie is a great technical player who can create a foot of separation from his mark outside the box or nod a ball onto a teammate.  McFayden is a quick player who can chase a ball down anywhere on the field.  Neither of these players tends to stay centrally as a target forward.  The failure to select Isaac Kissi from the start was just the first of many mistakes Jesse Myers made on the night.

Myers had the chance to line up a balanced 4-4-2 but failed to send out the correct players.  The experiment of playing Danny Earls in the center of midfield has not been nearly as successful as Myers must think it has been.  Putting Earls in the middle effectively neuters any meaningful attacking potential from the left side.  Chris Estridge is a solid two-way midfielder but Danny Earls was a much more dangerous player on the outside.  Myers chose to play Earls in the center alongside Drew Cost.  Both players like to spread the point of attack and offer an outlet to recycle possession when an attack breaks down.  In this regard they are very similar players in center midfield because they try to provide a calming presence and to deliver accurate passes from deep.  If the two players do almost the exact same things on the field, why play them in the same position at the same time?

Neither of the central midfielders selected by Jesse Myers is particularly adept at regaining possession.  Surely the two players can tackle the ball away from an opposition player, but that is neither’s primary skill is winning the ball.  Michael Tanke was healthy and sat on the bench the entire game.  Tanke is quite good at harrying the other team and dispossessing opposition attackers.  The team clearly needed somebody to perform that task last night but Myers saw fit to allow the other team to maraud the field and constantly attack our defense without respite.  Tanke would have provided some much-needed relief to George Kyriazis and Troy Roberts who were under pressure nearly the entire match.

Kristian Nicht, who has been remarkably solid for the Rhinos in his first year in North American soccer, had his worst game of the season against Charleston.  He came off his line to punch a ball clear but missed his target, allowing Charleston to tap home an easy goal.  On another goal in the first half Nicht failed to catch a shot that subsequently bobbled around the 18 yard box before a Charleston player blasted it in the back of the net.  Seeing Nicht laying on the ground reaching for the ball just out of his grasp made me almost as sick as seeing Gio dos Santos’s goal against Tim Howard in the 2011 Gold Cup Final.

On Saturday against the Battery, Rochester lined up in a 4-4-2 that looked something this…

After getting blown up in the first half 3-0, Myers decided to make some changes.  The coach brought on two more strikers.  The formation then looked more like this:

You could call this a 4-2-3-1, but it was really just a 4-2-4.  Myers’s answer to lacking direction and purpose going forward was to play 4 strikers on the field at the same time.  I doubt the team has ever trained a line up with all of the team’s 4 forwards playing together.  It was no wonder that a team that was already out of sync playing in a normal lineup in the first half was completely lost playing in that monstrosity of a formation.

Myers’s inexperience as a head coach shown through in spades against Charleston.  He didn’t adequately prepare his team, he picked the wrong starting lineup, and his second half substitutions stank of desperation.  At least Jesse Myers wrote himself into the Rochester Rhinos’ history books.  He coached (or rather, didn’t) the team into their worst home loss in club history.  In the previous 16 years of professional soccer in Rochester, the Rhinos had never lost 4-0 at home before.

The only positive to take away from the weekend is that the Rhinos shored up a playoff spot, 17th year in a row, due to results elsewhere in the league.  If the Rhinos win by a comfortable margin next weekend at home against Pittsburgh they can hold off the Charleston, Richmond and Wilmington to claim second place in the 2012 USL-Pro season.