October 17, 2007
US Soccer.com USMNT Video Gallery
The US takes on Switzerland today in yet another international friendly that will allow US Men's National Team head coach Bob Bradley to take a look at some fresh faces. With European leagues taking last weekend off, Bradley has been able to get the team together for a longer stretch of time and gotten more training sessions than normal in with a whole lot of fresh blood, including a handful of players that represented the US at this year's U-20 World Cup.
It will be interesting to see how many of the uncapped US players get significant playing time and how many will only get practice experience out of the call up.
Greg Lalas at SI.com talks about how this call up could be huge for Freddy Adu. But really, how important is a friendly in the grand scheme of things? My guess is that Adu very well coudl get a look at some stage during the next round of World Cup qualifying and that will be where the stakes will be raised quite a bit.
The recap of Juan Toja Wig Night at Pizza Hut Park
This get's my vote for the best MLS promotion ever.
Just when you thought that the Rhinos had money problems
Check out the three part interview with Minnesota Thunder head coach Amos Magee.
In the first part of the interview, Amos talks about the challenges he faces by being the head coach of a team that has an extremely tight budget. How tight is the Thunder budget? How about so tight that Magee's top assistant in 2007 was a volunteer and the team wouldn't pay to have him travel to away games with the team.
Magee hopes that the new ownership will at least allow him to pay his top assistant and take him on the road in 2008, but it will be an interesting situation to watch.
All sorts of big name player chatter
The NY Times has an article about Thierry Henry and it includes the required tease of him moving to the US in the future. With players like Beckham, Blanco, and Angel already in MLS, I'm over all this beating around the bush.
Now if MLS teams are actively pursuing a player, then I'm all for the discussion. But, as long as it's just another example of a guy hinting that he'd like to take a retirement lap around MLS, don't wast the space.
Ives Galarcep has a bunch of new player stuff, including a rumor that Newcastle United might be interested in Eddie Johnson, the Del Piero to MLS rumors are bogus with the Italian great re-upping with Juventus, and a piece asking if Denilson is a bust with FC Dallas.
As far as the last one goes, if you have to ask, then the resounding answer is YES. Right now, Denilson and Claudio Reyna are neck and neck for the worst use of a DP slot in 2007. And you can throw in Chivas USA trading their slot to NY for Amado Guevara in there for good measure.
Other news around MLS:
- Things are looking up this season for the Revolution with regards to attendance. Hopefully they can get a proper sized stadium to play in sometime soon.
- Speaking of which, there is a bunch of stuff about the battle for a new stadium for DC United. Maryland wouldn't mind hosting the team and there is a lot of back and forth over the failed plan to build a stadium in DC. The good thing is that the team is doing well on the field as they've become the first team in MLS history to claim back to back Supporters' Shields. And if that isn't enough, they have a budding music star in Justin Moose.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Rochester Rhinos or SoccerSam.com. Feel free to send any comments or complaints to news@soccersam.com. James promises to read (but not to respond) to all of them.
