England in 2018?

By the time John Terry is about 70 and David Beckham is in wheelchair, England might host the World Cup.

Evidently, plans are in the works to bring the Cup back to England in about as many years as it takes to pay off a mortgage. Nothing is set in stone, but with the next tournament in South Africa and 2014 likely in Brazil, it would be Europe's turn to host in 2018. I wonder if the British will manage to underacheive at home. There's really no way to say considering the Gerrard and Lampard generation will be long gone by then. We better start scouting 10 year-old British kids to make a better prediction.

By the way, am I the only one that's noticed there's been a lot of chatter about future World Cups recently? We just finished one and we're already planning Cups that are about a decade away. Does this seem ludicrous to anyone else? Has there just been a slew of slow news days recently so there was nothing else to talk about?

I'm not saying we should fight this though. Instead, let's take advantage and start lobbying for the Cup to return to the states in 2038.

MLS Mediocrity

If it's true that "you are what you are," then most MLS teams "are" mediocre. Take a look at the standings. Only three teams have winning records. The rest of the league has a .500 record or worse with varying amounts of draws.

The NFL has acheived parity through a slary cap and free agency. Baseball is still trying to even the playing field, so to speak, through revenue sharing. But MLS is undoubtedly the most balanced league. We're almost at the All-Star Game and you can't rule any team out of the playoffs (okay, maybe that's because about 99 percent of the league qualifies for the postseason). But even Real Salt Lake, as Kansas City Royalish as they've looked at times, have a shot of sneaking in. And the Galaxy, recently in the Western Conference cellar, look as strong as anyone in the conference with the return of Donovan and Albright.

In the East, the last-place Crew are only two points out of third-place. And they have been ravaged by injury all season. Meanwhile, New York must like their chances of moving up the table with Bruce Arena joining their cause. It seems to me that New England should start gaining some separation from the third-place pack because they're the most talented Eastern Conference squad not named D.C. United, but when are they going to make a run? A 3-1 home loss to RSL doesn't inspire confidence, and it doesn't get any easier for the Revs this week as they travel to Houston (one of the three teams above .500).

All of these mediocre teams have one thing in common: poor road records. That's not going to change for most, but the clubs that manage to just break even on the road will find their way up the table.

Looking Back On How France Beat Brazil

Whether controlling the midfield or headbutting a mouthy Italian, Zinedine Zidane tends to capture an audience’s attention. So it was no surprise that the media showered him with compliments after he captained France past Brazil in the World Cup quarterfinals. But Zidane was not the only reason the French took out the boys from Brazil – it took a concerted team effort to be strong on the ball, play quickly and pressure the Brazilians that vaulted the dark horse French squad passed the perennial favorites.

Throughout the match, France played with a perfect blend of poise and urgency. Their attack was poised. Zidane was calm on the ball, yet quick to keep it moving. Unlike Ronaldinho, Zidane recognized the importance of playing the ball quickly, or, at least, taking a touch or two away from oncoming defenders rather than attempting to dice defenders from a standstill. Up top, Thierry Henry did the dirty work, holding the ball and giving the Brazilian defenders fits with his height on aerial challenges. Wisely, Henry was content to win throw-ins and spot kicks for the French, allowing his team to retain possession and dictate the pace of the game.

The urgent aspect of France’s play showed through in their defense of a vaunted Brazilian attack. Unlike Brazil’s, France’s defense was quick to step on their opponent’s first touches and the first to loose balls. This disrupted Brazil’s rhythm, and though they were able to string some passes together (you can’t stop them from doing that) their timing was off just enough to ensure that a final, dangerous ball would not materialize.

But Brazil’s defense proved to be its true downfall. Failing to anticipate the first touches of the French attackers, the Brazilians allowed Les Bleus to gain a head of steam in Brazil’s half. And more often than not, the boys in yellow had to resort to professional fouls in order to stop the French penetration (see the open-field tackle on a streaking Patrick Viera in the waning moments of the first half). If games like this really come down to set pieces, the lackluster Brazilian defense at midfield gave the French a decided advantage.

But what was most criminal was the individual defending on France’s goal. If you look at the replay, there are a number of French players lined along the 18, waiting to time their runs on Zidane’s spot kick. At the far end of that line is Henry, only one of the world’s best scorers. Next to him, not goal-side mind you, is a Brazilian defender who, rather than following Henry on the play, decides it would be better to take a rest with his hands on his knees. How does this happen? How do you leave the other team’s best player alone on a spot kick from a dangerous place on the field? It’s like not guarding LeBron on the final shot. As Howard Cosell would say, “It’s just criminal.”

In soccer, it doesn’t take a wide margin of victory to school the other team. Brazil was never in this one. It was likely only 1-0 because the French couldn’t possibly justify sending too many numbers forward against a team with a reputation for imaginative offensive brilliance like Brazil.

But that creativity never came for the defending champs, their overlapping style slowed by an inability to keep the ball for extended periods and by the sluggish nature of their aging outside backs. Add those offensive woes to a lethargic job defending and you can’t expect to beat a French team that moved the ball quickly, held the ball with poise, defended with vigor and hungered for loose balls.

Coach's Corner: Bobby Clark

After head coaching stops at Dartmouth, Stanford and with the New Zealand National Team, Bobby Clark has now brought Notre Dame to national soccer prominence. Entering his sixth season in South Bend, Clark has led the Irish to a Big East tournament title (2003), the school's first-ever Big East regular season title (2004) and five straight appearances in the NCAA tournament. Last season, the Irish knocked off defending champion Indiana in the NCAAs to advance to the round of 16.

In 1998, Clark led Stanford to the NCAA Finals and, prior to that, he was named NSCAA Region One Coach of the Year twice (1990 and '92) while at Dartmouth. Before coaching, Clark made over 800 first-team appearances in the Scottish League and was named one of Aberdeen's 25 greatest players of all time in 2002. Having played in three World Cups for Scotland (on the 1970 and '74 teams as well as the '78 team that went to the finals), Clark had plenty of sound insight concerning this past World Cup and the state of U.S. Soccer:


As a coach, what would you have done differently with the U.S. team? Would you have stuck with the 4-5-1?

First of all, I do not like playing the Monday morning quarterback to another coach, especially one as talented as Bruce Arena. Bruce has done a fabulous job at college, MLS and at the international level. I think any system can work but it has to work on the day and in Germany the U.S. struggled a little bit on two of the days. They were not bad but were in a tough group and got some tough reverses at critical times in these games. We are not far away and on another day could well have triumphed.

Now that Bruce Arena has been let go, how would you rate his job performance over the past eight years? Do you have any ideas as to who would be a good successor to Arena?

Bruce has done a wonderful job. Let's face it, he took the country to an all-time high of #4 in the FIFA rankings. I know rankings are sometimes a dubious measuring stick, but being a regular top-10 team is very impressive. To follow Bruce will not be an easy task as I rate him very highly but I possibly would try to persuade Klinsmann as he has great credibility both home and abroad and has the status and the soccer knowledge to carry on the tremendous growth that has recently taken place.

Is there anything you took out of the World Cup that you think people aren't talking about? Was there anything that surprised or disappointed you?

The first thing is how many teams now play zone defense. I remember back in my Dartmouth days, we were possibly the only team, with the exception of Santa Clara, that used zonal defense. In the 1994 World Cup it was exactly 50%. It has been very interesting to see how the deep sweeper has almost completely disappeared. The biggest boost for me from World Cup '06 was the coverage in this country. I can recall searching all over Hanover, NH for places to view the games in 1986. This time it was great. Okay, we didn't always agree with the panel of experts, but it was great to have them drum up controversy and have non- soccer people being exposed to this
wonderful tournament.

In the wake of the World Cup, Mike Russo (see "Coach's Corner" from July 10) said he thinks the goals should be made bigger and the offsides rule should be changed to help the attacker so that there would be more goals. Do you agree with that? Does it matter to you if games are low scoring?

I remember that the NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Association), in the course of one season, experimented with the size of the goals. I am sure Mike Russo will remember this and if my memory serves me correctly, there was no significant increase in goals scored. Personally, low scoring does not bother me as long as both teams are competing and trying to score. A low-scoring game can be very entertaining provided there are plenty of near things at both ends and the game stays close. The most exciting thing in any spectator sport is that the result is in doubt right up to the end. The offside laws are tough. I am not sure what the answer is and I am amazed how often the assistant referees get it right. Again, I have experienced as a player playing with an offiside line based on the 18 yard line and also on a line drawn 35 yards from goal. I did not enjoy either as it made teams sit back and took away the ability to press high up the field and, in turn, offered less space for a through ball to be played into.

You've been coaching at the college level for years. Have you seen a marked improvement in the level of play over those years? Do you think the college game is preparing American players for high levels of international play?

There is no question that college soccer has greatly improved over the years. It is not just college soccer but the game in general. Let's face it, the college game simply reflects what is being done at the youth level. There is no question that college soccer offers youngsters a fabulous opportunity to both prepare for the highest level of soccer while also getting a college education. Two of my former Stanford players are currently playing in the EPL. Ryan Nelsen with Blackburn Rovers and Simon Elliott with Fulham. I am confident that both would claim that college soccer helped them rather than hinderd them. If you further note that Brian McBride, Carlos Bocanegra (both Fulham), David Weir (Everton), Brad Fiedl (Blackburn), Claudio Reyna (Man City) and Shaka Hislop (Howard) spring quickly to mind as others who attended college in the US and are now playing in the EPL. Add that a large proportion of the US squad in Germany attended college shows that we are producing excellent players. I think it is a fabulous system that most of us do not appreciate. Please take this from someone who was brought up and raised on the other side of the Pond! How long will it be before Clint Dempsey, a Furman product, is joining the previously mentioned group?

Can you find enough good American high school players or do you find yourself still looking overseas for good recruits?

I rarely recruit foreign players. At Notre Dame we are able to attract the best players in America, so why would I go abroad. The only time I recruited abroad was when I returned from New Zealand where I had been the head coach for the full national team, the Olympic team, the U-20s and the U-17s. At that time I knew every kid in New Zealand and had been out of the U.S. loop, so it made sense that I looked at Kiwi players.

How do you feel about MLS? Do you think American players can improve their game by staying in MLS or do you agree with those who say that the top Americans need to play overseas?

The MLS is a very solid league. Just ask Scottish Champions, Glasgow Celtic after losing 4-0 against D.C. United. It is not the EPL or Serie A, but it is a solid league and it is a great place to produce and develop young players. I think our teams play with a nice blend of skill and athleticism. It is certainly getting there and I can only hope that we support it. We have several excellent players here at Notre Dame who have the potential to play overseas. I feel that the MLS is an excellent league in which these players can find their feet and then go abroad. At the moment it allows us to develop our own players. If it disappeared we would have no medium to do this. There would be a vacuum and we would have to hope that other countries would take on this role, and I doubt if any other countries would be overly worried about developing our players. It is essential for the health and development of the game that the MLS flourishes and develops.

Bruce to Bulls

It didn't take long for Bruce Arena to find a new reclamation project. Just days after being fired as the USMNT coach, Arena was introduced as the new head coach of the New York Red Bulls. New York is stuck at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, which affords Bruce the opportunity to come to the rescue as he did with the men's national team after the stinker that was the '98 World Cup. Arena will officially take over the club (he will be in charge of the first team, reserve team, youth development and academy teams) on August 12.

Reports out of New York also say that Youri Djorkaeff could rejoin the Red Bulls this week. The French midfielder has been away from the team while tending to his ailing mother. Djorkaeff was supposedly unhappy with the team when he left (who could blame him?) and was later seen in the stands at a World Cup game which sparked a bit of controversy. The Red Bulls would be wise to put that behind them, though, and get Youri back on the field to make a push for the playoffs under Arena's guidance.

Coach's Corner: Brian Ainscough

Entering his second year as the head men's soccer coach at Northeastern University (Boston), Brian Ainscough took time out of his busy recruiting schedule to chat with me about the World Cup.

Ainscough grew up in Dublin, Ireland and played for the Irish Youth National Team in 1983. He played his college soccer at Farleigh Dickinson University and then played for five years in the American Professional Soccer League. When his playing days ended, Ainscough worked as the men's head coach at Providence College and Bowdoin College before taking the job at Northeastern. He has also coached ODP teams in Maine, Rhode Island and Massachusetts during his career.

In our conversation, Coach Ainscough analyzed the United States' struggles in Germany and weighed in on numerous aspects of World Cup 2006, from player ejections to David Beckham:

On the U.S:

One thing people are going to take from this World Cup is 4-5-1. Everyone was playing it by the end of the tournament. If I put a guy alone up top, you’ve got to be quick. McBride is strong, but not quick. You’ve got to be able to chase balls down. So the U.S. ended up [being] too predictable, going east to west. I wasn’t happy with all the selections [to the team]. Eddie Pope has seen better days. [Taylor] Twellman scores goals – he may not be a great player but he scores goals. And I’d rather have fast Eddie Johnson up top [if playing with one striker] than McBride.

On 4-5-1 in general:

If you’re playing 4-5-1, if I’m the best team, I look like a 4-3-3. Chelsea is a 4-5-1 because they chase back, [Arjen] Robben chases back, [Joe] Cole chases back. But they’re a 4-3-3 going forward. But most teams are so conservative. A 4-5-1 can be a 4-3-3 if you’re pressing but instead it’s an afraid to lose mentality. There were a lot of isolated forwards. I’d hate to play on my own [up top] in that situation. I’m a fan of 4-4-2.

On the low-scoring tournament:

I think the quality and intrigue and suspense [of the game] is great but Americans want to see goals. I’m not worried about goals going in for it to be an enjoyable event to me. [It’s like how] a 0-0 baseball game doesn’t mean much to me but it does to a purist.

On player ejections:

Mike [Russo - see below for his "Coach's Corner" from July 10] is right with goal changing and offsides is still subjective. That rule is still so ambiguous. [But] I worry about yellow and red card accumulation and what it does to the game. When you pay [so much] to go to these games and you send someone off and no one gets replaced, to me, I want to go home. When someone gets sent off, and I’m a real fan, I want to turn of the TV. They’re [the team with ten men] just going to sit back. It ruins the spectacle with me. How many games become bad because they’re 11 v 10? It really bothers me. I wish maybe you could replace him and maybe suspend him for the next two games [instead of just one]. You’re punishing the fans when its 11 v 10. I hate playing those games and I hate watching them. That’s the rule I want to see change.

On diving:

When soccer decides to take on technology it will be a better game. Linesmen are only worried about offsides because players are so quick, they miss the fouls and dives. With cameras, there’d be less diving like the one that gave France the PK [against Italy]. [It should be]: ‘You dive and you cheated and you won but you got a game suspension for it from the cameras.’”

On the “gentlemanly” rule of playing the ball out when a player is down:

It should never be in the hands of the players to put the ball out. A midfielder gets beat and he jumps to the ground so they have to play it out. It’s used as a tactic. It’s all cheating. No one’s hurt, no one’s bleeding. The cheating shocks me. Review diving after the game and give them a yellow card or suspend them.

On Germany’s run to the semis:

I thought Germany was a real surprise. I was in Germany in March and the feeling of the team was so negative. They thought they had one national team caliber player in Michael Ballack and the rest weren’t that good. Getting to the second round would have made these people happy. That was a joy to watch this World Cup.

On England:

I was very upset and disappointed with them. Gerrard and Lampard couldn’t get it done against World Cup competition. [It showed] that the reason the EPL does well is because of the influx of international players, because their [England’s] technical ability, speed is not as strong. They couldn’t play the ball under pressure and had to slow it down to a pace that was lethargic. It was shocking. Their defenders can’t play out of the back while the Italians can pick you apart. England is still way behind the rest of the countries. They have a lot of work in front of them, as much as the Americans have.

On David Beckham:

I like him. I think he’s a specialist. You can’t have them all be like Joe Cole but I would like to have him [Beckham] in a more central role but they had Lampard and Gerrard. England just tried to play the best guys [regardless of postion] and it backfired. He works harder than people project. If you look at him he never stops working on that line. I would like a player on my team like a specialist. He keeps them honest because there are things he can do that 90% of us can’t. He’s a specialist you have to live with. I’ve been a fan of his from years ago. He can never live up to the hype of his name, like Ronaldo.

On Ronaldinho and Brazil:

I hate to see him [Ronaldinho] on the left. He ends up shut down as a winger. In the center, he has a lot more vision. Ronaldinho is easier to mark and shut down on the wing.[Also] I wish Brazil had been smart and brought in the two good fullbacks instead of the old guys [Cafu and Roberto Carlos].

On the World Cup as a whole:

The World Cup itself was a very good event. Look at Australia, they've really come a long way. [The Cup] showed that anybody can beat anybody on any given day.

Revs Problems Reversed

The other day, my father and I fixed a leak in the wall surrounding the air conditioner in our kitchen during a pounding rainstorm. We positioned towels and buckets to catch the incoming water and covered a backboard-sized area of floor with flattened plastic bags to protect the wood. A few days later, we were watching a baseball game in the basement (not near the kitchen) when water began to drip from the ceiling above us.

Fix one problem and another leak springs up. Steve Nicol probably feels our pain.

The Revs struggled to score during the eight-game stretch without Clint Dempsey (World Cup Duty), notching more than one goal in a game only twice during that seven week period. Prior to missing Friday's match against Real Salt Lake on suspension (would it have been a suspension had it not come on the heels of the the Zinidincedent?), Dempsey's return had ignited the Revolution attack and led New England to three wins in four games.

But now that the offense started clicking, the Revs have sprung a leak at the back, allowing 7 goals in the last three games including three to the Colorado Rapids and three more to RSL in Friday's loss.

The porous defense against RSL is particularly alarming considering it happened in the friendly confines of Gillette Stadium against the worst team in the MLS. A week before their game against the Revs, RSL had looked inept at the back, clearing the ball poorly in a loss to the Galaxy. But the Revolution gave Salt Lake time and space and the visitors took advantage.

The first goal came when Revolution defenders backed off Jeff Cunningham, who had the ball at his feet on the left flank. With ample time, Cunningham picked out Chris Klein at the near post and he comfortably volleyed the ball pass Matt Reis. Later, Cunningham took on half of the Revolution team -- and won. He dribbled the ball from the left flank to the top of the area, lost midfielder Jeff Larentowicz with a hesitation move, and then pocketed a shot to the far post with three defenders diving in his way. To be kind, let's characterize that goal as "humbling" to the Revs back line.

New England will have to clean it up at the back in a hurry as they face a tough road test at Houston this Saturday. If Jeff Cunningham can steal through their back line with ease, you have to wonder what Brian Ching will be able to do.