MLS Players in the World Cup

posted by kidpurple June 10, 2010

As the Sounders and DC United prepare for their Thursday night MLS game I started to think about what the list of MLS players in the World Cup would look like.  The list is much smaller than it was in 2006 much due to the increasing number of Yanks leaving MLS to play in other countries.  Let me know if I missed anyone.  I just browsed through the whole list of World Cup rosters and picked these guys out.

Chivas USA
Jonathan Bornstein

Kansas City Wizards
Roger Espinoza (Honduras)

LA Galaxy
Landon Donovan
Edson Buddle

New York Red Bulls
Andrew Boyens (New Zealand)

Real Salt Lake
Robbie Findley

So watching Seattle Sounders FC and DC United going at it is exciting, I can’t keep my mind off the games that we’ll see tomorrow morning.  Don’t miss South Africa vs Mexico, coverage starting at 8:30am (central time) on ESPN and then France vs Uruguay at 1:30pm.  I’m so excited I might not sleep tonight.

Posted in DC United, Seattle Sounders | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (2)

Final World Cup Squad Prediction

posted by kidpurple May 26, 2010

The final roster for the World Cup is scheduled to be announced today. After a friendly loss to the Czech Republic last night Bob Bradley should have his mind made up on everyone. The current list of 30 needs to be trimmed down by 7 to 23.  See my choices below.

Keepers
Tim Howard (Everton, England)
Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton, England)
Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England)

All the keepers get to go.

Defense
Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France)
Jay DeMerit (Watford, England)
Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England)
Steve Cherundolo (Hanover, Germany)
Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA, MLS)
Clarence Goodson (Start, Norway)
Chad Marshall (Columbus, MLS)

Onyewu and Pearce don’t make the cut.  They both were poor last night.  I imagine Chad Marshall might be more likely to get cut if he didn’t impress during the camp, but I’m only going off the game from last night.  I think Goodson got a spot with a good performance.

Midfield
Michael Bradley (Moenchengladbach, Germany)
Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland)
Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany)
Stuart Holden (Bolton, England)
Jose Francisco Torres (Pachuca, Mexico)
Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus, Denmark)
Robbie Rogers (Columbus, MLS)
Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England)
Landon Donovan (Los Angeles, MLS)

Bedoya, Beasley and Kljestan get the cut from the midfielders.  Here I assume Beasley will be where I’m wrong but he just hasn’t impressed me over the past couple of years.

Strikers
Jozy Altidore (Hull City, England)
Brian Ching (Houston, MLS)
Edson Buddle (Los Angeles, MLS)
Herculez Gomez (Puebla, Mexico)

Findley and Johnson get the cut.  Seems like everyone else thing Gomez was the one guy that definitely earned his spot last night that might not have otherwise been there.  Ching was on the bubble for me.

Posted in US Soccer | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

30 man World Cup training camp roster announced

posted by kidpurple May 11, 2010

The 30 man roster for the World Cup training camp was announced just a little bit ago on ESPN News. The biggest news of this roster was the absence of striker Charlie Davies who was seriously injured in a car accident last year.

Here is the full list:

Keepers
Tim Howard (Everton, England)
Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton, England)
Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England)

Defense
Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan, Italy)
Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France)
Jay DeMerit (Watford, England)
Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England)
Steve Cherundolo (Hanover, Germany)
Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA, MLS)
Clarence Goodson (Start, Norway)
Chad Marshall (Columbus, MLS)
Heath Pearce (FC Dallas, MLS)

Midfield
Michael Bradley (Moenchengladbach, Germany)
Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland)
Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany)
Stuart Holden (Bolton, England)
Jose Francisco Torres (Pachuca, Mexico)
Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus, Denmark)
Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro, Sweden)
Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA, MLS)
Robbie Rogers (Columbus, MLS)
DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland)
Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England)
Landon Donovan (Los Angeles, MLS)

Strikers
Jozy Altidore (Hull City, England)
Brian Ching (Houston, MLS)
Edson Buddle (Los Angeles, MLS)
Herculez Gomez (Puebla, Mexico)
Eddie Johnson (Aris, Greece)
Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake, MLS)

So who else is missing from this list that you might have expected to see here?

Posted in US Soccer | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

Sounders FC lose big to Galaxy – offer refund to season ticket holders

posted by kidpurple May 11, 2010

The Seattle Sounders have sent a message that they won’t tolerate more beatings like the 4-0 the Galaxy put on them last week. They’ve offered refunds to all season ticket holders in the form of a one game credit if they renew their season tickets for next year.

Maybe the Sounders had decided they were going to reduce renewed season ticket prices anyway and they just decided to wait for something like this to use as a reason.

Do you think this is a good idea? The best possible outcome for the Sounders is that it actually motivates the team to perform better in the future and gives fans a little bit of satisfaction. The worst case is that the fans expect this treatment anytime the Sounders lose big like this and get mad when they find it won’t be the normal action.

Maybe the fans will just see it as a way to get more renewal of season tickets and it won’t affect the team or the ticket sales in any way.

Posted in Los Angeles Galaxy, Seattle Sounders | Comments (0)

Major League Soccer Power Rankings

posted by kidpurple May 3, 2010

I always enjoy reading the MLS power rankings of various other MLS blogs around the blogosphere. With 6 games in the bag (for most teams) there is a big gap between 2nd place and 3rd place in the single table. This is what it looks like.

1. LA Galaxy 5-0-1 16pts
2. NY Red Bulls 5-1-0 15pts

followed by Colorado Rapids and Houston Dynamo with 10 points each.

So it is reasonable that the Galaxy and Red Bulls hold the top 2 spots in any power rankings, but which should have the top spot? Lets have a look at what each team has done so far this year.

The Galaxy have home victories over New England, Chivas USA, Real Salt Lake, and Philadelphia Union. On the road they have a win over Houston and a draw at Kansas City. They did beat the defending champions, but RSL was never good on the road. besides Houston none of the other teams looks to be real powerhouses this year. Not the most impressive list, but 5-0-1 is great no matter who you are playing.

The Red Bulls have home wins over Chicago Fire, FC Dallas, and Philadelphia Union. On the road they have a win over Seattle Sounders FC and a loss to Chivas USA.

I guess the Red Bulls have 2 wins over teams that have over 7 points. The Galaxy have only a single win vs an opponent with more than 7 points. I suppose the Red Bulls deserve the top spot in the power rankings for now. Who would have though?

Posted in Los Angeles Galaxy, New York Red Bulls | Tagged | Comments (0)

Kei Kamara’s miss vs Galaxy

posted by kidpurple May 2, 2010

Did you miss this great scoring chance thrown away by Kei Kamara vs the Galaxy last weekend?  If you haven’t see it check it out in the video below. It is hard to see exactly what happened when they show it in full speed, but the replay gives you a good view.

So is this the worst miss you’ve ever seen?

Posted in Kansas City Wizards, Los Angeles Galaxy | Tagged | Comments (0)

All Seattle Sounders FC goals

posted by kidpurple March 4, 2010

As the preseason rages on you can enjoy every goal from the first season of Seattle Sounders FC right here!

Posted in Seattle Sounders | Comments (1)

MLS 2010 seasons opens with Philadelphia Union visiting Seattle Sounders FC

posted by kidpurple February 15, 2010

The 2010 schedule for Major League Soccer was recently announced. The season will open with the expansion Philadelphia Union visiting last season’s newcomers Seattle Sounders FC. Last year the Sounders started off the season on a high note – giving a good beating to MLS Cup runners up New York Red Bulls. The season gets underway on Thursday, March 25th and can be seen on ESPN2 & Deportes at 8:30pm CST.

Philadelphia Unionvs

Thursday, March 25th
8:30pm CST
ESPN2 / ESPN Deportes

You can see the full 2010 Major League Soccer schedule right here.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

New Shoes – The Adidas Samba Nua II

posted by kidpurple January 23, 2010

About a week ago I receive a new pair of indoor shoes – the Adidas Samba Nua II Germany edition.  I was told these were very nice shoes but I was a little bit skeptical at first.  If you look at the collection of Adidas Samba shoes they have, you’ll notice several different countries are represented in the Samba Nua II shoes.  I choose these because the yellow matches both of the indoor teams I’m currently playing with, but mostly because I am half German.

I wore the shoes around the house for a little bit right away to get a feel for them.  Initially I felt like my heel was going to slip out of them but that wasn’t an issue when I got them out on the turf.  I had been wearing a pair of Adidas Samba Milleniums for the past 3 years before picking up the Nua II.  Those shoes served me well but they were really starting to show their wear and tear, so it was time for something new.

The Nua II was a nice treat when I finally was able to wear them in their first game.  Even without having time to break them in they felt very good.  They were like glue when I wanted to keep the ball close, and when it was time to blast a shot they knew exactly where to send the ball.  That night they were good for a hat trick and they haven’t slowed down yet!

I’ve worn a lot of different soccer shoes over many years and I do think these are the nicest indoor shoes I’ve ever had.  I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a new indoor shoe.  My only complaint is the lack of a wider variety of country editions.  Most notably there is no US version of the shoe. I guess black and yellow probably works better than red, white, and blue anyway.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments (3)

Does Landon Donovan have a weakness?

posted by kidpurple January 5, 2010

As I was going to dig to see what I could find out about Landon Donovan’s loan to Everton I read something interesting.  What would you say Landon Donovan’s weakness is?

Donovan has been a beast for the United States throughout his career.  He’s set records and won numerous awards.  His MLS career isn’t too shabby either.  He had spent some time playing in Germany on multiple occasions.  According to ESPNsoccernet’s profile of Donovan:

Weaknesses: Perhaps playing on German soil.

So how do you think Donovan will do for Everton?  I hope that every EPL team wants him before his short loan is over.  I know it is only a loan – but a team with Donovan and Tim Howard is a team I will always be cheering for.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments (2)