Reading and QPR Relegated, Redknapp to Stay On.

It's been a pretty dismal few months for Harry Redknapp and QPR (Telegraph UK)

This weekend's match between Reading and QPR pretty much summed up the futility behind the two sides' Barclay's Premier League campaign this season.  A win for either side would have held off relegation for at least another week, while a draw would doom them both to the Championship.  What happened?  It ended up being a snoozer of a nil-nil draw.  Way to go guys.

One takes a look at Reading, and their story isn't all that different from other clubs' journeys to short term top flight tenures.  Reading was a good team in the Championship and earned promotion.  However, despite the heart which they displayed often throughout the year, the lack of money and elite talent were too much for them in the end.  Think Blackpool from a couple of years back.  Reading will go down, they'll retool a little bit, and they'll probably still be a decent Championship side, with a chance to spring back up into the Premier League at some point.

QPR is, however, another story entirely.  They emerged from the second division two years ago with more lofty ambitions, and their owner wasn't shy about it.  When the first half of last year's EPL season didn't work out, they fired manager Neil Warnock, who had brought them up, hired former Fulham and Man City boss Mark Hughes, and splashed a lot of cash around bringing in players.  However at the end of last season, the R's barely escaped relegation.  This last summer, they threw around more cash and brought in more players.  When the results failed to improve, they brought in Harry Redknapp and put out even more cash.  In the end it wasn't enough though, and they end up with Reading, except that they've spent a lot more money and are probably going to be stuck with many of their failed players, and we've seen that they have little or no chemistry.

For their part, the club are staying with Harry.  What a year it's been for him.  Last year his Spurs side had a run in the Champions League, and just about a year ago he was rumored for the England job.  Then the England job fell through and he was sacked at Spurs after failing to secure another Champions League spot when Chelsea took Tottenham's place by winning the final at Bayern.  That's pretty tough luck, especially considering that he'll now be in the second division.

There is still one team to be relegated this year after this weekend's results confirmed QPR and Reading's exit.  Wigan look to be in the most trouble after failing to secure all three points vs Spurs on the weekend.  Aston Villa did themselves a huge favor by pummeling a hapless Sunderland side 6-1 on Monday, actually climbing above another hapless side, Newcastle, on goal difference.  Villa, Newcastle, and Sunderland sit on 37 points, 5 ahead of Wigan.  However, Wigan have a game in hand.  Things could be decided on the final Sunday when Wigan play Villa.

Timbers Impress With Quality Win at Sporting

Portland play-maker Diego Valeri in the first half.  Photo: Orlin Wagner

I'll admit it, I've been pretty critical of the Portland Timbers.  I've leveled the "style over substance" argument.  I was also highly critical of the hiring of Caleb Porter after his failed stint with the USA U-23s.  However, I must admit that the Timbers really showed me something last night against Sporting KC, and they should get the credit that is due for their performance.

Of course, the evening started horribly for the Timbers as their defense was exposed early on.  Despite their obvious improvement overall, I still think that defense is going to be a problem for them going forward in the campaign, and KC took advantage of that almost immediately.  With only 40 seconds gone from the clock, Chance Myers slipped through the Timbers and got on the end of long throw in, heading it past Donovan Ricketts to make it 1-0 to the home side.  More than a few folks, myself included, thought it was going to be a long night for the Timbers at that juncture.

Portland responded well though, as they have done on a number of occasions so far this season.  They stuck to their game plan despite conceding the early goal.  What was that game plan?  Well, they decided that they weren't just going to let Sporting have the ball and boss the game and the tempo.  They decided that they were going to have the ball as much as possible and go toe to toe with Sporting's high powered offense.  Sporting was obviously unprepared for that approach and it didn't take long for it to yield dividends for Portland.

The visitors found themselves with a corner kick in the 24th minute after 'keeper Jimmy Nielsen made a nice save on Rodney Wallace.  Diego Valeri sent the corner into the box where Ryan Johnson was waiting for it.  Johnson headed it pretty much right at Benny Feilhaber, who was guarding Nielsen's far post, but the former Revs man could only manage to head the ball into the roof his own net and the score was equalized at 1-1.

Sporting wasn't done with the Chance Myers show though, and he found himself with another opportunity to hurt the Timbers in the 29th minute.  Aurelien Collin found himself up pitch with a ball from Feilhaber, and he dropped it off to Myers, who knocked in his second of the match to make it 2-1 to Sporting Kansas City.  The goals were the first two regular season tallies of Myers' career.

Portland was unimpressed though, and the in the 33rd minute they took heavy advantage of Sporting's desire to have defenders like Myers and Collin up and playing in the attack.  Ryan Johnson took the ball and blazed up the pitch, finding Darlington Nagbe nearly alone in Sporting penalty area for a tap in goal that made it 2-2, which was still the score when the teams hit the locker rooms for halftime.

The Timbers mostly owned the second half, which is a rarity for anyone at Sporting Park other than the hosts.  Thirteen minutes after halftime, the Sporting midfield bumbled the ball away and their defense was somewhat caught out yet again.  Diego Charra hit Rodney Wallace, who had evaded the aformentioned Chance Myers, with a gorgeous through ball playing him in on goal.  Wallace easily slotted into the back of the net to make it 2-3 to Portland.

Sporting looked puzzled for much of the second half, but did manage a couple of quality chances late on.  However, their midfield and attacking corps seemed absent as the best chances fell to defenders.  Myers nearly grabbed a hat-trick in the 82nd minute, but his header went wide.  In stoppage time Collin managed to direct a nice header on target, but Ricketts was up to the task, making the save and preserving the 2-3 win for the Timbers.

Historically the Timbers have not done well on the road in MLS, and this was what made this performance stand out so much.  They have really taken on the never say die attitude of new Captain Will Johnson, something that I think RSL has lacked this year by the way, and they really exposed Sporting quite a bit.  In the end, they went man to man with one of the league favorites and got a big road result in a tough environment.  If they can keep doing that, watch out, MLS.

Goal.com: Santos VP Says Neymar Is Leaving

Could these two guys be on the same side next year?

So normally I don't do transfer gossip on the blog.  It generally drives me nuts, but this story seems to have legs and makes a lot of sense for those involved.  According Goal.com, young Brazilian International Neymar may finally be ready to depart Santos and head over to Europe.

So why does this have legs?  Partially because it comes from within the Santos organization itself.  According to the Goal.com piece Odilio Rodriguez, VP of Santos, has said that Neymar will not renew his contract when it ends and that his "time at Santos is at an end."  Now Neymar still has a year left on his contract, it expires in summer 2014, but you'd have to imagine that Santos would be keen to bring in a hefty transfer fee for a young man who is often considered to be the next big thing in world football.

Where might he end up?  Well Goal.com came out with an exclusive this month linking him to Barcelona.  That makes a lot of sense for him, and for Barca, though one might be forgiven for thinking that if Barca is gonna splash the cash, they might hit up a defender.  Plus, Victor Valdes has been said to be looking for a move away from Camp Nou.  In the end though, it's probably too big of a signing for Barca, or probably any club, to pass up.  Can you imagine Messi and Neymar on the same pitch at the same time, working together?  That could be some outstanding football.

Chelsea fans might remember a couple of summers back when Neymar was heavily linked to Stamford Bridge.  In the end the deal didn't happen as his family seemed to convince him that another couple of years in Brazil would do him well, plus maybe Chelsea wouldn't have been the best place for him.  If he does leave Santos, where he ends up will probably be the transfer story of the summer.

Check out the piece on Goal.com for more info.

Opinion: Bitey Suarez Isn't a Victim; 10 Match Ban Just Fine

Maybe somebody should actually FEED Luis Suarez (thesun.co.uk)

If you're not a regular reader here or a twitter follower, let me state one thing just right up front.  I'm a Chelsea fan, so I'm not pretending that my thoughts here are unbiased.  In fact, they're heavily biased, that's why I put the word "opinion" in the title.  Also, I'm not sure anybody questions the ability that Luis Suarez has to do some amazing things on the pitch.  He's a great goal scorer and can dish out the assists as well.  Unfortunately, it could be that his other antics have finally gone too far this time.

The FA has hit Suarez with a violent conduct charge and a ten game ban after Suarez bit Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic during their 2-2 draw at Anfield last weekend.  Suarez was not punished during the match and was still on the pitch to score a last minute equalizer when, had the referee gotten a good look at the incident, one would think he would have been red carded.  For his part, Suarez accepted the violent conduct charge, but disputed that the usual three game ban was not enough.  His pleas fell on deaf ears at the FA, which they rightly should have.  More on that in a minute.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, after condemning Suarez's act, has now come out and said that Suarez has been victimized by the FA, calling the ban overly harsh.  It's easy to see why Rodgers would do this.  Even with the acquisition of Daniel Sturridge, Liverpool has been pretty much a one man band up front with Suarez cranking out the hits, and dives, and yellows, and handballs, and now the bites.

Suarez is not a victim here.  Yes, it's true that Ivanovic was not injured on the play.  Still, Suarez made a choice to engage in an action that no sane footballer, let alone a sane human being, would undertake in the middle of a sporting match.  Suarez knew that he has a long prior disciplinary record with the FA, and had to imagine that the act would bring about a lengthy ban.  The FA had to put their foot down.  He made a deliberate choice to do what he did, knowing the punishment could be harsh, and did it anyway.  For Rodgers to portray him as a victim is idiotic, and goes far beyond a manager sticking up for his player.  Some things are indefensible.

So why is the ten match ban for Suarez just about right?  I'll give three reasons.

First, as mentioned earlier, Suarez has a long disciplinary history with the FA in his short time in England.  To put it more simply, his reputation now precedes him.  Of course the biggest issue prior to this was was the eight match ban he earned for racially abusing United's Patrice Evra.  I'm not buying his explanation that "that's how we say stuff back at home."  Evra's race didn't need to come into at all, period, and Bitey learned that lesson the hard way.  He's had violent conduct bans before as well, plus he is a known cheater.  He's one of the biggest divers in the Premier League and has shown his willingness to risk a handball when he thinks he can get away with it.

Second, Suarez has bitten people during matches before.  A little over two years ago Bitey sank his teeth into PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakkal, as seen in this pic from thetimes.co.uk:

Yum yum, right Bitey?

For that infraction, Suarez was handed a seven match ban by the Dutch FA.  Taking that into account, the English FA would have looked silly by going any less than seven, and being that it was a second incident, really had to make it more.  Something has to get installed in Bitey's brain that this behavior is unacceptable and is going to hurt both him and his club.  Period.

Finally, Liverpool have to be given a reason to either regulate Suarez's behavior on their own, or send him packing.  For two years now Liverpool managers, first King Kenny and now Rodgers, have looked the other way and winked at Bitey while he cheats and perpetrates his antics on the pitch.  "Just keep scoring the goals, Bitey, and we'll brush everything else under the rug."  Hell, they even wore tshirts supporting him during the racism row, yet I'm sure Liverpool fans would feel pretty hard done by if someone directed that word at one of their black players, and rightly so.  Liverpool continue to take the results and the goals and are given little if any incentive to crack down on their player.  I can totally see the thought process going like this Sunday afternoon: "He'll get a three game ban, which is fine, because we're out of the running for this year anyway.  Then we can start again next year."  Well oops, Bitey will miss the first, what, six matches of the 2013-2014 campaign?  Now we're getting somewhere.  Give Rodgers a reason to control him, or sell him somewhere else where he can disgrace another league.

Liverpool is a proud football club with a glorious history that their supporters, players, staff, and owners should quite rightly be very proud of.  Their crest and banner inspire more passionate support and tradition than almost any other football club or sports team in the world, and again, rightly so.  One would think that the supporters, players, staff, and owners would be tired of this joker tarnishing their image.  I really hope Liverpool dumps him and gets a standup player worthy of the Premier League and the Liverpool crest.  Then maybe the headlines coming out of Anfield can get back to football instead of sounding like they're previews for the new season of The Walking Dead.

Bayern Munich Destroys Barca En Route to Commanding Lead

Bayern Munich dismantled Barcelona take a 4-0 lead on aggregate (FIFA.com)

I didn't think I'd ever see this day, honestly, the day when this incarnation of Barcelona was outplayed, outclassed, outhustled, and basically out-everythinged on the football pitch.  Bayern Munich accomplished just that though, and did it in absolute style.  The overriding feeling I had watching the match, especially in the second half, was like I was watching a charged up teenager totally dismantle a finely tuned watch or clock.  It really was a spectacle.

Bayern served notice right off the bat, as Barcelona barely had time to try to get their passing game going before the German side was launching an attack at goal.  In the second minute of the match Arjen Robben found the ball in the box and drove a shot in on Victor Valdes, but the Barca 'keeper proved himself awake and alert, stopping the shot and ending the first threat.

Barca got their first look of the match on nine minutes.  Pique got a decent look at the Bayern goal off of a corner kick, but steered his header wide of the target.  It would be pretty much the only first half highlight for Barca, though at that point they must have felt a little better for surviving the early minutes in Munich.

That illusion quickly evaporated in minute 25 though as the Germans took the lead and established one of the themes of the evening: Barca could not deal with balls in from wide, especially in the air.  Bayern defender Dante headed a cross back into the area, where a diving Thomas Muller headed it off of Valdes and inside the near post to give Bayern the 1-0 lead.

Barcelona continued with their style, clearly it wasn't time to panic despite being down a goal fairly early.  They held on to the ball and managed their usual 60+ percent possession, but there really was not a lot of purpose to it.  They came close to finding Messi in the six on 28 minutes, but Dante was alert to the incoming pass and tapped it out for a corner kick, which came to nothing.  That was the last significant action of a first half that finished 1-0 to the home side.

Bayern came out in the second half and immediately turned up the heat on Barca.  The Spanish again found their interior defense exposed in the 49th minute.  Bayern sent in a corner, and this time it was Muller who got the first head to it, dropping it down to Mario Gomez, who neatly dropped the ball into the net from about one yard out to make it 2-0 to the Germans.  Replays showed that Gomez was probably a fraction offside, and it really was close, but the goal stood.

However Bayern were not content and continued to pepper the Barcelona goal with quality chances.  In the 55th minute Robben dropped a nice little ball off to Frank Ribery in the 18, and the Frenchman sent a shot blazing the opposite way across the six.  It was too far out for Victor Valdes to grab, but fortunately for Barca, the ball rolled just wide of the far post.  Then just three minutes later Bayern nearly punished Barcelona on a set piece again as Robben directed a header toward goal off of a free kick.  This one floated wide as well, letting Barca breathe again, for the moment anyway.

Barcelona's best chance of the match came in the the 69th minute.  Defender Marc Bartra got a good look at the goal from an angle, but mishit his shot, sending it floating harmlessly over the crossbar.  One could just hear Barca fans thinking "If only it was one of our other players with that shot."

Following that miss, Bayern iced the match with two goals late on.  In the 73rd minute Robben made a run into the box, getting around a Barcelona defender, and slotting the ball inside the far post to make it 3-0.  It really was class finish by the Dutchman, but again the goal was not without controversy as Thomas Muller threw a clear pick on the Barca defender to help free up Robben.  It probably should have been a foul.

Bayern finally put the nail in the coffin for the match, and probably the whole tie, in the 82nd minute.  Again Bayern beat the Barca defense with a ball in from wide as David Alaba sent a ball across the six.  Muller was there waiting for it and tapped it in for his second goal of the match which made it 4-0 to Bayern Munich, which was still the score at full time.

It really was the finest performances I've seen in all the Champions League matches that I've laid eyes on.  In fact it was kind of tough to watch.  Barcelona certainly had their fair share of the possession (66%), but they could do absolutely nothing with it.  It truly was possession without a purpose.  Barcelona fans will certainly point to the fact that Lionel Messi was not anywhere near 100%.  Now, I'm not a master of tactics, but I'm not sure a healthier Messi would have done all that much good.  One can certainly argue that Messi at full strength would have given Barca's possession more purpose, but unless he was going to go back and play central defense in front of goal as well, I can't say that Bayern could have been stopped when they attacked.  Barca have been exposed from wide and on set pieces constantly during the Champions League this year, but have pretty much always been the better team and able to neutralize the weakness with their passing and possession game, but Bayern was quite obviously a class above anyone else they've played, including AC Milan and PSG.

No, Bayern deserve full credit for this performance, no matter what Messi did or didn't do.  They gummed up the internal works for Barca all day, never letting them get into sync.  Whenever Barca did start to get things going, the Germans were coming in with a hard foul or a slide tackle, taking Barca totally out of their game.

Now Barcelona face an uphill task next week at Camp Nou.  Without a road goal, they'll not only have to beat Bayern by 4, but they'll have to put up a clean sheet as well.  Good luck with that.  Also, Jordi Alba drew a late yellow for hitting Robben in the face with the ball and will now miss that match.  Finally, with the Bundesliga all wrapped up, Bayern Munich will certainly rest their front line players over the weekend so that they'll be fresh and ready to go next Wednesday.

Congratulations to Manchester United, 2013 Premier League Champions

Manchester United clinched it's 20th top flight title yesterday with a win over Aston Villa

Last summer I made a critical error when I penned my EPL season preview, I didn't really want to do it, but hey, I thought I was a pretty smart guy here on the blog.  What was that error?  I counted out Manchester United.  I don't usually do that, and well, we now see what happens when the Red Devils are counted out.

Yesterday United claimed their record 20th title in the English top flight by virtue of a 3-0 mauling of Aston Villa.  Robin Van Persie scored a hat trick on the day, putting all three in the back of the net in the first 35 minutes as United destroyed Villa's poor excuse for a defense and pretty much started the festivities early at Old Trafford.  One can imagine that it was pretty special for Van Persie, who suffered through his years at Arsenal without a title, landing his first at United in his very first season.  I don't think that it's an exaggeration to say that that was THE transfer of the year last year.

So even as a Chelsea fan I pass on my congratulations to United.  They've put together a truly dominant campaign this year, and just might finish with a league record point share at the end.  Right now, it's tough to see who is going to catch them next year, though one is almost certain that Chelsea and Manchester City will be doing some spending during the summer to try.

So congrats to United and their fans.  Enjoy what's left of the season as United will truly have some time to play some "champagne football."

Earthquakes Sanction 1906 Ultras

The San Jose Earthquakes have sanctioned the 1906 Ultras Supporter Group.

Last weekend's trip to Portland turned out to be a negative experience, not just for the players (most notably Alan Gordon) but for some of their fans as well.  A poor light has been shed on the 1906 Ultras supporters' group after a couple of rather nasty incidents took place in the Rose City following Portland's 1-0 win over the defending Supporter's Shield champions.

The Portland Police raised two issues with members of the group.  First off, members allegedly assaulted a Timbers fan for waving a Timbers scarf at the Quakes' traveling contingent after the match.    A news release also said the victim and others witnessed "10-12" members of the group jumping on a car and smashing the windshield.  No arrests were made in connection with these events, according to the San Jose Mercury.

According to the Earthquakes website, the club met with MLS officials and members of the Ultras last week in Santa Clara.  At that meeting, the group was placed on indefinite probation and hit with the following sanctions:

--The traveling privileges of the 1906 Ultras have been revoked.
--The group will no longer be allowed to use controlled smoke devices in the stands.
--Their language during matches will be monitored.

For their part, the Ultras issued a statement on their website:

 "We are troubled by some of the things we witnessed and have heard about before and after the Quakes-Timbers match.  We are in the process of investigating what transpired, and if and to the extent any Ultras members were involved, they will be removed from the group."

According to the Mercury, the group leaders have said that they will financially compensate any victims and will cooperate with any police investigation.

Personally, I'm glad the Earthquakes are jumping on this.  We don't need clashes between supporters groups to turn into the kind of junk that you see in Europe or South America. It's possible to be a supporter and passionately support your club, but violence should never play a part in this.  However, I'm generally in favor of supporters culture and I'm glad the Ultras will be conducting their own investigation and cooperating with law enforcement.    Hopefully they will take appropriate action IF any of their members were found to have perpetrated these acts.

As Expected: Alan Gordon Hit With Three Game Ban

This exchange with Will Johnson cost Alan Gordon 3 games (MLS)

To absolutely nobody's surprise, Major League Soccer has handed down extra punishment to San Jose's Alan Gordon for a homophobic slur directed at Timbers Captain Will Johnson in Sunday night's match on the NBC Sports Network.  In the second half, the cameras caught Gordon directing the slur Johnson's way, Gordon then visibly cringed as Johnson held up three fingers to him, indicating the three game ban that Seattle's Marc Burch got for directing the same slur at Johnson during last year's MLS playoffs.

As it turns out, Johnson is exactly right.  Gordon has been given a three game ban for the incident.  He will also be suspended for a fourth game due to his red card late on in the match.  He's set to miss matches with Portland, Chivas USA, Montreal Impact, and Toronto FC.  In addition, he'll be forced to attend diversity and sensitivity training.  He'll also be fined MLS's customary "undisclosed amount."

Gordon did offer a seemingly heartfelt apology for his actions and said he would accept any punishment the league deemed fit, so props to him for doing that.  Hopefully this will be a good lesson for him and others.  You can check out my opinion piece on the incident here.

Cardiff City Wins Promotion to Barclay's Premier League

Craig Bellamy and Cardiff City have clinched promotion to the EPL (BBC.co.uk)

It's been a long time coming, but Cardiff City have finally secured promotion to the Barclay's Premier League, where they'll play next year.  As it turns out, they'll be bringing at least one familiar face with them, Craig Bellamy, lately of Liverpool fame.  The Blue Birds clinched a spot in next year's top flight by securing a point in a 0-0 draw with Charlton yesterday.

Cardiff have lead the nPower Championship for the last 21 weeks, and the promotion caps a tumultuous year for the club.  Last summer the club's new Malaysian owner forced a change of kit color from Cardiff's iconic blue to red.  Earlier this season he also began to talk about changing the club's name to the Cardiff Dragons, which not everyone has been thrilled over.  However, for now, both owner and supporter alike will rejoice the club's promotion to England's top flight.  Now the question remains as to whether their owner will spend the money it takes to keep them there.  However, money is not always the key to staying in the EPL, just ask QPR.

Cardiff, who lost last year's League Cup final to Bellamy's Liverpool, will be the second Welsh club to feature in the Barlcay's Premier League.  They'll join this year's League Cup winners Swansea City.  This also means that the heated South Wales derby will return and take place at the Premier League level for the first time.  That should be really great for everyone involved.

There are still two promotion places left in the Championship.  Cardiff top the table with 84 points.  Hull City look to be in a good position to sew up the second automatic spot in second place with 77 points.  The next four teams in the standings, Watford (77 pts), Brighton (66 points), Crystal Palace (66 points), and Leicester (64 points) will participate in a playoff for the final spot if the table holds.  Last year's relegates Bolton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest sit right on the outside looking in with 63 points.   In case you're wondering about the other two sides to be relegated from the Premier League last year, both Wolverhampton and Blackburn sit just barely above the bottom three, which would drop them into League 1, the the third division of English football.

But for now, congratulations to Cardiff, and welcome to the Barclay's Premier League.

Opinion: In Which Alan Gordon Makes Steven Lenhart Look Like a Gentleman

Former MVP Dwayne De Rosario helped launch "Don't Cross The Line." (MLS)

Last night's match against the Portland Timbers will be one that the San Jose Earthquakes want to get out of their heads pretty quickly, especially in light of the fact that the two teams play again in San Jose next weekend.  However, the night turned especially ugly for one of the Quakes' forwards, and for once, I'm not talking about Steven Lenhart.

San Jose's Alan Gordon lit up what was a rather dull affair between the two sides for all the wrong reasons during the second half Sunday night.  The night started with the headline of San Jose's "Bash Brothers" (Lenhart/Gordon) starting together for the first time since late last year.  (Bash Brothers is about as dumb as the Goonies.  This isn't Oakland A's Baseball in the late 80s.)  By the end of the evening Lenhart had been subbed out, failing to impact the match at all.  Gordon found himself sent off for a second yellow card, but not before he had done something that will probably cause him a good deal more angst in the weeks to come.

After a bit of a scrum with Timber's captain Will Johnson early on in the second half, the NBC Sports Network cameras caught Gordon calling Johnson a "f*gg*t" clear as day.  Oops.  Flash back to last year's playoff series between Real Salt Lake and the Seattle Sounders, and you'll remember that Seattle defender Marc Burch hurled the very same slur at the very same Will Johnson.  He was suspended for three games.  How did Johnson respond to Gordon's potty mouth tonight?  He simply held up three fingers to the San Jose forward.  Gordon's reaction?  Check the pic, which was grabbed and posted by Ives Galarcep (@SoccerByIves)

Yup, you're in trouble buddy.

Now, to Gordon's credit, he issued this apology late last night via San Jose Website:

“I sincerely apologize for what I said in our game tonight. Although I said it in the heat of the moment, that language has no place in our game. That is not my character, but there is still no excuse for saying what I said. I made a mistake and I accept full responsibility for my actions.”

Ok, this where I'm going to take a bit of a different turn than a lot of whats floating around on the web about this.  First off, I'm going to give Mr. Gordon the benefit of the doubt and assume that, despite the idiocy of his comments tonight, he's not a raging homophobic pig.  However, I'm not totally going to buy into his "heat of the moment" argument either.  I get pretty irate sometimes, and when I do, I get loud, and I swear, a lot.  However, I can honestly say that even in the heat of the moment I've never blasted somebody with those words, the same as I wouldn't go with "f*ck*ng N*gg*r."

What's the difference?  Am I better person than Mr. Gordon?  Of course not.  I don't know the guy, but I suspect he's a pretty decent human being.  The difference is a cultural one between the two.  I've had the filter permanently installed in my thinking that says "That's not ok to say, no matter how pissed off you get at somebody or a situation."  Now, in the testosterone drenched culture of professional sports, even in the United States, things are different.  The NFL made a number of nasty headlines over the last year because of rampant anti-gay thinking.  Think about it, if you're a male professional athlete that prides yourself on your power and masculinity, what's the biggest insult that you could hurl at another athlete, this one in question, of course.

This is where the cultural shift needs to happen, in my opinion.  This is also where Major League Soccer's Don't Cross the Line campaign comes into play.  The campaign was launched for 2013 targeting these kinds of incidents both on the pitch and in the stands (think the YSA chant).  Now, I don't think that this kind of thing is rampant in MLS.  There have been three high profile incidents in the last year or so.  Certainly that's three too many, but I don't think it's an indictment of a high level of homophobia in the league.  What I do think is that we need to work harder to make this cultural shift happen.

This has to take place at all levels of the league and club organizations.  Just slapping a player with a hefty fine and hitting him with a three game ban every time this happens isn't enough.  The clubs need to police it and stamp it out, both on the pitch and in the stands.  It needs to happen in practice as well as in games when the TV cameras are on.  Clubs need to take action against Supporter's Groups that engage in this kind of stuff.  It's not encouraging to tune in and hear YSA or even the actual Spanish version of it at MLS matches.  It's an embarrassment to the league to turn on a game and hear certain fans of certain clubs singing about how the opposing team is gonna "take it up the ass."  It's a disgrace to MLS and to the sport, just like all the racist crap in Europe is. There is NO difference.

Generally I think MLS does a pretty good job promoting a safe and fairly clean atmosphere in which to take in a football match.  After all, we don't have hooligans ripping up seats like the Millwall folks did at Wembley this weekend.  We don't have fans going at each others throats or attacking players like they do in South America.  We don't have the piss jugs being thrown at players like they do in Mexico, but that doesn't mean that there aren't issues that need to be addressed.  The "Don't Cross the Line" campaign is a great first step, and I have every confidence that the league will dish out an appropriate punishment to Mr. Gordon, but it needs to get deeper, to permeate all levels of the league, clubs, and supporters.  Most of my readers are MLS watchers/fans of one stripe or another, and I ask you to join the league in this campaign.  Hopefully by initiating these cultural shifts, incidents like these will become a thing of the past in MLS.

Until then, many of us might enjoy the delicious irony of someone getting into one of the Earthquake's players heads, for once.

MLS out of CCL again. Is it bad luck, or something more?

Aldo De Nigris celebrates a goal against the LA Galaxy (AP Photo)

So, another year, another collapse.  Major League Soccer is facing another year without a representative in the CCL final.  Lord knows the Seattle Sounders gave it the old college try, and the Galaxy looked fully capable of beating Monterrey for the first 45 minutes in their series, but in the final analysis, the results just didn't come.

Let's look at a couple of facts here.  Number 1, despite the exits of the Sounders and the Galaxy at the hands of Santos Laguna and Monterrey, MLS clubs are doing better in this competition year after year, as MLS Analyst Matthew Doyle points out here.  The record keeps improving.  Now, some of this is against the Caribbean and Central American clubs, whom MLS have generally shown themselves to be superior, most of the time.  However, the league is starting to notch results against Mexican opposition every year as well.  RSL drew Monterrey in the first leg of the finals in Monterrey in 2011.  In 2012 both Seattle and FC Dallas notched wins against Mexican opponents.  This year, the Houston Dynamo beat Santos at home and the Sounders became the first club to eliminate a Mexican team in the knockout stages, beating Tigres.   Tigres is no slouch of a club.  So the evidence is there, it's getting better, just maybe not at the pace that MLS fans want it to.

Number 2: Mexico is still the better league, at least in this competition.  There are probably many factors at work here.  Many have pointed out the salary cap issue over the last couple of days.  While it is true that Mexican sides don't have the spending constraints  that MLS sides do, when you look at what went down in the semis, would a spending spree have helped, especially in light of the fact that MLS tends to spend it's DP money on attackers?

What am I getting at here?  Certainly both the Sounders and the Galaxy had their chances, and failed to finish them.  However, one can imagine that had the Sounders had a fully healthy compliment of Eddie Johnson and Obafemi Martins, and had the Galaxy had a fully fit Landon Donovan playing with Robbie Keane, those chances would have stood a better chance of being finished.  I'm not sure MLS is going to acquire better attackers than these guys in the near future, no matter how much cash you throw around.

What concerns me more is Major League Soccer's inability to put up a clean sheet in these games.  I grew up on the saying "Defense wins championships," and generally it's as true in soccer as it is in American football, unless you're Barcelona and you're just going hold the ball for 90 minutes, but even Barca have had their lack of defense exposed of late.  The fact is, had the Sounders and the Galaxy been able to take care of business and pitch clean sheets in the home legs of their series, they would not have been in that position.  Ditto RSL in the 2011 final.  Giving up road goals in these finals and semifinals are killer.  Defense looks like it might be a concern for Seattle all year, and outside of Omar Gonzalez, the Galaxy might have some issues too.

So in the end, I would like to see MLS sides focus more on the defensive side of things.  That's just me.  After all, I'm a Serie A fan, and I love defensive football, I love making the other side earn it.  The fact is, if you put up a clean sheet, especially in your home leg, you're gonna give yourself a chance to win.

I also tend to agree that the salary cap needs to be raised a little as well, though I'm not one that would advocate for the elimination of the cap or a huge increase, I don't think you want to price the smaller clubs out of MLS competition to try and buy a CCL trophy.  While winning the CCL would bring international recognition to the league, clubs have to remain competitive at home to keep MLS growing and sustainable,

I would like to see a 4th DP added though.  However, it's fair to point out that many teams, if not most, aren't using all three slots available at the moment.  Still that might give a club like Seattle, LA, RSL, or Sporting a chance to go out and spend a little more on another player that might get them over the hump in CCL, though of course RSL and Seattle fans won't have a stake in champion's league this year, sadly.

So there's my take.  We're getting closer.  After all, this league is less than 20 years old, and I generally think MLS and club management are doing a great job.  I don't think it's time to panic, and I don't think it's time to open the flood gates for cash, let's just keep building block by block.  What do you folks think?

CCL: MLS Hopes Take Hit as Seattle, L.A. Drop Home Legs

Humberto Suazo once again helped down an MLS side (Getty Images)

Major League Soccer seems to be falling into a pattern in CONCACAF Champions League since RSL lost to Monterrey in the finals a couple of years ago.  We're seeing greater success in the group stage, despite the reworked format, and we even succeeded in knocking a Mexican team out (Seattle over Tigres) in the later stages this year.  However, our clubs seem to run into problems in the semis against Mexican clubs that are tried and tested in the CCL, namely Santos Laguna and the aforementioned Monterrey.  Both of the remaining MLS clubs (Seattle and defending MLS Cup champs L.A.) hosted their home legs this week, and both dropped tough decisions, giving up away goals to these strong Mexican sides in advance of the road legs south of the border next week.

First up, Seattle hosted Santos Tuesday night at Century Link Field.  The odds were somewhat stacked against the Sounders going in, as both of their top line strikers (USA International Eddie Johnson and Nigerian International Obafemi Martins) were set to miss the match with injuries either picked up or aggravated during Saturday's league loss at Real Salt Lake.  On top of that, coach Sigi Schmidt was so seemingly unimpressed with his side that both Mauro Rosales and Steve Zakuani started the match on the subs bench.

The Sounders would largely be counting on Sammy Ochoa and Honduran Mario Martinez to provide the offense in a side that seemed to be set up to just try and stop Santos Laguna.  This strategy seemed questionable because even if the Sounders obtained a favorable result, they still faced a tough match in Torreon for the second leg, where last year Santos thrashed them 6-1.  In the end it was all moot though, because the offense never came.  Martinez struggled with hitting the target all night long, often settling for shots near the top of or outside the penalty area.  Ochoa was a joke.  His "highlight" came in the second half when his shot, on his best look of the night, went out for a throw in, a total embarrassment.

Still, Seattle's defense looked like it might not break, though it was certainly bending.  Despite increased pressure from the Mexican side, Seattle held the nil-nil draw through the end of the first half, with much thanks going to 'keeper Marcus Hahnemann, who had been in beast mode for the Sounders.  It all came crashing down in the second half though.  In the 53rd minute Santos struck out on a counter attack after a succession of three consecutive Seattle corners failed to produce much of anything.  They totally caught Seattle too far forward, and Carlos Darwin Quintero and Herculez Gomez streaked toward the Seattle goal.  Quintero unleashed a venomous shot, but Hanhnemann made a great stop to his side.  Unfortunately, the rebound went right to Gomez, who bashed the shot into the top of the net to make it 0-1 to Santos and give Seattle yet another reason to retire the "Sounders reject" chant for him.

In the end, it would be all Santos needed.  Seattle brought in Rosales and Zakuani late on, but it was far too little too late.  They didn't really affect the match, and Santos held on for a 0-1 victory on US soil.

With that, the league looked to it's defending champions, the Los Angeles Galaxy.  There was reason for MLS to be hopeful about this.  Unlike Seattle, the Galaxy have been in fine form in the league and Landon Donovan had returned to the team and was ready to go, though he didn't start.  The downside was that they were playing CCL juggernaut Monterrey.  A good result seemed to be required for the Galaxy with the second leg being away to the two time defending CCL Champs.

It didn't turn out to be scintillating affair.  The match featured 21 fouls and four yellow cards, while only producing seven shots on goal.  The Galaxy had the better of it for large parts of the game, though I do disagree with the official MLS recap's assertion that they "were unfortunate not to score several more goals."  The Galaxy got three shots in target, 1 of them went in.  They still looked the better side early on though, and in the 28th minute AJ DeLaGarza gave the Galaxy the 1-0 lead.   He flicked a nice header from Mike Magee (the MLS player of the month for March) into the back of the net, putting Monterrey on their heals.

However, Los Rayados gradually started to control proceedings in the second half.  In the 61st minute Juninho went off injured after rolling his ankle and it was the moment Monterrey needed.  Old RSL foes Humberto Suazo and Aldo De Nigris surfaced once again to draw blood on an MLS side.  Suazo tallied in the 82nd minute after LA 'keeper Cudicini gave up a rebound from a De Nigris shot,  De Nigris himself slipped in the dagger in the first minute of stoppage time, when Guillermo Madrigal set him up with a nice ball inside Omar Gonzalez.  De Nigris easily finished past Cudicini to make it 1-2 and seal the win for Los Rayados.  Monterrey's manager commented after the match that you have to play the full 90 minutes.  This could serve as both a praise for his team's comeback and an indictment of the Galaxy's fading down the stretch.

Both MLS sides now face an uphill battle in Mexico next week.  Both must overcome an away goal advantage.  It might be less of a task for Seattle.  They hope to have Johnson and Martins back in the lineup, plus they only conceded once, so if they could manage a 0-1 win and tie the aggregate they could force extra time.  However, do I see Seattle's defense putting up a clean sheet on Santos in Torreon?  No, of course not.  Seattle will have to push, and it will leave them dangerously exposed to same kind of counter that took them down on Tuesday.

The Galaxy look to be in even bigger trouble.  True, they scored, but they also conceded the two road goals which means even if they could level the aggregate at 2-2, Monterrey still has the advantage.  The Galaxy pretty much have to score twice.  They have the players to do it, but I just can't bring myself to bet against Monterrey and Suazo at this stage.  We'll have to see what happens.

Thoughts: Real Salt Lake vs Seattle Sounders.

Luis Gil celebrates his first half goal against the Sounders (Salt Lake Tribune)

So I get it that this is a few days late, but hey, I had to work all weekend so this is really the first chance I've had to sit down and write about the match.  I love it when the Seattle Sounders come to town, because they always play, instead of trying to just soak up RSL's attack.  Unfortunately for Seattle, RSL came out really well and if it were not for the heroics of Michael Gspurning, the match might have been over at halftime.

I thought the first half was some of the best football RSL had played to this point, and that was despite not having Alvaro Saborio in the lineup or Javier Morales in the midfield.  Set pieces looked especially strong, and from where I was sitting, it didn't really look like the Sounders were quite ready for the different looks that RSL threw at them.

I'm also very happy for Robbie Findley, who I've been critical of lately.  He notched the first goal of the match and his first of the season in the 8th minute.  The goal was precipitated by a long throw in play (who needs Nigel Reo-Coker?) which Robbie managed to turn into the net after Big Dev Sandoval's shot was blocked but not cleared.  Findley came out a few minutes later after suffering an injury on the play, but Seattle didn't really do much better against Joao Plata.

The midfield was excellent in attack as well as both Luis Gil and Sebastian Velasquez were literally all over the place.  Gil himself notched the second goal in minute 34, capitalizing off one of RSL's set pieces.  The Sounders defense seemed baffled as Sebas took a short corner to Ned Grabavoy, who put a picture perfect set up ball toward the top of the box, where Gil dropped a headed shot inside the far post to make it 2-0.

Seattle ratcheted things up a notch in the second half.  They took a little more possession and finally got a goal in the 57th minute.  Brad Evans had a shot deflected and in off the far post to make it 2-1, and there wasn't much Rimando could do.

Sensing the tide shifting a bit, coach Kreis brought Javier Morales into the game for his first minutes of 2013.  While the Claret and Cobalt didn't score again, they were able to keep the attacking initiative for most of the match, and held on to beat Seattle 2-1.

First a quick word about Seattle.  Their defense was all over the place, leaving Gspurning exposed to a pretty much constant firing squad throughout the match.  It's really the first time that I've seen Seattle really over-matched at the back, though I certainly don't watch all of their matches.  I was also stunned to see Eddie Johnson and Obafemi Martins, as well as Mauro Rosales, come out to start the second half already trailing 2-0.  Knowing that the Sounders had a huge CCL tie on Tuesday, if I were Sigi, I might have kind of thrown in the towel.  Props to him for not doing that, but I think it's fair to say that this hurt Seattle in CCL.  Both Johnson and Martins either picked up or aggravated previous knocks, and both Rosales and Zakuani played 90 minutes on the road, at altitude.  Johnson and Martins missed the CCL match entirely, while Rosales and Zakuani came in late in the second half did not effect the match which Seattle dropped to Santos 0-1.

As for RSL, it was great to see Findley amongst the goals again.  Unfortunately, he looks to perhaps be out two to four weeks with that lower body injury.  Joao Plata also pulled a hamstring late in the match.  Coach Kreis said he might be available this weekend.  Sabo looks to play against Colorado.  Also, much credit to "Big Dev Sandoval" who was constantly causing Seattle problems in and around the penalty area.  Great job by the rookie.  You know goals are coming soon for this kid.

All in all it was a great time effort, and it's hard for me to find much to critique, though I'm sure coach Kreis disagrees.  Much like the San Jose match, it showed what this team is capable of.  I just hope they can hit that potential with some consistency.

Now I'm going to try something knew, merging my hockey and football fandoms.  My three stars of this game (can be from either side)

3rd Star--Michael Gspurning (GK--Seattle Sounders)
2nd Star--Devon Sandoval (F--Real Salt Lake)
1st Star--Luis Gil--(MF--Real Salt Lake)