24Jun/120
Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Los Angeles Galaxy: 6 Things We Learned
The biggest victory of the season for Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy was followed up by their most complete performance of the year: a 3-0 shutout of Martin Rennie's Vancouver Whitecaps at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.With the win, Los Angeles now improve to 6-8-2 (20 points) and are fifth in the MLS Western Conference.And as with every victory, lessons are to be learned from this performance. Here are six things we learned from Saturday night's result for LA.Begin Slideshow21Jun/120
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Vancouver Whitecaps Live Blog: Play-by-Play Analysis
Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy continue their 2012 Major League Soccer season on Saturday night when they take on the Vancouver Whitecaps at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.The Galaxy are currently 5-8-2 (17 points) and have an uphill battle to climb just to get back in the chase for a spot in the MLS Cup playoffs.The Whitecaps are 7-3-5 (26 points) and will look to chase San Jose and Real Salt Lake with a win this weekend.Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PT and will be televised locally by KDOC and KWHY. The live blog will start at approximately 5:15 p.m. PT.Keep it right here on Bleacher Report for continuing coverage of the 2012 MLS season and all things world football. Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com21Jun/120
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Vancouver Whitecaps: 10 Bold Predictions
Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy conclude their gauntlet of matches with a Saturday night match against Martin Rennie's Vancouver Whitecaps at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.Arena's men are boosted with the prospects that Robbie Keane will return to the lineup after a rather terrible campaign with the Republic of Ireland at Euro 2012.Los Angeles are currently 5-8-2 and take on a Vancouver team that is coming off a 1-1 draw to the New York Red Bulls at home.Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET, and will be televised by KDOC and KWHY. Here are 10 bold predictions ahead of Saturday's tilt.Begin Slideshow21Jun/120
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Real Salt Lake: Rating David Beckham’s Performance
Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy had their biggest victory of the season, a 3-2 win over Real Salt Lake on the road at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. The kicker: midfielder David Beckham didn't play much of a factor in all of it except for the passing aspect of the game. He did have a couple of chances and his best chance came in the 22nd minute, when a free kick just missed the top-right corner by meters. The issue here for Beckham as he continues his preparations for London is that he still cannot find the right people to receive his set pieces on a consistent basis. Case in point: 17th minute, when a free kick for Beckham was headed high and over the crossbar by David Junior Lopes. I am sure that the kids on Team GB can finish those chances better than Lopes will ever finish them. Also to his credit, Beckham did help sway the calls for referee Kevin Stott, who I think was starstruck by the moment of it all. While the RSL fans will disagree with me here, I will go for the record and say that Kevin Stott called a fair match. ...21Jun/120
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Real Salt Lake: Rating the Galaxy Players
This is what you call a statement victory. Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy were in need of upsetting someone to ensure that parity reigned supreme in Major League Soccer. They got it on Wednesday night in their 3-2 win over Jason Kreis' Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. The Galaxy only improve to 5-8-2 with this victory (17 points), but if you're a Vancouver Whitecaps fan, you might have a reason to hold your breath coming into Saturday. Big victories like this deserve good ratings. Here are the player ratings for Wednesday night's surprise result. Josh Saunders 7.5 Didn't acquit himself in the first 30 minutes of the game, but as soon as Landon Donovan got the Galaxy back on track, Josh Saunders' play improved. Saunders made three big saves and he was instrumental in helping maintain L.A.'s 3-2 victory late. Todd Dunivant 6 Consistent defending from the Iron Man. Really kept the likes of Fabian Espindola, Javier Morales, Will Johnson and Kyle Beckerman in check late. I am giving him minus points for not marking Kyle Beckerman on the first goal of the game. David Junior Lopes 6.5 This was a much better effort from ...21Jun/120
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Real Salt Lake: 6 Things We Learned
Major League Soccer is not the Premier League. It's not just the talent level, but that big word we like to call "parity," that defines the MLS. Wednesday night's 3-2 win for Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy over Jason Kreis's Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah was the epitome of parity in the top flight of American soccer.The Galaxy are off to a surprising climb up the MLS Western Conference standings. The Vancouver Whitecaps are officially on notice. Here are six things we learned from Wednesday night's tilt.Begin Slideshow21Jun/120
MLS: Seattle Sounders’ Patrick Ianni with Goal of Year Strike in Draw to KC
It was a goal for the ages, and a mid-season front-runner for MLS Goal of the Year.In minute number 15, Mauro Rosales served the ball to the far post from a set piece, and Seattle defender Patrick Ianni connected with a sideways volley kick, which will make its way onto MLS promos and soccer highlight videos for at least the foreseeable future.Sporting Kansas City was riding high after Jacob Peterson capitalized on a ball that landed at his feet in the box in the eighth minute. Seattle fans' hurt lasted just seven minutes.The hosts were left a little surprised at Sporting's move to sit some of their star players.Kei Kamara, C.J. Sapong, Julio César and Graham Zusi were all on the bench for the start of the game, marking the first time this season that Sporting coach Peter Vermes had chosen to really mix up their starting lineup.There weren't any changes for Kansas City by halftime, but they only waited five minutes into the second half to substitute midfielder Graham Zusi into the mix.Fifteen minutes later, MLS All-Star candidate Kei Kamara entered the game to give Sporting a more familiar feel.Kansas City never committed men forward in extra time despite a red card to Seattle's Alvaro ...18Jun/120
Brek Shea Exclusive: FC Dallas Star Talks USMNT, Football, MLS, Arsenal, Tattoos
Brek Shea been called "one of the biggest young talents" in American soccer by Jurgen Klinsmann. He's trained with Arsenal and at age 22, he's already a regular in the United States national team. After a breakthrough campaign in 2011, the current season has proven to be more of a struggle for Shea, who has missed playing time through injury and suspension. And Shea was not selected for the United States' recent friendly matches and World Cup qualifiers, a first under Klinsmann.Shea spoke about all those topics and more when I caught up with him on the phone last week. Here's what he had to say.MICHAEL CUMMINGS: Hi Brek, thanks for speaking with me today. Let's talk about growing up in Texas. First, how did you get into soccer, and what was it like being a soccer guy deep in the heart of Texas? BREK SHEA: (Laughs) Yeah, I mean football is everything (in Texas). It’s actually grown a lot here. Dallas is a pretty big hotbed for soccer. But growing up in Bryan, Texas, soccer wasn’t anything at all. I had to drive all the way to Houston to play on a team. I remember I was in high ...18Jun/120
Chicago Fire: Scorching Offense Helps the Fire Torch the New York Red Bulls 3-1
Going into the game against the New York Red Bulls, the Chicago Fire were looking for a good start. Within only four minutes into the first half, a goal by forward Patrick Nyarko gave the energetic crowd of 18,526 something to celebrate. The end result: a 3-1 scorching of the Red Bulls that helped the Fire jump ahead of both the Houston Dynamo and their rivals, the Columbus Crew. The Fire went into halftime up 1-nil against the Red Bulls, who were without Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez. During the first 45 minutes, the Fire showed great passing and solid defense. In the second half of the match, the tide began to turn, leading to a game-tying goal by Dax McCarty of the Red Bulls in the 55th minute. Shortly after, controversy ensued in the 64th minute of play when an apparent goal by Dominic Oduro was disallowed. The ball appeared to have made its way into the net after deflecting off of Red Bull goalkeeper Ryan Meara’s finger tips. Speaking with Oduro after the match about his scoring opportunities, he took a moment to reflect on the disallowed goal. “As you can see there was one ball in that clearly ...18Jun/120