Arsenal America

By Geoff Przekop

During the post-season, many of us will turn our attention to other leagues in progress, such as the 2003 MLS season or the 2003 Mexican Apertura when it starts in late August. Any football fan will need to find their football fix somewhere on their televisions or in their bars for the next few months and Dream Team just doesn’t cut it.

Whatever competitions you may be watching, whatever players you will be rooting for, any passionate fan will find themselves drifting off to a magical, sometimes torturous land where rumor and speculation are kings and queens. Arsene Wenger to Real Madrid? What about David Seaman retiring? And why the hell didn’t we make a bid for Tim Howard? Speculation is a drug we chose to take to fill the often slow and boring off-season, even with the heartaches and headaches it brings afterwards.

Recently, I was speaking with one of my fellow co-workers, a devoted Arsenal fan, and he mentioned that we should get rid of the aging and underachieving Seaman. What we couldn’t figure out was, besides Tim Howard, who looks like a good deal that could fill our troubled posts? Since we both are involved in MLS, we ran the gamut of keepers and not a single one seemed fitting.

Keepers in MLS are easily split into two different categories: those who will to stay in MLS such as the Chicago Fire’s Zach Thornton and NY/NJ MetroStars’ Tony Meola and those who would rather move overseas. Usually, after three or four seasons in MLS, an MLS bound keeper will tend to get a bit thick around the sides and a bit slower to pounce on a goal bound ball.

Dallas Burn’s DJ Countess, D.C. United’s Nick Rimando and maybe even L.A. Galaxy’s Kevin Hartmann all look to be decent, world class keepers and maybe a move to Europe would awaken the real performer in each of them.

Try as we might, we spent more time shooting down each other’s opinions and left ourselves with nothing in a very short amount of time. Each keeper has his brilliant moments, but they also have disappointing ones and those always seem a lot easier to remember. Then we turned our attention overseas where transfers and possible deals for a good, low cost keeper got a bit cloudy and hard to imagine. Paul Jones? No, too old. Who then? Cue the Tylenol.

After Seaman’s 1000th game in the FA Cup final against Southampton and that brilliant save on Paul Peschisolido’s header, it’s hard to find fault with the man. But, no matter how ingenious a player might seem one day, it’s hard to justify that he should remain with the club the next day when age and speed begin rapidly decreasing.

I’m not much of a rumor spreader. In fact, I’m usually one of the more skeptical people I know when it comes to football. So, wild speculation is not my cup of tea. Somehow, I enevitably find myself arguing over what third string defender we should relase or who would be a suitable replacement for Henry if he decides to leave. Very easily, I get drawn into it.

That being said, I know that somewhere, in the back of my mind, I couldn’t do without the strains of the off-season. I couldn’t live for long without checking the message boards and the headlines, watching for the next transfer or the next possible disappointment. I couldn’t even take the friendly games lightly (to beat both Rangers and Celtic would be a beautiful thing). That somewhere is where the spirit and passion of the game rests and it never seems complete without it.

This off season, I will be watching my Chicago Fire run rampant through MLS and hope for another double, no matter what the odds-makers may say. I know that this season, touted as a rebuilding season for the Fire by so many, will be filled with new line-ups, young talent and untested players and the heartaches and headaches will be enough to satisfy me for the Premier League off-season so that I may return to do it all over again, emotionally unstable, but overflowing with unbridled enthusiasm.