Lots of Drama in NASL Curtain Raiser

Note: This is a special blog post recapping the opening game of the NASL season. Do NOT expect this type of coverage every week after every game. This is only being done because this is the first game of the season.

SCORING SUMMARY

1-0 (Shipilane) - well-worked team goal that set the Hawks up for success.
2-0 (Novo) - Incredible finish; the interplay around the box was fantastic, but the finish. I can't say anything bad about the finish -- definitely an early candidate for Goal of the Week.
2-1 (Poltronieri) - This is why Ottawa was so bad; they like to play hoofball, and that won't work most of the time. This goal was created using mainly hoofball techniques.
3-1 (Bracalello) - The goal didn't mean much in the end, but it made the result match the performance on the field.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Novo: Nacho Novo is like a fine wine... he ages very well. At 36 years old, the way he tore through Ottawa's defense was incredible... what a shame that he had to come off early due to injury.

MAJOR TAKEAWAYS

1. Expect better streams from ESPN3 for all of the NASL matches.
2. Ottawa's defense was absolutely horrible. There is a reason why I have them where I have them... if they can't defend, they won't go very far in the league. Let's hope they can turn that around very quickly so they can start to help everything else out.
3. Carolina's doing something right with their commentary. I don't know what it is, but the color analyst is very knowledgeable and informative throughout the day on tactics and player awareness.
4. Some of the midfield play by Carolina was superb. Watch the passing and the movement again, and you'll see tons of fluidity in the play. This is nowhere near the quality of Barcelona, but it's as close as I've seen an American professional team come to emulating that style... which is, not really, if in comparison with other sides that try to play that way in Europe.
5. The officiating quality was poor. I remember that Novo's penalty was outside of the penalty area, but no one in the Carolina dressing room was complaining about that, but fair is fair, and Ottawa got what they deserved in my opinion. Also, note the large number of yellow cards issued in the match, and keep track of this referee's assignments in the future to see how consistent he is, and his willingness to give a card against other NASL referees.

Once again, this is a special blog, but this follows the pattern I want to follow for the remainder of the weekend's action, replacing the Scoring summary with a list of final scores. Man of the Match will be replaced by Man of the Week. Midweek games may get this match's treatment, but that's still to be decided.

NASL 2015 Season Predictions

Here is my predicted standings and Soccer Bowl prediction for the NASL 2015 season.

Assume that I show combined standings, and that the winner of the Spring Season is the same as the winner of the Fall Season for simplicity's sake.

Qualify for NASL playoffs
Carolina RailHawks
New York Cosmos
Ft. Lauderdale Strikers
Minnesota United

5. Tampa Bay Rowdies
6. FC Edmonton
7. San Antonio Scorpions
8. Indy Eleven
9. Jacksonville Armada
10. Ottawa Fury
11. Atlanta Silverbacks

NASL Playoff Predictions:
(1) CAR 0-1 (4) MIN
(2) NY 3-2 (3) FTL

NASL Soccer Bowl 2015
NY 2-1 MIN aet

I strongly hope that the Silverbacks prove me wrong, but it seems that the ownership group has given up, but the fans are very strong. Please prove me wrong, Atlanta, for your fans don't deserve to finish last for their efforts.

American Outlaws Reaction

I'm sure all of you have seen the fusion.net article that broke this story, but if you haven't seen it, go look at it now, then continue reading.

Now, for my reaction. AO Phoenix should be ashamed of themselves for not only the incidents described in the article, but for their response was even more disrespectful. I think AO national needs to expel their Phoenix chapter or put them on probation for a long time for them to get themselves sorted out.

However, they, thank God, do not represent all of AO. AO Seattle's response to this was full of class and respect. They gave an e-mail and a phone number for members to call about their negative experiences. If that does not show proper leadership of a chapter, I don't know what else would. I am proud of AO Seattle for their response, and I think AO Phoenix should be either done or on probation for a really long time. Racism and sexism is uncalled for in those settings, and there needs to be steps taken, especially in light of the SAE controversy at the University of Oklahoma, and the new controversy surrounding another fraternity at the University of Maryland.

Women Win Against Norway... and #MartinezOUT

The United States women's team defeated Norway 2-1 today in the Algarve Cup. Hope Solo came straight back into the first team after her suspension, and the effort shown was poor. The only thing I can praise the women for was their determination not to lose.


Then, the "main event" at the Brittania: Stoke-Everton. That was about as enjoyable to watch as tennis. Roberto Martinez went out there with a so-called 4-3-3 formation with 1 winger and 4 center midfielders. And that's not even the worst part. He never put a second winger on throughout the game. (He did put Mirallas on, but only after taking Lennon off) He has been doing this for far too long, and everyone knows the team set to play week in, week out, which is depressing. So, I think there has to be a change at Everton manager immediately. Roberto Martinez should not be allowed to ride the bus back with the lads back to Liverpool. Even though Robles played magnificently in Howard's absence, he puts him straight back in after injury. That's not being a manager, that's playing favorites. I could go on and on with all of this, not to mention Lukaku's shot that he should've scored. The only player that I can genuinely say cared was John Stones. He has played very well, and also Garbutt with his corner delivery. Those two should be in the starting XI every week, if fit, on merit.

And now, my message to all Evertonians in Britain: do whatever you have to do to get Martinez out.

The Future of American Goalkeeping in the Premier League

Today, Tim Howard bottled it. No ifs, ands, or buts, he bottled it. No excuse for his poor performance today for the Toffees. Yes, Lukaku missed chances, but that shouldn't have mattered. We should be talking about a pretty drab, routine 2-0 win today over bottom of the table Leicester at home, but we're not. Over in Birmingham, it doesn't seem like Brad Guzan's doing that well, either for Villa.

So, that got me to thinking about the state of American goalkeeping in the Premier League, and the future of it. I feel that as Howard and Guzan eventually retire, there will be less Americans between the sticks overall after they retire in due course. That may be because the Bundesliga is becoming more trusting of American signings (example is former UMD goalkeeper Zach Steffen signing for Freiburg). The only other American goalkeeper in the Premier League is Cody Cropper, and, according to his player profile on the Southampton web site, "He has established himself as one of the regular goalkeepers in the Under-21 side during his time with Saints, as well as being involved with the first-team on matchdays and away trips." In the 2014-15 U21 Premier League season, he has not appeared in their last 3 games, and he has not even been included in their bench. So, without too much to go off of, I think he needs to leave and get some first-team football to further his development. I don't care if he goes to a club that's worse at developing players through a youth system, if he plays first-team football, that's better than most youth academies the world over.

So, I ask you: are American goalkeepers in the Premier League doomed, or are they just on hiatus? For me, it's not looking too good right now.

The Possibility of Replacement Players in MLS

The MLS labor negotiations are at a fever pitch as the MLS season is slated to begin on March 6. Unfortunately, the CBA has not yet been signed, so that got me thinking about the potential use of replacement players in MLS, and my opinion on the topic. The few uses of replacement players that I could find were as follows: MLB in 1995 after the 1994 season was effectively canceled. They had to use them for a few weeks, but only for spring training. The US national soccer team has used replacement players before in 2005, but no games were played with the lower-tier players. In more recent times, the trend has been to lock out all of the personnel and cancel games and/or entire seasons in order to proceed with negotiations. For example, there was no 2006-07 NHL season, and part of a recent NBA season was also canceled, leading to dramatic shifts in the value of the leagues.

It is for that reason that I think MLS should get their labor house in order before playing any games. It would greatly hurt teams such as the Cosmos and other NASL teams as their players would be pressured to play in MLS and forego their NASL commitments, and I would like to see those NASL players play in the NASL, as per their contracts with the NASL teams. However, if a lockout were to happen, it would be a grand revolution for the NASL as more eyes will be glued to that league, using the potential MLS lockout to their advantage. However, only one league would benefit from this, and the rest of them would suffer greatly with a lockout. Well, if those leagues would like to be at the mercy of MLS, let them. They will suffer all the same.

Thoughts on the Derby and Wednesday, and Some Personal News

If anyone's paid any attention to my Twitter account recently, you'll have seen a period of inactivity in the past week. That is because I have moved this past weekend, and it took that long to get the Internet in. So, without further ado, here are my thoughts on the two games Everton played this week, plus my belated thoughts on US-Chile. (I forgot about the US-Panama game on Sunday.)

US-Chile

I thought we played very well against Chile, considering most of our players weren't yet match fit, and we were facing a team from the Chilean Premier League, who were match fit after playing 4 league games. As much as I can say well done, I feel that we could have won that game. I remember our defense playing poorly, making too many mental mistakes, even for not being match fit.

Merseyside Derby

Every derby, no matter the fixture list, fixture congestion, injuries, etc., I expect, nay, demand that Everton win, no matter the circumstances. (I'm sure Jon Townsend would say the same thing on the other side.) For me, in this game, anything less than a win is unacceptable, and to say that we couldn't even get a goal past a converted midfielder who played CB is beyond me, no matter how good Can is at that role. We can't blame the referee here, we can only blame ourselves for this 0-0 draw that feels like  loss.

Everton-Chelsea

All through that game, I was screaming at my television. Lee Dixon was right when he pointed out that Everton showed no purpose in possession. while playing like Barcelona is ideal most of the time, if you can't win playing that style, then it's time for a change. Now, let me talk about the uncalled handball on Naismith for a few minutes. I wasn't on Twitter, so I didn't see the reaction to the non-call, but from where I was watching the game, and the replays shown on the TV, that was a handball as it touched his upper arm. The game should have finished worse than 1-0, maybe 2-0 or 2-1, depending on how you feel about Lukaku's shot that got saved by Cech's legs.