The last game of the regular
season decided who got the last place in the 2007 play offs; Blanco goes
onwards whilst Beckham gets to ruminate before another season starts.
First let’s start with the axe –
now that the eight teams have their chance to prepare for the first leg what do
the other franchises do.
WEST:-
Colorado – A team with a solid manager and a
real lack of goals. Will the wily Clavijo
retain his job? I haven’t seen enough of
the Rapids this season to really make anything more than a guess.
LA Galaxy – surely a coach; who
admittedly managed to get the team on a late season burst with some good away
wins; who has a goal difference of -10; only won nine times in a thirty game season;
who has the best US player on is side and the terrible mismanagement of Beckham’s
(a manager who doesn’t get to decide his team sheet should surely resign
immediately) and finally the Galaxy played some of the poorest MLS football
this season, especially the back four; should go. Alexi Lalas comes across as pretty hard nosed
and it’s hard to see how he can justify keeping Yallop on.
Yallop isn’t a bad coach but he’s
probably not the coach that LA need right now.
Real Salt Lake – still struggling with the
previous coach’s poor initial selection of players Jason Kreis is making the
best of a bad hand. Trouble is he’s
traded quality for quality (Beckerman for Ballouchy) so the team as a whole
remains rather poor (Eddie Pope aside but he’ll retire now) and he’s barely out
of his playing boots. He’s a prime candidate
to accept an assistants job but without any coaching experience I think the
rebuilding of Real is beyond him.
EAST:-
Columbus Crew – Some quality players and a
useful coach but a lack of consistency.
That might save Sigi Schmid’s job.
Toronto FC – Mo Johnston has a
sound platform upon which to build, his season has been up and down with two
terrible records to his name (longest winless streak and longest goalless
streak); but he has shown signs of good management and will probably be given at
least 2008 to really turn things around, he really needs to sort out his sievelike
defence.
FIRST ROUND MATCH UPS:-
October 25th
Chicago Fire v DC United
One convincing win for DC and two
draws. DC have taken their foot of the
gas a touch recently and Chicago
will be buoyed by the win against LA.
Expect a tight game with a result for DC. Will Emilio have his shooting boots on?
The weather forecast is cool; mid
40’s; and cloudy.
October 27th
New York Red Bulls v New England Revolution
Two wins and an away draw. The rivalry, the form of NE and home
advantage scream a home win. Angel’s
performance in front of goal could a spanner in the works though.
The weather forecast is cool; low
50’s with a chance of showers and thunderstorms.
FC Dallas v Houston
Dynamo
Two wins and goalless draw
without conceding a goal. Houston seem to have their
rivals’ number. De Rosario is the one to
watch in this game.
The weather forecast is mostly
clear with temperatures in the 60s.
Kansas City Wizards v Chivas USA
Both sides won at home this
season. Tough one to call; if Chivas
injury problems subside you have to fancy them for the win. How will Eddie Johnson perform in front of
goal?
The weather forecast is partly
cloudy and temperatures in the 50s.
This season the East has five teams, the West just three. Is the East the better conference?
The Supporter’s Shield goes to
the East.
63 wins versus 43 for play off
teams – an average of 12.6 versus 14.3.
230 goals versus 126 scored for
play off teams – an average of 46 versus 42.
207 goals versus 95 conceded for
the play off teams – an average of 41.4 versus 31.6.
Each Eastern conference team has
three inter conference games but only plays two against the West.
Each Western conference team has
three inter conference games but only plays two against the East.
Of the ten top scorers only nine
make the play offs; of those nine 6 are from the East.
New York has Angel (19) and Altidore (9). New England
has Twellman (16). Kansas City has Johnson (15). Chivas has Galyndo (12) and Razov (11). LA has Donovan (8). DC has Emilio (20) and Gomez (10).
Of the top five goalkeepers; by
MLS statistics; three are in the West and one of those won’t be in the play
offs.
Assist leaders (for the stattos
amongst you) with only Schelloto from Columbus
missing out. Again, Chivas have two,
Kljestan 13) and Razov (8). LA has
Donovan (13). New
England has Ralston (14). Kansas City has Arnaud
(9). New York has van den Bergh (8). DC has Gomes (9) and Fred (8).
Feisty players abound, the top
yellow card holders (making the play offs are) Robinson (11) for Houston. Marsch (9) and Nagamura (8) for Chivas. Olsen (8) for DC. And the only real livewire in the play offs
is New York’s
Mathis with two reds.
The Supporter’s Shield winner has
won the MLS Cup four times:-
1997 – DC United
1999 – DC United
2000 – Kansas City
2002 – LA Galaxy
Whomever you think is the best
conference it’ll be a tough competition.
The away goal rule will surely come into play so a 2-1 loss away in the
first game isn’t curtains. Some of the
best talents in the MLS are being left out this year but the teams involved
have enough quality to provide the end of season tournament with plenty of
quality football. This season no one
team has dominated the league; every team has had it’s ups and downs. And when it’s win or go home the games can
throw up suprises.
I still have to go with DC – they’ve
just played the best football I’ve seen in the MLS this season.
LA show fight but defensive frailty and offensive stutters can’t give
them the needed victory, Donovan is superb and Angel isn’t in a 1:1 draw.
Huge support out in Carson, many
hoping to get a glimpse of LA’s superstar Designated player. The evening was temperate and the atmosphere;
in the purpose built stadium; was bouncing.
Five wins on the trot had seen LA raise themselves up from also rans to
potential contenders. Lose this game and
they have to wait till next year and Yallop is likely sacked; win and they
control their fate, draw and their play off hopes are dependent on other
results. New York
was determined not to just roll over although a repeat of the nine goal;
defensively awful; game in New York
was unlikely.
Yallop would again pack his bench
with talent; the starting eleven play in a 4 4 2 formation with Pavon and
Donovan up front; the number 10 will be the deeper player; width in midfield is
provided by Jones and Martino, Tudela and Vagenas provide some meat in the
middle; Roberts and Jazic provide solidity at centre back with Klein is the
right back with a license to attack mirrored by Randolph on the left; Cannon
keeps goal.
Ex USMNT manager Arena started
with Conway in goal; van den Burgh provides width and crosses from the left
with Mendes and Parke inside him and Freeman on the right; Richards provides
pace and crosses from the right with Altidore moving out wide to cover for
injury and suspensions; Stammler and Vide are tough tackler in the middle with
Angel; MLS’s second highest goal scorer this season and Wolyniec up front.
Klein shows LA’s intentions with
a bold right sides run, his cross let run by a team mate and falls to the
surprised Martino whose finish is poor.
Altidore cuts through the LA left
and lays a beautiful ball into the are for Angel; the Colombian is timid as
Cannon bravely smothers the tame shot which then goes for a corner, Stammler
gets forward to take and gets it back from Vide after a weak LA clearance, his
back post ball is almost perfect but Angel; rising unchallenged amidst the poor
LA defence; heads wide of the far post.
Richards and Randolph start the
battle that will last all night; the Jamaican skins the American and whips a
ball in which only ends up as a corner kick; Wolyniec’s attitude wins another
corner; Richards cuts once too many to bamboozle Randolph and Jazic is able to
step in and clear; van den Burgh plays a ball up to a wide Angel, he cuts
inside, rides a challenge from Richards and sets up Wolyniec, Klein is
excellent in covering the shot; the ball is being kept well by New York and
their attacking intent is causing all sorts of problems for LA, they just
haven’t got the class to be in front.
Richards and Freeman combine to
send in a ball for Angel but Cannon is quicker to the ball than the Colombian;
quick distribution from Cannon sees Pavon at the other end win a corner kick,
Altidore’s clearing header falls to Martino who lays it wide to Donovan, a
quick run and a great cross sees Conway in no mans land and an unmarked
Richards at the back post have an easy header for an LA lead.
The lead wouldn’t last long; van
den Bergh makes a run on the left, crosses from deep and a shoddy LA defence is
pulled apart by Wolyniec’s near post run, Altidore is in his favoured spot and
makes no mistakes, heading past Cannon from six yards out. The softest of equalizers may have cost LA
their play off place.
LA have some fight in them;
Donovan sees a chance flash just wide; his run is good but the cross isn’t; he
forces a corner kick and LA keep New York pinned back; a poor clearance from
Conway; who was used almost like a sweeper for much of the first half; kicks a
poor clearance which comes back to Donovan off van den Burgh, the number ten’s
effort is deflected narrowly over; Pavon falls into the New York offside trap
(again and again and again and again and again until he eventually gets
subbed); on the half hour a van den Bergh free kick comes into the LA area, the
defenders don’t but Angel hasn’t got his shooting boots on and Cannon saves
easily.
Conway
comes up with a good save after a great overlapping Klein run and cross, the clearance
comes back but Conway
just beats Donovan to the long ball.
Wolyniec gets a fabulous ball
into Angel but one too many touches by the Colombian allow him to be closes
down and his shot is off balance and wild; a good clearance from Cannon sets
Jones free, the veteran skins van den Bergh and whips in a great cross which is
wasted with non existent LA movement.
Plenty of chances in a first half littered with slack attacking and poor
defending.
Leitch comes on for the inured
van den Bergh at the start of the second half.
Yallop was ambivalent about his
side allowing such a rapid equalizer; a reason we probably won’t see him at LA
next year; “that’s football” was his quote, he wants his side to “keep on
keeping on” and suggested he’ll have Beckham on in the second half.
Parke lofts the ball forward to
Donovan who shows world class (yes really! stunning skills by the LA #10) with
his cushioning of the ball whilst on the move, his excellence in seeing the
wide run of Martino and his quickness of thought in playing the ball perfectly
into the path of the winger, Martino cuts deeper into the area and unleashes a
shot across Conway but the keeper is alert and holds onto the ball with Donovan
sprinting in to mop up any Robinsonesque error.
WOW! This clip should be on every MLS
season highlight reel! Awesome skill on display from Donovan, great movement
off the ball and a fine shot from Martino and a great save under pressure from Conway. WOW!
It was nice to hear Wynalda suitably
awestruck!
Roberts heads over from a well
delivered back post corner; Donovan sees a fine cross well cut out; LA are
surging forward; almost desperate for the win.
Richards has a fine run; in which
he skins Randolph
(again); and cross wasted by Angel, the Colombian takes too many touches and
the shot is blocked; Angel and Richards combine again with some neat interplay
but the move breaks down; when the ball comes out to Stammler he has a wild
shot from distance.
LA try to keep the tempo high but
their attacks lack a cutting edge, their play in midfield is good, harrying New
York and not allowing them time to settle; but the away side still look to break;
Richards finds himself in space, has a good run and shot which is well saved by
Cannon; Glinton replaces Martino; Angel sees a free kick kiss the outside of
the post; Donovan; easily LA best player; runs at New York, cutting through
their defence, he lays the ball across the six yard box but Pavon is too slow
to reach the gift wrapped goal scoring opportunity; he’s then taken off for
Buddle; Richards beats Randolph (yes he did it again) with pace and strength
and dinks the ball past Cannon who dives and trips the winger; then you get a
close up of the bewildered Jamaican when the referee waves play on.
Jones sets up Klein whose ball in
allows Vagenas to strike a wicked shot which brings a class save from Conway who
turns it around the post for a corner kick; then the keeper beats Buddle to a
high through ball.
Vagenas is brought off for
Beckham leaving the young Tudela to partner the Englishman at the heart of
midfield; the superstar has twenty-two minutes to make his mark.
Space is appearing for New York with LA focused
almost 100% on scoring next; Altidore beats Tudela, cuts inside but see his
shot blocked; and Vide gets the ball from a corner and has a shot which Cannon
does well to keep track of.
The desperation of LA is becoming
apparent as their play is becoming ragged; Beckham really isn’t making a
positive impact in fact it looks like he’s unbalanced the team somewhat; Leitch
gives away a soft corner and Beckham delivers a delightful ball to Tudela whose
shot is well turned aside by Conway; a neat and well executed training ground
move; for all the huff and puff of the Galaxy in the final few minutes the best
chances come to New York with Altidore firing once high and once wide and
Roberts needed a well timed tackle to strip the ball from an onrushing
Colombian.
Yallop bowed to the pressure
exerted by Beckham and wrongly played him; he unbalanced the team and they
never looked quite as sharp and dominant without Vagenas. Lucky to escape this game with a win the LA
defence allowed Angel a myriad of chances and were lucky to have a incompetent
referee. Donovan was awesome, power,
pace, touch, vision, work rate, passing, movement he had it all but was maybe a
little too far beyond his team mates; particularly Pavon.
Yallop may still save his job if
the gods of football are kind but he really fluffed this home chance to make
the play offs more attainable.
Arena will wonder about the
bodged penalty decision and the regularity with which Angel failed to find the
net given his array of wonderful opportunities.
His defence played well and Conway kept them in the game with some fine
second half saves; whilst presses throughout they never looked as like
capitulating although the goal was a soft one the equalizer was a display of
simple, well executed football and a touch of skill to finish. He can look forward to the play offs.
The referee was a homer; way too
many decisions incorrectly favoured the home side and he waved play on after a
blatant penalty; which if he thought wasn’t a penalty should have seen Richards
get a yellow card. His two cards were
merited but his use of advantage was poor.
Not one of the better performances from Kevin.
Galaxy keeps their play off hopes alive with a 2-1 win against plucky
ten men Toronto.
Home Depot Centre for the night
game was is packed with expectant fans wanting the winning streak to
continue. Playing under lights creates
an extra buzz even their designated player has turned out to support his team.
Yallop sticks with a strong bench
and plays Cannon at the back; a back four of Klein, Roberts, Jazic and Randolph
will look to attack up the wings; Jones and Martino provide width in the
midfield, Tudela; the excellent rookie; and Vagenas hold things down in the
middle; Pavon and Donovan combine up front.
Johnston
picks a makeshift side; plenty of absences due to International duty, injuries
and suspension force his choices somewhat; Stamatopolous got the nod at the
back; Braz, Reda, Marshall
and Gala provide a four man back line; Wynne, Pozniak, Hemming and Dunivant are
the midfield four with Samuel and Cunningham in attack.
Toronto clear a good cross from
Klein, Pozniak runs at LA but eventually his run flounders; Toronto are sitting
deep but hold a high line, they look to break with number; LA probe and press
they look for the forward pass r to get the ball wide and behind Toronto.
Randolph, making a rare useful
contribution, gets forward and under pressure back heels the ball for Donovan,
he spreads play back to the middle and Vagenas spreads it wide to Klein, the
cross is splendid and just right for the lurking Pavon, Hemming; back helping
out his defence; reads the cross and heads clear in front of the Honduran.
Samuel draws a soft free kick
when he combines with Cunningham; the back post delivery is almost perfect and
requires a hectic clearance for a corner, the ball is only half cleared and
when it comes back in Samuel leaps well to head the ball on goal but he can’t
generate the power needed to beat Cannon; Pavon can’t cut back a good deep ball
in behind the defender; LA are struggling to break down an obdurate and well
organized Toronto.
Martino holds his run, avoids the
offside and gets in a nice cross, Cobi heads over; Pavon can’t hold his run and
a neat move breaks down with an offside call; Martino runs from deep to beat
the Toronto offside trap, he gets onto a Donovan through ball but his attempt
at a chip goes woefully high; Donovan gets onto a ball on the left, he crosses
towards the penalty spot and Cobi is able to chest it down, Stamatopolous comes
up with the ball after a hectic scramble.
Wynne cuts inside and runs at LA,
he draws in four defenders and hasn’t the vision to play the ball off to either
one of his supporting team mates, poor decision to keep going as he looses the
ball and the attack flounders; Gala gets upfield and cuts the ball back from
the byline to win a corner as Toronto mount something of an offensive in the
last few moments of the half.
No changes are made at the half
but Frank wants LA to push forward more and Maurice is content with his team’s
performance
The second half starts in a more
open fashion then the first, Klein halted in his tracks by a stellar tackle;
Cannon has to parry a powerful shot from Cunningham, Toronto, flooding forward,
get a corner; Wynne plays the ball up for Samuel but the powerful Trinidadian’s
shot is easy for Cannon; Pavon gets onto a good diagonal ball from the LA midfield
but looks for the penalty as he cuts in from the left, he goes down way too
easy and play continues.
Yallop changes things up with the
withdrawal of Martino for Glinton, he goes up front and Donovan drops back into
midfield; almost immediately the substitution pays dividends, his pace allows
him to get between the flat Toronto back line onto a Donovan diagonal ball; he
is tussling with Reda who hauls him back; a penalty is awarded to LA and Reda
gets a straight red; Donovan’s stutter step sends Stamatopolous the wrong way
and he slots home with ease for an LA lead.
Toronto comes back with some
intense pressure; Cannon keeps his team in the game with a smart save from a
powerful Samuel free kick, LA scramble clear the resultant corner; Cunningham
is well marshaled when he steps forward and Toronto are kept honest with
Pavon’s run and shot from Donovan’s diagonal ball bringing a fine save from
Stamatopolous.
Dunivant steps in and clears as
Jones and Pavon dither on the edge of the area; the ball is played quickly
upfield to Pozniak who spots the run of Samuel, his ball in is reached by the
Trinidadian with barely a challenge from the awful Randolph and the final shot whizzes past a
diving Cannon for the equalizer.
LA step up the pressure, a win is
almost a must for play off qualification; Pavon can’t find a good delivery with
a cross; Jones’s direct run at Toronto is ended with a poor shot straight at
Stamatopolous but the communication; or lack or if; must worry Johnston as a
defender had to stab the ball clear after a moments hesitation by everyone,
Pavon had a chance at the rebound if only he hadn’t given up on the play.
Buddle comes on for the promising
Tudela and immediately makes an impact, Donovan’s through ball beats the flat Toronto back line to find
the run of Klein, the cross is fired in but Buddle handles the speed and side
foots into the roof of the net for the lead.
Donovan had a chance to ice the
cake but can only find touch when one on one with Stamatopolous.
Yallop is still hanging tough and
another win keeps the play off dream alive.
Not playing particularly well but winning I the sign of a form team, Toronto made sure it
wasn’t easy for LA but the home side managed to eke out a victory, made all the
more sweet as they had to pick up the game in the second half. Good substitutions by a coach many see as
being unemployed next MLS season.
Johnston has another running battle with the
fourth official but his team was flat, too intent on defending and woefully
short of starters they held their own for long periods in the game. Playing for your job next season seemed to
work for some players whilst not for others.
The referee was good enough, his
red and penalty decisions were spot on but he allowed himself to be overruled
by a soft call form his assistant, in a tough defensive game he only showed the
one yellow. He did enough to assert his
authority without interrupting the game needlessly.
Back and forth battle; in a stadium that I’ll be glad to see not used
for football; as Real Salt lake’s playoff hopes die and New York keep theirs
alive; 2-2-
Giants Stadium is a terrible
place to play football; the fake pitch, the lack of appropriate space around
the pitch and the football lines just a nuisance; the new Red Bulls home ground
can’t come soon enough. That didn’t stop
a good night time crowd, vocal and excited; expectant and drumming.
Arena; still looking for the best
way to utilize all the talent at his disposal; went with Waterreus in goal;
Stammler and Parke at centre back, van den Burgh on the left and Leitch on the
right; midfield is Reyna; pulling the strings; Richards; getting forward and
Vide and Kovalenko shoring things up; Liberian Doe and Colombian Angel are the
forwards.
A very different Real side from
the one that narrowly lost to Dallas; Kreis is making some progress in
personnel and tactic; Rimando keeps goal behind Forko, Mantilla, Pope; he’ll be
asked to do a job on Angel; and Wingert; Beckerman will sit in the middle with
Williams and Talley looking more forward; a three man front line of Brown, Movsisyan
and Eskandarian will rotate the point man.
Route one football almost hands New York a dream start,
Angel flicks a long ball on for Doe, Rimando smothers the opportunity.
New York are pushing for the
early goal, Angel is battling with Pope for space and opportunity and Doe is
pulling the Real defence around to create space for Reyna to drop balls
into. Real focus on keeping a clean
sheet and break when they can but a first twenty minutes see no shots from the Utah outfit. At the other end, Angel keeps attacking but
his lack of real quality shows with too many offisides and some poor finishing
and decision making, Rimando is equal to anything else; Richards; with his
forward forays provides a real thorn in the Salt Lake side, plenty of crosses
go in the area but none a met with enough conviction and when the chance does
come he runs into the same space as Doe and sees the ball drop into space at
the back post; he is a Rookie though.
With their first effort on goal
Real are successful; Wingert puts the ball in after being played through by
Williams; Brown is alert at the back post and heads past Waterreus; the cross
and finish were good but the defending and goalkeeping were very poor.
New York keep up their attacks and are
denied twice at the death by fine Rimando saves, Real get forward sporadically
with little success or quality.
Kreis wants more possession from
his players and needs them to use the ball better. Arena wants to get back into the game and
brings on Mathis for Vide; who had a good first half.
The equalizer is all about speed
and class; van den Burgh plays the ball forward up the left flank, Angel flicks
the ball on and Doe absolutely skins Mantilla, turning the Argentinean inside
out; twice!; before firing past Rimando inside the far post. The Liberian scored a great goal, definitely
a candidate for goal of the season.
Stammler; coming up from the
back; works a shooting opportunity with Doe but fires wide; Reyna comes off
with an injury; Espindola replaces Brown; Altidore comes on for Doe, the
changes favour Real, Espindola causing all sorts of havoc down the right and
Altidore not as sharp or mobile as Doe.
The Argentinean works well on the
left off a pass from Eskandarian, he pulls the ball back and Beckerman; playing
further forward; calmly slots the ball past Waterreus.
Mathis has a chance but the
bounce from the fake grass isn’t kind to the substitute and Mantilla clears off
the line, the Argentinean defender comes good moments later when Angel head goal
wards from a Mathis cross.
Van den Burgh, crossing well all
night; delivers another good ball into the area; Real fluff and Talley fouls
Mathis for a penalty kick; Angel buries the spot kick for his seventeenth of
the season; a new New York record.
Half chances fall at either end,
Espindola coming close and Altidore scuffing a good opportunity wide. Neither side can find the final ball or shot
to grab a winner and the entertaining game ends in a draw.
Arena has still to find the
formula in New York,
Altidore for Doe was a poor substitution, the Liberian was always more
dangerous than the American. Still looking
at a play off spot they will need to step up on their defence if they want play
off success
Real Salt Lake maybe out of the play offs with
this draw but they are improving all the time; still lightweight in attack they
are playing a nice brand of football under Kreis.
