MLS Five-a-side:
The skinny on five things that matter this week in Major League Soccer:
Blanco rested, ready: Cuauhtemoc Blanco held up well last year amid a hectic schedule at a time when the Fire needed him to be tip-top. But can the Mexican playmaker do it over an entire summer, running the gamut of extensive travel across North America, dealing with the taxing heat, etc.?
Manager Denis Hamlett believes Blanco can and will. In fact, he thinks Blanco is better equipped to deal with it this year, even a year older.
Last year the fiery Fire midfielder moved into Toyota Park following an extensive Mexican season, with only a short break. Having watched his prized Designated Player closely in the preseason, the new Fire manager is convinced that Blanco, 35, is physically prepared.
"Now we get him with a good offseason, after he's been able to rest, to really get away from soccer for a while," Hamlett said this week from Mississippi, where the team trained and played for the week. "That's really going to help us in the long haul. So, we're not concerned over that at all."
Training table woes: In Ruud Gullit's ongoing reclamation project in Los Angeles, Carlos Ruiz and Landon Donovan have each missed time in the preseason. Injury concerns prevented Donovan from getting any minutes when the team went to Hawaii, and Ruiz missed the side's only preseason match against an MLS club, last week's scoreless draw in Dallas.
Thus, the team's trio of superstars, who will be crucial to the club's 2008 efforts, have yet to play together.
The other Home Depot center bunch has some concerns, too. Fullback Alex Zotinca could miss the season with a torn ACL. Brad Guzan, the 2008 Goalkeeper of the Year, has returned to training but might not be ready for opening day, which isn't good for Preki's side.
In Dallas, Duilio Davino is clearly the key to defensive improvement this year. Manager Steve Morrow has reshaped the team formation, moving to three in the back, with Davino the orchestrator behind two markers.
But the veteran Mexican international hasn't played a match in almost three weeks, and a deep knee bruise could keep him from playing in the club's final tuneup, Saturday against Brazil's Atletico Paranaense. Important midfielder Juan Toja has also missed time lately, although he could try to play Saturday.
Early season injuries were somewhat marginalized in past year's because of a forgiving playoff setup. But as the league grows, the margin for error shrinks, and a slow start could be more damaging. Two years ago, 67 percent of the teams still made the playoffs. This year the total will be 57 percent. With Seattle coming in next year, that total will fall to just over half at 53 percent.
Experimenting in San Jose: Frank Yallop's strategy of building his team from the back seems spot-on, as the newly reborn Earthquakes have already claimed hardware. They won the Carolina Challenge Cup title this week (even though the tournament has one day remaining). As expected, the center back pairing of Nick Garcia and Ryan Cochrane looks solid.
Here's Yallop's truly interesting move: U.S. international Ramiro Corrales, a fullback by trade, is being examined as a central midfielder. Corrales partnered with former Red Bulls sparkplug Joe Vide in the middle in a 2-1 win this week against the host Charleston Battery. The early results look promising for Corrales.
The other interesting part of that equation: Yallop deployed Ned Grabavoy wide left in the four-man midfield. Grabavoy has long been a staple in center midfield, where he was stationed in 2007 for Sigi Schmid in Columbus. Reports were positive on Grabavoy's night on the left against the Battery. But a permanent spot out there will depend on how he keeps up defensively once fellows like David Beckham, Brian Mullan and Dane Richards line up against him on the other side.
The tournament wraps up Saturday as San Jose meets the New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC meets the Battery.
MLS won't be big in Warsaw: Don't expect much MLS representation on Bob Bradley's newest national team roster when it comes out sometime this weekend. The Americans play Poland on in a Wednesday friendly in Warsaw.
Bradley is expected to call up mostly European-based players. U.S. Soccer officials aren't commenting, but it's safe to assume there will be only a small handful of MLS players. Guesses: The U.S. can put together a strong defense with Euro-based talent. But Bradley's roster of potential European midfield selections may be thinner. So don't be surprised if Landon Donovan, Justin Mapp or Ricardo Clark make the trip across the Atlantic.
Speaking Latin: New international players are still apparently en route, according to deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis. While speaking to a group of reporters earlier this week he noted that 21 new internationals have joined MLS since last season. He said that total includes "a couple we're in discussions with that haven't yet been announced, so it will actually go above 21 shortly."
Where are they from? Eighteen are from Latin America, including seven from Argentina, four from Brazil and four from Colombia, according to the top lieutenant for commissioner Don Garber.
"So clearly the focus continues to be south as we look for international talent," Gazidis said.
Gazidis also talked about how the "cycle" works in international acquisition, noting that at this time last year only about a third of the 2007 imports were actually in place. "We're still early for the cycle of imports. At this time last year for example we'd signed only about a third of our international players that ended up coming in during the course of 2007," he said.
Steve Davis is a freelance writer who has covered Major League Soccer since its inception. Steve can be reached at BigTexSoccer@yahoo.com. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
