Balance. Oh. And MLS.

I'm finally back to post again. It's been a hectic period, but I've managed to finad a bit of time in my schedule to get some things off my mind.

First, I am still smarting from the beating I took on the last CL matchday. I went a total of 7-9 leaving me a rather embarassing 16-16 so far. How can be batting a measely .500? This is terrible. But it also got me thinking a bit about the state of football.

Isn't this supposed to be the era of the superclub? Big teams, awash in money are supposed to be sweeping all before them as they hold course for epic clashes over silverware. Sepp Blatter says so. All (ok, most) of the pundits say so. The managers of the smaller clubs say so. But the results don't say so. Porto defeated Monaco to lift the European Cup. Last year, a deeply flawed Liverpool, that finished more than 30 points behind Chelsea in England, came back to beat a highly regarded, very talented and very expensive Milan. They had eliminated an even more expensive Chelsea in the semis. PSV gave Milan a royal scare in that same round. And one only needs to look at the results of this year's competition to see the trend of big club underperformance continue. In fact, it extends to domestic leagues like the EPL in which I just watched Middlesborough thump ManU 4-1.

Clearly something is not right. Money is buying influence, but not results. At a time when the football world is supposed to stratifying like never before, it seems in many ways to be getting flatter. I've thought about this a bit and I think I have part of the answer. In the words of Carlos Alberto Parreira, the reason is balance.

Money can buy success. Chelsea showed that in past two years and are making an even stronger case for it now, a two match hiccup notwithstanding. But this is not because money can buy Zidane or Robinho or Shevchenko. It is because money can buy you Essien, or del Horno or Cech. Money means nothing on its own. It needs to be used wisely. If you waste it on galacticos, you end up with a team of attacking talents the like of which the world has never before seen, but also with a team that is likely to be exploited at the back or to implode when nerves got frayed or egos bruised. One needs a team with balance. A team that can attack and defend, that has strength in depth all over the pitch, that is organized and mentally strong. Money can buy that. But it isn't easy.

A quick look at the big clubs at the moment shows that all are somehow unbalanced, and that these flaws are the result of either a relative lack of funds or a blatant misuse. In Spain, Barcelona have built an attractive outfit, and a team with a good onfield balance, but they are a bit thin due their inability to spend too lavishly. Real Madrid have spent themselves into a lovely mess. They splash out cash on big name attacking stars without much thought of the consequences to the balance of the team on the pitch. Admittedly there has been some suggestion of late of an attempt to bolster the defence and add younger talent that still has the hunger to compete, but the damage cannot be undone immediately. In England, Arsenal and ManU simply do not have the ready funds to replace key aging elements of their sides and the results are dramatic. Liverpool are a hodgepodge of eclectic talent supposedly focused around Stevie G. Their European triumph last year was more a symptom of the general malaise than a true accomplishment on merit. Milan, Liverpool's opponent's in Istanbul, have spent to bolster their already impressive array of attacking options but have yet to do anything about their aging defense or to steel themselves against the sort of mental and emotional meltdowns that have ruined their past two European campaigns. The list could go on and on.

Balance is hard to find. It takes not only the resources and restraint to purchase the necessary components, but the patience to build those elements into a cohesive unit. Looking around Europe at the moment, only two really well balanced teams stand out from the major leagues: Chelsea and Lyon (one could make a case for Bayern as well, but let's limit ourselves). Lyon are the better example of a traditionally balanced side as are they have been built on a much smaller budget than Chelsea. Though they have few players who could rightly be called superstars beyond the world of French club football, Lyon boast four consecutive French titles, successive runs to the CL quarterfinals, they are perfect in the CL this year (they beat Real 3-0) and lead the French first division. All of this comes despite losing their star player to Chelsea. Chelsea, on the other hand are often held up as the epitome of wealth run amok in football. Yes, Abramovich spends freely, but the spending isn't aimless. Jose Mourinho has carefully identified his team's weaknesses and purchased players to address them. He has now built a team that is simply unparalleled in depth and quality. It could be argued that Chelsea have the EPL's two best goalkeepers, they have an already stingy defense that has been bolstered by the addition of del Horno, who is also an attacking threat. When all are healthy, Chelsea have four quality wingers and three quality defensive midfielders. Frank Lampard is a class to himself. The amply supported strikers have plenty of talent of their own. Early on it could have been said that this unit, though well balanced, was more effective than inspiring. Recently, however, this is a side that has put 4, 5, 4, and 4 goals past oppents. This is a team that can not only defend and hold a tight lead, but can pile on the offensive pressure. There are too few teams nowadays with that ability.

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Of course, having a well balanced team will only take you so far, as the MLS playoffs have already shown. You still need good players. In the talent-thin world of MLS, having a few great talents can still put you over the top. San Jose learned this the hard way against LA. Though they may have given the best team performance throughout the regular season, I just never felt that the 'Quakes were, man-for-man better than a few other teams. Landon Donovan showed them what that can mean for one's title aspirations over the two leg semifinal. His LA teammates had little more to do than to frustrate San Jose and he provided the inspiration. Whatever I might think of his abismal failure in Europe, Landon has shown that, when he raises his game, he can still dominate in MLS.

Maybe MoJo will think a bit harder about taking a tactical approach to a palyoff second leg next time. I certainly hope that he didn't let the first leg result, in the rain, on turf lead him to believe that his MetroStars could run with the Revs on the grass at the Gillette. Because they can't and they didn't. A bad bounce of the ball gave them a fortuitous lead, but that only induced the Revs to work harder. With Pat Noonan looking healthy again, and Cancela trying to state his case to be a starter, the Revs just rushed past the Metros. With the 'Quakes gone, the Revs have to be the favorites. They certainly play the most attractive football of the remaining teams. It would be shame if they couldn't snag their first title. Although I think that however comes out of the West will be bringing a negative defensive gameplan.

I am simply shocked at United's capitulation. Simply shocked. They were attrocious. And I thought they had some pride. Well, they'll have a whole winter to try and find some again.

And finally, does anyone care about the Dallas-Colorado result? I sure don't.