Kicking it Around

We gathered a panel of Major League Soccer players and pundits to get their thoughts on the MLS, Year 14, starting with the David Beckham saga.
-By John Bolster

JUAN PABLO ÁNGEL is a Colombian striker for the New York Red Bulls. He set a franchise record with 19 goals in 2007, when he was a finalist for the league MVP award. Ángel had 35 goals in 49 appearances for New York entering this season, and he recently signed a multiyear contract extension with the club.

What’s your take on the David Beckham situation, and how can the league make the best of it?
That’s a hard question. But at the end of the day,
I think MLS is well-established right now and
regard less of who’s playing in the league, it’s in a
strong financial and sporting position. If he leaves,
I don’t think it will affect the league as much as
people think it will.

How will the expansion team in Seattle fare?
I hope they will do well. They have good management
behind the team. From what I’ve been told, it’s
a big soccer town, which will help.

Who’s the best young player in MLS?
I’d say Chivas USA’s Sacha Kljestan, and our midfielder
Dane Richards. Dane has something that is
difficult to get—speed. It gives you a big advantage.

Who’s the best defender in MLS?
Kansas City’s Jimmy Conrad.

What’s the toughest away venue in the league?
Toronto FC’s BMO Field.

How does the level of play in MLS compare to the Championship (second level) in England?
I think it’s different. I don’t like to compare this league with any other league in the world. MLS is harder than people think. It’s getting better every year. I don’t think it’s fair to compare this league with one that’s been around for however many years [since 1892]. You have to give the league time.

Photo courtesy of Red Bull NY.

GREG LALAS is site director for Goal.com, the world’s largest online soccer community, and host of the MLS online show Extra Time. He is still chasing the dream on the soccer fields of New York City.

What’s your take on the Beckham situation, and how can the league make the best of it?
He has a reputation for being a good, upstanding guy, but I think he handled this badly. He went behind the
Galaxy’s back in his initial dealings with AC Milan. That was totally lowbrow and, frankly, bullshit. As for the league, Beckham was the face of MLS for the past two years. He sold tickets, sold jerseys, got that sponsorship for the Galaxy. If he’s gone, all that’s gone.

How will the new team in Seattle fare?
Better than some other recent expansion teams, but the playoffs may be out of reach. And I can’t wait to see if Freddie Ljungberg dyes his hair Sounder blue. Oh, wait, he doesn’t have any more hair.

Who’s the best young player in MLS?
Yura Movsisyan of Real Salt Lake. He reminds me of Arsenal’s Robin Van Persie.

Who’s the best striker?
Juan Pablo Ángel. He’s a clinical finisher, and he makes his teammates better. But I also have to give a thumbs-up to Dallas’s Kenny Cooper, who had a breakout year in 2008.

Who’s the best defender?
Bakary Soumare, from Chicago. He’s big, strong,
intelligent, and only 23. Too bad he decided to play
internationally for Mali rather than the U.S.

Who will be the impact newcomer of 2009?
Hopefully, Thierry Henry. That’s just a wild guess
that he could decide to come here when his
contract at Barcelona is up. But more realistically, I’ll
go with Sebastien Le Toux, a striker for Seattle.

You had a cup of coffee in MLS. Were you ever heckled by fans or trash-talked by an opponent?
It was more like half a shot of weak espresso, but, yeah, I got heckled, mainly by fans who yelled, “Hey, Lalas, you’re not as good as your brother!” Not too witty. Also, for some reason, a lot of people asked me why I didn’t have red hair like Alexi*. Who am I, Gregor Mendel? I don’t know why I don’t have red hair.

*Lalas’s brother Alexi is a National Soccer Hall of Famer and started every game for the U.S. at the 1994 World Cup. He played in MLS for seven years.

TAYLOR TWELLMAN is a striker for the New England Revolution. He led MLS in scoring with 17 goals in
2005, and was named MVP of the league that year. He entered 2009 in fifth place on the all-time goals list with 99, and he’s made 29 appearances for the U.S. national team.

What’s your take on the Beckham situation, and how can the league make the best of it?
The Beckham situation is tricky. In a nutshell, if he was going to leave after this season anyway [he had an out clause in his contract], then MLS would’ve been right to sell him. If he’s in it for the long haul, then I think MLS would be right to keep him in L.A.

How will Seattle do in its first season?
They will do well; they have a solid core of Americans and a great coach in Sigi Schmid. Wouldn’t be surprised if they make the playoffs.

Who’s the best young player in MLS?
Chivas USA’s Sacha Kljestan or the Houston Dynamo’s Stuart Holden. And pretty much any rookie that Houston coach Dominic Kinnear brings in ends up being good.

Who’s the best defender in MLS?
In all honesty, they are all big, strong knuckleheads who kick the living shit out of me.

Who will be the impact newcomer of 2009?
San Jose’s Bobby Convey is a good choice.

What’s the best heckle you’ve heard in an MLS stadium?
There have been so many, from “Dawson’s Creek” to “World Cup 2006.”† I love the heckling because it provides those atmospheres that we need [to grow soccer] in this country.

What player is the best trash talker?
D.C. United’s Ben Olsen is awesome, but my teammate Jay Heaps takes the cake on this one. He
never shuts up.

I made a bet that the U.S. would win the World Cup before England did again. I was a couple drinks in when I made this wager, I’ll admit, but tell me, was it foolish or prescient?
Winning a World Cup takes a lot of luck along with skill, so right now, even though England is ahead of us as a soccer nation, we have as good a shot as them at winning the tournament.

†Twellman bears a passing resemblance to actor James Van Der Beek, and he narrowly missed making the 2006 U.S. World Cup team.

Photo by Keith Nordstrom/NE Revolution

SF runs the highly entertaining soccer blog TheOffsideRules.com

What’s your take on the Beckham situation, and how can the league make the best of it?
I’m a little disappointed in the way he handled it. Once he got to Italy, it became clear that he would rather be in the land of Prada than in the drive-through lane at In-N-Out Burger, regardless of what he said to the contrary. As for the league, they’ve benefited just from having him here, however brief it turns out to be. If he goes, they need to get a fat transfer fee for him. Maybe they can get a couple of nice Fiats for some of the league’s underpaid players, too.

How will Seattle do in its first season?
I think they’ll fare better than San Jose did last year [8-13-9], but not as good as Chicago did in ’98, when they won the league title as an expansion team.

Who’s the best young player in the league?
Sacha Kljestan of Chivas USA, without a doubt. The board of Glasgow Celtic will soon be crying into their Scottish ale over their decision to lowball a transfer fee for him.

Who’s the best striker in MLS?
[To the tune of “Guantanamera”]
Juan Pablo Ángel,
There’s only Juan Pablo Ángel
Juan Pablo Ángel,
There’s only Juan Pablo Ángel

Who’s the best defender?
No offense to James “Jimmy” Conrad, a player I love in a way that probably defines the term “bromance,” but I think a guy to watch this year is his understudy in Kansas City, Michael Harrington.

Who will be the impact newcomer of 2009?
Seattle’s Freddie Ljungberg is an obvious pick. A little less high-profile, though, is San Jose for – ward Cam Weaver. In 2006, he scored 18 goals in 27 appearances for Seattle in the A-League [second division].

Will the U.S. win the World Cup before England wins another one?
That’s a tough one. The U.S. keeps getting better, but as the 2006 World Cup opener versus the Czech Republic showed, they can get more than a little shook up in front of a big foreign crowd. But England, they really are a mystery: all the talent in the world, yet they can’t seem to make all of the parts fit together. They didn’t even qualify for Euro 2008. It truly boggles the mind.