Major Link Soccer - Coaching Carousel Edition
by Dizzo on Aug 12, 2011 7:00 AM PDT
in Sounders: MLS Regular Season
Email
PrintThe Seattle Sounders are at home this weekend after a week's worth of well needed rest. They play an improving Chivas USA team at the CLink on Saturday. Hopefully, they can build on last weekend's win at Sporting KC. Also, for those of you who are interested, Pat Noonan talks about the foul and the flop from Omar Bravo. Surprisingly, it wasn't the foul, but the following finger in the face that really pissed Noonan off. Also, our famous right back, John Legend, does some cool juggling and stuff over footage of the march to the match.
USMNT Ties Mexico: The Jurgen Klinsmann era is off to a decent enough start with a 1-1 tie in a friendly against rivals Mexico. As expected the US team looked a little rusty in the first half as they played in a new 4-5-1 system which relied heavily on the hold-up play of Edson Buddle at the top. The second half was much better as the US midfield moved forward and did a much better job linking up with the forwards. However, it was the young subs that made most impact in the 2nd half. Juan Agudelo and Brek Shea added some pace and creativity to the attack. Robbie Rodgers took advantage of a Shea cross and an open net to tie the game up in the 73rd minute. Also, here are some nuggets of wisdom from our new coach Klinsy on improving the US attack and the size of Texans.
More soccer news, including the latest coaching changes, after the jump:
Soccer Coverage In the US: ESPN took some flak this week for not showing the first 20 minutes of the USMNT game to continue coverage of Little League Baseball. It's hard to imagine national team soccer coverage playing second fiddle to a kids game (of anything) in the rest of the world. Luckily I was able to watch the game on Univision where the announcers where twice as eloquent in a language I don't speak than John Harkes will ever be. ESPN will have to be more careful in the future as NBC Sports takes a major stake in the sports ESPN once held dominance.
The Prodigal Son: Freddy Adu looks like he's ready to end his roller-coaster ride through the benches of Europe. Adu is in the final year of his contract with Benefica and the Portuguese club looks ready to unload his contract. Chivas USA The Philadelphia Union look like the front-runner for Adu's services although it's not clear whether they will need to use a DP slot on the young attacking midfielder. Chivas The Union need more creativity in midfield and that's Adu's specialty. Not a great idea for Chivas to pass on him right before the closing of the transfer window. At the young age of 22, Freddy still has plenty of time to develop and secure a place on the USMNT.
Rennie to the Whitecaps: The Vancouver Whitecaps have signed young, ambitious coach Martin Rennie as their head coach for 2012. Rennie is the force behind the success of the Carolina Railhawks in the 2nd division. Tommy Soehn, interim head coach and director of soccer operations, will remain the head coach of the Whitecaps through the end of the 2011 season. Rennie has been successful a every team he has coached despite front-office problems, bankruptcies and shallow player pools. He sounds like the perfect candidate to turn the motley crew that are the Whitecaps into a MLS contender. Also, as a bonus, is an article on the odd looks Mustapha Toubabo Jarju is receiving form his colleagues in Europe after signing as the Whitecaps second DP.
Marsh to the Impact: More news from the coaching carousel. The Montreal Impact, whom were rumored to be close to signing Rennie, have decided to hire Jesse Marsch as their head coach for the 2012 season and beyond. Marsh has most recently served as an assistant coach to former USMNT coach Bob Bradley. Marsh played 14 seasons in MLS for the Chicago Fire, Chivas USA and DC United. Many pundits thought Chicago might be the future destination for Marsch considering his playing history with the Fire. Perhaps Chicago is waiting to see if Bob Bradley's potential move to the Egyptian national team falls through.
College Soccer Top 25: A preseason poll of the nation's college soccer programs are out and the top two programs are Louisville and Akron respectively. Seattle Sounders Academy player DeAndre Yedlin will be joining the Akron Zips this fall. Also receiving votes in the poll were Duke (Nick Palodichuk) and Wake Forest (Sean Okoli).
Cosmos Close Western Academy: The New York Cosmos have closed their LA based youth academy in preparation for joining MLS. Chivas USA will be taking over many of the coaches and players from the Cosmos academy. Not surprisingly, the Cosmos are putting all their eggs in the MLS basket.
Rush U-17 Girls Win Championship: Another week and another national soccer trophy for the northwest. This time the Washington Rush U-17 girls team (based in Everett) won the US Club National Cup in Boise, ID. The cup is one of only two national tournaments for players age 12-17. Its also the seventh straight tournament win this year for the Rush.
Bellingham United Sign First Player: Local club Bellingham United took the first steps toward their inaugural season in the Pacific Coast Soccer League by signing local player Mason Webb. The Pacific Coast Soccer League is mainly a Canadian organization although teams still qualify for the Open Cup through USASA. We might have a new team to route for in next year's Open Cup bracket challenge.
NW PDL Attendance Numbers: Also, for those who are interested, here are the final attendance numbers for the NW PDL. The Portland Timbers U-23 are far and away the most supported team with an average of 1,531 fans per game. The Pumas are third with an average of 568 fans.
27 comments
|
1 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Rec'd just for this.
Luckily I was able to watch the game on Univision where the announcers where twice as eloquent in a language I don’t speak than John Harkes will ever be.
Bloggin' at JoePasDoghouse.com
by J.Schnauzer on Aug 12, 2011 7:37 AM PDT reply actions 2 recs
The little league announcers did say at one point early on that the game was being shown on ESPNEWS.
Which I actually had, so I guess I was lucky. I’m sure many were not.
by Greg Pirkl Lives on Aug 12, 2011 7:44 AM PDT reply actions
Adu worthy of a DP tag?
I like the player and I think this will be a great move for him, but is he really worth paying a DP salary? Remember that’s over $335k. I just see this as a situation where Adu needed some help to ressurect his career. He could still be paid very very well but shy of that DP cap number.
And yes, I realize it hasn’t been announced yet if he’s a DP or not. Just conversation.
SSFC | What I do for fun: Sometimes-Interesting
I think he might be worth a low DP contract
He’s a fringe national team player and still young. There are plenty of DPs like that in MLS although mostly due to transfer fees rather than salary. Adu also has name recognition in the US which is a valuable thing for marketing.
Pretty crazy that we've been talking about Adu for a decade
and he’s still considered “young.” That’s part of the advantage to IDing young talented players. They get second, third, fourth shots at it. If you go to college and don’t make it, you’re 25 and haven’t broken through. And you hang ’em up. Man I hope Juergen solves this youth thing.
To add to that...
The DP hit might be from the Union having to buy out the last year of his contract with Benefica. Very similar to a transfer fee and something the Union will only have to pay for the first year of his contract (so he might be a 1/2 season DP). Also, making him a DP means they possibly get to keep their position as 2nd on the allocation order for returning nationals.
That DP/allocation order thing was debunked yesterday I believe
Jeremiah was pretty certain those of us who assumed this had bad information.
SSFC | What I do for fun: Sometimes-Interesting
by ABTsportsline on Aug 12, 2011 9:01 AM PDT up reply actions
Yeah, there's been mixed information
I’ve read Jeremiah’s tweets on it. The rule looks pretty clear that it will cost Philly their allocation spot. I’ve also seen reporters with good sources say that MLS officials have said it doesn’t apply to DPs.
You never really know with the oft-times Calvin-ball rules in MLS. We’ll probably find out today when Philly makes the official announcement.
See, that's the trend I don't think is right
Being a NT player shouldn’t equal automatic DP. I think a player should have better pedigree than “failed attempt to make his mark in Europe for 4 years” if he’s coming here for a DP tag.
All a moot point now that Philly has announced Adu as not being a DP; guess Philly agreed with me ;)
SSFC | What I do for fun: Sometimes-Interesting
by ABTsportsline on Aug 12, 2011 8:56 AM PDT up reply actions
Oh, I tend to agree...
I was just placing him in with some other recent DPs. El Flaco falls into that category.
Wow, good call
I never really paid attention to Flaco’s history before you mentioned that – drove me to go do some digging.
Looking up his info on Wikipedia, he’s played more games and scored more goals for the Sounders than any other single team in his career. Pretty amazing to read that given his talent level and how young he is (not to mention a Uruguayan NT player).
Definitely worked out well for us, and I’d be surprised if Flaco isn’t 100% happy here now that he’s enjoying success and his role on the team is better defined.
SSFC | What I do for fun: Sometimes-Interesting
by ABTsportsline on Aug 12, 2011 9:28 AM PDT up reply actions
One thing I recall hearing
when he first came here is that Flaco was great in running the counterattack. That’s what I’ve been seeing from him on the left-wing this year. I’m pretty sure most of his goals have come from counters with plenty of space in front of him where he fights off a defender and places an extremely accurate shot in the back of the net. He’s also possibly our best player in the air right now too, which might be an area of focused improvement since he’s arrived.
Definitely - best player in the air by far
SSFC | What I do for fun: Sometimes-Interesting
by ABTsportsline on Aug 12, 2011 11:30 AM PDT up reply actions
Also possibly our best finisher
though Rosales is pretty good there, too, when he gets a change at it.
DP Worthy
"failed attempt to make his mark in Europe for 4 years"
What about “failed attempt to make his mark in Europe for 4 years….AND SELLS A HELLALOT OF JERSEYS.” ?
People are "over"paid all the time if they can make money off the field.
Agreed.
I think it’s more name recognition than anything. MLS is filled with diamonds in the rough who have been plucked from second division European leagues and found solid footing here. They aren’t DPs, however.
Bloggin' at JoePasDoghouse.com
Hate to say it, but signing Adu looks pretty fantastic for the Union
They didn’t have to use a DP slot, they’ve added some needed creativity (Le Toux should be doing cartwheels), gained a 22 year old who’s a relative veteran and they’ve got games in hand going into the final stretch. Presumably Nowak, who’s prone to head-scratching personnel decisions, will know how to use Adu given their shared history in DC.
You will hear us on Brougham, you will hear us on Occidental, you will hear us on King. Our yachts are all around you, there is no escape.
And what is up with Chivas USA?
IIRC, didn’t they pass on Benny Feilhaber too? Who are they waiting on, Clint Dempsey?
You will hear us on Brougham, you will hear us on Occidental, you will hear us on King. Our yachts are all around you, there is no escape.
They also passed on Feilhaber
The only guess I have is Eddie Johnson. He fills a need for them and hasn’t found a spot at Fulham. However, with the closing of the international window…they’re in great danger of wasting a useful asset.
They're waiting for Mexicans
I’m being serious.
SSFC | What I do for fun: Sometimes-Interesting
by ABTsportsline on Aug 12, 2011 11:31 AM PDT up reply actions
Adu isnt Mexican?
Yea he may have not fit with the Chivas FO vision for the future.
Meant in general - not specifically allocation order
Clearly they don’t care as much about the allocation order. Multiple journalists have made comments as to the motivations of Jorge Vergara with Chivas USA.
SSFC | What I do for fun: Sometimes-Interesting
by ABTsportsline on Aug 12, 2011 12:57 PM PDT up reply actions
Adu not a DP for Philly
According to the MLS site, Philly isn’t using a DP slot on Adu. He will use their position in the allocation order and so they now move to the end of the list.
As for why he is not a DP with Philly but would have been with Chivas, this could be an allocation money issue. Philly may be using allocation money to buy his contract under the DP level where Chivas either couldn’t or didn’t want to use their allocation dollars this way.
It could also be that Chivas USA is an incompetently run, rudderless ship.
You will hear us on Brougham, you will hear us on Occidental, you will hear us on King. Our yachts are all around you, there is no escape.
Guess
My guess is that the two contracts have to be fairly similar economically for the player. Otherwise the league will intervene and nix the deal.
The opportunity for abuse is too large. Example: a player wants to play for team 8 on the allocation list. Team 2 on the list wants him, so the player and his agent ask for an outrageous salary and Team 2 passes. Player slips to Team 8 and suddenly becomes a bargain effectively circumventing the allocation process. Think the league or Team 2 aren’t going to be screaming murder?
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Sounder At Heart
Related FanShots on Sounder At Heart
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
