2010 MLS Thread

[JRLM8]

Galaxy looking good for tomorrow any thoughts on a Toronto upset

I liked TFC at first. Not as sure now. Head coach Preki made some negative comments this week basically saying the media should go easy on them. Also, TFC failed to score a goal in their last four preseason games. Preseason typically doesn't mean much, but it would be nice to know they can score.

Also, TFC traded away their starting right back yesterday.

I don't think Columbus should be a goal favorite here, but I don't like TFC enough to play it.

[Salmon Steak]

Everyone should hold off on big money till we get some games under our belt. Again, I will watch the Wiz but MLB is coming up and you know how it is... I think this is a big year for the mls. EVERYONE TRY TO SEE A MLS GAME! JRLM8, you the man lets get this...

[JRLM8]

EVERYONE TRY TO SEE A MLS GAME! JRLM8, you the man lets get this...

Thanks. Completely agree about holding off on big money. And everyone should try to catch an MLS game or two (Red Bull Arena's official opening is tomorrow on ESPN2. "The American Soccer Cathedral")

BOL.

[GatorTD]

Really? Any reason why you are on Chicago? I thought NY looked great against Santos last week. And Chicago starting a rookie keeper has me looking the other way.

I'd be wary of using that game as a measuring tool for NYRB. Santos was playing mostly 2nd and 3rd teamers. I thnk there were 2-3 first teamers in the entire squad. They even played the day before in Brazil.

[JRLM8]

I'd be wary of using that game as a measuring tool for NYRB. Santos was playing mostly 2nd and 3rd teamers. I thnk there were 2-3 first teamers in the entire squad. They even played the day before in Brazil.

Yes. All good points.

I wasn't as concerned about the result against Santos as I was NY's new style of play and ability to attack under Hans Backe. They demonstrated that effectively and showed off recent signing Ibrahim Salou. Santos weren't trying much, but NY did show some strength in the attack (even if it did look like an All Star game).

Now, Juan Pablo Angel is back for NY and they will be even more dangerous on the attack. With Lindpere in the midfield, and Richards on the wing, they should have no trouble generating chances against Chicago.

I feel much more comfortable with NY than Chicago, who lost Blanco during the off-season and cut their starting goalie on Tuesday.

[JRLM8]

No plays for the two early MLS games for me.

BOL to all those that did make a play.

[JRLM8]

Final scores: Columbus 2-0 TFC.
Dallas 1-1 Houston.

Saturday:
Chicago Fire at Red Bull New York
This is the "official" grand opening of the new Red Bull Arena. New York fans have been waiting three years for this day, and it should be a sell out. They vowed that the troubles of last season are far behind them. Hans Backe has taken over the reigns from Juan Carlos Osorio and simplified things. Backe is going to run a 4-4-2 this year, with two box to box center mids. He added twelve players during the off-season but kept the core from last year. The best addition so far has been Estonian Joel Lindpere. The midfielder has provided the creativity in the final third to push this attack forward.

Chicago also have a new coach in Carlos de los Cobos. The former El Salvadorian man has strived to improve the quality of the product the Fire put on the field. However, he is at a major disadvantage from his predecessor with the loss of Blanco during the off-season. Chicago turn their hopes to former Fulham stars, Collins John and Brian McBride up top. Chicago made a switch in net during the off-season too. Releasing 2008 goalkeeper of the year, Jon Busch and giving the job to unproven second year player, Andrew Dykstra. However, Chicago's best addition during the off-season could have been midfiedler Julio Martinez. The El Salvadorian can be lethal on free kicks.

Both teams with new coaches. Both teams with questionable keepers. Chicago with the better defense. Midfield is about equal. NY with the better attack. Intangibles: NY wants to christen this stadium in style with national tv and a packed house in attendance. NY enters the game on a six match winning streak from pre-season.

Recommended bet: New York ML (small!)
Predicted score: 2-1 New York (Angel, Kandji for NY| McBride for Chi)

[Karayilan9]

An important capping angle when looking at these teams is to look at the chairman and manager, in the Colorado game it paid off huge.

Today in the Red Bulls Game we have another European based chairman and a very experienced manager, Hans Backe, Backe has managed all around Europe and was Svens assistant for a while. He's won titles at the top Scandinavia teams, co-managed Man City and had a spell with Sven at Mexico. Red Bulls first league game at home in their new stadium, they have strengthened the squad with their new transfers, bought in alot of physically strong players and Angel will work the magic in attack.

Red Bulls -0 @ -140 is worth a bet.

[TurkzZ]

yh Hans Bake im counting on in this one, should be organized

[JRLM8]

Recommended bet: New York ML (small!)
Predicted score: 2-1 New York (Angel, Kandji for NY| McBride for Chi)

Man, NY made me sweat that one out.

Final score: 1-0 NY.
Lindpere with a beautiful volley.

[JRLM8]

Man, this KC team is no joke. Ryan Smith in the midfield has been brilliant. 3-0 and it could be more against a very poor D.C. side.

[Masu485]

it figures i'd be on the ONLY home loss of the weekend dammit san jose

[JRLM8]

Recommended Bet: LA Galaxy ML
Bookmaker and Wagerchief have it at +105, it is +110 at Bodog. It will keep going down as more people realize Joseph is out for New England.
Predicted result: 2-0 Galaxy (Donovan x2)

Final score: 1-0 LA Galaxy.
Donovan should have scored. He had a breakaway late in the game, and he inexplicable decided to pass when he had a much better angle at the shot.

Good weekend for MLS. 3-0. Back at next week.

[JRLM8]

Two games up for Thursday. Both are nationally televised on ESPN2.

Thursday:
Chivas USA (0-1-0) at Los Angeles Galaxy (1-0-0)
This is the Southern California derby. Both of these teams hate each other. It is going to be a very physical and tightly contested game.
LA still has the same injuries from last week plus Eddie Lewis picked up a knock against New England. Eddie Lewis will be replaced by one of the trio of Brazilians, Alex. Alex is a touch quicker and better offensively, so he is upgrade at left midfield. Edson Buddle had emergency dental work at the end of the game last week but he should be good to go for this game. Arena vowed that he will switch up the line-ups from week to week during the first six weeks of the season. I think injuries will force him to keep a similar starting XI. Birchall coming in for Kovalenko is a possibility.
Chivas USA lost their opener against Colorado, 0-1. Frankly, they look lost and confused. It appears new head coach, Martin Vasquez, has yet to give the team an identity. Last week, they ran a 4-5-1 with Galindo up top by himself. Galaxy will have no trouble breaking this down because they will just bypass the midfield. Chivas' secondary weapon out of the midfield is Sacha Kljestan. Sacha has been out of form for over a year now, and LA knows how to mark him out of the game.
Usually these games are particularly close. However, these is a rather large discrepancy in talent this year. Chivas USA is short handed in the back, and up top. Galaxy squandered a ton of chances against New England, and they could be capable of a similar fate here given Edson Buddle is a terrible forward and Landon Donovan doesn't seem motivated to score.
I still just don't think Chivas have enough in the tank to keep a clean sheet or to score against a stout Galaxy defense.
Breakdown: Goalkeeping: LA| Defense: LA| Midfield: LA| Forwards: Chivas USA| Coaching: LA| Intangible: Donovan vs Kljestan. Advantage LA.

• Galaxy are undefeated against Chivas USA in the last six meetings (3 wins, 3 draws)

Recommended bet: Galaxy -.5 (+100)
Predicted score: Galaxy 1-0. (Donovan Penalty Kick)

[Masu485]

yes! i'm on this also. thinking the score may go over though, but am playing the LA -1/2

[JRLM8]

Weather forecast for the games this week:
Thursday:
Houston-RSL- Sunny with clouds. 72 degrees.
LA-Chivas- 59 degrees partly cloudy. Rain forecast earlier in the day.
Saturday:
Colorado-Chicago-60 degrees. Partly cloudy.
DC United-NE Revs-83 degrees. Mostly cloudy.
Seattle-NY- 47 degrees. Rain.

[JRLM8]

Going to make a small play on the other MLS game tonight:
Houston Dynamo vs Real Salt Lake
Houston's previous three home openers (0-0, 3-3, 1-1). This team doesn't start the season well. This season, they are dealing with the issue of losing Stuart Holden and Ricardo Clark during the off-season. Head coach Dom Kinnear moved centerback/utility man Geoff Cameron up into a box-to-box midfield role and he is still trying to figure it out. Up top, Houston will deploy Brian Ching and Oduro. The speedy Oduro could cause problems against the RSL backline but RSL has the physicality to match Ching. At defense, Houston will be missing Eddie Robinson for this game, who will be replaced by Ryan Cochrane. A Boswell-Cochran partnership lacks the speed to keep up with Findley from RSL.
RSL goes into this game relatively healthy as it looks like Jamison Olave and Nat Borchers both recovered from knocks and are slated to start. Jason Kreis has been very unlucky on his previous trips to Houston. The club has complied a record of 5-0-1 while playing at Robertson Stadium. However, player of the week Javier Morales will look to change that against a shifting Houston midfield. Morales struck two wonder goals against San Jose last week. This week, it might be up to the speedster Robbie Findley to cause Houston troubles and get rid of the RSL road woes that haunted them last season.
These teams hate each other for the most part. RSL center mid Kyle Beckerman has a vendetta out against any Orange ankle he sees. This will be just as physical and nasty as any derby. Kreis is a great coach, so is Kinnear. RSL proved last week that there is no MLS Cup hangover. While, Houston went through the motions against Dallas. I think RSL is going to jump on Houston from the start. Findley will likely miss about 15 chances before he finds the back of the net. Houston will battle back in the second half with Ching getting the late equalizer.
Breakdown: GK: HOU. DEF: RSL. MID: RSL. FWD: Push. Intangibles: Push. (Robertson stadium is a hard place to play, but Houston typically doesn't start well there either)

• In five of the six meetings between these teams, there has been at least one red card shown.

Recommended Bet: Draw
Prediction: 1-1 (Findley, Ching)

[JRLM8]

Line up update:
Starting for RSL GK: Rimando DEF: Wingert, Olave, Borchers, Russell MID: Johnson, Morales, Beckerman, Grabavoy FWD: Saborio, Espindola

Starting for the Dynamo GK: Onstad DEF: Chabala, Cochrane, Boswell, Hainault MID: Davis, Mulrooney, Cameron, Mullan FWD: Oduro, Ching

Still trying to figure out why Findley isn't starting but Saborio looked good against San Jose last week. He is a touch slower, but a bit more lethal in front of the net.

[JRLM8]

1-0 RSL. Morales with a wonderful team goal. Houston hasn't shown much so far.

[JRLM8]

Wow. 2-1 Houston. Two penalty kicks given right after the break for Houston. Second one was a clear dive. Come on RSL. Rally back here.

[JRLM8]

Disappointing result. That second PK was soft at best. RSL hit the post in the second half. They lacked any creativity in the final third during the last 15 minutes though.

MLS record: 3-1

[bballs84]

Liking Galaxy

[minet123]

BS PK but galaxy looking good any thoughts on UNDER in Red Bull/Sounders

[JRLM8]

BS PK but galaxy looking good any thoughts on UNDER in Red Bull/Sounders

If Ljungberg is out, under is definitely the play. I am going to wait till the injury report tomorrow before I make a play there.

[Masu485]

hold on galaxy!

[SRBI]

Chivas are so bad its unreal missed the net straight on from less than 6ft away dude kicks it over the goal

[JRLM8]

Recommended bet: Galaxy -.5 (+100)
Predicted score: Galaxy 1-0. (Donovan Penalty Kick)

Final score: 2-0 Galaxy.

MLS record: 4-1.

Definitely lucky with Chivas being terrible in front of the net.

[Sforz]

nice job bro

[JRLM8]

Sorry for the delay:
Chicago Fire at Colorado Rapids
Chicago is starting Collins John and Brian McBride up top together. Colorado is starting Casey Conor and Omar Cummings. John and McBride spent a handful of years at Fulham together so they have a good bond. Cummings and Casey have been a handful for every defense in MLS, a nice combo of speed and strength.
I don't think Colorado will shut out Chicago today. They shut out Chivas last week because Chivas is still figuring out their offense. Chicago is in the same situation but they have better options up top. Last year, Chicago went to Colorado and won 2-1. Colorado returned the favor later that season and beat Chicago in Chicago 3-2.
On top of a history of high scoring games, Chicago is missing their best defensive player, Conde today. So the two crafty forward, Cummings and Casey, should have their way with rookie Watson-Siriboe and sloth Watson.
Quick edit to add more thoughts: This is Chicago's keepers second game, and he looked very shaky against NY. Also, Chicago is starting another new player, Krol, who only joined the team last week. Colorado is roughly the same side from Chivas USA last week. I thought their new centerback, Marvell Wynne, played well against Chivas, but I don't think he will be up to the task of keeping McBride out of the net.
Chicago: Andrew Dykstra, Tim Ward, Kwame Watson-Siriboe, CJ Brown, Krzysztof Krol, Patrick Nyarko, Logan Pause,Peter Lowry, Marco Pappa, Collins John,Brian McBride
Colorado: Pickens, Kimura, Wynne, Moor, Earls, Mehdi, Pablo, Larentowicz, Clark, Omar, Casey
Historic fact:
In Colorado's 15 years of existence, they have never started the season with 2 wins!

Recommended bet: Colorado-Chicago over 2.5
Predicted score: 2-1 Colorado

[SRBI]

Looks like the right call man - best of luck to you!

[JRLM8]

Looks like the right call man - best of luck to you!

Thanks

[JRLM8]

2-1 Colorado. Still 5 left in first half.

[SRBI]

Yessir! Already 2-2 now in the second half with plenty of time left to play - very well done

[JRLM8]

Recommended bet: Colorado-Chicago over 2.5
Predicted score: 2-1 Colorado

Final score: 2-2.

MLS Record: 5-1.

I will more than likely skip the DC-NE game. Two terrible teams playing on a very hot day in D.C.

Be back later with a play on Seattle-NY.

[Sforz]

well done sir, well done!