MLS Soap Box #1

In a shocking act of kindness Toronto FC gave Chicago Fire a goal Saturday afternoon. Toronto coach Aron Winter said “We decided just before kick off that we had a chance of not losing this game, we felt we better nip this in the bud.” 26 seconds into the game the Toronto keeper rolled the ball out to Chicago forward Dominic Oduro who put the ball in the back of the net. Oduro said “Without that first goal they gave us, this game could have been a draw, and no one wanted that.”

It turns out Jason Kreis doesn’t like the way Sporting Kansas City play. I think he meant to say he doesn’t like losing. If only they would give his players the time they need to be fancy. I wonder if MLS is considering fining Kreis for dogging another team’s style. A couple years back, Kevin Payne was fined for comments about New England’s “10 behind the ball tactics.” Kreis said that their style wasn’t attractive. I beg to differ. Last year after Sporting Kansas City beat D.C. United (not that beating D.C. was any great feat last year) I was really impressed with their speed and desire to go straight for the goal. The tactic is simple, when they don’t have the ball, they go get it. Once they have it, head straight to goal. They remind me of Tottenham Hot Spur…except they are winning.

Speaking of winning, Portland Timbers won a game. Only they didn’t score, which means Kansas City beat themselves, and gave the points to Portland. I bet Peter Vermes doesn’t like John Spencer’s style this week.

Steven Lenhart, you are a tricky bastard. When you retire people will not say “he was one of the good guys.” I hope the disciplinary committee rescinds Jámison Olave’s red card and gives it to Lenhart. He didn’t foul him so much as try to keep him on his feet as Lenhart tried to pull his shorts down.  Which if he stayed on his feet, he might score some goals. I know he is capable of it.

Chris Rolfe recently returned to the Chicago Fire after a two year stint in Denmark with Aalborg. In an interview on Extra Time Radio Simon Borg pressed Rolfe for answers as to why he did not resign to Aalborg. Do we really need to ask why he came home? He was living in a city of just over 100,000 in a country where he didn’t speak the language. I’m sure Rolfe didn’t go the Denmark to settle down and have a long career. He had hoped it to be a stepping stone to a better league in Europe. That didn’t happen, so what. Welcome home Rolfe. I’m sure Chicago is thrilled to have you back.

And finally Rafa Márquez deserves at least 5 games for INTENTIONALLY KICKING ANOTHER PLAYER AND BREAKING HIS CLAVICLE. The guy is a dirt bag and needs to go.

D.C United-4 New York Red Bulls-1

My 7 year old daughter asked if the Statue of Liberty was sad because NY Red Bulls were losing. We told her maybe, but Lady Freedom, a top of the Capital building in Washington D.C, was singing in the rain. She also asked why I talk to the T.V.  “They can’t hear you dad.” she said.

I’ve heard discussions about Chris Pontius being a forward, not a winger, and never understood. I’ve never thought of him as a forward. I see him cutting in to the top corner of the 18 yard box or taking it to the endline and crossing, and right before he got hurt he was doing his part on defense.

I was wrong about him not being a forward and being a one trick pony. While it was a good trick , still just the one I thought. Top corner of the 18 yard box fake left and go right to gain a few feet of space and unleash… It worked for his first of the four he scored recently.

I didn’t except the other three classic striker’s goals he scored Sunday night. One, stripping the ball from none other then Thiery Henry, and ripping one from the top of the box. The second, a poachers goal, right place at the right time, and most importantly the finish! How many of the these did Allsopp, Cristman and Ngwenya miss over the past few years? DCU hasn’t had the guy who puts those away consistently since Luciano Emilio stopped scoring.

Ben Olsen said this after the game  “He (Pontius) still doesn’t know how to play forward though. And that’s a scary thing. He’s still new at the position, and some of his movements can get a lot better.”

I also thought Dwayne De Rosario could not be effective in the attacking midfield role but that is working too.  The goals are being scored without the weight falling on Dero’s shoulders. Don’t worry, your time will come this season I assure you.

DCU was in the right place at the right time over and over against the Red Bulls Sunday night.  Overlapping runs from Pontius and Deleon. Kitchen was there for the outlet pass when some one needed it. The stragglers that popped lose from tackles were collected quickly. DC was able to play their game.

We could go into the problems with Branko Boskovic and Hamdi Salihi, blame the win on the soap opera known as NY Red Bulls, and the lack of quality they had on the field Sunday. We could dwell on the fact that this is only one win in a long season, but I’d rather sit back and enjoy sending the Red Bulls packing back to New York because it just feels good…

And I leave you with this:

http://youtu.be/6IeyleM8diM