2009 MLS Playoff Preview

The 14th regular season of the MLS has concluded and its playoff time. Changes were made to the playoff structure this season so that the top two teams from each conference automatically got in, and then the next best four teams (regardless of conference) would be in. Each team played a total of 30 games this year and at the end the Columbus Crew won the MLS Supporters Shield for the second straight year. The Shield is given to the team with the best regular season record. Here is how the final MLS table looked:

Club		Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
1	Columbus Crew (E1)	49	30	13	7	10	41	31	+10
2	Los Angeles Galaxy (W1)	48	30	12	6	12	36	31	+5
3	Houston Dynamo (W2)	48	30	13	8	9	39	29	+10
4	Seattle Sounders FC2	47	30	12	7	11	38	29	+9
5	Chicago Fire (E2)	45	30	11	7	12	39	34	+5
6	Chivas USA	45	30	13	11	6	34	31	+3
7	New England Revolution	42	30	11	10	9	33	37	−4
8	Real Salt Lake	40	30	11	12	7	43	35	+8
9	Colorado Rapids	40	30	10	10	10	42	38	+4
10	D.C. United	40	30	9	8	13	43	44	−1
11	FC Dallas	39	30	11	13	6	50	46	+4
12	Toronto FC1	39	30	10	11	9	37	46	−9
13	Kansas City Wizards	33	30	8	13	9	33	42	−9
14	San Jose Earthquakes	30	30	7	14	9	36	50	−14
15	New York Red Bulls	21	30	5	19	6	27	47	−20

It was an incredible tight race this year for the conference titles, as well as the final playoff spots. I think this goes to show that the MLS' strategy of a salary cap is paying off in good competition throughout the league. The playoffs this year the first round will feature 4 home and away series, with the aggregate goal total deciding the winner. It is important to note that the away goal rule is not in effect in the MLS. Then the semi-finals and the championship match will be decided in only 1 game a piece. The playoff bracket breaks down like this:

EAST

(1) Columbus Crew vs. (4) Real Salt Lake

(2) Chicago Fire vs. (3) New England Revolution

WEST

(1) Los Angeles Galaxy vs. (4) Chivas USA

(2) Houston Dynamo vs. (3) Seattle Sounders

Here are the game times and channels for the first leg match-ups (all times are ET).

Thursday:
- Houston Dynamo at Seattle Sounders - 10pm  - ESPN2HD

Saturday:
- Columbus Crew at Real Salt Lake - 6pm

Sunday: 
- Chicago Fire at New England Revolution - 2pm - FSC
- LA Galaxy at Chivas USA (They share the same stadium) - 5pm - EPSN2HD

Three of the first four games are on TV, a great time to jump into the MLS action if you haven't been following closely this season. Enjoy.

Table Update as of 10/26

It was an exciting weekend of soccer as two of the EPL's big four matched up and the MLS closed out the reason season with 6 teams fighting for the last 2 playoff spots.

MLS:
- Past week's results - New York ended is horrible season with a 5-0 victory over Toronto - Real Salt Lake netted 3 goals in a must-win game against Colorado - LA Galaxy defeated San Jose 2-0 to win the MLS Western Conference Title - New England won 1-0 over the regular season champs Columbus to grab the final playoff spot in the final game of the regular season.
- Final MLS Table - In the East, Columbus won its 2nd Supports Shield (best regular season record), while Chicago & New England finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively, to give the east 3 playoff teams. In the West the Galaxy won their first conference title since 2002. The bring in 5 playoff teams - Houston (2nd), Seattle (3rd), Chivas USA (4th) & Real Salt Lake (5th). I will have a MLS Playoff Preview later this week.

EPL:
- Past week's results - In the weekend's biggest match-up Liverpool avoided 5 straight losses and climbed back into the title chase with a 2-0 victory over Manchester United - Chelsea rolled over Blackburn 5-0 - Stoke City surprised one of the new top 4 contenders Tottenham with a 1-0 win - ManCity, Arsenal & Aston Villa could only manage draws in their respective games.
- Current EPL Table - Only 4 teams stayed in the same spot as last week, 3 of those being the relegation teams (Hull City, West Ham & Portsmouth) - Chelsea passed ManU at the top of the table with 24 points to 22 points - Arsenal & Tottenham are tied at 3rd, however Arsenal has a game in hand - Liverpool jumped back into 5th place, however ManCity (6th) & Aston Villa (7th) still have an extra game to play.

Serie A:
- Past week's results - The big 3 continued their good form this weekend as Inter, AC Milan and Juventus all won with a collective score of 5-2 - Sampdoria got back on the winning side with a 4-1 victory against Bologna
- Current Serie A Table - The top 3 stayed the same: Inter, Sampdoria and Juventus - Palermo, Fiorentina & AC Milan are all tied with 15 points for the 4th through 6th spots in the table, all which grant bigs into European competitions for next year - Siena dropped to the bottom of the table with only 5 points in 9 matches.

TV Schedule for the Week of 10/24

Full line-up of weekend action across the EPL, Serie A and La Liga, while the MLS concludes the regular season and 5 teams via for the final two playoff spots.

Saturday (24th):
- EPL: Wolverhampton vs. Aston Villa - 7:30am - ESPN2HD
- EPL: Birmingham vs. Sunderland - 10am - FSC
- EPL: Chelsea vs. Blackburn - 12:30pm - FSC
- Serie A: Inter Milan vs. Catania - 2:30pm - FSC
- MLS: Real Salt Lake vs. Colorado Rapids - 9pm - FSC

Sunday (25th):
- EPL: Liverpool vs. Manchester United - 10am - FSC
- EPL: West Ham vs. Arsenal - 12pm - FSC
- Serie A: AC Milan vs. Chievo - 3:30pm - FSC
- La Liga: Barcelona vs. Zaragoza - 4pm - ESPN2HD
- MLS: New England Revolution vs. Columbus Crew - 6pm - ESPN2HD

Wednesday (28th):
- Serie A: Napoli vs. AC Milan - 3:30pm - FSC

Thursday (29th):
- Serie A: Inter Milan vs. Palermo - 3:30pm - FSC

Champions League Update

Round three of the UEFA Champions League and round six of the CONCACAF Champions League took place this week between the best clubs across Europe and North America. Here is a summary of this past week's action and the current standings:

UEFA CL

Group A:

- Results: Bordeaux 2-1 Bayern Munich & Juventus 1-0 Maccabi Haifa

- Table: Bordeaux lead the group with 7 points, Juventus (5), Bayern Munich (4) and Maccabi Haifa (1)

Group B:

- Results: ManU 1-0 CSKA Moscow & Wolfsburg 0-0 Besiktas

- Table: Manchester United lead the group with 9 points, Wolfsburg (4), CSKA Moscow (3) and Besiktas (1)

Group C:

- Results: AC Milan 3-2 Real Madrid & Marseille 1-0 FC Zurich

- Table: Real Madrid and AC Milan are tied atop the group at 6 points, Marseille (3), and FC Zurich (3)

Group D:

- Results: Chelsea 4-0 Atletico Madrid & FC Porto 2-1 Apoel

- Table: Chelsea sit perfect with 9 points, FC Porto (6), Apoel (1), and Atletico Madrid (1)

Group E:

- Results: Lyon 2-1 Liverpool & Fiorentina 4-3 Debrecen

- Table: Lyon (9), Fiorentina (6), Liverpool (3), & Debrecen (0)

Group F:

- Results: Rubin Kazan 2-1 Barcelona & Inter Milan 2-2 Dynamo Kiev

- Table: Barcelona (4), Rubin Kazan (4), Dynamo Kiev (4), & Inter Milan (3)

Group G:

- Results: Sevilla 3-1 Stuttgart & Unirea Urziceni 4-1 Rangers

- Table: Sevilla (9), Unirea Urziceni (4), Stuttgart (2), Rangers (1)

Group H:

- Results: Arsenal 1-1 Alkmaar & Olympiakos 2-1 Standard Liege

- Table: Arsenal (7), Olympiakos (6), Alkmaar (2), Standard Liege (1)

CONCACAF

- Past week's results - DC United and Columbus both ended their matches with 1-1 draws, while Houston fell 3-2.

- Current Table - Houston is currently third place in their group and look likely to miss the knock out stages - Columbus is 2nd place in their group 8 points out - DC United is just 3 points back of group leaders Toluca - Both DC and Columbus look set to advance past the group stage.

News & Rumors Update

Its been a full week of soccer already between UEFA and CONCACAF Champions League action and the release of FIFA 2010. Here are a few of the latest news headlines and rumors over the past few days that you may have missed:

• Landon Donovan wins a record sixth Honda Player of the Year award. The award is given out each year to the US National Team's best player. Donovan has won this honor the past three years, and six out of the past eight years. Tim Howard and Jozy Altidore finished 2nd and 3rd in this year's voting.
• US Health Update: Charlie Davies is out of the ICU and is expected to need 6 to 12 months for recovery.  Oguchi Onyewu will undergo surgery on Wednesday, his recovery time table should be known by the end of the week. US defender Jay DeMerit had to undergo eye surgery this week, but is not expected to miss significant time.
• The LA Galaxy have announced they will play an exhibition game against German side FC Kaiserslautern on Thanksgiving day.
• Midfielder Jermaine Jones had his application to switch from the German national team to the US national team go through this week. However, it may be a while before you see Jones suit up for America, as he will not be ready for the November friendly against Denmark.
• Yet again the Thiery Henry to New York rumors have surfaced. The Daily Mail now claims that Henry is 'excited' at the possibility of joining the NY Red Bulls after World Cup 2010. 
• Fox Sports has won an additional 3 years of broadcast rights for the English Premiere League. They currently air EPL matches on Fox Soccer Net, as well as UEFA Champions League, Serie A, and MLS matches. Fox Soccer Channel is scheduled to go into full HD in January 2010.
  
• Rumor: EPL game to be played at Fenway Park in Boston - potentially during the 2012 season.

FIFA 2010 Out Today

EA Sports released FIFA 2010 today for the Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, PC, etc. This year's game features 30 leagues, 570 teams, and more than 12,500 players from around the world. Here is IGNs review of the game for each major platform:

• Fifa 2010 (Wii) - 7.7
  
• Fifa 2010 (Xbox 360) - 9.0
  
• Fifa 2010 (PS3) - 9.0
  

The official FIFA 2010 website featuring game features, media, forums, and more. A great new feature in this year's game if FIFA Earth, the website tracks online games played around the world by team used, country played in, etc. Real Madrid and ManU top the club teams and England sits as the most played team (currently 16th). FIFA Earth also tracks where the 'best' soccer is played (winning percentage by country) - currently Romania and Turkey are the top two teams.

On a personal note I am glad the 2010 version of the game is out and I can start building my next great coaching dynasty. Its time to start searching the transfer market to find the next great young star, rebuilding a mid-level team, advance to the top tier of a European league, win the UEFA Champions League, and become a world class manager. Maybe just not all this week.

Comments or thoughts? Buying the game? Which system? Favorite team to play as? First player you look to sign?

Table Update as of 10/19

League play resumed this week, lets take a look at the results and current tables for the English Premiere League, the MLS, Italy's Serie A. (Note: I'll have an update on Champions League play later this week once the matches on Tuesday and Wednesday have occurred).


MLS:
- Past week's results - Real Salt Lake kept themselves in the playoff hunt with a 2-0 victory Wednesday night, but then dropped a match 1-0 to Toronto - DC United defeated league leading Columbus 1-0 - LA Galaxy and Houston ended with a 0-0 draw on Sunday - Dallas continued its hot steak with a 2-1 win over playoff contender Colorado
- Current MLS Table - LA, Houston & Chivas sit in a 3-way tie atop the Western Division - Seattle clinched a playoff spot this weekend with a victory - Colorado currently has the 7th place in the playoffs secured at 40 points, while there is a 4-way tie at 39 points for the final spot (DC, Toronto, New England & Dallas). Real Salt Lake would need all four of those teams to lose during the final weekend and get a win over Colorado to sneak into the playoffs.


EPL:
- Past week's results - Aston Villa upset Chelsea Saturday 2-1 after going down early to a Drogba goal - Tottenham and Portsmouth continued their 09-10 season roles with a 2-1 win going to the Spurs - Sunderland received a shocking 'beach ball' goal to defeat Liverpool 1-0 - ManCity came from behind for the second week in a row to get a 1-1 result.
- Current EPL Table - ManU jumped Chelsea, by 1 point, to the top of the table - Arsenal's win and ManCity's draw  moved Arsenal into the top 4 and ManCity sits in the Europa League spot - Liverpool now falls to 8th with 4 losses in 9 matches


Serie A:
- Past week's results - Saturday saw Juventus draw 1-1 with Fiorentina & Inter Milan crush Genoa 5-0 - Pato & Ronaldinho each score to get AC Milan off their skid in a 2-1 win over Roma - Livorno lost again to bring their current record to 0-3-5 (ouch)
- Current Serie A Table - The top four (CL) spots stayed the same: Inter, Sampdoria, Juventus & Fiorentina - AC Milan's win brings them back up to 8th in the table - Bologna & Siena drop into the relegation zone with Livorno.

Ghana - Africa's best team?

Living in the US, soccer isn't usually the easiest sport to find on TV. However, information and coverage around the US national team, as well as the MLS has continued to grow over the past few years. European soccer - gaining ground in America; African soccer - might as well try to Australian horse racing. However, even with the limited coverage or news the fact that Ghana is emerging as the top nation in Africa and one of the continent's best chance at the World Cup 2010 is quite evident. Lets take a look at Ghana's current profile:

World Cup:

• 2006 was the country's first World Cup appearance, which it advanced to the second round before elimination.
• Was the only country from Africa to advance to the second round of the 2006 World Cup
• Was the first African nation to qualify for the 2010 World Cup

Youth Teams:

• Finished 4th in the U-17 World Cup in 2007
• Defeated Brazil to win the U-20 World Cup

Players:

• 4 players in the English Premiere League (Chelsea, Sunderland, Fulham, Wigan) - led by Chelsea's Michael Essien. 
• International Experience at Inter Milan, FC Basel, Hearts, Spartak Moscow & 1899 Hoffenheim. 

Does all of this mean that Ghana is the African team to beat next year in South Africa? That Ghana will be the power team in the years to come? Impossible to tell in this ever-changing soccer landscape. So while teams like Egypt have been dominate as of late, and teams like the Ivory Coast and Cameroon have the big stars - Drogba and Eto'o, respectively, Ghana seems to slowly building a strong squad for the future and World Cup 2010. Luckily, for us we don't have to wait that long since the 2010 African Cup of Nations kicks off January 10th. 

World Soccer Magazine - October Issue

The October 2009 issue of World Soccer hit news stands and bookstores this past week. If you are looking for a good soccer read or just want to learn more about the world game this is a great magazine for you. Here is a preview of what this month's issue features:

• An in-depth look at the recent under-age transfers to the big clubs of the world, as well as Chelsea's two year transfer ban.
• An update on UEFA's president Michel Platini's attempt to tame club finances in order to play in European competitions. 
• A breakdown of the top 24 spending clubs over this past summer's transfer market.
• Dispatch Updates from Argentina, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Israel, and more.
• World Cup Update: team previews for Brazil, Ghana, England, Spain, and Paraguay
• Interviews with ManU keeper Edwin Van de Sar, Brazilian right back Dani Alves, and Arsenal winger Theo Walcott
• Travel spotlight city - Madrid, Spain
• Country spotlight (history, top flight, clubs, etc.) - Singapore