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NOTEBOOK
Metros coach sees improvement
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
BY FRANK GIASE
Star-Ledger Staff
Despite leading Major League Soccer in goals, the MetroStars never found a consistency to their game, and when the goals didn't come in the playoffs, the season ended pretty quickly.
"It's certainly disappointing to end in the first round," MetroStars coach Bob Bradley said yesterday. "I think we made progress this year, but it didn't show in the results."
Or the record. Last year, the MetroStars finished 11-10-9 and also lost in the first round of the playoffs. This year's record was 11-12-7.
The growth, Bradley insists, was in the development of the young players, particularly midfielders Eddie Gaven and Ricardo Clark and defender Jeff Parke.
"They competed on a higher level," Bradley said. "We were a young team and we had our moments, but it's about results and trying to win a championship."
Despite back-to-back 2-0 losses to D.C. United in the playoffs, Bradley felt the final scores weren't indicative of the closeness of the series.
In the playoff opener, the second goal, which came late in the match, changed the strategy for the second leg, and when a goal didn't come early Saturday night in Washington, the MetroStars had to press forward more than Bradley would have liked, and that opened up the back for two late United goals.
Bradley said the defense, which allowed an MLS-high 49 goals, played much better in the second half of the season.
"The first half of the season we allowed too many goals," Bradley said. "The frustration is that we look at the second half of the year and we tightened up defensively. In the second 15 matches, we had three shutouts and nine games where we only gave up one goal. That's solid improvement, and yet we had that occasional game where we made mistakes and paid for them.
"You improve as your players grow and get more experience. We're not where we want to be, but we'll be there."
DOWN TO FOUR
There is still debate on how much home-field advantage there is in the first round of the MLS playoffs, where the lower seed is the host in the home-and-home series opener, but home field could be the deciding factor in the conference finals this weekend. Each conference title will be decided by a single game.
Both the Wizards, who play host to the Galaxy Friday night, and D.C. United, home to the Revolution Saturday night, dominated the regular-season series against their opponents, each winning twice and tying twice.
The Revs are the only remaining team that has yet to win a championship.
ROLE REVERSAL
Tim Howard now knows what it's like to be his backup.
When Howard was Manchester United's starting goalkeeper last season, he didn't play in minor tournaments such as the League Cup, where big clubs usually play their reserves.
Last week, Howard, now backup to Roy Carroll, started in United's 3-0 League Cup victory over Crewe.
"(Not starting) has not knocked my confidence," Howard said in a recent issue of the club's fan magazine. "I have self-belief. I just get on with things. There is no use complaining. No one listens anyway.
"Obviously we all want to be in the starting 11 and I will keep plugging away. I prepare physically and mentally as if I am the No. 1."
TIMELESS TRIO
Retirement is getting closer for Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Joy Fawcett.
Hamm and Foudy will make their final New Jersey appearance tomorrow night when the U.S. women's national team plays Denmark at 7:30 at Giants Stadium. The match is the eighth in the 10-game tour celebrating the team's Olympic gold-medal-winning performance.
Fawcett will not play due to an injury.
The tour continues Saturday at 4 p.m. against Denmark in Philadelphia and will conclude Dec. 8 against Mexico at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.
WORLD NOTES
Sigi Schmid, fired as Galaxy coach in August, is the new U.S. Under-20 coach. ... Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger signed a three-year contract extention through the 2007-08 season. ... Reports out of Brazil claim doctors warned Sao Caetano defender Serginho four months ago that his rugged lifestyle as an athlete was not compatible with his heart anomaly. Serginho died from heart failure during a match last week....
Scotland coach Berti Vogts resigned yesterday, citing fan abuse as the chief reason. ... Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse, the club's $25 million off-season signing, had surgery Sunday for a double fracture of his left leg and will miss the rest of the season. ... Andy Johnson's eighth goal of the season gave Crystal Palace a 1-0 victory over Birmingham. Johnson has scored one more goal than the entire Birmingham team has in 11 games. ... Malmo FF won the Swedish League title Saturday....
U.S. national team forward Conor Casey scored his first Bundesliga goal, but Mainz lost to Wolfsburg, 4-3, Saturday. ... Arsenal, which had its 49-game unbeaten streak snapped last week, is now winless in two games after Saturday's 2-2 tie with Southampton. Arsenal eked out the draw thanks to a last-minute goal by Robin van Persie. ... Brazilian forward Rivaldo scored his first two goals for Olympiakos in a 5-1 victory over PAOK....
Former Welsh national team forward Ian Rush is a candidate for the Wales coaching job. ... Chelsea has terminated the contract of Adrian Mutu after the forward tested positive for cocaine. ... Belgian national team captain Bart Goor has been suspended for five games for spitting toward an opponent in the team's 2-0 World Cup qualifying loss to Spain Oct. 9. ... Barcelona, Villarreal, Valencia, Zaragoza and Espanyol all lost to lower division teams in the first round of Spain's Copa del Rey....
Manchester United forward Ruud van Nistelrooy has been suspended for three games for a serious foul during last week's victory over Arsenal. ... Borussia Moenchengladbach fired coach Holger Fach. ... Real Madrid forward Raul Gonzalez recently played his 500th match with the club. ... Forward Nuno Gomes recently scored his 100th goal for Benfica. ... West Bromwich Albion fired coach Gary Megson. ... Middlesbrough midfielder Gaizka Mendieta is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury....
A North Carolina federal judge has dismissed a 6-year-old sexual harassment lawsuit filed by former North Carolina player Melissa Jennings against former UNC coach Anson Dorrance. ... Big games this week: AC Milan vs. Roma, Barcelona vs. Deportivo de La Coruna, Chelsea vs. Everton, Boca Juniors vs. River Plate.
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