Landycakes and Maradona

Footage from a training session of Bayern Munich, focused on Landon Donovan:

http://www.eyep.tv/1.-bundesliga/fc-bayern-munchen/fc-bayern-munchen-landon-donovan-im-fokus.html

You may as well skip the first 10 minutes, as it is all stretching drills. After that they have a good game of 5v5. Landon looks good! I think his move to Europe is becoming more and more of a possibility, whether he winds up with Munich or if he goes to the Premiership or La Liga. The only stumbling block I see is that the Galaxy seem pretty intent on keeping him ("Landon will be with us next season"), and it would be just such a typical MLS/Galaxy thing to do should they prevent Landon from moving (probably they would spout some crap about how he doesn't need to go overseas to improve... Yeah, ok.)


**************************************

Anyways, moving on to one of the greatest players of all time. In light of his recent appointment as Argentina's manager, here is an excellent video of the skills and goals of Diego Maradona: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBpu-M6kXCk

Some of those are breathtaking. You just don't really see stuff like that in modern football (outside of the brilliance of Messi and [maybe 2 years ago] Ronaldinho). Maradona made goals out of nothing, he took on entire teams all by himself with some pretty unbelievable runs, and he jump-kicked like 3 different guys in that one fight midway through the video.


I know there is a whole lot more to write about at the present, but I'm real busy and can't really do it yet. Maybe Thanksgiving break will allow me the time to catch up.

A comical quip

I attribute Spurs' recent turn around (5 wins and a draw out of the last 6, as opposed to the 1-2-7 start to the season) to two sources:

1. Sheer luck (the Arsenal draw and the Liverpool win at the death)
2. The exchange of Harry Redknapp for Juande Ramos, and from that point onward the players' increase in confidence and effort.

Now, how much of the turn-around is due to each source, I do not know. But in light of Harry's recent revival at Spurs, here is a throwback video from his days at Portsmouth:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=zRZTna7tRHk

Team USA Part 1: Goalkeepers

Alright, alright, calm down you knuckleheads (unless you want a knuckle sandwich!!). The long awaited Team USA breakdown begins TODAY!!!

I will attempt to break it down for you all by position, and also I will separate the "up and coming youngsters" from the "old, over-the-hill veterans." So here's our current crop of GK's:



#. Player Name (Age)- Club Name

1. Tim Howard (29)- Everton F.C.

Howard is hands down the best active goalkeeper that Team USA has access to. This will be the sixth year he has played in the English Premiership (arguably the world's best league), though only his 4th season seeing regular playing time. Still, 4 years in the world's top flight is pretty impressive, and he has been holding his own as one of the most solid keepers in England. Make no mistake about it, Tim Howard is the here and now of American goalkeeping, getting almost all of the starts in competitive matches.

Individually, he won the 2001 MLS Goalkeeper of the year award. Woo hoo. Also he was named Humanitarian of the Year that same year.


2. Brad Friedel (37)- Aston Villa F.C.

You could argue that Friedel is the best American keeper of all time. You could argue that his current form is the best among American keepers. You could also argue that his career has been the most successful of any American player in history. All this to say that Friedel retired from international football, and has reiterated that he has no desire to return. So he's not really a part of Team USA

3. Brad Guzan (24)- Aston Villa F.C.

Just earlier in this year he was a part of a strong core of young Americans at Chivas USA, however his summer transfer saw an end to that era of his career.

Guzan is in my view the future of American keepers. He is clearly Friedel's heir at Villa. Guzan shows promise as a potential long-term "number 1" for the USMNT. Hopefully he does not slip back into the terrible form that he hit in his final season at Chivas USA, when he just had blunder after blunder. That said, just one year ago he was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.

4. Chris Seitz (21)- Real Salt Lake

So far Seitz has not played for the senior USMNT, but he is clearly one to 'keep' an eye on (bad joke right there). I really don't know much about him to be honest, except that he is the next in the long line of sweet American keepers. Too bad for him that Brad Guzan is just 3 years his elder; this works to the USMNT's advantage, however, as they will hopefully be pushing each other for playing time (in the future).

5. Kasey Keller (38)- Seattle Sounders F.C.

What can I say about Kasey Keller? The man has been playing forever. I don't expect him to ever play for the USMNT again, but an amazing 102 caps for his country more than fills the minimum requirements of a great career. Keller is not currently playing footy, but will play for at least the inaugural season of Seattle Sounders F.C. in 2009.

6. Marcus Hahnemann (36)- Reading F.C.

Hahnemann has been at Reading since 2002, a solid wall in the goal all the while. He kind of got screwed in terms of USMNT experience, as he had to compete with Keller and Friedel his entire career. In my opinion he is not as talented as they are, but he has had a successful career nonetheless.

7. Joe Cannon (33)- San Jose Earthquakes

Cannon's first impression on me was one of misfortune- he was a solid keeper behind a terrible LA Galaxy defense when I first saw him play. He played quite well for San Jose this past season, starting all 30 matches. He won't be making any noise with the national team, however, as he is not nearly as talented nor as young as, say, Howard or Guzan.





Well, I guess that about does it for Goalkeepers. I really hope I didn't forget anybody. Anyways I will hopefully do defenders sometime soon. Good night, and good luck.

MLS Breakdown and more!!

MLS 53 best goals of the season:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lJtIYJCS8s&eurl=http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/1735030/

Make whatever you will of that video. If you ask me, this is proof that MLS does not in fact suck, I mean obviously it's not the top flight of world football, but there's not a keeper in the world who could save some of those shots. Make sure you watch all the way to the end... they've saved the best for last (GALLARDO!!!!).

****************************************************************
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
===================================================
###################################################

Hokay, so on to the MLS playoffs... Not really much to talk about. Really close games so far, I expect all the top seeds to progress. So that would have the second round at:

Columbus vs Chicago
Houston vs Chivas USA

Personally I would like to see Chivas USA in the finals, though I think they are the least likely team to make it. In my opinion they have some of the best American talent in the league (a key reason in my desire to see them win the cup). This is not to say that the other clubs do not have good American talent, I just have a soft spot for some of the players on Chivas:

-Sacha Kljestian is one of the most exciting players to watch in MLS, and at 23 he is a great prospect for the USMNT. He's very explosive from the midfield, I have seen him create and score some amazing goals all on his own out of nothing (he's got at least one on that video). I am really excited to see where his career takes him- I think he make a serious impact on a ton of teams in Europe.

-Jonathan Bornstein is also a 23-year-old American on Chivas USA, a solid defender who can play in the midfield as well. He won Rookie of the Year a few years back, so that speaks to his talent and production. Bornstein also could have a serious impact in Europe.

-Ante Razov is an older fellow (34 years young), but he's still producing some great goals at the striker position. He has had a career of servitude to MLS, with the exception of a short stint at Racing de Ferrol, even though at his peak he was far beyond MLS quality.

-Jorge Flores was almost not even an American-he spent a lot of his childhood living in Mexico, and would have been eligible to play for the Mexican national team. Lucky for the USA, he has committed his future to our country. He actually joined Chivas USA through a reality show called Sueño MLS, in which he "won" the show and earned a tryout with Chivas USA. At just 19, he is one of the best young American forwards out there- obviously not quite up to par with the likes of Jozy Altidore, but I can definitely see Flores competing for a spot in the USMNT a few years down the line, and certainly he is the heir apparent to Ante Razov in the Chivas line-up.

So there you have it, my man crushes on Chivas USA players.

It's probably going to end up Columbus vs Houston, and honestly once it gets to that point, who's gonna bet against De Rosario in the final? Not I, said the fly. My legitimate prediction:

Houston 3-2 Columbus (aet)

But anyways, even though it is the least likely scenario, right here is at least one MLS fan pulling for Chivas USA to become MLS Cup champs!!