Major League Soccer: Real Salt Lake Second Team Beats the New England Revolution

Real Salt Lake head coach Jason Kreis knew that his reserve players were good, but did he know they were this good?Starting a line up of primarily reserve players worked out very well on Saturday night when Real Salt Lake met the New England Revolution at Gillette stadium. The result was a dominating 2-0 victory for the visiting team.Following an emotional win in the CONCACAF Champions League semifinal on Tuesday night, and with another MLS game coming up Wednesday, it was the perfect time to give the reserve players some game experience.Real Salt Lake did well to keep possession and limit opportunities for the Revolution. The game was scoreless until the 27th minute when Ned Grabavoy fired a strike that beat the goalkeeper, but not the near post. A Revolution defender cleared the ball out of bounds and Real Salt Lake lined up for a corner kick.Collen Warner sent a good ball just in front of the net that found the head of defender Chris Schuler, who got just enough of the ball to put it in the back of the net for 1-0 lead.After the game, Schuler discussed his goal with the KUTV broadcast team and said, “I don’t ...

LA Galaxy Throw Away Lead, Settle for 1-1 Draw With D.C. United

Well, this sure wasn't the best way to start a three-game road swing.I mean, you would expect a team like the Los Angeles Galaxy to hold on to a 1-0 lead after nobodies like Mike Magee become somebodies by connecting on the simplest of set pieces from busybodies like David Beckham.They had the lead for the lion's share of the match and were even a man down. Solid defending, timely dispossession.And then tragedy struck.A penalty conceded to D.C. United and here comes Charlie Davies. The new and improved Charlie Davies, fresh out of FC Sochaux on loan, ready for one swing of the foot because some lout didn't stay on his feet in the D.C. attacking third.Davies can convert penalties in his sleep. In fact, I bet you that if he wins the Budweiser Golden Boot, it's because he was able to convert his penalties, and his penalties constitute a majority of his goals.Oh, and just so that Abbey Okulaja wants to make things fair, he decides to red card one of the liabilities to the team, namely Jovan Kirovski. Well done, Dr. Okulaja. You have epitomized the opinion that the officiating in Major League Soccer is disgraceful and in ...

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. D.C. United: Analysis, Reaction and More

Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy begin a grueling 10-day road stretch starting with today’s clash against Ben Olsen’s D.C. United at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C. The Galaxy are currently 2-1-1 (seven points) and will look to go on their first winning streak of the season after shutting out the Philadelphia Union 1-0 last Saturday at Home Depot Center. D.C. United will attempt to bounce back from a 4-1 annihilation at the hands of the defending MLS Cup Champions, the Colorado Rapids. D.C. is currently 1-2-0 and are lagging behind early in the Eastern Conference race, but a victory over the Union in U.S. Open Cup play-in action may boost morale for tonight's game. Bleacher Report will provide you with ongoing action in this exciting encounter, as well as other action from Week 4 of the 2011 Major League Soccer season. Keep up to date with live, continuing coverage of MLS right here.Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

Soccer Time in Galveston as Pirates Face MLS Side Houston Dynamo

A few times in a lifetime, an opportunity presents itself to prove you have what it takes to compete with the big boys. Saturday is one of those occasions for the players of Galveston Pirates as they face up to MLS Houston Dynamo Academy side.   As the MLS side gets the new season off and running, their Academy side is like any other in the world of football, bringing through the best young stars from around the state in the hope of providing the senior squad with players to improve the playing 11 on the field. As Galveston prepare themselves for the HFA season ahead, this is an excellent test of their metal and an expertly timed morale boost for coach Brendan Keyes and his players. The more competitive and professionally run HFA will prove to be a stern test for the Pirate side as they look to keep improving as a team and increase their fan base within the Galveston Island area. This match will help increase awareness of the soccer side in the area and hopefully build a larger fanbase for the Pirate side as they look to ...

Didier Drogba Leaving Chelsea and the Premier League for the MLS?

Chelsea and Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba could be heading for the MLS during the summer, according to ESPN.com. Drogba is considering a move away from Chelsea because he feels he is no longer a first team regular in the side. He was substituted in their Champions League defeat to Manchester United for Nicolas Anelka, even though he was Chelsea's hardest working player on the pitch. Drogba has looked a different player on the pitch in terms of body language since the arrival of Fernando Torres in January. He has struggled to stay on the field, even though Torres hasn't made a big impact at the club. Drogba has been linked with moves to French side Marseille and Turkish outfit Galatasaray, but his link to America surprises many. He would leave behind a very successful goalscoring record with Chelsea, and have to find his feet in the MLS amongst attacking players like Donovan, Beckham, Henry, Wondolowski, and Cunningham.   . But after players like David Beckham and Thierry Henry moved to the MLS from Europe, the MLS chiefs are looking to bring more European stars to America. Drogba is one of their main targets. Drogba has reportedly held informal talks with New York Red Bulls star Thierry Henry as he wanted to find ...

Ranking David Beckham, Thierry Henry and the 10 Best Ever MLS Designated Players

In 2007, Major League Soccer introduced the Designated Player rule to allow it's clubs to compete on the international transfer market and sign star players without having an adverse effect on the salary cap.The rule was nicknamed the "Beckham Rule" as the English soccer superstar became the leagues first DP when he signed with the LA Galaxy.Since Becks' arrived on the scene in 2007, a total of 27 players have held the DP title throughout 14 different franchises, with varying degrees of success.Here we are ranking the top 10 Designated Players players based on their overall positive contributions to their respective club.New players for the 2011 season have not been considered for the list.Begin Slideshow

Los Angeles Galaxy Ins and Outs: April 7, 2011

At Ease, Captain...Los Angeles Galaxy captain Landon Donovan, was given time to recuperate from a grueling set of friendlies for the U.S. Men's National Team, who drew 1-1 with Argentina and lost 1-0 to Paraguay."Landon's getting a little rest," said manager Bruce Arena to MLSSoccer.com's Luis Bueno after Wednesday's practice session. “He had a long week last week, with two international [games] and the Philly game. He doesn't need to be out here."The team leaves Los Angeles today for a 10-day road trip which includes matches against D.C. United, Toronto FC and the Chicago Fire.Before Arena and assistant coach Dave Sarachan decided to give Donovan the start against the Philadelphia Union (whom they defeated 1-0 last Saturday), they both weighed their options."We could have kept him out of the Philly game or just given him some rest this week," Arena said."It’s early in the year where we can be more cautious," Sarachan added. "We're hopeful [that he will be in the lineup this weekend]. We’re kind of seeing where that all plays out, but we hope he is [in the lineup]."Will the G's dominate the East again?Last year, the Los Angeles Galaxy had been getting their way against the MLS ...

Vancouver Whitecaps vs. New England Revolution: Caps Battle Both Referee and Revs in 1-1 Draw

The Vancouver Whitecaps and New England Revolution battled to a 1-1 draw at Empire Field. Perhaps a draw is a fitting result, as both teams were not only competing with each other, but also with a referee who had delusions of grandeur.  Perhaps if referee Baldomero Toledo wanted to have an impact on the match, he should have been a player, because he certainly affected the course of the match more than any of the players on either side with his heavy-handed and irrational calls. A total of six yellow cards and three red cards, including two straight reds, were shown in a match that wasn’t overly physical and didn’t have many dangerous tackles I would think worthy of a yellow on most nights. (Disclaimer: I’m not a FIFA referee, but I do watch a lot of soccer, so either most other referees are incorrect in how they call the game, or Toledo is). Let's take a look at the cards: Six Minutes: Atiba Harris (Whitecaps)—booked for one of the first tackles of the match. Could have been a yellow, could have been just a foul—heavy-handed to issue a yellow without hesitation this early in the match, especially without any previous warnings or an ...

2011 MLS Eastern Conference Changed by Dwayne De Rosario Trade

The New York Red Bulls just became the strongest team in the Eastern Conference—if not all of Major League Soccer—with the addition of Dwayne De Rosario. The former Toronto FC captain was becoming a distraction during the 2011 Major League Soccer campaign.  After going to have a trial with Celtic in Scotland without the permission of Toronto, it seemed like there were waves forming between De Rosario and Toronto FC. His contract discussions also were not going very far. Dwayne wanted to become a designated player and make the salary to match his performances for his club. This deal was not struck. Instead he got traded to New York Red Bulls, where his goal scoring and distribution ability has made him the perfect link between the back line and Thierry Henry and Juan Agudelo. De Rosario already has shown that he instantly makes the New York Red Bulls a more complete squad. Within a minute of entering the game on Saturday against the Houston Dynamo De Rosario saw the beautiful run of Dane Richards. He placed a through ball that put Dane in the clear for his goal.  He has proven he will be the centerpiece to the very diverse Red Bulls midfield. He will ...

Vancouver Whitecaps: Not Your Typical Expansion Team

Typically an expansion team in North American sports is a brand new franchise without any history. The roster is composed of disparate players deemed expendable by their previous club and exposed in an expansion draft, a handful of journeymen signed as free agents and a few rookies. The expansion team is offensively challenged, and doesn’t really have an identity or chemistry. That isn’t the case with the Vancouver Whitecaps. The Whitecaps and their expansion brethren Portland Timbers, like the Seattle Sounders before them, are new to the MLS, but not new to professional soccer. The Whitecaps, Timbers and Sounders all played in USSF-Division 2 (the former USL) prior to moving up to the top tier soccer in MLS. This is a situation more akin to a team being promoted to a higher division in European soccer than a typical North American expansion team.  14 of the 29 players on the roster were with the Whitecaps last year in USSF D-2. 9 of those players have played significant minutes in the three games so far.  M Terry Dunfield (270 minutes) 1 goal, 1 assist M Gershon Koffie (270 minutes) D Alain Rochat (270 minutes) G Jay Nolly (180 minutes) D/M Blake ...