Well over half of the teams in MLS were in league action on Wednesday night and I was able to catch all or most of each of the matches, in part due to my boycott of watching any of the summer friendlies. So I thought I would offer up a quick look at how the 10 teams impressed or depressed me last night.
You simply sucked from start to finish, you gave up 3 goals in 31 minutes and most of your players looked disinterested in the match. I am not sure who you guys think your leader on the pitch is but last night it didn't look like you had one. With the individual talent on your team you will get wins, but until the Red Bulls learn to play as a team they will be a very hit and miss team. Last night was a huge miss.
9. DC United
Losing at home should never be acceptable, losing at home to the worst team in the Eastern conference despite being the better team, well only New York was more of a disappointment to me. I believe that the Dwayne De Rosario and Charlie Davies have the potential to be one of the top duos in the league, as soon as Charlie decides to stop diving. The soccer gods got even with him on the missed PK, so maybe he will learn his lesson. It was a tough loss as you were the better team in the match.
the rest of the rankings after the jump:
I actually thought the Crew played fairly well but they were unable to finish their chances, 11 shots and 6 on goal against a backup keeper and they failed to get on the scoreboard. I thought they played a very sound match against the Galaxy, but in the end they failed to get a result in a match against a tired opponent. They did keep David Beckham from scoring off the 16 corner kicks they gave up to LA.
7. Toronto FC
5 new players in their line up and it took a cracker of a goal from Brek Shea to beat them 1-0, I have to say while the play was more individual than team based there is starting to be signs of life at BMO field. It will be interesting to see how it goes for the rest of the year and if the organization will continue to give Aron Winter the time needed to rebuild this team.
The Rev's really needed a win and thankfully the soccer gods or Charlie's ego kept him from scoring his PK chance last night. In the end it was a great header goal by Stephen Mc Carthy that was the difference maker in the match but let's be honest New England was the better team, they trailed in every statistical category but in the end they walk out with 3 points
The most entertaining match of the night was the 2-2 draw between the Quakes and the Whitecaps, it was high energy and both teams looked like they were playing for the win from the start to the end of the match. The pair of goals by Chris Wondolowski were both good quality goals and had to bring some relief to the San Jose coaches who had seen their team go several matches without scoring a goal. A couple of miscues on defense lead to a pair of goals by Hassli, but all in all it was a fun match to watch.
Well the Whitecaps got a chance to see the potential their new DP, Mustapha Jarju, might be a star in the making he brought some speed to their attack and could be a good partner for Eric Hassli. I was very impressed that the Cap's actually managed to out possess the home side and former Quake Shea Salinas had assists on both of the Hassli goals that lead to the 2-2 draw. I thought they were the better side for the majority of this match, perhaps the rest of not playing on Saturday helped out.
3. FC Dallas
With a number of tougher road matches ahead of them, FC Dallas did just what they needed to do in getting a 1-0 win at BMO Field against a rebuilding TFC side. It was Brek Shea with the only goal of the night but they dominated the match, which is what you should expect from this one. It will be interesting to see how they do at New York on Saturday.
2. LA Galaxy
It took Sean Franklin's first MLS goal to get the 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew who were clearly looking to play defense first. LA was impressive in winning 16 corner kicks on the night but David Beckham was unable to repeat his "Olympic Goal" success against Will Hesmer. I think LA clearly were frustrated at the end of the match and Beckham's time wasting yellow card will earn him his second yellow card suspension of the season and he will miss their trip to Vancouver this weekend. I wonder if he saw the pitch they used against Man City and simply said no way?
Well to beat an opposing team 4-1 at home is impressive no matter who that foe is the New York Red Bulls with the highest payroll in MLS and bevy of international players but in the end their new DP goalkeeper was left out to dry by his defense and the speed of Sanna Nyassi who got the hat trick, or the crafty passing of Omar Cumming who had 3 assists. It was the most dominating performance of the midweek matches and also the most impressive effort of the year from the Rapids. They clearly were the best team on Wednesday.
The man of the night was Sanna Nyassi, the goal of the night was the strike by Brek Shea. I have to admit it was very nice having 5 matches to fill my Wednesday night.
OFF MY SOAPBOX