Caught in Possession

First of all...consider the following as a musical accompaniment to this post.



A sweaty, mustachioed, medium-waved JB (or GFOS, if you prefer) near his career's peak seems like an appropriate soundtrack to the soccer thoughts that have been percolating for me lately...

The Big Payback
Marcelo Gallardo is gone, gone, gone.

This makes financial sense for DC United. It certainly works for Gallardo's heart. And River Plate, having concluded a miserable Apertura only to lose to eternal rivals Boca Juniors in Argentina's summer tournament, might have nothing to lose.

But it makes me sad. MLS needs more Gallardos. When he was healthy in midsummer, he was a joy for any thoughtful soccer fan to watch. One of my college teammates -- he's as good-natured and easygoing a soccer snob as you could ever imagine -- moved to DC last year and while he has clearly enjoyed the overall gameday experience at United games, Gallardo's brief flashes of genius were far and away the highlight of the '08 season for him.

Thus, I cringe at El Muñeco's spectacular overall underachievement in DC, just the same way I lament world-class talents like Roberto Donadoni (MetroStars '96-97) and, ummm...David Beckham not really displaying their true class in MLS.

Who's to say Gallardo wouldn't have figured things out in '09, just like Guillermo Barros Schelotto worked through his share of ups and downs in his debut season with Columbus before vaulting his squad into an MLS Cup title in year two? We'll never know. It would seem that there's no cure for homesickness -- besides home, that is.

Cold Sweat
Pro athletes have to put in countless thousands of hours of draining fitness work, nearly year-round, for the entire length of their careers. (This is one area where average humans just can't relate to them. Priests, monks and nuns of various stripes probably can, though.) It's usually a lot more fun to go through that draining drudgery with your teammates around you -- even if it's taking place in DC, in the dead of winter. It matters -- ESPECIALLY under those sorts of crappy circumstances, as a matter of fact.

Santino Quaranta alluded to this at RFK today, and I quoted him on it in my MLSnet story on Gallardo. Here's the full transcribe of his response (it's more revealing on second glance):

We haven’t even talked about it. It’s been such a – we haven’t even brought it up. Tommy hasn’t brought it up. That’s between them. I know last year it was a problem all year for us, and you never knew what was going to happen next and it was really like a soap opera, man. I know he’s a great guy, I like him on a personal level, but when you’re not here – this brings a team together, the week that we just had, you go through the blood, the sweat and the tears. To have guys not here – Ivan [Guerrero] is with his national team, but when a guy [Gallardo] is electing not to be in – and that’s his own choice – but we just stick together in there [gesturing towards the locker room]. That’s the best I can come up with.

I Can't Stand Myself
The system by which United States soccer grows, cultivates and identifies talent has been working, sort of. But then again...not really -- especially if you judge it on its present capacity to address what I believe are the North American game's most glaring deficiencies: creativity, attacking technique and overall savvy/resiliency (the cliché-tastic "soccer IQ"). I am finishing up a piece for one of next week's PSWs on the USL's Super-Y League, one valiant attempt to address this situation. Stay tuned.

Papa's Got a Brand New Bag
Ah, technology. Verily, the interwebs offers us a beautiful bounty of well-written, funny-as-h*ll soccer coverage from across the world, yes? Soccernet's transfer blog and The Guardian UK's Fiver have become my latest destinations of top choice.

Why pay any mind to a "Mickey Mouse league," anyway?

"I write about MLS because I need to convince myself that futbol is always beautiful, no matter where it’s from or even if it’s called soccer. I write about MLS because it’s challenging, because I decided to do it one day and I hate not following through, because I hate criticizing and destroying. I like to build instead."

-Jose Miguel Burgos, creator, MLS en Espanol

*HT to T.I.A.S.

Hi.

How's it going? You look like you're doing well. It's been a while since we talked, huh? OK, all right, that's mostly my fault, sure, what with the blog posts so few and far between…but why dwell on the blame game? We're here now, and the future is so bright...

I write this missive from “America’s Ballroom” in the midst of Saint Louis, a long goal kick from the mighty Mississippi, where the MLS SuperDraft has just kicked off with Seattle Sounders FC’s selection of University of Akron striker Steve Zakuani with the first overall pick. I’m part of MLSnet’s blanket coverage, tasked with focusing on the activities of DC United and the San Jose Earthquakes in particular, but I’m also looking at proceedings from a Potomac-area perspective and I’ll try to pop in here with the occasional post as well.

Nearly a year has passed since this blog debuted from the cavernous confines of the Baltimore Convention Center, where I covered the 2008 MLS SuperDraft for MLSnet and threw down a CIP post whenever I had a spare moment. I’ve learned a lot about this whole blogging thing over these past 12 months – most of all how sneaky-hard it is, how much dogged devotion and discipline is required to produce quality content on a consistent basis. Pacesetters of the craft like Ives Galarcep and Steve Goff deserve the plaudits for what they do. I’m excited about taking CIP in promising new directions in the year ahead, and hope you’ll check in regularly to read, react and respond.