Puddle's MLS Best XI and Awards: 2013.

I know I'm a little late to the party on this, but I was on vacation during MLS Cup week, and it's been a bit tough to get back into the swing of all things footy given the tough recent run of RSL news.  Nevertheless, I know you've all been waiting with great anticipation to see who I will name to the prestigious "Puddle on the Pitch MLS Best XI."  So....here we go:


GOALKEEPER: Nick Rimando, Real Salt Lake.
I thought this was a no brainer.  Obviously MLS didn't agree with me.  Still, I don't think you can discount the year that Rimando had.  He's consistently one of the top 2-3 GKs in MLS year in and year out, and he pulled RSL from the fire more than a few times this year, racking up quite a few "saves of the week" along the away.

DEFENDERS: Chris Klute, Colorado Rapids. Jose Goncalves, New England Revolution.  Omar Gonzalez, L.A. Galaxy.  Tony Beltran, Real Salt Lake.
I don't hold any truck with three at the back, so I'm sticking with the traditional back four.  For my money, Klute and Beltran are the two best, most exciting FBs, defending well and getting in on the offense.  Klute's stock is just going to go up, I promise you.  At CB, I have zero issue with Goncalves as Defender of the Year, as he was a rock for the Revs all season.  Still, I always take Omar as my first choice CB in MLS circles, and he was rightly rewarded with the DP deal this year.

MIDFIELDERS: Graham Zusi, Sporting Kansas City. Dax McCarty, New York Red Bulls. Diego Valeri, Portland Timbers. Kyle Beckerman, Real Salt Lake.
So these choices might look a little odd to you, but I have my reasons.  Zusi is obvious, as he is one of the best, most influential MFs in the league right now and I'd love to have him taking my set pieces.  McCarty is the beating heart of that Red Bulls team, and I'm not sure that there is anyone who plays harder in the league than he does.  Diego Valeri is very deserving of the recognition he's gotten, and he sets the Timbers up for a long time to come.  Of course, for me Kyle Beckerman is the bedrock of RSL and the best CDM in the league.  If he played in NY or Portland, he'd get the recognition that he deserves.

FORWARDS:  Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy.  Camilo, Vancouver Whitecaps.
Robbie Keane is still the most dangerous attacker in the league in my mind, and had a hell of a year again for the Galaxy.  I don't know if he could still do it in Europe, but he is still torching MLS, and that's a fact.  As for Camilo, he nearly carried the Whitecaps into the playoffs by himself.  Despite the fact that defenses continued to key in on him, he continued to score goals.  I think he'll continue to be a huge rising star in MLS.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
GK--Jimmy Nielsen, Sporting Kansas City
DF--Matt Besler, Sporting Kansas City, Jamison Olave, New York Red Bulls, Seth Sinovic, Sporting Kansas City, Sean Franklin, LA Galaxy.
MF--Osvaldo Alonso, Seattle Sounders.  Brad Evans, Seattle Sounders.  Will Johnson, Portland Timbers, Dillon Powers, Colorado Rapids
F--Mike Magee, Chicago Fire, Alvaro Saborio, RSL.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Dillon Powers, Colorado Rapids

MVP: Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy

COACH OF THE YEAR: Oscar Pareja, Colorado Rapids

Puddle's Surprise Team of the Season: Portland Timbers

Puddle's Flop Team of the Season: DC United.

Congratulations to Club Leon, 2013 LigaMx Apertura Champions!

Club Leon beat America to grab the 2013 Apertura Title.

The Puddle would like to pass on congratulations to the 2013 Champions of the LigaMx Apertura: Club Leon.  They took down Club America 3-1 at the Azteca and 5-1 on aggregate to claim the title.  It's the sixth Primera Division title for Leon, but their first since 1992.  All in all this is pretty huge for their club and their fans.  MLS readers will no doubt note the presence of Rafa Marquez in the above photo, as he has kicked his career back into gear as captain of Leon.

It was a pretty exciting two legged series to watch, well at least if you're a Leon fan.  They dropped two goals on America in the opener, but figured they might have a tougher time at the Azteca.  They didn't though as America never really looked to get into the tie.  Kyle McCarthy offers an extremely well written match review over at FoxSoccer.com

LigaMX will now take a break until after the first year, when they'll kick of the 2014 Clausura.  If you're not checking out the product that they're putting out on the field, you're missing some entertaining soccer.   Look up LigaMx on your local Spanish language stations and prepare for some fun, unpredictable footy.

AVB Sacked.......Again.

Another London club has proved too much for AVB. (telegraph.co.uk)

It's tempting to just write up a generic "AVB got sacked" entry and just cut and paste in the details.  Ok, I'm kidding, actually I'm not really.  Spurs have finally had enough of the AVB fad, sacking him just one day after Spurs were humiliated by Liverpool 0-5 at White Hart Lane.  Couple that with a 6-0 beating by City a few weeks ago, and it spelled the end for a man who has now been canned by two big London clubs.

Honestly though, I think AVB was a better fit for Spurs than he was at Chelsea.  I also thought he seemed to have learned from his time at the Bridge as well.  Let's not forget that Spurs had a pretty solid season under him last year, and seemed to be rounding more into form in the Premier League this year as well, at least until the Liverpool thrashing.  Spurs had also won their Europa League group.

Now it seems rather odd that a Chelsea supporter would be coming to the defense of AVB at all, but this just seems like a reactionary move from Spurs.  It's been an odd season in the EPL, just look at the table.  Sure, Spurs are 7th, but they're ahead of Man United.  Also, let's not forget that this team lost Gareth Bale, who is a pretty good player or something.  Villas-Boas and Spurs ownership turned that money right around and invested it in bringing in some pretty nice talent, but they don't seem to have quite gelled all the way.  The question that Spurs fans have to be thinking this morning is: did they have enough time to gel completely?

The other question I have as far as the situation goes is, "Who are you going to get for an upgrade at this point in the season?"  Sky Sports names Russia boss Fabio Capello as the favorite, though if I'm a Spurs fan I'm not sure I'd be all that excited about that either.  USA head man Jurgen Klinsmann has been mentioned, but as he has just signed a new contract, it's unlikely that he'll be seriously in the running.  Klinsmann was a striker for Spurs back in his playing days.

It's pretty rough for AVB though.  Even Harry Redknapp, who knows a thing or two about being sacked by Spurs, had said that he thinks that Villas-Boas should have gotten more time.  In the end, I guess somebody's head had to roll after the Liverpool match, but I wonder if more change for Spurs is really the best thing for them at this time.

RSL 2013: Success, Disappointment, or In-between?

The Western Conference title was the highlight of RSL's season (USA Today)

So.....it's been a mighty tough week to be an RSL fan.  The disappointment of the MLS Cup Final needs no further description.  That's followed up by losing Jason Kreis midweek, and then on Friday finding out that the Portland Timbers would be taking the last spot in the 2013 Concacaf Champions League as opposed to RSL.  It's tempting to look back on everything that's happened this year and be pretty disappointed, and I can't blame those who might take more of a "glass half empty approach."

However, what happens when we look at the entire body of work in the 2013 season and match it up with preseason expectation?  I could rehash all the events of the last offseason and recount expectations going into 2013, but that ground has been well worn.  Suffice it to say, I picked them 4th prior to the season, so my expectations were exceeded in that regard.

When you put the actual results of the 2013 season alongside the preseason expectations, I think the season can definitely be judged as a success.  When we look back, we see that RSL sat atop both the Western Conference and MLS wide table for a significant portion of the season and for the most part they were remarkably consistent.  How many games did Beckerman, Rimando, Saborio, and Beltran miss with international duty?  Stack those alongside with a significant injury to Chris Schuler, who was stepping into the role of Jamison Olave, and more injury issues for Sabo, who always seemed to get broken when he went to play for Costa Rica.  Also, both Kwame-Watson Siriboe and Josh Saunders suffered season ending injuries in this time, forcing untried backups into action.  Despite all of this, the Claret and Cobalt hung in there all season, and though they did slip from the Supporter's Shield race at the end, they never really fell into the slog at the bottom of the Western Conference playoff picture with LA, Seattle, Colorado, and San Jose.

Individually, several players had remarkable seasons as well.  I think we have to start with Nick Rimando here.  He kept RSL in a lot of matches this season, especially early on.  He was also a beast for the USMNT in the Gold Cup and for RSL during the playoff run.  I really have a major issue with him losing out on the Goalkeeper of the Year award.  Outside of Rimando, check out Nasty Ned Grabavoy.  Earlier in the season Kreis had challenged Ned to step up and be more of a leader on the club.  He did just that.  He continued his stellar work rate all over the pitch, and in my mind some of RSL's best moments of the year offensively came when he was more involved. especially on secondary runs from the midfield.

Two other men really emerged in the playoffs, and RSL fans should be hoping that these guys carry that form into next season.  First off I'm speaking of Robbie Findley.  Robbie took a lot of flack throughout the regular season, some of it deserved.  He seemed to be the favorite whipping boy for RSL fans on the post game shows.  However in the playoffs he came to life again and showed us the dangerous offensive weapon he really can be.  Now we just need him to add consistency, in my estimation.  I also want to prop up Chris Schuler, who I was touting on twitter as the most important piece for RSL during the playoffs.  His return was HUGE for the Claret and Cobalt.  Not only did he team up again with Nat Borchers to help solidify our defense in front of Rimando, but he became an offensive threat on set pieces as well, and this is something I think we need more of from our big guys at the back.  Hopefully he can continue to be that presence next season.

Now I'm also a "results matter" and "trophies matter" kind of individual.  To play in two cup finals in a season is excellent.  To win neither of them borders on unacceptable.  I have to level this criticism again here and it remains valid.  When the big prize is on the line, something just seems to be lacking with this group.  There will almost always be one or two fatal errors, maybe the only errors that are made by the boys during the match.  We saw both DC United and Sporting Kansas City exploit these errors and come away with trophies.  Now I'm not going to castigate the team for falling just short in MLS Cup away to a very deserving Sporting Kansas City squad, but to me the loss of the US Open Cup final at home to a DC United squad that was criminally horrible all season is a low point not only of this season, but in recent RSL history

So in the final analysis, yes the season was a success, but I think we should definitely look back on it with some disappointment.  It was good, but it could have been great.  It was a chance to put down once of the best seasons in MLS history, but in the end we couldn't quite seize that moment.  The important thing now is, what do we do with that disappointment?  We'll have some new blood at the top next year, and some new faces on the pitch as well.  I hope the club takes a healthy dose of "what could have been" from 2013 and uses it for motivation to get better, to develop that needed killer instinct.  Hopefully the new coach will be able to facilitate that as well.

Jason Kreis and RSL: The Roads Diverge.

It's the end of an era at Rio Tinto Stadium

Late this summer a frightening specter emerged for RSL fans to think about.  Rumors began to circulate that head coach Jason Kreis, the face of the franchise, was considering a move to expansion franchise New York City FC as their first head coach.  It caused a considerable ruckus to say the least, leading into the US Open Cup Final and a big regular season clash with the Seattle Sounders, both of which RSL lost.  Gradually things calmed down though, and RSL rebounded with a tremendous run through the MLS playoffs falling just short to Sporting Kansas City in the MLS Cup final last weekend.

However, once that match was over, the eyes of everyone affiliated with RSL and many affiliated with MLS turned to Kreis to see what choice he would make regarding his future.  Last night, coach Kreis had the team up to his house and broke the news: he's taking the job at NYCFC.

Now one can't fault RSL fans for feeling like they've been kicked in the teeth while they were down.  The jubilation of beating Portland in the Western Conference final gave way to huge disappointment with the cup loss, and to deal with this three days later is kind of hard to swallow.  My own immediate reaction last night was severe disappointment, as I had hoped Kreis would stay.  To me, there was a sense of unfinished business this year after 2 Cup final losses.  However, after sleeping it on it, I've come to a different perspective.

First off, Jason Kreis owes this club and it's fans absolutely NOTHING.  I'm not sure that anyone in MLS could have built RSL from what it was into what it is in as short an amount of time as Coach Kreis.  We've gone to from doormat to champions and perennial contenders.  This last year, after jettisoning several key players, Coach Kreis lead this team to an MLS Cup final in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year.  Kreis has more than earned his wage and our respect in Salt Lake City.

Second, this is a HUGE chance for Jason Kreis.  Not only will Jason be moving into a huge role with a ton of cash to play with to face his latest challenge, but he's going to be a first hand witness to big time European Club football.  According to the NYCFC website, Coach Kreis will travel to England to work directly with Manchester City staff including manager Manuel Pellegrini.  He'll also get to work with Director of Football Txiki Bergiristain, who won the Champions League with Barcelona.  For a man who wants to continue to progress as a head coach in football, whether in the USA or abroad, this is a chance that cannot be passed up.

Finally, this was obviously not easy for Coach Kreis.  I encourage everyone, RSL fan or not, to listen to his interview with ESPN 700's Bill Riley. It's heartbreaking in spots, and gut-wrenching for RSL fans.  In the interview, Kreis speaks of the agony of making the choice, knowing he would have to make up his mind soon as the playoffs wore on.  He also said that telling the team was the hardest message he's ever had to deliver.   Listen to the interview for more perspective on this.  It's fantastic.

Are there potentially pitfalls here for both Kreis and RSL?  Absolutely.  The club has stated their intention to hire someone who will continue with Kreis's system, or as he put it: the RSL ethos.  However, if next season does not go well, one can quickly see the questions and finger-pointing beginning immediately.  If it goes south quickly, we'll have one unhappy fanbase.  For Kreis, he'll go right into the pressure cooker.  NY is an entirely different sports culture than Salt Lake.  Granted, it's not the Yankees or the Giants, so the spotlight won't be quite as white hot, but MLS, Man City, and the Yankees have invested a lot of time and cash into this enterprise, and results will be expected quickly.  Also, when you think of both New York and Manchester City, "The team is the star" is hardly the first thing to come to mind.

The path ahead for both RSL and Kreis is risky, but nothing worth having is usually easy.  For now, I hope other RSL fans will join me in expressing their gratitude for Coach Kreis and pondering the legacy he has left here.  Soon enough, a new frontier awaits the club and the man, and when that time arrives, fortune will indeed favor the bold.