Dumb Keeper

No lo puedo creer!

Ibrahim Ayyub on the media's manipulation of Barcelona

Ibrahim Ayyub takes the media to task for its reprehensible reporting during Barcelona's offseason. Then, he cuts apart Sandro Rosell for making zero effort to respond to a troubling phenomenon.

Great stuff from the Penya Barcelonista of Miami.

The Importance of David Villa

Fans of the beautiful game are presently gifted with an embarrassment of riches. Barcelona is playing the most attractive brand of football seen in ages. The Spanish national team is trying its best to emulate the style, and the results have been very good, although they have not yet exhibited the mesmerizing qualities of the Catalan club. Argentina and Brazil lavish praise on the Spanish style and seek to return to their own roots of aesthetically-conscious success.

With Argentina and Spain set to face off tomorrow, it will be interesting to see what new Argentine head man Sergio Batista brings to the table. Batista is a product of outstanding Argentinos Juniors and River Plate teams of the 1980s. He knew little other than success and his run of good fortune extended into a 2008 Olympic Gold Medal for his squad. Batista is known to be more pragmatic, but may experiment with an extremely aggressive 4-3-3 formation. He has recalled Andres D'Alessandro, a tactically pleasing left-winger who has been shut out of the national team since his idiotic performance in the waning moments of the 2004 Copa America final.

But it is Spain that has the world's attention right now. And rightly so. Many are wondering just how impressive La Furia's run can be. The European Championships are only two years away and the men in red had no problem dispatching Liechtenstein earlier this week. Fernando Torres looks to be back in form, while David Villa equaled Raul's all-time record of 44 goals for Spain. I've taken a while to get around to it, but it is El Guaje who is the focus of this article. Tomorrow, he will probably break Raul's record. Today, he gets a tribute from me.

What makes David Villa the world's most important player? Part of it is his humble roots. Though Villa played for Sporting Gijon and trained in Langreo, he adamantly reminds fans that his roots lie firmly in the small mining town of Tuilla, where his father worked underground. Villa's father encouraged the young Asturian through a childhood injury; though naturally right footed, Villa became functionally ambidextrous because his father helped him practiced with his left while the right leg was in a cast. Villa continued to move up the ranks despite the bafflement of some coaches. Much like many fans today, who look at the 5'9" 152 pound Villa in amazement, these trainers did not see anything special from a physical standpoint.

But Pepe Acebal summed it up best when he noted Villa's greatest strength: footballing instinct. Instinct is what leads Villa, who supposedly has no speed, to blow by defenders. Instinct allows a player without a signature move to use his footwork to make defenders look stupid. Villa is conditioned to make all the right moves. He doesn't even have to think about it. Few players are so fluid with the ball. Villa scores goals of both great effort and great skill. He scores goals of great significance. Luis Aragones made the fateful decision to make Villa the centerpiece of his attack for Euro 2008, relegating the legendary (but not nearly as productive) Raul to spectator status. The move has paid off in spades. Villa has shown the world the quality that many in Spain already knew to be commonplace. Villa lead Spain to the 2008 Euro Championship. In Spain's string of 1-0 wins during the World Cup, it was Villa who did the lion's share of the damage, before Iniesta finished off the tournament.

I read an article some months ago that compared tennis' Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in an interesting light. Essentially, it said, men want to be Nadal but they want to play tennis like Federer. Nadal is a force of nature, using a brutally strong swing and an indefatigable motor to overwhelm opponents. Federer is highly technical, fearless, and aggressive, destroying foes not with force but with precision. The comparison to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi is obvious. But David Villa takes cues from both players. He has Nadal's effort and Federer's courage. Men want to be David Villa and play like him.

Villa is quite simply the best player for aspiring forwards to emulate. Most people are similarly un-blessed with an imposing physique or blinding speed. But practice, effort, concentration, and conditioning can go a long way to making up for any physical limitations. Vigorously studying the game can help to develop the reflexes and intuition necessary to make the leap to higher levels of football. And if a player career does not come to fruition, one can always enter the coaching ranks having been well prepared.

There is a bar dedicated to Villa in Tuilla. There is a tribute song from Los Berrones. There is the reaction of the Argentine public to his arrival.
David Villa is the greatest player in the history of Spain. Everything he does from this point on will only increase his margin. In the word's of Villa's hero, Quini, Villa is "a phenomenon, the best in Europe." Fuerza Guaje!!

Ohhh Brasil...

Ref Punches Player in Brasil:
http://www.as.com/futbol/video/arbitro-expulsa-jugador-le-da/dasftb/20100811dasdasftb_9/Ves

After giving the player a card, the player protests and is quickly met with "punishment". The ref leaves the game after being chased around the entire field! I'm surprised the players didn't seriously injure him!

Player Injury Compensation

It is unprecedented that a player have to compensate another for an injury incurred during a soccer game. But that is exactly what Mauro Camoranesi (naturalized Italian in 2006) is being forced to do. However, one would imagine there is a statute of limitations on such a case. It appears not, as the incident in question dates back to 1994. The victim: Pizzo, who was left with these injuries: The medical report indicated ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, posterior cruciate ligament tear, lateral collateral ligament rupture, rupture of internal and external meniscus of the knee capsule, biceps tendon, nerves several, bruises and tears, being about to be severed femoral artery. He never played again. From what I understand, whatever team contracts the player is the one who continues paying for medical expenses. There are also player unions that pay injured players should they be unable to continue playing.

Do you think that Camoranesi should have been forced to pay Pizzo now in 2010, or even back then in 1994? Should players be held liable for injuries committed on the field?

Link to Maradona Speech

Maradona's Farewell Speech

After listening to this the cold logic still stands: we need hardware in the trophy cabinet. And we need a coach who can get that for us. But I believe more criticism should be directed towards Don Julio and his band of thugs, not towards Diego. It is true what he says in this speech, when he joined the team it was in disarray. He did move it forward: the team was more aggressive, offensive and now has a spectacular unity. I would hate to see that destroyed. I feel bad for Diego, especially because no coach should stay on when 7 of his crew are being let go. This opinion piece quite well describes Grondona's way of handling national coaches.

The End of an Era

I am opposed to any representative of Argentina's soccer team making a political statement. On principle, for that matter, I am opposed to a representative of any sports organization making political statements of the type that Maradona made this past week in Venezuela. It is not his place. Now let me make myself clear though, I am opposed to the person making public statements, but I am not opposed to the person holding these sentiments. I could care less if Maradona is best friends with Chavez and Fidel, and still loves and supports Che. There are a lot of people with these sentiments, and well, I don't care. But what Maradona did this past week was unsupportable. On the basis of his statements and appearances alone, he should be fired.

From the date of this writing, it appears that he will not be staying on as head coach of the Argentine national team. The reasons stem more from his barrio-like beliefs of keeping his most loyal aides by his side. Considering the fact that he grew up in Villa Fiorito, we need to understand his decision. When you grow up in those places you are in a true dog-eat-dog scenario. You must have a close group of loyal friends. I understand this, and really I understand his sympathy for "socialism". I understand his tirades at the media, and his decision to bring Veron and Palermo to the World Cup instead of Cambiasso and Zanetti. I understand, because if you take his upbringing and his education into account you shouldn't be surprised. It always stuns me when people act shocked at his actions. There is no need to. It is totally predictable.

I am mostly filled with relief that Don Julio and Diego were not able to come to some sort of agreement. Mostly because I look forward to a functional coach who can make the right decisions and win some hardware for Argentina. Everyone talks about Bianchi, but he hasn't coached in a long time, and is too afraid to tarnish his reputation. So I don't even consider him for the position. Sabella appears to be Grondona's choice, but he has limited experience as a head coach. Although his time as el Kaiser's sidekick on the national team and at River, Monterrey, etc could come in handy. Even with his terrific Libertadores win in 2009, he still needs more experience in my opinion. El Checo Batista is a great choice, given his experience with the last Olympic gold medal and his abundant experience on top of the U-21 national team. But his Olympic performance was not beautiful, it was more practical. (Although slamming Dunga's Brazil sure does count for something.) For me the two best choices are Ramon Diaz and Cholo Simeone. Ramon Diaz has the most amount of experience for the job, and Simeone has a beautiful tactical system. This isn't just my inner-River speaking, this is the reality. I plead with you, Don Julio, make the right choice.

Let's not forget what Maradona has done for us before we criticize him too much. As coach, he brought passion and a love for the albiceleste that no other coach has shown. And as a player he brought the entire world beauty that has never been replicated. Dale Diego, siempre vas a ser querido por todo el pueblo Argentino!

Link to the Manolo Sanchis interview

Manolo Sanchis Interview

World Cup Finale

Yesterday Spain made history by winning the World Cup for the first time in their checkered sporting history. Fortunately for all the viewers the final game was most definitely the emotionally-charged event that it was expected to be. Now that the month long event is over, we should ask ourselves, ‘Was the entire event the emotionally-charged, quality tournament that should be expected from the World Cup?’ I think a variety of factors caused the cup to be less competitive than it should have been.

First of all, the lead up to the World Cup affected how the tournament played out. There were many teams hyped as good that in reality weren’t more than straw houses. For starters, the African teams showed their traditional weaknesses and did not perform. A combination of injuries and weak midfields created a disaster for the African challengers. Unfortunately, their star players (most of them star strikers, such as Eto’o and Drogba) were surrounded by players of significantly lesser-quality. The surprising country, in my opinion, was Ghana. Gyan and company made it the furthest of any African nation in the tournament, despite having the “weakest” team. Secondly, the marginal teams really did appear marginal. Sometimes there are surprises that make it through to the semi-finals, but that did not happen this year. True, some of the big favorites did not leave the group stages, but the teams that progressed far were most definitely traditional soccer powerhouses. The main straw houses (and I had predicted this at the outset of the tournament) were: England, Italy and France. England, with the exception of 4 players (Gerrard, Lampard, Terry and Rooney) is a crap team; Italy is more of a geriatric club; and France was a psychiatric ward (in between the underage prostitute drama, the lack of coaching and the anger management issues).

During the WC many FIFA decisions affected the quality of the tournament. While I think the first week of refereeing actually began well, the quality soon crashed to horrible levels. Goals were not called, linesmen were asleep, and the Jabulani ball became a super villain!

Brazil played horrendous, disastrous soccer. Because of that a major force of beautiful and competitive soccer was lacking. Dunga’s “efficient system” was shown for what it really is: a scam. Efficiency in soccer can be important in certain ways (attacking efficiently), but when defensive soccer rules, and Brazil can easily be mistaken for English soccer you know that a travesty is occurring.

Enough of the negatives. There were some highlights: Uruguay and Chile put Latin American soccer on the map. Chile played beautiful offensive soccer, and Uruguay played smart defensively with moments of offensive brilliance. Argentina, for all the drama Maradona brought out, really played beautiful soccer until the Germany game. And Paraguay showed their true potential (I will admit that Argentina is to thank for much of this- coach, players, style, etc.). Spain was weak most the tournament, but was true to their style. Germany was brilliant in my opinion. They showed what a team full of young, offensive and ambitious players can do.

In the end, I think that justice was served. Spain emerged victorious. Only an Argentine victory would have satisfied me more. Now I hope the 7 starting Roja players come back to Barca and win everything this year again!

Just Anger?

Every proud fan of the American national soccer team, and truly every person I have spoken to about the World Cup, calls the decision made by the Malian referee towards the end of the last USA group stage game against Slovenia to be a fluke. Some people go as far as to claim that the decision to annul the goal was terrible, horrible, “the worst ever seen”, shit, garbage, etc. The list really goes on forever. Even the English announcers on ESPN call the decision wrong. I agree.

However, as any self-respecting soccer fan knows: soccer is masochistic and subjective. Fans suffer for 90 minutes, and well 50% of them are generally frustrated beyond belief at the end. Many times the best teams, or shall I say the teams that play best, lose. This is extremely common. My personal example is Barcelona’s home game against Inter-Milan during this year’s Champion’s League semi-finals. Barca outplayed Inter, but lost the series on aggregate scoring. I almost jumped in front a bus that day.

Knowing how emotionally painful soccer is, we must add that perhaps Americans are too parochial for soccer (Parochial Americans). I’m not so sure about that argument. As I think each culture is set in their own ways for various reasons. I generally don’t buy the anti-soccer arguments of most Americans, but I do at least understand their arguments against it. Specifically, I empathize for their frustrations with referees and decisions. No black and white, no screen replay, no bird in the sky technology, no public-pandering corporate apologies, and least of all no congressional investigations into sports. (Jajaja, the last two were just for kicks.)

At this point I do something rather controversial. I only am doing this after reading this post (Defense of Ref). If you check out the camera angles you’ll notice that there was grabbing, BUT from both teams. Sure, the Slovenians were being more aggressive, and they surely did foul American players. But I think the difference between Coulibaly and me is what spirit of soccer we take. I always take the side of forwards, and give the offside advantage and foul advantage to strikers. This is in part due to the style of soccer I enjoy, and in part to foster a more exciting game (Dunga may gasp at this opinion!). Coulibaly perhaps takes the other side, he prefers to err cautiously. Just imagine what the Slovenians would have said if their side lost due to a foul not being called in the box!

I think the USA should have been given that goal, and if anything, perhaps even a penalty. But, he isn’t some horrible ref, or an evil person dropped in that game by FIFA to sabotage the American chances of getting far in the World Cup. They would love to have the American market open to soccer!! Really! And they’re only going to get it if the Americans win! (You know how Americans will only watch it if we’re alive in the tournament.) So maybe he made a call that errs on the side of caution, and even a bad one. But soccer is subjective. And let’s not forget: The USA played like shit for the first 45 minutes. We wouldn’t even be discussing this if we would have defended and scored during the first half!

Righteous Anger

Sports aren't fair and neither is life. We all know this to be true. But sometimes we need to get angry about something. Everyone should be angry about the call that nullified the US goal vs. Slovenia. There simply is no excuse for this officiating. It was bullshit.

The US needs to stop falling asleep at the beginning of games. Its defense was caught flatfooted on its first goal and was beaten by a splendid counterattack on the second. The team did show tremendous grit and skill in its remarkable comeback. Landon Donovan's goal was among the best of the tournament.

All in all, the US finds itself in a decent situation. As long as it beats Algeria, the US team should have nothing to worry about.

The Pain in Spain

Euro 2008 was supposed to have bridged divides among Spaniards (and Catalans) and eviscerated Spain's history of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Judging by their performance against Switzerland, it didn't. Del Bosque relied on a 4-1-4-1, stupidly giving undue responsibility to Sergio Busquets, who has demonstrated time and time again that he is Barçelona's worst player who starts with regularity. Mistake prone David Silva had to be removed in favor of the more creative and inspiring Jesús Navas. The press seems to think that Spain is trying to act like FC Barçelona by employing a horizontal passing game to wear down opponents and create space on the pitch. They aren't. Barçelona has a directive: use passing and movement to fill and create gaps in defenses, enabling attacking runs to be made. Spain kicked the ball around and hoped for something to happen. When Barçelona fails, the team turns around and regroups for another attack. Spain lacked the mental fortitude to intelligently attack the Swiss fortress. The Swiss showed tremendous heart and balls.

Historically, Spain has not achieved the footballing success of European counterparts Germany, Italy, and France. Moreover, despite its vast empire, Spain never reached the heights of international prestige attained by many of its counterparts during the Scientific Revolution and the Renaissance. While Italy's Mezzogiorno and Germany's East remain markedly poorer than the rest of their respective nations, neither face the kind of perpetual questions of regional and cultural cohesion (or lack thereof) that Catalonia does with Spain. I leave aside the issue of the Basque Country due to my lack of familiarity with its peculiarities.

All this brings me to my recent experiences while watching the Spain game with three Spaniards. They came from different geographies and backgrounds: Málaga in the South, Santander in the North, and the capital, Madrid. The one from Santander is a Barçelona supporter, the other two Madridistas. All three were understandably shocked and devastated by the defeat. They took it very badly. I was reminded of how I felt while watching the brutal Copa America final in 2007, in which Argentina inexplicably lost its cool despite having considerably more talented players than its Brazilian adversaries.

Almost immediately, the Spaniards roundly criticized outgoing Barçelona President Joan Laporta by saying that Laporta was celebrating Spain's loss. Laporta is outspoken in his Catalan nationalism and has expressed a desire for a Catalan national team to be independently recognized by UEFA and FIFA by 2014. A Spain loss, especially by such a talented collection of stars, might help his cause paradoxically. One must question two national teams if Spain can't win with stars from Catalonia already. After all, the majority of the squad plays for Barçelona and many are Catalans. However, Spanish defeats are likely to rile up Catalan support for going it alone.

Rather than expressing animosity toward Catalonia, however, the Spaniards were keen on noting their historical "alliance" and a desire that Catalans maintain and express their own culture. They were distraught that Catalans reject Spaniards and showed great disappointment in the perceived negative attitudes of Catalans toward Spain as a whole. They felt disrespected by Catalans, but not in a fighting manner. It was more a genuine sadness. It was fascinating to listen to such a conversation. As a Barçelona fan, I hear and read the history of animosity between the club and Real Madrid as well as between Catalonia and Madrid. But what I saw was not animosity in the slightest way. It was a profound, innately human desire to be respected and accepted by one's neighbors (and in strictly political terms, one's fellow countrymen!).

Simply put, the "Catalan question" is not black and white. Perhaps my surprise is rooted in genuine ignorance of Spanish history. Though I majored in Political Science and History and am currently working on a Master's Degree in Economics, I have NEVER, at ANY LEVEL OF SCHOOL, studied the Spanish Civil War. Nor have I received classroom instruction on Spain's post- World War II economic miracle. I doubt that this experience is unique. Spanish history seems to be very much its own. Those outside the country probably have little idea as to its complexity. I watched its results play out in dialogue.

My Spanish friends were not satisfied to vent only footballing frustrations, however. The conversation turned to the financial crisis, and the potential successors to José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. The conservative Mariano Rajoy was mentioned, but criticized by the Madrileño for his lack of panache and personality. Other candidates were dismissed as mafiosos. What was evident was great frustration, but a burning desire for Spain to achieve its potential and be recognized as an economic and cultural leader. 

A good start would be by winning tomorrow.

Jabulani Alert

Latest news in: According to Glenn Beck, Nancy Grace and Al Gore the Jabulani Soccer Ball is responsible for the earthquake in Haiti, terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, child abductions, sex slavery, internet porn, surprising divorces and climate change. Oh, and for a couple of mishaps at the World Cup.

German Loss

I guess I may have spoken too soon in posting that inspirational article about Germany last night. Serbia's win snaps a German 16-match win streak, and definitely throws some doubts into group D. If Ghana beats Australia, we know that they will most likely leave the group on top. I suppose thats a "feel-good" result for this African World Cup.
Serbia, for their part, played well. They defended very well. Most importantly, they took advantages of the opportunities they got. However, the turning point in this game seemed to parallel yesterday's Greece- Nigeria game. Getting a player ejected really changes the dynamic of your team. It became apparent how valuable that player was to the team, and how their dynamic was messed up. Muller, Podolski and Ozil had been charging down the flanks, but without a 9 to pass it into, the dynamic totally changes. Plus Serbia had one less player to guard, and could concentrate on the fast flank players.
The Spanish ref, Alberto Undiano, played a massive part in the game. I don't blame the German defenders for being afraid to make a challenge. He was handing out yellow cards like lollipops in the first half.
The cup isn't over for Germany, but they must learn from this and they must find different strategies. Mario Gomez is not a replacement for Klose. Cacau is going to have to be fit in.

The European Dilemma

A recent post in the NY Times' Goal blog by Rob Hughes made a good point of contrasting Germany and Italy. The timing of this article could not be any better as both teams prepare for their second games of the group stages. In their first games the teams displayed very different impressions; however, none were really surprising.

 Every analyst and soccer writer had been commentating since the qualification stages that Lippi’s Azzurri were depending too heavily on their tried-and-true squad of world champions. This wouldn’t be a problem for the Celtics in the NBA, or a baseball team here; but in world soccer, especially at the World Cup, youth and vigor are essential. Italy even lost in the pre-World Cup friendlies to Mexico! You could say that Mexico isn’t really a soccer powerhouse (and I would normally agree with you) but they beat France 2-0 in their second group games, and Italy barely managed a tie with Paraguay (which is truly a soccer force in Latin America). With Pirlo injured, and Gilardino incapable of even making a shot on goal, Italy is in real trouble. Their display was void of offensive prowess, and was not particularly defensive, they just looked desperate. Their age, and lack of creativity were obvious. More than anything their manager looked weak and helpless. Hughes comments that it is typical for Italy to start off slow, and become more powerful as the knock-out stages progress, but that would be so detrimental to world soccer. And truly, it would be detrimental to Italy. Their is a much deeper problem than not simply not playing well in South Africa this summer. That country’s soccer establishment seems to be in denial of the changes occurring in society. European countries are being flooded with immigration. Some of these new immigrants are bringing African power, Latin American skill and Eastern European grit to the game. For the sake of soccer, and the sake of these new Italian immigrants, let us hope that Italy crashes and burns. Perhaps they will wake up some day and call up Mario Balotelli.If the Italians don't, then perhaps their soccer will join their buildings as crumbling monuments.

Germany, on the other hand, has embraced their multi-cultural entity. If you have ever been to this land of Mercedes Benz and supposed pure citizenry, you will know that the country is more ethnically diverse than the United States (or at least it appears that way in the streets). This influx of talent was seen positively since the 1970’s. It is no surprise then that Beckenbauer was quoted as saying in the ‘70s: “When the talent from the East is added, no one will be able to beat us for years. I’m sorry for the rest of the world.” We can apply this to the influx of immigrants from the “Middle East”. Germany is full of Turkish, Middle Eastern and African immigration. To not include these kids on the squad would be to deny what Germany is today. Perhaps these kids don’t have much of a chance of rising in Germany with education, due to the exclusive and stratifying education system, but they can rise in soccer. As displayed in their first 4-0 win, their speed and offensive prowess seem to be rivaled only by Argentina. And maybe it was a good thing that the part-German KP Boateng injured Ballack. Germany seems to have left him behind and moved on to their future.

France seems to have embraced their African immigration a long time ago. However, they seem unable to harness it's positive benefits. Or, perhaps Domenech is just a crap coach. I'll take the later guess. Most other European powerhouses are not really confronted with these issues yet. When their time comes, they would be wise to follow Germany's example.

Rob Hughes Article

Sandro Rosell- President Elect of FCB

Nuevo Comercial Coca-Cola Mundial 2010 Argentina

Laporta’s Legacy of Growth

Joan Laporta’s tenure at Barçelona is ending with the election of new club President Sandro Rosell. Notably, Rosell resigned from the club’s board five years ago amidst a falling out with Laporta. Rosell has blasted Laporta for being heavy handed, undemocratic, and megalomaniacal. Laporta, who harbors aspirations of political grandeur in Catalunya, may be all of those things. But as a Barça fan, they aren’t of particular importance to me because Laporta laid the groundwork for Barçelona to have the most successful year in footballing history and turned a big Spanish club into an international icon.

When Laporta took the reins in 2002, Barçelona were second-fiddle to Real Madrid. Los Merengues had won Champions league for the third time in five years and Barça were trophy-less since 1999. Los Galacticos drew the attention of the world, while Barçelona piled up debts. Enter Laporta, who focused on paying debts while emphasizing the youth academy, La Masia. The youth squad produced Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, and Pedro Rodriguez. Laporta added Ronaldinho via transfer and Frank Rijkaard as manager. When Rijkaard lost control of the team and results sagged, Laporta promoted Pep Guardiola as first team manager and Luis Enrique as Atletic’s head man. Pep led the senior squad to the greatest year in footballing history and “Lucho 21” has the youth squad on the verge of promotion.

Barçelona have long been an extremely important club, but the reach extended mainly to Spain with a smattering of European and extra-continental supporters. Now, Barçelona has almost 2000 peñas around the globe. Some criticized Laporta for his overtly nationalist sentiments on the question of Catalan autonomy. Laporta is a vocal supporter of a separate national selection for Catalunya (an idea that I have serious qualms with). Yet, it was Laporta who extended the club’s reach like never before. A 2007 survey put Barça’s popularity at 25.7% in Spain (after Marid’s 32%). Another survey listed Barçelona as Europe’s most popular club, with 44.2 million sympathizers on the continent (Real Madrid were second at 41 million!). Laporta’s Catalanism is not the reason for Rosell’s victory. While such sentiments may alienate a significant portion of the fan base, Rosell is also fervently supportive of the club’s Catalan identity, and illustrates it in a rather disturbing manner. He actually wishes to restrict club membership outside of Catalunya on the grounds that an increasingly geographically diverse membership is diluting the “Catalan identity” of the club. This is a move that I consider unforgivably stupid and antithetical to the ethos of FC Barçelona and the city itself, which has long welcomed migrants from Spain and immigrants from abroad. If one embraces Catalan culture, he has been able to integrate into society and find acceptance. Laporta seemed to share this sentiment; perhaps it is not good enough for Rosell. I have serious reservations about Catalan nationalism and the politics of identity more generally, but those feelings will be expressed in future posts.

Barçelona is a Catalan club, a Spanish club, a European club, and a global club. Much of the credit for its growth must go to Laporta’s management over the last eight years.

How far will the USA go in South Africa?

With a 2-0 win over juggernauts Spain in last summer’s Confederations Cup, the US national team proved its capacity to compete with the world’s best given the right conditions. The standard of American players is improving steadily, with Michael Bradley finding an important role for his Bundesliga squad (Monchengladbach) and Clint Dempsey becoming a true star at Fulham. Amazingly, Fulham actually made the final of the Europe League, losing out to an Atletico side that features Forlan and Aguero. With US soccer at its historical zenith, is this the year that the “Stars and Stripes” break through to World Cup glory?

Yes and no. I do not believe the US is strong enough to win the World Cup. But neither are most of the teams in South Africa. It would be a huge disappointment is the Nats failed to advance from the group stage. I believe they have an excellent chance to make it to the quarterfinal round. Let’s examine their chances in greater detail.

The strength of the US team lies in its midfield. Michael Bradley is a holding midfielder who ably controls the ball and starts the attack. He is, along with Dempsey, the key to the USA’s success. Bradley is a fiery player who backs down from no one. He is capable of scoring goals at important times, as evidenced by his strikes in qualifying against rivals Mexico. He must be at peak form in South Africa, and I fully expect him to be. Bradley plays with a chip on his shoulder and the entire side would do well to adopt this attitude. The US is good enough to beat anyone, but isn’t good enough to look past anyone either. A superb effort must be given at all times to match a more talented but over-hyped England team.

Some think that with Charlie Davies out, Clint Dempsey will be moved to a second striker position. Dempsey should be put in a position that maximizes his creative skills. He is the most technically gifted American player that I have ever seen. His form in the Premier League has been phenomenal. Why he is not universally regarded as the best American player is beyond my comprehension. He was by far the best performer in Germany four years ago, and must be allowed to provide creative juices for this team. I’d like to see him in a central, attacking midfield position. He has the ability to make life miserable for defenders with his ball-control skills. “Deuce” is also a dangerous goal scorer. Goal scoring, or lack thereof, may be a serious hindrance to American chances, so Coach Bob must find a way to get Deuce some good looks at goal.

Landon Donovan, regarded incorrectly as the best American player, will provide boundless energy on the flank, but must know when to distribute the ball. Donovan is not as technically gifted as Bradley or Dempsey. His strength is in the open field, not in on-on-one situations.

The biggest question in the midfield is the other holding midfielder. Jose Francisco Torres and Benny Feilhaber have seen time in the past. I think Torres is the more gifted player, but he his small at 5’5” and Coach Bob has not given him much time in the past. Expect Feilhaber to start; he can be very good or very non-existent.
The weaknesses of the team are obvious: Firstly, the defense stinks. With stalwart Oguchi Onyewu recovering from injury and clearly not at 100% fitness (his “leaping” capabilities vs. Czech Republic were laughable), the defense is even weaker than usual. It is crucial that the midfield keep the ball out of the US goal area or it will be a miserable time for Everton keeper Tim Howard. Secondly, it is hard to see where goals will come from. I like the recent call ups of Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez, but they are newcomers to the world stage. True, they have been on fire for LA Galaxy and Pachuca, respectively, but they remain unproven. They looked good in friendlies and both are experienced, but the World Cup is an entirely different level of pressure. Jozy Altidore has performed well for the Nats in the past, and figures to start, but after horrific stints with Villarreal, Xerez, and Hull, will he have the form necessary for success? Expect a mixed bag from the young striker.

The US has superior fitness and must use this to run teams ragged. Offensively, the US has always been idea-starved. The side relies on set pieces and corner kick rebounds for goals. Every type of goal counts, but the team can’t rely on these types of situations as its only form of scoring. It must find some organization and creativity in the attack and create genuinely dangerous situations. This really comes down to the coaching staff. US soccer has never emphasized a particular style. There is no reason to try to emulate anyone else, but an ounce of organization is in order. There needs to be a coherent idea for attacking. Give it to Dempsey. I don’t want to see any “boot and run” English tactics on the pitch. That shit is garbage and will fail miserably, like England.

This is the best crop of players the US has ever had. It’s time to show it. Beat England.

Publicidad Quilmes para la Copa Mundial Fifa 2010