Topic: Soccer Discussion: 1.67% Chance of Being the Best Thread on the NWR Forums

[Stratos]

I'm curious to see if the '12th Man Effect' pours over into MLS this season (my real hope is that it injects some life into the dead husk of the Mariners).

[NWR_insanolord]

It's been there for a while. The Sounders almost never lose at home, especially when they've opened it up and have 70,000 fans in there cheering them on.

[Caliban]

Ok. It's nice to see TFC win some matches. I guess getting a world class goalkeeper and forward was worth it.

[NWR_insanolord]

Yeah, Bradley to Defoe is looking like a deadly combo.

[NWR_insanolord]

Toronto-RSL tomorrow looks like it should be a fun one. The unstoppable force vs. the immovable object. Wish it weren't on at mostly the same time as the Sounders. I may end up trying to watch both.

[Caliban]

Yeah I'm going to try and watch this match. I want to see how they play for myself.

[NWR_insanolord]

In non-MLS news, with Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Man City just now, Liverpool now control their own destiny with under two months left to play. After the way things were going into the season, I doubt anyone would have predicted this.

[Caliban]

I never predicted that Liverpool would do so well this year. I actually thought that Arsenal had a chance at the title (they still do) because of Mesut Ozil's acquisition, but it seems like they lost steam half way through the season. However Manchester City is 2 games behind after today's game, so it's definitely going to be a wild ride until the end because all four teams at the top have a chance to win it.

[NWR_insanolord]

I'm going on record here as saying RSL beats Toronto tonight, thanks to a big performance by Kyle Beckerman. He's somewhat on the bubble for Brazil, and shutting down the high-flying Toronto offense sends a statement to Klinnsman. Having the best keeper in the league behind him also helps.

[Caliban]

TFC is weak.
I actually think Cesar won't do that well at TFC unless the Defenders are/get better, and not to mention that near the end of the match it looked like he was limping a little bit.
Defoe most likely is injured, and he's alright, but one man can't carry the team.
The one player from TFC that I was surprised with his performance was Michael Bradley. Shame there aren't another couple of Bradleys and another Defoe to make a quality team for the M and F positions.

And I got to give it a hand to the RSL GK. He's good.

[NWR_insanolord]

In two games against Spurs this season Liverpool has outscored them a combined 9-0. They're two points clear of Chelsea at the top of the table with 6 games left to play.

[NWR_insanolord]

Is everybody excited for tonight? It may not seem that big, but there's no such thing as "just a friendly" between the U.S. and Mexico.

[Soren]

I am. Specially after Puebla blocked the release Beasley and Orozco for the friendly.

[NWR_insanolord]

That's especially interesting to me as a Sounders fan, as it means DeAndre Yedlin is going to see a pretty significant amount of playing time. He's probably the odds-on favorite to be the starter at right back in 2018, but Puebla's dickish move (as well as Brad Evans' injury) may give him the opportunity to play his way onto the 2014 roster.

[Soren]

I'll admit I haven't kept up with the national team after they secured their spot in the Cup but aside from the sure things(Howard, Guzan, Bradley, Deuce, Landon, Altidore) has anyone else locked themselves in to the roster with their play?

[NWR_insanolord]

Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler have pretty much locked up the center back spots. They'll play tonight, as both are in MLS (LA Galaxy and Sporting KC, respectively). Graham Zusi, also from KC, is almost certainly going to start at right midfield, at least assuming they keep the same formation. The way Aron Johannson's been playing would make me want to consider starting him alongside Altidore, which could potentially push Zusi out, but Klinnsman doesn't seem to be thinking that way.

Zusi should be interesting to watch tonight in the kind of treatment he gets from the Mexican team. His equalizing goal in the 90+ minute of the final qualifying match, while meaningless to the US, singlehandedly prevented Mexico from missing the World Cup. He was already given a bottle of tequila by a Mexican media member in the leadup to this game as a thank you gift.

[Soren]

I love Gonzalez. I just hope he keeps improving before his ceiling closes. I also totally forgot about Zusi. He's fun to watch.

[NWR_insanolord]

Gonzalez/Besler are going to have to watch out or somebody like John Anthony Brooks could steal their spot for 2018. As much as I love to see the Galaxy waste a DP slot on a defender, I'd have liked to see Gonzalez spend some time in Europe.

[NWR_insanolord]

We're only at the half, but we already got to Dos A Cero. Hey Mexico: PRO TIP: Maybe you should keep an eye on Michael Bradley at least some of the time.

[NWR_insanolord]

MLS and NBC do nothing but hype up Sounders-Timbers, but that game just now lived up to it and then some. Clint Dempsey silences the haters with a hat trick, including two goals in the final 10 minutes to complete the comeback. Easily the best soccer game I've ever witnessed, and we've still got at least another 180 minutes between these two before the end of the season.

[Caliban]

And Chelsea FC did it hahahahahahaha.

[NWR_insanolord]

No one but Clint Dempsey has more than 4 goals so far this season in MLS.

Dempsey has 5 in the last two games.

He is just unstoppable right now, getting two tonight, plus the "assist" on an FC Dallas own goal and several near misses, to follow his hat trick last week in Portland. He's the highest paid player in the league, and right now he's certainly playing like it.

[Soren]

A 22nd MLS franchise?! Jeez, man.

[NWR_insanolord]

If you're referring to Atlanta, that's actually the 23rd. They have been expanding at a very quick pace. NYC2 and Atlanta don't actually start playing until 2017, though. The question now is who's getting 24, since they've said things to the effect that they'll be stopping there. The leading candidates seem to be Minnesota and St. Louis.

EDIT: NYCFC starts playing next year along with Orlando. Miami's the other 2017 team.

[Soren]

A 24-team MLS will be the biggest top tier league in the world. While I'm sure Garber and folks have no problems taking that sweet sweet expansion money, I'm very fearful the league won't be able to withstand the eventual lean years that come after such rapid growth. And that's both from a talent dilution and a business perspective.


It's a quandary because the league is not like other top tier soccer leagues in the world, but also not like other leagues in the US. All this rapid expansion also makes it near-impossible to eliminate the single-entity ownership structure and implement promotion/relegation.