Our weekly, sometimes offbeat, look at the best and worst of the week's MLS action. We took your suggestions on board and either embedded videos of our best/worst selections or included links.
Again, a busy week meant we just round to finishing watching the games now, so what did week 8 of the 2013 season throw up for us?
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<b><u>Games This Week:</u></b>
The week kicked off early with what on paper looked like a tasty match up as NEW YORK hosted KANSAS CITY. And it didn't let us down. A very entertaining games, with lots of action from both sides, especially in the first half. It felt like you were watching two of the better teams in MLS right now, no matter what the standings might say. New York came back down to earth with a bump though after their back to back wins and KC's clean sheet streak continued till the weekend. Shame the talking point from this great game was Juninho's stupid sending off. Dax McCarty was lucky not to see red earlier for a horrible tackle on KC's Uri Rosell, that saw him only pick up a yellow. New York had their chances and just couldn't convert them yet again. Graham Zusi was excellent for Kansas, but Aurelien Collin was outstanding for them. A few vital last ditch tackles at the back and the match winning goal with a bullet of a header. Oh what we could give to have him, or someone like him, in the Whitecaps defence right now.
The weekend's action started in chilly TORONTO. It looked like it was going to be a cracker when HOUSTON almost capitalised on some sloppy Toronto defending in the opening seconds and then Robert Earnshaw soon crashed a shot off the crossbar soon after. Apart from another Earnshaw shot that ended up in the side netting, that was about it for the first half as the Dynamo gave another away showing on a par with their dismal display in Portland recently. How TFC ended up coming out of this game with just a point I do not know. Deservedly one goal up, to a Houston side putting in another fairly poor away performance and down to ten men. I thought Earnshaw had another good game, but then it all went wrong late on in the game once again on a goal that they should never have given up. I have to admit, there were a lot of snickers.
And talking of a lot of snickers, someone who looks like he's had his fair share of them over the years is Sigi Schmid, and his Flounders got their first league win of the season, spoiling our enjoyment of the 2013 MLS season even further. So it's not just the Caps doing that. There were spells in the game where it was looking like it was all starting to finally come together for SEATTLE. Most of those were in the first half. Then there were other times in the game where they looked dreadful. They were lucky to come away from COLORADO with all three points in the end. The Rapids had their chances but missing Buddle and Brown really seemed to cost them. You're not going to get back into matches with Atiba Harris up front! They hit the bar and the post in the second half, with Seattle hitting the bar in the first. Disappointing that all the winless in Seattle gags now have to stop, but even more disappointing is that they are now only three points behind Vancouver and you can't imagine it staying like that for too much longer.
The NEW YORK - NEW ENGLAND game was obviously going to have a shadow cast over it by what had gone on in Boston. It finished 4-1 to New York, but it was never a game of that scoreline. New England played well and had their chances but after weeks of creating chances and not taking them themselves, New York finally clicked and the goals game. And some nice teamwork on display with a few of them as well. Probably the best opening eight minutes you'll see in any MLS match this season. Three goals and the first half was ebbing and flowing. An enjoyable game. The East certainly seems to be throwing them up so far this season.
There's going to be enough about the DALLAS - VANCOUVER game elsewhere here, so let's just say that Vancouver players were so poor that they're now auditioning for parts in Oliver. Dallas didn't have to pick a pocket or two as the Caps did little to help their own cause. The Hoops certainly look like the real deal for now. There will be the inevitable blip, but they look a good bet for the playoffs already. As we keep saying, you don't win a spot in the playoffs by the end of April, but you can certainly do a lot to lose one. So many questions came out of that game. The burning one for me was does the 'DF' on Ferreira's armband stand for 'diving fuck'? My other burning question is why did my question to Nigel Reo-Coker about diving Dallas get sooooo much airplay this week? Did no-one else ask any decent questions for the entire week?! The complete laughing nuance of it was lost in plain text form.
CHICAGO and COLUMBUS served up some nice football. The Crew came out all guns blazing and it looked like they'd grab an early goal or two. They did have the ball in the net but it was offside. Then the Fire started to take over, the Crew faded and their keeper Andy Gruenebaum had to be at his best to keep the Fire at bay. He produced a couple of top saves and then just when you thought he'd saved them a point the Fire won it late on. Good action from one of those games you just didn't really fancy when you looked at the schedule. Not sure why this always surprises me as it's happened a lot this season.
And talking of surprises, CHIVAS have done that to many but is their star starting to fade? They played some nice stuff in an entertaining game against SALT LAKE, even missing a penalty and coming within inches of going in to half time with a lead. Then RSL stepped it up a gear, scored the go ahead goal and Chivas got a little down and dirty (can't wait for hopefully a kickfest against San Jose next weekend!). People will see the 1-0 win to RSL and think that Chivas have resorted to their old selves, but they certainly showed that there's still a lot of life in these dogs yet (insert Chihuahua joke here). All that said, RSL had most of the game. They hit the bar twice and Dan Kennedy was a busy lad, as you always expect with that Chivas defence in front of him, and could and should have come away with a three goal win or more. From what I've seen in the last few games, RSL are starting to click with their new line up and that can only be bad news for the Caps.
LOS ANGELES and KANSAS CITY was a game I had high hopes for but was left a little bit disappointed. This is the match up I've predicted to be this year's MLS Cup game. If it is, then I hope it's better than this one! You can't help but wonder how different this might have been if KC hadn't played midweek. LA won by two, it could and should have been more, but at least KC played a bit of attacking football. You got the feeling early on though that they would have been happy to get just a point. LA are a whiny shower and apparently soft as shite. AJ DeLaGarza being the latest of their moaning minnies (bound to be some new Disney tie in for the team there). Amazingly quick recovery from his debilitating throat injury.
Two games on Sunday and they started with the "two places I really have no desire to go to" derby between PHILADELPHIA and DC. Wasn't exactly another match I was salivating at the prospect of watching but turned out to be a really good game. Five goals, with Philly coming out all guns blazing then disappearing for spells of the game. DC just can't get out of the rut right now despite, as we keep saying, playing some nice football along the way. Philly's third goal though was another example of why I was yearning for a long throw expert to come into the Caps for this season. Still feel it's an attacking option we could exploit and use well in this league. Not pretty, but then neither is Wayne Rooney and he gets goals.
Week 8 wrapped up with the rematch between SAN JOSE and PORTLAND. After last week's feisty affair, you wondered what would lie in store this week or would it be a bit of a let down. Was a good game, with all the talking points for actual footballing reasons this time. Kind of missed the sparks of last week though. Just when it looked like the great unwashed were going to pull off back to back victories, San Jose pulled another late, late show and grabbed a point. Amazing the Caps didn't cave in to those that stoppage time onslaught when you look back. When you have that it's never over till it's over attitude, you can't go wrong. "There's Still Time" should actually be the name of a San Jose podcast and not our Caps one.
The draw was good for Vancouver at least. Let's just keep everyone around us together right now till we actually get our own shit sorted out and have a settled team that can actually play well together.
The weekend's results see Vancouver slip to 7th. Three points off bottom and three points off second top. If we can experiment with our players, play badly and still keep in the mix, then at least that's something. Got to make those home games count though and next Saturday is a biggie.
<b><u>Outfield Player of the Week:</u></b>
So does scoring two goals just guarantee you the official 'player of the week award'? Seems like it!
One performance that seems to have been overlooked, probably because it happened last week and was obviously so long ago that people had forgotten about it, was that of Sporting KC's AURELIEN COLLIN against New York last Wednesday.
Even taking his excellent bullet header winner out of the equation, he was a beast at the back, stopping New York time and again. And although his team lost in LA on Saturday, he did well there too.
<b><u>Goalkeeper of the Week:</u></b>
No amazing standouts this week, but some good performances none the less. If Joe Cannon's plethora of saves had managed to grab the Caps a point, I'd have given him the nod. Single handedly keeping Vancouver in the game wasn't enough. Columbus' Andy Gruenebaum came close too. Some strong saves in there against Chicago, but again, he was ultimately on the losing side.
Portland's DONOVAN RICKETTS came up big though this week, with a couple of important stops and stood firm under San Jose pressure. You couldn't pin the late equaliser on him, but he certainly helped Portland leave with a point. Both Ricketts and Rimando made five saves, and sure Rimando was a winner, but Ricketts made the harder stops.
<b><u>Goal of the Week:</u></b>
I liked the patient build up play with Dax McCarty's opening goal for New York against New England. Good finish too.
I'm keeping this week's award in Canada and going with JEREMY HALL's sweet strike against Houston. What tipped this for me was the lovely footwork shown by hall to set up his volley.
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<b><u>Save of the Week:</u></b>
Colorado's Clint Irwin and Columbus Crew's Andy Gruenebaum both came up with big saves, but they didn't help their team get any points. RSL's Nick Rimando made a great penalty save, but for the strength shown to also turn this ball over, we're giving this week's award to Portland's DONOVAN RICKETTS for his save off a Chris Wondolowski shot.
(WATCH: http://p.mlssoccer.com/SAu5a/video/1696974/mls_2013-04-21-233714.640hq.mp4)
<b><u>The Please Shut Up Moment of the Week:</u></b>
I hate, hate, hate some of the commentators we get on MLS Live. They actually make you appreciate our own Craig MacEwen a bit more, so they must be bad. One of my real pet peeves is them referring to the players as if they were commentating on their friends and family playing. San Jose's Comcast Sportsnet guys at the Portland game were horrible. Lenny? Really? Over and over and over. May or may not have been as bad as some of the others going with first names only, but they haven't made me want to grab a clown's wig and ram it down their throats whilst screaming "Say Lenny now. I dare ya". Not yet anyway. There's still time.
<b><u>The WTF Moment of the Week:</u></b>
What was that San Jose Ultra's banner behind the goal all about? "If you played in heaven we would die to support you". Um, ok then. Now I love my football. I love my teams. I'm not prepared to die for them. My dog sure, and of course my wife, but not my football team. I get the sentiment but they don't need to concern themselves with that. Having Lenhart and Gordon on their team they'd surely be playing in hell anyway.
<b><u>Fud of the Week:</u></b>
What positive thing can you say about New York's JUNINHO's sending off for kicking the ball at Jimmy Neilsen? Only thing I can think of is that it wasn't the most ridiculous thing we've seen on a football pitch in this last week. What was he thinking? Why would you even try to blooter the only ball on the pitch out of the park when you're a goal down and into stoppage time? Apart from wasting what little valuable time was left for his team, they're now without him for two matches. Was that too lenient? Should it have been three or four? I think the fact that he missed the madcap keeper's head saw him let off so lightly, but I would have gone for three. Fud.
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<b><u>Tackle of the Week:</u></b>
I loved Portland's FUTTY DANSO's scissor kick on Steven Lenhart towards the end of the first half in San Jose. Sure it wasn't anything special and sure it got him a booking, but it was on Lenhart and it looked like it hurt. Lip up Futty.
(WATCH: http://p.mlssoccer.com/SAu5a/video/1696992/mls_2013-04-22-000132.640hq.mp4)
<b><u>Stat Attack:</u></b>
After Week 8 - 68 games
<b>Total goals in week</b> - 22 (141 this season)
<b>Average goals per game</b> - 2.2 (2.07 ave this season)
<b>Highest scoring team</b> - New York Red Bulls (4 v New England)
<b>Biggest win this season</b> - LA 4-0 v Chicago (2/3/13)
<b>Goals scored by feet</b> - 15
<b>Goals by headers</b> - 6
<b>Goals scored by other body parts!</b> - 1
<b>Goals inside box</b> - 20
<b>Goals inside six yard box</b> - 4
<b>Goals outside box</b> - 2
<b>Penalties awarded</b> - 1, not scored (16 this season)
<b>Clean sheets</b> - 6 (37 this season)
<b>Sending offs</b> - 3 (10 this season)
<b>Bookings</b> - 32 (201 this season)
<b>Total attendance this week</b> - 149,237 (1,179,550 total for season)
<b>Average attendance this week</b> - 14,924 (17,346 average for season)
<b>Highest attendance this week</b> - 25,908 Los Angeles v Sporting KC
<b>Highest attendance this season</b> - 40,150 Seattle v Portland (16/3/13)
<b>Lowest attendance this week</b> - 10,525 San Jose v Portland
<b>Lowest attendance this season</b> - 7,121 Chivas v Columbus (2/3/13)
<b><u>Fantasy Football Highs and Lows (after Week 8):</u></b>
We haven't had a chance to update these fully yet, so check back later!
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