This should be an interesting week in U.S. soccer, what with Steve Zakuani going first in the MLS SuperDraft (and with Wake's Marcus Tracy out of the picture, it will be a huge mistake if Zakuani isn't the top choice) and the likely announcement at some point that the WPS has signed Brazil's female superstar Marta. Here's what else I'm thinking about on Monday:
1. Landon Donovan's debut with Bayern Munich. The good news for U.S. fans is Donovan didn't look out of place, playing most of the game and contributing an assist and drawing an important free kick in a
3-2 exhibition win against Al Jazira. On the downside, he didn't make the most of his various goal-scoring opportunities. However, since he hasn't played competitively for some months now and is far from being his sharpest, that wasn't a complete surprise either. The bad news is of course that it's only Al Jazira.
2. Beckham debut against Milan. After telling reporters all week long that
David Beckham was likely to begin his Serie A career on the bench, Milan coach Carlos Ancelotti pulled a fast one and started Beckham Sunday as Milan drew Roma 2-2. Ancelotti opted to start Beckham in a central midfield holding role flanked by Clarence Seedorf and
Andrea Pirlo. With that trio supporting the attacking triangle of Kaka, Ronaldinho and Pato, you wouldn't be wrong if you think that's quite possibly one of the Rossoneri's most unbalanced lineups ever. There's barely a tackle to be found in there anywhere, putting even more pressure on what is already a creaky and vulnerable Milan back line.
As for Beckham's performance in his debut, it was solid but middling. He certainly doesn't look as if he'll be off the pace in Serie A and is clearly still able to play at this level. However, by playing so deep his attacking influence was limited and the times he did shake loose on the right to send in his crosses, they were far from his usual quality and often failed to clear the first man. It still remains to be seen what Beckham can bring to this Milan team -- outside of commercial revenue and more media attention -- but that's only because Milan already has three players whose dead-ball delivery rivals his own. Against Roma, Ronaldinho and Pirlo remained the preferred free-kick takers, but Beckham was given the task of taking corner kicks. For Beckham to really shine at Milan, he'd have to be used in Pirlo's current role, but instead he's being asked to fill the shoes of injured midfield enforcer Gennaro Gattuso, a player he has nothing in common with. That being the case, I can't really see him staying at Milan for the long-term.
3. Rafa's outburst. By now, you've probably all read
excerpts of Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez's 'outburst' last week against his Man United counterpart Alex Ferguson. I say 'outburst' loosely because, despite what the sensationalist headlines implied, it was far from that and not even remotely close in temperament to the infamous
"I'd love it"
meltdown speech given by Newcastle's Kevin Keegan during the 1995-96 season when Ferguson clearly got into Keegan's mind. I believe Benitez's press conference was a carefully thought out gambit, designed in equal parts to relieve attention on his beleaguered captain
Steven Gerrard and also designed to put the spotlight on Man United, Ferguson and the officiating ahead of the pivotal clash with Chelsea.
Had Liverpool won at Stoke and United either drawn or lost to Chelsea, Benitez could very well have been credited with a masterstroke. Instead, with his team looking incredibly limp against Stoke in a 0-0 draw and with United crushing Chelsea 3-0, Benitez's decision to go public with his grievances now looks ill-advised. It's doubtful that his comments had much to do with Liverpool's shaky performance, he only has his own tactical selections to blame for that -- it certainly doesn't help when you leave all your offensive firepower on the bench and persist with a certain serial and useless back-passing Brazilian midfielder in central midfield. It's not hard to envision Ferguson being able to easily galvanize his troops ahead of the Chelsea game by pointing to the Stoke result as proof that Liverpool are indeed unable to handle the pressure of being league leaders and that Ferguson's mind games are indeed getting to Benitez. If Liverpool fail to win the title this season, there's no doubt that this incident will follow Benitez forever as the moment he lost the plot.
4. Chelsea in full-blown crisis mode. What had started out so promisingly this season for Chelsea -- a new, more charismatic and gracious coach in Phil Scolari, a more attractive attacking style of play that earned plaudits from fans and neutrals -- has started to turn sour for Chelsea and much of it points at the feet of Scolari. Recent discord in training, dubious lineup selections and a seeming inability to teach set-piece defense, has Chelsea looking its most vulnerable in years. As masterful as United's performance was, the dire performance of most of those in a Chelsea shirt certainly didn't help the Blues' cause. Has
Didier Drogba ever looked quite as impotent or apathetic before? With Scolari's position starting to look increasingly uncertain, one can only start to wonder if it really was a good idea to get rid of Avram Grant.
5. Addition by subtraction. According to the Washington Post, D.C. United's Gonzalo Peralta has left the building. D.C. refused (correctly) to pick up the option on the Argentine defender. Not only was he hugely overpaid by MLS standards (at $199,000), Peralta was also a liability on defense with a propensity for being out of position and making numerous mental errors. Now while I've lauded D.C. for its ability to pick up unknown low-profile South American players and reap the dividends (most recently Luciano Emilio, Christian Gomez and Fred), I believe this personnel strategy should apply only to offensive players. After all, it's not exactly a stretch to say that South American attacking players, even journeymen ones, typically have more flair and ability than your typical MLS product.
By the same token, I don't understand the point of spending big bucks to add journeymen South American defenders. Name the last one that showed up in MLS and had the desired impact. The fact is the better South American defenders obviously end up in Europe. The ones that are willing to sign for MLS might possess greater technical skill than your average American college defender, but lack the more basic defensive skills like positioning awareness and ability to play the ball in the air. OK, that's obviously an over-generalization but the fact is it makes no sense to pay $200,000 for an averagely-talented South American import on defense when you can get similar standard players in the college draft for far less money.
Jen Chang
