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    Michael Mccoll
    Goalkeepers:
    Four keepers on the books is a luxury most MLS teams don't afford themselves. Bad management, hand tied by MLS rules or a bit of both? Whatever it was, you know they're not all going to be in Vancouver next year.
    Joe Cannon
    Steve: (TRADE) - There has been no official announcement from Cannon as to whether he will look to play another year but if he does then he can't return at his current guaranteed salary of $189,916. However, the starting keeper at the beginning of the season could return if he is willing to have his salary cut in at least half.
    Michael: (RELEASE/RETIRE but...) - Joe's stayed classy to the end, tweeting this week that fans shouldn't want him to play on Sunday but go with the future and Simon Thomas. Wherever the future takes him I hope he gets what he wants out of it. I have this sneaking feeling that he may still be around. If Yallop was to get the manager's job, he may want to keep Joe as goalkeeping coach. With his wage from that, he could then be on the books as a third keeper at a super low salary for emergencies.
    Jay: (RELEASE) - Let this old steed ride off into the sunset. He may wish to try again somewhere else, but it's likely time to move on to coaching for Joe.
    Aaron: (RELEASE) - His time is done in Vancouver. There is no way he will be back as a player in a Whitecaps kit. He would be a great addition as a youth development goalkeeper coach with this organization.
    Christopher: (RELEASE) - I don't think Joe's done yet. He'll probably take the biggest paycheque he can find, but I don't see it being in Vancouver. If I'm wrong, I'd have no problem with him backing up the starting goalkeeper.
    Brad Knighton
    Christopher: (TRADE) - He's made it clear that he doesn't want to be a backup, and that's the only job he's going to get in Vancouver. His time here has enhanced his value, but he may have to drop back down into NASL again. Sadly, this was probably his best shot at being a starter in MLS.
    Aaron: (TRADE) - He has a very small salary $68,600 but he wants to be a starter in this league. Has stated that he misses home and sitting on the bench might push him to move on with his career.
    Jay: (TRADE) - Holding on to Brad may cause dressing room division. Move him on if you can get a handful of allocation money to a team who could use a cheap keeper looking to challenge for a starting job.
    Steve: (TRADE) - Early in the season he was given the reigns to be the number one keeper and while he showed flashes, the Seattle home game, there was a lack of consistency. There is no way Knighton will be happy with staying in Vancouver as the backup and could prove to be a distraction so a move to another club or cutting ties completely would be ideal.
    Michael: (TRADE) - He's a good keeper but his weak points still don't make him a strong MLS starter for me. I'm not sure he wants to be a backup again anywhere at this stage of his career. His performances may make him tradable but I don't see too many takers and none as a starter in this league, although his low salary will appeal for what they are getting. I see him dropping back down to NASL level. I'm pretty sure he's also relishing a return to living in the US.
    David Ousted
    Steve: (KEEP) - He was their only summer window acquisition and while many don't feel he made much a difference, he was an improvement over what they had before. Ousted has already shown that he does well to challenge shots and will only improve with a full preseason where he can develop a better chemistry with his backline.
    Jay: (KEEP) - It's hardly been a smooth transition for the fiery Dane, but he appears to have the tools to succeed at this level. Although the circumstances surrounding his signing were not ideal, he should be kept around next season.
    Christopher: (KEEP) - He's had something of a rocky start in Vancouver, but few of the goals he's conceded could be attributed to him. No one can stop every goal. And unlike others in his profession, he doesn't seem to dwell on the ones he could have stopped. He simply moves on and tries to stop the next one.
    Aaron: (KEEP) - Starting keeper moving forward for this team. Will benefit with a off season and training camp in Vancouver. Don't know if he is a long term solution. He has stated he has EPL dreams in the next 3-4 yrs.
    Michael: (KEEP) - I'm a fan of his and I think we will see this prove to be a great acquisition in the long run and for $166,156, it's pretty good money. I like how he comes off his line and, on the whole, his kicking and distribution. I do feel he should have done better with some of the goals this year however and worry that we may not see the best out of him if he isn't feeling challenged for the number one spot.
    Simon Thomas
    Aaron: (KEEP) - With the salary cap crunch the team is in he may have to step up and be the back up next season. With a salary of $35,125 it would open up money to make a move shoring up the midfield.
    Jay: (KEEP) - Simon has looked decent in PDL and Reserve league games. For his own sake, he'd be smart to stick around and try and land the backup keeper position. If he's unable to find some minutes next season, perhaps it's time for him to find minutes elsewhere.
    Michael: (KEEP) - I agree with Jay and I think he will make the backup position his own, but he needs to rise to the occasion and challenge for the starting spot. When we spoke with him at the start of the year, he said he wasn't here to just play second fiddle. Now we need to see that desire and see him rise to really challenge Ousted preseason.
    Steve: (KEEP) - The current staff seems to have confidence that Thomas has the ability to be a keeper in MLS and he showed it when he played in Reserve matches and shutout the United States in an international friendly. With his low salary he would be an ideal fit as a backup to Ousted where he will be the regular starter in Reserve matches.
    Christopher: (KEEP) - It's only a matter of time before he's replaced by Marco Carducci, but until then, his continued presence will be mutually beneficial to player and club. In an ideal world, he'll develop into a senior backup by then.
    So that's the end of the first part of our 2013 player analysis. At least one goalie will move on, but you have to think it will be more.
    In part two, we'll take a look at the defenders. Out with the old and in with the young, or will some of the old guard still be hanging around for a while yet?
    Guest
    To paraphrase Kenneth Wolstenholme, we thought it was all over. It is now.
    Four days after Vancouver Whitecaps' playoff hopes crashed and burned in the altitude of Colorado, there's still a lot of anger floating around here at AFTN as it's been a season of wasted opportunities, where those teams previously below us have strengthened themselves far better than the Caps did.
    It's also been a season full of ations for Vancouver and they've driven our playoff hopes off a cliff.
    We'd hoped for celebration, domination and creation but unfortunately it's been frustration, desperation and stagnation that have been the order of the day. All we can hope for now is that it is going to end with a termination.
    The hard questions that have to be asked now by the Caps powers that be is what were the goals going into the season, who is responsible for the failure to achieve those and what are the acceptable measuring sticks of success and progression for this team?
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    As expected of a man fighting to save his job, Martin Rennie has been keen to play up the positives at every given opportunity over the last few weeks. And there have been some.
    The Caps have recorded their highest ever points total after three years of MLS play and their highest number of overall wins and away wins (although some of those games saw the team filled with trepidation). Then there's the big increase in goals scored and Camilo challenging for the Golden Boot.
    They're all positives. There's a temptation to call it spin, but it is at least factual. It's just not what I deem as acceptable progress when those around you have actually progressed more than you.
    I know I've been beating these stats to death a little this week on Whitecaps Daily and on our own podcast, but they are worth mentioning again for those that haven't listened.
    We've improved in areas and yes, that is some kind of progress, but when you dig a little deeper into the numbers they become a little bit more telling.
    Vancouver have 12 wins at present, but that's only an increase of one from 2012. Portland have five more and Colorado three.
    Again, yes, the points total has increased to 45. A massive increase of two there, whilst Portland have increased by 20 and Colorado by 14.
    Those were the two teams that finished below us last season that have improved enough to make the playoffs this year at our expense. Is that acceptable progress? And why were those teams able to strengthen better than we were?
    Even looking at Dallas, who didn't make the playoffs last year or this, have five more points and two more wins.
    The Whitecaps have scored 50 goals so far this season. That is up a whopping 15 on last year and sees them sitting with the third best 'goals for' record in the West and fourth best in MLS overall.
    Great stuff, but hold on a minute. How can a team that's scoring like that not even be in the playoffs, never mind languishing 14th in the overall table? Portland are also up 15 goals and they sit atop of the Western Conference.
    Well a quick look one column over tells you why. The Caps have conceded 45 goals this year, which is actually an increase of four on last season. Only six teams have conceded more and four of them are also missing out on the playoffs. Portland on the other hand have conceded a massive 23 goals less than last season.
    Rennie stated again at training yesterday that the team needs <i>"a settled back four"</i>. They do and yes, there has been a huge amount of chopping and changing with the central defenders due to the insane amount of injuries that has befallen that particular position, but how many goals and losses can be pinned on that defensive pairing? Everyone who's played there this year has done reasonably well and at times excellently so.
    The problem has been on the wings. With Lee retiring and Harvey struggling defensively, there's two voids to be filled there in the offseason and, without going into the rights or wrong of the Rochat trade once again, many would say it should have been filled this year.
    Not to mention for the umpteenth time that we've needed at least one more midfielder all season long.
    I said back in April that this squad was not good enough or deep enough to make the playoffs. It was glaringly so. A storming June papered over some of those cracks but they soon became visible again leading to our traditional late summer horrorshow.
    It was all very frustrating to watch and that frustration soon turned to desperation, which in turn led to the Caps finding some form when they were fighting for their playoff lives.
    All too little too late and you're left wondering what might have been had they found that swagger and playing style sooner.
    Which ties in with another ation that's caused problems. Rennie's formation. Rigid, predictable and seemingly without the right personnel in place to carry it out at times. At this late stage in the season, how many would agree on what our best starting eleven actually is? Does Rennie even know? At times it felt like improvisation.
    In his postgame interview on Saturday he claimed that:
    <i>"I wanted to introduce a number of young players in the team and we've really done that. We've had a number of young players establish themselves in the group."</i>
    Who? And what team? The Reserves? Manneh couldn't even find a spot on the bench in a number of matches. Teibert, Koffie and Leveron all lost their starting spots.
    There's been some statistical advancement but not to an extent of achieving the Caps' set goals.
    At training yesterday Jordan Harvey commented that <i>"Obviously we're disappointed at not making the playoffs, that's our number one goal. We had high expectations."</i>
    Not everyone can achieve their number one goal, but when it really matters the Whitecaps consistently failed to achieve most of their aims under Rennie. And the fact that often it has been in their own hands is what is particularly anger inducing.
    We knew we needed two wins against Colorado to most likely make the playoffs. We didn't get the job done. We knew we needed to beat Montreal at home to win our first every Voyageurs Cup. We didn't get the job done again.
    We did win our first Cascadia Cup in the MLS era but all that gets us is a shiny fan trophy, bragging rights and libations. Fun, enjoyable but ultimately it should have been way down the pecking order when it came to what people feel was acceptable as a mark of a successful season.
    Rennie's interviews often have an element of spin to them, manipulation if you like, but at times they also have a feel of a flight of fancy and you wonder if you've been watching the same game and team.
    There can only be so much spin and the results speak for themselves. Rennie sees progress, yet Caps President Bobby Lenarduzzi told Team Radio yesterday that <i>"I would say that we were stagnant"</i>.
    He continued:
    <i>"The competition in the division, it's clear for everyone to see, other clubs upgraded, as did we, but just not enough. Too many points dropped at key times.
    "I would say that we probably maintained where we were, but most people would view it as having regressed because we haven't made the playoffs."</i>
    It's hard to read or hear those comments, and others where he clearly lays all of the player decisions and signing with the manager, without thinking that Rennie's days are numbered in Vancouver and the season will end with one last ation - termination.
    Whoever then comes in will be one of the key appointments in Whitecaps history. It has to be right man, with the right ideas and the right knowledge to lead this team to success, hopefully adding a new ation for next season - rejuvenation.
    <p>
    Guest
    Episode 24 of "There's Still Time", the AFTN podcast. It's the "Goodbye Playoffs, Hello Mediocrity" episode, also known as the "Colorado post game show" and "The one where an angry Scot rants at you for close to an hour".
    After the Cascadia high came the Rockies low. A 3-2 defeat to Colorado Rapids sent Vancouver Whitecaps spiralling out of the playoffs and Martin Rennie probably towards the unemployment line, along with a lot of the players.
    We don't really want to but we look back at the game that ended the Whitecaps playoff hopes and try and pinpoint where it went wrong this season. Can winning the Cascadia Cup and logging more wins, points and goals scored make still make it a success?
    That's how Rennie is spinning things and we look at his post game comments on Saturday and ponder whether he can stay on now and where all these established young players he is talking about can be found.
    There's still time for a look at what we want to see in the last game of the season and we start our campaign to get both Joe Cannon and Sam Adekugbe some playing time in the season finale.
    There's a lot more chat too about all things Whitecaps, including some tweets from our listeners about the season past and future, so crank us up.
    You can listen to this week's podcast on iTunes HERE.
    Or download it for your later listening delight HERE
    We also have an iPhone app, so you can now add our podcast to your phone as an app. Visit the podcast's mobile site HERE and then at the bottom of the screen just click the "Quick Launch" icon and the podcast will be added to your home screen and appear as an app.
    And if that's not enough, we've joined Stitcher Radio Network. Download the app and listen to the AFTN podcast on your device, along with over 15,000 shows HERE.
    Or you could just listen on the player below!
    Guest

    MLS Week in Review – Round 34

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    The penultimate round of MLS play took place over the past week and with so many teams already entering playoff mode it comes as no surprise that, aside from a few explosive matches, it was another tightly contested weekend.
    Ten matches were played – one each on Wednesday and Friday, six on Saturday, and a pair on Sunday – resulting in just two draws, both scoreless, and a single away victory – with New York exerting their dominance over Houston.
    Goals were again in short supply with ten of the 21 scored coming in just two matches, though there were some glorious hits – including the new fastest goal in MLS history, courtesy of New York’s Tim Cahill.
    Some 34 yellow cards were flashed, though no reds were shown – when perhaps one or two were called for – but the referees were still involved, awarding four penalty kicks and turning away several other decent shouts.
    Before the result, the goals of the round:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    A quartet of candidates this weekend, beginning with a pair from the Colorado-Vancouver match; first up in the Whitecaps Kekuta Manneh, who followed up last round’s hat-trick with this sumptuous offer:
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_d46hlAOSbs?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    Breath-taking
    Though Colorado’s Gaby Torres responded with a screamer of his own:
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Dp5a-JBDjvk?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    Oooff!
    Speaking of powerful strikes, consider Dominic Oduro’s high, near-post finish in New England:
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/zDZKhh8Cm1k?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    No stopping that.
    If power isn’t one’s pleasure, perhaps speed will do – eight seconds is all Tim Cahill and New York needed to open the scoring:
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/pDK_P7aLdOo?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    Not a bad way to start a match.
    Midweek Result in Brief

    In the sole midweek match, though neither side had their full complement of starters and the first half was an open, back-and-forth contest, LA showed their supremacy in the second with the addition of Robbie Keane - fresh off international duty – on the hour mark.
    Kofi Opare’s first MLS goal in the 68th minute, turning on a loose ball in the box and lifting his left-footer into the left-side of the goal, was enough to earn the win and the woodwork denied LA from furthering their advantage in the time remaining.
    <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/nldz64JIwrE?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    Results
    Kansas City 1 – DC 0
    The weekend kicked off on Friday with Kansas City eying the chance to take over top spot in both the Eastern Conference and the Supporter’s Shield race, while DC were hoping to avoid going the entire season without a win on the road.
    One point behind New York and Portland, KC would take the lead just seven minutes in when Peterson Joseph pressured Perry Kitchen on the ball deep in the DC half. Kitchen’s weak back-pass was intercepted by Dom Dwyer, stealing in from the right, and he was in alone on goal.
    Dwyer continued his slashing move, pushing past Bill Hamid and slotting a left-footer underneath the vulnerable keeper and into the unguarded net.
    The early goal woke up a sluggish United and they nearly equalized when Jared Jeffrey sprung the offside trap and broke in on goal; he tried to outwait the ever-patient Jimmy Nielsen, but the veteran keeper stayed big and made the save, however uncomfortably it may have been, to preserve the lead in the 15th minute.
    Kansas City would see a penalty claim waived away when Chris Korb tugged down Dwyer in the box and hold onto the one-goal advantage to pick up a third-straight clean-sheet - Nielsen’s league-leading thirteenth of the season, and extended their streak without conceding to 321 minutes, having not yet conceded in the month of October.
    The win saw them vault into both the top spot in the East and the Supporter’s Shield, now with a two-point lead on New York, who play on Sunday.
    Peter Vermes heralded the victory, “That was a massive result for us. It’s not easy playing anyone in this league, and when you go up against a team that has absolutely nothing to lose at this time of the year it’s never an easy game. There’s no doubt this wasn’t one of our best performances of the year, but at the end of the day we found a way to win, get three points, and keep the pressure on the other teams.”
    The loss doomed DC to the ignominy of being just the fifth team in MLS history to go winless on the road through an entire season and extended their current winless streak to eleven matches, while guaranteeing they would win more matches in the US Open Cup (five) than they did in MLS play.
    Ben Olsen lamented their slow start, chastising his side’s failure to match KC’s energy, “For about 15 minutes, we were bullied. We warned the guys that it would be a fast-paced, physical opening to the game. I didn’t think we had the right*bite to us. When we go down a goal, about twenty minutes in, we start getting it. We start understanding this is a man’s game. I thought for the rest of the game that we were the better team, but it doesn’t matter, it does not matter. When you don’t play the full game, a good team like Kansas City, they’ll bite you and they’ll bite you early.”
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/XeQ_QzQgocc?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    Montreal 2 – Philadelphia 1
    Saturday’s first match pitted two Eastern teams, tied on 46 points, with serious post-season implications.
    Montreal have floundered of late, tying a club record by going winless through six matches and dropping down the standings, while eating up their games in hand and putting their playoff participation in jeopardy. Philadelphia, meanwhile, had gutted out three unbeaten matches to climb into the pack and remain relevant.
    The Union came out the better side through the first half with Conor Casey playing the role of brute and heading a corner kick onto the frame of the goal in the 24th minute. Five minutes later Philly had their breakthrough when Kleberson, who had factored in their last two results – scoring the winner against Toronto and setting up the equalizer in DC last weekend – collected a poor ball from Karl Ouimette in the midfield and drove towards goal.
    With Montreal dropping off, Kleberson laid a ball inside the right-back for the streaking Fabinho, surging down the left to run onto. The Brazilian hit a left-footer first-time from a very tight angle straight at the face of Montreal keeper, Troy Perkins, who could only get a piece, pushing the drive into the roof of his own net and putting the visitors ahead.
    Down-trodden, Montreal responded in the second half by replacing Patrice Bernier with Andrew Wenger and taking on a two-forward look. Tactics played their role, but it was the desire of Marco Di Vaio that really drove the team forward.
    The Italian MVP candidate played the second half like a man possessed, crafting numerous chances for himself and others, before finally finding an equalizer in the 64th minute.
    Felipe picked up a loose ball above the Philadelphia box after Wenger’s pass was cut out and dished out wide left to Davy Arnaud, who played into to Di Vaio, posted up against Amobi Okugo, above the left-post.
    Di Vaio touched the ball back and to the inside, rolled and hit a right-footer towards the far-side of the goal. Ray Gaddis attempted to block the shot on the line, but succeeded in merely diverting it into the corner and Montreal were back level.
    Energized, the Impact continued to press forward with the call for the winner passing from veteran Italian to young Canadian. A game-winner would come from an 84th minute free-kick after Gaddis had committed a foul on the attacking right and Justin Mapp delivered a curling ball towards the back-post.
    Philadelphia lost their marks and both Matteo Ferrari and Ouimette collapsed unobstructed onto the six-yard box to get on the end of the service. The young Canadian was first and his powerful downward header was too much for Zac MacMath’s attempted foot-save, spinning into the side-netting to hand Montreal the victory – their first since September 8.
    The win put the Impact back in the driver’s seat for playoff qualification, ahead of Houston into third place, on 49 points; though with other matches still to be played they were not yet assured of a place.
    Marco Schallibaum, who paced the sidelines like a caged tiger all afternoon, got a little ahead of himself post-match, “I’m really proud of my team, of everyone who's been through these tough moments, weeks, months. It sets us free, it’s incredible. The emotions are impressive. I’m drained right now. It was a really tough week. I’m really happy for everyone. We deserved this win, with rage and will power. It’s a great moment.”
    Steady, still a few results and a match in Toronto next week before anything is official determined.
    The devastating loss would all but eliminate Philadelphia, who need plenty of results to fall their way for their dream to stay alive.
    Afterwards, John Hackworth stated, “This was a playoff game before the playoffs. Both of us had to win tonight. Our expectation was we were going to come in and get the victory. We did a good job in the first half. We didn’t finish it off in the end” and was cognizant of their situation heading forward, if disappointed in allowing the comeback, “If we are still mathematically alive next weekend, we will put everything we have into it, no matter what. But tonight, especially in the second half, was our opportunity. And we let ourselves down.”
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/g8ots6UGz-8?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    Dallas 2 – Seattle 0
    At nearly the same time as Di Vaio leveled for Montreal, the second match of the day was getting underway, with eliminated Dallas hosting a struggling Seattle side.
    Dallas, who were officially eliminated with their loss against Chicago last weekend, entered the match fresh off the announcement that Schellas Hyndman would be stepping down from the head coaching position he has held for six years at the end of the season.
    Seattle, like Dallas, entered in poor form, having gone winless through five matches, dropping from Supporter’s Shield contenders to possible outsiders come playoff time.
    The frustration on both sides was evident in a fractious match that came to a boil after just thirteen minutes when Dallas’ Jackson tripped up Clint Dempsey with a tough challenge and the Seattle forward, still nursing a shoulder injury from last weekend’s Cascadia Derby, kicked out at the Brazilian from the ground causing a mass confrontation that saw both teams involved in a shoving match – only Dallas’ Peter Luccin was booked, shown yellow for his role in the melee.
    The rest of the first half played out without major incident – until the whistle was blown and a bizarre confrontation between Dallas teammates saw them restrained heading into the locker-rooms (more on that later) - though Dallas appeared in the ascendancy with the better chances falling their way.
    Seattle came out hungry, but wasted several half-chances, most notably when Brad Evans snatched at a lovely DeAndre Yedlin cross to the back-post and his volley sailed over the bar.
    Michel entered the match in the 58th minute and with his inclusion the match turned.
    Set-pieces had been the lifeblood of Dallas through their strong start – with Michel often playing provider – and it was his free-kick in the 65th minute that finally broke the deadlock when his right-sided service was curled to the back-post and Matt Hedges rose highest, having gotten in front of his marker, Patrick Ianni, to nod the ball down and past a frozen Marcus Hahnemann with a glanced header on to the left-post.
    Evans would nearly make amends for his earlier miss when Dempsey slipped him behind the Dallas defense, but his low shot just missed the left-post and Hedges proved his value at the opposite end of the field with an important goal-line clearance in the final fifteen minutes to prevent Seattle drawing level.
    Michel would firmly put the match away with a goal in the 87th minute.
    David Ferreira collected a Fabian Castillo ball on the left, moved into the middle and unleashed a shot that was blocked by Ianni. Unfortunately for the defender, it fell kindly to Michel who was completely unmarked to slot a left-footer past Hahnemann into the left-side of the goal, stunning the beleaguered Sounders.
    The unexpected win in Hyndman’s final home game was little consolation to a Dallas side that saw such a promising start to the season ended by long winless runs and inconsistency.
    Post-match Hyndman issued an impromptu goodbye, “On a final note, it’s been fun, guys. This is a great organization, a great team and this club is going to go places. Not only [the first team], but our academy. My wife asked me today, ‘Are you going to miss this?’ And I said 'I’ll miss it every day. I’ll miss you guys as well; thank you.'”
    For Seattle, the loss, their fourth-straight left the Sounders shaken, but the playoffs still remain in their grasp.
    Sigi Schmid took the failures upon himself post-match, “It rests on my shoulders that we haven’t been able to come up with combinations that work for us. We’ve had some chances but haven’t been able to convert those chances. Guys are trying, they’re fighting and battling. The combinations on the field just haven’t been able to produce the goals that we wanted and needed at this point. The guys are obviously disappointed.”
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9vN6a9oz8C8?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    Colorado 3 – Vancouver 2
    Seattle may have dropped the chance to clinch a playoff spot - again, but they had not been made to fully pay, still sitting comfortably in playoff places – for them to feel the pain of repeated missteps a challenger must emerge from the pack.
    The schedule makers bizarrely decided that it was proper for the season to end with two home-and-away series between team challenging for the same spots in the playoffs - in the West, that winner-moves-on series began with Colorado hosting Vancouver.
    The Rapids entered the round in possession of the final spot on 48 points, while the Whitecaps trailed them by three points.
    Both sides, vibrant in attack, traded early chances before Kekuta Manneh followed up his three-goal performance in Seattle with a stunning strike from the top of the box – Daigo Kobayashi was allowed time to pick his pass, playing up and in-field from the left to Manneh sitting about 25 yards from goal on the left-side of the arc. Manneh turned to hit a swerving right-footer that sailed into the far-side of the goal to open up the scoring in the 32nd minute.
    The crowd in Colorado were stunned to silence, but their spirits were lifted some eight minutes later when Carlyle Mitchell was whistled for a foul in the Vancouver box – restricting the movement of Drew Moor on a Vicente Sanchez free-kick to the back-post - and Colorado were awarded a penalty kick, which Gaby Torres duly right-footed to the keeper’s left, tucked inside the post and high enough to evade the dive of David Ousted, who guess correctly, but could not reach the well-powered strike.
    Mitchell again would be partially at fault for Colorado’s go-head goal nine minutes into the second half.
    A long Clint Irwin goal-kick was punted up-field, with one eye on Edson Buddle, Mitchell misread the flight in the thin mountain air and missed his header, allowing the ball to bounce over him and toward goal.
    YP Lee and Deshorn Brown were quickly drawn into a foot-race, as the bouncing kick bounded over them and down the left-channel towards the Vancouver goal, the spritely rookie (Brown) got the jump on the sagacious veteran and tore in on Ousted, who rushed out to confront, only to see a left-footed stab looped over him by the newly-minted Jamaican international.
    Down, but not out, Vancouver responded with vigour, passing on at least two good chances, before a penalty kick of their own leveled the match after Jordan Harvey broke in down the L-side of the box and Shane O’Neill lunged into a marginally-late challenge that upended the full-back and prompted the ref to point to the spot – Camilo stepped up and tucked his right-footer just inside the post as the clock reached 75, beating Irwin to his right, despite the keeper jumping correctly.
    Relieved and in need of a win, the Whitecaps respite was short-lived, as two minutes on a thunderous hit from Torres sealed their doom – both of result and season. Buddle picked out the Panamanian on the right with a cross-field ball; Torres cut inside, around Harvey, onto his left-foot and ripped a screamer to the top left-corner of the goal, beating Ousted and clipping off the underside of the bar before nestling within.
    The win drew the Rapids level with Seattle and Los Angeles on 51 points – though LA was still to play on Sunday – setting up a three-way tie from third-to-fifth in the West.
    Oscar Pareja liked the fight he saw from his youthful team, "It was a very difficult game to face because we have young players that have never been on this stage, fighting for our season. It was one of those games that you knew it would not be pretty. They showed heart, they showed character, and after the PK from Vancouver, they bounced back. That was great for them - all the credit to these players."
    With the loss, Vancouver were officially eliminated – and combined with Montreal’s win, passed up the chance to take over top spot in next season’s Voyageurs Cup.
    Afterwards Martin Rennie reflected on a season come up short, “We didn’t defend well enough on those goals that we’ve lost. At the end of the day, we’ve come away from home and scored two goals. It turns out to be our 50th goal of the season but we’ve let in three. That’s been the frustrating part of this game, and in some ways our season, I think we’ve become much more expansive, much more entertaining, scored a lot more goals…but we’ve not tightened up well enough at the back.”
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    New England 3 – Columbus 2
    As Camilo breathed false hope into Vancouver’s season, the other of the two home-and-home series was kicking off in front of a surprising large crowd in the hinterlands of Boston, where the Revolution were hosting the Crew in a winner-stays-alive Eastern Conference tilt.
    Both teams entered in solid form – New England unbeaten in four and Columbus having just seen a three-match winning streak snapped – and both were desperate for the full points, sitting one and five points (when the round began), respectively, shy of the final spot in the East. A win would keep their hopes alive; a loss would all but end their seasons.
    New England started the brighter of the two and Crew keeper Matt Lampson was called upon to come up with a huge double-save to keep the home side scoreless.
    There was little he could do in the 32nd minute when Chris Tierney and Kelyn Rowe stood over a free-kick on the left-side of the pitch. Rowe would send in a cross and AJ Soares would pull away from his marker with a run to the near-post before peeling towards the ball to flick a header on to the far-side of the goal.
    Still trailing at the half, Columbus adjusted for the second stanza, bringing on the large body of Aaron Schoenfeld to pair up top with Jairo Arrieta and moving Dominic Oduro wide right – it was a move that paid dividends almost immediately.
    Schoenfeld would set up Oduro for the leveler in the 59th minute – holding up the ball and laying out wide for Oduro to burst in down the right and smash a right-footer high into the top corner of the goal – and nab one of his own in the 71st – with Oduro returning the set-up, playing into the big man who turned and smashed a left-footer into the top left-corner of the goal.
    But in between the Crew goals, the Revs had retaken the lead in the 69th minute from the penalty spot after Tony Tchani dove into a late tackle on Andy Dorman and took out the replacement midfielder in the process. Tierney would step up and tuck away the chance neatly with a strong left foot.
    When Oduro leveled, Columbus smelled blood in the water and switched to a three-man back-line to press forward in attack – little did they realize in was their blood they smelled, and Diego Fagundez would reinstate the New England lead five minutes later when a long Matt Reis goal-kick was popped up by Juan Agudelo, collected by Dimitry Imbongo, touched out wide for the overlap of Dorman and cut back into the middle for the unmarked Fagundez to right-foot into the net – from the exact spot a full-back would have been marking.
    Columbus would press for another equalizer, but time ticked away – with the help of a few strategic stops from New England – and the back-and-forth came to an end with the home side taking the points.
    The win put New England on 48 points, level with Houston and two ahead of Chicago – who were both yet to play – in the playoff places, for now.
    Jay Heaps summed up the evening well, “You could see both teams needed to win. Both teams risked a lot for the win. That's why the game was wide open. Credit Columbus because I thought they had an excellent second half. Every time we seemed to step ahead, they pounded back.”
    With the loss, Columbus are officially eliminated from the 2013 playoffs.
    Interim boss, Brian Bliss, recovering from the tense atmosphere said, “It was entertaining if you were sitting in the stands. Sitting on the bench, it’s a heart attack a second. We couldn’t play it any way other than that way, because of what was at stake. They were in the same boat we were, and the game opened up after the first call and it was an entertaining game. Both teams went at it,” adding of the upcoming home leg, “We owe it to our fans to put the best product out there. It’s not going to all of a sudden turn around and throw out seven guys who haven’t played all season. We’ve got to go play. We’ve got to go play for our fans and ourselves. It’s certainly not a game we’re going to be throwing away, by no means.”
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    Chicago 1 – Toronto 0
    As the second half of one Eastern Conference match with playoff implications was heating up, another was getting underway in suburban Chicago, where the Fire welcomed TFC.
    Chicago entered the weekend in possession of the final spot in the East – part of a three-way tie on 46 points; Montreal had gone ahead with their result, but with Philadelphia and New England breathing down Chicago necks, it was important to see out a match against lowly and already-eliminated Toronto.
    Toronto nearly turned expectations on their head, when Robert Earnshaw was provided an excellent chance in the fifth minute from a Mark Bloom cut back, but the Welsh striker could only see his effort over the bar.
    Chicago responded with a glorious chance of their own, requiring a miraculous paw save from Toronto keeper, Stefan Frei, shaking off the rust of a season on the sidelines with a reminder of why he is thought of so highly on the shores of Lake Ontario.
    The Fire would have to wait until the second half for fortune to smile upon them, finally taking the lead after 64 minutes from the penalty spot when Jonathan Osorio was whistled for a handball on a Mike Magee free-kick, somewhat harshly.
    Magee could convert the chance, cheekily so, with a deft and confident Paneka-style chip that floated just beyond the reach of Frei’s legs having gone to his right and tried to make amends late.
    Toronto could not muster much by way of a challenge and Chicago were unlucky to not extend their lead with the beastly Juan Luis Anangono first striking the underside of the bar, then the upper post with a pair of venomous strikes as the match came to a close.
    The win, their third-straight, extended an unbeaten run to four matches and lifted them into a tie with Montreal on 49 points – into fourth place, trailing the Impact on goals scored – and a point ahead of New England and Houston, who were still to play.
    Frank Klopas heralded his side’s fight through an up and down season, though aware there is more to be done, “The team stuck together - all of those games, even adversity in the beginning, made us a better team. I think you get better through difficult moments, and I think this team right now is better in that sense than the team that I had last year, winning 17 games. So, [we] don't clinch tonight, it doesn't matter, we'll just focus on the next game.”
    A second-consecutive loss – their fourth in their last five matches – in such a controversial manner was the latest disappointment in a season chalk full of them for Toronto.
    Ryan Nelsen, after complaining about the game-changing decision, took the positives, “It was a really good away performance. These are high-pressure games away from home, with the crowd up for it and against teams that are playoff teams. One thing that gives us a lot of confidence is how we competed even with the injuries we have, and with us playing lot of young players against a team where even their bench has far more experience than our starters.”
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    Portland 0 – Salt Lake 0
    While the final seconds ticked down in Chicago, the final match of the night – undoubtedly the highlight fixture of the day – was getting under way in Portland, in front of the raucous Timbers Army faithful.
    A top of the West meeting between Conference leaders Portland and trailers – by just one point – Salt Lake; a match with Supporter’s Shield implications, as well.
    Neither side could find a foot-hold through the first half – with no shots on target registered – but the better chances fell the way of the home side.
    Portland goalkeeper, Donovan Ricketts, will not be nominated for save of the week – this time – having not faced a shot, but he still got involved in the proceedings, racing out to cut off a long Kyle Beckerman ball before playing a lovely pass up the right-flank for Jose Valencia, leading to a low cross in the middle that was agonizingly missed by both Diego Valeri and Darlington Nagbe.
    Valencia again crafted the best chance of the first half when his good work on the right played a ball through the goalmouth, just beyond the reach of a stretching Kalif Alhassan at the back-post.
    A heavy foul from Chris Wingert on Valeri six minutes into the second half woke up the Timbers, who pressured the Salt Lake goal enough to require three breathtaking saves from Nick Rimando: first on Alhassan before a last-second double-save from a Will Johnson free-kick and a Sal Zizzo follow-up header preserved the scoreless draw in a tense playoff atmosphere match.
    The draw maintained the status quo at the top of the West.
    Caleb Porter, whose side clinched the playoffs earlier in the day – with Seattle’s loss in Dallas – analyzed how a tough gauntlet to end the season has prepared them for the post-season challenge, "I think one of the great things about our run is we're playing the best teams in the Western Conference. We're playing Seattle, we're playing LA Galaxy, we're playing Colorado, we're playing Salt Lake, and we've done well against those teams. I think that gives us a lot of confidence going into the postseason. We're in a run of form, seven games now unbeaten, and we're getting shutouts. We're not scoring a ton of goals and we need to do better on set pieces, especially because sometimes that's the way you've got to find a goal to unlock a team. We're looking like a team that's primed for the postseason."
    The point was enough for Salt Lake to clinch a post-season berth as well, though in which order the five teams will finish is yet to be decided.
    Jason Kreis similarly looked forward, "I'm generally pleased, really pleased, with the group's efforts tonight. The intensity that they came out with was spot on and pleased that they put the defensive effort out that we've been talking about for the two weeks since we've had a match. For me, it was a cleaner performance for us against a dangerous team in a difficult place to pick up points. So I look at it as a positive and if we can perform like that as we go into the playoffs, thinking that we'll have a home and away series, this is what you have to do when you're away. I'm hopeful that we can take some lessons out of this and carry it through the playoffs."
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    Houston 0 – New York 3
    The first of two Sunday matches was of Eastern interest, featuring two teams looking to assert their position.
    Saturday’s results – wins by Montreal, Chicago, and New England – had seen Houston drop out of the playoff spots; though tied with New England on points they trailed in the second tie-breaker, goals scored.
    New York had eyes on retaking top spot in both the conference and the league, having relinquished their position to Kansas City with their win on Friday.
    It took just eight seconds for the match to open wide (for some soccer) with the visitors taking the lead on a bit of pre-planned magic.
    Straight from the kickoff, the ball was played back to Dax McCarty, who launched a long ball up the right-channel where Tim Cahill went up for an aerial challenge with Jermaine Taylor. Winning a flick on to himself, Cahill turned inside the defender and stole onto the bouncing ball, sized up his chance and smack a shot with the outside of his right-boot into the top right corner of the Houston goal.
    Eight seconds – a new MLS record for the fastest goal in league history.
    As the first half played out it became apparent that New York’s strategy was to sit back, absorb pressure and break on the counter – a move they applied to devastating effect.
    At least three further chances were wasted by the guests before Houston had a good look at goal – from a scrambled bit of play after a corner kick that came to naught.
    Houston came out to play in the second half and twice nearly equalized from a poor Jamison Olave back-pass and an Oscar Boniek Garcia header that sailed wide before New York doubled their advantage.
    A right-sided Thierry Henry corner kick was over-hit and collected by McCarthy high at the back-post, he looped the ball back into the middle, where Tally Hall swatted it away, straight to Peguy Luyindula outside the box, who, in turn, sent a looping header back in towards the right-post.
    Ibrahim Sekagya found himself unmarked in the ping-pong play and nodded his header past Hall to cement the Red Bull ascendancy after 65 minutes.
    Further evidence that this simply was not the Dynamo’s night came ten minutes on, when Taylor’s attempted clearance bounded off the back of Corey Ashe and straight to Bradley Wright-Phillips to neatly finish with a right-footer slipped by a startled Hall and treble the advantage.
    The bar prevented further embarrassment – and another Wright-Phillips strike – but the damage was done, as New York completes a season-sweep of the conference foes.
    The loss puts Houston in a precarious position, dropping from third at the start of the weekend to sixth place, tied on points with New England – still trailing on goals scored – and behind both Chicago and Montreal by a single point, currently outside looking.
    Dominic Kinnear refused to blame the early goal for the loss, “I don’t think the first goal killed us for the rest of the game; obviously it was the game winner. We had our moments; we had our chances to score some goals. It’s just a point of getting too desperate and you need to keep the same mindset.”
    Three points were enough to put New York back in control of both the top of the East and the Supporter’s Shield race – primed to pick up their first major piece of silverware (move over Emirates Cup) in the club’s lengthy (by MLS standards) history.
    Mike Petke spoke of the attitude adjustment the club has gone through, “We’ve done a lot with trying to reboot the mentality of this organization and this team and this is one of the places that we concentrated on because we have not been successful here. A lot of that has to do with our mentality, but probably more has to do with how good Houston is and how good they’ve always been and how prepared Dom, gets the team. We’re fortunate these last two games to get good results through hard work and character.”
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    Los Angeles 0 – San Jose 0
    The final match of the weekend took place on Sunday night.
    A California Clasico with playoff positioning on the line for one side, survival for the other.
    The Galaxy entered the match in good form having won their last two, while keeping clean-sheets through both. The Earthquakes too have surged, winning three-straight and going unbeaten through five, but needed to win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
    Not yet willing to throw caution to the wind, both sides crafted modest chances through the first half – with Clarence Goodson getting on the end of one of San Jose’s quick free-kicks, but going wide and Michael Stephens sending an effort sailing over the bar after he found some space on the left-side of the box.
    The temperature was ratcheted up in the second half with a minor flare up between Landon Donovan and Victor Bernardez after the big centre-back had twice hacked down the American.
    San Jose’s best chance at a stay of execution came early – when Shea Salinas rampaged up the left and cut back a ball to Steven Lenhart, but Kofi Opare did enough to prevent the final touch. LA responded with a low Marcelo Sarvas strike that Jon Busch did well to get down and parry at the other end.
    True to their style, the Earthquakes kept applying pressure and nearly found salvation in the 91st minute, but Chris Wondolowski could not get on the end of a Salinas ball. The Galaxy responded – and may have had a game-winning penalty on another day, when Walter Martinez appeared to trip up Gyasi Zardes in the 93rd minute, but the referee decided the draw was a fair result and blew the final whistle shortly thereafter.
    The single point was enough to clinch a playoff berth for LA, but ended any chance of them competing for the Supporter’s Shield – four points off the pace set by New York.
    Bruce Arena was terse after the match, "A hard fought contest, kind of like a playoff atmosphere. San Jose played a good game, the kind of game we thought they would play, and in the end it's probably a fair result" responding to their playoff clinching with a sarcastic, "Oh, I'm just doing cartwheels over here."*
    While still mathematically alive, the draw all but eliminated San Jose, who must hope Colorado lose, and win their final match, while scoring thirteen goals – or just twelve, if Colorado lose by seven and San Jose keep a clean-sheet (it could totally happen).
    Interim manager, Mark Watson, kept his chin up, despite the elimination in all but name, “This game was huge obviously and we knew that we needed three points to have a chance. We are disappointed with the result, but not the effort. Everyone gave everything they had, but we just came up a bit short in the end.”
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    CanCon
    As usual, the Canadian Content section will be posted tomorrow detailing the contributions of the Canadians on the pitch.
    Another Impact goal from an academy product and a surprise start for a certain Toronto draft-pick headline the on-goings.
    Thanks for the Memories
    With the season winding down several retirements are on the cards: in San Jose, Ramiro Corrales – the last of the original MLS ‘96ers; Vancouver’s decorated full-ball YP Lee; Montreal’s World Cup-winning maestro Alessandro Nesta – who was honoured pre-match, but limped off before the final whistle, and, of course, Houston’s Brian Ching – who came out in the 25th minute (his jersey number) to do a lap of honour when placards were held up by the Houston faithful.
    Overheard
    Pre-planned starts are in fashion – it turns out Tim Cahill’s eight-second opener was drawn up before hand, as per Dax McCarty, “It was funny because we have worked on that in practice a couple of times, but the play is actually that the guys drop the ball back to me and I kind of just take a touch and lay it off to Ibrahim Sekagya and he’s the one that plays the long ball. I couldn’t really get the message back to him quick enough and the kickoff happened and I kind of just had to make a quick decision and so I just kind of closed my eyes and booted it. Tim Cahill did the rest. What can you say? What a finish.”
    Recall Colorado’s early opener against Seattle recently was also thought up off the pitch before coming to life on it.
    During the Houston broadcast, COMCAST Sports Net – or, the other CSN - reported on a hallway incident between Tim Cahill and Brad Davis.
    <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Tunnel incident between B. Davis & Cahill. Started w/words, heads leaned in, Cahill put arms on Davis before separated. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23MLS&src=hash">#MLS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Dynamo&src=hash">#Dynamo</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23RBNY&src=hash">#RBNY</a></p>— Sebastian Salazar (@SebiSalazarCSN) <a href="
    ">October 20, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
    But, as if they would say anything other, it was all denied post-match. Dom Kinnear stated, “They were just talking, that was all it was. Two guys had a disagreement. I was at the top of the tunnel and by the time I got there both guys had moved on so I don’t think it was too bad.”
    Harsh words between opponents is to be expected, even those exchanges between teammates is not unusually, but straight up fights, in front of the cameras are rare.
    Cue FC Dallas’ Jackson and David Ferreira moments after the half-time whistle. Schellas Hyndman addressed the incident post-match, “When they came into the locker room, they were still going at each other and I decided to pull [Jackson] out of the lineup. We can never reward bad behavior with professional athletes, or with children. We’re trying to win the game and if you can’t get it right in the locker room, you can’t get it right on the field. So that was the decision I made and I think we responded to it.”
    Ferreira explain, “It was in the heat of the moment almost at the end of the half, I just came and told Jackson… be aware of teammates that are in an open position” before down-playing the incident and saying it was in the past. Jackson was not available for comment.
    See It Live
    Plenty of little nuggets spread throughout the round – here’s a sampling:
    Daniel Woolard’s run-in with a turf gremlin in Kansas City on Friday – he was bemused by it himself; Matt Hedges brilliant goal-line clearance; Michel’s goal celebration honouring the shirt and Sigi Schmid taking the time after a disappointing result in Dallas to chat with out-going Schellas Hyndman – the two have history stretching back to their college days (as coaches).
    Actual real-live fans in New England, a reported attendance of 26 548 – where face painting is apparently still a thing;
    ; Stefan Frei’s huge save on Juan Luis Anangono; Donovan Ricketts shows his ability to pick a pass, setting up a good chance for Portland; and a trio of Nick Rimando saves – one and two-three.From Sunday, Sam Cronin trying to take home Robbie Keane’s shirt – wait until after the match; Keane’s dummy to no one – not every trick comes off; and Leonardo’s sneaky hiding of a bloody chin in his beard – and wiping the evidence on the grass to stay on the pitch for a last-minute corner kick.
    Controversy
    Plenty of minor controversies this round, but the biggest question mark is how Clint Dempsey managed to avoid seeing a red card for his retaliatory kick-out at Jackson after he was fouled by the Brazilian. The incident led to an almighty scuffle that saw French midfielder Peter Luccin grabbed a Sounder by the throat.
    Will the MLS DisCo (disciplinary committee) come down on any of those involved?
    And what about this tasty challenge from Salt Lake’s Chris Wingert on Portland Diego Valeri, crunching into the star-playmaker’s ankle from behind.
    That is the sort of reckless challenge the league has sought to minimize, committed on one of its biggest stars.
    Three of the penalty kick awards were dubious, while a fourth was awarded by the assistant rather than the lead official – Carlyle Mitchell on Drew Moor, Shane O’Neill on Jordan Harvey, Jonathan Osorio’s ‘hand-ball’, and Tony Tchani’s tackle on Andy Dorman.
    Then there are the two that went uncalled – Chris Korb tugging down Dom Dwyer and Walter Martinez upending Gyasi Zardes.
    Thoughts?
    Table Watching
    The Supporter’s Shield race is in full force with three teams still in the running. New York hold the lead on 56 points, one ahead of KC and two in front of Portland, with each having one game left to play.
    In the East, only two spots have been decided with New York and KC assured of qualification in the top two places. Montreal and Chicago hold third and fourth, tied on 49 points with 14 wins, but the Impact lead by five goals in the second tie-breaker. New England and Houston sit in fifth and sixth a point behind on 48, also tied on wins; the Revolution have the tie breaker with nine more goals for. Philadelphia’s hopes were all but dashed as they sit on 46 points and require a win and results elsewhere to fall their way.
    In the West, the top four places have been decided, but just how they will finish – with first to fifth separated by just three points is yet to be determined. Portland leads the way on 54 points with Salt Lake remaining a single point behind with their draw. LA trail the duo by a further point. Seattle and Colorado sit just a point below LA. San Jose, as explained in their match report, were all but eliminated, requiring a pair or preposterous outcomes to gain entry to the post-season.
    Upcoming Fixtures
    The final week of the regular season is here – plus a smattering of final round CONCACAF Champions League fixtures midweek.
    Wednesday: Salt Lake-Chivas. Saturday: Philadelphia-Kansas City; Toronto-Montreal; San Jose-Dallas; Chivas-Portland. Sunday: DC-Houston; Columbus-New England; New York-Chicago; Vancouver-Colorado; Seattle-Los Angeles.
    For Canadians, it is hard to look past the Toronto-Montreal meeting – nothing would please TFC more than eliminating the Impact from the playoffs – while Colorado’s trip to Vancouver is all but a dead-rubber, while Sunday’s trio of Eastern matches will decide who survives the final day.
    All 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
    Guest
    Any meaning to Vancouver Whitecaps' 2013 MLS season was finally extinguished on Saturday with a 3-2 defeat in
    Colorado.
    A first half goal from Kekuta Manneh and a second half penalty from Camilo Sanvezzo weren't enough to keep the Caps' playoff hopes alive with a Gabriel Torres double and another goal from Deshorn Brown dealing the killer blow to Vancouver.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The Whitecaps have been pretty much in playoff mode for a few weeks now and they went with an unchanged line up from the team that dismantled Seattle ten days ago.
    Both teams enjoyed some early possession without really threatening too much and the Caps had their best chance of the game so far in the 14th minute when Kekuta Manneh easily ran through Chris Klute and Shane O'Neill but shot wide left.
    Rapids rookie Deshorn Brown's youthful exuberance saw him blast a horribly weak clearance attempt by Jordan Harvey wildly over from the edge of the box in the 21st minute. Moments later, Brown got on the end of a long ball and left YP Lee looking his age behind him but he pulled his shot wide right.
    Colorado were looking the better team, with Brown looking dangerous pretty much every time he got the ball. It was the Whitecaps that took the lead though in the 32nd minute and it came from nothing.
    Daigo Kobayashi played the ball forward to Manneh who took a touch, turned and fired a screamer into the postage stamp corner to continue his goalscoring heroics.
    The Rapids had an opportunity to hit back right away but Nathan Sturgis hit his effort over.
    Colorado did get back on level terms three minutes before the break when Carlyle Mitchell had his arm on Drew Moor as a free kick came into the box. The veteran defender played it well and the referee pointed to the spot.
    David Ousted guessed the right way but Gabriel Torres buried his spot kick and the teams went in at the half level, with all still to play for.
    It was shaping up to be a nervy half for those of a Whitecaps persuasion but that nervousness soon turned to anxiety.
    Manneh had two bites at a corner four minutes in, blasting his second effort over and Colorado took the lead from the resultant goal kick.
    Clint Irwin hit a deep kick into the Caps half and Mitchell completely misjudged his jump allowing the ball to run on to Brown. It was then a footrace between Brown and Lee and there was only going to be one winner and the young striker gave Colorado a 2-1 lead.
    Vancouver came agonisingly close to get back on level terms when Camilo dummied a Kobayashi pass and the ball fell perfectly for Matt Watson on the edge of the box. The Englishman did everything right but could only look on as his shot went inches past the wrong side of the left post.
    Colorado were still looking quick and lively on the break and Sanchez had a shot deflected for a corner in the 68th minute.
    It was starting to look like lights out for Vancouver when again they got on the scoresheet from nothing in the 75th minute.
    Jordan Harvey got the ball, ran into the box and was chopped down by O'Neill. Camilo stepped up and coolly drilled home the equaliser from the spot.
    The parity lasted two minutes with Colorado quickly restoring their lead.
    Torres got the ball on the corner of the box, showed great control, cut inside and curled a beauty into the top left corner.
    Vancouver were down and they were soon out, unable to muster any chances to revive their playoff hopes.
    The four minutes of stoppage time ticked by uneventfully and the final whistle sounded on both this game and any meaning to the Whitecaps season.
    It was a disappointing way to bow out of playoff contention and with Montreal winning against Philadelphia, Vancouver can only finish second in the Voyageurs Cup seeding race now as well.
    This should mean that Vancouver give some of their fringe and younger players a run out against Colorado at BC Place next Sunday.
    Anything else cannot be deemed acceptable. But then, there's been a lot of that on the pitch this season.
    FINAL SCORE: Colorado Rapids 3 - 2 Vancouver Whitecaps
    ATT: 18,103
    COLORADO: Clint Irwin; Marvell Wynne, Drew Moor, Shane O'Neill, Chris Klute; Hendry Thomas, Nick LaBrocca, Nathan Sturgis; Deshorn Brown (German Mera 83), Gabriel Torres, Vicente Sanchez (Martin Rivero 79) [subs Not Used: Matt Pickens, Anthony Wallace, Edson Buddle, Atiba Harris, Jaime Castrillon]
    VANCOUVER: David Ousted; Young-Pyo Lee, Carlyle Mitchell, Jay DeMerit, Jordan Harvey; Jun Marques Davidson (Kenny Miller 84), Matt Watson (Russell Teibert 61), Nigel Reo-Coker, Daigo Kobayashi (Darren Mattocks 67); Kekuta Manneh, Camilo Sanvezzo [subs Not Used: Brad Knighton, Johnny Leveron, Gershon Koffie, Erik Hurtado]
    <p>
    Guest

    MLS Week in Review – Round 33

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    The 33rd Round of MLS may have been limited somewhat by an international week, but still provided plenty of shock, a fair bit of intrigue, a breakout performance, one horrible injury, and some rivalry-fueled passion to close out the weekend.
    Seven matches were played – three on Wednesday, three Saturday, and a sole Sunday fixture – resulting in an impressive three away-wins and a pair of draws.
    Fifteen goals were scored, one from the spot, and they were once more at a premium with so much on the line – ten coming in two five-goal matches.
    A judicious twenty yellow cards were shown and a single red – to Seattle’s Oswaldo Alonso for his run-in with Will Johnson – as the referees were neither overly called upon, nor seeking to get involved in the result. The one penalty kick given was a little soft at best.
    Before the results, the goals of the round:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    A pair on offer this weekend – up first is Nick DeLeon’s long-range bomb for DC against Philadelphia.
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    Where has that ability been all season.
    Goals will often come from unexpected sources, but rare are such as lovely as Jalil Anibaba’s belter for Chicago in Dallas.
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    Beautiful – and the eventual game-winner to boot.
    Midweek Results in Brief
    Houston 0 – Kansas City 0
    A heated battle for position in the East, between burgeoning rivals, ended in a scoreless stalemate.
    Houston have knocked Kansas City out of the playoff the last two seasons, but Jimmy Nielsen came up big, denying Will Bruin and others on several occasions – three times inside the first ten minutes - to maintain the clean-sheet for the visitors and retain a four-point lead for his side in the standings.
    Unsurprisingly, each coach saw the result through different eyes: Houston’s Dominic Kinnear, "We sure did create some good chances and defended well. Not really completely thrilled with a point, but really happy with the way the guys played, the way they competed" and KC’s Peter Vermes, “It's a tight race, you know? We knew it was going to be like this going into the end of the season. For us, it's important that we continue to keep getting better and to get points wherever we can. I think this was a great road point for us.”
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    Seattle 1 – Vancouver 4
    Vancouver kept their faint playoff aspirations alive with a surprising – and thorough - demolition of their Pacific Northwest rivals, thanks to a three-goal performance from teenage speed-merchant, Kekuta Manneh.
    Daigo Kobayashi set up two and Camilo the other, each time sending the fleet-footed youngster in alone, where he calmly beat Michael Gspurning thrice – twice with the right-foot and once with the left - in a 42-minute spell, spanning both halves.
    Mauro Rosales would pull one back, slotting a rebound into the net, but Nigel Reo-Coker capped the night on a charging run and hopeful hit that slipped through both the hands then the legs of the beleaguered Seattle keeper.
    Sigi Schmid stated flatly, "At the end of the day, it wasn’t a good performance today, it wasn’t a good performance at Colorado, and it’s unacceptable," referring to a combined loss of 9-2 in their last two matches, while Martin Rennie beamed about his precocious forward, “…he's unbelievably talented and he's someone we're really proud of and really glad to have him in our team.”
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    San Jose 1 – Colorado 0
    San Jose continued their winning ways with a third-straight victory – and fourth in five (the other a draw) – to further compress an already desperately tight Western Conference and make up ground on their vanquished visitors.
    Colorado keeper, Clint Irwin looked to have stymied the San Jose attack, making several big saves, but, in the end there was no denying Chris Wondolowski, who came through with a game-winning header from a 69th minute Shea Salinas corner kick.
    Earthquakes interim boss, Mark Watson, praised his side’s commitment, “All credit to our guys for their perseverance; to keep plugging away and keep going at them and getting opportunities. Sometimes when you get opportunity after opportunity that doesn’t go in guys tend to drop their heads. Our guys didn’t do that,” while Rapids manager, Oscar Pareja, saw things differently, “I feel for the fans. I feel for the people who came to the stadium and the people who watched this game on TV. I feel sad for soccer, because today it was kicking and running” - more on Pareja’s thoughts shortly in the ‘Overheard’ section.
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    Weekend Results
    Montreal 0 – New England 1
    Saturday’s opening match was a critical all-Eastern affair between fourth-placed Montreal and seventh-placed New England.
    Separated by four points, with Montreal’s ill-timed winless streak drawing them back into the pack and New England three off the pace of Philadelphia for the final Eastern spot, a win for either side would prove valuable, while a loss, potentially fatal.
    The match began brightly before coming under a cloud.
    In the 18th minute, Saer Sene ran onto a Juan Agudelo back-heeled one-two and surged into the Montreal box, where Davy Arnaud, stationed at right-back, came in with a strong tackle. Sene’s left-foot appeared to get caught under the landing frame of Arnaud and did not look good in the aftermath.
    Several players, Arnaud especially, motioned frantically to the sidelines for a trainer and after treatment Sene was taken off the field on a stretcher to the hospital – it was diagnosed as a dislocated left ankle and a broken left fibula post match.
    One can never be sure how the teams will respond to such an incident, often the life is sucked out a match with players reticent to challenge; their minds preoccupied with the well-being of their fallen comrade.
    That was not the case in Montreal.
    With both sides aware of the match’s import, the tackles continued to fly - Sanna Nyassi seeing yellow for a late challenge on Andrew Farrell and Diego Fagundez escaping a booking for going over the ball on Andres Romero.
    The decisive goal would come shortly thereafter.
    In the 31st minute, Chris Tierney stood over a free-kick 25 yards or so from goal, on the right-side of the pitch. His curling ball to the back-post was met by Agudelo, who rose up well, but could not keep his header on target. AJ Soares did well to track down the ball on the right end-line to prevent a goal-kick and then picked out the streaking run from Fagundez down the right-side of the Montreal box.
    The in-form youngster’s goalmouth cross was missed by Agudelo inside the six yard box, but fell kindly for club captain Jose Goncalves, who reacted quicker than Alessandro Nesta and Patrice Bernier to drive a left-footer high into the open net.
    Marco Di Vaio would nearly equalize before half-time – Montreal’s lone shot on goal of the match - though Matt Reis proved equal to the challenge and the second half passed with the best chance falling to New England’s Tierney when his free-kick smacked off the bar.
    The loss – their third-straight at home - kept Montreal on 46 points in fourth place, but made them susceptible to the assault from behind; in the form of Philadelphia and Chicago, who each played later that evening.
    Coach Marco Schallibaum scrambled to make sense of the dip in form, “This defeat hurts because it could have been relieving. That’s what’s important - we’ve got to set ourselves free, at least make it 1-1, it would have been relieving, but now we’re in a tricky situation. The more we lose, the trickier is gets. Three tough games remain. It’s not easy to be all philosophical after a game, but we weren’t good enough today.”
    The three points pulled New England back into the reckoning – into a tie with Philadelphia and within a point of Montreal – stretching their unbeaten run to four matches.
    Jay Heaps heralded his side’s response to both the disappointment of last weekend’s dramatic result in New York and the injury to Sene, “We came to a tough place to play. We've had a tough little schedule. I thought our guys came out with the right mentality. The second half wasn't the greatest, but we dug in and we made up for some mistakes. We went over it and did it right this week, where we didn't do it right last week.”
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    DC 1 – Philadelphia 1
    Up next was another match with Eastern Conference playoff implications - eliminated US Open Cup Champions DC United hosting Philadelphia, who, given Montreal’s loss, were presented a chance to leapfrog the Impact into possession of fourth in the East.
    Without pomp or circumstance, the Union have somehow managed to cling to relevancy this entire season; never winning or losing more than two in a row, nor mounting long winless or unbeaten streaks – five each way is their maximum.
    But that consistency is what is required in a playoff system and they responded to that five-match winless run through August and September with two-straight 1-0 wins to keep themselves poised for a post-season entry.
    That streak looked in jeopardy through the first half.
    DC’s season is long over, all that remains is to close out the string with a modicum of pride and hopefully avoiding several worst-ever tags with an eye to evaluating themselves for 2014. That said they came out hungry against Philadelphia.
    All the early chances fell their way and Nick DeLeon stepped up in the 36th minute to rightfully put them ahead.
    DC circulated the ball around the back, eventually playing up to Lewis Neal in the left-side of the centre-circle. DeLeon checked back to receive a diagonal pass in the right-channel and turned towards goal.
    Unhurried by a severe lack of defensive pressure – Brian Carroll and Ray Gaddis the prime culprits, DeLeon assessed the situation and sized up a right-footed shot from around 25 yards that sailed into the top left-corner of the goal, leaving Zac MacMath with little chance of stopping the blast.
    DC spurned numerous chances to double their lead – goal-scoring, especially in bunches, has proved difficult this season – and were made to pay as the clock turned over into extra time.
    For a second-straight week – having won the match with a last-second free-kick against Toronto, it was Brazilian Kleberson who inspired the last-minute heroics.
    A left-sided free-kick from the midfielder was sent into the box, but harmlessly headed clear, falling to Gaddis, who played back up to the Brazilian still on the left. His curling ball to the back-post was met by the charging Jack McInerney, who headed down and into the right-side of the goal.
    His eleventh goal of the season was particularly sweet, having had to wait over four months for it to come and seven full minutes after Bill Hamid had denied him with a huge glove save as the match spiraled to a frantic ending.
    The late concession prevented DC from snapping a nine-match winless streak – now ten – and picking up just their fourth win of the season.
    Ben Olsen, who, if reports are to be believed, is safe in his job for next season, refrained from voicing his displeasure too heartily, “We’ve seen this before; you’ve got to go get the second goal and be classy enough to have the composure with the final ball to finish off games. The defense was great – they did everything I asked of them. Offensively, they did everything I asked of them, except the hard part, which needs to get better. Step away from the emotion of losing the points and it was a good game. There are a lot of good players on the field in black and that’s promising in looking forward to the future, but it doesn’t make it easier.”
    The draw, while not enough to capitalize on Montreal’s loss, put the Union into a tie with the Impact, level on 46 points, though having played a game more, to set up a barnstorming match next weekend between the two at Stade Saputo, after Montreal uses up their game in hand midweek in Los Angeles.
    John Hackworth was honest in his post-match assessment, “I’m really proud of the team in the second half. They came out and did everything possible to salvage a point. But at the same time, I’m a little disappointed on the whole performance. I like to look at our performance. When we perform well, I’m OK, but that was not a good performance by the Union tonight.”
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    Dallas 2 – Chicago 3
    Saturday’s final match – the penultimate cross-conference clash of the season – had dire implications for both sides involved. Hosts Dallas were on the verge of elimination, needing to win their three remaining fixtures to keep their faint hopes alive, while Chicago too were at risk of falling away.
    The Brimstone Cup, one of those manufactured rivalries from the early days of MLS, lived up to its name in part, while hardly a fiery occasion, both sides exploded for goals – a liberal application of cheesey metaphors seems apt, apologies.
    The two traded - and wasted - early chances until Chicago found the breakthrough after 25 minutes. Mike Magee sent a left-sided in-swinging corner kick to the near-post, where Juan Luis Anangono got away from his marker, Zach Loyd, and flicked a glancing header across to the far-side of the goal.
    It was a poor mismatch in the marking department and another mental error would prove costly before the half-time whistle.
    In the 42nd minute, a long Chicago throw-in was corralled by Matt Hedges, but his heavy touch returned possession to Alex, who unleashed a wild shot – that appeared to be headed wide – in the general direction of goal.
    Magee’s magical – again, sorry - season continued, as the effort redirected off him, handcuffing Chris Seitz in goal, to nestle into the right-side of the Dallas net and double Chicago’s advantage.
    They would add to that lead seven minutes into the second half, when another Magee corner – from the right this time – was poorly cleared straight to Jalil Anibaba on the left top of the box. The right-back, under little-to-no pressure, curled a driving, right-footed shot to the right-post, beyond the reach of Seitz, stretching the lead to three.
    Dallas would not go down without a fight and it was the hulking frame of Kenny Cooper that drew them back in to the match eleven minutes later, collecting a left-sided cross from David Ferreira, shoving away the pressure of Gonzalo Segares and poking a right-footed finish past Sean Johnson to the right-side of the goal.
    Cooper would breathe further life into Dallas, converting from the spot in the 75th minute after Jackson got tangled in the legs of Segares inside the box – the defender appeared to get the decisive touch and the decision was harsh at best.
    After a minor disagreement over who would take, Cooper calmly slotted a powerful low finish straight down the middle having sent Johnson sprawling to his right.
    Dallas pressed to an equalizer that would not come, their best chance falling on a series of three-straight corners, where Johnson denied Fabian Castillo from point blank range.
    The loss officially eliminated Dallas from the 2013 playoffs – the culmination of a dreadful second half of the season that has seen them win just twice since the start of June, a span of nineteen matches, having won eight of their first thirteen.
    Schellas Hyndman reflected that disappointment, “We had such a wonderful start - one of the best starts in the history of the franchise - and then things just didn’t click for us for whatever reason. We were scoring a lot of goals early, a lot of them on set pieces, and then when things started getting really difficult, we took our foot off the pedal and we got a little bit complacent. It’s [a] great frustration for the coaching staff, it’s a great frustration for everyone who works here at FC Dallas, it’s a great frustration for the fans, but I think the greatest frustration is [with] the players themselves.”
    The win, however, rejuvenates Chicago’s flailing hopes, allowing them to jump into a three-way tie for the fourth spot in the East, taking possession of the playoff berth by dint of having one more win than Philadelphia and behind Montreal by four goals scored.
    Frank Klopas was very matter of fact in his statements, “At this point in the season, you want to be playing for something and we have to focus on looking at it one game at a time, but this was for sure a massive win against a very good team.”
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    Portland 1 – Seattle 0
    And finally, to cap off a limited round of action in style, a solitary Sunday evening fixture between Cascadia rivals, Portland and Seattle.
    If that were not appetizing enough, it would also prove pivotal for the top of the Western Conference, where the Sounders held a one point lead on their hosts, one and two points, respectively, behind leaders Salt Lake.
    Then, of course, there was the small matter of the Cascadia Cup itself – a win for Seattle would see them crowned champions, anything but would have Vancouver take that title.
    Responding to a pair of woeful outings – tough losses in Colorado and at home to Vancouver – Seattle began the brighter, striking the woodwork twice inside the first quarter of an hour: first through Lamar Neagle, whose flicked header was touched onto the bar by Donovan Ricketts, then from Clint Dempsey, whose powerful header on the end of a curling Adam Moffat delivery caromed off the underside of the bar.
    Portland would come into the match with Darlington Nagbe’s venomous, swerving strike parried by Marcus Hahnemann before a breakthrough would be found.
    In the final minute of the first half, Jack Jewsbury was allowed time and space to pick a cross from the right. Nagbe and Patrick Ianni went up for the ball, but it sailed over them and struck an unprepared DeAndre Yedlin, falling to Kalif Alhassan atop the box above the left-post.
    His low, right-footed drive snuck past Marcus Hahnemann – in for the shell-shocked Michael Gspurning – at the left-post and would prove to be the game-winner.
    The scoring may have completed, but the fireworks had just begun.
    Oswaldo Alonso would see red – both of rage and of card – in the 74th minute, for a senseless elbow on Will Johnson after the two exchanged words and a bump with play already blown dead for a foul from Jhon Kennedy Hurtado on Nagbe. The decision sent the Sounders into a rage against the officials for which they should expect some additional punishment.
    Passions flared, the visitors pushed for an equalizer down a man and were twice denied, once from a sprawling Ricketts save on David Estrada, and then from a desperate block from Pa Modou Kah that deflected a Steve Zakuani chance off the bar – their third bit of wood this match.
    The win, stretching an unbeaten run to six matches - many against the class of the West, saw Portland leapfrog both Seattle and Salt Lake to take full possession of the first in the conference, while also moving level on points with New York for the Supporter’s Shield.
    Caleb Porter was buoyant with the win over their closest foes, “I think overall, it’s just that our mentality is good. We’re a cohesive team. These guys fight for each other, they work for each other, they have great chemistry. That’s a common thread in every successful team at any level. You look at the best teams in the world, teams that raise trophies are teams that have good chemistry, teams that remain humble. One of the things that’s very good about our guys is that we remain humble. When I fail, I know it, I admit it. I look at it, I correct it; same thing with these guys. I think that’s a big reason why we’re winning these games now.”
    The loss, a humbling third-straight - though in truth a much better effort than the previous two – extends their current winless run to five matches and came at a cost, as Clint Dempsey has reportedly sprained-and-or-separated his right-shoulder and may face yet more time on the sidelines.
    Afterwards Sigi Schmid was defiant, having chastised their last two under-performances vigourously, "I was proud of our team tonight. I thought we came in and I thought we battled, I thought we competed.*I didn't think we deserved to lose this game at all, I thought we deserved a tie."
    Portland’s win would hand Vancouver their first Cascadia Cup since 2008 and fourth all-time.
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    CanCon
    As usual the extended look at the Canadian performances will be posted tomorrow (Tuesday) by midday, featuring solid outings from Will Johnson and Maxim Tissot, lively cameos from Russell Teibert and Kyle Porter, and the status of Dejan Jakovic’s season.
    Overheard
    An interesting symmetry appeared this weekend with Colorado Manager, Oscar Pareja’s comments about San Jose and their “style”.
    “I feel for the fans. I feel for the people who came to the stadium and the people who watched this game on TV. I feel sad for soccer, because today it was kicking and running.
    “That was a very, very, very ugly game, and we took our part in the way that we couldn’t figure it out. We tried to put the ball on the ground and tried to get some soccer today in the field, but it’s very difficult to cope with a team that is kicking the ball up front and wrestling every ball in the air. It was a very difficult challenge for our team and we couldn’t overcome that.”
    “I felt even that we got contagious with it. We just started kicking and running too, and that’s sad for the game.”
    Three very’s to emphasize how ugly he deemed the physical style of the Earthquakes.
    That emphasis echoed the comments of Sigi Schmid from back on July 13, when his side loss to the Earthquakes by that same 1-0 score-line in San Jose, “You can’t create chances when a team kicks you and doesn’t want to play soccer. I have nothing against the coaching staff and nothing against the players, but today was just an ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly game of soccer.”
    Of course, six ugly’s probably outweighs three very’s.
    Slights against them considered, it is worth pointing out that San Jose are undoubtedly one of the form teams in league – along with New York and Portland – heading into the pointy end of the season, having won their last three, four of their last five, and gone unbeaten through five, never mind extending their home unbeaten run to fifteen-straight matches.
    Should they make it into the post-season and through the play-in round, they will surely provide a stern challenge to whomever has the misfortune of drawing them in the playoffs.
    See It Live
    Plenty of interesting tidbits from this round:
    A couple of goal celebrations from Vancouver’s romp over Seattle – Kekuta Manneh’s Bull swipe and Nigel Reo-Coker’s Lollypop Guild march; Drew Moor’s miraculous double goal-line clearance against San Jose; Clint Irwin’s huge paw save on Chris Wondolowski’s header; and Jon Busch’s most-awkward of corner kick collections.
    Arnaud stomping on a loose balloon – clearly he saw the Liverpool debacle a few season back; not for the faint hearted Saer Sene’s devastating injury (warning – difficult to watch) – thoughts and a speedy recovery to Sene, he has had a great year after fighting back from an ACL injury at the end of last season.
    Credit to the Montreal fans for suitably falling silent when the extent of Sene’s injury was evident and for cheering heartily as he exited the field – nobody wants to see a player leave the field thusly – his boarding of the team bus as they departed for home after being released from hospital is much easier on the eyes than the injury.
    Matt Reis’ game-saving denial of Marco Di Vaio was stunning; Zac MacMath goes walkabouts then puts in a brilliant tackle on Conor Doyle; Jack McInerney’s utter relief at getting the monkey off his back; and Chicago’s centre-back Austin Berry getting on his bike – but going wide.
    Then there was DeAndre Yedlin’s hair – wow; more gruesome than any injury.
    Controversy
    It was a rather clear weekend, in terms of true controversy, but the final match saw the announcers attempt to whip some up by insinuating that Will Johnson was perhaps guilty of embellishment in attempting to get Oswaldo Alonso sent off for his elbow to the jaw by taking a knee and playing it up for the crowd.
    It was a fitting clash for such a heated match between captains, if a little unbecoming. Johnson has become rather skilled in his interactions with the crowd, earning him much sneering in Vancouver and elsewhere.
    But, was it embellishment?
    Seattle’s reaction on the other hand, clearly losing their cool with Mauro Rosales and Sigi Schmid going off on the third official and Clint Dempsey giving the fourth a piece of his mind, while the players on the pitch mass confronted the official. Expect some punishments, if only in warning form, to be headed their way in the next report from the Disciplinary Committee.
    There was one potentially huge decision that could have been extremely controversial had Dallas managed to complete their rally against Chicago – when the referee pointed to the spot after Jackson got tangled with Gonzalo Segares – it hardly looked like a penalty, did it?
    Could have cost them the playoffs.
    Opinion Poll
    In one of those cruel twists of fate, Saer Sene’s gruesome injury came the same week that Steve Zakuani returned to the pitch from the latest setback following his broken leg.
    The video of the incident has been widely shown, this review is guilty of disseminating that same clip as well, but should such gore be shown in so-called highlight packs?
    It was definitely key to the story of the match and served to heighten the emotive win by New England, but was equally difficult to watch, especially repeatedly.
    Would it be better such plays were left aside, or should such snuff be viewed freely?
    Table Watching
    New York retained their grip on the Supporter’s Shield with 53 points, though only on matches won, with Portland clawing level on points. Kansas City and Salt Lake sit a mere point back and Seattle two, each having played 32 matches.
    In the East, Kansas City - who clinched their spot in the playoffs with Saturday’s draw between DC and Philadelphia - move a point closer to idle New York with their draw, while Houston, whom they drew, move a point further ahead of Montreal in third.
    Chicago and Philadelphia both draw level with Montreal, who retain a single game in hand, on 46 points, with New England just one adrift. Columbus are left five points off the finishing line with two matches remaining – they must win out and hope results elsewhere fall their way.
    In the West, Portland’s win sees them ascend to the top, over idle Salt Lake and twice-losers Seattle, each spaced by a single point having all played 32 games. Los Angeles and Colorado remained tied on 48 points, though the Rapids’ loss has eaten up one of their matches, giving LA the advantage in theory. San Jose and Vancouver each make up ground with vital wins, sitting one and three points off that pace, while Dallas become the fourth team to be eliminated, dropping out of the picture with two matches remaining and seven points between them and the post-season.
    Upcoming Fixtures
    Normal service resumes next week with a full weekend slate following a sole midweek fixture.
    Wednesday: Los Angeles-Montreal. Friday: Kansas City-DC. Saturday: Montreal-Philadelphia; Dallas-Seattle; Colorado-Vancouver; New England-Columbus; Chicago-Toronto; Portland-Salt Lake. Sunday: Houston-New York; Los Angeles-San Jose.
    Whether by prescient design or sheer luck, there are two occasions were the remaining two matches – for four clubs – are home-and-home series, with Colorado hosting Vancouver this weekend, only to meet in Vancouver next and New England welcoming Columbus, only to turn around and meet again in Columbus in the final round.
    With all four teams battling for playoff positions these matches will be very interesting viewing.
    Montreal’s two matches – in LA on Wednesday and Philadelphia – will be riveting, especially should they lose in LA, setting up a critical match on Saturday.
    Then, of course, there are the more glamourous affairs with Portland hosting Salt Lake for a top of the West clash, Houston hosting New York for a similar contest in the East, and the California Clasico between LA and hard-charging San Jose.
    Tasty.
    All 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
    Guest
    The great Billy Ocean once explained to the world that when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
    Looking at results in the past three seasons, it would appear that when the going gets tough, Martin Rennie's teams collapse like a house of cards.
    Vancouver Whitecaps' playoff hopes are hanging by a thread. September is looking likely to be a decisive month but Martin Rennie's recent history at this time of year is not that hope inducing.
    Over the past three seasons Rennie has managed the Caps and the RailHawks for eleven matches during September. He has ONE win.
    There is a realistic chance that this could read one win in 14 by the time October 1st comes around this year.
    It comes across that for all the talk, all the spin and all the expectations, Rennie struggles to get results in the crucial business end of recent seasons.
    The old adage of it's not how you start but how you finish is usually what feels key when you have a playoff system of deciding league champions.
    In reality, it helps if you perform all season long, but it certainly helps to finish strongly, for momentum and perception reasons if nothing else.
    August, September and October are vital months for regular season football. That is when the players, the management and the whole club need to stand up and be counted.
    Before the Dallas game, Nigel Reo-Coker <a href="http://www.theprovince.com/sports/soccer/Whitecaps+Return+Coker+boosts+chances+make+playoffs/8875706/story.html" target="_blank">told the Province</a> that <i>"As a team, we have to stand up and be counted as men and either say, ‘We’re going to achieve something great,’ or we’re going to let our season crumble."</i> Well it's all gone crumbly over there.
    And that must be something that Martin Rennie is getting used to.
    Rennie was announced as the new Caps manager on <a href="http://www.aftncanada.blogspot.ca/2011/08/martin-rennie-named-vancouver-whitecaps.html" target="_blank">August 9th 2011</a>. Since that announcement, his end of season run-in stats have been abysmal.
    If we looks at Rennie's regular season record during August, September and October for Carolina in 2011 and Vancouver in 2012 and 2013, it makes for interesting, and worrying, reading.
    Overall we are looking at played 27, won 6, drawn 6, lost 15. That's a winning record of 22%. Out of the 81 points available to him, Rennie has won 24 (29.6%). That is nowhere near the form that any team should have if they are to be realistic contenders in the postseason.
    His teams have failed to score in 13 of those 27 games.
    Looking solely at his Whitecaps record for this run-in period, it reads played 17, won 3, drawn 5, lost 9. The Caps have been blanked in 9 of those 17 games.
    Vancouver won one of their last ten games under Rennie last season. That saw them limp into the playoffs thanks to their early season form. That won't do it this year.
    They currently have one win from their last eight, are winless in four and have seven games left.
    When you factor in that Rennie has failed to get the job done in the playoffs, Voyageurs Cup and Cascadia Cup on a consistent basis, you have to really start questioning whether he has what it takes to win the big games.
    This does bring up the old debate of who is at fault for losses? The players on the pitch for not performing or the manager who put those players out there? The buck usually stops with the manager, as a long list of managerial casualties each season shows.
    You can point fingers at both, but when you look at last night's defeat in Dallas, there has to be some serious questions about Rennie's team selection and substitutions.
    Coming in to the game on the back of three games without a win, and some pretty poor performances on the way there, you expect there to be changes. But you expect them to make sense.
    The whole Johnny Leveron as DM move I can't argue with too vehemently, apart from the timing of it. We've been calling for it on these very pages for a few weeks, but that was before Gershon Koffie stepped back and made the role his own. You do have to question the sense of making such a move in a vital game, when surely last week against Chivas was the match to experiment in.
    As it turned out, the whole experiment didn't really work, with Leveron caught too far forward on too many occasions and not providing the defensive shield and back up coverage we needed and have got from Koffie and Jun Marques Davidson in previous games. This was a game made for Davidson's return.
    Playing Nigel Reo-Coker at right back was a risk. He may have played well there earlier this season but English players aren't used to playing in such hot conditions, never mind in a position where you're expected to tear up and down the wing all game long. He looked goosed at times and Dallas saw that as the place to attack.
    Most baffling of all though was then bringing Young-Pyo Lee on as a sub but putting him into the midfield and not at right back. That really was the WTF moment of the match.
    Rennie's comments this season have indicated that he's not a huge fan of Lee on the road, but he must surely be a bigger fan of him in defence than untried in the middle.
    Vancouver went with a team in Texas without width and any real creativity. The plan seemed to be to let Dallas have the wings, buckle down in the middle, hope to clear everything in the air and if they did get a chance to venture forward then that was a bonus to take the pressure off the backline.
    The Caps goal was beautifully worked. It was an outstanding move. Shame we never saw anything else like it for the remaining 86 plus minutes. Camilo and Miller both had another stinker, especially the Brazilian. I'd been hoping to see Tommy Heinemann leading the front line with Camilo moving out wide. The least I would have expected was for the Caps striker most in-form right now to get more than just a few minutes in garbage time.
    Another mystery was not bringing on Kekuta Manneh, a player used to playing in the Texas heat from his time with Austin. It was all just so baffling.
    The problem with the line up was that if the Caps fell behind, there was really no way back from the personnel out on the pitch. They were unlikely to lead wave after wave of attacks to get the game back. The hope had to be that they wouldn't fall behind, or if they did, it was early enough that attacking subs could be brought on. Going behind so late on then made the task impossible.
    There were five defenders, six at one point, and two oft defence minded midfielders on the pitch, yet they still conceded three goals to some horrible defending.
    Breaking them down, the first goal saw Harvey, Leveron and Koffie all have an opportunity to challenge or at least put a foot in on Castillo. Leveron's lackadaisical jog back was indicative of what he brought all game and was the worst of all three non tackles. When Watson got the ball, Reo-Coker stood off him too much, allowing him to get off the shot and bang, the rest is history. Not sure Ousted should be beaten as easy with not even a hand on it.
    The Caps got a warning just before the second goal with a quick breakaway from a Caps corner. The lack of urgency in taking the corner I understand, waste some time. But they all look shattered before it's taken. Vancouver had five men in the box as the corner comes over, all in or around the six yard box with no players at the edge of the box. The ball comes out, Koffie moves forward to try and close down Diaz, who easily knocks the ball past him, Hassli streaks clear but the play is broken up by Lee.
    Seconds later Lee is caught up field, a long ball forward is met by Mitchell's head, the ball falls to Hassli and inexplicably, with all the defenders and defence minded players on the pitch for the Caps, it's three on three, as Reo-Coker is gasping to get back to help. With Reo-Coker out of position, Hassli plays a neat ball for Castillo in acres of room where a right back should be (we only had two on the pitch!), he hits byeline and sends over a perfect cross for the unmarked Diaz to volley home.
    There are six Caps players in the box and three Dallas players, yet both Diaz and Hassli are unmarked, with Leveron again just jogging back into no man's land. How was nobody tracking back with Diaz?
    With the Caps now desperate to try and force the equaliser, Dallas' third goal comes from a break where the unmarked Benitez is allowed to get the ball and run unchallenged from midway in his own half to over the halfway line then lob Ousted who should never be beaten from 50 yards out.
    Three great goals but three pieces of horrible defending.
    I don't really want to rehash the same ground I've gone over all season long regarding the inability to defend, lack of creativity and non existent midfield depth.
    Things need to change, but most of it can only come now in the offseason. We simply don't have the right players in the squad. We've said so since April.
    I expect to see Jay DeMerit start in San Jose. What that means for the rest of the team, especially the defence, who knows right now? And that probably also includes Rennie, who is going to have to have his team work on a lot this week in training.
    Psychologically having DeMerit in back there might help and if we're talking of such matters then you also have to look at a goalkeeping change to try and stop the rot.
    David Ousted should have done better on many of the goals he's let in this year. The team is simply not winning with him between the sticks. It's not necessarily his fault, but, again, there is a psychological element there.
    Earlier in the season, Rennie said that the goalkeeping position was Brad Knighton's until the team started losing. Using that rationale, the Caps need to change to start winning.
    They need someone in goal who has been there on a winning team. Who has the experience to play big when it matters. It's likely to signal the return of Knighton, but my personal choice would be to put a well rested Joe Cannon back in there.
    He knows this would be his last hurrah and you can be sure he'd play out of his skin.
    Look at starting Heinemann to outbash the bash brothers whilst we're at it.
    The Caps really have nothing to lose now. Roll the dice a little.
    You can spin all the reasons for not getting points all you want. Spectacular opposition goals, incredible saves, calls not going your way, hitting the woodwork, injuries, international call ups, a day with a 'y' in it.
    It happens to every other team and you make your own luck over the course of a season. Your own play can also negate a lot of those situations arising.
    Ultimately, none of that matters. Only the final result does.
    When it comes to Vancouver and Martin Rennie, those results don't seem to come in September. With three massive games still to come this month, we now need seven points from them to keep the ever diminishing playoff hopes alive.
    History doesn't seem to indicate that it's going to happen. Current form doesn't indicate that it's going to happen.
    Wake me up when September ends.
    <p>
    Guest
    Vancouver headed to Dallas in the first of what could be a season defining three game road trip this evening. They have to hope that the remaining two games go better.
    Having fallen behind to early goals in the past two games, the Whitecaps came out all guns blazing and took the lead through a nicely worked Daigo Kobayashi goal four minutes in.
    The lead lasted four minutes before Dallas fought back with a Je-Vaughn Watson long range rocket but Vancouver looked to be holding on for a crucial away point before two fantastic late strikes from substitutes Mauro Diaz and Jair Benitez sucked the life out of Vancouver and gave Dallas a 3-1 victory in the heat and humidity in Frisco.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    After three games without a win, Martin Rennie rang the changes. YP Lee dropped to the bench, with Nigel Reo-Coker coming in to the right back position. Carlyle Mitchell returned to the back line to partner Andy O'Brien in the middle, allowing Johnny Leveron to push up and play in the DM role for the first time as a Cap. With Russell Teibert away on international duty, Daigo Kobayashi came in on the right wing.
    It was a line up without any real width or creativity, with Vancouver seemingly happy to give up the wings to Dallas and try and pack the air and the middle. It worked for long spells, but the danger was always going to be that this was a side that just didn't look like they could come back from a goal behind if they needed to. Unfortunately this proved to be the case.
    The game got off to an explosive start with both teams finding the net in the opening eight minutes.
    It was the new look Whitecaps who opened the scoring in the fourth minute after a wonderful five pass move involving the Caps' front three ended with Kenny Miller crossing into an unmarked Daigo Kobayashi, who made no mistake in firing past Chris Seitz from six yards out after making a run in from the right wing in the build up.
    Vancouver were unable to settle and consolidate their advantage, giving the ball away as Dallas tried to get back on level terms.
    The Caps lead lasted four minutes.
    When Fabian Castillo played the ball out to Je-Vaughn Watson on the corner of the Caps box, there didn't look a lot of danger but the Jamaican was given too much time by Nigel Reo-Coker and allowed Watson to fire a long range rocket into the top left corner for the equaliser.
    The game settled after the frantic start, with most of it being played in Vancouver's half.
    Dallas were pressing but the Caps showed how dangerous they could be when they were able to find a way forward when Camilo hit a fierce shot from the edge of the box in the 18th minute, which Seitz couldn't hold but he had time to recover the rebound with no Vancouver players following up.
    The home side came close to taking the lead in the 25th minute as Watson played a nice one-two with Jackson before firing past the right hand post.
    Dallas came within a whisker of going ahead ten minutes before half time when David Ferreira cut the ball back to Jackson and the Brazilian's delicate flick whizzed narrowly past.
    Vancouver enjoyed a spell of possession and some half chances but it was Dallas who were creating the best chances and Andy O'Brien had to be strong to turn a Kellyn Acosta cross over from four yards out with a couple of Dallas players waiting to pounce.
    The home side had the last chance of the first half when Erick rose unchallenged to head a Ferreira cross narrowly over.
    Vancouver were fortunate to head in to the half level, but they now had that to build upon in the second half to try and get something out of the game.
    Kobayashi had the first shot in anger four minutes in, but Seitz easily got down to hold his low effort.
    Dallas had a spell of pressure that had the Caps defence on their toes but the game fell into lull and neither side were creating anything to write home about.
    The lack of creativity for both sides will have been worrying to both managers for the season run-in, as the heat and humidity started to take a toll on some of the Whitecaps players.
    Vancouver were looking happy with a point and didn't look in any real danger of not getting it when Dallas stunned the visitors with a quick breakaway and hit a killer blow three minutes before the end.
    Substitute Eric Hassli played in Castillo who hit the byeline before cutting back a perfect cross to an unmarked Mauro Diaz, who ghosted into the Caps box and volleyed home with aplomb.
    It was a fantastic finish but the most spectacular strike of the evening was still to come in the final minute of normal time.
    As Vancouver pushed forward to try and salvage a point, Dallas again broke forward quickly. Jair Benitez collected the ball deep in the Dallas half, ran just past the halfway line and spotting Caps' keeper David Ousted off his line hit a perfect chip from just inside the Caps half over the Dane's head and into the net.
    There was no coming back from that one and the final whistle saw Dallas move into the playoff places whilst Vancouver's hope continued to be in a tailspin.
    Dallas seemed to cut the Vancouver defence open with ease at times. If they hadn't been missing three key players, this game may not have been as close as it was for so long.
    The late goals looked to have sucked the life out of the Vancouver players on the pitch, but you have to wonder if it's also sucked the life out of their playoff hopes.
    They have to recover quickly and next week's trip to San Jose is not the easiest place to go to try and do that.
    The Whitecaps playoff hopes are hanging by a thread. Let's hope the Earthquakes aren't holding the scissors.
    FINAL SCORE: FC Dallas 3 - 1 Vancouver Whitecaps
    ATT: TBC
    DALLAS: Chris Seitz; Michel (Jair Benitez 65), Matt Hedges, George John; Kellyn Acosta, Andrew Jacobson, Erick, Jackson (Mauro Diaz 74), Je-Vaughn Watson (Eric Hassli 84); Fabian Castillo, David Ferreira [subs Not Used: Kyle Zobeck, Stephen Keel, Walker Zimmerman, Jonathan Top]
    VANCOUVER: David Ousted; Nigel Reo-Coker, Andy O'Brien (Tommy Heinemann 89), Carlyle Mitchell, Jordan Harvey; Johnny Leveron, Gershon Koffie, Matt Watson Erik Hurtado 78); Daigo Kobayashi (Young-Pyo Lee 64), Kenny Miller, Camilo Sanvezzo [subs Not Used: Brad Knighton, Jay DeMerit, Jun Marques Davidson, Kekuta Manneh]
    <p>
    Guest
    With another tumultuous week in Toronto FC history drawing to a close – and yes, that’s saying something! – it’s easy to forget that the Reds are still a soccer team and still have to play games. Incredibly, even though the sense of a clean slate is greater than at any time since the departure of Preki and Mo Johnston in 2010 TFC, a team famous for turnover, hasn’t made a single change to the playing staff.
    That’s not to say that the Toronto FC side that takes the field in Portland Saturday night won't look significantly different from the one that has regularly turned out since mid-summer. This time, however, the culprit is the international break rather than another roster overhaul.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Major League Soccer has made serious progress in moving away from playing on FIFA international dates over the last few seasons by extending both ends of their playing calendar but, with the playoff races starting to heat-up, a full schedule of fixtures will see a variety of teams severely impacted. In Toronto that might not matter because it’s hard to be outraged with so little on the line, but the issue continues to undermine the credibility of the league as a sporting competition.
    Jonathan Osorio, Doneil Henry, and, surprisingly, Ashtone Morgan have all become default names on the team sheet and all three young Canadians are away with the national team for a training camp and pair of friendlies with Mauritania. The absence of Osorio, combined with the season-ending injury to Matias Laba’s toe that kept him out of the club’s last two games, means that Ryan Nelsen will have to get creative in organizing his central midfield. Jeremy Hall has returned to a starting role and, if Nelsen maintains his predisposition for two tackling central midfielders, it’s likely that Darel Russell will be beside him.
    In defense, Nelsen has virtually no option but to start Gale Agbossoumonde in place of Henry. It has largely gone without comment that with the transfer of former captain Darren O’Dea and retirement of Danny Califf the Reds are incredibly thin at centre back. If either Agbossoumonde or Caldwell were to pick up an injury during the course of the game it would require the conversion of a fullback or midfielder to fill that hole.
    New Swiss signing Jonas Elmer is to be handed his first start on the left of defense. When he was brought in from FC Winterthur of the Swiss second division the expectation was that he’d immediately displace Morgan in the starting line-up but a run of good form for the Canadian and a heretofore unannounced injury have seen Elmer limited to an appearance in the club’s friendly against AS Roma at the start of August.
    Whether or not the club’s other summer signings, Alvaro Rey and Max Urruti, will also be in the starting line-up remains to be seen. Rey made a decent impression in limited minutes against New England after failing to have much influence as a starter in Columbus and Nelsen is still suggesting that Urruti is striving for match fitness nearly a month after he joined the club. Far from other teams fearing their new signings it seems that Toronto is fearful of exposing them.
    The Timbers have also been affected by international call-ups and the injury bug. Regular keeper Donovan Ricketts and former Red Ryan Johnson are both away with Jamaica while influential midfielder Diego Valeri picked up a groin injury in Portland’s 4-2 loss that forced his first half removal from that match. The Argentine is currently listed as questionable for Saturday night’s match along with Bright Dike, Jack Jewsbury, Will Johnson, and Frederic Piquionne.
    That’s unfortunate for the Timbers but it’s also unfortunate for fans in Toronto who may miss the opportunity to see the impact that a creative, controlling midfielder can have. Valeri is currently second in the league with 11 assists and has added a further 5 goals. He is exactly the sort of player that Toronto FC failed to land during the summer transfer window and has probably not had since the departure of Amado Guevara after the 2009 season.
    So a thin Toronto FC will be taking on an even thinner Portland Timbers in a game with little relevance for the Reds but massive implications for the team in green. As a spectacle it will likely suffer but for the fans packing Jeld-Wen Field, so reminiscent of the early days of Toronto FC, that will matter little. Their team still has a great chance to make the playoffs for the first time and, even with all the absences, anything but three points against lowly TFC will be unacceptable. It’s been four years since Toronto played a league game anywhere near as meaningful and until some regime gets things right the Reds’ slide into irrelevance will only continue.
    Guest
    The Canadian soccer media (such as it is) has had two cracks at men's national team head coach Benito Floro since he was named to the full-time position.
    On both occasions Floro, whose mother tongue is Spanish but who speaks some English and French, was scheduled to answer all questions through a translator. But on both occasions, he decided to forgo the intermediary and, to the greatest extent possible, answer questions about the Canadian team in his own words.
    While that shows an admirable sense of dedication to his new home and position, the end result is that we don't know very much more about Canada's current training camp in Spain than we did before. But what came through loud and clear is that Floro isn't interested in dwelling on the past.
    "We are looking at the present and the future. The past is the past," he said when asked about Canada's exit from 2014 World Cup qualifying. "Canadian people want to see Canada in Russia (for the 2018 World Cup)."
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Of course, Russia 2018 is a long way away, and Floro's current 33-player camp is just the starting point on that rocky journey. And while Floro brings a fresh set of eyes to the Canadian setup, some things are destined to stay the same.
    "It's a general problem," when asked if he had had any trouble getting clubs to release players for national-team duty, an oft-cited complaint of his predecessor, Stephen Hart.
    "It is necessary to have a good relationship with the clubs because for us it's very important all the national team players are playing. But I understand sometimes for the clubs it's necessary to keep the players or use the players for an important match."
    To that end, Floro said he definitely has other players on his radar for future camps.
    "I saw several players (in the current camp) that I think have the possibility to participate in the first team as soon as possible," he said. "Maybe there are other players for the next camp; I think it's possible to call them."
    Will that next camp be in England next month? An Australian report this week suggested that Canada will play the Socceroos in a friendly on Oct. 16 in London. That match would not only represent a stern on-field test for a rebuilding Canadian squad, but the national team's first opportunity to go up against former gaffer Holger Osieck.
    "I don't know, because at this moment I'm only thinking of this camp," Floro said, before a CSA representative swiftly stepped in to clarify matters.
    "The CSA has a policy that it doesn't announce matches until a contract is signed," she said. "There is no contract signed."
    Even so, plenty of national-team friendlies have been leaked in foreign media sources in the past several years, so no one should be overly surprised if this one comes to fruition too.
    For now, though, the focus is on Mauritania, a team that Floro described as "very good" (the same verbiage used to assess the pool of Canadian players at his disposal, for what it's worth). But why would Canada select Mauritania as its dance partner for this pair of friendlies?
    While Floro said they would present a "good test" to his charges, the truth is that it was more about logistics -- Canada wanted to play two friendlies during the course of their camp, and of the several nations they approached as potential opponents, Mauritania was the only one who agreed to the double dip.
    We won't get to see what Floro sees -- as one might suspect, given the circumstances -- as it was confirmed that the games won't be televised or streamed (though live tweets and a post-match video highlight pack should be available). Still, as Floro said, at this point it's much more about the progress than the results.
    But if his approach to managing is anything like his approach to dealing with the media, at least we can be reasonably sure that Senor Floro is going to give it everything he's got.
    .
    Guest

    Anselmi out

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Tom Anselmi has resigned from MLSE.
    "Resigned", likely, but he doesn't work there anymore regardless of the way he is leaving.
    Nothing more needs to be said. Have at it in the comments.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Guest
    Episode 18 of <i>"There's Still Time"</i>, the AFTN podcast comes just in time for Vancouver Whitecaps to head out on the road again on a three game away trip.
    We look at what the Caps' might need to get from these three crucial games and hear the thoughts of <b>Kenny Miller</b> and <b>David Ousted</b>, who are very honest about what they feel the Caps need to go out there and achieve.
    We also look back at the draw with Chivas at the weekend. What can the Caps learn from that draw and how worried should we be about some of the deficiencies with the team?
    With the recent addition of Sam Adekugbe to the MLS squad, we discuss some of the current emerging talent and ask who will be next to make the step up?
    All this and there's still time to look at the murmurs surrounding MLS reducing the regular season to 28 games to cater for international dates.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    You can listen to this week's podcast on iTunes <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/aftn/id628306235" target="_blank"><b>HERE</b></a>.
    Or download it for your later listening delight <a href="http://aftn.podbean.com/" target="_blank"><b>HERE</b></a>
    We also have an iPhone app, so you can now add our podcast to your phone as an app. Visit the podcast's mobile site <a href="http://aftn.podbean.com/mobile/" target="_blank"><b>HERE</b></a> and then at the bottom of the screen just click the "Quick Launch" icon and the podcast will be added to your home screen and appear as an app.
    And if that's not enough, we've joined <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/michael-mccoll/the-aftn-soccer-podcast?refid=stpr" target="_blank"><u><b>Stitcher Radio Network</b></u></a>. Download the app and listen to the AFTN podcast on your device, along with over 15,000 shows <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/michael-mccoll/the-aftn-soccer-podcast?refid=stpr" target="_blank"><b>HERE</b></a>.
    Or you could just listen on one of the players below!
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    <p>
    Guest
    Nine years is a long, long time in international soccer.
    Multiple World Cup and Olympic cycles come and go. Dozens, if not hundreds, of players can flow through a development system and earn a cap at the senior level. And in that time, inevitably, a national team head coach will quit, get fired or retire, regardless of how well they've done. It's just the nature of the beast.
    But not, it appears, for John Herdman.
    Yes, if Herdman sees his new contract extension through to its terminus in 2020, he'll have been at the helm of Canada for nine years, including two World Cups and three Olympic Games. Such a tenure is extraordinary in the international game, but not altogether unprecedented -- Hope Powell was the head coach of England's women's national team for 15 years before being let go earlier this summer.
    Which brings us to why the Canadian Soccer Association made this move.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    As soon as England flamed out of this year's Euros in spectacular fashion, the chatter arose that not only would Powell be on the outs, but that Herdman would be on the short list of potential replacements. When the hammer dropped on Powell on Aug. 20, the chatter got louder -- and Herdman's own words on the matter hurled nervy Canadian fans into full-blown paranoia.
    Surely he couldn't leave us, just 18 months before we're hosting a World Cup? Surely he wouldn't abandon all that he'd been able to accomplish with the Canadian team, leaving us in complete disarray shortly before we hosted the sport's marquee event, right?
    Right?
    We'll never know how much Herdman's extension had to do with dissuading him from jumping ship back to his motherland -- though the timing of this announcement, three years before his original contract was set to expire, makes it safe to assume that it was part of the consideration.
    Still, if Herdman was seriously considering taking the England job, the CSA essentially had two options: Throw a bunch of money at him to keep him on board, or let him walk a year and a half before we host the World Cup.
    The former was surely the better choice for Canadian soccer.
    It comes with risks, of course. As already noted, contracts of this length are nearly unheard of for managers of national teams. A lot can change in seven years -- heck, a lot can change in one year (see: Canada's turnaround from last place at the 2011 World Cup to the podium at the 2012 Olympics). Surely the CSA has splashed a decent chunk of money at Herdman, which could potentially hamstring the organization going forward. And there's always the possibility that it will just end up being a bad deal, and Herdman won't live up to expectations.
    Still, I'd rather be staring at that uncertainty than the uncertainty of another protracted search for a Canadian national-team head coach, at this moment in the WNT's history.
    Besides, most fans -- if early reactions are any indication -- don't need any convincing, as the John Herdman love-in has been in full effect across social media. Indeed, this is a good-news story of proactive, decisive action being taken by the CSA, in locking up a manager that's beloved by players and supporters, and has brought high-profile success to the program.
    Above all, the move creates security and stability for Herdman and his staff as they prepare for the most difficult period the Canadian women's national team will have ever faced: The inevitable transition to the post-Christine Sinclair era.
    How much longer does Sinclair have in her? She turned 30 earlier this summer, so -- three years? Four? Five?
    And it's not just Sinclair; it's the generation of players she's grown up with, who have formed the core of this squad for years (including at London 2012) and who are now approaching (or have reached) the downside of their prime playing years. Diana Matheson is 29. Rhian Wilkinson is 31. Carmelina Moscato is 29. Melissa Tancredi is 31 (and retired, pretty much). Lauren Sesselmann is a newcomer to the program, but is 30.
    All of them have played important roles. But Canada has never had, and may never again have, a player of Sinclair's caliber. Her impact on Canada's success in the past 10 years cannot be understated, nor can the impact of her eventual departure from the program.
    Herdman has been criticized by some for continuing to rely too heavily on the veteran core since the Olympics. He's countered by saying that the deficiencies of the player development system are such that there simply aren't enough players of sufficient quality to fill in the gaps at present.
    One thing is for certain -- Herdman now knows he has the time and the security to find those players if they exist, and to build them up from the youth ranks if they don't. The most promising player to emerge from those ranks under Herdman has been teenager Kadeisha Buchanan. If Herdman's contract plays out to completion, she'll be in her mid-20s by the time he's done (and, potentially, have scores of senior-team caps under her belt).
    Herdman and his staff have done wonders in rebuilding the national team's veteran core, both physically and psychologically. But this contract extension signals one thing very clearly: The Canadian soccer establishment is counting on him to lead the women's national team along the upcoming bumpy path.
    One can imagine he'll have whatever resources the CSA can provide, at his disposal. And the goodwill he's engendered with his success (and, it must be said, his eminently likeable personality) will do wonders in building bridges with clubs, schools, leagues and other places where the new crop of Canadian talent can be found.
    The women's national team program is going to look very, very, very different in 2020 than it does today. But if John Herdman is still left standing as its leader by then, we'll know that whatever may have initially motivated today's move, it will have been one of the best ones the Canadian Soccer Association has ever made.
    And if not? If Herdman fails to adequately prepare and motivate the replacements for Canada's golden generation to live up to the standards that the sporting public has come to expect? Well, he'll be fired. National-team head coaches live to get fired, after all. His level of culpability will be up for debate (there's only so much blood you can get from a stone, after all) but people will undoubtedly look back at today's deal and scoff.
    Still, no matter what happens, making the deal was better than the alternative.
    For that, the CSA deserves credit.
    And for agreeing to stick around and help build our program through what will be a tumultuous time, so does Herdman.
    .
    Michael Mccoll
    Major League Soccer made a licencing announcement in May that will have been missed by many, but will have been of great interest to my fellow football memorabilia collectors.
    Topps were awarded the exclusive MLS license is for trading cards, player stickers, sticker albums and other collectibles, with immediate effect.
    For fans of a certain age, it will take them back to the Topps cards that were produced during the NASL era of North American football and their popular sets produced in the UK.
    The new MLS deal saw Topps take over from Upper Deck who had previously produced the player collector card sets, including ones for Vancouver Whitecaps in their first two years in Major League Soccer.
    Topps were founded in 1938, manufacturing chewing gum and bubblegum. In a bid to boost sales after the Second World War, Topps packaged their gum with trading cards, with the first sports ones being a baseball series of cards in 1952.
    The company continued to go from strength to strength and are one of the most widely known companies in that particular field of sports memorabilia worldwide.
    They’ve produced a number of football cards and stickers over the years and have the official licence from the English Premiership to produce sticker albums and trading card sets.
    For those of us of a certain age, the Topps cards from the 1970s are their iconic design and there is a retro nod to the design of their English league set from 1978 in the new 2013 set, but more on that later.
    But Topps weren’t just producing football cards over in the UK at that time, they also brought them out over here, including an iconic set for the North American Soccer League in 1979, which old time collectors here may remember.
    The 33 card set featured sticker cards of all 24 NASL clubs, along with one of the NASL logo, an NASL soccer ball and a "soccer is a kick in the grass" sticker card. The other six were just strange mish mashes of four team names on a card.
    The sticker cards came in packs of four and were wrapped in wax paper along with a stick of bubblegum. Each pack cost a whopping 15 cents. Changed days indeed.
    Once you’d peeled your stickers off (if you wanted to put them on an accompanying wallchart) there was still some fun to be had.
    The backs of 21 of the stickers made up two picture puzzles that you could put together. Three of the other cards showed you what the pictures should look like and the remaining nine were instructional "how to" play soccer cards.
    'Puzzle A' was made up of 12 cards. When that one was put together it made up two photos of NASL action.
    'Puzzle B' was smaller and made up of nine cards. When that one was put together it made up a picture of Werner Roth of the New York Cosmos holding up the NASL trophy.
    The cards were really cut in a higgledy-piggledy manner, but still a fun thing for kids and the young at heart of the time.
    They haven't really gained any real collectors' value over the years, meaning you can still pick them up fairly cheaply.
    Happy memories there for some I’m sure and now we move forward 34 years.
    A general feeling is that Topps really missed the boat on what they could have done with their NASL sets. Let's hope they don't repeat that mistake with their new MLS ones.
    The 2013 Topps MLS cards are both welcome and infuriating. Welcome because there are so many different sets and cards to collect and infuriating because the Whitecaps don’t feature that much in them.
    The cards come to buy in individual packs of six, value boxes of eight packs and hobby boxes containing 24 packs. The hobby boxes guarantee to have at least one of the special autograph or relic cards, which we'll tell you more about later.
    Collectors have a lot to acquire and completests will have large credit card bills, with some of the cards considerably scarce.
    Altogether there are 12 different sets/inserts along with the base set, which itself comes with a number of variations/inserts.
    The base set features 200 cards, ten of which are Whitecaps: Joe Cannon, Jun Marques Davidson, Gershon Koffie, Young-Pyo Lee, Jay DeMerit, Daigo Kobayashi, Darren Mattocks, Kenny Miller, Andy O’Brien and Alain Rochat.
    For most collectors that’s all they will want and they’re the easiest to come by.
    The base set also comes in "parallel cards", which are basically the same card but with some different colouring in the background. These come in blue, gold and black variations and from what we can gather, all ten Caps are available in these.
    Seems completely pointless and just another way to make people spend money but they have been around for decades so there’s obviously some demand from the keenest collectors out there.
    There is also a scarce "Base Variations Set" of 20 cards which features an alternative photo of players like Thierry Henry and Robbie Keane, but no Whitecaps. You’ll only find one of these cards in every 349 packs.
    As alluded to above, the other big set to collect this year is their retro nod to the English cards issued in the late 70’s.
    The "1978 English Footballer Set" contains 60 cards, all done in the classic 70’s style and although they will probably look a little weird to some, for those of us what were kids around that time, the memories come flooding back.
    There are only two Whitecaps cards in the set: Darren Mattocks and Jay DeMerit.
    There is also an 18 card "1978 English Footballer Autographs Set", serial numbered /25, but unfortunately there are no Caps featured in that set.
    Whitecaps do feature however in two of Topps’ other new autographs sets.
    The 15 card "SuperDraft Autographs Set" features Kekuta Manneh (with gold, black and red parallels), and the 54 card "MLS Maestros Autographs Set" includes Jay DeMerit and Darren Mattocks (with gold, black and red parallels).
    The biggest disappointment for me is that the Whitecaps do not feature at all in the 10 card "MLS Rivalries Set". Ten cards, 19 teams, you’d think we’d get in there somewhere but nope. Neither do Columbus Crew. Seattle, New York and DC all feature twice though. After having no game in rivalry week, I think MLS are trying to tell us something.
    There are seven other sets that contain no Whitecaps cards: Autographed Relics Set (17 cards with parallels); Extra Time Redemption Autographs Set (3 cards); Golden Boot Die-Cut Autographs Set (14 cards); Minis Set (15 smaller cards); MLS Kits Relics Set (31 cards with parallels); Pure Soccer Set (20 cards); Pure Soccer Autographs Set (7 cards).
    If you’re an absolute completest, you can also keep an eye out for the rare one card "Official MLS Soccer Ball Redemption Set".
    Whether you're a new collector or one that's been collecting such things for years, that's a lot for you to start looking into, modern and vintage.
    You can find the modern day Topps cards in memorabilia and hobby stores or online at the Topps website and card stores, although I dread to think what the postage will be to Canada.
    Ebay is usually my main shopping spot for such things and you'll be able to pick up both the 2013 Topps sets and the 1979 old NASL one on there.
    Go on. You know you want to. Just don't eat any of the bubblegum that comes with the 70's packs.
    Guest
    So much for the worries about John Herdman jumping ship to England.
    Those fears were sparked when England's women's national team parted ways with long-time gaffer Hope Powell last month, with Herdman being identified as a potential replacement. But those fears can be put to bed, as the CSA announced on Thursday that Herdman will remain Canada's coach until 2020.
    At the same press conference, held in Vancouver, it was announced the squad would play a friendly against Mexico on Sunday, Nov. 24 at BC Place.
    Herdman's new seven-year extension will carry him through the next two World Cup and Olympic cycles, and give him the freedom and security to identify and develop the youngsters that will eventually take over from Christine Sinclair generation.
    Check back for more analysis and reaction.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK].
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