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SBI Live Q&A

Good afternoon everybody. It's time for another SBI Live Q&A.

With the MLS labor battle coming to a boil, and European soccer at its peak, there is plenty to discuss today before the final two Champions League pre-quarterfinals are decided between Barcelona and Stuttgart, and Bordeaux and Olympiakos.

I have not forgotten about the regular Q&A, I still have questions to answer from the February installment, but I felt like today was a good day to have a live Q&A.

Submit your questions and I will try to answer as many of them as possible. We've got a faster connection today so hopefully we'll be able to get to more questions today than the inaugural SBI Live Q&A.

Let's get started (at 12:30pm):

Comments

  1. I have yet to see anyone explain to me how free agency under a hard salary cap can hurt the league or clubs financially speaking. Can you explain this to me?

    Also, I have lost respect for MLS for keeping Donovan on the lead up to the World Cup when everyone knows he is the best player the US has ever had and we are in a World Cup year. Yes, Donovan was foolish to sign the contract. And, if you just erase all the doomsday scenarios of Donovan getting hurt in England (because he could certainly get hurt here or in CCL, too), there is no denying he belongs and is better off at a club like Everton than LA. MLS is trying to look relevant but just looks classless, like they don’t care about US Soccer, the World Cup, or the best player the US has ever had.

    Your opinion?

    Reply
  2. How would you assess the Chicago Fire from last year to this year? They lost a lot, but gained a lot. Better or worse in 2010?

    Reply
  3. Pragmatic = try to win. When short on talent and depth, you don’t worry about style, you park it and counter. Which is what we do, and what we will do in the WC.

    What it will take to change that? Mo’ better players. We’re better than ten years ago, better than ten years before that: it will happen! (as long as we don’t lose 1st division soccer in the US).

    Reply
  4. little bit of both. more crappy foreign refs though. they don’t want the scrappy Americans winning against the stylish Europeans

    Reply
  5. Ives: is it just me, or does Don Garber seem somewhat unconcerned by the possibility of a player’s strike? Are the rumors true that he abducted John O’Brien and had him secretly cloned by Serbian doctors (who then produced enough copies to stock every team in the league with 20 O’Briens during the duration of a strike)?

    Reply
  6. What do you think the deal is with Freddy Adu? How does he go from scoring two goals in consecutive games, and then he is benched? But Eddie Johnson who has only scored one goal (from an Adu assist) gets continual time with Aris. Is it because of Adu’s size?

    Reply
  7. What will it take for the USMNT to change it’s style of play? Specifically, the USMNT plays the same predictable style that will not surprise anyone. We are low on talent, depth, and now style.

    Can Bob ever be pragmatic and change things around at the WC?

    Reply
  8. What do you make of the fact that Bradley often lines up the national team with Donovan on the left and Dempsey on the right? I mean – why those sides? Donovan is the better crosser of the ball, and Dempsey is better cutting inside and shooting. Dempsey almost always plays on the left for Fulham and says that he likes it there. Assuming these are our two wingers, isn’t putting Dempsey on the left and Donovan on the right a no-brainer?

    Reply
  9. Many great teams such as Spain and The Netherlands haven’t won a World Cup, but are still praised as amazing teams. How far will the USA have to come to gain that kind of respect?

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  10. Which is it Ives? Concerning the USMNT abundant yellow and red cards.

    Do Americans play reckless football?

    Or.

    Do the refs have it out for us?

    Or.

    Little bit of both?

    Reply
  11. What youth players do you see becoming a major part of the NT by 2014?
    Who is the heir to US goalie greatness after Guzan?

    Reply
  12. Do you honestly feel that the players, owners, et all will let things reach the point of a strike? I understand both sides of the coin with regards to what the sides want, however, the league isn’t on the level yet where it can have a strike and come out of it relatively unscathed…is MLS in a spot of trouble? Is it time to rethink some/all of the single entity model?

    Reply
  13. Re: potential MLS player’s strike. Do you have any sense of the Red Bull ownership’s position in this mess? Seems hard to believe they would allow a strike to happen with things finally set to turn around with the new stadium. Also, free-agency by its nature would favor the more mass-market clubs,no? If there is a strike, do they have any plan of fielding a team of scabs?

    Reply
  14. Nice Idea with the live Q and A Ives. Do you ever see guys like Kenny Cooper, Chris Rolfe, Bobby Convey ever being major parts of the USA national team.

    Reply
  15. If you had a young son, which player would you want him to emulate, in terms of the total package of how he plays the game and how he conducts himself on and off the pitch?

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  16. Some NYRB questions:

    With the additions of Robinson and Tchani, what’s the future look like for Stammler?

    Also, where are Kandji and Albright in terms of their progress?

    Thanks, Ives.
    Great work as always.

    Reply
  17. Hypothetically, given the mass amounts of injury problems, and the loss of one of the world’s best players (C-Ron, and the back line was a mish mash of hilarity for several key matches), if Manchester United goes on to win both the EPL and the Champions League this year, would you confidently and comfortably say that Sir Alex Ferguson is the greatest manager of the entire modern football era? Consider his entire resume, as well, if you like.
    Love the Live Q&A !

    Reply

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