USL Quarterfinal Wrap

DeRoux’s heroics were not enough for the Minnesota Thunder/photo by Paul Phillips

Darren Tilley was among the heroes of the 1999 US Open Cup final, the last major trophy won by a current USL side. Pat Onstad and Yuri Alnatt were also key figures that night at Crew Stadium for the Rochester Rhinos. Now nine years later after a near financial collapse Tilley has his team in the semifinal round of the USL playoffs after dispatching 2008 Open Cup finalist Charleston 2-1 on aggregate. The Rhinos now advance to face Regular Season champ, Puerto Rico in the semifinals. Will the fixture congestion of the CONCACAF Champions League finally catch up with the Islanders next weekend? Don’t count on it. Right now for my money Colin Clarke’s side would be the third best team in MLS (After Houston and Columbus) if they were in that league instead of USL. The Islanders are deep and talented besides being extremely well coached. The semifinals will feature two teams with British coaches playing a very British style of football, so those Anglosnobs who refuse to watch MLS because it seems unfamiliar to them ought to check out the Islanders versus the Rhinos.

Elsewhere Minnesota shelled Jay Nolly all evening long but fell a goal short of advancing past the Whitecaps who came into the second leg up two goals. The final tally was Vancouver 5 Minnesota 4 after two legs. Stephen deRoux had a great game in midfield for the Thunder. Vancouver now will face Montreal in a Canadian derby semifinal. The Impact came from a goal down in the first leg to beat Seattle in the second leg 3-1. The final goal scored in stoppage time was set up Joey Gjerstan and tallied by Antonio Ribeiro. The Impact now focus on the Champions League midweek before facing Vancouver in a two leg series this weekend.

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Impact Advances, MLS Falters

Longtime FC Dallas GK Matt Jordan kept a clean sheet as USL-1 side Montreal Impact advanced in the Champions League

Even after DC United beats the Charleston Battery in tonight’s US Open Cup Final, USL will have achieved something tangible that MLS failed at attempting, and failed badly at: to advance a team out of the qualifying round of the CONCACAF Champions League. Montreal got a draw on the road to Real Esteli and advance intyo the group stage of the competition while MLS sides New England and Chivas USA were eliminated on their home turf.

Chivas USA gave a game effort which is much much more than can be said for New England. But the bottom line is this. MLS is nowhere near as competitive or attractive a league as its proponents claim. This tournament was supposed to be different because unlike the CONCACAF Champions Cup, this event was being started right in the heart of the MLS season. But what we’ve discovered is that MLS lacks the depth not only on its squads, but among its squads to seriously compete in these sorts of events. For all those who state that MLS is the most competitive league in the world, the reality is that the same teams usually win the title and the same teams usually compete well when representing the league in CONCACAF competitions. So how good is MLS in reality? Not very good by any objective international standard. I firmly believe that MLS which constantly compares itself to the FMF isn’t even the second or maybe third best league within CONCACAF. But it is our league as is USL and we must embrace both to grow the game in the United States.

Hubris II

A day after amazing achievements for USL-1 sides in CONCACAF Champions League action Major League Soccer continued its pattern of showing that they don’t get it by rejecting New York’s $200,000 bid for Macoumba Kandji according to Ives Galarcep of Soccer by Ives. The apparent stumbling block: MLS does not believe any player in USL could possibly be worth $200,000. Even after seeing the Puerto Rico Islanders, a USL side accomplish a feat that no MLS team has been able to in eight tries (getting a result against one of the big two Costa Rican clubs in Central America) Major League Soccer will not allow one of its franchises to spend transfer money on a player from the second division in its own country. Can you imagine if the Premier League forbade its clubs from buying players from Championship clubs? Or how about Serie A not buying from Serie B? The policy would rightly be ripped and quite frankly the gap between USL-1 and MLS is much smaller than between the Premier League and Championship. It’s no small wonder why so many fans domestic and abroad view the MLS not only a poor footballing league but more importantly as a somewhat strange and shady business.

The Hubris in MLS HQ is a subject I’ve been exploring the Superliga debacle. This incident however even surprises someone like me who tends to think the worst possible of the league. However, I must state I support MLS and hope they shape up rather than permanently lose a generation of football fans in this nation.

The fact is back in the day USL-1 (then the A-League) and MLS used to have a working partnership. Now they compete. USL is obviously an inferior league but its not as wide a gap as typically you have between first and second divisions. MLS seems determined to kill USL, while at the same time not allowing its franchises to grow. I’ve actually spoken off the record to a few players who have been in both leagues and while they acknowledge MLS is the top league some prefer playing in USL and actually signing with a team and not being subject to the constant rearranging of the deck chairs that occurs in MLS since player contracts are owned by the league and not by certain clubs.

What MLS needs to do is learn from USL’s success in certain markets and also understand why USL sides tend to perform well relative to their talent level in knock out competitions like the Open Cup and now the CONCACAF CL. USL-1 sides typically get players that are MLS rejects not because they weren’t good enough to play but because they fell in the salary range of 30k-50k where cap space becomes tight. Many USL-1 players are actually better than the low end MLS players. In other cases it is easier for foriegn players, particularly from the Caribbean and Africa to sign with USL-1 and USL-2 sides. Often times the foreign players that end up in USL have a better long term outlook than the overpayed and over the hill type foreign players MLS likes to sign. Mac Kandji is an example of this type of foreign player.

For a league in the last year who has signed foreign players such a Franco Neil, Mathias Cordoba, Franco Carracio, Celestine Babyaro, Abel Xavier, Laurent Robert and others based on reputation not on their ability to excel in the unique footballing climate of the United States, the decision of MLS to reject a transfer fee for Kandji shows that once again MLS operates in a vacuum with regards to the world of football and deserves all of the scorn it has rightfully earned.

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USL Trumps MLS

Today’s goalscorer for USL-1 side Puerto Rico Islanders Osei Telesford against England in May/Reuters Photo

Can you believe that headline? After seeing MLS sides lose in all eight attempts to even get so much as a draw in a CONCACAF Champions Cup match on Costa Rican soil, tonight in the new CONCACAF Champions League USL-1 side Puerto Rico Islanders got a shock 1-1 draw at Alajuelense. Well USL-1 is a second division, no doubt but what does it say when your second division gets a result in its first time out to Costa Rica where MLS is 0-8 through the years in the champions cup? Fluke, or dumb luck I think the Islanders result tells us a heck of a lot about the character of USL-1 sides and why it has been unwise of many to write of the league as being inconsequential. Recall just this past week, I tipped Alajuelense as one of the my five favorites to win the competition. (Along with Saprissa and three Mexican sides) No MLS side had this tough an opening matchup, and yet neither MLS side that played Tuesday night got a result against much weaker opposition. The reality of the situation is this: MLS’ squad limits and single entity structure limit the ability of its teams to compete in major international settings. In addition the MLS salary cap allows many of the middle tier of American players to star in USL while the lower tier ends up filling out MLS squads. It’s simple salary cap math. So if you are an MLS Sporting Director, in order to sign a high profile player you usually have to jettison a middle salary player who instead of staying MLS ends up in USL. Puerto Rico has several such players who would still be good squad footballers if in MLS.

Colin Clark whose tenure in Dallas ended badly with a first round exit from the 2006 MLS Cup Playoffs showed his tactical shrewdness in the match. The Islanders who have been playing very well in USL-1 used the clutch goalkeeping of former Columbus Crew stopper Bill Gaudette as well as some very gutsy midfield play to salvage the draw. The Islanders feature an eclectic mix of players: full internationals like Fabrice Noel and Osei Telesford who featured in last week’s CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers, as well as American journeymen players like Gaudette and Josh Hansen and Edson Elcock. The Islanders relishing the occasion and understanding tactical football on the road pulled a shock result, that MLS clubs in numerous opportunities have failed to deliver.

No one in their right mind is going to claim USL-1 has the quality of MLS. But at the same time, I have long maintained that the gap between the two leagues could be the narrowest between first and second divisions in the world. The last two nights of Champions League action where two MLS sides have discredited their league while two USL-1 sides have achieved results speak volumes to that point. For some of us this is not unexpected. Just this evening my CSRN colleague Johnathan Starling told me that he believed Puerto Rico would make match of it tonight. I told him that as much as I believe USL sides will perform decently in this event, and show more heart than MLS teams, I just couldn’t see any team with American players going to Costa Rica and getting a result. I was wrong and essentially fell into the same trap I have editorialized against as recently as this morning: Overrating MLS and assuming American players like Bill Gaudette could not perform in hostile Ticos settings because so many MLS players have failed in the very same setting in the past.

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Hubris

Marco Etcheverry is the type of creative player MLS lacks today/MLSNET.com

The CONCACAF Champions league was built up as Major League Soccer’s opportunity to show how well it sides perform while in season. The complaint about the now retired Champions Cup was that it was played during the MLS preseason. However, despite a flattering scoreline the first match of the Champions League showed how outclassed outside the United States MLS sides often times are, even though New England is arguably the best MLS team around. While Chivas USA certainly played a better match down in Panama than New England did in Port of Spain the result was the same: MLS lost. Now based on these results, it is very likely both MLS teams will advance to the group stage due to having home legs upcoming. Yet the point cannot be lost: unlike Mexican or Costa Rican sides, MLS teams cannot get results or even dictate play away from home.

The laundry list of excuses are already being touted: That MLS squads don’t have depth because of the roster limits, that teams are suffering from fixture congestion and that the focus right now remains on the MLS season. These excuses are to me worthless since the league itself has made such a production of touting its improvement when compared with football in other parts of the region. I have said this before and will say this again: I believe MLS circa 1998 had more quality than MLS circa 2008. Sure the talent is more evenly distributed now throughout the league, but the top teams and in fact the top players in league were more impressive ten years ago than they are today. The results MLS teams achieved versus sides from abroad in those days even in friendlies were quite frankly more impressive than today.

All of this really doesn’t matter if it weren’t for MLS’ own arrogance in promoting its product. As the defeat of Toronto FC in the Canadian Championship at the hands of the then last place USL-1 side demonstrated, that despite an increase in exposure due to a surge in popularity for football in North America, MLS’ product continues to be inferior to just about any other league available on American television. David Beckham’s arrival stateside gave MLS the impetus to over promote its own virtues.

MLS does not need to be the most competitive or attractive league in the world. As I have said before the old MLS that focused on player development and increasing access to the game was a preferable model to today’s league. But as the league has advanced an agenda of becoming a super league in North America, its impact on the US National Team as discussed a few weeks back has been problematic as is the seeming desire of the league to promote its own tournament which it runs, Superliga as some sort of major international event. This is because MLS receives the profits from the event via its marketing arm, SUM and all the matches are played on American soil. What’s even worse is in order to tout its own importance and value in footballing circles the league continues to boast about its competitiveness and quality when almost all visible evidence refutes these claims.

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MLS Deserving of Ridicule

Stuart Holden will not be able to watch team mates Brian Ching and Dwayne DeRosario in qualifying tonight because he’s playing at the same time/photo from MLSNET

Major League Soccer is one of the strangest football leagues in the world. While some European oriented fans ridicule MLS for the time of year it is played those of us who understand world football and weather patterns do not really understand how MLS can be played when these people’s beloved English Premier League is played. Nor do I subscribe to the single table argument, in a league where distances of 2,500 miles is common between stadiums. To me it makes more sense to play the clubs in your geographic area more often than clubs on the other side of the continent.

Now that we’ve dismissed the most common Eurosnob arguments about MLS let me introduce why I believe the league on this day of deadly critical World Cup qualifiers in CONCACAF need not be taken seriously. MLS not only plays through international breaks but plays with its top teams at the very same time the United States national team plays. We’ve seen this happen time and time again throughout MLS history. I still recall my conflict in 1999 about whether to watch a US-Germany game on PPV (Confederations Cup) or a Miami Fusion-Metrostars game on ABC. In other words the less important match, the MLS one was more accessible than the more important and entertaining match.

This is a situation that would be avoided at all costs in most footballing nations. The federation would insist on its domestic league not competiting with its national team for TV time. Even if tonight’s MLS matches end prior to the end of the US National Team qualifier, the two events are essentially in competition for viewers and for attention.

We’ve seen this situation played out time and time again. We’ve seen websites like this focus on MLS news instead of national team news during qualifying and friendly matches. We’ve even seen Sportscenter air MLS highlights before US highlights as it did during last year’s Copa America when ESPN showed matches at the very same time as two US games on Univision and GOLTV. That’s why with qualifying starting I announced earlier this week that this blogsite will focus on the US Team, as the American Soccer Show has done whenever the US is in action be it for a qualifier, or a friendly.

Maybe I am old fashioned but the national team should be the priority. Trust me, I really understand some of MLS’ scheduling issues which is why I am not beating the drum of changing the calender or going to a single table. However, if MLS must play through international breaks can they not at least attempt to schedule matches 24 hours before or after a US or Canadian game? (This courtesy should be extended to all CONCACAF nations quite frankly) I’m sorry to say this to those of you who support New England, Chivas USA, Houston or DC United but your matches tonight are totally meaningless in the big picture when the National Team faces its toughest qualifier of this group. The idea that the Soccer/Football community in our nation will have its attention split instead of cheering on our boys has made me sick to my stomach.

At the same time as this is happening, MLS has attempted to oversell its product. Why the league does not focus on simply being a good domestic league that brings live football to the masses here in North America and develops American talent, as it once did is lost upon me. All of a sudden the league wants to be a player abroad and is starved for international attention. In the meantime MLS itself has probably the worst record of any first division against its nation(s)’ second division (USL-1) of any top flight league on the planet. I’ve heard the argument that MLS clubs do not take the US Open Cup seriously, but when USL teams consistently get results against MLS sides, even those like FC Dallas who field their first teams at home, the league isn’t at the level it claims it is. For me that is fine: I like both MLS and USL and wish Major League Soccer would return to its circa 2000 priorities.

MLS’ solution to these perceived problems thus far has been to try and expand into USL markets and increase the number of foreign players allowed per team. But the side USL-1’s Montreal Impact won the Canadian Championship with is largely home grown: Only four active players hail from outside the CONCACAF region and the club has been known for sometime as more or less a feeder team for the Canadian National Team. At the same time Toronto FC fielded only two Canadian players in the decisive match.

As we saw with the debacle about naming the team in Seattle MLS feels its product and its brand reign supreme and any association be it symbolic or real with prior soccer clubs in a region is to be frowned upon. MLS instead of embracing the legacy and hard work of those who have built the game in this region seem to want to pretend as if they are responsible solely for the growth of the North American game. Rejecting any hint of association with the defunct North American Soccer League (whose very existence as one time success is the most significant reason Soccer became a major participatory sport in North America) MLS has begun to imitate the NASL in its behavior even though admittedly MLS is on much more solid business grounding and is also in an era where Soccer is better understood and more ingrained in the American psyche. Wouldn’t MLS and Soccer in this region be better off, if the league simply acknowledged its predecessors including clubs that existed for a long period of time outside of a first division and honor their legacy by embracing the club’s names and its practices?

The NASL for all its success was seen as a rogue league by FIFA and the USSF. MLS has spent twelve years cultivating the game in this country and promoting its growth. But now its priorities seem completely divergent with what has gotten the league to this point: a reliance on home grown talent and the success and interest generated by the US National Team.

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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.

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MLS Review: Focus on Internationals

Former Metro star and current Islander Peter Villegas scored a goal for Puerto Rico in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Honduras

Every region with the exception of the Euro engaged UEFA confederation has begun qualifying for World Cup 2010. A number of players from Major League Soccer and USL-1 were in action Saturday, representing their countries, and flying the banner of both leagues. This is why it is all the more illogical for both leagues to play right through the international breaks, especially for World Cup qualifying. Sunday over twenty five players from MLS and USL will be engaged in World Cup qualifying.

Here is a rundown of Saturday’s best:

Carlos Ruiz (LA Galaxy)

Scored four goals in Guatemala’s 6-0 thrashing of St Lucia

Christopher Megaloudis (NY Red Bulls)

Scored a goal in Puerto Rico’s 2-2 draw with Honduras

Peter Villegas (Puerto Rico Islanders)

Scored a goal in Puerto Rico’s 2-2 draw with Honduras

Noah Delgado (Puerto Rico Islanders)

Played a full 90 minutes in Puerto Rico’s 2-2 draw with Honduras

Amado Guevara (Toronto FC)

Played 90 minutes in Honduras 2-2 draw with Puerto Rico. Honduras advances 6-2 on aggregate

Gonzalo Segaras (Chicago Fire)

Played 66 minutes in Costa Rica’s 2-2 draw with Grenada.

Shalrie Joseph (New England Revs)

Played 90 minutes in Grenada’s 2-2 draw with Costa Rica

Kenny Mansally (New England Revs)

Played the final 15 minutes of Gambia’s 1-0 victory over Algeria

Kei Kamara (San Jose Earthquakes)

Played 90 plus minutes in Sierra Leone’s 1-0 victory over South Africa. Kamara was subbed out in stoppage time.

Other Thoughts:

Given the massive crowd assembled the performance of the Earthquakes was disgraceful. But without Kei Kamara, and Ivan Guerrero (who didn’t play for Honduras despite being on the bench) The Quakes looked completely incapable of linking up from midfield to the attack. Edson Buddle is playing so well and seems finally to have his head screwed on straight that perhaps he should be looked at closely by Bob Bradley for a future US National Team call up.

How humiliated must David Beckham feel to be playing on a sodded up baseball diamond while his mates are competiting on the world’s biggest stage in the European Championships? Give him credit for not sulking and still giving his all in every match despite the poor quality of the pitches, the football and the seeming need of opposing MLS clubs to use Beckham to sell tickets.

DC United rolls at RFK Stadium. No surprise there. Now United needs to maintain its level away from home. Last week’s win at Chicago was a good start but just one game marred by red cards and poor officiating. Luciano Emilio thankfully has regained his scoring touch.

The extended road trip for Kansas City really dented the teams’ confidence and right now DP Claudio Lopez and Ivan Trujillo are simply not producing up front. I hate to say this but unless a player is from Argentina or Brazil signing someone who has never been capped by their nation is a risky proposition. MLS is not as poor a footballing league as it once was an signing players like Trujillo is no longer a sure fire way to success.

Don’t sleep on Toronto FC as a title contender. Without several players missing due to international duty, the Reds crushed a Colorado squad that was hardly missing anybody beyond Bouna Counduil. A very impressive performance for John Carver’s side, yet Jeff Cunningham is stuck on goal #99.

Houston was poor the other night, and with so many internationals missing you are reminded how influential Steve Ralston is on a match when healthy and the standard is dummied down. Ralston, an MLS original is still on his day among the league’s best.

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USL on FSC Schedule for 2008

USL on FSC 2008 Schedule

Day	Date	Away team		Home team	Time (ET)
Friday	April 25	Montreal	@	Atlanta	8:00 pm
Friday	May 2	Seattle	@	Atlanta	8:00 pm
Friday	May 9	Miami	@	Charleston	8:00 pm
Friday	May 16	Minnesota	@	Atlanta	8:00 pm
Friday	May 23	Seattle	@	Vancouver	11:00 pm
Friday	May 30	Portland	@	Montreal	8:00 pm
Friday	June 6	Puerto Rico	@	Atlanta	8:00 pm
Friday	June 13	Vancouver	@	Rochester	8:00 pm
Friday	June 20	Minnesota	@	Charleston	8:00 pm
Friday	June 27	Portland	@	Carolina	8:00 pm
Friday	July 4	Puerto Rico	@	Miami	8:00 pm
Friday	July 11	Seattle	@	Rochester	8:00 pm
Friday	July 18	Miami	@	Montreal	8:00 pm
Friday	July 25	Montreal	@	Rochester	8:00 pm
Friday	August 1	Vancouver	@	Carolina	8:00 pm
Sunday	August 3	W-League Championship			TBD
Thursday	August 7	Seattle	@	Portland	11:00 pm
Saturday	August 9	PDL Championship			TBD
Friday	August 15	Miami	@	Carolina	8:00 pm
Friday	August 22	Portland	@	Vancouver	11:00 pm
Saturday	August 23	USL Second Division Championship			TBD
Friday	August 29	Puerto Rico	@	Charleston	8:00 pm
Friday	September 5	Minnesota	@	Montreal	8:00 pm
Friday	September 12	Puerto Rico	@	Rochester	8:00 pm
Friday	September 19	Carolina	@	Charleston	8:00 pm
Sunday	September 28	USL-1 Quarterfinals - Second leg			TBD
Sunday	October 5	USL-1 Semifinals - Second leg			TBD
Saturday	October 11	USL First Division Championship			TBD
Schedule subject to change

Christmas Thoughts

This is traditionally the busiest time of year in the English Football season with the Boxing Day matches on the horizon and the January transfer window about to open. But here in the United States we are consumed by meaningless college bowl games between sixth place finishers in their conference. Can you imagine if we had a one game playoff on national TV for “bragging rights” between Bolton and Middlesbrough? Well that’s what College Bowls essentially are. Of course the game would be held in a neutral site, let’s say in Spain or Turkey. College Bowl games have become so meaningless and mind numbing that I personally am thankful my favorite college team the University of Miami didn’t make a bowl this year for the first time in ten seasons and only the second time (when not on NCAA probation) since 1978. My alma mater the University of Florida is playing in a bowl game against Michigan: a glorified exhibition game that EPL clubs would play over summer.

What else consumes Americans during the holiday season? NFL Football. Personally I checked out of the NFL long ago as the league went from being something very unique and special to a hype and propaganda machine unlike any other outside the Communist Party in Beijing. When the NFL started manipulating its rules to encourage offensive players to dominate the game and began encouraging TV networks to alter their in-game coverage to obsess on fantasy football stats and in game quarterback ratings, I knew my time watching the league was done. It’s a shame because I grew up with three sports: NFL Football, College Football and NASL Soccer.

NASL Soccer seems destined to make its return stateside with the ever expanding and foreign influenced MLS. For years the league didn’t want to take anything positive from the NASL experience. Team nicknames in core markets, marketing techniques or executives. MLS’ clean break mentality from the NASL years led the league squarely down the path of being insignificantly blip on the American sports landscape. The one area where the NASL failed and ultimately led to its demise was an over emphasis on over age foreign players and no development of soccer friendly system for identifying and nurturing local talent. MLS, on the other hand has been largely responsible for an upswing in resources and fortune for the American player. Now MLS seems to secure in its position and wants to dabble in the fools gold that killed the NASL. Over expansion to questionable markets, over spending on foreign players and worse haphazard application of league decrees, and the exemption of the designated player rule for previously signed stars. Don’t get me wrong: MLS will not fold the way the NASL did because soccer is much more secure in the country in 2007 than it was in 1984, with a massive soccer related infrastructure including CSRN, Fox Soccer Channel, GOL TV, numerous youth academies and a very competitive national team. However, the lack of responsibility exhibited by MLS could usher in an era where both the club game and national team suffer for the excesses of a couple of dreamers in the league office.

The USL seems poised to enter an unprecedented expansion era as well. Having already moved into vacated MLS markets in Miami and the San Fransisco Bay Area (which now USL will vacate due to the return of the Quakes), USL seems poised to attack the Tampa market (potentially in partnership with West Ham United) as well as any other place which doesn’t get an MLS expansion team. USL has taken some proactive steps over the last few years to increase its exposure- a national TV deal with FSC, on demand video and matches on-line and merchandise sale on the web. However, if the league is going to expand beyond its very successful core markets (like Rochester, Charleston, Portland and Montreal) while losing some of its good markets like Seattle to MLS it better increase its presence both on-line and among the soccer media in this country.

Merry Christmas to all our listeners and readers! This week’s show will feature some banter about the San Jose Earthquakes, MLS expansion and the US U-23 team. Michael Haley and Johnathan Starling of the Third Half join co-host Dave Denholm and myself. Next week’s show will be a year in review program and will debut our new audio and mixing equipment for a cleaner sound that is easier on the ears. As always if you have any thoughts about the show please email me at kartik@csrnusa.com.

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USL: Islanders Two Wins Away from Champions Cup

Believe it or not DC United and the MLS Cup Champion could have a fellow American club in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. USL-1 side Puerto Rico Islanders are just two wins away from becoming the Caribbean representative in the Champions Cup. The Islanders will face Joe Public FC of Trinidad, who has participated in several Champions Cup previously in the semifinals of qualifying.

Some other USL News:

• Seattle will continue to field a team in USL-1 next year and will move to MLS in 2009.
• Pittsburgh was awarded a new USL-2 franchise to begin play next season
• Austin will have a new PDL club next season.
  

USL Update

United Soccer League's first division season is almost a month old now, and the season has had no shortage of exciting matches. This year for the first time since the inception of Major League Soccer in 1996, USL games will be telecast on national cable television, with an exclusive Friday Night Package on FSC.

Here are the standings for the USL First Division thus far this season:

Club Pts

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Vancouver 17

Montreal 11

Atlanta 11

Miami 9

Carolina 9

Rochester 9

Portland 7

Puerto Rico 6

Seattle 6

Charleston 5

Minnesota 5

California 1

Miami FC to play matches at the Orange Bowl

Jeff Rusnak's column yesterday included a mention that Miami FC of the USL First Division (2nd division in the USA) will be playing its next two home matches at the Orange Bowl. Since Romario left the club attendance at Tropical Park Stadium has been poor despite a good young crop of local players in addition to Brazil World Cup Vet Zinho playing for the club.

Beckham to Visit Vancouver

LA Galaxy has scheduled a friendly with USL side Vncouver Whitecaps for October. It's nice to see that the Galaxy are willing to involve USL teams in the Beckham mania that will sweep the US Soccer world. Hopefully Beckham will visit Rochester, Portland and other top USL towns in the future.