Up and Down the Aging Staircase

Ball Harambee By Bagga Wilks

Chelsea disposed Brentford in the F.A. Cup and will go on to the quarterfinals. Brentford gave it their all and held Chelsea to a scoreless draw in the first forty-five minutes. In the second half, Juan Mata opened the scoring and then came the floodgates. Chelsea triumphed 4-0 and since they are out of the league title and the Champion’s League, the F.A. Cup might be their sole opportunity at silverware for the 2012-2013 season.

Chelsea has had a puzzling year. They began the season like gangbusters, and looked poised to be a serious contender for the title race. Then under Di Matteo, Chelsea went into a slump that caused the firing of Di Matteo.

His replacement, Rafael Benitez, who will, unlikely, be the permanent manager, if there is such a thing at Chelsea, has been struggling to find the right mix, the right chemistry on the field. Chelsea has a challenging mix of the old and the new. John Terry, their central defender, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard have entered their third decade and that is a precarious age for ball players. Their star striker for the previous year, Didier Drogba turned 34 and had to seek his soccer fortunes elsewhere, initially in China and now at Galatasaray, Turkey. Ashley Cole, still a starter at left back for England, was only given a one year extension on his contract. John Terry’s future at Chelsea is still undetermined and it appeared that Frank Lampard was definitely on his way to sign with Los Angeles team in the MLS in the United States.

The Lampard situation is exceedingly curious. Lampard is still a starting member of the English team who scored the decisive goal against Brazil at Wembley a few weeks ago in a friendly. For Chelsea, his work rate is not what it used to be but he has scored decisive goals for the club since his return from an injury. Does the club treat Lampard like a wounded thoroughbred and simply put him out of his misery by sending him to the MLS? Chelsea must find a better way to blend the old with the new.

One of the reasons for the optimism at the beginning of the season was Chelsea’s richness of youth. Juan Mata, Ramires, David Luiz, Demba Ba and Mikel are all players in their prime. Victor Moses, Hazard and Oscar are playing with great potential and if that talent is realized in the near future, then Chelsea should be a powerhouse in the E.P.L. and in UEFA in the years to come. One can see the development of Oscar in his first season playing in the EPL. He will finish the last third of the season very strong. Hazard is hazardous to defenders and his improvement throughout the season is readily discernable. Moses has just returned from the Africa Cup triumphantly as his team, Nigeria, defeated Farkina Faso in the final.

It will be interesting to see how Chelsea performs for the remainder of the season. All three tiers of the team have to blend, the aging, those at peak age and those in the making. The Chelsea owner is busy searching for a new manager. Obviously, Rafael Benitez is a mere interim manager but the new manager will have to blend the assortment of talents. Failure for the owner, Abramovic is not an option but whoever is chosen will have an uphill task synchronizing the abundance of talent that has been assembled at Chelsea.

Colorado Rapids Defender Kosuke Kimura w/ Futbolr Clothing

Colorado Rapids Defender Kosuke Kimura is the 1st Japanese player in MLS. We caught up w/ the speedy right back in NYC. We discussed new coach Oscar Pareja, tragedy in Japan, his benefit t-shirt, favorite actress and musician and much more. Check us out www.futbolr.com
Host: Kim McMullen
Produced & Edit: Mabricio Wilson
Camera: Crome Dome Productions
Join us @Futbolr
Facebook.com/Futbolrpage
www.futbolr.tumblr.com

Vermes' vision shaping Sporting Kansas City

Words by MIKE JACOBS

Changes were at hand for the Kansas City Wizards in 2011. Changes which started with their name - from Wizards to Sporting Kansas City - and included a new stadium, new colors, and - most importantly - new players.

"We needed to change the culture and unfortunately, when you're changing culture you have to change people," manger Peter Vermes said. "The mechanisms to achieve that aren't the easiest." Newly removed from an interim tag, Vermes was placed in charge of all soccer operations for Sporting. He faced the daunting task of taking years of mediocrity and replacing it with the same type of quality that won an MLS Cup in 2000, when a younger Vermes anchored the Kansas City defense.
"I knew going into this, it was going to take some time and what we have now is a very strong core group of players," Vermes said. "We've laid out our expectations and this group meets that standard daily. That's the crux of our success."

MLS Sells Out

Words by MIKE JACOBS

Mike Woitalla of Soccer America reports on the number of sellout crowds in week 1 of the 2012 Major League Soccer season.

Five of eight games in the opening week of the 2012 MLS season sold out. For MLS team attendance rankings ...

Portland, Vancouver, San Jose, Los Angeles and FC Dallas all announced capacity crowds for their first games of MLS's 17th season. The Galaxy's 27,000 crowd at the Home Depot Center was the biggest of Week 1.

FUTBOLR FIRST KICK

It's early March, European soccer is coming down the stretch and you know what that means to us folk on the other side of the Atlantic? Major League Soccer is all revved up and ready to go for it's 16th season. 19 teams split between 2 divisions vying for the MLS Cup in December.

This year there is going to be a lot more of the MLS on TV, so to give you a heads up. We are positive that there are a bunch of sites/blogs that will tell you about the high profile players from the overspending teams. But for us on the other hand, we will give you the run down on a select section of 'Bolrs are certified by yours truly.

With MLS First Kick taking over this weekend, most teams will be in action to get there season started. Below we have compiled a list of players to follow, and potentially put in your fantasy team, these are the heavily biased Futbolrs that we will be watching. Mostly, because they are rolling with the home team. Stay upto date by click on a Futbolrs name for twitter account, if not we got you.

Chicago Fire
In the Windy City look out for our dynamic duo of Cory Gibbs and Marco Pappa taking the Fire on the road to christen the Impact to the league on the 17th. Gibbs is a ferocious defender with a European pedigree that loves to get into the attack, e.g. versus Manchester United. Then you have the Guatemalan maestro in the midfield Marco Pappa that is exciting to watch as he maneuvers through defenses to set up his team with picture perfect chances. Now we have to get these guys on social media.

Futbolr Classic MLS Fantasy League

The Major League Soccer in North America is back with the first games kicking off next week. There's no better way to get to know your players then getting involved with some Fantasy Footy. Futbolr obviously has you covered, Our FUTBOLR CLASSIC League will be a chance to play against fellow Futbolrs for bragging right and random giveaways. Now the only question is after you pick up Beckham, Henry & De Rosario can you discover the diamonds in the rough? You can sign up by clicking here.

From Vancouver With Love

MLS is around a month away from First Kick. Vancouver decides to sent the love out to teams with Blue & White flower bouquets and a slomotion video to remind them of what they are signed up for. Let the rivalry begin above and you can watch the rest of the videos on their website.

MLS Releases Schedule for '12 Season

It may feel that the professional soccer season in North America just wound up with a destined L.A. Galaxy taking the Cup in what may have been David Beckham's final season in Hollywood.


Amidst all the European transfer rumors, loans & signings, Major League Soccer announced their 2012 schedule. This features many talking points from First Kick on March 10 to the last regular season game on Sunday, October 30th. Here's a couple things to look out for.

All About The Benjamins by Didi

Words by Pat McStay

MLS worst nightmare summed up in one word: "Drogba"

Didier Drogba will end up at whichever club will pay him the most next year. After declining the one year extension at Chelsea, his agent told the press regarding Drogba, “once you are well into you thirties, you have to go to a club where you can be certain you’ll be able to pay your bills.” It’s got to be tough only making an estimated $27,000 a day. The average household income in the United States in 2006 was about $45,000, and the average household in his native Ivory Coast is about $710 US dollars per year.

To sum up what his agent has told the press, in my mind, is this: Didier has nothing left to prove in soccer. He has played at the highest level and has been the best. Now it’s time for him to relax. Someone will pay him a lot of money eventually and he wants to make a lot of money, play in an average league, and not have to work so hard for his paychecks anymore.

He’s already coasting (1 goal and 1 assist in 10 appearances), and he’s already mentioned that his career is winding down, so why pay him big money? Beckham brought attention to the league, but his career here in the MLS, besides this year, has been average. Who wants an average player for $250 million who went on loan twice and was more productive overseas on loan than the same year for the club that is paying him $250 million (Milan in 08-09 he played in 18 games, 2 goals 5 assists vs Galaxy 09 where he played in 11 games, 2 goals 3 assists). I think that his contract, based on what he is saying, may end up the same way.

Another overpaid player who is cashing in on the MLS’ will to attract top level players is not in their best interest. Attracting a 31 year old Robbie Keane is different. Thierry Henry is different-although older, he loves the US and the culture here and it had always been a dream of his to be here.

If the Galaxy acquire Drogba, I hope I am wrong. I love Drogba as a player in his prime, and I know that he will not be the same player at 33 that he was at 28, but I really hope his attitude toward the game doesn’t change. He will do the job of raising awareness and the profile of the MLS, but at what cost?

MLS Goal of the Year

Congratulations to Portland Timbers and Futbolr Darlington Nagbe for winning the Major League Soccer Goal Of The Year. Not a bad accomplishment being that this is his rookie year. Let's add this to his trophy case that includes the Herman Trophy in the NCAA that he discusses in an interview with FutbolrTV earlier this year. Only bigger things to come from this member of the expansion Timber Army!

Here's the Goal that beat out Eric Hassli by 10% in the fan voting.

MLS Gets Scrappy

Who says that the players in MLS don't have passion? After L.A. Galaxy squeaking past the N.Y. Red Bulls 1-0 with a brilliant ball from Beckham to Magee for a goal that had Red Bull defence and keeper looking for an offside whistle. But, that's nowhere near the excitement after the final whistle was blown. Designated Players Rafa Marquez & Landon Donovan decided to up the ante for the 2nd round match-up this Thursday in Los Angeles. Marquez took the ball and gave it a pretty good toss at Donovan that started a scuffle where Marquez's head-butt and right hook were lacking in comparison to throw the ball, because he caught wind on both attempts. If that wasn't bad enough Rafa ended his performance with a phantom K.O. that laid him out on the Red Bull Arena pitch(Above). Enjoy the full foolishness below.

MLS on NBC

While the major soccer leagues around the world are starting up, MLS in North America is beginning looking to the Playoffs. Another league in America that is getting started is the NFL that showcases the other football where they use their hands... But not to get away from the fact that the viewers of both games are sports fans. The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is banking on that fact and has committed to showing the MLS and USMNT games for the next 3 years starting at the beginning of the 2012 season. Above is the trailer that was broadcasted this weekend during a Dallas Cowboys broadcast. Hopefully, this raises the awareness and we can see a decent highlight package of the games on your local sportsreel.

Defense Is The Best Offense

So as a part of Manchester United's pre-season romp through America, they made a stop in Chicago to face the Fire before they play the MLS XI in NYC for the All-Star game. After beating New England Revolutions 4-1, then 7-0 on the Sounders in Seattle, they probably were not expecting anything out of the windy city.

In the 13th minute defender Cory Gibbs, who is no stranger to the EPL style of play being with Charlton Athletic from 2006-08, headed home a long ball to put the pressure on Man. U. early. Unfortunately, United was able to put together 3 goals and the Fire had missed opportunities in front of the goal. So in short, let's put Gibbs on the list of players in 2011 that have been able to bury a chance against the EPL champions.

Attacking Goalkeeper

What do you do when a mid-level EPL team come to your MLS team for an exhibition game? Make your goalkeeper pull off the impossible. David Bingham of San Jose Earthquake decided that West Bromwich's GK was cheating and gave it a shot from in his own box. Golazoooooo!!!

The Best MLS Goal Ever

Portland Timbers rookie Darlington Nagbe from the University of Akron scores an amazing goal full of talent. Is this the greatest goal scored in MLS history?? Discuss in the comments.

MLS ALL-STAR Voting

We are just under a month away from a soccer invasion of New York City. Manchester United is back to play against the top XI of the MLS in Red Bull Arena. Take this as your opportunity to pick your side and see who makes the cut. Make sure it's good, because they will be taking on the English Premier League Champions on July 27th, 8:30pm. Hopefully, we will not see a repeat of the clinic from last year's 5-2 defeat in Houston.

A Holding Midfielder... Literally

Meanwhile in the MLS, Gold Cup players have made their way back to their respective club teams. Including, Donovan Ricketts of Jamaica. Unfortunately, during the weekend match against the San Jose Earthquakes, the Galaxy goalkeeper was forced to leave the match with a broken fore-arm. To make matters worst, the replacement Josh Saunders was called for a red card on a retaliation towards an Earthquake player. So, who goes in net?? Midfielder Mike Magee, jumped in wearing Saunders' jersey and maintained the clean sheet. Real Futbolrs can play all positions, good job Magee!!

What DPs Do

In the MLS alot of the debate surrounding the Designated Player(DP) is if it is worth it to shell out the amount of money for a dynamic player that may or may not change your teams results. Now in Vancouver as an expansion team, the Whitecaps chose frenchman Eric Hassli. Since the season has begun, Hassli has provided the headlines with either gloom or glory. Within the 10 games he has played he has 6 Goals & 5 Red Cards, so Hassli is as predictable as a roulette wheel in Monaco.

This past Saturday, he chose to add to his glory account with a wonder strike that capitalized off horrible clearance from neighboring rivals Seattle Sounders. Being able to pounce on the mistake, chip the ball to himself while evading a defender, not to mention providing a volley before the chip hit the ground. Did we note that he was going away from the net. This DP is worth every red cent.

3rd Times A Charm

With all the Champs League and Coppa Italia on schedule, you may have missed the MLS game with D.C. United traveling to the west to Cascadia to face the Portland Timbers. The major talking point of the game was when 20-year old United goalkeeper Bill Hamid saved 2 penalty kicks. Each time the assistant referee flagged the keeper for coming off his line. The 3rd time, Portland switched their PK player from Cooper to Jewsbury who scored the 3rd attempt.

Based on witnessing regular international PKs goalkeepers frequently come off the line. With that being said, the shooters usually bury their chances. Good job on the stops Mr. Hamid, maybe the league wants to see more goals that's all.

NY Red Bulls Tim Ream talks to FutbolrTV part 1

New York Red Bulls and USMNT Defender Tim Ream talks to FutbolrTV about his early development in St. Louis, Choosing Saint Louis University, MLS Combine & getting drafted.
Follow Tim Ream @TimReam05 and @Futbolr
www.futbolr.com