The MLS thread

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MrMarcello said:
...Even a guy like Ireland or Jenas would be amazing in this league.
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I bet you're right about that. Someone mediocre over there with reasonable skills honed in Europe who is committed to making it work can go far over here - Juan Pablo Angel and even Darren Huckerby for crying out loud.
 
Beckhamania comes to the P tomorrow night Brad. Going to be nice out too.

I'm actually a bit bummed for Spencer now. He really should have been given until the end of the season. What's Steve Nichol up to these days? He'd be a good shout.
 
In a somewhat big move for MLS, Sebastian Le Toux was traded to NYRB today for Dane Richards. I think he'll do really well there, even if it is only for the rest of this season.
 
The Crew have been so mediocre, no scoring at all since Guillermo Barros Schelotto left, or more accurately since 2009 when he lost another step in speed and his scoring all but stopped.

Now there are only 3 players, I believe, who were with the team when we won the title. We got old, but we also let some decent players go and brought in some less impressive ones.

They can't stick with Warzycha much longer.
 
That was a great game to watch tonight. Superb goals, two beauties from the boy Beckham. Terrible defending from both teams. Highly entertaining. Wilkinson is no kin good though
 
Great game, especially if you're not a Timbers fan. We've got a way of making other teams look good. Beckham played out of his skin. 2 brilliant goals. Glad to see we at least managed to notch up 3 goals. There were stretches where we could even have been mistaken for a soccer team. Nagbe was excellent again. That guy's got skills. Alhassan with a great first half before getting back to his lazy self in the 2nd. Getting 5 past you is never going to be fun to watch. Keane's got a seriously punchable face.

I don't rate Wilkinson either as I followed him coaching A League Timbers for years and we've never amounted to much. Still, I liked his lineup better than what Spencer had been trying.

Sir Matt, I got you a TA scarf if you still want it.
 
:lol::lol: Timbers lose 5-0 to Dallas. We're somehow even worse against crappy teams.

We're in free fall. Without Nagbe, they don't have a single player that can possess the ball when under pressure. A poor midfield yielding on 33% possession (and none of it offensive) is going to make the defense look bad. Not to mention the forwards. Mwanga got maybe 2 touches the whole time he was in. With a midfield like that, what is the point in having 2 forwards? Also, there's nothing on the bench that's going to make a lick of difference. We've got Aston Villa on Tuesday, and I hope it's a whole new lineup. I'm hoping Robbie Earle might suit up.

Last night I had a house full of hopeful, and then angry, and then drunk, and then angry again, and then drowsy Timbers fans. They're having a rough go of it. One of them told me the Timbers haven't scored away from home in like 7 hours. Wretched.

If I didn't have United to look forward to, I'd be tempted to chuck this whole soccer lark.
 
Sir Matt said:
Would anyone in Portland be willing to buy two of the Timbers Army scarves and send them to me? How much are they from the truck/van they sell them from?

I still want to make the road trip for a game, but driving from NC to Oregon is going to be tough.
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I got you one if you still wanted it. Not sure I'll be able to wipe off the stink of failure though. Sorry I forgot you actually wanted 2.
 
brad-dyrak said:
:lol::lol: Timbers lose 5-0 to Dallas. We're somehow even worse against crappy teams.

We're in free fall. Without Nagbe, they don't have a single player that can possess the ball when under pressure. A poor midfield yielding on 33% possession (and none of it offensive) is going to make the defense look bad. Not to mention the forwards. Mwanga got maybe 2 touches the whole time he was in. With a midfield like that, what is the point in having 2 forwards? Also, there's nothing on the bench that's going to make a lick of difference. We've got Aston Villa on Tuesday, and I hope it's a whole new lineup. I'm hoping Robbie Earle might suit up.

Last night I had a house full of hopeful, and then angry, and then drunk, and then angry again, and then drowsy Timbers fans. They're having a rough go of it. One of them told me the Timbers haven't scored away from home in like 7 hours. Wretched.

If I didn't have United to look forward to, I'd be tempted to chuck this whole soccer lark.
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Shocking Brad. Paulson's made a right pigs ear of everything.
 
You reckon it's Paulson's fault? I really don't know who to blame. I can say that whoever picked the new players that have come in since we first started MLS didn't really make very good decisions. Lots of new guys that in the end all seem a bit mediocre, and our first designated player isn't up to much either (Charra). Boyd's fine, but needs service, and isn't as good of an all around player as Cooper was. So would that have been the coach's doing, or the sporting director (Wilkinson)? Honestly I've no idea.
 
brad-dyrak said:
You reckon it's Paulson's fault? I really don't know who to blame. I can say that whoever picked the new players that have come in since we first started MLS didn't really make very good decisions. Lots of new guys that in the end all seem a bit mediocre, and our first designated player isn't up to much either (Charra). Boyd's fine, but needs service, and isn't as good of an all around player as Cooper was. So would that have been the coach's doing, or the sporting director (Wilkinson)? Honestly I've no idea.
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I think Paulson listened to the people who are in his ear and he caved. One of them was Gavin. They didn't even fire Spenny face to face, he was fired over the phone. They've gained absolutey nothing by canning him.

Spencer and Cooper didn't get on apparently, Gavin signed Cooper so the fact he's doing well in NY may not have sat well in the FO.

I'm not saying Spencer would have turned the ship around if he'd been given the rest of the season but without a decent replacement, and Gavin isn't a decent replacement, it was pointless in canning him now.
 
brad-dyrak said:
I got you one if you still wanted it. Not sure I'll be able to wipe off the stink of failure though. Sorry I forgot you actually wanted 2.
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:lol: Thanks! No worries. PM me and I can figure out how to pay you for it. If you pick up another one, let me know and you could just send them both at once. Just let me know. Apologies for not seeing your earlier post.

VoetbalWizard said:
i would think u would support montreal with andrew wenger there.
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If it were based on Duke players, it would would be RSL since Kreis is the manager or the Revolution because Heaps is the manager and I was in the same year as Darrius Barnes. I never knew him but I knew a few of the other guys who played at the time. One of them was invited to the combine but didn't make it in. I'd have supported his team had he gone to MLS. He's a cool guy and always talked shit when United lost. :lol:
 
Timbers lose by only 1. Woot woot!

The crowd was pretty happy with the result. That's how bad it's gotten.
 
^ first one then the other. Dallas went up 1 one some embarrassing defending, but Portland came back and tied it up. Portland looked lively, though things looked even (Dallas with better chances) until Dallas went a man down.

Alhassan again the creative spark when he came on.
 
FC Dallas is an utter mess at the moment. They need to be willing to spend some money instead of constantly shipping players out when up for salary increases. They did acquire De Guzman but he's not really a top class player. And that coach is shit and has been, even the year they went to the final. He has zero tactical awareness. He only got the job because of his success at SMU.
 
So previously I'd wondered if I should actually qualify my statements that we’d brought in new players for every position except where we most needed it (center mid), seeing as we hadn't actually change the keeper.

Sure enough…

http://www.portlandtimbers.com/news...tts-montreal-exchange-goalkeeper-troy-perkins

The thinking is just shambolic.

Not getting enough goals -> must be the forwards.
Giving up too many goals -> must be the keeper.

It’s just been so blatantly obvious that we’ve never been able to control the ball in the central midfield, and that makes the whole team unsettled and ineffective. Could it be that there are just no candidates out there for center mid? They've bought in (mediocre) players at every position but Jewsbury and Charra in the middle, and we've been next to terrible the whole time.

Not that I don’t think Ricketts can’t be a good keeper for us, but nobody here (aside from the coaching staff) ever blamed Perkins. He’s saved out asses more times than I could count.
 
Bizarre trade, absolutely dumb move. feck Gavin.
 
Yeah he's made a right mess of things I guess, and must surely be on the way out. Still it'll be sad to see him go as he's been with the Timbers since day 1 back when they started back up in the A league. He captained the team back when Bobby Howe and Jimmy Conway were at the helm. No nonsense center back some of whose clearances are still circling the globe. I swear he'd just hoof them all over creation. The swells up in the MAC would be shitting themselves.

Still, he can't be enjoying himself these days. Morale must be dire.
 
Sporting just won the US Open Cup on penalties. It was more of a case of Sporting took the less amount of shit penalties than Seattle. Shame I'm not at Livestrong Sporting Park now. Would be a good time.

On a side note, GolTV has the worst commentators I've ever heard.
 
Personally feel the sport is healthy enough to expand beyond 20 clubs but not sure how the scheduling will work. However, the quality of play would be severely stretched with more clubs although a raise in the salary cap and overall salaries, plus more emphasis on youth development could fill that gap.

Would the league split into two divisions and introduce relegation/promotion, or does it go (the most likely) into multiple divisions within two conferences and unbalanced play?
 
He coached the US Olympic team through that shambolic failed qualifying campaign.

That aside, he's probably the highest rated young manager in the country.
 
77 said:
Underwhelming. It leaves Gavin in charge of signings, no thanks.
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Yeah, I was wondering about that. I hear that the best thing Porter might have to offer would be that he has access to recruiting the best of the college bunch. Not necessarily the greatest thing in itself, but given that we really don't have anything like that currently, it sounded nice. We've got such a motley bunch Gavin scraped up from all over creation

Ghana
Scotland
Gambia
Colombia
New Zealand
Japan
Congo
Liberia
Jamaica
Zambia
Cameroon
Costa Rica

Which is great. Portland being what it is, there's more melanin from the 11 on the field than the 20,000 in the stands.

Maybe a few US college up and comers might favor the mix. Bruce Arena did that with the initial DC United team, bringing in a crop of his Virginia boys who then dominated the league.

Not sure how it all works though.
 
forevrared said:
He coached the US Olympic team through that shambolic failed qualifying campaign.

That aside, he's probably the highest rated young manager in the country.
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In his defense, they were mere seconds from topping their group and facing Honduras in the semis until a ridiculous collapse of concentration by a few players (including Shea giving the ball away in the attacking third) allowed an El Salvadoran player to waltz 1/2 the pitch unchallenged and then fire a shot that replacement keeper Johnson fluffed (though it did hit the ground a good foot in front of him and bounced over his body but still terrible keeping) resulting in a 3-3 draw and from top of the group to third place.

But still, failing to at least make the playoff round was horrendous, as was losing to Canada. :(
 
I think he will be a pretty good hire and he needed to get out of college soccer if he wants to coach at the highest level. I am interested in seeing who he brings in and what he does with the current players. How long is Boyd signed up for?
 
Sounders just scored against the Timbers. :(

I think St Louis should get the next team instead of NY. It's one of the bigger soccer markets in the US. Atlanta would be another good alternative. The article mentions Vegas, but Vegas has never had any sports teams. I don't know how they'd handle a real team given that it's a tourism city.

I'm never big on Florida sports teams. Fans for all teams in Florida, except for UF and FSU are flaky as hell. University of Miami barely gets anyone to show up for football games these days despite being one of the bigger teams. People in South Florida didn't care about the heat except when they had Wade-Shaq and were contending. They do now that they have the big 3, but typical fans aren't very understanding of developing/building teams. NFL teams can barely sell enough tickets to keep games from being blacked out.
 
Yeah, not looking good for Portland. Glad I didn't make the trip up this time. I heard Seattle sold 66,000 seats?

Oh, and thanks again Matt. I'll try to catch the van open again last game.
 
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