The Great White/Abby Wambach: The great white shark is the ultimate predator and the most prolific hunter in the sea. They are fast, and powerful with a bite force second to none.If a great white grabs a hold of you, the chances of you getting away in one piece are slim. Great White’s have an hora about them, with a reputation of being one of the most dangerous animals on Earth. Abby Wambach has some of the same traits, she is a prolific striker who instills fear in the hearts of defenders. Abby has great vision and sense, along with being physically dominate. The Great White and Abby also share one more quality that is very unique, they both are deadly in the air. Great Whites have been known to jump out of water to feed on seals, Abby is known for getting airborne and netting spectacular headed goals.
The Bull Shark/Chris Wondolowski: The Bull Shark is a ruthless killing machine just how Wondo is a ruthless goal scoring machine. Alot like Wondo, Bull Sharks are coastal animals that are very versatile. Bull Sharks can both be in oceans and rivers. Bull Sharks are medium sized sharks but have a very imposing force, just like Wondo. Bull Sharks get their name from their tenacity along with their tendency to head but prey. A lot like Bull Sharks Wondo is known to stay shallow in the defense and strike with precision. Also a very unique characteristic they both share is they are both overlooked. Wondo has been hands down the best striker in MLS for the last few years but does not get the attention that Henry gets. Bull Shark’s could be the most dangerous shark but do not get the attention or stigma the Great White has.
The Tiger Shark/Thierry Henry: Another two voracious predators are Tiger Shark’s and Mr. Theirry Henry. Both are lethal hunters who attack with precision. Tiger Sharks are found allover the world just as Mr. Henry’s reputation. Tiger Sharks have a very long life span and Henry’s career feels like it has been going on forever. Tiger Sharks have been known to swim in deep waters along with swim outside their habitats. Henry has been known to play out wide or drop down into the midfield. The similarities continue, a Tiger Shark is a massive shark very large could grow up to 13 feet. Henry stands at a towering 6’2.
Mako/ Dominic Oduro: The Mako shark is a medium sized shark that is not very bulky, they are slim and slender. Mako’s and Oduro are both known for their blazing speed. The Mako is the fastest shark and Oduro maybe the fastest player in MLS. Alot like Oduro, Makos are not that dangerous, their high speed offers up a form of shock but they are not prolific. It may take a Mako a few strikers before they kill their target. Oduro will score goals but by no chance is he an elite finisher in the league.
USA/Italy in Genoa February 29th.
A match up that would pit an American team preparing for World Cup Qualifying against an Italian team that is in the midst of Euro-qualifying. Should be a good peek at a peak for both teams.
Also a great chance to root against that scumbag from New Jersey
http://www.noshortcorners.com/2011/11/thats-spicy-meat-ball.html
Image via Wikipedia
I planned on attending two games this week a while ago and didn’t realize how significant they would be. The first game was the recent USA vs Mexico game, which was obviously a big deal in itself, but pumped up a lot more due to Jurgen Klinsmann joining the team. Of course Sunil and the gang still managed to screw things up by setting the game for a Wednesday night at 9 o clock; a bit off of prime time as far as most people are concerned. The support was fairly weak from both sides. Presumably a game on the weekend would have seen crowds coming in from out-of-town to attend. Even a 7 or 8 o’clock start would have made the game a ton more accessible. Never the less the game was played and players looked good and players looked bad. WE’ll start with the bad.
It was fairly obvious that Edgar Castillo was not the best player on the field; especially after he got hit in the back of the head surrendering a corner. If we had any kind of depth at the left back position he would be out of the team for a while. Although looking at who else we have available, I wouldn’t be shocked if he shows up pretty soon again unless things fall apart for him at his club. Also he looks like an alien.
Jermaine Jones absolutely disappeared from the game and we totally forgot he was on the field. We saw Brek Shea and another light-skinned player warming up on the sideline. Everyone in my group assumed it was Jermaine until they announced that he was being subbed out and Juan Agudelo was being subbed in. He was that unnoticeable.
The good side of it, as has been reported everywhere was from a bunch of MLS players. Brek Shea, Robbie Rogers, and Juan Agudelo all put in pretty solid performances. I was personally very impressed with Brek Shea, and not quite as impressed with the other two. Neither did anything much wrong, but they both put in good games at a time when they are midseason and most of the other players competing were in preseason. It is a factor for sure. So while they looked good, they should have looked good considering that fact. Shea looked great though. He looked better than almost everyone on the field in the entire second half. I understand Mexico’s team had been a bit depleted by pulling subs, but Dos Santos didn’t make quite the quality or quantity of plays that Shea made in the time he was in. Again consider his form a factor, but Shea impressed a lot of people and earned more of a look.
That’s only part of why this is Brek Shea week here in Philadelphia. The other game I was supposed to be attending that also became a much more prominent one than I had first expected was Saturdays game against Brek Shea and FC Dallas. Dallas has looked nothing short of spectacular for most of the season, in no small part thanks to Shea. On second thought, imagine what this team will be able to do if David Ferraira comes back the way he was last year. As we have seen first hand an MVP season can be hard to replicate but it would be very interesting to see that teams attack.
After impressing for country Shea is back to impressing for club; who will be facing off with the Philadelphia Union tomorrow night. Obviously the Union saw how many headlines Shea was grabbing and felt a need to grab a few of their own from their next competitor. Those headlines all came in the form of very bad puns. “Much Adu About Nothing”,”Just Adu It” “Adoop.” Freddy Adu was welcomed back to MLS as Chivas was no longer an option. As all the headlines told you, he was reunited with his former coach and mortal enemy Piotr Nowak. Apparently things were exaggerated a bit and Adu actually came back, in large part, for the opportunity to play with Nowak again. Interesting, but what I find more interesting is what this means tactically.
Presumably (read:hopefully) this means that Justin Mapp will be pushed to the sideline, while it also likely means that Roger Torres has lost a few rungs on the ladder of this team. As much as I would love to see Freddy and Roger creating in the middle of the field, I can’t imagine Nowak doing it and not having the two of them get beat up on every single ball in the air. We can’t have two players in one midfield standing under 5 foot. There’s a rule against that somewhere I’m sure. I don’t expect Adu to come in and start tomorrow, although I would assume he gets his first appearance this weekend as the team is on the road after that, but I would say I do expect him to be a pretty significant player for the Union by the end of the season. If we don’t get any one else added to this team (the only name I’ve heard is Juan Pablo Angel, who doesn’t really piqué my interest anymore and definitely not for his price tag. Maybe short-term till Nowak decides Mwanga can go 90, we’ll see), this is the lineup I would expect to see come out from here on out, with a few notes on key subs.
Mondragon
Williams Valdes Callif GFarfan
Carroll Adu
Le Toux Daniel
Paunovic McInerney
Obviously Mwanga playing the same super-sub role he has lately. Torres or Mapp coming in for Paunovic or Daniel, with Le Toux filling in any adjustments necessary.
What I’d really like to see happen by the end of the season, at least at some point, purely for excitement. I do think it could realistically be an occasional lineup for the coming seasons as Jack, Danny and Roger grow up a bit, although the odds of this are pretty low seeing what it would do to our ability to win the ball back in the midfield. Of course if you don’t ever give it up in the first place…
Mondragon
Williams Valdes Calliff G Farfan
Carroll
Torres Adu Le Toux
Mwanga McInerney
We’ll see what Piotr does this week.
Kerith Gabriel:
This just in: @PhilaUnion boss Peter Nowak to me on his interest in vacant USMNT position:
“Sorry got better things to do.”
The Union side of me says thank god. The USMNT side of me also says thank god. Nowak has been great here, and I mean no disrespect by saying this but, if you’re going to fire Bob Bradley at this point in a cycle then you had better be able to bring in a mighty fine replacement. While I believe wholeheartedly that Nowak could do the job, I don’t think he’s enough better to justify this kind of move. Maybe if it was the end of the cycle and he wasn’t in the middle of coaching a club team at the top of its table. It didn’t make sense the first time I saw it and I’m glad that Nowak affirmed that.
I’m expecting Jurgen Klinsmann, as are most of the country, as the replacement but I really wish we would’ve done this earlier and brought in Bielsa. That kind of play would’ve brought a lot of eyes to the game in my opinion, which is still the most important thing our teams can do here.
Very curious to see how this woks out and what exactly it means for the Mexico friendly at the Linc in 2 WEEKS. Remember this coach will have to turn around and face the teams biggest rival in two weeks. Somebody had to be aware of that and consider the timing. I’m also wondering if that might mean that something close to an A-team would be called in for that game so that the coach can get a nice good look at them (it might be wishful thinking as I’ve got tickets). I was expecting more of an MLS based team with a few younger players coming in, as its the beginning of the season and a lot of players would probably prefer to stay in camp with their club than come out for a friendly. It’s a FIFA date though so we’ll see what happens.
Presumably they’ll announce the new coach tomorrow and he’ll be in town coaching the team in a few short weeks.
Here it is. The Red USMNT Jersey’s are officially out. The new motto which is yet to be decided will presumably be on the back, but here is what the kit will look like for this week. Pretty much what we expected, a red version of the World Cup kit, but I’m a big fan of the look.
More images here at US Soccer’s Facebook Page
Image via Wikipedia
Although we all immediately heard about Stuart Holden’s injury, Carlos Bocanegra was injured in St. Ettiene’s game against FC Lorient. It appears that his injury is much less severe and that he will still train with the USMNT in Cary this week although his playing time may be limited. So far it is being called a minor calf injury, but I haven’t been able to find any information on how long he is expected to be out or the extent of the injury.
So as a simple reminder to all those who are calling for Jozy Altidore’s place on the USMNT to be taken by Agudelo and Bunbury, the kid can still play. Jozy had been getting little to no playing time at Villareal, but in his first game for Bursaspor he did this.
I’m not saying it’s quite as great as Rooney’s goal against Manchester City, but Jozy can play, let’s not forget that too fast.
I’m gonna be away from my computer for most of this weekend so I probably won’t be doing much updating of the site until Sunday night, but for those interested in continued reading here are a few sites that I’ve read that I can’t write much about that are definitely worth a read, I’ve been posting them on the Facebook page for a while now and will probably continue to do so. Anyway here are the links and I’ll be back on Sunday.
Traditions and the Individual Superstar
http://www.runofplay.com/2011/02/09/tradition-and-the-individual-superstar/
Clint Dempsey’s statistics from ESPN. He’s got 9 goals in the EPL this season, tied with Brian McBride for most EPL goals by an American player in a single season. Of course Dempsey’s still got a big chunk of games left to play. I fully expect Dempsey to also beat out McBrides American record of 44 EPL career EPL goals.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/39928/clinton-dempsey?cc=3888
Vancouver Whitecaps and USMNT player Jay Demerit doing something interesting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RKaQCQqVhU
Why the disorganized playoff and schedule announcement is bad for MLS
Soccer By Ives preseason training camp review for the Union
http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2011/02/mls-training-camp-preview-philadelphia-union.html
Why stat-tracking (more importantly the clandestine way it is done in comparison with the Sabremetrics revolution in baseball) is bad for soccer, its fans, its players, and even the teams.
And lastly a write-up on the Unions growing Academy system, which is run very interestingly.
http://philly.theoffside.com/union-players/surveying-the-unions-fledgling-academy-system.html
Have a good weekend. Hopefully some of you still come back to read next week.
bpmangan
mattsant16
Pat
