Union
Wow—Props for a Philly player from a New York Paper! Apparently Union fans aren’t the only ones to be surprised Le Toux didn’t make the MVP short list. The New York Times Soccer Blog’s report on the announcement of the end-of-the-year award nominees is essentially one long diatribe against the injustice of Le Toux not making the cut: “All Le Toux did was score 14 goals and dish out 11 assists, meaning that he had a foot in 25 of the Union’s 31 goals. Repeat, 25 of 31 goals. And the combined numbers make him the No. 1 overall scorer in the league. If there is a more apt definition of most valuable we have yet to see it in a dictionary.” We hear ya, brother, we hear ya. (Match Fit USA has a good look at various voting blocks that are part of determining the MVP.)
Danny Mwanga is rightly up for the Rookie of the Year award. He says he is honored, but focused on improving his game. “When people tell me that I should win, it just tells me that I’ve done a really good job. But at the same time, I still need to improve.”
Likewise, John Hackworth sees plenty of room for improvement for the Union. “While we feel good about some of the great things we did on the field, we know that we could have done better.”
MLS
In the first playoff match of the 2010 season, check out our playoff preview. (Hint: Saturday at 5pm and Sunday at 8pm—I will say no more.)
Bruce McGuire, the founder and editor of the excellent soccer blog Du Nord, suggest in this interview that MLS would benefit from more openness with the fans. “Some people try to control every single little thing.” In Part One of the interview, McGuire says, “The new team in Philadelphia has played really hard like you’d expect a team from Peter Nowak, they’ve been a lot of fun to watch.” Aw, shucks…
Abby Wambach celebrates with Shannon Boxx during the USA's 5-0 romp over Haiti in their first 2011 Women's World Cup qualifier.
US
The heavily favored US Women’s National Team got off to a roaring start in the CONCACAF qualifiers for the 2011 Women’s World Cup, defeating Haiti 5–0. The Washington Freedom’s Abby Wambach recorded a hat trick and an assist. Defender Rachel Buehler (FC Gold Pride) started off the scoring in the 8th minute. From the Philadelphia Independence, Amy Rodriguez scored in the 40th minute and Heather Mitts played the full 90. Lori Lindsey was not used. The USWNT next faces Guatemala on Saturday, October 30, at 8:30pm.
Elsewhere
In a “surprise” turnaround, Russia has apologized for criticizing London. England will now withdraw its complaint to FIFA. Countries bidding to host the World Cup are not allowed to criticize their competitors. With such important matters now out of the way, FIFA can focus on the trivial business of whether it should postpone the decision of who will host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups until “more credibility and public confidence has been restored to the process.” Ethics chairman Claudio Sulser says he plans to release the findings of the investigation into allegations that two members of the Executive Committee solicited bribes on November 17. (Authors note: Shortly after posting Friday’s news roundup, FIFA President Sepp Blatter confirmed that, as originally scheduled, the winning bids to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup will be announced on December 2. If the two members of the Executive committee who are currently under investigation for soliciting bribes are still suspended at the time of the December 2 vote, the vote will proceed without them.)
Diego Maradona turns 50 on Saturday. Here are 50 facts about him. And if that’s not enough, here’s a list of the ten of the best moments of his career, complete with YouTube links. In related news, Maradona says he would like to coach in the Premier League.
Footy on the Telly™
Friday, October 29
2:30pm: Bayern Munich v Freiburg (GolTV)
2:30pm: Genoa v Inter Milan (FSP)
8pm: Evansville Men v Eastern Illinois Men (FSC)
11pm: UCLA Women v Washington Women (FSC)
Saturday, October 30
9:30pm: Wolfsburg v Stuttgart (GolTV)
10am: Blackburn v Chelsea (ESPN2)
10am: Arsenal v West Ham (FSC)
10am: Wolves-Manchester City (FSP)
12pm: Roma v Lecce (FSP)
12:30pm: Manchester United v Tottenham (FSC)
2pm: Hercules v Real Madrid (GolTV)
2:30pm: AC Milan v Juventus (FSC)
4pm: Barnsley v Hull (FSP)
4pm: Nacional v River Plate(GolTV)
5pm: Dallas v Real Salt Lake (FSC)
6pm: Internacional v Santos (GolTV)
7:30pm: Everton v Stoke (FSC)
8pm: Fulham v Wigan (FSP)
8pm: Equidad v Millonarios (GolTV)
Sunday, October 31
7:30pm: Palermo v Lazio (FSP)
9:30pm: Newcastle v Sunderland (FSP)
10am: Brescia-Napoli (FSC)
11:30pm: Aston Villa v Birmingham (FSP)
12pm: Gijon v Villarreal (GolTV)
12pm: Bolton v Liverpool (FSC)
2pm: Atletico Madrid v Almeria (GolTV)
2pm: Derby v Watford (FSP)
3:30pm: Catania v Fiorentina (FSC)
4pm: Montpellier v Paris Saint Germain (FSP)
4pm: Hoffenheim v Hanover (GolTV)
8pm: Seattle v Los Angeles (ESPN2)
I think the only way to say it to Sebastien is “No DOOP for you”. I guess we talk about the same thing in college football with the Heisman and elsewhere – its hard to be the most valuable player when your team isn’t winning. All 3 finalists have a team in the playoffs. Is that an unwritten qualification?
In most American sports leagues, it usually is. To be honest, Le Toux probably doesn’t deserve to win but does deserve to be in the conversation. Ferreira and Wondolowski both deserve to be finalists. The only guy you could maybe bump for Le Toux is Buddle. Can Buddle really be MVP for the league when he’s not the MVP of his team? I hear that guy Donovan is pretty good.
Exceptions to every rule. Le Toux is the 1972 Steve Carlton of the MLS, or at least should be. Carlton won the Cy Young with historic numbers pitching for a historically awful team. Le Toux’s performance is too good to ignore. In my world, which I admit is mostly a hallucination, Le Toux is the MVP this year.