Major League Soccer

The Red Bulls do not have a creative clue in the midfield, a sad situation that probably will not be remedied until the summer — if then — with the import of another designated player. Michael Ballack? Stephen Ireland? Kaká?

One of these is not like the others.

rumor is they already promised Ireland a pile of money

which is lol

Sadly, Ireland would be a huge step up over who they've played the first two weeks.

I think Dax McCarty played the worst half I've seen in ages in the first 45 minutes against RSL.

Ireland's pretty good when he's got the head on, I just wouldn't exactly put him in the 'dependable superstar' echelon.

EZ are you in the US and/or American? Just curious, always like to see more interested fans over here.

No doubt Ireland would be better than Dax McCarty or whomever they've been rolling out this season in central mid, but it's emblematic of NYRB's rudderless ship tendencies that he's even being discussed as a solution.

idk, seems better to get a very good player in his prime than a was-great one collecting his last big contract.

I'm an American in Dallas who supports Villa so I've seen enough horrible Stephen Ireland for a lifetime, but still he'd be better than the steaming pile that is the Red Bulls midfield.

i've really enjoyed lolling at philly so far

oh yeah, hoping the lolz continue this saturday

unsurprisingly united were real bad last night against LA - no idea what olsen's long-term plans are, but hopefully they involve stephen king being shot out of a cannon at some point

and the lolz continue

Michael Ballack has long been rumored to join the New York Red Bulls as their third designated player. That assumption may have just been put to rest. According to an interview with Goal.com, the midfielder's agent, Michael Becker, claims Red Bull General Manager Erik Soler has other plans.

"Michael would love to play in New York. However, it seems that Soler already made massive promises to Stephen Ireland in October. This is an unbelievable incident," Becker told Goal.com. "There are a lot of places where Michael believes he would be a good fit, but in New York with Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez, that's a title-winning team in his mind."

more wtf than lols, but still:

Vancouver Whitecaps rookie forward Darren Mattocks has been sidelined indefinitely after suffering burns while cooking dinner this past weekend.

According to a Whitecaps press release, Mattocks was preparing dinner on Sunday when he suffered burns to his upper right arm and shoulder. The 21-year-old Jamaican was admitted to a local hospital and he is currently being treated and assessed.

in New York with Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez, that's a title-winning team in his mind.

key part of that sentence is "in his mind"

yeah, yet another old DM is exactly what has kept NY trophyless all this time

Stephen Ireland will fix that, dude's a born winner.

Most improved player according to the stats crunched by whoscoredotcom

http://vimeo.com/38961384

not in the guardian this week but one of my homies is there instead, fucking loving that our inside-joke-laden group of drunk goofballs is getting quoted and linked to from such an outlet

Need to find ILF an outlet next.

The Guardian's starting to go for MLS in a big way, there's even been a MBM or two.

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2012/0305/soc_g_backe_576.jpg

xp I think they're doing MBM on the nationally-televised games? anything on ESPN, TSN, NBC etc?

more GET PUMPED video for our home opener 2 weeks after everyone else

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxRhCTCY1a0

fuck u NE revs, you had months to scrub those football lines off

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbUxePfsoWE

jimmy conrad and some british guy like our tifo (about 1 minute in)

ahahahahahahah wrong video although that one is totally awesome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2aHsIhJnKs

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/mar/30/mls-le-toux-philadelphia-union-vancouver

Back at it again for Fire v Colorado. Also, just learned that Luke Rodgers got his visa denied and NYRB cancelled his contract.

getting ready to head out to united/dallas - united's really gone out of their way to get a big crowd for tv tonight; hopefully it'll be awesome and chaotic and fun

Excellent! I may be attending the Fire @ DC game in late summer, working on a weeklong eastern vacation swing.

have fun GYA! i will be watching from the west coast shortly. and then girding myself for 42 degrees and rain for sounders/SJ tomorrow

Should I go see Galaxy vs New England tomorrow night? y/n? I have never been to an MLS game but I am feeling the lack of live football.

i vote yes

http://www.ifc.com/portlandia/videos/portlandia-timbers

i hope "please please win, meow meow meow" catches on

Good goal by Santos for DC there.

lovely.

Horrible defending by DC there.

getting ready to start paying attention to this thread as i am moving to a north american city that has an mls team in the summer. unfortunately that mls team is the whitecaps.

Oh well done you - this means your trip went well?

yup,basically going as soon as i can get a visa sorted :)

Huge congrats from me, matey.

whitecaps might be no good, but it should be good fun. i really want to go to vancouver soon. congrats and good luck with the move.

thanks guys. yeah i'll def go to some games anyway, cheapest tickets are as cheap as you can get to a scottish premiership game for anyway. might be interesting to follow a team that's a minnow in their league. also i at least know one player in the team fairly well, barry robson used to play for celtic and is joining in july. one thing that intrigued me during my trip to the pacific northwest was that in portland i saw a lot more about the timbers (billboards, signs in bar windows etc.) than i did about their other sports teams. wondering if that actually reflects its popularity there or if that's just the result of a publicity push?

Think the Portland Trailblazers (NBA) are really well supported iirc

Horrible defending by DC there.

yeah - they're very young, and they're gonna make a million mistakes defensively this year

attack looks strong though finally - deleon was a real find, and i think they've settled on a role for de rosario

last night was a fun game, if not a particularly big crowd - anybody heading to a game at rfk, ping me via this thread and we'll make you feel more than welcome in lot 8 before the game

portland only has nba and mls for top tier teams. think both are very well supported but there probably is a lot of publicity for the timbers since they are new.

Welcome to Cascadia, jim!

the portland support is genuine. they've basically sold out their stadium for the season, so the billboards are to bump tv ratings, or just for general peception. portland (like seattle and vancouver) are new to MLS but have a glorious history dating back to the 70s and NASL. portland's always supported their teams well, they just haven't had many teams to root for, just basketball. and their stadium has what might be the best atmosphere in the league.

vancouver is a fun team this year imo. poor at the back and deadly up front, like 4-5 of the best attackers in the league. this will get anyone excited https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8Vfdx7LEh4

try to get to a vancouver vs. seattle or portland game. or toronto. those will have the best atmosphere. congrats on the job and welcome.

whoa a seattle fan being complimentary of portland, don't see that too often on these here internets ;)

and congratulations, jim, great to have another ilxor getting into the league

toronto v cbus is dullllll but I'm watching on a borrowed MLS live streaming account and holy shit the picture is nice

vancouver is a fun team this year imo. poor at the back...

i must have been stuck on last year's vancouver because right now they are an hour away from a record, longest season start w/o allowing a goal.

Demerit being healthy probably making a big difference there.