Ain't No Rice Cake
- Sun Apr 27 2008, 8:55pm
It seems that everyone has an opinion about Landon Donovan - who he is, what he should do, and how he should do it.
Most of the time, those opinions aren't painted in watercolors. Mention Donovan and you get grease pencil drawings that keep things simple. Thick black outlines around lots of white space.
Perhaps it's just the stories I read and the radio shows I follow, but I'd say a majority of the opinions are negative.
Donovan's a wimp and couldn't hack it in Europe. He's spoiled. He's obnoxious. He mails in regular season performances. He picks and chooses when he'll play for the national team. He has a bizarre obsessive-compulsive routine before penalty kicks.
When Donovan got mildly drunk after winning another MLS championship in 2003 - or was it 2005? - one journalist pointed out that the Golden Boy, having the audacity to spit loudly behind the press tent before his interview, was crude and vulgar.
On the other hand, Donovan is the savior of American soccer, the special one whose transgressions of professionalism we can ignore because he's Landon Donovan. He's helped three teams win MLS Cups. He scored a beautiful goal against Mexico in the World Cup. We're just glad to have him back in MLS, raising the bar here in America. A devoted husband, a caring son and brother, and on and on and on.
Regardless of what you think, Donovan's actions have taken on a new sheen, and lately it has rubbed more than a few people the wrong way.
Some called into question Donovan's actions after his 67th minute equalizer against Houston on April 19. Defender Patrick Ianni had checked Donovan to the ground several minutes before the goal, and in his celebration, Donovan "spoiled" the moment by taunting Ianni, said L.A. Times correspondent Grahame Jones.
Then came last night's L.A. derby.
Los Angeles took the lead on two occasions - but Chivas USA hit two equalizers. The Galaxy then went on a tear to win 5-2. And you can file this under Well Whaddayaknow: Alan Gordon scored. Twice.
Now we hear that Chivas USA's coaching staff, and Preki in particular, were angry with the hat-tricked Donovan for his "disrespectful" goal celebrations in front of the Goats' bench.
Donovan says he tried to apologize, but Preki was having none of it. If that's true, it has to make you wonder: who's being unprofessional? Besides, was Donovan so wrong when he said:
"If you don’t like me jumping to celebrate, then don't let me score, Secondly, I tried to apologize to him because he was upset about it and I didn't mean anything by it. If he's not willing to accept my apology, then he's not much of a man."
Forget the question of who's right and who's wrong. Let's look at the bigger picture. This a great quote, infinitely more interesting than, "We've got to work hard and stay focused."
We're not talking about antics you'd expect on The Jerry Springer Show. No one's throwing chairs or threatening to kill yer ma.
I'm neutral when Western Conference teams play each other. I just want to see a good game. When Donovan stood over a dejected Ianni, who had grabbed a fistful of his chest hair as they went down for the goal - man, that was great TV. It was passion, excitement, and skill.
To watch Preki sit on the bench a week later and do that weird scowl with his chin, to know that he called Donovan's celebrations "absolute crap," to hear that he refused an apology - more good drama.
Ianni's certainly over any anger he felt. Preki's semi-sour grapes might yield a few more quotes, but if I know him, he'll sweep it under the rug just to spite the press. And Donovan rolls on with a new attitude and a whopping eight goals in five games.
I've had the Direct Kick package for years. I've watched enough MLS matches that had all the excitement of rice cakes. As long as we stay within certain limits - I still think we're well within them, whatever they are - then Landon's new attitude is just fine.
Love Donovan or hate him, or somewhere in between, he's certainly not boring right now.
Boring is the last thing this league needs.
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Hustle Scratches the Itch Again
- Sun Apr 27 2008, 4:15pm
It was another example of how soccer can be unfair.
Last night, Columbus hosted the defending champion Houston Dynamo, who had started the 2008 campaign with a decidedly mid-table record of 0-1-3.
Houston was without question the better team - both coaches even said so. The Dynamo's offensive pressure was relentless, their ball movement and possession were superior to the Crew's, and a large number of set pieces allowed them several opportunities to crack the game wide open.
Yet in the injustice of the sport, they lost 1-0 and left Crew Stadium 0-2-3.
Let's not feel too sorry for the two-time defending champions. As coach Dominic Kinnear said, soccer is about scoring goals, and the Dynamo couldn't execute.
Naturally, some of the credit belongs to Columbus as well.
It has become a cliché in Crewville that last year's team would have found a way to lose their last three matches. Instead, this year's Crew gave a clinic of how heart can beat skill. The defense bent but wouldn't break. Will Hesmer made the mandatory game-saving stop. The offense, through determination more than aptitude, managed to keep Houston honest as the Dynamo pressed forward.
Unfortunately, heart and hustle alone are not a long-term strategy for winning hardware. At some point the law of averages will catch up to Columbus, and they will need to play a better kind of soccer.
When that day comes - and I say it's here, right now - when the Crew need to answer skill with skill, what needs to be done?
In a word: play through the midfield.
To begin, let's all acknowledge how well Brian Carroll has played for Columbus. He has been a superb defensive midfielder. The problem is that when Carroll or the defense breaks up an attack, very often the ball passes over the middle third.
Nothing is wrong with softening up a defense by a well-placed long ball, or a dangerous break down the flanks. The Crew have the personnel to do that, particularly in Robbie Rogers, and yes, despite his detractors, Eddie Gaven - who somehow is faster with the ball at his feet than he is running into space.
The problem is that such a strategy cannot replace the fundamentals of the game, namely: possession, rhythm, movement off the ball, triangles of support.
We didn't see a lot of those last night. The Crew's possession came in short, aggressive bursts that were diffused all too often.
So to all Crew fans I say once again, let's enjoy the ugly win. The man rescued from the desert can't demand San Pellegrino from the back of the ambulance; we have lost untold numbers of home games at the last minute, and the three points feel good. We'll take what we can get.
But let's also be forewarned. As fitness increases, understanding solidifies, and starting XIs emerge, our opponents will be much more dangerous than last night's Dynamo, or last week's United, or Toronto in the home-opener.
The heart and passion we haven't seen in years is certainly a good starting point, but that's all it is. A start.
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Operations Staff Cheats, Red Bulls Win 2-0
- Sun Apr 6 2008, 12:23pm
Fair Challenge has learned that members of the New York Red Bulls staff conspired, in the words of an anonymous source, to "confuse, disorient, and baffle" the visiting Columbus Crew, allowing the home team to capture a season-opening victory last night.
According to the source, Red Bull operations staff created different schedules for the two teams. The first, containing the official time of kick-off, was posted inside the New York locker room.
The second, inaccurate schedule was posted in the Columbus locker room.
"It was like, really weird," said one embarrassed Crew player who preferred that Fair Challenge not use his name. "I saw the kick-off time for 7:58 and I was all, 'What?'"
On their operational schedules, teams normally add six or seven minutes to the official kick-off time to allow for photographs, announcements, and ceremonies. Games listed as 7:30pm on calendars actually start at 7:36 or 7:37pm.
The 7:58 time on the schedule posted in the visitors' locker room led the Crew to believe that the game actually started twenty-two minutes later than the official time.
Consequently, from the supposed "opening whistle," the Crew allowed the Red Bulls time and space to move the ball as they wished. They laid off the Red Bulls so much, in fact, that midfielder Dave Van den Bergh scored in 46 seconds.
"You know, it was really strange," said the embarrassed Crew player. "They had some special game going on, and when we went out onto the field, Giants Stadium looked pretty much empty. So we thought the later time was right."
"It worked perfectly," said the Red Bull source with a smirk usually seen on a lobbyist after ramming a special-interest bill through Congress. "We used the whole charity match thing to add to the confusion."
When asked why the Crew lined up on either side of the stripe for a kick-off, the Columbus player laughed. "We all feel so stupid now," he said. "But at the time it sort of made sense. Someone said that it was a new thing the Red Bulls were trying out this year.
"The way they explained it to us was that it's like tennis, when two players warm up by hitting balls back and forth to each other before the 'real' match starts. We were like, 'OK, I guess we'll try it.' So when Berghie hit that bomb, we all go, 'Nice shot.' But we kind of thought he was being a dick for showing off."
The Crew player said that he and his teammates began to feel duped after the host's second goal. "We're sitting there waiting for them to put the ball in, and they start pushing and shoving like it's a game. We're like, 'Huh?'
"They threw down Chaddy (Crew defender Chad Marshall) and scored, and Frankie's all, 'This is bull****, these guys are playing for real.' The ref didn't call the foul, so we thought it couldn't be the real game. I mean, you just don't throw down a guy like Chaddy without getting a whistle. So we really weren't sure what was going on.
"But then the dude who runs all the scheduling stuff was shaking his head on the sideline like, 'Nope, the game doesn't start until 7:58.' So we played at half-speed. Well, more like 60%, because they were p***ing us off.
"About twenty-two or twenty-three minutes in, we started playing for real. Go back and watch the tape," said the player.
He then made air quotes with his fingers. "We really started to play at the 'official' time. We harassed them, we anticipated the next ball, we were running, we attacked with a purpose. You know, we played like a professional soccer team. I thought we did well."
Asked if the schedule shenanigans will continue throughout the 2008 campaign, the Red Bull staff member shook his head. "Other teams will read this interview," he said. "So I can't speculate to that.
"All I can say is it was a resounding success, and the fans went home happy. Columbus came out and clearly played as if they were still warming up," he said with a chuckle. "In fact, after the first goal, we heard their 'keeper yelling at the ref to put the scoreboard back to 0-0. He thought it didn't count."
Fair Challenge has contacted MLS headquarters and is awaiting comment from Commissioner Garber.
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Well Done, Now Back to Work
- Mon Mar 31 2008, 2:03am
No one was uncorking champagne in the Columbus locker room Saturday afternoon, but there was an unmistakable sense of relief in the air.
It wasn't always pretty - even coach Sigi Schmid agreed - but the Crew opened the scoring in the 26th minute, stopped a penalty kick just before the interval, and survived an intense second half to beat visiting Toronto FC 2-0 in the season opener.
Temporarily exorcised were the Ghosts of Seasons Past, when a lesser Crew might have given up the PK and let in a soft goal with three minutes in regular time.
Columbus withstood the visitors' push in the middle of the second half - and even better - they deflated it with a counter-attack goal that TFC coach John Carver called "a sucker-punch."
And so, afterward, they reveled in the moment.
But it's Monday, and it's time to address a few issues that a better opponent might have exploited more effectively:
- The central midfield's noticeable lack of ballast in the offensive third. While Brian Carroll did a fine job at d-mid, it was clear that the space in front of him needed a steady presence. Adam Moffat covered a lot of ground and had a good game - his goal was struck at a perfect angle - but he often got caught cheating wide or covering defensively.
In the second half, the combination of Toronto's attacking pressure and the midfield's inabilty to make the transition to the offensive third when the ball was in the middle meant that Columbus couldn't dictate the pace of the game where it counted. - A better partner for Alejandro Moreno. There are few Crew fans more enthusiastic about Guillermo Barros Schelotto than I am. Unfortunately, Guille's tendency to drop back deep, or fade wide, left Moreno stranded on several occasions, and often left Guille in no-man's-land on Crew counters. A speedy partner might have been more appropriate for Moreno, especially if a maestro like Guille had the luxury of pulling the strings from above the 18.
The most important thing to draw from Saturday, of course, is the three points and the confidence it generated among the team.
The Crew didn't look like New England, who systematically dismantled Houston and looked crisp and cohesive Saturday night.
But if Columbus can address these two problems quickly, the elements are in place for a promising campaign.
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The Crew's Cruellest Month
- Tue Mar 4 2008, 11:38pm
If "April is the cruellest month," as T.S. Eliot wrote, I'd like to know what March is for the Columbus Crew.
If not "cruel," then perhaps just boring.
The Black and Gold are a few weeks away from the season opener against Toronto, and there's little room for encouragement.
The pickings are slim in American college soccer, and it's difficult to tell - even halfway into the season - which players will survive the campaign, let alone make a career for themselves.
So putting aside the SuperDraft, here's the Crew news:
- Guillermo Barros Schelotto will honor the second year of his contract.
Great to hear, as Guille is one of the most talented players in MLS. - United defensive midfielder Brian Carroll is now in Columbus.
Carroll saw less playing time under Tom Soehn in 2007 than in previous years under Peter Nowak. Not a deal-breaker, but certainly not a positive sign. Sigi Schmid and Co. gave up the streaky Kei Kamara to get the former Wake Forest captain, so it's a net positive. Unless Soehn knows something we don't. - The Rapids swap forward Nico Hernandez for defender Tim Ward.
With a whopping eight goals over the past two years, Hernandez will not strike fear in opposing defenses. He played in front of arguably the worst midfield in MLS last year, but his style style screams "busywork." It's hard to get excited by this trade, even if Ward failed to play or impress for the past two years.
And folks... that's it for the positives.
Polish forward Maciej Zurawski got snatched away by Greek side AEL Larissa at the end of the transfer window, and assistant coach Robert Warzycha says the Crew are "still looking" for a forward.
Marcos Gonzalez, a defender responsible for the occasional gaffe, but overall a stalwart, was traded to Universidad Catolica in Chile.
And defender Chad Marshall is one good knock to the head away from retirement.
March? April? May?... October? Which month will be the cruellest for Columbus?
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