The global game has taken a fascinating turn in the last couple of years with the apparent death of the traditional centre forward, but the US national team and many MLS sides are still in pursuit of that ideal old school striker.
Manchester United achieved a sensational double success last season made all the more remarkable by the absence of a classic front man. Gone are the days of a Denis Law, Mark Hughes or Ruud van Nistelrooy leading the Red Devils’ attack. Sir Alex Ferguson has developed a modern free-flowing, interchangeable style with Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez combining to provide 79 goals.
In Italy, Roma also utilise an intriguing striker-less system where Francesco Totti conducts the play for the willing runs of Ludovic Giuly and Mancini from deeper positions. Many commentators have speculated that the role of the traditional goal poacher is redundant in today’s age of supreme athletes where space in and around the penalty area is increasingly unavailable.
This pattern has yet to reach MLS. Not surprisingly for a fledgling league, familiar systems prevail and there remains a need for reliable, if unspectacular, goal scorers. Juan Pablo Angel provides the perfect example of this model at New York Red Bull, at least when he is fit to do so. At D.C. United, Brazilian striker Luciano Emilio picked up last season’s top scorer award despite very little plaudits for his all-round play. The likes of Taylor Twellman (New England), Brian Ching (Houston) and Kenny Cooper (Dallas) evidence a continuing fondness for the tall, powerful target man, as did the capture of Kenny Deuchar by Real Salt Lake.
No matter what the league, goals are the hardest commodity to obtain in football. The problem has hampered Bob Bradley’s USA side since the international retirement of Brian McBride after the 2006 World Cup. Three goalless games against England, Spain and Argentina in recent weeks followed on from seven goals in three friendlies earlier this year. Five of those strikes came from defenders.
Los Angeles Galaxy are fortunate that, in Landon Donovan, they possess the services of America’s all-time record goalscorer. Donovan started this campaign in impressive form leading the scoring chart with nine goals coming into the weekend’s action. Having been restored to Ruud Gullit’s starting line-up after grabbing his 36th international goal in last week’s 8-0 mauling of Barbados, Donovan quickly picked up where he had left off with two goals in a 3-3 draw with Columbus Crew.
Edson Buddle remains closely behind his strike partner in the goals tally after adding his ninth of the season with an excellent finish. He continues his push for recognition in Bradley’s upcoming US squads.
That the Crew’s three counters originated from Galaxy’s right side was wholly unsurprising given that The English Tourist can scarcely raise a jog to help out in defence. Expending energy isn’t part of his $250 million contract; looking pretty and selling jerseys is. He did, however, contribute by earning a dubious penalty with the worst flop seen since Andrei Kirilenko’s Utah Jazz were knocked out of the NBA play-offs by Beckham’s new buddy Kobe Bryant and the L.A. Lakers.
Over on the East Coast, Angel missed both of New York’s matches this week with a strained hamstring. Only San Jose and Kansas City have scored fewer goals than the Red Bulls this season; a worrying statistic for head coach Juan Carlos Osorio in light of the recent departure of teenage sensation Jozy Altidore to Villarreal in Spain. Osorio will be delighted to have obtained four valuable points from two tough fixtures.
On Wednesday night his team travelled up the I-95 to earn an unexpected 1-1 draw at New England Revolution. Saturday brought a hard fought 1-0 win over Dallas. Defender Kevin Goldthwaite scored the only goal on 16 minutes before limping off shortly afterwards with a similar injury to that of Angel. The field turf of Giants Stadium continues to wreak havoc for Osorio’s squad.
New England’s recent run of 16 points from six games had seen them take command of the Eastern Conference, but a miserable week for Steve Nicol’s men was completed by a 2-1 defeat at Salt Lake on the worst pitch in MLS. The opening of the new soccer-specific Real Salt Lake Stadium cannot arrive early enough.
Emilio notched his eighth goal of the season as D.C. United swept past San Jose Earthquakes by 3-1 in Sunday’s fixture. Nowhere is the absence of a quality striker more acutely felt than in Northern California where head coach Frank Yallop has wisely opted to build the expansion side from the back. San Jose continue to compete admirably but fall short in the attacking third, while United’s early season woes seem ever distant after their fourth win in five matches.
Elsewhere, the lack of reliable sources of goals makes for great unpredictability. Chicago Fire have netted only once in the month of June as their challenge begins to stutter. Houston’s shortage of in-form attackers sees head coach Dominic Kinnear persevere with midfielder Brian Mullan in an advanced role, but another blank at Colorado sees only San Jose with less goals than the defending champions in the West.
Week 13 Results
New England 1 New York 1
Salt Lake 0 San Jose 0 (Ten man 'Quakes sneak a point)
Chivas 2 Chicago 0 (Early Barrett miss sets poor tone for Fire)
Toronto 0 Kansas City 0 (Ten games unbeaten at BMO Field for Reds)
New York 1 Dallas 0
Colorado 0 Houston 0 (Both teams miss late chances to seal the win)
Salt Lake 2 New England 1
L.A. Galaxy 3 Columbus 3
D.C. United 3 San Jose 1
Standings
Eastern Conference
1) New England 27 points (played 15)
2) Columbus 23 (13)
3) Toronto 21 (13)
4) Chicago 19 (12)
5) D.C. United 19 (14)
6) New York 19 (13)
7) Kansas City 13 (12)
Western Conference
1) L.A. Galaxy 21 (13)
2) Salt Lake 19 (14)
3) Houston 18 (14)
4) Chivas 17 (13)
5) Colorado 16 (13)
6) Dallas 16 (14)
7) San Jose 11 (13)
Manchester United achieved a sensational double success last season made all the more remarkable by the absence of a classic front man. Gone are the days of a Denis Law, Mark Hughes or Ruud van Nistelrooy leading the Red Devils’ attack. Sir Alex Ferguson has developed a modern free-flowing, interchangeable style with Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez combining to provide 79 goals.
In Italy, Roma also utilise an intriguing striker-less system where Francesco Totti conducts the play for the willing runs of Ludovic Giuly and Mancini from deeper positions. Many commentators have speculated that the role of the traditional goal poacher is redundant in today’s age of supreme athletes where space in and around the penalty area is increasingly unavailable.
This pattern has yet to reach MLS. Not surprisingly for a fledgling league, familiar systems prevail and there remains a need for reliable, if unspectacular, goal scorers. Juan Pablo Angel provides the perfect example of this model at New York Red Bull, at least when he is fit to do so. At D.C. United, Brazilian striker Luciano Emilio picked up last season’s top scorer award despite very little plaudits for his all-round play. The likes of Taylor Twellman (New England), Brian Ching (Houston) and Kenny Cooper (Dallas) evidence a continuing fondness for the tall, powerful target man, as did the capture of Kenny Deuchar by Real Salt Lake.
No matter what the league, goals are the hardest commodity to obtain in football. The problem has hampered Bob Bradley’s USA side since the international retirement of Brian McBride after the 2006 World Cup. Three goalless games against England, Spain and Argentina in recent weeks followed on from seven goals in three friendlies earlier this year. Five of those strikes came from defenders.
Los Angeles Galaxy are fortunate that, in Landon Donovan, they possess the services of America’s all-time record goalscorer. Donovan started this campaign in impressive form leading the scoring chart with nine goals coming into the weekend’s action. Having been restored to Ruud Gullit’s starting line-up after grabbing his 36th international goal in last week’s 8-0 mauling of Barbados, Donovan quickly picked up where he had left off with two goals in a 3-3 draw with Columbus Crew.
Edson Buddle remains closely behind his strike partner in the goals tally after adding his ninth of the season with an excellent finish. He continues his push for recognition in Bradley’s upcoming US squads.
That the Crew’s three counters originated from Galaxy’s right side was wholly unsurprising given that The English Tourist can scarcely raise a jog to help out in defence. Expending energy isn’t part of his $250 million contract; looking pretty and selling jerseys is. He did, however, contribute by earning a dubious penalty with the worst flop seen since Andrei Kirilenko’s Utah Jazz were knocked out of the NBA play-offs by Beckham’s new buddy Kobe Bryant and the L.A. Lakers.
Over on the East Coast, Angel missed both of New York’s matches this week with a strained hamstring. Only San Jose and Kansas City have scored fewer goals than the Red Bulls this season; a worrying statistic for head coach Juan Carlos Osorio in light of the recent departure of teenage sensation Jozy Altidore to Villarreal in Spain. Osorio will be delighted to have obtained four valuable points from two tough fixtures.
On Wednesday night his team travelled up the I-95 to earn an unexpected 1-1 draw at New England Revolution. Saturday brought a hard fought 1-0 win over Dallas. Defender Kevin Goldthwaite scored the only goal on 16 minutes before limping off shortly afterwards with a similar injury to that of Angel. The field turf of Giants Stadium continues to wreak havoc for Osorio’s squad.
New England’s recent run of 16 points from six games had seen them take command of the Eastern Conference, but a miserable week for Steve Nicol’s men was completed by a 2-1 defeat at Salt Lake on the worst pitch in MLS. The opening of the new soccer-specific Real Salt Lake Stadium cannot arrive early enough.
Emilio notched his eighth goal of the season as D.C. United swept past San Jose Earthquakes by 3-1 in Sunday’s fixture. Nowhere is the absence of a quality striker more acutely felt than in Northern California where head coach Frank Yallop has wisely opted to build the expansion side from the back. San Jose continue to compete admirably but fall short in the attacking third, while United’s early season woes seem ever distant after their fourth win in five matches.
Elsewhere, the lack of reliable sources of goals makes for great unpredictability. Chicago Fire have netted only once in the month of June as their challenge begins to stutter. Houston’s shortage of in-form attackers sees head coach Dominic Kinnear persevere with midfielder Brian Mullan in an advanced role, but another blank at Colorado sees only San Jose with less goals than the defending champions in the West.
Week 13 Results
New England 1 New York 1
Salt Lake 0 San Jose 0 (Ten man 'Quakes sneak a point)
Chivas 2 Chicago 0 (Early Barrett miss sets poor tone for Fire)
Toronto 0 Kansas City 0 (Ten games unbeaten at BMO Field for Reds)
New York 1 Dallas 0
Colorado 0 Houston 0 (Both teams miss late chances to seal the win)
Salt Lake 2 New England 1
L.A. Galaxy 3 Columbus 3
D.C. United 3 San Jose 1
Standings
Eastern Conference
1) New England 27 points (played 15)
2) Columbus 23 (13)
3) Toronto 21 (13)
4) Chicago 19 (12)
5) D.C. United 19 (14)
6) New York 19 (13)
7) Kansas City 13 (12)
Western Conference
1) L.A. Galaxy 21 (13)
2) Salt Lake 19 (14)
3) Houston 18 (14)
4) Chivas 17 (13)
5) Colorado 16 (13)
6) Dallas 16 (14)
7) San Jose 11 (13)
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