HexagonalBlog

Now in Arizona

Greetings from sunny and cool Arizona, where I will be spending a few days in Phoenix.  I'm here to visit some friends but also to check out some of the MLS training camps that are going on in metro Phoenix, Casa Grande, and Tucson.  I believe that New England Revolution, Sporting Kansas City, Seattle Sounders, Real Salt Lake, and San José Earthquakes will be here, so I hope to catch a few glimpses, assuming that their sessions are open to the public, of course.

 

Becks signs on to another two years with the Galaxy

At the end of the 2011 MLS season, the conventional wisdom was that the images of David Beckham raising the Anschutz trophy would be his last in a LA Galaxy uniform.  Paris St-Germain, bankrolled with the billions of their Qatari benefactors, were pushing hard for Beckham to join their team and were willing to pay any price to have him.  So popular opinion was that upon Beckham's contract expiring on the 31st of December, he would join PSG on the 2nd or 3rd of January.  Well, we all know how the PSG negotiations worked out, but it still wasn't clear if Beckham would return to the Galaxy.  Today, Beckham settled the issue about his future by signing a two-year contract with the LA Galaxy.

So why did Beckham turn down a PSG contract that no Galaxy offer could ever match?  I think it came down to a quality-of-life issue.  That's an odd thing to say or read if you're comparing Los Angeles to Paris, but Beckham and his wife have four children and a temporary move for his family was a non-trivial matter (the classic multi-body problem).  It is even less trivial when everyone else in the family likes being in LA.  I would have thought that Beckham would relish the opportunity to become the first English football player to win league titles in four different countries, but it appears that for him, his family comes first.  Good for him.

Beckham said in his statement that he had received offers from various clubs around the world, and I wouldn't be surprised  if that were the case.  The marketing and ticketing payoffs to the club are obvious, and he can still play at a decent level but perhaps not at a major European club (PSG notwithstanding).  Beckham's not coming back to England to play for a club not named Manchester United, and even though Sir Alex Ferguson has recalled recently retired midfielders, Beckham isn't going back there.  Anywhere else gets back to the quality of life issue that I mentioned in the previous paragraph.

For the Galaxy, Beckham's return is a huge boost to their chances for the league and the CONCACAF Champions League.  They still need to acquire a replacement for Juninho to become a contender for the CCL, and that signing will pose the bigger challenge to the team.  Donovan and Keane have to return healthy, of course.

For MLS and their broadcast partners, Beckham's return makes the newly negotiated contracts much more valuable and makes ticket and broadcast promotions easier.  There are of course 300-odd other games to promote, and MLS still needs to find other players like Beckham who can become big stars and help the league continue to grow.

NBC makes an inspired choice for its MLS coverage

The news (and now confirmation) that NBC Sports has hired Seattle Sounders match commentator Arlo White as its lead man for MLS coverage is a loss for the Sounders and their fans but a much bigger boost to the state of American soccer commentary.  White came over from the BBC but not without some familiarity with American sport as he had commentated a Super Bowl a few years before.  In two years, he has incorporated the best of British and American styles to establish himself as one of the top soccer commentators in the USA and developed a strong bond with the Sounders club and its supporters.  Of course, this means one more British commentator for Paul Gardner to rail against, but I think we will manage.

Yet another call for MLS to switch to European calendar

So Joseph Blatter made a slightly less questionable pronouncement last week by repeating his call for Major League Soccer to switch to a European calendar.  I wrote a long piece earlier this year explaining the reasons why MLS won't, and to be honest shouldn't.  I am not sure that a person like Blatter truly appreciates the challenges that a fall-to-spring MLS would face, from weather to pitches to media, and when he says that such a move would improve the popularity of the sport in this country, I find it challenging to believe that he knows what he is talking about.  A fall-to-spring soccer season is even more of a non-starter in USL, NASL, and below as many of these teams share stadia with high schools or colleges, and these clubs would have nowhere to play.  So a switch to such a league schedule would see a lot more teams playing on artificial surface or with ugly gridiron lines.  How exactly that spectacle is supposed to increase the popularity of soccer in the USA is not something that a rocket scientist like me can understand.

And besides, if US Soccer told Blatter to pound sand, what would he do?  Keep the USA from hosting a World Cup?

One-nil to the Galaxy

I had it all wrong.  There was no way that the Galaxy were going to defeat the Houston Dynamo 3-1.  They always looked like winning Sunday's MLS finale, but it's only fitting that the final scoreline would be the Galaxy's 11th win by the minimum this season.  The loss of Brad Davis, who was the league's best creator alongside David Beckham, crippled the Dynamo's midfield, and the in-match injury to Geoff Cameron weakened their backline severely.  Nevertheless, the Galaxy were translating their territorial dominance into very few chances, and those few chances were being squandered repeatedly, so the Dynamo still had a chance.  One sustained possession, a flick here, a poke there, who knows what could happen?  In the end, that scenario fell to the Galaxy's three Designated Players: a flick-on by Beckham, a lovely through pass by Keane, and a precise poke to the far corner by Donovan.  Houston never looked closer to scoring after that, and the final whistle brought from celebrations from the field and around the Home Depot Center. 

The Galaxy won their third championship, one behind DC United.  Bruce Arena joined Sigi Schmid as the only managers to win MLS titles with two different clubs.  Landon Donovan won his fourth MLS Cup winners' medal and his second MLS Cup Most Valuable Player award.  And David Beckham became the second English footballer to win domestic league titles in three different countries.

The debate is starting on whether this Galaxy team is the best to ever play in Major League Soccer; John Paul Dellacamera gives his reasons why he thinks they are.  I think there is unfinished business in CONCACAF to settle, but consider what this team has achieved, not just this season, but in the last three seasons.  The Galaxy have finished in the top two in the regular season table over the last three seasons, and in the last two have topped the table with a points-per-game average of 1.97.  To the best of my knowledge no other MLS team has ever displayed such a high level of performance over two seasons.  In fact, just three MLS teams have had points-per-game averages exceeding 2.00, and none of them came close to matching that level before or after (the Miami Fusion sadly expired after 2001).  There were other teams with more prolific scoring, and there were others with better defenses -- just look at Real Salt Lake's record-setting defense last season.  But very few of those teams ended up as MLS Cup champions, and none of those sides who scored more than 2.0 points per game won the league.  What the Galaxy have done, what Bruce Arena has done, is that they have formed a team that is capable not just of playing at a high level but also winning the hard matches.  I think their match record over the last two seasons and their record in 1-0 matches indicate that.

So MLS has the ending it wanted.  I don't mean necessarily that they wanted to see the Galaxy win it, but I'm sure they wanted their league finale to be decided before a packed stadium with a partisan crowd, with raucous scenes of celebration as the players took a victory lap with the trophy, fans waving signs saying "Please stay David Beckham!"  Well, the last phrase is definitely the ending David Beckham wanted.    From the accident-filled start to his five-year run, to the non-appearances, to the Beckham Experiment, to the loan moves and injuries, and now this season, the one season where Beckham could devote himself totally to Galaxy turned out to be his best season.  He earned his place in the league Best XI (not so sure about him being named Comeback Player of the Year), and he should have been named MVP of the MLS Cup final.  I think the chances of him joining Paris St.-Germain are greater now that he has won the league, and you have to think that a man who pays as much attention to milestones as David Beckham would relish the chance to be the first Englishman to win domestic titles in four countries.  But whatever he decides, Beckham will view his time with the Galaxy as part of the same grand arc that has characterized his career.

Lots of things to happen in the off season, such as a new MLS team, a couple of stadiums opening, and a revamped regular season and playoff format.  It all begins again in four months, three if you're one of the MLS teams still in the Champions League.

MLS ends neutral-site MLS Cup, makes conference finals two-leg

Since the league's inception, Major League Soccer has been trying to find the right playoff format, right meaning one that gave some meaning to the regular season while creating increased fan interest during the post-season.  The latest iteration came yesterday, when the MLS Board of Governors approved four major changes in the league playoff format:

• Top five teams in each conference, no wild-card slots.
• Seeds #4 and #5 in each conference in a one-match play-in.
• Conference finals are now a two-leg series.
• MLS Cup final hosted by team with higher regular-season point total.

To me the biggest change to the playoff format is the end of the neutral-site MLS Cup Final.  I always felt that designating the MLS Cup as a neutral-site event was a huge mistake as it removed the opportunity to create a compelling made-for-TV event and ensure full attendance by home town supporters.  I believe I understand the rationale of Doug Logan at the time in that MLS Cup is a showpiece event on par with the Super Bowl, except for the fact that MLS was not, and is not, the NFL.  It was one of several errors of the Logan era.

That said, having a neutral-site MLS Cup Final makes a lot of logistics easier.  It is much easier to plan travel for the event when you know exactly when and where it will be.  End-of-season events like the MLS Supporters' Summit are some of the major events that are planned around the MLS Cup, as well as corporate hospitality events.  Perhaps the way to work around this is to have a MLS awards show and supporters' events in one city a week or two after the Final, which is easier to attend but would involve more travel for finalists' supporters.

As for the rest of the playoff changes, I think the switch of the conference finals to a two-leg format makes sense and is an indication that MLS teams and fans have a greater understanding of how the format works.  Once you view it as a mini-league, the format no longer appears so foreign.  And despite higher-seed teams grumbling about not hosting the first game, the result data show that teams hosting the second leg (i.e. higher seed teams) are 3-2 favorites for winning the series.  The second game also guarantees a home match for the lower seed which means a guaranteed gate for both sides in the playoffs.  MLS still won't embrace the away goals rule or even "sporting advantage", which in the end increases the probability of a series being decided by penalty kicks, which I thought everyone hated.

I do wish that the league would just do away with conferences, have playoffs between the top eight and have two-leg playoffs up to and including the MLS Cup Final.  Or even drop playoffs, which haven't been all that popular if you look at attendance figures.  But I know neither scenario will happen -- MLS is a North American sports league, after all -- so I will applaud MLS' move toward a playoff system that looks more familiar to observers in the rest of the world.

Bobby Rhine, RIP

Former FC Dallas player and current broadcaster Bobby Rhine passed away last night after suffering a heart attack at the age of 35.  He played over 200 games for the MLS team over his 10-year career, and moved into the front office and later match commentary post-playing career.  I heard his broadcasts a few times and he seemed to be coming into his own as a commentator.  Just a few days ago I saw one of his tweets on my Twitter feed.  Now he's gone forever.

My deepest sympathies to his widow and their children, and to FCD staff and supporters everywhere. RIP.

UPDATE: If you would like to make a donation in memory of Bobby Rhine, you may do so here.

It's official -- the Galaxy have no spine

David Beckham's decision to attend the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton last month was controversial, but at least defensible.  He was an invitee of the Royal Family, which is a huge honor, and Beckham is among other things a deeply loyal citizen to his country.  Personally, I felt he should have declined so as not to put the Galaxy in a difficult situation, but I can understand his desire to attend the wedding.

If taking time off from the Galaxy to attend the Royal Wedding is one thing, time off (and missing a league match!) to attend a testimonial match of a former teammate is something totally different.  Of course Beckham would want to attend a match of a close friend and teammate, but where were the Galaxy to remind him of his responsibilities to his team?  Is the front office that much afraid to say "No" to him?  Would the Galaxy even have to think about telling any other player "No" in a similar situation? 

Steven Cohen at World Football Daily, hardly a more severe critic of David Beckham, believes that this latest event shows Beckham to be the fraud that he believes he is, but I think it's much worse than that.  The Galaxy have shown themselves to be so utterly spineless that they will sacrifice their credibility just to placate one player.  It's little wonder that David Beckham have such an apparent lack of respect for such an organization.

Welcome to the Fortress

An appetizer for tonight...

 

No, this is not a "Lake Placid moment"

I have a lot of admiration for RSL GM Garth Lagerwey and the way in which he and Jason Kreis have transformed Real Salt Lake from a dysfunctional side to one on the cusp of a place in the FIFA Club World Cup.  So it pains me to disagree very strongly with his statement that the match on Wednesday night could be US soccer's "Lake Placid moment".

I recognize that Lagerwey is using a metaphor that the general public in the USA recognizes (above a certain age of course), and that he is using it to symbolize an American soccer team finally breaking through and winning an international competition.  I also recognize that it's easy to take metaphors a little too literally.  But the "Lake Placid moment" in hockey melted away, and the US hockey team never reached the heights of 1980 again (1992 was an exception, but they were never going to beat the former Soviet Union team) until they incorporated professionals in the Olympic team.  You could make a case that the Lake Placid comparison is apt because a MLS team won a CONCACAF title in 2000 and future league representatives never came close to matching that achievement, while the US hockey team won gold in 1960 and didn't come close until 1980 when they really broke into the public consciousness.  But I am not sure that that's the point Lagerwey is making. 

I believe that Lagerwey is tapping into the notion of a US men's hockey team, composed of college kids who barely played together and were given no hope for success, taking on the powerhouses of world hockey and achieving an unexpected and memorable victory.  I agree with Mexican clubs being a powerhouse in the region, but I disagree completely with RSL being such rank outsiders.  This Real Salt Lake team is NOT a rank outsider in this year's competition.  Perhaps they were at the very beginning, but they demonstrated in the group stage that they deserve to be considered as a favorite for the title, and they validated that consideration in the knockout stages.  Real Salt Lake may not have the talent, man for man, of Monterrey, but they are a team that has been kept together for a long period, has made judicious roster selections under the tightest payroll restrictions in world soccer, and has developed a style of play that is truly suited for continental success.  I never saw RSL as a heavy underdog against Monterrey at the outset of the finals -- at worst they were 3:2 underdogs which meant that they had roughly a 40% chance of success -- and they demonstrated why in the first leg.  If the Columbus Crew were in this position, or Toronto FC, or even the Los Angeles Galaxy, I would perhaps agree with that metaphor being apt.  No disrespect intended to any of those teams, but they did not have the combination of talent and tactical nous to be successful in the CCL.  Real Salt Lake do deserve to be at this stage and they are every bit the match of Monterrey.  If you don't believe me on this count, go read the articles coming out of the Mexican press

I know that there is a psychological battle between the two teams that serves as a backdrop to the match on Wednesday.  I just cannot accept the premise of Real Salt Lake being such rank outsiders.  RSL fans should not accept it, either.