Galaxy finish May the way they started

Thank God Andres Cantor isn't the announcer for the Galaxy, because he would have been bored for the month of May.  No, it wasn't a very merry month for LA, as the Galaxy pulled a goosegg for the month.  Not only did they not get a win, they didn't get a tie.  They didn't even get a goal.  They pulled out an 0-5, zero goal month.  I'm not even sure if the RSL has done that before.

So, at what point does the FireSteveSampson website pop up?  I would have thought the thing would have been around 8 years ago, but the internet was just 4 years old back then.  Seriously, how do you coach a team to 0 goals?  I mean, how does a team not luck into a goal in 5 games?  The fact of the matter is, the Galaxy are just a horrible team.  Period.  Yes, missing the Golden Child hurts, but no one player can mean that much to a team.  When you start John Wolyniec up top, you have to know you have a pitiful team.  He can't even start on an A-League squad at this point.

Congrats to Colorado though.  They're sitting pretty with 14 points,  6 clear of RSL and 7 over 5th in the West.  Oddly, if you just combined the LA teams, they'd have the same number of points as the Rapids.  MLS has to love that the three worst teams also happen to reside in the biggest markets.  At what point can we begin calling Alexi Lalas the Isiah Thomas of soccer?  I mean, he hasn't been in LA long enough to really do any damage, but he hasn't fired Sampson yet, so…

Yeah, I tried to actually watch as little of the game as possible because I didn't want to rip my eyes out, hence the less than stellar analysis.

However, MLSnet.TV is still showing the feed.  I wonder if I just keep the feed going and don't shut it, if I can just watch the FOX sports channel in perpetuity.

Oh, and Max Bretos has to be the voice over the loudspeaker in hell.  I'm convinced of this. 

Crew revert to ‘05 form against DC

The more things change.  So I've been incapacitated most of the week.  I got to watch 35 minutes of soccer over the weekend, so needless to say I've got an itch.  Add to that the MLS feed not showing up for the first 15 minutes of the Crew-United match, and it's safe to say I'm not having a good time.

Then I watched the first of tonight's games and I thanked God for the Crew.  Nothing like DC United beat the straw out of the East's perennial whipping boys.  Oh, at the half it was 1-1, just like Sunday's match between the two sides.  It didn't stay that for long.  DC went on a goal scoring binge in the second half like Adu to a keg of beer.  When it was all said and done, DC went to sleep in their beds with a 5-1 win in the book.  All those World Cup defections must have killed Columbus… oh, right.

Anyway, Moreno got his 100th career goal.  Esko showed that not everyone who has a concussion turns into Eric Lindros.  Lucio Filomeno showed that Argentines have extremely hairy chests (that chest deserved a Red Card).  Ezra Hendrickson showed us he can still get in the scorer's book (be it an own goal).  And DC showed us once again why they're currently the class of the East.  It seems Columbus's three game terrorizing of the MLS has come to an end with a pumpkin of a performance at RFK.

Time for LA and someone! 

Problem with MLS.TV last night?

Maybe it was just me, but I didn't get a feed for the DCvKC game to show up until around half time.  Even after multiple refreshes, the link never came on.  Same with the Chi's game.  Nothing really more to say other than it was just annoying.  I paid money, so give me the games on time (even the ones on cable).

U.S. v. Morocco recap

So we lost.  Who cares really?  Well, I'll start off with the "I do" chant now.  Man, the US looked absolutely horrid in this game.  Yes, they've been training for all of what, 2-3 weeks.  Still, it's like these guys had never played together before.  Except for maybe the last minute, did the US even put together three consecutive passes in the attacking half?  I don't know if the players just didn't care, weren't familiar with eachother, the formation, who knows.  All I can really say is that it was a pathetic display of soccer.

Should we have beaten Morocco 5-0 so we could get ready to own the world?  Obviously that would have been pretty cool, but no, I don't think that was a likely scoreline.  At the very least however, I presumed that the US team would at least look relatively world class.  The timing was nowhere near good enough, the backline looked indifferent for most of the match, and the midfield couldn't string passes together if it were literally on a string between their feets.

I'll only briefly mention Claudio "Glass" Reyna.  All I can really say is thank God his name isn't Barbaro, or he would have been put down 12 years ago.  Is it possible for him to go a month without an injury?  It's like his hamstrings are made of limp spaghetti noodles or something.  Now, I know that Morocco "barely" missed the cup, but still, a loss is a loss.  Who knows, maybe this will wake the guys up a little, or maybe Arena just told everyone to quarter ass it.

1 positive:  There was a pass that John O'Brien made that was simply brilliant.  10th minute.  He's got it in the upper left corner just outside the box.  I think he has Donovan square to the center of the field.  Instead, he slots it between two Moroccans towards goal.  Unfortunately, Wolff broke late and the keeper snapped it easily.  Why do I care so much about a pass in the 10th minute?  Because it was a world class pass that no one else on the team would have seen, let alone tried.  99.9% of the time the ball is played square to whoever is at the top of the box.  The D is cheating that way, chances are it gets blocked.  But that .1% of the time, something great could happen.  The problem is, we don't have enough players who make that pass.  As a result, we have even less players who make the run, let alone make the run on time.  If the US can get to the point where those passes become routine and obvious, I think I'll be happy with the state of US soccer. 

Brief look at the weekend

Or at least at the two televised games, nationally that is.  I'm watching Colorado and LA right now, but it will still be 80 minutes before that one is over for me.

Anyway, I think you've already seen a little bit below about Dallas and the Revs.  I'm not sure anyone expected that kind of destruction.  Seriously, if this were a video game, Matt Reis would have gotten fined for a poor performance.  I'm not sure if he was in position for any of those goals.  And the defense looked indifferent for most of the game.  The overall play of the game probably wasn't indicative of the match as a whole.  If anything, it probably should have ended around 4-2 instead of 4-0 for Dallas.  New England controlled play for most of the second half as Dallas stepped off the pedal and were unlucky not to take a few goals back.

That being said, it was an ass beating.  I don't think I've seen an MLS team come out and care less about playing than I saw New England.  Something tells me the three player backline isn't going to work now that they have an inferior defense for the next month without Clint.  Even with Noonan coming back, the team is going to be hurting unless they drop someone else into the back line.

As for the Houston/Chicago match.  Pretty boring.  Thiago #2, I believe, had a nice goal, nutting Richard Mulrooney like he was Chris Kaman.  Kind of shocking that Houston lost at home, making it two in 5 games, when they went 14 without a loss last season.  Houston didn't really put up much of a fight.  I think Brad Davis had a solid chance around the 60th minute but muffed it.  Then Moreno hit the crossbar on a header and the rebound was cleared off the line around the 3rd minute of stoppage time.  Otherwise, a pretty uneventful game.

More to come, of course I'm moving this week, so who knows what I'll get to. 

Dallas v. Revolution Note

This is the one time I'll actually get to watch an HDNet game, since I'm at my parent's house for the weekend (and yes, soccer looks a hell of a lot better in HD, so much clearer and crisper).  Anyway, this game is already weird enough, with Dallas jumping out to a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes.  I completely did not see that coming.  What the hell happened to New England?  Did they even want to play?

Anyway, so Dario Sala goes out after pulling his groin to much for Dallas.  So Cassar comes in.  Well seems Cassar injures a hammy, so maybe a field player will have to come in (this game is still ongoing, so I have no idea if they have already.  Anyway, they show a replay of Cassar wincing as he kicks a pass back to him, so the brilliany Glen Davis opines that "Dallas should not pass back, and someone else is going to have to take the goal kicks".  Not his exact words, but something to that effect.  Good observation Glen.

However, this fails on one account.  The goal kick before, about 45 seconds before the kick where we see the full effect of the Cassar back-pass, a Dallas defender takes the goal kick.  Now, I know its raining, so maybe that goal kick was just a strategy thing, but it seems to me that the Cassar injury was already there, from either earlier in the game or underlying and the backpass just completely pushed it over the edge.  You could even see Cassar hesitating on the back pass, signifying he may already be injured.

So what am I saying?  Glen Davis (and his partner in crime Marcelo Balboa) are idiots.  Maybe they wouldn't state the obvious 1 minute late if they had actually been paying attention to the game instead of leaving lipstick on the Burn players.

Just my little rant for the day.  Hopefully I'll catch on the MLS action when I get home tomorrow.

Cunningham MLS POW

Jeff Cunningham of RSL has won the MLS Player of the Week Award for week 7.  As far as I've researched, this is the first such award for an RSL player, although I have no actual facts to back up this claim.  Googling this is of no use and the MLS doesn't really do a good job of keeping track of things like this.  I could go through month by month in their news section, but I'm pretty sure I'd pull my eyes out.  So for right now, we're going on the assumption that this was RSL's first POW.  I mean, this is their first road win, so it's not like it would be that big of a shock.

Anyway, while I feel like tangenting, what's up with the MLS and history keeping?  How can they not have an easily accessible list of MLS Player of the Weeks?  Am I just not looking in the right spot?  I think they do an OK job of statistical record keeping.  Nothing over spectacular, but it's solid.  I guess maybe we've all just been spoiled by the brilliance that is baseball reference and the like.  I mean, I know that soccer isn't an overly statistical game, but it'd be nice to have some sort of relatively easily searchable database.  As far as I can tell, the MLS takes down the previous year's play-by-play once the new year begins.  That sucks, because I'm sure there are valuable trend data we could get from each match if only we could even get the sparsest play-by-play (such as the time fouls were committed, by whom, a team's likelihood of conceding corners in the first 25 minutes…).  Sure, a lot of these things are dynamic, but this data is better to have than not to have.

I've ranted non-sensically long enough.  My last rant falls with the West Wing.  Seriously, that was a pretty boring, crappy last episode.  It just kind of ended.  I mean, I'm not sure what I wanted them to do, but still.

Anyway, a new power poll thingy.  Completely unofficial and barely researched, but accept it as the Bible of MLS that it is:

1.  DC United – Awesome headgear and the best goals to allowed ratio
2.  New England Revolution – I still contend the most talented, rounding into form
3.  Houston Dynamo – Rico Clark will be a star in 4 years
4.  KC Wizards – This team hasn't excited me, but will get worn down without their forwards
5.  FC Dallas – I don't really see a lot of talent, but the Texas heat should keep them in games
6.  Chicago Fire – They haven't lost since week one, but you can't always tie
7.  Columbus Crew – Grabavoy move looks to be a good one
8.  Colorado Rapids – Losing to Columbus looks as good as "White House Intern" on a resume
9.  Chivas USA – Wouldn't be liked nearly as much if their name were Stalingrad CCCP
10. New York – Will only be referred to as city or Red Bull until someone other than Djorkaeff looks interested
11. Real Salt Lake – Points for winning a game… now for the next 17 games
12. LA Galaxy – Lost to Real… Sampson must have revealing photos of someone.

Re-capping the MLS weekend

Re-capping gets hyphenated this week, because we need more hyphens in the MLS. Plus it sounds more street if you have to overly pronounce each part of the word.

Dynamo @ Fierce Cow
We had quite that battle at the PHP. Actually, I was bored out of my mind, if you couldn't tell by the blogging a day earlier. Sadly, an own goal counts for the team that doesn't knock it in, but the FC, which I guess I can't refer to them as after this year, did get both the goals, with Goodson's being the better of the two. Of the goals I saw this week, I could see it being amongst the goals of the week.

If I can find one fault with Wyno and Stoned, it's that they tend to focus far too much on just one player. Until Drew Moor, who also spent a year at Furman…, tried a header in like the 85th minute, I had no idea he was in the game. Turns out he played the whole damn time. I understand that the average fan values the offense and the flamboyant players, but I mean, the Dallas defense basically owned Houston, even scoring their goal for them. Yet all we got was Carlos Ruiz for 70 minutes even though all he managed to do was get a card and a goal my dog could have knocked in with his nose. The away draw keeps Houston within a couple of points of Dallas for the top of the West.

Mexico-USA @ Revs
Was this game on HDNet? I thought the Rapids-Crew game was? Whatever the reason, this game isn't available online, so aside from reading a recap I have no idea what occurred. Twellman struck again, delivering what I assume is an FU to the Bruce. Shalrie Joseph has also turned into a goal machine, who saw that coming? OK, so that's all I can really say, aside from this result had to be expected. New England needs to use the next month, when they theoretically have a World Cup roster advantage, to get on top of the East.

Fire @ Mixer
Another pretty uneventful game. I remember the name Youri Djorkaeff popping up a lot, but otherwise I don't really remember things. I know there was a PK. I know I watched this game this morning, but I have no idea what occurred during it. I do remember that Amado Guevara left the bench and went to sit with his wife. I'm sure that will go over well with the coach and the rest of the team. I wonder what the odds are that Guevara will be let go or Johnston will be fired. I'd call up Vegas, but I'd be shocked if there were MLS odds there.

Funny note though. In my Football Manager career managing the Red Bull, the first thing Guevara did was ask me for a transfer. That's the damnest thing. The thing was, nobody wanted him. I play him rarely, because he brings down the team morale, but his contract expires in 7 months, so I may lose him for nothing soon. Strangely though, Mike Magee is a scoring machine alongside Edson Buddle. They have around 13 goals in 12 games. And Josmer Altidore scored twice in his debut. So what I'm saying is, the developers need to work a bit harder for realistic results.

Rapids @ Crew
Yeah, so I didn't watch this one, mainly because I don't have HDnet, or else just because it wasn't online. I can't say I'm saddened by that either. That these teams played to a 1-0 Columbus win doesn't really shock me. Good for Ned Grabavoy to get the goal in his debut though. I wonder how often somebody told him "atta-boy Grabavoy". He probably never tired of that. Oh, and Mathis got carded for dissent… the more things change… It's been a little over 4 years since he went completely insane. It doesn't seem like that long to me, it seems like just yesterday he was going to be the savior of US soccer.

KC @ DC @ RFK
So I commented earlier about this game, I think. I really don't remember. Alecko continues to rock the headgear and score goals, not necessarily in that order. DC jumps up to first in the East and would totally win any Pythagorean contest in the league. Is it just me, or is anyone waiting for the other shoe to drop with Perkins? I mean, he hasn't looked steady in the back at all. I know its only been like 8 games or something, but still. Maybe I'll be waiting forever, but I'm just expecting an absolutely horrible game from him soon.

Fake Salt Lake @ That other LA team
Much like the Clippers in basketball, it seems the also-rans are taking over the MLS scene.  It's a Chivas/Clippers/Angels/FormerlyLANowStLouisRams town.  Nothing signifies that change like a 3-0 FSL win.  Let that sink in.  Now go vomit in the toilet and come back.  I didn't even know RSL could score that much in a season, let alone a game.  Seriously.  This is the 8th time the team has scored at least two goals in an MLS game.  They've had a 3 goal game exactly twice in the MLS (they also lost 6-4 in an Open Cup game against the Thunderous Minnesotans and beat Catolica Universidad 3-2).  There were also 8 cautions in the game, which seems a bit much if you ask me.

Strangely, LA didn't really play that poorly.  They just got caught off a few times and RSL actually made someone pay.  If you just look at possession, you'd think LA would have won.  LA had 1 more shot, 2 more on goal, and 4 more corner kicks.  There's no logical reason they should have lost, assuming that having Steve Sampson as your coach isn't logical.  I thought they said he used to coach one of the RSL players on the Long Beach Dub All-stars or something.  Well, Germany really needs to fire Klinsmann soon so we never have to watch Sampson manage another MLS team. 

So I’m watching DC v KC 2

I'm sitting here watching DC v KC from last night on MLS.tv.  Solid game.  It has a good flow to it, both teams have plenty of room to work in the midfield, although the only team really working is DC.  KC seems content to push about 9 players into the defensive third, but it hasn't seemed to matter as DC has just played right through it.  Mediate looks solid on the wing.  KC has made good use of the few chances they've had to attack though.

Anyway, what's up with Dave Johnson?  Is having a baby during the game or something.  It's like, "Adu runs with the ball… HE'S GOING DOWN THE LEFT WING ACROSS MIDFIELD AND THERE'S 8 KC PLAYERS IN FRONT OF HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!".  Seriously, the guy needs to get off the trucker pills or something.  It's actually kind of scary and distracts from the game.  And it completely defeats the idea that I can kind of zone out and play Football Manager for a while.  At least with Stoner you know when something somewhat exciting is potentially happening, but with Johnson it could have just been a pass at midfield.

Just my mini-rant.  I will say, DC seems content to only attack, at least in this game.  Huge holes everywhere, but KC never really seems to get the ball.  A couple of weak PK's though, but I guess they evened out in the end. 

Live-blogging the MLS 5/13/06

Because I can and because Baxter won't bring the ball to me so I can toss it to him. The dog shows me that I stand corrected.

4:06 – Jeff Bradley alerts us that this is Round two of the Midwestern Cup between Houston and Dallas. 95 degrees. That sucks.

4:09 – Two minutes in, The Fishy gets a free kick just outside the box. Just a bit over the top.

4:14 – Saw an adboard for Goal!. I don't know about you, but the dream hasn't begun for people in my area, since it's not at any of the theaters. Pretty sure it's not even available in the state. I thought this thing was having a national release this weekend?

4:23 – Carlos Ruiz gets a yellow, pretends he gets hurt. I'm pretty sure he thinks he got shot in the back of his head, though on replay he didn't actually get his head touched.

4:26 – Showing that not only can he act, but that he can score as well, Carlos Ruiz scored a goal from about 2 yards out on some pretty lazy Houston defense. The ball kind of squirted to him and he scored. 3 straight games.
1-0 Dallas

4:30 – Eric Wynalda lets us know that Brad Davis's sister is in labor "as we speak." I have yet to decide if I care, or if my sister would punch me if I wasn't at least at the hospital. I dunno, they already have kids, so they probably wouldn't care. Although my fiancee and I did discuss this week that I couldn't miss the birth of my child if I was playing in the World Cup. So let that be a lesson to Chris Albright… stay away from my fiancee.

4:33 – 45 yard throw in from Adrian Serioux. Is it pronounce Siroo, or Sare-E-Oh,…?

4:35 – Wynalda is upset that Ruiz is playing dangerously without a shoe. Now I'll agree that Ruiz is a bit of a whiner/dirty player, but I'm pretty sure Wyno wants to stab him with a corner flag.

4:38 – Solid save by Sala, though Brad Davis was at an impossible angle.

4:40 – Brian Mullan fould about 2 feet outside the box. A foul, but just barely. The dog just woke himself up ny nearly falling off the couch. Missed free kick

4:46 – Dwayne DeRosario goes out with an ankle injury. Ryan Cochrane in the game.

4:53 – Wynalda – "It's too hot to sweat." Therefore, all players have now turned into dogs and instead get rid of extra water by merely panting.

4:55 – Eddie Robinson gets a yellow for knocking down Ruiz before a corner. End of the half.

First Half Thoughts:

I really have none, althoguh the dog is again periously close to the edge of the couch. Not too much going on in the game. The Dynamo looked dangerous once on the Davis shot, and Dallas has looked dangerous about as much. The lone goal was pretty much a garbage goal, but hey, what can you expect really. This battle for first is absolutely riveting.

5:07 – In previewing the second half, ESPN shows us steers, but neglects to show their rhyming Texas counterparts.

5:14 – Oh yeah, the game restarted like 4 minutes ago

5:21 – Just realized that this is an exceedingly boring live blog

5:22 – Furman alum Ricardo Clark fouled about 15 yards outside the box. I'm going out on a limb and saying he'll make the 2010 World Cup roster.

5:23 – Hard, but clean foul by Vanney, then a hard foul by Mullan. At least that was interesting to watch.

5:30 – Nice save by Onstad on a point blank header from Goodson, who I really thought was black. Dallas completely wastes the ensuing corner.

5:32 – Thought: How much sunscreen does Craig Wabel have on his head? It's a completely sunny day, his head has to be getting torched. I honestly don't know how guys do it. My dad shaves his head and aside from the reflection, I don't know how his head has avoided turning into a beet.

5:33 – Nice run by Mullan after a lazy turnover, but he just couldn't juke the last defender. In other words, he showed just how white he really is.

5:35 – I wonder how many times Kevin Goldwaithe has been called "Bobcat"? Do you think he would physically assault me if I were able to interview him, a la Jim "Chris" Everett.

5:38 – Carlos Ruiz exits in the 72nd minute. Wynalda and Stoner will now remain silent for the next 20 minutes… or at least that's a dream of mine.

5:40 – Richard Mulrooney sounds a lot like Paul Hamm. He also either popped a pimple or cut himself shaving. Also, I'm pretty sure the National Lacrosse League final is on next… Go Buffalo!!! Ummm, yeah.

5:42 – The dog and I just had a staring contest. He lasted about 37 seconds… what then.

5:46 – Houston draws a corner. Eddie Robinson gets over a couple of Dallas players to head home the equalizer in the 81st minute. I was preparing to say we hadn't heard the names of many Dallas defenders today (like Moor or Gbandi), which is normally a good thing. So much for that. Oh, and now they're ruling a own goal for Goodson, a member of the Reggie Cleveland All-Stars
1-1

5:52 – After further inspection, that was a perfectly placed header by Goodson, almost strikeresque.

5:59 – Game

Final Thoughts:
I had this whole thing typed, then accidently deleted it.  Unfortunately the undo wouldnt work, so just quickly:  Dallas – lazy, content with a draw, didn't deserve a win.  Houston – Controlled possession, couldn't get the attacking third to work, played possession for draw.  Familiarity breeds contempt, but it also breeds a boring match.  Don't make your wife watch this unless she's cranky and needs a nap.  I won't watch any more games until tomorrow, damn fiancee.

Time for the RBK NLL championship.  Witty wordplay team names to start off the telecast… this may actually be worth watching.