Posted by Creaven on March 4, 2010 under USMNT, United States | 
In six months, the United States-Holland friendly on March 3 in Amsterdam will be remembered by U.S. fans for one of two reasons:
1. People will vaguely remember Jonathan Bornstein throwing away any chance of a starting spot at the World Cup and the national team resurrection of DaMarcus Beasley.
Or.
2. People will vividly remember it as the match Stuart Holden’s 2010 World Cup ended before it began.
I really hope it’s No. 1. Not only do I like Holden, but I think he’s a critical player for the U.S. If it was up to me, he would be the starting right midfielder against England even if everyone is healthy. But that’s assuming Nigel de Jong didn’t snap his shin in half (see the previous blog post).
When it comes to the team’s performance, I thought it was a mostly positive 2-1 defeat. To the grades…
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Tags: Alejandro Bedoya, Alexi Lalas, Benny Feilhaber, Bob Bradley, Bob Ley, Carlos Bocanegra, Charlie Davies, Clarence Goodson, Clint Dempsey, DaMarcus Beasley, Eddie Johnson, ESPN, Heath Pearce, Holland, Jay DeMerit, John Harkes, Jonathan Spector, José Francisco Torres, Jozy Altidore, JP Dellacamera, Landon Donovan, Maurice Edu, Nigel de Jong, Robbie Findley, Stuart Holden, Tim Howard, Wesley Sneijder
Posted by Creaven on March 3, 2010 under United States |
I usually don’t write short blog posts, but the Nigel De Jong tackle on Stuart Holden has fired me up.
On a scale of 1-10, it was a 9.3 on the horrific scale. It was way worse than Ryan Shawcross’ tackle on Aaron Ramsey last weekend. I have no idea what De Jong was thinking, but watching the play a half dozen time it looks like he was trying to break Holden’s leg. How he got away with not getting a card goes far beyond unbelievable.
It’s halftime of the match right now and ESPN has said practically nothing about how terrible the tackle was. I should be amazed by that but I’m not. More on this later when I come out with the report card but I just hope Holden doesn’t have a broken shin.
Posted by Creaven on February 16, 2010 under Champions League, England, Europe, Premier League |
As and American, I know how much fun playoffs can be. The NCAA basketball tournament, Game 7’s in the Stanley Cup playoffs and even the over-hyped Superbowl are all thrilling sporting events.
I’m also an NBA fan, so I know how a playoff system can render the regular season meaningless. But this is why the English Premier League Champions League playoff idea is so brilliant — it implements a playoff system and it makes the regular season more compelling.
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Posted by Creaven on January 21, 2010 under England, Europe, MLS, Major League Soccer, Premier League, USMNT, United States, World Cup |
Popular columnists have real Q&A columns. Readers e-mail questions and the columnist answers them once every couple weeks. But I’m not popular. I might get a question or two in the comment section but not enough to write an entire column. So what should I do?
Simple. Make my own questions! I get to use a column format I’ve always enjoyed and I get the questions I want. Perfect. It’s like a Republican going on Fox News; it’s impossible to fuck up. So let’s get to it…
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Posted by Creaven on January 19, 2010 under World Cup |
Even before Clint Dempsey plopped to the ground Sunday the United States was already nearing The Tipping Point.
Charlie Davies is recovering from a shattered leg; Oguchi Onyewu is trying to rush back from a patellar tendon rapture (his knee is fucked up); Jermaine Jones might never recover from his broken leg; Jozy Altidore can’t score a goal in the English Premier League; Carlos Bocanegra is stuck on the Stade Rennes’ bench; DaMarcus Beasley started playing well for the first time in years and then tore his hamstring.
Now it’s looking likely Dempsey is going to get as much playing time at the World Cup as I am. After the World Cup draw U.S. fans (including me) were oozing with optimism, but with Robbie Rodgers probably making the team Algeria and Slovenia suddenly seem like much tougher foes. But are things really that bad? Let’s take a look…
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Tags: Algeria, Bob Bradley, Clint Dempsey, English Premier League, Fulham, Hull, Jermaine Jones, Jozy Alitdore, Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Oguchi Onyewu, Slovenia, World Cup
Posted by Creaven on January 15, 2010 under Major League Soccer |
Awwwww, Major League Soccer. If anyone should be an MLS fan it should be me. I grew up playing the sport; I love watching the sport; I’ve covered the sport at the high school, college and professional level; I have a blog called IntelligentSoccer.com. If the MLS can’t win me over there’s something seriously wrong.
So why doesn’t MLS connect with me? First, the product is terrible compared to other leagues. Why would I want to watch the Kansas City Wizard play the Columbus Crew when, every week, I can watch matches from the English Premier League, La Liga, Seire A and Bundesliga? What is MLS’s solution to the product problem? Expansion, of course. Copying the NHL’s over expansion plan might no be a brilliant idea, just throwing it out there.
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Posted by Creaven on January 14, 2010 under World Cup |
This has happened to everyone. You have a fantastic idea, but it’s so obvious you assume someone else has already thought of it. So you dismiss it, thinking there must be some fatal flaw in your idea that doesn’t make it possible.
I’m 75 percent sure this idea (which I will get to, I promise) won’t work because of some rule I’m not familiar with. But, if there isn’t a rule, and you can do this, then all 32 World Cup head coaches should take advantage of it.
It’s really simple. In a couple months, teams that qualified for the World Cup will name their 23-man rosters. Of those 23 players, three have to be goalies*(read note at the bottom). So here’s the idea: For the three mandatory goalie spots, coaches should name two “real” goalies and one field player, but just call the field player a goalie.
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Posted by Creaven on December 11, 2009 under England, Premier League, United States |
One of my favorite Web site’s is Sports Illustrated’s SI Vault. If you’re not familiar with it, the SI Vault has every article ever published by Sports Illustrated; it’s a heavenly digital oasis for avid sports fans.
A few weeks ago, on one of my endless surfing sessions of The Vault, I came across an intriguing feature story on an emerging young American soccer player in Germany named Landon Donovan. Published April 17, 2000, the article looks at a homesick teenage boy trying to find his way on the soccer field and in life. One of the most telling quotes in the story was Donovan saying, “What happens if I drink a beer and become an alcoholic? What if I try something else and I like it? I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to play soccer.” Shockingly, Donovan didn’t last much longer in Germany.
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Posted by Creaven on December 4, 2009 under England, USMNT, United States, World Cup |
This is how lucky the United States got Friday.
After the U.S. was drawn in Group C with England, if I could have handpicked a country from Pot 3 and Pot 4 I would have selected Algeria and Slovenia (if you don’t believe me, I worte it yesterday). For the U.S. to actually draw both those teams there was a 1/64 (1.5 percent) chance. It was the exact same odds a poker player has of hitting a runner-runner straight in Texas Holdem. In other words, the U.S. (and England too for that matter) hit the jackpot.
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Tags: Alexi Lalas, Algeria, Bob Levy, Brazil, Efan Ekoku, England, Fabio Capello, Ivory Coast, John Harkes, Jozy Altidore, Landon Donovan, Martin Tyler, North Korea, Portugal, Slovenia, teve McManaman, United States, Wayne Rooney, World Cup
Posted by Creaven on December 3, 2009 under USMNT, United States, World Cup |
At about 12:o3 p.m. EST on Friday, someone on ESPN (probably Alexi Lalas or John Harkes) will give the following monologue:
“This is the day we’ve been waiting for. Trying to make predictions before the draw is foolish because no one knows who’s playing who. It’s all about matchups! Depending on the group, the U.S. could be a strong quarterfinal candidate or it might be a candidate to leave South Africa without a point. This is so exciting! Finally we’re going to know what the U.S. chances are at the 2010 World Cup.”
This, ladies and gentleman, is bullshit.
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Tags: Alexi Lalas, Algeria, Brazil, Cameroon, Carlos Bocanegra, Charlie Davies, Chile, Denmark, Didier Drogba, France, Ghana, Greece, Ivory Coast, John Harkes, Maurice Edu, Oguchi Onyewu, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Switzerland, United States, World Cup
