One Strike and You're Out: The 2015 MLS In-Season Thread

Titans Bastard

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Dallas is a younger team than Seattle and it's showing. Both teams are tired but the Sounders look particularly gassed. Also, their only CM on the field right now is Andy f'in Rose. Gotta hold out for PKs.
 

SoxFanInCali

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California. Duh.
This game is ridiculous.

If they can make it to penalties, Frei has had a ton of action, he may be the sharper keeper.
 

Titans Bastard

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This game is ridiculous.

If they can make it to penalties, Frei has had a ton of action, he may be the sharper keeper.
Dallas's keeper is a 20 year old out of their academy who Pareja inserted into the lineup over the summer over veterans Chris Seitz and Dan Kennedy. It was a really ballsy move for the manager of a contender because Seitz and Kennedy are both solid enough.

Gonzalez has played well, but he's young and inexperienced. His only PK shootout experience that I can see was Mexico U20 v. Panama U20 in the CONCACAF qualifiers.
 

Mr. Wednesday

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That was a heck of a save by Gonzalez. The kick wasn't perfect, but it wasn't terrible either.

Meanwhile, Frei looks lost.
 

Titans Bastard

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Dallas up 2-1 after Gonzalez came up with a pretty nice save on Ivanschitz.
 

Titans Bastard

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Wow. Gonzalez has been great so far. 3-1 now and the Sounders are close to being done.
 

Mr. Wednesday

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Gonzalez looks like he's a good PK stopper. The only one who's sent him the wrong way so far is Dempsey, and Gonzalez made Barrett look bad.
 

Mr. Wednesday

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Or, I could have been totally wrong about the keepers...
Someone on BigSoccer said that Frei is historically terrible at stopping penalties. I'd believe it based on the qualify (or lack of same) of his performance today.

Too bad, because he really kept Seattle in the game in regulation and extra time.
 

SoxFanInCali

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California. Duh.
Great save by Gonzalez on the first one, the second one was a really poor penalty by Barrett. All 4 Dallas kicks were hit solid.
 

ThePrideofShiner

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Well, that sucked. But hard to be mad considering Dallas dominated throughout.

And pretty inspiring effort considering Seattle was without Alonso and Evans in the playoffs.
 

Titans Bastard

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What a game.

I feel for Seattle fans, who have suffered through an impressively long streak of playoff blue-balls. As in, every single season in their MLS history. Tough to win a matchup like this without Alonso and Evans, though. Torres going down earlier in the season hurt, too.

Dallas felt like deserving winners, though, and I'm a big fan of what Oscar Pareja is building down there. Gonzalez (20), Acosta (20), and Ulloa (23) are all spine players who came through the FCD academy and started tonight. Most of the rest of their lineup is pretty young, too - Diaz (24), Hedges (25), Barrios (24), Castillo (23), Hollingshead (24). Zimmerman (22) and Akindele (23) came off the bench and scored goals + converted a PK. Akindele was the Rookie of the Year last year and both could start on some other teams in the league.

Too bad Mexico scooped up Gonzalez when he was 15 or 16. He's been playing for their youth teams ever since.

It's a no-name team, but it's a fun one with a good future. I can't remember anyone having as much success with young players in MLS as Pareja does. Young guys just develop better under his leadership, the same thing happened during his time in Colorado.
 

Titans Bastard

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TB - You think Schmid gets fired? I think they will try to get Kreis.
I wouldn't be shocked if that happens, given the Lagerwey connection. Schmid hasn't done anything to particularly deserve getting fired, especially by very patient MLS standards. At the same time, the Sounders are an ambitious club and they've been stalled out in the early playoff rounds for a long time.

You're also inching closer and closer to needing a big rebuild. The core is getting old - Dempsey, Martins, Alonso, Marshall. There are lots of older win-now type signings like Ivanschitz and Valdez who aren't players to build around.

It's easy to see the FO opting to change direction with the roster and manager under the circumstances.
 

Titans Bastard

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Fanendo Adi scores for Portland and now the Whitecaps need two. No extra time possible in this one.
 

DJnVa

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I think the Timbers will be down 2 starters, including Valeri, for the first game due to yellow card accumulation.
 

Titans Bastard

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Thanks to the international break, there are two weeks off until the conference finals begin. Hopefully it's not too much of a momentum-killer because the playoffs have been fantastic so far.

11/22
Columbus vs. NYRB
Portland vs. Dallas

It's a good quartet: all finished in the top five in the regular season and all are playing solid soccer. All four teams were in the bottom half of the league in terms of payroll. All but Portland have crucial spine players from their academy. All 15 of the most highly-paid players in MLS are done for the season.

It'll be fun to see Pareja and Porter reunited in the playoffs after this earlier in the season:

 

Titans Bastard

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There's also some offseason news cranking up. Most notably and most interestingly, NYCFC has hired Patrick Vieira to replace Jason Kreis. Vieira has managed the Mothership's youth and reserve teams, but doesn't have first-team experience yet. "Outsider" managers with no familiarity with MLS have a rather poor track record, but we'll see.... "Patrick, it's time to start scouting the ACC tournament!".

Progress for LAFC's plan for a stadium at Exposition Park. There are still more political hurdles though.

Not much progress for the Miami Beckhams. It looks like some abutters to the latest site are playing hardball.

Orlando signed 18 year old academy goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar. Stajduhar will probably get some playing time for Orlando City B in the USL next season.
 

Titans Bastard

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The NASL announced a new franchise today and it's a real doozy.

Rayo OKC.



Seriously. It's an NASL franchise in Oklahoma City owned and operated by Rayo Vallecano. WTF?

As if that's not enough, OKC already has a pro team in the USL that has existed for a couple of years now and that has been reasonably successful. If expansions to Miami and Puerto Rico straddled the line between hopeful and desperate, this one is firmly in the latter's camp.



The NASL also suffered a setback recently with the news that the San Antonio Scorpions won't play in 2016. The city and county are buying the Scorpions' stadium and local media is reporting that a new San Antonio team will play in the USL next year under the ownership of the San Antonio Spurs. The stadium deal is happening, but there haven't been official announcements by the NASL or USL yet.
 
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Arroyo Con Frijoles

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I sort of lost track of Hartford's efforts to start an NASL team, but I'm not sure why they wouldn't just try to become the Revolution USL affiliate at this point.
 

Titans Bastard

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I sort of lost track of Hartford's efforts to start an NASL team, but I'm not sure why they wouldn't just try to become the Revolution USL affiliate at this point.
It doesn't look like Hartford is happening. It turned out that the CEO of the ownership group is a scumbag and things have fallen apart from there.


I agree that USL seems like a better choice these days. The NASL has some solid teams with good support, but it feels like it is losing out overall. Minnesota is leaving for MLS, the Atlanta Silverbacks are about to be obliterated by Atlanta United, San Antonio has fallen apart, expansions in Miami, Puerto Rico, and OKC range from "hopeful" to "ridiculous".

One piece of good news is that the Carolina RailHawks, who were owned by embattled Traffic, got a new owner.

But at the end of the day, minor league soccer is a tough world and the USL is big enough to regionalize travel, which is huge. The NASL was set to sign the affiliation/development deal with MLS, but the Cosmos torpedoed it. That looks like a big turning point now. If the NASL would just focus on being a good second division instead of blathering about "challenging MLS", they'd be in better shape. If I were a potential minor league owner, the USL would be far, far more appealing to me for financial reasons and for sanity-of-leadership reasons.
 

Titans Bastard

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Since we've talked about Sigi, Kreis, and Seattle a bit here:


That should answer the question for now. Chicago is the only opening now. Going into 2016, there will (or should be at least) a few managers with a short lease - Curtin (Philly), Vanney (Toronto), Cassar (RSL), Colorado (Mastro). Kreis is definitely not going back to RSL and I'd avoid Colorado at all costs. I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually reunites with Manning at TFC when Vanney inevitably gets canned.


- Seattle also announced that Adrian Hanauer is now the majority owner and Joe Roth will now continue as the minority owner.

- Word also is that Osvaldo Alonso is on the trading block. He's still great when he's on, but he's less than 100% healthy much of the time.

- Nick DeLeon and Matias Laba have re-signed with DC and Vancouver respectively. Laba is one of the better DMs in the league and he's still only 23.
 

dirtynine

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At BlazerCon - Don Garber is holding court. Nothing groundbreaking but he's a reassuring presence. No pro/real or winter schedule bombshells. He did say something like an annual two-legged match between MLS & Liga MX champs is something they're working on.

edit: got to shake his hand and bugged him for a Revs stadium update. "By the end of the decade." was the response.

(If that was a guarantee - which it obviously was not - it actually would be pretty encouraging.)
 
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dirtynine

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If Sosh has any questions I am your proxy. I'm a few feet from Kraft and Sunil.

FWIW I just introduced myself to Gulati and he confirmed Revs stadium by end of decade.

me: I got to speak to Mr. Garber earlier and he had an encouraging response to the Revs stadium question
Sunil: oh, uh... what did he say?
me: end of the decade
Sunil: [dismissively] "oh, yeah".
 

dirtynine

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If the problem is "City of Boston won't pay for the whole thing" then likely that was the problem, the same way Somerville news has been quiet lately.
I don't know - he started that answer by saying Menino originally turned down $400m of the Krafts' money for a football stadium (I'm unclear if that would have covered the whole Seaport project back in the day), and implied that the issue was either Menino's apathy/distaste towards the idea of any Boston sports infrastructure - privately funded or not - or something personal.
 

Titans Bastard

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- There's a rumor that the Revs are interested in Cheick Tioté. Newcastle supporters - is "The Mag" a reliable source?

- Montreal confirmed that Mauro Biello will stay on as manager after a successful interim stint down the stretch.

- Jordan Morris update:


- MLS signed another TV deal, this one for Sub-Saharan Africa.
 

steeplechase3k

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First games for the conference finals are today!

NYRB at Columbus at 5pm Eastern on ESPN

Dallas at Portland at 7:30pm Eastern on Fox Sports1
 

Titans Bastard

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Wow. 1-0 Crew inside 10 seconds. NYRB applying tons of pressure now.
 

Titans Bastard

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Fun game so far. These teams are both entertaining to watch. Playoff first legs usually can be a bit dour.
 

Titans Bastard

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Crew grab a huge second goal late and win 2-0. They are in great position heading to New York.
 

Titans Bastard

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1-0 Timbers as halftime approaches. I don't know if it's just the mics but the atmosphere seems ridiculous.
 

nickandemmasuncle

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1-0 Timbers as halftime approaches. I don't know if it's just the mics but the atmosphere seems ridiculous.
Yeah, it looked and sounded amazing in there. How much of that was TV production magic, who knows, but FS1 has been doing a fantastic job in general with their coverage. The games look and sound like a big deal. Getting the NBCSN production guy to join their team seems to have paid off. Meanwhile, ESPN is still doing their normal half-ass job, turning down the mics to make even the loudest crowd sound like it's watching a high school chess match, and giving us a slightly washed out picture, which I assume is due to cheaping out on their camera technology. It's a shame, because I (probably in the minority on this one) do enjoy the Twellman / Healey odd-couple Stifler frat douche / proper Englishman schtick (and get a kick out of the fact that this is Healey's thing now, when I can remember him spinning My Bloody Valentine records or whatever other unbearably hip thing he was into on the Leftover Lunch on WFNX back in the day).

Anyway, Portland-Dallas was really entertaining. The plot took a couple of 90-degree turns in the last half-hour, and that goal from Asprilla was absurd. I don't see Dallas coming back from this one. They have a ton of individual attacking talent, but I get the feeling these guys don't combine well enough with each other to break down an organized defense like Portland's as many times as they'll need to. I think NYRB has a much better shot at overturning their deficit against Columbus. In any case, the second legs should be fun, with both home teams having to attack from the start.

On a much less consequential note, does anyone else find themselves wondering about this "Whatcha Got?" segment they do after these games, where they take active players with no professional driving experience, stick them in a Lambo, and encourage them to drive as fast as possible? Is it not completely insane that the teams signed off on this, or am I missing something?
 

steeplechase3k

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1-0 Timbers as halftime approaches. I don't know if it's just the mics but the atmosphere seems ridiculous.
I've seen that stadium louder, but not very many times. It was also as full as I've ever seen it, normally there are a few small pockets of space in the GA sections and some empty seats, but tonight it was packed 2-3 deep is some parts of the GA sections.
 

Titans Bastard

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Anyway, Portland-Dallas was really entertaining. The plot took a couple of 90-degree turns in the last half-hour, and that goal from Asprilla was absurd. I don't see Dallas coming back from this one. They have a ton of individual attacking talent, but I get the feeling these guys don't combine well enough with each other to break down an organized defense like Portland's as many times as they'll need to. I think NYRB has a much better shot at overturning their deficit against Columbus. In any case, the second legs should be fun, with both home teams having to attack from the start.
I dunno. Dallas was 13-2-2 at home this year, which was the best mark in the league. That stoppage time goal was brutal for them, but their away goal helps. Whereas if Columbus scores, NYRB will need to win by three and will basically be toast. And I don't quite trust NYRB's defense at this point - Ronald Zubar is scary and much less reliable than Perrinelle has been all season.

Porter has the Timbers playing some of their best soccer of the season, though. They're getting Valeri and Wallace back from suspension next week, too. For me though, I'd rate Dallas' chances of advancing slightly better than NY.

NYRB needs a better performance from Dax McCarty. He's been great all season, but had a stinker last night. He completed 65% of his passes, the first time he was under 75% all season.
 

Titans Bastard

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- Chicago unveiled Veljko Paunović as their new manager today. He's an intriguing hire. Paunović is only 38 and doesn't have a ton of experience, but he led Serbia's U20 team to the World Cup title this past summer (including a PK win over the US). He spent the 2011 season with Philadelphia, so he's not totally unfamiliar with MLS, either. He has no senior-level experience, which makes him slightly risky, but if I were a Fire fan I'd be excited about this after the drudgery of the dreaded Franks Yallop and Klopas. It's a bold move.

Other names that had been linked to the job were Mike Petke, Jason Kreis, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, and Pavel Pardo. All decent options except possibly Pardo, who is an unknown since he has no coaching experience. EDIT: oh, and Tab Ramos, which I would have loved because it would have taken him out of the USSF structure and actually put him to the test for once....even if I think it would have been a bad hire for Chicago.


At this point 7/20 managers in the league are in their 30s and 13/20 are currently 43 or younger. Heath (54), Schmid (62), and Arena (64) are the only managers not in their 30s or 40s. Everyone is going young with their hires these days.

- Jacksonville Armada (NASL) hired Tony Meola as manager and technical director.

- SKC hired Marc dos Santos as a first-team assistant and as manager of their new USL team, the Swope Park Rangers. He's a Canadian who just took Ottawa Fury to the NASL title game.

- Ottawa replaced dos Santos with Paul Dalglish, who managed the Austin Aztex this season. The Aztex are going on hiatus while they figure out their stadium situation.

- RSL re-signed the ageless Javier Morales. Vancouver re-signed hulking center back Kendall Waston, who was really good this year. DC (surprisingly) re-signed Alvaro Saborio. Hopefully for their sake they got him on a significantly lower salary, as age looked like it was catching up to him this year.
 
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steeplechase3k

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I can't find the tweets now, and nothing has officially been announced but it appears that Jay Vidovich has left the Timbers2 and will be going back to college. The rumors are that a new coach is close to being hired and the they will bring in a Technical Director for the T2 and academy programs. This is good news to a lot of Timbers fans since Gavin Wilkinson has been GM and TD for the Timbers, Thorns and T2 for a few years and fans feel that is far too much for one person to cover.
 

Titans Bastard

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I can't find the tweets now, and nothing has officially been announced but it appears that Jay Vidovich has left the Timbers2 and will be going back to college. The rumors are that a new coach is close to being hired and the they will bring in a Technical Director for the T2 and academy programs. This is good news to a lot of Timbers fans since Gavin Wilkinson has been GM and TD for the Timbers, Thorns and T2 for a few years and fans feel that is far too much for one person to cover.
It looks like he may be heading to Pitt, but nothing is official yet.

Did Vidovich quit or was he forced out? Were the Timbers unhappy with T2's player development? It's a curious move to leave a program like Wake Forest, coach one year in the USL, and then leave. Top NCAA coaching jobs are nice gigs. There's pretty decent pay and a lot more job security than what you get in the pros. Someone like Maryland's Sasho Cirovski would have gotten a crack at an MLS job somewhere along the line if he wanted it, but some prefer the stability and lower expectations that come with being a college coach. Vidovich must be kicking himself for leaving Wake for a venture that fizzled out so quickly. Pitt's now in the ACC so it's possible to build a good program there, but it needs a lot of work. They've sucked for a long time.
 

robssecondjob

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The Revs declined options to the following players:

Trevor Spangenberg, Kevin Alston, Jeremy Hall, Timi Mulgrew, Steve Neumann and Tyler Rudy.

Jermaine Jones and Andy Dorman are out of contract for next season.
 

Titans Bastard

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The Revs declined options to the following players:

Trevor Spangenberg, Kevin Alston, Jeremy Hall, Timi Mulgrew, Steve Neumann and Tyler Rudy.

Jermaine Jones and Andy Dorman are out of contract for next season.
Burns said that some of those guys might come back on cheaper contracts. Rudy, Mulgrew, Spangenberg, and Hall were cheap enough in 2015 that they're probably gone no matter what. The other four, we'll see. Though honestly - I'd maybe see if Alston will come back as cheap depth. Jones I suspect will want more than the Revs will offer, Dorman is past his sell-by date, and Neumann has been a real disappointment and could use of change of scenery.

Donnie Smith and Sean Okoli live to fight another day despite having almost no impact this year.


Orlando cut loose Tally Hall, who should draw interest in the league once he's healthy again. They also got rid of Corey Ashe, who will be useful depth at LB for someone. The Revs could do worse than pick him up as a backup fullback.
 

Titans Bastard

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Dallas tonight:



It is a bit of a surprise to see Walker Zimmerman start over Zach Loyd. Loyd and Hedges are a good partnership, but Zimmerman is more of an aerial presence.



Paparatto comes in for the injured Liam Ridgewell, a definite downgrade. But Valeri and Wallace are back from suspension, which helps.
 

Titans Bastard

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The first 10 minutes have been wide open. Dallas looks vulnerable on the counter.
 

Titans Bastard

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Big save by Kwarasey on Texeira's point-blank header, the best chance of the night so far.
 

Titans Bastard

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1-0, Adi. A dagger. Dallas need three to send it to extra time.