Photo by Jose L. Argueta/ISIPhotos.com
By THOMAS FLOYD
WASHINGTON - After 17 months of anticipation, Charlie Davies' return to top-flight action was,
in one way, anticlimactic.
Having not played a first-team minute since suffering life-threatening injuries in a horrific
October 2009 car accident near Washington, Davies pulled off his warm ups and prepared to enter
D.
After each match the contributors to New England Soccer Today will rate the performances of
the New England Revolution players who made an appearance on a 1 to 10 scale (1 horrendous, 5
average, 10 perfection). This week Sean Donahue contributed ratings for the Revs 3-1 loss to the
Columbus Crew.
Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com
By THOMAS FLOYD
The increasingly prominent fear among New York Red Bulls supporters that Thierry Henry's tenure
in New York will ultimately end up being an injury-laden bust was given a little more credence
Tuesday when coach Hans Backe told the New York Post that Henry's chronic Achilles injury is
causing "so much pain, so we just have to take it day-by-day.
Two of the last three MLS Cup champions get together in a rematch of the 2011 CONCACAF Champions
League quarterfinals at Crew Stadium, as Columbus hosts Real Salt Lake in a midweek MLS match (7:30
p.m., MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live).
Both teams will look to get Week 13 started off on the right foot, as both have matches this
weekend, too.
A lot of changes will be made by new head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. (Photo via MLSSoccer.com)
Yeah go ahead and throw this one on the massive pile of other stories similar to this one. I've
stayed away from the Klinsmann talk for a few reasons, mainly lack of time on my part to devote to
discussing it is the biggest.
Another week down, another week with the top clubs remaining on top. The playoff race in Major
League Soccer is certainly hotter than it has ever been.
I'll keep the intro nice and sweet too. Here's how I see things after this week.
Team Rank Record (W-L-T) Comments 1 (1) 16-3-10 58 pts.
Chris Trotman - Getty Images
Robert Warzycha and the Crew ... he says playoffs are a realistic goal. But I wonder.
View full size photo »
PHOENIX, Ariz.
RSL hopes to make history in the CCL. (Getty Images)
You hear that? It's the sounds of Major League Soccer returning for a night. No we're not
talking MLS preseason here, its all about the CONCACAF Champions League as Real Salt Lake travels
east to face the Columbus Crew in the first leg of their quarterfinal battle.
Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIphotos.com
Another frustrated tweet has made its way out of the Columbus Crew locker room.
Weeks after midfielder Robbie Rogers was involved in a little social media controversy,
out-of-favor centerback Andy Iro vented his thoughts about his playing-time situation.
The Houston Dynamo shook off a winless March to post an unbeaten April, and no player deserved
more credit for the Dynamo's surge than midfielder Brad Davis.
The skillful left winger carried the Dynamo attack, recording six assists to help the Houston
offense carry on without injured striker Brian Ching.
Photo by C.A.M. Stephans
By now you have probably heard the Bob Bradley deadline of May 23 to announce his call-ups for
the U.S. National Team. This is a critical call-up, as not only will these players play in the 2011
Gold Cup but also in the friendly versus Spain. As such, Bob Bradley will likely go the opposite
of Camp Cupcake and take a veteran lineup to Foxborough.
It's been a topsy-turvy run for Clarence Goodson on the USMNT. Goodson, who played at the
University of Maryland in the midfield nonetheless, has been largely enigmatic for Bob Bradley in a
US kit.
Clarence Goodson against Colombia, October 2010.
It was 2009 that Goodson got some run after a Jimmy Conrad injury at the Gold Cup.
By ALAN LEDBETTER
This past week in Major League Soccer was very low scoring, as many teams struggled to find the
back of the net with their stars missing on international duty.
With a couple of more games on the schedule than usual and some lopsided matchups, this week
could provide a return to high-scoring ways.
The Columbus Crew have a knack for late game heroics recently. This past weekend it was Rich
Blachan grabbing a goal late in stoppage time to salvage a tie with the Red Bulls. Last night it
was a furious second half rally full of controversy that saw home fans booing the game-tying goal
and Will Hesmer playing the hero late in stoppage time.
In the off-season the Chicago Fire made the promise to Section 8 Chicago that if Section 8 had
over 800 season tickets before the season started, the team would cover the fan buses for the
Columbus road trip. The board, volunteers, and other friends of Section 8 all came together to not
only match that mark but get the Section over 1,000 season tickets.
The Chicago Fire and the Columbus Crew kick-off in less than half an hour. The action starts on
MY50 Chicago at 3:00 PM CST. Over 400 Fire fans made the trip to the game and it will be
interesting to see how far their voices carry.
The starting lineup for the Chicago Fire is a 4-4-2. Sean Johnson; Jalil Anibaba, Yamith Cuesta,
Cory Gibbs, Gonzalo Segares; Dominic Oduro, Logan Pause, Baggio Husidic, Patrick Nyarko; Gaston
Puerari, Diego Chaves.
By JOSE M. ROMERO
Andres Mendoza is on a pretty good tear.
The big striker scored goals in each half off mistakes to lead an impressive performance by the
Columbus Crew in its 4-1 win over the Colorado Rapids Sunday night at Crew Stadium.
Mendoza's first goal came in the 18th minute.
Matin Shatzer, of SB Nation's DC United blog Black and Red United and
SBN DC, and I exchanged three questions a piece ahead of today's Philadelphia Union-United match at
RFK Stadium.
tBG: Does the addition of Dwayne De Rosario provide enough offense to
make up for the loss of Dax McCarty's control of the midfield?
Photo by Brad Smith/ISIphotos.com
While 22 MLS players found out that they'll be suting up against Manchester United in the
league's All-Star Game next week, there are quite a few others who didn't get the call that have a
case, and that's even with players from Seattle, FC Dallas and Toronto FC being ineligible because
of their CONCACAF Champions League commitments.
A 2010 postseason rematch is set to take place in the Mile High City, as the defending MLS Cup
champion Colorado Rapids host the surging Columbus Crew (9:30 p.m., Fox Soccer Channel).
The Rapids have found new life after the Achilles' tear that ruled star striker Conor Casey out
for the rest of the season.
Photo by Jose L. Argueta/ISIphotos.com
By ALAN LEDBETTER
Dwayne De Rosario seems to have finally found his home in DC. De Rosario was a threat to the
attack in Toronto and New York but looks to be a different, more influential player since coming to
D.
Photo: Nicolae Stoian
Game time: Saturday, 7:30pm ET
TV: The Comcast Network
Do not feel bad if after taking a look down the Columbus Crew roster for Saturday's showdown you
find yourself scratching your head.
In a league designed to be dominated by superstars, the Crew have taken the industrious path
alongside team's like Real Salt Lake and Dallas.
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.
Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIphotos.com
A day after locking up centerback Chad Marshall for the foreseeable future, the Columbus Crew
may be on the verge of losing a key figure from its attack.
Winger Robbie Rogers is closing in on a deal with Leeds United, according to a report from
England.
By JOSE M. ROMERO
PHOENIX -- As training convenes in Phoenix for the Columbus Crew, there are plenty of unanswered
questions.
Most of the questions surround the team's roster, which has undergone a major overhaul, making
it easy to wonder just who are all of these guys.
Photo by Tony Quinn/ISIphotos.com
D.C. United repeated as champions of the Carolina Challenge Cup, sewing up the tournament with a
2-2 draw with Toronto FC on Saturday.
Charlie Davies opened the scoring in the 12th minute for D.C. (and followed it up by doing the
stanky leg), only to have Dwayne De Rosario and Maicon Santos answer with goals in the 19th and
28th minutes, respectively, for Toronto, which had Adrian Cann return to action for the first time
since he walked out of training camp in a contract dispute.
MLS First Kick is tonight as the Los Angeles Galaxy face the Seattle Sounders at Qwest Field. So
to get in to the proper season opening spirit, I've asked Fuzion and Jordan Wise to join me in
putting on our thinking caps and taking a turn at predicting the future.
We'll be sure to check back at the end of the season and either brag about what geniuses we are
or laugh at our own futility.
A trio of two-goal scorers leads the way for SBI's MLS Week 3 Best XI selections.
Colorado's Caleb Folan, Sporting Kansas City's Teal Bunbury and Vancouver's Camilo Sanvezzo each
notched braces over the weekend. Folan led Colorado to a 4-1 dismantling of D.C. United, while
Bunbury and Sanvezzo scored their goals in the same match, a 3-3 thriller in which the Whitecaps
came from three goals down to earn the point.
Let's see BMO Field security pat that downTORONTO FC (13th) VS. COLUMBUS CREW (7th) BMO FIELD - SATURDAY 4PM ETTV: GOLTV RADIO: FAN 590 The Trillium Cup, Major League Soccer's originally lame attempt to create a "rivalry" between
Toronto FC and Columbus will never be mistaken for Glasgow's "Old Firm" derby.
By CALEB SONNELAND
Emilio Renteria netted a second half penalty in the 67th minute to ensure that Seattle didn't
walk away from Crew Stadium with all the spoils.
Fredy Montero had previously put the visiting side ahead early after connecting with an Erik
Friberg cross to beat Will Hesmer in the seventh minute.
A tie at the end of a stretch of three games in eight days, on the road against a team riding a
six-match unbeaten streak and doing it without several starters available isn't the worst result in
the world, but it was hardly confidence inspiring either. Give the Seattle Sounders credit for
pulling out a point, though, as they definitely looked like a tired bunch by the time the final
whistle blew in their 1-1 tie against the Columbus Crew.
Looking back on the game a day later, I think I'm even more happy with a tie than I was
immediately after. The early goal really made it seem like the Seattle Sounders had a much better
chance of winning this game than they really did, as they really never controlled the match for any
lengthy period.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Columbus native and former Crew defender Eric Brunner came back to haunt his old
team on Saturday night, scoring the only goal in a 1-0 Portland victory at JELD-WEN Field. The
second-half goal — a header off a free kick in the 46th minute — helped Portland maintain their
dominance at home [.
Seattle Sounders FC defender Jeff Parke was voted Major League Soccer Player of the Week by the
North American Soccer Reporters for Week 10 of the 2011 MLS season.
Parke headed home the game-winning goal in stoppage time to lift his team over Sporting Kansas
City 1-0.
Parke is the first defender to win this award since Chad Marshall in Week 22 of the 2009 season,
and he narrowly edged out Philadelphia striker Carlos Ruiz for this week's honor.
BY ADAM SERRANO
It was a back and forth affair between the Columbus Crew and Chivas USA as the two clubs battled
to a 3-3 draw.
The Crew were able to battle back from a three decifits as Crew forward Andres Mendoza tallied a
pair of goals in the high-octane match.
Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIphotos.com
By THOMAS FLOYD
The Columbus Crew has made a nasty habit out of surrendering the opening goal, having done so in
each of its last six contests. But on the plus side, Columbus has battled back to earn a draw three
times during that stretch, against Seattle, Chivas USA and New York.
30 goalkeepers have seen action in Major League Soccer so far this season. 25 have a higher
Goals Against Average than Faryd Mondragon. Of the four with a lower GAA, Donovan Ricketts and Nick
Rimando are the only two with more than 90 minutes under their belts.
It's getting harder every week to find a league-related statistic without Bimbo stamped all over
it.
Pet peeve about most soccer awards processes: holding midfielders get very little love.
It really is such an important position. Show me a team with a good holding midfielder and a
I'll show you a team with a great chance, at least, to go places.
But a holding midfielder will never be a league MVP, mostly because so much of their important
work is low on the glamour scale.
Hans Backe has spoken.
Sean Franklin...but you knew this picture was going here...
Below is his game-day roster to match Manchester United in the MLS All-Star Game July 27 at Red
Bull Arena. That last statement was contradictory I know.
As long as Brad Davis was on the roster, it was mostly acceptable.
When New York Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe named the game-day roster for the 2011 MLS
All-Star Team, there were destined to be players who many MLS fans felt were snubbed. It happens
every year, but this year there seemed to be more snubs than usual.
It is clear that some of Backe's selections were made with more consideration toward building a
team capable of beating Manchester United rather than rewarding the league's best players through
the first half of the season.
