There are many in the American sports media who continue to dismiss soccer as an irrelevance on the national sporting landscape.  Two games last week helped continue to disprove this asinine notion.  A crowd of 46,065 watched the Seattle Sounders beat the New York Red Bulls 4-2 in a pulsating MLS game at CenturyLink Field.  On Saturday night a crowd of 93,420 partisan fans watched the United States men lose to Mexico in the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final.  Soccer is boring and will never be accepted by the American public, or so some journalists would have you believe.  The fans in Pasadena and Seattle would likely disagree.

It is probably in Bob Bradley’s best interests right now for the mainstream sports media to ignore him and his team.  Otherwise Bradley would have a lot of questions to answer about his team’s capitulation in the Gold Cup Final.  Bradley is getting off lightly in comparison to his peers around the world.  

Kudos to Major League Soccer for fining DC United’s forward, Charlie Davies $1,000 for taking a blatant dive to draw a penalty that led to a goal in last week’s game against Real Salt Lake.  Let’s hope that administrators in other leagues around the world retroactively punish their cheaters in a similar manner.  Perhaps a substantial and accumulative fine for cheating is the only way that the modern footballer will learn to stay on his feet.  Punish him where he will feel it the most, his wallet.

The England Under 17 and Under 21 teams followed in their seniors footsteps when they threw away games in a major tournament in ridiculous circumstances.  Stuart Pearce’s Under 21’s led the Czech Republic 1-0 with a minute to go and contrived to lose 2-1.  The 17’s goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford took notes from David Seaman when a long clearance from Canada’s keeper, Quillan Roberts bounced over his head and into the empty net.  Carlsberg should do an ad featuring both teams.  The drink would sell well in Ireland, Scotland, Australia and other such countries around the world where watching any English team implode is a national obsession.    

River Plate, one of the greatest names in world football and an institution in Argentina were relegated for the first time in their 110 year history on Sunday.  The team’s relegation marks the probable end to the presidency of Daniel Passarella.  It is a sad way for Passarella to leave his beloved club where he played with such distinction and represented them when he captained Argentina to World Cup victory on home soil in 1978.

Andre Villas-Boas was appointed Chelsea manager earlier this week.  He is the second Chelsea manager after Jose Mourinho to have been heavily influenced in his career by former England manager, the late and great Bobby Robson.  Robson was a staunch supporter of coaching education and acted as a mentor to Mourinho and Villas-Boas.  How ironic that Robson has helped to blossom the career of two foreign and ultimately very successful coaches?  Where are the English coaches who have learned from Robson?    

The Football Association has long been considered as having their heads buried in the stand when it comes time to moving with the times.  Their counterparts at the Scottish FA now seem to have caught the same foot in mouth disease.  According to former Scotland manager Craig Brown, the Olympic Soccer Tournament is a “Mickey Mouse” event.  “I don’t sense any interest from our players in being part of the Games,” said current Scottish assistant coach, Peter Houston.  The narrow mindedness and ignorance of some in the British Isles when it comes to the world game knows no bounds.  If Brown or Houston took the time to check the record books, they would note that Giuseppe Rossi, Carlos Tevez, Ivan Zamorano, Hernan Crespo, Bebeto and Romario have been top scorers at five of the past six tournaments while Lionel Messi led Argentina to a gold medal in 2008 and Pep Guardiola led Spain to one in 1992.  If the Olympics are a good training ground for players of this quality why is it beyond the SFA to have their players participate if selected?  No wonder Scotland are below the likes of Libya, Gabon and Guinea in the latest FIFA rankings.  

Some random thoughts about the 2010-11 season:

Arsene Wenger is a great manager and he is in charge of a good team, but they still came up short on four fronts this season.  Arsenal lacked a top class goalkeeper, an imposing central defender, a consistent partner for Robin van Persie, threw away too many leads – Spurs at the Emirates for example – and generally lacked the mental toughness and winning attitude, so evident in Manchester United’s run to the title.  Wenger’s Plan A – attacking football – is excellent.  He does not have a Plan B.  His team did not grind out results, did not rise to the occasion when needed most and in the end paid for the weaknesses that were evident to every football fan. 

Harry Redknapp is still on course to manage England when Fabio Capello fails at next summer’s European Championships.  I have no idea why, so the Spurs manager should be nicknamed Teflon Harry or Lucky Harry.  Both monikers are apt.  Spurs were down and out in the Champions League qualifier against Young Boys and managed to turn it around.  A heavy loss at Inter Milan in the group stage was turned into a glorious defeat on the back of a Gareth Bale hat-trick.  Spurs capitulated to Arsenal in the League Cup, Fulham in the FA Cup, Real Madrid in the Champions League and missed out on fourth spot and still Harry maintains his reputation with the English media as being a great manager.       

Football may have sold its soul to television, but can still manage to pull at the emotional heart strings.  The sight of Barcelona players pushing Eric Abidal to lift the Champions League trophy months after a life threatening illness was one such instance. 

Chelsea used to be the most disliked team in European football.  Their crown has now been taken over by Manchester City with Real Madrid a close second.  Money may buy a lot of things including success, but in football as in life it still cannot buy class and respect. 

Two months ago Ryan Giggs was heading towards a knighthood, a possible Player of the Year award, a Champions League winner’s medal and was still held up as being a model professional and the consummate family man.  One overturned superinjuction later and Giggs reputation lays in ruins because he stooped lower in his personal life than even John Terry dared to do.  If he has any remaining self respect he will retire now and spare himself, his club, and the game the taunts that will come his way next season.  If not, he deserves all the abuse he will receive.

Diving used to be considered a part of the game that was only perpetuated by South American players in the World Cup.  As we saw this season it is now so pervasive in football that even players who suffer serious injury are accused of diving.  FIFA needs to clamp down on this part of the game or risk being open to ridicule for years to come.  Video technology needs to be introduced and retroactive punishment used for any player found guilt of feigning injury to earn a penalty, a free kick, or to have an opponent sent off.  The cheaters bring the game into disrepute and should be named, shamed, fined and suspended.

Alex Ferguson is the best manager that English football has produced.  He is better than Herbert Chapman, Bill Nicholson, Matt Busby, Alf Ramsey, Joe Mercer, Bertie Mee, Don Revie, Brian Clough, Bill Shankly and even Bob Paisley.  He led Man United to an unprecedented 19th league title and finally put Liverpool in their place.  However, Liverpool and Paisley still claim bragging rights on the European stage where they both won five and three European Cups respectively.   

Lionel Messi is the best player in the world.  His performances throughout the season in general and in the Champions League Final in particular assure him of this status.  The only people that doubted his quality was the English media and some English fans who swear blind allegiance to the Wapping or Fleet Street red tops.  Messi tore apart the English champions in England, in a major final, at the home of football and finally scored against an English team on English soil.  His inspired performance led Barcelona to another Champions League triumph to cement their status as the best club team in the world.  

Barcelona winning the Champions League at Wembley in a manner that typified all that is good about the game was the highlight of the season for me.  The runners up in no particular order were: 1) the celebrations as Obafemi Martins toe poked the ball into an empty Arsenal net to give Birmingham City the Carling Cup.  2) The applause that rang out in the 18th minute of Celtic’s game against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in April as the Celtic fans showed their support for their manager, Neil Lennon, a victim of constant sectarian abuse.  Lennon wore the number 18 when he played at Celtic.  3) Wayne Rooney’s overhead kick against Man City.  4) Arsenal-2, Spurs-3 and Spurs-3, Arsenal-3.  Two goals behind in each game game and Spurs came back on both occasions.  5) The scenes at the Britannia Stadium after Wigan Athletic secured their status as a Premier League team with a 1-0 win against Stoke City.  The celebrations of manager, Roberto Martinez and club owner, Dave Whelan demonstrated that success in football is not always about winning trophies.