2012 MLS Thread

[fundmark19]

What a brutal game. Tfc was winning every small battle to the ball. Only player that seemed to be hustling was cannon sprinting up and down the field at the end

[Montana Moe]

Crazy night in MLS, Sounders lose at home to Columbus, Galaxy lose 3-2 after being up 2-0 at the 80 minute mark, Chivas earns a point at RBNY.

Portland played a solid game in a 1-0 friendly loss to La Liga's Valencia. Looking forward to a good Cascadia Cup match on Saturday vs. Vancouver. Hopefully the 'Caps are down in the dumps after tonight.

[Jimmy Stang]

OK - the time has come to buy my Whitecaps tickets for the match vs. Houston in a couple of weeks. I'm not all that familiar with BC Place, particularly post-renovation. So where should I sit?

The Southsiders are behind the goal, and would provide a fun, lively experience, although the angle isn't the best to watch a match from. On the other hand, 20 (?) rows up on the side would be a nice tv-like view to watch the game from, but probably at the expense of the atmosphere.

I'm no stranger to sitting behind the goal as that's where I usually sit on my jaunts back to Norwich because my cousin's seats are there. I don't mind it, but I'm not sure if, specifically for BC Place, there would be a reason to avoid it.

[VANFLAMESFAN]

I sit in sec 242, row 8, that's right in line with centre circle. Love my seats. Nice and close to the players but still far back enough to see plays develop.

If you're looking for best atmosphere, then it's undoubtedly where the ssiders or Curva Collective sit. Both groups are fun to watch from my seats so if you want to be a part of the action, go there.

I have a buddy in Curva and they sit behind the net and he fully supports a good view from down there.

It's all about preference and you get what you pay for.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by VANFLAMESFAN

I sit in sec 242, row 8, that's right in line with centre circle. Love my seats. Nice and close to the players but still far back enough to see plays develop.

If you're looking for best atmosphere, then it's undoubtedly where the ssiders or Curva Collective sit. Both groups are fun to watch from my seats so if you want to be a part of the action, go there.

I have a buddy in Curva and they sit behind the net and he fully supports a good view from down there.

It's all about preference and you get what you pay for.

Thanks for the info - that's precisely the info that I'm looking for. I asked my brother-in-law (who will be joining me at the match), and he said that he'd like a side view over an end view, and I'm not sure how crazy he is about rowdiness. I'll probably settle on something near the type of seats that you have, mostly as a compromise for him. If I was flying solo, I'd probably get into the thick of it. Either way, it'll be cool just to be there, and I will certainly enjoy watching/hearing the supporters groups from wherever we sit.

Thanks again! I have been hoping that my work travel schedule would line up with an MLS game one of these days, and now it finally has.

[Montana Moe]

Bah, Portland let one slip away in the final minutes yet again tonight. Kudos to Vancouver for bringing the attack at the end.

Still, being undefeated in the month of May is a good thing. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the 4-3-3 they played tonight, much more exciting than the 4-3-2-1 they had been playing.

[The Big Chill]

Good game tonight, I'm happy the 'Caps managed to salvage a point.

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Good to see Mattocks play a part despite limited minutes. He's got plenty of potential.

Good on Caps to get the point, but they don't play for two weeks, they're going to drop in the standings.

[pewpew]

I think Mattocks is just fine playing as a starter, he showed that against the Sounders. Maybe not a regular starter but he's doing a lot more than Hassli is in the starting XI. Hassli just seems to suck it up when starting but is fantastic coming off the bench.

Hassli and Camilo have no chemistry while Chiumiento and Le Toux don't seem to work well together either. It's a bit disappointing considering how much talk about how we had such offensive fire power before the season.

As for TFC, Philadelphia were TERRIBLE. Making TFC look competent is no easy feat and Union made TFC actually look good (at times). I could see TFC losing 4, maybe 5, of their next 6 matches. Houston, Sporting KC and New York are strong. New England and Montreal can be good depending on their mood. FC Dallas has struggled but should be better than TFC.

[seattleflamer]

Really enjoyed the game up in Vancouver against the Sounders in the rennovated building. Much better and loved the open roof on a beautiful day. Great atmosphere with really vocal ECS fans and the South siders taunting back and forth.

The chants of "U-S-A" etc were hilarious but the Whitecaps fans held their own loudness wise. They still have a way to go compared to ECS or Timbers Army, imho, but it just might be a Canadian thing when it comes to non hockey events.

The Sounders were very lucky with Mattocks' lack of finish in that game. His timing was obviously way off due to his injury. Hopefully, he's learned to eat out rather than cook at home.

Sounders are winless in 4 with a real lack in both their energy and imagination in their play. They're going nowhere in the conference if they can't consistenly win against the best like RCL or SJ. /sigh.

Start of defending their US Open Cup this Wednesday against Atlanta.

[Montana Moe]

Welp, after two crazy days of U.S. Open Cup play, which saw 8 MLS clubs lose to lesser sides, the Timbers saved the worst for last and lost to a 5th tier amateur squad.

They played what could be considered a starting side and still couldn't manage to get one of their 43 shots past a keeper who will go back to his job as an accountant/store manager/(insert mundane job here) tomorrow.

Scottish Premier League career goals leader Kris Boyd missed a PK in the 85th minute, it was brutal.

Oh well, they can focus on winning the league now, right?

[seattleflamer]

Originally Posted by Montana Moe

Welp, after two crazy days of U.S. Open Cup play, which saw 8 MLS clubs lose to lesser sides, the Timbers saved the worst for last and lost to a 5th tier amateur squad.

They played what could be considered a starting side and still couldn't manage to get one of their 43 shots past a keeper who will go back to his job as an accountant/store manager/(insert mundane job here) tomorrow.

Scottish Premier League career goals leader Kris Boyd missed a PK in the 85th minute, it was brutal.

Oh well, they can focus on winning the league now, right?

Yikes...

Sounders win 4-1 over Atlanta to move on to play Cal FC who just beat the Timbers.

Sorry about that but that is what is great about the US Open Cup.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

So Del Piero is in talks to come to MLS with Montreal. How sweet would that be? With Italians penchant for match fixing and Montreal's Italian mafia, what could possibly go wrong? I kid, I kid.

It would actually be very cool.

La Gazetta dello Sport says that 37-year-old Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero is in talks with Impact brass about joining the MLS side this summer, while other reports have the former Italian international already in agreement with Montreal owner Joey Saputo on a contract.

http://www.goal.com/en-ca/news/4175/...ontreal-impact

[Ozy_Flame]

He'll join the L.A. Galaxy. No bones about it. Besides, Montreal just signed their first DP Marco Di Vaio.

http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/mls/story/?id=397366

[shermanator]

Aron Winter let go as Head Coach, Paul Mariner steps in. Mariner is now the 7th coach in the team's 6 year history.

Yikes

http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/mls/story/?id=397850

[shermanator]

Twitter folks were mocking the leadup to the announcement with the hashtag #TFCmajorannouncement. Gotta say, the tweets were hilarious:

Edm Supporters Group‏@FCESG
#TFCMajorAnnoucement We've just saved a whole bunch of money on our car insurance by switching to GEICO

Shawn Mann‏@Shawnessy83
#TFCMajorAnnoucement #OilersMajorAnnouncement Oilers Hire Aron Winter #oilers #woulditsurpriseyou? #ineptmanagement

Ennio‏@juveennio
#TFCmajorannoucement Toronto to get professional #MLS team next year

Michael Romero‏@NyLiverBull
#TFCMajorAnnoucement We're pioneering the league format by forcing MLS to go to a single table by relegating ourselves to NASL. Your welcome

Edm Supporters Group‏@FCESG
#TFCMajorAnnouncement … CANNONBALLLLLLLL! http://youtu.be/seYHjyCq5wo

[pewpew]

TFC has no direction, no leadership. They're an absolute gong show.

[Jimmy Stang]

So I'm back in town after my jaunt to the west coast. I watched England on my laptop while "working", watched the Kings finish off the Devils on my iPhone as my ferry left Horseshoe Bay bound for Nanaimo, and, of course, saw the Whitecaps defeat Houston on Sunday at BC Place.

As my first MLS experience, and first live "professional" soccer experience in Canada since an international friendly between Canada and the US at Mewata years ago (I want to say it was U-23, but I can't remember), it definitely exceeded my expectations. The atmosphere in the stadium was lively but had a very Canadian feel to it, if that makes any sense. I have been to a few Norwich City games in the past (including some this year), I have seen rugby in New Zealand, etc. and it is interesting to see the culture in each country. But this was comfortably Canadian, and in a good way. I can't really explain it, but there were elements of soccer culture and elements of Canadian culture, and none of it felt contrived or unnatural.

The supporters' groups in the stadium really help liven things up. Constant singing, drums, chanting, the whole bit. The MLS has really gotten it right with the way they have encouraged, and even nurtured, supporters' groups. The casual fan seems to appreciate the addition to the atmosphere. We were sitting in section 243, row K, so not too far from the pitch and a few sections over from the supporters' groups, so we had a nice mix of a good sight line and some good atmosphere. Many thanks to VanFlamesFan for the recommendation, and I was just looking back on where your seats are, and we were closer than I had initially thought otherwise I would have tried to play "spot the Flames fan".

The game itself was entertaining, with an early goal for Vancouver dictating the early stages of the game. Houston had some chances, but it really was a good match for the Whitecaps and they deserved the win.

And BC Place sure is a beautiful stadium now. It looks nothing like it used to, inside or out. The seats are closer to the field, the open roof and the windows all the way around provide a lot of natural light and air. I knew that it would be different and I knew it would be better, but I had no idea how good of a job they had done on it. Thank you BC taxpayers.

So I'm hooked. I casually follow TFC and Montreal, and Vancouver became my favoured team when they joined the league. But now I am already thinking of the logistics for my next visit, which may even be later this summer. I would rank the experience as being pretty damn close to seeing Norwich play live this year, and that takes some doing. While it is unfortunate that Calgary lacks many of the pieces necessary for professional (even second-tier) soccer, it is reassuring to know that I can spend a relatively small amount of coin and time to hop on a plane and catch a game. Highly recommended for any soccer fans that find themselves in Vancouver, or even if you're looking for something to plan a weekend around.

[fundmark19]

Great write up! Since I started watching MLS this year I have also gotten hooked and am looking forward to finally getting to a game one of these days

[Montana Moe]

Whitecaps new 3rd kit, consider me a fan.