(Some of) Your Questions Answered

IVES- I dont know how seriously to take that sort of stuff from Carey. I appreciate his interest in fans playing a role, but at the end of the day you can’t make a complete joke of the organization, and fan voting for a GM would be pretty suspect.

As for your other question, I’m not touching that one, though I will say I feel like Foudy has gotten better. Then again, I don’t listen to enough ESPN/ABC games since I’m usually attending them.

SUPER METRO- 1. Any real changes of Riquelme to MLS, what’s his issue with clubs/FIFA etc.?
2. Update on J. Exantus

IVES- No chance of Riquelme for 2008 (or 2009 for that matter, he is heading back to Boca). I have never heard him express interest. The Argentine that should arrive in 2008 is Juan Veron. I would put good money on Veron wearing the DC United kit in 2008.

As for Exantus, he just finished up his junior year of high school. He had another stellar season and is developing nicely. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have developed at a faster rate playing for the senior Red Bulls team but there’s no point crying over spilled milk on that one, is there?

CENTRAL COASTER- Whats your opinion on Marvin Avila of Guatemala. I’ve only seen him in Gold Cup and I know he scored against Mexico a few weeks ago. It seems like he’s destined for something better than the Guatemalan league. Do you see the Mexican League, MLS, or some other league in his future?

IVES- I don’t know how much stock you should put into Avila’s brace against Mexico last month. Both goals came in the second half with Mexico down a man and the second came courtesy of a failed clearance. Avila’s a nice young player but I wouldn’t but too much stock into him being a rising star just yet.

DANNYc58- Oh man! I sent you an email, can that be my question? About Sebastian Lleget and his citizenship, etc?

IVES- Danny, that question was like a book of 10 questions. I will investigate and try to get some answers for you.

CARL- I don’t know if you explored this in your column but do you think a withdrawn striker is what’s missing from the Revs since Deuce left? Twellman has a lot of heart but we need another creator and finisher up front. Will New England decide to use a DP spot on a player like this and do you have any ideas on which player(s) may be available to come to MLS?

IVES- Carl, that was essentially my column after MLS Cup for ESPN.com. The Revs rely too much on Twellman to score goals and need a second proven goal-scorer.

SCOTT- Do you think Bob Bradley will ever try out his son in a more attacking role? Feilhaber seems ineffective and it could be useful to have that flexibility if someone like Donovan or Adu goes down. Bradley seems to have a scoring touch that’s put to waste as (very good) holding mid. Plus there’s I think there’s a decent wealth of defensive mids in the US pool. Any chance of this happening or is MB’s role as a defensive mid too important to mess with?

IVES- I think that as Michael Bradley evolves as a player you will see him take on more of an attacking role, and by that I mean be more of a two-way player rather than focusing on sitting deeper and breaking up attacks. He has already started to open up that part of his game with Heerenveen and you should see results with the national team next year.

EMILIO- Have you heard anything on potential candidates for the Red Bull coaching spot, do you expect coaches with MLS experience or international coaches. Is Paul Mariner being considered?

IVES- I’ve heard some and I also have reason to believe that some names that have been floated out there aren’t legitimate. I would say that the Red Bulls are looking at MLS-experienced coaches, which is the smart way to go.

CHICAGO MILLONARIO- 1. Do you think an MLS club can make a serious challenge in the Copa Sudamericana soon?

IVES- I think teams like DC, Houston and New England can compete in Sudamericana now, the issue might be scheduling confilicts. As for which tournament would have priority if a team reached both, you can bet MLS would be the priority. That’s the thing, MLS teams just don’t have the depth to compete in two tournaments at the same time.

PATRICK- What do you feel is the status of the even-keel Revolution going into the offseason? Is it time to start looking for a successor to Ralston? How good is Wells Thompson going to be? And god almighty is Khano Smith hopeless or what?

IVES- The Revs need to move Ralston back to the right flank. Well Thompson is a decent option but I’m not convinced he’s the answer there. As for Khano Smith, he shows flashes one minute, then turns the ball over the next. He’s frustrating to watch, but in MLS, where wing play is pretty mediocre, Smith isn’t the worst winger around.

IVES- All I know is what I’ve been told, which is that New England’s discovery claim on him is invalid and he has to go into the 2008 draft if he signs with the league. The Revs put in a claim for him during what was the first summer after Angulo graduated high school (unless the team actually developed that player). You can’t allow teams to grab kids right out of high school, otherwise why have a draft?

As for the impact he could have, the kid is truly skillful, a strong, left-footed striker with a blast of a shot. His biggest issue is fitness. He’s had issues with fitness, as evidenced by his terrible one-day practice date with the Red Bulls, who took one look at him and told him not to come back. Angulo is a talent and could develop into an impact forward in MLS.

OSSINGTON- What have you heard about SI/YI spots being increased in the league?

IVES- I had heard that the league was combining senior and junior international slots so that teams had as many as seven total slots to use, meaning a team could theoretically have seven senior internationals. Nothing official has come out on this yet, at least not that I’ve seen.

IVES- Some players read the blog, both in and out of MLS. I won’t bother naming names since that would be kind of cheesy. As for whether any of them post under fake names, I have no idea if that’s happening. I do know that plenty of coaches and GMs in the league read the blog, as evidenced by text messages and emails I have gotten after some posts.

BIG Z- I know it was De Rosario who lifted the Dynamo but can you give me a list off the top of your head of the top 5 difference making midfielders in MLS? Is De Rosario ahead of Joseph now or is it just that Joseph has less class around him than De Rosario?

• Shalrie Joseph
• Cuauhtemoc Blanco
• Guillermo Barros Schelotto
• Dwayne DeRosario
• Christian Gomez

IVES- Hey Greg, good meeting you too. The 2008 MLS Cup will be at Home Depot Center in Carson.

CHRIS C- I posted this question on the Jose Angulo Update, but I’ll ask it here again:

How would you rate this year’s Superdraft quality compared to year’s past?

IVES- Angulo isn’t officially in the draft yet because he has yet to sign with MLS. As for other prospects in the draft, I’ll look to start putting out draft stuff in December. Right now I’m just making the transition from the MLS season to college scouting stuff.

JAIME- How good do you think Jeff Larentowicz is? Is he developing into a difference maker like Parkhurst and other younger guys on the Revs?

IVES- I think Larentowicz is a good and underrated player who grew tremendously in 2007. He’s tough, quicker than you realize, a good passer and has a solid shot when he tries it. He has definitely allowed Joseph the freedom to roam a little more because he can cover ground so well.

JUAN PABLO- Ives do you see Parkhurst and Dorman going to Europe in the next year or so? Where do you think Parkhurst might get a shot? Bundesliga? Prem? And even though Dorman might want to move, is anybody still interested?

IVES- Dorman is on his way already and I would have thought the same of Parkhurst but sources tell me he plans to play out the final year of his MLS contract, which ends after the 2008 season. Why would he do that? If he waits he can then choose between a big MLS contract (big being relative to MLS of course) or leave on a free and get paid even more. Why would the Revs let this happen? They don’t really have a choice. With only one year left on his deal, Parkhurst isn’t going to fetch a huge transfer and he’s so important to the Revs defense that selling him wouldn’t be worth it because you couldn’t replace him.

DAN- 1. Is the issue of individual teams in MLS chartering flights rather than flying commercial going to be adressed this summer?

IVES- I think that what matters to the league more than the idea of every team in a soccer specific stadium is having every team in position to generate strong revenue from their home. If Seattle will draw the majority of the revenue generated from games at Qwest then it’s mission accomplished. What you don’t want is situations where teams play in non-soccer stadiums where they’re generating no revenue (like the Red Bulls at Giants Stadium).

I think Qwest can work just fine. I know some fans from other expansion candidate cities are up in arms but ultimately, you need a good market, VERY rich owners and a stadium where a team can put on a good game and generate revenue.

CHESTERTON CHRIS- i remember reading fifa limits the number of teams to 20 per league. i know it’s early in mls development, but do you see down the road (7-10 years from now) this being a limiting factor to the growth of soccer in the us and mls in particular? 20 teams won’t cover the us well geographically. with $ being key to growth of any sports league, big $ won’t be shelled out for tv from the networks if the network doesn’t cover the whole country. could fifa change their stance? or would this lead into mls 2, ie, a second tier to cover cities which didn’t make it into mls and then relegation?

IVES- Mike, I can’t bring myself to vote for my own blog, much like I can’t bring myself to post my own stories on message boards. I know some other folks do that, and I don’t begrudge them for doing that (maybe I’ll change my tune on story posting down the road), but that’s just me. (Let’s be serious, I hired two computer hackers to rig the vote. They’re the same folks who rig every vote involving anybody from D.C. United. Okay, I’m kidding.)

People can definitely feel free to vote for Soccer By Ives. I’ll be more than grateful to accept help from others who want to help my campaign.

NICK G- Predict the futured a little bit here…

IVES- I’m pretty sure I answered this question the last time around. Andy Dorman, Eddie Johnson, Matt Pickens and Bobby Boswell are all possibilities. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ricardo Clark went as well.

ANDY B- I haven’t watched enough MLS, I’ll confess, to know if this is a consistent trend– but the first 20-25 mins. of the final struck me as VERY physical, to the point where it seemed like it would have been hard to put together any passes, let alone displays of skill, because people were too busy just hammering each other. It eased up (looked like people just got worn down, and space started to open up as things progressed). What do you think about the level of "physical play" in MLS generally– too much, too little, or ‘just the way it is, who cares?’

IVES- I don’t think that level of physicality is the norm during the regular season. I think you had two teams who were meeting in a second straight final trying to set a tone. That said, I don’t know if it was as physical as you say. New England was moving the ball around pretty well (except for when Khano "the Bermudan turnover machine" Smith would get the ball.

I’ve always said the play in MLS is a touch too physical and the refs are to blame for that.

A DIDDY- Any word more detailed word on a Reyna buyout?

IVES- No details yet and yes, you will see Reyna coach somewhere eventually. Becoming a coach has long been in Reyna’s plans. He has studied the coaching methods of his managers and coaches through the years with an eye toward making that transition.

LAWRENCE- Do you think that if Klinnsman sees US’s upcoming talent, and wanted the job, USSF would give it to him?

IVES- The job is Bob Bradley’s and will stay his unless he somehow failed to progress through World Cup qualifying.

As for players struggling to find time in Europe, they would be crazy not to at least consider MLS. Look at Cory Gibbs, who came back for a year and went right back (his injuries notwithstanding), and look at players like Dempsey and Ryan Nelson, who have used MLS as a springboard. The way expansion is going the league needs the talent so I think players like Kamani Hill and Gabriel Ferrari would be wise to consider MLS.

The question is whether MLS will stop lowballing these types of players. I’ve heard far too many stories of MLS offering peanuts because they think players are out of options. I really believe this is at least part of the reason you see so many Americans plying their trades in places like Sweden and Norway.

That’s all for now. I will look to post the rest of my answers by Monday so stay tuned. Thanks again to those who participated.

And again, feel free to use this post to comment on any soccer issues you may be interested in.