The 2017 Major League Soccer Thread

Titans Bastard

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RSL fired Jeff Cassar. That's a VERY quick hook by MLS standards, even though Cassar entered the season atop the Sack Race lists.

http://www.sltrib.com/sports/5082473-155/real-salt-lake-fires-head-coach

On one hand it makes sense. RSL is winless in three games after going winless in their final eight games of 2016. Their last win was in August. On the other hand, if they are going to fire Cassar after three games, they may as well have pulled the plug over the winter instead of giving him a contract extension.

RSL hired Mike Petke to manage their USL team in December. He will probably be a candidate for the MLS job, though I expect there to be a broader search as well.
 

Titans Bastard

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Chicago has signed Bastian Schweinsteiger and signed him to a 1 yr / $4.5m contract.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/soccer/ct-bastian-schweinsteiger-chicago-fire-20170321-story.html

I don't really get it. The Fire are not a good team, but they have a solid central midfield in Dax McCarty and Juninho, with Matt Polster in reserve. Are they going to try Schweinsteiger as a #10? It seem very wasteful to sign an oldie to play out of position.

Maybe they are just desperate for attention. The Fire may be the only club in MLS that is less relevant in their market than the Revs. Schweinsteiger probably won't have nearly the same impact that Cuauhtemoc Blanco, did though - on or off the field.

We'll see. It's worth noting that the Fire have an amazingly bad history with Designated Player contracts outside of Blanco.
 

ninjacornelius

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Schweinsteiger probably won't have nearly the same impact that Cuauhtemoc Blanco, did though - on or off the field.
The Fire would probably be better off signing 44-year old Blanco at this point - at least he wouldn't cost $4.4 million. United has gone deep in four different competitions this year, racking up over 40 matches played all over Europe, and Schweinsteiger has made a grand total of four appearances, and not a single one in the PL. He's cooked.

I'm not a Fire fan, but if I were I'd be furious. This reeks of a desperation move to grab some cheap heat and boost short-term ticket sales. He gets them no closer to competing for a playoff spot, and he's not a Beckham-level star that deserves that kind of DP money. If you think that the 2017 version of Bastian Schweinsteiger is the answer, then you misunderstood the question.
 

SocrManiac

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While I generally agree this is a PR move only for the Fire, you can't cite his appearance count for United as evidence he's cooked. Mourinho made it clear he had no interest in Schweinsteiger the second he walked through the door. If anything, it's kept a year of match mileage off his legs.
 

ninjacornelius

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While I generally agree this is a PR move only for the Fire, you can't cite his appearance count for United as evidence he's cooked. Mourinho made it clear he had no interest in Schweinsteiger the second he walked through the door. If anything, it's kept a year of match mileage off his legs.
You're right, I was being unfair and he may very well have something left in the tank. And it seems like we (along with the entire US soccer press, it seems) are all on the same page: this is a dumb move for a team that has taken nothing but steps back after three straight Conference Finals losses almost a decade ago. As you were.
 

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I guess it takes 4 games, then he´ll be their best player for the rest of the season and their absolute leader.
He may break down due to an injury, but his slowness won´t be a problem in MLS (in contrast to the Bundesliga and then the PL).
He will annoy every opponent with his cleverness and small tricks. He could be superb after a month or it could bring him a broken leg. He will bring stability to their defense and bring the ball up as a link between CBs and midfielders, that´s what I expect from him. He won´t change his playing style.
 

Titans Bastard

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I guess it takes 4 games, then he´ll be their best player for the rest of the season and their absolute leader.
He may break down due to an injury, but his slowness won´t be a problem in MLS (in contrast to the Bundesliga and then the PL).
He will annoy every opponent with his cleverness and small tricks. He could be superb after a month or it could bring him a broken leg. He will bring stability to their defense and bring the ball up as a link between CBs and midfielders, that´s what I expect from him. He won´t change his playing style.
It would be a much better signing if Bastian could play right back.

The question isn't really whether Schweinsteiger can help an MLS team, but whether it's an intelligent use of resources from Chicago's vantage point. The Fire have been terrible for two years, but this past winter they invested major resources by MLS standards to acquire two CMs who are above-average in this league. CM is literally the last place on the field where they need an upgrade.

Incorporating Schweinsteiger in the lineup will involve benching one of their top 5 players or using Bastian as a #10.

Meanwhile, they are desperate for a decent RB and could use help in other areas, too.
 

Titans Bastard

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Atlanta announced they have triggered their option to convert Josef Martinez's loan into a permanent transfer. He's started the season on a rampage - five goals in three games.
 

Titans Bastard

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There are repeated rumors that Didier Drogba may be signing with Phoenix in the USL. They've already signed Shaun Wright-Phillips; Phoenix would be awesome if it were 2006.


LAFC signed their first player, midfielder Carlos Alvarez. Some expansion teams, for whatever reason, like to stockpile a few journeymen a year before they launch and loan them out. Alvarez will spend the year on loan in the USL with LAFC affiliate Orange County SC. Perhaps LAFC is just helping their affiliate out by giving them player whose salary Orange County doesn't have to pay.

In any case, Alvarez was once the #2 overall pick in the draft, chosen by -- of course -- Chivas USA. Now he's back in LA.
 

Titans Bastard

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The cure to a winless start is a game against Minnesota. 5-2 Revs.
 

SocrManiac

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For a league that relies so heavily on big names, not breaking with the internationals seems awfully silly. Granted, a nontrivial percentage have retired from playing for their country, but with the core of the US team in MLS the fan base isn't really being served with the reserves manning the rails.
 

Titans Bastard

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For a league that relies so heavily on big names, not breaking with the internationals seems awfully silly. Granted, a nontrivial percentage have retired from playing for their country, but with the core of the US team in MLS the fan base isn't really being served with the reserves manning the rails.
The number of games played during international breaks has definitely been reduced; there were only three this weekend. IIRC teams have the option to have no international break games scheduled, but the problem is that creates travel issues down the road by adding a bunch of midweek games.

I'd like to see it eliminated entirely, but I suspect it won't happen until the league goes to all charter flights. Starting the season earlier and ending later has helped, but that strategy can't be pushed much further.
 

Titans Bastard

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RSL hired Mike Petke to manage their USL team in December. He will probably be a candidate for the MLS job, though I expect there to be a broader search as well.
Tenorio reports that it's going to be Petke:


Petke only managed one USL game for RSL before moving on up. I imagine he took the USL job in large part because Cassar was viewed as the most vulnerable MLS coach going into the season, but I bet Petke never thought he'd get the job this quickly.
 

Titans Bastard

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Now that the USL has achieved provisional USSF sanction as a D2 league, they plan to launch a new D3 division in 2019, according to Straus.

The USL contains some relatively "big", well-supported clubs (Cincinnati, Sacramento, Tampa Bay, Louisville), small clubs from small cities (Harrisburg, Reno), and a bunch of MLS2 teams that don't draw that well.

Eventually, it makes sense to have a D2 with the bigger clubs and D3 with the MLS2 teams and the smaller independents. Right now, I don't think the USL has enough clubs to have a D2 and a D3 division that each maintain the travel cost reductions that have partially underwritten the USL's recent success.

It will be interesting to see (1) how many potential D3 expansion groups the USL can scare up, (2) how many PDL groups may be interested in a step up, and (3) whether the NASL teams will finally call it quits and see the economic sense in consolidating.

There is always a lot of wishcasting around (2), but thus far zero PDL clubs have made the move up since travel was regionalized in (IIRC) 2015. Even Kenn Tomasch has given up tracking PDL attendance, but in the most recent numbers (2014) you can see that there aren't a ton of candidates. In the NPSL, which is a similar league to the PDL run outside of the USL's umbrella, there are a handful of well-supported clubs such as those in Chattanooga, Detroit, Grand Rapids, and perhaps a few other places.

There are currently 38 professional clubs in the NASL (8) +USL (30), with Nashville confirmed to start in the USL next year. It's possible, though not certain, that Edmonton (NASL) and especially Ottawa (USL) could be out the door if the Canadian Premier League ever gets off the ground.

If the right owners and stadium situation can be found, there are still plenty of good markets for the taking.

A few of these would be rather unlikely candidates because of proximity to larger metro areas, but here are the largest MSAs without pro soccer

13. Inland Empire (it's decentralized, not particularly wealthy, and probably doesn't have great sponsorship potential, but it has >4.5m people, a fairly blank sports scene, and it's a long way to LA. I'd love to see someone give minor league soccer a whirl here.)
14. Detroit
17. San Diego
21. Baltimore
29. Las Vegas
31. Austin
32. Cleveland
37. Hampton Roads
38. Providence (well, unless you count the Revs)
39. Milwaukee
42. Memphis
46. New Orleans
47. Hartford
49. Birmingham
50. Buffalo
52. Grand Rapids (>1m, who knew?)
53. Tucson
54. Honolulu
56. Fresno
57. Bridgeport
58. Worcester
59. Omaha
60. Albuquerque
61. Greenville, SC
62. Bakersfield
63. Albany
64. Knoxville
65. New Haven
67. Oxnard/Ventura
68. El Paso
70. Baton Rouge
71. Columbia, SC
72. Dayton


Okay, I cut things off after 800k, but there are still long-standing (by US minor league standards) clubs in smaller markets like Charleston (760k) and Harrisburg (570k) as well as newer entrants who are at least surviving like Colorado Springs (710k) and Reno (460k)
 

Titans Bastard

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A significant trade:


Columbus gets:
Kekuta Manneh

Vancouver gets:
Tony Tchani
$225k TAM
$75k GAM

That's a lot of assets to give up for a player in the last year of his contract like Manneh. Vancouver also gets a cut of the transfer fee if Manneh is sold outside of MLS and more GAM if Manneh is traded within MLS before 2019.

Tchani has been out of favor with Columbus for a little while, but should be able to solidify the Whitecaps midfield. It seems like he will be competing with Andrew Jacobson and Russell Teibert to partner with Matias Laba.

Manneh is an amazing winger when he's on, but he's just so streaky. He looked great in 2016 before he went down hurt; this season, he was used centrally a few times where he was poor and didn't start Vancouver's most recent games. Columbus' incumbent wingers are solid - Justin Meram and Ethan Finlay, so there should now be good competition for starting spots. Alternatively, Meram could move inside and replace Federico Higuain if needed.
 

Titans Bastard

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The Revs are getting ready to be beaten by Portland on national TV. Joshua Smith starts ahead of Angoua for his pro debut and Scott Caldwell is this week's loser in the game of midfield musical chairs. Kouassi is at DM, flanked by Rowe and Fagundez.
 

Titans Bastard

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I woke up to find out that the Revs pulled out a late draw! I'll take it.
 

SoxFanInPdx

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As a Timbers fan who was at the match last night and saw up close and personal that the Revs ain't good this year - pissed that we didn't get all three. Credit to the Revs though.
 

Titans Bastard

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Late last week Minnesota dealt Josh Gatt, Mohamed Saeid, and an international slot to Colorado for Marc Burch and Sam Cronin. The deal makes a lot of sense for Minnesota. Cronin is a good if unspectacular DM, while Burch is a mediocre LB - which is a massive upgrade for them at both positions. Less so for Colorado: Saeid is a serviceable backup CM and it looks increasingly and unsurprisingly like all the surgeries have taken their toll on Gatt. Now the Rapids don't have a left back, though perhaps they will try to convert Dillon Serna. Hopefully for their sake there's another shoe to drop involving the use of the cap space freed up by this move.


CCL semifinal second legs are this week. Dallas is protecting a fragile 2-1 lead in Pachuca (elevation: 8,000ft). They've been camped out in Mexico for a week now, haven been given a bye weekend to prepare. They have a fighting chance but are firm underdogs. Vancouver has announced they are opening their roof despite - or rather, because of - predicted rain to try to get some homefield advantage out of it against Tigres. Admirable gamesmanship, but it won't work.
 

Senator Donut

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I don't usually watch much MLS. Is the Pachuca-Dallas match tonight going to be worth watching?
I think so. FC Dallas represents the class of MLS, despite their early MLS Cup exit when injuries piled up last year. Despite that, the top MLS teams are always a peg below the top Liga MX sides, so this is more or less an even matchup when factoring in the first leg result. A one-goal lead with an away goal conceded is far too precarious for them to attempt a 90-minute bus parking, so it should be a well-played match.
 

Titans Bastard

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I think so. FC Dallas represents the class of MLS, despite their early MLS Cup exit when injuries piled up last year. Despite that, the top MLS teams are always a peg below the top Liga MX sides, so this is more or less an even matchup when factoring in the first leg result. A one-goal lead with an away goal conceded is far too precarious for them to attempt a 90-minute bus parking, so it should be a well-played match.
The bolded is 100% true, but it's never stopped MLS teams from trying and failing! Hopefully Dallas has enough poise (and possession) to avoid completely falling into this trap.

I don't usually watch much MLS. Is the Pachuca-Dallas match tonight going to be worth watching?
I don't know. Do you like your soccer with a heaping side of pain, suffering, and CONCACAFery?
 

Titans Bastard

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No surprises in FCD's lineup:


They'll mostly be a 4-4-2 team until Mauro Diaz finally gets back, though they do have the venerable Javi Morales to change up the look if needed.
 

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well, so far, if there's one thing Dallas isn't doing, it's parking the bus. Unclear if they know how to do much else, though, including how to use winger runs (not crashing the box), spacing on corners (not putting someone back post in case a cross goes over everyone), and screaming at the ref (Pachuca totally owning them in that metric).

Snobbery and CONCACAFery aside, Dallas's midfield possession game looks strong, which you'd expect in a 4-4-2.
 

Titans Bastard

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Dammit Colman, that wasn't a sitter but those are the chances you have to take in these sorts of games.
 

Titans Bastard

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There it is, 1-0 Pachuca in the 39th minute.

If only Colman had finished.
 

InstaFace

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Pachuca 38', after being outnumbered in their own box for seemingly 6 plays in a row, they run into a cross (on an arguable offside) six inches in front of the waiting keeper, Seitz, and he buries it, 80% with the guy's head, 20% with his shoulder.
 

Titans Bastard

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Fuck, a great chance set up by Acosta, but Barrios doesn't finish.
 

Titans Bastard

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Zimmerman header cleared off the line.

Pain and suffering, I'm telling you. At least Dallas are emphatically NOT putting in the typical overwhelmed, deer-in-the-headlights performance that we usually see in Mexico.

Dallas is really putting on pressure now.
 

Titans Bastard

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Nearing the 80th minute, it looks like Dallas is running out of gas. Two subs remaining.
 

Titans Bastard

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And there it is, 2-0. Dallas can push this to ET with a goal, but it's hard to see how they'd prevail at that point.
 

Titans Bastard

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Goal, Colman! All square on aggregate. Still a tough road ahead.
 

InstaFace

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I'm on a stadium feed, sin commentary, and the scoreboard didn't update to show the Dallas goal for about 5 minutes. I was about to come on here and ask why in the hell a clean header that was obviously not offside was disallowed.
 

Titans Bastard

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And Pachuca scores in stoppage time, 4-3 aggregate, and it's over.

Pain and suffering in the CCL, as always.
 

InstaFace

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wow. I'm dumbfounded. Seitz could have saved the first one with more-assertive charging, should have saved the 2nd (he got beat near-post low-corner from outside the box), and definitely should have saved the 3rd - untouched cross that curled in.

What happened to American goalkeeping?
 

Titans Bastard

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wow. I'm dumbfounded. Seitz could have saved the first one with more-assertive charging, should have saved the 2nd (he got beat near-post low-corner from outside the box), and definitely should have saved the 3rd - untouched cross that curled in.

What happened to American goalkeeping?
Brutal game from Seitz, no doubt. He is an okay (not great) keeper normally, but he cost Dallas the series tonight.

There's always something that prevents MLS teams from getting over the hump in these games.
 

Titans Bastard

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St. Louis Proposition 2, which would have provided $60m in public funding for an MLS stadium, was defeated 53-47 last night.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/election-results-soccer-stadium-trails-metrolink-sales-tax-passing/article_c30360fe-6ffc-5f40-a296-f9bd4f45c82f.html

It felt to me that MLS really wanted to fast-track the St. Louis bid, but it's likely dead now. Too bad because St. Louis would have been a good addition to the league, I think, but I can't get too worked up over the loss of public funding for stadia.
 

SocrManiac

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What happened to American goalkeeping?
I've had some thoughts on this recently, as the problem isn't confined to the US. The goalkeeping standard seems to be dropping worldwide. I believe the position is changing in a way that very, very few players can excel in all areas. The overall bar has settled toward checking off all boxes as "capable."

I should write this up at some point...
 

Titans Bastard

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I've had some thoughts on this recently, as the problem isn't confined to the US. The goalkeeping standard seems to be dropping worldwide. I believe the position is changing in a way that very, very few players can excel in all areas. The overall bar has settled toward checking off all boxes as "capable."

I should write this up at some point...
I'd be interested to read it. I don't watch enough games from around the world to have a worthwhile opinion on the trend, generally.

@InstaFace

From a US perspective, a lot of the historical strength of "American Goalkeeping" rests on the shoulders of three individuals - Keller, Friedel, and Howard.

Guzan hasn't been able to reach their heights and nobody else is imminent either. Beyond those three, I'm not sure if there's been a real decline in depth - there's just the usual cast of solid-but-not-great and mediocre-at-best types there always were. Top GKs can have such long careers that it's easy to forget that American Goalkeeping's reputation is built on just a few key players, with supporting roles from a few others like Guzan and Meola.

1994: Meola, Friedel, Sommer
1998: Keller, Friedel, Sommer [Friedel started the third group stage game]
2002: Friedel, Keller, Meola
2006: Keller, Howard, Hahnemann
2010: Howard, Guzan, Hahnemann
2014: Howard, Guzan, Rimando

That's four #1s over a 20 year period of WCs and only five combined #1s and #2s.
 

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I get all that - though it's good to remember. Was just lamenting that the supposed best team in MLS couldn't get themselves even a second-rate goalkeeping performance.

Maybe tonight, Vancouver will redeem MLS's honor. Though from what you've been saying, I shouldn't hold my breath.
 

SocrManiac

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I guess I'll put this here since we're discussing it, but it probably belongs somewhere else.

I grew up in the 80's and took to goalkeeping very early. I got into the more competitive ages in the 90's (U12 and up). I had it fairly easy- the main responsibility was actually keeping shots out of the net. My training was almost entirely focused on that goal. We had special goalkeeper academies dedicated to the art of stopping shots, improving reflexes, commanding the area, communication, and long distribution (goal kick, throw, and drop kick/punt distance). Very little emphasis was placed on any type of foot skills and, if we weren't at a completely independent goalkeeper school, we were fully segregated from the field players during training.

This isn't to say that "sweeper keeping" is a new thing at all. If anything, we were more aggressive out of our box when our team was on the attack than I even see now. The key difference was we were trained mainly for clearances, knocking the ball away from danger to give our side time to reset.

The transition to the keeper becoming a key part of the field team seemed to be starting in the 2000's. It was a "nice to have," but still not a requirement. Around this time, the ball also massively changed. The 32 panel design went away in favor of the new patterns with vastly different flight characteristics. This was a huge change for goalkeepers- catching the ball became far less prized in place of simply getting in its path somehow.

These days, integration with the rest of the team as part of the attack is as highly prized, if not moreso, than traditional goalkeeping skills (See Bravo, Cladio). As an example, Simon Mignolet, who is one of the best pure shot-stoppers in the world right now, had a few hard-earned clean-sheets a year or two ago where he was rated as 6's and 7's because of his distribution.

The core goalkeeping skills are lacking. Joel Robles (Everton) had an awful showing in the Derby against Liverpool. One of the most challenging angles to cut is a speedy player moving across the face of the goal. Robles got it all wrong and allowed something of a howler as a weak, dribbling effort squirted into the net. Had he been in position, it's an easy save. There was no saving Coutinho's shot, but looking at his starting position, again, he drifted to his near post and left the entire goal exposed. It's hard to imagine a keeper playing for a squad as high a profile as Everton who can't get his positioning right, but he's not considered an awful goalkeeper.

Manuel Neuer is an absolute freak with his size, speed, and ability. He's become the model goalkeeper, however, and his combination of skills is just not easily repeatable. I think he's actually damaging the position by setting a standard of excellence across too wide a range. Young goalkeepers can't focus on the core of the position to the degree needed for a solid foundation.

I think the days of goalkeepers aging better than the rest are mostly gone. The pure athleticism required to maintain all aspects of the game leave the older guys at a disadvantage. In the past, the refinement of the trade, experience in reading of the ball, playing percentages, all worked toward a more mature goalkeeper's favor. The corresponding decline in speed and passing ability is relegating them to the bench now.

Gianluigi Buffon will always be a hero of mine. He was able to weather the two big changes that happened during his professional career- he adapted to be able to play out with his feet and he's always been something of a puncher, so the new ball was more easily assimilated. Iker Casillas hasn't aged quite as well, but he's another that changed with the times. They'll be the last of the "old" guard, replaced by guys like De Gea and Donnarumma.
 

Titans Bastard

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I get all that - though it's good to remember. Was just lamenting that the supposed best team in MLS couldn't get themselves even a second-rate goalkeeping performance.

Maybe tonight, Vancouver will redeem MLS's honor. Though from what you've been saying, I shouldn't hold my breath.
The Whitecaps snagged an early goal, but ended up losing 2-1 and 4-1 on aggregate, which is as expected. Canadian entrants are often a bit weak because they have a separate qualification process and thus, less competition. Vancouver is very mediocre right now and NYRB should be ashamed of losing to them in the QF.

After a few days, I'm only more annoyed by the Dallas game. I have watched so many of these MLS-LMX games over the years and American teams almost always play scared and/or overwhelmed on the road. Dallas went toe-to-toe with Pachuca without their best player, played with poise (except for Seitz), gave as good as they got, and fucked it up with stupid mistakes. UGH! If Seitz hadn't shit himself or if Barrios and Colman hadn't been wasteful with their finishing, they could easily have won.

The last time a non-Mexican club won the CONCACAF title was Saprissa in 2005. In the CCL era (08/09 - present), RSL (10/11) and Montreal (14/15) are the only non-Mexican clubs to even reach the final.
 

Titans Bastard

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Luis Gil has returned to MLS, at least temporarily, with a loan from Querétaro to Orlando where he will be reunited with Jason Kreis. Gil unfortunately plateaued a long time ago and it's not surprising that his ho-hum performance in MLS didn't translate well to a better league. He is amazingly still only 23, so can Kreis get something more out of him in the second go-around? Who knows.
 

Titans Bastard

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The USSF and MLS have come up with a solution to the CCL qualification problem.

https://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2017/04/06/concacaf-champions-league-ccl-qualifying-format-changes

The US entrants to the 2017-18 CCL are based on the 2016 season. But because of the CCL format change, they won't play any CCL games until 2018, after the 2017 MLS season is completed.

2017-18 CCL: US qualifiers based on 2016 MLS season as per normal (MLS Cup, USOC Cup, Supporters Shield, winner of conference opposite SS winner)

2018-19 CCL: MLS Cup & USOC winners from 2017 and 2018

2019-20 CCL: back to the normal qualification system, but from the 2019 season.
 

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SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
11,463
Meeting Place, Canada
That's a pretty reasonable solution, although it makes things more crapshoot-y. Season long winners tend to guarantee long-term stability and strenghth; cup winners can come out of nowhere. It's just one year though.