Timbers Tid Bits: Gold Cup Edition
by Geoff Gibson on Jun 6, 2011 8:46 AM PDT
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PrintTomorrow is the United States' first game in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup against Canada. It's a game that should be both entertaining to watch and fairly easy for our guys (nothing compared to Spain from this past Saturday). That said, the Gold Cup already officially launched yesterday with Mexico taking on El Salvador and, well, the results weren't great if you're a USMNT fan as Mexico is slowly proving they're the kings in CONCACAF.
Anyway, we won't have to worry about them for a little while. In the mean time, let's turn focus back towards home a little bit with some Monday news. Enjoy!
Timbers specific news
Pumas top Timbers U-23, gain Open Cup berth
Kitsap is headed to Texas after beating the defending league champions
Portland Timbers lose 1-0 to Chivas USA
Timbers lose second consecutive game, remain winless on the road.
Timbers GK Gleeson gets first int'l cap for New Zealand
Gleeson got his first cap, but the All Whites ultimately fell 3-0 to Australia.
Behind the scenes, Portland Timbers build bridges with Latino fans
The Timbers are the latest MLS team to try to reach a group of fans who love soccer but have habits and allegiances that don't include U.S. teams.
Castrol Index Releases Latest Major League Soccer Results
Futty made it to the third place! No other Timbers player cracked the top 10.
League news (after the jump)
Stadium raises Sporting KC’s profile, but team must win — soon
The gorgeous, state-of-the-art and soccer-specific Livestrong Sporting Park opens on Thursday.
Chelsea and Spanish international striker Fernando Torres: I like the US and I would like to be a part of the improvement of the soccer.
No more retirees. Especially ones who can't score.
A Handy Guide to the 2011 Gold Cup
The 2011 Gold Cup is an interesting tournament, one almost designed specifically for the most hard core soccer fan.
The United States Is Not Catching Up To Mexico, The World
For years, there has been a myth perpetuated across the world that the United States men's national soccer team is steadily improving. Instead, they're stagnating - especially when compared to Mexico - which might as well be a step backwards.
MLS Week In Review: Red Bulls Give Up Comical Equalizer; Goals At A Premium
Two weekends ago it was a record amount of goals. This last weekend it was a dearth. Very interesting.
‘We pretty much rank where we are on the table’
Toronto FC players admit that they're nt the best team in MLS by a long ways.
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Wow, that Spain game was a complete disaster
I know the US wasn’t playing several of their first team, but that was embarrassing.
Very interesting article about the stagnation of the USMNT. I think a lot of that stagnation is down to the lack of quality in MLS, to be honest – MLS is very much a brute-force league compared to the rest of the world, and tactics and skill will beat brute force and endurance almost every time. I’m not suggesting that US players don’t have skill, but in their daily practices they train to win in MLS, and that means playing the more physical style that doesn’t do them any favors internationally.
Sadly, the US playing style hasn’t evolved over the course of the last 16 years – one of the main reasons for starting MLS, remember, was to give US players a way to develop the game in this country to the point where the US could be one of the top teams in world soccer, and that plainly isn’t happening. Even as someone who doesn’t really care about the USMNT, I find that frustrating.
It's definitely improved...
Since 1996. No doubt about it.
I think at this point US soccer is almost at a sort of nexus point where us players are finding it beneficial to return home and get minutes playing in MLS rather than some tier 2 league in Europe. Players like Davies, Feilhaber, and Cooper are just such examples.
The bad part of this is that unless the infrastructure around US soccer improves many of our best players will pick up bad habits.
RCTID - Stumptown Footy
Moderator of /r/MLS
I didn't say it hadn't improved, just that it hasn't evolved
The US is much better at soccer than it was 16 years ago, without question. But the style of soccer they’re better at hasn’t been played by most of the rest of the world in several years, and that’s what you see in games like Saturday’s.
it’s a bit of a catch-22 really. US players could definitely benefit from going abroad, learning other styles, then coming back and teaching/spreading those styles to other US players, but when they do go abroad they’re not good enough to get regular minutes. So they stay at home, play all the time, and don’t play in a league that gets them the talent level they need to make that leap to truly good player.
by pdb on Jun 6, 2011 9:44 AM PDT up reply actions
Ah I see...
Sorry for the disconnect.
I agree that it ahsn’t evolved. The whole grab and long ball it up top clearly doesn’t work. At elast not for the US. When Spain did it it was precision incarnate.
RCTID - Stumptown Footy
Moderator of /r/MLS
by Geoff Gibson on Jun 6, 2011 11:50 AM PDT up reply actions
By the time American born players reach MLS it's usually too late
So I wouldn’t blame MLS entirely. I think the main area for growth in player development is the 12 – 17 year old age range. The academy systems that MLS teams are implementing – although not at the level of an Ajax-style system – are encouraging.
That said, I’d be interested to see a comparison of the playing experience of the USMNT rosters from WC ’90 (a bunch of college kids) versus WC ’10 (a bunch of professionals — mostly playing overseas). I definitely think MLS has helped some in that transition.
If the Timbers implemented a Ajax-style acadamy
I’d be in heaven. Those Ajax boys sure know how to play.
Blazers win!
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