Tag: mls

soccer

The inconclusive no-goal call and other MLS controversies

Posted on by Beau Dure

In today’s MLS on NBCSN game (Philadelphia-Dallas), a potential equalizer from Blas Perez was cleared off the line.

Or was it? The consensus among the Twitterati and the great commentary duo of Arlo White/Kyle Martino was that Perez was robbed.

Actually, we don’t know. Here’s why.

The ball was suspended in the air, so we can’t look for a telltale patch of green between the ball and the line, as we often see when the ball bounces down off the crossbar. What we saw was something like this (obviously, minus the batting tee):

It's a goal! The ball crossed the line!
It’s a goal! The ball crossed the line!

Now watch what happens when we put the camera directly overhead:

Um ... oh. It's on the line.
Um … oh. It’s on the line.

Don’t trust me or my ancient camera? OK, here’s it is in video form.

Perez wound up getting the equalizer a couple of minutes later, much to the dismay of Philadelphia goalkeeper Zac MacMath, who believed he was fouled. He got little sympathy from anyone not connected with Philadelphia.

Check p. 117: “It is an offence to restrict the movement of the goalkeeper by unfairly impeding him, e.g., at the taking of a corner kick.”

Now check the video. Was he impeded?

That’s a tough judgment call, honestly. At first, I thought so. Now I’m wavering.

Also a tough judgment call: The penalty kick that gave Vancouver a 1-0 win over D.C. United (game literally ended as I typed this sentence). Watch it first, then read this referee’s discussion.

The upshot is this: If a challenge is careless, reckless or used excessive force, it’s still a foul. Doesn’t matter if you got the ball. Players (and players-turned-commentators) argue this point all the time, and they’re wrong — if the referee thinks the challenge is careless, reckless, etc.

Here’s the video: Another tough judgment call.

We’ll close on one that wasn’t tough. This is a dive, folks.

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soccer

Chivas USA vs. Employment Law USA

Posted on by Beau Dure

chivas-fadeDan Calichman and Ted Chronopoulos, whom many of us remember from 1990s MLS, are in the news as the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Chivas USA. C&C Coaching Factory had done pretty well with the club’s academy program, only to be dismissed midseason.

At the time, Top Drawer Soccer’s J.R. Eskilson and The Goat Parade’s Alicia Ratterree were concerned:

We may look back at this story and see that it is just a blip and won’t impact the long term development of the Academy and Chivas USA’s first team. But there is going to be turmoil in the short term, whether that means scaring potential recruits away, or actually sending current talented Academy players to other destinations.

In the medium term, as it turns out, it’s a bit more than a blip. It’s a case of employment law. Calichman and Chronopoulos say they were fired because they’re “non-Latino Americans.”

Chivas USA isn’t the first soccer team in the USA or Canada to bill itself with a specific ethnic identity. The U.S. Open Cup is full of names like Maccabi Los Angeles, Philadelphia Ukrainians, Brooklyn Italians, etc. The NASL of the 1970s tried to keep ethnic marketing to a minimum but nevertheless tolerated “Toronto Metros-Croatia” for a while. Some teams such as the St. Louis Stars and Philadelphia Atoms boasted of their Americanization, and U.S. players gathered as “Team America” near the end of the league’s lifespan.

Such historical idiosyncrasies surely won’t help Chivas USA and owner Jorge Vergara, who bought out his former partners last year, in this case. They could, perhaps, argue that they’re simply instilling a new style of play, and that Calichman and Chronopoulos didn’t fit in. That’s not unusual. Players and coaches alike can be sent packing when a team tries to play a different way.

That argument would be interesting if it went to court. But that’s probably not how it’ll play out. Not given some of the more incendiary parts of the complaint:

After publicly identifying those employees who did not speak Spanish, (Vergara) announced that those employees who did not speak Spanish would no longer be able to work at CHIVAS USA. As he further stated, “If you don’t speak Spanish, you can go work for the Galaxy, unless you speak Chinese, which is not even a language.”

The next quote in the complaint is from Chivas USA HR director Cynthia Craig: “Oh boy. I can’t believe he just said that.”

Chronopoulos was then asked to survey everyone in the Academy, players and parents, to get their ethnic and national backgrounds. Shortly thereafter, Chronopoulos and Calichman filed complaints with Craig. They met not just with Craig, but with team president Jose David, who presided over one of the most awkward non-firings this side of The Office.

MR. CHRONOPOULOS asked if he was being fired. Ms. Craig responded, “No; you are not being fired,” but cryptically added, “We will be sending you some options in a few days.” Mr. David, however, interrupted and announced that they would send him some options by the very next day. Despite being told he was not being fired, he was also told not to return to his coaching duties.

A standoff continued for nearly two months.

Not mentioned in that complaint: Chivas USA hired a new U18 Academy coach to replace Calichman. A man of notable Mexican heritage? Well, not exactly.

They hired Keith Costigan, the Irishman turned Fox Soccer commentator.

Will that hiring help Chivas USA stave off discrimination accusations? Or will Chivas USA try to settle this quickly and quietly?

And once the case is resolved, what’s the future of Chivas USA? If you’re in the MLS front office or another MLS owner’s office, are you pushing for the team to be sold as quickly as possible?

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soccer

MLS 2015-18: Future shock

Posted on by Beau Dure

A couple of related topics on Jason Davis’ new-ish American Soccer Morning podcast over the past two weeks:

– NBC has paid eleventy billion dollars to show 45,000 hours of Premier League coverage every week, starting this fall.

– MLS, while doing well on the box office and sponsorship fronts, is struggling to stand out amid the four zillion games on TV every week.

The Shin Guardian this week had a terrific analysis of MLS moneys, pointing out the tiny sliver of league revenue from broadcasting.

Now here’s the kicker:

– The league’s deal with ESPN runs out in 2014.

– The league’s deal with NBC runs out in 2014.

– The league’s deal with Univision runs out in … you guessed it … 2014.

The good news — the league’s deal with major sponsor adidas, which was due to run out the same year, has been extended to 2018.

So MLS, for all its upward momentum over the past eight years, has a couple of major dates upcoming. And surely a stronger TV deal or two would lead to stronger sponsorship down the road.

The big question: How does MLS improve the TV situation?

It’s a question that has nagged MLS throughout its history, and with the proliferation of European soccer on the airwaves, the question is more difficult to answer.

A few simple tweaks may help. Jason talked about the importance of a consistent time for national broadcasts such as the NFL’s four major windows (Sunday: 1, 4 and 8-ish ET, then Monday night). And Jason raised the point of gameday atmosphere (i.e., actual soccer supporters in full voice) contributing to the quality of a broadcast — a typical game in Portland is more fun to watch than a typical Chivas USA game.

Another would be the restoration of an MLS highlights and discussion show. ESPN and Fox each tried one. Now that the league has nine games on a typical weekend, far too many for most people to follow, it’s time to get back in gear. MLSSoccer.com’s “goal timeline” is nice, but some people still prefer their highlight shows to be on actual television, with fewer clicks required.

But does MLS need to take more drastic steps to improve what viewers see on an MLS broadcast? Is it time to break the bank and spend more on players?

Spending has perked up over the last few years. The accusation that MLS limits its clubs holds a lot less water than it used to — a club can spend whatever it wants on a couple of DPs and a youth academy. The salary cap has more loopholes than the corporate tax code.

The trend toward looser wallets may have to continue. The time to address that may be when the MLS collective bargaining agreement expires …

… in 2014.

Anyone else starting to think the expansion talk about a second New York team and Orlando may not be the biggest MLS news in the next 18 months?

 

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soccer

MLS draftee watch: A few games in

Posted on by Beau Dure

Honestly, I’m just doing this so I can have links to all the MLS draftees in one place. But I figured I’d share. I haven’t looked up every loan deal or injury or reserve game – feel free to add info in the comments.

ROUND 1

1. New England: Andrew Farrell (D, Louisville) – Starter

2. Chivas USA: Carlos Alvarez (M, Connecticut) – Starter; one goal through six games

3. Toronto: Kyle Bekker (M, Boston College) – One start, a few sub appearances

4. Vancouver: Kekuta Manneh (F, Gambia) – Nice goal over the weekend

5. Vancouver: Erik Hurtado (F, Santa Clara) – Six games, three starts

6. Colorado: Deshorn Brown (F, Central Florida/Jamaica) – Starter and scorer

7. Dallas: Walker Zimmerman (D, Furman) – Yet to play

8. Montreal: Blake Smith (M, New Mexico) – One cameo

9. Columbus: Ryan Finley (F, Notre Dame) – 15 minutes so far

10. Seattle: Eriq Zavaleta (F, Indiana) – One cameo

11. Colorado: Dillon Powers (M, Notre Dame) – Starter

12. Salt Lake: John Stertzer (M, Maryland) – Two appearances

13. Houston: Jason Johnson (F, VCU/Jamaica) – Yet to play

14. Kansas City: Mikey Lopez (M, North Carolina) – Yet to play

15. San Jose: Tommy Muller (D, Georgetown) – Yet to play

16. Toronto: Emery Welshman (F, Oregon State) – One cameo

17. D.C. United: Taylor Kemp (D, Maryland) – Yet to play

18. Montreal: Fernando Monge (M, UCLA) – Didn’t make team; turned up as guest player with New England

19. Los Angeles: Charlie Rugg (F, Boston College) – He starts, he scores!

ROUND 2

20. Dallas: Ryan Hollingshead (M, UCLA) – A little busy right now

21. New England: Donnie Smith (F, Charlotte) – One start

22. New York: Ian Christianson (M, Georgetown) – Yet to play

23. New England: Luke Spencer (F, Xavier) – Didn’t make team

24. Los Angeles: Kofi Opare (D, Michigan) – Yet to play

25. Colorado: Kory Kindle (D, CSU Bakersfield) – Yet to play

26. Philadelphia: Don Anding (F, Northeastern) – Yet to play

27. Montreal: Paolo DelPiccolo (M, Louisville) – Went to Eintracht Frankfurt instead

28. Columbus: Drew Beckie (D, Denver) – Yet to play

29. Salt Lake: Devon Sandoval (F, New Mexico) – Six games, two starts

30. Chicago: Yazid Atouba (M, Cameroon) – 55 minutes so far

31. Philadelphia: Stephen Okai (M, Mobile) – Now with Charlotte Eagles

32. Montreal: Brad Stuver (GK, Cleveland State) – Signed but not on roster; loan?

33. San Jose: Dan Delgado (M, San Diego) – Not yet signed

34. Portland: Dylan Tucker-Gangnes (D, Washington) – Yet to play

35. Seattle: Dylan Remick (D, Brown) – Yet to play

36. New England: Luis Soffner (GK, Indiana) – Yet to play

37. Houston: Jimmy Nealis (D, Georgetown) – Waived

38. Los Angeles: Greg Cochrane (D, Louisville) – Two starts

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soccer

MLS: New stadiums already? Slow down

Posted on by Beau Dure

A hypothetical City Council meeting in Expansionville, 2014.

MLS MAN: Greetings! I represent the local owner-investors who are ready to plunk down $80 million in expansion fees to bring Major League Soccer to Expansionville!

COUNCILPERSON 1: Sounds good. Should boost the economy. And I’d love to see Landon Donovan here — what a great comeback he made last year. But how much do you need for a stadium?

MLS MAN: Here’s more good news — we’re willing to spend $150 million to build it. All we need is $20 million for infrastructure improvements in the area.

COUNCILPERSON 2: That sounds like half the cost of Columbus Crew Stadium in its entirety.

MLS MAN: Ummm … yeah. You’ve done some research. But this will be an investment in the future.

COUNCILPERSON 2: And they’re already talking about replacing Columbus Crew Stadium.

MLS MAN: True. But Crew Stadium didn’t have luxury boxes.

COUNCILPERSON 3: I ain’t putting my tax money for some millionaire owner for his fancy kickball stadium!

COUNCILPERSON 2: Uh … right. Anyway, getting back to Crew Stadium — so now, the problem is that they don’t have luxury boxes.

MLS MAN: And they can’t sell naming rights.

COUNCILPERSON 2: So? Neither can FC Dallas. And a bunch of MLS jersey deals are expiring without replacements.

MLS MAN: Well … yeah. Anyway, we’ll have luxury boxes.

COUNCILPERSON 1: But in 15 years, will you want more?

MLS MAN: Perhaps. But we can talk about how to upgrade it.

(blank stares)

COUNCILPERSON 2: So this location …

MLS MAN: Oh yes — outskirts of town, vacant land, just needs the infrastructure upgrades.

COUNCILPERSON 4: Aren’t most recent MLS stadiums easily accessible by mass transit?

MLS MAN: Well, some, yeah.

COUNCILPERSON 5: Hey, why doesn’t Columbus just rip off the upper section and build boxes? It’s not like anyone ever sits up there, anyway.

COUNCILPERSON 2: Yeah, seriously. But back to our question: Are you going to come back in 15 years and ask us to help you build a new stadium on a train line?

PROTESTER IN CROWD: More like five years!

COUNCILPERSON 1: Excuse me, sir, we’ll have a public comment period on this project next week.

PROTESTER IN CROWD: Money for park! Not for Clark! Money for park! Not for Clark!

COUNCILPERSON 1: Clark?

PROTESTER IN CROWD: Ricardo Clark. Plays for the Houston Dynamos.

MLS MAN: Dynamo.

PROTESTER IN CROWD: Whatever?

COUNCILPERSON 1: Can we have him removed, please?

COUNCILPERSON 2: OK, back to the point … can you assure us that if we make this investment now, you’re not going to be asking us for more money for something new before we’ve all broken even on this deal?

MLS MAN: Uhhhhhh ….

And so Expansionville dropped out of consideration for MLS, leaving the league to consider a third New York team.

And no, I don’t want to imagine a D.C. council discussion along similar lines.

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olympic sports, soccer, winter sports

Monday Myriad, March 4: Nordic state of mind

Posted on by Beau Dure

Headlines from the week:

– Slovenia’s Tina Maze is having the best Alpine skiing World Cup season of all time.

– Norway’s Maret Bjoergen had one of the best Nordic World Championships of all time.

– Shaun White was back in action with another U.S. Open title.

– Milers Mary Cain and Will Leer stood out at the USA Indoor track and field championships.

– At the same meet, pole vaulter Jenn Suhr broke five meters and the indoor world record. The only other women’s pole vaulter to clear five meters is Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva. Isinbayeva’s outdoor record: 5.06 meters. Suhr indoors: 5.02.

– Speedskaters Brittany Bowe and Brian Hansen won World Cup races for the first time.

The Storified version has a few more fun features:

http://storify.com/duresport/monday-myriad-march-4-storify-version

 

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soccer

2013 MLS teams, ranked by curiosity factor

Posted on by Beau Dure

Here’s what happens every Major League Soccer season:

1. Some newcomers will live up to expectation. Some won’t.

2. Some team predicted to finish near the basement will be considerably better than expected.

3. We will continue to wonder what Chivas USA or Toronto FC is trying to do. But maybe one of them will be the answer to #2.

So I’ve given up trying to rank teams in preseason. Instead, here’s a list ranking teams in order of how many questions we have about them, from least to most.

19. San Jose Earthquakes. Supporters’ Shield winners return most of the team, with little sign of aging.

18. Houston Dynamo. Omar Cummings joins the bulk of the team that made the MLS Cup final last season. They’ll be fine.

17. New England Revolution. Must not be any quick fixes for this team. They certainly haven’t tried any.

16. Sporting Kansas City. Lost Roger Espinoza and Kei Kamara, added DP Claudio Bieler and Benny Feilhaber.

15. Los Angeles Galaxy. Bruce Arena won’t be worried about the adjustment to the post-Beckham era. And while he’ll be missing Landon Donovan at the start of the season, perhaps Donovan won’t miss that much time with the national team this time around.

14. Colorado Rapids. Casey and Cummings out, Buddle in. The defense should be better with Diego Calderon.

13. Montreal Impact. A bit more Italian and Swiss than they used to be.

12. Seattle Sounders. Not a ton of turnover, but Shalrie Joseph and apparently Obafemi Martins are coming in, with Fredy Montero out on loan.

11. Real Salt Lake. By their standards, this offseason constituted “blowing up the team.” But Morales, Beckerman and Rimando are still there.

10. Columbus Crew. A lot of new names, including a couple of homegrown players and some discovery acquisitions.

9. Chicago Fire. They’ve rebuilt the midfield with Lindpere and Larentowicz, which would be a terrific name for a law firm or a folk-rock duo.

8. Vancouver Whitecaps. Nigel Reo-Coker should be an interesting guy to watch on a promising team.

7. FC Dallas. Still trying to pick a goalkeeper to replace Kevin Hartman. And how will they get Eric Hassli, Kenny Cooper and Blas Perez on the field at the same time?

6. D.C. United. Carlos Ruiz? Seriously?

5. Portland Timbers. Is Caleb Porter truly a genius whose college acumen will translate to the pro game?

4. New York Red Bulls. Heavy turnover is never a surprise here, but it’s often interesting, particularly with Mike Petke taking over on the sideline.

3. Philadelphia Union. Tying up a good chunk of your salary cap on a player who isn’t going to play for you (Freddy Adu) is a good thing? How will returnee Sebastien Le Toux and aging big man Conor Casey gel with a core of kids?

2. Toronto FC. New president? Check – Kevin Payne. New coach? Let’s get a guy who’s still playing in the EPL and see if we can convince his team to let him quit. Welcome, Ryan Nelsen. They weren’t good last year, and they let some talented guys go.

1. Chivas USA. Didn’t this whole “Mexican-American offshoot of Chivas” thing flop horribly the first time around? Or have they come up with better players this time around to fill the space between Dan Kennedy and Juan Agudelo.

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soccer

Which MLS newcomers will flop this year?

Posted on by Beau Dure

Let’s look back at the hyped MLS newcomers of 2012, shall we?

To remind ourselves of the hype, check previews from Fox (Ives), ESPN (Leander) and Goal.com (Seth). Not picking on anyone’s prognostication skills — these were all players with resumes.

BACK IN 2013

Michael Gspurning, Seattle, goalkeeper. Dealt so well with the difficult job of replacing Kasey Keller that he was a finalist for league Newcomer of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year.

Arne Friedrich, Chicago, defender. No complaints here. Solid central defender and leader of an otherwise-young back line.

Lee Young-Pyo, Vancouver, defender. Right back was the team’s player of the year despite advancing through his mid-30s.

Blas Perez, Dallas, forward. Actually staying put for a change, so that’s a good sign. Led the team with nine goals last season but will face competition for playing time this year.

Markus Holgersson, New York, defender. A steadying force on a team that really needs one. Now it appears he’ll provide quality depth behind Jamison Olave and Heath Pearce.

Miller Bolanos, Chivas USA, midfielder. Promising attacker who may flourish under new coach.

Jaime Castrillon, Colorado, midfielder. Overshadowed a bit by teammate Martin Rivero despite his team-high eight goals. Out injured for the first few weeks of 2013.

GONE

Rafael Robayo, Chicago, midfielder. Signed with the Fire after seven years with Colombian power Millonarios. Spent half the season coming off the bench in Chicago and went right back on loan.

Milovan Mirosevic, Columbus, midfielder. Four goals, two of them game-winners. The bad news: Only two assists from a player hyped as a playmaker. Back to Universidad Catolica he goes.

Hamdi Salihi, D.C. United, forward. I liked him. But he did have a bit of trouble finding the net, and he’s gone.

Gabriel Gomez, Philadelphia, midfielder. Box-to-box Panamanian scored six goals. Released anyway.

Kris Boyd, Portland, forward. Scored 100 goals at Rangers. Not quite as many for the Timbers, especially after coach John Spencer’s departure. He’s back in Scotland.

Franck Songo’o, Portland, winger. Played 27 games with five assists, but he was let go just this week.

Tressor Moreno, San Jose, midfielder. Attacking mid left halfway through the season.

The Newcomer of the Year was Columbus midfielder Federico Higuain, who arrived in midseason. Another finalist was San Jose’s Victor Bernardez, who didn’t get quite as much hype as the others on this list.

So good luck to Claudio Bieler (Kansas City), Juninho Pernambucano (New York), Diego Calderon (Colorado), Rafael (D.C. United), Diego Valeri (Portland), Carlo Cudicini (Los Angeles) and Nigel Reo-Coker (Vancouver). Odds are pretty good that three or four of this group will turn out half-decent.

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soccer

Philadelphia Union: The latest team to mishandle Freddy Adu

Posted on by Beau Dure

Start here:

“Candid” is one thing. Another is “telling everyone we have this high-priced player we’re desperate to unload, and if we can’t unload him, we’ll just be eating his salary rather than playing him, but please don’t make us do that.”

Source: “Dear Season Ticket Holders”.

An SB Nation commenter put it well: ” I’m fine with Adu leaving for nothing if it means the Union get his salary off the books, but as it stands, unless Hackworth gets a bidding war going, no team has an incentive not to lowball.”

Another item in that letter that should make the River End shudder:

And I think it’s time to clear up another misconception…
I know that the draft board described him as a forward, but we did not pick Don Anding as one. We picked him because he was literally one of the most athletic players available in the draft and in fact, the fastest player at the Combine.

Via another SB Nation/Brotherly Game post, we get this scouting report: “Technically a little choppy at times but makes up for it with his speed … As a winger he may not have the soccer IQ to man the position.”

It’s 2013, and American soccer teams are still drafting players based on speed and athleticism? Do we need Claudio Reyna to travel down I-95 and whack someone with a copy of the U.S. Soccer curriculum?

No wonder they couldn’t make much use of Freddy Adu.

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soccer

Major League Soccer’s minor-league tinkering

Posted on by Beau Dure

The rumblings are growing that MLS reserves and USL pros may soon share a league.

NASN’s Jason Davis says it looks like we’ll see some this year (2013 — I’m changing the calendar now) and more in 2014, with some MLS reserve teams going into the USL’s pro league and other MLS teams working out affiliations.

At the Sporting News, Brian Straus goes into the background of the problem — players who come out of college (or skip it) and find few chances to play.

The old-timers among us had to laugh a bit at the idea of affiliates — not because it’s a bad idea, but because we’ve seen it done before. MLS teams started with affiliates in what was then called the A-League. Yari Allnutt of my hometown Carolina Dynamo had a 1996 stat line of 1 goal in 45 minutes for Kansas City, surely close to a record for goals per minute, at least until Allnutt got a full-time MLS gig years later.)

But it wasn’t always a happy situation. A-League clubs could sometimes lose players at inopportune times. Over the years, the relationship soured.

For a couple of years, MLS operated a “Project-40” team in the A-League, immortalized in virtual print by future Real Salt Lake GM Garth Lagerwey in a pair of columns of SI.com. The idea of that team was to take all the young players (today called “Generation adidas”) who weren’t getting playing time with their MLS teams and toss them together to face the A-League pros.

So I checked in with Garth, who said this:

P-40 trips made me the man I am today, but certainly glad the league has grown since then.  If there is some pairing between MLS and one minor league or all minor leagues I would say that is good for soccer and player development.  We need a step in between Academies and MLS first teams and we need to have a viable second division with all the best non-MLS players for the highest possible level of competition to develop players.

Perhaps Project-40 and affiliations were ahead of their time. Ten years ago, MLS rosters were much smaller. The “affiliations” were less about getting playing time for reserves and more about dragging players up from the A-League on an emergency basis when injuries reduced an MLS team to 13 players or so.

Ideally, MLS clubs would all have enough players for a full reserve team. Also ideally, the USL and NASL would set aside their differences, and we’d have a sprawling second division that could be mostly regional. Also also ideally, college soccer would be a complement rather than a supposed detriment — perhaps by letting college players go on loan wherever they want in the summer instead of just to PDL or other amateur teams.

Some of those things may be beyond the scope of MLS and USL for now. But we can dream, right?

 

 

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