Reuters Soccer Blog

Major League Monday

THE NEW AMERICAN HOPE?

MLS’s odd policy of playing through FIFA international dates meant that the league action was overshadowed by the big friendly in New Jersey, where nearly 80,000 fans watched Bob Bradley’s U.S. team battle to a 1-1 draw against a Lionel Messi inspired Argentina. The U.S team is dominated by players based in Europe but there was a big bright point for MLS when New York Red Bulls teenage striker Juan Agudelo came off the bench to score. Agudelo, who scored on his international debut against South Africa last year and bagged on the opening day of the MLS season last week, is the hottest young talent in MLS and has huge potential. For his sake though, it is hoped that he doesn’t have to endure the premature hype that surrounded the last great American hope in soccer – Freddy Adu. Adu was treated as the American Pele as a teenager but having failed to live up to such ludicrous expectations he has stumbled around Europe and at the age of 21 he has already slumped to the obscurity of the Turkish second division.  Agudelo would be well served by a couple of years gaining experience in MLS before he starts thinking about a big move abroad.

One of the interesting things about Agudelo is that he hasn’t come through the old-fashioned college system in the U.S. Born in Colombia, he moved to the States with his family as an eight year old and came through the Red Bulls academy. That surely is the future for soccer in North America – players who come through the college system might get a good all-round education but if they want to be an internationally marketable talent when they are at the key age of 20-21, they need to be playing professional soccer in their teens. The likes of Messi and Wayne Rooney wouldn’t be where they are now if they had been studying social sciences at 21 and playing three or four months out of the year.

GALAXY SIMPLY OUTCLASSED

David Beckham had the captain’s armband back on for L.A Galaxy for the first time in three years on Saturday but endured a miserable night as last year’s regular season champions were utterly outclassed by a sparkling Real Salt Lake. Beckham had a deflected free-kick hit the post but was badly at fault for Real’s third goal when he was caught dozing at a throw in and Javier Morales zipped away from him and blasted home a superb shot from 20 yards out to put the game beyond the Galaxy four minutes before the break.

The only bright spot for Beckham and Galaxy was a late consolation goal when Beckham whipped in a trademark cross which Colombian Juan Pablo Angel bungled home – but even that glimpse of the old Beckham was only made possible by some shambolic goalkeeping. Nonetheless, after a week where Beckham’s commitment to Galaxy was questioned in some quarters, the very fact that coach Bruce Arena entrusted him with the captaincy said something about that debate.  For the Galaxy, even though they were without Landon Donovan, on international duty with the U.S, the game was a real wake up call. Salt Lake were sharper and more intelligent and creative in every area of the field than the rather laborious L.A team.

Beckham bashers have got it wrong

By Simon Evans in Miami

Television coverage of MLS’s opening game began with an attack on David Beckham from two television pundits and critics have continued to question whether the Englishman cares about the league or his club, LA Galaxy, Simon Evans says the Beckham bashing is off target.

The debate over David Beckham’s commitment to L.A Galaxy and Major League Soccer should have ended on November 22, 2009. On that rainy, cold day in Seattle, Beckham took a series of pain-killing injections, wrapped up his injured ankle in bandage and went out to face Real Salt Lake on the unforgiving artificial turf at Qwest Field.

It was hardly a vintage performance from the former Manchester United and England midfielder but he grafted for 90 minutes and then a further 30 minutes of extra-time in an ultimately failed attempt to win the MLS Cup for his team. Then, limping off the field, he walked into the Salt Lake locker-room to congratulate hiss opponents on their title before heading into his own changing room where he complied with American standards and stood to take questions from the waiting media. Invited by this reporter to pass comment on playing a championship game on a plastic pitch with a damaged ankle, Beckham showed his usual diplomacy by evading the temptation to criticise a playing surface which is designed for American football and not the global game.

That MLS Cup game had come at the end of a year in which Beckham had to deal with the fallout from a book which discussed the difficulties he and L.A Galaxy had in developing a working relationship. In Grant Wahl’s behind-the-scenes book, ”The Beckham Experiment” he was criticised for not picking up the check for the entire team’s dinner and a series of other offences in a fascinating account which, as one former MLS player put it to me, could have been subtitled “Why Landon Donovan Doesn’t Like Being Overshadowed by David Beckham”. The former Real Madrid title winner was offended that Donovan had questioned his professionalism and the rift between the two took some work and time to heal. But that night in Seattle, even American soccer’s favourite son was fulsome in his praise for his English team-mate. “This guy has been hurt or sick for probably the last six or seven games but he gets on with it and he plays. That’s helped our team a lot,” said Donovan.

The question marks over whether Beckham was truly giving his all for the Galaxy and the MLS came back again a few months later though, when, desperate to get a place in the World Cup with England, Beckham went on loan to AC Milan and suffered a serious Achilles injury which wrecked any hopes of a trip to the World Cup and also ruled him out of most of the forthcoming MLS season. Some Galaxy fans, understandably wondered why their player was even on the field for another club. It was a fair question and one which could also have been put to the Galaxy’s ownership – they could after all have blocked any deal after all. But the critics had a point — Beckham’s intentions certainly had nothing to do with the Galaxy and everything to do with his personal ambitions.

Major League Monday

The new Major League Soccer season got underway this weekend and Reuters Soccer Blog will have a regular Monday morning lookback at the main talking points from each weekend of action in the North American league from Simon Evans in Miami along with video goal highlights.

VANCOUVER’S VICTORY Last year’s MLS campaign ended in rather unimpressive fashion with the championship game in a cold and half-interested Toronto but on Saturday the new season got under way, also in Canada, and the scenes in Vancouver offered a much brighter picture for the league’s future. The Vancouver Whitecaps’ debut in MLS, after years of treading water in the second tier leagues following the collapse of the old NASL, was always going to be a moment of celebration for the soccer-loving public in British Columbia but what made the event truly memorable was the game itself with the Whitecaps crushing their fellow Canadians Toronto 4-2 in a hugely entertaining and open game. It was a reminder that for all the emphasis on stadiums, organization, marketing and image-management, important though they all are, it is the ‘product on the field’, the game itself, which is going to make the lasting difference and take the league to the next level. Questions could certainly be asked about Toronto’s defending but both teams moved the ball well with the Whitecaps swift breaks and intelligent angled passing particularly catching the eye. The Vancouver fans will also be delighted that their ‘designated player’, Frenchman Eric Hassli, hardly a ‘Beckham rule’ signing in terms of profile, turns out to be a smart striker with an eye for goal – claiming two on his debut. But not surprisingly most of the attention this weekend was on the response of the fans to the return of top flight soccer to Vancouver – Cam Cole’s report in the Vancouver Sun captures the mood of excitement and fulfillment.

With Montreal joining MLS next year and with Seattle and Portland down the coast from Vancouver both enjoying excellent levels of support, there are plenty of games with a local edge for the Whitecaps fans to enjoy and it will be interesting to see how they respond to the move from Empire Field to the redeveloped and much larger BC Place later in the season.

BRAVO, BRAVO! Another reminder that it is the on-field basics that count most came with Sporting KC’s victory at Chivas USA. All the talk around Sporting in the build-up to the game surrounded the impending trial they have offered to NFL wide receiver Chad Ochocinco, which may have generated plenty of local publicity for the team in KC but also rather added some ammunition to those who like to dismiss MLS as ‘minor league’. In contrast, there hadn’t been too much noise made about the club’s designated player signing in the off-season, Mexico international Omar Bravo. Bravo’s two goals in the 3-2 win at Chivas weren’t spectacular headline-grabbers but they showed him to be a clinical finisher and were the kind of goals that 20-a-season forwards score. It will be interesting to see how his pairing with young U.S forward Teal Bunbury develops, when the 21-year-old returns from injury. MLS will win over skeptical fans of other sports, such as the NFL, with quality players and quality games – not silly link-ups with wide-receivers.

DAVIES RETURNS No doubt about the feel-good story of the weekend – Charlie Davies returning to first-team professional action, 17 months after he was involved in a fatal car accident, and scoring twice after coming on as a substitute for DC United against Columbus. The first was a penalty kick but the second, where he showed his pace and agility, was an encouraging sign that a player whose career so easily could have been over, may yet get back to the level where he was – a key player in Bob Bradley’s U.S team and one of the most exciting talents the country has seen in years. The next step is to prove he has the stamina back and that he can perform consistently.

SOUNDERS NEED A STRIKER The Seattle Sounders have lost both their opening games – the showcase ‘First Kick’ against the Galaxy on Tuesday and then a tough away game at New York on Saturday. They haven’t managed a goal in 180 minutes and the decision to release Swiss striker Blaise Nkufo, just hours before the first game, looks odd at the moment. Sounders fans will be hoping that the release of a designated player, was in order to make space for another goalscorer and they need one. Jamaican O’Brian White hasn’t impressed yet and the lively Colombian Fredy Montero could do with a threat alongside him.

A bad way to crown champions

So that was MLS Cup again.

Call me a typical English soccer-snob but I still find the very idea of the game to be just wrong and ultimately self-defeating for the North American league.

Most league’s internationally have the best team in the country crowned champions but the top team in MLS, the L.A Galaxy, weren’t even on show at MLS Cup. Neither were the second best team, Real Salt Lake or the third and fourth best teams New York Red Bulls and Columbus Crew.

The L.A. Galaxy who won 18 games in the season won nothing but a rather ignored “Supporters Shield” for being the best team in North American soccer while the Colorado Rapids, who won just 12 games, and finished seventh best in the league are crowned champions thanks to winning a mini Cup competition called Play Offs.

Why does MLS have such an odd way of deciding the league champions?

The first reason is this -  it’s what the big-time North American sports leagues do and MLS feels it needs to fit into that culture. The NFL has its Super Bowl and baseball has the World Series. MLS has the MLS Cup.

Play-offs are as American as Thanksgiving and private health insurance and MLS believes that fans won’t buy into a competition that doesn’t value the winners of a mini-knockout more than the team which proves itself to be the best over the course of a season.

from Shop Talk:

Major League Soccer turns to training clubs’ ticket sales staff

With new teams on the way and attendance rising, Major League Soccer has turned to a league-funded program to train its clubs' new sales staffers to help drive ticket demand.

The new 45-day training program, dubbed the MLS National Sales Center, got its start last month with the graduation of 10 trainees to jobs with seven clubs. MLS calls it the first ticket sales school owned by a pro sports league.

A second session is underway with plans to run a third this year and another six or seven in 2011. The idea is to offer clubs more seasoned entry-level sales agents at a time when all forms of entertainment are fighting for their share of the consumer wallet.

"This is really a play around league expansion," Bryant Pfeiffer, MLS vice president of club operations, said in a telephone interview. "There's a need for sales people in this league."

The MLS is in its 15th season with 16 teams and plans to add three more, including a franchise in Montreal, by 2012. Attendance is up 5 percent this year, and MLS officials expect the final average will be the second highest in league history after the initial year.

To continue that kind of growth, MLS is making an annual investment in the low six figures to help teams sell tickets by training new hires.

Trainees, selected from an applicant pool of more than 100, are taught the sales process by industry executives and also work on sales campaigns for various teams, Pfeiffer said.

The U.S. and soccer – that joke isn’t funny anymore

Even though the results of the United States team in international competition indicate the country has become a respectable force in the game, in the past 12 months beating European champions Spain and drawing with presumed World Cup contenders England for example, there remain many who doubt whether soccer can ever capture the imagination of the sporting public in the United States.

The main problem Europeans, in particular English fans, appear to have with the status of soccer in the U.S. is that it is not the number one sport in the country. Not even number two or three in fact. And the fact is that there is no-one in the soccer business in the U.S. who would pretend they are in a position to overtake, on a day-to-day basis, the NFL, the NBA or Major League Baseball.

But those who doubt that soccer has a long term future in North America need to ask themselves one question when it comes to the game’s status alongside gridiron and basketball – who cares?

Ranking in relation to other sports really doesn’t matter. In the era of niche television, niche websites, niche entertainment and niche marketing , soccer clearly has an important and growing niche in the sporting life of the United States.

In the past few weeks there have been cover stories on soccer all over the US media — in TIME magazine and Vanity Fair as well as Sports Illustrated. The mammoth sports network ESPN has been all over the World Cup, broadcasting every game on television, the internet (in a choice of six languages) and streaming to mobile devices. When I left Miami for South Africa at the start of the month, my local restaurants and bars were already advertising ‘World Cup specials’ and promising giant screens and all sorts of competitions and prizes. Saturday’s England v USA Group C opener drew huge numbers to sports bars across the States — in one case, a pub in Columbus which had prepared itself for a massive 1,000 fans, had to deal with three times that amount turning up.

The fact is that the past couple of weeks have seen unprecedented Stateside media coverage of Bob Bradley’s team and the World Cup. The Sun’s mocking headline about the ‘soccerball world series’ was a lame attempt at humour that seems at least 20 years out of date — belonging to an era when those English who are afraid of the United States ‘catching on’ to the game could feel comfortable in the knowledge that it was probably never going to happen.

Here’s a few numbers that the site EPL Talk put together from various sources on the tv audience that the England v USA game drew:

10 things to watch out for in the new MLS season

The 15th Major League Soccer season kicks off on Thursday as fans thankfully turn their thoughts from collective-bargaining agreements and guaranteed contracts, to action on the field, safe in the knowledge that the only strikers making the news this week will be those who score goals.

Others will make their judgments on the deal that avoided a strike — but what is certain is that the new five-year contract and modest salary structure ensures not only that MLS will start on Thursday (Seattle Sounders host the Philadelphia Union) but also that it will enter its 20th year in much the same status as it began its first – a league featuring a surprising number of good players, being paid a surprisingly low amount of money.

But anyway, this writer too has had enough of all the financial and contractual talk and rather is looking forward to the start of the new season. Here are ten things to keep an eye on this year:

1. Philadelphia Union – a brand new franchise to finally give the enthusiastic supporters club who preceded them, the Sons of Ben, something to cheer about. With the canny Pole Peter Nowak as head coach, the Union will be well prepared but they lack a proven prolific goalscorer and are relying on the unpredictable (but superbly named) Brazilian midfielder Fred for their inspiration. Expect workmanlike solidity, the odd upset and perhaps some sparkling moments from their number one draft pick Danny Mwanga, who could get more playing time than most rookies.

2. New York Red Bulls – with a shiny new stadium and an experienced new coach, the Austrian owners also hope for a new vibe around one of MLS’s most disappointing franchises. Last year saw abysmal crowds and performances to match. Red Bull’s success this year will be measured more in terms of tickets sold than goals scored but Swedish coach Hans Backe has been trying to drill some shape into the formation. Bustling Belgian Ibrahim Salou has been signed to partner the prolific Colombian Juan Pablo Angel in attack.

3. Kyle Beckerman – The dreadlocked Real Salt Lake captain was outstanding in the MLS Cup final win over the LA Galaxy at the end of last season but needs to get off to a great start this time if he is to earn a place in Bob Bradley’s U.S squad for the World Cup finals. Beckerman has the quality most sorely lacking in MLS midfielders – composure. The U.S national team could do with some of that as well.

4. Strikers – Bob Bradley needs to find at least one to settle on for the World Cup. Houston’s Brian Ching and Colorado’s Conor Casey are two big target men who are in contention for the slot alongside Jozy Altidore for the U.S but there is such a lack of real firepower that the field is pretty open for any American forward to make a blistering start to the season. Is there any hidden talent out there in the MLS?

Twitter might not be harmless fun for players

The days when the details of transfer negotiations were closely guarded secrets could be coming to an end with the advent of the ‘Twitter transfer’.

On Wednesday, U.S. national team striker Jozy Altidore all but announced a move to English Premier League Hull City on the micro-blogging site, keeping his fans updated while Hull remained silent.

Altidore, who is owned by Spanish club Villarreal, alerted followers to a potential move on Tuesday when he informed them he would be up early on Wednesday morning for a flight to England.

After details about his flight and weather on arrival he held back from announcing the deal but gave the game away by posting info of his first game.

“First match is against Chelsea subject to a work permit *wink* *wink* lol thanks for the support and love keep it coming,” he wrote.

While Altidore’s upbeat updates are unlikely to upset anyone, England striker Darren Bent apologised to Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy last month about comments on Twitter relating to his move to Sunderland.

Don Garber Q & A

The following is the transcript of an interview with Don Garber, commissioner of Major League Soccer. Simon Evans talked to Garber as he marked his 10th year in charge of the league.

    Commissioner, are you where you expected to be after ten years in the job?

    When I first took this job, I thought it might be just about turning the lights on and all of a sudden soccer would get in a position to explode. Over the last decade I have realized that there is tremendous potential for this sport but still enormous challenges – we work on those challenges every day and I am really empowered by how big the opportunity is. But I don’t believe that even in 1999 that I expected that the sport would be as popular as it is today – the games that have taken place over the last few weeks of this summer, I think, are almost unprecedented in American sport. We have had several million people at soccer matches – many were MLS matches, many were international matches against MLS clubs.

We had 93,000 on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl which is the largest crowd in the United States since the 1994 World Cup. In many ways the sport has grown in ways I never believed it could have. But we do recognize that for MLS to benefit from the popularity of the sport we really need to work hard at converting all of these soccer fans into being very committed MLS fans – that is a process that is ongoing and I think will continue to take a long time.

The crowd that stood out for me, although it was not the biggest one, was the 70,000 plus in Baltimore for a friendly. The challenge is obvious I suppose, how do you attract in people like that to MLS? How do you get people without a local affinity to an MLS team to watch the league on television?      This may sound like Commissioner-speak but the largest crowds this summer have included MLS teams – this very interested soccer audience is not just interested in seeing two teams play an exhibition and then go home. They are also interested in seeing those teams play against MLS clubs. There will probably be around 70,000 for Seattle against Barcelona on Wednesday and at the press conference with the Barca coach there was talk about how this would be the first game (on Barca’s tour) where the large majority of the fans will be dressed in green and cheering on the home team – and the Barca coach thought that was great. That just shows that when things get put together the right way, the formula does work.

That formula is working in Seattle, we have a perfect storm here of very passionate fans, deeply committed MLS fans, the Sounders matter in this market, they are very relevant and more relevant than any international club. It is part of the process of working hard on that conversion, having the right brand, having the right facility and the right players on the field.

Let’s take the case though of the 30 year old guy who went out to that game in Baltimore, he watches international soccer on television and sometimes MLS, he had a great time at that game, he goes home, he hasn’t got a team in Baltimore. With your expansion plan being step-by-step, how do you expand the game into those areas where there is obviously a huge appetite for the game?

from Left field:

MLS looks to ‘eye candy’ to win over new fans

Working to break through the clutter in the crowded North American sports market, Major league Soccer has teamed up with CosmoGirl.com to show off its best-looking young players, or "eye candy" as the website dubs them.

Fifteen MLS players, or "playas," are on display at the website of Cosmopolitan's teen magazine. Ranging in age from 19 to 27, the players are shown in photos both in action and relaxing off the soccer pitch.

The introduction: "Thought you had to travel abroad to look at some serious soccer hotties? Not anymore! We tracked down Major League Soccer's most talented guys-next-door and got them to reveal some serious dating dirt! Find out what these cuties are looking for in a girl while staring at their steamy pics."

For instance, Chance Myers (pictured), the 21-year-old Kansas City Wizards defender, lists his dating status as "taken" and reveals a girl who catches his eye is wearing "a sweet hat!." Meanwhile, 23-year-old goaltender Danny Capero of the New York Red Bulls calls kissing on the first date "absolutely necessary". (Sorry girls, he's taken).

Robbie Rogers, the single, 21-year-old midfielder for the Columbus Crew, when asked to describe himself in three words, replied: "That's easy...the three F's: fun, friendly and fysical!"

The MLS has held up relatively well amid the recession thanks to lower ticket costs. The 15-team U.S. professional soccer league has pushed ahead with expansion despite the slowdown, with plans to add teams in Philadelphia in 2010 and Vancouver and Portland in 2011.

MLS officials said the CosmoGirl.com campaign is part of the sport's efforts to branch beyond its 18-34 male target market and reach young women.