MLS Radar: Week 8

Posted on April 28, 2015 by CT

This series has taken a hit these last two weeks with coverage that has been weak to non existent. Not even a quarter of the way into MLS’ brutal 34 match schedule and Soccer Therapy’s MLS weekly, the Radar Series, is already struggling. But just as a club’s season is not defined by a poor run of form, my blog and this series will not be defined by this brief dip in production.

This week I was back to my MLS watching ways and a few things crossed my radar that I’ll be discussing below. I never like to give a minute by minute, event by event, or match by match recap of the action, but because it’s easy and I am rusty, I’ll be listing off week 8 results and offering some thoughts on each one. Below that you will find my F-Up of the Week, GOTW and TOTW (pure gold this week) sections, along with a brief mention of Montreal’s CCL exploits.

A sneak peek of the Tweet of the Week

CHI 1 – 0 NYCFC
Chicago Fire took their third straight match and moved to 3-3-0 on the year. After a draw filled 2014 they have yet to draw a match so far this year. Their new DPs are starting to make an impact and Frank Yallop has his side playing some of the most positive soccer in MLS. See more on this match in the F-Up of the Week section.

COL 1 – 1 FCD
A brilliant assist by Fabian Castillo in the 31st minute looked to have FCD on track for all three points. But a senseless straight red card for striker Blas Perez forced Dallas to play down a man for the final half hour of the match and they eventually gave up the equalizer. Fabian Castillo has been brilliant of late – following up his brace against TFC with the breathtaking assist this week. it will be interesting to see Pareja’s starting XI for next Friday (vs. Houston Dynamo) – 2014 Rookie of the Year Tesho Akindele started on the bench vs. Colorado. I’d like to see him get the nod in place of the suspended Perez rather than any sort of formation change because I believe the 4-2-3-1 is Dallas’ most promising look.

CLB 4 – 1 PHI
A good team crushed a bad team. I didn’t see the match but the result is about what one could have expected.

NE 4 – 0 RSL
RSL have collected points in the early going but haven’t been overwhelming in their performances as they continue to work out the kinks from their formation change. I felt like this was coming coming from the Claret and Cobalt. RSL seem further and further away from the Kreis days. What’s next, Beckerman and Rimando get traded?

HOU 4 – 4 SKC
A crazy game with goals, lead changes and controversy. These two teams are struggling to find points and this is a result that will bug both managers. Fortunately for these two conference newcomers, quite a few points were dropped as Seattle were the only member of the west to collect max points on the weekend.

VAN 1 – 2 DCU
This match takes Surprise of the Week honors. Vancouver were big favorites in my mind, but then again, they haven’t performed their best at home in 2015. But with the rest of the west struggling, Vancouver have plenty of time to find their BC Place form.

NYRB 1 – 1 LAG
NYRB continue their run as the lone unbeaten in MLS in 2015. Promising young Galaxy forward Bradford Jamieson IV opened his MLS account with this classy move and finish. In a week marred by horrid officiating across MLS, this was a game filled with cowardly calls (see Simon Borg’s week 8 Instant Replay video) and some nasty challenges.

ORL 0 – 2 TFC
This guy (the tweet below) said it pretty good. Someone else on Twitter also brought up Orlando’s 3-0 loss in Columbus a week ago. That’s now two straight shutout losses. After a nice start to the season with some impressive performances and the points to show for it, I think a lot of us sort of forgot that OCSC are still an expansion side. Week 8, however, served as a rude reminder to Lions fans that their club is indeed in its infantile stages.

SEA 1 – 0 POR
Seattle is currently best in the west in terms of points per match, averaging 1.86 through seven contests while PTFC is struggling, averaging just 1.13 through eight matches in 2015. Clint Dempsey bagged the 77th minute winner, marking his fourth consecutive match with a goal in what some journalists are calling “The Great American Soccer Rivalry.” Going forward, PTFC need their midfield stalwarts Diego Valeri and Will Johnson playing and fully fit if they are to avoid a repeat of 2014, where they finished a point shy of a playoff spot after a slow start.

Ryan Meara (GK) – NYCFC

Ryan Meara made the gaffe of the year in the 20th minute, costing his side the result and the clean sheet on the road. Seriously dude, just let it go out for the corner next time.

Call me a homer, but I’m giving this week’s award to FC Dallas’ Fabian Castillo (assist) and Mauro Diaz – see the goal here in MLS’ GOTW video . The goal itself was nothing, the individual display by forward Fabian Castillo to create the look was breathtaking. Watch #5 for Colorado totally bite it as Fabian makes his first move.

I thought Fabian was massively dissed by MLSsoccer.com in week 7 when they failed to even nominate this strike for GOTW honors. That is a great through ball, two great touches, and a world class finish with his off foot. I have no idea how it wasn’t even nominated for GOTW a week ago – so I’ll give Fabian some love here in week 8.

This week’s TOTW goes to @davisjsn for this perfect response to a bizarre goal celebration. See the amazing golazo and ensuing celebration here and check out the winning tweet below.

It was quite a week in the TwitterSphere, so I’ve listed some honorable mention tweets here below.

I don’t see the need to make this post any longer, but I simply have to mention the Montreal Impact in this concluding paragraph. Their unbelievable run in the CONCACAF Champions League looked all but over when they drew Mexican power house Club America in the final. But the club invested heavily, sending the team down to Mexico six days prior to the match and allowing the players to acclimate as much as possible to the altitude and environment. Then on Wednesday night, the Impact put forth a remarkable effort at the intimidating Estadio Azteca in front of 105,000 fans, leading most of the match before settling for a priceless 1-1 draw. Check out the highlights here – the music is hilarious. Every single CCL highlight video features that same ridiculous audio track and I love it!

The Impact took care of business on the road and now head home with an opportunity to finish the job in front of what will be a raucous crowd. But when you back a beast up against a wall you get their nastiest reaction, and that could be what’s in store for Montreal in leg two. Something tells me they’ll need to play even better in this second leg to have a chance. It’s been an amazing journey for all MLS fans thus far and it concludes on Wednesday night, April 29th, 7pm CST on FoxSports2.

MLS Radar: Week 6

Posted on April 14, 2015 by CT

Someone nearly pulled the plug on my soccer coverage in week 6, but my radar picked up a thing or two. FC Dallas started the action in Friday night’s nationally televised showdown vs. Colorado Rapids. Unbeaten at home and facing a win-less, goal-less Colorado side, FC Dallas looked like a sure thing for the three points. Unfortunately, the boys just weren’t into it on the night, giving up the game winner in the second minute on their way to an embarrassing 4-0 loss. FC Dallas are now scoreless in their last two home matches and these are dark times for Hoops fans that have seen their club drop 8 of the last 9 points on offer. However, it remains true whether a team is in form or in a rut, the MLS season is an incredibly long one, and 3 to 4 week stretches mean little in the grand scheme (see the 2014 New England Revolution).

With dark clouds fixated over FC Dallas, Soccer Therapy turned to the lovable USL and gave the Austin Aztex a few looks. I am now a season ticket holder and have so far enjoyed watching Austin’s home matches during their inaugural USL campaign. Unfortunately, the ATX brought me no more joy than FC Dallas, as they too have gone the last 180 minutes at home without a goal. The soccer offered little to enjoy on Saturday night as Arizona United defeated the Aztex 1-0 at House Park. By the second half, the guys and I were simply asking for a decent string three or four passes… for either team! To be fair though, USL is third division soccer, the match was played on an artificial surface, and it was a filthy muggy night night in Central Texas. We’ll let the boys off this time because, prior to this match, the Aztex have been very positive in front of the home crowd.

In soccer as in life, there are always brighter and happier places to turn. This week I am thrilled to have the opportunity to see the Stars and Stripes in person for the first time. I’ll be taking the trip to San Antonio to watch the U.S. take on Mexico at the Alamodome in what should be a remarkable spectacle. I’ll be sure to get some pictures for the blog.

These Two Guys: We were all so intrigued by the signings of Jozy Altidore, Giovinco, Kaka, David Villa and Stevie Gerard. But this past Wednesday I took notice to a pair of amazing additions to MLS that aren’t getting quite the same pub as some of the other newcomers. Midweek action saw Vancouver host Columbus in MLS play and Montreal travel to Costa Rica for the CCL semis against Alajuelense. Octavio Rivero, the Uruguayan striker who signed for Vancouver this winter now tops the MLS scoring charts with 5 goals in just 7 matches for his new club. Watching him up top against the Crew on Wednesday, he stood out as is more than a great finisher or opportunistic forward, he looked to me like one of 10 or 15 players in MLS – check out his highlight video. The other remarkable addition to MLS has been Montreal’s Ignacio Piatti, the Argentine playmaker who is an absolute joy to watch for the Impact. He was a true leader on the field in Costa Rica on Wednesday and showed off some world class ability at the same time. Rivero and Piatti both represented big time coups for MLS and their signings were significant at the time. The point I am trying to make is that while Frank Lampard, Kaka and David Villa get all the headlines, these two South Americnas are making all the difference on the pitch up in Canada.

FC Dallas. Duh.

Surprise of the Week:
2 Big Upsets:
DAL 0 – 4 COL
POR 0 – 2 ORL

Both of these teams were massive home favorites (POR -$130, FCD -$165) but both failed to score a goal or even challenge for the win. One begins to questions if Portland’s supposedly meaningful 3-1 home win over FC Dallas meant much at all given the results in week 6. Meanwhile, Orlando City continue to look like the real deal in the first two thirds of the pitch, and if they can figure it out in the final third, they will be dangerous and darn fun to watch. If the club could bring in Chicharito as some rumors are suggesting, look out.

GOTW

Colorado scored a bunch of really good goals against FC Dallas. So there is that.

TOTW Winner: @thegoalkeeper
In keeping with the spirit of the week and this blog post, this seems like a good winner.

It bears mentioning in this conclusion that Montreal have advanced to the CCL finals. While this is a monumental achievement (and the ride has been just as incredible as the destination), the Impact will have their work cut out for them in the final. They’ll play a home and home with Liga MX’s Club America to decide who will represent CONCACAF at the next FIFA Cub World Cup, but America have shown they can be ruthless in this competition. Unfortunately, there will not be a week 7 post as I am dedicating the weekend to a charitable cause, the MS150.

MLS Radar: Week 5

Posted on April 8, 2015 by CT

The Easter holiday really compromised my radar screen this weekend. You might remember my saying that some Radar posts will be abbreviated. This week’s will be one of those shortened posts, but we’ll try to keep it useful and fun just the same. And whether it’s a short or long edition of the Radar Series, I always recommend checking out Matthew Doyle’s Sunday evening column on MLSsoccer.com.

The OCSC Wall
ORL 0 – 1 DCU

The F-Up of the week goes to the five man wall (shown below) that cost Orlando a point at home against DC on a Friday night. The Orlando faithful have filled the Citrus Bowl in 2015, as their attendance is over 40,000 per match through just three games. But the Lions have failed to deliver in front of the home crowd, dropping 8 of 9 points, scoring only one goal, and losing their last two in devastating fashion. Blame this week’s late home loss on this nonexistent wall that didn’t do its job, letting Luis Silva’s free kick through and costing OCSC a point.

Surprise of the Week:
VAN 2 – 0 LAG

An argument could be made that this is not a surprising result. Vancouver are fast, talented and difficult to deal with at BC Place. LA was fielding an incomplete lineup following a recent international break. But for both clubs, in terms of where they are in the table after five weeks, this is a surprising result. Vancouver is looking more and more like a Shield contender, having won four straight after losing on opening day. LA, however, may be wondering how they are going replace the retired Landon Donovan’s incredible production going forward The Galaxy have scored five goals in as many games in 2015 and one has to wonder if a legend like Landon Donovan, MLS’ all time goals and assists leader, can truly be replaced.

GOTW

MLSsoccer.com put five good goals up for the award on their site, and they are all good strikes, but Maxi Urruti’s game winner against FC Dallas deserves a look as well. Goals are awesome, and even though we had a nice selection to choose from in MLS, it was a rather remarkable week for goals across the pond. I witnessed one breathtaking strike after another in round 31 of the Barclays Premier League. Here are some of my favs:

Wayne Rooney’s gorgeous strike vs. Villa
“Day of days for QPR” – in particular that filthy Zamora chip
Cambiasso’s opener
Jermaine Defoe’s wonder strike
Bafetimbi Gomis overhead goal
Charlie Adams 65 yard golazo
Four nice goals from Arsenal – Ozil’s 40^th minute FK was reminiscent of Brek Shea’s against the Swiss earlier in the week, but Mesut went for the far corner.

Funny TOTW Winner: @4castnate

Numbers TOTW Winner
I couldn’t find one, but Christiano Ronaldo bagged a Hat-trick in eight minutes!

That’s it for this very short week 5 Radar post. Check back on Thursday for my Bettor’s Advice column. MLS in Vegas is now in the green after a fruitful week 5 that saw Soccer Therapy go 3/3 picking winners!