Another weekend, another round of action and another set of musings:
1. The Galaxy are alive and kicking. Too bad there's never been any conspiracy theories in MLS akin to those that haunt the NBA. If there were, the Galaxy's late-season run would be a prime candidate. Four wins on the trot, and a win on the road away to defending champs Houston for a team that hadn't won on the road all season. Amazing stuff, and on top of all that David Beckham is likely to play again before the end of the season.
Of course the winning streak has happened without the presence of Beckham, leading to the rather ludicrous suggestion in some quarters that the team plays better without him. Nonsense, what we're seeing is a team that wilted earlier this season under the pressure of the intense Beckham-spotlight glare and is now playing more relaxed soccer and with a "nothing to lose" attitude. Obviously the return of several of L.A.'s walking wounded has also helped and Frank Yallop has done a tremendous job of keeping the club above water when all seemed lost.
2. When you're hot, you're hot. Who's the hottest Brazilian player in world soccer right now? Surprisingly it's not the lumbering Alfonso Alves who just set a single-game Dutch league record with seven goals against Heracles Almelo (let's face it, it's the Dutch league -- a league that managed to make Mateja Kezman and Dirk Kuyt look like free-scoring demigods).
Nope the Brazilian in question is Manchester City's Elano who has been the highest impact newcomer in the Premiership so far this season, and just added another couple of terrific goals in a 3-1 win over Middlesbrough. Under Elano's influence in midfield, City have been playing some of the most fluid attacking soccer witnessed in the EPL this season (too bad they don't have a decent striker but that's another story -- Peter Crouch in January perhaps?).
The odd thing about Elano, other than the fact that Shakhtar Donetsk sold him for the low, low bargain price of 8 million pounds, is that in Brazil he's actually considered a solid defensive midfielder with decent but limited offensive skills. Try convincing delirious City fans who haven't seen the
type of goals Elano's produced since the days of Georgi Kinkladze.
3. Speaking of Brazilians in the EPL. Largely unnoticed in Man United's offensive demolition of Wigan Saturday was the fact that Brazilian wunderkind Anderson finally made an impact and began to show why Sir Alex Ferguson paid the big bucks for him. Playing in an Andrea Pirlo-esque deep-lying playmaker mode, which is unusual for him, Anderson made several telling passes which shredded the Wigan defense. Anderson's talent is such that only his head and attitude can hold him back from superstardom -- although being busted in a kiss-and-tell rendezvous with some working girls a few weeks back won't help.
With Tevez, Rooney, Ronaldo, Giggs and Co. finally beginning to come to life, the United offense has the potential to become a legendary unit. If this team meets Barcelona and the phenomenal Lionel Messi (simply the best player in the world at present) at some stage in the Champions League this season, we may witness an offensive showdown the likes of which have rarely been seen before.
Player Pimping
I'm going to start a semi-regular feature where I promote a player for MLS to sign -- the caveat being the player must be a realistic target and since some of the teams in the league clearly need some help in the scouting department. This week's candidate is Tarek El Taib, a.k.a. the Libyan Maradona and currently plying his trade in Saudi Arabia for Al Hilal Riyadh.
Taib was much-coveted as a youngster (he's now 30) and signed with Juventus when he was 18, but never really settled in Italy and has spent much of his career playing in fringe leagues. That said, he's a dynamic attacking midfielder who can score and has exceptional technique and flair -- something that MLS still needs far more of.
Altidore at ESPN Zone
I'll be heading into Manhattan tomorrow afternoon to chat with Jozy Altidore (and possibly Juan Pablo Angel) at ESPN Zone where they'll be promoting the launch of the new EA FIFA soccer game. Let me know if you have questions you have for him (other than the "when are you going to Europe?" ones) and I'll try and get a response for you.
Jen Chang
