MLS Season Preview

Well its that time of year again.We are about to begin the 17th season of the top flight of soccer in the US, Major League Soccer. This year with the brand new playoff format, we can expect to see a more even split of Eastern and Western Conference teams. Two new teams are thrown into the mix in the West (Vancouver and Portland), while the Houston Dynamo are bumped from the Western to the Eastern Conference. Here is where I think they'll finish:
Eastern Conference:
9: Columbus Crew: Well, someone has to finish last, and for me it's Columbus. They're coming off a great year, finishing 2nd in the East and a CONCACAF Champions League appearance, but too many questions arise on the roster. Losing Frankie Hejduk will weaken the defense, and losing midfielder Guillermo Barros Schelotto will leave the midfield hurting. They also didn't make too much of an effort to fill those two holes.
8: Chicago Fire SC: Originally, I had Chicago finishing last, but after a pretty nice performance in the Carolina Challenge Cup, I have more confidence in this young team. Losing Brian McBride, John Thorrington, and Freddie Ljungberg will hurt them dearly, but the young talent looks to be peaking. Their best offseason pick up was Jon Conway from TFC, but a lack of depth is why I have them finishing this low.
 7: New England Revolution: The Revolution are far from their former glory. They have been on a steady decline since the loss of Clint Dempsey, and this year should be no different. The two keys to their success this season will be if Ousmane Dabo can come in from Italian club, Lazio, and have an immediate impact in the defense, and if veteran Shalrie Joseph can continue his success from past seasons.
6: Toronto FC: Toronto is going to suprise some people this year. New coach Aron Winter has a lot to prove with this team, but I actually think that this year they could actually make a playoff run. They don't have the pure talent or depth to make the playoffs, but I think that Toronto is going to make some serious noise. Their best pick-ups this offseason were Nathan Sturgis and Javier Martina.
5: Houston Dynamo: Houston is this year's sexy pick, with the return of Brian Ching and Geoff Cameron, but I don't think that this will be their year. Last year they had a very poor year, and this year will be a major improvement and they will be in the race for a playoff spot, but in the end they won't pull it off. They are very experienced, which is a plus, but I think next year will be the year they return to prominence.
4: Philidelphia Union: The Union are entering their second season of play with a lot to be excited about. Sébastien Le Toux had a great season last year, and when you add Guatemalan Carlos Ruiz, you're looking at one of the best finishing duos in the league. We could see some exciting soccer coming from Philly this year, as they had a very successful transfer season.
3: Sporting Kansas City: New name, new look, new success? Not to say that last year wasn't sucessful, (They finished 3rd in the East) but they will make the playoffs this year. If you remember, they finished with 39 points which wasn't enough to earn a wildcard spot. Teal Bunbury and Omar Bravo create, what I think, is the most exciting attack in the entire MLS, and you can expect some spectacular goals coming from Kansas City. A new stadium is always a help as well.
2: DC United: This is the story of worst, to almost first. DC had arguably the best transfer list of the MLS, almost solely for the pick up of Charlie Davies. Davies will dominate the league this year, and we will see DC easily cruise into the playoffs. Joseph Ngwenya and Santino Quaranta will join Davies up front. On a fundamental note, I thought their ball movement was great at the Carolina Challenge Cup. If they can keep injuries low, DC will compete for first with...
1: New York Red Bulls: Oh New York. So many people have them as first, and as much as I hate it, I have to put them their too. They have everything, experience; Thierry Henry, a young talent; Juan Agudelo, and a great coaching staff. No doubts about this one. They will most likely dominate the East, and their aren't many, if any, questions that are raised when talking about New York's roster.
Western Conference:
9: Chivas USA New coach Robin Fraser has a huge mess too clean up, and this year will not be a success for Chivas. The brightest spot on their team is the young forward Justin Braun, who is becoming one of the best young talents in the MLS and picking up defender Heath Pearce from Dallas. We will see what happens, but last is almost inevitable for Chivas.
8: Vancouver Whitecaps: The first expansion team on the list, will not finish last. Their back-line will be tested this year, a lot, but lead by captain Jay Demerit, and Joe Cannon in goal, they have a good chance of doing it. With the signing of Eric Hassli as a goalscorer, we'll see the Whitecaps finish second to last. Not great, but it's a start.
7: Portland Timbers: I see your first expansion team, and raise you a better one. The Timbers will bring in the MLS' top rookie, with forward Darlington Nagbe. They will also have Kenny Cooper who is coming in from a stint in Germany with 1860 Munich. Portland and Vancouver are put in a tough position, but Portland has quality, and the fan base will come in as one of the best in the league. They have had plenty of experience against MLS teams, as they have had decent success in recent US Open Cups, and their rivalry with the team just up the road, Seattle Sounders FC.
6: FC Dallas: Last year's runner-up in the MLS Cup will have major problems this season. The big losses are Dax McCarty to DC United, and defender Heath Pearce to Chivas USA. David Ferreira is the reigning MLS MVP, but I don't see it being enough to push Dallas through to the playoffs. It will be rebuilding year for Dallas, but hopefully having success last year will fill their soccer-specific stadium this season.
5: San Jose Earthquakes: The Earthquakes are coming off a very successful playoff campaign in 2010. The Earthquakes advanced from a wildcard spot, to the semifinals of the MLS Cup. The 2010 Golden Boot winner, Chris Wondolowski, is returning to San Jose to try and prove himself to the MLS and show that the 'Quakes playoff run wasn't a fluke.
4: Colorado Rapids: Last year's champions will have about the same success in the 2011 season as they did in the 2010 season. Connor Casey and Jamaican Omar Cummings will comeback to lead the Rapids attack, but they didn't deepen their roster enough to win the cup again. The depth of the roster will give them a successful regular season, but come playoff time, a lack of consistency and the greatest fear of all for any team; fatigue, will set in to prevent Colorado from a repeat.
3: Los Angeles Galaxy: The Galaxy have one thing that makes me doubt them. David Beckham. Beckham is returning from England, where he trained with Tottenham Hotspur. Some more drama between Landycakes and Beckham could arise, and unsettle the balance. Plus having big stars like Beckham and Donovan leaves the rest of their squad leaving something to be desired. Edson Buddle is their biggest loss of the offseason. The addition of Juan Pablo Angel will push LA through to the automatic playoff spot.
2: Seattle Sounders FC: Now I'll be the first to admit I'm a little bias towards the Sounders (They're my team), but the Sounders will be one of the best teams in the MLS. Forward Fredy Montero will have a break out year this year, and with Steve Zakuani and Blaise Nkufo to round out the attack, Seattle's attack is very dangerous. Kasey Keller will be returning to Seattle for one more season, and will be a brick wall in the goal for sure. For Charleston Battery fans, Lamar Neagle is on the roster for Seattle.
1: Real Salt Lake: Real is the team this year. And I mean a team. No big names, no huge stars, but a team of solid players, that have a South American flair that will lift them too success this year. Fabián Espíndola and Álvaro Saborío team up for one of the most underrated attacks in the league, and I see RSL pulling out to a comfortable lead over the Sounders at the end of the season.
Playoffs:
Wildcard's: 1.Colorado 2. San Jose 3. Philidelphia 4. Dallas
Eastern: 1. New York 2. DC 3. Kansas City
Western: 1. Salt Lake 2. Seattle 3. LA
Game Predictions (Winners in Bold):
Wildcard:
Colorado-Dallas
San Jose-Philidelphia
Quarterfinals:
New York-Colorado
DC-Kansas City
Salt Lake-San Jose
Seattle-LA
Semifinals:
New York-Kansas City
Salt Lake-Seattle
Final:
Salt Lake-Kansas City
Well there you have it. My predictions for the 2011 Major League Soccer season. It will be an interesting year, and I wish luck to all of the teams.

If you need to contact me, e-mail me at SCSoccerblog@gmail.com

Carolina Challenge Cup Review

Well it is all over. The largely anticipated Carolina Challenge Cup is over. DC United is the Champion, the attendance and coverage of the tournament was great, and many a memory were made. Here are some notes from the tournament:

• DC is Back: Now we shouldn't get to excited, as last year they won the CCC and then preceded to finish dead last in the MLS. Davies goal against Toronto was solid, and DC is looking like as deep and complete of a team as ever.
• What's up with all the Red Cards?: Chicago had 3, Charleston had 2, Toronto had 1. Are the refs getting card happy? Maybe not, but Stephen Armstrong getting sent off in the final game against the Fire, was one of the biggest surprises of the tournament for me.
• No Extraordinary Performances: Some players did well, but when you get right down to goalscoring, every goal in the tournament was scored by a different player. When you look at the tournament in years past we've usually seen usually one, sometimes two players have an out-of-this-world performance. Last year we saw DC's Jaime Moreno score 5 goals in the tournament. The thing about these tournaments, is that nobody really gets enough consistent playing time to score a huge amount of goals.

In the end this was a successful year for the Carolina Challenge Cup. I hope to see the tournament return next year, and I don't see any reason why it won't. The Battery's organization has shown that it can bring MLS to this tournament and get good attendance numbers, while they're at it.

Sorry that I didn't write a recap of the Charleston-Chicago match, I've been out of town since Thursday and didn't have enough time to write it.

If you need to contact me, e-mail me at SCSoccerblog.@gmail.com

Oh What a Night: Charleston 2-1 TFC

Earlier tonight, the Charleston Battery defeated Toronto FC 2-1 in the 2011 Carolina Challenge Cup. The Battery gained a victory in the Challenge Cup for the first time since 2006. The Battery came back from an early 1-0 deficit for a comeback victory.

The first goal of the game came in the14th minute, after the Battery's Nigel Marples got a hand ball in the box giving TFC a penalty. Toronto's Nathan Sturgis calmly stepped up and converted the penalty to give Toronto a 1-0 lead.

Charleston's Dane Kelly was arguably the man of the match. He caused consistent problems for TFC's back line, and in the 43rd minute, Kelly scored a cracker of a goal from the edge of the penalty area. As Kelly continued to cause problems, Toronto couldn't really find an answer at all. Mikael Yourassowsky was moved from left back to centre back for the second half, and fouled Kelly in the box giving Charleston a PK. Mike Zaher stepped up to take the penalty, and missed on his first attempt, but calmly put in the rebound over Toronto's Stefan Frei. Though they pushed forward for the remainder of the game, Toronto couldn't find an equalizer, and the Battery would go on to win by a final of 2-1.

This was a great game for the Battery. Obviously getting any points against an MLS team is a big accomplishment, but winning a match against one is just a great confidence boost. Kelly was the best player on the field, and could really be a great asset for the Battery this season. All in all, it was a great performance and our boys can go home with their heads held high, while Toronto is left trying to find themselves.

Toronto got their first goal in the Carolina Challenge Cup since the 2009 edition of the tournament, but they have to be asking themselves, "What's going on?" Their squad is not showing much promise, and honestly, I could see them finishing last in the MLS. They have some big questions to answer.

In the first game of the two-game session, DC defeated the Chicago Fire 1-0. DC's Blake Brettschneider scored the only goal of the match in the 10th minute, with a header off a Santino Quaranta free-kick. Chicago again had to play most of the match short-handed, when Diego Chaves got sent off in the 37th minute. Chicago apparently has a problem with getting players sent off.

Let's Not Forget About Toronto

On Wednesday night, the Battery will face Canada's Toronto FC in the second set of games in the 8th annual Carolina Challenge Cup. In the first set of games on Saturday night, Toronto went down to a 10-man Chicago Fire SC 1-0, and the Battery also lost, to DC United, 2-1. Here's what to expect on Wednesday night:

Toronto is the MLS' constant underachievers. They are the only team (excluding last year's new expansion Philidelphia Union, and the two new teams, Portland and Vancouver) that haven't made the playoffs. Despite great fans, good attendance, and a great stadium, Toronto just can't seem to get over the hump. Last year they finished 5th in the Eastern Division and 11th overall in the MLS. In last year's edition of the CCC they failed to win a game or even score a goal.

Toronto will most likely come out in a 4-4-2, as they did against the Fire on Saturday. Swiss International Stefan Frei will most likely start in goal for TFC. He played the full 90 against Chicago. The backline will probably consist of some combination of Dan Gargan, Nana Attakora, Mikael Yourassowsky, Matt Stinson, Andrew Ornoch, and Ashione Morgan. In the midfield look for Nathan Sturgis, Javier Martina, and Nick Labrocca. Up front will probably be Maicon Santos and Joao Plata. This is all speculation of course.

Toronto got 4 yellow cards in Saturday match against Chicago. Plata, Labrocca, Soolsma, and Yourassowksy, all were cautioned in that match. This could be considered Tornto being less talented, but I think that they just got straight out played, and frustration obviously could have been a factor.

If you need to contact me, e-mail me at SCSoccerblog.@gmail.com

DC Defeats Charleston 2-1, Fire Down TFC

In the opening set of games of the 8th edition of the annual Carolina Challenge Cup, was played Saturday night DC United defeated the Charleston Battery. Charleston went down early after Chris Pontius scored a goal in the 4th minute on after breaking on goal and with a clinical finish put it in the back of the net. In the 15th minute, the Battery got their equalizer when Brandon Massie was brought down in the penalty box. Stephen Armstrong was elected to take the penalty and putting in the bottom right to tie it up. United controlled most of the game and got a majority of the chances, and they finally got the eventual winner in the 71st minute after Josh Wolf assisted Joseph Ngwenya for a goal to put United up 2-1.

In the end, the boys put up a good fight. Honestly I didn't expect to win, but to score the opening goal of the season against an MLS side is a great accomplishment. We definitely got outplayed, and that was to be expected, but we should go away from this with their heads held up.

Before the DC and the Battery played, Chicago Fire SC played the Canadian side, Toronto FC. The only goal of the game was scored in the 6th minute by the Fire's Marco Papa, assisted by Davis Paul. The Fire's Logan Pause was sent off in the first half, forcing Chicago to play the rest of the game with 10 men. Pause is the Fire's captain.

This was a successful first night of the week long round-robin tournament. A great crowd was on hand to watch the two games, and hopefully the crowds will be just as good for the next couple of sets of games.

If you need to contact me, e-mail me at SCSoccerblog@gmail.com.

Top Ten South Carolina Soccer Stories of 2010: 6-4

Yesterday we reviewed  the 10-7 soccer stories in South Carolina this year. Here is 6-4:

• 6: Columbia Gets a Women's Team: This year Columbia, South Carolina got a USL W-League franchise in the Central SC Cobras. The Cobras are set to start play in 2011. The official announcement is expected to come in February. The team has already had some tryouts and hopefully this team will be a great addition to the  growth of the game in South Carolina.
• 5: Lamar Neagle Comes to the Battery and Leads the Team: In 2009 Lamar Neagle played for the MLS side, Seattle Sounders FC, came to Charleston for the 2010 USL Second Division season. He lead the Battery with 14 goals in 24 appearances. Neagle also won the Scoring Champion and Goal Scoring Champion for the USL Second Division. He was named to USL All-League First Team and was the USL-2 MVP. He became an integral part of the Battery's USL Second Divison Championship. But we'll get to that later.
• 4: Carolina Challenge Cup Returns to Charleston: In 2010 the seventh edition of the annual Carolina Challenge Cup returned to Blackbaud Stadium, bringing in three Major League Soccer Sides. This year the tournament was highlighted by 2009 MLS champions, Real Salt Lake, coming to Charleston. They came along with Charleston's MLS rival, DC United, and Canadian side, Toronto FC. The tournament was a success with the average attendance being 4,326 spectators per match. DC United took home the title.