Top Stories

MLS Match Week 8 (SBI Live Commentary)

MLSLogo2013

By IVES GALARCEP

A reunion in Montreal, a clash of East forces in Columbus, and battle of Western Conference foes headline today’s MLS Week Eight action.

Jack McInerney will face the Philadelphia Union for the first time since being traded away as he and the Montreal Impact face Andrew Wenger and the Union at Stade Saputo.

The top Eastern Conference tilt features the Columbus Crew taking on the suddenly hot New York Red Bulls.

Out West, Real Salt Lake will put their unbeaten record on the line against a dangerous Vancouver Whitecaps side that has the attacking weapons to pull off the upset today.

SBI will be providing live commentary on all of today’s MLS action so please feel to follow the action here. As always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below, and be sure to participate in our live commentary.

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

 

Comments

  1. Saborio can be so deadly as a forward but yet so duncely in other aspects of the game. Like tonight when he doesn’t pass the ball or just boot it out of bounds in the waning seconds of the game. Had he done that then Fernandez doesn’t score that cracker from distance for whitecaps. Ahh sabo! I want to hug him for his goal and strangle him for that turnover.

    Reply
  2. My first weekend with MLS live. Enjoyed the seattle game immensely. Wat hed first hal od DC/Dallas game. Both Kevin Hartman and Kasey Keller talk way too much, about unimportant things and explaining them too in too much depth. (This is an example of said problem)

    Reply
  3. Eddie is not having a great game so far. He just drew a foul but he is playing rather far back… almost in midfield.

    Reply
  4. Boswell is lucky Castillo over hit and miscontrolled that ball. He played the man and not the ball but as it was clear Castillo was never going to get to that ball before it went out.

    Reply
  5. Castillo and Perez did well to set up Diaz so nicely. Diaz had a defender to beat but it almost didn’t feel like it.

    Reply
  6. It’s a shame that FIFA is so stupid that a US citizen can not represent the US in international competition. Otherwise, Osvaldo Alonso would be at this moment our third defensive midfielder and be making the trip to Brazil.

    Reply
      • The guy is a US citizen, made the one time switch that FIFA requires, but then, and here is the stupidity of FIFA, he has to wait for the federation of the country he fled seeking asylum, to give him permission to play for the country he chose to be a free man.

      • As I wrote on the other thread where you posted this: You’d see so much abuse of the system if FIFA let up. Alonso’s predicament is entirely on Cuba, not FIFA.

      • As I replied to you on that other thread where you replied to me: I understand the one time only switch, but leaving it in the hands of the losing federation, especially when the move was politically motivated, is ridiculous.

      • If he wasn’t full fledged capped by the Cuban senior team in a FIFA sponsored tournament game (which is when he seeked asylum), a WC qualifier. This wouldn’t be an issue. Alonso chose his priority and the right one. It’s a shame Cuba can’t oblige to Osvaldo Alonso’s dream at this point in time. He’d be a shoo in for the plane to Brazil if so and he has no recourse whatsoever for international competition…Shame really.

      • I don’t see why Cuba can not oblige. It’d be the closest they’ll ever get to playing in the WC, a Cuban born player.

      • Ronaldo Messi: Cuba can oblige, but choose not to. The reason should be obvious: it would signal a form of approval for Alonso. However, they view him as a defector and traitor, so they feel no desire to help him fulfill his dream.

        It would be like the NSA or CIA doing anything to help Edward Snowden fulfill his dreams. Will not happen. The only thing they want to help him “fulfill” is a criminal trial.

        It’s one thing to disagree with Cuba’s stance—which I do—but that doesn’t mean that we have to pretend that it doesn’t make sense.

      • I stand corrected, they did appeared at one of the earlier WC back when Cuba was free. I mean in modern times and future times.

      • By the way, I know of no restriction against the USA calling Alonso into camps. It would be nothing more than a political statement…but since when was the USA shy about making political statements?

        (Alternatively, the US gov’t could drop the embargo against Cuba, and have Cuba release Alonso from national team duty as a friendly gesture.)

      • The saddest part is that we now depend on Cuba to provide us with NT players. Cuba!
        None of this would matter if we could somehow manage to develop somebody as good as Alonso….. An MLS caliber player.
        Of course some !diot will always blame FIFA for our deficiencies.

      • WHAT???

        I…I’m…

        The US hasn’t developed anyone as good as Alonso??? I think I see what you are trying to say but this is sooo the wrong argument to use in the “we need to develop our own players” position. In what way are we relying on Cube to get us players?

      • Soooo what’s your point? The rules are pretty clear and were set before Alonso decided to switch citizenship.
        Why should FIFA make an exemption and where those exceptions stop? At the US border?

      • I never said the rules weren’t clear, just that some are stupid moronic and/or lousy. Drill that into your thick head, which apparently cannot process my simple post.

      • Ronaldo Messi: you’re coming across as unreasonable. It seems to me that you misread Marlon’s question, which did not seem to question your understanding of the rules at all. Rather, it seemed to ask you to provide reasons why FIFA’s rule should be changed—by making an exception, or by implication, changing the rule entirely.

        You advocate changing the rules “when the move is politically motivated.” How hard do you really think it would be for any player to come up with “political reasons” to support a citizenship and team switch?

        “I don’t like communism.”
        “I disagree with imperialism.”
        “I’m anti-war.”
        “I can’t feel free under socialized medicine.”

        You name the country: anyone can come up with some political reason to “defect.” That’s the can ‘o worms you advocate opening—and goodbye to any restrictions on switching teams.

        Of course one alternative would be to list only certain political structures that FIFA deems “defection worthy.” For example: it’s always okay to defect from communist countries only. I hope the problems with that stance are obvious enough that you’ve already rejected it.

      • As a political scientist, I would need maybe 15 or 30 minutes and I could come up with a pretty good rule that would cover most all situations pretty well. One quick and easy solution would be to delineate any country that restricts the travel of its citizens as a country from which a person could qualify for asylum under FIFA. Right now, that would only include Cuba and North Korea, off the top of my head.

      • Gary Page: as a political scientist, you also understand that what you just proposed immediately alienates two of FIFA’s member associations. As with the Olympics, FIFA has tried to remain apolitical as much as possible. You can argue that other aspects of FIFA’s mission trump those concerns, but don’t try to ignore that dilemma.

      • Someone once said that “the law is an ass”. Some people seem so rule bound that the idea of changing a rule/law when it is clearly not working well in some important situations is anathema to them. Having written some laws myself, that is a pretty short-sighted and foolish view, IMO.

      • When it is a case of political asylum, it seems fair to me that they should allow it, since the player is a victim of circumstances having to play in an oppressive regime or dangerous country. Where the player has just left because of more money or something like that, then I can see a reason for the rule.

    • Yeah, cuz other than getting the field AJ has been doing so much these past fee months.. We’ll see how the pre-World Cup camp and friendlies go before we choose our starting forward.

      Reply
    • It won’t happen in a day. Here is an interesting question that I think MLS will face… For many hardcore soccer fans in America, the acceptance of MLS came via an initial interest in EPL, Europe, etc…

      But the real long-term “target” in this game is the American non-soccer sports fan, who has high disposable income that is currently spent on baseball (the most direct competitor from a seasonal timing sense), NFL (the 900 pound gorilla of US sports) , and to some extent NBA and NHL. Is it possible for them to become interested in MLS without the detour through the established “top” leagues?

      This is the bet that everyone is trying to manage. The stakes for the domestic league haven’t been this high since 1994. MLS will survive of course, but there is potentially massive growth opportunity that everyone is hoping to accelerate.

      Reply
    • For older Americans, say 45 and up, they never played and consider it “boring”. America is changing a lot with the younger kids who are now growing up and soccer is one thing that will change sports habits as so many kids are now playing soccer. For the generation between 25 and 45, there are some soccer fans, but they are mostly expatriates who favor Mexico or European teams and look down their noses at MLS. That’s my guess anyway. I think more and more of the 25 to 45 age group are discovering MLS and as more high profile players join, the younger kids will form a good fan base.

      Reply
    • Ah yes the obligatory Yedlin hater. It is clear to anyone who watches that he isn’t ready for Brazil yet but some of you seem to think hes the worst RB in the MLS, stop the over the top hate.

      Reply
  7. Colorado pulls one back despite getting dominated by Seattle, 3-1 Sounders…..This is a freebie game on the MLS site for those interested!

    Reply
  8. This Colorado team looks completely devoid of ideas going forward, will take a bit of magic for them to score at all. Seattle looks increasingly dangerous going forward, Martins + Dempsey are really forming a nice partnership at this point.

    Reply
    • “This Colorado team looks completely devoid of ideas going forward…”

      Well missing your playmaker tends to do that to you.

      Reply
      • Well Sanchez was also out today, and he’s also a very key part of the Rapids attack in that respect. But nevertheless, that kind of thing happens relatively frequently around this league, as well as at rather superior levels. (PSG so lackluster without Ibra in their return leg v Chelsea jumps to mind, just to name one such example.)

Leave a Comment