A Weekend Without Action

By: Prederick | February 17th, 2008

Or much news, for that matter. Despite Dave Kitson’s very, shall we say, “opinionated” stance on participating in the FA Cup, watching Bristol and Barnsley advance does make a supporter wish that they were having the same experience. The loudmouths who make up TalkSport’s Saturday morning programming may not be good for much, but they do have a point when they say that a trip to Wembley lasts forever, a 16th-place finish no-one remembers. Such a sentiment is 100% true…

…in 1983.

The sheer, crushing power of the economics of the game today make it more important for teams in the bottom half to keep their coffers filled with Premiership money than the glory of the FA Cup. Sure, I’d like it to be more equal, but it’s not, and if you’re offering me Premiership survival or just a chance at a FA Cup… I’ll take Premiership survival. Even if the long-term hope (prayer, really) of breaking up the “Big Four” is turning into more and more of a pipe dream as the years pass.

So what news of Reading then? Well, trawling the ever-reliable tabloids provides one interesting snippet.

Reading to make move for Jozy Altidore

Reading manager Steve Coppell will move for Red Bulls New York striker Jozy Altidore, 18, but Real Madrid are also keen on him.

I’d really like to extrapolate further on this for you all, but these being transfer rumors (Lies), there’s every chance that this is, at best, a pipe dream. It does seem a little odd to see Reading being mentioned in the same breath as Real Madrid in any transfer news. Both teams may have heard of Jozy, I very much doubt either will be making a move.

However, since i’m a colossal homer for pretty much all things U.S. Soccer/Football/what-have-you, let’s pretend that Reading is chasing Jozy. And let’s assume they manage to get him, that the move won’t happen until this summer, and that Reading stay up. While I’d really, really like to see Jozy succeed, I think we can all agree that the MLS isn’t anywhere near the level of the Premiership. Outside of the net, Americans have had a hard go of it in top-level leagues around the world, with a few exceptions like Steve Cherundolo, Brian McBride and Claudio Reyna. Clint Dempsey’s been here and there for Fulham (he’s always looked a step off the pace, to me) and Benny Feilhaber and Eddie Lewis are essentially screwed.

Strikers from around the world have a hard time adjusting to the pace and power of the Premiership. I think Jozy has the physical tools to do it, but technically, I don’t know yet. It seems, to me, like a year in the Championship, playing for a side challenging for promotion would be best for him (and Eddie Johnson) to learn, then to come up and try to make the cut in the Premiership. Problematically, for him to do that and go to Reading, Reading have to get relegated.

Would he be a better option than Lita, Kitson or Doyle? Hard to say, Lita’s been injured most of the year, while Doyle and Kitson have done as well as you’d expect for a team that are staring relegation in the face. But considering how futile looking to the lower leagues for talent has been for English clubs, an American might as well get his crack at it.