It's Contagious

In his weekly MLS power ratings, Keith Costigan at Fox Soccer Channel is apparently sharing Ives' Kool-Aid, singling out Wilman Conde as "one of the main reasons this Chicago back four are so difficult to play against." Tell that to Luciano Emilio, who was practically given a written invitation from Conde to dribble into the box and fire a low shot past Jon Busch two weeks ago, or to Macoumba Kandji, who breezed by him early last weekend, forcing John Thorrington to gamble (and lose) on a risky challenge. Three matches so far, and Conde put the Fire in an early hole in two of them.

Granted, I'm a big Logan Pause fan, so I have to admit that Pause coughed up the ball that led to Kenny Cooper's midfield stunner in week one, but typically, making that kind of mistake when you're actually past midfield usually doesn't have such a direct consequence. And Pause simply doesn't make as many dangerous mistakes over the course of a game as Conde.

Look, I get the appeal of athletic defenders. I even get the appeal of players with swishy hair. But it seems that athletic defenders with swishy hair cast some sort of spell over soccer pundits, hypnotizing them so that they don't see all the horrible decisions that they make game in and game out. Now, a lot of times this is simple immaturity. I remember Carlos Bocanegra looking great by chasing down attackers on the flank, but he usually had to because he had missed a tackle at midfield. I was really harsh on Gonzalo Segares two seasons ago because his mistakes outweighed his positive play too much. Over time, though, they've both gotten much smarter as defenders, and now I'm a big fan of both of those players.

But I think Conde is a different case. I don't see any evidence that he's at all aware of his shortcomings, and all the ass-kissing from the press certainly isn't going to help. On the other hand, it may increase his trade value considerably. I can imagine how he would look down in Dallas where he doesn't have the likes of Baky Soumare, Segares and Pause to cover his ass. That might actually be fun to watch.