Creepy: Thoughts on the BPL and Champions League

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Ed has some creepy thoughts:

Spurs keep playing well and winning the games they're supposed to win.  This means they're creeping up the bracket.  The tough part is Liverpool seems to be doing the same with a big win over Fulham in the last minute.  Spurs Manager Tim Sherwood is doing something smart that ABV never did -- bench Roberto Soldado.  The Spaniard is probably a very good player but he's simply not mentally fit to play or make an impact at this point and needs to sit until he regains some confidence.

I also like the middle three that Sherwood is playing lately:  Dembele, Paulinho, and the Algerian (now) youngster Nabil Bentaleb.  While Bentaleb struggles a bit defensively in the holding role, his creativity and footwork have freed things up in the center of the pitch.  His speed is also better than Erikson's, making him a welcome addition to the squad and yet another player that AVB had no confidence in.  At this point I'd take him over Llamela and Chadli any day.

It was nice to see Younes Kaboul out there at center back; even nicer to see him perform very well.  It's rumored that Kaboul is the fastest guy on the roster in the 100.  True?  Who knows.  All I know is that every time I see him I can't help but think he may be a genie.

But getting back to my original question -- which team do Spurs have a realistic chance of passing to get to the precious number four position in the league?  Not sure anyone is a good candidate.  Arsenal are the weakest team but they' also are the farthest away.  The closest team, Liverpool, is the hottest right now.  Chelsea wins the big ones but continues to bungle things against weaker sides.  Yet the Blues seem most likely to win the league.  And City, well, even without Aguero they're pretty darn good.  Nothing to do but keep your head down and keep, well, creeping.

# # #

This weeks Champions League games should be interesting.  The biggest is Manchester City against Barcelona.  Many thought City could come in and crush the Catalonians, but without Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho this seems doubtful.  Plus, Manager Manuel Pellegrini seems to have a knack of being outcoached when he's not familiar with an opponent.  Look for Barca to get at least a goal in this one, putting a lot of pressure on City to win at Camp Nou.

Notes and Sighs

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We always had more than a sneaking suspicion that Correspondent Ed followed Justin Bieber's every move....

 

• It was nice to see the USA A-team beat the German B-team (or maybe C-team) in last week's friendly, especially in light of what Germany did to Ecuador in their prior friendly at FAU in Boca Raton (Nice stadium, by the way). But in another way, the top tier German players missing in that game -- Schweinsteiger, Ozil, Muller, Goetze, just to name a few -- show the enormous distance in ability between these two countries. Put more simply, the USA's best player, Clint Dempsey, would likely not make the German team. Egads, that has to change. You've got your work cut out for you, USA soccer clubs.

• I'm somewhat over Spurs' fifth place finish, one point behind Arsenal, in this year's BPL. It's also looking more likely that Gareth Bale may stay another year. But don't confuse "more likely" with "likely." If AVB is able to keep him for another year and somehow build on the squad with some depth at midfield and striker, that would be all a Spurs fan could ask. Hopefully, what seems to be a close personal relationship between the manager and the player will triumph. That said, a Real Madrid team with Bale on one side and Ronaldo on the other would look similar too and potentially even more dangerous than that Bayern team with Ribery on one side and Robben on the other. What would Bale go for on the market today? Is $70MM crazy?

• I'm disappointed that Neymar is bringing his "My Little Pony"™ hairdo to Barcelona, not because he won't be fun to watch there, but rather because I'd prefer to see talent such as his play week in and week out against the tougher competition of the BPL or the Bundesliga. He will certainly prosper there, but I expect it will take him time to fit in to the system -- a system that Cesc Fabregas has repeatedly described as complex. Certainly Barca can use Neymar, but can't they use some defensemen more? And what was with the Alex Song pickup? Song is decent but I never put him at the Barca level. He clearly isn't meant to replace Xavi (who will, by the way?). Is he intended for use in those league games that matter less?

Three Questions

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Columnist Scott only has three questions:

1. Does anyone think Rafa Benitz will last through January at Chelsea? With an uninspired start replete with 180 minutes without a goal and disparaging chants from the supporters whom he once disparaged himself, they might rename Boxing Day to Sacking Day in his honor.

2. How do you handle a prodigy coming of age? Brendan Rodgers is confident he will sign the blazingly-in-form and ridiculously fast Raheem Sterling to a long-term deal when he turns 18 on 12/8. Reports are that his managers want wages on par with the grossly overpaid Stewart Downing at $50,000 per week. Given the youngster's current $300 per week salary, simply splitting the difference would result in an astronomical pay raise for the lad and a smashing deal for Liverpool. Brendan is convinced staying at the Merseyside club will be best for Raheem's development. Let's hope the Northern Irishman can convince the Jamaican-born sensation and his parents/managers. Even with the January transfer window looming, I can't imagine this Liverpool team without Sterling's dynamic play right now.

Nine Thoughts from a Pro's Pro

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Please note Columnist Ed's ironic lead-in as you read the second article featured in farlieonfootie's football double-header today:

Yes, I did watch the MLS finals between the LA Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo.  I watched because unlike some of the slough around here at FOF, I’m a pro’s pro.  So here’s what I have to say.

1.     Lando is the Man.  The best US soccer player in US soccer history proved yet again that he is, well, the best US soccer player in US soccer history.  His goal came from a calm chip over the keeper’s shoulder, and his runs were always decisive and well played.  It also meant a lot to him.  Lando criticized Beckham with some vigor some time ago, but perhaps this criticism was needed to get Beckham to understand that at least for the players at the Galaxy, winning the cup was no joke.  We probably have only three or so more years to enjoy Donovan at the top of his game, and it’s time to appreciate all he’s done for American soccer.

2.     MLS v. EPL.  Well, that’s not a very fair comparison, as the EPL may be the best league in the world right now.  That said, Beckham and Robbie Keane – two past their prime players who are probably less than EPL players right now – looked to be considerably better than everyone else out there except Donovan.  I like Keane, despite the fact that when he runs he seems to have a few extra moving parts, but he hasn’t looked that dangerous in the EPL for years.  And Beckham is just too darn slow these days, but despite that he was plenty effective against Houston.

3.     The Kiss.  Sadly, you just don’t see many kisses in professional sports.  However, after Donovan put in the goal off a great pass from Robbie Keane, he jumped on the Irishman and give him a nice smooch in the temple.  It was very un-American, but hey,  I’m down with it anyhow.  In fact, I’m going to give old FOF a smooch on the top of his balding head next time I see him.

Snoozing Through the MLS Cup Final: Los Angeles 1 - Houston 0

Photo by Sean MacEntee

Major League Soccer did itself no favors putting its Cup Final on national television late on an East Coast Sunday night. If they were hoping to appeal to a West Coast crowd, maybe the plan worked. If they were hoping to capture the youth generation playing east of the Mississippi -- where fully two-thirds of the US population lives -- they were likely much less successful. It's reminiscent of the misstep Major League Baseball made a number of years ago, doing away with daytime World Series games, and moving the opening pitch of the Fall Classic to a time that caused games to end long after most children on the East Coast had gone off to bed -- and they lost a huge generation of fans to other sports, including soccer.

Making matters worse, the Cup featured on television opposite a Sunday night National Football League game, featuring a big game for two teams located in -- get  this -- the Eastern half of the Country. Oh, and the teams were both in the top 5 media markets in the US: New York (#1) and Philadelphia (#5). My guess is that the overnight East Coast rating for the game will be a steady 1.5 -- as in, maybe 1.5 people living on the US' East Coast watched the MLS Cup.

Meanwhile, the MLS could have had a fitting halftime show to rival the NFL's Super Bowl extravaganza if they'd had the foresight to invite Albert Hammond to entertain the Los Angeles crowd with his 1972 hit "It Never Rains in Southern California."  At least it would have been ironic given the weather for the Final. With fans bundled up in rain coats and sweaters, the scene on television didn't quite look like the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.

Eyewitness

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Editor's Note: In all honesty, the best pieces of this article were stolen -- by myself -- for a piece soon to appear in the Football United Blogs.  Which leaves us (actually, you) with the dregs.  Although sometimes I don' t mind a cup of coffee with the dregs still coated across the bottom, I'll let you be the final judge.  In any event, onward and upward with a report from a match that I happened to attend in person:

United and the Major League Soccer All-Stars met at Red Bull Arena last night in a nationally televised celebration of the game the rest of the world calls football, but we Americans refer to as soccer.  Both sides started the match a bit nervously, as if feeling each other out in front of the loud and spirited New York crowd. It was none other than former Red David Beckham who was the first to attempt a shot on goal, narrowly missing the frame from just outside the 18 yard box.

The All-Stars jelled a bit earlier than the Reds, showing surprising fluidity early on for a group that had never played together before this evening. Although the game saw lots of back and forth in the early going, few true chances were created in the first 15 minutes.  When a nifty give and go between Rooney and Berbatov ended with Anderson finding the back of the net to open the scoring, though, the evening's festivities had well and truly begun.

At the other end of the pitch, it was Beckham once again testing a stretched Anders Lindegaard to the max in an attempt to equalize. Both teams pushed the ball back and forth, requiring the goalkeepers to stay on their feet and be alert, although the scoreline remained stubbornly at 1-nil as the game hit the half hour mark.

United looked a bit labored in their first half build up, struggling to find the open man or move forward at pace. Phil Jones narrowly missed adding to United's lead 5 minutes before halftime, but MLS 'keeper Faryn Mondragon managed to keep the ball from crossing the line at virtual point blank range. Although Ji-Sung Park doubled the Reds' lead on the stroke of halftime with some nifty moves before finding goal, in truth it was probably slightly more than United deserved for their effort to date.