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| Friday, September 14, 2001 24:16 EST |
Matthaeus acting like ... himself
By Jeff Bradley
[ESPN The Magazine]
Lothar Matthaeus is a spoiled brat. A rich, pampered, prima donna soccer player.
OK, now find the news in those two sentences. Can't? That's because there is none.
Things rapidly went downhill after Lothar Matthaeus' smile-filled signing with the Metros. |
Anyone who has followed this man's storied career knows Matthaeus has always been not only a great player but one of the most high-maintenance characters of his generation.
So, I ask, why has this picture of Matthaeus and his girlfriend on the beach in St. Tropez created such a stir? Please, the team gave the guy permission to leave the country to see his doctor, the doctor tells him to take it easy for a few days, and he decides he'd rather rest in the South of France than northern Jersey.
There's a shocker.
Really, now, this assumption on the part of so many MetroStars players -- guys like Mark Chung, who use their Web sites to bash the guy -- who think Matthaeus is being anything other than himself, is laughable. These guys should have done their homework.
If they had, then none of what's transpired this season would have surprised them. The guy's got a 20-year reputation for being opinionated, hyper-critical, holier-than-thou ... you name it. He didn't develop these traits when he hit U.S. soil.
Surely, the MetroStars and MLS knew this about Matthaeus when they pursued him last year. If they didn't, they must have clued in when Matthaeus said, after Charlie Stillitano was fired last year, "They can't drag me to New York in handcuffs."
They must have known this guy was a bit temperamental, but still worth bringing over, right? There couldn't have been a more perfect time to get out of the contract, what with Matthaeus' Bayern team still battling in Champions League and Germany preparing for Euro 2000, and Matthaeus already saying he didn't want to come. Right? Apparently not, because MetroStars chief operator Stuart Subotnick told his charges to smooth things out, that he still wanted the German star in New York.
So, really, the MetroStars and MLS got what they deserved. Now, they must deal with it. Now's the time to smooth things over, to make Matthaeus feel welcome.
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THE FIRST XI
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GreatInca's All-Time MLS All-Stars:
11. Ian Hennessey (MetroStars)
10. Louis Ken-Kwofie (MetroStars)
9. Chris Brauchle (MetroStars)
8. Mirsad Huseinovic (MetroStars)
7. Matt Knowles (MetroStars)
6. Billy Andracki (MetroStars)
5. Chris Unger (MetroStars)
4. Guido (MetroStars)
3. Joao Luiz (MetroStars)
2. Brent Longenecker (MetroStars)
1. Edmundo Rodriguez (MetroStars)
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Because it's too late to do anything else.
And, getting back to the players and their handling of the situation ... If the MetroStars want to say they're better without Matthaeus, well, that's just unfair. Consider, the guy has only played one game on the new-and-improved MetroStars -- a tie with San Jose. If he was cranky about the games he played with the "other" MetroStars, before he left for Euro 2000, let's face it, that team stunk.
And, getting back to the original point about who Matthaeus is ... anyone who was surprised that he ripped into his teammates must not have known anything about the man.
Really, it was Vintage Lothar.
When Matthaeus left for Euro 2000, he offered a few opinions. For one thing, he thought Alex Comas was a disaster, that the MetroStars had to find another forward to play with Adolfo Valencia. For another, he thought the team needed to reorganize its defense.
Guess what? He was right.
Since Matthaeus left for Euro 2000, the MetroStars acquired Clint Mathis to play with Valencia and reorganized their defensive system around the man-marking skills of Mike Petke and Steve Jolley.
They've also seen the return of Tab Ramos from injury and Roy Myers from Los Angeles. Basically, they have an entirely different team since he left.
So he comes back, plays one game and gets hurt. He wants to see his personal doctor (not surprising) in Germany, and ends up in St. Tropez for a few days.
Isn't that what rich, pampered, prima donna soccer players do?
What's going to be the final fallout? Well, the league's spelled it out pretty clearly that the MetroStars will not get any replacement for Matthaeus if he quits, or they waive him.
(One wiseguy GM said, "Of course, that could change if they lose two in a row.")
So, basically, it's Matthaeus or some A-League call-up.
The MetroStars players who have a problem with Matthaeus should just lighten up. Tell the old guy to sit back and enjoy the ride, maybe ask him to sign the St. Tropez pictures to be sold for charity and play when he's ready. All this sniping makes them sound so whiny.
Like a bunch of spoiled brats, really.
The long, hard road
Got into an argument a while back about the U.S. national team.
My opinion was that the team was playing better soccer under Bruce Arena than it had ever played.
I don't know if I was right or wrong. It was just an opinion based on what I saw around the time of the Confederations Cup. Mainly, I liked the team's possession game, the way it was moving the ball and creating chances. It just looked better to me.
My opponent told me I was wrong, that the team that made it to the semifinals of the '95 Copa America was much, much better. Whatever. Maybe he was right; maybe not.
I did ask, "What does this team have to do to prove it's better?"
He said, "Qualify for the next World Cup with ease."
I had a one-word reply to that: "Impossible."
That's right, there's no way the U.S. qualifies for this World Cup, or any World Cup, with ease. The qualifying process just won't allow for it. When the U.S. has to travel to countries like Guatemala and Costa Rica, those games are always going to be hard because of the heat, the humidity, the fans and the opposition's tactics.
Claudio Reyna said his Rangers teammates say it's the same way for big European countries when they have to travel to the small Eastern European countries. The environment won't allow for even the best teams in the world to win qualifiers easily.
I was in Guatemala last weekend. My opinion is that the U.S. played very well in the first half and wilted under pressure in the second.
And when I say "under pressure," I mean it. In the first 25 minutes of the second half, the U.S. could not keep the ball. When they got it, they tried to counter too quickly, with a hopeful through-ball, or a long pass out of the back. If they had been able to keep possession, they could have conserved energy.
But credit the Guatemalans with upping the pressure, for making it difficult for the U.S. to knock the ball around. It was the feisty Guatemalans -- and the brutal heat -- who forced the U.S. into survival mode for the final 15 minutes. Of course, it didn't help Arena that he did not have a single defensive stopper on his bench to use as a tactical substitution. A guy like Greg Berhalter, Carlos Llomosa or Jeff Agoos would have been ideal.
My biggest criticism -- and I'm told Arena spent a lot of time harping on his players this week -- is that the U.S. didn't look like it knew how to kill a game. With about four minutes to go, Eddie Lewis and Frankie Hejduk were trying to hit crosses from the flank when they should have been stepping on the ball, forcing fouls, throw-ins and corners.
But to think it's ever going to be easy to qualify? Forget about it.
In Tight Space
Credit San Jose coach Lothar Osiander for helping out the good ol' USA. Word is out that the Costa Rican Federation called for Mauricio Solis this week and Osiander used his veto right, because the request came in too late. Hmmm, makes you wonder what would have happened if the call came for a domestic player. We'll never know.
Want to see the ugliest numbers in MLS? Here are the number of games played by the league's top allocations: Hristo Stoitchkov (9), Lothar Matthaeus (10), Miklos Molnar (12), Khodadad Azizi (12). Basically, not a lot of bang for the buck there.
It seems now that every player in the league that's out of contract after this year -- from Mike Petke to Dema Kovalenko -- is saying that he's looking in Europe. That's now become the only bargaining jargon in MLS.
One former MLS player who seems certain to be on the move is U.S. No. 2 goalkeeper Brad Friedel, whose name is now linked to English League clubs Blackburn Rovers and Everton, and Mexican club Tigres, who pursued Kevin Hartman last year.
One reason the Greg Berhalter-to-Huddersfield Town signing went down so smoothly is because Berhalter holds an Irish passport, so a work permit is not a problem.
The cutoff for the eighth and final MLS playoff spot now stands at 31 points. So, you've got to figure it's going to take 40 points, minimum, to qualify. That means D.C. United's probably got to win seven of its final eight just to make the playoffs. On the bright side, D.C. can begin to look forward to its first allocation since Arnold Cruz.
Speaking of allocations, San Jose says it's still searching for a last-gasp fill-in for the longest-running opening in league history. This week, the non-Portuguese player from the Portuguese League said "No thanks" to the Quakes.
When asked who the Most Valuable Player in MLS is, one league official said: "Got to be Brian Kelly. The Metros, in effect, traded him to L.A. for Clint Mathis, Steve Jolley and Roy Myers. Now, that's one valuable player."
If there's one team that's been quiet in the regular season that could win the Cup, it's got to be Dallas. Mainly that's because of one man: Ariel Graziani. If he wasn't off to World Cup qualifying, I'd bet on Ariel blowing past Mamadou Diallo for the scoring title. If I had to file my MVP vote today it would go to ... Clint Mathis, followed by Graziani.
Pub Talk
With apologies to Dickie V: Let's talk a little Open Cup, baby!
I love this tournament, the Little Dance!
Starting in the East, we've got the defending champion Rochester Raging Rhinos taking on the '96 USOC champs D.C. United at RFK. Gotta believe D.C.'s going all out to win the OC, since United's MLS playoff destiny is out of its hands. Cool thing is, if D.C. advances all the way to the final, it's one team with a sophisticated-enough fan base that a final at RFK could still draw a respectable crowd.
Then, we've got the Miami Fusion traveling to Saginaw, Mich., to take on those pesky Mid-Michigan Bucks. I'm serious when I say, Ol' Ray Hudson better have his "A" material ready for the lads before this game against the boys from the PDL.
Mitchel Field in Uniondale, Long Island, gets its MLS test balloon match when it hosts the MetroStars and Tampa Bay Mutiny. If you come, Long Island, they will build it.
Now, out West, we start with a couple of Derbies.
The first pits the Los Angeles Galaxy against A-League power San Diego Flash at Mesa College, and the second has the Chicago Fire and the D-3 Chicago Sockers knocking heads at The Hive at Arlington Heights. Yeah, you all know my brother Bob coaches the Fire, but did you know his son Michael plays for the Sockers (OK, he plays for the U-12s, but there's still a chance of some family squabbling here)?
Then, the way I see it for all of you out there in Bracketville, the biggest chances for upset city's got to be when the Richmond Kickers travel to San Jose, or when the Dallas Burn head to Blaine to take on the Minnesota Thunder. A couple of good A-League sides against a couple of teams that have to stay focused on the MLS playoff race.
Seriously, folks, if you're a soccer fan, you've gotta love this little tourney. And once again, I throw out my little suggestion, perhaps for next year ... let the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, N.Y., host the final at their little stadium. That would be so cool.
Just thought you should know, I wrote this column from St. Tropez this week ... so, there you go, it is possible to get (a little) work done while sunbathing with supermodels.
Jeff Bradley covers soccer ... among other things ... for ESPN The Magazine. Boot Room hits the web every Thursday evening.
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