As MLS pushes towards the playoffs and the end of its season, Americans in Europe are just beginning their seasons. With domestic leagues and cups in full swing, there is plenty of news to report this week.
We start on American soil, as MLS clubs remain winless in CONCACAF Champions League play. DC United fell 2-0 to Honduran club CD Marathon, while the Western Conference-leading Houston Dynamo lost to Panamanian club San Francisco FC.
In a tournament that was predicted to showcase the dominance of American and Mexican clubs in CONCACAF, the American club have disappointed at every turn. Things won't get any easier either, as DC has to play five league games mixed in with five Champions League matches in the run up to the MLS playoffs. Fixture congestion is a pain.
For more on the various theories on US failure in this tournament, be sure to check out Eric Gomez' article here.
MLS clubs are faring poorly in cup competitions on this side of the pond, and American players are faring poorly in cup competitions in Europe.
Watford defender Jay DeMerit is the only American player left in the Carling Cup as Brad Guzan's Aston Villa side, Tim Howard's Everton, Clint Dempsey's Fulham and Eddie Johnson's Cardiff City all crashed out in midweek play.
The good news for the Americans? Dempsey and Johnson actually got a chance to play, a rarity these days. The two need to consistently break into the starting lineup if they are to stay sharp and be able to help the US National Team in World Cup Qualifying.
Freddy Adu was also given a start for Monaco as they lost to Paris Saint-Germain in French Cup action. Heath Pearce and Hansa Rostock advanced in the DFB Pokal, but Sal Zizzo and Hannover were not so lucky.
For those of you keeping track at home, that's two for seven.
With only a few games left to play, only one spot in the MLS playoffs has been locked up. The Columbus Crew are sitting atop the Eastern Conference with MLS' best record and can begin printing playoff tickets. Everybody else in the league still has some work to do.
The LA Galaxy are still alive despite the fact that their 5-2 win over DC last weekend was their first victory in three months. San Jose is still alive after a slow start, a revival which saw them climb into a playoff position, and a recent slump which has seen them fall to the bottom of the Western Conference.
The absurdity of the MLS playoff hunt this season only serves to strengthen my belief that they should be completely abolished in favor of a league-wide cup. Eight of the league's fourteen clubs qualify for the playoffs, so they may as well throw the other six into the pot and hope for some upsets. Give a trophy to the team who tops the league table at the end of the season, and give another trophy to the team that wins the League Cup.
Lastly, women's soccer.
Remember the WUSA? It was a short-lived attempt to cash in on the temporary popularity boost that women's soccer enjoyed immediately after the 2003 World Cup.
The WPS (Women's Professional Soccer) league is the latest incarnation of a women's league in the United States, and has just held its first ever draft and allocated players out of the US Women's National Team pool.
Several notable figures in women's soccer will be playing in the new league. The Brazilian trio of Marta, Daniela and Cristiane will be playing in Los Angeles, St. Louis and Chicago, respectively. US goalkeeper Hope Solo will join Daniela in St. Louis while Abby Wambach heads to Washington and US icon Kristine Lilly will suit up for Boston.
The new league looks like it might actually stand a chance of survival. Phoenix Suns' point guard Steve Nash is an investor in the league, and the goals of WPS are far less ambitious than those of the WUSA. To succeed, the league needs to think small at first and not try and expand before it is ready.
19 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
Bela Trimmel 9 months ago
Good job, Joe. I agree with you that they should make it a league wide cup but we need the playoff structure in the states. We can't live with just having someone win on points collected over the season.
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Joe G 9 months ago
Good point, Bela. If not a league-wide cup, then the playoffs need to be cut down to fewer than eight teams. Maybe make it six teams, with the Conference champs getting a first-round bye, I dunno.
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Eric Gomez 9 months ago
The MLS shouldn't expand its playoff format, it should contract it. There's too many teams making it into the playoffs. Have four teams qualify and either make the conference finals and Cup final into a best-of-three affair or have all four teams play a round robin with the best team taking the Cup.
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Joe G 9 months ago
Some change needs to made, for sure. If over 50% of the league is making the playoffs, the postseason kind of loses that sense of exclusiveness that makes it such an important goal. What do you think of their new format this year? Instead of taking the top four teams in each conference, they take the top three in each conference, and then the two next best records regardless of conference.
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Jeff Harbert 9 months ago
Excellent job Joe. I thoroughly enjoyed that.
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Joe G 9 months ago
Thanks, Jeff. Catch the Fire game last night? Chris Rolfe was on fire (pun intended).
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Thomas 9 months ago
Great job.
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Joe G 9 months ago
Thanks, Thomas. Only a few games left until the playoffs, looks like it will be an exciting run up to the end of the season.
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David Wilson 9 months ago
Soccer fans in LA are in for a treat because Marta is absolutely amazing
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Joe G 9 months ago
The best in the world right now without a doubt. Those Brazilian women can play. Thanks, David.
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Salaar Arshad Shamsi 9 months ago
Thanks for the update, Joe..any club about Micheal Bradley..the talented American midfielder used to play Heerenveen..he was about to move to Middlesbrough but eventually went to a German side called something like Mongladebache..He was pretty good..whats the latest on him?
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Joe G 9 months ago
Bradley is at Borussia Monchengladbach, the same club that Kasey Keller played for a few years back. He made his first (and so far only) appearance with the club just last weekend.
We'll see if he can continue to show the eye for goal that he had at Heerenveen. His play there made him a regular in his dad's US squad.
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Dakota Rubin 9 months ago
Great job with the recap of the league and American players. I am interested to see what happens with the WPS. The Fire's win last night also changed things around in the MLS standings as well. I thought LA was coming back but they got it handed to them last night.
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Joe G 9 months ago
Blanco has shown MLS fans that you can never bet against him, ever. The Fire have a great shot at winning the MLS Cup this year. Best goalkeeper in the league, best playmaker in Blanco, and you've got McBride and Rolfe providing offense. Should be an entertaining playoffs!
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Eric Gomez 9 months ago
Cuau is one of my favorite players of all-time. He's 35, people. Tearing up that league. By the way, Joe - that article you linked to? Totally awesome. I would read that so many times. And comment, too!
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Yoosof Farah 9 months ago
great article joe, thanks for keeping me updated with everything that's going on in the mls.
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Guido 9 months ago
Just out of curiousity, what do you think of the manager Ruud Gullit?
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Joe G 9 months ago
I'm not terribly familiar with his body of work as a European manager, but I thought he was definitely the wrong choice for the job in LA. He didn't treat anybody but Beckham with respect and walked around with an "I'm Ruud Gullit, who the hell are you?" attitude. Bruce Arena is a better choice for LA than Gullit was.
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Guido 9 months ago
Good, he comes across as an imcompetent arse, just like he did in Europe.
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