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MLS in Vegas: Week 19

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I really did struggle with that Montreal pick and I almost cancelled it prior to first kick, but I don’t like cancelling wagers. After all, all bets in Vegas are non-refundable. Either way, week 18 was my second fruitful outing in a row, and I am finally putting a dent in that big season long deficit. I’ve made a few good picks and a lot of bad ones on the road to this point, but my results could improve as I continue to look for quality over quantity when picking each week’s games. Below is a review of my week 18 picks (where I went 2 for 3) and a look at the new 2015 season totals.

WEEK 18 REVIEW
LOSS $150 on MTL at EVEN = ($150)
HIT! $300 on LAG at -$155 = (100/155) * 300 = $193
HIT! $250 on POR at -$170 = (100/170) * 250 = $147
Weekly Total =193 + 147 – 150 =  $190

NEW 2015 SEASON TOTALS
Picking Winners: 15/32
Picking Draws: 2/7
Total Earnings: ($628)

One of the reasons I stewed on that Montreal pick was a vague recollection that I’d been struggling when picking for/against the Impact in 2015. Week 11 comes to mind, when I had a $100 on RSL and the Impact came out at home with 3 goals in the first 30 minutes en route to a 4-1 victory. But as it turned out, the only other match I picked this season involving Montreal was a hit (Portland, +$180 at Montreal, wk.10). That is, of course, before this week’s fail against NYCFC. I am now batting .333 when picking for/against MTL in 2015, and that got me to thinking, what’s my average for each of the 20 MLS clubs so far this season?statsI compiled the numbers and now I see what teams I am good at picking and what teams I really suck at picking. This chart shows the results of all 78 matches I’ve picked this season: whether I picked a team to win/lose/draw, if I hit the bet, I’ve tallied it in the hit column and if I lost the bet, I’ve tallied it in the loss column. Look over the numbers if you like, I’ve bullet pointed a few of my observations below:

  • I’m struggling to pick matches involving FC Dallas (40%), the club I know the most about.
  • Vancouver are tied for the league lead in wins (10) and I have yet to pick them once.
  • I am 3 for 5 picking TFC (hits in weeks 4, 5 and 18 – losses in weeks 9 and 10). All three hits have come when picking the Reds to lose, both losses have come when picking them to win or draw.

And now it’s on to the week 19 selections, where I am finding plenty of reasons to keep my money safe and not make any bets at all this weekend. But that’ll never happen.

San Jose v. Houston – July 10th, 11:00 ET

San Jose host the Dynamo in a late night nationally televised #ViernesDeFutbol match. The two teams met earlier this year in Houston in a match that finished 1-0 to the visitors. Quakes manager Dom Kinnear should know his former side well (he was manager of the current Dynamo team for a decade+, winning MLS Cups in ’06 and ’07 and moving back to San Jose this previous off-season). San Jose could be worth a look at -$110 in this one, but I think it’s a classic Stay Away match with all of the international absences (listed below) due to the Gold Cup.

Picture1New York Red Bulls v. New England – July 11th, 7:00 ET

I’ve struggled mightily when picking both of these teams this season. On top of that, this is a rivalry game and both clubs have been in an awful run of form. I wouldn’t touch this.

Picture3Philadelphia v. Portland – July 11th, 7:00 ET

Philly is +$150 at home in this one, Portland +$170 on the road, and you will get +$225 odds if you want to bet on the draw here. Portland seems like a steal, but be careful, despite the fact that they’ve won five of their last six, the Timbers have demonstrated that they are still unreliable on the road (four of those five wins came at home and the lone road win came against lowly Colorado). Philly have also picked themselves up by their bootstraps (sort of) and are playing much better soccer than they were in the first quarter of the season.

Orlando City v. FC Dallas – July 11th, 7:30 ET

This match intrigues me. Cyle Larin is out of the lineup and helping the Canadian National Team in their efforts at the Gold Cup. FC Dallas catches an even bigger break as Kaka will be out of the lineup thanks to his red card in Utah last week. Kaka and Larin have combined for 15 of Orlando’s 23 goals this season, so Orlando will need to find production from a less familiar source. Dallas will be shorthanded for sure, missing fullbacks, midfielders and their talisman all thanks to the Gold Cup, but I don’t see those absences impacting the Hoops too negatively. Dallas will still have Mauro Diaz and Fabian Castillo, the two headed monster behind the club’s two match winning streak. They will also have the midfield pairing of Victor Ulloa and Kellyn Acosta, which continues to improve and make FCD more dangerous. I have not been great picking either of these clubs in 2015, but I see Dallas as solid value at +$185.

Basically, everything other than Dallas I look at as a huge HELL NO this week. The ones I’ve written about above offer little promise, and below I’ve listed off the rest of the weekend’s games, which, if you have a look at the Bovada lines, are not tempting at all.

MTL (+130) v. CLB (+180) – I suck at picking both of these teams
CHI (-105) v. SEA (+275) – Seattle a shell of themselves
COL (-120) v. RSL (+260) – wait… WHAT!?
NYC (-110) v. TOR (+260) – actually, I’m kind of intrigued by NYC here
VAN (+105) v. SKC (+250) – hmmmm, two good teams = stay away for me

***Official Week 19 Picks***
I really shouldn’t do this. The smart play is to make no wagers at all, but this is monopoly money anyway and I want to make some bets!

  • $100 on SJ at -110
  • $100 on DAL at +185
  • $200 on NYC to win at -110

MLS Radar: Week 12

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FC Dallas dropped all three points to start off a daunting road trip. The MLSinVegas series is in shambles. As a result, I am going to give the Radar Series a bit of a breather to refocus my energy on the MLS Timeline Series. You’ll still find the F-Up, Surprise, Goal and Tweet of the Week sections on this blog every Monday, but unfortunately, excitement and promise are the winds that move my blogging sails, and those winds have been absent lately. So have a look at what the Radar Series has to offer this week while I get to work on finishing off the MLS TL Series 2001 Tile.

F Up OTW 2Jonathan Osorio – Toronto FC

Toronto won the match so Osorio’s error didn’t cost his club any points, but I simply hate seeing a great buildup and composed effort on goal end like this. The play reminded a lot of this one http://www.mlssoccer.com/video/2013/07/13/shot-fabian-castillo-blocked-teamate-kenny-cooperI am sure there are more deserving individuals for this distinction. DC had a two man advantage in Foxborough but couldn’t take all three points against rivals New England. Columbus had a 2-0 lead at home over Chicago before deciding 60 minutes of soccer was enough for them. The Crew eventually settled for a 2-2 draw after Chicago’s equalizer at the death. The ref awarded a soft PK to Montreal that cost Dallas a point on the road. And I’m sure someone was to blame for Houston and Vancouver as they both lost narrowly on the road, to LA and Colorado respectively.

Surprise of the Week
NYRB 0 – 2 PHI

This one cost the MLSinVegas series a clean three hundo. I did not watch (Happy Memorial Day!), so I have no idea how this could have happened. I saw this match playing out either 2-0 or 3-1 to New York and thought the Red Bulls would make short work of The Union in Red Bull Arena.

GOTW imageIt comes down to three standout goals for me in week 12. Each one is listed below:

It’s clear that these three are the best of the bunch from round 12 in MLS. The voting on MLSsoccer.com will likely comes down to the long distance blast from Giovinco and the volley from Pittinari – each strike finished off a nice passing sequence and stood as the game winner. Both were top notch strikes and worthy of the award, but I’ll go with Pittinari for GOTW thanks to Gabi Torres’ brilliant flick, which was no doubt the Assist of the Week.

TOTWimageThere won’t be an official winner this week. I’ve got a pair of fascinating photos to share and a couple of decent tweets as well. Nothing great from the TwitterSphere in round 12, but interesting as always.

1) One of the most gorgeous pregame displays I’ve ever seen.

Picture12) A hilarious response to the Revs Twitter post regarding their own Chris Tierney seeing red against DC United. Even though he is a Galaxy supporter, @SeanSteffen is a massive smart ass (I mean that as a compliment) and a great follow.

Picture33) The sky is cryin’, Can’t you see the tears roll down the street… – SRV

Picture24) Anytime I get a retweet or a response out of MLSsoccer.com’s Matthew Doyle, I’m going to pat myself on the back for it and post it on the blog.

Picture4The days of the long Radar and MLSinVegas posts may be be coming to an end. The Radar Series, when done well with time and effort, is too much work. MLSinVegas is a blast, but until my picks and earnings start to improve, I’ll be minimizing the length of those posts as well. But I am always fascinated with soccer in North America. So if and when something “crosses my radar” that I simply must share, I’ll still be posting here on SoccerTherapy.net.

MLS Radar: Week 11

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Logo 11Unfortunately I can’t fully recap a fascinating week of action in MLS. This abbreviated post will include all of the usual content, the GOTW, Surprise of the Week, F-Up of the Week, and the Tweet of the Week, but little more. I’ll dive a bit deeper into the meaning of the results with my Friday morning #MLSinVegas post, but the main take away from week 11 is that Major League Soccer remains wildly unpredictable. Montreal picked up their first win of the season, crushing a solid Real Salt Lake team by four goals to one. Toronto’s draw in New England came unexpected after their dismal home performance against a lesser Dynamo side in week 10. Orlando City picked up their first home win of the season, taking advantage of a badly struggling LA Galaxy side and exploding for four goals in the Citrus Bowl. For some perspective, The Lions had scored just three goals in their first five home games on their way to two draws and three losses – needless to say, four goals and three points seemed unlikely for Orlando prior to the match start on Sunday. And then, as if we hadn’t seen enough craziness, the Sunday night cap saw a dog Philly team take down red hot DC United 1-0 with a stoppage time winner.

pOINTS pARTYEvery time we begin to think we have this league figured out, something crazy like week 11 happens to remind us that parity rules the day. On a good day, a bad team can always spoil a Three-Points-Party, and no matter how many patterns emerge between now and the end of the season, that will always be the case in MLS as we know it today.

F Up OTW 2Everyone!

I thought about giving this award to the Galaxy for their 4-0 loss to an expansion side. I thought about the Chicago Fire for this award after they squandered a two goal and one man advantage in New York (also against an expansion side). I also thought about giving it to RSL for getting thrashed in Montreal. Vancouver came out flat at home against a top of the table competitor and hated rival. I just couldn’t decide, and unless I’ve overlooked something, I couldn’t point to one player costing his team the game in a single boneheaded moment.

Surprise of the Week
MTL 4 – 1 RSL

I’ve covered all of the surprising results already in this post, but Montreal deserves the shout out here. They’ve struggled to find their league form early in 2015 thanks to a miraculous run in the CONCACAF Champions League. Montreal were burdened by more non-MLS action right after that run with a home-and-home Canadian Cup semifinal against rivals Toronto. They advanced from that series in dramatic fashion just three days prior to meeting RSL, so I thought they’d struggle to find the energy and motivation in this one. Obviously that wasn’t the case and The Impact were damn impressive in their 4-1 win (it should have been 5-0: Piatti missed a PK off the post for Montreal and Sandoval’s goal for RSL was about as likely as me winning the lottery). Montreal have some quality, they can counter as well as any team in the league, and now they can really hone in on collecting points in MLS. The top four in the east will be tough to deal with in the table (DC, NYRB, CLB and NE) but perhaps Montreal could make a run at the five or six seed in 2015.

GOTW imageDevon Sandoval’s lovely one touch finish from the corner of the 18 yard box will likely take the honors on MLSsoccer.com’s GOTW voting, but I’m giving him the runner up. For me, this week’s winner is Michael Bradley, what a beast mode run and quality finish. Bradley’s return to MLS has been marked by visible frustration at times. On this goal, I feel like he channeled that frustration positively, using it to make a strong play and earn his club a point on the road.

TOTWimageThe TOTW section has been a little light on numbers lately. This week we’ll give credit to the two fellas below for sharing these stats about two of MLS’ best.

TOTW 11Hopefully week 12 will give us just as much to talk about as week 11 has. FC Dallas, who’ve played 7 of 11 matches at home, are about to embark on a five game road trip. It all starts Saturday at 8 ET in Montreal where we’ll see two of the best counter attacking sides in MLS go head to head. A lot could be learned about FC Dallas and the seriousness of their title aspirations from this road trip.

I’ll finish off this post with a quick mention of one of my favorite aspects of American soccer. The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, the oldest soccer competition in the United States, is in full swing with the second round (featuring lower division and amateur sides) taking place this week. Check out the tournament schedule here. If you’re interested in watching the Austin Aztex throughout the competition (or in any of their matches for that matter), go ahead and bookmark the club’s YouTube page, where all their matches are broadcast live and for free. Cheers, and look out for the MLSinVegas post on Friday morning.

MLS Radar: Week 10

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wk logo picWeek 10 offered some attractive soccer and nice story lines to follow. One of the trends that caught my attention in this round was the dominance of the west over the east. With four strong sides in Columbus, DC, New England and NYRB, the east is looking a more impressive conference than usual, but it’s evident to me ten weeks into the season that the west is stronger top-to-bottom. Chicago were on a three match win streak (all against east clubs) before losing at SKC in round 9 and at home to RSL in this round. Toronto FC seemed to be building some momentum with two straight Ws against eastern conference opposition, but western conference stragglers Houston came to town and defeated the Reds 2-1. We’ve seen DC United represent the east well with wins over LA and Vancouver, but it’s the middle to bottom of the table teams where the west has been better. NYRB will get their chance to represent the east’s elite in week 11 as they head to Frisco to take on an FC Dallas side that’s currently hauling in two points per match.

Speaking of FC Dallas, they are becoming easier and easier to figure out. It was Mauro Diaz who came to the rescue on Saturday night, providing two brilliant assists in a ten minute to boost the Hoops to a 2-1 win. While Fabian Castillo continues to wow, Blas Perez continues to score, and the homegrowns continue to flourish, it is and always will be Mauro who makes the difference for Dallas. Check out this stat from an article on Big D Soccer.

“Diaz effect. According to the game notes from the club, since Oscar Pareja was named head coach of FC Dallas, the club has only lost one game in matches that Mauro Diaz plays at least 45 minutes – a 3‐2 loss to Seattle – 12‐1‐4.”

That’s 13-1-4 after the win over LA this weekend. Dallas are a dangerous club with a wealth of attacking options, but the fact remains that Mauro Diaz is the piece that truly makes them a contender for MLS Cup. Below I have written about how Columbus are the most exciting team to watch in MLS. In terms of the most exciting player in MLS, that title may well belong to Mauro Diaz, Dallas’ Magical Little Unicorn.

The Crew
A lot has crossed my radar this season about Columbus and the attractive, attacking style that they play. I had the chance to watch them host a dangerous Seattle Sounders side and it’s true, the Crew are unquestionably the most entertaining team to watch in MLS. They have talent up and down the pitch with young midfielders and veteran forwards, but it’s the selflessness with which they play that makes them so dangerous. The 3-2 win over Seattle was the best watch in MLS so far this season, so I’ve included a few highlights of Columbus’ brilliance from the match below. If you are a neutral and ever looking to watch some MLS, Columbus is a great place to start.

These are only a few examples as Columbus does this kind of stuff throughout almost every match they play in. I’ll be keeping an eye on the Crew for the rest of 2015 and posting videos of their attacking prowess on Soccer Therapy’s YouTube page.

F Up OTW 2Junhino and Gargan – LA Galaxy

Junhino missed a 92nd minute PK attempt on Wednesday in Utah costing LA two invaluable points on the road. Give legendary ‘keeper Nick Rimando the credit for an amazing save, but you simply have to put it in the back of the net when the ref awards you a stoppage time PK in a 0-0 game on the road.

Dan Gargan cost the Galaxy another point on the road when he failed to close in on Dallas forward Tesho Akindele, who put this 86th minute strike in the back of the net. Nothing angers me more than a goal that could have been avoided if the defender had simply stepped up and taken away the attacker’s space. But Gargan kept backing and backing and backing away and Tesho made LA pay the price, sending the Galaxy home with one point on the week when they could have had four.

A quick shout out to Rafael Ramos in this section for this careless back pass that cost OCSC another two points at home.

Surprise of the Week
TOR 1 – 2 HOU

The entire Toronto FC team almost took F-Up of the Week honors for that horrendous effort in their nationally televised home opener on Sunday. Instead, I’ll give Houston some credit and call this match my Surprise of the Week. Toronto were playing in their home opener and enjoying the momentum of a two match win streak while the Dynamo had dropped eight of nine points in a recent three game home stand. Naturally, most of us in MLS Land believed Toronto, seemingly a stronger club with a massive home field edge, were a lock to win.

Unfortunately for the Toronto faithful, the Reds were outclassed and outplayed by an average side on a day that was supposed to be theirs. We are now back to questioning how the team was constructed and if the three DPs can carry a thin roster through the season. Some folks in Toronto and around MLS would say this isn’t a surprise, but simply Toronto FC reverting back to their traditional form.

GOTW imageSoccer is loved and hated around the world for many different things, but if there’s one thing we can all agree on (even those who dislike soccer), it’s that goals are awesome. I like the selfish ones, the selfless ones, the long ones, the short ones, the hard ones, and sometimes even the soft ones. There were a handful of classy goals from round 10 in MLS, and most of them I enjoyed for different reasons. Because of this, my week 10 GOTW section is a top 10 list rather than a small sampling of highlights. The list ranks in order my favorites from the week and includes a video hyperlink for each goal.

#1: Darren Mattocks (VAN), 81′ v PHI – I love Jamaicans. I loved this move and the confident finish. Mattocks is a player who has loads of potential but hasn’t performed consistently. More please.

#2: Diego Valeri (POR), 70′ v MTL – Great commentary, great finish, and great to have one of MLS’ finest back in action with a world class, game winning curler.

#3: Blas Perez (DAL), 77′ v LA – A great chip assist by Magic Mauro and a calm finish from the Super Rat.

#4: Luke Mulholland (RSL), 56′ v CHI – A nice buildup of nine or so passes and the perfect cross from Sandoval to put it on a tee for Mulholland.

#5: Clint Dempsey (SEA), 24′ v CLB – A great finish. Deuce has always been good with his left.

#6: Tesho Akindele (DAL), 86′ v LA – A UCL caliber assist and a nice finish from the Canadian.

#7: Alvaro Saborio (RSL), 13′ v CHI – Quick and precise with a fine finish from the Costa Rican.

#8: Pedro Morales (VAN), 32′ v PHI – Well timed run and a finish only the Chilean could make look so easy.

#9: Chris Wondolowski (SJ), 19′ v COL – This one won’t get any “aesthetic build up” points but I thought it was vintage Wondo move. Three great touches in a tight space. How does he do this and then whiff the way he did against Belgium? I guess some folks were meant for the big stage and other weren’t.

#10: Charlie Davies (NE), 19′ v ORL – The defending was soft and the chance came from a poor giveaway, but I love seeing the aggressiveness and killer instinct from Davies on this play. It was a great finish (his fourth of 2015) from a player who has resurfaced on the USMNT radar after a horrifying car accident derailed his career in 2009. I don’t pull for the Revs, put how could you not pull for a guy like Davies?

Honorable Mentions.
Columbus had some nice goals but I featured them in their own section above. NYRB had a  pair of nice ones and BWP’s opener was nominated for GOTW on MLSsoccer.com. Giles Barnes sparked a brilliant counter that Will Bruin finished off nicely to seal the three points on the road for Houston.

TOTWimage

A nice selection this week. On your left you will see a brilliant John Terry joke, the top right shows Bruce Arena busting out the baseball cap like a boss (rare to see Bruce with the head-wear), and on the bottom left is the Third Rail, the most prominent SG for expansion side NYCFC.

TOTW wk 10That’s it and that’s all for the Radar Series here in week 10. This concluding paragraph provides an opportunity to look at some of the action to come. Week 11 features a Wednesday night match on ESPN2 with DC United set to host Orlando at 8 ET. Perhaps the best match of the week will take place in Frisco on Friday night at 8 ET as second in the west FC Dallas host third in the east NYRB. Over the weekend, a lot could be learned from matchups like MTLvRSL, VANvSEA, NEvTOR, HOUvPOR and ORLvLA. For now, I leave you with this.

MLS Radar: Week 9

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wk 9 radar logoWeek 9 is in the books and the season fully under way as most clubs are starting to reveal their 2015 identities. RSL and San Jose played to a 1-1 draw in Utah, further establishing themselves as mediocre clubs with little hope for playoff success. Portland did the same in their scoreless performance at home against rivals Vancouver. DCU continued their early season run, taking down a good Columbus team 2-0 at RFK. United are now off to their finest start in franchise history, averaging 2.13 points per match through 8 games. That’s remarkable considering how successful the charter club has been over the last two decades. One club we haven’t had the chance to analyze in league play is Montreal, who’ve played just four matches so far this season while MLS accommodated to their unanticipated CONCACAF Champions League run. Speaking of that, it was fun while it lasted for the Impact, but inevitably, Club America finally turned it on with four goals in the second half of the second leg to take the final 4-2 on aggregate. In the midst of America’s goal explosion, Dario Benedetto stole the show with a nifty hat trick in a span of just 31 minutes – this highlight video was the best I could find, but some of those strikes are worth a look.

I frequently reference Matthew Doyle and his Sunday night piece that you can read on MLSsoccer.com. I’ll go ahead and throw in the hyperlink to his week 9 piece because it’s always a good read. Doyle has a way of describing things effectively and concisely. He’s long referred to FCD playmaker Mauro Diaz as a “Magical Little Unicorn” – which is both apt and hilarious. This week he offered another perfect player description – I’ve included the excerpt below:

Chris Rolfe is in one of his “I’m a freaking Wizard” streaks

I love this quote. It perfectly sums up Chris Rolfe because he really does look like a wizard on the pitch at times, whether creating quality chances or finishing off a world class goal himself. But then of course, he does have those stretches where he goes unnoticed and fails to impact matches, making him a streaky player.

BpyMzr6CUAAXcGaUPDATE:

The Aztex are 3-3-1 and currently sit tied for 4th in the USL’s western conference. Not bad at all for the club’s inaugural campaign in the USL, but a closer look at the results reveals a disturbing trend: they are struggling with the better USL clubs and picking up points against the weak ones. Six of the club’s 10 points on the year have come at home against expansion side Colorado Springs (While Austin are new to USL, we are not a new franchise. ATX were founded in 2011 and have three seasons of experience in the USL PDL. Colorado Springs Switchbacks were founded in 2014 and played their first ever competitive match against Austin in the USL season opener, a 2-0 win for the Aztex).

Three more points came from a 2-0 win on the road against Tulsa Roughnecks FC, another expansion club playing in their first ever competitive season. And the tenth point ATX has so far in 2015 came at home against OKC Energy FC – a 2-2 draw in which Austin allowed an 87th minute equalizer (OKC, founded in 2013, are another relatively new club and have just one season of competitive experience). On the other hand, Austin have dropped points against stronger USL opposition: losing at home to Whitecaps II and Arizona United, and on the road against Galaxy II.

The team is young and the current group has had relatively little time to gel. This trend is no cause for panic, but Austin will want to grab a win against a quality opponent soon, before their confidence suffers as a result.

F Up OTW 2Victor Bernardez (Defender) – SJ

Picture1Any time I get the chance to give this award to Victor Bernardez I am going to take full advantage. I hate this guy. Victor was the clear winner in week 9 with this hilarious own goal that cost the Quakes a pair of points on the road. That was the GK’s ball all the way and an easy stop, but no.

Runner-Up

I hate to give commentators a hard time as I appreciate the difficulty of talking for two straight hours without sounding like an idiot at least once (or twice or a dozen+ times). But Paul Caligiuri must be mentioned for his clumsy and hilarious analysis of FC Dallas’ opening goal on UniMas’ #ViernesDeFutbol. Before watching, note that Houston’s ‘keeper is named Tyler Deric. The Dallas ‘keeper is Dan Kennedy.

GOTW imageI love seeing two FC Dallas players nominated for GOTW on MLSsoccer.com, but all four of our goals against Houston were classy finishes. Week 9 offered a nice selection of goals to choose from, but two in particular caught my eye. Some might wonder why I didn’t choose Sebastian Giovinco’s 35-yard free kick goal that decided the 1-0 match in Philly over the weekend. I hate to take anything away because it was an awesome strike, but I believe a better GK would have read it earlier and made the stop. Thus, no GOTW for you, Sebas.

My official week 9 winner is the third and final goal in Seattle’s 3-1 win over NYCFC thanks to the sublime assist by Clint Dempsey. Once Deuce put him through, the control and the finish from Obafemi Martins was pure confidence and quality. Those two have been downright filthy of late and are proving to be in a class of their own every time they take the pitch. No play illustrates that better than the week 9 GOTW.

There’s nothing wrong with silver and I simply loved this goal, so the GOTW runner-up goes to the entire Revs attack for their second of the night in a 2-1 win over rivals NYRB. What amazing team work, kind of like a slow version of Arsenal! The passing was quick, crisp and crafty, and I love seeing the patience and composure from Teal Bunbury to finish off the move.

TOTWimage

@HeyHayward, producer of top notch programs Soccer Morning and The Best Soccer Show, had the best of the CCL tweets from Wednesday’s second leg. This is Jurgen Klinsmann in a nutshell, apparently Piatti was running his ass off at that stage in the match.

But the tweet below Hayward’s is the official week 9 TOTW. @BBCSporf deserves credit for spotting it, but the distinction is awarded to the Notts County FC social media team for their perfect response to a fan’s inquiry.

TOTW wk9

I’ve got little more to add to this week’s post. Week 9 was fun but 10 could be even better with matchups like CHIvRSL, MTLvPOR, CLBvSEA, DALvLA and a game the folks in New York have been waiting to see for nearly two years now: NYRB vs. NYCFC, 5/9, Red Bull Arena, FS1, 7 ET.

MLS Radar: Week 8

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Week8This 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.

Picture22

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.

Orl torSEA 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.

Fup OTW image

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.

GOTW image

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.

TOTWimage

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.

Picture18It was quite a week in the TwitterSphere, so I’ve listed some honorable mention tweets here below.

Picture19I 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

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Picture1Someone 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.

F-up OTWFC 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.


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

Picture2It 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

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MLS radar logo wk 5

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.

F-up OTWThe 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.

F up of the wkSurprise 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.

Surprise of the weekGOTW

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:


TOTWFunny TOTW Winner: @4castnate

TOTWNumbers 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!

MLS Radar: Week 4

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wk 4 radarThe Charm is Gone

The MLS product has improved over the years and currently features a handful of global icons and dozens of internationals from all over the world. This improvement has made the league more attractive to star players, TV networks, wealthy investors and even a few sports fans, but it has also diminished one of the little charms I always liked about MLS. While most domestic leagues around the world are on break this week for the FIFA international date, MLS has a full schedule with eight matches on Saturday and two more on Sunday. MLS has been criticized for not adhering to the international standard of pausing league play during official FIFA dates. But while charging through the domestic schedule with little regard for international play has its drawbacks, I’ve always enjoyed watching MLS during those international breaks. However, now that MLS clubs employ so many active internationals, league action during the FIFA dates isn’t as enjoyable, or charming, as it once was. The week 4 schedule offered MLS fans a brilliant set of matches, but unfortunately the games could not be fully enjoyed. With difference makers out of the lineup for most of the 20 clubs in action over the weekend, the games felt less meaningful and lacked entertainment value. Bringing in stars is a double edged sword; it’s cool when Toronto signs Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore, but then it’s not cool when those two are with the USMNT the same week that TFC has a nationally televised game on FS1. It’s becoming more unhealthy than charming for the league to schedule matches when 50+ of its best players are not available. Taylor Twellman addressed the issue during ESPN2’s Sunday MLS broadcast and recognized the league has smart people that are aware of the situation. I don’t have the entire quote, but the gist of his point was that “This league needs its stars to be playing.” I believe he is right. Somehow, MLS must find a way to schedule around international competition going forward because week 4 was not a fair reflection on the league.

F-up OTWF-Up #1: MLS Scheduling
This is a 3-part rant. I am not outraged and I understand how difficult scheduling is. Still though, I would like to see the league try to improve some of these things:

Gripe 1
For the second straight week we did not get Friday Night Soccer – Boooo! It wasn’t scheduled this week, and likely for good reason. With the FIFA date and March Madness in action, Friday Night Soccer would have really struggled for ratings this week.

Gripe 2
It’s great that MLS has regularly scheduled matches on ESPN2, but this week’s offering of Chicago versus Philadelphia does the league a disservice in my opinion. Chicago and Philly have been struggling and were never likely to play an entertaining match, but it was actually a decent watch in terms of the soccer (Chicago took the match 1-0). The problem was the nonexistent atmosphere at Toyota Park. The match box-score on MLSsoccer.com says there were 12,815 people in attendance, but watching on ESPN2, it sure didn’t look like it. The best part about a TV deal with ESPN is that it allows MLS to showcase the cream of its crop in nearly 100 million American households. There are countless reasons why MLS can’t just hand pick a game with two great teams and a thrilling atmosphere to put up on ESPN2 every Sunday, but I think it’s important for the league to ensure that nationally televised matches have more than that (below) in attendance.

Chi empty standsGripe 3
MLS was guilty of this through three weeks, but now in the fourth week, I must say something. Saturday match overlap has become incredibly frustrating. I understand that scheduling is a massive and intricate puzzle, but it seems the league could do better than what they did this week, where a pair of overlapping afternoon matches were followed by a long break before the final six matches of the day all kicked off within 90 minutes of each other. If the league could pull it off, I’d like to see staggered match times so that MLS soccer is on for eight to nine consecutive hours on Saturdays.

East Conf. Scheduling Blunder from Week 4:
-DCU v LAG kickoff at 7:00 PM ET
-CLB v NYRB kickoff at 7:30 PM ET
Not only two great games for the weekend, but two of the more intriguing matchups so far in 2015. Only separated by 30 minutes, I’d love it if these two matches were separated by 90 minutes or more.

West Conf. Scheduling Blunder from Week 4:
-VAN v POR kickoff at 8:00 PM ET
-FCD v SEA kickoff at 8:30 PM ET
Two great western conference matchups. I think soccer fans around the country would love to have watched all 90 of each game if the start times had allowed.

F-Up #2: Kellyn Acosta
Kellyn Acosta, filling in at left back for starter Moises Hernandez (int’l duty, Guatemala), got his first start of the season and the opportunity to show coach Pareja that he deserves a spot in Dallas’ starting XI. He played an uneventful 17 minutes before a horribly timed challenge found his boot firmly in the stomach of poor Andy Rose (see below). Kellyn will want that challenge back as it cost him 73 minutes to showcase his value to the team and quite possibly cost Dallas two points (Seattle and Dallas played to a 0-0 draw).

F Up KAF-Up #3: David Texiera
Despite not picking up a red card, striker David Texiera (getting his first start of 2015 in place of Panamanian Blas Perez) accomplished about as much as Acosta on a discouraging night for the young Uruguayan. Jason Poon, who writes about FC Dallas at Big D Soccer, had this to say about David Texiera’s shift against Seattle.

Publication1Surprise of the Week:
CLB 1 – 2 NYRB

Week after week MLS matches end in surprising score lines, so I question if I can even label these outcomes as truly surprising. But for me, NYRB going to Columbus and taking all three points was the biggest surprise from this weekend. Columbus were certainly hit harder than New York by the FIFA international date, missing three of their best players in defender Waylon Francis, midfielder Wil Trapp and game changer Justin Meram.

Half Surprise:
MTL 2 – 2 OCSC

A very shorthanded Orlando City picking up a point in Montreal comes as a bit of a surprise, especially after they went down 2-0 (until this week, Orlando had managed just 2 goals in 3 matches!). But Montreal simply cannot be counted on to get a win in MLS under any circumstances these days, so this is only a minor surprise.

The Rest of the Action

NE 2 – 1 SJ
Kellyn Rowe scored a brace for New England’s first two goals of 2015, helping the Revs to their first win of the season on a nasty day in Foxborough. Wondo scored a PK for his third goal of the year.

NYCFC 0 – 1 SKC
Defender Ike Opara scored his second of the season (get him on your fantasy team ASAP) to give SKC their first win of 2015 against a David Villa less NYCFC at Yankee Stadium.

DC 1 – 0 LAG
In typical fashion, LA Galaxy blamed themselves for losing the game rather than crediting their opponents for finding a way to win. LA may have been better on the day, but forward Chris Pontius took all three points for the home side in the 93rd minute with this header.

VAN 2 – 1 PTFC
Another game where the road side felt they were better, but lost the match late in a week 4 that was filled with extra time drama. Recently acquired Vancouver striker Robert Earnshaw scored the winner in the 90th minute, having just come on in the 87′. David Ousted could be the early frontrunner for GK of the Year at the rate he is saving points for Vancouver.

HOU 0 – 0 COL
This game was not even slightly interesting and these two teams are looking like playoff long shots early in the season. Somehow, I saw this one coming.

RSL 2 – 1 TFC
Olmes Garcia nearly cost RSL two points late with this selfish decision as former Dallas hothead Jackson tied the match just moments later. Sadly for Reds fans, TFC gave up the winner about 75 seconds after equalizing. It was a thrilling conclusion to the game and probably the best action of the weekend. RSL have their first win, but haven’t found top form in 2015 as they continue their transition from the diamond 4-4-2 to the new 4-3-3.

GOTW

Jack McInerney’s brilliant chip takes the cake in week 4, but I would have liked to see Ike Opara’s furious header make MLSsoccer.com’s Goal of the Week video (maybe at the expense of Jordan Allen’s game winner).


TOTWUp to this point, the Tweet of the Week (TOTW) has been the funniest tweet I find on Twitter in a given week. But this week I’ll introduce a different TOTW: The Stat or Fact of the Week.

Funny TOTW Winner: @theodorelasso

TOTW jokeStat TOTW Winner: @SteveDavis90

Picture2That’s it and that’s all for week 4. Be sure to check back on Thursday for MLSinVegas and the week 5 Bettor’s Advice column!

MLS Radar: Week 3

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wk 3 radar logo

Someone pooped on my radar screen. Week 3 was about as uneventful as they come. Sixteen teams, eight matches, and only ten freaking goals! After a gut-wrenching injury on the New England turf, a whole mess of red and yellow cards, and of course some hopeless finishing in front of goal, the black hole that was week 3 is finally over. Because the action was so bad, I’ll be abbreviating this week’s Radar Series post so we can all just move on.

F-Up of the Week

This distinction goes to all 16 MLS clubs in action this weekend. What an awful show it was to watch. Even FC Dallas, which managed a comfy and at times attractive 2-0 win in Philly, failed to convert on too many quality chances – they should have had at least five on the day. NYRB was also impressive in their 2-0 win over bitter rivals DC United on Sunday. If this blog cared about the east coast, I’d give the Red Bulls a mention in the Talking Points section below because their performance generated a lot of positive buzz on my MLS radar. Beyond New York and FCD, the other 14 clubs in action this weekend turned in careless and unattractive performances. The games lacked both sharpness and intensity as not one of the eight matches saw two quality sides share the pitch.

One more F-up goes to MLSsoccer.com for not even nominating the best goal in their week 3 GOTW video. Read more and watch the video in the GOTW section below.

Talking Points

Oscar “Papi” Pareja
One of the main talking points around the league after Saturday was FCD head coach Oscar Pareja and his never ending tactical genius. I personally thought the folks at MLSsoccer.com gave Pareja too much credit for making an obvious substitution against a shabby Philly side this week. To be fair, though, there wasn’t much to talk about. At halftime, Papi brought on young jack-of-all-trades Ryan Hollingshead to replace Michel, the dead ball specialist who was on a yellow. Despite his inexperience, Hollingshead is a starting XI caliber player in MLS and more versatile than Michel so I thought the substitution Pareja was praised for was an obvious one to make. However, it should be said that every single adjustment Pareja has made through three games has been spot on.

Papi’s Set Pieces
Pareja also deserves attention for drawing up a clever set piece in three consecutive matches to start the season. Each one is unique and takes full advantage of Dallas’ legitimate dead ball threats: Mauro Diaz’ right foot and Michel’s left foot. Video links and a brief description of each play are listed below:

Week 1: FCD v. San Jose: A sneaky, clever design as everyone in the building thought Diaz would try and curve it over the wall and under the cross bar. Perez should have scored.

Week 2: FCD v. SKC: I thought Michel would whip one directly into the box, but he caught SKC off guard by quickly tapping it to Mauro Diaz, who tapped it right back to Michel in a more advanced position. Just like the chance in week 1, this was quite simple, but the play utilized the threat of Diaz and Michel to trick the defense and create a quality scoring chance.

Week 3 in Philly: The Union were surely concerned about Michel putting a dangerous ball into the box on this one, but then he tricked them, chipping to an open Tesho Akindele. This one put FCD in a fantastic attacking position again. Not the best video, but you get the idea.

Defenses across the league are showing Dallas respect inside the 18 yard box, giving the club’s attacking talent room to work the edges in dangerous set piece situations.

OCSC Attack is in Trouble
They are missing a key contributor up top in Carlos Rivas, but Orlando City are in real trouble in the attacking third right now. Their two goals on the season can be chalked up to luck (a deflection and a GK error), and other legitimate chances have been few and far between. Analysts in the media that have watched more Orlando City and know the tactical side of the game better than me have suggested that Kaka and Kevin Molino, the promising young Trinidadian, are carrying the attacking burden all by themselves. That sounds like something a team does when they are on two red cards. Depressing. Not to worry though, Colorado, New England and Montreal have all failed to find the back of the net in 2015, so sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good!

International Call Ups
By my count, 56 MLS players have been called up for international duty during the March 23-31 FIFA dates. That’s a lot, even if many of those call ups are for U-20, U-23 and some average CONCACAF teams. FIFA dates are impacting MLS more and more as the league’s talent improves and teams with fewer internationals gain a significant advantage in MLS matches that overlap international competition. Orlando City SC for example, an expansion side with little depth, may struggle to field a full 18 in Montreal on Saturday after seven of their players were called up for international duty this week.

GOTW

I was going to skip this section because, as I pointed out above, MLS’ 16 clubs playing in week 3 combined to score a paltry 10 goals, and not a single one was worth writing about. Anyhow, I thought BWP’s opener on Sunday night was the clear cut winner, yet when MLS released their GOTW nominees for week 3, BWP’s was nowhere to be found!

Historical Note: The San Jose goal nominated on MLSsoccer.com was trash and would never have made the cut, but the Quakes christened their new home on Sunday, Avaya Stadium, and that goal was the first ever scored in the new venue. I guess the historical value got it onto the GOTW list, and likely at the expense of BWP. On a related note, it seems something borderline groundbreaking and positive has happened for MLS in all three weeks of the 2015 season. This week’s positive offering was the debut of Avaya Stadium (shown above). It’s a gorgeous building and rightfully so as San Jose, an MLS charter franchise, has never truly had a home they could call their own.

Surprise of the Week

No real winners here. I find it somewhat surprising that DC United looked so listless against NYRB on Sunday night, but they are missing two of their MVPs in Luis Silva and Fabian Espindola. New England struggling early on is a bit of a surprise, but they are dealing with key injuries as well. I’ve got nothing in this section, and that is representative of how unexciting week 3 was. The games weren’t destined to provide us with great entertainment this weekend (COLvNYC ending in a scoreless draw was hilariously predictable) but I’m counting on week 4 to make up for that with match-ups like DAL v SEA, DC v LA, CLB v NYR and VAN v POR.

Twt of the wkI couldn’t decide, so I chose three good ones.

Picture1 Picture2 Picture3