Gold Cup Goodness + How U.S. v. China Got Interesting

Unbelievably, the CONCACAF Gold Cup is just a week away, which could be why things like rosters of all the teams and scouting reports of Mexico (who look pretty scary...till you consider the Jedi mind-trick the Yanquis have working on 'em; whoops, and hat-tip to du Nord) are trickling out lately. I'm hoping there's plenty more to come. For instance, I read of a scouting report to come from Fox Soccer's site (which means I'll have to bookmark it...again) and I see they've got a pretty snazzy spread for the tournament already laid out (as well as more power-rankings for me to mine - yippee!).

But, as all y'all no doubt know, there's that game against China for an appetizer of sorts. About a week ago, I confessed to an utter lack of interest in this Saturday's game, but, with the appearance of some weird, new names on the game-day roster (Davies, Hill, and Nguyen; and hats off to the Sacramento Bee for paying attention to the California Victory), I'm suddenly thinking this could be worthwhile viewing; so, here's to Bob Bradley for making good use of a friendly.

In a related piece, Jeff Carlisle did some roster day-dreaming for ESPN. While that's worth reading for its own sake, he mentioned a couple angles that got wheels turning in my head. First, there's this bit about Dempsey:

"The absence of the team's MLS contingent means that the U.S. only has youngsters Charlie Davies and Kamani Hill, as well as veteran Ante Razov available, although the likes of Dempsey could slide up top."

Loathe as I am to play the "build-yer-own-line-up" parlor game, I have to say here, "yes, yes, YES!" I like a free-role for Deuce, which I think he'd get at forward; his defending's not so hot in any case. Just a thought...I'm not sure it will happen.

The big thing for me, though, is what Bradley does with the second 45 minutes - or however much time he opts to devote to experimentation. I'm all for giving the first-choice Gold Cup team - or as much of it as is feasible - time in a live-game situation to play together. But by the second half, I want to see some young guys getting a sniff - and the more the better. Put another way, I'm watching this to see Charlie Davies and Lee Nguyen, guys I've heard decent things about but have never seen. If not for yourself, do it for me, Bob. Thanks. I'll be watching now.

Hmmm....one last thing: I'm finally seeing the reason why China is playing half of MLS after the U.S. Men: they've got the Asian Cup looming - and a poor result to wipe out. That should help raise the level a bit. Good stuff.

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And It's Seattle Edging Portland, and -OH! - Look Out, Here Comes Vegas Turning Into the Stretch...

...and, with that, I have composed my longest-ever title. Yesss....

If the evil, evil (oh, so profoundly evil) Oregonlive.com did not forbid my registration from taking, I might have stopped by the Timber Blog to see to Bob Kellett, "You monster. You beat me to the punch on this post." But it does, so I didn't...which is why I'm doing it here.

As you may have guessed, Bob Kellett did, in fact, note that, due to the existence of a soccer-ready surface at Seattle's Qwest Field, the Seattle area enjoys an early leg-up in the "qwest" (tee hee hee) to bring a Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise to the Pacific Northwest. It takes a certain kind of half-baked thinking to read anything else into the language used by inside-track (only track?) investor, James Keston, when he says, ""I think the best opportunity to play immediately would come playing in Qwest." As such, it would seem Seattle's odds look a lot better - especially when one takes into account Kellett's point about the absence of action among Portland's political leadership.

Then again, the timer just went off on one particular half-baked line of thinking to make a long-shot counter-point to the apparent upside of Qwest. There's a reason why Keston should be wary of the situation in Seattle: Qwest Field could be a trap. Here's the thing: there's a very real risk that a Seattle-based MLS franchise would start play at Qwest Field, only to find the Seattle-area public unwilling to pony up for a soccer-specific facility.

So, the question for MLS and Keston is, what constitutes a bigger headache: the short-term problem of figuring out how, or even whether, to share a facility with two teams and a crappy field (PGE Park), but with (possibly) greater potential for making it their own versus the long-term problem of getting held hostage in a giganto-motherfucker of a stadium by a public whose fists tighten at the thought of spending on sports teams? So long as the equation plays out like that - and, honestly, I have no idea as to whether it does - I'm not sure that Portland looks so bad for a market.

At the same time, given recent developments in las vegas real estate, Nevada (not to mention the noises coming out of the Bay Area), it's possible that Keston will have a little more time than he may want to let events and actions on the ground flesh out a bit more. Promising as a return to the Bay Area is looking lately, the Vegas bid looks like it's coming together big and fast - in a word, like gang-busters. Put another way, given a solid bid on the table from Vegas, Keston has no clear reason to rush into either Pacific Northwest city.

Speaking for myself, I'm getting a little wary of that short dead-line of Keston's...

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MLS + YouTube = Joy

I know I'm way, way behind on this one, but the whole Major League Soccer (MLS), Youtube partnership? I'm fer it.

All y'all should join up when you have the chance. It gives the league something to show money people when they talk.

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MLS Week 8: The Collective's Power Ranking

The Semi-Detached Pundit Collective has again rendered judgment on the state of Major League Soccer's 13 clubs after the 8th week of action. Here's the source material:

It's a Simple Game (me)
ESPN (aka, the Mothership)
Sports Illustrated (aka, the Frat Boys)
WVHooligan (hope the "WV" stands for what I think it does)
My Soccer Blog (who seems to hate Chivas USA)
The Other Football (still working themes effectively)
Sideline Views (Luis "Rapids Man" Bueno)
MLS Underground (unofficial MLS Hombre Secreto)

On principle, I think The DCenters' Freezer belongs in this scrum as well; they don't take the same approach, but it's an educational read nonetheless.

Oh, and if the dude who does the Scariness Rankings can reintroduce himself...ah, never mind. He just jumped in a bit ago (Hey Pat!), so click the link to read that rock-solid piece of statistical business. I'm too far in to work you in this week, but will remember well the heck you are for the next edition.

Before dumping the numbers, some things of note about the collective mind:

1) Nearly everyone agrees on the top 6 teams in the league: Red Bull New York, Kansas City Wizards, New England Revolution, Colorado Rapids, DC United, and FC Dallas. That 4-2 split between West and East ain't an accident.
2) If it weren't for Mike H of My Soccer Blog gumming up the works (non-conformist!), Chivas USA would be a universal #7.
3) Then again, who am I to talk: I'm the only one spiteful/impulsive enough to dump Chicago to #13.
4) On the subject of near-universals, I saved RSL from batting a perfect "13."
5) The teams no one knew quite what to do with, ranked in order of bemusement: Houston Dynamo, Toronto FC, and Chicago Fire. The Galaxy almost sneaks in.

Now, to the rankings as judged by The Semi-Detached Pundit Collective (albeit minus the two fellas noted above):

1. Red Bull New York: 1.1 (Bueno was the lone hold-out)
2/3. Kansas City Wizards: 2.8 (didn't count on ties)
2/3. New England Revolution: 2.8 (they don't deserve it! The assholes!)
4. Colorado Rapids: 3.9 (actually, pretty big spread on these guys as well)
5. FC Dallas: 5.1 (a 1.2 spread over a team below them in the standings)
6. DC United: 5.4 (strong #6, no?)
7. Chivas USA: 7.4 (must tell David; he needs cheering up)
8. Toronto FC: 8.9 (playoff figure...a weak one, but still)
9. Houston Dynamo: 9.4 (incredible...)
10. Los Angeles Galaxy: 9.9 (whodathunkit?)
11. Chicago Fire: 10.5 (a strong 11th? Wrong. WRONG!!)
12. Columbus Crew: 11.13 (I think this adds up...a bit)
13. Real Salt Lake: 12.9

Now, one last bit to consider: did any single person match the mind of the collective? Nope.

Week 8: Power Rankings + Standings

As usual, last week’s ranking appears in parentheses immediately after this week’s ranking. So as to not misrepresent my judgment as entirely first-hand, here’s a key for my viewing: “@” means I watched a given team’s most recent performance in its entirety; “$” means I caught it through Quick Kicks, which provides extended highlights; “&” means I watched only the rump highlights available through MLSnet.com. Later today, I’ll compare what I’ve got below with the other rankings I’ve found - though, as always, I compiled my rankings without reference to anyone else’s.

Before naming names and assigning numbers, here’s an important caveat: I’m only comfortable with my #1 pick. #2 - #5, that’s not so bad either. But everything from #6 up? It’s like half the teams in the damn league are fighting for last place. And I'm guessing my ranking slide around more than most to boot. Christ, what a mess.

Here goes...and after the rankings, you’ll find a current listing of the standings for the permanent record.

1. (1) Red Bull New York (&)
Even if the fact they reportedly let Chicago get back in it during this game’s (delicious, squishy) middle, they not only won by a robust margin, but look like they’ve got a good, deep team.

2. (5) Kansas City Wizards ($ + a good amount of @)
Oh, how they rise. It wasn’t so much the win - and the three goals allowed don’t impress much, though most were fluky and came against a green, make-shift defense - as it was how they looked in the attack. A confident Eddie Johnson feeding off Carlos Marinelli passes, supported by Davy Arnaud...well, you get the picture. They looked incisive, they looked good, and they beat a (mainly) strong team.

3. (4) Colorado Rapids ($)
The assist from the referee (the Kyle Martino red card and it was a fair one in my book) takes the shine off this win just a little. But look at the gol-durn competition. They salient fact is they won.

4. (2) New England Revolution ($ + a good amount of @)
These guys, on the other hand, did not win. Worse, they got twisted like slow-moving pretzels in defense. And they’re goals were lucky. While the fan part of wants to view Week 8’s performance as a good team hiccupping (bile), the cold, hard reality is the Revs have looked flat-out shitty on several occasions this year. This struck me as karma taking its pound of flesh - worse may follow. Then again, it may not.

5. (6) DC United (hearsay)
Three wins is three wins, y’know? Having seen exactly zero of those wins, I’ll probably have to sit down to watch these guys this weekend to see what they do against LA. Mmmm...on second thought, the three games on MLSlive.tv look more interesting...

6. (3) FC Dallas (@)
I tried - I mean really tried - to peg Chivas over FC Dallas. Couldn’t do it. Yeah, Dallas lost, but I think that had to do with their offense and midfield misfiring - and the fact that Dallas teams seem allergic to LA, speaking historically. They played lousy, but the defense gave away less than the score-line suggests. (Then again, having just completed the standings, I can in no way defend my contention that Dallas’ defense has improved. 2nd worst? Yikes.)

7. (3) Chivas USA (@)
In all honesty, I don’t think Chivas is the 7th best team in MLS. Hell, I might have looked good against Dallas last weekend. But they did win and some of the moves made in recent weeks - here I’m thinking Paolo Nagamura and Shavar Thomas - look to have plugged the right holes. So, for this week, they do deserve to be this high; I wouldn’t be shocked if they climb higher. I also wouldn’t be shocked if they got overtaken by some of the underperforming teams below.

8. (10) Toronto FC ($ + a good amount of @)
It’s not just picking up their first point on the road; it’s the scrappy this team shows. With a lot of teams sucking down a surprising amount of dirt, these guys may yet contend for the playoffs.

9. (8) Los Angeles Galaxy ($)
The flipside of DC: losses are losses and draws are draws, right? Get too many and it doesn’t matter who you’ve got or who is on their way.

10. (9) Houston Dynamo (hearsay)
Can’t score, in spite of frequently shelling the opposition goal. Brian Ching is only distantly familiar with the concept of form - ditto, and more disconcertingly, for Dwayne DeRosario. And Eddie Robinson is a thug...just thought I’d throw that in there.

11. (12) Columbus Crew ($ + a good amount of @)
Had I not seen the two goals actually go in the net, I would likely have doubted it happened; works on the same principle as miracles attributed to medieval figures. And then they go and let in two going the other way (so, one of ‘em was totally boffo, top-drawer, and all that) - at home no less. Beats losing, I suppose.

12. (13) Real Salt Lake ($)
I suspect I’ll be the only pundit out here shifting RSL out of the bottom spot. Do they still suck? Yep. But there’s one crucial difference between RSL and the team I slipped beneath them...

13. (7) Chicago Fire (& + $)
...and that’s that RSL seems to want to play for their coach; plus they’ve got the excuse of missing Carey Talley and, I don’t care what anyone says, picking up Richie Kotschau, who is good enough, helps. On the other hand, Dave “Dead Man Walking” Sarachan simply hasn’t done a lot right lately and the reinforcements either coming (Cuauhtemoc Blanco) or in play (Marcelo Salas) won’t do much about the goals the Fire are bleeding. Whatever ails this bunch, it’s frickin' serious - maybe even lethal...at least to those of the Sarachan tribe.

Moving on to the standings (official ones here):

Eastern Conference
1. Red Bull New York: 17 pts. (5-1-2: 15 GF, 4 GA, +11; home, 4-1-0; away, 1-0-2)
2. New England Revs: 17 pts. (5-1-2: 18 GF, 11 GA, +7; home, 2-1-0; away, 3-1-2)
3. Kansas City Wiz: 16 pts. (5-2-1: 16 GF, 10 GA, +6; home, 2-1-0; away, 3-1-1)
4. Chicago Fire: 11 pts. (3-4-2: 8 GF, 13 GA, -5; home, 2-1-1; away, 1-3-1)
5. DC United: 10 pts. (3-3-1: 10 GF, 11 GA, -1; home, 2-1-1; away, 1-2-0)
6. Columbus Crew: 8 pts. (1-2-5: 6 GF, 10 GA, -4; home, 1-0-4; away, 0-2-1)
7. Toronto FC: 7 pts. (2-5-1: 7 GF, 15 GA, -8; home, 2-2-0; away, 0-3-1)

Western Conference
1. FC Dallas: 16 pts. (5-4-1: 13 GF, 14 GA, -1; home, 2-2-0; away, 3-2-1)
2. Colorado Rapids: 15 pts. (4-2-3: 11 GF, 10 GA, +1; home 2-1-3; away, 2-1-0)
3. Chivas USA: 11 pts. (3-3-2: 12 GF, 8 GA; +4; home, 3-0-1; away, 0-3-1)
4. Houston Dynamo: 7 pts. (2-5-1: 5 GF, 7 GA, -2; home, 1-2-1; away, 1-3-0)
5. Los Angeles Galaxy: 5 pts. (1-3-2: 7 GF, 8 GA, -1; home, 1-2-0; away, 0-1-2)
6. Real Salt Lake: 5 pts. (0-3-5: 7 GF, 14 GA, -7; home, 0-1-3; away, 0-2-2)

MLS Week 8: (Still) Filling in the Blanks

Yeah, ideally I get to this Monday, but I've got a wife, two kids, and a bitchy cat to support and help, etc.

Anyway, I've spent the past couple days reviewing the chatter on the action from Major League Soccer's (MLS) Week 8, mainly to build on the first impressions I had from the games. I did learn a thing or two to be sure - and that's what appears below. So, in no particular order (and don't let the fact I start with Thursday's game throw ya)...

Red Bull New York 3 - 0 Chicago Fire
The Red Card's Luis Arroyave threw out some analysis of the crisis on everything from Matt Pickens apparently wavering confidence (he's getting shelled; can you blame the man?), to Dave "The Man" Sarachan's dubious tactical decisions...suffice to say, if you read this, you'll get smarter. Elsewhere, Chris, who took over the Red Bull Offside blog, takes a tidy front-to-back look at what makes the East's most-talked-about team tick (for the record, it ain't the back).

Chicago Fire 0 - 0 Real Salt Lake
Given the score, it's not surprising that MLSnet.com's write-up says something about a "'keeper's duel"; and, speaking across the board, nearly everyone liked what they saw out of RSL 'keep, Nick Rimando (which makes it a minor shame he may get bumped for Kasey Keller...which, in turn, makes me wonder what the hell Keller is doing signing up to get shelled). As a couple Chicago-based outlets note, Fire fans have turned on coach Dave Sarachan with a freakin', banner-waving vengeance and line-up changes ain't enough to placate 'em.

Writing from the other side of the game, Real Salt Lake's people seem relatively happy with the draw. And, is it just me or does Jason Kreis make a lot of sense when he talks about the game. Oh, and that same link gives some quotes on what new-signing Alecko Eskandarian and his new coach thought of his first game in Hell....er, Salt Lake.

Colorado Rapids 1 - 0 Los Angeles Galaxy
A look at the box score info at the bottom of the MLSnet.com write-up proves that, once in a while, stats can meet reality when it comes to soccer. Naturally, a big part of making those numbers came with Kyle Martino's sorta-silly sending off: the Denver Post's report was good enough to let Joe Cannon vent some (un-fineable) frustration about the call (or maybe they were just being nice to an old source), while the FC Rocky blog (good one, by the way) essentially saw the call as the correct one (like me). The same source also has an interesting bit questioning Colorado's "killer instinct" - the author(s) write a powerful passage on that - and it's fair to wonder about that; they're also stoked about the crowd, and rightly so.

On the other side, the LA Times' report did little more than get me wondering about how many assists Terry Cooke - who assisted on Herculez Gomez' goal - has on the season. The fairly modest number may have disappointed, but the horror-movie-esque photo of the "poor Man's Beckham" showing on his profile page...well, that's the face (and complexion) of a man with bodies in his basement. Think I'll blow it up and hang it on my kids' bedroom wall...just for a laugh...

Chivas USA 2 - 0 FC Dallas
While both MLSnet.com and the Dallas Morning News basically saw what I saw in this game - namely, a seemingly baffled Dallas team getting pushed around in midfield - not all Chivas fans see much to celebrate in the game. At the risk of sounding like I'm making fun (I'm not), I have to confess my complete admiration for David, the guy who runs the Chivas Offside blog. You can search far and wide in the blogoverse, but you'll have to walk a fair patch before you find anyone as capable of finding every grey cloud behind the silver lining. And in Dave's world, those clouds are all named Preki. (In all honesty, I'm in awe of people who can get as riled as Dave; it's just not in me.)

Returning to the MLSnet.com report, though, they mention something I neglected - e.g. that the Shavar Thomas/Claudio Suarez pairing seems to be gelling after a somewhat shaky start. And, for the stats-fanatics out there, FC Dallas Updates pulled together some cool stats about home and away records - just the regular numbers data dump for all y'all obsessives out there.

DC United 2 - 1 Houston Dynamo
If the stats don't lie on MLSnet.com's report for this one, I'm a little mystified: twice the shots for Houston? Steve Davis, writing for ESPN looks a bit beyond the numbers to explain the seeming nuttiness...but still...it's almost enough to make me want to watch the Dynamo. Maybe it's DC's "mystique" noted by Christian Gomez...um...I felt silly just reading that one...so let's ignore that and read all the wonderful, wonderful things that appeared in The DCenters' debriefing - and I'll give a special shout-out to their crack at "Gomez Theory."

Still, there's no doubting Houston knows about their, um, issues, as evidenced by their attempt to lock out the world. But I think the Houston Chronicle's Bernardo Fallas framed Houston's situation the best with this lead:

"The Dynamo's start to the season so far has been progressively downgraded from slow to lackluster to disappointing. After Saturday's 2-1 loss to D.C. United, 'free-falling' has made its way into the list of terms used to describe the situation. 'Horrible' is warming up and ready to sub in, just in case."

Columbus Crew 2 - 2 Toronto FC
Speaking of leads, I've got to start this one with what the Columbus Offside wrote about the Crew offense: "But when Andy Herron limped off the field in the 38th minute with strained quadriceps, our offense limped off the field too." Ah, magic.

And, truth be told, whatever happened on the field, Crew-related outlets did bang-up analysis on this match. Whether it was the Columbus Dispatch slowing the "Schelotto Will Solve All!" parade by noting he's having some trouble gelling with the team or smartly capturing the Crew's disappointment with the draw, they did good. With regard to Schelotto, though, I think the general feeling is that the problem lies in part with the team he's joining...

That's not to say the Toronto papers totally dropped the ball; after all, it was the Toronto Star who answered my earlier question about how Crew 'keeper, Andy Gruenebaum, got beat by Jim Brennan's long-range bomb.

Gasp...finally....

New England Revolution 3 - 4 Kansas City Wizards
Was this the game of the week, or who? (And that's why I buried it.) I think the crucial thing I missed - or of which I was ignorant - was a lingering injury to Shalrie Joseph, picked up last week against Houston; the Boston Globe's Frank Dell 'Appa mulls that one quite a bit in explaining the loss. The Revolution Offside throws in another facet by pointing out an obvious, but too often overlooked truth about the 3-5-2: "it’s a strong formation with little room for error." Those are both swell, but they lose out in my personal "Analysis Stakes" to Blue Blood Journo's dispatch from the Jersey shore. What can I say? So far as I'm concerned, the man nailed his analysis of New England.

Not to be outdone, the Kansas City contigent weighed in with some beauties. For instance, Down the Byline credited defending high upfield for KC's success against the Revs. Meanwhile, the Kansas City Offside, well, it's just hard to beat Michael's post for dissecting the way KC beat the Revolution; #5 is a masterpiece.

OH, HOLY CRAP...I'M NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN....

MLS Week 8: What I Think About ____

In another installment of my personal favorite parlor game - e.g. talking about the results before reading what anyone else had to say - below are some bulleted thoughts about Week 8 in Major League Soccer play. For the record, I certainly didn’t watch all the games (I’ve got a wife, some kids, and a bitchy cat), but I caught several in whole or pieces; I note below each score/link thingy how closely I observed the proceedings.

So, here goes: what I think about...

Red Bull New York 3 - 0 Chicago Fire
(highlights, mainly of the goals)
...more than anything else, that all the people predicting a good showing from Juan Pablo Angel had it right. What can I say? I take a while to impress.
...that Chicago really is in trouble. Based on reports, it sounds like they fought back fairly well, but fat lot of good that does them after going two goals down in only 3 minutes.
...the extent to which Red Bull had to scramble players to fill positions to cover for injury shows either, 1) that they have useful depth, 2) managerial genius of the “on-the-fly” sort, or 3) the depths of Chicago’s problems.
...all in all, it’s hard to dismiss Red Bull at this point in the season; Chicago, on the other hand...

New England Revolution 3 - 4 Kansas City Wizards
(Quick Kicks, plus a 45-minute view of archived footage)
...confirmed a personal suspicion that New England has been riding its luck; to use an almost dirty word in the sporting (OK, horse-racing), they were due.
...both outside backs - James Riley and Jay Heaps - got burned in this one, Heaps badly so. Riley has long struck me as suspect, which gets me wondering where Avery John is these days. Heaps, though, typically does pretty well.
...those two players’ defensive woes may have something to do with Eddie Johnson’s “superfreak” performance. The man was, simpy put, a force, not just notching his first hat-trick in, oh, forever, but doing so with menacing power.
...sure, New England scored three, but Taylor Twellman’s was lucky and, nice as it was the Shalrie Joseph both forced the penalty and scored on the kick, that’s still a half-lucky goal. Of New England’s three goals, only Ralston’s looked like much.
...simply put, New England got beat at home and the score flattered them. They constructed the pretty passing triangles and moved around quite a bit, but the movement took on this strange eddying quality - e.g. they ran a lot, but most of it in circles. In other words, they weren’t getting much for forward movement.
... Kansas City, meanwhile, looked pretty fluid out there. And that was without Carlos Marinelli pulling the strings till the 60th or so minute; Marinelli did come on, though, to provide the assist to Johnson’s third goal, which featured a perfectly-weighted twenty-yard pass into an incisive run by Johnson.

DC United 2 - 1 Houston Dynamo
(bastards kept this one under lock and key)
...going by the result alone - as I have to do under self-imposed circumstances - I’ll only say DC’s return to form still classes under “apparent.” Victories are indeed victories, but wins over Chivas USA, Toronto FC, and, now, Houston, means they haven’t downed one of the big boys.
...on the other hand, winning often begets winning; who’s to say these seeming warm-ups won’t help down the line?
...Hey! Houston scored! Didn’t think that would happen again. Still, the streak of essential futility so far puts the champs in a dim light.

Columbus Crew 2 - 2 Toronto FC
(Quick Kicks, plus a 40-minute view of archived footage)
...talk about not being able to win for losing: Columbus scores two for a second time this season, only to scrape another tie. Something about being snake-bit goes here.
...a brace sure seems a nice way for Andy Herron to come back from suspension. And both goals looked pretty nice. Shame about his leg taking him out of the game; Lord knows Columbus needs all the help it can get. Before leaving Herron be, is that a stupid way to pick up a yellow or what (goal celebration; yeah, it shouldn’t be bookable, but the rules are what they are till they’re changed).
...Jim Brennan’s free-kick for Toronto was one of those: one gets to wondering how that got past the ‘keeper even after it did. I’m guessing Crew ‘keeper Andy Gruenebaum just didn’t see the ball till it was too late. Great shot from range, though.
...Toronto has managed to become interesting. Not too shabby.
...no sign of Eddie Gaven out there for Columbus; good to see Sigi bench a player for underperforming.

Colorado Rapids 1 - 0 Los Angeles Galaxy
(Quick Kicks)
...once LA went down to ten men, the highlights give a strong impression of one-way traffic. Speaking of the ejection, it’s hard to figure what Kyle Martino was thinking when he lashed out like he did.
...some profligate finishing from Colorado spared LA from a worse loss. Herculez Gomez, who scored the winner, missed several chances before converting - and a few of those were golden.

Chivas USA 2 - 0 FC Dallas
(Start to finish...though my mind wandered plenty by the end)
...neither team looked part of the league “elite.” Not so surprising from Chivas’ perspective, but Dallas didn’t show much.
...Ramon Nunez, especially, doesn’t seem the force he expected to be in the Dallas attack. In general, Dallas lacked a sense of coordination in their offensive approach.
...that said, Chivas’ performance shouldn’t have blown anyone away either. If it weren’t for the fight Maykel Galindo put in to score the first goal, this game had goalless draw written all over it. Chivas certainly wouldn’t have scored their easy second goal, because Dallas ‘keeper Dario Sala wouldn’t have wandered.
...to say it again, Galindo was the difference in this game. When people get to reviewing the top finds of the ’06-’07 off-season, expect him to be in the mix.
...Dallas’ defense has improved - and that’s pretty big. Again, this loss grew from the offense failing to get started.

Real Salt Lake 0 - 0 Chicago Fire
(highlights and not bad ones at that)
...open and up-for-grabs, as this game appeared, neither team can draw much happiness from the final result - not with both needing genuine positives so badly.
...if I had to pick a “winner,” though, it would be Chicago. After four straight losses, any kind of result has to feel better.
...though given the fact the Fire only managed to draw Real Salt Lake, the unquestioned worst in the league, this kind of feeling better likely passes in the time it takes to say, “Oh yeah...”
...on the other hand, Chicago at least shows decent aggression in the attack and with Cuauhtemoc Blanco coming from Mexico in, give or take, a month, they may yet get better.
...still without a win, it’s tempting to think Real Salt Lake might question the ability of new-coach/neophyte Jason Kreis to lead this team forward.
...on a related note, both teams might be well-advised to just suck up what look to be awful years ahead. Chicago has basically bet the house on Blanco; Real Salt Lake, for their part, has some flexibility, but...well, they’re still Real Salt Lake. Both teams should clean MAJOR house in the ’07-’08 off-season.

All for now. I’m off to do some reading to see if any of it changes my mind (trust me; it will).

Late, Outomiass* Week 8 Picks

I had grand plans for this post, truly grand. But life and work got to humping my leg some time yesterday and distracted me from seeing to this business. With only 45 minutes or so separating me from the kick-off of the weekend's action, however, I'm just going to lay down my outomiass (*mean "out of my ass") picks for Week 8 and call it good.

Here, quick as can be, is what I'm seeing in this weekend's games.

New England Revolution beats Kansas City Wizards (my guess, 1-0)
Columbus Crew loses to Toronto FC (another 1-0, or rather, 0-1 to TFC)
DC United loses to the Houston Dynamo (another one-goal game)
Colorado Rapids make The Richard feel like home over the LA Galaxy (2-1)
Chivas USA continues to suck while FC Dallas guts out another cheap-y (0-2)

And, on Sunday, I'm thinking that even the Chicago Fire can't lose to Real Salt Lake; the Fire posts a nearly unwatchable 1-0 win.

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US Open Cup: Progress Report

Courtesy of the Colorado Rapids win over Real Salt Lake*, the Major League Soccer (MLS) side of the U.S. Open Cup equation is mostly plugged in.

(* How do RSL fans get out of bed in the morning...seriously?)

So, this seemed like as good a time as any to see how things are shaping up in America's oldest soccer tournament. I won't lie to you: I thought this one would be to the draw stage already. Turns out I was wrong, as was proved by the state of The Big Table, which lays out the tournament bracket, but has yet to plug names into the pairings. Still, there's the sidebar to it that tells who has made it so far. Also, the U.S. Open Cup site is pretty good about keeping readers current about where things are for, say, the United Soccer League's Division 2 as well as this weekend's big qualifying blowout in USASA Region III (or at least that's what I think it is).

So, this year's tournament is definitely coming together...just not quickly as I expected. If nothing else, there are resources out there to help keep interested parties current.

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USMNT Tangentials (Though One Is Interesting)

Just a couple quick items on the U.S. Men's National Team to pass on:

1) It looks like the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF), conscious of persistent fan demand for games against European opposition, lined up a pair of October friendlies: one against Switzerland, which is a country, and another against Catalonia, which, unless I'm very much mistaken, is not. Curiously, I find even the game against Calalonia - listed in the press release's headline as a "Spanish regional team" - more exciting than next weekend's China friendly.

2) A really, really intriguing item appeared in ESPN's report about Toronto FC midfielder Ronnie O'Brien declining a chance to suit up for the Republic of Ireland. Here's that:

"O'Brien's name has been bandied about as a potential international on both sides of the Atlantic since he emerged as one of MLS' top performers while playing with FC Dallas. (O'Brien holds a Green Card and could potentially apply for U.S. citizenship). The three-time All-Star was a Best XI selection in 2004 and 2005 and seemed in line for a look-see during Ireland's failed World Cup qualifying campaign, but the chance never came."

With the commentary surrounding the recent call-up of Steve Ralston to the Gold Cup team, and the related discussion about a lack of better options on the right side of midfield, I can only assume the good folks at the USSF are mailing O'Brien citizenship applications on a daily basis. I can't believe I'm the only person who would love to have O'Brien suit up for the U.S.

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Why the Fire Doesn't Fire Sarachan

This is pure gut reaction, but I still thought I'd throw it out there.

In spite of the now four consecutive losses - with the latest coming last night against Red Bull New York - and in spite of being outscored over that period by (and I'm going by memory here) 11-3, firing Chicago Fire head coach Dave Sarachan only makes sense in terms of economics - e.g. having a good enough team that, when Blanco shows up, people won't be so turned-off that they'll come out for something other than the one-time novelty factor.

In terms of on-field performance, I'd say the Fire are better off letting Sarachan continue through the end of the year - the main reason being the team. Check out the line-up against Red Bull:

Chicago Fire -- Matt Pickens, C.J. Brown, Jim Curtin (Thiago 70), Gonzalo Segares, Logan Pause, Chris Armas, Justin Mapp (William DeOlivera 80), Brian Plotkin (Pascal Bedrossian 63), Ivan Guerrero, Calen Carr, Chad Barrett.

Substitutes Not Used: Jon Busch, Jerson Monteiro, Bakary Soumare, Daniel Woolard

There's not much left over on the full roster either.

As much as I like many of the players - Mapp, Pickens, Ivan Guerrero, even Jim Curtin - that's about it in terms of names that impress (me, anyway). Armas is a good player, but, I'm taken with an argument by Biz Mark of US Soccer Snob on Chicago's problems:

"This match [Fire v. FC Dallas] revealed that the FIRE can no longer afford to play converted defenders such as Gonzalo Segares, Ivan Guererro and Robinson as midfielders and expect them to cover for an aging central defensive tandem of CJ Brown and Chris Armas. Armas in particular looks like he aged ten years in the off season."

In blunt terms, the Fire is simply too old up the middle; on one level, I'm a little surprised they're not the team "taking a run" at Shalrie Joseph. Top that off with an offense both relying on one man so far (Chris Rolfe, on whom I'm a bit lukewarm) and waiting on a savior (Blanco), this team has too many holes to fill on the fly and with the resources on hand. Also, if they did make the major - and I'd argue required - changes they'd surrender points during the process of getting everyone on the same page. Under that admittedly shy-of-air-tight logic, I'd say the Fire leaves Sarachan to make the most of what he can with this season and look to the overhaul on the off-season. Best-case, he pulls off another late-season run like he did last year and the Fire still make the playoffs - and, yes, he'd still get canned for anything short of MLS Cup.

The only question, in my mind, is the economic piece. Even if the results don't come, it's possible (even if unlikely) that replacing the coach will a few people back to see what happens. And, as noted above, the Fire sure as hell don't want to suffer an attendance/revenue slump knowing they threw all that money at Blanco. But that, to my mind, is only the counter-argument: if I ran the Fire, I'd take the short-term hit and return to building the franchise later.

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Ah! Late Pick* for RBNY v. Fire

(* I swear on a case of Budweiser I haven't peaked)

Not that it matters with the game now underway, but Jeff Carlisle set up this match nicely in his preview.

Seeing as this is at New York, I'll have to call this a Red Bull win. Brave, I know...

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Gold Cup Roster + Analysis; Watching China

I'll start with the last bit of the title first: by selecting China for this friendly, U.S. Soccer has left me totally uninterested in a U.S. Mens game; I can only call this impressive and move on.

Bob Bradley announced the roster for the Gold Cup today and here's what we're looking at:

"Goalkeepers: Tim Howard (Everton), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Kasey Keller (Borussia Moenchengladbach).

Defenders: Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Frank Simek (Sheffield Wednesday), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege).

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (PSV Eindhoven), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Benny Feilhaber (Hamburg SV), Justin Mapp (Chicago Fire), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), Steve Ralston (New England Revolution).

Forwards: Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution)

So, I'm seeing this and the first question that comes to me is this: Why the hell do we always play this damn tournament (the Gold Cup, that is) in the States? C'mon, CONCACAF, let's dish this thing around. It'll help us - that is the Yanquis - in the end and, seeing as no one shows up, I'm thinking the Central American stadiums that are good enough for World Cup qualifying are good enough for this. Sorry, early digression....

As, I believe, every last person who blogs on soccer has pointed out by now, the names above are about as surprising as the continued rotation of the earth. Put another way, any tuned in at this point knows most of these players down, perhaps, to their shoe size and breakfast preferences. Since I'll be picking at these below, I think I'll just dump out the key source material and reference it as needed. Here goes:

ESPN Jeff Carlisle
Soccer by Ives Ives Galarcep
USSoccerplayers.com Marc Connolly
MLSnet.com Kyle McCarthy

That's the good, general stuff and, as you'll find in reading, it's not accurate to say the roster met with total silence. Two, um, "older gents" made the cut - Frankie Hejduk and Steve Ralston - as did one (and I think he's the only one) uncapped player: Michael Parkhurst. Most the sticking up that needed doing surrounded the inclusion of Hejduk and Ralston - more on that below - but Galarcep lauds Parkhurst's inclusion, while Carlisle implies his inclusion might be a manuever to fend off Irish interest. The only doubter I've seen on Parkhurst's inclusion came from Mike H of My Soccer Blog, who thinks the Revs' defender hasn't had the best of seasons so far. I'll only say I disagree - he stuffed Landon to bursting like a Thanksgiving turkey - and leave it at that.

To praise another bit of Mike H's post, though, he's the only person I've seen who broke down players missing time with their MLS clubs by team. Who hurts the most? As Dan Loney points out, the Revolution. And I don't have to tell anyone it's not just a numbers thing, but it's positional as well. For instance, Chivas may be missing two guys - Jonathan Bornstein and Brad Guzan - but that's not gonna hurt nearly as bad as Houston missing Brian Ching (wait...he has played this season?) and (in all sincerity) Ricardo Clark; chuck a missing Dwayne DeRosario in the fire (regardless of form) and you get to thinking Houston actually might never score again.

Turning to the seemingly weightier debate, I tilt toward the "Why Ralston, Why Hejduk?" column - and for the obvious reason: they're old, Ralston especially, and they won't be around much longer. The most comprehensive rebuttal to that appears in Connolly's piece and, I'd say his point - basically, that Bradley's priorities run through the Confederations Cup when both players can certainly still contribute - holds so long as you're talking Gold Cup and not Copa. Come Copa time, we really need to get younger players in those positions. For me, however, I think we can win the Gold Cup without them, so....well, I just don't get their inclusion. Ralston's doing great and this year I'm thrilled, both personally and as a Revs fan, but I'd rather see Bradley really scouting alternatives....though, to be honest, as I look over the list of all current MLS players no one is really jumping out. But here are a few: Arturo Alvarez (I owe Ian Plenderleith for that one), Kyle Martino or Eddie Gaven (I know, I know), or even the more obvious choices like Brian Mullan. Maybe he's holding out for the Copa on that bunch...anyway, I'm just sayin' the Yanquis wold probably do just fine with someone like Alvarez and Bradley would be be blooding someone for the future.

Speaking of the Copa America, Sideline Views' Andrea Canales picked up something I hadn't seen elsewhere: a stray comment from Bradley about 8-12 players being in the mix for both the Gold Cup and Copa. While I had seen a musing or two about Landon signing on for both, Canales' post is the only place a figure of that sort came out. As noted there, that figure includes both MLS and Euro-based players - I have to think between-projects guys like Oguchi Onyewu and DaMarcus Beasley are shoo-ins for two spots, maybe even Kasey Keller.

Anyway, that's plenty on this I should think. There's plenty of good stuff in the things I've linked to that I haven't mentioned. For instance, Marc Connolly takes an engaging look back at U.S. rosters past; he makes a good point using them, but I found the look interesting by itself. The MLSnet.com article has the best stuff on reporting dates - which impacts MLS, of course - as well as mention of Pablo Mastroeni's two-game suspension (surprise, surprise).

Whoops, almost forgot this: Marc Connolly and Ian Plenderleith, in a roundtable for two, revive the great debate about combining the Gold Cup with the Copa America to, y'know, make our tournament worth a damn...that should tell you where I fall on that debate (if not, get on the phone to Brazil, Jack Warner...earn your friggin' bought seat).

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Week 7: Power Rankings by The Collective

As promised, below are the Major League Soccer (MLS) power rankings one arrives at by averaging the eight separate power rankings I came across this week. Call it the combined, reduced wisdom of The Semi-Detached Pundit Collective that kind of, sort of floats around Soccer Blogs. Here’s a list of the source material:

It's a Simple Game (LINK - me, of course)
ESPN (their collective)
Soccer by Ives (Ives Galarcep)
Sports Illustrated (Ryan Hunt)
The Other Football (Orlando Sentinel; Brant Parsons)
Sideline Views (Luis Bueno...where's Canales?)
My Soccer Blog (Mike H)
MLS Underground


I can now say with some certainty the combined totals are not simply a rehash of ESPN’s rankings - see, LA or Houston for proof of that. It also occurs to me that parsing these numbers out to the tenths (e.g. 0.1) preserves some subtle differences - for instance, this tells you that Chicago is a weak #7 and Toronto FC is generally perceived as marginally better than #11. Against that, the numbers say the Columbus Crew is a strong #12 - a situation that relies heavily on Luis Bueno’s very generous #7 ranking for the Crew. Perhaps it’s the defense?

In any case, we’re not talking about enormous differences - especially through the first six - but there are some differences worth noting in The Collective’s sense of where these teams stack up. At any rate, here’s the rankings round up:

1. New England Revolution - 1.1 (My spiteful #2 ranking breaks the pattern)
2. Red Bull New York - 2.3 (I rated ‘em high, Bueno low, but solid at #2)
3. FC Dallas - 2.8 (most folks seem pretty high on Dallas right now)
4. Kansas City Wizards - 4.4 (yep...a weak #4, but it’s incontrovertible)
5. Colorado Rapids - 4.9 (right on KC’s tail; Mike H is the outlier here)
6. DC United - 6.0 (an almost universal #6; the other two balanced)
7. Chicago Fire - 7.5 (things get interesting here; I happen to match the average)
8. Los Angeles Galaxy - 8.5 (ESPN’s was the low ranking here)
9. Houston Dynamo - 8.8 (pegged as high as #6 and low as #12 - weird)
10. Chivas USA - 10.0 (pretty precise, so it must be right....right?)
11. Toronto FC - 10.8 (solid #10s and #11s)
12. Columbus Crew - 11.1 (Pay Bueno; it’s all #11s and #12’s after him)
13. Real Salt Lake - 13.0 (as they say, #13 with a bullet; a universal pick)

All for now. We’ll see how The Semi-Detached Pundit Collective sense of things plays out from here.

Week 7: Power Rankings & Standings

As usual, last week’s ranking appears in parentheses immediately after this week’s ranking. So as to not misrepresent my judgment as entirely first-hand, the following key shows the distance of my observations: “@” means I watched a given team’s most recent performance in its entirety; “$” means I caught it through Quick Kicks, which provides extended highlights; “&” means I watched only the rump highlights available through MLSnet.com. Later today, I’ll compare what I’ve got below with everyone else’s rankings by combining them in a formula that, 1) may or may not be totally bogus, and, 2) could very well be nothing more than a rehash of ESPN’s results and methodology. Still, I won’t even peek anyone else’s picks till after I’ve written and posted mine.

A current shot of the standings appear at the bottom and, having reviewed Week 6’s rankings, I can honestly say I don’t know what the hell I was thinking on a few of them. With regard to this week’s rankings, I’ll be honest: after the first two, 3-5 felt basically interchangeable and I have no freakin’ clue what to order the bottom half of the table - very plausible reasons exist for dumping the lot of them below the #11 spot; for the record, however, I’m pretty comfortable with my #6.

Here goes...and after the rankings, you’ll find a current listing of the standings for the permanent record.

1. (3) Red Bull New York ($)
Though far from perfect lately, scoring four goals against the typically tough Crew - not to mention scoring them steadily throughout the game - speaks well of a team. People tell me Angel is online; I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled there.

2. (1) New England Revolution (@)
Call this the echo to the raspberry Steve Nicol spat out when asked to judge his team’s performance against the Dynamo. Here’s the deal: the Revs have played badly more often than well; a handy symbol for the extent to which they’re riding their luck came in the win over LA, when Taylor Twellman’s header pinged off the crossbar directly into his run; that happens once in every 100 instances.

3. (7) FC Dallas (@)
If it were possible to convince myself Dallas was better than New England, the latter would have slipped further. They climb high as they did because two wins are two wins - even if they came against one team miles-off form (the Fire) and another outright bad one (RSL).

4. (4) Colorado Rapids (&)
Uninspiring as a home draw may be, I read good things about Colorado’s performance. And KC is tough enough to make a draw sound good.

5. (6) Kansas City Wizards (&)
Um, what I said above, but switch the “home” to “away.” Also, it’s good to see Eddie Johnson’s name in the mix.

6. (9) DC United ($)
Slowly, it’s starting to happen...even if they rely on the ref’s generosity to seal the deal. Say what you will, but DC did what neither Houston nor Chicago could - they beat Toronto at home.

7. (10) Chicago Fire (@ - 1/2 hour anyway)
I won’t pretend that three straight losses don’t matter, but at least they’re scoring. But they also had Dallas on their heels for the final thirty; moreover, if Thiago bangs that header a couple inches to the right, that changes the conversation about both Chicago and FC Dallas.

8. (5) Los Angeles Galaxy (&)
If it weren’t for the incredible crap turned in by the rest of the field, I’d ding the Galaxy harder for drawing the lowly Goats. As everyone noted, Landon scored - so what do these guys do when there is no Landon?

9. (2) Houston Dynamo ($ + @)
It took the undistilled bitterness at the Dynamo’s part in their awful, awful game against the Revs to justify this 7-place drop. As with Dallas, albeit staring into a cracked mirror, two losses are two losses. And I don’t know if these guys are ever going to score again. It wasn’t till I actually sat down to think about it that I realized Houston has scored in ONLY two of their seven games this season. To be clear, that really, really sucks.

10. (11) Toronto FC ($)
The loss to DC should drag these guys back down to earth. But TFC is also becoming worth a look - and not just for a laugh. This weekend’s game on the road against the Crew positively screams “statement.”

11. (13) Chivas USA (&)
If it weren’t for Maykel Galindo, these cats would be RSL-bad. Recent acquisitions (Paolo Nagamura; Shavar Thomas) should make them more solid, so I expect them to climb a bit. Not a minute too soon, though.

12. (8) Columbus Crew ($)
The offense sucks bad enough; add in the already proved capacity for defensive collapses (Red Bull and the draw against New England) and you’re looking at a top-to-bottom bad team.

13. (12) Real Salt Lake (@)
They suck. It’s not much more complicated than that.

Moving on to the standings (official ones here):

Eastern Conference:
1. New England Revs: 17 pts. (5-1-2: 15 GF, 7 GA, +8; home, 2-0-0; away, 3-1-2)
2. Red Bull New York: 14 pts. (4-1-2: 8 GF, 4 GA, +8; home, 3-1-0; away, 1-0-2)
3. Kansas City Wiz: 13 pts. (4-2-1: 12 GF, 7 GA, +5; home, 2-1-0; away, 2-1-1)
4. Chicago Fire: 10 pts. (3-3-1: 8 GF, 10 GA, -2; home, 2-1-0; away, 1-1-1)
5. DC United: 7 pts. (2-3-1: 8 GF, 10 GA, -2; home, 1-1-1; away, 1-2-0)
6. Columbus Crew: 7 pts. (1-2-4: 4 GF, 8 GA, -4; home, 1-0-3; away, 0-2-1)
7. Toronto FC: 6 pts. (2-5-0: 5 GF, 13 GA, -8; home, 2-2-0; away, 0-3-0)

Western Conference
1. FC Dallas: 16 pts. (5-3-1: 13 GF, 12 GA, +1; home, 2-2-0; away, 3-1-1)
2. Colorado Rapids: 12 pts. (3-2-3: 10 GF, 10 GA, 0; home 1-1-3; away, 2-1-0)
3. Chivas USA: 8 pts. (2-3-2: 10 GF, 8 GA; +2; home, 2-0-1; away, 0-3-1)
4. Houston Dynamo: 7 pts. (2-4-1: 4 GF, 5 GA, -1; home, 1-2-1; away, 1-2-0)
5. Los Angeles Galaxy: 5 pts. (1-2-2: 7 GF, 7 GA, 0; home, 1-2-0; away, 0-0-2)
6. Real Salt Lake: 4 pts. (0-3-4: 7 GF, 14 GA, -7; home, 0-1-3; away, 0-2-1)

MLS to PDX: Scuttled?

I've sat on the announcement that Merritt Paulson, the son of U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, bought the USL-Division 1 Portland Timbers (along with, as I understand it, a team that plays something called "baseball"), mainly to see if anyone would ask the right people the crucial question: what does this sale mean to the potential attempt to bring a Major League Soccer team to Portland?

I thought perhaps that reporters from two local news organizations would tackle that, but have been so far disappointed with most reports from The Oregonian and the Portland Business Journal. Most of what I'm seeing there are details on how the deal together.

Fortunately, one small corner of The Oregonian, the ever-useful Timbers Blog at least asked the durned question:

"The timing of all this is what I find most intriguing. Abe Alizadeh is unloading his teams just a few weeks after a potential Portland MLS owner surfaced. Would a new owner buy the teams knowing full well that MLS might be coming to put the soccer team out of business? Or is he positioning to get bought out (at least the name) by MLS? Or does he simply want to keep both teams?"

Sadly, no one knows the answer to this one yet; I'm just hopeful at this point that one of The O's reporters thought to ask at the very least.

Still, operating on the assumption - and I think it's a safe one - that the sports-dodging Portland, Oregon market can't support two professional soccer teams, a worrying hint (worrying for me, a confirmed MLS whore, anyway) as to what Paulson has in mind appeared in another, seemingly fluffier, report in the Oregonian:

[Paulson] also intends to meet with Portland officials to discuss extending a lease for the Beavers and Timbers to play at the city-owned PGE Park beyond 2010."

Rut-roh.

Am I really concerned about what division the local team plays in? Not really, no. I'd go regardless, provided money and scheduling - and it's not like MLS pricing will help with affordability. But I'd also be lying if I didn't confess that I'd rather see Red Bull New York come to town instead of the California Victory.

As such, I'm hoping for option #2 in the Timbers' blog list: that Paulson bought the Timbers looking for an MLS buyout.

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USOC: Rapids v. RSL: The Final Play-In

Lord knows the major media doesn't do much - or, more accurately, nearly enough - to promote the U.S. Open Cup, so I thought I'd do my bit here. Because this is a West Coast affair, I'm not even behind yet....whew.

Anyway, MLSnet.com pulled together a nice plug. Given the rivalry between the two teams, one might think they'd work that a little more, but the focus instead goes on the Rapids semi-mysterious loss of home form (getting used to the field, they say). The local media in both markets typed out a couple Open-Cup-focused pieces as well: the Rocky Mountain News writes about the likelihood of Conor Casey and Jose Cancela picking up rare starts while the Salt Lake Tribune notes the injury to Carey Talley (ouch!) and trade of Jeff Cunningham - though Talley only merits mention in the headline.

I'm not knocking any of that: beats the hell out of nothing, right?

In other spaces, a general feature on how Colorado is covering the gimpy holes in their backline makes for educational reading, as does a heart-warming look back at the Rapids' history in Open Cup play - thanks Colorado Rapids' Offside!

I'll close by laying down my marker: I say Colorado wins this one. Not exactly bold, I know, but I would have gone with Real Salt Lake had Talley not been injured.

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DC v. Chivas: This Time It's Personal

Like another person or two...presumably, anyway...I got a little excited with Monday's news that DC United would compete in the Copa Sudamerica. The guys at The DCenters got excited enough to list the field, which allowed for dreams of a DC v. River Plate to wax in the mind. Failing that, I was pulling for a tie against Bolivia's Jorge Wilstermann (poor guy....1 v. 11...).

Then, of course, came word that DC would drew CD Chivas de Guadalajara, a tie that would reprise the two clubs' CONCACAF Champions' Cup thriller(ish experience...sorry, I was a neutral). The rematch angle prevented this from being a total anticlimax - and we'll definitely learn a bit more about how Major League Soccer (MLS) stacks up against the Mexican Primera.

So, while this tie lacks the sense of the exotic, it's doing its bit to build up the U.S. v. Mexico rivalry. Good enough. Now, what are the odds on this being televised?

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Cunningham to Toronto: Sure Looks Official

I can't link to it, but if you go to MLSnet.com any time soon, you'll see that the Alecko Eskandarian thing involved shipping Jeff Cunningham the other way. I'm guessing there will be a full article before too long...maybe I'll pick at that tomorrow morning...

(Whoops, never mind; an article popped up while I was gabbing.)

Now, I wonder if and how LA enters into this one.

Here's another question: if you could be either player, which would it be? Hmmm...a city with a buttload of buzz, crazy seat-cushion throwing fans, a couple recent wins to brag about, and field turf? Or a place with fans slumping to morbid depression thanks to a total lack of wins, either real or prospective, a new, untried coach, a management team widely regarded as incompetent, and, again, field turf?

I'm feeling like we should all do a whip-around to get Alecko a care package.

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Kreis, Jeff, & Esky: Desperation, Indifference, Rage

Just as I was about to mull over how a man like Jason Kreis, so recently elevated to coach, would go about acquiring the three new players he says he needs (hat-tip, du Nord), I start tripping over trades, rumored and actual.

A good one-stop glimpse at the key threads in play showed up a couple places - I happened to stumble across MLS Underground's first (LINK) - and, after picking through those, an early answer to the question of how Kreis would go about acquiring players comes back as not very well.

To lift the basics from MLS Underground's post, here's what we seem to be looking at:

"* The trade of Jeff Cunningham to Los Angeles for Nate Jaqua and an unknown player
* Alecko Eskandarian from Toronto to Salt Lake City."

Based on what I'm seeing so far, the confirmed piece of this involves Eskandarian heading to Salt Lake City (Semi-interesting side-note: I shared my opinions on media in the comments to a post by D from The DCenters about a jab (friendly? otherwise?) Washington Post Steve Goff directed at that site; I meant what I said about scoops (e.g. I don't put much stock in getting news first), but I will add this: when Goff reports something, his position means, or should mean, he's taking pains to be accurate; in other words, I rarely trust rumors till I see them in the MSM; back to it). Follow the link and you'll read the words of a player unhappy about a second relocation tips. More significantly, even as Esky has looked like one of Toronto's chief threats thus far (though this appears to be shifting), I'm not seeing him as the answer to RSL's considerable problems.

The same goes for Nate Jaqua, if that rumor ever pans out. In other words, unless that "unknown players" is just the shit - and it's hard to see a player of stature plus Jaqua - I'm second-guessing the bejesus out of Kreis' moves so far.

Then again, I could be wrong; wouldn't be the first time (as anyone who has seen my stabs at predictions would know). With at least one fan out Salt Lake Way sounding not too bothered by the whole thing...well, that just ups my chances.

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MLS Magazine: Um...Why?

Because the way my Bloglines account lines up (alphabetically...I know, so weird), I came across word of an official MLS Magazine in a post on Climbing the Ladder. That referred back to what looks like the original mention over on Sideline Views, which isn't surprising seeing as it sounds like Luis Bueno will be a contributor.

Given the title above, one can probably guess where I'm going with this, but here goes: Why? How will an "official" MLS magazine be any better or different than MLSnet.com? Now, I respect Luis Bueno as much as any writer/pundit out there (seriously; seems like a great guy), but one source of honeyed, in-house pap seems like enough for one league.

Maybe it's a personal problem; I can accept that. And I'm 99.99% certain any writer would vigorously deny altering content they send to MLS - I'm not saying I'd buy it, but I am saying they'd deny it. But, Lord, it's just so dull, so...so...pleasant. That's not to say it isn't OK for what it is - Lord knows I live and die by the raw data - but I'm not seeing the need for a hard-copy.

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First, A Confession

My brain is seriously fucking scrambled lately. I'm still catching up and, in a sign of how hard it's been, I can't say for sure what caused me to fall behind. All I know is that the serious trade cluster-fuck I'm seeing isn't helping with that (all on that in a subsequent post).

I'm trying to rediscover the rhythm and assume it will be apparent when it returns. In what I'm hoping will help with that, I'm looking to make this space something of a "late edition." I'll run behind everyone else, but hope to throw in more angles to make the reading worth while. We'll see how that goes.

In totally unrelated news, I regret that it didn't occur to me to name this site Coach's Son.

Now, back to the normal content.

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Week 7 Wrap: More Than You Should Want to Read

Well, I've read all I've got time for - espeically on a day when I abandoned my position over on the Columbus Crew Offside (an decision that still prompts deep, deep feelings of guilt). Below you'll find links to articles and posts about all of Week 7's games (unless I forgot one or two...I do this sometimes) that either caught something I didn't mention earlier (plenty, by the way) or missed entirely.

To start with a couple general points:

1) Did anyone else catch Dwayne DeRosario chatting with Shalrie Joseph after the game? Think they talked contract negotiations? (I sure do.)

2) If you're looking for one-stop reading, Steve Davis' big Week 7 Wrap for MLSnet.com contains plenty of good stuff, notably: his comments on FC Dallas' Juan Toja (which I wholly endorsed earlier today), as well as the "bigger picture" section on FC Dallas; Ricardo Clark standing above his peers in Houston's loss to New England; Andy Williams' impact on RSL in their loss to FC Dallas.

Moving on to the rest, I'll assuage my guilt at dropping the Columbus beat by starting with the Crew's meltdown against Red Bull New York...not that they'll thank me for this...

Red Bull New York 4 - 0 Columbus Crew
The perspective from the Crew camp is pretty damned harsh: for instance, the Columbus Dispatch's bullet-point write-up includes this handy mental footnote:

"Turning point: Crew midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi's mis-hit of an attempted clearance in the 13th minute caromed off the crossbar of his own goal. It set the tone for an evening in which the Crew bumbled and stumbled its way to a demoralizing loss."

Curiously, an absence of due enthusiasm appears in some Red Bull fan spaces; for instance, Grant from Injury Time dubbed the Bulls' performance "a bit off." Against that, Red Bull Rising put the game in useful context by first noting where Red Bull sits in the standings and then noting who isn't suiting up for them due to injury. Good point.

Finally, I engaged in a little pop-psychology in what I believe will be my final post (sniff!) for the Crew Offside

Chivas USA 1 - 1 Los Angeles Galaxy
I didn't get much on this, though that could have been a function of the fact this wasn't the most exciting game - at least that's the impression I get from the LA Times' report. No disrespect to Grahame Jones (the LAT's guy), but Luis Bueno's report for LA Soccer News not only made for a better read, but it seemed to provide a clearer picture of the game.

Even so, it seems the less we all see of this one, the better.

Toronto FC 1 - 2 DC United
Not only can one not beat The DCenters' debriefing for providing links to reports (saves me the work, if nothing else), they also chucked in some top-notch analysis, not least some commenably non-homer comments on the PK DC used to win the game (for the record, I think he got it right; that looked like a PK to me). Toronto's Globe and Mail digs a little deeper into the penalty controversy by running the call past TFC players, who, not surprisingly, didn't see the call the same way. Finally, the Washington Post's write-up catches something most observers did: the tactical switches DC made to get back into the game - something to watch for on a number of levels.

Colorado Rapids 1 - 1 Kansas City Wizards
With the reports coming out about this one, I'm somewhat sad I missed it. Both the Denver Post and Kansas City Star liked what they saw, even if their emphases differed a bit. For instance, the Post noted the missing persons in Colorado's backline (Greg Vanney, Brandon Prideaux, and, till the 60th minute, Ugo Ihemelu); count me among those who see those absences as a big deal. Meanwhile, the Star noted the Wizards' preparations for The Richard's big, open field, as well as deconstructing the goal - by the way, check out who got the assist and keep praying for more.

The FC Rocky blog, which I believe is part of the Rocky Mountain News (and somewhat excuses that paper's otherwise thin coverage), turned in an interesting post about the Rapids disappointing the respectable crowd that showed up by tying a game they could have won.

FC Dallas 2 - 1 Real Salt Lake
I commented earlier about how much better Dallas' defense appeared yesterday, but neglected to mention something else: good gravy, does Dario Sala look fantastic in goal or who? This actually came to me before the Salt Lake Tribune's report reminded me of the save he made off a screened shot by Freddy Adu (though given the totality of that situation, I'd also argue that straight at Sala was Adu's only option).

Sticking to the Dallas side of things, they've got to be feeling a bit jiggy these days. It's easy, for instance, to forget they've won three in a row - thankfully, the Dallas Soccer News reminds one of this; it's not all sunshine, though, as the same piece looks at Carlos Ruiz's ongoing struggles. The Dallas Morning News covers similar ground, not least with regard to form, but they also turn in some good copy on Arturo Alvarez and that purty goal he added to the proceedings.

On the Salt Lake side of things, it's not so surprising that things look less hot: the Real Salt Lake Offside turned in a glum post that dubbed the loss what is was: well-deserved. On a personal level, I continue to be fascinated by the Jason Kreis Experiment and, with quotes like the one that follows (from the Deseret News) it's a no wonder:

"'I'm just going to keep looking around the room and find the guys who believe in it as much as I do,' said Kreis. 'If any of them look me in the eye, they will see that I believe. I guess I'm going to have to look around and see who else believes.'"

Gets one wondering whether he's building a team or a cult; I'm pulling for the latter...

Chicago Fire 1 - 2 FC Dallas
Turning the clock back a ways now, I'm still catching up on Thursday's game (did I even post on it? Nope). On one level, what I'm reading confirms my suspicion that Chicago had the better of the game generally (especially Windy City Soccer's report, though the theme holds well enough). The Chicago Tribune's report adds an interesting twist on this by quoting Fire midfielder Chris Armas as hinting that the "Brimstone" rivalry ain't what it used to be. Rounding out the Chicago media angle, Chicagoland Soccer puts the Fire's three-game slide in context against the Eastern Conference standings (long story short: it's not panic time, but they're certainly making their job harder) and the Chicago Fire Offside shows how much better local fans can cover the game by posting some photos from the evening.

As for the Dallas media's contribution (as much as I read anyway), I'm only going to try to keep a straight face against the temptation to giggle at this sentence from Dallas Soccer News' report:

"The Fire was a threat all evening because of the shifty, smooth penetrations by Justin Mapp."

And now, a word from our sponsors, KY Jelly...(OK, there's good stuff in there on the "Kenneth" Cooper/Abe Thompson pairing as well; and, to the reporter, sorry, parts of my brain are still 12.)

Houston Dynamo 0 - 1 New England Revolution
Finally, what I'm doing to this game in this space, I'm trying to mimic in my conscious mind: bury it, bury it deep and pray to God it gets forgotten. Fortunately, I'm not the only one who rightly turned up his nose: a fan blog run by the Houston Chronicle begs New England to do the right thing and give the three points they won to a more deserving team - though not, it should be stressed, the Dynamo. And, as reported in the Boston Herald Revolution Steve Nicol didn't think much of his team's performance either. Moving onto the blogoverse, Blue Blooded Journo asked a question very much on my mind: how long can New England keep up their streak turning in stinkers?

Boston's "high-brow" paper picked up on something that had my undies in a bunch as I watched the game: Eddie Robinson is a dirty, dirty son-of-a-bitch. Worse, the man doesn't get called on it. A quote in one article tells me that, if no one else, Shalrie Joseph concurs with my opinion, while another piece records gripes from the Revs players about Dynamo fans throwing crap at them and, again, Robinson - who really, really needs to pick up some cards 'cause he's got no motivation to straighten up otherwise.

Regarding the Houston fans, though, I'll only say this: can you blame someone for throwing crap at a team cursing them with such awful, awful play?

Week 7: Quick Hits

Here are some quick, undiluted first impressions left by Week 7’s action, talking team by team as they come to me - I’ll fill ‘em in later with some reading. Anything with an asterisk means I caught at least one of a given team’s game in full.

Toronto FC - I don’t know what I would have written had Toronto managed to knock off DC United over the weekend; three straight wins, no matter the circumstances, makes more an impressive streak. They didn’t win that third game, of course, but, judging by the highlights, Toronto both looks and seems like a real team all of a sudden. That could be function of having two more wins than Real Salt Lake...

DC United - Still not sold. Sure, in beating Toronto on the road, they succeeded where two teams once perceived as competent - the Chicago Fire and the Houston Dynamo - failed. Moreno looks older than dirt. I like the guy plenty, but, my word....

New England Revolution* - Yeah, they won, but I hate them for making me watch that pile of shit. Awful, ugly performance the quality of which was best described by the exasperated raspberry coach Steve Nicol blew when asked to assess his team’s performance in a sideline interview. A performance that distasteful warrants dropping the Revs in my power rankings on aesthetic grounds at the very least.

Red Bull New York - The match report (which I cheated and read) showed an even game, statistically speaking. The highlights, however, showed Dane Richards rip past Rusty Pierce like a rusty gate, a defense that contained the Crew’s “attack”* fairly well and an offense that punished mistakes. Given the Crew’s defense over the past few weeks, the four goals scored might say something; but this could also be an aberration, a la the Crew’s performance against New England a ways back. So, good game, but count Red Bull another team on which I’m reserving judgment.

Houston Dynamo* - Wow. That’s all I’ve got, really. Wow. Why the hell can’t these guys score? I’ll confess to nodding off/finding the hairs on my stomach more interesting than the action on the field, but dubbing the Houston attack anemic does a disservice to the adjective.

Columbus Crew - *I’ve got a theory on the Crew’s offense: they’re not pulling the same direction. Put another way, different players have different ideas about the way to get their team scoring goals and that plays out on the field with errant passing, mistimed runs - just a general grabasstic mess with too many generals freelancing it. Mmmm....”generals” doesn’t correctly communicate the level: let’ go with corporals.

FC Dallas* - Maybe it was RSL, maybe it was the late night and serial Pabst-swilling, but I liked what I saw last night out of FC Dallas. Most impressive were signs the defense might be gelling and maturing, as well as how quickly this team turns around and transitions from defense to offense; they literally get the ball and - POW! - the team as a whole faces forward with their heads up. Two wins in as many games also tell a happy story. A couple other random observations: as the commentator said after Chris Gbandi scored, that’s the goal of the week - see if you don't agree (thanks, as always, to Climbing the Ladder)...



...continuing, tough-ish call on the PK, though I see how it happened, but that’s the only significant blemish I caught in an otherwise composed performance; between his awareness and ability to ride tackles and play out of trouble, Juan Toja looks like the real deal. In spite of years of bitter, bitter experience and the bias that grows therefrom, I like what I see in Dallas...again.

Real Salt Lake* - Worst team in the league, no question in my mind. They’re USL Division 1 material at this point. As such, I really want them to play the Portland Timbers in the U.S. Open Cup...

Chicago Fire - While I didn’t see all of Thursday’s game between Chicago and Dallas, the last 20 minutes showed a Fire team ALL OVER the visitors from Dallas. Mapp, especially looked dangerous. Still, they didn’t win, never mind draw this game and that’s just got to feel like a shot to the pills. Put another way, whatever is wrong with these guys, it’s sort of fer reals. If I had to name the problem, I’d say they’re missing a blunt-instrument kind of player like Nate Jaqua, e.g. someone who can make good on goal-mouth scrums.

Colorado Rapids - Didn’t watch them play, but they do seem to be settling into the erratic profile so familiar from seasons past.

Kansas City Wizards - This is the team I forget about most often this year; used to be Colorado, but they became interesting starting in 2006. I think we’re still a few weeks from having the data to make a decision on this bunch.

LA Galaxy - Didn’t see it, but I’m definitely surprised by this past weekend’s draw with Chivas, who I rate about as highly as “Oh Boy” Alberto Gonzales.

Chivas USA - Honestly, between these guys, RSL, and even Houston, the West looks no better than half-good right now.

All righty. I’m off to see what else I can learn about all this stuff; if all goes according to plan, I’ll wrap up that by the end of the day.

Week 6 Power-Rankings Round-Up (check my math)

As I was about to explain in long-hand form the collection of 9+ power rankings I pulled together to study, it occurred to me that a mathematical method of some sort could make sense of it all more efficiently. It turns out all those math teachers who swore I'd use what they taught me were right...though it's also likely they didn't entertain the possibility I would misapply the tools they provided.

Call that my caveat for this post: I'm not totally sure that what I've done is mathematically valid, but it seems good enough - and that's why I'm posting.

By way of source material, I found power rankings posted on nine different sites - the "+" that appears above came about because, due to the format - which splits Eastern and Western Conferences - I can't use the rankings from Who Ate All the Cupcakes; but I like the author's stuff well enough to give him a shout-out regardless.

The other nine, however, appear below. After listing them, I'll redo the power rankings by placing all 13 MLS teams in the order of the average ranking they received across all nine outlets/blogs. Here's a list of the source material:

It's a Simple Game (mine obviously - LINK)
Sports Illustrated (Ryan Hunt) LINK
WVHooligan LINK
Soccer by Ives LINK
Sideline Views (Luis Bueno) LINK
Orlando Sentinel LINK (bonus for great format)
My Soccer Blog LINK
MLS Underground LINK
Finally, ESPN, the grand-daddy of them all: LINK

And now, here's how MLS's 13 teams stack up when you average the scores awarded to each of the teams by all nine outlets; for poops and giggles, I listed the high and low figure for each MLS club.

1. New England Revolution: 1.0 (Yep, they were the universal #1)
2. Red Bull New York: 2.7 (best, 2; worst, 4)
3. Kansas City Wizards: 3.9 (best, 2; worst, 6 - big spread on them)
4. Colorado Rapids: 3.9 (best, 2; worst, 7 - still bigger spread)
5. Houston Dynamo: 4.7 (best, 2; worst, 7 - ditto)
6. FC Dallas: 5.3 (best, 4; worst, 7 - 5 heavy; I gave the 7)
7. Chicago Fire: 7.6 (best, 6; worst, 10 - 7 heavy; I gave the 10)
8. Los Angeles Galaxy: 8.2 (best, 5; worst, 10 - pretty random; I gave the 5)
9. DC United: 9.7 (best, 8; worst, 11 - small range, wide variety)
10. Columbus Crew: 10.6 (best, 6; worst, 11)
11. Chivas USA: 10.8 (best, 8; worst, 13 - 10, 11 heavy)
12. Toronto FC: 11.9 (best, 10; worst, 13 - 12, 13 heavy)
13. Real Salt Lake: 12.6 (best, 12; worst, 13 - pretty conclusive)

So, there you have it. That may or may not give a handy snapshot of the conventional wisdom. I suspect it does, even if the ranges on some teams is a worry.

Talk at y'all tomorrow.

(#########)

TFC v. Dynamo: for the record...

I'm still catching up; for example, it took three hours of (highly) sporadic effort to clean out my bloglines inbox.

So, all future posting will come tomorrow. Till then, though, I'm calling the Toronto FC v. Houston game - of which I have not seen even the current score - at a 1-0 win to Houston. Call it a replay of the home loss to Kansas City.

Well, I'm off now to see whether that has already fallen apart...

(######)

Week 6: Power Rankings + Standings

I won’t lie: my week has been so thoroughly fucked up it makes a $20 whore look positively chaste (sorry, horrible analogy). But I’m soldiering on with power rankings and, later, I’ll compare those with everyone else’s to give an approximation of how observers see teams stacking up. I won’t even peek at those, however, till after I’ve written and posted what appears below.

As usual, last week’s ranking appears in parentheses immediately after this week’s ranking. So’s as to not misrepresent my judgment as entirely first-hand, the following key shows the distance of my observations: “@” means I watched a given team’s most recent performance in its entirety; “$” means I caught it through Quick Kicks, which provides extended highlights; “&” means I watched only the rump highlights available through MLSnet.com.

Here goes...and after the rankings, you’ll find a current listing of the standings for the permanent record.

1. (2) New England Revolution (@)
I’ll have something up elsewhere stating my belief that New England showed itself to be the first “good” team in the 2007 season. The logic here is pretty simple: they’re the only team doing fairly well on both sides of the ball and taking care of business both home and away. The question is whether they can keep it up - I mean, how often to forwards have the rebound fall perfectly?

2. (3) Houston Dynamo (idle)
As much as inching an idle team up the table seems a little silly, the other teams did it to themselves. I’m not sold on this bunch yet; having only one rock-star offensive game makes this a highly precarious #2 ranking.

3. (1) Red Bull New York (&)
It’s not losing to the Rapids so much as it’s, y’know, everything: the draw to RSL, the Open Cup thing, a key player (Claudio Reyna) who seems too fragile to last, etc. Clint Mathis says they’re slipping; the question is can they turn it around?

4. (6) Colorado Rapids (& + &)
During their two-game Week 6, Colorado showed two things: a kind of resilience and proof that they have not grown out of their penchant for erratic play. They do have the weapons, though, even if Dan Gargan isn’t one of them.

5. (5) Los Angeles Galaxy (@)
Call me crazy - and I’m sure Frank Yallop would - but I liked a lot of what I saw out of these guys against New England. I’d go so far as to say they’d beat - let’s do a quick count - seven, even eight teams in this league playing like that. Cannon is still a force and signs of life from Martino mean plenty for this group.

6. (4) Kansas City Wizards ($)
This isn’t bad as it looks. To begin, I still think this is a playoff team. And from the sounds of it, they outplayed Dallas. But they DID lose.

7. (8) FC Dallas ($)
Based on what I read and saw, Dario Sala hauled their butts through this one - then again, a ‘keeper like that counts for something. Nice to see Cooper score again, while Abe Thompson’s performance shows they have a little depth. Also noted: even the Kansas City paper had nice things to say about their defense. They do ride their luck a little, but they’re also looking good enough...to do what? Well...

8. (10) Columbus Crew (@)
The Crew may owe me the two hours of my life I spent watching this, but there’s no denying this team can defend. But - damn! - do they have a toothless attack, even with the new editions. Still, one-half competent puts them ahead of the teams below.

9. (9) DC United (idle)
Seems appropriate to let their ranking idle as they did. They looked better in Week 5, but have to show a bit more in coming games to get back into the Land of Playoff Contention.

10. (7) Chicago Fire (@)
The Fire gets hit with the Big Drop this week, not because they were Toronto’s first victims, but in the way they’ve lost over the past two weekends. Take away Chris Rolfe and they go from a one-man to a no-man offense. That’s bad enough, but it’s nothing next to the ever-fraying defensive displays; the way this team positively WILTS against counter-attacks renders them almost incapable of chasing a game.

11. (13) Toronto FC (@)
Well, that was fun. I think I wrote this before, but I could have sworn these teams swapped jerseys at the half. Still, I’ll note as everyone did the nice atmosphere on the day and all that. We’ll see tonight (well, and in the future) whether or not Toronto has figured out playing in MLS.

12. (12) Real Salt Lake (&)
As much as I’m hearing decent things about the changes introduced by new coach Jason Kreis (two forwards?? - gasp), these guys still don’t have a W to call their own. Till they get one....well, maybe I’m being more generous to them than I am to the guys below. Still, one doesn’t need the -8 goal differential to know TFC remains a struggling team.

13. (11) Chivas USA (@)
Is it Preki’s fault? Hell, I dunno. What I do know is, the (hungover, Sunday park club) mistakes that defense made would have been ruthlessly punished by any team other than Houston. And with their attack essentially drying up, these guys don’t have much going for them.

Moving on to the standings (official ones here):

Eastern Conference:
1. New England Revs: 14 pts. (4-1-2: 14 GF, 7 GA, +7; home, 2-0-0; away, 2-1-2)
2. Kansas City Wiz: 12 pts. (4-2-0: 11 GF, 6 GA, +5; home, 2-1-0; away, 2-1-0)
3. Red Bull New York: 11 pts. (3-1-2: 8 GF, 4 GA, +4; home, 2-1-0; away, 1-0-2)
4. Chicago Fire: 10 pts. (3-2-1: 7 GF, 8 GA, -1; home, 2-0-0; away, 1-1-1)
5. Columbus Crew: 7 pts. (1-1-4: 4 GF, 4 GA, 0; home, 1-0-3; away, 0-1-1)
6. DC United: 4 pts. (1-3-1: 6 GF, 9 GA, -3; home, 1-1-1; away, 0-2-0)
7. Toronto FC: 0 pts. (1-4-0: 3 GF, 11 GA, -8; home, 1-1-0; away, 0-3-0)

Western Conference
1. Colorado Rapids: 11 pts. (3-2-2: 9 GF, 9 GA, 0; home 1-1-2; away, 2-1-0)
2. FC Dallas: 10 pts. (3-3-1: 9 GF, 10 GA, -1; home, 1-2-0; away, 1-1-1)
3. Chivas USA: 7 pts. (2-3-1: 9 GF, 7 GA; +2; home, 2-0-0; away, 0-3-1)
4. Houston Dynamo: 7 pts. (2-2-1: 4 GF, 3 GA, +1; home, 1-1-1; away, 1-1-0)
5. Los Angeles Galaxy: 4 pts. (1-2-1: 6 GF, 6 GA, 0; home, 1-2-0; away, 0-0-1)
6. Real Salt Lake: 3 pts. (0-3-3: 6 GF, 12 GA, -6; home, 0-1-3; away, 0-1-0)

Week 6: Games Seen and Unseen

I had grand plans about how I’d lay out this review of the past weekend’s super-duper action. Reports and reviews were browsed and bookmarked, commentary and quotes noted.

And then I ran out of time. So here for your (possible) edification and amusement, are some random, unsupported thoughts on Major League Soccer’s Week 6...except for that midweek freak of a game between...ah, I don’t even care. (Settle down with the scheduling, you MLS pogues.) I’ll start with stray thoughts on the two games I didn’t see.

Tomorrow, maybe the next day, I’ll work out that whole power-ranking thing to in the hopes of bringing some kind of coherence to these ramblings.

Kansas City Wizards 1 - 2 FC Dallas
I won’t lie: this result had me practicing my best whoops and hollers for use of mocking people who saw the Wizards as a bona fide contender; yeah, put me in the “but look at who they’ve played column.” But one article, citing as it did the breakdown on shots, etc. - not to mention the now-high probability that Juan Carlos Toja used his hand to control the ball just before scoring - has me thinking it’s wise to let opinions on the Wizards steep for another week or two. And, when you get right to it, the same applies to FC Dallas - though it’s worth noting that Dario Sala had a hell of a game.

I see a lot of Kansas City Wizards labels on my sitemeter, so here’s a personal note to them: I have nothing against your team; my life is simply easier when I don’t have to think about them.*

Red Bull New York 0 - 1 Colorado Rapids
Caught this one (as well as the one above) through highlights only - and not the good ones (Quick Kicks), mind you, but the crappy, truncated little buggers. What can I say? Colorado looks like they’re still unpredictable as a major loon off his/her meds. The more significant thing is what this does to Red Bull’s stellar, early-season rep.

Nice goal by Nico Hernandez, who, for some crazy reason, I really like.

Moving now to the games I did see...

Toronto FC 3 - 1 Chicago Fire
In no particular order...

- Holy crabcakes! Three goals? If the Columbus Crew hadn’t scored, TFC would have hauled them down on the goal count in just one game. Yikes. Speaking of....

- What the hell is wrong with Chicago? Until last week, every mention of the Fire usually included some phrase on their “solidity.” But for the second week straight, these cats got roasted when chasing the game. The first half was what it was, but the second looked a whole hell of a lot like the defensive collapse against the New England Revolution the week before. Toronto scored an appropriately scrappy first, but the second two? Kevin Goldthwaite and Maurice Edu (who played his balls off) could have held a friggin’ seminar in the space they had in the Chicago area.

- Seriously, Chicago’s defense was so bad the thought that the teams had switched uniforms at the half entered my mind.

- I mentioned the status of Maurice Edu’s balls, but would give Kevin Goldthwaite (of all people) man of the match. Ronnie O’Brien deserves honorable mention.

- The shouting match between Matt Pickens and Danny Dichio looked pretty intense - and small wonder with talk of biting (weird).

- Chicago...I dunno. Without “reviewing the tape” - and for both games - I’m not sure I can explain why they’re open to the counter like 7-11 is to stoners. My first guess is an aging midfield. But their defenders are dying under those even-number break-aways.

Columbus Crew 1 - 1 Chivas USA
(* Now, if I could stop thinking about this team...that'd be a relief)

I covered this for my day job - and have the psychic scars to show for it. Why, oh, why did I volunteer to follow the Crew? (No, I remember; I’m “from Ohio and thought they’d be interesting.” HA!). I think I’ve got enough over there to cover here, but want to add one delicious tease: as tentative/ineffectual Eddie Gaven has looked this season, was it just me or did Chivas look more comfortable AFTER he left the game? Sure, he mustered only the one shot - straight at Brad Guzan, but a hard shot all the same - but the paths to the goal dried up when he left just after the 60th minute till that last-minute flurry at the end of the game. Could this be a case of doing good while seeming bad?

Los Angeles Galaxy 2 - 3 New England Revolution
I think the LA Times put it best when they said that anyone who caught this game got their money’s worth. For me, this was the best game of the season and, heart-broken as LA fans and players might be (and pissed off to the point of making trades as their coach may be), LA nearly got a point from a game in which they were fairly roundly outplayed. I may be alone in this, but I think that ain't bad. They can turn this around (then again, I thought the same last year...)

Other notes...

- I intend to elaborate on this elsewhere, but I think New England finally showed as the First Good Team of 2007. I’ll give The DCenters their point - that this doesn’t quite make them the team to beat - and I know they’ll have off games, but they look like the real deal.

- Turning to LA, you know who looked great last night? Kyle Martino. That’s so nuts to me I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see the game myself. But that was a wonderfully taken goal and he was everywhere else besides. LA’s man-of-the-match, hands down.

- Cannon worked very hard and has every right to be pissed at the guys in front of him.

With those awards handed out, I can now indulge my urge to praise the Revs - at length.

- Adam Cristman: It wasn’t so much the goal as it was all the great work that preceded it - in this game and the game against Chicago. If he’s not the strongest player on the team this side of Shalrie Joseph, he’s close. That man wants this career like nobody’s business. And, so far, he’s earning it.

- Steve Ralston: I already posted on him, if only indirectly. He’s doing so friggin’ much for this team.

- Khano Smith: He’s made me a believer, at least in his ability to make one player’s life hell. Just ask Chris Albright, who had to cope with his tireless running.

- Michael Parkhurst: Best...damn...defender in MLS. I think I’m serious about this....wait...yeah, I am. How many pockets did this kid pick last night? How many times did he shield the ball from much, much bigger players? He’s like butter back there.

- Matt Reis: He succeeds when Parkhurst fails; just a hell of a one-two.

- Taylor Twellman: If I need to tell you, I’m guessing you’re not watching. Then again, there’s the whole thing about the gods smiling: how many times does the ball bounce off the crossbar straight back at the same player? When you’re hot you’re lucky (or is it “When you’re lucky, you’re hot”?)

- Shalrie Joseph: Like a gigantic blue-and-black, dreadlocked blur in the middle of the field; he’s more of an entity than a man, a spot on the field that reads “There be monsters here.” What I’m getting at is I don’t even notice the guy any more; I just see attacks breaking down in the center of the field just above the Revs’ defensive third.

- James Riley: I’m still not comfortable with Riley.

The Unintentional Brilliance of the Assist Statistic

Somewhere out there, an article on Steve Ralston moving into second place in the all-time assists in Major League Soccer (MLS) goes into a somewhat obligatory spiel about how assists don't quite fit soccer, a sport that rarely wears statistics well.

That spiel made sense till last night when I watched the New England Revolution's Steve Ralson head a ball over his head toward goal; that semi-random action led to an Adam Cristman goal, the Revs' first for the night and Cristman's first all-time. It's not so much that Ralston consciously headed the ball with an assist to Cristman in mind; the action can more accurately be described as bonking the ball somewhere that seemed useful. Whether intended or not, that shows up as an assist to Ralston and, the more I think about it, the more fair that is.

Of course, there are "real" assists; in the same game, for instance, LA Galaxy midfielder Pete Vagenas played sharp pass against the grain - and through a thicket of defenders' legs - to teammate Kyle Martino; it was a spot-on, intentional pass and Martino slotted it home for the Galaxy's first goal. When people talk about assists, that's what they have in mind.

Even if Ralston's assist was more random, less skilled, etc. it falls under a kind of big umbrella concept: making shit happen. In a sense, that's what the assist stat should be: give it an acronym ("MSH's"?) to protect tender ears, but that's basically what's going on. The same principle applies on the defensive end as well. A well-time tackle (for instance, Frankie Hejduk picked Francisco Mendoza clean in the Columbus Crew v. Chivas USA game) could pick up the same statistical denotation.

Sure, this is imprecise and, sure, people will quibble about what really counts as an MSH, but we already quibble about assists and everything else under the sun so what's the harm? But the MSH fits a sport like soccer, in which so much positive activity cannot be readily quantified.

No, I don't think this will ever become an official stat - though I'd love to see league officials have to explain it to soccer neophytes. But it does help me look at Ralston's looming stroll into the league record books without wondering how many of those assists would require asterisks. The thing is, none of them do because all of them essentially say, "Let the record show that, on 113 occasions, Steve Ralston made shit happen."

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The Unintentional Brilliance of the Assist Statistic

Somewhere out there, an article on Steve Ralston moving into second place in the all-time assists in Major League Soccer (MLS) goes into a somewhat obligatory spiel about how assists don't quite fit soccer, a sport that rarely wears statistics well.

That spiel made sense till last night when I watched the New England Revolution's Steve Ralson head a ball over his head toward goal; that semi-random action led to an Adam Cristman goal, the Revs' first for the night and Cristman's first all-time. It's not so much that Ralston consciously headed the ball with an assist to Cristman in mind; the action can more accurately be described as bonking the ball somewhere that seemed useful. Whether intended or not, that shows up as an assist to Ralston and, the more I think about it, the more fair that is.

Of course, there are "real" assists; in the same game, for instance, LA Galaxy midfielder Pete Vagenas played sharp pass against the grain - and through a thicket of defenders' legs - to teammate Kyle Martino; it was a spot-on, intentional pass and Martino slotted it home for the Galaxy's first goal. When people talk about assists, that's what they have in mind.

Even if Ralston's assist was more random, less skilled, etc. it falls under a kind of big umbrella concept: making shit happen. In a sense, that's what the assist stat should be: give it an acronym ("MSH's"?) to protect tender ears, but that's basically what's going on. The same principle applies on the defensive end as well. A well-time tackle (for instance, Frankie Hejduk picked Francisco Mendoza clean in the Columbus Crew v. Chivas USA game) could pick up the same statistical denotation.

Sure, this is imprecise and, sure, people will quibble about what really counts as an MSH, but we already quibble about assists and everything else under the sun so what's the harm? But the MSH fits a sport like soccer, in which so much positive activity cannot be readily quantified.

No, I don't think this will ever become an official stat - though I'd love to see league officials have to explain it to soccer neophytes. But it does help me look at Ralston's looming stroll into the league record books without wondering how many of those assists would require asterisks. The thing is, none of them do because all of them essentially say, "Let the record show that, on 113 occasions, Steve Ralston made shit happen."

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Donovan: Heart, Brain, Legs, or All Three?

I'm mainly throwing this out there because a couple people already have, specifically, Nick Green (regularly of Daily Breeze fame) for USSoccerplayers.com and Blue Blooded Journo. I'll let Green frame the argument...

"On Tuesday, L.A. fans had the opportunity to see how a Galaxy team sans Donovan plays, and it wasn’t pretty."

"Until Donovan arrived an hour or so into the US Open Cup qualifier against the New York Red Bulls, the Galaxy appeared rudderless. They could barely get out of their half of the field, especially during the first 45 minutes."

...and, from Blue Blood's preview to this weekend's Galaxy v. Revs matchup, the charge appears in bold:

"However, Steve Nicol's boys won't have Clint Dempsey to tip the scales this year as they take on Landycakes and some other superfluous players going through the motions until Beckham arrives in a few months."

So, how much truth is there to that statement? Before answering, check out what former U.S. Men's coach Bruce Arena adds to the conversation:

"'The National Team isn’t that good without Landon Donovan (either),' was Red Bulls coach Bruce Arena’s curt observation on the matter."

Any thoughts on this? While I think Blue Blood is having a little fun with the opposition, Green's piece lays out a pretty clear case that the Galaxy wins or loses by Landon's play. Is it so bad as all that?

My answer: it certainly bears watching this year. And the June/July nexus will provide an excellent time for assessment.

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Guevara: One Bad Penny, Several Shoes

As Big Apple Soccer reported yesterday, and as Marc Connolly confirmed today (to find "the business," check the May 11 entry; they don't have permalinks up yet for USSoccerplayers.com, but I hear their working on it), FC Dallas has come a-courtin' for a discarded and unlamented Chivas USA-reject, Amado Guevara. There's not much point denying the weirdness of this transaction-in-progress - and there's also FC Dallas' puzzling, and ongoing, disinterest in shoring up the defense, which most would agree (I think) counts as their greatest weakness. (Though, curiously, DC United shares the same mysterious quirk.)

That obvious eccentricity aside, there's another obvious question, which Connolly phrased pretty well:

"And if the deal with Chivas USA for draft picks does go through, it doesn't necessarily mean the end of Carlos Ruiz's days in Frisco. The prospect of those two CONCACAF stars linking up in the attack is exciting, but would you want to have both of these personalities in one locker room? Me neither."

Toxic as that lockerroom could be, there's another potentially volatile ingredient to consider: Ramon Nunez. How will this player, assigned a major role at the start of the season, react to a noted prima donna like Guevara competing for that role? Naturally, I can't say for sure, but I do have my hunches (in a phrase, not well). Assuming they take on Guevara, will Dallas be the first team in the league to field a 2-6-2 formation? Lord knows they've got enough midfielders to do it.

Moreno Trade: A Personal 180 + Implications

Seeing as it's kinda my job, I've been following the Alejandro Moreno to Columbus trade pretty closely - at least in the "other" space. As one can see, I started out puzzled, but have since come around by clocking the wisdom of others - not least Columbus Crew coach Sigi Schmid.

Schmid is, of course, far from neutral - after all, the man has a decision to defend - so it was kind of nice to have someone not associated with the Crew review the upside:

"The task will fall to Schmid to build his Crew team around [Guillermo] Schelotto, who likely will line up as a right forward in a 4-3-3 or right winger in a 4-4-2. Schmid showed that he is ready to tailor his roster to maximize Schelotto's strengths by dealing for former Houston forward Alejandro Moreno. An underrated forward who is more adept than Joseph Ngwenya at a pass-heavy approach to offense, Moreno is the type of forward always looking for quick combinations and smart runs to make off his teammates."

The thing is, Moreno plugs nicely into the larger equation without Schelotto being part of the picture - on paper anyway. Call this a two-piece gamble on the Crew developing an offense; if they can pull it off the East gets a good bit tougher.

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Bradley Is It

I haven't checked Soccer Blogs on this, but am fairly confident I'm late. Don't care.

I just want to note my reaction to Bob Bradley being elevated to the U.S. National Team job full-time (and it's not April 1st, right?): YES! And I say that knowing (now) that this isn't yet 100% official. But it's Steve Goff reporting and he seems pretty comfortable with the reporting.

Assuming it is true it's not so much that I credit the Bradley with a Midas Touch, nor do I think he's the Second Coming. But I think he'll do well, perhaps even improve on Bruce Arena's tenure - even if only by benefitting from an improved player pool. But he's acquitted himself very well, both in terms of coaching the team and handling the unique situation under which he operated.

Now...go fuck up that big, bad world, Bob.

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Kreis: Doomed or Determined?

Steve Davis framed this question pretty well in a piece for ESPN, but a couple things occur to me as I watch Jason Kreis' young foray into professional coaching.

To begin, and in his favor, he certainly sounds like he's up for it. Put another way, Kreis speaks about the game with a fair amount of intelligence. For example, this comes out of ESPN preview for tonight's Rapids v. RSL encounter:

"If I were to go back and analyze all of the goals that were scored against us, most of them were down to individual mental errors," Kreis said. "So for me, the entire first week has been about changing that mentality, getting players to react quicker in situations, transitioning from offense to defense."

So far I've found the substance of the above pretty representative and remain surprised that he's never sounded outright stupid (came close here, but the tone rather charmed me), never mind cliched, in his post-game commentary. Against that, though, sounding smart and capable is always easier than being smart and capable.

And, as Davis points out, Kreis needs to be both given the team and situation he inherited. One rarely noted facet to this part of the equation comes with Kreis' closeness with the team he's leading. With the speed of the media making this change feel weeks rather than days old, that gets a little lost, but a quote from Carey Talley in the Deseret News' preview of tonight's game brings home the connections Kreis retains with RSL's players:

"'Jason is a friend to a lot of us, and you don't want to let your friend down,' said Talley."

It's possible that will help more than hurt - but I doubt it. The first game forced everyone to just get on with business, but, if things keep going South as most expect, will the same apply down the line? Or will Kreis' charges question not just his credentials, but his basic competence, if the team falls off the playoff pace? The risk is that Kreis will lose this team faster than a more experienced coach every would.

For all that, Kreis sounds both happy and not a little wise as he embarks on his coaching career; so his head is in the right place. However it pans out, the man deserves a fairer shake than he's getting.

USMNT Coach-Watch Returns

It's a subtle thing, but the passage of time somehow faded the word "interim" from Bob Bradley's official title with the U.S. Men's National Team (USMNT, or as I like it, the Yanquis). But it's still very much there and a pair of items - one a vote of confidence from Paul Gardner in the New York Sun and the other a bout of queasiness from Brucio at du Nord - serve to remind all of us that the word "senior national team coach" could soon share interim's fate.

It's strange the way we got here, so strange it makes one wonder what the powers-that-be expected from Bradley. Barring a kiss-n-tell memoir (which assumes a publisher saw bankability from a soccer appartchik biography), we'll never know whether United States Soccer Federation (USSF) expected a flop or not; but it's also reasonable to assume Bradley's success put not only the USSF, but also any potential successor in a bit of a bind. If said successor fucks up, what would that say about the ten-month wait, never mind their basic competence?

A second piece to this comes with the reported short-list, which seems to feature Manchester United assistant Carlos Queiroz and current Olympique Lyonnais (geez...let's just go with Lyon) boss Gerard Houllier. Brucio does a fair whack on Queiroz in his column, so I'll concoct a case against Houllier here. There's no denying his success with Lyon: if memory serves, they won the 2005/06 title and, sure enough, they're taking the current season walking away. For all that, I don't think Houllier's a good fit - or put more precisely, I don't know that his talents translate outside of France. I do know that the Liverpool sides he coached played some of the dullest crap I've ever endured - which raises concerns about wooing/keeping American fans - and I can't see him doing much better with Yanks given the skill/technical knowledge of American plaers; in fact, I see a similarly disciplined approach from a Houllier-led U.S. team.

Bradley may not be an improvement in this last category, but he's got the team playing for him at the very least; I don't know that will apply to Houllier. And who knows what would happen then. But, as Brucio points out, it's all too possible that we'll find out.

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MLS to Vegas: The Yeas Have It

I won't pretend to be the first to this story, but I do want to add my voice of commendation and support to the budding, yet amply enthusiastic effort to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to Las Vegas. Yes!

Both Blue-Blooded Journo and The Offside Rules have posted in favor, but it's the former who makes the obvious point:

"Besides, if you could only make one away trip a year, would it be to Las Vegas or Columbus? I thought so."

Before Columbus fans get uppity, let me just acknowledge the same statement likely applies to Portland, Oregon. Hell, in my book only one MLS market tops Vegas for visiting: NYC. So, yes, yes, yes, to a Vegas bid. They can make Gamblor the mascot (believe it or not, that's the first image that comes up on a google image search; the link explains the line).



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Week 6 Picks: 12-22* & Beyond!

(* My current record with predictions...boo-yah!)

Week 6 Picks: 12-22 and Beyond!

With my too-formal previews already up on Write On Sports (I'm working on it) and at least one pick (the Open Cup game) already coming good - in the main, anyway - over on the Real Salt Lake Offside’s predictions league, it’s time to lay down my marker for this space. For the record, though, I’m totally serious about LA v. Revs being the match of the week; I also like Red Bull v. Rapids and would really, really like to get excited about Chivas @ the Crew, but...well, you know...

Colorado Rapids v. Real Salt Lake
Even with the Rapids eating all the dookie Houston could dish out last weekend, and even with RSL’s stirring comeback against Red Bull...I can’t see anything but a RAPIDS WIN. It’d be better, for the rivalry if nothing else, if RSL wins, but...again, you know...

Toronto FC v. Chicago Fire
I not only expect a FIRE WIN, but bet a pint of warm domestic beer that Toronto will still not score; the Fire is too tough on defense. I will, however, leave open an escape hatch: I like TFC’s chances of scoring better if Ronnie O’Brien plays. Winning, not so much, but scoring, yes. The bet stands regardless.

Columbus Crew v. Chivas USA
Two weeks ago, this would have looked like something to see: now, with the Crew apparently bewildered at the concept of scoring and the Chivas defense looking patchy, this one winds up being a question of how each team’s strengths and weaknesses meet the other’s. For instance, does the good Chivas defense get the better of a good Crew defense; or will it be the feeble Crew offense sneaking through a feeble Chivas defense? I called a draw in the predictions league, but think the Chivas defense is just what the Crew ordered: CREW WINS - probably ugly...and Ezra scores again.

Kansas City Wizards v. FC Dallas
How I wish Dallas was playing better; I’m dying to know what KC really has this year. But between their recent layoff and their form heading into the same, the unknowns have me wondering whether the Wizards will play the entire season as kind of a mystery team. The draw I called in the predictions league still feels OK....I guess. DRAW - with goals (I think).

LA Galaxy v. New England Revolution
Here we have the Rama-Lama-Ding-Dong-Dust-Up of the Week, the Bona Fides Stakes, if you will. Both teams want to assume the Alpha Aura for purposes of intimidation down the line. Calling this for New England amounted to an act of faith and optimism conjured perhaps by Ryan Hunt calling the Revs the surprise team of the season thus far. Though I’m getting cold feet, the words of my S.A.T. coach* keep returning: stick with your first answer. OK, then. REVS WIN - and their moxie gets moxier.

(* Fictitious character: In truth, a raid on the folks’ liquor cabinet the night before my first crack at the test rendered me incapable of sitting. No coach taught me that one.)

Red Bull New York v. Colorado Rapids
Assuming the Rapids make good on my call above (I’m waiting for them to bone it, just to spite me), they could come to Sunday’s game with a misguided swagger; but Red Bull’s late collapse against RSL should have them looking to make amends. As such, NEW YORK WINS - though not by much...unless that Angel kid lives up to the hype.

(Sort of) Timbers 1 - 0 (Sort of) Necaxa

To throw out a familiar cliche, last night's exhibition between the Portland Timbers and Mexico's Necaxa was a tale of two halves. Necaxa's (b-team) looked the more threatening in the first, whether pinging the bar of the foot of the post or just generally in running the game. By the second half, however, Timbers' passes continued to find find the right feet even after they scored a smart and opportunistic goal immediately after the whistle.

It's only after reading the match report on the Timbers site, that I even recalled Necaxa's second-half breakaway on the Timbers' goal: Portland's central defender (I'll get to players' names later, but thought this was #6, and I read the name "Knowles," so I'm assuming that's Cameron Knowles*) dribbled out of the defense and lost the ball with no one thinking to cover; still, Timbers' 'keeper, Josh Wicks, ably snuffed out the danger. The overall impression, though, was a much-improved second half for Portland, especially with regard to keeping poise and possession on a field the players of both teams did their best to make small.

The thoroughly respectable crowd created a lively atmosphere - especially where I sat: between the Timbers Army and a bunch of Necaxa/Mexico fans (little distinction was apparent last night). Both sides made plenty of noise, if at different times - so, yeah, a good time was had by all (well...except the old dude nursing a nasty bruise on the left side of his face).

This being my first Timbers game of '07, I'm not totally clear as to how much this was a "b-team" for the Timbers as well. Comparing last night's starters with the teams fielded in their first two league games reveals...well, will reveal...holy crap, is the Timbers' official site eating shit today...ah, here's a report from that second game (thanks, Timbers Blog!) - and I'm seeing some familiar/noted names missing: Luke Kreamalmeyer, Cameron Knowles (* turns out I had the wrong "Knowles," but was able to read the jersey correctly), Andrew Gregor, Scot Thompson, etc. So, it looked pretty "b" on paper and, with the Timbers Blog confirming that in his match report, I'm content to let my title stand - and to say, "Hey, nice going reserves."

My tradition of not reading others' thoughts before commenting on a game now completely out the window, I'll add my couple pennies to the proceedings:

- As noted above, I thought Necaxa had the better of the first half; their movement was better, they found holes down the flanks more than once, and they badly disrupted the Timbers' rhythm. On the upside, they couldn't cross for shit so the flank play didn't amount to much. For his part, Bob Kellett (Timbers Blog/The Offside guy) thought no one had a memorable first...fair enough.

- The Timbers' seem happy with a "punt-n-rush" style, by which I mean they often look forward first and rely on leading passes to diagonal runs toward the sideline, as opposed to looking to quickly switch the point of attack, etc. That's not bad per se, but it relies on the Timbers' guy beating one of theirs to the ball on the diagonals and low-percentage passes into the teeth of the opposition.; it doesn't always work so well and they surrender possession a fair amount in doing it. Contrary to another cliche, the Timbers don't seem comfortable "making the ball do the work."

- A confession on the goal: when Bryan Jordan received the ball on the Timbers' left, his decision to turn inside had me groaning; funny how it worked in creating the game's lone goal. It's times like that I'm happy to be wrong.

- Kellett singled out Kiki Lara as having a good night, particularly in the second half. If Lara is the lanky black dude I spotted, I won't just agree, but will go one further: the Timbers' didn't use him nearly enough, especially on throw-ins; he made himself available on several occasions with ample space around him and his central position would have afforded him options for opening up the attack. But, yeah, he looked pretty comfortable - and comforting - out there.

All for now.

Roberto Brown and the Lords of Discipline (DC?)

So, I'm waiting for the league to hand down some kind of hurt to Houston Dynamo defender Eddie Robinson for the cheap shot he took at the Colorado Rapids' Roberto Brown...and, for those who either didn't see or didn't think anything of it, Jeff Carlisle's preview for Thursday night's ESPN game contains this nugget on the aftermath:

"...a forearm to Brown's head from Houston defender Eddie Robinson has left him with headaches, which may force him out of the match."

In Robinson's defense, the announcers for Saturday night's Rapids/Dynamo game said something about Robinson pushing off to protect himself from an on-rushing Brown, who was chasing a ball he had pushed too far ahead. But Robinson's forearm lunged forward pretty damn sharpish - at least as I and the (admittedly biased) fans who caught it on The Richard's replay screens saw it.

At any rate, impatience took me to the discipline page on MLSnet.com, which is where I first caught wind of the suspension Andy Herron picked up for popping Jay Heaps. Nothing on Robinson yet (and I'll refrain from changing my underwear till that changes), but I did find something pretty dang nifty: The League Fair Play Table. Let me say, there are some surprises on that sucker. The biggest? Look who's dirtiest: DC United. No red cards yet, but look at all them yellows (15) - and only FC Dallas has commmitted more fouls (91 for DC versus 97 for Dallas; the latter has had one more game, however, so look for that to change).

No less surprising is who they're beating: Colorado? Chicago? And, after Week 5's 22 foul-affair against KC, Columbus? Here I thought teams like New England and Chicago were the proponents of negative soccer...

On the other end, look at Real Salt Lake: 19.5 points to DC's whopping 105.5! Is this why they suck? (No, it's worse. Still, you'd think they'd have some kind of chip by now.)

Anyway, it's kind of a fun table, especially when you figure out how it works. But, whodathunk? Damn, dirty DC United?

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Chutzpah: Thy Name is Real Salt Lake

"Near the 68th minutes, New York goalie Ronald Waterreus appeared to have handled a back pass. Many among the 14,000 plus at Rice-Eccles Stadium thought so."

[SNIP]

"It was a back pass, it really was a back pass," said [Real Salt Lake defender Eddie] Pope afterward, still burning over the non-decision. "One week you get punished for it, the next it doesn't go your way. I spoke to referee, and he he didn't think it was a back pass, either. and that's the problem. You've got to be on same page here."
- Salt Lake Tribune (who should hire a copy editor), 5.9.07 (LINK)

Who knows? Maybe I would have nodded along with Eddie had I not spent the week reading how Real Salt Lake owed their equalizer to a little something dubious of their own (from Soccer by Ives):

"Apparently RSL midfielder Carey Talley had been on the sidelines changing his bloodied jersey and was waiting to be waived into the game by the match official, Ricardo Salazar, but fourth official Brian Hall told Talley to get back on the field before Salazar ever acknowledged Talley. Talley proceeds to intercept a pass by Clint Mathis intended for Hunter Freeman and starts the play that gets the ball to Chris Brown, who scores a beautiful goal."

Best to keep scrutiny of the referee at a minimum Eddie. Even if Red Bull players and (you kiddin' me?) the coach aren't whining, most of what I've read suggests they believed Carey Talley to be out of the play, which makes the whole thing sound a little sleazy. That said, it also sounds like Talley is fairly innocent here; he was, after all, waved on...not to take anything away from the goal itself, which was pretty groovy.

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When Other Bloggers Are Savvier than You

For the past couple weeks, I've passed over The DCenters' US Soccer Fragility Index - aka the Freezer. I expect this was because every time I saw it in the ol' Bloglines account all I got was the introductory blurb.

Having taken the time to read the whole thing, I heartily recommend it. And rest assured: there's more there than empty space. It's pretty clever, actually. Turns out one can add things to a blog that aren't on the basic Blogger menu.

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Timbers v. Necaxa

Due to the generosity and alertness of a friend, I'm off to see my first live game of the 2007 calendar year: an exhibition pitting the USL-1 Portland Timbers against Necaxa of the Mexican "Primera."

Why the scare quotes?

Because I came across an interesting passage at the bottom of the New York Times' article on Major League Soccer's salary set-up; here's that:

"¶The Mexican club Necaxa was forced to move its Copa Libertadores Round of 16 second-leg match against Nacional of Uruguay tomorrow to Azteca stadium in Mexico City. A scheduling conflict with a concert by the Colombian pop star Shakira ruled out the team’s La Vitoria stadium in Aguascalientes."

Seeing the word "tomorrow," and confirming that Necaxa will in fact play a Copa Libetadores tomorrow, got me thinking about what that means for today - e.g. what kind of players are these guys sending? I'm thinking 12-year-olds, perhaps bandy-legged ones (an adjective, by the way, that Joseph Conrad loved). Then again, it could be the same team that has Necaxa rooted at the bottom of Group 1 in the 2007 Clausura.

Still, a game is a game and I'm going to take it in with a smile. I haven't seen the Timbers yet this year in any case. If I see anything interesting, I'll mention it tomorrow.

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Week 5: KC Love, the Power Rankings Round-Up

I've already posted my post-Week 5 power rankings, but thought I'd round-up the rest of them to better judge how "the collective" sees Major League Soccer's (MLS) teams stacking up against each other.

For lack of a better hook, call this the week of Kansas City Love - which isn't nearly dirty as it sounds (and is certainly no Cleveland Steamer). What I'm getting at, though, is nearly everyone ranks the Kansas City Wizards higher than me - notably, Sideline Views' Luis Bueno, who slotted the Wizards in at #1 (dammmmnnnn!). Allowing for the difference in format noted, El Guero on Who Ate All the Cupcakes makes it pretty clear he's placed KC just as high. Even Mike H of My Soccer Blog whose caveat on the Wizards matches my suspicions - the relative paucity of challenges to their defense - places them at #3.

Only WVHooligan joined me in capping the Wizards' rise to the #4 slot. That similar placement does not, however, grow from the same reasoning as mine: near as I can tell I was the only pundit sufficiently impressed by Houston's pounding of the Colorado Rapids to shift them into the top three. Well, almost the only one: MLS Underground plugged them pretty high, but they also had them at #5 the previous week. My increasingly transparent hostility to Chicago Fire could also play a role: nearly everyone else has them pegged at either 3 or 4, while I dumped them all the way down to a patently silly #7. Still, I'm hoping that will come good down the road.

After those points, the other notable talking point is the consensus that Red Bull's lapse against Real Salt Lake counts more as aberration than sign of things to come. And, in a neat quirk, Mike H and I sync up exactly on numbers 9-13 - then again, look at the teams and it's not such a mystery.

I'll round this out with a couple more power rankings posts and one comment: ESPN and Soccer by Ives; to paraphrase the X-Files, the truth is probably in there somewhere.

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Open Cup Play-In: Lest We Forget (+ Salary talk)

In what must be a first since Roma FC made a run last year, a major media outlet - the LA Times - acknowledged the existence of the U.S. Open Cup...even if it only came after a report on the MLS Players' Union squabbling with the league front office (interesting piece, by the way; loathe as I am to admit it, Gazidis makes a decent case, especially about the second jobs; still, that's chump change.)

In any case, the blogoverse did its bit to pump the game as well, especially the LA locals like Dan Loney and Luis Bueno. And, natch, MLSnet.com produced a preview. There's some good stuff in there about personnel 'n' such, though only Ives Galarcep (so far) is saying fucking-new-guy (FNG) Juan Pablo Angel will play.

Anyway, calling this one seems like a mug's game, what with all the line-up wackiness. Bueno made the decent point that LA has enjoyed a lay-off and that rest could point to the possibility they'll field a stronger side. Maybe that was in the back of my mind when I picked LA to win over on the Real Salt Lake Offside's predictions league. Not to be nasty about it, but I won't be pulling for 'em. Go Bulls...just this once.

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My Week 5 Conspiracy

As usual, I did my Week 5 summary for Write On Sports. What wasn't usual about this week's offering was my decision to lead with a conspiracy theory based on the the generous calls by the officials that assisted DC United and the Houston Dynamo in picking up points.

I defused the rumor quickly as I started it, but so I was mainly having fun with the concept. In all seriousness, I'd give a number of body parts to be able to construct and believe in a good conspiracy theory. Sadly, I lack the paranoia to make this work...or perhaps just have the wrong kind of paranoia...anyway....

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Week 5: Power Rankings & Standings

If nothing else, all yesterday’s blabbing (wrap and talking points) frees me up to focus on the power rankings and standings here. As usual, last week’s ranking appears in parentheses immediately after this week’s ranking. So’s as to not misrepresent my judgment as entirely first-hand, the following key shows the distance of my observations: “@” means I watched a given team’s most recent performance in its entirety; “$” means I caught it through Quick Kicks, which provides extended highlights; “&” means I watched only the rump highlights available through MLSnet.com.

1. (1) Red Bull New York (&)
The 3-3 draw with RSL acknowledged, I’m “checking” to future results. Between the reportedly dubious goals, Clint Mathis playing well, and the general shape of things, Red Bull still seems solid. Here’s something I just caught: RBNY remains undefeated - and, now, they’re alone.

2. (3) New England Revolution (@ + @)
The Revs looked pretty damn sharp against Chicago, as well as the fact that Twellman didn’t even score and they did it without Joseph - well, that’s all the excuse I need to peg New England pretty high.

3. (8) Houston Dynamo (@)
It’s not so much that Houston’s “skill players” - DeRosario and Davis, in particular - finally woke up as the completeness of this weekend’s win that makes the Dynamo this week’s big climber; they shut down the Rapids and just straight-up beat them - and that trumps what I saw as a little help from the officials (and, yeah, I’m still holding out for a fine/suspension for Eddie Robinson; and, without question, Ryan Cochrane should have received a yellow).

4. (7) Kansas City Wizards (@ - for the most part)
Leading the league has to count for something, right? But, obviously, I’m still not sold on the Wizards; the quality of their opposition has a lot to do with this. They’ll move up when they beat the guys above them (and, perhaps, a few below).

5. (5) Los Angeles Galaxy (bye)
Of all the picks in this space, I think this placement for an idle Galaxy side is the most generous. It has more to do with what the active teams below them did this week.

6. (4) Colorado Rapids (@)
They have good weapons, but only if they link up. And, as someone mentioned, their defensive depth, or lack thereof, showed on Saturday night. I think the Rapids are settling closer to their natural state: a good, solid team, but not world-beaters.

7. (2) Chicago Fire (@)
I’ll own up: I’m hostile to Chicago; so, so boring. But Sunday exposed the limitations in their attack; they don’t create space that well and rely too much on slop and breaks for scoring. My guess is they’re better than I’m placing them, but that’s mostly because they’re hard to beat.

8. (10) FC Dallas (bye)
Another bye team that benefited from others’ frailties: I’m bumped them on the belief they’ll come back better from their lay-off. But there are five spots below to accommodate them if they slip.

9. (11) DC United (@ + nuthin’)
As much as they improved their lot this weekend, too much of what I’m reading makes me dubious on a DC “recovery.” They place under Dallas, though, because I think the Texas team would beat them.

10. (6) Columbus Crew (@ - for the most part)
Am I being hard on my “second team”? Probably. But their problems with scoring don’t look likely to improve significantly. Till it does, I’ll be keeping them on the outside of the playoff picture*.

11. (9) Chivas USA (nuthin’)
Two straight losses almost compel me to dump these guys deep into bowels of this thing. I think there’s more to learn from Chivas’ losses than their wins (over Toronto and RSL? Woo-hoo.) This week’s game against Columbus should tell us a bit more.

12. (13) Real Salt Lake (&)
If it weren’t for the fight they showed against Red Bull, I’d leave these guys stuck on the bottom. Seriously, if the Portland Timbers stick around the Open Cup this year, I’m praying for a visit by RSL. A point behind LA with two games in hand? More goals conceded than Toronto FC? Shit.

13. (12) Toronto FC (bye)
OK, seriously. These guys suck. I wish ‘em the best, but, yeah, they’re going to have a hell season.

Now, the standings...here's the official version if you want to check me.

Eastern Conference:
1. Kansas City Wiz: 12 pts. (4-1-0: 10 GF, 4 GA, +6; home, 2-0-0; away, 2-1-0)
2. New England Revs: 11 pts. (3-1-2: 11 GF, 5 GA, +6; home, 2-0-0; away, 1-1-2)
3. Red Bull New York: 11 pts. (3-0-2: 8 GF, 3 GA, +5; home, 2-0-0; away, 1-0-2)
4. Chicago Fire: 10 pts. (3-1-1: 6 GF, 5 GA, +1; home, 2-0-0; away, 1-1-1)
5. Columbus Crew: 6 pts. (1-1-3: 3 GF, 3 GA, 0; home, 1-0-2; away, 0-1-1)
6. DC United: 4 pts. (1-3-1: 6 GF, 9 GA, -3; home, 1-1-1; away, 0-2-0)
7. Toronto FC: 0 pts. (0-4-0: 0 GF, 10 GA, -10; home, 0-1-0; away, 0-3-0)

Western Conference
1. Houston Dynamo: 7 pts. (2-2-1: 4 GF, 3 GA, +1; home, 1-1-1; away, 1-1-0)
2. Colorado Rapids: 7 pts. (2-2-1: 7 GF, 8 GA, -1; home 1-1-1; away, 1-1-0)
3. FC Dallas: 7 pts. (2-3-1: 7 GF, 9 GA, -2; home, 1-2-0; away, 1-1-1)
4. Chivas USA: 6 pts. (2-3-0: 8 GF, 6 GA; +2; home, 2-0-0; away, 0-3-0)
5. Los Angeles Galaxy: 4 pts. (1-1-1: 4 GF, 3 GA, +1; home, 1-1-0; away, 0-0-1)
6. Real Salt Lake: 2 pts. (0-2-3: 5 GF, 11 GA, -6; home, 0-1-3; away, 0-1-0)

Goals, DC, Columbus, Kreis: Week 5 Q & A...

...in which I ask the questions and you provide the answers...if you're so inclined. Or we can just leave 'em hanging till Major League Soccer's (MLS) teams and front office provide answers. Anyway, as part of the ongoing effort of organizing the commentary in this space, I’m trying on a “talking points” feature after each weekend - just a list of questions, reactions to results, happenings, etc. from the previous weekend’s games. Naturally, I won’t mention, let alone think about, every issue and angle. As such, I’m encouraging anyone with the time and web-access to drop in a point that occurs to him or her. Enjoy.

To begin, there’s the goal of the week to sort out and, thanks, as always to Climbing the Ladder, the list of candidates appears below. Personally, I’m hung up between Dwayne DeRosario’s bomb against Colorado and Chris Brown’s late (tarnished?) equalizer against Red Bull.



Moving on....

- What will become of RSL? (On an obviously related note, I’m less interested in the flipside to that question - e.g. what did this weekend’s draw mean to Red Bull New York? I can’t say why.) I mention this less because of that gutsy draw, but because I like what I’m reading from Jason Kreis in terms of tactics, not to mention what I’m seeing in terms of Luis Tejada-terminating moxie. He's got guts, but is guts enough?

- Are 1-0 games going one way or the other and a bunch of goalless draws all there is for Columbus this year? The problems with scoring are evident enough, but, as Steve Davis mused in his column (and as I mused elsewhere), what was the foul heavy response? Aggression provides an equalizer against skill, of sorts anyway. (Again, if you’re wondering about the flipside to this, it’s fair to note that, as part of my ongoing campaign to ignore/dismiss the Kansas City Wizards, I’m continuing my effort to pin their success on failures in the opposition. As such, I’m viewing this week’s win over Columbus through the Crew’s problems with scoring and, possibly, frustration arising from that.)

- Will there be fallout to the ugly, ugly knock Houston defender Eddie Robinson laid on Colorado’s Roberto Brown? (Due to stupid, stupid beer) I forgot the unappetizing sequence that featured Robinson laying out Brown and ended with two yellow cards to Colorado players - Pablo Mastroeni for dissent and Brown for retaliating shortly thereafter. A bad sequence for the ref all-round.

- Is DC United on the road to recovery? Put another way, did DC beat Chivas USA or did Chivas just lose to Houston? Are they even on the road to recovery or did Chivas flatter them due to lousy, firing-offense quality coaching, bang-up ‘keeping from Troy Perkins, or did they just catch Chivas in a misfiring transition?

All for now. Hopefully, future editions will come earlier and read better.

Dude...Who Isn't Playing China?

Wow. Add Real Salt Lake to the queue of teams playing China. All they've got to do now is add FC Dallas to the mix and the fans can organize another informal Cup to hand the winner.

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So...I Like Dempsey More than Liverpool

This one's made the rounds several times over, but it appears on this site as part of an ongoing acknowledgement that pretty much anything associated with the American game and its improvement holds my interest over my old EPL flame, Liverpool FC.

Yes, it's another link to the winner Clint "Deuce" Dempsey scored over Liverpool; here's to hoping it's a life-line for Dempsey to stay in England. And, for the record, I saw this first on MLS Underground.

Dig the Arabic script on the video itself. And do note the "GOOOAAALLLL" celebration; turns out it's somewhat universal.

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Week 5 Through One Set of Eyes (ONLY)

Below, I’ve rambled out a list of observations about Week 5’s action, most of which points to shifting around the power rankings equation - but I won’t get to that till tomorrow. I watched three of the games below (more or less) start-to-finish - each of those bear an asterisk. Of the other two games, I caught the barest of highlights for one (look for, oh, this: “$”) and have neither read nor seen anything about the fifth game...and I’ll still talk about it as if I was a mouse in Tom Soehn’s pocket. And, as is my wont, I haven’t read a damn thing after watching all of these games.

One might think my post-Week 5 predictions' record of 12-22 would point to writing with more humility. But, as I’ve learned from our society’s most successful citizens, not to mention the majority of paid and unpaid observers, noting personal shortcomings or admitting doubt of any kind would only make me appear weak. In other words, I called these games correctly; the teams just played them wrong.

I’m also feeling a bit “fancy,” I suppose, after nailing an Exacta for the Kentucky Derby. And, just to jinx it*, Street Sense will not win the Triple Crown; I’ll be shocked if he wins the Preakness.

(* I’m very anxious about seeing a Triple Crown won in my lifetime, but know that current training techniques work against it. I figure by both calling and betting against potential winners, I’m doing my limited best to encourage the cosmos to allow a Triple Crown win to come to pass.)

Now, on with the Week 5 Rewind...

Kansas City Wizards 1 - 0 Columbus Crew*
Didn’t learn nearly as much from this game as we might have...in a better world free of stupid vagaries. Well, that’s not totally true: this reinforced a personal impression that Columbus has two-thirds a good team - even one-third a very good team (defense). However, the missing piece is pretty obvious: they’re pushing the border of “suck” for generating offense. That Guillermo Schelotto, the Crew’s brand-new Argentine, led the team in shots in less than 30 minutes on the field says plenty about the forwards they’ve got as well as offering some hope that Schelotto will be able to help.

So, this game did say something about the Crew; it’s on the winning side of the score sheet where things still seem murky. Why? It’s in the math: the Wizards shut down an offense, but a pretty mediocre one; and they did labor to score - it took a defender on a bold/fluky run - but that was against a solid, foul-happy defense (it’s like the Crew didn’t think they had enough yellow in their uniforms). But my provisional take on the Wizards goes about like so: they’re definitely a better team than Toronto FC and are probably better than Columbus, and DC United as well. The rub? I’m not willing to say they’re worse than Chicago.

Real Salt Lake 3 - 3 Red Bull New York ($)
The first, crucial observation: ha ha ha ha. HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAA!

Delving into details, good to see Clint Mathis back to decent form, scoring as he did with more than one body part; the finish off his foot was a good ‘un. It’s possibly significant this was a late collapse by a heretofore impenetrable Red Bull; altitude could count for something.

As for RSL, this shows they have fight left in ‘em, but I remain fairly certain this represents the height of their aspiration (e.g. spoiler). Still, the only thing that would have been more magical than RSL ending Red Bull’s shutout streak would have been seeing Toronto do it.

Again, ha ha ha ha ha ha. A-HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHAAHAAHAA!!

Colorado Rapids 1 - 3 Houston Dynamo*
Good gravy, what a friggin’ game! And, while I called Houston a “paper tiger” as recently as Week 3, I’m happier by far watching this version of Houston. And Dwayne DeRosario? How great was it to see him remembering he can play better than most? That is what we pay to see, people.

Turning to the game itself, I must confess to thinking, much as in the Thursday game between DC and New England, the officiating favored Houston, especially around Ryan Cochrane, who accumulated enough cheap shots to earn an “honorary red,” but who, if memory serves, didn’t even pick up a yellow; overall, it simply felt like an occasion where the ref readily dished cards to one side, while merely lecturing the other. (UPDATE: The first article I read on this reminded me why I thought the officiating so off; I had forgotten Eddie Robinson getting away with nearly decaptitating Roberto Brown. If that doesn't draw a fine, I really, really wonder about that fine/suspension Sacha Kljestan picked up.) But, also like Thursday only to a greater degree - Houston deserved this win, no question: they controlled the game from Colorado’s lone, early goal till the final whistle with a defense that pressed over 2/3 of the field (and at altitude, no less) and sharp passing elsewhere.

The battle between Houston’s Richard Mulrooney and Colorado’s Herculez Gomez provided both a highlight match-up and shorthand for the game: after a tense first half, Houston (and Mulrooney) got the measure of Colorado (and Gomez) and shut them down cold; with the Rapids’ options shut down man-by-man, Houston’s skill players, led by DeRosario's ripping, unstoppable shot from range, brought the three points home. Calling Houston’s man of the match comes harder than you’d think: DeRosario’s the obvious choice, but only Cochrane’s cheap, plentiful fouls marred the team’s effort. For Colorado, forward Roberto Brown played the best game, no question. The weakest? Probably Dan Gargan, who, some highly impressive moments going forward aside, caused problems for the wrong team.

DC United 2 - 1 Chivas USA
This is the one about which I know nothing but the final score - literally. Based on that, though, DC seems headed in the right direction. On the other side, it looks like this team needs more than getting rid of Amado Guevara.

New England Revolution 3 - 1 Chicago Fire*
While Colorado/Houston was the game of the week, I had a hell of a good time watching this one - despite my latest attempt to defect from the Revs’ fold. For all that, though, the Revolution plays pretty only in spurts and, troublingly, seem more comfortable on the counter. The great exception that proves that rule came with their second goal, which seemed so foreign as I watched it. After finally pinning Chicago in their end (was it the one and only time?) New England worked the ball quickly across the top of the area to find a wide, wide open Khano Smith, which is what happens when you play the game right; the beauty of the goal - basically a tap-in for an alert Steve Ralston - came in the approach and I’m a sucker for that.

On the Revs’ side of things, I can finally say the upside of Adam Cristman became apparent: he runs well off the ball (which Columbus could certainly use) and fights like hell - damn shame about the shooting, but that might come later. Bet he’s irked that fellow recruit, Wells Thompson, beat him into the goal-scorer’s club; and bet the style of Thompson’s goal takes him past irked to envious. Smith also played a good, powerful game, showing what pure athleticism can do with a telling pinch of skill and Steve Ralston, apart from scoring a goal, brought more to the game in terms of brains and composure than will ever show on a stats sheet.

On Chicago’s side, I finally found enough rope to fulfill my long-standing wish of hangin’ ‘em. That bunch looked something like lost and average, never getting the upper hand in a contest that seemed ripe with opportunity. For all the toughness on that team, the Fire positively begs for some creativity; all their goals I can recall come off of penalty area scrums or sneaky shots from Rolfe that somehow find a way through a crowded area. In other words, like the Crew, they rely on low-percentage offense and, even if it’s a few percentage points higher than Columbus’, winning games comes hard.

#$%ing Cheapskate: Can I Remain a Revs Fan?

OK, this is seriously the last post of the day. I've got to sort out my bets for the Derby and haven't done a lick of respectable research.

Upon seeing what the New England Revolution pays its players, I wrote the following (at least in part):

"Hell, who am I kidding? With, literally, 10 exceptions, the whole roster is a fucking bargain. How does [Bob Kraft sleep apnia at night? Players, boycott this douche bag!"

(Get the full take here, which covers not only the Revs, but the league as a whole.)

As much as I really, really want to get to horse racing research, I can't till I get my head around the sensation that continuing support of the Revolution somehow validates the way Kraft pays too many of his players; I feel like I'm complicit in "Cheapskate Bob" paying his players like some Gilded Age villian. Ugh, the bastard!!

With regard to the players, it makes me respect them more and less all at once. On the plus side, these men are more than consummate pros; they're almost super-fucking-human in their endurance; teams across the league should be able to secure not only their services, but their undying loyalty by tacking a fiver to new contracts. On the flipside, though, get out! Get out as soon as you can. Let the cheap fucker try to win the league with a bunch of kids out of college; the man deserves nothing less than bitter, bitter failure with his tax write-off.

OK. Think I'm done now. It's odd, y'know. Even as a borderline squishy "fan-of-the-league", the soft spots for this team and that remain. And knowing how close this team has taken me to (OK, given that it's a game, mildly absurd) happiness on three separate occasions, it really chaps my ass to see them get screwed by a guy who has the money with which to show his appreciation.

So, seriously, I wouldn't play for Bob if I were a player. I hope fewer of the good ones do till he changes his tune. And someone rescue Andy Dorman from this shitbag.

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MLS Salaries: Bargains 'n' Busts by Team

Everyone but everyone is passing around the players' salaries released by the MLS Players Union, who, as many have noted, were kind enough to chuck it to the masses. This has also been dissected a dozen different ways by now, so I hope the approach taken below is in some way novel.

Two note before proceeding: having started work on this I have to confess to feeling some pangs of guilt in discussing what some players make. Said pangs are, obviously, not sharp enough to make me stop, but some of the figures are just shocking - and on both sides of the spectrum. That segues a bit into the second note: you gotta wonder whether this information affects the dynamic on the teams with the more unbalanced salary distribution.

In any case, going team-by-team, here are the best bargains and the biggest busts on each roster:

Chicago Fire
Bargain: Matt Pickens at $32,340 (say what?!), though he’s got competition
Bust: Blanco’s the obvious choice, but he hasn’t played and could cover the cost on and/or off the field; but that’s precisely why Pascal Bedrossian’s $185,008 guaranteed salary seems such a waste.
Overview: These guys don’t do so badly. Logan Pause seems a bit high, but most are pretty sane - in MLS terms anyway.

Chivas USA
Bargain: Given the thin roster at forward, Laurent Merlin’s $17,700 seems pretty miserly, though Guzan’s pretty cheap for a ‘keeper of his caliber.
Bust: Yeah, gotta go with Amado Guevara at $291,250. I wonder how much of that they’ll have to pay when all’s said and done (can they pass on that cost to, say, a Honduran team?)
Overview: Looking at Chivas, there's less room for outrage than I thought. (NOTE: And then I got to New England...)

Columbus Crew
Bargain: Given his year so far, Ned Grabavoy, who’s pulling down a spare $52,550.25 guaranteed (why the quarter?).
Bust: And given his year so far - actually his entire stint with Columbus, you gotta wonder if Eddie Gaven is worth a $188,000 hit to the salary cap.
Overview: The Crew is the first team that seems a bit out of whack, but, to cut them some slack, injuries have seriously complicated some signings’ potential. (NOTE: Having looked at a few of the more egregious examples, the Crew err on the side of generosity.)

Colorado Rapids
Bargain: It’s a toss-up here between the two guys they got from LA: Herculez Gomez and Ugo Ihemelu, who earn $49,350 and $55,000, respectively - and that’s not so bad in the league-wide scheme.
Bust: Has Jovan Kirovski given $200,000 worth of value for this strapped league? The wisdom of bringing in Jose Cancela at $156K hardly stands as a no-brainer either.
Overview: Colorado does pretty well by many of their players. Maybe that’s why they seem to get along so well.

FC Dallas
Bargain: A fair number from which to choose, but I’m going with Alex Yi at $30,850; it’s not so much he’s great (good enough, though) that he’s a starter.
Bust: “Clean Sheet” Shaka (Hislop) at $220,800? That goes double with Dario Sala at half the cost.
Overview: These guys have issues in that they're the flip-side of the Crew - e.g. they err on the miser's side, though a couple players are smiling (Ruiz and the new Latin dudes); I guess everyone else needs to “prove themselves?”

DC United
Bargain: Jesus! “Robert” Boswell at $30,870?! Talk to your agent, son. That’s Alex Yi money. Worse, he’s got company.
Bust If only because everyone hates him, I’d say Facundo Erpen’s $115K.
Overview: Dude. I thought the Revs were tight. (NOTE: They are.)

Houston Dynamo
Bargain: It’s tought, but given their needs at forward, Chris Wondolowski’s $30,000 seems a little cheap.
Bust: I’m stretching here, but I haven’t seen Patrick Ianni earn the $103,000 he’s showing.
Overview: Yeah, no one’s getting rich, but here’s another team that does pretty well with sharing the wealth.

Kansas City Wizards
Bargain: Hands down: Scott Sealy at $33,075 guaranteed. He deserves some of Eddie Johnson’s pay.
Bust: Eddie Johnson’s $875,000, but he’s got time to redeem that...damn shame he’ll leave the second he does.
Overview: There’s a fairly sober compensation picture between Johnson’s barely-sane outlier up top and Sealy’s pittance at the bottom.

Los Angeles Galaxy
Bargain: Ty Harden at $17,700 - another starter living on orts.
Bust: Santino Quaranta’s (weird) $105,312.50 hasn’t really returned dollar for value.
Overview: Any success these guys enjoy is built on the back of some seriously underpaid players, not a few of them criminally so. Becks better pony up for every...mother...fucking...meal.

New England Revolution
Bargain: I can’t believe I just read this: Andy-freakin’-Dorman at $30,870. On the Welshman’s behalf, fuck you Bob Kraft! Hell, who am I kidding? With, literally, 10 exceptions, the whole roster is a fucking bargain. How does that man sleep at night? Players, boycott this douche bag!
Bust: I love the player, but Daniel Hernandez isn’t fit nearly enough to justify his $155K. If and when fit, absolutely.
Overview: DC United, you have my apologies. There is no beating Bob “Shithead Without Shame” Kraft for stinginess.

Red Bull New York
Bargain: Seth Stammler’s $30,870 needs adjusting upward, but the rest of the figures suggest he’s likely to get there.
Bust: Clint Mathis at $410,000 guaranteed, though, like EJ, he can make amends; and, unlike EJ, he’s likely to stick around if and when success comes.
Overview: Overall, Red Bull runs a comparatively respectable set-up - especially for the East.

Real Salt Lake
Bargain: Willis Forko’s $30K is pretty tough for a starter
Bust: I’d call this a toss-up between Nick Besagno’s $111,500 and Luis “I’m Where Now?” Tejada’s $105,000.
Overview: Do Western teams (LA excepted) simply pay better? These guys are worse than several above, but they’re nothing like DC or the Revs.

Toronto FC
Bargain: Given they brought him in precisely because he’s a proven commodity in MLS, Kevin Goldthwaite’s “Defender’s wages” ($30,870) seems a great return, but I suspect they have Houston to thank for that.
Bust: Can I name the rest of the roster? Edson Buddle’s $150K seems out of whack given his past and expected future production; but seeing Marcos Reda stink up the joint makes his $105,000 hard to swallow.
Overview: Toronto’s pay structure looks relatively sane - not that I see that helping them.

If I Was Kreis

As everyone now knows, Jason Kreis has now retired and taken up the coaching reins on the wayward stagecoach that is Real Salt Lake (which is still, presumably, rushing toward a cliff). Commentary is pretty easy to come by (random sample, and one I like), but there's not a lot out there yet about the changes Kreis could make to the starting line-up. The Salt Lake Tribune finally stirred themselves and did well to start this effort, even if they left it with a question.

After a quick look at RSL's roster, here's what I'd do:

GK: Nick Rimando....kidding! Chris Seitz. Go with Seitz.
D: Chris Lancos, Daniel Torres, Eddie Pope, Willis Forko (gulp.)
M: Mehdi Ballouchy, Freddy Adu, Carey Talley, Chris Klein
F: Jeff Cunningham...Jeff Cunningham...are any of the other guys either fit (Andy Williams) or not fat (Luis Tejada)? Hell with it, re-try the Atiba Harris experiment.

Anyway, the key piece here is Freddy Adu; throw him out there and say, "Awright, golden boy, get out there and win the damn game. You've got central midfield."

In all seriousness, I'm cracking on Adu for fun. He's got a hard road and it just got harder; cobbling a starting XI out of this bunch proved harder than I figured. Adu will be lucky to retain half his value before this trade plays out. Between that team and a first-year coach I'm thinking Toronto FC will have someone to fight for the distinction of living in the league's basement.

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DC v. Revs: What I Saw

While I did take in the majority of last night’s game, which saw DC United pick up its first point of the season against the New England Revolution, I can’t say the viewing environment was ideal. Well, it was on one level: if you ever come to Portland, Oregon, be sure to hit the Marathon Taverna; there simply aren’t many places left in this damnable world where one can get merrily shit-faced for $14 all while looking the mensch with tips. Throw in a clientele of professional alcoholics mingled with hipsters, mingled with anxious young women crinkling their nose at it all, and add the staff’s wonderful willingness to find your channel and you’ve got yourself one great game-viewing locale.

Unfortunately, last night’s seating situation wasn’t ideal; I had to watch the game twisted sideways in a bar-stool for the first half and could only improve to a table too far from the screen for the second. And with a friend and I sharing fantasies of dropping off the grid through the game, the situation, as a whole, made for distracted viewing.

And that takes me to the game - specifically the DC’s penalty. I looked up almost precisely as it was awarded and, by one situational fluke after another, I did the same with each replay. Still, to my eye, it looked like a bad call - which allowed for the blessed indignation that makes this game so marvelously and satisfyingly frustrating. As such, that The DCenters agreed, in their first impression post, that the call was indeed dodgy gave the impression I saw the right thing.

After that, here’s what I saw:

- Even if DC didn’t deserve that penalty, they deserved the result - if not a little more. They controlled the game from the tempo to the tone.

- The best portion of the game: immediately after DC’s equalizing penalty. That lit a fire under both teams and, for five to ten minutes after, the game played out with the pace and vigor of a late-season playoff tilt. Great stuff.

- The second best part: James Riley looming and snarling over what can only be described as a supine Luciano Emilio recently caught trying to draw a second penalty.

- I’ve only glimpsed at The DCenters’ debriefing, but that glimpse seems to agree with what I gathered. The officiating looked haphazard at best, with Terry Vaughn spazzing between bad calls and make-up calls. This could be the New England fan in me, but I think New England caught the worst of it. But they also only got "big-picture" screwed as Vaughan threw the Revs plenty of bones.

- Which segues nicely to the Joseph sending off: did I miss something, or was that straight red? If so, it was a tough, stupid call. But these things happen.

- Your man of the match: Matt Reis. Did you see that - hell, those - last-gasp save(s)? As Lawrence Welk would say, “wunnerful, wunnerful.”

- DC gained, but not enough; New England disappointed, though only a little. The former looks ready for Chivas, though, and should take full advantage. New England, though, will have to raise their game to beat Chicago on Sunday.

- I'll have to credit this one to a commenter in the "first impression" post: Twellman did look to have taken one dive in the DC area at the very least.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got. I’m off to read the DCenters compilation.

Ah, It Was Guevara

The folks at MLS Underground posted what looks like a plausible explanation to the clusterf*@# that is/was the Amado Guevara trade. Turns out Amado refused the move. And before you blame Canada, it sounds like Mo Johnston was the issue (whose idea was it to force a reunion anyway?).

At any rate, there's something in there about Guevara considering only FC Dallas or a return to Honduras as well. Fun trade stuff, isn't it?

Here's more from LA Soccer News, the source that broke this story by getting the crucial part correct - e.g. that Chivas traded Guevara to TFC (so, it was correct, but affected by an Act of Guevara; by the way, are those always red card offenses?). And, from what they're reporting, it looks like Paulo Nagamura is still headed to Chivas.

UPDATE: Sideline Views has a couple good pieces on the Guevara situation: first, there's some speculation on the tactical adjustments to cover the (let's face it, small-ish) hole Guevara left behind; second, there's a nice post of memorable Guevara moments.

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The Other Thing: Kreis Retires

Maybe this only happened to me, but the one thing I somewhat missed in the whole "John-Ellinger-resigns" freakout (which, as I see it, neither Salt Lake City paper I frequent has handled this all that well: the Deseret News only mentions Kreis' hiring, while the Salt Lake Tribune is, at time of writing, silent):

Jason Kreis retired.

Setting aside, for a moment, Kreis' coaching resume and qualifications (do they even exist?), Kreis was not only a starting player for his club, but he remains the all-time leading scorer in league history. That bears repeating: Major League Soccer's all-time leading scorer just retired. In the blinking of an eye, it's over. No "Cobi Jones Year of Celebration and Magic." It's just...finito.

We're talking about a guy whose playing years go back far enough that he was featured in a (I believe) Year Two advertising spot in which he battled a tank (a clip that, sadly, predates Youtube). He was the face of two franchises: the Dallas Burn (a time I'm happily reliving with an old edition of FIFA; he's my leading scorer) and Real Salt Lake. And who could forget that fantastic two-footed tackle he laid on some poor schlub in a U.S. Men's friendly mere seconds after coming on? Yeah, I don't remember the year, the opposition - none of that - but, that tackle? Burned in my memory and, yes, it still makes me laugh.

Obviously, I've always liked Kreis. He had a cannon of a shot and he simply carried himself as a "pro's pro." That's worth remembering before he embarks on what will in all likelihood be a wrenchingly painful coaching tenure with a seriously screwed up franchise (though as I said earlier, they're really, really interesting to watch). It will be a bit of shame if a bad run as a coach tarnishes what Kreis accomplished as one of MLS's all-time greats.

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Week 5 Picks

My record on picks is such that even a 100% record on Week 5’s action won’t get me above .500 (currently rocking a 10-18...yesssss!); the match-ups below hardly inspire belief in a prognostication ace either. Still, baby steps...baby steps.

DC United v. New England Revolution (preview)
It seems impossible that DC will start the season 0-5-0, which logically points to them winning one of this weekend’s games. With Taylor Twellman on a poaching tear, the Revs look good for a goal; can’t say the same for DC - especially with New England’s strength up the middle. NEW ENGLAND WINS.

Kansas City Wizards v. Columbus Crew
Why do I see so much significance in this game (see here)? You got me. But I’m looking forward to this one, not least because it will give a better bead on either or both teams. If either side had a meaningful home-field edge, I’d have something with which to work. But this one’s a dart-board affair, as I see it: THE CREW WINS, mainly because I believe they’re good for it.

Real Salt Lake v. Red Bull New York
Formality. RED BULL WINS. If things go the other way, oh, how I will laugh. And laugh and laugh and laugh. I love jokes.
Aside: I only found out last weekend that RSL's home stadium is pronounced "eckels" as opposed to "ecklees." Go figure.

Colorado Rapids v. Houston Dynamo
Only a couple weeks ago, people would have laughed at me for calling this game for the Rapids. But who’s laughing now? Huh? Huh? Who’s laughing, tough guy? Sorry. Now that the 10-18 chip on my shoulder has spoken, it’s mainly the mile-high home-field thing and Houston’s punchless offense that prompts me to write: RAPIDS WIN.

DC United v. Chivas USA
As implied above, I think DC just can’t lose both of Week 5’s games. And, given what I think about tonight’s game, I’m kind of stuck calling a result here. For what it’s worth, I think this one will be a high-scoring hoot, with defensive breakdowns littering the field like so much sorry confetti. And yelling. I anticipate lots of angst and yelling. Fun, fun, fun. What the hell: DC UNITED WINS.

New England Revolution v. Chicago Fire
I also expect the fun to leave the room, oh, 2 p.m. PST. Still, I’ll be both shocked and delighted if this game ends with any score but a 1-0 or 0-0. Much as I want to confidently type out “Revs win” for this one, the reality is, Chicago has played some stiff opposition already this year and still boast a goose egg in the “L” column. And one of those wins came against the Revs. Still, home being home, the Revs being my time, but in the face of notes to myself about not betting with the ol’ blood pump, I’m throwing caution to the wind: REVS WIN. Now make it hold up, assholes.

Well, I'm off to lay down my marker for The Offside predictions league. In the first unwise decision of the second half of the week (don't ask about the first), I've decided to match my calls here with those over there. Put it this way: next weekend would have gone loads better if I tried that this week...naturally, this will bite me in the ass today...and take a chunk with it to boot.

Ellinger Canned? KREIS?!

If you go to the front page of MLSnet.com, the lead image reads "RSL to introduce new coach today." I take that to mean John Ellinger is gone?

That didn't take long, but is anyone surprised? The only surprise for me: it flew under the radar a bit. I swear I checked the site an hour ago and, nothing.

Wow.

UPDATE: DOUBLE WOW. Check out what Sports Illustrated reported this morning:

"Another awful start is a leading to a shakeup in Salt Lake. General manager Steve Pastorino and head coach John Ellinger are out, and MLS' all-time leading scorer Jason Kreis is retiring to take over the coaching reigns. The good news is, things can't get much worse."

I've been to Soccer Blogs now and, having read only headlines, realize I might be a bit behind on this....but, DAMN!

Love 'em, hate 'em, think they're the dumbest organization in the league (and Lord knows Dave Checketts tries), but RSL never fails to intrigue.

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MLS to PDX: A Dear John to Some Flames

Look. We have to talk.

A lot of things have changed since Major League Soccer (MLS) brought us together, hasn't it? It's been a whirlwind, really, and I remember all the good times. With New England, there was the improbable run at MLS Cup in 2002, the salad days of 2005, on which followed the bitter trials of 2006.

And even if my late relationship with the Crew isn't strictly speaking romantic, we've had some good times too, haven't we? There was the Schelotto signing and...and...well, the Schelotto signing was an exciting time, wasn't it?

But if the reports are true and an MLS team comes to some corner of the Pacific Northwest, I'm afraid I don't see much of a future for us. The phone sex has been really, really great. Just great, honestly. And I never once faked anything. You know that, don't you? But once I hang up, you're not there any more. Do you understand? I can't curl up with the phone after we, um, finish and, you have to admit, we've covered all the role-playing scenarios I can think of and it's not like we've got options with positions or anything. And whips over the phone: it just doesn't translate. I'm afraid I just can't carry on the long-distance thing.

I know we agreed to flings with other leagues; I always had my Portland Timbers and you...you had whatever the hell it is you have back East. But those were, you know, flings. It wasn't the same league and, somehow, it just didn't feel like "cheating."

I know this is hard, but I don't think I can share my heart like this. So, if and when a team shows up in the Northwest - and even if it's Seattle team - let's just try to end this. We both deserve better, true companionship; I think you know that's true. The thing is I don't want this to be an ugly surprise when the team comes along, so I thought I'd get it over with now, when we can still have some fun together. And I know you'll find someone else out there, someone who can make you happy, maybe even someone who can appreciate your um, "fascinations."

Anyway, I'll call tonight. Would it make you happy if I played the deacon again? For old time's sake?

(For those looking for less-silly analysis, there's some nice stuff out there. Both My Soccer Blog and WVHooligan did nice work looking over the two cities as candidates; The Offside Rules came up with some decent reasons why the ownership group in play may not "get it." And, naturally, the Timbers Blog makes a great point about why the City of Portland may not be the easiest partner to work with - and that's significant for the Portland bid.)

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Power Rankings Round-Up: The Same Kool-Aid

The same impulse that compelled me to create the sprawling monster I produced on Monday - an effort that left me so drained that I fainted at the mention of the word "soccer" - forces me to note the power rankings posted by my fellow pundits. The hope here is that doing this will prevent me from recreating Monday's monster ever, ever, ever again.

All the power rankings I've come across for Week 4 appear below; parenthetical comments that follow note the calls where I differed from the author, as well as where I agree. Here are my rankings for reference.

- ESPN (Wizards 3rd? FC Dallas 5th? Rapids 10th? Goodness.)

- MLS Underground (Cuffs and collars match - e.g. his top and bottom rankings look like mine and, as noted in my rankings, the middle is a crap-shoot.)

- MLS Zone (The Revs 9th? LA 2nd?)

- My Soccer Blog (same note as the MLS Underground)

- Who Ate All the Cupcakes? (Tricky S.O.B. deviated from the usual format; but he also makes a lot of sense.)

- WVHooligan (No, we don't see eye-to-eye 100%, but I've got his back on any discrepancies.)

- Soccer by Ives (Um, KC at 3rd seems high; otherwise I like.)

In big picture terms, there aren't a lot of meaningful discrepancies, which either means reality looks something close to what we're seeing or we're all drinking the same Kool-Aid. If it's the latter, I blame the damnable ease of communication.

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Steve Davis Double: Good Readin'

Even if some of the points get repeated (hey...at least the format is different), one seeking a handle on where the month of April left clubs across Major League Soccer (MLS) could do worse than read Steve Davis' wraps on the season's opening month.

He wrote on for ESPN and the other for MLSnet.com (NOTE: I liked the format for that one so much, I'm toying with nicking it).

In all seriousness, Davis turned in some good stuff.

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Guevara Gone?

Thanks to a Bloglines feed to Sideline Views, which took me straight to LA Soccer News, which seems like a "mother ship" of sorts to that blog, I'm able to pass on word/rumor of Amado Guevara going (way) north to Toronto FC. Coming the other way, Paulo Nagamura and "a draft pick."

Holy poop. Assuming this is true, I can't help but think they'll be writing articles like the one Ives Galarcep turned in to his day job in LA papers in the near future.

All I can say is Guevara never seemed to settle in LA, at least not on the field. One more thing: I can't see Guevara doing any better in Toronto under Mo Johnston than he did under Preki. Lord knows they need creativity up Canada way, but how's Guevara going to mesh with, say, Ronnie O'Brien? Carl Robinson? (Don't know what his ego is like, but I have a fair picture of Guevara's). Alecko Eskandarian (who also seems to have a fuse)?

On Chivas' side of the ledger, they're losing a player who gave every impression of being locker-room cancer; they also got (another) gritty player in Nagamura. Had Guevara ever managed to participate in the Chivas attack, I'd write something about the Goats having to change their style...obviously, that's not necessary here.

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Week 4: Power Rankings & Picks Tally

Memo to myself: STOP making picks based on wishes. Holy shit, did I manage a terrible week: I went 1-for-6 on the action Saturday through Monday and that punch to the gut drags my record for the year to 10-18. It was a wacky week, sure, but not that wacky.

Before turning to the power rankings, let’s look at some interesting talking points from Week 3. In no particular order:

- I’m not buying the Eddie Johnson “rebirth” tale just yet, a point I elaborate on in the Week 4 wrap I sent over to Write On Sports. When Johnson makes the grade against competition tougher than DC and Toronto, I’ll hop on the bandwagon, for both Johnson and KC - but not till then. For what it’s worth, the same piece after the link reviews the week’s action.

- The “feature” concept I almost used for that piece was a concern that the (safe, sometimes stiflingly dull) style of play working so well for the Chicago Fire and Red Bull New York may tilt the rest of the league to imitation; I shied away from doing so because the data are too thin to back that assertion so early in the season. But, call this a trend to watch - and pray it doesn’t happen. We’ll all be fortunate if time doesn’t stop outright when these two teams meet.

- As nearly everyone mentioned, the atmosphere at BMO Field looked pretty swell. Better still, word is the fans applauded their team after the game. Shitting on the home side has its place - though I’m partial to disgusted silence myself - and I understand why it’s done, but I just can’t feature getting mad to the point where I’ll boo the home team. It’s just not that important to me. I go to the game and pay of my own free will and, when the team I’m watching sucks, chances are I know this going in.

- If there’s one bright spot for Toronto, it’s that teams will become increasingly apprehensive about playing them the longer their goals and wins drought continues. Apprehension breeds anxiety, which breeds mistakes, which breeds goals and losses: that’s how I’m seeing the subtle panic that will afflict each successive team that faces TFC: who wants to go down in the books as being the first team on which TFC scored, never mind beat? What happens when that edge evaporates? I don’t know...though I don’t think it will help Toronto (who, incidentally, fascinate me).

Right, moving on now to the power rankings...

Last week’s ranking appears in parentheses immediately after this week’s ranking. So’s as to not misrepresent my judgment as entirely first-hand, the following key shows the distance of my observations: “@” means I watched a given team’s most recent performance in its entirety; “$” means I caught it through Quick Kicks, which provides extended highlights; “&” means I watched only the rump highlights available through MLSnet.com.

On with it now, fer reals - with the caveat that rankings five through ten are essentially one big, mashed toss-up - e.g. the same results, or even totally different ones, could have been achieved by spitting wads of paper at target, with the same approximate validity.

1. (2) Red Bull New York (& + final 10 min. v. FC Dallas)
Let the record show I surmounted the mental block and joined the herd in Week 4: Red Bull looks like the best team in MLS right now. It was their final 10 minutes against FC Dallas last Thursday that tipped the balance - such an assured killing of a game.

2. (1) Chicago Fire (@ - with some regret)
I hate this team right now. It’s not due to rivalry, the arrival of Blanco, etc. It’s that they’re relentlessly dull to watch. But, damn, are they looking strong and seriously hard to break down. Still, can’t wait for Blanco - or anything to spare me from Chad Barrett.

3. (5) New England Revolution (&)
As y’all know, this is more or less my team (more later), which makes placing them so high stink of a jinx. But they’re also getting the job done and, based on what I saw, they came awfully close to not having the one “L” that weighs down their record. Taylor Twellman, in particular, is looking very good, but that same stingy defense is there as well.

4. (4) Colorado Rapids (@ - in big snippets)
What can I say? Colorado is one of this year’s crushes. Their defense - which gave very little to RSL on Monday - makes the case for high placement; but their offense, which looks better than recent years, justifies their place at the top of the West.

5. (11) Los Angeles Galaxy (@)
This week’s big movers and they earned the jump with the precision of their attack against Chivas. Even when they gave up a lot possession, a few stray shots, even a goal, they looked bizarrely safe and confident. I’ll eat anything people feel like mailing me if they miss the post-season this year.

6. (8) Columbus Crew ($)
Last weekend’s defensive performance against DC convinced me that their second-rate breakdowns against the Revs were an aberration. As such, the Crew has half a strong team. By the power of Grabavoy, I think their offense will come on line at some point - and then they’ll justify my crush...not to mention this ranking.

7. (9) Kansas City Wizards ($ and a bit of @)
Records count for something, right? With these guys standing third in the stronger Eastern Conference, they’re likely nothing to sniff at - and their lone loss came against a team I rate pretty highly. Still, I’ll need to see more, and against teams better than Toronto, before moving them up the rankings.

8. (6) Houston Dynamo (@)
Here, reputation counts for something. Frankly, Houston looks like crap. They know it and their fans should as well; how else can one characterize one goal in four games? They’ve got good players who look like they’re misfiring. Another team that needs to show something before they stop heading south.

9. (3) Chivas USA (@)
The week’s biggest drop comes courtesy of two factors: the way they seemed to come unglued against LA and the “Amado” issue. It will take less for them to convince, but there’s a look of insecurity about this bunch.

10. (7) FC Dallas (& + &)
The harshest call this week and it grows from one thing: I don’t trust their defense. Yeah, they performed well enough against both Red Bull and New England and, according to what I’ve read, faced a lot of pressure thanks problems with Dallas’ possession. The point is, this defense appears unable to hold up when the offense misfires, so that’s a problem.

11. (10) DC United ($)
These guys reek of uncertainty. Yeah, they’ve got the horses, but they’re clearly spooked. But till these guys find some kind of confidence, they’re doomed.

12. (12) Toronto FC ($ and a bit of @)
I resisted the temptation to bump these guys above DC on the strength of their unflappable and vocal home support; it goes back to that thing about the horses. They’re combative at the least and, from what I saw, came pretty close to scoring their first. They look to be headed in the right direction, but have a hell of long walk ahead.

13. (12) Real Salt Lake (@ in big snippets)
It’s not that they looked all that awful, but - JESUS! - these guys could write a book on how to lose a game.

Finally, the standings...here's the official version if you want to check me.

Eastern Conference:
1. Red Bull New York: 10 pts. (3-0-1: 5 GF, 0 GA, +5; home, 2-0-0; away, 1-0-1)
2. Chicago Fire: 10 pts. (3-0-1: 5 GF, 2 GA, +3; home, 2-0-0; away, 1-0-1)
3. Kansas City Wiz: 9 pts. (3-1-0: 9 GF, 4 GA, +5; home, 1-0-0; away, 2-1-0)
4. New England Revs: 7 pts. (2-1-1: 7 GF, 3 GA, +4; home, 1-0-0; away, 1-1-1)
5. Columbus Crew: 6 pts. (1-0-3: 3 GF, 2 GA, +1; home, 1-0-2; away, 0-0-1)
6. DC United: 0 pts. (0-3-0: 3 GF, 7 GA, -4; home, 0-1-0; away, 0-2-0)
7. Toronto FC: 0 pts. (0-4-0: 0 GF, 10 GA, -10; home, 0-1-0; away, 0-3-0)

Western Conference
1. Colorado Rapids: 7 pts. (2-1-1: 6 GF, 5 GA, +1; home 1-0-1; away, 1-1-0)
2. FC Dallas: 7 pts. (2-3-1: 7 GF, 9 GA, -2; home, 1-2-0; away, 1-1-1)
3. Chivas USA: 6 pts. (2-2-0: 7 GF, 4 GA; +3; home, 2-0-0; away, 0-2-0)
4. Los Angeles Galaxy: 4 pts. (1-1-1: 4 GF, 3 GA, +1; home, 1-1-0; away, 0-0-1)
5. Houston Dynamo: 4 pts. (1-2-1: 1 GF, 1 GA, -1; home, 1-1-1; away, 0-1-0)
6. Real Salt Lake: 2 pts. (0-2-2: 2 GF, 8 GA, -6; home, 0-1-2; away, 0-1-0)