Obligatory Aggregation

Photo

Fri, 03 May 2013 12:37:58 -0700

Just something for some friends. Never mind this, for now.

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:30:53 -0700

Just something for some friends. Never mind this, for now.

Reign Name Harvey First Head Coach

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:16:00 -0800

Congratulations to Seattle Reign F.C.

I go into the reasons at ProSoccerTalk, but in their hire of Laura Harvey, the new women’s team in Seattle has shown some real imagination in their decision. Instead of going to the domestic game’s well, they’ve looked abroad and brought in one of the most successful club coaches in the world.

It’s consistent with everything I’ve seen from Bill Predmore’s group. The Seattle owner has impressed since his name first came up in association with the summer’s announced league (that never happened). He was willing to compete with Sounders’ Women for the area’s team, won, and all along has said the right things: not looking to make money; know the challenges; doing it for the sport.

Beyond those platitudes, we now see some serious initiative. It’s an amazing start.

Spurs, Gingerbread, and an ill-named contest “It’s...

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:46:26 -0800

Spurs, Gingerbread, and an ill-named contest

“It’s very abstract … We take it to the next level, you know?”

Clint Dempsey’s interpretation of his team’s gingerbread house.

I just hope this victory means more playing time for Michael Dawson and Brad Friedel.

São Paulo welcomes Lucio After parting ways with Juventus...

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:55:42 -0800

São Paulo welcomes Lucio

After parting ways with Juventus earlier this week (after spending only half a season with the club), Lucio’s returning to Brazil for the first time in 12 years.

The former Internacional defender, who won three Bundesliga titles during his time at Bayern Munich, signed with São Paulo on Wednesday.

While in Europe, Lucio also spent time with Bayer Leverkusen and Inter Milan.

So São Paulo now have Lucio. They have Paulo Henrique Ganso. They have Luis Fabiano, Jadson, Paulo Assuncao, Denilson, Casemiro, and a goalkeeper that’s scored 100 goals (unofficial, but still cool).

Not bad, Brazil team that nobody north of the equator watches. Perhaps you can make that change.

Dear Foreigners, We Renounce All of You

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 11:27:00 -0800

Rapid Bucarest in Romania have elected to terminate the contracts of all its foreign players in an effort to reduce their wage bill. “We renounce all foreigners,” manager Danut Perja said, explaining now ex-players will be notified via email that their contracts will not be honored.

We have a copy of that email:

From: Danut Perja <dperja@rapidbucuresti.com>
Subject: Your immediate unemployment
Date: December 18, 2012 0:00:01 CEST
To: Recipient List Suppressed;

DEAR FORMER RAPID PLAYER:

SURPRISED YOU ARE NOW FORMER? OF COURSE, WE ARE NOT.

IT CAME TO OUR ATTENTION SOME TIME AGO THAT YOU WERE NOT BORN IN THE BUCURESTI AREA. IN OUR GREAT BENEVOLENCE, WE OVERLOOKED THIS FOR SOME TIME.

WHEN WE SCOUTED YOU, WE LOOKED THE OTHER WAY.

WHEN WE SIGNED YOU, WE QUIETLY HOPED YOU WOULD RECTIFY THE PROBLEM.

AS YOU PLAYED FOR RAPID, WE ASSUMED THE PROBLEM HAD BEEN RESOLVED.

HOWEVER, IT HAS COME TO OUR ATTENTION THAT YOU REMAIN NOT BORN IN BUCURESTI, A SAD STATE THAT HAS FORCED FATE TO CAST OUR CLUB INTO BANKRUPTCY AND MID-TABLE MEDIOCRITY.

HOW COULD YOU? YOU’VE HAD MORE THAN ENOUGH TIME TO BE BORN IN BUCURESTI, YET YOU PERSIST WITH BEING FOREIGN. HOW ARE OUR FANS SUPPOSED TO FEEL ABOUT THIS?

WE HAVE ELECTED TO RESTORE THE CLUB’S PRIDE. WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT, YOU ARE NO LONGER UNDER CONTRACT TO THE CLUB.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO GO UPSTAIRS TO YOUR APARTMENT. WHILE YOU WERE READING THIS, WE HAVE CHANGED THE LOCKS ON YOUR RESIDENCE.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE YOUR CAR. IT HAS BEEN REPOSSESSED.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SEEK SUPPORT FROM YOUR GIRLFRIEND. SHE HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TO ANOTHER PLAYER.

I WILL KEEP YOUR DOG.

YOU ARE FREE TO RETURN TO YOUR FOREIGN LANDS. AS A GESTURE OF THE CLUB’S BENEVOLENCE, WE SHALL SEEK NO FURTHER COMPENSATION FOR THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY YOUR UNFORTUNATE BIRTH.

SINCERELY,

DANUT PERJA
MANAGER
RAPID BUCURESTI FOTBALL CLUB

Robbie Keane’s not even thinking about a loan deal. He...

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 11:01:15 -0800

Robbie Keane’s not even thinking about a loan deal. He isn’t even healthy. His Achilles is still not right, and until it is, he can’t even consider playing again.

But when his ankle is healthy? Well, this is Robbie Keane we’re talking about.

The man seems to like playing. A lot. And as any thriving soccer comedy tweeter will tell you, he’s not only played in a lot of places but has had long held affinities for all of them.

Adam Serrano sums it up well in his first sentence: “Robbie Keane is waiting to see if he can reach full fitness before even contemplating going on a loan this offseason.”

It’s only December 18.

Mixed Bags and Reminders

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 10:31:49 -0800

While it’s always nice to see your favorite players get recognition, Seattle Sounders fans should have very mixed feelings about seeing their best player spending time with an English Premier League club.

Perhaps no team in Major League Soccer depends on a midfielder as much as Seattle depends on Osvaldo Alonso. Without him, the defense’s average personnel would be exposed and fans would have to hop designated player Christian Tiffert can start managing the team’s play through the middle third.

Today’s pictures of Alonso at West Ham (posted by The Original Winger) are a reminder. Alonso’s probably not going to be around forever. Given the man’s age, contract, and immigration status, he could go at any time. A club like West Ham has the profile and financial resources to snag Ozzie. Given Alonso’s unique international status, appealing for a work permit shouldn’t be a problem.

There’s also Germany, Belgium, among a number of other leagues where Alonso’s playing style would make him an immediate fit.

It may not happen. Alonso may elect to play out the rest of his prime in Seattle. But at any time, should he decide to do so, Ozzie could elect to go, effectively forcing the Sounders to cash in.

Today’s photos are a reminder.

Of course “savior” is an exaggeration, but limit...

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 18:28:26 -0800

Of course “savior” is an exaggeration, but limit your vision to the club soccer world and the term applies to Stephan El Shaawary.

In preseason, Milan fans carried ceremonial coffins to the steps of the club’s office, protesting the death of their team after a slew of sales and departures.

With 14 goals in 17 games, El Shaawary has left few fans dwelling on the days of Ibra.

This one sounds a little too coincidental given what Corinthians...

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 16:37:26 -0800

This one sounds a little too coincidental given what Corinthians did in Japan on Sunday, but give the player and price, the scenario makes sense. And if it jump starts a talented career, we’ll all be better for it.

Monday reports out of Italy have linked Milan attacker Alexandre Pato with a €15 million move home, set to join the world champions in the January window.

Why would a 23-year-old trade Milan for São Paulo, Europe for South America? Over the last season-and-a-half, the young Brazilian international’s only played 15 Serie A matches, scoring only once.

The team has Giampaolo Pazzini. They have Bojan Krkic. And most importantly, Milan has Stephan El-Shaarawy.

They don’t need Pato, and they don’t need Robinho, part of the reason each player’s being linked with moves back home.

From Sid Lowe’s Monday piece on SI.com, on Athletic Bilbao...

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 14:46:38 -0800

From Sid Lowe’s Monday piece on SI.com, on Athletic Bilbao defender Jonas Ramalho:

Ramalho is an 18-year-old who can play at right back and center back and on this occasion was asked to play in central midfield. He is tall and quick, he is good in possession, he is Iker Muniaín’s best friend, and he is a European Champion at the U19 level.

He is also black.

Ramalho is the first black player ever to play for the club.

It has taken over 100 years for a black player to make his debut for Athletic. A couple of others have been close: in the 1950s there was talk that they might sign Miguel Jones, born in Equatorial Guinea, but the club decided against it. Half a century later, there were rumours of them signing another man with roots in Equatorial Guinea: the midfielder Benjamín Zarrandona.

In 2009, Benjamín told a Spanish radio station: “Athletic wanted to sign me when I was still playing at Valladolid. Some said that the reason they didn’t was the color of my skin. Luis Fernández [the coach] told me that and so did someone else. Members have a vote [in presidential elections]. We’re talking 10 years ago — it was not like it is now.”

When the revelation was made, Miguel Jones’s case was revisited. Some raised the old specter: Athletic as a racist club. Jones had lived in the Basque Country since he was 5, played football in the Basque Country and ended teaching economics at Deusto University in the Basque Country. But, some said, he was black. And that was why Athletic would not sign him. Jones, though, was having none of it. “The idea that I didn’t play for Athletic because I was black is media rubbish,” he said recently. “They didn’t sign me because I was not from [the Basque province of] Vizcaya. I was born in Equatorial Guinea [in 1938] and came to the Bilbao at the age of 4.”

Lowe’s piece, titled Jonas Ramalho helping to dispel longstanding Athletic Bilbao myth, goes on to discuss the problems constructing a Basque identity. As the case of Venezuelan international Fernando Amorebieta shows, Basque-ness (as it applies to Athletic’s standards) is not a static thing. As Lowe notes, Athletic’s policies are now like most national teams, something others could see as maleable to the team’s interests.

Lowe on Amorebieta:

Defender Fernando Amorebieta was born in Venezuela. His parents are both Basque, from Vizcaya. At the age of 2, the family returned to the Basque Country; it was more than 20 years before Fernando visited his country of birth again. Amorebieta is more Basque than Venezuelan — but recently made his debut for Venezuela. If his status as an Athletic-eligible player is questionable, his status as a Venezuelan is too.

Then again, Venezuela is a national team. Athletic Bilbao is not.

For some time now, the club has be aggrandized for exclusionary policies that limit places in the team to players of Basque-descent, a policy that can be seen as walking a precarious line between promoting a minority group’s culture and being an antiquated, segregationist system.

I tend to side with the latter view. If these policies were instituted somewhere other than the soccer realm, we would consider them benign at best. They wouldn’t be celebrated as much as permitted. Instead, among many soccer fans, Athletic is the little club that could, an underdog story contrived by their own curious approach when in the big picture they aren’t much of an underdog at all.

The Ramalho story (and Lowe’s telling of it) helps address the idea that race was an exclusionary factor in Athletic’s policies. As Lowe says, the policy is not about color, but color is a consequence. And perhaps that’s part of the point.

Bad policies, philosophically dubious in their own right, often have very bad consequences.

Despite his team’s struggles, Santi Cazorla continues to...

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 13:56:03 -0800

Despite his team’s struggles, Santi Cazorla continues to be the best import to the 2012-13 Premier League.

Today, his performance and his teams came together in Reading. Thanks to three goals an an assist from their Spanish international, Arsenal posted a 5-2 victory over at the Madejski Stadium.

The haul moved Cazorla to seven goals and four assists in league this season, most of which have been accumulated from a playmaker’s role in a 4-2-3-1. Today, with Theo Walcott getting a much-discussed start through the middle, Cazorla often played as Arsenal’s most advanced man, a role which led to him becoming the third Spaniard to record a hat trick in the Premier League.

Hook A Stadium Up Hi. I’m BBVA Compass Stadium. You may...

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 12:55:32 -0800

Hook A Stadium Up

Hi.

I’m BBVA Compass Stadium. You may have first heard of me six months ago when I was first coming into use, but since then, the buzz has kinda died down.

I’m small. I’m cute. I’m not glamorous, but I work. I’m perfect for Houston. I’m not something you should forget about.

The reason I’m bringing this up: Today I found out that I’m going to be hosting a Jan. 29 game between the U.S. Men’s National Team and Canada. That’s great - thank you! - but it also means that I’m probably NOT going to be hosting any of the six final round World Cup qualifiers the U.S. men will play this year.

I’d be lying if I said I was surprised. Once Canada got blown out in Honduras last round, I knew things weren’t matching up. I’m not going to get to host a Mexico match (too many Mexico fans would show up). Same goes for Canada, Costa Rica, Panama. Maybe Jamaica?

The odds were slim. I was hopeful, but I wasn’t putting any of my beer money on it. I guess I’m just happy to get the Canada game.

All I’m saying is don’t forget about me. I’m a good joint. I can give you some good fans. Houston’s a huge place, and we’ve got some love for the USMNT.

So next time around, hook a stadium up.

Sincerely,

BBVA Compass Stadium

Home of the Houston Dynamo

This is Olivier Occean. We’re catching him on vacation....

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 11:05:55 -0800

This is Olivier Occean. We’re catching him on vacation. Usually, he’s playing soccer in Frankfurt for this team called Eintracht, one of the better clubs in Germany (this year).

He’s also one of the badasses on the Canadian national team, a crew that’s going to be in Houston at the end of January to play the U.S. Men’s National Team.

It’s the January camp game Jurgen Klinsmann’s been trying to book ahead of CONCACAF fourth round World Cup qualifying …

THE HEX

The game will take place January 29 at BBVA Compass Stadium (which almost guarantees Houston will not get an actual qualifier this year). This will likely be the last major chance the series of MLS’ers expected to be called into January camp have to swipe a major role ahead of Gold Cup.

U.S. starts final round qualifying in Honduras in February.

They may not have a coach, but as of Monday, the New York Red...

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 10:33:13 -0800

They may not have a coach, but as of Monday, the New York Red Bulls have another star.

Juninho Pernambucano of Lyon fame has left Brazil’s Vasco de Gama to sign with the Harrison-based team. The midfielder, who turns 38 in January, starred for teams that won seven straight titles in France from 2002 through 2008.

Game notes for September 29, 2012’s Major League Soccer...

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 23:29:50 -0700

Game notes for September 29, 2012’s Major League Soccer match between the Vancouver Whitecaps and Seattle Sounders. The match ended 0-0. Full match followup was posted at NBC Sports’ Pro Soccer Talk, with some value added throwaways at the personal blog.

"Some will say they’ve been contenders all along, but from a team that finished sixth last season, we..."

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 18:00:15 -0700

“Some will say they’ve been contenders all along, but from a team that finished sixth last season, we needed this result to see Chelsea as more than knockout tournament specialists.”

- Quoting myself from “What we learned about Chelsea, Arsenal from Saturday’s result,” posted at NBC Sports’ Pro Soccer Talk.

Game notes from Saturday, September 29’s English Premier...

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 17:40:55 -0700

Game notes from Saturday, September 29’s English Premier League match between Arsenal and visiting Chelsea. Chelsea would win, 2-1. Full match thoughts were posted at NBC Sports’ Pro Soccer Talk, as was a follow up. Value added can be found on the personal blog.

nfloffseason: In this week’s episode of When the Internet...

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 05:56:51 -0700

nfloffseason:

In this week’s episode of When the Internet Becomes Real Life.

The Lingerie Football League also took a public shot at the NFL today, revealing that some of the NFL’s replacement referees didn’t mean the threshold for competence by the standards of their ridiculous league.

That brands feel the NFL is a safe target for their mimicry says more about the league’s state than anything that happened on Monday.

I’ve found the whole dialog around the NFL referee’s labor dispute is absurd. Most opinions I’ve read fail to consider (let alone analyze) whether the league’s stance. The general slant has been a.) games are being played with replacement refs, b.) this diminished the NFL’s product, c.) therefore, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is an idiot. It’s an argument that inherently justifies the referee union’s stance in the negotiations.

That said, the union isn’t striking. They’re being locked out, making it hard to side with the league no matter how strange the coverage has been. The league’s actions have caused the labor stoppage. There doesn’t appear to be any way around that.

Games notes from last week’s UEFA Champions League match...

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 23:33:20 -0700

Games notes from last week’s UEFA Champions League match at Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and Juventus. Full thoughts were posted on NBC Sports’ ProSoccerTalk, with my week-later feelings just posted on the personal blog.