MLS Wins and Losses: Week 29

As always you can hear rather than read this on this week’s Vocal Minority Podcast when that comes out. It’s remarkable really just how much farting in elevators that Hauptman does, the man has no shame.

Well, it’s a good job TFC won on the weekend as this was a remarkably productive week in the drunken three legged run around a broomstick 10 times then try and run straight race for 6th. Everyone won. TFC, Montreal, Orlando, New York City, Philadelphia all picking up maximum points and thus no-one really went anywhere. Except Chicago. Who went backwards. They lost 1-0 to Orlando and are now 6 points adrift of 9th place. Frank Yallop, when asked about potential changes needed, said “Talking about the roster for next year, right now is not the time to do it”. Management clearly agreed, so instead decided to change something else. Yes, that’s the last comment for Frank Yallop as boss of the Fire, fired on Sunday evening, completing the Frank one-two in this season’s sack race. Nelson Rodriguez takes over as GM, his resume includes time with Chivas USA and the referees oraganisation PRO, soooooo, yeah, nothing can go wrong here. Technical Director Brian Bliss takes over as interim coach. A rough day for the Fire organisation, but owner Andew Hauptman brought some much needed levity to proceedings: “I share our fans’ frustration and, while we’ve enjoyed success off the pitch….” He said from the elevator he was farting in. Unfortunately no-one reported the end of the quote as even the Fire employee transcribing the press release couldn’t stop laughing long enough to catch the end of the sentence given that the Fire have become an increasingly irrelevant shambles under his watch, that now gets regular protests from the more hardcore fans. Success indeed.

Outside of Chicago, a great week for the East, starting from the bottom, Philadelphia beat Houston 2-0, with Tranquilo Barnetta finally getting his first goal. New York City capped off a 6 point week by going 3-0 up against San Jose and holding on for the 3-2 win. Ned Grabavoy got 2 goals and Fat Frank couldn’t be happier for him: “It’s great, it’s brilliant, a testament to his professionalism. I’ve seen him train and the way he carries himself, a squad player. When he’s not playing, a great attitude and when he plays he works for the team. He got what he deserved today.”  Mmmm patronising.

Orlando picked up the easy win against Chicago, 1-0, while Montreal continued their impressive run through a tough bit of their schedule with a 3-0 win over the Tea Terrorists. Dilly Duka scored one of the goals and seems a wee bit starstruck still when talking about playing with Drogba: “It’s easy. He can hold up the ball, and he’s incredibly unselfish. It’s a huge positive to have a guy like that on our team. … And I can say I got an assist from Didier Drogba!”

Moving past TFC and to the serious competitors, the big game was Columbus v DC and recent form very much continued, Columbus getting their 4th win in 5 games, and 4th straight away win, 2-1 with goals from Ethan Finlay and Kei Kamara. DC meanwhile now have one point from their last 5 games. Given New England’s loss, that win put Columbus temporarily on top of the East, while DC are now in 4th, and only 5 points ahead of TFC, perhaps starting to look nervously over their shoulders, though they remain 10 points clear of 7th place they could well fall into the away game section of the wild card spots. Ben Olsen’s been working on his Greg Vanney impression, looking on the brightside of an important defeat:  “I’m pleased with our effort. We looked like ourselves for large stretches of that game, so that’s a positive. It was a better performance than the Colorado game, in a lot of ways it’s the best performance we’ve had in over two months.” That’s nice Ben. Good for you.

On Sunday, the Red Bulls went to Portland and won 2-0, Felipe scoring from a long way out then shrugging off his teammates and going out of his way to run over to the Timbers Army to celebrate in front of them. Love that guy. That put them back to the top of the East and the first team to officially clinch a playoff spot.

Over in the West, things tightened up at the top as all of the top 3 teams lost. Vancouver lost 3-0 to Seattle with Sigi Schmid back behind the bench, but still remain first as FC Dallas lost 3-1 to the Sporks, and the Galaxy lost 3-0 to Real Salt Lake. That means Seattle, after grinding out some decent results and just now starting to play well again, won the Cascadia Cup this year and are now back to just 3 points out of first. The Sporks are just a point behind them and now it’s Portland, winless in 4, 3 points adrift and looking nervously behind themselves from 6th spot.  Fortunately for them, San Jose and Houston both lost and so now it’s the Burrito powered RSL who look like maybe making a run at Portland. Devon Sandoval scored twice in their win and is getting all eye of the tiger about things: “This is what we live for, these big games and every game now is big. So we’re excited. Keep it rolling. Keep improving. We’ve got to win.”

Yes, Sir, catch that Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoff excitement! That’s your MLS Wins and Losses for the week, but I’ll leave you with this. Enjoy.

MLS Tickets More Expensive Than Bundesliga, Ligue 1, And Most Other Top European Leagues

It costs more to see the Los Angeles Galaxy than it does to see Bayern Munich. According to data compiled and released today by GoEuro, a travel search engine, Major League Soccer tickets are some of the priciest soccer tickets in the world, more expensive than tickets to the Bundesliga, the premier German soccer league with the best average attendance in the world, or Ligue 1, the French league that’s home to global superstars like Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The average MLS ticket, according to GoEuro's report, costs $46.22, 60 percent more than the average Major League Baseball ticket.

The report, published Wednesday, tracked both ticket cost and the average price of traveling to an away game. The English Premier League, to no one’s surprise, came in first, with an average ticket price of nearly $83. Spain’s La Liga came in a close second, with prices at more than $78. Italy’s Serie A, where the average ticket costs $76, came in third.

"It costs almost the same to travel to Germany to see a Bundesliga match as it does to stay in the UK and attend a Premier League game,” GoEuro CEO Naren Shaam said in a statement accompanying the data.

Ever since Major League Soccer started 20 years ago, it has been inching itself toward respectability, both domestically and abroad. By one measure, it is the 12th best professional soccer league in the world, and thanks to a number of factors – the improving play of the U.S. national teams, the league’s steady acquisition of top, but aging talents like Frank Lampard, David Villa and Steven Gerrard – the MLS has managed to bring its ratings up both nationally and in its local markets.

A recently signed TV deal with ESPN is worth more than three times per year than the one that preceded it, and it includes features like the MLS Game of the Week, which provides the kind of scheduling consistency that has helped a lot with ratings.

The league has also been on a breakneck media rights tear, closing television deals in South America, the UK, North Africa and the Middle East.

Whitecaps out for revenge vs. Sounders in CCL

It’s almost always special whenever the Vancouver Whitecaps play the Seattle Sounders.

It’s one of the best rivalries in Major League Soccer, and thanks to the good folks at CONCACAF the rivalry has carried over into this year’s CONCACAF Champions League.

These two Cascadia opponents will meet Wednesday night at CenturyLink Field in the group stage of the Champions League, their second meeting against one another in five days.

Here’s what you need to know about the game…

WINNER TAKES ALL
These teams are tied for first place in Group F with four points apiece—ahead of Honduran club Olimpia (three points)—but the Whitecaps have a game in hand on the Sounders. Only the group winner qualifies for the next round.

Vancouver can clinch the group and advance to the quarterfinals with a victory on Wednesday. Vancouver can also get through this group by picking up a draw against Seattle and another draw in Honduras against Olimpia next month in the final match of the group.

If the Sounders win on Wednesday they will win the group and advance—Seattle previously battled Vancouver to a 1-1 road draw in the group stage, so a victory would give them the tiebreaker.

WHITECAPS OUT FOR REVENGE 
Seattle is riding high after earning a 3-0 win over the Whitecaps at BC Place Stadium in MLS play on Saturday.

This game is a chance for the Whitecaps to earn some revenge by eliminating their long-time rivals from the CONCACAF competition.

“We didn’t play particularly bad, but we didn’t take advantage of our opportunities and they took advantage of theirs,” Vancouver defender Tim Parker told reporters earlier this week.

“That happens from time to time, but we’re definitely ready for revenge.”

Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson admitted he plans to make lineup changes, especially with the club in MLS action again this coming weekend.

“You won’t see the same team that you saw on Saturday, so there will be a number of changes” Robinson said.

TORNAGHI’S CHANCE TO SHINE 
With the Whitecaps fighting for first place in MLS, Robinson has prioritized that competition for his regular starting XI, while fielding somewhat experimental sides in the Champions League.

One of the players who has benefited from this approach is backup goalkeeper Paolo Tornaghi, who earned his first clean sheet with the Whitecaps in last week’s Champions League win over Olimpia at home.

The Italian has yet to play a single MLS minute for Vancouver, serving as the No. 2 behind David Ousted, so this competition has been a welcome place for him to get some game time.

“It’s a pretty tough moment when I have to train weeks and weeks without a good chance to play in a real game,” Tornaghi told Sportsnet. “So with this competition and the [Amway Canadian Championship], I have the chance, so I’m happy for it. I’ve been waiting a long time for it.”

To read more about Tornaghi, CLICK HERE

HEAD TO HEAD
This will be the fifth meeting in all competitions this season between these two clubs.

Seattle has the edge this season with two wins and a draw, but the home team has yet to win a game.

“It’s bizarre,” Robinson told the Whitecaps’ official website. “The only good thing is that maybe we’ve got two games away against them next year.”

FIFA WORLD CLUB CUP BERTH AT STAKE
The eventual winner of this tournament will go on to represent CONCACAF and the 2016 FIFA World Club Cup in Japan, a tournament featuring all the top continental club champions in world soccer, including the winner of this season’s UEFA Champions League.

WHAT’S NEXT 
Vancouver resumes its MLS campaign on Saturday when it hosts New York City FC. The following weekend they travel to San Jose to take on the Earthquakes, and then face FC Dallas in a home-and-home series. Vancouver closes out the group stage of the Champions League against Olimpia in Honduras on Oct. 22. The Whitecap’s final game of the MLS season is three days later, at home against the Houston Dynamo.