Friday, September 01, 2006

K.C. Sale Good News For MLS

For as long as the MLS has been in existence, the one constant aspect of the league has been tenuous state of its franchises. Remeber the Tampa Bay Mutiny, Miami Fusion or perhaps the San Jose Earthquakes? You won't find any of those in the standings any more. Over the past decade, it has seemed that if you blink, you will surely miss the death of one franchise and the creation of another. Thankfully, it appears that the Kansas City Wizards will not be added to that list.

Owner Lamar Hunt finally found a buyer for his Wizards, two Kansas City business men that should give the franchise immediate stability and significantly raise the chances of the Wizards remaining in their current home city. What's more, the new owners are avidly set upon breaking ground on a new soccer-specific stadium. Although the funding has not materialized as of yet, Coach Brian Bliss alluded to the possibility of building the new facility in Johnson County where the Wizards are rather popular.

Kansas City currently calls the mamoth Arrowhead Stadium home. Though Arrowhead is notoriously known as the loudest stadium in the NFL, it rarely fills up beyond 10,000 people for MLS games, making the soccer experience quiet and uninspiring for home fans. A new stadium would surely ignite support of this solid Wizards club that has managed to stay in contention in the competitive Eastern Conference despite the constant distraction that was the ownership dilemma and blatant lack of a home field advantage.

With the Wizards problem out of the way, it appears that MLS may have turned over a new leaf, maintaing existing franchises rather than having to abandon them for new teams in greener pastures. Change is good, but consistency in a league's teams is vital.

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Wolff's Loss is Kansas City's Gain


English club Derby's attempts to obtain a work permit for Josh Wolff have fallen through, leaving the USMNT striker with the Kansas City Wizards. Though this denies Wolff the opportunity to hone his craft in Europe, at least for the time being, those in Wizards management must be beaming over the fact that Wolff will remain with the team.

The Wizards, in the midst of a tight Eastern Conference playoff race, need all the offensive productivity they can get. Wolff scored the game-tying goal against New York last night, his fourth of the season. With him and youngster Eddie Johnson up top, Kansas city has been able to to stay afloat in the East. Even so, the Wizards are still tied for eighth in the league with 28 goals this year - an average of 1.12 per game. Imagine this team without one of its two national team strikers. It's not a pretty site.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Hot Fire

If it's true that defense wins championships, then we might not want to give D.C. United the trophy just yet. The Supporter's Shield, yes, but not the championship hardware. The Chicago Fire, winners of five straight (three league games and two U.S. Open Cup matches), are currently the MLS' hottest team and strongest defense.

After wallowing in the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings for the first four months of the season, the Fire have surrendered only one goal in August while winning all five of their matches this month. And with their next two league matches at home, the Fire look poised to be the first team to take control of the second spot in the East. They are currently tied for second with the Revs, a squad that has succumbed to the Fire twice this month and looked sluggish Sunday night in earning their first win since early July.

This edition of the Fire has always been physical defensively with Chris Armas as the holding midfielder and the sturdy C.J. Brown anchoring the back, but the Fire have added a productive attack of late - and it has started with those known traditionally as defenders. Indeed, Chris Armas has notched an assist in each of the last three games he has started.

Yesterday, I wrote again of the Revolution's struggles to find their footing despite being, in my estimation, the second most talented team in the East. But with the Fire displaying such a commitment to defend as well as an ability to score, they have to be the favorite to win the second playoff seed.

Monday, August 28, 2006

Waiting for the Revolution


The Revs got their first win in more than a month last night against the hapless Columbus Crew. That's the good news for New Englanders. The bad news is that the team never found its rythme in a lackluster performance that would have ended in a draw had goalkeeper Matt Reis not saved a late penalty kick.

The Revs scored in the 34th minute but looked out of synch leading up to the goal. Steve Nicol, speaking in an in-game television interview during the first half, voiced his displeasure with New England's inability to take care of the ball. He accurately chastised his men for turning the ball over too often. Just as he was speaking, Reis gave the ball away in his own defensive third but, fortunately for him, the Crew couldn't capitalize on the mistake.

An inability to keep the ball isn't something that should be plaguing the Revs at this point in the season. Sure, Clint Dempsey was unavailable due to suspension but they still trotted out a team with two strong strikers - Twellman and Noonan - who can hold the ball and talent in the midfield - Joseph, Dorman and Ralston. It's surprising that the starting eleven had so much trouble sustaining an attack.

With the possession fairly divided, thought, the Revs left the door open for a Crew comeback. And the visitors were poised to escape with a point when they were awared a penalty kick late in the second half. Reis deserves the game ball for stoning the shooter, Eddie Gaven, and ensuring the stoppage of the Rev's recent slide.

Despite a more favorable schedule - the Revs have played the Wizards and Crew in Foxborough in recent days - New England has failed to take control of the second spot in the East. After Sunday, the Revs are tied for second with Chicago, 16 points behind the runaway train, er, D.C. United. But with another date with the Crew next Saturday and a home tilt against New York the following Saturday, this is a prime time for the Revs to realize their potential as the second most talented team in the Eastern Conference.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Wild Wild West

While the American League continues to make the National League look like the Cape League, the MLS boasts a relatively equal level of play across its two conferences. While the East has MLS' best team, the top five teams in the Western Conference are within 10 points of each other.

Each league took a turn embarassing the other last night, with the Galaxy routing D.C. 5-2 as the Red Bulls kicked Salt Lake back to the stone age in a 6-0 drubbing. If anyone predicted either of those scores, they should get a cookie. After those tilts came to their merciful end, though, the Houston-Chivas kicked off and showed us just how competitive the playoff race out West might be.

Chivas emerged from the first half in good shape - at home, up 2-1 and with a man advantage after Ricardo Clarke was red carded in the 31st minute. They looked deadly on their home surface, taking advantage of the short grass by playing the ball quickly and with pace. They looked tough to beat at home this night no matter who the opponent might be but, to make it easier for them, Houston came out as flat as roadkill in the second half, failing to string together passes or create any rhythm on the attack.

But at least the Dynamo were also slow to recover on defense. Chivas took advantage, playing the ball wide to an unmarked Sasha Kljestan who hit Ante Razov in stride atop the box. Razov then let the ball run by his right beg and hit a left-footed strike that swerved away from Pat Onstad and into the left corner of the net. 3-1 Chivas, up a man at home. It should have been over. And it would have been, if Dwayne DeRosario didn't play for the other guys.

While his teammates appeared enamored with finding out just how many times they could knock the ball out of bounds with no pressure on them, DeRosario took over, smacking home his eighth goal of the year in the 67th minute. It was a clinical finish, with the Canadian international half-volleying a bouncing ball past Burpo by placing it just outside the keeper's shins. That's how they teach you. 3-2 Chivas.

I stayed that way until the final seconds when DeRosario almost struck again. After receiving the ballthirty-five yards from goal, DeRosario juked one defender and sped past Chivas defender Jason Hernandez. So Hernandex took him out, plain and simple. The ball was a good two yars ahead of DeRosario when it happened. The referee signaled to continue play and Chivas got three points.

So to recap: Chivas looked deadly and Houston looked done. In the end, though, only a referee's blown call kept this one from being a draw. There's parity out west, I tell you, and it's going to be a wild finish.