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    Michael Crampton
    First, some history.
    Here’s the amount of points the lowest placed team in the playoffs has earned in the last 3 seasons (that’s the length of time the league has employed a 34 game schedule, and admitted 10 teams, rather than 8, into the MLS Cup Playoffs.): 46, 43, 49. Not a single 50 point season there.
    On the other hand, here’s the point total of the highest placed team that didn’t make the playoffs in that same period: 43, 52, 51. So, apparently paradoxically, you don’t need 50 points to make the playoffs, but 50 points doesn’t even regularly guarantee that you will make the playoffs.
    The reason, which should be obvious, is the impact that MLS’s conference based playoff qualification has on that constantly moving target. Everyone knows that, but somehow seem to ignore it.
    50 points is a reasonable objective for any MLS team at the start of the season before the strength of each conference can really be determined. Even a mediocre team can achieve that and, in most years in each conference, it means you’ll be competitive for the playoffs even if you’re unlucky enough to miss.
    But now, with less than a third of the MLS season remaining, 50 points isn’t a meaningful threshold, it’s actually distracting.
    It seems obvious, but to make the playoffs you only need 1 more point (or a better goal difference) than the team that finishes 6th in your conference. Again, let’s look at that number over the last three years:
    East: 44, 53, 50
    West: 43, 40, 52
    In the past three years, half the time, you did not need 50 points to make the playoffs. It’s just as common to need less than 45 points as it is to need more than 50 points.
    In 2014, in MLS’s Eastern Conference, you will not need 50 points to make the playoffs. It’s just not possible, and anyone who takes the time to take the barest look at the standings should see that immediately.
    Currently, below Toronto FC’s current position of third in the conference, there are 4 teams with a better than longshot chance of playoff qualification: Columbus, New York, New England, and Philadelphia. Houston or Chicago could – emphasis on “could” – drag themselves into that group, but until either of them go on a 3 or 4 game winning run, they’re very unlikely to be in a position to finish ahead of Toronto FC.
    So, realistically, for Toronto FC to miss the playoffs, 3 of the 4 teams immediately below them would have to overtake them in the standings.
    Here’s what it will take for each of those teams to reach the 49 point threshold that would move the line for playoff qualification up to 50 points:
    Columbus: 33 points, 9 games remaining, requires 1.78 PPG to reach 49 points.
    New York: 31 points, 10 games remaining, requires 1.80 PPG to reach 49 points.
    New England: 30 points, 10 games remaining, requires 1.90 PPG to reach 49 points.
    Philadelphia: 30 points, 9 games remaining, requires 2.11 PPG to reach 49 points.
    For reference, the Seattle Sounders, the current leaders in the Supporter’s Shield standings, have a PPG of 1.88. Over a short burst of four, five, maybe even six or seven games, it’s possible that any, or even all, of the teams chasing TFC could maintain that pace. But not over 9 or 10 games.
    One team? Yes, it’s possible, maybe even probable, that one of those teams could maintain a 1.88 PPG. Two? Not impossible, but very unlikely. Three? Three of four mid-table teams will all suddenly transform into Shield contender calibre and maintain a PPG higher than the current Shield leaders? No, that’s just not possible and is not going to happen.
    And it’s not like the teams mentioned above won’t be playing each other. While it’s obvious that TFC can’t afford to lose both of their upcoming games against Philadelphia, it’s easy to miss that over the next two months Columbus will play New England twice, New York once, and Philadelphia twice. That’s in addition to a couple of other games between New England, New York, and Philadelphia as well. None of those matches can end with 3 points for both sides; if they draw, it’s only 1 point apiece and a knock to both sides' chance of keeping anything like a 1.88 PPG.
    So it won’t take 50 points to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. Of that, we can be fairly certain.
    Now, none of that is to say that TFC are anything like a certainty to make the playoffs. If they collapse, and take anything less than 10 points from their final 11 games, TFC fans will probably not be watching their team in November, even in a single away game.
    10 points though? That’s 2W-4D-5L or 3W-1D-7L. Even those records would see Toronto reach 43 points, which might just be enough to sneak-in in 5th place, however unlikely.
    13 points? 3W-4D-4L or 4W-1D-6L. That’s still not even a winning record over their last 11 and would see TFC up to 46 points. It would probably be a tense final couple weeks, but it’s a total they’d be very unlucky to miss the playoffs with the way things are shaping up.
    And what if TFC actually manage 16 points from their next 11 games and reach the 49 point threshold? 4W-4D-3L or 5W-1D-5L? That wouldn’t just be enough to see TFC into the playoffs for the first time ever, it would almost certainly have them at least hosting the play-in game, if not still safely ensconced in 3rd or even possibly challenging for 2nd.
    50 points? It’s a nice goal. It might even be achievable. But it’s not going to be necessary, and fretting over the next few months because you think that’s what TFC “needs” is actually just needless.
    Michael Crampton
    Toronto have relied on all three throughout the season but, surprisingly, maybe none more so than Justin Morrow. Morrow has been amongst the most reliable and consistent Reds and currently leads the team in minutes played. At 1957 minutes, Morrow has been on the field just over 30% more than any other player.
    Canadian Ashtone Morgan is the natural replacement at left fullback but had been left out of the game day squad for the Chicago game and thus missed an opportunity to fill in. Still seemingly well out of favour with head coach Ryan Nelsen, and with a week to prepare, it seems more likely that, as against Chicago, right-back Mark Bloom will move over in Morrow’s absence.
    The Jackson experiment at right-back has to be well and truly over after his degree of culpability on both goals against Chicago. Unless Warren Creavalle is ready to return from the injury that kept him out of the last two games and reclaim the position, that probably means that Nick Hagglund will move out from centre-back as he did on occasion earlier in the season, with Bradley Orr taking his place in central defence.
    While talk of injuries dominated the week in Toronto, the Revolution made news that sent shockwaves of surprise throughout the entirety of North American soccer. The league’s quest to retain the services of Jermaine Jones, one of the real stars of the American team at this summer’s World Cup, finally ended with the novelty of a blind draw for the right to his signature. By that device New England ended up with the German-American midfielder instead of the Chicago Fire.
    The method of Jones’ allocation raised eyebrows and, in many cases, scorn, but even more unexpected was Revs’ owner Bob Kraft’s willingness to invest so much money in the team. The Revolution have long felt like a side-project for Kraft existing simply to fill dates at his NFL team’s stadium and prevent encroachment on the New England sports market. One of the only teams in the league still un-updated from their 1996 branding, playing on football lines in the fall, and with next to no presence in their market’s community, the Revs have been the signature “MLS 1.0” team unwilling to make the jump to the league’s post-Beckham reality.
    Whether or not the Jones signing is a one-off, or a signal of intent remains to be seen, but it can’t be denied that the acquisition has bought his team more attention than they’ve enjoyed in a decade. For neutral views around the league, the possibility of Jones facing off against his national team teammate Michael Bradley in midfield Saturday evening, has pushed the Reds versus Revs match-up into one of the most compelling fixtures of the season.
    It matters a great deal in the standing as well. Currently three points back of Toronto entering play, the Revolution sit just outside the final Eastern Conference playoff position. With a win TFC would push away from the emerging danger of falling out of the playoff positions for the first time all season, and close the gap on the wobbling Sporting Kansas City side above them. A win for New England, however, would see them catch Toronto on points. Depending on results elsewhere, Toronto could end the weekend tied with New England for that final playoff position.
    The stakes are high, and will only increase as the season progresses. For the first time in years, Toronto FC is playing meaningful games as summer comes to an end. It will be gut-wrenching, and there is still the chance of an all too traditional crushing failure, but, ultimately, this is what sport is about. These are the games Toronto FC fans wanted their team playing, and a win would be meaningful in a way that has been all too rare in the club’s eight season history.
    Michael Mccoll
    Chivas have been a bit of a bogey team for Vancouver in MLS and Rosales played the role of the bogeyman to perfection this year. The Goats have scored four goals against the Caps this season, three of them in that horrorshow performance at BC Place in July. Rosales provided assists on every one of those four goals. He's a Cap killer.
    "One of the things I noted about him was when we played Chivas and they had a man sent off," O'Brien told reporters this week when asked about Rosales. "His desire and his work ethic and the edge that he's got to him made him stand out in that game.
    "So much so that I checked to see how old he was and was surprised by his age. But that is an important factor and I think they're going to benefit from having him here without a shadow of a doubt."
    The best way to remove a danger is to bring it on to your side. It's perfect warfare tactics. Now Vancouver weren't due to play Chivas any more this season (thankfully), but with three Cascadian derbies still left on the Caps' calendar, bringing in a player that knows what is needed to win these matches was a smart move by Robinson.
    Rosales certainly knows a thing or two about these games and he'll be thrust into one right away with the critical playoff battle against Portland on Saturday evening and having spent three MLS seasons at Seattle, it's hard to imagine him having any love for the Timbers and he's more than ready to be in the heat of Cascadian battle once again.
    "It's one of those games that you always want to be in," Rosales said this week of Cascadia Cup matches. "You always like that passion that the supporters put in. And the trips that the supporters make, to here and Portland and Seattle, has been amazing. Taking supporters in games away. It makes more fun for the players and also the supporters just having the derby teams in their home."
    Rosales played in 13 regular season Cascadia Cup matches in his three years in Seattle and the two playoff games between the Sounders and Timbers last season.
    With two goals and four assists from those games, both goals and half of those assists coming against Vancouver of course, the Whitecaps will be hoping for more of the same in the remaining two games against the Timbers and his return to Seattle in October. For Rosales himself, he'll relish every minute.
    "It is a derby. They're wars," he told reporters this week. "They're everything. It's the game that everybody wants to be there, just to make history. It's a game where we're not just playing the 22 guys on the field, it's playing in the stands. The supporters are also playing in this game.
    "If you have a positive result, it's confidence and all this stuff. I always like to be there because the atmosphere is fantastic and this part of the country, facing Portland and Seattle, has been amazing the last couple of years. As a player it's one of the most enjoyable games that we can have."
    We maybe shouldn't expect too much of Rosales right away. As they always tell us with investment ads, past performance is no guarantee of future ones. We're hyping him up here big time I know. He isn't the second coming or Lionel Messi, true, but he does have what it takes to be a difference maker for this team in conjunction with others. And he's what the Whitecaps have been lacking of late if he performs to his best.
    He is still finding his feet in his new surroundings but all the signs from training this week is that Rosales is settling in with his new teammates pretty quickly and he likes what he sees.
    "Obviously you need time to know each other, to know the players, to know the team," Rosales said. "But we have no time, so I'm just trying to do my best with the challenge."
    "I'm very happy to be here, to be around the guys that have enough quality to be in a good position and play good soccer. It's enjoyable for the supporters, it's enjoyable for the city too. I see this team growing, growing and growing."
    Michael Mccoll
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    Grant
    It’s being held in the U.S.
    For starters, the tournament will be held several thousand kilometers closer to Canada than ever before! UNCAF (the Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol, a sort of a regional sub-organization within Concacaf) announced last year that the tournament would be played in the U.S. "What!" you might shout. A Central American tournament in North America? That’s just crazy. But organizers felt moving the tournament within reach of the millions of Latin American immigrants living in the U.S. -- who presumably have more disposable cash to spend on soccer than their compatriots back home -- would boost both fan interest and revenue. The logic holds up, at least on the balance sheet. The seven participating nations - Belize, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras and El Salvador - will play matches in Dallas, Los Angeles, Houston and Washington, D.C.
    MLSers in action
    Several MLS players are likely to feature at some point in the tournament, including Vancouver Whitecaps Honduran defender Johnny Leveron. Other recognizable names include Roy Miller, Rodney Wallace, Marco Papa, Jaime Penedo, Blas Perez and Gabriel Torres. The cat-and-mouse game of clubs agreeing to release players is messy, given the tournament runs from Sept. 3 to Sept. 13 and the official Fifa match window goes Sept. 1-9. This means clubs are theoretically obligated to provide their players for some, but not all, of the tournament. Some of these MLS players will likely shuttle in and out of their national squads as the event progresses.
    Direct ticket to Copa America
    The winner of this bad boy gets one direct ticket to the 2016 U.S. special edition Copa America. That in of itself is reason to rouse interest in Canada men's national team supporters. The favourites are Costa Rica and Honduras. (It’s a young tournament, started in 1991. Costa Rica has seven titles, Honduras three and Guatemala and Panama one each.) So if say, Costa Rica does win, Canada won’t have to qualify ahead of Los Ticos the 2015 Gold Cup in order to secure its own spot at the Copa America. Conversely, it means Canada would have to get past its nemesis Honduras by whatever method the organizers use to determine the final rankings. Weighing the strength of each squad (in terms of things like whose players are playing at the highest levels in Europe) and factoring in the relative importance each nation would place on being in a Copa America, this author would rather see Canada forced against Honduras with a spot on the line. I know, yay!
    Heavyweights debut new managers, inexperienced sides
    The tournament’s two historical big boys are both managed by different men than the ones who took them to this summer’s World Cup. In Costa Rica’s case it’s more of an interim deal for Paulo Wanchope after the mess that unfolded between Jorge Luis Pinto and the country’s football association in the weeks following Los Ticos epic achievements in Brazil. Honduras is a different situation, their new manager - the earring-wearing Hernan Medford - takes the job after successful club stints across the region. For this tournament, both sides mostly opted for younger, domestic-based players. The Ticos signed on eight players from its Brazil squad, most of whom sat on the bench during the World Cup. Honduras brings just four foreign-based players and only four members of its World Cup squad, with none playing a major role in Brazil. The edge goes to Costa Rica, as its squad will feature Arsenal's Joel Campbell, along with World Cup heroes Óscar Duarte and Celso Borges.
    Panama and El Salvador re-arm
    Both Panama and El Salvador are managed by relatively new appointments. The latter by Spaniard Albert Roca, who is tasked with reinvigorating the country’s football following a matching fixing scandal involving several high-profile players. There aren’t likely to be a ton of recognizable names (and by ton, I mean ‘any’) on the squad, beyond a handful of guys who play in the NASL. (New York Cosmos midfielder Andrés Flores... anyone?) Roca’s preparations for this tournament have been hindered by scheduling clashes with the Concacaf Champions League. Panama, for its part, will mix untested youngsters with national team stalwarts like Blas Perez. The Canaleros are also newly managed by the somewhat volatile Colombian “Bolillo” Gómez. Earlier this month he brought in several players from Panama's recently successful U20 side to the senior team. After getting whipped by Peru in a friendly he told local press that the process of introducing a new playing style "is going to be painful, and the criticism is going to rain down."
    Well, if there's anything Canadian supporters can identify with its pain and criticism. Canada certainly hopes to be involved in a four-team playoff at next summer's Gold Cup to determine who goes to the 2016 Copa America. At least two (if not three) of the sides playing in the Copa Centroamericana would probably join them (Assuming Jamaica wins the upcoming Caribbean Cup and gets its direct Copa America ticket, other possible playoff participants are Haiti, Trinidad or Cuba). However this tournament shakes out, it should offer Canada supporters a glimpse at what to expect when the games finally start to mean something again next summer.
    James Grossi
    Tesho Akindele
    Akindele made his thirteenth-straight start for Dallas in their 2-1 win over Salt Lake on Friday night – it was his fourteenth start and seventeenth appearance of his rookie campaign.
    Taking to the pitch slightly behind Blas Perez who led the line, Akindele was again instrumental in much of the good that Dallas achieved on the night. His best goal-scoring chance came in the 31st minute when he spread out wide right, allowing Andres Escobar to find him with an outlet pass. Akindele would move in-field across the top of the box, eluding defenders, but the chance evaporated before he could settle for a final attempt at goal, settling for a corner kick instead.
    That same sort of energy and work would win Dallas a corner kick in the 50th minute that led to the opening goal – Je-Vaughan Watson bodying in a Michel delivery. The Calgary, Alberta-native would get on the score-sheet, picking up his second assist of the season, on Dallas’ second,
    , who did the rest, surging into space and finishing past Nick Rimando.With Dallas reduced to ten men before half-time, chances to attack were limited, but Akindele did display some excellent control and hold-up play, eating up time and space, giving his defenders a chance to regroup, breathe, and recover some territory – a much-needed skill from a striker in such circumstances.
    He was somewhat unfortunate in the 91st minute, when his effort to aid the defensive requirements saw Olmes Garcia’s consolation overhead-kick bounce off him to beat Raul Fernandez, staining the clean-sheet. But it was of little concern as his Dallas stretch their unbeaten run to ten matches and move alongside Salt Lake to second place in the West, three points behind league leaders Seattle.
    Akindele was a guest on MLSsoccer.com’s Extra Time Radio last Monday, discussing his acclimatization to the professional game, as well as how good he is at Smash Bros and what he would be doing if he were not a footballer – hint, something about large power systems (School of Mines and all).
    There was some disconcerting news for Canadian fans emerging this week; a familiar tale of a potential Canadian international with options of representing other countries keeping their possibilities open.
    The relevant bits: “The Canadian team has contacted FC Dallas and let them know they are interested in me, which is really good. Unfortunately we have some club stuff coming up so I can’t go to the camp they have coming up, but I’m really honored to be contacted by the national team. It feels great.”
    So he won’t be in the September camp, but has been contacted.
    “I am about to get my US citizenship, hopefully within a month or so. I’ve been going through that process. I just kind of want to focus on my development and make sure I am good enough to play for any of those teams.”
    Focusing on club football, understandable, but … sounds eerily familiar.
    Wandrille Lefevre
    Lefevre started a third-straight match for Montreal in their 4-2 loss away to New York on Saturday – it was his eighth start and ninth appearance of the season.
    As the left-sided centre-back, Lefevre was involved in much of the action, struggling to keep a lid on New York’s dynamic attacking duo of Thierry Henry and Bradley Wright-Phillips. He was beat by Wright-Phillips for a header from an early cross, but Montreal keeper Evan Bush bailed him out with a good save, and Lefevre was sharp to clear the danger out for a corner kick. A similar play later saw Wright-Phillips hit the post with his header, but he was whistled for a foul, shoving Lefevre to win the ball. New York’s third goal saw
    , with Henry threading a ball in-behind the centre-back, who was pulled up-field by a drop run from Lloyd Sam.Henry was a handful on the night; he is simply unplayable when he is in the mood. Their first interaction was a collision off the ball that sent Lefevre sprawling and Henry continuing his run; the second would lead to New York’s opening goal. Henry’s alert move allowed him to
    from the left, guiding his header to the far-post.Despite those obvious struggles, Lefevre still racked up six clearances, five recoveries, five interceptions, and a tackle.
    The French-born defender was able to show his wonderful passing skills on occasion, picking out Hassoun Camara with one long, cross-field ball that led to a blocked shot from Callum Mallace and then it was his
    in the 79th minute.Lefevre also started and went the distance in Montreal’s 2-3 win at CD FAS on Wednesday – a match he spoke about (en Francais) with the club’s video team.
    Jonathan Osorio
    Osorio started his fourth-straight match for Toronto FC in their 2-2 draw against Chicago on Saturday – it was his sixteenth start and nineteenth appearance this season.
    From the left-side of the midfield, Osorio
    , deflecting a Justin Morrow cross that looped over Sean Johnson in the third minute. He would display that same vision, picking out Michael Bradley in space atop the Fire box, leading to a chance for Dominic Oduro.The Toronto, Ontario-native got forward well that night, picking his spots – once overlapping on Gilberto to break in alone on goal and cutting onto his right-foot to shoot, but his attempt was deflected wide for a corner kick. Both of his attempted shots were blocked.
    Osorio also put in a good shift on the defensive side of the ball, accumulating nine recoveries, two interceptions, and two clearances, while committing a trio of fouls.
    He
    after practice.Will Johnson
    Johnson started a 25th-straight match for Portland in a losing effort on Sunday, falling 2-4 to Cascadia rivals, Seattle – only Columbus goalkeeper, Steve Clark, has played more minutes than Johnson (2250 to 2249).
    Alongside regular partner, Diego Chara, shielding the back-four from the midfield, Johnson was nowhere to be found on three of the Sounders four goals that afternoon – perhaps an explanation for why Seattle were able to score so freely.
    A recurring theme this season has been how Johnson, when at home, has been given more of a free role to get forward, while on the road he is tasked with staying deep, providing cover for a rickety defense. It is possible that their good run leading into Sunday – winning three of five and drawing another - had obfuscated that they were still defensively vulnerable, despite the addition of solid pro Liam Ridgewell. They had given up seven goals through those five matches.
    Free to get forward, the Toronto-born midfielder played a simple ball wide that led to a Darlington Nagbe chance before making such a strong burst forward himself, eventually finding space to put a curling effort on goal, but Stefan Frei was equal to the task – one of his two shots in the match, the other drifted high.
    And it was a
    , giving some hope to the Timbers, who trailed 1-3 at the time.Defensively, Johnson put in an early lunging challenge that caught DeAndre Yedlin – and was lucky to not see a booking for it – while collecting eight recoveries (five of which were in the opponent’s half), as well as a block and an interception. He would give an earful to defender Norberto Paparotto after the centre-back caught Chad Marshall with a stray arm on an aerial challenge.
    Doneil Henry
    Henry began TFC’s match against Chicago on the bench, but was called into action after 22 minutes to make just his second substitute’s appearance of 2014, when Steven Caldwell’s recurrent injury forced off the Toronto captain – it was his sixteenth appearance of the season.
    Taking up the left-side of the centre-back tandem, alongside Nick Hagglund, Henry adapted well to the match, recovering on a Quincy Amarikwa break to force the Chicago forward wide before preventing the striker from getting a good shot on goal.
    The Brampton, Ontario-native was again a threat on set-pieces, getting on the end of a Collen Warner free-kick at the start of the second half, but his header went wide of the near-post. And it was his
    in the 79th minute.Henry would collect two such blocks, as well as five recoveries and three tackles on the night. After a rough outing last weekend in Kansas City, Henry could not be said to be at fault for either of Chicago’s goal – that blame lay elsewhere.
    He
    prior to the match.Russell Teibert
    Teibert started a second-consecutive match for the first time since April on Saturday, as Vancouver fell 2-0 at Los Angeles – it was his twelfth start and nineteenth appearance of the season.
    Playing alongside Mehdi Ballouchy in a new defensive midfield pairing, Teibert was rambunctious in his energy, reacquainting himself with Robbie Keane with an early foul, getting in a hard challenge after just minutes; reminiscent of the last meeting when Teibert got under the skin of the Irishman with a few hard tackles.
    Keane would seek his revenge, twisting up Teibert near the corner flag to get in a cross after a few turns, and having a hand in both LA goals, including the second from Marcelo Sarvas, who was
    , allowing the Galaxy player to finish Keane’s miss-hit shot.Those momentary lapses plagued the entire Vancouver side that night, far too often giving LA time and space to make plays – Teibert was one of many players who were guilty of giving Landon Donovan a clear move to goal to get off a shot; luckily Donovan went wide of the target. One never wants to run around like a chicken with their head cut off, but recognizing when to protect space and when to pressure the ball is one of the tasks that the transition from a speedy attacking winger to a box-to-box midfielder will require of Teibert.
    Never afraid of mixing it up, the Niagara Falls, Ontario-native would take a hand to the face from Sarvas on one interaction that saw the Galaxy midfielder yellow carded – more for persistent infringement than that particular trespass. And it was good fun to see Teibert remonstrating with the referee after Johnny Leveron was red-carded – never going to change his mind, but that the Canadian is taking up a vocal role on the pitch is encouraging for his prospects as a leader.
    His passing on the night was superb, misplacing just six of many, but he rarely got forward with Vancouver under pressure for large stretches of the match. He contributed six recoveries, two clearances, two blocks, and a tackle as well.
    Teibert
    with some youth teams back in July.Maxim Tissot
    Tissot appearance from the bench for Montreal in a third-straight match, replacing Ignacio Piatti in the 69th minute – it was his thirteenth appearance, all bar five from the bench.
    Similarly, the Gatineau, Quebec-native entered Montreal’s match in El Salvador as a substitute. He was the subject of a feature interview with the Impact site, speaking about how he got into soccer in the first place.
    Anthony Jackson-Hamel
    Jackson-Hamel made his third-appearance of the season for Montreal in the waning minutes against New York, replacing Krzysztof Krol in the 81st minute with the Impact trailing by goal. The Red Bulls would seal the result shortly thereafter.
    All three of the recently-signed, Quebec City, Quebec-native’s appearances have come from the bench.
    The Rest
    Kyle Bekker, Karl Ouimette, Patrice Bernier, Issey Nakajima-Farran, Nana Attakora, Kofi Opare, and Sam Adekugbe were all unused substitutes on the bench for their respective sides.
    Karl Ouimette and Patrice Bernier both featured in Montreal’s midweek win, 2-3 away to CD FAS, in the Champions League. Ouimette would concede a penalty kick in the 51st minute, sticking a boot in on a FAS attacker.

    – it’s all about location in Vancouver.All video and quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
    Each week James takes a look at the contributions of Canadians in the league and the league as a whole.
    You can follow James on twitter @grawsee or read more of his writing at Partially Obstructed View
    Guest

    Emotional Ramblings: Be Reasonable

    By Guest, in AFTN,

    Yet, after the game there was plenty of hand wringing and belly aching over the state of the Vancouver Whitecaps. There was plenty of blame thrown around. Teibert, Ballouchy, Fernandez, Manneh, Mattocks, and Beitashour, Carl Robinson, and even the "Committee" were all the subject of hefty criticism after the match.
    Let’s be clear.
    Beitashour was not good. His crosses all ended up straight to Galaxy keeper Jaime Pineda, he allowed far too much space for Landon Donovan to operate, and he was caught ball watching on a couple occasions, including on the first goal.


    Fernandez was invisible or worse; absent when required, and useless when active with the ball.
    Mattocks, while active, was completely out of touch with everyone on the pitch. His runs were terrible. His decision making was even worse than normal, which is average at best.
    But really, what did you expect? The Whitecaps are a decent team this year. Clearly, better than the last couple of years. We’re competitive in almost every game, home or away. Draws away from home are now a disappointment, and losses at home are a travesty. A couple years ago we were pleased by an away loss that wasn’t a complete embarrassment.
    But they aren’t the LA Galaxy.
    The Galaxy are a squad that have won multiple MLS Cups. They have the most prolific attacking player the league has ever seen in Landon Donovan, and one of the best, most intelligent poachers in Robbie Keane. They have bent rules to be able to sign quality players like Juninho, and have a strong academy to bring in difference makers like Zardes. And not only that, but we were playing them in their own ground while they were hot, and we were not.
    And you are all surprised we lost? Get a grip.
    There are things we can glean from a game like this, at a point in the season like this. I think it’s safe to say we need a complete overhaul up top. I was willing to give Mattocks a chance, but I’m not sure it’ll ever work out with him. Hurtado still feels less like a striker or a winger, and more like a running back. And Salgado’s attitude might be the real inhibitor between his unbelievable physical abilities and becoming a legitimate footballer. Manneh may still be able to become a true difference maker, but he has plenty to learn and is still young.
    Yet I even saw some people blaming the "Committee". Have you all gone out of your gourd?
    Since Robinson was appointed, there has been an almost unanimous approval of every move that has been made. Sure, some selections or substitutions have been a bit off, but everything has been justifiable given what Robinson is trying to do.
    The Reo-Coker for Rosales move was shrewd. We got rid of something of no value and exchanged it for something of value. Laba, Morales, Beitashour, Fernandez. All the main acquisitions during the offseason have been critical to the any of the success the Whitecaps have had.
    So why are we so upset?
    Seattle, Real Salt Lake, and Los Angeles would all run away with the Eastern Conference. Dallas, Vancouver, Portland, or even Colorado would be pushing for a top 2 finish.
    Vancouver Whitecaps are not MLS Cup contenders. This is clear. They need a striker or two in the off season. Maybe a winger, and some depth at fullback. Robinson may not have even found the exact elixir when it comes to tactics. But if you can’t tell that today’s Whitecaps are significantly better than the last couple years, you and I are watching different things.
    I was disappointed by the game in L.A. I am saddened with the lack of tenacity shown in the final third in the last couple months. I think there needs to be some significant changes to this team to make it a contender next year, but please, dear god, stop the chicken little routine.
    The Whitecaps are not yet the Galaxy, but they certainly are moving in the right direction.
    Aaron Campbell
    STARTING XI
    11 - Mehdi Ballouchy
    His performance was just as bad as his other start in RSL. Was a step behind the Galaxy players all game long.
    10 - Steven Beitashour
    Got caught calling for an offside on the first goal. He was out of position and hoping the assistant referee would bail him out. He needs to step up his game.
    9 - Sebastian Fernandez
    Was invisible the first half before he got subbed off for Mauro Rosales. Once Rosales gets more comfortable in a Caps kit the minutes for Fernandez might get more and more slim.
    8 - Darren Mattocks
    After the second goal he just appeared to have given up trying. He had his hands on his hips and didn't run at the defence. You can see the frustration from the beginning of the season coming back.
    7 - Andy O'Brien
    Overall an average game. Confusion in the box led to both Galaxy goals. With the Johnny Leveron red card he may get the start with Kendall Waston next week.
    6 - Russell Teibert
    Did not play up to his potential. Struggled with his partnership with Ballouchy. They had tough shoes to fill covering for Gershon Koffie and Matias Laba.
    5 - Pedro Morales
    Was getting frustrated in the first half with lack of skill of his strikers Mattocks and Kekuta Manneh. How many great passes has he made this season just to have the ball turned over by his strikers? Played well off Mauro Rosales in the second half. Also made a great goal-line save off a corner to save a goal.
    4 - Johnny Leveron
    Played a solid game. He stepped up nicely when he needed too. I believe he got screwed by getting a straight red on his challenge. May get rescinded by MLS but really who knows with them?
    3 - Kekuta Manneh
    Was the only striker that looked like he cared and showed pace. The problem was him leaving his head down while running at defenders. The time he did look up he almost set up Mattocks in the box. Love the heart but needs a new move.
    2 - Jordan Harvey
    A very good game for Harvey. After being a scapegoat in beginning of season for always being out of position he has been playing well of late.
    1 - David Ousted
    Without Ousted the game could have been four or five nothing. Had no chance on either goal and was left out to dry by Beitashour.
    SUPERSUBS
    3 - Erik Hurtado
    Didn't do anything to stand out on the pitch. Has lost all of his offensive touch from earlier in the season.
    2 - Mauro Rosales
    Brought in the offensive spark that the team was lacking in the first half. Linked up well with Morales on the wing. Hopefully with some practices under his belt it only gets better.
    1 - Kendall Waston
    Provided an offensive spark in his 11 minutes of play. Almost set up a goal with his back to the keeper. Took a silly yellow but I will take that with the effort he showed on the pitch.
    James Grossi
    Rather than limit to three, though it is a worthy number, there are six candidates for top strike of the round – May as well cram them all in and let readers decide who reigns supreme.
    In chronological order, up first is Colorado’s
    appeared to put the Rapids in the driver’s seat, but LA had other ideas in their midweek meeting. A trio of strikes from Saturday earn nominations: for Chicago; – his wasn’t half bad either; and rounds out the night. Sunday saw two more worthy of praise, with O to cap off an exceptional display from Seattle followed by , which gave hope to San Jose in Philadelphia, if only for a moment.Which goal will earn this week’s Goal of the Week?
    On to the details…
    There are an infinite number of ways that a given match can play out, but one of the most enjoyable to watch – for the neutral fan; those with invested interests may feel otherwise – are comebacks. They too can take myriad forms and this round provided two such differing examples of the dreaded and exhilarating come-back.
    Wednesday night provided a classic example of the ‘tale of two halves’, as Colorado scored three goals inside the first half hour to take the lead into the break against Los Angeles. Rookie forward Marlon Hairston nabbed the first – and the first of his MLS career - after fourteen minutes, pouncing on the rebound from a Deshorn Brown shot that was saved by Jaime Penedo, right footing in at the right-post. Buddle would add the second three minutes later, finally finding the 100th goal of his MLS career (the eighth player in league history to reach that milestone), from a free-header on the end of a right-sided Dillon Powers out-swinging corner kick. And then left-back Marc Burch notched the third in the 30th minute with a blistering left-footed free-kick from some 25 yards, blasting past the wall and in off the underside of the bar.
    Robbie Keane had pulled one back for the Galaxy when an excellent Dan Gargan right-sided cross found the Irishman all alone at the back-post for a well-placed header back across Clint Irwin in the 20th minute.
    Bruce Arena would read his side the riot act at half-time before calling them out on the broadcast and they responded within minutes. Omar Gonzalez headed in the first in the 55th minute, getting on the end of a right-sided Landon Donovan free-kick. Gonzalez then set up Alan Gordon by nodding down a Marcelo Sarvas cross from the right at the back-post for Gordon to push past Irwin; his first for his new club. And Donovan would net the winner in the 80th minute, racing onto a Keane through-ball, rounding the keeper and right-footing into the net – not the nicest way to thank the Rapids for their pre-match gifts as the Landon-retirement tour continues.

    , who picked up their first victory in three matches, while Colorado fell to a fifth-consecutive loss.The second-half response is one form of the comeback and as exhilarating as it may be, the back-forth, call-and-response type multi-comeback may be a better spectacle all told. One such match was on display Saturday, when Toronto hosted Chicago in the shadow of the fairgrounds with the Canadian National Exhibition underway.
    It would take just three minutes for the hosts to find the lead, Justin Morrow’s hopeful cross from the left kicking up off the outstretched leg of Bakary Soumare to loop over Sean Johnson and find the far-side of the Chicago goal. Toronto, dominating large stretches, should have added a second and as is often the case, their wastefulness would prove costly.
    Chicago signed former TFC striker Robert Earnshaw last week and it took the Welsh goal-wizard just five minutes to put his name on the score-sheet for his new side, finding a gap behind TFC centre-back Nick Hagglund to get on the end of a Grant Ward got a cross in from the right past Mark Bloom, guiding his header past Joe Bendik in goal.
    Toronto would make an influential change of their own, bringing on Luke Moore for Jermain Defoe, who promptly set up Gilberto two minutes after taking the pitch. Moore sprung the Brazilian with a well-weighted ball, setting up a chase between Gilberto and Jeff Larentowicz, which the TFC striker would win before rounding Johnson to the right and right-footing into the gaping net – it was his fourth-goal in as many games, scoring one in each.
    But again Chicago would respond and again it was a former TFC striker who did the damage, when another cross was flung in from the right, this time by Lovell Palmer. Earnshaw would attempt the spectacular, missing his bicycle attempt, but the ball fell to Quincy Amarikwa at the back-post and his acrobatic right-footed blast found the top near-corner of the goal, with Jackson and Bendik watching in vain.

    fourteenth of the season, one shy of the all-time single-season MLS record, but was not enough to vault the Fire into the pack – they would sit five points out of fifth come the weekend’s end. For Toronto however, it posed a different concern, as the dropping of points put them back amongst the pack for the final three spots in the East, sitting in third on 33 points.The top two spots in the Eastern Conference are all but spoken to, with DC and Kansas City well-ahead – more on them shortly – but the scrap for the remaining three will be a dogfight. Wins on the weekend from New York, Columbus, New England, and Philadelphia meant that at the end of the round five teams were crammed within three points for those places, while two more – Chicago and Houston – sit only slightly adrift.

    had an air of the ‘tale of two halves’ about it as well, with Montreal taking the lead with the only goal in the first half – through Dilly Duka in the 37th minute, having been played in down the left by a raking Callum Mallace ball before beating Luis Robles with a low, hard shot to the short-side.But weary legs from a midweek trip to El Salvador weighed heavy for the Impact in the second half with Thierry Henry scoring twice – a diving header from an Eric Alexander cross in the 53rd and a right-footed bouncer that eluded Evan Bush and banked in off the post in the 67th – before setting up Bradley Wright-Phillips in the 74th minute, threading the striker in down the right-side of the box for a clinical right-footer across the keeper.
    Montreal would draw one back in the 79th following a marauding run up the middle by Wandrille Lefevre, who dished off to Andres Romero on the right. The Argentine would walk in-field to curl a left-footer towards the left-side of goal, cutting New York’s lead to one.
    Wright-Phillips would respond, notching his second of the match - and twentieth of the season - in the 90th minute, getting on the end of a Peguy Luyindula ball down the left, opening up his body and squaring his hips to right-foot once more across Bush in the Montreal goal. With that strike, Wright-Phillips surpassed Juan Pablo Angel’s single-season mark for most goals from a Red Bulls player; with ten matches still to play, the all-time single-season MLS record of 27 is perhaps within reach.
    With the win, New York took up that fifth and final playoff spot, on 31 points, two points off of Toronto and
    at home, to place themselves level with TFC.Having said their goodbyes to standout World Cup centre-back Giancarlo Gonzalez pre-match, as he departed to finalize his transfer to Palermo, Columbus would rely on the in-form Justin Meram to kick start their attack, but not before Steve Clark saved their bacon, denying a Will Bruin break in the opening twenty minutes.
    Meram would pounce on a poor touch from David Horst in the 35th minute, stepping around a pair of desperate tackles to power a left-footer high into the net over Tally Hall – scoring in a third-straight match – before setting up the Crew’s second of the night in the 59th minute, picking out Adam Bedell with a left-sided cross having raced to keep the ball in play. The towering striker was seconds away from being subbed before getting in behind Horst to help the delivery on to the far-side of goal.
    Bedell’s replacement, Aaron Schoenfeld would add a third in the 64th minute with a header of his own, meeting a left-sided Waylon Francis cross after nicking in front of Jermaine Taylor to bullet his header down to the left-side of goal past Hall.
    It was Columbus’ fourth win in their last six matches, moving into a tie for that third spot, while Houston fall to a second loss in their last three, having hoped their season was on the turn.
    Whereas the Crew got three goals, the Revolution needed just one to overturn Chivas in their Saturday night meeting; it was enough to stay within a point of the Red Bulls and it would be Lee Nguyen who provided the winner.
    New England would have to wait until the 56th minute to calm their nerves. The play began with a cross-field ball from Diego Fagundez to Kelyn Rowe on the right. He played in-field to Daigo Kobayashi, who sought to flick a return back-heel into the path of the darting Rowe, but a Chivas defender got a weak clearing touch. New England can be accused of trying to be too pretty; sometimes goals are less crafted and more taken: Nguyen’s was such a case, as the clearance fell to him atop the arc and he bent his right-footed blast into the left side-netting, arcing away from a diving Dan Kennedy into the Chivas goal.
    Bobby Shuttleworth, who kept his side in it with a lovely early save on Felix Borja, would preserve the win, getting down low to claw a Cubo Torres header off the line late.
    second in their last twelve matches, keeping pace with the playoff spots, though currently on the outside looking in; with Jermaine Jones set to join the club after a blind lottery determined his MLS future, this victory could prove a crucial result after a long, arduous summer of disappointment. For Chivas, who are now winless in six matches, it was a fifth-straight match without a goal – they last scored 456 minutes ago.Sunday provided yet another match with Eastern implications, as
    , thanks to a comeback, of sorts, of their own.Having taken a two-goal lead inside the first fourteen minutes - with Andrew Wenger capping off a scintillating counter in the tenth minute with a left-footed smash past Jon Busch after Sebastien Le Toux played a ball into the area from the left for his teammate and Le Toux himself adding the second four minutes later, pouncing on a poor Victor Bernardez clearing header of a Sheanon Williams cross from the right - the Union conceded twice within eleven minutes, allowing the Earthquakes back level.
    Sam Cronin got the first with a thunderous right-footer from distance on the half-volley after Jordan Stewart’s long ball was weakly cleared by Carlos Valdes in the 59th and Chris Wondolowski scored in the 70th minute, getting on the end of a perfect cross from Shea Salinas on the left, having ghosted in behind Ray Gaddis at the back-post for a right-footed volley: a pair of unstoppable strikes welcoming new Philadelphia keeper, Rais Mbolhi to MLS in his first appearance.
    Two minutes later, Williams would put Philadelphia back in front with a low header at the near-post from a right-sided Le Toux free-kick, outmuscling Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi to flick over Busch from inside the six-yard box, and Wenger would seal the result seven minutes after that, winning a header to Le Toux, who poked a ball forward, allowing Wenger to blaze past Shaun Francis and stab a blistering right-footer past Busch at the left-post.
    Philadelphia’s win would see them keep pace with New England, on 30 points, while San Jose’s hopes of a playoff berth in the West dwindled further, as their winless run stretched to four.
    While the scrap for the bottom places in the East tightened up, a top of the table clash between Kansas City and DC looked primed to provide entertainment on Saturday – few would have expected it to be such a one-sided affair, with
    .Seven minutes of shoddy defending saw Sporting split wide open by the rapacious DC attack. Fit-again Fabian Espindola grabbed the first in the 24th minute, walking in from the left after Luis Silva had found him wide, twisting up Aurelien Collin and beating Jon Kempin with a low right-footer to the far-side of goal. Chris Rolfe would get the second four minutes later, Silva again playing provider with a poked-ball behind the KC back-line – Rolfe would finish calmly with a left-footer that the keeper got a piece of, but could not prevent from crossing the goal-line, though Rolfe may possibly have been offside.
    DC’s third came in the 31st minute, this time with Rolfe playing the defensive-killing pass, springing Perry Kitchen down the left, where he cut on to his right-foot to beat Kempin with a right-footer to the far-side. Again the rookie keeper got a touch, but not enough.
    Noteworthy, aside from DC taking over the top spot with the victory, was that this was the first MLS match to feature homegrown goalkeepers at each end of the pitch.
    Friday night provided a similar top-of-the-table spectacle, as Dallas hosted Salt Lake with second place in the West on the line. Dallas entered as the form team in the league, going unbeaten through their last nine matches, winning their last three. Salt Lake too were on the rise, unbeaten in six, having also won their last three.
    A closely-fought first half would end scoreless, the major talking point being the expulsion of Dallas forward Blas Perez for a pair of yellow cards, each soft in their own way – he apparently fell too hard when Chris Schuler shoved him after the two clashed.
    Regardless of being down a man, Dallas took the lead in the 50th minute, through Je-Vaughan Watson, who bodied in a left-sided out-swinging Michel corner kick by racing in front of Nat Borchers at the near-post to get on the end of the delivery.
    Dallas would add some insurance in the 74th minute, when red-hot Fabian Castillo scored his fourth-goal of the last three matches with a low right-footer across Nick Rimando after Tesho Akindele nodded down a long ball from Michel to his teammate, who darted into space on the right before finishing expertly.
    It was insurance they needed, as Salt Lake’s Olmes Garcia found consolation in the 91st minute with the ugliest overhead kick-finish one is ever likely to see. Sebastian Velasquez hustled to keep the ball in on the right before hitting a cross to the back-post where Garcia made contact, his effort deflecting off Akindele to beat Raul Fernandez after getting hit into the ground initially.

    , moving them alongside Salt Lake, into a then-three-way tie on 42 points atop the West with Seattle; despite their lofty position, Dallas had yet to beat any of the top sides in the league.It was a week of such proclamations in the West, as the top four sides opened up a hefty seven-point-plus gap on those pursuing the fifth playoff spot.
    Having beaten Colorado midweek,
    on Saturday. Landon Donovan gave the Galaxy the lead at home after four minutes, arriving at the back-post for a sliding left-footed finish high into the roof of the net after Robbie Keane’s shot found his teammate lurking in space off the back-should of Steven Beitashour.Marcelo Sarvas added a second for LA in the 32nd minute, again Keane inadvertently playing provider, as his miss-hit shot fell to Sarvas at the left-post for a left-footer under a moving David Ousted. Donovan had initiated the move, playing into Sarvas from the left; he back-heeled a pass to Keane and was perfectly placed to pounce on the whiffed effort.
    Vancouver, who would watch their six-match unbeaten run crumble, had their night turn from bad to worse, when Johnny Leveron was sent off for an aggressive challenge on Alan Gordon in the final minutes of regulation. It probably did not warrant a red, but such is the discretion of the referee.
    The six-point week shot LA within reach of first in the West, trailing Salt Lake and Dallas by two, but with games in hand.
    Seattle, who would top the conference at the close of the round, responded to a disappointing month with a rousing effort in the latest Cascadian Derby, this one in Portland on Sunday.
    The Sounders had won just once in their previous five-matches, their most recent result
    on Wednesday – Chad Barrett had put the hosts in front in the 46th minute, registering the fiftieth goal of his MLS career (becoming the 41st player in league history to reach that milestone) with a strong left-footer after Obafemi Martins played him down the left side of the area, only for Chris Wondolowski to respond in the 65th kneeing in a Cordell Cato ball from the left at the back-post; the point away to Seattle, a statement of their own from San Jose, responding well to that dispiriting 0-5 loss against Dallas last weekend.But come Sunday, a different Seattle took the pitch, clinical in their finishing against their hated rivals. Martins in particular was lively, scoring the first in the eighteenth minute with his left-foot - touching in a Brad Evans goal-mouth cross from the right, before setting up the second on a lightning counter, playing Clint Dempsey in down the left-side of the box for a clipped finish over Donovan Ricketts in the 34th minute.
    Barrett would score in a third-straight match, notching Seattle’s third in the 70th minute with a right-footed blast from the left-side of the area, after Dempsey found him in space, having received the ball from Martins on the right.
    Timbers substitute, Fanendo Adi would draw one back three minutes later, moments after coming on, with a right-footed stab from a left-sided Rodney Wallace cross, having found space between the Sounders centre-backs. Three minutes after that however, Martins would reinstate Seattle’s three-goal advantage with a fine, largely solo effort, slashing through several Portland defenders before lifting a subtle finish over Ricketts.
    Adi would find further consolation with his second of the match in the 91st minute, a fierce left-footed blast into the top left-corner of the goal after Steve Zakuani rolled the ball in to his teammate inside the area.

    would retake first place in both the West and the league, three points ahead of Dallas and Salt Lake and just two points ahead of DC, who top the East.No doubt, an eventful week in MLS, but what will next round bring?
    CanCon
    The extended review of the Canadian performances will be posted tomorrow (Tuesday), featuring a strong outing from Jonathan Osorio, Wandrille Lefevre wrestling with an explosive New York attack, and Russell Teibert putting in a shift against Los Angeles, as well as some disconcerting words – for Canadian fans - from Tesho Akindele.
    Overheard
    Colorado’s Pablo Mastroeni, who has watched his side concede four goals in each of their last two matches and three or more in four of their last five, for a total of fifteen against in their last five, may be looking to bend the rules a little to cure what ails: “We need to play with two goalies. We need to make the goal smaller and play with two goalies. I’m going to write to FIFA and the commissioner and see if that’s available.” That could indeed work.
    Chad Barrett on scoring the fiftieth goal of his MLS career: “I [was] so lost in the moment, I almost forgot to pick up the ball. It’s great to be in a class with certain people.”
    Edson Buddle was silent on his 100th MLS goal, but Mastroeni heralded the moment: “For Edson, that 100th goal is a great stamp to put on the career he’s had. I think he’s been one of the true unrecognized pioneers in the modern game and it’s a great accolade to have in the old trophy case. I couldn’t be happier for him.”
    Robert Earnshaw ingratiated himself with the Chicago faithful, while delivering a most-unwanted ‘thank you’ to Toronto: “Maybe it’s just because it’s a familiar ground, a place that I’m very fond of, it’s a great place and obviously I’ve scored tonight, but I’d like to thank Toronto because I never got a chance to thank everybody here… The team here; Ryan Nelson; the whole organization; I just never got the chance to say thank you very much for having me, so that goal is kind of a ‘Welcome to Chicago, but it’s also very much a thank you to Toronto.” Rarely has a ‘thank you’ felt so much like it began with an ‘F’.
    This is an exact replica of HOUSTON DYNAMO HEAD COACH DOMINIC KINNEAR’s post-match quote sheet responses: On his thoughts of his team’s performance: Elated. On what to work on prior to the match against Sporting Kansas City: Winning a road game. Blunt.
    Robbie Keane on two unintended assists: "You’re always taught that as a kid, to hit it across the goal, and most of the time someone’s going to be there”. So he meant that one, but: “The second one, I did [miss-hit it], definitely. It was a complete miss-hit, but I’ll take the assist."
    Best quote of the round goes to the Seattle fans who travelled to Portland and adroitly unleashed a classic chant of ‘It’s all gone quiet over there’ that was clearly audible on the broadcast when their Sounders pummeled the Timbers on Sunday/
    See It Live
    Portland’s best effort of that loss against Seattle was the prematch Tifo from their supporters (
    ); while there is a ‘Dallas Beer Guardians’ sign at the supporter’s end in Frisco, Texas.Plenty of excellent saves this round: Clint Irwin on Omar Gonzalez; Jon Busch on Obafemi Martins; Evan Bush on Bradley Wright-Phillips; Steve Clark on Will Bruin; Luis Robles on Marco Di Vaio; Bobby Shuttleworth on both Felix Borja and Cubo Torres; Pedro Morales with a goal-line clearance on Baggio Husidic; and Busch again on Conor Casey.
    Saves aside, more than a few must-see moments: Tommy Thompson’s shoulder roll; Zach Loyd’s alert tackle on Robbie Findlay; Jose Goncalves’ ring-around-the-keeper move; snake-bit Robbie Keane onto the bar; a livid Sigi Schmid after Norberto Paparotto catches Chad Marshall with an elbow, and
    .Controversy
    Should Obafemi Martins have seen more than yellow for this challenge on Victor Bernardez midweek? Thus ruling him out against Portland?
    Both of Blas Perez’ yellows were soft – the first and most controversially, the second.
    Tony Lochhead’s challenge on Charlie Davies may have warranted more than a yellow.
    While Jose Goncalves was lucky his late shove on Cubo Torres in the New England box was waived away.
    Was
    ?Did Johnny Leveron deserve a red for this challenge on Alan Gordon?
    And there were two handballs from Seattle in Portland – from Clint Dempsey and Chad Marshall – neither was called.
    Check out
    for those and other controversial moments.Upcoming Fixtures
    A single midweek league fixture on Wednesday before a full slate of nine matches next weekend; plus a CONCACAF Champions League match on Tuesday with New York hosting CD FAS.
    Wednesday: Los Angeles-DC. Friday: Kansas City-Houston. Saturday: Seattle-Colorado; Toronto-New England; Montreal-Columbus; Chicago-Dallas; Vancouver-Portland; San Jose-Salt Lake. Sunday: DC-New York; Chivas-Los Angeles.
    All video & quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
    Each week James takes a look at the league as a whole.
    You can follow James on twitter @grawsee or read more of his writing at Partially Obstructed View
    Aaron Campbell
    The Good:
    Kendall Waston
    The question I have is why did Carl Robinson wait until the 79th minute to sub Kendall Waston into the game?
    The Whitecaps where lacking offensive possession for most of the game. After the second goal Darren Mattocks pretty much gave up and looked like he didn't give a shit. We needed a change and the big man was it.
    As soon as Waston was brought into the game he had two or three good touches in the offensive 18 yard box that created chances. He was able to use his size to push back on Galaxy defenders. Yellow card aside it was an impressive first game for the Costa Rican.
    He lacks the pace that is needed by a striker to play defence up near the half line (because he isn't actually a striker of course) but he was one of the lone bright spots in the game. If the Johnny Leveron red card doesn't get rescinded Waston will have a chance to play some quality minutes in a meaningful Cascadia game in his more familiar centreback role next Saturday.
    The Average:
    Pedro Morales
    Looked like he was getting frustrated in the first half with strikers Kekuta Manneh and Darren Mattocks. How many times can he work hard to get the ball, make a good pass then just have the young strikers give it up or turn it over?
    You could see a bit of a pep in his step as soon as Mauro Rosales came in at half time. He has an option to pass to that knows what to do next with the ball. Not run with your head down at defenders and turn it over.
    With the final third of the season in front of Morales he will have to be at his best to get these Whitecaps in the playoffs.
    The Bad:
    Lack of Offensive Touch
    Where oh where have all the goals gone, where oh where could they be?
    Something needs to change. Robinson admitted after the game that they have to go back to the drawing board.
    Darren Mattocks gives the impression of someone that has given up, Kekuta Manneh only has one move and defenders have figured it out and Erik Hurtado has lost his scoring touch, which it took him long enough to find in the first place. They only other option they have is Omar Salgado up front and we still don't really know what he can or cannot bring to the team.
    Might be time to change to a 3-5-2 and see if it works. What do they have to lose? They won't win without goals and can't draw their way into the playoffs.
    Duane Rollins
    By Rose Rago
    A announced crowd of 22,591 fans filed into BMO field to witness TFC and Chicago Fire play to a 2-2 draw. Supporters can’t help but feel like their team didn’t earn one point, but rather dropped two.
    Toronto controlled the majority of the possession (54% to Chicago’s 46%) but two former Reds helped the Chicago side claw back to draw level.
    Gilberto gave the TFC faithful hopes of securing three points when he received Luke Moore’s pass in the 79’ minute. Moore controlled possession inside the TFC half to spring Gilberto who stepped around Chicago keeper Sean Johnson and made the easy tap in in the open net. That was his first goal at BMO Field this season.
    Gilberto has scored four in last four appearances. The Brazilian seems to be coming into form in the second half of the season. He battles consistently, effectively use speed to beat out players, contributes on the defensive side, as well as create quality opportunities for his teammates.
    He, along with Johnathan Osorio were named men of the match. Osorio distrusted the ball well, especially in the middle of the pitch, completing 36 of 42 attempts.
    But Toronto’s lead was short lived due a ghost of TFC past Quincy Amarikwa . Amarikwa sent a cross from Lovel Palmer past a sprawling Joe Bendik to erase the 2-1 deficit the 90’. Coach Ryan Nelsen referred to the goal as, “Horrendous to tell you the truth."
    TFC took an early 1-0 lead in the 3’ when Johnathan Osorio sent a crisp pass to Justin Morrow. Fire defender Bakary Soumare redirected Morrow’s cross in the six yard box over Johnson and in the net.
    Toronto held the 1-0 lead until the 70’ when former TFC Striker Robert Earnshaw headed in Grant Ward’s cross deep in the area for the equilzer.
    The Welsh international was signed by Chicago on August 15th. “I’m hoping [to play a part].” the Earnshaw said prior to the match. “I never got a chance to say goodbye and thank you [to Toronto] so it will be a ‘Welcome, Chicago’ and also ‘Goodbye, Toronto’ at the same time. That’s going to be nice.”
    Safe to say a goal four minutes in after coming off the bench for his Chicago Fire debut must have felt nice.
    The buzz surrounding Toronto prior to kick off was the return of a trio of injured soldiers; Jermain Defoe, Mark Bloom, and Steven Caldwell.
    Defoe seemed to show no ill effects of being sidelined since July 30th however the same could not be said for Caldwell. The Captain was subbed off in only the 22’ after aggravating the quad injury that kept him off the pitch for the past seven matches.
    He was swapped out for Henry as a precautionary measure.
    A later decision had some TFC supporters confused when Jackson was subbed for an injured Justin Morrow. Many wondered why perhaps Ashton Morgan was not dressed as he would have been a suitable replacement or why Bradley Orr wasn’t used. Nelsen was confident with his decision to sub Jackson in Morrow's place. “We wanted to put Jackson in there. He’s been pretty good out there.” The head coach said post game “Some of his tackling was very good. I thought he was brilliant and no fault on any of the goals.”
    Morrow says he will have a scan on Monday but does not believe it to be serious.
    TFC has yet to defeat the Fire since a 4-1 victory on May 8th 2010 – a winless streak that has extended to ten matches.
    The Chicago Fire lead the league in tied games with 14 after Saturday’ 2-2 draw and drop to eighth in the Eastern Conference. Toronto maintain third, nine points back of leaders Sporting Kansas City.
    During half time MLSE president and CEO Tim Leiweke was on hand to oversee the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge he issued to the Red Patch Boys. They have called out Chicago Fire supporters “Section 8” to complete the Challenge as well…you have 24 hours Chicago.
    Toronto’s next match is August 30th when they host the New England Revolution.
    Michael Mccoll
    Carl Robinson made three changes from the team that had to make do with a draw in the same StubHub Center against Chivas last Saturday. Pedro Morales returned to the starting line up after his hamstring worries, and with Matias Laba suspended for yellow card accumulation, Mehdi Ballouchy came in to partner Russell Teibert in Vancouver's two man defensive shield.
    Omar Salgado dropped to the bench after his strop when coming off last weekend, with Robinson deciding to go with Kekuta Manneh, who had looked sharp and more like his old self in training this week.
    The Caps headed in to the game on the back of three clean sheets, but their goal only held firm for five minutes in this one.
    The Whitecaps defence could only clear a ball into the box as far as Robbie Keane and the striker's low diagonal cross was let run through to Landon Donovan at the back post and the Caps killer did it again, sliding in to finish high into the net and give the Galaxy the early lead.
    Vancouver had talked a lot going in to this game about taking the game to LA from the start and pressuring early, but the Galaxy took that initiative away. Undeterred, the Caps started to come into the game after the goal, with Manneh looking particularly lively in his first start in seven games.
    The Gambian hit the byeline and cut back a neat ball which Darren Mattocks just failed to get on the end of 11 minutes in, and three minutes later Manneh hit a dipping shot on the roof of the net after receiving a short Pedro Morales corner.
    LA seemed to content to sit back but you always got the feeling that they could step it back up again at will and they did so just past the half hour mark.
    Baggio Husidic sent a dangerous ball across the face of the goal but with no takers. LA kept the pressure on though and benefitted from some good fortune when Marcelo Sarvas backheeled the ball to Keane and the Irishman fluffed his shot with the ball hitting off his shin back into the path of Sarvas who finished low past Ousted to make it 2-0 to the home side.
    And that was pretty much it for the half. Vancouver's performance hadn't exactly been horrible, well compared to what we've seen down there in the past, but there had been very little indication that they had anything in their locker to get themselves back into the game.
    Two really sloppy goals to give away and you got the feeling that the Caps best chance had been going for yet another 0-0 draw.
    The Whitecaps introduced new addition Mauro Rosales for the second half and he was soon heavily involved as Vancouver tried to get themselves back into the match.
    The Caps were getting more of the ball and Manneh forced a save out of Jaime Penedo in the 55th minute after a strong run at the LA defence but a weak shot.
    Moments later though, LA came close to making it three when Morales was in the right spot on the line to clear away a bullet Husidic header from a corner.
    As the second half approached the midway point, Donovan unleashed a fierce shot that flew well wide but from the angles had the crowd gasping, as LA continued to look comfortable.
    Keane fired a low shot at David Ousted from the edge of the box but the Dane easily got down to hold on to it with 15 minutes remaining.
    The Caps tried one last throw of the dice with new centreback Kendall Waston subbing in to play up front.
    The Costa Rican made a strong impact and played a neat one two with Mattocks in the 81st minute and the Jamaican's fierce first time strike was well saved away by Penedo.
    The Caps pushed and the fouls and bookings racked up for both sides as the game closed out, and matters went from bad to worse for Vancouver with a very, very harsh red card to Johnny Leveron in the final minute. A clean tackle, won the ball and it will surely be rescinded during the week.
    Keane nearly grabbed a third for LA in stoppage time but Ousted pulled off an awkward looking save that bounced off the bar and the Caps' keeper recovered.
    So LA had to settle for two and a crucial three points in terms of the Western Conference playoff positioning. For Vancouver, it now looks increasingly likely that they will be in a shootout for fifth place with Portland Timbers.
    The Timbers play Sunday against Seattle, knowing that a win moves them back up over the red line, albeit having played a game more. However the Cascadia derby plays out, the Timbers visit to BC Place next Saturday is now even more massive than we all knew it already was.
    FINAL SCORE: Los Angeles Galaxy 2 - 0 Vancouver Whitecaps
    ATT: 21,637
    LOS ANGELES: Jaime Penedo; Dan Gargan (Todd Dunivant 84), Omar Gonzalez, Leonardo, A.J. DeLaGarza; Baggio Husidic (Alan Gordon 74), Marcelo Sarvas, Juninho, Landon Donovan; Robbie Keane, Gyasi Zardes [subs Not Used: Brian Rowe, Rafael Garcia, Charlie Rugg, Oscar Sorto, Raul Mendiola]
    VANCOUVER: David Ousted; Steven Beitashour, Andy O'Brien, Johnny Leveron, Jordan Harvey; Mehdi Ballouchy (Erik Hurtado 67), Russell Teibert, Sebastian Fernandez (Mauro Rosales 46), Pedro Morales, Kekuta Manneh (Kendall Waston 79); Darren Mattocks [subs Not Used: Paolo Tornaghi, Sam Adekugbe, Nicolas Mezquida, Omar Salgado]
    REACTION:
    VWFC
    CARL ROBINSON:
    On tonight’s game:
    “Very good team, very experienced team in LA. A very youthful team in Vancouver, who tried to play the right way, but probably weren’t quite good enough today to compete. But we will get there.”
    On the players who made their first appearance for the team:
    “I thought Mauro [Rosales] was excellent for 45 minutes. He showed what he brings and what he’s about. He brought some creativity in our second half performance, which was excellent. Created few chances in the second half, but couldn’t quite get the goal. Kendall [Waston] came in and caused some problems up front and created different options for us. We had couple of chances, but he had to go back to centerback with Johnny Leveron being sent off.”
    On the importance of the next match against Portland:
    “We have a massive challenge ahead next Saturday against Portland. We’ll meet them head on. I’m sure they will do the same with us. But we are in contention, and that’s all we ask at this stage of the season—to be around the playoffs and competing for them. We did have a free swing against them [LA Galaxy] tonight, unfortunately we weren’t quite good enough to win. They probably deserved to win. They sure showed the experience when we tried to kill the game. But we’ll get there, whether we will get there overnight is a different question, but we know that we need to be better as a group, and for me as a coach. And we certainly learned something tonight.”
    On both teams’ performance:
    “[LA] were excellent. They really were an excellent team. That is the reason why they win the conference title and championships. We’ve got a long way to go, but there are some encouraging signs in there. When you look at the youthfulness of the squad and the additions we’ve made, it’s exciting for us ahead. It’s not going to happen overnight, as I’ve kept saying all along, but we came here and made a couple of very good chances, we just haven’t been able to take those chances, and the top teams are able to take them. We are not quite a top team at the moment.”
    On Mauro Rosales’ first appearance:
    “I thought he was excellent. I thought he brought a level of calmness, creativity to us. Position wise, I think he is good. He links up with Pedro [Morales] really well. He brings something different to the table. I’m excited to see him next week.”
    On the absence of Gershon Koffie and Matias Laba:
    “I thought Mehdi [ballouchy] was fantastic for 45 minutes. Breaking up the play, I thought Russell [Teibert] did really well. We miss them. If I said we didn’t, we will be lying. I think they’ve been arguably two of our best players this season. The strengths that they bring to the table were thoroughly missed. And I thought Juninho and Marcelo Sarvas are two top players in the league. If we want to get to where we want to get, I am excited to see them two against our two in a playoff match if we reach our end goal.”
    On the possibility of playing Kendall Waston as a striker:
    “I don’t think that is going to be a regular occurrence, but you might [see that]. It gives us a good option. He caused Omar [Gonzalez] few problems. I saw Omar [Gonzalez] shouting out at the referee and not being happy because he got into a physical battle. It is a good option for us to have.”
    On Kendall Waston’s first appearance:
    “He was good. I wanted to give him some time because he has trained really well. I look forward to seeing him play.”
    On Kendall Waston’s integration to the team:
    “Brilliant. Excellent. The boys have made him feel really welcomed. It’s a very happy locker room in there. Obviously, disappointing today, because we didn’t win the game, but we’ve got a good spirit in there, which is something that you can’t buy. You have to build that, and the guys inside are building that.”
    KENDALL WASTON:
    On playing as a striker:
    “It wasn’t a different thing for me because back home in Costa Rica when we were losing and we needed to win, the coach always tried to put me in as a forward. Over there, I scored some goals so it’s not anything strange.”
    On battling with Omar Gonzalez:
    “We got to battle a lot, because he wanted to defend and I wanted to attack. So, it was a good battle. But I think in the second half, we tried our best to tie the game. Unfortunately, we didn’t get it.”
    On getting his first appearance with the team:
    “I want to play with my teammates. I am very excited to be on the pitch with my team and help them to win. Today, thank god, I got a few minutes on the pitch with my teammates. Now, Portland is going to be an awesome game at home, so hopefully, I can be there.”
    MAURO ROSALES:
    His thoughts on the game:
    “I thought we did a very good second half; in the first half we probably didn’t come out with the right mentality to face this game. We were playing against one of the top teams, always you have to be aware of everything; full concentration. If you just miss one play because of concentration, then you are going to get punished and that’s what happened in the first half. Second half we looked forward, we looked much better, more organized as a team. I saw the team very well and we had many positive things and we are looking forward for the next game. We can’t do anything right now about the game, just learn from that and move forward knowing that we have a good opportunity in the next game against Portland. Everyone has to believe in what we have as a team. In just two days here with the team I can see the willingness to win and the willingness to get better every day and this is something that is really good for a team.”
    On having little time to prepare for his first game:
    “I’m happy, Happy just to be part of the team. Right now I just spent 45 minutes with the team just playing. Obviously, we need to learn from each other, to know each other much better and to know the players. We didn't have any time to combine, to play. Obviously, when you are in the league you need to learn how to play with the team that you have already faced in the past. It is easy for me to adapt quickly to the team, and I’m sure that we can do it.”
    LA
    BRUCE ARENA
    On the team’s performance:
    “I think we had a very good collective effort tonight. Players worked on both sides of the ball. It was a very good performance. Our backline played well but the six players in front of them did a really good job as well.”
    On the missed opportunities:
    “I think it’s a very good win for our team. Thought it was a great team effort collectively on both sides of the ball. We could have gotten more goals but that is all part of the game. We are really pleased with the three points.”
    On getting goals early in the game:
    “Good start to the game. Playing at home with a lead, we are generally a good team. It was obviously a great start to the game.”
    On the backline’s performance:
    “They played well. They had a couple of chances at the end but I thought in general they played well. A couple of crosses in the second half were dangerous. Our guys did a good job clearing the ball and Jaime [Penedo] made a couple of good saves. Overall it was an improved performance.”
    LANDON DONVOAN
    On the defensive turnaround:
    “It’s just the mentality, and sometimes we have a tendency to be a little lackadaisical and turn off. And when we do that, not surprisingly we give up goals; we have bounces go against us and when we do things the right way, the bounces go for us. So to some extent, there is karma involved and there is doing things the right way. And when you do that, you get rewarded.”
    On the game’s first goal:
    “We put a lot of emphasis this week on starting the right way, and not conceding early on. Scoring that early is an added benefit, but we just wanted to make sure that we started well and we played well. I thought we did that for the most part. And then getting the second goal was also very important, and I thought from that point on we were very good.”
    On Keane’s assist:
    “I think he was probably shooting it towards the far post. I don’t know, sometimes you hit it hard at the far post and you see what happens. Either way you put it in a good spot and good things happen.”
    On his two game-winning goals in the past two games:
    “I’m trying to score whenever I can and trying to put us in a position to win. The other day was a little different, coming late and scoring late. Tonight we wanted to start fast, and I wanted to put myself in good positions to be effective. On that play I was in the right place and the ball fell to me.”
    On carrying over confidence from the Colorado match:
    “We were probably confident and feeling good about how we finished the game. But all the emphasis this week was on starting the right way. And it would’ve been fine to start right and play well, just not concede before halftime and go in comfortable, but then to get the two goals on top of that really helped. The only fault was not getting the third or the fourth, but other than that I thought we played very well.”
    On passing ball to Keane when he had an open shot:
    “I’m often at fault for being a little too unselfish, but you know, at the end of the day, if that is a zero-zero game I’m probably shooting it. But I like to get Robbie [Keane] involved. He does a good job of getting everyone else involved, so I want to reward him when we can. It’s one of those games. It happens sometimes, but he did so many things well for us and he is dangerous whether he is scoring or not. He puts so much pressure on defences; I would certainly hate to play against him.”
    On being Supporters’ Shield contenders:
    “It’s taken a long time, but we have a real chance now. We play Dallas twice more, we play Seattle twice more, so really, it’s in our hands. Obviously big game with big implications on Wednesday, because even if we don’t finish top of the West, if we get through the West, all of these games are important. So very important game Wednesday and we have to make sure we’re ready.”
    ROBBIE KEANE
    On the team’s performance:
    “Thankfully we got that early goal and from then on, we never really let them get on their feet. In the last 20 minutes of the first half and the way we kept possession of the ball, I thought that was fantastic. We had a little spell after the goal of 10 minutes… they didn’t cause too many problems for us. Overall, I thought it was a convincing win and a good team performance.”
    On getting goals early in the game:
    “I think we needed a bit of luck as well and we certainly got lucky on the second goal, and I’ll still take the assist. It was a bit of a mis-kick obviously… I completely shanked it, but thankfully we got the second goal and from then on we were very comfortable.”
    On the team responding to an up and down week:
    “I think we showed the character of the team and the belief we had in ourselves as a squad. We know we have quality in the team and if we concentrate from the first minute to the 90th minute, most likely we’re going to beat most teams because I think the quality that we have is probably a little better than everyone else. I think if we can concentrate for long periods of the game and can focus, I think we have a chance of competing in every game.”
    MARCELO SARVAS
    On bouncing back from giving up 7 goals in the last two games:
    “I think we proved that we have a good team. Even good teams need to play soccer with heart and soul. We showed today that when we go out on the field and do our job this a very good team.”
    On his goal tonight:
    “[Robbie] Keane tried to shoot towards goal but the ball came to me. I am not used to having the ball in that position but I was blessed to score today and help the team.”
    On limiting Vancouver’s chances:
    “We kept our shape. Even with the game being 2-0 we didn’t step back. During the game you start pressing higher in the midfield or you push everyone behind the ball but every time they had the ball we had one guy pressing and the other one supporting so I think that was the key.”
    OMAR GONZALEZ
    On tonight’s performance:
    “It’s just something we wanted to get back to. Obviously this road trip that we just went on, we went through some troubles there and we weren’t playing as a unit, people were playing as individuals. For tonight’s game we just wanted to get back to putting together a good team effort; getting behind the ball, starting in good positions. And tonight we did that and we were able to get around the ball, get to the ball, get some tackles, and get fouls. All in all in the night, it just looked great from everyone out there and made our jobs easier. With the front guys able to get around the ball so quickly, it made it really predictable and Vancouver wasn’t’ able to get much out of us.”
    On the team scoring goals:
    “The past three or four games we were conceding first. Tonight we got the first goal and when we do get the first goal, we most likely will win that game. Getting the goal tonight was crucial, and then everything that just went from there was great. We had a lot of possession, we kept the ball good, and Vancouver didn’t really have much.”
    On the remainder of the season:
    “I think we can move on, and we have to move on because we have another game coming up quickly on Wednesday. This month has been crazy, but we’re moving along good, and hopefully we can keep on getting more wins. Tonight we can go home and be happy with what we did tonight, and just look to Wednesday.”
    On adversity:
    “Adversity is definitely something that can help build a team going through rough times. You don’t like going through it, but at the end of it, hopefully you can come out of it and say, ‘alright, we learned and we’re going to be better from it.’ So coming out of tonight’s game, we can look back and say ‘alright, that’s behind us, now we can continue forward just continue with the way we did tonight.”
    On Vancouver’s chances:
    “We had a lot of possession in their attacking third. So we just wanted to get around their forwards, their only outlets and just make sure that they never had a good first touch. And if they did, guys were right there to stop them.”
    Squizz
    Robert Earnshaw and Quincy Amarikwa, seated side-by-side at the table, nod approvingly.
    Robert Earnshaw: It was nothing, boss. Nice and handy, joining Chicago just a few days before that match, wouldn't you say?
    Unnamed Man: Yes... "handy" indeed...
    Quincy Amarikwa: What do you mean by that? What does he mean by that?!?
    Earnshaw: He's just being shady and mysterious. Don't worry about it.
    Amarikwa: Worry? Why would I worry? Is there something to be worried about?!
    Amarikwa shifts nervously in his seat. Earnshaw rolls his eyes, then turns to Unnamed Man.
    Earnshaw: Don't worry about him, boss. You know how he gets.
    Amarikwa walks over to the table of potato chips and fumbles with several. Unable to open any of them, he returns to his seat, acting as though he never wanted any potato chips to begin with. Unnamed Man groans loudly, then stands to address the assembled group.
    Unnamed Man: Gentlemen, we have a bit of a problem.
    Eric Hassli: The high price of tattoo removal?
    Unnamed Man: No.
    Gabe Gala: Uncertainty in the real estate market?
    Unnamed Man: No...
    Matias Laba: The high prices in the real estate market?
    Unnamed Man: No! Dammit, don't you people remember why we're here?
    Men seated at table sit in silence, occasionally eying one another and shrugging in an exaggerated fashion for dramatic purposes.
    Amarikwa breaks silence by laughing loudly.
    Amarikwa: Ha, I get it!
    Gala: No you don't!
    Amarikwa: Shut up, yes I do!
    Unnamed Man, growing increasingly agitated, slams his first on the table.
    Unnamed Man: Enough!
    Unnamed Man rubs his eyes thoroughly and exhales loudly.
    Unnamed Man: We are here for one simple reason -- to make Toronto FC rue the day that they ever consigned us to the fate of being their castaways. Look around this table. Look at us! Look at all we've accomplished in the game of football. World Cups, national teams, championship trophies...
    Gala: Scoring against Real Madrid!
    Unnamed Man: Yes Gabe, scoring against Real Madrid. All of these achievements, and yet TFC felt that we were disposable. That we were a spent force.
    Men at table turn attention to Mista, who is knitting a scarf. Upon becoming aware of the attention, he looks up, smiles politely and continuing knitting.
    Unnamed Man: But as a unit, we are strong. We are powerful. We have the resources and the skills to bring this corrupt organization to its knees!
    Marvell Wynne: Now hold on just a second.
    Men assembled at table gasp loudly.
    Wynne: I had a lot of good times with that team. Good city, good fans. They always treated me well. And I've carved out a pretty nice career for myself since then. Heck, I'm only here 'cause I thought this was, like, a meeting of old friends or something. We'd all get together and share stories about our time in Toronto. Plus I heard you had ketchup-flavoured chips. I love those things. Can't get 'em in Colorado.
    Amarikwa loudly crunches on a chip.
    Wynne: What's your problem, all of you? Sure, things coulda turned out differently for some of you...
    Julian de Guzman nods head furiously.
    Wynne: But that's football. That's life. Things don't always turn out the way you want. You gotta just roll with the punches, make the most of it and move on. I mean, if you're going to just hold grudges all your life, what kind of life is that?
    Various men seated at table murmur in quasi-agreement.
    Wynne: Anyway, sorry I misunderstood what this was all about; I think I'll see myself out.
    Unknown voice: Whoa whoa, just wait a second there, old friend...
    A man emerges from the shadows, clad in an over-sized leather jacket and holding an e-cigarette, from which he takes several quick and frantic puffs. Stepping into the light, the man is revealed to be Chad Barrett.
    Wynne: Chad?! I... I thought you were dead!
    Barrett: What? Dude, we play in the same league.
    Wynne: Huh?
    Barrett: Yeah, I started for Seattle, like, four days ago. Scored a goal.
    Wynne: Wait, what's your last name again?
    Barrett: Are you serious? We were teammates! In Toronto! Who did you think I was?
    Wynne: I dunno, this whole thing has got me confused. I'm done with this. Later.
    Wynne stands up, snatches bag of ketchup chips from Amarikwa and leaves room.
    Barrett: Whoa, heavy.
    Unnamed Man: You were saying, Chad?
    Barrett: Yeah, right. You all may think Marvell made some good points. You may think they care about you. You may think "oh sure, I could walk up the streets of Toronto tomorrow and they'll remember me for my 18 appearances or my 7 appearances or my 3 appearances", but guess what? They don't!
    Jonas Elmer frowns and looks at his shoes.
    Barrett: I had 78 appearances for that team. SEVENTY-EIGHT. And I scored 21 goals. TWENTY-ONE. I scored the most important goal in team history. That "Miracle in Montreal" those people keep talking about. Do you know who scored the decisive goal? The goal that won them that Canadian Championship?
    Earnshaw: Dwayne De Rosario?
    Gala: Yeah, it was De Ro. Easy.
    Unnamed Man: I'm pretty sure it was De Rosario, Chad.
    Barrett: What?! No, dammit, it was me! It was me! But those lousy Torontoites, or whatever they're called, what do they remember? "Oh wow, what a great game De Ro had and he won us the Cup, but oh, that Chad Barrett, he always missed the net." I hit the net when it counted! But that means nothing to them.
    Barrett takes a long, dramatic drag on the e-cigarette and exhales in clear and rising anger.
    Barrett: Those Torontoites, they don't want success. They don't! You think every sports fan wants their team to win, wants their team to succeed? Guess what! In Toronto, it's the opposite! They want their teams to fail! They need it! They need scapegoats in their lives! They need to churn through players, churn through men (furious puff of e-cigarette) and we are men, dammit! We are men! (sputters and coughs out vapours) And that is not what sports are all about! That's not what we are all about!
    Barrett breathes deeply to compose himself. Continues speaking in a slower, more deliberate manner.
    Barrett: We are human beings. And we don't deserve their disrespect. That, gentlemen, is why we are here. To make them pay.
    Assembled men at table stand in a rousing round of applause, except for Mista, who continues knitting. Amid the raucous congratulatory noise, a lone voice emerges.
    Sam Cronin: Wait a minute!
    Clapping dies down, group turns attention to Cronin.
    Cronin: That doesn't make any sense. If Toronto fans want to lose, if that's what they really want, then why are we doing this? Instead of scoring goals against them, shouldn't we be letting them score against us?
    Barrett: (puff of e-cig) Whoa. (cough) Heavy.
    Unnamed Man: Oh Sam. One of the true believers, you are. A draft pick. You still feel like you owe them. That they're a part of you. Well, let me tell you -- you aren't. Or, they aren't. Whatever, I lost track of my sentences. The point is, there are things in this world that you may not yet understand. But all will become clear in due time, don't you worry.
    Barrett: Uh, yeah, what he said.
    Unnamed Man: Right. Well then, if there's no other business, then I think we can adjourn this meeting of the Toronto FC castaways. There are some chips over on the table, if Quincy hasn't eaten them all.
    Group erupts in laughter.
    Amarikwa: HAHAHA I get it. Wait...
    Most seated at the table get up and turn towards the door.
    Cronin: Wait, what about our "problem"?
    Unnamed Man: Ah yes, that. One more order of business, everyone!
    Audible groan. Amarikwa giggles loudly, begins devouring all dressed chips.
    Unnamed Man: We don't have an operative in play for next week's match against the New England Revolution. Any ideas?
    Earnshaw: How about that local kid, Bunbury? They'd hate that!
    Unnamed Man: Hmm, good thinking.
    Amado Guevara: Jerry Bengtson! You can always count on a good Honduran to come through!
    De Guzman bows head into hands.
    Unnamed Man: Yes, thinking outside of the box. I like this. Any more ideas?
    Silence.
    Unnamed Man: Really? No one? Things usually come in threes, especially in dramatic situations like this.
    Silence.
    Unnamed Man: Oh. Well. (clears throat) I'll think of something then, I guess. Something... forever! (evil laughter)
    Cronin: What does that mean?
    Unnamed Man: I... you... shut up! Get out of here, all of you! Don't you all have new teams you should be training with or something?
    Majority of assembled group: No.
    Unnamed Man: Ah, well then, maybe I've found my solution for next week after all... (more evil laughter)
    Assembled group files out of room as Unnamed Man continues to laugh, except for Amarikwa, who sits slumped over in his chair, fingers covered in potato chip crumbs.
    -end-
    Michael Crampton
    But any Toronto FC fan who’s been there since the beginning must, deep inside, harbour doubts. Finding new, unprecedented ways to disappoint is a special gift of TFC’s and until mathematical certainty of a playoff spot has been achieved, those doubts will linger. Back in 2007 no one would have believed that it would take the Reds until at least 2014 to make the playoffs. Until they do, it makes it hard to believe that they will.
    At this point, beyond the irrational, the only legitimate cause for concern is Toronto’s somewhat indifferent home form. To date, the Reds have earned 32 points in league play. 16 have come at home, while 16 have been earned away. Granted, the Reds have currently played two more games on the road than at home, so they still have earned a higher points-per-game at BMO Field, and have managed to win half their home games. The problem is that they’ve lost nearly as often.
    With a run of three games at home out of their next four, and all against Eastern Conference rivals below them in the playoff standings, avoiding losing has become nearly as important as winning. Draws, though unsatisfying for home fans, will at least prevent those rivals from closing the gap and make any wins all the more valuable.
    First up on Saturday evening is a visit from the Chicago Fire. Arguably the weakest of the teams Toronto is set to face over the next few weeks, the Fire enter the match coming of a loss at lowly Montreal last weekend which had been immediately preceded by a 6-0 thrashing handed to them by Seattle in cup play a few days before.
    The seemingly interminable Jermaine Jones transfer saga has still not been concluded either. Linked to the American international for weeks, the on-again-off-again flirtation, peppered with statements from both parties, has been a bigger source of attention for the Fire than their bland on-field performance. 13 draws from 23 games mean that the Fire are still hanging around on the fringe of playoff contention but unless they can put a run of wins together and improve on their meagre tally of four victories, they’re unlikely to be of much relevance in the final few weeks.
    While the Jones story still runs, the Fire did manage to add a player this summer. It probably made as much news in Toronto as Chicago, but former Red Robert Earnshaw, TFC’s top scorer last season, has returned to MLS with the Fire and is expected to make his debut in Toronto. Along with Quincy Amarikwa, Chicago now host a tandem of ex-Toronto forwards cut loose by the Reds over the past couple seasons.
    For Toronto, there is starting to become an abundance of options in the forward positions. Bright Dike made an earlier than expected return to action last week in Kansas City with a late cameo and, after being held out another week, Jermain Defoe should be available for the match against Chicago. With Gilberto and Luke Moore both producing during Defoe’s absence, Ryan Nelsen will have to consider carefully how he manages his forwards. It’s a cliché, but Nelsen must agree that “it’s a good problem to have” to be allowed the option of integrating and rotating all those players into the attack.
    Toronto haven’t taken maximum points off the Fire in any match since 2010 (when Nick LaBrocca’s infamous wind-assisted goal opened the score). More than any game since, this would be a great game to break that streak.
    Michael Mccoll
    Manneh has struggled this year, making little impact when a starter and not terrifying defences as often as we would like when brought on as a late sub. He has bagged three goals, but they all came in the Whitecaps’ first nine games of the season and he hasn’t found the back of the net since the May 3rd game against San Jose.
    In fact, Manneh hasn’t looked confident at all in recent matches and I’d go as far as to say that he hasn’t looked the same since he missed the crucial penalty against Toronto in the Canadian Championship semi-final shootout. A coincidence maybe, but true all the same.
    When you speak with Manneh though, he’s quick to point out that his recent dip in performances isn’t down to confidence as far as he’s concerned.
    "I wouldn't say I've lost confidence, just restricted by the playing time a little bit," Manneh told reporters at training on Thursday. "That makes me a little bit frustrated but I think when I get a chance you'll see the confidence is back up there. It's just the past four games I really didn't play that much but hopefully I'll get a chance to play this weekend so that my confidence is still back up, but I don't feel that way."
    Now it would be easy to dismiss Manneh’s form as being that clichéd sophomore slump, but the 19 year old has featured at some point in 19 of the Whitecaps’ 23 MLS matches to date. He’s already played more minutes than he did last season and made three more starts (9 of them to 6 in 2013) but he has less goals (3 compared to 6) and assists (1 compared to last year’s 2) than he did in his rookie season.
    It’s just that he isn’t firing on all the cylinders that we know he’s capable of. Mind you, the same can be said of all of his young striking partners at various points of this year.
    "I just think we need to go back to what we've been doing since the beginning of the season," was Manneh’s thoughts when asked how both him and the team can get their offensive mojo back. "I think we've stayed away from the things that we've been successful at and just go back to the drawing board and stick with that. We've been working on it for the past weeks and right now we just need a little bit of luck on our side but we've been doing everything right and maybe a little bit of luck would have helped and hopefully we can get that this weekend."
    It’s had some screaming for the Whitecaps to bring in an experienced striker before the MLS roster freeze on September 15th. The young attackers haven’t had a real mentor since Kenny Miller left, although Andy O’Brien has spent a lot of extra training time with all of them to impart knowledge of how defenders will play against them.
    There is no doubt that an experienced figure with a consistent goalscoring record would do wonders for Manneh, Erik Hurtado, Darren Mattocks and Omar Salgado, and the addition of a locker room leader like Mauro Rosales will certainly help with that to some extent.
    For Manneh though, he feels that Carl Robinson and the club are right to put their focus on letting this young group develop.
    "People are always going to say what they want to say and you can't really stop them, but I think it's been great for the club," Manneh said. "They have the academy system and they're bringing up young kids from the academy. It's helping the team and we've been playing well with the young players. I don't really see anything wrong with that.
    "The performance has been great. Sometimes we've just been unlucky and some of the games that's we've tied we could have won. I don't think experience was really the case. It's enjoyable watching us play. Exciting. It's definitely just a matter of time for all the pieces to come together."
    There have been some factors behind the issues that Manneh’s faced this year. He started the preseason with a niggling back injury that took longer to heal than expected and he lost some valuable fitness time. It’s haunted him all year and far too often he looks gassed by around the hour mark when he’s been on as a starter.
    "It was early on in the season, but I've done fitness for the past four weeks," Manneh told us. "I feel that my fitness is back to where I want to be and physically I feel great so I think I'm ready for 90 minutes."
    That’s not quite the same view that’s shared by his coach.
    "I sometimes think that they have inconsistent performances," Robinson said of his young strikeforce. "I've pulled Kekuta out of the last couple of games because his fitness levels needed to increase, and I think you see the freshness he's got in training this week and he's great and he's raring to go if he gets that opportunity."
    And that’s what everyone of a Whitecaps persuasion wants to see just now – the team hitting the stride and their best form when it really matters at the end of the season.
    Manneh hasn’t started a game for the Caps since the 3-1 home loss to Chivas on July 12th. That was his third start in four games since Vancouver returned to action after the World Cup break. He’s played just 72 combined minutes in the six games since then, with no goals, no assists and just four shots to his name.
    But he’s looked back to his old self, keen and hungry during training this week and is pushing for a start against LA on Saturday night. The addition of Morales may have scuppered that depending on how Robinson wants to proceed, but Manneh will almost certainly feature at some point.
    To me, Manneh has been at his best these past two seasons when he comes on as an impact sub, running at tired defenders at the end of the game. His speed and inexperience often see him trying to do too much. Go past that one defender too many. Run out of space and ideas. Early in the game, that is a problem, Later on, he gets more leeway and the chance for all that to maybe not be punished so much.
    But if Manneh was given the choice of playing from the start or coming on late, there’s always only one option he wants.
    "Definitely start the game," Manneh told us. "I would love to play every single minute of every game. I know that can't happen because we have a lot of talented young players, attacking players, in our team so it will be difficult. I'm trying to make the most of my opportunities."
    With a limited strikeforce and no new addition seemingly on the horizon for this year, Manneh will undoubtedly get his chances and it’s important that he does make the most of them for both the team and the player himself.
    He certainly made the most of it last year as the season wound down, starting the final three games of the year and grabbing four goals, including that wondrous hat-trick in Seattle that will long live in every Whitecaps fan’s memory.
    Can we get the same explosive end to the season from the exciting young player this time around?
    "I hope so," Manneh said with a smile. "It's a thing I've been thinking of a lot. Hopefully I can get the spark and towards the end of the season the team will definitely need that. We really want to make the playoffs this year and things are looking good."
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