Recently in Futbol/Soccer Category

A vast majority of the Sporting fan landscape is dotted with miserable lemmings who are forced in to an inherited fandom. Not one of choice, because like myself, most of us are born in to our rooting interests. We latch on to the team that our fathers followed or the team that we grew up around. During one of our most naïve periods of life, we make a choice or a choice is made for us and the rest is history.

Growing up, and to this day, I'm a diehard Redskins, Terps (Hoops), Wizards and DC United fan. I love the Caps, but my family wasn't a hockey family, so to claim to be a fan of the Capitals leaves me feeling a little off. Baseball was a little more difficult, my father hated the Orioles. Something to do with the Senators moving away and the Orioles being the only show in town, this somehow made him a full-fledged Orioles hater. As you may have guessed, innocent, sponge like me soaked up this hatred and wanted nothing to do with anything from Baltimore (That hatred has spawned to include the Ravens).

Left without a baseball team to root for, a young impressionable seven year old me (Imaging shorter, but same large head, and a bowl cut) did what most misguided fans do, I picked a winner! The winners at the time were the Toronto Blue Jays, and I was hooked. I watched all of their playoff games, then World Series number one. I memorized the lineup from top to bottom, I knew the pitching staff like the inside of my catcher's mitt and I was there, well on my couch anyway, when Joe Carter snuck a World Series winning homer over the left-field wall. That was me, future Red Sox fan, unaware of the fandom laws I was breaking as I ran around my living room fist pumping in stride with Joe.

After a few season of bad Toronto baseball I began to forget about my love for our neighbors to the North. So having only one other option since proximity was out, I chose to follow my father's team once again, I became a fan of Red Sox nation in 1995.
From my early days as a Blue Jay junkie, up until 2003, I started to get burnt out on the games I loved as a child. It had to do with consuming the same type of stats, seeing the same type of highlights every night and being that I was starting College at the time, I craved a new experience. Enter the 'Beautiful Game.'

I must be attracted to blue or teams from outside the USA because I was once again enthralled with a winning team in blue, but this time it was a soccer team, Chelsea FC. Over the past eight years I denounced my pledge to Chelsea FC and moved across London to my beloved Gunners of Arsenal. I also follow Ajax FC of Amsterdam. (Took a trip to Amsterdam after College, fell in love with the City)

Opening Kick: Where do we go from here?
It's over, ring the bell throw in the towel, it's all over. It started with a bang, a convincing 3-0 victory over the Columbus Crew, and it ended with a whimper, a 1-0 loss at home to Sporting Kansas City. The DC United playoff push that was, never seemed to materialize and as the MLS season reached the most pivotal point it became painfully clear that United were far from fixed. Now that the season is over, we need to take time to reflect and figure out where the hell United goes from here.

Let start with the positive: Best trade ever! The mid-season swap of Dax McCarty for Dwayne De'Rosario will go down as one of the savviest moves in MLS history. De'Ro, as he will now be referred to, scored 13 goals and added seven assists in 18 games for United. That torrid pace was just enough to give De'Ro the 2011 MLS Golden Boot Award. His dramatic impact on United may even lead to an MLS MVP award, which would be an astonishing feet for someone who was traded twice in the same season. De'Ro playing on a hurt ankle in a must win 1-1 tie with Portland this past Wednesday was inspiring, too bad it inspired a guy on his couch and not his teammates.

Bill Hamid, Perry Kitchen, Andy Najar: One thing United have in their corner is youth. Hamid was solid in goal all season, parlaying his form in to a National team call up. Kitchen was a revelation at right back, even if he did feature on one of the worst defenses in recent memory. Najar was solid and gave me the sense that this guy is destine for Europe. Najar and Kitchen tied for most games played for United each featuring in 31. Take solid youth, pepper in some veterans, shore up the defense, have a solid keeper and find a reliable forward and you have a winning formula. United currently has two out five of those characteristics, now sign De'Ro to an extension and you have three out of five, and according to my math, that ain't bad. Oh, and I almost forgot about Chris Pontius, who like Hamid was in the National team conversation before a season ending injury during a game at Chivas USA late in the season. If Pontius can return to full strength for the season opener, and can stay healthy, this team will thrive. The loss of Pontius was evident as it turned DC's budding attack in to a land of confusion.

Now the Negative: How does a team move forward, with no forward? Identical to the problem that plagued the USA at the World Cup in 2010, DC has no strikers. We thought Charlie Davies was the guy, his 11 goals are nothing to scoff at, but at times he disappeared, completely. It was frustrating to watch, I've been routing for Davies to make a full recovery from that horrific car crash in 2009, but something isn't right. His play is erratic, and the quickness that used to define his game seems all but lost. It appears that the Davies' experience is over in DC.

This just in, Josh Wolff you suck, but good news you don't suck nearly as much as Joseph Ngwenya. I was horrified to see that DC has signed Ngwenya in the offseason and even more horrified when I saw him on the season opening roster. How bad is he? How about zero goals this season? Still not convinced, let me paint a vivid picture for you: Last Wednesday, during United's must win game against the Portland Timbers, at home; DC was all tied at 1-1. They needed to win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. During stoppage time, De'Ro sent a beautiful low pass across the face of goal, and Ngwenya came streaking through the box. For a professional soccer play the degree of difficulty for this shot was zero, but just as the ball met his foot, he missed the point blank open net. No goal, season over. Pathetic!

Bring on 2012, but don't you dare bring on Ngwenya.

Opening Kick: Bittersweet

Regular readers of Set Pieces will remember the Rust vs. Rest quagmire that was looming for DC United this weekend. Well just the people that actually read my articles, which I heard as of now has grown to three, me my fiancé and some guy in New York. That's right, what up New York? Anyways, Rest vs. Rust refers to the fact that DC United had nearly three weeks off following hurricane Irene.

Those twenty days off seemed to rejuvenate United as they turned in one of their most complete performances of the season defeating Chivas USA 3-0. I actually saw rust chipping off of Andy Najar as he menaced the Chivas defense bolting down the right flank time after time. United improved their stellar road record to 5-4-4 on the season and gave the United faithful reason to belief that a three year playoff drought may be over.

Now we get to the bittersweet portion of Set Pieces. First the sweet, remember that guy who was re-writing his redemption story after a near fatal car crash near RFK? You know he used to play for the National team and came to DC seeking a fresh start? It's okay if you don't, because the Charlie Davies that started the season scoring eight goals seemed to disappear as of late. Davies has been hampered with reoccurring injuries for much of the season and at times seemed to not have his head where his heart was. That all changed on Saturday as Davies reminded us just how deadly he can be scoring a hat trick and jumping to third place in the race for golden boot. (Author's Note: Golden Boot refers to the guy who scores the most goals in a season).

Before I could even text my buddy about the Davies 'hatty', something bitter crept into my mouth. Chris Pontius, who notched two assists in the game, and who was recently training with the US National team, suffered a season ending leg injury. I know, I know, just when you think it safe to talk playoffs, enter the jinx. Seeing Pontius stretchered off the field really bothered me, here was a guy who was finally blossoming in to a top notch player and it's all over, at least for this year. Initially my gut reaction is to panic, the seasons over, no playoffs, but then I let it marinate a bit. This United team is pretty deep; on the attacking side we still have Najar, Santino Quaranta, Dwayne De, Davies and Josh Wolff. The defense seeming to finally be jelling and Bill Hamid is a solid number one keeper. We'll miss you Pontius, but what doesn't kill, makes you stronger.

United sits in 5th place in the East, but has only played 25 games, two and in some cases three less games than the rest of the East. So there is plenty of time to make up points and move up the conference ladder.

NEXT UP: This Saturday, September 17, in another roadie against the Seattle Sounders (2nd in the West).

At the half: EPL TIME!

It's only week four of the EPL season and I'm already starting to come to some solid conclusions:

Opening Kick: Rust vs. Rest

DC United will make their return to the pitch after three weeks with little time to shake the cobwebs off. With only nine games remaining, United find themselves in a log jammed Eastern Conference sitting in the six spot only nine points behind Conference leaders Columbus. DC faces each of the top three teams in the East during the final two months of the season giving them ample opportunity to make up points. The key to United making a strong playoff push comes down to the age old debate of REST vs. RUST.

Three weeks is a long time off, especially in a sport dominated by fitness and endurance. A few of the players got a chance to play internationally over this past week, but for the most part the core of United's lineup has been playing tiddlywinks. Coming down the stretch it's good to have fresh legs, but soccer like all teams sports thrives on continuity and repetition. Another thing to think about is going from 0-90 could lead to some pulls and strains, and injuries during the final two months would no doubt finish off any playoff hopes.

NEXT GAME: Saturday 10pm DC UNITED vs. SAN JOSE COMCAST SPORTSNET

At the Half: Baby Come Back

Who makes the schedule for the EPL? It's so erratic. First they start the season in mid-August with the transfer window closing at the end of the month. So for about two weeks we think we know the teams we are routing for, but then two weeks later right before the window closes everyone makes moves. In some cases you have completely different teams then the ones you had two weeks ago. Hang on, here comes the weirdest part. So you have all these new guys coming in, they have a new system to learn, new teammates to meet and new digs to navigate, and all the sudden it's International Break Time. So all those new players, most of which play on their respective National teams, don't even play for another full week.

I mean just writing all of this is giving me a headache. It makes no sense to cram all of this in at once, why not close the transfer window the day before the season starts. Right now the first two weeks of the season have somewhat of a pre-season feel, but they count as real games. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills or maybe it's that I'm not thinking EUROPEAN.

Opening Kick: EPL starts with a whimper - After riots in London caused a mid-week friendly between England and the Netherlands to be cancelled; we spent most of the week wondering if the EPL would actually start on time. For the most part it went off without a hitch, excluding the cancellation of the Everton v Tottenham game, but that actually allowed ESPN 2 to pick up the Fulham v Aston Villa game, a pleasant surprise, or so I thought.

Like most sports fans, I like to plan my day around the upcoming fixtures. So when I saw that the Fulham game was the replacement I was pumped, a ten o'clock date to watch Clint Dempsey open up the EPL season followed by my beloved Gunners playing at 12:30. What more could I ask for? So much more, the next four and a half hours of my life featured, zero goals and little to cheer about.

The Fulham game had no real moments of intrigue as Villa collapsed in to defensive shell mode and Fulham lacked the creativity to break it down. The Arsenal game was tough to watch as the Gunners missed time and time again. Then late in the game Joey Barton, the Newcastle United version of Dennis Rodman, grabbed Arsenal striker Gervhino, pulling him off the pitch and began to berate him. Gervhino, slapped at Barton who sold the punch in a way that would have made Bret Hart proud, and fell to the ground. The dive gave Gervhino his walking papers in the form of a red-card as the Gunners limped out of town with a worrisome 0-0 tie. The worst news for Arsenal however, was yet to come.

Not the best showing for the opening week of the EPL. Only three out of the 16 teams in action this weekend gained the maximum three points, five games ended in ties and Chelsea matched Arsenal by not notching a single goal. Manchester United did what they always seem to do, they got a 2-1 result, but they seemed vulnerable. Dave De Gea, the new man between the pipes, looked shaky and with Rio Ferdinand out with injury, a banged up backline will be even more cause for worry. Bolton come out of week one as the big winners so far, after they dismantled QPR 4-0. Still to come is Monday Night Futbol, featuring Manchester City and their new signings taking on newly promoted Swansea, so there is a chance that City will make up for a weekend that came in with a whimper.

Sidebar time: I was impressed by the coverage of the EPL, by both ESPN and Fox Soccer Channel. FSC featured a real studio show for pre/halftime and post-game coverage. It almost felt I was like watching Fox's NFL coverage, just with 3-4 less talking heads. ESPN2 had a nice feature during halftime of the Fulham game detailing Craven Cottage, the home of Fulham FC. The feature gave us a feel for what it's like to actually attend a game in London. Well done.

At the Half: United grab first home win since early May - If forever feels like a really long time, that's because it is. It took DC United what seemed like forever, more than three months to be exact, to finally win at home. A 4-0 thrashing of the cellar-dwelling Vancouver Whitecaps should not be taking lightly. It should be looked at as the next step in the process of a team making a serious playoff push.

Chris Pontius continued to look like one of the best players on the pitch, scoring two goals, while Stephen King and Andy Najar each scored a goal apiece.

Special mid-week USMNT Recap

Last night before a crowd of more than 30,000 fans, after five years of flirting, the Jurgen Klinsmann era finally began. And guess what? He had fun!!!

I won't lie seeing Klinnsman's interview after the game, in which he said "I really had fun tonight", summed up how the whole US Soccer contingent is feeling today, we're truly excited and for once in a really long time, we feel optimistic. I didn't feel that way when the game started or for that matter even after the first 70 minutes, but then something happened, something I'm not used to seeing a USMNT coach do, Klinsmann inserted youth and more importantly took a freaking chance. Before the insertion of Juan Aguedelo (18 yrs.), Brek Shea (21 yrs.) and Robbie Rodgers (24 yrs. /Former Maryland Terp) the game was anything but enjoyable for me, so let's reflect on game one of the Klinsmann regime.

Kickoff: We have to begin with the starting line-ups. I quickly got that uneasy feeling when I saw the likes of Edson Buddle and Kyle Beckerman trotting out of the tunnel. Where had I seen these guys before? I will however, give Beckerman credit as he played a solid game in the midfield, and really made a difference winning balls and pushing forward.

Buddle is another story. You will remember Buddle from his LA Galaxy days, where he greatly benefited by playing with Landon Donovan, David Beckham and being coached by Bruce Arena. Buddle as a national team player is pretty pathetic to watch, think a poor man's Eddie Johnson. The buddle inclusion had me worried, add the fact that he was playing as the lone striker, and you've got a recipe for no possession up top and failed run after failed run. Much to my chagrin, I was right, he stunk up the pitch.

The defensive selections had me excited as Edgar Castillo finally got a chance to claim his spot as left back, and even more importantly, I didn't have to watch Jonathan Bornstein attempt to play soccer. Castillo was partnered with the reliable, but aging duo of Carlos Bocanegra and Steve Cherundalo. The final piece of the backline was Michael Orozco Fiscal, which I admit I know nothing about. I know he plays in Mexico making him one of three players who apply their trade in Mexico in the USMNT starting eleven. The other's being Castillo and midfielder Jose Torres. A really good sign since the previous coaching regime seemed to ignore anyone who played below Texas. At first the backline looked shaky, Castillo, who has a tendency to attack on the left side, was caught a few times, and Cherundalo barely missed out on getting a red-card, but all in all nice performance by the US backline.

The rest of the half was pretty un-watchable, failed opportunities, little creativity and barely any possession. ESPN kept going to shots of Klinsmann on the sideline and my first instinct was telling me that this guy looks in over his head. He just didn't look confident at first, but as we found out later he had a couple of cards hidden up his sleeve.

United entertain. Futbol is back. Soccer Messiah...

United Entertain: I don't want to sound cynical here, but DC United finally gave the home fans something worth watching. Trust me I know, I watched the last home game against New England and almost went in to a coma, and if I had I no doubt would have had someone pull the plug, that un-inspired 1-0 loss left me wary of investing another night in front of the TV, but I was graciously rewarded. The 3-3 tie had everything a soccer fan could ask for. Right from the start there was something in the air, may be it was the storm that had just rolled through the DC area that broke the haze of humidity, whatever the case the next 90 minutes were anything, but routine.

A mere seven minutes in to the game, United goalkeeper Bill Hamid, charged out of his box to knock the ball away from a streaking Toronto FC attacker. Hamid slid full bore sending the attacker flipping through the air. The tackle resulted in a red-card, less than ten minutes in and Hamid's night was done, and more importantly, United was forced to play 80 plus minutes with ten men. (My buddy joked that Hamid wanted to rest up for his National team call up on Wednesday). It should also be noted that when the goalie gets a red card, you have to take a field player off and sub a goalie on for him. In this case it was midfielder Stephen King (Not that One) who had to leave the game after just seven minutes. I would hate to be that guy, adrenaline pumping, a nice sweat beginning and then boom, you're night is done.

The rest of the game featured something the MLS is known for, poor officiating and something the MLS is rarely known for, a lot of goals, six in total. After allowing play to resume after a clear substitution by DC should have stopped play, the referee inexplicably let play continue while at the same time telling the substitute to come on. For those that don't know, anytime you substitute a player, the action on the field stops, so basically substitutions and injuries are the only times a soccer game stops. Well for some un-explained reason, play did not stop and the result was catastrophe as United, half paying attention, saw Toronto take advantage and score a goal to tie the game at 2-2. As a player few matched Ben Olsen's intensity, and as a coach he's not far off from his field persona. Olsen blew a gasket and berated the refs for this injustice, the result, another red card. For those keeping score that's two red cards, and zero to a field player, that's pretty rare.

After conceding a third goal, DC looked to have squandered points again as they trailed 3-2. In a timely fashion Dwayne De Rosario, the Canadian Dynamo completed his hat-trick (First United hat trick since Luciano Emilio) after a well-placed penalty kick. De Ro was determined to salvage the game, and almost took the full three points narrowly missing on an attempt during injury time. De Ro, as he is affectionately called, has scored DC United's last six goals.

It was no doubt the most entertaining DC United home game in some time.

Futbol is back: Remember all those god awful mismatched preseason tours that we all witnessed during the past month? You know the ones were Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid and other come over to America to escape the European press and vacation by beating MLS teams to a bloody pulp? No? Come on, don't you remember when how they interrupted the flow of the MLS regular season, covered turf fields with actual grass, score lines like 7-0, 6-0, 5-0, a lopsided All-Star game, the US press convincing us that these teams actually cared or that these games actually mattered?

Well rejoice lovers of meaningful sporting events, because that pitiful display of soccer is behind us, for a year at least, and just this past weekend three major European leagues kicked off.

Dr. Gonzo reporting,

Cue the Tom Rinaldi voice over, now cut to a shot of an empty soccer field with a well timed morning fog settling over the pitch, now Rinaldi says something like Charlie Davies always dreamt of being a World Cup Hero, but he never imagined his boyhood dream would take so many twists and turns... Now cut to a shot of pictures of a crushed car on the side of the George Washington Parkway, cue Davies mom saying something that makes your heart hurt.

To this point just a week ago, that was the Charlie Davies story, but redemption is right around the corner, literally.

Mere miles from the sight of a car crash that nearly took his life, Charlie Davies will now play his home games at RFK after signing a one year loan deal with DC United.
Davies journey has been long and tumultuous, from France to DC and back Davies has turned tradgedy in to inspiration.

The Charlie Davies story is an agonizing tale of a young man who made one bad decision that almost cost his life and seriously damaged his professional career.

Rewind to October 2009, the US National team was getting ready to host Costa Rica at RFK Stadium (That's right it still exists, but no one wants to admit it because it's a dump) in a huge World Cup qualifying game. The US was in need of a tie or win to clinch a spot in the World Cup. A loss would have put the US into a playoff against a South American team for a trip to South Africa.

The night before the deciding game Charlie Davies missed curfew and was involved in a near fatal car crash. Davies who was considered the number one or two forward for the US and a pure scorer to boot suffered a broken right leg, broken left elbow, lacerated bladder and facial fractures.

The US would go on to tie Costa Rica in thrilling fashion on a last second header. The tie won the US its group and a spot in the Cup. Charlie's teammates admitted that they were trying to win one for their fallen forward. The initial reaction to the win was palpable and it seemed like no one was fully ready to except how bad off Davies was.

In a move that shocked no one, the United States Soccer Federation chose to renew head coach Bob Bradley's contract for four more years.
How do I feel about this? Frustrated, to say the least.
In Bradley's first term he compiled a less than stellar 30-20-8 record, highlighted by the USA making it to it's first ever final in a FIFA competition (2009 FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP), beating #1 ranked Spain and topping the group at the 2010 World Cup for the first time in sixty years.
It's not as if Bradley doesn't deserve to be coach, but he already had his chance. The last US coach to repeat as manager was Bruce Arena, after a quarterfinal journey in 2002, Arena and the Yanks crashed out in the group stage of Germany 2006.
Bradley, it should be noted, also made terrible personnel decisions during the last World Cup. Going back to Ricardo Clark after he showed no reason to be on the pitch in the first place.
My main beef with Bradley is his blind loyalty to certain players. Deciding to start Clark over Feilhaber and Edu was ludicrous. It was a prime example of what could happen in the next four years. Certain guys need to hit the "dusty trail" and move on from international soccer, but will Bradley have the stones to tell them to go?
Bradley must also address a rapidly aging back line. As of now, Jonathan Bornstein and Oguchi Oneywu will be the only holdovers from the last World Cup.
Bradley must also solve two more riddles, first an overcrowded mid-field and second and probably the most important, he must find a world class striker.
The first problem will be easier to deal with. Micheal Bradley, the coaches son, was solid this past world cup as well as Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan. Bradley however, failed to find a suitable partner for his son in his first four years giving me little hope he will this go around.
Finding a striker will be tough, unless Jozy Altidore breaks out of his shell and becomes world class. Let us not forget that Charlie Davies was tearing up the pitch with his pace and finishing prowess, but he was almost killed in an October car crash before the USA's last qualifier. If he can return to be 95% of the player he was, then he could be a huge boost.
It appears that coach Bradley has a long tough road ahead of him if he hopes to duplicate his success from 2010. Four years seems like a long time, but Brazil 2014 will be hear before he knows it. Can Bradley change his formula and create a team that infuses youth and skill with savvy veterans? Or will he be doomed to repeat the same mistakes his predecessor Arena made?

That's it and that's all....

It was a good run. Right?

A hollow feeling blanketed US soccer as the final whistle blew in the USA's 2-1 defeat at the hands of Ghana. So much promise, waisted.

The USA seemed to start the match flat, like may be just may be too much positive press had inflated their egos. In doing so the USA fell behind early, and I mean early, like the first 5 minutes. It was an odd personal decision that lead to the early hole. For some reason Ricardo Clark, the man partially responsible for Steven Gerrad's early goal in the England match was back in the starting eleven. Clark once again looked terrible, and let Ghana take the ball from him in the defensive third and score. Clark was subbed out twenty-five minutes later.

The second half was better, but it was too little too late. Ghana scored a sparkling goal early in overtime sealing the USA's fate.
It's too early to decide if Bob Bradley should remain coach. He made a huge error in starting Ricardo Clark, but he was man enough to admit it.
Literally a tough pill to swallow, to be so close to catching the imagination of a nation, to being sent home. The ebb and flow of high level futbol proved to be too much for a US squad that conceded early, scored late and had no attack from their forwards.

Moving on... The Cup has entered it's most exciting portion....KNOCK OUT ROUND. That's right America, you finally get a winner, NO MAS TIES!!!

So we're on Day 3 of the round of 16, here's a brief re-cap...

Controversy: In group play it was the Jubalani ball that was causing all the problems. Now it's technology or lack thereof. England and Germany played on day two, down 2-1, Frank Lampard scored a goal that wasn't. It clearly fell a foot over the line on replay, but not to the line judge and referee, who both said no goal. Then in the nightcap of Day 2, Carlos Tevez of Argentina was more than a foot offsides on the games first goal.

FIFA doesn't want goal-line replays because they are worried it will tarnish the games image. So what about blown calls doesn't tarnish the image of FIFA? I'm in favor of goal-line replays, but not full replay. Replay slows the NFL to near stand stills, I would hate for a game with no stoppages to become stagnant.

Otherwise the group stage has been exciting, with lots of goals so far. Argentina scored three, highlighted by a brilliant strike by Tevez. The kind of goal that could be the goal of the tournament. The Germans put four goals on England. Argentina will meet Germany in the next round and that has me drooling. What a match-up! If Brazil can take out Chili, they will face the Netherlands, who won 2-1 early today. A Brazil v Netherlands match has the potential to be extremely free flowing and full of goals.

The World Cup may be done for team USA and the casual followers, but us futbol die-hards are in heaven. This is when the cream rises to the top, it time to sit back and enjoy the beautiful game....

That's it and that's all....