Saturday, August 1, 2009

MLS Top 5 Power Rankings


In my debut of the MLS power rankings, I'll take into account the first half of the season including results, goals scored/conceded, and transfers to and away from each club. Debuting at No. 1 for the first ever NP Major League Soccer Power Rankings is:

Houston Dynamo- Houston has enjoyed a strong first half of the season after starting very slowly with no wins and two draws in their first four games. They currently lead the Western Conference. With Stuart Holden, Brian Ching, and Geoff Cameron leading the way, Houston will be the favorites for the Western title.

Chicago Fire- Chicago, second in the East are easily one of the deepest teams in the league. Brian McBride, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Chris Rolfe, Wilman Conde, and Bakary Soumare form a core of players who will look to retake first from their bitter rivals Columbus.

Seattle Sounders FC- Seattle is the poster-child for how an MLS club should be run. With a solid mix of international quality in Freddie Ljungberg, Freddie Montero, and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, and American bred quality with Kasey Keller, Nate Jaqua and Brad Evans. Seattle has the best home fans and in turn has made Qwest Field into a fortress.

Columbus Crew- Columbus after a slow start has turned around and come back to lead the Eastern Conference, but keeping their stars healthy is proving a problem, as Scholetto, Rogers, and Marshall have all missed time.

Los Angeles Galaxy- Who would've thought that a team that was struggling mightily last year would be pushing for the lead in the Western Conference not even half a season later. Landon Donovan, David Beckham, Donovan Ricketts, Gregg Berhalter, Chris Birchall, and Edson Buddle have lost only twice since April 11 and look to continue that in the second half.

Recent results from the 2009 Preliminary Rounds of the CONCACAF Champions League:

Western Connection FC (Trinidad & Tobago) 2, New York Red Bulls (MLS) 2
SC Cruz Azul (Mexico) 6, CS Herediano (Costa Rica) 2
CD Olimpia (Honduras) 2, Deportivo Arabe Unido (Panama) 1

MLS Weekend Outlook

Apologies for the lack of MLS updates, this weekends action features the European Champions taking on a streaking Galaxy side and a huge east-west matchup in DC United vs Houston Dynamo...here is a rundown of this weekends action:

Toronto FC @New England Revolution - 7:30pm EST, MLS Direct Kick
DC United @ Houston Dynamo - 8:30pm EST, Fox Soccer Channel
Kansas City Wizards @ FC Dallas - 8:3opm EST, MLS Direct Kick
Real Salt Lake @ Chicago Fire - 8:30pm EST, MLS Direck Kick
Columbus Crew @ Colorado Rapids - 9:30pm EST, MLS Direct Kick
FC Barcelona @ LA Galaxy (Rose Bowl) - 11:30pm EST, Fox Soccer Channel

Sunday Game:
Seattle Sounders FC @ San Jose Earthquakes - 3pm EST, Telefutura

Yanks Transfer Update


A couple bits of news for you to chew on while you wait for the main course in tonight's LA-Barca matchup at the Rose Bowl, which will have more than 80,000 in attendance.

1860 Munich Signs Kenny Cooper
FC Dallas forward Kenny Cooper has signed a 3 year deal with 2. Bundesliga side 1860 Munich. Cooper, who scored 40 goals in 96 appearances for the Hoops, heads back to Europe after graduating from the Manchester United Academy. Cooper netted twice in the USA's run to the Gold Cup finals last month and was the center of several teams interests, including Rosenburg, Cardiff City, Eintract Frankfurt, and Aberdeen FC, but ultimately signed with 1860, who has had its fair share of Americans on its books including Josh Wolff, Taylor Twellman, and Gregg Berhalter.

St. Etienne Keen on Altidore Loan Deal
Jozy Altidore is at the center of much speculation as Villarreal's new manager is looking to send him away for a full season loan, and St. Etienne has come to the forefront. Other clubs linked to Altidore include Greece power Olympiakos and Malaga.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Mexico Announces Squad for August 12 Qualifier

The group contains several of the team's top Gold Cup performers, as well as most of Mexico's premier European-based players. Here is the group:

GOALKEEPERS: Guillermo Ochoa (América), José de Jesús Corona (Cruz Azul).

DEFENDERS: Efraín Juárez (Pumas), José Antonio Castro (Tigres), Ricardo Osorio (Stuttgart, Alemania), Carlos Salcido (PSV Eindhoven, Holanda), Oscar Rojas (América), Rafael Márquez (Barcelona, España), Jonny Magallón (Chivas), Aarón Galindo (Chivas).

MIDFIELDERS: Israel Castro (Pumas), Gerardo Torrado (Cruz Azul), Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Chicago Fire), Andrés Guardado (Deportivo La Coruña, España), Alberto Medina (Chivas).

FORWARDS: Miguel Sabah (Morelia), Giovani Dos Santos (Ipswich, Inglaterra), Carlos Vela (Arsenal, Inglaterra), Guillermo Franco (sin equipo), Nery Castillo (Shakhtar Donetsk).

MLS All Stars can't beat Howard

It took an American to beat the top players from the American league. Tim Howard made six saves in regulation and saved three penalties to earn Everton a 3-2 win in penalties after a 1-1 draw in regulation.

NP's 23 for 2010


Lets not be coy here ladies and gentlemen. We know that it is only a matter of time before the US successfully qualifies for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The August 12 encounter in Azteca will obviously be our toughest test yet but we wont be able to feature our "full" side, with Jermaine Jones unable to be called because of injury and Edgar Castillo won't get this call because he's just not ready for this match, along with the injury to Edu likely to keep him out until September. Here is a list of 23 players that I would take to the 2010 World Cup, along with a list of dark horse candidates.

Goalkeepers:
Tim Howard-------------------Everton FC (England)
Brad Guzan--------------------Aston Villa FC (England)
Marcus Hahnemann-----------Wolverhamton (England)

Defenders:
Steve Cherundolo--------------Hannover 96 (Germany)
Oguchi Onyewu----------------AC Milan (Italy)
Carlos Bocanegra--------------Stade Rennais (France)
Jay DeMerit-------------------Watford FC (England)
Jonathan Spector--------------West Ham United (England)
Edgar Castillo------------------Tigres UANL (Mexico)
Chad Marshall-----------------Columbus Crew (USA)

Midfielders:
Michael Bradley----------------Borussia Monchengladbach (Germany)
Jermaine Jones----------------FC Schalke 04 (Germany)
Maurice Edu-------------------Glasgow Rangers (Scotland)
Ricardo Clark------------------AS Livorno (Italy)
Clint Dempsey-----------------Fulham FC (England)
Benny Feilhaber---------------AGF Aarhus (Denmark)
Jose Francisco Torres----------Pachuca (Mexico)
Freddy Adu--------------------SL Benfica (Portugal)
Stuart Holden------------------Houston Dynamo (USA)

Forwards:
Josmer Altidore----------------Villarreal (Spain)
Charlie Davies------------------FC Sochaux (France)
Eddie Johnson------------------Fulham FC (England)
Landon Donovan---------------LA Galaxy (USA)

OK so theres the group I'd take, I know EJ is a strange call, but with the summer he's had with Fulham and Bobby Zamora about to leave and Andy Johnson not getting any younger, I think he'll see some good minutes for Fulham up front this season. Glaring omissions? DaMarcus Beasley is certainly the most obvious, but until he finds a team that will play him regularly his form will suffer. Heath Pearce misses out until we find out where and if he'll be playing Chad Marshal has replaced Danny Califf for the time being as the 4th CB, Stuart Holden replaces the shaky Sacha Kljestan, and Freddy Adu will beat out Robbie Rogers for that last winger/CAM spot simply because Adu is better and once he finds a team that starts him every weekend, he'll be dominant I think. Here are the dark horse candidates:

Troy Perkins
Frank Simek
Danny Califf
Marvell Wynne
Eric Lichaj
Heath Pearce
Michael Parkhurst
Clarence Goodson
Zak Whitbred
Sacha Kljestan
Jeremiah White
DaMarcus Beasley
Kyle Beckerman
Robbie Rogers
Danny Szetela
Sal Zizzo
Brian Ching
Marcus Tracy
Kenny Cooper

CONCACAF Champions League Update

Wednesday night the CONCACAF Champions League kicked off with the preliminary rounds featuring three MLS sides. Wednesday nights games saw DC United tie El Salvador's LA Firpo 1-1 and Pachuca down Guatemalan side Deportivo Jalapa 3-0. Last nights games featured USL side Puerto Rico Islanders 1-0 beating of Toronto FC, Panamanian side San Francisco FC beating San Juan Jabloteh from Trinidad & Tobago, and Costa Rican side Liberia Mia beat Honduran side Real CD Espana 2-0.

Tonights action features:
Western Connection FC(Trinidad & Tobago) vs New York Red Bulls(MLS)
SC Cruz Azul(Mexico) vs CS Herediano (Costa Rica)
CD Olimpia (Honduras) vs Deportivo Arabe Unido (Panama)

Clark signs for Livorno, will join team in January.

Livorno's website reporting that US International Ricardo Clark has signed with the club and will join them team during the January window. With this his last year on his contract, and after his solid performance during this summers Confederation's Cup, Clark was a target of a few European teams, including Carlos Bocanegra's Stade Rennais, but ultimately Livorno got him and I think his game will improve for the better and here's to another good American player getting his payday.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Ouch...

Not even gonna post about this one...plain and simple, their B+ team beat our C team...congrats to them. We all know the one that really matters is next month at Azteca.