Getty Images I like San Jose Earthquakes manager Frank Yallop, and I respect the work he’s done at Buck Shaw Stadium this year.
Not only is his club the lead dog in the Supporters Shield race, they play an entertaining style.
But Yallop has this one wrong.
What he said following Saturday’s tussle at Stade Saputo, where striker Steven Lenhart was sent off against Montreal for his role in an early altercation.
I’m not sure why Lenhart was sent off. He seems to be singled out every game we play. It’s starting to get to me now.
“He goes for the ball; he plays hard, which he should do as a center forward that’s brave. It seems like he’s getting cards and red cards that he doesn’t deserve. That changed the game for us.”
Why is he being singled out? Surely, Yallop is playing a little political possum on this one. Because a coach of Yallop’s experience knows exactly why Lenhart (pictured above, on top of the scrap) gets extra attention from the men in the middle, and deservedly so. Heck, even I know that! And Yallop has coached about 300 more MLS games than I have.
Lenhart gets singled out because he deserves singling out. He is the league’s most active agitator. He works in “agitation” the way celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse works in “Bam!”
When Lenhart is around, there’s rarely an on-field coming together that doesn’t include a kick-out, a swinging hand, a clumsy stomp on the foot, a shirt pull and heaven knows what else that might be going on in the human blender of competitive aggression.
He’s a Tasmanian devil, a willing accelerant when every MLS match is a hot-tempered, highly unstable mix of flammables anyway. He’s the guy everyone detests playing against – but that everyone likes to have on his team.
Sequences involving Lenhart are less soccer than MMA. (At the international level, by the way, he’d have a booking within 10 minutes – and the referee would probably have one finger on the red 10 minutes from there.)
But, if Yallop truly seeks greater knowledge here, if he desires enlightenment regarding the American fan psyche on this one, he can just turn to the answer web. Simply Google “Steven Lenhart” and “hate.” I did. First thing I found was this thoughtful look at both sides of the Lenhart beef from No Short Corners.
You can find a lot worse from there, some with very naughty words.
By the way, Lenhart isn’t exactly “singled out” for cards. Not statistically speaking. He is one of 12 MLS players with at least seven cautions.
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- dreadpirate82 - Aug 20, 2012 at 6:58 PM
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There are guys you can’t stand, but you’d want them on your team: Ozzie Alonso, Aurelien Collin, & Marouane Fellaini come to mind. Then there are guys like Lenhart. I bet his mom has a hard time rooting for him. I almost threw my beer mug at the TV when he did the pullup on the crossbar against the Galaxy earlier this summer.
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- Steve Davis - Aug 20, 2012 at 7:00 PM
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Ha! I ALMOST used that very picture, Lenhart on the crossbar. But then, I suppose I would owe you a laptop or a monitor. So, I guess that’s something.
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- dreadpirate82 - Aug 21, 2012 at 10:23 AM
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I greatly appreciate your restraint!
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- florean - Aug 20, 2012 at 7:44 PM
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He’s the guy everyone detests playing against – but that everyone likes to have on his team.
NO! NO! A thousand times NO! He’s a guy that no soccer fan wants on any team. Everyone uses this phrase about him as if the objection his detractors have is that he’s a son of a bitch, but he’s not our son of a bitch. The objection people have to Steven Lenhart is that he’s a cheater. He consistently, dishonestly, and cynically breaks the rules as often as he thinks he can get away with. Take this latest example from last night. He waits until the ball is booted out of the penalty box. As soon as the refs turn to follow the ball upfield, he casually hits Camara in the face and prepares to protest his innocence against a completely unprovoked attack from Camara. And you know what? He got away with it. He got caught and his cheating still worked, because any team anywhere in the world would jump at getting a penalty kick and playing the rest of the game 10 a side. If that doesn’t upset you, you don’t care about the game.So no, no fan of soccer would want him on their team. Please stop using that tired cliche.
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- mvktr2 - Aug 21, 2012 at 4:05 PM
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Amen. I used to purly hate him because I thought his greatest asset was being tall, persistent, less than talented, and a world class antagonist! I had actually started to come around on him just a bit, thinking that he had some soccer talent given his scoring and role this year in SJ. However I was wrong.
We will know the MLS has arrived when guys like Lenhart & Heineman who’s greatest attributes are physical, not technical, can no longer find slots in the league… not even as reserves.
Cabbage-patch will always be disliked by this fan. Please God forbid him to land on one of the teams I pull for!
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- perrinbar - Aug 21, 2012 at 12:48 AM
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While I understand the basis of the argument “You want him on your team.” I’ve grown tired of it. Yes I want my team to win and yes, I’ll gloss over the stuff my team does and rail about the other guys, but Lenhart just does dirty deeds. He’s a jerk, he gets in people’s faces, and let me put it this way, if I played a pick-up game with him I would probably punch him in the face. I don’t see why behaving like that in a professional soccer game is just gamesmanship, but everyone would hate the guy that does that in their local league. I guess I’m just tired of it being okay to provoke reactions out of people and bend every rule to its breaking point. It’s just a game! It doesn’t need to be okay that people do whatever they can to win. Why can’t we hope that people will play the game the right way? It pisses me off when Busquets goes down and I love Barca. Lenhart just represents horrible human behavior. The drive to do whatever it takes to win, regardless of ethics or sportsmanship. Also, look at that hair.
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- Steve Davis - Aug 21, 2012 at 10:24 AM
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You are clearly passionate about this. And I mostly agree. (Those last five words made me giggle, too. A good finish to a well played par overall.)
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- mvktr2 - Aug 21, 2012 at 4:09 PM
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In reference to your punch in the face comment I typed over at mlssoccer the other day that if there’s any justice in this world it’ll be cabbage-patch getting minutes in USL Pro and ticking off the wrong defender who kicks him hard as he can in the groin doing damage to both his berries and keeping this idiot from generating offspring! Oh justice where art thou! Yea, I have pretty strong feelings on this also!
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- schmutzdeck - Aug 22, 2012 at 5:34 PM
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” It’s just a game!”
Not to Lenhart. I get what you are saying but it’s a job. He is a professional. He is paid money to do this. How well he lives depends directly on how much his team values him.
Given Yallop’s words I guess they value him a lot. If you dislike what he does so passionately you are sending your anger to the wrong place. Lenhart does not care what you think. He does what the guys who write his checks want him to do.
It’s like Joey Barton. QPR paid him a lot of money, in effect tacitly approving his behavior. And that is the great EPL. So if you have a problem with that you need to complain to the QPR management.
Same with Lenhardt. If Yallop told him he needed to change his style of play or he would have to bench him what do you think Lenhardt would do? Punch Frankie in the face?
Lenhardt is a character and every league needs characters even if they wear black hats. If MLS thought Lenhardt was such a bad thing they would have him shut down.
Obviously they don’t think it is worth the effort. Maybe, in an effort to keep up, they feel the need to have their own Joey Barton. Personally, I find Barton to be worse but he has nothing on the hair.
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