Mancini Makes Promising Start
Let me be upfront and honest. I do not like British managers being replaced with foreign ones. I also do not like players from the British Isles being replaced by players from the continent, Africa or North America. Call me a traditionalist, but I believe the fabric and character of English football has been hurt by a foreign invasion. Not that I am against all foreign players, but I do support the 6 + 5 rule and believe it could ultimately help the English game.
All of this having been said, I am an admirer of football tactics and a supporter of Manchester City Football Club. That puts me in the awkward position of understanding that the sacking of a Welsh manager and replacement by an Italian manager was probably the best move the club could have made from a footballing perspective.
Is Second Division Soccer Neccesary in the USA?
Let me preface this article by stating I do not subscribe to the view that I am about to write about. But enough MLS fans have expressed concern to me about what they consider a piddly minor league dispute potentially affecting the good work of MLS and the USSF since 1996 that I felt it was only fair to air some of these views.
Here are some of these thoughts:
“USL is a waste of time and space. Anything USL does, MLS and the USSF can do better. The USSF has academy teams spread throughout the country and promotes the national team as a brand name that is the “home” team everywhere.”
SPA Daily: 2009 International Awards
On the Wednesday version of Set Piece Analysts’ daily podcast, SPAs Jeff Kassouf, Johnathan Starling, Kartik Krishnaiyer and Richard Farley hand out their end-of-year awards for the international world, following-up on Tuesday’s club pod by walking through 2009’s best players, coaches, leagues, stories, memories.
Set Piece Analysts’ daily podcast features the site’s best talent talking about all the news in the football world. You can get it via iTunes, from the site’s archive, in the Flash player (top and to the right) or from the inline player below.
Don’t forget you can get in touch with the show either in the comments below, at podcast@setpieceanalysts.com or on our individual Twitter accounts that can be found on the left hand side of the page. While your at it don’t forget to follow Set Piece Analyst on Twitter at twitter.com/spanalysts.
It’s time for Texas to have its own pro Soccer league
Phil Rawlins, team owner of the Austin Aztex, take note.
As one of the only stable entities left in USL and someone who has the rare affiliation with a professional team outside the United States (Stoke City), Rawlins is someone who carries clout at a time when professional Soccer is at one of its most unsettling moments. A players strike is looming for one league and the other two (USL Div. 1 and the NASL) leagues are trying to figure out whether they will play a 2010 schedule. (USL Div. 2 will play 2010 with what appears to be only 6 teams, all from the Eastern part of the U.S.) 
It’s the perfect time for the 7 PDL teams from Texas to seek one more team ownership for San Antonio and come together to form their own league. They should ensure their success by complimenting their men’s teams with a women’s league. Thus, eight teams because 16 teams. Both the men’s and women’s teams of each city/area can use the same team colors and can travel together to give fans a doubleheader for all regular season games.
Texas may be the only state that could be successful with its own pro Soccer league. The only other ones with a chance to accomplish it would be Florida or California. But, a close look at each state’s current infrastructure puts Texas out in front. Though youth Soccer is strong in Florida and California, it may be strongest in Texas.
Also, quite a few of these Mid South PDL teams have been around a while and have lots of fans who support them from year to year.
Laredo is a big competitor every year for the PDL title, winning it once. The El Paso Patriots have an enormous history as far as Soccer teams go in the U.S. They were founded in 1989, made the U.S. Open Cup final in 1995 and have been playing in a soccer-specific stadium since 2005. And, the West Texas United (from Midland, Texas) seem solid as they made a big splash in their inaugural season of 2009, making the playoffs.
There are two Texas mottos that seem to always stand out. ‘Don’t Mess with Texas’ and ‘Everything’s Bigger in Texas.’ Do these mottos hold true for Soccer too?
For these 7 owners, it’s time to take a deeper look at the possiblity of forming an all Texas pro Soccer league.
It seems, that if they only want to be part of the USL’s base, than they are selling themselves short when it comes to the bottom line of making money. Starting their own league and pulling their resources together without the middle man would create more possible revenue from new franchises and all other marketing efforts.
Alejandro Bedoya Called into US Camp
Former Weston Fury Youth player and St Thomas Aquinas Alumnus Alejandro Bedoya has finally been called into the US National Team. He will be attending the January camp at the Home Depot Center which ends with a friendly versus Honduras.
For more on Bedoya, including his youth and professional career, check out this article I wrote earlier this year for MLS Talk.
USL/TOA/NASL Update
The gag order placed by the USSF on parties involved in the dispute between USL and several of its (former?) clubs has precluded fans of the clubs and reporters from gathering much information the past few days.This gag order was necessary given the poisoned waters of the rhetorical war that had ensued between all parties.
I am told by a source close to the situation that the USSF has been working diligently to foster a compromise that will work in the best interests of all the affected clubs. The source reveals that Dan Flynn, the Secretary General of US Soccer has done a remarkable job of attempting to build a consensus based solution to the extremely tricky situation. Flynn, I have been told has shown remarkable leadership the past several weeks.
Our source maintains that all plans currently being considered, would permit every current second division club scheduled to play in 2010, to play somewhere, be it in USL or a newly sanctioned NASL. It is possible that only one second division will play in 2010, but that every team planning to play in 2010 will be permitted to play regardless of the league they play in. So rumors that some teams would be dropped based on which league gets sanctioned can now cease.
With this small piece of information revealed, I certainly hope supporters of the affected clubs will have a Merry Christmas knowing whether it is the USL or NASL, to plan on a 2010 season. I have received a few emails from supporters of various clubs concerned that they will not have live soccer in 2010. Based on what I have learned, I believe fans can be assured their teams will play in 2010, even if we don’t know which league they will compete in, just yet.
SPA Daily Podcast: Yearly Club Awards.
On the Tuesday version of Set Piece Analysts’ daily podcast, SPAs Jeff Kassouf, Johnathan Starling, Kartik Krishnaiyer and Richard Farley hand out their end-of-year awards for the club world, walking through 2009’s beat players, coaches, leagues, stories, memories and more, a prelude to Wednesday’s morning’s podcast, where the crew will do the same for the international game.
Set Piece Analysts’ daily podcast features the site’s best talent talking about all the news in the football world. You can get it via iTunes, from the site’s archive, in the Flash player (top and to the right) or from the inline player below.
Don’t forget you can get in touch with the show either in the comments below, at podcast@setpieceanalysts.com or on our individual Twitter accounts that can be found on the left hand side of the page. While your at it don’t forget to follow Set Piece Analyst on Twitter at twitter.com/spanalysts.
Check out the show here.
The Hughes Sacking at Set Piece Analysts
Mark Hughes was sacked hours after Manchester City’s 4-3 victory over Sunderland Saturday. Read my thoughts on the sacking and hiring of Roberto Martinez at Set Piece Analysts.
Also check out this excellent piece for SPA by Richard Farley, and my piece on Roberto Mancini’s challenges ahead.
Manchester City 4:3 Sunderland- Post Match Thoughts
In a match that represented a microcosm of City’s season thus far, Craig Bellamy and Roque Santa Cruz, the two players in the side who had previously played for Mark Hughes stepped up to try and save the embattled manager. But is it enough?
With Roberto Mancini who won two Serie A titles as a manager at Eastlands today (Mancini’s Inter were awarded a third title after the fact) the press is active with speculation about Hughes future.
Hughes Should Stay
Mark Hughes time at Manchester City has not been smooth by any stretch of the imagination. The side is currently underachieving after the manager asked his critic to judge him based on this season’s results.
Yet, City’s Arab owners need to be cautious in pulling the trigger. Hughes understands British football and the Premier League better than any manager currently available on the open market. Bringing in a continental manager who will have difficulty with English players is a recipe for disaster and could send City closer to the relegation zone than to the top four.
From a tactical standpoint, Sparky is trying to get the Blues to play with style, but has been forced to mold several disparate parts together. City has overspent on the attack, while neglecting the defense. The sale of longtime skipper Richard Dunne and the unwillingness to buy former City defender Sylvan Distain speaks loudly to the priorities of City’s board.
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