Major League Soccer: The Road Trip Less Traveled

The first road trip of the San Jose Earthquakes 2012 season is upon us and Nerdy Gales highlights the obstacles for MLS fans and players alike that must be overcome with travel to away games - frequently  in distant states, sometimes in distant lands, and often with the symptoms of jet lag.

The first road trip of the 2012 San Jose Earthquakes season takes them across the border to the northern land of maple syrup, Mounties and metric cleats for their game in Toronto - their second comes close on its heels the following Saturday to Seattle to face the Sounders.  The former trip is a 2253 mile (or 3626 km if you set out from Toronto) round trip up north across three time zones and requires a passport to cross The International Boundary, an English-French dictionary, and enough Canadian dollars to buy chip butties at BMO Field.

Growing up in Britain, I had never fully grasped the vast expanse that is the USA .  Apparently, I was not alone amongst my compatriots - a friend called one afternoon when he had a six-hour layover in Cincinnati and wondered if I might like to help him pass the time by sinking a few beers.  Ordinarily I would be more than happy to oblige, but my apartment was in Baltimore - 510 miles and an eight hour drive way; no airport bar is worth that trip.  I guess the distance between the two cities looks much smaller in the map at the back of the  in-flight magazine, especially when you’ve grown up in England - a mere 50.3 thousand square miles (which would be 32nd largest state after Louisiana) compared to the USA at 3.8 million sq miles.

 

Compared with England, and using the Premier League as my frame of reference, the largest distance between two teams lies between St. James’ Park to Stamford Bridge - 287 miles driving distance from Newcastle United’s Alan Pardew to Chelsea’s latest victim  [insert manager-of-the-month's name].  In fact, within the season, Newcastle United is the most traveled EPL team, with an annual total of 3093 miles.  Transfer these distances to MLS, and The Magpies travel less distance in their entire season than the San Jose Earthquakes do in a round trip to nine of their eighteen rivals.  At the other end of the EPL spectrum, centrally located Stoke City travel a paltry 1597 miles in a season, which would get the Quakes as far as LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City, but wouldn’t be far enough for them to find their way to BBVA Compass Stadium  in Houston.  If there's one benefit to the unbalanced 2012 schedule, it's the reduced burden of cross-US travel for fans and players of every team this season.

Clearly distances between teams are an order of magnitude larger in MLS than the EPL.  Just like Newcastle, San Jose lies on the periphery of its nation and the Earthquakes team has one of the largest total distances travelled throughout the season.  I was surprised to discover that the farthest distance between any two MLS teams is the 3163 miles the Quakes travel  when they visit the New England Revolution - that’s almost the same as from London, England to Portland, Maine.  Scanning the SportMapWorld.com MLS mileage chart, and making the assumption that five hours or approximately 350 miles to be the farthest distance a fan would consider driving, then only 40 of 342 (12%) possible match ups between the nineteen MLS teams fit my criteria - and three teams (Real Salt Lake, Sporting KC and the Colorado Rapids) have no drive-able rivals.  Supporters groups of the mid-Atlantic coast teams have most frequent access to away games with travel along I-95 between New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Boston.

At a certain point, the distances become large enough to warrant scouring the Internet for cheap flights to away games, and present two of the larger obstacles for the traveling MLS fan: expense and time (which, of course, is also money).   The road trips become expeditions, with a Quakes fan's journey from the east to west coast chewing up enough travel time and loss of time zones that it takes up an entire weekend, and maybe requiring a day off work for a Saturday game.  Despite these hurdles, there is evidence that in general road trips are becoming more common, and to the extent that the Independent Supporters Council (ISC) recently ratified a charter to create common standards for away fans in MLS.  The ISC has representatives from 16 of the 19 teams - including the Casbah of the Quakes - and aims to improve the experience for away travelers.

English football supporters' advocate Dave Boyle outlined the charter recently in The Guardian: “MLS has started to create standard practices and these can be improved further if the league communicates with supporter representatives from the ISC who can provide advice based on a wealth of shared travelling experience”.  He raised the interesting possibility that American supporters could have a larger influence over MLS than their EPL counterparts: with most MLS stadiums not filled to capacity the clubs have more incentive to fill seats, perhaps drawing on increasing numbers of away fans; such an incentive is missing in the EPL where matches are usually sold out.

So, after spending valuable time and money and coordinating your trip to the away stadium, perhaps with your supporters group, what can the travelling fans expect from the performance of their favorite players after going the distance across country?  Travelling from the west coast to the east coast is arduous, and Tweets from the players usually indicate who scored a window seat, and who got the chubby middle-seater – it’s obvious that these guys are not travelling in style; it’s economy all the way.

The huge travelling distances also present the phenomenon of circadian advantage – scientific research had previously shown the negative effect of coast to coast travel on the performance of baseball teams.  Teams with a three hour time-zone disadvantage to their home rival are likely to lose 60% of the time, compared to 50% of the time when they are equal.  The same research shows that for every time zone crossed, synchronization to that time zone requires one day.  Since the Quakes tend to leave northern California for their away games on Thursday afternoon for weekend games, the game scheduled for 1 PM Saturday afternoon (or 10 AM on the Californian biological clock) would mean they should only have been disadvantaged by one hour, which minimizes any advantage to Toronto FC to 51.7%.

Despite my concerns for the game's outcome being allayed by this level-playing-field statistic, it's well understood that disrupting circadian rhythms can cause such short-term effects as irritability, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, disorientation and gastrointestinal disturbances.  I know I can experience any four of these five symptoms just watching a close game - home or away.

 

UK map graphic courtesy of http://www.bootifulgame.com/.  

Preparedness 101: Zombie Quake Apocalypse

This week’s nearly-home game at AT&T Park might be dubbed “The Disaster Preparedness Derby” between the Earthquakes and the Zombie Quakes.  Earthquake preparedness is at the forefront of most California households’ minds, especially when your humble, if over-priced abode straddles the San Andreas or Hayward faults. Less frequently considered by San Francisco residents is the threat of a Zombie (Quakes or otherwise) Apocalypse - I know my own disaster kit in this instance consists of a single, slightly splintered cricket bat, based solely on what I’ve learned from watching Simon Pegg’s hilarious movie Shaun of the Dead.  Having a good solid piece of wood in your hand is quite often useful.

 Last year, maybe because of the movie, the Centers for Disease Control realized there was an egregious omission from their web site and designed a web page to prepare for such a Zombie attack.  Now illuminated on their pages are the symptoms of Ataxic Neurodegenerative Satiety Deficiency Syndrome, which is caused by an infectious agent after being passed on via bites and contact with bodily fluids. Obviously then, all we need to vanquish the Zombie Quakes on Saturday is bucket of bleach, a course of antibiotics as well as the aforementioned cricket bat.  In actuality, the page was set up with the serious intent to get people to make disaster preparedness kits, albeit with a let’s-also-prove-science-geeks-have-a-sense-of-humor approach. 

More danger is posed to the Quakes fans on Saturday by the threat of influenza, pneumonia or trench foot caused by the damp game-time conditions predicted in tonight’s weather forecast.  We all remember The Great Deluge of 2011: the coldest, windiest, wettest game in the four years that I’ve been going to games at Buck Shaw.  The game kicked off with the Earthquakes defending the shallow end, and the recently arrived Simon Dawkins showed good handling in the rain typical of his English homeland, and previously best exemplified by Darren Huckerby.

Despite the best efforts of some energetic Frisbee dogs to cheer up the fans at half time, and just after Kyle Beckerman broke the d(r)eadlock with a goal, I broke out the famous quote from Mel Brook’s Young Frankenstein:

Igor: Could be worse.

Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: How?

Igor: Could be raining. [It starts to pour]

I wish I could say we all collapsed in laughter, but our spirits had just been dampened even further in the 2011 season opener against Real Salt Lake.  At the end of the game, we were cold and soaking wet - but at least we didn’t have to share our car home with a wet Frisbee dog, or a wet Kyle Beckerman.

So will this be Deluge II - the sequel?  If so, what will the title be? We can only hope that, true to cinematic precedents, this sequel won’t nearly be as hard-hitting as the original - and will be a damp squib of the ilk of The Sting II, Look Who’s Talking Too, or Dumb and Dumberer.   I don’t need (or want) another water-resistant, rust-proof high-tech alloy commemorative Great Deluge pin.  I'm not worried though - Quakes fans will be well-prepared - I have my Gore-Tex jacket and pants ready, Ziploc bags for my souvenirs, and waterproof boots (trench foot sucks; CDC has a page for that too).  I just wonder if there’s enough room for my cricket bat - just in case. 

Draft Picks For The New Season: We're Spoiled For Choice.

Going into the preseason I was wondering which pairings were likely to be the most successful for the Earthquakes offense in 2012 – Salinas to Wondo, Chavez to Lenhart, or Dawkins to Güvenışık.  I got part way to my answer in the final preseason game in the Portland tournament against Chivas USA - the team produced five goals from five different players.  A donut fuelled cross from Shea Salinas, was neatly converted to Chris Wondolowski for the first goal in the 27^th minute.  In the second half, Ramiro Corrales redirected a corner kick onto the head of Justin Morrow for the second goal.  Ramiro, for his second assist, picked out Tressor Moreno for the 80^th minute third goal, and just four minutes later, Moreno forwarded the favor giving Sercan Güvenışık his first goal as an Earthquake.  Another inaugural goal, this time for rookie Sam Garza was then passed forward by Sercan Güvenışık to close out the game with the fifth and final goal of the afternoon.

While each of these goals was a pleasure to see, I got much more satisfaction from the breadth of effort across the team – goal scorers were also logging assist statistics and vice versa – and the well-stocked midfield of the current roster certainly paid off that day.  My only remaining question going into the season is the shallower depth in the defence - especially with preseason injuries to Hernandez and Bernardez, and the prospect of Opara being called away on under-23 duty qualifying for (and hopefully playing in) the 2012 Olympic finals in London.

Meanwhile, off the field, new acquisitions will also enhance the game experience for the rested and ready Quakes fans.  On paper, the depth of menu items from the gourmet food trucks in the Epicenter has vastly expanded over last season – and not unlike the Earthquakes roster, there are some experienced veterans and new arrivals to tempt our taste buds.  I wonder which gastronomic pairings are likely to be the most successful for the fans as we navigate through the new food and adult beverage choices at Buck Shaw this season.

• Boddingtons Pub Ale – known as Boddingtons Draught Bitter in its British homeland (wistful sigh), is a bitter beer with a smooth, creamy head reminiscent of that on Guinness; it'll give you a beer mustache - "got Boddys?".  Boddingtons recommends pairing this beer with “spicy, charred and aromatic dishes”, so paired with the spicy tacos at El Tonayense, it provides an alternative, if more avant garde pairing than the usual Corona.
• Sierra Nevada Pale Ale – the flagship of the brewery – is defined as a delightful interpretation of a classic amber style, and is a full-bodied, complex ale.  Heavily hopped, its fragrant bouquet and spicy flavor, pairs particularly well with seafood – an ideal accompaniment to the fish and chips of Sam’s Chowdermobile.
• Stella Artois – given the 9 step (count ‘em) ‘pouring ritual’ for the draught version of this light, crisp and refreshing Belgian pilsner, it’s perhaps as well that we can buy the instant gratification of  the bottles supplied at The Buck.  Feel free to let out your inner-Brando, and yell “Steelllaaaaa” at the Gourmet Truck Named Desire – for me that’s Chairman Bao, with its richly filled fragrant pork buns.
• Gordon Biersch Hefeweizen - is a true, unfiltered, Bavarian-style wheat (Weizen) beer with the yeast (Hefe) still present.  According to the GB web site, this beer is traditionally consumed Sunday morning in Bavaria after church (and sometimes before as well as during) alongside Weisswurst (white veal sausages) and freshly baked Brez'n (pretzels). Why wait until Sunday? Get an early start this Saturday night with a Polish Dog and pretzels for the Buck Shaw concessions stand.

Of course, these are my own current best pairings – myriad combinations are possible, some of which I haven’t even considered yet – let me know your own;  we've got the whole season to figure it out.  See you all on March 10th for the first kick of the season - I believe Frank Yallop and I are both looking forward to a better depth of choice and fewer injuries.

Player Numbers: Does 2 x 10 - a better 11?

Geoff Lepper recently wrote that the Quakes have finally found their ‘first legitimate number ten’ with their new signing Colombian Tressor Moreno – let’s welcome Tressor. The San Jose Earthquakes spent their off season searching for a midfield replacement in the event that Simon Dawkins wouldn’t return to the squad in 2012. In actual fact, Dawkins, is returning to the Quakes, so if he keeps his jersey number (ten), there may be a conundrum when the Quakes will venture forth an ‘actual’ number ten and a ‘classic’ number ten (who’s actually wearing #27).

In the article, Frank Yallop was quoted as saying “Simon Dawkins is a good soccer player, but more of a forward. This guy [Moreno] looks to pass the ball. … It’s the first time we’ve got [a player] who looks to do what number tens do”. His quote prompted a fellow season ticket holder to ask me about the origin of the phrase “classic number ten”. I knew, roughly, that it referred to a midfielder, probably of the attacking variety, but that was based on a distant (and therefore fuzzy) memory of old-fashioned shirt numbers. I grew up watching teams play with the original jersey numbering of one through eleven on the backs of  whichever players trotted out for each game; the goal keeper was number one, and the remaining numbers were designated from the back line, through the midfield to the forwards. Logically then, number ten would belong to someone who was positioned up near the front – that meager knowledge was all I could offer in response.

Obviously, it was time for me to settle down at my laptop with a mug of coffee and hit the Google-verse to fill in my memory gaps (aside: when will there be an MLS Google doodle?). It turns out that the original one through eleven number designation arose from English association football as far back as 1923. Back then, the standard formation from back to front was 2-3-5; I could warm to that offensively-minded formation. Although 2-3-5 seems staggeringly unbalanced, it was conservative compared to England’s 1-1-8 lineup in their first official game against Scotland who employed a more offensively parsimonious 1-2-7. Ironically, perhaps inevitably, that game finished 0-0 – but I digress. In the original 2-3-5 formation there was a squad full of esoteric positions: ‘backs’ and ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ forwards (what I used to call a ‘winger’), with each position numbered as follows: 1 – Goalkeeper, 2 – Right full back, 3 – Left full back, 4 – Right half back, 5 – Center half back, 6 – Left half back, 7 – Outside right, 8 – Inside right, 9 – Center forward, 10 – Inside left, 11 – Outside left.

Gradually, with the evolution of twentieth century soccer, new formations were intelligently designed from the 2-3-5 that involved moving specific positions to different areas of the field. As the formations changed and the players lined up in their new positions, their jersey numbers went with them. For example, the half back was pushed back to become a defender, and so central defenders wearing number five were remnants of the original 2-3-5 system. Historically, when the England national squad played the 4-4-2 formation, they typically lined up four defenders – #2, #5, #6, #3; four midfielders – #7, #4, #10, #11; two forwards – #8, #9. Comparing the two formations in the diagram below, you can see that the half backs, wingers (and the #10) were pulled back from the 2-3-5 to create the 4-4-2. Those attack-minded 19th century English and Scottish forwards would have been shocked and confused – perhaps even a little lonely.

There are myriad other formations some of which are evocatively named: The Danubian Formation (a modified 2-3-5 popular in central Europe in the 1930s), the Christmas Tree formation (4-3-2-1; with its obvious shape), and the Magic Rectangle (4-2-2-2; used, to no avail, by Brazil in the 1998 World Cup final, and which has since been termed ‘suicidal’). The continued designation of  a player’s starting position by his jersey number appears to have gradually become redundant (or perhaps too difficult) with the increasingly esoteric soccer formations. Starting with the 1954 World Cup, each player in a country’s 22-man squad wore a specific number for the duration of the tournament. Despite the early success of the approach at the international level, fixed squad numbers didn’t become standard in the FA Premier League until the 1993-94 season, and in the rest of Europe shortly thereafter. While the US Men’s National Team is still subject to this mandated squad numbering system in official tournament play, the new head coach, Jurgen Klinsmann has reverted to the original one through eleven numbering system in friendly games. His reasoning is that identifying each position by its number will inspire competition for starting places on the international squad.  What goes around comes around.

Getting back to that classic number ten – an attacking midfielder sometimes called a trequartista (Italian for three-quarters, denoting his field position), enganche (Spanish for “to hook’; intriguingly also a term used in tango dancing) , or playmaker. His role is to play just behind the forwards, or ‘in the hole’, and create goal scoring opportunities for his team’s strikers, or even himself. The playmaker came into his own with the popularity of 4-4-2, which peaked in the 1990s and early 2000s. All four semi-finalists in Euro 2000 played ‘classic’ number tens in the hole between the opposition defense and midfield: Zidane (France), Totti (Italy), Costa (Portugal) and Bergkamp (Holland); England and Germany did not and they perished early in the tournament. Lately however, the folks at Zonal Marking effectively argue that as the 4-4-2 becomes outdated in Europe, the days of the classic ten are numbered: “Lionel Messi started as a classic Argentine number ten in a central play making position, then became established as a wide forward, now occasionally plays up top.” Furthermore, they argue, as most players arerequired to become more versatile (playing as strikers, wingers or in the hole), their current role has become more difficult to define; perhaps eventually top players won’t even have favoured positions.

Fortunately for Quakes fans, Simon Dawkins will be playing soccer once again in the blue and black, and the 4-4-2 has not (yet) fallen out of favor. So, if Moreno is the ‘classic’ number ten, and Dawksy stays at the ‘actual’ number ten, I’m concerned about the ramifications for the space-time continuum within the 4-4-2. Will Frank Yallop need to roll out a novel formation to prevent the imminent collapse of the universe? How many (perhaps  all) of the players be out of position if he tries out an old-school, Scottish 1-2-7 (the “Graeme Souness Perm” or “Lenhart” formation – lots going on up top)? As my friend Nigel points out: Most teams only play one number ten, but where can you go from there? When you need that extra push to the playoffs, where is there to go? It looks like the Quakes have gone one better, and their best eleven might have two tens.