WVHooligan - Soccer Blog

Week 13 did prove to be unlucky for some. Road clubs had trouble figuring out their way while the home sides were able (for the most part) to get the job done. Two clubs remained undefeated at home, and one club remains a tough cookie to crack.

Yeah, week 13 was interesting alright. The start of the week proved to be practically goalless, which moved into the start of Saturday but as the evening went on some clubs found their goal scoring ways. That trend continued yesterday afternoon in DC.

Not bad attendence figures as well for the weekend. Pretty typically numbers across the board. The good in Toronto, DC, LA, and even to a lesser extent in New York. The more troubling numbers came in the Rocky Mountains with Real Salt Lake and Colorado posting some slightly sub-par numbers. More RSL than Colorado though. Something must have been going on in that region this weekend.

I left this weekend really not surprised by most of the results. Lots of draws across the board with a few wins that really weren’t too shocking to see. Maybe just one will stand out to most but when we think about it, its really not all that shocking.

Sorry for the delay this morning. It turns out, the internet issue I was having last weekend was due to a blown out modem. Thanks for your patience too this morning, I’ve gotten a few emails asking my opinion on the weekend.

I will be honest though with you all as I usually am, I didn’t see a lot of these games this weekend. I had to attend some family fuctions of the lady Hooligan so it put me away from the telly for the most part. But seeing highlights gave me enough knowledge of each game that I missed.

Kansas City Wizards 0 - 0 Toronto FC:

• Yeah, probably one of the more surpising results of the weekend. KC had been struggling as of late and honestly this is a good result to get at this time for them.
• Both teams had their share of chances, but never took command of this game. Lots of fouls.
• Very gutsy call at the end of the game with Danny Dichio being called offside on the free kick. Good call but again very gutsy call.
• I think Toronto would have been better suited to start Amado Guevara and Maurice Edu but I totally understand John Carver in leaving them out of the starting XI. Rewarding players from previous performances over the last couple weeks.
• KC had some decent chances in this one unlike in the last couple games. But again, most never really troubled Toronto or really threatened to score on them.

————————————————————————————-

New York 1 - 0 FC Dallas:

• Solid home win for the Red Bulls, tough way for the Schellas Hyndman era to kick off for Dallas.
• Early goals continue to be tough to come from behind for clubs this season. The 17th minute goal was just enough for the Red Bulls.
• Dallas continues to struggle on the road, only one win away from Frisco, TX this year.
• Clearly Dallas is in a transition right now under Hyndman. The new formation looked better for this club but you could still see plenty of holes through the midfield and defense. Mostly in starting similar players like Pablo Ricchetti and Marcelo Saragosa.
• Dallas was missing a couple starters in defense. That showed more so than New York’s long list of injuries to guys like Juan Pablo Angel, who missed another game.
• The Hoops never really tested New York. Only four chances on goal, that kind of production doesn’t win games.
• I did like New York in this one a little bit more on the offensive side of things. Even without Angel and Claudio Reyna this club is learning to adapt. They need to until those reinforcements come into this club later on this summer.

————————————————————————————–

Colorado 0 - 0 Houston:

• Yeah, one of those not-so-surpising results. A very lack luster result and game overall.
• Nothing really took place until late in the game, each club had some chances but both failed in finding that result in the final third. Big surprise since neither club have the best offenses in the league.
• This was one of those games that I hardly saw anything from. And judging by the lack of highlights, I didn’t miss much at all.
• One thing is clear, both clubs are lacking a striker who can finish in the penalty box. Both clubs with late chances, and both failed to produce due to poor finishing.
• I really thought the hand-ball call on Brian Ching was a bad call. I felt it was more of a shoulder or a upper chest hit on the ball rather than his arm. That call may have costed this club three points.
• Sorry for the lack of commentary on this one, I just didn’t see enough to give more insight and from what I did see there wasn’t nearly enough going on to give valuable feedback on the game with.

————————————————————————————–

Real Salt Lake 2 -1 New England Revolution:

• One of those wild games. Goals came off wild bounced or the wrong players in the case of Jay Heaps in RSL’s first goal.
• Give RSL some credit here. Tough as nails at home this season, though I fully expect that to change once they move into their stadium later this season.
• Unlucky for New England though in this one to not at least get a draw. I felt they were the better side on Saturday night and should have at least got the one point on the road.
• More credit goes to Nick Rimando in goal for RSL. He may give up stupid shit in goal but he does find a way to save his team’s butts more than anything else.
• I’ve said it before with New England and I will say it again, they will be so damn dangerous once Taylor Twellman is healthy again. RSL stopped them on Saturday I fully believe it would have been different had Twellman been in the game. His finishing could have made this at least a 3 goal game for the Revs.

——————————————————————————————–

Columbus Crew 3 - 3 LA Galaxy:

• Easily the most entertaining game of the weekend. Six goals, loads of draw, lots of back and forth action.
• Landon Donovan returns to action and nets two, and Edson Buddle scored one as well. God lord and they still have Carlos Ruiz on their bench (though he was gone on WC Qualifying). That is just down right scary to think about with David Beckham giving service to each week.
• Loved the fight out of the Crew in this one. Definitely showed they have the biggest hearts in the league right now. No quit in this club really.
• LA’s defense clearly got the best of them. Should have been three points, instead they gave up leads twice in this game to a club with a weaker offense by most people’s standards in this league.
• I can’t wait for the return leg of this one later on between these two sides. Another six goal game isn’t out of the question.

——————————————————————————————

DC United 3 - 1 San Jose Earthquakes:

• I don’t always get predictions right but damn, I got this one right on the head. I always laugh at how many emails or comments I get when I am wrong but the lack of comments when I am dead on. Not surprising really, I saw it back in my radio days as well.
• Some pretty crazy goals early in this game. Clyde Simms goal was just plan weird, and San Jose’s lone goal just barely got in the net. Good call by the officials though on that one.
• DC just had too much going in this one. Too much fire power, especially late.
• San Jose did have their chances in this one, none finding the back of the net really. Hell even their lone goal didn’t find the back of the net. But this club did show they had some fight in them. Probably one of those few clubs that really makes you work for the three points.
• Another red card day for James Riley. Very good call by the ref though on the red card. He just hasn’t learned to not go in with both feet and the studs up. Someone needs to show him how to slide tackle properly here.
• Lucianio Emilio again, geez. Nice late goal.
• Same goes for that rocket of a shot by Gonzalo Martinez.