Mad Brit Diary: Wish list for 2004.

Let Freddy be. Who cares if the kid is 14 or 16 -- only his mom knows. Let's hope he does well for American soccer and gets the big boys wagging their tongues with envy at Manchester United and Real Madrid. The MB always thought the Messiah of American soccer would rise out of the vast heartland of the 50 states, with the genes of Pele, Maradona and Beckenbauer encrypted on his DNA. If he comes out of an immigration lottery, so what? But don't hold your breathe just yet on Freddy. The kid still has a long way to go.

Also on the MB's wish list:

That Michael Owen recovers quickly from yet another injury.

That Rio Ferdinand finally learns his lesson: drug testing is serious business.

That David Beckham continues on his current form and proves to all those Euro-snobs that Mad Brits can play pretty football and not just kick and rush.

That if the English team fails at Euro 2004 in Portugal, the Dutch team will finally get its act together and win some silverware.

That Thierry Henry finally wins "Footballer of The Year" as he should have in 2003. He was robbed by Zinedine Zidane.

That America's women's pro soccer league rises from the ashes and continue to carry the banner for the girls' game worldwide.

That Robbie Fowler finally score some goals for Manchester City, hopefully from a few Claudio Reyna assists.

That American Clint Mathis, who scored one of the best goals at the 2002 World Cup, finally lands on his feet at a club, any club. Wigan Athleticc will even do.

That England prodigy Wayne Rooney learns to control his inner madness. Does the kid want to end up in the dustbin like Gazza?

The mailbox

Paul Chapman writes: "Your recent diary piece about the dominance of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea, and the letters suggesting that Major League Soccer should have relegation are really related topics. The traditional relegation system is intended to establish parity among the English Premier League teams. However, the influence of money offsets any effect that relegation may contribute to parity. . . The MLS approach is actually a much better system since the draft system and the single ownership ensures more even competition."

Josh Harper writes: "Dear Mad Brit- I'm all for Brazilian players changing their names to accommodate one word superstar status, but what was Brazil's under-20 player thinking when he chose "Dudu?!?" I can see it now. . . the first horrible game he plays and the coach yells, 'Dudu, you look like crap today!' "

Mike Blondin writes: "Mad Brit, love your column. I just watched Bolton vs. Arsenal this weekend. One of the best displays of football I've seen recently. And I thought Bolton unlucky not to win. It seems to be a team on the move. Also, many seem to be anointing Freddy Adu with superstar status already, but Landon Donovan and Bobby Convey are not exactly chopped liver, nor are they old geezers either."

Dan from Miami writes: "MB, you write, 'The English Premier League has succumbed to soccer imperialism. The mega-clubs now rule, leaving little for the smaller clubs. Over the last 10 seasons in top-flight English soccer, only three clubs have claimed the title.' Need some revenue sharing in the EPL? Or how about a tweaked schedule a la the National Football League where Portsmouth will play Leicester while Man. U. will go against Chelsea four times per season? Finally, how about a shorter schedule and the playoff format (where) TV revenues (are) to be shared equally among the league clubs? And more EPL on TV. . . with commercials during the play and the sponsored clock."

Victor Henriquez of Dallas writes: "In regards to the new Chivas franchise in MLS, two main issues are at play: 1) Importing brand-name recognition\tradition for increased popularity and interest as opposed to continuing the process of establishing new traditions in this league, and 2) Making legitimate an official team policy to not seek out or turn away potential players based of their ethnic background."

Jason Hilton writes: "Loved the latest column on the parity in the Premier League. Everyone rags on MLS, but you tell me who is going to win the Cup next year. That's right, you have no clue and neither do I. I mean how great is the Premier League when, it's actually like having two tiers in the same division. Is it a truly competitive league or do they just have a couple of All-Star teams?"

Bob writes: "MB, you write, 'Prediction: Michael Owen will end up along side Raul on the frontline at Real Madrid, knocking in passes from David Beckham.' It won't happen on this contract. All the noise that's been put out has been to up the contract he finally negotiates with Liverpool. Four more years makes his Bosman year when he's 26 and coming off the World Cup -- that's when he'll cash in. As a Liverpool fan, it might not be the worst thing if the money earned was spent wisely. Liverpool came second two years ago and just missed the Champions League last year. We will be back on top soon."

Joe Santos, Sr., writes: "Realistically, how can one expect a better soccer level of (NCAA) Division 1 colleges. Most of the players are excellent athletes, but with rudimentary skills (except for some foreign-born players). The coaches for the most part have little understanding of tactics, the season is too short and soccer is relegated to the bottom of pile by the athletic directors. My prediction is the professional leagues will completely bypass the college circuit for their future stars. If one hasn't mastered soccer skills and tactics by age 14 or 15, then it's too late."

Strom writes: "Well I do really care how old Mr. Adu is? I hope he gets a little bigger and pans out as a great player. We need some. I could see his Mum fudging a year or to give him an edge in school (scholastically). Any Mum would."

Andy writes: "Mad Brit, I like your articles very much. but you're reading of the state of "Imperialism" in the Premier League title chase is decades overdue. I agree that the same teams have been winners in recent years. But this hasn't been the case just for the most recent decade because the same teams have been winners in England going back pretty much 40 years. Since 1964, I think only about 10 teams have been champions. And only Blackburn, Manchester City, Aston Villa, and Nottingham Forest have had single championships within that time period. So if, as you imply, competition is defined, in part, by a variety of champions over a multi-year time period, then England's top divisions haven's been competitive since before Ipswich's win in 1961-62?"

Robviii writes: "Some of your readers disagreed with relegation because they believed there was no way that an investor would invest in a team that could be relegated. One obvious way around this, and I'm sure it's been brought up in other forums, is for MLS to purchase the A-League. Just as a current investor is not dissuaded by a poor team because his investment is in MLS, not the specific team, you could avoid the negative impact of relegation if the same investor profits from a two-division league, no matter where a specific team is playing."

Peter Higgins says: "MB, I think the MLS critics need to step back and look at the most successful league in the world, the Champion's League, And realize that they don't play a single-table round-robin format. . . In terms of promotion\relegation, it is silly when the costs to investors are so high, and it propagates huge imbalances between the big fish (who have the dollars to stay up and keep their fans) and the minnows, who bounce back down to low level, less interesting divisions and lose half-hearted fans."

Heard a rumor, have a gripe or a tip? Feeling lonely? E-mail the Mad Brit at themadbrit3@aol.com.