WVHooligan - Soccer Blog

A very interesting Sunday in Major League Soccer, two wins and two draws. Plus I think we probably caught the last MLS game of Dallas’s Kenny Cooper.

Only four games but all had an impact on the standings. Dallas moved back up in the west, San Jose and New York remained at the bottom of each conference and the biggest may be Columbus who moved within two points of league leading New England.

Aside from one Beckham game in Dallas, it wasn’t a great day yesterday for attendance. It was HOT everywhere it seemed and the early start in San Jose probably didn’t help out too much, but the worst may have been Colorado’s game with the Crew…only 10k showed up for the night game. Must have been something better going on in the area.

So some overall thoughts from each game:

San Jose Earthquakes 1 - 1 New York Red Bulls:

• Early own-goal should have help the Red Bulls get three points but defensive mistakes (again) give up the points. All of these new players really haven’t done much yet for them so far, sure it may be early but before long some better play should happen/
• Nice to see Darren Huckerby get on the board, I can’t say enough how good of a signing that will end up being for the Quakes. Yes, I am a big fan of Huckerby.
• Joe Cannon was really hardly ever tested in this one other than the own-goal. Just a weird play that was.
• For the most part San Jose had a lot of decent possession in this one and were a bit unlucky to not get the three points in the end.
• Defensively the Quakes looked pretty solid too, probably due to the early start (that would have been a 9am game for the Red Bulls).

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FC Dallas 4 - 0 LA Galaxy:

• I should have some soundbites from this one later on today. Check back for that.
• What can you say, Cooper had one hell of a game. If you are to go out on a high note, then Cooper did just that. Two goals and an assist, very nice.
• LA looked totally disorganized in the midfield, which lead to a couple breakaway goals for Dallas.
• It was hot but that was a poor excuse for LA. They tried not to use it but its what they kept talking about afterwords.
• Nice to see Schellas Hyndman get his first league win. Also nice for the fans who had a nice show put on for them in that 102 degree heat.
• Dominic Oduro had one hell of a game too. As good as Cooper was, it was Oduro’s speed that just torched the Galaxy.
• Wing play was really big for Dallas in this one, the 4-4-2 formation was key in that. Hyndman talked about it afterwards and said he hopes to continue using that formation.
• This game could have easily been 6-0 or 7-0. About three of four really good chances for Dallas, a few off the post or crossbar.
• Give a lot of credit to the Dallas defense in this one though. They didn’t just bunker with an early lead but they just stopped the three-headed monster up top with Donovan, Buddle, and Ruiz.
• What will Dallas do next…that will come up later on today.
• What will LA do next here…find some defense and find a stronger central midfielder. They have NO ONE in the midfield that controls the possession. Yes they have strong wing play but you also need a strong central midfielder to control things. Plus a strong central midfielder should help out on defense and lighten the load on the backline.

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Kansas City Wizards 0 - 0 Chicago Fire:

• Not a lot from this one, lot of back and forth possession but no one was able to find the back of the net.
• Only a couple chances for each club but the finishing was just lacking in this one. Both Kevin Hartman and Jon Busch had a couple decent stops each but were never really tested.
• After watching most of this game I felt Chicago was the better club in this one. They had some good possession that lead to those few chances.
• KC has been playing good lately though, not great, but definitely see an improvement from earlier in the year. Still, they need Ws and not Ts in the standings right now. A win would have moved them into the playoff picture. The draw doesn’t help that at all right now.
• Decent draw for the Fire though, yes a win would have been nice but they remain on pace with Columbus and New England and are still in reaching distance of them.
• Seventh shutout of the year for BOTH Hartman and Busch. Amazing really, both had had really good seasons.

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Columbus Crew 2 - 0 Colorado Rapids:

• Steven Lenhart had an interesting night. He made the first start of his MLS career, scored his third goal in six games — and then got tossed late in the first half when he threw an elbow in the penalty box. All in a days work I suppose.
• Jason Garey had a nice evening though as he put away the insurance goal late in the game. Even a man down the Crew had no problems in this one.
• William Hesmer was easily the man of the night, a bunch of key saves in big spots.
• The Rapids pressed but still that lack of finishing in the final third hurts. But also hitting the post a couple times could have changed this game for the Rapids.
• Another loss for the Rapids. That makes nine, the same as the Quakes who are the worst club in the league. Yikes, no wonder only 10k showed up for this one.
• Solid win for the Crew, they now are really within reach of the Revs (just two points back). Sounds like a really exciting race here to me.