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    Guest
    Today, we're joined by BBC reporter and the man who runs TransparencyInSport.org, Andrew Jennings, to speak about the latest revelations surrounding Chuck Blazer, discuss who could be next to fall in the alleged domino line of corruption and what has happened to Sepp Blatter's plan to bring in Henry Kissinger and Co. to clean up FIFA. He also makes a point of calling out the Canadian soccer media, the CSA and the USSF for their passivity in these latest allegations.
    We'll also talk about Toronto falling back to Earth (and the bottom of the East), the CSA shelling out cash to ensure at least one of the away World Cup qualifiers will be on television, who we want to see and who we don't want to see during qualifying and the battle by the two Canadian teams for the last NASL playoff spot.
    The archived show is now up.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
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    The audio quality in the Jennings interview wasn't ideal because of the location he was calling us from. CSN will have a transcribed version up in the next day or so to add to this.
    Guest
    Today, we're joined by the soccer columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press, Jerrad Peters to speak about what can be done on the CONCACAF level to balance out the state of refereeing, take a hard look at the direction national team head coach Stephen Hart's career is going and try and talk about why on Earth any Canadian team would want to sign Owen Hargraeves.
    We'll also breakdown Toronto FC's performance last night, discuss how the emotional coaching affected the play on the field and debate where Cascadia ranks in North American rivalries.
    The archived show will be up at 430 ET
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
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    Guest
    Let’s get the refereeing rant out of the way.
    Terrible. Abysmal. Borderline corrupt. Rope. Tree. You know the rest.
    Feel better now? Good, because that’s the last we should talk about an obstacle that is likely never to change. For a generation or more Canadian fans have been moaning about the quality of CONCACAF refereeing and how terribly unfair it is. And, it is. The officiating is horrendous and incredibly frustrating. It defies belief that there isn’t just a little bit of let-screw-the-gringo-lites going on. But...
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    GET OVER IT.
    No, really. There are lots of things unfair about this game – playing World Cup qualifiers against Mexico in Columbus in February, Qatar 2022, City’s money, lots – you can either dwell on them and dream of another utopian world where success is only determined by merit, or you can get on with the job at hand.
    That goes for Toronto FC in the CONCACAF Champions League and it goes, especially, to the Canadian men’s team ahead of World Cup qualifying.
    For the most part, TFC did get on with the task at hand yesterday, although one would be forgiven if they wished to forget the game. There is nothing pretty about lower tier Central American football and last night’s romp in Panama was as ugly as can be. Get the three points and get the hell out should be the mantra. Assuming the plane got off the ground today, mission accomplished.
    With Dallas pulling the shocker against Pumas, attention can now shift to Wednesday’s game. Calling it important doesn’t do it justice. It’s probably the second most important game the club has ever played. The Reds lost the most important game they have ever played 5-0, so go in with eyes wide open.
    However, if they get the win...top of the group after two games?!
    Then we’d be havin’ a laugh, indeed.
    Guest
    The best way to understand how intense a rivalry is in 2011 is to spend some time on the internet – particularly on team discussion boards where fans talk to other fans to feed an echo chamber of self-congratulations.
    That’s not to knock these places – some of my best work can be found on the U-Sector board (of course it has a much more intellectual discourse as compared to most) – it’s simply to point out that higher the level of irrational and occasionally frightening displays of hate are, the bigger the rivalry is. This is especially the case when those displays also include nonsensical assertions that they don’t actually care about said team.
    City v United, Yankees v Red Sox or Leafs v Habs – different sports, different cultures -- it’s really the same everywhere.
    Take the Mexico v USA rivalry. And take BigSoccer’s Mexico boards (no, please take them). There, any suggestion that the US is within 400-years of Mexican football development is met with disdain normally reserved for the serial killer of children. They even have a name – Spazzo -- reserved for those stupid enough to disagree with that assertion. So, you can imagine what the board’s reaction was after FC Dallas became the first club from a US-based league to win a competitive game in Mexico last night, when they beat Pumas 1-0.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    And that was one of the moderators.
    There was some truth to the typical Mexican fan’s reaction. Pumas dressed a line-up of mostly reserve kids and if the first team had played it might have been a different story. However, one doubts how forgiving the Mexican fan would be if, say, a New York Red Bulls reserve side lost to a team from Trinidad and Tobago. Wait, we don’t have to because that happened. The reaction was roughly similar to Nelson from the Simpsons favourite refrain – Nah-HA!
    And that’s why MLS fans should make no excuses for the win last night. As the old cliché suggests you play the team in front of you and if Pumas wants to disrespect you by dressing a third choice line-up then make them pay. That the MLS team could last night shows just how far the league has advanced. There was a time when they wouldn’t have.
    In the first year of the CCL the MLS clubs were incredibly disrespectful to the competition. They dressed kids as much as possible and traveled with as thin a squad as they could get away with. They were embarrassed and chastised by many of their own fans for it. Now, MLS takes the competition seriously and the results are coming.
    Mexico is a fair bit ahead, but the results over the last two years – as underlined by last night – show that it’s not as far as many of their fans think. If they keep approaching games like Pumas did last night it won’t be long until
    another MLS side repeats what Dallas did last night.
    And then who would the “spazzos” be?
    Guest
    Following its successful "Paint the Stadium Red" campaign, the CSA will now appeal to the non-traditional Canadian soccer fan by encouraging the newly in-vogue practice of eye-jabbing.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    "On the surface, Canadians are a reserved people," said CSA General Secretary Peter Montopoli. "But really we share a primal desire for wanton violence."
    "I'm not talking fist-fights or anything," Montopoli continued. "Maybe Canada is in a tight match against Panama and there's a lull in the crowd energy. Stephen [Hart] could just wander casually into the opposite technical area, as if he were looking for a misplaced water bottle, and then Whamo! ram his index finger directly into [Panama manager] Julio Dely Valdes' eye socket."
    "Valdy-whatever-his-name-is hits the turf faster than one of his players faking an injury, and the crowd goes nuts!"
    The CSA's new initiative is widely seen as a response to one of the modern game's coaching greats, controversial Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese was involved in a fracas during Wednesday's Barcelona-Real Madrid match in which he put his finger into Barcelona assistant manager Tito Vilanovaeye's eye.
    When asked why the CSA would want to emulate the behaviour of a man Barcelona defender Gerard Pique described last night as "destroying the game in Spain", Montopoli was dismissive.
    "Look. If you're asking me whether it's against the rules for a manager to physically assault another on the sidelines, well I don't know? Why don't you tell me?" Montopoli challenged, followed by an awkward silence of several seconds before the phone connection went dead.
    A CSA media liaison officer later clarified the general secretary's remarks.
    "The CSA board has yet to decide on an official policy concerning eye-jabbing, although many parents are already experimenting with similar behaviour at various youth levels."
    "Our main concern is having a happy, excited, pro-Canada crowd at Canada matches," he said. "Besides, grown men do stuff to each other on the ice at Air Canada Centre that would involve the Special Investigations Unit if Toronto police tried the same thing while apprehending a suspect. And hockey is on the front page of the Globe and Mail sports section like every day."
    Guest

    A second chance! Honest!

    By Guest, in Onward Soccer,

    Tauro! Tauro!
    Toronto FC will be throwing their red shirts in front of a bull tonight, when they open group play in the CONCACAF Champions League away to Panamanian "powerhouse" Tauro FC.
    They say that time begins on opening day, and if ever a team needed a fresh start and a clean slate, it is this Toronto side, right now.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Two ways to view the current state of professional football at BMO Field:
    View the one-st:
    By missing the playoffs four consecutive years, and winning only four of their first 26 league matches in year five, Toronto FC is now – hands-down, far and away – the least-successful franchise in the entire, somewhat short history of Major League Soccer. Not only that, they are now clearly more pointless than any of the dozens of odd squads that once populated the legendary old North American Soccer League. Even the Memphis Rogues were never this bad for this long. Nor Team Hawaii. Nor the San Diego Jaws.
    View the two-st:
    A drastic, mid-season rebuild, coupled with the judicious gathering and development of young talent, has suddenly produced the deepest and most promising TFC roster yet. None of the aforementioned NASL no-hopers ever had the luxury of playing a famous holding midfielder with World Cup final experience out of position in the centre of defence!
    Essentially (and once again) this is an all-new Toronto team. So what better time to get out of the league – and off the continent – and start all over in an all-new league? Set all the standings dials to zero, and see what kind of magic this new lineup can concoct?
    Well, not all the dials are zeroed. FC Dallas sent some coffee through some nostrils last night, downing Pumas to become the first MLS team to ever win in Mexico. That’s an unexpected result, and those always ring loud in a short, six-game tournament. Instead of getting a jump on their MLS brethren, TFC is now needing – with some slight urgency – just to hold serve.
    And, of course, there will be the standard old CONCACAF bugaboos: hostile fans, difficult travel and gawdawful refereeing. It will be interesting to see how this new roster keeps its cool tonight, faced with a wonky, shifting rulebook that rewrites itself completely based on who’s got the ball, the score on the scoreboard, and myriad other unknown factors known only to whoever’s jogging around the middle of the field with the whistle.
    If ever there was a team that is hugely more talented than its record suggests, it is this Toronto FC side – right now. Last weekend’s thrilling win over Seagull City SC suggests enough time may now have passed for all the newcomers to be settling in, and starting to play creative soccer as a unit. Okay, that might be too much to hope for, but at least there are some in-team units starting to produce. Joao Plata and whoever’s playing beside him, for example.
    The trick – always – is to maintain composure, and strive to score so many goals down there that the officiating doesn’t even matter. That’s how TFC got by Real Esteli in the qualifiers. Tauro will be tougher -- and they don't have to deal with a suspended Torsten Frings.
    The CCL is Toronto’s last, best chance to do something right, and begin to make some happy noise for a change. A loss tonight will not be fatal. A win would be … luverly!
    Onward!
    Oh, and the Canadian coaching series continues next Wednesday with the thoughts of Ontario Soccer Association chief technical officer Alex Chiet.
    Oh, and a happy should-have-been-85th to my late father, David Knight.
    Guest
    You have to love these North American nights.
    In what other competition would your team take on an almost completely unknown entity to kick off perhaps the most important stretch of the season?
    The CONCACAF Champions League offers mystery, intrigue and bewilderment in spades, and on Thursday night Toronto will embark on their second group stage foray in three CCL tries. First up is Tauro FC, a side with a really cheap-looking logo yet surprisingly flashy website, who should provide all three of the aforementioned factors that make this competition so exciting.
    The Panamanian side is the clear underdog of the group, with Pumas UNAM, FC Dallas, and Toronto all having bigger budgets and higher profile players. But if fellow Panama outfit Arabe Unido's performance from last year was any indication, Tauro won't be a pushover, especially not at home.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    That's not to say that Arabe Unido was a good team. They weren't.
    Of course, TFC still struggled against them mightily and even lost the away leg in comical-yet-highly-suspect fashion.
    It would be unfair to judge all of Panamanian club soccer on that Arabe Unido side introduced to audiences last year, but then there is so little information out there that it's hard not to make assumptions based on the company which Tauro FC keeps.
    So what do we know about Tauro?
    Well, they are one of the most-decorated teams in recent Panamanian football history. They are currently third in the league after five rounds, just two points behind San Francisco FC (who lost out to Seattle in the CCL preliminary rounds a couple of weeks back).
    Tauro have also recently placed four players on the Panamanian national team, although none of them made the Gold Cup roster.
    In other words, they won't be pushovers.
    Toronto's new-found "depth" will be tested, as both Torsten Frings and Eric Avila have been ruled out. Frings misses the match due to yellow card accumulation in the preliminary stage, while Avila is cup-tied by virtue of being on FC Dallas' 30-man roster for the competition (which also rules out Maicon Santos for Dallas).
    Both Frings and Avila have shown to be very influential in their time with TFC, especially Frings who has taken on the captain's role in the truest of senses. The German's leadership will be sorely missed in an environment in which anything goes, although it's hard to imagine that the shenanigans could reach the same heights as in that infamous Arabe Unido match.
    If anything, the atmosphere will be muted compared to what Toronto experienced in the qualifier versus Real Esteli. The cavernous Estadio Rommel Fernandez should keep the small Tauro crowd far from the action on the pitch. Speaking of which, the field conditions will be a massive upgrade in Panama City compared to the cow pasture in Esteli, which should theoretically allow TFC's skilled midfield and attack to keep the ball on the ground.
    The pressure is now on TFC to perform, as all four other MLS teams came away with victories in their opening matches. More importantly, FC Dallas became the first ever MLS side to win in Mexico, by defeating Pumas 1-0 on Wednesday night. What that means is that Pumas will likely be looking to make up those lost points wherever they can, so Toronto will need to maximize points against Tauro to remain competitive in what is already turning out to be a dogfight for the top two spots in Group C.
    Away matches are always tough in CONCACAF, be it in the club game or with national sides. For a team in transition like Toronto, who will be missing their new talisman, getting a positive result is a doubly tough ask.
    It's certainly not impossible, though. Just ask Cruz Azul.
    --
    Air woes: The charter company hired to bring Toronto FC to Panama "bailed" on their arrangement on Tuesday at around 3:00pm, causing TFC to scramble for a new charter on very short notice, according to tweets from TFC Senior Director of Business Operations Paul Beirne.
    TFC's front office managed to get the team aboard an 11:30am Wednesday flight, but not before much consternation and countless a new-found appreciation for air travel to/from Central America.
    Scout's honour: Paul Mariner mentioned on Sportsnet Radio FAN 590's "Brady and Lang in the Morning" that TFC had a scout watching Tauro in recent Panamanian league play. That should put to rest any fears of TFC brass not taking the Champions League seriously.

    Tauro FC v. Toronto FC
    Thursday, August 18, 2011. 8:00pm EDT.
    Estadio Rommel Fernandez. Panama City, Panama.
    Watch: Setanta Sports (free preview until Sept. 12), CONCACAF TV (requires registration)
    Rudi Schuller contributes Toronto FC and Canadian national team content to the 24th Minute. He manages the Euro File here at Canadian Soccer News, and is MLSsoccer.com's beat writer for all things concerning Canada's men's national teams. Follow Rudi on Twitter, @RudiSchuller.
    Guest
    Today, we'll take a look at Toronto FC's Champions League group and how they'll match up against each of their opponents. We'll breakdown each team and analyze what Toronto can expect from their opponents and who will offer them the most difficulty.
    We'll also drop a few more details about the Keven Aleman situation and where he stands on his decision between playing in Spain and Vancouver and look back on the decision Toronto made to originally release him.
    The archived show will be up at midnight ET.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The regular show will return on Friday.
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    Guest
    The second of the two Spanish SuperCup matches was played today, with Barcelona prevailing 3-2 (5-4 on aggregate) over arch-rival Real Madrid.
    As the match wore on, things got chippier, culminating in a blatant chopping down by Marcelo of Barca's newest acquisition, Cesc Fabregas. The ensuing fracas saw some of the usual handbags-at-ten-paces type of stuff that you'd expect, along with Madrid coach Jose Mourinho heading over to deliver an eye gouge to a member of Barcelona's coaching staff.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    One specific picture of the face mash (above) is already making the rounds online, most notably for the mustachioed man who is front and centre while Mourinho tries to stick his thumb through the unsuspecting coach's right eye.
    There will surely be some serious discourse over the next few days about Mourinho's actions, as there should be, but let's get a little more light-hearted here. In the comments section below, give me your best caption to accompany the photo.
    Funniest caption gets... um... a hearty congrats.
    Guest
    Mississauga Eagles FC of the Canadian Soccer League announced a few days ago that a pair of 1993-born players -- Patrick Majcher and Mike Krzeminski -- have signed on with the reserve side of Slask Wroclaw, a team that finished second in Poland's top league last season and are currently in Europa League qualifying.
    I won't insult your intelligence by pretending to know enough about these youngsters, or the team to which they're going, to make any pronouncements about what this specific move means for Canadian soccer. But the Erin Mills Soccer Club (the banner under which MEFC plays) is quickly establishing itself as the standard-bearer in terms of the way things should be done in this country -- and signings such as this are a reminder to the rest of the community to sit up and take notice.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    See, MEFC is the professional team attached to the Erin Mills Soccer Club, which provides recreational and competitive play for thousands of kids in Mississauga, a suburb immediately west of Toronto. MEFC entered the CSL this season as a means of providing the long-desired "missing link" for kids who play competitively and want to continue doing so within their own community beyond the age of 16 or 17.
    Kids who grow up in Erin Mills SC's catchment area now have a straight line -- if they have the skill, dedication, desire, etc. -- from learning to kick a ball at age four, all the way to playing professionally. Say what you will about the level of play in the CSL, but with these transfers to European sides, MEFC is showing that the CSL is not the be-all and end-all... again, for those with the skill, desire and so on.
    Majcher and Krzeminski are just the latest additions to a group that includes 21-year-old Igor Pisanjuk (who has two goals in five appearances for Canada's U20 side and moved to Kecskemet in Hungary) and erstwhile Toronto FC trialist Andrew Ornoch (three caps for the senior men's national team, and a new deal at Dutch second-division side Telstar).
    Of course, Canadian kids have gone off to Europe before. As Jonathan de Guzman reminded folks via Twitter the other day, he left Toronto for the Netherlands at the age of 12 to pursue his footie dreams. But he, as you almost surely know, entered the youth system of that nation, rather than his birth nation.
    David Hoilett of Blackburn Rovers is in a similar situation. He went to England as a young teenager and now, evidently, finds himself in an existential crisis over whether or not to represent the True North on the international stage. You may have also read on Canadian Soccer News earlier this week that Fraser Aird, a Canadian teen signed to play at Rangers, has now been linked to Scotland's youth system rather than ours.
    The reality is, no Canadian supporter will ever be able to feel completely safe about a promising young prospect since -- almost invariably -- the chance of them choosing to suit up for the nation of their parents (or grandparents) is ever-present.
    That's why what Erin Mills SC is doing is so important. Milltown FC, which played in the CSL last year, followed a similar model of connecting a professional club to a local youth club, and earned many well-deserved plaudits for it.
    Showing youngsters that not only can they continue playing at a high level through their teen years, but that it can lead to a pro deal on home soil and potentially a move abroad, will encourage them to stay in the game longer, and encourage those whose only previous option may have been to get lost in some foreign side's setup to develop their skills domestically before considering a move abroad.
    The more time spent here at home, the better chance that the kid will want to represent Canada if and when they develop the skill level necessary to do so.
    Sure, ostensibly transcendent talents such as de Guzman and Hoilett will probably still get scouted and scooped up by foreign clubs. There's not much that can be done to prevent that. But the more opportunities that Canadian kids have to play the game in Canada, and the more links that Canadian clubs can establish to foreign clubs, the better off our entire system will be.
    So sure, no one knows what the future holds for Patrick of Mike. But best of luck to them, and here's hoping their move is a sign of things to come in Canadian soccer.
    .
    Guest
    We kick off with the non-event of the past week, Simeon Jackson's Saturday morning Premier League debut that wasn't. Supporters of Canadian soccer had been waiting for this moment since May, when Jackson headed in the goal that put Norwich City back into the top flight.
    For anyone stumbling wide-eyed into the world of Canadian soccer, a handy measure of both the magnitude of Jackson's achievements and his popularity among readers of this website would be the fact its most prominent writer penned an entire article dedicated to the debut the night before it didn't happen.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Unfortunately, Jackson watched Norwich's 1-1 draw with Wigan from the bench. More unfortunately, it was exactly the kind of result to give manager Paul Lambert pause before engaging in any lineup tinkering for the next match.
    Steve Morison, the man on the pitch instead of Jackson, earned plaudits from the local press for his efforts.
    More of a fan favourite than the guy who scored seven heroic goals in nine games at the end of last season? Because that's what Jackson did. If the 2011/12 season drags on and Jackson finds his minutes limited or, horror of horrors, he gets loaned to a Championship team, the sound of hundreds of fists pounding hundreds of tables will echo across the land. Canadian soccer wants and Canadian soccer needs Jackson to succeed.
    Of course those wallowing in the potential woes of Jackson could simply say to hell with it and take pleasure instead from the continuing progress of Marcel de Jong. The young Canadian leftback has now logged 180 straight minutes in the first two rounds of the Bundesliga. Keen readers may recognize this as the local league in Germany, who are hardly a running joke on the international footballing circuit. Long Balls has no idea what to make of de Jong's player rating from the Augsburger Allgemeine, but based on the tone we're cautiously optimistic.
    If Canada had an answer to England's Brave John Terry it would have to be Kevin McKenna. The same powerful stature, retreating hairline and appearance of being about 15 years older than is actually the case. Both also inspire by their actions on the pitch, but we should add one important caveat to this line of comparison: McKenna does not exude the general all-consuming sense of being a dick.
    Nice guy he may be, but at 31 and a half years of age Canada and McKenna don't have much time left together. Long Balls would prefer that the remaining good years feature him playing at the highest level possible in Germany and this is the reason we were so heartbroken to read news that McKenna is possibly being shopped around to clubs in the second division.
    As for what he did on the pitch this week? The burly defender did his first 90 Bundesliga minutes of the season on Saturday for Koln in a 5-1 loss to Schalke 04. For those new not only to Canadian soccer but to soccer itself, 5-1 losses rarely flatter either of the losing pair of central defenders. At least McKenna didn't issue any potential division-two suitors a come-and-get-me plea by handling in the box and surrendering a penalty.
    Only three players in, but Long Balls tires now. So finally, in the "we'd rather not pay attention to but grudgingly admit that keeping at least loose tabs on is probably worth it" category, a footballer whose international future may or may not lie with Canada. Blackburn striker David Hoilett played 90 minutes on Saturday in a 2-1 loss to Wolves, with the young Canadian "prompting a superb diving save from his opposite keeper." Or so said some report whose link we have now lost. As long as Hoilett continues to use his coy flirtations with Canada as a smokescreen for his ambitions with England, Long Balls is content to read about more diving saves and less about wonderful goals when it comes to Hoilett.
    And while we're near the bottom of the barrel we may as well scrape it. Jonathan de Guzman (who - barring a minor miracle - will never suit up for Canada) is now being wildly linked with a move Russia's Rubin Kazan. When Canadian soccer bloggers write about de Guzman they often use phrases such as "on the Dutch radar" or "off the Dutch radar" figuratively, to illustrate just how likely it is deGuz Junior will ever play for Holland. Long Balls believes that if de Guzman goes to Russia he may go off the Dutch radar literally, depending on how far east their scouting network goes.
    Will Simeon Jackson nail his first Premier League minutes? Will Jonathan de Guzman find himself in midfield duels with fellow Canadian and Russian Premier Leaguer Joseph Di Chiara? Tune in next mid-week to find out. Or just read the news online and watch the games on TV this weekend.
    Ps. In a barely needed postscript to all this, Jono de Guz now seems to be asking rhetorically via Twitter about a move to Villarreal. Long Balls was never very good at this being clever stuff, but we'll give it a shot: Hi Jono. Do you know how desperately Canada could use a creative midfielder in the centre of the pitch to bolster its attack?
    Guest
    Nothing like a day or two (stuck) at the lake to give one perspective on TFC. Staring blankly at Lake Huron makes you appreciate the artistry of the Reds midfield, the fortitude of Ty Harden and the clinical-ness of, um, well.
    Ok, the lake hasn’t gone that far to my head – and no I haven’t been drinking for two days straight. The Reds are what they are, but things do seem a little better this week following a rare win. And, a win against a pretty good team too. Yes, they were outplayed (so what) and yes it’s unlikely that they could repeat it against SLC again (again, so what), but, well...so, what.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Here’s the thing: In a year like this, with a team like this you take what you can get. On Saturday we got a damn win. Rejoice and hope that they can build on it.
    They can start this Thursday in Panama. The last time down there (against another club, but just go with it for a minute) the only realistic hope for the 2010 season went out the window in a bit of Preki petulance – with a complete old MLS distain for all things CCL, the sourpuss dressed kids and paid for it. Hopefully, Aron Winter won’t make the same mistake.
    Balancing the CCL with MLS is difficult with the limited rosters that MLS teams have. It’s especially difficult for MLS teams that are, um, Toronto. It’s easy for the hardcore geeks to argue for the Reds to throw it all away in the regular season. That’s because they aren’t the ones that have to deal with the angry non-geeks that aren’t sure why the regular season game they paid good money for are less important than that tournament with the team names that can’t pronounce.
    Still, as SST’s detailed last week, the math really isn’t in TFC’s favour. Seven points. That’s all they can drop to have a chance at reaching the 40 points that currently projects to be the final playoff spot.
    So, Champions League it is then. The art is how to focus on it while not appearing to throw in the towel on the playoff long shot.
    How Winter handles that balance will go a long way to determining how this seson is remembered by fans – geeks and non-geeks alike.
    Guest
    Author’s note: Charlie Cuzzetto is the president of the British Columbia Soccer Association.
    CSN: Charlie, at this point in the story, I’m getting the sense that up until now, we in Canada have not really developed coaches specifically for professional clubs or the professional game – and that may be part of what’s hampered our development of professional players. I’m very interested to hear your thoughts.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    CC: That probably is correct. I think coaching doesn’t start at the professional level. I think we probably haven’t done as good a job as we should have. I think we’re on the right track now, at least identifying some of the areas. I think it’s at the lower level – the development stream, the developmental ages – where we’ve promoted competition instead of development. My understanding is that that’s going to be looked at quite closely. I think that’s where the key areas are – the developmental stages, under 16. Now that we have a lot more professional coaching at different clubs than we had five-to-ten years ago, I think that’s going to be a big help. There are a lot of talented coaches out there.
    CSN: There are a lot of changes in British Columbia, with this new competitive league that’s starting up. Can you catch us all up on what’s going on there?
    CC: Sure. There’s eight clubs we went through the process of getting a different platform for. Now they’re at the start-up stage, and will be playing up until February or March, and then the new season will start and run until October or November.
    CSN: The focus here is very much on player development?
    CC: That’s right. I guess in the past, some really good articles have talked about it. Columns by Jason de Vos and Dino Rossi have touched upon how we always, in the past, were seeing too much competition for trophies, and didn’t look at actual development. So this is a developmental league. Of course, it will be competitive. There have to be competitive aspects to it. But there will be areas where each player has to play a certain time. The other good thing about this is that the technical people are involved in creating standards for coaching development. The provincial association is going to put standards on the minimum requirements for coaching, so there’s an upgrade to coaching for the kids that register for these teams. There may be some hiccups in the short term, but that’s all going to be improved.
    CSN: So what are the specific changes that are coming to coaching development? I’ve heard a broad criticism from quite a few places that the Canadian A-licence now puts a big influence on things like fitness and nutrition, and not enough on man-management, or on tactics and strategy.
    CC: some of that is probably old criticism, because if you look at the course today, it’s not like that. My understanding – and I’m not directly involved in that part of it – is that it’s going to be looked at, enhanced and incorporated into the long-term player development aspect. I’ve talked to a lot of people, too, and there’s obviously something missing in our strategies. All have good coaches, all have good intentions, all have the right methodology that they’re going ahead with. But there’s one or two areas that we sort of missed, probably, and I think that’s going to be reviewed by the technical people to see what those areas are. Maybe we’re moving to competition too quickly. We’re not focusing on the development of the players. For example, younger players, maybe they’re stronger, bigger and can kick the ball a mile, and coaches say “That’s the player I want, because I want to win some games here. And he or she is maybe not looking at the more technical player, or the smaller player who maybe isn’t as strong right now and can’t win a game by himself. They miss those players, and sometimes they don’t develop those kind of players. Everyone says we have to have competition, and of course we have to have competition. But that’s not paramount. In the long term, we want to make sure the players can control the ball and move into spaces – have that good soccer sense, and have confidence on the ball. We have to adapt our coaching methodologies to do that. All around the world, there are different challenges. But why do other countries produce these kinds of players in a pipeline? We have to be missing something. We’re producing some good players, but what about exceptional players? Ones who are going to make it no matter where they play? We’re not giving our kids an opportunity to progress.
    CSN: Charlie, to you, how tight is the relationship between coaching development and player development? Do we have to develop coaches before our players move on?
    CC: The key thing is the coaching. When I was playing, we didn’t have any coaching and I didn’t know what I was doing wrong or right. And I’m sure that if I had a good coach, or someone that understood development – if I had coaches like we have today, I’m sure I would have progressed a lot more and understood the finer points, improving my confidence as a younger kid. You have to understand the tactical side of the game, and you have to understand how young players learn. The steps of learning – repetition, confidence. Being in situations where they have that opportunity to learn, without being judged and hurting their confidence and self-esteem.
    CSN: We’ve had a lot of reform at the Canadian Soccer Association, and a lot of things are going to change in the coming year. But for the longest time, it seemed to me that there was a real leadership vacuum at Metcalfe Street, and provinces that were looking to boost player development or change the old system were sort of out there on their own. As B.C. makes this move now to this new structure for competitive youth soccer, is this filling that vacuum? Have we hurt ourselves with this lack of leadership over the years?
    CC: I think we have to take a co-ordinated approach. Each of us, in our provinces, probably want to do the best for our provinces. If we look at the national picture, I think we need some strong technical leadership to say “This is what we want. This is what we think should happen.” There was probably a bit of a vacuum, but it wasn’t a lack of trying or a lack of interest. I think, now, it’s going to be more focused. I think you’ll see – on the technical side – it will be much improved over the next year. There’ll be a few things that I’m not able to announce yet – positive things on that front. I’m sure that there will be some good progress. They’re aware of all this. It’s just a matter of having a person in charge saying what the plan is, and what everyone has to do. Right now, a lot of people have a lot of really good ideas. We need to co-ordinate all that into one structure – our plan for the next number of years. Really, it’s not the provinces that develop players. It’s the clubs and the teams. If we can provide them with a lot of tools and some guidance, I think we’re going to go a long way.
    CSN: If there was one step we could take – right now – to improve coaching development in Canada, would it be a new technical director with a strong vision at the CSA?
    CC: Right – whether it’s a technical director or whatever they call it. And I think that’s being planned. It’s been a problem for a number of years, and like you said, there has been a little bit of a vacuum. I think they’re aware of it now, and hopefully you’ll start to see some changes and some positive stuff.
    Also in this series:
    - Frank Yallop interview
    - Ron Davidson interview
    - Rafael Carbajal's vision
    - Some preliminaries
    - Canadian coaching: a new CSN investigation
    Guest

    Spain or Vancouver?

    By Guest, in It's Called Football,

    Canadian Soccer News has learned that Keven Aleman, a former member of the Toronto FC academy and whose rights were acquired by the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Terry Dunfield trade earlier this year, is close to making a decision on where he will be playing for the foreseeable future.
    Aleman, who has been on trial in Spain and has interest from clubs there, is currently weighing what is best for his career.
    "Keven has done well there and attracted interest from clubs in Spain. But he loves Vancouver and would be happy if he ended up signing there as well," Courtney James, Aleman's agent told CSN today. "He's just looking at all the angles right now before he makes a choice."
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    James was hesitant to give a timeline for the decision but was confident they would have something to announce in the days ahead.
    "Vancouver has been a top class organization to Keven. They've allowed him to explore his options and put no pressure on him to make a decision," James said. "We should know very soon where he is going."
    If Aleman, who is only 17, was to choose Spain, he would be joining an academy side on a non-professional contract. But even it was a second division club, because of the way Spain's academy competitions are structured, he would likely see competition against the top academies in the country, including Real Madrid and Barcelona.
    The news of an imminent signing comes only a few months after Aleman went through a very public departure from Toronto FC, when the club released him for, in their words, refusing to sign a letter of intent. Aleman hit back shortly after saying that he had full intention of signing with Toronto but wanted to wait until after the U-17 World Cup.
    He would be shipped to the Vancouver Whitecaps soon after in the trade that brought Terry Dunfield to Toronto. Vancouver now has Aleman's MLS rights for the next three years.
    Canadian Soccer News will update on his selection when a deal is finalized.
    Guest
    The Globe and Mail stirred the pot last month with revelations that the Vancouver Whitecaps were actively pursuing Canadian-born England midfielder Owen Hargreaves, and it looks like that interest has yet to subside.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Hargreaves is currently a free agent after Manchester United decided against renewing his contract due to an injury plagued time with the club and now the Province's Marc Weber is reporting that Whitecaps co-owner Jeff Mallett recently had dinner with the player in Vancouver.
    The controversial midfielder, who elected to play for Wales at underage level and England at senior level after being cut by an underage team, has reportedly received an offer from English Premier League side West Bromwich Albion.
    Hargreaves is a polarizing figure in Canadian soccer, so it would be interesting to see how Whitecaps fans would react to the signing of the former Bayern Munich midfielder if it came to pass.
    Perhaps even more interesting would be the reaction of his oh-so-fragile knees to the artificial turf at Empire Field, and once again at the newly renovated B.C. Place.
    Canadian Soccer News will keep you posted on this story as it develops.
    __
    Martin MacMahon is a broadcast journalism student at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. He covers Vancouver Whitecaps FC for a number of soccer websites.
    Follow him on Twitter: @martinmacmahon
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