Agreeing and disagreeing with Ivan Gazidis

Part 1 -- Agreement:

Interestingly astute comments from Ivan Gazidis regarding the influx of South American talent being the story of MLS this year, rather than the league becoming Beckham League Soccer.

I find this very encouraging. Throwing US monies at aging international stars? We've seen that story and know how it ends. Investing in a wealth of talent in Central and South America is cheaper and has a more fundamental impact on the quality of play.

Let's be honest: while big name transfers will get MLS some play in certain media cycles, there is a core group of soccer-hungry, soccer-literate fans that MLS struggles to engage, primarily because the technical skill and quality of play is frequently poor. With properly researched scouting, MLS can have technically gifted South American players who you can feature in the league and improve that reputation, and do so with less investment and less risk.


Part 2 - Disagreement

As for Gazidis's comment:

"To me it represents a significant failure on our part that, outside of perhaps our goalkeepers, we really haven't produced a truly world class player," Gazidis said.

I think that is harsh at best. First, it depends heavily on your definition of "world class." For me, that means a player that could step into any side in the world--not always the first XI, but certainly into the first team. Have we created a field player in that class? I'd agree that we probably haven't--though I still believe Adu and Altidore may be the first in that category over the next 4-5 years as they grow into the prime of their careers.

Is that, however, a "significant failure" for a side that basically was an also-ran in international football as recently as 1990? While he had some faults, I always appreciated Bruce Arena's sufficiently long view on this sort of thing. It takes time to build world class athletes in any sport, and you can't totally ignore a sport for decades and then expect to have top class performers in a few years.

The success of DeMarcus Beasley, Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra and others is significant and shouldn't be ignored. An American playing top flight football in major European leagues no longer bears mentioning, as it did when Claudio Reyna was customarily called "Captain America" by EPL announcers because he was such a novelty.

It may take a long time to have world class players in the top flight leagues, but we are clearly taking steps in the right direction.

Beasley to Rangers

DaMarcus Beasley is staying in the UK by signing today with Rangers F.C. While it is good to see Beasley playing Champion's League football next year, I have reservations about the move.

Some will remember that pundits on both sides of the Atlantic questioned Claudio Reyna's switch to Ibrox due to his susceptibility to injury. While that has always been a concern for Claudio, commentators were particularly concerned due to the physical nature of play in Scotland.

Given Beasley's small frame and his tendency to draw hard fouls from slower defenders, He could have plenty of bruises to match his new uniform. At this point in his career, I'm not sure if Beasley needs to get toughened up.

There is certainly potential for Beasley and for the Rangers. He'll provide needed pace to the Rangers attack, and the player can certainly expect silverware if he stays for a few seasons. I just hope his skills and health aren't squandered in the process.

Gold Cup Final Roundup and Thoughts

Great previews from trusted names:

• Ives
• Wahl
  
• Jeff Carlisle

In short, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Maybe it is the back spasms I'm suffering through or the sharp pain somewhat lower caused by my Arsenal team facing a future without Thierry Henry and David Dein and possibly sans Monsieur Wenger. Maybe it is that this transitional version of the USMNT gives me fits with its dodgy defending. But I don't feel as confident as I have in recent years going up against El Tri.

As Carlisle notes, much of the US attack has been, and will need to be, focused around the Donovan and Beasley, who with Dempsey have produced some really fine counterattacking soccer in spots during this tournament. And with a surprisingly strong Frankie Hejduk suspended, a young defender (I hope and expect Jonathan Spector) will be asked to step into Frankie's shoes--providing solid defending, timely runs, and twelve-yards-behind-the-goal crosses.

more tomorrow...