The first few months of the Jurgen Klinsmann era certainly had its ups and downs, but that should be expected. When a new coach is brought in, he needs time to see what he has to work with, to implement his philosophies, and to see what works and what doesn’t, and as impatient as some are to see instant results, that process is still very much in its infancy for Klinsmann.

But after ending 2011 with an away win against 2010 World Cup foe Slovenia, there is positive momentum, and with 2014 World Cup qualifying and a slate of friendlies that’s already set to include matches against Brazil and Italy, two ties that are sure to attract a lot of football betting, we’re going to learn a lot this year about where things are headed and who’s in Klinsmann’s plans for now and for the future.

The first few months of the Klinsmann era weren’t as successful as many might have hoped in terms of wins and losses, but after ending the 2011 calendar with a respectable 1-0 defeat in France and a solid 3-2 win in Slovenia, there’s definite positive momentum heading into 2012.

The slate for next year is far from finalized, but it will give fans an opportunity to gauge just how much progression is being made and who will play significant roles going forward, as along with multiple friendly matches, the U.S. will begin their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign in the summer.

- Jason Davis

There’s a piece of accepted truth in the blogging world, one of those bits of conventional wisdom impossible to verify, that the average blog’s lifespan is three years. I’m not sure if this is meant to apply to all blogs, sports blogs, or specifically to soccer blogs, but it’s a “fact” I’ve heard repeated more than a few times during the span of Match Fit USA’s existence, and by extension, the time I have been penning my overwrought missives on the state of American soccer.

Match Fit USA turns three years old today.

And it won’t live to see four.

This, in fact, is the final post here at Match Fit USA, as I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s time to turn off the lights. There are many good reasons to do so, but it mostly comes down to a gnawing sense that I just can’t do the place justice anymore. The blog started out as a place for me to spew my obsessive ramblings about topics that I’ve come to think of since as the American soccer blogger’s introductory hobby kit. Topics like promotion and relegation, soccer’s struggles on TV, Eurosnobs and the battle for their hearts and minds, why Americans are hesitant to fully adopt the sport, etc. This blog was specifically started to address big picture items about which I had too many thoughts and no attractive outlet at which to pontificate about them. At the time, having only scratched the surface of soccer-related web content, I was naive enough to think I could do something good, completely on my own, and have it launch me into something approaching a “career” writing about the sport.

I started this blog for the same reasons anyone anywhere has started a blog, with allowances for my being in the smaller segment of people who one day hope to earn a bit of money doing something they love. There was a clear goal in mind, and the blog was simply a vehicle with which to reach it. MFUSA wasn’t intended to be the ends, but the means. I can honestly say that I’ve reached that goal by any reasonable measure, and it’s a significant reason for the blog’s end. When faced with a decision on how to spend the free time I have remaining in light of regular writing gigs and a twice-weekly podcast, there was never any doubt that I would defer to saving just a little bit for my family.

Perhaps if I was still single and didn’t have a toddler to pass my love of soccer on to, there would be time to continue updating the site. In a parallel universe, there’s probably a parallel unattached Jason Davis doing a podcast, writing for three outlets, and maintaining his original blog.

I never expected to become attached to something that has no physical existence. This and every blog is a nothing but a collection of ones and zeros interpreted by a computer and then displayed through the cunning use of excited electrons. It doesn’t have a smell, a texture, or a weight. If and when the blogging service that allows it to live ceases to exist, there will be nothing left for anyone to know it was ever here at all. Somehow though, it has a feel, because the people who used its structures to express themselves--be it as writers, commenters, or both--gave it one. That’s an amazing and humbling thing.

I was tempted to relive the past three years, reminiscing (as much as one can about something only three years old) over the ups and downs of MFUSA, the various directions and tones the blog took (inconsistency which is completely down to my own aimless search for what type of writer/blogging/whatever I wanted to be), and how posting here not only made me a better writer, but how being part of the soccer blogging community (both American and transatlantic) enriched my life in ways I could not have imagined when I tapped out my first nonsensical post on December 14, 2008.

Reliving it all would be naval-gazing of the highest order, would surely devolve into an examination of pained existential questions of interest to only me, and probably end up spoiling whatever good feelings you have for this blog or me, so I’ll spare you.

Instead, I’ll keep it brief and to the point and thank everyone that came here, everyone that wrote here, everyone that nominated the blog for awards it was never good enough to win, and everyone that thought of Match Fit USA--even if only for a brief moment in time--as an asset to soccer writing in America. I cannot begin to frame the sense of astonishment I still feel a ramshackle blog started by a blogging neophyte grew into something to which people paid attention.

This is the blog’s end as a living, breathing outlet for “Examining the State of American Soccer” (my admittedly pretentious mission statement-slash-tag line), but there’s no reason not to leave it up as an archive. All of my typo-laden wordiness will be here (not to mention the dead images - thanks a lot Picapp), waiting for the random Google search or a sudden pang of personal nostalgia. Many others did excellent work here (like Jason Kuenle, Chris Ballard, Keith Hickey, Kevin McCauley, Ben McCormick, et al), and it’s not my place to blink their contributions out of existence.

So that’s it. Find me doing things at KCKRS, writing for US Soccer Players, podcasting on The Best Soccer Show, and just generally bouncing around the world of America soccer internet tomfoolery.

RIP MFUSA. Let it be said that it lived an appropriate amount of time, served it's original purpose beautifully, and had a few insightful things to say about the sport of soccer in American. Can't do much better than that.

--

-by Chris Ballard

You might remember that way back in March, Keith, Jason and myself all put forth some predictions regarding the 2011 MLS season. Usually when these things happen it becomes convenient to later forget to revisit them; because it invariably proves that we - as much as anybody else - know pretty much nothing. However, it makes sense to at least crow about the ones we did get right. Even if there aren't very many.

So let's begin.

- Jason Davis

I don't know whether to laugh or cry over the news that MLS sent out surveys looking for information on the strength of Baltimore as an MLS market. On the surface, which is the way 99.9% of the interested parties are viewing it, it looks like a clear sign that United is not long for DC. Should a move up I-95 come to pass, it would represent the biggest sin ever perpetrated against a group of MLS fans. Yes, people were undoubtedly crushed in Miami, Tampa, and San Jose when their teams were ripped away from them. Those situations pale in comparison to taking a team like DC United, with the history of support its has, out of Washington.

And for the uninitiated who might be suggesting that it's not a big deal, Baltimore isn't that far away, it's really not a relocation at all: wrong. Baltimore is not DC, nor should United fans be expected to simply trek up to the Charm City because MLS asks them to.

But there are still more questions than answers here, and the survey doesn't in and of itself confirm that DC definitely is moving to Baltimore. Those who have been paying attention should not be surprised by this news, unless the surprise comes from the rather obvious nature of the survey. Of course MLS knew fans would catch wind of it, because if they didn't, they're naive beyond any reasonable possibility. Here come the questions.

Knowing that dissemination of the survey would get back to DC supporters, did the league simply choose to absorb the negative reaction, or was observing and documenting that reaction part of the point? No one in DC's city leadership, beyond Marion Berry -- whose support for a stadium was about his constituency and not soccer or DC United itself -- has shown an interest in helping the club find a solution within the District. If the league asks fans to give their opinions about MLS in Baltimore and United's rabid fan base rise up to voice their displeasure, could it have a positive impact on the dialog between the city and club? There's an argument to be made that -- either through willful ignorance or unhealthy myopia -- that the city doesn't quite know what it has in United. Pushing aside the debates about public funding and the value of stadiums to a locality, if enough people make enough noise over the survey and its implications, it might give leaders food for thought on soccer's place in the city.

But probably not. While I think some effect is possible, more like this is what it looks like: DC is out of options, Will Chang (and the league itself) is hemorrhaging money, and there is real value in polling soccer fans in the Mid-Atlantic for their thoughts on an MLS team 40 miles north of DC. Whether it was wise to do so in the manner they chose, with the inevitability of it becoming a news item, is a separate can of worms.

The worst part of this, and why I don't begrudge United fans their (over)reaction, is that the fans are utterly powerless. Attendance for United games hasn't been at traditional levels recently, but as the club improves, there's no reason to think the numbers won't climb back into a very respectable range. This isn't FC Dallas. United fans are committed, for better or worse, and the quickest way to turn them against the league is to take their club away. Forty miles might as well be continents for most of them.

Here then, is the crux of the matter and why the survey is ultimately so troubling: we do not know if MLS is doing everything in their power to keep the team in DC. Even protestations to that effect by the club and the league won't assuage fears the MLS and United are anxious to take the path of least resistance and move up the interstate rather than explore each and every possibility in the nation's capital. From there, the questions get trickier, up to and including things like just how far out into the suburbs it would be okay for DC United to build a stadium if doing so enabled them to stay "DC" at least in spirit. Some of the locations bandied about in recent years are in the Dallas-to-Frisco distances, meaning they bring with them the very real possibility that fans in the city proper and the interior suburbs won't make the trek. DC is not Dallas insomuch as they've always been in one place and have always had good support, but that doesn't mean the same fate couldn't befall them.

Chang is looking for investors. If he finds them, does staying RFK become more tolerable? Is MLS helping him in the search, or is he on his own? How much influence does the single-entity all-for-one business model play into determining the threshold for when it becomes more attractive to go rather than stay? I would never assume to think MLS sees the United fan base as replaceable, but perhaps there are delusions about how much of the current fan base would make the drive to Baltimore for home games. DC-based Oriole fans did it for years before baseball returned to DC, so why wouldn't some here swallow the realities of the intransigent DC stadium situation and help fill the gap?

Everyone is trying to flesh out exactly what this thing means. If MLS thought they were muddying the waters by including five different clubs as choices for whom respondents would like to see moved to Baltimore, it was a rather transparent charade. It's inconceivable that the league would move any other team than United and risk cannibalizing the DC-Baltimore soccer fan base, leaving DC United to rot in RFK while FC Dallas or Columbus or the other of the other teams listed moved into new digs in Baltimore. To include Philadelphia and New York on the list is farcical.

Excuse the incomplete thoughts - I thought it important to post something on the survey, but am pressed for the time to spit them out in a more coherent form.

- Ben McCormick

Juergen Klinsmann came to the US National Team with some big ideas. He preached patience, saying he was going to need time to experiment with several different kinds of lineups, formations and tactics. If given time, he justified, he would find the right combination of players to play an attacking style of soccer that was uniquely American.

Then what’s all this “we don’t want to shake up the core structure of the team too much” crap?

Three matches into his USMNT managerial tenure, Klinsi has already found the core of his squad. Through five matches, Klinsmann has capped a total of 26 players with only Danny Williams earning his first ever cap for the US national team. Bob Bradley capped 37 different players in just his first four matches.

For someone who seemed to be preaching sweeping changes, a lot seems to be staying the same. While we continue to see many of the same old faces, young guns like Mix Diskerud, and Josh Gatt can’t even get a sniff of camp.

Logically, all three fit the Klinsmann call-up criteria: starting every week for their clubs at a respectable level. Josh Gatt is first XI for the soon-to-be Norwegian champions and Diskerud has amassed 75 appearances for Stabek in Norway since his first team career started in 2008, becoming one of Stabek’s most important cogs. Diskerud and Gatt also are rumored to have clubs in the very best European leagues after them

So what gives, Juergen? These players play at positions with anything but certainty when it comes to the USMNT, so why aren’t they getting their chance?

At first instinct, you might say Klinsmann doesn’t value youth. Not true. To the contrary, Klinsmann loves youth in his squads. 11 of Klinsmann’s German 23 man roster for the 2006  World Cup were age 25 or younger.  Also, on his scouting trip to Germany last month, he took time out to observe and talk to Joe Gyau and Charles Renken, two American youth players at Hoffenheim. Simply, he certainly does not shy away from young players.

When Klisnmann was hired, he said he would establish a new soccer culture. He’s European-ized things about the national team like assigning the starters numbers 1-11 or putting his initials on his coaching clothing. Aside from the fashion changes, though, the biggest change Klinsmann is trying to hard wire into the new American soccer culture is the vitality of the youth national team system.

It’s no secret Klinsmann spearheaded the effort to streamline and invest in the German youth national teams during his time as the German manager. Such efforts on his part resulted in players like Thomas Muller making near-seamless transitions into the full national team. Based on these successes, I pose he’s making a similar effort in the United States.

Skeptical? Wondering why he would spend so much time on the youth teams when the senior team is reeling? You’re in good company. Here’s my best attempt at justifying investing in youth.

The obvious first question to ask is, “why is investing in the youth system important to the full national team?” Let’s take Spain for example. Within 14 months, Spain won the World Cup, the U-21 EURO and U-19 EURO tournaments.  Needless to say, they’re a shining example of what a youth program should be about.

Having said all that, try and guess how many members of Spain’s World Cup winning squad never made an appearance for a youth national team. Go on, guess.

I give up. Zero. Not a single member of their World Cup winning squad went without making an appearance for a youth national team. In fact, the average number of youth national team levels represented by a player on Spain’s World Cup team was 3.5.  Andres Iniesta represented a team-high seven levels followed by Iker Casillas and Fernando Torres with six. Gerard Pique, Xavi Hernandez, Juan Mata and David Silva follow up with 5 and three others have represented four levels.

What’s the largest number of levels a 2010 US World Cup player represented? Three. Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Jonathan Spector and Jozy Altidore played at the U-17, U-20 and U-23 levels. A quarter of the US roster never appeared for any youth national team. Putting that in perspective, only a quarter of Spain’s World Cup roster appeared at less than three youth levels. Four players represented one level and two represented two levels.

There are many excuses for this disparity. The size of the United States makes identifying top talent at the U-15 and U-17 levels extremely difficult. Additionally, Spain has eight total youth levels players can represent whereas the US only has five. It’s unreasonable to expect Klinsmann to establish new youth national team levels, but he can do our YNT system a big favor by synchronizing those levels. This means, ideally, once a player ages out of or becomes too talented for one level, they can transfer into the next level seamlessly.

All of Spain’s youth teams play a similar style, making that transition easier for players. This concept is severely lacking in the US. Since Bob Bradley was hired as national team manger (and arguably before that during the Bruce Arena era), the United States have played a defensive 4-4-2 style with the full national team, attempted Dutch total football at the U-20 level and played a Latin-American 4-3-3 style at the U-17 level, all at the same time.

Given Klinsmann’s sweeping changes to the playing style of the full national team, it’s easy to understand the attraction of calling up a young player who has already gone through the growing pains his new system rather than bringing in a new player who is entirely unfamiliar with it, making a synchronized youth system all the more alluring.

On that same note, the common denominator between the 2010 Spain and US World Cup rosters is the players who represented the most YNT levels appear to be among the best the national team has to offer. Sure, some players are late bloomers (Maurice Edu) or come out of nowhere (Jay DeMerit). Heck, David Villa played at just one level of the Spanish YNT system, but the point remains largely the same, exposure to the same system from an early age produces the best players. Remember, Iker Casillas, Fernando Torres and Andres Iniesta lead Spain in levels represented and Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and DaMarcus Beasley lead the US.

With the rumors of Caleb Porter’s hiring as the U-23 manager and Tab Ramos as the U-20 manager with a possible U-18 appointment still on the way, Klinsmann appears to be starting the process of synchronizing the US Soccer system. Like Klinsmann, Ramos and Porter favor attacking styles with emphasis on possession.

Guys like Diskerud and Gatt may not be snubbed by Klinsmann at the full national team level because of lack of skill or whatever other excuse there is, but rather he wants talent at his youth levels. Give Gatt and Diskerud two or three camps at the U-23 level and watch them transition into the full national team like they’d been there the entire time.

With the full national team, Klinsmann is trying to teach an old dog new tricks, and he knows it. Trying to get players already in their mid-20s or early 30s to play a style unfamiliar to them is like pulling teeth. Where Klinsmann is likely to leave his indelible mark on US Soccer is in introducing the new system to players as early as possible in their careers through the youth national teams.

So instead of lumping Gatt and Diskerud in with the old guard, Klinsmann may well be saving them to learn the new system along with the other young, promising and talented Americans. Don’t be surprised to see guys like Juan Agudelo or in some cases Tim Chandler, Jozy Altidore and Brek Shea go to U-23 camps when there is a full national team camp going on. This way, he can bring the youth through all at once after the Olympics, all entrenched in the system and ready to contribute to his style.

All of this requires a tremendous amount of the patience Klinsmann asked for when he was named manager of the USMNT. Given the track record of success for those countries who commit to the youth national team system, I’ll grant him that patience.

--

- Jason Davis

The world is abuzz this morning with the shocking revelation that "foreign" English Premier League owners would like to see an end to relegation. Among the league's foreign ownership are several Americans, most notably the Glazers at United, Randy Lerner at Aston Villa, and Fenway Sports Group at Liverpool.

I used the word "shocking" - as in its meaning of "surprising" - facetiously, of course, because rich businessmen acting as rich businessmen do proposing to do away with risk is perhaps the least shocking thing you'll hear about this day/week/month/year/decade/century/millennium/whatever is after millennium.

Once we accept that a push for the end of promotion/relegation will always be bandied about by people risking millions of dollars on a soccer club, the better we'll sleep at night. That's not a defense of the owners, or an indication that my personal opinion is that pro/rel should go away in England; quite the opposite, actually. The movement between divisions in English (European) soccer is one of the things that makes English soccer attractive. An end to pro/rel would be tantamount to throwing more than a century of history into the garbage, without regard for how the upward and downward mobility of clubs shaped not only the English game and the biggest clubs of the present day, but the way the sport is played and administrated the world over. Promotion and relegation are as much a part of English soccer as chronically rain-soaked fields, the Boxing Day schedule, or the FA Cup. Taking it away would be a crime.

Ownership in any sport is a risky proposition that is rarely a money-making endeavor. Buyers have an obligation to understand what it is they are buying, and the rules and limitations that will dictate their level of risk. When it comes to soccer in England, acknowledged acceptance that promotion and relegation are a part of the sport - and not just a rule to be changed because it is inconvenient - should be at the top of the fit and proper persons test. Pro/rel is and always will be more important than anyone who controls a club. Ownership is temporary.

The issue of the Premier League and the potential abolition of pro/rel affects me as an American soccer-first American in a couple of ways.

First, reconciling my strong disgust with this "news" (again, it's not shocking as in "surprising", but it is shocking as in "troubling") with the fact that Major League Soccer doesn't have pro/rel, probably won't have pro/rel, and - in my opinion - doesn't need pro/rel, at least not for the foreseeable future. What's good for the goose is not good for the gander, not because pro/rel isn't inherently fascinating and enthralling, but because the environments in which the two leagues operate is so different. That aforementioned history doesn't save English teams from dissolution, but it does allow the country to support more professional clubs in a nation of 50 million than the United States could ever hope to prop up, even ephemerally. Culturally speaking, soccer's footing in England is so solid that while the market may be saturated (to the detriment of small and non-League clubs), possible relegation is a fact of life, a storm to be navigated, and in some cases, an integral part of the character of certain clubs. Man City of 2011 has a different feel if they weren't in the Championship ten years ago. MLS has none of the safety nets, does not have character tied to a system built before communication changed the complexion of the sport globally, and exists in a country that has none of the ingrained sensibilities necessary to supporting pro/rel as a reality. If you're American and you love pro/rel, and you're convinced it wouldn't affect your interest in your club or the level of your support, you're the exception, not the rule.

England should have pro/rel, and America should not. That's a pragmatic determination, and does not mean that I would not want pro/rel in the US and Canada if conditions were different.

Second, the inevitable saddling of Americans with the leadership of the movement towards eliminating relegation from the Premier League, and the reflective shame that engenders in me. Yes, I'm the type that will see screeds against American ownership and their evil plans and feel the burn of flushed cheeks, simply because I happen to share a nationality with the men being castigated for their greed. It doesn't matter that I have more in common with the average English football fan than I do with the Henrys and Lerners of the world. Somehow, I'll still feel some minuscule inkling of responsibility, with the requisite knot in my gut reminding me that they villains in all of this are my countrymen. "Americanization" is a dirty word, and as I'm American, it refers to me.

Of course, it's not just Americans who would benefit from an end to the specter of relegation. Several clubs are owned by Asian concerns who could very easily be at the forefront of the push to change the rules. That won't sway most of the English-soccer loving public, English and American alike, from pinning blame on Yank owners. Fingers are being pointed this way. We've got franchises, Americans owners would no doubt love the business-first aspects of the franchise system to take hold in England, so the whole thing is an American plot to undermine proper football. Americans suck, don't know shit about soccer, and should just go back to their pointyball game.

Look at my straw man. Isn't it beautiful?

The grain of truth in all of that insanity is that Americans will be blamed, in large measure, if the Premier League locks down. I'm not positive how likely such a thing is in the near future, and I wonder about the fairness of which bottom-half teams gets a spot and who gets left out (will it be based simply on who is in the Prem at the time, or will there be some metric applied to deciding who gets a spot?), but it seems inevitable that the issue will remain in play as long as businessman are businessman, regardless of where they originate. The problem with the free market is that people without the proper respect for institutions like pro/rel are free to buy clubs.

From the AP story on today's shocking revelation is this from League Managers' Association chief executive Richard Bevan:

“If you look at sports all around the world and you lot at sports owners trying to work out how to invest to make money, you will find that most of them like the idea of franchises,” Bevan said. “If you take particularly American owners, without doubt, there have been a number of them looking at having more of a franchise situation and that would mean no promotion or relegation."

Talk of the end of promotion and relegation is enough to panic millions, and it comes in an American accent. I'm not too proud to admit this causes me distress, even as I believe the Premier League might have been headed in the same direction without any American influence.

--

- Jason Davis

The last one. Number five. Jared and I close out the buildup to the debut of The Best Soccer Show on the North American Soccer Network with talk about the USMNT roster and MLS. The debut of TBSS comes with giveways, sweet ones, so make sure you listen to learn how to get your chance at a copy of EA's FIFA 12 and Bumpy Pitch gear.

The new show has a Twitter feed @bestsoccershow and a Facebook page, so be sure to follow and like respectively - details for the contests are on the Facebook page.

Please share this link until you just can't share it anymore. The Best Soccer Show debuts at 8:30 PM EDT on Saturday, October 8th.


Available through the old MFUSA iTunes feed.

Download directly here.

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- Jason Davis

The fourth installment of the Free on a Bosman program, enumerated with the classy Roman numeral desigination, is here for your enjoyment.

Jared and I start with the good news and the bad news around the USMNT. Just when Holden gets back, down goes Torres. Gooch is playing well (maybe?), and youngster Tim Ream is mostly not.

We hit MLS topics, including the hypocrisy of DeRo avoiding suspension for his dive, Marquez's comments and suspension, and the state of the playoff race.

Also, Bob Bradley, Michael Bradley, emails, and more.

Be sure you check us out on Twitter for updates. @mfusa @jrodius

The new show also has a Twitter feed @bestsoccershow and a Facebook page, so be sure to follow and like respectively. You're gonna want to. We have stuff to give away.

Please share this link as violently and liberally as you can. New show launches in two weeks following the USMNT game on Saturday, October 8th.


Available through the old MFUSA iTunes feed.

Download directly here.

--

- Jason Davis

In 2011, after Seattle and Philly and Portland and Vancouver and Montreal and the wave that came before them (yes, San Jose counts) and all of the talk of candidates and fees and ownership groups and stadium plans and color schemes and whether names should be "historical" (since 1975!) or "euro" or plain old American city-and-nickname, I'm tired of expansion. Or, rather, I'm not tired of expansion, I'm over it as a major part of Major League Soccer's future, which means I'm over writing about it. Actually, I'm almost certain that my attention has shifted because there are now enough teams and enough stability that MLS has hardened around the edges and has the consistency of a "real" league.

But the expansion talk continues, whether I remain actively engaged or not (my interest, surprisingly, has no bearing on the rolling expansion train or the discussion surrounding it...who knew). The country is big, MLS will continue to be in the growth phase - in one area or fifty - forever, and there is STILL no team in the Southeast. Oh, and MLSHQ continues to publicly covet another franchise in New York, either because they themselves are sick of having to trek over to Jersey to see a game, or...no, that's probably it. I hear the PATH trains are a disaster.

The third installment of FoaB has Jason and Jared talking about the rumors surrounding Timmy Chandler, Klinsmann effort to find dual internationals, Jozy, Beasley, a round up of MLS and the playoff race, the MLS A-Team and much more.

Be sure you check us out on Twitter for updates. @mfusa @jrodius

It might be a good idea to check this and this out as well. 

There's date and a name, plus a few places to get connected with the new show before it starts. Go forth and spread the word.




Download the show directly or get it on the MFUSA iTunes feed.

Music: