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View Full Version : Other MLS Games This Weekend - March 31



OgtheDim
03-29-2018, 06:21 AM
All Games Saturday


NYRB @ Orlando 1pm - Mid day heat in Florida awaits the team who has looked the best, at times, of all teams in the league. Orlando can't seem to figure out their midfield. Yes, NYRB might rest a few before a trip to Mexico but their B team has been pretty impressive when called upon. NYRB 2 Orlando 1 Why watch this game? Orlando pyscho drama this week includes the mustachioed one versus his old team.

Vancouver @ Columbus 3pm - Clash of styles - Columbus loves to roll the ball around while Vancouver hits on the break & set pieces. CBus is way more organized then the Caps are used to. Caps fans keep talking about their away record last seson but this is a step too far. Columbus 3 Vancouver 1 Why watch this game? Undeniably two of the better teams in the league right now. We will have to go through both these teams for success this season.

LAFC @ LAG 3pm - Game of the Week The El Traffico. Sure, lots of hype for this one what with Zlatan being around & all. LAFC has looked good in general, with decent enough defence & lots of inventiveness - LAG is still a work in progress but Ola Kamara scored 3 for Norway this week. 2 - 2 draw Why watch this game? Zlatan - bald Bradley Dad - Beitashour - pick your interest & enjoy the spectacle

Portland @ Chicago 6pm A game of two teams yet to figure out who they are. Portland is in a serious transition funk. Chicago doesn't know who they are without Accam on the wing. The home team is the more likely one to suddenly see what they can do. Chicago 1 Portland 0 Why watch this game? I honestly don't know.
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Atlanta @ Minnesota 8pm The Loons have looked surprisingly good & will compare themselves to Atlanta both on and off the pitch for awhile. Atlanta though is a step above what the Loons have faced so far, at least in attack. Atlanta 3 Minnesota 2 Why watch this game? Attacking prowess vs. Attacking bloody mindedness

NYC @ San Jose 8pm - NYC is figuring out how to get it done, even without David Villa. San Jose is pretty good at home though & manages to keep things close. 1-1 draw Why watch this game? Keep your eyes on NYC this season - they are on a mission much like we were last year.


NER @ Houston 8:30pm - NER has not been all great to watch. They play home field advantage to the max but have no real inventiveness to them. Houston has a lot of firepower & is very very good at home. 3-1 win for Houston. Why watch this game? Alberth Elis is going to have a breakout year - he and the Houston attack are fun to watch.


DCU @ SKC 8:30pm - A whole lot of meh in this game. DCU is just not that good while SKC seems to be stuck in second gear. SKC is better coached though. 2-1 for SKC Why watch this game? We play DCU in ....oh wait....nah, I got nothing.


Philly @ Colorado 9pm - The "Trust the Process" derby Philly seems farther along in that process. 2-1 win for the Union. Why watch this game? The Union has a lot of young talent that is starting to gel - likely tough opponent for us this season.


Montreal @ Seattle 10pm - Montreal is really not that good a team. Neither is Seattle. The travel should mitigate Montreal's slight advantage in attack. 1-1 draw Why watch this game? Raheem Edwards could break out in this one.

Yohan
03-30-2018, 08:09 AM
Review of last week's games


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hT6ljM7Bi8

OgtheDim
03-31-2018, 11:58 AM
Kickoff for Atlanta vs. the Loons likely to be not quite the coldest game ever

-6 with snow

ensco
03-31-2018, 12:58 PM
Very entertaining game in Orlando.

Four goals at halfime, could have been 7 or 8

ensco
03-31-2018, 02:08 PM
LAFC support bury the LAG GK in streamers at the opening whistle

BenRhodes23
03-31-2018, 02:25 PM
Vela with the wonder goal early! 1-0 LAFC. Looks like Zlatan will be a second half sub

ensco
03-31-2018, 02:33 PM
One way trafico....

BenRhodes23
03-31-2018, 02:35 PM
One way trafico....

Stu Holden couldn't have said it better himself ;)

Vela 2 - 0 Galaxy

ensco
03-31-2018, 03:08 PM
Stu Holden couldn't have said it better himself ;)

Vela 2 - 0 Galaxy

I love this trafico thing

OgtheDim
03-31-2018, 03:12 PM
LAG's approach of never getting a decent GK starting to bite them - cheated way far to his left on the first one & didn't make the play on the second one.

ensco
03-31-2018, 03:19 PM
^I dunno. Vela was unreal on both. He is looking like a Giovinco caliber DP move

tfcfans
03-31-2018, 03:44 PM
Wow!! A Zlatan stunner to tie it!

jloome
03-31-2018, 03:44 PM
Zlatan being Zlatan.

tfcfans
03-31-2018, 03:49 PM
Go Whitecaps!

tfcfans
03-31-2018, 03:56 PM
You can’t script this game in LA!

BenRhodes23
03-31-2018, 04:00 PM
Zlatan x2, LAFC give up 4 straight and lose 4-3 in the first ever LA Derby (forget about Chivas)

TFC07
03-31-2018, 04:01 PM
Zlatan 2nd goal looked to be offside there. But nevertheless, what a game in L.A.

jloome
03-31-2018, 04:02 PM
Zlatan x2, LAFC give up 4 straight and lose 4-3 in the first ever LA Derby (forget about Chivas)

It was as if the second he stepped on, LAFC just fucking wilted.

Crazy. Two crazy quality finishes. EDIT: Although he looked a step off on the second. Might have been the camera angle down the line.

OgtheDim
03-31-2018, 04:02 PM
That introduction to MLS will be talked about for years.

Richard
03-31-2018, 04:45 PM
The first goal was bonkers, he took the volley first time and didn't even wait for a bounce. :yikes:

The second goal is a bit suspect though, I don't think he ever gets back on side to be a valid player.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50kuj3mpUM8


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QsjZQ3ty6g

RedsYNWA
03-31-2018, 05:17 PM
Zlatan is a beast

benito
03-31-2018, 05:51 PM
Great debut for Zlatan. Stunning volley and game winning header in 20 minutes of work.

BenRhodes23
03-31-2018, 06:05 PM
I think the second one was offside

troy1982
03-31-2018, 06:15 PM
Zlatan 2nd goal looked to be offside there. But nevertheless, what a game in L.A.

Zlatan was in line with the ball
checkout this angle then
https://twitter.com/stuholden/status/980194246769520640
looks in line with the ball and not offside

troy1982
03-31-2018, 06:16 PM
The first goal was bonkers, he took the volley first time and didn't even wait for a bounce. :yikes:

The second goal is a bit suspect though, I don't think he ever gets back on side to be a valid player.


Zlatan was inline with the ball, check-out this angle then https://twitter.com/stuholden/status/980194246769520640
looks in line with the ball and not offside

OgtheDim
03-31-2018, 06:31 PM
Say what you like about single entity but MLS got those goals out on twitter world wide very very quickly. Grabs eyeballs. Saw a tweet from a guy running PR for a Scottish PL team - they can't get such shots out until 3 days later due to right restrictions.

That and ESPN had his first goal as the lead on US sportscentre tonight - stuff like this drives interest.

A decent rivalry in LA is good for the league & that is good for TFC.

Richard
03-31-2018, 06:47 PM
I think Zlatan has the potential to be Beckham 2.0.

James17930
03-31-2018, 07:28 PM
Say what you like about single entity but MLS got those goals out on twitter world wide very very quickly. Grabs eyeballs. Saw a tweet from a guy running PR for a Scottish PL team - they can't get such shots out until 3 days later due to right restrictions.

That and ESPN had his first goal as the lead on US sportscentre tonight - stuff like this drives interest.

A decent rivalry in LA is good for the league & that is good for TFC.

That's so anachronistic. This is probably one of the ways that MLS is '10 years ahead' of Europe, as vdW said.

benito
03-31-2018, 07:44 PM
I think Zlatan has the potential to be Beckham 2.0.

Huge exposure for the league so far. The Zlatan goal has almost 540,000 views combined on both the MLS and La Galaxy youtube channels (MLS 496,000 and Galaxy 40,500) within 5 hours of being posted.

Fort York Redcoat
04-01-2018, 01:53 PM
Very entertaining game in Orlando.

Four goals at halfime, could have been 7 or 8

Nice to see Johnson potting the first one to tie it up.

Fort York Redcoat
04-01-2018, 02:06 PM
Zlatan x2, LAFC give up 4 straight and lose 4-3 in the first ever LA Derby (forget about Chivas)

L.A. Derby 2.0. Marky Delgado came from somewhere...


That introduction to MLS will be talked about for years.

That bloody intro match paid for itself. Zlatan doesn't have to do shit the rest of the season. He will, but he doesn't have to with that first goal and second to win it. Amazing.

Fort York Redcoat
04-01-2018, 02:15 PM
Go Whitecaps!

Well...Go Davies. Nice to see him score even if it was taken back.

Fort York Redcoat
04-01-2018, 02:26 PM
Kickoff for Atlanta vs. the Loons likely to be not quite the coldest game ever

-6 with snow

Wow. Loons can't come back with a man up. So close.

TFC Tifoso
04-02-2018, 07:27 AM
incredible debut by Ibra....even at his age this is a big deal for MLS....hopefully people get that MLS now has the best player from the last 10 years not named Messi or Ronaldo....

SoccMan2
04-03-2018, 06:33 AM
With the great performance of Ibra and overall very exciting game in LA, was the fact that some of the attendances in a few cities was horrible. Chicago and I think it was their home opener drew around 13000 that’s pathetic, Columbus only had just over 8000 yes we know they might be moving but still , Colorado only just over 10000 again pathetic, Houston announced just over 17000 but one look at all those empty seats and you know maybe what 11000 maybe actually there. These are all cities that consistently draw poor crowds. If these kind of numbers were attendances numbers for any of the other North American leagues like the NHL or NBA or even MLB it would be pretty bad but not that bad because these leagues play a lot more home games double or triple more home games than MLS, so when you are only playing 17 or so home games and only drawing 10 to 13000 that is very troubling. For all the hype on how MLS has improved over the years it still has too many teams drawing nobody to games and this is very troubling.

Fort York Redcoat
04-03-2018, 09:53 AM
With the great performance of Ibra and overall very exciting game in LA, was the fact that some of the attendances in a few cities was horrible. Chicago and I think it was their home opener drew around 13000 that’s pathetic, Columbus only had just over 8000 yes we know they might be moving but still , Colorado only just over 10000 again pathetic, Houston announced just over 17000 but one look at all those empty seats and you know maybe what 11000 maybe actually there. These are all cities that consistently draw poor crowds. If these kind of numbers were attendances numbers for any of the other North American leagues like the NHL or NBA or even MLB it would be pretty bad but not that bad because these leagues play a lot more home games double or triple more home games than MLS, so when you are only playing 17 or so home games and only drawing 10 to 13000 that is very troubling. For all the hype on how MLS has improved over the years it still has too many teams drawing nobody to games and this is very troubling.

Ah yes the troubling attendance post. I guess we're good for another year or until US open cup or pussplops.

Until the league stops expanding it's business as usual. Columbus will move and Austin may sell out.

ensco
04-03-2018, 10:11 AM
Re attendance. Sure there are issues, but MLS pushing its season start up to early March is madness.

It is seriously cold in Chicago, Columbus, Denver... that game in Minneapolis, what a joke. It's one thing to wind up with cold weather games based on Champions League, but it's quite another to deliberately put games in places like that this time of year. Jeez, it was still miserable here at our home opener in late April 2007!

Soccer is a summer sport. Players get hurt in these conditions (as Hagglund did).

If we didn't have a championship team, no way would I go to our games now. As it is, my wife thinks I am insane to be going tonight.

snowcrash
04-03-2018, 10:44 AM
With the great performance of Ibra and overall very exciting game in LA, was the fact that some of the attendances in a few cities was horrible. Chicago and I think it was their home opener drew around 13000 that’s pathetic, Columbus only had just over 8000 yes we know they might be moving but still , Colorado only just over 10000 again pathetic, Houston announced just over 17000 but one look at all those empty seats and you know maybe what 11000 maybe actually there. These are all cities that consistently draw poor crowds. If these kind of numbers were attendances numbers for any of the other North American leagues like the NHL or NBA or even MLB it would be pretty bad but not that bad because these leagues play a lot more home games double or triple more home games than MLS, so when you are only playing 17 or so home games and only drawing 10 to 13000 that is very troubling. For all the hype on how MLS has improved over the years it still has too many teams drawing nobody to games and this is very troubling.
Outside of the Big 5 in Europe, MLS attendance is pretty decent. You look at the bottom half teams in Scotland, Portugal, Greece, Netherlands, Russia, etc., and you have attendance well below 10k a game.

SoccMan2
04-03-2018, 11:15 AM
Re attendance. Sure there are issues, but MLS pushing its season start up to early March is madness.

It is seriously cold in Chicago, Columbus, Denver... that game in Minneapolis, what a joke. It's one thing to wind up with cold weather games based on Champions League, but it's quite another to deliberately put games in places like that this time of year. Jeez, it was still miserable here at our home opener in late April 2007!

Soccer is a summer sport. Players get hurt in these conditions (as Hagglund did).

If we didn't have a championship team, no way would I go to our games now. As it is, my wife thinks I am insane to be going tonight.
I hear you about it being cold but in terms of not playing in cold months however, in order to play regular seasons that are as long as the majority of leagues in Europe and the rest of the world you are going to have to play in a few cold months, European leagues go from August to about May almost 10 month MLS goes from about March to about the first week of November almost 9 month of regular season play which is about right and almost as long as most European leagues. The length of season has to be close to the same as most of the soccer leagues around the world, you can’t have a May to October league a 5 month league and have the majority of players doing nothing when the rest of the world is playing much longer seasons , players in the MLS would lose out to players playing in other leagues world wide who player longer seasons, it would be even harder to attract players to the MLS in a shorter season league. Moreover, many leagues in Europe play a lot of their games in just as cold weather as we get here in the MLS.

ag futbol
04-03-2018, 11:34 AM
^ While that may be the case in some places, I see no reason to stick too close to what Europe does.

Attendance and the quality of the product is suffering due to scheduling. The league does not have a fan base conditioned to show up at these times nor are the facilities suitable for play this time of year. Our north-south spread of teams creates issues most leagues in Europe do not have.

If Brazil can kick off their season April 14th I see no reason why we can’t do some tweaking. Maybe have an extended number of home stands for southern teams in the early season and then balance it out later in the year?

ensco
04-03-2018, 11:38 AM
All sports leagues have a greed problem that is wrecking the product. European football most of all.

If MLS had a 28 or 30 game season, and had better tournaments, they'd have a better TV product.

ag futbol
04-03-2018, 11:52 AM
All sports leagues have a greed problem that is wrecking the product. European football most of all.

If MLS had a 28 or 30 game season, and had better tournaments, they'd have a better TV product.
Yeah, there’s an element of this I agree with. Leagues have become really ham-fisted about stuffing the schedule. But how do you convince the people focused on the numbers less is more? And the fans at large?

I remember the NBA season a few years back where they stuffed all the games into a shortened span because of some sort of job action. Multiple players injured during the overloaded season. They basically lost the star power of derick rose in the process who was a top 3 player prior to injury.

Was that enough to convince them 82 games a year plus playoffs was too much or re-think their ways? Nope. People still complain when Lebron takes a day off or Popovic sits his best players. I’ll hold off making snarky comments about the unwashed masses being their own worst enemy when it comes to the quality of what they consume.

OgtheDim
04-03-2018, 02:39 PM
I think they could end the playoffs quicker but I don't see any way MLS could do anything but start in March. The amount of games is about right.

Its also been an unseasonably cold March with no end in sight.