Players like to know what they can and can’t get away with. Erratic refereeing decisions foster player and manager rebellion. Emotionally-laden decisions rooted in a subjective sense of “what’s good for the game” confuses everyone.

Especially when adjudicating fouls and yellow card offenses. It’s nice that referees apply common sense while “managing” a game. But, there’s a cost. Their discretion is inherently subjective often contravening the rules and ensuring predictability. For the sake of consistency, referees should oblige the rules and avoid the hubris of management manipulation.

When referees manage matches instead of officiating, fouls tend to masquerade as incidental contact. As a result, goalies generally get preferential treatment on the field. Though they are not given special dispensation in the rule book.

Soccer’s supposedly a contact sport, and goalkeepers, especially during corners and crosses, inflict much of it.

Nevertheless, if a diminutive striker innocuously brushes against a fumbling goalie, the referee invariably blows the whistle. Conversely, defenders often get away with dirty tricks during corners and may as well be playing rugby rules.

Some apparent fouls simply dissolve into a mirage inside the penalty area.

When certain infringements occur outside the box, the ref is more convinced and usually blows the whistle. However, when the same foul occurs inside the box, it’s suddenly illusory.

The rules make no such distinction. Should referees?

Players will adjust to consistent refereeing. In the meantime, perhaps a few more goals are in the offing. Sure, some fouls are borderline and do require refs to exercise judgement. If it’s an inadvertent “coming together,” they’ll do well to play on and let the game flow.

On the other hand, some fouls are so blatantly obvious that they should be penalized irrespective of exogenous factors such as the player’s reputation or the competitive repercussions. The rule book is indifferent as to the period of the match in which the foul happens.

Neither does it care about the occasion, nor the venue.

When a defender scythes down a fleet-footed attacker on a breakaway, it’s a legitimate yellow card. Whether it be in the first minute or the ninetieth minute. When a player stamps his boot so as to imprint his studs on an opponent’s ankle—yellow card, it’s a yellow card at a minimum.

If the same unruly player commits these malicious acts, that’s two deserved yellows and a sending off. Even if it changes the complexion of the match. Off he jolly well goes to reflect upon his brutish indiscretions.

If sending off a player for repeated offenses or violent conduct alters the ad hoc dynamics of the match, then so be it.

Them’s the rules

It is folly for refs to interject some nebulous notion of fair play into the cauldron by preserving the eleven-against-eleven balance of power.

In the cold light of day, they hover above the relative importance of a particular match. If referees are smart enough to implement some kind of dynamic, contextual, rule-making that engenders perfect soccer justice on the day, they’d probably be quantum physicists.

Speaking of physicists, some postulate that our very observations affect the nature of reality.

This does seem to apply in the macro world of soccer, where opposing managers tend to observe the same match in alternate realities. In the rare case they cannot refute an unfavorable refereeing decision in the post-match interview, they simply exclaim: “I haven’t seen the replay yet.”

This is why it’s imperative that the “man [or woman] in the middle” conforms to the laws of soccer. Not impromptu insights into what he or she perceives as being “best” for how any particular game unfolds.

For the integrity of soccer, there is no place for refereeing hubris.

Matches should be officiated, per the rules, as objectively as possible. They should not be subjectively managed per the contingencies of the occasion.

John Terry comes roaring in from the pavilion end and bowls a full-toss at the batsman’s head.  Wow, that was a bit mischievous, someone tell him the wicket is on the ground.

Deep into the heart of the Barclays Premier League off-season, I’m seeking solace in cricket, particularly the Ashes competition between England and Australia.  They are rivals, but in cricket there is too much gentility and politeness to remedy my soccer withdrawals.

Sportsmanship in sports is nice, but not when it undermines the competitive spirit that soccer players like John Terry exude.

During the first of five Ashes test matches, England’s Stuart Broad dared wait for the umpire’s decision before surrendering his wicket. He was caught by the fielder, but refused to walk voluntarily off the pitch.  This caused an instant uproar, and provoked innumerable sports editorials by sanctimonious pundits, especially since the umpire incorrectly ruled him not out.

Recriminations over whether Broad should have given himself out has me musing about sportsmanship in soccer, or lack thereof.  Imagine if Luis Suarez, Wayne Rooney or Sergio Aguero had become cricketers…sportsmanship would be stumped, but it would definitely be more exciting.

Suarez is now a bowler, coming around the wicket, he has tricks up his sleeve, and elsewhere.  Wait a minute, what’s that he’s doing under his white jersey?  Is he having a snack?  No, he’s actually biting the ball!  The pitch is flat so he’s hoping to conjure some illegal extra swing, but that’s some extreme ball tampering.  He may have to be suspended for that.

If the cricket gets a bit monotonous, then unleash Rooney — the proverbial bull in the china shop will captivate us.   Envision, if possible, that after a delicate shot between silly mid off and cover point, the batsmen seek a leisurely single.  Wait a minute, a silly Rooney charges forward from his fielding position off slip to collect the throw, but slides into the batsman, sending him sprawling before he makes the crease. That was rather rash, definitely contrary to the rather genteel behavior expected from polite cricketers, but it allows the wicketkeeper to nonchalantly stump the batsman.

I haven’t done scientific research, but I sense that soccer is close to the bottom of the sportsmanship totem pole.  I’m not complaining — there seems to be a positive correlation between poor sportsmanship and excitement.

There’s a balance, and we probably agree that soccer players who wave imaginary yellow cards at referees deserve our disdain.  But a player who’s so sporting that he tells the ref he deserves a second yellow card for a rash challenge, or that he handled the ball in his own penalty area, would be mental.   After getting the “hair dryer” treatment from his coach, he’d probably be demoted to the reserves and referred to a shrink for some “sports psychology”.  Yet this is tantamount to what the cricket purists expected of Stuart Broad.

A soccer player gesticulating to the ref that the ricocheted corner crossed his own goal line would be more bizarre than sportsmanlike.  He’d also need his head examined; after all, the rules say a goal is not a goal unless the ref sees and acknowledges it.  But expecting Broad to voluntarily walk is analogous.

Broad was obviously caught by an Aussie fielder, but he didn’t immediately walk; instead, leaving his fate with the umpire, who contrived to miss it.  This sent the media into frenzy over proper cricketing etiquette, but no one can doubt that Broad’s rejection of polite customs sparked antagonisms that enhanced the action.

To protect the game’s integrity, rules need to be applied consistently by officials; they cannot be contrived haphazardly, no matter how sporting and well intentioned, by overwrought players.   Players who may not even be sincere, but trying to curry favor for a more consequential decison later.

A sport like cricket, where they actually interrupt the action for a tea break, is obviously more civil than soccer.  But that type of sportsmanship doesn’t translate well to soccer, where brilliant players like Aguero ply their trade and rabid fans demand blood, sweat and tears.

Ah yes, the fiery Aguero — imagine his potential cricketing etiquette.  Perhaps he just edged a ball to gully, surely he’s a goner.  Hold on, his bat goes flying into the fielder who then drops a sure dolly.  That was fortuitous, but did he really lose his grip?   The fielders think it was cynical and swarm the hapless batsman.  Oh dear, there’s an argy-bargy in the middle, the stumps are upended, bails are flying, one umpire is sent sprawling while coaches swarm the third umpire.

This is more like it, with unsporting action like this I might make it until that glorious day on August 17 when the Premier League season starts.  Here’s to a bit of bad sportsmanhip, and lots of excitement, in soccer.

Mark Clattenburg will referee Chelsea against Swansea this Sunday.

Despite Clattenburg’s magnanimous efforts to put the recent racial accusations against him to bed, we can learn some lessons, lest another hapless victim falls foul to indiscriminate accusations of racism.

Liverpool’s Luis Suarez and Chelsea’s John Terry are two high-profile players who’ve been punished for racial abuse. I hope their punishments are deterrents, but I also believe those who feign victimization, perhaps motivated by vengeance, should be deterred.

We all hope racism is expunged from soccer. The Premier League is one of the most popular sports leagues in the world, and its cosmopolitan nature is the source of much appeal. Nevertheless, just as we ridicule the player for waving an imaginary yellow card after being fouled, we should be equally cynical of players, and their employers, who exploit the current sensitivity towards racism by hurling accusations in bad faith.

Clattenburg’s appointment for Sunday’s game conjures memories of Chelsea and Ramires.

Last October, Ramires injected himself into an incident between Clattenburg and an overwrought John Obi-Mikel.

Hosting Manchester United, Stamford Bridge was a bit louder than normal that day. Clattenburg, having already issued a yellow-card to Mikel for his remonstrations, kept his cool in the controversial incident. As the ill-disciplined Mikel continued to back-chat, Clattenburg put his finger to lips in a gesture of silence. Mikel continued his tantrums; nevertheless, Clattenburg remained poised, a picture of restraint, as he ordered Mikel to go away.

Mikel didn’t hear anything untoward in that order, but his team-mate Ramires, even further away, somehow contrived to hear a racial taunt amidst the cauldron of bellowing fans. When interviewed about his allegations Ramires explained his reaction as “instinctive.” That’s pretty damning towards his integrity, considering instinctual conclusions often unravel in the cold light of day.

Given the egregious harm to Clattenburg’s personal and professional life, I describe Ramires reaction as reckless as one of Mikel’s miss-timed tackles, as misguided as one of his passes. Remember, Ramires was also “instinctively” seething over perceived injustice by the referee that day.

If the F.A. wants to red-card racism in football, they must encourage reporting of legitimate abuses, and they must discern between good and bad faith complaints. They must also discourage “instinctive” accusations from solitary players with an axe to grind. Flimsy allegations from a disconsolate player who speaks broken English, yet can decipher the heavy Geordie accent of a referee amidst the bedlam of Stamford Bridge, warrant suspicion.

The forgiving and classy Clattenburg has said: “The on-pitch relationship between match officials, players and managers is the best we’ve ever known it.” For that to continue, improvable allegations of racism must be squelched so that the FA can truly “Kick it out.”

Let’s see: Terry got banned for 4 matches for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand; Suarez was suspended for 8 matches for doing the same to Patrice Evra. What should a footballer get for unsubstantiated claims that do even more harm to anti-discrimination efforts?

Let’s split the difference – a 6 match ban as the benchmark for eliciting a racially induced wild-goose chase. That ought to send the message loud and clear: we don’t tolerate frivolous accusations that ultimately undermine the laudable goals of bodies like “Show Racism the Red Card.”

Mandatory player handshakes at soccer games should be abolished.

Voluntary player handshakes should be encouraged.

It’s nice that soccer stadia are more family oriented. As a youngster I braved the terraces to watch Crystal Palace play Millwall at Selhurst Park, fearing I might get my head kicked in by notoriously fierce Millwall hooligans. Fortunately, I was faster in my sneakers than they in their Dr. Martens clodhoppers.

Things are now more sociable in the stands, but the field of play is for not for the faint of heart.

One of the searing images of recent seasons was the dramatic penalty shootout between Chelsea and Liverpool in the Champions League semi-finals in 2007. It was a heartbreaking loss for Chelsea, but Mourinho trudged into the cauldron not only to console his own players, but to shake hands with Liverpool’s heroic warriors. It was heartfelt; it was poignant; it was sincere.

What’s not sincere, actually it’s more like buffoonish showmanship, is when teams shake hands during pre-game rituals.

Terry – Bridge; Suarez-Evra; Suarez-R. Ferdinand – these are but a few of the players whose handshakes weren’t properly consummated as personal pride trumped sportsmanship. Ironically, the nanny-like motivation to introduce civility into an intensely emotional and competitive sport has backfired by eliciting extreme resentment.

Now, in some perverted reasoning conjured up by elitists in FIFA’s ivory towers, sportsmanship can supposedly be enhanced by forcing players to line up in the center circle after matches to shakes hands. Speaking on behalf of FIFA Task Force 2014, Franz Beckenbauer actually said,” I believe [players] should leave the pitch the same way one has entered the pitch.”

You can’t make this stuff up. Imagine, after a game of gut-wrenching endeavor; after 90 minutes of stray boots and flailing arms, perhaps a little blood and plenty of toil and sweat, players are supposed to suddenly transform from football warriors into timid, powder-puff ambassadors.

Of course, many players actually respect their opponents and wander around the field after the whistle looking for a hand to grasp if not a shirt to swap. This may be commendable, but not enforceable.

Team captains represent their players to the referees on the pitch, and by extension represent their teams when they shake hands at the coin toss before kickoff. That’s enough! Compelling players who may have legitimate grievances with their opponents to shake hands will backfire by promoting bitterness and vengeance.

The player whose nose was just squashed by a stray elbow will not be leaving the field the same way he entered. Should he be expected to shake hands with his nemesis? Should the diminutive striker who was bullied by the towering center-half be made to meekly extend his hand in search of affirmation? If he’s magnanimous enough to do so voluntarily, then award some fair-play points, but don’t make him rub salt in his own wound.

What’s next, FIFA? Extending your misguided reasoning, will you issue an edict that players must shake the referee’s hand? Blimey, I just saw Clint Hill of QPR denied an obvious goal in a crucial, relegation battle against Bolton. Should he also be subjected to the indignity of having to shake the linesman’s hand?

If, for example, Frank Lampard were made to shake the ref’s hand after his obvious goal wasn’t given against Germany in the 2010 World Cup, it would constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

I want handshakes to be scrapped, but not for the usual reasons that they cause trouble. I like trouble, it amplifies the drama. I want them scrapped because they are insincere; they humiliate proud players and they are counterproductive.

I just watched an introduction to a political debate in which the contestants smiled and shook hands… then attempted to demolish each other’s reputation with lies, innuendo and sneaky, almost lawyerly, claims. After wallowing in the mire for 2 hours they again shook hands in a charade before the audience. I thought: this runs counter to the original purpose of handshakes.

Most agree that handshakes evolved in medieval times as knights offered their right hands to show they had no weapons, nor were they hiding tricks up their sleeves. But instead of extending goodwill, the handshakes of these devious politicians cloaked dastardly intentions to inflict wounds.

Soccer is a noble sport to the extent the players are resolute in their will to win. Indeed, to jaunt around avoiding earnest tackles incurs the wrath of the crowd and the disrespect of your opposition. Don’t make these simple but honest players shake hands like a politician; like Mourinho, they will shake hands like as a knight, if they so choose.

Ironically, FIFA has denounced player simulation – otherwise known as diving – during games. Bizarrely, they are encouraging a form of simulation before and after games by making players shake like their own members might.

Following the shenanigans in their choice of venues for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, FIFA Executive Committee members may actually rank lower than politicians on the scale of trustworthiness. They specialize in subterfuge and fake sportsmanship, so we must be stalwart in our resistance to their pompous and paternalistic calls to impose unnatural handshakes into the beautiful game.

Let’s not allow the guilt-ridden, FIFA wussies to diminish a dynamic sport by compelling players to simulate gestures of respect either before or after games. It is impossible for the players to leave the field as they entered, but we can let them leave with dignity.

I’ve spent too much of my 25 years in the States trying to convince Americans that there’s more to England than the great city of London. However, it’s quite likely there’ll be 6 London-based teams in the EPL next season. I’m presuming QPR don’t get relegated — which is unlikely given their new signings — and West Ham gets promoted from the Championship.

So that London derbys don’t become commonplace, and to prevent the EPL from devolving into the Londinium League, we need to set a limit of 5 London teams. I propose a London conference within the EPL with the bottom placed team being automatically relegated. Nothing else changes, three clubs will go down: the two non-London lowest clubs will be relegated along the bottom London club.

For those of you wondering: what if Reading makes the Championship Playoffs and gets promoted? I checked the map — they’re close, but outside the London Boroughs.

Given the attraction of playing in London and the flow of football finances to this mega-market, I doubt London participation will fall below 5 teams. But if it does, it probably means the North West is once again overrepresented. If this reality prevails, it will be time to invoke the Lancashire Conference, with the new relegation rules applying to Lancastrians… and so on.

That oughta add some extra spice into those stale and fruitless end-of-season encounters by teams relishing comfort above the drop zone.

The Premier League is remarkably successful but that doesn’t mean the world’s greatest sports league can’t be improved by employing conferences when a region is overrepresented. What do you think? Stupid idea? Bring it!

Speaking of EPL geography…

While celebrating all things Scottish or Welsh is encouraged, English traditions are often swept under the rug by guilt-ridden wussies. In their desperation for inclusiveness and political correctness, they’re all too eager to substitute British for English.

Being a soccer stud that came Stateside on a scholarship, the last thing I want to do is align myself with these effete elites. Nevertheless, I do wonder if it’s time to rename EPL Talk to BPL Talk — not B as in the Barclays Premier League, but British Premier League.

Historically, Wales has been referred to as “England’s first colony,” and it now seems the English Premier League is colonizing Welsh football. Indeed, the best Welsh teams clamor for the glamor of the EPL.

Swansea City FC are reveling in mid-table in the world’s most popular sports league.

Cardiff City FC, currently in the Championship, are perennial challengers for promotion to the EPL. Indeed, this year they are poised for the playoffs, if not automatic promotion to the greener pastures of English football.

Imagine: Swansea and Cardiff in the EPL; Now that would be something to BPL Talk about. Just as Wales joining England through the Acts of Union provided the foundation for Britain, the union of English and Welsh teams could transform the English into the British Premier League, or are we riddled with Cymrophobia? (don’t bother to look it up. It’s a cool word, alright, but with an ugly meaning — antipathy towards the Welsh).

Photo by i y e r s

Salvation is here! The English football season is back.

I’ve been trying to fill the summer void by taking to cricket but it’s been challenging. In the text commentary for the previous Test match against India, for example, several cricket fans fretted about being “dragged kicking and screaming” to soporific events by their domineering wives. “Soporific” was their pretentious word, by the way. After I looked that one up I then noticed in the online commentary some hapless fella admitting to being bundled into the back of his car as his wife and mother-in-law searched for some Welsh furniture. Another effete fan let his wife swipe his cell phone so he couldn’t check the score.

Thank goodness English football season is here. At least those fans have a bit more gumption, a bit more pride; it’s clear who wears the pants.

As for the, ummm, action on the pitch, well, by cricket standards it was rollicking but that’s a pretty low bar. Consider that the other day in the third Test against India they started late because of rain but nevertheless stopped action to enjoy drinks — on the field, no less — after a scoring a few measly runs. Just as I was catching on to their tactics and getting the peculiar lingo down, they were off to the pavilion for a prompt lunch. Blimey, your average soccer fan exerts more effort celebrating one goal than most of those cricketers.

I suppose I can understand the tea breaks; After all, everything in Old Blighty stops for tea. Even when the batsmen endeavor to actually run between the wickets and are having a good ol’ slog at the ball, tea must not wait. When cricket actually broke out between all of the drink and tea and crumpet breaks, England did quite well… but I’m so relieved it’s time for a real sport.

As someone with the misfortune of having Crystal Palace as his home team, I have adapted by enjoying good English football wherever it’s played… and that’s not usually Selhurst Park. Now 6,000 miles removed from the cauldron, I can sit back, relax, and just hope the ref gets out of the way and lets the best team — or the underdog if they deserve it — win.

For this relatively impartial observer, it would be nice to see a new Premier League champion. But what I really hope is that someone knocks Barcelona off their pedestal in the Champions League. They are admired the world over and many pundits label them the greatest team ever, but now I’m really getting sick of them. Their short, precise passes intersecting pretty little triangles as they inexorably walk the ball into the opponents net is obviously effective, but after a few games of that I tire of the pedantic pace. I long for a bit of excitable, smash-mouth stuff even if a few passes go astray.

After 3 months of cricket-induced stupor, give me some traditional long ball, clanging of heads, and direct play. Technical skills are a nice bonus, but give me some committed challenges, a bit of recklessness, fast counter attacks and some good ol’ argy-bargy. Gimme some English Premier League soccer.

Reports have come out this evening confirming that Bob Bradley will stay as coach of the US Mens National Team for another four years.  Just as speculation was growing that Bradley would be out, Jurgen Klinsmann would be in, and US Soccer was going to make some significant changes before the next World Cup, it seems that everyone has chosen stability over transformation.  There are several different ways to look at this:

This was the right move

Bradley may not be the most charismatic character of all time, but he did well.  Under his stewardship, the US won the Gold Cup, got to the finals of the Confederations Cup, won the CONCACAF qualifying group, and won its World Cup Group.  While the US did crash out of the World Cup by losing to Ghana in overtime, that game was as close as a game could be, and had the US won it, this decision would be a no-brainer.  While major countries like France and Italy were having personality breakdowns in South Africa, Bradley kept our boys loose, focused and together as a team.  The team was in great shape physically, and despite the obvious limitations of the US squad, especially after Charlie Davies and Oguchi Onyewu suffered serious injuries, the team met its main objective – getting to the knock out stage.  Bradley has earned the chance to take the team to the next level.

This is a disaster

 Bradley is not the guy to take the team to the next level.  He made some fundamental mistakes in our tactics that cost the US a chance to really make a mark in South Africa.  What was Ricardo Clark doing there against Ghana?  What was Gooch doing in there against Slovenia when he could barely walk?  Were it not for a saving goal by Landon Donovan, the US would have been going home in the group stages, and this decision would have been a no-brainer.  Furthermore, that run at the Confederation Cup was not much of a run – we got slaughtered by Italy and Brazil in the group stage, lucked into the knock out stage, and blew a two goal lead in the final that could have delivered a historic moment for US Soccer.  Finally, winning things in CONCACAF is no great challenge.  Even Steve Sampson could achieve that!  If the US is ever going to move up from the JVs to the Varsity squad of soccer nations, it needs new leadership.

Honestly, it really does not matter

There is no more over-valued job than coach of the national team.  You don’t really develop players in that position, – you simply pick the best 23 available and see what happens.  Perhaps a coach like Raymond Domenech can cause a team like France to fall apart, but only a fool would say that Vicente del Bosque caused Spain win in South Africa.  Spain won because they have the best 23 players in the world.  The US will have more success when they have better players, and the coach of the team has only the most marginal impact on growing the pool of players that can succeed at the highest level.

What do you think?

When MLS created the Designated Player rule several seasons ago, many fans were both excited and nervous.  The benefits were obvious – it was an opportunity to retain great American players and attract great foreign players by allowing teams to offer a few salaries commensurate with the great leagues of Europe.  The concern was always about the attitude these DPs would take.  Would they really fit into a team and be willing to give their full efforts in squads that were several pegs below what they were used to?  Would these DPs be past-their-prime glory seekers after that last decent paycheck?  Were they here to play soccer or simply to eat out at restaurants in the relative anonymity that they can never get in Europe?  Or, were they here for the most diabolical of all reasons – to simply enhance their personal branding at the behest of a shoe company.

Some DPs have done well, and others have been an embarrassment.  However, there is one DP who seems intent on setting the standard for how high-quality foreign imports should treat the MLS and its fans, and luckily for American soccer supporters, it is one of the biggest imports MLS has ever made – the Red Bull’s Thierry Henry.

For Americans who have become soccer fans over the past decade, Henry is almost a mythological figure.  As Fox Soccer Channel seeped into cable systems and onto satellite dishes around the country, watching Henry perform miracles for Arsenal became a Saturday morning ritual for many Americans.  At the height of his powers, Arsenal played the prettiest soccer on earth.  With Henry leading the charge, the 2003-2004 Arsenal went undefeated, and the highlight reel of Henry’s goals from that season would drop the jaw of even the most ardent soccer cynic.

And yet, Henry has always seemed to be a bit of a finicky teammate.  He clearly had his favorites (Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, and Robert Pires seemed to be in an exclusive Arsenal club with Henry), and was never shy about showing his frustration with other Gunners, especially Jose Antonio Reyes and Robin van Persie.

This did not change tremendously when Henry went to Barcelona.  Notwithstanding being a major contributor on the historic 2008/09 Barcelona team which won just about every trophy it could, Henry still seemed to be playing with a bit of a sour-puss of a face.  Despite his 26 goals that season, he never seemed to really bond with either his teammates or the Nou Camp faithful.  For MLS fans who knew Henry, this was a constant concern.  If you cannot find love and respect in Barcelona, how is he supposed to find it in Harrison, NJ?

And yet, since coming to the Red Bulls, Henry looks like a man reborn.  Henry seems intent on integrating into this Red Bull team and not dominating it, and his link-up play has been terrific.  As Henry has gotten his fitness back, his football has become more dazzling.  He is looking to form a striking partnership with Juan Pablo Angel, and yet there is nothing exclusive about his play.  He is feeding every Red Bull that can get in position, and looking to be an outlet for every Red Bull who possesses the ball.

Most importantly, Henry looks like he is playing with joy for the first time in a long time.  He was simply dazzling tonight against San Jose, and had his backwards lob evaded the tips of keeper John Busch’s extended fingers, Henry would have added a top 10 goal to his personal highlight reel.  Finally, when his first Red Bull goal came, Henry proved himself to be a true teammate.  The goal came after an outstanding cross by Dane Richards, and landed at Henry’s feet in a position where it was harder to miss than to score.  Henry did score, and though it was the moment that many Red Bull fans were waiting for, Henry immediately pointed at Richards to tell the crowd who really created that goal, and went over to lift the diminutive winger into the air.

This has been in line with Henry’s attitude since coming to New York.  He has been open and engaging with the press, full of praise for the fans, complimentary towards his teammates and in every way an exemplary addition.  On the field, he is working hard to make space for himself and his teammates, has been full of effective, strategic running, and has generally put in the donkey work that all great strikers need to do 10 times in order to create that one chance. 

This is completely encouraging because at 33, with the shorter MLS season and having announced his retirement from international football, Henry has every chance of keeping his legs for several more years.  As opposed to David Beckham, Henry shows no signs of playing with one eye in MLS and another on European loans and national team duty.  Henry’s commitment to MLS seems total, and his approach has been that of the pure professional.

For the Designated Player system to work in MLS, DPs have to show what Henry seems intent on displaying – a total commitment.  If DPs become perceived as a enjoying a comfortable pit stop on their way towards their post-soccer career, American sports fans will sniff out the fraud.  However, if Henry can continue to serve as a model for what DPs should, MLS teams will continue to entice skill and fame into their rosters.

This week The FIFA inspection committee responsible for producing the report on all the possible host countries for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups visits England.  The committee will be touring London, Manchester, Sunderland and Newcastle, inspecting stadia, looking at infrastructure, and getting charmed by David Beckham, Fabio Capello and Bobby Charlton.

Many English fans consider themselves a lock for hosting 2018 World Cup.  In their view, there is no European nation that can match their stadia, infrastructure, or passion for the game.  England is the birth place for soccer, and has not hosted its greatest tournament, since 1966.  For English fans, it is time for the cup to return home.

However, all history and nostalgia aside, there are some very practical forces that are endangering England’s bid.  England’s main competition for 2018 hosting responsibilities is Russia, and there are several critical reasons for FIFA to find a Russian World Cup more attractive.

England has stadia, but they are old and small

England brags that it already has all the infrastructure it needs and would not have to build a single new stadium for World Cup 2018.  However, what England sees as an asset, FIFA may look at as a detriment.  England does have plenty of venues for the World Cup, but only three of them, Wembley, Old Trafford and Emirates, seat more than 60,000.  In fact, for the top 10 stadia in England, six of them seat fewer than 50,000.  For the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the host country used 10 stadia that had a total seating capacity of 548,000.  The top 10 stadia in England would have a capacity of 25,000 fewer seats.

Apart from the seating capacity, almost as critical to FIFA is the nature of those stadia.  Included in that list are some grand dames like Anfield, Goodison Park, Villa Park and Stamford Bridge.  While these structures may overflow with memories and lore, what they are not packed with is luxury boxes, corporate entertainment facilities and the amenities that FIFA needs to wine and dine their critical commercial sponsors.  FIFA has three sources of income during a World Cup – ticket sales, corporate sponsorship, and licensing fees (both for merchandise and broadcast rights).  The facilities in England will limit their potential ticket sales and make the care and feeding of their sponsors (who have, after all, forked over billions of dollars for the privilege) far more challenging. 

Russia, on the other hand, would have to build most of its stadia from scratch.  While this may look like a detriment to some, to FIFA that is actually a positive.  Having just come from South Africa, where the majority of its venues were newly constructed and built with all the modern sporting amenities in place, the entire situation was close to ideal.  If lowly South Africa can pull off that trick, there is little doubt that Russia can too.  In the last decade, Russia has been on an airport and hotel building spree, and if there is any skill the Russians have, it is in the building of large (and occasionally ponderous) urban infrastructure.  If Russia can convince FIFA that they have the commitment to build the venues necessary for World Cup 2018, England’s existing stadia could actually hinder their bid.

FIFA prioritizes emerging soccer markets over existing ones

England will undoubtedly tout its unreserved fanaticism for the game while Russia is still a country that cares more about hockey and gymnastics.  However, like the stadia issue, this may be a positive for FIFA.  FIFA has an evangelical streak about them, and likes to proselytize about the beautiful game to the uninitiated.  They like to use every other World Cup to break into new markets, expand the passion for game, and convert more followers into the church of football.  USA 1994, Korea/Japan 2002, and South Africa 2010 represent their latest efforts in this crusade.  With the 2014 Cup being held in Brazil, FIFA may look at 2018 as another missionary opportunity.

And Russia is a real growth opportunity.  This emerging market with millions of potential soccer aficionados is exactly the kind of growth opportunity that makes FIFA salivate.  Russia has money and population, and FIFA feels like they are not getting their fair share of either.  Putting a World Cup in Russia may be exactly battering ram that breaks down the door for a significant new revenue stream for FIFA.

Conversely, from a business perspective, FIFA may look at England as a saturated market place with little opportunity for growth.  For the green eye-shades at FIFA, bringing the World Cup to Newcastle would be like bringing coal to, well, Newcastle.

Those passionate English fans are a tad bit scary

During the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the security precautions put into place to control the English fans were extraordinary.  Many English fans have a very unsavory reputation, and long list were drawn up of supporters who were prohibited from travelling to Germany for the games.   For the first time (at least since 1945 or so), English security forces were allowed into Germany to help maintain order.  And yet, there were plenty of incidents and acts of violence as a few bad apples reflected poorly on a nation of civil football supporters.

For a World Cup stationed in England, no bad apples will be prohibited or controlled.  You cannot keep an Englishman , no matter his reputation, from getting on train to an English stadium or from approaching a pub where a French or Italian or German fans have gathered or from doing anything violent until they have actually done it and broken the law.  While England thug culture has certainly dissipated from its Thatcherite heyday, nobody would argue that it has gone away.  If the authorities had such a difficult time controlling the English fans in Berlin, how are they going to control them in London, Manchester or Liverpool?  This is an issue that weighs heavily on FIFA’s mind.

Comparatively, for better or worse, Russia does have some history and some skill in the arts of maintaining civil order. 

How all of these issues resonate with FIFA will not be known until December 2, when FIFA announces who will host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.  However, shorting England’s overinflated odds of being declared a host might be a good bet. 

In a post-game interview after last night’s All-Star game, Landon Donovan said “We have had transfer interest and we will have some time to think about it and see where it goes.  There is interest from a number of teams.”

To be explicit, what Donovan said he is going to Europe, and it is not a matter of when (next month) but of who (Everton, Man City, Serie A or somewhere else) and at what price.

Landon Donovan is, simply said, the best American soccer player of all time.  He has speed, ball skills, game vision, and a scoring touch that are unmatched by any US player to date.  For American fans of the game, for followers of MLS, and for those of us in Los Angeles who have been privileged to watch him play for the past seasons, he has provided some truly inspirational moments.  We will miss him.  But it is truly time for him to go.

He simply has nothing left to prove here in the States.  He has done all he can do to promote the game and inspire the next generation of players.  He has provided some memorable moments.  He has played in three World Cups and will probably add a fourth before he hangs up his cleats for good.  In order to improve, and in order for him to show both the rising generation of American players and a skeptical (though increasingly less so) European community what American soccer has to offer the world football community, it is time for him to take this step.

Will Major League Soccer suffer for his loss?  Perhaps a little, in the short-run.  In the long run, for MLS to have credibility with American fans, it cannot exist as a closed market.  American soccer fans are not dim.  They know the best leagues are overseas, and that for MLS to have credibility, and to one day be seen on a par with those leagues, MLS has to be able to produce players that can succeed and star in England, Germany, Italy and Spain.  Every MLS player that succeeds in Europe reflects well on MLS, gives it more legitimacy, and makes it more interesting as a spectator sport.  The millions of dollars a Donovan transfer, and other similar transfers, will generate will enable MLS to recruit, market and develop with greater resources.

In the near-term, this is the best use of MLS – a developer and exporter of North American talent and an importer of famous European players on (but not past) the downslopes of their careers.  The fact that four months ago Theirry Henry and Rafa Marquez were playing for arguably the best team in the world (Barcelona) and are now in MLS while Landon Donovan is going from being the unstoppable player in MLS to a valued asset in Europe is a sign of strength, not weakness.

Will American fans suffer for Donovan’s loss?  No.  We are not “losing” him.  For most American fans, Donovan will be playing on FSC on Saturday mornings rather than FSC on Saturday evenings.

And finally, the American soccer community could simply not be so cruel as to deny Donovan the opportunity  to play every week among the best.  Donovan only has a few years left before his skills and abilities begin to irretrievably slip away.  For all he has done for MLS and soccer in this country, he is owed the opportunity end his career without unanswered questions.  Donovan scored as many goals in South Africa (three) as the entire English team.  He deserves the chance to show the world why that was not a fluke.

As a Galaxy season ticket holder, I know that this Sunday against Chicago may be the last time Donovan leads his team onto the Home Depot Center turf.  I will miss him as much as any athlete I have ever seen play for any of my local teams and I will be sorry to see him go.  It would be sorrier to see him stay here, and wonder about what could have been.

With a few weeks perspective after another predictable and disappointing quad-annual collapse by the latest version of England’s best-team-in-a-generation, the FA is starting to weigh in.  In article published yesterday in the Mirror, the FA revealed its new strategy – groom an English coach to take over for Fabio Capello in two years, bring a few more youngsters into the team and look at the way the Spanish national team trains.

Sorry, but that just won’t do the trick.  The sad truth is that England is a long way from producing a team that approaches its fans’ overinflated expectations.  Without a radically different approach, the FA is dooming the Three Lions to a permanent position as one of the middling European squads – closer to Denmark or Switzerland than to Spain or Germany.

So, where to start?  First, let’s dispense with the easy quick fixes that will have no real impact.  Whether Fabio Capello, Steve McClaren or the reincarnated ghost of Brian Clough, the name of the current coach has a modest impact on the result.  National team coaches are not like club team coaches whose job is to spot, develop and nurture talent.  Great club coaches excel at making their meal from scratch.  National team coaches must reheat a dinner that has already been prepared by others.

Similarly, other insta-cures will also mean little.  Winter breaks, different formations, and more/less access to the WAGs during the tournament may make for good copy but do not really change the results.  None of these actions will lead to a significant improvement for the Euro 2012 or World Cup 2014.  Instead, what is needed is a complete revolution in English soccer training from the youth on up that can yield a better result in 8-10 years.

First and foremost, increasing the number of skilled, trained coaches in England is vital.  These numbers have been bandied about over the past few weeks, but they need repeating:

Number of coaches by country possessing UEFA’s top coaching qualification:

Germany – 34,970

Italy – 29,420

Spain – 23,995

England – 2,769

Of those smattering of top-qualified English coaches, the majority work with senior players meaning that only a small handful are even available to work with England’s next generation.  With their major rivals having 10 times or more the amount of top coaches, that means that ten times the young players from those nation can receive quality training and develop and hone critical ball skills.  If the FA has any role to play, this would seem to be the most obvious and critical – to commit to increasing the quantity of qualified coaches.

Once those coaches are in place, what should they teach?  Ball control, interior passing and possession retention.  Watching Spain, Holland and Germany move the ball down the pitch like they are PlayStation athletes should be a revelation to every English fan that wants their team to do better.  Who is England’s best dribbler and passer?  Damned if I know.  I do know that watching the English team move the ball around as if it was filled with mashed potatoes rather than air is simply painful.

In a recent interview with The Times, Real Madrid’s Xabi Alonso had a fascinating observation.  He said that when he played for Liverpool, he would occasionally go to their youth academy for meetings with their future players.  He would ask the young midfielders what their greatest skill is, and more often then not, they would be most proud of their ability to tackle.

Alonso believed that tackling is a useful skill, but it is the skill you employ to make up for a failure of position or possession.  If a midfielder is positioned well and dribbles and possesses to affect, they never need to leave their feet.  These new, better-skilled coaches need to train the upcoming generation on smaller, tighter fields where hoofing it forward will have no benefit and where maneuvering the ball is the only path to success.

This entire enterprise will require the most precious commodity that exists in soccer and one that is in short supply in England – patience.  If England had all the good coaches it needed today, the benefit would not be felt for years.  I strongly doubt that the FA has the stomach for such an effort and seems more comfortable devoting resources on white elephants like a national training center and inflated salaries for celebrity managers.

What will it take for the FA to seriously plan for the future?

It may take another Euro/World Cup of despair before the FA really gets serious.  The current generation of Terry, Lampard, Gerrard and Cole are considering retirement rather than going through another cycle of scorn playing against teams they fully realize are their superiors.  The next generation, with the odd exception of Jack Wilshire or James Milner, hardly look like the equals of the current one.

I fear that the English fans will have to demand this change after an even  greater humiliation than South Africa 2010.  At some point, England is in danger of losing its top seed for tournament draws and may miss out qualifying for a significant tournament.  Perhaps at that point, the FA will be willing to concede that the problem with their house will not be solved with a new coat of paint – nothing less than a restructuring of the foundation will suffice.

Soccer has an almost magical ability to reflect a national character.  Brazil is a sensuous, musical nation, and for its national soccer team, it is not enough to simply win – they need to win with grace, style and beauty.  At the other end of the spectrum, a disciplined, efficient country like Germany has created a team that wins with ruthless well-organized proficiency.  Italians always believe that the fix is in, and a player that dives and feigns injury to get a penalty or an opponent sent off is simply a clever person navigating a corrupt world. 

After a few weeks and a little bit of perspective, one of the great triumphs for the US team in South Africa ’10 to emerge is the development of an American soccer style. 

How to describe this style?  It was said best by Landon Donovan in the post-game interview after scoring his famous goal against Algeria.  He was asked about the clear goal that was denied to Clint Dempsey from a linesman’s inaccurate offside call.  Donovan said, “We embody what Americans are about.  We can moan about it or we can keep going.  We kept going and we believe.”

In a few words, Donovan hit on a little piece of genius.  American soccer culture does not rely on deftness of touch or a military-like precision.  Instead, this team assimilated some very basic American values into its style – hard work, self-belief, and the attitude that, eventually, effort will be rewarded.

For many fans, this aspect of American soccer has been viewed as a weakness.  Because our skill may not be as high as the soccer elite, we have to rely on fitness, mental toughness and effort to get by.  The theory goes that better teams win by playing better soccer, and eventually the US’s lack of skill dooms the team.

I think this entirely misses the point.  In a league season, over time the table never lies.  However, in a knock-out competition like the World Cup, where anything can happen over the course of 90 minutes, the game is as mental as it is physical.  Why did a great team like Holland play with the grace and sophistication of street thugs against Spain?  Because they were intimated by Spain’s ability to control the game and approached the contest from a place of fear.  Why did France implode so completely?  Because they knew they were just lucky to be going to South Africa and deep down they were waiting for the results to validate the injustice of their appearance.  Having the right frame of mind is more valuable than having an international superstar in your starting XI.

Teams understand this, and that is what makes the rest of the world nervous about playing the US team.  The US team is beatable, but they will never play like they expect to be beaten.  You can score against the US team, but the US team will never play like your lead is insurmountable.  You can run and press the US team, but chances are the US team will be running at full speed in the 90^th minute at the same moment your lungs are burning.

And the US team will never, ever be intimidated.

Many fans and players from other countries laugh that the US is a country of baseball and basketball players who think football is some sport played with hands on a small, 100 yard field.  But they make these jokes nervously as if they are trying to convince themselves it is true.  Deep down, they know this is a team that knocked Spain out of competitive tournament last summer, was the best team in the second half in all their World Cup games, and won a tougher World Cup qualification bracket than any that a European team had to face.  Those other countries know that there are holes in the US line-up, but those holes will get smaller over time.  What will not get smaller is the way Americans compete.

The grit that the US team showed in South Africa is more than just a charming trait.  It is actually a distinguishing characteristic of American soccer – one that will serve our national team’s character well in the years to come.

Supposedly, the Three Lions on England football shirts represent pride, passion and courage. Clearly, it’s time for a kit redesign.

Even as England’s footballing lions shriveled into meek kittens in the World Cup cauldron it may be finally sinking in that England are ordinary. They’re capable of qualifying for major tournaments, perhaps even making the knock-out rounds, but it’s been 44 years since they last won, and 20 since making the semi-finals.

After so many underwhelming performances, I’m starting to catch on – England’s footballers are not good enough to win major tournaments without a massive dose of good luck. As usual, lady luck scorned upon England, but even had she smiled brightly, even had she mollycoddled the Three Kittens, it would not muffle their pitiful, shivering meows on the big stage.

England’s luck was bad, but their players were worse. Recognizing this in the cold light of day is cathartic and may relieve England fans of the usual post-tournament wallowing. But if you’re still despondent, here are a few reasons to be cheery.

Since England invented the game it seems entirely fitting that their misfortune provide the impetus for goal-line technology. Instant replays either on the stadium’s Jumbotron or fans’ I Phones quickly proved that Frank Lampard’s shot against Germany crossed the line.

A once intransigent Sepp Blatter, head of FIFA, appeared contrite at a post-game meeting. After all, his arguments against employing technology — maintaining human control and ensuring the game’s continuity — were shredded by the facts. For example, one possible technology known as Hawk Eye can provide near instant proof, and is certainly less disruptive than indignant players swarming a hapless, out of control referee for two minutes.

Another reason to cheer up is we didn’t lose on penalty kicks. This is no small thing — England can no longer mask technical deficiencies with the veil of penalty kick caprice for their players cowered not on the penalty spot, but all over the field.

Still, England is pretty good at other sports. It’s only been 7 years since we won the Rugby world cup; and we’re the only nation to have won both the Rugby and Football world cups. In athletics, motor sports, golf, cycling, and even cricket, the Three Lions occasionally roar. Indeed, Great Britain finished fourth in the 2008 summer Olympic Games medal table – the only European country higher was Russia.

There’s another reason for a stiff upper lip: While our overpaid, overhyped, and overrated players are over and out, England’s outstanding officiating crew are still over there. Indeed, had Howard Webb not already taken charge of the Champions League final, he’d probably get the world cup final. Nevertheless, the impressive Webb and assistants have a good chance to officiate a semi-final in S. Africa. Now, when you consider all the goals either improperly allowed or disallowed, this is a big deal. In fact, referees can, even unwittingly, become the most valuable “players” should their decision-making inappropriately affect the score.

As an expat, I’d be proud to see Englishman Howard Webb take charge of a semi-final if not the final. Interestingly, in his “daytime job” Webb is a police officer. This reminds me of an old joke, I paraphrase: in a perfect world, the cooks are French; the lovers are Italian; the Swiss run the trains; and the police are British.

A fair and just police is tops for me because a disciplined, restrained and fair police force underpins a free, open society and can take centuries to form. With Officer Howard Webb taking control we may just get a perfect World Cup semi-final decided by team performances instead of injudicious refereeing.

If these tidbits do not allay your football misery, just remember – at least we’re not French. Not only are their football team in shambles, but French referee Stephane Lannoy was also sent home by FIFA for poor performance. C’est la vie.

After the failure of Germany 2006, nobody wanted to hire Bob Bradley for this job. It was hard to find a fan that thought he was the right man. US Soccer was desperate to hire Jurgen Klinsman. Columnist fantasized about importing some maestro from Europe or South America.

When the other options failed to pan out and Bradley was hired, there was clearly an air of Miss Congeniality about his appointment. His initial contract was not even guaranteed through the 2010 World Cup. Bradley was the date we all settled on while we looked longingly across the dance floor at the girls we really wanted.

And yet, Bradley did great. From the beginning, he wanted this team to play against the best competition he could find. That meant friendlies against top teams, and winning the Gold Cup so that the US could play in the Confederations Cup. Bradley banished the notion that games against Upper Tonga, Lower Bratslana, or the People’s Republic of Weak Sisters could offer anything useful.

Moreover, Bradley would seek out, find and play the young generation against these teams. The first time I saw Charlie Davies or Bennie Fielhaber play was when they put on the USMNT uniform. His son Michael earned a position on the team in such a way that nobody could ever accuse his coach of nepotism.

The team that took the field this month in South Africa was the most prepared US team in history. They had played more competitive games against meaningful opponents than any that had preceded it. Their fitness level was spectacular, and everyone knew their roles and responsibilities.

While many can take issue with some of his team selections, that will be the case with any national team coach. Every national team loss all over the world is always attributed to team selection, and the fact that the US team now has choices worthy to generate a debate is, in itself, an odd sign of progress.

That all being said, it is never a good idea to give a national team coach a second term in office. The US should look for a new boss.

The record for the second go-around is almost always a disaster. Italy’s Lippi, France’s Domenech and even the US’s Arena can all attest that the second trip to the dance is almost always worse.

Why is this? National teams need a fresh set of eyes to keep the team playing in a manner the Marine’s call “frosty.” Teams that are alert, aggressive and ready for action always do better. Teams that develop a comfort level with their coach and whose players assume (usually correctly) that their rapport and history will guarantee their place almost always underwhelm.

Four years from now, Landon Donovan will be treading that fine line between being a supremely experienced player who can dazzle and a 32-year-old player who is losing a step. If Donovan is really on the latter side of that line, will Bradley have the fortitude to drop him? If a manager does that to a player who has been with him for seven and a half years, will the rest of the team find that emboldening or demoralizing?

The US may be ready for a coach that combines the strategies and tactics of a foreign manager with the physical fitness and sports science expertise of a US coach. Who is that person? It is hard to say, but managing a young and improving US team is a plum position for many coaches of high reputation. It would be a strong move for US Soccer to explore that job pool.

As for Bradley, I would love to see him become the first American to manage overseas. I don’t doubt his ability and his intellect, and it would be fascinating to see the Princeton educated and hyper-disciplined Bradley bring something very new and very American to a European club team.

• The USMNT is well ensconced in the second tier of international soccer, which is no small feat. Over the past 20 years, the USMNT has moved from international laughing stock to the group just below the tier that includes the best teams of Europe and South America.

• The US team is good enough to ruin anybody’s day, including world powers like Spain and England and, for a half, Brazil. But they are not yet good enough to do that on a consistent basis for an elongated run.

• They are the best team in CONCACAF (yes, you heard that right Mexico) and finished in first place in the World Cup Qualifying in CONCACAF, which is a far more grueling and challenging ordeal than finishing in first place in most of the European World Cup Qualifying groups.

• They are team with big quality in certain places (especially the midfield and in goal) and deficits in others (strikers and the back line). That is a criticism that most teams, including teams in the top tier, must often endure.

• The USMNT clearly has more heart and courage than they do soccer skill. That is not a small triumph. Italy and France have a lot more skill, but without any heart, they became national embarrassments.

There was a time not too long ago when watching the US team was absolutely cringe-worthy. The US could not string together passes in the midfield, release midfielders on a break and what passed for defense was a series of harried clearances to nobody in particular. Occasionally those teams would emerge victorious based on shear tenacity, but nobody would ever confuse those teams with something good.

Our current team still makes some foolish mistake that leads to early, soft goals, but they also have the ability to conjure up moments of beautiful, flowing skill. The two goals against Slovenia (and possibly the third that was unjustly ruled out) were moments of great quality from a team that expects to be able to move the ball forward and score a needed goal.

So what for the future? The current squad has a core of young players who will only get better. Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Benny Feilhaber, Jose Torres, and Maurice Edu are very far from finished products and all have at least one and probably two World Cups left in them. Charlie Davies, whose absence was sorely missed by this team, will hopefully fully recover. Combined with Tim Howard, Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, who all probably have one more Cup in them at their current skill level, this is a nucleus of a team that will only improve.
I would not be at all surprised to see a completely new backline in 2014, perhaps anchored by Clarence Goodson and Omar Gonzalez. Furthermore, it is easy to forget how long four years is in soccer time. Four years ago, Jozy, Maurice, Benny and many others were not on the radar, and I am sure that there are potential godsends being prepared for this team that are, at the moment, largely unnoticed.

Finally, I am writing this dispatch from Italy right now, which may help me with my perspective on all of this. Do you know which team the Italians hate the most? The Italian team – at least this year. They despise their own team, and its failure, with a NASA-hot fury. That is not a healthy way to lead your life – to hate the thing you love – and US fans should always try to avoid such a decent into the abyss.

Moreover, the Italians expressed an admiration boarding on jealously for the US team. For the Italians, the US team is everything the Italian team is not – passionate, honest, young and with great room for improvement. They see the US team as something to be admired and feared, perhaps not now but sometime soon.

South Africa 2010 may not have ended in triumph, and the game against Ghana was clearly an opportunity for greatness lost. But it was absolutely another step on the road to the USMNT’s ultimate destination, and the glory that will come with that summit.

“England will never win the World Cup while playing a 4-4-2.”

Ah, yes.  Were it not for the choice of formation, in a couple of weeks Captain Steven Gerard and the rest of his teammates would have been ascending the steps of Buckingham Palace to present their great trophy to the Queen.  Instead, for want of a fifth mid-fielder, they are returning home in ignominy.  Mr. Waddle, the observation you have drawn from England’s performance is a master class in missing the point.

Please allow me to offer a slightly different take on the entire situation.  My interpretation is this:

“England will never win the World Cup until it produces much better players.”

Put another way, given the current crop of players they have, the formation England would need to beat Germany’s 4-4-2 is probably a 7-7-5.

England is suffering not from a lack of tactical savvy but a lack of footballing skill.  The nation, and the domestic league that the nation worships, are having a tough time producing great international footballing talent, and any blind man could have seen this year’s disaster coming.

In a competition like the World Cup, the lesser teams prepare by organizing a compact defense with the hope of a swift counter-attack strike.  Teams like Algeria practice and prepare this exclusively.  That is why the pathetic Algerian team that was both aggressive and inept in African Cup of Nations final against Egypt suddenly becomes hard to bust up in the World Cup.

Conversely, the better teams with outstanding back-lines and graceful midfielders never stretch themselves – they possess the ball, probe and retreat, and look to create a small opening and exploit it into a coordinated attack.  Ball control and calmness in possession are prized above all else.

England has neither the ball skills to play like a better team nor the humility to play like a lesser one.

International football is as different from the English Premier League as it is from the National Football League.  Truthfully, I am a fan of the English Premiere League, but with its breakneck pace and lack of interest in slow, patient tactical play, the skills to become an EPL star are almost the exact opposite of the skills needed to succeed internationally.  A league that values raw aggression over control and vision will never prepare its players for a contest like the World Cup.  With the entire English team all playing in the EPL, it is inevitable that the Premier League sharks transform into World Cup guppies.

So how can England improve?  A different manager will have little impact.  England needs a different philosophy.  Players need to be taught ball control skills from the outset and be willing to forsake the EPL to play in leagues that value these attributes.

Is any of that likely?  Not while all the money and acclaim for English players is available from playing a hard charging game in England.  As the golden generation of Terry, Lampard, Gerrard and Beckham head to pasture with nothing to show for their international efforts, it would be foolish to expect massive improvements in England’s future.

Sorry Mr. Waddle, but changing formations has the definite ring of shuffling the deckchairs.  What you really need is to change your football culture.

As the US team prepares to face Ghana in the round of 16, and the rest of us recover from yesterday’s game and steel ourselves for Saturday, a few random thoughts:

Neven Subotic can now work on his tan.  Subotic joins Giuseppe Rossi as potential American soccer players who would have had a far more satisfying tournament had they chosen differently.  Rossi is the striker that was born in New Jersey who was cut from the Italian team at the last minute.  Subotic is the Serbian-born American who played on the US U-17 team before declaring himself for Serbia.  Had both of them declared for the US senior team, they would both be likely starters against Ghana on Saturday.  Gloating would be ungenerous on our part, but many US fans can’t help but smile a little at how well this summer is going for the US team and how disappointing it must be for Rossi and Subotic.

Donovan is the local boy who made good. As a LA Galaxy season ticket holder, I have no illusion about where the Galaxy and Landon Donovan fall in the local sports pecking order.  This is Kobe’s town, and the great local rivalry is not the Galaxy vs. Chivas but UCLA vs. USC.  Having such a skilled and gracious athlete like Donovan toil in the relative obscurity of MLS is a reality that Galaxy fans confront with every game.  Fans know that Donovan, when interviewed, is as honest an athlete as your are bound to find.  They also know that despite his effort and loyalty to the Galaxy, you are likely to see 20 Beckham shirts for every Donovan jersey.  He has always had a great personal rapport with the fans and was largely overlooked outside of the Home Depot Center.  To see him have such a glorious moment yesterday brings a special satisfaction to MLS fans in general Galaxy supporters in particular.

It had been a long time since the US had taken a lead in a meaningful game.  You have to go back to October 10, 2009 against Honduras.  Since then, through the last WCQ game against Costa Rica and the three World Cup Group C games, the US is undefeated but had gone over 360 minutes without having their nose in front of their opponent.  It says something remarkable about this sport when the US can play three World Cup games and be behind or even for all but three minutes and still win the group.

The US is owed a break from the Soccer Gods.  Bad referee calls are as much a part of soccer as round balls and green grass.   Officiating mistakes are an unavoidable fixture of the sport, and I try hard not to get too fussed about them.  Nevertheless, after scoring two goals that were incorrectly disallowed, getting two yellow cards (to Findley and Beasley) for hand balls that were never handled, and having a penalty and red card for a fist in Clint Dempsey’s face go unnoticed, we are ready for a break.  If the Law of Averages would be so kind, I would not mind collecting some of that payback on Saturday.

Ghana’s run kind of reminds me of the US run in 2002.  Ghana won its opening game against a good European team (Serbia), drew its next game against a Pacific based team (Australia), and then lost against another European team (Germany) and qualified thanks to some help from others.  That is almost the same pattern as the US run eight years ago (beat Portugal, drew South Korea and lost to Poland).  Let’s hope the similarities end there.

Well, that may not have been the most elegant game of soccer the US has ever played. It was certainly the bravest.

After a game like that, long-form elegant pose are really not part of the agenda. Instead, here are some random thoughts on one of the most dramatic victories in the history of US Soccer:

The road was rocky, but the result was just. Aside from the Clint Dempsey goal that was unfairly ruled out and the fist to Dempsey’s face that should have resulted in a penalty and red card, the US controlled more of the ball and got more of the chances. Algeria were positive, and their early shot off the crossbar was a rocket, but the US played far better against a stingy Algerian defense than either England or Slovenia, and deserved the win.

Landon Donovan may have scored the winning goal, but the assist goes to the outstanding training staff of US Soccer. After 90 minutes of end-to-end action, the Algerian team was dead on its feet. In fairness, there are 30 other teams in this tournament that would have also been breathing like they were down to one lung. The exception had five players running at full clip down the pitch against the two Algerian defenders that were staggering back. For the past six months, the US Soccer training staff had been communicating with all the potential players about regiment that was expected of them, and most of Bob Bradley’s pre-World Cup camp was dedicated to cardio-vascular training. The payoff for all that work came in the 92nd minute today when Donovan and four other Americans created the break-away opportunity, flooded the box, befuddled the out-manned Algerians who had managed to totter back, and stuck it in the net.

That was a very welcome clean sheet. Make not mistake about it – the Algerians were well organized and very positive in their play. They were going for the win, and it was a real challenge to keep the ball out of the net. Sitting Gooch and starting the occasionally nerve-wracking Jonathon Bornstein paid off. Carlos Bocanegra and Jay DeMerit we tough as nails in the middle with DeMerit being especially tough, challenging for every ball and making some key interceptions.

I would be willing to bet that whoever plays us in the next round would have rather played England. Good, technical teams can master England. This English team has proved itself to be neither technically gifted nor physically intimidating. They look ready to lose. On the other hand, whatever the US lacks for in skill, they make up for in speed and effort – two attributes that are hard to strategize against. The US will cause problems to whomever they face.

CONCACAF sent three teams to South Africa, and two have gotten through to the knockout round. Not bad. Africa has sent six teams to the World Cup finals, and it is a good bet that all six will be headed home. That is a really disappointing showing, especially since this is the first Finals to take place on the African continent.

The Italians are not soccer fans. They are just fans of the Italian team. I am vacationing with my family in Italy this week, and it was remarkably hard to find a bar in Milan that was showing the game. I finally tracked one down next door to the American consulate, and even then I was practically the only one there to watch the game. I assume the country will stop and watch tomorrow’s Italy plays its next game, but it is hard to find anyone to pay attention to the World Cup when Italy is not involved.

It is nice to have a few days off before the US takes on its next opponent. That being said, another game like that, and I will have to find some nice Italian person to grab some paddles and restart my heart.

June 17 2002.  Mexico 0 – US 2.  That is the last time the US won a game in the World Cup.  It is time to do it again.

Since that day eight years ago, the US has had a courageous defeat (Germany in 2002), several heroic fight backs (Italy in 2006 and England and Slovenia in 2010) and a couple of pathetic collapses (Czech Republic and Ghana in 2006).  It is time to put a W up on the scoreboard.

For the US to advance into the knockout round next week, they need to beat Algeria.  There may be some mathematical models which allow the US to draw and still go through, but that is immaterial.  If you cannot win a game in group play, and you cannot beat a middling team like Algeria when it really counts, you do not deserve to see the next round.  The US has to prove that it is ready to do that.

What is the first step?  It is time for the US to score the first goal and take a lead.  The US team has not actually taken a lead in a World Cup game since that battle with Mexico in Korea.  In the following six World Cups games in which the US has played, the other guys have scored first in all six.  The US has found itself in a hole and has had to stretch and push to climb out.  Sometimes that pushing has given the other team more chances to score (Czech Republic 2006).  Sometimes that pushing has been heroic (Slovenia 2010).  In either case, it is a bad position to be in if you value victories as opposed to heroism.

This pattern is nothing new for the US.  Counting World Cup Qualifications games, you have to go all the way back to September 9, 2009 and the US’s 1-0 defeat over Trinidad & Tobago to find the last time the US scored first in a competitive match.  Since then, in draws to Costa Rica, England and Slovenia and a victory over Honduras, the US has always given up the first goal, often early in the first half.

The US is well positioned to reverse this trend on Wednesday.  For Algeria have any hope of going through, they have to beat the US, and to beat them, Algeria will need to do something they have failed to do against Slovenia or England – score a goal.  Truthfully, they have not really had a dangerous shot on target in this tournament.

Nevertheless, Algeria will have to press forward in search of that goal, and they should leave themselves vulnerable to a counter.  Algeria have been well-organized this tournament, but they are not as quick or as athletic as the US team, and if they press they can be beaten.

Four years after the disappointment of Germany 2006 and eight years after the false dawn that may have been Japan/Korea 2002, this is the chance for the US to show the world that our brand of soccer has really arrived on the world stage.  To go through the group play undefeated and head into the knock-out round on the back of an important victory would prove that last year’s Confederations Cup run was not a fluke.  However, those theories need to be proved with a victory on Wednesday.  Nothing less will do.

For a number of months there has been a debate on this site about how good the English team really is.  Most have claimed that this version of the Three Lions represented a golden generation of players finally coming to the pinnacle of their skills and ready to challenge for the most valued trophy on earth.  Others took a decidedly dimmer view.  For those, the real England was the team that failed to qualify for Euro ’08, failed to impress in friendlies against quality opposition, and shuffled managers as if a different cook could turn chicken droppings into Chicken Cordon Bleu.

Two games into Engalnd’s World Cup campaign, that debate looks largely settled.  England may still qualify out of the group stages, but even if they beat Slovenia on Wednesday, few hold out much hope of them progressing much further.

So what is it that makes some of these players so effective on their Premiership team and so stolid on the English National team?

Most critically, on their club team, they are surrounded by better players.  All these great English players rarely partner with other English players on their club teams.  Instead, they are usually paired with an outstanding player who would sooner eat their shin guard than a plate of fish and chips.  Frank Lampard plays with the outstanding Michael Essien of Ghana.  The same goes for John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho and for Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov (and before him, Cristiano Ronaldo). 

This impact can clearly be seen in the case of Steven Gerrard.  In England, it is settled law that Gerrard is one of the most ferocious, driven midfielders in the game.  However, that law became settled when he was paired with Xavi Alonso, a tremendously hard working and efficient box-to-box dynamo.  When Alonso went to Real Madrid last year and was not replaced with anything of similar quality, all of the sudden Gerrard looked very ordinary.  The empty space that Gerrard used to barrel into now was closed down.  Gerrard struggled to make an impact all year and, despite his armband, is struggling in a very similar fashion in Africa.

Gerrard without Alonso, Lampard without Essien, and Rooney without anyone is what you are getting in this World Cup.

And yet, on their club teams, these English players are treated as Gods by the media.  The English media creates its own reality.  In the Fleet Street press, Oasis is the next Beatles, Sienna Miller is the next Katherine Hepburn and David Beckham is the next George Best.  Pumping up their celebrities to impossible acclaim (and then deflating them to figures of scorn) is the business model that sells newspapers.  In that light, it is not at all surprising that a decent player like Rooney, Gerrard or Terry is presented as the undisputed star of their team, handed all the armbands, and allowed to lift all the trophies.  From this side of the Atlantic, it is a little easier to be more objective and see how virtually all of the top teams in England are carried by the imported players, but for the English fans, it takes a mightily objective person to be so calculating.

So, what now for England?  The players left the field yesterday in Capetown to a chorus of jeers.  After a long English season, they are now in a tired place where they cannot to read a newspaper, do an interview or watch a sports show without seeing their own ridicule.  Psychologically, the temptation to bid this messy affair a warm goodbye and spend the next three weeks on a beach waiting for the new season to being must be very enticing.  Whether the players have the stomach to pick themselves up, beat Slovenia and continue forward against this emotional and physical onslaught will be a revealing test.  They may have the bottle to fashion that type of victory on Wednesday.

But what they no longer have is the myth of greatness.  This “greatest team in a generation,” is not anything close.    Instead , they are nothing more than a mid-level European team, and it will take a monumental reversal to indicate otherwise.

England fans have traditionally been guilty of the sin of not really looking.  Reading the English press, there seems a general sense of shock about how their team performed in their first game yesterday.  But to a neutral observer, the result, and England’s sorry, tired performance, was not really all that much of a surprise.  And while they are still a smart bet to get out of this group, it is hard to imagine an English team with so many obvious deficits advancing very far in this tournament.

Those deficits were visible during England’s disjointed freindlies since they qualified for the World Cup out of the easiest qualifying bracket.  Those deficits were on display during a wholly undeserved victory over Mexico at Wembley last month and even less deserved victory over Japan after that, let alone the preposterously close game against a lower South African club team last week.  Those deficits were on display as Fabio Capello struggled to appoint a captain who was both mentally stable and physically fit.

Many of those deficits were on full display in their first game against the US.

England has a highly fragile back line.  The fact that a continually injured past-his-prime player like Rio Ferdinand needed to be replaced by the even more injured Ledley King who in turn needed to be subbed by someone who had “retired” from the team like Jamie Carragher says all you need about how thin the central defensive talent is in England.  That fragility kept Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson from venturing too far forward for much of the game, which meant that the midfield partnership needed to work perfectly.  Unfortunately…

After spending the better part of a decade trying to make it work, Steven Gerard and Frank Lampard are still a lousy mid-field team.  Other than his opening goal – which was served on a silver platter from some lousy US defending – it seemed like the next time we heard from Steven Gerrard was when he smartly talked himself into a yellow card in the second half.  No matter how many coaches employ it, Gerrard and Lampard are not in synch with each other.  This pairing is so poor that Capello is trying everything he can to rush a questionable Gareth Berry back onto the pitch for England’s next game and move Gerrard farther out.  Although Gerrard does not have the pace necessary to be a great winger, anything would be better than what they currently have, because….

Milner and Lennon were woeful.  In Milner’s defense, it is no easy task to take on a great international superstar like Steve Cherundolo (all sarcasm aside, Cherundolo had a good game), but when Capello subbed Milner out after 30 minutes, it was because Milner could only stop Cherundolo by sticking out a foot as he ran by.  Milner was so poor that it obscured the fact that both Lennon and later Wright-Philips struggled so mightily to do what wingers are supposed to do – take the ball down the side and send it into the middle.  Both English wings were having trouble keeping possession and their crossing almost never hit a target.

Which meant that Rooney and Heskey had to ply their trade outside the box.  Simple question for the England fans – why is Wayne Rooney so much better with a Red Devil over his heart as opposed to those Three Lions.  Simple answer – because at Manchester, Rooney can stay closer to goal and let those exceptional wingers and strike partners find him.  Without those guys, Rooney has to venture out, pick up the ball 25 yards away and try to create something out of nothing.  Rooney is a great player, but the English passing game is a giant step-down from what he is used to and it is tough to compensate.  As for Heskey, he had a solid enough game to confirm his status as the greatest striker who never scores.  Admirable, but it won’t help England to win much.

Finally, in goal, oomph.  Robert Green is not Capello’s first choice keeper.  Neither is David James.  Nor Joe Hart.  Unfortunately, that is all he has got.  Putting aside Green’s howler, about which enough ink has been spilled, Capello still has the same basic choice to make – should he go with a middling keeper from a poor team (Green or James) or a very young keeper who has little experience at this level  of play (Hart).  Those are some bad options, and they will not get better anytime soon.  I don’t expect any English keeper to serve any more gifted goals up to their opponents during these games, but I also do not expect any of them to single-handedly prevent good teams from scoring.

None of these issues are new.  All of them have been obvious for months.  When Fabio Capello managed Real Madrid, Juventus, or AC Milan, he was always a quiet, stern figure on the sidelines.  In England’s game against the US, Capello looked a little un-hinged – yelling, remonstrating, and stomping the sidelines like an angry bear.  It is not a surprise – in order for England to meet the wildly over-sold expectations of their fans, he needs this team to be much better than it actually is.  Unfortunately for Capello, he has to play the cards he has been dealt, and the fans that are expecting greatness despite the fact he is holding nothing better than a low pair.

The World Cup has stopped wars, launched dictators and broken hearts. The month-long quadrennial soccer extravaganza can also reduce a nation’s GDP: neither over-zealous victory parties nor wallowing in defeatism do much for worker productivity.

World Cup 2010 begins in South Africa on June 11. Human Resource departments at employers in the 32 participating nations will likely see a deluge of sick leave requests during the tournament, but flexible managers can seize this opportunity to build esprit de corps. A Human Resources director of an Asian conglomerate put it shrewdly: “We see the drop in employees’ performance as an identifiable cause which should recover once the World Cup is over. Besides, there are intangible benefits from such major events like social bonding that could impact a company’s profitability positively over time.”

In the short-term, however, worker productivity may wane across much of the globe. Emerging economies like Brazil will be in carnival mode the entire month, so talented are their soccer team. A survey by YouGov, an international, Internet-based market research firm, found that 38% of Brits plan to have “sickies” during the World Cup. It’s not much better in the eurozone. Highly touted Spain may enter a prolonged party-induced siesta just when their economy calls for hard work and austerity.

We probably won’t reach those levels of absenteeism, but there will be an uptick over past World Cups since our team is more competitive and Americans bought more tickets to this tournament than any other nationality. Interest is heightened by the glamour match of the first round against old blighty, where several of our football-kicking finest ply their trade either full-time or on loan. England has won 7 of 9 matches against the U.S. and has a vastly superior goal differential; however, the U.S. has improved significantly and should be England’s toughest opponent in the group stages.

ABC will air the match and while I’m generally a conscientious employee if I were scheduled to work on June 12th I might just come down with a dodgy stomach from some tainted food.

Employers that clamp-down on truant employees like me may waste an opportunity for team-building exercises like watching games together at work, and morale boosting initiatives like flexible work scheduling. Just look at the last World Cup in 2006 to appreciate the staffing opportunities to build goodwill, as employees’ cars suddenly won’t start, their boilers go on the fritz, or they have to watch the kids since the child-care center suddenly shut down.

In 2006 a Dutch insurance company launched a policy to protect companies from an inundation of sick leave.

British labor unions advised employees on how to embellish sick leave requests.

A forlorn Japanese trader captured his country’s chagrin in the summer of 2006 after conspiring to lose to Australia in the dying minutes of the game: “Don’t ask me anything about the market today… I don’t feel like doing anything.”

At least he showed up for work; many Aussies who celebrated the other end of the result didn’t. Known for a bit of sports bravado, Australians went absolutely mental after defeating Japan. Socceroo fans were hopping around the streets like kangaroos eluding a brush fire. Worker productivity went so far down under that then Prime Minister John Howard assumed the mantle of Human Resources Manager-in-chief, appealing for leniency from employers as bleary-eyed fans lost their hop at work.

Even Buddhist monks, normally so entrenched in their daily rituals you can set your watch by them, were tardy for morning alms.

Ghana’s economic well-being is tied to gold production, but in the 2006 World Cup so many workers stayed home it created a huge surge in T.V. viewing that threatened a blackout. Let’s see, gold production or soccer on T.V.? For officials it was a no-brainer: the mines were told to cut power.

In my workplace during the last world cup there was only one sick absence – mine! But with a tasty matchup against the Three Lions of England, and a respectable opportunity to progress deep into the tournament, absenteeism will rise this time.

Human Resources directors: unless your organization’s mission is to protect public safety and health, or you operate a refreshing watering hole with a giant screen T.V, you will do well to employ some flex-scheduling like shift-swaps, early finishes and late starts. This will engender goodwill that will enhance worker commitment and loyalty. I urge you: follow the example of John Howard and cut us some slack. We’ll make up the profits later.

No Donovan.  No Buddle.  No Beckham.  No problem.

The L.A. Galaxy continued their astounding early season form this evening with a 4-1 bulldozing of the Houston Dynamo this evening at the Home Depot Center.  The Galaxy continued their absolutely torrid pace and are still undefeated with 10 wins and 2 draws for 2010.  In the past three weeks, they have lost MLS’s leading scorer (Edson Buddle) and leader in assists (Landon Donovan) to National Team duty and have not slowed up by any measurable amount.

In Houston’s favor, they did manage to do something that no other team had done in a little more than a month – they scored a goal against the Galaxy.  That being said, it was clear that the goal scorer – Cam Weaver – knew little about it.  Weaver was rushing towards the goal with the ball in front of him, but Galaxy keeper Donovan Ricketts got their first and cleared the ball solidly into Weaver’s thigh where it rebounded and gently rolled into the goal.  Weaver caught Ricketts’ boot straight in the chest and was probably not aware that he had scored for some time.

That goal was only the third the Galaxy has surrendered all season.  Although Ricketts and the rest of the back line have been like a wall in front of the net, the Galaxy are proving the soccer adage that you cannot shoot what you do not possess.  Although the possession stats are not posted on the MLS website, I have to believe that the Galaxy have possessed the ball for 70% of their combined games.  The Galaxy midfield pressures, challenges, tackles, and passes with a fluidity rarely seen in this league.

That type of movement was on full display for the Galaxy’s second Jovan Kirovski goal.  Before Kirovski took his shot at goal, there was a 13 pass build-up.  The ball moved from the right to the left side of the pitch and went forward and backwards several times before Sean Franklin got free going down his right on the overlap, completely cut open the Dynamo’s defense and found Kirovski unmarked at the penalty spot.  From the time the Galaxy got possession during that long, complex sequence the only Dynamo to touch the ball was Pat Onstad when he picked it out of the back of his net.  It was as if Barcelona had relocated to Carson.

Some other notable facts about the Galaxy so far:

• Last season the Galaxy won the Western Conference with 12 wins.  We have just said hello to June and the Galaxy already have 10 wins in the bank.
• The absent Landon Donovan leads the league with 9 assists.  In third place with 6 assists is Galaxy Rookie of the Year contender Michael Stephens.
• Stephens main competitor for Rookie of the Year?  It could be Galaxy’s Tristan Bowen who has scored in the last two Galaxy games (three if you count the friendly against Boca Juniors).
• Buddle may be the Galaxy name on everyone’s lips, but 11 different players have scored for the Galaxy so far this year, and 11 different players have collected assists.
• Of the Galaxy’s league-leading 22 goals, none of them have come from the penalty spot.
• The Galaxy have had 22 different starters this season.

Of course, this run the Galaxy are on cannot continue forever.  Two of the toughest road-games left on their schedule – trips to Salt Lake and Toronto – are coming next week and then after the bye week.  Those are challenging games, and Real Salt Lake is one of the few teams that seem intent on trying to match the Galaxy’s work rate.  That being said, it has been a long time since MLS has had a dominant team, and the Galaxy seem driven to become that intimidating force.

The best American striker – and a guaranteed starter against England on June 12 – was not destined to be Jozy Altidore, Charlie Davies or (certainly) Robbie Findley.  The best American striker is New Jersey-born, rap-music loving, Playstation-playing Giuseppe Rossi.  Unfortunately, four years ago Rossi turned down the opportunity to play with the US to make himself available for Italy, where he father was born and where he holds a passport to go with his American citizenship.  Today Rossi was cut from the Italian team and will be watching the World Cup on TV.

“Off the field, I have always felt American. On the field I’ve always felt Italian,” Rossi told ESPN last month.  I guess he is set for a very American summer as he will not be seen on a soccer pitch for the next couple of months.

All gloating aside, this is bad news for Rossi.  Coming off a good year for Villarreal (a career-high 17 goals in 46 appearances), Rossi is out of contract and free to go to any team.  A solid World Cup appearance would have increased his demand and fattened his next contract.  However, being cut from the Italian team will not help his future plans.

Italian soccer is very provincial, and despite his solid season in Spain and a good performance in the Confederations Cup last summer, Rossi was viewed as a little bit of an odd-duck by the Italian soccer community.  His youth was spent in Teaneck, New Jersey and his training was as an academy player for Manchester United, and he simply never fully bonded into the Italian soccer society.

For the rest of the world, there is a lesson to be had here.  As Thomas Dooley found out in the 1990s, soccer players with American and foreign citizenships can catch a huge break by declaring for the US team.  The path to quality playing time in major tournaments is easier and America has always been judgment-free about where our players come from.  In fact, the US soccer community rejoices in having foreign-born players as a sign of America’s immigrant traditions. 

Had Rossi chosen differently, he would have been a sure starter for the US team.  He would be in South Africa right now preparing to play against England, and if he had played well in that game, the sky would be the limit as he looked to sign a new contract with a new club team.

Rossi is still young, and he still has at least one World Cup left in him.  However, the amount of World Cups in a player’s career is very finite, and to lose one will be a tough blow for Rossi.  It did not need to be, but Rossi chose the more perilous route and has been punished for that choice.

Since Bob Bradley was named coach of the US National Soccer team shortly after the US crashed out of the 2006 World Cup, he has made it a mission to put his players up against the best the world has to offer.  Since 2006, the US team has travelled to Asia, Europe, Africa and South America looking for games, experience and quality opponents. 

That quest has paid off.  Outside of friendlies, the US has played in more international tournaments than at any point in its history and in those tournaments has played an astounding 16 games against opponents that are going to South Africa next month.  Those 16 games represent all the various FIFA regional groups except for Oceania.  They also represent five of the top 10 teams in FIFA’s rankings.

Mexico  – 4 (2007 Gold Cup, 2009 Gold Cup,  2009 WC Qualifier (twice))
Honduras – 4 (2009 Gold Cup (twice),  2009 WC Qualifier (twice))
Brazil – 2 (2009 Confederations Cup (twice))
Argentina – 1 (2007 Copa America)
Netherlands – 1 (2008 Olympics)
Nigeria – 1 (2008 Olympics)
Japan – 1 (2008 Olympics)
Italy – 1 (2009 Confederations Cup)
Spain – 1 (2009 Confederations Cup)

Not all of these games were played by the US’s first team, or at least not the first team at the time.  However, many players who were at the fringe of the National team after World Cup 2006 – players like Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley, Benny Feilhaber, Maurice Edu, Stuart Holden and Robbie Findley – have played themselves onto the team that is headed to South Africa through their performances in these tournaments.

By comparison, since England went down to Portugal at World Cup 2006, they have played slightly fewer teams in competitive tournaments that are headed to South Africa.  This is a list of the teams that England has played in non-friendlies that are in World Cup 2010:

 (cue the sound of crickets chirping)

That’s right.  Not one.  None of the teams that England squared up against in either their failed Euro 2008 qualifying campaign or their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign are going to South Africa. 

By the time the US takes the field next month against England, this will be an experienced, hardened group that has been through a serious campaign together.  Whether that advantage is telling is something we will learn over the course of the next six weeks.  However, whatever your opinion of Bob Bradley, you cannot fault him for segregating his team away from the soccer powers.  He has taken every opportunity available to prepare this team for the job in South Africa, and having played some of the best teams in the world over the past three years, his team will not look at England as anything more than what they have already seen.

(hat tip to Kartik for pointing this stat out in the comments of a recent article)

Bob Bradley is a strategic thinker.  He has to be.  He coaches a mid-level national soccer team whose first game is against one the top ranked teams in the world – England.   Bradley knows that the US does not have enough talent to win on talent alone.  If the Founding Fathers had failed and America had remained an English colony, there are probably only three Americans – Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard – who would be in contention to be among Fabio Capello’s 23.

Yet, in Bradley’s team selection that was announced today, he clearly has a theory on how his team can top England, get out of the group, and be in contention to ruin anyone’s day in the knock-out stages of the World Cup – SPEED.  In forgoing a seasoned veteran poacher like Brian Ching and a young versatile dribbler like Alejandro Bedoya, Bradley opted for the quicker Robbie Findley and DaMarcus Beasley.  Combined with Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey, Coach Bradley is convinced that he can break down England by getting behind them.

For Bob Bradley, an instructive insight into his team’s potential must have come when Everton played Chelsea earlier this year.  In that game, Landon Donovan was going up against John Terry and Ashley Cole.  Cole is a quick player, but Donovan’s speed forced his to stay back until he got injured and went off.  Terry has to shade on Donovan’s side to contain his speed, and that space allowed Louis Saha to get the game winner.  Donovan also had an assist, drew a penalty, and was named man of the match.  His surging runs unbalanced the Chelsea back line and created space and chances for Everton.

Bradley also knows that John Terry has looked poor the past several months.  Perhaps it is just a coincidence that this drop in form corresponds with his personal scandal, but during the last few months Terry’s normal physical play has become more violent.  He was tossed out of the Tottenham game for collecting yellow cards and Bradley knows that when he starts chasing a player, Terry can be very aggressive.  Tackles that get a stern lecture from the referee in England will often get a yellow or red card in international play.

If Bradley can stretch England down the sides and through the middle, force their left and right backs to stay closer to home and get Terry and Rio Ferdinand to have to turn and chase, the US can create some chances and win the game.  Moreover, if Michael Bradley and Maurice Edu can pressure Steven Gerrard into turning the ball over, which he has been doing lately, the US will have the sprinters to launch counter-attacks at a backpedaling English line.  Bradley is counting on a younger, quicker and fitter team to overcome England’s skill and, hopefully, over-confidence.

In short, Bradley wants to play the same type of game that the Mexicans played against the English on Monday.  Ignore the 3-1 score line which flattered the English team.  The truth is that Mexican speedsters like Carlos Vela and Guillermo Franco battered the back line, Mexico chased down everything, pressured the midfield and out-possessed England.  It was a stirring performance and Mexico was unlucky to have missed out on a win or a draw.

Bradley is wagering that if the US can let speed infect their game, they will cause a lot of problems for the English team.  He has decided to fashion a team with that strategy in the forefront.

The Los Angeles Galaxy today announced that they are going to host Champions League Cup winners Inter Milan at a friendly at the Home Depot Center on August 7.  While only 18,000 people came out to see the Galaxy play Boca Juniors over the weekend, this game could probably sell 75,000 seats if the HDC was big enough.  In fact, kudos to the Galaxy for letting the game stay at the HDC rather than moving it to the Rose Bowl or the Coliseum.  The loyal Galaxy fans will have the opportunity to watch one of Europe’s great teams play in the friendly, intimate confines of their home stadium.  Also, the game is long enough after the World Cup so that all of Inter’s great stars – Eto’o, Sneijder, Samuel, and of course, Milito – should be on hand.

Many English fans have a schizophrenic sensation going on every fourth May.  On the one hand, every four years English fans enthuse how this team is the “best in a generation” with all their great players having their career peaks at just the right time.  On the other hand, international tournaments have brought nothing but pain to England for over 40 years, and there is always this nagging feeling that England is just not as good as the rest of the major nations.

Sadly, I have a message to give to English fans – there is no reason to be of two minds about this.  England is simply not good enough, and if you want to avoid a lot of pain this summer, I suggest unplugging the tele, avoiding the pub, and lounging in the backyard with a good book.  The fact that England will almost surely get out of its group says far more about its group than it says about England.  As soon as they play one of the big boys, England will be exposed and headed home.  Why?  Here are five of about 50 reasons:

England will not be facing Bolton in the World Cup.  Want an interesting fact?  There are only two teams in South Africa that do not have a single footballer playing its club football outside its borders.  One is North Korea.   The other is England.  As Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski point out in Soccernomics, this single fact holds England back more than any other in international competitions.  By playing all their football in England, its players are trained, oriented and experienced to play an English-style game against English opponents.  Over the past 20 years which national team has had more of its players playing in greater variety of leagues?  Brazil.  The difference in results is very telling, and it is one of the subtle reasons why England always disappoints.  If Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and others always seem to shrink on the international stage, if England always seems to struggle against European B teams like Croatia, if they can never conjure up that telling goal when they really need it, it is this lack of varied international experience that is the sub-rosa reason why.

England has problems on the wings.  I don’t remember any English team with less talent out wide than this English squad.  Shaun Wright-Philips, Theo Walcott, Aaron Lennon, and Joe Cole have all struggled with fitness or form this year, and none of them look like international world beaters.  Of this crew, only a healthy Aaron Lennon is an automatic starter for their club team, and he has had only a handful of minutes since Christmas.  James Milner looks like a more reliable pick for the Three Lions but only because of the form of others – not because his play has been so outstanding.  This is a giant problem for England because in the World Cup, if you are not playing with width, you are not going to succeed.   Going down the middle or relying on set pieces against high quality opponents with outstanding centerbacks is not a formula for success, even if you have an outstanding striker corps, speaking of which….

England has Wayne Rooney and ???? up front.  This English team is more reliant on one racecar than just about any other major team in this tournament, and that car has been leaking oil and spitting out smoky fumes for the past two months.   Wayne Rooney has been pressed into action despite injury all spring as Manchester United battled deep into the Champions League and the title race.  This is a man who needed several weeks on the physio table and has barely gotten one.  If he is not 100% for South Africa, he is going to have problems because the other England striker is, well, I’m not sure, but whoever it is will be a big drop-off from Rooney.  Bent, Defoe, Crouch and Heskey are not exactly the players who will strike fear into the hearts of their opponents.  Villa and Torres.  Klose and Podolski.  Van Persie and Robben.  Those are duos that can advance a team.  Whoever is paired with Rooney will not exactly be a terror out there. 

The 2010 versions of Rio Ferdinand and John Terry are a bit of a mess.  Even before Ferdinand missed all but 12 games of the EPL season this year with a variety of injuries, it was clear that he was not the dominating, intimidating presence he has been.  He has lost a step and in both foot and mind, and many opponents were getting the better of him.  Sadly, Ferdinand may be the most reliable center back England has with John Terry coming off his poorest season and looking like a man in the middle of a breakdown.  His two yellow cards against Spurs after he was stripped of the England captaincy reflect his litany of late, violent tackles that may be allowed in England but will lead to cards and expulsions by international referees in South Africa.  Like Ferdinand, Terry has had a drop of form in the four years since the last World Cup, but Capello has so few options in the spine of his defense that jalopies like Jamie Carragher are getting a serious look again.

You cannot win without a quality keeper.  Even the most partisan English fan knows this is a great weak spot.  The best English goalkeeper is probably Joe Hart, but at 23, he has neither the experience nor the caps to take over that position in South Africa.  Can Hart really direct Ferdinand, Terry and the rest of the back line with authority and properly position himself when the best strikers in the world come marauding towards his goal?  Doubtful.  Beyond that, you have David James of the relegated Portsmouth, who has rarely inspired any confidence among the English faithful, and Robert Green of the nearly-relegated West Ham, who has never inspired confidence among the English faithful.  In a knock-out competition like the World Cup, having a keeper get red-hot and go on an intimidating streak is almost a requirement for success.  That player simply does not exist in England at the moment.

None of these reasons begin to touch on the shallowness of the English bench, the poor record England has against any opponents of worth over the past five years, the way the EPL season leaves players depleted, how the right back position looks dire or a myriad of other reasons why this team is set to disappoint.  It may be winter in South Africa in June, but it will be a long hot summer for the English fans who are expecting far more than this team can deliver.

Just in time for the World Cup, Fulham manager Roy Hodgson showed England how to lose with dignity. That’s important because with history as the guide England will flatter to deceive in making the knockout stages, only to be humiliated in a penalty kick shootout.

With the World Cup in South Africa looming and England’s predictable fall into an abyss of self-pity and wallowing in perceived injustice, I want to thank Hodgson for showing a better way. He handled defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Europa League final with poise and grace.

I’m not sure if Fulham’s defeat is harder on fans or the actual participants, but Hodgson has a grounded perspective: “I could not be more proud of the players. I have to say that no squad has ever surpassed this team in their work ethic and determination.”

Hodgson’s attitude helps as I prepare myself for the potential disappointment of seeing England players trudge off the field in tears after another heartbreaking World Cup loss, this time at Soccer City, Johannesburg. I will try to follow Hodgson’s example and keep a sports game in perspective, but if I’m less magnanimous should England again succumb to nerves there’s always nefarious delight in seeing other soccer powerhouses go down.

For sure, lady luck will need to smile brightly on the Three Lions if they are to win the World Cup — just look at their squad. Manager Fabio Capello recalled Jamie Carragher, who had an average season at Liverpool; Owen Hargreaves, who played a grand total of 2 minutes all season, was seriously considered; and Ledley King, who’s a fine defender but plagued with injuries when things get hectic, is in the squad.

Compare that to Argentina who don’t even have room for Inter Milan stars Cambiaso and Zanetti and you see that England fans might have to invoke Hodgson’s serenity during the month-long tournament. Brazil will leave Ronaldinho and Pato at home; France go without Arsenal’s Nasri and Real Madrid’s Benzema, Totti won’t be donning the Azuri blue in South Africa, yet England have an injured Gareth Barry in their provisional squad.

Be wary England fans: Unlike a few teams with true world-class talent from top to bottom, we’ll need an abundance of luck to lift the trophy. In case it’s in short supply, I want to thank Roy Hodgson for showing the way to dignified defeat.

When a modest, overachieving team like Fulham comes so unexpectedly close to winning a major trophy like the Europa league, there is more thrill than agony in defeat. Indeed, history is generally kinder to teams that suffer glorious defeat than teams who display dastardly antics in pyrrhic victories. Karma has a way of catching up to you, just look at Maradona’s travails over the last decade. Great player though he was, outside Argentina his name is often associated with cheating.

Fulham’s fans were brilliant at the Europa league final, but I dispute some of their banners, like: “Hodgson for Prime Minister.” He’s too sincere, too nice a person to be a politician. When the history books are written, when we can just enjoy the spectacle of soccer played with valor, Hodgson and his Fulham team will be true winners.

In a post-game interview, Hodgson said “Everyone watching on the TV and here in Hamburg will realize we gave everything we had… I think the fans will realize we’ve done the very best we can.” I do realize that, Mr. Hodgson! And if England players do the very best they can, that will overcome my sorrow when we are defeated not by lady luck, but by a better team at the 18th World Cup next month.

After completing two convincing road wins against Colorado and Seattle last week, the Los Angeles Galaxy have continued a simply jaw-dropping beginning of the 2010 season.  Although the Galaxy are on the brink of losing Landon Donovan and (probably) Edson Buddle to the World Cup after Saturday’s game at home against Toronto, they have built themselves a lead in the Western Conference that they are unlikely to relinquish during the South African festivities.

Statistically, the Galaxy are in another world from the rest the league.  After eight games, the Galaxy remain undefeated with 22 points out of a possible 24.  They have scored a league-high 15 goals and have given up a league-low of 2 (!!).  Edson Buddle has a league-leading 9 goals, none of which are from the spot.  Landon Donovan has a league-leading 9 assists.

While Buddle’s play has gotten the acclaim and has resulted in a call-up to the US National team, and Donovan remains the offensive weapon for which teams have no solution, the Galaxy success cannot be laid to just two players.  Several factors may not make the headlines, but have made a tremendous difference on the scoreboard.

 Omar Gonzalez – No sophomore jinx here.  Last year’s rookie of the year has barely put a foot wrong in 2010.  I doubt there is a better defender in the air in MLS right now.  Every ball that gets sent into the Galaxy box from distance goes right back out again.  Two years ago the Galaxy were a horror show defending set pieces.  With Gonzalez manning the box, there seems no way in now.  He is too young and inexperienced for our current World Cup squad, but he should be playing in Europe in two years and could be in the starting XI in Brazil four years from now.

Chris Birchall and Juninho – Birchall, who had been widely known as the white, English guy on the Trinidad and Tobago National team, and Juninho, who is on loan from Sao Paulo in Brazil, have been the Galaxy’s steel in the middle of the field.  Although Juninho speaks Portuguese and Birchall is fluent in Limey, their communication in the center of the pitch has been outstanding.  They have been tough tacklers and have distributed the ball terrifically well.  Their control of the middle has allowed Donovan to go wide and Buddle to go deep.  They are two great Bruce Arena finds, speaking of which….

Bruce Arena has turned a shallow, young team into a deep, experienced machine.  Two years ago, the Galaxy were the worst team in MLS.  They seemed to be composed of David Beckham, Landon Donovan and a bunch of kids who were trying to figure out which parent brought the post-game snacks.  Coach Ruud Gullit came to the US ignorant of the way MLS worked, and left only slight less so.  The transformation under Arena has been dramatic.  Operating under the same salary cap as everyone else and with no new DP slots to use, Arena has fashioned a team balanced with wily vets like Gregg Berhalter, Todd Dunivant and Eddie Lewis, young rising stars like Gonzalez, A.J. DeLaGarza and the increasingly impressive Michael Stephens, and good imports like Donovan Ricketts, Birchall, Juninho, and Leonardo.  The Galaxy have a rare MLS asset – a deep enough team that most players are fighting for position.

Is the Best Yet to Come?  The Galaxy are set to lose Donovan and Buddle until (fingers’ crossed) mid-July, and though the schedule is a bit lighter during the World Cup, they will almost certainly drop points.  However, presuming that Donovan does not fly from South Africa straight to Merseyside, the Galaxy should have a blazing fall, especially if they are allowed to vacate the Beckham DP slot pick up a superstar like Raul.  At that point, the Galaxy will really be something to see.

The way the Galaxy are playing, they can be something the league has not seen in some time, a dominant team.  For a league that has thrived on parity, that is something new.  However, with soccer-awareness likely to be at an all-time high this summer, having a little bit of dominance in the team with the nation’s best player is not a bad thing for the league.  If the Red Bulls can add firepower and continue their improved start, there is nothing MLS would like to see more than a good Los Angeles versus New York storyline.  The Galaxy fans and the MLS front office will be anxious for Bruce Arena and his team to keep this momentum going.

As we head into the last games of the season, beyond the glamour battle between Manchester United and Chelsea at the top, there is surprisingly little else being contested. Hull, Burnley and Portsmouth are going down. Chelsea, ManU, Arsenal and Tottenham are going to the Champions League. Man City, Villa and Liverpool are going to the UEFA Cup. None of Sunday’s results will change any of that.

The only serious issue in doubt, other than whether Stamford Bridge or Old Trafford host the big celebration, is whether Spurs can nose out Arsenal into third place. This is not a trivial matter. The team that finishes third gets an automatic berth into the group stages of the Champions League. The team that finished fourth has to play a home and away contest against some other team to qualify. This past year Arsenal, which finished fourth in 2008/09, wound up drawn against Celtic – not an easy task.

Currently, Arsenal has a two point lead over Spurs and an overwhelming lead in goal difference, so the only way that Spurs can hurdle Arsenal into third is if Spurs beat Burnley away and Arsenal lose to Fulham at home. Both of these will be very intriguing, impactful games (much more than the Man City/Wolves irrelevancy that ESPN will broadcast), but there is an open question about what Burnley and Fulham have to play for.

For the already relegated Burnley, the only thing at stake is pride. They are playing their last game in the Premiership at home before fans who saw the team collapse over the past five months. Since Christmas, Burnley has only collected eight points out of a possible 57 and moved themselves from the middle of the table to a position of finishing last if you ignore Portsmouth’s mandated deduction for going into administration. Nothing that happens on Sunday will change their fate, but a good show against Spurs could help restore a touch of pride.

On the other hand, Fulham may very well treat their game Sunday as an annoyance they need to endure before they play in the UEFA Cup final on Wednesday. The difference between winning or losing on Sunday could spell the difference between finishing in 12th or 13th place – a trivial pile of nothingness. On the other hand, a victory on Wednesday would add the most important piece of silverware ever to grace the relatively barren Fulham trophy cabinet. Fulham has every incentive to rest all their important players and avoid injuries on Sunday, and if that means giving Arsenal a stroll, so be it.

Will English fans and pundits come down on Fulham if they send their B team, or something close to it, out on the Emirates pitch Sunday? Perhaps, but Fulham should have nothing for which to apologize. Fulham is not a large, deep team, and they are not built to play two games a week like they have for the past month. Between their UEFA odyssey and their Premiership schedule, Fulham has played more games this season than in any season in their history, and they will need all their best players in their best condition to overcome Atletico Madrid in Hamburg next week. If that means playing Arsenal with a lesser team, it will be hard to begrudge them their sense or priorities.

For the faltering Arsenal, if they cannot get a point off a Fulham team that will be playing with an eye on Wednesday’s game, they do not deserve the automatic spot in the UEFA group play. Arsenal have been devastated by injuries this season, but having gotten just one point out of their possible 12 over the past month, they have to prove they are worthy of their position.

Whatever the result, whether they are in third or fourth Sunday evening, the fans at White Hart Lane will be in a mood to celebrate. The fans at the Emirates will probably be happy to see the back of this season and look forward to seeing an upgraded version of Arsenal come back in August.

Every neighborhood has one of “those” houses.  From the sidewalk, it is gorgeous – an old Victorian with plenty of historic, quirky charm.  Many people have houses, but this is home.  As you get closer, you notice that the porch seems a little worn, but nothing that a good coating of paint won’t solve.  When you walk inside, you notice the hardwood floor is creaky, and you are trying to decide whether that adds to the charm or would drive you nuts.  You walk into the kitchen, and you go a little slack-jawed.  The sink has separate faucets for the hot and cold water like in the 1940s.  The counter has tiles missing.  The two burner stove and teeny oven look like a fire trap.  There is only one bathroom upstairs, and it is a biohazard.  Your contractor buddy who came with you reports that there are big cracks in the foundation, the basement has a ton of water damage and the furnace looks like it could explode at any moment.  As you walk out the front door, you turn to your friend and ask, “Who on earth would buy this house?”

As Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett try to find a buyer for Liverpool Football Club, many of the potential purchasers are probably asking themselves the same question.  Hicks and Gillett have turned to Barclays to find a buyer in the £500 million range, which would include paying off £240 million of debt.  The question is what would a buyer get for £500 million?

On the upside, you get one of the best brands in all of sports, one that commands a world-wide following, and a group of passionate, dedicated fans.  These fans, who sing songs about players long dead, weep at the mention of victims of Hillsborough and will follow their team up to and through the gates of hell, are a very valuable asset.

However, the downsides are enormous.  Anfield has plenty of history and charm, but it is difficult to monetize history and charm.  What Anfield really needs is another 25,000 seats and all the modern amenities that draw corporate clients and gives normal fans an opportunity to drop another £30 each game.  To build another stadium will cost the new owner another £350-400 million or so. 

However, if you are going to lay out that kind of quid, the fans will demand a quality team.  And let’s face it, those wonderful singing, crying fans are a pain in the neck.  Over the past six years, Liverpool under the direction of Rafa Benitez, has more net expenditures in the transfer market than any team other than Chelsea and Man City, where money has no meaning.  Rafa has spent in the transfer market like a drunken sailor at a Hong Kong brothel, and still the fans march and protest and scream that more needs to be spent.  With a porous back line and the top players eyeing the emergency exit door, without a serious spending spree in the transfer market, this team will get worse before it gets better.

At this point, any prospective owner is looking at spending almost £1 billion to turn Liverpool FC into a modern, title contending team.  For that owner, the first £1 billion of income would just go to making him whole. That owner will not see a return on his investment until sometime between a long time from now and never.

Which begs a larger question.  Hicks and Gillett are not a couple of hayseeds who won the lottery and decided to buy Liverpool.  They are seasoned, experienced sports owners.  They are well entrenched in the sports industry and understood the financing and brand management of owning a team.  If they could not make a go of owning Liverpool, and instead became the bane of the fans’ existence, what makes someone else think they could do better?  The hard truth is a new owner who cares about money would be hard pressed to improve on Hicks and Gillett’s experience at Liverpool.

Given that reality, the universe of potential Liverpool owners has shrunk to those who do not care about money – oil sheiks, Russian kelptocrats, Chinese industrialists, and others who look at owning a team as a diversion rather than an investment.  Those people exist, but there are a lot fewer of them compared to a couple of years ago before the global economic meltdown.

Unless Barclays can entice one of these ultra-rich types that Liverpool is a luxury good that they need to have, Hicks and Gillett will be hard pressed to find a buyer.  In the meantime, the club could be entering a period of stagnation.  As they wait for a buyer that may or may not come, fans should expect transfer spending to be slight and results to disappoint. 

Instead, the team will come more and more to resemble that Victorian house that has been on the market too long.  It will still retain some charm, but the weeds will start to grow in the front lawn as that “For Sale” sign becomes just another neighborhood fixture.  The longer it stays on the market, the fewer buyers will be interested.  Every house has its buyer, but it could be a long wait until this property changes hands.

With his announcement this week that David Beckham will not recover from his ruptured Achilles heel in time to play for the Galaxy this season, both Beckham and the Galaxy find themselves at a crossroads. For Beckham, it is a series of dour options, but for the Galaxy, the opportunities are decidedly more intriguing.

With no MLS possibilities left in 2010, the soonest Beckham will be able to get back onto a soccer pitch is January 2011. At that point, what are the alternatives? He has stated that he wants to resume his loan to stint at AC Milan, but that seems very dubious. Even before his injury, Beckham had lost his role as the first choice right winger for Milan, and after not playing for almost a year and recovering from a severe injury, will a 36 year old Beckham see much playing time at all?

For that matter, would any team fighting for glory want to give Beckham an important role on the pitch? In the past, there have occasionally been rumors of a team like Tottenham wanting to take Beckham on loan, but the 2011 version of Beckham would have real trouble getting much playing time with Spurs. The farther down you go on the table, the less true this becomes, but does Beckham really want to suit up for Bolton or Stoke? I doubt it. Barring a surprise development, Beckham is looking at the possibility of another season with the Galaxy and a series of Manchester United and England tribute games before he hangs up his boots for good.

On the other hand, the Galaxy seem to be looking at all sorts of interesting options. The Galaxy seem likely to petition the MLS to allow them to get another DP allocation to fill Beckham’s slot. To get this, they may have to promise to have only two DP players in 2011, but with Landon Donovan likely to go to Europe before the next season, this may already be in the works. If the Galaxy do free up that DP position, two real possibilities are Real Madrid’s Raul or AC Milan’s Ronaldinho.

Raul is one of the great players in the history of both Real Madrid and Spain, but is the first choice for neither team now. The all-time goal scorer for Real Madrid, he has also scored more Champions League goals than any other player. Having never gotten a red card in his career, Raul is seen as the ideal professional. However, at 32 years old, his best days as a Madrid player are behind him. Having played for Madrid for 17 years, most of them as captain, it is unthinkable for him to go to another Spanish team, and playing in the US has always intrigued him.

Moreover, Raul has the reputation as a thoughtful, intellectual family man. After living under a microscope and having his every move tracked by the Spanish media over the past 17 years, the US offers football players something very rare – acclaim on the field and anonymity off of it. The idea of going to restaurant with his wife and five children and enjoying a meal undisturbed is probably very attractive to Raul, and the idea of welcoming such a historic player – one who is far more acclaimed as a player than Beckham – is probably very attractive to the Galaxy.

In some ways, Ronaldinho is the polar opposite. Compared to the quiet Raul, Ronaldinho is one of the most recognized, flamboyant faces of soccer. Other than Beckham himself, nobody in soccer has the brand recognition of the smiling, dazzling Brazilian. However, after a brilliant run at Barcelona during which he collected two World Player of the Year awards, his transfer to AC Milan before the beginning of last season has precipitated a drop in form. He is not a guaranteed starter for Milan as rumors about a poor work ethic (i.e., too much time at the dining table has led to too much time on the training table) have swirled. Moreover, Ronaldinho is at risk for being left off the Brazilian team that travels to South Africa this summer.

With AC Milan battling financial difficulties, Roma and Inter a good deal ahead of them on the table, and coach Leonardo heading out the door, the Rossoneri could be looking at off-loading their most recognizable face. A fresh start with the Galaxy could be in order for Ronaldinho, and with three Brazilians already on the team, he could feel at home at the Home Depot Center.

While Raul would be able to move on a free transfer, Ronaldinho could command a transfer fee from the Galaxy. However, while Robert Pires and Thierry Henry would be welcome additions to MLS, there is no foreign footballer who can fill a stadium like Ronaldinho. The economics of his move may make sense to MLS as a way to keep the post-World Cup momentum going in the US.

Either way, Beckham’s injury has opened up some interesting possibilities for the Galaxy – possibilities that can add excitement for the entire league.

Case in point was today’s game between Hull City and Sunderland.  Hull City is literally fighting for its survival, and if they had any chance of staying in the Premiership for next season, they needed to beat Sunderland at home today.  Three points were absolutely mandatory.  As Altidore took the pitch today, he knew that he needed to be sharp, poised and ready.  Hull have failed to test opposing goal keepers for the past few weeks, and with the striking corps weakened by the injury to Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Hull were relying on their young American to play a critical role in the attack.

Near the end of the first half with Hull down a goal, Altidore and Sunderland’s Alan Hutton were challenging for a ball in the air.  As the ball was heading out of bounds, Altidore awkwardly jumped into Hutton and wound up on the turf.  Hutton felt that Jozy was being a bit too aggressive on a ball that was heading out, picked up the ball and threw it into Altidore’s back.

At that point, Altidore had a few options:

• He could have gotten up, stared at Hutton with a “Give me a f*&%ing break,” expression, and calmly waited for the referee to run over and give Hutton the card he clearly deserved. 
•  If Altidore really wanted to directly confront Hutton he could have run over to him with his arms tightly clasped behind his own back so as to make sure that the referee saw he had no physical intent, and referred to Hutton’s mother in a particularly anti-social manner.
•  Altidore could react like a complete loony and get himself sent off.

Altidore chose option three.  He went straight at Hutton and head-butted him, earning for himself a straight red and insuring that, with two games left in the campaign, Jozy’s season and likely his career at Hull are over.

The shame of it all is that, despite his one meager goal this season, Altidore’s play has improved tremendously.  He is holding the ball up much better than he ever has, and has become a far more difficult player to defend against.  His passing, control and hold-up play have all improved, and he is such a physical presence that, with his new-found skills, he is drawing a lot of fouls including creating several penalties for Hull.

However, all those skills are useless unless he can mature as a professional.  The USMNT’s last World Cup campaign was completely derailed by two red cards against Italy and a penalty call against Ghana.  International referees hand out cards at a higher rate than they do in England, and if the United States picks up cards this summer the way they did in last year’s Confederations Cup and 2006’s World Cup, they will be doomed.  Playing mature, intelligent soccer and avoiding cards goes hand-in-hand.  The US needs Altidore on the field and scoring goals, but cannot afford his unprofessional nonsense in South Africa.

Now that Hull is essentially relegated, the odds that they will buy Altidore’s contract from Villarreal are slight.  Instead, unless Altidore has a lights-out run in South Africa, Villarreal will struggle to sell Altidore or find a spot for him in their 2010/11 plans.  Altidore’s career looks set to hit a serious speed bump as he searches for a new team for next season.  He is being labeled the most dreaded of things – a “project.”  For Altidore to reach his potential, he needs to build up the muscle between his ears.  He has all the tools to be an outstanding player – but first he needs to work on becoming an outstanding professional.

UPDATE – Jozy has copped to losing the plot. “I’m so sorry about yesterday. Made a stupid, immature and costly mistake. I apologize to Hull City and the fans who I let down. I let my emotions get the best of me and lost my composure. Believe it or not this year playing for Hull was to date the best trip I’ve ever been on.”

This is an unexpected development for a nine year MLS veteran with a single senior cap to his name.  Buddle has played for four different MLS teams, and has battled injuries, substance abuse issues and a reputation for laziness.  Nobody has doubted Buddle’s natural gifts, and those moments when he has been focused and injury-free have generated some terrific runs of form.  However Buddle’s career has never attracted the interest of either overseas teams or US National Team coaches.

Yet, his startling 2010 streak has generated a lot of buzz.  But does he have what it takes to go to South Africa?  This is the debate that is going on in my head:

Take Him to Africa!  The man is scoring goals.  With Charlie Davies and Brian Ching still a huge doubt, Conor Casey’s stock falling, and Kenny Cooper unable to get off the bench at Plymouth (!!), it would be nice to put a striker on the team who is actually putting the ball in the net.

Leave him home!   Buddle is hot at the moment, but let’s have a little perspective.  After spending nine years without getting a sniff at an important position with the Nats, after four games he is our savior?  Let’s not confuse the flavor of the month with a gourmet classic.

But this hot streak is not out of the blue.  Instead of going home to New York this off-season, Buddle stayed in Los Angeles working out.  He hit the gym and the training ground, worked on his game, and came to pre-season training in top shape.  Buddle, who has been susceptible to running out of gas and losing a step after about 60 minutes is now working hard and battling for every ball for all 90 minutes.  The 2010 Buddle is the Buddle that he always should have been.

Buddle may be in good shape, but everyone’s focus on Donovan has given Buddle more room to play than he has ever had.  Every opposing MLS manager approaches their game against the Galaxy with one objective – contain Landon Donovan.  Donovan is quicker and has better ball control than any other player in MLS, and he has the ability to cut open any MLS defense.  As opposing teams shift to deny Donovan as much space as they can, Buddle has found acres available for him to drive to the goal and score.

Have you seen Buddle playing?  He is fighting though bodies for all his goals.  Last Saturday was a great example.  All game Buddle was battling RSL’s Nat Borchers whether the ball was at his feet or 50 yards away.  They were throwing each other to the turf and at times it resembled UFC as much as it did MLS.  However, Buddle kept his cool all game, fought through Borchers and several others for his first headed goal and darted through several defenders to receive Juninho’s pass, controlled the ball and blasted it into the RSL net for his second.

Even if we agree Buddle is good enough, is he what the Nats need?   Buddle’s game is similar to Jozy Altidore’s.  Buddle is big and strong, and what we need is deft and quick to pair with Jozy.  That is why the Davies/Altidore combination was so good, and if we play Buddle and Altidore together, where is the speed to match the brawn?

You are telling me what we need, and I am telling you what we have.  Having Davies healthy would be great.  Having another super-quick striker would be terrific.  Having Leo Messi decide to become an American citizen would be fabulous.  Unfortunately, Bob Bradley has to play the cards that are in his deck.  The fact of the matter is that the talent pool for the Nats at striker is pretty shallow, and if Buddle is scoring good goals in bunches, that has to count for a lot.

The next thing you are going to tell me is that we should take Herculez Gomez too. 

Actually, I think we should, but that is a debate for another time. 

Other random notes from the Galaxy-RSL game…..

• The new fashion in replica kit-wear?  I saw at least a dozen Galaxy fans wearing Donovan’s #9 Everton jersey at the game.  Moreover, four or five of those fans decided to show-off their inside-knowledge coolness by purchasing and wearing the Toffee’s away black jersey with Donovan’s name and number. 
• About 1,000 Galaxy fans showed up two hours before the game to watch British celebrities and ex-footballers play celebrities and ex-footballers from the rest of the world.  The Brits won 3-1.  Fox Soccer Channel’s  and ex Newcastle player Warren Barton got the first goal for the Brits and X-Men III and Snatch’s Vinnie Jones got the next two, including one from a nice cross by The Queen’s and Frost/Nixon’s Michael Sheen.  Heroes’ Santiago Cabrera pulled one back for the rest for the world at the very end.  Despite the Galaxy promising that Gordon Ramsey would be there, he was actually a no-show.  Ramsey, you are a disgrace!!

Well, perhaps the confusion is that Real Salt Lake has actually played three games, but 48 hours after their third game was played, the score has yet to reach the MLSnet website:

Well, if I cannot get an updated score or a correct table, maybe I can get some stats?  Guess not. 

Maybe I should click on the player page and find out some interesting information about the fine lads who toil in MLS?

I don’t know which elementary school computer geek MLS hired to redesign their web site, but I hope they replace him with someone competent at some point this season.

As the Portsmouth players put on their uniforms in the Wembley locker room this afternoon, they were under no allusions about what the future held for them and their team.  They were going to be relegated down to the Championship League after the season.  Once there, they were far more likely to be relegated again this time next year as opposed to being promoted back to the Premiership.  For most of the players, that would be a future event they would read about in the newspaper, having long been sold by Portsmouth for whatever cash could be gotten in the transfer market and replaced by whatever players could be picked up for free.

Their manager, Avram Grant, had been re-hired at Portsmouth in November to captain what was essentially a ship of the damned.  With no hope of surviving in the Premiership or avoiding administration, this Pompey team was better off simply avoiding injury and making themselves as attractive as possible to a future suitor.  Grant, who was a John Terry-choke away from winning the Champions League two years ago as manager of Chelsea, was now drafted to be a hospice care-giver to the dying body that was Portsmouth Football Club.

Yet, somehow, Grant has inspired this team to play with courage, hope and determination.  Since taking over the team, Grant has managed to steer the team to some dramatic league victories including beating Liverpool 2-0 and a last minute come-from-behind victory over Hull.  However, the Pompey FA Cup run this spring has been nothing short of breathtaking.

Starting with their replay victory away at Coventry City, and victory at home against Sunderland, Portsmouth had to travel down the road to their arch-rival Southampton.  Portsmouth 1-4 triumph over their south coast enemy was supposed to be the highlight in their otherwise season of pain, but when they followed up that win with a victory over Birmingham, bankrupt and relegation-bound Portsmouth found themselves scheduled to play at Wembley in the FA Cup Semis against Tottenham.

If there is a God, He definitely dabbles in creating the football fixture list.  When Portsmouth reached their apex two years ago winning the FA Cup, Harry Redknapp was their manager and, though he was cup-tied for Pompey that season, Jermaine Defoe was their most important player.  After lifting the FA Cup that season, Redknapp saw the financial writing on the wall for Pompey and left for the safer, wealthier environs of North London and Tottenham.  Defoe soon followed.  A year later, Tottenham are on the brink of finishing the top four and going on to the Champions league.  Portsmouth is on the brink of going out of business and down to the Championship league.

Redknapp has managed to break Pompey hearts a couple of times.  He has left Fratton Park twice, once to go to arch-rivals Southampton and another time when the money looked like it was gone.  By drawing Tottenham in the FA Cup semis, Portsmouth had the chance to return the favor.

After bending but not breaking for 90 minutes this afternoon, Pompey held Tottenham to a scoreless draw.  The extra time saw Portsmouth score twice, once courtesy of the embarrassing Wembley turf which helped Michael Dawson lose his feet at the worst possible moment and left Frederic Piquionne with a clear shot on goal.  The ecstasy of the passionate Portsmouth supporters, who clearly deserve a better fate than the one their club is giving them, would warm any cynic’s heart.

Now, Portsmouth faces mighty Chelsea in the finals.  In sports, as romantic as games often are, David rarely defeats Goliath, Butler rarely beats Duke, and Portsmouth is unlikely to beat Chelsea.

But, as Avram Grant looks across the pitch at team that fired him for coming within an ill-taken penalty of Europe’s biggest trophy, and the Pompey fans look upon their beloved team that will shortly be sold-off for spare change, who cannot root for them on May 15?  The players will be playing without hope of collecting any FA Cup bonus money that will be in their contract and without the opportunity to qualify for the UEFA cup, which is prohibited to teams that are in administration.  They will be playing for the most pure reason of all – to pay tribute to their supporters and the love of the game.  The odds are long, but the prize is there to be won.  I, for one, will dig out any blue shirt I have in my drawer, go to my local pub, and cheer on my new favorite team in the world.

So when word spread that Bruce Arena had signed three (!!!) Brazilians from legendary club São Paulo (that’s where Kaka started!!!) on loan this year, two of whom had the requisite one-word names (Leonardo and Juninho!!!) many Galaxy fans were all a-flutter in anticipation.  When Eddie Lewis went out injured in the 26^th minute of the Galaxy’s opening game against the New England Revolution and was replaced on the wing by Alex Cazumba, he joined a line-up that had Leonardo in the back and Juninho in the midfield.  For the next hour, the Galaxy were sporting all three of their Brazilians on the field.

However, the one player on the pitch who was the most fleet of foot and deft of touch did not learn his football in the slums of Rio.  His apprenticeship came playing for Redlands East Valley High School.  Landon Donovan was far and away the best player on the pitch, and his running with the ball and crossing to players in the box completely unbalanced the Revs.  Those that were worried that his success with Everton would rob him of his fire back in the quieter, more sedate MLS were mistaken.  Perhaps Donovan realized how good he actually is during his stay in Merseyside, and he wanted to put that new knowledge on display for everyone else. 

Before many customers had found their seats, Donovan’s skills generated the first goal.  In the fifth minute, Donovan took a freekick from a spot parallel to the top of the box near the side line and sent in a curling, speedy ball that evaded the defense and aimed right on Edson Buddle’s forehead.  The ball had so much pace that once Buddle directed it towards goal, Rev keeper Preston Burpo could not raise his arm before it bulged the back netting. 

Without the injured Shalrie Joseph to boss the midfield and try to maintain possession for the Revolution, Burpo knew there was more of that to come.  Leonardo headed just over from a Donovan corner.  A Donovan cross to Buddle at the top of the box was perfect and sent just wide by the Galaxy striker.  Another Donovan cross to Mike McGee was sent so high over the bar by McGee that it nearly knocked the Hubble telescope off its orbit.  Omar Gonzalez had his header off a Donovan cross well saved by Burpo.  Finally, in the most comical play of the night, with a few minutes to play, Donovan got possession of the ball just over the midway line and streaked past his defender to move clear on goal.  Running down the other side of the field was Cazumba.  Donovan stopped in the box and crossed the perfect ball for Cazumba to tap into an empty net…..but suddenly Cazumba was nowhere to be found.  He had inexplicably slowed down and by the time Cazumba retrieved the ball, the opportunity was gone.  After his early assist on the Buddle goal, Donovan could have had four or five more, but it turned out that one was enough to secure the victory for the Galaxy.

That play by Cazumba typified the night for all three Brazilians.  Cazumba seemed to mis-timing his runs and passes all night.  Juninho showed some good moments but tangled his feet with the ball in promising positions three or four times and completely missed passing to a streaking Donovan in on goal in the 51^st minute.  And, during the only good spell by the Revs in the first 12 minutes for the second half, Leonardo was soundly beaten three times.  Leonardo was turned at the goal line by Zack Schilawski, and mistimed his headers twice to gift Kehli Dube two golden chances which Dube completely flubbed.  The Galaxy were fortunate to survive that barrage and keep their shutout.

You never want to read too much into a player’s performance in just their first game.   The conventional wisdom is that all three players have impressed Arena in training, and it will always take time to adjust to a new league and new teammates.  However, there are stories floating around the Galaxy camp that the Brazilians are a little bit of a team apart in the locker room.   None of them speak english and it has been a struggle for the rest of the team to reach a complete soccer understanding with them.  For the Galaxy, that rapport needs to come soon because the first Superclassico of the year against Chivas USA is this Thursday. 

While Arena may need to spend some time this week getting the Brazilians to look more like, well, players from Brazil, new Chivas coach Martín Vásquez will have a much greater problem – how to keep Donovan from slicing his team open.

Somewhere deep in the bowels of Anfield there is a timer ticking down.  That timer shows about 100 days on it now, and tomorrow it will show about 99, and sometime this July the timer will hit zero.  At that point, a bell will ring and Liverpool Football Club will have to begin a massive process of undoing the horrendous financial mistakes of the Rafa Benitez era.  Sometime this July a $100 million loan payment will come due, and with no Champions League money coming in for the 2010/11 season, no cache of funds sitting in the bank and no prospect of future earnings to be found, Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett will have to start selling their big names.

Not that their big names will mind very much.  Fernando Torres has already laid the groundwork for his exit claiming that Liverpool needs to sign David Villa and David Silva for him to stay.  While he is at it, perhaps he should also include Leo Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and the resurrected body of George Best.  They all have an equal likelihood of joining Liverpool this summer.  The other big Liverpool name, Steven Gerrard, has spent this entire campaign looking like the paler, more aggravated version of his former self.  In past years, Gerrard seemed to be able to will Liverpool to victory.  He now looks like a man who seems to be willing himself into a different shirt.

This is the current lot of the fabled Liverpool Football Club.  Mired in sixth place with more draws and losses than wins, trailing Tottenham and Man City in points and, more importantly, trailing those teams and Aston Villa in games in hand, a Champions League spot for next season looks all but impossible.  For Liverpool to survive intact, Champions League revenue was absolutely critical.  Without it, the modest Anfield Stadium, no matter its history, simply does not have enough seats and amenities to finance the club’s ambitions.  Moreover, as a player like Torres enters his prime years as a footballer, he cannot afford to spend those years playing for a mid-level team that looks like it will struggle to get in the UEFA tournament, let alone the Champions League.

All of this trouble can be laid squarely at the foot of Benitez, who hectored, threatened and blackmailed his owners into spending money that they did not have on players who wound up being gigantically over-priced.  Benitez seems to have gotten his financial advice from Bernie Madoff:

Over that same period of time, Arsenal actually netted a positive £1.95 million from its transfer market dealings and Manchester United netted a positive £5.65 million, including its windfall for the Ronaldo sale.  Outside of the Billionaire Boys Club of Chelsea and Manchester City, nobody in England comes within £60 million of the net expenditures Benitez has made.

Furthermore, many of those expenditures have been true clunkers.  Alberto Aquilani (£20 million) is just beginning to find some form after spending most of the season healing from an injury that was evident before the purchase was made.  Glen Johnson (£18 million) has shown the inconsistent form that made him excess baggage at Chelsea.  Ryan Babel (£11.5 million) has never lived up to his promise.  Alberto Riera (£8 million) has managed to bad-mouth his way off of the Anfield sinking ship.  As for Robbie Keane (£20 million), the less said, the better.

While Benitez will be off this summer to try to pollute Juventes or Real Madrid with similar sludge, Hicks and Gillett are left to deal with the toxic waste site that is the current Liverpool FC.  Whatever loan agreements they currently have in place pre-date the collapse of the credit markets, and it is highly unlikely they will be able to negotiate a more favorable deal.  When those loan payments come due, the only asset they can use to service them is value of their current squad on the transfer market.

With better management and a more reliable strategic vision, Liverpool can rebuild over time.  However, things will probably get worse before they get better.  Whatever Liverpool’s results this year, their squad next year will almost certainly be less glamorous and probably be less skilled on the pitch.  As dark as things may seem for Liverpool at the moment, these are probably the good times compared with what is to come.

Update – I found this version of the video which includes the commentary from US’s Gol TV. For our friends in the UK who may not be familiar, the color commentator is Ray Hudson, one of the most wonderfully over-the-top voices in sports. I love his line that Dempsey, in lining up this shot, “takes account of everything in the universe into consideration.”  Classic!

Fabio Capello was always going to have a challenging decision to make about David Beckham.  After an up and down season with the LA Galaxy and a more down than up loan stint with AC Milan, Beckham was hoping that his experience and dressing room leadership would allow him to join the England team in South Africa.  With his opportunity to play this summer ruptured along with his Achilles tendon, Beckham has a more dramatic question to face – does he ever suit up in a professional soccer uniform again?

Achilles tendon injuries are among the most difficult wounds from which a player can recover.  The tendon needs to be surgically reattached and it is usually six weeks before the heel can be allowed to bear any weight.  Occasionally, an elite athlete can return to full training after 3-4 months, but it often takes six months or more to become fully fit and mobile after the injury.  By that time, the World Cup will have long disappeared below the horizon in the rear view mirror and the LA Galaxy will only have a month left in their regular season.

For Beckham, the list of major sporting opportunities has now significantly narrowed.  Beyond a cameo appearance to wave to the crowd at friendly at Wembly, he is unlikely to ever kit up for the England team again.  Loan opportunities with major clubs in the January – May window are hard to come by for 35 year olds who have not played very much in the previous nine months.  The only team that really wants him back on the pitch is the Galaxy, and at this point, it will be more for the replica shirts and tickets he sells rather than his skill at the game.

With this injury, Beckham is looking at two roads.  On one road, there is a painful and difficult rehab process for him to get match fit again so that he can join the Los Angeles Galaxy for a month or two, and then endure the long MLS off-season so that he can play out the last season of his contract.  For that last season, Beckham will be 36 years old and his role as an every-day player will be in serious jeopardy.  For the fans that expected his fourth World Cup to be a crowning ending to his career, this road resembles more of a slow fade than a grand exit.

The other road is that of retirement.  Beckham has always played his best when he has something to prove, but with the issue about whether he can play at all in doubt, is that enough of a motivating factor?  Tribute games with Manchester United and perhaps the Galaxy await.  Commentator jobs, promotional tours and brand management will consume his time.  Perhaps he could even buy into MLS ownership like he has intimated in the past.  It will be cushy and non-controversial, but very sedate compared to the drama he has experienced over the past 15 years.

My prediction is that Beckham opts for the harder road.  For better, and occasionally for worse, Beckham has demanded that his career bend to his will.  Through force of will, he rehabilitated his career as a Manchester hero, English international, Real Madrid star and American success story.  Whatever you think of Beckham, he has been a master at being able to write his own story.  I doubt he will permit his story to end with him falling in a heap and being carried off the San Siro pitch in a stretcher.

However, it will be a hard road.  It will take a lot of training room sweat and tears before Beckham can be kicking a ball again.  During that long process, Beckham will have a lot of time to plan for the final moment he wants for himself on the pitch – a moment when he walks off waving to a crowd that is thanking him for his contributions to the soccer world.

Donovan’s success at Everton, which capped off his last game at Goodison with that goal and a terrific assist to set up Jack Rodwell’s goal, is multi-layered.  American fans have long known that Donovan’s combination of speed and technical ability had no match in the States.  While David Beckham may have had the international spotlight shining on him this past season in MLS, it was Donovan who had driven the Galaxy within a penalty kick of the MLS Championship in 2009.  “Big fish in small pond” had been the Donovan rap for a long time.  But could Donovan be a big fish in the shark tank that is the EPL – arguably the fastest and toughest league in world?

To be truthful, the odds were against it.  Great players from great leagues usually take six months to adapt to the pace and style of England.  There is a long list of players (Schevchenko, Veron, Deco, just to name a few) who were thought to be superstars and never adapted to England.  With Donovan’s loan spell penciled in for just 75 days and critical games against Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal falling in that window, there was no time to get used to the water.  Donovan just had to dive in and start swimming. 

And swim he did.  Beyond the solid stats (three assists and two goals in eight league games) is the simple observation that Everton looked quicker and smoother with Donovan in the line-up.  Donovan’s loan has coincided with Everton’s best spell of the season – and perhaps for the past several seasons.  Victories over Chelsea, ManU, and City and an unlucky draw against Arsenal have seen Everton move through the most treacherous part of its schedule like an army on the march.  Today’s destruction of Hull means that Donovan will leave Merseyside helping Everton get three points every time he stepped on the Goodison pitch.

And the crown at Goodison has taken to Donovan as one of their own.  Facebook groups begging that he stay at Everton have attracted thousands of members.  The Toffee fans voted him the player of the month January.  After his goal, once the USA-USA chants subsided, they were replaced with chants of “Sign him up, sign him up!”

Given today’s performance, few in England can question why Donovan is so popular.  Americans playing in England have been respected at times, but that respect has usually sounded a little patronizing.  Brian McBride, Claudio Reyna and John Harkes have always been thought of as “industrious” players, which is a nice way of saying that they needed commitment and perseverance to make up for their lack of technical ability.  Nobody who watched Donovan’s goal and assist today can doubt his technical skills.  Both were one-touch actions off his laces that sent the ball back in the opposite direction from where it came with precision, pace and in such a way that left the defense helpless.

So, what now for Donovan?  Clearly, he wants to stay, and Everton wants to keep him.  While extending the loan remains a possibility, unless the current labor dispute between the MLS and its players blows up this week, that would seem to be unlikely.  The great mystery in all of this is the new contract Donovan signed with the Galaxy last fall.  At the time, Donovan said that going on loan in the January transfer window was an important part of the new contract, but left unsaid was whether there was a clause in the contract about a purchase should that loan be successful.  There is thought to be language that would allow Donovan to be sold at a certain valuation, but what that number is and whether the transfer window needs to open to accept that bid are unknown. 

However, whatever the contract says, in soccer when a player wants to go to a bigger club and the bigger club wants him, all contractual barriers can be overcome with money.  Thanks to the sales of Jolene Lescott and Andy Johnson, Everton have profited by over £28 million in the transfer market the last two seasons.  With the price for Donovan rumored to be at £6-10 million, the Toffees may very well have the funds available to snatch the American.  If so, Donovan’s wave from the center circle at the end of the game may be more “See you later” as opposed to “Farewell.”

In a well-known game in England, one footballer slid into another late.  The challenge was poor, two-footed, and probably deserved a card, but there was no malice associated with it.  Unfortunately, the defender missed the ball and caught the other player’s foot, breaking his metatarsal bone.  The injury was hardly career threatening, but it did put the victimized player in danger of missing the rest of the season and some important games that followed.

This was an unfortunate event, but the British treated it as if one player had pulled out a knife and stabbed the other.  You see, the victimized player was David Beckham and the injury put him at risk of missing the 2002 World Cup.  The perpetrator was Deportivo La Coruna’s, Pedro Duscher, an Argentine national.  Despite Alex Ferguson saying that, ‘‘Games of football are about tackles and I think the player maybe had to go for it,” the British Press would have none of it.  Headlines blared about the horror challenge.  The press speculated how Beckham was targeted because Argentina and England were in the same bracket.  Reporters and paparazzi staked out Duscher’s home in Spain so they could quiz him about how he could target and take down the English captain.

After two weeks, and despite numerous statements of regret about the tackle, Duscher felt so harassed he considered quitting the game.  “This is the worst period of my life,” Duscher said. “Everyone is persecuting me – referees, football fans and the public. I don’t know if I can handle it anymore. The spotlight has been on me all the time and I feel I am close to a breakdown.”

And, of course, the prayers and good wishes of all of England were directed towards Beckham and the little bone in his foot.  Everyday there was another story about how gutted Beckham was, how determined he was to get back in time for the World Cup, how Victoria was his rock to support him, etc.  There was an outpouring of emotion and sympathy towards Beckham that had not been seen since the death of Princess Diana.

This past week in England, there was a similar outpouring of support.  Cards, e-mails, a statements came flowing in for another Englishman who was having a hard time following a terrible challenge.  This time, the recipient of all this support was Ryan Shawcross, the poor soul who had felt just terrible after his challenge nearly cut Aaron Ramsey’s leg in two.  Shawcross was gutted and left the field in tears after his red cards, and the press cannot support this bright young player enough.  Commentators like Jamie Redknapp have absolved Shawcross of any blame.  Every word of support for Shawcross from Alex Ferguson and Wayne Rooney captures the headlines.  Stories about the Stoke fans sending Shawcross letters and telegrams fill the fishwrap.  Don’t be surprised to see the press soon call for a suspension to Ramsey for taking a dive while a children’s chorus shows up at the Shawcross home to sing a moving version of “We Shall Overcome.”

It is not worth saying that if Ramsey had been English and Shawcross not, this all would have played out in the press much differently.  Few in the press have bothered to mention that Shawcross has emerged as one the true thugs of the English game.  Don’t believe me?  See how Shawcross slid out of bounds to nail Emmanuel Adebayor  here. The year earlier, Shawcross broke Francis Jeffers’ leg in a red card challenge from behind.  And this video from when Shawcross was on loan at Royal Antwerp is a beauty.  No matter what the British press says, Shawcross is exactly “that” type of player.

If the English press had an ounce of integrity, they would be treating Shawcross like the danger that he is.  They would be looking seriously about why this type of leg-breaking play is so much more prevalent in England than in the rest of the world.  Rather than celebrate Shawcross’ call-up to the national team, they would be speculating about whether he is too dangerous a player to be put in a tough, pressure-packed situation like the World Cup.  And they would be directing all the sympathy wishes and heartfelt gestures towards the real victim in this case – Aaron Ramsey.

Unfortunately, the press struggles to say a bad word about this future England center half.  Perhaps one day, when he is well established in the back line, Shawcross can send some porno text to the wife of a teammate.  Then, he will finally give the press something about which to be negative.

Ryan Shawcross had no intention of turning Aaron Ramsey‘s leg into putty when he went into his tackle yesterday.  Martin Taylor had no interest in seeing Eduardo’s leg shattered in two when he went studs up against him two years ago.  Dan Smith took no delight in the crunching sound of Abou Diaby’s ankle being fractured and dislocated when he went in late against him two years before that.   To assume otherwise would be to accuse them of being sociopathic maniacs.  I am sure they are not.

However, what I am sure of is that all those injuries are the result of a particularly pernicious facet of English football in general, and playing against Arsenal in particular – the art of “getting stuck in.”  This talent, which is occasionally also called “Playing a man’s game,””getting it ‘up em,” and “giving him something to remember with every challenge” is exalted in the English game.  To the rest of the world, it is nothing more than one player kicking the crap out of another.  With English football’s acceptance of this tactic, it is inevitable that players will occasionally find their lower leg bent where no hinge should exist.

Arsenal is quick team.  They like to move the ball quickly.  Their interior passing is among the best in the world.  Good teams combat that by pressuring Arsenal all over the pitch.  If you don’t give an Arsenal player time to see his passing options, Arsenal can turn the ball over and are vulnerable on the break.  That type of pressure and counter-attacking guided Chelsea and Manchester United to two comprehensive victories each over Arsenal this season, and those victories were fully deserved.

However, not every team in the league is Manchester United or Chelsea.  Some of them are Stoke, Birmingham and Sunderland.  They don’t have the quickness or the skill to be pressuring Arsenal from the front and constantly be challenging for the ball.  Their managers give their team a slightly different set of instructions.  Tackle hard boys!  Make Arsenal feel it with every touch!  Take fouls if you have to, but force Arsenal to pass the ball prematurely for fear of the hit they know is coming!  In short, “get stuck in!”  When a Stoke, Birmingham or Sunderland go into a match with that type of attitude, it is inevitable that a Ramsey, Eduardo or Diaby will, on occasion, leave the ground on stretcher.

Sadly, there is almost no chance of avoiding these types of catastrophes under the current English ethic of football.  Shawcross got his red card and will be suspended for a few games, but that will not change any team’s strategy.  Commentators will talk about how Shawcross is a “great lad” who is “absolutely gutted” and left the pitch in tears, as if anyone is arguing that Shawcross thought the whole thing was funny.  Two weeks from now, those same commentators will pontificate about how Arsenal is soft and can be bullied, which is just a sub-rosa way of saying that you can beat Arsenal if you can kick them hard enough.  Nobody will bother to opine that kicking a team off the pitch is not an acceptable form of football.

And of course many will say that the fact that three Arsenal players have had their legs shattered over the past four years is just a coincidence.

But it is not a coincidence.  What is striking is the similarity of all three breaks.  They all happened in the middle of the pitch.  They all happened just after the Arsenal player had passed the ball.  They all happened after their opponent went flying in and decided to leave his feet rather than give up on a lost challenge.  This is all the definition of “getting stuck in.”

Hopefully Aaron Ramsey will fully recover and continue his trajectory as one of the future stars of British football.  If he does fully recover, it will take years.  A year from now, there is the possibility that he will again be wearing an Arsenal uniform and playing the game.  However, four years after his injury, Diaby is just finally beginning to show the potential he had before his fracture, and Eduardo is still struggling two years later to recapture his pre-injury form.  With a break like that, both players have had to re-learn how to use their leg.  In the process, they tend to pick up a lot of other niggling injuries along the way.  Even with their return to first team action, both Diaby and Eduardo seem to have spent as much time on the training table as they have on the pitch.

In the meantime, do not be surprised to see some other player in England, possibly from Arsenal, suffer a similar type of injury.  Some player will be carted off.  The player who went in late will be gutted.  We will all talk about what a sickening scene it was.  Until the ethic of “getting stuck in” changes, this is a movie we will see many times again in the future.

As the Setanta era of soccer broadcasting in America comes to a close, and Fox Soccer Plus looks to fill in its spot, the good people at Newscorp will have to wrestle with one important difference between Setanta and Fox Soccer – the Fox brand. Will consumers spend money for a stand-alone Fox channel that is not so distinct from the myriad of other Fox offerings?

I am a U-Verse customer and subscribe to the hefty U450 package which gives me a total of 31 Fox channels. That package includes FX, Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Reality, Fox Sports en Espanol, a whole slew of FSN stations, a bunch of High Def channels, and, of course, Fox Soccer Channel. In fact, every single current Fox offering is available to me under the U450 umbrella. When Fox Soccer Plus is added into the U-Verse line-up, it will be the only stand-alone Fox product that I would have to purchase as a separate channel.

Fox Soccer Plus will have a difficult challenge in getting people to both feel good about their product and buy it. To the consumer, the logical question is going to be why do I have to pay for Fox Soccer Plus when FSC is already part of my package? My package gives me both ESPN and ESPN2. I get both Fox Sports West and Fox Sports West 2. Why don’t I get both Fox soccer channels in my package?

Furthermore, there is a very thin line that Fox has to walk in allocating which games go on which channels. If viewers are continually frustrated by seeing Stoke v Bolton or CSKA Moscow v Sevilla on FSC while Fox Soccer Plus gets Manchester United v Liverpool or Chelsea v Inter, there are going to be some angry fans. Truthfully, Fox probably cannot continually do that because they have advertising to sell and sponsors to make happy on FSC. However, every good game that is only available on the premium station is going to be a paper cut in the finger of people who don’t understand why that game is not on their normal sports package.

This is a problem Setanta never had. There are probably only a handful of viewers who realized that Setanta’s games were shown under a Fox license, so people never made the connection that it was Fox deciding which games were part of the sports package and which were only available on the premium channel. Fans who missed a big match because they did not subscribe to Setanta may have felt the loss of the game, but understood it was because they did not pay for it. Now, if they miss a big ManU or Arsenal game that is shown on Fox Soccer Plus, they will be pissed at Fox for reserving it for their “first class” fliers while the rest of us are watching Wigan play in the mud sitting in coach.

Finally, throughout most of Setanta’s tenure, their only competition for EPL games was FSC. Now, with ESPN in the mix and planning to double their EPL coverage next year, the case for Fox Soccer Plus is a lot less compelling. Between FSC and ESPN2, the average viewer will already have access to about half the EPL games. Adding the premium station for another couple of games seems like a bigger extravagance. If Fox decides to flavor the Fox Soccer Plus stew with more original programming, they risk angering viewers who wonder why FSC does not have access to that type of material too.

Of course, if you are a rugby fan or really want to follow the Coca-Cola Championship League, Fox Soccer Plus may make more sense. However, those fans are in the distinct minority of American consumers of European sports. It is the EPL that makes the FSC go, and it will be the EPL that will drive subscribers to Fox Soccer Plus.

I was never a subscriber to Setanta. As I was plunking down about $100 for over 500 channels, it seemed silly to spend $15 for just one more. Similarly, I am also going to hold back on Fox Soccer Plus. Fox will have a big challenge trying to convince me, and the rest of the soccer fans out there, that it is worth it to spend money on the premium channel without relegating the FSC brand, in which they have heavily invested, to a second class status.

Since 1996, every Championship Trophy and FA Cup has rested in the trophy case of either Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool with one singular exception.  All 30 of those pieces of silverware have gone to the Big Four except for the 2008 FA Cup, which has been ensconced in a sacred place at Portsmouth’s Fratton Park.  That is the same Portsmouth that is now all but certain to go into administration and quite possibly obliteration in the coming weeks.  Those two facts are not just a coincidence – they are connected in an inexorable, tragic manner.

The economics of English football are simply perverse.  It is very expensive to lose in England and get relegated, but it is also ridiculously expensive to win.  Owning a sports team, at least in the short run, is usually a break-even investment at best.  Unless you happen to have Russian kleptocrat or Middle Eastern decomposed dinosaur money, it takes an astute, conservative businessman to own a football team and avoid getting wiped out in the process.

From a pure business standpoint, the best model is to be something like what Aston Villa or Tottenham are right now – successful enough to be competitive with the big boys, avoid any relegation issues and get an occasional sniff at European competition but small enough to cash in on an occasional lucrative Gareth Barry or Michael Carrick sale without enduring the ire of your fans.  That is a sweet spot that is very tough to hit, and Portsmouth is a prime example of what can happen when you miss that narrow target.

Since moving up to the EPL for the 2004/2005 season, Portsmouth has flirted with relegation on occasion, but more often has finished in the middle of the pack.  They have been modest dabblers in the transfer market, and several of their biggest purchases (Jermain Defoe, Glen Johnson and Lassana Diarra) have been sold for bigger profit.  David James was a significant purchase, but has been a good servant to the club.  Other purchases (John Utaka and Dave Nugent) have been clunkers, but most of the Portsmouth transfers have been prudent.  Portsmouth seemed comfortable walking that economic tightrope in the world’s most expensive football league.

Then came the triumph/tragedy of the 2008 FA Cup run.  After beating Manchester United at Old Trafford and Middleborough, Portsmouth found itself in the surprising position of being the last premier league team left in the competition.  Their 1-0 victory over Cardiff City at Wembley is one of the great moments in club history.  However, as the players walked up the stairs at Wembley to receive their medals, they were also ecstatic about what this victory meant to them financially – most players had written into their contracts bonuses of over £250,000 for winning the cup, and manager Harry Redknapp was in line to get a cool £1 million.  All told, the bonus bill for winning the FA Cup probably totaled over £15 million.  This is a giant amount for a team that only has about £70 million per year in revenue to begin with. 

Why would Portsmouth agree to such bonuses in the first place?  Those types of performance based bonuses are pretty standard in England, and it seemed like a low-risk situation.  After all, who would bet that Portsmouth would be the first team in a decade to wrestle a major trophy away from the Big Four?  Frankly, if Steven Gerrard’s pile driver had gone slightly wide of the goal in 2006, West Ham would probably be in the same position as Portsmouth is today.

Nevertheless, those bonuses had to be paid, and once a team starts spending beyond its means in the EPL, they are in danger of entering a result-dependent economic death spiral.  The only place to get the type of money Portsmouth needed is in the transfer market (bye-bye Defoe, Diarra and Sulley Ali Muntari), which, of course, hurts the results.  As the results suffer, managers start to come and go, the team starts to sink, gate revenue starts to fall, and the team sinks even more.  More players are sold (Glen Johnson, Peter Crouch) and all of the sudden the 2009/10 season looked over before it began.  Perhaps some of this spiral could have been avoided if the team could get a loan to get over this FA Cup bonus hump, but loans can be a risky business in football (i.e. Leeds), and it was never a real possibility anyway with the collapse of the credit market just as Portsmouth was putting their new trophy on display.

Now Portsmouth is starring at the abyss and have no room to back-peddle.  There is always talk of some sort of shadow investor from some foreign land who can rescue the team, but wealthy people usually did not become wealthy by investing in soon-to-be-relegated financial sinkholes.

For better or worse, the structure of the EPL is that only four teams can afford and absorb the financial consequences that come with success.  Manchester City is trying to break into that crowd, and is set up to afford anything.  Beyond that, winning in England is a curse.  Nearly every team that has broken into the top four over the past decade (Newcastle in 02/03, Leeds in 00/01, Chelsea before the Abramovitch takeover) has seen financial misery.  Portsmouth is just the latest team to realize that losing is lousy, but winning in England can be death.

If he is on the plane to South Africa this summer, Charlie Davies will be the story of the tournament.  It was only four months ago that Davies was in a horrific car accident that killed one passenger and savaged Davies’ body.  His face was smashed, leg and arm broken, and bladder lacerated.  There was a question of whether he would survive, and then, once he was out of the hospital’s intensive care unit, about whether he would ever be able to run again.  That he would miss out on the World Cup seemed a foregone conclusion.

And yet, Davies is now in France to spend the next four weeks finishing his physical rehabilitation and the several weeks after that to get match fit.  Davies has stated that he wants to be playing for his club team Sochaux in April and has every intention on being part of the team that goes to South Africa.  If he makes it, it would be hard to imagine any scene more moving than Davies taking the field in an American shirt.

All of that is still to be seen.  Gaining his endurance is one thing, but Davies’ game is about speed and finding that second gear that can power him by defenders on a break.  Whether that after-burner is still there, and whether he can activate it this spring, are very much open issues.  However, judging by this interview he gave upon his return to France, Charlie Davies seems determined to prove the doubters wrong.

In order, these were the errors that occurred:

Sol Campbell sent a backpass to Lukacz Fabianski.  As Campbell was trying to protect the ball and herd it into Fabianski’s arms, he clearly had a touch.  Watching the video, there can be a real case to be made that it was an unintentional touch and the referee would have been in his rights to not call the violation, but anytime you touch the ball as it is rolling into the goal keeper’s arms, you are at risk for a whistle.

Once the whistle blew, Campbell switched off.  Bent over with his hands on his knees, Campbell was either tired or frustrated at his mistake or the referee’s call.  Whichever the case, Campbell is the wily veteran and needed to take control of the situation.  Instead, while the drama was playing out, Campbell was conducting a very thorough examination of the tops of his shoes.

Fabianski, graciously holds the ball and then hands it right to the referee.  As soon as the referee blows the whistle, Fabianski needs to send that ball somewhere very far away.  Kick it into the stands.  Throw it across the field.  Anything other than holding it while waiting for something to happen.  With Porto’s players calling for the ball and the referee signaling that he wants it, take the yellow card and punt it into orbit if you have to, but don’t just hand it to the referee when you are in no way set up to defend the kick.

Once the ball is in the referee’s hands, Campbell or Fabianski needs to stand right in front of the ball.  In fact, stand on it.  Better yet, sit on it.  Let the referee order you back 10 yards and then have him mark off the ten yards to build a wall.  You have to allow your team to get set up for the kick.  To just hand the referee the ball and give Porto room to operate is like handing Porto a loaded gun.

Of course, the referee was harsh to let Porto take the kick so quickly.  It is the referee’s discretion to allow an immediate free kick or not.  Occasionally, if a player asks for permission to take the kick quickly, and if their opponents are slow to organize, the referee will let them go ahead.  However, with the players spread all over the pitch and some confusion about the call, allowing a quick indirect kick within the box is like handing Porto a goal.  To permit that quick kick is not an incorrect decision, but it is a very harsh one, especially since Arsenal were denied a stone-cold penalty from a foul against Tomas Rosicky not one minute before.

On top of it all, the referee blocked Campbell out of the play.  Once the referee allowed the kick to be taken quickly, he also took Campbell out of the play.  It happened so quickly that the referee did not have time to back away, and Campbell was prevented from getting to the goal scorer, Garcia Zarate.   

Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger was very critical of the referee in his post-game comments.  However, I have no doubt his team will hear about their faults from Wenger in the days to come.  Whatever the referee’s mistakes, the gifted goal was wrapped by Campbell and Fabianski.