US National Team Roster for Cuba and T&T Qualifiers

September 6 at Cuba
September 10 vs. Trinidad and Tobago in Chicago
October 11 vs. Cuba in Washington DC
October 15 at Trinidad and Tobago

GK: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton)

D: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Danny Califf (FC Midjtylland), Steven Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Marvell Wynne (FC Toronto)

M: DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Michael Bradley (Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Los Angeles)

F: Brian Ching (Houston), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Eddie Johnson (Cardiff City)

Bob Bradley is mostly sticking with the squad that gritted out a victory over Guatemala two weeks ago.  Jay DeMerit and Pablo Mastroeni are gone with Ricardo Clark and uncapped Olympian Michael Orozco taking their places.  Clark has looked shaky at times, but mostly solid for Houston, while Orozco was exposed by Robbie Rogers’ lack of zeal for defense in Beijing, mostly up to the challenge.

Howard looked great against Guatemala, and Guzan is a quality second option.  The Aston Villa ‘keeper looked good in the Olympics.

Bocanegra and Onyewu are good enough for the backline, but I’m not sold on any of the other defensive options.  Wynne combines great pace with poor crossing and a tendency to gamble too much.  Orozco and Pearce can be solid or spotty, Hejduk and Cherundolo are on the decline.  Hejduk has not been tested as much as you would expect in Columbus with teams attacking the revolving door of players on the left side instead.  When he has been tested, he has a tendency to gamble on going to the ground instead of staying on his feet and staying in front of his man.  Cherundolo has been up and down in National Team duty recently and Califf has impressed at Midjtylland.

The midfield remains the team’s greatest outfield strength.  Beasley sparked the victory over Guatemala, Kljestan is at times an outstanding link player in the middle, at times invisible.  Lewis and Bradley are solid, with Lewis providing valuable experience and a long-range scoring threat, and Edu is one of the nation’s top rising all-around talents (when he isn’t too fatigued from traveling around the world).  It does, however, seem strange that Bradley would dislodge Edu from Rangers so soon after his arrival in Glasgow.

The front line is where things get worrisome.  Donovan is good enough in one forward spot, but who is going to pair with him?  Ching is a poor man’s Brian McBride and probably not good enough as a target man for serious international competition.  Neither Johnson nor Dempsey are in form right now, as Johnson was so far down the list at Fulham that he got loaned to Cardiff City and Dempsey has been dropped from the Cottagers’ starting lineup and hasn’t seen time as a sub.  Edson Buddle and Kenny Cooper are both in good form right now, and would benefit from International experience at an early stage in the qualifying game, but neither seems to be on Bradley’s radar.

Around the MLS 8/21

There’s plenty of big headlines today, so I’ll run through them a little more briefly than usual:

Chicago at Los Angeles, 10:00 PM ESPN2

The Fire and Galaxy take the field for ESPN’s MLS Primetime (which has been pushed back to 10 the last few weeks and moved to ESPN2 as a reward for good ratings).  Both teams will be without stars (Beckham, Blanco, etc.) due to international duty, but Bruce Arena will make his big debut.  If the Galaxy don’t have enough depth to field a quality side of starters and they use front office people in Reserve League games, does that mean we should see some accountants on the field for LA tonight?

Chicago has been hot lately, they have plenty of depth, and LA is LA, so I’ll say Chicago 3-Los Angeles 1

Eddie Lewis to LA Galaxy

LA’s midfield mess should get a little bit tidier with the addition of American international Eddie Lewis.  34 years old, Lewis is mostly a link player and defensive midfielder, which is exactly what the Galaxy needed.  Lewis has spent the last 8 years playing for various high-level English clubs (Fulham, Preston, Leeds, and Derby County), picking up 80 caps along the way.  An added bonus is that Lewis is familiar with Bruce Arena from their US National Team days, so Eddie knows what he’s getting into.

Colorado Fires Head Coach Fernando Clavijo

After seeing a solid franchise slowly go downhill under the Uruguayan Head Coach’s tenure, the Colorado Rapids have fired Clavijo (or as the team put it, the two sides have “reached mutual agreement for termination based on personal reasons”).  Taking over will be Interim Coach Englishman Gary Smith, who led the Rapids to a 2-1 victory over Kansas City last week in Clavijo’s absence.

World Cup Qualifier: USA 1-Guatemala 0

It should have been the kind of match that makes international football great: an exotic locale, a raucous venue, an inspired underdog, and the World Cup barely visible in the distance on the CONCACAF landscape.  Instead, violent play from both sides, though most notably from Guatemala, tainted an otherwise sloppy, but exciting contest.

The United States recorded their first World Cup Qualifying victory in Guatemala on the backs of a 69th minute Carlos Bocanegra header.  Bocanegra guided in a corner kick from DaMarcus Beasley to give the United States the lead just minutes after both a Steve Cherundolo red card (second yellow) and a straight red to Guatemala D Gustavo Cabrera for a vicious diving elbow to the head of Eddie Lewis.  Although Guatemala would pressure American keeper Tim Howard the rest of the match, the USA managed to hang on for the first-leg victory.  The American players looked impacted by the hostile environment and jetlag from their international travels, often displaying poor touch and questionable passing (even stellar Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard’s kicking was off).  Furthermore, the lack of a quality attacking option remains blatant.  Brian Ching holds up play well and is decent in the air, but Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey provided few threats to the Guatemala goal.

Overshadowing the actual soccer was the shamefully dirty play.  While most of the late shoving and desperate atttempts from the US were retaliatory, Guatemala did whatever they could to intimidate or flatout injure the American players.  Cabrera’s flying elbow was simply the nadir of a display that included Carlos Ruiz kicking Tim Howard in the head, plenty of body checks and takedowns, a Guatemalan defender kicking at Carlos Bocanegra during his goal celebration and defender Yony Flores attempting to attack a US coach after the match.

Though I had heard about the hostility of Central American opponents, I had never seen the United States in a football streetfight until their match with Guatemala.  Poor CONCACAF officiating only compounded the needless aggression that Guatemala apparently felt they needed to utilize in order to have a chance against one of the federation’s juggernauts.  While I had been thinking about how weak qualifying competition gave the United States a disadvantage once they reached large tournaments like the World Cup and Olympics, I now know that at the very least, the Red, White, and Blue are mentally prepared to take on all comers.

Carlos Ruiz to Toronto FC

The Transfer Season continues to chug along, and change continues to be the theme for the LA Galaxy, as forward Carlos Ruiz appears set to join Toronto FC.

The Guatemalan international has 81 MLS goals, an MLS Cup, an MLS MVP award and two MLS Golden Boots for the most goals in the league.  Internationally, Ruiz is Guatemala’s highest goal scorer ever, with 39 goals in 77 appearances.  However, his second stint in LA after 4 years in Dallas has been a disappointment.  Ruiz has played in only 10 games, few of those appearances have been starts, and he has nothced only one goal.

LA unloads upwards of $300,000 per season in salary cap space, a Designated Player slot, and an ego to compete with the abundance of personality already present in the Home Depot Center locker room.  Perhaps the Galaxy will use the space to sign American international M Eddie Lewis, who had been a rumored target in LA before new Head Coach Bruce Arena arrived.  With Edson Buddle scoring plenty this season, Ruiz became surplus, and LA has accordingly been attempting to dispose of him for a good portion of the season (New York and Columbus were potential destinations).

Toronto gets a forward proven in the league (even if he is looking a little chubby and dives a lot) who can pair up with Danny Dichio.  Apparently young forwards Abdus Ibrahim (17), Chad Barrett (23), Jarrod Smith (24), and Johann Smith (21) didn’t represent an immediate solution for TFC’s Director of Soccer Mo Johnston.  Although Ruiz has plenty of accolades and experience, this move seems a bit desperate for the Reds, as well as an inevitable hit to the confidence of new acquisitions Barrett and Johann Smith, who haven’t even been in Toronto for a month.  Ruiz carries a large price tag, has produced little this season, and can be an unsettling force similar to recently departed ex-TFC forward Jeff Cunningham.  Barrett, a former Generation Adidas player, and Smith, a recent arrival from Premier League side Bolton Wanderers, are both seen as rising stars in the US Soccer world.  It’s strange that the team would bring in a generously-paid player like Ruiz to take playing time away from the two of them, but Toronto is facing desperate times after slipping to a tie for last place in the Eastern Conference.

Update: Los Angeles received first and second round 2009 Supplemental Draft picks for Ruiz

Premier League Preview: Fulham

Last Year-

Premier League: 8-12-18 (17th)

Founded: 1879 as Fulham St. Andrew’s Church Sunday School

Manager: Roy Hodgson (English)

Stadium: Craven Cottage (30,500)

Nicknames: The Cottagers

Top Players: GK Mark Schwarzer, F Andrew Johnson, M Jimmy Bullard, M Simon Davies, M Danny Murphy

Famous Fans: Hugh Grant, Michael Caine

Fulham have spent relatively little time in the top English Division and have never won a title there.  As a club, the only real success they’ve ever had was 2002-2003 UEFA Cup qualification through the Intertoto Cup (the Cottagers knocked out Croatia’s top two sides, Zagreb and Split, before falling to Hertha Berlin in the third round).  Last season, Fulham languished in the relegation zone for most of the year.  Interim Manager Lawrie Sanchez was relieved of his duties in December, and Roy Hodgson managed to save the team on goal difference after a tie in points with Reading.  After last season’s debacle, Hodgson brought in 9 new faces and sent 13 old ones packing.  Until recently, Fulham was infamous for having more Americans on their roster than any other English side (earning them the occasionally-used nickname “Fulhamerica”).  Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey, Marcus Hahnemann, Eddie Johnson, Eddie Lewis, Kasey Keller, and Brian McBride have all recently been Cottagers, but only Eddie Johnson and Clint Dempsey remain for the 2008-2009 iteration of the team, and neither of them are projected starters.

LA Galaxy Hires Bruce Arena

After the end of the Alexi Lalas/Ruud Gullit fiasco, the LA Galaxy have hired former DC United, New York Red Bulls, and US Men’s National Team head coach Bruce Arena to fill both the vacated GM and Head Coach spots.

Arena had enough success with DC in the early days of MLS to warrant getting selected for the USMNT job, where he guided the squad to their highest World Cup finish ever (2002 semi-final). However, since his career reached its zenith in Korea/Japan, Arena has been in charge of the Germany 2006 squad which was a catastrophe on offense, and a stint in NY that saw him get fired after one season and change yielded a .500 record.

There are many positives to Arena’s hiring. He is a well-known and mostly well-respected name in the US soccer community, his signature sarcasm when dealing with the press will lend itself better to media coverage than most other MLS head men’s vanilla approach to public exposure, he has a good relationship with Landon Donovan from their USMNT days, and he has plenty of experience, both domestic and international. Finally, Arena has longtime right-hand man and former Chicago Fire head coach David Sarachan as his assistant (of whom Arena said “it will be nice to have a backup plan when I get assassinated”. Arena apparently plans on a few more public attacks like the ones he loosed in New York).

Unfortunately, the negatives surrounding Arena’s arrival are almost as plentiful as the positives. Arena hasn’t really enjoyed any success since 2002. His colorful media personality is accompanied by a notoriously large ego, which will have to share locker room real estate with David Beckham’s and Landon Donovan’s egos (unless a successful Premier League team that plays “free-flowing” football decides to buy Landycakes’). Finally, Arena inherits a woeful LA team that is well into a second half free fall. The Galaxy haven’t won since beating the old San Jose Earthquakes on June 14th, well before San Jose’s rejuvenation. The potent offense that recorded 10 goals in 4 June games has only scored 8 since then in 6 games (and that’s WITH Becks and Landycakes, who won’t be around during this week’s international friendly/World Cup Qualifying fiesta). The defense has been especially bad, even with experienced MLS defenders Greg Vanney and Chris Klein, and it doesn’t help that the old regime passed on their chance in the allocation lottery to sign former Feyenoord, Charlton, and USMNT defender Cory Gibbs in favor of chasing 34 year-old midfielder Eddie Lewis. Although Lewis has had more USMNT experience (80 caps to Gibbs’ 19), as well as quality experience in the English FA (Fulham, Preston, Leeds, Derby), when your team’s defensive struggles have underlined your lack of success and an internationally-capped defender comes along, the common sense move seems to be taking the defender (although maybe Gibbs made it known he didn’t want to play in LA; I wouldn’t blame him for that one).

It will be interesting to see if Arena can turn the Galaxy around fast enough for LA to make the MLS Playoffs. They currently reside in 5th out of 7 in the Western Conference, with Chivas USA a point behind in 6th with a game in hand. The West is going to be quite a dogfight at the end of the season, so Arena will need to be able to redevelop the team’s chemistry quickly. Houston is one of the hottest teams in the league right now, Salt Lake is unbeatable at home, Dallas is finally finding their groove under new boss Schellas Hyndman, Colorado has been almost as steady at home as Salt Lake (despite microscopic attendance figures), and San Jose has been hot since adding Francisco Lima, Scott Sealy, Arturo Alvarez, and Darren Huckerby.

Another intriguing feature in the landscape of Arena’s hiring is his dual role as both Head Coach and General Manager. Very few MLS Head Coaches are also in charge of personnel moves, although the league’s emerging power, the Houston Dynamo, employ Dominic Kinnear in both roles. I would like to see more MLS teams moving towards eliminating their General Manager positions. In the rest of the world, Managers assume all responsibilities in managing the team itself. The only reason I can think of that the MLS wouldn’t do the same is the coaches’ inability to do so. However, most MLS Head Coaches are former collegiate coaches, so they have experience in juggling the roles of recruiter and coach. Having a General Manager make personnel decisions seems to create a gap between the Head Coach’s desires for what his squad looks like and who actually joins the team. Perhaps the product on the field would improve, maybe only slightly, if Head Coaches were bringing in players for themselves.