Our resident Geordie, Michael Hindhaugh, gives his thoughts and analysis on all things 'soccer'...
MLS is Back!
This week saw the return of the MLS (Major League Soccer) and there were some sure signs that this season could turn out to be the best since it began in 1993. I’ll be the first to admit that I was not familiar with the MLS while I lived in England, other than the big teams and big names, but never would have thought it had as much to offer as it does! A few facts for those of you who are unfamiliar with the MLS:
· MLS is made up of 19 teams, 16 from the USA and 3 from Canada
· The league is split up in to two conference’s; the East and West
· A season runs from March through December
· Each team plays 34 games during the regular season
· The top 5 teams from each conference compete in a knockout competition at the end of the season, called the MLS Cup, which ends with a championship game to decide the season MLS champions.
So the majority of the teams were involved this weekend for the opening games of the season and all tried not to disappoint their fans, which showed with no games resulting in draws. Some teams got off to a dream start which includes last season’s MLS Cup runners up Houston Dynamo winning their opening game 1-0 away to Chivas USA, who will be hoping to improve upon their poor season in 2011. Los Angeles Galaxy were the 2011 MLS Cup winners, but failed to win their opening game of the season falling 3-1 to Real Salt Lake (2011 East conference Finalist), but they could be accused of not concentrating on the game fully with games against Toronto FC in the CCL (Concacaf Champions League) either side of the opening game. The last 2011 Conference finalist were Sporting Kansas City and they got off to a perfect start with a 1-0 victory away to D.C. United, and will be hoping to go all the way this season. The rest of the games were all very close battles with no teams winning by more than 2 goals, which shows that we may have a very tight table at the close of the season, and any number of teams could walk away with the MLS Cup in 2012.
Week 2 has some very exciting games to come this weekend, so if you have not watched an MLS game before then this is the perfect time to get involved! You may even recognize a few of the players if you are a fan of European football, so why not see how many you can spot! But for those of you who aren’t watching your rookie season, then why not give me your predictions of who you think will win each conference and who will go on to seal the MLS Cup in 2012…
Week 1 Results
10th March 2012 11th March 2012 12th March 2012
Columbus 0-2 Colorado New York 1-2 FC Dallas Philadelphia 1-3 Portland
Montreal 0-2 Vancouver Houston 1-0 Chivas USA
Sporting KC 1-0 D.C. United
Real Salt Lake 3-1 Los Angeles
New England 0-1 San Jose
New York 1-2 FC Dallas
Philadelphia 1-3 Portland
Week 1 Standings
Eastern Conference
# | Club | PTS | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Home | Away | Last 5 |
1 | Houston Dynamo | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | W |
2 | Sporting Kansas City | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | W |
3 | New York Red Bulls | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | L |
4 | D.C. United | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | L |
5 | New England Revolution | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | L |
6 | Philadelphia Union | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | L |
7 | Columbus Crew | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | L |
8 | Montreal Impact | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | L |
9 | Chicago Fire | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | |
10 | Toronto FC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
Western Conference
# | Club | PTS | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Home | Away | Last 5 |
1 | Portland Timbers | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | W |
2 | Real Salt Lake | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | W |
3 | Colorado Rapids | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | W |
4 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | W |
5 | FC Dallas | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | W |
6 | San Jose Earthquakes | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | W |
7 | Chivas USA | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | L |
8 | LA Galaxy | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | L |
9 | Seattle Sounders FC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
Are Montreal a new team? Who is there main player?
ReplyDeleteYes Montreal are a new team for this season, they signed a deal back in 2008 to join the league in the hope to expand soccer in Canada. Its hard to say who there main player is as only time will tell, but one to watch out for is Davy Arnaud who has 10 years experience in the MLS for Sporting KC, who reached the Conference final last season, and he is the new captain for the Impact, but keep an eye out for some of their rookie players who may turn out to be important squad players.
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