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2013-14 CONCACAF Champions League Groups Set

By on June 4, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |

So there was a little confusion last night during the draw for the next edition of the CONCACAF Champions League.

The initial draw was immediately thrown out, and quickly redrawn in the span of an hour, owing to conflicts in the composition of two of the groups.

What caused the confusions in the initial draw? It centered around the composition of Groups 7 and 8 in the draw. Despite keeping the Mexican and American clubs apart in the group stage during the 2012-13 CCL, Group 7 included Mexican team Club Tijuana and the Houston Dynamo, while Group 8 consisted of the LA Galaxy and Mexico’s Cruz Azul. Since both groups had two Mexican teams and two American teams, they could not simply be redrawn with each other. This required four groups to be redrawn.

Once everything was redrawn, the groups were a little better.

The complete schedule for the tournament will be released later this month.

FULL DRAW FOR 2013-14 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE

Group Clubs Country
1 Árabe Unido
Houston Dynamo
W Connection		 Panama
USA
Trinidad & Tobago
2 Olimpia
Sporting Kansas City
Real Estelí		 Honduras
USA
Nicaragua
3 Herediano
Cruz Azul
Valencia FC		 Costa Rica
Mexico
Haiti
4 Club América
LD Alajuelense
Sporting San Miguelito		 Mexico
Costa Rica
Panama
5 San Jose Earthquakes
Montreal Impact
Guatemala 2 (TBD)		 USA
Canada
Guatemala
6 Comunicaciones
Toluca
Caledonia AIA		 Guatemala
Mexico
Trinidad & Tobago
7 Club Tijuana
CD Victoria
Firpo		 Mexico
Honduras
El Salvador
8 LA Galaxy
Isidro Metapán
Cartaginés		 USA
El Salvador
Costa Rica

Two MLS clubs will face off in Group 5, as the San Jose Earthquakes and Montreal Impact will represent their respective countries, as well as the champions of Guatemala’s current Clausura championship (still to be determined).

Houston gets a fairly decent group, one that they should come away from. Same should be said for Sporting KC. The LA Galaxy get a pretty tough group but they’ve come away from groups like this in the past.

I will admit, it is nice to see some new clubs from both MLS and Liga MX involved in this round. Club Tijuana and Club America should be fun to watch. Same should also be said about seeing Sporting KC and San Jose in this tournament as well.

Continue Reading · · in Champions League, College Soccer, Houston Dynamo, LA Galaxy, MLS, Montreal Impact, San Jose Earthquakes, Sporting KC
Video

What A Game In Montreal Is Like

By on April 30, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |

C’était super géniale!

Holy buckets. If that video doesn’t make you a semi-Impact fan then I don’t know what will. Such quality in the production and making of this video. Big kudos to the Impact for posting it today.

Continue Reading · · in MLS, Montreal Impact

Giving Grades: How First and Second Year MLS Bosses Stack Up

By on April 17, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |
Porterball is starting to show its way in MLS. (Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports)

Porterball is starting to show its way in MLS. (Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports)

It seems as though with each passing season in Major League Soccer we get a new crop of coaches in the league. Last year we got a couple new coaches and this season was no different with five new managers roaming the sidelines.

After seven weeks I feel as though we know a greater deal about each coach. Some are doing very well while others are still navigating the tricky and difficult MLS waters.

Typically at this time of the year we can begin to see a coaching hot seat forming and while I may get to that soon, I felt it was better to take a step back and see how the newcomers were fairing. Here is how I see them all doing so far this season with the sophomore coaches included as well.

Continue Reading →

Continue Reading · · in Chivas USA, Colorado Rapids, MLS, Montreal Impact, New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union, Portland Timbers, Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps

Five Teams Show Off New Kits

By on February 28, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |

Yesterday was a full day in the league’s new Jersey Week. Five clubs showed off gear, with one of the clubs displaying their new third kits.

This week has been very fun with the unveiling of new kits. Some have been good, others have been alright. I think Wednesdays five unveilings showed that teams are willing to be bold with their kits for 2013.  Continue Reading →

Continue Reading · · in LA Galaxy, MLS, Montreal Impact, Seattle Sounders FC, Sporting KC, Vancouver Whitecaps

2013 MLS Season Preview: Eastern Conference

By on February 28, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |
Sporting KC hopes to keep their hold on the Eastern Conference in 2013.

Sporting KC hopes to keep their hold on the Eastern Conference in 2013.

It is time to get down to it. I’ve already gone through each MLS side, along with several other previews. But now it is time to get down to where I think things will shake out once the dust settles later this year.

Yes, I am talking predictions folks.

First up is the Eastern Conference.

Right now I see the Eastern Conference as a pretty deep group of clubs. I feel confident that it could end up being a eight team race for the long haul of the season. Yes, eight teams folks. I think the top part of the conference is pretty well stacked but the middle group from about 3-8 is closer than some might think.  Continue Reading →

Continue Reading · · in Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew, DC United, Houston Dynamo, MLS, Montreal Impact, New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union, Sporting KC, Toronto FC

2013 MLS Season Preview: Montreal Impact

By on February 18, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |
Montreal hopes to improve in year two. (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

Montreal hopes to improve in year two. (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

To say things are done differently in Canada may be an understatement. We’ve seen all the changes in Toronto over the years and Vancouver has seen their fair share of changes in their three years in MLS. But one would have thought Montreal would be just a little different. It turns out they aren’t too far off their Canadian foes.

Going into their sophomore season in MLS, many figured the Impact would build on their solid expansion year under Jesse Marsch. Instead, he went out of the door and in came new manager Marco Schällibaum.

Not a ton is out there on the new manager of the Impact. But one thing we do know, the team will gobble up Italians as much as Chivas USA is gobbling up Mexican-Americans.

If anything this second season in Montreal will be interesting to watch.

Continue Reading →

Continue Reading · · in MLS, Montreal Impact

What’s Lacking: Montreal and New England Preseason Look

By on January 22, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |
New England and Montreal are both lacking some punch up front. (Getty Images)

New England and Montreal are both lacking some punch up front. (Getty Images)

Like I mentioned yesterday, I’m going to try and get as many two team sets of preseason posts up as I can this week.

I’m sticking with the Eastern Conference again today as I’ve already looked at the Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew, as well as last year’s Eastern Conference finalists D.C. United and the Houston Dynamo.

Again, all I’m doing here is taking a quick look at some missing pieces that each club is needing to fill while they kick off their preseason camps this week.

Montreal Impact

- Direction. The Impact have been busy this winter but mainly in the sense that they have changed their coaching staff up. Jesse Marsch is out and Marco Schallibaum is in. So where exactly does this club that had a decent expansion season go next? Obviously in the direction to win the Serie A right?

- Thin in the attack. Outside of a couple Italians and Andrew Wenger, the Impact are very thin up front. If they are expecting to make a decent run of things in year two, they need more than what they possess up front right now. Possibly another DP? I’m not saying that will be the answer but they certainly are thin at the moment.

- Defensive depth. Outside of their regular starters, this group isn’t too heavy on guys that can fill in and step up in the defense just yet. Adding some depth at full back will be good.

New England Revolution

- So thin in the attack. It could be a long, long year if New England doesn’t get more help up front. Jerry Bengston and Saer Sene are both good but Sene isn’t fully healthy and you know Bengston will be in and out this season with Honduras. They need more up front, it is as simple as that.

- Playmaker in the midfield. They have some guys that can sorta/kinda fill this void but when you really boil it down the Revs lack a true number 10 on the field. They need a guy that can pull all the right strings and set up the attack and keep the pressure off a young defense.

Continue Reading · · in MLS, Montreal Impact, New England Revolution

Montreal Hires Swiss Manager Marco Schallibaum

By on January 7, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |

This one is a real head scratcher to me. The Montreal Impact have finally named a head coach today in the form of Marco Schallibaum.

Here is where it gets interesting from the press release.

The 50-year-old is a veteran of the Swiss Super League, where he played from 1980 to 1995, and where he managed for nearly a decade with several clubs, including FC Basel, BSC Young Boys and FC Sion, among others. He recently served as a FIFA coaching instructor in Qatar, Mongolia and South Korea, and speaks four languages, including French, English and Italian.

Notice that last line…coaching instructor. While that is all good the guy hasn’t been on a sideline in a couple of years. Let’s also not forget to mention his lack of MLS experience too.

I’m all for teams taking a gamble but this one just continues to baffle me a bit. I know the Impact are always willing to do things a different way and it nearly paid off in year one under Jesse Marsch but this move just screams disaster waiting to happen. But then again, I’ve been wrong before and I’ll be wrong again. I just don’t have a ton of faith in clubs that bring in foreign coaches with little-to-no MLS experience under their belt.

At least the Impact can say they got this done before the MLS Combine, which kicks off this weekend. The New York Red Bulls are still working on finding a coach and are running out of time.

Continue Reading · · in MLS, Montreal Impact

Jesse Marsch and Montreal Part Ways

By on November 5, 2012 | Follow @WVHooligan |

Jesse Marsch won’t be on the Montreal sidelines anymore. (Getty Images)

In what may be on of the bigger stories of the weekend, and definitely one that few saw coming. The Montreal Impact and head coach Jesse Marsch announced on Saturday that they were going their separate ways.

“I’m leaving the club by mutual agreement,” Marsch announced during a press conference alongside owner Joey Saputo and sporting director Nick de Santis. “It’s not easy with the relationships that we’ve built, but for me it’s the right decision.

“Looking ahead, we realized that while we had the same goals, we do not share the same philosophy,” Marsch told reporters. “This is first and foremost a question of respect for the club, what it has accomplished, and where it is heading in the future. I had several discussions with Joey and Nick to see if we could make it work, and the conclusion was that an amicable split is the best solution going forward.”

The Impact compiled a 12-16-6 season in their first MLS campaign and the 42 points were 11 short of the fifth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Assistants Mike Sorber, Denis Hamlett, Mauro Biello and Philippe Eullaffroy will take over the reins of the club on an interim basis.

According to Saputo, the failure to qualify to the playoffs in their expansion season had nothing to do with the decision.

As quick of a decision as this was for both sides, good of the team and coach to get it done at this point in their offseason and not four months from now in the preseason.

There was an apparent riff between the coach and some of the veteran players like Marco Di Vaio, Alessandro Nesta and a couple others according to some reports. Marsch’s comments about that riff was brief as he basically said no comment on the matter. In a way it sounded like that was a bigger part of this decision by the management in charge.

But the fact remains Marsch is gone from the bench after a pretty good expansion season. Montreal exceeded expectations by a couple of miles for most people around the league, including myself. Does Marsch head back to the west coast and take over Chivas USA when that job comes available? Or will he go elsewhere? If anything he’d be a great assistant to have on the bench for some MLS squad.

Continue Reading · · in Coaching Hot Seats, MLS, Montreal Impact
Video

Rivas Gets Two Additional Games For Head Butt

By on August 9, 2012 | Follow @WVHooligan |

The MLS Disciplinary Committee has suspended Montreal Impact defender Nelson Rivas two additional games and fined him an undisclosed amount for head butting Philadelphia Union forward Antoine Hoppenot in the 68th minute of their game on Aug. 4.

Rivas was issued a red card at the time and will be out for a total of three games.

Continue Reading · · in MLS, Montreal Impact, Philadelphia Union