Klinsmann v. Donovan
Landon unwisely left out in the cold for upcoming U.S. games
Last week, US Men’s National Team coach Jurgen Klinsmann released his roster for this month’s friendlies and the World Cup qualifiers in June. The big brouhaha is his failure to include Landon Donovan on the list.
Though the team’s overhaul hasn’t materialized quite the way I hoped it would by now under Klinsmann’s guidance, I continue to give him the benefit of the doubt. The team is a work in progress of course, but it is precisely because it’s a work in progress that it seems crazy to leave out Landon Donovan. The team needs him during the course of figuring out the best starting eleven mix for the 2014 World Cup (and even after that’s figured out, it’s hard to imagine Donovan not being one of those starters).
Is anyone on this latest roster – besides Clint Dempsey or perhaps Michael Bradley – currently a stronger overall player than Landon Donovan? It’s hard to imagine Argentina leaving out Messi, or Portugal leaving out Ronaldo. Yes, Donovan’s older than those superstars, but his leadership, stature, and quality are of parallel importance to the U.S.
I’m not sure the tension and controversy created by omitting Donovan is the kind of division you want to have when you’re about to enter the heart of World Cup qualifying. What would’ve been the harm in putting Donovan on the roster? It doesn’t mean you have to play him if you don’t think he’s up to par. It seems there’s much more to lose by leaving him out.
If Donovan doesn’t make the roster later this summer for the Gold Cup, and the US makes it to the semifinals of that tournament (for which I have a ticket), I’m going to be an extremely disgruntled camper – along with a lot of other US soccer fans.
What do you think about Donovan getting left out?
Countdown to Derby Day
My trip to the heart of rival territory…
The first week of March was exhausting. My high school soccer team had a regional playoff game on Monday night, which we won, propelling us into the state final four in Houston the following weekend. I spent the rest of the week leading up to our Thursday afternoon departure madly scrambling to arrange all the last-minute Houston trip details.
One of the main scheduling conundrums that needed solving was what to do with our 22-man team on Friday afternoon. With our semifinal game scheduled for 9:00 Friday morning, we had quite the time to kill afterward. I needed something fun and economical that wouldn’t completely sap their energy ahead of the state championship game on Saturday (assuming we won our semifinal of course).
I considered visiting the Johnson Space Center, but it is actually rather far from where we were staying in Houston. After scuttling NASA, my natural inclination was something Houston Dynamo-related – despite the fact they are the sworn enemy of FC Dallas. But what could we do?
I contacted the Dynamo’s Director of Soccer Operations, inquiring as politely as possible whether it would be possible for my team to attend a Dynamo training session if they had one Friday afternoon. I suppose this would be akin to a Liverpool fan wanting to visit a Manchester United training session. I did feel slightly traitor-ish since I’ve never arranged for my team to attend an FC Dallas training session, but these were unique circumstances, us making the final four in Houston and all. At least that’s how I soothed my fan conscience.
Surprisingly, I actually heard back from the Soccer Operations guy that the Dynamo would be training Thursday and Friday morning at 10:00 AM and that we were welcome to attend either session. My heart sank as my super cool (and cheap!) team outing would not be possible since we would be playing our semifinal Friday morning at 9:00.
The Dynamo training session bust led me to wonder if the club offered tours of their practically brand new BBVA Compass Stadium (it opened in 2012). I called the number and talked to account executive Ken who was very enthusiastic about the prospects of arranging a tour for my team. He got our request approved, called me back and just like that we were set for a 3:00 PM stadium tour on Friday.
I was excited. Not only am I endeavoring to be a more faithful MLS supporter, but I also want to spur impressionable young men to support it as well, thus doing my part to influence future generations of American soccer fans. Selfishly, I really wanted to find out if BBVA Compass Stadium is as cool as it looks on TV.
On the nearly five hour drive from our school in suburban Dallas to Houston, I tried to inspire the team with a screening of Rise & Shine: The Jay Demerit Story which I had recently purchased expressly for this trip. While documentaries may not be everyone’s cup of tea (much less teenagers’) I thought this soccer-centric story would surely have widespread appeal. The film may be sluggish in parts, but who wouldn’t be roused, perhaps even get a lump in the throat, when Demerit scores the winning goal that gained Watford promotion to the Premier League in 2006? Well, apparently I am the only one so affected. Every time I glanced around at my players on the bus during the film, no one was remotely paying attention. Each was absorbed in his own digital devices and oversized headphones. My inspirational/motivational attempt became the running joke of our state trip as I was the only one interested in watching Rise & Shine: The Jay Demerit Story (and I had already seen it).
Friday morning we dispatched Houston St. Thomas Episcopal 4-0 in our semifinal, advancing to Saturday’s state championship game against Houston Cypress Christian. Immediately following our game, the team shuttled over to another venue to watch our varsity girls’ team win their semifinal 1-0. From there, both teams traveled to a deli that was supposed to accommodate our huge troupe for lunch. After finally directing our charter bus driver (who mystifyingly did not have a GPS) to this very difficult-to-locate deli, we immediately discovered the deli had not been forthcoming on the phone about their ability to serve and seat our huge group (which included over forty players, plus coaches and several parents). This deli was in fact a lunch counter inside a high-rise office building. We had to find another restaurant capable of serving us in a timely manner, as it would have taken approximately 36 hours for everyone to eat had we stayed at the deli. The deli owner was furious and gave my assistant coach an earful, but we really had no choice but to head elsewhere.
By then I was severely stressed as I could see no way we would make it to the stadium on time for our tour. Strategizing at the alternative restaurant where we finally landed, I decided to call account executive Ken and see if there was any way to move our tour time to 4:00. Ken could not have been more laid back and accommodating. This in spite of the fact that the Dynamo brass had given Ken and the rest of the club’s staff the day off because of all the midnight oil they’d been burning in the weeks leading up to the MLS season opener. Ken told me to give him a call when we were on our way to the stadium, that he would be passing the time playing FIFA ’13 at a buddy’s apartment directly across the street from the stadium. Now I felt extra pressure – this guy was basically giving up his afternoon off to make this tour happen for us.
Houston traffic was the next hurdle on our BBVA Compass Stadium quest. We inched along for an hour on Southwest Freeway 59. I’m pretty sure Los Angeles has the only traffic I’ve experienced worse than Houston’s. I had to call account executive Ken again to explain our lateness. He still seemed cucumber-cool, assuring me he had no problem playing FIFA while he waited. Ken’s FIFA fun wasn’t quite enough to assuage my stress over our lateness though.
Finally, at 4:45 PM we pulled alongside the stadium. The team universally proclaimed the structure’s coolness. I wholeheartedly concurred. My first thought was disdain at how much the exterior aesthetics of the Dynamo’s stadium trumped FC Dallas’. From the outside BBVA Compass Stadium looks like it was constructed by and for NASA, all silver and sleek and airy. From the outside, FC Dallas Stadium looks like part of a nice strip mall.
Ken met us outside the stadium, checked us in with security, and led us straight into the lower level inner ring tunnel. He explained straight away that we unfortunately wouldn’t be able to visit the Dynamo locker room, that not even he had ever been that far inside the inner sanctum. That roused my suspicions that ridiculously successful Dynamo Head Coach Dominic Kinnear has a vault of secrets in there.
Our first tour stop was the players’ tunnel leading to the pitch. Ken led us down the ramp to the edge of the pitch right behind one of the goals. We were allowed to step to the edge of the grass, but no further. The Dynamo are apparently extra finicky about their pitch. Ken said he’s only been on the pitch once, during last year’s staff Christmas party when they played an inter-office staff match. From field level the empty stadium is awesome – a truly soccer specific venue. I’ve never been in a stadium so large that feels so intimate. Though it seats 22,000, the seats on the top row feel remarkably close to the pitch.
That’s me enjoying the view from field level.
Ken proudly moved us through various sections of the stadium – the south party deck available for corporate rentals, the premium season ticket holder sections featuring leather seats with hand-stitched Houston Dynamo monograms, and finally the President’s Club interior lounge overlooking midfield. Stunning.
The lateness of our arrival unfortunately meant limiting our tour to half an hour. Ken would have let us stay longer, but we had a dinner reservation to get to and considering the traffic, we wanted to eat before midnight. As Ken led us back out of the stadium, we passed the Dynamo team shop, which surprisingly wasn’t much larger than FC Dallas’ shoe box-sized shop. One of our team captains asked Ken, “Everyone gets a free jersey, right?” Ken assured him that not even he gets a free jersey as a Dynamo employee. I guess you have to pay for that awesome space-aged stadium somehow.
As I forked over the cash for our tour (the admission included a match ticket, but since none of us reside in Houston we opted to donate our tickets to a local charity) and thanked Ken for his helpfulness, he informed me he would be at FC Dallas with the rest of the Dynamo front office staff for the big FC Dallas v. Dynamo Derby match on Sunday, March 17. I said I’d look for him there. We shook hands, our eyes narrowing as our grip tightened and the rivalry vibes took over… in my mind at least. He hasn’t been to FC Dallas Stadium before and I felt like apologizing for our home ground relative to the Dynamo’s awesome environs, but caught myself. What would I apologize for? So what if the Dynamo have a sweet stadium? That doesn’t make me like their team any better. I hope Ken has as pleasant an experience at our stadium as we had at theirs – right up until game time at least. Then I hope it’s a sad, sad day for Dynamo fans.
On Saturday, after a fierce 0-0 first half, we finally breached the goal and never looked back, defeating Houston Cypress Christian 4-0 for our school’s first-ever varsity boys soccer state championship. It must have been that inspiring Dynamo stadium tour – either that or Rise & Shine: The Jay Demerit Story.
(I’m the exhausted-looking coach on the far left.)
Shea it ain’t so, Brek!
Brek Shea will be missed in Dallas
Brek Shea has been the face of FC Dallas the past two seasons, but now he plays for Stoke City. I’m glad for Shea. It’s always good to see American players get a shot in the perceived top league in the world. But since I just bought an FC Dallas season ticket a few weeks ago, this is not welcome news.
I first saw Shea play in person in 2010, the season he made his first professional start and really came into his own for FC Dallas. He almost immediately caught my eye as a special player. It wasn’t just the flashy shock of ultra blonde hair. He hustled his tail off and wasn’t afraid to run with the ball at opponents. He had height, strength, speed, and all-important feistiness. He could scoot around the edges and get passes across the box or get shots off when other players would have lost possession. He spent that 2010 season under the radar and I shared FC Dallas fans’ pride of recognizing potential that the wider world hadn’t fully noticed yet. I even called my younger brother and soccer confidant Dan to tell him about this Brek Shea and how he could be on the national team someday.
Shea and FC Dallas made it to their first and only MLS Cup Final in 2010 where they lost to Colorado. By the start of 2011, the cat was out of the bag with Shea and opponents started marking him tightly. It was a tougher season for him (and FC Dallas), yet he was still a standout and a finalist for the league’s MVP. Buzz began building about him. In the offseason, he got to train for a few weeks at Arsenal. FC Dallas wisely signed him on through 2015. By the start of last season, the media spotlight on Shea was blinding. Even in Dallas he was becoming a household name (okay, still mostly just among us soccer nerds). US National Team Coach Jurgen Klinsmann jumped on board the Brek train too, granting Shea several consecutive caps.
Then the 2012 MLS season got under way and Shea fizzled on field. A turf toe injury sidelined him for several weeks. I actually observed him up close as he was nearing recovery from that injury when he participated in a demonstration drill run by FC Dallas Head Coach Schellas Hyndman at Hyndman’s annual clinic for local coaches. I was impressed and surprised that Shea turned up for the demo – something he certainly wasn’t obligated to do on such a hot May afternoon. The demo was a mix of academy players and FC Dallas reserve players, but Shea played as hard as if he were trying to earn a starting spot. Afterwards he affably hung around to chat with coaches and pose for photos. He certainly didn’t appear too overwhelmed by stardom that day.
Shea continued struggling with injuries throughout 2012, but even when he was in the lineup he couldn’t recover his near-MVP form from 2011. Fans grumbled impatiently. Brek and Hyndman got into a spat on NBC when Hyndman benched him late during a contentious match at San Jose. Shea the wonder boy suddenly seemed mentally and physically drained.
Now it looks like the business side of soccer has reared its necessary and sometimes ugly head with Dallas apparently eager to cash in on Stoke City’s interest in the 22-year-old Shea. Shea was a rare rising star for Dallas, a real potential franchise player. I had a feeling it would just be a matter of time before a bigger club snatched him up – Dallas is too small a club to retain stars for very long. The only real surprise is why now? Shea had such a dismal 2012 MLS season that I was confident he would be in Dallas at least through 2013. I was really looking forward to this being a comeback season for Brek.
I should have been suspicious when Zach Loyd began featuring a bit more than Shea in FC Dallas’ promotional efforts toward the end of last season. Considering that and the rift between Hyndman and Shea, the writing has likely been on the wall for several months. I wish Dallas would splash the Stoke cash they get for Shea on a replacement star, someone for season ticket holders like myself to get jazzed about. But I won’t hold my breath.
It’s a catch-22 for American soccer fans when deals like this come along. On one hand, you want to see U.S. players get opportunities in the world’s top league – it’s great for their development, enhances our national team, and improves American soccer’s reputation. On the other hand it highlights where MLS falls in the pecking order of the world’s soccer leagues. It seems difficult enough (particularly in a market like Dallas) to get fans to support MLS teams that actually have an American star or two, much less when those stars get shipped to more prestigious European leagues.
I wish Shea all the best at Stoke City. This FC Dallas fan will definitely miss him.
Your thoughts on Shea’s transfer to Stoke City?
Happy Blue Year
The January transfer window is open and Chelsea changes are afoot
Rah, rah, sis boom Ba!
Chelsea’s post-Club World Cup recovery was going great with a League Cup victory against Leeds, followed by three successive EPL wins over Aston Villa, Norwich, and Everton. Plenty for fans to be enthused about over the Christmas holiday. All that came to a frustratingly screeching halt Wednesday with the 1-0 home loss to QPR – who just happen to be the worst team in the league. Simply unbelievable. The slim hope of catching up to Manchester United by season’s end has all but vanished now. It will be a dogfight just to qualify for the Champions League.
The QPR loss confirms that Chelsea is not an elite team right now. There are currently only two elite teams in the EPL and they’re both located in Manchester. The Manchesters repeatedly demonstrate their knack for winning games they should win, as well as clawing their way back into games when they’re not performing at their best. They always seem to find additional goals, even when they’re letting goals in themselves. Chelsea has not shown the same ability this season.
A team’s fortunes don’t rest entirely on one player of course, but Man U does have the remarkably reliable Robin Van Persie at striker, and Man City has the similarly prolific Edin Dzeko. Chelsea has Fernando Torres. Yeah. I know Torres has scored much more this season, but would anyone really put him in the same league as Van Persie and Dzeko right now? Well, Chelsea may be about to get a lift in that department…
Today Chelsea made it official that Demba Ba is joining the club from Newcastle. Now that the remote possibility of Didier Drogba joining the team on loan from China seems to have vanished, the arrival of Senegalese striker Ba is great news for Chelsea fans. If his Newcastle stint is any indication, he will be a physical handful in the box for opponents – something Chelsea has desperately missed since Drogba’s departure. For all the deft, speedy skill of Hazard, Mata, and Oscar, they are small guys who frequently get muscled off the ball, so having Ba’s strength and nose for goal will be a welcome addition to the offensive mix.
The only things tempering my enthusiasm over Ba are his past knee-injury struggles and the fact that he’s 27-years-old. I’m not saying 27 is old, I just wish Chelsea would find an elite under-the-radar striker at the beginning of his career rather than splashing mid-season cash for perhaps final-third-of-their-career guys. I thought they had done that with young Lukaku last season, but they let him languish on the bench before loaning him to West Brom for this season. Still, getting Ba was much more economical than the rumored move for Atletico Madrid’s Falcao. Overall, I’m quite glad Ba is a Blue. Having lived in Senegal for five years as a youngster, I always root for Senegalese players. Hopefully Ba will accelerate his scoring prowess for Chelsea over the next few seasons.
On the flip side of the January transfer window fun, new arrivals usually mean departures as well. Daniel Sturridge moved to Liverpool this week. I like Sturridge and think he has a lot of potential that was never fully explored at Chelsea. He deserved a lot more playing time this season in place of the bland Torres. I wish him the best at LFC.
Seriously, who would let this guy go?
The other big name in Blues news this week is one of my favorite Chelsea players (isn’t he everyone’s?): Frank Lampard. It seems unthinkable that Chelsea would even consider letting this legend go and yet that seems to be what’s happening. Lampard’s contract is up at the end of this season and Chelsea doesn’t seem eager to re-sign him. I don’t understand this. Lampard is beloved by fans, a leader on the field, and still produces goals at the highest level. Just look at Scholes and Giggs at Man U – guys older than Lampard who still contribute. Lamps has a few more seasons in him and Chelsea should allow him to end his career as a Blue. He has certainly earned it.
What do you think of Chelsea’s transfer window action so far?
Christmastime at Chelsea
It’s been quite a month for the Blues
My how much can change at the ol’ Chelsea Football Club in such a short amount of time! You go a month without blogging about the Blues and look what happens. Benitez becomes the new coach… Fans repeatedly boo Benitez… Chelsea gets bounced from the Champs League… Chelsea gets bounced from the Club World Cup… Torres struggles at striker… wait, that last one’s no different from any other of the nearly 24 months since Fernando became a Chelsean. Anyways, very eventful weeks since I last updated this blog.
“See, you must pass it directly to his feet. Even then, it’s iffy…”
My soccer-coaching season is in full swing and life has been hectic, so that’s my excuse for the silence on all the upheaval at CFC – that, and the fact that I’m still disappointed by the Di Matteo canning. The coaching carousel at Chelsea has become so absurd that you really just have to throw up your “whatever!” hands. I guess if you buy a pro soccer club with your bazillions, you can do whatever you want with your club, even firing beloved managers.
Getting rid of Di Matteo was dumb, and Chelsea fans’ negative reaction to Benitez’s arrival has been humorous, but in the spirit of Christmas, it’s probably time to get o’er it, stop badgering Benitez, and get back to cheering on the Blue boys. After all, they’ve got Europa League to play for, and Capital One Cup! Yes, I’m being sarcastic, but it’s just because I’m so disappointed that Chelsea’s out of the Champs League. I haven’t even checked this week’s draw for the knockout round because it’s just not the same without the Blues. The day Chelsea got eliminated (thanks to Shakhtar’s sudden, complete soccer ineptitude – at home no less!), a package actually arrived at my house containing Kings of Europe, the Chelsea Champs League-winning commemorative hardcover book I’d ordered for my birthday. I was left thumbing through the pages with the hollow knowledge that Chelsea are the first Champs League champs in history not to make the knockout round the following season. The book is terrific by the way and would make a great last-minute Christmas gift for that special Chelsea fan in your life. But it’s kind of a sad gift now, what with all the full-color pics of Di Matteo and Drogba celebrating with the big-eared trophy. Sniff, sniff. There are even some shots of Michael Essien. I miss those guys. In today’s soccer world, it sure doesn’t take long to seriously alter a team’s identity!
On the plus side, Chelsea is still a good team. The new guys are doing well: Hazard, Oscar, Moses. Lamps is back from injury. And who knows, maybe the lack of Champs League travel and distraction will help Chelsea claw their way back into Premier League title contention. Here’s hoping anyway.
Merry Christmas to all and thanks for reading this year!
Thoughts on Chelsea’s busy month? Feel free to share below…
Di Matteo Fired
Chelsea continues their boneheaded ways with managers…
I woke up this morning contemplating Chelsea’s recent awfulness and what, if anything, original could be said about it. That led me to thoughts about Roberto Di Matteo, that maybe I’d write a little something in his defense since I was slightly surprised to hear commentators emphasizing how under fire he is after Chelsea’s poor Premier League form and Champions League struggles. These were my pre-morning coffee thoughts, but then I flip on the ol’ internet machine and the first thing I see are the Di Matteo’s-been-fired headlines. What? Seriously? What?
I’m actually shocked by the news that Di Matteo’s been given the boot. I shouldn’t be of course, given Chelsea’s managerial revolving door the past few years, but I’m still kind of shocked.
Chelsea’s current performance problems are player-related and not Di Matteo’s fault. The timing of this firing is very poor. Who are they going to get to replace him at this point in the season? Is another “caretaker” really a better idea than just sticking with Di Matteo for the rest of the season? I don’t think so. Managers have to do the best they can with the players they’re given. Di Matteo has done that. It’s not his fault that Torres can’t score, or even hold onto the ball for more than 0.5 seconds (and Chelsea’s woes aren’t solely Torres’ fault either – I can’t remember the last time the defense had a shutout).
By firing Di Matteo, Chelsea are seriously impeding their long-term progress and unnecessarily complicating this season’s quest for success. A team’s fortune can change pretty quickly – if Chelsea had given Di Matteo just one more week, Chelsea could potentially beat Premier League leader Manchester City this Sunday, and qualify for the Champions League knockout stage with a win next week. It’s hard to imagine them canning Roberto in those circumstances. Alas, we’ll never know. At some point Chelsea is going to have to learn real patience with managers or the club will be in a perpetual state of rebuilding.
What do you think of Di Matteo’s firing?
Dear Didier
A Special Invitation from Chelsea* to Drogba…
Dear Didier,
How’s life in China? How’s the food? The weather? How’s your Chinese coming along? Hope all is well.
Here’s the deal, Didier, we miss you at Stamford Bridge. We really need you to come back. Like this week. I know we parted ways on great terms, with you having just won the Champions League for us and all. If you were going to leave the club, it was the perfect time to do so. We were all very understanding, but let’s face it, our Champions League-winning high clouded our judgment. Now that we’ve had time to ponder… we think we made a big mistake.
Did you see our draw today against a very beatable Liverpool? Their striker Suarez saved the day for them again – a lot like you used to for Chelsea. We need a big time lethal striker again. That’s where you come in. We’ve got some great new guys this season we think you’ll really dig – guys like Hazard and Oscar. They’ve been creating great ball movement with Mata, but the problem is they need a real strongman in the box to feed the ball to. No one wreaks havoc in the box like you do. We really miss your ability to hold the ball and invent crazy-angled shots out of nothing. In case you’re wondering about Torres, well, we’re not exactly sure what to do about that yet. But it probably involves selling him for as much cash as possible come January. Look, Fernando’s a great guy and we wish him well, but he’s no Drogba.
Now we know you left Chelsea primarily because Shanghai-whatchamacallit offered you a bazillion dollars. Very understandable. We didn’t think we could match their bazillions. But this week we found out we actually made a profit for the first time in something like a decade (thanks to the Champions League riches you helped us get), so, since we’re not used to operating in the black anyway, we thought we’d just give you all that excess profit if you come back.
By the way, in case it’s not all about money, you saw where Chelsea fans recently voted you one of the greatest Blues players in club history, right? That’s pretty sweet. The fans would welcome you back in a heartbeat. Just sayin’. We know you have a soft spot for Chelsea in that lion heart of yours, so we want to remind you that John Terry got knocked out of the Liverpool match today with a potentially season-ending injury, Lampard is still out with a calf thing, and we loaned Michael Essien to Real Madrid for reasons we’re still not entirely sure about (okay, we brought that last one on ourselves, but we’re just pointing out the dearth of Blues vets currently on hand).
Just in case you feel a little weird about the idea of coming back to Chelsea so soon after leaving, it’s not unprecedented. Paul Scholes returned to Man U after retiring for a while last season. Thierry Henry even went back to Arsenal on loan earlier this year. It’s obviously not our first choice, but we’d settle for you returning to Chelsea on loan whenever the Chinese league’s over (sorry, we’re not sure when their season ends – until you went there we didn’t even know China had a pro league). Whatever it takes, Didier, that’s what we’re saying.
Admit it, you miss the Premier League. The high-pressure matches. The packed, historic stadiums. Cup finals. Champions League nights around Europe. Eccentric gazillionaire Russian owners. Causing Sir Alex heartburn. Democracy.
We don’t want to pressure you too much, but we have slipped from first to third in the table within a couple weeks, so we kind of need an answer ASAP. Only you can help prevent one of the Manchesters winning the league again. Chelsea’s fate is in your hands. Okay, that may be overstating it a bit, but come on man you’re playing in China for goodness sakes! No one watches Chinese soccer!
Come home, Didier, come home. You know you want to. We can have a jet there in a matter of hours.
Love,
Chelsea Football Club
P.S. Say hello to Anelka for us.
*Unfortunately this letter does not represent an actual invitation from Chelsea Football Club to Didier Drogba.
Chelsea is Clicking
Chelsea topples Tottenham 4–2
So far this season I’ve enjoyed Chelsea’s undefeated run and top place in the table with fingers crossed behind my back. Things have gone very well of course, but there have been a few shaky moments and based on the past two roller coaster seasons, I’ve kind of been waiting for the other shoe to drop for Chelsea, you know, like a multi-match losing streak and a late-season fight for the last Champions League spot.
After yesterday’s defeat of Tottenham at White Hart Lane however, I’m starting to believe. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions – it is still very early in the season, and if nothing else Chelsea still has four Manchester (United and City) showdowns to contend with (those four matches alone could determine the title). But Chelsea hasn’t looked this poised and confident since the last time they won the Premier League in 2009/2010. They’re constantly a scoring threat and the defense, while still occasionally leaky is playing quite cohesively. Cole and Ivanovic are even supplying regular attacking options down the wings.
Chelsea showed positive mental toughness in not only recovering from the second half Tottenham onslaught that put the Spurs up 2–1, but recovering with authority by scoring three second half goals. I still miss Drogba in attack – he would add strength, aerial threat, and finishing power to a physically small offense. To my surprise though, the Blues are getting the job done without him (and in spite of a still so-so Torres).
The new recruits, particularly Hazard and Oscar, are already clicking with the team. I didn’t expect results this good so early in the season. These new guys are still gelling with the team, so imagine where they could be in a few months as long as everyone stays healthy!
Chelsea is fun to watch again…
Any thoughts on the Blues’ win at Tottenham? Feel free to share below!
International Break Blues
Will Chelsea’s momentum stop after the latest international hiatus?
The International Break is a necessary evil I suppose. It’s fun sometimes, particularly during World Cup Qualifying. Well, if your team wins that is. I love supporting the USMNT (I always want to read that as U.S. Mutant Ninja Turtles), but it kills momentum for clubs. It’s like tennis matches that get rain delayed overnight – it gives the guy who’s losing the match opportunity to regroup, rest, and heal if necessary. Sometimes it totally changes the match. And that’s what I’m afraid of because Chelsea has been on a roll, but now the international break – the IB if you will – has stopped the Blues in their tracks.
Compared to the past two seasons, this campaign is strange for Chelsea fans in that the team is sitting relatively pretty for a change, atop the league table, four points above the Manchesters. So far we haven’t had to deal with the kind of angst that plagued us the past two seasons. Yes, it’s hard to justify complaints when your team won the Champions League last season, but as anyone who followed that saga knows, it was the most stressful possible tournament in which Chelsea repeatedly cheated death, somehow escaping Munich with the big-eared trophy in their clutches. By comparison this Premier League season has been downright docile. So far at least. That’s the main reason I’m concerned about this most recent momentum-killing IB.
I’ve really enjoyed watching Chelsea go undefeated this season – it’s been refreshingly un-stressful. But now the team has to shake off their jet lag (Chelsea players are on a lot of national teams) and get their groove back in time to do battle at Tottenham this Saturday. Add in the weirdness factor that they’ll be facing their old manager Andre Villas-Boas for the first time since Chelsea fired him last season and you have the makings of a potential perfect storm. You can bet your booty AVB will have his Spurs revved up for maximum pride salvaging (meaning AVB’s pride). It’s certainly not the cushy assignment a first place team would prefer to get to ease back into Premier League play after a tiring IB. On the other hand, resuming the season with a dogfight like this may be the best way to get Chelsea back in the full swing of things.
Saturday’s game at Tottenham is a bigger match than initially meets the eye. It is a crucial encounter that could mean the difference between establishing dominance in the league and giving the Manchesters a toehold. The Manchesters do not need toeholds given to them.
Will Chelsea be able to regroup and shake off the cobwebs in time for the big clash with Tottenham Saturday?
American Breathing Room
U.S. keeps World Cup Qualifying hopes alive with win over Guatemala
The first five minutes of tonight’s game were depressing. The U.S. defense was AWOL and Guatemala scored an easy tap-in goal. Fortunately, Clint Dempsey had his game face on and scored a pair of first half goals, which, along with Bocanegra’s goal, gave the U.S. a relatively comfy 3-1 lead by halftime. Speaking of game faces, did anyone notice the hilarious giant placard cutout of Dempsey’s wild-eyed crazy face (that he made in the last game against Jamaica) in the stands? Good times.
The U.S. shored up their defense in the second half and passed more calmly and efficiently. They should’ve added a few more goals, but I was just relieved to see them keep Guatemala from climbing their way back into the match.
Jurgen Klinsmann’s Andre-Villas-Boas-like celebrations after each U.S. goal were undoubtedly echoed by U.S. fans around the country. We can all breathe a sigh of relief for now. There is a very long way to go of course, but the U.S. bought itself some more time with the win tonight. Time to regroup, get healthy (Donovan!), and figure out how to play some stingy D before the next round of World Cup Qualifying kicks off in February!
What changes does the U.S. need to make to survive the next round of qualifying?
