MLS Murky Offseason....The Story So Far.

While MLS trumpeted high profile new signings, it's Golden Boot winner went South

You could say that the last couple of weeks of this MLS offseason have been.....eventful.  Personally I would describe it as a soap opera almost juicy enough to pass that English soccer soap opera, you know the one, "Dream Team."  Love MLS or hate it, you've been able to look around the last couple of weeks and find plenty of ammunition to support your point of view.

The rumblings began before the playoffs were even totally underway.  After the Colorado Rapids lost to the Seattle Sounders in the first round, a rumor spread through MLS like wildfire that Rapids manager, and my pick for Manager of the Year, Oscar Pareja would be packing his bags and heading for the open job at FC Dallas.  That rumor was laughed at and even went away for awhile, until a couple of weeks ago when reports hit that Pareja had resigned from the Rapids.  This was eventually followed up with an announcement that Colorado and Dallas had reached a deal for Pareja to coach in Dallas.   But that wasn't all for the Rapids either.  On January 9 Chivas USA announced that Rapids assistant Wilmer Cabrera was now the head coach of the Goats.  This left Colorado without a head coach on draft day, and Colorado legend Pablo Mastroeni was named as "Assistant to the Technical Director."  The Rapids website suggests that they will take their time looking for a new coach, and that they may hire an interim coach for the short term.  That's rattling a few sabers as the beginning of preseason training is nearly upon us.

Now as rough as that might sound for our friends in Colorado who still have an outstanding young squad, it's nothing to what supporters of the Vancouver Whitecaps have endured so far.  The Caps, despite just missing the playoffs last year, had some things to be positive about.  They won the Cascadia Cup and ended up with the MLS Golden Boot winner, Camilo Sanvezzo.  Camilo looked to be a dynamic player that their new coach could build around in the offseason.

Then Mexican side Queretaro posted a picture of Camilo wearing their kit on twitter and introducing him to their fans as a new signing.

This seemed to take both the league and Vancouver completely by surprise.  After all, the 'Caps had exercised a club option for Camilo at the end of the season.  Chaos reigned.  The 'Caps said they still had Camilo's International Transfer Certificate, and that Camilo would be expected to report for preseason training.  New pictures soon emerged of Camilo training with his new side south of the border.  There was much snarling and gnashing of teeth, and nearly every MLS pundit on twitter turned into a Lawyer that specialized in International Contract and Commerce Law.  The 'Caps had a strong case.  The 'Caps had no case.  Rulings of the International Court of Arbitration for Sport were cited.  FIFA precedents were mentioned.  In the end all the poor folks in Vancouver got was a half hearted apology from Queretaro, a transfer fee that might have been put to use earlier, and a statement from Don Garber saying he was "disappointed" in the situation.

Really Mr. Garber?  You should be outraged.  Your league's top scorer just went to a rival league.  Not just a rival league, THE RIVAL LEAGUE.  Now, nobody's saying that Camilo was the next Pele or anything, but he was clearly a dynamic player that leaves a huge hole in Vancouver's lineup right before the start of preseason training.  I'm glad that Mr. Garber is disappointed, but I'd like to see him be as outraged as the Vancouver supporters that I follow on Twitter are.

But why should he be outraged?  While the league's leading scorer was sneaking out the back door, MLS was too busy pointing to a brand new shiny object for us all to love.  Ok, actually two brand new shiny objects, Jermaine Defoe and US International Michael Bradley, who signed with Toronto FC.  Now I'm not here to bag on these great signings.  I'm thrilled for TFC Supporters, who now actually have something to be excited about.  TFC's season tickets looked to sell out in a manner of days and depending on who you were, you were either putting MLS Cup in their hands or at least putting them on par with Sporting Kansas City and New York Red Bulls, which they are clearly not.  But hey, new signings generate excitement which is great for the league, and I look forward to seeing them play when TFC visits Rio Tinto.

The question I have is this: more league money was used to sign up Defoe and Bradley, one way or another, just like it was for Dempsey.  On the surface I don't have an issue with this, these players are extremely talented guys who will help raise the profile of MLS.  On the other hand, the league couldn't spare a little cash to throw at Camilo so the 'Caps could keep the Golden Boot winner around?  That's followed up by reports that the league is having issues with the Philadelphia Union's pursuit of Maurice Edu, even after the Union traded up to the top allocation spot to get him, of course neither Dempsey or Bradley were put through allocation, the reasoning being that they are DPs.  The Union want to pay Edu, but the league doesn't believe that he is worth that money.

Now the league is probably right in that regard.  Edu is no Dempsey or Bradley.  Coaching moves aside though, this all underscores the need for more transparency in the way MLS handles these things.  Garber flat out said in the State if the League that they were kind of "making it up as they go along."  Really?  The game itself has rules, supposedly MLS has player acquisition rules and procedures as well.  However these rules, which were already murky in the first place, seem to have gone right out the window in some very high profile matters while they are more strictly applied in other cases.  Wouldn't it be nice to have a set of rules that applied to everybody in this "single entity structure?"

On top of that, Garber announced during the draft that MLS is still bleeding money to the tune of  7-10 million dollars per year.  Of course, if you've read "Soccernomics" you don't REALLY expect soccer organizations to turn a profit, but I know my job would be in trouble if my company was losing 7 mil per year.  My employers wouldn't be out dropping extravagant money on new employees either.  Of course all of this hits as negotiations are set to be going forward for a new CBA between the league and it's players, and you couldn't begrudge the rank and file MLS player for wondering where his piece of the pie is in all this.   I'm hoping for a salary cap bump and a salary bump.  We could also do away with this stupid allocation process which the league only uses when it suits them anyway.  Let the players play where they want within the confines of the salary cap structure.

In the end, it probably seems like I'm really ripping on MLS here.  It's true, I do have concerns.  Bradley and Defoe aren't Beckham.  I think the future of the league will be cemented by bringing up academy talent  and perhaps more players from Latin America to help raise the total standard of play in the league.  Bradley, Defoe, and Dempsey aren't going to do that by themselves.  Ticket sales and jersey sales are great, and help the league's bottom line.  However if the league really wants to raise it's profile, we need to keep raising the standard of soccer on the pitch by providing a set of rules for all clubs to follow, raising salaries and the cap to make the league a more attractive destination, and be a little bit more careful throwing huge chunks of league money at players while we're still bleeding money.

But that's all just my two cents.  I can't wait until the season starts so we can actually talk about the product on the pitch instead of "MLS: As the Brazuca Turns."

Moyes: Should He Stay or Should He Go Now?

Without a win in 2014, the pressure mounts on David Moyes at United.

Coming into the Premier League's Christmas fixture period, it looked like David Moyes had finally gotten some things tuned up at Manchester United.  They had finally found a decent bit of form in the league, they had advanced relatively easily to the group stage of the Champions League, and they had hit the semifinals of the League Cup, where a seemingly favorable tie with Sunderland awaited them.  Not bad after the way they started the season.

Then the clock chimed in 2014, and things have gone south again in a hurry.

The first three matches of the new year have not gone well for Moyes and United.  They have lost each one by a 2-1 scoreline including a league loss at home to Spurs, a loss in the FA Cup third round to Swansea, and today they dropped the first leg of the league cup semifinal tie away to Sunderland.  Oops.

I suppose that wouldn't be so bad for many clubs in the league.  After all, it's been a few years since United has had a great deal of success in the FA Cup, and they had won their previous four in the Premier League before the loss to Spurs.  Also, a 2-1 away to Sunderland isn't the worst result in the world, especially since Sunderland's second came off of a rather soft penalty in the second half.  They still have the second leg at home.  Is all of this "Moyes out" talk a bit of an overreaction?  

Actually, I think it is.  First off, the domestic cups are hardly the crown jewels in the eyes of the EPL's big clubs.  Yes a trophy is a trophy. but these clubs, especially United at this point, have bigger fish to fry.  They were impressive in Champions League group play, albeit in a group that wasn't the most challenging.  Still, Europe is still Europe, and they played pretty well.  Let's also stop and realize that RvP has spent most a good portion of the season injured, and Wayne Rooney has been out some as well.

Still, that does sound like papering over the cracks a little bit.  The midfield has not been good.  Tom Cleverley is exhibit A, as he had another horrible match against Sunderland, including conceding the penalty that cost United the match.  Giggs is still Giggs, but he's another year older and can hardly be the answer at this point.  Where is Kagawa?  The former Dortmund man seems to have been lost in the shuffle and Carrick has been injured as well.

Defense?  Vidic is forever suffering injury after injury and Ferdinand is on the downhill slope of his career at United as well.  Smalling does some good things, but continues to underwhelm, especially when he's made to play at outside back.

That discussion points back to the last summer transfer window and what an abject failure it was for United.  As metro.co.uk points out, United were all over the map, and a lot of their bids weren't really considered seriously at the prices that they were tossing out.  30 million for Fabregas?  Really?  Pity, because he could help them out.  Lets also not forget that Wesley Sneijder is perpetually linked with Old Trafford as well, but to what end?

I think you can do good business in the January window, though it might cost you more money to do so.  If I were United, I'd loosen the purse strings a bit and let Moyes seriously go after some talent, especially in the midfield.  If you can strengthen that facet and get Rooney and RvP healthy, this club can still do some damage.  Honestly, I'm not sure Sir Alex could get much blood out of this turnip right now, but this is all pretty easy for me to sit back and say, because I'm not a United fan.

So do you agree with me that Moyes should get more time, or should be sacked immediately?  Feel free to leave a comment or hit up the poll out of the pull out menu on the right side of the blog front page.

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.

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.

Opinion: Hard to Blame Officiating Mistakes

As long as there have been sports, there have been men and women who have the job of enforcing the rules of the sport and making impartial judgements on the field of play.  As long as these referees have existed, spectators and players have complained about them and pinned failure to win a contest on them.  I can imagine that if you go back to the days of the Maya, there were probably fans and players who complained about the officials in their handball games that took place in the stone courts of Chichen Itza.

Of course we all do it today as well.  Even if you say you don't, most likely you do.  I follow soccer fans of most MLS clubs on twitter, most of them, if not all of them, are highly intelligent when it comes to the game, still I could go back on my timeline over the years and find at least one instance where most of them have complained about a referee.

I'm certainly not exempt from this either.  After Saturday night saw RSL lose to Sporting Kansas City, my initial reaction was to blame the referee.  I even tweeted that "incompetence in the center circle" cost RSL.  Now, in the heat of that moment that is what I thought.  Now, a couple of days later, I still think the officiating in the match was poor and inconsistent on both sides.  However, if you read my previous post summing up the match, you know that I backed off the "ref cost us the game" argument.

Let's take a different approach to this argument.  Let's say that all the cards given against RSL were incorrect, but that they happened anyway.  Let's say that Wingert's sending off was wrong (it wasn't) and let's say that the referee was wrong to allow more stoppage time then he originally alotted (debatable).  Was the referee the one who failed to clear the ball out of the RSL penalty area on Sporting's first goal? No. Did the referee save Olmes Garcia's late strike on Jimmy Nielsen's goal?  No.  Was it the referee's job to mark up the Sporting players on the last goal of the match?  No.  The scoring of goals and the prevention of goals is what wins and loses soccer matches.  One can argue that the red card to Wingert influenced RSL's ability to defend on the goals, as at least one Sporting player was going to be unmarked.  However there were, count 'em, FOUR unmarked SKC players on that goal.  Trust me, it happened right in front of me.  It was just bad set piece defense, period, which is also, you guessed it, not the fault of the referee.

So what's my point?  I'm not trying to troll my own team and fans here, I'm just trying to present an objective view.  It's very difficult to blame a referee for the outcome of a match because so much of the decisions are subjective and by nature are hard to quantify.  A player should or shouldn't have gotten a yellow/red card.  It's opinion based on the laws of the game.  It's fine for us as fans and players to have opinions on this, but it's the referee's opinion that counts.  They're not always right, either.  MLS has overturned a few red cards this year, including one to RSL's Carlos Salcedo.  However, don't expect the cards to Wingert to be overturned, because they were correct, in my opinion, and certainly when viewed objectively, they're reasonable decisions for the referee to make.

Let's say there's a hand ball.  Okay, you can objectively, often with the aid of replay, say for certain if a ball struck a player's hand or arm.  There's still room for the subjective here as well.  Did the player handle it on purpose?  Was he trying to avoid it?  Where were his hands when the contact was made?  These factors all go into a referee's decision on whether or not to whistle for a hand ball. It's not always as black and white as we in the stands tend to see it.

Not only are many of these things subjective, but we also have to remember that these individuals are just human.  They can't be every place at once, and their sight is limited.  For example, they can't see through players.  One of the nastiest tackles in the match occurred in the first half when Javier Morales tried to split two SKC defenders on a counter attack.  As he got in behind them, one of the defenders wrapped his arms around Morales and horse collar tackled him to the floor.  It was a tackle worthy of an NFL linebacker.  In my mind, it was certainly a foul and a yellow card, and you see reds given for hands about the neck and head.  However, the referee was trailing behind the play and my guess is couldn't see it through the two defenders.  The linesman was coming in from behind as well.  You can openly criticize referees' positioning on the field, but in the end, it is what it is.

The point is that many of us as fans haven't stepped into the referee's shoes and taken up the whistle.  Honest mistakes masquerade as incompetence, and inconsistency, which all humans are prone to, comes across as conspiracy.  I'm quite sure neither of these are usually the case.  Does that make officials and referees immune to criticism?  Of course not.  Most fans, players, coaches, and probably even league officials would admit that the standard of officiating in MLS is rather poor, and doesn't seem to be improving.

That brings us to the last point, which was the argument that Jason Kreis and many RSL folks have been touting since the end of the match.  Kreis criticized the referee's inexperience, as he has before, complaining that RSL often gets stuck with these less experienced officials.  According to the numbers, he has a point here.  Matt Montgomery crunched the numbers and you can see them over at RSL Soapbox. While the numbers are intriguing, and I would love to see MLS comment on them, what conclusion can we really draw from that data?

Can we generalize from that data that things would have turned out differently Saturday night if we had say, Toledo or Geiger in charge?  Of course not.  I think most referees would give Wingert those two yellow cards, which really was the turning point in the match.  Plus, you hear PLENTY of complaining about the more experienced refs as well.  Let's face it, the refs all around the league need to get a lot better, and there are many high profile calls that are seemingly blown, and the "experienced" refs are just as vulnerable to this as the newbies.  In the end this issue is highly subjective as well.

In the end, it is up to the teams to recognize this issue and deal with it.  RSL didn't do this Saturday night.  One of our veteran players, who should know better, put himself in a compromising position in the first minute of the match.  I'm sure he didn't do it on purpose, but it happened.  That same player made another crucial mental error later in the match that put RSL permanently behind the Eight-Ball.  I'm not trying to crucify Chris Wingert.  I'm sure he'd already put his hand up for the mistakes, but it is the pertinent fact of the match, not the referee's decisions.

Truth be told, nobody wants to hear Jason Kreis complain about refs anymore than they want to hear Ben Olsen do it.  We as RSL fans have gotten a reputation for bitching about the refs every time we lose.  You can argue whether the reputation is deserved or not, but it's there.  I'm sure in the heat of the moment I'll complain again sometime down the road, but hopefully we as fans, and our club, learn to deal with these issues and our team can gain a little more discipline to overcome them.

I'll leave you with a challenge from my friend Scott, who is in fact a soccer referee aside from his day job as a paramedic.  He said on Twitter, to paraphrase: stop complaining about refs and go be a ref.  Kids games always need refs.  Maybe if more of us did that, we'd have a little more perspective.

Just some food for thought.

Opinion: A Third Group in the YSA Discussion

I had really hoped that the last opinion piece that I wrote about the "You Suck Asshole" chant would be the last one, but alas this issue hasn't gone away.  Just in case you haven't noticed, a couple of weeks ago, during "Supporters Week" of all things, MLS and some of it's clubs decided to crack down on this chant, where supporters promptly inform the opposing goalkeeper what they think of him during goal kicks.  You know the one I mean.

This led to a letter being distributed to several supporter groups telling them that if significant progress is not made on this issue in the coming weeks, then the clubs will go ahead with various sanctions against Supporter Groups.  Clubs could also face a fine from MLS if the behavior is not curbed.  RSL placed papers on seats asking the fans to discontinue the chant (above) during the last home match with the Philadelphia Union.

I wasn't able to attend the Union match, as I couldn't get off work, so my season ticket was put to good use by a good friend.  However, when I watched the broadcast, it was clear to me that progress had indeed been made.  Later in the match the chant reared it's head after some poor officiating, but for the most part, the SG's seemed to have a handle on it.  It wasn't heard all that much at the USMNT match as well, and I was in the supporters section for that one.

However this issue just will not go away.  There's at least two or three arguments between fans and sometimes between club reps every day on social media.  The unease felt by the supporters is palpable on social media, and was noticeable during the USMNT match as well.

Until now this issue has been viewed from two sides.  On one hand, you have the leagues, clubs, and a group of fans who for whatever reason find this chant to be truly offensive.  These fans have put pressure on the league and clubs to do away with it.  Real Salt Lake says that they have lost season ticket holders over the issue.  There's also the broadcast media, who apparently don't want mass "vulgarity" on their airwaves.  Now, you hear worse than that every night on network TV, but I guess that really doesn't matter in the United States of the Offended, you know, where 2 seconds of Janet Jackson's breast apparently scarred two-thirds of the country for life .

One the other hand you have the Supporter Groups, who I think also raise a couple of good points.  First off, they contend that a professional sporting event where one pays to enter, and indeed where alcohol is served, is primarily a setting for adults where, like it or not, this kind of language is probably going to be heard.  They also note that it isn't just the supporters groups participating in it, therefore they don't have total control over the situation.   Still, from what I have seen, most of the SGs associated with RSL have made some kind of effort to do away with that, even though we've heard little on those efforts from the club or the league.

I'm writing this piece to tell folks that there is a third group involved, and that group could very well be as large as the other two.  This is the group to which my interests belong.  As I said in my earlier post, I don't participate in this chant, because after all, it's stupid.  However, I'm not offended by it either.  Sure, mass chanting of swear words isn't ideal public behavior, but whatever, I couldn't care less.  Plus, trying to control the speech of 20,000 folks is difficult, whether it's the right thing to do or not.

I do not belong to a Supporter's Group.  This is by choice.  I don't have any issue with them, and in fact, I do support the continued growth of supporter culture, however, atmosphere is not why I attend a match.  Though I do participate in organized chants when it strikes me, when I watch a match, I'm generally looking at it from an analytical mindset.  I'm watching the players move without the ball, I'm watching for formation changes and tactics.  I actually don't talk much during a match at all, just ask Rick, who goes to every match with me.  In short, I'm there to watch the game I love and watch my favorite team play the game.  Do you ever go to a baseball game and see the guy with the score book that he brought from home, keeping score and making copious notes?  I'm that guy.  If that makes me a lesser fan than someone else, well sorry.  I have a degree in psychology and another one in forensic science, it's just how I see the world.

I may not be as loud as other fans, but money is worth just as much as anyone else's in the season tickets I buy every year, 3 years running now, and in merchandise.  I own 30+ scarves.  Then there's the concessions which I buy, not cheap. There are a lot of people in this group, and whether they're of an analytical mind or not, they just want to GO WATCH THE MATCH, period.  We're tired of hearing about this stupid issue.  We're tired of hearing the league harp on it and we're tired of hearing the Supporter Groups whine about it.

The league and clubs have chosen to make a big deal out of this.  That's their right.  These stadiums are private property and they every right to set standards of behavior.  However, MLS and Clubs, are you listening?  You've made the choice, you've laid down the law, now DEAL WITH IT.  We're tired of this stupid issue distracting from what's going on on the pitch.  If you have to sanction SG's, go ahead.  If you have to kick people out, go ahead, but don't be surprised when the supporters get fed up.  You've made the bed, time to lay on it, just get it overwith.

Supporter's Groups, get over it.  It's time to move on.  I appreciate the efforts you guys have already made on this issue.  I support what you all bring to our matches each and every week.  In the end, it's one chant, and it's a damn stupid one.  I know several members of RSL Supporters Groups and they work hard to be creative.  I hope their efforts shine through.  The rest of you, move on.  This chant is going away, period.  Be a part of the solution or a part of the problem, but you guys know there will be consequences at this point.

This is a final plea on my part, and by others like me, for all the adults on both sides to come to the table.  I hope it happened at the meeting with RSL Supporters Groups.  At this point, it's starting to effect everyone's enjoyment of the game, and it really is needless.  PLEASE get this issue taken care of before you turn me, and folks like me, permanently off.

Opinion: YSA, Back In the News *Facepalm*

It seems like it was about a year ago that RSL asked it's fans and supporter groups to get rid of the "You Suck A-Hole" chant.  If anything, the chants just got louder.  Well, now it's back in the news as a letter from the league and the club has been circulated among the supporter groups saying that if significant progress toward eradicating the chant is not seen in coming weeks, the groups will face sanctions.  Some of these sanctions may include:

-Prohibiting the use of smoke making devices, flags, and Tifo at home and away matches.

-Revocation of parking passes and stadium credentials.

-Prohibiting the use of drums, megaphones, and capo stands.

Personally I see this as just another huge facepalm situation.  Why in the world are we spending time arguing over something as stupid as this incredibly stupid chant?  I watch MLS Live broadcasts every week and hear 10 times worse.  There are a multitude of chants containing the F word.  There are chants talking about the opposing team or a player "taking it up the a$$"  Still, we go after after YSA.

Now I'm not personally offended by YSA as such.  If you draw it's history back to it Spanish Language counterpart, then yes, it's incredibly offensive.  So I do see why some folks do indeed find it offensive.    I also don't take part in it.  I've been known to yell "You Suck," but I've never tacked the last word on there.

However, I recognize that despite what goes on in the rest of the league, RSL can only police itself.  We must remember that RSL is not the only team that has been warned on this.  Seattle went after it as well early this year putting flyers in the seats asking fans to please stop using the chant.

In the end, the fact that Real Salt Lake as an organization wants it gone is good enough for me.  I'll even discontinue my use of the "You suck" part as requested by the club.  While I don't necessarily agree with the whole thing, I will respect the club's wishes and I urge other fans to do so as well.  The sooner this is taken care of, the sooner we can get back to talking about what happens on the pitch and how to genuinely grow our supporters culture.  Right now this is all a big joke of an elephant in the room standing in the way of all of that.  Certainly our supporters can do without this chant.

I would hate to see flags, drums, and tifo disappear from Rio Tinto Stadium.  So I really hope our supporters groups will finally get on board with this.  I have my doubts though.  A quick glance at the social media response has not been positive as it seems like this is going the way of telling a petulant child not to do something.  We know they either continue to do it or even take it to the next level.  So, that being said, I have a feeling that this ends badly.  I hope I'm wrong.  Many of our fans have a "If you don't like us then get lost" attitude anyway, and this plays into that.

So in the end, yes the argument seems stupid to a lot of us.  The chant is REALLY stupid. but let's respect the club's wishes on this.  If this is done, hopefully the FO and the supporter groups can get together to continue to advance our supporter culture.  Right now, I'm just holding my breath for Wednesday night.

Opinion: MLS Formally Announces NY2, One Fan's Thoughts.

MLS has formally announced that NYC will be the home of it's 20th franchise.

Major League Soccer and Commissioner Don Garber made it official this morning, New York City will be the home of the league's next expansion franchise.  The team, currently operating under the name "New York City FC" will be a jointly run venture owned by Manchester City in England and the New York Yankees.  They are scheduled to begin play in 2015, and currently have no concrete stadium plans.

So there's the news portion of this entry, the rest is strictly opinion, and some folks at MLS aren't going to like it.  Now keep in mind, I'm not a businessman, nor am I a New Yorker, so I don't pretend to be an authority on the issues that are involved here.  What I am is a die hard MLS fan who pumps hundreds of my own dollars into my club and the league every year, and I believe that people like me should have a voice in the process.  However, all the concerns raised by any number of fans or fan blogs have poo-pooed by the league, if they are even acknowledged at all.  There are quite a few MLS fans, and potential MLS fans in other markets, that really feel railroaded by this whole process.  If you don't believe me, take a look at twitter.  The American soccer media has been running interference for the League on this all day, hald-assedly answering legitimate questions or just plain saying we have no idea what we're talking about, after all, this is NEW YORK baby!

Now I don't have an objection to New York City having an expansion franchise.    It's true that all of the "major sports leagues" in the USA have a presence in/around NYC.  I do have an issue with the timing.  There are other markets that really are begging for MLS (Orlando) who at least have a temporary stadium in place, again, Orlando could play in the Citrus Bowl.  It would be no worse than DC United playing at RFK.  I'll also give MLS credit for not bowing to the Cosmos ownership group.  The Cosmos are a brand, period, and bringing in a team just for the the brand is even worse than what they're doing.

This issue with a potential stadium in New York really bothers me.  The Yankees participation in the project means that Yankee Stadium MIGHT be an option for a temporary site, but it's nothing but a stop gap measure.  Garber has pursuing a plan to put a stadium on Flushing Meadows park land in Queens, but has met with heavy resistance from the locals, who don't really feel like giving up the park space that they already have.  This has caused major issues, and by Garber's own admission, there is no plan B at this point.  This is perhaps the biggest sticking point, and I'm sure the league and the new ownership group think that all they have to do is throw money at it and the problem will go away.  I'm not sure that's going to be the case.  

Plus, how does this affect the Red Bulls?  Take a look at least weekend's nationally broadcast match between the Red Bulls and the LA Galaxy at Red Bull Arena.  The Galaxy practically sell out every stadium, even without Beckham, yet the Red Bull logo in the stands was plainly visible between the sparse crowd of folks in attendance.  Fact: the Red Bulls seem incapable of filling their stadium, despite the presence of world class players like Thierry Henry and Tim Cahill.  Don't give me that "but they're all the way out in New Jersey" thing either.  People drive to New Jersey to see Jets and the Giants at the Meadowlands, correct?    Plus, we drive 45 minutes to an hour to see Real Salt Lake every match too, and we're season ticket holders.  Obviously SLC traffic is a whole different ball game than getting from NY to Jersey, but if people want the product badly enough, they'll go, hence the NFL situation.  Plus what chance will the Red Bulls have of continuing to attract world class talent with the rich step-brother next door?

It seems to me that most of this is based on TV money, and I'm not sure the MLS TV model is on the right road.  Almost every Red Bulls match is broadcast on either ESPN or NBC Sports, yet the league's ratings continue to be horridly underwhelming.  Plus, the league continues to shove matches like Chicago vs Philadelphia at us because of the large market thinking.  These matches tend to be total snoozers because the league's best soccer is not played in Chicago or Philadelphia, though the Union seem to be heading in the right direction and have an outstanding stadium and fanbase, so no  offense.  The ratings seem to show that the large market bias isn't working particularly well for MLS.  What can be assured is this: the New York/LA centric MLS TV coverage is just going to get worse with this development.  

In the final analysis, I'm not sure this is the best move to grow the league in the long term.  It's a money grab, period.  MLS will get 60 million more in an expansion fee from this franchise than they would get from an Orlando market or elsewhere.  Money talks, and the execs listen.  They don't listen to the fans though.  They don't listen to the fans who have already said they don't give a hoot about New York games on TV.  They don't listen to fans who say they don't want one of the league's flagship franchises to be a farm team for a free wheeling EPL club.  They don't listen to fans from other markets who are literally crying out for this sport.  Now, if they are going to expand further, they're going over FIFA's 20 team limit, not that MLS has ever cared about anything FIFA does, which costs teams their best players every time an international date rolls around.

They're going to do what they're going to do, end of story.  I'm not saying it isn't going to work.  I love MLS, and for the sake of the league, I really hope they know what they're doing.  I'm just not sure that a venture between a bunch of oil rich dudes and the baseball team that kept firing and rehiring Billy Martin over and over again is the best idea in the world when competitive football already exists in other markets.

Just my two cents.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yum yum, right Bitey?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yup, you're in trouble buddy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In Support of Robbie Rogers

I just wanted to take a moment here on the blog and reflect on something, err someone, in the football world that made a little bit of history, and I really hope made a little bit of progress.  If you haven't seen the news from yesterday that former Columbus Crew and USA National Team member Robbie Rogers came out as gay and retired from football, you're probably living under some kind of rock.  This isn't a post about the news, but a chance for me to express my admiration and support.

There's no doubt about the fact that men's professional sports is probably the most difficult profession for gay men to be themselves in, or to "be out" if you prefer.  Think about it.  Not only are you on the playing field with a bunch of other guys who consider themselves "men's men," but you also have the increased scrutiny of being in the public eye.  For Rogers, and men like him, they've spent their entire lives working toward a goal which few people ever achieve, being a top level professional athlete and competing for championships.  I'm sure the pressure that they feel to keep up that appearance in the face of who they are and who they love is probably insane at times, and for Robbie, he finally decided that he couldn't do both.

I hope that's just a temporary decision on his part.  He's too young and too talented to be gone from the game, but if I try to walk a mile in his shoes, I can see how he might feel the need to walk away.  His happiness is most important, so if stepping away from the game is what he feels the need to do, then far be it from me to suggest otherwise.  I had the privilege to see him play, and I hope to do so again in future.

I also want to say how impressed I am with the US Soccer community for their show of support of Rogers over the last couple of days.  By far the majority of things I read or heard about him were overwhelmingly positive.  There were a few bad apples, but I'm not going to dignify them with more print.  It was great to see so many players, coaches, and fans throughout the US Soccer community step up and stand behind him in this.  Someone as brave as he is deserves that support.

So I'd just like to say thanks to Robbie for standing up and saying that it's ok to be who you are, and to acknowledge it, even if it's the harder road to hold.  I think he serves as a great example, not just to LGBT folks, but to all of us.  He's a great example of what it means to be a human being, and of the strength we all should find to be ourselves.

Opinion: MLS Pushing "NY2" Way Too Hard

Area of proposed stadium for "NY2" (WSJ/Empire of Soccer)

Outside of David Beckham's exit from the league, there hasn't really been a bigger story in the post season, at least from a league wide perspective, than the possible location of a 20th MLS franchise in New York City, specifically in Flushing Meadows, Queens.

The league has launched a huge PR campaign in recent days about the proposed site for their new stadium.  They launched a twitter handle for the purpose and even hosted a town hall style informational meeting last week in Queens to pitch their idea to the local community.   However, not everyone, both inside and outside of Queens, has been impressed, and the rather vocal opposition seems to have taken the league and its advocates a little by surprise.

Local residents opposed to the plan turned up at Don Garber's little party last week, and complained that they, and anyone who suggested they were against the stadium bid, were directed to an off floor overflow area apart from the Commissioner and the rest of the crowd.  The league responded by saying that they were just late, as the seating was open, but other reports said that passes given to advocates of the stadium were clearly marked with seating assignments.  Geoffery Croft, president of New York City Park Advocates was quoted as saying: "This is not a town hall meeting, it is a pep rally sponsored, bought, and paid for by Major League Soccer."  Croft also confirmed that they were asking people's opinions of the stadium site at the door before directing them to a seating area.

So why are some of the local folks in Queens having an issue with this?  To hear MLS talk, the area is practically BEGGING them to build on their site and bring their product to NYC proper.  The league is also suggesting that MLS is somehow not whole without a "dominant team in the nation's dominant city," to paraphrase Garber himself.

Part of the issue is that the site that MLS wants to build on is public park land.  Supposedly according to law in the area, MLS would have to find the same acreage in the area to replace the park land with.  There has been little to no evidence that MLS has done this yet, which has caused Garber to walk back his statement that the deal was "near the finish line." However, there are no rules in place stating that the replacement public park land has to be in the borough of Queens.  That and the fact that MLS's search for this land has been closed to public input has caused growing concern in Queens.

Worse yet for MLS, some of the local media have issued editorials condemning the site.  Both the Queens Chronicle and the Queens Tribune have done this.  I urge those who think that locals are fully behind this effort to take a look at these two editorials.  There were also demonstrations against the stadium site yesterday which curiously evaded coverage from the official league outlets.  It is interesting to note that a lot of this opposition isn't opposed to the idea of soccer in Queens, but that this is the wrong place for it to happen, which leads to my opinion on the subject, namely that MLS is pushing this way too hard, both down the throats of the locals and the non NY based fans of soccer in the USA.

Now I don't live in the NY/NJ area.  I've never been there.  To read a lot of the social media comments, that means that I don't have a good reason or right to stick my nose and my two cents into this issue.  I call BS on that.  What I am is a season ticket holder for an MLS franchise and I care greatly about how the league uses the money spent by me and my fellow fans in support of growing the beautiful game in the USA.  MLS and soccer have grown in the USA, no doubt about it, and it seems to me that the league is on the verge of really trading in a lot of it's good name value on a land grab for a stadium for a team that doesn't even exist yet.  Usually there is an interested ownership group and stadium plan in place when the league awards a franchise.  Now there is no definite ownership group, at least as of yet, and the stadium plan is financed and put in place by the league?  Sorry if I'm skeptical.  Also, if the free market dictates that MLS just HAS TO BE in Queens, why has it not happened in 15 years?  If investors are so hot to trot on it, where have they been?

Plus I'm not sure that putting a team in NY proper is any kind of panacea for the league's sagging tv ratings, both country wide and in the NY market area.  Look at all the empty seats at Red Bull Arena.  Don't give me the line about the drive from Queens to Jersey.  We drive an hour plus in traffic to see RSL play.  Plus if that's only reason, put the Red Bulls in Queens and be done with it.  Stop pretending that a second team is going to blow the market open.  One could watch nearly every Red Bulls game on National TV this last year featuring one of the great players of our time, Thierry Henry, and one of the big name players out of Mexico, Rafa Marquez, to attract the Latino viewers.  They even pasted his face all over Red Bull cans.  Then they brought in a bona fide star of the EPL in Tim Cahill, supposedly to win over more of us Euro snobs.  We still didn't watch.  However, you drop a team on public park land in Queens and all of the sudden we all start to watch both them and the Red Bulls?  I don't think so.  Lets face it, the creation of a derby in the LA area didn't help, of course any conversation involving what has or hasn't happened at Chivas USA is opening up a whole other can of worms  In the end, I just don't think that dropping a team in Queens is going to make people watch if they don't already watch Henry, Cahill, and company.

Now I'm not saying MLS should never go to NY proper.   If there really is the demand, then of course it makes sense for the league to have a presence in the market.  I just don't think the time or the site are right.  I don't think the league has any business trying to pull public park land out from under a community that obviously has it's concerns.  I would also be more in favor of it if the League already had an ownership group and independent stadium financing announced and in place.  Again, if MLS is wanted in NY so badly, lets get the investors on record and have them put the money where their mouth is, instead of the league's money.

There are several other things MLS could be doing to help spur league growth in new franchises as well as to bolster the teams already in the league.  DC United and the New England Revolution desperately need stadiums of their own.  The wonderful fans of DC get lost in the pit that is RFK, and while the throwball/MLS partnership works well in Seattle, it doesn't in New England.  It's really hard to watch a Revs match with 2/3 of the seats visible to the TV cameras being tarped off.  Certainly the league has been working some with these two teams. but I think this needs to be a much bigger priority than "NY2."

There are several other markets currently almost begging MLS for a team.  Some of these are markets that have USL Pro or NASL sides that could be just as successful as Seattle, Portland, or Montreal.  These are places like Atlanta, San Antonio, and Orlando.  Of course, people always point to the fact that Florida has had two failed franchises in the past.   This is true, but having lived in Florida I can tell you that Miami (Fusion) and Tampa Bay (Mutiny) were and still are largely throwball, or if you prefer handegg, towns.  Baseball might be second, and in Miami these days you have the NBA to contend with.  Orlando is not an NFL town.  It never will be.  There isn't a Major League Baseball team, and it's no more an NBA town than Salt Lake City is.  Trust me, I lived there.  Orlando City in USL has drawn extremely well and has received a great deal of positive press football wise.  They can definitely support an MLS team in the very near future, and it would give the league a chance to make inroads in a market where they have none at all.   I just wish the league, who has already said that they'll be going over FIFA's 20 team limit, would look seriously at some of these other things instead of forcing NY2.

In the end, I think football can and will work in NY proper, but isn't ever going to be the brand the Cosmos had.  There's just too much competition for the sporting dollar in New York City, and I don't see Messi or Ronaldo showing up like Pele did for the Cosmos.  Agree or disagree, but I think the league needs to put this on the back burner and find a site in NYC that the local public is more comfortable with.  Who is going to show up and watch the team if you piss off the locals?  While that search continues, MLS should continue to support the teams they already have and focus on growing the game in different parts of the country that are just waiting to receive it with open arms.

2012 MLS Inquest: FC Dallas

Brek Shea's season was plagued by injuries and disciplinary issues.

2012 MLS Inquest: FC Dallas

Record: 9-13-12

Points: 39

Position: 6th, Western Conference

Player of the Year: David Ferreira

How can a guy that missed half of the season due to injury be player of the year for a team?  It's simple.  Before the 2010 MVP returned from his broken ankle that had cost him the better part of both the 2011 and the 2012 campaigns, Dallas was barely a team.  After his return, the Hoops made a push out of the Western Conference cellar and landed close to the Vancouver Whitecaps for the final playoff spot in the West.  In the end, the stats might not have shown it, only 2 goals in 17 games, but after seeing him torch RSL at Rio Tinto Stadium, I realized exactly what his presence meant to the team.

Flop of the Year: Brek Shea

I actually thought long and hard about this one.  On the surface the stats don't look too bad for the young US International.  He had three goals and two assists in 21 games, but the reality of the situation is that he was far less dangerous when he was on the field.  Unfortunately for Brek, his highest profile moment of the season came when he intentionally kicked a ball at a linesman in Columbus, resulting in a lengthy suspension.  I would characterize it more of a season of growing pains for Brek though.  He still can be one of the best in the league, and sometimes we forget that he is still very young.  I don't believe he was quite ready to be the leader the team needed without Ferreira, but if David can stay healthy, he should continue to grow as the team's situation improves.

The Good:

Dallas finished the regular season strong, picking up points in 8 of their last ten matches.  The run was highlighted by the 2-1 victory at Real Salt Lake and two wins over the Vancouver Whitecaps, who were right in front of them for playoff positioning.  Coming into the final 3 matches of the season, they looked to be almost certain of catching Vancouver, with 2 of the last 3 matches against lowly Chivas USA, it didn't turn out that way though, which leads us to........

The Bad:

The Hoops melted down when it mattered most, right at the end of the season.  To begin that crucial final three match run, they failed to muster more than a draw against Chivas USA.  One might have thought they would up for at least a draw against a Seattle side that wasn't playing particularly well in their next match, but they ran into a Sounders side pushing for playoff positioning and got eaten alive, pretty much ending the playoff push.  Their last match of the season ended in disappointment again, as they drew once again with the Goats.

The Ugly:

Many of FC Dallas's wounds were self inflicted this year, as the team suffered from a severe lack of discipline early on in the campaign.  Certainly the fact that the team was bitten by the injury bug didn't help, but the Hoops could not seem to control their frustrations, and much of it came out on the pitch, with consequences.  I've already mentioned Shea's suspension for kicking the ball at the linesman.  The team also picked up six red cards on the year, including two from Captain Daniel Hernandez, and two from defender Zach Lloyd.  Blas Perez continued to gain a reputation in the league for diving, a complaint that is sometimes lodged against Ferreira as well.  It really got to a point where Dallas could not seem to get out of their own way on the pitch, and it cost them some results.

The Verdict:

The season ultimately ended in disappointment for Dallas, but it could have been much, much worse.  Around midseason they were mired in the bottom of the western conference, Ferreira was still injured, and Shea was suspended.    Keeper Kevin Hartman seemed to be the only man keeping Dallas in some matches.  They persevered though, recovering from the injury bug to make a push for the playoffs, though they eventually fell short.  One must wonder if they would have given LA more of a push had they gotten into the playoffs instead of the dead in the water Vancouver Whitecaps.  I really would like to say that the forecast is probably brighter next season, but I'm not so sure.  They did re-sign defender George John, which has been a high point of the offseason so far, however some folks, including myself, were left scratching heads over the rejection of Kevin Hartman.  If Ferreira stays healthy and Shea rounds back into form, Dallas can be very dangerous.  However, the last two years since their MLS Cup appearance have been pretty disappointing, so for me, they'll have a lot to prove before being considered one of the best in the West again.

RSL: Reality, Retooling, and Reloading

There will be new faces at the RioT, and that's not a bad thing.

The Story so far: Real Salt Lake has let a number, a large number, of key players go on their way in the wake of the 2012 campaign where they came up short.  These names are familiar to all RSL fans: Olave and Espindola were sent to New York,  Will Johnson was sent to the Portland Timbers.  Other less legendary but equally important cogs in the team were sent packing as well.  The club declined options on Emiliano Bonfigli, Paulo Jr, Kyle Reynish, and Jonny Steele.  Salt Lake native Justin Braun was also sent to TFC after failing to impress Jason Kreis enough to crack the 18 on most days.

RSL made a couple of additions as well.  They signed GK Jeff Antinella from the NASL Tampa Bay Rowdies.  Antinella was in the NASL best XI this last year as they beat the Minnesota Stars to claim the NASL Title.  In the final, he did something that RSL could not do:  beat the Stars.  They also acquired former Notre Dame standout defender Aaron Maund from TFC in exchange for Braun, plugging the roster hole in defense left by Olave.  The trades for Olave, Espindola, and Johnson brought major allocation money, which the team will have several uses for.

RSL also announced the re-signing of two key players: fullbacks Tony Beltran and Chris Wingert.  This keeps the defense line in superior shape while preventing RSL from taking a hit at FB, one position where they were short on depth.

Why did RSL make these moves?  Contrary to widely held beliefs on the RSL FB comment section, it wasn't to tank the team in favor of getting a bunch of cash or to screw the fans who have faithfully supported the club through good times and bad.  The Claret and Cobalt were up against several harsh realities of life in MLS and professional sports in the United States.

First off, MLS players are entitled to minimum pay raises as per league policy.  RSL was already hard up against the cap in 2012, and these minimum pay increases would have put them well over it in 2013.  It's a fact of life, the math didn't work.  The salary dump from Olave, Espindola, and Johnson will bring much needed cap relief.  The salary cap colors most of the other realities as well.

The second reality is that RSL needed some more cash to try to re-sign Javier Morales.  The allocation money as well as cap space will give them wiggle room in this respect.  GM Garth Lagerway said yesterday that some Mexican clubs are in for Morales as well, so keeping him won't be cheap.  Sources seem to indicate that he wants to stay here, so maybe he'll give us a little hometown discount.  While Javi hasn't been quite the same since his injury, I do not believe his talents are replaceable at cheaper price.

Next, MF Luis Gil loses his Generation Addidas tag this year, so if RSL want to hold onto him, they'll need some cash and cap room.  Trust me, we want to hold onto him as long as we can.  Gil is well on the path to being a significant talent both in MLS and for the US International System, in fact he is likely to see major action in the U-20 World Cup for the USA next year.  By all accounts, he's the real deal and has a great chance of making a move to Europe someday.  Next year we'll be able to keep him and give him the minutes he needs to develop.  I believe he's ready for that chance.

The final reality is very stark, and it cost RSL both in the CCL run this year and in the MLS Cup playoffs.  We need guys who can score goals, who can be creative and not just possess the ball.  Really the only proven, consistent goal scorer RSL had was Alvaro Saborio, our one remaining forward.  Fabian was inconsistent at best, and in my opinion, drifted wide too much.  Paulo Jr, while talented and speedy, was basically Fabian Lite.  Bonfigli did not seize his chances at all, and it was obvious by the end of the season that the Justin Braun experiment was a failure.  We needed to reload at forward, desperately.

In that same vein, we also need goals from more positions on the pitch.  Will Johnson, while the hardest working guy on the team and a spot goal scorer, doesn't bring a consistent scoring threat from that midfield position.  He's always willing to have a go, but more often than not the ball finds the supporters section instead of the back of the net.  I'm certainly not trying to bash Will.  I don't think RSL would have gotten where they did without him.  He's a great player and truly has the heart of a lion, but the team needs a little different kind of a player there, which they can now go out and pursue.

We can also perhaps get a more creative midfielder as well.  Sabo is a target man who most often thrives off of quality service into the penalty area.  Javi can provide that.  I think Luis can provide that.  Grabavoy can as well.  Will was not the best crosser, as we saw painfully demonstrated in the last playoff game against the Sounders.  We can be, and I think need to be, much more dynamic in the midfield.  Cue guys like David Vianna, Sebastian Velasquez, and Enzo Martinez.   Don't sleep on Cole Grossman either, he has some potential.  We need to give more of a purpose to our possession.

I also feel the need to point out that we still have the spine of our great team intact, pending Javi's situation.  Go up the Middle of the formation and what names do you see?

Rimando

Borchers/Schuler

Beckerman

Morales

Saborio

Now of course Sabo is a forward, not playing in the middle generally, but he's a target man in the box, which is why I characterized him that way.  If you fill in Beltran and Wingert at FB and Grabavoy and Gil on the sides of the diamond, what have we really lost?  Three goals and three assists from Will Johnson, which Gil is more than capable of replacing if not surpassing.  Also don't forget that Kwame Watson-Siriboe also has the potential to be huge alongside Borchers and Schuler while Maund matures.  Antinella should be more than capable behind Rimando, and I expect that he's actually an upgrade from Reynish, again no offense to Kyle.

So what do we still need?  Obviously I think priority one is to lock up Javi, which I'm sure is the focus of the front office at the moment.  We need forwards, especially a good up top partner for Sabo.  Garth said yesterday that the team would be looking overseas for that man, so don't expect  that to happen before the international transfer window opens in January.  I do however, expect RSL will add depth to the forward corps with some tried and true MLS guys, and maybe another minor international type.

I also think we need another decent midfielder and perhaps some veteran depth there as well.  Justin Mapp is a MLS vet and is available in the reentry draft.  While not a major dynamic attacker, he is capable of providing service and a Ned Grabavoy like work rate.  Probably won't happen, but he is an interesting option, though I don't expect RSL to be overly active in that draft.

Suffice it to say that I think Jason and Garth have done an outstanding job handling something that was going to happen one way or another.  The club could have just sold all our vets, guys like Beckerman, Borchers, Rimando, Wingert, etc and started over with a baby-face club, but they didn't.  I think we're well positioned to remain competitive for the future, and these moves will also give us wiggle room next summer if things don't go as planned.

So there it is, a logical look at what is happening with the team and some nice reasons why fans shouldn't panic.  If one looks at things from the eyes of a manager or a neutral, and not just the cloudy eyes of a home fan who is sad to see favorite players depart, then it can be seen that RSL has PLENTY of hope for the future.