Disqus - Latest Comments for Soccer Guru

Re: Best Week of the Year

Soccer Guru — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 13:45:50 -0000

For some of us it is the best time of the year thanks to all the great non league matchups in basketball, NFL playoffs and the awesome bowl games going on. Sorry but for many of is here in the US, the EPL is secondary until the holidays are over.

Re: Why Hicks & Gillette Are Giving Americans A Bad Name

Soccer Guru — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 12:52:06 -0000

All of these attacks on Americans are spiteful and reek of outright ignorance and hatred. Michael's list was outstanding, yet incomplete. That covers today, but how about the number of Americans who have played in deeper rounds of the Champions League in the past? Heck, Jovan Kirovski even played in the final and won a final. DaMarcus Beasley started a semi-final with PSV. Frankie Hedjuk started several games in the CL with Bayer Leverkusen. Claudio Reyna played in the Champions League and UEFA Cup with Bayer Leverkusen, Rangers, and Manchester City .

And Gaffer, I love your work but is this meant to be YOUR opinion or the you REPEATING the opinion of the British press?

Re: NSCAA Photo Slideshow

Soccer Guru — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 11:35:01 -0000

I am at the NSCAA also. Came for the MLS Superdraft and for some of the youth camps. Most interesting developments yesterday were the firing of Eric Wynalda by ESPN and the rumor circulating that MLS is going to get a Copa Lib. birth out of another cup competition. If this is true Houston will be playing in something like 8 different events!

Re: Soccer America Miss The Ball with Gerard Houllier Interview

Soccer Guru — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:29:04 -0000

You go to an NSCAA event and then come out criticizing the one publication those of us in this country can rely for information related to conventions like the one you attended??

Unreal. Gaffer, always liked your work but two posts this week have shown you are trying to such up to the American hating snobs among the soccer community in this country. The types of people Paul Gardner ironically despises.

Re: Soccer America Miss The Ball with Gerard Houllier Interview

Soccer Guru — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 01:15:27 -0000

Okay enough. Gaffer was wrong headed and insulting in his post, but no need to make this personal. He just made a mistake. A bad one, but just a mistake. Cool down brothers.

Re: Should the Premiership Have Playoffs?

Soccer Guru — Mon, 05 May 2008 10:23:31 -0000

The Dutch Erevidese has a playoff system to determine who get its second Champions League and UEFA Cup births.

Re: Sky Sports Interviews Brad Friedel and Kasey Keller

Soccer Guru — Mon, 05 May 2008 10:25:08 -0000

Agree with everything here. Friedel wasn't much of a national teamer to begin with unless he was handed the starting spot.

Keller is a journeyman keeper: not as talented as Friedel but always willing to fly the world at a moments notice for his country.

Re: Arsenal Eyes American Midfielder Charles Renken

Soccer Guru — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:59:26 -0000

Renken should be kept away from england at all costs.

He's already ahead of where Adu was at this age. Letting him go to a country that has the worst player development system in the big european leagues is a sure fire way to ruin him.

I'd prefer he end up at a PSV or Ajax personally.

Re: Nobody Does it Better

Soccer Guru — Fri, 02 May 2008 21:05:50 -0000

Sure nobody does it better when they are motivated. Otherwise nobody wastes more god given talent on the planet other than maybe a selection of Barca players.

Re: The Start of Something Very Big?

Soccer Guru — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:56:22 -0000

Good piece, and some outstanding points here!

Re: OPINION: MLS Weekend Watered Down

Soccer Guru — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:40:50 -0000

I agree. What about Doe and Mansalliy too who are in Africa now for a month due to qualifying. MLS is losing like 30 plus players every weekend their are internationals.

Re: Superliga Matchday Two: Chivas USA-Pachuca

Soccer Guru — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 01:54:24 -0000

Really an outstanding match. Those who bash Superliga should have watched this one.

An intensity that lacks in your typical MLS, FMF or CONCACAF CC match. Now invite Saprrissa next year and we can make this the championship of the region.

Re: Superliga Matchday Two: New England-Santos Laguna

Soccer Guru — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:45:37 -0000

I think New England is going to win the Superliga and make all of us American Soccer fans very proud. The fact that most of their top players are foreign shouldn't matter, should it?

Re: Superliga Matchday Three: DC United- Atlante

Soccer Guru — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:03:04 -0000

DC has gone from the league's elite team to a club that continuously embarrass MLS in these types of championships.

You constantly say DC is the signature club of the league but all those accomplishments are now 8-12 years old. They won two international trophies the only two I believe MLS has ever won but again that was ages ago.

Do you simply assume the uniforms will win games? You seem to constantly imply that. That's your problem. You are sooooooo biased towards DC United.

Re: Superliga Matchday Four: Chivas USA - Santos Laguna

Soccer Guru — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:54:27 -0000

This was a really exciting game though Santos will feel hard done by the officials.

Re: Superliga Matchday Four: New England - Pachuca

Soccer Guru — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:55:19 -0000

Would it not be sweet to see Pachuca out at the group stage?

Re: Superliga 2008: Some Thoughts

Soccer Guru — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:16:12 -0000

Good tournament. Not unexpected.

DC performance on the other hand has been disgraceful.

Any thoughts on expanding the field next year?

We all know CONCACAF's latest sham tournament will not work, so Superliga needs to take the next step and co-opt this phony Champions League. How do you propose that gets done?

Re: Columbus, You Have a Problem

Soccer Guru — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:48:14 -0000

I'm afraid Columbus has run out of chances.

The next step is making them play in front of an empty stadium unless this nonsense ceases immediately.

Re: Superliga Final: Howard Webb and Match Thoughts

Soccer Guru — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 23:51:11 -0000

Great final.

Good point on Kamara. He's going to tear it up for them. Same for Ashe who looks good.

Re: MLS and the Mexican Federation: A Beautiful Friendship

Soccer Guru — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:45:40 -0000

You've written some absoulte rubbish on this site and your other sites lately but this is a fantastic piece. Absolutely fantastic.

Many of my friends and myself have wondered what this relationship is all about. Why does MLS play right through international breaks while setting up these sham tournaments with the Mexican League? Why does the FMF use interliga to determine Copa spots and not the league table? Why is Mexico constantly playing matches in the US? Why do Mexican league teams spend all their off season in the US?

The whole thing makes sesne now. I guess all these factors I was aware off but had never put them all together into one puzzle.

Oh and by the way it does hurt the US Team big time from an exposure standpoint. Probably from a playing standpoint too as your other article mentions.

Re: Different Night, Same Story: USL Triumphs, MLS Fails

Soccer Guru — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:53:50 -0000

USL is a much better league than the know nothing MLS as the very funny and good Ives called them. The bottom line is this: USL teams have more continiuty and play by more consistent and logical rules so despite having far less money it is logical they would do better in a competition against teams from the rest of the region than MLS teams do.

Re: MLS Focus Shifting to Africa and Latin America

Soccer Guru — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:55:45 -0000

Maybe MLS can focus a little more replacating USL's quality and tone down the glitz and glamour in order to be taken seriously. You can debate about styles of play but honestly take away the top 3 players from any MLS team, and almost every USL team is better despite being hamstrung by poor finances. So what does that tell you about the way MLS and its clubs are run?

Re: MLS Scheduling Change Coming?

Soccer Guru — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:04:35 -0000

This would be an improvement over the current awful scheduling.

Re: Different Night, Same Story: USL Triumphs, MLS Fails

Soccer Guru — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:49:25 -0000

Man undrafted, do you work in the league office? I've seen similar posts on Ives by you where it is obvious the success of USL has gotten totally under your skin.

So undrafted, are you devastated Tauro FC who eliminated mighty MLS side Tauro FC got beat by lowly USL side Puerto Rico?

Honestly if your claim is true that the best player in USL would be the 17th best player on an MLS team then MLS is a complete sham of a professional league and ought to be shut down if players 17-28 on a team achieve better results than players 1-17. Seriously, then MLS teams playing their reserves should still almost always beat USL sides in the Open cup, and USL sides should be slaughtered in the champions league.

The clear lesson is that undrafted roots against USL, wants soccer to fail in the 40 plus markets USL/PDL represent so MLS can swoop in and expand there and also will defend MLS to no end. Good job, I hope they are paying you well.

Re: MLS Ranks Shockingly Low in IFFHS Study

Soccer Guru — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 20:08:35 -0000

MLS is actually a top 10 league by almost any standard.

Look at the number of Argentine players who have left Argentina to join MLS. They have come for better pay and a better standard of play.

I believe MLS is the best league in the Americas. If we were able to buy our way into the Copa Libertadoras the way the Mexican league has we'd show up all of these leagues ahead of us in this list: I include Argentina and Brazil in that list.

The CONCACAF competitions are mickey mouse. When something was on the line namely, a million dollars MLS teams have dominated Superliga. Three semifinalists in 2007 and an all MLS final in 2008.

Look at how well so many former MLS players have fit into the Premier League and Bundesliga. Most european scouts would admit MLS is the best league outside Europe which is why they mine it for so much talent. If Mexico is so good why do so many Mexican league players struggle in Europe? They cannot cope anywhere but Mexico.

Re: MLS Thursday is no more

Soccer Guru — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 12:18:36 -0000

Face it. MLS is doomed to failure on American TV. As you pointed out previously and I've double checked, MLS actually had more viewers on ESPN's family of networks ten years ago than today.

The competition from superior leagues abroad and lack of compelling story lines in MLS makes it difficult for even the average soccer fan to keep up.

Oh and Kartik those of us who believe ESPN bought the MLS rights only to get the FIFA competitions from SUM are not conspiracy theorists. We are correct!

Re: MLS Thursday is no more

Soccer Guru — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 23:51:46 -0000

The MLS lovers on other websites are saying this is a good thing and that ESPN is at fault, but you have previously pointed out the decline in ratings for MLS over ten years.

I think this nation's soccer fans didn't know quality and that we were getting a second rate product ten years ago and now with all the exposure to european soccer, we know can differentiate between good and bad and have chosen not to patron MLS.

Re: MLS Thursday is no more

Soccer Guru — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:01:38 -0000

No offense to the league or its supporters but watching MLS is like watching Single A ball compared to the Premier League which is the majors.

Re: US vs Sweden Live Blog

Soccer Guru — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:52:22 -0000

Wynne is going to be our right back in the next World Cup. This will be his year.

LA is pathetic. Bring these winter camp games back to Florida where they used to be.

Re: US vs Sweden Live Blog

Soccer Guru — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:53:41 -0000

WHAT A GREAT FREE KICK BY KLJESTAN.

Re: US vs Sweden Live Blog

Soccer Guru — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 22:00:54 -0000

Thorrington is playing very well.

Re: US vs Sweden Live Blog

Soccer Guru — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 22:13:32 -0000

AGH Davies.

Re: US vs Sweden Live Blog

Soccer Guru — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 22:22:34 -0000

I assume Cooper will come in for the 2nd half.

Re: US vs Sweden Live Blog

Soccer Guru — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 22:51:38 -0000

Lagerbeck probably went nuts at halftime.

Re: US vs Sweden Live Blog

Soccer Guru — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 23:18:56 -0000

Kartik..................why do we keep playing these games at the HDC?

Re: Milan’s Beckham Offer a Blessing for MLS

Soccer Guru — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:29:35 -0000

If Becks had been serious about MLS he would have taken the time to know something about his team and the names of his team mates besides Donovan when he came over here.

Angel, Blanco, etc did this. Becks did not!

Re: Milan’s Beckham Offer a Blessing for MLS

Soccer Guru — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 03:29:09 -0000

Becks didn't find MLS as easy as he thought and thus has bailed.

The best thing for MLS would be to focus on localized talent.

Re: Time for Coop to Step Up & other ACC thoughts

Soccer Guru — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:01:29 -0000

I agree.

Miami will be killed tomorrow.

The ACC won't be much kinder to you guys.

Basketball? Now that is another story!

My Gators will crush UT tomorrow, and hopefully can get by LSU.

Florida State is not going to beat Wake, sorry to burst your bubble, K.

Re: Florida State Preview

Soccer Guru — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:55:32 -0000

FSU really held Pitt to 56 points? Whoa that's impressive!

Re: BREAKING NEWS: Bill Young Leaves Miami

Soccer Guru — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:38:48 -0000

The ones who are clueless are those who post mindless hateful dribble on this site.

This is a great site for real analysis but the comments make me wants to vomit.

Re: Dire Situation

Soccer Guru — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 09:08:08 -0000

This team disgusts me. With different guys stepping up every game and a decent effort we alwaysw fall short. Why?

1- Lance Hurdle is the worst point guard in the ACC. He's last among starting ACC point guards in assists and is near the top in turnovers. He lacks common basketball sense and likes to pop from outside.

2- Jack McClinton is a ball hog whose athleticism is limited and who cannot create his own shot. Yet he seems to not play with his team mates. He's impatient and does not let them set screens for him or use dribble penetration to set up anyone else.

3- Dwayne Collins would be an all american candidate if he played somewhere else. Our coaching staff has proven for five years they have no clue how to use big men, and time and time again we rely too much on jum shots and our guards. Since Haith took over we have never ranked higher than 9th in the conference in team assists. Make whayever excuse you would like but that is coaching.

For our current level of talent, the results are unacceptable. If people poured praise on Haith last season, turnabout is fair play. He's wasting athelticism and outstanding role players this year with no offensive rythemn or system.

Re: Heartbreaker: Canes lose in OT at Cameron

Soccer Guru — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 20:19:01 -0000

Hurdle is terrible running the team. WTF was Dquan thinking?

We could have sealed an NCAA trip today. While losing doesn't hurt us, you don't get opportunities like this often. We now need to beat UNC OR run the table after that.

Re: Heartbreaker: Canes lose in OT at Cameron

Soccer Guru — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 21:23:24 -0000

good efforrt from um today.

it's amazing. i am suppossed to hate u guys but it is impossible not to root hard against duke every game.

what happened to collins?

dews looked solid. against a zone you need guys who can hit floaters like that in the lane.

good game. hold your heads high- u still have a shot at the ncaas.

Re: New FIFA Rules Lead to First US Addition

Soccer Guru — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:08:06 -0000

If you watch Schalke you won't question the fact that this guy is a huge upgrade. Rico Clark? Are you joking he's never played outside of MLS. Michael Bradley is a sloppy tackler and Edu is good but not really a two way player. You don't play for the German U-21s and get called into the full national team and start for team with European ambitions and not be a serious upgrade over a typical American player.

I'm sorry but as an American we just don't produce players of this stature. Bradenton has failed as a development academy as that good article on MLS Talk demonstrated a few weeks back. Guys who come through the American system just don't have the technique and especially the tactical sense of a player who has been capped for Germany at both the youth and senior level.