Some Soccer News for May 26, 2016

It's Day 147 of 2016.


After 18 months in charge of the team in Houston head coach Owen Coyle became the first manager to be fired in the 2016 MLS season. No surprise really. This team has never gotten going under Coyle. He was a strange hire to begin with, and it ended pretty much like most people thought it would. By Corey Roepken of the Houston Chronicle.

• Our last MLS Coaches Hot Seat Power Rankings (Apr 28) had Coyle at #2 behind Sigi Schmid, who is still very much in danger as well.

dN

ALL NEW!
du Nord Futbol's MLS Coaches Hot Seat Power Rankings:
5 Jay Heaps - New England - since making the final in 2014 they have not had much success and the team seems to be regressing now (but lets be honest, the owner is too cheap to fire him mid-season.)
4 Adrian Heath - Orlando - the team is not improving in year two. the same issues are front and center. many thought he would be ousted during the past off-season, so maybe its good sign for him that he is still around.
3 Mauro Biello - Montreal - owner Joey Saputo is always lurking around every corner just waiting to strike, and they haven't won in 6 games now.
2 Greg Vanney - Toronto - no coach of that team is ever NOT on the hot seat, and the big home stand is not off to the greatest start.
1 Sigi Schmid - Seattle - will he get a chance to coach reinforcements come summer? its not looking good right now.

dN

Liga MX Clausura Laguilla Finals:
1st Leg
-Thu May 26
Pachuca v Monterrey - 8pm CT on NBC Universo

dN

Jozy Altidore's philanthropic foundation is helping to get the Copa America games televised in Haiti, the country of this ancestors. Great news. By Avi Creditor of Sports Illustrated.

dN

A feature story on Fabian Johnson, a very good USA player that we know very little about. By Uli Hesse of Eight By Eight, via Vice.

dN

USMNT pre-Copa America friendlies:
-Wed May 25
USA 1-0 Ecuador - USA goal by Darlington Nagbe.

My USA Notes:

• Game highlights. [VIDEO]

• They won. Good. They should have. The USA should never lose a home friendly.

• Darlington Nagbe with a 90th minute winner - unmarked in the box he chested down a header from Bobby Wood and hit a side-volley off the ground and past the keeper from 8 yards out.

• The defense held very strong all game. Sure there was some last ditch defending a couple times, but nothing extreme. They held together well against a good technical team.

• Brad Guzan had to make a handful of plays on the ball, which he did with confidence every time except once when he dropped it but recovered. Other then that he only had to make 1 official save.

• Ecuador only had 1 shot on goal and that came late and Guzan handled it cleanly.

• Starting 3 players (Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones and Kyle Beckerman) in 2 positions is beyond my comprehension. All 3 were in the center of midfield. Its like playing with 10 men. And it has NEVER worked. For this team or any other. Yet Klinsmann lines up his team this way over and over and over again - seems like we see it almost every other game. It insults my intelligence.

• Once they shifted to 2 central midfielders the whole team took a step up in quality. Imagine that. Another attacker on the field makes a difference. It like a miracle happens.

• You also don't get 6 subs in a game to get it right. This team has won many meaningless friendlies off the contributions from 6 subs. Much less so in the usual 3 subs.

• If Geoff Cameron cannot get healthy does Klinsmann call in Omar Gonzalez, like he should have from the start? Steve Birnbaum and Michael Orozco are not the answer.

• Fab Johnson was OK at fullback. He is not a really good one, but average.

• Fab Johnson was nowhere to be found in the attack which is where he is GREAT. Imagine that team last night with an excellent left midfielder!

• Wood, Nagbe and Christian Pulisic are all strong attacking players with a spark in them. You can't teach spark.

• Of the 3 who started up top, Clint Dempsey, Graham Zusi and Gyasi Zardes, it was Zusi who had the best game. Dempsey had a couple moments. Zardes was invisible.

• Zardes had the best USA chance in the first half when he split the centerbacks and Dempsey hit a perfect pass over the top to him, but his terrible touch let the ball go all the way to the keeper causing the two players to collide and cause an injury stoppage. Great run, terrible ball skills.

• Michael Bradley had a strong game, especially after he dropped deeper into the midfield in front of the centerbacks.

• Another case of a painfully dull game sending everyone home giddy with a last minute goal and win.

dN

USA Copa America roster:
G: Guzan, Horvath, Howard
D: Besler, Birnbaum, Brooks, Cameron, Chandler, Johnson, Orozco, Yedlin
M: Beckerman, Bedoya, Bradley, Jones, Kitchen, Nagbe, Pulisic, Zusi
F: Dempsey, Wondolowski, Wood, Zardes

• If Geoff Cameron cannot get healthy then the exclusion of Omar Gonzalez is amplified stupidity.

• And when Fabian Johnson goes down or is exhausted there is NO ONE to replace him, more sheer stupidity.

Copa America Centenario Group Stage games:
-Fri Jun 3
USA v Colombia - Santa Clara
-Tue Jun 7
USA v Costa Rica - Chicago
-Sat Jun 11
USA v Paraguay - Philadelphia

dN

Minnesota United has signed former Nottingham Forest academy, Mansfield Town and Scottish youth international 21 year old central midfielder Jack Blake.

dN

MLS Week 13
-Wed May 25
Orlando 2-2 Philadelphia

• Philly took the lead on the road, Orlando made some offensive subs and roared into the lead, but Philly stole it back late to gain a point on the road. Philly continues to shock us. Orlando has a lot of issues.

dN

CONCACAF has hired a new General Sectretary. Philippe Moggio comes to the federation as a NBA Senior Vice President for Latin America.



The Bird Is The Word