EPL Talk » Major League Soccer

Interview With The Gaffer

The Gaffer — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 12:53:30 +0000

The Examiner featured me in an interview published this past Friday. A host of topics were discussed including:

My thoughts on the current state of the Premier League in America,
How the EPL ranks in America against the other popular leagues,
My favorite soccer stadiums,
What the future holds for Major League Soccer,
My most memorable football moments,
And much more.

Read part one of the interview on The Examiner’s website, and read part two on Brian Louie’s blog, Soccer Mad In America. Thanks to Brian for interviewing me, and be sure to check out his Soccer Mad In America blog which is definitely one to add to your RSS feed.

Latest League News From U.S., England, Germany, Italy and Europe

The Gaffer — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:40:54 +0000

Be sure to visit the whole network of our sites. Some of the interesting topics include:

Kartik Krishnaiyer over at Major League Soccer Talk takes on a controversial topic that very few journalists are brave enough to write about and that’s the cozy relationship between the Mexican Federation and Major League Soccer. Krishnaiyer also discusses U.S. Soccer’s relationship with MLS. Very revealing indeed.
Over at Champions League Talk, Lonnie Smetana has a roundup of the Champions League and UEFA Cup qualifying matches.
Shakira Graham at Championship Talk has an article on the draw for the second round of the Carling Cup.
At Bundesliga Talk, new columnist Double Pivot dissects his predictions for the Bundesliga season and surprises many by what team he’s picking for a third place finish.
Kevin Walker at Serie A Talk discusses The Beast’s move to Roma. The Beast? — better known as Julio Baptista.
What are the chances of HD coming to Fox Soccer Channel anytime soon? Ian Cahir at Soccer On Dish discusses the topic.

ESPN Coverage Hits New Low With West Ham vs MLS All-Stars

The Gaffer — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:24:46 +0000

ESPN’s broadcast of Euro 2008 was the best production ever of a soccer tournament for TV viewers in the United States. While it wasn’t perfect, it was clearly evident that ESPN had listened to the past criticism and corrected the annoying habits that had previously distanced diehard soccer fans from its network.

After ESPN vastly improved my impression of them this summer, I was then dismayed to discover that ESPN’s dirty habits had returned during the West Ham United against MLS All-Star Team game on Thursday night.

The four most annoying rules that were broken last night were:

On two separate occasions, while the match was still being played and the ball was on the pitch, ESPN broke away to “SportsCenter Right Now,” a brief news update on the day’s top baseball stories. Imagine how baseball fans would feel if the same thing happened to them during the middle of an inning and ESPN broke away to soccer news.
A few minutes before half-time, with the match still ongoing, ESPN cut away to presenter Rob Stone who discussed what food was available for sale at the concession stands. This completely distracted commentators JP Dellacamera and John Harkes so that they too ended up talking about the food and how they were hungry. Harkes mentioned he wanted to see Stone gobble the food. ESPN then cut away again a minute later to show Stone eating corn on the cob and a burger.
In the second half, we were “treated” to Rob Stone standing on top of the stadium roof introducing us to the bird, yes bird, who keeps the gulls from infesting the ground.
ESPN sideline reporter Allen Hopkins interviewed NBA player Steve Nash and striker Kenny Cooper at pitchside. Why not conduct these interviews before or after the match instead of wasting our time during the game?

By breaking away from the game, ESPN continues to commit the cardinal sin of soccer TV coverage. The message it communicates to the viewer is that the game isn’t exciting. I realize what ESPN is trying to do by putting their own spin on live coverage, but all four of the above rules broken didn’t add anything to the broadcast other than infuriating the viewer.

Yes, ESPN should be commended for providing HD coverage as well as great broadcasting of the game itself, but the network looks amateurish and hokey when it tries to liven up the broadcast with these idiotic cutaways.

It’s time for ESPN to treat its soccer coverage seriously rather than making it into a joke.

What do you think? Share your opinion by clicking the comments link below.

The Pleasure Of Watching Spain v Sweden In An Irish Pub

The Gaffer — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 23:28:05 +0000

Earlier this week I wrote an opinion piece about how the experience of watching football matches on TV are oftentimes better than seeing the games in person. Well, I want to take that back. That’s because watching a match on TV in a pub is better than both watching matches at home and in person, but it has to be the right type of pub.I found that pub this afternoon when I met up with my friend Ron from Romford, England — a fellow Miami Fusion fan from the good old days when we had a team in South Florida. We met some unlikely guests at the establishment, which definitely made the whole football watching experience more enjoyable.One of our unlikely guests at the Slainte Irish Pub in Boynton Beach was former professional footballer Ivan McKinley who used to play for New England Revolution, DC United, Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion. Now retired from playing professional football, he and his family live in the area.For those of you who don’t know McKinley, he was pigeonholed as a rough and tough defender who still has the notoriety of receiving the most number of red cards in MLS history. The South African defender was one of the better defenders the Fusion had. Never afraid to throw his body to block a shot or go up for a header against the top strikers, McKinley was definitely a huge hit at the Fusion.We all gathered at the pub to watch the Spain against Sweden match, which was yet another firecracker. This tournament is really turning into an enjoyable experience with so many wonderful matches and exciting football on display. The Sweden against Spain game was no exception. The match had plenty of drama around the two goal areas with Spain starting out very strong but Sweden gaining confidence as the match went on.This was the type of match I watched purely for enjoyment sake. Between knocking back a glass of Magner’s Cider, chatting with McKinley and watching the match in HD on plasma screens, I wasn’t able to concentrate on the tactics or the specifics but had the pleasure instead of just watching the match.All three goals in this match were sublime and examples of why Euro 2008 is more entertaining than Copa America 2007 ever was. The first goal by Fernando Torres for Spain was a perfect example of the Spaniard making something out of nothing and reaching out to redirect the ball into the corner of the net.The second goal was an example of the strength that Zlatan Ibrahimovic possesses. While most strikers would have fallen to the ground or been knocked off their feet by the physical Spanish defender, Ibrahimovic managed to shrug off the physical challenge, twisted and turned to carefully slot the ball into the back of the net.The third goal was a work of art as David Villa stayed calm under pressure in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper and knocked the ball into the corner of the net. The impressively taken goal reminded me a lot of Fernando Torres’s goal for Liverpool against Chelsea earlier last season.With Spain, Portugal, Holland and Croatia already qualified for the next round, those are four teams that play extremely attractive football and it’s quite plausible that one of them will end up being champions of Europe this summer. I can’t wait.After the match ended, the beer kept flowing as the crowd in the pub started singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” in full voice (there were a couple of Liverpool supporters there). A little later I had a chance to chat with McKinley a little more and heard him recount his stories of training with both West Ham United and Reading. Unfortunately because he was unable to get a work permit, he couldn’t sign for either club. But he did share a story about turning up at West Ham’s training ground early one morning a couple of hours before the players arrived. Then manager at the time Harry Redknapp asked McKinley what he was doing and proceeded to invite the South African to join him for breakfast!Overall it was a wonderful day. The Greece against Russia match was bearable and I managed to catch the one and only goal for Russia before heading off to run some errands. I have a feeling I’ll be returning to the Slainte Irish Pub a few more times before Euro 2008 concludes.