Special Edition Mailbag - 4 December 2006

With Brian taking pot shots at me and my club, I felt it was time to dig into the ol' mailbag to see if I couldn't exact some revenge. These are all real emails sent by real readers. Let's have a look.

Ricardo in Plano, TX: Greetings! Big week of Champions League action ahead of us, wouldn't you say? There's a chance that Barcelona, Roma, Arsenal, and Manchester United might not make the final 16! Who will make it, and who won't? Any chance the defending champions don't make it?

Bryce: As Brian broke down in his Arsenal-centric Free Kicks, the Gunners are one of a few big name clubs in danger of not progressing to the knock-out stages. Let's look at this one day at a time.

Tuesday features two games that have real implications. The most widely publicized match is Bremen traveling to the Nou Camp needing "just a draw" to advance at the expense of the defending champions. Messi and Eto'o are both still out for Barca, which puts more pressure on that one Brazilian guy, who I hear is still pretty good. In fact, I believe he is sometimes known as "Ronaldinho Gaucho", which should sound familiar to our faithful readers who took notice of Brian's annual college soccer tidbit. The Gauchos of UCSB rode their luck to an NCAA championship, so look for the spirit of the Gauchos to carry the Catalan giants to all three points and a ticket to the next round.

In Group D, Roma could be headed for the UEFA Cup should they lose at home to Valencia and Shakhtar Donetsk were to travel to Greece and defeat Olympiakos. Too many road victories needed on Matchday Six. Roma will get through to the round of 16.

The Wednesday night matches also feature plenty of compelling match-ups. Benfica will be traveling to Old Trafford trying to duplicate last year's elimination of Manchester United. Last season, however, they pulled off the upset with a win in Lisbon. Despite the Red Devils back-to-back losses in Champions League play, both of those matches were away from the Theatre of Dreams and with Sir Alex feeling perhaps a bit overconfident. With Rooney firing on all cylinders again, Ronaldo who never ceases to be in top form these days, and a defensive back four that make the days of Wes Brown and John O'Shea seem like ages ago, the current EPL leaders should get at least a share of the spoils - their only need to worry would be if they approached the game looking for a draw. If they play to win, they'll be in.

Group G looks ominous for a certain club from North London. First, the good news for the Gunners: a draw on the road would be enough to see them through, and the only chance of them being knocked out would be if Arsenal lost and CSKA Moscow were to win on the road. But now for the good news for the rest of us: Porto are not to be taken lightly at any venue, let alone the Dragao with Champions League survival on the line, and CSKA Moscow have finished their domestic season and are completely focused on going to Hamburg to take three points from one of the only two clubs in the competition yet to win a single point. There will be plenty of scoreboard watching on Wednesday night, I'll say that.

Brian in Los Angeles, CA: Bryce, we all know how much you love to rip on Arsenal. I would get joy out of seeing my pal's favorite team fail too if I was a Newcastle supporter. But all jokes aside, I'd be interested to see what you have to say about the Gunners' troubles with consistency the past couple of seasons. What is keeping Arsenal from being on par with Manchester United and Chelsea, and what steps do you think they need to take to compete for EPL titles again?

Bryce: Honestly, there is a lot to like about the talent assembled in the Gunners' locker room, as much as it pains me to admit it. I think last year's run in the Champions League and the occasional flashes of brilliance from the side demonstrate without a doubt that talent is certainly not what his lacking on this club. But, I would point to three things that still bug me about this version of Arsenal.

First of all, this is a team still rebuilding. There are a lot of young, exciting faces in the line-up that have been brought in and given prominent roles. Some weeks, everything flows together perfectly and the young and old faces blend seamlessly, and it looks like the Gunners of their championship form. What is missing, it seems to me, is a true sense of their own identity. It looks like they are playing dress up, and occasionally pulling it off, but they might be guilty of attempting to carry out the (recent) old Arsenal tradition at all costs. Cesc has to be like Vieira, Van Persie has to be like Bergkamp (when he is actually quite like a Duke University Lacrosse player), Hleb has to be like Pires, etc., etc. I say let them develop their own identity.

The second obvious factor which stems from this first point is the gaping hole left by Patrick Vieira as team captain. I don't see the kind of leadership you expect at a club of that stature. Is Henry ever going to be as good of a captain as John Terry? Are you kidding? Maybe Gary Neville doesn't knock your socks off either, but the Red Devils have fewer youngsters and new faces. This transition period for Arsenal would be much smoother if they had stronger leadership from their captain, and surely their next captain will have to be chosen for reasons other than a remarkable goal scoring record.

The third major reason for Arsenal inconsistency, at least from what I have seen as a neutral, (not so-) impartial observer, is Arsene Wenger's insistence that his club score pretty goals. Pretty goals they definitely score, no question about that. But what is missing are the ugly goals that make the difference between dropping points and keeping pace with the big guns. Didier Drogba has been on fire this entire season, but not all of his goals have been pretty (although some have also been breathtaking). Until the Gunners find more ways to score goals (with their heads for instance...), I think they will be too reliant on pretty goals to really challenge Chelsea and ManU over the marathon that is the EPL season. Maybe that's why last year's Champions League run makes sense- fewer games to rue missed opportunities.

Just my two cents.

Steven in Mission Viejo, CA: It's looking more and more like Jurgen Klinsmann will soon be named US National Team manager. While we may soon have a big name manager, I'm still worried about the current talent pool. The failure at the World Cup had a lot to do with the inability of our players to compete physically and talent-wise with our opposition, and not just with coaching issues. What are your thoughts? I'd hate to see the Argentina and Brazil B-teams beat up on us at Copa America this summer!

Bryce: As much as it has been said, it still bears repeating: not advancing out of group play at the World Cup is not the end of the world. 16 teams advance. Sometimes good teams don't even qualify for the World Cup (Scotland has missed the last two!).

That being said, I do think Jurgen Klinsmann would be the perfect fit for US Soccer and could make a huge difference in player development here in the States. More and more Americans are going abroad and playing in England, Holland, and Germany, which is great. Do the kids making the journey to Denmark's lower divisions really help themselves or US Soccer? Probably not. Pretty soon the likes of Sunil Gulati and his new national team coach will be devising ways to get the most out of the existing MLS and college structures, while at the same time maximizing the opportunities for talented Americans to play in the top leagues in the world. Klinsmann will have the insight, connections, and experience to help guide his players into appropriate development opportunities in Europe, but whoever is placed in the coach's position should also have an advisory role with MLS to help improve the league's structure (especially since it is about to over-expand again).

In the end, a coach like Klinsmann could help the culture of player development on a national level in significant ways. I just wish they'd make the friggin' announcement already.

The other key development is the US national team's involvement in the Copa America. I hate to break it to the Gold Cup organizers, but our players don't play in many meaningful games against world class international opponents. A big part of developing our players will be fielding them against stronger competition more often at both the club and international levels.

Noah in Duluth, MN: Bryce, are Newcastle going to get relegated? That would be pretty funny if that happened, eh? Michael Owen says he'll be back - yeah, back in time for bus rides to Ipswich and Coventry!

Bryce: Noah, Noah, Noah. First of all, you should know that our recent run of good form is only the tip of the iceberg. In typical Newcastle form, the Magpies are a little slow coming out of the starting blocks. No biggie. We've got a monster run in us that will see us finish in the top half of the table. Not good enough for a club of Newcastle's stature, but given the injury list that at one point or another has contained, or still does contain, the names Owen, Ameobi, Given, Parker, Dyer, Emre, Solano, Duff, Carr,N'Zogbia, Milner, Moore, Babayaro, and Bernard to name a few, Glen Roeder shouldn't be tarred and feathered just yet.

Second, the same can not be said for you after than relegation joke. Duluth aint that big, pal. You'll know when I find you.

Cesare in Hoeboken, NJ: Who will win the Scudetto? I think it's down to two teams: Inter Milan and Roma. Inter has the firepower, but they always choke! Just you watch. What do you think? Caio!

Bryce: If ever "choke" were the optimal term, it would have to be for a blown Scudetto on the part of Inter this season. This title was practically gift wrapped by the match-fixing scandal and subsequent point deductions for Milan and Juventus (among others, of course), which leads to the obvious question of how much the directors of Inter paid to the authorities to frame all those other clubs.

But seriously, right now the gap is 4 points, but Roma has played one more game at home, which they happened to lose to the leaders from Milan. Inter has also already defeated AC Milan "on the road," as well as third place Palermo and fourth place Catania Calcio. They have already gone through the worst of their schedule. Unless they get distracted by bribery scandals or a Champions League run, Inter should have too much talent to let the Scudetto escape them.

Thanks for the emails everybody. Don't forget to get your questions to us here.

Pictures courtesy of fc-barcelone.com, fcporto-poland.com, 4thegame.com, fotball.aftenposten.no, usinmagine.com, and soccerline.co.kr.