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    Guest

    Bez' Boy

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    It didn't take long for experts and keyboard warriors alike to tell TFC fans why Gilberto wouldn't work out.
    The Reds were buying off the basis of a single hot month, he wouldn't respond well to the physical nature of MLS and, oddly considering MLS plays in the summer, that he doesn't like playing in the cold.
    There were also a few voices -- most from outside Toronto, it must be said -- that were alarmingly positive. The cult of the young South American as the key to success in MLS is strong.
    It seems that there are very few people willing to admit the truth when it comes to a player like Gilberto -- a player few of us have seen and none of us have seen in a MLS environment.
    See, "I don't have a damn clue" is not acceptable in today's football reporting environment. Even when you don't.
    Well, I don't have a damn clue whether Gilberto will be successful. All I can do is look at the type of player that he is and look to see whether that type has done well when transferred into MLS.
    Even then you are just using data to speculate. It should go without saying that no transfer is 100% good or bad, pass or fail.
    That said, how have signings like Gilberto worked out in MLS over the past couple years?
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Well, that depends on what you consider what a type of signing Gilberto to be. If you restrict it to young strikers from Brazilian football coming off a 14-goal season then you would be looking at a n of 1 -- Gilberto. If you expanded it out to all South Americans then you get too big a sample. So, we just looked at Brazilians that have come into MLS from the end of 2010 until July 2013.
    There we find 22 players. From there we decided that a successful signing would be represented by the player having appeared in 75% of the team's games. Using that number we find that an astounding 17 of the signings have been duds.
    They are: Marcos Paullo, Ricardo Villar, Jeferson, Davis Lopes, Luiz Camargo, Marcelo Saragosa, Leanardo, Paulo Jr, Edu, Raphael Augusto, Tiago Ulisses, Digao, Juninho, Pipico, Rafael, Glauber and Kleberson.
    It seems absurd to have to point it out, but not all Brazilians are the same. Some MLS observers need to be reminded of that as South Americans in general and Brazilians specifically tend to get a much longer leash than Europeans or, especially, North Americans when signed.
    The cult of MUST ONLY SIGN SOUTH AMERICANS is strong in MLS circles, despite those type of players having a pretty dreadful success rate.
    Some do succeed though. So, who were the five Brazilians that did well?
    Camilo, Marcelo Sarvas, Felipe, Alex and Michel.
    Let's take a closer look at those five players.
    They ranged in age from 21 to 31, with an average age of 25.8. Three were midfielders, with one forward and one fullback.
    Most interesting of all, none came directly from Brazil to MLS. Rather, they were players that had already demonstrated that they had the skill-set needed to thrive outside of Brazil. That's important as not all Brazilians can take success in Brazil and apply it elsewhere.
    However, the less than sexy nature of the pathway our five success stories came through -- two from Switzerland, Korea, Costa Rica and Greece -- should illustrate that concerns that Gilberto isn't coming from an elite Brazilian side are overstated. Camilo lead the league in goals coming from the K-League. Talent is talent and Brazil has lots.
    Should TFC fans be worried that there is no examples of a successful transfer directly from Brazil to MLS? Maybe, TFC fans worry about everything anyway so it hardly matters. The bigger lesson is the 77.2% failure rate of all Brazilian transfers in. It's slightly above the average for discovery signing transfers, regardless of nationality.
    The bottom line is that all discovery signings have an element of risk and that most fail. It's why it's a fool's game to try and build a MLS team around internationals (something TFC fans should understand after 7-years of searching for Al O'Cation to arrive to save the day). The moves the club make to bring in established MLS players will be 10 times less sexy and 100 times more important.
    Not that Gilberto isn't important. As a DP, he is Tim Bezbatchenko's signature. For better or worse, his reputation is hanging on a player the vast majority of TFC fans couldn't yet pick out of a police line-up. If a Defoe-type DP fails the blame mostly falls on the player. Fans would assume that he failed because of attitude and effort. They saw him succeed at a higher level after all.
    But, If Gilberto fails fans will think it's because management picked the wrong guy and any faith they might be willing to give new management will be flushed away.
    Guest
    One of the things that makes Canada great is its overriding sense of fairness and equality (which in many cases exists more in principle than in practice, but just go with me for a moment here).
    The latest example of that equality principle came on Sunday, when our women's national team proved that they can do exactly what our men's national team did earlier this year: Lose 1-0 at a tournament to a team that's unranked by FIFA.
    Yes, the script got flipped at the Torneio Internacional Cidade de Sao Paulo for Canada, whose fans surely expected them to waltz over Scotland and Chile before a pair of showdowns with the host Brazilians. Now, Canada's fate isn't even in its own hands as it heads into its final group-stage game on Thursday.
    So, is this the beginning of the end for Big Red? Is the bloom fully off the rose for John Herdman and his charges?
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Well, not exactly.
    Losing to a team playing its second game in two years isn't acceptable, and surely Herdman and the players would admit as much. As it was, Chile's goal came against the run of play, off a set piece, on an unfortunate goalkeeping error, while Canada created more than a half-dozen chances at the other end, most of which were frantically cleared away at the last moment.
    Plus, as much as the competitive fires burn within professional athletes no matter the venue, the reality is that in the grand scheme of things, this tournament is not especially important. Prior to the competition, Herdman said (as he said about friendlies in Edmonton and Vancouver in the past two months) that the main purpose was to use it as preparation for the 2015 Women's World Cup.
    Again, that's not to say the result is acceptable. Any team with aspirations of earning a Women's World Cup medal should not be getting shut out by an unranked side 18 months before the tournament begins.
    But again, those rushing to conclude that this result dooms Big Red's podium chances at Canada 2015 (if, indeed, one actually believed that a podium finish is a realistic expectation) are jumping the gun a bit.
    There is plenty of cause for concern in the future of this program, there's no doubt about it. To reiterate something I've said countless times before: The extent to which this team's success has been reliant upon Christine Sinclair over the past decade (and the impact of her eventual departure) cannot be overstated.
    While she's won Canadian player of the year for the 10th time running in 2013, many regular followers of the team (this author included) feel as though she was a legacy pick, having lost a step this year. That's not to say she can't rebound in 2014, or that her time as a world-class striker is done. Not by any stretch of the imagination.
    However, there's a reason Herdman has reached out to the likes of Kara Lang, Melissa Tancredi and Josee Belanger, essentially pleading with them to return to the program. Sinclair won't be around forever, and the next generation of attacking players isn't ready to own the spotlight yet. Someone needs to fill that gap.
    Now, in fairness, if that trio, along with Jonelle Filigno, all return to the fold and, say, two of them can compete at a level close to what they're capable of, it will provide a significant boost to Canada's chances in 2015.
    But for now, none of them are part of the equation. Herdman only brought two true strikers to the tournament -- Sinclair and Adriana Leon -- and with Sinclair having been hobbled late against Chile, on Thursday a lot of attention will be turned to the 21-year-old (who has three goals in this, her first year with the senior team) along with Brittany Baxter (nee Timko), who in 121 appearances for Canada, has just five goals.
    Perhaps the team will pull it off against Brazil, and perhaps they'll find themselves in the final on Sunday. Perhaps they'll even bring home the gold medal again, the sort of thing that has a way of glossing over road bumps encountered along the way.
    Either way, from the Canadian perspective, the upset loss to Chile will likely be nothing more than a forgotten historical footnote in the grand scheme of things, potentially memorable only if 15-year-old Jessie Fleming (who made her debut for the senior national team) lives up to the potential that many in the Canadian soccer community believe she possesses... or, maybe, if this ends up being the genesis of Chile's ascension into superpower status in the women's game.
    The one real lesson that can be taken from the game, though, is a lesson that should be heeded all by all followers of the Canadian team, whether they've been around forever, or were brought on board by the bronze medal in London: There are no "gimme" games for the Canadian women's national team anymore.
    The global game is changing. The Canadian program is changing. Whatever the FIFA rankings may say, and whatever lofty perch Canada may sit upon, the reality is that nothing can be taken for granted. To his credit, Herdman is fully aware of this, and is doing what he can to adjust accordingly. But, quite simply, Canada can no longer assume three points are a given in any game -- if the women's national team wants a win, they will need to work hard to earn it.
    Kinda like the men's national team, come to think of it.
    .
    Guest
    <i>"Sing When You're Winning"</i> is our series looking at the world of football and supporters' culture in music, and it gives us a chance to look back at some of our favourite football related songs and give them a virtual spin.
    Whether that means songs by proper bands about football, songs by themed bands about football, or songs by teams and players about themselves, you'll find them all here. (If you missed any of the series so far, <a href="http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/tags.php?tag=sing+when+you%27re+winning" target="_blank"><u>catch up</u></a>).
    We haven't done one of these for a while, but a football-less weekend in December, whilst we await the press conference for the new Caps manager seems as good a time as any!
    We've still got a couple of <a href="http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/tags.php?tag=groundhopping" target="_blank"><u>Groundhopping</u></a> pieces to run this year from our travels, so as a precursor to those, it was only right to feature a song about football grounds here too. Combine two of our favourite features into one.
    With that in mind, there was only one song that could really fit the bill - <b>"Three English Football Grounds"</b> by English 80's indie band <b>I, Ludicrous</b>.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    I, Ludicrous have already featured in the series in <a href="http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?4392-Sing-When-Youre-Winning-4" target="_blank"><u>Part Four</u></a>, but with such a wealth of football related songs from the band from us to pick from, this won't be the last time either.
    <i>"Three English Football Grounds"</i> was written in 1987 on a bus by lead singer Will Hung on his way back from a weekend in Manchester where he'd been at a game.
    It's just three simple verses, giving a brief outline and makeshift travel guide to three English football grounds, the teams they host (Millwall, Bolton and Fulham), their fans and that all important commodity, the beer.
    The greatness is not just in the simplicity but the fantastic, train like, backing track.
    As with so many of the songs we've been featuring in this series, it's music from a different time and an almost unrecognisable era of football. For all it's faults, it's still one I miss.
    Especially the price it cost to get in to games, as highlighted by the song.
    Back in the mid 80's, it cost £3 to get in to watch Millwall. That would set you back between £19 and £30 now depending on which stand you want, whether it's a category A or B game and whether there's any seats or they've all been ripped out.
    Bolton was the cheapest back then at £2.50. Now tickets start at £23 and it was so much of a pain in the ass to try and find out what they went up to, that I gave up! Of course, Burnden Park, Bolton's home for 102 years up until 1997, no longer exists. Parking alone at the new Reebok costs £6. Funnily enough though, some things never change as Bolton had just been relegated when the song was written, although at that time to the bottom tier.
    The last ground featured in the song is Craven Cottage. Back then, Fulham were languishing in the depths of the English Third Division, which was, and you may find this hard to believe, actually the third division of English Football. No ridiculous names back then.
    Still the most expensive though at a whopping £4 to get in. Those rich Londoners. Well they need to be these days as it's £30 to £70 for a game, depending on the opponents and vantage point. Wowzer.
    The song was first released as the b-side to their breakthrough single <i>"Preposterous Tales"</i>, originally released as a free 7" flexi disc with the fanzine <i>"Blah Blah Blah"</i> in April 1987. It was also included on the re-release of the single as a 10" in May 1990 and featured on their debut album <i>"It's Like Everything Else"</i> in 1987 and the best of compilation <i>"20 Years in show business"</i> in 2007.
    So, as always, here's a video of the song, with the lyrics printed below. We're thinking of doing a new updated version of the song for MLS!
    <center>

    </center><center><i>Welcome to the Den, London South-East 14.
    Do not believe all you read or hear.
    We are not animals, we are human beings.
    Our support is loyal, their enthusiasm only leads to violence
    as a result of an immense provocation.
    Nearest station is New Cross Gate.
    £3.00 to get in and the beer is cold.
    Burnden Park - home of the Trotters.
    The ground stands surrounded by industrial dereliction,
    for Bolton is feeling the pinch.
    Still the fans have kept their sense of humour.
    Although recently upset by relegation.
    Nearest station is Trinity Street.
    £2.50 to get in and the beer is good.
    Craven Cottage. In one corner stands the cottage.
    Unique. A reminder of an earlier age.
    An age before the violence. Before the air was full of vile oaths.
    Opposite sits the brash new stand.
    Overlooking the Thames. Smug, expensive, empty.
    There's an electronic scoreboard to gaze at when the play gets dull,
    which isn't often for Fulham play an attractive brand of football
    £4 to get in and the beer is great.
    Three English Football Grounds</i></center>
    <p>
    Guest
    They say that patience is a virtue. In that case Carl Robinson is one of the most virtuous men in football. Vancouver Whitecaps are lucky to have such loyalty.
    So loyal in fact that Robinson, with the lease on his house ended, has been living in a Best Western hotel with his stuff in storage whilst he awaited news of who was to become the new Whitecaps head coach.
    His patience, commitment and desire for the job finally reaped just reward when the news broke Friday afternoon that Vancouver Whitecaps were to appoint Carl Robinson their new head coach.
    The news has been confirmed by various media sources and others, but the Whitecaps have yet to confirm the information themselves, although a press conference is expected to take place on Monday.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The Whitecaps search for a replacement for Martin Rennie has lasted 46 days. During that time, names have been bandied about, there have been frontrunners, reports of offers made and subsequently declined.
    But with their hearts seemingly broken they found their true love right under their noses all along. It was a Christmas miracle and they all lived happily ever after. Hopefully. As we really don't want to be going through all this again in a year's time.
    There is no doubt that Robinson is going to be branded as a second choice by some, or third or fourth. And he is. Let's not shy away from that. But let those that want to make headlines say what they want. The important thing as far as we're concerned is that of the apparent remaining candidates for the job, the Whitecaps have got the right man and made the correct decision.
    They just went about it rather poorly, not helped by more leaks than a rowboat with woodworm.
    By that we mean that of the remaining known candidates - Marsch, Williams, Preki - Robinson was by far the standout choice from that quartet.
    Taking their time is not a bad thing of course. Far from it and much better than jumping in and making a rash, wrong hire.
    But there are questions that do need to be asked. Why could the Caps not land an experienced manager? Why were people not queuing up for the job? Why did they overlook someone of the experience of Stuart Pearce, just because he didn't have it in MLS? What use is a committee if it can't help the manager in the all the quirks of the League?
    Some will simply not understand why the Caps got rid of Martin Rennie, only to replace him with his assistant, and especially after a search lasting over six weeks. With the big names linked to the job, the appointment of Robinson will also be a disappointment to some.
    There's nothing that Carl or the Caps can do about the optics of the whole thing. It is what it is and it is what people want to see it as. Not that that will stop the chatter.
    The important thing is that we now move on, full steam ahead and start building a squad capable of not just making the playoffs next season, but ideally making an impact in it.
    But that should not be the be all and end all in judging Robinson. Fans, media and the owners must be in this for the long haul and look at the future and not just immediate success next season.
    So what will Robinson bring to the job that Rennie didn't. No-one can say for a certainty, as this is Robinson's first head coaching position, after three seasons in MLS as an assistant coach (one with New York and two in Vancouver).
    Sure it's a risk appointing a first time head coach but what is starting to become evident in recent years is that MLS is fast becoming a League for talented young coaches with new, fresh ideas. Not older coaches with experience but often living on past glories.
    Robinson has experience at the top of the game as a player, with 52 caps for Wales at international level. That might not count for much with some detractors, but it should. He's not a noob.
    From what we know of Carl and from what we've seen from his coaching of the reserve sides, the new Whitecaps will be a lot more attacking side and youth will get more of a chance to develop and prove their worth.
    This also won't be Rennieball on the road.
    Robinson has the added benefit of knowing the squad that is left and was consulted about who should be kept on and who should be released, although we still do not know who made the final decisions.
    He has the respect of the current squad, and whilst it's great to see the likes of Camilo and Russell Teibert singing his praises, Robinson now has the tough task of going from being everyone's friend on the coaching team to the hard taskmaster that decides if they play or not and calls them out for their failures. It's not always an easy transition to make, and especially when it's your first full coaching gig.
    But there is no doubt that he has worked very hard with players like Camilo and Teibert and we have seen the results.
    Robinson brings the element of consistency needed and the knowledge of just where the holes in this team lie and what needs to be strengthened.
    Now that the main man is in situ, the next step is to get his assistants in place and we're hoping that both Paul Ritchie and Marius Røvde will return.
    From previous chats with the three R's, they are high on a number of the Residency talent, both present and recent, and we would expect to see the likes of Ben Fisk, and possibly even New Mexico midfielder Ben McKendry get a chance on the MLS squad, along with the current crop of Marco Bustos, Jackson Farmer and Kianz Froese.
    There is also a good chance we'll see goalkeeper Simon Thomas return to the fold and striker Tommy Heinemann, who recently took himself out of the MLS re-entry draft.
    More pressing of course is what to do with Jay DeMerit. Although the Caps ownership and the executive committee will clearly like DeMerit to stay, the appointment of Robinson by no means makes this a done deal if he is allowed to assemble the squad he wants.
    It's going to be an interesting offseason as Carl Robinson stamps his imprint and authority on the Whitecaps squad.
    Let's hope he is given the time he needs and deserves to make this work. A statement on Monday from the Caps that making the playoffs will not solely be the measuring stick would be a start.
    For me, if we don't make the playoffs, but win the Voyageurs Cup and finally develop some of our young homegrown players into first team regulars, that would be pleasing. I want all three, but making the playoffs cannot be the sole judge and jury or we'll be looking for a lot of new coaches down the years.
    It's not quite a rebuild. It's not quite a demand for instant success. It should be somewhere inbetween. But we do have to see improvements in key areas. Robinson should not, and will not, be given a free ride. He will need to perform.
    The pressure is on but we feel that the 37 year old Welshman is up to the task. We'll soon find out if our faith is justified!
    At least he can unpack his belongings in time for Christmas now.
    <p>
    Guest

    Gilberto signs

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    In an effort to provide a different take on the TFC Gilberto signing, I'm digging through some data of similar players signed to MLS. We'll evaluate the type of signing it was and handicap its likelihood of being successful.
    There are lots of places offering subjective opinions of the player today. The reality is its next to impossible to take observations from Brazil and shift them into a MLS environment. Even the most informed observer is guessing to a certain extend and human nature is to find reasons why something will fail rather than succeed.
    I don't pretend to know whether this signing will work out. I intend to inform myself of how similar players have done, present those findings and, together, have a conversation about the player.
    Check back soon...
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Guest
    It's a bit unfortunate that captain Christine Sinclair's momentous 200th appearance for the women's national team came in a four-nations tournament on another continent, in a game that was moved 26 hours later by organizers for no discernible reason and unavailable on Canadian television.
    Had the CSA been willing to do some utterly harmless number-fudging (something they were encouraged to do by numerous followers of the team, myself included), the Burnaby native could have been rightly feted last month in a friendly against Mexico at Vancouver's B.C. Place.
    But whether Thursday's opener at the Torneio Internacional Cidade de Sao Paulo in Brazil was Sinclair's 200th cap or her 201st, she went ahead and did what she's done for the women's program for nearly a decade and a half: Get down to work, and put the ball in the back of the net.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]


    Sinclair's tally against the Scots gives her a career total of 147, now 11 shy of Mia Hamm for second on the all-time goal-scoring lead in senior international play. And the accolades are sure to keep on coming -- on Friday, Sinclair was named the "fan favourite of the year" in espnW's Impact10 contest (thanks to some rambunctious stuffing of the ballot box by CanWNT fans) and <strike>is a pretty good bet, later today, to be</strike> has been named the CSA's female player of the year for the 10th consecutive time.
    It will be interesting to see (or not see, depending on the availability of web streams) how Sinclair holds up in the rest of the tournament, with only one other striker -- Adriana Leon, who scored her third senior goal for Canada against Scotland -- on the roster.
    While Canada could be forgiven for not expecting too stern of a test in Sunday's match against Chile -- who are unranked by FIFA after going more than 18 months without playing a game -- the Chileans did hold the host Brazilians to a 2-0 score line on Thursday, and anyone underestimating a South American team on South American soil is doing so at their own peril.
    Still, head coach John Herdman is likely to do more experimenting with his lineup against Chile than he did against Scotland, against whom he fielded a veteran-heavy starting XI. Fans shouldn't be surprised to see some combination of teenagers Kadeisha Buchanan (18), Sura Yekka (16) and Jessie Fleming (15) in the squad -- in fact, prior to the tournament, Herdman guaranteed that Fleming would make her first senior-team appearance at some point, and identified the Chile game as the time it was most likely to happen.
    If all goes according to plan, Herdman will get to test some youngsters and still earn three points against Chile, setting up an exciting final group-stage match between Canada and Brazil. Presuming Brazil also gets the job done against Scotland, Big Red will also meet the hosts in the tournament final on Dec. 22, which would be a replica of what happened the last time Canada took part in this tournament, back in 2010.
    On that occasion, Canada took the crown thanks to a late goal by, who else, the captain, our captain...


    There's plenty of reason for hope in that next generation, but Canada may never again have a player quite like Christine Sinclair. So let's continue appreciating her while we've got her.
    .
    Guest

    The unspoken goal

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Can we be absurd for a moment?
    You're not going to hear anyone associated with TFC say this out loud because they realize it would get them laughed at. TFC fans likely haven't considered it even a possibility. And, the rest of MLS stopped thinking of TFC at all about four years ago.
    The media that covers the team has reached a level of cynicism that hasn't been seen in Toronto since the days of Harold Ballard.
    The end result of all this is that no one is asking new management what their actual goal is for 2014. There has been vague promises of "turning things around" and a promise by Tim Lieweke that the playoffs will happen, but no specific performance goals have been stated.
    In the past we had 5-year plans and 3-year plans and all kinds of plans that tried to defer expectations as long as possible.
    New management isn't doing that. They could. Toronto fans understand rebuilding plans. They'd fully accept it if Lieweke came out tomorrow and said he wanted to see a 10 point improvement next year and 15 the next and so on. It would seem reasonable. It wouldn't really excite them, but the loyalists that remain would soldier on.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    So, when you don't see management self-handicapping, and you start to evaluate the moves that they are attempting to make, it starts to dawn on you. New management isn't trying to put together a mid-table roster aimed to squeak into playoffs and build on for future.
    Despite what past management has tried to make you believe, putting a roster together that competes for lower playoff seeds isn't all that hard. The league is designed to make it easy to be average. TFC 1.0 was a special case. The Reds of 2007-2013 were fully and completely incompetent. What we experienced here wasn't normal.
    If you believe the new management is normal -- and there is evidence they are -- then becoming a dead average MLS team should happen by default. Go out and get 2-3 MLS vets, add one scorer (and with TFC's money they can easily do that) and BAM! you're in the playoff hunt.
    It may seem flippant to suggest it's that simple, but, again, the league is set-up to make that easy. There are several MLS teams that work off a model that aims to keep them at that level consistently. It's a conservative strategy that reduces risk and takes advantage of MLS' playoff structure. They know they'll never be poor enough to alienate their fan base and that having a payoff structure gives you the opportunity to do something unexpected once every 5-years or so.
    See: Rapids, Colorado -- 2010 for an example of this model. The Rapids have never been great, but they have been champions. By doing that they have created a stable, if uninspiring, club that gives fans just enough hope to keep coming back.
    For the first seven years of TFC this level of mediocracy has been held up as the Holy Grail. That they were as terrible as they were is a reflection of just how clueless they were, not of the difficulty of the task.
    In fact, the best evidence of the relative ease of staying in chase for playoffs can been seen in TFC's own history. Despite being utterly uninspiring, for first three years of TFC the league's pull to the middle was actually evident. Mo Johnston was not a good manager, but he understood enough of the way MLS worked to keep TFC at a level where they could stay in race late into seasons. Had the club not self-imploded in New York on final day of 2009 season they might have continued down that path. They were only a point out, after all.
    Instead, TFC moved off script. They completely blew the team up to change directions. In truth, Preki simply created another middling line-up that was pretty much the same level as before. It was a pointless move, but it would have been (just) fine if they had stayed the course. Sadly, this is when the club lost the plot.
    A player revolt lead to both Johnston and Preki being shown the door. That was fine. Johnston was never going to turn TFC into a championship team and Preki was basically an even more arrogant and angry version of Paul Mariner. The problem was they had no plan to replace Johnston and no one in the front office with even a basic mastery of MLS team building.
    As insane as it is to think back on now, Johnston, for all his many faults, was actually the safety valve that prevented TFC from being abysmal. His failing was he was happy just middling around. He had a good gig going in Toronto and --read between lines-- keeping arrangements was what motivated him. He didn't want to be fired so he wanted a competitive team, but the type of risks needed to truly go for it were never going to happen.
    He utilized his arrangements to build a slightly below average team that may have eventually grown into a simply mediocre team. Actually, if he had been working under the current domestic quota rules his arrangements might have been just enough better that TFC may have found a way to sneak into playoffs and, possibly, he'd still be here leading the Reds to 4th to 7th place finishes.
    Thank God that didn't happen. Yes, in a perfect world, the next three seasons don't have to play out the way the did, but that pain did accomplish something. By slipping to insanity levels it demonstrated, without a doubt, that the entire front office at TFC was fully and completely out of their depth. Danny Koevermans summed it up: the worst football club in the world.
    It damn near destroyed the entire fan base. It was horrible. I wouldn't wish it on anyone (save maybe Manchester United, but that's just me and my comfortable level of pettiness...I digress).
    The abject failure left no other option but to go nuclear. It was drastic and confusing for fans when it happened (firing Payne so soon seemed like more of same when it was really start of a totally different direction), but without a cleansing of that type this team would have been moving to St Louis within 5-years. No hyperbole.
    That history lesson brings us back to the topic at hand. The current management and what their goals are. The new management is unlike anything TFC fans have seen, so it's a bit shocking. We don't know if they are any good yet, but we do know that they aren't trying to be average.
    As said off the top, TFC will not admit this, but the moves they are trying to make are the high risk, high reward moves that a club trying to build a championship team makes.
    Like, now. TFC is trying to put a roster together that will challenge for the MLS Cup. In 2014.
    Stop laughing.
    Again, they could play it safe. I have very little doubt that they could find themselves in that high 40 range playing games that matter down stretch. The instinct of fans is to assume that's a necessary step to take in a slow build to a eventual title bid sometime in an undefined future.
    What TFC fans have consistently failed to appreciate is that MLS doesn't need to work that way. It's a league where worst to first not only happens but is fairly common.
    Above we touched on the stay-average-and-hope-for-a-magical-run strategy of winning in MLS. Although still common there is an increasingly more common approach of going for broke. Ironically, teams that finish low in the standings are best equipped to try for the home run than those middling teams. They receive more allocation, first shot at big domestics and high draft picks. Going for it requires big international signings and not all work out. In fact, about half of MLS discovery signings are failures. Signing college players is much safer.
    So, a good amount of clubs fail miserably when they go for it. That's what makes the conservative approach attractive to so many teams. That's especially the case when you factor in the cruel nature of the playoffs. Some clubs really do nail it, but are still viewed as unsuccessful because a hot striker from a team 17-points behind scored from 35-yards to eliminate them in playoffs. In the end, no matter how much a minority of fans wish it wasn't so, the measure of success in MLS is winning the MLS Cup.
    It's easy to understand why it might be appealing to play the waiting game and not take risks. It's absolutely understandable how it would make perfect sense for Toronto to approach 2014 like that. This market has been abused so much that a single playoff game would be viewed as a remarkable accomplishment and it would likely buy the new management a couple more years of faith.
    But, they really aren't doing that. Instead, they are looking to add 3-4 elite level starters to the roster. The targets are known and they are audacious. If they all come and work out to maximum potential then TFC could be an elite team with a legitimate shot at winning the MLS Cup next year. Really. The players being talked about (especially if allocation is used on Laba to get rid of his DP status) come in and perform to their historic expectations TFC will be unrecognizable next year. Add a healthy, motivated and revitalized DeRo (as is being widely suggested will happen) to that group and you could be looking at a 35 point improvement.
    The other side to this approach is the Englishman could come in arrogant, the Italian could pout, the Brazilian could be homesick and leave in July and the Canadian could lead a dressing room revolt that ends with yet more turnover. These are all risky moves. Any or all could blow up in new management's face and drive another nail into the club.
    The truth is the chance of the signings failing is better than it is they'll succeed. Probably not at the extreme level suggested above, but at a level that would still leave a bitter taste in the mouths of a fan base that is damn close to walking away for good.
    But, it might work. And, if it did the magic that seemed endless in 2007 could come back. The fans that came out in 2007 and have since left would come back at a hint of something special.
    It's unclear if they'd come back at the hint of average. It could be that new management understands that, which is why they are willing to take the risk they are.
    It might be the only chance TFC has left. At this point, with all the negativity that surrounds the club, you might as well give it a try. It can't really get worse so why not see if you can bring back the joy that made BMO Field such a special place to be seven (long, painful and frustrating) years ago?
    Guest

    TFC is dead; long live TFC

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    The last man standing from the great Dutch philosophy that TFC told us was going to be their trademark for generations has been fired. As first reported here, Tomas Rongen was replaced by Greg Vanney at the TFC Academy today.
    For those keeping score at home, it was 1,070 days from the grand promises of 4-3-3 glory until the club had completely turned over everyone associated with the experiment.
    Before we move on let's take a moment to reflect on that.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Winter was a very nice man and the idea of Toronto playing some sort of beautiful game was very appealing. Far too many of us wanted to believe it was possible to pull off. Hindsight suggests it was one of the worst management decisions in MLS history. It perfectly summarizes how gullible and clueless senior management was at MLSE.
    They really had no clue how to win in MLS. Zero. It's almost impossible to be as bad as TFC has been.
    A total cleansing was needed and, as of today, has been completed. With that it's time to stop evaluating current management with the decisions of past management. The only thing that connects current management to past is the name of ownership--see, MLSE is different now too.
    Unless you believe the city is actually cursed there is no evidence that TFC is incapable of making good decisions. None. Signing Mista is irrelevant to any and all discussions about the team now since it's the same team in name only.
    Realistically the clean break happened when Kevin Payne was fired, but symbolically today was the day.
    You've been freed of your past TFC fans. It's going to be a struggle for most to forget that past or to believe that it is irrelevant to future, but it really is.
    As Ben Knight used to say, Onward!
    Guest
    "Sometimes I think you want to fail!"
    "Shut up, just shut up!"
    - Two Guys From Kabul, The Simpsons
    If an alien were to be plunked into the city of Toronto, from whence they'd need to derive their understanding of the psychology of human sports fandom, their report back to the mothership would likely read as follows:
    "The humans use displays of athletic competition as a means of communal self-flagellation. The humans name the teams after geographical locations, and then humans from those geographic locations revel in the failure and humiliation of those teams. We believe it is an outward projection of their own masochism, self-hatred and sense of ennui."
    I don't know why the alien talks like an annoying first-year university student trying to overuse 50-dollar words, but you get my point. Toronto is screwy. We seem to take perverse delight in our teams' perpetual failure, almost wearing it as a badge of anti-pride.
    So it's strangely fitting that presumed-new-TFC-signing Gilberto's introduction to the city was at a Raptors game, given that the Raptors' modus operandi ahead of a stacked NBA draft is to do what teams like Toronto FC generally tend to do, intentionally or otherwise: Lose games.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Gilberto, then, could be forgiven for developing a first impression not unlike that of our imaginary alien, or of the famous Afghan restauranteurs from an early episode of The Simpsons.
    Sometimes, it's easy to believe, Toronto wants to fail.
    Of course, we're not talking about the players themselves. As the Toronto Star's Cathal Kelly (who had a busy night at the Air Canada Centre) wrote, professional players will continue to play to win (or at least say they're doing so), even if the perception is that the team is in "tank" mode (not to be confused with "Tanc mode").
    Even so, the perception (accurate or not) that the Raptors are forfeiting this campaign in order to have a better shot at drafting hometown boy Andrew Wiggins next year gives Toronto fans a giddy feeling -- finally knowing that it's OK to feel kinda good about the team being bad. For once, hopefully, hating ourselves will pay off with a realistic reason to like ourselves again.
    Which brings us, rather circuitously, to Gilberto and Toronto FC.
    There is perhaps no group of sports fans in the city more inward-looking and more self-loathing than the Toronto FC faithful. This group has turned "using sporting misery as an expression of camaraderie" into an art form. They're so good at it, in fact, that it's sometimes difficult to imagine how they would react if Toronto FC was ever actually, y'know, good.
    In fact, some of them will likely be upset if and when that day comes, since on-field success would spoil TFC's constantly-reaffirmed reputation as hapless losers.
    "They may be hapless losers," says that as-yet-theoretical TFC fan, though this could just as easily come out of the mouth of any Toronto sports fan, "but they're our hapless losers!"
    Well, bad news, self-hating TFC fan. Those days might be numbered.
    It's early, early, early days. But as has been said before, Jackson (signed earlier this week) is precisely the sort of experienced MLS player that's need to build a successful team in this league. And Gilberto -- about whom most of us know nothing, other than if someone says his name quickly and you're not listening closely, you might hear "Alberto Gilardino" -- is precisely what the next generation of designated players should be: Young, South American, attack minded.
    Will he succeed in MLS? No one knows. Will Jermain Defoe follow him to Toronto? No one knows (well, some people are strongly hinting that they know). Will Joe Bendik replicate his 2013 form and show that he's a worthy long-term replacement for Stefan Frei? No one knows.
    But guess what? It's Dec. 11. Last season ended four days ago. Next season is three months away. This is the time for uncertainty -- or rather, it's the time for this kind of uncertainty: "How will (recently acquired player) do for this team? Will they sign (potential target player)?" and so on.
    It's much better than the usual kind of TFC off-season uncertainty: "Who's the head coach going to be? Who's going to be in the front office? Will the team actually have 18 warm bodies to put out there on opening day?"
    It's almost farcically pointless for anyone to say "Leiweke and Bezbatchenko have a plan!" since Payne had a plan, Mariner had a plan, Winter had a plan, Klinsmann had a plan, Johnston had a plan, Anselmi had a plan... yeah.
    But just rattling off that list of names gave some TFC fans a bizarre, subconscious uptick in self-satisfaction. "Yeah, there has been a lot of bullshit with this team! I hope there's even more bullshit, and they lose even more games, so that I can show how much I really support them!"
    You realize how silly that is when you see it written down, right?
    Perhaps the first guy from Kabul and the imaginary alien are onto something after all.
    Don't be afraid, Toronto FC fans. If this really is the year that a plan comes together, and this really is the year that TFC finally has something vaguely approximating "a respectable league record, acquired by playing attractive soccer", it's OK. You can smile. You can actually be happy about the team's success, rather than its failure. No one will think less of you.
    If, however, you feel the need to keep yourself wrapped in the warm embrace of sporting ineptitude, don't worry, you'll always have the Raptors... and Blue Jays... and Maple Leafs.
    (At least until Leiweke and Drizzy Drake spoil those teams too.)
    .
    Guest
    Vancouver Whitecaps were founded 40 years ago today. Happy birthday Caps.
    On December 11th 1973, the Caps were born and in the 40 years since, they have become the most successful football team in Canada, with a string of championships to their name and a host of great players who have pulled on the jersey over the years.
    We wanted to do something special to mark the occasion here at AFTN, so today we're launching the start of our <b>Vancouver Whitecaps All-Time Greats</b>, an interactive series allowing everyone (fans, media or whoever) to vote for the best Vancouver Whitecaps (and Vancouver 86ers), position by position, from the first forty years.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Five years ago, the Whitecaps marked the occasion of their 35th anniversary with a season long celebration of past glories, inviting back old favourites and producing a series of commemorative collectors cards. You can be certain that there will be similar 40th anniversary celebrations in 2014.
    With a new away strip scheduled for next season, don't be surprised to see some nod towards the old days with either a return of the famous hoop or something in the blue and yellow colours of the 86ers.
    So, what exactly is our <i>Vancouver Whitecaps All-Time Greats</i>all about?
    Well we need to take you back to Scotland in 2006 and the Scottish arm of AFTN to give you some of the background (no, don't stop reading!).
    East Fife FC celebrated their 100th anniversary in 2003 but many of us felt it was a little lacking in some areas from a Board of Directors we detested and were soon to remove through fan protests.
    Towards the end of 2006 we decided to launch our <i>East Fife All-Time Greats</i> on AFTN, to properly honour some of the best players from East Fife's then 103 year history.
    The idea was simple. To vote for the best ever East Fife goalkeeper, right back, left back and so on, and to honour some of the most legendary player to have worn the black and gold.
    With such a long history, most people that remembered East Fife's 1938 Scottish Cup winning side or the three League Cup winning squads from the 40s and 50's, weren't still around unfortunately, or if they were, they weren't using an online forum!
    So to try and give things a bit of an equal balance, we split the voting into two teams: a pre 1970 XI and a post 1970 XI.
    Players could be voted in for whatever reason people saw fit that merited them being part of East Fife folklore. Best ever in that position, a key contributor to the club's history, length of service, etc.
    After first voting on a formation (we went with 4-3-3 to honour a fair split of midfielders and strikers), every week we ran voting on the AFTN forum to decide who would represent each team in each position. There was a lot of fun discussion and debate about the various merits of each player compared to others before all the votes were tallied up and the two XI's were selected.
    We then worked with the East Fife Supporters' Trust, the East Fife Mail local paper and the Club itself to get the views and the votes from the wider fanbase and those non internet using fans to select the best All-Time XI from the two sets of teams.
    The whole thing caught everyone's imaginations and with the voting complete, a huge celebratory dinner was put on to honour all 22 players and 2 managers selected. All 24 were represented, either by themselves or for those sadly passed on, by remaining family members.
    Awards were given out to each Best XI, and then further trophies presented to the final All-Time Greats XI.
    It was a wonderful occasion, a great year of discussion about the club's history and a fitting tribute to it.
    And now we're bringing it to Vancouver and today launch our <i>Vancouver Whitecaps All-Time Greats</i>, which we'll kick off in full force in January and run for much of the Whitecaps' 40th anniversary year.
    Although we can't promise pulling off a celebratory dinner here, we do want to pick our best XI's from the Whitecaps first 40 years and honour those that have gone down in Vancouver folklore.
    We're going to do it a little bit differently from the Fife version however. There will be no year cut off date to select the initial teams. Instead we will split the teams into three eras, including those under both the Caps and 86ers names, and select the best XI from the <b>NASL days (1974 to 1984)</b>, the <b>D2 days (1986 to 2010)</b> and the <b>MLS days (2011 to present day)</b>.
    Now we know it's going to be tricky. Three different sets of fanbases, in numbers and memories. We're still putting the finishing touches to some logistics.
    You don't have to have experienced the early days to vote, just be aware of the Caps storied history and we'll help you with suggestions along the way.
    To try and avoid too much of a MLS bias (and frankly there are not many of the current era that you would expect to be in the final All-Time XI at this point in time but maybe when we do it again in ten years time), we're going to try and canvas the views of as many people as possible across a variety of means.
    With 22 Whitecaps and the 1979 Soccer Bowl team in the Canadian Hall of Fame, a host of other non Canadian players picking up individual awards and recognition over the years, and a host more who deserved to but didn't, it's a large field to make your selections from.
    Every week we'll run an article on here to vote for a certain position for a certain team. Each team's position will be allocated an article and a week to itself.
    We'll kick things off in the first week of January with the NASL goalkeeping position, week two will be the D2 goalkeeper, week 3 the MLS goalkeeper, and then week 4 goes back to right back in the NASL team and so on.
    Plan is to have three individual team articles for: Goalkeeper, Right back, Left back, Central Defenders, Midfield, Forward line and then select a manager for each team. We'll then run another seven articles to narrow down the all-time team from the three era selections to just one all-time winner.
    We should be looking at this running for around 28 weeks or so in total, barring any changes as we go along. This will also lead in nicely to AFTN's own celebrations of our 25th birthday in August.
    We'll include votes in the article comments, on Twitter, on Facebook, on the Southsiders forum and possibly via a couple of other sources that we'll be working on, including possible local newspaper involvement again. We'll also be speaking to the Whitecaps about the whole idea to see how we can maybe work with them on a few things.
    Hopefully we'll generate some good discussions, memories and stories of players from the past and present. It's the latter I'm most looking forward to.
    Watch for it all kicking off in the New Year.
    <p>
    Guest

    Shocking follow through by TFC management

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    The signing of Jackson (I think I might call him Bo, just 'cause) could end up as yet another footnote in TFC's history. He is, after all, a fairly average MLS player.
    Throughout his career he's produced at almost exactly a replacement player level. Dead average MLS players, by definition, don't tend to make an impression.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    However, there are a couple of factors that favour Bo. One, TFC has an insanely low level of MLS average players. It's the biggest failing of the club over its seven tragic seasons--management (and, often, fans) look down their nose at MLS average and instead have consistently swung for the fences in discovery signing chases that ultimately have failed to deliver.
    So, when Tim Bezbatchenko started talking about the need to add 3-4 MLS veterans it should have given tuned in TFC fans some hope. When he started to actually follow through on it?
    Plan a parade!
    When that follow through started on December 9, not three hours before First Kick (*cough* Dan Gargan *cough*), then plan the DAMN parade!!
    Lots of work yet, of course, and Bo has some anger and turnover issues that give one pause, but...
    Good start so far. For once.
    The In Bez We Trust T-shirts will be available for purchase later this week.
    Guest

    2013 re-entry list

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    The players available in the 2013 re-entry list are below the jump.
    There are two rounds of the draft. In the first round, teams select players that they wish to pick up the option on their 2014 contract (2013 salary + 5%). To use a specific example, if TFC wanted to make a claim on Dwayne DeRosario in the first round, they would need to make him a DP for next year as his 2013 salary was $600,000 (thus he'd be paid $630,000 by any team looking to make a first round claim).
    Very few players are selected in the first round and those that are are generally cheap, depth players that fill a specific need on a club.
    Most of the action happens in the second round. There, teams draft the rights of players. Then that team, and only that team, can renegotiate a contract with a player.
    If a player isn't selected they become free agents, eligible to sign with any club.
    Players can re-sign with their current club at any point up until the start of the first round. It's likely that a good deal of the listed players will be removed from the list by the time the draft starts.
    The first round is Thursday, the second Dec 18.
    The list:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Chicago Fire (9): M Corben Bone, D Shaun Francis, M Joel Lindpere, M Daniel Paladini, M Logan Pause, M Chris Rolfe, F Maicon Santos, M Wells Thompson, M Michael Videira
    Chivas USA (3): D Ante Jazic, D Steve Purdy, M Josue Soto
    Columbus Crew (2): M Danny O'Rourke, M Konrad Warzycha
    Colorado Rapids (3): GK Steward Ceus, D Brian Mullan, M Jamie Smith
    D.C. United (6): M Dwayne De Rosario, D James Riley, F Carlos Ruiz, M Marcelo Saragosa, M John Thorrington, D Daniel Woolard
    FC Dallas (3): F Kenny Cooper, M David Ferreira, D Ugo Ihemelu
    Houston Dynamo (5): D Bobby Boswell, F Calen Carr, D Mike Chabala, M Alex Dixon, F Cam Weaver
    LA Galaxy (4): M Colin Clark, M Laurent Courtois, D Sean Franklin, M Pablo Mastroeni
    Montreal Impact (1): M Sinisa Ubiparipovic
    New England Revolution (5): D Kevin Alston, F Chad Barrett, F Ryan Guy, M Clyde Simms, M Juan Toja
    New York Red Bulls (5): F Andre Akpan, D Brandon Barklage, F Fabian Espindola, GK Kevin Hartman, D Heath Pearce
    Philadelphia Union (1): D Chris Albright
    Portland Timbers (2): D David Horst, D Ryan Miller
    Real Salt Lake (4): M Yordany Alvarez, D Brandon McDonald, GK Josh Saunders, M Khari Stephenson
    Seattle Sounders (6): D Marc Burch, GK Josh Ford, M Blair Gavin, M Mauro Rosales, F Steve Zakuani
    San Jose Earthquakes (4): D Nana Attakora, M Mehdi Ballouchy, D Dan Gargan, GK Evan Newton
    Toronto FC (2): F Justin Braun, M Bobby Convey
    Vancouver Whitecaps (4): GK Joe Cannon, F Tommy Heinemann, F Corey Hertzog, GK Brad Knighton
    Guest

    TFC add midfielder

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    It didn't take long for TFC to make its first off-season addition. They completed a trade with Dallas today.
    Below the jump the press release. We will have more analysis later.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Guest
    And so it was decided.
    The 18th MLS Cup Final took place on Saturday to close out the 2013 season – 323 regular season matches and 14 playoff matches all lead to this moment, but who would take how the silverware.
    The story lines heading into the match were many: two former MLS players-turned-coach leading their teams, each with a Cup already under their belts – Peter Vermes as a player with Kansas City in 2000 and Jason Kreis as a manager with Salt Lake in 2009; each club was looking for its second trophy; two small-market teams in the final, two of the better run organizations with definitive an entertaining styles on display.
    Would this be the end of an era in Salt Lake as rumours swirled around the futures of the Kreis-Garth Lagerway brain-trust, would this be their last match as a duo with the club?
    The success story that is the rebranding of the former Kansas City Wizards, evolving from a tiny, odd baseball stadium to luxurious Sporting Park in three years.
    Before the results…[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    N o goal of the round this time, they were mere standard fare, but how about the pass from Kyle Beckerman to set up Salt Lake.

    No look, first timer, wow!
    The Match
    Much of the pre-match tactical chatter revolved around Salt Lake choice at centre-forward, but a foot-injury to Devon Sandoval ended that debate as Alvaro Saborio returned to the starting lineup.
    For Kansas City, Vermes held to his morals, and designated player, Claudio Bieler, was on the bench to start.
    It was a very cold afternoon – the coldest in MLS history, but a packed house showed little sign of being muted by the weather.
    The action started out briskly with Chris Wingert colliding with CJ Sapong from behind – recalling shades of his controversial early hit on Kei Kamara in their last meeting.
    The first chance came after four minutes, when Graham Zusi sprang onto a long pass down the left, pulled up and hit a cross for Paulo Nagamura, but he could not keep his redirect on target.
    Then misfortune struck leading to an early substitution for Kansas City, who had his ankle stepped on by Robbie Findley and was forced off, to be replaced by Lawrence Olum after just eight minutes.
    The home side redoubled their efforts with a series of free-kicks, one of which saw Dom Dwyer attempt a bicycle, smashing the frozen ball into the frozen beak of Nat Borchers - ouch.
    The field conditions were playing havoc with the progression – several players lost their footing, while others sought some early treatment for hard falls or slight knocks.
    Zusi, fielded on the left rather than the right, was causing all sorts of problems, skipping a bouncer to the near-post, before picking out Sapong at the right-post for a flicked downward header that was pushed wide by Nick Rimando in the 25th minute.
    Four minutes later it was Salt Lake knocking on the door when a Wingert free-kick was punched straight up in the air by Jimmy Nielsen and fell to Findley – eerily similar to the situation that led to his goal in their earlier meeting – only for his attempt to hit the post and fall kindly back to the net-minder for safe keeping.
    Another misstep by the KC defense nearly led to an opener in the 36th when Aurelien Collin inexplicably raced back to the goal-line, playing three attackers onside from a Javier Morales free-kick. Morales read the situation and chipped his service in, but Saborio’s poor connection sent a header sailing woefully off target.
    The first half had one more major incident, a flare up between Saborio and Benny Feilhaber, who tussled over a ball with the former knocking over the latter, and Feilhaber kicking out as he tumbled, prompting further contact that was dramatically embellished by Benny and resulted in a booking for the Salt Lake forward.
    Sporting would pass on two more half-chances before the first half whistle blew: the first when Zusi whistled a free-kick wide and the second three minutes into stoppage-time when Matt Besler’s lovely pass played in Dom Dwyer, but his poor first touch allowed an alert Rimando to intervene off his line.
    Upon resumption, Kansas City again had two solid looks, from a Besler long throw and Sapong sighter that sailed over the bar.
    Seven minutes in Salt Lake would finally break the ice: a Luis Gil pass was cut out by Collin, but fell straight to Beckerman for a no-look chipped pass straight down the middle into the space Collin had so recently vacated. Saborio touched it to the right with his chest, side-stepping Besler and making space for himself and beat Nielsen with a right-footer low to the short side – it was Salt Lake’s first ever goal at Sporting Park – in their third match at the ground.
    Salt Lake nearly doubled their advantage on the hour mark, when Beckerman found space for a shot, but could only strike the post.
    Then a dutiful, if unnecessary bit of defensive play from Wingert – Chance Myers was offside – cleared away a Sapong squared ball from danger. Wingert, who entered nursing a shoulder concern, would land forcefully on the frozen ground and be forced on shortly thereafter.
    Each side would make a change in the 72nd – Wingert replaced by Lovel Palmer and Dwyer making way for Bieler, as the home side was in desperate need of an equalizer with the clock ticking downwards.
    But it was Salt Lake again who threatened a minute later, when Findley’s charging run centered the ball to Morales, who once more struck the post, this time improbably caroming off the inside, but miraculously spinning away from danger.
    Kansas City would find their goal in the 76th: Nagamura won a corner kick after crashing the post for a Myers ball and Collin rose over Schuler on the right-sided delivery from Zusi to power a header to the bottom left-corner of the goal.
    They would nearly win it three minutes later, but Bieler’s first look rose over the bar after Zusi played out to Seth Sinovic and he squared for the still warming striker.
    The first half was a little uneventful, but the drama in the second more than made up for that shortcoming – neither side would find a winner in regulation and extra time loomed large.
    After the briefest of pauses, play resumed and Salt Lake had the ball in the back of the net within a minute, though the offside flag was clearly raised to deny Findley. Nagamura drifted a shot wide from range, before Zusi sent a snap shot that Rimando had to track carefully and push over the bar with a stern fist.
    Sapong sent a rasper over from a Bieler knock down and then got on the end of a brilliant Feilhaber pass, but was muscled down by Schuler, prompting some to call for a penalty that was neither forthcoming, nor warranted.
    Another big call – correctly made – from the officials came in the final minute of the first half of extra time when Saborio’s header beat Nielsen, but he had drifted offside ahead of Findley’s cross.
    Neither side could find advantage in the final fifteen minutes, preferring cautious attempts to risky excursions.
    Joao Plata replaced Findley, Schuler made another key intervention and Saborio attempted a hopeful lofter that had some home-hearts leaping into mouths in the last-minute, bar one.
    Then the final whistle blew, huddles were held, and in short order it was on to penalty kicks to decide a winner.
    With a cheat-sheet of notes in hand, Nielsen headed to the Cauldron End – KC would take the first penalty, early advantage to the home side.
    Bieler stepped up to take, blasting a right-footer high to Rimando’s right, after sending the keeper the other way with a confident, well-taken spot kick. Saborio, Salt Lake’s goal-scorer, looked to respond in kind, but curled his right-footed attempt over as Nielsen scrambled to his left.
    Nagamura was up next for KC, he confidently tucked his right-footer to the keeper’s left having given Rimando the eyes. Ned Grabavoy needed to pull Salt Lake back into the contest, but his right-footer was tracked all the way by Nielsen, covering his right, to save and give his side an near insurmountable two-goal advantage.
    Besler was next for the home side, taking left-footed, but his short-run up was read perfectly by Rimando, who saved to his left. Salt Lake Captain Beckerman would finally open his side’s account, hammering a right-footer straight down the middle having sent Nielsen to his left.
    Feilhaber took Sporting’s fourth, rocketing his right-footer high down the centre - Rimando would get his hands to it, but could not keep it out. Plata, the late substitute brought on for his proficiency from the spot, calmly right-footed a beauty high to the keeper’s right after a diagonal run-up, no way Nielsen was reaching that.
    With KC’s advantage clawed back to 3-2, their fifth taker, Zusi, strode towards the box knowing that another goal would win it, but his right-footer curled agonizingly over, nearly identical to Saborio’s miss. The pressure then passed to Morales, who needed to score to extend the shootout, which he calmly did with a cheeky-cool, stuttered run and right-footed finish, before giving Nielsen an earful as the Sporting keeper complained about an illegal run-up.
    On to additional kicks with the ledger equal at threes.
    Sinovic opened up his body to send his left-footer to the keeper’s right, having sent Rimando guessing hopelessly the other way. Then Schuler responded with a left-footer of his own, straight down the middle with power as Nielsen scrambled to his left.
    Sapong started the seventh round of kicks, confidently right-footing his effort low to the keeper’s right, freezing Rimando in the process, but Tony Beltran squeaked a right-footer of his own in off the base of the post as Nielsen dove to his right and nearly got a hand to it.
    Olum was up next, mimicking Beltran’s placement, but getting it all wrong, helplessly watching his right-footer bound wide of the post to the keeper’s right. So the chance to win it all fell to Sebastian Velasquez, who could not keep his composure and saw his left-footer low to the keeper’s left (but kept far too central) easily gobbled up by the experienced Nielsen.
    On to round nine, Myers calmly sent Rimando roaming to his right, before right-footing to the left-side with feeling. Borchers replied in kind, right-footing his finish straight down the middle as Nielsen wandered aimlessly to his right.
    The tenth round, one more and the keepers would be shooting, began with Kansas City’s goal-scorer, Collin striding into position. He confidently tucked his right-footer to the keeper’s left into the side-netting, placed well beyond the reach of Rimando who read, but could not save.
    And finally, Lovel Palmer, not looking particularly confident, stepped up to his fate.
    He got a hold of the attempt with his right-foot, but as cruel soccer gods decried, it would rise a fraction too high and rebound off the underside of the bar, rattling it forcefully, but ultimately staying out.
    Kansas City rushed the pitch to celebrate winning their second-ever MLS Cup, 7-6 on spot kicks after a 1-1 draw.
    (via @FutbolIntellect)
    Collin would be named the MVP of the match, scoring both his side’s equalizer (his third of the post-season) and what ended up being the difference maker in the shootout.
    No doubt a tough loss for Salt Lake, as Kansas City required the thinnest of margins to eke out their victory.
    Vermes would reflect on the building of the club post-match, after congratulating Salt Lake on a great season, “Years ago when the new ownership decided to buy this team, I had the pleasure of meeting them very*early on to discuss some things that would take place in the future at this club. What’s extremely*amazing to me is how everything they have talked about has come to fruition. Back then, we talked*about bringing special events to this new stadium to be built. If you look at the past year, we’ve hosted*the U.S. Open Cup, we have brought countless teams here to play exhibition games, we won the*Eastern Conference championship here, and now MLS Cup.
    “It’s incredible when you have owners that*have such a connection to your team. It’s not just money—they’re involved in the community and all of*these things. I’m extremely happy for them, our staff, and then the team. I can’t tell you how happy I am*for the guys. It’s great to win MLS Cup as a player. It’s such a special moment, and no one can take*that away from you. I know the trials and tribulations you go through as a player. These guys are*committed and they love this club. And, of course, the final piece is the fans. The environment out there*is just absolutely incredible. I want thank them so much for their commitment out there in this weather.”
    Kreis too reflected on the progression of the last few years, “It’s remarkable that this group has put themselves in so many positions to win things and unfortunately*things, one thing or another, just haven’t gone our way. It’s easy to look at that in a negative way, but I*don’t think we should because I thought we played outstanding tonight. It wasn’t like we came here to*defend or bunker in. I’m really proud of this group and I think it’s a fantastic team”, adding, “[i’m] really, really pleased with all that the group did this year. Their work ethic, what they achieved. I*think they proved me wrong and it’s just been an incredible, incredible year” referring to his designation of this season as a ‘rebuilding year’.
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0SJq24zFwoQ?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    Overheard
    Interviewer appeared to call Aurelien Collin ‘Arlene’, as he was named the MVP of the final.
    Collin would reflect on the three years that he has spent with the side, “They showed me something I never had in Europe. I would be working hard and have the best training*facilities. For the first time in my life, I had the best facilities, the best environment, the best*infrastructure. I know I am a better player now than I was three years ago. I know that if I stay here, I*will be a better player in three years than I am now. I wasn’t expecting all of this but I feel very blessed*and happy to be a part of it.”
    And noting in addition that, “The second half was pretty hard for me because I had a small kick in the head. I couldn’t see that well,*so that’s why I scored. I was very lucky that Zusi put the ball exactly where I wanted it. I put*my head up and it went through, so I’m happy. I don’t know what I was thinking when I scored—I’m just*happy I scored.”
    Hometown boy, Matt Besler tried to explain his elation at the moment, “It’s hard to explain really. It’s an amazing feeling, it’s overwhelming. There’s a lot of people that*deserve a championship and I honestly feel like I’m part of the fans. I’m a Kansas City guy and I’m*proud that we get to bring the MLS Cup home back to Kansas City.”
    See It Live
    Plenty of little snapshots littered throughout the night:
    The clear dividing line between the Claret-clad travelling fans of Salt Lake and the Blue-bannered home fans of Kansas City was an excellent image; Don Garber’s Mafioso hat at half-time was spectacular – he is The Don, after all.
    Nat Borchers getting kicked in the face.
    (via @SBNationSoccer)
    The Kyle Beckerman-Chris Schuler leaping hug celebration after the Salt Lake goal, followed in quick succession by Aurelien Collin throwing a strop and a touch of feisty language from either the pitch or the stands on the broadcast.
    Nick Rimando’s save on Graham Zusi late; Joao Plata’s penalty kick – though there would be no dancing as the image of Sad Joao at the end haunted the screen – never like to see that; Collin’s winner may have been the best of the lot, and then there is Lovel Palmer’s decisive miss.
    <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Tifo time. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23MLSCup&src=hash">#MLSCup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23SKCvRSL&src=hash">#SKCvRSL</a> <a href="http://t.co/skGO8U6FPA">pic.twitter.com/skGO8U6FPA</a></p>— The Full 90 (@TheFull90) <a href="
    ">December 7, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
    Sport is truly about inches, as Salt Lake found to their dismay, striking the post on three occasions: through Robbie Findley, Beckerman, then Javier Morales.
    The Presentation – apparently, Jimmy Nielsen celebrated with a victory cigarette, perhaps a Diet Coke as well.
    Controversy
    Should Collin, the eventual hero and MVP, been sent off?
    He picked up a foul on Findley after 22 minutes, was booked in the 35th and then prayed his way out of a second in the 69th.
    Offside goals from Findley and Saborio - no real debate here.
    What about that Benny Feilhaber-Alvaro Saborio incident? A yellow warranted or sufficient? A little embellishment, eh?
    Opinion Poll
    At least one player, Javier Morales, was displeased with the decision to hold the match in such chilly conditions, stating, "It's not fun to play in that kind of weather. My toes were freezing [after] the first 20 minutes and I looked to the bench to give me something because I couldn't feel my toes … for me it was a bit ugly to play.
    “[it’s] not an excuse. I'm not saying we lost the game because of the field. I'm talking because it's better for everyone, for you, for players, for coaches; I believe for soccer you need warm weather to play a good game, especially a final. Everyone is watching."*
    Should MLS Cup continue to be hosted by one of the finalists, or should it return to a neutral site in warmer climes?
    Upcoming Fixtures
    That’s it, no more matches, as the players, managers, and fans alike take a well-deserved break for the upcoming month or two.
    But fret not; it’ll all be back in short order.
    The schedule for 2014 was released since the last review; the first round kicks off on March 8 with Seattle hosting Kansas City followed by a full round of a further eight matches.
    It’s been a grand season, thanks for following each and every round with the review. See you in the spring!
    All quotes, video, and images courtesy of MLSsoccer.com, unless otherwise credited.
    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
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