Category Archives: Uncategorized
Brazil and FIFA: Potential Image Nightmare
Powerful
The equation is quite simple, the lower income population is not going to be happy when a government is spending quite a bit of its resources on improving its infrastructure to host a one-month tournament, especially, when these improvements end up taking the better part of 6 years. The protests in Brazil can best be described by a video that was posted on YouTube titled: “No, I am not going to the World Cup”, posted below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZApBgNQgKPU
The video discusses the different steps taken by the Brazilian Government in ensuring that the country is ready for the World Cup, much of which can be questioned when many of the country live in poverty with a poor standard of living. An argument raised by the video is that the majority of “benefits” from the World Cup will actually be a deterrent to the Brazilian economy and its people. Multiple studies exist…
View original post 557 more words
Connecting The Generations
I remember pickup
Stadium Issues Not a Worry for San Diego: The argument for a soccer specific stadium is impeding the growth of the game in the San Diego region
(Written by Ryan Ginard @RyanGinard)
It was last weekend when our coach broke it to us that the annual post-season cup tournament would not be going ahead this year, and this would be our final game of the season until we kicked off again later in the year.
Granted this was a blessing in disguise for everyone’s ageing hamstrings, but the reality was that there was no more recreational outdoor soccer for a good 6 months, which is a lifetime for those that understand the fun and camaraderie of amateur soccer played every weekend across fields nationwide.
So why was it cancelled you may ask? Well surprisingly enough it wasn’t the prevailing issues of cost or lack of grounds, quite the opposite. The reason for the postponement was that coaches throughout the league had refused to participate due to the quality of the fields. The fields!
Kids worldwide are playing on dirt patches, dangerous streets and the worst favelas with the ongoing risk of violence and buried mines, and we are complaining about a grass field a stone’s throw from Ocean Beach in San Diego. But let’s put the hardships of other nations to one side, that’s a whole other discussion.
The main culprit of many injuries and shanked shots from 2 yards out is that of Robb Field. It’s a field that has long been neglected and ravaged by gophers and thousands of people, and playing sports there daily is funnily enough a great analogy for soccer in America’s Finest City.
Sure there’s plenty of potential and lots of talk about fixing the problem, but no one stumping up the cash to get it done.
And that’s where we begin our soccer specific stadium (SSS) argument and provide reasons for a reality check for many local supporters that believe that it is the instant fix for soccer in the area. Like every major piece of infrastructure, building strong foundations are paramount.
Also, before we continue, let’s get one thing straight. There is no chance a team can plug and play in MLS from San Diego.
The old adage ‘Build it and they will come’ is an immature and naïve approach to soccer in the region and very problematic. The evidence of this worldwide is there for all to see.
The Australian A-League, which is similar to the U.S. in its growth and direction, has seen 3 expansion clubs become defunct with one of those (Gold Coast United) having a billionaire owner and a brand new 25,000 seat stadium, which could only attract a home crowd average of 3,300. To put that into perspective, this is what the PASL Champion San Diego Sockers gets for indoor games.
Soccer is not a get rich quick scheme. It’s a unique business model that requires a professional approach.
The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), while being a great option for ambitious clubs because of its low barriers to entry, also has a big problem that is often masked by its steady influx of new teams. NPSL teams are coming and going at an alarming rate (over the past 5 years over 29 clubs have folded) and this ongoing issue continues to erode the reputation of the league.
We mention the NPSL as this is our highest representation of teams here in San Diego. Our current clubs believe that a new stadium is indeed the key to growth. San Diego Boca has even gone as far as a community petition and working with consultants to create an artist’s impression of what it will look like, while the San Diego Flash have long mentioned on social media that they have everything in place for a stadium except for the land to build it. These are both examples of putting the cart before the horse.
And herein lays the problem. These clubs have scared off any other players in the market with big plans and ideas, and years have passed with them being no closer to achieving their dream. In fact it isn’t even on the horizon, with the council committed to sorting out the home of the Chargers before it looks into any other stadium proposals.
This has ultimately left San Diego in the wake of other soccer markets in its ongoing development. We all know the progress of the New York Cosmos and the Orlando franchise with their financed and council approved locale. While people have always known the next franchise was destined for the East Coast, San Diego thought it had to be the next cab off the rank, but sadly this is not the case.
It was just this week that Sacramento has been added to the mix. Elk Grove Council have voted yes on the acquisition of land and a potential $100 million stadium and has now positioned themselves as the next viable Californian team to enter the upper echelons of pro soccer in the U.S.
The harsh reality is that these stadiums cannot happen without the money to build them, and these clubs currently don’t have the capital to make it happen, regardless of their vision. It is optimistic at best to think that a multi-millionaire backer will appear and cough up the funds and not want full control of the club and its direction, or that crowd funding is going to be a potential x-factor.
That’s where the Flash is in a bit of a quandary. If this big backer joins the club, he isn’t going to want to listen to another 50 investors. There model is indeed unique and they are probably the best placed team to make pro soccer in San Diego a reality, but they have now been around for a number of years, still play in the fourth tier and haven’t articulated their plans past the NPSL. If they haven’t made it now with the influence and extensive contact list at the disposal of their trump cards Warren Barton and Eric Wynalda, every year that goes past has been a missed opportunity.
It’s the clubs and not the stadiums that are most important issue at this time. Regardless of what people say, we have more than enough stadiums to get the ball rolling.
Firstly let’s move away from high school venues as an option. If clubs are serious of moving to USL PRO or the NASL, they need to go big or go home. We have the Torero’s Stadium at USD which has a capacity of 6,000. Heck, why not go the whole hog and use Qualcomm Stadium? The ageing home of the San Diego Chargers was only 2 years ago confirmed as a venue for the U.S. World Cup bid for 2022. Using just the Field and Plaza levels will open up to 30,000 at the very least and it’s available!
So that negates the stadium issue for the immediate future. Next.
Devoid of politics and the strange urge of franchises to get the team on the park to make money, what San Diego needs is an investment/leadership group that focuses on soccer for the region yet supplements the big picture with comprehensive business plans, funding models and continued growth of the game at the local level. Perhaps following the lead of future NASL franchises in Ottawa, Indianapolis and Virginia, by establishing the business side and delaying its on-field introduction is a more viable option for a local entity.
As mentioned above, soccer is a unique business model and engagement is a two-way street. A team needs to capture the imagination (and support) of clubs, parents, fans and administrators region wide to have an impact. Based on current evidence this will not happen via an NPSL route, but through a franchise that utilizes the potential of the city through action, not through words, including finding a way to fix Robb Field.
San Diego has everything a club needs already. Sadly, it just hasn’t found a way to connect all the dots.
Soccer Support – A Year In Review
Soccer is a unique product from a business context that is made more complex in the United States due to cultural and structural differences from the rest of the game worldwide.
Technology, and in particular social media, is one of those keys to unlocking the future of the sport. But it’s not quite as simple as setting up a Facebook or twitter account, especially those that think they understand it when they simply do not.
Retweets or commenting on what EVERYONE is currently watching on TV does not constitute being a social media guru for soccer – far from it. It’s about two way engagement and developing an emotional attachment with users that fosters new conversations and original content.
I wanted to attempt to bridge this gap online between the highest tiers of soccer and the grassroots fans by creating 21st century clubs that embraced online platforms and technology…
View original post 538 more words
The unstoppable Bayern machine
Too right
What a week it’s been for Bayern Munich.
Last Saturday they hammered Hamburg 9-2 in the biggest win of the season and Hamburg’s worst defeat in 43 years. They have one foot in the Champions League semi-finals after Tuesday’s impressive home victory over Juventus and the week’s not over yet. Victory at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday will secure them a record 22nd Bundesliga Title.
Who better to sum up Bayern than Antonio Conte, the coach of the Italian Champions and Serie A leaders after Tuesday’s defeat. “They’re a team which is really young, a team that runs a lot, a tall team, a physically strong team, a really powerful team, we didn’t just find that out today. We congratulate Bayern for playing a great match, we tried to do the best we could but it wasn’t enough.”
Bayern have used last season’s crushing home defeat to Chelsea in the…
View original post 816 more words
Hm.
It’s about as close to must-have that a non-must-have is.
The US coach, Jurgen Klinsmann believes it is, in fact, a must-have.
And the US goes forward with, at best, a second choice squad this week.
The United States opens the home leg of its CONCACAF final round World Cup qualifying round this Friday at Dick Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado still licking its wounds from February when it stumbled badly in a single game qualifier against Honduras.
The US looked lethargic and unassertive against the Catrachos, sparking more questions about Klinsmann’s ability to steward the States through a qualifying campaign that sees the strongest front-to-back CONCACAF field perhaps ever.
And now the US skipper will have to attempt to answer those questions without even close to his best arsenal.
Tim Howard, Tim Chandler, Fabian Johnson, Edgar Castillo, Danny Williams, Jose Torres all out for this pair of…
View original post 4,623 more words
Thoughts on this one coming soon
My Gus Johnson Reaction
While I was writing that Champions League piece news started filtering in through my timeline that Fox Soccer have picked up a new commentator. At first glance the name Gus Johnson didn’t register at all (neither did it on the second, third, or fourth glances btw) but it wasn’t until I saw him being compared to the illustrious Ray Hudson (who I hold in rather high regard) that I started to take note. A clip of Johnson calling a match between the San Jose Earthquakes and DC United caught my eye. And ears. I wasn’t impressed. I check the Fox Soccer timeline and see that they are REALLY excited about the arrival of Mr. Johnson and seem to want us to be excited as well. Puzzled, and sensing discontent from some of the folks I follow, I poked around a bit more and found THIS Sports Illustrated piece detailing how Gus Johnson began his career as a soccer pundit. Then came the fury.
To super-summarize that article, Fox Sports won the U.S. broadcasting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and wanted to be bold and unique and to most importantly, “brand it with something unique to Fox.” So the President of Fox Sports calls up Gus Johnson. Gus Johnson is a 45 year old professional broadcaster with a vast amount of commentary experience in a variety of sports. None of those sports, however, happens to be soccer as it were. That’s ok though because Fox are giving this guy a crash course in soccer that includes extended trips to Europe and personal mentoring sessions with some of the game’s most knowledgeable and respected figures, as well as a soft and steady introduction to the game of soccer.
The fury has since subsided but even now I still can’t decide where to begin to comment on this. No one likes a Negative Nigel though so instead of focusing on what I consider to be a shockingly disrespectful and excruciatingly inconsiderate move by the Fox Sports President Eric Shanks to hire someone with no prior knowledge/ties/passion/understanding/experience/links/relations to the beautiful game and give that person the soccer fans ultimate dream education, I will instead draw on the positives. Personally I’d prefer for an up and coming young soccer player/fan/writer/coach etc with aspirations of becoming the voice of American soccer to be handed the keys to the castle so to speak and have the opportunity literally handed to them on a silver platter but I can understand (even if I do not approve of) the move by Shanks to go with the top-down approach instead of the bottom-up. By taking someone who is already well known and generally well liked and respected, Fox generates more news than if they’d announced they’d just signed Dike Anyiwo to a log term commentary deal. Even the controversy of hiring a man from the despicable “sport” of baseball plays into Fox’s hands. Its still early doors in this experiment and I bear no ill-will towards Gud Johnson as an individual; I actually respect the depth and scope of the preparation he’s going through to prepare himself. I’ll withhold my final judgment of this whole affair until after this upcoming round of Champions League fixtures that he is scheduled to work. Part of me even wants him to succeed if it leads more Americans to watching and understanding soccer.
I just wonder though… If Fox Sports invested just 1/10 of what they’re putting into this Gus experiment into providing an opportunity for someone who actually knows the game to pursue the same goal, they’d recoup a lot of the animosity amongst us purists that this move has generated. How cool would it be if Fox Soccer continued with their recent “original programming” wave and put together a project similar to that Celtic player trial show but for aspiring writers, analysts, and commentators??
Bumpers and Thumpers
For the greater part of the last 47 days and some hours I’ve been waiting with baited breath for next week’s UEFA Champions League clash between Manchester United and Real Madrid. At the time of the draw it was farrr too early for me to start thinking slash talking about potential lineups, key battles, or even tactical formations. Its still too early but now with just over 7 days to go I’m feeling restless, anxious, impatient, and most of all EAGER.
Despite rampant allegations of United playing well below the peak of their powers, the men from Manchester find themselves 9 points clear at the top of the table over those noisy ones from across the way and with a squad that is nigh on full strength. Ashley Young has been the only long term injury of late and Phil Jones has just been ruled out with shingles of all things but otherwise the United squad is looking strong. Last time out Manchester United had to rely on a late strike from a resurgent Rooney who looks to be neck deep in a rather rich vein of form at just the right time of the season. Nani and Kagawa are both back from long injuries and give us options going forward that we sorely lacked during the first half of the season when Robin van Persie put his new team on his back and carried them to the top of the table with a string of class performances. Although he hasn’t scored in the last 3 matches van Persie’s ability is there to be seen and I have a sneaking suspicion that he’s taken his foot off the pedal a bit in a bid to save his strength for the match against Madrid.
Personally I’m quite confident of our ability to go to the Bernabeau and knick a goal or three. Madrid’s league form has been nothing short of atrocious but we all know they gave up on retaining the La Liga crown some time ago. They’ve been waiting for this round of the Champions League as well and will be champing at the bit to get that 10th European title under their belt. Aside from the usual media fueled and inflated rumors of death doom and destruction going on in the Madrid dressing room, Real do have a few real problems. Golden boy Cristiano Ronaldo is struggling with ankle and groin injuries but looks set to play for Portugal in this terribly timed round of international matches and St Iker is out with that well documented broken hand. Questions remain at LB where Marcelo has yet to regain form following a lengthy spell out with a broken metatarsal and Fabio Coentrao has been less than convincing when on the pitch. Sami Khedira has been one of Madrid’s better performers this season but was substituted at half time in Madrid’s last match against Grenada along with Karim Benzema who is yet another Madrid star who twinkles in time to some beat that none of the rest of his teammates can seem to find with any regularity. Xabi Alonso is a vital cog in the Madrid midfield but he’s been struggling with neck and back pains since taking a rather nasty fall a few weeks back. Mesut Ozil and Luka Modric have also flitted in and out of the team for the bulk of the season and Kaka is still lingering around after his move to Milan collapsed. Needless to say, Jose Mourinho has his work cut out for him in terms of picking his XI to host Manchester United.
Choosing the United starting XI is has proved to be an exercise in futility in recent years. Sir Alex always throws a surprise in the mix but for me personally I’d start De Gea in goal. Rafael at RB. Vidic (if fit) and Evans together at CB. Evra LB. Carrick and Anderson in midfield with Nani and Kagawa/Rooney wide with RvP at the tip and Rooney/Kagawa supporting him.
De Gea
Rafael Vidic Evans Evra
Carrick Anderson
Nani Rooney Kagawa
RvP
Like I mentioned earlier its too soon to really be thinking about Madrid with a tricky home match against Everton this weekend to come first but I couldn’t help it. The dinner table isn’t quite set and the main course hasn’t started cooking yet, but Mom is back from the store and the groceries are most definitely out of the car.
Earth Sports News 