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2013 MLS Season, Week 9: Player of the Week

By on April 29, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |

Finally some things appear to be clicking in the Big Apple for the New York Red Bulls. The club has won three out of their last four games. And this week they the league’s Player of the Week in Tim Cahill thanks to his two goal effort last Saturday against Toronto FC.

Cahill bagged the game-winner late for the Red Bulls, his first two goals of the season. This was the first Red Bulls player to win the POW award in 2013.

Cahill earned 14 of the votes this week. New England’s Lee Nguyen (4 votes) and Vancouver’s youngster Kekuta Manneh (3). Jairo Arrieta of Columbus and Portland’s Ryan Johnson also earned two votes each.

As you’ll see from the votes, Cahill was my runner-up on the week. Nothing against the two goal effort on the road in Toronto but call me when he does this to a strong defense like Montreal or Sporting KC on the road. Just sayin’. My vote went to Portland’s Ryan Johnson, who had a goal and an assist on the day in a thrilling 3-2 win for Portland in Kansas City.

Continue Reading · · in MLS, New York Red Bulls

2013 MLS Season, Week 8: Wednesday Quick Pick

By on April 17, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |
Can Sporting KC continue their impressive defensive run? (Photo by Mark Shaiken - WVHooligan staff photographer)

Can Sporting KC continue their impressive defensive run? (Photo by Mark Shaiken – WVHooligan staff photographer)

The midweek games are here. Major League Soccer rolls into the eighth week of the season with their first midweek game of the year.

Sporting Kansas City returns to action after a week off to face off against rivals New York at Red Bull Arena. Both teams have the double dip of games this week while Sporting has to travel to LA to face the Galaxy this weekend. Either way you spin this, it could be a game that we see both teams take it fairly easy and go for the draw.

With Sporting having the weekend off to prepare for this one, they should be the fresher squad out there. This match boils down to a midfield battle that could go down to the wire. Sporting has the edge in that for me, as well as their defensive power that has kept a shutout in their last four games.

New York did look better in their last match at D.C. United and they are typically better at home anyways. Sporting came away with points on both of their visits to Red Bull Arena a year ago, winning 2-0 on Sept. 19 then playing to a scoreless draw on Oct. 20.

I still feel as though this one will be fairly tight and come down to a draw. Neither team will want to push too much in this one with weekend matches looming.

WVH Prediction: New York 1, Sporting 1

Continue Reading · · in MLS, New York Red Bulls, Sporting KC

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
Quote

Roy Miller On His PK Encroachment

By on March 13, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |
“I did it on purpose with the thought that Wondolowski would miss. Simply, I wasn’t in agreement with the situation that was going on and the penalty kick being given, because for me, the handball didn’t have to be called but some refs call it and some don’t.
Roy Miller, New York Red Bulls defender

Sometimes you read things, or hear things like this and you just shake your head. Roy Miller, we are thanking you for this pure gold.

You can see the whole mess here again in all it’s glory. Roy Miller is truly trying to institute soccer’s version of icing the kicker with this.

Continue Reading · · in MLS, New York Red Bulls

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: New York Red Bulls

By on February 19, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |
Tim Cahill and Thierry Henry have to step up in 2013. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)

Tim Cahill and Thierry Henry have to step up in 2013. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)

We are staying in the Eastern Conference a bit more today in our season previews. Time to go to New York to see what the Red Bulls have been up to this offseason.

Just based on the ins and outs alone, the Red Bulls have been one of the most active clubs this offseason in MLS. Along with the fact that they promoted Mike Petke to the head coaching role too, the Red Bulls will have a new look to them this season for sure.

But one has to wonder, with all the moves this offseason and shredding of salary, have the Red Bulls done enough to finally climb the MLS mountain?

Continue Reading →

Continue Reading · · in MLS, New York Red Bulls
Video

Thierry Henry’s Tough Stance On Racism

By on February 12, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |

Here is something that honestly just makes sense.

New York Red Bulls striker Thierry Henry is advocating that soccer officials deduct points from teams as a way of punishment when fans are racist towards players. He didn’t say that officials or governing bodies should absolutely do this but he at least had a good point.

It’s hard. But if I tell you that if you don’t behave well, your team might lose the game … you might stop. I’m not saying you will stop, but you might stop. Because at the end of the day, we are all there for the team, for the club. – Thierry Henry

More quotes from Henry to the AP can be found here as well.

Above is a video of the interview with NBC Sports Michelle Beadle and Dave Briggs. Weird seeing Beadle on NBC, she still annoys me and intrigues me all the same in this new location from ESPN.

What do you make of Henry’s assessment of how racism should be handled?

Continue Reading · · in MLS, New York Red Bulls

Kenny Cooper Dealt To Dallas

By on February 4, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |

And he’s back. Boy FC Dallas is having a fun day. You almost knew they would when their schedule for the week saw them leave for Mexico tomorrow. They have to get their roster some what in order for that trip.

And they’ve done so. Earlier it was trading for Eric Hassli. Now they have gone out and traded for Kenny Cooper.

Dallas sent allocation money (somewhere in the $200k range) to New York for Cooper.

Just a heck of day when you really boil it down for Dallas. They need depth at striker and got it. It didn’t hurt that they had a ton of cap and allocation space to play with too (thank you Brek Shea sale). Dallas may also be landing midfielder Ramon Nunez as well.

Not a bad way to spend your money if you ask me.

 

Continue Reading · · in FC Dallas, MLS, New York Red Bulls

Mike Petke Named Red Bulls Manager

By on January 24, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |

The New York Red Bulls announced today that they have named Mike Petke head coach effective immediately. Petke had been serving as head coach on an interim basis for the last few weeks and even handled the clubs’ SuperDraft.

The 36-year old just finished his second season as an assistant coach on New York’s staff after a long playing career. He joined the coaching ranks in 2011 following a 13-year career that included two playing stints with the club from 1998-2002 and 2008-10. He holds the current club record for games played, with 169 (196 in all competitions), games started (158 regular season) and minutes played (14,060 regular season).

“Mike is very passionate about our club and has shown us that he has the leadership and organizational qualities to be our head coach,” said Red Bulls Sporting Director Andy Roxburgh. “He is a terrific servant for this club, from being a top player to most recently heading our reserve squad. Mike has earned this opportunity and he will have the full support of our staff to help ensure the team’s success. We believe that his experience both as a player and coach in American soccer will be a significant asset as we head into the 2013 season.”

Petke is another former player and in a long line of younger coaches getting a shot in MLS. Petke joins the ranks of Ben Olsen, Oscar Pareja, Jay Heaps, Jason Kreis and even guys like Preki, Jesse Marsch and Robin Fraser as former players that are now coaches.

He doesn’t have coaching experience outside of being an assistant but he does know the league and how it works. Something that can’t be said for previous Red Bulls managers.

Continue Reading · · in Coaching Hot Seats, MLS, New York Red Bulls

What’s Lacking: New York and Philadelphia Preseason Look

By on January 22, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |
What questions do Philadelphia and New York have going into their preseason? (Getty Images)

What questions do Philadelphia and New York have going into their preseason? (Getty Images)

We’re pushing forward in out preseason look in at the 19 MLS clubs.

Two more Eastern Conference clubs to go with the Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew, as well as last year’s Eastern Conference finalists D.C. United and the Houston Dynamo. Earlier today, I took a quick look at the Montreal Impact and the New England Revolution.

Time to dive into two more Eastern Conference clubs with a look at some items that are lacking going into the start of the preseason camps.

New York Red Bulls

- Coaching. This is an obvious one but it is also one that has to be mentioned until the day/week/hour/etc. that New York finally hires a new coach for the 2013 season. Mike Petke has been sort of in charge the last couple of weeks as he handled the SuperDraft stuff last week.

- Thin in the midfield. One thing many will say when looking at this Red Bulls squad is how light they are in the midfield, especially on the wings. They need some help throughout their midfield as behind their main starters are a bunch of inexperienced players.

Philadelphia Union

- The Adu of it all. This isn’t really a lacking kind of item but it is something that has to be brought up when discussing the Union. What they do with Freddy Adu could be a make or break kind of thing. He’s a hefty player on the books for them and unloading him will certainly ease the minds of the front office and likely some players.

- Depth on the wings. This kind of goes for both in the midfield and in the defense. I like their main guys but after them the Union do seem thin on the outside. Adding one or two more parts to the outside for depth purposes will be a good thing to see before the start of the season.

Continue Reading · · in MLS, New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union