Putting Canadian football in perspective, David Beckham notwithstanding

It is somewhat of a strange weekend here in Canada, and not because it's almost June and we've seen not a whiff of humidity in southern Ontario.

Nor is it particularly out of the ordinary that David Beckham won't be playing for the L.A. Galaxy against Toronto FC later on this afternoon. That appears to have become a tradition, and I'm sure some other commitment will force Mr. Beckham to skip out on the fixture next year too.

But I digress...today is Soccer Day In Canada. This is a less than clever knockoff of what has become, in my opinion, a tired exercise when it is applied to hockey by the ubiquitous Canadian institution, the CBC.

Today the whole nation is expected to huddle around the television set and marvel at the beautiful game, in the form of U-14 games from Halifax and later yet another average production of the Toronto FC match. Interesting that Canada v. Brazil from Seattle isn't in the lineup, that match being shown on a rival network.

At any rate, I've shifted most of my attention lately to North America, after suffering through the pain of Liverpool being knocked out of the Champions League and then having to watch Manchester United lift both the Premier League and European trophies. There have been some good things happening in Canada, while some of the same cancers remain.

If you haven't taken the time to watch Toronto FC this season, they have vastly improved over last year's edition. Laurent Robert and Amado Guevara have almost instantly improved the squad. Gone are the days of kick-and-chase, TFC are playing more attractive football. Possession is maintained, attacks are built in a more calculated manner and this has given the defenders a respite from the frantic displays from last season. Players like Maurice Edu, Jim Brennan and Carl Robinson also look more comfortable in the more settled side.

Yet another football specific stadium opened this spring in Montreal. Saputo Stadium will be the home ground of the Montreal Impact of the USL as well as a venue for Canadian national team games. The first such match will be the World Cup 2010 qualifier versus St. Vincent & the Grenadines on June 20.

The three top Canadian club sides are participating in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship. Toronto FC, Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps will play each other home and away, with the top club moving on to play in the CONCACAF Champions League (this is a new 24 team tournament that replaces the Champions Cup). Toronto won the first match in Montreal 1-0 on Tuesday.

With all that's going on in Canadian football right now, there are still a number of warts. The Canadian Soccer Association still has a long way to go in order to resemble a true footballing association. The provincial associations continue to play power games at the expense of the national program, and there's little evidence this will end any time soon. With the World Cup qualifying campaign starting in a matter of weeks, Canadian supporters can only hope the players can succeed in spite of those running the association.

Television production of matches in Canada is a pet peeve of mine at the moment. While Canadians may have set the broadcast standards for hockey world wide, effective production of football matches seems to have eluded them. This is not that the commentators are particularly weak. Jason De Vos, a former Canadian international and Ipswich Town captain, recently joined the CBC and has provided some good analysis of TFC games.

The practice of having stationary field level cameras needs to end, however. During broadcasts, you can see this fool sitting at the center line with a stationary camera, providing some of the most bland shots I've ever seen.

Dear CBC: you've got more money than you know what to do with, buy some steady cams, hire operators and do things like the pros in Europe do. Throw-ins, free kicks and corners (where these cameras are usually employed) happen all over the pitch. A stationary camera can't hope to capture these moments in any compelling manner. While you're at buy some more pitch-level microphones. The reason English Premier League matches are great to watch on TV is that you feel like you're THERE. You see everything and you hear everything: the keeper hoofing the ball upfield, the players shouting at each other, the managers shouting at the players and the roar of the crowd. I've yet to go to a TFC match, but speaking with those who are there, it's noisy. You can't tell on your broadcasts. Get on the phone with Sky, Setanta, BBC or whoever, and learn how to do things right.

Oh yeah, the EURO starts next weekend.

The final weekend and what's to come

Well, after nine months of action, the fate of several teams in the Premier League rests on the events of Sunday. Manchester United need to win to lock up the league championship, Chelsea need United to slip and a victory against Bolton at Stamford Bridge to pip the Red Devils at the end.

Derby are down, but two of Fulham, Reading and Birmingham City will join them after tomorrow. The Blues need a win and a draw or loss by both of the other teams to stay up. Fulham are safe with a win, while Reading need a win coupled with a Fulham draw or loss in order to escape relegation.

After picking Man United to win it all in August, I think they will win against Wigan to close out another league title. The can't afford to slip up, as Chelsea will surely take all the points against Bolton, but I'll go on the record to state that Man United will take the league and Chelsea will have their revenge in Moscow at the Champions League Final.

As for the relegation battles, I think Reading will go down, along with Birmingham. At Reading, the team seems to have given up and manager Steve Coppell is paying the price for not upgrading his side after surviving the vital first year in the top flight. Even lowly Derby, Reading's final foe of the season, will prove too much for this bunch.

As for Birmingham, Alex McLeish coaxed some fine displays out of this side when he arrived mid-season, but he is finding out the hard way what a manager's job is in the Premier League. I'm sure he'll be back, perhaps not with Birmingham but he'll see better days in the future.

The Blues are in tough against Blackburn, who are still a top-half team, while Fulham are playing with the conviction of a team wanting to survive -- and likely will against Portsmouth, who have been on cruise control since qualifying for the FA Cup final.

Here in Canada, three games will be shown live: Wigan v. Manchester United (The Score), Chelsea v. Bolton (Setanta) and Portsmouth v. Fulham (Sportsnet). A slew of same day, tape-delayed games will follow, making for some fascinating televised action.

In the days ahead on the blog, I'm going to be writing a season review of sorts, cataloging the ups and downs of the football season across Europe, and preparing a Euro 2008 preview. For the close season, I'm going to try to post a weekly collection of rumors and happenings in the transfer market and otherwise. Stay tuned.