How about those LA Galaxy?

It's unfortunate but the renaissance summer that is soccer in the US has somewhat bypassed MLS. With all the buzz over the US National team, the World Football Classic and the start of the Premier League the MLS has chugged along down low on the radar, something that's unfortunate since beyond a horror story in New York there's a whole host of positive stories. The clear number one is the runaway success and support of the Seattle Sounders. Not only are they playing in front of massive crowds, there also playing an uptempo and exciting brand of football that's already given them a legion of fans around in the country. Seattle may be the sexy story but the league is also full of a handful of conistently solid teams with strong home support competing well for the sports dollar in their respective cities. In Columbus, Houston, Chicago and LA you have four deep, veteran laden squads representing three of the five largest media markets in the country. Two of those clubs squared off last night in Chicago as the Beckham-less LA Galaxy took on the Chicago Fire.

Heading into the match Chicago was in firm control of second place in the eastern conference while LA is positioned well but fighting with Colorado and Chivas USA for the 3rd place spot in the west. The Galaxy were 6-3-1 since June but were coming off of a 2-0 loss to the Seattle Sounders in a match that say both David Beckham and Eddie Lewis red carded. Heading into Chicago sans veterans Beckham and Lewis as well as forwards Edson Buddle and Alecko Eskandrian was far from the ideal situation for head coach Bruce Arena--- but that's why they play the game...

You have to give Bruce Arena credit. Just about every US Soccer/MLS fan is aware of the situation in LA, chronicled by Grant Wahl in The Beckham Experiment and on a weekly basis on a handful of podcasts and on World Soccer Daily. Team Beckham's hand-picked manager Ruud Gullit had failed miserably and the club was mired in the cellar of the Western Conference. The club was pathetically top heavy with little depth and a horrendous defense. After fighting through the second half of last season Arena had to deal with the prolonged Beckham loan saga to AC Milan and the endless questions on whether he'd return. So what happened?

Arena quietly and confidently has built a consistent and disciplined team with an adequate and well organized defense, a veteran midfield and a top attack lead by Landon Donavan, the greatest attacking player the US has ever produced. It's a testament to Arena's ability as a coach but also his man-management ability as he has clearly taken over the team and put his own stamp on it. The Beckham circus is still there but when he's on the pitch it's clear that he's playing for Bruce Arena and not 19 Entertainment. So Kudos to Bruce Arena who has resurrected his career and built in a winner in what was the laughingstock of MLS.

So what about the match in Chicago? A tremendous performance, perhaps a season defining performance, by LA against all odds. Mike Magee comes out of the reserves and displays the outer reaches of LA's newfound depth as he scores in his second goal of the season in the 23rd minute and then hits Landon Donovan on an excellent lead pass for a second goal in the 53rd minute and a 2-0 victory. The guy once sarcastically referred to as "Landycakes" by a US soccer pundit has completed the transformation from a guy with a questionable drive to someone who competes match in and match out both for the US and the Galaxy, someone who will play a major US qualifer with swine flu.

All of this on a Wednesday in front of 20,000 fans without David Beckham in the lineup. A good night for the MLS...and a good night for the Galaxy.

EPL on ESPN for 2009/2010? Immediately? Fantastic.

According to EPL Talk ESPN has picked up the English Premier League for the immediate upcoming season and will broadcast games starting on Saturday the 15th with the Hull City vs. Chelsea match. Immediate exposure for Jozy Altidore at his new team which will obviously benefit US soccer and another huge win for the sport in the United States. I've long wondered why ESPN didn't go after the league earlier with the success they had in the past with the Champions League. The timing of the games are perfect, I can't imagine there's anything else they could put in the 7:45 AM Saturday time slot and get anywhere near the ratings they'll get for the EPL. This has to be a winner for the Premier League as well with additional exposure in the US media market. This takes ESPN a step further towards being the true worldwide leader in sports.

The one negative is that it probably doesn't help MLS all that much. The EPL ratings will likely dwarf the paltry MLS ratings and give ESPN yet another reason to shift their soccer broadcasting allegiance toward the European Leagues. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the coming year. With the runaway success of the Barcelona trip to the US this past week (over 150,000 fans at two matches) and the Galactico era underway at Real Madrid I wouldn't be surprised to see a move to get the La Liga matches on in the US in English. As noted in the EPL Talk article there is already speculation that the Bundesliga could be making it's way to ESPN in the US as well.

It seems its not finalized quite yet, but what a fantastic day to be a soccer fan in the US. Hopefully the ESPN move will pressure FSC to move to Hi Def as soon as possible since I'm assuming the ESPN2 matches, like the Champions League, will be in glorious Hi Def.

Another Young American on the Premier League Radar

With Jozy Altidore rumored to go to Hull and Eric Lichaj positioning himself for some first team action with Everton the number of young Americans poised to move to the Premier League continues with Everton rumored to sign 21-year old forward Cody Arnoux, formerly of Wake Forest. This is on the heals of the Everton signing of Ventura County Fusion midfielder Anton Peterlin. With the eye for talent of David Moyes these two signing speak well of the continued emerging talent of United States soccer. Moyes is known for recognizing talent and maximizing it so Arnoux will be in a good place. It's clear that the Premier League scouting umbrella has now reached the US College ranks. The case of Arnoux is similar to Eric Lichaj, who left North Carolina after one season.

It's hardly a trend at this point but it's nice to see more talent heading overseas early. It will bode well for the future of the Men's National Team. The question is whether it's good for MLS?

MLS All-Star Game

It's been five years of the current MLS All-Star game format and I have to say it really works. Other than baseball the MLS All-Star game is the only other major sports (yes soccer is major) that fields a competitive matchup year in and year out. This year's game brought the third consecutive EPL team as Everton played a visit to Rio Tinto in Salt Lake City. Turned out to be an entertaining game for the whole family. Even though they lost on penalties MLS again showed that the league fields some great talent at the top. Take away a completely uncharacteristic boo boo by Stewart Holden for Everton's lone regulation goal and MLS totally dominated possession and action. They had myriad scoring opportunities, hit the posts on a couple of occasions (including a gimme by Landon Donovan) and if not for the superhuman exploits of Everton/American goal keeper Tim Howard MLS would have prevailed in regulation, if not the shoot out.

A few observations:

1) You can't help but be impressed with the facility in Salt Lake. A beautiful 20,000 seat soccer only facility that was a great location to showcase the MLS All-Star game. This stadium coupled with several that have already been built and a new facility being built in New York are a major step forward for MLS. As the summer turns to fall the the season heats up there are all too many occasions where a top game is contested with the football gridiron marks, making it impossible to concentrate and watch for the viewer.

2) MLS really boasts some skilled offensive talents with the likes of Blanco, Ljungberg, Donovan, Holden, Casey, Montero etc. Even though it's an All-Star game and you realize these players are only together for one night it gives you the chance to see some of the skilled (albeit aging) talent that MLS possesses. I'm in the middle of the argument on the quality of play in the MLS. I feel too many people dismiss it across the board and don't really appreciate the competitive teams and individual talents on showcase in the league.

3) I also feel the league is right where it needs to be at this point in it's life. With the down economy the league is still average about 16,000 fans per game which puts it right in line with the NBA and the NHL. Toronto and Seattle produce huge crowds every game with every single ticket sold out in Toronto since the club began and many crowds above 30K in Seattle. With Vancouver, Portland, Philadelphia and likely Montreal coming into the league this upward attendance will continue. Although criticized by many the league has really followed a pretty intelligent business model, not reaching out and over spending on talent, but allowing the league and the teams to grow in stature and attendance organically. As time goes by and the new cities enter the attendance and popularity will increase, as will wages. As wages increase the quality of players will as well.

All in all good entertainment for the whole family. Too bad Tim Howard is so damn good in shootouts.