How about that (win/loss) against Caledonia, eh? That game was so (great/terrible). Yes, I wrote
this before the game Thursday, but that doesn't make these links any less relevant. I hope.
Week 21 of 90 Plus is up, as is Kick TV's version.
The most stunning news of the week was that of the exchange between Chivas and New England, sending
Sharlie Joseph to Southern California.
After much debate over who is the top team in MLS at this early stage in 2012, Real Salt Lake
and Sporting Kansas City will resolve matters just as the soccer gods intended -- on the field.
The matchup between 5-1-0 Salt Lake and 5-0-0 Kansas City -- the league's final unbeaten team --
is the centerpiece of a packed MLS slate this weekend featuring nine games.
In 2012, the league will be bigger and -- if all goes according to plan -- better than ever.
Running from Saturday's First Kick to December's MLS Cup, it will be the longest season in league
history.
After losing a lot of their offensive firepower by parting ways with leading scorer and
Designated Player Andres Mendoza, the Columbus Crew took a step in finding an attacking solution
by signing Chilean midfielder Milovan Mirosevic on Wednesday.
Columbus had success with a Chilean signing a year ago, finding a stable right back in Sebastian
Miranda.
The Columbus Crew were certainly a surprise team last season. Â After cutting ties with a number of
veterans and going with a roster that looked lacking on almost every part of the pitch, head coach
Robert Warzycha coaxed a great ...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.
With the MLS Eastern Conference as wide open as it was down the stretch last season, a roster
tweak in the right direction could be all it takes to separate certain clubs from the pack. Â
In the opening month of the offseason, no teams did more to augment their rosters than the
Philadelphia Union and Sporting Kansas City, two clubs that felt they had what it took to win the
conference crown last season before ultimately losing out to the Houston Dynamo.
NBC Philadelphia has a segment on the danger of brain trauma posed by too frequent heading
following the release of a study at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual
meeting.
You can read more about this story here.
Philadelphia Union
With the announcement on Tuesday that the Union will play its 2012 home opener on Sunday, March
18, the Goalkeeper writes, "I also would not be surprised if the Union's home opener is nationally
televised.
Houston's Danny Cruz could be an easy selection for the Impact tomorrow. (Getty Images)
I've already given a mock draft based on my predictions of each MLS club's protection lists and
now that the real lists are out we can get a better sense of who could be actually taken
tomorrow.
Every team released their protection lists yesterday evening with a few surprises listed
Montreal should come away with a decent start to their expansion campaign.
Columbus goes into the offseason with some questions for their expansion draft lists. (Getty
Images)
The Columbus Crew had many questions going into the 2011 season mostly due to the amount of
veteran players that were let go by head coach Robert Warzycha. But as the season went on the Crew
began to find their footing and were actually in contention to win the Eastern Conference.
The Colorado Rapids' hopes of defending its MLS title are still alive, and the club can thank
Omar Cummings for that.
Cummings scored his first goal in nearly three months to help lift the Rapids to a 1-0 win over
the Columbus Crew in a wild card playoff match at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Thursday night.
Columbus hopes to knock off Colorado tonight. (Getty Images)
I hate being quick with playoff previews but this one will have to end up being the case. Time
has not been on my side today.
Tonight is the second wild card game of the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs. Last night the New York Red
Bulls upset FC Dallas on the road and tonight the Columbus Crew hope to do the same against the
defending MLS Cup champion Colorado Rapids.
Call it a sentimental pick if you like, but it was tough to give this week's SBI MLS Player of
the Week award to anybody but Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller.
Not only did Keller help draw a crowd of more than 64,000 to CenturyLink Field to see the final
regular season home game of his illustrious career, but the 42-year-old goalkeeper made a plethora
of clutch saves with his Seattle Sounders trailing San Jose.
FOXBOROUGH, MA - In their final home game of the season, The New England Revolution did not go
out with a bang, but rather a disappointing fizzle. Despite a decent first half, the Revs came into
the second half of the game down just a goal but reverting back to their same old ways-poor
passing, scrappy challenges, and mental lapses galore.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution's disastrous season hit a new low on Saturday
in their home finale with the team's 3-0 loss to the Columbus Crew guaranteeing the Revs would fail
to reach seven wins for the first time in team history.
With nothing to play for but pride, the Revolution (5-16-12, 27 points) looked to take the early
initiative to give the crowd of 16,285 something to cheer about in the last home match of the
season.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The Columbus Crew came into Gillette Stadium Saturday night knowing all it
needed to secure a fourth consecutive playoff berth was a win over the last-placed New England
Revolution. Ninety minutes and one of its more dominant performances of the year later, the Crew
had done just that.
Another opportunity for D.C. United to make up ground in the playoff race. Another loss.
Thee days after dropping a decision to the Philadelphia Union, D.C. United lost again, falling
2-1 to the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium on Saturday.
The decisive goal came in the second half on a beautiful diving header from Eddie Gaven, who
made his return for the Crew after being injured for nearly two months.
KC's games are really starting to get a deja vu felling to them, because so often the script is the
same. Go at the opposing team, pressure early (some times get a goal, sometimes now), start to see
back a little bit, defensive error gives opponent a great opportunity (that they may or may not put
away).
This year's race for the MLS Golden Boot is congested, unclear and littered with a few surprise
candidates. With about a month remaining in the 2011 MLS season, there's no better time to break
down the prime contenders and see who will emerge from the pack with the most goals.
Week 27 of MLS action certainly cleared up the race of the playoffs. Teams were clearly fighting
for their lives. Real Salt Lake showed impressive resilience in against Sporting while Portland
humbled the dismal Revolution. Chicago pulled out a win despite a valiant comeback by Chivas.
Here's your Week 27 Recap.
The Houston Dynamo was in the driver's seat at halftime, leading 1-0 over the Columbus Crew with
a man advantage after Emmanuel Ekpo was sent off for popping the Dynamo's Adam Moffat in the face
with a high elbow in the 11th minute.Â
The Dynamo, leading at halftime after Je-Vaughn Watson's impressive header off a service from
Jermaine Taylor in the 34th minute -- over big defender Chad Marshall, no less -- was 45 minutes
from picking up three big road points and strengthening their position in the chase for an MLS
playoff wild card spot.
Toronto FC defeated the Columbus Crew for the very first time in franchise history in a six-goal
thriller and were able to lift the Trillum Cup on Saturday night at Crew Stadium.
It was a back and forth game from the very start.
Tommy Heinemann reduced Toronto's lead to one in the 67th minute but the Crew were unable to
respond as Julian de Guzman netted a third goal in the 87th minute.
That is one cup-worthy bloom COLUMBUS (6th) VS. TORONTO (16th) 　 CREW STADIUM - SATURDAY 7:30PM TV: GOLTV RADIO: FAN 590
　 THE KICKABOUT:
- With true rival Montreal Impact entering MLS in 2012, is this the last "The New Soft" Derby
(opposite of The Old Firm) that holds much meaning for supporters?
Wednesday's MLS Expansion Draft provides the Montreal Impact a chance to build the foundation
for its MLS roster, and the club will have some decisions to make based on how much it wants to
spend and which direction it wants to go off the bat.
Designated Players Julian de Guzman, Andres Mendoza, Mustapha Jarju, Branko Boskovic, Frank
Rost, Milton Caraglio, Omar Bravo and Jeferson are all free for the taking (although Rost is likely
to return to Germany after a few-month stay with New York), giving the Impact the option to make a
major investment immediately.
By Andrew Villegas The problem with the MLS expansion draft candy dish is that you have to wade
through a hundred stale Tootsie Rolls (some of which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, go
figure) to get to that proverbial Snickers bar. This is the worst kept secret in American soccer.
Teams stack the unprotected [.
A real wackiness is setting in on this year's Golden Boot chase in Major League Soccer. With six
regular season weeks remaining, the league's top goal scorers presently are all lesser likely
candidates in their own way.
If you asked supporters at their respective clubs, or fans who follow MLS action closely, for
assessments of these guys individually, you'd probably get replies that fell somewhere between
"just OK" and "fairly unsatisfying.
Columbus seemed to be cruising for a win on Wednesday night at Crew Stadium, ahead 2-1 late even
though they'd been down a man since the 11th minute. Emmanuel Ekpo had been ejected for a straight
red card foul - elbowing Adam Moffat - and the Dynamo were up a goal when Je-Vaughn Watson scored
in the 34th minute.
It's probably the most indie sports anthem ever, but if anyone was following the 2006 World Cup
then they remember the simple, ever-so-catchy bassline of The White Stripes' Seven Nation Army. It
ended up dominating the whole world of sports, but it became the beloved song of the Italian fans
and players.
On a chilly night in Chester against a listless first place Columbus Crew team, a goal from the
resurgent Sebastien Le Toux was all the Philadelphia Union needed to earn their first victory since
July 17. In an effort to breathe life into his team, coach Peter Nowak rang in the changes, most
notably bringing 16-year-old Zach Pfeffer into the starting lineup for his first MLS start.
