My mind totally blanked on this but there is soccer tonight. Yes, midweek soccer in Major League Soccer, but this game isn’t going to count in the MLS standings because it is a “qualifier” for the 2008 edition of the US Open Cup.

Based on last year’s standings and the fact that San Jose is an expansion club is the reason for the pairing tonight between San Jose and Real Salt Lake. The best six from last year auto-qualified for the third round of this Cup, while the other six (Toronto not included) are left to duke it out to produce two survivors. Winner of this game will get Columbus and the winner of that game will go to Chicago. On the other side of this “play-in” round is a LA v. Colorado winner that will end up facing KC.

Anyways, back to tonight’s game. I will keep this brief since kickoff is fairly close away here. You have two clubs that are out to prove a lot right now. One (San Jose) is trying to get over the expansion aspect of the season and is learning to play consistent on a weekly basis. The other (RSL) is wanting to prove that they belong with the big boys of MLS. Neither is really doing that right now but a win to get closer to the US Open Cup could very well be a good starting point.

As much as I think the Quakes can win this game I can’t shy away from the home side in this one due to recent play from RSL. I think Jason Kreis’ side will come out in this one and be able to keep their home field advantage against the expansion Quakes. RSL will want to prove that they haven’t fallen back into their old losing ways and advancing in this Cup will certainly help that out. RSL is very tough at home, especially on that nasty turf.

I expect both to play some reserve players…probably will see some back-up keepers in this one for both sides. RSL has to get Chris Seitz some playing time and this is a great time to do it.

No TV for this game nationally (surprise, surprise…this game wouldn’t exactly be TV ratings central). Your best bet may be trying one of these three radio stations, but I’m not sure about that either: English – KALL 700am (Salt Lake), Spanish – KTUB 1600am (Salt Lake), KLOK 1170am (San Jose).

WVH Prediction: RSL 3, San Jose 1

Want Major League Soccer in your city? Well, the price for your potential owner(s) just went up a bit. News today out of Portland says that in order for the city (and probably any other city now) to get a MLS franchise they will have to fork over $40 million.

The new entry fee: at least $40 million. That’s up from the $30 million MLS is charging ownership groups in Seattle and Philadelphia to bring their cities franchises in the next two years.

A lot would have to happen as we all know by now for Portland to get a MLS club. The stadium they play in (PGE Park) would have to undergo a serious update from it’s current state. Second, the owner group lead by Portland Timbers and Portland Beavers owner Merritt Paulson would have to propose a deal that would make sense for MLS (one like with Seattle and Philly).

Paulson’s biggest hurdle could be getting his Triple-A baseball team into a park of its own. MLS has been pretty strict on where their teams play and who they share their stadiums with these days. Right now they would like the Timbers to be out of PGE within five years of being granted a potential expansion site.

He is expected to present his plan to MLS within the next two months, most likely in June but more than likely nothing will get done on any stadium renovations at PGE or a deal for the new baseball park for the Timbers until after November, one the elections are over.

Most who know my stance on expansion know that I believe there has to be a team in the northwest with Seattle for the league to be a success in that area. I know some in the south in Miami will cry foul about not having a team in that area and how they will be better but I am willing to bet a lot more money on Portland (or even Vancouver) being a better success in MLS than a rebirth in Miami or Tampa, or even a team in Atlanta.

PGE Park may not be the sexiest looking place to see a game but with a little makeover it would easily be one of the toughest venues in MLS. With recent expansions to Toronto, Seattle and Philly, MLS has put in place a club in areas with homemade supporters groups. Portland would be just like those three in that they would gobble up season tickets, be loud and proud during games, and most importantly give Seattle the rival it needs in this league.

The one concern has to be though, will Paulson be able to not only spend the money on the expansion bid but be able to impress MLS enough to get that bid. He said he is willing to spend the money on the bid and let the city take care of the rest (reportedly a $55 million slice of the pie).

There is also no assurance that the league won’t raise the expansion fee again. Toronto paid just $10 million, San Jose paid $20 million to rejoin the league, while Seattle and Philly are in the $30 million neighborhood. Also beating out the likely front-runner in the expansion bid (St. Louis) will be tough as well as beating out other high hopefuls like Montreal and Miami.

Expansion is getting more expensive but as the league grows I think it has to be that way.

Keeping up with a tradition of last year on the last day of each month I typically try and do a monthly award thing. Usually it’s a decent barometer of what the end of year awards will possibly look like. Some awards change from month-to-month but others stay on board. As always if you have your own, feel free to post below.

For those who are new to the site, the way things go is I will go through some individual awards and then on to the Best XI of the month. A new thing for this season will be the goal of the month (with the highlight to boot!).

WVH Player of the Month: Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy – Yeah, eight goals and two assist on the month. Let me say that first part again, EIGHT GOALS. Lando is quickly setting records, from what I’ve seen out there he has set a record for most goals in a five game span (previous record was six). Before this weekend I would have probably gone with a number of other guys for this award but when someone goes on a rampage like this in a month’s time you have to take note.

Others in consideration: Kenny Cooper, FC Dallas; Alejandro Moreno, Columbus Crew; Will Hesmer, Columbus Crew; Amado Guevara, Toronto FC; Sasha Kljestan, Chivas USA; and Blanco, Chicago Fire. Continue Reading…

Ah, a great video posted over at the FC Dallas team blog today. The guys at FCD took a video camera that took half-second snapshots every ten minutes for four days. Its pretty cool to see the stadium go from soccer to concert to concert and back to soccer.

For those who aren’t in Dallas, Pizza Hut Park had a busy weekend. After the New England/Dallas game on Thursday, the park hosted a Jimmy Buffet concert and Edgefest. Lots of action in four days. Just too bad there was more butts there over the weekend than on Thursday against the Revs.

So enjoy! And don’t worry, I hear the field is fine and is still in quality shape!

After the first couple weeks of the new MLS season I thought we’d see a drastic change in the coaching hot seat list and to a degree I think we have. One thing that remains is the man who’s been at the top of this list all along.

I really thought after two weeks that the man who’s sat at the top of this watch list would finally make his way out of the top three and into a safer territory. But as time progressed more into this young season we saw it was a little more clear that he wasn’t at all ready to move away from the top spot. If you haven’t realized who I am talking about then wake up and smell the coffee.

Its not that Fernando Clavijo is doing a horrible job already this season, its he hasn’t done enough in recent weeks to convince me that he is the right person leading Colorado still.

I waited until after a month into the season for that very reason. Two games in and it wasn’t enough for any coach, but five or six games in and we got a good estimate of how well some coaches were going to be this season and how well others weren’t.

Clavijo made the moves this offseason that got me and some other people high on the Rapids once again. But the hype was short lived as the Rapids have fell from grace real quickly already this season. The defense that he built isn’t scaring anyone right now and the offense that was suppose to be better hasn’t shown up in a couple weeks.

I’m still waiting on that go-to striker to step up under Clavijo here. But when he puts a 4-5-1 out on the field it is a little tough for that lone striker to make anything happen when his defense and his midfield aren’t getting the job done for him. Then again that lone striker, who ever it is, hasn’t been able to put the ball in the back of the net on a consistent basis so far either.

The two wins on the season looked nice but they have easily been over shadowed by the three losses. It wasn’t just the loss to the expansion San Jose Earthquakes that made me realize this but more so the shutout against the Quakes followed by the failure to get a result on the road in Chicago the following weekend when the chances were there.

Some may still think its too early to talk about these kinds of things but after a month I think it time to kick up the discussion about it. Look at last season, after a month and a half we saw two coaches get the boot. Reason enough to begin talking about this once more this season. I think Clavijo’s days are still numbered but its only if the Rapids front office realizes that or not here.

So no change at the top of my list. But after Clavijo it gets a little tougher. Continue Reading…

One month down here in this 2008 MLS campaign. As we talked about yesterday the eastern conference is clearly outclassing the western conference on and maybe even off the field. The power rankings this week are really no different.

The one thing that remains consistent here is that no club is clearly stepping up and consistently the best club in the league each week. The top spot has been a revolving door so far and it almost seems like a kiss of death to be labeled the best squad in the league. New England couldn’t handle it, KC has dropped the ball twice with it, and Chicago had trouble with it.

Now it seems like there is time for a new club to move to the top but the thing is I honestly don’t see them as the best team in Major League Soccer. But in the end you have to give credit where it is due and put the best playing team at the top.

After the top five or so is a clear drop in class between these clubs. Its almost a pick-a-name-out-of-a-hat kind of draw here with some of these clubs. Its like who’s the best of the worst and what not here. But that is early season soccer for ya.

Continue Reading…

Okay. Time to dig a little deeper here now that we are a month into the season. One thing we know for certain (as if we didn’t think it coming into the season), the east is damn good as a whole. Six of the seven clubs are above .500% and the one that isn’t is bordering that sea level mark. Only two clubs in the west are at or above sea level.

Four clubs east of the Mississippi already have at least 10 points, with Columbus (4-1-0, 12 points) setting the pace and Chicago (3-1-1, 10 points), New England (3-2-1) and Kansas City (3-2-1) in a three-way tie, with Toronto (3-2-0, 9 points) a further point back.
Edit: Yeah my geography isn’t what it use to be, I know KC isn’t east of the Mississippi, but when I wrote it my brain let out a huge fart and I forgot…sorry all of you KC people and thanks to M for reminding me!

Looking back at the winter transfer season, clubs in the east made the most moves and are getting the most out of it. Toronto is a great example of that right now. They made a slew of moves after two weeks into the season and that immediately propelled them near the top of the standings. Most western clubs made moves but none are making nearly the impact that we are seeing in the east.

Usually things aren’t this way in Major League Soccer. Typically one conference doesn’t beat up the other this badly at any point in the season but right now the east is clearly dominating the west. Not just in the standings but in the games between the two already. In 16 interconference games, eastern teams are 11-3-2 against their western conference foes. The only thing you can say against that is that 10 of those games were in eastern stadiums.

I bring this all up because if this trend continues in the next 82 interconference games this season, you can bet that there will be some unhappy eastern sides come playoff time now that the league has revamped the playoff auto-qualifiers from each conference to three from last year’s two. The east got five playoff teams last year in that system and now will have to battle it out more so for those extra two spots this season.

Not to say that they can’t get five again but if you look at how teams are stacking up against one another so far it isn’t too hard to think that the east could possibly get more than five. Right now the best club in the west (FC Dallas) would be sixth in the east. That’s just how much space is between the two conferences.

Now I know, its a month into the season and there is a lot of games left (175 games left to be exact). Anything can (and probably will) change before October. I think either way things turn out this season, the league can’t be blamed too much for the western sides not being able to catch up to the eastern sides here.

Lots of soccer is still left to be played and I’m sure there are plenty of moves that will shake things up here. But one thing is clear still to me right now, the eastern clubs are clearly out classing the western clubs by a lot so far this season.