Live The Pitch

With all of the World Cup excitement recently, it’s easy to forget about Major League Soccer here in the US.  Let’s try to get caught up, shall we?

STANDINGS

We are just under the midway point of the season for most teams, and it’s the Los Angeles Galaxy who have been the class of the league so far.  With 33 points in 14 games, and a stout defense only giving up four goals all year, LA is definitely setting the pace.  Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle are returning to the squad this Sunday at home against Seattle on ESPN2.  Will Donovan finish the season with the Galaxy, or will a European squad swoop in with a bag of cash?  We’ll see once the transfer window opens up…

Trailing the Galaxy in the West are the defending champions, Real Salt Lake.  Colorado is surprisingly in third, followed by three teams on 18 points in Houston, Dallas, and San Jose.  Seattle has been a disappointment so far with only 15 points and Chivas USA is on the bottom with only 10 points.  The road is only going to get harder for Chivas as they sold star midfielder Sacha Kljestan to Belgian giants Anderlecht last month.

The East is led by Columbus and New York with 24 points, although the Crew have a game in hand on the Red Bulls.  Toronto is chasing a playoff berth with 19 points.  Chicago is sitting on 17 points.  Kansas City and New England have struggled this season, Philadelphia is a tougher team than expected even in their first year.  It’s DC United that has been the biggest disappointment this season.  A promising run before the World Cup break was extinguished with a 2-0 loss in Columbus last week.

STARS

Edson Buddle’s early season tear earned him a trip to South Africa, he’s still leading the league with 9 goals.  Dwayne De Rosario (TOR) and Juan Pablo Angel (NY) trail him with 8.  Landon Donovan is leading in assists with 9, followed by the revival of Bobby Convey (SJ) who has 7.  San Jose has been one of the surprises of 2010, with Convey and Chris Wondolowski (7 goals) leading the way.

Sebastien Le Toux has kept the expansion Philadelphia Union competitive, showing the form that dominated the USL D-1 before the Sounders moved up to MLS.

The Galaxy’s Jamaican goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts has been the class of the league, only giving up four goals all year.  His defense, led by young American Omar Gonzalez, has been outstanding.

NEWCOMERS

Expect to see more additions as the transfer window opens on the 15th, but a few have started to be announced by MLS clubs.  Seattle made a deal to acquire Swiss international and World Cup player Blaise Nkufo.  He’s 35 years old and has starred with FC Twente for the last seven years, hitting double digits in goal in each of those seasons.  He started all of Switzerland’s games in South Africa.

DC United has made a pair of signings to try to reverse their fortunes.  Branko Bošković, a member of the Montenegro national team, and Pablo Hernandez, a young Argentine forward, will be joining United in the coming weeks.  Bošković played briefly with Paris Saint-Germain before settling at Rapid Wien in Austria.  Hernandez joins the team on loan from Uruguayan Club Defensor Sporting.

There is also the rumored signing of Thierry Henry to New York.  While nothing has been announced officially, Barcelona has let Henry out of his contract.  This paves the way for a free transfer to the Big Apple.

SCHEDULE

Highlights this week include an Eastern Conference battle in Columbus as the Crew take on the visiting Chicago Fire on Saturday night on Fox Soccer Channel.  ESPN2 picked up the homecoming July 4th match for Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle against Seattle.  Sunday also sees New York travel to Colorado in an interesting match between two of the league’s bigger surprises this season.

Check back with us Monday for a recap of the weekend’s action.

Manchester United will play the 2010 MLS All-Star team on July 28, in Houston, Texas. This is a great match for English Premier League fans here in the United States to see the most popular team in the world. I think this is a great idea to get more fans interested in the MLS game.

In addition to the MLS All-star game, Manchester United will play exhibition matches against the Philadelphia Union, Kansas City Wizards and Celtic from Scotland while in the U.S.

Last year, the MLS all-stars tied Everton 1-1 in regulation. For the fans sake the game went to penalties with Everton winning 4-3. In 2008, the all-stars defeated West Ham United 3-2 in Toronto. The 2007 all-star game was against Celtic in Colorado, with the MLS stars winning 2-0.

MLS commissioner Don Garber was quoted: “We are proud to once again present our supporters with one of the most compelling All-Star Game formats in sports and we believe Manchester United’s North American tour will be a tremendous celebration of the sport following the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.”

This format is great for fans here in the U.S. but with this being a World Cup year there is a possibility that most household names will not not participate in this tour. The match will still be a great asset to soccer here in the U.S.

Here is the full article from the New Jersey Star Ledger-Manchester United to face MLS All-Stars in Houston

David Beckham’s recovery from surgery to his ruptured Achilles tendon is already a few months behind schedule.  Beckham was quoted, “I won’t be running for another three months, so I will be playing again in, probably, November.”

This not good news for MLS fans as Beckham will not be able to return to the pitch at all this season for the LA Galaxy unless they make a deep run in the postseason.  He injured the ankle while on loan with A.C. Milan.  Beckham is far past his prime years but still is an excellent distributor of the ball and  his a huge presence on the field for the Galaxy.

With the amount of money MLS has invested in Beckham it makes you wonder if these loans to European clubs are good for the fans.  Players can go to Europe to keep their form or keep their shape but injuries could be devastating.   Imagine if Landon Donovan would have been injured playing for Everton this Winter.  The U.S. would have been in trouble without their superstar.

For more quotes from Beckham and the full story click here for the A.P. article from ESPN.com- Beckham Recovery Behind Schedule

The LA Galaxy remained undefeated in the 2010 MLS season drawing with Kansas City 0-0.  The Galaxy were fortunate to get out with a tie.  Kansas City dominated from whistle to whistle.  An unfortunate slip on the wet surface caused Kansas City striker Kei Kamara to handball an extremely easy chance in front of goal early in the match.  At this level players should have the ability to put these types of chances away with their eyes closed.

Also, Edson Buddle did not help his cause for a spot on the World Cup roster.  Buddle only managed to attempt one shot on goal the entire match.  I like Buddle’s pace but I don’t think he can be an impact player for the U.S. at the international level.

Real Salt Lake defeated the L.A. Galaxy 5-4 in penalty kicks to win the 2009 MLS Cup in front of over 46,000 fans.  Real Salt Lake became just the second 8 seed to win the MLS Cup. The shootout win came in the 7th round of kicks when Robbie Russell found the back of the net after Nick Rimando saved a weak shot by Edson Buddle.

Rimando was named the MVP of the game after saving two penalties to win the shootout.  The Galaxy would miss three of their penalties with Landon Donovan’s attempt sailing over the crossbar and Rimando saving attempts from Buddle and Jovan Kirovski.

L.A. dominated the first half and finally went up in the match 1-0 after Donovan found Mike Magee open on the back post  four minutes before halftime.  Magee would hit the cross first time with a fantastic finish.

The second half proved to be a different story.  Real Salt Lake would tie the match in the 64th minute when Robbie Findlay found the back of the net against his old squad.  Findlay was lucky to get on the end of a deflection and found himself with a wide open goal.

The match was slowed due to the number of players collecting injuries.  The MLS season is a long and strenuous amount of time due to its scheduling and the amount of World Cup qualifiers the players participated in this past summer. The first injury of the match was in the 22nd minute when Real Salt Lake had to put Clint Mathis in for the injured Javier Morales.

The Galaxy soon found themselves in injury trouble also when star goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts was forced out of the game due to a wrist injury. Backup Josh Saunders came in the match and immediately was tested by Real Salt Lake. Saunders would be the MVP for the Galaxy with great saves throughout the rest of the match and in penalties.

Real Salt Lake finished the regular season with a losing record and sneaked into the playoffs with an eight seed. This is why the MLS is great in many ways but also makes the regular season seem not as important. This just shows us that you need to be in good form come playoff time and Real Salt Lake IS the best team in MLS at the moment!