Major League Soccer

On the eve of the start of league play: stats.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/733912_10151335797859537_16431815_n.jpg

"most covered leagues" is my personal favorite

Still ahead of Man Utd

Some friends are in LA for the Fire opener tomorrow. Tonight they went to Chivas v Columbus. This is 25 minutes before kickoff ;_;

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/529674_515890472149_1283129583_n.jpg

Oof. I enjoyed watching the first two games today. Missed our little league.

Yeah I will probably end up watching at least some of every game this weekend thanks to this Direct Kick free preview.

I wish I could have made it to the FC Dallas opening game but I'm working a show tonight. I'll have to catch it online later.

At $50 the MLS Live pass is a steal.

godddd get the goats out of LA

I mean if our division 2 team can pull 7000 a night, blehhhh

speaking of which, we lost a lot of our players from last year to the Minnesota stars and elsewhere in the NASL and we have subsequently signed a few dudes from eastern bloc countries, we could be secretly good or terrible next year

also, new kit to be revealed next week:
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/541699_457261247664663_1179771522_n.jpg

Style 7 sort of a combination of Arsenal + Pre-Quaker Fire

these are all under consideration apparently
lol at barca ripoff kit for style 3
style 4 is basically what we have now minus the toyota logo

Setting the Table ‏@settingthetable

Shame Chivas USA hooliganism got so bad they have to play in a closed stadium...oh, wait. #MLS

That's brutal

dc flat as hell tonight, really missed dero (and najar i guess). i realize houston are tough at home but riley and thorrington were massive duds. hard to feel good about the result :/

i stood in the rain and watched the sounders lose. it was a shit night. i decided not to drink or puff and that probably didn't help. persistent weed smell before the game and at halftime was kind of lol though.
none of the bloggers or commenters or twitterers have said it, but *i* missed montero last night.
yedlin, the 19 year old right back, was hugely impressive, especially considering it was his first professional game. i work with him mom and can't wait to talk to her about it

oof

caught the second half of portland v ny last night. cracking game. valeri looks like quite the player. tim cahill not so much.

By all accounts POR-NY was one for the ages. I couldn't bear to watch it after the Fire got smoked, though.

it was super fun and i loved portland's tifo

http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1480627/8525618629_2c017d8e01.jpg

Valeri's goal was a beaut (I am a very low-duty Timbers fan). Silvestre's defending... less so.

http://www.section8chicago.com/images/stories/tifo_rise_3.jpg

slightly bummed the wind f'd up the banner at the top but this still looks good

the folks who made it did a time-lapse of the process too

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwWl_iRc94Q

er

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwWl_iRc94Q

btw the Fire are playing like str8 garbage thus far this year, hoping that when Friedrich and Pause return that things get sorted out

That's a serious banner! Kudos to all involved.

At least the Fire didn't lose to Chivas.

yet

I mean, like, I watched that game, your guys could at least string some passes together & scored a goal.

True. And expectations are low here; I think aiming to fight for a playoff spot is as high as it gets.

I thought the Fire had rounded into an intriguing team by the end of last year so this start is surprising. I haven't had a chance to watch this past weekend's game yet but I'd love to hear what you think the issues are with them.

Near as I can tell, and I'm no tactician, the rebuild of the midfield (3 new starters) that occurred over the offseason hasn't fully taken yet. They've also switched from a 4-2-3-1 to a flat 4-4-2 (at least, on paper) so there's growing pains there. Couple that with retirement (Pavel Pardo) or injuries (Friedrich/Pause) by some of the most important leaders on the squad, and it's been a ghastly start, especially in LA.

I am optimistic, still, that the JLs (Lindpere & Larentowicz) in central midfield can get in sync and that the defense can shore itself up. I am not optimistic that the players on the sharp end of the field will start finishing their chances -- they had 3 excellent looks in the first half on Saturday that all resolved in pretty pathetic fashion.

With regard to the formation I am not fully convinced that Patrick Nyarko, who is one of my favorite players, can thrive in a wide position in a 4-4-2. He really is better suited to a 5 man midfield.

gotcha. that'll give me something to watch when i get a chance to see the past game. thanks!

anky r u alive this morning after that ccl game?

djimi traore with the blast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu2rX8fmp5U

ffs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu2rX8fmp5U

insane goal. he got mocked mercilessly by everyone back in his liverpool days. he's got a CL medal though!

I watched nearly the whole game, it was quite good. Not at all a Seattle fan but I can't help but think Tigres deserved to lose after making 9 changes to their lineup compared to the first leg.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/03/12/how-big-montreal-vs-toronto-new-supporters-record-will-be-set-saturday

4-5k fans expected to travel for Toronto at Montreal this weekend.

dan, did you make it into the guardian again? very cool.

WOOOOOOOO amazing week just got even better:

Seattle Sounders FC has signed Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins, the club announced today. Per Major League Soccer and club policy, terms were not disclosed. He will occupy Seattle’s third and final Designated Player slot.

“This move is consistent with our promise to the fans.” said Majority Owner Joe Roth. “Our supporters are the best in Major League Soccer and deserve a team that competes each and every year. Obafemi is an electrifying talent who has international experience at the highest level."

could debut tomorrow

This Montreal v. Toronto match has been entertaining in the first 30 minutes. Hate the artificial turf but otherwise good.

*nods at dan m from the bottom of table*

Same old shit, creating a bunch of great chances but only finished one of them, gave up a soft goal and got caught out when pressing to get back in the game. There are some players that need to be benched but there are too many injuries to do it without making the situation even worse.

That said I'm not in panic mode yet. There's a bye this week and they need to get Pause and especially Arne Friedrich back on the field and see how things improve.

Fire are just really bad, lost a friendly to NASL MN Utd FC yesterday.

The league is doing a weekly free streaming game thing it seems: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/03/28/mls-stream-week-sporting-kansas-city-vs-montreal-impact

minny utd is actually p good tho, for a d2 team
they signed our best dudes from last year and they were already league champs
also their new unis are dope

Oh yeah, I know they're good, just that they're in preseason and the Fire could barely manage shots on goal. I suppose it's a matter of players trying hard to win spots on one side vs players just trying to stay in shape and not get injured on the other, but it still disappoints to see a lower level side get the win especially since the Fire's MLS record has been dogshit so far.

yes
also min utd's new unis are dope

whoah i had no idea that the stars had become MN UTD

the new logo is totally radical, and i for one welcome our new overlords

they're calling it DETHLOON

on about a 3 week rotation at the guardian now gu.com/p/3eqhp/tw