again -- way too many more to mention.
News from the CONCACAF world: For a non-soccer time of year in our States, there sure is a lot of important soccer being played this week. Houston and D.C. United are toiling to move forward in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. Here are a couple of important things we've learned so far:
United isn't going to miss Christian Gomez. Not much anyway. New playmaker Marcelo Gallardo reads the game well and has the touch and skill to execute. It does appear that he'll need an adjustment period, getting used to the fast pace of MLS matches.
New central defenders Gonzalo Martinez and Gonzalo Peralta don't appear to need much an adjustment period. They looked pretty comfortable, although Harbour View didn't mount much of an attack until late in the 1-1 draw in Kingston, Jamaica.
And while we don't yet know what to make of Franco Niell, another newbie on United's roster, this much already seems certain: something will always be happening around the little guy, whether it's collisions, injuries, drama, hustle, bustle, some fancy skills, etc. It was the same last week in San Antonio, where United played a series of friendlies. The guy is a hoot to watch.
From Houston, we know that Pat Onstad, having now achieved age 40, still has it. He made several nice stops as Houston matched CSD Municipal in a scoreless draw in Guatemala City.
Onstad says the trick for him is keeping sharp and in shape in the off-season. Otherwise, there's too much ground to make up in the preseason, he says.
Mission accomplished, apparently.
News from the CONCACAF world, II: The middling attendance figures in Tampa Bay for that portion of the ongoing CONCACAF Olympic qualifying begs this question:
With all these nice, smaller MLS stadiums, why are so many of the qualifying matches being played at huge stadiums in Nashville and Tampa Bay? (Especially considering that U.S. Soccer has revealed its short list of potential sites for upcoming U.S. World Cup qualifiers, and it's almost exclusively MLS stadiums.)
Here's the answer, according to U.S. Soccer spokesman Neil Buethe:
Creating atmosphere is only one of the considerations when CONCACAF and U.S. Soccer go back and forth in the venue selection process. (CONCACAF gets the last word, as it's their event.)
Yes, smaller stadiums might be better in terms of making the event look better on TV and in generally giving it the smell of success. But there are multiple teams involved, and that creates logistical challenges with locker rooms and training facilities. Plus, big stadiums are better equipped to handle the varying TV demands. And there is a matter of creating fair competition, which pretty much excludes any cold weather venues.
"When we select the venues we'll use, obviously, we need to weigh all the factors, not just creating atmosphere," Buethe said.
Let's talk about the weather: Mark this down: at some point this year, the subject of when MLS should begin and end its annual campaign will become a hot-button topic. It happens as regularly as summer itself.
But here's something else to flavor the debate. Follow along for a second.
Lots of folks believe MLS should get in line with (most of) the rest of the world and go to a fall start, spring finish. The argument "for" is obvious: that's how most everybody does it, and it would reduce international conflicts in the summer months.
The "against" camp says this: Going against NFL and college football to start, then going against NHL and NBA all winter could squeeze the soccer space on the sports pages and other media outlets that much further. By playing in the summer, MLS goes through a major part of its season with only baseball as competition.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber has said that, ideally, the move to a fall-winter-spring schedule will happen someday. It's not right for the time being, he likes to say, but it might well happen in the future. Then comes the obvious question about weather. On that, Garber always reminds people that, in this country and elsewhere, we play our sports during tough winter months. In places like New York, Buffalo, Green Bay and New England, they manage to stage NFL contests without much of a hitch.
Yes, it's theoretically true that you can play matches in bad, cold weather. That's why they have orange soccer balls.
Here's the new wrinkle in the argument: The MLS teams from those places do everything they can to stay away from their home cities in the winter.
Toronto, beset with record snowfall this year, has spent precious little preseason hours in their country of "three-down football." In fact, until this past week, they had been in Toronto for only about two days during the preseason. Not much different at New England, where they've enjoyed a virtual tour of Spring Break locales. The New York Red Bulls have been on the road extensively, too.
Just something else for framing the debate.
Steve Davis is a freelance writer who has covered Major League Soccer since its inception. Steve can be reached at BigTexSoccer@yahoo.com. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
