Feels like I haven’t done one of these in ages. As it turns out, though, I just tweaked the format a bit last week. No matter. Back to the old schtick this week: 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.
If you pay attention to the symbols, you may notice that I didn’t watch all that closely this week. So, take what comes below with however much salt you think you need.
1. (1) Houston Dynamo (1/2 of @ + nada)
Sure, they were stymied at home by Toronto, but that’s looking like Houston’s version of an off-game. The only question - it is was posed by Shep Messing, so, y’know, there’s the source to consider - is whether this team has peaked too early. Personally, I doubt it.
2. (2) New England Revolution (@)
I’m officially waiting for this team - my team, for Crissakes! - to start losing, so they can end the Steve Nicol Era. SO hard to watch: ugly function, zero flair. The wins are nice, but...wake me up when it’s over. Nice goal by Dorman, however, and the win over Red Bull was as important as it was dull.
3. (4) FC Dallas (@)
Damn these guys. They have me believing they’ve grown out of their crippling anxieties about success. That rally was about as fun as anything I’ve seen this year and, between Juan Toja, Arturo Alvarez, Dario “Lurch” Sala, and that cardiac-watch defense, they’re fun to watch. Can I adopt this team? Please?
4. (3) DC United (@)
By the end of the first half against FC Dallas - when they were finishing counters as if they were lay-ups - I had lifted the Black-and-Red to 2nd in the rankings in my head. Thing was, Dallas always looked in the game; they had the better of it even. And that’s the rub: the more exposed DC’s back-line became, the more the whole team suddenly looked weak and uncertain. They're better than the bunch below, however.
5. (5) Kansas City Wizards (%)
Nice finish by Johnson, and nice edge in shots on goal, but that counts as the least inspiring win of the season (wait; withdrawn; there’s New England’s to consider). That was RSL, guys.
6. (7) Columbus Crew (nada)
The reports on this game led me to give the Crew the benefit of the doubt. This sounded like a fluky loss to MLS’s best home team (best on paper, anyway). This weekend’s game against Toronto looms large, though.
7. (6) Chivas USA (nada)
They have a formula - win at home - and that’s working OK for them, but it won’t secure them home-field advantage in the post-season. Based on the formula, that's soemthing they'll require to make much noise. And relying on an own goal to top a team like the Crew doesn’t paint a solid picture.
8. (10) Toronto FC (nada)
If this isn’t the highest I’ve rated Toronto, it’s close. But this team has something lacking in those that follow: shit-kicking moxie. They fight. And last weekend’s draw at Houston suggests they may be savvy as well.
9. (8) Red Bull New York (@)
I know, I know: no one else rates Red Bull this low. And we all know about the defense. What I want to know is where these cats will find offense: Claudio Reyna, who is aging before my eyes? The doddering duo of Dave Van Den Bergh and Markus Schopp? (Wait, the latter is on the bench again, right?). They’ll probably right the ship, but, after enduring their game against New England, I can’t see how.
10. (9) Los Angeles Galaxy (idle)
The match report on the Galaxy’s loss to Tigres UNAL tells you everything you need to know. It’s bad. Writing as one of the (former) majority who expected LA to improve in the second half, suddenly I’m wondering about that.
11. (11) Colorado Rapids (idle)
Fire Fernando Clavijo, you dickheads. Not only does the team eat shit often as they play, but I’m hearing chatter to suggest Clavijo does a passable Dick Nixon. Look, you front office types, if you need someone to shit on your brand new stadium, hell, I’ll do it. Seeing as you dumped money into that thing, you shouldn’t be the ones doing it. For more, see what I’ve got to say about Chicago.
12. (13) Real Salt Lake (%)
Adding Kyle Beckerman should help this bunch. Not a lot, but I think he’ll help. They left their permanent dwelling in the shelter for that reason alone; at least they did something.
13. (12) Chicago Fire (1/2 of @)
Because I saw flashes of a competent team in the (horrible) loss to Houston, I tried - I mean, I really tried - to move these guys higher than Colorado; at least they had the wontons (brains? maybe...) to fire their coach. I still think they’ll improve, but, points collected excepted, they are statistically worse than Real Salt Lake; and that’s with RSL having a game in hand. Unbelievable.
God. Typing those last five entries was depressing. With #9 excepted, things don’t look much better in the current standings (here are the official ones):
Eastern Conference
1. N.E. Revs: 26 pts. (7-3-5: 26 GF, 17 GA, +9; home, 3-1-3; away, 4-2-2)
2. KC Wizards: 25 pts. (7-5-4: 27 GF, 22 GA, +4; home, 4-3-1; away, 3-2-3)
3. DC United: 24 pts. (7-5-3: 26 GF, 21 GA, +5; home, 4-1-2; away, 2-4-1)
4. Red Bull NY: 24 pts. (7-6-3: 25 GF, 21 GA, +4; home, 4-2-1; away, 3-4-2)
5. C’bus Crew: 22 pts. (5-5-7: 21 GF, 23 GA, -2; home, 4-1-4; away, 1-4-3)
6. Toronto FC: 19 pts. (5-7-4: 18 GF, 24 GA, -6; home, 4-3-0; away, 1-4-4)
7. Chicago Fire: 16 pts. (4-8-4: 13 GF, 26 GA, -13; home, 3-3-3; away, 1-5-1)
Western Conference
1. H'ton Dynamo: 33 pts. (10-5-3: 25 GF, 10 GA, +15; home, 4-2-1; away, 5-4-2)
2. FC Dallas: 30 pts. (9-6-3: 24 GF, 24 GA, 0; home, 4-2-1; away, 5-4-2)
3. Chivas USA: 24 pts. (7-5-3: 20 GF, 16 GA; +4; home, 6-0-1; away, 1-5-2)
4. Colo Rapids: 17 pts. (4-8-5: 14 GF, 22 GA, -8; home 2-3-4; away, 2-5-1)
5. LA Galaxy: 13 pts. (3-5-4: 17 GF, 18 GA, -1; home, 3-3-2; away, 0-2-2)
6. Real Salt Lake: 9 pts. (1-8-6: 12 GF, 24 GA, -12; home, 1-2-3; away, 0-3-3)
Showing posts with label Colorado Rapids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colorado Rapids. Show all posts
Um...About Beckerman and Rapids Fans....
I think it's fair to say I'm pretty disconnected from fan opinion. I almost never visit Big Soccer, the place where a helluva lot of fans lurk, because 1) I think it's a time-consuming black hole, and 2) people there take the whole "eat, live, breath soccer" thing more far more seriously than I do. Beyond a simple love of the game, soccer for me is an excuse for excessive behavior - e.g. yelling, drinking, and, in my youth, breaking other people's property. In other words, I miss a lot of this kind of chatter and hope I don't speak to that facet of the game very often because I'm not remotely qualified to do so. Hence this:
A Rapids fan - who will only be identified by name if he so chooses to reveal himself (I'm a stickler for online privacy; I asked for permission to post, but not to name) - wrote that in response to my earlier post on the Beckerman trade. And I appreciate the assist (anyone and all: feel free to do the same in future; communication (usually) makes us smarter). In any case, he wanted the world outside Colorado to know that the trade that sent Kyle Beckerman to Real Salt Lake didn't make all Rapids fans happy.
In fact, judging from the thread on Beckerman trade that linked to me (right around the 18th page into it), the response to this has been overwhelming negative...um, actually, there's talk of canceling season ticket packages being bandied about as early as the 4th page in the thread (which is as far as I've gotten....it's not a bad read)...which is worse than lynching to sales departments; lynching, after all, ends quickly and with less noise (these days, anyway).
I'm still plugging through the thread; it seems a person or two accepts the deal with cautious optimism, but the people who feel burned control the space. Interesting times....
"Are you reading the same blogs I am? On big soccer, we are ready to lynch our coach over this deal. Beckerman has not always been the best player in the league, but he has come a long way and is now a very solid player. The supporters have a lot invested in him because we watched him grow. He is a terrific person. He was the spirit of the team. So, they trade him for a nobody. After last year, the FO doubled (yes doubled) Kyle's salary. Almost all of the Rapids marketing stuff has Beckerman's picture on it. Now they trade him because he pissed off our terrible coach. If nothing else it was good for some Beckham/Beckerman cross marketing. Now nothing.
A Rapids fan - who will only be identified by name if he so chooses to reveal himself (I'm a stickler for online privacy; I asked for permission to post, but not to name) - wrote that in response to my earlier post on the Beckerman trade. And I appreciate the assist (anyone and all: feel free to do the same in future; communication (usually) makes us smarter). In any case, he wanted the world outside Colorado to know that the trade that sent Kyle Beckerman to Real Salt Lake didn't make all Rapids fans happy.
In fact, judging from the thread on Beckerman trade that linked to me (right around the 18th page into it), the response to this has been overwhelming negative...um, actually, there's talk of canceling season ticket packages being bandied about as early as the 4th page in the thread (which is as far as I've gotten....it's not a bad read)...which is worse than lynching to sales departments; lynching, after all, ends quickly and with less noise (these days, anyway).
I'm still plugging through the thread; it seems a person or two accepts the deal with cautious optimism, but the people who feel burned control the space. Interesting times....
Of Ballouchy, Of Beckerman
MLSUnderground broke the story yesterday (at least for my little corner of the world) and, in spite of the absence of "official word" (whoops, went official while I was typing), the mainsteam media reported on it today (out of Utah, the Deseret News and the Salt Lake Tribune; from Colorado, The Denver Post (sort of; can you spell blurb?) and Rocky Mountain News).
The news: Real Salt Lake (RSL) traded midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy to the Colorado Rapids for Kyle Beckerman. Naturally, it was down to the blogs to tell us what to think about it.
Curiously, the emotions I'm seeing run from curious to happy regardless of the team they support. The Real Salt Lake Offside begins his post with a stirring, "I do not disagree with this trade." Nearly all the papers that posted more than a blurb mentioned Beckerman's stormy past with RSL's fans, so I had expected talk anticipating a tack or two on Beckerman's locker-room seat, but...nope; it's pretty polite. And the only hostility apparent on The Rapids Offside is directed at Beckerman, who Clint figures will make the worst team in MLS (that's RSL; I know; it's close) "become even worse" - go figure.
Naturally, these could be individual fan views and Beckerman, for his past sins, may yet have to endure some kind of fan-directed spanking tunnel (y'know...when a kid has to crawl through the legs of a bunch of other kids who spank him on his way through? no?). Then again, maybe not.
Turning to more neutral venues, USSoccerplayers.com's Ian Plenderleith, dubs this a good move for Real; going the other way, FC Rocky, who makes up for the Rocky Mountain News' disinterest in soccer, seems surprisingly excited about the young Ballouchy's arrival. Given all that, it's hard to say who won. Maybe they both did (though one commenter on MLS Underground's original post viewed this as both teams, essentially standing pat). Ives Galarcep did a fair job of a both glasses half-full approach on his blog; he's also got good stuff in there on both teams' needs, "The Clavijo Situation" (which is sure to depress Rapids fans), and what this means for Freddy Adu.
So after reading all that, and doing a little thinking, here's what I've got: on a player-to-player level, RSL probably did better; put another way, I rate Beckerman's overall game higher than Ballouchy's - though, I also think Ballouchy has a bigger potential upside, with the stress on the word "potential." In terms of needs met now, again, I'd go with RSL: I would love to be proved wrong here because I see hints here and there that Ballouchy can be the kind of player I like watching, but Colorado needs goal-scorers and that Ballouchy ain't that. Beckerman should help RSL with building the standard model MLS team: e.g. one that's hard to beat, which is something RSL can definitely use; in spite of a stretch of draws in May, RSL went back to losing ways thereafter.
Given all that, advantage RSL - even if it's not much of an advantage. The sad thing is, you have to wonder what someone like Ballouchy can do in the right environment - hardly an apt description for Colorado circa 2007. You have to wonder if he'll get a chance.
The news: Real Salt Lake (RSL) traded midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy to the Colorado Rapids for Kyle Beckerman. Naturally, it was down to the blogs to tell us what to think about it.
Curiously, the emotions I'm seeing run from curious to happy regardless of the team they support. The Real Salt Lake Offside begins his post with a stirring, "I do not disagree with this trade." Nearly all the papers that posted more than a blurb mentioned Beckerman's stormy past with RSL's fans, so I had expected talk anticipating a tack or two on Beckerman's locker-room seat, but...nope; it's pretty polite. And the only hostility apparent on The Rapids Offside is directed at Beckerman, who Clint figures will make the worst team in MLS (that's RSL; I know; it's close) "become even worse" - go figure.
Naturally, these could be individual fan views and Beckerman, for his past sins, may yet have to endure some kind of fan-directed spanking tunnel (y'know...when a kid has to crawl through the legs of a bunch of other kids who spank him on his way through? no?). Then again, maybe not.
Turning to more neutral venues, USSoccerplayers.com's Ian Plenderleith, dubs this a good move for Real; going the other way, FC Rocky, who makes up for the Rocky Mountain News' disinterest in soccer, seems surprisingly excited about the young Ballouchy's arrival. Given all that, it's hard to say who won. Maybe they both did (though one commenter on MLS Underground's original post viewed this as both teams, essentially standing pat). Ives Galarcep did a fair job of a both glasses half-full approach on his blog; he's also got good stuff in there on both teams' needs, "The Clavijo Situation" (which is sure to depress Rapids fans), and what this means for Freddy Adu.
So after reading all that, and doing a little thinking, here's what I've got: on a player-to-player level, RSL probably did better; put another way, I rate Beckerman's overall game higher than Ballouchy's - though, I also think Ballouchy has a bigger potential upside, with the stress on the word "potential." In terms of needs met now, again, I'd go with RSL: I would love to be proved wrong here because I see hints here and there that Ballouchy can be the kind of player I like watching, but Colorado needs goal-scorers and that Ballouchy ain't that. Beckerman should help RSL with building the standard model MLS team: e.g. one that's hard to beat, which is something RSL can definitely use; in spite of a stretch of draws in May, RSL went back to losing ways thereafter.
Given all that, advantage RSL - even if it's not much of an advantage. The sad thing is, you have to wonder what someone like Ballouchy can do in the right environment - hardly an apt description for Colorado circa 2007. You have to wonder if he'll get a chance.
Open Cup: It's Worse...but not that bad...
The Chicago Tribune's reporting staff almost prompted me to write a "holy-shit-the-sky-is-falling-and-it's-on-fire" kind of post, courtesy of a passage that appeared in their report on the Chicago Fire crashing out of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (LHUSOC) on Sunday.
It takes only a quick look at the competition bracket, usefully posted on the U.S. Open Cup's official site, to know this isn't the case. For one, Chivas USA hasn't played their Round of 16 game - that's on "June 16, 2007" against the Seattle Sounders. And that's in Seattle, by the way, the significance of which will be made clear later. There's also the fact that the Colorado Rapids is still in the tournament.
Getting back to that "significance" flag I planted earlier, maybe the Tribune's staff is stupid like a fox. For starters, they can't be blamed for forgetting Colorado is not an MLS team; I do it all the time, at least when I don't forget the Rapids' existence entirely. As for Chivas, maybe the Trib's staff knew all about Chivas' road record and figured that, combined with the Seattle Sounders' current hot-streak, would, in fact, leave New England and Dallas as the only two teams that one can say without smirking belong in MLS.
In reality, though, there are a minimum of three MLS teams remaining in this year's tourney. And the way the brackets break down means that at least one lower-division team will make the semifinals - and given how MLS teams are faring in LHUSOC play this year, why would one bet against them? If a USL-1 - or, god forbid, USL-2 - team wins the tourney this season, what the hell, y'know? For all the interest MLS teams and schedulers show in the tournament, it would be justice, wouldn't it?
That returns, rather nicely, to the post I was going to write. And if you read the report on Chicago's loss in Windy City Soccer, you'll read this priceless line:
It shouldn't be this goddamn hard to tell which team on the field is top-flight.
(########)
"The Fire became the fourth MLS team eliminated in the third round, joining Los Angeles, D.C. United and Houston on the sidelines. Only FC Dallas and New England remain."
It takes only a quick look at the competition bracket, usefully posted on the U.S. Open Cup's official site, to know this isn't the case. For one, Chivas USA hasn't played their Round of 16 game - that's on "June 16, 2007" against the Seattle Sounders. And that's in Seattle, by the way, the significance of which will be made clear later. There's also the fact that the Colorado Rapids is still in the tournament.
Getting back to that "significance" flag I planted earlier, maybe the Tribune's staff is stupid like a fox. For starters, they can't be blamed for forgetting Colorado is not an MLS team; I do it all the time, at least when I don't forget the Rapids' existence entirely. As for Chivas, maybe the Trib's staff knew all about Chivas' road record and figured that, combined with the Seattle Sounders' current hot-streak, would, in fact, leave New England and Dallas as the only two teams that one can say without smirking belong in MLS.
In reality, though, there are a minimum of three MLS teams remaining in this year's tourney. And the way the brackets break down means that at least one lower-division team will make the semifinals - and given how MLS teams are faring in LHUSOC play this year, why would one bet against them? If a USL-1 - or, god forbid, USL-2 - team wins the tourney this season, what the hell, y'know? For all the interest MLS teams and schedulers show in the tournament, it would be justice, wouldn't it?
That returns, rather nicely, to the post I was going to write. And if you read the report on Chicago's loss in Windy City Soccer, you'll read this priceless line:
"This was a night where the Fire was clearly second best in every aspect of the night except goalkeeping where Jon Busch kept the match close."
It shouldn't be this goddamn hard to tell which team on the field is top-flight.
(########)
The Trade: Clavijo's Murder/Suicide*
(* It occurs to me I should mention I'm not reporting an actual murder/suicide. Coach Clavijo is fine, so far as I know.)
Since it's not yet showing on MLSnet.com, I'm really hoping the post from (the highly reliable) Steve Goff about Colorado and DC United trading Greg Vanney for Facundo Erpen aren't true. I'm hoping for Fernando Clavijo's sake; that same post contains a notion on several minds:
Speculation on Clavijo's fate isn't exactly hard to find these days. Ian Plenderleith poked around the rot on USSoccerplayers.com, while the long-suffering Clint (well...it has been five games), desperate for relief, has hit the Web in search of conspiracies that explain the Clavijo era. (NOTE: I'm yanking Clint's chain, who links to something fairly interesting, for the record.)
To Coach Clavijo: you know you can just resign, right? You don't need to compel two players to move over 1,000 miles in a final flame-out because that carries the damage over to at least one other player...probably Erpen, though I'm not sure about Vanney either (DCenters has some thoughts on the Vanney side of this...toward the bottom). The vultures have spotted your body, man. Is upping the body count really the solution?
(########)
Since it's not yet showing on MLSnet.com, I'm really hoping the post from (the highly reliable) Steve Goff about Colorado and DC United trading Greg Vanney for Facundo Erpen aren't true. I'm hoping for Fernando Clavijo's sake; that same post contains a notion on several minds:
"Also, the league buzz is that, if the Rapids lose this weekend, Fernando Clavijo could very well be out as coach. No word on potential candidates."
Speculation on Clavijo's fate isn't exactly hard to find these days. Ian Plenderleith poked around the rot on USSoccerplayers.com, while the long-suffering Clint (well...it has been five games), desperate for relief, has hit the Web in search of conspiracies that explain the Clavijo era. (NOTE: I'm yanking Clint's chain, who links to something fairly interesting, for the record.)
To Coach Clavijo: you know you can just resign, right? You don't need to compel two players to move over 1,000 miles in a final flame-out because that carries the damage over to at least one other player...probably Erpen, though I'm not sure about Vanney either (DCenters has some thoughts on the Vanney side of this...toward the bottom). The vultures have spotted your body, man. Is upping the body count really the solution?
(########)
MLS Week 12 Power Rankings (Just Mine)
I give up. Just when you think one - just one - Major League Soccer (MLS) team can hold their shit together and do a decent imitation of consistency, they spend 90 minutes running around with their pants around their ankles. It seems the Annual Mush of Sweaty Mediocrity (your people call it “summer”) has arrived.
For the record, the entire middle portion of these rankings was arrived at by writing each teams name on a piece of paper, scrambling those around my desk, and flipping them over in random order. OK, that’s a lie. But I don’t think that would produce less accurate, or even meaningful, results. In broad terms, some teams have noticeably improved - think Columbus and Houston here - while others revived their fortunes, but not without tripping over some question marks (New England); other teams suffered mysterious slips, thereby stitching big red question marks over those rainbows on their jerseys...the allusion should be obvious here.
As always, 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.
Here goes...and after the rankings, you’ll find a current listing of the standings for the permanent record.
1. (6) Houston Dynamo (% + nada)
They have out-scored the opposition 11-3 over the past five, racking up five wins on the way; that counts two away games as well. That constitutes a roll in my world. To top it all off, they’ve got Dallas next weekend, who they not only generally own, but, given that they won last weekend, should be due a loss this weekend.
2. (1) DC United (%)
In spite of what I read (all over the place), I’ll give DC the benefit of the doubt and call this weekend a brain-fart...but I also couldn’t leave them at #1 after they let RSL break their hot, steamy duck all over them.
3. (5) New England Revolution (@)
Yep, they’re officially top of the league. But it was a graceless win against a Toronto team apparently confused about being away from home. The finishing was there, but not much else. But they’re indisputably doing better than most (and, I just discovered, they’ve tied for scoring lead and have the best goal differential...hmm...).
4. (4) Red Bull New York (idle)
Holding steady...but they’ll drop quickly if they don’t sort out their defense.
5. (8) FC Dallas (far too much of @)
Unconvincing (and harrowingly boring) wins look a lot less impressive when bookended by losses - as this one will be (see above). The reality is, Dallas isn’t as erratic as I think, but the games-played “bubble” on which they’re sitting keeps me from thinking too much of them. Then again, their away record makes up for that. Very confusing team, this one.
6. (2) Kansas City Wizards ($ + nada)
Speaking of teams needing to sort out defense, KC is the real case-study for this. No doubt KC wishes Week 12 never happened. The picture looks a lot less rosy now that the offense has dried up.
7. (9) Columbus Crew ($ + $)
It’s only due to a belief that the “real” Columbus has shown up that I’m able to rank them inside the playoff picture. But the Crew’s two wins in Week 12 justifiably raise eyebrows - that each raises them for different reasons only reinforces the impression this team could be finding their feet.
8. (3) Chivas USA (%)
My previous, ridiculous ranking has more to do with this drop than the four-goal loss. Still, a score of Brad Davis 3 - 0 Chivas USA doesn’t look so hot. I’ll actually have to watch these guys this weekend to figure out what to do with ‘em.
9. (7) Toronto FC (@)
I can only say, the hell was that? If these guys don’t figure out how to avoid blowouts on the road, goal differential alone will keep them out of the post-season.
10. (11) Colorado Rapids (far too much of @)
They may not be the worst team in the league - so many good candidates below - but they’re pushing hard for “Team I’d Least Like to Watch” honors. It’s a shame what’s happening in Colorado; this year promised so much.
11. (10) Los Angeles Galaxy ($)
Ahem...ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, HA!! 60 minutes with a man advantage - and against Columbus! Landon can’t arrive soon enough; neither can Pavon or Beckham. Incredibly, they may not be enough (though I think they will be).
12. (13) Real Salt Lake (%)
Robbie Findley (a good Oregon lad!) finally kicked the winless monkey off this team’s back. Better still, they catch something of a break in hosting Toronto this weekend (dammit! what to watch?!). Can they make it two? Do RSL fans dare to dream?
13. (12) Chicago Fire (idle)
I think I just don’t like Chicago. That the coming cavalry runs “exactly like elderly men run,” and the players sounding unsettled-to-pissed, things aren’t looking everywhere but up.
Please, lord, no more...it’s madness. Let’s do something concrete, like the standings (official edition here):
Eastern Conference
1. New England Revs: 22 pts. (6-2-4: 24 GF, 14 GA, +10; home, 3-1-2; away, 3-1-2)
2. Red Bull New York: 21 pts. (6-3-3: 24 GF, 15 GA, +9; home, 4-1-1; away, 2-2-2)
3. Kansas City Wiz: 20 pts. (6-4-2: 23 GF, 18 GA, +5; home, 3-2-0; away, 3-2-2)
4. DC United: 17 pts. (5-4-2: 18 GF, 16 GA, +2; home, 4-1-1; away, 1-3-1)
5. Columbus Crew: 15 pts. (3-4-6: 17 GF, 21 GA, -4; home, 2-1-4; away, 1-3-2)
6. Chicago Fire: 14 pts. (4-6-2: 12 GF, 19 GA, -7; home, 3-2-1; away, 1-3-1)
7. Toronto FC: 13 pts. (4-7-1: 14 GF, 21 GA, -7; home, 4-3-0; away, 0-4-1)
Western Conference
1. FC Dallas: 25 pts. (8-6-1: 19 GF, 21 GA, -2; home, 3-2-0; away, 5-4-1)
2. Houston Dynamo: 22 pts. (7-5-1: 16 GF, 10 GA, +6; home, 4-2-1; away, 3-3-0)
3. Chivas USA: 17 pts. (5-4-2: 15 GF, 12 GA; +3; home, 4-0-1; away, 1-4-1)
4. Colorado Rapids: 15 pts. (4-6-3: 13 GF, 17 GA, -4; home 2-2-3; away, 2-4-0)
5. Los Angeles Galaxy: 9 pts. (2-5-3: 13 GF, 16 GA, -3; home, 2-3-1; away, 0-2-2)
6. Real Salt Lake: 9 pts. (1-5-6: 11 GF, 19 GA, -8; home, 1-2-3; away, 0-3-3)
For the record, the entire middle portion of these rankings was arrived at by writing each teams name on a piece of paper, scrambling those around my desk, and flipping them over in random order. OK, that’s a lie. But I don’t think that would produce less accurate, or even meaningful, results. In broad terms, some teams have noticeably improved - think Columbus and Houston here - while others revived their fortunes, but not without tripping over some question marks (New England); other teams suffered mysterious slips, thereby stitching big red question marks over those rainbows on their jerseys...the allusion should be obvious here.
As always, 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; “$” means I caught it through Quick Kicks, which provides extended highlights; “%” means I watched only the rump highlights available through MLSnet.com.
Here goes...and after the rankings, you’ll find a current listing of the standings for the permanent record.
1. (6) Houston Dynamo (% + nada)
They have out-scored the opposition 11-3 over the past five, racking up five wins on the way; that counts two away games as well. That constitutes a roll in my world. To top it all off, they’ve got Dallas next weekend, who they not only generally own, but, given that they won last weekend, should be due a loss this weekend.
2. (1) DC United (%)
In spite of what I read (all over the place), I’ll give DC the benefit of the doubt and call this weekend a brain-fart...but I also couldn’t leave them at #1 after they let RSL break their hot, steamy duck all over them.
3. (5) New England Revolution (@)
Yep, they’re officially top of the league. But it was a graceless win against a Toronto team apparently confused about being away from home. The finishing was there, but not much else. But they’re indisputably doing better than most (and, I just discovered, they’ve tied for scoring lead and have the best goal differential...hmm...).
4. (4) Red Bull New York (idle)
Holding steady...but they’ll drop quickly if they don’t sort out their defense.
5. (8) FC Dallas (far too much of @)
Unconvincing (and harrowingly boring) wins look a lot less impressive when bookended by losses - as this one will be (see above). The reality is, Dallas isn’t as erratic as I think, but the games-played “bubble” on which they’re sitting keeps me from thinking too much of them. Then again, their away record makes up for that. Very confusing team, this one.
6. (2) Kansas City Wizards ($ + nada)
Speaking of teams needing to sort out defense, KC is the real case-study for this. No doubt KC wishes Week 12 never happened. The picture looks a lot less rosy now that the offense has dried up.
7. (9) Columbus Crew ($ + $)
It’s only due to a belief that the “real” Columbus has shown up that I’m able to rank them inside the playoff picture. But the Crew’s two wins in Week 12 justifiably raise eyebrows - that each raises them for different reasons only reinforces the impression this team could be finding their feet.
8. (3) Chivas USA (%)
My previous, ridiculous ranking has more to do with this drop than the four-goal loss. Still, a score of Brad Davis 3 - 0 Chivas USA doesn’t look so hot. I’ll actually have to watch these guys this weekend to figure out what to do with ‘em.
9. (7) Toronto FC (@)
I can only say, the hell was that? If these guys don’t figure out how to avoid blowouts on the road, goal differential alone will keep them out of the post-season.
10. (11) Colorado Rapids (far too much of @)
They may not be the worst team in the league - so many good candidates below - but they’re pushing hard for “Team I’d Least Like to Watch” honors. It’s a shame what’s happening in Colorado; this year promised so much.
11. (10) Los Angeles Galaxy ($)
Ahem...ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, HA!! 60 minutes with a man advantage - and against Columbus! Landon can’t arrive soon enough; neither can Pavon or Beckham. Incredibly, they may not be enough (though I think they will be).
12. (13) Real Salt Lake (%)
Robbie Findley (a good Oregon lad!) finally kicked the winless monkey off this team’s back. Better still, they catch something of a break in hosting Toronto this weekend (dammit! what to watch?!). Can they make it two? Do RSL fans dare to dream?
13. (12) Chicago Fire (idle)
I think I just don’t like Chicago. That the coming cavalry runs “exactly like elderly men run,” and the players sounding unsettled-to-pissed, things aren’t looking everywhere but up.
Please, lord, no more...it’s madness. Let’s do something concrete, like the standings (official edition here):
Eastern Conference
1. New England Revs: 22 pts. (6-2-4: 24 GF, 14 GA, +10; home, 3-1-2; away, 3-1-2)
2. Red Bull New York: 21 pts. (6-3-3: 24 GF, 15 GA, +9; home, 4-1-1; away, 2-2-2)
3. Kansas City Wiz: 20 pts. (6-4-2: 23 GF, 18 GA, +5; home, 3-2-0; away, 3-2-2)
4. DC United: 17 pts. (5-4-2: 18 GF, 16 GA, +2; home, 4-1-1; away, 1-3-1)
5. Columbus Crew: 15 pts. (3-4-6: 17 GF, 21 GA, -4; home, 2-1-4; away, 1-3-2)
6. Chicago Fire: 14 pts. (4-6-2: 12 GF, 19 GA, -7; home, 3-2-1; away, 1-3-1)
7. Toronto FC: 13 pts. (4-7-1: 14 GF, 21 GA, -7; home, 4-3-0; away, 0-4-1)
Western Conference
1. FC Dallas: 25 pts. (8-6-1: 19 GF, 21 GA, -2; home, 3-2-0; away, 5-4-1)
2. Houston Dynamo: 22 pts. (7-5-1: 16 GF, 10 GA, +6; home, 4-2-1; away, 3-3-0)
3. Chivas USA: 17 pts. (5-4-2: 15 GF, 12 GA; +3; home, 4-0-1; away, 1-4-1)
4. Colorado Rapids: 15 pts. (4-6-3: 13 GF, 17 GA, -4; home 2-2-3; away, 2-4-0)
5. Los Angeles Galaxy: 9 pts. (2-5-3: 13 GF, 16 GA, -3; home, 2-3-1; away, 0-2-2)
6. Real Salt Lake: 9 pts. (1-5-6: 11 GF, 19 GA, -8; home, 1-2-3; away, 0-3-3)
Junk-Drawer, 06.25: Starting "Clavijo Watch" etc.
Rounding up some odds and ends from today...at least those not involving the Gold Cup....
- Maybe this is my chagrin at Colorado's play on Sunday morning talking, but a switch flipped in my head telling me that Fernando Clavijo will be the next coaching casualty in MLS ranks - or, rather, that he should be. It seems drew epperley at WVHooligan is also thinking about coaching hot seats, though his #1 is different (and no less justified) than mine. But, yeah, I'd be baying for pink slips if I were a Colorado fan.
- LA Soccer News reveals that the blown calls in Canada's semifinal against the U.S. still sting in some quarters. I can't say I blame 'em...even if I'm happy we went on to win.
- I don't think it's "official" yet - at least not in the sense of appearing on MLSnet.com - but it looks like Santino Quaranta will indeed move away from the ocean and into the American Heartland with a trade to the Kansas City Wizards. I'm not a Wizards fan, but can't say this would excite me if I were.
- If you want anecdotal evidence that Mexican fans second Alexi Lalas' tirade against the English Premier League, well, here you go.
- Finally, hats off to the Offside Rules for posting the best single item I've seen all day. Chivas fans - or at least the touchy ones - are advised to avoid the above link.
(##########)
- Maybe this is my chagrin at Colorado's play on Sunday morning talking, but a switch flipped in my head telling me that Fernando Clavijo will be the next coaching casualty in MLS ranks - or, rather, that he should be. It seems drew epperley at WVHooligan is also thinking about coaching hot seats, though his #1 is different (and no less justified) than mine. But, yeah, I'd be baying for pink slips if I were a Colorado fan.
- LA Soccer News reveals that the blown calls in Canada's semifinal against the U.S. still sting in some quarters. I can't say I blame 'em...even if I'm happy we went on to win.
- I don't think it's "official" yet - at least not in the sense of appearing on MLSnet.com - but it looks like Santino Quaranta will indeed move away from the ocean and into the American Heartland with a trade to the Kansas City Wizards. I'm not a Wizards fan, but can't say this would excite me if I were.
- If you want anecdotal evidence that Mexican fans second Alexi Lalas' tirade against the English Premier League, well, here you go.
- Finally, hats off to the Offside Rules for posting the best single item I've seen all day. Chivas fans - or at least the touchy ones - are advised to avoid the above link.
(##########)
MLS Week 11 Power Rankings (the last one posted)
Let it be established that each “Major League Soccer (MLS) Week” shall begin at 12 a.m. each Thursday till the end of the 2007 season...or maybe not. Damn those scheduling interns. The real problem is last night’s game, in which Columbus snuck a win over Kansas City (I told you the Crew would cause problems for some good teams; just didn't think it would match this week's); seeing as I can’t wash that one out of my mind, I’m just going to incorporate it below.
As always, 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; “$” means I caught it through Quick Kicks, which provides extended highlights; “%” means I watched only the rump highlights available through MLSnet.com.
For the record, I like my top three; or, rather, I think I can justify my thinking on those. #4 - 6 is a bit of a mash-up - and it’s possible #6 may blow up in my face within 12 hours. I like #7. #8-11 are, essentially, inter-changeable. The bottom two, however, are solid.
Here goes...and after the rankings, you’ll find a current listing of the standings for the permanent record.
1. (2) DC United (didn’t see it, didn’t hear it...)
No, I haven’t seen these guys play in weeks. The thing is, DC is about the only team in the league doing well on both sides of the ball.
2. (3) Kansas City Wizards ($ + 1/2 of @)
Five MLS teams have allowed more goals than KC; trouble is, those teams suck (except, arguably, Dallas - but their defense sucks). If the goals dry up - as they did last night - the slipshod defense hurts this team.
3. (5) Chivas USA (%)
Chivas has earned the same number of points as DC - even if a weaker Western Conference has something to do with that - and the same argument for their ranking applies. Count tonight a “statement game” - or a cliché. While they can’t actually take over top spot in the West, a win would say just as much.
4. (1) Red Bull New York ($)
This team’s defensive problems are serious and don’t appear to be going away any time soon. I regret last week’s ranking error.
5. (4) New England Revolution (@)
Nice as it was to see Adam Cristman score two (though his leering come-hither to Pat Noonan must be blacked out to keep the skin from crawling) - hell, nice as it was to see Noonan look like himself - the Revs has issues. The luck that carried them through a few games nearly dried up last week; was the last drop sprinkled on Cristman’s first goal?
6. (6) Houston Dynamo (idle)
Some weeks you don’t have to do anything to hold steady. But, as with Chivas, tonight is statement time. Anyone else see a nice little rivalry blossoming between those two teams?
7. (9) Toronto FC ($)
Re-enacted The Burning Bed over a weary FC Dallas* and they look a safe bet to avoid the whole “worst team in history” tag. It’s time to see if they can make their hard-knock game work on the road. (*Such horrible analogies come to me all day, every day and, I assure you, the original edit was worse. My internal censor took a half-day.)
8. (7) FC Dallas (1/2 hour of @ + %)
Let’s see...they BARELY beat the league’s accidental comedy troupe and then got mauled by Canadians. Canadians! (kidding...I’m just warming up for tonight.) Were it not for the fact they play consistent .500 ball, they’d drop further.
9. (10) Columbus Crew (@ + 1/2 of @)
I stand firmly in the column that assumes this team is better than their record. Again, with the odds of the Crew picking up four points against their past two opponents, I really, REALLY wish I had a sports book nearby.
10. (12) Los Angeles Galaxy (@)
LA hasn’t given teams or fans cause to respect them this season. Yeah, they beat RSL...rah, rah. The best thing you can say about them is they’re trying to improve.
11. (8) Colorado Rapids (%)
These cats haven’t won since May. And, unlike LA, I’m not seeing them doing anything to improve. To make matters worse, Dallas’s on-off pattern augurs a win for the Colorado side this weekend.
12. (11) Chicago Fire (didn’t see it, didn’t hear it...)
Reduced to the quality of a college team by injuries and call-ups, why believe a new coach can turn things around. It took some math to realize just how bad things are in Chicago: they’ve taken 4 POINTS from their last 8 games. For the record, that’s RSL bad - literally. RSL has equaled Chicago for points over the past 8 games.
13. (13) Real Salt Lake (1/2 hour of @ + @)
Setting the standard for sucking in 2007 and building on a proud tradition.
Moving on to the standings (painstakingly recreated by Franklin Mint engravers from the current official ones):
Eastern Conference
1. Red Bull New York: 21 pts. (6-3-3: 24 GF, 15 GA, +9; home, 4-1-1; away, 2-2-2)
2. Kansas City Wiz: 20 pts. (6-3-2: 23 GF, 17 GA, +6; home, 3-1-0; away, 3-2-2)
3. New England Revs: 19 pts. (5-2-4: 21 GF, 14 GA, +7; home, 2-1-2; away, 3-1-2)
4. DC United: 17 pts. (5-3-2: 17 GF, 14 GA, +3; home, 4-1-1; away, 1-2-1)
5. Chicago Fire: 14 pts. (4-6-2: 12 GF, 19 GA, -7; home, 3-2-1; away, 1-3-1)
6. Toronto FC: 13 pts. (4-6-1: 14 GF, 18 GA, -4; home, 4-3-0; away, 0-3-1)
7. Columbus Crew: 12 pts. (2-4-6: 14 GF, 19 GA, -5; home, 2-1-4; away, 0-3-2)
Western Conference
1. FC Dallas: 22 pts. (7-6-1: 18 GF, 21 GA, -3; home, 3-2-0; away, 4-4-1)
2. Chivas USA: 17 pts. (5-3-2: 15 GF, 8 GA; +7; home, 4-0-1; away, 1-3-1)
3. Houston Dynamo: 16 pts. (5-5-1: 11 GF, 10 GA, +1; home, 3-2-1; away, 2-3-0)
4. Colorado Rapids: 15 pts. (4-5-3: 13 GF, 16 GA, -3; home 2-1-3; away, 2-4-0)
5. Los Angeles Galaxy: 9 pts. (2-4-3: 11 GF, 13 GA, -2; home, 2-2-1; away, 0-2-2)
6. Real Salt Lake: 6 pts. (0-5-6: 9 GF, 18 GA, -9; home, 0-2-3; away, 0-3-3)
As always, 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; “$” means I caught it through Quick Kicks, which provides extended highlights; “%” means I watched only the rump highlights available through MLSnet.com.
For the record, I like my top three; or, rather, I think I can justify my thinking on those. #4 - 6 is a bit of a mash-up - and it’s possible #6 may blow up in my face within 12 hours. I like #7. #8-11 are, essentially, inter-changeable. The bottom two, however, are solid.
Here goes...and after the rankings, you’ll find a current listing of the standings for the permanent record.
1. (2) DC United (didn’t see it, didn’t hear it...)
No, I haven’t seen these guys play in weeks. The thing is, DC is about the only team in the league doing well on both sides of the ball.
2. (3) Kansas City Wizards ($ + 1/2 of @)
Five MLS teams have allowed more goals than KC; trouble is, those teams suck (except, arguably, Dallas - but their defense sucks). If the goals dry up - as they did last night - the slipshod defense hurts this team.
3. (5) Chivas USA (%)
Chivas has earned the same number of points as DC - even if a weaker Western Conference has something to do with that - and the same argument for their ranking applies. Count tonight a “statement game” - or a cliché. While they can’t actually take over top spot in the West, a win would say just as much.
4. (1) Red Bull New York ($)
This team’s defensive problems are serious and don’t appear to be going away any time soon. I regret last week’s ranking error.
5. (4) New England Revolution (@)
Nice as it was to see Adam Cristman score two (though his leering come-hither to Pat Noonan must be blacked out to keep the skin from crawling) - hell, nice as it was to see Noonan look like himself - the Revs has issues. The luck that carried them through a few games nearly dried up last week; was the last drop sprinkled on Cristman’s first goal?
6. (6) Houston Dynamo (idle)
Some weeks you don’t have to do anything to hold steady. But, as with Chivas, tonight is statement time. Anyone else see a nice little rivalry blossoming between those two teams?
7. (9) Toronto FC ($)
Re-enacted The Burning Bed over a weary FC Dallas* and they look a safe bet to avoid the whole “worst team in history” tag. It’s time to see if they can make their hard-knock game work on the road. (*Such horrible analogies come to me all day, every day and, I assure you, the original edit was worse. My internal censor took a half-day.)
8. (7) FC Dallas (1/2 hour of @ + %)
Let’s see...they BARELY beat the league’s accidental comedy troupe and then got mauled by Canadians. Canadians! (kidding...I’m just warming up for tonight.) Were it not for the fact they play consistent .500 ball, they’d drop further.
9. (10) Columbus Crew (@ + 1/2 of @)
I stand firmly in the column that assumes this team is better than their record. Again, with the odds of the Crew picking up four points against their past two opponents, I really, REALLY wish I had a sports book nearby.
10. (12) Los Angeles Galaxy (@)
LA hasn’t given teams or fans cause to respect them this season. Yeah, they beat RSL...rah, rah. The best thing you can say about them is they’re trying to improve.
11. (8) Colorado Rapids (%)
These cats haven’t won since May. And, unlike LA, I’m not seeing them doing anything to improve. To make matters worse, Dallas’s on-off pattern augurs a win for the Colorado side this weekend.
12. (11) Chicago Fire (didn’t see it, didn’t hear it...)
Reduced to the quality of a college team by injuries and call-ups, why believe a new coach can turn things around. It took some math to realize just how bad things are in Chicago: they’ve taken 4 POINTS from their last 8 games. For the record, that’s RSL bad - literally. RSL has equaled Chicago for points over the past 8 games.
13. (13) Real Salt Lake (1/2 hour of @ + @)
Setting the standard for sucking in 2007 and building on a proud tradition.
Moving on to the standings (painstakingly recreated by Franklin Mint engravers from the current official ones):
Eastern Conference
1. Red Bull New York: 21 pts. (6-3-3: 24 GF, 15 GA, +9; home, 4-1-1; away, 2-2-2)
2. Kansas City Wiz: 20 pts. (6-3-2: 23 GF, 17 GA, +6; home, 3-1-0; away, 3-2-2)
3. New England Revs: 19 pts. (5-2-4: 21 GF, 14 GA, +7; home, 2-1-2; away, 3-1-2)
4. DC United: 17 pts. (5-3-2: 17 GF, 14 GA, +3; home, 4-1-1; away, 1-2-1)
5. Chicago Fire: 14 pts. (4-6-2: 12 GF, 19 GA, -7; home, 3-2-1; away, 1-3-1)
6. Toronto FC: 13 pts. (4-6-1: 14 GF, 18 GA, -4; home, 4-3-0; away, 0-3-1)
7. Columbus Crew: 12 pts. (2-4-6: 14 GF, 19 GA, -5; home, 2-1-4; away, 0-3-2)
Western Conference
1. FC Dallas: 22 pts. (7-6-1: 18 GF, 21 GA, -3; home, 3-2-0; away, 4-4-1)
2. Chivas USA: 17 pts. (5-3-2: 15 GF, 8 GA; +7; home, 4-0-1; away, 1-3-1)
3. Houston Dynamo: 16 pts. (5-5-1: 11 GF, 10 GA, +1; home, 3-2-1; away, 2-3-0)
4. Colorado Rapids: 15 pts. (4-5-3: 13 GF, 16 GA, -3; home 2-1-3; away, 2-4-0)
5. Los Angeles Galaxy: 9 pts. (2-4-3: 11 GF, 13 GA, -2; home, 2-2-1; away, 0-2-2)
6. Real Salt Lake: 6 pts. (0-5-6: 9 GF, 18 GA, -9; home, 0-2-3; away, 0-3-3)
MLS Week 10 Power Rankings...when I lose my mind...
I’m in a mood today and it’s going to affect what appears below. Yesterday’s mega project - the one in which I wrapped my head around where things are at the 1/3 point of the season - has me thinking a little differently about some Major League Soccer (MLS) teams. It’s mainly a gut thing, but I’m going to be thinking about the future as much as the present in what comes below. Anyway, that should explain some of the weirder calls I make below...
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; “$” means I caught it through Quick Kicks, which provides extended highlights; “%” means I watched only the rump highlights available through MLSnet.com. Later today, I’ll compare what I’ve got below with the other rankings I’ve found - though, as always, I compiled my rankings without reference to anyone else’s. And, wow, was this week’s viewing spotty.
In keeping with my tradition of blaming health/sleep-deprivation for any silly something that appears below, holy shit, are allergies kicking my ass. My eyes looked like fucking glazed donuts last night and I got two nosebleeds from the pressure in my head. I came across some site on the internet that matches your zip code to likely allergens; that’s where I learned that walnut trees are the likely culprit. So, if you live in the Hillsboro, Oregon area and you see a bald, alcohol-crazed dude taking an axe to a walnut tree, well, that’d be me. Motherfuckers must pay!
Ahem...at any rate, this week got a little messy. For the record, I’m thinking #1-4 are essentially interchangeable; the same goes for #5-8...and #10-13 for that matter. I have strong feelings only for #9.
Here goes...and after the rankings, you’ll find a current listing of the standings for the permanent record.
1. (2) Red Bull New York ($ + %)
Yeah, I know, I know. Why does a team still nursing a sore ass from the last weekend actually rise in the standings? It goes back to the project mentioned at the top: I think the Red Bulls are fundamentally sound. With Angel in the mix they’re scoring steadily and they’ve got a good defense when it’s actually on the field...then again, I won’t be surprised if this one goes sideways, though.
2. (3) DC United (%)
Sadly, I couldn’t get a great sense of this game from the highlights. I only know that DC is on a very good run. I expect it will continue - maybe not to the same degree, but I do think this team has rediscovered its rhythm.
3. (1) Kansas City Wizards (idle)
Again, why? And, again, it’s the project. I can’t get the goals their defense is surrendering out of my head. And it’s not like Eddie Johnson is going to score a hat-trick every weekend; that’s low-percentage stuff. Count this another dubious call, but it’s the one I’m making.
4. (5) New England Revolution (idle)
This represents the one time I go against The Project (I think I’ve referred to it enough to capitalize): New England simply has a good balance to its team. I stand by my belief that they’ve been more lucky than good, but a good defense plus a good-enough offense equals a decent team. The only question is whether they come around.
5. (7) Chivas USA (%)
Another hat-tip to The Project: Chivas’ fourth-place looks a whole lot different when you look at the details: two games in hand and the best goal differential and best defensive record in the West suggests to me they’ll creep up the table.
6. (8) Houston Dynamo (%)
It’s not so much the three consecutive wins (against so-far decent teams no less...OK, except Columbus) as it’s the fact the charge is being led by the bench. Kinnear should force the stars to fight to regain their spots. But the controlling factor here was how Houston played even when they were losing: pretty well, overall, and they created chances. If Ching won’t score them, maybe Ngwenya will.
7. (9) FC Dallas (@)
This was one of the harder ones. For one, I think their defense is killing them; for two, one fat, possibly disgruntled, guy plus one (cruelly) injured player leads their forward line. So, why put them so high (OK, kinda high)? I suppose it’s because they’re #1 in the West for a reason. A basically solid May got lost behind two untimely, consecutive losses (5/26 and 6/3).
8. (4) Colorado Rapids (%)
It took a long time, but I’ve finally given up on Colorado - not completely, but just about. I still think they have the players, but, without that ol’ home-field magic - and 2-1-3 at home ain’t “magic” - they’re in for another roller-coaster season. They’ll kick around a team or two, but I can’t think of them as contenders any more (and can’t say why I ever did).
9. (7) Toronto FC ($)
The fact they can still slip, even at home, keeps the question marks handy with this team. They’re one home game away from a long, long road-trip that should go a good distance to pegging this team in the standings. Speaking for myself, I’ve got a feeling it’s not going to go well (I’m guessing between 6 and 10 points out of 24). I’m starting to feel a bit skittish about rating them this high.
10. (13) Columbus Crew ($)
Welcome to my biggest, dumbest longshot. I don’t know why, but I’m thinking Columbus, who only need a little confidence, will blitz a few teams and soon - quite possibly starting with New England this weekend. If I had a friendly, neighborhood sports-book, I’d go drop a wad on that game. My personal theory is that New England somehow cornered some kind of fixed quantity of luck within the Eastern Conference, and Columbus somehow lost their entire portion. They'll turn things around - to the point of respectability, at least.
11. (11) Chicago Fire (%)
I’m perfectly sincere in the view that this team is one Chad Barrett goal away from being widely viewed as worse than Columbus. And, obviously, since I placed ‘em one spot below I think they are worse.
12. (10) Los Angeles Galaxy (@)
Watching these guys over a full game was an eye-opening experience last weekend; their uninterested, disjointed second half was bad as anything I had seen in MLS all year. They’ll improve with the return of several starters (not just Donovan, but Ante Jazic and Kevin Harmse), but the total lack of depth makes me wonder how much...can’t wait to see the Western Conference Toilet Bowl this weekend (in which these hacks will meet the team immediately below).
13. (12) Real Salt Lake (idle - and, boy, did they need it)
Again, they can’t win (neither can Houston...or LA, for that matter; it just feels different). Moreover, I can’t see things improving dramatically. I want to, but I can’t.
Moving on to the standings (current official ones):
Eastern Conference
1. Red Bull New York: 20 pts. (6-3-2: 21 GF, 12 GA, +9; home, 4-1-0; away, 2-2-2)
2. Kansas City Wiz: 19 pts. (6-2-1: 19 GF, 12 GA, +7; home, 3-1-0; away, 3-1-1)
3. New England Revs: 18 pts. (5-2-3: 18 GF, 11 GA, +7; home, 2-1-1; away, 3-1-2)
4. DC United: 14 pts. (4-3-2: 14 GF, 13 GA, +1; home, 3-1-1; away, 1-2-1)
5. Chicago Fire: 14 pts. (4-5-2: 11 GF, 16 GA, -5; home, 3-2-1; away, 1-3-1)
6. Toronto FC: 10 pts. (3-6-1: 9 GF, 16 GA, -8; home, 3-3-0; away, 0-3-1)
7. Columbus Crew: 8 pts. (1-4-5: 9 GF, 15 GA, -6; home, 1-1-4; away, 0-3-1)
Western Conference
1. FC Dallas: 19 pts. (6-5-1: 17 GF, 17 GA, 0; home, 2-2-0; away, 3-3-1)
2. Houston Dynamo: 16 pts. (5-5-1: 11 GF, 10 GA, +1; home, 3-2-1; away, 2-3-0)
3. Colorado Rapids: 15 pts. (4-4-3: 13 GF, 14 GA, -1; home 2-1-3; away, 2-3-0)
4. Chivas USA: 14 pts. (4-3-2: 13 GF, 8 GA; +5; home, 3-0-1; away, 1-3-1)
5. Los Angeles Galaxy: 6 pts. (1-4-3: 8 GF, 11 GA, -3; home, 1-2-1; away, 0-2-2)
6. Real Salt Lake: 6 pts. (0-3-6: 7 GF, 14 GA, -7; home, 0-1-3; away, 0-2-3)
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; “$” means I caught it through Quick Kicks, which provides extended highlights; “%” means I watched only the rump highlights available through MLSnet.com. Later today, I’ll compare what I’ve got below with the other rankings I’ve found - though, as always, I compiled my rankings without reference to anyone else’s. And, wow, was this week’s viewing spotty.
In keeping with my tradition of blaming health/sleep-deprivation for any silly something that appears below, holy shit, are allergies kicking my ass. My eyes looked like fucking glazed donuts last night and I got two nosebleeds from the pressure in my head. I came across some site on the internet that matches your zip code to likely allergens; that’s where I learned that walnut trees are the likely culprit. So, if you live in the Hillsboro, Oregon area and you see a bald, alcohol-crazed dude taking an axe to a walnut tree, well, that’d be me. Motherfuckers must pay!
Ahem...at any rate, this week got a little messy. For the record, I’m thinking #1-4 are essentially interchangeable; the same goes for #5-8...and #10-13 for that matter. I have strong feelings only for #9.
Here goes...and after the rankings, you’ll find a current listing of the standings for the permanent record.
1. (2) Red Bull New York ($ + %)
Yeah, I know, I know. Why does a team still nursing a sore ass from the last weekend actually rise in the standings? It goes back to the project mentioned at the top: I think the Red Bulls are fundamentally sound. With Angel in the mix they’re scoring steadily and they’ve got a good defense when it’s actually on the field...then again, I won’t be surprised if this one goes sideways, though.
2. (3) DC United (%)
Sadly, I couldn’t get a great sense of this game from the highlights. I only know that DC is on a very good run. I expect it will continue - maybe not to the same degree, but I do think this team has rediscovered its rhythm.
3. (1) Kansas City Wizards (idle)
Again, why? And, again, it’s the project. I can’t get the goals their defense is surrendering out of my head. And it’s not like Eddie Johnson is going to score a hat-trick every weekend; that’s low-percentage stuff. Count this another dubious call, but it’s the one I’m making.
4. (5) New England Revolution (idle)
This represents the one time I go against The Project (I think I’ve referred to it enough to capitalize): New England simply has a good balance to its team. I stand by my belief that they’ve been more lucky than good, but a good defense plus a good-enough offense equals a decent team. The only question is whether they come around.
5. (7) Chivas USA (%)
Another hat-tip to The Project: Chivas’ fourth-place looks a whole lot different when you look at the details: two games in hand and the best goal differential and best defensive record in the West suggests to me they’ll creep up the table.
6. (8) Houston Dynamo (%)
It’s not so much the three consecutive wins (against so-far decent teams no less...OK, except Columbus) as it’s the fact the charge is being led by the bench. Kinnear should force the stars to fight to regain their spots. But the controlling factor here was how Houston played even when they were losing: pretty well, overall, and they created chances. If Ching won’t score them, maybe Ngwenya will.
7. (9) FC Dallas (@)
This was one of the harder ones. For one, I think their defense is killing them; for two, one fat, possibly disgruntled, guy plus one (cruelly) injured player leads their forward line. So, why put them so high (OK, kinda high)? I suppose it’s because they’re #1 in the West for a reason. A basically solid May got lost behind two untimely, consecutive losses (5/26 and 6/3).
8. (4) Colorado Rapids (%)
It took a long time, but I’ve finally given up on Colorado - not completely, but just about. I still think they have the players, but, without that ol’ home-field magic - and 2-1-3 at home ain’t “magic” - they’re in for another roller-coaster season. They’ll kick around a team or two, but I can’t think of them as contenders any more (and can’t say why I ever did).
9. (7) Toronto FC ($)
The fact they can still slip, even at home, keeps the question marks handy with this team. They’re one home game away from a long, long road-trip that should go a good distance to pegging this team in the standings. Speaking for myself, I’ve got a feeling it’s not going to go well (I’m guessing between 6 and 10 points out of 24). I’m starting to feel a bit skittish about rating them this high.
10. (13) Columbus Crew ($)
Welcome to my biggest, dumbest longshot. I don’t know why, but I’m thinking Columbus, who only need a little confidence, will blitz a few teams and soon - quite possibly starting with New England this weekend. If I had a friendly, neighborhood sports-book, I’d go drop a wad on that game. My personal theory is that New England somehow cornered some kind of fixed quantity of luck within the Eastern Conference, and Columbus somehow lost their entire portion. They'll turn things around - to the point of respectability, at least.
11. (11) Chicago Fire (%)
I’m perfectly sincere in the view that this team is one Chad Barrett goal away from being widely viewed as worse than Columbus. And, obviously, since I placed ‘em one spot below I think they are worse.
12. (10) Los Angeles Galaxy (@)
Watching these guys over a full game was an eye-opening experience last weekend; their uninterested, disjointed second half was bad as anything I had seen in MLS all year. They’ll improve with the return of several starters (not just Donovan, but Ante Jazic and Kevin Harmse), but the total lack of depth makes me wonder how much...can’t wait to see the Western Conference Toilet Bowl this weekend (in which these hacks will meet the team immediately below).
13. (12) Real Salt Lake (idle - and, boy, did they need it)
Again, they can’t win (neither can Houston...or LA, for that matter; it just feels different). Moreover, I can’t see things improving dramatically. I want to, but I can’t.
Moving on to the standings (current official ones):
Eastern Conference
1. Red Bull New York: 20 pts. (6-3-2: 21 GF, 12 GA, +9; home, 4-1-0; away, 2-2-2)
2. Kansas City Wiz: 19 pts. (6-2-1: 19 GF, 12 GA, +7; home, 3-1-0; away, 3-1-1)
3. New England Revs: 18 pts. (5-2-3: 18 GF, 11 GA, +7; home, 2-1-1; away, 3-1-2)
4. DC United: 14 pts. (4-3-2: 14 GF, 13 GA, +1; home, 3-1-1; away, 1-2-1)
5. Chicago Fire: 14 pts. (4-5-2: 11 GF, 16 GA, -5; home, 3-2-1; away, 1-3-1)
6. Toronto FC: 10 pts. (3-6-1: 9 GF, 16 GA, -8; home, 3-3-0; away, 0-3-1)
7. Columbus Crew: 8 pts. (1-4-5: 9 GF, 15 GA, -6; home, 1-1-4; away, 0-3-1)
Western Conference
1. FC Dallas: 19 pts. (6-5-1: 17 GF, 17 GA, 0; home, 2-2-0; away, 3-3-1)
2. Houston Dynamo: 16 pts. (5-5-1: 11 GF, 10 GA, +1; home, 3-2-1; away, 2-3-0)
3. Colorado Rapids: 15 pts. (4-4-3: 13 GF, 14 GA, -1; home 2-1-3; away, 2-3-0)
4. Chivas USA: 14 pts. (4-3-2: 13 GF, 8 GA; +5; home, 3-0-1; away, 1-3-1)
5. Los Angeles Galaxy: 6 pts. (1-4-3: 8 GF, 11 GA, -3; home, 1-2-1; away, 0-2-2)
6. Real Salt Lake: 6 pts. (0-3-6: 7 GF, 14 GA, -7; home, 0-1-3; away, 0-2-3)
MLS Week 10: Observations on Games I Didn't See
First of all, I can't believe it's already Week 10. Where does the time go?
As all y'all know, Major League Soccer's (MLS) Week 10 is already two games old. Andd here are the two results, with some quick-and-dirty notes on each:
Toronto FC 1 - 2 Red Bull New York
- Try to ignore another "angel" pun in the headline. I know...just do your best.
- I'm not sure what to make of Juan Pablo Angel - and I don't mean as to whether he's a good player or not because, clearly, he is. My concern is whether he's exposing the level of play...or maybe he's just that sneaky. Whatever it is, the guy has six goals in five games...he's starting to make the league look bad.
- Even if they rode Angel's back to the victory, I'm still impressed by teams winning in Toronto.
- The previous line looms large because, at least judging by the Quick Kick highlights, Toronto looked like the stronger team on the day. And how close to Ronnie O'Brien go to equalizing right at the end?
- Andy Welsh is growing on me. He seems tireless out there.
Houston Dynamo 2 - 1 Colorado Rapids
- It wasn't till I realized this game played in Houston that I could stop thinking about how low I would have to move Colorado in the ol' power rankings. A road loss to Houston ain't that bad.
- On the flipside, though, does this mean Houston is finally waking up.
- If Stuart Holden can crack a goal like the winner, hey, it could be.
- As admitted above, I didn't watch this one - and I only caught the short(-bus) version of the highlights. As such, there wasn't a lot I could gleen about Colorado's performance. It's significant enough that they lost, but, still...it feels a little thin for passing judgment.
- In truth, the same goes for Houston.
(########)
As all y'all know, Major League Soccer's (MLS) Week 10 is already two games old. Andd here are the two results, with some quick-and-dirty notes on each:
Toronto FC 1 - 2 Red Bull New York
- Try to ignore another "angel" pun in the headline. I know...just do your best.
- I'm not sure what to make of Juan Pablo Angel - and I don't mean as to whether he's a good player or not because, clearly, he is. My concern is whether he's exposing the level of play...or maybe he's just that sneaky. Whatever it is, the guy has six goals in five games...he's starting to make the league look bad.
- Even if they rode Angel's back to the victory, I'm still impressed by teams winning in Toronto.
- The previous line looms large because, at least judging by the Quick Kick highlights, Toronto looked like the stronger team on the day. And how close to Ronnie O'Brien go to equalizing right at the end?
- Andy Welsh is growing on me. He seems tireless out there.
Houston Dynamo 2 - 1 Colorado Rapids
- It wasn't till I realized this game played in Houston that I could stop thinking about how low I would have to move Colorado in the ol' power rankings. A road loss to Houston ain't that bad.
- On the flipside, though, does this mean Houston is finally waking up.
- If Stuart Holden can crack a goal like the winner, hey, it could be.
- As admitted above, I didn't watch this one - and I only caught the short(-bus) version of the highlights. As such, there wasn't a lot I could gleen about Colorado's performance. It's significant enough that they lost, but, still...it feels a little thin for passing judgment.
- In truth, the same goes for Houston.
(########)
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.
(#######)
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.
(#######)
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.
(#########)
(* 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.
(#########)
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.
(#######)
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.
(#######)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Week 3 Picks: Mine + Others'
With Columbus v. New England already in the books - and with me taking a self-imposed hit (an own goal?) on the call - my prognosticatin' tally stands at 6-9. Clearly, it's time for improvement. With the ground rules already announced, let's turn to the rest of Week 3's action beginning with a roll of everyone else's:
- USSoccerplayers.com's Ian Plenderleith (nice counter on Herron's elbow to boot)
- Red Card's Luis Arroyave, who gets props for the phrase "Arroyave's Lock of the Week" (goes to Chivas over Real Salt Lake for the record)
- The nice kids at Sideline Views throw in their two... well, since there's two of them making calls, I suppose that makes it their four cents
- Who Ate All the Cupcakes weighs in with picks.
- WVHooligan (whose page I finally added to the blogroll) LINK
Oh, and I made some predictions here, but we'll ignore those for the purposes of my overall "score"...besides, I screwed up the New England call there as well. And don't say I'm cheating either; this is kind of like running two fantasy sports teams at once.
Now, seriously, moving on to my picks:
Red Bull New York v. Houston Dynamo (MLS preview)
HOUSTON WINS - With both teams more or less healthy - the only thing that raises an eyebrow for me is Craig Waibel showing as "questionable" for Houston - this one will serve as New York's first test in 2007 against league heavyweights. I'm thinking they'll fail it, though not by much.
Chicago Fire v. Kansas City Wizards (MLS preview)
CHICAGO WINS - We'll see just how far the Wizards "good vibes" go in overcoming the Wizards horrid history in Chicago (a mighty, mighty 1-11-1). A surly belief that the Fire is overrated has me pulling against them, frankly, but I think they're tough enough to prick, though not burst, KC's bubble.
Chivas USA v. Real Salt Lake (MLS preview
CHIVAS WINS - With everyone else going for Chivas, I almost used this game as a means to pick up a point on the pack...then I came to my senses. Take all those near-misses Chivas fired at Houston and apply them to RSL's occasionally jittery defense and this one adds up too easily. Still, looking forward to this game...
FC Dallas v. Colorado Rapids (MLS preview)
RAPIDS WIN - (Picking up the ellipses left above)...though not nearly as much as this one, which makes it a real pisser that I don't know where to find Telefutura on my cable dial. I know about the Rapids' long-time road, um, "issues," but between the the Colorado's team's general improvement and how deeply their dug into Dallas' skin, I'm thinking they're good for a tough win. Add FC Dallas' wafer-thin defense to the mix and I'm thinking the Frisco home-opener won't be a happy one.
That's it. We'll see how I did Monday.
- USSoccerplayers.com's Ian Plenderleith (nice counter on Herron's elbow to boot)
- Red Card's Luis Arroyave, who gets props for the phrase "Arroyave's Lock of the Week" (goes to Chivas over Real Salt Lake for the record)
- The nice kids at Sideline Views throw in their two... well, since there's two of them making calls, I suppose that makes it their four cents
- Who Ate All the Cupcakes weighs in with picks.
- WVHooligan (whose page I finally added to the blogroll) LINK
Oh, and I made some predictions here, but we'll ignore those for the purposes of my overall "score"...besides, I screwed up the New England call there as well. And don't say I'm cheating either; this is kind of like running two fantasy sports teams at once.
Now, seriously, moving on to my picks:
Red Bull New York v. Houston Dynamo (MLS preview)
HOUSTON WINS - With both teams more or less healthy - the only thing that raises an eyebrow for me is Craig Waibel showing as "questionable" for Houston - this one will serve as New York's first test in 2007 against league heavyweights. I'm thinking they'll fail it, though not by much.
Chicago Fire v. Kansas City Wizards (MLS preview)
CHICAGO WINS - We'll see just how far the Wizards "good vibes" go in overcoming the Wizards horrid history in Chicago (a mighty, mighty 1-11-1). A surly belief that the Fire is overrated has me pulling against them, frankly, but I think they're tough enough to prick, though not burst, KC's bubble.
Chivas USA v. Real Salt Lake (MLS preview
CHIVAS WINS - With everyone else going for Chivas, I almost used this game as a means to pick up a point on the pack...then I came to my senses. Take all those near-misses Chivas fired at Houston and apply them to RSL's occasionally jittery defense and this one adds up too easily. Still, looking forward to this game...
FC Dallas v. Colorado Rapids (MLS preview)
RAPIDS WIN - (Picking up the ellipses left above)...though not nearly as much as this one, which makes it a real pisser that I don't know where to find Telefutura on my cable dial. I know about the Rapids' long-time road, um, "issues," but between the the Colorado's team's general improvement and how deeply their dug into Dallas' skin, I'm thinking they're good for a tough win. Add FC Dallas' wafer-thin defense to the mix and I'm thinking the Frisco home-opener won't be a happy one.
That's it. We'll see how I did Monday.
MLS Week 2: What I Saw + Power Rankings
Just to keep current on my predictive powers, the guesses I posted Friday translated into a 3-3 result for the weekend, which takes my total to 6-7 on the season. Hey, I'll take it.
Moving on, now, to two things I know for sure:
- MLSLIVE.tv is fucking killer. It’s like the TiVo I can’t afford, but with a few more glitches. Sure my feed crapped out last night just before Chicago’s equalizer versus Colorado, but it was solid up till then and worked very well through some other games. But it also allowed me to skip and jump through the snooze-fest that was Columbus v. Real Salt Lake.
- If you don’t care about the knowing the score going in (I did, but now I know), forget the highlights you can find on the Video/Audio tab on MLSnet.com. Go straight to the Quick Kicks site. There, you’ll get better, more thorough highlights, you can expand the screen, pick and choose as opposed to watching the entire reel, etc. etc.
Seriously, MLS has worked friggin’ miracles in terms of making video content available online. If you demand more, you’ve either totally forgotten what things looked like just five years ago, or you’re just impossible to please...and thank God I’m not married to you because it wouldn’t end well.
Seeing as they’re all the rage, I’m joining the power rankings herd; this being my first edition, there are no previous weeks to track; and I’m going heavily on current form (with DC United standing as the exception). You’ll notice some entries are longer than others, which is a function of how much of my thinking came from direct observation. To be clear on how closely I observed the action, notes marked with a "@" come from games I watched (more or less) whole; "$" means I watched the “Quick Kicks” highlights, while "&" means I saw the rump highlights that come through the Video/Audio tab. Finally, for the record, I haven't read a stitch of anyone else's work in making this list...I love comparing notes, but want it to be an honest enterprise from my end.
Here goes:
1. Houston Dynamo ($): There’s a stink of luck about this team, but, like their famous win last year against DC United - the one that featured Ching’s “wunder-bike” - Houston seemed to give up a lot of ground to Chivas before scrapping for the winner. And a team can build a championship on that....God knows we shouldn’t have to watch it, but... Also, I can’t say when it happened in the game, but I would have sent off Eddie Robinson for one foul. Can’t wait for the next chapter in this series.
2. Colorado Rapids (@): What can I say? I’m starting to think these guys are fer real. How different might Sunday’s game have been? One Roberto Brown tackle - and it was pretty bad - and this intriguing game sputtered to the wrong kind of chess match. Boring, boring, boring. For all that, the Rapids showed some promising signs: good patience, good movement, fairly intelligent passing; teams are not going to get a lot through the Rapids center - they play hard there and foul a bit harder. One other note: I learned a couple things about Herculez Gomez against Chicago: 1) like the announcer said, that guy really needs to work on his left foot - he’ll be quite effective if he can deliver a cross from the line; he’s looking like a steal right now, what with being tied with Cunningham and Taylor Twellman at the top of the scorer’s chart (any others?). And, if you haven’t seen Gomez’ goal, that’s your goal of the week.
3. Chivas USA ($): One half the participants in what looked like the clear game of the week, Chivas looked to have seriously threatened Houston’s goal throughout the game. Perhaps the fact that the Quick Kicks highlight reel once read Chivas USA 1, Houston Dynamo 0 says something about how close Chivas came, not to mention how often. Still, they lost and on a good goal from Brian Ching. All in all, though, if Chicago is the semi-stretch I got right in preseason, early indications tell me that Chivas might be the one I got most wrong.
4. New England Revolution ($): Twellman took both his goals so very well, didn’t he? Even if Toronto’s (anonymous for me) defender totally blew the marking on T-n-T’s second goal, putting that away as he did still took some doing given how deep he was. Good as Twellman was, the happier signs came with the supporting cast: Steve Ralston looked three years younger than he is; Dorman buzzes around to nice effect, Adam Cristman showed some sharpness in setting up Twellman’s first and drawing the penalty, and, call me a sucker, but I think I see something fairly special in Wells Thompson; did the Nicol draft-day genius work again?
5. DC United(&): Holy ugly shit. Can we call Facundo Erpen a full-time liability now? Judging by the way his teammates glared at him after that first goal, I’m thinking the thought crossed their minds. The funny thing: Joshua Gros, one of the guys who looked to be shooting the sharpest daggers Erpen’s way, his stumble produced Kansas City’s second. Put another way, this was a painful, team collapse. So what’s going on with DC? They pulled themselves back in - and Luciano Emilio’s goal was a peach, especially the way he controlled the ball in; Christian Gomez’ struck me as fluky - only to repeat the two-goal collapse in the second half. Who’d a-thunk the overwhelming preseason favorites would start 0-2-0? And this one was at home and after resting up. I’m still pegging them high - maybe higher than I ought - but one more loss and the crisis in confidence becomes a straight-up crisis. And they’ll drop a mile on this chart at least.
6. Whoopin’ and Hollerin’ in KC (&): Eddie Johnson: Player of the Week. I never thought I’d write that phrase again, but I don’t know how one avoids it - not unless Twellman gets it (and he’s probably in with a shout for Goal of the Week too). It was very hard to judge this game from the puny highlights alone, but this was an interesting win - and I suspect it was less comprehensive than it looked on the scoreboard. Still, Kansas City + a reborn Johnson spells trouble for the rest of the league. This is a bit of a soft ranking for them; can’t wait for their next game.
7. Chicago Fire (@): These guys deserve the lion’s share of the blame for rendering Sunday’s contest borderline unwatchable - and I couldn’t fast-forward through this one, ‘cause I caught it live. The quality of their equalizer - Rolfe, I think, to Barrett, who managed a tidy, five-hole finish on Bouna Coundoul - somewhat made up for the tedium that came before...but only somewhat. They labored to very little effect to that point and turned in the most undeserving result I’ve seen so far this year - though I have to confess I didn’t see their win against the Revs. I’m thinking I pegged this team correctly in my preview.
8. Red Bull New York (&): Anyone else tempted to chalk up this win to Clint Mathis? No? Didn’t think so. Still, good to see the man in position to score the kind of tap-in amateurs like to do on the pool table: slam that fucker home, right? Frankly, I never thought I’d name three Red Bulls as having scored goals in one game unless one of them was an own goal. The opening header, which I assume came from Josmer Altidore (couldn’t rightly say; as I said, I haven't read a thing) stood as the peach of the bunch, though Dave Van Den Bergh’s clean-up goal looked all right as well. For all that, I’m not really surprised they beat up on Dallas, a team that must be dead-tired this morning.
9. FC Dallas (&): The nightmare of being on the wrong side of a 3-0 scoreline aside, I’m guessing Dallas is pleased to have four points from nine on this devilish opening road trip. At least they looked all right against LA, right? Well, so long as you stress the “all right,” that is. Put another way, I’m not surprised a team knocked three goals past FCD; I’m just surprised it was Red Bull. That defense remains too serious a concern to ignore.
10. Columbus Crew (@): Watching the Crew work the ball out of defense and through the midfield is pretty impressive. Schmid has his side playing quite well all things considered: the whole team moves off the ball well, the players get their heads up and, generally, make smart passes. This holds up to the top of the opposition’s penalty area then...then...I’m not quite sure what happens, but I know it bears a strong resemblance to nothing. Swear to God, these guys are a quality striker away, but that’s a major hurdle at this point. Based on the first two games of the season, Jason Garey ain’t it. In fact, he was pretty awful on Saturday, but the team played some clever balls in - especially Grabavoy. But a win feels farther away this week than it did last.
11. LA Galaxy (@): I made more extended observations on LA (and Dallas for that matter) after the Thursday night game. If these guys’ defense doesn’t hold together, they’re in for a LONG season with the way their offense is playing.
12. Real Salt Lake (@): How lonely did Jeff Cunningham and Mehdi Ballouchy look versus Columbus? I counted at least two occasions where his teammates sent Cunningham the ball deep in Columbus’ half and, for the life of me, they left him there to score on his own; the support never came or it came late. Apart from him, only Ballouchy looked active or effective. Having missed the line-ups, I wasn’t sure Freddy Adu was out there till a good distance into the game. At least RSL’s defense looked better - though, given Columbus’ final third offense, it didn’t take much.
13. Toronto FC ($): Consciously or not - and I think it’s the latter - these guys seem built on a dangerous premise: having their offense score more than their leaky defense lets in. This works for Brazil, but with Toronto’s offensive output relying on long-range bombs from Alecko Eskandarian and Edson Buddle stumbling into the penalty area, it’s clearly time for Plan B - which really, really ought to include playing 8 guys in front of their goal till they get the defense sorted out. Will these guys be Chivas ’05 bad? I don’t think it’s beyond the realm of possibility.
Moving on, now, to two things I know for sure:
- MLSLIVE.tv is fucking killer. It’s like the TiVo I can’t afford, but with a few more glitches. Sure my feed crapped out last night just before Chicago’s equalizer versus Colorado, but it was solid up till then and worked very well through some other games. But it also allowed me to skip and jump through the snooze-fest that was Columbus v. Real Salt Lake.
- If you don’t care about the knowing the score going in (I did, but now I know), forget the highlights you can find on the Video/Audio tab on MLSnet.com. Go straight to the Quick Kicks site. There, you’ll get better, more thorough highlights, you can expand the screen, pick and choose as opposed to watching the entire reel, etc. etc.
Seriously, MLS has worked friggin’ miracles in terms of making video content available online. If you demand more, you’ve either totally forgotten what things looked like just five years ago, or you’re just impossible to please...and thank God I’m not married to you because it wouldn’t end well.
Seeing as they’re all the rage, I’m joining the power rankings herd; this being my first edition, there are no previous weeks to track; and I’m going heavily on current form (with DC United standing as the exception). You’ll notice some entries are longer than others, which is a function of how much of my thinking came from direct observation. To be clear on how closely I observed the action, notes marked with a "@" come from games I watched (more or less) whole; "$" means I watched the “Quick Kicks” highlights, while "&" means I saw the rump highlights that come through the Video/Audio tab. Finally, for the record, I haven't read a stitch of anyone else's work in making this list...I love comparing notes, but want it to be an honest enterprise from my end.
Here goes:
1. Houston Dynamo ($): There’s a stink of luck about this team, but, like their famous win last year against DC United - the one that featured Ching’s “wunder-bike” - Houston seemed to give up a lot of ground to Chivas before scrapping for the winner. And a team can build a championship on that....God knows we shouldn’t have to watch it, but... Also, I can’t say when it happened in the game, but I would have sent off Eddie Robinson for one foul. Can’t wait for the next chapter in this series.
2. Colorado Rapids (@): What can I say? I’m starting to think these guys are fer real. How different might Sunday’s game have been? One Roberto Brown tackle - and it was pretty bad - and this intriguing game sputtered to the wrong kind of chess match. Boring, boring, boring. For all that, the Rapids showed some promising signs: good patience, good movement, fairly intelligent passing; teams are not going to get a lot through the Rapids center - they play hard there and foul a bit harder. One other note: I learned a couple things about Herculez Gomez against Chicago: 1) like the announcer said, that guy really needs to work on his left foot - he’ll be quite effective if he can deliver a cross from the line; he’s looking like a steal right now, what with being tied with Cunningham and Taylor Twellman at the top of the scorer’s chart (any others?). And, if you haven’t seen Gomez’ goal, that’s your goal of the week.
3. Chivas USA ($): One half the participants in what looked like the clear game of the week, Chivas looked to have seriously threatened Houston’s goal throughout the game. Perhaps the fact that the Quick Kicks highlight reel once read Chivas USA 1, Houston Dynamo 0 says something about how close Chivas came, not to mention how often. Still, they lost and on a good goal from Brian Ching. All in all, though, if Chicago is the semi-stretch I got right in preseason, early indications tell me that Chivas might be the one I got most wrong.
4. New England Revolution ($): Twellman took both his goals so very well, didn’t he? Even if Toronto’s (anonymous for me) defender totally blew the marking on T-n-T’s second goal, putting that away as he did still took some doing given how deep he was. Good as Twellman was, the happier signs came with the supporting cast: Steve Ralston looked three years younger than he is; Dorman buzzes around to nice effect, Adam Cristman showed some sharpness in setting up Twellman’s first and drawing the penalty, and, call me a sucker, but I think I see something fairly special in Wells Thompson; did the Nicol draft-day genius work again?
5. DC United(&): Holy ugly shit. Can we call Facundo Erpen a full-time liability now? Judging by the way his teammates glared at him after that first goal, I’m thinking the thought crossed their minds. The funny thing: Joshua Gros, one of the guys who looked to be shooting the sharpest daggers Erpen’s way, his stumble produced Kansas City’s second. Put another way, this was a painful, team collapse. So what’s going on with DC? They pulled themselves back in - and Luciano Emilio’s goal was a peach, especially the way he controlled the ball in; Christian Gomez’ struck me as fluky - only to repeat the two-goal collapse in the second half. Who’d a-thunk the overwhelming preseason favorites would start 0-2-0? And this one was at home and after resting up. I’m still pegging them high - maybe higher than I ought - but one more loss and the crisis in confidence becomes a straight-up crisis. And they’ll drop a mile on this chart at least.
6. Whoopin’ and Hollerin’ in KC (&): Eddie Johnson: Player of the Week. I never thought I’d write that phrase again, but I don’t know how one avoids it - not unless Twellman gets it (and he’s probably in with a shout for Goal of the Week too). It was very hard to judge this game from the puny highlights alone, but this was an interesting win - and I suspect it was less comprehensive than it looked on the scoreboard. Still, Kansas City + a reborn Johnson spells trouble for the rest of the league. This is a bit of a soft ranking for them; can’t wait for their next game.
7. Chicago Fire (@): These guys deserve the lion’s share of the blame for rendering Sunday’s contest borderline unwatchable - and I couldn’t fast-forward through this one, ‘cause I caught it live. The quality of their equalizer - Rolfe, I think, to Barrett, who managed a tidy, five-hole finish on Bouna Coundoul - somewhat made up for the tedium that came before...but only somewhat. They labored to very little effect to that point and turned in the most undeserving result I’ve seen so far this year - though I have to confess I didn’t see their win against the Revs. I’m thinking I pegged this team correctly in my preview.
8. Red Bull New York (&): Anyone else tempted to chalk up this win to Clint Mathis? No? Didn’t think so. Still, good to see the man in position to score the kind of tap-in amateurs like to do on the pool table: slam that fucker home, right? Frankly, I never thought I’d name three Red Bulls as having scored goals in one game unless one of them was an own goal. The opening header, which I assume came from Josmer Altidore (couldn’t rightly say; as I said, I haven't read a thing) stood as the peach of the bunch, though Dave Van Den Bergh’s clean-up goal looked all right as well. For all that, I’m not really surprised they beat up on Dallas, a team that must be dead-tired this morning.
9. FC Dallas (&): The nightmare of being on the wrong side of a 3-0 scoreline aside, I’m guessing Dallas is pleased to have four points from nine on this devilish opening road trip. At least they looked all right against LA, right? Well, so long as you stress the “all right,” that is. Put another way, I’m not surprised a team knocked three goals past FCD; I’m just surprised it was Red Bull. That defense remains too serious a concern to ignore.
10. Columbus Crew (@): Watching the Crew work the ball out of defense and through the midfield is pretty impressive. Schmid has his side playing quite well all things considered: the whole team moves off the ball well, the players get their heads up and, generally, make smart passes. This holds up to the top of the opposition’s penalty area then...then...I’m not quite sure what happens, but I know it bears a strong resemblance to nothing. Swear to God, these guys are a quality striker away, but that’s a major hurdle at this point. Based on the first two games of the season, Jason Garey ain’t it. In fact, he was pretty awful on Saturday, but the team played some clever balls in - especially Grabavoy. But a win feels farther away this week than it did last.
11. LA Galaxy (@): I made more extended observations on LA (and Dallas for that matter) after the Thursday night game. If these guys’ defense doesn’t hold together, they’re in for a LONG season with the way their offense is playing.
12. Real Salt Lake (@): How lonely did Jeff Cunningham and Mehdi Ballouchy look versus Columbus? I counted at least two occasions where his teammates sent Cunningham the ball deep in Columbus’ half and, for the life of me, they left him there to score on his own; the support never came or it came late. Apart from him, only Ballouchy looked active or effective. Having missed the line-ups, I wasn’t sure Freddy Adu was out there till a good distance into the game. At least RSL’s defense looked better - though, given Columbus’ final third offense, it didn’t take much.
13. Toronto FC ($): Consciously or not - and I think it’s the latter - these guys seem built on a dangerous premise: having their offense score more than their leaky defense lets in. This works for Brazil, but with Toronto’s offensive output relying on long-range bombs from Alecko Eskandarian and Edson Buddle stumbling into the penalty area, it’s clearly time for Plan B - which really, really ought to include playing 8 guys in front of their goal till they get the defense sorted out. Will these guys be Chivas ’05 bad? I don’t think it’s beyond the realm of possibility.
MLS Week 2 Previews: Early Doors
With my predictive record standing at 3-4, it's time to wade into the picks for Major League Soccer's second week (ground rules and a handy list of all the games).
Though it feels too early to establish meaningful story-lines words like "Joe-mentum" and phrases like "stopping the rot" tempt my typing fingers today and will only entice more if say, the Columbus Crew builds on last week's promise by winning, or if DC comes out limp for their home opener. And, you'll notice, I subtly introduced those trends while pretending not to....clearly, I'm not to be trusted. At any rate, I suspect most the results will render such loose insinuations silly by the end of the day Sunday, especially with what I view as an upset kicking off the weekend's action. The only thing more erratic than preseason results are early season ones.
Let's get to it:
Real Salt Lake v. Columbus Crew (preview)
Draw - Unglamorous, I know. I liked what I saw of the Crew's defense in Week 1, though they'll have more to deal with in Jeff Cunningham at the very least. What will bite the Crew here is their own difficulty scoring. That said, I don't see a second scoreless game. Looking forward to this one.
New England Revolution v. Toronto FC (preview)
Revs Win - The one thing I expect the Revs to do well this year is defend. But seeing how close they came against a Chicago defense much further along than Toronto's, I can't see them failing to score here. Toronto, on the other hand, I can see failing to score till May, especially with Ronnie O'Brien still out. Then again, maybe those Brit players have more in the tank they showed last week...nah.
DC United v. Kansas City Wizards (preview) (FSC)
Draw - This one is a pure gut-call. While I can't see the roster than KC fielded in a friendly against the USL Div 1 Seattle Sounders (see "KC Wizards" section in preview) holding off DC's attack on 4 days out of 5, the Wizards out-of-the-gate enthusiasm will make this that fifth game. They'll fight like demons for a positive start and catch DC playing patiently complacent. Don't worry, DC fans; your side will snap out of it...just not yet.
Houston Dynamo v. Chivas USA (preview)
Houston wins - I see Ricard Clark listed as "probable," but, with respect to a 30-game season, I'd give him another week. I don't see that happening, but think Houston can pip Chivas without him. Not that it will be easy. Chivas will make the home side sweat, but Houston's defense will hold firm...it better, at least, or power-rankings across the Blogo-verse will need updating.
Colorado Rapids v. Chicago Fire (preview)
Rapids Win - In a game ripe for having too much read into it, Sunday's first game pits MLS's Week 1 surprise against the league's hottest player, Justin Mapp. Colorado's swagger carries them through and me and everyone else continues asking the question "is Colorado for real?"
Red Bull New York v. FC Dallas (preview not yet available)
Draw - Since my doubts about Dallas just won't leave me, I'll file my tempered expectations for their performance in this game to road-weariness. On the Red Bull side of the ball, this should be that punchless team's best chance to score; the more I consider Dallas' late-game defense last night, the more desperate it looked. But if Red Bull does score, Dallas has the guys to get it back. For some reason, though, I'm seeing a goalless draw here.
To tie a neat bow on this effort, let's rate the games another way: I'm going with Rapids v. Fire for the best (shit....did I just type that?); DC v. KC for the most intriguing story-line; and Red Bull v. FCD for the worst. Let's see if I can improve on that 3-4 record.
Though it feels too early to establish meaningful story-lines words like "Joe-mentum" and phrases like "stopping the rot" tempt my typing fingers today and will only entice more if say, the Columbus Crew builds on last week's promise by winning, or if DC comes out limp for their home opener. And, you'll notice, I subtly introduced those trends while pretending not to....clearly, I'm not to be trusted. At any rate, I suspect most the results will render such loose insinuations silly by the end of the day Sunday, especially with what I view as an upset kicking off the weekend's action. The only thing more erratic than preseason results are early season ones.
Let's get to it:
Real Salt Lake v. Columbus Crew (preview)
Draw - Unglamorous, I know. I liked what I saw of the Crew's defense in Week 1, though they'll have more to deal with in Jeff Cunningham at the very least. What will bite the Crew here is their own difficulty scoring. That said, I don't see a second scoreless game. Looking forward to this one.
New England Revolution v. Toronto FC (preview)
Revs Win - The one thing I expect the Revs to do well this year is defend. But seeing how close they came against a Chicago defense much further along than Toronto's, I can't see them failing to score here. Toronto, on the other hand, I can see failing to score till May, especially with Ronnie O'Brien still out. Then again, maybe those Brit players have more in the tank they showed last week...nah.
DC United v. Kansas City Wizards (preview) (FSC)
Draw - This one is a pure gut-call. While I can't see the roster than KC fielded in a friendly against the USL Div 1 Seattle Sounders (see "KC Wizards" section in preview) holding off DC's attack on 4 days out of 5, the Wizards out-of-the-gate enthusiasm will make this that fifth game. They'll fight like demons for a positive start and catch DC playing patiently complacent. Don't worry, DC fans; your side will snap out of it...just not yet.
Houston Dynamo v. Chivas USA (preview)
Houston wins - I see Ricard Clark listed as "probable," but, with respect to a 30-game season, I'd give him another week. I don't see that happening, but think Houston can pip Chivas without him. Not that it will be easy. Chivas will make the home side sweat, but Houston's defense will hold firm...it better, at least, or power-rankings across the Blogo-verse will need updating.
Colorado Rapids v. Chicago Fire (preview)
Rapids Win - In a game ripe for having too much read into it, Sunday's first game pits MLS's Week 1 surprise against the league's hottest player, Justin Mapp. Colorado's swagger carries them through and me and everyone else continues asking the question "is Colorado for real?"
Red Bull New York v. FC Dallas (preview not yet available)
Draw - Since my doubts about Dallas just won't leave me, I'll file my tempered expectations for their performance in this game to road-weariness. On the Red Bull side of the ball, this should be that punchless team's best chance to score; the more I consider Dallas' late-game defense last night, the more desperate it looked. But if Red Bull does score, Dallas has the guys to get it back. For some reason, though, I'm seeing a goalless draw here.
To tie a neat bow on this effort, let's rate the games another way: I'm going with Rapids v. Fire for the best (shit....did I just type that?); DC v. KC for the most intriguing story-line; and Red Bull v. FCD for the worst. Let's see if I can improve on that 3-4 record.
Week 1 Review with a Bonus called "Richard"
I don't often crap my pants laughing, but something I read today on Goal.com tickled the right (wrong?) spot, which made me come close.
One of the pundits, in what looks to be a moment of accidental brilliance brought on by an automatic censor on his blogging software, came up with a perfect nickname for Dick's Sporting Goods Park: "The Richard." Holy crap. It's perfect.
(I can explailn why if anyone wants, but I think said perfection is both manifest and comes on at least two, and possibly three, levels.)
For the record, the rest of the post is a smart, good, bad, and ugly wrap of the opening weekend. It's worth a gander as well.
But that name....can't we all adopt it? PLEEAASSSEEEE??
(#########)
One of the pundits, in what looks to be a moment of accidental brilliance brought on by an automatic censor on his blogging software, came up with a perfect nickname for Dick's Sporting Goods Park: "The Richard." Holy crap. It's perfect.
(I can explailn why if anyone wants, but I think said perfection is both manifest and comes on at least two, and possibly three, levels.)
For the record, the rest of the post is a smart, good, bad, and ugly wrap of the opening weekend. It's worth a gander as well.
But that name....can't we all adopt it? PLEEAASSSEEEE??
(#########)
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