Since it's never too early for predictions: MLS Cup 2003 will feature either the MetroStars or D.C. United, if Major League Soccer holds true to recent form.
Sunday's MLS Cup marked the third straight championship game featuring a team that had missed the playoffs a year earlier. The New England Revolution, however, failed to deliver the title as the San Jose Earthquakes had in 2001 and the Kansas City Wizards did in 2000.
The MetroStars this week made what will be their most important offseason move in their attempt to earn their first MLS Cup trip in 2003 -- and it wasn't the more traditional soccer crest the team adopted. It was the new coach they hired away from the Chicago Fire. Bob Bradley, the winningest coach in MLS history, still had a year left on his contract in Chicago, but he was lured away by the promise of returning home to his native New Jersey.
Past MetroStars coaches included such high-profile failures as a Brazilian World Cup winner (Carlos Alberto Parreira), the only man to take four different nations to the second round of the World Cup (Bora Milutinovic) and the current top assistant with Manchester United (Carlos Queiroz). Most recently, Octavio Zambrano was relieved of his coaching duties on Oct. 8 after failing to earn the one point in the final three games that would have earned a playoff spot.
Prior MetroStars Coaches
Coach
Years
Record
Octavio Zambrano
2000-02
41-37-8
Bora Milutinovic
1998-99
8-25
Alfonso Mondelo
1998
14-17
Carlos Alberto Parreira
1997
13-19
Carlos Queiroz
1996
12-12
Eddie Firmani
1996
3-5
What the MetroStars never have had, until now, is an American-born coach. Now they have one with a history of success in MLS who has proven his ability to take a team from nowhere (quite literally) to a championship. Bradley's Fire won the MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup titles in their inaugural 1998 season.
But as Soccer America noted this week, "The likelihood of Bob Bradley succeeding
as coach of the MetroStars is in direct proportion to how much
general manager Nick Sakiewicz stays out of his way."
"There's really nothing to say to that," Bradley told the Newark Star-Ledger before his hiring was announced. "I talk to him. We
really don't know each other. In the heat of competition, you do things and
say things."
Bradley's sterling reputation will be put to the test with the troubled MetroStars, who ended the season with Zambrano suggesting publicly that star forward Clint Mathis needed to see a psychologist and Sakiewicz saying that Mathis "cost us a playoff spot."
Now the Metros have a new coach, a rededicated Mathis, at least one player allocation coming from the league after missing the playoffs and two first-round draft picks. Sakiewicz said previously that the team's top need was an experienced central defender (he is reportedly to meet soon with Swiss international Ramon Vega), and the failure to sign English veteran Des Walker last season was cited as a reason for the team's failures, along with an injury to Marcelo Balboa.
The MetroStars will also be looking for someone to pair with Mathis up top after selling Mamadou Diallo to a Saudi Arabian club (likely bringing another player allocation to the Metros) and giving up Rodrigo Faria to the Fire as compensation for the final year in Bradley's contract. They also owe the Chicago a conditional pick in 2004.
Both the MetroStars and the Fire are operated by the Anschutz Entertainment Group, but officials denied that played any role in Bradley's move.
Such a deal is not without precedent in MLS and elsewhere in American sports. In 1998, the New England Revolution sent a first-round pick to the Tampa Bay Mutiny to hire head coach Thomas Rongen. Sakiewicz was in charge of the Mutiny at the time. And the MetroStars' hiring of Bradley was far less messy than the deal that sent Bill Belichick from the NFL's New York Jets to coach the New England Patriots in 2000.
While the MetroStars turn their thoughts to player acquisition, the Fire are now in need of a new coach.
"We're moving quickly to select Bob's replacement," said general manager Peter Wilt. "The new head coach will
have big shoes to fill."
Wilt told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he planned to interview Boro Sucevic, who led the Milwaukee Rampage to the A-League title this season, for the Fire job on Friday.
"[Sucevic] has earned the right to be considered," Wilt told the newspaper. "The
coaching job Boro did this year was spectacular."
Wilt also told the paper that Fire assistants Denis Hamlett, Tom Soehn and Daryl Shore would be considered. Other candidates were expected to include U.S. national team assistant Dave Sarachan and Dallas Burn coach Mike Jeffries, a former Bradley assistant in Chicago.
Next season will mark a rebuilding year for the Fire, who are expected to make several changes dictated by the salary cap after being eliminated in the quarterfinals this season by the Revs.
But then, the Fire won a double championship in their original building year. Already, they have added the league's 2001 rookie of the year in Faria, who scored 20 goals in two seasons with the MetroStars.
Standing in the way of any team with championship aspirations next year will be the Los Angeles Galaxy, a 1-0 winner over the Revs on Sunday after Carlos Ruiz's overtime goal. If L.A. makes its fifth MLS Cup next year it will be at home, with the Galaxy's new stadium hosting both the All-Star Game and MLS Cup.
Winning is secondary for Arena
United States national team coach Bruce Arena plans to use the Confederations Cup next June in France and the Gold Cup next July in the United States to give younger players experience and allow him to evaluate them. Winning will be secondary, he said, and most of the players who led the U.S. to the World Cup quarterfinals probably won't play in the 2006 tournament. Arena is negotiating a new contract. His current one expires at the end of the year. "I'm hopeful something gets done in the next couple of weeks," he said. "I'd like to see a contract take me through the next World Cup." The average age of this year's U.S. squad was about 28. Arena expects to have an average age of 24 or 25 on the team that will play El Salvador in D.C. on Nov. 17.
Four teams earn Champions Cup berths
U.S. Soccer's allocation of four positions in the 2003 edition of the CONCACAF Champions Cup has been approved by CONCACAF, paving the way for the Columbus Crew, the winner of Thursday's 2002 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championship, to earn an automatic berth in the event next year. With the Open Cup finalist Los Angeles Galaxy already earning a spot as both the champions of MLS Cup and the Supporters' Shield, the San Jose Earthquakes will take their place as one of the four U.S. representatives as the team with the second most points in the MLS regular season. The New England Revolution qualified with their late run to the 2002 MLS Cup final.
Nicol expected to stay with Revs
New England Revolution officials will meet with coach Steve Nicol this week and are expected to take the interim tag from his title. Managing director Sunil Gulati has set up a meeting with Nicol and his agent "to sort it out," team spokesman Jurgen Mainka said Monday. Gulati has said the team wants MLS' coach of the year to return. "I'm fully expecting [to] sign a contract so that I can continue to be the coach of the New England Revolution," said Nicol, who would become the team's fifth head coach in seven years.
Take a break
MLS confirmed that it will tinker its schedule to essentially take a
break during the summer months next season, when the international soccer
calendar is crowded by events such as the CONCACAF Gold Cup and FIFA
Confederations Cup. During that time, MLS will promote segments of the Manchester
United tour and stage international friendlies of its own. It
will also look to purchase the rights to air the Confederations
Cup in the U.S.
MLS cuts losses, mulls cable channel
MLS has cut losses this year by 50 percent, saving $10 million
in expenses from the shuttering of the Tampa and Miami teams
and cutting overhead for a total savings in the neighborhood of
$15-17 million. Garber also said the league is exploring launching the Soccer Channel, which would
compete with Fox Sports World. "We will be a major player in TV rights," says he said. "With the World Cup rights, we already are." Meanwhile, PepsiCo has renewed its MLS sponsorship a year early, according to the Sportsbusiness Daily. The new deal runs through '05 and includes rights for Pepsi's Gatorade brand for the first time.
League seeks stadiums, expansion
MLS will open its Los Angeles stadium in June and is hopeful
that the New Jersey legislature will pass the funding bill for
the new MetroStars stadium by Oct. 29. MLS is also deep in
negotiations with Frisco, Texas, to build a stadium there for the
Dallas Burn and hopes that sponsor AEG will arrange a
public/private funding package for the Washington, D.C., area to
build a stadium. MLS says it will announce two major investors in the next year and will expand in 2005 to two of the
following communities: Atlanta; Cleveland; Oklahoma City; Tulsa,
Oklahoma; Philadelphia, Seattle, Houston or Minneapolis-St. Paul. If Rochester, N.Y., succeeds in getting a
stadium built, MLS will also likely admit them.
Sounding out Seattle
The A-League's Seattle Sounders said this week that they will play next season's games at 67,000-seat Seahawks Stadium. The team hosted an exhibition against the Vancouver Whitecaps in July in the first-ever event at the stadium, drawing 25,515 fans. They averaged about 2,500 fans playing their home games 11,900-seat Seattle Memorial Stadium, which opened in 1947. Sounders general manager Adrian Hanauer told the Seattle Times that the city's chances of getting an MLS expansion team relied on the Sounders' attendance next season. "I'll flat out say it: With this facility and the soccer team I have, I'll guarantee a championship, whether it's A-League or MLS, within two years," coach Brian Schmetzer
told the Times.
Given the slumping form of England and Arsenal No. 1 goalkeeper David Seaman, English fans could be forgiven for envying the U.S. goalkeeping corps playing in the Premier League. Among the U.S. players in action in Europe last weekend, Blackburn goalkeeper Brad Friedel played 90 minutes in a 5-2 victory over Newcastle United, and Tottenham goalkeeper Kasey Keller helped earn a 3-1 win against Bolton. Both players have tougher assignments this weekend. Keller faces new league-leader Liverpool at Anfield. Friedel, who has played every minute in the nets for Rovers, next travels to Highbury to face second-place Arsenal.
More news from the U.S. national teams Six MLS players were selected Tuesday to the U.S. Under-20 national team for qualifying games for the World Youth Championship. Of the 18 players selected by coach Thomas Rongen, 11 came from the U.S. Soccer residency program, including goalkeeper Steve Cronin and midfielder Bobby Convey. Both were members of the U.S. squad that finished fourth at the 1999 Under-17 World Championship. The other MLS players are Convey (D.C. United), Santino Quaranta (United), Devin Barclay (San Jose Earthquakes), Ed Johnson (Dallas Burn), Justin Mapp (United), and Jordan Stone (Burn). Frank Simek, a member of the Arsenal organization in England, and David Johnson of Willem II in the Netherlands, are the other professionals on the team. The qualifying tournament will be held Sept. 13-17 in Charleston, S.C., against Haiti, El Salvador and Canada. Two teams advance to the World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates in 2003.
With a focus on developing players, U.S. Soccer has added an under-17 women's national team to the stable of five women's national team programs. That includes the under-16 girls, under-19 women and under-21 women, in addition to the full women's national team. Former U-19 women's assistant coach Dave Smith will serve as the U-17 team's first head coach, in an appointment made by U.S. women's national team head coach and technical director April Heinrichs. In addition to the appointment of Smith, Heinrichs has also named Chris Petrucelli as the new under-21 women's national team head coach and former under-21 assistant coach Sue Patberg as the new under-16 girls national team head coach.
Click HERE for a sampling of news and notes following the Los Angeles Galaxy's 1-0 overtime against the New England Revolution in Sunday's MLS Cup VII championship game.
Your chance to sound off on U.S. soccer
Lead MLS investor Philip Anschutz is financing a $30 million film adaptation of the book The Game of Their Lives, which tells the tale of the United States' 1-0 win over England in the 1950 World Cup. The movie is to be made by the same writer-director team that produced Hoosiers and Rudy -- director David Anspaugh and screenwriter Angelo Pizzo. Shooting is scheduled to begin in April. Pizzo told the Hoosier Times that the biggest challenge would be casting individuals who were capable actors and soccer players, which presumably gives Andrew Shue the inside track for a leading role.
Any other suggestions?
Keep 'em coming and we'll print the most interesting, succinct and grammatically correct submissions on any soccer-related subject in coming editions.
Slow down MLS! Before MLS considers expansion they should solidify their standing in their current cities and continue to cut down their losses.
--Amnon Siegel, Los Angeles, CA
61,000 -- That's just outstanding! The MLS Cup was not the best game (soccer wise) that I have ever seen, but man what a great way to end the season! The coverage by ABC was a little suspect. What the hell happened at the end of the game? The ball goes in the net and that's it? The whole year came down to a dramatic golden goal and the freaking network didn't allow enough time to show the trophy awarded to the winning team -- that's B.S. Oh yeah, I forgot that they had to get to golf right away because they needed to show all the crap about Disneyland and all its glory. In the future, I hope the network plans for more time; what if the game would have gone to PKs? They probably would have cut the coverage right before the final shot was taken! Why does soccer still get the shaft in this country?
--Keith Madison, Las Vegas
I think Major League Soccer should expand or relocate a team to Houston, Texas. It is a great sports city. It is the fourth largest city in the nation with over 2 million people in the city alone and 5.4 million in metropolitan area. We can really support a soccer team in Houston. I think the best choice would be to come to Houston. That would also make an instant rivalry with the Dallas Burn. Soccer in Houston is a win-win situation. We have the stadiums, fans, and love for the sport. I really think that the MLS should come to Houston, Texas!
--Eric Anderson, Houston, Texas
Why doesn't coach Arena provide Pat Noonan -- Indiana captain for three years and Big Ten player of the year -- an opportunity to join the national team? Noonan is never mentioned as a possible team selection.
--William Nolan, St. Louis, Mo.
CNNSI.com wire services contributed to this report.
