Here at Long Balls we're happy to finally see July rolling into August, and Canadian footballers abroad slowly tricking back to work. Truth be told, there's only so much time one can spend desperately flitting from Internet page to Internet page in search of ideas before he spreads his arms and falls softly backward into the warm embrace of a regular column that essentially writes itself.
We're employing a hodgepodge approach, looking at what the the preseason has brought and what the regular season may bring for footballers flying the Canadian flag outside of Canada. With a special emphasis on Simeon Jackson.
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First up then Simeon Jackson. He's in tough for minutes once the Premier League begins, as Norwich manager Paul Lambert has been rotating through six strikers in the preseason. That's bad.
But at least he has been getting minutes! (Last weekend he came on as a 60th minute sub in a 3-0 win over Coventry). That's good.
Two of his rivals for a place - along with mainstay and captain Grant Holt, Chris Martin, Aaron Wilbraham - are summer signings Steve Morison and James Vaughan brought in to bolster the strike force. That's bad.
But at least Jackson now occupies his own special place in Norwich history, which should put him in with a chance! That's good.
Jackson is in the fight of his life to become the first Canadian to play regularly in the Premier League since Paul Stalteri with Tottenham in 2008, and when it comes to Canadian soccer whatever can go bad often does. [blank stare...] That's bad.
In between rehashing episodes of The Simpsons, Long Ball's inner monologue can't stop emphasizing how wonderful it would be for Canada to field a Premier League regular. What a great tool for marketing, promotion and countering the perception that all Canadian soccer players suck. The niggling problem with even that is this past summer, which showed us emphatically that scoring in Europe is zero indication of being able to do the same thing against Concacaf opposition.
Next is Marcel de Jong. Now that Augsburg have been promoted to the Bundesliga this season, he will be keenly watched by Canada supporters yearning for successes in the top flights of European football. The Canadian midfielder-slash-defender started and played 78 minutes for Augsburg in a 2-1 German Cup win over RW Oberhausen last weekend.
In an Augsburger Allgemeine article brilliantly translated as "FC Augsburg is a cause for reflection" de Jong is afforded a 4 out of 10? rating for his efforts in the match: Although very active, but also far from his best form. Which conveniently sums up his display at the Gold Cup. (On a completely unrelated note, we're also surprised to report that the Augsburger gives hockey second billing on its sports page behind football.)
Due to Long Balls lack of ability in the German language, our research into de Jong's prospects is limited. We can only view the fact he's getting minutes as a good sign vis-a-vis his chances of obtaining anything resembling first-team football in the Bundesliga this year.
Is Iain Hume still worth our time? That is what Canadian supporters must ask themselves. Stephen Hart appears to have already decided this by shutting Preston North End's leading scorer last season out of the Canada setup since 27 minutes in a depressing 2-0 loss to Peru at BMO Field last September. That said, three rapidly approaching World Cup qualifiers against what theoretically should be minnow-ish competition may be as good a time as any to welcome Hume back into the fold.
The issue here is that Hume now finds himself slugging it out in League One. And even though he is "excited" about kicking off the new campaign, Long Balls strongly suspects he'd be even more excited about kicking the same campaign off maybe one nick higher up in the English soccer pyramid. For what it's worth, Long Balls still favours a call-up for Hume, unless Hart shows he's found a way to get his regular strikers scoring.
Back to Canada's other theoretical Bundesliga regular. Kevin McKenna is vying for a spot in the heart of FC Koln's defence (or the "Billy Goats," as Long Balls learns the club is nicknamed). McKenna sat out Koln's German Cup win over Wiedenbruck last weekend, but played all 90 minutes of the Goats 7-0 slaying of Vorgebirgsauswahl on Tuesday. McKenna potted one of his trademark headers from a corner, although he apparently also made a mistake that almost allowed Vorge....(right, see above) to score the first goal.
Keeper Lars Hirschfeld played the first half of a 3-3 friendly draw with Liverpool this week, allowing one goal on a header from Andy Carroll. Lars has been the man for Valerenga, by which Long Balls means he has started and played every minute of the lower-to-mid-table club's 16 Norwegian league games this season.
Another young Canadian striker facing competition for a striking spot at a club located within the British Isles is Marcus Haber. He played 90 minutes for St. Johnstone against Rangers last weekend and the best Canadian soccer researchers available say that he apparently "fizzed" a shot just past the post. Returning from a season-ruining injury last year, Long Balls slots Haber emphatically into the "yes, definitely" category when prioritizing which young players should be called up for the second round of World Cup qualifying this fall, assuming they are available.
In other more depressing news, depending on your perspective, it appears that Toronto-born midfielder Jonathan de Guzman is being linked with a move to Spanish big-boys Villarreal. Whether or not this helps him nab his long-desired cap for the Dutch senior national team remains to be seen, but it certainly doesn't move him any closer to ever suiting up for Canada.
Long Balls is torn when it comes to Jono de Guzman. The not playing for Canada thing aside, he has certainly done well for himself. And for that we cannot fault him.