Fulham USA: US Supporters club of Fulham FC

Lowering My Expectations

So, the thing about the NASL is that the majority of their matches are on Saturday evenings. The thing about Saturday evenings is that, even on a very slow month, I have gigs on two of them. And so it is that I finally made it out to beautiful Toyota Field to watch the Scorps [who should really have been named Alamo City FC] play some Canadian side. For those of us who don't know, the NASL is around USL 1.5 level – that is probably English League 2 level. I don't expect Premier League or even MLS quality, so I can enjoy the game … depending, of course.

It was a lovely night for football. The pitch was well groomed – although I think it should have been watered before the match. Of course, this being the USA, the pitch belonged to everyone and his second cousin before kickoff. There'll be a nasty email to Scorpions Leadership about having the colors brought on to the pitch a good 15 minutes before kickoff. While HatterMom and myself stood at attention...

I work with some serious sports fans. Serious sports fans that, for reasons beyond my understanding, don’t care much for soccer. Over the years, I’d come into work on Monday, sharing excitedly news of Clint Dempsey racking up the goals (side note…weren’t those the days) or Tim Howard’s exploits, or Michael Bradley’s, and I’d meet blank stares. I’d try to explain promotion and relegation, or explain why I was taking vacation days to watch Europa League matches, or detail the process of qualifying for the World Cup. They’d listen with the requisite level of common courtesy, but I long ago gave up trying to truly convert them. They just weren’t soccer guys…But they know Landon Donovan. And it’s not just because we live in L.A. It’s because LD may well be the first superstar the United States has ever produced.

Of course, much has been made of his failed early ventures in Europe and his seeming unwillingness to give it another full-time try later in his career. And then there was the...

No fewer than eight Fulham players made their first-team debut today at Portman Road as Fulham played their first match in the second tier of English football for 13years. With so many new players playing in a new league with a fairly new manager, it was to be expected that there would be some rough spots in Fulham's first competitive match.
And there were.With Burgess and Parker appearingto be responsible for supporting the defense, and David and Hyndman setting up as the attacking portion of the midfield, it was clear that only one pairing was working as planned. David looked especially lively early on, playing with confidence and no little style. Hyndman looked competent and made good use of space to keep himself open. Having said that, it was the connection with Parker/Burgess and the new CB pairing of Budurov and Hutchinson that never quite clicked over the 90 minutes.
Although he was to be faulted for...