Seattle's last two losses in all competitions are to the San Jose Earthquakes and Sporting
Kansas City. In some ways it is fitting that these are the only two teams ahead of the Sounders in
the SB Nation MLS Power Rankings. Seattle is as high as it has been since week 11. The votes they
receive are primarily for 2 or 3 with two at 4 and one at 5.
Saturday's 1 PM Cascadia Cup match should feature over 55,000 fans watching the most significant
contest in this rivalry's young MLS history. Both the Seattle Sounders FC and the Vancouver
Whitecaps are poised for MLS Cup Playoff runs and the points from this match could mean the
difference in seeding.
The already short-handed Vancouver Whitecaps will be a little more so after learning that
Designated Player Barry Robson was suspended for Saturday's game against the Seattle Sounders. The
MLS Disciplinary Committee announced the punishment for "aggravated dissent against an assistant
referee" on Saturday morning, just hours before the scheduled kickoff time.
The battle for the Cascadia Cup is as tight as ever. The Timbers have the early lead, but the
Vancouver Whitecaps and Seattle Sounders FC are better teams and in a points tie for the third spot
in the West. Saturday's 1 PM match isn't just for key points in the trivalry contest, but has
implications for the Playoff hunt.
The Vancouver Whitecaps might have one of the better defenses in MLS, but that has not stopped
head coach Martin Rennie from further strengthening that part of his team.
The Whitecaps announced Wednesday that they have signed veteran centerback Andy O'Brien, who has
spent the last decade-and-a-half playing in England.
Luke Lohr is joined by head coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps, Martin Rennie to discuss the team's
progress under his tenure and what he envisions for the future. Rennie also discusses his team's
place in the West and shows respect to several opponents. Major League Soccer's All-Time leading
goalscorer Jeff Cunningham lends his time as well to talk about his move back to the states and
joining the NASL leading San Antonio Scorpions.
What will Martin Rennie do with the Whitecaps next? (Getty Images)
The 2012 MLS All Star break is over if you even want to call it a break. It may be hard to
believe but we are at the final week of July on the regular season slate and oddly enough CONCACAF
Champions League group play starts up again next week.
Fresh off of moving Davide Chiumiento and Sebastien Le Toux, the Vancouver Whitecaps added a
potent attacking weapon to their disposal by signing Scotland national team captain Kenny Miller on
Monday.
The Whitecaps signed Miller as their third Designated Player, and the 32-year-old striker will
provide another lethal scoring threat up top for head coach Martin Rennie.
Kenny Miller is a big risk but could be a big "get" for Vancouver. (Getty Images)
Many wondered last week why the Vancouver Whitecaps would be quick to trade away forward
Sebastien Le Toux. It turns out they had an even bigger deal set in motion that required such a
trade.
The Whitecaps announced the signing of of Scottish international striker Kenny Miller as the
club's newest Designated Player.
As the Vancouver Whitecaps prepare for an all-Canadian battle with Toronto FC tonight, they'll
do so without one of their most inventive and creative players.
The Whitecaps sold Davide Chiumiento to FC Zurich for an undisclosed transfer fee, a move that
abruptly ends the playmaker's time in MLS.
The dust is just settling in the aftermath of John Spencer's dismissal as coach of the Portland
Timbers, with the second-year MLS club looking for a new candidate who will carry the team to new
heights.
Gavin Wilkinson, the club's general manager and former coach during the team's USL days, has
been given the interim reins for the remainder of the season while the club searches for its
long-term replacement.
CARSON, Calif.-- After a solid win at Colorado on Wednesday, the Vancouver Whitecaps were
looking continue their road trip success. Chivas USA, back from their two week break in MLS action,
came into Saturday night's match at the Home Depot Center trying to pick up their third win at home
this season.
The Philadelphia Union and Vancouver Whitecaps officially announced a trade that brought Bakary
Soumare back to Major League Soccer.
Vancouver sent a second rounder SuperDraft pick in 2013 to Philadelphia in exchange for
allocation money and the Union's 2013 first round SuperDraft selection.
Bakary Soumare is officially back in MLS as a member of the Philadelphia Union.
The Vancouver Whitecaps and Philadelphia Union announced their trade Tuesday in which the
Whitecaps acquired allocation money and the Union's first-round pick in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft in
exchange for the top spot in the MLS allocation order and a 2013 SuperDraft second-round pick.
Playing three matches in a one-week span, that latter two against the two of the top three teams
in the Western Conference, the Galaxy emerged from its busy week unscathed. First came a 3-2 win on
the road against Real Salt Lake in which it erased a two-goal deficit, then came Saturday against
the Vancouver Whitecaps, as the Galaxy jumped on the third-place Whitecaps early and often and
coming out with a 3-0 win on Saturday night at the Home Depot Center.
Sunday's loss by the Dynamo to the Vancouver Whitecaps sucked. The team didn't play poorly per
se, they were just simply out gunned by a talented team on the rise that had all their weapons at
their disposal. Meanwhile, Dominic Kinnear was forced to walk in to battle with a severely limited
arsenal.
There may not be a better time to play the Vancouver Whitecaps than this Saturday. Fresh from
their devastating Canadian Championship defeat to the worst team in the world, and after weeks of
overlap between the Championship and continued MLS play, the Whitecaps are going to be drained,
emotionally and physically.
For the Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC, the Voyageurs Cup is there for the taking at BMO
Field Wednesday night.Â
The two clubs square off in the second leg of the Canadian championship final (8 p.m., Rogers
Sportsnet), with one earning domestic bragging rights and a place in this summer's CONCACAF
Champions League.
Today's match between the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Seattle Sounders isn't about a trophy
(though it will influence the Cascadia Cup). It would be easy to say it is about rivalry, as the
competition between these cities within soccer goes back nearly 40 years and 125 games. Instead
though, it is about standings.
As we like to do, we reached out to our Vancouver Whitecaps blogger Benjamin Massey of 86
Forever. Here are our questions and his answers:
1 - Prior to the season many observers thought that the Whitecaps
would be defined by their offense. It's been OK, but not great. What will it take to get
better?
Saturday night, the New England Revolution defeated the Vancouver WhiteCaps 4-1 at Gillette
Stadium. The match held a special significance for Revs midfielder Lee Nguyen, who was released by
the WhiteCaps earlier in the season.
Nguyen did not disappoint, scoring twice and adding an assist, propelling the Revolution to
victory.
After a busy road schedule to begin the season, The Revolution return to Gillette Stadium
tonight where they will play 7 of their next 9 games. They begin this important home stretch
against a revamped Vancouver Whitecaps team that tied the Revs for worst in MLS last season, but
have since turned things around significantly since Martin Rennie took over at the helm.
Martin Rennie may have found something in using Omar Salgado on the left wing.
Salgado had a hand in goals scored by Eric Hassli and Atiba Harris, as the Whitecaps cruised by
FC Edmonton 2-0 in the first leg of their Canadian championship semifinal tie Wednesday night.
Salgado cut down the left side and got to the end line before playing a ball back to Hassli at the
top of the box for the opening goal, and his chip hit off the post and right to Harris for the
second.
Ed. note: As we continue to march through the crushing heat of mid-summer, I am continuing with my
broad-themed Grinder series. After beginning with a look in on Wondo's goal-mouth prowess (did you
see his set-up on Lenhart's tying goal this weekend?) and moving to Martin Rennie's shrewd tactical
maneuvers last week, we move on to another biggie this week: the league's forever-morphing
identity.
The 'Caps are being remade. In Rennie's image. I tried. So hard did I try to dislike everything the
'Caps had done over the past few weeks. I, like many others, looked at Martin Rennie with the kind
of narrowed eye one gives to a dog who'd just festooned the carpet with the contents of its
stomach.
CHESTER, Pa. -- The plan was never for Jay DeMerit to go the distance against Chelsea. No, the
plan MLS All-Stars head coach Ben Olsen originally had drawn up included replacing DeMerit at
halftime so as to limit his minutes ahead of he and the Vancouver Whitecaps' visit to Real Salt
Lake on Friday.
You could say that Revolution fans got their money's worth on Saturday night.
In a display of firepower rarely seen in Foxboro during the last two years, the Revolution
racked up four goals including a SportsCenter Top 10 effort from Lee Nguyen to pound the hapless
Whitecaps 4-1 on Saturday.
It was another busy, crazy week in Major League Soccer. Loads of games that saw the home teams
go unbeaten. So with that there was plenty of movement in the rankings here. We have two new clubs
in the bottom tier and above that saw teams swapping places left and right.
In the SB Nation MLS Power Rankings the Seattle Sounders are on the bounce. Getting off that
winless streak certainly helped, but so did some relatively poor performances (Fire, Whitecaps)
around them. Let's take a moment to remember that happens to other teams too.
One of the intriguing things about tracking the rankings via the graph is the extraordinary
stability by Real Salt Lake.
SB Nation's MLS Power Rankings tend to lag results. There are enough of us in the ranking panel
that tend to ignore a bad result, or two, that quick movements are rare. But in a "week" which
actually stretches across three weeks of light matches around the league one team did indeed take a
fall. Seattle Sounders FC is now at an average ranking of 5.
The past two matches for the Carolina RailHawks have served as evidence that the team is still
rebuilding in the wake of Martin Rennie's departure at the end of last season. The team sits now in
5th place with a humble 5-6-5 record.
Article by Doak Gips
That not so great iPhone picture above this paragraph is from my time in the upper-deck at BBVA
Compass Stadium this past weekend, as the Dynamo defeated FC Dallas, 2-1. That stadium is really
fantastic. They did a great job keeping all the noise in, and that stadium gets very loud.
Today's open discussion thread, complete with your daily dose of
Philadelphia Union, MLS, and U.S. National team related news and notes...
The U.S. is in pain heading into World Cup qualifiers [Frank Isola, Goal.com] - "Injuries
and fitness have robbed the United States of most of its best midfield heading into a pair of
matches with Jamaica.
The Seattle Sounders cruised to a win over Caledonia, Olimpia dominated CD Fas at home, and W
Connection were held by Xelaju in the CONCACAF Champions League on August 2, 2012.
Olimpia 3-0 CD Fas
The home side were in total control as they had three different goalscorers and held CD Fas to
one shot on goal.
A year after missing the playoffs, the San Jose Earthquakes boast the top record in Major
League Soccer. And veteran coach Frank Yallop, it's safe to say, deserves much of the credit.
Yallop has led the Earthquakes to an 11-4-3 record with a league-leading 36 goals scored. After
winning titles with San Jose in 2001 and 2003, the 48-year-old coach has his side in contention for
a third MLS Cup.
