Tickle v. Tackle 11

Tickle

• The roller-coaster that is MLS 2007 takes its next series of twists and turns as SuperLiga kicks off and the DP's begin to arrive. With the added impetus of the top 4 overall finishers qualifying for SuperLiga 2008, the regular season has never meant so much in MLS. Exciting stuff!
• Ricardo Clark did some nice stuff in the All-Star game. He's starting to track higher and higher for me in the national team pool and I wouldn't be surprised to see him test the European waters soon. Speaking of which . . .
  
• Called it! Zizzo's the first of the U-20's to be crossing the Atlantic as he packs his bags for Germany.
  
• The heavily retooled Bayern Munich is starting to flex its muscles in the Bundesliga's pre-season League Cup. Even with a number of injuries keeping key players out of the lineup at the moment, they still look like a juggernaut.
• SuperLiga is starting to grow on me, and not just because of the slick graphics, nice trophy, and the way MLS sides have been getting results. I like the group format, which I always thought the CONCACAF Champions' Cup should consider, and the games have been exciting (if a little testy) so far.

Tackle

• Gag me with a spoon! ESPN's celeb-fest Beckhamania wank-a-thon was just nauseating to watch. I laughed so hard I almost cried when Sidwell plowed into the Anointed One. Not that I wish misfortune on the man, in fact, he seems a pretty decent sort, but after all the hoopla and crazytalking and gushing media whores, wouldn't it have been amazing if he had to be carried off on a stretcher in front of the stunned glitterati?
  
• United We Fall Part I - The Players. Where's my MVP? Gomez is missing in action, the finishing has gone from questionable to woeful as of late, and Namoff, Moreno, and the promising Moose are all currently on the shelf. We have no width, the Vanney experiment doesn't look to be yielding much in the way of results, and we're dangerously close to losing touch with the lead pack in MLS. United needs to finish in a top 4 spot - no excuses - but it doesn't look like it's on the cards.
• United We Fall Part II - The Coach. So, half a season in and I think it's time to start questioning Tommy Soehn. It's not pitchforks and torches time yet, but we're getting close. I don't know if he's tactically naive or just gun-shy about making changes, but other than switching the formation, Soehn hasn't exactly been giving a tactical masterclass. He doesn't use substitutions well, seems reluctant to make changes mid match, and seems to be getting increasingly frustrated with his team. Sure, he's been hampered by injuries and call-ups, but who hasn't this year? Tommy's reign may end up being a fairly short one in DC. It's odd that for all Kevin Payne's talk of the "Latin" flavor of our club, we've never had a Latin coach. We may have missed the boat with Osorio.
  
• United We Fall Part III - The Stadium. On the back of all this on the field trouble comes news that the Poplar Point deal may be fatally wounded, if not dead. Talk about adding insult to injury! Come 2012, we'll probably be the only team in the league without a soccer-specific stadium, watching a decrepit RFK collapsing in ruin around us.