2Sep/100
New York Red Bulls Minus Key Players in Important Match vs. Real Salt Lake
After a long offseason of changes and the recent Designated Players added during the summer transfer window, the New York Red Bulls have quickly developed into one of Major League Soccer’s elite teams. They are a strong contender for the MLS Cup and their resurgence makes Saturday’s first-matchup with defending champion Real Salt Lake huge. However, the game will become an even tougher task for a club trying to prove that they are legitimate contenders—not just headline heroes—as the Red Bulls will be without four starters, making them a very different team. Midfielders Rafael Marquez and Dane Richards, defender Roy Miller, and goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul will all miss the match because they were called-up to the national teams for the next set of FIFA International dates. Marquez, Mexico’s captain for the past three World Cups and has earned 95 caps, was selected to play in the September 4th friendly against Ecuador and the September 7th match versus Colombia. The team’s third designated player, Marquez has been a calming force in the Red Bull’s midfield, and he will be missed. He has provided good possession, good passing and vision, and great service from free kicks, not to mention his crackling goal against Toronto FC in a ...2Sep/100
Score First, Win Sooner for Los Angeles Galaxy
As Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy prepare for Saturday's match with the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois, the mindset has been one of the straightforward variety: Score First. “We’ve given up way too many early goals this year,” Galaxy midfielder Chris Klein said after Saturday’s 2-0 loss to the Kansas City Wizards. “What that does to us is it ends up making us chase the game and allowing teams to sit in and counter against us.” Los Angeles is 0-5-1 when they allow the first goal this season. All of the six first-half goals allowed this season came in the first 20 minutes of each game. Galaxy defender Todd Dunivant gave a concise explanation regarding the goals given up early. “A lot of it’s coming from the midfield, we’re up and they’re breaking on us and it’s some freak play in behind,” Dunivant said. “It’s not like [opponents] are getting in behind and breaking us down so we need to adjust to that. It is the common theme.” For Klein, Los Angeles's nasty habit of chasing the game is simply unacceptable. “It’s more indicative of our style of play and when we go down early and we have to chase the game and ...1Sep/100
The MLS Million Dollar Challenge (Part Two): Picking the Team
So the challenge was simple enough: Pick an MLS starting eleven that which has a total 2010 Guaranteed Compensation under $1,000,000. The results were simple enough too. A pretty good team, I’d say. (Review it here.) But as it turns out, the process of choosing the team and some insights about the league that came from it are probably what was the most interesting. So, let’s look at how the team was picked. Really—and this is no surprise—a challenge of this nature is mostly an exercise in finding the MLS players you think are the biggest discounts and picking a group of them that fit together to play a certain style, or at least effective, soccer. Staying my course of hoping and dreaming for attractive, inventive soccer, I aimed for players I hoped could deliver that. I also wanted to focus on balancing the strength of the team across the field, for instance, avoiding deep sacrifices in midfield to pay for a top forward (who would then probably never get good service anyway.) But, with such a limited budget, goals for attractive soccer and team balance are not easy to achieve. Goalkeeper Frankly, this was probably my easiest choice. Being the beautiful-soccer dreamer that I am, I tend ...1Sep/100
Philadelphia Union Completes 24-Man Roster: Sign Def/Mid Sheanon Williams
Philadelphia Union today announced the signing of defender/midfielder Sheanon Williams, thus completing the 24-man roster permitted by Major League Soccer regulations. The Union could expand their roster up to 26 men with the signing of two home grown players. The 20-year-old joins the Union from the Harrisburg City Islanders, Philadelphia’s USL-2 affiliate. Per Major League Soccer and team policies, the details of the signing will not be disclosed. A product of the U-17 Residency Program, Williams represented the United States in two youth World Cups, the U-17 World Cup in Korea (2007), where he played for former head coach and current Philadelphia Union Coach John Hackworth, and the U-20 World Cup in Egypt (2009). Raised in Boston, Mass., Williams is the second player to join the Union from the Harrisburg City Islanders. J.T. Noone was signed by the expansion side on July 30, thanks to a partnership signed by these two organizations last February. Philadelphia Union CommunicationsRead more MLS news on BleacherReport.com1Sep/100
Bucking Branko: Why D.C. United Missed On Its Latest Designated Player Signing
On a day when most in the nation’s capital are celebrating a decrease in American firepower in Iraq, those of a soccer-minded persuasion are simply left wondering, “Where will the firepower come from?” D.C. United have played 26 competitive matches this year, and managed a meager 25 goals from them. The figure becomes even worse reading when U.S. Open Cup matches are taken out of consideration: 15 goals in 21 matches reads United’s utterly laughable league scoresheet so far this campaign. The record for ineptitude in the final third is 25 goals in Toronto’s inaugural 2007 season, and while I’m all for one-upping those Canadians whenever possible, this is one record no one in D.C. wants to claim. In order to avoid that ignominy, United will need to tally 11 goals in its remaining 8 league games. To offer some perspective on just how it long it might take United to score 11 goals, Danny Allsopp is currently the club’s top scorer, registering a lofty four goals—for the entire season. The fact that new coach Ben Olsen has apparently dumped any hope of saving face in the league for a Portsmouth-esque assault on the Cup certainly doesn’t bode well for avoiding the infamous record either. So who ...1Sep/100