1. You mentioned in one of our earlier Q & As that something like only 3 or 4 teams made money last year in the MLS. Why don’t the owners or their lawyers say we will open the books and show you the players the losses or why is someone not asking to see the books?
Would that be too much of a black mark on the league?
Only Seattle and Toronto made money last year. Getting owners to open the books has been an issue in every strike in professional sports. You can hear the NBA players now and NFL. The owners will never open the books. There are some tax rules and advantages that owners get (i.e. Stienbrenner used the Yankees losses against his ship building firm for years!!). Open books will not happen!!
2. One of the more interesting U.S. player-related stories right now is Landon Donovan’s situation with the L.A. Galaxy and his loan spell to Everton. He’s clearly finally made it in England after three previous unsuccessful spells in Germany.
The Galaxy want him back, no debate as long as there is no strike. Landon said Monday he wanted to stay until the end of the season in England, but that he would do what his domestic club the Galaxy wished.
The only way he continues his stint at Everton continues is if the MLS goes on strike and that would only be after he had returned across the pond all the way back across the U.S. to the West coast. To me that seems silly.
I think there comes a time when you outgrow something, and Donovan has outgrown the MLS, he needs to stay in England. To me the Galaxy don’t have the player’s best interests in mind, they are only looking out for themselves.
Do you think the Galaxy are being unreasonable or doing you think they are making the right stand?
If you were the MLS commissioner, what position would you take?
How much did David Beckham’s “I’m just going to AC Milan through March, oh then wait until the end of the season, oh wait I’ll be back in the summer for the second half the year” run-around hurt Donovan’s chances of staying in England?
It is more important now that Donovan stay with LA – Beckham is out and will never be the player he once was. So, LA needs Landon. He did well in England because he is athletic and fit and fast. The Bundesliga is a technical – tactical league; the EPL is fast paced and athletic. The atmosphere at Everton is much better than the atmosphere in LA. Donovan had it all going his way; good team; very good coach; doing well and loved the atmosphere!!!
He struggled in Germany because every training session in Germany is a war…or as Jürgen K said, “Nasty…” That environment beats you up if you are not used to it. That is why Podolski left Bayern Munich, he could not compete in training. Landon had similar problems. David Moyes is a very good coach and creates an environment that is competitive, challenging but not as much pressure. In LA there will be no pressure in training.
But LA and the MLS need him NOW.
3. There have been plenty of arguments in recent years as to which league is the best in the world. For my money the English Premier League is still the best slightly ahead of La Liga.
Which league would you take as your top billing?
If you were trying to develop a young player from the U.S. where would you say would be the best place to develop his talents?
Would you say playing in multiple leagues is a good thing like learning the defensive tactics of Serie A, going to England to play the fast pace offensive game they play?
Ah yes which league is better? Don’t be too quick to say the EPL is the best for money – THEY ARE LOSING MONEY!! But they are entertaining and now that there are international managers and more international players, the league plays a better brand of soccer – at least the top 4 or 5 teams do!
The Bundesliga has actually surpassed the EPL for average attendance in the past five years AND not one club is losing money! The Bundesliga has a smaller percent of international players and, as a result, appeal to the fans. The B’liga teams have initiated campaigns at each stadium for the fans to meet the players. It is working! You can’t get tickets to Bundesliga games. And there is some parity in the league. FCBM is still the best, but there have been four different champs in the last 6-7 years!! There is no “Big Four” like the EPL. So the Bundesliga is first, La Liga second, EPL, Serie A, Erdviese.
As far as developing a player? My choice would be Holland or Germany. Both countries actually teach players how to play (we can talk sometime about the coach v trainer problem). Both have a well thought out, tried and true method for the players to learn. The difference between the US players and the Dutch last week was enormous. Simply put, the Dutch and Germans can play the game. They combine high technique with tactics and fitness. I think both are a bit behind with the mental side of things. But to learn how to play??? Go to Holland or Germany.
As far as multiple leagues go, that was once the rule in European soccer. Many Dutch, German and English players traveled and played in different countries. Klinnsman says that is what made him a complete player. It is more difficult to do now, so you don’t see it as much.
4. You also mentioned in our discussion about the single-entity format and the debt problems the English Premier League are struggling with last week that all the other teams in Europe are competitive for the big trophies.
I would argue the opposite. The last three UCL seasons three EPL teams made it to the semifinals (2009 Arsenal, Chelsea, Man U) (2008 Chelsea, Liverpool, Man U) (2007 Chelsea, Liverpool, Man U). And since Porto won the UCL in 2004 there has been at least 1 Premier League team in the UCL final.
Granted the EPL teams don’t always do as well in the Europa tournament, but you look at a result like Thursday’s 3-1 Juventus win over Fulham in Turin. Granted it’s a 2-goale win, but Juventus is supposed to be one of the biggest clubs in the world and one of the top 2 or 3 clubs in Italy, and they can’t even beat the 10th place team in England by more than 2 goals at home – that says something to me.
What are your thoughts about the competitive balance and the EPL clubs arguing you have to spend to stay competitive?
I think since the Bosman ruling, competitive balance is better all over Europe. Don’t put too much stock in the Fulham v Juve game(s) the last two weeks. Juve is not a good example. As a team they are struggling and as a league Serie A is as uncompetitive as it has been in a long time – although Inter have a path to the UCL final.
The top 4 or 5 in the EPL do very well in Europe, but they are going broke! Liverpool and Man U have huge debt; Abramovich had to bail out Chelseas with over 50 million Euros. Only Arsenal is solvent and they can’t win anything!
But overall there is better balance.
5. I also noticed that you danced a little around the Terry question from last week about stating what you would actually do if that situation presented itself at OWU. You gave some good insights as to how personal matters do rear their ugly heads on the pitch and how the Dutch have tried to build their teams around better chemistry now – I think the Dutch are trying a new approach now because they’ve never won a World Cup despite their tremendous talent over the years and the personality clashes they’ve had in the locker room.
But I’ll give you a little easier question so you don’t have to throw OWU under the bus – what would you have done if you were Capello the England coach after this scandal broke?
Granted there are lots of factors to take into account. Terry is a Fifa best XI player in the world and maybe the top center back in the world. England were also a heavy favorite to lift the cup for just the second time, but now they appear to have some serious cracks in their defense.
Do you think he did the right thing in dropping him as captain, but keeping Terry on the roster?
Before I address the Terry issue, a word about the Dutch. The reason the Dutch haven’t won the WC and, in fact, won only one major trophy – Euro 88 is not soccer related, it is part of the fabric of the culture…and most Dutch will agree. Read the book Brilliant Orange it will explain the whole thing. It will be tough for them to ever win a big one. The culture prides itself on THE INDIVIDUAL not the team (like the Germans!!)
I stick by my words of last week. Terry is a problem for Chelsea - now he is whining about the officiating v Inter – nothing is ever his fault) and England. Terry’s indiscretions are about his ego. Capello did the right thing – yanking the arm band. That is a suitable slap to his ego.
When dealing with an important player on the team; what is the impact of dropping Terry to the other players? Why should Capello punish Rooney et. al. By dropping Terry and reducing the chance of English success? By dropping him as captain he was punished and the England team can move on.
But, I think he has done irreparable damage to the English team! They will not be the same.
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