English Premier League: Altidore, ESPN, Liverpool and Spector
Posted by Creaven on August 27, 2009 under England, Premier League | 
6 Comments to Read
I’ve had multiple column ideas bouncing in my head the last couple days but haven’t been able to focus on one thing. So, to solve this, I’m just going to write about everything.
Here we go…
Jozy Altidore — If he did have swine flu, he got over it.
Untied States soccer commentators (who are almost all U.S. players from the 90s) love to down play today’s U.S. players. When it comes to Altidore, they say stuff like, “he’s good, but he really needs to work on his first touch,” or “he has to learn how to hold the ball,” or “he has to prove he can do it at the club level.”
I’m willing to concede the last point, but the first two talking points are garbage. No, he doesn’t have a first touch like Nicolas Anelka and, no, he can’t hold the ball like Emile Heskey, but his first touch is better than Brian McBride’s ever was (could McBride do this?) and he can hold the ball better than Brian Ching (at the international level, I’m not convinced Ching does anything well).
It’s possible Altidore might be a bust. Maybe he blows out a knee, or he loses the desire to push himself or he gets an English girlfriend or whatever. But here’s the point people forget: If you could pick a U.S. striker from any year to have in your starting lineup, would you pick someone other than the 2009 version of Jozy Altidore? Would you rather have a 1994 Eric Wynalda? A 2000 Joe-Max Moore? A 2003 Brian McBride? A 2005 Eddie Johnson? A 2009 Charlie Davies? Maybe some people would want one of those players over Alitdore — not me.
Lastly, Hull City deserves a lot credit for the deal they got for Altidore. From what I understand, it’s a loan deal for this season with a £6.5 option to buy at the end of the season. That’s an absolute steal for a player that has 10 percent chance at being the next Drogba.
ESPN — Props to ESPN for bringing the Premier League to U.S. viewers in HD. It makes for a much better viewing experience. More than that though, with ESPN on board it’s becoming a formality that international soccer will become a mainstream sport in the U.S.
Earlier this summer, I wrote about what the impact of ESPN jumping on the soccer bandwagon would be. From highlights on SportsCenter to Bill Simmons going to Mexico City, we’re already seeing the mainstreamization (yeah, I made that word up) of soccer.
Not only is this great for fans, but it’s also the single greatest thing that can happen to U.S. soccer. Now, when athletically gifted 13 year old’s watch SportsCenter, not only can they dream of being the next LeBron James or Joe Mauer, but they can also aspire to be the next Lionel Messi or Wayne Ronney. Combine this with a generation of parents that have grown up with soccer and will encourage their kids to play the sport and it’s easy to see how the U.S. talent pool is about to explode exponentially.
Liverpool — To say the least, my EPL champion prediction isn’t looking too good. I watched the match Monday against Aston Villa and what surprised me was how badly Steven Gerrard played.
It seems fans and “experts” are blaming the poor start on Benitez selling Alonso (which he had to do). But, other than a sloppy header that resulted in an own goal, I thought Lucas played fine. Gerrard on the other hard was simply bad. His concentration wasn’t there; like when he missed an open goal early on (the one Friedel somehow got a foot on) and that sloppy slide tackle which almost looked like he was trying to give Aston Villa penalty.
So is Liverpool out of it already? Maybe. Last year, Manchester United won the league with 90 points; if United or some other team gets to 90 again this year, that means Liverpool can give away only 18 more points from its last 35 matches. With the league stronger this year (Tottenham, Manchester City) I think the champion finishes somewhere between 84-87 points. It’s easily plausible Liverpool could reach that, but it has put itself behind the 8-ball.
Jonathan Spector — One question I asked a few times this summer is if Spector might be the U.S.’s best left back?After watching him play there against Tottenham on Saturday I sure hope he isn’t.
It was physically painful to watch Spector try and keep up with the speedy Aaron Lennon. All match, Lennon sprinted by Spector and made the young American look silly. It ended up costing West Ham the match after Lennon juked Spector for the game-winning goal. It highlighted the problem at left back for the U.S. — no one has any speed.
It’s make or break for Argentina « Scissors Kick said,
[...] English Premier League: Altidore, ESPN, Liverpool and Spector “I’ve had multiple column ideas bouncing in my head the last couple days but haven’t been able to focus on one thing. So, to solve this, I’m just going to write about everything.” (Intelligent Soccer) [...]
Bill said,
I’ll hit all the high points too!
I think the broadcast of EPL and La Liga games on ESPN is a major moment for US Soccer, but the impact won’t truly be felt for another ten years. Now a much larger audience of youth players will have regular access to top class professional matches. It still stuns me when I realize how few youth players actually regularly watch games, at least ESPN is more readily available to US households. The HD looks great and hopefully will give Fox the kick in the pants they need. In addition, the quality of these games should give MLS some much needed competition and hopefully spur them to improve the standard of the game.
It would be good to see better US commentators are terrible, but I think they represent another issue with the game in this country. The US soccer model is predicated on tough, physical, gritty determination rather than skill and intelligence. The current USMNT is more of the same along with their coach. Part of the problem is that Bradley isn’t picking or playing talent that is more skill and intelligence based. More critically, the entire pipeline of talent from U-12’s trying out for ODP on up is devoid of skill and intelligence as the critical element in succeeding. The keys to success are speed, size, strength and aggression, if skill and intelligence come along for the ride then so much the better. The bottom line is that US Soccer is missing cerebral players and coaches at the National level. I think the lack of game intelligence and creativity is the missing link for US success on the World stage! This ultimately translates to the broadcast booth and the tenor of commentary. It would be nice to hear some insightful tactical analysis along with the usual human interest stories as the standard fare of US broadcasts.
Another key development this summer is (more) hard-nosed soccer journalism in the US. Its about time that the mindless cheerleading ended, and some public accountability is demanded of US Soccer. We’ve got a long way to go, but the evolutionary path toward healthy sports journalism is starting. ESPN included, I think Jeff Carlisle has written some good stuff on the youth game and most lately on whether athletic talent is the path to the US doing better internationally (No!).
The status of US players overseas is a mixed bag. Altidore and Davies appear to have started their European seasons with a bang, but Gooch is a whimper in Milan so far. Donovan’s fate is another big issue (PSG?). Spector does look rather suspect, but again it really begs the question of why the US doesn’t have any decent outside backs since Spector may be the best we have!
The EPL appears to be quite wide open with Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham impressing so far, and Liverpool and Manu raising questions. Will one of the top four topple out? If it is Liverpool, it may be a bonafide financial disaster.
Shawn Gillogly said,
Spector had one weak game, but he was rated solidly in the others. And Lennon has made more than one outside back look bad in his time. So breaking your ankles jumping off his bandwagon in 1 match is a bit much. But no, he’s not pacey.
It’s early days to howl at whether or not Gooch made a mistake. Even if he’s #4, he might get plenty of action with squad rotations and fixture congestion. After all, part of the reason they got him was they were shown up as having too few center backs last season when they needed them. If he gets 20 appearances a season, that’s worthwhile, IMHO. But I do agree that I had hoped it would be better.
Donovan to PSG is a strange rumor. I’d think he could do better, to be honest. PSG is such an inconsistent, dysfunctional club. He’d be better off at OM or a regular Champion’s League participant than mid-table underachievers like PSG. Ligue 1 is not a whole lot further up the food chain. But with all the silence about it in the Donovan camp, it smells like a done deal.
I’m not surprised by Liverpool’s start. I thought they lost too much in the closed season without replacement. And last season not-withstanding, they’re built more for Europe than for the EPL. Gerrard did look dreadful against Villa. It makes one wonder if all the closed season drama with him didn’t hurt his game. Of the “Big 4″ right now, they look most likely to me to be bumped out of the CL positions, rather than contending for honors.
Bill said,
Creaven and Company,
I’d love to see a more vigorous debate here on the future of US Soccer. I feel like the game is at a real cross-roads in the US (or is it the threshold of a breakthrough!). What does the USA need to do in order to become a real power in soccer (football)?
I have my own opinions on what is happening and what needs to change, and more voices are being heard on this topic. We don’t hear much over the airwaves, but online the discussion is becoming more active.
Here’s what I’m seeing:
On the plus side of the column
* More availability of games for viewing (ESPN)
* Online news and blogs are becoming more important in the discussion breaking the stranglehold of traditional media and the sports they follow.
* A huge youth soccer movement
* some success by the National team
* We have a professional league
* the start of real soccer culture in the USA
On the negative side
* Incompetence and conservatism by the USSF
* Poor coaching at the National level with little or no innovation. In fact US soccer is backwards and behind the times.
* A National team that cannot dominate games against good international teams basically relying on luck to get results.
* US youth soccer’s structure stunts the development of players, and still dominated by pay-for-play
* College soccer
* Soccer culture is weak compared to traditional US sports culture
* US soccer has no style aside from athleticism and physical play.
* US professional soccer has problems (its calender, its style, its single entity structure, …)
* The failure to embrace the Latino community within US Soccer
I’m certain that my lists are incomplete (both the pros and cons).
Creaven said,
Bill,
I like your passion on this issue.
I can’t promise when, but at some point in the not too distant future I’ll write a full column on this.
Bill said,
I’ll look forward to your comments on the topic. There are all sorts of angles to look at, but I think there are some threads that run through from the National team to U-5’s. For the first time, I think that the USA does have a “soccer culture” even if its not entirely healthy.
It is amazing to talk to my friends around the country about youth sports. Its clear that there are some common pathologies that go beyond local conditions. I suspect some of the issues are common to other sports as well, and may to some extent extend beyond the USA.
I think the game is going to grow and improve, but our National power structure will hold the game back rather than helping it. Ultimately, I think the game will succeed despite USSF. It makes one wonder how the game would do if the USSF actually did things to help it.
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