Nutmegged

Of broken fences and Houston Dynamo's late game destruction

2010-09-24T12:05:00.004-05:00

I know the schedule still says that Houston Dynamo have five more games to play this season, beginning with tomorrow night's game at DCU, the only team right now that is worse than us. (And just who predicted that before the season?) But I think it's well past time to call time on the whole exercise, functionally at least.

Summing up my feelings for the season so far, it's simple. It sucks. Any more need to be said?

When I look back to last season, and it's weird rash of red cards, nine over all games in all competitions in a two-and-a-half month span from early August to mid-October, I thought that it was just one of those weird statistical oddities that crops up from time to time. Totally unpredictable, very weird and not admitting to easy explanation. "Whew," I thought. "At least nothing that weird will happen again."

And I was right, nothing that weird did happen this year. Instead, something even weirder did.

Most teams will lose a game giving up a stoppage time goal on e a season or so, maybe twice. The fact is that you just don't see that sort of thing very often. It happens and it always sucks to have it happen to you, but if a team is really bad, the losses will come early, often and not be restricted to the very back ends of games.

Or so I thought.

Dynamo have now had this happen to them four times this season. Four times! And are currently sitting on a two-game streak where this has happened to them. Not only that, but this is the team's second such streak this season. Here are the four:

May 29 v Phunions. Danny Mwanga leads the comeback for Philly's first-ever road win, 3-2. With this, though we did not know it at the time, we have seen what the rest of 2010 will look like.
June 2 v RBNY JPA with the stunner in what was pretty much the last action of the game, a 2-1 loss.
Sept. 18 v TFC. Dwayne De Rosario, who else, hammers us for a brace, the second with just seconds remaining in a 2-1 heartbreaker at home!
Sept. 22 v KC. Josh Wolff scores the killer in a 4-3 loss.

The links are to the videos of the game. Watch if you dare. I did for the purposes of this post and think I will have to wander around all weekend to get the images out of my brain (that is unless it happens again in RFK Saturday. Not trying to jinx things, just saying.). Just to even things out, those four games are two on the road and two at home. In three of the four, Dynamo lost leads, the last a two-goal lead!

But do those four games tell the whole tale of misery and woe? They do not. Chew on these other results:

Post 75th-minute losses
May 5: 1-0 loss to FC Frisco with Ihemelu goal in 78th

Post 75th minute goals
July 1 -- 1-1 draw with TFC with Gargan goal in 84th following Ching’s in 73rd
July 24 – 3-0 loss to Crew with Iro goal in 84th and Griffit goal in stoppage
Aug. 8 – Alvaro Fernandez in 88th in 2-0 loss to the Seattles
Aug. 21 – Wilman Conde in 81st in 4-3 win over Fire

Other notable dramatics against us
April 10 – Edson Buddle scores in 44th in 2-0 loss to the Gals at home.
April 26 – Fire’s Husidic in first half stoppage in 2-0 loss at Chicago.
June 26 – Rapids’ Conor Casey in first half stoppage of a 2-2 draw at home.

And against that lineup of stinging failure, we get these three that went to us:
June 26th – Joe Ngwenya notches one in the 79th in a 2-2 draw with Rapids.
July 31 – Brian Mullan gets one in stoppage that earns us a 2-2 draw with NYRB
Aug. 21 – Following Conde in the 81st, Chingy finds net in the 85th in 4-3 win over Fire.

In these 13 games right here, Dynamo went 1-9-3. In all other results this season, the team is 5-5-2. So if Dynamo is to be truly regarded as the worst team in the Western Conference, which a quick glance at the table right now shows to be true, you can see the results that have led us there.

Also revealing on the table is the fact that with 32 goals scores, Dynamo are tied for fourth in the Western Conference and fifth in MLS, hardly a worst int eh league scoring number. However, there are two goals on the field right? Over on the other end, Dynamo have given up 44 goals, the worst in the league. Only New England, at 43 is even close to us.

Now who on Earth would have predicted before the season that New England Revolution and Houston Dynamo would have the worst defenses in MLS? And that no one else would even be close? And of those 44, 17 have come after the 75th minute in games this season. That's 27 in Mins. 1-75 and 17 in Mins. 75-90+. AND THERE ARE STILL FIVE GAMES TO GO!!

So where does all of this lead? Well, that is the subject for further posts. But it's obvious the problems have not been in attack this season, very, very obvious.

The Findley/Kljestan reign of terror must stop!!!!

2010-08-04T14:18:00.003-05:00

I think Bob Bradley has it in for me personally.

I truly, truly just cannot believe this roster.

The list for the U.S. national team's friendly against Brazil next Tuesday night at the Meadowlands in New Jersey.....

GOALKEEPERS: Tim Howard (Everton), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa).

DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Etienne), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hanover), Clarence Goodson (Start), Jonathan Spector (West Ham), Chad Marshall (Columbus)

MIDFIELDERS: Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Michael Bradley (Moenchengladbach), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro).

FORWARDS: Edson Buddle (Los Angeles), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Pachuca).

I am stunned speechless that BOTH Robbie Findley and Sacha Kljestan have been called in to the camp. Kljestan, I was convinced, had finally, finally run his course with the US National team after this past spring. The world Cup team was named and Kljestan was not on it, and so I thought, he would go the way of Freddy Adu and never wear the red, white and blue again, except perhaps at his next Fourth of July party.

As for Findley, my brain is still scarred with his performances in South Africa and the sure and present knowledge that Brian Ching would have done far, far better in every circumstance. (As Dan Loney wrote, regarding Findley's supposed speed advantage, "He missed those shots VERY quickly.")

And now, against Brazil in a friendly that we already have little chance in, to see both, BOTH!!! of those players going to New Jersey is almost more than I can bear. The only reason I want those two guys to go to New Jersey is to have a "rendezvous" with Tony Soprano.

And now, what do I know for certain? What do I know for absolute, you-know-whatting, cannot print in a family newspaper certain? I know that both of these players will see time, perhaps even, in Findley's case, start against the Selecao.

Bob Bradley, you are dead to me.

Testify LD! Testify

2010-07-20T11:32:00.003-05:00

Here is today's money quote from none other than the current reigning Greatest American Hero (which I found on the always excellent du Nord:

"If you're in Denmark or Norway or Sweden, you're playing a little bit or you're on the bench, that's not helping you. If you're playing in MLS every week, that's a lot better than playing a minor role on some team in Europe. So if you have the opportunity to actually play games at some of the big leagues in Europe, great. But if not, you're hindering your development by not playing games." - Landon Donovan

I could not agree more. Now, to be certain, I am not a coach. I am not an athletic development expert. I also would never, ever begrudge anyone who's length of career is generally about 5-6 years from taking a massive short term payday.

However, the truth of what LD is saying is so obvious to me it frequently gets lost in the shuffle. Of course, players should test themselves against top competition. Of course players should always, always try to improve. But also of course, in the best of all possible worlds, there is someone who should be there to keep the player grounded to reality. And the reality of the situation is that for so many Americans, playing every or most games in MLS is far superior to riding the bench, and sometimes not even making the game sheet, on some team in Europe.

And the thing is that we all, all of us footy freaks, can come up with a long list of players right off the top of our heads that prove this statement to be true. Here's mine, and I guarantee both of these lists took me only about 20 seconds each.

PLAYERS WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN FAR BETTER SERVED TO HAVE STAYED IN MLS
Freddy Adu
Eddie Johnson
Sal Zisso
Dominic Cervi
Jonathan Spector
Joseph Ngwenya
(The list of players riding pines in Denmark, Holland, Turkey, etc.)
Kenny Cooper

PLAYERS WHO CLEARLY BENEFITED FROM STAYING IN/COMING BACK TO MLS
Landon Donovan (arguable in the German experiments, perhaps not so much at Everton)
Brian Ching
Dwayne De Rosario
Joseph Ngwenya
Nate Jaqua
Bobby Convey

I am sure you have others who would qualify for this list. (Jozy Altidore perhaps?)

Now to be sure, there are many players for whom making the trip over there was very important to their development (Deuce Dempsey, Donovan in Everton, Brian mcBride, Tim Howard, Oguchi Onyewu, etc.), and others for whom the book is still out (Stuart Holden, Brad Guzan, etc.). But for so many players, MLS is a viable option. Playing is a viable option. Playing regularly is the way to develop. But more important perhaps, staying realistic is the most crucial thing.

So thanks LD for that little dose of reality.

From my foot, to your face, to our own goal

2010-07-07T09:34:00.002-05:00

Funniest own goal ever @ Yahoo! Video

Truly, truly amazing. Here's the down-low lowdown from the Emerald Isle, where this piece of brilliance took place (via Yahoo):

An Irish football league player has scored a surefire candidate for the unluckiest own goal of all time.

Mervue United's Kenny Farrell was attempting to clear the ball out of defence in a tense match against Waterford, but his punt up field instead caught team-mate Mike Elwood smack in the face.

Elwood fell to the floor, stunned by the blow - leaving the players and crowd to watch in amazement as the ball ricocheted off his nose and arched back towards the goal, dipping just under the bar beyond the reach of goalkeeper Ger Hanley.

Mervue had kept their title-chasing rivals at bay until the own goal, but Elwood's misfortune opened the floodgates as Waterford went on to win 3-0.

No word on what pieces of anatomy flicked the other two goals into the net. I assume they came off of the feet, but then again...

Three videos that are taking my breath away

2010-06-24T18:39:00.006-05:00

My favorite is "Some Guy in Arkansas."

As for me, I was at home with Playtherapy and my two sons. At 1055 a.m. Central, I had a voice. At 10:58 a.m. Central: No voice.

Playtherapy's idea at about the 85 minute mark was for us to take our jerseys off and wear them inside out. We did and the rest is history. So you can congratulate him for helping make this whole thing happen.

As he told my son earlier in the game when he told me to pipe down: "But you know, they can hear us through that TV. They can hear us."

They can indeed. Here's a fabulous piece from Nick Green (link here), which is where I got this video, which seems to be making the rounds today.

In it, he quotes these Tweets. First from our boy Stuie Holden (who will always be a Dynamo):

Wow.. had goosebumps for a full five minutes watching this Video. The support has been unbelievable.....

And then from Mr. Donovan himself:

Not sure if you guys saw this but it brings tears to my eyes every time. Thank you all so much...we can't do it...

But my favorite is this part that Green quotes about President Obama's conversation with the team today:

And this - from a U.S. Soccer press release:

The day after the historic and dramatic 1-0 victory against Algeria that sent the U.S. to the round of 16 at the World Cup, President Barack Obama called the team and addressed the players and staff via speakerphone.

The President then congratulated the players on the amazing team spirit they showed during the unbeaten run through the first round of the World Cup and told them that while he was meeting with General Petraeus in the Oval Office, he could hear the rest of the West Wing erupt when Landon Donovan scored the game-winner.

The President then congratulated Donovan on the game-winning goal, asked Tim Howard how his ribs were feeling and asked Clint Dempsey how his lip was doing.

The leader of the Afghan War was being changed out and what was really happening at the White House? The US National Team beating Algeria, that's what! We have all, as a Soccer Nation arrived. As Nick Green says, Screw You Glenn Beck (and Jim Rome and on and on and on. Screw you all.)

Yes.

And here are my other two faves from Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

World Cup 2010: Into Africa - US Beats Algeria

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

And now Steven Colbert:

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

US Defeats Algeria

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Fox News

And by the way, here's the video from Lucky's Pub here in Houston. Amazing.

Finally, here's some info from the AP:

Wednesday morning’s United States vs. Algeria FIFA World Cup match on ESPN – in which the Americans scored a dramatic goal in stoppage time to earn a 1-0 win and a spot in the Round of 16 – is the highest-rated and most-watched soccer game in the history of ESPN networks, delivering a 4.6 rating (4.0 household U.S. rating), 4,582,000 households and 6,161,000 viewers for the two-hour contest (10 a.m. ET – noon).

The previous households record was set five days earlier with the U.S.-Slovenia match (June 18) – 3,906,000.

Excluding holidays, ESPN’s coverage of the U.S.-Algeria game ranks as the most-watched weekday morning telecast ever for ESPN, surpassing the U.S.-Germany World Cup match from eight years ago (June 21, 2002) – 4.4 rating and 5,335,000 viewers.

The game ranked as the highest-rated program of the day on any network among M18-34 and M18-49.

Through Wednesday, June 23 (40 games on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2), the 2010 World Cup is averaging a 1.8 U.S. rating (for the two-hour match window) — up 40% from 2006 (1.3). Household impressions are up 46% (from 1,389,000 to 2,025,000) and P2+ impressions are up 49% (from 1,789,000 to 2,658,000).

San Diego was the top market for yesterday’s Team USA game, delivering an 8.9 rating – all the more impressive considering the 7 a.m. local start time. Rounding out the top 10 were Baltimore (6.7), San Francisco (6.1), Washington, D.C. (5.4), Sacramento (5.4), Houston (5.4), Las Vegas (5.4), Miami-Ft. Lauderdale (5.3), New York (5.3) and West Palm Beach (5.3). San Diego was also the top market for both the U.S.-England game on ABC (11.5) and the U.S.-Slovenia game on ESPN (8.5).

What is it with San Diego? And how long will it take for Chivas USA to move there since they just can not draw in Carson? Wild.

GO GO USA!!!!!! That's MISTER Donovan to you!

2010-06-23T11:58:00.003-05:00

I can't stop watching this and I don't think I ever will.

That's Donovan, Mr. Donovan!

Road to South Africa Parts 1-6

2010-05-25T12:17:00.001-05:00

If you've not seen this series, then as an American leading into the World Cup, you owe it to yourself to do so. Very nice job from all concerned. Sit down and enjoy.

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Part VI

US-England draw? Gallagher's the man

2010-05-24T12:40:00.002-05:00

Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher says US-England will be a draw. Who am I to argue?

Waka Waka. Time for some smiles around here

2010-04-28T17:21:00.001-05:00

Amid all the bad news surrounding all things Orange this week, I think it's about time to remember this is a game that we all love very dearly. So here's the song Waka Waka: This Time for Africa, one of the official World Cup anthems, sung by Shakira.

(Shakira and football at the same time. What, I ask you, could POSSIBLY be wrong with that?)

Third jersey? If Fredy the Flopper can wear one, anyone can wear one better

2010-04-21T20:28:00.004-05:00

That right there is Fredy the Flopper in Seattle's new third jersey, kind of a Mountain Dew, making-love-in-a-canoe ("you-know-what-ing close to water) yellow thing. You can read about it at this link right here.

In this very space, there have been many discussions about Dynamo potentially unveiling a third jersey. And if I'm remembering right, someone even worked up a mock uni with a predominantly light blue color scheme.

Let me just say right now that I completely down with that idea and would love to see one if for no other reason because let's face it, if those guys in Seattle, who think they are somehow or other God's gift to the American game, are doing it, anyone else can do it better.

To be clear, I don't hate Seattle. I just hate the attitude that permeates the fans of that organization. I for one cannot wait until Portland and Vancouver come into the league so that the Sounder fans will have to suffer the fate of not even being the best team in the Pacific Northwest. Though of course, since the Timbers beat those guys on March 11, isn't that true already?

Of course, there's nothing I can write that's better than what Dan Loney posted. Awesome. "ridiculous garbage" Amazing.

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/blog.php?b=8287

And of course, Fake Sigi has it best:

"No. Just. Say. No."

A meditation on Lovel Palmer's wonderstrike from somewhere in the vicinity of the new Dynamo Park

2010-04-19T16:16:00.003-05:00

Wow.

Or as Nordstrom put it:

Nothing Rhymes With Orange. Video of the Dynamo Park vote

2010-04-13T13:24:00.009-05:00

From Dynamo Supporters Alliance majordomo Eric Nordstrom:

Nothing rhymes with Orange
But I'm Orange til I die
From far away
once came to play
and always fight
like champions
there's nothing we can rhyme with
so we have to make it up
but Nothing Rhymes with Orange
May the Orange win the Cup!

Eric read that aloud today in Harris County Commissioners Court as the county voted to participate in the TIRZ, thus making certain that Dynamo Park can begin. Here's the Chronicle story right here.

April 13, 2010, on the 40th anniversary of Apollo 13, Houston no longer has a problem.

Dominic Kinnear's message to his squad

2010-03-24T16:47:00.001-05:00

One thing's for sure, when Dynamo leave for the jungle wilds of Frisco this week, they'll be properly motivated.

Dale.

Serioux coming back to Houston

2010-03-10T10:26:00.003-06:00

Just saw this on the WV Hooligan blog that Dynamo just traded to get the rights to Adrian Serioux. (And click here for the Toronto Sun's story on the deal.)

Personally, I think this is a great move as it really shores up the Route 1 defense while Geoff Cameron finds his footing in the CAM role. It also sends Brad Davis back out wide where his left foot can be put to the best use.

And, for those of you who follow the British media's fascination (and Arsene Wenger's whines about) with Stoke's Rory DeLapp's long throw-ins, here's the guy who did that before it was cool.

As long as Serioux can stay healthy, I think he'll be a beast in the center mid. Of course, my remarks the previous three seasons about him being an overly aggressive thug are now completely disowned. Lesson: Wear Orange and all is forgiven. :>

Pelada, a footy happening you don't want to miss

2010-03-04T17:36:00.003-06:00

NEW Pelada Trailer from Rebekah Fergusson on Vimeo.

I have heard so much about this move Pelada (formerly known as The Soccer Project), and was further intrigued when I heard Glenn Davis talk about it on his show the other night.

If you haven't heard of it, the movie was filmed in over 25 countries and follows two former college players, Notre Dame's Luke Boughden and Duke's Gwendolyn Oxenham -- and filmed by fellow Dukies Rebekah Ferguson (herself a Blue Devil captain) and Ryan White (producer) -- around the world as they kick the ball, any ball, around with firemen, prisoners, bootleggers and anyone else they can find. Watch that trailer above and tell me you don't want to head to Austin to see it.

And if you're a Dynamo supporter, there is indeed an extra chance for you to see it, though not necessarily at the first showing. The film was selected for this year's SxSW Film Festival and will have it's World Premiere on Sunday March 14 at 7:15 p.m., which also happens to be about 15 minutes after the Men in Orange close out their home-and-home with the Austin Aztex at the capital city's Nelson Field (Kick off, 5 p.m.).

Now unless you leave early (I know. I know. But some people actually do things like that. Wild.) chances are you won;t make the show. But never fear. There will also be screenings on March 15 at noon and March 19 at 3:30 p.m.

What you're seeing up there is the new trailer. Here's the old one, which is also just as cool:

Pelada from Rebekah Fergusson on Vimeo.

Worried? Who's worried?

2010-03-04T13:57:00.001-06:00

David Agrell at the MLS Insider says Dom's not scared, so why should anyone else be? Well, to look further into that question after reading Agrell's great piece (see it here), I think there are no reasons why DYNAMO fans should be scared. But the rest of the league? They may just start seeming to the team like each of them looks like a certain Harris County Commissioner.

Agrell's piece itself is a little dated, as Diouf, Walker, Kaku and Saiko are all gone now. But Francisco Navas, about whom I will be shocked if he does not make the team, and Lovel Palmer are still in the potential mix. As for Palmer, I'm hoping to see him against the Aztex on Sunday (what, you have other plans for what will be a beautful late winter afternoon in Houston?), but anyone who scores against FC Frisco is a gentleman and a scholar in my book. And by the way, we haven't had that Caribbean feel on the team since honorary Reggae Boyz (Far North Chapter) member Dwayne De Rosario was here!

So here's hoping both Palmer and Navas make it. One thing's for sure, it'll bring some youth and perhaps durability as well to what is suddenly no longer an aging squad.

Here's the article from Agrell in text form:

KINNEAR'S NOT WORRIED, SO WHY ARE YOU?

BY DAVID AGRELL

Houston boss Dom Kinnear has admitted his club is still in the hunt for a midfielder, despite boasting a roster stacked with veterans and
sprinkled with upstart talent.

The Orange (no, not the Oranje that yesterday trampled all over poor ol’ USA — and former Dynamo star Stuart Holden in particular) are
facing a 2010 campaign sans attacking midfielder Holden and defensive
general Ricardo Clark.

So, what about that holding position that Clark defined last season?

“We have Richard Mulrooney, who has played there before, and he’s one of the guys we missed at the stretch of the end of last year,”
Kinnear said. “I think Geoff Cameron can play in there, and he can also
play as an attacking midfielder.”

Cameron as an attacking midfielder? Cool — wouldn’t we all love to see more of those marauding runs?

“I hope that this year [Cameron] will be able to get a little more free and score some goals,” Kinnear added. “In saying that, you don’t
want him thinking every time he gets the ball he can run forward and
score goals. You want him to be involved in the build up. It’s
important that he does have some discipline in his game.”

Oh, ok. Maybe not all of us. Kinnear again:

“We’re also in the market looking for someone who can play in the midfield as well.”

Ka-ching! So, who have they had in camp this preseason? Who’s on the radar?

The breakdown:

Khadim Diouf (two-time All-Pac-10 Honorable Mention at San Diego State) … Léandre
Griffit (French player who last suited up for Crystal Palace) … Samuel Appiah and David Walker (draft picks) … Blessing Kaku (well-traveled Nigerian with awesome name) … Francisco Navas (straight from the Dynamo Academy) … Shaun Saiko (Canadian U-20s with time at Middlesborough) … Lovel Palmer (a Jamaican who, according to thereggaeboyz.com, is a “fleet-footed player [who] will run all day for the good of his team.”)

And let’s not forget 20-year-old Danny Cruz, who’s been in top form in preseason.

All told, something tells me the ‘Mo are going to be all right this season. More from Kinnear:

“It’s difficult, but it’s comforting to know that if the season were to start, we’re not exactly looking at a huge hole. There are people we
can put in the whole that I feel can do a good job there.”

‘Nuff said.

By not striking, MLSPU may just win

2010-02-25T16:26:00.002-06:00

Hmmm, are the players really this crafty? Consider these points:

Here's the statement from Bob Foose today:

“Effective at midnight tonight, our collective bargaining agreement with MLS will expire,” said Union executive director Bob Foose in a statement.
Foose added that, “while we expect that negotiations with MLS will resume at some point, there simply hasn’t been enough progress made in the negotiations to date to warrant an extension of the old agreement. We have advised our players to keep working for the time being, but as of Friday they will be doing so without a CBA. In the meantime, all options are being considered as the process continues. We are completely committed to forging real changes to the way MLS players are treated.”

And here's the statement from the MLS:

"During the last year, Major League Soccer has been negotiating with the MLS Players Union on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The current CBA expires today and the Players Union would not agree to a further extension.

"We have told the Players Union that the League does not plan to lock out the players and we are prepared to begin the season under the current CBA while we continue to bargain to reach agreement on a new CBA.

"We have listened to the issues raised by the MLS Players Union and the League has made detailed proposals that have addressed these issues, including in the areas of economics, guaranteed contracts, options and the ability of a player to move to another MLS Club if he is released by his current Club. These proposals, which represent substantial changes from the current CBA, will significantly increase our spending and provide substantially more rights to the players."

Pardon me, but I do not trust the owners' statement in any way. They're not a bunch of lying liars, but neither are they on the whole up and up here.

The players have far more powerful weapons than a strike at their command, legal ones. But the fact is that if they don’t follow these paths during the season at some point, then they lose them. I wonder if they’ll strike the All-Star Game. Too bad, since it’s here in Houston this year.

My personal feeling is that without a CBA, the players are essentially playing according to whatever contracts they have. That would mean that after the contracts are over, then they are free agents. As free agents, if they all demand in their contracts that they will not sign deals that contain MLS’ allocation, non-guaranteed and reserve rights language, then by 1,000 cuts, they could accomplish these same ends, free agency and guaranteed contracts, especially if they can get the nascent NASL to agree to the same contract terms. And all of this can be done with concerted action, but no strike.

What do you think?

A conversation on the state of MLS/US and a look forward

2010-01-31T15:20:00.003-06:00

Recently, Playtherapy (in between his rounds of Football Manager 2010) and I have been having a conversation on the state of the league and the future. Here is that conversation, which hopefully can bring some more comments and additions from everyone else. The conversation began with Playtherapy talking about the fantasy financial restrictions in Football Manager and bringing up the larger topic.

PLAYTHERAPY: One knock many across the pond have with playing MLS teams is the league structure. One guy sold Beckham for 4.5 mil and only got 500k for LAG, the league getting the rest.

I'm sure I'm playing stupidly as well, as I'm used to investing in youth, then sell for big profits later. This worked for Stavanger in a big way in the Norwegian league and helped us to achieve Champion's League success.

MLS may have achieved security- avoiding the NASL debacle, but @ what price? Holden went from being worth 675k (got lots of bids from England) to 1.5 mil. If I sold, I wonder what I'd actually get???

It may keep us sustainable, but it cheats club's abilities to better themselves financially.

MARTEK: You are absolutely correct. It's almost impossible to get an independent economic analysis of the situation. Without a doubt, the single entity structure is responsible for MLS surviving for the first 10 years. But right know, I would say that it hurts as much as it helps, the Holden situation underlining that perfectly.

The fact of the matter is that neither I nor anyone else who hasn't seen the books know if MLS or Houston Dynamo could get into that kind of bidding and still be able to make a go of it if single entity, and more importantly the salary cap, were abolished. The obvious lessons from other American sports (free agency = good; salary floors = good; salary caps = meh; revenue sharing = good; positive relationships based on mutual respect between labor (millionaires) and management (billionaires) = very, very good) don't always apply because none of them have to compete in an international player market that covers so many economic situations prevailing in so many markets. The complexity boggles the mind, and since we don't know exactly what the finances of MLS, SUM and USSF truly are, there is no way to make a rational judgment.

What we do know is that Association football in America is strong and growing stronger. From ESPN's commitment (sometimes questionable, but the dollars don't lie) to the sport, to the hundreds of thousands that turn out for international country and club friendlies, Americans are responding and the sport is clearly ready to burst onto the consciousness, or at least more ready right now than it ever has been since the Cosmos/NASL glory days. It is a fact that MLS attendances outdraw Serie A, as well as Ligue Un and almost every other league in Europe with the exception of the Bundesliga (NO ONE outdraws the Bundesliga. Bundesliga uber alles!!). If there's a successful World Cup this year (Two measures of success for American markets: 1. Great tournament with no shenanigans, terrorist, crime or otherwise; and 2. USA does well. Having just No. 1 might MIGHT be more than enough to make it a success in US markets.), then money could flow, and pressure might be exerted by ESPN and others to get MLS to loosen up and let teams spend more and grow more and compete in the international player market more.

If. Could. Might. We'll been down versions of this path before. Is this one different? You have more of a historical perspective than I. What thinketh thou?

PLAYTHERAPY: I agree- it's time for MLS to go beyond rules created for sustainability @ infancy. Soccer will surpass second tier sports in the next few decades. All it has to do is survive as the minority demographic change, making those WASP surburbanites so eagerly sought in the late 90's the minority.

When this translates into Nielsen ratings- we've arrived. This is the argument to just hold on and keep expanding- creating more TV markets.

Yet MLS has to evolve with what's going on in the outside. Clearly, the US marketed to the wrong crowd, to the soccer moms with the shootout and the game clock stopping during the stoppage of play. The thought was that us fans weren't sophisticated enuff to accept ties or the mystery of stoppage time.

This alienated us fans seeking soccer, not some PR fast food version. Soccer lovers have always been here, hence the enormous crowds @ friendlies- both club and international, or WC 1994. it's not the love of soccer that's missing- it's interest in the MLS.

That's key= especially with Fox Soccer, GOL TV, Mexican football, ESPN deporto (or whatever it's called), and other cable soccer offerings. Soccer lovers want to love soccer, not wince @ a poor quality facsimile.

The 2nd generation of those immigrants- legal or not (don't think Nielsen or advertisers care) are the key. SkyTV made the EPL what it is, and until MLS can deliver the TV and advertising numbers, having good attendances that beat other noteworthy ligas matter little.

Yet current league rules discourage quality home grown talent staying in the MLS once they've got a name. This is muy importante. For ongoing growth, we need to find a way to:

1. Keep americano talent here. This means some middle ground towards the labor union.
2. We need Mexican players!

The first problem may take a while but incremental steps need to be taken toward creating the foundation for keeping the Clarks, the Holdens, and the Dempseys here a few years longer. Keeping Donovan here as long as we have has been a major accomplishment.

As for Mexican players, we need to be very careful signing Mexican national team players far past their prime. For every Blanco or Suarez, we get several more Hermosillos, Campos' or Hernandez'. Mexican flops decrease interest. Who wants to wince as they see their favorite idol fail in a league thought to be weaker???

Houston hads the right idea with Landin (though I greatly disagree with the DP designation and think that's why he's still here). MLS teams need to sign quality Mexican youth. I would even add a provision for signing Mexican youth which is similar to the Gen Adidas players. Canada needs to be added to this as well and, in the spirit of NAFTA, Mexican and Canadien players should not be counted as internationals. While this might decrease the quality of our national team in the short run, it would greatly enhance the quality of the MLS, especially with expansion. Furthermore, it would improve interest, especially TV ratings.

Considering the Canadiens, it's only fair. I'm unsure if this rule has already been changed or not since Mo Johnston's lobbying.

It's TV where we have to compete. A good 2010 US world cup showing PLUS the WC retrurning here in the next few years would greatly increase interest temporarily, yet quality is what will make fans stay tuned in.

I like Jimmy Conrad's off season musing about promotion/relegation. The naysayers, forever worshipping @ the US sports model, forget:
1. Soccer is unlike other sports
2. We are starting from scratch in that we have a young league.
3. Unlike other sports, soccer here competes with the rest of the world. All I have to do is buy cable and switch channels to watch soccer abroad.
4. The same naysayers said we had to have shootouts, no ties\, and no stoppage time. We have actually done better without this.
5. Creating a relegation/promotion system actually creates a more solid domestic professional infrastructure top to bottom.
It also cements healthy ties between amateur and professional, something missing in the US purely becuase it does not need to exist.
6. Difference offers something new. The big three US megasports have lost touch with their audiences.
7. Maybe we should be open to other perspectives and possibilities. Remember, the critics said we'd never make it past the 5 yr mark. It wasn't the Americanization of the sport that caused this. It was the fans' love of soccer, which should always be kept in mind.

MARTEK: Hmmm. I still think the WASP suburbanites must be part of MLS' diverse audience. Don't cater to them, but they need to be made welcome. Lots of money in them burbs!

Good news from Mike Chabala's Twitter feed: ""I can't wait for training tomorrow, I'm gonna kick 6 people....It's gonna be awesome." -Eddie Robinson (my teammate)"

Now that's some Johnny Rocco action for you (Edward G. Robinson from Key Largo)!

All tweaks to the rules are stupid, which the NCAA must learn if the colleges are to be a true training ground of US talent. That's a whole other can of worms, and I hate that structure, but I honestly do not see any other thing happening right now.

Unless, unless, unless, unless, unless....

The new NASL/USL structure makes a truly viable second, developmental, tier.

But that being said, I still do not see promotion/relegation happening here. I think the truth of the matter is that if leagues around the world were being created from scratch, there's no way, NO WAY, that any owners would agree to that structure. In the US, relegation would not be a demotion for a year or so, with hopes to play well and return, ala Newcastle in 2009-10. It would be a death sentence. Do you think FC Dallas, were it to get relegated, would be able to survive that financially? Columbus? Kansas City? Or for that matter, Dynamo? (Maybe the latter. Maybe.) In order to have p/r, the league would have to guarantee that teams facing the drop would not lose more than a token amount of cash from league-wide rights fees and broadcast rights. In short, the second tier would have to be as financially solvent as the top. Can you see that happening? No way.

Don't get me wrong. I would love it, and I think American fans, both casual and not, would love it as well. But no one would love watching those teams go out of business, which I think is what would happen unless financial guarantees are made. And if those guarantees are made, what would be the incentive for teams to spend and win? So it gets circular. I think that it's a false equivalency to conclude that saying no to p/r is the same thing as saying yes to no ties/shootouts and clock stoppages. P/R speaks to the very solvency of clubs, unlike those other items. It is organizational, not game-related. If you can guarantee teams will not go out of existence due to p/r, then yes, make it happen. If not, then no.

You are correcto in that all NAFTA players should be counted the same. That to me is so obviously in MLS' interests, I am very surprised it has not happened. That should happen hand-in-hand with higher, or at least somewhat competitive, wage scales, the resumption of the reserve league and expansion of rosters. Also, teams should have right of first refusal to players developed in their academies (though perhaps losing this if those players instead go to college and play there?). If refused, then those players get to go in the draft along with collegians. Said academies should exist as an alternative to colleges and teams from academies should all play in the PDL at least, maybe higher in the pyramid. Have another draft that is high school only to give all teams equal access to the same players and prevent hiding, swooping in and hoarding. If the drafted high schoolers don't want to go to the academies/teams, then they can always go to college and reenter the SuperDraft a few years later.

Unlike many, I like the idea of drafting and think it is a cost effective and fair way to get unproven players in need of development into the system. I like the idea of socialistically leveling playing fields when it comes to development and revenues. Establish a salary floor to ensure that all teams have to pay out a certain amount in player salaries/compensation/development and make the only difference be who is better at using their equal resources. Make the differences be ones of coaching, playing, etc., not T-shirt sales, local TV revenues, gates, etc. Then the best organization wins, or at least comes close.

But all of this is money, money, money. Does it exist? I think it does, though I have no proof of same. What do you think?

Dynamo Park to the Houston Galleria?

2010-01-26T19:50:00.007-06:00

So Dynamo have begun looking to build a stadium on the city's near West side.

And Channel 13's report can be seen here:

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7240711

Right now this looks possibly just too good to be true. I don't trust it somehow. But maybe I'm just being paranoid.

A truly fascinating idea and equally as good in many ways. This is not a suburban site, or at least not now. (It was a suburban site when I was growing up in Meyerland in the 1970s, but the only thing that proves is that I am old.) It's very urban and the one advantage is that it would not be competing with Minute Maid Park for parking on nights when both Ds are playing at the same time (Dynamo and the Dis-astros). It's also very close to many ethnic neighborhoods, of both affluence and not. And the freeways make it easily accessible.

However, would it be on or near a Metro rail line? I am not familiar with the Metro rail designs for that area, if indeed there are any. Anyone know?

I still prefer the downtown site, with the buildings rising in the background, but this is an intriguing idea to say the least.

TSU's involvement is part of the city's deal, right? Does this mean the city would be out of the picture? Or TSU? Do we really want the city out of the picture? That could be a good thing or a bad thing.

I really, REALLY hope this does not muddy the waters. The Westpark location is good, actually very good, but the downtown location would be better, though right now, I'm at a loss to go into a whole lot of detail on why exactly it would be better. So maybe this is something rare, some actual good news. Pardon me while I cower in fear and do not wholeheartedly believe that.

There is a discussion on the possible Galleria area site at http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=19778004&postcoun...

Landon Donovan in Mexican commercial

2010-01-04T15:06:00.003-06:00

If you've not seen this yet, you should. Landon Donovan starring in a Mexican Lottery commercial. They loves our Landycakes south of the border something fierce! I am rolling over this.

SBI sez: MLS has offered Holden BIG contract

2009-12-15T11:35:00.001-06:00

Soccer by Ives correspondent Franco Panizo is reporting that MLS has offered our man Stuart a big contract to keep him from moving to Europe, reportedly "ten times his current salary."

Check out the story here: http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2009/12/holden-offered-big-mls-contract.html#more (from whence comes that photo above), or read it here:

After enjoying a dream year for club and country, Houston Dynamo midfielder Stuart Holden is largely considered to be the next player in the U.S. pipeline to make the jump from MLS to Europe during the upcoming winter transfer window. But that potential move seems to be in jeopardy after MLS made an unexpected move.

According to reports out of Europe, Holden has been offered ten times his current salary by MLS, and could snub a move abroad to stay in the U.S. This report claims MLS commisioner Don Garber held talks with Holden last week in an effort to keep him from going to Europe.

"I was pretty flattered," Holden told the Evening Times. "It shows the commitment the MLS has in keeping me in the league. I know this decision is going to impact my career."

Holden has not ruled out a move abroad, stating he is considering overseas offers. Scottish Premier League clubs Rangers and Aberdeen have been linked with the U.S. national team midfielder.

Holden enjoyed a career season with the Houston Dynamo in 2009, scoring six goals and assisting on three others in 26 league games. Holden also made his national team debut this year, playing in 12 games.

What do you think of Holden possibly staying in MLS? Surprised by MLS's offer? Think Holden will decide to play abroad anyway?

Personally, I could not be happier with this news. I still think Holden will stay for at least one more year. In any event, I'm not sure a move to the SPL, especially to financially-uncertain Rangers, would be a good move. As an ardent Celtic supporter, I'm biased against the Strangers to begin with. However, assuming he makes the game day roster at Ibrox or in Aberdeen, I just don't think his game shows off its best qualities there. France would be a far better location.

That is, assuming he plays. I think that regular first team, starring duty on one of the elite teams in MLS positions him far better to make the South Africa roster than taking a gamble on landing first team, starring roles anywhere in Europe. Take this deal. Take the money. Stay in the States. Play in South Africa for the US. And then next year or the year after at this time, take the flyer and go.

I know that 10x his current deal still only puts him in the 300-400K range, which is less than what he could make in Europe right now. But money is money and playing and progressing while seeing regular first team action is playing and progressing while seeing regular first team action. If this wasn't a World Cup year, then maybe now would be more attractive. But as it is, and with his position on the US squad not 100 percent assured, then play it safe and take a very good deal.

What do you think?

Haiku d'Group C: Belo H as long as we've got it

2009-12-08T15:05:00.001-06:00

Time to break out the haiku-ometer

Back in the 5-0
B'Belo Horizonte
1 to nil, you lose

Twas a cock you say
As Gaetjens had no passport,
But still, the goal stands.

Revenge on the veldt,
As Three Lions surround US,
No hope for escape.

But with one Jersey
boy, our hearts beat, since all you
Have is David James.

So bring on your best
John Bull, and as the game goes
on, we will hold true.

A hearty hurrah
as all that's red, white and blue
makes the English fears

Come true with a pain
In the gut as they see that
Belo was Act One.

Back, Belo the H, Group C and World Cup 2010

2009-12-07T17:33:00.006-06:00

After a couple of weeks off to R&R and get this holiday madness under way, I am back on the blogging scene.

I thoroughly enjoyed the World Cup draw last week, and for once as a US supporter, I can finally say, "Hey, at least we're not in that group over there."

And by "that group" I mean Group G, as in Golgotha. Brazil, Cote D'Ivoire, Portugal and the North Korean Little Sisters of the Poor. My favorite Tweet after that lineup was decided was (and I don't remember who this was) "What kind of coverage are THOSE games going to get in the North Korean media next June?" That is a brutal group and will easily yield some of the most amazing games. My early pick to get through from there: Brazil and Cote D'Ivoire. See ya Christiano, and try to keep your shirt on next time.

That's not to say that the US' path to the knock-out stages is secure. Slovenia did knock out Russia after all, which is a better team than the US. I'm not that worried about Algeria because, after all, we're not the Egyptians. Still, I don't dismiss them either. Only Arab nation in the tournament, playing on African soil.

I still think the US is the second best team in that group. I like starting off with England because you don't want to play them needing a victory later in the round. And Holy Belo Horizonte Batman, if the Snakes DO start with a draw, it would be epic to say the least. Easily, it will be one of the most-watched soccer matches in US history. That is still a mighty big if, win against Spain last year or no. But hey, that's what makes this tourney so fun year in and year out: Improbable victories, catastrophic English failures and, my early pick, a Brazilian run to the championship.

Fun fact, courtesy of Beau Dure, Tim Howard's amazing spot kick save against Jermaine Defoe yesterday has the English media already getting all weak in the knees about a possible Belo Horizonte repeat. Read this report here and see if you can spot the fear and nervousness. I love it!

That being said, anyone who thinks the US is suddenly a World Cup contender needs to have their head examined. My expectations remain low, though my hopes of getting through the group stage are high. Right now it wouldn't surprise me if the Americans finished second or third in that group, though first or fourth would. I do expect our first victory since 2002 and would hope that at least one commentator would point out that the US was the only team to get a point off the Italians in 2006. Party poopers may justifiably point out that it was via an own goal from the Azurri, but we takes what we can gets around here. And we also got the iconic image of Brian McBride's bloody face in that game, so we'll take it as a marketing win at the very least!

Ah moral victories, the Laffy Taffy of sport!

Some people making great points about this draw that I will not bother to plagiarize because you should read/hear the whole thing:

Jamie Trecker and Kartik Kirshnayer on the US' precarious position on the MLS Talk podcast. Click here.

The inimitable Dan Loney. Click here. My favorite part of that great post from Dan:

10:16. What is this Eng...land of which you speak?

10:17. Yeah, our draw is pretty much over, now. BECKHAMLAND and two other countries, here's some college football.

10:18. Per comment, yeah, Grant Wahl's book just went into another printing.

Simply put, if you don't read Loney regularly, well then I don't know what to call you, but I do pity you.

The indomitable Bill Archer. Click here. If you don't read Loney AND Archer regularly, then take one of those classes at Kumon or somewhere and get your literacy skills up to snuff podnah.

Here's some trademark Archer genius:

As noted a couple weeks ago, CONCACAF Supremo Jack Warner has pledged the full support of the Confederation - and all three of it's votes - to the USA World Cup bid.

then about ten days ago Warner left a meeting with British PM Gordon Brown SAYING THAT "IT'S ENGLAND'S TIME and apparently promising to back that bid as well.

Of course he got what he has been lobbying for, a private meeting with the Queen, although Warner said afterward that the meetings were "not for (his) ego". My guess is that Her majesty was touting the quality of the hotel food or possibly Londons' nightlife. Hopefully that drooling dolt of a son of hers was someplace else at the time.

So it would appear that Jack is done and done, his ballots practially cast, right? I mean Jacks' word is his bond, right?

Right?

Last week, after attending a cocktail party thrown by Australia for him and three other FIFA VPs PRESS REPORTS ANNOUNCED HE IS BACKING AUSTRALIA

"If there is a country that truly deserves to host the FIFA World Cup, then it is the island continent of Australia".

Of course there are only two World Cups being awarded, and to a lesser man this might seem to be a roadblock to endorsing three bids, but for jack Warner it's all in a day's work.

And, oh yes, last week he told reporters that he felt Spain/Portugal was "in the lead" for securing a World Cup.

He's scheduled to visit Russia next month. Good thing they're well known for open and above-board dealing.

I stand in awe (and doubled over in laughter).

Getting Real with RSL

2009-11-23T11:26:00.003-06:00

Congrats to RSL and Nick Rimando, one of my favorite players in MLS, for reasons that I have never been able to articulate. I just like the guy. And big props to Cletus on winning his one and only MLS ring. Who would have thought that 10 years ago? And also big props to Jason Kreis. That team had the front page treatment in the Deseret News or Slat Lake Tribune, one of those, right before moving into Rio Tinto last year talking about how they were, in real “Man on the Moon” huge type, THE WORST TEAM IN MLS. Since then, that team has been in two Cup semifinals and now won a Cup Final. Remarkable.

And now reality: I think RSL in 2010 will be the first defending champion since the 2006 Galaxy to miss the playoffs entirely, though this is hardly a unique analysis. That team is good, but nothing more than that. Though of course, they were clearly the better team last night. Next year they have no Movsisyan, and we all know that over the course of a whole season, a date with the Royals is usually one Dynamo at least expect to win, either here or at Rio Tinto. Championship or not, I don’t see that changing next year. I don’t mean to be brutal or anything, just honest. This is a team that just got hot at the right time. Let’s not make them out to be anything more than that. That is, until they prove it over the course of a whole season.

That being said, I do not join the chorus of opinion that says that RSL is proof positive that the playoffs are a crock and that MLS does not crown their true champion.

The solution to these “problems” (if such they are) is to stop this ludicrous Supporter’s Shield title and name the regular season champion something a name that’s befitting, like, oh I don’t know, how about “Season Champion”? Get a trophy befitting the status of champion. Use the name champion, whatever. Just like with the Supporter’s Shield now, the team gets a berth in the Champions League, and in addition, a scudetto to wear all of next season.

Then use the regular season to seed a postseason tournament of eight teams, the MLS Cup Tournament. The winner of that tournament is the MLS Cup Champion.

How so very precedented is a format like this? The regular season champ is the champ, the MLS Cup champ is a champ and the USOC champ is kind of like a champion. You could have a domestic triple, a domestic double or three separate trophy winners. That is just fine by me. We are often accused of being to Anglocentric in our soccer here in the US. Well here is a situation where it works. The USOC = FA Cup. The Season champ = Premier League champ. MLS Cup winner = Carling (League) Cup.

The reason I want to keep the playoffs is that I like tournaments with all of their silly internal logic. Anyone can beat anyone on any given day and upsets happen far more frequently than during the marathon of a regular season run. The regular season does not produce undeserving champions, while it is true that tournaments do. However, this is only a problem when the tournament presents the only title to win. So keep the playoffs. Keep it all. It’s fun and entertaining and leads to debates and discussion and upsets and favorites and the whole shebang. Keep it all.

Slowly out of the shell: MLS Cup, Ireland and an Orange Future

2009-11-20T10:56:00.013-06:00

OK, after taking this week off to mostly just troll other blogs and not comment too much on MLS or soccer in general after letting last week’s loss sink in, I do have some thoughts on a rash of topics:

(But before I begin, I have to tell you my favorite lines from anyone about events so far this week. Dan Loney, who is my absolute favorite blogger out there (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/blog.php?u=7720) said that a strike or lockout in February would “put the damn in Gotterdammerung.”

Meanwhile, Bill Archer (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/blog.php?u=20531) on the Thierry Henry handball controversy “Soccer is a lot like life: it's unfair. Your heart breaks for Ireland, who've gotten the shaft in this whole deal from Day One, and after 500 or so years of misery you'd think the Irish could catch ONE break in something but I guess that's not to be.”)

(Though, an Irishwoman got to marry Playtherapy, so I guess Bill isn’t completely right on the never catching one break thing!)

As for MLS Cup predictions, I was listening this morning to an interview that Dominic Kinnear did yesterday on World Football Daily. They nailed him down on making a prediction for the final. He said that he had been wrong about every one of his predictions so far, which makes him not much worse than me, as I’m sitting on 3-7 right now, which puts me BELOW blind chance!

But even though I suck, I am going to go with the conventional wisdom here and pick LAG for almost the same reason that Kinnear did, Donovan. And while he meant the new MLS MVP (How is it that this is the FIRST time he has won that award? He is the best American outfield player ever, and there is no one even close to him on that score. Weird.), I’m not talking about Landon, who is perhaps only the second most valuable Donovan on his own team. Donovan Ricketts is going to keep that team in the game. The LAG back line is going to be tested by a strike force that partners much better than Ching and Oduro (or Ching and Landin, more on that later), with speed, creativity and power in the attack. However, frustration will mount as Ricketts pulls their ass out of the fire over and over and over again. It’s always dangerous to place everything on a keeper, but the combo of Ricketts and LAG being so quick in transition means that RSL will be back on their heels after each miss or save from the Jamaican.

Everyone loves Nick Rimando and I count myself in that group, but we all know that Rimando has his flaws and can be fooled and wrong-footed just as often as he can be spectacular. As much as I am rooting for RSL to take the upset win, I will not predict it. LAG wins their third star 2-0. (And no, I do NOT fancy them winning a third star before Dynamo. I am not happy about that and Hainault’s goal should have counted and we should not even be HAVING this freakin’ conversation since with two power outages and a ridiculous call we’re sitting at home and tell me what the frak was the difference in all the banging and falling down in the box between Hainault’s goal and Berhalter’s anyway?!!!? What a CROCK!!...

Ummmm. Hmmm. Wound still fresh I guess.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, Ireland and the Hand of Frog. You know, I don’t blame Thierry Henry at all, not one bit. You play to the whistle and that’s that. If the ref didn’t call it, then that’s where the Ire of Eire should fall. He was his usual classy self after the game when he said that it was indeed a hand ball (contrast that to Maradona’s comments in 1986. What a puerco.), but that he was not the ref. There were four things that happened on that play, any one of which should have called it back. Two French players were offsides (though not Henry), and Henry touched the ball twice, once on his upper arm and once with his hand, bang-bang. I can understand the AR and ref being blocked from the handball, but the AR was not blocked from the offsides. And if he was, how could that have been true? It was a free kick. If you’re not positioned to make an offsides call on a free kick into the box, where the hell are you?

I do not agree that the game should be replayed. Anelka was clearly taken down by Shay Given in the box earlier in the game, which should have been a penalty. No call there, so where exactly is the FIFA conspiracy to get France in and Ireland out? However, ultimately justice is served if (A) that crew does not work FIFA matches anymore and (B) some form of technology review is implemented. It does not have to be like the debacle that is replay review in American pointyball. It could be a simple, simple, no more than 30-second review by a fifth official (or by the fourth official because if he’s not waving in a sub or signaling time remaining, what exactly is he doing over there?) in certain situations that lead to a goal. Kinnear mentioned that in his interview, as have many others. Replay is not evil, but it can be implemented poorly. Avoid that and you can use that power for the good.

On to the Orange, I absolutely agree with many that Dynamo will have an overhaul in 2010. Clark is almost certainly gone, which the team announced earlier this week. I think it’s about 60 percent (maybe more?) certain the Goalden One is gone as well in January. Holden might just stay because of his roots here in Houston, close to his family and he didn’t exactly set Denmark on fire with his performance there on Wednesday. However, he did make MLS Best XI, which I find to be a little surprising, and has established himself as among the favorites to go to South Africa. We’ll see what January brings, but I think it’s safe to say that he’s possibly gone as well.

So where does that leave us? I think it best to assume both are gone, which leaves us with options like this:

Ching-Landin-Weaver-Oduro-Thompson
Mullan-Cameron-Davis-Mulrooney-Cruz-Ashe
Hainault-Robinson-Boswell-Chabala-Barrett-Mulrooney-Waibel
Onstad-Hall

Starting at the way back, Tally Hall has proved himself this year to be a more than capable replacement eventually for Onstad, should he ever decide to remove his age-defying Ring of Power and throw it into Mount Doom. For the first offseason that I remember, replacing Onstad is a settled issue.

Moving up, I think Wade Barrett is through. If John Spencer gets one of these head coaching jobs (and I’ve said all along that DC United is a perfect fit for him. Pity poor De Rosario that he has to play for that punk Preki now. That honeymoon is going to last until maybe President’s Day. Playing at home has not exactly been a bed of roses for Dwayne, now has it?), then I think Barrett would be an ideal pick to replace him on the bench next to Kinnear.

Of course, that leaves us with Hainault, Eddie, Little Boswell and Chabala. I do not include Cameron here because even though he was an MLS Best XI as a center back this year, with Eddie back and the hole we have in midfield, Geoff, with his speed, toughness and range moves up to holding midfielder. That drops Mulrooney and his shaky health back to defense. But where does he play? Clearly, the opportunity is at Chabala’s spot. Chewie has all kinds of pace, and had maybe his best game as a pro in the return leg against Seattle, but his passing leaves a hell of a lot to be desired. Work on that, and he’s a stud. Waibel, sad to say, is also pretty much done, though he might be valuable as a part-timer like this year.

Midfield without Holden and Clark is not exactly a disaster with the cast of characters I’ve got listed there. Cameron will be a great holding mid in this league, maybe equal to and with a better passing touch than Rico. He clearly needs to work on his dribbling skills, as he overruns the ball on occasion, but hey, he’s only been in this league for two years and is already an MLS Best XI. If South Africa was coming in 2011 instead of 2010, he’d be getting some serious run for national team play.

Davis in the middle is where he always wants to be anyway, and where he winds up playing most of the time. Just go ahead and put him there. A left-footed CAM could be a force there. He’s a better distributor than Holden, though not quite what DeRo was. And he’s not afraid to pull the trigger on a shot (unlike Holden). Playtherapy and I thought that Davis was the best player in orange at the HDC last week. He has creativity, great delivery and a deadly shot. With Holden gone, CAM is his role.

On the wings we have the fearsome threesome of Mullan, Danny Cruz and Corey Ashe. Cruz, when he played, was fearless and had an impressive work rate over there. He was a terror when the joke that is Thomas Rongen played him in the U-20 World Cup this summer in Egypt. He is exactly like Brian Mullan, and is benefiting greatly from having Mulls as his teacher. Same for Corey Ashe, who credits Mulls with helping him develop his cross. So we have three players for these two spots, which I think is at least one less than we need.

Midfield depth is an area of great need. I don’t think either Mulrooney or Mullan can get through an entire season without injury, though Dynamo will be playing far less games next year with no CONCACAF in either the spring or fall (I think that’s right, isn’t it?). I think they’ll probably be in SuperLiga (if they play that tournament) and put in their usual half-hearted USOC run, so there may be some fixture congestion in the summer, but nothing like what we’ve seen the last few years. Danny Cruz is good, but I doubt he’ll be an effective full-time starter just yet. Ashe is a great sub, but I question his effectiveness over a full 90. Sometimes he's fantastic, and sometimes not. Still, he is getting better and better and I think would have been a strong player in the playoffs if he had not gotten hurt in the Rayados friendly.

This team needs a creative and powerful midfielder to complement this corps. If Holden stays, he’s that guy. If not, then this is a serious hole needing filling between now and April. Jon Michael Hayden and Eric Ustruck are in-house choices, and both looked good at times in CONCACAF and USOC games, but neither seem to be setting any worlds on fire, so I think it’s best not to plan on them being the answer to any questions any time soon.

Up top, oh boy. Another offseason, another set of questions about how to fix the Dynamo attack. Ching is another year older and just had surgery on Wednesday on his knee. Minor surgery, but still. I believe Luis Angel Landin will be an impact player in the league next year, training with this team from Day One, fit and in the flow. He is the best ball-handler on the squad, bar none. If you didn't, you should have seen what Mister 3D and I saw in the Seattle game. For a guy nursing a bad knee, he left it all out there. Now, it’s also true he was awful at the HDC. No question there. I just think that by Memorial Day we’ll know, but there’s plenty there to like. His touch, positioning and presence are impressive to say the least. Two months is not enough time, especially if he’s hurt for a significant part of that time, to assess this guy.

Oduro needs to go. I think we’ve now seen the best we’ll ever see from Dominic Oduro (the Seattle game), as well as the worst (every other game). The pace is great and until he develops a finishing touch, he is a late-game sub stretching a tired defense with amazing pace. Ask anything more from him and you might as well install protective glass in front of the stands on either side of the field because there is not a goalmouth wide enough for this guy. Now I might very well be wrong here, as I didn’t see his Seattle performance coming at all. But we learned in LA not to expect that performance from him. And that’s the deal, when you’ve got someone in his role and with his pace, a solid performance SHOULD be expected. If he can’t deliver, then sayonara, you’re better off without him. With his pace, he’s going to get the ball, and in dangerous areas. Constantly getting it to him there and having him fail throws off and misshapes Dynamo’s entire attack.

Cam Weaver possibly could be a Nate Jaqua type, and if he stays healthy, could provide solid, solid play when Ching heads to South Africa in the summer (assuming he does). I think Weaver, who’s still pretty young, could be the heir apparent to Ching as target forward. Abe Thompson is a sub and that’s all he’ll ever be.

So clearly, help up top is a need. Ching-Landin and Weaver-Landin are the top two choices right now with Oduro as a late sub and Abe Thompson as an even iffier sub. That brings up major ifs and buts, especially about Landin. If he’s a true bust, then Dynamo are screwed and a midseason replacement becomes crucial. Replacing Oduro and adding another forward with pace and presence would be ideal. Conor Casey is apparently very unhappy in Colorado (who wouldn't be?). How great would he look in Orange?

I am not conversant enough about options that are out there to know who can fill those roles, but I do know that Dynamo right now, even without Holden and Clark, are a playoff-caliber squad in MLS. Though of course, just being playoff-caliber is not the goal. The talent triumvirate of Luck-Canetti-Kinnear, Inc. have their work cut out for them. They don't have the problems some clubs have (Did I mention Colorado?), and that is all to the good, but there are serious issues out there to be addressed to be sure.

The offseason is going to be a long one and the tendency is to jump to conclusions. But just hold solid and have faith. By this time next year we could be looking at both work on the construction site that is Dynamo Park and an impending MLS Cup. Orange-colored glasses, you are my friend.

Orange I have been, Orange I am and Orange I shall remain

2009-11-14T01:46:00.004-06:00

Regardless of this result, regardless of any strange non-goal goals, regardless of anything, I remain

Absent the Hainault goal, the result was a well-fought one and deserved, just really, really not what I wanted.

More to be written on this at another date. For now, I sleep late tomorrow and the offseason begins.

Orange in the stars

2009-11-13T12:50:00.003-06:00

I was starting to write a long piece on magical thinking and sending orange-colored positive waves westward for tonight's game. Then I read the stories in the Chron today (listing of the stories and Bernardo's blog post here) about how the entire world seems aligned against Dynamo in favor of the Galaxy, including Alexi Lalas (which actually fills me with something like relief. When that guy picks your team, you know you're in trouble.) And you know what I have to say to that?

Well, take a look at that picture there, and instead of a sunrise, imagine a moonrise.

As a long-committed magical thinker, I have often looked to superstitions and portents when it came to important events in my life, like say the births of my children, engagement to the my wife and (equal in importance here?), major Dynamo games.

So this morning, I was looking at the predawn sky, and one thing I picked out was the spot where M31, the Great Galaxy in Andromeda, lay. I looked over to the Big Dipper and found several more galaxies. Looking at my star chart I saw the presence of many, many more galaxies and know from just a cursory understanding of astronomy and the universe that anywhere I look, if I looked hard enough and with the right equipment, I would find that the sky was suffused with galaxies. They are everywhere on the sky.

And then, faintly, almost imperceptibly on the east, came a slight glow. Before I knew it the eastern horizon was awash in color, and one color in particular.

Orange.

An orange that blotted out the view of all galaxies, everywhere.

Of course, it's a sunrise and it happens every day, yadda, yadda, yadda. But I know an omen when I (want to) see one. Orange wins, Galaxy loses.

This brings up the subject of superstitions, good luck charms, etc. We all have them. I have a set ritual for home games, and when I alter it, I walk into Robertson Stadium far more nervous than perhaps I should be. For road games, I have had a hard time developing much in the way of a ritual because there are so many different situations in which I will watch a road game. But here's the deal, this morning, I'm looking for something appropriate to wear for today at work as I wait and wait and wait for the game to begin tonight. And what do I find? A completely unused and unworn Dynamo T-shirt from 2007 that had slid back behind the other shirts. This shirt has one star on it, but most importantly, the last time Dynamo were in a Western final, THIS WAS WHAT THEY WORE! And what happened? Let's all look here in the Way Back Machine below and see:

Wow. Nice. I think I like what I see there.

More good signs and lines I am finding around the interwebs:

The Keeper: Tonight the Galaxy have a date with destiny ... or should we say a date with A DYNASTY! Our Dyna-men know what it's like to win at Away Depot Center ... a win tonight and they'll be headed to the MLS Cup next weekend in Seattle.

Away Depot Center. Nice.

Fallas' prediction in the Chron: Dynamo 2-1.

Commenter on Ives: Matchups aside I think Houston's resiliency comes through and Houston wins the match. Also, I think Seattle is better than LA and Houston really controlled that series. I see a 1-0 Houston win.

My prediction: Despite the fact that I am a mere 3-5 in the playoffs so far in predictions, just one game less than random chance would provide, I continue on unabated, secure in my knowledge that I am 2-0 in postseason Dyna-games.

Dynamo 2-1. I'm going with Bernardo.

And oh by the way, did anyone else notice that the Chron today had an extensive front page treatment of the game, as well as making it THE major feature in the Sports section. Huge kudos.

LA Times? Check out the main page online here. Notice something missing? Like ANY MENTION AT ALL, EVEN ONE, OF THE GAME TONIGHT? Now by the time you look at it, the page may change, but at 12:42 p.m. Central, 10:42 a.m. Pacific, the LA Times main page is completely silent about the biggest game in their coverage area today. There's a story about Miguel Cotto, about the Lakers (natch) and another about the Cincinnati Bengals. The Cincinnati Bengals?

It's worth saying again about how much better Houston is as a soccer town than just about everywhere else in the United States.

In the other semifinal (Oh yeah, that.) I like RSL, I like Jason Kreis. I like that team, really I do. And when their offseason begins late Saturday night, they should be able to start a project to be a force in this league in 2010. But earlier Saturday evening, Chicago wins 2-0. Not much drama there.

Ljungberg the ljoser just will not shut up

2009-11-10T13:29:00.003-06:00

Check this out from Freddy Ljungberg's blog people:

THE BRAWL IN HOUSTON

I’m sorry that it has taken quite some time after the game to post something, but I have actually been quit pissed off and in a bad mood after the game and wanted to think things through before I said anything.

The whole team is of course extremely disappointed about getting knocked out but it was a great atmosphere in Houston and I personally also thought it was really cool that President George Bush was in the stands.

The game itself was more of a brawl then a nice game to watch I guess. Being on the pitch it clearly felt that it was going to be someones mistake or luck/bad luck that would be the decider of the game in the end. Unfortunately that was the case as the goal was discussed after the game and they say it is quite clear from the TV pictures that it was a handball.

But with that said I don’t want to take anything away from Dynamo as they are a very good team and I wish them all the best for the rest of the playoffs!

So basically what he's saying is that Dynamo are fine, but the win was illegitimate and the goal came as a result of a handball (I presume he means on Mullen, but in Ljungberg's brain, you know, this could mean anything). So, good win you cheaters.

This is amazing. You know, I was just starting to think that my harsh comments about Seattle in the previous post were out of proportion, but now. Truly, truly amazing. What a Ljoser Ljerk.

I'm just speechless here. I had a lot of respect for that guy and his play on the field, but this is incredible. I'm "quit pissed off" too Freddie, but not for, I think, the same reasons.

I was sitting right in front of the whole thing and the out of focus Telefutura vid gives a misleading impression. The ball skipped off Levesque’s head and off the back of Mullan’s clavicle/side of his head area to bounce back towards Ching. It was the freakiest thing you’ll ever see, very Magic Bullet. The camera angle does show Mullan’s arm/elbow up along the line of the ball, but TeleFutura’s Zapruder film/video quality is so bad it’s deceiving. The ball was not a handball, just a weird deflection from near the shoulder area. It’s similar to when De Rosario scored one off his face a year or so ago.

Ljungberg can say what he wants, and you will not see me defending that field, but two days after that game is not the time to call the loss illegitimate, which he implies. But whatever, more spice for next year’s games, eh?

Because it has to be seen and said again

2009-11-09T18:08:00.004-06:00

It happened right in front of me, and by the lack of reaction on Keller's face it took me a sec to even realize what had happened!

If you check the highlights page on the Dynamo site, you get the Telefutura call ("QUE GOLAZO!!") and then the Dynamo radio call, with James Clarkson yelling so loud I think it knocked them off the air for a second or two.

My voice I know still hasn't recovered. I rank it behind the Dallas playoff game two years ago (because, hey, it was Dallas we punked), but not that far behind.

One more word about Seattle and then I will let the whole matter rest. I have always made it a point to go up to supporters of the other team (especially in internationals) and shake hands. But after this game, I could not bring myself to do it. I know for a fact that that the Greenies there would have rubbed our nose in it if the Sounders had won. I wanted to shake hands, honestly, but then I saw them raising their scarves after the loss and I just could not. I felt like I do with Cubs fans. If they're going to glory in their losing, then I'm going to leave them to it.

I don't hate the Sounders, I just have had enough with the whole green thing. I'm glad they lost because if they had gone all the way, then just like Ljungberg's whining, we would never have heard the end of it.

And not to be totally a homer here, but this leads me to an even worse Green Meanie. Everyone who complains about the Robertson Stadium field will have no quarrel from me. My graduate alma mater has behaved like a serious disgrace of a landlord. I know UH is angling for their own new stadium and all, but I cannot believe they let their own student-athletes play pointyball on that pitch, much less let it be seen in a national showcase like a professional sports playoff game. Saprissa Stadium, which honestly can't be much harder than that field, at least is smooth. Walk that field and you will see pits, ruts and sand like a dune buggy competition on a hard tack beach had just been run on it. I cannot bring up enough how embarrassed I am as a graduate alum and Dynamo supporter.

That being said, at least it is out of sight, out of mind until February, since, because Mike Magee belatedly remembered how to fall down, that's the last home game there until 2010 (Odyssey V). Sometime later this week, maybe I'll be able to take a more dispassionate look at this weekend's match-ups. Among a few impressions:

1. Who would have thought that skinny kid Patrick Nyarko had it in him to bull through Emmanuel Osei like that to win the ball and start the winning sequence for Chicago? Forget Cootiemac's winning slot job. It was Nyarko denying Osei's little blocking move that made that happen. I have always wanted to see that happen, and while I don't endorse the idea that you can just bull through a guy, I also don't like little namby-pamby screens like that. Also, HUGE kudos to Nyarko for ensuring that the Eastern final isn't played before the Northeast equivalent of Pizza Hut Park's 5-7,000 fans.

2. Does Chivas USA ever lose without ending the series in a fight. Remember here in 2006? Preki going after Dema was classic, easily the best moment in that entire series. Too bad he didn't hit him harder though. Talk about someone who deserves it. (Though, like I said above, I am firmly opposed to needless violence, emphasis on needless.)

3. Drew Carey didn't man up to accept Oscar de la Hoya's bet. Like Hope Solo said a couple of years ago, "I expected more from him." And another quote from that link from Kasey Keller: "Drew is just a little bitch." Come on Drew, man! I am a fan and you have let me down.

4. We are Orange!

Well, that was fast.

2009-11-05T22:28:00.000-06:00

I was kind of hoping for a Dynamo/Columbus final to have the last three champs facing off But wouldn't you know it, the Crew pulled an epic fail, losing a one goal advantage.

At home.

To the worst road team in the league.

Worse than NYRB.

Let THAT sink in.

Bye, bye Massive Bananas.

"Maybe with a few scary moments."

Maybe some prescience there. But with this one, I leave no doubt

"Crew will have to pretty much fall over..."

Thank you Frankie Hey Dude, for making that right.

Too bad my scoreline prediction wasn't as prescient. Oh well.

The highlights are up at MLSnet.com now. Check out the three RSL goals. On the first two, both were directly the result of Hejduk screw-ups. And the best thing was that right before RSL scored the first one, Harkes was going on about what a great game Hey Dude was having! HAH!

Oh, one other thing now. If the Revs dispatch the Fire, New England will HOST the Eastern finals.

One leg too few no more. Playoff picks proceeding

2009-11-05T13:19:00.003-06:00

So again, we take a look at the Orange Crystal Ball moving from the unidextrous to bidextrous results.

The first weekend, I have to say, was more than a little strange. From the sublime of the Dynamo/Seattle match to the ridiculous of Warzycha sitting Moreno AND Schelotto to the utterly predictable of a Steve Nicol-team being Lucy to the Chicago Fire's Charlie Brown to the completely surreal of the HDClasico draw. So without anymore bloviating, we'll start on this weekend:

Regular season: 91-125 for a percentage of .421 or 19 games over blind chance
Playoffs so far: 1-3

I added the first line there just to salve my wounds over last week. But will that stop me? Hell no.

REAL SALT LAKE at CREW. 2-0 Columbus You know, I have to say that Robert Warzycha sitting both Alejandro Moreno and Guillermo Barros Schelotto took me completely by surprise. If I were RSL, I'd be plenty pissed at being disrespected like that. That being said, controversy or no, the defending champs are going to have to pretty much fall over to lose at home to RSL. For the anarchic nature of it all, I'm rooting for the Royals, but I don;t expect it to happen at all. Crew go through, but maybe with a few scary moments.

REVOLUTION at FIRE. 1-1 New England is in those guys' heads. Expect to see a flurry of shots from Chicago, one after the other after the other, and Matt Reis batting them all aside to get through to the Eastern finals.

CHIVAS at GALAXY. 2-1 LA You know, I really, really hope las chivitas beats these guys, not because I hate the Gals. Really, I don't. I think that team is very, very good. But (A), Dynamo need Chivas to win so we can get the Western Final here in Houston; (B) The sooner this Beckham thing is over the better; and (C) See (A). However, my head says something completely different here. I think we saw in the first 90 the best Chivas can possibly do, while that is not true about the Gals. So Goatpeople, here's one for you. And Gals, see you next week.

SOUNDERS at DYNAMO 2-1 Houston There is no way I can possibly be dispassionate in analyzing this game. None at all. I think there are a great deal of results for which, in a dispassionate sense, you could make plausible cases as likely scenarios. So while I go against my heart in Columbus and La La Land, I can not here at home. Key factors that will play roles are: Dynamo are at home; The Orange are playing with toughness and confidence that was so evident in May and June (not to mention 2006 and 2007); The short field; the Sea of Orange; The experience of being in this position before; The leftover feeling of 2008. So my head and heart are in agreement. I am Orange.

Great moments in Seattle history

2009-11-05T12:55:00.003-06:00

1. Not technically in Seattle, but you don't have to cast a wide net to get this one:

2. Check out these crowds below. Here's a team made mostly famous from Jim Bouton's stories of drugs and debauchery in Ball Four:

3. This courtesy of James Cooke:

4. The 2001 Seattle Mariners

Regular season: 116-46
Playoffs: 4-6

Ow.

5. The unSuper Oklahoma City Thunder.

And in that same vein:

6. November 8, 2009

And in case any of you think this is unfair: Try this link, courtesy of the always-excellent Bill Archer.

Or, just read this excerpt (but don't east first):

"We all know that Seattle is the center of MLS soccer, that no other city supports its team like this one, that Seattle has set attendance records and every game was sold out this year. And that other MLS towns like to hate on that, like this city is afforded special status because of the support for the team or something ridiculous.

Tuning the crystal ball to the playoffs

2009-10-30T13:58:00.002-05:00

Apparently, there are six other playoff teams out there fighting for second place. And, get this, they actually all will play their entire ties BEFORE Dynamo run the Greens on Nov. 8. (Homer? Me? What ya talkin' about?)

So now I turn my prediction energies to the postseason, and just to help myself out I will only predict the first legs (The more games I predict, the better my chance to finish with something approaching respectable. That or crash and burn with great alacrity!). And well I should worry, since last week I went 4-4 in the final week of the season to conclude my regular season prediction rampage at 91-125 for a percentage of .421 or 19 games over blind chance. That's 19 games over, which means that no one, but no one should base any bets here. Or this might happen to you:

But undaunted, we forge ahead. The playoffs are a new season and time to plunge ahead for first leg picks:

DYNAMO at SOUNDERS 1-1 Draw Yesterday's post contains this pick and in keeping with my season-long practice of counting the result and not the score, I start the weekend already up 1-0. We'll see how long that lasts!

CREW at REAL SALT LAKE 2-1 Columbus I know it has become something of a trendy call to have RSL win or tie here as if Rio Tinto is Fortress Utah or something. But you know what, RSL is the weakest team in the playoffs. And of course, so was New York last year, claim the trendmeisters. I concede the point. But eventually, lightning does not strike the same place the same way. I don't think that Crew's recent MLS form is any indicator at all. So go ahead, RSL, prove me wrong.

FIRE at REVOLUTION. 1-1 Draw Chicago is not really an offensive powerhouse, while New England will not be surrendering many chances at home. The Revs have owned this playoff series recently, especially in Foxboro. But I will not pick them to win this game because, let's face it, without Stevie R., they just are not that good, and Larentowitz can not strike cannon shots into the back of the net every week. Fire do what they need to do here to bring the series home next week.

GALAXY at CHIVAS (or is that the other way around?) 2-0 Gals In what the inestimable Dan Loney has termed the PooperScooperClasico, las chivitas is going to be exposed as the pretenders they are. I think the Gals are going to go through Chivas like you-know-what through a goose. But you want to make it interesting? More Loney: "Ideally, this would be a Loser Leaves Town match. If the Galaxy wins, Chivas moves. If CUSA wins, Beckham never returns. I could handle that." You and me both Dan. And while I am really rooting for the Amerigoats here so that the Western final could be here at Robertson, I honestly don't see how that team can beat that team. So Chivas, do your best out there and give us all an upset to remember, equivalent to when KC whipped you in 2007. But don't expect me to put money on you.

Dynamo beat Sounders 0-0

2009-10-30T00:20:00.002-05:00

So let's start the discussion. Here are some of my initial thoughts from tonight:

1. The Onstad Bump: After the game, Alexi Lalas showed the smarts that made him the GM he was when he said that Onstad should have gotten a red card for that contact. "99 times out of 100, that's a straight red," ranted his Gingerness. Well, back here in the real world, if that's a red card offense then it's a sorry state of football we would have here. Instead, Ricardo Salazar (more on him in a sec), figured out what happened, awarded the justly-deserved yellows, and we went on.

Personally, I don't think the bump was intentional at all. Onstad wasn't even looking at Fredy the Flopper when he ran into him. Then Montero went down like he was shot and the party began. So a yellow to Onstad for not paying attention and one to F the F for being a moron. Sounds fair to me.

The event had another beneficial effect as well in that it defanged Montero. How many more times in the game did you see that guy be at all threatening? Heck, Patrick Ianni was more threatening than Montero. If this is what happens, I think Pat ought to bump someone every game.

2. This time, the clear off the line gets called a clear off the line. Well done Mully. Remove the nongoal goal from Seattle's arsenal and what do you have?

3. Salazar. Wow, a quality MLS ref. How did that happen? Can we get that guy every game? He had total command of the game from start to finish and while there were some fouls not called, it seemed to me that that went both ways all night. On balance, for the most part, you weren't aware the guy was even there, which is what we all want from the ref, now isn't it? (Aside from the fact that guy was ripped. I think he could have out bench-pressed everyone on that field. What guns!),

4. Did anyone else find Dominic Kinnear's subs an interesting couple of calls? There you are, fighting in the first, away leg of the tie. Score is knotted all zeros. Game is getting late. You think, well, by the book, the away team will play for the draw and pack it in. Except that you would not be reading Dominic Kinnear's book. His two subs were both forwards for other forwards. Offensive subs. Kinnear was going for the kill. And indeed, towards the end, I think we almost had one. Seattle was clearly tiring and knotting up, while Dynamo were nutting up. More solid link-up play from the midfield to Landin and Weaver and the Orange could be coming home with a lead.

5. The result was far from perfect of course. Landin continues to show that he's slow, though his touch is a wonder to behold. When he came on late, there were just one or two too many passes that, if delivered well, both to Landin and from, would have resulted in clear scoring chances.

Also, the take on Dominic Oduro stays the same, meaning that if the guy had any kind of finishing touch or physical toughness at all, he would be a force in this league. His speed is truly awesome, but all too often, he'll lose the ball on the dribble to even the weakest challenge, or sometimes with no challenge at all. He doesn't read the defensive movement closing in on him quickly enough to find the open guy. And while he had no real scoring chances tonight, how much of that was because he didn't fight off the ball to create those chances? To be fair, his speed constantly stretched the Sounder defense, and with those wheels, he brought something to the table that no one else on the team could bring, especially with Corey Ashe still out. How much slower did Landin look simply because he wasn't Oduro? So Dominic, get in position and beat Keller on Nov. 8, and I'll take back all the bad things I have written about you.

Stuart Holden was solid off the ball, though I would like to see him do more with the ball. He seems to be reverting to the extra pass-happy guy who started the season. I'll say now what I said then: Young man, you have a Howitzer out on the end of that leg. Use it.

6. Draw me with a smiley face. Overall, I am happy with this result tonight. Drawing the away leg and winning at home is a time-honored tradition and I am all for it. If anything, it sent the message that 40K or no, Dynamo is not afraid of this team of no-destiny. What's more, what I saw was a Dynamo squad eager to exorcise once and for all the ghosts of 2008. The team seems focused and ready to do what it needs to do at the Rob Nov. 8. I can't wait. And if anyone knows if Drew is coming, here's a message for you:

Kevin Payne's fine = Complete joke

2009-10-29T19:36:00.006-05:00

So once again, right here on the cusp of the playoffs, when we should all be feeling good about MLS and the competition and the soon-to-be champion, we get reality smacking us in the face that this is a league that is run by a bunch of marketing executives who think that selling toothpaste is the same as running a sports league.

DC DC United president Kevin Payne was fined $5,000 dollars for telling the Washington Post's Steven Goff: "We don't want to play like Colorado or New England, which most of the season sat with eight or nine guys behind the ball. How many people go to watch Colorado or New England play? That's a problem for our league. We can't play like we're a team desperately trying to remain in 14th place in the Premiership. Our market isn't there yet. They want to see something that is entertaining, and DC United has always had a way of playing. Given a choice, we would rather attack than cynically defend. You look at the way Real Salt Lake played when they came here [a 0-0 tie in May] and sat 10 guys behind the ball. You don’t have to do that. Sometimes that is the best way to get a result – if you don’t care about the product, if you don’t care about advertising your league. Long term, who wants to watch that?"

The fine was levied directly by MLS commissioner Don Garber. The official announcement referred to Payne's comments as "detrimental to the public image of the League."

This is nonsensical. Payne was right on the money. Teams that play back, that play anti-football, need to be called out for doing that. No matter what you think about DCU, the sentiment he expressed needed to be said.

I think this is wonderful, like when Landon Donovan incited the crowd in Dallas a few years ago. This is one of those things that makes sports fun.

What's worse is the fact that it would have been so much better for Garber to say something along the lines of: "Well, that's Kevin Payne's opinion and he's entitled to it. If I were New England or Colorado, I might take offense to it, but they can settle that on the field."

Now THAT'S what a commissioner ought to say. Here's where you see a look into the kind of "leader" that Garber is, and by extension, the kind of organization that MLS is: Way, way too much marketing and placement thinking and way, way too little competition and fire. Stir the pot. Get people talking about something real instead of something you're trying to make them talk about through preordained advertising.

This is nonsense and it's Garber, not Payne, who has put the league in a bad light.

The Orange Ring of Death

2009-10-29T12:06:00.001-05:00

After a second half of the season that was a tad weird to say the least, Dynamo get a chance to put on their Tri-umph faces and Lay It on the Line for that third title.

I think this video above truly expresses my feeling about Seattle tonight. And while the truth is I have never once flipped the toggle on an XBox, or done a 360 on top of one, I know for a fact that an Orange Ring of Death exists on those consoles, and that's what I am expecting to see over these two legs, starting tonight.

For a Dynamo team that rarely received red cards, it seems more than passing strange to notice that two games in a row without one is atypical. Hopefully, what this actually means is that the bleeding has been stanched. But we'll see. A stern, disciplined approach is what's called for in these 180-minute ties, especially when you get the second leg at your own playpen.

But I worry about the guys keeping their cool. In the three games watching the Seattles this season, I have noticed a certain behavior among the Greenclads that could be called, er, what is the word? Chippy? No. Dirty? Not yet. Thuggishness? Hmmm. Ah heck, let's just go for D: All of the Above. For a squad that has such a solid attack with pace and creativity and physical presence from Frjeddji Ljungbjerg (Or howjever that's spjelled), Jaqua, Montero and Zakuani, to see players like Hurtado and Brad Evans and the like dishing out the cheap fouls is incongruous to say the least. Hopefully the refs will call the game tight, which can only help. (And this doesn't even include mention of Montero's incessant diving. If Ricardo Salazar falls for that garbage tonight, teh frustration will mount.)

And right here I'd to insert my oft-stated objection to playing this or any game on the fake grass. Both Mullan and Mulrooney suffered injuries playing on State of Washington-approved artificial surfaces, the latter injury a season-ending and potential career-threatening one. All I have to say is that if Major League Baseball can completely eliminate artificial surfaces (with the exception of the Rogers Centre in Toronto. What is it with Toronto anyway?), then so can MLS. The horror must end!

Back to tonight, clearly, composure will be key. Seattle will come out on fire and probably finish in a flurry as well. As I wrote on Glenn Davis' blog the other day: The problem is that without Richard Mulrooney out there keeping everyone cool (see previous paragraph), Dynamo have had a hard time maintaining composure for a full 90. Also, asking an attacking team like Dynamo to play back and patient and wait for their chances is difficult at best. Perhaps this merits Barrett's inclusion in the starting XI?

However, champions adjust and I was heartened to see Brad Davis talking right away on Sunday or Monday about defense winning championships. I think this is where experience means something. Pretty much the entire Dynamo squad have been in these situations many times before, most in Orange, while there are many players in Seattle who have not. There is no substitute for playoff experience, so if the team opens up loose, calm and confident and STAYS that way throughout the game, they will be able to exert pressure and strike when Seattle makes their mistakes.

A cool, calm, composed game and coming home ahead, drawn or no worse than a one-goal deficit and I will consider tonight a success.

Hey, did anyone else notice that Bernardo Fallas gave the goalkeeping edge to the Sounders? (Ratings here.) Even though Fallas does pick Dynamo to take the tie 3-2 on aggregate, this should at least have been even. Odd, is all I'm saying.

So here are my predictions for this series:

Tonight: 1-1 Draw. My worries center mainly around dealing with Seattle's pace and the turf-related injuries. Knee tendinitis and artificial turf are a witches' brew, which will have me watching Landin closely, not to mention Rico (should he play) and Ching. I would like to see a line-up like this:

Onstad
Hainault-Cameron-Boswell-Barrett
Mullan-Clark-Holden-Davis
Landin-Ching

Subs: Chabala, Weaver, Oduro, Robinson, Waibel, Thompson, Hall

The reason I'd like to see Barrett get the start is for his experience and calm demeanor out there. As a captain, he is solid, to say the least. That being said, as the game goes down the wire and we are protecting a lead or a draw, or even going for a late goal, I'd pull him for Chabala and his speed or Johnny Rocco Robinson and his toughness. And depending on the situation, I'd also get Weaver and head-bump Waibel in there as well.

Like Fallas, I am also predicting Dynamo to go through to the Cup semifinals (this whole "Conference semi," "Conference final" stuff is confusing terminology and it must end), by a 3-2 agg. Both teams have shown difficulty scoring of late, but getting out of here tonight ahead or drawn will be huge for Dynamo.

Just remember boys, this is it:

Order from chaos, final weekend picks

2009-10-23T11:12:00.000-05:00

"We adore chaos because we love to produce order."
~ M.C. Escher

In the delicious disorder that has marked the final weeks of the MLS season will come some order after this weekend, and it all started in that mudpit in Bridgeview last night.

So did anyone check out that Chicago/Chivas game last night? What a messy, messy beast. And I'm not talking about the weather. I honestly think Chicago's only hope in the playoffs, and I think they are a very, very good side, is to have games go to penalty kicks. Patrick Nyarko has go to be one of the worst-finishing starters in the MLS.

But as for the factors that mean something to the Naranjaverse, I would have to say that we all saw Chivas exposed again for what they are, a slightly above-average side with serious holes in the back filled by the aging Zach Thornton and an attack that can only be described in a way that does disservice to all those out there who are really are anemic. Yesteday I remarked on ow Dynamo is out of sync. But the comparison is that Dynamo is a Maserati that needs some new spark plugs, while Chivas is some random GM car trying to convince themselves and everyone else when they say "May the best car win."

So what I saw warmed my heart for the weekend and has me actually feeling some of that playoff mojo. I can only hope that those guys out on the near left edge of the color spectrum feel the same way.

As for the playoffs, here are my predictions from Oct. 2:

Crew, Dynamo, LAG, Fire, Rapids, Toronto, Sounders, Chivas

If the season were to end right now, I would be dead on with that prediction. Eight for fuh-reakin' eight. I would only have missed on the order, but hey, when you're sitting where I am on the weekly prediction, I will not quibble. However, I will not be counting those eggs just yet as there is some more hatching to be done over the next few days. The Rapids and Toronto have some work to do in order to make my ocho de perfecto come to pass, and you know what, I think they're going to do exactly that.

But before I get to that I just want to interrupt this prediction fest (my final one of the regular season, to offer a very short defense of the MLS playoffs. I know all about the arguments from purists (and I sympathize and agree to a point with ALL of them) that playoffs are anti-football, anti-tradition and make a mockery of the regular season. I agree. However, I also know some things, one is that if there were no playoffs there would be no interest in any games this final weekend. Instead, 11 teams (that's 11 out of 15 people) are playing meaningful games, important games, games that could turn the season on its head. Six of the eight playoff slots have been decided and still, every single game in the final weekend (including last night's of course) is crucial to one or both teams. That my friends is an argument right there for a meaningful post-season tournament. I have written before that the Regular Season Champion needs to be called that, (instead of the nominally meaningless Supporter's Shield) and that is an argument to note. That team, even though it's supported by the execrable Nordecke bunch, should be celebrated and awarded a meaningful trophy. But do not under any circumstances eliminate the postseason tournament. The MLS Cup winner is also a fitting championship and the two honors should sit side by side.

So that's my little soapbox moment, which deserves a separate discussion all of its own. Time to move onto the weekend, and these meaningful games I profess to love so much.

Last week: 3-5
Year to date: 87-121 (.418 or 18 games over blind chance)

TORONTO FC at RBNY. 2-1 Reds Toronto books passage into the postseason with this win, the final one at that awful pit known as Giants Stadium, thus ensuring that Costa Rica's Saprissa Stadium is far and away the worst soccer pitch in the New World. Now, being that this is the final Giants Stadium game, and that Red Bulls are trying to bury this awful season, they will come out inspired, or at least as inspired as they can be. But that turnip can only bleed so much. RBNY will take the early lead and then TFC will return with an improbable goal brought about by RBNY's own incomparable incompetence. Then I fully expect Big Game Dwayne to send his Reds over the top and into the playoffs. (I want so badly for TFC to play the Crew in the first round just because those games are always bloodbaths.) The not-altogether-healthy Stefan Frei steps up big.

(That)D(amned)CU(nited) at WIZARDS. 1-1 Draw Personally, I think Tom Soehn will have a very long and enjoyable offseason, unemployed though he will be as DCU expires with a whimper at the hands of the playing-for-pride Wizards. And just to add insult to injury, I think KC will score late with a goal past Steve Cronin (How bad is Kocic if Cronin is an improvement?) to sink DCU's hopes. And you know, this might just be the best thing for that organization, which is too good to be in this situation.

RAPIDS at RSL 2-2 Colorado Conor Casey will be a beast in this game as Colorado books passage through to the postseason with the draw. RSL salvages some pride with a late goal to draw level, but the Rapids' quality does exactly what they need. Jason Kreis, who deserves to stay coach of this team, will have a long time over the offseason to find out what he needs to do to transition this squad back into the championship contender they were in 2008. Unfortunately, with this draw, Colorado finish with the eighth seed and face Columbus for that great Col v Col match-up instead o the blood battle that Col(umbus) v Tor would make.

FC FRISCO at SOUNDERS FC 3-2 Seattle The Battle of the Dreams. And this, my friends, is where the dallas' dream comes to an end for dallas for a lot of reasons, the first of which is that it's running smack into the face of bigger dream. It has been a truly amazing season for the Seattles, with a USOC trophy, a playoff berth, a chance on the final day of the season to win the West, 30K in attendance every game at home, etc. etc. I hate them grudgingly for all of that, but I'm also realistic enough to see that a final regular season home game with all of that going for them is going to be too much for a Schellas Hyndman coached team, with Superman Cunningham or no. Also, the truly awful Baldomero Toledo will be reffing this game, the same guy who gifted Seattle with that goal that Chabala knocked off the line back in July. That's mojo that Seattle doesn't need, but will enjoy. I think Cunningham will definitely score, but Dallas will fall short here.

EARTHQUAKES at GALAXY. 2-2 Draw I just have to tell you that there is no way on Earth I can be objective in assessing this game. For the Naranjaverse to evolve as it needs to, the Gals MUST lose or draw this game. The thing is, San Jose is a truly awful, awful side, not RBNY awful, but still, you know, B.A.D. Now San Jose helped us last week as much as they could by drawing with Chivas at the HDC, so is it too much to ask for them to do it again? I'm not asking for anything superhuman here, just a draw against their most-hated rivals. Let's face it, as any Bay Area person can tell you, screwing LA is enough motivation no matter the situation. Well, beating them will screw LA the most, but I'm not too sure that's possible. I mean, they're not Rubin Kazan here. But they are a Bay Area side with a chance to really deliver a nasty blow to a SoCal team. So I'm relying on that to beat Donovan, that English guy and Ricketts. My head says there's no way that a team with the quality of LA, in the most important game they've played since the 2005 final, should lose or draw here. But my heart, the organ in my body that is 100 percent Orange, will NOT be overruled. Go San Jose, you bastards, GO!

REVOLUTION at CREW 1-1 Draw And here's where you see the end of the road for Steve NIcol's playoff run. Mister3D and I have spoken often how much we respect what he's accomplished, but also how much we hate the way his teams play, chippy, defensive and quick counter attacks. To be truthful, you can't but respect Shalrie Joseph and those guys, but the Revs have just been snakebit all year, the final blow coming when Steve Ralston went down with that horrific injury. For them to make the playoffs would be amazing considering, but they just would not be able to advance far and provide just a simple, simple opponent for whomever they face. The Crew, on the other hand, have looked nothing like the worldbeaters they were in August and September, but that could be attributed to a number of facts, the main being the early date at which they earned their berth. So I think they'll do just enough to keep from losing at home and then put their focus on the playoffs.

And finally:

DYNAMO at las chivitas 1-0 Orange Dynamo will be without Ching and Ashe (thank you Rayados), and Cam Weaver and Ricardo Clark are nursing knee injuries. However, I still think this team has enough to deny the Amerigoats and come out of the HDC with the top spot in the West. Now, to be sure, things can happen to give us that second leg of the Western semis at home with just a draw here. But Seattle would have to tie or lose to FCD at home to open that window, which I don't expect to happen. So just for once this season you Orange, win and make it simple for all of us. Might this be the game where Luis Angel Landin finds his communication with Brad Davis, Stuart Holden and, most importantly, Brian Mullan? Here's the lineup I would like to see:

Landin-Weaver
Davis-Holden-Clark-Mullan
Barrett-Cameron-Boswell-Hainault
Onstad

But if Rico and Cam can't go, how's this one:

Landin-Thompson
Davis-Holden-Cameron-Mullan
Barrett-Robinson-Boswell-Hainault
Onstad

Option B is not as good as Option A up top, but to beat Chivas, the strength will have to come in the midfield and a tough as nails back line. Option B might just be a tougher back line than A with ERob in there. And if Thompson can hold and create space for Landin and Holden on dangerousrun, it might just work. We'll see. Just win baby. Just win.

Grumbling (and stumbling?) into the postseason

2009-10-22T12:13:00.001-05:00

There's a red storm raging and it's threatening to overwhelm the Houston Dynamo, if it hasn't already.

So yes I'll start. I am quite bummed about the guys losing to Metapan, who had neither won nor tied a single game in group play before last night. So, not to be a downer here, but it's very possible that the season, which we all hope lasts five more games, might just be over in three.

Here's what I've been seeing from Dynamo over the last couple of months. Fine play, great effort, but all in support of performances that are just short of winning. The team shows flashes of brilliance both offensively and defensively, but none of the 90-minute effort that was so in evidence this past May and June.

At this point, it's hard to see the team winning at Chivas this weekend, must less doing much in the first round of the playoffs. If they hit a hot team like Seattle in the playoffs, I now am almost expecting Dynamo to lose.

The team is clearly not in sync, and playing with low confidence at the moment. There is no doubt about their effort as the guys are clearly putting everything they have into every moment on the pitch. However, it is clear that they are having difficulty communicating up and down the field. Here are some random thoughts and observations:

1. The red cards. So big props to the team for finishing with 11 players last night. And since when has that been all that big of a deal? The red rash has become both symptom and disease here. At first, it was so improbable as to be laughable. Surely this will stop. But it has been going on for two-and-a-half months now, and it hasn't really stopped. It's hard to have a synced lineup when key players, and usually a different one each time, are missing. And then, playing frustrated and out of sync, stupid things happen and you get more red cards. Champions adjust, and I have not seen much in the way of adjustment here.

2. Conspiracy theory note: It seems that the rash of red cards started after the whole non-goal goal in Seattle. Kinnear said on air that the ref (Toledo) was the same one that screwed us in Salt Lake last year, Ching had his Twitter moment about the event, and before you know it, the refs start passing out the reds like candy at Halloween. I don't endorse this theory, mind you, I only mention it. The truth is, tight refereeing or no, the team has to man up here and take personal responsibility. Ching did that last Sunday when asked about his red, he did not say one bad thing about the borderline nature of the card. He just said "The ref got it right." That's playing it smart because if this happens in the first round, we will have a long winter.

3. Questionable wing play. Mister3D and I noticed a real shortfall here in the LAG game this past Sunday. Chabala (maybe his worst game this season) had a hard time linking up the wing, as did Hainault on the other side. I was beginning to seriously hope for a move to bring in Eddie Robinson for Chabala and move Cameron over there, or even Barrett and sacrifice speed for more solid passes from the back. If Dynamo can't link up the wings, they don't win. It's that simple.

4. Missing Richard Mulrooney. How different would this team look with his calmness and presence in midfield or on defense? I think of all of this season's injuries and absences, his might just be the most significant in terms of keeping the team cool and focused when things start going all weird out there. We miss him in a big way.

5. How many times have you noticed the team over the last few months seem to have no general plan, no focus on what they need to do to break the other team down? I think this can be attributed in a large measure to the injuries (Mulrooney, Weaver, Ashe), international absences (mainly Holden and Clark) and red cards (pick 'em). When was the last time Dynamo fielded the same starting line-up two games in a row? I'll tell you when. It was April 19 and and May 3, which were both wins, against, respectively, Colorado at home and New England on the road. Not only that, but that was the same line-up that played April 11, a 0-0 home tie vs. New York. Those are the only three games all season (!) that Dynamo started the same line-up in successive games. How on Earth do you build up a rhythm and confidence playing together when there are so many different line-ups on the pitch out there at all times?

So this is my somewhat frustrated rant about Dynamo's play (and you notice that I went through this whole post without mentioning Dominic Oduro even once because he's a frustrated rant of a blog post all on his lonesome!). What are your thoughts about what's wrong and what needs to change if we hope to see Dynamo hoisting the Uncle Phil Anschutz Trophy next month?

(And by the way, I full expect the Chicago Fire to take it to Chivas tonight. If the Fire hope to finally put things together tonight at home, with Temoc facing those las chivitas stripes, and clinching a playoff berth on the line, they need to destroy those pretenders. I'm picking Chicago to win 4-2.)

The Goalden One talks some trash

2009-10-18T00:00:00.001-05:00

A truly awesome interview with our boy Goalden Holden, who dishes on Rico and "Fat" Ching.

Six on the undercard and the Main Event

2009-10-16T13:54:00.002-05:00

Just in case you needed any help getting fired up for Sunday. And if you're looking for further inspiration there's this:

But before we get to Sunday, we'll spend some time on the weekend undercard:

Last week: 1-3
Year to date: 84-116 (.420 or 17 games over blind chance)

REAL SALT LAKE at TORONTO FC. 2-2 Draw So RSL defeats NYRB late Wednesday night (Q: Were they showing the US game on the screens at Rio Tinto before that game started? And if not, why does RSL hate America?), a result I predicted, which isn't anything to be all that psyched about. I mean, RSL at home is mediocre, while NYRB without JPA can only dream of mediocrity. Now RSL heads north of the border to a TFC team that watched its playoff dream go on life support when they let San Jose draw late in stoppage time last week (screwing with my prediction in the process like they didn't even care). Simply put, both teams truly NEED full points here. Anything less and you can cross them both off your playoff predictions. However, Toronto just seems to come short all too often this season, while RSL is woeful on the road. So, my pick is they'll go over the Reichenbach Falls together, though unlike Holmes, neither will be seen again.

FIRE at REVOLUTION. 2-1 New England If Chicago wins this game, they are in the playoffs and guaranteed to host the return leg in the first round against whomever they play. The Fire are a very good, very dangerous team that is set right on the verge of a truly awesome run. And hence, I am predicting that not only will the Fire get doused in Foxboro, but it will be costly (maybe with an injury) and painful (late strike from Shalrie Joseph or a bad, or rather, standard call from ref Jorge Gonzales). Nothing has come easy for the Fire this season, so why should playoff qualification? As for the Revs, without Stevie R, the team is a shadow of its former self. But the Fire will just not be able to crack Fortress Nicol.

CREW at DC UNITED. 2-0 Crew. Ben Olsen and Chris Pontius are out for DC, while Emmanuel Ekpo misses for the Crewtures.DC is also missing Quaranta and Namoff to injuries and has Milos Kocic in goal. DC, I know you guys are technically still in the playoff race, but let's face it. United has lost three in a row, all at home, and this game will be over by halftime. The only question is whether that will also apply to Tom Soehn's reign as DC boss.

RAPIDS at FC FRISCO. 1-1 Draw. You know, I know that FC dallas is all f'shizzle about their playoff run, and Jeff Cunningham yadda yadda yadda, and they're only two points out of the playoffs and they're at home in front of their tens of "fans," and the Rapids are missing two players to suspension. Yeah freakin' yeah. But you know what, spare me. The team is mediocrity personified. But then again, what do the Rapids have? Conor Casey, that's who, despite his completely ridiculous and worthless miss in the 9th minute at RFK Wednesday (how great would that have been?). The only question about Dallas' run is when will it end? Well, reality is here and Colorado will administer the paddle here. The draw ought to end that playoff run and at the same time complicate Colorado's.

SOUNDERS at WIZARDS. 2-0 Seattle Josh Wollf and Davy Arnaud are probable while nursing injuries, but it won't be enough. Seattle secures a berth here with a win and pulls into a (highly, highly temporary) tie atop the West. Jaqua and Montero both score off feeds from Ljungberg.

EARTHQUAKES at las chivitas 2-1 San Jose. It's no secret what result I want to happen here. I want the Earthquakes to drill these guys, robbing them of all hope and confidence, doubting not only their skills as players but continued existence as human beings. I want goat meat served from all tables in California up and down the coast, instilling the San Jose organization with a heretofore missing sense of optimism for the future. What I expect to get, however, is something totally different. San Jose is beyond awful, and while their late goal salvaged some pride for them in Canuckistan last week, I just am not sure they can pull that off against a Preki-coached side in the running for the top spot in the West. One ray of hope, take a look at this injury report (notables highlighted): CHIVAS USA - OUT: DF Jim Curtin (L ankle surgery); MF Kevin Harmse (R knee tendonitis); GK Dan Kennedy (R knee surgery); FW Ante Razov (R ankle tendonitis); MF Bojan Stepanovic (R knee injury); MF Sasha Victorine (concussion); QUESTIONABLE: GK Lance Parker (R quad strain); FW Maicon Santos (R knee injury); GK Zach Thornton (lower back strain); PROBABLE: FW Justin Braun (lower back strain); MF Paulo Nagamura (L foot contusion); FW Jesús Padilla (R ankle sprain) ... SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES - OUT: MF Darren Huckerby (R hip surgery); MF Andre Luiz (L knee sprain); DF Jason Hernandez (L ankle fracture/sprain); FW Chris Wondolowski (R knee sprain); FW Cornell Glen (R knee sprain) So who's healthy in goal for Chivas anyway? That's three keepers on that list! So I'm going with my heart here and picking San Jose. Screw my record. Screw what's probable. And screw the goatlings San Jose.

THE MAIN EVENT

GALAXY at DYNAMO. 3-2 Orange The Dynamo are going to miss seriously Corey Ashe and Cam Weaver, and who knows why Chingy did not dress for either US game, and that is the last worrisome thing you will read from me. This is going to be a game for the ages. I firmly expect that Landon Donovan will be a beast, that that English guy who's name escapes me will be delivering dead-on balls and that Donovan Ricketts will be amazing in goal. And then this is what I also believe: 30,000+ people will spur Dynamo on to a crushing win. Davis will be in full delivery mode, putting in two perfect crosses for goals to add to another one from Holden on a set-piece to rip the hearts out of those pretenders. Like the penalty save against Conor Casey earlier this season, this game will be the spur to a six-game unbeaten run (7 if you count the Isidro Metapan game next week) that ends only because the season does, with the reigning Rothenberg Trophy winners holding up the Anschutz model in Seattle. Man of the Match for Dynamo in this game: Johnny Rocco, (aka Eddie Robinson).

And just in case you guys don't get the message:

The World Cup qualifying road 2009

2009-10-16T11:21:00.001-05:00

And here, courtesy of duNord, are highlights from each game in the Hex. This is my final US Soccer post before completely switching my attention to Dynamo and MLS Cup.

What's your favorite goal/moment?

Dos a Cero

The beginning of the late comeback trend that was so helpful to all of our cardiologists this year.

Who knew that Timmy Howard lived in Memphis? I didn't until the USMNT beat T&T in the Music City.

When they finally blow up Saprissa Stadium, can I be there? Can I push the plunger? And can I just award a Nobel for Great Contributions to the Beautiful Game to whoever does actually blow this place to smithereens?

More comebackery and cardiology.

My favorite moment was Charlie Davies' smooth finish here. But if Davies had gotten his head to Holden's late cross, it would have come in second.

I think I'm going to just give my heart surgeon the keys to my bank account.

And down goes Warneristan.

WOWOWOWOWOWOW!

For you CD9. And how many children in Honduras will be named Jonathan Bornstein now?

All hail Davies and new Honduran Saint: Jonathan Bornstein

2009-10-15T13:12:00.004-05:00

Over there

2009-10-12T13:50:00.003-05:00

You betcha guys!

For sheer comedic value, read the second half thread on BigSoccer (link here). I'm not certain that some of those guys made it alive through to the end of that game!! I almost had a heart attack reading it today and I know the result! HAH!

Over theeeeeere! Over theeeeeere! Send the word, send the word. Over theeeeeere!

That the YANKS ARE COMIN'
The YANKS ARE COMIN'
... Read More
The drums rum tumming everywhere!
So prepare, say a Prayer, send the word, Send the word to beware..
We'll be over, we're coming over. And we won't be back till it's over over there!

Three alive, the weekend in MLS

2009-10-09T14:25:00.001-05:00

(I know that picture has nothing to do with this post, but thought it was great!)

Wow, is MLS actually taking (gasp!) an international break this weekend? Not really, but only three games are scheduled after Dallas' completely undeserved win courtesy of that clear offsides from both Dax McCarty and Jeff Cunningham in San Jose the other day. Now I want little d to qualify, but only if Dynamo get to play them in the first round and kick their teeth in for them.

Have very little time to blog today, but here in quick order are my picks for the weekend:

(Whoops, time out of time here. In San Pedro de Sula, the US puts past performances behind them and secures passage through to South Africa with a 2-1 win at Honduras. Charlie Davies and Landon Donovan both score, with at least one on an assist from Goalden Holden.)

Last week: 2-4
Year to date: 82-113 (.421 or 17 games over blind chance)

EARTHQUAKES at TORONTO. 3-1 Reds. Toronto will keep their slim playoff hopes alive with this win. They've got everything going for them here. San Jose just lost a gutter on a phantom noncall at home to Frisco, which officially eliminated them from the playoffs. That game was on the west coast on Wednesday, while this one is in a tough place to play against a quality contending team that needs a win and in Canada to boot (eh). There may be a path to victory for San Jose here, but I don't see it, unless, that is, the Reds underwhelm, which wouldn't be the first time!

CREW at (Dance, Dance) REVOLUTION. 2-1 Revs Wow, suddenly is the Supporter's Shield a race again? Crew are missing Rogers, Heydude and Moreno to international callups, as well as Danny O'Rourke to a suspension. As long as Shalrie Joseph has room to operate, the Revs are highly dangerous. The Revs are at home and in desperate need of points for a berth, while the Crew are shorthanded and playing on the fake stuff away. The Revs are going to seriously miss Stevie R, but with Stevie N as coach in a crucial late-season match, I'm picking them.

WIZARDS at CHIVAS USA. 1-1 Draw Hmmm, both teams are on late-season undefeated streaks. Both need points. Chivas is at home and teh Wizards' run is somewhat improbable. Still, KC has a lot of positives to take out of last week here at Robertson, while Chivas took advantage of a DCU squad in free fall and with Worf Wicks out for the season. I'm thinking the Wizards will either draw or win here, but right now, for some reason, I'm picking draw.

Props where props are due: FC Frisco (But let's not go overboard here)

2009-10-07T16:32:00.001-05:00

FC Dallas, of all teams, are starting to get some major run, first for their improbable run to the brink of a playoff berth (Hey don't laugh. How great would it be to play those guys in the first round?) and the second for hosting a viewing of US v Honduras at Robertson North on Saturday night.

As for the first, I still don't see it happening. The Friscites play at San Jose tonight, and while the Trembles are missing Arturo Alvarez, Ramon Sanchez and Simon Elliott to World Cup qualifying (the first two to El Salvador and the third to New Zealand. Raise your hand if you knew that a woeful team like San Jose had three internationals on their squad!), I still fancy their chances of holding serve at home.

dallas will be missing los dos thuggos Atiba Harris and Andre Rocha, which means that team might actually play something vaguely resembling a clean game (Hey, it can happen, right?). And even though Jeff Cunningham has been so far off the planet as a goalscorer I expect to see him on the International Space Station firing on target any day now, I really see a draw here.

And here's the thing, a draw basically ruins both teams. San Jose is all but eliminated from the playoffs right now, and anything other than a win will knock them right out in fact. For dallas, a draw might as well be a loss as the road then gets even steeper for them. So my official pick is a 1-1 knot with Wondo and Cunningham (hey, right now it's bigger than all of us) both scoring.

As for hosting a USMNT viewing party in their house, all I can say is, good show FC Dallas. The team is claiming that PHP is the only place in all of the DFW area to have an English-language broadcast of the game, which I find something waaaay north of amazing. Keep this up and you might start resembling a real soccer team.

That is, if they can outdraw the crowds the Richmond Arms and Stag's Head Pub will get individually Saturday night.

Possible?

Naah.

US U20 "Deep Dip in Egypt" underlines need for development

2009-10-05T18:41:00.004-05:00

Today I have seen two different pieces on what the US U20's bomb out in Egypt means for player development in the US. (See these great pieces, Phil Schoen's here and Glenn Davis' here.) Player development in the US, or at least what passes for it, is a serious problem. I’ve always maintained that the elimination of the MLS Reserve League was about one thing only, reducing the player pool available to potentially strike or (more likely) be locked out should the negotiations for the new CBA somehow fail. Once a new CBA is in place, I firmly expect the Reserve League to make a return in some form, with perhaps the core of it being filled out by the dissident USL clubs.

The performance in Egypt is telling about Thomas Rongen’s limitations as a coach, but more telling about the USSF’s inability to see past its own little turf battles and monopolies to establish a true player development system. In sports, perhaps unlike life, it is better to have the players celebrated and the leagues and governing bodies in the far background. Unfortunately, this is a lesson the USSF seems unwilling to learn.

I have always sympathized with Glenn Davis' oft-stated points about getting men's soccer programs at Rice and the University of Houston, among others, in Texas. But the combination of Title IX equivalency requirements and bloated football budgets make for a witches' brew that will prevent this from happening.

As many know, for every men's scholarship slot, Title IX requires there to be a women's scholarship slot, a situation that has been an absolute boon to women's college soccer in the US, as well as softball and volleyball. However, for schools that have Division I football programs, some of which can tie up as many as 20-30 (or perhaps more) scholarship slots, there is no way to afford the creation of a non-revenue-generating men's team sport such as soccer, with a large travel budget and upwards of 10-15 (or perhaps more) scholarship slots. This would mean not only the creation of that program, but also the creation of an equivalent number of women's scholarship slots in some other (even less revenue-generating) sport (since in Rice and UH's case, both already have women's soccer programs). The costs start escalating rapidly, and very few of those outlays will be reimbursed.

Ultimately, colleges fund athletic programs to give the community something to do together. But the budget for this is not unlimited. Division I men's football and basketball generate untold sums of money, obscene sums. Other collegiate sports do not come anywhere near that. And with Title IX restrictions, which have produced wonderful things, in place, Division I colleges and universities will not create new programs where none heretofore existed.

What does this mean as far as American player development? Simply put, Division I colleges and universities are not going to be the place for player development to occur in the US. And this, in my opinion, is an altogether good thing. Player development is too important to be left to colleges and universities, whose aims are not to develop talent but to win their leagues (and as has been very often pointed out, with different rules, unlimited substitutions and at times a strange resemblance to what we know as the Beautiful Game). With Title IX, that ship has sailed and good riddance to it.

Academies like Brad Freidel's in Cleveland, the USSF's in Bradenton, the Dynamo Academy both here and in McAllen, and the extremely important resumption of the MLS Reserve League (or perhaps creation of MLS-2) are the elements of the path forward. Clubs need to take control of development, and they need to be empowered to do that by the USSF. Big kudos to Dynamo for thinking ahead on this issue and pushing for in-home development that is really the envy of the league, with the European trip indicative of an emerging "Dynamo Way."

If this all happens, then perhaps the US U-20's Deep Dip in Egypt will in the long run produce laudable results. But I really think that the MLS clubs have to take it upon themselves to force these changes. As is abundantly clear, US Soccer will not accomplish this on their own.

Playing the (playoff) slots and weekend picks

2009-10-02T14:56:00.002-05:00

Wow, and here I thought with Shalrie Joseph still playing and (reasonably) healthy, the Revs would be OK and make the playoffs, even without Steve Ralston.

And then came the Debacle at the Cotton Bowl, losing 1-0 and being run around and off the field by FC Dallas (FC DALLAS!) Wednesday night. You know, even though some prominent Houstonians are promoting the unlikely Frisco Playoff Push, I really don't see it. So here are Martek's official predictions of qualifiers for the MLS Playoffs:

The Easy Ones: Crew, Dynamo, Galaxy, Fire

Anyone can pick those four. It's the next four that will separate the winners from the losers, the true visionaries of the future from the ones who will level a curse with their predictions and single-handedly be the cause for elimination and thus dashing the hopes of the faithful. So firmly hoping I'm a member of the latter, here's my prediction:

FC Dallas

OK, OK, now my real predictions for the final four qualifiers. (And I'm not saying I'm not a curse-leveler here, just that I am trying my best to tell you what I really think.)

Six contenders for the four final slots: Rapids, las chivitas, Sounders, Revolution, (That)D(amned)CU(nited), Toronto FC

Still alive but fugeddaboudit: RSL, FC Frisco, Wizards.

Here's the remaining schedule and points so far for the Still-alive Six

Rapids (39): host Revs, at FCD, at RSL
Chivas (38): at DCU, host KC, host San Jose, at Fire, host Dynamo
Sounders (38): at Crew, at KC, host Dallas
Revolution (37): at Colo, host Crew, host Fire, at Crew
DCU (36): host Chivas, host Crew, at KC
Toronto (35): host San Jose, host RSL, at NYRB

Now you may wonder why I'm saying that Toronto, at 35 points, has a chance while RSL, at 34, FCD, at 33, and KC, at 31,, have no chance. Well, I have two reasons, one is this guy and the other is that schedule. The two worst teams in the league and one of the worse road teams in MLS history, and I think TFC comes down the stretch with at least seven points and possibly all nine. The only worry here is that TFC won't be playing, and thus won't be knocking off, any of the teams ahead of them. This could be the fatal flaw, but then again, I think after it's all done, the points total will be:

Rapids (46):
Toronto (44)
Sounders (43)
Chivas (42)
DCU (41)
Revolution (40)

Not only that, but when Dynamo destroy Chivas on the final day of the season, it still won't matter as with five games left, the Amerigoats will barely make it in over DCU. And my favorite thing about this prediction is that for the first time in awhile (ever?), there will be more Western Conference teams than East.

So chime in here, what are your predictions?

On to the weekend.

Last week: 3-5
Year to date: 80-109 (.423 or 17 games over blind chance)

FIRE at GALAXY: 1-1 Draw Becks will be playing and Blanco may not, but I think the Fire are getting it together now. I still think the Gals will not lose this one at home, and the Fire seem to have trouble closing out games, but overall, I'm seeing this as a draw between two teams fighting for playoff position.

CHIVAS USA at DC UNITED: 2-1 CUSA The win in CONCACAF propels DC and gives them hope, but in the end, it won't be enough for that team. But Milos Kocic, you are no Josh Wicks, and while that means you may have to spend less in anger management classes over the long run, for now, it means that you cannot lead DCU to a win here. (This game will haunt the Black and Red all offseason, especially if, nay when, my predictions above come true.)

SOUNDERS at CREW. 1-1 Draw Hear that? That's the sound of the Crew putting the finishing touches on the Supporter's Shield race, and at Sigi Schmid's expense. NO WAIT!! Ljungberg sends an awesome ball through to Montero in the 92nd minute, beating Hesmer and Seattle draws this game for a crucial point they need in playoff race!! You heard it here first.

REVOLUTION at RAPIDS. 1-0 Colorado New England, you can't beat Dallas in midweek at the Cotton Bowl and think you can sneak by the inconsistent Rapids? Without Steve Ralston? Well, Preston Burpo is in goal for the Rapids, while you guys have Matt Reis, so you might just have a shot there. But then again, Reis isn't going to score for you there, so put those hopes behind you because you're going down in flames here.

NYRB at EARTHQUAKES. 0-0 Draw Oh. My. God. Back away. And not slowly either. Scooby, LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WIZARDS at DYNAMO. 3-1 Orange My main prediction here is that Kei Kamara will shoot, and shoot and shoot some more, and he will not put a single one on frame. I love Cobra Kei, don't get me wrong, but I find it hard to believe he's going to be all that focused. Remember how poorly he played against San Jose when he was in Orange? Expect to see that Kamara Sunday. Meanwhile, Holden, Landin and Weaver all score for Dynamo, who are never seriously threatened.

Goalden Holden in Scottish Sun

2009-09-25T13:48:00.001-05:00

Wilf Thorne pic from Scottish Sun

"I'm settled in Houston but one thing I'll never do is forget Scotland. It's a big part of my life." -- Stuart Holden

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/2652020/I-grew-up-dreaming-of-the-World-Cup.html

With international press run like this, I think it would be a miracle if the Goalden One is back in Orange next year. Still, one can hope that he stays settled here in Houston.

Nice pic here at Robertson Stadium.

Tipping over: Yallop, the U-20's and the weekend pickfest

2009-09-25T13:03:00.007-05:00

This week has me thinking about tipping points. No, not Malcolm Gladwell's book, but rather coaches, teams and the playoff races.

You know, before watching the highlights from the Denver leg of the San Jose/Colorado home and home Wednesday night, I wondered what could possibly go worse for the EQuakes this year.

Now I know. Losing a lead on a stoppage time penalty is gutting enough one time, but for it to happen to you two weeks in a row (and the second time more than deservedly), you just have to wonder if San Jose shouldn't just put us all out of their misery and walk into a shooting range with targets on their uniforms and get it all over with.

This is a team that looks about as organized as an anarchy convention. It makes me think about just how far Frank Yallop has fallen. From winning two titles in San Jose and being hailed as the savior of the Canadian National Team to presiding over the destruction of the 2005 champ LA Galaxy, the GM-ship of Alexi Lalas, the opening rounds of Cirque d'Goldenballs, a bright ray of sunshine of an escape back to the Bay Area, dismal results at Quakes 3.0, another brief ray of sunshine from Huckerby, and now 2009, the worst year yet.

Don't get me wrong. I think Yallop has proven himself as one of the top coaches in the American game, but there seems to be some kind of spectacular rain cloud that follows him around these days. Hopefully he'll be able to escape it before it consumes his career.

One thought, if John Spencer gets a well-deserved manager gig next year, perhaps Yallop comes here to rejoin best bud Dom Kinnear, but with roles reversed from when Frankie hired Dom and lured him into coaching in SJ. Just a thought.

Moving right along to the weekend, my No. 1 footy interest this weekend is in Egypt, following Danny Cruz and the U-20 US team at the U-20 World Cup. The mini-Nats will play Germany on ESPN2 and Galavision at 9 a.m. Saturday morning. Then they face Cameroon on Tuesday at 11:45 am, also on ESPN2 & Galavision, and South Korea at the same time Friday, Oct. 2. You can read more about the tourney here and here.

I don't know enough about the U-20 scene to handicap this tournament, but I do know the US has generally done well there and the team looks good. So, Go USA!!

Back Stateside, after having an absolutely dismal two weeks, my prediction record improved somewhat. The bleeding has stopped, thanks in large measure to Brad Davis, Josh Wolff and David Beckham. Now with the local side taking the weekend off, I can take a better look around the league with these games. I missed the Wednesday night game, which is probably for the better (for my sanity's sake at least), but the weekend looks to be an intriguing list of fixtures, with one in particular.

Last week: 3-4
Overall mark: 77-104 (.425 or 17 games above blind chance)

GALAXY at CREW. 2-2 Draw According to this and this, Becks will miss this game with a possibly suspicious injury. But I really don't think that's going to matter as nothing gets Landon Donovan stoked more than beating down a good team. Of course, the last four points the Crew got should have been only a single one if not for the fact that the Crew go to ground when you breathe too hard in their general direction, then perhaps a LAG win is the most likely result. (Really, Crewtures should be hanging their heads in shame when Lenhart goes in with a flying kick and then has a penalty called against the guy he slammed into last week? That play is the poster child of MLS refs’ inadequacies. The main reason I'm picking this as a draw (Other than the fact that that is the result that most helps Dynamo. I won't lie.) though is that I am a big believer in Schelotto. Dodgy PK calls notwithstanding, the Crew are good. But so is LAG. This just points to a draw for me.

SOUNDERS at REVOLUTION. 2-1 New England The bad times continue for Seattle. The team is having trouble scoring at home (four consecutive Zero Hero performances), but on the road, Seattle has serious problems. The Revs, on the other hand, are making a move in the East, and even though Shalrie Joseph is nursing a sore hip, I fully expect New England to hold serve in Foxboro.

RAPIDS at WIZARDS. 2-1 Kansas City This would be somewhat of an upset, but playing two games in four days for Colorado is going to be tough, and Peter Vermes really does have KC playing better. Cobra Kei is looking to score his first for the Wiz, and I think he gets it at Preston Burpo expense. Also, the Rapids just seem to have a thing about playing in KC. According to the MLS preview, the Rapids haven't won there since the final meeting in 2002, a span of eight games. The Wizards are 6-0-2 in those games, and also won a playoff game in that stretch. So who am I to buck history?

REAL SALT LAKE at FC DALLAS. 2-1 Frisco The previous post linked to Steve Davis' wonderful piece about all that's wrong in Frisco. (Read Davis' blog post here if you missed it.) However, RSL's defense is highly suspect to say the least, and with Jamison Olave serving his suspension for his takedown of Brad Davis last week, I just think that the candystripers have an edge here, even with four players at the U20 World Cup in Egypt.

TORONTO FC at FIRE. 3-1 Chicago Well, this should just about do it for the Reds' playoff hopes. The Fire are still steaming, and rightfully so, about the way their win against the Crew was stolen away from them with that awful penalty call last week. Even though Chicago generally doesn't play well at home, they still play better than Toronto does on the road. If these predictions hold true, then Chicago will be only one point behind the Crew and still very much in the Supporter's Shield and Eastern Conference race. Don't forget the Fire when thinking ahead to the playoffs. The team is dangerous.

RED BULL NEW YORK at Chivas USA. 1-0 las chivitas The Amerigoats barely escaped with the draw in Seattle last week, while RBNY is still pretty awful, though they have been playing better. This game could go either way, but I really don't think it'll be a draw with New York's suspect defense. And with Wolyniec out, I don't see JPA getting any space at all to score. So, over to you Chivas.

EARTHQUAKES at DC UNITED. 2-1 DCU I think San Jose might just lose out the rest of the season. I wish Dynamo played them again this year. As for DC, you would think that a weak opponent like this would be just what the doctor ordered, but nothing ever comes easy for that team. Watch them baaaarely escape with this win.

Davis post on where it all went wrong for FC Frisco

2009-09-25T12:02:00.002-05:00

Steve Davis, who writes frequently at MLSnet.com and ESPN Soccernet, posted a wonderfully insightful piece on the trials and tribulations of the Dallas Burn/FC Dallas franchise on his blog the other day. You can read the whole piece here, but here are a few highlights:

Five years ago in August the Dallas Burn became FC Dallas. A year after that, they moved into a dandy little stadium, where tens of hundreds of people now show up 16-18 times a year to watch a poor product while frequently taking a beating in customer service and then putting the cherry on the bad experience sundae by getting stuck in traffic on the way home. (OK, the club has done something about the wacky traffic congestion. By stinkin’ up the joint pretty much everywhere else they have largely eliminated all traffic entanglements. Well done, kids.)

"...tens of hundreds..." Pardon me while I clean up from where I spit Coke through my nose.

MLS teams that continue to struggle simply have to understand that there are no magic formulas. You just have to work at it, and you have to work smart at it. That’s it. There’s all kinds of virtue in hustle, humility and a dogged desire to be better at what you do. You can’t just say you’re a kick-ass club determined to out-hustle, out-perform and out-smart the competition – you actually have to be a kick-ass club that out-hustles, out-performs and out-smarts the competition.

It's easy to see what teams fit that description as it's a rather short list recently. Dynamo are virtually the poster boys for this quality. The Chicago Fire qualify. Columbus Crew. Seattle Sounders. Who am I missing here? New England perhaps. DC United?

The problem is that you can’t just tell everybody that you’re "all that." Pretty soon, people figure it out. You actually have to be "all that." Just one "for instance:" One of Hitchcocks’ peeps was the genius behind the Hoops Nation campaign, one of the silliest ideas in the long, sad history of silly ideas.

Did anybody seriously believe there was a national groundswell to get on board with FC Dallas?

UHRFRGGGLE. Sorry. Coca Cola. Nose. Again.

Look, I could go on and on about bad print ads, nonsensical media buying strategies, ridiculously failed DP bids, money wasted on ballyhooed partnerships with foreign clubs, about running out of pizza countless times at Pizza Hut Park, about out-dated marketing strategies, about the long-term scourge of artificially inflated attendance numbers, about the mindless pursuit of the suburban family dollar, etc.

This time I had the good sense not to drink the soda before reading the "running out of pizza" line.

This is an excellent, excellent point, which Davis makes in other places in the piece. There are other discussions here about stadia, etc. But this is a serious point that applies here in Houston and on other discussions here. The stadium must be built downtown. PHP is a serious warning sign to all and sundry that a suburban stadium is a recipe for a disaster.

This is a brilliant piece from Davis and it should be required reading for MLS front offices, except perhaps Dynamo's because it's very clear that these are not the sort of mistakes made in the Republic of Orangia.

The worst defensive performance EVAH!

2009-09-24T11:26:00.003-05:00

12 goals AND penalties decided this game between Haaglandia/Winston and Excelsior Rotterdam in the KNVB Beker Tuesday.

This game was 2-2 at the half and then home side Haaglandia/Winston, went up 5-2, but anyone who thought it would be over at that point was wrong.

Very, very, amazingly wrong.

I heard about this listening to yesterday's World Football Daily podcast. Kenny Hassan thinks that if this is what we can expect, then every country should follow the Dutch lead and legalize pot right now.

Question: When you see this game, does it make it better while on pot, because just watching these highlights can make you more than a little swimmy.

MLS predictions: Out of the Fog and back to winning

2009-09-18T13:40:00.000-05:00

The Houston Dynamo are not the only ones suffering through a run of bad form in recent days. I need to come in out of the fog as well.

Three weeks ago, I was swimming along with a .452 prediction rate at 70-85, feeling pretty good about myself at 19 games above just throwing darts blindfold at a board. Since then, well, perhaps it would have been good for someone to give me a red card as well. In the last three weeks, I have gone 3-15 (2-5, 0-3 and 1-7), hardly the stuff that legends are made of.

(Of course, who was the person that predicted that FC Dallas (!) of all teams would drop a six spot on the LA Galaxy in the Home Depot Center or previously moribund las chivitas would destroy the New England Revulsion? Or, or, or... Not that I'm blaming others for my own suckitude, mind you. HAH!)

Anyway, I have six weeks to turn this puppy around, and hopefully that will begin this weekend. I need some kinda shot in the arm, and maybe Dynamo coming home for the first time in a month this weekend can return some of my mojo. Though, to be truthful, if I could just get a crystal ball that didn't have all of these hexagonal marks all over it, maybe I could see the future just a little clearer!

On to the weekend:

Last week: 1-7
Overall: 74-100 (.425 or 16 games over blind chance)

REVOLUTION at RED BULL. 2-1 New England OK, OK, Maybe I was being a bit bitter when I made that Revulsion crack above. No player makes more difference for New England than Shalrie Joseph (not even the estimable Stevie Ralston I would wager) and he was missing last week serving a red card suspension. This week, ShalJo is back and that ought to be enough for the Revs against NYRB. To be fair, New York has been playing better (even though they screwed the pooch against KC last week), and this is something of a rivalry game, so you really never know in those types of situations. The two teams do NOT like each other. But still, New England ought to have enough, even without the suspended Edgardus Jankauskuskuskuskuskus (his real name), and Wells Thompson to come home with full points.

RAPIDS at EARTHQUAKES 2-1 Colorado Hmmm. The Rapids play four of their final six games on the road. San Jose hasn't played since August. Colorado is without the thug Mastroeni (though perhaps the scum should learn from this Mastroeni about hitting someone). San Jose has made several roster moves recently and key players hurt. This one is hard to predict, except, oh, Conor Casey is playing? OK then, Colorado takes this one handily.

CHIVAS USA at SOUNDERS. 2-0 Seattle I'm sure the Amerigoats are all psyched up after pounding the Revs 2-0 last week. But I'll have to see more from them before I believe that their downward momentum has been reversed. A road win or draw at Qwest Field would convince me, but I just don't see it happening. Seattle is at full strength, coming off an impressive road win and very much in the Western title and playoff hunt. Both teams should share the same sense of urgency, but I think Seattle at home has more ability to do something about it than Chivas.

FC DALLAS at WIZARDS. 2-2 Draw Boy, what strange team this FC Frisco squad has turned out to be this year. From absolutely horrible to a pair of huge goal explosions, denying the Galaxy the top spot in the West with a six-pack of a road win with the last one, and total stink-up-the-place-itude in between. I have no idea what to make of that team. However, I also know what Kei Kamara can do when focused and motivated, which I assume he will be in his first game in KC. So I think this one is a total toss-up. My biggest prediction, this game will be unwatchable for long stretches.

TORONTO FC at GALAXY. 2-0 LAG Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Gals surrendered six goals to Frisco and Toronto took out a playoff-contender last week. You think that is going to happen again? I'm going with the safe bet here. Though this game has one of my favorite injury lines: FW Alecko Eskandarian (head). OOOH, my brain hurtzz.

REAL SALT LAKE at DYNAMO. 3-1 Orange Sometimes, when you reach rock bottom, you realize there is nowhere to go but up, and so you do. In the previous post, I went on at length about Dynamo's attempts to get out from under a blood red sky they seem to be under. And I would feel confident in their ability to accomplish same, but a quick look at the game preview shows me that the execrable Baldomero Toledo will be the ref Saturday night, so all bets are off. Still, my feeling is that the Kamara trade, Cam Weaver's return and a general feeling of homecoming will carry the Dynamo to the win here. That, and the fact that RSL is beyond horrible on the road. Just remember guys, 11 on, 11 off.

CREW at FIRE. 3-2 Chicago I think this is going to be a really good, really tough (maybe kinda chippy) legendary game. It was just a few weeks ago that I thought Chicago was about to be in the midst of a Chivas-like topple. And I am still not convinced that the team will go anywhere. However, Brian McBride is back. Sr. White is back. John Thorrington is back. Well, two out of three ain't bad y'know. Columbus is playing right now like the defending champion and the teams have tied in their two games this season, but I think Chicago knows this is the statement game, that the squad is for real as a title contender instead of just a talented pretender.

Orange and red. And red, and red, and red, and red, and...

2009-09-18T12:23:00.001-05:00

My old dad had a simple saying for me: "When you start something, finish it."

The Houston Dynamo could use a little bit of that right about now. Check out this little stat:

Red cards issued to Houston Dynamo in all competitions since the MLS All-Star Game: Eight
Red cards issued to Dynamo in all competitions before MLS All-Star Game: One (to Mike Chabala against NYRB in the 93rd minute April 11)

That truly is an amazing statistic. And now another one:

Dynamo record in all competitions before the avalanche of reds began: 11-7-6
Dynamo record in all competitions since: 3-4-3

Goals for and against since that same date: 11-13 (-2)
And before: 30-20 (+10)

Clearly, frustrations are winning through. And even though you can dispute many if not all of those red card decisions (three of course were in the Arabe Unido "game"), the fact is Dynamo has not been playing at anywhere near the form they showed in May, June and July. This current three game losing streak has the team looking several shades below title-quality.

So perhaps shedding the moody Kei Kamara and having his spot taken by El Escorpion and Cam the Killer Weaver will help. Kamara's sudden departure reminds me of the Rockets' elision of Vernon Maxwell prior to their 1995 title run. We can only hope for such a similar happy ending this time around.

The thing that makes this so frustrating from the stands is that this team clearly is among the league elite. When their form is on, there is no other team in MLS that can hang with them. The mental and defensive toughness, skill , precision and flair that have always been part of the Orange Way are all still there. But this challenge is unlike any I have seen the team face since coming to Houston in 2006. Champions adjust, and only time will tell whether this team will be able to do so. Finishing more scoring chances than you surrender would be a good start, though. Landin and Ching each missed clear chances in Columbus last week.

As for the Kamara trade, a few thoughts:

He clearly wasn’t enamored of the Landin signing (as Kyle McCarthy points out in this article on Goal.com) , especially since Landin would fill Kei’s spot opposite Ching. Once Landin signed, Kamara started his sulk. And we all know how much time Dom has for players who sulk.

Finances are always a big deal. The guy was going to be out of contract at the end of the year and he clearly wanted more money. If they did not deal him now, they would have gotten nothing for him after the season. Now, you could argue that Abe Thompson isn’t that much above nothing (and you’d be right), but Abe Thompson’s contract plus the allocation dough they got in this deal is more than they would have gotten had they allowed Kamara to play out his contract and let him leave because they weren’t going to pay him what he wanted.

The forward situation is not really all that dire right now, even without Kamara. In addition to Ching, you have Cam Weaver, who works better with Ching than Kamara did anyway, and Landin, with former FC Worthless teammates Thompson and Dominic Oduro (the latter of which I have no faith in) coming off the end of the bench. That’s three players playing in two spots and two more guys pushing from behind. Where was Kamara going to fit into that picture, especially since he was sulking?

Don’t get me wrong. I liked Kei Kamara and thought he was yet one more successful reclamation project from the Canetti/Kinnear/Spencer pipeline. But I think Weaver has more upside, has shown more killer instinct for the ball and the goal and like the tandem of Ching/Weaver/Landin more than Ching/sulky Kamara/Landin/Weaver.

Now this does not include a look at next year, when this team could be fundamentally altered. I’m thinking both Clark and Holden will be gone and Ching’s effectiveness will be even more on the wane as he ages. Right now, I think at this time next year you could be looking a lineup like this:

Weaver-Landin
Ashe-Davis-Cameron-Mullan
Chabala-Robinson-Boswell-Hainault

With a bench of: Ching, Cochrane, Mulrooney, Barrett, Danny Cruz

Plus whatever moves might also be made.

For now though, the focus is on getting on form, winning games and taking big points. That and trying to make sure that everyone who starts the game finishes it. After all, it's all about finishing isn't it?

Fare thee well Smooth Kei-riminal

2009-09-15T20:14:00.004-05:00

Finances are finances and realities are realities. I personally think that Kei Kamara had his limitations as a striker, and we all know what they were and need no further enumeration.

However, the man's sense of fun is something I'll definitely miss. That big kid sure knows how to entertain.

I wish you well Kei. Enjoy KC.

Emerging out of the vortex

2009-09-11T11:33:00.004-05:00

Not even the Guardian of Forever can bring me back far enough in the past for this it seems. Man, do the last two weeks feel like an eternity or what? It seems like forever since Dynamo last played a game, instead of the two weeks since the loss to Colorado.

Hopefully, plenty has changed over that time, and if you need a positive sign, there's this from the Boz' Facebook page on Sept. 4:

Prolly the hardest 2 days of practice I have had since joining the Dynamo.

So apparently Dom and Spence have been working the guys hard these past two weeks and we'll see this weekend what they have to show for it. I know for a fact that this is a team that generally saves the best for the stretch run, but it doesn't get much tougher in MLS right now than a road game in Columbus (the half-strength Crew's loss to NYRB there in August notwithstanding).

As for those Dynamen who did not get much of a layoff, namely Brian Ching, the Goalden One and Super Rico, as a Dynafan myself, I couldn't be happier with the amount of work they received in the El Salvador and T&T wins. Ching is never better than when he's pissed off, and not getting any significant PT in those wins is bound to gnaw at him. Stewie barely played in T&T and should be well-rested and ready for Columbus. Rico, meanwhile, had a workmanlike effort in T&T before blowing in his howitzer of a golazo and did not even suit up for the El Salvador game (another of Bob Bradley's mystery lineup decisions). So while I was worrying two weeks ago that they would resume MLS play tired, I now see my concerns were unfounded. Nice that.

Speaking of World Cup Qualifying, all I have to say is that I'm glad we don't play Mexico anymore. Talk about a woken up squad. Even with the subpar performance against Honduras in Azteca this past week, El Tri is studly right now and easily playing the best of any team in CONCACAF. With games left only against El Salvador and the Soca Warriors, while the US has a road game in Honduras and home against Costa Rica, I fully expect Mexico to win the Hexagonal and the US to finish second. That is unless our Nats come out with a monster game in Honduras. We'll see.

Now, on to the weekend. I love the stretch run in MLS. I wish dearly that the Supporter's Shield was a bigger deal, which I don't think will happen until you change its name. The season champ should be called the Season Champion, while the postseason minitourney should stay MLS Cup. That being said, I also like the postseason tourney, the playoffs, whatever you want to call it. This period from now until mid-November is a lot of fun, and if it gets colored Orange, even more so.

Last week: 0-3 (Yes, you read it right. My first ever 0-fer week. Oh the shame!)
Overall: 73-93 (.440, or 18 games over blind chance)

WIZARDS at DC UNITED last Wednesday In my last post on Wednesday, you'll see that I predicted a DCU win and as it turns out I was right, so I'm already ahead of last week. Baby steps.

RAPIDS at TORONTO FC. 1-0 Colorado In the back end of the home-and-home, the situation could not be more dire for the Reds. Adrian Serioux is out with a red, Dichio just retired and de Guzman isn't there yet, Toronto is falling behind in the playoff chase and what's worse, Baldomero Toledo is the ref of this game. (RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!) That last one affects both teams, but I think Toronto's only hope is that De Rosario just goes wild. Haven't seen it yet, so I've got to give it to the team playing well.

WIZARDS at RED BULL NEW YORK 2-1 NY The win against New England and the close loss to DC notwithstanding, I still am not believing that KC is all that. Add to that the fact that they will be one of the only MLS teams this weekend not rested and I see New York's resurgence continuing.

SOUNDERS at DC UNITED 1-1 Draw This is going to be a slugfest. The USOC championship game did not end well for DC and that is not a team that has responded well to adversity this year. Not only that, Seattle is (Yes, I'm going to say it), a chippy, bordering on dirty team, and in this contest they will be playing with a collective chip on their shoulders. Someone (or perhaps more than one someone) is going to get carried off the field in this one.

FIRE at RSL. 2-1 Chicago RSL is already shorthanded with Morales and now without Beckerman and Grabavoy, who are suspended, their lack of depth will be exposed. I'm not sure Chicago is good enough to blow out this team on the road, but they're definitely better than RSL.

FC DALLAS at LA GALAXY 1-0 LAG I hate to write that as it would mean that the Gals, no matter how temporary, would leapfrog both Dynamo and Crew in the Supporter's Shield race, but come on now, what other prediction even makes sense. Eskandarian, Buddle and Kovalenko are out for the Gals, but Frisco is just not a very good team right now. Maybe they'll pull it together and the resuscitation of Cunningham will carry them, but if I had money on this game, it's very simple who I would take.

REVOLUTION at CHIVAS USA. 2-0 New England This will be the point at which it all unravels for las chivitas. Galindo and Saragosa are out for the Goatlings, while the Revs are without Shalrie Joseph on suspension, but this hurts Chivas more than the Revs. Here's a fun fact from MLSnet: Chivas USA have not defeated the Revolution since June 30, 2007, a stretch of four matches. NE has won the last three meetings between the teams, with shutouts in the last two, including the 2-0 win July 19 this year. Make those numbers five, four and possibly three.

DYNAMO at CREW. 2-1 Houston Brad Davis is out, which means the midfield delivery might be suspect for the Orange, but then again, maybe that brings us Landin's first start (Dale Escorpion!). My head tells me that this is a draw for Houston, but my heart says to go with the win for the boys. If Dynamo wins this game, they'll deserve the Supporter's Shield.

Howard Power and tonight's qualifier links

2009-09-09T11:08:00.005-05:00

This just about sums up everything I'm thinking tonight.

I am sick to the teeth of the US playing so shakily the last few games. Just good enough just is not good enough for me. So I'm getting a bit nervous. But Tim "Greatest American Hero" Howard seems to working the problem, or so he says here.

I have to admit, I've been so busy to start this September that my footy blogging has been somewhat limited limited to whatever I can put together or crib here and there. So that wonderful piece of art up top is courtesy of The Offside Rules, yet one more footy blog that is on my short list of those I check almost every day. I can't recommend SF's work enough.

Also, if you're looking for a clearinghouse of sites previewing tonight's game, check out the always-great du Nord.

Prediction tonight: USA 3, T&T 1

(And tonight, I also see that there is an MLS game going on opposite the US MNT AGAIN!!!!!!! I ignore these games that don;t involve Dynamo because I think scheduling like this is an abomination. But just to keep my predictions as complete as possible, here's the one for tonight: DC UNITED 3, KC WIZARDS 2. More on this in my MLS prediction post later this week.)

Happy 30th birthday ESPN

2009-09-07T13:07:00.001-05:00

Now get some more MLS on there and there's nowhere to go but up.

Great, great feed for the winner

2009-09-07T09:04:00.000-05:00

It's worth seeing Jozy's winning goal again. What a great feed from Landon Donovan.

Three and a Big One. Weekend picks

2009-09-04T11:43:00.007-05:00

So I was reading an excellent piece from Steve Davis (link here) about the US-El Salvador game tomorrow at Big Sandy. Davis speculates about line-up options for the US and also includes this little tidbit:

(Brian) Ching is almost sure to be in the lineup. His ability to rattle around and make things happen by winning second balls will be critical against what is sure to be a crowded Salvadoran defensive third.

He also mentions that Rico Clark and Goalden Holden are likely to see time. And it doesn't take a genius to see that all three will play as well at Hasley Crawford Stadium in T&T on Wednesday.

So the point I'm winding around to is that while it is nice for Dynamo to have this week off to get set for a serious September-November run (more on those in a sec) and rest, three crucial cogs in the Orange Machine won't be taking any rest at all. It all goes back to that eternal soccer conflict of Club v. Country. In a tortured fashion, I usually wind up on the side of club emotionally. Let's face it, I frequently watch US games that involve Dynamo players and wonder how it will affect Dynamo, but I rarely ever see a Dynamo game and wonder how it'll affect the US MNT. Does this mean I did not scream myself nearly hoarse when Charlie Davies found net at Azteca? Hell no. I'm just confessing my sins as an American that's all.

So, that being said, I also think the US will roll over El Salvador and Benedict Arnold Alvarez in Utah. (And no, my admission of a C v. C conflict up there does not DQ me from making that comment about Arturo, who dumped my alma mater St. Thomas HS to attend Katy Mayde Creek. If that guy goes all Giuseppe Rossi on us, his record of ever having attended STHS will be purged. Take that!) The key will be, as Davis pointed out in his piece, to get through ES' defensive shell because you know almost no member of that team will venture beyond midfield. So pinpoint passing will be key. That's why I think Rico might get subbed early in the second half if it's still 0-0 and also why I included that piece about the Flyin' Hawaiian above.

The US will take this game 2-0 handily, though there will be a few scary moments, especially with Onyewu sitting out.

As for the Wednesday game in Warneristan, check this out, courtesy of duNord:

Nine USA players are carrying Yellow Card cautions into the El Salvador match, meaning their next Yellow will trigger a one-game suspension: Jozy Altidore, Carlos Bocanegra, Conor Casey, Steve Cherundolo, Ricardo Clark, Jay DeMerit, Clint Dempsey, Donovan, and Benny Feilhaber.

That is muy mucho amarilla. But, on the Orange side, if Rico sees yellow, he's that much fresher for the Supporter's Shield battle at Columbus Sept. 13. So at least we have that going for us, whoever us is at any given moment.

On to MLS play, there are three games this weekend, with very little impact on Dynamo's fortunes. Maybe in terms of playoff foes, but that's about it. And two of the games are being played AT THE EXACT SAME TIME as the US/El Salvador game. I have written frequently in the past that I think this is a disgrace on MLS' part. You're telling me that these games could not have all been played on either Friday night, Saturday afternoon or Sunday? Three lousy games and two of them have to run opposite the United States? No need to continue this rant as it has fallen on deaf ears from the mouths of various and sundry in MLS HQ for years now, but the point has to be made every so often that when the National Team plays, everyone else on the pyramid stops what they're doing and watches. This is a simple lesson and they need to learn it.

On to the picks

Last week: 2-5
Overall: 73-90 (.448 or 19 games over blind chance)

WIZARDS at REVOLUTION 2-0 New England The Revs have the best record in the league since mid June and, let's be honest, do you see any reason why they wouldn't win at home against a Wizards team that has completely quit? You fire the coach because you can't fire the players, but Onalfo wasn't really the reason for KC's demise. The guy now coaching, Vermes, put that team on the field, and now he's reaping his own private whirlwind. The Wizards have an, ahem, broken wand.

DC UNITED at FC DISASTROUS. 2-0 Frisco This would normally be a tough one to predict, but I think DCU's loss in the US Open Cup, especially the Wicks incident, is going to haunt that squad. DC hasn't been an especially brilliant road team, and while Frisco is worse without Drew Moor than with him (think about THAT for a second), they clearly are playing with nothing to lose. DCU is the better team, but I think they will not be focused and Frisco will slip in there. I don't normally pick Frisco to win anything at all (and I'm usually right!), but this time, I'm thinking it's going to fall right for them. The applause, er, the few claps, er, the echoes will be deafening.

TORONTO FC at RAPIDS. 2-1 Reds I finally saw the hit that Mastroeni put on Hainault last week. Wow. Rarely do I get intensely ticked off at something that happened several days ago, but seeing that little punk writhing on the ground, clearly faking the whole thing since he had just leveled someone, just sent me over the edge. I dearly, dearly hope we get to play the Crapids in the first round of the playoffs to administer a little frontier justice. Two games is not enough for that hit. He should be banned for the season. So is that emotion coloring my pick here? Maybe. But let's consider the situation a bit. Colorado is out all four Cs (Colin Clark and Conor "Wisdom Teeth" Casey), out that punk I mentioned above, and plugging in the newly-acquired Drew Moor in place of Ugo Ihemelu, a step down. Toronto is rested and ready and missing only Amado Guevara. I think TFC will get a rare road win here and restart their push for a playoff berth. One other factor: DDR will be a beast in this game. He loves playing in Colorado.

Finally, some actions taken on bad refereeing

2009-09-03T13:17:00.005-05:00

2008 MLS Referee of the Year Jair Marrufo (pictured above with Sr. White), Michael Kennedy (hearing it from Jay Heaps to the left and below there) and the reliably bad Abbey Okulaja (who is so bad I will not stoop to searching the Internet for an image of him)have all been suspended for the rest of the season by the USSF.

Steve Goff in his Soccer Insider blog (link here) reported this was going on. Here's Goff's blog entry from Tuesday:

3 MLS Refs Done for Season

Three veteran referees, including 2008 MLS referee of the year Jair Marrufo, will not be assigned to any more MLS matches this season, the Insider has learned.

Marrufo was removed from the assignment rotation for "poor performances" over the course of the season, according to the U.S. Soccer Federation, which oversees officiating in American leagues. Meantime, Michael Kennedy and Abbey Okulaja have been sidelined for failing midseason fitness tests that involve sprints and long-distance running. Kennedy and Okulaja cannot work in any competitions the rest of the year. Marrufo, a FIFA referee, remains eligible for other events.

According to Insider research, Marrufo has not worked an MLS match since June 24. Okulaja has been out since July 18 and Kennedy since July 25. Kennedy was a finalist for MLS referee of the year in 2006 and '08. Marrufo won last year and was a finalist the year before. Okulaja won in 2004 and was runner-up in '05.

This year Kennedy was the referee in 11 games and the fourth official in four; Okulaja seven in each role; and Marrufo seven as the referee.

Kennedy and Okulaja will not have the opportunity to be tested again until before next season. Marrufo's status as a full-time referee employed by the USSF -- Ricardo Salazar, Baldomero Toledo and Terry Vaughn are the others -- will be evaluated.

Earlier this year, Marrufo was suspended two matches by the USSF for accepting Chicago star Cuauhtemoc Blanco's jersey after a game. In June, he was cited for stopping a game in Houston to administer a water break, and in March he was criticized for allowing play to continue after two D.C. United players suffered head injuries in a collision.

By Steve Goff | September 1, 2009; 8:33 PM ET

Personally, I couldn't be happier. "Water break" Marrufo has been beyond odious this season, while Kennedy and Okulaja were just their normal standards of horrid. My only regret is that Baldomero Toledo (below), he of the phantom goal call against us in Seattle and thus defeinitely off of Mike Chabala's Christmas Card list, was not on that list.

Hopefully, this will be the beginning of a real turnaround. Though I am not holding my breath.

Nine weeks to go and counting

2009-08-28T13:16:00.002-05:00

So it's happened once again, CONCACAF Champions League play distracted me from MLS and I missed a midweek game, RSL's 4-0 dismantling of Chivas USA. I think these are the soccer gods' balancing the ledger in a way. Last week, the game I missed I would have picked the other direction. This time, the game I missed I would indeed have picked correctly. So now the books are balanced and I'll endeavor not miss any more games over the next nine weeks.

Much has been written by me and others about the joke that was the refereeing in the Arabe Unido game this past Wednesday, and what it says about both CONCACAF Champions League and CONCACAF itself. One final comment before moving on: It's a teachable moment for all concerned. The lessons are there to be learned and perhaps something good will come out of the whole thing. The key point for Dynamo is that the team got a point on the road, still the only MLS team to do that in group play. So now we move on to Pachuca and the future.

OK, on to MLS. According to Sports Club Stats (and huge kudos to the always excellent Dan Loney for pointing me over thataways. He almost has me becoming a LAG fan, though not quite.): Here are the current probabilities of securing MLS playoff berths:

Crew - 99.7%
Dynamo - 99.3%
Fire - 97.8%
Galaxy - 91.8%
CD Chivas - 88.1%
Sounders - 70.5%
Rapids - 70.2%
Revolution - 69.5%
Real Salt Lake - 38.6%
D.C. United - 38.4%
Toronto FC - 32.6%
Wizards - 1.8%
FC Dallas - 1.5%
Earthquakes - 0.1%
Red Bulls - Out

Hard to argue with most of that, though here's hoping DeRo can get his Reds to climb that ladder and take out RSL. However, he'll have to get a result this weekend in Seattle to do it. More on that in a sec. And team most likely to turn an 88.1 percenter into complete hash? Translates to an English word that rhymes with throat (as in choke).

So it's with this situation in mind that we get on to the Week 24 predictions:

Last week: 3-5
Overall: 70-85 (.452 or 18 games over blind chance)

TORONTO FC at SOUNDERS 2-0 Seattle All I have to say is that Ljungberg pouts in the kind of performance he had here at Robertson last week, then Toronto has no chance. The only one there tough enough to neutralize him is Adrian Serioux, who is out through yellow accumulation (a common occurrence for the guy, no?). Honestly, other than just a flat performance from the home side, I don't see a bad road team like the Reds making it out of Qwest Field with any kind of favorable result. But De Rosario has made a habit of proving people wrong before.

EARTHQUAKES at REVOLUTION. 3-0 New England Another one that looks from the outside to be a real yawner. New England is doing something they haven't done in two years, playing with a real killer edge. Saan Jose, on the other hand, needed an injury time goal from Wondo (Nice one Chris!) to escape the Wizards at home last week. I hope it's an eastern conference final of Columbus and New England in November. That might just be one for the ages (and soften up the survivor to play Dynamo in the HDC a week later, maybe?)

DC UNITED at FIRE 1-1 Draw Last week I predicted that the Chicago/Colorado game would represent the unraveling of the Fire this season, and I was about 12 minutes away from being right! Then of course, the Crapids put out the "Vacancy" sign over the goal and the rest is history. (Bruce Banner scored a score for the Fire? Great, MLS gets Banner, while FC Porto has Hulk. Typical.)

REAL SALT LAKE at WIZARDS. 1-1 Draw Sometimes you just have to make a prediction about which you have no confidence at all. To be honest, I have no idea about this one. The Wizards are woeful, but then again, once they hit the road, so is RSL. So I'll give them each an ugly goal and walk away. Quickly.

las chivitas at GALAXY 2-0 LAG Goat meat man. I saw how many people were suddenly and predictably, saying that Preki's boys had turned it around by dominating the Little Sister of the Poor (aka RBNY and a road weary TFC) and bringing in Jesus Padilla. Then they get completely dismantled by RSL 4-0 the other night. Watch those highlights and you tell me what kind of team that truly is over there. The free fall for the Amerigoats continues as they're never really in this game. Afterwards, look for the same people to openly question whether Preki will last to the end of the season. (However, for Orange purposes, I'm hoping for a 0-0 draw here. Priorities.)

DYNAMO at CRAPIDS 2-1 Orange The Scorpion strikes! Landin will be a beast here, and I look for him to start alongside Ching after that brutal game in Panama on Wednesday for Kamara. Colorado may be putting that late loss to Chicago in the rear view mirror, but they have never played well against Dynamo either on the road or at home. And with Colin Clark out for the season and Conor Casey coming back from a thigh strain, how much does that team miss the playmaking ability and deadly crosses of Terry Cooke? A needed three for Dynamo here.

NYRB at CREW. 5-0 Columbus Scoring a late winner against Dallas is one thing (I still haven't stopped laughing about that game. Feeling down? Check out the highlights again. It's the gift that keeps on giving.), but coming into Columbus and getting a result. Post-JSO or no, this is not a team capable of that. Now c'mon Juan Pablo, prove me wrong. I'll buy and wear a Colombia jersey if you do.

A whole new level of propaganda

2009-08-28T11:47:00.004-05:00

Champions League | Video | Highlights Video | Highlights Video

Click on that link above, my friends, to see how you whitewash the incredible disaster that was that CCL game the other night. In a game with 11 yellows and five dismissals, you'd look at this highlight reel and think: "Wow! Wotta game!"

I think there are dictatorships around the world who have propaganda departments aching for whomever put this video together for CONCACAF.

(Only thing is, just who is this "KEL KAMARA" guy?)

CCL as dysfunctional as CONCACAF itself, but need it be so?

2009-08-27T13:41:00.007-05:00

The CONCACAF Champions League, it's now obvious, is little more than the lab experiment that proves just how dysfunctional CONCACAF has become under the reign of Jack Warner.

In a wonderful discussion over at Match Fit USA, Jason Davis points out that the "CONCAJOKE Champions League" brings up this question:

Why should the US, and by extension MLS, want to remain in a confederation that allows environments that condone criminal behavior (at least I hope throwing bodily fluids at someone is a crime elsewhere in the region), officiating that is so poor it makes a mockery of the game, and a general disregard for order and properly conducted sporting events?

After Dynamo's experience (seems odd to call it a soccer game) in Panama last night, the frustration is palpable. The thing is, last night at Estadio Agustín Muquita Sanchez showed to all concerned that the CCL is indeed a joke, but right now it's the only thing we've got.

The question is, will it continue to be a lost cause? If it is to be saved, then (a) the impetus and dollars for salvation will have to come from the United States, and (b) Jack Warner's unquestioned hold on CONCACAF will have to end. And these two items will have to interplayed.

Regarding the first, it is clearly in MLS', and thus US Soccer's, interest to keep the tournament going, as well as earn a Club World Cup berth with the title. Without it, MLS will have no meaningful international competition, which will mean it's development path as a league will be retarded to say the least.

As for a rebellion in Warneristan, it will have to be accomplished through an alliance of the FMF and US Soccer. Only the banding together of the two biggest beasts in CONCACAF, presenting a united front, will wrest control away from Jack Warner, and the disproportionate voice he has given to the minnows of CONCACAF. When it comes to government, I am an unabashed democrat, power to the people and everything. But in business associations like this, Mexico and the United States are THE powers in the region and they need to exert that power jointly against the common foe. This is not to downplay the quality of Costa Rica, Honduras and the like. It is in their interest to join a Mexico/US-led rebellion.

Is there any indication at all that Mexico and the US will work together on this level? Well, to be honest, very little that I can see. However, the ground can very well be prepared for the erection of such an edifice, and it happens as MLS and the FMF teams relate in an atmosphere of mutual respect, similar to Nixon and Brezhnev for those of us who remember the Cold War. Pachuca and Dynamo, for example, have such a relationship, born in the fires of the old CONCACAF Champions Cup and SuperLiga. If US Soccer and the FMF can meet in the same sense (probably not until after World Cup qualifying, the Jack Warner's reign of terror can finally end.

With Mexico and US working together, we may just get a meaningful CCL, fair competition between the Mexican and US club teams, as well as other comparably skilled club teams from around the region, events in which clubs from other countries will want to come over here and play, liberation from CONMEBOL's American hemispheric hegemony. I mean, why should the Mexican and US teams have to go to South America's corruption-filled territory to play in the Copa Lib or Sudamericana? We should make them come here.

And this is only going to happen if the FMF and US Soccer realize their joint interest in making it happen. Otherwise, we get, and continue to enjoy, the CONCACAF we have today.

Air Mullan sez: Welcome to Houston

2009-08-21T12:42:00.001-05:00

Found this piece of information over at the very excellent site Du Nord. If you haven't checked out Du Nord, what the heck are you waiting for?

When I was flying home from Mexico City last Saturday we stopped off in Houston, and had to go through customs there. As we approached the main terminal there was a huge "Welcome To Houston Texas" sign. It featured images of the city skyline and natural beauty. It also featured aspects of the area's culture. But what surprised me was the image of a pro sports athlete representing the city. Was it a member of the Houston Astros baseball team? No. Was it a member of the Houston Rockets basketball team? Nope. How about the Houston Texans football team? No again. It was none other than Brian Mullan of the Houston Dynamo soccer team decked out in the customary orange shirt. Very cool indeed.

Il Brucio. That's just how we roll!!

Nine minus one, Week 23 (!) predictions

2009-08-20T16:41:00.003-05:00

(Thanks to Nigel Brooks for that image.)

So what with the CONCACAF Champions League game last night, as well as El Escorpion's signing (which may just be even better than this Orange Scorpion), it completely missed my notice that there was indeed an MLS game last night. Not only that, it's one that has some import on Dynamo.

Chicago proved once again how eminently beatable they are at home, losing 2-0 to the Gals on goals from Mike Magee (Did you see his cutback before putting it on frame? Sick.) and Landon. LAG is now only five points back of Dynamo with a game in hand. They could be two points back as they also play Saturday, this time with that British guy we've all been hearing so much about back in midfield.

The LAG-Fire game was the first of an amazing nine MLS contests in Week 23. (Hey, I had no idea about all this weird stuff about the number 23. One ironclad rule about religious sociology, humans will believe anything.) So without further ado, let's get after it.

Last week: 3-3 (with one game, the Amerigoats' 2-0 pasting of NYRB, exactly right!)
Overall: 67-80 (.456, or 18 games above blind chance)

REVOLUTION at SOUNDERS. 2-1 Seattle The Revs are without Stevie Nicol on the bench again, while the Sounders are without Tyrone Marshall on the field. You tell me which is worse. As the game goes on and New England looks around, seeing another team with NFL ties but playing to a packed house, Seattle will get behind them and score. High hopes: If Fredy Montero gets a yellow, he sits this weekend. Same for migraine boy Ljungberg (assuming he plays at all). (And I do not in any way disparage migraine suffering. My wife gets those and they are not anything to dismiss out of hand.) But with Baldomero "Dynamo-killer" Toledo blowing the whistle, watch him award yellow to every Sounder except Montero.

GALAXY at DC UNITED. 1-0 DCU Hmmm. I meant to write "1-0 LAG" there and for some reason my hands revolted and typed DCU. OK then. I go with my hands. Still, LA has been great recently while DC has been rubbish. Did you see their loss against Toronto last week? Best not. But DC is always tough at home, and since they really played only half a game against Maraton, maybe they're rested. Whatever. Go DC, I guess.

WIZARDS at EARTHQUAKES. 2-0 San Jose Slowly, as the game goes on, it begins to down on Peter Vermes that Curt Onalfo was probably the least of KC's problems. To quote Donald O'Connor in Singin' in the Rain, "She can't sing, she can't dance and she can't act. She's the triple threat." They'll make San Jose look good, no mean feat.

TORONTO FC at CHIVAS USA. 2-1 las chivitas Jesus Padilla, that Americano, will perform well, but what really leads to this result is that the Reds are terrible on the road. Chivas finally broke their long, looong non-winning streak in Giants Stadium last week, but then again, isn't a game against NYRB that just what any doctor would order when presented with a streak like that? Anyway, where was I, OH YEAH! This game. Chivas struggles and maybe DeRo bombs another one over Zach Thornton (like this one), but the Amerigoats should win this one.

FC FRISCO at NYRB. 2-0 Dallas Did you see that game that NYRB played against Chivas last week? This team really is as bad as all that. So candystripers, this one's for you.

RAPIDS at FIRE 1-1 Draw So is this the weekend that Chicago's 2009 dream goes down the tubes? First Soumare and Hamlett dust it up in the locker room, then the Galaxy embarrass them, and then finally Colorado comes in and grabs a draw (and possibly a win, which is what I wanted to pick at first before I changed it). Very possibly. To be fair, the fire is still only four points back of the idle Crew (Idle? In a weekend with nine games!!?!?!??) this weekend, and with a win here will be putting serious pressure on the East leaders. But I think you'll see the difference in the East between the Crew and everyone else here.

REAL SALT LAKE at REVOLUTION 1-0 New England Just like I said about the Sounders last week, I will not pick RSL to win a road match until they do it. (And look how that worked out. Hmmm.) And I am sticking with that, even against a hobbled and overworked Revolution team.

SOUNDERS at DYNAMO. 3-1 Houston No matter how they did last week, I don't think the Sounders, playing their second game in three days, are going to be able to walk into Robertson and pull off a win here. Landin may or may not have much time to train with his new teammates, but if he does play, pairing with the Flyin' Hawaiian up front and Holden directing the service (Did you see that ball last night that led to the goal? I've watched it today five times just to see it again. Wow.), I think Dynamo will overwhelm Seattle at home. Added to that is that Dynamo really is none too happy with Seattle after those two short-handed losses against them a few weeks ago. Orange trumps green here.

Viva el Escorpion!

2009-08-20T14:25:00.003-05:00

My one-word response to the Luis Angel Landin signing: Si.

Akinbiyi was the player released to make room for Landin. I said all along that Akinbiyi would be crucial to Dynamo this year. What I meant, I guess, was his roster spot!!

MLS quick picks for Week 22

2009-08-13T12:45:00.000-05:00

GottapickgottapickgonnapicksomewinnersrightnowOKOKOKhereIgo!!!!!!!!!

Rules this week: No thinking. Just go, go, go.

Last week: 3-3
year to date: 64-77 (.454 or 17 games above blind chance)

DC UNITED at TORONTO FC. 1-1 draw DeRo scores early, but DC United comes back because, let's face it, Stefan Frei's rookie aura is wearing off.

CHIVAS USA at RED BULL NEW YORK. 2-0 las chivitas Finally, Chivas find a team it can beat. But you know, I'm not 100 percent certain that Chivas isn't playing worse than NY currently. Still, I'm no dummy, and the rules this week are simple, first reaction is the one I go with.

FC FRISCO at CREW. 2-1 Columbus Frisco scores late goal, but never seriously threaten.

DYNAMO at REAL SALT LAKE 2-1 Orange Hmmm, can Jason Kreis survive the season? I don't think he's going to get fired. I think that one more bad call from an MLS ref and he's going to have a coronary right on the spot! Goal-den Holden makes the same cross he made in Azteca, only this time the taller Kei Kamara connects in a way that Charlies Davies could not.

SOUNDERS at GALAXY. 2-0 LA Seattle has to actually win a road game before I pick them to do so.

FIRE at WIZARDS. 2-1 Fire Peter Vermes era starts off well in the first half, but Fire introduce dose of reality in the second.

A hearty congratulations to El Tri

2009-08-13T08:44:00.002-05:00

Definitely not the result I wanted (as detailed by my previous posts on this site!), but a well-deserved result for Mexico at Azteca yesterday.

Very enjoyable game by two well-matched sides. Among the few things I noticed while watching on mun2:

() Phil Schoen again showed me that he is the best soccer play-by-play guy in the US. If you don't have GolTV, get it now. I know it's a physical impossibility, but if it were up to me, Schoen would broadcast every single soccer game I can ever watch. He's that good. Marcelo Balboa, on the other hand, who I generally am OK with, did not have a good game. Listening to him, I was starting to get altitude sickness. Enough already.

() Very pleasantly surprised to see Stuart Holden hit the field. Even more exited to see him play well. His cross to Davies was a thing of beauty. If Charlie's noggin connects, we're talking about a different game, that's for sure.

() I thought Aguirre's move to sub out Blanco very early in the second half was a stroke of genius. After going the full 90 here on Sunday and then coming back and playing very well in the first half (assisting on the goal), it's clear he was going to be a liability as the game went on. Nice move there.

() I thought Brian Ching had a substandard game, but then again, it's not like he got much in the way of delivery.

() We all know Mexico was going to dominate possession, but the US' constant clearances to nobody was very irritating. The handful of times the US put together 3-4 passes in succession, they looked dangerous. The whole rest of the time, it was frustrating in its ineffectualness. Boys, see those other guys in the white shirts? Yes, pass to them. (Here's your chum.)

() Someone else posted this (somewhere), and it's a minor point, but I kind of wish Bob Bradley would wear a suit on the sidelines. He looks like a college coach out there. Maybe that's just me.

() Best news about the whole thing, with Honduras' 4-0 thrashing of leader Costa Rica, The US is still in second place in the Hexagonal. Standings here. Brian Zygo mentioned that he would like to see Mexico play the CONMEBOL fifth-place team in a qualifier. And while that might be throwing cold water on El Tri fans after yesterday, I have only one thing to say: Better them that us.

Don't tread, a manifesto

2009-08-11T21:21:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Brian Zygo for reminding me about this one. Go, go, go Yoo-ess-effin-ayyyyyyyyy!

US/Mexico prediction, ESPN and me

2009-08-11T13:55:00.004-05:00

Prediction time for US/Mex Wednesday.

(And if you're having trouble seeing this video above, visit this link: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4388679)

And for more on Howard Power, click here: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4390199 Or watch it below.

I was on record on Glenn's program last night as saying that it's hard to look at the various factors and predict anything other than a Mexican victory tomorrow. However, as anyone who regularly reads my predictions know, for better or (mostly) worst, I rarely listen to the voices out there other than the ones in my head (and what they are saaying now!! Woo-hoo. What are YOU lookin' at?!?).

Anyway, for no reason that I can detail, I will now go on record with my pick: United States 2-1.

Feel free to pick me apart.

Wake up poster-makers. It's time to put something together

2009-08-10T19:06:00.000-05:00

If you like this, then check out soccer blog extraordinaire duNord for a primer on how to make them yourself.

Future Shockers: Silverland exodus; Thierry Henry to Houston?; Weekend

2009-08-06T11:28:00.011-05:00

So branching out from the usual look at just this weekend's festivities, let's move into some present weirdnesses and see what the crystal bowl is showing us now about events around the bend (or off the deep end, as the case may be).

1. The indefinite delay of the Argentine Primera Division's 2009 Clausura season (read that story here), which is absolutely shocking to me. Does this mean that there will suddenly be an outflow of Argentine players to leagues around the world? Will the January transfer window be Argentina Month? I just am having a hard time wrapping my head around this one. Here's what The Offside-Argentina has to say about it:

Julio Grondona has put his considerably heavy foot down and delayed the start of the season until clubs pay all the money that they owe to their players. In the Primera seven clubs owe around $30 million to various players. Those clubs - Independiente, Racing, River, Newells, San Lorenzo, Central and Huracan. Another $10 million is owed by 15-ish clubs in the B.

The total amount owed could be higher, because only the amounts reported to organization responsible for protecting the players rights is being counted. Most of the clubs mentioned are springing into action (and by that I mean hocking their grandmothers) to erase the debt and maintain the current start of the season.

So my prediction: A few teams in the bottom of the table go bankrupt and a coalition of Boca, River Plate, Estudiantes and one or two others combine to solve the problem. That or the whole league goes under and there will never be another club match in Argentina. (But I'd got with "A".)

2. Barca's tour through the US and Henry coming to Houston. I have said for a long time that if I can start a rumor that Thierry Henry is coming to Dynamo, I will have accomplished my goal as a blogger. There are plenty of reasons why he should: A top quality organization, easily the class of MLS. A multicultural city with a sizable French population. Close proximity to his good friend Tony Parker. He was already wearing orange last night in Seattle (Though a shade you can see from the Space Station. Wow.)

So help me out here and spread the word: Thierry Henry is coming to Houston. Thierry Henry is coming to Houston. Thierry Henry to Houston.

3. You know, for a team that has never won a CONCACAF Champions League game, and just had the dubious honor of advancing in CCL without winning, this site here is pretty hubristic, which just makes me all aglow over having watched Dynamo punk them last week. So the question is: Will an MLS team other than Dynamo win a CCL game this time around? My guess is yes, but it'll be Columbus vs. PR Islanders. The schedule, etc. can be found here.

4. The madness continues. Last week was proof positive that if you use my predictions of the future as the basis of any actual cash wager, then there is little hope for you. Not only did I miss Frisco's 6-0 beheading of Curt Onalfo, but neither did I predict that the EQuakes would put a four spot on Kasey Keller. Now to be fair to myself, neither did anyone else make those prediction (or at least not that I saw), but I still have plenty of work to make up after two consecutive losing weeks. So, without further ado:

Last week: 2-4
Overall: 61-74 (.452 or 16 games over blind chance)

DYNAMO at FC FRISCO 6-0 Orange I don't actually believe that scoreline, but the point is that if you had to pick any team that could follow a 6-0 pasting with an 0-6 loss, both at home, the candystripers would have to be one of the teams you'd pick, right? To be certain, FC Frisco is not NYRB here, not by a longshot. However, they are not worldbeaters by any stretch. And Dynamo, with the recovered Kei Kamara available off the bench and perhaps Dom Oduro (who I have pilloried on occasion) motivated to bust up his former team, are clearly the superior side. It's hard to beat a team three times in one year (after all, these guys are professionals), but look to see it happen at Robertson North tonight.

GALAXY at REVOLUTION. 2-1 NE You know, I can see the exact opposite scoreline taking place as well. But I'm going with my feeling here. LA played well against Barca, no doubt about it, and New England is on a great run of form, easily their best of the season. New England is at home, and I think that will carry the day, even without the suspended Steve Nicol. (But perhaps even more fun than the game is reading about what a piker David Beckham is because LA lost the game.)

WIZARDS at DC UNITED. 2-0 DCU And BAM, Peter Vermes is fired before the plane touches down back in Missouri. Not really, but I find it hard to believe that DC, as tired as they might be, can't handle this squad, playing with Claudio Lopez.

SOUNDERS at REAL SALT LAKE. 1-1 Draw Seattle is clearly not as bad as they showed against San Jose last week. The only thing is, with RSL you never know what you're going to get. The suspended Jason Kreis will not be there, and who knows what effect that will have? The main factors of Seattle trying to come back from a bad result and RSL at home just points to a draw.

las chivitas at RAPIDS. 2-1 Colorado And down goes Bizarro Chivas, who haven't played since getting blown out 2-0 at New England July 19. Dynamo ruined Chivas when Stuie's goal beat those guys here at Robertson Stadium June 10, and the goatlings have gone only 0-7-1 since. Rest or no, they're toast. As for Colorado, they're not that good, but at home at altitude they're more than enough for Chivas.

CREW at EARTHQUAKES 2-1 Columbus This game at Candlestick Park (That place is still there?) is going to be a comedown of sorts for San Jose. After a comeback draw against DCU and a blowout win over Seattle, San Jose is riding high, and they should be deservedly confident. However, Columbus isn't backing down from anyone these days in any circumstances, and it's going to take a top-quality team to beat them. That does not describe San Jose.

RED BULLS at TORONTO FC. 1-1 Draw Toronto got schooled by Puerto Rico Islanders over the week, while RBNY was excruciatingly teased and then dispatched by W Connection in CONCACAF Champions League play this past week. I know those aren't MLS games, but they're indicative of two sides that just are not that good. Toronto is definitely above average and I hope they make the playoffs and get their revenge on Columbus in the first round, though at this point I would be surprised if they did. Still, RBNY, as completely woeful as they are, can not lose every game (can they?). So while 99 percent of people will probably pick the Reds to win, I think it'll be tight, tight enough to end in a drraw.

FIRE at DYNAMO. 2-1 Orange This will easily be the best game of the weekend. The Fire will be coming in tough and rested and eager for revenge after Dynamo stole that win in Toyota Park. But with a larger than usual crowd in Robertson, and Stewie bobbleheads all around, Dynamo will edge out with the win.

Greatest American Hero and Week 20 picks

2009-07-31T23:16:00.006-05:00

It's been a busy week, so I am finally getting my weekly crystal ball readings posted after a few thoughts about the spectacle at Rio Tinto earlier this week.

As for the All-Star Game, I have read so many blogs and comments dissing the existence of the game and, to be honest, I just don't get the objection.

Taking some time off as a league in the middle of the season, honoring the players who have had a stellar first half and putting together a little friendly and top XI, what is so bad about that? Did you see those guys on the field at Rio Tinto? They were having a great time and their enthusiasm was contagious. I was laughing out loud when Kasey Keller came back in and seeing David Moyes joking with John Spencer about him getting into the game instead.

The All-Star Game reminds us all that this is a game after all. It's about fun. It is not a deathly serious thing. Wins and losses in the event mean nothing about either MLS' status as a (to use Steven Goff's NCAA basketball tournament-influenced term) mid-major, MLS players as quality footballers or any other damn thing. No other league in the world does this? Why do I care about that? No no, more important question: Why should I care about that?

Here's what I care about. The 20,000+ in the stands had fun. The players had a gas. The staff and front office workers around MLS enjoyed themselves. It's time to put aside the objections and come join the damn party. (Or don't. It's up to you. Your margarita is mine!)

On the field, even though my league lost, I found it impossible to be upset in the slightest. And the reason for that is in the person of one Timothy Matthew Howard, or as I like to call him the Greatest American Hero. After the shootout, I had one thought only: "That is the man who will lead us into Azteca." Thinking that, and after that game, I went to bed happy.

On to this week's picks:

LAST WEEK: 3-4
YEAR TO DATE: 59-70 (.457; 16 games above blind chance)

TORONTO FC at REVOLUTION. 3-0 New England. In the VD Cup (reVs v reDs) both of these teams are coming in at something near full strength, though of course for New England this year, that is something of a relative term. However, Toronto had a tough game at home the night before the All-Star Game, a loss to Puerto Rico Islanders in the CONCACAF Champions League. I watched most of that game and saw a Reds team that was pouring it all out in their international competition debut (or at least DeRo was). What I'm getting to here is that the Reds are tired and in something of a free fall. Contrast that to the Revs, who are coming off victories against las chivitas at home and Dynamo on the road and are finally brimming with something approaching confidence for the first time this year. I think New England is going to run away with this game. And here's an outside (and I hope incorrect) prediction: This is the one game on fake turf too far for Dwayne De Rosario's knees. He will be out for 3-4 weeks after this game. Please, please MLS Players Association, make this a bargaining point and get rid of this curse on the human race.

DC UNITED vs. DYNAMO. 2-1 Orange Here's a nice picture of parity: These two teams have an all-time mark of 3-3-1 against each other. Dynamo have their national teamers back, but are still missing Mullan and Mulrooney (not to mention Eddie "The Invisible Man" Robinson). I do expect a slow start as Holden and Chingy get their Orange legs back. However, DC played that midweek CCF draw against Firpo after drawing at San Jose last week and then flying back out to here. So it makes sense to favor the Orange in a tight battle. And for my personal history as well. I've chronicled before (on this link) that a Dynamo/DC game was my Road to Soccer Damascus moment. I expect no less Saturday night. Here's that moment again for you to make your heart go "Dale! Dale!":

WIZARDS at FC DALLAS. 2-0 KC Can someone please explain the Kenny Cooper to 1860 Munich to me? That team finished 12th in 2. Bundesliga last year and is on a free fall. They are 12th, 11th, 8th and 13th in the 2. Bundesliga in the last four years. Kenny Hassan on World Soccer Daily Friday made the amazing assertion that the team is worse (WORSE!!) than FC Dallas. And you know what, he might be right! Think about that for a second: Worse than FC Frisco. Let that sink in. I know money is money and Europe is Europe, but you're telling me that THIS was the best offer they could have gotten? There's more to this story. There has to be. Back at the friendly caverns of Pizza Hut Park, I expect KC, who is awful in its own way, to just blow past these guys now that they're getting the full reality that Cooper, easily Frisco's best player and, for my money, still their probable 2009 MVP, is gone. The quit will be palpable.

RSL at FIRE. 2-0 Chicago John Thorrington's out for Chicago, while Jason Kreis is out for RSL, who also has a banged-up squad who doesn't play well on the road when they're healthy anyway. Chicago will dominate this game.

CREW at RAPIDS. 1-1 Draw. Has anyone seen Columbus play recently? Those guys are playing with style and flair and finding ways to win, just like last year. Colorado, on the other hand, has been the wall hanging that continually bugs you out of the corner of your eye until you can't stand it anymore. The picture of uneven. So in the Col v Col Confab, why am I not picking a Col win? Two reasons: 1. Schelotto, , the Crew leader, is still out; and 2. Elevation. Columbus is still good enough to salvage the road draw though. I'm not that crazy.

SOUNDERS at EARTHQUAKES. 2-1 Seattle You did indeed read it here first last week when I predicted that San Jose would do well against DC United. (Full disclosure: I picked SJ to win, not tie, but picking them not to lose took some stones by my way of thinking.) But this week, sorry San Jose. I know you're riding high about coming back on DC United and all, but Seattle's run of form recently is better than anything you Trembles have put together all year. Seattle is good and playing good. San Jose, on the other hand, will go into this game missing Arturo Alvarez, and probably Ryan Johnson. And even though Sounders will be without Ljungberg, the Montero-Jaqua-Zacuani front is more than enough for this team. Fun fact: If Seattle wins this game, they will have swept the season series. Last time the Earthquakes beat the Sounders was in 1983 in the NASL. Wow. (When the EQuakes beat Seattle in the Western Soccer Alliance in 1987, Seattle was named the Storm, so it doesn't count! NYAH, NYAH, NYAH.)

Ngwenya returning to Dynamo?

2009-07-24T14:53:00.000-05:00

Yes, according to this article here.

It is well known that Dynamo have his MLS rights, and I strongly believe that he fits in here far better than Dominic Oduro (or possibly even Cam Weaver). So I am optimistic. Though I find it interesting to note that this SI and Goal.com writer Shane Evans does not speculate on his landing spot.

Y'know, Ngwenya seems to be a weird case as this was more than obvious to anyone earlier this season as well as last. But maybe he's finally come around. He would make a wonderful (re-)addition I think.

Here's the full text of the article:

Now 28 years old, Joseph Ngwenya realizes his chances to make it big in Europe aren't as great as they once were.
A former striker for the Los Angeles Galaxy, Columbus Crew and Houston Dynamo, Ngwenya has been floating around Europe since early in 2008 and has since realized his home is in MLS.
"We're in discussions with MLS right now," said his representative Patrick McCabe. "We hope to have it all resolved in the next few days."
Following his departure from MLS after the 2007 season, Ngwenya signed with SK Austria Karnten, but only saw the field once. His contract with Karnten was disolved last summer and he went on trial with Bayern Munich but didn't stuck with the German giants.
He then signed with Turkish club Antalyaspor, but only played three times, scoring once. A return to MLS seems all but sealed following the comments from his representative.
One positive from his venture to Europe was he was able to win his first cap for his native Zimbabwe in 2008, and has received four more since.

Coming home thoughts and weekend picks

2009-07-24T11:25:00.001-05:00

Boy, it sure was nice watching what is basically an MLS First XI advance to the Gold Cup Final last night. But even nicer was watching Chingy and Goalden take over the attack in the second half, leading to Kenny Cooper's put it away goal. It is whetting my appetite for the second half of the season, I can tell you.

So a shorthanded Dynamo go 3-3-1 on their seven-game road stretch, and even though two of those wins were against USL-1 teams, it speaks volumes about the mental toughness of this squad from top to bottom. Big revelations were these:

1. Watching Danny Cruz go right at people. I feel like Cruz is very much a younger version of Brian Mullan, and perhaps that is directly attributable to going up against Mully every day in training. I remember Corey Ashe mentioning that in his first year how much he improved specifically because he had to endure getting schooled by Mullan everyday. Now it's Cruz' turn and once again it appears to be paying dividends. Cruz is going to be a star in MLS, no doubt about it. He's dangerous every time he touches the ball. (Dynamo should get a recording of J. Fred Duckett's "Cruuuuuuuuuzzzz" call from back in Cheo's day at the Astrodome and play it when he scores. And yes, I'm dating myself with that comment.)

2. Mike Chabala's pace and toughness as an outside back. Chewbacca was solid throughout, and was cruelly screwed by that non-goal goal in Seattle. (If that was called correctly, the record would have been 3-2-2. Think about that!) He's got a nice touch that needs work, but he was very helpful and solid when we needed it.

3. It's not all good. Specifically, Julius James and Dominic Oduro are big dropoffs from the first or even second choices at their positions. It's not all bad as James did make some good, tough plays and Oduro has nice pace, so I guess the best thing to say is that the only consistency we got from these guys was their inconsistency. James allowing himself to get pulled out of position in Toronto allowed DeRo to score in that draw at BMO Field. And if Oduro actually goes right at someone it would be the first time. It reminds me how much I enjoyed Dynamo playing against him when he was in Dallas. Challenge him and he crumbles. Both have a lot of work to do and should not be selected if we can help it.

4. Back to the positive. Important minutes for many, many down-bench players. This can only be good in the long run. There should now be no doubt that Dynamo is the deepest, most talented and toughest squad in MLS. This is no guarantee of any trophies to come, but so many signs are encouraging, aren't they?

Now on to the predictions:

Last week: 4-2
Year to date: 56-66 (.459 or 15 games over random chance)

FC DISASTROUS at REAL SALT LAKE. 1-0 RSL I know that Frisco is not as bad as they were. I know that Atiba Harris fills a small roll, especially with the Gold Cup absence of Kenny Cooper. But let's make no mistake here. The team still has serious problems up and down the field. Not to say that RSL is much better, but the only thing worse than FC Frisco at home (with their customarily embarrassing gathering of people in the stands) is that team on the road. RSL squeaks it out.

FIRE at SOUNDERS. 1-1 Draw After seeing Seattle twice over the last two weeks and watching the way Chicago has played without Brian McBride, I just think that Temoc alone will be enough to salvage a road point here. Seattle is very proud of themselves for making it through late against two shorthanded Dynamo sides. Well, I think Chicago will administer a dose of reality to them. The Fire are starting to pick it up. Though Soumare's absence might just lead to a Seattle goal.

TORONTO FC at CREW. 1-1 Draw. My favorite kinds of rivalries are the ones that I would never have predicted before they exploded into full-scale hostilities. This Trillium Cup business definitely falls into that category. I have no horse in this race, but I do enjoy watching these guys tear into one another. Columbus is clearly getting things into a sort of groove, but will seriously miss Guillermo Barros Schelotto, without whom it is merely an above-average team. However, Toronto have never beaten Columbus, and I don't believe it will come here. The Reds are decidedly mediocre and will completely miss the injured Adrian Serioux, without whom they have a somewhat less-than-tough defense. All signs to me point to another draw, the teams' third against each other this season. I really hope they play each other in the playoffs though, as the match-up will be hugely entertaining to watch.

GALAXY at WIZARDS. 2-0 LAG LA is definitely playing better and is a quality side, and KC without Davy Arnaud and Jimmy Conrad, not to mention Roger Espinoza, are among the worst teams in the league. LA walks to a win here.

REVOLUTION at DYNAMO. 2-1 Orange Dynamo have never beaten New England here at Robertson Stadium, making the Revs the only team to "own" the field here. This madness must end now. And I firmly believe it will. Houston beat New England in the regular season for the first time ever earlier this year in Gillette, and now it's time to break the streak here. With Andrew Hainault and Brad Davis back and a first home game in a month, Dynamo will come out on fire. I have maintained all along that Ade Akinbiyi has been unlucky this season and will definitely be a difference maker in at least two games this season. This could be one of them. Did you see his goal at Starfire this past Tuesday night? Beautiful, beautiful work. The Revs have been getting their act together and Shalrie Joseph is a monster, but Dynamo are not going to be denied here. Their frustrations are going to get let out all over the Revs.

NYRB at RAPIDS. 2-0 Colo. Please. Colorado (even without the High Cs -- Conor Casey and Colin Clark) is at least above average this season. NYRB, on the other hand....

DC UNITED at EARTHQUAKES. 2-1 QUAKES You know, I see no reason to predict San Jose to win this match. The team is in disarray and is truly awful in many ways. DC United on the other hand, is in that scrum in the east jockeying around at the top of the conference an is much better than they have been in years. I have a feeling, though, that San Jose will hold serve at home, though my head says "You are mad!" Well, mad I may be and I fully admit that this pick is wack. But I'm going with it. Prove me wrong DC.

What is that again about ESPN hating soccer?

2009-07-23T10:34:00.002-05:00

(Click here if you can't play the clip above.) Even though they seem to be ambivalent about MLS, ESPN is definitely coming on board of soccer in general. More fuel to support the contention that soccer's trajectory is on an X-15 style climb.

A mixing bowl of storylines

2009-07-21T13:58:00.001-05:00

GOAT MEAT

I was going to post this morning on how Dynamo not just beat Chivas June 10 (And who can forget that classic goal at the end of first half injury time from Goalden Holden), they completely ruined the Amerigoats' season. But Kyle McCarthy at Goal.com did it for me (minus the Dynamo ruining them angle). Check out that link here.

McCarthy points out that las chivitas is currently sitting on an eight-game winless streak in all competitions (0-7-1, with the draw coming after Chivas USA had lost its first two SuperLiga games), but what he fails to mention is that Game 1 of that streak was right here at Robertson Stadium. I get no great satisfaction in saying "I Told You So" (well, maybe I do, but it depends to whom I'm saying it), but I pointed out throughout that team's early run that it was completely and totally based on the goal-scoring prowess of Nagamura and Lillingston and the goalkeeping of Zach Thornton. Who in their right mind would think that could last all season?

Now Idiot Lalas (not Greg) was spreading a rumor during the Dynamo/TFC game that perhaps the Atiba Harris to FC Dallas deal is a harbinger of an incoming major signing for las chivitas. They need it because that team is thinner than Beckham's temper.

Here's what McCarthy has about that weirdo deal:

In a rather surprising move last week, Chivas USA sent Atiba Harris (14 games, 13 starts for the Goats on the campaign) to FC Dallas in exchange for Marcelo Saragosa. When asked about the deal, Preki said he liked Saragosa's toughness – not a quality the rugged Harris lacks in any way, shape or form – and noted he saw the Brazilian as a midfielder.

“He can press the ball, he's pretty mobile, he's pretty hard and he's got a good mentality,” Preki said.

While those qualities are typical in a Chivas USA player, those qualities also betray the fact that Saragosa is best deployed a holding midfielder, though he occasionally featured somewhat fitfully at right back for FCD. That particular fact makes the deal particularly puzzling considering Saragosa's arrival adds yet another deep-lying central player to a stable that already includes current starters Nagamura and Jesse Marsch as well as the recently acquired Kevin Harmse.

So why then did Chivas USA feel the need to acquire yet another player to fill a role that already appears suitably covered?

“We'll see what he has,” Preki said as he skipped around the question. “From what I've seen from the outside, I like his qualities. How is he going to help the team out? Well, he will help us.”

That explains that, then.

GO WESTWARD

As far as the HDC's other residents, this is my whole comment on the Becks affair:

This is abso-you-know-what-ing-lutely brilliant. I was wondering at what point Becks would start phoning it in again this season just like last year and here we are with him playing exactly one MLS game (and that on the right coast) and it looks like it is indeed upon us.

So the past two years, the Beckham circus has sunk woeful LAG teams. This year, it looks like for his next trick La Dave will sink a (formerly) rapidly improving LAG squad.

What were those security guys thinking anyways? David and Lieweke said they wanted to promote soccer viewership in the US. Letting that guy "shake hands" with Becks (Too bad we live in the era of "Hike the Appalachian Trail" or that would easily make for my favorite euphemism of 2009 list) would have been the most played MLS clip ever.

My hat is off to the Riot Squad. Though I wonder, the release from Il Bruce yesterday said that LARS had banned the guy for life. Who's lifetime was he talking about? LARS' response: "Who, us?"

Truly awesome.

FAKE TURF = A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY

Really, whoever introduced turf to sports should be waiting judgment in The Hague.

(What's that you say, it started here in my beloved Astrodome?

Oh.)

Never-THE-less, that was almost 50 years ago. Did you catch Dom Kinnear on Glenn Davis' program last night putting the blame for Richard Mulrooney's knee problem squarely on Seattle's artificial turf. Now, this isn;t anything about Seattle's turf in particular, but turf in general is an abomination and it must go.

If and when Dynamo Park gets built, we as fans have to make sure our voices are heard on this. No turf.

If you play on grass in the frigid climes of northern Europe (and they do all the time), then we can play on it here. Besides, Houston's growing zone is so lush that anything grows here.

DOWN THE SOUND

Y'know, I wasn't going to post much on the US Open Cup Game tonight, but then I read this piece from the Seattle Times and the comments. Personally, I hope we destroy those guys now.

He's baaaack, plus some other games that mean something

2009-07-15T19:49:00.001-05:00

Yes, David Beckham (perhaps distantly related to the chap above?) is indeed back in MLS for as long as his interest holds. My interest in this whole thing, on the other hand, faded about the time he decided he'd phone in the last few months of the 2008 season before creating more drama (as is his custom) in Milan.

I have not read Grant Wahl's book, though I might at some point of course as it's always interesting to see how teams not named Dynamo self-destruct. But from what I have read, I do think Landon Donovan, though he probably should have kept this all quiet until after Becksy was gone for good, was right about the so-called captain deserting the team.

I have not been a Beckham hater, as I have always appreciated his skill and enjoy watching him play when he's at his best, but really, at this point, I don;t see that he has much to offer MLS. He will produce at Galaxy this season, right up to the point that he wants to get back to Milan, which I think will be when he plays in Kansas City or Denver or some other MLS backwater in a league that is not rigged like Serie A.

Whatever. This drama can only help other teams in the western conference, and since Dynamo is in that conference, I am all for it.

So, on to this week's predictions:

Last week: 2-4
Season: 52-64 (.448, 13 games over random chance)

GALAXY at RED BULL NEW YORK. 3-1 LA Come on. Give me a real game. New York is a dead team walking and Becks is out to prove himself after the Wahl book and Donovan and the non-captaincy and all that. The writing is on the wall. However, if NY were to pull this off, it would be an upset for the ages, and, let's face, a typical New York sporting moment. But while my anarchic heart says New York, I have seen that team play recently, and my head says to my heart, "Whoa Podnah. Wait until High Noon Saturday." Speaking of which....

DYNAMO at TORONTO. Orange 2-1. National TV. Chance at redemption after that amazingly bad call on the line last week. Bonus round of the Kei Kamara and his pals vs. Nick Garcia grudge match. I'm going Dynamo on this one. Let me hear ya say: "Dale."

The following three games I definitely will not be watching as the US MNT play at the exact same time. This madness must end. It's as simple as that.

RAPIDS at DC UNITED. 2-0 DCU. Sorry. Still not a big believer in the Crapids. DCU holds serve at home on this one. Did you see that Danny Szetela might sign with DC? Right now, I think they will win the east.

REAL SALT LAKE at CREW. 2-0 Columbus. I know the Crew have been oddly inconsistent this season, but RSL is a horrible road team and the Crew are good. This is an easy prediction to make.

EARTHQUAKES at FIRE. 2-1 Chicago. Trembles easily quelled by Chicago, though San Jose might just make this close. Don't ask me why. I know they suck. I've just got a feeling.

las chivitas at REVOLUTION. 2-1 Amerigoats New England is missing so many guys this season, I almost expect to see them holding open tryouts throughout the Metrowest area. What a snakebit team. Chivas, on the other hand, is finally coming down to Earth after their sizzling start. Still, LA's other team should have more than enough to secure this win.

A bad feeling about this, I have

2009-07-10T12:58:00.001-05:00

Heading into tomorrow's Dynamo v. Sounders match in the Emerald Rain Forest, let's take a look at this team and you tell me what you notice (aside from the fact that's it's a nine-person side with six defenders)

Ching-Weaver
Holden-Cameron-Barrett
Hainault-Robinson-Boswell-Waibel

What I am seeing is, if you were to plug another midfielder there and a relatively stout keeper, you'd have a side that could challenge just about any MLS team on any day. Unfortunately, they won't be doing that this weekend as you are looking at nine guys who (with the possible exception of His Imperial Baldness Waibelinho, who is listed as probable) will not be on any MLS field Saturday. The Orange will be as depleted a side as I have ever seen wearing the Houston kit (six defenders out!!) with a possible starting line-up that looks like this:

Kamara-Oduro
Ashe-Davis-Clark-Mullan
Chabala-Mulrooney-James-Waibel/Ustruck?
Onstad

Subs: Tally Hall, Danny Cruz, Ade Akinbiyi, J-M Hayden, Ustruck/Waibel and some guy picked up wandering the streets

I am still seeing that it's a line-up with promise, but what I am also seeing is that the first team I listed up there would probably beat this second one (possibly even with just the nine of them!).

But. let's start with the positives. The midfield is clearly the strongest asset here. Ashe, Davis, Clark and Mullan are going to have to turn in the games of their lives, but mostly they'll have to be tracking back and supporting the inexperienced back line, especially as the game wears on and weariness starts to set in. It is anathema for any Orange squad to play back defensively, but as this game gets late and the score is knotted up (or, wonderfully, we have a lead), it's likely what they'll have to do. I'm thinking that Kinnear starts in his standard 4-4-2 and then gradually morphs it into more of a 5-4-1 (or maybe even an anti-football 6-4-0!), with Clark especially playing far back and clotting things up for Montero, Jaqua and Ljungberg.

If Seattle gets a 1-goal lead and maintains it for awhile, this whole strategy could go to pot in a hurry, though. Sigi's no fool, and we can all expect the Sounders to push forward early and often. If the guys can weather the early onslaught, or even better, exploit it, then you might see a game. But if Seattle scores early or possibly even makes it a two-goal lead, then it's likely the week ahead could be a long one.

For all of those reasons, my head tells me that it's likely Seattle will win Saturday. Make no mistake, I believe in Dynamo and think the guys will turn in a complete game, but I think it would be foolhardy to expect that that cobbled-together back line will hold against as solid an attack force as Seattle will bring. Expect the Sounders to attack in waves and Dynamo to get few clear chances. An orange-tinted result is doable here, but the lads may just need some inspiration from Sen. Blutarski and his pals:

So, on the picks:

Last week: 3-3
Season: 50-60 (.455, nine games over random chance)

DYNAMO at SOUNDERS 1-1 Tie. What, you think I'm going to pick a loss after that clip?

WIZARDS at REVOLUTION. 1-0 KC Wow, now add Wells Thompson to the list of Revolution players out with injuries, call-ups or suspensions. But even so, that KC team we saw last week is still barely able to play. And yet, we all know Josh Wolff was unlucky in the extreme. Watch him score and be a real hazard for NE all game as the Wizards get a rare road win.

CREW at FIRE. Chicago 2-1 Columbus was very lucky to get that one point at home vs. DC last week and Chicago is starting to play far better. GBS almost rescues the Crew, but in the end the Fire are just too much at home against a Col side lacking Chad Marshall and Robbie Rogers.

FC DISASTROUS at RAPIDS. Colorado 2-0 Frisco may win without Kenny Cooper once, but not twice and not on the road.

TORONTO FC at EARTHQUAKES. 2-1 Reds Dwayne De Rosario goes to town against the Trembles.

CHIVAS USA v GALAXY. 2-2 Draw Landon Donovan just will not let the improving Gals lose in the SuperClasico, but that still doesn't mean that crap side without Donovan Ricketts will win here against a rested and motivated las chivitas.

Red, White, Blue and Orange

2009-07-09T00:45:00.000-05:00

First Goal-den Holden the other night and now Ching Kong tonight. The Red, White, Blue and Orange just keep rolling!

Collection of videos after the KC win

2009-07-06T17:20:00.000-05:00

This was all filmed by Erin Dutka and comes courtesy of Bryan Zygo's post on Major League Soccer Talk. Now if anyone has video of Kei's MJ moves after his goal, please post as I accidentally deleted it from my DVR (DOH!).

Dom

Chewbacca

Kei Kei the Wonderful Guy (about his MJ celebration)

Super Canuck

Open Cup win redux and some love for Jonathan Yardley

2009-07-03T12:21:00.002-05:00

Find more videos like this on MyDynamo.net

Thanks to the Dynamo for posting this video sequence from the win over the Austin Aztex earlier this week. I was stuck here in Houston for the game, but listened to Jonathan Yardley call it on KBME.

I have to say, that Yardley is excellent on the radio. If you've not had a chance to listen to the guy call a game, he's everything you want. Smooth, keeps the focus on the game, constantly updates the minute and score (in the old Red Barber with an egg timer style) and works the booth alone, so no constantly propping up a color guy. We could be seeing a major soccer broadcasting talent aborning here with the Houston Dynamo.

Saturday night, I may just turn the sound down on the TV and turn up the radio to listen to JY.

And I have to say, JY is right. Akinbiyi got robbed on that offsides call. That twice he's gotten robbed on offsides calls that should have been goals (The one in NY being the other).

To the Death! MLS predictions

2009-07-03T11:40:00.000-05:00

With the recent spate of celebrity, ah, moving-ons, what better theme than that for this week's MLS predictions, now that I'm back from vacation and ready to be back in the flow.

With the quicky picks from the Hill Country last week, I'm at 40-57, a .412 mark, increasing my lead over blind chance to a season-best eight games. So I'm starting to feel my oats here, leading to a wild bout of celebrations, much like this guy here:

Well, hopefully, not like that.

On to the picks:

EARTHQUAKES at REAL SALT LAKE. RSL 2-0. Alright, aliright, RSl has started to play better, I'll admit it. And even though those guys ticked me off earlier in the season but losing winnable games right and left, maybe they are starting to turn things around. But even if they did not, a home game against the RBNY of the Wild West? Well, let's just say it would take a selling job of the first order to convince me that RSL will not win this game. Kinda like this one:

UNITED at CREW. Columbus 2-0 Columbus at home, just one point back of DCU in the Eastern Conference race. The defending champs are rolling. Call-ups might play a big role in this one as Columbus is without Robbie Rogers and and Chad Marshall, while DC suits up minus Santino Quaranta and Dejan Jankovic. However, injuries might be worse as DCU will not have Jaime Moreno, and probably not Luciano Emilio, while Fred is just coming back from an injury. That tilts it over to Columbus and GBS, who will score one and assist on the other, as is his wont. His game is oh so pretty, though perhaps not as pretty as:

FIRE at RAPIDS. Chicago 2-0 The string of clean sheets continue here. The Fire return after a three week MLS layoff missing only Bakare Soumare and Logan Pause, while the Crapids are without both Colin Clark and Omar Cummings. Chicago has their share of problems, true, but I think Colorado is on a free fall to Nowheresville. Colorado just doesn't have a Carson to come bail them out on this one.

DYNAMO at WIZARDS. 2-1 Orange. I will not hide the fact that I am nervous about this game. Even though we've got Rico back, it's no small thing to be missing this list of guys: Ching, Holden, Hainault, Barrett and Waibel. I think that's going to leave Kinnear with a lineup of

Kamara-Weaver
Ashe-Davis-Clark-Mullan
Chabala-Cameron-Boswell-Mulrooney
Onstad

Bench: Akinbiyi, Oduro, Cruz, Hayden, Hall, James

The good news is I think this is still more than enough to beat the Jimmy Conrad and Davy Arnaud-deprived Kansas City Wizards. With Espinoza and Christman also out, you begin to see how the Dynamo's depth beats any other team's in MLS. It's the kind of insurance you just can't leave home without these days, right Karl?

RBNY at FC DISASTROUS. 1-1 Tie Oh. My. God. You know, there are those of us who defend MLS all the time. I really do think it is, like Grant Wahl said on World Soccer Daily once, to the rest of the world's leagues like a mid-major conference in the NCAA. But then you get a game like this that comes along and it just makes the job that much harder. Not only that, but loko at this absence list:

INJURY REPORT: FC DALLAS - OUT: DF Steve Purdy (R knee); MF Alvaro Sanchez (R ankle); DF Daniel Torres (R hamstring); MF Marcelo Saragosa (R hip); PROBABLE: GK Dario Sala (L knee) ... NEW YORK RED BULLS - OUT: DF Kevin Goldthwaite (groin); DF Carlos Mendes (L hamstring); QUESTIONABLE: FW Juan Pablo Angel (R hamstring); FW Macoumba Kandji (R hamstring strain)

INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: DAL: Kenny Cooper (USA, CONCACAF Gold Cup) ... NY: Dane Richards (JAM, CONCACAF Gold Cup); Alfredo Pacheco (SLV, CONCACAF Gold Cup)

What's left are two groups that are not so much quality soccer teams, but they play ones on TV. Eventually, it's all just an impression, like this guy:

REVOLUTION at GALAXY. 2-0 LA. When was the last time the Galaxy were clearly the superior team? They might just be this time, when you look at the New England injury list (Castro, Shalrie, Ralston, Twellman, etc. etc.). Not only that, but Donnovan is back and LA will be playing new acquisition Eskandarian. The Galaxy will miss Donovan Ricketts, but then again, with New England's makeshift attack corps, whoever is between the pipes for LA might not have much to do. LA should make out like a Smooth Criminal on the night.

Quick picks from the vacation

2009-06-23T13:30:00.001-05:00

On vacation this week and grabbing the small Internet time I can to post the following picks.

TORONTO 2, RBNY 0: What's a tonic for a losing streak? Hosting RBNY. Reds romp

RAPIDS 2, FC DISASTROUS 1: See the Toronto note. Anyone who is fooled by Frisco's win last week needs to have their head examined.

CREW 2, RBNY 0: Again, the Toronto lesson from Wednesday night just keeps on giving. JCO may not even get on the plane ride back to New Jersey after this game.

RSL 1, TORONTO 1: Second straight tie for the Royals and suddenly the Reds start feeling good about themselves again.

SOUNDERS 1, RAPIDS 0: Another nice game in Seattle and Keller turns in a gem.

DYNAMO 2, GALAXY 1: Hmmm, makeshft lineups as Hainault, Goal-den Holden and Rico are all gone, with Landon out for the Gals. This has tie written all over it, but I'm thinking an offensive-minded Orange will go through that defense with ease.

A camera into the future?

2009-06-19T10:10:00.000-05:00

Red Bull Arena construction time-lapse: November 2008 from Red Bulls Reader on Vimeo.

Squint your eyes just a bit and it won't be New Jersey you see in the background there, but downtown Houston. (Nothing like a little optimism on a Friday morning!)