MLS All-Stars vs. Man United

Before you continue reading, I should warn you that this is not an in depth critique of tactics used by either coaches, or individual player performances, or even what kind of season Man United will have based on the 4-0 score line. This is purely a critique on the critics of the MLS All Stars.

First off, why even have an All Star Game? Logic does not root itself here, but rather the fact that a professional sport cannot be held in America without featuring a mid-season All Star Game. ESPN2 even showed the MLL (Major League Lacrosse, and yes, I abbreviated only for the integrity of the organization) All Star Game, but good luck trying to find any regular season MLL games. The most un-American way to say that an All Star game for MLS is that you don't see European leagues having an All Star Game... And why would you? Players need time off from international friendlies, competitions and ~50 games in a season, with all of the UEFA games and domestic competitions. Coaches need to rotate rosters and even purchase players half way through the season just to make it through without the financial disaster of relegation, or even just not making it into a European competition. The MLS All Star game is doing nothing for the MLS except making it look even more silly to the international soccer/football community.

That being said, I am also tired of American soccer followers both not treating this seriously at all and taking this game too seriously. As confusing as that sounds, I am both frustrated with people lambasting a team of individuals, coached by someone who's never coached them, in a game that doesn't count for anything, trying not to get injured so they can help their club team make the playoffs.

I am also frustrated at those living in America who are not willing to take hold of the game. I understand the teams of the MLS are not the most beautiful, but watch FC Barcelona more than 10 times a year, and even the biggest soccer fans will start to see repetition and yawn at the most tactically gifted team of perhaps all time. I don't say this to slight Barca, but rather tell off those content to look only to Europe for football, and not support the growth of the American game. The MLS has great goals and talented coaches, players, and growing support. We don't have the financial backing of the England and Spanish and don't have the fanaticism of Italy or Germany, but I would say realistically, that the MLS CAN get there someday. We have the right direction, and with a few tweaks our league could even support 2 leagues (West vs. East, or maybe an MLB-like "American/National" League type of thing, similar to Brazilian Serie A or Argentine futbol).

We can be critical of the game here in the US, but we can't be irrational with expectations both in whether we are over- or under-performing.

Europe - Time to Wrap Up & MLS - Time to Clean Up

As Man U appear to wrap up a 19th title, AC Milan, Porto, and Dortmund have all clinchedtitles in their respective leagues, with Lille and Barcelona waiting in thewingsto lift their trophies. Man City clinched the last Champions League spot in England, making the only worthwhile matches in England involving West Ham, Wolves, Wigan, Blackburn, and Blackpool, aside from those involved with the Championship Playoffs, with QPR now avoiding point deductions and Norwich pushing out the other teams for 2nd.

It is in this point that I have questions for the FA about the proposed point deductions: When Faurlin joined in 2009, why would investigations have not have started then? Why also would you tack a point deduction on after a team had believed that they had clinched the 1st place position/promotion? Asthis controversy fades because of the lack of any point deduction and the controversy of Qatar buying FIFA votes, the MLS is running into its own controversy, more related to that of player conduct.

Colorado Rapids midfielder Brian Mullan and Chivas USA forward Marcos Mondaini, amongst others, are coming under attack of MLS fans for near-season ending injuries to Seattle's Steve Zakuani and RSL's Javier Morales, respectively. Watching these challenges are not for the squeamish, and the punishments are not either, with Mullan receiving a 10 match ban.

One must consider what else can be done to prevent these kinds of tackles, which you may have noticed are occurring on playmakers of teams. It is strange to look at this and see that Red Bulls' DP Thierry Henry has yet to be fouled in 6 games. This point aside, should the MLS enact rules similar to that of the NFL to protect offensive players from hard fouls?

Howard Webb 2 - 0 Liverpool (FA Cup)

Before covering any of the sketchy match details, I knew that there would be something strange about this FA Cup tie between England's two most successful teams; No calls from my Grandad or Uncle about how Man U would slaughter Liverpool as they had, apparently, done earlier this campaign. No Gary Neville comments about how Kenny Dalglish's first match back would be his worst. No Nani comment saying that he is among the best players in the world. And no Wayne Rooney in the line-up...

I began to wonder whether (1) Man U were actually expecting to win this one outright and whether (2) Liverpool would play twice as hard as they had in the Blackburn defeat (probably worse than the Wolves defeat, and most definitely cost Hodgson his job).

My both of these pre-match wonderings were confirmed in only the 2' with Berbatov's blantant dive and Howard Webb's precarious position on the field, only followed by Liverpool's out-playing of Man U for the remaining 20+ minutes, until, Captain Fantastic being sent off for a 50-50 tackle in the midfield with Howard Webb being in another position that was un-advantageous to make such a call.

To those that say it was United's win from the start, there is some truth to that statement, as we have seen from the officiating, but it is unfair to say that Liverpool did not try. Yes, Johnny Evans' header to the post was closer than any of the Liverpool attempts (some pretty horrible ones from Meireles and Cole), but when playing 11 on 10 (and the referee makes 12), a opportunity from a corner was simply not enough. A penalty being the only decisive goal against your fiercest rivals, at home, while they have just appointed a new manager a day before and your team is sitting 1st and theirs is 12th? Man U fans surely don't really care that they played poor, just that they won. This is how their whole campaign this year has been and I will be the most disgusted person if they win the title. Sending on Michael Owen, who probably wasn't the most in-form striker on the bench certainly didn't confirm any nail-in-the-coffin victory for United.

In a way, the penalty was both the best and worst thing that happened to Man U. Giggs's shot was great, even though Pepe read it, but Berbatov's flop was the worst decision for penalty in looking at some of the other appeals throughout the game. No referee wants to give more than one penalty to any given team throughout one game, even though I wouldn't put it past Webb. And in a way, the Gerrard sending off confirmed our fate, as he is one of the players the Kop faithful have always trusted to get some come-from-behind goals (a-la FA Cup final 2006 a.k.a. the 'Steven Gerrard Final', and Istanbul in 2005).

If you're a Man U fan reading this, you're probably disgusted that I just brought up some history, but that's what this rivalry is built on. You've also probably wrestled with the fiction of Berbatov's dive in the box and that Fletcher also went two feet studs up in the tackle and DIDN'T win the ball (watch the replay).

Transfer Rumors

So I know to most people, transfer rumors are just things of fiction that bloggers write about in hopes that players come to that team, but that is not my intention in writing this (although I do hope there are some players that do come to Liverpool!). Here are just a number of players who are being chased by the big clubs and with the list of teams in the order I think the player is currently considering or where I think he is most likely to go:

Eden Hazard (RW, Lille OSC)

At age 19, this Belgian international is not out of favor at Lille, but ratherseen as though his time to hit it big is now. Lets just not hope he ends up like Marouane Fellaini, however...

Where he could end up: Arsenal, Man U, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Tottenham, Chelsea,.

He is strongly linked to Arsenal, though I believe they have been ruled out because of a previous Arsene Wenger comment

Romelu Lukaku (ST, Anderlecht)

This 17 year old, is catching the eyes of all European scouts, though I have yet to see his worth in a tougher competition. A large transfer fee for such a young player is also a huge risk to take, confirming my belief that a team with a huge transfer wallet will most likely snatch him up.

Where he could end up: Real Madrid, Tottenham, Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal.

I know this is almost the same list of teams, but I don't think Chelsea will have much pull with this player, even if he wishes to take Drogba's role, were he to move back to Olympique Marseille soon.

Connor Wickham (ST, Ipswich Town)

Another 17 year old, this goal threat would be a valuable asset to any team looking to have a superstar on their roster, especially with the homegrown players rule now in place. With Ipswich set to face Arsenal in the Carling Cup Semi-Finals, and Wickham getting only 3 starts and 11 bench appearances with no goals this season, this is another player showing potential with no real bite yet.

Where he could end up: Liverpool, Arsenal.

These two teams are the only two seriously looking at the player, as Wenger has a legendary ability to work well with young players and Connor being quoted as saying his idol is Fernando Torres. I give my Reds the edge here though, as newly appointed Damien Comolli has been monitoring this player for some time. Comolli could add Wickham to the list that includes bringing flashy left-mid Gareth Bale to Tottenham.