In any sport, a championship season depends on getting some breaks at the right times.  Some of those breaks occur in the offseason, when the current season's roster is composed of trades scrutinized by the media as well as those that fly under the radar.  The trade of Jeff Larentowicz to the Rapids was the […]

The playoff numbers look like this... 5 year comparison Quarterfinals Totals(both legs)   Avg +/- Teams  2006   12,736   NA  CHI, COL, CHV, DAL, DCU, HOU, NE, RBNY  2007   17,041   33.81%   CHI, CHV, DAL, DCU, HOU, KC, NE, RBNY  2008   14,960   -12.22%   CHI, CHV, CLB, HOU, KC, NE, RBNY, RSL  2009   20,755   38.74%   CHI, CHV, CLB, […]

Beginning at 8:30 Eastern, MLS Talk will be live blogging the 2010 MLS Cup.  Join us here to discuss the players, coaches, BMO Field, ESPN, and everything else around the fifteenth MLS Cup.  Insightful analysis will be welcome, as well as humor and pop culture references. I look forward to chatting with you at 8:30 […]

To kick off our MLS Cup 2010 Preview, I am pleased to share that we will be live blogging the match on this site Sunday night beginning at 8:30 PM Eastern.  For those of us not in Toronto, please visit this site to share thoughts on the two teams, ESPN's coverage, or the warmth of […]

Prior to the MLS Cup Final on Sunday, Don Garber held court today to discuss the good, the bad, and the future of MLS.  Much of what he said is in no way surprising, but he did shed some light on some hot topics in the American soccer world – Reserve League and Youth Development: […]

Tonight the Eastern Conference final will kick off in Colorado at 9:30 Eastern on Fox Soccer Channel.  In a playoff full of upsets, this matchup epitomizes the postseason so far: the visitors are the lowest playoff seed who were led by the Golden Boot winner who provided almost all of their scoring and overcame the […]

The story of the MLS playoffs coming into Sunday night was the futility of being a higher seed.  None of the higher seeds had advanced and the playoffs were seemingly wide-open for a new champion.  Then LA took the pitch against Seattle, and they showed the league who should be the favorites for the MLS […]

Soccer fans in the U.S. have long debated whether playoffs should be part of the beautiful game.  Yesterday's Real Salt Lake/FC Dallas match showed exactly why the MLS playoffs can be special, as the lower-seeded Dallas knocked off the defending MLS champions with a 1-1 draw, 3-2 win on aggregate.  Real Salt Lake came into […]

With San Jose's dramatic victory last night, they will await this weekend's slate of matches to see who their next round opponent will be.  Their upset victory has set the stage for an interest weekend of matches where we could conceivably see three more lower seeds win their playoff matches and once again throw the […]

I want to begin by stating that I am a fan of the current MLS playoffs and in general I enjoy the way Major League Soccer organizes them.  Like all MLS fans, I have things I love and things I hate about the current format, style of play, and presentation.  Overall, the matches this year […]

The playoff numbers look like this... 5 year comparison Conference Semifinals – 1st Leg Avg +/- Home Teams 2006 9,533 NA Chicago NY Colorado Chivas USA 2007 14,245 49.42% Chicago NY Dallas Kansas City 2008 10,476 -26.46% New England NY Salt Lake Kansas City 2009 19,985 90.77% New England Seattle Salt Lake Chivas USA 2010 […]