Chelsea and Barcelona vs. MLS
By Robert Evans
Thursday, July 27th, 2006 at 4:42 pm in General.
In the next few weeks, American fans will have a chance to compare the stars of MLS and the stars from two of the best clubs in Europe——Chelsea F.C. from London, and F.C. Barcelona, the European champions from Spain.
The MLS All-stars take on Chelsea on Saturday, August 5th in Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Illinois, home of the Chicago Fire. Barcelona will play three matches: against Guadalajara (Mexico) in the L.A. Coliseum on August 6, Club America (Mexico) in Reliant Stadium in Houston on August 9, and the New York Red Bulls in Giants Stadium August 12.
On paper, these matches should favor the visitors, studded as they are with world-class stars: “World Player of the Year” Ronaldhino (Brazil), teenager Lionel Messi (Argentina), African “Player of the Year” Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), world-cuppers Marquez (Mexico), Puyol (Spain), Van Bommel (Netherlands) and Deco (Portugal). That’s just Barcelona.
Chelsea have an array of World Cup talent of their own: John Terry and Frank Lampard of England, Michael Ballack of Germany, Petr Cech, one of the best ‘keepers in the world, Claude Makalele, Andriy Shevchenko, Joe Cole, Didier Drogba, Arjen Robben. Can the MLS teams match them?
Probably not, but these are friendly matches, with little except pride at stake. Intangibles will play a part, for the MLS squads are halfway through their season, and the two European powerhouses are just now preparing for theirs. Will they be able to shake off the rust and play at a high level of fitness in the heat of the U.S. summer? And will they want to play intensely in a meaningless game?
I don’t expect great matches. Playing not to lose rarely entertains the fans. But we will get to see some fine players strut their stuff, even if we won’t see fine teams at their best.
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July 28th, 2006 at 2:07 pm
You forgot to address all the cries which we shall hear after a “decent result” for an MLS side of: “Hey, we are competitive with the best in Europe.”
These matches are useless as far as results, tactics, and anything related to competitive club soccer. And, they’re really only designed to make money and sell jerseys and others memorabilia.
As you point out, these stars will be playing at half-speed and will likely win 1-0 or even tie.
Why should any of them care? Let’s take one look at one player: In the past 10 weeks, Deco has played in maybe the two biggest games of his life - the Champions League Final, and then a World Cup semi-final. He had no rest in between campaigns.
Once Barca took the title, it was off to boot camp with Big Phil to get ready for the biggest tournament in the world of sport. Now, he’s been done playing since July 7th. Let’s say he finally got home to family on July 12th. He maybe decided his body needed some rest….so, let’s assume he hasn’t trained for a few weeks. Now, he’s back in the flow at Barca say by July 27th. He has to travel with the team to USA - another 2 days of off time. At best, Deco and his fellow teammates who played in the WC2006 will have had four days of organized training prior to their first match.
Oh yeah, I forgot all the media hype they’ll be confronted with as soon as they arrive in the US. Commercials, interviews, autograph sessions…you name it. (and for Ronaldinho - women).
Apply this theory to all the world cup players on Chelsea as well as Barca and you have the makings for some meaningless games. Just take a look at Manchested United. They were on a training trip in South Africa and lost most of their games and looked terrible. Do you think they even cared? Or put forth their best effort? A mid-season effort?
Nope.
Sadly what will happen in the next few weeks is that an MLS side will do well against one of these two teams - and those of us in the know about soccer and its inner workings will have to suffer through Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated (and many others) telling us how far the MLS has come and how wrong Bruce Arena was in saying US players need to be in Europe to get better.
Get real….these games are about money, nothing more, nothing less.
July 28th, 2006 at 10:06 pm
You are quite right, Babu, and I liked your analysis of the life of one player from World Cup to international friendly. The key thing is as you wrote: “..those of us in the know about soccer and its inner workings..” Sadly, too many spectaors are not.
Thanks for your note!
July 29th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
Thank you. However, even I know only a fraction of what there is to know about the inner workings of soccer on the highest levels. After all, as a player, I never made it out of the Togolese 3rd Division.
August 7th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Babu,
it’s always about money.
This is a great oppurtunity for me to take my 7 year old and 4 year old to get a taste of “football”.
For me, there’s value.