A Brutal Day

The story of the day in MLS is cards. In 7 matches this Saturday, refs handed out 44 cards. Of those, 7 were red (4 straight red, 3 as a result of a player receiving a second yellow). Only 3 matches saw 5 or fewer cards, and as many as 11 cards were given in a single game (8 yellows and 3 reds in the Superclasico match between LA Galaxy and Chivas USA). Normally when this many cards are given out, it's a matter of poor officiating, but in the 3 matches I watched today, most of the cards were deserved. Obviously something has to change, but I'm not sure it's fair to blame the officials outright for how out-of-hand things are getting on the pitches across the MLS.

In a rare event, 2 redcards were handed out today for "denying a goalscoring opportunity". One was received by Kasey Keller, GK for the Seattle Sounders, in the 29th minute of their match against the Kansas City Wizards at Qwest Field. Keller slid in to stop a breakaway, but unfortunately for him, he slid right past the 18-yard line and out of the box, where he blocked the shot with his hands, earning himself an automatic redcard. The second such offense was committed by Gregg Berhalter of the LA Galaxy when he pulled down Chivas' Alecko Eskandarian after the striker beat him and broke toward the net. This is a rare foul, and for two to be committed in the same day is an unusual occurance in the league, but it warrants discussion, since many fans are certainly confused by this rule. The premise behind "denying a goalscoring opportunity" is that when a player is in a clear goal-scoring situation and a defensive player commits a blatant foul against that player to prevent him from scoring, what would normally constitute a normal offense becomes more serious due to circumstances. In the case of a goalkeeper, intentionally handling the ball outside the box in order to save a shot always constitutes this kind of offense. This was shocking rookie mistake from a veteran like Keller, and will have everyone in the Emerald City scratching their heads, as it led to their loss to Kansas City at home and means he will miss their match next weekend against Chivas (the only other team who had won every game going into this weekend). This breaks the charm for Sounders, who had been in perfect form until tonight, but now the shine is off both their invincibility at home and their goalscoring streak. Fortunately for Sounders, Chivas will be without MF Paulo Nagamura, who received 2 yellowcards against Galaxy and has been the top performer for Chivas so far this season.

In other news, both New York Red Bulls and Houston Dynamo continue to underperform, playing to a scoreless draw, with no real signs that we should expect much improvement in the immediate future. Conor Casey followed up last week's hat-trick with a goal in a 1-1 draw against Columbus Crew. The real high-lights of the day are the Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake. Falling behind San Jose 3 times, Chicago rallied back each time to salvage a point from a hard-fought game and remain undefeated on the season. That said, Chicago's 8 points come from 2 wins and 2 ties, so we've got to remember, although they're getting results, they're not quite dominating. RSL fell behind DC United home at Rio Tinto in the 38th minute, but answered back 2 minutes later in the 40th minute on a header from D Jamison Olave, then went ahead in the 80th minutes later on a goal from Argentine MF Javier Morales. Robbie Findley picked up assists on both goals, to follow his hat-trick last week against the Crew - expect more from him in the coming weeks. Considering Seattle's bellyflop tonight and Chicago's aforementioned scrappiness, RSL (2-0-1, 7 pts) appears to be the best-tuned team in the league at present, winning their first 2 home games to set up perhaps an even stronger homefield advantage than last year. Their only loss came at Seattle in RSL's season opener in a game in which RSL outplayed Sounders for most of the game, but failed to get the result. Coach Jason Kreis has got his team playing together very well, and I think we can expect big things from this side. With a game-in-hand as a result of their first week bye, RSL is in good position to move toward the top of the standings with a win against an abysmal Red Bulls side in the coming week.

Week 1's Worth Mentioning

The first week of MLS 2009 Season has come to a close, and there are a couple points worthy of noting:

• Seattle Sounders FC are here to play. The MLS debutant means business. They've got the roster, the coach, and the FANS to be a force to be reckoned with in their virgin season. I'm looking forward to seeing what they make of it, and you should be too. A 3-0 victory over Red Bull New York is definitely an auspicious start for the boys from the Emerald City, and lord only knows Seattlites are hurting for a sports team that they can be proud of right now.

• Landon Donovan's back from Germany, and he's none the worse for the wear. Instead of taking time to relax in the MLS offseason, the Golden Boy of American Soccer went on temporary loan to Bayern Munich of the German Bundesliga, where he performed well and even tallied a few goals in one of Europe's top leagues before returning in time for the start of the MLS season--unlike his illustrious teammate, David Beckham, who dipped into his own monstrous bank account to ensure the extension of his loan to AC Milan through the end of the Italian Serie A season, after which he will take a month's vacation before returning to join the Galaxy in mid-July...hm, sound familiar? Wonder if this scheme will work out any better the second time around... But I digress...after winning last season's Golden Boot, Donovan started off the 2009 MLS season by personally resurrecting the Galaxy from a 2-goal deficit to draw against DC United. He appears to be in better form than ever, and that's going to mean trouble for the league's defenders and goalkeepers, but it won't do LA any good unless they can fix their own defensive problems. Dismissing last season's 'keeper, the worthless Steve Cronin, was a good start, but LA still gave up 2 goals to a weak DC side at the weekend...

• Chicago Fire @ FC Dallas demonstrated a couple of important facts...First, Kenny Cooper is now not only one of the most lethal strikers in the league (at least, until he gets snatched up by a European team this summer), but he's been practicing his range, and he is now positively surgical from 65 YARDS OUT. With his strength, size, speed, and range, Coach Bob Bradley will be an IDIOT not to make Cooper a regular face on the US National Team. Second, if Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Brian McBride's goals on Saturday are any indication, the Fire are going to be downright scary on set pieces and freekicks this season. Blanco didn't play a full 90 minutes, but he did score a textbook goal on a freekick just outside the box, curling the ball into the upper-90. McBride's penalty kick was at least as good as Donovan's, and showed that McBride's still got it.

Tune in for Week 2 of MLS 2009! Schedule available at www.mlsnet.com.

2011 MLS Expansions announced

The past week has finally seen the announcement of the 2 expansion franchises to begin MLS play in the 2011 season. Vancouver, BC's franchise was announced first, and today Portland, Oregon was also granted a franchise. After last night's debut, I'm willing to bet that the Seattle Sounders expansion will prove itself a brilliant move for the league, but THREE teams in the Pacific Northwest within 2 years? I worry that these teams are going to cut into each other's potential fanbases somewhat, and that it may have been better to grant a franchise to St. Louis, which is the historical hometown of American soccer and would have made for a more balanced map of the league... Also, adding 3 teams to the Western Conference probably means that the conferences will need to be balanced. There are currently 8 teams in the Western Conference (Seattle FC, Chivas USA, LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, Houston Dynamo, FC Dallas, Colorado Rapids, and San Jose Earthquakes) and 7 in the Eastern Conference (Red Bull New York, Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew, Kansas City Wizards, Toronto FC, DC United, and New England Revolution). Next year the Philadelphia expansion team will restore balance to the conferences, but in 2011 2 more teams in the Pacific Northwest will probably mean that we will see both Houston and Dallas shift to the Eastern Conference.

On the other hand, maybe this will be one of the best moves MLS has made to date: the United Soccer League teams in Vancouver and Portland both have strong followings already, which may provide a solid fanbase for the new MLS teams (which may or may not be promotions of the current USL teams) despite their proximity. Furthermore, one of the biggest criticisms of the US as a soccer scene is the geographic factor...the distances between cities are so great that it is often difficult and expensive for fans to travel to away games to support their club, meaning the atmosphere at a game can't compete with the European scene, where fans routinely travel to away games in numbers significant enough to make them a real factor in their opponents' home stadiums. As wonderful as it is that many soccer matches are now regularly broadcast on television for viewers nationwide to tune in, it is undeniable that to properly appreciate the beautiful game, you should be there as it's happening. Having teams clustered in cities close enough that it is easy for fans to travel creates potentially thrilling rivalries, and could be good for breeding dedicated new fans. Time will tell...

MLS 2009 Kickoff!

Tonight was the kickoff of the 2009 MLS Season with the inaugural game of Seattle Sounders FC hosting Red Bull New York. The nearly 43,000 screaming fans at Qwest Field made for quite a 12th Man as the Sounders dismantled a shaky-looking Red Bull 3-0, with 2 goals from Fredy Montero and another from Brad Evans. While the showing from New York was disappointing, the ambition demonstrated by Sounders proves they, under the leadership of championship-winning coach Sigi Schmid, have every intention of being a legitimate force in the league this season. If their fans remain as supportive and as LOUD as they were tonight, this franchise probably will meet their goal of making the playoffs. Congrats Seattle on finally having something go right lately in the wide world of sports!

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Goalie scores!

In Sunday's U-23 (that's Under 23-years-old, for you soccer lingo neophytes) match between South Korea and Côte d'Ivoire, goalkeeper Jung Sung-Ryeong scored a goal from just outside his own 18-yard box.  Check out this video!

A cold day in Hell...

There are those (Jamie Trecker & Keith Costigan, I'm looking at you...) who said Real Salt Lake would never be able to dig itself out of the bottom of the MLS standings. Now in its fourth season in the MLS, Real Salt Lake has not yet qualified for the playoffs in its short history, let alone had a winning season. In its first three seasons, it finished 5th of 6 in the Western Division in 2005 (ahead of fellow 2005 expansion club CD Chivas USA), 6th of 6 in 2006, and 6th of 6 in 2007. However, these results do not accurately reflect the talent of the team - they have simply struggled to get goals, and in soccer, you can't win without goals. After CD Chivas USA picked up its form and became a legitimate contender in MLS, Real was ridiculed even further by detractors.

I am a serious Real Salt Lake supporter, having attended their first home match and sitting only about 50 yards from the goal post past which Brian Dunseth scored the first goal in RSL history, in the section overlooking the corner flag he ran to and planted, like a conquistador victoriously usurping a "new" land. I follow every game the club plays, whether it is an official MLS fixture, a tournament game, or a friendly. I have attended countless games at Rice-Eccles Stadium and have seen them play against almost every team in MLS, as well as Monarcas Morelia of the Mexican First Division, Real Madrid of La Liga, and other international teams.

The tides, I am proud to say, are turning. After week 18 of the 2008 MLS Season, Real Salt Lake has held the top position in the Western Conference for three consecutive weeks, and now sits third place in the entire league. With a 6-0-5 record at home (7-6-6 overall) , they are one of only two teams in the league (the other being Toronto FC) which has not given up a home loss yet this season. Their biggest weakness so far this season has been away games, but with an impressive display at Toyota Park last week against the Chicago Fire, they took a point away from the draw, perhaps signaling that they are getting into a rhythm with their away games as well. Nick Rimando, RSL's keeper, has been on an incredible run of form in recent weeks, and is currently tied with Jon Busch and Kevin Hartman for the most shutouts in the league with 7. He leads the league with the most minutes played (1710 this season - tied with RSL teammate Nat Borchers) and is averaging just 1.05 goals scored against him per match (2nd in the league, behind the Chicago Fire). He holds the season record for the longest stretch without giving up a goal, at 355 minutes from June 28 to July 28. Javier Morales, the Argentine midfielder, is 4th in the league in assists, with 7 in 18 appearances, and was notably missing from last week's All-Star team in Toronto. Fitness has been in RSL's favor this season, with 5 players having played in all 19 games so far (Kyle Beckerman, Nat Borchers, Nick Rimando, Kenny Deuchar, and Robbie Findley) and 3 players having started all 19 games (Beckerman, Borchers and Rimando). Perhaps making the biggest difference, RSL has finally fired up its offense, having taken 33 more shots than any other team (they've taken 267) and second in the league with shots-on-goal at 104 (behind FC Dallas at 107) - as I mentioned earlier, scoring goals has been RSL's biggest problem in the past.

I look forward to RSL qualifying for their first ever playoffs, and will eagerly await seeing how their performance shapes up for the rest of the season. For all you haters out there who said it would be a cold day in Hell when Real clawed its way up from the bottom of the league: it's time to invest in a good parka.