A game plan that didn’t work, a feeble attack, and a loss of fight after falling behind on the road. Thank you, Chivas USA, for reminding us of how the Portland Timbers used to be. No more. In a game in which the Timbers were expected to come away with three points and ahead of a stretch where they don’t play a league game at home for over a month, they took care of business in convincing fashion. If getting draws on the road is part of the game plan, then getting three points at home is also a requirement. Getting three points against a team in free fall that was playing without its top keeper and with an attack that doesn’t attack was a must. Continue reading →
Club Deportivo Chivas USA is playing its ninth year of existence with its eighth manager. Job security? We don’t need no stinking job security. The Goats’ manager of the moment is José Luis Sánchez Solá. You may call him Chelis. A colorful personality who is much beloved in his native Meixco, Chelis has added a bit of interest to a franchise that has played second fiddle to the Galaxy and second fiddle to the parent club in Mexico. Don’t get too attached, however. He’ll probably be fired by the time you finish reading this post. Continue reading →
Boy is it a lot more fun when you have a team that is capable of coming away with a result at any stadium in MLS. It is also fun to have a manager capable of making in-game adjustments. One that really paid off for Caleb Porter against FC Dallas on Wednesday night was moving Darlington Nagbe to the striker spot at around the 60 minute mark. In doing so, Porter moved an off his game Diego Valeri out wide and played Frederic Piquionne in support of Nags. The move seemed to ignite Nagbe, while giving the FCD back line a different look than what they saw when Piquionne was the striker with Valeri in support in the first half. And yet again we saw some contribution from RodWall off the bench, doing the hard work to get himself in position to set Nagbe up. Some might be critical of having Kalif Alhassan in the linuep – he was largely absent most of the match – but it sure is nice having some flexibility with the lineup when you play three games in ten days. Continue reading →
It’s still early in the 2013 MLS season, only ten weeks of matches have been played but with a full slate of midweek matches week eleven looks to be the most challenging to date.
Week #11
Home
Away
DC United
v Houston Dynamo
Wed. May 8
New York Red Bulls
v Impact de Montréal
New England Revolution
v Real Salt Lake
Sporting Kansas City
v Seattle Sounders FC
FC Dallas
v Portland Timbers
San Jose Earthquakes
v Toronto FC
Chicago Fire Soccer Club
v Philadelphia Union
Sat. May 11
Impact de Montréal
v Real Salt Lake
Seattle Sounders FC
v San Jose Earthquakes
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
v Los Angeles Galaxy
Columbus Crew
v Colorado Rapids
New England Revolution
v New York Red Bulls
FC Dallas
v DC United
Portland Timbers
v CD Chivas USA
Sun. May 12
Houston Dynamo
v Sporting Kansas City
Eleven of nineteen teams play two matches this game week. This will be a turning point for those who can get the full six points and for those who end up with none. Besides watching Portland us Timbers fans we will be keeping a close eye on the Western Conference clubs that are doubled up. RSL has two away matches vs. eastern teams, San Jose has one home and one away, the last place Seattle Sounders have two tricky matches, and the top team in the west, FC Dallas plays both at home.
5mTKO’s weekly salary (allocation money not included)
Yippee. Today’s the day when we all get to feel dirty about ourselves and look at the salaries that MLS players may or may not be making. Undoubtedly, you’ll look over the list and think that some guys are Danny Mwanga-ish overpaid (Piquionne), some guys have bad agents (Dike and Horst), some have incredible Kiwi benefactors (Gleeson), and some guys should be looking for a little extra work on the side (Kawulok, Tucker-Gangnes).
One thing that may be worth looking at are how the reported numbers have changed from last year. Some guys have contracts that balloon over time (Nagbe, Chara). Some have contracts that may have already maxed out (Ricketts, Will Johnson). And some have contracts that have been torn up and rewritten (Wallace and Nanchoff).
Here you go. These are the Guaranteed Compensation figures. The guys on the top should be the first you ask to buy Nevets a beer. Continue reading →
