2015 State of US Soccer Address

The state of the United States Soccer Federation is weak. There, I said it. Let's rip the band-aid off right now. This will read like a presidential State of the Union Address where I am going to continue to hammer home the problems US soccer is facing as a whole.

The first thing I will look at are the results from the international friendlies that have been played by the US this year. We started off the year with the January end-of-camp friendlies where we lost an away fixture in Chile 3-2, then followed that up with an underwhelming 2-0 victory against Panama at the StubHub Center. Next came the 2 March friendlies in Europe against Denmark and Switzerland., which resulted in a 3-2 loss and a 1-1 draw respectively. On April 15, the men's national team played Mexico and sold out the Alamodome with a 2-0 win. Following that was a trip to Europe for the June friendlies against Holland and Germany, 4-3 and 2-1 victories respectively. Granted, these were not against Germany or Holland's best, but these are good results with a decent performance. After those were the Gold Cup tune-up friendly which was a 4-0 win over Guatemala. After the Gold Cup (which will get its own section), the United States defeated Peru 2-1 at RFK, then lost comprehensively to Brazil 4-1 at Gillette. In the October window, the US had one friendly which they lost to Costa Rica 1-0. Overall, the friendlies were a mixed bag with some good and some bad thrown in there. Klinsmann experimented with a few tactical things that didn't seem to work, but that is his right in these friendlies to do so.

The CONCACAF Gold Cup was nothing short of an unmitigated disaster. It is a tournament the US should win every single time, and we have failed to even get 3rd place in this tournament. Granted, the referee was at fault, but that does not excuse the dismal performances of our national team, and I hope that woke everyone at Soccer House up to the dismal future prospects of this team. Everyone has been done a great disservice, and it starts at the bottom at the U-little level in terms of where US soccer scouts. They should be scouting all over the country, at least 10 scouts in every major metropolitian region, plus an additional several thousand for those hard-to-reach rural places in this country, like Appalachia, the Gulf Coast, the Big Sky, the Ozark region, I could go on and on.  I will never say that there is no place for "foreigners" on this team -- in fact, they are probably better equipped than our domestically-based players -- every single crack and crevice in this country needs to be scouted. Coaches should go visit academies such as the Ajax one or La Masia to see how their youth systems are run, and see if they can replicate that at their clubs to the best US law and culture will allow. If that fails, then work to change the culture.  This will not only help us get better as a nation, but it will also help us win more international competitions at the senior level.

And note that I said senior level, not the junior levels. Those should be about development only. I believe that the result of a match is the byproduct of how we play on the field, and if we continue to play bunker ball forever and ever, how are we going to develop players fit to play in Spain and France where they emphasize more open play on a general basis. Let's put this into perspective: because Barcelona did not follow the FIFA transfer rules, our greatest hope for the future is stagnating in Florida with the "world class" US Soccer Development Academy (a joke unto itself).As for the related issue of youth club compensation, those youth clubs should be given the right to receive their compensation for the players they develop, not to be gobbled away by MLS and SUM. I don't think there are any laws against a youth club that receives money for the benefit of a player.

Lastly, here are the champions of the leagues that constitute the first 4 "tiers" of US soccer in 2015:
MLS: New York Red Bulls (Portland Timbers won MLS Cup playoffs)
NASL: New York Cosmos
USL: Rochester Rhinos
PDL: Michigan Bucks (K-W United won playoffs)
NPSL: New York Cosmos B (34 points in 12 games for 2.8 PPG; some teams played 10, others played 14 depending on division)

To summarize, the state of US soccer is weak because of the lack of results at the national team senior level, and the lack of care or interest in getting coaches better equipped to handle developing players for Europe. A change in culture needs to happen, and some people who are better equipped than I in knowledge of soccer coaching can start that new revolution.

Scorpions Sell Toyota Field

The owner of the San Antonio Scorpions has sold Toyota Field to Boxer County and the City of San Antonio. He issued a statement claiming that he sold the field because the city was looking for an MLS bid. To think that a city does not have the gall to support what they have now is incontrovertible. The city should be ashamed for selling the Scorpions down the river in favor of a "franchise" that is probably not going to happen anytime soon... unless the Spurs get involved, which it looks like they will play in USL next year, according to the same statement.

In that regard, this is business as usual in American soccer, and it's long been time for a change. And shame on the owner for selling out to the city because the city rejected what they built in San Antonio. I'm not saying that the fans rejected them, I'm saying that the official people in the city rejected them, as can be evidenced by the purchase of the stadium and the marketing that they just got a brand new soccer facility. I think that the Scorpions' SGs should rise up in defiance of this USL team ad continue to support the Scorpions, should they play next season.

In other news, Bill Peterson is announcing another expansion side next week. Hopefully this is more like Indy and Ottawa and not like OKC and NoVA.

[UPDATE: The scheduled announcement has been called off.]

NASL Soccer Bowl Playoffs Set

The field for the 2015 NASL Soccer Bowl playoffs is set after the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers knocked out the Rowdies by defeating the Jacksonville Armada 1-0 today in Jacksonville. They now go up to Coney Island to take on the Cosmos next week at 2PM ET. The Cosmos and Strikers have formed a rivalry that extends even back to the original NASL, when they competed with some of the world's top players. Now, both teams sit in the playoffs for the Soccer Bowl, The Cosmos defeated the Strikers in their first match of the season way back in April 1-0 thanks to a goal from Leo Fernandes. In their second meeting of the season on August 2, the Cosmos defeated the Strikers 2-0 thanks to goals from Hunter Freeman and Leo Fernandes. Just 6 days later, however, the Strikers and Cosmos drew 3-3 at Lockhart Stadium with the Strikers leading 1-0 after halftime with a goal from Gabriel. After a Ramirez brace, the Cosmos struck back with a vengeance, ultimately with Guenzatti scoring the game-tying goal in the 90th minute.

Prediction: NY 2-1 FTL

The offering on Sunday is the Ottawa Fury hosting Minnesota United. For Minnesota, it was the case of no Ibarra, no problem. Ottawa was the surprise package this season, tying the Cosmos on points after the season was complete. The head-to-head matchups featuring Ottawa and Minnesota have been entertaining, with the April 18 match at TD Place finishing 1-0 to the Fury thanks to a goal from Tom Heinemann. In their second meeting, this tome in Minnesota, the Fury and United drew 1-1, thanks to goals from Christian Ramirez and Tom Heinemann. That game did get a little nasty at the end there as there were 2 yellow cards issued to Minnesota in the last few minutes. Their final regular season encounter took place at TD Place where this time it was Minnesota United taking the victory away from home 2-1, thanks to a 90th minute goal from Ramirez.

Prediction: OTT 1-1 MIN (2-4)

Final Prediction: NY 2-1 MIN aet

NASL Finally Rid of Traffic

Today, the Carolina Railhawks have announced a new owner to take them forward, a local technology mogul. With this announcement, the NASL is finally rid of a cancer that has helped the league in every way except for the field of public relations. Traffic has helped the NASL in the rebooting process, but Aaron Davidson's indictment put the league's involvememnt with Traffic at a standstill. While this has taken a long time to do, this is ultimately a good thing for the league's image, but this is also good for Carolina, now that they have local ownership ready to take the Hawks forward to become NC's premier soccer club.

Now, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the Atlanta Silverbacks are still without an owner. It has gotten to the point where I have seriously contemplated moving down there and taking out a massive loan on my non-existent credit to buy the team myself. This black eye must be dealt with immediately. Atlanta is a wonderful location, with tons of Fortune 500 companies based down there, the Silverbacks should have no trouble getting big-time money from big-time sponsors (I'm looking at you, Coke and Delta). From earlier conversations with a supporter, there seems to be interest in a suburban stadium north of Atlanta where affluent people have disposable incomes that they could spend on soccer, but that don't want to go downtown for a stadium. An argument can be made that those people could watch the Silverbacks on TV and help the TV numbers, but anyone with a TV and cable should be able to do that. These people have the money to go to the stadium week in, week out, then why are they not going? That's a question I can't answer, but a new owner who knows the city of Atlanta and its suburbs could. If the league (who is temporarily operating the club) can't find an owner soon, they will concede an important market to MLS, which I find disgraceful because that's not how this is supposed to work. In America, sure, you support your local "minor league" team and the local big league team. In the rest of the world (especially soccer), that does not happen at all. You support one team and that's it. While the Silverbacks and Atlanta FC can peacefully coexist now due to a lack of pro/rel, I'm sure a better solution can be found. I think the Silverbacks should copy the Braves's attitude as the South's soccer team and go on from there to become just as big of a name as the Cosmos.

Just my two cents for the day, enjoy the NASL Soccer Bowl playoffs. I'll have a preview up after the games this weekend.

2016 US Open Cup 1st and 2nd Qualifying Round Draw Made

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, US Soccer has already announced the matchups for the first 2 qualifying rounds of the 2016 US Open Cup, to be played in October and November of this year. According to US Soccer:

All 56 entries will participate in the first qualifying round, scheduled for Oct. 17-18 and Oct. 24-25, with the 28 winners playing each other in the second qualifying round, set for Nov. 14-15 and Nov. 21-22. Twelve of the 14 second qualifying round winners in closest proximity to each other will compete in the third qualifying round, to be held April 2-3, 2016. The remaining two winners will be awarded the first two slots into the 2016 U.S. Open Cup from the Open Division local qualifying track and will be joined by the six victors from the third qualifying round. The exact matchups for the third qualifying round will be determined once the 14 winners from the preceding round are known. The first round proper will be held May 11, 2016, with the remaining match dates set later this year.

The matches are as follows: (all times Eastern)

October 17

12 p.m. — Southie FC (Roxbury, MA) at Battery Park Gunners (Roxbury, MA)

2 p.m. — Salone FC (Philadelphia, PA) at Vereinigung Erzgebirge (Warminster, PA)

3 p.m. — Tartan Devils Oak Avalon (Pittsburgh, PA) at Aromas Café FC (Charlottesville, VA)

5 p.m. — Newport FC (Portsmouth, RI) at Worcester FC (Auburn, MA)

6:30 p.m. — West Chester United (Wayne, PA) at Junior Lone Star FC (Drexel Hill, PA)

7 p.m. — South Jersey Elite Barons (Hammonton, NJ) at Jersey Shore Boca (Bayville, NJ)

7:30 p.m. — Newtown Pride FC (Sandy Hook, CT) at Lansdowne Bhoys FC (Bronx, NY)

October 18

10 a.m. — Boston Olympiakos FC (Boston, MA) at Global Premier Soccer (GPS) Omens (Wayland, MA)

3 p.m. — Maryland Bays (Elkridge, MD) at Dulles Sportsplex Aegean Hawks FC (Boyds, MD)

6 p.m. — New York Pancyprian Freedoms (Jamaica, NY) at New York Greek American SC (Maspeth, NY)

OCT. 24

4 p.m. — NTX Rayados (Dallas, TX) at Austin Real Cuauhtemoc (Georgetown, TX)

6 p.m. — Red Force FC (Pembroke Pines, FL) at Uruguay Kendall FC (Pembroke Pines, FL)

7:30 p.m. — Colorado Rovers (Commerce City, CO) at Harpo’s FC (Commerce City, CO)

9 p.m. — La Maquina (Lake Forest, CA) at Strikers FC South Coast (Lake Forest, CA)

10 p.m. — Chula Vista FC (Chula Vista, CA) at Temecula Football Club (Temecula, CA)

10 p.m. — KC Athletics (Overland Park, KS) at I.P.S. (Portland, OR)

10 p.m. — San Nicolas FC (Chino, CA) at Corinthians USA (Rialto, CA)

10 p.m. — Footballers Academy (Irvine, CA) at San Pedro Monsters FC (San Pedro, CA)

10:30 p.m. — Del Rey City SC (Playa Del Rey, CA) at LA Wolves FC (Manhattan Beach, CA)

October 25

2 p.m. — Tobacco Road FC (Raleigh, NC) at CD Motagua (New Orleans, LA)

3 p.m. — Davis Legacy (Davis, CA) at International Fútbol X-Change (IFX) Ballistic (Livermore, CA)

3 p.m. — El Farolito (San Francisco, CA) at San Francisco City Football Club (San Francisco, California)

4:30 p.m. — Boca Raton Football Club (Boca Raton, FA) at Real Miami Club of Football (North Miami, FL)

5 p.m. — Valley United SC (North Hills, CA) at Cal FC (Agoura Hills, CA)

6 p.m. — Outbreak FC (Long Beach, CA) at Buena Park FC (La Palma, California)

7 p.m. — Charlotte Sporting Soccer Academy FC (Charlotte, NC) at Queen City United FC (Charlotte, NC)

7 p.m. — Colorado Rush (Wheat Ridge, CO) at FC Boulder (Boulder, CO)

7 p.m. — Real Sociedad (Bellflower, CA) vs. Ozzy’s Laguna FC (Monterey Park, CA)

The only problem I can see is the KC Athletics match because they are the only team that has to travel more than 100 miles for their game. To me, that is unconscionable. At this early stage, how has no other Oregon team given them any competition? I understand there is a tournament up there in Cascadia that takes precedence in that area over the US Open Cup, but where else can any amateur team in Washington and Oregon get to play against the big boys of the US? Anyways, get out to your local US Open Cup game.

I will announce the 2nd qualifying round pairings after the completion of the 1st qualifying round.

The Kenwright Protests From an American Perspective

As some of you who are reading this know, I am an Everton supporter who lives in Baltimore, MD. In Baltimore, we have a football (NFL) team and a baseball team. The two teams and their ownership groups could not be more different in their commitment to the teams. The one I will discuss here is Mr. Peter Angelos, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles, and compare him to Mr. Kenwright. You may think this is absolutely ludicrous, but let me explain. Angelos took over the Orioles in 1993 after previous owner Eli Jacobs declared bankruptcy and was forced to sell the team, putting the Orioles back into local hands for the first time since 1979. During Angelos's tenure as Orioles owner (slightly longer than Kenwright's at Everton, but we'll let that go), the Orioles had just moved into their home, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and it hosted the 1993 All-Star Game (a contest between the best players from the American League and those of the National League -- the rules of baseball are for a different article). In 1995, the Orioles finished 2 games below a .500 record (equal wins to losses). In 1996, Angelos proved that he had money and was willing to spend it, giving the then-general manager the resources needed to win the division and make the playoffs. Since the late 1990s, Angelos has ated a lot like Kenwright, refusing to continue to spend money in order to make the team better. The Orioles failed to make the playoffs from 1998-2012, when they finally made it back in after a rule change allowed for a play-in game between the first and second placed teams in the wild card standings.

However, this is where the comparison ceases to be fair n the success side, as in baseball, you do not need to spend premium money to win every year (though Angelos has traded away top stars for prospects even this year). In (real) football, that money needs to be spent in order to acquire and keep top talent. Kenwright has failed to spend the adequate money to keep talent around, selling Wayne Rooney to Manchester United for a pittance in 2004 while the Orioles let local boy Mark Teixeira walk to the hated New York Yankees without even giving him a fair (according to him) offer for his services. Teixiera rubbed salt in the wounds as he declared in his opening press conference that his best memories as a kid who grew up in Baltimore were when his dad would take him to Yankee Stadium to watch baseball. (Imagine the fume had Rooney said something similar to that!)

Now, this is where I get to talk about fan culture. In America, fan culture is generally unified to support the team, no matter the circumstances. There are always divisions (and some radicals), but generally everyone is there to support the team, no matter what. From what I've seen of UK-based Evertonians, they may feel similarly, but there comes a point when there are drastic differences. Some years ago, a sports talk DJ in Baltimore who has been harping on the subject of Angelos for years orchestrated a full walkout of Oriole Park at Camden Yards for a home game. now imagine if one of the BBC Radio Merseyside presenters even attempted to something like that. AC Milan fans took it upon themselves to do it without that need. Americans generally like things organized for them rather than doing it themselves when it comes to sports fandom. I understand that it is wrong to speak in generalizations, but I feel that it is appropriate to single out the (real) football fans in America for being the antithesis of the generalization. For example, the people at OTF Soccer, a Chicago Fire website and podcast, are doing a #90MinuteTailgate to oppose their owners. No other sport in America gets people to do those things. There is a certain sense of apathy among Americans, and most see it as nothing they can do to change, so support must be given. To the few that are actively doing something about terrible owners, I applaud your zeal and wish my fellow Americans would do the same if that is their view. So, to all of the people reading this from the Blue Union and other groups that are campaigning to rid Everton of Kenwright, keep going, hold strong, and never give up. Oh, and also ask Americans who travel to Goodison their opinion about Kenwright and change some minds about apathy. I think the best solution to this is to start an Everton Supporters' Trust and emulate what Swansea did to Petty (with the exception of threats to break his legs) This trust is to be unified with as many Evertonians as can muster, and will hopefully span the globe with blues from different countries and with different perspectives. If one exists already, this is my callout to you to make yourselves better known.

Bohs Postseason Report

It's been about a month since my last blog entry, but I wanted to wait until the dust settled in the PDL and NPSL playoffs before I reported this. Here is my report of the Baltimore Bohemians 2015 season.

First off, here's where we rank against other PDL teams. We are 3rd in average attendance of all teams that reported all of their home games. Among all teams, we are 22nd out of 64 officially in average attendance (though I question that claim). I think that playing at Bonvegna Field has done wonders for the club for this year, but the myriad of other lines on the field sort of ruined the fan experience for me. I understand that the club operates on a shoestring budget and the rent was probably dirt cheap, but the club has to take fan experience into account more going forward. I personally think the Bohs' Supporters deserve better than to stand behind 2 chain-linked fences in order to have their own section. On opening night, the Reading United coaches actually enjoyed their presence right behind their bench on the turf. I still don't know for certain why the supporters were relegated to the basketball court, but I could tell that it was not a club decision. They are somewhat to blame for this as well, because for the second game of the season, one person brought a smoke bomb and lit it off when the Bohs scored. To this day, I don't know who brought it, and I wasn't looking when it was lit.

Fan culture aside, the club's off-season stuff must be classed as nothing short of unprofessional. I get it; it's a volunteer staff, and the front office have other jobs that they do that make them money. I fully understand that. However, when fans go to opening night and you're going to send the team in a new kit and the fans want to purchase said kit and it's not available, that's on you. I still have not seen an explanation as to why it was not available (or I just haven't been looking hard enough). If an explanation was made, please link me, and I'll edit this part accordingly. The other major incident was whenpeople could not park on the side of Du Burns Arena that faced the field due to a competing event that was taking place nowhere near Bonvegna. From speaking to club officials at that game, I know that they were asured of parking at the arena, but they were not gien it. They should have kept calling and calling to ensure the parking spaces, not just accept a blind spot and no one else gets informed. Once again, communication is key, and the Bohs have not exactly communicated that well with us fans with the exception of trying to get butts in seats. Now, they have turned the corner in August with trying to offload tons of merchandise by marketing their postseason sale as a back-to-school sale, but where was that all season?

With all of the off-the-field stuff taken care of, let's talk about the on-field play. The Bohs did very poorly at home, only winning 1 home match in the entire season. It's a shame that all of the road trips are at least 3 hours away (except for DC United U-23s) so I could see this team for what it truly was: road warriors who didn't play as well at home. I think the players were poorly selected, and they did not play well at all at home. I especially was not a big fan of the defense and goalkeeping (it should be noted here that the captain was injured partway through the season, and sometimes some people had to play out of position to make up the numbers on defense). For a team that was plagued with injuries, I don't think the goalkeeping was up to snuff, and I don't think Billy Heavner can win you ballgames by himself. I think if Billy is to succeed in soccer, he needs a good defense to back him up, because he proved this season that he can't put the team on his back. Jordan Bekker must have done a whole lot at those road games to make the All-Conference Team of the Season because when he played at home, I didn't see anything truly special.

Going forward, here are my goals for the Baltimore Bohemians for next season:

1. Communication - Never underestimate the value of communication. Even if something last-minute happens right before a game, report it on the Facebook and Twitter accounts. Don't leave the fans in the dark as much as you did this season.
2. Address the Bonvegna situation - While Bonvegna was a hit for attendance, the fan experience was lacking. Either get the field to get rid of some of the lines so as not to detract from the soccer, or at least try to find another solution until you can build your own stadium.
3. Recruit better players - Baltimore is one of the biggest, most important cities in America, and the club can only recruit from UMBC and Loyola? I know that the players are there already for their college careers, but several teams had players from overseas clubs and much bigger colleges than those two are. Broaden the scope of recruitment, and more people may come.

So, that is my long-awaited review of the Baltimore Bohemians 2015 season, and hopefully I'll continue on for the 2016 season.