Posted on October 20, 2009 by Ken Gude
Chelsea's diamond is not working for Lampard; Photo by Bryce Edwards
Frank Lampard has been one of Chelsea’s most consistent performers for nearly a decade. He has been the engine of Chelsea’s attack and scored a remarkable number of goals from his advanced midfield position. But even as Chelsea stormed to the top of the table early in the season, Lampard was stuck out on the right of a midfield diamond. Now that the Blues have dropped two of three league games, some attention is focusing on Chelsea’s newly peripheral figure and whether it’s Lampard or Manager Carlo Ancelotti that needs to adapt.
Frank Lampard scores a lot of goals, period. He is now joint seventh on Chelsea’s all time list, and third place is within reach before the end of his career. He is most often compared with Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard, but Lampard is both more consistent—at least ten league goals in each of the last six years, something Gerrard has only done three times—and more prolific with 72 to Gerrard’s 55 over that same span. That’s all the more reason why his return in the league so far this season, just one goal from the penalty spot in nine games, is so surprising. Continue reading →
Filed under: Premier League | 2 Comments »
Posted on October 20, 2009 by Max Bergmann
Clint Dempsey got the start while Jozy started on the bench. Clint went the full 90 and demonstrated his class and skill. While US fans should be concerned about Jozy not starting, the fact is that he played 95 minutes on Wednesday and it is understandable that he did not get the start. That said there are some reasons for US fans to be concerned about Jozy’s situation.
First, on Dempsey. Missing the last two games gave Holden and Torres a chance to challenge his place on the national team. Both solidified their position on the national team and have demonstrated their are real options, but I don’t think either came close to displacing Dempsey. While US fans were ready to throw the book at Dempsey, he is clearly class. Duff got a lot of the press attention in this game, but Dempsey to me excelled. His control, passing, and movement with the ball got Fulham into dangerous areas of the field. And he was unlucky not to score. Dempsey basically pushed up as a third striker at times. Granted he did not have to do a lot defensively, but since we are likely to play with two holding midfielders Dempsey should start out wide as opposed to up top.
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Filed under: Premier League, Yanks Abroad | 2 Comments »
Posted on October 19, 2009 by Max Bergmann
Unlike four years ago, ESPN is taking the world cup very very seriously. It is being reported that Martin Tyler was signed by ESPN to call the World Cup. The turn-around in ESPN’s attitude towards soccer is remarkable. Four years ago, ESPN’s ombudsman responded to all the complaints about their lead announcing team by simply saying that soccer fans were picky, now they signed the best English-language play-by-play guy in the world. There is plenty reason to get excited. America’s biggest sports media conglomerate is about to get soccer crazy – and what ESPN cares about, America tends to care about as well.
The signing of Martin Tyler should be greeted with joy and relief by anyone who will be in America during the world cup. You will not have to endure another Dave O’brien and Marcelo Balboa pairing and thank God for that. It was so bad that Lucky Bar in DC during the last world cup actually put on the Canadian non-HD feed so we didn’t have to listen to them – the bar approved unanimously. The idea that a baseball announcer – Dave O’brien – would be good at soccer was ludicrous. Baseball is about filling airtime not calling a fast moving and flowing game (that said: I actually thought O’Brien got better as the tournament went on and to me Balboa was the real dead weight. The man would contradict himself every other minute).
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Filed under: Future of American soccer, World Cup 2010 | 3 Comments »
Posted on October 19, 2009 by Max Bergmann
With one game left in the season 4 teams (Chivas, LA, Houston, Seattle) could win the western conference, the supporters shield is still not wrapped up, and more remarkably six teams are vying for two playoff spots. So after a boatload of draws this season, everyone now has to go for a win.
DC was able to hang on to an early 1 goal lead in the puddle mud fest at RFK and stay in contention for the playoffs. There final game is at Kansas City and is very winnable. DC would currently be sitting in the final wild card spot, due to their -1 goal differential, but MLS puts head-to-head record above goal differential, therefore DC needs quite a bit to go there way. New England on the other hand again couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net and were largely outplayed by Chicago at home. Dallas is red hot with Jeff Cunningham a scoring machine, leading their improbable run to the playoffs with a win over playoff rival Colorado.
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Posted on October 19, 2009 by Max Bergmann
This premier league season is shaping up to be one of the most interesting seasons of the last decade. This weekend further confirmed that it is going be quite a race at both the top and the bottom. The perennial top four all have some doubts about them, while Spurs, Man City, and Villa look increasingly legit. In short, there is very little between top eight sides (if you include Everton) this year and if one of the top four go through a spell like Arsenal did last year, they could quite easily see themselves out of the champions league.
Liverpool’s loss to Sunderland highlighted the thin nature of pool’s squad – yes the balloon goal was huge, but pool did not look good at all. While Liverpool have been prone to slow starts in the past, the fragility of Torres and Gerrard and the lack of suitable replacements give plenty of reasons for Liverpool fans to be concerned. There title hopes are by no means finished, but right now they are challenging Arsenal for the team that is most likely to fall out of the top four.
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Posted on October 18, 2009 by Ken Gude
FIFA rig UEFA playoff to favor top sides; Photo by AsianFC
Fate seems hard enough to overcome, given the intervention of a beach ball on Liverpool’s title hopes. It’s even more difficult when the system actually is rigged against you. That’s what faces four European nations tomorrow.
The main round of European World Cup qualifying is now complete, with nine teams getting bids to the Finals by winning their group and the best eight runners-up going into home and away playoffs to determine the last four slots. The draw is set for Monday, with France, Russia, Portugal, Greece, Ukraine, Ireland, Slovenia, and Bosnia vying for those last coveted spots in the Finals. But the playoff format was dramatically altered by FIFA just last month to seed the top four teams after it was evident that several big soccer powers would end up in the playoffs.
Changing the qualification format in mid stream to benefit top teams and players (principally Ronaldo) makes sense from a commercial standpoint. But it is a travesty for competitive fairness and further tilts an already uneven playing field against lower-ranked European teams, denying the world a look at some great players and some fantastic stories. Continue reading →
Filed under: World Cup 2010 | 1 Comment »
Posted on October 17, 2009 by Ken Gude
Were they Harry Enfield in disguise? Photo by Dullhunk
It was always going to be hard for Liverpool to go to the Stadium of Light and beat a very solid Sunderland side without Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres – two players that would be in many people’s world XI. But injuries and international commitments are part of modern soccer and are simply not an excuse for a team with genuine title aspirations. Great teams respond in the face of adversity, and Liverpool did not respond at any level.
With four loses in nine Premier League games, Liverpool can no longer dismiss these early season setbacks as the natural ebb and flow of a 38 game season. The problems evident at Sunderland–bad transfer policy; poor tactical decisions; and a weak supporting cast–raise serious questions about this Liverpool team and its ability to mount a credible league campaign, let alone a title challenge. What a difference a couple of weeks and two consecutive losses make. There is still time to turn this around, but it will take a determination by all members of the Liverpool team, from the manager to the ball boys, that has not yet been on display. Continue reading →
Filed under: Liverpool, Premier League | 2 Comments »
Posted on October 16, 2009 by Ken Gude
Association Football was fortunate enough to attend the USA v Costa Rica game on Wednesday night at RFK. While the weather wasn’t that great (can you say 45 degrees and rain?), the atmosphere was fantastic from start to finish. We got to the game around 5pm only to find thousands of fans already tailgating–our group had been there for hours–and the positive vibe lasted throughout the game, even during that rough patch in the first half when we went down 2-0 in the span of four minutes. We got this picture as the players did their lap of honor at the end of the match. More pictures after the jump. Enjoy…
One question: Where did Cherundolo get those gloves?
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Posted on October 16, 2009 by Ken Gude
Ryan Babel must deliver for Liverpool Saturday; Photo by Tom Parl
Still suffering from the USA – Costa Rica hangover, it’s hard now to turn our attention back to league play. Injuries sustained on international duty (for the US too) are the dominant storyline heading into a big weekend of fixtures in England. Man U are without Wayne Rooney, which could lead to some trouble against Bolton. But by far the biggest injury news is that both Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres suffered groin injuries and will miss Liverpool’s trip to Sunderland. Much of the focus will be on how Liverpool’s attack fares without those two, but this game will be more about Liverpool’s defense and keeping the Black Cats off the score sheet.
Let’s be frank, any team would struggle if its two best players don’t play. But no other genuine Premier League title contender relies on its star duo more than Liverpool. Manager Rafa Benitez’s major failure during the summer transfer window was not to bring in cover for Torres. It was painfully obvious that Liverpool needed to upgrade its second choice striker as Torres has always been prone to niggling injuries and has been taxed due to major international tournaments each of the last two summers. Torres was bound to spend some time in the training room – and this groin injury doesn’t seem too serious and Liverpool fans should count themselves lucky. Continue reading →
Filed under: Liverpool, Premier League | 3 Comments »
Posted on October 16, 2009 by Max Bergmann
Grahame Jones at the LA Times has a great piece on the
lack of any suitable replacement for Charlie Davies. Over the last year the US team was looking increasingly settled, Donovan emerging as a creative midfield force on the left and Davies making the pacy second striker role his own. With the two on the field we were explosive and dangerous on counterattacks and Davies tendency to pull wide left enabled Donovan to frequently over lap on the inside of him. We have suddenly lost a huge threat on the counter and a ton of energy and pace and Bradley has a very tough choice over who to partner with Jozy.
Who can provide that? Maybe no one. However, due to Jozy’s versatility – he has the size and strength to be a target man, as well as the pace and skill to run at people and get behind defenses – Bradley has a number of options. Here are some possible options and some players that could emerge as potential replacements.
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Filed under: USMNT, World Cup 2010, Yanks Abroad | Leave a comment »
Max Bergmann
Jay Heidbrink
Ken Gude
Pat Garofalo
Association Football 