Europa League Still Tops Champions League Competitively

Portugal could have 3 of the Final 4

One of my favorite topics is this esoteric argument of the Champions League vs. the Europa League. I've written before that while yes the talent and glamour of the Champions League outclasses the former UEFA Cup, I say the level of competition is better in the Europa League.

Now that we're one round in for the quarterfinals of each competition, I think it would be fun to analyze whether my theory is on point. Amazingly, the score lines of the two sets of four matches from each competition are almost equal; three blowouts in each and one tight match. In the Champions League, the semifinalists are essentially set and they're quite tasty: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and Schalke. Lots of juicy storylines there.

The final four draw could pit the two Spaniards in a Classico for the ages. You could have Raul taking on the club where his heart, legacy and legend lives in Real Madrid. United against either of the Spanish teams pits two of Europe's top three against each other; Mourinho vs. SAF? Wow.

In the Europa League, the obvious story line is the Portuguese trio of Benfica, F.C. Porto and Braga still alive and in line to make up three-fourths of the final four. Ultimately, a Benfica-Porto final would be surreal. These two teams score goals by the bushel. They hate each other. Their fans hate each other. Porto is quickly displacing Benfica as Portugal's top team. Benfica's glory days are close to 50 years gone-by despite more than 30 domestic titles. Porto has won two European Cups and one UEFA Cup since Benfica last won anything continental. And then there's upstart Braga which is close to usurping Sporting as Portugal's third member of the country's Big 3. Braga got a positive result in Russia yesterday and is close to a semifinal date with Benfica. And then there's Villareal of Capdevilla and Jozy Altidore fame. They score in bunches too and will make for a great Portugal-Spain semifinal against Porto.

Clearly the winner here is: wait for it -- the fans of course. Granted the next leg of both competitions' quarterfinals are going to be dreadful lock-down affairs as the teams in front are going to put 11 behind the ball and play for survival's sake. Looking ahead, however, I'm going to stick with my premise that competitively, the Europa League is a better show right now.

The Champions League is absolutely the hot sexy chick in the room, but I bet we get more open, competitive games in the Europa League final four than we do from the Wednesday Wonderland of games!

LeBron Takes His Talents to Anfield; Acquires Minority Share of Liverpool

LeBron's New Team.

So LeBron James is a minority owner of Liverpool FC this morning. Well yippe-kai-yay. Hey LeBron, can you find Liverpool on a map? (Hint: It's in England--over there, no higher. North. No, that's south).

The nuts and bolts of the deal are that Fenway Sports Group, i.e., the Boston Red Sox, and LeBron's marketing firm LRMR negotiated a deal where Fenway will rep LeBron. In exchange, this expands the King James brand into Europe and aligns the Red Sox, Liverpool and LeBron whenever convenient. Ho-hum.

This is clearly a marriage of convenience. LeBron's brand is probably stronger overseas than it is here. He's still stinging from "The Decision" and his choice to create some sort of superteam with the Miami Heat, manipulating the arrival of Chris Bosh, as well as his own, to join Dwayne Wade. Remains to be seen if the experiment is going to pay off for the Heat, but LeBron is definitely not regarded as the game's ambassador here. He's made some awkward, questionable decisions and most importantly--has yet to win ANYTHING.

I think this one is all splash and no substance. You'll see LeBron at Anfield for sure in the near future and peddling swag worldwide. Maybe he can convince King Kenny to build a superteam at Liverpool! Ronaldo, Messi and Iniesta! Sure. Why not?

He's King James.

MLS, Primera Division de Mexico to Merge; More than Half of MLS Clubs to Contract

Sources, yes I have sources, have told me in confidence that Major League Soccer will announce on Nov. 1 that it will merge with the Primera Division de Mexico and will contract more than half of its current 18 teams. The newly formed continental league does not have a name yet, but is the first salvo in a planned marketing war against Europe's top leagues. Europe has long promised to break off its top teams and form a SuperLeague. This is the thinking behind the Primera-MLS merger.

The Mexican league is apparently in deep financial trouble, something that's about to be made public in the coming weeks. It's trying to reach out the U.S. in order to tap the fledgling soccer market here, in particular on the West Coast and in the southern states. The Primera also promises to invest in U.S. player development camps, a la the academies that most of Europe's top clubs sponsor and support. The hopes are that the U.S. financial resources combined with Mexico's established football training philosophies will groom future stars not only for the new continental league, but for two countries' respective national teams.

The contraction decisions have not been made final by MLS or the affected clubs. The hope is that the clubs that are not invited to the newly formed continental league would form a second division of sorts. This gives legs to the notion that there may be relegation and promotion battles, and the elimination of MLS-style playoffs. The continental league would play on the world's football calendar and strictly adhere to FIFA rules and bylaws, especially with regard to stadia, pitches and other issues.

So the big question, I guess, is which teams would be contracted. I have seen an unofficial list and by the names on the list, I'm assuming these are the surviving teams:

1. LA Galaxy
2. Houston Dynamo
3. FC Dallas
4. San Jose Earthquakes
5. Seattle Sounders
6. New England Revolution
7. NY Red Bulls
8. DC United
9. Real Salt Lake
10. Columbus Crew

Obviously, none of the Canadian teams made the cut, nor did expansion Portland and Philadelphia. Can't wait to see how this shakes out. Stay tuned; I'm waiting on a couple of phone calls this afternoon and hopefully more details.

6 Things We Learned from Yesterday's Friendlies

As we wrote yesterday, some international friendlies do matter. I highlighted three matches, and I think I scored better than Portugal did against Spain.

So in that vein, here are six things we learned from yesterday's friendlies:

1. Let's chill on Portugal's 4-0 curbstomp of Spain. Great win over the world champions, but it was a friendly. five months ago, Portugal had no answer for Spain's possession game, nor for the Spanish defense. If this one meant something and Spain sent a full complement to Lisbon, methinks this might have been a tad tighter. The big winner here was Paulo Bento. The new Portugal manager is the only thing that's new and shiny and different since South Africa. This is a big notch on his belt and lots of brownie points with his players, many of whom are close to his contemporaries.
2. Boy did Nani screw Cristiano Ronaldo out of a legendary goal. Ronaldo put a litany of moves out of his playbook down the left side of the Spain defense; the last guy to get burned was Gerard Pique (pick up your jock at lost and found Senor Pique). Ronaldo made himself some space and lifted a gorgeous ball over Pique and Casillas into a wide open goal. Nani, who was in an offside position but not active on the play, dashed in and headed the ball. Some claim the ball was in already--maybe it was. But either way, Nani's action was enough to prompt the referee blow the whistle and nullify the goal. Too bad. Ronaldo was pissed. Nani apologized. End of the day, no biggie.  That said, the cuffs are off Ronaldo with the national team and it's crazy how fluid the Portugal offense is. And Nani is a giant in the making; he deserved a goal on his first shot of the game.
3. As for Spain, again, chill. They're still the best. They'll be in the 2012 Euro final. 
4. England loses 2-1 to France, horrors. But the worse horror is the fact that Steven Gerrard was still in a meaningless game more than 80 minutes in, and naturally, he gets hurt and Liverpool is without their best player for at least four weeks. This kind of irresponsibility is what gives friendlies a bad name. People are already sour on the international game, and when Fabio Capello allows his ego to supercede the availability and health of his best players--who are paid by clubs--these are more black marks. Liverpool is pissed, and they should be. This is a meaningless game and managers must be responsible enough to give the biggest stars a token run and turn the stage over to emerging players. What better way to evaluate them? Huh Fabio? Fabio? Any time now?
5. Speaking of emerging players, how about the U.S.'s Juan Agudelo? The look on the kid's face--he's 17--was worth a million bucks after he scored to beat South Africa yesterday, 1-0, in RSA. He made a pretty mature run to score; he followed the play, picked his spot to pounce on a loose ball in the box before he buried high into the goal. Emotional, fantastic and just what these friendlies are supposed to be about. Play young players, see how they deal with the environment and whether they can do something positive. A-pluses all around for Agudelo and coach Bob Bradley. 
6. In case you've forgotten, Lionel Messi is the best player in the world. Now Argentina's tiny wonder played the whole way against Brazil, totally shattering my thoughts above in the Gerrard section but what the hell. His goal to beat Brazil in injury time just reinforces his brilliance and stature as the game's best player. He's got the best first step in sports--yes better than NBA guys--and the best balance. He slaloms between players, always stays on his feet--unless he's ravaged by an opponent--and usually scores when he creates his own space. His goal yesterday was genius because he doesn't have to hit a bomb of a shot with tons of effect on it to be great. He runs to space that isn't there, finds his own space and within a fraction of a second, unleashes whatever kind of shot necessary to score. Yesterday's grass-hugging roller was agonizingly slow, but equally unstoppable. He's the best. Enough said. 

Starting Eleven: Portugal v Spain friendly

Portugal:  

Eduardo; 

J. Pereira, 

R. Carvalho, 

B. Alves, 

Bosingwa; 

R. Meireles, 

J. Moutinho, 

C. Martins; 

C. Ronaldo, 

Postiga, 

Nani

Spain: 

Casillas; 

Ramos,

Piqué, 

Puyol, 

Capdevila; 

Busquets, 

Alonso, 

Xavi; 

Silva, 

Villa, 

Iniesta

Starting Eleven Friendlies: Why Some Matter

Brazil Just Rocks

International friendlies are kinda like cholesterol; they just clog up the arteries of the football season.

Most of these guys play long enough seasons that they don't need another mid-week call-up for a friendly with Slovakia. No offense to the Slovaks, but I'm all set with that. I don't want my stud defender catching a stud on the kneecap and be injured for six months.

Compounding the nonsense that is the International Friendly, particularly in 2010, is that it's a World Cup year. National teamers play full bore for their club teams, most of the good ones play in earnest through May until league titles, domestic cups and the Champions League are decided. This year, those guys transitioned right to the World Cup, which was in South Africa in case you don't remember. That's not exactly around the corner, and for added measure this year, it was cold down there.

Now most are back in full swing for their domestic campaigns and Euro 2012 qualifying, and lo and behold, here's another round of International Friendlies. Gotcha.

Most of these games suck--there, I said it. China-Lativa? Really? We need that Latvian tour of Asia in mid-November? Slovakia-Bosnia (eesh, not even going near that political undertones there). Poland-Ivory Coast? Someone's got a real f-ing sense of humor there.

Here's rundown of some that matter:

PORTUGAL-SPAIN
It's not all bleak today, however. Portugal hosts Spain today at 4 p.m. ET, the best game of the day in the last time slot. Hopefully it's a good one. Remember, Spain knocked off Portugal 1-0 in the second round of the World Cup on its way to the championship. Portugal gave Spain a decent effort, but as usual when it counts, came up just short (hmm, methinks I used to say that about Spain back in the day!).

Some interesting storylines here though: Paolo Bento gets his first crack at a "tasty" friendly and it's a chance for him to score more points with his players and the home folk. He's called up an interesting roster and it will be interesting to see what the Portugal Starting Eleven will be against Spain. Will Nani continue his fine form? Will Ronaldo step up his national team play against many of his Real Madrid mates? Which Eduardo will we get? World Cup Eduardo? Or that other guy who F-d up the first two games of Euro qualifying and got Queiroz fired?

As for Spain, they're fine. Trust me. 

ENGLAND-FRANCE
England will start Andy Carroll up front and Fabio Capello has another opportunity to prove his genius in games that don't matter. Is there any bigger disillusionment that Capello? This man turned England on its ear prior to South Africa; the team was just killing everyone in its path, scoring at will; he could do no wrong. And then they got to South Africa and the goals dried up, the imagination withered and Wayne Rooney was a shell of himself. No measure of redemption will save either until 2014.

France, meanwhile, is just the scourge of football in my opinion and not enough bad things can happen to that national team on the pitch. They can't lose by enough goals. They can't have enough mutinies to satisfy me. Thierry Henry cheated France into the World Cup and the sweetest justice was the manner in which they exited.

Here's hoping England jumps ugly on them.

ARGENTINA-BRAZIL
This one matters just because. It's the two best teams in the world with the most dynamic players and the most inspirational fans. And no Maradona. A win all around. 

Sporting KC: MLS Latest Step Backward

The tagline here is tremendous

In the latest edition of why MLS is weak, I present to you Sporting KC.

Gotcha. Bet you thought I was going to rant about the snooze-fest that was the MLS playoffs or the ultimate MLS Cup (can you call it a "Final" without owing some commission to Don Garber?) between Colorado and FC Dallas.

Actually, it's Dallas that kinda reinforced my original premise to write today's post against the latest bastardization of soccer in the United States of America. I swear to God, shot clocks are right around the corner
.
Seriously though, word is that the Kansas City Wizards, one of the original MLS franchises, is seriously considering going with the Sporting KC moniker. I'm flattered since Sporting is my club, but really? Sporting KC. What's the affinity again between Portugal and Kansas City? And what's the affinity between Sporting and anyone outside of Lisbon or Ports who have emigrated from the old country. I dare any of you who happen to be in KC reading this to find Portugal on the map first shot. Go ahead, I'll give you a sec.

Thanksfully, the Wizards faithful are rebelling. It's their team, their name, their logo and they're not giving it up without a fight. Good for them. One thing MLS got right in the early days was creating an identity for its teams that was American. D.C. United aside, the Revolution, Galaxy, Wizards, MetroStars were at least original brands for brand new teams. The league started fresh, got a bit of attention and built its own identity.

Now almost 15 years into MLS and what do we have here? Move over DC United, make room for FC Dallas, Real Salt Lake and Sporting KC. Talk about lame. Lame-o. Go ahead John Henry; Liverpool's already the Reds, right? Go all the way and make it the Liverpool Red Sox. Why not? American teams are stealing European football team names, why not vice versa.

Who cares that we call it soccer here and the rest of the world calls it, you know, by its rightful name of football? Who cares that the F in FC Dallas stands for, you know, football!! Didya know that partner? Yee-haw, that's right Football Club Dallas, that's what that stands for (Jeez, how many lightbulbs are going off in Big D right now?)

And yo, Utah! You guys who apparently won MLS last year (that's what I heard). You guys, the champs, out of the Eastern Conference, yeah you. Guess what Real means? As in Real Salt Lake? Yeah, it's royal in Spanish, kinda like the royalty of Spanish football Real Madrid, where that Portuguese guy Cristiano Ronaldo plays.

Ronaldo, you see is the linchpin here, kinda like Kevin Bacon. It all revolves around him, and everyone is three degrees of separation from Cristiano for today. Because, now, everyone in KC perk up now. Ronaldo started his career with--wait for it, wait for it--Sporting!!!!

Yes, so now when Ronaldo is 38 and too old to be chasing beards, er, ridiculously hot models, he can play out his final footballing days with Sporting KC! Yes, it all comes full circle. I love that!

The point here is that MLS is lame. Every time it takes a step forward, it stumbles like a drunken Housewife of Beverly Hills backwards 20 steps. Americans don't relate to European football, hell, Americans don't even like Europe all that much. Sporting KC, Real Salt Lake, FC Dallas; ugh ugh ugh.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Time to grow up MLS. If you want to be like one of the big boys, act like them, don't put on one of their jerseys or take one of their names and pretend to be one.