Wild American Gooner

When Sports Are More Than Just Sports


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Why the FA Community Shield Does and Does Not Matter

While this is more than a little embarrassing to admit, last night I attended a One Direction concert at Gillette Stadium. I knew very little about the band, but begrudgingly agreed to go when nobody else volunteered to take the last ticket. And I have to say I was thoroughly underwhelmed. How those five guys ever become world famous is beyond me. Only a couple of them have any real vocal talent, and none of them are great musicians – it was shocking to find out only one of the five plays an instrument on stage – and when one of them is singing, the others just stand there. And it’s not like they can dance either. As they rapidly lose their boyish looks, I hope they disappear from the music scene. They really have no business selling out three straight nights at a giant stadium in one city. But nonetheless, it was an experience being at Gillette Stadium with a crowd that was 98% female.

Now back to important matters. There seems to be a never ending debate about the importance of the FA Community Shield. Some say winning it is the equivalent of any other trophy, and some say it’s a glorified preseason friendly that should only be used to build fitness. I tend to come out somewhere in the middle on this issue. I’ll break down why I think it matters and why I think it doesn’t.

It’s easy for fans of a lot of teams to say a trophy shouldn’t be won on just one game alone, especially before the season officially starts. But those people fail to understand that teams earn the opportunity to play in this game the year before. To make it into the match, a team needs to either win the FA Cup or the Premier League, and if they are the same team, then it’s the second place finisher in the league. So to get into the match, you need to have prolonged success the year before. You don’t get into this match without earning it. Being there means you did something right.

There is also a trophy at stake, and a real one at that. It’s not the Emirates Cup or the International Champions Cup. It’s a real trophy that’s been handed out for over 100 years. Any chance a team gets at a real trophy should be taken seriously, especially for teams that have not won an abundance of silverware over the last few years. Trophies bring happiness to a squad and they improve confidence levels. For Arsenal, winning a second trophy in a row could create a surge of momentum going into the new season. There is no downside to winning on Sunday.

Lastly, the match matters because it gives a lot of players another chance to play on the biggest stage at Wembley. The national stadium is a special place for players, and they all clearly love taking the field there. Not everyone got the chance to play there a year ago, so for many players, it could be their first action at Wembley. And the more experience they get playing with that pressure, the better they’ll do in future matches at the beautiful stadium.

But that could also be given as a reason why the game shouldn’t be taken so seriously. If the best XI won’t necessarily be playing for both teams, then can one really put any high level of importance on the match? Arsenal don’t even have all of their players back from summer vacation yet, and nobody is rushing back for this match alone. Young players could be given chances they wouldn’t otherwise get, so the atmosphere will be less tense. There is still room to experiment with squad selection in this match.

It also doesn’t matter because there are no consequences for losing this game in any way. There are no dropped points, as it is a one-time thing. There is no elimination from future rounds. And there shouldn’t even be a hit on morale going into the new season, as the players all know nobody is at their best yet.

In short, winning the FA Community Shield would be good for Arsenal in a lot of ways. It would be another trophy to add to the cabinet, giving the players a confidence boost, and it would be a great start to the season. But losing the match would be like losing a friendly. They could forget about it the very next day as they welcome the Germans back to training, with attention quickly turning to the Premier League opener a week later.

The match is more than a friendly. But winning the trophy is certainly not on par with winning the league or even the Capital One Cup. For us fans who’ve been dying for action, it’s a great way to kick off the season a week early. But if things don’t go the right way, we can all quickly forget it ever happened as we prepare for the real opener.


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Grazing In the Sports World Grass

I wanted to follow in the footsteps of one of my favorite sports writers with this piece, using the style of Boston Globe writer Dan Shaughnessy’s “Picking Up the Pieces” articles. In it, I will hit on many topics with only a single paragraph. My current title is a work in progress for this segment going forward. If you have a better idea, put the name in the comments or tell me on Twitter (@MrMcGinnis94).

The Patriots begin their preseason tonight against the Washington Redskins. In what is pretty much his only action of the entire year, Ryan Mallett will see the majority of the snaps tonight at quarterback. The former Razorback deserves a shot in the NFL due to his physical tools, and I think his time is running out to earn a trade to start games somewhere else. Not much else happens in the preseason opener, so make sure to keep your eye on Mallett.

Following that, I am getting excited quickly for the coming Arkansas football season. I fully understand that the degree of difficulty of the schedule (many say the Hogs have the toughest schedule in the country) could make progress hard to see this year, but I fully believe in what Bret Bielema is doing to rebuild the program. I really like the way the offensive line is shaping up, and it makes me giddy to think about the trio of highly regarded running backs hitting the holes. This team will begin to resemble the Houston Nutt Razorback teams from the Darren McFadden era, and in my mind that’s a good thing. If Casey Dick was good enough to ride his running backs to successful seasons, why can’t Brandon Allen? I’ll have a lot more to say in the coming weeks, but the August 30 opener at Auburn can’t get here soon enough.

Moving to baseball, I was really impressed with Joe Kelly on the mound for the first time with the Red Sox last night. There hasn’t been a good sinkerballer in Boston in a while, and last night the new arrival showed he has top notch stuff on the hill. He isn’t a number one starter by any means, but he could be a solid number two or three on a great team. It was also fun to see him beat out a ground ball base hit – I hope other Red Sox players were taking notes. And it was also good to see Xander Bogaerts turning it around at the plate. His struggles have gone on far too long for a player as talented as he is.

To basketball, news has broken this morning that the Kevin Love to Cleveland trade we’ve all been waiting for has been all but confirmed. Minnesota should be happy enough with the return – two number one overall picks plus a first rounder for a player who would have left for nothing in a year is a good deal. I can’t wait to watch Love play with LeBron James. Think about all of the fast break dunks LeBron will get from Love’s outlet passes. It is a match made in heaven. With perimeter threats on the roster, Love will also be able to play in the post more than he ever could in Minnesota, and I expect him to reach new heights this year on the block. He is one of my favorite two or three players to watch in the NBA, and I’m glad he will get a shot to play for a championship. I don’t think this puts Cleveland above San Antonio, but they are certainly the favorites in the East.

All is quiet on the Celtics front these days. Looking at the roster, there is a lot of redundancy as it currently stands. Shooting guard in particular is full of talented individuals who won’t be happy with sitting on the bench. Marcus Thornton is the name that makes the least sense on the this roster given his age and ability. I think he’s gone before December. And with Vitor Faverani making the news for the wrong reasons, he too could find himself looking for a new job before long. When there isn’t any other news, getting arrested for drunk driving is not a smart move for a player on the fringe of the team.

To Arsenal, there isn’t much in the news this morning other than that Theo Walcott’s return to training is scheduled for the end of the month. As I’ll say in a post in the near future about Walcott, I think he has a key role to play in the coming season, and getting him on the field as soon as possible will be vital for Arsenal’s success. And there is also the confirmation from Arsene Wenger that Manchester United have officially lodged a bid for Thomas Vermaelen, but that’s hardly news at this point. I’m ready for transfer rumors to stop so that the talk can be about the play on the field again. Is it Sunday yet?

And yesterday brought about the retirement of Howard Webb, the high profile Premier League referee who was in charge of the 2010 World Cup Final. He is a tremendous referee and his authority on the field will be missed. I was trying to think about Arsenal matches he had done recently, but none came to mind. I picture him doing Manchester United matches. But apparently after United, Arsenal has done the second best of any team with him in charge. I guess we’ll miss him in more ways than one.

Lastly, I have formed a Fantasy Premier League league for all to join. I’m not a big fan of fantasy sports in general, but the Premier League does it excellently – for all who don’t know, the league’s official website hosts the game which features a FA Cup style cup among all the millions of participants in the second half of the year – and it’s a wonderful way to keep up with players across the entire league. The league is under this blog’s name on fantasy.premierleague.com. Click join private league – the passcode to join is 1154525-274716. I’ll be trying to get as many people as I can to play, so please join even if you’re only slightly interested. Tell your friends as well.

That’s all for now. Have a great day and thanks for reading.


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Who Should Be Arsenal’s Next Captain?

With the exit rumors of current club captain Thomas Vermaelen heating up by the day, and with a mysterious injury keeping him from training, it seems inevitable that Arsenal will be looking for a new skipper soon. It’s entirely understandable that Vermaelen wants out (I wrote about that a little ways back here), but it’s also understandable that Arsene Wenger wants to keep him around as cover until a replacement comes in. The situation is not ideal.

I get that it’s been a bit of an embarrasment to hold the captaincy while on the bench, but Vermaelen owes the club one last duty as captain of the famous club. He needs to be at training right now so that he can be there as cover for Per Metesacker who has still yet to return from his post-World Cup holiday. There hasn’t been much said about how serious Vermaelen’s injury is, but as the club captain, he should at least be around the club right now, either on the pitch or as a spokesman. His absence when he is still needed signals the need for his removal from the captaincy.

However, I feel it would be unfair to strip him of his captaincy while he still is an Arsenal player, as up until this summer, he handled the ignominious demotion extraordinarily well over the last eighteen months. He could have spoken out against Wenger publicly, he could have demanded a transfer, and he could have thrown the dressing room into shambles. But instead, he put his club above himself, and said and did all of the right things while he was on the bench. It could not have been easy. So were Arsenal to hand the captaincy to someone else while Vermaelen still was on the roster, it would be an unnecessary slap in the face to the Belgian. And Arsenal is too classy for that.

At this point, the only solution is to wait out Vermaelen’s exit before naming a new captain. There might be a game or two when Mikel Arteta will have to lead out the side before he officially leaves, and there might even be a final appearance by Vermaelen himself should he regain his fitness, but it’s the right course of action. By the end of August, the Belgian will be gone, and Arsenal will be able to turn the page.

That then begs the question of who the next Arsenal captain should be. In my mind, there are three obvious candidates and a handful of other players who could be surprise picks to wear the band. But this is not a choice to be made lightly, as the club will have seen its last three captains leave the club in recent years on less than ideal terms. In my opinion, Wenger needs to pick a player who can hold the captaincy for years to come.

For me, that should rule out 32 year old Mikel Arteta from the running. However, due to his current status as vice-captain, he would seem in many ways to be the most logical choice. Arteta is the prototypical Wenger player – a pass-first midfielder converted to a deeper role – and is clearly a favorite of the boss. But given his age and Arsenal’s desire to replace him with a younger, more natural defensive midfielder, Arteta might find himself in a similar situation to Vermaelen in a year’s time. I don’t think anybody wants a repeat of that. So the only way I would give Arteta the captaincy is if Wenger thinks his obvious choice is eyeing a younger player for the job but doesn’t think that player is quite ready for the responsibility.

The next option would be Per Mertesacker, the current number three as captain. The big German defender has been Wenger’s deputy in the dressing room since his arrival, a player who goes around to collect any fines. Were he not held in high esteem by his teammates, that duty would be impossible. He also holds authority on the pitch as a vocal presence in the back. And when things go south, Mertesacker has his head in the right place – think back to when he chastised Mesut Özil for not acknowledging the traveling fans at Manchester City after the painful 6-3 loss. Few have the respect necessary to be able to do that. Seemingly as Arsenal’s first choice center back for years to come, the big German would be a great choice as captain. His vocal leadership style would harken back to the older Arsenal captains, and everyone would be better for it.

The third, more complicated option would be to give the band to Aaron Ramsey. While he is only 23 years old, he has already been captain of the Welsh national team for a short period, and he clearly has the leadership abilities necessary to do the job. Ramsey is indisputably Arsenal’s most indispensable player at the moment, having grown tremendously as a player in the last year. Handing him the captaincy would be a gesture to acknowledge that importance, and it would be something that might keep him from wanting to leave the club anytime soon.

While he wouldn’t be the vocal leader that Mertesacker would be, Ramsey could be of the Cesc Fabregas mold as captain, a role he’d surely grow into with time. Having given him the band in preseason, Wenger has realized the Welshman’s importance to the club, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him leading the team out permanently. And I must say, his new beard makes him look regal enough for the job. The only hesitancy is that Ramsey struggled with the burden when he took over the job for Wales, but he was much younger then, and had to deal with the death of his coach Gary Speed at the time. It was a big ask for Ramsey at the time, and while he handled everything admirably, it clearly weighed on him on the field.

Beyond those three, there are a couple of other decent options. While I don’t think Wenger will choose Tomas Rosicky, I think it would be a terrific choice, if only for the short term. Rosicky is Arsenal, and he does everything right on the field. He is a terrific example for all the young players at the club, and giving him the captaincy would be the ultimate sign of respect for the veteran Czech midfielder. He probably doesn’t play often enough to merit the job, but nonetheless, he’d be a great choice. The other option is Jack Wilshere. For years now, he has been mooted as a future Arsenal captain. But his immaturity off the pitch and recent struggles on it suggest he is not ready for the job. If Wenger wants Wilshere to be captain, that’s where I think he should go with Arteta for now, so that he can give the young Englishman some more time to mature. Laurent Koscielny, Santi Cazorla, Mathieu Flamini and even Mesut Özil could all be options as well.

When Vermaelen’s exit is confirmed, Wenger will have a tough choice to make. But he has a lot of solid options on a team that has found a nice mix of personalities in the dressing room. Personally, I would like to see Mertesacker or Ramsey take over the captaincy. If I had to guess, I would think Wenger will go with Mertesacker, but you never know. And as far as vice-captain, it would be awfully harsh to take that away from Arteta should he not be selected for the bigger role.

Who would you like to see as Arsenal’s next captain? Please comment below


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A Look at the Other Top EPL Clubs’ Summers

With the new look Red Sox on an off day, I tuned in to watch the Manchester United-Liverpool game in the International Champions Cup Final last night. It gave me a nice opportunity to catch up on those two teams’ progress this summer. So I thought I would take this opportunity to discuss the summers of Arsenal’s Premier League rivals, analyzing the impact of the arrivals and departures at the other major clubs.

But before I get to that, I want to say something about the International Champions Cup. The name would suggest something other than a meaningless preseason tournament, but that’s what the highly publicized competition is. In general, I think it’s better for clubs to play against other European teams rather than MLS teams in the middle of their season. And I understand wanting to bring the game to the U.S. if the matches will attract large crowds and much media attention. So the idea is a good one. But I think it’s silly that Fox, ESPN and NBC have spent so much energy billing this tournament as a big deal. It’s not. Preseason is about finding form and building fitness, and nothing more. There should be no fireworks before the match, no great buildup and last night’s match certainly should not be referred to as a “Final.”

On that note, Fox’s soccer coverage continues to be horrendous. With the network taking over from ESPN in the next World Cup cycle, it’s worrying that the studio hosts continue to mispronounce names like Steven Gerrard. There is no such thing as Americanizing names. If refusing to learn simple pronunciations is their way of trying to get Americans interested, I want no part of it. If Fox doesn’t get their act together before 2018, a lot of people like me might be switching to brushing up on Spanish before the next World Cup.

I’ll start my analysis with the champions, Manchester City. It’s been a relatively quiet summer for Manuel Pellegrini’s side, as they have focused on adding a bit of depth to the squad rather than adding star power. Whether it was the impact of Financial Fair Play or not, City have been a lot more careful with their spending, taking advantage of free transfers (Bacary Sagna came free) and loans (Frank Lampard joins before his time with New York City FC). However, despite the lack of excessive spending, City will be pleased with their summer because of who stayed. Keeping Yaya Toure in town was vital. Fernando looks to be a decent signing in the midfield, but for the most part, expect a similar City side to last year. And they will be equally devastating even without any high profile additions.

Next comes Liverpool, whose summer has seen a lot of quality signings but far more significantly, the departure of Luis Suarez. John Henry’s club has improved their depth tremendously with new summer arrivals, but while all of their signings have talent, none will come close to matching the production of Suarez. Adam Lallana is the best signing of the bunch, but he can’t win matches on his own like the Uruguayan could. I think the money spent on Rickie Lambert was a waste, as I feel he’ll struggle to make an impact at Anfield alongside Daniel Sturridge. And while I like Dejan Lovren at center back, he is not a huge improvement on what was there previously. It’s notable that none of the signings came from major clubs. And as a result, I think the signings were ones who will make Liverpool compete for the top-four rather than for the title itself. They’ll need Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson to take massive strides forward should they make another run at the title.

Chelsea on the other hand have made a number of signings that can sway the title race. Cesc Fabregas, Felipe Luis and Diego Costa are all world class players who instantly make Jose Mourinho’s squad better. Costa and Luis in particular will help Chelsea become a more complete side, relying less on the midfield than they did last season. The one area I think they’ll need to strengthen in the last month of the window is at center back, where they are a little thin having let David Luiz go. The money from his sale though helped finance everything else, so I think it was a smart bit of business. In general, Chelsea have addressed their needs appropriately this summer, bringing in superstars to complement an already strong team. They are my title favorite at this point.

Lastly, Manchester United have had an interesting summer on the transfer market. While I’m sure they’ll have a series of departures that could finance more arrivals in the coming weeks once Louis van Gaal wields his axe, they have spent a lot of money on relatively little in my opinion. Ander Herrera is not a world class midfielder right now, and he isn’t much of an improvement from United’s other options in the middle. And while Luke Shaw will be great in a few years, I feel he’s overrated at the moment. United has the talent to compete, but it will be up to van Gaal to bring out the best in players that David Moyes overlooked. Their signings this summer will be the players misused a year ago. I think they’ll be much improved, but unless they add another star this month, I don’t see them challenging for the title.

If I had to rank the summers of all of these clubs plus Arsenal, I’d say the order from best to worst is Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and then Liverpool. A lot can still happen in the next month, but with preseason coming to a close, the big clubs like these will be looking to switch their focus away from the market towards the play on the field. I’ll have more coverage on the EPL as a whole in the buildup to the new season, so check back for that. Thanks for reading.

Who do you think has had the best summer in the EPL? Please comment below.


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Emirates Cup Wrap-Up, Clay Buchholz and Paul George

As I previously mentioned, I wasn’t able to watch the Arsenal-Monaco game yesterday morning. I monitored the game via Twitter and tried to find extended highlights, so I have a pretty good sense of what happened, but there isn’t all that much from the match itself that I can fairly analyze. Overall, it’s disappointing to miss out on winning the Emirates Cup on home turf yet again, but at the end of the day, the results aren’t what matter.

What I gleaned from the stuff I’ve watched and read was that a few of the Arsenal players looked to be a bit behind on their fitness. Olivier Giroud in particular looked a long way off from being ready for the new season. It’s entirely understandable given the World Cup and his late arrival at preseason, but it’s now looking like it may take at least until the end of the month for Arsenal’s main striker to be ready for extended game action.

However, any fears about Giroud’s absence were surely lessened on Saturday when Yaya Sanogo scored four goals against Benfica. It also looks like Arsene Wenger is quite comfortable playing Alexis Sanchez through the middle, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sanchez start up front against Manchester City next weekend in the FA Community Shield. And even Chuba Akpom could be a decent option up top if need be, as he once again showed himself quite well against Monaco yesterday in a substitute appearance.

With the German contingent still yet to return to training, Wenger’s options in certain areas will be limited when he selects his team next weekend. A trophy is on the line though, so he can’t run out an entirely inexperienced and experimental side. At this point, I think I would like to see a lineup of Wojciech Szczesny, Kieran Gibbs, Laurent Koscielny, Calum Chambers, Mathieu Debuchy, Mathieu Debuchy, Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Santi Cazorla, Alexis Sanchez and Yaya Sanogo take the field at Wembley on Sunday. Joel Campbell might also be in line for a start.

Other than fitness issues and an obvious penalty that wasn’t given late on, my only issue with the game was Aaron Ramsey’s inclusion in the starting lineup for the second day in a row. Ramsey is unquestionably Arsenal’s most important player at this point. And he picked up an unfortunate injury last winter due to overuse. So why Wenger thinks it’s a good idea to play Ramsey two days in a row in preseason is beyond me. Maybe it would have made sense to play him another half today to get him some more game action in the abbreviated summer, but he was on the pitch long after halftime. This wasn’t Wenger’s smartest move in my opinion.

Switching to baseball, watching the Red Sox on Sunday Night Baseball last night felt odd given the events of the last week in Boston baseball. This is certainly not a team built for primetime at the moment. The fact that Clay Buchholz is the de facto ace of the staff for the rest of the year is a scary thought for all those interested in fast-paced, low-scoring baseball. A Buchholz with no confidence against the Yankees in a nationally televised game is a recipe for a four and a half hour marathon. Who doesn’t love those games especially when the teams are bad?

But the bigger issue is Buchholz on the mound these days. Something needs to happen to get him in a mental place where he can pitch with confidence again, and I’m not sure getting hammered every fifth day is going to do the job. It’s strange to think about how he was thought about a year ago at this point, when he was the pitcher who was going to take the Red Sox to the World Series upon his return from injury. But now that he’s finally healthy, he’s been terrible all year. Maybe a trip back to the DL for shoulder tightness will allow him to take a break in order to get right mentally. It’s not like the Red Sox would lose anything with him not on the mound.

And on another note, while I think it’s a shame Paul George got hurt playing for his country in summer basketball, that injury should not mean the NBA needs to ban its players from participating in international tournaments. Injuries like the one he suffered can happen anywhere, anytime. Even if players aren’t competing officially, they’ll be out doing workouts on their own, playing pick-up basketball as well. And leg injuries are just as likely to happen then. So there is no need for overreaction. Fortunately for all of us who love international basketball, Adam Silver is a very reasonable man, and I think he’ll see this issue clearly.