MLS Top 5/Bottom5: Week 3.

Where do Will Bruin and the Dynamo sit in my first rankings?

So I really wanted to try my hand at some rankings and trend spotting this year in MLS.  The fact that there is so much parity in the league makes this kind of thing really fun and challenging for me, and gives me something to think about during long lulls at work, and to keep me up at night with my mind turning over and over.  I decided to wait a couple of weeks though, until everybody had at least a couple of games under their belt, though I suspect that rankings like this are always fairly inaccurate this early in the season anyway.   What I'm going to present to you are my top five and bottom five, with comments on each.

TOP 5--   


1. HOUSTON DYNAMO --The Dynamo were quite impressive in their opening matches, and Will Bruin (above) was on fire.  According to the league site, he is one of the most captained fantasy players going into week four as well.  Dom Kinnear's side has also yet to give up a goal.  However, they still might be a paper tiger.  Their first match was against the Revs, who have been absolutely awful so far, and their second was against the almost equally hapless Montreal Impact, sans Marco Di Vaio.  Also, both of those matches have been at home, where they're always good.  This week they travel to Vancouver, who should provide a better test.

2. TORONTO FC--I've been pretty skeptical about TFC in the offseason and through the preseason.  These new additions are great, but at this point, I still have to see it to believe it from them.  However, I just might be starting to see it.  The win at Seattle was definitely a quality win, though a 1-0 victory over DC at home was slightly less impressive.  Defoe and Bradley have been the real deal for sure, and Cesar is big time keeper in net.  However, their job gets a little harder this weekend coming to RSL, especially without speedster Jackson, who has been suspended by the disciplinary committee. 

3. REAL SALT LAKE--RSL's biggest problem in the opening weeks has been a failure to land the knockout punch, or the inverse, letting some rather simple defensive mistakes put teams back on level ground.  Still, undefeated with 5 points from 3 games with LA and San Jose (2 of them on the road) is a pretty solid start.  The other issue is injuries, especially up top, with Big Dev, Joao Plata, and Robbie Findley all injured. 

4. SEATTLE SOUNDERS--It wasn't a pretty performance, but Seattle took down Sporting in the first match at home at beat the Impact on the road last week.  Those two results were sandwiched around that home loss to TFC.  The Sounders played well at Montreal and executed their game plan and counter attack very effectively, despite not having Clint Dempsey.  If Obafemi Martins stays healthy, he's gonna cause MLS defenses some issues this year, without having to compete with the large "Pay Me" ego that he used to partner with.

5. COLUMBUS CREW--The Crew opened the season with an absolute smack down of DC United at RFK, and then beat the Union at home in week three.  They had to hold on a bit in that one, but it was still an impressive performance against a Union squad that I think is gonna be pretty good.  This weekend they travel to Seattle, where the local supporters will be less than welcoming after the fiasco that surrounded the "Seattle is sending capos to Columbus for the USMNT" article that happened last summer.  They have potentially the biggest test of any of my top five this weekend.


BOTTOM 5--

15. PORTLAND TIMBERS--Sorry, I'm still not sold on the Portland Timbers.  Apparently "Porterball" still means draw at home and lose on the road, at least so far this year.  Their defense is still suspect, and while the midfield is a strength, they still lack a true target guy up front.  Urruti doesn't cut it for me, he's just a bull in a china shop.  The Timbers have yet to show me that they can take the next step by converting all those draws from last year into wins and gain points consistently on the road.  It doesn't get any easier for them this weekend as they play at FC Dallas, who just missed out on my top 5.

16. CHIVAS USA--The Goats are definitely an improved side, and looked decent in their first two matches, even though they had to largely resort to packing it in to try to keep the Whitecaps out after going a man down at home.  It didn't work.  This last weekend they were largely pasted by FC Dallas on the road.  They're better, but not good enough, yet.  This weekend they travel to New York, where the Red Bulls will be looking to smack them around and get their season on track.

17.  MONTREAL IMPACT--I'm not rating them lower because they've been without Di Vaio, and hey, that  road swing through Texas isn't going to be easy for anybody.  However, they never really threatened the Sounders at home either.  They were in the match, but I never really thought, "Oh yeah, here they come."  Getting Di Vaio back will help, but as of right now, I really can't see Montreal really making a push for anything.  This weekend they play at Philly, and I'm forecasting a Union victory.

18. NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION--I'm so disappointed in the Revs so far.  I really thought they were gonna build on the playoff run from last year, and they still might.  However, it's hard to really find much that they did right in their opening three matches, though they did get their first point this last weekend, albeit without managing to score a goal.  It's too bad that they didn't get to hold on to Juan Agudelo.  This week they travel to play at San Jose, and you'd have to figure in a win for the Quakes, maybe without having to pull the "Goonie" stuff.

19. DC UNITED--DC was another team that ostensibly got better this offseason, at least they threw a bunch of money at players, particularly one Eddie Johnson.  They then paired Mr. "Pay Me" with Mr. "I Dive and Miss Big Shots" in Fabian Espindola, who also is known to be a bit combative.  Both Seattle and RSL fans predicted that this experiment was not going to go well.  For all their spending and revamping, DC have shown nada, zero, zilch.   This week they host the Fire, and Mike Magee will probably look to feast on DC's back line.

Smash and Grab Job Gives Whitecaps A Point At Chivas USA

Darren Mattocks heads a ball against Chivas USA (sporttopix.com)

I was really impressed with the way the Vancouver Whitecaps took apart the defending Supporter's Shield winners, the New York Red Bulls, last week up at BC Place.  Kekuta Manneh and new signing Sebastian Fernandez has Caps fans, and me, asking "Camilo who?"  Well, after last night's outing against Chivas USA, one has to wonder if that first match was a bit of a fluke since Red Bulls were missing Thierry Henry and Jamison Olave, among others.

The match began rather sluggishly at Stub Hub Center, with neither side looking as though they wanted to put out much effort or creativity in what was an unseasonably warm day in SoCal.  I know this because the announcers mentioned it probably twenty thousand times in the first 10 minutes.

The first event of note came in the 13th minute, and it seemingly spelled disaster for the Goats.  Augustin Pelletieri went in for a hard challenge on Vancouver's Pedro Morales.  As he continued through the challenge, he came down on Morales's ankle, and the referee showed the Chivas midfielder a straight red card.  I suppose by the letter of the law it was a good call, but it seemed rather harsh to me at the time.  At any rate it was dumb challenge for Pelletieri to make so early in the match with absolutely nothing going on offensively for either side.

So now that the Caps had a man advantage I got excited and thought that now I was going to see that same awesome football that I saw last week in Vancouver.  I was disappointed, though hey, Chivas played pretty well.  You couldn't tell that they were down a man as Vancouver just refused to press the issue.

Still even the Goats couldn't manage anything but blocked shots, and Vancouver couldn't manage a shot at all in the entire first half.  Then in the 45th minute, the scales tipped in favor of the Goats.  Mauro Rosales threaded a ball into the area where Chivas forward Erik Torres was waiting.  Torres fired off a shot, and it took a tricky deflection off of 'Caps defender Jay DeMerit and into the goal to make it 1-0 to Chivas heading into the break.  DeMerit joked afterward, via Twitter, that at least his ass scored it's first goal of the season.

Things didn't look any better for the Whitecaps at the start of the second half either.  The adjustments that were needed seemed clear, but didn't seem like they were taking place.  Chivas stayed organized on defense and continued to outwork the listless Whitecaps on offense.  In the 52nd minute Leandro Barrera shot forward on a counter and looked to have a sure fire second goal for the Goats.  However, 'keeper Pat Ousted made a nice save, getting a hand to it and knocking it wide for a corner.

Finally the 'Caps made some good hay starting at the hour mark with the insertion of Manneh into the match.  He immediately brought the energy that the Caps had been lacking, and started opening up the match for others as well.  In the 61st minute Morales sprayed a shot just wide of goal and then in the 66th Darren Mattocks knocked the ball past Dan Kennedy, who had come out to the top of the area to claim it, and sent it rolling toward the goal line.  However, he couldn't get much power on it and a Chivas defender came and poked the ball out of harm's way.

But the 'Caps kept up the pressure and finally came good in the 81st minute.  Mattocks had the ball on the left side of the box, and dropped a nice centering pass to Manneh near the penalty spot.  The Gambian promptly slotted the ball past Kennedy in goal to tie the match at 1-1, which was the score at the full time whistle.

You have to feel a bit for Chivas in this one.  I thought they really deserved all three points.  They played with a grit and spirit that hasn't always been there for a franchise that has been considered the doormat of the west.  I'm not sure that's gonna happen this year, especially if they can hang onto Torres all season.  They really played a solid match.

On the other hand, it's hard for me to say that the 'Caps really deserved the point that they got.  Their performance was woeful for the first 60 minutes, 47 of which were played with a man advantage.  The bright spot for Vancouver was definitely Manneh.  He showed some real chemistry with Mattocks in the 2nd half, and that's really good news for 'Caps fans.  Now they just have to pray that their club can gain some consistency to keep pace in a loaded Western Conference.

Next week the 'Caps travel to New England to take on a Revs squad that has looked miserable to open the season.  Chivas USA will travel to Frisco, Texas, to take on FC Dallas.

HBO Investigative Piece Focuses on Chivas USA Allegations

HBO's Real Sports focused on a lawsuit against Chivas USA (Getty Images)

Last night was not a good night in terms of publicity for Chivas USA and Major League Soccer.  HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" ran a 20 minute piece on a lawsuit filed by two former Chivas USA youth coaches, Teddy Chronopoulos and Dan Calichman, that alleges that they were dismissed from their positions because they weren't Mexican or of Mexican descent.

Both the lawsuit and the Real Sports segment focus on the time period since Jorge Vergara, who owns Liga Mx's Chivas de Guadalajara, bought the team.  According to the lawsuit, since that time, Chivas USA have undergone a systematic effort to eliminate personnel that weren't Mexican or of Mexican descent.  It's alleged that in his first address to the team and staff, Vergara spoke only in Spanish until he realized that not all of his staff spoke Spanish, he then commented, in English, that if you didn't speak Spanish, you should go work for the Galaxy.  Another gentleman commented that if you speak against Vergara, that you are speaking against Mexico and are regarded as a racist.

Soledad O'Brien also explored the effects of this on Chivas USA's academy, where Chronopoulos and Calichman coached.  A mother of a former Chivas youth player provided Real Sports with a questionaire that was given to kids and parents where the parents not only had to ethnically identify the child but the child's mother and father as well.  This was a little disturbing.

According to the lawsuit, Chronopoulos and Calichman filed a complaint with Chivas USA's Human Relations department and were then promptly dismissed from their positions.

Also interviewed was DC United's James Riley, who was traded away from Chivas USA.  Riley, who is half African-American and half Korean, alleges that he was traded from the club because he was not of Mexican descent.  Real Sports is following the stories of 17 different players who have been jettisoned from the club since Vergara took over that were not of Mexican descent.  They were largely, if not totally, replaced by Mexican personnel.  This includes former head coach Robin Fraser, who was replaced by El Chelis.  The parents of the youth player interviewed for the piece have moved their son to the LA Galaxy U-12 Academy, where he is now captain.

Real Sports requested an interview with Vergara, but the club denied this request, instead giving O'Brien 15 minutes with technical director Paco Palencia.  The interview ended abruptly when O'Brien's questions  became a little too pointed.

The piece was unquestionably ugly and very bad press for MLS.  Gumbel and O'Brien ventured the guess that Chivas USA see it as a marketing tool to the large Mexican population in LA, or that perhaps  it's all a cultural misunderstanding.  The problem is, that even if this is the case, being ignorant of employment laws regarding discrimination in the United States doesn't make you exempt from following them, and it certainly looks like these two men deserve their day in court, though it is understandable that MLS and Chivas USA are not going to comment given the ongoing lawsuit.  Alexi Lalas said on Twitter today that he asked Commissioner Garber about it, and Garber said that while the piece raises serious issues, he can't really comment because of the litigation.

Also, yes, most job applications in the United States require you to list your ethnicity, generally for affirmative action purposes, however in my opinion, requiring this info on children is a bit beyond the absurd.  Also, I think anyone would be a little suspicious of an employment application that asked you to validate the ethnic identity of your mother and father.

In the end, I'm just left wondering how Major League Soccer let it come to this.    Not to mention, did they not see this coming when they hooked up with Chivas de Guadalajara.  I get that in Mexico, Chivas is largely seen as a national symbol of Mexican pride and that these practices are considered to be perfectly legitimate, but this is not Mexico.  It is also unquestionable that if an MLS franchise ditched all their ethnic players and hired only white players and staff.......well it doesn't take much imagination to think of the PR scandal that would rightly follow.

Anyone who pays attention to, or closely follows MLS saw this coming.  None of it is news.  it became more obvious with every offseason move made by the Goats.  Didn't that send a red flag up with SOMEBODY at League Headquarters?  Perhaps they were too concerned about YSA and NY2 to notice what seems to be pretty blatant discrimination in one of their already existing franchises.

Personally, they could shutter Chivas USA tomorrow and I would be fine with it.  The franchise is a joke.  Despite touting the superiority of their Mexican based system, they remain in last place.  Their attendance is down even further, if that's possible.  Their constant ineptness, on the pitch and off, have made them the laughing stock of the league.  Meanwhile, Real Salt Lake, who came into the league at the same time, and in a much smaller market, have managed to win an MLS Cup and build a yearly contender featuring an extremely diverse roster.  Chivas USA is the poster child for how not to run an MLS side.

The league needs to deal with this.  I shudder to think of what a non MLS fan thought of that piece.  It makes soccer continue to look like a foreign game with backwards views and attitudes.  Nothing was mentioned of the other 18 MLS teams with hugely diverse rosters.  It was UGLY.  Meanwhile, El Chelis took to twitter to bash Grant Wahl, calling him "the KKK." He also asserted that gringos were the kings of racism and discrimination.  Yeah Chelis, you classless hack, that's going to help everything.  This coming from the guy who wouldn't shake the hands of Jason Kreis or RSL's staff after his team got pummeled.  

If I can touch on the political for just a moment, this race crap has to stop.  Its sad to think that we haven't moved past this stuff in 2013.  That goes for anyone who thinks that their race is superior to another.  I don't care if you're white, black, hispanic, asian, or anything else, if you view yourself as superior to another human because of your race, you are part of the problem.  If you view your race as superior to another race on the basis of the blood flowing through your veins, you are part of the problem.  At some point we have to move beyond this, though my hopes aren't high.  As author Michael Shaara states in the book "The Killer Angels:"

"There's many a man worse than me, and some better, but I don't believe that race or country matter a damn!"

We're all human and what unites us can be so much stronger than what divides us.  I wish we could see that.

Finally, on a personal note, I do feel for the Chivas USA supporters, those troopers who show up to every match.  They must know that this is not going to end well for their club, and they shouldn't be lumped in with Vergara and his numpties.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming weeks.

MLS Western Conference at the Halfway Point: Does This Make Sense?

Real Salt Lake celebrate salvaging a point vs the Philadelphia Union. (Deseret News)

So now we're basically at the halfway mark of the 2013 Major League Soccer season.  To me, it really seems like it's flying by.  No matter how you slice it, the 1st half has been full of drama and surprises.  Here is how the Western Conference shakes out, with some of my thoughts on the individual clubs.

1. Real Salt Lake, 34 Points.
Let's cut to the chase here, very few people expected RSL to be on top of the table at this or any point of the MLS season.  I didn't either.  Expectations were tempered with the off season losses of RSL mainstays like Will Johnson, Fabian Espindola, and Jamison Olave.  However, despite the flat out RAGE from some fans, RSL quietly maintained that they were reloading, not rebuilding.  So many guys have stepped up for the Claret and Cobalt this year.  Josh Saunders making a great game saving play against the Union is just the latest in the long line of fine performances in many different positions.  Still, you don't get anything for being first on the 4th of July.  RSL will have to avoid their usual "summer swoon" to stay on top.
RSL Halfway MVP: Javier Morales--Javi has shrugged off the early season injury to come back and play some of his best football in recent memory, setting guys up for goals and scoring a few himself.

2. FC Dallas, 31 Points.
There was a time earlier this season when it looked like Dallas was going to run away with the Western Conference, and maybe even the Supporter's Shield.  They've come back to earth in recent weeks, dropping road results at Portland and LA, and scraping by a little bit at home.  Still, I think Dallas is the real deal and I don't think they're going away.  To me the biggest difference has been in team discipline, which means they've been putting themselves in fewer deep holes in matches.  Blas Perez continues to be a force to be reckoned with and David Ferreira is still one of the best in the league.  The Hoops have also improved on defense and in net.
FCD Halfway MVP--Raul Fernandez. The Peruvian International 'keeper has just earned a spot in the MLS fan XI for the All Star game and has proven to be a great pickup in Frisco.  He's saved a few points for Dallas this year and should continue to do so in the second half.

3. L.A. Galaxy, 30 Points.
There's always a storyline going on with the Galaxy, but hey, it's Hollywood, right?  Earlier this year it was Landon Donovan's "sabbatical." Then it was the fact that they traded Mike Magee for Robbie Rogers while Magee was right there leading the league in goals.  Now it's the fact that Rogers has basically done squat since coming on board.  You know what though?  Despite the unrest and the "wtf" storylines that swirl around this club, they continue to be right there in the thick of it.  You just can't bet against a team with Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane, and Omar Gonzalez.  However the glaring weakness for this team is in goal.  Carlo Cudicini is NOT cutting it, and one wonders if this issue will bite LA in the rear before the season is over.  Matt Pickens anyone?
LAG Halway MVP--Landon Donovan.  Beckham who?  Since returning from his "Holiday in Cambodia" Landon has proven that he is still the beating heart of this club.  Now, he hasn't always been at his best, but he is the force that drives this team and there's no reason why he can't drive them to another MLS Cup right now.  You have been warned.

4. Portland Timbers, 30 Points.
You have to give the Timbers a ton of credit.  I basically gave them no chance in my preseason preview, and they've certainly proven me wrong.  This team has WAY more heart than the previous editions have had, and the Timbers Army seems to finally have a group that cares as much as they do.  Still, while MLS has seemed to want to crown Portland as the new Kings of Cascadia and maybe even the league, I'm not sold yet.  That big unbeaten streak?  Yeah, there were a lot of draws in there, a lot of points left on the table.  Last year they were losing a lot of the matches they've drawn this year.  Now they have to start converting some of those situations into wins if they really want to stay in the Shield hunt going forward.
PDX Halfway MVP--Will Johnson.  RSL's loss was Portland's gain, BIG TIME.  Will finally had the chance to be the man up in Portland, and he's come through big time.  You can really see the team reflecting his Never Say Die, 90+ minute attitude.  He'll need some help going forward though, especially on the back line.

5. Vancouver Whitecaps, 29 Points.
Just when you want to count the Whitecaps out, BANG, they come out and slap Seattle.  This club is a bit of an enigma, on one hand, you look at their roster now as opposed to a year ago and think that they have to be worse off now, but they might not be.  Camilo has been in high gear recently, and Kenny Miller finally looks like he's settling into MLS.  The problem for the 'Caps is going to continue to be on defense, where injuries have hit them hard, including losing Captain Jay DeMerit to an ACL injury in the 7th minute of the season.  I don't see the 'Caps challenging for the top of the table, but if they can get into the playoffs and stay healthy, they could make some noise.
VAN Halfway MVP--Camilo.  There is no question for me here.  He is one of the most dynamic players in the conference, and he's starting to finally form a nice partnership with Kenny Miller.  The Caps' fortunes will follow his own.

6. Colorado Rapids, 27 Points.
The Rapids have been the most Jekyll and Hyde like team for me out west this year.  The last week at home is a case in point.   They beat the NY Red Bulls 2-0 in one of their better performances on the year, then they come out and look totally uninspired against a DC squad that they should beat in their sleep at the Dick, only earning a scoreless draw.  Their main problem seems to be inconsistency, and their spotty defense has had a lot to do with it.  Finishing also seems to come in fits and starts for them, it seems like they're going to either put up 2 or 3 goals, or none at all.  However, they are a fairly young team, and young teams can be prone to these inconsistencies.  I will say this though, if they get into the playoffs, this is the one team I DO NOT want to face in the first round.  They'll be hungry and have the players to do the damage.
COL Halfway MVP--Clint Irwin.  Irwin has come up huge for the Rapids since the early season injury to Matt Pickens.  He has started to show his youth a little bit of late, but a lot of the goals against him have been goal of the week type strikes.  Make no mistake, Irwin keeps Colorado in matches.

7. Seattle Sounders, 24 Points.
The Sounders are easily the biggest disappointment in the conference so far.  The season has been fairly disjointed as much of their early schedule was disrupted due to CCL play.  They've played three less games than most of the conference, so they have time to improve, but improve they must.  Osvaldo Alonso can't be back soon enough, and the defense has been down right atrocious lately.  They seem to just be going through the motions a good portion of the time, and it's not cutting it.  They have the weapons up front, but it seems like they have little else, except a frustrated fanbase.
SEA Halfway MVP--Obafemi Martins.  He's been streaky, but when he's been on, he's provided most of the good moments for the Sounders.

 8. San Jose Earthquakes, 21 Points.
My, my, what a difference a year makes.  All those things that were going right for the Quakes last year?  Yeah those breaks have turned against them.  The suspensions and fines have piled up as their, shall we say provocative, style of play has caught up with them.  Injuries have also been a big issue. Plus Chris Wondolowski has gone from MVP to down right invisible in many matches.  The Quakes have fired their Shield winning coach and sit eight points back of a playoff spot.  They're going to need a huge dose of that "Goonie" crap to turn it around now.
SJE Halfway MVP--Jon Busch.  He drives me nuts sometimes, but he's one of the most underrated netminders in the league.  Without him, the Quakes might be in Chivas USA territory.

Speaking of.....

9. Chivas USA, 14 Points.
What else is there to say about the doormat of the conference and perhaps the worst managed organization in the league?  El Chelis was a joke.  It was a gimmick, and I'm sure even he knew that.  Since the Chelis spotlight has drifted away, the Goats have made just a TINY bit of improvement, picking up 2 road points at Dallas and at Montreal. Still, the Goats have light years to go before they can be looked at as respectable.
CHV Halfway MVP--Dan Kennedy.  He's the only one really worth mentioning.  When I mention him, I like to mention that he should be playing for the OTHER team that calls that stadium home.

So there you have it.  Does it make sense?  Maybe not so much, but the second half promises to be just as exciting as the first.  What you can positively say is that at least ONE really good team is probably going to miss the playoffs.

Goats vs Ball Boys. Who Ya Got?

Chivas USA's Mario de Luna (center) will get a call from the Disciplinary Committee (AP Photo)

There isn't much going well for Chivas USA these days.  Despite the strong start to the season under Chelis as coach, they find themselves on the bottom of a stacked Western Conference, three points back of their LA neighbors the Galaxy for the final playoff spot.  Their situation was made worse on Sunday when they took a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of the Portland Timbers at Jeld-Wen Field.

Unfortunately for the Goats, matters became even worse late on as frustrations started to boil over.  Defender Mario de Luna shoved a Portland ball boy when the ball boy refused to give him the ball, for a Portland throw-in.  Anecdotes from folks who were at the stadium vary, but some reports are even saying that the 4th official instructed the ball boy not to give the ball to de Luna, as it was a Portland throw.  It would be hard to argue that the ball boy was obstructing a restart, since it was a Portland throw.  However, it should be said that any altercation with a ball boy is unacceptable. Period.  Ask Eden Hazard of Chelsea, who was trashed for a ball boy incident even after the Swansea ball boy admitted that he was trying to obstruct play in favor of his team.

I, for one, am getting tired of this nonsense that crops up every once in awhile.  There's just no need for it.  I don't care if the ball boy is a kid or a teenager, there's no reason for an adult, de Luna, Hazard, or Colin Clark, to get into an altercation over this.  If there's a problem, the player needs to bring it to the attention of the referee, not shove or kick the ball boy.  Be an adult, an realize that the cameras are indeed rolling.

I watch a ton of MLS, practically every match over the course of the week with MLS Live, and thankfully, these incidents are far from the norm.  However, MLS should come down harshly on these guys.  Maybe a bit more time needs to be spent training the ball boys too.  I've seen plenty of clueless ball kids at RSL matches.  I don't think I've ever seen one try to obstruct play intentionally, but there have been a few who just don't seem to have their head in what they're doing.

In this particular incident, the ball boy wasn't hurt.  Chelis also checked with the ball boy to make sure he was ok, which is nice.  Still hopefully the league will take some action so this particular black eye on the game goes away completely.  There's just no reason for it.  I get that late in a match tensions run high, but again, you're supposed to be an adult, make the right decision. 

De Luna was given a yellow card on the play and will now miss Chivas USA's next match against Real Salt Lake next Sunday.

Crew Close Down "New Look" Chivas in Season Opener.

Chivas USA tried their best to compete with Federico Higuain, to no avail. (TheCrew.com)

The folks behind Chivas USA have really been trying to convince everyone that they know what they're doing with their offseason, well, whatever strategy they had.  It really didn't look like it though Saturday night as they fell apart down the stretch to fall to an imposing Columbus Crew side at the Home Depot Center.

Much was made about Chelis, the Goats' new head man and his "eight second" philosophy.  If you missed that, basically Chelis wants his players to win the ball back within eight seconds of losing it.  That was nowhere to be found Saturday night, particularly in the first half.

Most of the joy in the first half went to the Black and Gold, with Dominic Oduro getting forward with his speed on 12 minutes, but the newest member of the Columbus strike force hit his shot well into the stands, it was not the last the Chivas defense would see of him though.  Josh Williams directed a header on frame in minute 16, forcing Dan Kennedy into his first action of the night as he saved the shot to keep the score level.

However it wasn't all Columbus as Chivas started to find their way a bit later in the first half.  Their best chance came on minute 27 when forward Julio Morales latched on to a turnover in the Crew defense and pushed toward goal.  However Andy Gruenebaum was up to the task, making a diving save to stone the Chivas man.  It's why I continue to believe that Gruenebaum is one of the best, and most underrated 'keepers in MLS.

Chelis made some attacking subs for Chivas to start the second half, bringing in the more familiar names of Miller Bolanos and Juan Agudelo.  The Goats attack was instantly better for it, probably since they brought in two guys who are actually, you know, used to playing in MLS.  Chances were still few and far between though as Gruenebaum wasn't seriously tested.

It was the Crew who drew first blood in the 51st minute.  Predictably, the first goal of the new Crew season came off the foot of Federico Higuain.  He collected a nice ball from Jairo Arrieta near the top of the area and blasted home his first of the year to make it 0-1.

After the opening goal Chivas pushed a bit and had what was probably their best stretch of the match.  Unfortunately for them, even on the rare occasion that they did get the ball on frame Gruenebaum was a wall in goal.  He parried an effort from Bolanos in the 59th minute that was the Goats' most significant chance of the second half.

In the end, the more Chivas pushed up, the more exposed their already weak back line became, and it all came crashing down in the final minutes.  In the 88th minute Williams volleyed home a beautiful goal off of a corner kick to make it 0-2.  It really was a finish worthy of a top class striker.  Finally in the fourth minute of stoppage time, Oduro got his first goal as a member of the Crew, taking the ball from his own half and charging all the way to the Chivas penalty area, where he promptly gave Kennedy the traffic cone treatment and deposited the ball into the empty net to make it 0-3 at the full time whistle.

The match went pretty much as expected, though the final scoreline might be a little unjust to the Goats.  Next week they host FC Dallas as the Crew travel north of the border to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps.

MLS 2013: Western Conference Predictions and Questions

If the Eastern conference isn't your thing, why not try the Western Conference?  No big intros here, lets just get right to it, my predicted table plus three big questions to answer at the end of it all.  Here we go...


9. Chivas USA--Do I REALLY have to explain this one?  Oh, right, I'm supposed to go gaga over Chelis.  Not buying it, sorry, especially since he basically said he only expects to spend one year at the club.  What's the point?  The Goats dumped most of their players who weren't of Hispanic origin, though gee, I see they didn't dare part ways with Dan Kennedy.  This team is a joke to me, sorry.  They need to get out of LA and down into San Diego where there's not a two time defending MLS Cup champ in town.  The other thing is, if another MLS club tried to build a foundation on a specific ethnic identity, no way it would fly, and it shouldn't fly here either.

8. Vancouver Whitecaps--Yawn.  Last year they nearly fell out of the playoffs after making some deals that really could have propelled them into the upper echelon of the Western Conference.  The Kenny Miller thing didn't work out, or at least hasn't yet, and I don't see Paulo Jr doing anything up there that he didn't at RSL.  Darren Mattocks could eventually be a golden boot type player, but to me he needs to do some more growing up before he can lead this time past the teams in front of them.

7. Portland Timbers--Let's dispense with this question now.  Is this the year Portland finally capitalizes on their "atmosphere" and pushes into the playoffs?  Nope.  They made some nice pickups, sure, but why anyone would put Caleb Porter in charge of pro club after the U-23 debacle is beyond me.  Sorry, Frederic Piquionne doesn't impress me anymore than Kris Boyd did before last season started.  Will the league continue to shove Portland down our collective throats?  Yes.  Will they make the playoffs?  No.

6. FC Dallas--To me, this team goes as far as David Ferreira takes them. That could be an awfully long way.  If the New York version of Kenny Cooper shows up, that should help a lot.  If the Portland version shows up, well then he'll just play well against RSL.  The defense will be decent but I think dumping Kevin Hartman was a mistake.  That guy kept Dallas in a lot of games over the last couple of years.  We'll make sure to keep an eye on Blas Perez's diving scores as well.

5. Colorado Rapids--The Rapids are going to be better this year.  I'll also tag them to get back to the playoffs.  Last year Oscar Pareja had a system, but not the players for it.  This year, he'll have both.  It might take some time to gel, but I think they'll make it.  If they can play solid, stylish, football at 5280, they'll wear some teams out and there could be some woodshed type beatings.

4. Real Salt Lake--This is probably where I get flamed.  First off, yes, RSL lost some key parts, but  I thought the front office did a great job holding things together.  There's no reason to think that they won't still be a playoff team, especially when you look at the clubs behind them.  However, I'm not sure the preseason was overly comforting.  The loss to a largely reserve Seattle squad in the DDC final mirrored every big loss RSL has had the couple of years, going back to the Champion's League Final vs Monterrey.  If the team can put the ball in the net on a regular basis, they could top the conference.  However, without seeing it, this is as high as I can put them at the moment.  Injuries will be key as well, though there won't be as many matches to contend with this year.

3. San Jose Earthquakes--I'll address these guys a bit more in the questions segment, but I don't think it's going to be as golden a year for the "Goonies" this time around.  That classic flick has already been ruined for me though.  It's gonna be Wondo, Wondo, Wondo.  Keep in mind that the Quakes WILL have CCL matches to contend with this year as well.  We'll see how Wondo fairs in that tourney as the Quakes get a taste of their own flopping, knee-you-in-the-stomach, stop the game at every chance style.

2. L.A. Galaxy--To the relief of their fans, Landon "Holiday in Cambodia" Donovan will be returning, but not just yet.  Also, of course, Beckham is gone, as MLS was so keen to point out at the end of last season.  *Gag* However Robbie Keane stayed home this offseason, not going out on loan.  This should help him shoulder the load until Donovan returns and is up to form.  Also, if you think the Galaxy aren't going to sign another big name DP, you're probably nuts.  It might not be Lampard, but it will be significant.

1. Seattle Sounders--My Seattle friends will love this, but as I try to take an unbiased look, I really think this could be their year.  Michael Gspurning is in my mind the best 'keeper in MLS, which is an even bigger compliment because he doesn't have the best defense in MLS in front of him.  Yes, Montero is gone, but they have some guy who likes to go by the name of Eddie Johnson who should continue his beast mode form.  Did we mention Rosales and Alonso yet?  Tiffert has been pretty much as advertised and Shalrie Joseph is a really nice pickup as well, at the expense of whatever Chivas USA is trying to do.

Three Big Questions--Western Conference

1. Will the Quakes continue the magic form from last season?

My Answer--NO.  First off, the Galaxy managed to dispense with the Quakes quite easily in the playoffs, and they did drop a few points down the stretch, though not often losing.  Plus you can't think that the Quakes are going to get ALL the calls and the breaks going their way like they did last year.  Losing Simon Dawkins will be significant as well.  Also, the Quakes will have more matches to contend with, just like RSL and Seattle did down the stretch last year, and as I mentioned earlier, they're bound to run into their own "frustrating" play style in CCL.  They'll still be a playoff team though.

2. Can Real Salt Lake avoid a big slide after offseason cap trouble?

My Answer--YES. Now, lets remember that "can they" and "will they" are two very different questions.  The new look RSL squad has a TON of potential.  If things work out as Jason and Garth want them to, they could top the league.  However, as we saw displayed so many times last year, things don't always go as planned (think US Open Cup and CCL crash and burn).  They have the players to contend for the Cup and the Shield, and even that wannabe FA Cup thing we try out every year.  Bottom line though, the ball HAS TO GO IN THE BACK OF THE NET.  Especially at home.  We shall see.

3. Can the Galaxy hold on until Donovan gets back and they sign another DP?

My Answer--YES.  Sure they can, they're still a solid club,  However, who cares?  Look what happened last year.  Would you bet against them as long as they scraped into the playoffs?  I sure don't think I would.

So there you have it, my Western Conference thoughts.  Many of my fellow RSL fans will disagree, and I hope they finish higher than I pegged them. Until then, just callin' em like I see em.  Let the matches begin!

MLS Coaching Hot Seat: Backe and Fraser SACKED

Hans Backe will now have time to concentrate on snow angels (Getty Images)

Two more MLS coaches were given pink slips this weekend.  Though one was certainly more high profile than the other, in the end neither move is really a surprise as both clubs involved fell short of their expectations.  

On Friday, a day after being eliminated from the MLS playoffs by DC United, New York Red Bulls announced that Hans Backe would no longer be their head coach.  Backe's contract expires at the end of the year, and the club announced that it would not be renewed.  Also getting the sack was Backe's assistant Jan Halvor Halvorsen.  The club announced that Mike Petke will oversee the team on an interim basis.

It was largely considered to be MLS Cup or bust for the Red Bulls, and expectations were only raised when they acquired Australian International Tim Cahill from Everton near the end of the summer transfer window.  In the end, it wasn't offense that cost New York, but horrible defense and spotty goalkeeping.

Also on Friday Chivas USA announced that Robin Fraser was out as their head man.  Fraser was considered to be a top choice for a head coaching position in MLS after he was assistant to Jason Kreis in 2009 and 2010.  RSL won the cup in 2009 and had a stellar defense year in 2010, setting a team record for fewest goals allowed.

Fraser never got the ball rolling at Chivas USA though, with only 15 wins over two seasons.  The Goats tanked late this year, not winning in their last 14 games and getting destroyed by their opponents quite often.  Assistant Greg Vanney. head scout Simon Elliott, and trainer Brian Lee were also sacked as Chivas continues to restructure their front office.

Backe and Fraser become the 2nd and 3rd MLS managers to lose their jobs in the wake of the 2012 season.  They join Montreal's Jesse Marsch, who was sacked earlier last week.

MLS Inquest 2012: Chivas USA

Chivas USA were unable to improve despite acquiring Juan Agudelo

2012 MLS Inquest: Chivas USA
Record: 7-18-9
Points: 30
Final Position: 9th, Western Conference

Player of the Year: Miller Bolanos
This was a tough call to make between Bolanos and 'keeper Dan Kennedy.  While Kennedy certainly kept Chivas in some games this year, Bolanos was often the most consistent danger man on offense, if there was one.  His stats suffered from Robin Fraser's continual tinkering of the offensive lineup, but the Ecuadorian managed to tally 3 goals and 4 assists.  He was tied with Ryan Smith for the club lead in the assist category and second in goals.

Flop of the Year: Juan Pablo Angel
Yes, JPA did lead Chivas USA with 4 goals.  4. That's pretty bad in and of itself, but then one steps back and sees how much, or actually how little he played.  He could have been, and should have been, a marquee name for the Goats, but only made 19 appearances, starting 9 times.  In Chivas' final home match against the Colorado Rapids, Angel was spotted in a luxury box, laughing with a sweater tied around his neck, yuppy style.  Great place for a team leader to be.

The Good:
Chivas looked pretty decent out of the gates, collecting two big road wins at Real Salt Lake and at the Portland Timbers.  The strength of the team in those early weeks was defense, but the good, stout defense in front of Dan Kennedy's goal eventually faded away, and with it, the results.

The Bad:
Despite acquiring several well known players, Chivas USA was never able to gel and get their chemistry going as team down the stretch.  Their only two wins in the second half came at the expense of Portland, the last one coming on July 29.

The Ugly:
There's  a lot of ugly to go around at Chivas USA.  Changes in their ownership structure and front office have gone into effect, but it didn't matter what was changed down the stretch for the Goats, nothing helped.  They dropped 8 out of their last 10 games to fall to last place in the Western Conference.  What is even more ugly is that so many of the prime seats at the HDC sit empty covered by tarps at every Chivas USA home match.

The Verdict:
This was nothing but another majorly disappointing season for the Goats and their fans.  The brand is in shambles, despite the high profile additions of guys like Juan Agudelo, who was utterly ineffective.  Robin Fraser seems to be in trouble with the new front office shakeup and rumors already swirling about who will be the next Chivas USA manager.  Still I don't see the outlook getting any brighter for the side until the culture around the team and the brand have improved.

Chivas USA Continues Front Office Overhaul

Some MLS clubs are not waiting for the official end of  the regular season to make changes.  This includes Western Conference bottom dwellers Chivas USA, who found themselves locked into last place in the west after last weekend's loss to the Colorado Rapids.

Earlier this year Jorge Vergara and his wife Angelica Fuentes, current owners of Liga MX side Chivas de Guadalajara, bought out the Cua brothers ownership interest in Chivas USA to take control of the club, and now they're starting to bring in their own people.  On Tuesday they named Jose David as new team president and Jose Luis Real as supervisor of soccer operations.

Jose David, a resident of Los Angeles, is a native Mexican businessman.  He's been at the forefront of many Mexican multinational corporations, including a spell as CFO of Megamex Foods.  He has resided in LA for the past 7 years.

Real is a former player and coach in Mexico, where he coached Atlas and Chivas.  He is most widely known as a key figure in developing Chivas' much-lauded youth academy.  He's expected to have a direct influence on the on the pitch product, which could be a good thing for the Goats.  He will continue to live in Guadalajara, but is expected to make trips to LA frequently to oversee soccer operations.

Rumors have been swirling about the head coaching position as well.  Several reports surfaced earlier this week saying that Robin Fraser had officially been ousted as coach, but for now the club is denying that.  Most of the rumors seem to center on Mexican National Team manager Efrain Flores. Besides his three match stint with El Tri, he has managed Liga MX sides Atlas, Leon, Chivas, and Pachuca.  It will be interesting to see what happens after the regular season officially ends this weekend.

Rapids Doom Chivas USA to Another Loss

Martin Rivero and Kamani Hill both scored for the Rapids (Getty Images)

The match between Chivas USA and the Colorado Rapids Saturday night at the Home Depot Center didn't have playoff implications for either side, but there was plenty of pride on the line, as well a chance to gain more points and hopefully avoid the Western Conference basement.

At least the Rapids played as if that was on the line.  For Chivas USA, not so much.  The Rapids dominated the first half, stretching out to a two goal lead before the interval, which did force Chivas to actually try in the second, though it didn't really matter much in the end.

Chivas USA did control much of the possession throughout the opening stanza, but it was largely pointless possession.  The chances went to the Rapids.  Their first came on 12 minute when Omar Cummings sent a shot in that missed the Goats goal.  Speaking of the Goats, they started backup, and former RSL third stringer, Tim Melia with Dan Kennedy getting the night off.  This proved costly for Chivas early on as Melia tried to claim a ball in his box, but couldn't hold it, leading to a continuation of the play.  The defense managed a half hearted clearance, but only so far as the Rapids' Kamani Hill, who passed to Martin Rivero on the right side.  He calmly collected the ball then slotted in between Melia and his near post to give the Rapids the 0-1 lead on 16 minutes.

The Rapids, who were quite impressive both on the ball and off, were to add a second goal on 43 minutes.  On this occasion Cummings blazed a well hit cross through the area to Hill, who was coming up the Rapids' left.  Hill met the cross brilliantly with his head, driving it into the ground where it skipped past Melia and inside the far post to make it 0-2 going into the break.

Coming out down two goals for the second half, Chivas decided to throw more men forward.  After all, it wasn't like it mattered to them if they lost by 2 or 3 goals.  However the Rapids and their own backup 'keeper, Stew Ceus, were quite happy to bunker in and protect their lead.

The Goats did manage a few half chances, and even tested Ceus a couple of times.  Juan Agudelo tried to make his presence felt, but couldn't find the target even with a couple of decent looks.  It was largely emblematic of his season, if not of his career so far.  Laurent Courtois actually managed to force a save out of Ceus on 76 minutes, but it would be one of only two shots on target on the night for the Goats as the Rapids easily held on to the 0-2 win.

Despite the 3 points, the Rapids cannot catch FC Dallas for sixth in the west, but depending on next week's results, they could finish as high as seventh.  The performance was largely indicative of the kind of play the Rapids are capable of under Oscar Pareja, especially with players like Rivero, Hill, and Jaime Castrillon.  The question is, will they grow enough to perform like that against the better teams in MLS?  It's possible, but time will tell.

With Portland's win on Sunday, the loss dooms Chivas USA to a last place finish in the West, though last place in the league as a whole is reserved for Toronto FC's fate.  For the Goats, this promises to be another long off season, but if they continue to play like this, it might not be long enough.

Sabo & Espindola Help RSL Torch Chivas USA

RSL celebrate Alvaro Saborio's third goal of the night (Getty Images)

RSL fans got what they wanted Saturday night as the Claret and Cobalt thrashed Chivas USA 0-4 at the Home Depot Center.  Alvaro Saborio netted his second hat-trick of the season, Paulo Jr. scored a goal, Fabian Espindola recorded three assists, and Nick Rimando posted yet another clean sheet as RSL moved into sole possession of second place in the Western Conference.

It seems like it was a long time ago that Chivas USA bounced RSL 0-1 at the Riot.  At that early point in the season it looked like Robin Fraser's Chivas side might be heading in the right direction as they pieced together a run of outstanding defensive performances.  Unfortunately for the Goats, it hasn't worked out that way, or anywhere near that way.

It didn't take RSL long to get things started either.  In the 8th minute Fabi sent a cross into the box that Javier Morales flicked on toward the post.  Saborio was waiting in the wings to deposit the ball past Dan Kennedy to give the Claret and Cobalt the 0-1 advantage.

Chivas didn't get much time to breathe either, as the next RSL goal came on just 11 minutes.  This time the Claret and Cobalt were helped by an uncharacteristic error from Chivas 'keeper Dan Kennedy.  He tried to roll the ball out to Ante Jazic, but Fabi sniffed it out and picked off the ball.    Espindola then dished to Sabo, who got just enough of the ball to dribble it over the line and give RSL the 0-2 lead.

Morales nearly scored for RSL in the 56th minute when he torched Chivas's defense and beat Dan Kennedy, only to have his shot cleared off the line by John Valenica.  Sabo followed that up by icing his hat-trick in outstanding fashion in the 65th minute.  Kennedy stopped a shot from Will Johnson, but gave up a rebound to Sabo.  The Costa Rican executed a deft turn and floated the ball in off the bottom of the crossbar to give RSL the 0-3 lead.  Paulo Jr. would add a goal of his own in the 81st minute to make the full time result 0-4.

Obviously pretty much everything went right for RSL in this one.  It wasn't luck either.  It was our players working hard, being where they were supposed to be, and doing what they were supposed to do on the pitch.  Chivas never really had an answer for the offense, and Nick Rimando was more than up to the task when Chivas did try to score.  The defense did well despite the absence of Jamison Olave to yellow card suspension.  Chris Schuler made the start and looked good.  Knowing that we also have Kwame-Watson Siriboe is a nice luxury and gives RSL much needed depth on the back line.

Let's temper the expectations just a little bit though.  Yes, RSL has gotten the results they needed in recent weeks.  However, Portland and Chivas are bottom of the pack in the West, so they'll need at least that kind of an effort going forward.  Their last three games are at LA, at Seattle, and at home vs Vancouver, all playoff teams at least at the moment.  The last match of the season could be interesting especially if Vancouver needs three points to clinch a playoff spot.

MLS: Quakes Stomp Chivas, Tighten Grip on West

San Jose's Alan Gordon wins a header (Getty Images)

Was there ever any doubt on this one?  I think most MLS fans' doubts are disappearing week after week as the San Jose Earthquakes continue to take down opponent after opponent.  This week, they didn't even need crafty (read bizzare) antics from Steven Lenhart or stoppage time heroics from Alan Gordon.  They just put their foot on the collective throats of Chivas USA and finished the job.  There were no questions asked and no quarter was given for the stumbling Goats.

It didn't take the Quakes long to get on the board.  They set up for a direct free kick from about 35 yards out in the 11th minute.  Chivas 'keeper Dan Kennedy carefully constructed his wall then sat back and waited for the strike. Victor Bernardez stepped up and curled his free kick around the wall, and Kennedy couldn't get down to it as it trickled inside his near post for the first San Jose score to make it 1-0.  It was an outstanding strike from Bernardez, but Kennedy really should have doen better at his near post.

However, in the 14th minute the Quakes were very fortunate not to have a major decision go against them.  Juan Agudelo jumped on a sloppy back pass for Chivas and turned toward the San Jose goal.  John Busch came out to meet him, hit the deck, and made the save.  As it turns out, he was clearly outside of the box.  Despite the fact that the ball plainly struck Busch's arm, the AR signaled that it did not, and Busch escaped what would have, and should have been, an automatic red card.  It was another in a string of breaks that have gone San Jose's way this year.

Chivas USA were so overmatched that it likely wouldn't have made a difference either way, and the Quakes added another goal in minute 39.  Marvin Chavez picked the ball off of Chivas defender Raushawn McKenzie and dished over to Chris Wondolowski.  Wondo then hit Simon Dawkins, who ran in behind what was left  of the Chivas defense and scored, making it 2-0 to the home side at halftime.

The second half didn't go any better for Chivas as they would concede yet again from a set piece opportunity.  In the 71st minute Ramrio Corrales beat the Chivas wall and Dan Kennedy once again to make it 3-0.  The time Kennedy gave it a better effort, but it was just struck too smartly and he was pretty much helpless.

Finally in the 81st minute the Quakes added insult to injury.  The Goats conceded another free kick in the danger zone, but made an bonehead type mistake and didn't put someone on the ball to force Corrales to ask the refree for the ten yards.  Kennedy and Chivas went about setting up the wall, oblivious to the fact that referee Mark Geiger was not impeding San Jose from taking it quickly and Corrales struck the ball while Chivas was asleep at the wheel.  Kennedy realized what was happening, but it was too late as the ball went into the net to make it 4-0 to the Quakes, which was the score at full time.

With the win San Jose takes back sole possession of first place in the race for the Supporters Shield, 3 points ahead of Sporting Kansas City.  Their cushion on the rest of the Western Conference sits at 7 points, as Real Salt Lake moved back into second place after a win over DC United.  Seattle sits in third, 9 points back after a draw at FC Dallas.  Chivas sit on 28 points, 9 behind Vancouver for the final playoff spot.  The two teams will meet again in two weeks at the Home Depot Center.

Mayhem at the HDC: Sounders Put Chivas to the Sword

Fredy Montero scored a hat-trick en route to a 6-2 thrashing of Chivas (Getty Images)

This was a great match to watch if you were either a neutral or a Seattle Sounders fan.  It's like the two sides just tossed the concept of "defense" out the window.  In the end, Seattle was able to capitalize on a majority of their chances as Chivas looked like you couldn't pay them to finish.

It might sound weird if you didn't see the match, but the Goats actually started out the brighter of the two sides.  Miller Bolanos was active in the opening minutes having a shot blocked in the second and forcing Michael Gspurning into his first save in the third minute.  Head coach Robin Fraser had stated that Chivas was going to try to get some more goals, and the first few minutes seemed to bare that out.

However Seattle through a monkey wrench into Fraser's plan in minute ten.  While busy paying attention to Fredy Montero near the top of the area, the Chivas defense lost track of Brad Evans sneaking up the left.  Montero hit him with a great through ball, and Evans slapped a clinical finish past Dan Kennedy to make it 0-1 to the visitors.  The Chivas defense then proceeded to lose Montero for the rest of the night.

Despite the set back, Chivas tried to continue with the more positive style of play and pushed for an equalizer.  Their first really good chance of the match came 15 minutes in when Ante Jazic sent a cross into the Seattle box.  It found the head of Casey Townsend, but the young attacker was not able to direct it on frame as the his header went wide of the mark.

Seattle made Chivas pay for the miss just 12 minutes later.  This time Mauro Rosales was the provider and Montero the goal scorer.  Rosales hit Montero with a nifty through ball of his own, setting up Fredy's easy finish as he made it 0-2 to Seattle without giving Kennedy the slightest chance to stop it.  Montero wasn't done either.  In the 34th minute he got free and took another pass from Rosales, this time opting to chip over the helpless Chivas 'keeper to make it 0-3.

The Goats did have a positive turn of events leading into halftime though.  In the 37th minute Jeff Parke conceded a PK for a handball in the box.  Juan Agudelo stepped up and nailed the spot kick to make it 1-3 going into the interval.

Chivas USA came out well again in the second half and Seattle looked a little lost on defense.    In the 50th minute Agudelo had a great chance with a header, but saw it flash wide of the target.  However in the 64th minute the Goats pulled to within one as Miller Bolanos got loose and rifled a shot past Gspurning to make it 2-3.

The Sounders responded well though.  Just three minutes later Fredy Montero gave the Goats' defense the traffic cone treatment before slapping yet another goal past Dan Kennedy to complete his hat-trick and make it 2-4.

Chivas does deserve some credit for keeping up the fight though.  In the 75th minute it looked like they had again pulled to within one when Jose Correa had his shot saved just on the goal line by Gspurning.  In the scrum that ensued, Chivas poked the ball into the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed as Juan Agudelo was hit with a foul on the play.  Townsend then directed a bullet header on goal in the 77th, but Gspurning was up for it and made the save near the top of the goal.

From then on it was all Seattle, with a little help from the Goats horrid defense.  In the 80th minute Christian Tiffert  found Sammy Ochoa with a cross, and Ochoa steered it into the net to make 2-5.  The humiliation was complete in the first minute of stoppage time as Ante Jazic headed yet another Montero shot into his own net to make it 2-6.  An own goal just seemed to be the fitting cap on a terrible performance for Chivas as the 2-6 score held until the final whistle.

It was a great night for Seattle as their offense fired on all cylinders.  The one mark against them might be the fact that they gave up a lot of chances that a better team than Chivas might finish.  However, they won't care a fuss for that in Seattle tonight, as the blowout result takes them beyond Real Salt Lake on goal difference into second place.  It was a superior performance, and one really can't argue that they don't deserve it.

Match Thoughts: Chivas USA vs. Real Salt Lake

Fabian Espindola and Jonny Steele celebrate Fabi's first goal of the night. (Getty Images)

So, Chivas USA, do you remember your early season win at Rio Tinto Stadium?  Sure you do.  Guess what?  Real Salt Lake did too.  The Claret and Cobalt returned from the international break with with first place on their minds and revenge in their eyes.

The boys did come out a little rusty though.  In fact it would probably be fair to say that Chivas had the better of the opening half possession wise.  You still have to put it in the back of the net though.  RSL did that in the 35th minute, as Alvaro Saborio smacked in a goal, but was ruled offside.  The MLS website called it a "very tight offside call."  I call it incompetence as replays clearly showed Sabo even with the last defender.  Say it with me footy fans, "even is on."

It didn't matter to RSL though, and they seized control late in the half.  Everybody's favorite Irishman Jonny Steele intercepted a dumb ball from Dan Kennedy, who looked clueless all night.  Steele dished over to Captain Kyle Beckerman, who launched a ball into Fabian Espindola.  Fabi took care of business, heading the ball into the net to give RSL the 0-1 lead going into halftime.

It didn't take long for RSL to drive the nail into the coffin in the second half either.  In the 54th minute Ned Grabavoy slid a through ball to Fabi toward the wing, and Espindola came as close as he ever will to channeling another famous Argentine forward.  With some fancy footwork he left former RSL man Rauwshan McKenzie in dust and slapped the ball past Kennedy to make it 0-2.

The Claret and Cobalt wouldn't look back, on offense or defense.  Nick Rimando really only had to make one difficult save all night as Chivas rarely threatened the RSL goal.  A third RSL goal looked to be a sure thing, but it didn't come until stoppage time.  Javier Morales played a brilliant ball over to Will Johnson and the Canadian international blasted a shot into the upper corner of the net to complete the Goat sacrifice and hand RSL the 0-3 win on the road.

Coach Kreis said afterward that it was one of the best matches RSL have played all year, and I have to agree.  Obviously Espindola had a great night, but Real got important contributions from the midfield as well.  Grabavoy did an awesome job with passes on several occasions.  Will Johnson played both midfield and the back line, and played his tail off.  His great effort finally paid off with the late goal.  Javier Morales played in the second half and looked very sharp as well.  Jonny Steele had a bit of a rough night at times, but one can't forget that he made the big play on the Kennedy pass that produced the first goal.  Hopefully he can gain some consistency in the coming weeks as RSL will need the depth on their roster come CCL time.

US Open Cup 4th Round Review

Last night wasn't quite as bad for MLS teams in the US Open Cup.  After all, DC and Colorado lost to other MLS sides.  However, there was at least one major disappointment for the MLS faithful to swallow as well.

That disappointment was the New York Red Bulls.  They lost 3-1 to the Harrisburg City Islanders in extra time.  The Islanders are known for giant killing in this tourney, but that's not likely to console the Red Bulls.  With the match knotted at 1-1 in the 4th minute of extra time, former Red Bull Sainey Touray lobbed a shot in over Ryan Meara to make it 2-1.  After the Red Bulls were incorrectly denied a PK for a handball, Lucky Mkosana fired home the final nail in the coffin in the 112th minute to make the final 3-1.

Handball in the box also played a significant roll in Chivas USA's 1-2 at the Carolina Railhawks.  Carolina had just taken down the Galaxy in the last round, but couldn't pull off the double over the LA teams.  Juan Pablo Angel hit a penalty kick in second half stoppage time after a Railhawk's defender handled in the box to give the Goats the win.

As mentioned earlier, there were two matches that took place between MLS sides.  Philadelphia needed extra time to overcome DC United 1-2 at DC.  At Livestrong Sporting Park, Sporting Kansas City shut down the Colorado Rapids en route to a 2-0 win.

The most interesting match of the night was supposed to be Seattle Sounders vs Cal FC at Seattle's Starfire Sports complex.  Amateur side Cal FC, coached by former US Soccer great Eric Wynalda, pulled off the upset in round 3 against Portland, but Seattle was just too big of an ask.  Despite being held scoreless in the first half, the Sounders poured on five in the second, two by Fredy Montero, to make it 5-0 at full time.

The evening's slate was rounded out in San Jose where the Earthquakes were pitted against Minnesota Stars FC, who took down Real Salt Lake last week at Rio Tinto Stadium.  Minnesota couldn't pull off the upset for the second straight week, as a goal from Steven Lenhart propelled San Jose to the 1-0 win.

Two other matches were held without MLS sides.  The Dayton Dutch Lions beat the Michigan Bucks 2-1 and the Charlotte Eagles took down NASL's San Antonio Scorpions 2-1 in extra time.

Match Thoughts: New York Red Bulls vs. Chivas USA

NY's Brandon Barklage and Chivas' Juan Pablo Angel fight for the ball (Getty Images)

One couldn't fault either New York Red Bulls or Chivas USA fans for being confident ahead of this match.  Coming in the Red Bulls had won four matches in a row and Chivas USA was coming off of a win over the LA Galaxy for the first time in five years.  Chivas was without newly acquired star forward Juan Agudelo as he is away with the national team, but they did have former Red Bulls man Juan Pablo Angel, and he had a big night.

Chivas had the first chance of the match in the second minute when Nick LaBrocca sent a shot in that was well saved by Ryan Meara.  However, a short time later LaBrocca went down with an apparent hamstring injury and was subbed off.

After the initial exchanges New York took charge for awhile and looked pretty good doing it.  Thierry Henry got the ball after Chivas turned it over in their own end on 12 minutes, but sent his shot wide.  Kenny Cooper let a drive a go in the 19th, but hit it right at Dan Kennedy in goal.

The best chance of the half ended up falling to Angel and Chivas USA though.  In the 25th minute the former Aston Villa man got a great look, but hammered his shot off the post.  Roy Miller would have a good look for the Red Bulls in the 40th, but coming into the six he faced a tough angle and elected to shoot instead of make the easy pass.   The ball rolled harmlessly wide of the far post and the teams went to halftime still at 0-0.

Business picked up right away in the second half though.  Chivas sent in a corner kick in the 47th minute that found the head of center back Rauwshan McKenzie.  McKenzie headed it down, and Juan Pablo Angel pulled a nice overhead/scorpion type kick out of his bag of tricks and sent the ball flying into the Red Bulls' net to make it 0-1 to the Goats.

The Red Bulls did respond though as they started to push for the equalizer almost right away.  Henry had a nice snap header saved by Kennedy in the 52nd minute, but the Red Bulls knotted things up in the 56th.  Brandon Barklage put a gorgeous entry ball down the pitch to the feet of Dane Richards, who slotted the ball across the 18 to an oncoming Kenny Cooper.  Coop calmly touched the ball past Kennedy for the game tying goal at 1-1.

The Red Bulls had the best chances for a winner as they tried to claim their 5th straight win, but it just wasn't to be.  In the 83rd minute Dax McCarty put a header on goal from a corner kick that beat Kennedy toward the far post.  Unfortunately for New York, Chivas man Ante Jazic was there to clear the ball off the line to preserve the 1-1 draw at full time.

NOTES:  The NYRB supporters showed a lot of class, with multiple tifo honoring Juan Pablo Angel throughout the ground.  Angel refused to celebrate his goal, returning the classy behavior.  The Red Bulls did not use a single sub.  They now head into the international/US Open Cup break with their next league match on June 17 at Chicago.  Chivas is now undefeated in 3.  They host Seattle this weekend before they begin the break.

Red Bulls, Chivas USA, and Philly Swap Players

Juan Agudelo has been traded to Chivas USA (Goal.com)

Three MLS squads look very different this evening than they did at the start of business today.  Chivas USA pulled off two deals, one with New York Red Bulls and the other with the Philadelphia Union.  The deal with Philadelphia had been rumored for a few days, but the deal with NY came as a bit of a surprise.

The Goats will send midfielder Mike Lahoud to Philadelphia for want-away center back Danny Califf.  The former Union captain had experienced a falling out with head coach Peter Nowak.  He had made 65 appearances in three years in Philadelphia.

Turns out there was a reason Chivas needed another center back.  They dealt MLS All-Star defender Heath Pearce to the New York Red Bulls in exchange for US International forward Juan Agudelo.  There will also be allocation money changing hands, and the Red Bulls will pick up a piece of any future selling fee should Chivas sell Agudelo.

For the Union, the reasoning behind the deal is pretty clear.  They unload Califf and pick up an experienced player in the midfield.  Despite the fact that the deal has been rumored for several days. both sides were fairly coy up until the trade was completed today.

New York addresses one of their biggest needs by acquiring a proven, top level MLS defender to put in front of Ryan Meara.  Yes, Agudelo has a ton of potential upside, but according to Red Bulls management, he himself pushed for a trade somewhere where he could get more playing time. 

So the Goats add a veteran presence on the back line.  Also, if both Juan Pablo Angel and Juan Agudelo can stay healthy, their attack could be lethal.  I'm not sure this puts them up with RSL, San Jose, and Seattle, but I fully expect them to compete for the playoffs, maybe at the expense of Vancouver, Colorado, Dallas, or yes, the Galaxy.

Match Thoughts: Portland Timbers vs. Chivas USA

Portland's Kris Boyd and Chivas USA's Rauwshan McKenzie (Getty Images)

Nobody will argue that the atmosphere that the Portland Timbers and Timbers Army have created at Jeld-Wen field is up there with the best in MLS.  The Timbers came up just short of qualifying for the playoffs last year, and are looking to move up the Western Conference ladder after the off season acquisition of Kris Boyd, the former Rangers striker.  There's not really any question that the Timbers can score goals, but Real Salt Lake did ask a very important one: can the Timbers keep goals out, especially late in the match?  The answer against RSL was no.  How would they fair against Chivas USA, who had only scored one goal in MLS play coming into this match?

Things started well enough for the Timbers in this one, and for much of the first half, they looked like they were going to run over Chivas.  Indeed, not only did the Timbers control possession, but they created a lot of chances.  For the most part, they found out just how good Dan Kennedy is in goal for Chivas, but the Rojoblancos 'keeper did eventually run into some trouble.

That trouble came in the 16th minute.  Kennedy went up for the same ball as his defender James Riley.  The two collided and ended up on the ground, the ball loose.  Boyd collected the ball for the Timbers and calmly banged it into the empty Chivas net to make it 1-0.  The Timbers would ride that scoreline into halftime.

However once again defensive trouble came home to roost for Portland in the second half.  Chivas head coach Robin Fraser made a couple of adjustments, including bringing in fullback Ryan Smith.  It paid immediate returns.  In the 48th minute, he sent a gorgeous cross in toward the Timbers six yard box.  The ball found the head of Alejandro Moreno, coming in virtually unmarked.  Moreno headed the ball past a powerless Troy Perkins to equalize the match at 1-1.

The troubles didn't end there for the Timbers.  Last week they gave up the winner against RSL in stoppage time.  This week, it came in the 82nd minute.  Again Ryan Smith torched the Timbers defense and sent in a cross.  This time Nick LaBrocca got his head to the ball and beat Perkins to give the Goats a 1-2 win, as Portland wouldn't really threaten again.

For Chivas, they're starting to take on the reputation of road warriors with their two wins at RSL and Portland, two tough places to play.  If they can keep scoring goals and get their home form in check, I think they could make some noise.

The Timbers have some soul searching to do.  I was a bit surprised to to see some Timbers fans calling for John Spencer's head in some comments on MLS's website.  I don't really think that's the answer.  The team needs to get some defensive help.  You can't expect to hold serve at home based on your unique pitch size and great crowd.  Obviously teams are starting to figure things out there.  Plus, if you really want to make a playoff push in MLS, particularly in the Western Conference, you need to be able to pick up points on the road.  You need some defense.  I don't think it's panic time for the Timbers, but they need some help.

Match Thoughts: Real Salt Lake vs. Chivas USA

I don't ever take notes when I'm enjoying myself at the RioT, so these RSL updates are usually just general impressions. Of course, by the end of the match on Saturday, I wasn't really enjoying myself anymore.

Once I got home and saw some replays from a different vantage point, I realized my initial feelings posted on Twitter were probably overly critical. I admit that I get caught up in the moment and get mouthy when my team loses. It comes from years as a Chelsea fan, especially recent years when you expect to win.

It seemed to me, sitting behind the north goal in our season seats, that we were settling for too much wing play. Fabian was getting some joy up our left, but we just couldn't make the connection in the final 3rd, especially in the second half. I also thought we were settling for too many long distance chances. Dan Kennedy is one of the best 'keepers in MLS and he'll take those all day I'm sure. What I'm not sure about is why Kennedy kept shanking his goal kicks out of bounds, but we still couldn't take advantage of the gift of possession, especially in 2nd half stoppage time.

Once I got home and watched some highlights, I saw what we were really dealing with. Chivas bunkered in and really clogged up the midfield, hence the wing play. RSL started to break it down late, but they just couldn't beat Kennedy.

As for Chivas. they did exactly what they needed to do. They soaked up the RSL possession and pressure, and caught the fluke goal on one of their only real chances of the match. It's almost Italian in the tactics, only Chivas wasn't quite as aggressive in the counter. I bet nine times out of ten, Nicky comes up with that spill and the goal doesn't get scored. Credit to them though, they defended desperately and well.

For RSL fans, get used to seeing that kind of tactic. I think it'll be employed a lot more. RSL needs to work on breaking down that bunker, and I think once Javy, Sabo, and Will get back we'll have a better run at it. It does make me feel bad to hear callers on the post game show talking about how Javy and Sabo suck. Neither of them do, and Sabo really was RSL's greatest threat in the second half. The ball just didn't bounce our way. Next up, Portland.