Let's dip into the playoff poll again, this time with one of the fallen favorites. We corralled Houston radio man Brian Zygo to tackle our Dynamo answers.NSC: What went wrong?BZ: In simple terms, a lack a finishing, the Houston Dynamo were having trouble putting the ball in the net. It took over 180 minutes of playing time in the first round of the MLS playoffs before the Dynamo scored a goal. Click to continue reading...

How is this guy one of the best regarded soccer writers in America? He's sure as hell not a good interviewer:

SI.com: Without being too self-conscious about it, I wanted to ask you what you thought of my book, The Beckham Experiment?

I mean, honestly. And check out the picture Wahl posted on twitter:
Does Wahl not look creepy as fuck, and does Don Garber not look as though he's contemplating calling the police? Click to continue reading...

by FRANCO PANIZO

If the Houston Dynamo is to continue its relative MLS success next season, it will likely have to do so without two of their most talented players.

Midfielders Ricardo Clark and Stuart Holden are out of contract at season's end, and both players are unlikely to return to the club, having been strongly linked with moves to Europe during the upcoming winter transfer window.

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by FRANCO PANIZO

If the Houston Dynamo is to continue its relative MLS success next season, it will likely have to do so without two of their most talented players.

Midfielders Ricardo Clark and Stuart Holden are out of contract at season's end, and both players are unlikely to return to the club, having been strongly linked with moves to Europe during the upcoming winter transfer window.

Click to continue reading...

In the first part of our 2009 MLS Cup Final preview, the Real Salt Lake and Los Angeles Galaxy players were assessed and compared, with a slight advantage being measured for the Galaxy. In this continuation of our analysis, attention is paid to the coaches and intangibles for both clubs.

Click to continue reading...

I don't even want to talk about it.
Not cool, guys. Click to continue reading...

Before the playoffs began, the consensus was that the teams in the Western Conference were more prepared to the lift the MLS Cup in Seattle on November 22nd. Little did we know then how prophetic that sentiment was, as we now have both entries in the Final representing the West. The Los Angeles Galaxy — the top seed out of the West entering the post-season — and Real Salt Lake — vanquishers of the best the East had to offer — face off at Qwest Field with the Philip F.

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In case anyone else didn't notice, we've got the most expensive team in MLS going up against the least expensive team in MLS in the Cup final this weekend. From one of my posts earlier in the year on team wage bills:

1. LA $9.4 million
15. RSL $1.86 million

Of course that's with designated player salaries. Click to continue reading...

CONCACAF held its draw for the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday and the draw will pit defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew against defending Mexican League champion Toluca.

Columbus was eliminated from the MLS playoffs by Real Salt Lake in the first round, but will kick off 2010 in March with a home-and-home quarterfinal series against Toluca.

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CONCACAF held its draw for the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday and the draw will pit defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew against Mexican League power Toluca.

Columbus was eliminated from the MLS playoffs by Real Salt Lake in the first round, but will kick off 2010 in March with a home-and-home quarterfinal series against Toluca.

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(Summary is not available.) Click to continue reading...

With the Don's latest state of the league comments about the importance of the Concacaf Champions League (CCL) and the extra load that it puts on teams that do well in the MLS standings, I've been thinking about what the league could do. Let's start out with the commissioner's problem description:

We need to prove that we can be among the best teams in the region, and that means beating Mexico.

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With the Houston Dynamo knocked out of the MLS playoffs, Ricardo Clark and Stuart Holden were called in for the friendly against Denmark on Wednesday. Neither are a surprise, having forced their way into the national team setup at this stage in their career. The other two call ups, Jose Francisco Torres and Edgar Castillo were a welcome sight -- though news also came out that Torres declined for personal reasons.

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Jason and Zach debut the new American Soccer Show discussing USMNT friendlies, MLS playoffs, and the USL/TOA fallout.
The American Soccer Show is part of the Champions Soccer Radio Network.
Visit the American Soccer Show website for more info
Subscribe to the new iTunes feed here. Click to continue reading...

Jason and Zach debut the new American Soccer Show discussing USMNT friendlies, MLS playoffs, and the USL/TOA fallout. The American Soccer Show is part of the Champions Soccer Radio Network. Visit...

Click to continue reading...

Ladies and gentlemen of America, I don't know you. I don't know what you like or what you dislike. I have to assume you enjoy things that are fun and exciting. I also have to assume you hate things that are boring and dull. Thus, I just don't understand why you are not eating up the 2009 MLS Playoffs.

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For the second season in a row the Fire had a chance to make a trip to the MLS Cup Final and once again they came up short. The home fans at Toyota Park showed up in force, but they didn't see the same commitment and coherence from their team that they got in last week's 2-0 home win over Prince and the New England Revolution. Click to continue reading...

The playoff numbers look like this...

5 year comparison Conference Semifinals 1st Leg  Avg +/- Home Teams  2005  12,147 NA  Chicago  NY  Colorado  Los Angeles  2006  9,533  -21.52%  Chicago  NY  Colorado  Chivas USA  2007  14,245  49. Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISIphotos.comÂ

Real Salt Lake is heading to its first MLS Cup Final after beating the Chicago Fire on penalty kicks at Toyota Park on Saturday night.

Goalkeeper Nick Rimando stole the show, making three penalty saves to win the second playoff penalty shootout of his career.

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Nick Rimando saved three Chicago Fire penalty kicks to help Real Salt Lake win the Eastern Conference on a shootout after 120 minutes of soccer yielded no goals for either team. The victory puts RSL in its first-ever MLS Cup game where they will face the LA Galaxy, victors of a dramatic conference final of their own Friday, and completes a stunning late-season turnaround for the Salt Lake City side.

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It's just not right is it? Somehow you look at this situation in the MLS Eastern Conference Final that Real Salt Lake, a club from the West came to Chicago and defeated them in a penalty kick shootout to take the Eastern Conference crown and will face fellow western club Los Angeles Galaxy at Qwest Field in Seattle for the League crown.

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Slovakia and the United States played in a friendly on Saturday, November 14, 2009. Both teams have qualified for next summer's FIFA 2010 World Cup Final. Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

Slovakia beats United States 1-0 Video Highlights

The United States dominated possession, especially in the 2nd half, but struggled to convert any chances as they lost to Slovakia.

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Perhaps it was only fitting that on Friday the 13th, there would be not one, but two power outages at the Home Depot Center. Eighteen minutes into the Western Conference Final match between the Los Angeles Galaxy and Houston Dynamo, the lights on the upper deck at the Home Depot Center went out, causing a stoppage in play that would last about 18 minutes. Click to continue reading...

Today is Friday the 13th meaning that your odds tonight of being the victim of an axe to the head or a chainsaw to the torso just went through the roof. Â

So in other words tonight might not be the best night to go for that skinny dip with some bimbos in the lake or venture on a long walk alone in the woods.

Click to continue reading...

I was starting to write a long piece on magical thinking and sending orange-colored positive waves westward for tonight's game. Then I read the stories in the Chron today (listing of the stories and Bernardo's blog post here) about how the entire world seems aligned against Dynamo in favor of the Galaxy, including Alexi Lalas (which actually fills me with something like relief. Click to continue reading...

Tonight, tonight, to-ni-ight
Oh-oooooh
We could make it right tonight, to-ni-ight
Oh-oooooh
I already have loads of respect for the Riot Squad because of the hospitality that they showed the New York supporters at MLS Cup last year; anyone who treats me to tacos, beer and bike jousting after such a crushing defeat are my people for life. Click to continue reading...

STARTERS
News Flash: "Chivas USA announced today that Head Coach Preki has left the club by mutual agreement."
Chicago's game against Salt Lake on Saturday is already SOLD OUT!!
dN
The funniest Twitter feed going these days @ConcacafJack. The Diamond Geezer is tearing shit up. Click to continue reading...

What: England vs Brazil (or Brazil vs England), friendly game of football
When: Saturday November 14th, 2009. 5pm kickoff UK time. 12noon US eastern time.
Where: Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar
I Don't Live There!

Click to continue reading...

The announcement today came after several days of rumors and speculation that Preki could be fired and just days after he had failed to guide the club past the first round of the MLS playoffs for the third consecutive year.

Despite assurances earlier this season that the club didn't want to disrupt the team's slow "building" process under Preki, many fans believed the club was stagnating and change was needed.

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Galaxy central defender Omar Gonzalez, the club's top draft pick out of Maryland didn't miss a game for the Galaxy this year and was literally head and shoulders above other candidates.

From the Galaxy press release:

The 21-year old defender from Dallas, Texas, becomes the second consecutive Galaxy defender to win the award.

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You may have recently read that Bruce Arena received the award for Coach of the Year for rescuing the LA Galaxy from the depths of the last few seasons all the way to the Western Conference final. The most high-profile part of his salvage job was the healing of the San Andreas Fault-sized rift between Lando & Becks. Click to continue reading...

While we are no big fan of the playoff structure in MLS, it seems to be a necessary evil in a North American league for now. The 2009 MLS Playoffs have actually been quite good though with 3 out of the 4 teams who remain being deserving. Sometimes however, there are off the field occurrences which can be just as interesting. Click to continue reading...

Thanks to Sports Media Watch for this nugget:

ESPN2 averaged a 0.2 U.S. rating and 254,000 viewers for its first two MLS Playoff telecasts. In particular, Dynamo/Sounders on October 29 drew a 0.2 and 274,000, while Galaxy/Chivas USA on November 1 drew a 0.1 and 233,000.

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A busy show as Brian Zygo brings us a locker room report from Robertson Stadium after Houston's 1-0 win over Seattle in the MLS Playoffs.

Aaron Davidson, the President of Miami FC joins us to answer questions about today's press release from the TOA declaring the intent to form a new professional league in the US and Canada.

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The MLS playoffs resume on Friday with the Western Conference final, but the playoffs are already over for the four teams eliminated this past weekend. How those teams respond to their first-round exits, and how they deal with very important off-seasons, will determine if they are back in the post-season in 2010.

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