Making Waves: Rising MLS talent that will draw European interest - originally posted on
Soccerlens.com
With the recent EPL debut of Houston Dynamo product Geoff Cameron an undeniable success (he
received "Man of the Match" honors in Stoke City's scoreless draw against Arsenal), we now look to
the next batch of MLS-ers poised and postured to eventually make similar hops across the pond.
So let's say you have two players: Player A and Player B. Going back to the beginning of the
2010 season, here are their stat lines in Major League Soccer Regular Season play:
Player A: 2 goals, 19 assists
Player B: 15 goals, 8 assists
The last time the Revs had a top 3 pick in the draft, they took a 21-year-old named Taylor
Twellman in 2002.
Ten years later, Jay Heaps and Co. hope that they landed a similar talent in Kelyn Rowe, who
was selected with the third pick in Thursday's SuperDraft in Kansas City.
Rowe, a creative midfielder out of UCLA, will be be counted upon to revitalize an attack that
was nearly non-existent for many stretches last season.
Editor's note: At the end of the 2010 season, we posted a series of season reviews of every
Philadelphia Union player. Over the next several weeks PSP continues with a review of the 2011
season.
When Roger Torres joined the Union at the young age of 18 he was an exceedingly raw talent.
Arsene Wenger has indicated that the nearly completed transfer of Alex Song to Barcelona will be
followed by the arrival of a new midfielder at Arsenal and the replacement is likely to have
creative qualities as well.
Song started off as a raw talent in the defensive midfield for the Gunners but turned into a
complete box-to-box powerhouse by the end of last season.
Only at Real would some one with the skills of Nuri Sahin go unappreciated. Which of course is
topic for a larger debate, would Real recognize raw talent if it bit them in the behind or only if
it had a multi-million dollar price tag? But this is what Arsenal would get if his proposed loan
move works out.
Walcott's rumoured departure will be a loss but then again, will it?
So this summer is all about where RVP is finally going to land. City is probably the
destination. It probably checks off all the boxes in RVP's to do list. But the next big thing on
the radar is Theo Walcott's contract renewal and from the looks of things there appears to be no
hurry on the part of the winger to re-sign.
Let me start by saying, Stewart Robson is a man of courage. I'm not just saying that because I
agree mostly with his recent comments deriding Theo Walcott. I sometimes disagree with his opinions
during matches and on talksport and Arsenal World. I say it because he is employed by Arsenal, and
I'm sure they were not pleased with his outspoken opinion against a current player.
Let me start by saying, Stewart Robson is a man of courage. I'm not just saying that because I
agree mostly with his recent comments deriding Theo Walcott. I sometimes disagree with his opinions
during matches and on talksport and Arsenal World. I say it because he is employed by Arsenal, and
I'm sure they were not pleased with his outspoken opinion against a current player.
Every person has a talent. Some have a talent with numbers; others are incredibly handy and can
build whatever their hearts desire. Some people are intellectually gifted, while others are
incredible athletes and invariably, the ones we love the most. It's easy to see why too, for an
athlete's allure is a visual treat that invokes a sense of wonderment and a slight tinge of
jealousy by the spectator.
The new Arsenal: focus, enthusiasm, togetherness, and a
mixture of raw talent and calm experience
The interlull is almost over. Although it has been a boring period from a footballing point of
view at least we did not have to endure again the spectacle of recent interlulls: in-fighting of
fellow Arsenal fans.
Reports surfaced this week in Spain that Malaga had approached Chelsea with a view to taking Romelu
Lukaku on loan for the remainder of this season in January. Now, I was surprised with these reports
as AVB had openly said that he wouldn't be going anywhere.
The reports continued for a couple of days and got so intense even AC Milan were rumoured to be
interested in January.
Afterwards, opinions ranged from Andy Carroll having finally shown something of his worth as
more than a target for long clearances to him having done nothing in particular to rewrite the
gargantuan failure narrative he's been saddled with since arriving at Liverpool for £35M in
January. Sometimes those wildly divergent opinions even came from the same pundit.
With the Manchester teams continuing to dominate the standings - both real and fantasy points - we
come upon the first real test of the season. Â Chelsea arrives at Old Trafford as the first team
not already eliminated from the title race to face either high-flying Manchester side. Â I don't
really believe that Chelsea are in the race for the championship but with the collection of raw
talent on
Natalie Portman's character hallucinates to success
Paul Hayward furthers the Arsenal in crisis trope which is a particular favourite amongst sports
pundits. The central theme revolves around a group of disillusioned players who want to leave
Arsenal because it has consistently defied the usual barometer of success.
I recently answered some questions on Lucas Moura for the Manchester Evening News. The
article can be seen here, but below are all the questions and my answers.
MEN: First of all for those who haven't seen him, how would you describe Moura
and who has been most likened to in Brazil?
This is something that I feel I need to have a moan about. It's not the case week in, week out but
at times this season our substitutions this season have been very strange.
AVB, like Jose Mourinho, is of the mindset that you make sure you use all three substitutions in
the game no matter how well or bad you are doing which is fair enough.
(This entry is based on the media release issued by the Football Association of Singapore with
images depicted provided by the said organisation.)
Singapore, 19 June 2012 - Over the years the H-TWO-O Ultimate Champions League has grown
from its early days, based on the theme that ‘football is for everyone' to what it is today -
where players from Secondary Schools, Polytechnics and Institutes of Technical Education are
bestowed the opportunity to showcase their talents in this free tournament and bid for one of three
chancesto see Manchester United play in the English Premier League.
The end of another trophyless Arsenal season has gooners everywhere wondering how this Arsenal
team can get out of its rut and move forward. It's obvious that a couple of quality signings would
no doubt improve the team, but I thought I would look at our current resources to see if there is
something new or different we could try next season.
Seattle's two SuperDraft picks signed with the team today. Andrew Duran and Babayele Sodade can
now officially call themselves members of Seattle Sounders FC. Picked in the first round Duran
offers depth across the backline. Sigi Schmid describes his play in the press release.
"Andrew was our first round pick and we feel he is a very solid defender," said
Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid.
If you could choose one moment that best encapsulates the raw talent of Ravel Morrison, you'd go
back a fortnight to a Manchester Senior Cup game against Bolton's Reserves. 93 minutes had passed
on what was nothing more than a dour encounter and, with the score at 0-0, Morrison had shifted
responsibility upon himself to put things right.
If you could choose one moment that best encapsulates the raw talent of Ravel Morrison, you'd go
back a fortnight to a Manchester Senior Cup game against Bolton's Reserves. 93 minutes had passed
on what was nothing more than a dour encounter and, with the score at 0-0, Morrison had shifted
responsibility upon himself to put things right.
The transfer window is well and truly open, and with Newcastle United having taken just 5 points
from the last 24, there are many areas of the squad which needs strengthening.
First up doing the rumours on Twitter is Finnish footballer Thomas Hesakmi Hesakmi appears to be
a very raw talent and it could be likely that Newcastle have unearthed another diamond (along the
lines of Mehdi Abeid).
UPDATE:The rumours mentioning Finnish footbaler Thomas Hesakmi appear to
be just that, rumours spread by a bunch of smart alecs on a football forum. Nowt else better to do
lads? Well played though, well played indeed.
The transfer window is well and truly open, and with Newcastle United having taken just 5 points
from the last 24, there are many areas of the squad which needs strengthening.
It feels a bit like Groundhog day at the moment and it's not because I'm stuck in the Insurance
industry from 9 til 5 during the week. It is however because Stevenage have begun this season in a
very similar fashion to last year's campaign. A draw at home in the league has been followed by a
narrow defeat in the Carling Cup first round to Championship opposition.
It feels a bit like Groundhog day at the moment and it's not because I'm stuck in the Insurance
industry from 9 til 5 during the week. It is however because Stevenage have begun this season in a
very similar fashion to last year's campaign. A draw at home was followed by a narrow defeat in the
Carling Cup first round to Championship opposition.
Roberto Mancini ahead of the game tonight has spoken of Danny Sturridge and has made it perfectly
clear that he can't believe that Sturridge was able to leave City because he would be a first team
regular if he was still there now.
He said:
"I know Sturridge very well, I have watched him many times because he grew up in
Manchester and someone let him go for almost nothing.
Two Left Feet - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
A brand new publication brought to the general public courtesy of Football Friends Media.
This is a book full of football tales provided by real life fans who have a love for the game
rather than seasoned journalists.
There is a refreshing level of raw talent throughout the publication, names of aspiring writers
who will be seen in print a lot more in coming years.
Despite playing a risky, aggressive game, Dempsey rarely gave the ball away against City,
and had three good attempts at goal. Is this evidence of a distillation of the various Dempseys
we've seen so far?
One of the interesting things about the Martin Jol era has been the play of Clint Dempsey.
