Portland Timbers
Soccer Potpourri
MLS
- US Soccer Players: MLS and the Play-In Round
- Will Parchman: The MLS Cup favorites
- Jason Davis: The 2013 approach
- J Hutcherson: What We Expect from Major League Soccer
- Steve Goff: D.C. United is succeeding on field, but struggling at box office. A look at attendance at RFK Stadium and around MLS this year and through history…..
- CBC Sports: TFC targeted by bumbling match fixers in 2009
Interesting Reads
- BBC News: Roshan Afghan Premier League a hit with fans
- ESPN FC: How video game is changing face of soccer
- SI.com: Santos beats U. de Chile 2-0 to win Recopa title
The Business of Soccer
- Yahoo Sports: Spanish economist says La Liga could ‘kill itself’ within five years, suggests Iberian league
- Louise Taylor: EPL clubs in talks about restricting players’ wages
- Graham Ruthven: Are Financial Fair Play Rules Destined to Be Broken?
Soccer Potpourri
Of Special Note
MLS
- Top Drawer Soccer: Tracking MLS Home Growns in 2012 – I have Top Drawer Soccer in my Blogroll, you should have the site bookmarked if you follow MLS player development.
- Timbers: Portland Reserves in front of record crowd at JELD-WEN Field – Over 14,000!
- Boston Globe: MLS tries to build through Euro club visits
- Martin Rogers: Former phenom Freddy Adu running out of options
Interesting Reads
Read the rest of this entry »
Friday Morning Football Potpourri
MLS
- MLS_UK: Diary of an MLS Convert(East) – Diary of an MLS Convert(West) – Week 9 of Glenn Williams’ brilliant series.
- Zac Lee Rigg: No history, no problem – Real Salt Lake fans have grown along with the team
- Stats: MLS Castro Index
- Portland: How cool is this Timbers Propaganda?
- Johan Freedman: Why can’t teams beat Jet Lag Effect?
- Inside Minnesota Soccer: Major League Soccer to Minnesota? Probably, and Here’s Why
Interesting Reads
- When Saturday Comes: The Life Lessons of Relegation – via Must Read Soccer
- FIFA.com: Inter’s Zanetti reaches remarkable milestone
- Guardian: How Valeriy Lobanovskyi’s appliance of science won hearts and trophies
- Harry Harris: English football ‘set back ten years’
The Business of Soccer
- Bill Wilson-BBC: FIFA contests free-to-air World Cup TV broadcasts in UK
News and Views
MLS
- MLS Talk: Why the English Find MLS a Strange Experience – In some ways the comments are more interesting than the main post.
- Tactics: New York Red Bulls Have Infinite Potential If They Clear A Couple Speed Bumps
- Tactics: Portland and Vancouver
- Missing Players
- A few changes since my initial post on this subject. The Guadeloupe friendly v Racing Club de Lens has been canceled, so Stephane Auvray will not miss SKC’s match v Chicago. Also, Chivas USA had three players called up to their respective national teams and they will miss both the next MLS match and a US Open Cup play-in match.
| FIFA Dates | |||
| Mar 25-27 | |||
| MLS | US Open | ||
| Colorado | Cummings | 3/26 – CHV | |
| Chivas USA | Boyens, Moreno, Umana | 3/26 – COL | 3/28 – PTL |
| Houston | Taylor | 3/25 – SEA | |
| Sporting KC | Kamara, Thomas | 3/26 – CHI | |
| Los Angeles | Donovan | 3/26 – RSL | |
| New York | Agudelo, Coundoul, Miller Marquez, Ream, Richards |
3/26 – CLB | |
| RSL | Alvarez, Johnson, Soborio | 3/26 – LA | |
| San Jose | Stephenson | 3/26 – FCD | |
| Vancouver | Boxall, DeMerit | 3/26 – PHL | |
Interesting Reads
- David Hills: Said and Done
- Jason Davis: Bin Hammam to Take on Blatter for FIFA Presidency
- CONCACAF: The new(and old) World Cup Qualifying Process
- Howard Hamilton: Don’t Expect a CONCACAF-CONMEBOL Merger Anytime Soon
- Soccer by the Numbers: Destroying the Soul of Soccer, One Statistic At a Time
The Business of Soccer
- UEFA: Platini Announces Agreement on Centralised TV Rights
- Manchester Utd: Manchester United’s parent company announces record £104.6m loss
News and Views
MLS
- Week 21 attendance report and more
- A review of DP performances
- Seattle Buys a Team in Tanzania
- A demonstration of class and honor in Toronto
- Jason Davis: Puts in words what I’ve been thinking about FC Dallas
- J Hutcherson: League or Champions League, where to focus
- Vancouver Takes 1st Pick In SuperDraft
Just hanging around this weekend, I created this table breaking MLS into 4 geographical divisions and the intra-divisional team records.
| W | D | L | Pts | |
| I-95 | ||||
| NE Revs | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| RBNY | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| DC United | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Philadelphia | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Central | ||||
| Columbus | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| KC Wizards | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| Toronto | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Chicago | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| MidWest | ||||
| Dallas | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Houston | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| RSL | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Colorado | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Pacific | ||||
| LA Galaxy | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| SJ Quakes | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Chivas USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Seattle | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Around the World
- USSF D2: Weekend Review
Interesting Reads
Player Moves
News and Views from Tues Aug 10
MLS
Robbie Rogers will have surgery that will sideline him for up to 4 weeks. This comes at a bad time for the Crew as they begin a stretch of 7 matches in 22 days.
- Timbers: John Spencer to coach MLS team in 2011
- Union: Danny Cepero loaned to Philadelphia
- Chivas USA: Galindo loaned to Tampa for fitness rehab
- Tactics: Getting the most out of that shiny new DP
US Pyramid
- The USMNT were outclassed by a young Brasilian team in a friendly in New Jersey.
- Brian Quarstad continues his reporting on the 2nd division in the US pyramid.
The USSF-D2 has 12 teams. Three of them will be in MLS within the next two years. Of the remaining 9, 2 are brand new teams. Of the remaining 7, one was promoted from D3 and 4 of those 7 are suffering lower attendances than last year. Not a pretty picture. As of now the teams that will be in D2 next year are:
Montreal(headed to MLS in 2012) and
Austin, Carolina, Crystal Palace Baltimore, Edmonton, Miami, Minnesota, Puerto Rico, Rochester, St. Louis and Tampa Bay, with reports that Crystal Palace and St. Louis are in financial trouble.
Around the World
News and Views from Fri Jul 9
Starter
MLS
- MLS Weekend Preview: Week 15
- After being released by ChivasUSA, Maicon Santos has signed with Toronto.
- Where soccer beats baseball: Portland.
- Lots of good stories at MLS website.
World Cup On Field News and Updates
And then there were two. Netherlands v Spain on Sunday for the trophy.
- FIFA
- ESPNSoccernet
- Goal.com
- The Guardian
- SI
- Georgina Turner: Final Preview.
- Kevin McCarra: Final Preview.
- Rob Hughes: Netherlands and Spain Go for World Cup First.
- Jesse Pennington: The Spanish Game of Keepaway.
- Spain Reap Benefits Of Dutch Legacy At Barca.
Non Game Specific Football World Cup Stories
- World Cup 2010 statistics: every match and every player in data.
- World Cup 2010 Speed and Distance Stats.
- World Cup Statistics: Fastest, Farthest and Foulest.
- What have been the tactical lessons of World Cup 2010
- World Cup handover puts spotlight on Africa-Brazil ties.
- Video: As World Cup Nears Completion, Jobs Remain Elusive in South Africa.
- Octopus vs Parakeet.
- National Identity In the World Cup.
- Tom Dunmore: Nigeria and Match-Fixing at the World Cup: The Vulnerability Remains.
- Guardian Podcast: The World Cup, a festival of football … and capitalism.
- Opinion: Jemele Hill Misses the Target.
- South Africa, mega-events and progress.
- South Africa and soccer, a personal story.
- Video: South Africans speak about the World Cup.
- Vuvuzela fatwa: United Arab Emirates bans the loud plastic horns.
- Soccer’s World Cup Will Stay Italian, No Matter Who Wins Final.
- The Human Perspective at the World Cup.
US News and Views
- The World Cup Bump, and What Is Next?
- Jason Kuenle: A Ricardo Clark What If Story OR What Bob Bradley Brought to the USMNT.
- Jeff Carlisle: Is the tide turning for U.S. soccer?
- US U-20 head coach Thomas Rongen discusses US player development.
Player Moves and other News
- A detailed look at Thai Port’s income stream.
- Bochum seal deal for North Korea star Jong.
- Hong Kong Police Smash Vast Soccer Gambling Racket.
- How to help: Football For Good.
- Is Soccer Innovative?
- Video: Why Indonesia has failed on the world football stage.
News and Views from Wed Jun 9
MLS
- RSL downs Galaxy on iffy no call offside goal.
- Rapids steal point on road with Casey extra time header vs Fire.
- Wizards academy update.
- Houston President Oliver Luck leaving to become WVU AD.
Interesting Reads
- Social turmoil surrounds World Cup in Cape Town.
- Soccer that almost was in the USA.
- Goal.com: England’s influence on US Soccer.
Player Moves
World Cup
- Journalists robbed, one held at gunpoint.
- Individual achievements.
- Pre cup friendlies: Chile 2 New Zealand 0 –
- Golden Boot winners.
- African players receive WC amnesty.
- Terrific WC pictorial.
- England v USA: The beauty of anticipation.
Around the World
The Business of Soccer
- Corporate set staying away from South Africa.
- The collapse of football: how the toxic weed of Strategic Default took over our game.
- AT&T; will carry ESPN’s 3D World Cup broadcasts.
- Timbers gain first founding partner sponsor.
- USA’s World Cup bonus pot, largest in history(potentially).
- MLS pre cup business bits from Footiebusiness.
After the Weekend Apr 17-18
MLS
- My weekly attendance report.
- In praise of a good presentation… Arlo White.
- The Portland Timbers announced the hiring of Mike Golub as the Chief Operating Officer.
- LA remains undefeated behind Buddle’s 7 goals in 4 games.
Interesting Reads
- Andrea Canales: Knowledgeable fans are overlooked in coverage dedicated to newbies.
- Jamie Clary: The US Open vs MLS, not a new thing.
Around the World
- NASL update.
- Survival in the A-League.
- Benfica closing in on Portuguese title.
- FC Twente, one point up with one to play in the Eredivie.
- Urawa Reds go top in J-League.
- Turkish League update.
- Iceland volcano and the Europa League semi-finals.
- UEFA Champions League semi-finals a go despite volcanic fallout.
- Puerto Rico in CFU Club Championship semi-final.
- All about Santos.
Title and Champions League Races in Europe
| GP | W | D | L | GD | Pts | |
| EPL | ||||||
| Chelsea | 35 | 24 | 5 | 6 | 54 | 77 |
| Manchester Utd | 35 | 24 | 4 | 7 | 51 | 76 |
| Arsenal | 35 | 22 | 5 | 8 | 39 | 71 |
| Tottenham | 34 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 28 | 64 |
| Manchester City | 34 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 27 | 62 |
| Aston Villa | 34 | 15 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 58 |
| Bundesliga | ||||||
| Bayern Munich | 31 | 18 | 9 | 4 | 37 | 63 |
| Schalke 04 | 31 | 18 | 7 | 6 | 23 | 61 |
| Werder Bremen | 31 | 15 | 9 | 7 | 28 | 54 |
| Bayer Leverkusen | 31 | 14 | 12 | 5 | 24 | 54 |
| Dortmund | 31 | 15 | 8 | 8 | 13 | 53 |
| Stuttgart | 31 | 14 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 50 |
| Ligue 1 | ||||||
| Marseille | 33 | 20 | 8 | 5 | 29 | 68 |
| Auxerre | 33 | 18 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 63 |
| Lyon | 33 | 16 | 11 | 6 | 19 | 59 |
| Montpellier | 33 | 17 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 59 |
| Lille | 33 | 17 | 7 | 9 | 27 | 58 |
| Bordeaux | 32 | 17 | 6 | 9 | 19 | 57 |
| Serie A | ||||||
| AS Roma | 34 | 21 | 8 | 5 | 24 | 71 |
| Internazionale | 34 | 20 | 10 | 4 | 35 | 70 |
| AC Milan | 34 |
18 | 10 | 6 | 20 | 64 |
| Sampdoria | 34 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 57 |
| Palermo | 34 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 55 |
| Napoli | 34 | 13 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 52 |
| La Liga | ||||||
| Barcelona | 33 | 26 | 6 | 1 | 61 | 84 |
| Real Madrid | 33 | 27 | 2 | 4 | 58 | 83 |
| Valencia | 33 | 17 | 8 | 8 | 15 | 59 |
| Sevilla FC | 33 | 16 | 6 | 11 | 11 | 54 |
| Mallorca | 32 | 15 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 52 |
| Villareal | 33 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 3 | 49 |