Se que esto va en el foro de la MLS, pero lo pongo aqui porque esta intimamente relacionado con la masacre del Galaxy anoche ante los Islanders.
Manchester United 5-2 MLS All-Stars: Post Game Thoughts
No matter the outcome of the MLS All-Star game, haters and sympathizers were going to find a way to persuade people why the result of the match and the play that we saw on the field was meaningless. If the MLS All-Stars had won the match, MLS haters and Manchester United fans would have dismissed the match as a pre-season warm-up for a Manchester United side in pre-season form. Now that Manchester United have won the match, MLS fans and sympathizers will justify the absolute drubbing that the All-Stars took as the result of a group of players not having had any time together in training. I felt like I had to open this piece with an explanation of this paradox just so we can put it aside and focus on what happened on the field, independent of these issues. The MLS All-Stars looked average for a lot of the match with a couple of flashes of brilliance and a couple of flashes of ineptitude. Manchester United looked above average with more than a couple of flashes of brilliance and made less mistakes than the MLS All-Stars. A scoreline of 5-2 looks exciting, but the game didn’t have the normal pop of a seven goal game. All in all, it was a discouraging, and some would say pointless exercise.
The biggest storyline to come out of this game will probably be the poor job Bruce Arena has done with multiple teams over the last 24 hours. I would go as far to say that in the past 24 hours, Bruce Arena has thoroughly embarrassed MLS. After last night’s CONCACAF Champions League debacle against the Puerto Rico Islanders, Arena led the MLS All-Stars to the first regulation defeat in their history. The All-Stars allowed their first goal within a minute and allowed a second just 12 minutes into the match. The grouping of players on the field made little sense and a couple of players on the field probably weren’t deserving of a start. However, even more shocking than those issues were the way Bruce Arena dealt with his own players.
Over the last two games Bruce Arena has managed, his decision making with players has made little sense. His decision to start Landon Donovan against Puerto Rico Islanders and play him for 90 minutes implies that he was taking that match very seriously. However, Omar Gonzalez, the best central defender on the Los Angeles Galaxy, did not start that match. Most assumed that meant Gonzalez was slated to start the MLS All-Star game, but that was not the case. Additionally, 24 hours after playing 90 minutes, Donovan was subbed into the All-Star game, which was surprisingly physical for an exhibition, when the score was 4-1. I felt surprised to see such ridiculous management from Arena, but isn’t this his M.O.? Long periods of intelligent decisions followed by a few moments of “What the hell is he thinking?” Regardless of what you think of him, Bruce Arena has made some poor decisions over the last 24 hours and has to some degree negatively affected the image of Major League Soccer.So, let’s get to the players. The first one we have to talk about, of course, is Kevin Alston. Why he was in the starting lineup in the first place, I have no idea. If anyone else does, they’re either a Revs fanboy or should quickly be admitted to the nearest mental health facility. Besides having no concept of positioning and being fairly poor at tackling for a defender, Kevin Alston managed to give away the ball that lead to Federico Macheda’s goal inside the first minute of the match. For reasons we will never know, he continued to play in the second half and the only positive attribute he showed throughout the game was his speed. I’m not sure why we’re supposed to get excited about Marvell Wynne with a fro. Sebastien Le Toux was the other MLS player who had an absolute shocker. Besides being the man responsible for Manchester United’s second goal, Le Toux was almost responsible for the third of the night when Darren Fletcher hit the crossbar and was absolutely invisible going forward. When the initial list of 11 All-Stars was released, the player whose omission generated the most outrage was Sebastien Le Toux. Sadly, he did not live up to the hype.
There were a couple of positives from the Major League Soccer All-Stars. It was very nice to see Brian Ching score in his home city. I didn’t think Ching’s performance so far this season made him worthy of an All-Star selection, but it was great to see him put one in the back of the net and give the All-Stars some hope, even if it quickly faded. David Ferreria of FC Dallas was probably the best player on the pitch after he came on, almost certainly the biggest positive for the All-Stars. Sadly, his performances and FC Dallas in general have flown under the radar this season. Ferreira’s been one of the best players in the league all season and his team deserves more attention than they get. His delivery on set pieces and activity off the ball were very impressive and I hope they encouraged people to pay more attention to him in the second half of the season.
While the first two goals from Manchester United were the result of mistakes from the MLS All-Stars, the third and fourth goals were unstoppable and Manchester United’s young players deserve praise. Darron Gibson’s free kick and Tom Cleverley’s incredible skill were the highlights of the night for sure and showcase the ridiculous depth that Manchester United have. When everyone is healthy, Gibson and Cleverley probably aren’t among the 23 best players on Manchester United. When players with that kind of skill are your reserves, your depth is astounding.
The coolest part of the night, for me, was the reception that Javier Hernandez got when he entered the game, then when he scored his goal. Was it offside? Yes, probably, but it’s an exhibition and I’m happy that a young player got to score a goal on his debut in front of a crowd that loves him. It will be interesting to see how Chicharito’s talents translate to the English Premier League this season. My guess is that he will have a difficult time adjusting to the style of play, but let’s be honest, that’s kind of a tired cliche. I’m no Man United or Mexico supporter, but I think it’s good for football in this region if Hernandez does well, and by all accounts he’s a great kid. It was a cool moment for him, and I hope he has more.
Inevitably, the discussion that is going to stem from this game is “Are these games stupid?” I’ll let one of my colleagues at World Soccer Reader answer that question, or Yahoo! Answers. This game was certainly disappointing for MLS fans and was certainly a major disruption from competitive fixtures. Right now, I’m a little too annoyed to answer that question objectively, but the question I can answer was whether or not this particular All-Star game was stupid. The answer, of course, is yes.
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