Tim Howard's Everton are on the other side of Stanley Park from Liverpool FC, but both clubs would rather be in a new stadium somewhere in greater Liverpool. That's the reality of two of the better stadiums in English soccer, at least from a historical perspective.
Goodison Park has been the site of Everton's home games since 1892, when the club moved from Liverpool's Anfield Stadium. Neither of these venues were close to what the modern versions look like. In fact, it was Goodison that introduced the original idea of soccer-specificity.
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With J Hutcherson -- What does it take for the US Soccer Federation to treat the Confederations Cup seriously? You might have seen the articles that are already putting over the Confederations Cup as one of the highlights of a year that will gift the US home and away Qualifiers against Mexico. Then again, this is the same leadership that decided to put its focus on the Gold Cup rather than the Copa America in 2007.
Granted, that would strongly suggest that the real target is the Confederations Cup, using it as the best possible warm-up for the World Cup. Then again, that carries with it a lot of significance.
The available excuses decrease the stronger the build up is for this summer in South Africa. Throw in a few not-so-likely choices in terms of personnel as well as tactics, and it's a version of what happened in Venezuela. No matter what the US players on the field might have been able to accomplish, the excuses were already in place when the squad was announced.
Continue reading "Wednesday's Daily: This Summer" »
The following is a press release from the US Soccer Federation -- CHICAGO, IL (Dec 30, 2008) USSF -- US National Team head coach Bob Bradley has named 25 players to the training camp roster that will begin workouts Jan. 4 at US Soccer's National Training Center at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The group will prepare for the USA’s first match of 2009, a friendly against Sweden on Jan. 24 at The Home Depot Center. The match will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel and Galavision beginning at 8:30pm Eastern.
"This is the beginning of a big year for the national team, and it is important that we get started off heading in the right direction,” said Bradley, who advanced the team to the final round of qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup with a 7-0-1 record through two rounds. “This is another great opportunity to reinforce the principles of how this team operates both on and off the field, as well as getting players ready for the match against Sweden and the first World Cup qualifier this year against Mexico in February.”
Continue reading "Bradley Announces Camp Roster" »
With J Hutcherson -- What happens to Major League Soccer when nobody is left to cover the games locally? I'm not talking about a club-oriented soccer blog, but actual newspapers producing copy for a mainstream market.
Most of us understand that in a lot of cities they're already using wire clips or stringers to cover games, devoting as little actual resources as possible. That's still a step removed from not getting anything in the paper.
Your guess is as good as mine on how many newspapers are allowed to circle extinction before agreeing to some sort of deal that keeps them printing. After all, you can still buy records, film, and other things that were supposed to go the way of the dodo courtesy of changing technology. You can stretch those particular analogy to cover what gets in a paper that costs more to make for an increasingly smaller audience.
Continue reading "Tuesday's Daily: Papers" »
The following is a press release from the New England Revolution --
FOXBOROUGH, MA (Dec 29, 2008) MLS -- The New England Revolution announced today that the club has signed midfielder Michael Videira to a Major League Soccer contract to play for the Revs. Per team and league policies, terms of the deal were not released. Videira will occupy one of the Revolution’s senior roster spots.
Videira, 22, was originally selected by the Revolution in the second round (18th overall) of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft, but chose to pursue options with European clubs rather than sign a contract with Major League Soccer at that time. The former Noble and Greenough School standout signed with Hamilton Academical of the Scottish Premier League in August, but was plagued by injuries during his stint and didn’t make a first-team appearance for the club before being released in mid-December.
Continue reading "New England Signs 2008 Draft Pick" »
By Graig Carbino - ALBANY, NY (Dec 29, 2008) USSoccerPlayers -- Though the National Basketball Association has tried to make Christmas Day about them, running games all afternoon and into the late evening, that doesn't realy compare to what happens in England the day after Christmas.
Historically, managers in England have complained about the “fixture congestion” this time of year. The better teams are playing in European competition as well as league cups while also mixing in Premier League encounters. Their protests have always fallen on deaf ears as the English FA typically schedules matches on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) and then again a few days later. This year Boxing Day was on Friday, so most teams played Friday and then again on Sunday.
Continue reading "American Abroad: Friday To Sunday" »
With J Hutcherson -- Here's what's funny about 'state of the anything' columns, they tend to make even disasters seem reasonable. Such as? Thanks for asking.
The Arena Football League is on hiatus after a potential investor balked at their ability to turn a profit, exposing a severe financial crisis that the league quite simply couldn't overcome. Yet this same league, currently facing litigation from a former television partner, improved their ratings and their overall attendance in 2008.
It's sort of like hearing the leader of a League closer to most of our hearts talk about not needing to follow the other major American sports leagues in downsizing staff. As the comment went, Major League Soccer only has a little over a hundred league office employees compared to the National Football League with around a thousand more. Decreasing employees might not be a short-term necessity for Major League Soccer.
Continue reading "Monday's Daily: Staffing" »
When children start playing soccer at younger ages (U-6 and U-8), the emphasis should be on small-sided soccer. At these ages, teams should use a 3 v 3 or 4 v 4 without goalkeepers. They will eventually move to a 5 v 5 with a goalkeeper when they get to U-7 or U-8. The small-sided game maximizes the number of touches each player gets, and also gives them an opportunity to understand the basic concepts of the game.
At these beginning levels, the players are just starting to learn how and when to pass the ball, and you may have begun to introduce the concept of positions (for example, in 5 v 5 you may designate one or two players at a time to be "defenders," or, to be certain that they get back on defense every time).
At some point, the number of players on the field expands, and the size of the field expands. Now, there is a need to assign positions to the players and to be certain that there are players who defend and players who advance in an effort to score.
Continue reading "Selecting Positions And Formations" »
The following is a press release from the Columbus Crew --
COLUMBUS, OH (Dec 26, 2008) MLS -- The MLS Cup-champion Columbus Crew announced today that it has re-signed Chad Marshall to a multi-year contract, keeping the 2008 MLS Defender of the Year in Black & Gold. No further terms of the deal were disclosed.
Originally drafted by the Crew No. 2 overall in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft, the 6-4, 190-pound Riverside, Calif., native has been widely regarded as one of the league's top defenders since his rookie campaign, when he was a finalist for MLS Rookie of the Year honors. The 24-year old Marshall returned from an injury-shortened 2007 season with a career year in 2008. He started 29 games and ranked second on the team in minutes played, with 2,485, helping the Crew capture the Supporters' Shield, awarded to the team that finishes with the best regular season record (17-7-6, 57 points). Anchored by Marshall, the Crew's defense allowed the third fewest goals in the league (36), behind only the Houston Dynamo (32) and the Chicago Fire (33). On the offensive end, he contributed four regular-season goals and two more in the playoffs.
Continue reading "Chad Marshall Re-Ups With Crew" »
Leave it to soccer to come up with another color to dictate its rules on the field. There are already red, yellow and blue (indoor soccer) cards to discipline players. Now, in a sport where players play for teams called the Reds, Blues or Whites, they can play for silver. Well, they could. Like a few other soccer experiments, this one didn't last.
Continue reading "Tell Me About: The Silver Goal" »
With Michael Parkhurst making the move from the New England Revolution to FC Nordsjælland in the Danish SuperLiga, he also moves from a National Football League stadium to a much smaller venue. FC Nordsjælland play their home games at Farum Park, a 10,000-seater stadium in Farum.
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The following is a press release from the LA Galaxy --
CARSON, CA (Dec 23, 2008) MLS -- The LA Galaxy have signed Jamaican goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, the club announced today. An experienced goalkeeper at the international level, Ricketts joins the Galaxy after previous stints with Village United of the Digicel Premier League in Jamaica, Bolton Wanderers of the English Premier League and Bradford City of League Two in England. Ricketts, 31, will officially be added to the Galaxy’s roster, pending receipt of his P-1 Visa and International Transfer Clearance (ITC). Per league and team policy, details of the contract were not disclosed.
Continue reading "LA Signs Ricketts" »
By Andrew Dixon - MIAMI, FL (Dec 22, 2008) USSoccerPlayers -- It’s the end of the year, so several Grown Men and Women with Opinions will be penning columns about the world of football from 2008.
You know, salute the various domestic and international champions, speak about some off field issues that the game saw this year, pay homage to those special performances and moments that had the significant portions of the soccer world buzzing throughout the year. They’re fun to do and gives pundits a chance to celebrate the game.
Continue reading "And That's" »
The following is a press release from the Columbus Crew --
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The MLS Cup-champion Columbus Crew announced today that former Crew standout and longtime assistant coach Robert Warzycha has been named the fifth head coach in club history. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“There was significant interest in our head coaching position and we considered several candidates, but none of them brought more soccer expertise, experience or potential to lead our club than Robert Warzycha,” said Crew President & General Manager Mark McCullers. “And certainly, none approached the commitment and loyalty to the Crew that he possesses.
Continue reading "Warzycha Promoted To Coach Of Crew" »
By Graig Carbino - ALBANY, NY (Dec 22, 2008) USSoccerPlayers -- There is a situation that comes up in everybody’s life where you realize that it becomes hard to like someone who doesn’t like you back.
Maybe your ex-girlfriend got to a point where she just couldn’t take you spending all Saturday on the couch watching your beloved game on FSC. She had enough, and basically didn’t like you anymore. Well if she has nothing good to say about you, why do you continue to fawn over her?
A similar scenario seems to keep playing out in US Soccer circles with the Neven Subotic “please play for us, not them” campaign. If you don’t know what is going on with this situation, here is a quick refresher. Subotic was born in the former Yugoslavia and spent a few childhood years in Germany. He spent his teenage years in the US and moved back to Germany to play for Mainz in 2007.
Continue reading "American Abroad: Moving On" »
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