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Morning Ticker: Gerrard to stay with Liverpool, Ralston to retire and more

Gerrard

By TRAVIS CLARK

After the addition of Joe Cole yesterday, Liverpool fans have another reason to celebrate this morning.

Talisman and captain Steven Gerrard indicated Tuesday that he wants to stay at Anfield, after speculation about his future arose in the past few weeks. Gerrard was linked with a move to Real Madrid, and had yet to speak about his future at the club.

The 30-year-old joined Liverpool for training just this week, getting extra time off to rest after competing with England at the World Cup. He met with new manager Roy Hodgson to discuss his future and looks certain to stay with his hometown club.

Here are a few other stories for Tuesday:

RALSTON TO RETIRE

The whirlwind that is Steve Ralston's 2010 looks set to finally end. The MLS assist leader started this year signing with hometown club A.C. St. Louis in the USSF Division 2 league, before the club's financial woes forced him into a return to New England. Ralston then dislocated his elbow in a friendly against Benfica on June 13, sidelining him again — he had tore his ACL last year.

As a result, Ralston has indicated that he is going to announce his retirement tonight, with New England set to continue its SuperLiga campaign against Morelia at Gilette Stadium.

ZIZZO SIGNS WITH MLS

U.S. International Sal Zizzo is set to return home. The 23-year-old has signed a deal with MLS, and will be allocated via a weighted lottery.

The former U.S. U-20 and U-23 star excelled at the 2007 U-20 World Cup, before moving to Hannover 96 in Germany. He's recently returned to full health after tearing his ACL last October, and will look to get his career back on track in the United States.

SHORE TAKES OVER IN MIAMI

Former Chicago Fire assistant coach Daryl Shore was named the coach of USSF Division 2 side Miami FC earlier this week. Shore replaces Victor Pastora, who had led Miami to a 2-6-9 in the second division, good for fifth place in the NASL Conference. It wasn't good enough for the front office, particularly after the Blues had beefed up with the additions of Christian Gomez and Abe Thompson prior to the season's start.

Pastora had been with the club since 2006, assuming head coaching duties prior to the start of the 2010 season.

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What do you think of the news of Gerrard? Sad to see Ralston go? Who will land Zizzo? Can Miami turn their season around under Shore?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. The fact that Gerrard is staying on a team that will see no Champions League football for the entire season and possibly next year shows how much of a player’s coach Hogdson is. The English FA lost big time when he signed at Anfield. He could do wonders with the team chemistry youngsters of the England National Team. Instead they get stuck with pizza parties.

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  2. Interesting post. At this point Adu needs to think about saving his European “career” such as it is, never mind being the “MAN” for the USMNT.

    The difference between Adu and the guys you mentioned is….well it’s stupid to even mention him in the same sentence with them. He would not make the rosters of any othe teams you mentioned (not even Ghana)

    I’ve watched him since his DC years and always felt he was good for a couple of highlight moves a game but he never struck me as particularly dangerous, not like Villa, Suarez or Torres (when healthy).

    It’s time for the USMNT to move on. The fans need someone new to build up to heights of unrealistic expectations so they can drag him down later ( once they actually see him play for a while). I nominate Stuart Holden, the next Beckham.

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  3. Check Aris’ 2010-11 roster on Google.

    Adu isn’t on it and it looks like our old friend Carlos Ruiz{!!} took his spot.

    It shows EJ going back to Fulham but there deosn’t seem to be any mention of what happened to Adu.

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  4. Zizzo at 23 is veteran age in the Bundesliga. He’s not “young ” to them.

    Thomas Mueller is 20, Ozil is 21. If you’re not a first team regular by the time you’re 19-20 the signs are ominous.

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  5. Ives how about a comment on this from the Daily Mirror —–

    The English FA, which held talks last week with Coach Fabio Capello in the wake of England’s disappointing World Cup showing, announced its rebuilding plan includes calling up a new generation of young England stars, order them to play like Spain, and groom a group of top ex-players into coaching as part of the FA’s post World Cup blueprint.

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  6. True, but the College Players can opt to play elsewhere as free agents…and providing they qualify under the ‘foreign player rule’ in other countries…which is the real ‘anti-trust’ issue in the end.

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  7. Agree wholeheartily, Zizzo can play. With a little ‘home-cookin’, he could be in Brazil in 2014. His ability to work the sidelines in the U20 world cup a few years ago was eye-opening. For a team that needs wide play, he could fill the gap for the NATS…(Now don’t go getting all excited about the lack of playing time, etc. I did say “could”, not ‘should” nor “will”)

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  8. 1. MLS allocates b/c these players are a real bargain. They aren’t international, they’re usually cheap, sometimes cap-exempt.

    2. You use a lottery (and then start-over for a team when you’ve claimed a player) b/c there was a abuse in the past. Specific example: Colorado claimed Gus Kartes (who was a local Florida boy) only to extort a draft pick. I get the argument about “any tool to improve” but the reality is that at this stage of professional soccer, it makes sense for (a) players to go to teams that want them (versus want to extort a draft pick or international slot) and (b) talented US youth with potential (who are often coming here after having failed to get traction overseas–see the Crew’s Rogers as just one example) need to be given the best opportunity to succeed, we still aren’t so awash in talent in this country that we can go “sure Adu/Szetela/Rogers/Altidore–we don’t care if you ruin your career, we’ve got a lot more where you came from” and (c) last time I checked, most MLS clubs are still trying to get a lot more visibility in the community and having more local guys on the roster is a plus. I always used to take pride that DCU at one point had a couple of guys who learned the game in youth clubs I lived in (BRYC and Springfield) and there were other guys who either played in DC area youth leagues (Adu) or local colleges (U.Va) on the roster at the same time. Instead of a roster of just mercenaries, it made DCU feel to me like it really, honestly, had some roots in the DC area. Maybe in 10 years that won’t matter. But now it does.

    I’d like to see Zizzo go to a system that fits him and a club where he’ll get some PT. Maybe he can be another Rogers.

    3. Adu isn’t a “failure.” But here’s the reality: at his present course, he won’t be on the USNT for 2014.

    Look at the teams who made the quarterfinals in the WC. Here’s something that stands out with each of those teams: they either had one player who was a golden boot/ball candidate (Mueller, Forlan, Sneijder, Villa, Klose) or a player you would not have been shocked to see as winning one of those awards in a typical year (Messi, Tavez, Kaka, Fabbiano) except for Paraguay and Ghana (who had Gyan who got some consideration for golden ball). My point about this is: yeah, we need to get more depth, improve team speed, get sharper on defense (no early goals) and I can see us doing all that. But ultimately, teams in the quarters and beyond, have at least one player who is capable of and is expected to be a guy who can seize the game by the scruff of the neck, who can score reliably even against the best teams. Love Donovan and Dempsey but would anyone expect either of those two (especially if you eliminate PKs) to score 4-5 goals from free kicks and the run of play in the WC? Or be voted as one of the top 2-3 players at the WC? So Adu’s continual failure to earn PT, to build his game, to grow, let alone to show he can be counted on as either a goal scorer or a-mid in even a modest Euro league, has to be regarded as a major disappointment.

    Reply
  9. Andy,

    No worries. Best guess is that Adu’s agent is trying to shop him to another Greek club. Adu can’t be shopped outside the league as it will likely raise a ton of red flags. This is his last chance.

    Adu needs to wake up and smell the roses. At the U20s, he was the best player at the tournament, but that hasn’t translated to club success. He’s been very unprofessional everywhere he’s gone. Good luck to him, but if he doesn’t change his attitude, he has zero chance of success.

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  10. Andy,

    The issue with Aris is not $$$. Adu’s agent has “leaked” this to press as PR cover. Benfica have no incentive to lower the loan amount as it has been signed by Aris. Benfica knows Adu can’t help them and with their wages covered why in the world would they alter the deal now. Cuper DOES NOT want Adu. Why? After a couple of borderline off the field issues, Adu screwed up one too many times. He was extremely late to a team flight during the playoffs. Cuper almost threw him off the team then. He’s not wanted.

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  11. This issue with Aris is the money…they are hoping to work a deal out with Benefica to lower their responsibility and free up funds…

    The quotes from Aris club personnel is very odd considering Adu did play a significant amount last season…you can’t from starting in playoff matches to not beind wanted under the same loan circumstance in a matter of 2 months…just makes no sense unless it involves money.

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  12. Andy, I’m glad someone answered that with common sense. It’s ridiculous that people feel the need to put down Adu. I guess they think it makes them look cool. The fact is that, at the age of 20 mind you, Adu was a significant player on Aris’ team in the second half of the year last season and will be even more integral this year.

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  13. The fact that Gerrard is staying on a team that will see no Champions League football for the entire season and possibly next year shows how much of a player’s coach Hogdson is. The English FA lost big time when he signed at Anfield. He could do wonders with the team chemistry youngsters of the England National Team. Instead they get stuck with pizza parties.

    Reply
  14. Ralston to stay in MLS,…

    Retiring as a player, but joing Houston Dynamo as assistant head coach, replacing John Spencer who will soon be named Head Coach of Portland Timbers

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  15. I don’t agree with it but it’s because Zizzo has actually suited up for the US. A player like Jones wouldn’t be subject to a weighted draft until he is capped the US.

    I think the bigger problem is that younger Americans (usually college players) are subject to the draft but foreign imports can enter the MLS as free agents. This isn’t fair and doesn’t work in the soccer world.

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  16. I hope Zizzo lands on a team that needs him and will give him playing time assuming he truly is healthy and his skills haven’t eroded. Yet another talented American who moved to Germany to have their career nosedive. The attrition rate in that league has been pretty high over the years.

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  17. I never understand why Americans are forced into the weighted lottery upon entering MLS and foreign players are allowed to sign with the team of their choice. I means whats with the double standard? Nery Castillo goes to the Fire because they wanted him there. But Zizzo has to go into a freaking lottery and be chosen by whomever is at the top of the BS allocation order? You would think someone would sue over discrimination issues. What if Jermaine Jones decided to play in the US would he be forced into a lottery? He’s a US registered player just like Zizzo and others.

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  18. Or…he will enjoy significant time with Aris whom he is still on loan with all season and will prosper in Europa Leagues and Greek Leage after actually getting to play regular minutes and still only being 21 yrs old…

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  19. Sad but truthful statement is it isn’t always the best who make it, it’s the ones who don’t get injured. Zizzo has the talent but his injury rate is poor – glad he’s coming back!

    Based on the weighted lottery, who gets him?

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  20. I wish I could be excited about Sal Zizzo, but it’s tough to feel any excitement about a guy who has played 8 games over the past 3 years.

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  21. I am shocked that Zizzo was let go, injuries sure but he has talent…He was making the Hanover bench at some stages…surely in a league where youth is a priority you would have thought he would have been given another season.

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  22. What’s the over/under and the number of games that Cole or Gerrard or both miss due to injury this year? I’ll say, including FA and Carling Cup, 45.

    Reply

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