Today’s News, Tuesday , May.12

[denime]

Mornin'


Cummins credits players' adaptability
Reds coach gives team added responsibility

Toronto FC head coach Chris Cummins believes his players deserve much credit for the way they have been able to adapt to changes in personnel and formation.
The Reds had to make a late change to the line-up at D.C. United on Saturday after Carl Robinson was sidelined by food poisioning.
Cummins also changed the formation ahead of the game, and then switched it again after 20 minutes of play.

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White takes another step forward
Striker continues to make good progress

Toronto FC forward O'Brian White continues to make good progress as he recovers from an ACL injury.
White joined in warm-up with the team on Monday for the first time.
The 23 year old has stepped up his training and has begun working with the ball.

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Ngo scores two for Academy Juniors
TFC Junior Academy beat the Astros Reserves 2-1

Eric Ngo scored both goals as TFC Junior Academy beat North York Astros Reserves 2-1 at Esther Shiner Stadium on Saturday.
Damir Rosic was a standout for the Academy and Arthur Casupanan also produced a highly effective performance.

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MLS NEWS:

Schmid, Hanauer rip soccer referees

On Monday, after a day to reflect and watch replays, Seattle coach Sigi Schmid stuck to in his criticism of referee Tim Weyland’s performance in the Sounders’ 1-1 draw with Los Angeles on Sunday.
And he got backing from general manager Adrian Hanauer, who expanded the topic beyond a single game or a referee into a problem of league wide importance.

Earlier this season, former Toronto coach John Carver had called Weyland “a disgrace,” and he was fined $750 for his comment.

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SUNSHINE

[Carter]

Mornin D.

SSG........

[TFC_Junky]

Nice to see White making progress. We need some one up front who can put the ball in the net!

[scooter]

mornin d

[Lucky Strike]

I haven't seen the events leading up to the red card for Riley, but the fact that Weyland was again in charge of a circus and that Schmid didn't want him refereeing his games with UCLA has got to mean something. Managers aren't stupid, they know what they're talking about.

P.S. Riley isn't a star though, so that puts a dent in some of Seattle's argument.

[ensco]

This issue is also out of control in the NHL and NBA playoffs. There isn't a post-game press conference in those sports where the coach isn't criticizing the refs.

Referees have always sucked. Coaches have always complained about referees, but it's become almost ridiculous in the last couple of months. I don't know what the catalyst/reason is.

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=21095
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090428...etnbarefsfined

[TFCREDNWHITE]

Schmid, Hanauer rip soccer referees

On Monday, after a day to reflect and watch replays, Seattle coach Sigi Schmid stuck to in his criticism of referee Tim Weyland’s performance in the Sounders’ 1-1 draw with Los Angeles on Sunday.
And he got backing from general manager Adrian Hanauer, who expanded the topic beyond a single game or a referee into a problem of league wide importance.



Read More

Nice to see Schmid and Seattle's GM ripping the Ref's a NEW ONE!! especially Weyland!!

[S_D]

Hanauer complaining about red cards? Can't agree with him on this one.

But when a guy like Kasey Keller sits out an extra game for a play like questionably handling the ball intentionally outside the box ...

There was no question on that call. Pretty blatent.

and another player gets an extra game for an extremely violent tackle, it seems maybe like the laws aren’t well calibrated for fans.”

huh? If it was violent enough that Hanauer says extremely violent, I'd say the league suspension of 1 extra game wasn't enough.


But I agree with them that Weyland is shit.

[Mark in Ottawa]

Schmid rips ref... and MLS makes another $750. right?

[ensco]

But I agree with them that Weyland is shit.

Weyland did lose control of that game. No argument there.

[Waggy]

Some of the complaining is just whining, but unfortunately the whining drowns out legit complaints. If anyone saw the end of game 3 Dallas/Denver, I mean I was rooting for Denver HARD and I still felt dirty. That was beyond shady. That was borderline rigged. Course, if anyone has to get jobbed, I'm glad it was that cockmuncher Cuban haha

[Technorgasm]

Forget the Ref issue, we can talk about it till we are Red in the face.
. . . its SO frustrating. Uggh not what I need one sleep away from MTL.





EVERYONE EVERYONE
you should see the newest banner, its freakin AWESOME.
I am so proud of the boys, they really have come through big time.
and it was super fun. THATS what makes this group great.
FUN.

[Technorgasm]

SO glad to hear that Obee is on his way!!
HE might just be the late season push we need to kill off our eastern opposition.


and since when did Ngog play for TFC (aka Red Liverpool Ultra light - haha)

[Cobblers]

Nice to now have a coach who's able to see things aren't working on the pitch and adjust for it - good on Cummins for that.

[DOMIN8R]

This is not real news. More like analysis. MLS has been putting these types of articles on their homepage as of late. Some of them are great reads. I consider this one - posted today, in that category.

Major League Soccer clubs get defensive

Galaxy use low-pressure scheme to foil Sounders FC in Week 8

Watching the Los Angeles Galaxy right now is a little like eating institutional food. You know, that drab grub served up school cafeterias and hospitals. It's not anything you'll find in glossy gourmet magazines, but it provides calories and a few nutrients and gets the job done.
That's what we have in Los Angeles and, on some weeks at least, in other places around Major League Soccer. As teams travel and deal with increasingly packed schedules, more managers are acquiescing to the urge to go defensive.


More here:http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news...._mls&fext=.jsp

[Oldtimer]

This is not real news. More like analysis. MLS has been putting these types of articles on their homepage as of late. Some of them are great reads. I consider this one - posted today, in that category.

Major League Soccer clubs get defensive

Galaxy use low-pressure scheme to foil Sounders FC in Week 8

Watching the Los Angeles Galaxy right now is a little like eating institutional food. You know, that drab grub served up school cafeterias and hospitals. It's not anything you'll find in glossy gourmet magazines, but it provides calories and a few nutrients and gets the job done.
That's what we have in Los Angeles and, on some weeks at least, in other places around Major League Soccer. As teams travel and deal with increasingly packed schedules, more managers are acquiescing to the urge to go defensive.


More here:http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news...._mls&fext=.jsp

There were those of us who realized that Seattle's run was a lot like Hull City's in the Premiership. A brash team new to the league takes down some big names early in the season who don't know how to play them. Eventually teams figure them out, and they move closer to the bottom, where their real skill level is. Unfortunately, we played them early in the season (MLS probably thought they were doing us a favour by having us play an "expansion team.").

[iansmcl]

SO glad to hear that Obee is on his way!!
HE might just be the late season push we need to kill off our eastern opposition.

Obee-Wan??? Or can we not use that since Ovechkin is nicknamed Ovi (wan)...

[CretanBull]

huh? If it was violent enough that Hanauer says extremely violent, I'd say the league suspension of 1 extra game wasn't enough.

He wasn't complaining about a suspension being given out for an 'extremely violent tackle', he was making the point that - in his mind - the rules aren't balanced if the penalty for a keeper handling the ball outside of the box is the same as for making a violent tackle.

[ensco]

There were those of us who realized that Seattle's run was a lot like Hull City's in the Premiership. A brash team new to the league takes down some big names early in the season who don't know how to play them. Eventually teams figure them out, and they move closer to the bottom, where their real skill level is. Unfortunately, we played them early in the season (MLS probably thought they were doing us a favour by having us play an "expansion team.").

The league has a cluster of about 8 teams within a couple of points of each other. Seattle's in that group

Too soo to say anyone in that group is a title contender, or a "Hull City"

[S_D]

He wasn't complaining about a suspension being given out for an 'extremely violent tackle', he was making the point that - in his mind - the rules aren't balanced if the penalty for a keeper handling the ball outside of the box is the same as for making a violent tackle.

Keller was the last man and handled the ball outside of the box. Automatic red. Perhaps the guy should have received a longer suspension for the tackle to make things seem more fair

[CretanBull]

^I'm fine with the rules as is. The Seatle GM isn't happy because he thinks that touching the ball outside of the box isn't as bad as a play that hurts someone. I disagree. I think that a red card is suitable for a dangerous tackle, and I think a red card is suitable for illegally robbing a team from a scoring chance. Obviously, if the tackle was made with the intent to injure (ie spikes up, or WAY late) then additional time can be added to a suspension etc.

[Rocco]

bottom line is refing in the MLS is bad....

[ExiledRed]

There were those of us who realized that Seattle's run was a lot like Hull City's in the Premiership. A brash team new to the league takes down some big names early in the season who don't know how to play them. Eventually teams figure them out, and they move closer to the bottom, where their real skill level is. Unfortunately, we played them early in the season (MLS probably thought they were doing us a favour by having us play an "expansion team.").

You've used this Hull City analogy a dozen times. Now that Seattle have actually lost a couple of games, you're talking about it in past tense as if it's a given Seattle are going to crash to the bottom.

It's absurd. Seattle are performing 1000% better than we did in 2007, and they're doing better than us right now. They have more points and a game in hand.

Talking about their success as if it was somehow 'all luck which is about to run out' despite the fact that they've played at a higher level than than most MLS teams do, is ridiculous.

You can take that bet of mine if you like (nobody else will). Seattle finishes in the top 4 of the league before the playoffs or $20.

[Fort York Redcoat]

It's absurd. Seattle are performing 1000%

Couldn't resist.

[ExiledRed]

Couldn't resist.

It's not hard. You take what would normally be 100% improvement over our start in 2007 and multiply that by ten.

[Oldtimer]

No, i don't believe Seattle's playing is luck. They had years to prepare for their entry. I just didn't expect their unbeaten streak to continue.

Neither do I believe they will sink as low as Hull has, either. My point is simply that other teams have figured them out, and they are now beatable.

Unless MLS changes their rules to account for "promoted" teams, I expect Vancouver will have an excellent run too when they move up.

[Beach_Red]

Unless MLS changes their rules to account for "promoted" teams, I expect Vancouver will have an excellent run too when they move up.

I'll be very surprised if Philadelphia start as strongly as Seattle.

No one's talking about San Jose this year.

[Oldtimer]

I'll be very surprised if Philadelphia start as strongly as Seattle.

No one's talking about San Jose this year.

Philadelphia and San Jose are "from scratch" teams like TFC, RSL, and Chivas were. No comparison to Seattle.

[ExiledRed]

Philadelphia and San Jose are "from scratch" teams like TFC, RSL, and Chivas were. No comparison to Seattle.

How many times are we going to have to go over the fact that only two or three players survived the transition from USL to MLS?

It's not like we didnt start out with a bunch of USL players on the squad.

The trouble is, we acquired them to play for us as starters while Seattle cut 'em in favour of better players from better leagues.

[Beach_Red]

How many times are we going to have to go over the fact that only two or three players survived the transition from USL to MLS?

It's not like we didnt start out with a bunch of USL players on the squad.

The trouble is, we acquired them to play for us as starters while Seattle cut 'em in favour of better players from better leagues.

Why did Seattle wait so long to join MLS anyway?