A grand thank you to all who contributed to this site with your passionate thoughts on the game of soccer. As you know it’s importance in the media is a critical component to it’s future . Those who have dared to comment, critique, question and explore the sport locally, nationally and internationally are all playing a part in it’s growth in the eyes of the sporting culture.
Personally, I have great gratitude for all whom visit this site and support the other work that I do in the media! Without you there are no tv shows, radio shows, soccer columns or Houston Dynamo in this town. Lets continue to push the game forward in 2010 with our sheer enjoyment and passion!!!
Wishing you Happy Holidays and a great New Year!!
Glenn
PS: Soccer Matters with Glenn Davis brought to you by Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute on Fox Sports Houston will return January 14th to open up the 2010 year.
I will be back on the radio in January on 790 AM and am looking forward to conversing with you the fan .
My thanks also to FIESTA for the Houston Unsung Soccer Hero Award and their support of the KICK CANCER CAMP! More great Fiesta events coming up next year. Also to Danish Inspirations Contemporary Furniture on Fondren and my friend Jan Christiansen for sponsoring the tv show along with Memorial Hermann.
Space City Futbol and Randy Evans for being progressive and the only youth club sponsoring the radio show! Soccertots and Marc Castillo, San Jacinto College and Dave Santesteban, Mark West Pinot Noir the best selling Pinot Noir in Texas and my friend Kirk Helberg, all whom donated to the charity of FIESTA’s KICK CANCER and Tesars Restaurant in the Woodlands and Bill O’Rourke!!!!
Danish Inspirations
Fiesta Mart
Houston Web Design
Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute
SportTalk 790
Zukowski, Bresenhan & Sinex, L.L.P.
Merry Christmas Glenn and thanks for supporting the beautiful game in our fair city!
Glenn, we thank you for being the voice of soccer in Houston. We have come a long way as a city and nation for the beautiful game and I am looking forward to the journey ahead. I hope you have a Merry Christmas! We have a lot to be thankful for in this season of celebrating our Savior Jesus!
And a Merry Christmas to you, too, Glenn Davis Hasselhoff! All I want for Christmas is El Franco to get his homeless money and let us get on with Dynamo Field, Stuart Holden staying in Houston, and cold fusion.
Halfway through “Outcasts United.” Excellent story.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Forget Christmas, Happy One Week to the Start of High School Soccer Season everyone!
Plenty of good soccer books made their way to Coach H including The Damned United, We are the Damned United and The Unforgiven, all talking about Brian Clough and Leeds United, as well as Ossie: King od Stamford Bridge and Soccernomics. Plenty of great reading coming up in the new year.
Merry Christmas to you Glenn. Thanks for all you do for the soccer community.
I’m looking forward to a great new year for our sport, Glenn. The World Cup, a refreshed Dynamo effort, a new stadium (hopefully). I know lots of what goes on in the media is driven by ratings and money from advertisers. I hope you get your just share of that. I’ve missed your shows on my DVR and I was hoping it was only a break. Thanks for confirming that the break is planned and not my DVR missing the show. Keep up the important work you do.
Thanks for all you do for soccer Glenn. Looking forward to 2010!
http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2009/12/monday-kickoff-on-holden-onalfo-and-beasley.html
The interest in Stuart Holden just keeps on growing and the chances of him returning to MLS in 2010 continue to shrink.
Burnley became the newest EPL team linked to a move for the U.S. national team midfielder as he heads toward the January transfer window ready to field offers as a free agent. Holden is out of contract and holds a UK passport, making him an ideal transfer target for English clubs looking to boost their chances of improving in the second half of the season.
And the Houston Dynamo? The club has made improved offers to Holden, but simply can’t compete with the type of offers Holden is receiving from England. The Dynamo is holding out hope that Holden chooses to stay in MLS, but each passing day makes it appear more likely that he will be the latest American to make the move across the Atlantic.
In the case of Stuart the UK passport is a huge “piece” in pursuing his European dreams.
I hope it all works out for him in whatever way he wants because his story is a great one. If he remains a Dynamo I believe it would only be for a short amount of time.
Whole new world of competition and comfort if he goes overseas but what player would not want this challenge.
I would hope all players were this ambitious!
Makes for a better league.
Yes, I wish Stu well – but how long does the club hang on to hopes he will stay? All this talk has been going on for weeks now. He should pick the top $ offer and go with it. Let the Dynamo start to rebuild their team. Say goodbye, give out hugs, and let Coach Kinnear start making out a new roster. He is holding up progress.
Fallas has a piece on Burnley has trial offer on tap.
( http://blogs.chron.com/soccer/archives/2009/12/as_holden_heads.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+houstonchronicle%2Fsoccer+%28Soccer+y+Futbol%29 ). I am not quite sure Fallas has his finger on the pulse but it makes absolutely no sense that Holden take a “trial” offer from Burnley. “Trials” are for players who are out of contract and have no demand in the market. If I was his agent, I would say “no” and see the next team in line for his services. Holden is not even in “soccer shape” right now and this makes absolutely no sense in going on trial to a team that might end up being relegated at the end of the season.
Freddy adu back to benfica. Loan deal cut short…are you paying attention sir holden?
Ramiro, Stuart Holden is no Freddy Adu. Night and day difference on work ethic, attitude, vision of the field, skill and range. Bad comparison.
Adu should of gone to Europe when he got the chance to develop under the best Academies in the world, but the hype and over estravagant media attention they put on this guy really hurt them, I read on Ives site that FC Dallas was virtually forced to give up the draft pick to DC in order for DC to get him, which is probably why it didn’t work with Peter Nowak when the league was forcing him to push Adu as much as possible!
Once he was MLS I guess he should of stayed longer?
But I think Ramiro is just being a hopeful fannish Dyanmo fan! Adu is only 20 and well while his work ethic sure is something to be desired of improvement
Adu needs to redefie his work ethic and trainning regimend, I thin he might need to go to a Scandinavian league with his salary or come back to MLS, I think he would thrive here again, just who will take his salary? Probably would need to drop it, I heard he’s clinging on to it because he might not get much more in future contracts?
Real quick, and certainly no offense to Stu – he’s been a great ambassador for Houston soccer at TX Children’s Hospital, etc., but game after game this past season I kept waiting for Stu to take hold of a game and make it his own, to assume an agressive role and become an attacking midfielder that DeRo hinted at. But six goals in 26 MLS games isn’t exactly lighting up the scoreboard – yes, there’s the intangible effects he periodically brought to a game, things you cannot measure, but I watched him and Rico again and again trade off who was going to take the lesser offense role. Yes, he played some good games for the USMNT, but the way the rumors are flying – one week it’s Rangers, the next it’s Monterey, then we’re at Blackburn and Burnley, you’d think Mr. Holden is George Best/Pele/Maradona/Cristiano Ronaldo reincarnate. Food for thought: G. Best scored 15 goals in 24 games while playing for the LA Aztecs in the mid-late 70s.
My prediction [to go along with my other re: Houston's Mayor and City Council jacking around so long that Pearland builds the Dynamo a stadium just off 288] ? Stu goes off to an EPL team and does battle with the Rio Ferdinand’s and Vidic’s of the world and realizes just how much he values his health, how much his misses his Mom and family, and how the EPL games are operating at 125mph while the MLS is stuck in traffic on the Gulf Freeway.
Let him go, folks. He wants to go, for better or for worse. Dom, take his lead just like you took Rico’s and begin the rebuilding process now. April 1st is only 90+/- days away.
Christopher- agree. Dynamo took a much bigger hit last season with departure of De Rosario. De Ro continued to deliver- 11 goals and 6 assists on offensivley inept TFC team.
Bigger question with Dynamo isn\\\’t Holden but, Landin. With a DP slot and large salary, he better show up fit and score bushel full of goals in 2010, or he will be Dynamo\\\’s biggest gaffer.
Alot of this is agent driven and to be fair his value has also come due to the Dynamo through marketing and promotio
I still love the story of his development and how he has grown with the nurturing of Kinnear and Spencer.
He has still not hit his potential and comments are right that certain games he did not influence enough.
Alot has happened quickly.
The Dynamo have been put in a tough position and deadlines for decisions from Holden and agent have not been met which makes me wonder about how legit these overseas deals really are.
My fear is agent is driving alot of this….Dynamo are going to need to accelerate process and if HOlden goes on trial he might return to Dynamo.
Glenn, surely you jest ! An agent may be making out his client to be more than he/she actually is ? And maybe, however ludicrous it may sound, said agent periodically leaks ‘interest in my client’ stories to the press in order to keep the ’story’ fresh ?
Well, I never…
According to Fallas on Twitter http://twitter.com/socceryfutbol:
According to Dynamo COO Chris Canetti, M Stuart Holden has informed the team of his intention to go on short-term trial with Burnley of EPL
_______________________________________________________
Glenn, I just don’t know if this is the smartest of moves but maybe he is confident enough in his game that he can do this but he definitely is behind he 8 ball by just starting to get into shape and not in any kind of game shape right now like the other EPL players. This is a pretty big gamble with the World Cup coming up this summer but life is about taking chances and those who do don’t have regrets.
Why would Stu go with a second rate EPL team – just to get some British experience? His mom needs to slap him some smarts!
Guys playing for a sorry EPL team is better than playing in MLS, for the simple reason that if you’re starting or at least getting minutes on a consistant basis, hen you are challenging yourself against the best!
You gotta look at it from the players perspective, we don’t even know if the league will start as normally expected and planned. There could be a work stoppage, and honelstly by your own admission some of those teams aren’t the strongest, I’ve watched some of the games for Blackburn and Burnley lately, I doubt Stuart Holden can’t compete and win minutes away from some of those guys!
If they didn’t have Landin maybe they would of made Stu the DP but who knows?
Hey Adu might be coming back, if anyone can straighten him out and get the most of out of him going into his 20’s is Dominic Kinnear.
I would move on as if he wasn’t coming back at all, and if he doesn, no biggie, you got options now!
I’m with Edwin. Dom needs to pursue Freddy A.
If Dom is looking for a guy that might be a problem in the locker room and might not give 100% effort in practice then Freddy is his guy.
Glenn, you alluded to (or called) it being very “agent-driven” with Holden a few weeks back I think and the fact that at as we hit the transfer window his only concrete offer is a Burnley trial tells me that many of the previous reports were very wrong or the agent overplayed his hand. Although I suppose he knows that he has a Dynamo offer that would still be good in 30 days.
I am very surprised that a trial at Burnley would be the best offer – it seems if SPL squads were interested and some Championship sides but as rumors of EPL deals started going, those squads publicly (I believe Aberdeen at least) dropped out.
Burnley doesn’t seem like the ideal situation to start out in if you have the choice, but maybe there aren’t any better choices. I have no doubt he can make a squad, but will he play first team football?
Here’s the only thing that I think Holden does owe the Dynamo – a clear answer on his real intentions. We don’t need another Ngwenya situation where everyone hopes he comes back and we beg him to come back and he just isn’t doing it. If Holden is set on Europe, then good luck and Houston should still retain his rights (under current rules). He’s been a great asset to the squad and community and no one will begrudge him the opportunity to make bigger dollars in England. But the Dynamo need to start moving on deals and finding players to replenish the squad and not hold out that $300-$400,000 in cap space for Holden if he is likely gone and I don’t think it is real unfair for them to get an answer now.
\”If Dom is looking for a guy that might be a problem in the locker room and might not give 100% effort in practice then Freddy is his guy.”
I still haven’t figured out why everyone seems to be down on Freddy Adu, especially when compared to Stuart, when talking about his work ethic. He hasn’t played in the States for close to three years, and it’s unlikely consistent news reports were received here that accurately described the man or his ethic.
There are some major glaring differences between the two, though. Freddy scored his first MLS goal in 2004 at the age of 14 [after having been scouted by Sir Alex Ferguson/ManU ["I think so, he's only young but we have known of him for a long time. We tried to get him here some years ago but he signed for DC United and that stopped the progress of us keeping tabs on him."]] and helped DCU win the Cup that year, he’s captained the U-20 MNT in 2007, and played for the US in 5 international youth tournaments. And while he’s bounced around since arriving in Europe, he’s apparently sought after enough to keep landing in teams there [instead of being told to pack his bags and get on the plane to his Mom's house]. And he’s just turned 20.
Stuart, while consistently being touted as EPL-experienced [or EPL-bound], never played a game for Sunderland due to the fan attack. He never graduated from Clemson [perhaps due to the same immaturity and/or drive as Freddy], and has 11 int’l caps as a US youth. Yes, he’s shown creativity and flair when playing for the USMNT, but I saw only sporadic glimpes of that at Robertson this past year. Stu’s 4 years older than Freddy…
Give me the young kid who has extensive MLS cup experience, experience in playing in both the Portugese and French leagues [and now the Greek]if he’s interested – I don’t know how being coached under Dom could be a bad thing – Dom seems to have little patience for prima donna’s [Kei Kamara ?] and slack work ethics. We need the attacking midfielder now more than ever with Rico and Stu’s imminent departure. Who better to be on the backheel of a Landin or Ching pass ?
Correction – it’s Eddie Johnson going to eat lamb and baclava, not Freddy.
I don’t think the MLS is an option for Adu right now:
Adu reveals decision is between Hull and Aris
http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2010/01/adu-reveals-decision-is-between-hull-and-aris.html#comments
Freddy Adu is ultra overrated and he is not 20 or 21. The rumors of the guy being actually 4 years older than stated were probably true. He come from an area where birth certificates are not common place and his baptismal record serves as birth record (same as some places in Latin America). He was a phenom at 14 because he was a 19 year old playing against 14 year olds. His work ethic never developed because he did not need it to develop while playing all those years as an adult against youth players.
He signed with DC United under the veil of being the next Pele!?!? Please, Pele was playing for Brazil in the World Cup at 17 and scoring goals in WC Finals. That was blasphemous. Adu could not carry Pele’s shoe strings if he tried. He is much smaller than Pele and his ability to take on players is pathetic. He has not matured because of all of the hype and he has not come down from that cloud. If all of the reports of his work ethic are true, he would die in the Houston heat and produce absolutely nothing. Ask Dalglish, Akinbiyi, Landin, Thompson, etc., what the Houston heat does for you. If you are not able to work to get fit for the heat bath, you are done.
Adu needs playing time to become an OK player. He languishes on European benches and learns nothing. He needs to go somewhere where he will play and learn to be a real pro.
Wow, Carlos. That’s some kind of hate you got working there. Not real sure where it stems from…
Carlos I heard the exact same bogus arguments of Adu being older, from a guy that was raised in El Salvador none the less, mainly because of his hate towards MLS and the bias of some coaches towards small or non traditional “Athletic like European” players.
So I ask you the same thing I asked him, when he was taking on people at DC United his 1st 2 seasons even if by your logic he was 19 or 20, he was still doing sick things to great teams and players at MLS level, I saw him tear up Juventus in a frienldy and the Juventus coach himself admitted Adu was a player.
Against Argentina and England in New York and Wembley he showed he can play with the best.
At Benfica when the coach who brought him on and the GM who also wanted him there he did good when he was on, but the whole loan spells did not work out!
Look up videos of Adu on his 1st 2 years, not even going to get into the U-20’s and U-17’s Cups since you are sure that he is not his age, but look at last year’s Olympic games, he tore up that squad!
He got himself 2 yellows along with Michael Bradley being the unexperienced players they are but he tore it up vs players that were not that much younger than him and by then everybody is already at an adult kind of shape.
The kid can play man, and I mount all of your comments to very ill-advised hate towards the kid, yeah he’s been stupid for not working harder if the rumors are true of him not working hard but some of that is the people around him’s fault, now that he’s 20 hopefully is time to grow up and realize you were overhyped and handled incorrectly!
I have no doubt if he came to MLS and started he would still dominate!
Would he struggle with the weather in Houston? Probably like most people.
I’ll give you that, nobody likes Houston weather, that is why so many people dread the thought of ever living there, among other things the wrong Cowboy/Ranch perceptions and what not, the heat in TX is known to be horrible.
But I recall him playing well in Dallas and in the Midwest in the summer.
Why is it that you think he is older? Did he ever seem very tall or strong or over developed physically as a teen? I played baseball against players from Panama and Caribean teams that were not 14 or 15 as they claimed but you could tell because of size, strenght and obvious signs that they’d gone thru adolescence and puberty!
Adu was very small and his face was always very child like, even if he was 24 he has done a lot more than most players in the US do, if he came back to the States and succeeded he’d do a lot more than others?
I’m not saying he’s ideal but does it sound so illogical to consider the guy for Houston or MLS for that matter that you must go on some weird argument about how he’s not the age he claims?
I wonder what you’re background is Carlos? If it’s Latina and Central American then it’s just plain funny, that would be 2 men of similar backgrounds that make the same claim about him and from completely different cities in the US