Call Them The Frequent Flier Seattle Sounders

Seattle Sounders Coach Sigi Schmid might well have reacted to the schedule demands of his team by checking out his frequent flier miles. Seattle’s location alone necessitates travel beyond what other teams endure.  Now couple that with international play beyond the challenging Major League Soccer schedule and the frequent flier factor becomes all the more evident.Consider that a pair of homecomings and two significant matches await the Seattle Sounders FC on a journey of nearly 8,000 miles this week. Sounders FC reaches the halfway point of its CONCACAF Champions League group stage campaign when it visits CD Saprissa in San Jose, Costa Rica on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. PT. The match will be carried nationally by Fox Soccer Channel. Seattle then moves on to the capital of Ohio and a date with the Columbus Crew, leader of the MLS Eastern Conference, on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. PT.The Sounders seek their first points in the Champions League after falling to CD Marathón of Honduras and CF Monterrey last month. Monterrey leads Group C with six points while Marathón and Saprissa have three each. In MLS, Seattle (9-9-6, 33 points) is out to strengthen its hold on a playoff position. It is tied ...

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. D.C. United: Is A Resurgence In Order?

Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy scored a breakthrough victory against the Columbus Crew to the tune of 3-1.“It’s a much-improved performance by our team,” Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said after last Saturday's contest. “Hopefully it gives us the confidence to continue to move forward and try to be a better team as we go into postseason play.”On September 18, it's back to the Victoria Street grindstone for the leaders of Major League Soccer as they host Ben Olsen's D.C. United, a side that has been out of luck since the season first started.For David Beckham, it was a great time to make a return to MLS action after a long layoff due to injury. Could more minutes be seen from him next week?“That was a perfect situation for me really,” Beckham said after the match. “The players had done so well through the game and it made it easier for me to come on. The pace was still a high tempo but it obviously calmed down. We’d kind of won the game by then and we played hard. It was a perfect situation for me to come on.“Obviously, it felt great. I’ve never been out of the game for such ...

Two New York Red Bull Fan Favorites Ready To Retire

The New York Red Bulls, now in their 15th year of existence, have been a roller coaster of a franchise. There have been some extreme highs but also some terrible, unthinkable lows. There has been a revolving door of coaches and players, a name change, and a new stadium for the team to call its own. Two players, more so than any others, have been through almost all of it. And after the 2010 season, they’ll be a part of the club’s history as well. Forward John Wolyniec has retired effective immediately, and defender Mike Petke will finish out the current season before hanging up his boots. Both are New York natives, were drafted by the club, and have spent the majority of their careers with the Red Bulls. They also both have two appearances with the U.S. National Team. Wolyniec spent seven of his 12 MLS seasons, over three separate stints, with the New York club. He is second in franchise history in regular-season games played with 142 appearances and fifth in goals scored in all competitions with 36. Petke is a 13-year veteran, seven of which (over two stints) have been spent with New York. He is the club’s all-time leader in regular ...

Los Angeles Galaxy Herald David Beckham’s Return in 3-1 Win over Columbus Crew

Everything is better when David Beckham is back. Seriously.And even though he saw an expected 20 minutes of action in relief of Juninho (who also returned from his own matters on the other side of the Western Hemisphere), it was a manageable margin—yellow card, touches and all—in the Los Angeles Galaxy's 3-1 victory over the Columbus Crew at the Home Depot Center.On the ninth anniversary of 9/11, the Galaxy got a little revenge for what their youth academy Under-20s did to them in Rockford, Illinois several days ago.So now this one question sprouts out of the seeds of this relieved publian: will they make this a habit?Tonight, the fans saw what they were accustomed to during the early part of the season. They were treated to crisp passing and solid defending from the back line of Omar Gonzalez, Leonardo, Sean Franklin, and Todd Dunivant, save for one blatant hiccup (more on that later). As a matter of fact, this was the first time in recent memory that the back line played like a back line. It's been too long since I've given a rave review on this otherwise inconsistent foursome, but they got the job done. Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Eddie ...

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Columbus Crew: A Play-By-Play and Other Miscellany

T-180: Amid all the Qur'an burning (which thankfully didn't happen), Al-Qaeda disenfranchised gullible youth recruiting, America damning, fallen angel-commemorating and never-forgetting there is the little matter of the good ol' fußball game. Today, Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy and Robert Warzycha's Columbus Crew meet in a pivotal showdown in the continuing rat race for the 2010 Major League Soccer Supporters' Shield.T-120: The Galaxy, Crew and Real Salt Lake (with their scoreless draw against the Seattle Sounders earlier this week) are logjammed at 44 points apiece. In other action today, Toronto FC was silenced by D.C. United in rare fashion 1-0, the New York Red Bulls slammed the Colorado Rapids 3-1, and the Chicago Fire's playoff hopes are done and dusted thanks to the Philadelphia Union, 1-0. T-100: Oh yes, and yesterday, the Goats are faring well with their new signing Alan Gordon in their 2-0 win against the New England Revolution. You're welcome, Chivas USA!T-90: Columbus has a 13-5-5 record, Los Angeles has a 13-5-5 record, and Real Salt Lake has a 12-4-8 record. A superior goal differential and goals forwarded have Jason Kreis's club at the top of the overall standings for now.Well, it was a good run at ...

Golden Julius: Defender’s Strike Gives D.C. an Unlikely Win in Toronto

At this point, United fans would welcome a goal from anyone on the squad, but defender Julius James must have been on few people’s minds to snatch the only goal in an otherwise dour affair at Toronto’s BMO field. The former Toronto big man had netted only two previous goals in MLS before settling Branko Baskovic’s 81st minute free kick on the six-yard box, feigning—maybe tripping, but we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt—and slotting home past Stefan Frei, much to the chagrin of the 20,000+ fans in attendance. It was a welcome turn of late-game fortune for United, who have let in an astounding 14 goals in the final 15 minutes of their 23 games this season.  The squad was buoyed by the returns of the Montenegrin Baskovic and Canadian Dejan Jakovic from International call-ups, Jakovic not having to travel far to meet up with the team after a series of Canadian friendlies.  The Montenegrin Maestro and veteran Canadian had little calming effect on the side in the first half however, as possession was given away far too often and Toronto displayed early signals of intent when Dwayne DeRosario smacked a shot off Troy Perkins’ post.  But the Canadians’ attack soon ...

Breaking News: New York Red Bulls Defeat Colorado Rapids at The Big Apple

The New York Red Bulls beat the Colorado Rapids 3-1 at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey in front of a sold-out crowd. Thierry Henry, Tim Ream, and Dane Richards scored for the Red Bulls. Omar Cummings scored for the Rapids. Thierry Henry scored the first goal of the game within 17 minutes with a direct kick into the left side of the goal post. Henry was assisted by Joel Lindpere in scoring the first goal. Tim Ream scored the second goal of the game after an assist by Tony Tchani in 32 minutes. The Rapids had posession of the ball and Tchani received it by mistake. He kicked it in the direction of Ream. He then proceeded to do a clean-cut kick into the center of the goal post in 32 minutes. Dane Richards scored the third and final goal for the Red Bulls in 58 minutes. Juan Pablo Angel assisted Richards in scoring the last goal of the Red Bulls. The Colorado Rapids were quick to prevent the game from becoming a shut out. Omar Cummings scored the only goal for his team with a distant kick that landed in the side of the goal post before entering the net. The game itself was one in which both ...

Kasey Keller Saves Seattle Sounders in Scoreless Tie with Real Salt Lake

As the MLS season moves ever closer to the playoffs, the one thing that the Seattle Sounders did not want to endure was a loss in their match with red-hot Real Salt Lake Thursday night. Kasey Keller, the Sounders' team captain and most veteran player at 40, proved once more why he has become one of the enduring players of American soccer with an impressive resume of international professional activity along with spots on the American National Team.In a tightly locked defensive struggle where goals are at a premium, the surest route to victory often lies in making good on a penalty kick.  The odds are squarely in favor of the offensive side and a defending goalkeeper is compelled to initially guess right and then make a quick move to thwart a booming kick at close range.Veteran goalie Keller was the man for such a job, as he snuffed out Real Salt Lake’s golden opportunity and enabled the Sounders, who now stand at 9-9-6, to avoid the loss and garner a point.   Keller stopped a penalty kick in the 32nd minute by Robbie Findley, who had been tripped by Seattle defender Jeff Parke in the left side of ...

The MLS Million Dollar Challenge: What Was Learned, Revolution Comparison

Digging into MLS salary numbers is a bit like knowing I’ll get a hangover, but opening that next bottle of wine anyway.  The problem is, understanding the salary cap and restrictions are core to understanding the league. The hardest part of finishing up this series of around building an MLS roster for $1 million in total compensation is that there are so many interesting ideas to follow up with that it’s hard to keep focused on a few key points. But let’s give it a try… First, I wanted to point out that my use of total compensation rather than base salary information exaggerated the challenge, since base salaries are more relevant for the MLS salary cap, which is currently around $2.5 million for a full roster. However, at worst, it made the challenge more difficult.  When using the more salary cap-relevant base salary information, the team I picked would have cost $844,960 in base 2010 salary.  This means that the team, which I still think would be competitive in MLS, would only be one third of a typical MLS club’s budget. Not bad. It’s also worth pointing out that in creating this exercise, I’m dealing in a completely implausible world, where I can sift through ...

Countdown To David Beckham’s Return Continues for Los Angeles Galaxy

It was a week ago that David Beckham made a promise to return to action for Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy against Robert Warzycha's Columbus Crew on September 11, 2010.Fast forward a week: it looks like he is set to make due on his guarantee after taking part in an accelerated training session on Tuesday.“You can tell he has that competitiveness back,” Galaxy defender Todd Dunivant said. “When you come back from something that long, you’re kind of careful at first. Now he’s over that. It’s given us a boost. Anytime you can add someone like David Beckham to their team at this stage of the season is going to be a big plus for you.” If Beckham does make his return to action against Columbus, it would be earlier than expected. During training, Beckham went through drills that restored his strength and agility while the rest of the team played short-sided games. Eventually, he participated in full training sessions with the club.Arena, however, opted to ease him into action instead of rushing him in.“Having a player of that quality around is huge. It makes a difference,” Arena said earlier this week. “Therefore, that’s why we’re hopeful we get him to a ...