Former DC United forward and whipping boy Danny Allsopp has returned to his former club, the Melbourne Victory after stints in Qatar and Washington, DC. He said that “when things didn’t quite work out overseas” he was “pretty desperate to come back” to Melbourne, which is where he has had all of his success. He comes back at an opportune time for the Victory, as they’ve lost one of their strikers to injury and are mired in the middle of the table.
Apparently, Allsopp also has some comments about the league that he left. Now, to be fair, I cannot find the actual quote that Allsopp supposedly gave; however, according to The Age, a Melbourne newspaper, “[t]he former Socceroo, surprisingly, says the football played in the US’s peak domestic competition is not as ”modern” as that played in the A-League.” American soccer fans often compare MLS to the A-League for the progress of newly formed soccer leagues. On the other hand, many American fans think that the A-League is behind MLS in terms of development. I think that Allsopp is just venting some frustration about his time in DC, which was a lot different than what he’s used to. He moved to Qatar, which many people think is a paycheck league, and then he moved to the United States. I bet he bought into the stereotype of MLS being a retirement league and when he realized that his best only made him a middling MLS player, he got frustrated. And so back he goes to where succeeded, two years older.
Speaking of Qatar, Allsopp has nice things to say about their abilities as a World Cup host. Speaking pragmatically, he says that “[i]f they want something badly enough, they go and get it. There’s plenty of things they can do.” Billions in oil money will do that, but it will be interesting to see if that money is still there in 2022. Countries are getting big into independence from oil; we went be totally rid of it by 2022, but will this movement cut into their ability to host the World Cup? Only time will tell.
Before Extra Time 