US soccer media's own goal

A friend directed The CounterAttack to a Premier League-focused blog yesterday, EPL Talk, that revealed that Fox Soccer Channel show host Steve Cohen has managed to rip open old wounds. Cohen, who also hosts the World Soccer Daily radio show, wheeled out the old line that Liverpool fans were responsible for the Hillsborough disaster that killed 96 men, women and children.

It boggles the mind that anyone could still believe this canard twenty years later. The Taylor Report - which reviewed the tragedy and made recommendations that were responsible for the transformation of soccer in England - comprehensively laid out the facts. It was not Liverpool fans - and most emphatically not ticketless Liverpool fans looking to sneak into the game - that caused the disaster.

The Report makes it clear that the attitude of the Yorkshire police towards soccer fans was the primary cause of the disaster (bold face by The CounterAttack):

Policing on the Day

277. One of the regrettable features of the football scene as it has developed is the enormous expenditure of money, time and effort in employing large numbers of police all over the country to guard against the sort of disorder and misbehaviour which have become endemic. Police management of a game of football has become a military operation. The problems faced and the responses received must be disheartening and may have tended to harden police attitudes to supporters in general.

278. It is fair to state that over many years the South Yorkshire Police have given excellent service to the public. They have handled crowd problems sensitively and successfully at a large number of football games including major matches, during strikes in the coal industry and the steel industry, and in other contexts.

Unfortunately, their policing on 15 April broke down in the ways already described and, although there were other causes, the main reason for the disaster was the failure of police control.

279. In all some 65 police officers gave oral evidence at the Inquiry. Sadly I must report that for the most part the quality of their evidence was in inverse proportion to their rank. There were many young Constables who as witnesses were alert, intelligent and open. On the day, they and many others strove heroically in ghastly circumstances aggravated by hostility to rescue and succour victims. They inspired confidence and hope.

280. By contrast, with some notable exceptions, the senior officers in command were defensive and evasive witnesses. Their feelings of grief and sorrow were obvious and genuine. No doubt those feelings were intensified by the knowledge that such a disaster had occurred under their management. But, neither their handling of problems on the day nor their account of it in evidence showed the qualities of leadership to be expected of their rank.

(See the full interim report, which reviewed the disaster, and the full final report, which made recommendations to fix the problem).

But my problem is not limited to Steve Cohen. I have commented previously about the lack of any serious analytical commentary from the US soccer media. Everything is taken at face value without much discussion - player selections, coaching tactics, and unfortunately, controversial comments such as Cohen's. Thankfully there have not been many of the latter but how would we know?

I will grant that Hillsborough is not a US soccer problem. But only the most misanthropic cretin would not empathize with the victims' families and the survivors. Hillsborough was a seminal event that brought the entire football community together. Its name, sadly, stands on its own.

So there is no excuse for the American soccer writers not to hold Cohen accountable for his comments. It is consistent that SportsCenter would ignore this - heck, it's just soccer. Mainstream American sports fans still think that there are riots at every soccer game anyway.

And spare me any comments that discussing the situation only grants Cohen a stage. It was inappropriate to blame the victims at this time of rememberance. Most importantly though, as was made clear, he was just flat-out factually wrong.

So where is the criticism from the Treckers, Michael Lewis, Ives Galarcep, Ridge Mahoney or Paul Gardner? Where is the denouncement from Soccer America? I'm looking at you, Goal.com, YanksAbroad.com, Soccernet.com and yes you, Fox Soccer, to set the record straight.

Blaming the victims is always a mean-spirited tactic designed only to cause pain. Cohen's comments were as bad as racist or anti-Semitic comments that ended the careers of commentators in other American sports. That might sound disconnected but those are the only parallels that can give most Americans a glimpse into why the comments were so insulting.

See, here's the thing: so long as someone can make purposely hurtful and factually incorrect comments without penalty, it means that US soccer fans are still naive babes in the woods. Failure to grasp elemental concepts that are understood everywhere else is a sad hallmark of US Soccer. Usually this manifests itself on the pitch, with unsophisticated tactics or failing to capitalize on opponents' mistakes. This time it was something far more insidious.

The Taylor findings made clear that it was the fear of hooliganism that drove senior police officials to treat soccer fans with less respect than they should have. In the 1970s and 1980s, all English fans were lumped in with the ridiculously miniscule percentage that were hooligans. Snobbery mandated that football was a game played by "them" and thus were to be treated as "less than".

Americans don't understand that sort of classism but do have experience with police overreactions and problems with race relations. "44 shots" is probably the best way to help Yanks understand why Hillsborough was able to happen.

It doesn't matter that Hillsborough was 20 years ago, or that it didn't happen in the States. The tragedy was a watershed moment in world soccer history. It is quite clear that Cohen made the comments he did precisely because he knew he could get away with them. He was comfortable in the knowledge that he would keep his jobs, no matter what. After all, having an English accent makes him a "knowledgeable person about soccer".

Cohen's beliefs are his to have, no doubt. But the instant he uses a public forum to spread misinformation, he has to be held accountable for his words. That responsibility is doubly important when the audience is not as well-versed as it could be.

Shame on the US soccer media for not holding Steve Cohen accountable for this insulting tripe.

Right back... to the past

Yesterday, a Soccernet article celebrated the rebirth of Frankie Hejduk as a defender for the Men's National Team. The article's author, Ives Galarcep, is a respected analyst of the goings-on of the US soccer scene. But while his articles are typically fair, this time Ives has drunk too much of the Kool-Aid.

Right back is a funny position, sort of like playing third base for the Mets - it's traditionally a place to put the least-skilled defender. And Hejduk is, as those who have watched games with me know, a defender of limited talent when it comes to the international game.

Let's be clear: he is definitely a good MLS player with an impressive work rate, and he has speed to spare. But MLS is not the international stage, which requires a whole other level or more to be competent, much less good.

We grant that there aren't many defenders in the world with the speed to race back from 20 yards away, and catch a breakaway Trinidadian striker on full stride. Hejduk's tackle was perfectly timed and saved at least an opportunity for TnT to shoot on goal. Of course in the next match v El Salvador, it was Hejduk's header that saved a point for the MNT late in the match.

He has done enough recently to make him difficult to overlook. On top of that, you have to credit his unbridled enthusiasm and genuine patriotism that he exhibits while wearing the Stars and Stripes.

But all that does not make up for the fact that he isn't a good defender. By his own admission - which he has stated several times, including in the Soccernet piece - what he offers is speed, grit and competitiveness. These are all excellent qualities but without the requisite talent, it's a waste of a roster spot. There is a reason, after all, that El Salvador is not ranked in the top 100. We ain't talking Holland here, folks.

Our insistence on using British coaching at the youth level means that we have generations of soccer fans who value "work rate" over skill. The ever-amusing columnist John Nicholson made a point of how silly it is that this particular attribute is so highly rated in England.

But despite all this, my problem is not with Hejduk, or even the coaching staff that keeps selecting him. Choosing Hejduk is a result of thin talent. Once Steve Cherundolo went down, there was no one to step in.

Frankie Simek and Jonathan Spector, two young talents, are too often injured to really count on them. (Soccernet mentions Marvell Wynne but the less said about that, the better.) So there is no choice but to include Hejduk in the mix for South Africa 2010.

My issue lies with Ives Galarcep and the rest of the so-called soccer writers in the US. At what point are we going to introduce honest criticism into the soccer world? I'm not calling for the ridiculous pilings-on that happens in Madrid, London or Milan. We don't need the sorts of analysis that is applied to the Yankees by the New York press.

But there is rarely any criticism applied to actions of the MNT. The fact that Hejduk is one of the few choices for right back on the national team is a problem, but not a unique one to the US. When England lose Rio Ferdinand, they don't have many options to replace him. There aren't many teams like Holland, who are two deep in many positions. But when a starter goes down, there are discussions galore about replacement possibilities.

(For that matter, while I like Cherundolo, it's not as if he's going to make anyone forget 1970 World Cup winner and perhaps greatest right back ever Carlos Alberto.)

We used to have this problem at striker, where Eric Wynalda's constant bellyachings and limited talents went overlooked because there was no one else. At least we have gotten past that - Landon Donovan comes in for a fair share of criticism, and rightly so.

Who knows if these criticisms affect players? Surely some react to comments made about them, and I'm sure more are affected than admit to it. But the point is that when we have a problem, there is no one to speak out about it in the mainstream US soccer media.

Criticism is good because it prevents the criticized from resting on his respective laurels. So add another measure we need to reach before we can become a serious soccer country.

Remembering Hillsborough

We take this moment to remember the 96 Liverpool fans who were killed at Hillsborough Stadium, in Sheffield, England, 20 years ago today. May they rest in peace, and always be remembered. 

Let us also not forget the 766 fans that were injured on that day, and indeed, anyone who was actually at the ground and saw the tragedy in person. We recognize the feelings that they must have felt as everything unfolded around them. It is our sincere hope that they do not still suffer.

I thought this tribute was particularly powerful:

Another new hero.

After two sub-par matches and 80 minutes into a third one, Manchester United reverted back to its attacking - and winning - form. The final 10 minutes of the Villa match saw again an intimidating United, one that can impose its will on a match.

Sir Alex Ferguson again transformed a desperate situation into magic. His revelation this time was reserve Federico Macheda, the 17-yr-old unknown who came in as a 60th-minute substitute. The gamble paid off and 30 minutes later - what a goal, what a goal, what a goal! An impeccable Cruyff-turn past his defender and Macheda calmly blasted the ball into goal, giving United  full points and the league lead. It was as imperious a goal as Keano's 1999 header v Juve, with equal effects on the team and the crowd.

What a debut for Macheda. He demanded the ball throughout his time on the pitch, attacking with a gusto that would make Rooney blush. Yet he remained in control of himself, the mark of a player ready for his next step in development. Who knows if he will be able to keep this up but the indications are that he has the maturity to get more appearances this season. The goal was only the exclamation point on his run out.

What makes this particularly enjoyable is that Ferguson had limited options with Rooney and Berbatov unavailable. The expectations were that Welbeck would be called upon, and when Macheda was announced, it was surely a surprise to most.

Within seconds of coming on, though, I had a feeling that Sir Alex had made another brilliant move in a career full of them. The man who oversaw the rise of the fabled Golden Generation has also given so many the opportunity to launch themselves into greatness, be they relative unkowns or those not yet where they could be. 

The names trip off the tongue: Schmeichel. Cantona. Stam. Heinze. Evra. Vidic. Ronaldo. 

These days: Rafael. Welbeck. Evans. Anderson. Nani. And now, perhaps, Macheda. 

Some clubs suffer continual rebuilding periods, while others build one championship team but cannot replicate the magic. Ferguson is building his fourth group of champions. 

Ferguson's genius is not just finding and nurturing talent, or even buying it. It lies in slotting that talent seamlessly into existing squads.  Just ask Arsene Wenger, who is nearly as successful at identifying talent - perhaps more so - but has not yet been able to reach the top since his Invincibles ran roughshod over the league five years ago.

For any Manchester United supporter, watching Sir Alex develop players the way he does is one of the joys of following the team. 

Watching United win consistently - well, that is one of the privileges of supporting an Alex Ferguson-led side. 

The future, nearly here

Back to back matches for Jozy Altidore, and four more goals to his tally. Six in nine games is a legitimate pace. Can anyone doubt that he is the future of American soccer? Nah, this is what everyone expected from Altidore, the first true international striker the US has ever had.

The fun begins now, though. For the first time, the Men's National Team is solid up the middle. Altidore is a true go-ahead striker with a nose for goal. He is balanced by attacking midfielder Clint Dempsey. It remains a mystery why Deuce is not featured more for his club but the fact remains that this guy can play. Both attackers are supported by midfielder Michael Bradley, who was good enough to play below his own usually-high standards and yet remain effective. Behind them is Oguchi Onyewu, the imposing central defender called Gooch who is a monster in defense, strong enough to make up for lack of pace. And then the anchor, Tim Howard, the latest in a decade-long run of excellent US goalkeepers.

The revelations from the Trinidad & Tobago and El Salvador matches: Landon Donovan is an excellent winger, DeMarcus Beasley can play a wingback from the left side, and Pablo Mastroeni still has mileage left as a defensive midfielder. While Steve Cherundolo should still be the right fullback when he returns, Frankie Hejduk is making himself indispensable. I still think he wouldn't be as effective against top-tier sides; one goal and an impressive game-saving tackle make it impossible to overlook him.

Let's hope that Coach Bradley keeps this formation, with Donovan on the wing and Jozy up front. Heck, even the pairing of Jozy with Brian Ching could be really effective - Brian is strong enough to create space for Altidore if necessary, and he can mop up on goals, putting away second-chance opportunities.

It is the new role for Donovan, however, that really excites. Putting him a little further back in the formation means he gets the ball earlier, which puts his on-the-ball talents to work. He can still shoot and even wander into the penalty area but if defenders collapse on him, then Landon can simply dump out to Altidore... or Dempsey. Both have a nose for goal, and suddenly the US has a three-pronged attack.

Having Beasley as left fullback, in a wingback role where he pushes the ball up from the back, might be another stroke of genius. It all depends whether he can regain his ability to withstand physical challenges. If he can, the tradeoff in defensive abilities would more than pay off.

Of course, playing in Confacaf doesn't provide a good enough test of what's up. Beating T&T is not necessarily saying much. But then again, Holland had to play Macedonia - roughly the same test. That said, it's important for teams to beat up the weaker sides, so a 3-nil victory is indeed impressive. Let's not forget that the MNT can consistently beat second-tier European sides.

The frustration is when the MNT plays the Italys and Hollands in a match, friendly or tournament. One of these days the US will not be impressed by England's shirt and get a win against the Three Lions, which historically flatter to deceive.

What we can see now is the future of the US national side. US Soccer should look to schedule friendlies against top-tier sides, heading down to South America for a different style of play besides playing the usual Euros. And if they play European teams, they should concentrate on playing France, Spain, Germany in favor of the Polands of Europe.

This is a solid team that can begin to establish itself as a perennial second-round-or-better, and eventually perennial quarterfinalists. It's not an automatic path, of course, but watching Jozy makes it a more realistic possibility.