Tag / Thierry Henry

by Frank Maduri

MLS Roundup: All Star Week Edition

This week in MLS (Major League Soccer) was a busy one between the All Star Game festivities in Portland, OR and the news surrounding some of the flagship franchises in the league. The news cycle even featured a couple of stories about the potential expansion of the league.

 

I will provide some perspective on the week that was in MLS as the league continues to ride a surge of momentum from the World Cup in Brazil.

 

Empire State of Mind

 

The week began with the news revolving around the two New York Metro area franchises: the New York Red Bulls and New York City FC (who will begin play in 2015). The Red Bulls have been dealing with some negative media attention since the story broke that they had whiffed on bringing in international superstar, Xavi, who looked certain to be headed there to play in MLS.

 

The story deepened with a report that Xavi decided to not play for the Red Bulls because he learned that their current captain and star player, Thierry Henry, was not returning to the team next season. Henry is in the last year of his contract and the negotiations on a potential new agreement had been problematic over the past few months. The news that he may not be returning has been met by a mixed set of emotions from Red Bulls fans: shock, anger, frustration, and others who are ready to move on from Henry to a different core star player.

 

New York City FC was in the mix to sign Xavi but they failed to do so, as the European superstar has decided to remain in Spain. The burgeoning expansion team which will play its home matches in the storied Yankee Stadium then announced a mega deal with Frank Lampard, who subsequently was featured on all the team’s on-line promotional efforts. The deal is for 2 years and it is believed to be the most expensive annual salaried contract in MLS history.

 

In other New York soccer news:

  • New York City FC announced the launch of their Facebook page (now that they have a few players signed to the roster)
  • New York Red Bulls and their sporting director, Andy Roxburgh, spent all week refuting media reports connecting aging star Ronaldinho with being targeted by the team. Roxburgh reiterated that the Red Bulls are not interested in bringing him on the roster but that he would be a welcome addition to MLS overall
  • Thierry Henry received a wonderful ovation from the crowd at the All Star Game in Portland on Wednesday night which was a very nice gesture by some of the most spirited fans in MLS

 

 

All Star Display

 

The MLS All Star team displayed their talent and demonstrated the improved skill level of the league by defeating Bayern Munich in the game held in Portland. The week leading into the game and the event on Wednesday night showcased the immense popularity of soccer in Portland, where fans are known to sleep outside to get tickets that do not go on sale on the website because every match is sold out.

 

The atmosphere and the crowd singing the National Anthem in unison, as well as the Portland Timbers mascot using a chainsaw to slice a section of wood off a tree every time the home team scores a goal; these are the sights and sounds of soccer in the Pacific Northwest.

It was all on full display on ESPN in a nationally televised event that will further boost the profile of the league heading into their new TV contract next season. That new TV contract will:

  • Retain ESPN as a broadcast partner which they have been since the beginning of MLS
  • Add FOX Sports and their 1 year old specialty sports channel, FOX Sports 1, to the mix of national coverage of MLS
  • NBC Sports will no longer cover the MLS after the end of this 2014 season
  • MLS leveraged a great deal because they added the second New York team and they have expansion teams already announced in Atlanta and Orlando
  • MLS was able to retain ESPN who wanted to keep a toe hold in soccer after losing the rights to the World Cup
  • MLS is able to partner with FOX Sports who is the new rights holder for the World Cup in the future
  • The new TV contract is going to create more “stand alone” featured games on Sundays throughout the MLS season

 

California Dreaming – Expansion Round Up

 

Those of you who read my coverage of MLS on my blog and on two other websites know that I have covered the topic of expansion extensively in the past. The latest developments on that topic was in the news cycle this week as well:

  • David Beckham is still trying to get a deal done on a stadium in Miami for his expansion bid there. MLS has been firm that they will not expand there until the stadium plan is in place. I have written previously about how the Port of Miami would not work and that idea is no longer being considered.
  • Beckham’s former team, Manchester United defeated Liverpool earlier this week in Miami in front of over 51,000 fans at the stadium where the Dolphins play NFL football. Beckham’s group is looking at stadium sites in Broward County – north of the City of Miami
  • The owners of the Sacramento Kings of the NBA have announced their intentions to purchase the minor league soccer team, the Sacramento Republic, who lead their league in average game attendance. The city also ranked very high in the television ratings for the World Cup and both of those factors have been noticed by the MLS executives in charge of expansion.

 

One Era Closes – Another Opens

 

The MLS has never been more popular than it is currently, and the interest seems to be on an upward growth trend. A new era for the league is on the horizon. This week we learned that Landon Donovan, one of the original stars and one of the most recognizable American soccer players, will be retiring at the end of this season.

 

Donovan and his fierce competitiveness and incredible talent has left an indelible mark on the MLS. His presence will be missed, but his time and his era is coming to a close. The league is poised to grow into new markets and attract increasingly talented players from the international ranks as the popularity of soccer increases in the sport’s “final frontier” as it has been called: the United States.

 

 (Some background information courtesy of MLSSoccer.com, NBC Sports, ESPN.com, SI.com, Miami Sun-Sentinel, FOX Sports, and Sacramento Bee) 

 

by Frank Maduri

Stopping The Slide: New York Red Bulls vs. D.C. United Match Preview

The New York Red Bulls have hit a rough patch and are winless in their last three matches. The team has a chance to stop the slide in their upcoming match on Saturday night with the rival D.C. United.

 

This game is the definition of a “get right” game for New York, as they are coming off probably their worst loss in a long time, dropping a 3-2 decision to Chivas USA, the worst team in the Western Conference, last weekend.

 

Chivas USA had not won in 19 matches, and had not scored more than one goal in a game since April 27th, so for the Red Bulls to allow 3 goals to that team, it was a pretty lousy performance out in Southern California. It resulted in Red Bulls Head Coach Mike Petke issuing a public apology to the fans for the poor performance of his team (www.nbcsports.com).

 

Then, leading up to this game against D.C., the story circulated around the media that Petke and Red Bulls team captain, Thierry Henry, had a heated argument during practice on Thursday and had to be physically separated by the assistant coaches (www.nydailynews.com).

 

This is not uncommon for a team with sky high expectations and one of the best records in the entire league, to have some dissention internally during a bad stretch of games. In fact, The Daily News, did a story on how Mike Petke truly embodied a New Yorker for confronting a world class player like Thierry Henry, and not cowering to him like other Red Bulls coaches have done in the past.

 

On a personal note, Petke was my favorite player on the old MetroStars teams, and I think his hard edge, intensity, and passion is the perfect combination for a Head Coach of this group of players.

 

Match Preview

 

The match against the D.C. United on Saturday night will air on the NBC Sports Network at 8 PM (EST) and is a feature game for MLS this weekend.

 

The United come into the game with a record of 3-17-5 and have the lowest point total in all of the MLS. The team from the capital city has a 1-6-2 record in their last 8 games and is 0-9-3 on the road this season (www.usatoday.com). They are coming off a 1-1 tie with Toronto FC last Saturday at RFK Stadium.

 

The players to watch for the D.C. United are: Luis Silva, Dwayne DeRosario, Bill Hamid, and Nick DeLeon.

 

Silva and DeRosario are the two key players for D.C. to make their offense work. DeRosario is a very difficult player to guard and defend when the United midfield can get him the ball up front into open space.

 

Bill Hamid, the goalkeeper for the United, played very well in the first meeting between these two teams which ended in 0-0 draw. He will need to replicate that performance for D.C. to have a chance to keep this game competitive.

 

I added DeLeon to the list because of the other injuries in the United midfield ranks at this point. He needs to step up and provide a strong performance in this game for his team to have a chance to win.

 

This is the last game in the season series between the two teams with the before mentioned 0-0 draw and a 2-0 Red Bulls victory the results of the prior meetings. The two teams compete for the Atlantic Cup which the Red Bulls will capture on Saturday night with either a win or a tie in this match (www.usatoday.com).

 

The New York Red Bulls come into the match with a record of 11-9-6, they are winless in their last 3 matches, and they trail Montreal by 2 points for first place in the Eastern Conference, so this is an important match for them.

 

The players to watch on the Red Bulls are: Luis Robles, Jonny Steele, Kosuke Kimura, Jamison Olave, Thierry Henry, and Tim Cahill.

 

The New York goalkeeper, Luis Robles, needs to bounce back with a good performance in this match after giving up 3 goals to the offensively challenged Chivas USA side last weekend. His play in this match is going to be key in the results.

 

Kimura and Olave will be relied on defensively to mark up against the top United offensive players. Their play in the defensive third in slowing those attacking runs is going to be critical to the Red Bulls strategy to win this match.

 

Outlook

 

This is a match that, on paper, looks like it would favor the Red Bulls especially coming off the loss to Chivas USA. However, this is traditionally one of the most deep seeded rivalries in the MLS between New York and D.C., and the United will be prepared. The team from D.C. would like nothing more than to come into the Red Bull Arena on Saturday night in a national cable televised game and defeat the Red Bulls.

 

In the end analysis, I think the Red Bulls will come out focused and prepared, they play very well on their home field, and I think they will get the victory by the score of 3-1. It should be an exciting match and it is a crucial game for the Red Bulls to stop this slide of losing games to keep themselves in the mix for home field advantage in the MLS playoffs.