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Classic Cletus Mathis finds form as Man Utd plots Howard work permitPosted: Saturday May 31, 2003 10:54 AMUpdated: Saturday May 31, 2003 11:41 AM
Five straight wins. Four straight games with a goal. Those are the gaudy streaks MetroStars forward Clint Mathis takes into Saturday night's showdown in Columbus. After a slow start that had some observers wondering if he would ever regain his old form, Mathis has the 5-1-1 Metros rolling these days atop the Eastern Division. "I'm happy with the way I've been getting more fit and taking players on more," Mathis told me this week. "I'd gotten in the habit of passing the ball off and trying to do it that way. Now it's starting to feel like the old days, when people didn't know what I was going to do." Mathis isn't all the way back yet. Hernia surgery kept him out for most of the preseason, and it's doubtful that he'll go 90 minutes during any of the games in the upcoming Confederations Cup. But the gunslinger cockiness is alive and well. When Colorado Rapids fans heckled Mathis with chants of "Fat Bastard" two weeks ago, he responded with a goal and some good-natured smack talk of his own, raising his jersey and barking "Who's the fat ass now?" It was classic Cletus. And yet, at 26 and in the last year of his MLS contract, Mathis knows that more is demanded of him this season. On several occasions, new Metro coach Bob Bradley has privately reminded Mathis of the pre-dynasty Edmonton Oilers with Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier. "When those guys were young, they were all single, they enjoyed themselves and they were all talented, great players," Bradley says. "But Edmonton never won. The Islanders always won. Somewhere along the line those guys said, 'I want to win something. I want to hold up this trophy.' "I've tried to get Clint to understand that a little. I want him to get some credit for maturing, for accepting a bigger role and becoming a guy who is still capable of those special plays but also wants to be on a team that wins something."
For Mathis, who has never won an MLS title, that approach is resonating. When asked when we'll know if the MetroStars are for real, he keeps it simple: "Hopefully, by the end of the year, when we raise the Cup." Source: Work permit no worry for HowardMetroStars goalkeeper Tim Howard will not have a problem getting a work permit to play for Manchester United this fall, according to a source close to the deal. Though it may not be formally announced for another two to four weeks, MLS has agreed in principle to sell Howard for just over $2.5 million to the Red Devils. But how will the UK work permit be secured? After all, Howard has not met the stipulation of playing in 75 percent of the U.S. national team's "A" games over the past two years (he has six caps), and though Howard's mother, Esther, was born in Hungary, he does not yet have the Hungarian passport that would also suffice. (He plans on filing the paperwork for one in the coming week, after which applicants must generally wait up to a year for approval.) Howard's agent, Dan Segal, refused to comment. But my source tells me Man Utd has assured Howard and MLS that it will be able to secure a work permit for Howard either by: 1) pulling strings with the UK government to circumvent the 75-percent rule, or, failing that, 2) expediting the process by which Howard would receive his Hungarian passport. What's more, Man Utd "definitely sees Tim Howard competing for the top spot" next fall, according to the source. If the transfer comes off as expected, it will mark a historic moment in the history of the U.S. league, a direct sale to one of the world's top clubs. Freddy's first paydayAs you might already know, last week 13-year-old Freddy Adu became the youngest American soccer player ever to sign an endorsement contract with Nike. But according to a source close to the deal, the reported $1 million figure includes incentives and option years and is not all guaranteed. "The annual base figure is well below $100,000 a year the first couple years," the source says. "Then it goes into six figures for years three and four, and if he's a superstar, then it goes up significantly for each option year after that. If he's just another good soccer player, though, there are all kinds of out clauses." Where does Adu's deal stack up with the shoe contracts of other U.S. stars? Well, I'm told that years three and four of Adu's contract are "in the same ballpark" annually with the current deal between Nike and Landon Donovan. According to Richard Motzkin, the agent who recently signed Adu, the negotiations with Nike "took some time. It was done with sufficient deliberation. The plan is for Freddy to go to the under-17 world championships in Finland this August, then return to Bradenton [site of the USSF's residency camp] and graduate a year from now." Adu, who is currently playing with the U.S. under-17 team at a tournament in South Korea, turns 14 on Monday. Moving on to some questions...
I am a huge Galaxy fan and I am beginning to be concerned about the team's poor start. It seems to me that the Galaxy rely far too much on set pieces and Carlos Ruiz for their offense. Apart from occasional flashes from Cobi Jones, their midfield shows precious little creativity, though they do hold the ball fairly well. Do you think they need to insert another playmaker, like Alex Pineda Chacon, in order to get their offense going?
I've always liked Pineda Chacon's game and would love to see him become a regular, which becomes more likely with the departure of Simon Elliott for the Confederations Cup. Still, I wouldn't sound the warning alarms just yet -- unless L.A. somehow manages not to win against lowly Colorado. Granted, Ruiz couldn't stay charmed forever. And certainly nobody expected that the Galaxy would still be winless at this point, but with so many home games coming up, I expect them to come on strong and get a decent playoff seed. Ask around the league -- most players still think L.A. is the team to beat.
What do you think of DaMarcus Beasley? Do you think he could be playing in Europe soon? Left wing is a position where many European teams need someone, and Beasley is solidly going about his business.
Beasley is a wonderful talent, and not just because of his speed on the left wing. Watch his defense some time, because he's an excellent defender as well. Moreover, he has shown lately with Chicago that he can play more centrally, an example of the versatility that makes him even more valuable to a team. Yes, there are still concerns that he's too frail for the regular punishment of European soccer, but at 21, Beasley clearly wants to go to Europe. He recently left SportsNet, the agency run by Richard Motzkin -- whose clients include Donovan, Bruce Arena and Alexi Lalas -- out of the belief that his agents could have done more to get a European move done. (Ironically, SportsNet also reps Tim Howard, who is set to make his own Euro move.) Beasley's new agent is the UK-based Paul Stretford, whose top American client is Brad Friedel.
Why the heck aren't players in the MLS shooting the ball from 25 yards in? I'm fed up with the lack of possession in the opponents' third, the lack of buildup overall, and the fact that from the teams I've watched -- very limited mind you, I only get the ESPN2 games -- it seems to be a race to the corner and wild crosses to 5-foot-8 target players.
You're being a little harsh, Jason, but there is some truth to your gripes. If you're a nutter like me and see most of the league's games through the MLS Shootout package (or, for that matter, if you watch the weekly MLS Wrap show on Fox Sports World), you'll notice that there have been a number of good goals this season, including several scored from within 25 yards. But, sadly, there are still too many occasions when we're subjected to awful soccer. The Rapids, for example, might do well to introduce a new product alongside team scarves: the official Rapids noose.
Bob Bradley has rebuilt the MetroStars, and they are off to a great start. Richie Williams just got hurt, and Jaime Moreno is out with a back injury. Come June, Clint Mathis, Eddie Pope and Tim Howard will join the U.S. national team. Does the team have the depth it needs to sustain the winning record through these events?
It's going to be a huge challenge, not least because Howard probably won't be rejoining the team after Confederations Cup. The most likely scenario has Joe (Au revoir, France) Cannon taking over in goal, but only if the Metros can pry his rights away from San Jose (which could make life tough for them). The recently arrived Argentines, midfielder José Galvan and defender Juan Forchetti, are going to have to produce if the Metros are to keep up their current pace. And there will be a lot of pressure on mid-level players like Mark Lisi, Joey DiGiamarino and Craig Ziadie. If the Metros can play .500 ball through the absences, that will mean the rookies (Ricardo Clark and Mike Magee) have held up well, and that there's reason to dream of silverware in MetroLand.
How does a player get called up to the national team? Does Bruce call the guys up directly and say, "Hey, do you want to play with the team this weekend?" Or do Bruce's "people" call the player's agent and ask for the player to be out there? What's the whole process?
Well, it's not always a literal "call-up," Brian. It depends on the player. Arena is in regular e-mail contact with almost all of the regulars, and it's especially important that he and the European-based players (and their coaches) are on the same page so that club-vs.-country conflicts can be avoided. As for the younger national-teamers and newbies, there will be less direct contact, since it's usually understood that nobody in their right mind (unless they've suffered an injury that Arena doesn't know about) would turn down a national team call-up.
D.C. United plays the most beautiful soccer in MLS, yet they can not score. Why are the brass not begging for a forward? Can you imagine Taylor Twellman or Carlos Ruiz on this team?
It seems like all of United's potential goal-scorers are either too young (Alecko Eskandarian, Santino Quaranta) or too old (Hristo Stoitchkov, Earnie Stewart), which is why there have been talks about bringing Dante Washington in from the A-League. That said, it's awfully easy to say "Bring in another Twellman" when we all know that snipers like Twellman are such a difficult commodity to come by in this league.
Do you think that Claudio Reyna will change teams now that Sunderland has been relegated? From what I've read it seems like he's staying but I'd really like to see as many Americans in the Premiership as possible, and now that he and McBride are gone, who's left?
Reyna has said there's a chance he might get an offer to stay in the Premiership with another club. But after missing nearly the entire season with a knee injury, it's more likely that Reyna will play in the First Division with Sunderland next season. The Sunderland fans will love him for it, but Reyna had better hope it's a one-year stay down low. He doesn't have that many years of top-level soccer left, particularly if he honors his promise to finish his career in MLS. As for Yanks currently in the Premiership, there are Brad Friedel (Blackburn Rovers), Kasey Keller (Tottenham Hotspur) and Jovan Kirovski (Birmingham City). Four random things• This week's links: Jason Jarrett of Austin, Tex., suggests that any of us "classic soccer" geeks check out classicsportslogos.com "so you can impress other soccer buffs with your retro Minnesota Kicks T-shirt" (right on, bro), while I've become a big fan of the relatively new sports Weblog Sportsfrog.com, which treats soccer with plenty of respect in relation to the other American sports. • Regarding the Champions League final -- or as I like to put it, two-and-a-half hours I'll never get back -- there is one lesson to be drawn: Never, ever bet against a Brazilian goalkeeper in a penalty-kick shootout. (See World Cup '94 final, World Cup '98 semifinal.) • Can anyone else remember an MLS team scoring off an indirect free-kick in the penalty box as the Metros' Mathis did last week against Dallas? Mathis himself can't. "I don't know how that thing went in," he says. "I was trying to keep it low, because I figured the defenders would jump thinking I'd chip it." • Nice pix of various U.S. national-teamers drinking brews at their local pubs in the recent Men's Journal magazine. But wait -- wasn't DaMarcus Beasley under 21 when that shot was taken of him in front of a brew at a Chicago watering hole? If that's the biggest problem, though, it's a much better deal than those, uh, gender-ambiguous shots in the New York Times Magazine a year ago.... Got some questions? Send 'em in. I'll see you in two weeks! Sports Illustrated senior writer Grant Wahl keeps you up to date with the world of U.S. soccer at SI.com. To send Wahl a comment, question or story idea, click here.
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