So on Wednesday (whoa, coincidence?!) MLS released the 2009 Schedule. Not really sure how to look through a schedule and make comments on how it's spread out. I don't know the Gold Cup schedule, friendlies and CCL is not up yet so we'll see how these dates favour us, if at all. The one thing I'm sorta disappointed in is the lack of night games. I don't know about anyone else but I loved weeknight games last season (except the rain!!), especially that Colorado game on Saturday night, but I guess I can see how Saturday afternoons might be a better TV slot (that's what I'm guessing anyhow). Strange though that there are no Friday nights in MLS and I'm trying to think of if this has been brought up or discussed before. What competition would MLS have on a friday night in the summer? TSN pretty much single-handedly boosted the CFL popularity with their Friday Night Football programming. Baseball?? I guess once August rolls around you have high school football, but then you just do it in the spring/summer. Anyways, good to see all the match-ups and NYRB is one of the two Wednesday night games! Now all we have to do is wait for our tix in the mail!
Well a week has just about gone by with a few stories and rumours but as I've said before, this isn't a news blog, it's an opinion blog that is 99.9% right MOST OF THE TIME. Don't belive me? Look here. Notice the time? How did I know that? How did I know to say Sam Cronin and Frei? Who the hell was saying Sam Cronin and TFC in the same breath? I DID. I didn't even go to the combine or the draft! Didn't speak to one person! I'm just a guy who knows.
Here's what else I know. Preseason is kicking off next week and that is something to look forward to. If you look at our off-season really the only name to drop is DeRo - BUT fear not. I am confident that we will have a slew of players trialing over the next month and a half that to ignite a storm of gossip. Remember Fat Johnnier Montaro? Money grubbing Kiki Musampa? Speedy Martin Brittain who is lighting up the Conference National? Or the one and only MARCO VELEZ! Hmmm actually none of these guys are good examples at all. However, Keon Daniel and Gregory Richardson are, and these are two guys to watch for in this year's camp.
I think it was Carver who said just recently that nobody is safe with their starting role this year and there will be serious competition for ALL POSITIONS. I think these are two of possibly a few more guys he was referring to. I for one am glad to see Mo and Carver expanding their scope of talent beyond the UK and finding a few guys who aren't in their 30s.
One last quick point. For the last while I have been religiously listening to the World Soccer Daily podcast and if you have too you'll know that Kenny and Stephen have been on the Beckham watch since he first went over to AC Milan. Today they were arguing the merit of him being in MLS any longer, whether he was successful (they say no) etc ... and I was trying to relate this to TFC somehow and I actually think it could. They were discussing the spike in attendances and ticket sales that he created upon the announcement he was coming to MLS. I don't think it can be argued that once people in Toronto knew he was in the league we hit our season ticket cap much quicker than if he wasn't (or would we have at all?). I think TFC fans like to think we are 20,000 pure football supporters (with 9,000 on a waiting list) but if you've ever sat in the middle sections of the stadium you know that is not the case. The one thing TFC has over every other game in town is atmosphere - which is 100% attributed to our unreal supporters groups. I can't name off the people I know who know nothing about football, never supported a team before, never had been to a game - but will come back to BMO game after game just to see the south end or be allowed to ACTUALLY CHEER. Like it or not though, in that first season it was the arrival of David Beckham who would have initially convinced that borderline fan to grab a game, a few tickets or a season's package (I can't believe I couldn't justify something like the $200 it was then!!)
It's the truth - Beckham brought them in, however it was the supporters groups and atmosphere that made them stay (it sure wasn't our winning product!). So as much as I think he's been a bust on the field here and is 150% pussy-whipped by Victoria I will credit him for one thing and that was being the catalyst for ticket sales in '07 that has rolled over into honest support for our home team TFC.
It seems like just yesterday it was a quiet Friday afternoon when all of a sudden *BLAMO!* the first time in TFC history the franchise was able to keep a player signing a secret. But this was no regular player, it was Scarborough's own Dwayne De Rosario! After over a month of speculation as to why we've not seen an official press conference it was all laid to rest today with the official announcement. What was originally a 2-year deal is in fact a 4-year contract and perhaps a reason why this took so long. Other important rumours confirmed is that we are in the midst of signing (I think on loan) Independiente's Pablo Vitti and no name has been tossed out, but a CB from the UK. If we can shore up the defence, look out. TFC - causin' mad trouble in '09!!!
Seeing as I'm not in touch with all the new football releases (I think the most current book I've read is Match Day, which technically isn't even a book!) a colleague of mine pitched me a sorta old one. I don't mind reading up on the state of the game from the 80s and 90s because I only really got into football during the '94 world cup and didn't start following a team until about 10 years ago. Anything historical interests me, and any new knowledge I can get on the game, especially on eras that I was alive for but missed out on I feel is important to understand. In that sense, Soccer Against the Enemy is a perfect book to gain knowledge on the history of football around the world through the 20th Century up to the 90s, and even if you were following football then, Simon Kuper travels to places where at that time unless you lived there would have had no idea what was going on.
Kuper's Soccer Against the Enemy (obviously changed from Football for N. America) takes place in 22 different countries, as he travels around the world with typewriter in tow. You might think this book was written in 1947, but you are wrong! Yes, only sixteen years ago were writers touring the world not with laptops, blackberries or sidekicks but typewriters!! It doesn't seem that long ago but this book is proof how small the world has gotten in just over fifteen years. As mentioned before, a good portion of the book is Kuper traveling to countries because first hand knowledge was the only way to get information on the state of the game. Places such as post-communist East Berlin, Russia and Ukraine to Cameroon, South Africa and Brazil. It is all covered, and I would go as far as saying his travels are far more thorough, detailed and historical than Franklin Foer's How Soccer Explains the World.
The book's subtitle is "How the world's most popular sport starts and fuels revolutions and keeps dictators in power" and for the most part sticks to the theme of "football is politics". Kuper does a good job of reinforcing this idiom by starting off detailing the history of the rivalry between the Netherlands and Germany, peaking at the 1988 Euros. The hatred was fueled by Germany occupying Holland in the Second World War, however, Kuper grew up in Holland and notes that this hatred did not truly manifest itself until the 80s. International matches between these two powerhouses - Cruyff and Gullit, Beckenbauer and Matthaus - sparked old feelings of an occupied country and these matches became much more than a game. The victory over Germany in the 1988 Euros Semi-Finals in Hamburg sent millions into the streets in Holland.
Kuper moves from country to country - East Germany, the Baltics, into Russia and the Ukraine covering the history of football under communist dictatorships into the present and how the game copes in this transition to a capitalist society. I don't need to give a lesson on the state of economy and justice in the former Soviet Union, but rest assured it is messed up.
Perhaps the most lengthy and detailed portion of his book is when Kuper travels to Africa. It is interesting to read the goings on in Cameroon and South Africa in light of the upcoming 2010 World Cup. We've all read many quotes over the decades of managers and pundits claiming that you will see an African team lift the World Cup by so-and-so date. After reading these chapters it is clear that an African team lifting the cup would be almost as shocking as Canada doing it. We think our soccer association is backwards, you've seen nothing. The World Cups that Cameroon performed so well at, they didn't even come clost to fielding their best players! The president picks the team, and at the '94 World Cup Roger Milla was 42 years old. The 1990 World Cup is the tournament that stands out and is highlighted for the Lions, where they almost made it past England.
Holy shit did you see that guy's vertical!?! Both in Cameroon and South Africa their football associations are riddled with corruption and mismanagement resulting a disconnect between the sport and fans. It is now easier to understand why there have been so many problems linked with the 2010 World Cup and now even easier to know why people are being assassinated.
There is so much more to this book than what I've mentioned in a waaaaay too long blog. Rest assured Soccer Against the Enemy is one of the best all encompassing books I've read so far on football. A tour around the world meeting fans, players, coaches and directors, answering the questions that you'd want to know from Helenio Herrera to Pele. It serves as a historical reference for 22 footballing nations that brings you up to the '94 World Cup - which works perfect for me!! If you want to truly understand the back stories between the politics from some of the biggest footballing nations and their teams this is the book to read.
Wow all that hoop-la about "you can guarantyyyyyyy ... GUARANTY (insert car salesman in 10-Gallon hat) TFC will trade it's top picks!" was all for not. No #1 pick, no Adrian Serioux. I'm trying my best not to rehash the same draft promise felt from last year but right now I'm thinking TFC came out in a pretty good spot.
I know everyone is saying "why Sam Cronin, we don't need him", and heck maybe he's just trade bait but we definitely picked 2 of the best prospects in their positions and 2 of the best coming out of the combine. We have two midfielders (Robinson & Guevera) who are up there in age so why not get a player who is said to be ready to play and could anchor the midfield years down the road? We already know Guevera will not be playing every game next season with Honduras into the next round of World Cup qualifying, so now we won't have the same situation as last summer. I just hope we also get the guy who did that amazing portrait for his TFC Bio. O'Brien White apparently would not have lasted to #13 so it seems like we had to snatch him at #4. I am good with that - I think he is worth the risk because I did not think we'd solve our goal scoring situation from the draft.
I am feeling GK Stefan Frei at #13! I haven't watched anything on him so I'm just going on the hype but I'll be straight up and say I'm not sold on Sutton, he makes great saves but is THE WORST distributing the ball out of the box. I liked Edwards last season but it just sounds like Frei has more of the goods. And he's related to Alexander Frei who is amazing! This guy has pedigree!! If Edwards earned the right to start games over Sutton last season and Frei is as good as all the pundits are saying, I'm thinking this guy's definitely going to play next season.
The one thing I'm interested in seeing is how much it gets mentioned that 2 years in a row Mo has drafted a player who has opted out of MLS. Last year we picked Joseph Lapira and this season, one of the potential top picks, Mike Grella from Duke. He's going to test the waters in Europe but if it doesn't work out he's ours! I think this is a great move considering by the third round whoever you draft most likely isn't going to be playing for you anyways. So we either draft a guy who's going to suck and we cut him, or we pick a top player who might not pan out overseas and his rights are ours. Grella is a better pick than Lapira because Lapira is an Irish International so would most likely want to stay in Europe regardless of the league (like the norwegian 2nd division!) just for proximity.
So here I am, deja vu all over again. This time it feels different though - whether we keep all three or make a trade I feel like we came out with bare minimum ONE player who will play next season. HEY WHAT HAPPENED TO A CB!?!?
That's right. Word on the street is we are drafting 5 European glam long-hairs. They are in their 40s now, a couple pushing their 50s, but apparently still have the goods. Living in Sweden has that effect. Ok that is Europe (you know, final countdown? HAHAHA .. ha .. ha ....meh) ... who actually played Lees Palace here in TO about 4 years ago. And to be honest the year before I saw FANTASY an 80s cover band (who rules) play that jam and it was better than Europe. No lie.
One quick one in before the draft and an EXPLOSION of activity for TFC!!! The only news is trying to get that #1 pick but I have no idea what the point of that would be. The combine didn't change too much from what the scouts were saying before hand. Zakuani still looks to be #1 with Omar Gonzalez and Sam Cronin in the top 4. The one last rumour is the keeper Stefan Frei who sounds to be head and shoulders above the rest. If you are to take the scouting for gospel, the two best are Cronin and Frei. But I said this last week, the combine rates them against their peers who, let's be honest, are nowhere near MLS level. So yeah, Cronin might look amazing in the combine but might not be the rookie of the year. Not expeting TFC to keep all our picks but crazier things have happened and it seems that the procedure now is keeping the rumours out of head office to nil. Ok I'll be back here in 12hrs!!
I bit of activity on the Team Canada front this week. Earlier on, the fans voted Tomas Radzinski as their choice for player of the year. A pretty good pick as he looked strong up front for Canada in their failed attempt to qualify for the world cup. The CSA came back at the end of the week with their official picks, Julian De Guzman for the men and Christine Sinclair for the women. Both pretty safe bets as surely they factored in JDG's club performances in their decision and Sinclair seems to be a shoe-in with her goal tally continuing to grow.
We are in crucial times for our national teams as the lack of success given the talent puts the spotlight directly onto the people running the show. Over the years we have grown accustom to seeing the women do very well internationally and the men struggle. We've never heard the women lament about the CSA and are often used as an example to counter their ineptitude. But I am curious to see how long this lasts as we are beginning to see the rest of the world's women's programs catch up and surpass our own. It is interesting that De Guzman was picked and in that same week in an interview he said the following:
I think the World Cup campaign would have had a different result if there was a different organization.The CSA, the OSA and the rest of the associations are the root of our problem and it will only become a cancer to the program across the nation. Anyone involved will fall behind in the world of football. It has an effect on talent and coaches which gives us a bad look.
I am still thinking back to that interview on soccer saturday with Peter Montopoli where when asked the status of Dale Mitchell could only respond with it will be discussed the next time the board meets which isn't in the near future. That there was "no rush" to deal with his coaching status. Agh I said it then and it seems like ther are a few other out there that are saying don't expect him to get fired - he is on contract until 2010 (I think) and with the CSA having no cash cannot afford to pay him out and pay for another coach. De Guzman mentions it that interview above, just how in other countries you can't get away with this shit. We didn't hire a coach who had taken Jamaica to the World Cup because he wanted to bring in his own staff (there had to be a Canadian quota), but we'll keep in a coach who can only win if it's against an island country with less than a million people.
I'll end this off with a video I saw on Soccer by Ives of the US men's team. I know how much larger the US is than us (money, population, etc...), but given our talent I see no reason why we can't be at this level of success. This video is of a team we almost and could have beat in the '05 Gold Cup, but look at the difference between our programs. Smaller and poorer countries qualify in tougher groups than we do. Whenever I get down on our program I always think of trying to find a case study on the US and Australian football program's and find out what it took to get from poor results to being actual contender on the world stage. So maybe one day the CSA ... or whatever the name of the organization running the show will release a similar video!
