6 months, 240 games, 591 goals, and now we're here. Half of the teams are preparing to continue on into the MLS Cup playoffs while the rest start next season today. There were some things we expected (LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, Landon Donovan) and a few surprises (DC United, Le Toux, Wondolowski) but mostly there was soccer.
As we get ready for the playoffs to start this Thursday, let's look back at the last week of the 2010 MLS season.
Game Reports
First, the two midweek clashes
San Jose Earthquakes 3 - 0 Chivas USA
Chris Wondolowski provided all of the scoring in this affair against a Chivas USA team that will be happy to start the offseason. There's a lot of youth on this Chivas team, but it seems like there's not a ton of talent especially after losing Kljestan and Bornstein. San Jose, on the other hand, is going to the playoffs for the first time since coming back to the league in 2008.
New York Red Bulls 2 - 0 New England Revolution
A home win clinched the Eastern Conference title for New York. New England has a lot of work to do in the offseason, but ownership seem committed to improvement and are willing to pay for it.
And now, this weekend's action
Houston Dynamo 2 - 1 Seattle Sounders
Seattle's been the hottest team in the league lately, but they suffered their first loss since adding Blaise Nkufo to the team, falling 2-1 at Houston. Sounders scored first thanks to a great shot from James Riley, but lost after goals by Geoff Cameron and Cam Weaver. I wouldn't worry if I was a Sounders fan though, their form has been excellent and they should be a real test for LA in the first round of the playoffs.
DC United 2 - 3 Toronto FC
Dwayne De Rosario did what he does and carried TFC to a victory against the league's worst offense in history. Neither of these teams had anything left to play for, which made for some interesting lineups, but the 18,071 fans who showed up to see off Jaime Moreno were treated to an exciting contest. They also got to see Moreno regain sole possession of the MLS leading scorer title when he slotted home a penalty in the 39th minute.
Kansas City Wizards 4 - 1 San Jose Earthquakes
Maybe it was the fact they were playing on short rest against a team that wanted to prove they deserved better than they ended with. Whatever it was, San Jose ended their regular season on an embarrassing note. Birahim Diop pounded home a hat-trick for the Wizards including this wonder-strike from deep and Chris Wondolowski secured the Golden Boot for 2010, notching his 18th goal of the season.
Colorado Rapids 2 - 2 Real Salt Lake
In what has to be one of the most gut-wrenching endings to a Rocky Mountain Cup game, Alvaro Saborio scored two goal in second half stoppage time to bring RSL back and earn a point against Colorado. The Rapids' dynamic striker pair of Omar Cummings and Conor Casey each scored a goal as their team went up 2-0, but it wasn't meant to be.
Chivas USA 1 - 4 Chicago Fire
Brian McBride's final professional game saw him give his captain's armband to fellow retiree CJ Brown, score a goal on a heel flick, and win 4-1 at the Home Depot Center. Chicago dominated this game from start to finish and will hope to build on that performance as they look to next season.
Columbus Crew 3 - 1 Philadelphia Union
The biggest result from this game is the injury to Will Hesmer, which will force the Crew's starting goalie to miss the entire playoffs. Andy Gruenebaum has looked good in limited minutes during the US Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League, but it's asking a lot for a reserve goalie to get his first MLS minutes of the season in a playoff start.
Los Angeles Galaxy 2 - 1 FC Dallas
LA finally came out with Landon in the midfield again and it helped spark them to a 2-1 win at home over FC Dallas. LA didn't dominate the game by any means though, and there are clearly still issues that need to be solved quick if this team is going to make a run in the playoffs. For FC Dallas, Brek Shea didn't start for the second straight game. I hope Schellas Hyndman just wants to give his young attacker a short rest before the playoffs, because I really think they're going to need Brek if they want to challenge RSL in the playoffs.
Random Thoughts
Nothing this week. You've already seen my predictions, and I want to save all my good stuff for the season retrospectives I'll be doing for every team over the next couple days.
Rankings
MLS Elo Ratings
1,600.45 - Real Salt Lake
1,565.31 - Los Angeles Galaxy
1,561.38 - FC Dallas
1,537.98 - Seattle Sounders
1,535.53 - Colorado Rapids
1,532.26 - New York Red Bulls
1,526.59 - Columbus Crew
1,496.72 - Chicago Fire
1,495.26 - Kansas City Wizards
1,491.03 - San Jose Earthquakes
1,473.27 - Houston Dynamo
1,457.60 - Toronto FC
1,450.91 - Philadelphia Union
1,447.05 - New England Revolution
1,430.63 - Chivas USA
1,398.03 - DC United
Showing posts with label weekly wrapup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weekly wrapup. Show all posts
Monday, October 25, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
RSL Rolls and Goalie Goals: Weekly Wrapup
This is definitely the hardest time of year to be an MLS fan. BCS standings are just starting to come out, NFL teams are really rounding in to form, MLB playoffs are going strong, the NHL season is starting, and MLS is in its final weeks of the regular season with legitimately nothing to play for. We've only got one more week though, and then the playoffs start, which hopefully picks up the interest a bit.
Game Reports
Seattle Sounders 2 - 1 Chivas USA
Seattle actually beat TWO Chivas teams this week. First they dispatched the Mexican club on Tuesday with a roster of reserves, and then defeated their American counterpart on Saturday with the starters. Not a bad week for Sounders fans who are lucky enough to watch one of the hottest teams in MLS right now.
Chicago Fire 0 - 0 DC United
This game was kinda boring, so instead let's use this space to honor Brian McBride who just played his last home game. McBride was honored pre-game, at half, and post-game, which was well deserved.
McBride has performed everywhere he's played. He was so beloved by Fulham fans that they renamed the pub at Craven Cottage to McBride's after he left and put out this tribute video. It's rare that you'll find a more professional player, who someone who deserves the respect that McBride does.
62 goals in 161 games with Columbus Crew
40 goals in 153 appearances with Fulham
17 goals in 57 games with Chicago Fire
96 caps and 30 goals as an American International
Here's McBride's final farewell to the Chicago faithful.
Toronto FC 2 - 2 Columbus Crew
Columbus still failed to impress, much as they've done the entire second half of the season, but they managed to pull out a point in Toronto thanks to a goal by goalie Will Hesmer off a last second set piece. It was terrible defense by TFC failing to close out a guy who is clearly not comfortable with the ball at his feet, but that kinda typifies their season. Maicon Santos looked VERY good in attack though (including this blast for a goal and this one that was barely saved) and hopefully plays in to TFC plans for the future.
Philadelphia Union 2 - 1 New York Red Bulls
In a game that could have clinched the Eastern Conference championship for them, New York Red Bulls could not get past local rival Philadelphia Union. For the first half New York looked like they may as well have not even shown up. Their attack was poor, their defense was poor, it was just not the performance you'd expect from a team this talented. They went into half time down 2-0 and deserved every bit of that scoreline.
New York tried to play a 4-4-1-1 with Ballouchy behind Angel (Henry was out injured) and it was a disaster. JPA needs another forward to play off and the flow just wasn't there with him alone up top. For a guy about to leave the team though, he showed that he's not dogging his final days in New York, calling the team together before half time and giving a rousing speech to try and spark the under-performing team. It seemed to work temporarily as NY pulled one back 3 minutes in to the second half, but they couldn't find an equalizer the rest of the game. US U-20 forward Juan Agudelo almost tied it in the 94th minute with a great header off a corner kick, but Fred was manning the near post to clear the shot off the line.
New England Revolution 1 - 0 Kansas City Wizards
This result knocked Kansas City out of the playoff race. It wasn't for a lack of trying, as the Wizards took 22 shots, but only 4 of those were on frame. Not much else to say here honestly, better luck to both these teams next season.
Real Salt Lake 2 - 0 FC Dallas
One streak is over; Dallas finally lost a game. Another still lives, as RSL is unbeaten in their last 25 home games. In what looks more and more like a preview of the first round of the playoffs, RSL outplayed FC Dallas all over the field. It wasn't a dominating performance by any means, but for this day at least RSL was clearly a better team.
I was a little surprised that Brek Shea didn't see any time in this game. Despite well Marvin Chavez has played recently, Shea is a better player and will need to contribute for FCD to make a run in the playoffs.
San Jose Earthquakes 0 - 1 Houston Dynamo
The Dynamo used to be the Earthquakes, and they also used to be an MLS powerhouse. That didn't matter a whole bunch here though, as the Dynamo rode a shutout from Tyler Deric in his debut. A classy squad came to play despite their disappointing season and managed a win. Andrew Hainault's diving header was the only goal of the game, but it's worth watching.
Los Angeles Galaxy 1 - 3 Colorado Rapids
In the final game of the week LA got off to a quick start with a goal by Edson Buddle in the opening minutes of the game. That was as good as it got though, as Buddle gave back an own goal less than 10 minutes later (although it was really Sean Franklin's fault as he kicked it off the forward's chest into the net) and Colorado's prolific striker pair of Conor Casey and Omar Cummings assisted on goals to each other.
I'm still not convinced that LA has their offense figured out with all their players healthy. Bruce needs to stop trying to just play his best 6 front players and actually put a team out there that can play together and work as a unit. It's not like there's a huge dropoff between the guys he starts and the first choice bench players. Also, not the best game from Omar Gonzalez this week. He's gonna need to step it up again for LA to succeed in the playoffs.
Random Thoughts
The final round of CCL group stage is this week. RSL is guaranteed to go through, but will be facing off with Cruz Azul to see who wins the group. Columbus is in great position to go through, but will need a result at Joe Public or a loss by Marathon. Seattle and TFC are already out of it, but will attempt to end on their respective high notes at home.
10/19 8pm: Toronto FC v. Arabe Unido
10/19 10pm: Real Salt Lake v. Cruz Azul
10/19 10pm: Seattle Sounders v. Saprissa
10/21 8pm: Columbus Crew @ Joe Public
On a side note, how does CCL not start the final round of group games at the same time? You don't think teams will alter their lineups and strategies now based on what happens? You don't think that this makes it way too possible for teams to collude? Really CONCACAF, sometimes you baffle me.
Rankings
MLS Elo Ratings
1,600.00 - Real Salt Lake
1,567.24 - FC Dallas
1,559.45 - Los Angeles Galaxy
1,545.36 - Seattle Sounders
1,535.98 - Colorado Rapids
1,525.78 - New York Red Bulls
1,519.84 - Columbus Crew
1,492.98 - San Jose Earthquakes
1,484.67 - Kansas City Wizards
1,481.76 - Chicago Fire
1,465.88 - Houston Dynamo
1,457.66 - Philadelphia Union
1,454.23 - Chivas USA
1,453.53 - New England Revolution
1,449.19 - Toronto FC
1,406.44 - DC United
Game Reports
Seattle Sounders 2 - 1 Chivas USA
Seattle actually beat TWO Chivas teams this week. First they dispatched the Mexican club on Tuesday with a roster of reserves, and then defeated their American counterpart on Saturday with the starters. Not a bad week for Sounders fans who are lucky enough to watch one of the hottest teams in MLS right now.
Chicago Fire 0 - 0 DC United
This game was kinda boring, so instead let's use this space to honor Brian McBride who just played his last home game. McBride was honored pre-game, at half, and post-game, which was well deserved.
McBride has performed everywhere he's played. He was so beloved by Fulham fans that they renamed the pub at Craven Cottage to McBride's after he left and put out this tribute video. It's rare that you'll find a more professional player, who someone who deserves the respect that McBride does.
62 goals in 161 games with Columbus Crew
40 goals in 153 appearances with Fulham
17 goals in 57 games with Chicago Fire
96 caps and 30 goals as an American International
Here's McBride's final farewell to the Chicago faithful.
Toronto FC 2 - 2 Columbus Crew
Columbus still failed to impress, much as they've done the entire second half of the season, but they managed to pull out a point in Toronto thanks to a goal by goalie Will Hesmer off a last second set piece. It was terrible defense by TFC failing to close out a guy who is clearly not comfortable with the ball at his feet, but that kinda typifies their season. Maicon Santos looked VERY good in attack though (including this blast for a goal and this one that was barely saved) and hopefully plays in to TFC plans for the future.
Philadelphia Union 2 - 1 New York Red Bulls
In a game that could have clinched the Eastern Conference championship for them, New York Red Bulls could not get past local rival Philadelphia Union. For the first half New York looked like they may as well have not even shown up. Their attack was poor, their defense was poor, it was just not the performance you'd expect from a team this talented. They went into half time down 2-0 and deserved every bit of that scoreline.
New York tried to play a 4-4-1-1 with Ballouchy behind Angel (Henry was out injured) and it was a disaster. JPA needs another forward to play off and the flow just wasn't there with him alone up top. For a guy about to leave the team though, he showed that he's not dogging his final days in New York, calling the team together before half time and giving a rousing speech to try and spark the under-performing team. It seemed to work temporarily as NY pulled one back 3 minutes in to the second half, but they couldn't find an equalizer the rest of the game. US U-20 forward Juan Agudelo almost tied it in the 94th minute with a great header off a corner kick, but Fred was manning the near post to clear the shot off the line.
New England Revolution 1 - 0 Kansas City Wizards
This result knocked Kansas City out of the playoff race. It wasn't for a lack of trying, as the Wizards took 22 shots, but only 4 of those were on frame. Not much else to say here honestly, better luck to both these teams next season.
Real Salt Lake 2 - 0 FC Dallas
One streak is over; Dallas finally lost a game. Another still lives, as RSL is unbeaten in their last 25 home games. In what looks more and more like a preview of the first round of the playoffs, RSL outplayed FC Dallas all over the field. It wasn't a dominating performance by any means, but for this day at least RSL was clearly a better team.
I was a little surprised that Brek Shea didn't see any time in this game. Despite well Marvin Chavez has played recently, Shea is a better player and will need to contribute for FCD to make a run in the playoffs.
San Jose Earthquakes 0 - 1 Houston Dynamo
The Dynamo used to be the Earthquakes, and they also used to be an MLS powerhouse. That didn't matter a whole bunch here though, as the Dynamo rode a shutout from Tyler Deric in his debut. A classy squad came to play despite their disappointing season and managed a win. Andrew Hainault's diving header was the only goal of the game, but it's worth watching.
Los Angeles Galaxy 1 - 3 Colorado Rapids
In the final game of the week LA got off to a quick start with a goal by Edson Buddle in the opening minutes of the game. That was as good as it got though, as Buddle gave back an own goal less than 10 minutes later (although it was really Sean Franklin's fault as he kicked it off the forward's chest into the net) and Colorado's prolific striker pair of Conor Casey and Omar Cummings assisted on goals to each other.
I'm still not convinced that LA has their offense figured out with all their players healthy. Bruce needs to stop trying to just play his best 6 front players and actually put a team out there that can play together and work as a unit. It's not like there's a huge dropoff between the guys he starts and the first choice bench players. Also, not the best game from Omar Gonzalez this week. He's gonna need to step it up again for LA to succeed in the playoffs.
Random Thoughts
The final round of CCL group stage is this week. RSL is guaranteed to go through, but will be facing off with Cruz Azul to see who wins the group. Columbus is in great position to go through, but will need a result at Joe Public or a loss by Marathon. Seattle and TFC are already out of it, but will attempt to end on their respective high notes at home.
10/19 8pm: Toronto FC v. Arabe Unido
10/19 10pm: Real Salt Lake v. Cruz Azul
10/19 10pm: Seattle Sounders v. Saprissa
10/21 8pm: Columbus Crew @ Joe Public
On a side note, how does CCL not start the final round of group games at the same time? You don't think teams will alter their lineups and strategies now based on what happens? You don't think that this makes it way too possible for teams to collude? Really CONCACAF, sometimes you baffle me.
Rankings
MLS Elo Ratings
1,600.00 - Real Salt Lake
1,567.24 - FC Dallas
1,559.45 - Los Angeles Galaxy
1,545.36 - Seattle Sounders
1,535.98 - Colorado Rapids
1,525.78 - New York Red Bulls
1,519.84 - Columbus Crew
1,492.98 - San Jose Earthquakes
1,484.67 - Kansas City Wizards
1,481.76 - Chicago Fire
1,465.88 - Houston Dynamo
1,457.66 - Philadelphia Union
1,454.23 - Chivas USA
1,453.53 - New England Revolution
1,449.19 - Toronto FC
1,406.44 - DC United
Monday, October 11, 2010
All Set But the Positioning: Weekly Wrapup
All of the results pretty much fell in line with how you'd expect this weekend. This is great news if you're a bettor since you probably did really well unless you over-thought yourself. If your a Wizards fan, then it went much worse since your loss to Seattle coupled with San Jose thrashing DC United and Colorado grabbing a point from FC Dallas pretty much assures that you'll be watching the playoffs.
Game Reports
New York Red Bulls 0 - 0 Real Salt Lake
This game was much more exciting than the nil-nil score line. It featured great scoring chances from , but none found their way into the back of the net. One reasonable question I think needs to be asked is "Will Thierry Henry get his legs in time to have a real impact in the playoffs?" I know he's going to be a good MLS player, he has too much talent not to be, but the end result for this season could be very disappointing for NYRB if he doesn't turn it on soon.
On a side note, this results, coupled with LA's win, basically snuffs out RSL's chances at the Supporters' Shield.
FC Dallas 2 - 2 Colorado Rapids
Colorado rolled out what will become their new and improved sick-nasty attack (Cummings-Casey-Kandji in a 4-3-3) and became only the third team to score two goals against FC Dallas since April. Granted, both of their goals were scored by Jeff Larentowicz, but still. It wasn't enough though, as Dallas stretched their unbeaten streak to a new MLS single-season record 19 games.
DC United 0 - 2 San Jose Earthquakes
The Chris Wondolowski show is in full effect. San Jose's suddenly dominant forward added two more goals (his 13th and 14th of the season) against a DC United team just waiting for the season to end. His first goal was a goal of the week candidate volley which he followed that up with a nice left-footed finish off a rebound. Just a reminder, San Jose got Wondo for Cam Weaver and a conditional draft pick. For a team that is usually so good at player evaluation, the Dynamo really blew that one.
Also, this game featured the rare double red card situation in the 8th minute although I have no idea how to describe what happened (or didn't to be more precise). Moreno hit the ground like he'd been shot before a free kick and, next thing I know, two guys have red cards shown to them.
Kansas City Wizards 1 - 2 Seattle Sounders
Sanna Nyassi continued to build upon his great form scoring the first goal, his 4th in his last 3 games, and Alvaro Fernandez wants people to remember that while he may not be a starter, this DP's got some game as well. The two wingers provided all the scoring Seattle would need. Davy Arnaud pulled a goal back on a penalty in the 84th minute off a foul drawn from Teal Bunbury, but it was too late by then. The game all but eliminates KC from playoff contention.
Chivas USA 3 - 0 Toronto FC
TFC put out a good lineup again (starting Maicon, Mista nowhere to be found) but that alone isn't enough to make them a good team right now. Yeah, Maicon blew some chances, but he's still, unfortunately, the best option for Toronto. Chivas USA would ride goals from Jorge Flores, Jesus Padilla and Rodolfo Espinoza (hey, can you guess which MLS team has a Hispanic owner?) to a not-quite-as-dominant-as-it-sounds 3-0 victory.
Houston Dynamo 1 - 2 New England Revolution
Geoff Cameron got pushed up to the midfield for this game (which I am all in favor of) but it wasn't enough as New England downed the Dynamo in Houston. Shalrie Joseph and Kheli Dube provided the scoring for Revolution while Dominic Oduro tallied for the Dynamo in a game that saw two teams experimenting at the end of disappointing season.
Random Thoughts
The Elo Ratings do a great job of showing which team has had a more impressive overall season. However, it does not do a good job telling you which team is playing the best at the moment.
Take Seattle, for example. They've been rocketing up the Elo Ratings, currently finding themselves in 4th place. Does this really rate them fairly though? They've just finished winning the US Open Cup for the second straight year and have 29 points in their last 12 league games. They are maybe the most dangerous team heading in to the playoffs.
I'm working on a couple different ways to maybe address this, but they probably won't be ready for prime time until next season. They will produce some pretty cool graphs for the end of this year though!
Also, a big FU to whoever working over at MLSsoccer.com decided to put a 38 second pre-roll ad before every video highlight, even a 45 second goal highlight. You didn't think some kind of "This highlight brought to you by FIFA 2011" screen was enough or something? Just to name a few other problems, there's the way-too-script-heavy site that is makes browsing painfully slow, the fact that your player links don't always go to the right person, your video player is now wider than its html div in Firefox/Chrome. It's unbelievable how much you guys can screw up a website.
Rankings
MLS Elo Ratings
1,591.95 - Real Salt Lake
1,575.29 - FC Dallas
1,574.99 - Los Angeles Galaxy
1,541.23 - Seattle Sounders
1,533.23 - New York Red Bulls
1,520.44 - Colorado Rapids
1,519.52 - Columbus Crew
1,503.21 - San Jose Earthquakes
1,499.75 - Chicago Fire
1,476.66 - Kansas City Wizards
1,458.36 - Chivas USA
1,455.65 - Houston Dynamo
1,450.21 - Philadelphia Union
1,449.52 - Toronto FC
1,446.90 - New England Revolution
1,403.09 - DC United
Game Reports
New York Red Bulls 0 - 0 Real Salt Lake
This game was much more exciting than the nil-nil score line. It featured great scoring chances from , but none found their way into the back of the net. One reasonable question I think needs to be asked is "Will Thierry Henry get his legs in time to have a real impact in the playoffs?" I know he's going to be a good MLS player, he has too much talent not to be, but the end result for this season could be very disappointing for NYRB if he doesn't turn it on soon.
On a side note, this results, coupled with LA's win, basically snuffs out RSL's chances at the Supporters' Shield.
FC Dallas 2 - 2 Colorado Rapids
Colorado rolled out what will become their new and improved sick-nasty attack (Cummings-Casey-Kandji in a 4-3-3) and became only the third team to score two goals against FC Dallas since April. Granted, both of their goals were scored by Jeff Larentowicz, but still. It wasn't enough though, as Dallas stretched their unbeaten streak to a new MLS single-season record 19 games.
DC United 0 - 2 San Jose Earthquakes
The Chris Wondolowski show is in full effect. San Jose's suddenly dominant forward added two more goals (his 13th and 14th of the season) against a DC United team just waiting for the season to end. His first goal was a goal of the week candidate volley which he followed that up with a nice left-footed finish off a rebound. Just a reminder, San Jose got Wondo for Cam Weaver and a conditional draft pick. For a team that is usually so good at player evaluation, the Dynamo really blew that one.
Also, this game featured the rare double red card situation in the 8th minute although I have no idea how to describe what happened (or didn't to be more precise). Moreno hit the ground like he'd been shot before a free kick and, next thing I know, two guys have red cards shown to them.
Kansas City Wizards 1 - 2 Seattle Sounders
Sanna Nyassi continued to build upon his great form scoring the first goal, his 4th in his last 3 games, and Alvaro Fernandez wants people to remember that while he may not be a starter, this DP's got some game as well. The two wingers provided all the scoring Seattle would need. Davy Arnaud pulled a goal back on a penalty in the 84th minute off a foul drawn from Teal Bunbury, but it was too late by then. The game all but eliminates KC from playoff contention.
Chivas USA 3 - 0 Toronto FC
TFC put out a good lineup again (starting Maicon, Mista nowhere to be found) but that alone isn't enough to make them a good team right now. Yeah, Maicon blew some chances, but he's still, unfortunately, the best option for Toronto. Chivas USA would ride goals from Jorge Flores, Jesus Padilla and Rodolfo Espinoza (hey, can you guess which MLS team has a Hispanic owner?) to a not-quite-as-dominant-as-it-sounds 3-0 victory.
Houston Dynamo 1 - 2 New England Revolution
Geoff Cameron got pushed up to the midfield for this game (which I am all in favor of) but it wasn't enough as New England downed the Dynamo in Houston. Shalrie Joseph and Kheli Dube provided the scoring for Revolution while Dominic Oduro tallied for the Dynamo in a game that saw two teams experimenting at the end of disappointing season.
Random Thoughts
The Elo Ratings do a great job of showing which team has had a more impressive overall season. However, it does not do a good job telling you which team is playing the best at the moment.
Take Seattle, for example. They've been rocketing up the Elo Ratings, currently finding themselves in 4th place. Does this really rate them fairly though? They've just finished winning the US Open Cup for the second straight year and have 29 points in their last 12 league games. They are maybe the most dangerous team heading in to the playoffs.
I'm working on a couple different ways to maybe address this, but they probably won't be ready for prime time until next season. They will produce some pretty cool graphs for the end of this year though!
Also, a big FU to whoever working over at MLSsoccer.com decided to put a 38 second pre-roll ad before every video highlight, even a 45 second goal highlight. You didn't think some kind of "This highlight brought to you by FIFA 2011" screen was enough or something? Just to name a few other problems, there's the way-too-script-heavy site that is makes browsing painfully slow, the fact that your player links don't always go to the right person, your video player is now wider than its html div in Firefox/Chrome. It's unbelievable how much you guys can screw up a website.
Rankings
MLS Elo Ratings
1,591.95 - Real Salt Lake
1,575.29 - FC Dallas
1,574.99 - Los Angeles Galaxy
1,541.23 - Seattle Sounders
1,533.23 - New York Red Bulls
1,520.44 - Colorado Rapids
1,519.52 - Columbus Crew
1,503.21 - San Jose Earthquakes
1,499.75 - Chicago Fire
1,476.66 - Kansas City Wizards
1,458.36 - Chivas USA
1,455.65 - Houston Dynamo
1,450.21 - Philadelphia Union
1,449.52 - Toronto FC
1,446.90 - New England Revolution
1,403.09 - DC United
Monday, October 4, 2010
The Home Stretch: Weekly Wrapup
Please forgive the lack of substance in this update. I was at a wedding this Saturday (who schedules a wedding during a fall Saturday in the South?) so I only have highlights to go off of for all of the games except the Super Clasico. Because of this I'm going to try to focus more on the impact of the results rather than the play that got them there.
Game Reports
Chivas USA 1 - 2 Los Angeles Galaxy
Let's go ahead and start with the game I can comment the most on. LA Galaxy maintained their dominance of the Super Clasico, downing Chivas USA 2-1. LA scored on a volley by Edson Buddle off a beautiful ball by Michael Stephens and a David Beckham free kick that reminded us why he's the master. Chivas pulled one goal back on an (offside) Alan Gordon header, but that was all the could manage dispite playing the last 20 minutes a man up.
LA changed up their lineup (AGAIN) and saw much better play on the pitch. Landon was moved up top with Buddle, and then the midfield played in a diamond with Juninho in the back, Beckham in the front, Chris Birchall on the right, and rookie Michael Stephens (who I really like and played well early in the season) on the left. If you're going to let Becks roam around the field, putting him in the middle makes a lot of sense. It meant that one side didn't get overcrowded or too empty to keep the defense honest.
I wasn't a huge fan of Donovan's role up top though, and here's why. If Bruce is going to play him and Buddle as a flat pair up top, Donovan is going to be receiving the ball with his back to the goal way too often. That neutralizes his best asset, his speed and ability to run at defenders. It would be like constantly giving the ball to Dwight Howard 18 feet from the basket. If you're going to play his as a forward, he needs to be behind a guy like Buddle who can receive the ball, hold up play, and then pass off to Donovan making a run.
Seattle Sounders 3 - 2 Toronto FC
Another big crowd and another home win for a Seattle Sounders team that has suddenly moved up to 6th in the table. Blaise Nkufo added another goal as did the two speedy wingers Zakuani and Nyassi. I was somewhat surprised to see Seattle put out the entire first team lineup tonight considering the US Open Cup final is tomorrow, but good for them getting 3 points. As for Toronto FC, they finally put what I would think is their best 11 out there together to start. Even better, Mista wasn't even in the 18.
Colorado Rapids 0 - 1 DC United
After 4 straight 3 goal victories at home, Colorado Rapids got caught by visiting DC United and lost 1-0. I have to wonder if they were looking ahead to their last 3 games of the season (@FC Dallas, @LA Galaxy, vs. RSL) and thought they could take a terrible DC team lightly. Colorado tried to rest Marvell Wynne, Anthony Wallace and Omar Cummings and it came back to bite them. DC players get paid too, you know, and no professional wants to lose.
FC Dallas 3 - 0 Chicago Fire
The big story here was Jeff Cunningham tying Jaime Moreno's record of 132 goals in an MLS career on a penalty in the 67th minute. He has one more home game this season (against Colorado this coming Saturday) to take over the lead in front of his home fans. Hopefully he can do it in the run of play and not from the spot.
New York Red Bulls 1 - 0 Kansas City Wizards
Dane Richards continues to impress, scoring the game's lone goal as New York Red Bulls downed Kansas City Wizards 1-0 at home. Granted, the goal was kinda gifted to him by a horrible play from KC center back Jimmy Conrad, but his finish deserves some praise. Backe went back to a 4-4-2 this game with Juan Pablo and Henry up top and Ballouchy in the midfield, but Marquez was out injured so we're still not 100% sure how they're going to line up when everyone's available.
New England Revolution 1 - 2 Real Salt Lake
When you really break the game down it doesn't appear that Real Salt Lake played very well at all, but they still managed to earn 3 points on the road against a bad New England Revolution side. There isn't much to say here other than "they are who we thought they were."
Columbus Crew 0 - 0 San Jose Earthquakes
Oh goodness Columbus Crew, what's going on with you? New York is now atop the Eastern Conference table after Columbus manages just a point at home against San Jose Earthquakes. The Crew are have earned just 6 points in their last 6 league games, going 1-3-2 with just 4 goals scored.
Philadelphia Union 1 - 1 Houston Dynamo
Yeah, these two teams tied. Nothing changed because of it.
Random Thoughts
No good thoughts this week since I didn't watch enough to make any huge conclusions. All I'll say is please watch the US Open Cup final tomorrow night on FSC. It's a great tournament and I really want to see more Americans embrace it so that there is better coverage of the earlier stages.
Both Columbus and Seattle take silverware seriously and should come out strong in a chance to win something for their fans and qualify for the 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League.
Rankings
MLS Elo Ratings
1,591.35 - Real Salt Lake
1,578.26 - FC Dallas
1,568.05 - Los Angeles Galaxy
1,533.83 - New York Red Bulls
1,532.93 - Seattle Sounders
1,529.30 - Columbus Crew
1,517.47 - Colorado Rapids
1,491.71 - San Jose Earthquakes
1,489.97 - Chicago Fire
1,484.95 - Kansas City Wizards
1,465.52 - Houston Dynamo
1,459.92 - Toronto FC
1,457.15 - Philadelphia Union
1,447.96 - Chivas USA
1,437.04 - New England Revolution
1,414.60 - DC United
Game Reports
Chivas USA 1 - 2 Los Angeles Galaxy
Let's go ahead and start with the game I can comment the most on. LA Galaxy maintained their dominance of the Super Clasico, downing Chivas USA 2-1. LA scored on a volley by Edson Buddle off a beautiful ball by Michael Stephens and a David Beckham free kick that reminded us why he's the master. Chivas pulled one goal back on an (offside) Alan Gordon header, but that was all the could manage dispite playing the last 20 minutes a man up.
LA changed up their lineup (AGAIN) and saw much better play on the pitch. Landon was moved up top with Buddle, and then the midfield played in a diamond with Juninho in the back, Beckham in the front, Chris Birchall on the right, and rookie Michael Stephens (who I really like and played well early in the season) on the left. If you're going to let Becks roam around the field, putting him in the middle makes a lot of sense. It meant that one side didn't get overcrowded or too empty to keep the defense honest.
I wasn't a huge fan of Donovan's role up top though, and here's why. If Bruce is going to play him and Buddle as a flat pair up top, Donovan is going to be receiving the ball with his back to the goal way too often. That neutralizes his best asset, his speed and ability to run at defenders. It would be like constantly giving the ball to Dwight Howard 18 feet from the basket. If you're going to play his as a forward, he needs to be behind a guy like Buddle who can receive the ball, hold up play, and then pass off to Donovan making a run.
Seattle Sounders 3 - 2 Toronto FC
Another big crowd and another home win for a Seattle Sounders team that has suddenly moved up to 6th in the table. Blaise Nkufo added another goal as did the two speedy wingers Zakuani and Nyassi. I was somewhat surprised to see Seattle put out the entire first team lineup tonight considering the US Open Cup final is tomorrow, but good for them getting 3 points. As for Toronto FC, they finally put what I would think is their best 11 out there together to start. Even better, Mista wasn't even in the 18.
Colorado Rapids 0 - 1 DC United
After 4 straight 3 goal victories at home, Colorado Rapids got caught by visiting DC United and lost 1-0. I have to wonder if they were looking ahead to their last 3 games of the season (@FC Dallas, @LA Galaxy, vs. RSL) and thought they could take a terrible DC team lightly. Colorado tried to rest Marvell Wynne, Anthony Wallace and Omar Cummings and it came back to bite them. DC players get paid too, you know, and no professional wants to lose.
FC Dallas 3 - 0 Chicago Fire
The big story here was Jeff Cunningham tying Jaime Moreno's record of 132 goals in an MLS career on a penalty in the 67th minute. He has one more home game this season (against Colorado this coming Saturday) to take over the lead in front of his home fans. Hopefully he can do it in the run of play and not from the spot.
New York Red Bulls 1 - 0 Kansas City Wizards
Dane Richards continues to impress, scoring the game's lone goal as New York Red Bulls downed Kansas City Wizards 1-0 at home. Granted, the goal was kinda gifted to him by a horrible play from KC center back Jimmy Conrad, but his finish deserves some praise. Backe went back to a 4-4-2 this game with Juan Pablo and Henry up top and Ballouchy in the midfield, but Marquez was out injured so we're still not 100% sure how they're going to line up when everyone's available.
New England Revolution 1 - 2 Real Salt Lake
When you really break the game down it doesn't appear that Real Salt Lake played very well at all, but they still managed to earn 3 points on the road against a bad New England Revolution side. There isn't much to say here other than "they are who we thought they were."
Columbus Crew 0 - 0 San Jose Earthquakes
Oh goodness Columbus Crew, what's going on with you? New York is now atop the Eastern Conference table after Columbus manages just a point at home against San Jose Earthquakes. The Crew are have earned just 6 points in their last 6 league games, going 1-3-2 with just 4 goals scored.
Philadelphia Union 1 - 1 Houston Dynamo
Yeah, these two teams tied. Nothing changed because of it.
Random Thoughts
No good thoughts this week since I didn't watch enough to make any huge conclusions. All I'll say is please watch the US Open Cup final tomorrow night on FSC. It's a great tournament and I really want to see more Americans embrace it so that there is better coverage of the earlier stages.
Both Columbus and Seattle take silverware seriously and should come out strong in a chance to win something for their fans and qualify for the 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League.
Rankings
MLS Elo Ratings
1,591.35 - Real Salt Lake
1,578.26 - FC Dallas
1,568.05 - Los Angeles Galaxy
1,533.83 - New York Red Bulls
1,532.93 - Seattle Sounders
1,529.30 - Columbus Crew
1,517.47 - Colorado Rapids
1,491.71 - San Jose Earthquakes
1,489.97 - Chicago Fire
1,484.95 - Kansas City Wizards
1,465.52 - Houston Dynamo
1,459.92 - Toronto FC
1,457.15 - Philadelphia Union
1,447.96 - Chivas USA
1,437.04 - New England Revolution
1,414.60 - DC United
Monday, September 27, 2010
And Then There Were 8: Weekly Update
Well damn. I was kinda hoping for at least one bit of an interesting playoff race down the stretch. However, with 4 games to go for most teams that's pretty much out the window since San Jose and Seattle handled their business while TFC, Kansas City, and Chicago Fire all choked.
Now it looks like our only fireworks will be who wins the individual titles. Scoring champ looked locked up when Buddle was on fire early in the year, but not much has happened for him since then and Juan Pablo Angel, Chris Wondolowski, Dwayne De Rosario and Sebastien Le Toux are all within 2 goals of him. Landon's still the clear MVP favorite, but Le Toux, Montero, and Ferreira are going to get votes. Andy Najar is making a late charge for Rookie of the Year but Danny Mwanga and Tim Ream are also playing well.
That's what we have to look forward to now.
Game Reports
The national FSC game this week saw Real Salt Lake tie Colorado Rapids 1-1 at home. Colorado was without Omar Cummings, their best attacking option, and RSL started with a couple of their big name players (Kyle Beckerman, Andy Williams, Will Johnson) on the bench after a big midweek game in Panama. However, RSL dominated this game; not that you could tell from the scoreline. They peppered the Colorado goal for the last 30 minutes, including have a penalty call reversed for reasons I haven't seen explained anywhere. RSL got the goal they deserved to earn a result in the 92nd minute, but I still think they came away shortchanged.
Now for the three games that pretty much locked up the playoff picture:
Oh Toronto, you're such a disaster right now. A Chris Wondolowski hat trick (goal 1, goal 2, goal 3) led San Jose Earthquakes to a 3-2 victory over Toronto FC at BMO Field. The only fun things worth pointing out here were Mista once again proving his worthlessness (word?) by missing an unmarked header and DeRo's check writing celebration that apparently came about because he feels underpaid. I'm not going to disagree with him, not when he's the best player on a team with Mista and de Guzman making $1 million and $1.7 million respectively. But this wasn't the right time to make a statement man, you're better than that.
Seattle Sounders at Chicago Fire may have seemed like a boring game, with Nkufo's deflected goal in the 88th minute being the only scoring as Seattle won 1-0. But there was actually great action and it took some acrobatic saves by Keller and Johnson to keep the score down. For anyone who wasn't quite sure how seriously Seattle was taking CCL, they changed all 11 starters between the midweek game in Monterrey and this MLS league match against a team making a run for the playoffs. Sean Johnson did have his first "OMG!!" mistake I can remember this game when he came out too far and almost gave up a goal to Steve Zakuani who pulled it just past a wide open goal.
FC Dallas looked like FC Dallas again, beating down a hot Kansas City Wizards team 3-1 in KC. They even pulled this off without king of the wing Brek Shea, who was serving the second game of his suspension after a terrible foul against New York. Jeff Cunningham tacked on the last goal in the 82nd minute, giving him 10 for the season and 131 for his career, just one shy of tying Jaime Moreno for the most all time. Dallas's next two games are at home, so hopefully he can meet and surpass that mark in front of friendly fans.
Other games:
In a match that used to be a lot more interesting the past few years, Houston Dynamo went on the road to DC United and came away 3-1 winners. The thing really worth talking about here in Andy Najar, who may have just played his best game as a professional. Najar was all over the place, making dangerous runs, taking on defenders, and basically supplying all of DC's offense. His goal was a thing of beauty from a 17 year old (minus the first touch). Alas, it never seems to be enough for a DC team that just leaks goals.
Ale Moreno, Fred, and Le Toux did the scoring as Philadelphia Union played host to Chivas USA and won 3-0. This team is closing out the season very strong (3-1-1 in their last 5) and looks ready to put together a very competitive 2011 campaign. And Brad Knighton. Damn, son. That slamming sound you heard is the door closing on Chris Seitz's hopes to regain his starter's spot. Chivas, on the other hand, has some serious issues that need fixing. Like figuring out what kind of team they are and how they're going to play.
Columbus Crew scored a pair on goals in the second half to come back and tie New England Revolution 2-2 in Foxborough. Even with the point, this Crew team still hasn't looked good lately, except in CCL games strangely enough. New York is only 1 point back for first place in the East right now, and I'd lean towards them taking over that spot before it's all said and done.
Random Thoughts
CCL games this week
9/28 8pm - Real Salt Lake @ Toronto FC
9/29 10pm - Columbus @ Municipal
9/29 10pm - Marathon @ Seattle
A big part of me wants to see TFC win at home so that RSL can then beat Cruz Azul at home next and two MLS teams can move on from Group A. I don't think it happens though. Toronto's a mess right now and RSL is playing as well as any team in MLS at the moment.
Columbus sits in first place right now with two road games left against Municipal and Joe Public. Winning this week puts them in great position to go through in 1st place from group B.
All Seattle can do at this point is play spoiler. Marathon and Saprissa tied at 6 points with games at Seattle and home vs Monterrey left. Let's see what happens.
Rankings
MLS Elo Ratings
1,585.07 - Real Salt Lake
1,570.73 - FC Dallas
1,561.00 - Los Angeles Galaxy
1,531.94 - Columbus Crew
1,528.90 - New York Red Bulls
1,528.47 - Seattle Sounders
1,520.90 - Colorado Rapids
1,506.24 - San Jose Earthquakes
1,489.88 - Kansas City Wizards
1,480.32 - Chicago Fire
1,466.98 - Philadelphia Union
1,464.39 - Toronto FC
1,463.82 - Houston Dynamo
1,455.01 - Chivas USA
1,443.32 - New England Revolution
1,403.03 - DC United
Now it looks like our only fireworks will be who wins the individual titles. Scoring champ looked locked up when Buddle was on fire early in the year, but not much has happened for him since then and Juan Pablo Angel, Chris Wondolowski, Dwayne De Rosario and Sebastien Le Toux are all within 2 goals of him. Landon's still the clear MVP favorite, but Le Toux, Montero, and Ferreira are going to get votes. Andy Najar is making a late charge for Rookie of the Year but Danny Mwanga and Tim Ream are also playing well.
That's what we have to look forward to now.
Game Reports
The national FSC game this week saw Real Salt Lake tie Colorado Rapids 1-1 at home. Colorado was without Omar Cummings, their best attacking option, and RSL started with a couple of their big name players (Kyle Beckerman, Andy Williams, Will Johnson) on the bench after a big midweek game in Panama. However, RSL dominated this game; not that you could tell from the scoreline. They peppered the Colorado goal for the last 30 minutes, including have a penalty call reversed for reasons I haven't seen explained anywhere. RSL got the goal they deserved to earn a result in the 92nd minute, but I still think they came away shortchanged.
Now for the three games that pretty much locked up the playoff picture:
Oh Toronto, you're such a disaster right now. A Chris Wondolowski hat trick (goal 1, goal 2, goal 3) led San Jose Earthquakes to a 3-2 victory over Toronto FC at BMO Field. The only fun things worth pointing out here were Mista once again proving his worthlessness (word?) by missing an unmarked header and DeRo's check writing celebration that apparently came about because he feels underpaid. I'm not going to disagree with him, not when he's the best player on a team with Mista and de Guzman making $1 million and $1.7 million respectively. But this wasn't the right time to make a statement man, you're better than that.
Seattle Sounders at Chicago Fire may have seemed like a boring game, with Nkufo's deflected goal in the 88th minute being the only scoring as Seattle won 1-0. But there was actually great action and it took some acrobatic saves by Keller and Johnson to keep the score down. For anyone who wasn't quite sure how seriously Seattle was taking CCL, they changed all 11 starters between the midweek game in Monterrey and this MLS league match against a team making a run for the playoffs. Sean Johnson did have his first "OMG!!" mistake I can remember this game when he came out too far and almost gave up a goal to Steve Zakuani who pulled it just past a wide open goal.
FC Dallas looked like FC Dallas again, beating down a hot Kansas City Wizards team 3-1 in KC. They even pulled this off without king of the wing Brek Shea, who was serving the second game of his suspension after a terrible foul against New York. Jeff Cunningham tacked on the last goal in the 82nd minute, giving him 10 for the season and 131 for his career, just one shy of tying Jaime Moreno for the most all time. Dallas's next two games are at home, so hopefully he can meet and surpass that mark in front of friendly fans.
Other games:
In a match that used to be a lot more interesting the past few years, Houston Dynamo went on the road to DC United and came away 3-1 winners. The thing really worth talking about here in Andy Najar, who may have just played his best game as a professional. Najar was all over the place, making dangerous runs, taking on defenders, and basically supplying all of DC's offense. His goal was a thing of beauty from a 17 year old (minus the first touch). Alas, it never seems to be enough for a DC team that just leaks goals.
Ale Moreno, Fred, and Le Toux did the scoring as Philadelphia Union played host to Chivas USA and won 3-0. This team is closing out the season very strong (3-1-1 in their last 5) and looks ready to put together a very competitive 2011 campaign. And Brad Knighton. Damn, son. That slamming sound you heard is the door closing on Chris Seitz's hopes to regain his starter's spot. Chivas, on the other hand, has some serious issues that need fixing. Like figuring out what kind of team they are and how they're going to play.
Columbus Crew scored a pair on goals in the second half to come back and tie New England Revolution 2-2 in Foxborough. Even with the point, this Crew team still hasn't looked good lately, except in CCL games strangely enough. New York is only 1 point back for first place in the East right now, and I'd lean towards them taking over that spot before it's all said and done.
Random Thoughts
CCL games this week
9/28 8pm - Real Salt Lake @ Toronto FC
9/29 10pm - Columbus @ Municipal
9/29 10pm - Marathon @ Seattle
A big part of me wants to see TFC win at home so that RSL can then beat Cruz Azul at home next and two MLS teams can move on from Group A. I don't think it happens though. Toronto's a mess right now and RSL is playing as well as any team in MLS at the moment.
Columbus sits in first place right now with two road games left against Municipal and Joe Public. Winning this week puts them in great position to go through in 1st place from group B.
All Seattle can do at this point is play spoiler. Marathon and Saprissa tied at 6 points with games at Seattle and home vs Monterrey left. Let's see what happens.
Rankings
MLS Elo Ratings
1,585.07 - Real Salt Lake
1,570.73 - FC Dallas
1,561.00 - Los Angeles Galaxy
1,531.94 - Columbus Crew
1,528.90 - New York Red Bulls
1,528.47 - Seattle Sounders
1,520.90 - Colorado Rapids
1,506.24 - San Jose Earthquakes
1,489.88 - Kansas City Wizards
1,480.32 - Chicago Fire
1,466.98 - Philadelphia Union
1,464.39 - Toronto FC
1,463.82 - Houston Dynamo
1,455.01 - Chivas USA
1,443.32 - New England Revolution
1,403.03 - DC United
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