Merritt Paulson had some interesting tweets about the Columbus situation:
I wonder if the MLS office wanted this under wraps for a while longer.
I wonder if the MLS office wanted this under wraps for a while longer.
The 2017 Major League Soccer Thread
- Thread starter Titans Bastard
- Start date
https://sports.yahoo.com/toronto-fc-built-greatest-team-mls-history-053404090.html
Here's the most interesting part I think:
The goals are coming hot and heavy on the last day of the regular season. I'd like to see RSL sneak into the playoffs in the West.
Dallas has been absolutely tanking for months and managed to concede to LA within two minutes.
Dallas has been absolutely tanking for months and managed to concede to LA within two minutes.
Just moved to ATL so keeping an eye on ATL UTD (helps they have by far the best manager in the league and play a fun style) man the crowd for this is huge and hyped. Booing Jozy and Bradley on almost every touch is terrific.
EDIT- just saw the replay of Jozy scoring, he poses for the crowd, so someone threw a beer at him. Giovinco walked over, picked up the beer and drank what was left.
EDIT- just saw the replay of Jozy scoring, he poses for the crowd, so someone threw a beer at him. Giovinco walked over, picked up the beer and drank what was left.
That's a Frankie Hejduk move.
Giovinco's subsequent ridiculous free kick goal was not a Frankie Hejduk move.
USMNT-killer Marco Urena just scored the dagger for SJ in stoppage time to beat Minnesota (unless SJ chokes in the next few minutes, their defense is terrible). Clutch USMNT stoppage time striker Wondolowski wisely set it up with a cutback instead of taking it at a tight angle.
Looks like that's curtains for Dallas, who deserve to miss the playoffs. Like most 6th place teams in MLS, the Quakes don't deserve to make it either.
Looks like that's curtains for Dallas, who deserve to miss the playoffs. Like most 6th place teams in MLS, the Quakes don't deserve to make it either.
The Timbers beat the Whitecaps in Portland to take the top seed in the West, knocking Vancouver to third. Seattle gets the other bye in what is the Cascadia Conference this year. Dempsey got himself suspended with a red, though.
Last ever game at RFK Stadium just concluded. DC lost, natch.
In huge news, the Revs won their first road game this season in Montreal. And there was much rejoicing.
1. Toronto
2. NYCFC
--
3. Chicago v. 6. NYRB
4. Atlanta v. 5. Columbus
1. Portland
2. Seattle
--
3. Vancouver v. 6. San Jose
4. Houston v. 5. KC
The play-in games are Wednesday and Thursday, so there'll be a quick turnaround. The brackets are re-seeded after the play-in games, so Toronto and Portland would play the lowest remaining seed, not necessarily the winner of the 4/5 game.
Last ever game at RFK Stadium just concluded. DC lost, natch.
In huge news, the Revs won their first road game this season in Montreal. And there was much rejoicing.
1. Toronto
2. NYCFC
--
3. Chicago v. 6. NYRB
4. Atlanta v. 5. Columbus
1. Portland
2. Seattle
--
3. Vancouver v. 6. San Jose
4. Houston v. 5. KC
The play-in games are Wednesday and Thursday, so there'll be a quick turnaround. The brackets are re-seeded after the play-in games, so Toronto and Portland would play the lowest remaining seed, not necessarily the winner of the 4/5 game.
The Crew news just seems insane. They are the MLS version of the Packers. I can’t imagine them not being part of the league’s story, in that market for better or worse. To go through all the trouble of rebranding a few years ago just to pull this - it’s bewildering. I really thought Precourt was one of the better owners in the league.
MLS owners and Garber are taking a lot of hits over this from the league's core fanbase.
The San Antonio expansion bid group has to be pretty pissed off, too. It's clear that Precourt has been angling for this for a long time. It's also pretty clear that Austin and San Antonio won't both be in the league. Not only does it turn out that San Antonio may have been pissing in the wind during the whole expansion bidding process, but Precourt was on the MLS ownership expansion committee until very recently, which makes things extra sketchy.
More fallout following the end of the regular season - Vagenas is out as LA's GM, though he's stick around in another role.
That's not surprising for a team that just won the Wooden Spoon. Curt Onalfo was a terrible hire and LA's player acquisition strategy last winter was off-the-charts bad.
EDIT: Handing the keys to Sigi Schmid is a little risky, too. He's won a lot in MLS, but he got fired in Seattle last year and didn't get any better results than Onalfo this season. He was dealing with a shit, injured, and demoralized roster, so that's not necessarily damning...but I'd be a little nervous if I were an LA Galaxy fan. LAFC remains poised to eat their lunch.
That's not surprising for a team that just won the Wooden Spoon. Curt Onalfo was a terrible hire and LA's player acquisition strategy last winter was off-the-charts bad.
EDIT: Handing the keys to Sigi Schmid is a little risky, too. He's won a lot in MLS, but he got fired in Seattle last year and didn't get any better results than Onalfo this season. He was dealing with a shit, injured, and demoralized roster, so that's not necessarily damning...but I'd be a little nervous if I were an LA Galaxy fan. LAFC remains poised to eat their lunch.
Last edited:
There hasn't been much concrete news about possible clubs in the forthcoming USL D3 league, but there could be an announcement this winter.
https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/75420/lawsuit-nasl-declares-it-has-team-agreements-wi.html
The NASL has a preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for October 31 to decide whether they can keep their D2 status for 2018. They are claiming that they have as many as 13 teams lined up for next season, eight of which would be new. Two have been announced (Orange County and San Diego), while six are in "sealed agreements". I interpret that to mean that they are desperately trying to recruit unready NPSL clubs in order to stay afloat.
https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/75420/lawsuit-nasl-declares-it-has-team-agreements-wi.html
Revs managerial rumors!
They've interviewed:
1. Pat Noonan, who has followed Arena as an assistant in LA and then for the US since retiring in 2012
2. Omid Namazi, US U18 manager
Upcoming interviews:
3. Steve Ralston, who has followed Dominic Kinnear as an assistant with Houston and then SJ
4. Brad Friedel, US U19 manager
5. Giovanni Savarese, NY Cosmos manager
At first glance Namazi and Savarese are the most interesting to me. It's hard to know if assistants like Ralston and Noonan are any good. They've been mentored under two guys who are a big part of the US coaching fraternity's past, but not its future.
They've interviewed:
1. Pat Noonan, who has followed Arena as an assistant in LA and then for the US since retiring in 2012
2. Omid Namazi, US U18 manager
Upcoming interviews:
3. Steve Ralston, who has followed Dominic Kinnear as an assistant with Houston and then SJ
4. Brad Friedel, US U19 manager
5. Giovanni Savarese, NY Cosmos manager
At first glance Namazi and Savarese are the most interesting to me. It's hard to know if assistants like Ralston and Noonan are any good. They've been mentored under two guys who are a big part of the US coaching fraternity's past, but not its future.
Playoffs! We begin with the Dax McCarty Classic in Chicago.
The Fire are fielding a 4-2-3-1. Schweinsteiger is on the bench but not 100%. Nikolic is machine who (relatively quietly, IMO) won the Golden Boot this year.
NYRB is fielding their....formation. Marsch tinkered with tactics early in the season and eventually settled on what I think should be called a 3-3-3-1.
Brandon Vincent (LB) and Tyler Adams (CM/DM/RWB) are candidates for the November US squad if their teams are knocked out of the playoffs by then. Polster (RB/DM) is 24 and given our lack of depth at RB could get some caps for the US over the next experimental phase. Mihailovic (CM/AM) is an 18 year old who has broken into the squad lately, but I don't have a good feel for him as a prospect yet. Adams, who is several months younger than Mihailovic and who has been a key starter for NYRB, is definitely the biggest name long-term.
The Fire are fielding a 4-2-3-1. Schweinsteiger is on the bench but not 100%. Nikolic is machine who (relatively quietly, IMO) won the Golden Boot this year.
Nikolic
Accam - Juninho - Solignac
McCarty - Mihailovic
Vincent - Meira - Kappelhof - Polster
Lampson
Accam - Juninho - Solignac
McCarty - Mihailovic
Vincent - Meira - Kappelhof - Polster
Lampson
NYRB is fielding their....formation. Marsch tinkered with tactics early in the season and eventually settled on what I think should be called a 3-3-3-1.
Wright-Phillips
Royer - Kljestan - Davis
Lawrence ------ Felipe ------ Adams
Perrinelle - Long - Murillo
Robles
Royer - Kljestan - Davis
Lawrence ------ Felipe ------ Adams
Perrinelle - Long - Murillo
Robles
Brandon Vincent (LB) and Tyler Adams (CM/DM/RWB) are candidates for the November US squad if their teams are knocked out of the playoffs by then. Polster (RB/DM) is 24 and given our lack of depth at RB could get some caps for the US over the next experimental phase. Mihailovic (CM/AM) is an 18 year old who has broken into the squad lately, but I don't have a good feel for him as a prospect yet. Adams, who is several months younger than Mihailovic and who has been a key starter for NYRB, is definitely the biggest name long-term.
Yep, Adams is on a strong trajectory and has improved a lot this year.
Beat down for NYRB tonight.
Vancouver totally crushed San Jose in the late game, 5-0. San Jose has been a weird team where they've won a number of games but when they lose, they lose BIG. They've shipped 4+ goals in each of their last five losses going back to August. And when you are team who does that, you really shouldn't be in the playoffs to begin with. Adding #23 and #24 without expanding the playoffs will be a good thing.
Atlanta vs. Columbus is the main event tonight. Almiron is back, but Parkhurst may be out, which could hurt their defensive organization.
Elsewhere, Petke signed an extension with RSL:
RSL narrowly missed the playoffs, but this was a no-brainer. Since replacing Cassar, Petke has had RSL playing much better and he's using a fun, young team as well.
Atlanta vs. Columbus is the main event tonight. Almiron is back, but Parkhurst may be out, which could hurt their defensive organization.
Elsewhere, Petke signed an extension with RSL:
RSL narrowly missed the playoffs, but this was a no-brainer. Since replacing Cassar, Petke has had RSL playing much better and he's using a fun, young team as well.
ATROCIOUS offside call robs Columbus of a goal.
No VAR, which has been largely useless since being introduced.
No VAR, which has been largely useless since being introduced.
It's tied!
Assistant referee with the equalizer - a blown offside call against Atlanta this time. Steffen made the save, though, while the Crew had Guzan beat earlier.
Assistant referee with the equalizer - a blown offside call against Atlanta this time. Steffen made the save, though, while the Crew had Guzan beat earlier.
Wow, end to end stuff here, but nothing is going in (well, except for the wrongfully disallowed stuff).
Steffen has made some big saves for Columbus and now the Manneh hits the bar on the other end.
Steffen has made some big saves for Columbus and now the Manneh hits the bar on the other end.
Guzan with a huge save on Ola Kamara, but then the flag went up (a correct decision, for once!). I really don't know how this game is still scoreless.
Zack Steffen is having a "call me up to the USMNT" kind of game in goal for the Crew.
0-0 heading into extra time. New MLS rules this year give teams a 4th sub for extra time, though neither team has used the standard three yet.
0-0 heading into extra time. New MLS rules this year give teams a 4th sub for extra time, though neither team has used the standard three yet.
Afful off the crossbar with his left(!), first time, off a difficult bounce. I can't even keep track of how many times shots have hit the woodwork this game.
Probably only about 55k actually there by the looks of it.
Disappointing end, but Atlanta has been the best story of the league this year
Announced attendance was 67k. Atlanta will be a powerhouse for years to come, so far they're basically doing everything right on and off the field and at the youth level.
It would be great to see the Crew make a run and issue a hearty FU to Precourt.
It would be great to see the Crew make a run and issue a hearty FU to Precourt.
So I decided, wow that was a great game, best MLS game I've seen by far. Maybe the HOU/KC match will be good too...........
it was most definitely not
it was most definitely not
See, if you watched more MLS you would have known that was a bad idea.
Peter Vermes teams usually play an aggressive pressing style that can be effective but is rarely pretty. KC tends to tank at the end of the season, probably because the physical demands of the system are too much and Vermes does a bad job of rotating the squad.My decision to go to bed was never in doubt!
This from a guy who is actually employed by the league in media:
Sounders missing Dempsey tonight, though Alonso and Svensson are in the 18. Vancouver missing Reyna and Techera, which per Twitter is a big deal.
Would love a point tonight. Vancouver seems to have Seattle's number.
Would love a point tonight. Vancouver seems to have Seattle's number.
Whitecaps vs. Sounders coming up.
The Sounders are really under-strength right now. In the midfield, Alonso and Svensson aren't 100%, so Jordy Delem (normally a RB) partners Cristian Roldan.
In the attack, Dempsey is suspended and Morris and Victor Rodriguez are hurt. Shipp and Bruin are very good depth, but still.
The Whitecaps:
Yordy Reyna is hurt and on the bench and is replaced by Nosa Igiebor, who signed a couple of months ago and has barely played - no idea if he's any good.
The Sounders are really under-strength right now. In the midfield, Alonso and Svensson aren't 100%, so Jordy Delem (normally a RB) partners Cristian Roldan.
In the attack, Dempsey is suspended and Morris and Victor Rodriguez are hurt. Shipp and Bruin are very good depth, but still.
The Whitecaps:
Yordy Reyna is hurt and on the bench and is replaced by Nosa Igiebor, who signed a couple of months ago and has barely played - no idea if he's any good.
There is a World Series and NFL game on and I'm willingly watching this garbage.
Instead of people with hoses, Vancouver has a Zamboni-type machine which waters the turf, so that's interesting at least.
Instead of people with hoses, Vancouver has a Zamboni-type machine which waters the turf, so that's interesting at least.
Hey, it's not garbage - it's "cagey" and a "chess match"!
That Zamboni appears to have some zip.
I'm an idiot, by the way. I don't know what I was rambling about earlier about coming away with a point. Anyway, I'd prefer a one goal lead, but with no Dempsey or Morris, and no Svensson or Alonso in the starting lineup, I'm OK with a 0-0 score.