WE ARE BACK IN BUSINESS ON THE BLOG!!!

It has been one painful Hertha BSC season since we maintained this footballing blog and we think it is time for it to return since the public no doubt demands it.

So tell us in your comments below what you want on this blog and we'll deliver - be it MLS talk, Hertha BSC updates, Jurgen Klinsmann analysis and even a breakdown of a Jozy Altidore goal - heck even a shot on target by the big fellow.

The blog is back!!!

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!

Well football fans, the dream has come true. They said it couldn't be done but results this weekend have cemented that Hertha BSC Berlin - the official German football club of sports information powerhouse STATS LLC - has cemented top-flight status for the Bundesliga 2014-15 season!

The boys from Berlin secured a point that wasn't even needed in Saturday's 0-0 borefest of a draw with Augsburg that stretched the club's winless streak to nine matches in a row. Hertha are the worst team in the Bundesliga since the start of 2014 with a paltry and truly pathetic 10 points.

But let's focus on the positives here and that is that first-division football will remain in the nation's capital after it was absent two of the three previous seasons. Sure there are concerns, such as screwball American defender John Brook's tattoo and the loss of top scorer Adrian Ramos to Dortmund.

Those are topics for another day. For now, it's party time at one of the world's famous clubs, provided you can get by the bouncers. Here's a tip: wear your Hertha BSC jersey and they will let you right in!

A WILD NIGHT IN THE GROUP OF DEATH

SORTING OUT THE TIEBREAKING CHAOS IN GROUP F

Anyone who watched Tuesday's pulsating encounter between Dortmund and Napoli were treated to the best that Europe can offer. BVB's 3-1 win leaves them and the Italian side with nine points apiece while group leaders Arsenal top the table with 12 points.

What is interesting is the three-team scenario in which all teams could finish on 12, which would mark the first time a team with that many points wouldn't go through to the knockout rounds. That's why Dortmund was looking for a two-goal victory entering this contest since they know a win on Matchday 6 in Marseille guarantees themselves qualification.                                                                                                      

That's because the three-team scenario involves a mini-table among the tied teams. So a 1-0 Dortmund victory on Tuesday coupled with a 3-1 victory for Napoli on Matchday 6 over Arsenal would have meant elimination for last year's runner-up.                                                                                                      

However, once Dortmund went up 2-0 it wasn't a disaster to concede and only go on to win 2-1. Why? As boss Jurgen Klopp said, "It was obvious that the team lost their assurance when Napoli pulled it back to 2-1. They didn't realise that the goal actually had no effect on our situation. However, they started to attack again."                                                                                                                                          

Why did it have no effect on the situation?  Well had the match finished 2-1, Dortmund would have  finished the 4-team head-to-head with 5 goals scored and 5 conceded. That meant that a 2-0 Napoli win on Matchday 6 would have eliminated Arsenal of all teams since Napoli would have scored 5 and conceded 5 in the head-to-heads and Arsenal would be at 4 apiece. With goal difference equal, Arsenal would have been out on goals scored in those matches.                                                                        

Had Dortmund won 2-1 on Tuesday, even a 3-1 Napoli win would have eliminated Arsenal. In this scenario, Napoli would have scored 6 and conceded 6 in the head-to-head and Arsenal would be at 5 apiece, but Dortmund would pip Arsenal on the basis of away goals in these games (3 to 2).  Are you following all of that?                                                                                                                              
                       
If you are not, don't be alarmed. Klopp laid out the scenarios to his team Monday, but when Napoli made it 2-1, there was confusion by the players as to whether the result would have been good enough. The answer?  At 2-1, it probably was enough since only a two-goal win by Napoli on Matchday 6 by scores of 4-2 or higher could have knocked Dortmund out.                                                                                                          
This became a moot point for BVB once Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a third goal. But what that goal really did was make Napoli's hill that much steeper against Arsenal. As I outlined before, a 2-0 or 3-1 win would have been enough before for Napoli, but now they must beat the Gunners by three.
         
It's a bizarre situation and Arsenal must be grateful to Aubameyang for a goal that made their lives much easier.            

MLS: A 'great little league'

American soccer star Steve Cherundolo made some fans in this country upset when he called MLS a great 'little league' recently. The superstar is deciding in May whether to finish his illustrious career - one that is unsurpassed by just about every American ever to play the game- in MLS. It's definitely an interesting decision for a man dubbed the 'Mayor of Hannover' who has been with his German club his entire career and has seen it rise from the Zweite Liga into European competition.

It got this blog thinking about what is wrong with MLS and whether it could be fixed. So here are five suggestions to fix this 'little league.'

1. Stop trying to compete in the CONCACAF Champions League.

Look we get it the Champions League is the pinnacle of the sport, but that's in UEFA where the concept works. Trying to duplicate it in CONCACAF, which can't run anything properly to begin with, is a serious mistake. Making Kansas City travel to Honduras and LA Galaxy go to El Salvador during the MLS season is foolish. These games are atrocious and hurts the product of MLS, which hasn't developed enough to handle this. And MLS gets smashed apart by the Mexican teams when it counts anyway. Please make this competition stop.

2. Marketing stars doesn't work in this sport since we don't have many, if any.

So earlier this season, Landon Donovan and the LA Galaxy were set to meet Clint Dempsey and the Seattle Sounders in a star-studded matchup. Only neither one showed up. Look I get that injuries happen but stop trying to market prima donna players like Donovan, who has been around forever. Soccer is a team sport, Jason Kreis is doing wonders with Real Salt Lake on an annual basis and all we hear about is Donovan and Dempsey - who by the way are both out of the playoffs.Make the team the star like in American football if only because we can stop pretending that MLS players are world superstars. They are not.

3. Fix your ridiculous playoff system.

I know that the system seems to change every year - who can forget the Western Conference champion New York Red Bulls or the Eastern Conference champion Colorado Rapids?  But can't you idiots in charge use the away goals like every other competition in the sport? The Red Bulls go up 2-0 in Houston and have to settle for a draw so normally they would have a big advantage but no, your stupid system means that a 1-1 result in the second leg sends the tie to extra time.  I have yet to see a credible answer as to why away goals is not in use and can only assume it is because Americans running the sport are complete idiots. And don't tell me the League Cup semis don't use away goals - never use England as a model for anything except losing in cricket!

4. Add transparency to league transactions.

One of the stupidest parts about the Dempsey-to-Seattle saga was how MLS apparently told Toronto it could not sign him because the league wanted Dempsey in an American market.  Are you kidding me? Does it really matter to an American soccer fan whether Dempsey is playing in Seattle or Toronto? How is that fair to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver then in the future since Canada stinks at football and will never produce a single player of note. I don't mind if the best players want to choose their destination, that's what happens in Europe all the time. But if MLS has a system in place for player acquisitions, the league should honor it.

5. Tell the Steve Cherundolos of the world no thanks if they want big bucks.

I love 'Dolo and he's truly a U.S. great but he isn't worth some kind of big-money deal at this point in his career. Truthfully, why he would even want to tarnish such a great footballing career with a token MLS appearance is beyond me. I would like to see less of guys my age coming over from Europe to make a few extra bucks and more of younger players - of any and all nationalities - getting a chance to play. Now that is happening in MLS to some degree but I think an emphasis needs to be put on developing talent rather than has-beens who won't be able to hack the demands of constant plane travel in MLS.

Do you have any suggestions to fix the top-flight football league in the United States? Post them below, I am sure this list is much too short.

Clash of the Titans!

After an uninspiring week of Champions League that featured beatdown after beatdown after pathetic beatdown, it's time to return our attention to domestic play this week and there is no better place to start than with the best team in all of football, FC Bayern Munich.

The Bavarians used a modest 35-0 advantage in shots to destroy Czech foes Viktoria Plzen.  Star Arjen Robben said afterward: “We played well, but Plzen didn’t make it hard for us. We’ll soon face more difficult opponents.”

Well that time is Saturday at the Allianz Arena against another team holding a Champions League place in fourth-place Hertha BSC - the team that hails from the capital of Berlin and that is also the official German club of United States-based sports information powerhouse STATS, where several employees proudly display Hertha memorabilia.

The Berliners have been praised by none other than Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who predicts a more competitive affair than Wednesday. Hertha manager Jos Luhukay, known best among American fans for previous coaching U.S. superstar Michael Bradley, has instituted an airtight defense that has shipped the third-fewest goals in the country and features ex-Bayern 'keeper Thomas Kraft.

On attack, Hertha are dangerous thanks to the 'Tunisian terrors' - Sami Allagui and Anis Ben-Hatira - while Bayern feature European player of the year Franck Ribery and other big-name players too numerous to list.

The Bayern camp have been surprisingly respectful about their opponents this week, with Pep Guardiola saying he is 'surprised' by Hertha's strong start.

It figures to be an interesting matchup and one that should live up to its billing as more competitive than Wednesday.

Prediction:   Bayern Munich 3, Hertha BSC 0

The truth about Jermaine Jones

So the United States has said that Jermaine Jones will be available for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers this month against Jamaica and Panama. This came after the Schalke 04 madman told German rag BILD that he would be out at least a month due to knee surgery after the club suspended him from Tuesday's Champions League trip to Basel. Jones later retracted that claim on Twitter, but Schalke chairman Clemens Tonnies was said to be furious. 

In any case, it is clear that the lunatic Jones has has no future at Schalke, according to the Rheinische Post. As usual, these are troubled times at Schalke, who have six points from two European matches but just eight from seven in Germany to languish in 14th place - fitting for a club that has gone through 14 coaches in the last decade with Jens Keller currently occupying the hot seat.

Some are suggesting Jones is a scapegoat for Schalke, but here's some food for thought about what the darling of US coach Jurgen Klinsmann is doing for his club.

Jones has started five of seven league games for Schalke. The Royal Blues have surrendered 16 goals in those starts. The other two matches, you ask? Clean sheets against Leverkusen (one of the league's highest scoring teams) and Mainz. It goes without saying that had Jones started every league match Schalke would have shipped the most goals in Germany - a direct reflection on what a 'destroyer' like Jones is supposed to prevent.

No, Jones has earned his place on the bench on merit and if he is in the team this weekend, don't expect him to start. What this means for the United States national team remains to be seen, but you can be rest assured that Klinsmann will figure something out since he has masterminded some of this country's greatest footballing moments.

The Mats Hummels debate

This week's most notable Champions League clash figures to be Wednesday night's showdown between Borussia Dortmund and Napoli  Both clubs are currently on top of their respective domestic leagues with 100 percent records.

The match also puts the spotlight on Dortmund's Mats Hummels, who was dropped by Jogi Loew last week as Germany predictably cruised past Austria and Faroe Islands in World Cup qualifying. Jerome Boateng took his place in central defence.

While the German public hailed the clean sheets that haven't been happening under Loew's watch, the folks at Dortmund understandably haven't been happy to see their best defender treated as a whipping boy. Hummels was called 'Loser of the Week' by one publication and Dortmund are not happy about it.

Jurgen Klopp lashed out at Hummels' critics, cheekily saying that “The central defence worked really well against the Faroe Islands. I am delighted.”

Still, Klopp's words aside, it's fair to question Hummels not just this year but in years past as well. Just this past weekend, Hummels lost track of Heiko Westermann for a Hamburg equaliser in a match Dortmund eventually won 6-2.  Hummels didn't exactly look confident on that play, and seasoned followers remember critical errors two seasons ago in the Champions League and even in last year's campaign for the finalists. 

Which brings us to Wednesday night, when Hummels will step into a cauldron at the Stadio San Paolo against a Napoli side that has one of the best triumvirates in world football with Marek Hamsik, Gonzalo Higuain and Jose Maria Callejon combining for nine goals in three matches for the best attack in Italian football. Napoli aren't exactly hurting for confidence.

Now the BVB defence could be without captain and defensive midfielder Sebastian Kehl, meaning the spotlight will shine even more on Hummels. Whether he steps up to the challenge could determine how much faith Loew has in him down the road.