MLS 2013 Season

Clarence Goodson to San Jose as well.

 

Ugh. Was worried something like this would happen. He's a Southern California native and there's not really a place for him on the Galaxy. But Chivas are such a disaster I would've thought he'd forgo his hometown to play for a team that's at least remotely respectable (and has a shot to get into the postseason). I guess the L.A. lifestyle trumps all, huh? :lol:

 

Landon with a hat trick last night in Galaxy's 3-3 draw with Dallas. Mandon is back to stay for a while. Some baaaad officiating too.

Clint made his Sounders debut against Toronto on Saturday. I watched it. Clint played pretty well with a few especially nice moves that showed his quality. Also, he looks a lot faster vs MLS competition, either that or he got faster over the summer.

 

You gotta hand it to MLS, boy. Their marquee signing makes his debut and they don't air it anywhere but MLS direct kick. Real smart.

They're going to ruin a chance to convert non-MLS football fans to their brand if they keep that up. I was hoping to watch the match last Saturday but instead could only find DC Utd v Philly. Hell, the women's Seattle team (the Reign?) was on Fox Soccer (or FS plus) at that time.

 

The MLS has to have a better TV deal if it wants to grow the league.

 

Surely they have the ability to change which matches are covered on certain weeks. You'd think their tv partner would want the same as right now, they have a chance to pop ratings by showing as many Sounders games with Dempsey as they can. I'd say there might be some agreement about spreading the coverage between teams, but that's never appeared to be the case when it comes to the Galaxy.

 

I'm not sure MLS realized he was going to play in that Toronto match. He had been sick earlier in the week I believe. And it was only because Martins got injured that he got in the match as early as he did.

The important one to have televised is his debut home appearance in front of the Seattle crowd. I also hope the next Seattle v Portland match up is on national television since it is already sold out.

 

How about this for a cheeky goal from Juan Agudelo
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhUJHKix070[/youtube]

 

MLS is now 0-2 in showing their biggest signing on tv. Figured living in Texas I might be able to find the Dynamo match. Nope.

Surely Seattle v Portland will be televised.

 

They were already promoting it for ESPN2 right after Dempsey signed.

 

Well you've definitely got a point on this one Ag. Dempsey was in Texas for Gods sake. MLS showing they only want to genuflect to certain markets like Seattle, NY, and LA. However, Dempsey's showing was dismal in my book. If that is how he intends to play then I will stop being a fan. Proving himself is where he excels and inspires, showing his flair is where he becomes the selfish, lazy player he's been accused of being. All I can say is Brad Evans came on in the second half, after playing 90 in Europe on Wednesday, and he was the Seattle player who made an impact. Dempsey did nothing other than do some fancy stuff that if it had worked would have been highlight reel worthy, but probably wouldnt have changed the outcome

 

67,300+ up in Seattle for the best Derby match in the MLS v Portland. Eddie Johnson w/a glancing header was the difference, but encouraged with the direction Caleb Porter is taking the Timbers. Get past the initial Lalas commentary and match highlights there are a couple great behind the scenes videos w/Clint. Especially interesting is his talk w/Kasey Keller after his 'on air' interview is done, great stuff.

http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/15340 ... ut?cc=5901

 

I will admit to falling asleep in the second half but for the portion of the match I watched Valerio was easily the most effective player on the pitch.

 

Have to agree Valeri stood out above all others. He was quite a find for Portland. While he probably is their most talented and flashy player, he is also their most wasteful. Perhaps it's hard to find one without the other.

I'm finding that I hate Seattle so much that I'm not sure if I even like Dempsey anymore. I enjoyed it during an ESPN promo for the match when Twellman tried to say "the man they call Duece" but it came out like "the man they call douche". He has yet to look good for Seattle, although he did have a couple moments last night. As a Portland fan, it was annoying how the whole match was all about Dempsey. Fine for the beginning but at some point they needed to let it rest. All it did was highlight the fact that dempsey did not look like the best player on the field.

 

Dempsey was trying way, way too hard. Flying all over the place, trying ridiculous overheads, etc. It's tough to come in to a team that late in the season and make an impact, but he'll be well served by calming down and just playing his game.

Mo - I hear where you're coming from as a Portland fan...but I have to say, as a relatively neutral viewer of this match, it's hard not to get goosebumps seeing a crowd of 67k+ at a MLS match. I believe they mentioned during the broadcast that it was the second largest crowd ever for a MLS game (biggest since 1996) and third largest crowd for any soccer match around the world this weekend....my cursory research shows that Bayern drew a 70k+ crowd this week, but not sure what other match outdrew this one.

 

The crowd was impressive.

Agree with the above re Dempsey. That was his 2nd full match w/o a preseason. He'll be fine, but it may not fully click until next season. There were glimpses though, so if he can simplify it a bit, settle down a bit, he'll come good for them soon enough. Playing with Eddie can't hurt.

Not sure about the Sounders kits though. On tv, they blend in with the pitch too much at times.

Get what HD is saying, but the players lose possession far too easily and touches and passing are a bit painful to watch at times. It's getting better with time though. The tackling is a bit more reckless as well.

Another player I came away impressed with was Darlington Nagbe. Was he trying to become eligible for the USMNT? Can't remember. He's ridiculously fast, even with the ball at his feet.

 

I am not sure how accurate the information is but here you go:

http://www.stumptownfooty.com/2012/9/11 ... -us-soccer