MLS New Season

I'm going to try to watch more MLS this year. A bunch of the guys I work with watch it, and have an MLS Fantasy league. Don't really have a team I support. Closest team is the LA Galaxy. I grew up in LA and have been to a couple matches, but the whole thing is a little too "LA" for me. They do have the brilliant Nigel de Jong this year, absolutely love that man.

In the next couple months I'm hoping to move up to Oregon, and would love to go to Timbers and Thorns (the women's team) games. They have the reputation for having really good atmospheres.

i don't really follow, follow it but can happily watch it when it's on, it has greatly improved over the years.

if i was to pick a team it would probably be the white caps as i did keep an eye on them when Kenny Miller was out there (despite him being Hibs)

MLS sides were well and truly shown up in the CONCACAF champions league over the past week.

4 quarter finals, MLS v mexican sides. Mexican sides won all 4 ties. A Galaxy side featuring De Jong, Gerrard and Keane were smashed 4-0 by Santos Laguna early this morning

I've got tickets for NYCFC v New York Red Bulls on July 3rd at Yankee Stadium - can't wait !!

Brendan_O_Connell said:

I don't have a team myself, but hate Sporting Kansas City because I used to work with a bloke from Kansas and he supported them and he was a massive bell-end.

As good a reason as any to hate a team.

Whitecaps 'fan' since moving here. Looking forward to the season, they've got some decent players

It's awful

SomervilleAddick said:

bazjonster said:

It's awful

I have to agree. Most of the games I see are dire. I used to see better games on Winns Common.

I think the defending can be questionable, for some reason I always see poor goalkeeping which is surprising given Americas proud tradition of developing good 'keepers. However I think the overall standard is somewhere between Champ/L1, most MLS teams would beat Charlton !

Don't know if anyone watched the opener yesterday between Chicago Fire and NYCFC, standard was awful but cracking game ending up 4-3 to NYCFC!

LA Galaxy for me. Heading to LA for a few weeks at the end of April and will be taking a game in.

Dazzler21 said:

Oakster said:

Watched the Timbers beat Columbus 2-1 yesterday, standard certainly wasn't awful, there were moments of class from both teams - but hey what do know i only watch it every week!!

I watched Chicago Fire vs NYCFC

That was appalling defending by both halves. Truly woeful.

But the forwards weren't bad.

Pirlo and Villa have faded into relative obscurity very quickly.

The defending was absolutely woeful. Roger Johnson would have been right at home. Can't disagree with the comment about Villa and Pirlo - well off the pace.

Oakster said:

ricky_otto said:

Dazzler21 said:

Oakster said:

Watched the Timbers beat Columbus 2-1 yesterday, standard certainly wasn't awful, there were moments of class from both teams - but hey what do know i only watch it every week!!

I watched Chicago Fire vs NYCFC

That was appalling defending by both halves. Truly woeful.

But the forwards weren't bad.

Pirlo and Villa have faded into relative obscurity very quickly.

The defending was absolutely woeful. Roger Johnson would have been right at home. Can't disagree with the comment about Villa and Pirlo - well off the pace.

Chicago Fire & NYFC had the worst defences in 2015, so no real surprise I guess.

That's probably it then, in fairness NYFC's defence wasn't helped out by Paddy V trying to implement a high press and a high line when he has Pirlo who barely broke out of a walk all game, so they got opened up a fair few times by Chicago's pacey forwards.

ricky_otto said:

Tapping in to your MLS knowledge here Oakster as I'm going to make an effort to watch as many MLS games as I can this season. so who are the players to look out for? - aside from the usual suspects (lampard, Gerrard et al).

The quality isn't always great, but it's not necessarily woeful. You will get some very slow paced games, particularly in the summer where it can hit 35-40C in some of these cities. In my experience the defending is either very solid, or very sloppy. I have a lot of issues with the league, mostly surrounding the set-up and such, but one thing I will say is that the quality is definitely improving from what I've seen.

I'll give my obvious players to look out for and then I'll turn it over to Oakster
1. Federico Higauin of Columbus Crew, brother of Gonzalo, clever attacking midfielder who gets goals
2. Sebastian Giovinco--formerly of Juve and Italy, scores for fun for Toronto. Always been a talented player, but has struggled with injuries and being 5'4''
3. Jordan Morris, Seattle--Has played for US Youth and full international side on numerous occasions. Waited to turn professional until he finished Uni at Stanford. Turned down an offer from Werder Bremen to play in the States.
4. Nigel de Jong, LA--Still only 30. Manchester City should never have let him go, a class above Fernando and even Fernandinho when it comes to breaking up play. Behind Mascherano, the best midfield destroyer of his generation. Can you tell I have a bit of a man crush?
5. Jelle VanDamme, LA-- Big, Bald, Belgian, Bastard. Played for Wolves briefly but spent most of his career at Anderlecht. Proper center half
6. BWP, SWP, and Llyod Sam up front for New York Red Bulls--Need I say more? Behind them is a player called Sascha Kljeistan, talented midfielder, played in Europe for a bit and has played for the US but never quite seemed to make the most of his talent.

These are all pretty mainstream and off the top of my head. I don't usually watch a ton of MLS, but going to try and watch more this year as it seems like it's going to be an exciting year and I'm in a fantasy league with some guys I work with.