MLS 2020: A Quarter Century of Soccer

Senator Donut

post-Domer
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Apr 21, 2010
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I missed the Sounders goal because I flipped over to Concacaf League at halftime. Apparently Johan Venegas (4 goals in 3 MLS seasons) is the Messi of that competition.
 

Titans Bastard

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I missed the Sounders goal because I flipped over to Concacaf League at halftime. Apparently Johan Venegas (4 goals in 3 MLS seasons) is the Messi of that competition.
CONCACAF League? That's dedication to the region.

Though maybe it's worth it: Wiki says that one of the first round games ended in an EIGHTEEN round PK shootout.
 

Senator Donut

post-Domer
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Apr 21, 2010
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CONCACAF League? That's dedication to the region.

Though maybe it's worth it: Wiki says that one of the first round games ended in an EIGHTEEN round PK shootout.
The forced switch to single-leg knockout matches have made it a much more entertaining tournament, as well the change to make Central American heavyweights qualify through this tournament for Champions League.

There are also a bunch of familiar faces for MLS fans (e.g. Jerry Bengtson) and USMNT fans (e.g. Bryan Ruiz). It’s also fascinating to see a CPL team going down south to face first division opponents. Still, I wouldn’t be watching any of this if we had NBA or NHL back.
 

Titans Bastard

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The forced switch to single-leg knockout matches have made it a much more entertaining tournament, as well the change to make Central American heavyweights qualify through this tournament for Champions League.

There are also a bunch of familiar faces for MLS fans (e.g. Jerry Bengtson) and USMNT fans (e.g. Bryan Ruiz). It’s also fascinating to see a CPL team going down south to face first division opponents. Still, I wouldn’t be watching any of this if we had NBA or NHL back.
If I end up watching part of Alajuelense vs. Real Estelí tonight, I'm blaming you.

Okay, I checked and Alajuelense has ALVARO SABORIO on their roster. Amazing.
 

Titans Bastard

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The last MLS conference semifinal (KC vs. MIN) is tonight, having been bumped from yesterday because FOX had a prime TV slot open up due to the postponement of this week's Thursday NFL game.

No Alan Pulido for KC is tough, as he has been a good chance creator for them. Still, a solid XI. From an NT perspective, he's not yet the star of the team or the most influential player for KC, but 18 year old Gianluca Busio has started to settle in well this year.

KC has evolved away from their longtime vets. Matt Besler lost his starting job this year and Graham Zusi is out for the season, but was rotated more often to get 20 year old Jaylin Lindsey a bit more playing time.

View: https://twitter.com/SportingKC/status/1334657207019909121


Expected lineup for Minnesota. Dayne St. Clair is the youngest starting GK in the league, having taken over after Tyler Miller went down. Bebelo Reynoso has quietly been rather productive since joining mid-season from Boca Juniors. They're using a winger up top (Robin Lod) due to some depth/quality issues among their forwards, but it's sort of worked. Their defense has survived the season-long loss of Ike Opara surprisingly well. Kevin Molino is an excellent player.

View: https://twitter.com/MNUFC/status/1334657479616106496
 

Titans Bastard

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Coaching rumors:

Lots of smoke that Chris Armas is heading to DCU, including suggestions from Steven Goff.

Greg Vanney continues to be linked to LA Galaxy.

Things have been quiet for Atlanta for a long time, but now there's a reliable report from South America that they are heavily pursuing Gabriel Heinze, who is coming off a succssful stint at Vélez Sarsfield.

View: https://twitter.com/CLMerlo/status/1334997541339992064
 

SoxFanInCali

has the rich, deep voice of a god
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Jun 3, 2005
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California. Duh.
Morris his the post with a potential equalizer, 90 seconds later Minnesota get a second. Sounders have 20 minutes to get 2.
 

SoxFanInCali

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California. Duh.
The crazy thing is, on top of the 3 they did score, Seattle nearly had 2 or 3 more. Was just frenzied one way traffic for 24 minutes after MN's second.
 

67YAZ

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Dec 1, 2000
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The crazy thing is, on top of the 3 they did score, Seattle nearly had 2 or 3 more. Was just frenzied one way traffic for 24 minutes after MN's second.
I flipped on the last 20 as I got ready for bed. Usually the team trying to come back hits a wall - how much energy is left in the tank this late in the match, this late in the season? But Seattle never stopped. Exhilarating and exhausting.
 

Titans Bastard

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Man, I really picked the wrong playoff game to decide to skip for the sake of my sleep schedule!
 

Titans Bastard

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The Dynamo sold Mauro Manotas to Club Tijuana.

https://www.houstondynamofc.com/post/2020/12/08/houston-dynamo-fc-transfer-forward-mauro-manotas-club-tijuana
Manotas was a hot property 1-2 years ago when he was scoring boatloads of goals, but the Dynamo turned down offers. In 2020, he scored three goals in the shortened season and the Dynamo failed to make the expanded playoff bracket. I don't know what they're getting in this deal, but they've left money on the table with nothing to show for it.
 

ddeveau

New Member
Apr 5, 2006
36
Man, I really picked the wrong playoff game to decide to skip for the sake of my sleep schedule!
Being in the same position, I discovered someone was nice enough to post the entire game on youtube. Just search on Seattle Sounders Minnesota United.
 

67YAZ

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Dec 1, 2000
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Fire sign Stanislav Ivanov, a U21 Bulgarian international winger and key player for Bulgarian Europa League club Levski Sofia.

A month ago they also signed 20 year old Nigerian striker Chinoso Offor from the Latvian league.

Those two join 21 year old Jhon Espinoza from Ecuador.

Heitz definitely has his international scouting network fired up in his quest to bring the Basel model to Chicago. I believe this makes 21 new players on the Fire roster in 12 months, a large number of them young and international. Wicky has a very tough job on his hands helping these kids get settled in the midst of a pandemic and leveled-up to be competitive in MLS.

There’s a nice veteran spine to the squad - Beric, Gimenez, Pineda (he plays like a savvy vet), & Shuttleworth - but a lot rests on young players along the flanks learning Wicky’s system and executing at MLS-levels. And they still have Calvo for another season because apparently they hope to give me an aneurism .
 

ThePrideofShiner

Crests prematurely
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Jul 16, 2005
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Washington
Miami is shaking things up, dumping the main architect of their expansion season after one year. Not a lot of things went right for them this season.

https://theathletic.com/2251001/2020/12/09/
I saw something on Twitter yesterday about Chris Henderson from Seattle getting a look here. That would be devastating for the Sounders, as he is the main reason they have so much foreign talent.
 

Titans Bastard

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Expected lineup for Columbus, with Aidan Morris and Derrick Etienne replacing the COVID-stricken Nagbe and Santos. Huge moment for Morris '01, but Nagbe is going to be such a loss for them.
 

Titans Bastard

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Morris is a sleeper DM prospect. I wouldn't necessarily predict this, but I wouldn't be shocked if he makes a claim as Adams' backup at DM at some point. But he doesn't do the things that Nagbe does — Nagbe has literally world-class ball security (too bad he's such a weird player in other ways).
 

Jimy Hendrix

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Jun 15, 2002
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Nice shot, but the commentators are being awfully nice about some weak goalkeeping by Frei there.