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| photo by erocsid |
- by Allison Norris, writing from Salt Lake City, Utah
Real Salt Lake demolished the Seattle Sounders in what was easily one of the absolute best matches of the year for the home team. Jason Kreis later credited the energy of the team to the atmosphere inside Rio Tinto Stadium. The audience was ready for a solid match and the team felt it. The small corner of Seattle travellers was rather quiet in comparison, despite their attempts at chants and choreography. RSL walked away from that match with three goals in hand – two from Alvaro Saborio, off assists from Javier Morales, and a third goal from Ned Grabavoy, assisted into the net by Seattle’s Brad Evans – though they were determined not to let that much of a lead guide their approach to the second leg at Seattle.
Kicking off in a downpour at Century Link Field, it was obvious from the first touch Seattle wanted to make a dramatic comeback. Possession was given to the Sounders, as well as attempts on goal. Real Salt Lake ended with very low possession and only one shot, not even on target. Fabian Espindola had the best chance of the night with a left-foot shot that was deflected by Kasey Keller. Most of the game was played in RSL’s half of the field with Seattle determined to get some goals. The Sounders were forced to make two substitutions in the first twenty minutes, obviously changing their approach to the game.
Real Salt Lake started without the skills of Olave or Borchers. They had a make-shift back line that had never played together in the history of the team. Tony Beltran made his return to the field after dealing with an injury for a month and a half. He played the full ninety and proved to be a very valuable piece to the away side. In the first half, Seattle had a chance on goal. Rimando was outside his box and Beltran made the lone run back to defend the goal. Seattle took the shot and with all his agility, Beltran made a huge save – heading the ball away as it sailed straight and true toward the back of the net. Even Seattle had to have been a little impressed. The fans at Century Link Field made their feelings known by booing Beltran as he made a throw-in a few moments later. Looking back, it was the save that changed the game.
Second half, Seattle came back determined and got the best of the visitors by getting in two goals. One, off a questionable penalty. Rimando chose correctly, but it went just beneath his reach. The second goal, off a mistake in RSL’s defense that rolled quietly to the far post. It was survival of the fittest after that. Real Salt Lake could not lose by more than two goals. They fought hard, having to take Javier Morales out due to injury. All attacking was lost and it was containment from there on out. Possession was patch and the ball skipped around all over the wet turf.
When the final whistle blew, after five minutes of agonizing extra-time, the television broadcast showed Jason Kreis’ face. He gave a giant sigh and looked at the sky. Every member of RSL Nation did the exact same thing. On the other hand, this match ended the career of goalkeeper Kasey Keller. It was a pretty relaxing night for him, but he likely would have chosen a different end. The Sounders are probably sad to lose such a skilled, respected veteran as Kasey Keller. Next season may be very different for them.
Back in April when Real Salt Lake was making their run to the CONCACAF Champions League Final, MLS regarded them as the best team in America. Everyone was behind them in their attempt to go further than any American team ever had. Everyone wanted to be like them. Adversity caught up with RSL, losing in the Final match and losing their form after Javier Morales’ injury. They were quickly pushed to the back of everyone’s thoughts. Now at the end of the season, no one is talking about the team that had accomplished so much earlier in the year. For an RSL fan it’s easy to see that in an alternate reality where they didn’t lose Morales to injury, or struggle with everything else that came their way, this is a team that would have easily been sitting at the top of the league. Those thirty minutes of relief, having their full squad on the field, was a show of what this team really can do. Finishing in third place is no laughing matter, considering everything this team has had to overcome.
As it stands, Real Salt Lake came through where it mattered most. Despite everyone’s opinion of what should have happened, they are now in the Western Conference final – one match away from another MLS Cup. This is a team that has something to prove and Seattle can now testify this opponent is not going to leave the competition without a fight.
Real Salt Lake is quite happy to fly under the radar.
- by Jonathan Nebel, writing from Overland Park, KS
Enter Charlie Davies.
After receiving the ball between the midfield at the 18-yard box, he begins his run down the right side of the box. Defender Chris Wingert steps over to stop the run. He slides in front of Davies, knocking the ball away slightly. It looks to be clean. He didn't touch Davies. He got the ball. Good play. Except for one small thing: Davies dived. He fell straight forward, as if he had been touched, and the ref awarded him a penalty. He grabs the ball, lines up for the penalty, slots it nicely in the bottom-left corner, just underneath the diving Rimando and wheels away to celebrate the point taken from Rio Tinto.
And, in this instance, taken should include all the negative connotation that you can imagine. RSL were robbed of 2 points and Davies had no shame in it.
Diving has been a controversial topic, especially in American circles, and most of the flak seems to revolve around Charlie Davies (or Diveies, if you like), as this is not his first dive in DC United colors. His actions are an absolute disgrace to the beautiful game, to MLS, to DC United and to himself.
All sports are mainly built around showing off physical ability and talent. For a striker, this means showing off your ability to get the ball past defenders and the goalkeeper and into the back of the net. Few things are as beautiful as watching a devastating attacker weave through defenders and slot the ball past the goalkeeper. On the other hand, there is nothing beautiful about pretending to be tackled. But, unfortunately, with the rules as is, there is greater incentive for attackers to fall over at the slightest contact (or even the possibility of contact) rather than try to create a wondrous goal to wow the audience. It is even worse when watching a player like Davies do it, because he has the talent and the ability to create beautiful goals, but instead he opts for diving.
That's part of what is harming a lot of South American players. In Brazil, Argentina and the rest of the continent, diving is part of the game. Players dive at midfield when touched in hopes of getting a free kick from 60 yards away. Once they're in the penalty box, its only a matter of time before players are rolling on the ground. Play-acting to get cards and free kicks is not a beautiful thing to watch. The world didn't fall in love with the Brazilian style of play because they were really good at diving to get penalties. We fell in love with them because of the amazing individual skill: the glorious backheels, gorgeous dribbling and exquisite finishing. And the fact that they did it all with the biggest smiles on their faces, not the fake grimace that fills the faces of delinquent divers.
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| photo by Ronnie Macdonald |
The world watched in horror as Barcelona and Real Madrid fought back and forth for the title of who would dive the most in the first leg of their Champions League battle. That spectacle was made even worse by the fact that neither of these teams need to resort to such petty tactics to get good results. After the game everyone agreed: that was not a good match. It was not beautiful. Arguably, the two best teams in the world put on one of the ugliest matches ever. It was a poor advertisement for the beautiful game.
As an American fan, I'm always working hard to get more American fans to support the game. Luckily, I had not convinced any of my friends to watch this game with me, because had they seen it, I would have never gotten them to watch another game. It was everything that was bad about the game crammed into one game. Save for Messi's brilliance at the end, it was nothing but a desolate wasteland.
To me, the only thing more aggravating than watching that wreck of a game or watching Davies dive to steal a point off of RSL is listening to people try to defend these actions. The apologists of diving are just as bad as those who are out on the field diving. If they cared about maintaining the beauty of this game, they would understand that diving has no place in this sport.
Some have pegged diving as the attacker's last refuge of safety against growing defenders who can push them around the pitch. This is disastrously wrong-headed. The attacker has an array of weapons to combat against defenders who might be much bigger. The biggest advantage is their smaller size. They are quicker. They maneuver better and should use this to get around defenders rather than running at them in the hopes of drawing a soft foul. The battle of big versus small, quick vs tough, is a classic matchup in all sports. To claim that the only way that the small, quick players can get by is to dive is to underestimate their ability tremendously. Also, there is no reason to think that all attackers are small and all defenders are big oafs. Bobby Zamora is one of many strikers who beat up and bruise defenders with their big size on their way to goal.
Others have argued that in the battle between defenders and attackers, defenders often use professional fouls to stop the run of play when an attacker has a goal-scoring opportunity. Therefore, attackers ought to be able to use diving. Both are against the rules, but most don't see professional fouls as some attack against the integrity of the game, so neither should they seeing diving in such a negative light.
This blurs the distinction between diving and professional fouls. The main difference is deception, specifically towards the referee. Deception is part of all sports. You want to deceive the opposing team into thinking that you are going one way when you are going the other or that you are going to run one play when you are actually running another. Deception is a key part of soccer, especially from a tactical point of view, but also when dealing with individual skill, but only when that deception goes as far as the opponent. During the course of the game, it is the referee's duty to mete out justice: to keep the game fair for both teams. In order for this to be successful, the referee cannot be deceived. In a court of law, deceiving a judge can see you imprisoned for perjury. On the football pitch, deceiving a referee ought to be met with punishment as well and should not be praised. It stifles the game and creates an unfair match.
Chris Wingert had done nothing wrong when he knocked the ball away from Charlies Davies, but he was punished for it, because Davies deceived the referee. Would the defenders of diving feel the same if instead of giving a PK, Wingert was given a prison sentence because Davies deceived a judge? The principle is the same in both situations. Deceiving that person who is duty-bound to dole out justice is not a moral action. (This rule comes with one exception: if that judge is not doling out justice correctly, then you ought to deceive the judge to make sure that his or her false sense of justice is not taken out on innocent persons. This exception will never appear on the football pitch, though, even if it is quite common in the court of law.)
Diving is wrong, because it attempts to deceive the referee and causes him or her to mete out justice incorrectly due to false information. Professional fouls are perfectly fine, because they in no way attempt to deceive the referee. The player engaging in a professional foul understands what they are doing and what the consequences are and ought to be willing to pay them as they are spelled out. That's why I had no problem with Suarez using his hands to keep the Ghanaian shot out of goal, but am deeply troubled by Davies' dive against RSL.
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| [photo by Scott Dierdorf] |
- by Tyler Walter, writing from Fairfax, VA
Well before then, their run to MLS Cup 2009 was ruled out as a fluke, consequently leading to harsh criticism that the problem is not the format of the playoffs, it is the fact that we have playoffs to determine champions that only the MLS front office calls “league champions”.
This past year, Salt Lake has proven to everyone that their MLS Cup run was no chain of good luck, and that they could play consistent. Why, they probably play some of the most attractive football in MLS. That’s great for the sake of the U.S. and Canada, but this run to the Champions League finals has proven that Salt Lake is a phenomenal team, perhaps the best since the late-90’s D.C. United.
Yet, as Greg Lalas over at MLSSoccer.com said, should RSL defeat the mighty Monterrey this organization could go down as a legendary club. They’ll win the hearts of the North American soccer fans, and make the American soccer niche proud.
To win the hearts of the European and South American fans, as well as our fake soccer fans in our bag year (ahem, ignorant Eurosnobs), they’ll need to not only make it to the Club World Cup, but be pitted against the toughest opposition and win.
Such a instant credible score to MLS could be accomplished in a mere matter of months, and it starts tonight.
A version of this article also appears on Bleacher Report.
- by Tyler Walter, writing from Fairfax, VA
As hard as it is to believe the league is still surviving this far in, given its structure, the 17th season will begin March 19 with the Seattle Sounders (once again) hosting the Los Angeles Galaxy. No brainer there, nothing better than showpiece your opening match in front of 40,000 passionate fans with the glitter players of Landon Donovan, David Beckham, along with fan favorites Freddy Montero, Kasey Keller and Steve Zakuani.
Some predictions like the one above are easy, but predicting teams' outcomes as well as Cup outcomes come down to figuring out what teams care about what tournaments and just simply throwing drawing names out of a hat.
Alright, it was not that difficult, and this year might be the season with the most disparity in MLS, which actually might be relishing, to hardcore fans at least.
1. New York Cosmos will become the 20th MLS franchise
Can anyone argue against this? Of course not.
With every underlying hint that MLS is keen on a second New York franchise, it's inevitable that the Cosmos will be announced as the 20th MLS club in the coming months. Pending the stadium deal of course.
In the announcement, we can all anticipate Garber saying how the Cosmos will stoke an intense inter-city derby with Red Bull New York, and rant about the importance of rivalries. Look forward to whatever cup name the league calls it. "Empire Derby", "N.Y. Derby"?
2. Real Salt Lake will win CONCACAF Champions League
Three days now until the long-waited match-up between Real Salt Lake and Columbus Crew. And while every soccer fan across the nation is dismissing Columbus' chances of progressing, they have their right to do so.
Dismantled with the loss of several key cogs, the Crew are poised for a painfully mediocre campaign of rebuilding. Doubt that means a last-place finish, but missing the MLS Cup Playoffs would be far from surprising. Especially if the Crew chase after the SuperLiga and U.S. Open Cup as retribution.
Salt Lake, on the other hand, is coming off what I would say is their best year ever. Yes, there was no MLS Cup, no Supporters Shield, nor a U.S. Open Cup title involved, but lets take a look at their season: including the playoffs, the regular season and the CONCACAF Champions League combined, Salt Lake only lost six matches. Not bad. Additionally, the club amassed over 20 victories.
Salt Lake ended up becoming the first American/MLS club to win a Champions League group, complimented by a second place overall finish in the league.
Poised to make the World Club Cup, it's going to take a series of roadblocks to kill their momentum.
3. D.C. United will win the U.S. Open Cup
The United seem to take advantage of their talent in the domestic cup tournament whenever their club does not have a realistic stab at any other piece of hardware.
Think about it. The United last won the Cup title in 2008, when they failed to qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs, and failed to qualify out of their Champions League group. Additionally, in 2007, in a season highlighted by a semifinal run in Champions League, as well as a Supporters Shield league title, their Open Cup performance was horrendous, losing their opening Third Round proper to third-tier Harrisburg City Islanders.
Now, the United has a great crop of incoming players, most notably Charlie Davies. One may argue that Dax McCarty and Perry Kitchen were great pickups too. Should their young squad and recent acquisitions gel with current United youngsters like Andy Najar and Chris Pontius, the United might actually be a playoff bubble team headed into 2011. Still, too early.
But since only the United and the Sounders have only been the two MLS clubs in recent years to give the U.S. Open Cup some dignity, the club might actually just win the Open Cup.
4.Whitecaps will qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs
In spite of the MLS spotlight being shined on and focused hard on the Pacific Northwest, it seems more times than not, that the talk is solely about the Timbers vs. Sounders rivalry. Not so much about the Whitecaps is thrown into the equation.
Additionally, their preseason success could preamble what to expect going into 2011.
Now, fair enough, preseason matches do not mean so much. D.C. United went 7-1-1 in preseason, including an way win at Santos Laguna, and looked what happened. Contrastingly, the Colorado Rapids had a 1-3-1 preseason record.
Perhaps it weakens my argument, but these matches can construct confidence within the club, and can carry over to the MLS season. Whether victories can rack up enough points for a post-season birth is up in the air.
I just think it will happen.
5. Chicago Fire will finish dead last
When it comes to major off-season loses for clubs, most soccer fans immediately declare Columbus as the team with the most loses.
I disagree, if any team had the most blows this offseason, it's Chicago Fire.
Lets begin listed each of the key players the club lost in the past couple of months: Wilman Conde, C.J. Brown, Brian McBride, Collins John, Freddie Ljungberg and Nery Castillo.
Fair enough, Castillo is only out on a loan, but he will miss a majority of the Fire's season. But in spite of that...that's a serious quantity of talent missing from the core players.
And the Fire were not even that solid last season. Coincidently, they finished in 10th place, like D.C. United did in 2009. Hints?
Yes, I'm going to make a gung-ho prediction and say Chicago Fire will reenact the United's horrors in 2011. It's not to say they'll barely nab any victories, nor lose 20 losses, because predicting a final record in MLS is a waste of analysis, but whatever the weakest records should be this season, the Fire will obtain that Wooden Spoon infamy.
6. Freddy Adu will not return to MLS
Listed next to promotion, relegation and single tables, another wish among certain MLS fans is for Freddy Adu to return to MLS, hoping it will ignite a comeback.
Some of the fuel for that may have been lost thanks to Charlie Davies and his loan deal with D.C. United, but as that cools down, the topic of Adu will likely heat up, especially when the summer transfer window opens and his loan to second-division Turkish club, [???] finishes up, presuming they do not want Adu. Given his track record, that seems likely.
In that circumstance, the soccer niche will–once again–erupt in the hopes that Adu once and for all tries to rebuild himself in the states.
We'll kick, scream and whine that Cooper's doing it, Davies' is doing it, and waste time pondering why Adu will not. Whatever the reason may be, it will result in Adu having haughty beliefs that MLS is lower than leagues he's being loaned to.
7. Some things will never change
As inevitable as it has already been, the same debates of promotion, relegation, single tables, meaningful vs. meaningless competitions and salary caps will not only linger through 2011, but intensify.
Easily this will not necessarily affect how MLS does day-to-day work, but it might once and for make them think twice about certain league formats if it consequently leads to a third-consecutive fluke, complimented with horrid TV ratings going into 2012.
8. An MLS team will win the SuperLiga
SuperLiga talks this offseason have been incredibly, incredibly dormant, and my skepticism about the 2011 series actually happening is decreasing day-by-day.
With the mess of U.S. Open Cup propers, the Gold Cup, World Cup qualifying, the All-Star game, European friendlies, CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Rounds and the MLS regular season all ongoing this summer, it's going to be a miracle for the league to delegate some days for this tournament to happen.
Unless of course the league decides to host it in the Spring, which I see as the only realistic possibility if this tournament is to happen.
Should this happen, I see an MLS club winning the title, being the first to do so since the New Revolution in 2008. Who that club will be, that's a good question.
My supposition as to why an American club wins this tournament is because they'll be coming to form whereas the Mexican clubs will be burned out, using this as an opportunity to give reserves some exercise time. Then again, it could be a battle of the B-sides if MLS clubs follow suit.
Given the tournament rising importance, and envisions that it could become the Europa League of CONCACAF, it may be to MLS clubs' advantage should they field stronger squads and put interest into this, sometimes meaningless tournament.
9. MLS and Versus will not reach a TV deal
This rumor started as the MLS and Fox Soccer Channel contract was nearing expiration, and the excitement of the possibility of MLS matches televised on Versus could not have been more excited to daydream about.
The primary belief was that it could have been a continuation of soccer (as a spectator sport) could finally claw its way out of its niche and be on a channel that's not solely devoted to soccer, but to a series of sports such as cycling, rugby, hockey and other extreme sports.
Versus probably would have given MLS a decent amount of respect and promotion since they would be televising a top-tier sports league on their channel. It would be secondary to NHL coverage, but as a summer sport, it would likely received high-end priority.
If there was any actual debate about this, odds are nothing materialized due to two factors: ratings and money. It's like a college or job application. You can buffer it up with cute perks, but it comes down to grades and achievement. Something the league simply cannot bolster.
Consequently, while Versus probably had the upper hand in dictating contracts, MLS wanted the tables to turn, offering a fee that's way too overpriced. Versus likely offered a price too modest for what MLS considered standards.
As a result, we're in MLS just extending its contract with FSC for a year with the same terms. Either MLS will pay FSC a slightly higher fee in 2012, or the same deals extended. Which I see happening.
Versus? I wouldn't throw it out just yet, but I'm doubting it for the time being.
10. Red Bull New York will win the Supporters' Shield
If you have not heard, Hans Backe has declared that RBNY's primary goal headed into 2011 is winning the Supporters' Shield.
Yes, the Supporters' Shield. Backe's belief is that the Supporters Shield is a more prestigious honor to earn than the MLS Cup, citing that the MLS Cup is a "crapshoot" that a team with a hot streak over six or seven games can nab.
Indeed, the Shield requires much more consistency, and it's refreshing to see a club treat the Cup as a secondary honor to the Shield with equal incentives (Group Stage spot in the Champions League).
New York has the depth, star power and mentality to do so. It has a solid back-line led by Rafa Marquez and rising star Tim Ream, complemented by another rising star Juan Agudelo on the attacking flank with Thierry Henry. Add in the speed of Dane Richards and the consistency of Joel Lindpere, and that alone creates a nightmare for a team to face.
Though its season was thrown into uncertainty at the beginning of the 2010 campaign, the club found its balance and prevented the Eastern Conference clubs from looking like a total joke. Sad thing is, New York might be the only club on the East Coast for any honor this year.
Enough is enough though, and RBNY will finally earn its first major title. RBNY has waited far too long and deserves it.
11. Seattle Sounders FC will win MLS Cup 2011
When Sounders FC fans see their club's trophy record, they envision the U.S. Open Cup as a nice title to have, but the MLS Cup is the ultimate goal.
As for the Sounders FC themselves, winning the MLS Cup is the difference between earning a Group Stage spot in the Champions League, rather than a Preliminary Round spot. Ultimately, Champions League and Club World Cup glory are their most prestigious goals, but first the club's goal will be more near-sighted...and that's the MLS Cup.
Given their arsenal of weapons, Sounders FC should once again be a favorite to win the league title. The club still has veteran keeper Kasey Keller manning the nets, along with the entertaining duo of Fredy Montero and Steve Zakuani. They have up and coming Alvaro Fernandez, who
hopefully will gel with the club this season, along with the experienced Blaise Nkufo.
The scenario would simply be that the club has its high points, swoons and something as retribution for its shortcomings in the Open Cup and the Champions League: the MLS Cup. I predict they'll have a hot streak just before the postseason tournament.
It will help keep the rivalry flare sparkling with Portland and Vancouver going into 2012.
A version of this article appeared in Bleacher Report and in Tyler Talk.