As our long-time readers know, MLS Talk likes to provide serious, well-thought out news analysis mixed with offbeat and laughable soccer-related thoughts.  This is the latter type of post. Prior to First Kick 2011, the MLS Talk writers got together to give some predictions for the upcoming season.  At the time, we promised we'd resurrect […]

The 2011 MLS Cup will truly be a David v. Goliath affair.  In this corner, you have the regular season's best team with the most star power and biggest names who, by the way, will be playing at home.  In this corner, you have a team that fought all season for a playoff spot then […]

Yesterday, Vancouver extended Real Salt Lake's losing streak to four games with a 3-0 win at BC Place.  However, the talk of the match were two penalties called on RSL, one of which led to a red card for Collen Warner, both for handball.  The first led to Real Salt Lake going down to ten […]

Fans who saw the scoreline of September 10th's 3-0 win by DC United over Chivas would assume that DCU would win handily against the Goats at home and, with New York's loss, would move into the driver's seat with their playoff push.  But as the excellent fan blog Black and Red United noted, Chivas actually […]

The talking point since First Kick has been the same: the Western Conference is vastly superior to the Eastern Conference.  For the past six months or so, we've heard about the top teams in the West and their chances of winning the MLS Cup.  Recently, with the playoffs looming, the talk has focused on how […]

Forfeits are usually a term for CYO soccer when a team doesn't have the requisite ten players or there aren't enough oranges for halftime.  Rarely does the terminology enter a debate in professional sports, where the money and resources are available to shift matches around based on inclement weather.  But after the postponement of the Vancouver Whitecaps […]

The Columbus Crew have a knack for late game heroics recently.  This past weekend it was Rich Blachan grabbing a goal late in stoppage time to salvage a tie with the Red Bulls.  Last night it was a furious second half rally full of controversy that saw home fans booing the game-tying goal and Will […]

It was an incredibly busy week in American soccer.  Between the US national team, MLS midweek matches, and all sorts of FIFA controversies, there was a wealth of story lines for fans of the beautiful game.  Below are some of the ones we were following this week that we did not have time to post […]

Another week, another MLS star goes down with broken bones.  This time it was Javier Morales who is out for months after Marcos Mondaini made an aggressive challenge on the midfielder in front of the Chivas net.  Morales cut back towards the goal from the wing and Mondaini, beaten on the play, went to ground […]

Fabian Espindola knocked in a loose rebound late in stoppage time to give Real Salt Lake a 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids and a leg-up in the 2011 Rocky Mountain Cup.  Espindola also gave MLS fans the only goal of the evening, as the other match between the Los Angeles Galaxy and Toronto FC […]

For the uninitiated, the Rocky Mountain Cup is a yearly fan rivalry between the only two MLS clubs in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado and Real Salt Lake.  The Cup has been awarded since 2005 and the games to decide the Cup have been heated, with Wednesday's match-up expected to be the same.  But more than […]

Real Salt Lake has landed in Costa Rica and are prepared for tonight's kickoff.  Tonight RSL will take on FC Saprissa on their home turf with the aggregate winner advancing to the CONCACAF Champions League Final.  Kickoff is 10 PM Eastern time.  RSL holds a 2-0 aggregate lead thanks to their victory over El Monstruo Morado two […]

Team: Real Salt Lake Coach: Jason Kreis Last Year's Finish: 15-11-4, 56 points.  Western Conference: 2nd In a sense, RSL's season has already begun with a 4-1 aggregate victory over Columbus in the CONCACAF Champions League.  In the second of those two matches, we've seen a team that looks like it's picking up where it […]

Last night was the unofficial start to the MLS season, as Real Salt Lake and Columbus faced off in their first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal.  In a night that was below freezing and in front of a sparse crowd, the two teams grinded out a 0-0 draw that was defined by the […]

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  With the Egyptian friendly canceled, it was a slow week in American soccer.  MLS clubs are playing pre-season matches against youth clubs, colleges, and each other, and the season is less than one month away.  Besides the schedule release last week, here are some other news items flying under the radar: […]