Sorry for the absence lately folks, I've been MIA sorting out various things. In any case, here's what I'm thinking about this Monday morning:
1. Is D.C. United the worst team in the league? Nope, that honor probably still goes to San Jose, but at least the Earthquakes play hard and look like they try. Aside from being easily the most disappointing team in the league, D.C. just doesn't look like a team that is playing with intensity and heart (and to a certain degree the loss of Ben Olsen and Josh Gros is at the root of this).
After another abysmal performance in a 3-1 loss to a Chivas team missing six defenders through injury, coach Tom Soehn has to be on the hot seat. Despite the poor play of key veterans like Luciano Emilio (who continues to look like a shell of his former self), Soehn's not exactly helping his cause either with some of his coaching decisions. For a start, the 3-man back line just doesn't work for this team right now, especially given the lack of defensive support and tracking back from the wingers. Giving extensive playing time to talent-challenged Rod Dyachenko is another mystifying decision. In the latest loss, Soehn even replaced Marcelo Gallardo with Dyachenko.
As for DP signing Gallardo, there are grumblings that he's been inferior to the man he replaced (Christian Gomez), despite the fact that he scored yet another stunning goal this past Saturday. However, I'll disagree with that on the basis that he's still adjusting to the league and initially was being used incorrectly as a deep-lying play maker for D.C. Instead, he should be deployed in much the same fashion as the way the Crew use Guillermo Barros Schelotto (i.e. license to roam and stationed in the attacking third). Gallardo is also still getting to grips with the overly physical play of MLS and the fact that the referees let far too much slide when rival teams adopt a "Hack Gallardo" strategy. Can this team turn it around? Probably not this season unless Ben Olsen comes back strong and a new voice emerges to head the team. The players just don't look like they're responding to Soehn right now.
2. U.S. roster for the England, Spain and Argentina. All the usual suspects have been named to Bob Bradley's squad for the grueling upcoming friendly schedule (easily the most exciting stretch of games for the U.S. outside of World Cup play in recent memory). I'm a bit surprised at DaMarcus Beasley's inclusion -- he hasn't played competitively in months and can't possibly be match fit. Not only that, but I'm surprised the U.S. are willing to risk him so soon after a surprisingly quick return from what was thought to be a serious knee injury. The inclusion of U-23 defender Michael Orozco is a pleasant surprise. Based on his play in CONCACAF Olympic qualifying, Orozco looks like a real prospect. Can't say I'm particularly thrilled about the inclusion of Troy Perkins and Nate Jaqua (granted, it's unlikely either will play) since I don't think they're of international-caliber. I'll write more specifically about my thoughts on the actual U.S.-England matchup closer to the game (May 28 on ESPN Classic).
3. FIFA's "6+5" rule. FIFA's head honcho Sepp Blatter has made a push for the introduction of a rule that he believes will create equality and fairer competition for domestic leagues from the tyranny of rich powerhouse teams that load up on foreign superstars. He's also worried that one day in the very near future, we'll see a national team, that is not Brazil, competing in the World Cup comprised of naturalized Brazilians representing their newfound country of choice. To combat this, Blatter has proposed a rule that would require clubs to field six players on the field that are eligible to play for the national team of the country in question. It's unlikely that the rule will be implemented since it contravenes European Union labor law.
However, there's no question that part of Blatter's agenda has probably been fueled by the rise of the English Premier League to the status of biggest, baddest league in the world, with its heavily imbalanced domestic domination by the "Big Four" (Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool). Compounding matters is the same Big Four's prowess in the Champions League this season. The main issue of course is that all four teams field lineups that are markedly devoid of English players -- or in Arsenal's case, completely bereft of any. When you compare this to, say, last year's winners AC Milan, who despite being built around Brazilian genius Kaká, still had a large Italian core (seven of Milan's starting lineup was Italian) or the Valencia teams that reached back-to-back CL finals in 2000 and 2001 on a largely Spanish base, you can see why some people feel aggrieved at the recent success of the English clubs.
Of course, you can't exactly blame the "Big Four", they're merely deriving the benefits of being participants in the richest league in the world, which naturally attracts most of the best foreign talent. The biggest losers are of course the English soccer public or those who don't support one of the "Big Four" teams and are consigned to watching the same story unfold season after season. Is there a solution for the EPL? Yep, a simple salary cap tied to a percentage of each team's individual yearly revenues which would still give the big clubs and advantage but at least level the balance of play somewhat across the board. With this format, teams would be prevented from simply hoarding talent in three-deep rosters such as Man United's Louis Saha and Chelsea's Steve Sidwell, both of whom could start for plenty of EPL teams but can't even get a sniff of first team action in their current situation. Of course, such an obvious solution means it'll never be adopted.
4. U.S. U-23s participate in the Toulon tournament. The Olympic squad continues its preparation this week by appearing in the Toulon tournament. Without Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore present, don't expect to see much offensively from this team -- although it'll be worth keeping an eye on Lee Nguyen and Gabe Ferrari. Of course, U.S. fans shouldn't take too much stock from the performance of its players at this level. After all once upon a time back in 1997, Josh Wolff was the leading scorer in the Toulon tournament, tied with a certain Thierry Henry.
5. A new age for ESPNsoccernet. What's this I'm referring to? Some of you may have noticed in the last couple of days that the look and feel of our story pages have changed. That's because we've finally finished our server migration which means that as of today (not sure when exactly), all our story pages will have conservation enabled -- allowing users to comment as per the rest of ESPN.com.
Jen Chang
