HE SAID WHAT?
“When he comes up to me and says, ‘Tell me what I’m doing wrong’ — I just open my mouth and stare at him.”
– Former Virginia Tech forward Patrick Nyarko on the give-and-take dialog between him and Chicago Fire teammate Brian McBride, who is 13 years older. (Chicago Tribune)
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Conor Casey, Colorado Rapids
Denver’s hometown hero is finally hitting his stride. After spending the first part of the decade bouncing around Germany and the fringes of the U.S. national team, Casey returned home in 2007. An ACL injury kept him out of the first nine games last season, but Casey returned to score 11 goals in the last 21 contests of the year. He’s picked up this season where he left off, scoring an MLS-leading four goals in the last two matches. His step-over finish to beat Columbus GK Will Hesmer in the 82nd minute last weekend showed both cool composure and secured a crucial tie on the road for the surging Rapids.
STORY LINES
1. DON’T SEE RED OVER RED CARDS » After a weekend in which there was one red card handed out for every two goals scored, it’s all too easy to start harping on about the increasingly dangerous and reckless physicality in MLS. But it’s just one weekend — even the four red cards handed out the week before aren’t enough cause for alarm. While each case should be reviewed individually, it could actually be the case that the referees did an appropriate job of handling players that were clearly out of control — such as New York defender Carlos Johnson’s tackle of Houston’s Geoff Cameron or L.A. defender Gregg Berhalter’s last ditch yank of Alecko Eskandarian’s jersey. The resulting suspensions also should have a significant impact on this weekend’s contests — which is exactly what is supposed to happen.
2. IT WON’T BE A BECKHAM BOONDOGGLE » Anticipation is growing for Sports Illustrated senior writer Grant Wahl’s forthcoming book, “The Beckham Experiment,” which is set for release on the eve of David Beckham’s first game back with Los Angeles in July since departing for AC Milan last winter. Wahl is no member of the paparazzi — he was further inside the English midfielder’s American adventure than anyone, and expectations are that Wahl will expose a side of Beckham’s first two seasons with the Galaxy that few have known about. Try this tidbit: “The man who captained England for five years never called one team meeting during L.A.’s nosedive last season.” Ouch.
3. TOP TEAMS AT THE BOTTOM » Last year’s two MLS Cup finalists, Columbus and New York, and the league champion from the two years prior, Houston, have a combined record of 0-6-7 after four weeks. With each team battling a different set of meaty problems — Crew (injuries, attendance), Dynamo (home field conditions, no playmaker), New York (endless roster tinkering) — the question isn’t if, but how many of these teams fall short of the MLS playoffs this fall.
Maryland native Alston sidelined for first trip to D.C.
Kevin Alston and Rodney Wallace are standouts among a group of Major League Soccer rookies that have been a major factor in the first weeks of the 2009 MLS season. They’ve also been friends and teammates for more than a decade, growing up and playing youth soccer together in Montgomery County.
Alston, nursing a hamstring injury, will miss his first chance on Friday to return home and represent the New England Revolution against D.C. United, but he and Wallace, both just 20 years old, are on their way to headlining the latest generation of young, American-bred and Washington-area raised soccer players to grow up in the shadow of MLS.
“I’ve seen them be successful at every level that they’ve played,” said Arnold Tarzy, who coached Alston and Wallace on the Potomac Cougars. “Obviously, I’m pretty proud to see them get drafted in the first round and of their immediate impact. But I’m more proud with the way that they’re personally handling it.”
They couldn’t have been much closer to MLS, in fact, considering Freddy Adu, only a year older, also played for Potomac before turning pro in 2004.
“I think just growing up at that age, we knew Freddy was doing his thing but we never really thought about it,” said Alston, also a close friend of Fro Adu, Freddy’s brother and a junior at George Mason. “We were just always having fun, always on a good team.”
Alston, a gifted athlete, eventually joined the Under-17 U.S. national team residency program in Bradenton, Fla., and then played three seasons at Indiana while Wallace stayed local, winning a national title with Maryland in December. In January, Wallace was drafted sixth overall by D.C. United, four spots ahead of Alston, picked 10th by the Revolution.
“I kind of figured that they would take Rodney because he’s more of a left-sided player,” said Alston of D.C. “I knew that’s what they were looking for. I thought that there was a slight chance, but it’s not like I got my hopes up.”
“They started at different ends of the spectrum and met in the middle,” said Churchill High athletic director Dave Kelley, who also coached Alston and Wallace as teenagers. “Rodney’s grown into his body, and in his two years at Maryland, he’s really become a man. He always had that technical ability. Kevin, being the environments he’s been in over the last several years, has really developed some very good technique.”
