It's Friday and there're lots of things to talk about, not least of which is opening weekend of MLS. With the large influx of foreign players I'm expecting to see another leap across the board in terms of quality of play this season. Here's some quick predictions:
Team to win it all: D.C. United. Ditching mistake-prone Bobby Boswell and letting Troy Perkins leave was absolutely the right move. New addition Marcelo Gallardo should be an impact player. If Gallardo plays up to his talent level, he'll be a huge upgrade over Christian Gomez for D.C. United (and that's not intended as a knock on Gomez). Right now, I don't think defending champ Houston has the offensive weapons or offensive depth needed to three-peat. The Dynamo are one Brian Ching-injury away from disaster.
MVP: David Beckham, L.A. There are a lot of potential candidates here, including Shalrie Joseph and Dwayne De Rosario, both of whom deserved to win this award in the past. However, if the Galaxy make the playoffs (which I believe they'll do as long as the Big Three stay healthy), it'll probably be David Beckham who drives them there. Also, unlike teammate Landon Donovan, Beckham is unlikely to miss much time with national team duty.
Rookie of the Year: Julius James D, Toronto. Discounting foreign vets such as Gallardo who aren't really rookies in my mind, I think the two standout rookies will be either Julius James, who looked composed at the back before suffering a shoulder injury, or the Galaxy's Sean Franklin, who will make fans forget all about Chris Albright.
Leading goal scorer: Juan Pablo Angel, New York. If you're playing our MLS fantasy game, make sure you snap up Angel. Not only he is the most skilled striker in the league, he can score in every possible fashion and takes the penalties to boot. D.C.'s Luciano Emilio will run him close, but I think Angel will take the scoring crown this year.
U.S. vs. Poland
Wednesday night's 3-0 win in Krakow confirmed that the U.S. really does have Poland's number, having now beaten the Polish twice on the road in recent years and also hammering them at U-20 World Cup level. Aside from the performance from the forwards (both Ching and Eddie Johnson were poor), there was much to like about this game for the U.S. The defense was solid all night and didn't give up any clear openings, while the midfield was excellent, with Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey looking good on both flanks. Set-piece proficiency on both offense and defense was excellent, and for this game at least, Donovan's dead-ball delivery was far better than it has been in the past.
Offensively, the U.S. still struggles to create good chances from open run of play, but until players like Freddy Adu who have that type of ability break into the starting lineup, that's always going to be a problem. It's also not exactly a problem that is unique to the U.S. (England has the same issue as well). Also, the quality of this win should not be underestimated. Although Poland isn't as good as its own fans believe it is (contrary to popular Polish belief, the team has zero shot at winning Euro 2008), this is still a team that qualifed comfortably for the European Championship ahead of Portugal.
At left back, Heath Pearce was decent if not spectacular and certainly an upgrade over Ramiro Corrales. With Cory Gibbs finally healthy again, there's even the possibility that Gibbs could be the answer at what has been a long-term trouble spot for the U.S. (I still think DaMarcus Beasley could be the solution at left back for the national team once he returns from injury, if a coach was ever inclined to try him there.)
As for the U.S. away kit -- the anthracite coal outfit -- I have to say I liked it. Now all they have to do is fix the home kit. I will say this though, I don't like the constant radical redesigning of the jerseys; it's hard to establish an identity this way. It's one thing to make slight tweaks with each new version, but the U.S. has had a number of completely radically different looks. Take the traditional powers, the Italys, Brazils and Germanys -- while they do make alterations to their kit, the basic overall look and color scheme remains the same each time. The U.S. needs to pick one home kit and stick with it, just as long as it's not the current one.
Benny Feilhaber
By now, most of you have probably read that U.S. coach
Bob Bradley stated earlier in the week that Feilhaber needs "to grow up." There's no question that Bradley was sending Feilhaber a message, and for those wondering why, Feilhaber has seemingly fallen off the face of the earth at club level with Derby and it's clear that his attitude has had something to do with it. Did he get a little too full of himself after his winning goal against Mexico in the Gold Cup? Probably. The problem is of course that while Feilhaber looks to have the potential to be a midfield staple for the U.S. team for 2010, he's not so good that a team would be willing to put up with any personality issues on his part. For his sake, hopefully he refocuses and gets his act together because the U.S. midfield would be far better off having him in there to partner Michael Bradley.
Jen Chang
