The Great Escape: American Grit

Pundits around Britain will no doubt be discussing Fulham’s great escape in the upcoming weeks. Seemingly dead, the London side strung together some improbable results, particularly away from Craven Cottage to escape relegation on goal difference. Was it Jimmy Bullard’s return from injury, the timely striking of Dionmansy Kamara or even the managing of Roy Hodgson, a man left on the dust bin of British football but one of the few English managers of the last 15 years to really make it outside of the U.K? Truth is it was all of the above and something more: American Grit.

Fulham is after all the closet thing we have ever had or will ever have to an “American team” in Europe. The Cottagers have now for years been buying players from MLS, and for years have done enough with what they had to avoid relegation. It all started in 1999 when Fulham bought Marcus Hahnemann and Eddie Lewis from MLS in a push to move to the Premier League. The side had just been promoted to the old first division at the time. Lewis stayed with the team until they were finally promoted in 2001 to the Premier League, and that was the start of Fulham’s now eight year run in the top flight. Since then the club unlike many in Europe has not hesitated to scout and ultimately purchase American players from MLS clubs.

That’s why despite downplaying the significance of Fulham’s survival effort several months ago, I have felt the last few weeks Fulham had to escape relegation to keep going any positive momentum the US has created perception wise in Europe. Fulham’s failure could easily be pinned on its American contingent. Today Fulham’s success can just as easily be credited to the character of its American legion, led by none other than arguably the greatest and most important footballer our nation has ever produced, Goalkeeper Kasey Keller.

Keller hasn’t played for the most glamorous clubs or for the most titles. In fact Keller has never once played in a Champions League match. However, he is as I have stated repeatedly before, perhaps the best keeper I have ever seen and if I had to pick a stopper for any odd one off match it would be him, even 38. He’s a keeper that has played at smaller clubs and excelled at those clubs. Four of the clubs Keller played keeper at are now in lower divisions than when he minded their nets. That’s how important he has always been to the teams he has played for. Keller is one of the great goalkeepers internationally of the last fifteen years. No greater star than Romario was so dazzled by Keller’s performance against Brazil in 1998 that he actually said “it was truly an honor to be on the field with him.”

Brian McBride also a gritty veteran, now going on 36 is equally significant to Fulham’s great escape. McBride was always to me a bit of a mystery. Why was a guy who was so critical and outstanding for the US National Team, also so average and injury prone at times in MLS? It seemed McBride’s injury problems hurt him in MLS but also seem to have ironically lengthened his career once he went back abroad. (McBride played in Germany for another American loving club, Wolfsburg before MLS began play in 1996.) McBride’s game changing ability has faded but his leadership and grit are as sharp as ever. McBride retired from the US National Team two years ago, but it deserves mentioning that he is still the second best active American field player (behind Landon Donovan). That is a credit to McBride and a damning indictment of the state of the US National Team’s current talent pool.

The rest of the American contingent at Fulham demonstrate why I firmly believe that the United States is in a dip on the international scene until the generation led by Jozy Altidore, Freddy Adu, Michael Bradley and Robbie Rogers takes charge of the national team. Clint Dempsey is a player whose spirit and story I love and is uniquely American. But Dempsey is a limited player who often times disappears for long stretches in matches. That was the case in MLS and has been the case at Fulham.

Carlos Bocanegra’s club career is clearly in a tailspin. Bocanegra who has the distinction of being the only American player ever to score two career goals against Brazil, was largely responsible for Fulham’s defensive problems last season and his poor play continued this year. The mere fact that he is a scoring threat on set pieces has earned him more love than he’s truly deserved for both club and country. Roy Hodgson rightfully has kept him on the bench late in the season.

Eddie Johnson is at best an average player in Major League Soccer, and in the English Premier League, probably one of the worst transfers in recent memory. Anyone who watches Johnson as regularly as I have in both MLS and for the national team realized he wasn’t good enough to play at the Premiership level: or at the level of any major European first division. Yet Johnson remains quite possibly the best US striking option. How’s that for scary?

Fulham both honors the great strides the United States has come as Soccer playing nation since the late 1980s in Kasey Keller and Brian McBride, and the current malaise on the national team with the other three players. Fulham honors our proud recent past and our uncertain future. Regardless of what any American soccer fan told you today, Fulham’s result was the most important and most emotionally gut wrenching for those of us that love soccer in our country. The Cottagers remind us why the US got the quarterfinals of World Cup 2002 and why we beat Brazil, Germany (twice) and Argentina in a fifteen month period not long ago. But Fulham also reminds us why the US is a Landon Donovan or Tim Howard injury away from potentially missing our first World Cup since 1986. (With the fifth place COMNEBOL finisher facing the fourth place CONCACAF qualifer, the margain for error that both the U.S. and Mexico have had been reduced and right now I have sense that neither will actually win the Hexaganol, leaving if my gut is correct no margin for error for either. Mexico though could go to South America and win a playoff match. The US cannot. )

What has happened the last few weeks is remarkable. For many of us who have been fans of the sport we have chosen country over club as MLS wasn’t until recently far enough evolved to encourage a loyal fan culture and European football while important was distant. I’ve followed Manchester City Football Club for almost two decades now and consider them my favorite international club, but have always consider the plight of the US National Team far more important than any club’s fortunes. But now, I have joined so many Americans who also pull for Fulham because it seems the gritty group from London are in so many ways a microcosm of American Soccer and have made us all proud in so many ways to be an American and to enjoy the world’s most beautiful game.

Comment here

News and Notes: Agogo, Johnson, Bradley, Wegerle, etc

• Junior Agogo an MLS almuni who was decent with Colorado and a washout with San Jose scored the game winner for Ghana last night int heir African Nations Cup triumph over Namibia. Agogo now plays back home in England (he is English but was eligible to play for Ghana through his parents) for Nottingham Forest.
• Eddie Johnson will become I believe the first native Floridian to play in the Premier League when he makes his Fulham debut. Roy Wegerle, a longtime Tampa resident was born in South Africa and Joe Max Moore who lived in Miami for a long time was born in Tulsa. In addition Cory Gibbs a Plantation native (around the corner from me) was on Charlton last season but of course was injured all year.
• Michael Bradley is on pace the shater Wegerle’s record for the most goals scored in a European first division by an American. Wegerle scored 18 goals for Queens Park Rangers in the old first division the year before the Premier League was formed. (Bradley currently has 12 league goals in the Dutch First Division) Wegerle became an American citizen during the course of that season so you could argue his record technically doesn’t count, but as someone who had watched Wegerle and his brother almost ten years earlier here in Florida, they were both always plenty American in my eyes.
• Eddie Johnson credits Clint Dempsey with his move to Fulham. According to an exclusive video on US Soccer’s official website, Johnson credits Dempsey with convincing Roy Hodgson to pursue him, and then convincing Johnson himself to make the move when EJ had of course in the past rejected moves to Benfica Real Sociedad, and Derby County among others.
• MLS continues to pursue Latin American based players with National Team experience during this transfer window, which means the overall level of talent in the league among foreign players is likely to reach its highest point this season since the 1996- 1998 time period when virtually every non-Brazilian foreign player in MLS had National Team experience. In the 2001 to 2006 time period very few MLS internationals had been regular contributors to their national team set up.

Comment Here

Granfathering DPs Smacks of Favortism

Major League Soccer has made several efforts in the past few seasons to eliminate the appearance of favoritism towards certain clubs that was often alleged in the early seasons of the league. Many fans of clubs in the league had what in my mind were legitimate gripes against clubs such as the Metrostars and LA Galaxy who seemed to be assigned the best players and biggest draws by the league which controlled all player contracts. The scouting networks of individual MLS clubs were not nearly as developed in the late 1990s so it appeared to be simple for the league to rearrange the deck ever so often and give teams like the Galaxy prized allocations while promising smaller clubs like the Columbus Crew or dearly departed Tampa Bay Mutiny the next “major” allocation.

MLS thankfully has moved past these days when club supporters would cringe when they’d hear the teams “partial allocation” or “major allocation.” However, the league has taken a step back in the wrong direction with its exemption of Landon Donovan, Carlos Ruiz and Eddie Johnson from the DP rule. While I am concerned about the cases of Ruiz and Johnson, I will admit it is the Donovan situation that really bugs me.

From the inception of the league until today allegations of bias towards the Los Angeles Galaxy franchise have existed from the fans of every other team in the league. I will admit that I sit on the fence in this debate. I for example thought it was terrible when the Galaxy were allocated Carlos Hermisillio in 1998 without having to give up another player and that they had jumped San Jose, Dallas, Columbus and Tampa Bay in line for the next allocation. (San Jose felt they were owed the allocation and were even angrier when they were not compensated following the season for the loss of Eric Wynalda and Eddie Lewis. Wynalda went on loan to Mexico where he was injured and then returned to MLS with Miami and Lewis went to England) However, in 2000 when Luis Hernandez signed with MLS with the condition he play in L.A., the Galaxy were forced to part with Clint Mathis who was assigned to New York and who then went on a scoring tear to match any in league history with his new club, I thought the Galaxy could feel hard done. In addition the Galaxy never seemed to benefit from the favoritism DC United got when signing youngsters: Ben Olsen, Bobby Convey, Chris Albright and Freddy Adu were all assigned to DC United simply because they wanted to play for DC. In the case of Albright, my favored club the Miami Fusion was assigned him with the understanding he would be traded to United for a “future allocation.” The Fusion were owed the allocation for losing Carlos Valderrama and instead the club ended up getting Welton, who had discarded by the Galaxy as belated compensation for Valderrama and an injured Eric Wynalda as compensation for Albright. San Jose was never compensated for losing Wynalda or Eddie Lewis as mentioned before. I believe something similar happened with Convey though I can not recall who was owed the allocation, but I do remember Olsen threatening to sign overseas if he wasn’t allocated to DC United.

MLS has a perception problem particularly when it comes to the Galaxy. It has been alleged that this favoritism is due to the large investment AEG has made in the league, but the reality is many of allegations and bitterness on the part of other clubs fans predate AEG’s purchase of the Galaxy. (At the inception of the league, AEG owned only the Colorado Rapids, which was sold to Stan Kroenke in 2005).

When it comes to the Galaxy, MLS has a problem. From a perception standpoint it would have been wise to somehow force Donovan to leave the Galaxy or force the club to dump David Beckham. While as I have admitted previously I see both sides of the argument no doubt fans of clubs like Chivas USA who find themselves with no current DP possibilities while sharing a stadium with a club known for clever book keeping and perceived to be a long term beneficiary of favors from the league will be screaming bloody murder about Donovan’s exemption. MLS needs to revisit this decision otherwise risk being accused of the same bias the league has worked so hard to distance itself from.

WANT TO COMMENT ON THIS POST? PLEASE VISIT US AT CSRN'S US SOCCER SPOT!

Eddie Johnson: Transfer Target (Again)

In spite of almost constant criticism of his performance on the international level, Eddie Johnson seems to once again be attracting lots of interest from clubs in Europe. This has been an annual battle that Kansas City has faced since Johnson was traded from FC Dallas in 2005. That year a $6 million offer from Benfica was rejected and last season an offer from Real Sociedad was also rejected. Now it is recently promoted Derby County of the EPL who have offerred roughly $6 million for Johnson.

Kansas City and Major League Soccer cannot continue to stand in Johnson's way. A sale to any European club would probably help Johnson develop the aggressiveness that is lacking in his game at the international level. In addition, now that David Beckham has arrived in the US, players such as Johnson, and Freddy Adu which had previously been guarded at all costs by MLS for marketing purposes may have less value now to MLS. Let's hope so for the sake of the US National Team.

What We Learned

Soccer can be a cruel game. For over sixty minutes our US National Team boys looked lively and more energetic than the favored Argentines. In fact I would venture to say we looked like the better team. However, tired legs and inexperience caught up with the USA and we succumbed to a 4-1 defeat. Watching the game at my newly adopted futbol home in Cozumel, the patrons and owners were pulling for the US largely because of me. It’s too bad we were so outclassed late in the match. I found it interesting that the waiter simply assumed that without Landon Donovan, a single player the US would get smoked out of the Copa, whereas if he were playing the US would be a threat to win the event. Such is the high respect Mexican fans have for the #10 they call the “Mexicutioner.”

I would say the most disappointing aspect of the match for me was how out of position our central defenders, Jimmy Conrad and Jay DeMerit seemed to be on multiple occasions. DeMerit looked completely outclassed which is especially unfortunate considering he seems to be everybody’s favorite player these days, the guy we want to see do well. Secondly, I’m still curious about why Coach Bradley decided to pull Benny Olsen who seemed to be outworking Cambiasso and Riquelme in the midfield for Eddie Gaven, whose career has been a complete washout to this point. Bob Bradley has pushed all the right buttons this year with the national team, but this particular substitution was probably his worst moment. Even if Olsen was tiring which didn’t seem to be the case, you are subbing a World Cup veteran whose versatility is among the best in the US player pool for a low energy player who doesn’t position himself properly. Now if Olsen really was spent, I think Kyle Beckerman could have come in to the match and done a much better job than Gaven. Come to think of it, I have no clue whatsoever why Coach Bradley selected Gavin for the squad to begin with.

Our attack was very limited. Justin Mapp and Ben Olsen provided some good energy and runs, but the forwards were once again absent. Eddie Johnson did well to draw a penalty and coolly finished the goal, but otherwise his reluctance to take guys on is mind boggling. Going into last year’s World Cup, Bruce Arena made the same observation publically about EJ, yet Johnson still hasn’t changed his mentality out there. Taylor Twellman once again provided little if anything, but the more I think about it we are for the foreseeable future stuck with there guys in the attack. I was pleased with the sense of positioning and quality runs Marvell Wynne provided. Like Gaven, I thought the selection of Wynne for Copa was questionable, but his effort last night provided otherwise.

I’ll be back stateside for the Paraguay match and hope we can learn from what went wrong late in the match last night.

ON FIRE!

Eddie Johnson is in rare form for Kansas City. Today he netted his seventh, eight and ninth goals of the season as the Wizards moved into the top overall spot in Major League Soccer with a 3-2 win over Red Bull New York. EJ will try and keep his streak going for the US National Team this week in the Gold Cup matches.

SuperClasico Win Boosts National Team Towards a Big Summer

Bob Bradley made Sunil Gulati's life a lot more difficult yesterday with the decisive 2-0 win over Mexico in front of a very hostile crowd in Glendale, Az. Much like Steve Sampson did 12 years ago when he was the interim coach while the USSF was waiting for Carlos Quieroz to become available, Bradley probably will get to use a shutout of Mexico to hold onto the job than he was originally intended to have it for.

Whomever is coaching the US come summertime not withstanding, yesterday's game was critical for restoring the confidence of Landon Donovan, who despite his poor form of the last year and his desire to avoid playing in Europe remains easily the most talented American player and who on a good day can still provide world class runs and finishing. While the World Cup was a disappointment for Donovan and for the US squad in general, Copa America is the 2nd biggest tournament the US plays in, and with the USSF finally accepting an invitation to play in the event for the first time since the formation of MLS, the bitter memories of Germany 2006 can be erased rather quickly. (Many US fans have blamed Donovan and DeMarcus Beasley for the poor World Cup, forgetting that both played heroic matches when a nine man US team drew the eventual World Champion, Italy) Donovan can lead this team by example, and he certainly has many complimentary parts to enhance his game. Eddie Johnson, despite not scoring yesterday showed a field awareness and a willingness to make daring runs that he has lacked for the past two years. Pablo Mastroeni seemed to settle more and more into a Claudio Reyna type holding midfield role and Jonathan Bornstein proved much like last month's game against Denmark that he can use his speed to make dangerous overlapping runs on the left flank. Most importantly, Jimmy Conrad and Carlos Bocanegra seemed to always be positioned perfectly when Mexico was attacking, something that was sorely lacking in the World Cup. Bocanegra has allowed his excellent form with Fulham to boost his willingness to play physical defense, something he was always reluctant to do in the past.

It was also a relief to see Tim Howard appear so confident in goal. Bradley should thank David Moyes for this, because the Everton Manager has allowed Howard to play through his mistakes unlike Sir Alex Ferguson whose perfectionist attitude towards the Goalkeeper position ruined Howard's confidence and made him unplayable for the National Team for the past few years. The bottom line: Yesterday's win provides a great lead in for what could be a big year for US Soccer both thanks to the restored confidence of the National Team and the arrival of David Beckham stateside.