Luke Wileman reports – Turf Removal Starts At BMO Field – New coach, new grass, different result for TFC in 2010? Late note: The CFL Argos are once again talking about playing at BMO. Uh Oh.

My take: Unfortunately, TFC does not own BMO Field, but wouldn’t it be terrible if they finally got grass only to have it marked up and chewed to bits by the Argos?

How did you feel about MLS Cup being played on turf?

My take: I thought it adversely effected the play. MLS Cup should ALWAYS be played on grass. What do you think?

Best of luck to Ben Olsen. The next assistant coach for DCU?

Coaches needed … for Chicago, Chivas USA, RBNY.

My take: Richie William for RBNY, for the others??? Rumors of Steve Sampson returning to MLS. Dennis Hamlett is available. Hey Walter Zenga was just fired in Italy.

In my private mock expansion draft, had 4 of the Philly Union’s 10 picks, Thomas, Harvey, Salinas and Jacobsen.

EPL club Tottenham’s former CEO Paul Barber has joined future MLS club, the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Former MetroStar youth player Vicenzo Bernardo is reported to be joing MLS after declining a contract extension with Serie A club Napoli(and a loan to a Serie C club).

My take: Given MLS’s history of manipulating player placement, does anyone think he goes anywhere else but RBNY? OK, maybe Philly.

Have you read Jimmy Conrad’s take on the future of MLS?

My take: Would take several posts. Go read the article

The Philadelphia Union’s expansion draft picks had roughly the same base salaries as the Sounders’ first ten, just over $600,000. Three of them, Jaqua, Evans and Riley played signficant minutes. Three never saw the field; Khano Smith, Jarrod Smith and Jeff Parke.

The mess surrounding USL-1 and the newly minted, but not yet approved NASL…

My take: Pure fantasy, but bear with me. Two 2nd tier leagues, one east of the Mississippi, one west, similar to AAA baseball. No interleague play. The two points winners and the two playoff winners(if they have playoffs) get US Open bids. The last 4(or 6) 2nd tier bids are earned via play-in matches between the next 4(or 6) highest point earners in each league.

The MLS Collective Bargaining Agreement(CBA): Would free agency mean the end of single entity?

My take: I don’t see why. It would just be a tweak, albeit a major one, in options for out of contract players.

Major League Soccer

A common complaint about Major League Soccer is its failure or unwillingness to observe FIFA International breaks. As recently as this month we have seen MLS matches played at the same time as crucial World Cup Qualifiers involving the United States National Team, this despite earlier indications from MLS that the League was going to pay closer attention to these FIFA breaks during the 2009 season. While frustrating, this attitude by MLS towards the FIFA breaks is not surprising since, historically, MLS does not suspend its season during the World Cup finals.

Today there was finally some good news for those of us who have criticized MLS and its stubbornness when it comes to the FIFA breaks, MLS has announced that it would suspend its 2010 season during the two week group stage portion of the 2010 World Cup finals. Additionally, MLS will not schedule any matches on the same days that the South Africa 2010 semifinals and finals will be played. While this is not a total victory for those of us that would prefer to see MLS suspend all league action during the World Cup finals, it is a positive, and realistic, step forward for the League, which was criticized earlier this year by FIFA President Sepp Blatter for not following the traditional European club schedule of a fall-winter-spring season.

Admittedly, suspending the league season through the entire World Cup finals would affect the match fitness of MLS players not playing on the US National Team, and would create scheduling headaches for MLS clubs that share their stadiums with high school, college, and/or professional thowball teams.

If marketed right by MLS and ESPN, the league hiatus could work to the League’s advantage in attracting newly minted football fans. The first two weeks of the World Cup finals are an utter football orgy, but the number of daily matches starts to drop after the knockout stage. New fans looking to learn more about the game might be more willing to seek out their local MLS side or MLS matches on ESPN2 or Fox Soccer Channel once the group and knockout stages have taken place. Additionally, after the group stage the possibility of MLS matches conflicting with U.S. National Team matches drops exponentially. Should the U.S. National Team go on a shocking run, there won’t be any conflicts during the semifinals and finals.

Finally, this acknowledgement of the World Cup finals is a smart move by MLS in the sense of supporting the United States’ bid to bring the World Cup finals back to the States in 2018 or 2022. The last thing the bid committee needs to deal with is having its competition argue that the U.S. does not deserve to host the finals since its Top Flight League’s schedule plays on as if the World Cup finals are not occurring.

The other important news coming out of MLS headquarters today is that, for the first time in MLS’s short history, the 2010 season will be a balanced season. Each team will play 30 matches in 2010, meaning one home and one away match against every other team in the League. This move is another step that should satisfy football purists and followers of the European leagues who have previously ridiculed the MLS season as not really counting since it wasn’t balanced.

I for one applaud MLS for making these scheduling moves. These are small steps, but it is by making such small steps that MLS manages to improve its product and survive financially.

- As a follow up to a recent article I posted here regarding Vincenzo Bernardo, MLS’s transfer window has closed without seeing the young Italian-American sign on with an MLS club; however, there has been some chatter lately about the possibility of Bernardo joining the expansion side Philadelphia Union for the 2010 season. This would be a good move for both the new side and the New Jersey native. Signing Bernardo would give the Union good press in regards to obtaining the services of a young American who has trained in Europe and would create an immediate connection to the strong football fan base in New Jersey.

This past week it was officially announced that Vincenzo Bernardo had opted out of his contract with Italian Serie A club Napoli and is now a free agent. For some weeks there has been speculation that the New Jersey native, who joined Napoli’s primavera squad in 2006, would be coming to Major League Soccer; however, no MLS side has publically expressed a strong interest in signing the small but talented Italian-American midfielder/striker.

Despite having success in practice matches against Napoli’s first squad, Bernardo was not getting call-ups from Napoli Coach Roberto Donadoni, who spent time playing for the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in the early days of MLS. Late last month, Napoli attempted to loan Bernardo to a Serie C/2 side, but Bernardo rejected the loan. It was on the last day of the 2009 UEFA summer transfer window that Bernardo opted out of his contract with Napoli in order to become a free agent and take control of his playing future.

Bernardo was born in Morristown, New Jersey in 1990, and began playing soccer in Madison, New Jersey when he was 6 years old, playing in a league where all other players were about 2 years older then him. Over the next 6 years, Bernardo played for a YMCA travel team and then joined Morris United when he was 12 years old. Over time, Bernardo made his way up the New Jersey soccer food chain to St. Benedict’s Preparatory School, home to one of the best high school soccer programs in the United States. Among those who have played at St. Benedict’s are Claudio Reyna, Tab Ramos, Petter Villegas, Greg Berhalter, and Gabriel Enzo Ferrari.

Unlike fellow New Jersey native Giuseppe Rossi, Bernardo has played for the US National Team’s U-17 and U-20 squads, though he has not been called up for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. Additionally, prior to moving to Italy, Bernardo played for the New York MetroStars’ Academy’s U17 and U19 squads. While Rossi has spent the bulk of his youth playing in Italy, Bernardo has grown up in the American soccer youth development system and has since moved on to benefit from training time at Napoli, one of Italy’s most storied sides, which was playing in Serie B when a 16 year-old Bernardo moved from New Jersey to Italy

According to an interview with Greg Seltzer for Soccer365.com, Bernardo is currently being scouted by teams from lower divisions in England and Spain, as well as clubs in Germany and the Netherlands; however, Bernardo indicated to Seltzer that he has not ruled out returning to the United States and playing in MLS. Unfortunately, none of the articles linking Bernardo to MLS have identified an MLS side with a strong interest in obtaining the young midfielder/striker. The obvious choice considering Bernardo’s New Jersey roots and youth career is RedBull New York, but Brian Lewis from the New York Post has written articles indicating that the struggling east coast side has not expressed strong interest in signing Bernardo.

As much derision as Giuseppe Rossi received from US soccer fans after Italy destroyed the US National Team in the confederations cup this summer, it is surprising and worrisome that neither USSF or US soccer fans have pushed harder for returning Bernardo to the American soccer fold. Having only played for US youth squads, Bernardo is still eligible to play for both the Italian National Team and the US National Team, but Thomas Rongen’s failure to call Bernardo up for the U20 World Cup causes concern as to whether USSF views Bernardo as an outsider, meaning Bernardo will only get capped after much foot dragging by the USSF.

After years of growing up and working his way through the various youth football systems in New Jersey and the United States, and then getting the benefit of training with an Italian club like Napoli, it would be a shame if the US and MLS let Bernardo get away. If MLS wants to take that next step in increasing the league’s profile among soccer fans in the US, signing a young prospect like Bernardo, who has development time in Serie A, would be a positive move. Unfortunately, MLS and US Soccer have been lacking when it comes to that “vision thing” and, like many other American players before him, Bernardo will likely end up in either a smaller league or second division league in Europe without being seriously pursued by MLS. If, in a few years time, Americans see Vincenzo Bernardo suiting up for the Italian National Team instead of for the US, instead of blaming Bernardo they will need to blame the US Soccer system for letting him get away.

Guiseppe Rossi

In the eyes and opinions of many of you, I am about to defend the indefensible: the decision of Guiseppe Rossi to play for the Italian National Team instead of the United States National Team. This issue came to head this week, with many calling Rossi a Judas or Benedict Arnold, because on Monday Rossi scored two of Italy’s 3 goals against the US at the Confederations Cup in South Africa.

Despite playing for the Italian National Team, Rossi was not born in Italy, he was born in lovely Teaneck, New Jersey on February 1, 1987. His parents, Ferdinando and Cleonilde Rossi; however, were born in Italy and had moved to New Jersey, where they taught at Clifton High School.

Rossi’s football skills were noticed by Parma, of Italy’s Serie A, when Rossi was only 13 years old. Parma offered Rossi a spot in its youth program, which he accepted, moving to Italy with his family. In 2004, after two years in Parma’s youth system, Manchester United bought Rossi’s contract and brought him over to England where he spent two years in Manchester United’s youth system. By this time, Rossi had already attracted attention from Italy’s National Team and had played for several of the National Team’s youth sides, including its U-16 squad.

Rossi ultimately made five appearances with Manchester United’s senior team, scoring a goal against Sunderland, but Manchester United also loaned him out to Newcastle United and Parma. In 2007, Rossi was sold to La Liga’s Villarreal, and there is currently speculation that he might return to Italy via a sale to Serie A’s Juventus this summer.

It was not until the build up to the 2006 World Cup, several years after Rossi first suited up for the Azzurri’s youth squads, that the U.S. National Team made an overt effort to pull Rossi into the USSF’s fold. However, Rossi turned down Bruce Arena’s offer and expressed his desire to play for Italy’s National Team.

Rossi’s dream to play for Italy’s Senior National Team came true in October 2008, when Marcello Lippi called him up for Italy’s match with Bulgaria. In less then a year, Rossi has made six appearances for the Italian National Team and has scored three goals. Baring the unforeseeable, Rossi will most likely be playing for the Azzurri when it defends its World Cup Title in South Africa next summer.

While Rossi was born in the United States, his football skills have been grown and nurtured not by the U.S.’s suburban club soccer, high school soccer, or college soccer, but by the youth systems established by Italy, Parma, and Manchester United. Rossi has developed his technical skills outside of the standard U.S. system, and, as such, is a foreign entity in terms of the USSF system. While Arena might have had an interest in Rossi, I find it hard to believe that Rossi would see serious playing time under the current Bradley regime, which seems to favor past personal relationships and toeing the line over technical ability and independence.

Instead of heaping blame and hate upon Rossi, a young, competitive athlete who chose to play for a team with a proven winning record, fans of the U.S. National Team should criticize the USSF for allowing such a talent to get away. Indeed, fans of the U.S. National Team should start putting pressure on USSF to get Vincenzo Bernardo capped. Like Rossi, Bernardo is an Italian-American who was born in New Jersey and has the option of playing for either the U.S. or Italy. Bernardo, who recently turned 19, is currently a member of SCC Napoli’s Primavera side. While Bernardo has indicated a desire to play for the U.S. Senior National Team, that interest has not been reciprocated and it might only be a matter of team before he turns his eyes toward the Azzurri.

I know the following position will not endure me to many fans of the U.S. National Team, but I cannot help but point out how hypocritical it is for U.S. fans to criticize a player who does not play for the country he was born in. Among those who have been capped by the U.S. National Team, but who were not born in the United States are Tab Ramos, Freddy Adu, Dominic Kinnear, Hugo Perez, Predrag “Preki” Radosavljevic, and Joe Gaetjens, among others. Meanwhile, many U.S. fans are expressing a strong desire to see Jermaine Jones, who was born in Frankfurt and has already played for the German Senior National Team in several friendlies, take advantage to recent FIFA eligibility changes that allow him to play for the U.S. National Team.

The reality is that FIFA’s rules regarding nationality have always had grey areas and wiggle room, and as the world grows more mobile there will be more and more instances of players choosing to play for a national side that does not represent the country in which he was born. Instead of blaming the player for the side he ultimately chooses, attention should be focused on why he made the decision he made. When it comes to players who shun the U.S. National Team, that fault might fall upon the dysfunctional, insular ways of the USSF, not the player.

Click here to watch Rossi’s press conference following Monday’s game against the U.S.