Each Summer, English clubs embark upon preseason tours in the United States and around the world. And every summer, those English clubs... well... how can I put this... OK, they suck ass. The MLS All-Stars have won five straight against overseas clubs [Ed. Note: their opponents? Guadalajara, Fulham, Chelsea (!), Celtic, West Ham United].
Even mediocre MLS clubs, who most of us think would have a hard time gaining promotion to the First Division of any decent European League, manage to get their backs up and spank the Fulhams, Newcastles, and West Hams of the world.
I attended this past Sunday’s friendly in Colorado between the Rapids and Everton. After the jump, a report...
The action? Sure, Everton had all of the ball, and they won 2-1 on a very late winner. The first Everton goal came out of a sequence in which Arteta was given enough time and space to make some calls, finish a sandwich, and admire the hotties in the crowd before finishing low inside the post from 20 yards. But time and again, the Rapids made runs at the Toffees. They were pacey, they fought, and you got the feeling that they were not in the slightest intimidated. It was gratifying to see them tackle the Phil Nevilles of the world with extreme prejudice. Oh, and I made sure my section heckled Phil at every opportunity in the first half [Ed. Note: good lad... the Nevilles are a pox on the earth]. In the second he had a cynical uncalled handball in the area that should have resulted in a go-ahead Rapids PK. I spoke to some Everton supporters (a surprising number of shirts on display in Colorado!). "What do you expect when you play a club on holiday?" they said, "We don’t have our entire squad... these Yanks are dire." You hear these excuses. You hear them try to talk themselves out of caring when they lose. Hell, I MAKE these excuses for English clubs to my friends! I was on Sunday! Well, the season starts in a couple of weeks. And, governor, Everton needs some work. Tim Howard was making huge saves all day. Lescott was a step slow (yeah, I said it!). Connor Casey – from Ft. Collins, CO and looking like a construction worker - scored the Rapids equalizer but, more importantly, flat-out embarrassed the Everton back on more than one occasion. And Mastroeni bossed the defensive midfield for stretches. Look, Everton were better. But they had to claw a win over a bad MLS side, and they also lost 2-nil last week in Chicago! Something is going on, something that Bigus will not concede. I’m not saying that MLS is ready for the prime-time, but it must be said that English clubs are going to a great deal of effort every summer to come over and lose more often than they win. These are the facts. For discussion: What’s up with that? Dismiss it at your peril. Bigus, I’m talking to you.
First off, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park is a very nice facility, another in a line of MLS soccer-specific facilities that are quite fantastic places to take in a match. Autoglass, Mrs. Autoglass, Young Autoglass and our friends in Colorado sat in the front row of Section 124 – side of the penalty area. Decent crowd, affordable food, beer and those fantastic $16 jersey t-shirts they sell at all MLS stadiums for the kids (this is brilliance. Go buy your kid anything for $16 at a baseball game, much less something that amounts to a jersey.)
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