Dane Murphy: Goomba stompin'

Sorry. I saw this picture of Dane Murphy on Behind the Badge and I couldn't resist the photoshop opportunity. But hey, Murph did help guide the Reserves in central defense to a 2-0 shutout victory over the goombas of Toronto FC this morning.

All for you, Brian

This has been reported earlier in other places, but like most United fans should, I tend not to believe anything I read until I read it here. After five seasons playing for Fulham in the EPL, Brian McBride has announced his intentions of returning home to play in the MLS.

Here's where I'm confused though, and maybe one of my intelligent readers (HA!) can explain this to me... Goff is saying that Toronto is first in line for McHead's rights because they are at the top of the allocation table. Well mlsnet.com's Allocation List link still shows Columbus at the top, but with an expiration date of 5/15/08. But more importantly, on their main Roster Regulations page, you find this: "The allocations will be ranked in reverse order of finish for the 2007 season, taking playoff performance into account. San Jose, as an expansion team, will have the top-ranked allocation at the beginning of 2008."

So I don't quite understand why Toronto and not San Jose has the rights to McBride, but we'll take that as the truth, since "MLS Rules" is pretty much an oxymoron anyway since they don't always seem to matter all that much and can be revised at any time.

What's up with the whole damn allocation system anyway? Is there any other league of any sport in the world with a system like this? Isn't it a bit... um... communist? If more than one team is interested in a player, assuming that each team has enough salary cap space and/or a designated player slot if necessary, then I would think that whoever is willing to pay more for a player should be able to get him. That's capitalism baby! I guess Don Garber didn't learn about dollar votes in ECON-101?

Anyway, regardless of who has the rights to McBride, the word on the street is that he wants to play for Chicago, and that the Fire want him. With him, the Fire instantly become the favorites to win MLS Cup.

But I want him here.

Brian McBride could really be the perfect complement to Marcelo Gallardo where Luciano Emilio has failed. He is a bit more physical, he knows how to position himself well to receive crosses, and he knows how to finish them. He also brings some of the heart that we've all been complaining has been missing this year. But how might DC go about acquiring such a player? We don't have a lot of young talented players to offer, although I wouldn't mind losing Quavas Kirk. I doubt Toronto would be very interested in acquiring a midget, or one of our several crappy goaltenders.

I would trade...

Hold up. I'm about to be really controversial. Ahem.

Fred.

Yes, I dare offer up one of the most popular players on United not named Olsen! Fred has never been quite the best suited for the left wing, and would surely be a better option than Rickets or Robert in Toronto. And others might disagree, but I would say that left wing is actually one of the very few positions on the field where we have a slight bit of depth with Burch and Cordeiro.

The only problem then is what do you do with Emilio? McBride would probably command the Designated Player salary that we've presently delivered to Emilio for unknown reasons. I'm not really ready to deal last year's MVP to another MLS team, because we all know that he can still be very dangerous.

I doubt this is really possible, but a McBride/Emilio/Gallardo combination would be absolutely lethal. Ah well. A man can dream, right?

Is this the start of a turnaround? Or just a brief interruption from despair?

I'm not going to write an introduction, because D already wrote the intro I wanted to write, and did so probably much more eloquently than I would have:

If United was truly to start reassembling this season, this is the kind of game they needed. Not a competent 1-nil victory, not a 5-2 thrashing of someone, both of those would lend themselves far too easy a comfort to a team to fall into self-delusion, to dismiss the first third of the season as just a bad dream. But a game where the team plays well, and fights back twice to ultimately take a victory, that's one that might mean something in a way that keeps us all realistic about how far off we are.

1. Give some credit to Tom Soehn for sticking with the same starting lineup from earlier in the week. A lineup that I think is the best we've used all year. I'll admit that if I was the head coach, United would have probably lost this game because I would have pulled Santino Quaranta in favor of Marc Burch before Tino had the chance to set up two goals.

2. Jaime Moreno really performed the way a captain should in this match. He has a different way of leading from how I think Olsen would lead, and how some other captains like Beckham lead. Jaime doesn't get in the referee's face after every foul. He's quiet for most of the match, but then when he does finally speak up (like after Guevara's girlish slap to McTavish) its more effective. And with one assist and one goal, Moreno was the man of the match (as well as a standout for my fantasy team!)

3. Bryan Namoff continues to have the best year of his career.


1. Santino Quaranta's play in this match could be viewed as an analogy to the entire team's performance in this match, and hopefully it will also serve as analogy to the team's performance for the duration of the year. After much adversity and frustration early on, Quaranta fought hard to set up two goals. I was disappointed in his constantly being offsides in the first half, and being a step or two too slow on a ball from Martinez in the 15th minute that either Olsen or McTavish probably would have scored on if they were playing right wing. But Tino did really well to win the penalty kick by pushing into the box, and rightfully taking the contact from Wynne.

2. I thought Luciano Emilio's nickname for the rest of the year was going to be Brickfoot, but I liked Limarzi calling him the Predator. Emilio was aggressive to finish off the gift of a game winning goal from Sutton's save on Quaranta's shot, and let's not forget that he also finished off another rebound from a shot from Moreno that was called back for Jaime being offside.


1. Let's mark this as the first time ever that a goalscorer wound up in the Rail category. Although Gonzalo Peralta's goal was quality, this match could have been 3-0 if he had been able to stay with Danny Dichio on those two goals in the first half.

To me, this really felt like a game we could build upon. As D pointed out, this wasn't a pounding, and that's probably a good thing. But this game showed the team that they DO have the resiliency, the talent, and the heart to come from behind. Because this team has a lot more coming from behind to do this year.

And you know what? I'm glad that we have another tough opponent to face next week with a matchup against New England on the road. If our next game was at home against San Jose or something, I feel like it would be tough to get in a rhythm. But our next three games are against the two MLS Cup finalists from last year, and the team that knocked us out of the playoffs last year. These are all winnable games, but these are also teams that United will have to again play their hearts out against. Let's keep it going.

And so the countdown continues

Am I the only one who feels like watching that game was a waste of my time? Really an ugly match, with a lot of giveaways by each team. Neither team looked like they should be in the playoff hunt, save for maybe Toronto's defensive unit. At least last week at Chivas it appeared that both teams really wanted to win.


None


1. It was good to have Fred back certainly. Good energy, good creativity, but also too many giveaways. Fred was a header towards either side of the goal rather than right up the middle away from earning top honors.


1. Sorry but Devon McTavish has to be the goat for the most bone headed play by a guy in a DC uniform yet this year. How come these things always happen to us this year, but not against us? Shouldn't karma be turning by now? Or does karma want us to fire our coach too?

2. Jaime Moreno looked like the worst player on the field. If the MLS kept "turnovers" as a stat like the NBA, then Jaime would have had at least 6 of them in the first half. Not to say that this is a comment on Moreno's future in general because he's played some good games this year, but I'd like to see Quaranta get a chance next to Emilio in the home leg.

3. Do you think Marcelo Gallardo feels like he's the only good player on an otherwise crappy team? Like he's the Lebron James to United's Cavaliers? I figured that Gallardo would be the only player unaffected by the streamers on corner kicks, being the only guy with enough international experience to have seen that before. When we have our own stadium, can we locate seating near the corners like at BMO? Except that in typical southeast DC tradition, the fans will shoot guns instead of throwing streamers.

This is plain and simple now. If United earns anything less than 3 points on Saturday, Tom Soehn should and will be let go. Which is actually a bit unfortunate because I don't think he can be blamed for this loss whatsoever. I liked this starting lineup. But I wouldn't be surprised to see a switch back to the 3-5-2 in despiration on Saturday. But with Dyachenko not seemingly in the team's immediate plans, who will occupy the central midfield spot next to Simms? Here's my lineup:

---------Wells-----------
Namoff-Peralta-Martinez
---McTavish-Simms-----
Mediate-Gallardo--Fred-
--Quaranta--Emilio------

On Clean Sheets

I'm not concerned with the fact that DC United finds themselves in last place in the Eastern Conference after 5 weeks. Because as others have pointed out, the MLS Regular Season is long and forgiving. Nor am I concerned with the team being in the bottom third of the league in goals against, despite having played against some pretty weak opponents.

Here's where I'm concerned... The following teams have earned clean sheets so far this season:

Week 1: Columbus, Colorado, Kansas City, New England

Week 2: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York

Week 3: Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, RSL

Week 4: Dallas, Kansas City, San Jose, Toronto

Week 5: Columbus, New England, New York, Toronto

Notice anyone missing?

That's right. DC United (along with Chivas) is the ONLY TEAM in the league thus far that does NOT yet own a clean sheet. That's embarassing. The expansion Earthquakes have one. Hell, Toronto finished in last place last year, and they've got two! New York's best defender is Bobcat Goldthwait, and they have two. Even LA has one, with their defense anchored by a United reject and a Portuguese hack.

And it's especially disappointing given United's high level of play in certain matches. They just haven't been able to close out any matches without letting in a late goal. It might not really seem like a big deal to give up a cheap goal when you're already up 3-0 or 4-0, but it's hard to see that happening very often this year. I'm much more concerned that United will continue to give up cheap late goals, even when winning a close match with only one score.

It would be unfair to blame Zach Wells for the lack of a clean sheet. Remember that Jose Carvallo started in goal during the forgettable 4-0 loss to Real. Wells' Goals Against Average of 1.5 is actually not horrible. Some people might like to blame Gonzalo Peralta, but I won't go there either. If anything, it starts at the top. Coach Soehn has got to find a way to keep his players motivated to close out these games.

So if given choice, I would rather see a 1-0 victory over Colorado this Sunday than another freakin 4-1 win.

What we missed

So I spent a week away on business, and cruising the college bars at IU (Has anyone else played "Sink the Biz"? Great fun. And probably the easiest way to get random girls to come over and drink with you.) In anticipation of tonight's home leg of the Ben Cup against RSL, I figured I'd take a quick chance to review what I missed while I was away.

• DC United signs Francis Doe to their last remaining spot on the Senior roster. Doe should give us the speed that we've all been yelling about since Emilio started apparently playing with twenty pound weights in each of his pockets. Goff is saying though that Doe has yet to receive his work visa, so will not be eligible to play tonight.
  
  
• As United prepares for tonight's revenge match against Sideshow Kyle and Real Salt Lake, it looks like Santino Quaranta will be starting at right midfield in place of the injured Devon McTavish. Also emerging from this week's practices was this fantastic quote from Zach Wells after a collision with Franco Niell: "When I lift my shirt later, there's definitely going to be an imprint of a gnome on my chest."
  
  
• The Men's Olympic Team gets I think a pretty tough draw, in a group with Holland, Nigeria, and Japan. I guess it's far from being a Group of Death or anything, because I think all four groups are actually pretty even, but it will certainly be tough. The Netherlands won all of Europe, knocking out England in the semifinals and then won the meaningless final against Serbia. And we've consistently had a hard time with African nations. But the Americans are lucky to avoid Brazil, Argentina, and Italy in the group stages.
  
  
• The defending Supporters' Shield winners DC United and defending MLS Cup Champion Houston Dynamo each find themselves in last place in their respective divisions. This isn't really new for either team, because both of them started fairly slowly last year too, and I don't think it's really too surprising for Houston this year either given the loss of some key players. But DC seemed to upgrade at every position other than goalkeeper. They should be due for a big win tonight.
  
  
• Toronto and San Jose each earned victories last weekend, making it two in a row for TFC. The Rapids continue to be wildly inconsistent. One week after a big victory over New England on the road, the Rapids lose at home to give San Jose their first win. In an effort to rebound, Colorado will announce this guy as their new defensive midfielder at halftime.
  

Hope you made it to your seats in time

I did. But not by much.

Overall, a great game from United. I don't understand why so many of the Insiders are complaining that this game didn't inspire confidence against a weak opponent. 4-1 is a good result, and its really poor karma to be upset that the game wasn't 6-0.


1. Clyde Simms - He was my man of the match. Just puts himself in great positions to win the ball. If "steals" was a stat category in soccer like it is in basketball, Simms would probably lead the league. Had a few dangerous shots too. I like how he keeps the ball low on those shots from distance. There are other players who send the ball into the box seats in those situations (cough Cunningham cough). Simms will score some goals this year.

2. Luciano Emilio - Clinical finishing on the first goal in the second minute. Actually if you think about it, Emilio was just inches away from 3 or 4 goals. He had the great shot from 20 yards out that hit the underside of the crossbar, leading to Quaranta's goal. Another shot later in the half that was barely saved. And then put the ball in the net after being called offside in the second half. I thought he was in line with the ball when Fred played it across the box, and I didn't see a good replay, but even if he was off it could have only been by a couple inches.

3. Santino Quaranta - Perfectly placed shot to get his goal, and totally cool of Tino to celebrate in front of the Barra. (D- Is all forgiven yet?) But I was most impressed with Quaranta's work rate, playing the full 90. That's certainly something we've yet to see from Niell. Also a good point from Edgell on how Quaranta makes Emilio's game stronger.

4. Zach Wells - Made a lot of great saves last night, and distribution looked much better. Although I really could have used the extra 20 points that a Clean Sheet would have earned in fantasy MLS. I missed the lead-up to the Edu goal so I can't comment on it.

5. Gonzalo Peralta - He isn't getting much love from the Insiders. But keep in mind that Peralta's job last night was to keep Danny Dichio out of the play, even including risking a red card by taking him down the one time where he may have been through on goal. Well Dichio didn't have one shot on goal, so Peralta did his job well.


1. Jaime Moreno - Fullback describes it best, but I thought it was hilarious when Moreno took the ball away from Niell in the box as if to say "What are you doing? THIS is how you finish!" Moreno did look slow though, and is certainly not 100%. But now I'm a little bit less worried about whether he will be fit enough to start against Pachuca since Quaranta is looking good.

2. Gonzalo Martinez - Quite a few scary opportunities, including one very early in the match when a cross was sent in and you saw Namoff going up for it along with two TFC players, and then yelling at Martinez afterwards. One of those guys was yours Chalo.


None! It feels great to write that.

A few other remarks... Was that a 3-5-2 or a 3-4-3 in the second half? Definitely an interesting choice by Soehn to switch to a more attacking formation when up 2-0, but with Toronto's ineffective offense, why not? If you missed the game, most of the second half looked something like this:
---------Wells-----------
Namoff-Peralta-Martinez
---------Simms----------
McTavish-Dyachenko-Fred
----Moreno-Quaranta-----
--------Emilio-------------

Whatever it was, I guess it worked, as we scored 2 more goals. But I almost wonder if having only 3 in the back led to Edu's goal.

Anyway, great atmosphere at RFK, and a nice relief that the rain held off. Also, love the selection in the new DC United store. Check back later for pictures from section 312.

Eastern promises

When DC United started making all their numerous changes this offseason, I had it in my mind that I would NOT pick them to finish in first place, because there were just too many question marks. So I toyed for a while with putting Chicago in first, but then I realized that they had a new inexperienced coach, and Chad Barrett playing forward, so that wouldn't work. Then I flirted with putting New England in first place, but they just haven't done enough to improve this offseason. It even crossed my mind to put New York in first, but then I realized that I'm not a moron. So after eliminating all the attractive distractors, we'll just settle with...

1. DC United
Key addition (+): We've talked at length about United bringing in Marcelo Gallardo not to win the Supporters' Shield again (they could do THAT with Gomez) but instead to make the team more competitive in the C-Cup, Superliga, and even MLS Cup.
Key Loss (-): Brian Arguez. HA! No it's Troy Perkins. While starting all but one game in the past two seasons, Perkins was absolutely fearless, and emerged as one of the top keepers in MLS. Zach Wells will try to fill those shoes.
Player to watch (()): Will be interesting to see if Luciano Emilio scores another 20 goals, or if he suffers from a sophomore slump.
Result (=): United showed against Harbour View that they have the tools on offense and defense to dominate a lesser team. But how will they fare against more quality competition? With los Gonzalos, the team should be in the top 3 in defense again this year, but an aging attack with Gallardo, Moreno, and Olsen could stumble with the injuries and fatigue that result from being in so many competitions.

2. Chicago Fire
+: The Fire bring in experienced Polish international Tomasz Frankowski to add to an already strong attack.
-: The retirement of Chris Armas sees the end of the career of one of MLS's greatest defensive midfielders. The absense of this underrated player could do a lot of damage on defense.
(): Cuauhtemoc Blanco will continue to frustrate opposing teams, along with the referees. Makes you wonder if the most bruised legs in the MLS will last through the year.
=: This sounds cliché, but Chicago was on fire towards the end of last season, and I think they will keep it up in 2008. Look for Calen Carr also to play an emerging role.

3. New England Revolution
+: Mauricio Castro will be asked to add some more experienced leadership to a young midfield that includes Jeff Larentowicz and Wells Thompson. Steve Ralston could see his role diminish this year.
-: Two solid MLS attackers in Pat Noonan and Andy Dorman went overseas this offseason. New England will look for some young foreigners to step up.
(): How will Taylor Twellman react when the team blocked his move to Europe, but had no problem shipping off his partner Noonan?
=: The team really didn't do much to try to improve this offseason, choosing to rely more on their proven 3-5-2 formula with mostly the same players as last year. We expect mostly the same result as last year.

4. Columbus Crew
+: The Crew added left back Gino Padula, who should help to improve a defense that already includes Ezra Hendrickson and Frankie Hejduk.
-: Ned Grabavoy was found to be expendable and wound up in San Jose.
(): The Crew would be wise to expand on the role of Robbie Rogers this year. He's a young player with national team experience who should absolutely be in the team's starting XI.
=: We'll get to see what Schelotto can do with a full year. My prediction of the Crew finishing ahead of the Red Bulls is hinged on some other predictions that Jozy Altidore will leave the league and Brian McBride will rejoin the league in the middle of the season.

5. New York Red Bulls
+: It’s a sad state of affairs in New York when I'm claiming Zach Thornton as the team's best acquisition this offseason.
-: The team chose not to retain Dema Kovalenko for some odd reason. He's a foul machine, but he's about all the team had going for them in the play-breaking role.
(): Keep your eye on the forward combination of Juan Pablo Angel and Jozy Altidore. If Altidore gets a contract in Europe, how will Angel do alone up top?
=: With a pretty stout offense, and a lack of defense, look for the Red Bulls to be involved in a lot of 4-3 games this year. The team might start off strong again like they did in 2007, but will surely fade.

6. Kansas City Wizards
+: Sorry but I just don't see Claudio Lopez making a huge impact this year. He is also joined in the attack by Columbian Ivan Trujillo.
-: Lopez is a totally different player from the departed Eddie Johnson. We'll see how the rest of the team reacts to this change.
(): KC struggled in defense last year, despite the leadership of Jimmy Conrad. They will likely find themselves towards the bottom of the pack again this year.
=: This could be a year of transition for the Wizards, and I'm just not as high on them as a lot of people are. They have relied on Johnson too heavily the past couple of years, so I don't think they'll do well without him.

7. Toronto FC
+: Toronto made very few moves this offseason, but had a very strong draft with the selection of Julius James, along with finding Xavier Balc in the late rounds.
-: Fortunately, Toronto didn't lose much either. Chris Pozniak was a decent player for them in the midfield last year, but that's about it.
(): The reliable and versatile Maurice Edu will continue to develop, and if TFC is smart, they will allow him more freedom to make his own plays.
=: Toronto is building a talented young team, and probably one of these years we will start to see the results of that. But it won't be this year.

So not a lot of wholesale changes in the seeding of teams in the East. I do have United finishing in first, but I do NOT have them winning the Supporters' Shield. More on that we get to the Western Conference later (Hint: It won't be San Jose!)

There you have it. I made it through an entire post titled Eastern Promises without a single reference to Viggo Mortensen in a naked knife fight. Oh woops...

Senior roster appears set

At least it appears that way as far as I see. Goff told us this morning that David Blumer and Josh Gardner would not be offered contracts by the club. So if you look back at this post, you'd realize that there are only 18 players left who I've considered as being in competition for the 18 senior roster spots. And with Gardner and Blumer out of the picture, it looks like the final senior roster spot will probably go to Jamil Walker. This is again based on the assumption that Burch, McTavish, and Dyachenko will all remain on the senior roster like they were last year, and that Kpene will remain on the developmental roster like he was last year.

Thanks to some more excellent reporting by Goff, we also learned today the 18 man roster that will travel to Jamaica for the opening leg of United's debut in the Champions' Cup. Really not any surprises here, as I think we probably could have guessed this roster following the lineup used in the Renegade match. But one name does stick out to me, and that's Dan Stratford. This Suppie was named to the gameday roster ahead of the more experienced Justin Moose and Guy Kpene, and Stratford has maybe locked up the role of Clyde Simms' chief backup. Also kind of important to note here that Dyachenko remains ahead of Kpene and Walker on the depth chart.

Lastly, following a 1-1 tie with United earlier today, the Houston Dynamo added yet another trophy to their case: The Texas Pro-Soccer Championship! The team might have to move their two MLS Cup trophies into a closet to make room for this coveted award. Although DC finished with the same 2-0-1 record as Houston, the Dynamo were called champions just because they scored more goals than us on lowly TFC (although they gave up 3 goals to TFC also - so what does THAT say?).

Waiting by the phone

If I get a call later tonight and am asked to be the new General Manager of the San Jose Earthquakes, here is the list of players I will select (assuming I can negotiate myself a reasonable starting salary...)

GK: Kevin Hartman
DEF: Alex Zotinca, Ryan Cochrane, Brandon Prideaux
MID: Kyle Martino, Ned Grabavoy, Brian Carroll, Andy Dorman, Ivan Guerrero
F: Abe Thompson

I'm taking Hartman because even though he's up there, he's still got a lot less gray hairs than Onstad, although I'm hesitant because of his GAA in Kansas City. My three defenders are starters with their current clubs, and with Prideaux I'm getting someone who has been his team's captain, and will be my team's captain.

The midfield was the hardest. But with Martino, Guerrero, and Dorman, you're getting three versatile guys who have all played in several different spots. Carroll is coming off a down year, but could still start for most clubs in the league, and Grabavoy has the skills to lead the attack. Of course Andy Dorman is a concern to leave MLS completely, but I think he's worth the risk. I know I've been saying all along that San Jose would be crazy not to take Rod Dyachenko, but I think with Grabavoy available, Dyachenko becomes a bit redundant, and Carroll is easily the best defensive midfielder available.

Not too many good forwards on there, but at least with Thompson I'm getting a UMD alum! Notice I didn't take anyone from the Red Bulls. Hmm...

OK, now here's a list compiled from all the comments on the Insider, adding in my own, of who are the popular choices to be selected. This list is far from scientific because I think there's a lot of commenters on there that selected more (or sometimes less) than 10 players, and most of us gave very little regard to salary concerns. So read into it what you will.

Chivas: Burpo (1), Cunliffe (4), Nunez (3), Perez (1), Zotinca (2)
Chicago: Curtin (3), Guerrero (6), Gutierrez (4), Thorrington (1)
Colorado: Cancela (1), Casey (7), Hernandez (1), Petke (3), Prideaux (2)
Columbus: Grabavoy (13), Guenebaum (1), Herron (1), Thomas (1)
Dallas: Gbandi (1), Goodson (2), Oduro (3), Pitchkolan (1), Rhine (1), Thompson (6)
DC: Carroll (8), Dyachenko (3), Kpene (2)
Houston: Ashe (2), Cochrane (5), Onstad (3), Waibel (1), Wells (3)
KC: Burciaga (7), Colombano (1), Hartman (4)
LA: Gray (3), Hamse (1), Martino (6), Mathis (1), Tudela (3), Xavier (1)
NE: Dorman (7), John (4), Riley (4)
NY: Doe (2), Goldthwaite (1), Magee (2), Vide (6), Wolyniec (1)
Salt Lake: Brown (2), Kipre (1), Watson (2), Williams (1)
Toronto: Boyens (1), Lombardo (3), Pozniak (1)

How many is too many?

So with the addition of Toronto this year, San Jose next year, and Seattle the following year, the MLS is up to 15 teams. And that's with St. Louis and Philadelphia seeking their own franchises also.

When do we say enough already?

So the question is… Is there enough talent interested in playing in the MLS to support so many more teams? Or is this just going to saturate the league with less talented players? San Jose gets the opportunity to select a player from each MLS team, after they each protect 11 players. Seattle will probably get the same opportunity. That means that in 2008, San Jose will potentially have 11 players starting that weren't good enough to start for their previous MLS clubs in 2007. Although Toronto was a great story this year, particularly with their high attendance numbers, they still finished in last place, with a -24 goal differential.

But the flip side of that argument is that there is actually a large pool of talented players in the USL that will get an opportunity to play in MLS now that there are more teams. The US Open Cup has shown every year that the USL teams can compete with the MLS. Even though a few MLS teams didn't take that tournament seriously this year (cough cough DCU cough cough Jay Nolly), for a USL team to beat an MLS team's Reserves even has to be a good accomplishment. But then for two USL teams to make the semifinals - that tells you that some of these players are legit, and they can compete with the big boys.

It's a nice idea that the new MLS Seattle franchise will be retaining some of the current Seattle Sounders players, as the Owners announced. I'm thinking they should keep the name too out of respect for the history of the current USL team (4-time USL-1 champions) and former NASL team.