Major League Soccer 2019: Your Humble Local League (and a little USOC too)

SocrManiac

Tommy Seebach’s mustache
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Apr 15, 2006
8,634
Somers, CT
Zlatan’s comments in the lead up to the LAFC clash about MLS and Carlos Vela would sound arrogant if it weren’t for that performance. Instead they come across as factual.

Bossing the league at 37 doesn’t help the retirement destination reputation.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Jan 10, 2004
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The 718
Zlatan’s comments in the lead up to the LAFC clash about MLS and Carlos Vela would sound arrogant if it weren’t for that performance. Instead they come across as factual.

Bossing the league at 37 doesn’t help the retirement destination reputation.
He’d still be a productive player in the PL- not a top striker maybe but an 8-10 goal guy. But yeah.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
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Why does Zlatan doing well make MLS a retirement league? If he was doing this in Belgium or in the Championship would people think they are retirement leagues?

Elite players will still be elite in second tier leagues even if they’ve lost a step. That Zlatan is so good at 37 in MLS might prove that it’s not as good as the very top Euro leagues, but everyone already knew that.

The number of Zlatan or Rooney types is a tiny, tiny fraction of the league player pool.
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
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Sep 27, 2016
21,754
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If anything, the lesson here ought to be surprise that a player of Zlatan's capability and competitiveness was willing to come to LA at all. I mean, his most recent team beforehand wasn't VVV-Venlo, it was Manchester fuckin' United. He'd have had options to continue playing in top-4 UEFA leagues, for damn sure. He chose MLS, he wasn't forced here for lack of a UEFA option. That's progress.
 

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
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Dec 16, 2010
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The Portland/Seattle game got a little testy last night. That was fun.
 

ThePrideofShiner

Crests prematurely
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Jul 16, 2005
10,687
Washington
The loss of Will Bruin was on display last night. Seattle has no good subs who can come on and force the issue offensively.

They controlled possession the final 30 minutes and barely even had a shot on goal to show for it. Very good defense by Portland and the Timbers finished their chances while Ruidiaz missed a sitter and Roman Torres inexplicably was the target on all set pieces.

I look forward to Joevin Jones replacing Shipp and hopefully Nouhou replacing Smith.

That said, Seattle definitely needs another attacker.

The other thing missing for Seattle these days is that enforcer type. Dempsey and Alonso would've made their mark on that game in a way that no one on the Sounders can currently do.
 

steeplechase3k

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Oct 25, 2005
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The Timbers just beat LA Galaxy 4-0.

The Timbers had been winless in the last 27 games they had played without Diego Chara. What w a way to break that streak.
 

Titans Bastard

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Yeah, you know it's bad when they actually win a game without Chara...


Over in the East, it's a huge mess, with only seven points separating #1 from #8. No one has been especially convincing in their attempts to stand out from the pack.

Philly has led the East for a while and although they are a decent squad, it always felt like they were outperforming their true level. Their form has declined and it won't be surprising if they are overtaken soon. Atlanta is #2, but has never been firing on all cylinders under Frank de Boer. Although they are uninspiring compared to last year, it's not a disaster season. Nonetheless, there has been a lot of blatant, public criticism of FdB by a number of the South Americans in the team. They seem ripe for a locker room meltdown.

NYCFC are fourth, but because of games in hand they have the best PPG and are one of only two teams with a double-digit positive GD at +12 (LAFC is at an absurd +36).
 

Titans Bastard

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Jimy Hendrix

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I just caught the last 20min of Dallas/Minn and it was a great night for the U-20 USMNT.

Brace for Brandon Servania in 20min off the bench, and both of those goals were based off of driving Pomykal runs.
 

Titans Bastard

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RSL fired Mike Petke last night.

Petke got into trouble due to yelling Spanish homophobic slurs at referees in a match against Tigres. RSL had generally been doing well in recent months, but I also can't shake the feeling that Petke wasn't viewed 100% favorably by RSL brass even for on-the-field issues. From what I can tell, Petke is really good at man-managing veterans, but IMO he's no great shakes tactically and he seems to have trouble managing young players. For a club that has recently made major investments in their youth pipeline, that's a problem.
 

Titans Bastard

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Houston has fired Wilmer Cabrera. The Dynamo have sucked lately, so this isn't a surprise.

He's the fifth managerial casualty of the season.

I don't see too many more immediate hot seat managers except Veljko Paunovic in Chicago.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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Red cards, goals from fringe US internationals, Jeff Larentowicz deflected 20 yarders, VAR reviews, Miguel Herrera.

This game has *everything*
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
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Sep 27, 2016
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I saw the score at 57', 2-1 América, and figured "oh, well, no sense watching to see a bunch of time-wasting and hard fouls".

Couldn't have been more wrong, from the sounds of it. Can't wait to catch highlights.
 

Titans Bastard

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Rémi Garde gets the sack in Montreal, and will be replaced by Wilmer Cabrera, who hopefully enjoyed his eight days of unemployment after being fired in Houston.

It feels a little harsh. My take on Montreal is that they simply aren't that good. In this league, you can be dominant if you sign the right type of good foreign player, like Atlanta or LAFC. If you just sign average dudes just because they've played some Champo soccer or were with a low-end Ligue 1 team, you're going to be mediocre at best.
 

Titans Bastard

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This became official earlier this week. The league will run with 26 teams in 2020 (Miami + Nashville), 27 in 2021 (Austin), and St Louis will be #28 in 2022. It's been clear for a while that MLS has wanted to be in St. Louis pretty badly, and now that the ownership group has a solid stadium plan in place, they've gotten the stamp of approval.

St. Louis has a lot of grassroots soccer history, and is still a reasonably fertile area for talent production compared to the rest of the country. Taylor Twellman, Josh Sargent, Tim Ream, Steve Ralston, Brad Davis, Chris Klein, et al. Even Vedad Ibisevic spent a few years playing HS and college soccer in the area!

Sacramento will probably be #29 after being a perpetual bridesmaid.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Jan 10, 2004
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Rooney sent off for a forearm shiv to the head of a RBNY defender during a corner. Took VAR to get it right but it's a straight red all day long.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGS4vJVmE8M


He can't get back to England fast enough.

I would bet my bank account that Mrs. Rooney forced through the move due to the proliferation of Wayne's goomahs in the metro DC area.
 

Arroyo Con Frijoles

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Jul 19, 2005
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I made the trip out to LA for the Revs last MLS Cup failure, but if they somehow get hot and get LAFC in the final this year, I don't think I'd bother. Amazing team.
 

steeplechase3k

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Rivalry weak continues tonight at the Timbers host the Sounders. the Timbers get the Cascadia Cup back with a Win or a Draw, Seattle maintains it if they Win. Match is at 10pm Eastern time, I hope people watch it. It looks like, for the second time ever, the Timbers Army and Emerald City Supporters are going to be joining forces on something. The last time was to save the Cascadia Cup from being trademarked by MLS, and now it's a fight over the Iron front.

This issue has been been getting more and more attention for the news lately:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/aug/21/mls-and-antifa-americas-top-flight-grapples-with-political-signage-banhttps://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2019/08/20/27005518/timbers-double-down-on-support-for-iron-front-banhttps://sports.yahoo.com/as-timbers-defend-mls-ban-of-iron-front-symbol-fans-continue-to-criticize-and-push-back-175340235.html
I don't know all the details yet, but it will be an interesting night.
 

SoxFanInCali

has the rich, deep voice of a god
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Jun 3, 2005
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California. Duh.
Sounders won the Cascadia Cup, and I lost a little more faith in humanity by reading the comments on the Sounders Facebook post declaring that the club is against racism and fascism.
 

Titans Bastard

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LAFC vs. Galaxy coming up in a bit. LAFC are on pace for the best season in MLS history, with room to spare, but they've never beaten the Galaxy in four meetings.

LAFC's $11.5m summer acquisition, the 19 year old Uruguayan attacker Brian Rodriguez, is on the bench for the first time.
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
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Sep 27, 2016
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ok, seriously Zlatan, WTF. Turning back the years there.

and you gotta love the "I welcome your hatred!" WWE move towards the stands after he scored it, too. I don't even like the Galaxy but goddamn is Zlatan a hell of a lot of fun, even if he only actually tries about 5% of the time.
 

SoxFanInPdx

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Jul 15, 2005
3,246
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Sounders won the Cascadia Cup, and I lost a little more faith in humanity by reading the comments on the Sounders Facebook post declaring that the club is against racism and fascism.
When Timbers and Sounders fans are united on a mutual, humanitarian cause, you know its a problem.
 

Senator Donut

post-Domer
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Apr 21, 2010
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MLS has announced its new compressed playoff schedule. The bracket is single elimination and there are no extended breaks for international play. Notably, all four NFL teams that play in MLS venues are off or away on the weekend of November 10.

Regular Season
Sun. Oct. 6:
MLS Decision Day

Oct. 7-15: International break

First round
Sat. Oct. 19:
Two matches (Univision)
Sun. Oct. 20: Four matches (two each on ESPN/ ESPN Deportes and FS1/Fox Deportes)

Conference semifinals
Wed. Oct. 23:
Two matches (FS1/FOX Deportes)
Thurs. Oct. 24: Two matches (ESPN2, ESPN / ESPN Deportes)

Conference finals
Tues Oct. 29-Wed. Oct. 30:
(one on ESPN/ESPN Deportes and one on FS1/FOX Deportes)

MLS Cup final
Sun. Nov. 10
, 3:00, (ABC, Univision)

Nov. 11-19: International break
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
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Nashville has signed their first DP, German attacking midfielder Hany Mukhtar.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/2019/08/27/nashville-sc-signs-hany-mukhtar-its-first-designated-player-mls/2123352001/
He comes from Brøndby, though he's passed through bigger clubs like Hertha and Benfica. Given how many German youth caps he has and his stint at Benfica, it seems like he's one of those guys who was a touted prospect, but fell back to a mid-major league like Denmark. It seems a little risky to use a DP slot on a guy who has only had success in Scandinavia, but then again the CBA is up this year and who knows how the roster rules will change.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
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Big statement win for Philadelphia over Atlanta tonight with an emphatic finish. The Union retake first place and are playing nice soccer.

NYCFC are still only four points back with three games in hand, so things will remain close at the top.