2010 MLS

[HailtotheYo]

Yeah, CBA negotiations ... strike approved if necessary ... whatever. I'm going to just go with the fact that First Kick is Thursday March 25th with expansion Philly Union at Seattle FC.

I'm actually pretty excited for this season. The US gets pretty nutzoid in WC years so there's the potential for some good crossover. One such crossover could be in Seattle with:

Blaise Nkufo. The Swiss striker will join SSFC after the World Cup.

Other notable additions:

Collins John - Chicago

Alvaro Saborio - RSL

Sergio Herrera - Crew

Danny Allsopp - DC

Joel Lindpere - NYRB

Eduardo (Adelino da Silva) - SJ

Jimmy Nielsen - KC

US Nationals back in the league:

Luis Gil - RSL

Danny Califf - Philly

Michael Orozco - Philly

Troy Perkins - DC

Ian Joyce - Colorado

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

You're missing the biggest addition of all!

GUZ!

[HailtotheYo]

He's not new for this year

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Practically

[HailtotheYo]

Fire Release GK Busch

Wow, didn't see that coming. The talk though is that it was strictly a business move. Veteran contracts are guaranteed the moment Philly and Seattle kick off Thursday Night (as per the new CBA), and it could simply be that the Fire didn't want to pay him. I don't know that going with Andrew Dykstra is worth the saving in payroll though. This guy was the 2008 GK of the year and had identical stats last year. He helped them to two straight Eastern Conference Finals and more importantly the guys in Section 8 loved him.

Sadly, there might be more of this around the league before First Kick on Thursday. We could see a few more veterans cut because of the new CBA.

[HailtotheYo]

Eh, there were some other people released by I'd say Busch was the biggest. Kraus is out of KC, Noonan out of Colorado, and a few guys that were probably gone anyway.

However:

new website

Not too bad. I'll be messing with it throughout the day to see what it has to offer.

MLS toying with 2nd DP:

Reuters article

Good read on the "free agency" argument with the CBA and how the Player's Union actually got what it could:

SI

Also, throughout the last week Garber has been slamming DC for not making headway on a stadium. ABOUT FUCKING TIME COMMISH !

And of course, tonight is First Kick. Expansion Philly goes to Seattle. The best atmosphere, the newest team, Danny Califf back in the US ... all seems to make for a good opening match. ESPN2 HD at 9:30 est.

Oh, and this picture from this past weekend's opening of RBArena in which NYRB beat Santos 3-1 ( who cares if there was no Robinho, Angel wasn't there either )

Sunil Chhetri of India is supposed to be signing with KC. He's had several teams in England try to nab him (Leeds/Coventry/QPR) but work visa issues and that crap kept it from going through. He's thought of as one of, if not, India's best players (taken in relative context) and is only 25. This could be really good as he's clearly talented but won't take up all that much money.

[HailtotheYo]

Not a bad opening match. The weather sucked and the soggy pitch kept it from really opening up but there were some clear signs last night.

Seattle is still very good in the midfield and up top, and that was without Jaqua playing. They were very sloppy on defense and that really doesn't make sense. They were tied for the best defensive team last year. Le Toux was left all alone at the top of the box but luckily he was a step too far forward. Keller is still Keller which is a good thing too.

Philly showed flashes of Nowak's coaching. You can tell that the team is being coached very well but they are raw. Holy crap are they young. The skill is there but it's just going to take time. Inexperience and lack of refinement is going to plague them all year but I like the makeup of the team. Mwanga showed moments of why he was drafted and put directly into the starting lineup, and that Torres kid is just as good as Montero on the ball.

2-0 but could have been worse ... much worse. Seattle kind of got complacent and Zakuani flubbed to rather "easy' put ins. Oh, and Freddie, I love you man, but this isn't England ... no need to go for an Oscar on the fouls bud.

[Meacon Keaton]

I was...somewhat happy with what I saw last night. Our team is the youngest in the league. And we have a whole shit-ton of potential. I, in no means, expected us to go to Seattle, in our very first game, and win. I'm eager to see how we develop throughout the season.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

TFC is not off to a good start, losing 2-0 in Columbus. I know Sports Illustrated picked us to finish last in the East, but my by-and-large uninformed opinion says we should at least be where we were last year, nipping at the heels of the playoff teams.

[Meacon Keaton]

Sports Illustrated also predicted the Chicago Bears to be in the Super Bowl last year. >_>

[HailtotheYo]

TFC is not off to a good start, losing 2-0 in Columbus. I know Sports Illustrated picked us to finish last in the East, but my by-and-large uninformed opinion says we should at least be where we were last year, nipping at the heels of the playoff teams.

I dunno .... some of the personnel you guys lost. And WTF ? trading Wynne ? Gerba got sent home to get his fat ass in shape, and you don't have any established striker at all. DeRo is fantastic, but he's the only f'n guy on the pitch outside of Frei ... who by the way has no help because even the off/on/off/on Serioux is gone. You guys are young as all shit ... only three guys have more than 5 years experience and one of 'em is your backup keeper (although Guzman has some 'real' experience). I love this team going forward (Cronin/Frei/White) but I seriously can't see them threatening this year. That opening match could have been 4/5-0 pretty easily.

===

Of course, RSL exploded without Saborio contributing. They could be really, really good. Collins John looked good in his time, but they tried a little too hard and ended up trying to force the ball to him. When Pappa/Nyarko figure out the flow I think he's going to take off.

Dallas should push for the playoffs if not make them comfortably, and Houston just might end up with too many options up front if everyone stays healthy.

Overall I liked what I saw from the opening weekend.

[HailtotheYo]

FUCK YEAH !

NEW DP RULES ! A team can now have as many as 3 DP's. Two slots as normal, and they can pay 250K for a third. The league lessened the cap hit (from 415K to 335K) AND has allowed for a team to spend allocation money on paying down the cap hit all the way to 150K. So in theory, a team could have 3 DP's with a TOTAL cap hit of 450K. Hell yes !

- DC better wake up, and quick.

- KC scored 4 ?

- RSL looks really, really good

- Ching is down for a spell, hope Landin can recapture some of that scorpion magic from his Cruz Azul days

- LA looks really, really good ... and they could get much, much better

- MLS All-Star game in Houston -> trying to get ManU as the opponent

- MLS Cup in Toronto, hope the weather isn't shitty

[Hornswoggle4PM]

Didn't know Allsopp had gone to US, we might hear something about MLS over here. When Beckham was in the league it got a bit of attention.

[HailtotheYo]

Wow, TFC has released Gerba .... that was a waste.

[Guest Mr. Murray Head]

Jim Brennan is retiring. If this means we bring in a better left-back, I'm all for it.

[The Quasi Juice]

Collins John was a big talent at Twente, then went to Fulham way too early. Did quite decent but failed to gain a starting position. Went to NEC in Holland, was shit and overweight and eventually sent home. Then went to Roeselare (I think) in Belgium, once again overweight, crap and mental issues. So don't expect too much from John.

N'Kufo on the other hand is still a scoring machine for Twente despite his age. He's a living legend at Twente because he's been with the club for several years and stayed their number one striker despite Twente's rise to the top. He's not the fastest anymore but I'm pretty sure he'll score a lot in the MLS too.

[HailtotheYo]

I'm well aware of Collins John, and uh ... he's anything but overweight and out of shape in Chicago. He looks pretty damned good. He isn't flashing about like he was when he was teamed up with the GREAT MCBRIDE at Fulham, but uh ... McBride ain't McBride anymore either. I think he'll be just fine, if not damned good in the MLS thanks to the help of once again being around Brian.

I'm excited about Nkufo ... that guy f'n owns souls with his scoring.

[HailtotheYo]

DC Invasion of Philly

This is bad ass. And before all of you come in and laugh at 1K travelling and it being a big deal, just remember what thread this is in.

The DC fans are hard pressed to find equal in the MLS, and this is just fucking awesome. The league needs more of this.

[HailtotheYo]

Holy shit DC sucks. Poor Troy Perkins ... he may as well have nobody on the back line, at least then they wouldn't actually get in the way. Holy crap.

Apparently Buddle has found the magic boots.

How the shit to you not mark Alvaro Saborio in the box on a 4th minute of extra time corner ?

Houston is in huge trouble without Ching.

How is it that San Jose can continually find players that can't play in a SJ kit ?

KC has yet to give up a goal ? wow.

Oh, and TFC unveils the natural surface (grass) in the home opener this week (Y)

[Meacon Keaton]

Le Toux! Heyoooooooooooooo!

*train whistle* UNION! UNION!