Earl Howard Medfield, Mass. During the USA-Argentina match on several occasions the U.S. defense was caught very flat. Was the intent to play strict man-to-man, or was Fraser supposed to be sweeping? If the U.S. is to be successful in International play who will direct that defense? I thought Kirovski played a great match and offensively controlled midfield. Ridge Mahoney: Unless the man-markers are supposed to follow their mark all over the field, two defenders — in this case Brown and Agoos — mark whichever forward occupies their side of the field, leaving Fraser free to either pick up another attacker or sweep. I can’t pin all that much blame on Fraser. Thanks to the work of Armas and Reyna, Argentina seldom pierced through the middle. The flanks were another story. Many of the U.S. problems were caused by attacks out wide, on dribbles and diagonal balls, with either a defender or a wide midfielder beaten. It can be dangerous for a sweeper to race out to deal with a wide attacker on the ball unless he’s sure he can win possession or at least slow down the attack long enough for the defenders to re-organize and the midfielders to fill lanes. Usually it is the central defender who directs the defense, but defending at the international level is a complex, volatile blend of instinct and system. Players are constantly shouting to each other as positions and situations change. Many times the keeper is like a traffic reporter, issuing constant updates on where the trouble spots are. Sometimes, it’s pure chaos. I thought Kirovski played fairly well, but I wouldn’t say he played great. He didn’t supply much service to the forwards, seldom did he unlock the defense on the dribble and I can’t say he was all that effective as the playmaker. He tended to drift in and out of the game, which isn’t such a concern if he’s dangerous when he’s on. But his best moments were few and not all that incisive. Of course, he was going up against a pretty good defense. Also, Jones had a poor game in a position that doesn’t suit him at the international level. The U.S. got a great result, yet much like in its win over Brazil last year, would have lost convincingly without Keller. The Germany win was much more impressive in its cohesiveness and control of play. Randy Young Phoenix, Ariz. In a recent article Bruce Arena was talking about the scouting program for Project 2010. Who would be the director of this program and how would they go about finding and hiring these scouts? Mike Woitalla: Sunil Gulati is the managing director of Project 2010. National team head coach Bruce Arena is also U.S. Soccer’s technical director. They are the key figures in developing the scouting network that Soccer America has referred to in several articles over the past few months. Arena has said he doesn’t care what coaching credentials these scouts have as long as they have an eye for talent. Here’s a quote from Arena that appeared in Soccer America earlier this year: “My idea is you create a huge network of scouts. That can’t be done just through ODP, or just through the club system. You’re going to have to bring everybody into the fold.” When Gulati and the Project-2010 board unveiled plans in February in San Francisco, Soccer America reported that the dozens of scouts “would receive monthly stipends, laptop computers and a Nike apparel allotment and be reimbursed for travel costs.” Project 2010 goals, which relate to the talent search, include the establishment of a coaches’ hierarchy (some of which is already in place) that would have: 12 national team coaches; 5 national coaching coordinators; 5 U-14 Coordinators; 24 sub-regional-coaches (men); 24 sub-regional coaches (women); 1 director of coaching. Check out www.us-soccer.com for more information on Project-2010. Dave Kilman Colorado Springs, Colo. I notice that several teams have two or even three Project-40 players assigned to them while Colorado and NY/NJ have none. Does Colorado not want any? This would seem unlikely since Joey DiGiamarino came through Project-40, and they do not take a roster spot. How is assignment determined and why do some teams have three while others have none? Also, how does the league defend the policy of allocating the biggest name foreign players to cities where it can get the biggest ethnic draw? I realize it is about money, but as a Rapids fan it is frustrating to know that the single-entity structure deliberately stacks the deck against my team. Ridge Mahoney: Dave, would it make sense to allocate players to cities that don’t have large corresponding ethnic audiences? The Rapids have turned down several Mexican players, despite the local Mexican-American population of about 250,000. How does single-entity put the Rapids at a disadvantage if they don’t wish to appeal to their ethnic audiences? And, I don’t notice any great swells of Caribbean fans swarming to the new Crew stadium, yet Columbus sought and got Stern John, Ancil Elcock, Andrew Williams, etc. Waldir and Marquinho and Adrian Paz didn’t leave because they didn’t have the right heritage. The club dumped the first two for lack of performance and got rid of Paz when his annual salary bickering became too tiresome. The Project-40 process is complicated and in some cases contradictory. The player’s wishes — they do get a say, you know — and those of the team and the coaches all come into play. The league tries to balance out the allocations, but if a player like Ben Olsen says he’ll only go to D.C., and the league wants to sign him badly enough, that’s where he goes. Also, the league has to sign promising youngsters willing, in most cases, to lurch along in the A-League for $24,000 per year. Some have elected to go back to college, some will wait, some may try Europe. Several teams prefer they play with the Project-40 team, as their chances of playing MLS games are very slim until they improve. You talk as though having a Project-40 player like DiGi make the big club hurts the Rapids. I don’t follow your logic. The Metros and Rapids, like many teams, have traded Project-40 players, and I don’t think whether they have none or three or thirty makes any real difference as to how they fare in MLS. Steve Lavagnino Herndon, Va. I was about to buy a new game ball for my men’s soccer team. What ball is the favorite among Soccer America editors? Mike Woitalla: When I choose a ball, whether to purchase or while choosing a game ball before kickoff, I usually judge it by squeezing, kicking and bouncing it — and I honestly have never noticed if one brand of ball is consistently more satisfactory than another. (My main objection before games is over-inflation, which has nothing to do with ball type.) Some buyers will look for balls manufacturered without exploiting child labor. I believe certain balls are thus labeled. Look for Soccer America‘s Aug. 2 issue, which includes our annual Equipment Guide, which offers extensive information that will make your shopping easier. “Crossbar” South Elgin, Ill. I have noticed that all the MLS teams have sponsors on their game jerseys (e.g. Chicago Fire – All Sport, D.C. United – Mastercard, etc.) except for two teams. Can you tell me first if Kansas City and Miami have game jersey sponsors? If so, why are they not shown and, if not, why does everybody else in the league have them and not these two teams? Ridge Mahoney: SA noted this a couple of months ago. MLS had sponsorship deals with companies like Bandai and AT&T, which have expired, and MLS was unable to replace those sponsorships, which included shirt advertising. As a single-entity league, MLS is able to sign league-wide sponsors and negotitate shirt advertising for individual clubs. This is radically different from Europe and South America, where the teams control most of their own merchandising rights and work their own shirt deals. With the deal struck by MLS and Yahoo!, the Yahoo! logo might show up on a team next year.