The takeaway story from last night's hard-fought 2-2 draw between FC Dallas and the New York Red Bulls was not what is should have been.
It wasn't the play of Dallas, down a man after Brek Shea's idiotic challenge on Chris Albright earned him a red card in the 29th minute. It wasn't the late own goal Jair Benitez put in to gift the Red Bulls a draw. It wasn't the exciting play of Eric Alexander, who scored Dallas' second. It wasn't Mehdi Ballouchy's goal in his Red Bull debut, it wasn't the once-in-a-blue-moon crowd at Pizza Hut Park, and it wasn't Juan Pablo Angel's odd benching to start the match.
DC United announced today that right back Bryan Namoff has suspended his playing career and will join the club's front office. This is sad news for United fans; Namoff was a favorite among the faithful, a warrior on the field, and a leader on the team. The reason behind Namoff's step back is undoubtedly related to the concussion he received last September.
Add Namoff to list that includes Alecko Eskandarian and Taylor Twellman*, all added within the last year; though none has officially retired (that I'm aware of), they've each taken an indefinite leave of absence due to brain injury-related complications. It's safe to assume that all three would prefer to be on the field but have found the risk to be too great.
For United, this isn't a first; midfielder Josh Gros retired in 2007 after accumulating several concussions.
The natural question, as presented by Hoover on Twitter, is why there are so many MLS players being forced off the field. Without a single European player in the same boat as Esky, Twellman, and Namoff coming to mind, is this strictly an American epidemic? Do other leagues not have concussed players who might be better off retiring?
Stefan Bondy tackled the concussion issue back when Eskandarian announced his leave of absence. What strikes me about the article is that Bondy's approach contrasted programs enacted by MLS and the NFL; nowhere does he mention the Premier League, Serie A, the Bundesliga, La Liga, or any other soccer league for that matter. If you didn't know better, it might be easy to conclude that MLS players are the only ones getting concussions.
That's clearly nonsense. Every league has head clashes and dirty fouls involving elbows and fists. Pure chance means at least one or two players will have sustained a mild or worse concussion in the course a season. Yet a search of Google with the terms "concussion" and "Premier League" returns just one mention of an actual concussion suffered by an EPL player in the first three pages, Emile Heskey's "mild concussion" in 2009.
Search "concussion" and "MLS", and you'll find link after link on the aforementioned players, notes on the league's approach to concussions in the sport in various stories on the subject, as well as reports on concussions suffered by other players in recent years. I don't know that MLS is taking concussions "seriously enough", because that may be a sliding scale depending on your viewpoint, but they're certainly much more transparent with their consideration of the issue than the biggest league in the world.
This topic deserves a deeper look, and a simple Google search doesn't really provide information of any substance. Logic tells me other leagues have concussed players in comparable numbers to MLS, but looking for evidence of that fact in the public domain yields little to work with. I felt it important enough to present the question, but I hesitate to draw any hard conclusions.
Obvious factors to consider include greater pressure on players abroad to continue playing with concussion symptoms, America's greater level of attention to post-concussion syndrome (in part due to American football), and the players themselves placing more weight on their post-soccer lives. None of these guys are so married to soccer than they can't appreciate the damage they might do if they return to the field; in some cases it's a matter of finding a doctor who will clear them, but in others it's a healthy appreciation of what multiple concussions can do to one's quality of life.
So what do we make of this? Is it simply that the American mindset regarding the seriousness of concussions is further along (the direction I lean) or is it actually possible MLS play creates them in higher numbers and greater severity (enough to push players to stop playing)?
*It's necessary to note that Twellman is also dealing with neck injuries.
Palpitations of my heart have me unable to properly think, type, or reason. The layer of cold sweat emanating from my pores, the obvious result of the moisture from my now-arid mouth finding my skin as the most expeditious escape route, has me chilled to the bone on a ninety degree day.
I'm nervous dammit. And it's Friday. Nerves are ruining my Friday.
It's not even about Jozy's ankle (by the way, there is now a @jozysankle Twitter account), though that remains a concern for me despite all of the calming things being said by U.S. players; My gut tells me Altidore will be fine by the 12th (though my gut has steered me wrong on many an occasion), and he shouldn't be hampered too badly. The training time he'll miss isn't good, but it's not the end of the world either.
No, my nerves are really a reaction to the sudden rash of injuries hitting teams only days before the tournament starts. Rio Ferdinand has a knee injury (we all saw it coming, but still). Didier Drogba fractured his elbow in a friendly against Japan. And that's not likely to be the end of the injury story, no matter how close we are to things kicking off.
So I'm advocating that the friendly against the Aussie's tomorrow be cancelled. Call up Verbeek, apologize profusely, tell him we'll make it up somehow.
The game is a disaster waiting to happen. There's no need for it, it's only another chance for players to get injured. I'm not even sure that it makes a difference that Australia will be fearful of their own pre-tourney injuries and that the game's level of competition might fall somewhere between "rec league" and "drunk guys kicking a ball around". There's a danger of injury every time players step on a field, be it through a dangerous tackle, the unfortunately clashing of bodies, or just a wrong step or poor landing (ahem, Gooch).
Okay, so maybe I'm a little mad with World Cup anxiety at the moment. Hopefully it will pass. Hopefully I'll be able to enjoy those 90 minutes that the Americans and Aussie's spend on the field together tomorrow without feeling ill throughout or seizing up in injury-inspired dread. I'm even now wondering if I'm doing more harm than good with all the negative feelings I'm sending out into the world, concerned I might be jinxing someone wearing a USA shirt. Maybe I can find a shaman or a witch doctor to reverse the bad juju...
If the room doesn't stop spinning, this is going to be a very long day. I think I need to lie down.
Cancel the friendly. Cancel the friendly. CANCEL THE FRIENDLY!
You would be wise to take nothing you just read at face value. Thank you.
Be it the soccer gods conspiring against the Americans or just a bit of rough luck, the US National Team faces a two-sided problem leading up to the World Cup. Just a few hour separate us from the announcement of a camp roster that will include a few extra bodies; this means that Bob Bradley still has decisions to make, and only a month ahead of the opening game against England. Optimal, the situation is not.
Such is the state of the US player pool; due to injury and questionable fitness, uncertainty at more than a few spots is the reality of World Cup prep. In a perfect world, Bradley would have his team selected, head to Princeton with twenty-three players, and have the balance of the buildup to work out strategy, lineups, and team cohesion rather than spend time evaluating potential contributors.
Additionally, crucial players are returning to full health at just the right (or wrong, depending on your viewpoint), time, with little to no competitive minutes to their names and a layer of rust thick enough to cause serious concern among the fan base. Onyewu, Holden, Brian Ching, the inspiring Charlie Davies; none is "match fit", none has shown enough in recent weeks to be termed "ready", and none is likely to be on top of their game anytime soon. Is a few weeks of training enough to round them into form? More to the point, is it enough to round them into World Cup form?
All of this leads to a question for the fans, one tied to the amount of anxious energy we spend assessing our team's chances before a ball is ever kicked: Would we rather have a settled team of completely health players, even if they are of lesser talent than those they're replacing, than deal with the uncertainty of players returning at the last possible minute?
It's impossible to know if an on-form secondary option is better than an un-ready usual first choice (and readiness is obviously subjective). Clarence Goodson might be deserving of a start against England over Oguchi Onyewu if the latter is still not up to game speed, but we'd almost always prefer the player with the higher ceiling be in there, no matter his questionable sharpness (Onyewu and Goodson are just an illustrative example, not an attempt to reflect what Bradley would actually do). Analytically, we can see that the first choice player shouldn't be first choice if his lack of recent time negates his advantage in quality over another option. Our guts, however, and largely due to the magnitude of the World Cup stage in this case, churn with less violence when we see what we're used to. If our regular starters are healthy enough, we want them playing.
There's an analogy here somewhere, struggling to be found, to illustrate just how much a player should be downgraded when he's in a situation like Onyewu's. How many "quality points" does lack of playing time over the course of the past eight months subtract from Onyewu's overall score? Is he a five now when he was an eight before, or is it worse than that? His replacement could be a six; wouldn't that mean sitting Gooch down is the right move to make?
It's not that easy, of course, and determining which is better, the rusty stalwart or the of-lesser-caliber-but-on-form replacement is not as clear as picking the better of two from a deck of Magic the Gathering cards (if that applies, I have literally no idea). If it were so simple, we could all probably do Bob Bradley's job.
Onyewu will likely play, as will Holden in some form, because talent wins out. As fans, we'll probably feel better because some of our best players are back. It's not the known that is the problem - Onyewu is better than anyone that could replace him when's he's fully himself - but the unknown; how much will his play suffer because he was forced to sit out an entire European season?
The World Cup, with the four year wait and the international scope multiplying our usual levels of fan consternation, makes us all a little crazy. It might not be smart to rely on players who haven't kicked a ball in an actual match in months. But we want our "best" team on the field, even if some of our best have been coated by layers insidious rust obscuring the gleaming brilliance underneath. We know the brilliance is there, and we'd rather take our chances that it will reemerge in time for the world to see than take our chances with something functional, yet much less impressive. One can be polished to shine, the other isn't getting any better. We rest our hopes on that fact.
I'm working on my own level of rust here, so forgive me if this is a bit strained. Again, let me reiterate that the Onyewu/Goodson example is just an example, and not representative of any belief it could actually happen.
Let me close with a question, which I may or may not have gotten out in the piece: Would you rather have an entirely healthy and on-form side that may not be made up entirely of first choice players (say Onyewu was out for the World Cup, for example), or a team with several first choice players getting healthy just as the preparations begin (the situation we actually have)? How much of the uncertainty surrounding players who haven't played much or at all recently affect your feelings about the team as a fan?
If you're not rooting for Charlie Davies to make his US National Team comeback in South Africa this summer, you're either English, Algerian, Slovenian, or you simply don't have a soul.
Charlie's story has been amazing, and he hasn't even yet returned to the field. He is in the stretch run to a post-accident debut for Sochaux, though, and the most recent news is encouraging. CD9 is back in training, talking about things like "shooting" and "finishing" and giving us all the belief that he can be back and a contributor again by the time the World Cup rolls around (in 75 days for those of you counting). The man's singular focus and determination should be rightly applauded.
In that spirit, I wanted to review Davies' journey to this point in his recovery and rehabilitation with a time line of his comeback. Hopefully I'll be updating this post as the days pass by with news of Charlie's progress to end with his triumphant appearance on the field in South Africa. Included with each entry, in order to provide perspective, is a count of the number of days since the accident, and the number of days until the World Cup opener on June 12th.
October 13, 2009 Days Until the World Cup: 242
The day of the accident. With the US National Team in Washington for their final Hexagonal qualifier against Costa Rica, news begins to filter out that Davies was involved in an accident on Virgina's George Washington Parkway. Twitter explodes, and when it's finally known that Charlie is in the hospital, the American soccer community scrambles to get updates. Charlie undergoes surgery on multiple injuries, including a lacerated bladder, a fractured femur and a fractured tibia.
October 14, 2009 Days since the accident: 1 Days until the World Cup: 241
The day of USA-Costa Rica. The pro-US crowd, thanks to online word-of-mouth, coordinates a 9th minute tribute to the fallen striker. Banners line the field, and after Jonathan Bornstein's last-gasp goal gives the Americans a draw (and seals first place in the Hex), the players gather at midfield to honor their friend and teammate. Landon Donovan grabs the banner of US fan Erin Dutka, which includes Charlie's number and the initials of Ashley Roberta, the young woman who died in the crash.
November 10, 2009 Days since the accident: 28 Days until the World Cup: 214
Davies is released from the hospital. Charlie issues a statement saying that he is anxious to attack rehab. His prognosis is reported as favorable, though little is made of his World Cup chances. Washington Hospital Center's director of orthopedic trauma terms is a "long recovery". Most outlets report the time line for rehab at 6-12 months, without mention of an actual return to competitive soccer.
November 28, 2009 Days since the accident: 46 Days until the World Cup: 196
Davies rehabs in Delaware. Alongside fellow injured Yank Oguchi Onyewu, Charlie works with USMNT trainer Jim Hashimoto. His progress is described as "fantastic".
November 30, 2009 Days since the accident: 48 Days until the World Cup: 194
Davies appears on ESPN (full audio from ESPN Radio). Jeremy Schaap interviews Davies, who speaks about the personal changes he's gone through since the accident, and states firmly that he will be back for the World Cup.
January 7, 2010 Days since the accident: 86 Days until the World Cup: 156
March 23, 2010 Days since the accident: 161 Days until the World Cup: 81
Charlie returns to Sochaux. He's running, and plans three weeks of individual work before joining his teammates in regular training.
March 26, 2010 Days since the accident: 164 Days until the World Cup: 78
Davies holds a press conference at Sochaux to discuss his recovery. He talks about training with the ball, and hopes to work on shooting, dribbling and finishing shortly. In perhaps the most heartening news to this point, he states that he has no lingering pain from his injuries. He targets the next three weeks as "very important".
April 22, 2010 Days since the accident: 189 Days until the World Cup: 49
In a French language interview, Sochaux chairman states that Charlie will not play in any Ligue 1 matches this season. The news is a setback for Charlie's World Cup chances; Bob Bradley's only opportunity to evaluate Davies in game conditions will be during the US send off friendlies scheduled for May.
-Turns out the previous entry may not preclude Charlie from playing; after the news broke, further followup indicated that the chairman was stating his opinion and not a overarching decision by the club.
April 26, 2010 Days since the accident: 193 Days until the World Cup: 45
On Twitter, Charlie Davies announces that he has returned to full training with Sochaux. This news opens the door for a end-of-season appearance or two, and marks a major milestone in his recovery. After just six and a half months after the accident, he is back on the field with his club teammates. The rush to the World Cup truly begins now, with Bob Bradley's preliminary 30-man roster due in just fifteen days (May 11).
May 11, 2010 Days since the accident: 209 Days until the World Cup: 30
Charlie fails to make the 30-man preliminary roster that was his first hurdle to getting to the World Cup. The comeback for that tournament ends here, though Davie's return to the field for Sochaux next season is almost certain.
July 7, 2010
Charlie's comeback came up short of his World Cup goal, but the striker finally returned to the field in a competitive environment. Back with Sochaux, Davies played 45 minutes in a mini-tournament pre-season match against Swiss side Neuchâtel Xamax.
First, Charlie Davies nearly lost his life in a deadly car crash, sustaining terrible injuries in the process. The very next day Oguchi Onyewu ruptured his patellar tendon. Two massive parts of the US World Cup plans, out for months, and with prognoses that would make their World Cup comebacks difficult to imagine.
Then Clint Dempsey injures his knee while playing for Fulham. Benny Feilhaber picks up an injury in Denmark. Ricard Clark's inclusion in Eintracht Frankfurt's squad is delayed due to a muscle problem. Even Jose Franciso Torres felt the sting of a temporary knock. Add Stuart Holden, who broke his leg in the USMNT friendly against the Netherlands, and the Americans had a full-fledged injury apocalypse on their hands.
And yet here we are, less than ninety days from the tournament, and there's a reasonable chance all of those names will be healthy and available to play in South Africa. If Davies and Onyewu are anywhere near their pre-injury form come June 1st, each is a mortal lock for the squad, while Holden dropped word on Facebook and Twitter today that he's out of his cast and walking on crutches. With a little luck, he'll be playing again shortly, and most of us would pencil him into our World Cup 23's without a second thought.
Double super bonus if Bundesliga standout Jermaine Jones miraculously recovers in time for June.
It seems to me that Bob Bradley (and by extension, the US fan base) is damn lucky. Of course he would have rather that Davies not find himself in that car in October, or that Onyewu hadn't landed funny while contesting a ball in the air. But injuries happen. Perhaps not on this large a scale, but they will always play a role in how a World Cup roster is constructed. Still, barring any major catastrophes (anything worse than a muscle pull or ankle sprain, at least up until the middle of May), Bradley will likely have every player he might want at his disposal, with the possible exception of the aforementioned Davies and Jone. Davies situation is just too unique to make a call on quite yet, and Jones has such a long recovery from his shin fracture that speculating on his return now would be impossible.
So what was panic only a month or two ago can give way to a sense of relief. There's still the little matter of each of the players returning from injury getting back to form, but no longer does the injury shadow linger over the team. There's even an argument available that some of the players in question will be fresher in June for having had a bit of time off in the first quarter of the year; that could be an overly positive spin, but it's not impossible.
Injuries are bad, but getting them out of the way "early" (if such a thing is possible) could be the Americans' saving grace in South Africa.
No more injuries from here on out, though, okay boys? If we're not past the point of no return yet, it's rapidly approaching.
Misfortune kicked the US in the ass for a couple of months there; let's hope it has moved on to others (Englad would be nice, though I'm not really wishing injury on their players...)
Alecko Eskandarian announced yesterday through Steve Goff's Soccer Insider blog and his own Twitter account that he will be hanging up his boots for the time being due to continued complications of post-concussion syndrome. Eskandarian played for five MLS teams over seven years, including several successful seasons with DC United.
MFUSA reader and passionate United supporter Ted Meyer weighs in with a few words for Alecko.
by Ted Meyer
Alecko Eskandarian announced yesterday that he will be taking an indefinite leave from soccer. Eskandarian has suffered from post concussion syndrome since a collision in 2005 with New England goalkeeper Matt Reis. An event United fans still hold against Reis.
Even when he was traded to Real Salt Lake, then Chivas USA, and finally Los Angeles Galaxy, he was and always will be a member and fan favorite of the Black and Red. Alecko was drafted as the first overall pick in 2003 by D.C. United from the University of Virginia. He was a member of United’s 2004 MLS Cup team, the last United team to win the championship.. In the final he scored two goals and led an inspired comeback for United. He was named the MVP for the game. Also, he scored the opening goal in the 2004 Eastern Conference Final against New England, a match considered by many to be the greatest MLS match of all time.
However, he became a legend with D.C. fans in a game against New York. After scoring a goal, he took a swig of Red Bull and spit out on the field. It was event that Eric Wynalda responded not too well to. He was also fined for the incident and earned the hate of New York/New Jersey fans, which is where he grew up and where his father played in the NASL days. However, since New York is the bitter rival of D.C., most fans loved the goal celebration.
Even after his concussion, he still made an impact for D.C. United in 2006. He even earned his own catch phrase with the headgear he started wearing after the concussion. Fans made signs that said “Fear the Headgear.” It was a tad ridiculous, but still added to his lore.
For me, I have always been a fan of Alecko. I saw him play in his days at the University of Virginia where my father graduated. He was one of two Virginia players on United during the 2004 to 2006 season. He scored goals and was a real classic finisher for United, particularly in 2004. His tireless work ethic just added to the success I felt Alecko could have in this league. Even when he left for Chivas and the Galaxy, I still rooted for Alecko to be successful. He was player who never gave up and always worked for every goal. I still wish I could go back to days when Christian Gomez, Jaime Moreno, and Alecko Eskandarian made United such a dominant team in 2004 and 2006.
It is sad for me to hear that Alecko is taking a leave from soccer. He is not retiring, but at 27 I don’t know if he will return in the same way to MLS. However, I still believe he can come back. I still have hope that United will resurrect him like they did with Santino Quaranta in 2008. I know that it is completely different circumstances than what Santino went through. However, I still believe that Alecko still has the skill and ability to be a great player in MLS. If only Matt Reis hadn’t clubbed him in the head, maybe we would talk about Alecko pairing up with Jozy Altidore for the World Cup team in June. Ok, now I know I am being unrealistic.
Esky, if you are reading this, you are always welcome back in D.C. no matter if you are a player or not.
