Superliga 2008: Some Thoughts

Photo by Thomas Shea from Superliga 2008 website

As we enter the knock out stages of Superliga 2008 let me state that while the intensity level was as high for these matches last year the football has been much better this year. No offense to anybody but an LA Galaxy side featuring Alan Gordon and Edson Buddle as starting forwards and an injured David Beckham would not have advanced to the knock out stages of this year’s tournament. That having been said MLS has a lot to live up to in the performance of the Galaxy in last year’s knock out stages. David Beckham’s free kick to sink DC United was a thing of beauty, and Chris Klein’s stoppage time bicycle kick was the type of magic that MLS sides have rarely if ever produced in a critical moment of a match of international significance. Had the Galaxy won the pk shootout that moment would have been etched in stone as one of the greatest in the history of Major League Soccer. I still a year later feel a tinge of sadness that the Galaxy did not win that match. That night they were a credit to MLS and to the game of football even if too often last year they were simply a traveling circus without an effective ring leader.

Alas, the Galaxy did not win the tournament the year FMF sides used the competition as a pre-season warmup. Now the event is being taken seriously, and every participating side came to play, and came to win. Atlante was humbled 4-0 by the Houston Dynamo in the first match but manager Guadalupe Cruz told Telefutura after the match that his side psychologically had been beaten down and he wouldn’t let that happen again. The match which was the first decided by more than one goal in Superliga history actually provided the impetus for the Cancun based side to play some of the best football of the tournament in their next two matches sweeping away DC United and Guadalajara.

For the second consecutive year , CD Guadalajara (Chivas) needed only a draw against a fellow FMF side in the final group match to advance to the knock out stage of the Superliga, and for the second consecutive year Chivas got beat and saw their opponent celebrate advancement. But this year Chivas looked more willing to take chances against Atlante than they did last year against Pachuca and tried to make a game of it. But the reality was Atlante was just too good, and Chivas’ backline suspect. When you consider that Guadalajara got some great breaks like facing Houston with Franco Carracio as the main scoring threat two days before he was waived while Dwayne DeRosario severed a suspension and having three DC United shots hit the post in their victory at RFK Stadium, any whining about not going through to the semifinals despite having a superior goal difference than Atlante should be spared here. Atlante showed the character that allowed them to win the fall Mexican Apertura in their first competition since picking up and leaving Mexico City for Cancun by crushing Chivas in the winner take all match.

In addition, Johnny Magallon who is Mexico’s starting central defender surely did not impress Sven Goran Eriksson who has taken in many Superliga matches with his poor display of positioning and defending. Eriksson who took in many of the matches in person during this competition had to be impressed however with Edgar Castillio and Fernando Arce of Santos Laguna, who could feel hard done by only achieving a draw in a tournament where they seemed to lack the type of luck that Guadalajara received.

However when it comes down to it Pachuca is still the team to beat in these competitions. An indifferent Clausura season in Mexico has not prevented the defending champions of this event from coming to the USA and playing some outstanding football. Despite my pre tournament concerns about the age of Pachuca’s midfield, they have not only held up thus far but essentially controlled the bulk of the two of the teams three Superliga matches. They next face a familiar foe: Houston

We’ve seen Pachuca take care of Houston on two previous occasions at this stage of a tournament including last year’s Superliga. While Houston will have revenge on their mind and will no doubt play lights out to win the semifinals would it be smart to actually pick against Pachuca at this stage against an opponent who completely lacks confidence when facing the likes of Christian Gimenez, Gabriel Cabbalero and others? Not having Stuart Holden, the leading goal scorer in Superliga 2008 who is currently with US Olympic Team preparing to face the world in Beijing is not going to help the Dynamo’s cause.

New England has been outstanding in this tournament. Mexican teams are getting a dose of what it’s like to face a disciplined, tactical European side when facing Steve Nicol’s team which features Shalrie Joseph and Steve Ralston in the midfield. In addition, the speed of Nyassi, Mansallay and Dube gave both Santos Laguna and Pachuca fits. The Revs use patient buildup instead of the frantic going forward without rhyme or reason style many Mexican sides play to break down their opponent and achieve results. Atlante has been outstanding in their last two matches but again having watched New England in this tournament who’d bet against them?

Chivas USA’s performance was a credit to their manager Preki and to the determination of Ante Razov who even at 34 is probably the best striking option for the US National Team. Razov scored in all three Superliga matches and has in fact scored a goal in six consecutive competitive matches for the Goats. However, no other Chivas player has scored during that stretch and in this tournament Sacha Kljestan, another US Olympian was frustrating. He mixed moments of absolute brilliance with moments of stupidity while his team mate Pablo Nagumura, normally steady seemed reckless in this tournament. Chivas was good, but not good enough in a tough group.

That leads us to the one team that hasn’t been discussed in this post to this point. The one team that doesn’t deserve to be discussed, DC United. The performance of United who entered the tournament never having once lost a match to an FMF side at RFK Stadium and three days later had two losses to FMF sides defies all explanation and logic. Sure Marcello Gallardo and Gonzalo Peralta were hurt and Tom Soehn seemed to aggravate Santino Quaranta’s injury by playing him when the team was desperate for a result against Atlante. But the red and black have historically always had a standard in these competitions you could count on regardless of who dawned the jersey. But this week was certainly forgettable in the proud history of DC United, and was culminated by a smashing defeat at the hands of Houston in front of one of the smallest weekend RFK Stadium crowds I can recall going back to 1996. DC was in a word embarrassed and whether or not you take Superliga seriously, their effort didn’t bring any credit to themselves or to MLS.

The TV coverage for these matches on Telefutura has been outstanding. Like last year, the network is utilizing a two man booth and sideline reporter at the matches as well as a studio host. This pales in comparison to the typical Telefutura MLS broadcast that is done at the low end with commentators calling the matches of a TV monitor, and not providing much in the way of pre game or post game analysis.

Superliga is a big event when you base it on how Telefutura covers it compared to its weekly MLS or FMF matches. Only in the Mexican playoffs do their production quality or overall game packaging approach that of Superliga. Then to add the HD component which Telefutura has offered for these matches in selected metropolitan areas (including Miami where I reside) and Superliga 2008 has been slam dunk event for the viewer. Let’s hope this continues in the knock out stages.

Comment here

MLS Sunday Review

Major League Soccer has provided us with little relief to the usual summer doldrums. As happens most MLS seasons the combination of high temperatures, half full stadiums and international call ups hurt the quality of football and make MLS in many ways a laughingstock of world football.

MLS’ midweek performances against USL sides have sent off alarm bells in the halls of football support in this nation. But to me the surprise is that USL teams only won three of eight matches versus MLS sides. The reality is thanks to the salary cap and squad restrictions in MLS, the league is not up the standard of an average first division relative to the football talent on American soil. Thanks to those very same rules, USL is not as bad as an average second division relative to the football talent on American soil.

The gap between the average MLS club and USL-1 or even the top USL-2 clubs isn’t very large. A misconception has developed that MLS is like the English Premier League while USL is like the Conference, among some fans. In fact, the opposite is the case even though MLS is improving while USL is not.

I will state that last week’s results for MLS were in my book impressive. Three years ago had eight MLS sides played eight USL sides with their reserves, six or seven MLS sides would have lost. As it stands six MLS sides played less than their typical Starting XI and four of them won.

I stated in 2003 on Big Soccer that if MLS and the then A-League had relegation/promotion with the bottom two MLS teams going down (when the league had ten teams) and the top two A-league teams going up and not having to apply MLS squad and cap rules, the two USL sides would never go back down and eventually only the LA Galaxy, NE Revs, Chicago Fire and DC United would be joined by six USL teams in the top flight.

MLS has obviously improved dramatically since 2003 while USL-1 is at the same level if not slightly lower in fact. However, the appauling lack of respect paid towards second division sides by MLS fans and commentators smacks of either complete ignorance or arrogance. Rumors are abound that USL-1 will have more money than ever in the upcoming years and if the display of team billboards at the Barbados home qualifier against the US is any indication, those rumors may be at least partially true. It would be wise for MLS fans instead of whining after perceived poor results versus USL clubs to understand the professional soccer structure in this country a little better and understand why USL/A League clubs have had so much success over the past ten years against MLS clubs. But this sustained run of success for USL clubs against MLS is coming to an end unless substantial changes take place within USL as has been speculated. But those who support MLS clubs need to spend more time understanding that this league cannot exist in a vacuum in the American soccer or world football structure. This isn’t a typical professional sports league in the United States and factors exist that make it important to understand the game from a complete perspective, not simply an MLS centric perspective going forward.

• MLS has been by just about any objective standard difficult to watch the last month. Not only the summer heat but the international call ups have stripped the league of much of its quality. The one side consistently worth watching is the Los Angeles Galaxy. First off David Beckham has shown in the past several matches that he has a skill, and a quality level that is possibly higher than any in the recent history of MLS. Also, wherever the Galaxy play, home or away an active vibrant crowd follows.
• Columbus is also a spunky side after going scoreless for almost 400 minutes in late May and early June. The Crew can feel hard done that they did not get the bounces to come away with three points last night versus Chicago.
• Was Tomasz Frankowski the worst MLS signing of the last transfer window? Sure some signings have theoretically been less effective, but what other MLS signing has actually signed a goal at Old Traftord. Perhaps Frankowski is being kept past the July 1st deadline simply to wangle in the eyes of the euro-centric Toronto FC management (A management team that has recently brought Paul Dickov and Darren Huckerby to BMO Field to discuss a move to MLS for both former Manchester City attacking players)
• Kenny Deuchar the much touted refugee from Gretna hasn’t been half the player for Real Salt Lake than Colorado’s Tam MacManus, a much less heralded SPL defector to MLS has been. The two are completely different types of players, and MacManus has fit his new club better.
• Real Salt Lake has left more points “on the table” than any other team in MLS and perhaps more than every other team combined. Every RSL match seems to fit the same script. Real’s talented, technical midfield dominates the match, Nat Borchers anchors a solid backline which controls the match until late when Nick Rimando either has to play Superman or Salt Lake either misses an easy chance or a questionable officiating call goes against them. Salt Lake should be based on their quality on the pitch and their squad one of the top teams in MLS. When I watch RSL they almost always appear to be better than their opposition, yet they sit in a position where they may miss the MLS Cup playoffs yet again.
• Chivas USA is currently tied with the LA Galaxy atop the Western Conference. But does anyone believe that without Maykel Galindo, the goats are in the same class as the Galaxy or even RSL? I have enjoyed watching Chivas the last two weeks and take some pride in the network as CSRN is now the exclusive worldwide English language carrier for Chivas home matches. Peter Brown and Graham Bell my CSRN collegues have been nothing short of outstanding on the call of the matches. The improvement in their quality from week one tow week two calling matches was striking as is the style which both bring. Peter’s intense knowledge of San Jose helped last night’s call, and as we’ve said before if it happens in American Soccer, we cover it from all perspectives at CSRN.
• Juan Carlos Osorio is in the process of making over the New York squad. It cannot come soon enough and Red Bull must be patient. When you’ve been a losing side for the better part of the league’s history, despite having some high profile managers like Carlos Queiroz and Carlos Alberto Parriera it’s time to start from square one. My hope is that new York fans and Red Bull management have the patience to see Osorio through on this mission without pulling a quick trigger.

Comment here

Chivas Win West; KC Clinches

Nill-Nill draws aren't always as lifeless and dull as the scoreline indicates. That was again the case last night as the passion of the match overwhelmed both sides in Chivas nill nill draw with Houston. The winner take all match for the Western crown led to some heated exchanges between players, a red card for Lawson Vaughn, hard tackling, players in the refs faces and finally at the end a near shoving match between the two Head Coaches. But Chivas got the draw they needed and they will be seeded #1 in the Western Conference playoffs.

Elsewhere Kansas City clinched a playoff spot with a 2-0 win over struggling FC Dallas. Colorado was eliminated by Robbie Findley's late strike which gave Real Salt Lake the satisfaction of having ended their rivals season. Look for Salt Lake next season to make a real push towards the upper reaches of MLS.

Today the winner take all match between the LA Galaxy and Chicago Fire will be seen on Telefutura at 3pm ET.

Preki Developing Chivas Depth

During the majority of the Summer Chivas USA has been on fire with Head coach Preki winning plaudits for instilling his European style attacking football on a largely Latino and American club. However, one thing that analysts bashed Chivas for was the lack of depth and over reliance on the same eleven night in and night out.Well Preki has answered the critics once again. Last night with super scorers Maykel Galindo and Ante Razov left at home, European imports Laurent Merlin (France) and John Cuncliffe (England) both had wonderful games as Chivas beat Real Salt Lake 3-2 on the road. Importantly also Ramon Nunez, a malcontent in Dallas seems to have settled down into a new role as a bench player with the Goats. Nunez's quality combined with the attacking punch Cuncliffe and Merlin can provide off the bench will be of critical importance if Chivas is going to push to win MLS Cup.The Chivas organization continues to scout and find the best talent available to them anywhere on the planet. It's a lesson learned for their rivals in Los Angeles who don't even seem to have a handle on the assets of players on their own squad let alone in the rest of football world.

Great Atmosphere as Chivas Draws Chicago

In front of what was probably the most lively crowd at an MLS match in sometime, if ever Chicago gave away a lead for the third straight match and Manager Juan Carlos Osorio lost his temper and was shown off the bench by the officials.

The match was tense as Cuauhtemoc Blanco, a long time Club America superstar and Chivas Guadalajara was making his first trip as a member of the Fire to Los Angeles. The sellout crowd was loud from the start and the place erupted when Blanco scored on a wonderful free kick in the first half.

But in the second half controversy ensued as Chivas was given a penalty and Claudio Suarez finished it. Late in the match Blanco appeared to be tripped in the box after a great run by Alex Zotinica, but Blanco who is notorious for fighting with officials choose not to argue the call instead looking to take a quick corner, thus Osorio lost his temper and was sent off. The match ended in a lively draw, but Chicago is certainly leaving the door open for Columbus or Los Angeles to catch them for the final playoff spot.

Mendoza Could Get Call Up

Luis Bueno of SI.com is reporting that Panchito Mendoza of Chivas USA is under strong consideration to be called up for Mexico's next friendly. If Mendoza does get a call up he will be first MLS player who has never at the time of the call up played in the Mexican First Division to get a call up to Mexico's National Team. The mere fact Mendoza is being considered speaks volumes about MLS' emerging reputation in Mexico. It was shock to some south of the border that former Coach Ricardo LaVolpe choose to take Claudio Suarez to Germany 2006 after he had moved to MLS and a call up of Mendoza by current coach Hugo Sanchez would be an even bigger shock to those south of the border who do not rate MLS highly. However, given the competitiveness of MLS clubs in matches versus Mexican clubs this season, it would be folly on behalf of Sanchez not to consider Mendoza who has been a big contributor to the success of Chivas USA.

Razov Closing in on Record

For all the hype around Major League Soccer regarding Jaime Moreno's quest to become the leading goal scorer in league history his record is likely to be very short lived. Moreno finally broke Jason Kreis all time scoring mark just over a month ago but now very quietly Ante Razov has closed to within one goal of Moreno's current mark of 110. Expect Razov to pass Moreno and become the all time leader by the end of the season. Razov was part of MLS Inaugural College Draft being selected by the Galaxy, but after several good seasons in Chicago he moved to Spain's Racing Ferrol for two seasons, thus has played in fewer MLS games than Jaime Moreno.

Razov's 109th goal of his MLS career, a beauty that lifted Chivas USA atop the Western Conference was one of the certain candidates for goal of the year. Chivas defeated Kansas City 2-1 with two Razov goals, the winner coming three minutes into stoppage time.

Chivas Crush Galaxy; Move Atop Western Standings

Chivas USA used some great counter attacking and a rare right footed goal by Ante Razov (Razov is left footed, and is now only 3 goals off the MLS All Time mark of 110 goals held by Jaime Moreno) to crush the Galaxy in the LA derby, 3-0. The goats look poised for a deep playoff run. Maykel Galindo seemed off his game tonight, but his attacking partner Razov was sharp, as was Paco Mendoza who pushed up often from midfield and created several chances, finally burying a goal of his own late in the match. Laurent Merlin, the former Marseille footballer who won an open tryout with the Galaxy earlier this year but was not signed scored the third Chivas goal. Joe Cannon was the best player on the pitch making countless great saves that kept the Galaxy artificially in the match. The Galaxy now are all but eliminated from all playoff consideration.

Chivas USA Add Shirt Sponsor

Ante Razov and Claudio Suarez model the new jersey with a Comex executive between the two Chivas USA stars/Photo from MLSnet

Chivas USA today became the fourth MLS Club to add a sponsor to front of its jersey. Mexican paint manufacturer Comex is the new shirt sponsor for the "goats" from Los Angeles. Prior to this season MLS clubs wore league mandated sponsors on the back of the jersey underneath the player numbers. For example DC United wore a Sierra Mist advertisement, LA Galaxy wore a Budweiser advertisement and New England wore a Pepsi ad on the back of their jerseys. This year LA Galaxy signed a long term deal with Herblife to have its name on the front of the Galaxy shirts and now three other MLS clubs have followed suit.