Good afternoon folks. Apologies for the lack of posts but I have had some website-related issues to attend to as well as going to Red Bulls practice today. I will be putting up some posts in the early evening but for now here is the first part of the most recent Q&A. Apologies for not being able to maintain the recent run of quick turnarounds for the Q&A sessions but these past two weeks were a bit nutty.
I will post the first part now and am aiming to post the rest throughout the day on Friday. So here are the first 20 of your questions answered:
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FIELDSY- hey ives, great columns. any news on cervi going to celtic? any possibilities of beasley playing in the uefa cup finals?
IVES- Thanks Fieldsy. The last I heard about Cervi was that he had a good extended trial with Celtic. No deal has been offered as far as I know. I think Cervi's big chance for a European deal will come this summer.
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DAVE- 1) Who do you see as the champions league final starting 11's?
2) Champions League and UEFA Cup final score predictions?
IVES- If Didier Drogba and John Terry are healthy, I think this will be Chelsea's starting XI:
----------Drogba----------Kalou-----------------
-----Lampard-------------------Ballack---------
----------Essien----------Makalele--------------
Cole-----Terry---------Carvallo--------Ferreira
-----------------Cech----------------------------
Here's my call for Man U's starting lineup:
------------------Rooney---------------------
Ronaldo---------Scholes---------------Park
------------Carrick----Anderson-----------
Evra------Ferdinand--Vidic---------Brown
----------------Van Der Sar----------------
I wouldn't be shocked to see Tevez in the starting lineup, but I see Alex Ferguson using this group, if healthy.
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BGNEWF- To put it mildly, the level of officiating in MLS is quite poor. I understand that there are only a few full time officials paid by the league. To me this is Mickey Mouse and is something that needs to be addressed for the good of the game. Any word on if MLS will get serious and hire full time professional officials?
IVES- As far as I know, referees fall under the umbrella of U.S. Soccer so the USSF is the organization that will ultimately have to devote the resources to more full-time officiating and improved officiating. I definitely agree that several of the referees we see in MLS are just not good enough, but I do think there are some good ones.
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NICK- Ives, I know this is still early times for Toronto, but have you heard anything about MLSE putting on additions to BMO? They have 16,000 season ticket holders in a 19,000 seat stadium. I feel like if they made the stadium fit 25,000 they would still sell out every game, they also appear to have a good amount of space for renovations as well. Just wondering if you had heard anything, thanks.
IVES- I haven't heard a peep about expanding BMO Field but it's definitely something Toronto FC should consider. It's pretty clear the demand is there for tickets so it wouldn't shock me to see an expansion in the next five years.
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SUSHANT RAO- Since European leagues play in inclement weather, why do most people say that soccer can't play in the fall/winter? Competition with football, bball, hockey, etc? Fans won't come for a soccer game in the snow / rain / etc?
- I love American's abroad but it just lists whether someone played and for how long. I wanted to find out how the player did in the game? Is there a site that reviews how the players actually did in the game?
IVES- I know European leagues deal with inclement weather but I also don't think Europe's top leagues deal with anything close to the weather extremes that exist in the United States. There's a reason leagues from Russia to Sweden have just begun playing. I know I'm not in a hurry to see any soccer games played in Chicago or Columbus in January or February (unless it's a U.S. qualifier with Mexico).
Does that mean an MLS schedule more in line with the rest of the world will never happen? No, but there are legitimate reasons for not being in a rush to shift the league schedule.
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JSQUAREDNY- Ives - Any news on the Barcelona v. NYRB game? I know that you mentioned it was in fact going to happen, but haven't heard anything since...I thought that this would be officially announced by now to try to sell the stadium out, no?
IVES- The friendly SBI has reported on repeatedly looks to finally be ready to become an official reality after word today of a new partnership between MLS and Barcelona. I know there were some concerns about Barcelona being able to play on Aug. 7 because of the third round of Champions League qualifying, but that doesn't appear to be a problem now. For those wondering, the first leg of the home-and-home Champions League qualifying series is scheduled to be playe on Aug. 12th or 13th.
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SETH- I know you said no Olympic questions, but please listen....
I've heard a couple of times about the U23s playing a few matches before Beijing. Do you know anything about that? Any updates you can pass on?
IVES- No word on pre-Olympic warm-up matches but I'm pretty sure the U.S. team will play some before leaving for the Olympics.
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SCOTT A- Is there any information available about European teams' payroll? In baseball teams are always compared against their salaries and I'm curious who is underachieving, overachieving. I know it's complicated with transfer fees, undisclosed salaries, etc, but there's got to be information about how much the clubs pay their players.
IVES- Finding official breakdowns of player salaries in Europe isn't something you are going to find, not as easily as we can find salaries of American sports teams or even MLS. I know there are some compiled lists of salaries based on media reporting but I don't know of the existence of official salary listings.
If you are interested in looking at some European salaries, here is a pretty impressive list of the Top 200 highest paid soccer players by Futebol Finance, a Portuguese-based soccer website.
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CHRIS- Can Matt Kassel go to another team since NYRB don't want to sign him? What are the odds of a Reyna & Kassel midfield in 2009?
IVES- Kassel can't go and sign with another MLS team now. Having played two years in the Red Bulls youth academy he can only sign directly out of high school with the Red Bulls. I don't think he's looking at other MLS teams anyway. He's still training with the Red Bulls and my prediction is he will be signed by the club in January.
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EMILIO- Osorio said one or two players would most likely arrive prior to April 15, that didnt materialize. Are those players (one was probably Marmol) going to arrive or will he not sign any players? Any names?
Is Barca's potential CL qualifiers if they finish 3rd in Spain gonna prevent there trip to play the Red Bulls?
IVES- The Red Bulls aren't signing anybody until the next transfer window and I think it's safe to say the team will be adding at least one or two players. Lider Marmol was one of the players Osorio was hoping to sign but he went to Chicago. Ernst Obster was someone else he wanted, but Red Bull Salzburg balked. One player I know Osorio has his eye on is defender Gabriel Cichero as well as winger Jorge Rojas. One thing that will be interesting is what sort of resources the club would be given if Jozy Altidore were sold. I say that because Osorio has a pretty lengthy wish-list of players he would love to go after if he had the resources.
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TREX- This isn't so much a quick answer question as a request, but I'd be interested in hearing you give a little more insight into the different strategies for Osorio's 3-5-2 at home games. I (along with many fans I assume) are very familiar with a 4-4-2. What are some of the differences with the 3-5-2 (besides just more attack). I'm interested in what that format is designed to do as opposed to other formations and also what things can I look for during a game to see it in action?
IVES- I think Osorio likes the versatility of the 3-5-2 formation at home. It isn't just about having a more attack-minded formation, but also a formation that can be adjusted with relation to the game. Why is this different than on the road? Osorio's philosophy on the road is to defend first. The general principle behind that is that home teams are more inclined to attack than road teams are. This is also true in MLS. It isn't tough to tell that there are MLS teams that go into road games playing for a point. The 3-5-2 formation is intended to counteract that.
I also don't think the Red Bulls have used the 4-4-2 in its past two road matches. Osorio has employed a 4-3-3 and it has been very effective, both in limiting chances and also creating good counterattack opportunities. Given the uncertain status of Claudio Reyna and Seth Stammler for Saturday's match I wouldn't be surprised to see the Red Bulls use the 4-3-3 at home.
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COMMONSENSE- What is the deal with Freddy Adu? The kid was playing pretty well for Benfica early in the season, he absolutely tore up U23 qualifications. He returns to Benfica, who were/are playing poorly, and finds himself sitting in the stands.
There's a lot of rumors floating around Benfica boards that there's a 20 appearance clause in his contract that would force Benfica to pay MLS a significant fee. He's currently stuck at 19 appearances.
I don't generally buy into conspiracy theories, but there's no conceivable reason as to why Freddy is not at least playing sub minutes like he did earlier this season. Have you heard anything about this clause, which could explain Motzkin's firing?
IVES- I've been told by my sources that the clause rumor is a hoax. I just think Adu's benching was a product of a new coach (Adu's third since arriving) stepping in and needing to win right away and choosing to play veterans rather than a young kid (even though that kid had played well in the first half of the season).
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ERICK- DO YOU KNOW WHAT EXACTLY D.C. United President Kevin Payne and GM Dave Kasper are up to down in Argentina? Are they really there to see the clasico or they have something up there sleeve? Any Insights?
IVES- I think it was just a trip like many they have taken before. D.C. has strong ties in Argentina and part of developing and keeping those ties is visiting regularly.
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DAVID W- I love your blog; it's very habit-forming.
Everyone always asks you about the fact that the salary cap needs to be increased when MLS renegotiates the CBA. I think a change that is just as important is the 18-player limit on senior roster spots. With clubs expected to compete in multiple competitions without scheduling accommodation from MLS for league games, I think that teams should not be limited at all in the number of players that they can sign. If you already have a salary cap, the roster limit seems redundant and only detracts from a team's flexibility in building their roster based on the competitions that they're involved in. What do you think?
IVES- I agree completely. I don't think the current 18-man senior roster set-up works at all. A few injuries and an MLS team is forced to essentially start developmental players who may not be ready for first-team action. I say expand the senior roster to 23 and the developmental roster to 12. The problem is finding that many players to accept developmental salaries. That leads to another issue, that developmental salaries are woefully inadequate.
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WILLIAM- I played midfield in high school and college (Division 1), but I've spent the last 20 years behind a desk as an attorney. During this time, I have never missed a U.S. men's national team game, and I also watch a lot of EPL, MSL and Mexican League Games. As of last week, I was also slightly ahead of you in the ESPN Fantasy League. My point here, and I do have one, is that despite my years of inactivity on the field, I still have a good head for the game. This being the case, I was wondering if I could use you as a reference when I submit a resume for the soon-to-be-vacant coaching position at Manchester City?
IVES- Sorry William but I'm already serving as a reference for Bruce Arena (between me and Claudio Reyna, I say Bruce should be set.)
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SEAOTTER- What's your prediction for Donovan testing European waters again? It seems that the stars a aligning a bit for the Winter transer window. Probably a stretch though.
1. He's said he'd be willing to give it another go if the situation were right.
2. He and Ruiz are the odd DP's out at the end of the year with Beckham there. Of course, that assumes some level of integrity in the MLS Rule Changers committee.
3. He looks like he's going to have an outstanding year with Beckham's service. That assumes a lot too, I know.
4. He has a respected European coach whose opinion other Euro coaches will likely trust.
It just seems a little too coincidental for him to say he'd be willing now just when Beckham's healthy enough to provide all those wonder crosses and Gullit is there and able to help sell the idea.
Thanks for all you do.
IVES- I say Donovan goes. I'm a believer in the now or never theory. If he goes now and spends 08-09 there, he can decide whether its for him or whether he wants back in MLS. Wait any longer and that decision can coincide with the 2010 World Cup. Donovan isn't getting any younger and I don't think his value is going to grow anymore. I think if you send Donovan to Spain or Holland he could do very well on an attack-minded team (Espanyol and PSV to name two).
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REID- Ives, I know you dont really cover it, but seeing Avery John go to Miami, and others now playing in USL, do you have any idea how much they pay players on their squads (high or average #'s?)
IVES- No I don't but I am trying to find out.
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CORNBALLER- Any word on if Fox Soccer Channel are thinking of putting up an HD version sometime soon? Just curious if that's something they're looking into.
IVES- I haven't heard that but given the fact that HD will be standard in a year I would imagine it's in the works.
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CRAIG- What happened to the Crew fans perspective this week? (practical question)
IVES- Our correspondent was out of town so we missed a week. He is back in the fold and doing well.