All-Purpose, Never-Ending Soccer Thread

Freddy traded! To Real Salt Lake. Wow. http://njmg.typepad.com/sbi/2006/12/freddy_adu_trad.html

 

Link
I think this is a great article on Sunil Gulati. I know the article is fairly old, but I missed it the first time around and discovered it from a trip to BigAppleSoccer.com

 

Two quick points:

1. Freddy has been sent to Soccer Siberia. Hilarious. Learn to shut your mouth, kid.

2. I try to avoid bigsoccer.com. It's like any fansite: the ignorant outnumber the informed by a 10-1 margin. It is worth some amusement however, especially as dudes actually think that we had a true shot at any international coach not named Juergen Klinsmann.

I mean, honestly.

 

Dumb, dumb, dumb move by Fake Salt Lake. Given their history of personnel and management decisions, though, I can't say it's surprising. Must still be going off the high of fleecing Colorado in the Mathis/Cunningham trade.

Adu will be around for two, maybe three, months before bugging out for Europe. Between the U-20 championships in Canada and looking for a way out of MLS, I wonder just how much production he'll really give FSL.

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On your second point, PR:

There's good analysis to be found. You just have to know where to look.

 

I don't normally venture to BigSoccer either. Huss is an asshole that fucked over the guys that helped him start that site; guys that are friends of mine. The other issue is their stupid "Our bandwidth is full" message. Puh-leeeeez.

Now to Piotr's points...
1. RSL was fleeced in this deal. I don't understand it. I think it has more to do with drumming up attendance further to bolster a stadium deal. Remember, this is a team that already has performed a ground breaking before a deal was even signed. Stupid stupid stupid.

2. The US could obtain other internation coaches, however Klinsmann would certainly be the best of the bunch. Pekerman wants the job as well, but there is concern over his seriousness due to his lack of English speaking skills. Bradley is ultimately the best man for the job right now and I have no qualms about his hire.

 

RSL: when in doubt, make a "splash." They know that people know the Freddy Adu name, and that will drum up interest in Real Salt Lake. And thus attendance, as they push that new yard. And Freddy Adu gets to continue his delusion that he's good enough to go to a major EPL team at this point in his career. Now he's in a place where the aspirations are simply to make the playoffs, and his mouth will be tolerated because of that.

It's a good deal for MLS, since DC fans will come out anyway, and now RSL becomes a name franchise. And my opinion that Real is Siberia notwithstanding, now Adu has a coach who will put up with him . . .err . . . .UNDERSTAND him.

As for the US coach, agree on Bradley. And if/when he calls up his son, I'll have no problem with that whatsoever. Something tells me daddy's connections didn't help the kid get a shot at Herenveen. His performance there is legit.

I just don't feel that we had a true shot at any foreign coach other than Klinsmann. The Quieroz stuff is interesting; dude is the No. 2 at maybe the greatest club in the world, maybe soon to be No. 1. Hiddink? Yeah, here it comes.

Houllier, Pekerman, etc. same thing. No chance. These bozos would come in as the supposed savior of US soccer, then likely spend half their time bitching about the way we do things. I think Gulati just wanted to take a few shots in the dark, emboldened by the fact Klinsman was agreeable to starting a hiring process. Klinsmann was a unique case, a special case that should have been a slam dunk. His interest does not mean anyone else would really want the job.

Gulati knows that there are plenty of fans, the bandwagoneers who jumped on board after 2002 and now go around saying Arena is a bad coach, who think that ANY foreign coach would be great because after all, they're foreign. I personally wonder how anyone other than Klinsmann would have really been a good fit. Quieroz, probably, since he has a lot of experience with the US from the mid-1990s. But I think he'd be a fool to leave Man U, since rumor is that if they win the EPL this year, Sir Alex retires.

Bradley is the coach. I love that Gulati really thinks he's gonna re-open the search in six months and all of a sudden have these big-name foreign coaches falling over themselves to get the job.

 

Piotr, I agree with everything you have there to a degree. I do think there are several foreign coaches that would take the job and I do believe Pekerman to be one of them. You should note that "a source" leaked out the information to a Spanish newspaper in LA that Pekerman was hired along with an assistant.

Of course it was bullshit, but I'll let you guess who that source was!

I will also point out one very interesting thing in all of the ongoings with MLS and the US National Team... RSL just got better while Chivas just got worse.

Bradley's departure after the arrival of Guevara in LA-LA-Land will create a crazy situation. Amado is a hell of a player, when he wants to be, but when Bruce showed in Jersey he wanted NOTHING to do with him. Bruce wanted him out. He's a coach killer and a team killer.

Throw in that RSL has a solid coach and a new "star" and I could see them squeeking in with Chivas on the outside looking in.

 

Can't argue with Chivas falling a bit. If the Jaqua trade is final, both LA and RSL made solid moves this offseason. Chivas' trade for Guevara was a very bold move, but with Bradley gone, the chemistry there will be tough for any coach to handle.

Not sure yet who doesn't make the playoffs. On paper, Chivas is much better than say, Colorado, and Garcia and Palencia could still leave. Then they would get a pair of allocations.

 

I don't know why there is an attraction to Quieroz. He's best as a a second banana.

 

Palencia is definitely gone.
He's going back to Mexico and is signing with Tigres.

I haven't heard anything new about Garcia, but Suarez is definitely returning.

 

Anybody watch the Chelsea-Arsenal game last night? Hell of a finish, including one of the best goals I've ever seen.

 

Saw it live on Sunday morning. I was watching Chelsea-Newcastle yesterday.

Hell of a goal by Essien though. Couldn't have hit it any better.