The Dynamo did not even play the true 11-a-side game seen around the world. Instead, they played a 5v5 indoor game more akin to hockey – walls and penalty boxes included – that was the only professional soccer in the US after the collapse of the North American Soccer League. The Dynamo played in the National Professional Soccer League, but for all I knew at the time, it was as good as the Champions League.

When MLS came along in 1996, I had learned enough about the world game to be embarrassed by my previous infatuation with the Dayton Dynamo. I had, in fact, become something of a soccer snob and held my nose at Americanizations such as having the clock count down on the scoreboard and hockey-style shootouts to break ties. But the opportunity to watch true professional outdoor soccer was enough for me to hold my nose at its silly “innovations.”

I was at the first Columbus Crew game and can still recall Bo Oshonyi’s long punt to Brian McBride, which the then unknown striker put away with aplomb (the American football-sized field made such a goal easier). My soccer-watching diet was getting better. The modest meal of early MLS was dramatically better than the scraps that were the NPSL, but I knew others were eating five-course meals, and I wanted at least a taste.

For that, I would have to wait until 1997. During the first half of that year, I was an exchange student in Costa Rica. Even before I left, I had circled the date on the calendar when the US would play the Ticos in a qualifier in the capital, San Jose. March 23, 2007, come hell or high water, I would be at Saprissa Stadium.

They didn't quite get David's name right.

A few weeks before the game, tickets went on sale. I had heard that demand would be fierce and so I skipped school and headed to the stadium. I arrived to find a long line that included many scalpers. As I fretted in line for several hours, a reporter for Costa Rica’s largest newspaper La Nación approached me and asked if he could interview me. I said sure and we talked about my strong desire to see the game. I was quoted in the paper the next day saying, “I’m from Ohio and the national team never plays there” (this was before the building of Crew Stadium).

And though I have no memory of this now, I apparently also told the reporter that if I couldn’t get tickets at the stadium, I would go to the American embassy to ask if they could help me (little good that would have done me). After nearly half a day of waiting, I gave in and paid a scalper the equivalent of $70 for two tickets to the game, an astronomical mark-up of the face value. I was slightly embarrassed at having paid so much for the tickets, but at least I was going to the game!

When game day finally arrived, I approached the Saprissa Stadium feeling proud of my special status as a ticket holder only to find that scalpers had had trouble selling their wares and tickets were going for far less than what I had paid. Ignorant gringo that I was, I didn’t realize that the game was taking place during Holy Week, a period during which many Costa Ricans head out of town. The lack of demand meant that ticket prices plummeted on game day, by kick-off going for around $1 a piece.

I entered the stadium along with an exchange student friend of mine and we realized that our seats would leave us all alone in a stadium full of Costa Ricans, most of whom seemed friendly (but then, the game hadn’t started yet). Seeing some other American fans across the way, we sweet-talked the stewards into letting us into that section. We may have been a small group (50 at the most), but we were excited, passionate in our support of the US national team.

Roy Lassiter

Pre-game was mostly filled with Costa Rican fans taunting American forward Roy Lassiter with chants of “Lassiter ladrón.” Lassiter had played in Costa Rica for several years, during which time he had apparently not paid his taxes (a la Diego Maradona), a fact that the authorities reminded him of on his return to the country with the national team. Other American players were “greeted” to Costa Rica with bags of urine and batteries hurled at their heads.

The game itself is mostly a blur in my mind. I seem to recall that it was exciting, and indeed it must have been, as it finished 3-2 to the Costa Ricans. Mostly, I remember the atmosphere. It was incredible to witness the noise as the players came onto the field. The roar of the crowd was deafening and the confetti they threw on the field turned it from green to white. Throughout the game, the entire stadium sang in unison: “Vamos, vamos los ticos. Que esta tarde tenemos que ganar” (“Let’s go, let’s go Ticos. Today we must win”). We American fans got chuckles of approval from neighboring fans when we substituted gringos for Ticos and sang along with them.

The general level of English instruction in Costa Rican schools is comically bad, but there is one word that nearly everyone in the country – or at least nearly everyone in the stadium that day – knows: sorry. Showers of “sorry, sorry, sorry” rained down on me and my fellow Americans as we left the stadium, but we had the good humor to laugh along with our taunters. We waved to fans who smiled at us as they practiced their English on us. In many ways, I think it’s for the best that Costa Rica won; I’m not sure how friendly the fans would have been if they had not.

I left the stadium that March day with a lighter wallet than should have been the case, but much richer in terms of soccer experience. I saw first-hand the passion that drives fans in Costa Rica, and throughout the world. It is an infectious passion, and I was sickened that day. I have yet to recover.

David Keyes writes the Culture of Soccer blog, thankfully now back after a long hiatus.

Big Story
The American soccer blogosphere has been getting very hot and bothered in the past week, prompted by Jason Davis at Match Fit USA’s tongue-in-cheek post questioning Columbus’ suitability for remaining in MLS, following poor attendance in their last playoff game: a mere 10,109 showed up at Crew Stadium last week to see the defending champions crash out to Real Salt Lake. Davis wrote, “Columbus had its shot, and I guess you could call it a decent fourteen year run; but it’s better to get out too early than too late, and all of those empty seats at Crew Stadium during a crucial playoff match only confirms that the time to get out is now.”

Match Fit USA has since clarified he was not being entirely serious about moving the Crew making some pertinent points about franchising and community, while Fake Sigi sums up the analysis well in a laconic but well-argued piece yesterday, concluding that “given the context, I don’t think MLS fans should overly concern themselves with the attendance at Crew Stadium. The team is young, the fan base is passionate and growing, it has an iconic stadium and a stable ownership group that has committed to the city. The idea that the Crew are holding back MLS or are a symbol of stagnation doesn’t hold water at all.”

As a Fire fan I have very little sympathy for the Crew and their much touted and absurdly comical “Hudson Street Hooligans”, but we are as ever opposed to the concept of moving teams (I know, I’ll keep hammering it) and as Fake Sigi points out, there are teams with equally big problems if we want to start pointing fingers. The quality of play the Crew has put on the field the past two years really makes any valid concerns about attendance little to worry about from an objective perspective for the league, as ten more Scheletto-driven teams would do wonders for MLS where it matters most: on the field (that is, until your coach decides to bench your best player and you end up out of the playoffs).

Worldwide News

• Following the Football Association’s decision to impose a two game touchline ban on Alex Ferguson for his derisory comments about referee Alan Wiley’s performance and fitness, many are questioning how much protection referees are receiving for abuse, just a year after the FA’s high-profile “Respect” campaign was launched with such fanfare. In the Times, Nick Szczepanik says the ruling undermines referees, as “The two-match touchline ban imposed on Ferguson for criticizing the fitness of Alan Wiley sends a comforting message to the Manchester United manager from the footballing authorities: ‘Carry on as normal – you are more or less above the law as far as we are concerned’.”  Ferguson is now facing the prospect of legal action for his allegedly defamatory comments, as an incensed referees’ union considers direct action.
• du Nord has more on the tense Egypt-Algeria game, which has already broken out into fan violence with the Algerian team bus attacked upon arrival in Cairo.
• Newcastle United’s Supporters’ Trust are moving ahead with their project to purchase the club, and have refused a meeting with the club’s managing director, Derek Llambias, saying “Deals in smoke-filled rooms will not be part of our negotiations.”  Fair enough, but refusing to even meet and report back on whatever nonsense Llambias cooks up is a potential public relations mistake, allowing the club to paint the Trust as intransigent.  Though at this point, perhaps such intransigence is indeed justified.
• Ahead of Ireland’s World Cup playoff match against France, a serious diplomatic dispute has broken out over a box for the French president at Croke Park.

The Sweeper appears daily. For more rambling and links throughout the day every day, follow your editor Tom Dunmore @pitchinvasion on Twitter.

Big Story
What is it acceptable for fans to chant at football matches? I (hope!) we can all agree there are clearly some things that should always be out of bounds anywhere in the world, such as racist chanting/abuse, and some countries (hello, Italy and Spain) have more work to do than others. But what about what might be considered simply abusive or offensive chanting and behaviour?  Where should the line be drawn?  This year, it seems we’ve seen more instances than ever of players in direct confrontation with fans, from David Beckham in LA to Craig Bellamy and Emmanuel Adebayor in Manchester.

The Football Association announced today its own plans to tackle “hostile and abusive” chanting.  Beyond technically illegal chanting, FA chief executive Ian Watmore wants to eradicate “what I think of as vile chanting. We in football should think about ways in which we can exorcise that from the game — but without glorifying it — because it puts the average person off.”

A similar situation was also brought up yesterday in MLS: the Columbus Crew’s President & General Manager Mark McCullers wrote an open letter to Crew fans in the Nordecke section of the stadium, asking them to desist from chanting that he said “compromises our repuation and cannot be tolerated.”  McCullers said Crew fans were damaging relations with sponsors and putting off other fans, a similar tack taken by Watmore.

Neither executive offered any serious idea of (a) how we go about defining what needs to be eradicated; and (b) how to actually do this. What do you think?  Is the situation worse than ever? (cue a discussion about the moral decline of Western Civilisation. . .)

Worldwide News

• Speaking of Columbus, The Olympian looks at ten years of MLS’ first soccer-specific-stadium: Crew Stadium, built by Lamar Hunt to help keep the Crew in Columbus. The cheap tin-can design is hardly the Home Depot Center, but its significance in even having been built remains.
• The latest addition to the U.S.’s World Cup Bid Committee isn’t a famous name, but he is a heavyweight whose global clout cannot be underestimated: Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Walt Disney Company. Disney, of course, own ABC and ESPN, and this probably is the most powerful media executive in the sports world.
• The mess at Portsmouth goes on. New owner Sulaiman Al Fahim (admitted to hospital yesterday for kidney stones) is getting all the bad press, with chief executive Peter Storrie attempting to portray himself as a white knight — which, as we discussed in the comments here yesterday, is hard to stomach given Storrie has presided over the mess at Portsmouth for quite a while now.
• When Phil Scolari ended up managing at shady Bunyodkor in Uzbekistan last year, the press had plenty of positive buzz about it. Twelve months later, Big Phil is facing the sack again: but he’ll hardly be crying, as the highest paid manager in the world, he will have to make-do with a £12m pay-off. Just don’t think about where that money came from, Phil (there may be a few blood stains).

The Sweeper appears daily. For more rambling and links throughout the day every day, follow your editor Tom Dunmore @pitchinvasion on Twitter.

The 1998 Chicago Fire MLS Cup and US Open Cup championship team included many talented hard working players with good character including Piotr Nowak, Frank Klopas, Lubos Kubik, Chris Armas, Diego Gutierrez, CJ Brown and Jesse Marsch.

Last week we discussed the keys to assembling and retaining good personnel for a successful front office.  This week, we will take a similar look at building and retaining a successful team in Major League Soccer on the field.

MLS’ strict salary budgets, weighted lotteries, drafts and allocations have made it a very difficult league to stay near the top or the bottom of the standings for long stretches.  Incompetent, lazy or ignorant decision making can certainly make the latter an exception to the rule, but staying on top requires the right combination of several factors including a little bit of luck.

This column will focus on retaining a strong core, but I do want to mention a few keys to assembling a strong team in the first place.  As in the construction of a front office, the key to assembling a good soccer team is to surround yourself with talented, hard working people with good character.  Include players you have worked with personally or are recommended by people you know and trust.

Experience Mix – While the senior living 2009 Los Angeles Galaxy is doing its best to prove me wrong, I believe that a successful MLS team needs to have a balance of young and veteran players.

Once assembled, retaining a good roster is just as important as putting the roster together in the first place. The following are ways to retain a good roster:

Fair Compensation – It is very important to reward young players who outperform their initial contracts with offers for a new contract at a higher salary in exchange for an extended commitment to the team.  It sounds simple, but too many teams take advantage of young players who outperform their low end contracts, refuse to renegotiate and then lose them on a free transfer once the options run out in four years.

Rewarding these players not only retains the services of your most talented young players, it also sends the right message to their teammates and players throughout the League that yours is a team that treats players well.

After the Fire  won MLS Cup and the US Open Cup as an expansion team in 1998, we were faced with the decision to either exercise all the options and bring most of the same players back at 3% increases. . .or we could extend the contracts while rewarding many of the young players who outperformed their meager contracts like Chris Armas, CJ Brown, Diego Gutierrez, Zach Thornton and Jesse Marsch.  By taking care of this young core of the team, we kept them together, allowed them to grow together and compete for and win championships for the next eight seasons.  It meant that under the strict salary budget, we couldn’t afford to keep some of the older players like Francis Okaroh, Lubos Kubik, Frank Klopas, Roman Kosecki or Jerzy Podbrozny more than one or two more seasons, but the future was in the young core.

When running a team, it’s not always easy to even know what it is the club is doing that’s working to retain players.  So I thought I’d ask one of the veterans of those Fire years.  Here is a first person account from Diego Gutierrez, one of the players who experienced the process first hand as an expansion pick by the Fire from Kansas City in 1998:

I remember the early Fire years as some of the best in my career.  It is important for the coaching staff as well as the management team to create an atmosphere where players not only feel part of things, but also feel like they are part of something special.  That was the case with our Fire teams of ’98, ’99, 2000, and 2001.  Those teams had a number of guys who had come together and had morphed into a band of brothers, a group that would win together and lose together.  We knew about each other’s business, as much as it is healthy of course.  We knew about each other’s families, our aches, our pains and our joys.  If there was a birthday, a wedding, a loss of a loved one… our locker-room was special…We shared much more than just a place to play.  We brought our families together, and we all became identified by the crest.

Retired Chicago Fire veteran Diego Gutierrez says "It is important for the coaching staff as well as the management team to create an atmosphere where players not only feel part of things, but also feel like they are part of something special."

All of this was tremendously important when it came time to do new deals.  If somebody had a great contract, we got happy for them.  We just knew that by helping the team succeed and succeed collectively, in the end our individual turns would come.  I had the opportunity to make a couple of jumps and explore Europe in the prime of my career… but I have to tell you… I was happy that my young family was content and thriving under the circumstances at that time.  Money was important, but not as important as my wife’s happiness and the tranquility of playing in the place that I loved.  There are many reasons for players to want to test the market (mainly financial), but in reality if you are happy, if you are developing and growing as a player and you have no issues with what you take home, well, it’s tough to argue with that.

In time my turn came, I got my bigger contracts, but I feel like I had the best of everything.  I remained with a group of guys that I loved, we won constantly, and I absolutely loved going to work.  That is the way it is supposed to be.  Peter and Bob created a working environment where honesty and sincerity were paramount, they were the foundation of everything we did.  It kept the place sacred, it kept doubt from ever penetrating anything we did.  If a guy was frustrated with playing time, we talked it over, put it on the table and dealt with it.  As a player, you can’t ask for more.  If your coach and your President/GM are bringing in the right people, they are honest with you and you know where you stand, there are no obstacles for you to go out and do your best.  I think it is safe to say that you play your best when you have peace of mind.  By our results, I think you can judge we were all pretty much at peace.  But if you let those frustrations and doubts into the dressing room that’s when issues start appearing and the whole thing starts to crack.

US National Team Coach Bob Bradley's communication skills are an important part of the success he's enjoyed throughout his coaching career.

Diego’s comments are very generous to me as the training environment was certainly much more Bob Bradley’s doing than mine.  Here are some of the things Bob did well that helped us keep our core together:

Regular Communication – Bob Bradley is a great example of the importance of effective communication with both a team and with individual players.  He is very clear in his messaging and makes certain every person involved with the team knows their role within the team including trainers, doctors, administrators and equipment managers. Bob speaks with individual players regularly to give them a chance to understand what they need to do to contribute to the team and to improve. He does the same to the group as a whole, so everyone is on the same page.  He keeps any team issues in house and creates an all for one mentality.

Reward Players For Success – Players who work hard in training during the week and are successful in training need to be rewarded with increased roles on game day.  Besides being a good indicator of helping out the team when it matters, rewarding good training efforts sends the right message to the rest of the team that they must prove themselves every day.

Respect All Players – Favoritism to certain players or using certain players as whipping boys does nothing to build team chemistry and can easily fracture the delicate balance of a team.

Transparency, Trust and Responsibility – Those same concepts that are critical to building a team culture in a front office are critical to building a good environment for the on field team as well.

The Importance of Keeping the Core

The most successful teams are those that keep the core of the team around for long stretches.  A consistent roster maintains the culture and of course creates connections on the field.  Several teams come to mind: DC United, New England, Houston/San Jose, Columbus and Chicago.  Not coincidentally, these same five teams are the top five teams in MLS regular season points both the last five years and the last seven years.

Here’s a chart of the top five team’s point totals the last five seasons:

Here’s a list of the coaches (in bold) and players they’ve been able to retain for the last five seasons (and four of last five years in italics):

Each of the five most successful teams has retained at least one member of its coaching staff and a core of at least six players over the last four years.  On the other hand, none of the five worst performing non-expansion MLS teams has retained a single coach or more than five players for each of the last five seasons.  Here is the current list of the four and five year coaches and players with the five worst performing non-expansion teams:

The theory that teams that are able to retain their coaches and core players are the ones that succeed can, of course, be explained away by saying that it is the success itself that causes the teams to retain their coaches and players, and teams that aren’t successful to fire their coaches and get rid of their players.  There is certainly much truth to that, but the above charts also make one think that even the worst teams would benefit by being more patient with their better players and coaches.

An example is the 2005 MetroStars who elected to give up on Bob Bradley in his third year as MetroStars Head Coach.  More patience might have given them the following as a base to build on in 2006 and beyond:

Instead, a couple years later, the likes of Bob Bradley, Eddie Gaven, Ante Razov, Michael Bradley, Amado Guevara and Tim Ward became names like Mo Johnston, Dane Richards, Dema Kovalenko, Danny O’Rourke,  Edson Buddle and Chris Henderson.  And then a couple years later, all of those players except Richards were replaced by other names.  Marvelle Wynne and Jozy Altidore were added as draft picks, but of course later Jozy and Michael were sold to European clubs and Marvelle was traded to Toronto.  A case can be made that the new players individually were or were not better than those they replaced, but I believe the turnover itself prevents the team from building cohesion as a unit.

Would New York have added to their trophy case in 2006 through 2008 if they had held on to Bob Bradley, Eddie Gaven, Tim Ward, Ante Razov and Amado Guevara and added Wynne, Altidore, Juan Pablo Angel and others?  In theory they would also have included Seth Stammler, Carlos Mendes, Mike Magee and Jeff Parke.  Ante and Amado are obviously past their prime now, but in 2006 and 2007 they could still be impact players.  I’m certainly biased, because of my friendship with Bob, but it really seems that a little patience would’ve been rewarded in that case and I suspect in others as well.

I think the main lesson is the importance of retaining the core of your team and many of the points above can help a team achieve that.

Peter Wilt writes weekly for Pitch Invasion

Overall, I’d say there’s more variety than in past years, and Adidas have thankfully toned down the wavy stripe obsession from 2007 (see the 2007 versions here). What do you think, and which ones are the best and worst?

Kansas City Wizards, Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes

DC United, New England Revolution, Chivas USA

New York Red Bulls, Columbus Crew, Chicago Fire

FC Dallas and Houston Dynamo