Toronto FC needs another win to get into the playoffs for the first time. (Getty Images)

It all comes down to one final weekend in Major League Soccer. I don’t believe the league front office could have even dreamed up this kind of weekend that puts a lot of meaning on the regular season as a whole. Six clubs remain in contention for two playoff spots after Chicago clinched their birth (finally) into the playoffs last night with a win over Chivas. The win also gave the Columbus Crew their second straight Supporter’s Shield trophy.

Before we break down the games we need to break down some key playoff scenarios (below is from the league’s front office) that will come into effect after this weekend. I’ll go team-by-team here. Colorado is sitting the prettiest with 40 points right now while four others sit at 39 points and Real Salt Lake at 37 points.

Colorado Rapids will qualify IF:
Colorado defeats Real Salt Lake on Saturday OR
Colorado ties Real Salt Lake AND
The four teams with 39 points all lose or all tie OR IF
Only one of TFC, NE, DC and FCD win

Note: If Colorado loses to Real Salt Lake, it hopes to do so by less than a two-goal margin and it hopes that less than two teams with 39 points win this week.

Real Salt Lake will qualify IF:
Real Salt Lake need to defeat Colorado on Saturday and hope that no more than one of the teams on 39 points wins. Unless all four teams with 39 points lose, RSL need to defeat Colorado by more than a one-goal margin because a win leaves them tied on points and in head-to-head (1-1-1), so goal differential could decide their fate.

If two or more teams tied on 39 points win, or if two or more tie on 40 points along with RSL (in the case of an RSLwin), there are some concurrent results that will favor them based on tiebreakers. This is a brief overview of what will help each team:

DC United will qualify IF
If DC is the only team tied on 39 points to win, they will qualify
If DC wins and Colorado wins AND New England OR Toronto win, they cannot qualify (unless DAL, DC AND TOR win – decided by goal differential)
In the case of a tie on 40 points (RSL win, DC tie), DC will qualify ONLY if FC Dallas AND DC tie, or if DAL AND DC AND TOR tie

Note: Needless to say DC has a lot of things that need to happen.

FC Dallas will qualify IF:
If FC Dallas is the only team tied on 39 points to win, they will qualify
If FC Dallas wins and Colorado wins, FC Dallas must hope that DC or New England do not win, as this lessens their chances
In the case of a tie on 40 points (RSL win, DAL tie), FC Dallas must hope that DC does not also tie

Note: It’s simple for Dallas win and hope for the best. That’s all they’ve done recently and it’s worked for them.

New England Revolution qualify IF:
If New England is the only team tied on 39 points to win, they will qualify
If New England wins and Colorado wins, New England must hope that Toronto does not also win (unless ONLY DAL and NE win)
If New England wins and Colorado loses or ties, the ONLY way New England will NOT qualify is if DAL AND NE AND TOR (ONLY) WIN
In the case of a multiple tie on 40 points (RSL win, NE tie), New England must hope DC ALSO ties or TOR does not tie (unless all four on 39 tie)

Toronto FC will qualify IF:
If Toronto is the only team tied on 39 points to win, they will qualify
If Toronto wins and Colorado wins, TOR must hope FC Dallas does NOT win – unless ALL four teams on 39 points win (DAL AND DC AND NE AND TOR)
If Toronto wins and Colorado loses or ties, Toronto is all but assured of qualifying
In the case of a multiple tie on 40 points (RSL win, TOR tie), TOR is all but assured of qualifying UNLESS DAL, NE AND TOR all tie

Note: Toronto may have the best shot at things since they currently own tiebreakers with those surrounding them. Just win and they will be fine.

Get all that? Okay, time to get to the previews for the weekend. As always feel free to post your predictions below. Continue Reading…

Three spots remain for the MLS playoffs and seven clubs are going for those spots. I think the most interesting part is that after this final week of the season we could actually see six clubs end up with 40 points. Yes six clubs.

See for yourself.

EASTERN CONFERENCE AUTOMATIC BERTHS
Columbus (29) 13-6-10, 49 points (vs. New England Sunday) – Clinched
Chicago (29) 10-7-12, 42 (vs. Chivas USA Thursday)
WESTERN CONFERENCE AUTOMATIC BERTHS
Chivas USA (28) 13-9-6, 45 points (at Chicago Thu., vs. Houston Sun.) – Clinched
LA Galaxy (29) 11-6-12, 45 (vs. San Jose Saturday) – Clinched
WILD-CARD BERTHS
Houston (29) 12-8-9, 45 (at Chivas USA Sunday) – Clinched
Seattle (29) 11-7-11, 44 (vs. Dallas Saturday) – Clinched
Colorado (29) 10-9-10, 40 (at Real Salt Lake Saturday)
Toronto (29) 10-10-9, 39 (at New York Saturday)
BOTTOM SEVEN OUT
New England (29) 10-10-9, 39 (at Columbus Sunday)
D.C. United (29) 9-8-12, 39 (at Kansas City Saturday)
Dallas (29) 11-12-6, 39 (at Seattle Saturday)
Real Salt Lake (29) 10-12-7, 37 (vs. Colorado Saturday)
Kansas City (29) 8-13-8, 32 (vs. DCU Saturday) – Eliminated
San Jose (29) 7-13-9, 30 (at Los Angeles Saturday) – Eliminated
New York (29) 4-19-6, 18 (vs. Toronto Saturday) – Eliminated

Yup, Colorado, Toronto, DC, Dallas, RSL and New England all could end with 40 points. Continue Reading…

A short weekend in Major League Soccer saw a couple things take place. The Columbus Crew inched closer towards their second straight Supporter’s Shield trophy (and another birth into the CONCACAF Champions League) and Toronto FC’s stumble nearly towards elimination.

SUPPORTER’S SHIELD RACE
Columbus (28) 13-5-10, 49 points (at DC, vs. NE) – Clinched playoff birth
Chivas USA (27) 13-9-5, 44 points (vs. SJ, at Chicago, vs. Houston) – Clinched playoff birth
Los Angeles (28) 11-6-11, 44 (at Houston, vs. SJ) – Clinched playoff birth
Chicago (28) 10-7-11, 41 (at NE, vs. Chivas)
WILD-CARD BERTHS
Houston (28) 12-8-8, 44 (vs. LA, at Chivas) – Clinched playoff birth
Seattle (28) 10-7-11, 41 (at KC, vs. Dallas)
Colorado (28) 10-8-10, 40 (at Dallas, at RSL)
New England (28) 10-10-8, 38 (vs. Chicago, at Columbus)
BOTTOM SEVEN OUT
Dallas (28) 10-12-6, 36 (Colorado, at Seattle)
D.C. United (28) 8-8-12, 36 points (vs. Columbus, at KC)
Toronto (28) 9-10-9, 36 (vs. RSL, at NY)
Real Salt Lake (27) 9-11-7, 34 (vs. NY, at Toronto, vs. Colorado)
Kansas City (28) 8-12-8, 32
San Jose (28) 7-13-8, 29
New York (28) 4-18-6, 18

I’ve added key matches left for those in contention here. San Jose joined New York this past week in the elimination zone while KC is all but mathematically eliminated here. Everyone has two games left except for Chivas and RSL. That is key here when looking at things because Chivas is the lone club keeping Columbus from clinching the Supporter’s Shield trophy and RSL is hoping the game in hand will push them towards the playoffs for the second straight year.

Sasha Kljestan is leading Chivas USA up the standings. (Getty Images)

As I mentioned Toronto really shot themselves in the foot this past weekend with the draw to San Jose at home. Based on their schedule they still have a shot but if they play as flat as they did against the Quakes (who are playing better these days let’s give them that real quick) they will not reach the playoffs. This game coming up with RSL at BMO Field will be a big one for both. Another draw will pretty much end all hopes here for both sides.

The magic number still looks to be 42 points here. Chicago and Seattle should be the next two to qualify here. Though don’t sleep on New England beating the Fire right now and KC spoiling Seattle’s hopes. Chicago is a better road team and Seattle is gaining loads of confidence on the road so we will see out it plays out.

Those bottom two spots are real interesting though. Colorado looked like they were good to go into the playoffs but after a few weeks of not being able beat teams they should they now look very vulnerable to get passed up here. The hot team right now is Schellas Hyndman’s FC Dallas squad who have really been hot lately. This matchup against the Rapids this weekend will tells who out of these two will go to the playoffs and who will not.

Eddie Gaven and Emilio Renteria are leading the charge for the Crew. (Getty Images)

And just with one weekend the playoff race really cleared up in my eyes. I may end up being wrong about a team or two but for the most part I have a pretty good feeling about six of the clubs that should be in the playoffs this season. The last two spots I am still going back and forth on but I will get into that shortly.

First of all we do know something new about the playoffs. The Columbus Crew are all but officially in if you do the math (The league finally updated their site to say the Crew clinched a spot). Even if they lost their last four games (which I wouldn’t bet on after this past weekend) they would still be at worst the sixth place team this year. Not bad. As for their Supporter’s Shield chances, well it really comes down to that game in hand I think. They took care of business this weekend against LA but really it is all down to how they handle these last four games. I think we’ll see a repeat Shield winner though, they just need two more to at worst tie for first though I believe they do hold a tiebreaker with Houston should that happen.

But let’s move on to see the current standings after this weekend’s set of games. Again for my purposes I use the give the first tiebreaker to the club with the most games remaining. After that its down to head-to-head and then goal differential. Continue Reading…

As we near the final few weeks of the season the playoff race continues to be one of the hottest in recent memory. Four clubs are gunning for the Supporter’s Shield trophy while another seven are just gunning for a playoff spot in general.

I figured with a few games left on nearly all the club’s season menus it was time to look once again at the schedules to see who has what points left out there to grab. I’ll go ahead and throw out the four clubs that are really out of contention right now and are in the spoiler role. San Jose and Dallas can join New York this weekend with another loss I believe and be actually eliminated from contention. Kansas City is on a nice run right now but let’s me honest here it is too little too late so we will count them in the spoiler group as well.

First of all let’s look at those four that I see are in the running for the Supporter’s Shield this year. The Columbus Crew, the Houston Dynamo, the Chicago Fire and the LA Galaxy are all within a legitimate shot of one another for the regular season crown. You could very well also say that someone like Chivas who has six games to play instead of four or three like LA and Houston respectively has a good shot at the Shield but since they’ve been cold and luke warm since June I will continue to count them in the wild-card area for now. More on them in a second though. Continue Reading…

Chester Stadium currently under construction. (Photo via Philadelphia Union)

Lots of attention lately has been given to the start of next season for each club. It mainly seems to boil down to two clubs that are causing the league to redo the start of the season schedule every other day.

Both Toronto and 2010 expansion club Philadelphia seem to have their own issues going on. Philly is trying to figure out where to play their first game (or two) while their new stadium is finished getting built. Toronto on the other hand is looking at the very likely chance of finally getting a grass field at BMO Field.

Yes grass. Something nearly every fan, player, writer, etc. has called for since BMO Field opened in 2007.

According to Soccer America, the new grass field is set to be voted on by the city of Toronto very soon which is causing the league to hold off plans of announcing their First Kick schedule for next year.

Back to Philly though and their opening slate for their first season. It could end up being a thing just like Toronto a couple years ago where they begin their season (reportedly in Seattle) on the road for a couple games until their new stadium in Chester is complete. That should also help the club to not have to play in a NFL stadium for a game or two.

Putting Philly on the road for a game or three wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if you ask me. Remember nearly all previous SSS owners had to begin their first seasons in their new stadiums on the road. Columbus was on the road for seven straight in 1999, LA was on the road for eight in 2003 and I believe Chicago saw nine road games in a row while Toyota Park was getting its final touches done a couple seasons ago.

Continue Reading…

Week 27 in Major League Soccer proved to be a good one for a couple clubs and another tough one for some others. One thing that is clear is the playoff race is still as tight as it was for the past few weeks.

One club that cashed in on a good weekend by not even playing was DC United. The Black-and-Red were off this weekend but cashed in well on results of others. With New England giving up a late goal to New York on Friday to get a draw and RSL dropping a game on the road to Houston, United saw their playoff chances increase pretty well. Throw in the fact that Colorado also tied a game on the road and DC not sees a possible wild card birth with their name on it.

One other club that is making it interesting is Kansas City. We thought they were dead in the water and in a way they still need to win out to get to the playoffs this year. But with three straight wins under their belt, Peter Vermes’ club is inching their way up the standings and are now just two wins away from a playoff spot. Lucky for some around the playoff zone KC still has matches at Houston and Chivas along with hosting DC, Colorado and Seattle. Not gonna be easy to get those two wins if you ask me.

Two clubs that saw their playoff chances take a nose dive were Toronto and Salt Lake this weekend. Both saw tough losses on the road which means they both need to win three of their last four games in order to reach the post season. Not an easy task for either side with both playing terrible on the road this year and both having a couple road games left. Toronto at least does having a visit from RSL and San Jose along with a trip to New York left. You could say their schedule sets them up nicely but based on recent play we can’t say it will get them in the playoffs for the first time or not. Continue Reading…