MLS Draft(s)

Dear MLS,

I am writing to you to let you know that to even the most devoted of supporters of your league, all of these drafts do not make much sense. I have no concept of why they are there or what good they do. Does Dax McCarty want to play for FC Dallas, Portland Timbers, DC United, or none of these three teams? It seems as though he has no say in where he is going to play next season. To me this is a step towards the lessening of building fan loyalty and player loyalty like we love to watch week-in and week-out in the European leagues (with exception of Serie A, and I'm directing this at you Zlatan Ibrahimovic). Players should be allowed to leave a team if they feel as though they are not getting enough play time or not fitting in the system of the coach, but they should not be pawned around to various teams.

I am especially upset at how Red Bull legend Juan Pablo Angel can say that he is not interested in playing for New York next year, and suggest a move abroad, and then the LA Galaxy to pick him up because he is out of a contract. What has this done to the thousands of Red Bull fans with "Angel" on the back of their kits? Undermined respect in the league.

Sincerely,

Sam McFarlane,

Supporter of Soccer Everywhere (except Qatar)

Building off of the 3 drafts that the league has already conducted, the best teams in the league have already set up youth academies to cut down on the spending of signing a star college player or a reject at another first 11. See if you can wrap your head around these updated rosters. In just recently checking this page, they have since discontinued the ever-popular Facebook comments at the bottom of the page. I noticed only because I vented my frustration on the topic similar in tone to the above mock-letter.

Equally confusing to me is why Chivas USA have made off-season moves before they have hired a new coach. This new coach is probably going to be as successful as last season's coach, when they could've made some real moves like DC United did. Toronto FC continues the ongoing saga between their loyal supporters and their emperor of an owner. They have yet to make a real signing this offseason, which makes many think that they are waiting for a Robbie Keane or someone of the sort. After Mista failed to produce anything for them for the remaining games he came on this season, I would advocate TFC just getting a more solid midfielder to help DP DeRosario do everything for this team.

I read recently this week that no team with a DP has ever won the Cup. The asterisk here is that Schelloto for the Crew only became a DP after they won the Cup, under Zigi Schmidt. As DP's helped LA and NY become crowned the winners of their conferences, they failed to impress against teams that may have made more of an effort to win the MLS Cup. I believe this is an argument for the Supporter's Shield and Conference Title to be more important and give a first-round bye, although the play-offs have now been revamped completely.

Thought I would sign off with this video: In it, Schalke 04 FW Klass Jan Huntelaar is having some fun with FC Utrecht FW Ricky Van Wolfswinkel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTnpv8csOIw&feature=related

Van Wolfswinkel's Revenge:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MycGdoFGJOk

Beautiful vs. Tactical

In the watching of the FC Dallas vs. Colorado Rapids MLS Cup Final, I was thinking about two previous finals this year and the two teams involved: UEFA Champions League Final with Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, and the World Cup Final with Netherlands and Spain.

Bayern vs. Inter was a classic example of beautiful attacking team, Munich, with Ribery, Robben, Muller, Klose, Olic, and others, battling a well-organized defensive minded team, with players each having the task of shutting down the attack of the other team. Inter only needed three players going forward on the attack: Sneijder, Eto'o, and D. Milito. Mourinho's well rehearsed team knew exactly what it needed to do to win: absorb the Bayern attack and release the ball for a counter attack. Love or hate Mourinho, he won the battle of the minds against the equally impressive This battle was won by the team with an uglier game but a more disciplined defense and rigid positions; Tactical 1 - 0 Beautiful.

This summer's World Cup was an amazing show of the beautiful game, but had ugly too (as evidence from Luiz Suarez's goal against Japan and his 'prevention' of a goal against Ghana). The final was perhaps not as great of a game as everyone had billed it, but a very great show of talent. Spain had been playing their well-branded, passing, possession-based game, with Xavi and Iniesta playing those incisive, quick, through ball passes. Netherlands can't really be pinned as the defensive side in this game, as they did have a slightly Total Voetbal style approach to their attack, with Kuyt, Van Persie, Robben and Sneijder interchanging their positions, but compared to Dutch teams of the 70's, this was a little more on the defensive side of the coin. With only one goal being scored in the Final, many people would say that neither of these teams lived up to their potential, but when looking at the respective teams defeated in the earlier games, these teams potential was supremely undercut. Spain's ability to find that one perfect pass to Iniesta made it 1-0, where it finished. Tactical 1 - 1 Beautiful.

This past weekend's MLS Cup got me thinking about these two previous finals and I predicted that Tactical would win out, calling the score 2-1 Dallas. It was hard to call Colorado the beautiful team, with the way Conor Casey was playing, and the appearance of Matt Pickens beard, but they're style of scoring with Cummings and Casey linking up so many times throughout the season made them appear more of the flag bearers of beautiful futbol. Adding Mac Kandji to this, as he scored the game winner, and Colorado had the more potent attack, despite Dallas fielding MVP David Ferreira. It is perhaps no coincidence that FC Dallas played a summer friendly against Inter Milan and that Colorado is a sister affiliate of Arsenal FC, two teams well known for their brand of football.

Through these finals, from May to November, one could draw the conclusion that perhaps non-beautiful football is on the way out again, as Inter are already fading in Serie A, but watch this space and expect another final to include a greatly-coached, defensive-minded team.