1. What we know (And still want to know!) about NYCFC
As a
Stieg Larsson-esque
mystery plot, perhaps “Who is making the choices around NYCFC?” would not sell at high volumes, but it sure is a talker for the soccer nerds among us, the writers, bloggers and soccer’s punditocracy, plus all the good, sweet, clean paying ticket buyers.
Seriously, if we take “playoff races” off the table, how things unfold at this new club of abundant riches seems destined to become Major League Soccer’s top serial drama.
Never mind what some of us keep reminding everyone, that the expansion teams don’t do well in MLS. As the league grew from 10 to 20 teams over the last 15 years, most first-year sides struggled, averaging about 8 expansion season wins.
So, yes … even a club like City FC was bound to struggle, never mind the desire to toss money willy-nilly at any big name who would listen.
So the clamor has been kicked up to 11 around Yankee Stadium; the pitchfork-and-lantern crowd is out – and there’s the real trouble. No one is quite sure who to blame as this team of roaring ambition looks less and less likely to, well, make a playoff roar.
It came to a head on Sunday after a loss at home to Columbus and its considerably less celebrated roster. Manager Jason Kreis came right out and said players need to show “if they want to be part of this.” Only Kreis could say for sure, but it seemed aimed squarely at Frank Lampard.
An ineffective Lampard was off at the stroke of 60 minutes, underscoring what so many of us have said all along, that the roster was fabulously flawed. You don’t really need to be Sir Alex Ferguson to see it. So … whose fault is this fiasco of a roster?
Too much money went to under-performing MLS veterans. The back line is NASL-level (no disrespect to domestic soccer’s second tier). And to have one aging, European star on slow-prowl around the midfield would probably have been OK. Kreis could cover that up tactically. But to pair up two of them? Who thought that was a good idea?
Hard for me to believe that Kreis signed off on all of this. The guy who put together such a fabulous side on a shoestring budget at RSL couldn’t see this iceberg dead ahead?
Was it Claudio Reyna, the club’s director of soccer operations? Putting together an expansion team is tough; to ask Reyna, who is still relatively new to this front office bit? That seemed particularly unwise.
Or was it someone higher up the food chain? Decisions at City FC are made, apparently, by the nebulous City Football Group, a.k.a CFG. I know this, and it applies whether we’re talking about making sandwiches at Potbelly or running a soccer team: Show me an organization that lacks a clear hierarchy and accountability structure, I’ll show you an organization going nowhere. (Or, one that makes some very bad sandwiches.)
So we don’t know who is making the calls as Lampard starts and the measurably more effective Kwadwo Poku sits for an hour, much less the bigger picture choices. (This is a good piece from the Hudson River Blue blog if you want to know more along those lines.)
Someday, the story will come out. By then we’ll know if this is just stumbling out of the gate or a harbinger of things to come, the first sightings of a tree destined to grow all crooked and wompy-jawed, something like New York’s first MLS team. That was the stumbling, bumbling MetroStars, the team that signed big stars but never knew how to get out of its own way until just recently.
Either way, it’ll be fascinating to watch.
2. Dates to circle ahead
Stop what you’re doing and reach for your daybook or digital calendar.
Circle “Sept. 14.” That’s the day we might, just might, learn more about the FIFA corruption shenanigans that have so many high-level suits running for the non-extradition hills. (And that has seriously jeopardized that glorious, would-be Copa America that would have been played in the States. Grrrrr!)
But the more enjoyable date to circle will be Oct. 10. Yes, that’s the date of the Rose Bowl biggie, the United States-Mexico contest for the 2017 Confederations Cup spot. You probably knew that.
You may not have known that Oct. 10 is also the date of the all-important CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying semifinals at Rio Tinto Stadium in Utah. (Recently adjusted kickoff times are here.)
Assuming the United States avenges its 2011 qualifying bust and escapes its four-team group (U.S., Panama, Cuba and Canada), the ensuing result from Utah will determine whether Andi Herzog’s under-23s advance into Brazil 2016.
3. Another chapter in the Chicharito story
In notes last week (prepping for writing this week) I wrote, “Is this it for Chicharito?”
I wondered if Javier Hernandez’s career would “peak” at part-time status for Manchester United, and began considering how unfortunate that would be. Especially for a guy who had left his native Mexico at a relatively young age, toting such high hopes for global acclaim.
The forward from Guadalajara has left United to try life in the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen (price tag: about $10.5 million), thus ending his five years at one of the world’s most storied clubs.
On the one hand, “Chicharito” did score 59 times in 157 games for United. He was “all that” in his first season at around Old Trafford with 20 goals, easily his best campaign. But along came Robin van Persie and his spot among the club’s first 11 went “poof!”
Chicharito started just 16 league matches over the last three seasons. The majority of his goals and appearances after 2011 came in cup matches or continental competition. (Until last year, that is, when he was loaned to Real Madrid – where he was a similarly peripheral figure.)
So while a lot of EPL media has focused on other Manchester United departures – lots to choose from among David de Gea (Whoops! Almost!), Van Persie, Nani, Angel Di Maria, Jonny Evans and Rafael da Silva – I’m raising a cold glass of Mexican lager to Chicharito.
It’s no crime that Chicharito could never ensconce himself among the giants of Old Trafford. You can be a “top man,” as they say over there, at a Chelsea, a Bayern Munich, a Real Madrid or any of the other heavy-weapon clubs of Europe, but just not quite be a top, top man.
Around Old Trafford, even those unconvinced of Chicharito’s quality liked the guy. He did provide some important goals off the bench. Heck, they loved him if only for the goals he seemed to provide so regularly against London big-timers Chelsea.
He just wasn’t going to get many chances to be fully loved. There just didn’t seem to any point to Hernandez hanging around Old Trafford much longer waiting for it to possibly happen again. Much better to be a first-choice presence (hopefully) at a good-but-not-great club like Bayer.
Wear that shirt with pride, score a few important goals, and suddenly you’re a very important man about town. Chicharito, 27, has a chance to become an important figure once again, which is what he says he wants. And good luck to him.
4. Sacha Kljestan, a tempo setter for club and … country?
Jurgen Klinsmann is trying to balance a lot of interest and needs as he selects a roster for the coming friendlies and, most importantly, for that Oct. 10 Rose Bowl date against Mexico. A 2017 Confederations Cup berth awaits the winner.
As the team gathered Monday in Washington, D.C., site of the first friendly (Friday against Peru), Jermaine Jones’ re-introduction validates what Klinsmann is telling us on this one: that the current selections are mostly about the “here and now,” not so much about building for the future.
Kljestan scores a beauty
Still it’s hard to wonder if Klinsmann is leaving something on the table in the ongoing disregard for Sacha Kljestan. (You could ask the same about Kljestan’s New York Red Bulls teammate Dax McCarty and, obviously, about Sporting KC’s Benny Feilhaber. But we’ll move on for now.)
It is true that Kljestan has never truly seized his opportunities on the national team. He never looked out his element in the national team shirt, but neither did put solid paw prints on the games in which he has appeared. Generally speaking, we filed it under “not great, not bad … nothing special.”
But Kljestan today, having changed his address from Brussels to the Big Apple, looks like a great fit, one who deserves reconsideration. Here’s why:
Since Day 1 in charge, Klinsmann has expressed a desire to get his team’s performing at a high tempo. Lots of coaches preach “Keep the ball moving!” Klinsmann preaches, “Keep the ball moving – fast!” Generally, though, the periods of U.S. performance at that desired super-charged tempo are fleeting.
Well, Red Bulls manager Jesse Marsch has his men doing precisely what Klinsmann wants to see from the Yanks. No MLS team plays at a higher tempo than the Red Bulls. They also press in high areas (that is, way up the field) the way Klinsmann wants; clearly, it’s all interconnected, pressing high, playing at a fast tempo and, when it all comes together with aplomb, that over-arching goal of “dictating” the game.
Which is exactly what the Red Bulls did in a high-profile rivalry match Sunday evening in New Jersey. Kljestan ran the show as his Red Bulls completely overran the visitors from D.C. United.
5. The Little Five
5a. For those wondering, Tim Ream is playing center back for Fulham. And Goeff Cameron remains in places as a center back for Stoke City. Both have played more as outside backs recently; Ream was mostly a left back at Bolton before leaving for Fulham, where he may soon be pushed to the outside. Either way, they are among the brigade of center backs now in Klinsmann’s camp. (Oh, by the way, Fulham won two matches last week with Ream aligned in the middle of back four.)
5b. The Colorado Rapids were 5-9-9 and solidly in last place on Aug. 14 (just a little over two weeks ago). But three wins from three and Pablo Mastroeni’s crew is the embodiment of how quickly things can change in MLS. They still have work to do, but Kevin Doyle (with two consecutive game-winners) and his side are in the hunt, at least. (The standings are here.) This is exactly why MLS owners added a sixth playoff team, to keep more clubs relevant in playoff chases through late summer.
5c. If you’re not a fan of the MLS plowing through FIFA dates (like this weekend’s), and if you’re looking for the poster child test case against the practice, here ‘tis: The Columbus Crew has nine players called away this week for their national teams. FC Dallas has five. So this week’s nationally televised contest (Sunday on Fox) will come and go without a combined 14 players from the two clubs.
5d. After watching Sunday’s match from Red Bull Arena, I am more convinced than ever: D.C. United is an average team – but one backstopped by the league’s best goalkeeper, Bill Hamid. A lot of matches look just like that one in one regard: Hamid keeps them in games in a big way, allowing the opportunity for results. (United is 3-4-1 without Hamid in goal.)
5e. Justin Mapp is playing again at Montreal after missing about five months due to injury. He has thusly returned to his long-held position as one of Major League Soccer’s truly underappreciated performers. Watch this pass to create a great scoring chance last week in Toronto. My heavens, what a ball! Just to see that pass, much less hit it with the outside of his foot. (FYI, the MLS miss of the week was also from this game. Poor Dominic Oduro.)
