Red Bull Stadium - Jealous Much?

Here it is.  Red Bull Stadium in Harrison NJ.  Site of the Fire's fist game of the season.

Yes, that really is a transparent roof over the seats protecting them from the elements.  Yes, its really two tiers all the way around.  Yes, that's a damn nice looking pitch in there.

But - HA! - No Parking!!  I KNEW Toyota Park was better!  SNAP!

Transactions Update

I finally got the update on Collins John (see earlier post for updates on Krol and Martinez). 

Collins John, the former Fulham striker, will be joining the Fire for a trial during the Pre-Season camp in Arizona.  John, who's best career play came beside Brian McBride at Fulham, is only 24 years old.  Recently, his career has stalled.  It's certain the Fire are interested in seeing if the veteran McBride can re-ignite the spark in John, and maybe bring some EPL striking action to the MLS!

Where's Conde?

The ides of January are past and February is nigh upon us, meaning that it is once again time for teams to hold the pre-season physicals, open the first leg of training camp, and, if your a Fire Fan, begin that perennial winter pass time known as "Conde Spotting"



This year, everything's quiet on the Conde Watch.......to quiet....



Is Conde in the US yet - Visa in Hand? Or has he sold all his possessions and moved to NY?

Everybody keep your eyes and ears open, and let the rest of us know if you get a hint.

And don't forget to take the "Conde Pre-Season Poll" in the side bar.

Everything in good fun, ofcourse. I have been, and remain, a big Conde fan. I've even got a cave painting of him on my wall at home.

Two Down, One To Go

In an earlier post, we talked about three prospects being courted by the Fire technical staff. Two of the three deals are now complete; Martinez from the Ecuadorian World Cup Qualifying squad will join the Fire on loan from Club Leon, and K. Krol will come to the Fire from his Polish squad.

Details on both deals available via the Fire News links in the side bar.

The only deal still not closed is for Collins John, the ex-Fulham striker. No update on that.

Also, I still understand that Klopas is shopping Blanco's DP spot. The Fire are definitely serious.

Rebuilding Year my butt.

Labor Negotiations Extended

Following on the heals of the Owners agreement not to lockout players on the 1st of February, players and owners issued a joint statement through the Commish' today indicating that the deadline for negotiating a new contract would be extended through Feb. 12.

See the link in the MLS Headlines section in the sidebar for the official press release from the MLS.

Labor Negotiation Update

It appears that the owners have responded to the Player Unions statement instructing players to report to camp as planned by retracting the threat of a Lockout if the current labor agreement is allowed to lapse without a new agreement in place.

Sign of real progress? I have no information. At least both sides are willing to back away from nasty threats for the time being. Hopefully, that means there's still room to negotiate and compromise.

Less than 60 days to First Kick...

If you travel far enough, you will eventually meet yourself

OK, so I was googling today, looking for soccer related news, and what should pop up number six on the google search screen? Section (one oh!) Eight.

If this site is now an authority on anything, we can truly understand the sad state of affairs we find modern culture in.

But, never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I will gladly assume the proffered mantle of punditry, write a book, and run for President in 2012. Wait, do I have to win a beauty contest first?

MLS Owner Concerns Understandable

Off the wire: Manchester United raised 504 million pounds ($813 million) through a bond issue meant to help pay off some of the club’s large debt.

A UEFA survey of 629 clubs across Europe’s 53 soccer nations showed that the clubs’ revenues rose by 10 percent last season, but spending on transfers and salaries went up 18 percent.

Clearly, owner concern over runaway labor costs is understandable. Not trying to say that without a repeat of the current contract, we'll be paying ManU salaries by March. Just passing on some interesting facts.

Hopefully, players and owners will see the value of a collaborative partnership to expand the league and share the benefits. Hopefully.

New Jerseys - Part Deux

Pictures are worth a thousand words.

Moving pictures are worth...more than a thousand words.

Great Moments in Soccer History...?

1) The Big Bang

2) Earth coalesces out of dust and rubble circling a new Sun

3) One random molecule is formed which can replicate copies of itself ad infinitum

4) An endless struggle ensues for survival, involving much clubbing of one life form by another life form.

5) Eventually, one particularly clever group of primates appoints surrogate "clubbers" to contest matters for them using a set of rules called "Soccer".

6) The clever primates greatly enjoy this development, although they are frustrated because they are forced to watch these contests on little glowing boxes which use analog technology. Bad bananas.

7) Finally, when the threat of renewed clubbing was becoming a real possibility, the clever primates took another clever step......

At Last, Enlightenment.

Contract Negotiations Update

The union told the MLS players to report to camp as planned. However, the union also made it clear that there is, as of yet, no contract. At minimum, this is a significant good will/confidence building measure on the part of the Union. At best, an agreement may now seem likely to the Union, so no squeeze tactics are necessary.

Still keeping my fingers crossed that the Players and Owners will avoid ANY sort of work stoppage.

Following the Draft come the Transactions...

Thanks to Jason for tipping me off to a possible Polish defender trade this morning. Further thanks to Ives Galercep's blog for more details.

Here is what Jason, the blogosphere, and general rumor and innuendo have Klopas and the Fire Technical Staff up to since the draft:

Transaction #1: The fire are pursuing Polish International Krzysztof Król. The deal would be a loan with his current club (who's Polish name I will make no attempt to type here). Krol is a left back, clearly intended to vie for Gonzo's vacated spot. Krol has also been part of the Real Madrid organization, although he never played with the first team.

Transaction #2: Looks like de Los Cabos' Mexican connections are paying off. The Fire appear to be cinching what looks to be a loan deal for Ecuadorean International Wing Midfielder Julio Martinez. Martinez was recently signed by Mexican side Leon. However, the Mexican Primera has rules regarding how many non-Mexican nationals can be on a team's roster and Leon has exceeded their limit. Hence, they are willing to deal the halfback. Being a natural righty, Martinez immediately competes for Rolfe's vacated slot.

Transaction #3: The Fire appear to be going after Dutch Striker Collins John, formerly of Fulham and prior team mate of Brian McBride. Collins scored 20 goals in 95 appearances for the club. Two years ago, his performance went flat and Fulham began a series of loans and trades with Collins until he was picked up by Dutch team Roeselare. However, Collins is currently available since Roeselare terminated his contract in December, siting continuing disciplinary problems. Hmmmm. Have we finally found our Rodman? Obviously, Collins is looking to play in any first division to show that he can still perform. As such, the Fire are expected to be able to make this deal without using their designated player slot.

Very exciting stuff. Woe to ye who did not renew your season tickets!

No More Postage Stamp

KC is on its way to becoming the next MLS team with a soccer specific stadium. Local government in KC has cleared way to begin construction of the Wizard's new home.

(Child) Artist's Rendering of the New Stadium

Couldn't come soon enough, IMO. I'm done watching pro-soccer played on astroturf and youth size fields.

Road Trip!

Going Street

We need to seriously pick up our pre-game parking lot pass around...



I'll be expecting everyone to be practicing thier signiture moves this spring. John, you go with the round about kick. Kris, you do the back flip kick. I'll be the human ball tee.

Can you Shoot? LA may need YOU!

Rumor from England is that, with Landon Donovan playing solid soccer for Everton, his 10 week loan may be extended past the start of the MLS season.

Will LA really consider this, given they just signed a 9 million dollar multi-year deal with Donovan? And, Beckham will probably be unavailable until after the World Cup, what with his loan to Milan?

It looks like LA may be looking for strikers this year. At least they should have the cash to pay! Oh, forgot, salary cap.

While we are talking about rumors, here's the scariest rumor / headline I read during the Christmas season when I wasn't posting to the blog....

Eric Wynalda to Coach Chicago?

Boy, am I glad that one was a rumor...

Are the Fire Shopping?

Word in the press.....the Fire are out shopping around for the Designated Player slot openned by Blanco's departure.

That's pretty exciting news. The report is that Klopas is looking for an attacking midfielder at the DP salary range. No names yet.

Also in the press - it seems to be generally agreed that, of all playoff teams, the Fire had the best draft - no contest. Pretty exciting again.

One last item. Good "vibes" comming out of the owner/player meeting today. Agreement in the offing? Fingers crossed.

Oh nelly! 68 days and counting!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Do you FIFA?

No reason for this post, other than I like the fact Chicago Fire made the cover of a video game box. If that banner was just a little bit higher, I could pretend Wayne Rooney was actually Chad Barret. And Lampard looks kind of like McBride. My God, its the All Fire FIFA! i'm ok now... Hey, this is for the IPhone....gotta go now.....

Se' Habla Espanol?

Ok Kris - we need some translation here....



Looks like Landon is a star in Mexico! How come nobody you meet on the street knows his name? Maybe if he brought a .45 into the Galaxy locker room...

Labor Disputes and Lock-Outs

Following up on our disscussion at the bar, here is some information on the ongoing labor negotiation between the MLS Players Union and the MLS Owners.

Gleened from the soccer blogosphere:
"According to two veteran members of the MLS players union, Major League Soccer is playing hardball with the union and hasn't come close to considering some of the demands being made by the players. Guaranteed contracts, allowing teams to negotiate contacts rather than the league office, and free agency are issues the players union appear ready to fight for, but are three issues MLS is apparently not ready to budge on."

As we discussed, players want the right to free agency with other MLS teams, if their contract lapses. Right now, that is not the case. Players like Rolfe and Segares who are no longer under contract can transfer for $0 to other leagues, but they are not free to negotiate with other teams inside the MLS. This, of course, is anathama to the league right now. The last thing they want to see is a bidding war for any player.

Unfortunately, I agree with this, as unfair as it may seem (or be). I've watched one professional soccer league die in my lifetime - I don't want to watch a second.

The players would also like a boost in the salary cap. Somthing can be negotiated here, I would hope. Especially given the cartel nature of the league. Move some money from market to market and make this happen.

Finally, the players would like guaranteed contracts. I admit I'm not an expert at this.

Here's a statement from Commissioner Garber dated yesterday:

We are working hard, collectively, both the MLSPU and the league, to try to reach an agreement that’s going to be good for both players and management. We are working very hard to do that. We are meeting regularly…we met several times last week and we’re meeting again next week. But we are going to get to a point where both players and management are going to have to make some tough decisions.

We’ve been doing very well over the last ten years making this league very stable. We need to ensure we have the right kind of deal to continue to develop the game the way we have and clearly the players are going to have to try to decide what kind of deal they will accept to get the type of things they are looking for.

At the end of the day, this is still a very young sport. For 50 years, soccer has failed in this country. And here we are, about to have 18 teams, nearly 10 soccer stadiums, all because we’ve had a system that albeit different, is one that allows us to have this ability to continue to operate and grow for another day.
Don Garber

The international organization, FIFPRO came out condeming the practices of the MLS and in support of the players. However, it's not clear if the players solicited this intervention or not. Right now, it seems the union is fractured with power players like Keller and Twellman talking strike and the vast majority of lesser paid players hoping for a negotiated deal.

January 31st is right around the corner...

MORTAL KOMBAT!

The much awaited next posting in the "Why Don't We Have Soccer Commercials Like These?" series is here. (It was "much awaited", wasn't it?)

Project Runway, 2010

Behold, the new kits for 2010. Do these look like MLS Cup Championship Ready Kits? Yes, I do believe so....

Funny thing about the stars on the jersey - they are not visible if the jersey is tucked into the shorts.

The away kit definitely looks better than last year. They finally integrated the "Best Buy" on the away Jersey. With this improvement, maybe we'll even win a game in our Whites this year!

Time for me to go buy a Jersey...

An Ohio Yankee in Prince Hamlet's Court

Chris Rolfe has arrived in Aalborg, Denmark and had his first practice with his new club, AaB. AaB TV has posted an interview with Rolfe on thier web site. Here's the link.

Aalborg's coach is on the record as expecting Rolfe to compete immediately for a starting spot. GO ROLFE! GOOD LUCK!

The Starting Eleven - 2010

Ok, so a little self endulgence. I've decided to sit down and imagine the starting eleven for the upcomming season. Who will de Los Cabos put in the line up? Here are my picks. Post your picks too.

GOALKEEPER: Ok, I didn't really spend a lot of time thinking about this one. Bushy has been solid and reliable when he's not being brilliant. He had a handful of mistakes last year. I'm sure he's spent the off season watching them over and over again on film. This guy will be ready for another "Goal Tender of the Year" award in 2010.

DEFENSE: Jees - rough year for defense in 2009. We've had several significant departures. First and formost, Gonzalo Segares, Gonzo, has headed to Apallon FC in Cypress after his contract expired this year. A huge loss. Brandon Prideaux, always reliable if not beloved, having never suffered a significant injury, retired before his luck ran out. And, of course, Sumare left for France during the regular season. However, the Fire still have talent to put on the field in the defense. Here are my choices:

Center Back: C. J. Brown, does he have one more season in his old legs? CJ has the smarts, but he's been prone to injury. If he can keep healthy, he's sure to be on the defensive starter list for Cabos.

Center Back: Wilman "Conde the Barbarian" still has two years on this contract. The Fire are still unlikely to release Wilman, no matter how much he squirms, so I expect to see Wilman anchoring the Defence at Center Back again this year. Although, he would be a formidable holding midfielder if we pick-up a center back in a trade somewhere.

Left Back: Tim Ward? Danny Woolard? Danny's the natural lefty, but I'm going with Timmy, because I think Tim will earn a spot on the lineup, and I also think Woolard will be edged by the superior height of Dasan.





Right Back: Dasan Robinson. If Dasan can't stay healthy or fails to show up, Woolard is ready to step into the role of left back and Timmy will take the right. But I have a feeling Robinson is going to show and be ready to start. Of course, Dasan would prefer to take C.J.'s spot in the middle - we'll see.

MIDFIELD: Here's where the talent for the fire is perhaps the deepest, and also the most uncertain. Who will emerge as the starters for 2010? Here are my picks.

Defensive Mid: It must be Logan Pause yes? Conde, no doubt wants this position. Can he convince Cabos to move him there? I don't think so. Cabos will want the consistency at this position, given the experimentation he's going to have to do at the other spots around the field.

Wing Mids: Marco Papa and Justin Mapp. Baggio wants Justin's spot, and there is no player on the roster who is more inconsistant than Mapp. But Mapp is still very young but very experienced. He needs to show early, capture the starter spot and hold on to it. Besides, Papa is a lock and Mapp has shown that he is the perfect foil for Papa.

Maestro: Who else, John Thorington. With Rolfe's engine out of the line-up there is only one player who can bring comparable pace and endurance and that's Thor. He's proven he can score from outside the box. He only needs to show that he can pull the trigger quick. This could be a massive year for Thorington.

FORWARDS: Scoring, scoring, scoring. It was the biggest disappointment from 2009. Plus, we had scoring from virtually every quarter of the field. Minus, not very much scoring. We need McBride to get immediately back on the wagon and we need someone to step up as a second target. Dimitrov? Nyarko? Banner? Carr? Here's my pick.

Striker: Brian McBride remains the craftiest forward on the team. He's lethal with his head in the box and he can get open and muscle off centerbacks. He will be Cabos' choice for striker and I think he'll immediately start to produce.

Forward: I'm going with Nyarko. Without Blanco play making, we are going to need to stretch the field and make space for play. Nyarko has the speed to turn defenders and cause havoc. Havoc and space that can be exploited by Mapp, Papa and McBride. What about Carr? Yes, his speed is comparable to Nyarko's, or used to be. He just didn't show after his return from injury last year. But if he prepared well during the off season, his longer pro experience might just give him the edge over Nyarko.

SUPERSUBS: Who will be the super sub for the Fire this year? Here are a few ideas:

Dimitrov: With his height and quick shot, this guy looks like he's ready to do something. He is the only player with a chance of commanding the air in the box like McBride. Look for Dimitrov to enter the game for McBride on occasion.

Peter Lowery: I expect Lowery to get a fair amount of starting time this year, but look for him as a frequent 60 minute sub for Mapp or Papa. I think his superior outside shot and carnivore attitude will give him the edge over Banner and Carr as the choice for midfield sub.

Calen Carr: If Nyarko is being made to run, run, run, Carr is going to need to sub for him by 70. Expect Carr's speed to make an impact against a tired defense.

Well, that's my starting 11. Only 70 days until we see the real thing.