MLS Radar: Week 12

Posted on May 26, 2015 by CT

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.

Jonathan 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.

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

Sebastian Giovinco (TFC) – 5′ v. Portland
Jack McInerney (MTL) – 50′ v. FC Dallas
Lucas Pittinari (COL) – 51′ v. Vancouver

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.

There 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.

2) 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.

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

4) 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.

The 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

Posted on May 20, 2015 by CT

Unfortunately 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.

Every 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.

Everyone!

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.

Devon 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.

The 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.

Hopefully 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 4

Posted on March 30, 2015 by CT

The 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 #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.

Gripe 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 #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.

Surprise 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 93^rd 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).

Up 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

Stat TOTW Winner: @SteveDavis90

That’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!

Soccer Therapy’s 2015 Calendar

Posted on February 6, 2015 by CT

Now that the 2015 schedules for both MLS and the USL are available, Soccer Therapy can finally start planning the year! This column looks at the Austin Aztex home schedule to see which clubs are coming to House Park during our inaugural USL Pro season. More importantly, I’ll line up Austin’s home games with FC Dallas’ schedule and determine how many weeks I’ll be able to catch a live game in ATX without missing one second of FCD’s 2015 campaign. Below, I have written about parts of the schedule that caught my eye:

SIX! – Only six of Austin’s home matches occur on match days for FC Dallas (listed below and marked on the calendar above). The times for most of these matches are TBA and hopefully they won’t all overlap. However, it’s likely that most games listed below will start somewhere between 7 and 8pm central time.

Sat 3/28: FCD v. SEA / ATX v. Colorado Springs
Fri 5/1: HOU v. FCD / ATX v. OKC Energy
Sat 5/9: FCD v. LAG / ATX v. Real Monarchs (RSL II)
Sat 5/23: FCD v. MON / ATX v. Tulsa
Sat 8/15: FCD v. LAG / ATX v. LAG II
Sat 8/22: FCD v. VAN / ATX v. Orange County

Friday Night Soccer – In 2013, I launched a Twitter assault of sorts on MLS commissioner Don Garber. For about two months, I bombarded him with “You guys should have Friday night soccer” tweets, especially on Fridays. Check out the image below to see my efforts at encouraging MLS to schedule more Friday night games. The efforts paid off and the league has responded favorably. Univision, the Spanish language television network, will show MLS Friday Night Football on all but five Fridays throughout the season. Not only will we be getting more Friday Night Soccer in 2015, we will be getting more FCD on Fridays as the Hoops play nine of their 34 MLS matches (more than 25%!) on a Friday. Friday night offers a nice little window in the sports schedule for MLS to showcase itself to the traditional North American sports fan, so hopefully the league will offer up some entertaining matches.

Brutal Finish for FCD – Five matches in the final 22 days of the season to be specific. We will be hosting bitter rivals (1)Houston Dynamo, traveling to BC Place where (2)Whitecaps FC are one of the toughest home clubs in MLS, hosting those same (3)Whitecaps in Frisco, traveling to Rio Tinto where (4)RSL are nearly impossible to beat, and then hosting a (5)Quakes squad who could be good, bad or anywhere in between come October. All of that, in just 22 days. FCD would be wise to earn themselves a nice cushion in the table going into this brutal run.

MLS Realigns – With the additions of NYCFC and Orlando City and the retraction of Chivas USA, MLS has realigned its conferences again. MLS is making the obvious geographic decision by moving Sporting KC and Houston Dynamo over to the western conference to make room for the two new east coast clubs. Despite both struggling in 2014, Houston and SKC have been two of the east’s stronger clubs in recent years, combining to win the east in 3 of the last 4 years. This could make it tough out west, which was already the stronger and deeper of the two conferences. It’s not just LA Galaxy and their dominance, it’s RSL and Seattle too. Portland, FCD and Vancouver make for tough midtable opposition as well. Houston and SKC are two of the best run clubs in MLS and they have the trophies to show for it. Adding them to the west will make the conference that much more difficult to compete in.

Tough Venues – SKC’s addition to the west is unfortunate because Dallas will be traveling to the Cauldron twice in 2015. That is a damn tough arena to get points out of and we can’t realistically expect much from those two matches. It’s not all bad. Like SKC, Portland, Seattle, RSL and LA are some of the toughest teams to beat on the road. All of these teams have quality squads, great fan support, and tend to handle FCD when we travel to their place. Fortunately we will only be traveling to Seattle, RSL, Portland and LA once apiece in 2015. This is a massive break for FCD as we have dropped countless points on the west coast over the last few years (not to mention a frustrating playoff draw(loss) in the Emerald City last fall).

Thoughts on Aztex Inaugural USL Pro Campaign – I do not follow the USL closely, so I look forward to learning more about the league as I track the Aztex in 2015. I have read about clubs like Sacramento Republic FC and Indy Eleven and their MLS aspirations. I have also followed the growing number of MLS clubs that now field their own second squad in the USL. While I don’t know much about the league, I do have a sense for which clubs I’d like to see live. The Aztex host 14 USL matches from late March to early September. Here is my list of marquee home games that I’ll be sure to attend in 2015:

March 28^th – Colorado Springs, Inaugural USL Match + Home Opener
April 1^st – Whitecaps II
April 11^th – Arizona United SC (FC Dallas affiliate)
June 27^th – Sacramento Republic FC
July 17^th – Arizona United SC
August 1^st– Portland II
August 15^th– LA Galaxy II *Side note: FCD hosts real LA Galaxy in Frisco on this day
September 5^th – Sounders II

Other Notes – (1) I did not address the US Open Cup in this column because it does not begin until April and MLS Clubs do not participate until June. Make no mistake, Soccer Therapy loves the USOC and will be addressing the topic when the time is right. (2) Preseason is an afterthought on this blog but one 2015 event needs mention on this post. The ATX Pro Challenge happens in February, when the Aztex and FC Dallas will be sharing the same venue and potentially going head to head in the final round. (3) I will be heading to San Antonio on April 15^th to see the USMNT take on El Tri for what should be a breathtaking experience. I hope to have quite the 2015 photo album when all is said (snapped?) and done.

Link to each club’s complete 2015 league schedule:
Austin Aztex 2015 USL Pro Schedule
FC Dallas 2015 MLS Schedule

Soccer Therapy Goes to the ATX Pro Challenge

Posted on January 20, 2015 by CT

The greatest soccer tournament in the history of Austin, Texas is happening in February. Why is it so great? My club, FC Dallas, the classiest club in all of sports, is coming to town. This post details all of the need-to-knows for those interested in celebrating this unbelievable occasion.

WHAT: Basically the most awesome thing ever. The inaugural ATX Pro Challenge is a preseason soccer tournament consisting of four games to be played between three MLS clubs and the Austin Aztex!

WHO:
Austin Aztex – Founded in 2011 after the old Aztex bailed for Orlando. The Aztex were champions of the USL PDL (4th tier of US professional soccer) in 2013. In 2014, the club earned a promotion to American soccer’s third tier, the United Soccer League (USL). They make their USL debut this spring against the likes of Sacramento Republic FC and LA Galaxy II.

Columbus Crew SC – Founded in ’94 as one of MLS’ 10 charter clubs. The Crew are a significant franchise in the history of US Soccer as they were the first MLS club founded and built Crew Stadium, the first ever soccer specific stadium in the United States. In addition to these momentous achievements, Columbus has been equally impressive on the pitch with one MLS Cup (2008), three Supporters’ Shields (2004, 2008, 2009) and one USOC Championship (2002).

DC United – Another MLS charter club. DCU are arguably the proudest and most successful club in MLS history. They have been rotting away in RFK, but with a new stadium deal secured, the franchise is certain to become one of MLS’ shining stars once again. They are one of only two MLS clubs (LA Galaxy is the other one) with a CONCACAF Champs League title (1998), they’ve won four MLS Cups (’96, ’97, ’99, ’04), four Supporters’ Shields (’97, ’99, ’06, ’07) and three USOCs (’96, ’08, ’13). That kind of trophy case can really take your breath away.

FC Dallas – Like the Crew and DCU, FCD is a charter club and has played in all 19 MLS seasons. Unfortunately, being a classy club is about all FCD supporters can brag about. Their lone trophy came in the ’97 USOC, back when the club was branded as the “Dallas Burn.”WHEN:
Friday 2/13: Semifinals
4:45pm – Gates open
5:45pm – Crew SC vs FC Dallas
8:00pm – Aztex vs DC United

Sunday 2/15:
12:00pm – Gates open
1:00pm – 3rd Place Game
3:15pm – Championship Game

WHERE: Mike A. Myers Stadium and Soccer Field – UT Campus (just behind the east stands of DKR Memorial)

HOW MUCH:
$20 – General Admission for each match day
$40 – General admission for the weekend
$8 – 16oz Beer

***For more info, or to purchase tickets yourself, click here***

The Good, Bad and the Ugly from MLS in 2014

Image

Major League Soccer’s 19th season has come to a close and I am taking a look at some of the biggest talking points from this World Cup year. I’ll also hand out some biased awards and share my favorite highlights from an amazing year of soccer in North America.

THE GOOD

MLS Next is Here

Earlier this year, in typical MLS fashion, the league put on a ridiculous branding show called “MLS Next” that was basically a glorified logo unveiling. I think most MLS fans were excited by the idea of a new logo, but also skeptical about the league actually getting it right. Since 1994, there have been five “different” MLS logos. Have a look:

As you can see, the league hasn’t exactly been getting creative. The newest edition, which will go into use in 2015 for the league’s 20^th season, was initially met with a negative reaction. Many thought it looked, cheap, thoughtless, lacked substance, and why is that damn kick-stand sticking out of the shield!?! Those are all fair assessments, because on the surface, it does seem overly simple to the point that it lacks identity. But since these initial reactions, the logo has started to grow on fans around the league. MLS was brilliant to observe that so many of its supporters liked to take the old logo and alter the image to do different things with it, including myself:

MLS took notice of the trend and really embraced it when designing the new logo. They gave some silly explanation about how the red half of the shield symbolizes the first 45′ and the white half symbolizes the second 45′, but I believe they wanted to engage fans with a blank space in the logo to let them play with. This is brilliant marketing, but enough about logos.

NYCFC – The Connection

Manchester City’s investment into MLS has blown open a number of really cool possibilities for the league. First of all, the New York market should be taken advantage of, and NYRB certainly aren’t doing their part right now. In terms of building a more prominent product within the American pro sports hierarchy, establishing a proud, dominant, inner city club in NYC is about the most obvious thing any league could do. MLS has yet to do this, but if the Yankees-ManC partnership can make a stadium happen, NYCFC could earn legitimate international popularity. They are certainly off to a good start with the likes of Super Frankie Lampard and David Villa set to take the pitch this coming spring. Beyond the two decorated designated players (DPs), I’d imagine NYCFC will find a way to incorporate ManC’s youth talent into their MLS roster and maybe even get around some salary cap restrictions as a result. NYCFC has a veteran MLS coach with a proven track record and an MLS Cup title to his name. They’ll pick up some MLS veteran household names, surround them with 18 year old English kids and three high profile DPs. For people who hold out hope that the U.S might one day become a soccer power (at the club and international levels), this tangible link between MLS and world soccer power Manchester City is absolutely a big deal.

Player Acquisitions

MLS took a massive step forward when Seattle signed Captain America (C. Dempsey) back in the summer of 2013. The league validated that step forward when it brought in USMNT stud midfielder Michael Bradley and Premiere League talisman Jermaine Defoe in January. Orlando City SC signed the Brazilian Kaka – sure he may be old, but this is the kind of acquisition that has alluded MLS in the past. It’s also nice to see an expansion club in Orlando contribute to the league with a marquee signing before even taking the field (Note for Austinites: this Orlando City Soccer Club, which will make its MLS debut next spring, is actually the original Austin Aztex, who controversially left town, set up shop in Orlando, and now the rest is history). The Houston Dynamo signed two players that got serious time in Brazil this summer, although one of them is Honduran and the other is quickly becoming a washed up American fullback (Beasley). I already mentioned Frank Lampard and David Villa signing with New York. The number of DPs in MLS is growing. Owners and technical directors across the league are faced with constant pressure to sign real talent just to avoid a bottom table finish (Case in point: Colorado Rapids). As a result, North American clubs are making bigger moves with each coming transfer window, and it is becoming less of a stigma for star players to sign with an MLS club.

Keeping Players Too!

USMNT regulars Graham Zusi and Matt Besler signed with SKC rather than a European club when the option was theirs. The league is doing everything in its power to hang on to Cubo Torres, the Mexican striker who followed up a breakout year in MLS with a national team call up and a goal for El Tri. FC Dallas will be desperate to hang on to their young super talent, Colombian winger Fabian Castillo, after Mexican powerhouse Club America showed interest in the 22 year old earlier this year. Here is a pair of highly recommended highlights from each of the young attackers – one from Cubo Torres and one from Fabian Castillo.

The Homegrown Initiative

In my MLS All-Star* 2014 piece, I mentioned the inaugural Chipotle Homegrown Game and the league’s effort to showcase the talent produced by its club’s youth academies. MLS clubs will eventually be required to start their own lower-division team or affiliate with one. Austin’s Aztex just affiliated with the Columbus Crew while FC Dallas just partnered with Arizona United SC for the 2015 season. LA Galaxy became the first MLS club to field their very own lower-division club, the Galaxy II, who just completed their inaugural season in USL PRO (3rd tier of US Soccer pyramid). They will be joined by RSL, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto as each of these clubs will be fielding a USL PRO squad in 2015.

Perhaps the truest sign that player development in the U.S. is improving is the sale of DeAndre Yedlin to Tottenham earlier this year. He is a great young talent and the league will miss his marketability, but the fact that an MLS homegrown was granted a work permit in England so quickly after Totttenham showed interest suggests that maybe even the English are starting to take MLS seriously. 2014 was genuinely a landmark year for homegrowns in MLS. FC Dallas saw the rise of Moises Hernandez at left back and Victor Ulloa at d-mid, two very young players who look to be MLS regulars for the next decade (Hernandez could eventually garner European interest – he looks that good). Seattle Sounders homegrown Jordan Morris (currently playing college soccer at Stanford) received a call up to the national team earlier this year. Gyasi Zardes bagged a goal in MLS Cup and is garnering national team interest himself after a 16-goal season up top for the Galaxy.

We are seeing MLS’ player development efforts pay off before our own eyes. At the same time, the league and the U.S. Soccer Federation continue to ramp up these efforts and establish a more thorough and intense player development system resembling that of a European country. If the league and its clubs continue to take player development seriously, it could lead to great things for both MLS and the USMNT.

Stadium Movement

As fans of MLS know, soccer specific stadiums have played a massive role in the league’s growth by offering passionate supporters a place to call their own. Beautiful stadiums that sell out at 20,000 tickets rather than 50,000+ make it much easier for clubs to create a fun and exciting atmosphere for fans and players alike – make no mistake, that “Player Acquisitions” section above would not exist if teams were playing in half empty NFL stadiums. The point is that soccer specific stadiums are critical to the success of MLS and the league is making real progress in finding suitable venues for each of its franchises. The New England Revolution remain a concern as they play in Gillette stadium, a massive NFL venue with an artificial surface. But one of MLS’ proudest franchises, DC United, seems to have secured a new stadium deal so they can finally escape the laughable RFK. The Earthquakes will play their first game in their new San Jose stadium this spring. Orlando City has broken ground on the site where they will build their new soccer specific stadium. Here is a great view of one of SKC’s many supporter’s sections – this scene is becoming commonplace across the league:

The Bad and the Ugly
I spent so much time talking about the good things going on in Major League Soccer that this column couldn’t possibly squeeze much more into it. I’ll just list some of the “bads” and “uglys” with a quick thought to keep it brief. After all, Soccer Therapy is a place for happy thoughts. Then, it’s onto awards and highlights!

THE BAD

Scheduling – Unlike most domestic leagues, MLS’ schedule does not accommodate to the FIFA international calendar. Like Scandinavian leagues, MLS doesn’t want to play soccer in the ice and snow, and nature forces the North American soccer season to run from spring to fall. That is fine, but I would like to see the league make some effort to give its clubs a break during FIFA international dates. Currently, MLS does not recognize these dates and it is incentivising clubs to target players who don’t factor into their respective national team pictures.

Secrecy – I have not read them in detail, but those who have assure me that the league rules make no sense, and if they did it would not matter. Many felt the league basically just made up the rules as it went along so that it could bring in stars Dempsey and Bradley. If this is the case, we are better off with these guys than without them, but it severely damages the young league’s credibility when it contradicts itself with one player acquisition after another.

Salary Cap – The “secrecy” concern is legitimate, but also understood because MLS is operating in an environment where it is destined to fail. A domestic soccer league has never thrived north of the border, and if it means ridiculous levels of control by the front office to keep the league afloat, I suppose that is better than the league collapsing like its predecessors. I think the league is trying to keep the cap figure low as its core of investors turn soccer franchises from debts into revenue generating businesses. Not all owner pocket books are created equal, and a salary cap represents the best way to maintain parity and excitement. But MLS has stated that it would like to be considered a top league in the world at some point. It would also be nice if MLS clubs could compete with LigaMX clubs: In the last six editions of the CONCACAF Champs League, only four MLS clubs have reached the semis, only one has reached the final, and none have managed to win the cup. MLS is walking a fine line between being a growing league and one with real aspirations. But until teams are given the salary cap freedom to sign DPs and still fill out a deep, solid, veteran roster, the league will not be able to compete with Mexican clubs.

THE UGLY

TV Ratings – As an avid MLS supporter I have a hard time finding anything “ugly” about the league, but the TV ratings have been objectively hideous. The biggest problem is that I do not see where the league can showcase its product without going up against a much more popular American sport. Summer time seems like a good window as many American sports are on break as well as popular European domestic leagues. The ideal time to show MLS games would be at the conclusion of the season when playoff spots are on the line and then the playoff games as well. In 2014, the MLS Cup playoffs began on 10/29 and ended on 12/7. There is this little thing called the NFL that happens to be going on four nights a week during this stretch. I truly have no idea how MLS is going to get TV viewers going forward. Maybe, just maybe, this is real cause for the league to consider getting on the FIFA calender so they can showcase their product without competing against the NFL. But again, the weather in North America simply does not allow for that.

Awards:

Commentary Highlight of the Year: watch (and listen) as commentator Paul Mariner encourages his beloved New England side to keep a clean sheet in the opening minutes of a match only to see the boys give up a goal within seconds of saying it: “Well there I am, Brad, talking about keeping it clean…” – this is priceless.

Rookie of the Year:
Harrison Shipp, Attacking Mid, Chicago Fire

The young homegrown (more homegrown love!) played his first MLS season after a standout career at Notre Dame and absolutely tore it up. After 7 goals and 6 assists, he finished 2nd in the real rookie of the year voting to FC Dallas’ Tesho Akindele. Tesho had a great season and was deserving of the attention, but his winning the award was a result of a great social media campaign by FC Dallas. Shipp is the rare American footballer with European skills and vision. While he is great over the dead ball and a lethal finisher in front of goal, his ability to find and make the pass is what truly separates him. This 15-second highlight is a little fuzzy, but you should get the idea. The voters had their reasons though: this is the best highlight from Tesho’s 7-goal rookie campaign.

Coach of the Year
Oscar Pareja, FC Dallas

Oscar took over a team that had the 5th overall pick at each of the last three MLS Superdrafts. He led the club through an absolutely brutal western conference and got FC Dallas their first playoff win since 2010. He took the squad to the USOC semifinals as well. FC Dallas was never beaten when they were ousted – losing on PKs in the USOC semis and an away-goals-tiebreaker in the playoffs. How did Pareja do it? He wasn’t afraid to put the young kids out there. He gave everyone on the roster a chance and really brought along the young talent that former manager Hyndman refused to give playing time. The team also set a franchise record for goals scored in a season, playing some exciting soccer at times. I may be a homer, but this seems like a no-brainer of a decision.

Team Bust: Toronto FC

Portland was at least expected to make the playoffs after finishing top of the table in the west last year. Houston is always expected to make a run at MLS Cup rather than take a dump in August and September. Philly had a much better squad than their place in the table would suggest. But the winner of this award has to go to Toronto FC. After all the talk this off-season about ending the playoff drought thanks to their big player signings, they came out of the gates hot, only to stumble to the finish. They dropped 14 out of 15 points in their last five matches, missing the playoffs by eight points. The signing of Bradley in a World Cup year hurt them badly, and their other big signing, Jermain Defoe, was bugged by injuries throughout the season. Still, more was expected of this squad and the loyal fans in Toronto deserve much better.

Surprise Team: DC United

FC Dallas might even get a look here as many expected us to struggle in a stacked western conference. But no one could have expected the turn around made by DC United this year after a historically bad 2013. They finished top of the table in the east only to tumble out of the playoffs in the conference semis. It must be nice to be a DC United fan: the proud franchise still managed to shock the world during their miserable 2013 campaign by winning the US Open Cup at Rio Tinto over RSL. Even in the bad years they bring in silverware. Then, they seem to put those bad years behind them overnight.

MVP
Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy

Some say Obafemi Martins of Seattle was the MVP while others say the Revolution’s Lee Nguyen was more deserving. I actually saw Keane and Nguyen live, but did not see Obafemi. I am not going to go into any analysis here, but Robbie Keane has been far and away the most valuable player in MLS ever since he joined the league in 2011 – as evidenced by his club’s winning three of the last four MLS Cups.

Goal of the Year

These things are biased – do you like the upper90 screamer from 30 yards out? Maybe you prefer a beautiful team build up or some spectacular individual technical ability. I settled on this goal as the best of the season because it is simply absurd. Some of the coolest goals you will see are met with a debate: did he really mean to do that? In this case, we can all be certain that the chip is exactly what Obafemi was going for. And if you are all about the build up play, check out that chip through ball that led to the goal.

Breakout Player
DeAndre Yedlin, Seattle Sounders FC

Tweet of the Year – this is pure gold

And there you have it – MLS 2014. Hope you enjoyed it and I will try to post a little more frequently.

US Open Cup Semifinal Thoughts

Posted on August 11, 2014 by CT

Philadelphia Union @ FC Dallas – 8/12/2014, 8pm CST

Tomorrow night FC Dallas will play their most important match since losing 2-1 to Colorado Rapids in the 2010 MLS Cup Final. Dallas gets a beatable opponent in the Philadelphia Union, a team they beat 2-1 in Frisco on July 4^th. The stakes are high: on the line for Dallas is an opportunity to a host a Cup Final on their home pitch. During the MLS All Star festivities, US Soccer conducted a coin flip that awarded the right to host the US Open Cup Final to the winner of the FCD v Philly semifinal. Home field is great, but potentially avoiding a final in Seattle, on turf, and in front of 40,000 fans is a huge break.

FC Dallas comes into this game on a fantastic run of form, going unbeaten in their last 11 matches across all competitions. Since a 2-1 loss to San Jose on May 31^st, Dallas has 5 wins and 3 draws in MLS play, taking 18 of 24 possible points and moving up to 3^rd in the Western conference. After outclassing Colorado on Saturday night for a 3-1 win, FCD is tied with Portland for most goals in MLS play, having scored 38 times in 23 matches (Philly is not far behind though, leading the East with 36 goals in 23 matches).

Dallas’ season can be broken into three different stretches:

Stretch #1, games 1-5: 4 wins, 1 draw. They began the season on fire, leading the league in scoring and taking a nice lead in the standings after the 5 game unbeaten run. The 5^th match of this stretch saw FC Dallas absolutely destroy their in-state rivals, Houston Dynamo, 4-1 in Houston.

Stretch #2, games 6-15: 1 win, 7 losses, 2 draws. Dallas goes 10 games with only 1 win (which came at home against a Jermaine Defoe-less Toronto FC). The other 9 games in this stretch saw FC Dallas drop 25 of a possible 27 points, losing 7 matches and drawing 2. Just like 2012 and 2013, FC Dallas’ season was off the rails with a disastrous late spring/early summer winless slide. The team was ravaged by injuries, missing their best defender in George John (out for 2014), their best D-mid in Hendry Thomas (also out for the year now), and their critical #10 Mauro Diaz (fully returned from injury now). The team also dealt with injuries at FB and racked up a ridiculous number of red cards. Through 15 MLS games, FC Dallas had managed just 1 clean sheet (against RSL at Rio Tinto, oddly enough). Unfortunate scheduling in the month of May was also a reason for FCD’s poor play in stretch #2. In mid May, FC Dallas played five matches in 18 days, including two brutal double-game weeks. All five of these matches were against Western conference opposition and four of the five were on the road. The club took 1 of a possible 15 points in those 18 days. It was painful to watch, but it is history now, and the injuries gave manager Oscar Pareja a chance to develop young players who now make FCD a deeper squad (namely, homegrown D-mid Victor Ulloa, homegrown left-back Moises Hernandez and rookie Canadian striker Tesho Akindele).

Stretch #3, games 16-23: 5 wins, 3 draws. The summer has been good to FCD. MLS powerhouses like Real Salt Lake, LA Galaxy, Seattle, Sporting KC, NY Red Bulls and Houston were without some their best players for about two months due to the World Cup – The USMNT camp began on May 14^th and most players didn’t get back into their respective MLS squads until mid July. Last week’s All-Star festivities brought unwanted midseason travel demands on a lot of those same star players (see ASG preview below). But not a single FCD player was voted onto the All-Star roster or selected for a final World Cup roster (or preliminary roster for that matter). It’s not very exciting/sexy for the fans or very useful for FCD’s marketing team, but it gave the injured players time to recover and the healthy ones a chance to get their legs back. FC Dallas played Portland to a 2-2 draw at Providence Park on June 11^th, World Cup Eve, and Major League Soccer began a break that lasted through the group stages in Brazil. The draw versus Portland was the second game in FCD’s current 8 game unbeaten run. Since the break, FC Dallas is not only getting results, but playing really good soccer. Manager Oscar Pareja has been flexible, using a 4-2-3-1 formation during stretch #1 that featured the dynamic Argentine playmaker, Mauro Diaz. FC Dallas was averaging 2.4 goals per game before Diaz was injured vs. DC United in the club’s 8^th match of the season. However, stretch #3 has seen Pareja go to a 4-4-2 as FC Dallas does not have an ideal replacement #10 for Mauro Diaz at this point – interesting side note: FCD management made a move during this transfer window to get Sacha Kljestan, but came up short. The new 4-4-2 has been a great formation for a team that struggled to keep clean sheets early on, and with the emergence of large, strong (and pretty good) rookie striker Tesho Akindele, FC Dallas now has the additional forward required to produce in the 4-4-2. However, now Mauro Diaz is healthy again and Pareja has tough decisions to make. Mauro is too good to no start in this league, but it will be hard to abandon the 4-4-2 that saved Dallas’ season.

That is sort of an update on what FCD has been through this year and where they stand heading into this cup semifinal. I didn’t even get to the wingers, but both are stupid fast and have played for Colombian youth national teams. If you do tune into an FCD match, watch out for #11 and #91, very entertaining. Check out these two quick highlights of Fabian Castillo in a recent match (#11) if you like:

1) True separation speed, some filth, and a nice cross

2) Speed kills, still working on that last touch

On Saturday night, just 72 hours before the semifinal kicks off, FC Dallas took a 3-0 against Colorado and was able to sub out some players and keep some fresh legs heading into Tuesday. Philadelphia also played on Saturday, taking a 2-0 lead in the 63’, eventually beating Montreal 2-1 in a game where they were able to make key subs for the upcoming semifinal. Dallas and Philly both played at home last weekend, but I love the fact that we will not have to travel, while the Union will face a trip down to Texas and a bout with the summer heat, not to mention a hot FCD squad. If we play our game and don’t make a massive mistake (red card, PK etc…), then I believe we are the favorites.

I don’t exactly follow other teams, but I keep an eye on the league and here is my take on the Union in 2014:

Philly has had a bit of an up and down year in MLS play; a lot of writers feel they have underachieved to this point, having collected 27 points in 23 matches, good for the 5^thplace in the relatively weak Eastern conference. Due to their inability to close out a few games, perform up to their potential with healthy XIs, and their poor standing in the table, the Union fired manager John Hackworth in early June. They replaced him internally with Jim Curtain and the team is getting better results. Philly was active in the transfer window, bringing back a former player, CB Carlos Valdes, that most seem to think is a massive upgrade for a team who has leaked some silly goals at inopportune times in 2014. Amobi Okugo and Maurice Edu, two guys I think of D-mids, have been playing a lot of CB for Philly recently, so it is possible this transfer for a CB actually upgrades Philly’s defense and their midfield. Philly also brought in a good GK, picking up the fella who started in goal for the impressive Algerian squad at this year’s World Cup – have no idea how to spell or pronounce his name, but he’s good. Lastly, Philly brought in a guy who was leading the Jamaican league in scoring. Check out this awesome highlight video if you feel like it:

Some highlights were better than others, but I think Brian Brown could be pretty productive here in MLS. For what it’s worth, in his debut MLS appearance, after being subbed on in the 69^th minute, he scored an equalizer at SKC in the 71^st minute. I believe it was his first or second touch in Major League Soccer. The new CB should definitely play on Tuesday, the GK is a strong possibility and the striker may come off the bench if I had to guess. Like Dallas Philly has been in a pretty good run of form, I saw this on Twitter earlier:

Both the Union and FC Dallas are in extremely competitive playoff races. However, I believe this semifinal is a higher priority for FC Dallas, which had lower MLS expectations prior to the season (new coach + the West is stacked). Philly has a quicker turnaround, playing on Friday night while FCD does not play until Saturday.

Should be a fun match tomorrow night. There is a lot on the line. I’ll take FC Dallas 2-0 in the end. In the other match Seattle hosts Chicago Fire. I give Chicago about a 10% chance.

Speaking of watching, here are a few general thoughts on the coverage of the USOC:

The tournament is still mostly unknown or overlooked (see “Soccer Therapy: USOC Style” below) but it is a little more accessible to viewers across the nation every year. This year, US Soccer has been live streaming the USOC “match of the round” on their website. Naturally, Seattle v Chicago on Wednesday is that game for the semifinal round – the FC Dallas game can be found on either FC Dallas’ team site or Philadelphia’s. The cup final will be broadcast on live cable television! It will be on GolTV, a small Florida based station that shows cool soccer stuff (including “Oh My Goal” and Live Bundesliga matches). GolTV isn’t exactly ESPN, but I did not think the US Open Cup would be getting live matches on cable TV in 2014, so this is a step in the right direction.

MLS All-Star* Game: August 6th, 2014 – Portland, Oregon

Posted on August 6, 2014 by CT

MLS Popular Names vs. Bayern Munich

Notice the asterisk by All Star in the title and the match-up: Popular names v. Bayern. Unfortunately, like the last few editions of this game that I’ve watched, MLS will not be represented by its most deserving performers. Instead we see a player like Landon Donovan selected as an All Star, despite struggling to find consistent form throughout the season – I will say his form improved in a big way when JK left him off the 23-man WC squad. MLS isn’t exactly overflowing with world class players, but most of us who follow the league believe there are more deserving selections than Landon Donovan for this spot, given that he was voted onto the team as a forward. MLS’s all time leading goal scorer is certainly an All Star caliber player in this league and still manages to produce like crazy: he has 4 goals and 7 assists in 17 appearances with the Galaxy so far in 2014. But I think many fans are disappointing to see LD in particular get the nod when Dom Dwyer, the young Englishmen, has been ripping it up with 14 goals in 22 appearances for Sporting KC this season. Omar Gonzalez, the USMNT World Cup vet, is an All Star despite appearing in only eight games for the Galaxy in 2014. I can excuse selections like these due to this being a World Cup year. The league succeeded in its massive push to acquire as many WC2014 participants as possible prior to the start of the tournament. Now MLS is trying to promote their World Cup veterans to boost the league’s profile and the ASG represents one of their best chances to do this. I counted 9 players from 2014 World Cup rosters on the original MLS ASG roster, and that doesn’t even include the likes of Thierry Henry, Robbie Keane, Jermaine Defoe and a fella Nigeria really could have used in Brazil, Obafemi Martins (if you haven’t seen it already, check out this goal, GK’s reaction is awesome):

The All Stars MLS will be showcasing tonight in Portland are an exciting group in terms of names. Many of these big names are deserving of that selection too, and even for those less deserving, I understand why World Cup veterans in MLS get a free pass to the ASG as the league tries to build its brand. But with a large roster, I would like to see a few more spots dedicated to the players who are most deserving of the honor. Breakout performances from unknowns should be rewarded with these kinds of accolades, which mean so much more to a young American trying to make it in MLS than the set-to-retire legend Thierry Henry (19 games, 5 goals and 10 assist for Red Bulls in 2014). In conclusion, I am totally okay with MLS constructing an All Star roster of mostly big names, I understand the reasoning behind it. But going forward, this event could be used as a way to promote some of the young talent around the league and contribute to the building of America’s youth system.

Speaking of young talent, MLS introduced a new concept to the All Star festivities for this year: The Chipotle MLS Home-grown game – great sponsor. With the All Star festivities starting over the weekend and wrapping up tonight with the match v. Bayern, the homegrown match actually happened on Monday night in front of a pretty solid crowd from what I hear. The game was streamed online, I certainly did not watch, but heard good things about it on Twitter. The matchup featured Portland’s U23 side vs. a selection of the best homegrown players from MLS academies across the league. I was skeptical about the concept at first, but the league promoted the game really well and I think going forward, this will be a much bigger deal. For all those out there wanting to see the USMNT program grow from the ground up, a homegrown game is a great idea. It encourages MLS clubs to strengthen their academies so that they can get those homegrowns on the pitch for MLS action and then get them into this “U23 ASG” of sorts. Not shockingly, the little lads played out to a 0-0 draw.

One of the reasons for my optimism about this homegrown game going forward is that MLS has done a brilliant job turning their All Star game into a huge event and city wide party. I remember watching MLS beat Chelsea 3-2 in Philly’s gorgeous riverfront stadium in 2012.

I enjoyed the match and thought it was good for the league to get some exposure on the World Wide Leader. Americans have shown for years how much they enjoy watching big European clubs in the summer months. Playing these high profile opponents is good for the league, but more importantly, MLS found a way to make soccer cool and fun with their All Star Game “festivities” model (that is what I am calling it). Last year in Kansas City was a completely different animal. Media members and club supporters from around the country flooded the City of Fountains for a series of events that turned KC into Soccer City USA for a few days – this occurred in 2013, but try to recall those viewing parties ESPN kept showing in the Power and Lights district of KC during their World Cup coverage, Kansas City loves them some soccer. Participants flew in over the weekend and many attended a Gold Cup final viewing party on Sunday night. There was a concert with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis on Monday, and finally the All Stars got their pants pulled down by Totti and AS Roma on Wednesday night. Despite the beat-down, the concept of All Star Festivities, rather than just a game, was a huge success. Like Philly in 2012 and SKC in 2013, Portland Timbers were awarded the right to host the 2014 All Star Game because of their sellout crowds and incredible fan base.

MLS is using the ASG as a way to incentivize its clubs to create world class, European soccer atmospheres inside their stadiums. This year, it seems like even more soccer people around the country are joining in the All Star festivities. The schedule is similar to last year: the Flaming Lips put on an outdoor concert but the addition of the homegrown game on Monday was great touch. MLS is not only incentivizing clubs to create great atmospheres with their All Star Game location. By selecting markets like KC and Portland, which have unbelievably passionate but still classy supporters, MLS ensures their All Star event will be fun and buzzing with excitement emanating from that local fan-base. I honestly think Bayern Munich has been impressed with Portland and MLS from a business, marketing and supporters standpoint. This is a unique game for MLS simply because they were able to draw the Bavarian Giants. Something about the super snazzy Germans coming to the relatively small Portland media market is bizarre to me, in a good way though. Bayern Munich playing in the MLS ASG seems to be raising more eye brows in my little soccer world than when a big time Premiere League team does so. Maybe that is because BPL teams have been making stateside tours for years now and Bayern feels a little fresher. Maybe it is because Bayern is perceived to be (and probably is) stronger than all the English sides. Major League Soccer’s top priorities are building the brand, establishing credibility and increasing viewership. The league has literally selected the best ASG opponent on the planet for achieving those goals.

Now to the game: No analysis needed. It is Bayern Munich. The only question is can Julian Green get a goal? And, are the MLS players able to stay healthy? At least FCD didn’t send anyone! I’ll go 5-1 Bayern, with a Julian Green goal, for the girls (see below).

Excerpt from some SI article:

“While the German players who played in the World Cup won’t play more than 15 minutes, Green should get more playing time on Wednesday, according to Guardiola. “He’s going to play a little bit more — for the fans, for the girls,” Guardiola said, clapping a hand on Green’s neck and smiling. “Yeah? Do you want to play?”

Green responded “yes” with a shy smile.”

The Original Email Thread

Posted on July 23, 2014 by CT

Soccer Therapy 7/11/14: MLS is Here

MLS is not “here”.

But, “MLS is Here” is the name of a new 30 second spot promoting the league. A little over the top, but mostly just well done in my opinion. Worth 30 seconds if you are excited about soccer following the World Cup.

It’s marketing pieces like this that got me excited about watching the 2010 World Cup, which sparked my general fascination with The Beautiful Game year round. Here are the links, have a look

MLS 30 second vid:

http://www.mlssoccer.com/video/2014/07/10/mls-here

Here is a link to the ad that got me excited about the 2010 World Cup (and is somewhat responsible for my interest in the game today!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXlBSlyU8xY

Transfer update –

Alexis Sanchez: Barca > Arsenal

The Biter: Liverpool > Barca

Robinho: AC Milan > Orlando City SC*

LeBron James: Miami > Cleveland

*Far from official, but so was the Kaka to OCSC deal for a few weeks. The key is that Orlando is owned by one of the wealthiest Brazilians, he is filthy rich and apparently he is friends with a lot of big time Brazilian soccer players.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see OCSC make their 2nd designated player signing very soon. Xavi to NYCFC is also looking possible now.

Cheers,

Soccer Therapy 7/8/14: USOC edition!

Okay boys,

This soccer therapy, from a content standpoint, is my most selfish yet – so I am only sending it to my closest amigos and I’ll try to keep it brief. But, if even 1% of you is an FC Dallas fan, or at least would like to see the classy franchise win some silverware anytime soon, I suggest reading on and checking out the US Open bracket image I’ve attached.

It’s been a long road. A lot of qualifiers, a lot of games, and a few upsets have set the stage for the 2014 US Open Cup (USOC) quarterfinals. The field of 8 is set after five rounds of action including teams from all 4 tiers of pro soccer in the USA and a few amateur sides as well. You might be asking yourself, what is the US Open Cup? Fair question, and the tournament doesn’t exactly garner big time attention: ESPN.com doesn’t recognize its existence, its website is run by volunteers, and many MLS clubs use it as an opportunity to develop young players rather than win a trophy. If you are still reading, here are some of the reasons I am excited about FC Dallas’ current USOC run.

1 – The tournament has been around since 1914. It is the oldest existing competition in American soccer by a few years.

2 – It is named the “Lamar Hunt US Open Cup” – When a tournament is named after the founder of your franchise (the Hunts have owned and operated FCD from day 1), it means a little bit more.

3 – The winner of the cup gets $250k (transfer fee type money in MLS) and a coveted spot in the CONCACAF Champions League. Of course, this in turn presents the opportunity to represent MLS in the Club World Cup (if some extraordinary set of circumstances were to play out).

I mentioned upsets. The elite 8 of professional soccer in America has a strong MLS flavor to it. But 2 quarterfinalists, Atlanta and Carolina, will represent the North American Soccer League (NASL).

After receiving a bye for the first 2 rounds of the tourney, the Atlanta Silverbacks thrashed Chattanooga 5-0. Then, playing host to Real Salt Lake, the Silverbacks pulled a massive 4^th round upset, earning their first W versus an MLS side. The Silverbacks went on to the 5^th round to face the Rapids in Colorado. After taking a 2-1 lead, a 2^nd half altercation resulted in 3 straight reds to Atlanta players. The Silverbacks were then outmanned 10-8 with only a 1 goal cushion and 26 minutes remaining. Obviously, somehow, they held on.

Now for the juicy stuff: FC Dallas’ quarterfinal opposition is the other NASL side, the Carolina RailHawks. Like Atlanta, Carolina was off until the 3^rd round, where they blanked the Charlotte Eagles 2-0 (Charlotte, who plays in the 3^rd division USL PRO, knocked FC Dallas out of the USOC in the 3rd round in 2012). In the 4^th round, Carolina beat MLS side Chivas USA on PKs 3-2 then. In the 5^th round, Carolina hosted and defeated the LA Galaxy in a USOC match for the 3^rd consecutive year.

I don’t know much about these guys, but I’d like to think an MLS side has a massive advantage. In my three years of following this tournament, these Cinderella runs usually run out of steam at some point. However, as evidenced by LA’s losses in Carolina and FC Dallas’ loss to Charlotte 2 years ago, these lower division sides should not be taken for granted.

This quarterfinal matchup is huge for FC Dallas. We have been blessed with a very winnable game, but more importantly, if we advance, we will host the semifinal matchup in Frisco. Even more important is that Seattle, easily the best team in the tourney, was drawn onto the other side of the bracket, meaning FC Dallas would only have to play them in a final. A road win against a 2^nd tier side and a home win against a struggling Philly puts FC Dallas through to the final. At that point, anything can happen!

Silly Season Bonus! An extremely not thorough list of some recent, confirmed movement in the transfer market – feel free to comment

Bacary Sagna: Arsenal > ManCity

Cesc Fabregas: FCB > Chelsea

Luke Shaw: Southampton > ManU

Diego Costa: Athleti > Chelsea

Vidic: ManU > Inter

Rickie Lambert: Southampton > Liverpool

Adam Lallana: Southampton > Liverpool

Snodgrass: Norwich > Hull City

David Luiz: Chelsea > PSG

David Villa: Athleti > NYCFC

Kaka: ? > Orlando City SC

Ashley Cole: Chelsea > AS Roma

Siem de Jong: Ajax > Newcastle

Soccer Therapy 6/19/2014: Qatar the Disaster

While the World Cup is in progress, the FIFA congress is also taking place in Brazil. A hot topic of discussion is the controversy surrounding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. I was curious so I did a little research. I discovered the voting that determines which nation hosts the Cup involves 24 high ranking FIFA officials spanning the globe. I took a quick look at the voting committee for the 2022 World Cup and an alarming number of sketchy names popped up. If you feel like it, read the info graphic I have attached. It details only some of the allegations of corruption and vote-buying that went on prior to the 2010 decision to award WC2022 to Qatar.

Qatar being awarded a World Cup is comparable to Sochi being awarded the Winter Olympics when they didn’t even have snow and it was 60 degrees. The average temperature in Qatar during the World Cup months is over 105 degrees and is not playable. Chucho Benitez was a star Ecuadorian striker and 3-time golden boot winner of the Mexican league. In July 2013, at the age of 27, he signed with a Qatari club and played his first game in the hot summer dessert a few days later. One day after his dessert debut, with no history of health or heart problems, Chucho died of cardiac arrest.

Of course, when making the bid, Qatar promised they would build indoor, air-conditioned stadiums. They have since reneged on that promise. FIFA and Qatar have talked about hosting the WC2022 during December when conditions would be playable and some domestic leagues around the world are on break. They talked about playing games from 9pm to 5am, after the sun goes down and it would be significantly cooler. Whether it is the corruption that led to Qatar being awarded the Cup or the unrealistic hurdles of hosting a summer tournament in the dessert, FIFA has an excuse to award WC2022 to different host nation.

The bumbling governing body of world football has been stubborn about this, but I sense a new momentum building for those in favor of a re-vote. I think we are also seeing the dangers of hosting the Cup in a nation like Brazil. Corruption and incompetence within their government severely delayed stadium preparations and has its people in uproar all over the streets in the middle of FIFA’s showcase event. We saw countless national teams begin their WC2014 preparations in the USA, where we have a great infrastructure, reliable airports, and all the massive stadiums you could ever want. There have been problems surrounding this Cup in Brazil, there may be even bigger problems in Russia in 2018, and if FIFA doesn’t seriously consider a revote, 2022 will be a disaster. I personally think FIFA, much like the NCAA, is on life support, and it is possible their survival depends on doing the right thing just this one time.

Soccer Therapy 6/2/14 – USMNT pre-World Cup Roster thoughts

I only caught the first half of the USA v Turkey game in New York yesterday, but I did catch the entire Azerbaijan game. Here are my thoughts on the squad with the team kicking off against Ghana in exactly 2 weeks from today. Generally speaking, the USA’s defense is atrocious and their attack is showing promise. Kyle (new to soccer therapy – let me know if you want to be removed from the chain), any idea on what the Over/Under might be for Goals Allowed by the USA in the group stages? Might be worth a look. Below are my thoughts on the roster and a prediction of the starting XI for the Nigeria game – Sunday in Jacksonville I think. Plus a bonus update on FC Dallas as the MLS World Cup break approaches.

Defense:

I thought Fabian Johnson looked fantastic at right back – not only for the great run and the goal he scored – I thought his recovery speed and ability to get out of situations without doing anything stupid was impressive. He is easily the best fullback on the squad in my opinion.

Timmy Chandler took a lot of criticism for his outing at left back yesterday. I’ll get to more on that in a minute – but I thought the biggest mistake by Jurgen Klinsmann here was not appreciating the chemistry that Besler and Beasley developed on the left half of our defense over the last year. It appears that JK may have settled on his defensive line outside of that LB position – I think it should be DeMarcus Beasley.

Midfield:

I heard JK moved Michael Bradley back to the defensive mid role in the 2^nd half, but in the 1^st half, Bradley was playing in the #10 role he has occupied since March. I understand what JK is thinking: put arguably your best player in Bradley in that all important creative, attacking midfielder role. Most fans agree that Bradley and the entire team plays better when he can let the game come to him as a defensive mid. It’s a more natural role for Bradley – and if JK is looking for a #10, what’s wrong with Mix? He is another guy like Fabian Johnson who is probably more European than American – so get him on the pitch!

I have been one of Jermaine Jones’ biggest critics, but after watching him play against Turkey, I think we have to have him out there. He was a beast cleaning up mistakes in front of the backline yesterday and seems to have matured (odd for a dude in his 30s) over the last 12 months. I For me, the USA’s best chance is pairing Jermaine Jones with Bradley in the midfield, and hope Jones can swallow his pride, sit back, and let Bradley do whatever he wants.

Brad Davis is probably the least physically gifted player on the squad – but the group seems to play better when he is out there. I think he kind of inspires the team and he definitely adds to our attack with that nasty left foot. I think he provides better live or dead ball service than any player on the team. However, against the likes of Ghana etc. Davis would be a huge defensive liability – I think this is why JK gave Timmy Chandler a run out at Left Back. Chandler is fast and has the physical ability to cover a lot of ground on that left side. The logic might be that Chandler’s speed can cover while Davis adds to the attack. I don’t see JK starting Zusi and Davis at the World Cup, but I predict he starts one of them. And while Zusi was the favorite to start for the last 12 months, I think Davis may have taken his spot with his standout play in the last 2 games.

Attack:

Jozy is catching heat from supporters who want goals and receiving praise from media people for good hold up play, attitude and hustle. I’ll be honest, I want some god damn goals from him, but I thought he paired very well up top with Dempsey against Turkey – I think that pair holds promise, but I would love to see Johanson get more of a look. I don’t care if they are different style players, if Wondo gets more minutes at the World Cup than Johanson, Jurgen is stupid. Whoever JK starts in the attacking midfield and up top, the group has promise and can score goals, but they can’t afford to waste chances by any means.

Starting XI vs. Nigeria: 4-2-3-1

GK: Timmy!

DEF: Fabian Johnson, Geoff Cameron, Matt Besler, Demarcus Beasley

D-MIDs: Jermaine Jones, Michael Bradley

Attack-MIDs: Bedoya, Dempsey, Davis

F: Jozy Altidore

*FC Dallas Bonus Update by the numbers*

Recent form: Loss, Win, Loss, Loss, Loss, Loss, Draw, Loss, Draw, Loss

That is 1-7-2 over their last 10 matches.

FC Dallas is on pace for a record number of red cards, having collected 6 through only 15 games – this is like Happy Gilmore and his hockey records.

We have converted 4 of 6 PK opportunities this year – both PK misses came in 1-goal defeats.

Soccer Therapy 5/8/2014 – Predicting USMNT’s preliminary roster

A few things before I get into the predictions:

What I meant to say in that last email was that I could easily see Real Madrid winning by 4 or 5 goals, not Bayern. I also meant to say that no one can really anticipate what will happen next in this season’s BPL, but that you have to think ManCity’s talent would end out getting the job done. Just kidding, shows what my predictions are worth – not sure these things get better with practice.
MLS is heating up and FC Dallas is cooling down. Clint Dempsey is absolutely demolishing the league, so is his striking partner Obafemi Martins. If that duo stays healthy, Seattle will have the best MLS attack I’ve seen these last few years by the fall. The difference between the Sounders and Toronto is that their studs are surrounded by other All Star caliber players in MLS. Bradley, Defoe and Julio Cesar are left to carry the load while Dempsey is surrounded by one of the deepest, most talented rosters in the league.

Alright – here is my guess at the 30 – JK should be naming it any day now:

GK: Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Nick Rimando

Defense:
fullbacks: Demarcus Beasley, Fabian Johnson, Michael Parkhurst, Timmy Chandler,DeAndre Yedlin, Brad Evans
center-backs
Geoff Cameron, Clarence Goodson, Matt Besler, Omar Gonzalez, John Brooks

Midfield: Landon Donovan, Graham Zusi, Mix Diskerud, Kyle Beckerman, Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Maurice Edu, Bedoya, Julian Green

Attack: Jozy, Deuce, Johanson, Wondo, Eddie Johnson, Terrence Boyd

Probably forgetting some guys (a lot of guys in LigaMX and BrekShea come to mind) and picking long shots on others – also, I counted once, but not 100% sure if that is 30 names

Soccer Therapy II – 4/8/2014

I spoke with an IT guy at UT earlier who is Iranian. He explained to me that he was spending thousands of dollars to fly to Brazil to watch his home country participate in this summer’s World Cup. My first thought was, “why would you spend all that money to see your team get crushed?” They are grouped with Bosnia, Nigeria and Argentina. The answer is obvious, qualifying for the World Cup is a really big deal in Iran and some folks from that country probably never have a chance to see their team play in the Cup. I can appreciate why he is going to Brazil to see his country participate in this great tournament.

The point of all that is this: as USMNT fans, we can’t possibly place the same value on simply qualifying for the WC because we are always in it. In fact, the USMNT has qualified for every single World Cup since I have been alive. We have come to know our place in international soccer – we will be in the World Cup and hope for a favorable draw and, at best, a quarterfinals appearance. But this year, we Americans should approach the World Cup like an Iranian. Against the likes of Ghana, Portugal and Germany, we have about as good of a shot at getting through the group stages as Iran does – So I am going into this thing with no expectations whatsoever.

Having said that, the USMNT looked really good on Wednesday (v Mexico) before Klinsmann started subbing guys out in the 60^th minute. Michael Bradley continues to get better and looked solid in the number 10 role. He will have to be the man this summer for the US to play well. The scary part for me is our back line. We simply don’t have the quality at center-back to beat good teams 1-0 or 2-1, and that means we will probably struggle in Brazil.

BPL – I told Ollie that Liverpool getting through the West Ham game with 3 points was like taking an exam the Friday before Spring Break: it sucks, you have to do it, but once you are done you can go have fun. I believe Liverpool will be SO ready to go against ManC this Sunday, Anfield will be crazy and I see a 3-1 Liverpool win to put them in the driver’s seat.

I still like ManC to win the title though. I figure Liverpool trips up somewhere else and ManC has too much depth – they’ll get the points they need.

Didn’t have a chance to watch Arsenal on Sunday but one can assume it was as disastrous as the score line – 3-0 Everton. At this point, it’s probably 50-50 between Everton and Arsenal for that last UCL spot. I’ll believe it when I see Everton in the Champ’s league and will stick with Arsenal getting a top 4 finish for now.

Arsenal really need to win the FA Cup after crashing out of the UCL and BPL title race.

ManU is starting to look better – I know a lot of this isn’t on Moyes because he didn’t walk into a well put together squad – but the dude seems way in over his head – I think Jordan put it best – if you want to finish 6^th or 7^th in the table every year, you got your man! – I would fire him. Immediately.

Soccer Therapy 1.5 – 3/24/2014

Pretty cool article – basically just a few sentences and a bunch of pixel-filled golazos. In honor of Wayne Rooney’s strike last Saturday.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/sideline/news/article/2014/03/24/top-5-goals-scored-midfield-mls-david-beckham-michael-parkhurst

Cheers,

Soccer Therapy I – 2/4/14

I don’t have anyone else to tell, so you boys can read these emails or not.

Great game yesterday, talked about it plenty with Ollie and Jordan – u watch it King?

First time this season I’ve seen a team in the BPL clearly establish itself as the front runner – not just cuz they won and are tied with ManC on points now, but they looked as fluid and comfortable as I’ve seen since Mourinho came back, I see them continuing to play like they did yesterday and Jose continuing to be a shit in the press.

Arsenal have the 2 point cushion but February should reveal whether they will be competing for the BPL title in April and May. Chelsea and ManC have mostly winnable games and should be getting max points while Arsenal have games at Liverpool and hosting ManU. If the Gunners are still on top come March, I will start considering them legit contenders.

Keep the World Cup in mind when making your summer plans:

Sao Paolo is 4 hours ahead of us on CST, and 6 hours ahead of you, King. Games are kicking off in Brazil between 1pm and 7pm, meaning we will be catching World Cup action on TV between 9am and 3pm here in Texas – i think i did this right.

Matches start on June 12th, with US starting off against Ghana on the 16th.

International Champions Cup is coming back to the US this July – Last year was a pretty good tourney with Real Madrid and Chelsea in the final – this year’s version will have reigning champ Real Madrid, ManC, ManU, Liverpool, AC Milan, Inter, Roma, and Olympiakos. One of the games is in Dallas, might it be Liverpool Ollie? Best part is they are doing group play this year instead of a bracket = more games!

MLS season starts one month from Saturday – sure, who cares right? Well, MLS will get more attention than it ever has in the months leading up to the World Cup because if one thing gets this country excited about soccer, it is the USMNT in the World Cup – with Bradley and Dempsey back playing club soccer in the US, the nation will be curious about key national players’ league form in MLS leading into the summer.

For the ones out there thinking these guys moving to MLS will cost us in the World Cup, I say that’s bullshit. If they are 90 minutes fit and crushing it in MLS, they will contribute as well as they have in the past, or better. I would argue if they get into a groove, MLS could actually be a better situation for Michael Bradley and Dempsey because they will get more minutes in a critical role than they did at Spurs and Roma. In MLS, they are guaranteed starters that have to carry their teams much like they will have to this summer with the nat’l team. It is also worth mentioning that Landon Donavon has been in MLS this whole time, and he has arguably been the greatest USMNT international of all time – the numbers certainly suggest it.

Michael Bradley and Dempsey are obvious starters for the USMNT this summer, but other possible members the 2014 World Cup roster that play in MLS include:

Besler, Zusi, Omar Gonzalez, Landon, Eddie Johnson, Parkhurst, Brad Evans, Brad Davis, Mike Magee, Wondo and Kyle Beckerman. So for USMNT fans, that’s a lot of reasons to at least monitor our domestic league.

After NYCFC and Orlando City SC, Miami has landed MLS’ 22nd, and 3rd to last, franchise with the whole David Beckham thing. Atlanta, Minneapolis and St. Louis look like solid candidates for the last 2 spots, but I actually think SA has a shot after the commish gave them a visit.

Share your thoughts, add somebody to the email chain, whatever. I may never send another soccer therapy email again, or I might start flooding your inboxes like the fucking unibomber!

Cheers,

Soccer Therapy

Because I have no one else to tell

Tag Archives: Soccer

MLS Radar: Week 12

Jonathan Osorio – Toronto FC

Surprise of the Week
NYRB 0 – 2 PHI

MLS Radar: Week 11

Everyone!

Surprise of the Week
MTL 4 – 1 RSL

MLS Radar: Week 4

The Charm is Gone

Surprise of the Week:
CLB 1 – 2 NYRB

Half Surprise:
MTL 2 – 2 OCSC

The Rest of the Action

GOTW

Soccer Therapy’s 2015 Calendar

Soccer Therapy Goes to the ATX Pro Challenge

The Good, Bad and the Ugly from MLS in 2014

Image

THE GOOD

MLS Next is Here

NYCFC – The Connection

Player Acquisitions

Keeping Players Too!

The Homegrown Initiative

Stadium Movement

THE BAD

THE UGLY

Awards:

Goal of the Year

US Open Cup Semifinal Thoughts

Philadelphia Union @ FC Dallas – 8/12/2014, 8pm CST

MLS All-Star* Game: August 6th, 2014 – Portland, Oregon

MLS Popular Names vs. Bayern Munich

Excerpt from some SI article:

The Original Email Thread

Soccer Therapy 5/8/2014 – Predicting USMNT’s preliminary roster

Jonathan Osorio – Toronto FC

Surprise of the Week NYRB 0 – 2 PHI

Everyone!

Surprise of the Week MTL 4 – 1 RSL

The Charm is Gone

Surprise of the Week: CLB 1 – 2 NYRB

Half Surprise: MTL 2 – 2 OCSC

The Rest of the Action

GOTW

THE GOOD

MLS Next is Here

NYCFC – The Connection

Player Acquisitions

Keeping Players Too!

The Homegrown Initiative

Stadium Movement

THE BAD

THE UGLY

Awards:

Goal of the Year

Philadelphia Union @ FC Dallas – 8/12/2014, 8pm CST

MLS Popular Names vs. Bayern Munich

Excerpt from some SI article:

Soccer Therapy 5/8/2014 – Predicting USMNT’s preliminary roster

Surprise of the Week
NYRB 0 – 2 PHI

Surprise of the Week
MTL 4 – 1 RSL

Surprise of the Week:
CLB 1 – 2 NYRB

Half Surprise:
MTL 2 – 2 OCSC