Every so often a pundit comes along who sees the game with such clarity, it becomes impossible to ignore their force of conviction. One such pundit is Twitter sensation @USASoccerGuy and he has run the rule over the A-League in an exclusive interview for The Roar.
Soccer Guy, thank you for speaking to The Roar, how are you?
Well first up, I gotta say thanks for giving me this great opportunity to speak to you guys. Being a country that is pretty lame at the sport, I can see why you’re asking an expert such as me and I’m truly honoured.
Okay. So do you know much about Australian football?
Err, not much buddy. But I know as a nation you guys get pretty pumped for sport. I heard off some guys on Twitter that you’re playing Britain right now in that crazy game of baseball you guys got.
You mean the Ashes?
Yeah, that’s it! I cannot believe that you get so excited about trying to win the ashes of a bunch of dead guys. It’s pretty insane, but kinda cute.
Ah, okay. Anyway, let’s take a look at the A-League. What did you make of the result between the Mariners and Victory on Friday night?
Actually I thought it was kinda, y’know, ironic. You got one franchise playing called the ‘Victory’ and they made a tie! With a franchise name like that they should be the winningest franchise in the entire world. It was pretty funny. But yeah, the soccer match finished knotted at zeros. I’m pretty sure that if either franchise had made the score, it would have not finished like that.
Moving on, have you been surprised by the immediate success of the Western Sydney Wanderers?
To be honest, any franchise could go win this soccer league, so the Westside Wonders recent soccer has not been too much of a surprise to me. They are a franchise with an awesome history and their experiences are really helping their soccer right now.
You know the Wanderers were only formed in 2012?
Erm, yeah… sure. Anyway, you gonna ask anymore questions?
Okay, what about Emile Heskey? He turned down offers elsewhere to sign for the Newcastle Jets. Is there an England recall in sight?
Although he is pretty awesome, I think England Soccer Club are doing pretty good without him right now so I guess he should just forget that right now.
What about Tim Cahill, you must have seen him for New York Red Bulls? How has his career gone since making the move to New York City?
Well yeah, as far as soccer players go, he is pretty great. I think he has coped amazingly well with the step up from Evertown, his English EPL League franchise, to the MLS. With that guy on your roster, you know you’re gonna get awesome soccer plays.
Adam Taggart has been on fire this season. Is he the next Freddy Adu?
Freddy Adu is a guy that is champion. Although his soccer career is not going to great right now, he is still a champion at life. I think even if Taggart turns out to be real bad at soccer, he should follow the example that Adu has set.
Perth Glory recently signed William Gallas. Why?
Having watched this guy do his soccer for a bunch of EPL League franchises, he offers some real nice defence. That said, he’s pretty old now so he’s probably just trying to get some money.
Both the A-League and Major League Soccer are up-and-coming leagues. How would you rate them on the world stage?
Clearly, the MLS is a world famous soccer league all around the world and provides other leagues such as the Australian EPL with an example to go follow.
Thanks a million for speaking to The Roar. Maybe our paths will cross in Brazil?
Hey, thanks so much. I hope you guys in Australia are kicked by a humongous soccer cleat of love when you get to that World Soccer Cup!
Alessandro Vari
Roar Pro
http://www.theroar.com.au/2013/11/14/why-americas-development-is-a-blueprint-for-australian-football/ called it! ;)
dozydose
Guest
Obviously no 'HA!' tag as it isnt a humorous article.. ;)
eric
Guest
Go Manchester Unity!!!!!
Evan Askew
Guest
So I checked out USAsccerguy, ndoe martin Yolo getting fired at soccer cottage mean that Martin Jol got fired from Fullham?
realfootball
Guest
We need a what???
Cameron Kellett
Guest
Yet I asked the question of where is the 'HA!' tag and my comment gets removed. At least I know I am not alone in thinking.
gawa
Guest
Haha Mike, US Soccerguy has some brilliant t shirts. Definitely worth checking out.
mahonjt
Guest
I love US Soccer Guy. I have no idea why. I just get a giggle no matter how long his does this stuff.
pete4
Guest
One area I think the USA is way ahead of us is the level of investment they are putting into the game. Albeit with a much larger population but some of the stadiums in the works are impressive. Was looking at this the other day the New York Cosmos playing in the NASL (2nd division) are proposing: http://cosmosstadium.com/
Andyroo
Guest
This is a family site. Trying to stay away from the "X" stuff.
Matt F
Roar Guru
I think the major reason for the poor reaction to the article is a lack of context. Having had no idea of who @USAsoccerguy was, this article seemed like an absolute shocker when I first read it. Having now discovered what @USAsoccerguy actually does, I can now appreciate what Mike was at least trying to do, even if I still don't find it terribly funny. I also think the headline was a bit misleading which didn't help matters, though that's probably not Mike's fault. When I clicked on the article I though it was going to be an in depth analysis of why the A-League should look at the MLS when clearly it was never going to be anything like that. I'm assuming The Roar have removed the 'HA!' tag?
Freddie
Guest
Egample? Pot, kettle.
Matt F
Roar Guru
From my observations, there seem to be 4 main ways which articles get lots of comments. 1. The article is on a topical, big issue that generates discussion e.g. the articles about the Heart from a few weeks ago or the Jonathan Trott issue from cricket. 2. Code War articles, which are just sad but they do rake in the comments. 3. Ones where the comments have gone off on their own tangent and no longer have anything to do with the actual article e.g. someone posting TV ratings or crowd figures when the article has nothing to do with TV or crowd figures, not that that's necessarily a bad thing. Though it can also be because of code war trolling comment which is a bad thing 4. The writer themselves. Some long standing writers on here have built up a reputation where people will seek out their articles. For example, I'd argue that if this article was written by someone else it would have fewer comments
langou
Roar Guru
I enjoyed it. Nice change of pace. I read it as a satirical take on what it's like to follow football in a country that has other priorities. Some of it actually reminded me of some of the conversations I have had with my non-soccer following mates.
Cameron
Roar Guru
The view count is, but not until it hits a much higher target now, about 5,000. As for the articles some of us seek, no one has ever really commented on weekends. You're lucky if you get more than 10. Fantastic if you get 50+. Maybe if our experts wrote about proper football issues. Those more educated about football can start to talk about those topics we seek. We can't always hijack someones article and ruin it with irrelevant discussion.
Andyroo
Guest
I think this was a great idea. The execution was just a little off for mine. Some of the grammar mistakes are more Evil Kagawa style than Soccer Guy Style. Egample "Freddy Adu is a guy that is champion." "is champion" rather than "is a champion", I think some grammar mistakes suit US soccer guy but not on something so tame. If he is going to leave out the "a" then it should be because he has replaced it with something like "totally".
AZ_RBB
Guest
http://www.theroar.com.au/2013/12/02/chelsea-and-man-city-close-on-arsenal/ - article on last night's EPL http://www.theroar.com.au/2013/12/02/roar-stay-top-while-heart-beats-again/ - review of the round http://www.theroar.com.au/2013/12/02/aloisis-heart-fight-back-in-thriller/ - Heart v Adelaide http://www.theroar.com.au/2013/12/01/arsenal-seven-points-clear-in-epl/ - more EPL combined total of 6 comments. this article has tripled that. The view count isn't public anymore so number of comments is the next best indicator of popularity and interest.
Cameron Kellett
Guest
He did say read Az.
Justin Thighm
Roar Guru
Yo, I think some people are taking this article a bit too seriously, maybe from the damage of goal head kicks. You need a humongous soccer cleat of love guys.
AZ_RBB
Guest
everyone seems to complain about the lack of football-match related articles. yet the few that are actually about games hardly have any comments at all. the live blogs go quiet after full time as well.