Beckerman and Rogers to train at FC Kaiserslautern

Posted November 2011 by Dan

Kaiserslautern (AFP) – The two American football player Robby Rogers (24/Columbus crew) and Kyle Beckerman (29/Real Salt Lake) are at the first training of the national league FC Kaiserslautern participate. The two training guests at the initiative of the U.S. selecting coach Juergen Klinsmann after Germany. Under a cooperation agreement between the Palatine and the U.S. Association to stay in the game both players break the North American professional soccer league in MLS rhythm and continue to develop sports. Article here.

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USA vs Slovenia 2010 World Cup South Africa: Relive the Moment

Posted November 2011 by Dan

This was a great comeback for the USA team against Slovenia in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.  The ref was terrible and many suspected that he had ulterior motives.  Coming up tomorrow the USA faces off against Slovenia once again.  Let’s get this one boys.

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Everton join in the chase for Shea

Posted November 2011 by Dan

News out of the UK today suggests that Everton are interested in Brek Shea, FC Dallas star midfielder.  More here. Everton boss David Moyes is chasing United States centre half Brek Shea – as he looks to boost his squad with bargains.

Moyes flew to France to watch the highly-rated FC Dallas defender in action at the weekend and he is interested in recruiting him if the price is right.

Shea has been invited for trials at Arsenal, but if Arsene Wenger does not sign him Everton may step in and make an offer to the MLS.

Talented Shea is one of a number of American-based players who could be farmed out, either on loan or to buy in the New Year window.

US chief Jurgen Klinsmann is keen to see as many of his squad in European football as possible and has been encouraging moves to Premier League sides.

Moyes has a head start in American chases as he has keeper Tim Howard. The Goodison chief would also like Landon Donovan to return.

However Shea is the new name on his wish list and a decent performance against the French has put another tick in the box. Moyes wants an extra central defender and may have found him.

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Jürgen: Beckerman…he’s doing it 100 percent

Posted November 2011 by Dan

In a one-on-one interview with Brian Straus of the Sporting News, US Men’s National Soccer Team Coach Jurgen Klinsmann explains how some of his player decisions might seem countercurrent because he is thinking about the team and not the individual players: “Some may say, ‘Why is there a Kyle Beckerman right now occupying the No. 6 role, when we have Jermaine Jones playing for Schalke or Michael [Bradley] in Verona and they’re really good players?’ Right now, what I tell [Beckerman] to do, he’s doing it 100 percent.”

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Wenger: USA is “future of the game”

Posted November 2011 by Dan

Arsenal FC manager Arsene Wenger has pointed to Major League Soccer and the United States as the “future of the game.”

In an interview with ArsenalTV about the impending arrival of FC Dallas star and MLS MVP finalist Brek Shea, Wenger expressed no doubts about how American soccer “will certainly influence the modern game.”

“Two aspects of the development of the game that will certainly influence the modern game,” he said. “One will come from the States, where football is becoming more and more popular and the quality is raising. That’s one part that will interest the modern game. The second big part I’m convinced will be Asia.

Continued Wenger, “These are two now countries or continents that will be I think the future of the game. And America will produce more and more top level players and Asia as well. And in these two countries and continents we have as well an aptitude to have a team attitude and hard-working attitude and I think once they get the education which we are starting to get, they will produce good players.”

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MLS Soccer Playoff System

Posted November 2011 by Dan

The MLS Cup 2011 match will be played Sunday the 20th of November, just around the corner, featuring the LA Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo.  I expect LA will take it but with soccer anything is possible.  The Western Conference of MLS is far superior to that of the Eastern Conference.  Here’s the table from the 2011 results.

Eastern Conference

# Club PTS GP W L T GF GA GD Home Away Last 5
1 Sporting Kansas City 51 34 13 9 12 50 40 10 9-2-6 4-7-6 T-W-T-W-W
2 Houston Dynamo 49 34 12 9 13 45 41 4 10-3-4 2-6-9 W-W-T-W-W
3 Philadelphia Union 48 34 11 8 15 44 36 8 7-1-9 4-7-6 W-T-W-T-L
4 Columbus Crew 47 34 13 13 8 43 44 -1 9-3-5 4-10-3 L-L-W-W-L
5 New York Red Bulls 46 34 10 8 16 50 44 6 8-3-6 2-5-10 W-T-W-L-W
6 Chicago Fire 43 34 9 9 16 46 45 1 6-3-8 3-6-8 W-T-L-W-W
7 D.C. United 39 34 9 13 12 49 52 -3 4-5-8 5-8-4 L-L-L-T-L
8 Toronto FC 33 34 6 13 15 36 59 -23 5-4-8 1-9-7 W-L-T-T-T
9 New England Revolution 28 34 5 16 13 38 58 -20 4-7-6 1-9-7 L-L-L-L-T

Western Conference

# Club PTS GP W L T GF GA GD Home Away Last 5
1 LA Galaxy 67 34 19 5 10 48 28 20 12-0-5 7-5-5 W-W-L-W-L
2 Seattle Sounders FC 63 34 18 7 9 56 37 19 9-4-4 9-3-5 W-W-L-W-W
3 Real Salt Lake 53 34 15 11 8 44 36 8 10-3-4 5-8-4 L-L-L-T-T
4 FC Dallas 52 34 15 12 7 42 39 3 9-5-3 6-7-4 L-L-W-W-L
5 Colorado Rapids 49 34 12 9 13 44 41 3 6-2-9 6-7-4 L-T-W-T-W
6 Portland Timbers 42 34 11 14 9 40 48 -8 9-5-3 2-9-6 L-W-L-T-T
7 San Jose Earthquakes 38 34 8 12 14 40 45 -5 5-4-8 3-8-6 T-T-W-L-W
8 Chivas USA 36 34 8 14 12 41 43 -2 5-7-5 3-7-7 T-W-T-L-L
9 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 28 34 6 18 10 35 55 -20 6-6-5 0-12-5 L-W-W-L-L
Here’s the playoff standings, as  you can see, the top 3 teams in the league are all on one side:
Western Conference PTS GP GD
ss- LA Galaxy 67 24 20
x- Seattle Sounders 63 34 19
x- Real Salt Lake 53 34 8
Eastern Conference PTS GP GD
x- Sporting KC 51 34 10
x- Houston Dynamo 49 34 4
x- Philadelphia Union 48 34 8
Wild Card Race PTS GP GD
x- FC Dallas 52 34 3
x- Colorado Rapids 49 34 3
x- Columbus Crew 47 34 -1
x- New York Red Bulls 46 34 6
z- Chicago Fire 43 34 1
z- Portland Timbers 42 34 -8
z- D.C. United 39 34 -3
z- San Jose Earthquakes 38 34 -5
z- Chivas USA 36 34 -2
z- Toronto FC 33 34 -23
z- New England Revolution 28 34 -20
z- Vancouver Whitecaps 28 34 -20

ss – clinched Supporters’ Shield
x – clinched playoff spot
z – eliminated from playoff contention
Enter MLS Cup playoffs as Top 3 conf. finisher
Enter MLS Cup playoffs as wild-card finisher
Did not qualify for MLS Cup playoffs
  • The top three finishers in each conference, based on regular season points (six automatic berths)
  • The next best four clubs based on regular season points, irrespective of conference (four wild cards)
    • The four wild cards will play single elimination games against each other, with higher seeds hosting (1 vs. 4; 2 vs. 3). These play-in games are part of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
    • After the two play-in games conclude, the lowest remaining seed will face the Supporters’ Shield winner in the Conference Semifinals; the other will face the No. 1 seed in the opposite conference from the Supporters’ Shield winner.

For complete playoff format and tiebreakers, clickhere.
So the question is why not have just a single table and the top 8 teams go on to the playoffs and have a bracket seeding system?  It makes sense to me but the folks at MLS seem to think that they need to keep it like the “rest” of the American playoff sports.  Never mind that the top teams have already played.  It’s time to change it Don. Change it so that we get to see the top teams in MLS in the final.

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