Pictures from the Inaugural Match

Okay, Okay...

I know it's been awhile since I've posted much of anything (does it seem like I start all of my posts that way?) but these past two weeks have been absolute chaos.

To start, I bought a car. Well, a jeep actually. Pictures are coming, but I honestly always forget. I really love, it's a 2003 Jeep Wrangler X with a soft top. When I got it, the thing was just short of 24,000 miles. It's been about two weeks and I've already put about 600 miles on it. Insane. It's horrific on gas mileage, which I knew going in, but I didn't think it would be this bad. I haven't really done the math lately, but I was averaging about 14 mpg to start. As soon as this stadium is finished I'll be riding to work (about 25 miles) and showering in the locker room a couple of days per week. That should save me almost 100 miles per week and a half a tank of gas.

Speaking of the stadium, we had a "soft opening" on Sunday against th New England Revolution. For those that don't speak sports marketing, it just means that we allowed season ticket holders in to the building along with Bridgeview residents and some VIPs. Our capacity for soccer is about 20,000, we gave out (or sold) about 14,000, and I think the actual attendance was somewhere between 10-12k.

The purpose for this public safety event was twofold. One, they wanted to give the residents of the community a chance to come in and see the first actual event in the building. Secondly, they wanted to make sure everything worked. Nothing would be worse than having a sold-out, standing room only crowd, and having the toilets explode. Thankfully nothing like that happened, but there were plenty of issues that we need to address before our Grand Opening next weekend. One major thing that needs to be fixed is the defense's effort in the final minutes of the match. The scoring went like this:

CHI 39th minute - Nate Jaqua (unassisted)
CHI 79th minute - Nate Jaqua (unassisted)
NE 87th minute - Taylor Twellman (Tony Lockhead)
CHI 91st minute - Calen Carr (Ivan Guerrero, Jared Montz)
NE 93rd minute - Steve Ralston (Andy Dorman, Tony Lockhead)
NE 94th minute - Andy Dorman (Kyle Brown, Steve Ralston)

Are you serious? We allowed three goals in 6 minutes? And two of them were in second half stoppage time with a 3-1 lead? Unreal.

While we're on the subject of shitty soccer performances, how about the boys in blue, huh? Talk about laying an egg in one of the most important performances in U.S. Soccer history. If you don't understand, or care to real my boring match analysis, scroll down till you see the next dashed line like this:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In their defense, I think Bruce Arena trotted out a horrible line-up that clearly couldn't do it's job and hold it's own against the bigger, stronger, more skilled Czechs. Plus, Peter Cech, the opposing goalie, happens to be widely considered the top keeper in the world right now, playing his club ball with Chelsea.

Bruce's line-up looking liked this:

------------McBride----------------------

----------------------Donovan------------

Convey----------Reyna------------Beasley

--------------Mastroeni-------------------

Lewis------Pope------Onyewu-----Cherundolo

------------------Keller----------------------

A few reasons why this doesn't work. One, forcing McBride to play alone up top has NEVER worked for the United States. He needs another striker paired with him so that he can lay the ball off and focus on winning headers in the box.

Second, Convey looked atrocious on the left wing. Convey has actually received alot of praise for his ability to push the tempo at time against the Czechs and get forward into space, I see another side of that though. He did alot of work to create that space for himself, but then was unable to send a decent cross in all day. Not once did he find McBride's head, which happens to be one of the most dangerous heads in the tournament having scored in consecutive World Cups.

Third, Beasley was playing out of position. Sure, he should have sucked it up and figured it out. At this level, a wing-midfielder should be able to play either wing, but he's been a mainstay on the left for the National Team for so long that it's absurd to ask him to play elsewhere. Given that Convey couldn't hit a proper service all day, they should have switched the two or pulled one of them out. The replacement?

Clint Dempsey. Yes, he is suspect defensively at times. I know that. However, his tenacity and pace on the ball is tremendous. It would have been a nice shot in the arm for a team that was clearly stuggling to stay motivated after falling two goals back. Don't be surprised if he gets the nod tomorrow against Italy.

Also, where the hell was John O'Brien in the line-up. He entered in the second half at some point, but by then the game was over. I understand he doesn't quite have full match fitness yet, but he would have been better served starting and playing the first half (and maybe 10 minutes of the second) instead of the 30 or so minutes he got late. He's a tempo setter and a marksman when it comes to serving the ball towards McBride. He needs to start against Italy as well.

As for the defense...despite giving up three goals, I really think they did just about all they could. All things considered, we have two players that shouldn't be back there at this level. Lewis is a wing midfielder with his club and Arena has him playing left back. Cherundolo is to small at 5'6" and unable to push forward enough.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I honestly don't believe that all hope is lost on this team. It's not completely out of the question to get 4 points from the remaining games. With a 3-0 loss, that won't allow us to advance, but it would be respectable after getting drilled like we did in our opener. And let's be honest for a second here, the Czech Republic IS one of the best teams in this tournament. That was a game that I wasn't really expecting to get three points out of. I was hoping, best case, for a tie.

Just so everyone in Chicago is aware, we are hosting a viewing party for the USA-Italy match at the stadium, which is officially TOYOTA PARK. It's free admission and free parking for everyone as the game will be broadcast on the jumbotron. Should be a good time, I believe the gates open at noon. Consession stands will also be open.

As for me, personally, things have been excited with the new stadium. I've been incredibly busy down here and with the commute I haven't had time to keep my fitness level up for soccer or see Amy altogether too much. That will hopefully change a bit as we get more settled in here, but she has (understandably) been pretty annoyed with me lately. So tonight I'm taking her to the 11 pm show at Second City. After that, it's right to bed as I have a long weekend ahead. First, the viewing party and then I have to go get a couple of things at the store before calling it an early night. Sunday I have a road game for MM Arsenal up in Libertyville and then a playoff tournament for The Globe Pub back in the city. We play a "Wild Card" game at 3:30 and then if we win that we'll play again at 4:30 against the 1st place team. If we win that, it's on to the championship game at 5:30. And, whenever that gets done, it's off to Amy's mom's house for a family gathering to celebrate all the recent graduates in the family.

I think that's it....oh, and Karen still needs to let me know what she wants for her prize! I have Chicago Fire stuff coming out of my ears.