An interesting email came in:
Andrea,
Gullit won't last more than a season in LA.
He's a larger than life character, very outspoken and with an ego to match his stature as
one of the best players of the past two decades.
He was a much, much better player than Beckham and infinitely better than that loudmouth Lalas, so you know who'll be governor of LA.
Don't be surprised if Ruud benches both Beckham and your favorite player Donovan.
He's very capable of doing that. Just ask Allan Shearer at Newcastle.
Gullit was outstanding at Chelsea but was ultimately sacked for bringing in too many Black players. At one point up to seven of his starting line-up was Black. The official line was that he had a falling out with the chairman over his contract demands. But Gullit denied that.
Ditto at Feyernoord where Solomon Kalou first flourished . Too many Black players by the former Dreadlocked icon cost him his job.
How do I know this? I'm African and know players who played for Ruud, who dedicated his 1987 World Player of the Year award to the then incarcerated Nelson Mandela.
Ruud is a Dutch freethinker who's not beholden to anyone.
Remember how he walked out on the Dutch squad on the eve of the 1994 World Cup finals? He won't suffer fools (read Lalas) easily.
LA is about to become a very exciting place!
I hope he puts Lalas in his place when he tries to meddle in team affairs. Damn, I wish we could get Findley back. I'm still bitter about that trade. My hope is that when Lalas tries to boss him around, Ruud turns the media, which we know will be both national and international. AEG will look bad firing one of the best European players in order to please Lalas. I hope Lalas is out of MLS by this time next year. I don't even wish him on Houston, the other AEG team. Lalas is bad for American soccer, period.
ReplyDeletePlease stop with the "Ruud" headlines.
ReplyDeleteplease keep the Ruud headlines going.
ReplyDeleteIs there any other source that can support this idea that Ruud has suffered b/c he champions black players?
Thanks for posting that e-mail. Very interesting.
I find the e-mailer's optimism at the end kind of refreshing and I like the idea that Gullit is willing to play whoever is the most talented.
ReplyDeleteI can't say that I agree with the supposition that Beckham and Donovan might find themselves benched. In place of who? It's not like benching Wayne Rooney and bringing on Tevez or Saha. Heck, it's not even like benching Andy Dorman for Wells Thompson. You bench Donovan in favor of... Quavas Kirk? Umm, no.
Frankly, it's not like the Galaxy need that kind of accountability anyway. What they need is someone who can teach them tactical futbol instead of the punt-and-run crap we got last year.
Can Gullit do that? I don't know. If he wants to play total futbol he's going to have to.
And the first person he should call to talk it over with is Juan Carlos Osario.
LA is about to become a very exciting place!
ReplyDeleteThat's good - it was so quiet and dull here before.
Yours Truly,
ReplyDeleteClarence Seedorf
When Chelsea played Schalke this week, there were five black players in the starting lineup (Alex, Essien, Makelele, Malouda, Drogba), and a sixth was subbed in (Mikel).
ReplyDeleteThe previous weekend against Wigan, the lineup included six black players: Alex, Essien, Malouda, Mikel, Wright-Phillips, Drogba.
Is Grant in danger of getting fired for playing too many blacks...?
I don't think that Gullit will have any problems regarding black players. First, AEG isn't racist; Leiweke will use and abuse anybody, regardless of race, creed or color. Second, Gullit has to deal with a salary cap and restrictions on "senior internationals" that he didn't have in Europe.
ReplyDeleteIf Gullit is the type to offend management, then AEG deserves him. AEG deserves to be offended, since they're so offensive to fans, players and media. I would love to see a blowup between Gullit and Lalas the Lyrical Liar. We know whom Leiweke (or is it Lie-weke) would side with -- and it's not soccer's version of Bozo the Clown (red hair and all that), either.