Mad Brit Diary

Bocanegra made it right to the headlines with one nasty tackle.

(Sunday, February 15, 2004) -- It didn't take long for American defender Carlos Bocanegra to get his name in the headlines in the English newspapers. The former Chicago Fire star, who joined Fulham last month, was red-carded last week for a nasty late tackle on Aston Villa's Mark Delaney in Fulham's 2-1 loss.

The two-footed, diving foul was as ugly as they come, but the American national-team player is not a mean-spirited guy. The 24-year-old made a public apology to Delaney, who was carried off on a stretcher in agony. Bocanegra is a non-stop running player who maybe invests just a little too much at times.

Interviewed on Sky Sports, Bocanegra's apology came off as very sincere and real. He was eloquent, polite and unlike so many Mad Brit soccer players, the American sounded educated and spoke the Queen's English delightfully. After all, Bocanegra did spend three years at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Most English soccer players have never crossed the threshold of a college or university.

Apart from the Roy Keane-type foul, which did look pretty scary, Fulham is quite happy with its new signing who appears to have solidified a place in the London club's back line. The American had a great game in Fulham's 0-0 FA Cup tie with West Ham recently and was constantly in the thick of the things. Apart from Bocanegra's lovely shot off the post, there was little action in the game in front of the 14,000 fans at tiny Loftus Road.

Let's face it -- we are going to hear a lot more about this talented defender who will no doubt play a vital role in the U.S. team's march to the World Cup in Germany in two years time. Bocanegra is confident, hard-working and not frightened to make runs up the left wing.

Watching the Fulham-West Ham clash brought back fond memories for The Mad Brit who remembers checking up on American World Cup star Roy Wegerle who scored some nice goals at Loftus Road a number of years back in a Queens Park Rangers shirt. Get this, 18 points separate the fourth club in the English Premier League from the bottom team, while 17 points separate third place from fourth.

American keeper Brad Friedel pulled off a string of outstanding saves for Blackburn Rovers who won 1-0 on the road at Middlesbrough. Meantime American left-winger Eddie Lewis scored two big goals to lead Preston 3 -0 over West Bromwich Albion in the English First Division.

Former England star Paul Mariner, 50, who scored a goal at the 1982 World Cup in Spain, was appointed assistant manager of the New England Revolution, where he will help coach Steve Nicol. Mariner recently served as an assistant coach at Harvard University to John Kerr, Jr. (yes, the son of Scottish and North American Soccer League star midfielder John Kerr, Sr.)

After failing to land a contract in England with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Los Angeles Galaxy striker Carlos Ruiz wants Major League Soccer to purchase his full rights from his Guatemalan club. Meanwhile, former German World Cup star Jurgen Klinsmann has joined the Galaxy to provide technical advice to the coaching staff and players.

With a 2-0 win over Southampton in the midweek, French star Thierry Henry scored his 100th and 101st English Premier League goals for league-leading Arsenal. Henry now leads in EPL scoring, one ahead of Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy (18). Both Henry and Nistelrooy have become targets of Spanish giant Real Madrid which will seek one of them to join the club in the summer. Real has a policy of signing one big player every summer. Last year, it was David Beckham, and before that Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo.

Real is coached by former MetroStars coach Carlos Queiroz. "Ruud and Henry have both reached maturity (as players)," Queiroz said. "Henry is now at the peak of his powers, both in terms of finishing and how he uses the ball."

Meanwhile, Brazilian ace Ronaldinho, 23, who joined Barcelona last summer from French club PSG, is proving his worth. The attacking midfielder has scored a career-high 13 goals in all competitions with the Catalans team.

"I was not thinking about scoring so many goals," said the Brazilian. "I always imagine myself giving passes to team-mates and creating opportunities to score."

"Brian is my roommate with the American team. We were supposed to go out to dinner the other night , but the snow hit us, so we called it off. I guess I could have poisoned him if we had made dinner." -- Tottenham goalkeeper Kasey Keller after Brian McBride, his U.S. teammate and Premier League rival, struck the winning goal past Keller to win a game for Fulham recently.

Ramon E. Creager writes: "Dear Mad Brit, I share the sentiment with regards to Arsenal. Of course, the current EPL standings probably correlate well with club payroll rank. The situation in Spain is similar (my mother is from Valencia, so I have a horse in the race, so to speak). Real Madrid, Barcelona. . . At least Vallencia is doing well considering the disparity in payroll (at least last time I checked).

"One thing I would like to see is a comparison of position in the table compared to payroll for the three or four richest leagues in Europe. How well does the money correlate with success on the pitch? Which team is the greatest overachiever? Which team spent the most for the least?"

Ernesto Chavez writes: "Hey Madbrit, I have noticed that . . . ex-Metrostar Daniel Hernandez is currently playing and is a regular starter for Necaxa in the 1st Division Mexican League as No. 24. I have been keeping up with him from watching some of the games that Necaxa has played and he has had some great performances. Some of the Mexican commentators once stated the he should be a sure call-up for the U.S. national team."

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