<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a title="IMG_1201 by kleinnick, on Flickr" href="http:\/\/www.flickr.com/photos/kleinnick/5681793960/"><div><figure class="image"></figure></div></a>Photo by kleinnick</div>
Wednesday night is quietly becoming a great night for MLS. &nbsp;Over the past few weeks the league has put some very good matches on with some compelling story lines. &nbsp;This week is no different, as tonight we will see two teams with drastically different styles face off as they try to continue their climbs up the table. &nbsp;This game has all the excitement of the past weekend’s matches, plus a European star, a few players making questionably high salaries, and a struggling offense on the road trying to break down a stubborn defense. &nbsp;I of course speak of the FC Dallas/Toronto FC match.
However, I doubt that this is the match most soccer fans are excited to watch. &nbsp;The Philadelphia-Los Angeles clash tonight at 7:30 PM ET on DirectKick features top two teams from each conference. &nbsp;Philadelphia is coming off a tough loss to Portland, where their defense held the Timbers at JELD-WEN until a second half goal did them in. &nbsp;Regardless, they are playing the best defense in the league, only allowing three goals in seven matches, and doing just enough to have secured second place in the East.
The Galaxy, meanwhile, are coming off their emotional game against New York, which ended in a 1-1 draw. &nbsp;The days after the match have seen various snips in the media from Galaxy players (<a href="http:\/\/www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/luke-rodgers-vs-landon-donovan-war-of-words/12577" target="_blank">see Daniel’s take on our site</a>) about uncalled fouls against them. &nbsp;Regardless of what’s called or not, Los Angeles is ahead of RSL for first in the Western Conference and at 16 points is your early leader for the Supporters’ Shield.
Their last meeting is a good guide to tonight’s match. &nbsp;On April 2nd, a Leonardo header off a Beckham free kick in the 33rd minute was the difference as the Galaxy won 1-0. &nbsp;Overall the Galaxy have never lost to the Union, having outscored them 5-1 in the three times they’ve met. &nbsp;The lineups will likely be similar for both teams except last game’s goal scorer is out with “a knee” for the visitors [and Beckham will miss the game due to Bruce Arena giving him the game off]. &nbsp;And if you are looking for more subplots, Carlos Ruiz will face his former team for the first time with the Union; he played for the Galaxy from 2002-2005 and again in 2008.
This game will be low scoring, take that to the bank. &nbsp;Here are some keys for who will likely come out ahead with that critical one goal:
<ul>
<li>Both teams are coming off of emotional games on national television, so the team that is more focused will certainly have an edge.</li>
<li>Philadelphia has to be careful with fouls and try not to give up corner kicks or free kicks on their half of the field. &nbsp;Everyone knows the beauty of Beckham’s service, but set plays have been the best scoring option for the Galaxy recently. &nbsp;Landon Donovan has scored the last four goals for the visitors over three games, and the most recent one was off a Beckham corner. &nbsp;Los Angeles is struggling to score in open play, so allowing them set pieces is playing into their offense.</li>
<li>The Portland strategy will not work for the Union this week, even though they almost escaped with a point last weekend. &nbsp;Peter Nowak The Union staff &nbsp;[note: Peter Nowak will miss tonight’s game]&nbsp;needs to find ways to get the ball to Carlos Ruiz in the offensive half. &nbsp;This team cannot simply absorb the Galaxy’s pressure, LA is too good to not find a way to score. &nbsp;And you can bet Andrew Chapin has heard the complaints in the media and will award penalties on close plays.</li>
<li>The key to this game will be Brian Carroll. &nbsp;The midfielder has a tough task to disrupt the Galaxy midfield, the strength of their attack. &nbsp;Playing in the middle, he has to prevent Juninho from finding space to shoot from outside the box as well as disrupt any long balls&nbsp;from Beckham to Donovan, Magee, and the forwards. &nbsp;If Philadelphia can clog the middle successfully and grab a goal, they’ll win.</li>
</ul>

Clash of Style Highlights Union-Galaxy Match - World Soccer Talk

Clash of Style Highlights Union-Galaxy Match

<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a title="Landon Donovan by Ryan, on Flickr" href="http:\/\/www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhealy/5200286419/"><div><figure class="image"></figure></div></a>Photo by Ryan Healy</div>
A great weekend for MLS soccer was&nbsp;overshadowed&nbsp;by some high-profile&nbsp;injuries that may close the door on some struggling teams. &nbsp;Meanwhile, the top of the pack looked stronger: Donovan’s return coupled with New York’s victory Thursday has two of the big name teams clicking on all cylinders at the moment and threatening to open a divide in the standings. &nbsp;The East is still the East – three teams will take the playoff spots but no one’s sure who and in what order.
But the big takeaway from this weekend is, of course, Lambeau Leaps are not allowed in MLS. &nbsp;Here’s your weekend recap:
Seattle Sounders 1, Colorado Rapids 0: We’ve <a href="http:\/\/www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/steve-zakuani-severe-leg-injury/12431" target="_blank">covered</a> the match and <a href="http:\/\/www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/seattle-squeaks-by-colorado-despite-man-advantage/12435" target="_blank">implications</a> in-depth on this site, but I can’t emphasize enough how big of an impact Zakuani’s injury is on the Sounders. &nbsp;Fredy Montero looked to be on his way back to form and they finally looked to be clicking on offense at least. &nbsp;Now they have to replace one of their best playmakers. &nbsp;Their schedule over the next few weeks is critical: Toronto, Portland, Kansas City and Dallas at home; traveling to DC and Columbus. &nbsp;This is not murderers row, but the kind of schedule that could show us if Seattle are contenders or pretenders this year. &nbsp;Look for a Colorado post this week to talk about their travails.
Toronto FC 1, Columbus Crew 1: I mentioned <a href="http:\/\/www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/how-legit-are-the-columbus-crew/12394" target="_blank">last week </a>that Columbus is facing an easier part of the schedule, and if they want to be considered a playoff contender, they need to win these type of games. &nbsp;Instead, they settled for a draw and only after Toronto were down to ten men. &nbsp;Tony Tchani’s celebration made it clear that MLS officials will not tolerate goal celebrations off the pitch; players be warned. &nbsp;The Toronto goal snapped the Crew’s impressive scoreless streak and gives some hope to a side that was pretty down after last week’s loss.
Chivas USA 2, San Jose 1: This is a bad, bad loss for San Jose. &nbsp;While Chivas got a long deserved win, this is the kind of match San Jose needs to win to be considered a playoff team. &nbsp;They are winless in their last four and while losing to New York last week is no disgrace, losing at home to the Goats arguably is. &nbsp;An additional footnote, this match was the first time this season an MLS team came from one goal down to win a match. &nbsp;Chivas is&nbsp;also&nbsp;now undefeated in their last four matches.
FC Dallas 2, Vancouver Whitecaps 1: Dallas may have won the battle but in the process lost the war. &nbsp;The home side looked like they were finally gathering some momentum this season and beginning to play as well as they should be; Brek Shea was even returning to the right side of the midfield. &nbsp;Credit to the team for rallying for a win after David Ferreira went off with a broken ankle, but make no mistake this is a serious blow. &nbsp;He is their best playmaker and one of the best in MLS. &nbsp;For the ‘Caps, it was another blown lead and another yellow card for Eric Hassli, who will miss&nbsp;their&nbsp;next match due to this card being his fifth.
New England Revolution 3, Sporting Kansas City 2: So many storylines, so little space. &nbsp;Let’s start with Benny Feilhaber’s debut in MLS: he played the whole match and assisted on the Marco Perovic goal. &nbsp;He also was responsible for the red card to Aurélien Collins: the KC defender and Revs midfielder got into a tussle after Collins collided with Matt Reis. &nbsp;While KC fans may argue it was unjust, Collins was sent to the showers with a straight red. &nbsp;The Revs also saw Steve Nicol’s newest formation – Shalrie Joseph playing as a forward, not a midfielder, to provide support up top for Lekic. &nbsp;Kansas City, meanwhile, needs some help on defense. &nbsp;The team’s backline leaks like a sieve and cannot keep giving up 2.4 goals a game.
Chicago Fire 1, Houston Dynamo 1: The ageless Bobby Boswell continues his strong year. &nbsp;The defender scored the equalizer late in the match and, don’t look now, but Houston’s on a nice hot streak. &nbsp;They are unbeaten in their last five and are climbing the Eastern Conference standings. &nbsp;Chicago, on the other hand, can’t buy a win at the moment and their upcoming schedule won’t help that effort: they travel to Colorado then host the high-scoring Whitecaps before traveling to Toronto and Philadelphia.
Los Angeles Galaxy 3, Portland Timbers 0: Welcome back Landon Donovan. &nbsp;The Team USA midfielder scored twice, including a penalty, but the match may have been over in the fourth minute when Chad Barrett scored. &nbsp;LA fielded their strongest lineup of the year and looked like one of the best teams in MLS since maybe their opening night win over Seattle. &nbsp;Portland, despite their good karma at home, just does not play well on the road. &nbsp;They are two different teams depending on where the game is played. &nbsp;For Timbers fans, the one bright sport was getting to see their new DP in action as Diego Chara was subbed on in the 46th minute.

Injuries Cast a Shadow Over a Great MLS Weekend - World Soccer Talk

Injuries Cast a Shadow Over a Great MLS Weekend

Because of the number of games played during the week, this weekend’s schedule is evenly distributed between Saturday and Sunday. &nbsp;The Saturday evening spotlight match is DC United visiting BMO Field and Toronto FC, as seen on Fox Soccer Channel. &nbsp;The Sunday game on Telefutura is Chicago hosting the Beckham- and Donovan-less Los Angeles Galaxy. &nbsp;Although there isn’t that BIG match this weekend (that was Wednesday’s lineup) there are some intriguing match-ups that will make for some good matches.
Now for what else happened this week:
<ul>
<li><a href="http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/soccer-insider/post/new-york-red-bulls-approached-about-playing-in-arsenals-emirates-cup/2011/04/13/AFyinkXD_blog.html" target="_blank">The Washington Post </a><a href="http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/soccer-insider/post/new-york-red-bulls-approached-about-playing-in-arsenals-emirates-cup/2011/04/13/AFyinkXD_blog.html" target="_blank">broke the story</a> that the New York Red Bulls have been invited to participate in the Emirates Cup, one of Europe’s best pre-season tournaments. &nbsp;The Emirates Cup is hosted by Arsenal and, last season, saw the Gunners participate with AC Milan, Lyon, and Celtic. &nbsp;Obviously the reason for the invitation is Thierry Henry, but not one wants to confirm the invitation. &nbsp;Still, if it is true and happens, this would be the first time a non-European team participated in the tournament and would pit the Red Bulls against some very good opponents.</li>
<li>Speaking of international friendlies, <a href="http:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/vancouver-host-manchester-city-world-football-challenge" target="_blank">Manchester City have been confirmed </a>as the next participant in the World Football Challenge and will play Vancouver on July 18. &nbsp;More matches are soon to be announced.</li>
<li>Portland <a href="http:\/\/www.portlandtimbers.com/news/2011/04/timbers-sign-diego-chará-first-designated-player-club-history" target="_blank">signed their first designated player </a>this week, nabbing Colombian midfielder Diego Chara. &nbsp;The twenty-five year old midfielder is a threat on offensive but can drop back and serve as a holding midfielder. &nbsp;He had played at Deportes Tolima in Columbia and was a teammate of current Timber Jorge Perlaza.</li>
<li>More information has come out about Landon Donovan’s injury: <a href="http:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/galaxys-donovan-nursing-knee-inflammation" target="_blank">it’s a knee</a>. &nbsp;He is recovering from a knee inflammation and will likely miss this weekend’s match against Chicago. &nbsp;Meanwhile, his teammate David Beckham is going increasingly public in his complaints against MLS referees. &nbsp;<a href="http:\/\/video.thescore.com/watch/tfcgalaxy-post-game-beckham-rips-refs" target="_blank">In an interview</a>, Beckham complained about the officials making themselves the center of the action and ruining the players’ preparation for games. &nbsp;“I’ll probably get in trouble, but it’s gone on too long,” he said. &nbsp;“We want that consistency to be there, and we want to keep our players on the field.” &nbsp;While the officials have been poor recently in MLS, and while Beckham has been the target of some aggressive fouls, he’s also been fortunate to have not been red carded a couple of times this season.</li>
<li>For your entertainment and in honor of Portland’s first home game last night, the video above is the Portland promotional video for their season. &nbsp;It’s… different.</li>
</ul>
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Week in Review April 11 - 15, 2011 - World Soccer Talk

Week in Review April 11 – 15, 2011

<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a title="Toronto FC vs New York Red Bulls - 213 by compscigrad, on Flickr" href="http:\/\/www.flickr.com/photos/jswaby/5249945662/"><div><figure class="image"></figure></div></a>Photo by compscigrad</div>
After the shine of the first weekend has worn off, MLS gets into the grind with some of its biggest names missing for international duty. &nbsp;Some teams have a second chance to show they’ve improved, while some have another chance to prove they aren’t bottom feeders. &nbsp;Make sure you vote in our poll below for your most interesting match of the week:
<ul>
<li>Congrats to RSL coach Jason Kreis. &nbsp;The team <a href="http:\/\/www.realsaltlake.com/news/2011/03/head-coach-jason-kreis-inks-two-year-extension" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that in addition to retiring his number 9 this summer it has extended his contract through the 2013 season. &nbsp;Kreis is the youngest MLS head coach to win an MLS Cup and has an overall coaching record of 51-42-34.</li>
<li>With Landon Donovan playing for the USMNT this weekend, Bruce Arena will <a href="http:\/\/sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/soccer/03/24/beckham.captain.ap/index.html?eref=si_soccer&amp;utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fsi_soccer+%28SI.com+-+Soccer%29" target="_blank" rel="noopener">give the captain’s armband</a> to Mr. David Beckham in their match this Saturday versus RSL. &nbsp;This is the first time&nbsp;in three years that&nbsp;Beckham will serve as captain.</li>
<li>Speaking of the national team, they will wear their new red kit this weekend against Argentina. &nbsp;Take a look and learn to love it, because they will wear this one in the 2011 Gold Cup. &nbsp;I am a bigger fan of the blue myself, but it’s still a good look for the team.</li>
<li>The New York Red Bulls <a href="http:\/\/sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/soccer/03/24/red.bulls.waive.ibrahim.ap/index.html?eref=si_soccer&amp;utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fsi_soccer+%28SI.com+-+Soccer%29" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> forward Salou Ibrahim this week. &nbsp;The well-traveled Ghanan scored three goals in 19 games last season. &nbsp;In addition, the Red Bulls are facing some injury and depth issues, so their match this weekend against Columbus could be quite interesting.</li>
<li>New England’s search for an international striker may be coming to an end. &nbsp;The club <a href="http:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/new-england-considering-move-forward-lekic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">brought in Danish striker Rajko Lekic</a> on trial and may make a move to sign him from his current club Silkeborg.</li>
<li>And finally, <a href="http:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/kc-notebook-ochocino-has-better-day-2-trial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Ochocinco experiment</a> seems to be going well. &nbsp;Get the latest from the MLS site.</li>
</ul>
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Week in Review, March 21-25 2011 - World Soccer Talk

Week in Review, March 21-25 2011

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LA Galaxy

Clash of Style Highlights Union-Galaxy Match

Leagues: MLS

Injuries Cast a Shadow Over a Great MLS Weekend

Leagues: MLS

Week in Review April 11 – 15, 2011

Leagues: MLS

Week in Review, March 21-25 2011