A soccer note

by Greg, seemingly ranch, Thursday, July 24, 2014, 08:15 (3586 days ago)

Bruce Arena on his squad's 7-0 loss to Man U last night:

"Our young players and a number of our players still are not quality passers. And one thing you saw tonight, the passing by Manchester United was quick and crisp; it was of quality. We have too many players who are technically deficient right now, and it's something they should learn.

"It's also speed of thought. Quickness in moving, winning tackles, running off the ball... all the simple things we frequently talk about but unless you see it live and in real life it's sometimes hard to have a picture of it, and they got a great picture of it tonight."

I think this pretty much sums up the difference between the team that is sitting 3rd (4th?) in the MLS west (with 2 games in hand they could be as high as 2nd once they get up to an equal number of games) and the team that finished 7th in the EPL. I've noticed the passing issue of late when watching MLS games after having watched the World Cup -- does that mean I'm getting closer to buying a scarf? But more, the idea of "speed of thought" was repeated by Donovan and Keane talked about not making big mistakes against a team of quality. It's an interesting concept, and one that I think we've touched on here from time to time in our discussions on how to make American soccer better.

In any event, not the result the Galaxy wanted, but maybe a better result for them going forward because they know that they're not just one small step behind the big guys -- they're a maddening gulf behind.

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The 2007 ND-UCLA game was a once in a lifetime experience, I hope