Blatter is an idiot

The great rotund one and ruler of all things FIFA Sepp Blatter has opened his big pasty mouth, and once again nothing of any use came out. This story has made the rounds on the interwebs so most people are aware of it already but I figured since I have an outlet for my rants I should make use of it. Here's a link to a story which contains his foolish remarks. The man is supremely misinformed and what will follow is for you sepp, should your bloated self make it over to this blog at some point I hope you read closely because I'm gonna do my best to correct your stupidity.

"American football plays in winter

No that's wrong. "American Football" plays in the fall with only a very limited number of playoff games being actually played in the winter.

or they can only play from March to October

Also very wrong. We play from March to October to avoid competition with...the NCAA, NFL, NBA, and the NHL. MLS can spout on about playing the cold all they like, and while that would definitely crush attendance numbers it's competition not the Cold they're afraid of. But if you are a subscriber of the valid (if slightly of base) "It's too F*@king Cold" argument then you can also point out that in the US soccer is viewed primarily as a fall, summer and spring sport. Youth soccer runs spring through fall and ever since NASL soccer in this nation has been a Summer game.

which means you are not in the right season

Sepp do you actually pay attention to world soccer? Or do you just pay attention to western-European soccer? Scandinavia, Russia, South America and Central America all play in the summer, it's not just MLS and North America. Besides what is or is not the "right season" is purely subjective and there for has no correct definition my friend.

The best American players are playing here, and this is the basic problem with the MLS

If this is the problem with MLS then this is problem with every country in the world outside of Western Europe. I'm sorry Sepp but MLS isn't gonna spend itself broke like the English clubs. But one day when we can hike our salary cap to that similar to, say the NHL. Well then we'll see how many US players are overseas, but that's gonna take time.

This next stupid bit is from the article itself

MLS has said it hopes to eventually make the switch but it can't for now because it shares several stadiums with NFL teams. Eight MLS teams are in football stadiums built for the league, two share with NFL teams that are controlled by the same owners as the football club, and New York shares with NFL teams through 2009 before moving into its own stadium.

I don't believe this in the least. MLS may want to end the season a bit later or start it a bit earlier to resolve conflicts, but I do not believe MLS will ever play by a Western European schedule.

Back to the stupidity of Sepp

This league was founded after the 1994 World Cup, but is still struggling to get the position they should have according to the number of football players there are in the United States

All this shows is that Sepp once again does not understand the way soccer (or sports a whole) is traditionally viewed in this country. There may be literally millions of soccer players in this country, but most are little kids. The same way that I was a kid when MLS was founded and became a season ticket holder as I aged, a good bit of these kids will too. But that's going to take time seppy-boy this stuff doesn't just happen overnight. After all, this league is only 14 years old.

The league has not found yet its position. It can only find its position if the league has its own stadiums."

In the last ten years MLS has built Seven Soccer Specific stadiums and has plans on the books to build three more (five if we count Portland and Vancouver) for a league that many critics still believe will fail. I don't know what he's bitching about, but considering how long stadium plans take to get approved and then built that's impressive. I believe Liverpool FC has been trying to get their new stadium opened since 2003, and even now it still is looking iffy for 2012. In the end all Sepp did by opening his trap was prove how ignorant to American sports he really is. That's enough rambling for today. Have your say at the bottom, I know this story isn't exactly breaking news, but if ya want feel free to let me know if you agree or disagree with me.

Thanks

MLS Round Up

Sorry about the delay between posts, but with the flu and finals on the horizon I've been a bit too distracted lately. Anyway onto the Round Up...

Seattle
Looks likes MLS' second underwear modeling DP will be ready to play the role of Super-sub for their home opener. Congrats Freddy, lets just hope for your sake those injury trouble stay away, after all MLS isn't exactly non-physical league. The Link

More good news for the land of Frasier is that Quest field will host MLS Cup 2009. I feel this is a good choice and with 20k in season ticket holders all but guaranteed to show up It should make for a great TV experience. The bad news in al of this though is that the TV experience will require basic cable as the game got bounced from ABC to ESPN, Ouch. The Link

St.Louis
Looks like the bid for the St. Louis expansion isn't quite dead yet. Everyone's favorite Dutch owned American Beer Company Anheuser-Busch is prepared to Donate land and facilities to the potential new team. That's great news for the bid but I'm afraid it might be to little too late. I have a feeling that St. Louis should be shooting for USL at this point, what with Portland and Vancouver looking more and more like locks. The Link

Columbus
Bad news in the 614 it seems, Pat Noonan left practice the other day rather upset and apparently injured. The expensive Crew Sub won't be joining the team on the final bit of their preseason as the team heads to Texas. While this is bad news for Noon's the Crew shouldn’t sweat it too much as Midfield is where the team is the deepest. The Link

Salt Lake City
Real Salt Lake fans have something to cheer about today, as they Royals took home the Carolina Challenge Cup. RSL won the match today 2-1 over the host Charleston Battery, very nice Salt Lake. Here's a great play-by-play style break down from the official team blog. The Link

Chicago
Here's A nice little Q&A with US Soccer legend Brian McBride over on the Chicago Tribune website that's very much worth the read. The Link

LA Galaxy
Some great news down LA way, Landon Donovan has returned and is once again practicing with the team. The big fish is once again back in the proverbial small pond. At least one of the stars in L.A. wants to be there. The Link

MLS Wide
Here's an interesting tidbit via the Rapids blog, it's the MLS Fan Code of conduct in useful PDF format so you can print it off and read it every day! The Link

And we're back

Sorry about the layoff in posts these lat few days, I was rather busy and didn't really have a chance to get out any new updates. So without further delay lets jump right into a short round up (It would be longer but I'm still rather busy)

MLS
The MLS players union released the salaries of all the players around the league while I was gone and this is definitely worth taking a look at. As always in MLS there are some kids who are playing just for the love of the game, and not for their shameful 12k a year salary. I can't wait for the day when MLS can offer a living wage to their rookies and reserves. In the mean time however it's either 12k or no k so take your pick I suppose. The Link

In that same vein here's a fantastic story from MLS-Daily breaking down the biggest upgrades in salary across MLS. This is worth a read for any fan of the American game. The Link

Salt Lake City
DC was thumped the other night by RSL in the Carolina Challenge Cup. There's a great play-by-play style break down for those interested over on the RSL team blog. The Link

LA
Here's a Quick overview of the Beckham deal by Steven Goff. If you ask me it sounds like MLS and namely the Galaxy are getting screwed here for the most part. Though the fact that LA does get a small "transfer fee" for the time he spends hanging out in Italy avoiding he actual contract. The Link

Columbus
Also while we were gone The Crew downed their second set of reserves, beating Liverpool's second string 2-0. The Link

Houston Bounced

Houston was knocked out of the Concacaf Champions League last night in a tough 3-0 loss down in Cancun Mexico. Houston didn't look particularly sharp to me at any point in the game last and that's not good when you're going into a road game a goal down. The total aggregate score from the game last night was 5-1, ouch. At least the Dynamo made a run of it in the CCL, all other MLS sides were knocked out long ago at this point. Overall MLS did not put out a good showing this time in the Champions League, something that should be a serious concern for the league. This group stage should be the earliest that any MLS team should be knocked out of the CCL in my opinion. Many are pointing to the USL's success in the compilation as an embarrassment for MLS, and I agree. Houston is probably better side than the two remaining USL sides, and has proven their better than at least Montreal. They couldn't get it done when it counted, though and that's a problem.

In the next edition of the CCL MLS will be represented by Columbus, New York, Houston and DC. Columbus has a deep squad and should be able to make it to the knock out phase easily. Houston with their experience this year and an intact core of players means they should as well. On the bubble will be DC and NY both squads have the talent to push aside smaller Caribbean and Central American squads, but both squads aren't nearly as deep as the Crew or Dynamo. This lack of depth could be their downfall as the glut of games that comes mid season will strain on them even more. Couple that with DC needing to reassert themselves in the regular season again their CCL chances look even more grim. In the end of course only time will tell which squads will meet with success or failure, but one thing is clear. MLS should not tolerate another poor CCL showing like this year's again, next year every MLS squad should make the knock outs, bare minimum.

Sound off, what are your thoughts on MLS' CCL troubles.

Miami's Out

As Portland receives a huge boost to its bid to be the next Major League Soccer city, Miami is removed from life support. Today MLS announced that the Miami bid for an MLS franchise was officially done and dusted. The official reason stated was because of "adverse market conditions", but one has to believe that FC Barcalona's recent hesitance in regards to backing the project has to be the main cause. Most people (myself included) also feel that dispite changes in the cities demographics, South Florida is a terrible market for any sport. Their local USL-1 Side averages only around 1,000 people in attendance per game and looks likely to go bankrupt and stop play this year. I feel for the soccer fans in Miami, I can't imagine living in a city without a club to support, but I agree with MLS that their city isn't the right move for the league. Soccer in Miami has never done well, like most other sports. Though lets be honest, spend a summer day in a boiling stadium 30 minutes outside of the city or go to the beach for free. It's not really hard to see why, Miami soccer is a casualty of the other entertainment options avalible to residents. Even their baseball team which has two recent championships struggles emensely to bring people in. All and all while I feel bad for their fans, I'm glad for the league. I agree with "The Don" Garber, Miami is not for MLS.

MLS Round Up

Colorado
Yesterday the Colorado Rapids downed San Jose 2-1 in a preseason game after dropping a match a few days before to the Quakes 2-0. The Goals were scored by Conor Casey and Jacob Peterson for the Rapids. The lone San Jose goal was scored by Quincy Amarikwa. The Link

Real Salt Lake
Over on the RSL team blog, "Behind the Shield" there's a nice little video interviewing the team GM Garth Lagerwey. He talks about the teams most recent preseason match, the team roster and progress compared to last year. All and all a pretty decent little video, and worth the watch for any RSL fans out there. The Link

Chivas USA
The Chivas team blog has followed up their pictures from their preseason friendly against PDL squad Ventura County Fusion with a nice video with highlights from the whole match and some post game interviews. It looks like the Fusion goalie in the first half was facing a firing squad for this game but put up a good showing all things considered, making more than a few great saves. Also nice showing by the Chivas fans giving a preseason match some nice atmosphere. I recommend taking a peek even if you aren't a goats fan. The Link

Columbus
Shawn Mitchell caught up with Columbus native and OSU grad Eric Brunner. Brunner has been caught in a tug-o-war/pissing contest between The Crew and Redbull New York. For a good read on that check out Bill Archers Blog. Basically the guy is getting screwed by MLS' ridiculous rules for "who gets whom" with player rights, and even though he turned down a contract from New York last preseason and has never played a game for them, he can't play for his hometown Crew for two years without Columbus having to give something to New York for him. He's been playing with the USL1 Miami side in the mean time to keep fresh but with that club in financial trouble he could be out of work. So before my blurb gets longer than the actual thing I'm linking here's the bit on his situation from "Covering the Crew". The Link

LA Galaxy
I hate linking to that two face Beckham but I think I've got to this time. Anyway MLS appears to be getting the better of this deal but it's still a load of crap that we didn't drag him back here to honor the contract he so excitedly signed. Anyway here's a link to the LA times story about the whole new "I don't wanna play in the US/compromise" story. The Link

MLS to PDX a lock?

It seems that the Rose City is looking like a go for MLS expansion. Their city government Okay'd 85 million in tax bonds to be paid back with profits from the club. The funds will be used to build a new minor league baseball stadium and renovate PGE park to be MLS ready. I love this news, out of all the candidate cities in this batch the only one I want to see as part of MLS is Portland. They have a long history with the club in their city. They have a great established base of supporters. They have a stadium all but ready to go in a great location, and now with the cash to set it up just how they want it. Portland seems to have everything needed to make a great MLS city. If it were up to me (and it isn't for many very good reasons) I would only accept the Portland bid in this round of expansion. None of the other cities have either strong support in their ownership, or haven't proven they can support soccer. Another reason I personally also don't want to dilute the talent pool or overextend a league NASL style. Congrats Portland!

Now it's your turn, sound off and let me know what you think of MLS expansion and the new PTFC news.

MLS Round Up

New York
The Redbulls have dealt defender Chris Leitch to San Jose in exchange for allocation money, one of San Jose's international player slots and as an added bonus, they offload his salary in exchange for cap space. Now I'm just spit ballin' here but cap space, allocation money and an extra international slot? I wonder if they're making way to sign a trialist. Interestingly enough here's an older article from early febuary listing the RedBull trialists at the time. There seem to be quite a few internationals in there to pick from, though again, I'm just speculating here.

Columbus
The Crew play Guiseley AFC (an english 7th division side tomorrow) tomorrow in a friendly. Over the weekend they put the hurt on the Everton Reserves in a 5-1 thumping, and now over on the Crew's team blog they've got video of reigning defender of the year Chad Marshall's goals. The link

Chivas USA
Following the spirit of the Crew preseason videos here's a Link to the Chivas blog with photo's from their preason game against PDL side Ventura County Fusion. Some pretty good pictures from the team photographer Juan Miranda. The Link

LA Galaxy
Here's a Great article from "The Touchline" blog on a new development in the Beckham saga.
It seems that AC Milan wants to change the deal so golden balls can stay through the end of the Italian season. Something which sounds like a pretty crappy compromise However, seeing as anything good that's left in beck's reputation over here has been trashed I doubt he's in a hurry to get back The Link

Preseason Route

The Columbus Crew, took part in a Massive route of the Everton Reserves today with the score ending 5-1 in favor of the Crew. It looks like the Crew are picking up right where they left off with league and MLS Cup MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto picking up a goal and and an Assist and MLS defender of the year Chad Marshall picking up two goals.
This looks like good news for "The Massive Club", they appear to be gelling just like last year, and that great team chemistry was the key to their success in '08. Obviously this is just a friendly so to much can't be drawn from it but the Crew seems to have taken it rather seriously. Up next, the Mighty Guiseley AFC where a mix of first teamers and Crew reserves will take on the non-league side in a friendly. The Link

ONN will remain Massive for 2009

The Columbus Crew in partnership with Ohio News Network have announced that once again every regular season Crew game will be on TV for the third straight year. After dragging their feet on the announcement the news came with a little bit extra that made it worth the wait. In addition to carrying every single home and away Crew game, ONN will also be producing an original program dedicated entirely to the Crew called "CrewXtra". The show will be a behind the scenes look at the team along with analysis and a look at upcoming games. As if this wasn't good enough ONN also was able to secure the rights to broadcast the four sunday games that the Crew will be playing in english. This is a nice pick up for me personally as while my cable service gets FSC, ONN and ESPN2 for my crew fix, I do not have telefutura. I'm glad to hear that the Massive will once again be on TV for every home game and now I'll have something to watch Wednesday nights as well. However ONN is rather notorious for it's somewhat poor broadcast quality. While the play-by-play is good enough and production values of actually showing the game and not constant replays during the action (i'm looking at you espn). Their cameras have a "wrapped in cellophane" quality about them at times. If this is taken care of then I will have absolutely no complaints about ONN, and I'm glad to see their continuing partnership with the Crew.

Around the League

Seattle
The Sounders have been tearing it up in the emerald city and setting a new standard for MLS front offices. In addition to their Massive season tickets, which have now eclipsed the local MLB team The Mariners, they're also raking it in as far as sponsorships go. Despite the fact that they'll pry never have their own SSS Seattle is setting a new standard for incoming MLS franchises. The buzz they've built, the professionalism and NFL style Front office work is impressive to say the least. Nice work Sounders. The Link


DC United
Down in the nations capital United have signed Dejan Jakovic to play Central Defender. The twenty-three year old canuck comes in from Redstar Belgrade according to the article and was even able to take the field for two UEFA Cup matches while abroad. This man looks to be a solid pick up for United as they look to get back into the playoffs after a season full of mixed results. The Link

NYC via Argentina
Here's a short little blurb from RBNY's team blog with some notes on the teams time down in Argentina complete with a youtube clip. I guess JPA has been playing the role of "professor" for the younger Red Bull players. Now to me that sounds like the sort of thing a DP should be doing. Not, ya know dicking his way around Europe. The Link

Massive indeed

The Columbus Crew are in Engerland for the next few days as part of their preseason ritual. As part of this trip they're playing friendlies against the Liverpool and Everton reserve squads to get in some practice against quality opponents. In between these games however the Crew will be playing against English Seventh Division side Guiseley (known as the bantams). For the Crew This game will get in some playing time for the reserves, for Guiseley however this game is a big deal. The Bantams coach apparently has contacts in the US and was the one who arranged the friendly. The tone of this article is supremely flattering for the Crew and MLS as a whole. The coach thinks he can get a crowd of around 2,000 just watch the match, and that's nothing to sneeze at, as the seventh division side's stadium only holds 3,000. Apparently the reputation of MLS' "Massive Club" has spread a lot further than most people had realized. If this isn't a sign of the league gaining respect around the world then I don't know what is. I hope the Crew are able to put on a good show for these guys. Also, if any Guiseleyites make it over to this page somehow, much respect, and as far as this blogger is concerned Go Guiseley! (when they're not playing the Crew that is)

Impact 2 Santos 0

Last night in front of a pack house of 55,571 the Montreal Impact and their astroturf were able to defeat Santos Laguna of Mexico 2-0. It was over all a rather ugly game for both teams, but especially Santos seemed to be off all night long. The first goal was a ridiculous blunder by the Mexicans who didn’t really seem to be communicating with each other. The second was an absolute joke, a loooong free kick by the Impact took the Cepero bounce, off what looked liked the worse turf I’ve ever seen, and resulted in a comical header that dribbled into the net. Even with the huge astro-advantage put aside, Montreal was the better side on the night and if they manage to steal a goal down in Mexico they'll be a near lock to advance to the next round.

So far the Concacaf Champions has been a pleasant surprise for me. The games have been hard fought, exciting and actually matter to the teams involved. This model for the future regional tournaments seems like it could be a success. Normally I don't advocate following the Euro's on everything they do, but it seems like following their lead on this was a great call.

Finally here's a link to a story out of the Montreal Gazette that's worth the read.

The Highlights

Around the League

Columbus
Great article in the Columbus Dispatch by Shawn Mitchell today covering everything Guille's off season, Frankie's USA Mexico Slap to who will be covering The Crew on television this upcoming season. Some points of interest, The Crew and MLS have garnered mucho respect down in Argentina over these last few years. Apparently in addition to jean shorts, The Massive club is all the rage in Buenos Aires. Another rather interesting point is that ONN(Ohio News Network) has not announced if they will be covering The Crew on television this upcoming year. The Link


Houston
Houston played Atalante to a 1-1 draw last night at Robertson Stadium. I thought Houston played very well and came more than close on a few occasions to putting themselves up even further. All and all not a bad result even with the Mexican side getting the late equalizer. However now the Dynamo go back to Cancun down 2-1 on away goals. No American team has won a match in Mexico before, however Houston drew 4-4 in the group stage, garnering the best result by a USA side down south yet so this match is far from decided. The Link

KC Wizards
Apparently Flogging Molly was spotted Sporting KC kit last night on stage during their show in KC. Very Nice Wizards, that's a great band and great rep. The Link

LA Galaxy
The official team blog says they'll be announcing a few more roster moves not too far from now. My guess is they're going to announce some more cuts and not additions. Also Two players Donovan Rickets and Bryan Jordon are nursing some not so serious foot injuries, and their "Team Chiropractor/Active Release Specialist" had a child recently, so congrats for him. Though I find it rather ridiculous that the team has a "Chiropractor/Active Release Specialist" but then again, it is L.A. so who am I to judge? The Link

And Finally, Back to Columbus
The Crew apparently exchanged 100k in cash with SSFC for their championship coach Sigi Schmid. This helped refill the war chest they had built up last year, and yet with all the resigning that went on they're running low again. On a brighter note, Third Round draft pick Alex Grendi has impressed the coaches enough to squeeze out a a senior developmental contract out of the salary cap strapped club. The young midfielder can play on both wings, something which will be very handy as The Crew looks to be rather congested in the fixture department with USOC and CCL in addition to their regular season. The Link

5 Questions: Robbie Rogers

The following is a segment that I'd like to make a regular on this blog. Five questions with the up and coming players around the MLS. After I pestered the talented and speedy Crew number 19 on Facebook he was nice enough to respond with his thoughts. So thanks again Robbie and good luck in the 2009 season all of us here at The Partisan will be pulling for you.

1. How's preseason been so far?
Preseason so far has been very good. Our team has mainly the same group of guys so its been good to just get back into the groove of things. This trip to England will be a great experience and an important time for team bonding.

2. How has it different been from last season?
I think that the main difference from last preseason is that we are now defending champions and we know that everyone is gunning for us.


3. What part of the 2009 season are you looking forward to most?
I am looking forward to our home games the most in the 2009. I always had a great time playing at home in front of our fans and I think we really played some good soccer. Also I am hoping to play more for the national team so I have a lot of work to do.

4. What about the city of Columbus has surprised you the most since you came?
Columbus as a city is really growing I enjoy going out to dinner downtown and I have a really good time living here. The people are friendly and love their sports.


5. Which other soccer player do you enjoy watching the most and why?
My favorite play to watch is yoann gourcuff because he is so smooth and fast with the ball. He is only a year older then me and already one of the best attackers in the world.

Around the League

The Crew are back in Columbus this week after training in Florida. According to Shaw Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch they've attempted to acquire former OSU defender and 2008 draft pick Eric Brunner but were unsuccessful. Also it looks like the reserves will be taking on english non-league side Guisely in a friendly between first team matches against Everton and Liverpool reserves. The Link

FC Dallas have signed David Ferreira as they look to build up their squad for next years campaign. The Colombian international will be their 10 shirt and appears to be FCD's biggest signing this off season as they look to bring the team back into the playoff picture for 2009.The Link

and finally

Houston will have Stuart Holden available for their CCL game tonight. In his own words Holden says "I'm Ready to go" for tonight. According to Houston they will have no injured players scratched for tonight against Atalante. Houston is the last MLS team to remain in the competition as the knock out rounds begin. The Link

Pan-Pacific

Last night was the final of the second "Pan-Pacific Championship". The LA Galaxy lost on penalty's to Suwon Bluewings from the K-league of Korea. Thats not a bad result for a team who's got half it's salary cap tied behind it's back.

All through the match the ragtag Galaxy bunch played a tough scrappy game, but they were plagued by blunders and missed opportunities. The few that stick out to me the most are the own goal by franklin (of course) and the Buddle's missed PK. That is something a striker just shouldn't miss, let alone shank so badly.
Granted this "tournament" is really more a series of friendlies, but LA put on a decent show and as it looks like Becks and Landycakes will be back for the start of the MLS season "il Bruce" may be able to scrounge out a decent showing. I doubt they'll be world beaters or even make a serious challenge for the west but for their sake and that of the league i hope/think they'll be able finish higher this season than they did the last time through.

Highlights from the game

Crew Season Ticket Sales Up

This story has been circulated quite a bit these last few days. So for the discerning Crew fan out there they will have already read that Columbus Crew season ticket sales are up 15 to 20% from last season. This is big news for the Massive club especially in the current economy, and with about a month left to go you can be sure the ticket reps won't be done yet. If ya ask me this makes for a great anniversary present as the team is set to kick off their tenth season in the CCS.

I also think this vindicates the Crew fan's assertions that the reason attendance has been so desperately average was the teams lack of success rather than the cities' apathy. Columbus is a town that loves their sports, but also a town that loves a winner, and in a city where a 10-2 Buckeye football season is considered a 'bad season' the expectations are high. The next question on everyone's mind is if the Crew can meet the expectations of their new season ticket holders. With essentially the same squad that won the cup last year and a "new" coach who appears more than capable the task ahead of them certainly doesn't look impossible. But unlike last year, just making the playoffs wont cut it this go around.

Rumor: Inter vs All-Stars?

As most of us know the MLS All-star game will be played in Sandy, Utah in the beautiful new Rio Tinto Stadium this year. What we don't know is who the MLS' best will face off against in the now annual international friendly. The buzz around the net though seems to indicate that the "Special One" and company could be coming to America. If true this would be a serious step up from the last two All-Star opponents and arguably one of the best sides MLS has played, with the only possible exception being Chelsea FC, who at the time was also coached by Jose. At this point nothing is solidified but with Mourinho having made the trip once before it's not impossible to imagine that he would be willing to do it again. After all the team gets to sell shirts and spread the brand and MLS gets a TV boost from playing a big name European club.

Since 2002 MLS has played their all star games in an "international friendly" style rather than the traditional American conferences showdown with 2004 being the only exception. The following is a summary of results.

2002: MLS 3 USA 2
2003: MLS 3 CD Chivas 1
2005: MLS 4 Fulham FC 1
2006: MLS 1 Chelsea FC 0
2007: MLS 2 Celtic FC 0
2008: MLS 3 West Ham United 2