Beckham Recalled To England Squad, Dynamo Knock Off CSD Municipal
Beckham Recalled To England Squad
LA Galaxy midfielder David Beckham was recalled to the England squad today after being passed over in new England manager Fabio Capello’s first squad callup. Beckham is seeking his 100th cap as an England international, and hopes to suit up for the Three Lions when they take on France in Paris on March 26.
What does this mean for Becks? His fitness has been an issue ever since Capello took over the squad, so for him to be called up, he had to have been fit enough to impress Capello. Having said that, I’m not sure if Beckham starts. Theo Walcott has looked pretty good for Arsenal lately, and I could see Beckham coming in during the second half, getting his cap, and being done with it. I hope it doesn’t turn out like that, as Beckham is still England’s best winger. Anyways, congratulations to Beckham on this, and hopefully he’ll reach his goal, and come back to the Galaxy ready to start the season.
Houston Dynamo Advance to Semi’s of Champions Cup
Dwayne De Rosario scored 2 goals as the Houston Dynamo defeated CSD Municipal 3-1. The Dynamo advanced to the semifinals for the second straight year. The 2 teams played in a scoreless draw in Guatemala last week. The Dynamo will play the winner of Thursday night’s game between Atlante of Mexico against Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica. Highlights can be seen here.
Amado Guevara close to joining Toronto FC
Former MLS MVP Amada Guevara is close to joining Toronto FC after sources confirmed the news to ESPN late last night. Guevara, as you may or may not know, has spent 5 years in MLS playing with the then MetroStars/NY Red Bulls and Chivas USA before being loaned out to CD Motagua after a falling out with Chivas.
If and when this move goes through, it will be quite the coup for Toronto as they now have a potential superstar attacking midfielder to go with 2007 Rookie of the Year and US international Maurice Edu. But the key word here is potential. Guevara has been immature in the past, and while he has said to have become more mature over time, he will only be good to Toronto if he plays the way he is capable of playing. With the system Toronto runs, a 4-5-1, Guevara should thrive, provided the effort and commitment are there.
UEFA Cup and Pan-Pacific Championship
It is all quiet on the American front recently. Some of our players abroad are currently playing in the UEFA Cup, including first choice keeper Tim Howard. The side thrashed SK Brann 6-1. Nigerian striker Yakubu lead the Everton attack with his second hat-trick at the club. He was fined and dropped by his manager for returning late from the African Nations Cup, but I’m sure all has been forgiven now. Elsewhere in the Cup, Freddy Adu was an unused substitute for Benfica in a 2-2 draw against Nurnberg.
We did have two MLS teams in action in the Pan-Pacific Championship. The LA Galaxy, lead by David Beckham, were dreadful. They were beaten 1-0 by Gamba Osaka. The team was completely dominated and lacked creativity coming forward. Though it is true that both Donovan and Ruiz were out injured, it was still an embarrassing performance. Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit blames the poor performance on the artificial turf and the fact that there were many new faces on the team that hadn’t gotten used top playing together yet.
There was a team there that didn’t make the MLS look terrible, and that was the Houston Dynamo. The attack was lead by Hawaii native Brian Ching. The Dynamo beat Sydney FC 3-0. Hopefully Brian Ching can continue to play well into the season. His ability to hold up the ball and play with his back to the net is vital for Houston, and could become a vital part of the US National Team’s play. I know all the excitement is about Altidore and Adu, but let’s not forget that we have a decent striker in Brian Ching. I say we slot him in and completely forget about Taylor Twellman. Forever.
USA Sweden Round 2 and the MLS Superdraft
Well lets start of with the national team, who will be playing the 500th game of their history. The line-up is heavy with MLS players due to the fact that we aren’t in an international break for the leagues in Europe. In goal we should have Guzan, but don’t rule out him only playing one half. In defense I’m a little unsure of how they will line up. In the center they will definitely be missing the presence of Bocanegra, but I expect Conrad to step up and fill the role of defensive leader. I would also expect Califf and Parkhurst to get a run out.
In the midfield, I think we’ll be seeing Edu holding things down. Donovan should play a midfield role but whether he’ll be in the center or on the right is up in the air. Up front is actually where I’m most excited about. Twellman and Johnson will both be wanting to start. If they do, they’ll be trying to play at their best since both are lobbying for moves to England. Altidore will no doubt also be in Bob Bradley’s mind. I’m sure we’ll see all three at one point, but I’m not sure who will start. Personally I’d like to see Altidore and Twellman, with Johnson coming on in the second half.
Overall, I expect a pretty scrappy game. Most of the American players will be a bit wwwwrusty since they are in the off-season. However, we should be able to come away with a victory since Sweden’s major players (Ibrahimovic) will be absent.
MLS Superdraft
The MLS Superdraft took place on Friday. First off, why is it called the “Superdraft”? What makes it super? Anyways, I’ll be completely honest with you, I do not know much about the players that were chosen outside of the first round. Kansas City got things started off by picking defender Chance Myers from UCLA. FC Dallas took Brek Shea with the second pick, who is a member of the U-17 National Squad. In third came Real Salt Lake, who chose Anthony Beltran, who was a part of the excellent 2007 U-20 World Cup squad.
The rest of the picks can be seen here.
Feilhaber Coming Home?, EJ Going Abroad?, MLS Draft!
Benny Feilhaber Back To MLS?
That’s right. Derby County has told the younger American midfielder that he may leave the club after a slow start to his first year with the team. Feilhaber did not feature much with the team, and he is now poised to make a return to MLS during the January transfer period. A bid was made for Benny by Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv, but it was turned down by Derby and now they are looking to sell him to an MLS club. So where could Feilhaber end up? DC United could use him as a replacement for Josh Gros. You can never count the Galaxy out of any transfer speculation either, so that’s always a possibility given Feilhaber’s California roots. They have too many center mids but that’s never stopped them before. My guess is that he ends up with San Jose. He’s close to home, and they need help all over the field. This will be something to keep an eye on in the next few weeks.
Eddie Johnson To Fulham.
As reported here earlier, Eddie Johnson left the USMNT camp in California to negotiate with the EPL club. That deal is now all but done, and Johnson should be suiting up for the Cottagers by next week. With fellow Americans Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra, Kasey Keller, and soon to be returning Captain Brian McBride, Johnson may provide enough firepower to shoot Fulham out of the relegation zone, just like Clint Dempsey did last year. Hopefully Johnson will become a better player in England and hopefully he’ll bring back some of his new skills to the USMNT, which is desperately in need of strong forwards.
Best Buy To Sponsor Chicago Fire
The Chicago Fire will be sporting jerseys with a brand new Best Buy logo on the front as they agreed to a 3 year, multi-million dollar deal with the company yesterday. “This is huge,” Fire defender C.J. Brown said. “When I started with the Fire our sponsors were league sponsors. This is another big step in the right direction for the league and also for the Fire. You’re in good company when you have Best Buy in your corner.”
MLS Draft
The 2008 MLS Draft will take place Friday, January 18 at 2 pm EST. The draft will be shown on ESPN 2.The Kansas City Wizards have the first pick in this year’s draft after sending longtime defender Nick Garcia to San Jose for the # 1 pick. Here’s a Mock Draft to check out before the draft. And that’s the news for the day. Back tomorrow with more.
Twellman To Leave MLS?
Taylor Twellman is one of those odd cases. He does wonderful things for his club, but when it comes to his country, he falls drastically short. Most argue that the level of international play is higher than that of Major League Soccer. So how does Twellman get accustomed to a faster paced game? By moving to England of course.
Twellman tried his hand at European soccer 8 years ago in Germany. That didn’t work out so well, and he came back to America to join the New England Revolution. With his inclusion lately in the national team, he has gained attention from Preston North End, of the Championship Division in England. Preston made a push for the Premiership last season, but with the loss of striker David Nugent they are struggling. They are looking for a new hitman, and have 28 year old Twellman in their sights. However, their $1.7 million bid was rejected by MLS and the New England Revolution. According to ESPNSoccernet, they are expected to increase their bid to $2 million.
Twellman has made it clear that he would like to make the move. His salary would increase drastically and he would be playing at what I believe is a more competitive league. Even though it is taking one of MLS’s American stars out of the league, it should be good for Twellman. I’m all for the move. Hopefully the MLS can get a bit more of out Preston and Taylor can make the move before the end of January. He should have no problem getting a work permit since he has been participating in the national team.
UPDATE: Brian here. So, MLS has turned down the offer made by Preston North End. I’m not sure what MLS wants here. The 2 million offered by PNE would be right in line with other national team players such as Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey. Now Twellman is in a tough spot. He would like to be sold, but probably won’t be, and now he can make the argument that he deserves to be paid more, which I agree with. He has done everything New England has asked him to do, and then some. Don’t get me wrong, the fact that he brought up his national team performance is comical, but goals are goals and Twellman has six of them, so he must be applauded for this. He deserves a raise in salary, and it won’t be fair if MLS decides to not sell him and on top of that not raise his salary too. I pretty much saw this coming though. MLS is always terrible about things like this. Just another thing that needs to be fixed with this league. Anywho, thats the news for today. Back tomorrow with an update on European action and the possibility of a new USA friendly.
Beckham To Train With Arsenal During Offseason
LA Galaxy star David Beckham is headed back to England, but he will not be leaving MLS. According to the Associated Press, the England international will be training with current English Premier League leaders Arsenal in an attempt to stay fit for future England fixtures and to prepare for the upcoming MLS season. “We will help him to get fit and prepare for the season,” Arsene Wenger told BBC Radio. “There’s a good chance that he will come in January, but it’s not decided.” The longtime Arsenal manager also stressed that Beckham would not be suiting up for the Gunners, only training and getting ready for next season.
This move makes sense on many levels. Beckham spent most of his first season with the Galaxy on the sidelines due to injury. Part of the reason he was injured so much was because he simply was not fit enough to play. At age 32, while still young, Beckham must stay fit if he is continue to play both domestically and internationally. Gone are the days where David Beckham is guaranteed a place in the English side, especially with new manager Fabio Capello now at the helm. Capello has already said that he will be keeping a close eye on the fitness of Beckham, so being ready to play will be even more important to Beckham. With younger players such as David Bentley and Shaun Wright Phillips ready to move into Beckham’s place, Beckham will have to be fit and then some to keep his spot.
So how will this play out? I think Beckham is still England’s best winger, even at 32. As long as he is fit, his crosses and free kicks are still at a world class level. I also think that if and when Beckham is back in the fold for England, he will do so as the new captain. While John Terry has done a decent job for England, Beckham is what makes this team go. The players know it, and so does Capello. Capello watched Beckham basically put Real Madrid on his back and carried them to La Liga glory last season. Even though they had a falling out last season, Capello knows what Beckham is capable of. He’ll never lead England in goals, but he will lead them in heart, something that England lacks right now. Not only will Beckham get his 100th cap for England, I think he will reach at least 110, and perhaps even 120 before he is done with international play. For a player who has given everything he has to England, he deserves nothing less.
Liverpool FC To Play MLS All-Stars?
According to The Daily Mail, Major League Soccer has approached Liverpool FC in an attempt to get the English giants to play against the MLS All-Stars next summer. The report also proposes the idea of Liverpool playing Italian giants Juventus in Montreal to gauge the interest in Canada. As much as I like seeing European teams come to the US to play against MLS clubs and all stars, I don’t see the point, besides making money, and possibly raising the profile of soccer in the States. If MLS wins, people view them as being that much closer to the EPL. The reality is that when European teams come over(Celtic and Chelsea recently), they are generally in preseason form, and therefore that much easier to beat. If MLS were to lose, the media in Europe can sling even more mud at MLS, especially if the game is a blowout.
When it comes to raising the profile of the game here, why do we need European sides to do that? I’ve long believed in the idea that if soccer is to become one of the big 4 sports in America, then it will need to do so from within. While players like David Beckham and Cuauhtemoc Blanco are nice, the fact is they are not Americans, so they can only do so much for MLS. I’ll never understand why so much emphasis is placed on David Beckham when we have future American stars such as Jozy Altidore in MLS as well. We live in a country that thrives on the idea of an American hero. David Beckham can’t be our American hero, but Jozy Altidore can be. Right now, MLS cannot hold onto its stars, and many of them leave for the greener pastures of Europe(Clint Dempsey, Freddy Adu, etc.) Instead of focusing on spending money on big name players from Europe who are on the downside of their careers, focus that money into building up youth programs and MLS in general so players won’t want to leave. The fact is, I feel as though these players have to leave, because they are wasting both their time and talent by staying in MLS right now. It is high time for MLS to take the next step in becoming a bigger and better league. For the youth, we only have to look to the streets of Brazil to see how the young kids there are doing tricks and having fun. Youth soccer is too structured, too English if you will. Let the kids have fun, and chances are you’ll have more imaginative Ronaldinho’s(not the Ronaldinho of today, 2 years ago) instead of robotic players. Granted, I understand that many people in America could care less about soccer. But these same people are probably turned off by the idea of seeing David Beckham 134 times in one game too. Fans love a winner, but how can MLS become a winner when they depend on Europe for exposure?
Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing the Euro teams come over and play. But while seeing them is nice, MLS needs to soon realize that Europe can’t make MLS bigger, only we can do that.
Jozy Altidore Is Not Going To Real Madrid
Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has come out and stated that Madrid will not be making a splash in the January transfer market. This means that barring any unforeseen events, Jozy Altidore will be staying with New York Red Bulls next season. Now that Calderon has said that, should we believe him? I think it would be hard to fit Altidore in at Madrid, especially with the likes of Robinho, Raul and Rudd Van Nistelrooy already holding forward spots with the club. Now is it possible that Madrid comes in and throws 15 million at MLS for Altidore? Absolutely. They can afford to do so, I just don’t see why they would want too. My prediction? Offers are made for Altidore, but unless they are in the 15 mil range, he’ll be staying with New York next season.
Houston Dynamo Repeat As MLS Champions
The Houston Dynamo defeated the New England Revolution 2-1 today, after Dwayne De Rosario scored the game winning goal in the 74th min to put Houston ahead. We’ll be back later with a detailed match report.