The Soccer Thread (IV)

That is a good move for Gooch. Not many Americans have played in Serie A. Of course, I was really hoping that Rangers would show some interest and sign him, but I guess they can’t sign every American.

Meanwhile, I was sent

of a guy scoring a goal. Downright beautiful.

 

I agree, if he plays, it will be an excellent move.

 

Hey, I asked politely!!!

 

This is just bizarre to me...

The Serie A season starts in a month and a half, and so far -- as far as I can determine -- they still haven't released a schedule. I'll be in Milan on a Tuesday & Wednesday in September, so there's an outside chance I could catch a game at San Siro... but I still have no idea if Inter or AC Milan will be playing.

How can you take this long to release a schedule?

 

From Twitter ...

How in blue hell does that happen? Can't US Soccer or FIFA step in to make sure the game airs in, you know, the home nation of one of the teams playing the match?

 

Sounds like 2001 all over again. I remember one's options were either watch a Telemundo feed on dial-up Internet or wait until an hour after the game and see it tape delayed in English on ESPN2.

FIFA won't step in as it doesn't give a damn (read: won't make any money). Waiting for Soccer House to do something ... lots of luck with that.

 

Who cares? [/ustream.tv]

 

This is why my DirecTV package is the Spanish language basic.

 

The home team owns the rights, no?

Was it the WC2006 qualifier between the US and Costa Rica that was only available on PPV, which had the production values of a bad junior HS A/V club? I just remember the announcers repeatedly thanking "Carlos and Luis" for the broadcast.

 

Nice performance by the young 'uns tonight against Honduras. Felt like a fucking road game though, but it's good to see these guys playing well.

 

So a couple of days after Donovan attempts to back off his comments in an LA Times interview, the new Beckham book's juice continues to leak.

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=AmbYvMHULr23FYqgcdxN5rIXRJ54?slug=ap-beckhambook&prov=ap&type=lgns

I wondered about the accommodations on the road. There was talk of upgraded flights, discussed here.

Love the take by Donovan that Lalas was in over his head. You bet he was. Dude made a trade for virtually every loss in 2007. Terrible, terrible GM. All he does is fire the coach and trade Todd Dunivant.

But of course he had to make his acquisition, Chris Klein, the team MVP.

Also, interesting about Mr. Adu:

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=AgAYDRJ6N2MtXoKd21pKQRIUwLYF?slug=ap-goldcup-us-adu&prov=ap&type=lgns

The cynic says "Hey, NICE commitment you're showing when you finally get a shot to distinguish yourself as a playmaker with the national team!"

The optimist says "Why [lay in a meaningless tournament when you can get back to Benfica and secure a regular spot, make a name for yourself, then you will finally have cemented your national team credentials."

I say, "The Freddy Adu fantasy is best left in 2003. His ship as a significant national team contributor has long since sailed. He will continue his career struggling to find playing time with middle-of-the-pack clubs, while some U.S. fans keep vainly holding him up as a possible savior."

 

Funny thing is that Lalas did the same thing as GM of NY. He sucked. Bad.

I don’t think Adu will ever be the savior that some US fans think he will be. I think he will put together a nice run of games at some point and find a good team to settle with (I don’t care if it is middle of the pack, young Bradley was fighting off relegation).

I think the big deal will be that the kid is able to add some weight to a body that was getting knocked around by Grenada and Honduras. You aren’t going to get playing time when your best asset, dribbling around guys, is negated by the fact that you are too lightweight to keep the ball at your feet.

I would have preferred he stick around for the Gold Cup. However, I do think he’s better served practicing in Europe.

Coach Bradley isn’t even taking this tournament all that seriously. You can tell by the fact that he’s going with the “local” guys in each of the games. You had Brad Evans come in as a sub in game 1. You have Quaranta starting in Game 2. I am fully expecting Jay Heaps to be a part of Saturday night’s game. Because of that, I can’t really be too upset about Freddy Adu saying that this tournament really isn’t that important.