After Warzycha benched the teams biggest threat for the teams biggest match (what a dope!), it should have sent warning shots in the minds of everyone associated with MLS.

Former All Star, MLS Cup Winner, Boca Jrs. Legend and league MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto has just been asked to take a sizable pay cut by the Columbus Crew, to the tune of $400k.

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On Tuesday, the Fire distributed a letter that owner Andrew Hauptman wrote to fans of the club. The letter, which ran a relatively short 293 words, was sort of Hauptman's wrap on the season. It details how he felt after the Real Salt Lake game and reminds fans that the club is already working hard to bring a championship back to Chicago next season. Click to continue reading...

-According to the Dynamo, Ricardo Clark, whose contract expires next month, has no intention to re-sign with Major League Soccer as he pursues opportunities abroad.

-Brian Ching underwent surgery Tuesday to address a meniscus tear in his left knee. He suffered the injury in Game 1 of the series against Seattle Sounders FC but is expected to make a full recovery during the offseason.

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QUICK PROGRAMMING NOTES: TIAS, Du Nord, The Original Winger, Soccer By Ives, and The Offside Rules will be hosting a party Friday night 9pm in downtown Seattle at Kell's Irish Pub (FYI - bar charges $5 cover, which is not going to us). It's a true soccer bar I'm told, should be a good time. Click to continue reading...

The Wizards 2009 season on the field wasn't that great, but off the field, the team has had a good offseason. Jimmy Conrad brought home the Humanitarian of the Year, Chet North brought home Head Athletic Trainer of the Year, and now the Wizards grounds crew has been awarded the Field of the Year for the Wizards home field, Community America Ballpark. Click to continue reading...

Leeds United, once tippy top dog of the First Division, has been relegated to the third division for the first time in it's storied history. Today, a once ravaged squad stands as tippy top dog again, having it's finances in order as well as their management, going undefeated in eight games, and taking an early lead in the poll race for a Championship promotion.

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Expect a new look Fire in 2010. (Getty Images)

The 2009 season for the Chicago Fire was expected to be a big one. Talks of MLS Cup and Supporter's Shield were all the rage to begin the season. Early on this year it looked like the expectations were being met as the Fire lost a single game in the first three months of the season.

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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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Regardless of this result, regardless of any strange non-goal goals, regardless of anything, I remain
Absent the Hainault goal, the result was a well-fought one and deserved, just really, really not what I wanted.
More to be written on this at another date. For now, I sleep late tomorrow and the offseason begins. Click to continue reading...

When Clarence Goodson boarded a flight on Monday to take him from Oslo, Norway to Bratislava, Slovakia, it very well could be the first of many journeys this offseason for the IK Start defender. Click to continue reading...

The Portland Timbers headed into the offseason earlier than expected, but there was a sense of optimism at looking towards the final season of USL soccer before making the move to MLS in 2011. Needless to say, I don't think anyone in the green and white could have imagined that significant changes were going to hit even before the big move. Click to continue reading...

It's the offseason in Columbus, and that means rumors about players and contracts and whatnot are as easy to find as a Buckeye hoodie. Robbie Rogers seems to have become the first player to fall victim of fan speculation.

First, to grease the wheels of gossip, Robbie himself tweetered that he was on his way out of Columbus.

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In a little over a year, Bruce Arena transformed one of the worst teams in the league into a contender for the 2009 MLS Cup. As a result of the remarkable turnaround, Arena was named as the 2009 Coach of the Year.

Hired to replace Ruud Guillt on August 18, 2008, Arena looked to change a Galaxy squad seen by many as in disarray.

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In a little over a year, Bruce Arena transformed one of the worst teams in the league into a contender for the 2009 MLS Cup. As a result of the remarkable turnaround, Arena was named as the 2009 Coach of the Year.

Hired to replace Ruud Guillt on August 18, 2008, Arena looked to change a Galaxy squad in disarray.

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For those clubs already in the thick of the offseason -- and after last weekend, the tally grew to 11 -- there are plenty of issues to wrestle with. Some clubs, like D.C. United, New York Red Bull and Toronto FC, high on the list is finding a head coach for next season.

One club checked head coach off the list, as the Kansas City Wizards named Peter Vermes as their top man.

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Seattle Sounders FC v. Houston Dynamo
As Kevin Calabro might say, the magic-carpet ride is over. The inaugural season for the Sounders FC is over after an overtime strike by Brian Ching gave the Dynamo a 1-0 aggregate win.
Can't say Seattle didn't turn heads in their first year. Click to continue reading...

I'm happy for Salt Lake fans and all, but let's face it, Columbus losing is going to have some horrifying consequences.
(1) Some may suggest that Frankie Hejduk should not be on the World Cup roster next year. What, just because, contrary to what I predicted, he played perhaps the single biggest role in the Crew losing? Click to continue reading...

Dieter, Dietmar . . . close enough.

Dietmar Beiersdorfer, the new sporting director for worldwide Red Bull soccer operations, has descended upon New York and has brought with him a cloud of speculation. Is he here to hire a new GM? Perhaps weigh in on the coaching situation?

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It seems like the clock had been turned back to 1998 this year as a revival for Chivas USA keeper Zach Thornton took place. It was just 11 seasons ago that Thornton won his first keeper of the year, now he has two as the league announced today that he was named the 2009 Goalkeeper of the Year.

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Here are a few links to get your day started...
The 'Players Only' section of the Chicago Tribune did a fun little piece with Fire midfielders John Thorrington and Logan Pause the other day. Thorrington interviewed Pause for the entry, asking Logan all sorts of things in rapid-fire format. Click to continue reading...

After a very long and hard work, we are proud to announce that the new version of SL Predictor is up and running, offering a new experience for our members.

For the past couple of football season we tried to make all necessary adjustments to make SL Predictor a fun Virtual Betting Site combining the fun elements of football betting with the competitive elements of not only beating the bookie – but also proving your wits and superiority over the rest of SL Predictor members.

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One of the big questions of the offseason, is who will be the Wizards coach next season? A few weeks ago after the final home game, Peter Vermes talked about potentially becoming the permanent coach for the Wizards, and Robb Heineman said that he wants to have the head coach in place before the MLS expansion draft, the week after MLS Cup. Click to continue reading...

More than a week has passed since the end of the Toronto FC season and it honestly still hurts. It is heart wrenching to have hope and faith in your team so deeply shaken. To go into a game hoping for the best and to have the all time worst handed to them, I am still recovering from the shock. Click to continue reading...

When posting the 2009 ADRs earlier this week, I asked what jumped out at you. Well here's some questions that jumped out at me:
1. Is Dejan Jakovic really all that good? The biggest surprise for me on the whole was Jakovic's even 3.00 rating. After winning three Benny Awards, you would have thought his rating would be among the best on the team. Click to continue reading...

TORONTO - Age appears nothing but a number for the beloved Captain of Pistolas FC Charles Eppich, as he continues to score goals in limited games, and remains the All-Time Goalscorer.
In fact he scored 2 goals in the finals to bring his 2009 tally to 6 and his all-time tally to 12.
But his absence from the roster during the Toronto Cup - an absence not brought on by availability - left many teammates and fans wondering about the status of our fearless leader. Click to continue reading...

Big Story
MLS looks like it will kick off next season without its two biggest stars, David Beckham and Cuauhtemoc Blanco, with the former set for a return to Milan and the latter returning to Veracruz.

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The Fire has confirmed an AP report that midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco will be leaving the club at the end of the year to join Mexican second division club Veracruz.

Blanco, who played for Veracruz in 2004, is in the final year of a three year contract he signed with the Fire prior to the 2007 season.

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The blog's been quiet the last couple of weeks because I'm moving again. No, not out of Colorado, but we bought our first place in Arvada. So don't expect that many posts for the next week or so as we get settled. After that I'll be back with my list for the Expansion draft, a look at the player moves I think we should make in the offseason, and the weekend Roundups. Click to continue reading...

Stealing on old bit from the late Big O and Dukes Show, we will spend the next month or so playing "River or Life" with members of the DC United organization, starting with the front office, and then moving on to the players, by position. In an offseason that is bound to include multitudes of changes throughout the club, this will be a great way to show the team who we the fans want to see return next year. Click to continue reading...

With seven teams now finished the regular season and now playoffs to plan for, the attention turns to 2010. That can include a myriad of things -- from a new stadium to a brand new coach. FC Dallas, who ended the season one win away from the playoffs, didn't do enough to save General Manager Michael Hithcock's job, as the club parted ways with him today.

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Yura Movsisyan put away a Bouna Coundoul deflection in the 90th minute to give Real Salt Lake a season-ending 1-1 draw with the Colorado Rapids at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce, Colo. With the point RSL earned its first trip to the Major League Soccer playoffs, retained ownership of the Rocky Mountain Cup, and ended the season for the Colorado Rapids (ASN, Oct.

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The offseason continues, but there is plenty of Timbers news to talk about over the past few weeks, especially with the USL season officially completed back on Saturday, October 17th. I'm playing a bit of catchup, but will talk about a lot of items affecting the USL and the Timbers, as the USL wrapped up its 2009 campaign. Click to continue reading...

I won't write what I wanted to write after watching the Kansas City game, because the more I kicked it around, it was a trite and cliche angle. The game was exciting, and the team fought as hard as they could (in the second half). Reckless desperation is always pretty fun to watch, but as DCUMD noted, a lack of defensive concentration (which is not a skill but an effort) ended our season.

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After dropping three straight matches at home to MLS opponents, and with our most consistent defender and our two most dynamic attackers out, most fans didn't really expect DC United to win this match. Especially not against the soon-to-be back-to-back Supporters' Shield winners. And it may not have been an attractive victory, but it was a victory none the less. Click to continue reading...

The UEFA Champions League is only in the group stage but realistically there are only a handful of teams who have a chance to win. So, who are the favorites to win and how are they looking so far? Here's a look at the favorites to win the Champions League trophy in May and their current form.

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