[retired_mallory08]

OFF-SEASON

The first MLS season finally came to an end after the mass managerial changes took place at the beginning of the season. Tom's LA Galaxy took away the MLS Cup and Nick's New England Revolution won the US Cup.

Amado Guevara, a Metros last season, now in Fire uniform took the broze in Goal of the Year with a spectacular 40-yard free kick.

After a very disappointing rookie campaign, Coach Lung of the Metrostars enters his first off-season in North America. As an update a while ago mentioned, the 4 trades have become official. He also sign Fire's goalkeeper Pickens for a fee of 170K UK pounds, he is so frustrated about this. He did not know that if a player's contract is unprotected, but is not expiring, he needs to pay a fee for the signning. Now he has half of his transfer budget gone on the signning of Pickens, his hope of chasing after a very promising Chinese porspect (name undisclosed) is gone.

Coach Lung certainly is looking forward to the draft as he will pick #1 overall. He also has a 5th and 6th round pick from DC and a 6th round pick of his own. He has verbally agreed with coach Clark of DC that he will send the 2nd round pick of next year's draft for this year 2nd round pick.

Coach Lung has 26 players in the camp right now with the draft coming up. He will have to trim his squad when the roster cut-off day comes.

Coach Lung's roster looks like this right now:

Goalkeeper
Henry Ring
Matt Pickens
Zach Wells

Defender
Kenny Arena
Oleg Luzhnyi
Carey Talley
Logan Pause
Phil Salyer
David Régis
Brian Carroll
Chris Leitch
Craig Ziadie
Jeff Parke
Tim Regan

Midfieder
Bobby Thompson
Mark Lisi
Craig Capano
Joselito Vaca
Joshua Gros

Forward
Brian Ching
Jean-Phillipe Peguero
Arturo Torres
Cornell Glen
Dwayne De Rosario
Mike Magee
Roger Levesque

We will know who will make it to the final 25-man roster in a month.

[retired_mallory08]

[i]2004 US OPEN CUP: N.E. REVOLUTION (Nick Guttierez)[i/]
Rev's Triumph in Cup Tourney


Nick G's NE Revolution came out triumphant over KC Wizards in a battle of the AssMen.

In Et's absence, Nick opted to let the AM fight it out and the Boston Boys came out on top.

More details to follow, but please accept our congratulations on the Open Cup victory from all of us here at MLSNET.com

[retired_mallory08]

2004 MLS CUP: LA GALAXY (Tom Yaglowski)
LA Completes the Double


Tom sealed a famous double for the California boys after a come from behind 3-1 victory over Russ' (Grom's) Chicago Fire.

After dominating the regular season, Tom and his Galaxy players proved the form guide right, dispatching with Dallas, SJ in the West before moving on to the final.

Few could argue about the result and over all champion as coaches, players and pundit's alike all agreed that LA were worthy winners.

More details and individual team reports and awards to follow.

Stay tuned to mlsnet.com for all your MLS news!

[retired_mallory08]

An Era of Change Begins...

After faltering early and often in the two game debacle against eventual MLS champions LA, Dallas manager Stu began his offseason clearance...

"Just not good enough,"fumed Stu,"This team is simply not good enough."

The retooling of the inconsistent side began with the much anticipated acquisition of young US star Eddie Gaven. Big things are expected of the youngster who has just reached his 18th birthday. Going to the Metrostars were two young regular defensive midfielders, Talley and Salyer.

"I hated to let those two go,"said Stu,"They were a big part of our team last year, they gave us quite a bit of width on the pitch, and they played with a lot of heart. They're already proving difficult to replace."

"Gaven'll be a big plus for us. He gives us an extra attacking option and can play the wing, he should help take some of the pressure off of EJ, who wilted somewhat down the stretch. We expect great things from the lad down the road. But, I will caution the home fans to be patient, he is still a boy.

Stu also found time for some words of support for embattled Metrostars manager Ricky...

"I don't care what the pundits are saying...I think he's doing a stellar job of making sure his squad is more competitive for next season. I think you will see a big turn around with the Metros performance in the coming year.'

Stu next pulled the trigger on the long rumored deal with New England. The blockbuster saw Mathis going to NE, for younger striker Twellman.

"It's a good deal for both teams and players, I think,"said Stu,"To my mind, both players underachieved last year, and new surroundings should do them both a world of good."

"I've liked Twellman for a long time, and I feel he's just starting to really come on...he lasts much later in matches than Mathis did for us last year, and he has a real eye for the goal."

Stu continued his raid on the New England squad, acquiring long coveted Cdn player Felix Brilliant for young DC Clarence Goodson and a third rd pick in the college draft.

"I had had my fill of Goodson this year, and I just didn't feel he was up to the task,"confirmed Stu,"He was probably on his way out on a free anyway. A third rd pick for a versatile depth midfielder like Felix seemed like a good trade off to me. I had traded two starters from last years squad already, and I felt I needed established talent over a unpolished yngstr."

An unattached young striker was found and signed by Stu after the season end too. A young US 18 yr old.

"My scouts say Smith is the real deal, I guess we'll find out soon enough..."

In a last bit of player related transfers, Stu reacquired defender Gbandi from San Jose manager Al for striker Toni Nhleko.

"It's a bit of a fix from a dodgy transfer situation,"Stu confirmed,"It will be a classic catch and release exercise for Al with Nhleko, and we'll get our (stolen), player back. I don't like to accuse other managers of shady dealings...but...here we are. I'm sure it was an honest mistake, and its all getting fixed now, so...all's forgiven."

Stu then released several players from their contracts.

"Not up to snuff."he sniffed.

Stu even cleared house with his scouts and coaches,letting go long serving coach Morrow and obtaining the services of former, (briefly), Cdn Olympic gold medal sprinter Ben Johnson.

"He's a class act,"said Stu.

Stu wrecked havoc on his scouts too, inking a German scout to an obscene amount of money; while releasing some poor Yank..

"He's my eyes and ears, and I felt I needed the best,"explained Stu.

Stu confirmed his shopping was far from over.

"We still need a young keeper who can take over from Onstad, a young DC I can trust, (or a crusty veteran for that matter), and some width. If we can attain these before the season, I think you will see a much improved Dallas team next year."

"I'd like to close with congratulating all of the MLS managers on their fine seasons, and wish them all the luck in the future; (we're all in the same union, you know.)"

[retired_mallory08]

Most Valuable Player

Rookie of The Year

Scoring Champion

Goalkeeper of The Year

Defender of The Year

All Pro Team

Goal of The Season

Manager of The Year

[retired_mallory08]

Quakes Fall To Eventual Champs LA

San Jose fell a little short in MLS Cup 2004 but most agreed it was a solid season for the Cali club and that many improvements had been made in terms of the playing personnel.

The playoffs started with SJ taking on the surging Rapids. Greg's team had hit form right on schedule and had powered up the standings, nearly stealing the #2 seed from SJ.

The Quakes went down 2-0 on the road, but courtesy in no small part to SGR's second leg hatrick proceeded to the Western Conference Final, against LA. The Galaxy had been near invincible on home soil at the HDC so when Clark's men fell 1-0 in a tight game the SJ boss had this to say "LA will go all the way. The double is there's". Prophetic words indeed....

The 2nd round departure did nothing to calm the sense of a successful season at Spartan Stadium. Off the field concerns did not unlduly affect play and many individuals performed exceptionally throughout the season. This success was reflected in the end of season awards, the highlights being:

MLS MVP: #1 Ramon Ramirez
Rookie OTY:#1 Ricardo Clark
Golden Boot:#1 Sergio Galvan Rey, #3 Dwight Pezzarossi
Goal OTY:#1 Dwight Pezzarossi

as well as 3 players in the All-MLS squad - Clark, Ramirez and SGR.

Even Coach Clark was recognised for his efforts, polling second in the Manager of the Year award behind Russ(Grom) at Chicago.

Clark has added some new, and some familiar faces to the squad for 2005. Out went Pablo Brenes who did not do enough to justify his TI slot. Chris Roner left for DC as a free agent and in came old boy Jeff Agoos, Uruguay international Polonnini (?) and Belgian sensation Vandenborre. The young European picked SJ despite overtures from super clubs from Italy and Spain after he walked away from his club Anderlecht as a free agent. Tne 17 y/o seems to have the footballing world at his feet and it will be interesting to see how he progresses this year and next.

Clark still has a bag load of picks in next months Superdraft and is expected to look for a young striker and a help all across the back when he makes his 4 picks in the first 2 rounds.

Money is still tight at Spartan and Clark confirmed that two big names had been tentatively placed on the transfer block in order to try and raise some funds. "It's true, if we get a good cash offer for Pablo or Dwight [from abroad] we will not stand in their way. They're both big earners eating up a lot of cap space and their transfer fees could keep this club aflot for years to come. I'd also have some money to play wih in the transfer market - I still need an AML after all."

Dwight Pezzarossi will be taking up an SI spot this season after turning 25 last season. The arrival of the 22y/o Uruguay phenom makes him surplus to requirements, a little harsh some would say on the 14 goal (#3 in MLS) scorer, who also notched the Goal of the Season against DC. "If he doesn't leave I wont be unhappy, but he has aspirations to return to Europe and prove some doubters wrong. We wont hold him back if the deal works for us".

So, all is rosey in the SJ camp but defence and wingers remain Clark's top priority for the off-season.

On the Block:

The following players, though considered valuable to the 1st team are not untouchable should the right deal come alonghe Block:

Todd Dunivant
Craig Waibel
Richard Mulrooney
Dwight Pezzarossi (75% cash only)
Pablo Mastroeni (99% cash only)
Ali Curtis

Open to Deals:
Drew Moor
Khari Stephenson
C.J Klass
Wolde Harris
Tighe Dombrowski

[retired_mallory08]

Boss to Press: Nobody is untouchable

A remarkably mild-tempered apparently sedated Nick Gutierrez stood before the Gillette Stadium crowd and, talking about his offseason, said simply that nobody is untouchable. "Naturally, there are a couple of players that I'm planning to base my season around, but there is nobody that I wouldn't trade should the right offer come our way."

He's already come a long way towards reshaping an anemic attacking corps, trading talented but struggling Taylor Twellman along with a 4th round pick in the next draft to Dallas for Clint Mathis and a 5th rounder, and bringing in Andy Herrón from Chicago for Shalrie Joseph. "I don't put much stock in experience, usually, but there's something to be said for having a player good enough to rack up double-digit appearances for the US National Team. Clint has done that, and he's a clinical finisher who maybe just needed a change, and I think he'll thrive next season."

These moves, of course, leave the future of Pat Noonan up for speculation, but Gutierrez will say only that Noonan's spot in the first team has not necessarily been lost. "Pat is a talented player, and when you have a player like him, you find a position for him. If you can't find one, you create one, and if that's... what... we have to do... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... huh? Oh, right... then that's what we'll do. Now if you'll excuse me," he said with a yawn, "I need to take a nap."

After the nap, he was asked his thoughts on his side's victory in the US Open Cup. "It's not the trophy we wanted, but we'll take it. Any winning experience is a good one, and hopefully it won't be anywhere near the last for this club under my control."

[retired_mallory08]

Huh no away goals rule!!

The Fire vs. DC was an epic series. In the first leg Chicago used a newly devised defensive counter attacking system, which worked like a charm. Peguero converted a dubious penalty and Boucicaut converted a free kick from 25 yards out. At the halftime interval we were 2-0 up, but that success came with the loss of rookie of the candidate Justin Mapp but Ralph replaced him. The physio sent Justin to hospital because it was a severe injury, it was later revealed that it was a torn groin and he was lost for the playoffs. DC finally adjusted to us in the last 10 minutes and earned a vital goal. The second leg was different at Soldier Field, DC got off to an early lead from Figueroa. I thought Armas was tightly marking him hmmmm…..DC really controlled the second leg and the second half, but we were happy defend since we had them on the away goals rule. The match ended 0-1 and 2-2 on aggregate and we started to celebrate but the ref had other ideas. So it went to extra time and both sides had chances to win it. Ralph got sent off for dissent 2 yellow cards in a minute at the 118 mark. So it went to spot kicks, and both teams found it difficult to beat Rimando and Thornton. The first six were saved and both managers were feeling uneasy and stressed. Yet, when our vets stepped up they came through Armas and Dayak and we won the shootout 2-1.

At Crew Stadium we decided to use the same tactic sit back and counter, and it worked. Jim Curtin rose and headed us in front off a corner after 7 minutes. Then on 18 minutes Andrew Williams finished off a well worked move down the right, and we were 2 goals to the good. The Crew couldn’t over come the deficit and the Fire were heading to the Final.

The Final was going to be very tough against LA, in their own back yard at the Home Depot Centre. We started well; Peguero beat the offside trap and latch on to an AFC Wimbledon style long ball and fired us ahead. After that brief moment of glory LA took over and we struggled. The better team won, and congrats to Tom.

We moved in for the Metro’s star playmaker Amado Guevara and we gave up Logan Pause, Peguero, and Campano and we also their 5fth rd pick. A nice deal for us but I hated to part with Pause since he’s a Vinnie Jones in the making.

Then we moved Andy Herron to New England for Shalrie Joseph and we swapped 5fth and 4th rd picks. We added another D/DM C which is a versatile in our formation and gives us depth at DC and DM.

We weren’t finished their. We traded our #1 defender (CJ Brown) to arch rival DC along with Marsch for AML Gakhokidze and DMC Suarez. A deal that was done to accommodate the young Norse centre half coming in.

Grom was the manager year an award that was graciously accepted and dedicated to Dr. Preen. Thx J!!

[retired_mallory08]

DC United get knocked out and look forward to next season

United faced Chicago Fire in for the two legged Eastern Conference semi final. The matchup was decided virtually within 9 minutes as a very questionable penalty call was awarded to Andrew Williams after Hashim Suarez was judged to have pushed Williams in the box. Replays of the incident showed that there was minimal contact and despite the United players' discontent, the refree had already made up his mind. Raph converted and put the Fire ahead by one.

While United pushed forward , Chicago chose to sit back. United defense was able to contain the sparse Chicago attacks but three minutes after the half, yet another questionable call by the refree awarded a free kick 25 yards from goal. The kick taken by Alexandre Boucicaut curled around the wall and found its way into the net and put Chicago up by two at RFK stadium.

United pushed to get a goal, but were able to find very few chances until a Chicago corner was skilfully cleared by Hashim Suarez towards Carlos Fernando Figueroa on the right who caught the defense napping with a 55 glorious yard pass to Freddy Adu who managed to get past the last defender. His shot was parried by Zach Thornton but the ball fell in front of substitute Alecko Eskandarian who did not miss the wide open net.

More than the score, United were sad to lose Marco Dinjar as he went down injured 7 minutes before time after colliding with Andrew Williams and he would miss the return leg in Chicago.

On the return leg, Chicago employed a similar defensive tactic looking to hit United on the counter. This time United were prepared and got the goal they needed to tie the affair 15 minutes after the start. A neat passing move by Joshua Gros and Ben Olsen, Fernando Carlos Figueroa received the ball unmarked and one on one with Zach Thornton and did not miss.

For the rest of the match Chicago kept defending and United attacked persistently outshooting and outplaying the Fire in their own stadium. Without Marco Dinjar, United found it difficult to clinch the winner in regular or extra time which sent the match into penalties. Just what the Fire had been hoping for since the 15th minute of the match.

Despite extra penalty taking training in the days prior to the match, United were able to convert only one of 5 tries and Chicago edged United in the penalty shootout by one goal.

With the season over and Los Angeles crowned MLS champions. United continued their rebuilding effort. Several players left the team to pursue their careers elsewhere in the MLS. Joshua Gros, Oktay Derelioglu, Georgi Gakhokidze, Hashim Suarez, Brandon Prideaux, Ezra Hendrickson and Jamil Walker were released or traded in the offseason, to acquire the services of Chicago Fire defender C.J. Brown and defensive midfielder Jesse Marsch, Chris Roner from San Jose, young defender Matt Denecour, speed merchant Jeremiah White, strikers Stoyko Sakaliev of Bulgaria and Pietro Alva of Peru, and 21 year old flamboyant left winger Ivan Robelto from Colombia.

The MLS superdraft was also fruitful for DC United as they made good use of their two first round picks to snap up 16 year old right winger Tom Keevan, talented defender Mike Jackson, and hardworking midfielder Mike Schimdt. United also added full back Mike Davis in the supplementary draft who was suprisingly left unprotected by Los Angeles after being picked in the third round of the MLS superdraft only a few weeks before. It is still unknown how much first team action these players will see this year, but United manager is confident that they will prove to be useful players to the team in the years to come.

The United squad now has 27 players on the books and the manager faces a tough decision who to leave out of the 24 man roster for the season. It is rumored that underachieving Santino Quaranta and Bryan Namoff will not make the 24 man squad.

United appear to finally have squad depth in all areas especially up front after adding much needed pace to the strikeforce. Returning midfielders Carlos Fernando Figueroa and Marko Dinjar are likely to feature in heavily with fan favorites Dema Kovalenko and Ben Olsen also set to have another season at D.C. Ivan Robelto comes highly recommended and should see some action on the left wing with the departure of the disappointing Georgi Gakhokidze. In defense, Russell Hutchinson is set to move to the right side and C.J. Brown will pair up with Mike Petke in the centre. Leonardo Gonzalez will have another season at left back after impressing in his first season in the MLS. Goalkeeper of the year Runner up Nick Rimando will once again stand between the posts. Squad players Troy Perkins, Chris Roner, David Stokes, Matt Denecour, Jesse Marsch, Alecko Eskandarian, Jeremiah White and John Wolyniec will compete for places in the first eleven with prospects Mike Jackson, Mike Schmidt, Tom Keevan and Freddy Adu.

With the board once again pleased with the manager's performance, United fans are eagerly looking forward to the start of the season and watch a much stronger team.

[retired_mallory08]

FUTURE BIG TIME STAR?

We have entered the new calendar year, as every team is preparing for yet another MLS season, the 10th in MLS history.

With the first kick just about a month away; and the superdraft and the supplemental draft have taken place, coach Lung of the Metrostars said his roster is set for the new season, and any deals that may happen in the near future will not be any major one.

During the Combine, coach Lung had looked at a lot of talents that were available at the draft. At the actual draft, Lung had come up with his final 3 of Hauser, Keevan, Greer. Lung decide to go with Paul Hauser, the other two were drafted later in the first round by DC and SJ respectively. Paul Hauser, a 21 years old striker, scored 3 times in the 3-game Combine tournament, he will add depth to the front line, he definitely will get some playing time throughout the season.

We will see if Lung had made the right choice of picking Paul Hauser as the number one overall pick in the draft.