Just as anticipated in the previous not-quite-Sunday Soccer Sound-Off, the Cubs and Indians are squaring off in the World Series. Basically, this means that everyone who is not a) from Cleveland or b) pretending to be a Cubs fan because “they had WGN growing up and the Cubs are their second team” will be dreading the next few weeks. But fear not. While the baseball season is essentially over for all of us who aren’t lying to ourselves and the other major American sports are either just getting underway or depressing the hell out of me (Mizzou football, Notre Dame football, the NFL in general, ugh), it’s prime time to be a fan of the beautiful game; you know, the one where is doesn’t take four and half hours to watch a game. So let’s leave the coverage of those lesser sports to TonyOnBall and get down to what really matters…
1) Liverpool is still good! – I feel like this is a topic almost every week, but the team is playing excellent and is currently tied with City and Arsenal at the top of the table. And really, this shouldn’t be much of a surprise when you look at the roster (they could practically field an entire starting lineup of guys who start for England, Brazil, Belgium, and Germany) and Klopp’s history of managerial success. But this is Liverpool and we haven’t won the league since 1990, despite having some deeply talented squads over the years, so I feel it’s ok be excited. But how exactly is it happening? Let’s dig deeper in this week’s Tactical Takedown® brought to you by Christina’s Chicken Chili (Should I feel bad for stinking up the bed at night if she’s the one who wanted chili?)
The Brazilian duo of Coutinho and Firmino are in top form at the moment, and Sane is proving to be as dynamic and exciting as everyone hoped he would be when he was brought over from Southampton. This means that it’s been difficult just to get Sturridge on the field (and he scored 2 goals today against Tottenham in the League Cup), but frankly that’s ok with me when the team is paying like it has lately. Sturridge a great finisher, but he tends to slow the game down when he gets the ball at his feet and his off the ball movement is more “I’m always open, get me the ball” and less “if I make this run, my teammate will be wide open”. But you know who does make those runs, and makes the decisive passes, and dribbles his way into dangerous spaces? Adam Lallana. He has been the key consistent midfielder that Liverpool has needed this season. With his work rate, creativity, vision, and skill he’s like the British Iniesta. His effectiveness is felt immediately when he’s on the field, as evidenced by how much better the team played when he came on at halftime of the United game and by how they almost blew a 2 goal lead when he was subbed off in the second half of the West Brom game this weekend. And his value can be seen in the cold hard stats as well, not just the intangibles that soccer writes love to talk about.
The stats don’t lie. The dude is good.
And that wraps it for this week’s Tactical Takedown®.
2) Dos a cero! – That’s right, it’s that time of the Olympiad when the US is about to host Mexico in World Cup Qualifying. Again, the game will be played in the cold, in Columbus, just like that the game back in ’01 that a young CheechOnBall was fortunate enough to attend and witness a 2-0 American win. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like I’ll be attending this edition, but I’m confident that our boys will find a way to win 2-0, just like the last 4 home WCQs against El Tri. As discussed last week, we more than have the talent, but it will be interesting to see how Klinsmann elects to line up on November 9. Will he go with the hot players like Pulisic, Green, Morris, and Kljestan, or stick with more experienced guys like Bedoya, Beckerman, Zusi, and Wondo? The Mexico game is followed a few days later by a road match against Costa Rica. I think the team needs to come away with at least 3 points from these two matches to avoid any sort of early desperation affecting how we play going forward in qualifying.
3) Sporting KC makes MLS playoffs – Although the last month or so of the season could have gone better and the team could have improved its playoff seeding, Sporting eventually got the job done and finished 5th in the Western Conference. A late night (10 eastern on a Thursday, really MLS?), win-or-go-home match at Seattle is their reward, and most pundits will paint SKC as the underdog. I think Sporting’s chances are closer to 50/50, and am dreading the thought of another shootout playoff loss. Surely it can’t happen again, right?
4) Fall soccer seasons come to an end – Mug Club FC overcame its mid-season struggles to win the final two games and finish second in the league. Unfortunately this came at a severe cost, as a muscle was pulled during a breakaway (don’t worry, I still scored) that has been slow to heel. This injury has been compounded by the fact that the Scousers had some personnel issues (golf trips, flaky babysitters, undiagnosed alcoholism, and general apathy) for the last few games of the season. This meant that some players were forced to play though injuries so that the team could field a full squad. Not that it mattered, as the depleted roster and improved competition meant that the last two games were ugly for the Scousers, loosing by scores better left unmentioned. That being said, the season was an overall success, and the team achieved its highest points tally since inception. Now let’s hope this hammy feels better quickly because the Mug Club begins a new season tomorrow and DTE Energy Trading has entered a hopeful squad into a Monday over-30 league. We only had one major and one minor injury during our open practice session, so we’re off to a good start!
Check ya later