MLS Inquest 2013: DC United

Dwayne De Rosario has already become a victim of DC's horrible showing this year.

Puddle's 2013 MLS Inquest:
Team: DC United
Points: 16
Finish: 10th, Eastern Conference

Player of the Year--Luis Silva
Last year Silva was my player of the year for TFC.  This year, DC brought him in around the midpoint of the season , and though he had injury issues, he was pretty much a lone bright spot in DC's lineup through the second half.  He lead the team in goals with three.  That's right, three.  Though he only appeared in 13 matches, he'll be a good one for DC to keep around and build around for the future.

Flop of the Year--Carlos Ruiz
This could honestly be the joke move of the entire MLS season.  United brought in the former big scoring Guatemalan to help bolster their rather impotent attack.  The result?  Zero goals and zero assists in 13 games.  This experiment went so awry that DC has already cut him loose as they start to clean house.

The Good--
This is pretty obvious.  Somehow, despite their horrible form in league play, DC managed to get it together enough to make a run to the US Open Cup final, where they stunned a heavily favored Real Salt Lake squad at Rio Tinto Stadium to take the trophy.  I was there, and there's just no way to explain it.  It was a Wiganesque performance if there ever was one, but good on them and good on their supporters.

The Bad--
Three wins all season in league play.  Let me repeat that, three wins all season.  This was a playoff team a year ago and a team that I picked to be back in the playoffs again this year.  What went wrong?  I think it was a combination of injuries, desperation, and poor management.  So many DC players missed significant time due to injury, including Dwayne De Rosario and Chris Pontius, two heroes of last year's playoff campaign.  This helped drive DC into a panic mode which resulted in guys like Ruiz and Alain Rochat being brought in for zero impact.  Rochat was gone after four matches.  Also, what did they ever think they were going to get out of Lionard Pajoy?  Finally, to me Ben Olsen seemed to be in over his head at times, as I think it's fair to say that poor management contributed to the downfall of this already ragtag, patchwork lineup.

The Ugly--
Speaking of Olsen, it grew tiring to see him show up at press conferences week after week and blame the referees.  Yes, I think he had some valid points.  Yes, overall I think MLS referees took a step backward this year, but they were hardly the reason that DC United lost 24 games.  That's as many as the New York Red Bulls, the Portland Timbers, and Real Salt Lake lost all together.  At one point Olsen even said, "Nobody wants to listen to the coach in last place complain about the refs."  He was exactly right, and all it accomplished was to further tarnish his once bright star.

The Verdict--
Nobody saw this coming, but DC just fell flat.  I was really hoping that the US Open Cup win would propel them to make something out of the end of their season, but Olsen continued to experiment and the results blew up in his face like a dirty old meth lab.  Nobody wants to see DC United in last place, well except for maybe Union supporters.  They were once the pride of this league and they have great fans.  In the end, I think a shaky start combined with fitness and injury issues pushed DC into Panic mode.  From there, questionable personnel choices pushed them so deep into a hole that Ben Olsen could not dig them out.  Open Cup aside, the house cleaning as already begun, including sending DeRo packing, so it will be interesting to see what this team looks like in 2014.

Sounders Sink Rapids in Western Conference Play In Match.

The Rapids couldn't find a way into the Seattle net. (Seattlepi.com)

The 2013 MLS Cup Playoffs opened last night in Seattle, and for most of the experts, things went according to script.  Neither the Seattle Sounders or the Colorado Rapids had been in particularly good form entering the playoffs, but most folks, myself included, figured that the Sounders'u playoff tested vets would pass the test while Colorado's inexperience would show through.  In a nutshell, that's not a bad descriptor, though one of Seattle's veterans made a very costly mistake that could have cost his team the playoffs.

The Sounders opened the proceedings in high fashion, as they clearly knew what was on the line.  A lot of the first half action took place in the Colorado defensive half, and Sounders' keeper Michael Gspurning could have unfolded a lawn chair in his own 18.  For his part, Colorado coach Oscar Pareja gambled a bit, throwing a largely untested back 4 combination into the fire.  Shane O'Neill slid out to right back and German Mera started at center back next to Drew Moor, and this left the speedy Marvell Wynne on the bench.

The Sounders largely had a field day against this unit in the first, and playoff butterflies seemed to play a part as well.  The Rapids nearly conceded in the 12th minute when Mera misplayed a ball and left Lamar Neagle alone with Clint Irwin.  Neagle tried to head the ball over the Colorado keeper, but Irwin was up to the test, barely, jumping at the last second and tipping the ball over the end line for a corner kick.

Colorado's defense looked largely lost in the first half and Seattle managed to fashion a number of chances, including a shot from Dempsey that went wide in the 23rd minute.  Finally they hit pay dirt in minute 29 as somehow Brad Evans was left all alone near the top of the 18.  The USMNT man had all the time in the world to line up his shot and drive it inside the far post to give Seattle a 1-0 lead.

After the goal, things got a little chippy.  Late in the first half Seattle defender DeAndre Yedlin jumped into a ball with Colorado's DeShorn Brown, clearly leading with his arm/elbow, which drilled Brown in the head.  This the kind of thing that MLS has given out red cards and extra suspensions for all year long, but no foul was called on the play.  Brown was able to continue, but things weren't as good for Yedlin as he sprained his ankle on the landing and exited the match at halftime.  Then in the first minute of stoppage time Atiba Harris was inexplicably hit with a yellow for what seemed like a clean tackle, and the Rapids went to the locker room trailing 1-0 and fuming at the situation.

I really thought that the Rapids would bring in Vincente Sanchez to start the second half.  They had literally nothing going offensively and without Sanchez and Dillon Powers, they were not able to setup anything for Brown or Gaby Torres.  This didn't happen though.

Instead the Sounders continued to push, and nearly changed the game in the 52nd minute.  Dempsey ran onto a ball played into space deep in the Rapids end, and Irwin appeared to be the only man between him and the goal.   Irwin came out of the box and brought Dempsey down, ending the threat.  Initially, I thought it should have been a red card on Irwin, but replays clearly showed Drew Moor getting back and providing cover on the play.  Irwin received a yellow on the play, and in the end, it might have been the smart move, as a Seattle goal there might have blown the match open.

Finally the Rapids brought Sanchez into the attack things started to open up for them.  However, they were really unable to test Gspurning severely.  In the 58th minute a shot from Brown slithered out of the wet gloves of the Seattle keeper and fell to Torres, but the Panamanian striker was too close to the goal and could only send the rebound over the end line for a goal kick.

The Rapids did get a huge boost late in the match though.  In the 86th minute, Gspurning inexplicably left his 18 yard box and caught an incoming ball.  His reaction to the Colorado outrage and the forthcoming red card clearly showed that he had no clue where he was at on the pitch.  Seattle were now down to 10 men, facing 5 minutes of stoppage time.

But in the end it was Seattle who took advantage of the extra few minutes.  In the 3rd minute of stoppage time Eddie Johnson split a bewildered and tired Rapids defense and slotted a goal inside Irwin's near post to make the full time score 2-0.

So the Sounders took care of business, as most expected them to do.  The Rapids didn't make it easy on them though, as they fought tooth and nail to the end.  One has to look back at the finale of the regular season and see it's effects at this point.  If the Rapids could have won in Vancouver, they could have avoided the play-in game and hosted RSL this weekend.  Instead, relative inexperience showed through there as well, as they lost and faced traveling to LA or Seattle.  Colorado always needed a home match in the cold, high autumn weather in Commerce City to have a real chance in these playoffs.  However, as a very young team they exceeded expectations as will be even better next year.

The Sounders will move on to face the Portland Timbers in a Cascadia rivalry playoff tie that will surely be mouthwatering in it's intensity. However, the Sounders will have to be better against Portland.  They'll need to take advantage of any mistakes and not make the near fatal errors themselves.  Still, the folks in Seattle were rightly celebrating last night and not worrying about Portland just yet.

The MLS Coaching Carousel is in Full Swing

Frank Klopas is one of the MLS coaches now looking for a new position.

It's a certainty, kind of like death and taxes.  Every year in sports, across the USA especially, the end of the regular season sounds a death knell for the jobs of a few coaches who didn't quite meet expectations.  This coaching carousel is already at full speed in Major League Soccer, before the playoff schedule is even finished.

The first domino to fall was in Vancouver, where Whitecaps manager Martin Rennie is now moving on.  His contract was up at the end of the 2013 season, and the 'Caps decided against renewing him.  This actually surprised me a little bit.  Vancouver had five more points than they finished with last year when they made the playoffs.  They also captured the Cascadia Cup.  I really thought they would give him another one year deal at least, but as it turns out, the playoffs really did seem to be the bottom line.  It was another year when the 'Caps just couldn't quite hold it together down the stretch, including a horrible loss to RSL's "reserve squad" on their own pitch at BC Place.

Failing to make the playoffs cost at least one Eastern Conference manager his job as well.  Yesterday the Chicago Fire announced that they were parting ways with head man Frank Klopas.  Well, if you read the pressers, Klopas "stepped down."  Whatever helps you sleep at night I guess.  This one does not surprise me at all.  The only reason the Fire were anywhere near the playoff spots was because of Mike Magee.  One might argue that the Fire and Klopas failed to really bring in enough of a supporting cast to supplement Magic Mike, and that cost them the playoffs.  Still, when Klopas took over the Fire were an absolute wreck, and he did take them to the playoffs last year.  I think he had a pretty good run, and it will be interesting to see who the Fire pick to replace him.

However, the end of the season wasn't bad news for all of the managers who were sitting outside the playoffs.  San Jose interim manager Mark Watson saw his position upgraded to a multi-year contract as manager.  He totally deserved it as well.  He brought the Quakes back from near the foot of the table to just missing out on the playoffs, as they finished tied with Colorado on 51 points.  The Rapids held the tiebreaker, however.  The Quakes recaptured the Goonie swagger under Watson and finished the season on a 7 match unbeaten run.  Watson also steered them into the knockout rounds of the CONCACAF Champions League.

So there are the first comings and goings.  We'll see if a few more dominoes fall in the next few days and weeks.

Congratulations to New York Red Bulls, 2013 Supporter's Shield Champions

The gorgeous Supporters Shield Trophy is going to spend time in the Big Apple.

They pointed out that you've never won a major MLS honor.  They pointed out that a lot of your big signings have been busts.  They pointed out that the league was building you a big brother in your backyard.  Then you went ahead and posted the best record in the league, and won that first trophy.  That's what I call a pretty good response.

Coming into the final weekend of league play in MLS, the New York Red Bulls controlled their own destiny for the Shield, beat the Chicago Fire, and the hardware is yours.  Mike Magee gave them a fright, scoring in the 6th minute, but the Red Bulls have this guy named Thierry Henry, who if you haven't heard, is pretty good himself.  He equalized in the 25th minute, and the Red Bulls went on from there, winning 5-2.  The result not only gives the Red Bulls the Shield and the number one seed throughout the MLS playoffs, but it helped eliminate the Chicago Fire from postseason contention.

As alluded to earlier, this is the first major honor for the franchise, so it's a pretty big deal.  Also, RSL fans should be happy for a few of our former folks: Jamison Olave, Fabian Espindola, Jonny Steele, and especially assistant coach Robin Fraser, who I thought got an unfair amount of flack for the happenings at Chivas USA. 

As for the playoff run, the Red Bulls will meet the winner of the play-in game between the Houston Dynamo and the Montreal Impact in Houston.  As of this writing, dates and times were still being determined. Check with MLSsoccer.com tomorrow for playoff dates, venues, and times.

Mixed Results for MLS at the End of CCL Group Stage.

The group stage of the 2013-2014 CONCACAF Champions League wrapped up last night, and it was a mixed summer for MLS squads.  This year the LA Galaxy, Houston Dynamo, San Jose Earthquakes, and Sporting Kansas City filled the four US slots in the tournament while fellow MLS side Montreal Impact took the one Canadian slot available.  Three of the five MLS clubs will be moving on, but each one will face a tough Liga Mx side in the quarterfinals.

As RSL found out last year, the new tourney format with 8 groups and only the winner advancing is quite unforgiving.  The Dynamo learned this lesson last night as well as they fell to Arabe Unido 1-0 in Panama, which knocked them out of the tournament.  Of course, they continued to participate in what to me is a disturbing trend, MLS clubs fielding weaker sides in these matches.  Now, it's hard to blame the Dynamo for doing this when they have their regular season finale this weekend with the playoffs on the line, but it still goes to show where most MLS clubs rank this tournament.

Also in action last night were the LA Galaxy who traveled to El Salvador to take on to take on Isidro Metapan.  The Galaxy also fielded a weakened side, but their passage to the next round was already assured.  However, Metapan forward Nicholas Munoz dropped an insane 4 goals on the defending MLS Champs to crush them 4-0.  The Galaxy dropped from the 1 to the 6 seed in the next round with the loss, which as we'll see in a minute, created an interesting matchup.

Wednesday night Sporting Kansas City and the San Jose Earthquakes secured their passage to the knockout rounds as well.  Sporting held Honduran side Olimpia to a 0-0 draw at Sporting Park and the Quakes managed a 1-0 win over Heredia at Buck Shaw, thanks to a goal from Chris Wondolowski.

With all that said, here are the CCL Quarterfinal pairings, with the higher seed listed first:

Toluca vs San Jose Earthquakes
Cruz Azul vs Sporting Kansas City
Club Tijuana vs LA Galaxy
Arabe Unido vs Alajuelense

Honestly, I don't see much hope for MLS sides in this draw.  The Liga MX sides will be into their second half and the MLS sides will be looking at preseason type form.  Toluca should smash the the Quakes.  Sporting could have a shot at Cruz Azul if they can win at home.  The most interesting matchup is Tijuana and Herculez Gomez vs the Galaxy.  The Xolos haven't exactly been setting Liga Mx on fire, currently placed 12th out of 18.  However I still think this is going to be a tough ask for the Galaxy.  Should be a great tie to watch though.  Maybe Fox Sports 1 will actually show it, if not I can watch it on the Mexican broadcast I guess.  I'm sure Fox will have better things to show, like 20 consecutive replays of it's highlights show.

MLS Coach of the Year: My Take

Right now you're thinking I'm totally gonna RSL homer this post.  Read on to see if I do.......

As the Major League Soccer regular season comes to a close, there's a lot of banter going on about this year's post season awards.  The award for Coach of the Year has been getting some serious heat on the MLS comment site and social media networks.  Here I'll present my top 4 candidates for the award and give the best reasons that I can think of for and against before presenting my pick for the award.  I'm sure that whoever I pick will be just as thrilled to get my pick as the actual award.

Caleb Porter--Portland Timbers--The turnaround of the Portland Timbers is certainly one of the major stories in MLS this year, and a large part of it is due to the attitude and system installed by Caleb Porter.  Porter has been considered to be one of the bright young American soccer minds for awhile, but that rep kind of took a hit when he failed to qualify for the 2012 Olympics with the USA U-23 team.  That image has certainly been restored this year.  Portland has been solidly in contention all season long, and here with one game to go they have a legit shot not just at first in the west, but the Supporter's Shield as well.  This certainly bodes well for his chances, and he's seemed to be the odds on media favorite.  A major drawback to me is the number of draws that Portland have settled for.  Yes, you can call it getting results, but the Timbers have also failed to finish off teams a number of times this year, including two high profile matches at home against Real Salt Lake.  This could bite them in the playoffs.

Jason Kreis--Real Salt Lake--Speaking of RSL, how about the job that Jason Kreis has done?  Now, stay with me here.  A lot of folks wrote RSL off this season, picking them barely into the playoffs or perhaps out of the playoffs with the loss of Will Johnson, Jamison Olave, and Fabian Espindola among others.  They called it a "rebuilding year."  Kreis went out and replaced these guys, and managed to up RSL's goal scoring in the process.  In this "rebuilding year," RSL will finish 2nd or 1st in the west, depending on results this weekend.  Kreis and this club also accomplished this while missing their number 1 keeper, their Captain, their top goal scorer, and their best fullback for a month of the season as those players were away on international duty.  To me, that increases the odds.  However, RSL's somewhat lackluster finish to the season and reputation for folding in big matches will hurt his candidacy.

Oscar Pareja--Colorado Rapids--While RSL has gets most of the press in the Rocky Mountain region, Pareja has very quietly reforged the 2010 MLS Cup Champions not only into a playoff team, but in my mind, a genuine contender for MLS Cup.  The Rapids went through a preseason dump as large as, or maybe greater than, that of RSL.  Pareja's draft picks (Deshorn Brown and Dillon Powers) are the odds on favorites for Rookie of the Year, and have both contributed significantly.  The additions of Vincente Sanchez and Gaby Torres (the club's first DP) have made the Rapids all the more dangerous.  Let's not forget the emergence of Clint Irwin in goal or Chris Klute on defense either.  Pareja has brought these young men along in spectacular fashion.  The Rapids thrashing of the Sounders was kind of a coming out party in the the MLS media, but not to me.  I've been preaching Pareja and the Rapids in the Playoffs all year long.  They'll be more dangerous next year too.  Unfortunately for Pareja, the lack of media attention given to the Rapids could very possibly derail his chances.

Mike Petke--New York Red Bulls--Don't look now folks, but the Red Bulls are damn close to actually winning a trophy, though the Fire will try to have a say in that this weekend.  I think Petke has done a phenomenal job in his first year in charge of a club that has long been the pinnacle of  high salaried dysfunction in MLS.  He brought in Robin Fraser to help him out, oh yeah and he is the biggest beneficiary of RSL's preseason salary dump.  Petke has addressed the long standing issues in defense for the club more than adequately, and Luis Robles has finally stabilized the situation in net.  Couple these things with the emergence of Tim Cahill, and the Red Bulls might finally be able to fulfill their aspirations, and I think Petke is a huge part of that.  Now, some people will say that with the caliber of players at Petke's disposal, he ought to be where he is.  There will also be continued skepticism of RBNY's ability to close the deal until they win MLS cup, but I think he's still a solid candidate.

So there you have the case for these four men laid out as best as I can manage. In my mind, all four are totally deserving and I wouldn't mind if any of them win it.  However, in my mind, the award goes to..........

Oscar Pareja of the Colorado Rapids.

Sorry Porter, at least Oscar can beat Jason Kreis, and I'd take the Timbers in the playoffs over the Rapids in the playoffs any day of the week.  Congrats to Pareja and the Rapids on a great season.

Puddle's Goal of the Midweek: Zlatan Ibrahimovic vs Anderlecht

Zlatan Ibrahimovic put on a show vs Anderlecht in UCL action (bbc.co.uk)

I decided to resurrect the blog and this feature after being inspired by Ibrahimovic yesterday against Anderlecht.  Check out all his goals in the highlight video below, but pay particular attention to his third strike.  It was an absolute missile from 30 yards into the top corner of the goal.  ESPNFC is reporting that the goal was clocked at 122 km/h.  That's about 76 mph for us Americans.  Either way you put it, it's absolutely brutal.  His free kick later in the match nearly knocked the 'keeper off of his feet.

So check out the highlights below.  If you've seen them, watch them again.  If you haven't, you can thank me later.