McBride to Stay, Friedel Drops One, Palermo Returns

El Luchador’s highlights from the Weekend:

• Crew all-time goal co-leader Brian McBride will not be going out on loan to his old EPL club Fulham. We learned this weekend from several sources that McBride’s Chicago Fire would not agree to allow the 36-year-old striker to miss the beginning of the MLS season for the loan.
  
• Former Crew keeper Brad Friedel gave up three goals as Aston Villa suffered a rare away loss going down 3-1 to Everton at Goodison Park in the 5th round of the FA Cup.


• Crew prospect Martin Palermo made his return from injury Saturday for Boca Juniors in a 2-0 loss to Newell's Old Boys. He came in midway through the second half, looked healthy and had a few good touches.


• The Crew beat the U.S. U20 team 3-1 on Saturday (Feb. 14) in Bradenton, Fla, with goals by Guillermo Barros Schelotto (penalty kick 37th Min.), trialist Anthony Peters (74th Min.) and clutch big man Steven Lenhart (89th Min.)


• Former Crew and Fulham midfielder Simon Elliott has been at San Jose's training camp since camp opened.


• Former Crew skipper Sigi Schmid made Goal.com’s quote of the week: After Sounders FC dealt Khano Smith to New York for allocation money on Thursday, Schmid had this to say to the Seattle Times: “I didn't draft him, so you'd have to ask Adrian [Hanauer, Seattle general manager].” “But he thought other teams would be interested in him, and I thought he'd be too inconsistent for us, so as it turns out, we were both right.”

Beckham Out, Friedel Rolls, Palermo On Tap

El Luchador has some shout-outs, observations and predictions:

• David Beckham will never play again for an MLS team. The reports that he is considering staying at AC Milan and not returning to LA are understated. He absolutely is not returning to LA.


• The United States Men’s National Team will defeat Mexico on Feb. 11 at Crew Stadium. The score will be 2-1. Sacha Kljestan will score the first goal. Robbie Rogers will score the second.


• The Crew will find a way to sign Boca Juniors veteran Martin Palermo, through a combination of dropping 1 or two bottom senior roster players, such as Jason Garey, and the undisclosed allocation money that was extorted from Seattle. An excellent analysis of the Crew salary situation is at Crewture.


• Congratulations to former Crew Keeper and Ohio native Brad Friedel who continued his EPL record consecutive appearance streak with his 175th game on Tuesday, a 1-0 shutout victory for Aston Villa over Pompey at Fratton Park. There’s no coverage of this in the Columbus Dispatch and probably never will be.


• There is coverage of a women’s basketball game tonight between Capital and Willmington that will be broadcast on WFCO radio 90.9 FM, according to the Dispatch. Also, there’s a 541-word story in today’s Dispatch about who Jack Hanna thinks will win the Super Bowl.

Aston Villa Worth a Look

With nearly four months to go until the Crew’s home opener, how does a true fan get through the long Ohio winter? Take heart, comrades. Across the pond there’s one club that is worthy of your massive support.

Here are El Luchador’s Top 5 reasons for Ohio soccer fans to support Aston Villa Football Club of the English Premier league:

5. Villa's starting keeper is former Crew star and Cleveland native Brad Friedel. Not only is Friedel one of the greatest keepers in U.S. history and one of the the firsts keeperd for the Crew, at 37, he is one of the oldest players in the EPL, but still one of the sharpest. He is the current holder of the English Premier League record for 167 consecutive appearances.

4. Their No. 2 keeper is also an American, former Chivas USA keeper Brad Guzan, making Villa the only top flight football club anywhere outside of North America with two top keepers from the U.S.

3. It is unclear why, but one of their supporter groups is called “C-Crew.” El Luchador met a couple of these fellows when the Crew played host to Aston Villa in a 3-1 loss at Crew stadium in July 2007. They were a good group for hooligans, especially when compared to the wankers from West Ham who polluted our fair city this summer.

2. Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner is also Villa’s majority owner and CEO. After attending college in England, the Brooklyn native acquired a lifelong passion for the beautiful game. He purchased the Browns in 2002 and took control of the Villans in 2006. The Browns season is over (they suck). Root for their sister club in Birmingham.

1. Villa actually have a chance at hardware yet this season. With the English football season reaching the midpoint, Villa are currently in 5th place, with 25 points in 15 games played. They are only one point behind 4th place Arsenal and three points behind third place Man U. They actually have a chance at their first UEFA Champions League appearance in more than 25 years. Any Crew fan should find it easy to get behind this underdog in their bid to break into the Big Four of English soccer against all odds. Also, they are alive and well in the UEFA Cup and the FA Cup competitions.

So, take El Luchador’s advice: Raise a pint to the Lions of Villa Park.

Long time ago in Birmingham

Eighteen Hundred and Seventy-four

By the light of a gas lamp

This famous club was born

Hark now hear the Villa sing

A club was born that day

Who's name will live for evermore
Aston V I L L A