Major League Soccer 2023: Now With League-On-League Violence

67YAZ

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Tyler Miller just denied Chicago a 91st minute winner with a ridiculous save. Wow.
 

ThePrideofShiner

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Welcome to Seattle, soccer city USA.

Edit: to offer some substance to this post, St. Louis played great in the first half and then was completely dominated in the second half. Looked like a typical expansion team rather than a top of the table squad.

Seattle used Ruidiaz as a super sub, which is completely unfair to the competition. He seemed pretty pissed off about it too and scored a goal and then didn't celebrate.

Joao Paulo missed his first match of the season, but 20-year-old Josh Atencio won man of the match honors and scored his first career goal.

View: https://twitter.com/SoundersFC/status/1644914659546529792?t=S7O6jsLI72psLdJ2xP7Fbg&s=19
 
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Catcher Block

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St. Louis played great in the first half and then was completely dominated in the second half. Looked like a typical expansion team rather than a top of the table squad.
Yeah...their pressing style was unique and teams didn't deal with it well for the first few games, and it caused lots of mental mistakes by their opponents' back line. But now that the book is out, they run themselves ragged for little gain for the first 45 and don't have the legs to sustain the press or put together much of an attack in the second half. Their bench isn't good enough to bring on impactful guys and change the formation when needed.
 

67YAZ

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Kamara with a brace last night. It’s amazing how well hinge work with a smart, efficient, hard working striker up top.

Brady is turning into an adventure. He let up another bad goal from a shot outside the box. I don’t know enough about keeping to diagnose the issue, but every team in the league now knows Brady’s weakness. He better solve the problem fast.

Of course, Brady made two really good saves late to preserve the win. He clearly has the mentality of a great keeper, but has a lot of growth ahead.

 
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Titans Bastard

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The Revs rolled over an awful Montreal team, 4-0 at home. Even Giacomo Vrioni got on the scoresheet. 16 points from seven games is an excellent start. I think the Revs have benefited from playing a bunch of weaker teams so far, but banking all these points early on makes me feel good about the team returning to the playoffs in 2023.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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The Revs rolled over an awful Montreal team, 4-0 at home. Even Giacomo Vrioni got on the scoresheet. 16 points from seven games is an excellent start. I think the Revs have benefited from playing a bunch of weaker teams so far, but banking all these points early on makes me feel good about the team returning to the playoffs in 2023.
Never ideal when the blank in “Even ______ got on the scoresheet” is a DP, but the team looks strong. For the closer watchers, is Vrioni looking like a full-on DP bust at this point or is it early enough that he might still be adjusting?
 

Arroyo Con Frijoles

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He hasn't looked great, but he has scored goals in buckets in the past, so I'm not quite ready to give up on him. My worry is in a two-striker system, it seems like Arena wants one of those guys to be a holdup artist, where Wood (and probably Jozy) are better, and the other guy is Bou, who is looking strong so far and won't be passed by Vrioni any time soon. So while I think Vrioni actually offers quite a bit more than Wood overall, I'm not sure how the system will factor in.

If you see more of the 4-3-3 it looked like they were in at times against Montreal - who, it should not be underemphasized, are just give-them-the-spoon-now awful - I feel like Vrioni might fit in that #9 role.
 

steeplechase3k

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steeplechase3k

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With turf at their home stadium, won't Portland have a larger than average number of knee injuries?
The Timbers train on grass. Seattle, New England, Atlanta all play on turf too, and they don't have as many issues. The turf at Providence park is also new this year.

Also, Williamson initially hurt this knee in Dallas on grass. There's something wrong with the Timbers training regimen.
 
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67YAZ

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Gutted for Williamson. What a miserable couple of years that should have been his peak.
 

MetSox1

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Are we not going to talk about the racists from the new york suburbs on here? Because if there's one thing I enjoy about that franchise, its piling on when they feel pain...
 

Titans Bastard

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Are we not going to talk about the racists from the new york suburbs on here? Because if there's one thing I enjoy about that franchise, its piling on when they feel pain...
It sounds like Vanzeir is going to be taking a nice, long break. The club said he's "stepping away" for an indefinite period. We'll see how long his suspension is.


In other news, discontent around the LA Galaxy has resulted in this letter from Chris Klein. With his defined goals, there could be a spicy play-in game in the first round of the playoffs, if they even get that far. He's currently suspended by the league for salary cap cheating from several years ago. His tenure in the LAG front office has been pretty poor — the club constantly has too many cooks in the roster-building process, and there's just no coherent strategy toward building a team identity on the field. They signed Zlatan, and then mostly wasted him by having a dysfunctional team around him.

View: https://twitter.com/ElEscuderoDeLA/status/1645934537690558467
 

InstaFace

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I assume that's got to be a deal with the senior team, i.e. he's not destined for the B or U23s. If so, he's going straight from MLS to the Big 5, and every time that happens, Sunil Gulati needs to call a doctor 4 hours later (and so does half of this forum). So I wish him the absolute best, even if he's Brazilian rather than American. The Miguel Almiron pathway - the idea that high-ceiling prospects who aren't quite good enough to go direct from south america to the Big 5 can do a 2-3 year stopover in MLS first - is just a huge accelerant for MLS to go from being the ~11th-15th best league to being, like, 8th-10th. And the more Big 5 scouting eyes on MLS, the better for quality american talent.
 

Monbo Jumbo

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The Miguel Almiron pathway -
Chelsea and Newcastle are going to play a preseason game at Mercedes Benz in Atlanta in July. That will be a Newcastle crowd.

It will also be the first time grass is installed at the Benz. I'm guessing they'll do it a few times between now and the World Cup to figure it out.
 

67YAZ

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The Emperor, Haile Selassie, scores his first MLS goal!

Philly looks ragged these first 20 minutes. Chicago is carving them up. We’ll see if they can gather up some steam here, but CCL mid-week really did a number on them.
 

Pesky Pole

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The Emperor, Haile Selassie, scores his first MLS goal!

Philly looks ragged these first 20 minutes. Chicago is carving them up. We’ll see if they can gather up some steam here, but CCL mid-week really did a number on them.
Philly looks like crap. CCL is killing these guys. The Emperor almost missed that sitter. The two touches made me cringe even as a Union fan.
 

67YAZ

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Philly looks like crap. CCL is killing these guys. The Emperor almost missed that sitter. The two touches made me cringe even as a Union fan.
LOL. The two touches made me leap up out of my seat!

I like Selassie. He’s not technical or creative. But he’s fast and he does exactly what he’s told. I can see why Hendrickson trusts him.
 

ThePrideofShiner

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MLS really needs to figure out its roster situation if it wants teams to be successful in CCL, Open Cup, Leagues Cup and the regular season.
 

Arroyo Con Frijoles

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Borrero absolutely idiotic to take that second yellow, and the Revs hung on three minutes past the expected added time (yeah yeah VAR check right at 90' took ages but still). I'd have taken a point at the start, but NE was better the entire match until going down to 10 men. So frustrating.
 

Senator Donut

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Borrero absolutely idiotic to take that second yellow, and the Revs hung on three minutes past the expected added time (yeah yeah VAR check right at 90' took ages but still). I'd have taken a point at the start, but NE was better the entire match until going down to 10 men. So frustrating.
Minor league refs strike again. This league deserves better than the lessor Penso.
 

67YAZ

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Up 2–0 I went to take a shower. JFC Chicago.

Ag this point, just change the club name to Fire JFC.
 

Pesky Pole

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The boneheaded penalty let the Union back in. Pretty nice point for the Union when their tired legs could come back to salvage the tie.
 

steeplechase3k

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As a Timbers fan I don't know what to say about that match. For 60-70 minutes we were barely hanging on. Then a switch was flipped.
 

InstaFace

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The Emperor, Haile Selassie, scores his first MLS goal!
Jah provides the bread.

Obed Vargas is making his first start since getting hurt last year. He makes a great move and a great pass to set up a Ruidiaz goal.
Dude is gonna be starting in the U-20 World Cup this summer as a 17 year old. There might not be another 17yo on anyone's roster. I got big hopes for him, because we (the USMNT) need depth at CM.

down at the bottom of the Eastern Conference table, DC United beat Montreal on a Bournemouthian kickoff set piece
I definitely hadn't realized that Christian Benteke, veteran of 10 EPL seasons the last 6 as striker for Palace, now plays for DC United of all places. He's only 32, and his touch looked pretty good out there on that clip. I'm further embarrassed by the fact that this took place last year, following the conclusion of the 21-22 EPL season, and I only just noticed now.
 
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steeplechase3k

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View: https://twitter.com/ForbesSports/status/1648037380345983009


https://www.forbes.com/sites/timnewcomb/2023/04/17/new-nycfc-stadium-coming-in-2027-designed-by-hok/

New York City's first soccer-specific stadium now has a designer and contractor on its way toward a 2027 opening for the New York City Football Club (NYCFC) of Major League Soccer.

The planned $780 million, 25,000-seat privately funded stadium is set for Willets Point in Queens near both the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and the New York Mets' Citi Field. NYCFC announced that HOK will design the venue and Turner Construction Company as the general contractor on the project.
HOK's design will position the stadium along the edge of 126th Street (Seaver Way). With a "pedestrian-friendly scale," the team says the stadium will feature technology and flexibility while including a grand arrival experience.
 

Titans Bastard

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Dude is gonna be starting in the U-20 World Cup this summer as a 17 year old. There might not be another 17yo on anyone's roster. I got big hopes for him, because we (the USMNT) need depth at CM.
Vargas is an interesting prospect, but him starting at the U20 WC is not a foregone conclusion. Vargas ended up missing the qualifiers due to injury, but there's some competition at CM for this team.

Alejandro Alvarado (Vizela/POR) and Jack McGlynn (Philly) were the primary CMs in qualifying. Alvarado doesn't seem to be progressing at a very small Portuguese club and I think his spot is vulnerable. But Owen Wolff (Austin) has had a bigger season than Vargas so far, and Noel Buck (NE) has also been impressive. Plus, Rokas Pukstas (Hajduk Split/CRO), who was used as a backup 6 but is better as an 8 or on the wing, has become a regular starter in Croatia since qualifying.

There's also a question of whether Varas will be will to drop one of the three 6+8s in the 4-3-3 to try a 4-2-3-1 with Brian Gutierrez running the show.

You love to see all the irons in the fire. Truth be told, though, I don't think any of these guys will be ready to step into a backup role for the USMNT for another year or two.

The next U20 cycle already has a pretty stacked-looking midfield. Vargas and Buck will still be eligible, as will Niko Tsakiris (SJ) who was on the qualifying team but who is probably out of contention for this WC because of an adductor injury. Benjamin Cremaschi (Miami) is another '05 who is highly rated and who Javier Mascherano's Argentina U20 was sniffing around for CONMEBOL qualifiers.
 

InstaFace

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oh, absolutely not relevant for the senior team for another year or two at the very least. I'm just saying, Vargas is "playing up" enough in years that it's pretty easy to see him on a very high trajectory. I really don't see the same for the other CMs in the U-20 pool right now. I didn't really see it from Tsakiris at qualifiers, but of course he was so young there that it's beyond my eye to assess growth, and I know nothing of Cremaschi whom you mentioned.
 

speedracer

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I definitely hadn't realized that Christian Benteke, veteran of 10 EPL seasons the last 6 as striker for Palace, now plays for DC United of all places. He's only 32, and his touch looked pretty good out there on that clip. I'm further embarrassed by the fact that this took place last year, following the conclusion of the 21-22 EPL season, and I only just noticed now.
It's kind of funny/frustrating how much DC United pigeonhole him as a target man (and I don't really think this was Wayne Rooney's intent when he brought him in).

View: https://twitter.com/OptaJack/status/1648346647540424704
 

Titans Bastard

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Revs give back a goal after a 2-0 HT lead, but then KC gets a DOGSO red. 2-1 with about 30 minutes to play. The Revs have no excuse to not take three tonight.
 

OCST

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Caught some of the NYCFC-Dallas game. For some reason NYC are playing some home games at Citi Field. It’s even more awkward and weird for footy than YS.
 

Senator Donut

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Caught some of the NYCFC-Dallas game. For some reason NYC are playing some home games at Citi Field. It’s even more awkward and weird for footy than YS.
Their landlords were hosting the Blue Jays. For obvious reasons, they hate playing in Harrison. Fortunately Citi is rarely in use for baseball at the same time Yankee Stadium is. Neither venue is allowed to host Concacaf matches, which makes things interesting if City is in Champions League.
 

67YAZ

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Shaqiri is either hurt, cooked, or totally giving up on defending. In any of those situations, he should be in the bench. Whether it’s Hendrickson or Heitz that is making the call to run him out there…it’s just bad and killing this team.
 

67YAZ

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The Fire announced English and Spanish language radio partners, which is great. The mooted price tag on an English language radio broadcast was $1m per season. It’s a good sign that there’s a station who sees value in that.

But still no jersey sponsor.They’re really going to Nottingham Forest this, right down to the same table position.

US Cup match vs Chicago House tonight. Best team name in he pyramid.
 

InstaFace

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Where are all these derby US Open Cup matches coming from? Is there some regional preference embedded into the hat draw or something?
 

Jimy Hendrix

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Where are all these derby US Open Cup matches coming from? Is there some regional preference embedded into the hat draw or something?
If I recall correctly, the early rounds are regional. Thanks to the relative flatness of our pyramid, they want to avoid like NISA or NPSL teams having to travel cross country for those matches.
 

InstaFace

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yeah I knew it was regional for the amateur rounds, I didn't know it remained regional even for the pro rounds and initial MLS rounds. Apparently it's still a regionalized draw even as late as the Round of 16, although by that point it stretches the definition of what might be considered "regional".
 

Jimy Hendrix

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Yeah, they keep it regional long enough for real lower-level cinderella stories to be regional until it's almost certain Pub Team FC has ended their run.