2013 MLS Thread

[Matty81]

Poor Vancouver just can't win the Canadian Cup, 0/11 years now.

Up to 5 pro teams competing next year with Ottawa joining the NASL. What a long way Canadian soccer has come from the late 90s to have 3 MLS teams and 2 NASL teams. Hopefully as discussed in the other thread Calgary gets on board soon.

[Montana Moe]

I was rooting for Vancouver, tough break. As for Seattle, I'm obviously happy that they are out of the Open Cup, but I was looking forward to a good old fashioned derby in the next round.

Timbers 5 Wilmington 1
Freddy Piquionne with 4 goals, 3 in the first half to salt the match away early.

[Jimmy Stang]

It would have been nice to see Vancouver play come CCL matches this year, mainly to spread the playing time around a little bit to some of the players who don't feature regularly in MLS action.

On the other hand, I do see this becoming a problem for Montreal as they have a fairly old team, and more MLS games yet to be played than any other club. Although I don't expect them to last long in the competition anyway, I think that it will likely become a bit of a burden to them as the season progresses.

Vancouver had plenty of chances to win it but their finishing, aside from a few very notable exceptions, just wasn't very good. An exciting match, however.

[Jimmy Stang]

So Norwich City (my Premier League club) are playing a friendly in Portland on July 24th. The thought of Norwich playing in North America is just strange. It is tempting to make my way out there, but a mid-week fixture does make it a little more tricky.

[604flames]

The 'Caps have had an uncanny ability of blowing leads at home this year. Two home matches in a row now they've surrendered a late equalizer.

Would have been nice to see how they stack up against the Central American clubs but perhaps next year.

[seattleflamer]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

So Norwich City (my Premier League club) are playing a friendly in Portland on July 24th. The thought of Norwich playing in North America is just strange. It is tempting to make my way out there, but a mid-week fixture does make it a little more tricky.

Ahhh, take the week off... You can make it MLS week with the friendly in Portland, then up to Vancouver and Seattle for their games on the weekend.

Easy-peasy.

[shermanator]

Rennie's days are numbered in Vancouver. After blowing up a team that was on fire, they barely squeak into the playoffs last year and lose the ACC 6 minutes from time.

[Montana Moe]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

So Norwich City (my Premier League club) are playing a friendly in Portland on July 24th. The thought of Norwich playing in North America is just strange. It is tempting to make my way out there, but a mid-week fixture does make it a little more tricky.

Tickets for face value or less should be fairly easy to come by for that match, as well. It's part of the season ticket pack, and many Timbers fans have no interest in friendlies.

[Montana Moe]

Well, crap. Timbers come out of Chicago with a 2-2 result that they likely could have led 4-0 at the half. Vancouver can't hold on to the lead in Seattle, and come away with nothing. What on earth was Klazura thinking?

Disappointing night all around.

[scottish_flame]

Simply wasn't good enough. Amateur defending at times

Reo should have scored that one that would have made it 3-1 and probably sealed the 3 points.. Absolute sitter

[The Big Chill]

It's hard not to question Rennie at this point. Why trade Rochat for nothing? Why not bring in Rusin when O'Brian got injured? Why can't Mattocks and Koffie get a game? It's all very frustrating. That could have been 3 points, and it ends up as a loss.

[604flames]

Funny, if I were a Sounders supporter I'd probably be saying that was one of the most entertaining MLS games I'd seen.

That said, something needs to happen at an organizational level with the Caps. Their away record since entering MLS is nothing short of horrendous.

[shermanator]

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

It's hard not to question Rennie at this point. Why trade Rochat for nothing? Why not bring in Rusin when O'Brian got injured? Why can't Mattocks and Koffie get a game? It's all very frustrating. That could have been 3 points, and it ends up as a loss.

Koffie is injured right now.

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by shermanator

Koffie is injured right now.

I just realized that Rusin is too.

[Montana Moe]

Mattocks was out due to international duty last night, not sure why he doesn't get more games in general.

I know he is always mentioned as a primary concern when they play the Timbers.

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by Montana Moe

Mattocks was out due to international duty last night, not sure why he doesn't get more games in general.

I know he is always mentioned as a primary concern when they play the Timbers.

I have no idea. Rennie has played the 3rd and 4th choice strikers at times before Mattocks. It doesn't make a lot of sense. Koffie has seen plenty of the bench, too, even before his injury.

[Jimmy Stang]

Klazura really has had a rough start to his pro career. He scored an own goal against New York, but that was largely forgotten as the Whitecaps ended up winning the game. And then the horrendous foul on the weekend in Seattle. Definitely a weak link thus far.

Obviously Demerit being injured, and now O'Brien, changes that defence considerably. I'm liking Leveron so far though, but as a whole, the defence just isn't getting the job done. Especially when playing with a lead.

[seattleflamer]

Great atmosphere at the game. Southsiders were loud and proud. We sat in the section below them and the CLink was even louder than usual. The game reinforces that Cascadia fans are the best in MLS.

My only gripe is I didn't like explaining to my 8 year what the "You Fat Ba$T@rd" chant meant. It is puerile and unimaginative though a little better than the"YSA" version I guess. Maybe the question to the FO is why put the no alcohol (family) section that close to the travel supporters knowing what travel supporters tend to do ie. drink and be obnoxious?

As for the game, putting Klazura in a fail situation wasn't helpful but if not him then maybe the goat horns go to Davidson on the non PK call or the poor marking on the first goal. The point is the Sounders made adjustments to play the ball out wider in the 2nd half creating all those gaps in the middle which the Caps didn't counter-react to other than hunkering down in the 50th minute. A recipe for a loss.

[Jimmy Stang]

^ Davidson's tackle was a definite PK, albeit with the benefit of replays. The Whitecaps were very lucky on that one.

It was great to see such a great crowd and atmosphere in Seattle. It looked and sounded great on TV. Full credit to the supporters from both sides!

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by Montana Moe

Tickets for face value or less should be fairly easy to come by for that match, as well. It's part of the season ticket pack, and many Timbers fans have no interest in friendlies.

My Dad was musing the other day about going to Portland to see this match. I had a quick browse online, and if I use my Air Miles, I could get us both there on direct flights (damn taxes!) and a decent downtown hotel for a night for about $600. Probably another $50x2 for tickets, and I can probably get this done in the ballpark of $700 all in for both of us.

That's actually a lot cheaper than I had expected. Fathers' Day is coming up, and although he'd love another bottle of his favourite scotch, he'd appreciate this much more. I might actually do this.

Question for those in the know: Is there a dedicated away supporters section at Jeld-Wen? On the ticket page, there isn't a specific option for that. It would be kind of fun to have a mini Yellow Army there, although I'm not sure what the demand would be for away fans for that match, aside from ex-pats and their offspring.