GOAT? WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN

It is with great sadness that one of the greatest football supporters in the world today has announced his retirement. A man who spent his childhood in Italy dreaming about the Azzurri, Kobe Bryant will no longer play basketball. The former superstar is shooting 30.5 percent for the NBA's worst mark this season.

What is not as publicized is that basketball is not his favourite sport. Bryant famously told the world that football is his favourite sport. It's just that as the son of a former NBA star, it was easier for him to excel in a lesser-known sport rather than compete with the world's best. Knowing he couldn't play football at the highest level, he had no choice but to play some easier game.

The American chose to avoid watching Jurgen Klinsmann's team at last year's World Cup, instead watching Germany play Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal. It was a wise decision to watch the champions since he is a great champion. Kobe also supports local squad LA Galaxy in MLS.

The world has reacted to the news favourably, and LeBron James' most recent Tweet after the news broke congratulated the legend.

As for this blog, we wish Bryant had become a football star in the United States but we know better than to ever expect a world superstar in the beautiful game.

Drogba: MLS is tougher than the Premier League!!

Didier Drogba, the former Chelsea great who also played for this team and is currently playing overseas with the Montreal Impact of MLS has caused a sensation.  The superstar has claimed that playing in the league consisting of teams in the United States and Canada - two footballing minnows - is tougher than the famed English Premier League.

Said Drogba: "Believe me, it's more difficult than playing in the Premier League because of the travel. You can stay at an airport for three or four hours if you miss your flight, so that is what is really leveling the game."

It's an amazing claim that professional footballers in the U.S. and Canada are missing flights and spending three or four hours in airports in order to make the game level and a real shame for the MLS. Drogba also praised the players - at least some of them.

"There are not a lot of away wins because when the teams arrive they are tired," he said. "There are also some very good players in the league."

So there you have it, the validation football fans in Canada and the States have waited for - Drogba says the MLS is tougher than the Premier League.

In other Drogba news, he plans to take over as Chelsea manager once Jose Mourinho is gone.

Tell us your thoughts below!

Happy Europa League action!!!

The Thanksgiving holiday is upon us and IMOTGP wants to wish all of the loyal followers of the blog a great day of food, feasting and football.

That's right, it's a Thanksgiving tradition to watch Europa League football on this holiday with some eggnog stuffing and turkey and bread. Whether it's Lazio's home game with a tricky Dnipro side or a closed door-fixture between Napoli and Brugge, you are sure to find the match to tickle your taste buds.

Daniel Sturridge may return for Jurgen Klopp's side in one tasty affair while Celtic have faint hopes of going through.

You can watch Tottenham in Azerbaijan  or watch the Bundesliga and La Liga match up as Bilbao visit Augsburg.  Skenderbeu Korce is in action in Turkey and Lech Poznan visit Belenenses, one of Freddy Adu's former teams.   

Schalke have promised the fans a display to remember against APOEL and Molde host Fenerbahce and RVP. There's also  PAOK-Gabala, Marseille-Groningen and FC Basel hosting Fiorentina. The men from Basel host the final so they have added incentive. 

So don't eat too much but feel free to take in more than your fair share of Europa League, with Fox Soccer providing free match highlights, courtesy of this blog!
 

East Coast Pizza tops the list!

We here at IMOTGP like to inject some pop culture into our site, much like other successful sites on the internet.

So it comes to us as news that the venerable web site the Daily Meal has come out with its list of the top 35 pizzerias. Thirty of the top 35 pizzerias are from the East coast, with 19 from New York alone. Since this blog is based in the Midwest, this news pains us but we can't argue with the Daily Meal and begrudgingly accept that the East coast is successful.

What do you think?

We endorse Pareja for the United States!

Now that the international break is over, we can focus on some of the biggest matches in world football - the MLS playoffs. There are other important matches but we figure the MLS matches will be closer.

There are many candidates for the hopefully soon-to-be vacant United States coaching job and one of the hot names is FC Dallas coach Oscar Pareja.  He knows the United States soccer system inside and out and has led FCD to the brink of playing for MLS Cup. You can watch their match with Portland tomorrow on FS1.

Pareja has drawn raves from local reporters for how he has built a championship contender. Well it turns out there is no mystery. It turns out that hard work, dedication and a commitment to a youth program, as reported by the Guardian are the secrets. Pareja is a huge believer in U.S. Soccer.

“Americans need to believe in Americans,” Dallas coach Oscar Pareja says as he stands in a hallway outside the team’s locker room one day this week. “And it has to be real. We have talent here, we have players who can do it and there are many on the staff who say we are better than many other countries. Is it the future? For sure, but we have to believe that.”

Pareja is right, though he is wrong since we should believe in a certain Colombian. We need to believe in people that understand how the sport is played in this country. We here at IMOTGP endorse him as the next U.S. national team coach. Get rid of the pariah and bring in Pareja. Oh, and somebody alert this loser.

Problem solved!!

So that'll shut up the misinformed United States football public, which knows nothing about the game. Coach Jurgen Klinsmann has been criticized by people who know very little about the sport. Well the "greatest coach in U.S. history" has proved his doubters wrong with a beating of two opponents - St. Vincent and the Grenadines to start America's quest for the World Cup on Friday.

In front of a sellout crowd in venerable St. Louis, star striker Jozy Altidore scored twice and Darlington Nagbe and some Science major at a Silicon Valley college got into the game. The 6-1 scoreline was complete domination and the biggest margin in the CONCACAF region.

Klinsmann says that the U.S. can expect to reach the 2018 World Cup semifinals. Well who can doubt him now after this tactical masterclass? This result lightened his mood so much that he offered up a two-part interview to U.S. soccer about how he achieves so much. Part I is here. Part II of his insightful wizardry is here. Had we scored eight maybe we would have been treated to a three-part series so consider it a missed opportunity!

It can be said that the seeds for our World Cup glory began Friday night. Did you attend the match? What impressed you the most about our football? Leave your comments below!

Ronaldo: I won't play in loser leagues in the U.S., Qatar or Dubai

None other that Cristiano Ronaldo did a recent interview and was asked about his playing future. He made it clear that MLS is not an option.

It seems Ronaldo wants to end his career “with dignity” and not by playing in “the United States, Qatar or Dubai." 

So that about sums it up. The cocky Ronaldo does not want any part of MLS in a country that just thrashed two teams in one match in World Cup qualifying. 

As one astute commenter put it, "MLS is still pretty poor. Still the butt end of jokes and a laughing stock. The games are so low on quality and it's like watching ping pong or volleyball. The ball is constantly being played north to south, very little build up play, poor in possession, the ball given away cheaply and it just repeats. The team that does it less wins generally. They try to not play hoof ball but they'd better off because they have no quality or ability to play a proper game of football so they just go front to back and give the ball up. Long long way to go for MLS. And I'm in Toronto so I'm not a total outsider."

Donovan: Dempsey should be on U.S. roster

The great Landon Donovan, the catalyst to our last success in football - the much-coveted 2013 Gold Cup title that we all cherish - has come out firing again against the greatest United States person ever, Jurgen Klinsmann.

Donovan told Goal.com that Clint Dempsey should be on the national team for this critical World Cup matchup with two opponents - St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

"Only Jurgen really knows that or maybe Clint but if I’m the manager, I want Clint to be part of what we’re doing – period, end of story. Maybe if it’s a friendly game that’s different and you can start to look at other players but in a World Cup qualifier, there’s no room for error. This round of qualifying on paper isn’t as difficult as the final round of qualifying but there are only six games. If you throw away a game or two games you might not even advance to the next round.

"I didn’t agree with it. I think most of the U.S. soccer community didn’t agree with it. But it is what it is. Clint accepted it and did a good job at least publicly of dealing with it, but I would still want him on my team. If I’m a guy in that camp, I’m saying ‘I want Clint on this team.’"

Donovan also hinted that he has started playing some pickup games.  Should he unretire? Should he try to become U.S. coach? Leave your comments below.

Is Arsenal the Team Everyone Should Root For?

It's not often at this blog that we praise the English Premier League but there is good reason to do so now. Because Arsene Wenger, the man who has been hailed for his coaching acumen by many in the game, chose to discuss something equally as important as football recently.

Wenger wished all the Gunners faithful in India a Happy Diwali, noting his admiration for India and Mahatma Gandhi. Left unsaid but implied was praise from Wenger for the greatness of the Indian cricket team - known as the "world's most popular sports team."

In addition, the entire Arsenal Football Club chose to wish all its supporters a Happy Diwali with the following entertaining YouTube video:

This development begs this question about Arsenal. Is this the team everyone should root for? You can leave your comments below this Indian fan.

She roots for Arsenal!

Welcome back St. Louis to top-class soccer!

We here at the IMOTGP blog know that the entire United States is focused on the events going on in Missouri. OK maybe not not those events but rather this - the start of the World Cup for our beloved United States team!

That's right, the Cup that we will soon be a contender for thanks to the coaching wizardry of Jurgen Klinsmann will be up for grabs starting this Friday when the U.S. hosts two opponents at once - St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The unknown opponents feature a superstar who couldn't hack it at cricket so he decided to take up football instead since trying to beat India in cricket would be too difficult for him anyway.

It's up to Klinsmann to try to slow down Tevin Slater and the rest of the Grenades, as they are affectionately known to supporters who call them that.

A rabid pro-U.S. crowd is expected for this spectacle at Busch Stadium, home of the world's second-best professional baseball team.  St. Louis hasn't hosted a U.S. match since 1997.

It's a city with plenty of great soccer history, where players such as Hertha BSC's Vedad Ibisevic, English professional superstar Calum Angus (Google him) and the United States' own Tim Ream all played college soccer/football.

Credit Klinsmann for invoking the great history of United States soccer in deciding to play in St. Louis.  He said: “I think the entire team is excited to go to St. Louis and play a World Cup qualifier in this very, very historic city. Go back to the 1950 World Cup and beating England, I think there were five players that came out of St. Louis at that time and representing the United States." 

Klinsmann proved that he gets it, he understands our history and actually, he should switch to becoming U.S. Soccer historian in the opinion of this blog.

Anyway we salute and congratulate the city of St. Louis as you look forward to watching the United States win the World Cup on Friday.  IMOTGP is guaranteeing a victory behind a Klinsmann coaching masterclass!

Jerome and the jiggaman!

We here at IMOTGP like to bring you some off-the-wall football stories and this is certainly one of them. None other than Bayern Munich's Jerome Boateng himself is best pals with the greatest entertainer in the history of the world - rap and fashion mogul Jay-Z. The BBC did this splendid story of the friendship between two men who are at the top of their respective games.

It turns out that Jay's Roc Nation is trying to market Boateng to the American audience. Roc Nation has other top sports clients like baseball's Robinson Cano and American football's Geno Smith.

That means Boateng can dial up Jay-Z, Beyonce, Cano or Smith anytime he wants for career advice. Boateng grew up in Berlin's rough-and-tumble Wedding district  - where your author once played some street football. This alliance paves the way for him to eventually join MLS and become an overpaid bum here in the States.