PODCAST: Red Cards in Helltown - Episode II

Episode II of Red Cards in Helltown podcast recorded this Sunday morning with a full panel of contributors. Host Rick Gethin, Justin Bell, Jim Bach, David Burgin and myself dig into a whole lot and probably more than we should.

Just like last week (and as we will do going forward) the show is limited to 60 minutes and recorded straight through (warts and all). Still early in the process but we are happy with how it's going and having a great time. Hope you like it, thanks for listening!

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Here's a rundown of the topics we cover this week:

 00:45 SEGMENT 1 - HEADLINES
• US Open Cup, NASL vs (the) MLS vs ... motivation
• Indy Eleven, Columbus Crew (Dayton Dutch Lions)
• NYCFC, Frank Lampard, David Villa
• Cost of performance and cost of world wide brands

 19:20 SEGMENT 2 - COLUMBUS CREW
• Disagreement on whether or not results matter this year
• Spending money in the right place
• Team building
• Scoring costs money, commitment to spending
• "Something good going on"... Zero goal difference
• RSL preview, should be good
• "We don't have very good players. To sum up... we don't have really good players"

 41:50 SEGMENT 3 - WORLD CUP, INT'L COVERAGE
• Match fixing ("Bags of hundred dollar bills")
• Picking the best 23 players, transform USMNT program
• Copa America, going to be awesome
• Klinsmann Donovan, Warzycha GBS

 53:43 SEGMENT 4 - WRAP UP, QUICK HITS
• Issues with German team heading into the World Cup
• "Deserving Wins" in MLS
• "Earning your way in"
• NYCFC "earn" the right to play in a baseball stadium

Successful US Open Cup 3rd Round for NASL, Crew to Face Indy Eleven

The third round of the 2014 US Open Cup belonged to the NASL as their entrants won 6 of 8 and out scored opponents 22-11. Head on over to theCup.us for a full summary of round three as well as results (bracket can be found HERE.)

One of the biggest wins of the round was NASL's Indy Eleven trouncing USL Pro's Dayton Dutch Lions 5-2 with a hat trick from recent Montreal Impact loanee Blake Smith. Wasn't all Smith however, as players like 19 year old Ben Spencer, Mike Ambersley and Dylan Mares placed shot after shot on (a often stranded, but very good) Brad Stuver.

With the win Indy Eleven advance to the 4th round (where US based MLS teams enter) and travel east to Ohio to take on the Columbus Crew up in Akron, Ohio at FirstEnergy Stadium–Cub Cadet Field on June 17th.

Indy looked more impressive verses a team the Columbus Crew just faced a week earlier in a friendly. Should be a really exciting match.

Below is the Indy Eleven vs Dayton Dutch Lion match in it's entirety.

Goal Scoring:
26' Smith - Indy
30' Smith - Indy
43' Ambersley - Indy
46' Mares - Indy
66' Schoenfeld (penalty) - Dayton
76' Walker - Dayton
88' Smith - Indy

Columbus Crew, Dayton Dutch Lions Friendly / Scrimmage / ...

The Columbus Crew traveled west down I-70 towards Dayton yesterday evening to play friendly match against their new USL Pro affiliate the Dayton Dutch Lions.

Transitional year for these two teams. Columbus has a new owner and everything that comes with that and Dayton, after operating as a distant post for Dutch side FC Twente, is now also affiliated with a MLS team in the Crew.

As for the game itself, I feel it served several purposes. First off; It got some of the Crew players caught in no-man's land some playing time... guys like Ben Speas, Eric Gehrig, Ben Sweat and Fifi Baiden. They played pretty well, but the rust was clearly there. Second; It got some folks out to watch some pro soccer in West Carrollton. Third; It sort of smooths out the player comments from camp Crew about Dayton being "purgatory." 

The Crew ended up winning by two goals scored in the first five minutes.

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Beautiful evening out in Dayton. Time sort of melts away for me on Midwestern Spring evenings like this one.

USL Pro: Dayton, Rochester Draw 1-1 in Lions Home Opener

Dayton equalizes five minutes into added time to save a point at home last night against the Rochester Rhinos in USL Pro regular season play.

Rochester coaches, players, refs after controversial ending

This was an early season match so both teams were still trying to find their way but Dayton, in particular, seemed to go off script the most, especially in the second half.

From the USL Pro Game Report: "But there was too much long ball. The work ethic was fantastic but the soccer we showed today is not the soccer we want to show.” - Dayton coach Sid van Druenen

Too much long ball is an understatement. It was virtually all long ball in the 2nd half for the Lions.

Dayton was comfortable most of the first half, but it was Rochester went up in the first half hour. The final 15 minutes of the half saw Dayton getting lots of pressure and earning corner kicks. Early in the 2nd half Dayton completely abandoned the any attempts at possession in the midfield and resorted to long balls into the box.

With a couple of big players (on loan from Columbus Aaron Schoenfeld among them) aided by a lively surface Dayton was bound to get a lucky bounce at some point. Which happened, in the 95th (?!) minute. A listed 6' 7" 235 lbs. Joe Broekhuizen was credited with the goal.

Rhinos have some reason to feel hard done last night. There was contact with the keeper on the goal (the ref did discuss with linesman) and five minutes of added time was quite a lot (very few fouls and only one real stoppage due to injury).

Dayton has started the year 1-1-1 and travel out to Harrisonburg next Saturday to take on the Islanders. Here's a quick and early look at the USL Pro table (PPG, GD).

PPG : TEAM : GD
2.33 LA Galaxy II (+1.33)
2.00 Sacramento Republic FC (+1.00)
2.00 Richmond Kickers (+1.00)
1.67 Orlando City SC (+0.67)
1.50 OKC Energy FC (0.00)

1.33 Dayton Dutch Lions (-0.67)
1.00 Charleston Battery (0.00)
1.00 Wilmington Hammerheads FC (0.00)
1.00 Harrisburg City Islanders (0.00)

0.50 Rochester Rhinos (-1.00)
0.50 Pittsburgh Riverhounds (-1.00)
0.00 Charlotte Eagles (-1.00)
0.00 Orange County Blues FC (-2.00)

For more on this game stay tuned to Chad Hollingswoth and Reckless Challenge for excellent coverage.

Crew Loan 5, Finley Will Score Goals

Ryan Finley, 9th pick in the 2013 MLS college draft, is one of the five Crew players loaned to Dayton as part of the new affiliation program between MLS and USL Pro.

Finley only saw limited first team duty for the Columbus Crew in 2013 logging 430 regular season minutes, but did earn a goal and an an assist. By the end of the calendar year Ryan made the gameday squad 26 times but started only 3 (vs. all playoff teams Seattle, Houston, KC).

On the critical side, most of Finley's regular season minutes were awkward (he isn't the quickest, arms wide and head down), clunky (getting caught offside or going to ground a tad too easy when in open field) and forced (inconsistent apps, poor MLS coaching). His first touch and ball control also not the best, seems rushed. However, all that said... he finds a way. On the reserve league level last year he tore it up by notching a goal about every 90 minutes. When he was hot - he was hot. Three games he had a brace and one other with a hat trick. To top that off he managed to also get a goal against FA Cup winners Wigan Athletic in a exhibition last summer.

A different player, but just as Vidda Grubin mentioned about Justin Meram a couple weeks ago, Ryan Finley can score goals. He's did it in college to an almost absurd degree, with the Crew Reserves and had decent success in his limited time getting a start on the senior team. There is nothing to tell us that he won't keep that going this year with Dayton in the 3rd tier of US soccer.

Others loaned to Dayton for the time being are newcomers Ross Friedman, Matt Walker and Brad Stuver. Kevan George has also been sent out but, like Finley, is looking to prove himself having been in the league for a couple years.

Adding Indy Eleven to Crew, Dayton Coverage

Expect more Indy Eleven coverage along with the Columbus Crew and Dayton Dutch Lions this year on Helltown.

MLS is has really gotten tangled in their own web of rules, regulations and restrictions. Commissioner Don Garber recently went as far as to state on national television that they (MLS) are making it up as they go. This was infuriating and completely unacceptable to any fan that was there with the league when it took shape back in the mid-nineties and bought in to the spunky, can-do league hellbent on soccer survival in the US.

I'll keep pondering, analyzing and picking apart the Crew but Indy will be getting some coverage in this space. Not only because they are a pro team in my local region but because I like what the NASL is doing.

I watched a number of NASL games last year (Railhawks still my first love) and the level of play is very good, the fans are passionate and they are a breath of fresh air to these increasingly clogged MLS lungs.

The league also trusts ownership and spend wisely and does not put a cap on wages.

INDY ELEVEN

Ersal Ozdemir CEO of the Keystone Construction Company is putting this thing together. The official announcement came last April and the team starts play this year in NASL play.

There is a lot to get excited about with this team. They've got a ownership group that is well rooted in the state if Indiana (their logo reflects this) and an experienced team of people running operations.

Indy is thinking big having already taken deposits on 7000+ season tickets (putting them at Columbus Crew levels), so they have some right to shoot for the moon. Hopefully without massive taxpayer help, however.

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Indy Eleven is still working on a roster but they do have a good group signed up right now. One of which includes former Crew draft pick and Cleveland, Ohio native Kyle Hyland.

PLAYER (NOTE)
Kristian Nicht (Bundesliga, USL Pro)
Nathan Sprenkel
Kyle Hyland (Columbus Crew)
Erick Norales (Los Catrachos)
Baba Omosegbon
Chris Wey
Walter Ramírez (San Antonio Scorpions)
Brad Ring (San Jose Earthquakes)
Mike Ambersley (all over, USL, NASL, MLS)
Pedro Ferreira-Mendes (on notorious Cal FC team)
Don Smart

Things are moving fast before the club's first opener on April 12th.

Which reminds me... even though Indy has a small budget, they will be competing for players 20-30 on the MLS rosters in the region. Namely the Chicago Fire and the Columbus Crew.

With Dayton affiliating with the Crew this should get real interesting, real fast. Stay tuned.

MORE ON NASL

For an excellent primer on the league head on over HERE. Dcn. Joseph Suaiden just wrote an excellent two part piece on the NASL and where it is within the landscape of US Soccer.

Dayton Added as Crew Affiliate

The Columbus Crew announced yesterday that the Dayton Dutch Lions will now be an affiliate.

What this means is that the Crew will send at least four players to Dayton to play on their team during the upcoming 2014 USL Pro season (more on that in a minute).

This MLS / USL Pro relationship is only about a year old now so any activity between teams will be forging new trails. The Sporting KC / Orlando City relationship this past year was easily the most notable (and even a little contentious), but several teams have worked a deal:

Philadelphia Union / Harrisburg City Islanders
DC United / Richmond Kickers
New England Revs / Rochester Rhinos
Houston Dynamo / Pittsburgh Riverhounds
Sporting KC / Oklahoma Energy (+Orlando City for one more year)
Columbus Crew / Dayton Dutch Lions

MLS seems to be setting up something out of the MLB playbook and their minor league System. MLS wants all teams to affiliate or field a team (Reserve or U-23) in the USL Pro division by the end of 2015. MLS has also made it clear that they want to expand their footprint and market reach by doing this.

THOUGHTS, WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN

My personal preference would have been that the Crew field a full reserve team in the USL Pro division and let Dayton grow on their own, independently.

Players down the bench for the Crew could really benefit from playing a regular schedule in a competitive league. You would also get to pepper the reserve roster with trialists (a luxury they now lose).

The argument against this is the same as it always is; Cost. But MLS, as a whole, plays that card too often. An investment in players is just that... an INVESTMENT. It will pay off over time because Ohio is rich with players and coaches.

The team could also charge 5-10 bucks for home games at Crew stadium that have minimal staff and make a few dollars off that. Hold bake sales, set up a Kickstarter campaign. I don't care. Get it going. The sale of just one player could fund your reserve team for years.

Another way a MLS team could take advantage of this to get coaches experience, try different tactics, try Josh Williams as a central mid, go crazy. It would be your team.

THOUGHTS, WHAT IT IS

I've said it a number of times this year; My favorite soccer events of the past year have been in Dayton watching the Lions. I was at the early Charleston Battery match, the USOC match against Deerborn Stars (a surreal match) and the Crew reserve match (which was fantastic).

Dayton, in just a few short years, were a growing team in a sports mad state. Not just in recognition but in competition as well. They had already knocked out the Crew in the USOC in 2012, tied them in a wild 4-4 game at Beavercreek HS, and almost beat them again in the 2013 USOC. In the USL they were also making ground as well by making the playoffs last year for the first time.

This connection with the Crew ties them to the top division in the US and Canada as well as the affiliation they have already with FC Twente in Holland. It's really a couple big steps forward for the young club. If the Crew were going to associate with any team I'm glad that it is the Dayton Dutch Lions.

My hope is that, even with this affiliation, they are able to keep their independence from Major League Soccer in the years to come. I do not want this to be a big brother / little brother situation, 'cause...

IF YOU AIN'T DUTCH...

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MORE ON THE DUTCH LIONS AND CREW

I wrote a good bit about the Dayton Dutch Lions this past year for Massive Report, here is some of that:

GHOST RESULTS, A look at MLS Reserves and how they did in the USL Pro division.

US OPEN CUP 3rd Round Preview, Columbus vs Dayton

US Open Cup: Dutch Lions Rd 2 Win, Will Face Crew

From last year, here is my post from went the Lions beat the Crew in the US Open Cup back in 2013:
Twente Dutch Lions (2) v Crew (1), Explained

Finally, the best for last...

Infiltrating the Orange Beast (by Rick Gethin)

Infiltrating the Orange Beast

Rick Gethin and I went down to Dayton to see the Dutch Lions take on the Columbus Crew. Rick wrote about it:

Infiltrating the Orange Beast...

You can read my preview to the game as well as more about Major League Soccer's relationship with United Soccer League here.

You might not know that because the Crew didn't bother to cover the game even though every other MLS team is covering these matches. Maybe the Crew are too good to bother with it?

Justin Meram ‏@JustinMeram
Good battle tonight in Dayton with the boys. A tough game to get up for but we battled and came away with a result. Open cup Wed.

Game ended 4:4. Interesting, more fans came out to Beavercreek HS to watch this game than came out to Crew Stadium to watch these two play in the 100th US Open Cup match about a week ago (1600 / 1300). Of course it is not Justin Meram's fault but I do believe it is representative of club temperament. Perhaps the Crew organization should try and "get up for" these games and prove the are the better side before dismissing them. Both in result and in attendance.

US Open Cup, Crew 2:1 Dayton

Columbus took down Dayton at Crew Stadium 2:1 and advance to the next round of the US Open Cup.



In order to sidestep some of the mistakes made the past two years the Crew decided it was best to field an experienced lineup. MLS vets; Gehrig, Glauber, Wahl, Gaven, O’Rourke, Speas, and Higuain all found their numbers called to start along less experienced Matt Lampson, Konrad Warzycha, Chad Barson, and Schoenfeld.

Going back a bit further, Columbus was looking to not lose their 4th game in 5 years to a lower division team.

1ST HALF
The game started off with some promise as both teams looked to control the midfield but things went dark for Dayton in the 14th minute when Brock Granger took down Eddie Gaven when he was on his way to goal. He was shown red and Dayton went down to 10 men.

From there the half sort of went stale.



2ND HALF
Columbus seemed to come out of the break looking to snatch a goal but only a couple players looked into it. Fortunately, one of those players was Eddie Gaven. He was having one of his hungry games on the evening and placed a pretty shot across the front of the Dayton keeper for a goal. Higuain notched the assist.

After that, again, the game went into a slumber.

After looking like this one was going to end 1:0 Dayton's Shane Smith put one past Lampson to tie it up. Suddenly from there the game looked like an actual game as both teams felt they could win. Crew answered quick though as the Justin Meram was able to tee up a shot from about 20 yards out that bent into the bottom right corner to put the Crew up for good.

FINAL THOUGHTS
This was not the prettiest game and it may have come at some cost to the Crew. Eddie Gaven looked to go down on his shoulder after being knocked down. A handful of Crew players came over to check on him and a couple, including Danny O'Rourke put hands on head as if to know it was serious.

Word is out that it is his leg. Losing Gaven would be a blow to this years playoff chances.

Gaven was the bright spot of this game for the Crew as was Higuain. The Crew backline didn't have too much to do and Aaron Schoenfeld didn't get a lot of looks. Dayton's two CBs did well.

USOC100 :Dayton defeats River City

I headed on down the road to watch The Dayton Dutch Lions host River City Rovers on May 14th and put together a match recap that I posted at Massive Report. Watching, witnessing and digesting this match gave me one of the best feelings. There was a certain sense of history about it. So much so, that I pulled the post together after I got back to Columbus in the early morning hours.

I will be back in Dayton to watch the 2nd round game when the Lions take on Dearborn Stars (USASA) on May 21st.

Go give it a read HERE.

My recap of when Dayton Lions beat the Crew last year, HERE.

Twente Dutch Lions (2) v Crew (1), Explained

"The reason of starting a (Dutch) soccer club in the USA is that there are 18 million soccer players in the USA (the most in the world) and although the Americans dominate almost every sport, there are almost no US players performing at the world’s top level. We feel this is due to a lack of tactical development, something the Dutch school is known for worldwide."

- Dayton Dutch Lions (Corporate)

It's funny how far the internet can take you and the tricks it can play on your mind. I read that corporate statement last year when curiously pulling back the curtain on the USL Pro division. The realization that a prominent Eredivisie club operates a team in Ohio merely solicited a "hm. that's interesting" last year while this year it has me pulling out Simon Kuper/Stefan Szymanski's Soccernomics and questioning the future role Americans play in the global game of Soccer.

Why? So called "top division" side Columbus Crew fell to so called "division III" side Dayton Dutch Lions.

There are a couple "so called" forces at work here.

First. Erik Tammer and Mike Mossel. Two business savvy soccer playing Dutchmen that bridge the gap betwixt the Dayton Dutch Lions and FC Twente in Holland. Second. And this is what has me questioning the trajectory of soccer in this country... Foreign clubs see the United States (Turkey and Hungary) as massive talent pools to exploit on a grassroots level.

THE GAME!
Dayton Dutch Lions v. Columbus Crew
US Open Cup, Round 3

It was clear that Columbus entered this game with serious intentions of winning after last years lackluster loss to the Richmond Kickers. The demeanor of the Crew players was evident. They wanted this game.

So with - Ethan Finlay and Olman Vargas up top. Cole Grossman prowling the middle, Kevan George right behind him. Justin Meram and Chris Birchall out wide... Shaun Francis, Eric Gehrig, Julius James (c) and Perry in the back - The Crew went to work.

1ST HALF
Columbus controlled most of the action. You could see Dayton speculating and venturing out a bit to see what the Crew had in terms of talent but only a bit. The script was written for this one around the 40th minute: Dayton would bunker down and only work the counter from then on and turn Columbus into exactly the team it is not: A possession oriented club with solid finishing.

2ND HALF
Crew coach Warzycha was forced to make some subs and changes as the game wore on. Finlay up top was a mistake. Meram was moved up at some point in the first half in what is basically an admission of mistake by Warzycha. Francis had to come out for injury and was replaced by Josh Williams in the left back spot. These changes are red flags to any Crew fan. When you see players swapping spots betwixt mid field and forward and a central defender coming in as a LBW in this type of formation? you have a problem.

Columbus did become more dangerous with Meram up top. He had an excellent chance midway through this half but the Lions' GK was up to the task. The only Crew goal came off a questionable handball in the box (naturally). Vargas stepped up and drilled it home in probably the worst thing that could have happened to the Crew.

Confidence grew in the Crew but they lacked pieces in the right positions to capitalize on it. Vargas was off. Meram had been run ragged in the mid field and Finlay? well, Finlay is proving to be a frustrating character. The Crew wanted another goal but fell to a exquisite counter by Dayton around the 70th minute. One to one. After that the 1,500 folks on hand saw a desperate Crew team push for yet another and laughably got beat by basically the same sequence of events. Dayton pulled off another. 2-1. Game.

THE END, NOTES
• Finlay really struggled up top again. I'm not sure how many more passes this guy gets. I read a lot on this match and it seems like Crew writers/bloggers like him but he is not dangerous right now. I see the arms pumping. The huff and puff. The heart. But not the comfort level nor the skill.

• Julius James. First game back and had the Captains armband. Got burnt on both goals which were really the only time he, Gehrig or Matt Lampson were tested.

• Josh Williams at left back? He was the only player out there last night that I felt was bigger than the game. Chris Birchall, almost but he disappeared for long spells.

• Columbus subbed on Renteria and Anor late but it was too late. The only thing it showed me was the skill these guys have. Both of them made it seem like men against boys. Problem was they only got about 10 minutes.

• Crew were only 1 of 7 MLS teams that went down yesterday during this year's Cup. I'd like to think this was due to something other than the fact that MLS is not organized in a way that rewards the best and harshly punishes the worst. Unfortunately, Major League Soccer does a great job at only achieving "average". As such, followers of the league should expect nothing but.

There are businessmen and women in the FC Twente organization that took this game much more seriously than the Crew. The limousines at the match were ferrying high ranking FC Twente club officials...

It's like one of those stories in books and movies about a seemingly random crime turns into a much deeper rooted web that leads all the way to the top world leaders. This is also, perhaps, merely the beginning of a topsy turvy US soccer environment that we might as well get use to.