I waited a while today to get to this news that most of you have already seen. AC St. Louis in the USSF’s Division II league announced it’s first big signing today in hometown boy Steve Ralston.

Big news in some ways and in others, eh, not so much.

First of all Ralston was one of the last MLS originals left on the table. He decided last week to not re-sign with New England and MLS. Now we know it was because he wanted a move to his hometown to be a player/assistant coach with the new D-II club.

That’s all well and good but I honestly don’t buy into the thoughts that this is a bigger deal than some are making it out to be. I’m sure some MLS clubs wanted him but the fact that he didn’t want them should tell you all you need to know. He was ready to make this move, it wasn’t forced on him. Had it been more of a forced move then I would see this as a bigger deal.

It is a bigger deal for the USSF’s Division II or the NASL for that matter. Ralston’s name adds some credibility to this new league but he’s not gonna sell out stadiums in that league anytime soon. His impact will be seen more off the field with his new club than on the field.

As for MLS losing one of it’s originals hurts but only in the short term. I still see him coming back into the league down the road as a head coach…probably in New England for that matter.

Let’s face it even though he was an assist machine in MLS the last two years he was hurt more than most would like to admit. Now we know Revs fans are worried that all the offense is gone and dried up with him gone now. I honestly don’t buy that for a second. Maybe I’ve drank the Steve Nicol kool-aid more than some but I am a big believer in his coaching style, it isn’t flashy or sexy but it does get results. Make no mistake the Revs will be in a lot of low scoring games this season. They’ll find a way to come out on top in some of them.

I’m happy for Steve and hope he does well in his hometown.

Yesterday was full of news and one bit of news that came down was surely more surprising than others. A little tweet on Twitter that said something along the lines of “Steve Ralston will not be returning to the Revs this year.” Of course I am paraphrasing that quote from Boston reporter Kyle McCarthy.

Ralston, the veteran midfielder and team captain has decided not to return to the Revs for the 2010 season.

“At the end of the day, they made me a reasonable offer,” Ralston told the Boston Herald. “It was a difficult decision for me and my family to make. It was just one of those things. It was the right time (to go).”

For a New England fan this is terrible news. Not only have you lost Jay Heaps and Jeff Larentowicz this offseason but now you lose your captain and leader in Ralston. How much worse could this winter be for you up there? Continue Reading…

Shalrie Joseph lead the way for the Revs in 2009. (Getty Images)

Sometimes less is more, and in the case of the 2009 edition of the New England Revolution less nearly became a lot. If you would have told me that the Revs would have lacked both Steve Ralston and Taylor Twellman for the majority of the season and still made the playoffs this year I would have called you crazy.

Turns out crazy happened. The Revs were lead by Shalrie Joseph’s MVP feet all year long and while I believe Joseph played nearly every spot on the pitch except the one occupied by Matt Reis, the Revs ended up getting into the playoffs and nearly came away with a first round shocker over the Chicago Fire. But a trip to the Windy City over the weekend finally did in this group that saw more injuries during a season then any team that I can recall over the last few years.

Offensively the Revs were one of the worst in the league, just slightly behind the New York Red Bulls and the Kansas City Wizards for fewest goals scored this year. Defensively they were middle of the pack, which is impressive after losing Michael Parkhurst and having guys like Chris Albright sidelined for the majority of the season.

The Revs for some folks probably over-achieved in 2009 based on what they had and the amount of injuries they suffered this year. Steve Nicol proved why he is still a quality coach in this league when he plugged in third-round draft pick Darrius Barnes to the lineup, along with fellow rookie Kevin Alston to fill the void left when Parkhurst left over last winter. If you’d throw out out a blowout or two early in the year there is a change this club could have had one of the best defenses in the league. If Nicol can retain the young nucleus and a couple veterans like Jay Heaps in the back this defense could be good for years to come.

What Went Right In 2009:
Having Shalrie Joseph be the MVP that he is and carry the club pretty much all year was good to see. Finally Joseph is getting the long-overdue recognition for his efforts in New England this year. Some how battling through the injuries and making the playoffs as the third-seed in the east is remarkable. They remained consistent enough to get in the playoffs which should help them out in the coming years as the younger group of players mature with this club.

What Went Wrong In 2009:
You lose your best scorer for the majority of the season its always going to be a long year. Twellman played in two games this year, just two and he scored in both! Throw in the injury to Ralston that sidelined him for the most important part of the season, the final couple months and it is still remarkable they reached the post season like they did. This club clearly lacked some offensive punch without these two and at times their defense was a victim of it.

What’s Next:
I think keeping Jeff Larentowicz in a Revs kit will be a big thing in the coming months. If I am not mistaken his contract is up after this season and believe me this club would take a huge hit without him on the field. Second of all they have to find some reliable offensive parts. Kheli Dube is good but he isn’t a top scorer yet in this league. Also getting Twellman back to full health will be a big priority this winter. It also wouldn’t hurt to see this club spend some money this winter but we know the Krafts aren’t gonna do that anytime soon.

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…

Not too many goals to pick from this week with all the 1-0 games we saw. So this week all the goals are included in the list.

My favorites were Beckham’s and Richards. What did you all like?

Order of goals: Dane Richards, Julien Baudet, David Beckham, Pablo Campos, Bryan Namoff, Steve Ralston, Wells Thompson, Ramon Sanchez, Pablo Campos (Chivas game), Fabian Espindola, and Robbie Findley (1 and 2).

Just as promised, even if it is a day behind normal schedule here. Plenty of solid goals this past week in Major League Soccer. I particularly love some of the combinations in plays like the Columbus game between Jason Garey and Steven Lenhart.

By the way, what was with Rob Stone’s Max Bretos call on the DeRo goal? That was just plain annoying.

Order of video: Kheli Dube, Steve Ralston, Steven Lenhart, Jason Garey, Patrick Nyarko, Blanco, Bryan Namoff, Dwayne De Rosario, Alecko Eskandarian, Landon Donovan, and Eddie Lewis.

Hard to believe we are nearly a third of the way through things here already this season. For some clubs this will be the one-thirds mark of the season. Others are still catching up in the played games department, that’s what you get when you have an unbalanced schedule.

Anyways, another load of games this weekend all mostly on Saturday with the usual lone Sunday game. San Jose gets the lovely task of having the week off, a good time for them too since they are in need of a break to find their form here this season.

Plenty of good games to talk about here this weekend. Chicago at Toronto is an interesting clash in the east but the game of the week has to be Chivas hosting DC, a meeting of the two conference leaders.

As always feel free to post your game predictions below. Continue Reading…