Vancouver Whitecaps’ miserable run of form at home continues

Vancouver Whitecaps’ miserable run of form at home continued after a 1-0 defeat against sporting Kansas City.

This match marked a run of just two wins in the last five home games for the team, which still has the possibility to win the Western Conference. Vancouver at just separated by goal difference over table leaders Seattle Sounders, who have lost four out of the last five games. However, Carl Robinson’s team do not appear to be taking advantage of their rivals suffering from poor form. Robinson has admitted after the defeat against sporting Kansas City that a lot of things have to improve a lot.

For the home supporters, it was yet another familiar tale after the home team had a lot of chances in order to win the game. They were made to pay for the poor finishing by the opposition, who converted through Ellis in the second half. Apart from winning just two out of the last five home matches, Vancouver have now suffered a disappointing result in back-to-back games. This defeat comes just a week after a 2-1 loss against Colorado Rapids. There is now a danger of Vancouver been overtaken by the likes of FC Dallas and Sporting Kansas City, who have shown superior form.

“It hurts. It’s one of them. You create a number of chances and don’t score. Sometimes it comes back to bite you on the bum and it did today unfortunately. [It’s] not as concerning as it would be if we didn’t create one chance in that first half. The game’s about taking your chances. When you cross that white line, whoever takes those chances and scores usually wins the game. Today, we had a number of chances, we didn’t take them. KC had a lot of chances and they took one of them,” said Robinson.

Bruce Arena was extremely happy with the way the return of Robbie Keane

LA Galaxy manager Bruce Arena was extremely happy with the way the return of Robbie Keane led to his team winning their first match in the month of April. Galaxy were going under their objectives for the campaign after a poor run of form that saw them go five matches without a win.

Bruce Arena was feeling the pressure, as he awaits the arrival of Steven Gerrard. The Liverpool captain will be joining LA Galaxy and he will provide some much needed quality in the central of the park. He will also be able to provide some much-needed ammunition to striker Keane.

The former Liverpool striker suffered a groin injury while playing against Vancouver Whitecaps during the month of April. After spending almost two months on the sidelines, he came back to the team in the crucial match against Houston Dynamo. A win for the opposition would have meant LA Galaxy slipping outside the play-off places further more. As it is, these three points have helped them get a slender advantage over Houston.Keane did not score in the 1-0 victory but he provided immense quality upfront. Galaxy were able to score in the 91st minute through a cross fromKeane. Continue reading “Bruce Arena was extremely happy with the way the return of Robbie Keane”

San Jose Earthquakes briefly appeared

San Jose Earthquakes briefly appeared to find a sweet spot after managing to win back-to-back matches in the middle of March. However, they have since suffered to consecutive defeats that have left them outside the play-off places.

The 2-1 loss against New England Revolution was followed up by the narrow 1-0 defeat against Real Salt Lake at home. This does not bode well for the team, which has just six points from the opening five games. The match against table topping Vancouver Whitecaps is unlikely to help matters going into the next weekend.

One of the reasons for the club struggling to get results is the huge number of players on the sidelines. More have been added to the injury list after the latest match. Despite this setback, manager Dominic Kinnear remains confident that his team will be able to overcome the poor form. San Jose came into the match against Real Salt Lake already missing a number of key players especially in defence. The likes of Shaun Francis and Jordan Stewart have become the latest additions to the injury list. Francis had a major collision with Real Salt Lake’s Jordan Allen but he has come of much worse than his opponent. Kinnear has expressed his confidence that defender Wynne will be back for the match against Vancouver. Continue reading “San Jose Earthquakes briefly appeared”

Manchester City forgotten Stevan Jovetic

Manchester City appear to have forgotten Stevan Jovetic after they brought in Wilfried Bony from Swansea City for around £ 28 million.

The Ivory Coast international became the most extensive player of the January transfer window, but many have questioned the necessity of the striker at the Etihad stadium. City had just signed Jovetic from Fiorentina in the summer for £ 24 million. The Montenegrin striker was seen as the perfect replacement for Alvaro Negredo, who moved to Spanish football initially on a loan deal. The 25-year-old, though, has featured rarely in the City first-team.

After making just nine Premier League starts so far,Jovetic was heavily linked with a return to Italian football towards the end of January. This did not happen andJovetic now remains part of the City team at least for the next six months.Jovetic is unlikely to get any game time after the arrival of Bony. The 25-year-old has now opened up on the situation and has criticised manager Manuel Pellegrini for not providing him with enough opportunities. Ironically, Pellegrini was the manager who had signed the player from Fiorentina. Continue reading “Manchester City forgotten Stevan Jovetic”

Landon Donovan and Thierry Henry retires from Football

The MLS has suffered losing 2 of the most iconic football figures in the history of the sport as Landon Donovan and Thierry Henry announced their retirement not too long ago and despite having witnessed these superstar players hanging up their boots after spending the last few years of their career by playing at the MLS, the American League is still showing signs of growth.

Henry and Donovan have helped the MLS in attracting more public to the matches and now that they have retired, this will leave the American League with huge boots to fill.

Continue reading “Landon Donovan and Thierry Henry retires from Football”

TAN JOINS MLS

The 62 year old Malaysian billionaire, businessman, investor and owner of Cardiff City Vincent Tan is interested in expanding his portfolio and turn into the owner of another club but instead of only focusing in England, Vincent Tan has expressed his desire to try the market in the USA as he believes that the Major League Soccer (MLS) can become a very valuable asset within the upcoming years.

“Investing in MLS, think it’s long term. If we invest now, in 20 years it will be worth a lot.” Vicent Tan said as he revealed his interest and desire of taking control of a club in the MLS.

It still remains unsure as to exactly which club Vincent Tan is keeping a close eye on but this isn’t the first time that the Malaysian has released hints concerning the possibility of expanding his market from Europe to the American Soccer League which is still very young in comparison to other top European Leagues.

Last month Vincent Tan told the media:  “I’m looking to buy another club in Europe and then I may invest in a club in the US, the MLS.”

Vincent Tan has had problems with former employees and managers of Cardiff City. On October of the previous year, Tan suspended Iain Moody who was the main person behind the recruitment staff of Cardiff City and this suspension arrived after Moody had overspent £15 million during the summer transfer window of that year and Iain Moody was eventually removed from his position.

Another incident occurred between a former staff member of Cardiff City only this time it arrived after the Scottish manager Malky Mackay displayed to the media his intention of boosting and upgrading his squad during the January transfer window of 2014 as he needed to sign players in order to avoid Cardiff City getting sacked from their debut season in the Premier League but the club was inevitably relegated back to the English Championship League.

CREW SETBACK

Columbus Crew suffered a major setback in their efforts to progress to the MLS cup conference finals after suffering a 4-2 defeat against New England in the first leg. Despite this defeat, Columbus Crew are understood to be highly confident of progressing with a much improved performance in the second leg. This will be extremely difficult with the second leg being away from home. The fact that Columbus need to win this match by three goals makes it even more tough for the away team. Ethan Finlay stated that nothing other than the 3-0 victory or better is acceptable.

Even though the prospect of having to score 3 goals away from home seems daunting, Columbus can take heart from their record in recent seasons. The club has managed to score a minimum of three goals in seven games. Apart from this, they also have managed to defeat New England Revolution two times this year, and won bragging rights accoding to ftbllr.net.

Defender Tyson Wahl refused to give up on the prospect of reaching the next stage. Columbus Crew players are also aware that they need to be on the offensive from the start in order to have a chance of this mammoth comeback. An early goal will provide them with a lot of confidence.

Columbus Crew finished three points behind New England Revolution in the Eastern conference table. “You just have to. Three goals, 3-0. That’s the goal. Nothing else is acceptable. We won’t be thinking about anything else. We know the task at hand, and they do too,” said Ethan Finlay. “Looking ahead, there’s obviously a chance to win. We’ve scored three goals before, and we know we can beat this team. We just have to be better than we were tonight,” said Tyson Wahl. “We still have faith. We can put three goals,” added Justin Meram.

NEW RECORD

Landon Donovan already has enough records under his belt in Major League Soccer, but, he is keen for a few more before he brings down curtains on his professional career at the end of the ongoing season.

Yesterday, while playing in the game against New York Red Bulls, the 32-year old American player set up 3 goals featuring for his team Los Angeles Galaxy and with that, he equalized with Steve Ralston in terms of assisting the most number of goals in MLS.

With the help of Donovan’s superb performance, Galaxy crushed the Red Bulls by 4-0 to secure their 16th league win in the 2014 MLS season.

At the end of the proceedings at the StubHub Center, California, when Donovan was asked what he thinks about levelling the league assist record, he said, “It’s something to be proud of really, but, the credit for this record must go to those guys who have finished my passes and crosses over the years. Finishing is very important. You cannot have an assist to your name without that.”

“For me, it’s all about making the right calls on the pitch. Sometimes, the situation demands you to pass to a player who can pass it to the eventual scorer. Sometimes, you have to take a shot at the post yourself. So, it’s all about reacting to the situation in the right way.”

“What satisfies me is that I have been able to contribute in a number of goals for Galaxy in my career.”

Donovan has been a Galaxy player for 9 years. In that period, he has played 242 MLS games and apart from providing so many assists to his teammates, he himself has also scored more than 100 goals, 111 to be precise.

Ridgewell Shocked To Hear He Was BEckerman Replacement

Former Aston Villa and Birmingham defender Liam Ridgewell said that he was extremely shocked to hear that he was named in the MLS All-Stars team as the replacement for Kyle Beckerman. Beckerman suffered an injury just before the match, which was of huge pride to the nation. The MLS All-Stars were taking on Bayern Munich in a pre-season friendly match for the Europeans. Portland Timbers manager Caleb Porter will be managing the MLS All-Stars team that also features the likes of Landon Donovan. After hearing the news of Beckerman’s absence, Porter decided to call up Ridgewell.

The former England under 21 international had just moved to the United States after more than a decade of playing in the Premier League and championship. He has represented the likes of Aston Villa, Birmingham and West Brom. Ridgewell is one of the few players to have played for all three Midland rivals. At just 30 years of age, he still has a long time left at the top. Portland Timbers were clearly overjoyed at the prospect of being able to use the former under 21 international, who has made eight appearances at this level.

Ridgewell had completed the move to MLS only a few weeks ago. He said that he was still moving into his new house as he got the news of his inclusion in the MLS All-Stars team.

“I got the news yesterday morning. I’ve just moved into a new house, so me and my old man were putting up curtains for our son and daughter, and I got the phone call that I had been drafted in for the game – I nearly fell off the ladder. For me, it’s something new and it’s just something that’s maybe a one-off thing and I’m really enjoying it. Hopefully I can enjoy the next two days and enjoy it a little bit more,” said the defender.

Beckerman Garners Interest By Football World

MLS supporters will be well aware of the quality possessed by Kyle Beckerman, but it is especially now that the world is starting to look at the 32-year-old in a different way. The Real Salt Lake star has been one of the best players for the US national team at the World Cup 2014. He has been talk of the town during the group matches with his name being mentioned constantly on social media. The 32-year-old, though, has revealed that he is not aware of the growing popularity and is only focusing on the upcoming last 16 match against Belgium.

Despite the defeat against Germans in the final group match, US qualified for the knockout stages of the World Cup. They will be facing the Belgian team containing the likes of Eden Hazard and Vincent Kompany. Beckerman says that he is not aware that people are starting to realise his quality since he and the rest of the team are only focusing on the upcoming match. The US could create history by reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup. Popularity for the national team is already through the roofs compared to previous world cups.

Recent reports showed that New York City almost came to a standstill when the United States played against Portugal in the second group match. “We hear from some of the Americans that we see in the hotels and stuff. They kind of let us know that it’s kind of crazy back in the States. That everybody’s been really going gung-ho for the World Cup games. It sounds like we’ve got the soccer fever or something, which is great,” said the 32-year-old.

“It’s good to see him get recognition because he’s been deserving of that for a long time now,” said his Real Salt Lake teammate Nick Rimando.