31Mar/130
MLS Week 5 Roundup: 10 Highlights You Don’t Want to Miss
Week 5 in Major League Soccer didn’t disappoint as there were plenty of thrills from eight different games on Saturday. Landon Donovan returned to action for the L.A. Galaxy, the Montreal Impact finally lost a game and the U.S. U-20 contingent continued to impress. Check it all out in this week’s MLS roundup.Begin Slideshow31Mar/130
New York Red Bulls 2-1 Philadelphia Union: 5 Things We Learned
The New York Red Bulls finally picked up their first win of the 2013 Major League Soccer season on Saturday afternoon, beating the Philadelphia Union 2-1. After an 0-2-2 start, New York finally got their first three-point effort on the back of goals by Dax McCarty and Thierry Henry. Here are five things we learned from the game.Begin Slideshow17Mar/130
Bill Hamid, DC United Steal Point in Rivalry Game vs. New York Red Bulls
D.C. United spoiled the New York Red Bulls home opener on Saturday afternoon, earning a 0-0 draw largely through the spectacular efforts of their goalkeeper Bill Hamid. The matchup was the first game on tap for Major League Soccer’s rivalry week and, despite the scoreline, provided more than its fair share of excitement. New York clearly dominated the contest, out-possessing D.C. United 57 percent to 43 percent, respectively, and outshooting their rivals 24-4. However, D.C.’s defense held strong through most of the contest and was saved from danger when it did break down through several spectacular efforts from Hamid. Hamid’s remarkable effort had to be particularly satisfying for him after his bungled own-goal howler and sending off in last year’s D.C. United-New York playoff series nearly cost his team a chance at playing for the Eastern Conference championship. Hamid was busy right from the get go, parrying away a beautiful effort from Thierry Henry in only the eighth minute. Then, right before the half, Hamid had a nice punch on a long service into D.C. United’s box. In the second half, Hamid picked up right where he had left off. In the 67th minute, he impressively swatted away a chance ...15Mar/130
Why the New York Red Bulls vs. D.C. United Is MLS Match to Watch This Weekend
This Saturday, Major League Soccer has scheduled its first-ever “Rivalry Week.” The day will feature seven of the league’s top rivalry games starting at 12:30 p.m. ET with the New York Red Bulls vs. D.C. United match and concluding with the Portland Timbers vs. Seattle Sounders match at 8 p.m. ET with five other games sandwiched in between. The center-piece of this day-long soccer fiesta will be “The Breakaway”, a two and half hour show that MLS is deeming as their version of the NFL’s “Red Zone” show. “The Breakaway” will run concurrently through four of the mid-day matchups. While there are many tantalizing matchups on the docket for Saturday, particularly the game between Seattle and Portland, the Red Bulls-D.C. United game is definitely the one not to miss. Here’s why. Mike Petke v. Ben Olsen One of the best storylines coming out of the New York-D.C. game is the coaching matchup between former teammates Mike Petke and Ben Olsen. Petke and Olsen played together for parts of three seasons with D.C. United, winning the MLS Cup in 2004 together.Although Olsen struggled a bit in his first full season as D.C. United manager in 2011 with the team going ...10Mar/130
New England Revolution Impressive, Chicago Fire Listless in Week 2 Matchup
On Saturday night in front of a sparse crowd on a blustery night in Chicago, the New England Revolution opened up their 2013 campaign with a 1-0 away win over the struggling Chicago Fire. Honduran Jerry Bengtson scored the game-winner for the Revolution in the 61st minute, as he headed in a beautifully chipped pass from second-half substitute Kelyn Rowe. The Revolution, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2009, looked sharp through much of the contest, putting together some great attacking combinations through their midfield.Coming off a 2012 campaign in which New England struggled to find goals, the Revolution found solid stretches on possession in the attacking third through the midfield play, particularly through the efforts of Juan Carlos Toja, who was involved in most of the Revolution’s dangerous sequences. For the Fire, who lost their 2013 opener last week to the L.A. Galaxy, things are beginning to look much worse. Center midfielder Joel Lindpere, who was brought in to help the Fire improve their central midfield play, once again struggled to impact the game and went long stretches without getting on the ball. When he did get involved, Lindpere was just average.In the 32nd minute, Lindpere served a great ...8Mar/130
5 Key Battles to Watch in MLS This Weekend
The 2013 Major League Soccer season is off and running and after a series of great Week One matchups, there is plenty to look forward to in Week Two. Particularly tantalizing this weekend will be the matchup between DC United and Real Salt Lake on Saturday and the game between the New York Red Bulls and the San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday. Here are five key battles to watch in this weekend’s games.Begin Slideshow5Mar/130
Thierry Henry: Grading His Opening Performance for the New York Red Bulls
In their opening match of the 2013 season, the New York Red Bulls and Thierry Henry played to a 3-3 away draw against the Portland Timbers. But, despite the fact that earning a point on the road is certainly a positive for team, the Red Bulls earned that point with little to no help from Thierry Henry. Henry started the match and even played the full 90, but struggled the entire evening to make an impact on the game. Throughout Henry’s MLS career, his modus operandi has always been that he can be brilliant when he wants to be, but downright pedestrian when he isn’t in the mood. This exact idea was expressed by ESPN commentator Taylor Twellman during the pregame broadcast of Sunday night’s match when Twellman said, “The question for the Red Bulls and (New York Red Bulls head coach) Mike Petke is which Thierry Henry are they going to get?” Henry was listed in the opening lineup as the central striker in New York’s 4-2-1-3, but he quickly drifted out to the left side of the front line and remained there for the first 45 minutes of the game. In the first half, Henry was a non-factor, ...4Mar/130
MLS 2013: 10 Things We Learned from the Opening Weekend
Major League Soccer kicked off its 2013 campaign this weekend with a full slate of games over Saturday and Sunday. As is typical for an opening weekend in any league, there were some surprising results as well as results that almost everyone saw coming. Here are 10 things we learned from MLS’s opening weekend.Begin Slideshow1Mar/130
Ranking the 2013 MLS Designated Players
MLS’ designated player rule, also known as the Beckham Rule, was created as a way for Major League Soccer teams to sign high-profile players, increase attention for the league and excite the league’s fan base. Since then it has become increasingly used by teams to pay transfer fees to bring in relatively unknown players who address a particular need for a team. There is no doubt the rule has been a success in the five years it has been in place, with David Beckham’s tenure in the league helping to raise the profile of MLS abroad. With the 2013 season about to kick off, here is how the league’s current DPs rank. The rankings are based solely on their performances in Major League Soccer.Begin Slideshow27Feb/130