For as long as I can remember, people with absolutely zero expertise in the world of player development and zero knowledge about the overwhelming complexities of our incredibly fragmented youth system have been banging on about simply unearthing the next Lionel Messi in the face of what Top Drawer Soccer's Will Parchman elegantly described as issues of money, space and time.
Edin Dzeko is . . . pretty good, I guess? The Roma forward is a pretty good striker in a league filled with pretty good strikers. Dzeko shares Serie A with Gonzalo Higuain, Ciro Immobile, Mauro Icardi, Dries Mertens and Andrea Belotti. That would make it hard for anybody to stand out.
But let's look a little closer at the Bosnian international. Here's a fun stat:
With the full release of FIFA 18 only nine days away (Sept. 29), we got our hands dirty with the demo, and we somehow managed to learn five things while completely disregarding a plethora of other things in our actual lives (I will call you tomorrow, Grandma). And awaaay we go.
The unthinkable happened on Thursday night in London during the Europa League match between Arsenal and Cologne: Fans from the opposing teams were allowed to sit next to each other. I’ll let you gather your collective breath for a moment as the gasps sweeping across America just created another hurricane in the Atlantic.
Typically, supporters from one club are cordoned off from supporters of the other club in stadiums across Europe. In America, opposing fans sit next to each other and nobody gets hurt. Why is it so hard for European fans to not murder each other?
Raheem Sterling is good at everything except for shooting. He is extremely good at everything except for shooting. He dribbles like a wizard, passes like a maestro, defends like a honey badger, moves off the ball like someone who actually knows how to do that and shoots like a man with a cinderblock tied to his foot. He shoots almost reluctantly, like it's something he knows he has to do but doesn't actually want to do.
Christian Pulisic is the most talented player in USMNT history, and he is just 18 years old (19 later this month). Given how good Borussia Dortmund's player development is, he is only going to get better. Cross your fingers and hope we get to watch Pulisic for a long time.
But.
What now seems meant to be almost wasn't. A few years ago Croatia, which Pulisic was eligible for because of his Croatian grandparents, made overtures Pulisic's way. He politely turned them down and turned into a soaring eagle for the USA.
But.
The story of Sunday night’s 1-1 draw between Seattle and Los Angeles wasn’t Lamar Neagle’s 85th minute equalizer for the Sounders, nor was it Gyasi Zardes actually doing a goal for the Galaxy. It was provided by FS1 broadcaster Alexi Lalas after the match had concluded. Lalas has some opinions on the USMNT, and he brought them. He brought them hard.
Dejan Lovren is like a haunted doll. No matter how hard you try to get rid of him, he always finds a way to stay put. During Liverpool's last two summers, a main goal has been to replace Lovren in the starting lineup. Lovren is still in the starting lineup. Next summer they will try to replace him again, but will fail somehow. Dejan Lovren will keep his job.
For internet warriors that love calling people they don’t know fanboys and have a strange fixation with accusing others of different acts of oral sex, this is going to be nothing short of heresy, but I firmly believe it: Isco is the most mesmerizing footballer on the planet alongside Lionel Messi.
“Holy shit! You can’t draw a line between a Real Madrid player and a Barcelona player! You know nothing, Connor Fleming!”