5Nov/110
2011 MLS Western Conference Final Live Blog: Play-by-Play Analysis, Reaction
Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy take on Jason Kreis's Real Salt Lake in the 2011 Major League Soccer Western Conference Final on Sunday, Nov. 6 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.This is the rubber match for both teams. In the first meeting this season, Real Salt Lake prevailed 4-1, while in the second leg, LA rallied for a 2-1 victory at Victoria Street. In the Western Conference Semifinals, Real Salt Lake defeated the Seattle Sounders 3-2 on aggregate, while Los Angeles won 3-1 on aggregate against the New York Red Bulls. The winner of this match will take on either Sporting Kansas City or the Houston Dynamo in MLS Cup 2011.Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET and will be televised by ESPN and ESPN Deportes. The live blog will begin at approximately 3:30 p.m. PT/6:30 p.m. ET.Keep it right here on Bleacher Report for continuing coverage of the 2011 MLS season and the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs.Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com4Nov/110
Vancouver Whitecaps: 5 Issues Martin Rennie Must Sort Out
The "Rennie-sance" has begun.As of this writing, new Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Martin Rennie, 36, is leading his team through an evaluation mini-camp that runs from November 2 to November 5. What Rennie hopes to achieve in the next few days is an understanding of the team he has inherited: their strengths, weaknesses and psychology.After two days of the camp so far, Rennie is saying all the right things in pinpointing what needs to be done. There is of course a lot more to do to right the ship, but it seems like Rennie and the 'Caps are off to a great start.Here are five issues that the Scotsman needs to sort out before next season starts.Begin Slideshow4Nov/110
Tony Beltran Video: Watch Defender’s Amazing Header Save in MLS Playoffs
Sometimes in sports, it's not important to score. Obviously, scoring is important in any sport. But keeping a point (or points, depending on the sport) off of the board for your opponent is just as valuable as scoring yourself.Real Salt Lake's Tony Beltran is living proof of that theory.Sometimes a great play will happen that appears to have flat out robbed the other team. But the thing about a lot of those plays is that we don't always know what would have happened had the player not stepped in to make a great play.That's not exactly the case with Beltran. That ball was very clearly headed to the net and Beltran made a miraculous play to keep it out.As the announcers talked about, that play completely overrode what was a fantastic shot. Considering the situation, that was dead on line with a lot of smoke, which makes Beltran's save even better.He wasn't really even in position to make the save. That's another thing.It's not only that he's not a goalie. He was dramatically out of position, having to make a save on the run.That's what you call sacrificing yourself for the good of the team. That was a play that ...4Nov/110
New York Red Bulls vs. LA Galaxy: 2-1 Loss Ends Bulls’ Quest for 2011 MLS Cup
For the second consecutive season, the New York Red Bulls' season was ended by a California MLS club. Last year the Red Bulls were eliminated by the San Jose Earthquakes at Red Bull Arena.A year later, on Thursday night to be exact, their conqueror were the Los Angeles Galaxy. Remaining undefeated at home, the Galaxy won the second leg of the Western Conference semifinals 2-1 and 3-1 aggregate at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. After losing 1-0 to the Galaxy at Red Bull Arena on Sunday, the Red Bulls needed to win overall by one goal in order to keep their MLS Cup hopes alive. While Sunday's match was hard-fought and ugly, Thursday's night started off cohesively fast-paced. The Red Bulls faced elimination without suspended defender Rafa Marquez, who earned a red card following Sunday's loss for hitting Landon Donovan and provoking a fight afterwards.Sensing elimination, Luke Rodgers brought his fiery personality and passion and immediately demonstrated that the Red Bulls were here to win.Four minutes into the match, Rodgers accepted a pass from Thierry Henry before he successfully beat LA goalkeeper Josh Saunders to give his teammates a 1-0 lead. As a result, the Red Bulls had a 1-1 aggregate ...4Nov/110
5 Major Problems with MLS
I have been a soccer fan my entire life. I have never been an MLS fan.Yea I'll climb out of bed at 5 am to watch Newcastle play, but I won't even click over on a Galaxy game at 6 pm when the only thing on is Wheel of Fortune.The MLS has so many inherent problems that it's hard to make an article narrowing it down to just five. It never has, and never will compete with the major leagues of Europe. There are some pretty simple reasons why, yet the brain-trust in charge of the MLS has made the beautiful game look more like a glorified game of kick-and-chase in the United States.It's sad, because the well of soccer fans is here, but for quality, we look elsewhere.Begin Slideshow3Nov/110
MLS Cup 2011: David Beckham and Galaxy Ready to Top Thierry Henry’s Red Bulls
Historically, New York has gotten the better of Los Angeles in head-to-head postseason play, though the Galaxy, led by Landon Donovan and David Beckham, will tilt the ledger toward the West Coast on Thursday, when they take out Thierry Henry and the Red Bulls on their way to the 2011 MLS Cup.Granted, picking the Galaxy, the winningest team in MLS this season, to advance to the conference championship is hardly a stretch. LA owns a 1-0 advantage over New York from the first leg of the semifinals and need only come away with a tie at the Home Depot Center, where the Galaxy haven't lost all year.What's more, the Galaxy sport the stingiest defense in the league, having allowed just 28 goals in 35 matches, and, on the other end of the field, will enjoy the services of Robbie Keane, who played nearly the entire time during LA's playoff opener after missing nearly a month due to injury.But there's still plenty of reason for concern among the Galaxy. Most notably, they'll be without the services of Juninho, the star midfielder who logged a red card in the first leg against New York at Red Bull Arena when he ended up ...3Nov/110
Graham Zusi Powers Sporting Kansas City to Conference Final in 2-0 Win
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Midfielder Graham Zusi assisted on both goals to lead Sporting Kansas City to a 2-0 win in the second leg of the Eastern Conference semifinal. In front of 18,565 rain-soaked fans in a sold-out LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, Zusi became the first player in franchise history to get multiple assists in a playoff game.Added to their result from the first leg, Kansas City now advances to the next round 4-0 on aggregate.The first true scoring chance of the game came in the 16th minute, when defender Aurelien Collin played a long ball into the area for Teal Bunbury. Bunbury tracked it down near the end line, but his shot was saved by Brad Pickens and went out for a corner kick.The game was fairly sloppy, owing to the incredibly wet conditions. The rain started a few hours before the game and did not let up. Chances were few and far between, but Kansas City seemed to get most of them.Sporting KC opened the scoring in the 28th minute, when Zusi put a free kick into the penalty area, bouncing it off the back of Collin's head and into the back of the net.In the first minute after ...3Nov/110
Seattle Sounders an Excellent Reason to Follow the MLS
Being an avid English Premier League and Champions League fan over the past decade, I found myself entirely unable to even casually follow Major League Soccer. How could I possibly appreciate the English inspired hit-and-run tactics employed by many MLS teams after watching Barcelona link together 15 passes before scoring easily? Did I really want to invest my precious time watching washed out stars such as David Beckham and Thierry Henry when I could instead watch current stars Wayne Rooney and Lionel Messi?Perceiving the MLS as essentially a developmental league solely existing to launch a small number of exceptionally talented Americans into top European leagues and the United States Men's National Team, I decided the league was entirely unworthy of my attention.While my judgment may have been warranted 10 years ago, this is certainly not the case anymore.Beginning with 10 teams in the 1996 inaugural season and surviving the dissolution of two teams in 2001, the MLS now features 18 teams with plans to expand to over 20 teams in the near future.With enough teams to form a respectable premier league, entry into the increasingly important CONCACAF Champions League, and a lucrative deal with NBC Sports Network, the MLS now has all ...3Nov/110
New York Cosmos: The Only Thing Fans Care About Is Whether You Join MLS
New York, NY - A week after Paul Kemsley stepped down as their Chairman/CEO, the New York Cosmos issued a statement on Wednesday regarding changes in their staff.In a statement sent to me from their front office, the New York Cosmos stated:"There has been a buyout at The New York Cosmos and management changes have taken place in various areas of our organization. This also results in a full restructure of both our business and staffing, which will continue to be assessed by the new leadership team that is expected to be appointed within the next 60 days. It is unequivocally the goal of the current ownership to become an MLS team in the most expedient manner possible, and decisions for the club will be made with this in mind."I hate to address it but if I don't, I'll lose face with my readers. Which leads us to the question, is the remaining staff capable of giving their supporters a Major League Soccer Franchise? Based on the recent overhaul within the New York Cosmos organization, it's clear that some things didn't flow as originally planned. It's rather unfortunate but one thing we eventually accept about sports is that at the end of ...2Nov/110