Guardiola was furious after losing to MLS All-Stars last night. He shouldn’t have been.
Jon Levy
1. We say it all the time, the MLS is a fast and physical league, that’s probably its biggest single strength right now. Y’know what fast and physical means sometimes? Collisions. In games, in practices, and even in All-Star Games. Collisions sometimes so violent that they cause national team teammates to go hard at each other (looking at All-Stars Clint, DeAndre, and Omar here). With all that in mind, can you really complain about a grand total of two “out of line” fouls committed by Johnson and Alonso? C’mon now, they’re the likeliest of culprits.
2. Another familiar MLS refrain that’s on often found on this site and our Twitter feed – “As the MLS continually improves, it’s getting more and more comparable to the English Championship.” But we do always include the caveat that the ‘Ship still edges MLS on skill. Hmm, pretty appropriate then that a former Championship striker busted out an amazing shot off a deft touch for the All-Star’s first goal. It was always going to be Bradley Wright-Phillips? Sure, why not.
3. Landon Donovan caring. The common refrain on Mr. Donovan is that he’s not the same player he was, and that’s true. The reason he isn’t is where the debate is more interesting. The thinking here is that it’s mostly about “want to”, or Donovan being motivated. What better motivation for Landon than a big stage against a big club that let him go? Add in Klinsmann’s ties to Bayern Munich and well… perfect Lando-storm.
So in conclusion, the staff here at The Yanks Are Coming are collectively smarter than Pep Guardiola, and no, we will not shake his hand.
Jon Levy is Co-Founder of The Yanks Are Coming. He can be reached at jon.f.levy@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter at @TYAC_Jon.