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MLS Week Six (SBI Live Match Night Commentary)

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By IVES GALARCEP

The Colorado Rapids and Portland Timbers are still searching for their first victories of the 2013 MLS season and both face tough tests at home as they each try to escape the realm of the witness.

The Rapids play host to Real Salt Lake in a Rocky Mountain clash that will show us whether the injury-hit Rapids can rebound from last week’s disappointing come-from-ahead draw vs. Portland.

Speaking of the Timbers, Caleb Porter’s squad will look to stop their trend of falling behind early and rallying for ties by registering their first win of the season when they take on the Houston Dynamo at Jeld-Wen Field.

Here is a rundown of today’s MLS matches:

4pm- MLS Direct Kick– Toronto FC vs. FC Dallas

5pm- UniMas– Columbus Crew vs. Philadelphia Union

7:30pm- NBC Sports Network– Colorado Rapids vs. Real Salt Lake

10:30pm- MLS Direct Kick– Portland Timbers vs. Houston Dynamo

10:30pm- MLS Direct Kick– San Jose Earthquakes vs. Vancouver Whitecaps

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SBI will be providing Live Commentary for all of today’s MLS action, so please feel free to join us here. As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action (Today’s Commentary is after the jump):

Comments

  1. Let me repeat that: the MLS model was built to exclude the hardcore learned soccer fan. They have created a league that exists only in a petri dish (gives new meaning to the idea of a soccer culture, doesn’t it?). They are content with raising, sometimes from scratch, roughly 20,000 “supporters” in each MLS city, fans who somehow are more enamored with the idea and experience of fandom than the actual level of play on the field. They have been sold the idea of “competiveness” over outright quality. And they have been bamboozled. These folks suffer from a classic condition: they are in love with the IDEA of being in love. They love the IDEA that they have a local team in “their” sport, one whose scarf they can wear, one that they can celebrate, cheer for, wring their hands over, enter in a fantasy league, have mock-drafts about. It’s more about the trappings, and is about as artificial as it gets. But it’s exactly what MLS, their PR folks and their brigade of citizen-robot bloggers worked so hard to create, and work so relentlessly to protect.

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  2. Chippy second half the in SJ with the Whitecaps. Wondo and Hurtado definitely looking to get a piece of each other at every turn. Nice to have Gordo back. Quakes played well until they scored, then went off the boil due to continual turnovers from Corrales and Salinas in the midfield and poor distribution from Harden and Gargan in the back. The game just dropped off the table for the Quakes until Lenny came on at 70 minutes. Whitecaps were fortunate to tie it when a shot deflected right to Herzog’s foot. Felt like the Quakes wasted an opportunity to get three points.

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  3. The timbers went from one of my least favorite teams to watch last year to now one of my favorites. Their skill and style of play is so exciting. Tonight everyone was on, Jewsbury, Hasan, Johnson, Chara, Harrington. And Nagbe….he is something special. He is really turning it on this season

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    • agree 100%. Very impressed…Caleb Porter getting the most out of his roster. I like how when they get the ball they shield well and move away from pressure my running a few extra yards..which also presents new passing lanes…I like this team a lot.

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    • Last 15 minutes Portland has really turned on the possession game. Caleb Porter is an impressive coach. It’s GAME ON in Portland.

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      • Portland needs to shoot some from outside the penalty area..this should draw out the defenders more and create some space in the final third.

  4. Ricardo Clark playing on top of a diamond mid as a playmaker. I am more interested in watching Portland, but Rico Clark as a playmaker is interesting too.

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    • I can see why Houston is MLS Cup Runners Up..when a Houston player is on the ball he only has to look up, left or right, and find a player making a supporting run…often times I am counting two passing options…TImbers are lacking in this area for the most part..they have moments where support is good and not so good..I think Portland will suffer in the final third..and only because of a fundamental aspect of the sport…supporting the player with the ball by making off the ball runs.

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    • I wouldn’t look too much into how the broadcast had him positioned. With Driver, Weaver, and Barnes on, he won’t be playing that far forward.

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  5. “The Colorado Rapids and Portland Timbers are still searching for their first victories of the 2013 MLS season…”

    Not anymore.

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  6. Clear PK denied for RSL, Penso did not see it, wonder if the linesman did. In any case come on Colorado, hold on for the 3 points.

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    • clear shirt tugging but the guy had his back to goal. the ball was going away from the goal. if i’m the ref I probably dont call a pk either. we know some fouls arent called in the box because they arent worthy of a pk opportunity. that said the Colorado defender didnt really need to foul in that situation either.

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  7. Once again a game is f’in ruined by the moronic American commentator.

    Martino. Harkes. Twellman.

    Impossible to listen to. Seriously. Impossible. I don’t want to hear you trash everyone and everything all game long. The negativity is mindnumbing.

    We get it. You played professional soccer once.

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    • It really is pathetic. Yeah you can criticize every decision/play of every player, but you shouldn’t because it’s terrible announcing.

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      • Agreed. The American commentators might be insecure? Maybe they think that the way to sound authoritative is to criticize everything they see. The announcer adds value when he brings passion for the game and conveys that passion to the viewer.

    • Bogus?

      That was a blatant, clear as day penalty. He grabbed him around the chest and shoved him to the ground to stop him from going up for a header.

      That was just a blatant penalty.

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      • As a neutral I though it was really soft. Was there contact? Yeah. But on every single corner there is pushing and tugging. In fact I’d say 9 times out of 10 this is isn’t called.

      • That wasn’t pushing and tugging.

        One player (Beckerman) tried to go up for a header and he had position. The defender bear hugged him from behind and threw him to the ground.

        It was a textbook penalty.

  8. Why would FC Dallas sign Cooper and Hassli if they were planning on playing a 4-5-1 with Ferreira CAM underneath Perez. That is 3 high-priced center forwards in a system that has room for only one.

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