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Out without a Wimper

A 3-0 defeat at RFK was the fitting end to the Vinnie Jones era in Chicago. The Fire didn't show up at all and left future USMNT international Scott Ellis flailing in sea of goal mouth traffic. So Chicago whimpered out of the postseason, without sending any messages. Coach Jones only had this to say at the post match press junket, "It's been emotional" and as quickly as he had come in he was gone.

In other news former Brest Canadian International Jason Gazzola has taken over the reigns at Kansas City and he's looking to make sweeping changes to the MLS's worst team.

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Absent Thompson Praises Quakes
Speaking in a telephone interview, San Jose manager Ryan Thompson has praised his team for winning the Western Conference and reaching the finals. "I cannot express how proud I am of my players for achieving all that they did in spite of unusual circumstances. [San Jose Assistant Manager] Rudi [Wojtowicz] did an oustanding job. He has earned a lot of credit for the team's success. Maybe the team is better off without me. I'm joking, of course." On the MLS Cup Final, Thompson stated, "I watched the final on television and can say that D.C. United were very strong and deserved winners." On his own status, Thompson said, "I'm unable to return just quite yet, but hope to as soon as possible."

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Inconsistent performaces both define and end Dallas's season

Thomas Tannaï was introduced as the new manager in Dallas just a few days before the first playoff match against San Jose. The tall Frenchman was thrilled to have a shot at management, and his name was brought to the Dallas board's attention by recently-fired manager Nick Gutierrez, having become an associate of Tannaï during his almost-as-brief spell with Brest in France. Tannaï comes in with a tactical style very similar to the former boss: a 4-1-2-2-1 formation, with attacking mids out on the wings with forward diagonal runs.

The first match vs. San Jose was a good one. Dallas held control of the match for most of the time, though to be sure SJ had their moments of brilliance. The game remained at a 0-0 deadlock, though, until Junior Khanye was brought down just past the 81st minute just outside of the penalty area. In the resulting free kick, Ronnie O'Brien slotted it home, and Dallas held on for a comfortable 1-0 win.

In the second match, however, Dallas's famed inconsistency reared its ugly head. After an uneventful first half, Jimmy Conrad was brought on as a fifth defender to try and sit on their lead. He would end up doing the exact opposite. As San Jose attempted to get in one of many crosses in the second half, Conrad found his boot in the way of one of them, but was unable to control it, and the ball trickeled past Mathew Rothwell and into the net. 1-0 on the game, 1-1 on aggregate. Not five minutes later, SJ's Phillips breaks free of the defense, and calmly slotted it past Rothwell, putting SJ ahead 2-1. Despite a spirited fightback, including three seperate 1-on-1 chances for Ronnie O'Brien, that's how the game would end. Tannaï would refer to this as a "troublesome" loss.

In offseason news, Dallas has traded its 2nd and 4th round picks to KC, in exchance for the big striker Preciado. He brings much needed size to the Dallas front line, and may just be the target man the club has been looking for. Taylor Twellman and the disappointing Jean-Phillipe Peguero are now rumored to be on the trading block.

[retired_chelsieeeey32]

Gazzola's Vison

My vision for the Kansas City Wizards is to help develope Canadian youngsters. So, all 3 Si and Ti roster spots will eventually be allocated to Canadian players, this will take place over a transitionary period. However, I feel that this will be an important step for Canadian soccer and one that will improve the MLS and the Canadian National team.

My first day on the job, Rios comes in and asks for a leave of absence to go back to Argentina for personal reasons and I gave him a month to sort himself out. Jose Reyes missed training, what a great first impression, I levied a fine of 2 weeks wages for this unprofessional behavior. I also managed to work out a deal with Big D who swooped in for Preciado. It was an amicable decision and we recieved the 2nd and 4rth round draft allocations from Dallas.

Next morning, Greg Allen handed me his request for a transfer. I said "Greg what is this?" then I proceeded to rip it up, his eye welled as a tear formed in the young man's eye. "Listen you have a future here and I'm not prepared to let you leave. " Also, 16 year old Sudanese refugee Basim Al-Otaybi was released, we did give him a plane ticket back to his warravished homeland and he seemed reluctant to leave. "Oh well, it's an imigration issue now."

Rios returened from Argetina, he's refreshed and is prepared to stay at the club and play for us, but time will tell if he's sincere or if can finally settle in the area. The club parted way with Clint Mathis, Josh Wolff, and Jamar Beasley as their contracts expired, this prompted Jorge Florentin to withdraw his request for a transfer. Ofcourse, he came of the list but since he's a non-Canadian foreigner his time here is running out. The club also announced the release of Jose Reyes, "He got off on the wrong foot and I'm sick and tired of fining him 2 weeks wages , so he's finished here. His head isn't quite right and hopefully he can latch on somewhere and prove me wrong.

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Goal of The Season

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Rookie of the year hours for Dan Richards

LA Galaxy had little to smile about towards the end of the season as long term injuries to strikers Greg Campbell, Gustavo Gomez, Chris George left the team without a striker. Other niggling injuries to several other players didn't help either.

Douglas de Paula finally realized he had made a mistake in carrying only 3 strikers for the season and moved to pick up Marco Velez from Richmond. The strong striker brings versatility to the team as he is also capable of playing in defense.

Brazilian attacking midfielder Magnum has also joined the club from Brazilian outfit Paysandu. The hardworking midfielder is a luxury at LA's current crop of midfielders but adds needed depth.

Goalkeeper Oscar Barrios left as his contract expired and youg keeper Michael Jackson joined in from St. Gallen of Switzerland. Jackson is a talented 23 year old who returns to the MLS after 3.5 seasons in Europe.

Going into the draft, United also picked up experienced midfielder Dema Kovalenko. Dema has been a fixture at Chicago and DC United and remains one of the best at his position in the league.

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A third of the way in and the Galaxy look strong

After 11 games into the season, LA have managed to rebound from their losing start to the season against FC dallas to collect 21 points and the best goal difference in the league.

Much of the credit goes to Rookie of the year Dan Richards who has excelled with his tricky dribbling down the right flank. Emil Martinez has also been solid down the left contributing with 5 assists.

The Galaxy still don't have a consistent scorer having 3 players with 3 goals, and 4 players with 2 goals. Despite the talented trio of Greg Campbell, Chris George and Gustavo Gomez who can play up front, a large number of goals have come from set pieces. Brazilian manager Douglas de Paula hopes to remedy this by going to a more attacking formation, hoping to get his strikers more involved in the matches and give more confidence to his young strikers who are struggling to return to full fitness since their long term injuries last season.

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