Flip forward a year later and we expected another wig night with Toja still on board this season but a transfer to Romania put a stop to that possibility of improving on last year’s promotion. So what does FC Dallas do with all of those wigs that they ordered in honor of Toja? Change the player on the promotion, that’s what.

I received this update in my inbox earlier this week for the Dallas-DC game at the end of September. (thanks to a couple readers for pointing it out because I actually deleted the email!)

First 5,000 fans through the gates receive a Duilio Davino Wig courtesy of Telefutura.

Davino? Are you kidding me? Sure Davino has some nice hair (?) but certainly not the flowing mane that Toja had. Plus Davino wears a head band on his head. You should never have a wig promo centered around a dude that wears a head band. At least put a head band with the wig to make it legitimate. Its a lame attempt to recreate a good promotion from a year ago.

Why not a SuperCooper night (which I think they are doing?). Or a Jeff Cunningham night were the first 100 get a free jersey style t-shirt with Cunningham’s famed 101 number on the back?

Nice try Dallas, I think its a lame attempt to salvage some money that you spent on someone else.

No immediate details on the transfer were given but my sources tell me the Romanian side is set to pay a transfer fee between $1 million and $2 million.

Once I get more on this deal I will pass it along to you all.

I will try to do some play-by-play commentary on here for today’s game that looks to be an interesting one for a few reasons. If you have any comments on the game feel free to pipe them in below.

FULL TIME: FC DALLAS 4 – 0 LA Galaxy

Great game by Dallas from end to end really. They deserved the victory and LA easily deserved that loss.

90th min: Just one minute of extra time…I’m gonna wrap this up later, time for the press conference downstairs!

89th min: GOAL FC DALLAS!!! What a bender by Abe Thompson! May be the best goal of the night! 4-0 Dallas.

87th min: 21,020 in the house tonight…too bad the next home game it won’t be half of that.

85th min: COOPER OFF THE CROSSBAR…that makes three of the woodwork. Gosh what a shot.

84th min: Haha, Cooper tries to beat Cronin from distance…solid effort but Cronin is able to keep it in.

84th min: AVILA WITH A CRACK…OFF THE POST! This kid has some serious talent folks.

83rd min: Almost another chance for Cooper but his header is well high and wide of the goal.

81st min: Donovan with a crack at goal but another timely save by Sala.

80th min: Another Galaxy corner is cleared out by Dallas. They’ve been strong today on defending set pieces.

79th min: Looks like Alan Gordon will come on for LA soon…could they possibly play with four strikers? Wouldn’t shock me if they did…oh and he comes on for Vanney too.

77th min: COOPER! Almost gets his hat trick…damn. Great ball by Thompson though.

76th min: Some nice play out of Dello-Russo…I will admit I’ve never seen him play but so far I am impressed.

75th min: Okay, Wileman is on now for Alvarez. First MLS game for the kid. The Galaxy are finally getting subs ready here. Too little too late if you ask me.

73th min: Three straight corners for the Galaxy…all close but Dallas is able to get them all away. I wonder what happened to that Wileman sub, I guess they had to get Oduro out first.

72nd min: Abe Thompson coming on for probably Oduro who has been cramping up like no other here in the last few…

69th min: Chase Wileman coming on soon…another debut. Wow, gutsy subs by Hyndman if you ask me.

67th min: Way wrong, Dello-Russo on for Rocha. Wow, debut for the kid.

64th min: Dello-Russo coming on for Dallas…my bet its either Avila or Alvarez coming off.

63rd min: A lot of back and forth action here folks…getting very interesting.

61th min: BUDDLE HEADER ON GOAL….SAVE SALA!! Great save on the header!

61th min: COOPER TO ROCHA! Ah, Rocha puts a little too much on it after Cooper serves one up on a silver platter to him.

60th min: Hour mark…Dallas has all their subs up and getting ready, LA bench is quiet…just a bunch of guys sitting around. Then again Gullit has very little attacking options left on there. What bring on Ely Allen or Mike Randolph?

59th min: Things are getting a bit chippy here…the ref is starting to call a lot against Dallas, that’s what happens when you have a three goal lead.

56th min: Another Sir David freebie…goes nowhere…wasted really.

52nd min: More Galaxy possession earns them a free kick…Sir David takes it, but it is cleared out easily by Dallas.

51st min: Beckham with a chance…and wide again. Galaxy only had 4 shots total in the first half to Dallas’s 10…oh yeah and none of those were on goal for the Galaxy. That has to change here in this half. So far its remaining the same.

47th min: ODURO HITS THE POST! AH! And Cooper comes close on the follow header. Good to see Dallas not take the foot off the pedal.

47th min: Good possession by Dallas early on, Rocha gets a nice chance on net but punched out by Cronin.

45th min: Second half is underway….let’s see how the Galaxy respond to this beating. Franklin is on for Pires for LA. Good sun, Pires was a total waste in the first half for LA.

HALFTIME: FC Dallas 3 – 0 LA Galaxy:

This is the passion we were wanting to see out of this Dallas club earlier in the year. They’ve totally outplayed the Galaxy today on all ends of the field. The Galaxy have really looked terrible today, lack of possession, too much in the long ball and really no energy out there. But if there is any club in the league that can score in bunches it is the Galaxy so this one isn’t over yet. I think Dallas fans would want one more (preferably from Cooper) to really seal the deal.

44th min: Nice defense by Dallas today…Pitchkolan has looked solid this half, each time he continues to slow Buddle down.

41st min: Another give away by the Galaxy in the midfield leads to another good Dallas chance, this time by Rocha. Just not enough mustard on that one to get by Cronin though.

40th min: Decent chance for the Galaxy, Donovan plays a nice ball to the wings for Klein, who was wide open, but Klein shows his scoring ways aren’t what they use to be.

36th min: GOAL FC DALLAS!! Dominic Oduro gets a great ball from Alvarez and he quickly speeds past the Galaxy defense and by Cronin. 3-0 Dallas….wow just wow.

30th min: Still a lot of good possession out of Dallas here, plenty of decent balls being sent in the box, Hyndman has to be pleased with his club’s effort so far.

30th min: Gotta love it, Sala is already milking the clock.

25th min: Horrible no call on a clear breakaway for Oduro, Vanney brings him down but no call. Terrible that was a clear foul and probably a clear red card since Oduro was in on goal alone.

23rd min: Avila with a GREAT ball into the box but Alvarez isn’t able to put home the golden chance. Should be 4-0 right now but those two just got away from Dallas.

22nd min: ODURO! So close! But no goal, he whiffs at one and Cronin picks it up. Birdman is having a solid game so far.

21th min: LA is just too jumbled in the middle of the park here, this isn’t U-6 soccer here…six or seven white right around one another

20th min: Think those two Cooper goals will get him some better offers than $4 million? Dallas needs to keep him as long as they can to get a better offer!

19th min: Let’s hope Dallas doesn’t just sit on this lead. LA has the firepower to get back in this one in a hurry.

17th min: GOAL FC DALLAS…wow. A great break away chance by Dallas with Oduro and Cooper, a great give and go and Cooper puts home his second in two minutes! 2-0 Dallas.

15th min: GOAL FC DALLAS….great individual skill by Kenny Cooper. Just a nifty dribble by a defender and a beautiful low shot to the near post. 1-0 Dallas.

13th min: Love watching the Galaxy play when they get possession…its long ball city!

10th min: Nice early possession out of Dallas, but can they keep it up?

9th min: Ugly give away by the Galaxy in the middle of the park leads to a nice shot from distance out of Rocha…but too easy for Cronin. Yikes, attack the middle if your Dallas, the Galaxy look terrible in that area, the wings are solid but the middle is definitely a weakness of this club.

7th min: Toja is “out” with a quad injury. But he is here in the stadium.

6th min: Beckham free kick…goes well wide…no bend on that ball

5th min: Dallas supporters are chanting “Dallas Reject” to I think Cronin…or maybe Vanney…or maybe Ruiz

3rd min: Dominguez has the duty today to mark Cooper…that should be a great battle.

2nd min: Sala in the road blue kit for his keeper jersey today…his sky blue kit must be dirty or something…

1st min: And here we go…

—————–

PREGAME: People still love Beckham here…lots of cheers for him when he walked on the pitch…boos all around for Donovan and Ruiz though.

Late arriving crowd as always…I have to admit that is a big pet peeve of mine but what can you do when it takes forever to get to Frisco and the traffic stinks in the Metroplex, plus its HOT out.

——————-

PREGAME: Decent looking crowd as always for a Beckham game…may be another sellout, but on a day that’s 102 out it’s really hard to tell how many will actually show up. Thankfully its nice and cool inside the pressbox.

——————-

PREGAME: Starters for Dallas:

Sala, Moor, Davino, Pitchkolen, Serioux, Rocha, Avila, Ricchetti, Alvarez, Cooper, Oduro

….Nice, finally seeing rookie Eric Avila in the starting lineup, a move I really like out of Schellas Hyndman. Plus a 4-4-2 should work a bit better than the ol’ 3-5-2.

No Toja. Not even listed on the bench. Yeah, he’s totally gone.

——————-

PREGAME: Starters for LA:

Cronin, Klein, Dominguez, Vanney, Jazic, Beckham, Pires, Vagenas, Buddle, Donovan, Ruiz

Dominguez gets his first start for the Galaxy I believe. The three headed monster up top with Buddle, Donovan and Ruiz…damn that is just nasty.

——————-

PREGAME: A couple story lines to follow today…the possible last much for guys like Cooper (new offer from English side Cardiff City for $4 million), Toja, and Buddle.

Also, the Serioux/Beckham battle should be interesting. Those two nearly went at it last time these two faced each other here.

——————-

First off, I usually hate this current format for the All-Star game. A ‘select’ side of MLS players against a club in preseason form. But last night’s game just looked and felt better than some of the previous ones I’ve watched in this format. I don’t know if it was just the overall level of play out of the MLS side, or the quality game (3-2 scorelines are always entertaining), or if it was just because Toronto was one hell of a host.

But getting back to reality for second, it was a good win, not a great one for the league. Beating a club that typically finishes in the middle of the EPL won’t raise too many eyebrows about how the league is coming along in other parts of the world. It will look good for a day or two and then everyone will go about their merry way come Sunday when the week 18 games kickoff.

I loved the starting lineup for the league, even though the first 20 minutes were largely a total bore. But that is expect in a friendly of this nature. But once the goals started and things got moving in the second half with all the subs, the game kind of got this electric feel to it. It didn’t hurt to see three Canadians out there and have the home crowd got absolutely bananas for Dwayne de Rosario’s game winning penalty kick.

In all I think this game was a success and this week was a success for the league. So let’s look back on some more thoughts and news from the week and try to finish up that clean up that I first mentioned.

Cuauhtemoc Blanco easily was the man of the match. – I just wish I could have seen more. Blanco put on a nice show for the crowd with his goal and assist. Why ESPN decided the game winning PK was the goal of the game was beside me because Blanco’s strike before halftime was as cool as the other side of the pillow. He continues to show his value to this league. No offense to Toronto’s home boy De Rosario, but had DeRo been picked as the MVP I would have gone crazy!

David Beckham is still a class act. – I’m sure the Toronto fans were finally happy to see Becks play. He worked well with Blanco, Christian Gomez and everyone else last night. Its amazing watching him link up with classy players like Juan Pablo Angel too. It just makes the game so enjoyable to watch.

Shalrie Joseph is mighty good my friends. -There is a reason why I dubbed him my preseason pick for MVP this year. He won’t win because of where he plays on the field but damn this guy is so good and most don’t even see it. What I love about Joseph is he just continues to get the job done, no matter what game it is. He proved last night that he deserves another shot at going to Europe in a year or two (when his current deal is out of course!).

Bornstein may have impressed me the most. – Out of all the guys that I didn’t think deserved the All-Star bid, it was actually probably Chivas defender Jonathan Bornstein. But after last night he totally erased all of those thoughts with what he did on the field. If he plays even half as good as he did last night for the rest of the season, Chivas will be fine and will still contend out west.

Didn’t care for the MLS jerseys. – Black on a almost dark blue? Eh, I thought these kits were a miss for the most part. Why wasn’t it black on red shorts? I dunno, for me it may have been the only draw back to the game because it just looked weird to me on TV. I may be the only one on that though.

BMO Field looks great on TV. – I remember first seeing the renderings of BMO Field a couple years ago and thought it would be a crappy little venue but man was I ever wrong. I love this venue for MLS. Its not just the great fans but for some reason it comes across very nicely on TV. Okay, its probably because of the fans and the fact that we hardly ever see an empty seat there.

‘Bitchy’ the Hawk. – If you watched the ESPN telecast of the game you will know what I am talking about. Honestly never thought I would hear the name Bitchy on Primetime television.

FC Dallas has a tough week ahead. – Are they staying or are they going? We will see I guess whether or not Juan Toja will be in Romania next week and if Kenny Cooper will indeed go to Norway. Listening to Cooper during the second half last night gave me the impression (and both ESPN commentators) that he has played his last game in MLS. As for Toja, he denies but we all know he is leaving.

Buddle to stay or go? – Edson Buddle is also getting a nice look at by a Scandinavian club (probably Rosenborg) too. If he does go then you can pretty much bet that LA will land former West Ham United midfielder Nolberto Solano will indeed sign with the club. Though there is word he will probably sign regardless of what Buddle does or even what happens to Carlos Ruiz for that matter.

The expansion game. – Two more clubs in 2011. The league says they are going to strike while the iron is hot. I guess at MLS Cup we will know those two cities, or at least by MLS Cup will know of those two cities. My best is the cap will be raised in the coming year (the CBA ends soon) and with the new academies in place with most of the clubs we won’t have to question whether or not there is enough talent to fill these clubs, because we will.

SO what really is going on here?

Apparently the second of those three things seems to be the one that is actually taking place. FC Dallas has Toja under contract for another two years at a nice price of $150,000. Apparently the offers from Steaua haven’t been enough for the club’s liking. It makes sense for the club to stall on this deal over money because they will want to get the most bang for their buck out of the two-time All-Star.

Late last night, Toja said he is still very interested in the move but confirmed to Ives Galarcep that the deal was not yet final.

“People talk a lot and I’ve tried to make it clear that while it is a great opportunity and we’re trying to get it done, nothing is certain yet,” Toja told SBI after the MLS All-Star Game. “The truth is nothing has happened and nothing has been signed so until something is signed then we don’t know what will happen.”

Despite all the reports in the Romanian press and some here in the Big D, the deal pretty much seems to be on par with what FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman was saying Wednesday. That day seemed to be the craziest of all with reports from all over saying everything from yes to no and probably anything else in between (I don’t speak Romanian so I wouldn’t really know about some of that stuff!).

One report apparently was fake, so the club’s team blog responded to it while the local paper ran a story saying the deal was pretty much complete. Then you have FIFA saying the deal is near completion with quotes from Toja saying he’s reach an agreement with Steaua.

So do the math right? This is enough to make anyone’s head hurt. I still believe the righting is on the wall though and that Toja will be transfering out of MLS here in the coming week.

I don’t blame Dallas at all for stalling on the price though, they have every reason to do that sort of thing here. From what I’ve been told the club is looking for a transfer fee of at least $1 million, if not a bit more. The price that is currently being offers is just a mere $700,000.

I would still love to see Toja stay too, and after last night’s All-Star game I think it may be safe to say that we are starting to see the same Toja that we all feel in love with last season. He only played 45 minutes last night but was very effective as a starter on the wings for the MLS All-Stars. I think its mostly been about determination this year with Toja, and it looks like that has returned to him here.

But like I said the writing is mostly on the wall with this move for me. What about you? Still think Toja is gone here or will this just drag on into nothing?

According to Buzz Carrick at 3rdDegree.net, league sources say that Toja has been sold to Steaua Bucharest.

3rd Degree has learned from a league level source in Toronto at the All-Star game that Juan Toja has indeed been sold to Steaua Bucharest. As of this morning, Schellas Hyndman had said Toja was still a member of FC Dallas, but now our source says the deal is done and Toja will not be returning to Dallas. No word yet on the dollar amount of the transfer, but Hyndman did say that FCD placed a high value on the midfielder.

No word yet if Toja will still play in the All-Star game.

Stay tuned as we try to learn more and seek out additional confirmation.

From what I’ve heard, the transfer should come in somewhere in the $1 million mark, if not a little higher.

We all pretty much expected this to take place since the Romanian side upped their original offer for Toja. Honestly I wish him the best in Europe and hope to see him excel over there.

First year head coach Schellas Hyndman has a lot of work cut out for him here as the club really needs to act fast on this and get some new players in to improve this club. Its a tough blow for Dallas but let’s be real honest, Toja barely made an impact for the club this season. Where they go next is obvious, find an attacking midfielder along with their on-going striker search. The club will now have three open international roster spots (Toja’s old spot and the two they  trade for a week ago). I’d still like to see the club go after another defender here too.

As much as it sucks to say the league is still a feeder league. But by saying that I believe we are all going to see the better end of it before long. Younger talent like Toja will continue to see MLS as that stepping stone and will continue to want to come play in the league. That kind of attraction won’t go unnoticed here by other South American players that want to go to Europe.

It is still tough to see another quality player go during the transfer window but that is the nature of the business.

**Translation from the Aparicio article that was originally in Spanish**
Valeriu Argeasala, president of Steaua, said via telephone yesterday that sent its latest bid by Toja on Friday and that only lack of acceptance of the directive from FC Dallas to close the deal.

“I hope that (Toja) comes to Romania this week,” said Argeasala, who argued that the amount of your offer was confidential.

The possible transfer of former River Plate of Argentina and Santa Fe de Bogota has caused a stir in the Romanian media, which occurs as a redemption.

Michael Hitchcock, general manager of Dallas, acknowledged that negotiations with the Romanian club still ongoing and that sent a counteroffer to Steaua.

“We want what is best for the club and for Toja,” said Hitchcock, nor the amount confirmed by the club’s policy of reserving the contractual terms of his players.

To me those sound like words of a sale by Dallas. They know Toja is long gone here. His coach Schellas Hyndman told Buzz Carrick this little number today at practice on the transfer:

That’s a deserving number. He’s a great player and we would definitely miss one of our all-stars. I want what he wants and it might undermine my career. But I really believe that relationships between players and coaches are the same. It’s what can you do for the team? What can I do for the team? What can you do for yourself and what can I do for myself and maybe we can go the same direction. If it’s the best for Juan, I have always said I’ll support you. But there’s also a sense of obligation to this team and to the city to do well. It’s a fine line there but as always, I’ m very supportive.

If that doesn’t sound like they are selling Toja then I don’t know what does. The club isn’t really talking about it right now but from the looks of things Thursday night’s All-Star game may be the last time we see Toja in a MLS uniform. I still have my theory that he was selected for the All-Star game so the league could get a higher offer from the Romanian side. Who knows how much that is true but it sounds pretty good to me.

What does Dallas do without Toja? What they are doing now. A slight fire sale if you will that will continue into the winter. Sad to see Dallas expend so much talent over a short amount of time if you ask me. They’ve gone through the likes of Ronnie O’Brien, Carlos Ruiz, Clarence Goodson, and now possibly Toja.

Most here in Dallas hope the club does the right thing with some of this transfer money and give Kenny Cooper a big fat raise.

It is possible.

There have been rumors that one Romanian club (FC Steauna Bucure?ti) has some big time interest in the long-haired Columbian.

Over at the Los-Toros.com, they’ve seem to find the bad news from across the pond that points to Toja leaving for a transfer fee of around $500,000. They even put up a screen shot of Toja’s Wiki page that showed him as a member of Steauna (which was later changed).

With a pair of Colombians already on the Romanian club’s roster, the move sounds almost legit. I’m still waiting to hear more details about it but with the random selection to the All-Star game some of the pieces seem to be falling into place here. I guess we will see what happens here.

What do you all make of this possible move for Toja? Does the All-Star selection sound that fishy that the league would be shopping him too?

EDIT: Buzz at 3rd Degree says the club isn’t shopping Toja. But WFAA adds more fuel to the fire with a quote from Toja.

“Yes, there has been contact with an offer to FC Dallas”, said Toja. “I’m very interested because I can play the UEFA Cup and Champions (League), it’s an offer I have to examine.”

Who’s going to get to go to Toronto in their place? Luciano Emilio? Guillermo Barros Schelotto? Gonzalo Segares? All the above? None of the above?

If you answered for the last item you are sadly correct.

Instead of Emilio, Schelotto and Segares, All-Star coach Steve Nicol selected Chivas USA defender Jonathan Bornstein and FC Dallas midfielder Juan Toja, as well as the actually deserving Revs midfield Steve Ralston. Sources out there say that Toja, Ralston and Bornstein will be named to the roster later today after the Olympic roster is finalized.

Ralston is fine and I won’t even complain about his selection, I thought up until this news he was a snub for the game. But Toja and Bornstein? I can see Bornstein a little in this, he is a quality player who has had a so-so year due to injuries.

But Juan Toja?! Nicol has to be completely out of his mind to select Toja right now. All-Star selections should be based on actual performance in a season and not on popularity. Toja has exactly one goal and two assists for an FC Dallas team that would be in last place if not for expansion San Jose. He may also not be the best midfielder on his team right now! To take him over Schletto is crazy considering the numbers he has put up this season for the Crew (three goals and eight assists) who sit in second place overall in the league.

Bornstein over Segares is pretty bad too. I like Bornstein but he isn’t having nearly as good of a season as Segares.

My favorite snub may still be Emilio. I still believe taking Juan Pablo Angel over Emilio is ridiculous. Angel just recently returned from injury and has scored three goals to go with two assists for the Red Bulls who sit in last place in the East. Emilio has 10 goals and two assists, helping lead D.C. United’s revival to the top of the overall table.

Who else got snubbed out there?

Anyways, as far as the interconference battles went this weekend. The west is showing they can back up their play against the east. The two sides split their five matches going 2-2-1 on the weekend. The one match that would have fixed the split was that washed out match on Wednesday night.

Let’s start out with some points from around the league before diving into each match:

• Yes, I know the Crew fans went against league policy on the streamers. Please spare me the fact that they ignored it and what not. I know they did but it was only on one occasion and all it did was slow down the game. Pay more attention to this when Toronto has their next home game.
• By the way, those Crew fans were well behaved other than the one streamer throw.
• Something that needs to stop more than the streamers is this random fans that decide to run out on the field during the game. We’ve seen it in Toronto a couple times but now in LA. Folks that has to stop, more so than the streamers. Let’s see now if MLS Rumors attacks those LA fans like they have with Toronto and Columbus fans. Yeah, I doubt they will too.
• Funny to see Beckham laugh it off and Chris Klein tackle the dude though.
• The officiating was very questionable for the most part this weekend. One thing this league has problem with is sub-par officiating. Too many times they dictate the play, that has to change.
• Attendance was a typical so-so here. DC would have had solid number if the rain hadn’t come. New England will boost the numbers with the Brazil friendly. Other than those two the week was a typical so-so. But I say that with LA and Chicago posting near sellouts. That is a so-so in the form of its typical and highly expected of those two clubs.
• Three clubs still undefeated at home right now. We all talk about Toronto and Salt Lake, mainly because of the turf but look at Houston. They sit at 3-0-2 on the year at Robertson Stadium. That place is a great venue, too bad it isn’t their own.
• The west still has one club above .500 (LA), while the east has five (NE, Columbus, Chicago, Toronto, and NY).
• Still no draws for Colorado. I don’t think I’ve ever see a club go 11 games into the season without a single draw. Remarkable and sadly impressive on the fact that they are so inconsistent.

Now on to the weekend’s games.

New England Revolution 2 – 1 FC Dallas:

• Again, a great first half for New England. Early goals are always a killer in this game. But they couldn’t put it together for a full 90 for the most part. But a home win is always nice and they are still top dog, even though they have a game or two advantage on everyone else.
• Dallas still looks in trouble but that last 25 minutes of play was really promising out of this young club. To pull within a goal and looking ever dangerous throughout has to give Marco Ferruzzi and his club some confidence.
• I think the two defensive midfielder system for Dallas has to go. Marcelo Saragosa and Pablo Ricchetti are practically the same type of player and the two together just don’t work that well at the same time. Either one is fine on their own I think but it may be time to move to a system in the midfield that poses more of an attack than a defense. Either one can help the defense out more.
• Some questionable reffing on Friday night, a couple calls that really could have gone both ways for either club. One or two probably could have favored Dallas late and one or two could have favored New England early.
• Matt Reis had another stellar night. Quickly moving up the MVP charts and the player of the month charts in my books.
• I ragged on Juan Toja early in the game but those last 15 minutes were the Toja we got use to last season. Something must have clicked, or at least Dallas fans hope so.
• Is New England really the best club in MLS right now? I think so, they don’t win pretty each time but they still win. They still need a killer mentality though, that was certainly lacking in the late stages of the game.

————————————————————————————

San Jose Earthquakes 2 – 0 Columbus Crew:

• Another solid road shutout for the Quakes. Let’s be honest though, aside from the two goals they had practically zero other real chances in this game. Fact of the matter is the took their chances and made the most out of them.
• Columbus did not. They had the chances and just couldn’t muster up enough quality behind those shots or headers to find the back of the net. It wasn’t that Joe Cannon had a great night, it was just Columbus didn’t make it hard enough on him I think.
• Ronnie O’Brien was easily the man of the match. Two textbook assists on the night. When he is on, so is his club. Just too bad he has more off-nights than on-nights.
• Very poorly officiated game though. A few calls that really should have gone the Crew’s way didn’t happen. I thought James Riley should have had a straight red for the two footed slide into Robbie Rogers. The ref ignored it and gave a yellow to Eric Denton for the tackle from the side on Rogers. Still both deserved a card for the play. No one should go in with both feet up like that into someone.
• The red card to Brad Evans was a terrible call. A yellow card, yes, but certainly not a red.
• Speaking of the calls, sadly enough in the second half the ref dictated the play and not the players. That just shouldn’t happen. But that’s what happens when Ricardo Salazar is in the middle of a MLS game. He tends to do that.
• The two subs before half for Columbus clearly hurt them. Sure Andy Iro was fit and ready to go but losing both Chad Marshall and Ezra Hendrickson early in the game put a damper on how Sigi could sub in the second half.
• I still like where San Jose is going here. Very solid defensively, once their direction goes on offense they could do some serious damage to some clubs late in the year. Not a playoff club yet but one of those that will do more damage and not be in the mix in those final weeks of the season.
• Columbus continues to not score. A long, long spell of no goals now at four games. Sometimes dry spells happen but they are still very much in the thick of things with Chicago and Toronto losing this weekend. But still you have to wonder when they will get fit again and hit their stride. They definitely need another scorer though.

————————————————————————————

DC United 2 -1 Chicago Fire:

• Thank you FSC for using Dave Johnson as your play-by-play for this one. Very refreshing to hear a good voice on your channel.
• I’d like to continue to welcome Luciano Emilio back to this season. Very solid effort in this one. Goal and an assist, might give him the player of the week nod by the media.
• What happened to Chicago’s defense on both goals? Starting to see some cracks on this club here? Jon Busch was really a bit out of position on that stoppage time goal. Shouldn’t have gotten beat near post like that.
• Crazy game though, a few red cards, a couple goals. Gotta love this rivalry here between these two sides.
• Wild week for DC, washed out on Wednesday and a tornado warning on Saturday. Yikes!
• Some iffy calls by the center official but I think the red cards were justifiable. Though I have to wonder if replay helped out.
• Think Blanco was distracted by the Mexican national team being in Chicago, he didn’t look like his usual self against DC. Then again neither did his entire club.
• Its about high time I update the coaching hot seat here. Tom Soehn has found a way to bounce his club back into the fold here and out of the cellar in the east. They still have a ways to go to catch up to the front three and four in the east though.
• Chicago stumbles, Columbus stumbles and Toronto stumbles. No loss in ground but the third home loss of the season by a late goal makes you wonder about this Chicago side. Do they have the ability to close a game out in a strong fashion? At home you’d think they would but I’m starting to question it.

————————————————————————————

Kansas City Wizards 0 – 0 Real Salt Lake:

• Honestly didn’t get to view this one. Saw highlights. And from that I gathered that KC is happy their two month roadie is over, RSL is still tough on turf, and neither club will make the playoffs this year.
• Give KC the credit though for battling better than some do on the turf in Salt Lake. But the winless run now extends to five games for the Wizards. A home game can’t come soon enough.
• Kevin Hartman had a solid game. Lots of good saves.
• Lots and lots of chances on goal for RSL. Findley and Deuchar each had plenty of shots but weren’t able to hit it home.
• KC had only a couple chances with Davy Arnaud, both were solid. One even hit the woodwork.
• KC’s defense is still shaky. I know they are mostly young but before long they have to step up and play better. Too many times they leave their man and allow easy shots on goal. Plus the midfield has to possess the ball better.

————————————————————————————

LA Galaxy 3 – 2 Colorado Rapids:

• LA proved yet again they have to outscore everyone to win because of their defense. The I really felt that had there been another five or 10 minutes to this game Colorado would have drawn even.
• This club is still clearly better with Beckham though, had Donovan been out there I think they would have scored five or six on the Rapids.
• Give credit to Colorado for battling back in this one though, they easily could have given up the same scoreline that they had beaten the Galaxy on earlier in the season. But they didn’t because of the two Gomez and Colin Clark. Solid final 15 out of the Rapids.
• But saying that it still shows how inconsistent Colorado is. A club that can’t put a stretch of wins or losses together is tough to get behind. Even if they make the playoffs they won’t do much in them.
• Again, Clarke finds a way to make Abel Xavier look stupid. Why Rudd Gullit continues to go with this guy in defense is beyond my level of thinking these days.
• I must say Edson Buddle is looking better this season than the last two or three. He’s really looking comfortable with Beckham. Then again Beckham easily makes the worst of strikers look good with his services.
• LA continues their lead in the west, and they go visit San Jose next. That isn’t fair. You know they can put like four on that club and San Jose won’t be able to keep up. Then again the LA defense still makes the worst offenses look good.

————————————————————————————

Houston Dynamo 3 -1 Toronto FC:

• Very nice to see Brain Ching and Dwayne De Rosario lead this club again here. Both are really coming on strong for their club as of late. Now the Orange are tied at the top with LA in the west. Which one has a better chance of beating the other in October? Hmm…I’m leaning with Houston.
• Give credit to Toronto for battling in this one despite lacking some very key elements to their roster. No Maurice Edu or Amado Guevara. Both clearly were missed on both offense and defense for Toronto. Just shows how important each are for this side.
• I would write off Toronto a bit because of this performance on the road as a legit contender but I will have to wait again until they play on the road at full strength. Just not fair to this club but still they didn’t look horrible.
• Plus as mentioned above, they didn’t lose any ground this week but it would have been big had they won this game. They could have been sitting in second place with a win. Instead they slip a little due to Houston and LA being at the 17 point mark on the season like them.
• Jeff Cunningham is at 99 career MLS goals. I guess we will see his 100th very soon.
• Amazing stat, this marks the first western club to beat Toronto this season. The Reds had previously swept LA and beat RSL.
• Houston looked very dangerous on offense tonight, Ching and De Rosario along with Stuart Holden really put the pressure on the Reds from the start of the game.
• I think the toughness is coming back to this Houston side. They clearly remember how to put away a side here.
• Pat Onstad had one of his typical solid nights. A few key saves kept this game out of reach for Toronto.

Well, what else did I miss? Let’s hear it.