Super Bowl Update

By Money Mike


Back on May 2nd, following the Sounders 2-0 home win over the Los Angeles Galaxy, so many LA fans were making dumbass excuses. Saying a bunch of stupid bullshit like, "You beat us only because we played our reserves, if we had our first team out there things would've been different." I watched every single minute of that match last night and the LA Galaxy did play their starters. David Beckham was out there, so was Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane, Omar Gonzalez, Juninho, Josh Saunders, etc. and I got to tell you, all of them played like complete shit. The Seattle Sounders destroyed the Galaxy 4-0 in front of a crowd of 60,908 at CenturyLink Field.

In the fourth minute of the game, Brad Evans went long for Alex Caskey. Now at first the attack looked to have been broke down, but a mistake by defender Omar Gonzalez sent Caskey on a two on one break. Caskey looked to curl the ball into the far corner but Josh Saunders got his hands to it and Fredy Montero couldn't put away the rebound. I don't know how much Montero knew about it, but that would've been the start the Sounders were looking for.

A minute later, the Sounders were on the attack again and this time they got the opening goal. Ozzie Alonso sent Mauro Rosales streaking down the right hand side. Eddie Johnson made a brilliant run into the penalty area and Rosales found him with a terrific cross and EJ puts it away with a snap header from point blank range for his team leading 10th goal of the season which makes him the third player in MLS history to score at least 10 goals in a season for three different clubs. The other two players to do that were Jeff Cunningham and Dwayne De Rosario.

LA started to create some opportunities and they probably should've equalized in the 31st minute. David Beckham played in a good long ball into the box for Landon Donovan who got away from Jeff Parke. Just as Donovan was ready to put the ball away, it took an awkward bounce which forced Donovan to play it back to Robbie Keane whose first timed shot was deflected wide by Parke.

The Sounders doubled their lead in the 52nd minute. Eddie Johnson fed the ball to Fredy Montero who poked the ball through to Alex Caskey who may have been offside. Caskey tried to get to the ball before Josh Saunders but Saunders denied Caskey of his first MLS goal. The ball was still in the box however. Fredy Montero chased the ball down and he saw Saunders retreating to his goal, so Fredy decided to give it a go and found the back of the net. Saunders did get a touch to it, but the Sounders extended their lead to two goals with Montero's sixth league goal of the season and his ninth in all competitions.

Nine minutes later, added a third goal. David Beckham was looking to play in a cross to either Robbie Keane or Landon Donovan, but he got it all wrong and instead gave the ball away to Seattle who quickly poured down field in a counter attack. Eddie Johnson and Fredy Montero sprinted forward to put pressure on both center backs for LA. Johnson tried to get around David Lopes, but his final touch was too heavy and Josh Saunders broke up the play. However, Alex Caskey stepped in and gave it a go from a long way out because he saw that Saunders was well off his line and he found an empty net for his first MLS goal and more importantly to put the Sounders ahead 3-0.

With just over two minutes to go in the game, the Sounders would add one more to cap of LA's embarrasing night. Mauro Rosales played a good ball down the left side for Marc Burch who slowed the play down before squaring the ball across and there to finish it off was Andy Rose for his first MLS goal and to seal a 4-0 victory over the Galaxy.


Observations:

I'm pretty sure Andy Rose has had a difficult day yesterday leading up to this match with the loss of a friend. Yesterday morning, Rose got a call found out that Columbus Crew player Kirk Urso had passed away. Rose and Urso were close friends, going back to the early days when they were club teammates in Chicago. For Rose to score his first MLS goal in front of over 60,000 strong was a special moment for him and he recieved several messages on his phone from people around the nation who watched this match on ESPN2 last night. To hear that a close friend had died is something that's hard to believe and it's something nobody even wants to believe. You just have to wonder what's been going through his mind leading up to the match.

Christian Tiffert made his debut for the Sounders, coming on in the 64th minute of the match. Tiffert joined the Sounders back on July 28th as a Designated Player. I thought Tiffert did very well on his debut. He gave the ball away only once all match, he did a good job defensively and the partnership with Alonso in the midfield seems to be working to perfection. Sometimes you got to have more than one playmaker on your team, so I'm glad that Tiffert is here in the Emerald City and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season with our team getting back to full fitness.

"Pete Carroll @PeteCarroll
Huge 4-0 win for @SoundersFC! And a crowd of 60,000+ too... Seattle fans are unbelievable!"

Pete Carroll, the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, was at the game last night. There's his picture that he posted on Twitter. Just goes to show that Seattle truely is America's Soccer City. The entire stadium will be open again for the Sounders next home match against the Vancouver Whitecaps on August 18th and on October 7th when the Portland Timbers come to town. Unlike RFK Stadium, the Rose Bowl, Gillette Stadium or Soldier Field, CenturyLink Field is a great venue for soccer. It was built remember in 2002 to bring in an MLS team and it's great to have one here in Seattle.

So how about we take a look at the highlights from this match.....



This win will really boost the confidence of this team with a couple more tough games ahead of them. Of course on Wednesday, the Sounders will go for their fourth straight U.S. Open Cup title against Sporting Kansas City and then a big road match on Saturday against the first place San Jose Earthquakes. So to get a win like this is a real confidence booster for sure.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson 10 (Mauro Rosales 8, Osvaldo Alonso 1) 6'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 6 (unassisted) 52'

Seattle Sounders FC - Alex Caskey 1 (unassisted) 61'

Seattle Sounders FC - Andy Rose 1 (Marc Burch 3, Mauro Rosales 9) 88'


Misconduct summary:

Los Angeles Galaxy - A.J. DeLaGarza (caution; foul) 24'

Seattle Sounders FC - Brad Evans (caution; time wasting) 60'


Lineups:

Los Angeles Galaxy - Josh Saunders; A.J. DeLaGarza, Omar Gonzalez, David Lopes (Jose Villarreal 80'), Bryan Gaul; Sean Franklin (Mike Magee 57'), David Beckham, Juninho (Hector Jimenez 70'), Marcelo Sarvas; Robbie Keane, Landon Donovan

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; Adam Johansson, Jeff Parke, Patrick Ianni, Leonardo Gonzalez; Mauro Rosales, Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans (Christian Tiffert 64'), Alex Caskey (Marc Burch 81'); Eddie Johnson, Fredy Montero (Andy Rose 73')

Olympic Torch Relay Week 1 Highlights - London 2012, May 26, 2012.
http://youtu.be/BSsi3vcaP_0


Olympic Torch Relay Week 2 Highlights - London 2012, June 2, 2012.

http://youtu.be/Kp3XUllY3qU


Olympic Torch Relay Week 3 Highlights - London 2012, June 9, 2012.

http://youtu.be/SHcs-qR9XLs


Olympic Torch Relay Week 4 Highlights - London 2012, June 16, 2012.
http://youtu.be/90Cu7PdxrNk

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders get set for a midweek match as the defending MLS Cup Champion LA Galaxy come to town in their first of two visits to Seattle this season. The Galaxy have struggled so far in the early part of the season and are currently 7th in the Western Conference with 10 points, although they are unbeaten in their last three matches. Perhaps his is the opportunity for the Sounders to finally get a home win over LA in MLS play. LA has won three straight matches against Seattle at CenturyLink Field including the playoffs and are 5-1-2 against the Sounders in League play. This is the first of eight matches in all competitions this month for the Sounders.

Last time these two met in league play was back on the 4th of July. Despite settling for only a draw, the Sounders did manage to snap a five game losing streak against the Galaxy in league play. Not the way they would've wanted to though. In the first half of that match, Fredy Montero missed a penalty kick opportunity. That was the team who conceded only 28 goals last season, which is the fewest MLS, and went on to win the Cup. This is not the same LA team as last years. This years LA team has already conceded 11 goals and are struggling to find an answer to their defensive problems after losing Omar Gonzalez to a possible season ending ACL injury that he suffered during his loan stint to 1. FC Nuremberg back in January. They went with their first round pick Tommy Meyer at the start of the season, that didn't quite go well. Then they started Andrew Boyans, that didn't work and now he's back on the bench. Now I understand a few weeks ago, they traded Paolo Cardozo to their arch rivals Chivas USA for David Lopes and he has started the last three matches since, but it just shows you how big that loss to Omar Gonzalez hurt LA's backline. Also, the fact that Josh Saunders may miss this match could put the Galaxy under a lot of pressure.


Injury report:

Los Angeles Galaxy - For the Galaxy, Omar Gonzalez as I mentioned is out with a torn ACL. Leonardo is close to making his return from right knee sergery, but he will not feature in the match tomorrow. Brian Perk who is their no. 3 goalkeeper is listed as questionable after he had sports hernia sergery. That could be a problem because they already have Josh Saunders out as well. Also, David Beckham may or may not play tomorrow as head coach Bruce Arena admitted he is not in the condition to play three games in one week.

Seattle Sounders - For the Sounders, Josh Ford, Michael Tetteh, Andrew Weber, Steve Zakuani and Babayele Sodade are out. Alvaro Fernandez has missed the last two matches with a right quad strain. Right now, he is listed as doubtful. Patrick Ianni is dealing with low back pain and is listed as questionable. Lastly, Mauro Rosales suffered a right foot contusion last match against Chicago, but I don't think that'll keep him out. He's listed as probable.


Key to the match:

I think the key here is to get forward and put a lot of pressure on the LA backline as well as backup goalkeeper Bill Gaudette in the early minutes. That's usually been my key every game, but three straight losses at home against the Galaxy in MLS play? Time to put an end to it, no excuses. Get forward, put the defense in an uncomforable situation. With the struggles the Galaxy have had, perhaps this is where Seattle can do some damage.

London 2012 video:  Season's greetings from London 2012 Olympic Games, December 21, 2011.  http://youtu.be/u_BR_bIF1HE

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, having been brought up "proper," sent us an informative email today just before lunch that includes salutations and greetings for a new year, along with the cute video above. 
That email, full of new

By Money Mike



When Major League Soccer began its history in 1996, lots and lots of fans cashed in and bought single game tickets or season tickets or.... whatever, but following the MLS Cup, people started to lose interest in MLS and the league underwent financial problems mainly because the level of play was too damn low. However following the 2006 season, MLS has taken steps to further internationalize the league in an effort to increase the level of play. One of the first moves they made was that they added the Designated Player rule to bring in Big Money players from around the World. Since the rule was formed, we've had a total of 36 designated players, but there have been a few that have been crap so as promised, here are the Top 5 worst Designated Players in MLS since the rule came into place.


We're gonna head up North to Vancouver and start off with Eric Hassli:

Eric Hassli - France
Vancouver Whitecaps (2011-present)
Salary - $900,000

And don't even try to give a bunch of dumbass excuses to back him up. OK, this guy has made 22 appearances and leads the Whitecaps with 10 goals, including one of the goals of the year in Seattle. I don't give a shit if he's the team leader in goals scored, this guy has sent off three times this season, which leads MLS. He must have taken Thomas Gravesen's example from his time with Raal Madrid when he got into a bitch fight with Robinho. Can you think of a striker who's been sent off three times in one season? Thierry Henry, NO. Fernando Torres, NO, however he did get sent off last weekend. Yakubu, NO. Lionel Messi, Not even close. Bottomline is, this guy does bring his A-game, but he sure doesn't know how to stay out of trouble. Will somebody teach him to just kick the ball instead of acting like a bitchass.


Now onto D.C. at #4, Marcelo Gallardo:

Marcelo Gallardo - Argentina
D.C. United (2008)
Salary - $1,874,006

This guy was released by Paris-Saint German and he dicided to take the money, only to just suck. 15 appearances and only 4 goals in one season. I know he was injured in the process, but fact that he did not bring his game at all was the reason he is listed on there. He was just lazy and made D.C. United's offense and midfield look like a bunch of freakin clowns. I don't blame him for taking the money, I blame D.C. for signing him because they won the Supporters Shield the past two seasons prior to 2008 and then they pick him up and they suck.


Moving on, at #3, this guy hasn't found a team has he? Nery Castillo:

Nery Castillo - Mexico
Chicago Fire (2010)
Salary - $1,788,061

This guy should've stayed with Olympiacos in the first place. He had a career year with them during the 2006-2007 season, scoring 12 goals in 25 apparances. The following year, he moves to Shakhtar, and he doesn't do anything with them. He then gives it a shot at Manchester City, it didn't work at all for him. Then with Dnipro, and he's garbage. Then he moves to the Chicago Fire on loan from Shakhtar and becomes their second or maybe their third designated player, and same result, he sucks. Nery Castillo, go back to Olympiacos instead of skimming around for clubs.


Now this guy was absolutely worthless and is pretty much the reason by the entire Toronto FC front office got the boot at #2, I'm talking about Mista:

Mista - Spain
Toronto FC (2010)
Salary - $987,338

This guy joins the club on July 7, 2010, and he just sucks ass. Quite a few designated players have joined MLS in 2010 and a lot of them prooved to be useless, but this was rediculus. Instead of leading Toronto FC to a playoff run, he helps this team go from Bad to worse, and there's a good reason why he's not on a club right now. Mista, you're way past your prime, time to Retire.


And finally at #1, this guy is complete ass on and off the pitch............... David Beckham:

David Beckham - England
Los Angeles Galaxy (2007-present)
Salary - $6,500,000

This guy had a very good season with the LA Galaxy in 2008, but then he gets loaned out to A.C. Milan during the offseason and he ends up losing his head. I mean how stupid can this guy get? He's been like "Keep me at Milan", "I want nothing to do with MLS" and blah blah blah. When he returned from his loan stint with Milan, the LA fans sure gave him a warm welcome back to LA. Booing him in his unofficial home debut in 2009. He then is loaned out to Milan again in the hopes of making the England squad for the 2010 World Cup and guess what he does? He tears his achillies tendon. He could've had around 100 appearances with LA by now, but after all that shit, he only has 71 appearacnes, which is rediculus. This guy must have brain damage. And asside from soccer, next time there's a Royal Wedding, keep this guy away from it. And I know some of you remember what happened the last time there was a Royal Wedding. Oh man, he fucked up real good. This guy has an OBE which has to do with the British Empire. His OBE was supposed to be pinned on the left lapel of his suit and instead, it's pinned on the right label. You may think it's a minor issue, but minor issues sometimes turn out to be an embarrasment, like this one. David Beckham, time to pack your bags and head on out.


Don't tell me:

I know. There were others that didn't make the list that sucked as well. Frank Rost (New York Red Bulls), yeah he's helping this team. And what I mean by that is helping them choke. Luis Angel Landin (Houston Dynamo), lost his way with the team in 2010. Freddie Ljungberg (Seattle Sounders FC, Chicago Fire), this guy did very well in 2009, he's sucked ever since. Milton Caraglio (New England Revolution), ASS!! He only had one good game and that's it.