Relegation Fighters MLS : Super Sized Soccer

retired_hellokity111 · 02-08-2006, 06:34 AM

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retired_hellokity111 · 02-08-2006, 06:16 PM

Injuries Could Spell Trouble for High Flying Lions

With more than half the season gone, the battle for home field advantage in the East has heated up with main challengers Vancouver, Alaska and New Liskeard looking strong. With only 13 matches left in the regular season, Vancouver will face Toronto at home follwed by rivals Kentucky, Boston and Texas away from home in the coming weeks. Good results from these matches will go far in Vancouver making a claim for the Eastern Conference first seed.

Injuries may be a problem however as defensive leader Alpay has been ruled out for up to two weeks and striker Carlos Ruiz could be out for up to a month. Earlier in the season Vancouver lost goalkeeper Brad Guzan to a lengthy injury but Troy Perkins has deputised well and has taken over from Guzan as the top choice keeper.

Poor performances for Dany Califf has also kept the strong defender on the sidelines as younster Clarence Goodson has taken over as the partner for Alpay. But with alpay out, Califf is set to return to the starting lineup.

Injury to Ruiz has not been felt just yet as Chad Barrett and Alan Gordon have both filled in nicely contributing with goals and assists. Taylor Twellman has rewarded the Vancouver management for picking him up in the second round of the draft with 12 goals thus far as he ranks second in the goalscoring standings behind the unstoppable Ebbe Sand.

Perhaps the real story of the season has been the emergence of Emanuel Sarki. The 17 year old Nigerian defensive midfielder has been solid and looks to be an excellent late round pickup for Vancouver.

The Lions have also made a few roster moves recently, trading away third string keeper Will Hesmer to Kentucky Kaisers. In return the young winger Arturo Alvarez was acquired to provide cover for Justin Mapp who will be out for up to three months. Long time target, Steve Cronin was picked up to be the third choice keeper and fill the hole left behind by the departure of Hesmer.

retired_mallory08 · 02-08-2006, 10:15 PM

Consolidation.

The Mighty KK Blues have proven tough to beat of late, going on a nice 10 game unbeaten run and beating some of the leagues top teams in the process. With just four defeats in their first 19 games, Clark's boys are coming together nicely.

Only two obstacles stand in their way.....

The first is a seemingly endless injury list, including at one point recently five full USMNT players (Freidel, EJ, Reyna, Wolff and Albright), namely the core of the team. The young deputies filled in admirably, though were run over in a single game, at home to rivals Marquette.

That defeat against the Iron Rangers represents problem #2. Clark was given a harsh dressing down by the Chairman, who seemed to forget this was the first defeat in 11 games and was also silent after KK crushed Marquette in the middle of that run. This selective memory had Clark stewing as the board downgraded Clark's approval rating to satisfactory. With the Kaiser's tied for 2nd place in the West/South, Clark was understandably aggrieved..."What a ******", he spewed under his breath.

Thankfully, Clark bounced back with a win against the tidy Alaskan side and then a 2-0 bruising of West Champs-elect Texas, inflicting only their 3rd defeat of the year.

Clark's team has lacked starpower, the individual to really set the team alight, yet, they still manage to get things done. Brian Mullan and Christian Rodriguez have stepped in to fill some of the gaps and have done well. Marko Lomic, who returned to the team after ousting Paul Broome, has been in excellent form, garnering 4 MOM votes in the last half dozen games.

Goals remain hard to come by, with KK only averaging a goal a game, in either end. Wolff remains the Kentucky Top Gun, despite having played in only 11 starts (2 sub apps) with 6 goals. Rodriguez's run of form has seen him hit the net 4 times and chip in with a few helpers to boot.

Goalkeeping became a massive issue as Freidel was injured fro 3 months. Hartman, a more than able deputy, who had been between the posts most of the season because of an earlier injury was also stricken down, leaving clark without a recognised GK. "Didn't you know that would come back and bite me?! said Clark, referring to his option to go with just 2 keepers. Will Hesmer's acquisition cost Arturo Alvarez, acceptable given the circumstances. Hartman returned in the last couple of games and stood on his head a couple of times to keep the opposition at bay. "At this rate Kevin will be our #1. Brad needs to get back to fitness soon, else he could find himself expendable once he's fit. He's on high wages, and on his day is one of the best goalies alive. But he's never known an unjury run like this, so I hope it ends soon. Nothing would be better for KK than having two top GK's dueling it out for the starting spot. Until then, Will Hesmer will have a chance to earn a return next season as Kevin's back up."

With 13 games to go, Kentucky are well positioned 9pts ahead of the 5th placed team. "It's not in the bank, but I'd like to think we're playing for home field advantage, not as to whether or not we'll make the playoffs." Presumptuous? Perhaps. Tempting fate? Definitely.

retired_hellokity111 · 02-10-2006, 09:46 PM

FINAL PUSH

With only 13 games remaining in the season, the battle for the playoff berths is heating up. The top three teams in the Northern Conference is slightly pulling away, but don't count the bottom three teams out just yet, they still have a shot of getting the home court advantage.

The Toronto Syclones should be very pleased on what they have done so far this season, they are on top of the injury report almost every single week, they don't have their desired starting lineup out there since week #3. And with only 20 bodies for the most part (they have added a new player last week, 21 players right now), a lot of players were forced to play out of their normal position. And yet they are just one point out of the final playoff spot.

The coaching staff have done an excellent job this season, the players' abilities is increasing drasticly every day, and the young talents had shown some very promising performance the last few matches.

Lets do a quick recap of the past 6 games:

The Syclones posted a 2-2-2 record during the last 6 games. First they put up the best game they have since week number three, they controlled the game in Nashville for the most part, and fired out a good 20-shot performance. Unfortunately, they hit the crossbar and the post a few times, which prevented them from getting a bigger win. They won the game 2-1.

They continued their road trip in Alaska and "The North". They just didn't come to play in these two games, the home teams dominated the game and ended up winning 4-1 and 2-1 respectively.

They then flied home for a three game homestand. They got away with a point against Rochester despite a poor display. They had a narrow win over the Nerdington after that. The final game of the homestand may turn out causing them a playoff berth at the end. The Boston United came into town. The Sylcones dominated the game with over 20 shot attempts, but a lot of them had been poorly handled. They also hold the ball more than 60% of the time. Despite playing with a man advantage for almost 80 minutes, the Sylcones can only take the lead at the 87th minute. Just when they thought they have this game, the United headed home their only shot attempt just before the whistle. They Sylcones lost out on 2 valuable points.

They have a very tough schedule ahead of them, let see how they will finish the rest of the season.

retired_hellokity111 · 02-10-2006, 09:46 PM

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retired_spaulsen · 02-11-2006, 01:57 AM

Playoffs Looming for Texas

Good recent form has the Texas Longhorns getting nearer to clinching a spot in the MLS Playoffs. The Longhorns are first in their conference and are comfortably sitting 20 points above fifth place Nerdington with nine fixtures remaining. Considering this and that the Texas plays six of those games in Austin, Orangeblood fans can be confident that the playoffs are a virtual certainty for their Longhorns. Though humiliated 4-0 by Alaska, Texas enjoyed victories recently over Marquette, Nashville, and United of Boston, while battling to a 2-2 tie with Vancouver in a matchup between the two best teams (based off of point totals) in MLS. The Longhorns also pulled out a dramatic 3-2 victory in an entertaining NA Cup game, also against Vancouver. Unfortunately, playmaker Rivaldo was injured in the contest, but unlike the last time the Brazilian was unavailable, Texas has Juan Pablo Garcia healthy and the Mexican has been in good form. Coming up in MLS for Texas are Toronto, Nerdington, and Muskegon. Texas will also play Rochester in the quarter final round of the NA Cup.

In related news, Jemal Johnson (pictured) continues to surprise and is now fourth in the entire league in goal scoring. Though still always not guaranteed a place, he has helped answer the preseason concern that Texas had no proven goal scorers.

Finally, there are rumors that Jack Jewsbury is on the verge of being traded...

retired_mallory08 · 02-11-2006, 05:32 PM

Kaisers King of Their Hill...well, not yet

The Kaisers continued their solid run of form of late, though their was a slight drop off, they still sport the second lowest number of defeats and third highest points totals in the whole of MLS.

A drubbing by rivals Vancouver did not please the board, but overall the are happy with the way KK have been playing. "The board showed me no quarter when we lost to the Lions, they didn't care about our staggering injury list 9/27 players injured, including 7 1st team starters. But we bounced back and the quality in depth we have here shone through."

The injury list was spectacualr, forcing Clark to change his training schemes to less intensive. "I don't know if there's a correlation there or not, as most guys were getting injured in games, but we figured it was worth a go."

The team, still playing a 5-3-2 Attacking variation, has been very solid without excelling, this could be a worry ahead of the playoffs. The players are getting the jobs done, but few are standing out. A good team effort? Or overachievers? The average ratings of most KK players would suggest they were a team on the verge of missing the playoffs. Couple with the lack of a deadly finisher this term, one wonders how they have continued to achieve at the level they have - with now only 2 defeats in the last 17 games?

"Tactical genuis" suggested the gaffer. Perhaps, but this star-sudded team should be doing more than scraping by. Claudio Reyna has justified his selection int he draft and has been every bit the Captain for Kentucky, having the top average rating (7.19) as well as contributing 7 goals in 21 contests from the centre of midfield. He recently blasted a Cup hatrick against a happless USL team en route to a 5-0 crushing. It was all for nought though, as the Kaiser's fell to the Syclones in the next round. Revenge was exacted quickly though with a follow up in the league shortly after, and Clark's men responded properly.

With the injuries thinning out, and almost all players likely to be available in the next 2-3 weeks, Clark's team should be at full strength ahead of the play offs. With a 10 point lead on 3rd placed Nashville, they will likely start the playoffs at home and seem to be destined for a showdown with Texas - clearly the best team in the West/South - to represent the conference in the final. But, playoffs through up surprises every time, and no one can discount any team in this league. The inaugural season has seen some fantastical results, so no one is resting on their laurels ahead of the season run-in.