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MLS Playoffs: Stars Shine As Conference Finals Beckon

By Kyle McCarthy, Goal.com

The biggest players came through in the most critical moments this weekend.

Take a gander at the list of scorers of the three series-winning goals scored over the weekend. Three MLS stars vital to their clubs, two U.S. international mainstays and one soon-to-depart Mexican schemer. If you add in the England international who contributed mightily to one of the winners, you'd have a list of four of the most influential players in MLS.

Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles reaped the benefits of inking and nurturing their stars this weekend. Time will tell if those rewards will continue through the conference finals, but for one weekend at least, the best players made all of the difference.

Blanco's composure and creativity sends Fire through

Cuauhtemoc Blanco hasn't left Chicago quite yet.

Blanco may have sealed a deal to join Veracruz at the end of the campaign, but the veteran Mexican midfielder showed that his future isn't impacting the present in Saturday night's 2-0 win over New England.

With Marco Pappa and John Thorrington providing ample support from midfield, Blanco roamed relentlessly in search of the ball and the required breakthroughs to overturn the one-goal deficit from the first leg. Thorrington leveled the series ten minutes before halftime, an event that seemed to spur Blanco onwards in the second half.

After providing the cross for a header Shalrie Joseph cleared off the Revolution goal line with a half-hour to play and skimming the top of the bar in the 80th minute, Blanco booked the Fire's place in the Eastern Conference final with a deft bit of skill and an healthy dose of calmness. Patrick Nyarko harried Emmanuel Osei into a turnover deep in the right corner, drew the Revolution defense to him and slid the ball to Blanco ten yards from goal.

In a spot where many players would have rushed to finish into the empty goal, Blanco eluded Jay Heaps' challenge, arranged his body properly and tucked home into the upper right corner. The calm finish capped off a fine evening and showed that Blanco is in the type of form that could propel the Fire past Real Salt Lake next weekend and into MLS Cup.

Gritty Dynamo displays championship mettle

Been there, done that. That's exactly how Houston performed in its 1-0 extra-time victory over Seattle on Sunday afternoon.

Aside from one moment of brilliance, the Dynamo's performance wasn't particularly pretty or engaging. In the playoffs and on that mucky Robertson Stadium pitch, the fare often isn't. By limiting Seattle on the counter for most of the day and grasping control of the game in its early stages, a glittering submission wasn't required.

The winning goal combined all of that graft with a stunning bit of individual skill from Brian Ching. Dynamo right winger Brian Mullan chased down Mike Chabala's errant cross and blocked Roger Levesque's poor attempt to clear. Mullan's block fell straight to Ching, who spun and lashed home wonderfully with a first-time volley into the far side netting.

Ching's stellar goal provided the barest of margins between two sides without much between them. In the end, Houston's resolute approach and playoff experience carried them through to the Western Conference final. Submitting two similar performances may just carry the Dynamo to a third MLS Cup title in four seasons.

“If we keep playing with the same mentality and the same desire, I definitely think we can raise that cup in the next couple of weeks,” Houston midfielder Brad Davis said.

Beckham, Donovan connect when it counts

For all of its tidy combination play and all of its chances, Los Angeles couldn't find a way past Zach Thornton in Sunday's 1-0 victory over Chivas USA until its two superlative players linked up in the 70th minute.

The decisive move started with David Beckham in acres of space at the halfway line. Beckham pinged an inside-out diagonal ball from the right wing to the left wing into Landon Donovan's stride as if he'd just hit a five-yard square pass in the middle of the park. Donovan collected the sumptuous feed and crossed to Mike Magee at the far post.

At that point, the move transferred from quality to comedy. Instead of lashing the ball first-time, Magee took what he later called “anything but a perfect touch” to nearly squander the buildup. Fortunately for Magee, his second touch improved considerably and Chivas USA defender Yamith Cuesta speared him in an attempt to slide over and block any attempted shot. Cuesta's recklessness resulted in a penalty kick few could argue even with Magee's delayed and deliberate tumble to the ground.

Donovan stepped up and did what he does in the playoffs. Cool as you like, Donovan waited for Thornton to commit to his left before slotting home down the middle to collect his record-tying 16th playoff goal in 20 career outings. The final whistle might as well have blown right after Donovan tucked home.

The Galaxy will need more of the same from Beckham, Donovan and and that stingy defense in order to defeat Houston in the Western Conference final on Friday night and reach MLS Cup. Beckham said one series win simply won't cut it.

“We’re happy with tonight, but we still have not won anything,” Beckham said. “We’ve done well and deserve to be in the position we are, but we can’t get carried away because we want to go further. One more win and we’ll be in the final, but it’s a tough game first.”

Conference Semifinals, Second Leg – Questions, Thoughts, and Answers

Monday MLS Breakdown Player of the Week – Javier Morales, MF, Real Salt Lake

RSL carried its playmaker for most of the season. When it counted, the Argentine midfielder repaid Jason Kreis' faith. Morales showed all of the audacity he displayed in the 2008 campaign, notched the crucial opening goal and added an assist on Andy Williams' match-winner in RSL's 3-2 comeback win in Columbus on Thursday. RSL combined particularly well in the attacking third and much of it had to do with Morales' considerable influence and involvement in possession.

The Starting XI (plus a substitute)

Real Salt Lake 3 – Columbus 2 (AET) (RSL advances 4-2 on aggregate)
1. What is it with the Crew and bouncing free kick goals into the net from distance? Gino Padula tallied a distant bouncer against New England on Oct. 10 and Guillermo Barros Schelotto marked his return from a one-match exile by curling a one-hopper inside the far post to stake the Crew to a 1-0 lead. The common thread between both goals: neither defense attacked the ball in the air to prevent the danger.
2. Columbus coach Robert Warzycha played the form card once again as he recalled Emmanuel Ekpo on the left wing and dropped Robbie Rogers to the bench. Ekpo's insertion didn't have the intended effect outside of his flick for Barros Schelotto's second as he struggled to come to grips with the game and failed to provide much incisiveness. One last question to ponder when discussing Warzycha's playoff lineup shuffling: should he have considered dropping Frankie Hejduk after the first leg and playing the steady, but offensively limited, Jed Zayner at right back in the decisive match? Warzycha probably couldn't have made the move for several reasons, but if a lack of form caused him to drop three other players, then Hejduk could have fallen to the bench as well.
3. Chicago should do its best to exert high pressure on Jamison Olave at every possible opportunity. The Colombian centerback gave away too many needless fouls against the Crew and struggled to cope when players ran at him. At the moment, Olave's inconsistency from moment-to-moment is the biggest concern for RSL defensively, though the Fire could pose some serious problems in the wide areas given the shape and the personnel group RSL has used out there as of late.

New England 0 – Chicago 2 (Chicago advances 3-2 on aggregate)
4. John Thorrington marked his return from injury with an active and bright performance in central midfield. Questions were raised about how much ground Thorrington could cover and how long he could sustain the pace of those game. In hindsight, those queries look foolish. With Thorrington stamping his authority on the game alongside the quietly effective Logan Pause, the Fire can match any remaining playoff team in central midfield.
5. Chicago coach Denis Hamlett made an astute tactical move to create more danger on the wings in the second leg. After flipping wingers Marco Pappa and Chris Rolfe for much of the first leg, Hamlett kept Pappa on the right to allow him to use his pace and trickery to run at Jay Heaps, who didn't have the proper cover from Revolution winger Kenny Mansally or the ability to corral Pappa on the night. The Guatemalan winger can run at fullbacks and beat them off the dribble, but couldn't use that to good effect on the left side because Revolution right back Kevin Alston rarely allows opposing wingers to turn the corner. That wasn't an issue on the right wing. Pappa's clever cutback set up Thorrington for the first goal before halftime and forced Revolution coach Steve Nicol to burn a halftime sub to withdraw Mansally and provide Heaps with more defensive aid.
6. New England made a similar adjustment in the first half by channeling most of its play through Sainey Nyassi on the right wing. Nyassi ruthlessly exposed two Fire left backs in the first leg and tormented the recalled Daniel Woolard in his first start since July 18. Revolution central midfielders Shalrie Joseph and Jeff Larentowicz often collected the ball in the middle of the park and set Nyassi free with diagonal balls once the Revs gained possession. Woolard improved as the night progressed, no doubt helped by the Fire's dominance in possession and Nyassi's subsequent lack of supply.
BONUS: MLS referee of the year Alex Prus manned the middle at Toyota Park on Saturday night and then caught a plane and worked as the fourth official in Sunday night's Chivas USA – Los Angeles contest.

Seattle 0 – Houston 1 (AET) (Dynamo advances 1-0 on aggregate)
7. Seattle coach Sigi Schmid opted to play Tyrone Marshall from the start after the veteran defender recovered from a knee injury. Schmid made the right call; Marshall is a key player in a number of ways for Sounders FC and had to feature if even close to fit. Unfortunately for the veteran Jamaican center back, he didn't quite find his footing in the match. There were no particularly glaring errors, but Marshall scuffed over a header on 12 minutes and appeared a step slow on several occasions. Then again…
8. …Houston forward Dominic Oduro made every Seattle defender look a step or two slow on the day. The frustrating Oduro, who possesses buckets of speed but often doesn't show the requisite skill to match it, troubled Sounders FC from the opening whistle. An early header signaled his intent before he rang the post on 22 minutes. Houston coach Dominic Kinnear hasn't had an appropriate partner for Brian Ching since Kei Kamara left for Kansas City, but Oduro did enough yesterday to earn a spot in the starting XI in Los Angeles on Friday night. If he can use his speed to unsettle the Galaxy central defenders, Houston may just reap the benefits.
9. After troubling the Dynamo from set pieces in the first leg, Seattle just couldn't find its range from dead balls at Robertson Stadium. Freddie Ljungberg influenced the match in fits and starts from the run of play, but his free kicks left much to be desired. Too often, the Swedish midfielder failed to clear the first man.

Chivas USA 0 – Los Angeles 1 (Los Angeles advances 3-2 on aggregate)
10. In perhaps his last match as Chivas USA manager, Preki continued to perplex with his team selection. Maykel Galindo troubled the Galaxy back line in the first leg as a halftime substitute, yet didn't merit a spot in the starting XI. Justin Braun and Maicon Santos looked lively enough as the starting front pair, but the Red-and-White could have used Galindo's penchant to get in behind defenses prior to his 60th minute arrival. Jesus Padilla certainly could have made way after another ineffective performance with Braun slotting in on the wing. Galindo's omission wasn't nearly as surprising as Shavar Thomas' inclusion at centerback. Jonathan Bornstein shifted to his natural left back position in place of Ante Jazic to accommodate Thomas' return. The move paid off after Thomas acquitted himself well despite making just two MLS starts since June 14. Makes one wonder why Thomas, a regular starter during the first half of the campaign, appeared so infrequently while Bornstein played as a makeshift central defender.
11. Los Angeles midfielder Chris Klein made a rare start on the right flank after Chris Birchall fell ill during the week. Klein took his chance well by adding some genuine width on the right and running his socks off. Klein's performance should pose a selection issue for Friday if Birchall is healthy enough to return. Birchall isn't a natural winger, but his experience in central midfield does allow David Beckham to switch from the middle to the right wing on occasion and his defensive focus may make sense with Brad Davis on Houston's left flank. That being said, Klein poses considerably more problems in the attacking third and covers a ton of ground.
12. Dema Kovalenko turned back the clock with an influential performance in the center of the park. Kovalenko harangued Sacha Kljestan all night and limited his effectiveness while showing more care and tidiness on the ball than he had in previous outings. Better to leave the reported offensive gestures toward the Chivas USA bench back in the locker room next time, though.
BONUS: Bruce Arena picked up his first playoff win since D.C. United defeated Columbus 3-0 to clinch the Eastern Conference title on Oct. 21, 1998.

Goal.com MLS Rankings

1. Los Angeles – With Beckham and Donovan in this sort of form, the Galaxy are the favorites to lift MLS Cup… (2)
2. Houston – …but the Dynamo will make it difficult on Los Angeles in the Western Conference final because the defense looks formidable at the moment and the rest of the side simply won't quit. (4)
3. Chicago – The key for the Fire against Real Salt Lake: exploiting the space on the wings. ( cool
4. Real Salt Lake – If RSL can string together another performance like the one in Columbus on Thursday night, the Claret-and-Cobalt will have more than a puncher's chance. (3)

MLS Playoffs: RSL’s MLS Cup Triumph Is No Overnight Success

By Kyle McCarthy

SEATTLE – Capturing the essence of triumph isn't the easiest thing in the world to do, especially considering the number of factors that went into Real Salt Lake's MLS Cup triumph over Los Angeles on penalty kicks on Sunday night.

Finding the right angle gets a whole lot easier when one member of the newly-crowned champions starts the conversation.

"It's a Cinderella story," Real Salt Lake midfielder Ned Grabavoy said. "“It really is."

In many senses, that's exactly on the nose. No one expected plucky RSL, one for all and all for considerably less than either David Beckham or Landon Donovan, to stand much of a chance against the Galaxy. No one expected RSL to even make the playoffs after a dismal run of form left them needing a series of results on the final day just to claw into the postseason. No one expected RSL to oust heavily-favored Columbus or heavily-favored Chicago in the first two rounds of the playoffs either.

At the same time, this conquest required far more than lightning in a bottle. Instead, this apparent overnight success tale resulted from a hard slog of gradual team building and spirit forging started when Jason Kreis took the helm in May 2007 and buttressed when Garth Lagerwey joined as general manager four months later.

Bit by bit, Kreis and Lagerwey disassembled the persistent errors of the previous regime and constructed a better club with a more certain approach to the game and a more cohesive team spirit. Smart moves – Kreis' move to send Mehdi Ballouchy to Colorado for club captain Kyle Beckerman prior to Lagerwey's arrival looks like the trade of the century these days – and honest work forged a team built on the peculiar combination of unrelenting effort and slick passing.

Then again, RSL's unique blend of determination, effort and skill embodies the image of Kreis, the player. No wonder then that the strange brew simmered and boiled under Kreis, the manager.

"He's the most competitive guy I've ever met and that's really saying something," Real Salt Lake investor/operator Dave Checketts said as he surveyed a jubilant locker room. "He drives himself. He drives this club."

The direction, at least for most of this season, veered a bit off course. Inconsistency and immodesty presented two difficult problems RSL couldn't quite solve. Success arrived too quickly with a Western Conference final berth last season and RSL simply didn't know how to handle the burden of expectation. Kreis tried just about everything to get his side on form – even the distinctive diamond midfield made way for a 4-3-3 to add a second defensive midfielder at one point – and couldn't find the right mix. There were even whispers at points that RSL might clean house on and off the field at the end of the season if the fade continued.

A situation that would cripple most teams slid RSL right back on track. Two wins out of three were enough to make the playoffs. Two subsequent wins over the fading Crew and a gritty, Nick Rimando-backed penalty kick shootout win in Chicago booked this date with the glitzy Galaxy. Adversity, it seems, draws the best out of the Claret-and-Cobalt.

Little wonder then that the first title triumph in team history required a bit of perseverance. Talismanic playmaker Javier Morales limped off with barely a quarter of an hour gone after Beckham's shoddy challenge at midfield left him with a strained left knee. Fellow midfielder Will Johnson joined him on the bench at the break after fighting through illness to play the first half. If those two injuries weren't enough, RSL entered the second half down a goal after Mike Magee tapped home Donovan's inch-perfect cross four minutes before the interval.

With their backs against the wall, RSL turned to two role players and its collective spirit to climb out of the hole.

Clint Mathis came on for Morales halfway through the first half and looked woefully out of sorts and off the pace prior to the break. Instead of putting his head down after a poor start, Mathis dug deep after halftime and did most of the things Morales normally does for the remainder of the match. By dropping deep occasionally to link the play and keeping the ball moving consistently, Mathis fulfilled his attacking requirements while contributing defensively. Mathis didn't quite deliver mohawks, slalom runs and I Love New York t-shirts, but Mathis version 2.0 provided exactly what RSL wanted and needed in a tough spot.

"I know people have counted me out many times in my career, but I went out there and I thought I had a good game," Mathis said. "At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. I have a gold medal around my neck."

Grabavoy plugged in for Johnson about as well as any one can fill in for a guy who covers acres and acres of space for 90 minutes. Like Mathis, Grabavoy fulfilled every requirement by tracking back and surging forward when it was required. For a guy who freely admitted after the game that defense wasn't a priority before he arrived in Utah, Grabavoy sure looked like a useful player on both sides of the ball.

"That's something I really figured out last year," Grabavoy said. "I wasn't asked to do that much in the early parts of my career. I've been asked to be a two-way player now and I know it's something I need to do and need to do well if I want to keep being a good player in this league. It's something I have really worked at this year and I really take pride in."

What RSL has done better than most teams in this league is find players like Grabavoy, Mathis and Andy Williams who are willing to evolve and willing to take pride in grasping a new role. The best part about that willingness to change is that the player's previous qualities still remain in tact. Hence why RSL can both muck and entertain.

In a pure footballing sense, no team in MLS can match RSL's artistry when it finds its cadence in possession. With Los Angeles failing to maintain its compressed shape in the second half and writhing around trying to compensate for poor nights from the hobbled Beckham and the out-of-sorts Donovan, RSL's rhythm returned and dominated the proceedings. The Claret-and-Cobalt knocked the ball around without a care in the world, threatened sporadically after Robbie Findley's opportunistic equalizer and ensured it would enter the lottery of penalties as the side most likely to be deemed hard luck losers if things went sour.

"My honest opinion is that we deserved to win that game, so I'm glad that we did," Kreis said.

With Rimando in between the pipes, there wasn't much doubt Cinderella would go to the ball. Rimando stopped two penalty kicks, Donovan ended his miserable night by skying his attempt over the bar and Robbie Russell sent Utah into rapture by tucking home the game-winner.

On this night and to cap this long and grueling season, few could have begrudged Real Salt Lake its place in the sun. The better team won in the end, a fact Beckham pointed out when he visited the opposing locker room and paid tribute to RSL after the match. The external validation by Beckham and others may be as belated as it is proper, but for this RSL team, it's all about the internal expectation and the collective belief.

"They've put in so much work of the two years that most of them have been together now," Kreis said. "It started off with a dream and an idea about what this team could look like and would look like over time."

It ended, at least for this one special moment in Seattle, with a championship.

Nowak Takes First Steps To Form Union

By Kyle McCarthy

Philadelphia manager Peter Nowak knew when he took control of the Union that this wasn't a regular MLS gig. For one thing, he didn't have any players.

Building a team from scratch isn't the dream most might think it is, even with the ample allocation money (in excess of $1 million) at the Union's disposal. Finding good, or even decent, options willing to play on MLS salaries is hard work. Plus, the Union had to winnow through the MLS ranks to figure out which players might become available in the expansion draft. In order to acquire that first batch of players, Nowak, former U.S. national team colleague and current assistant coach John Hackworth and other members of the Union technical staff had to watch games. A lot of games, in fact.

“The most important thing for me is the players,” Nowak said in a phone interview last week. “With John, we spent several weeks and several months talking about the players. Who are we going to get? Who is that? What will the scenarios in the expansion draft be? And then finally, we have all of these players.”

The group now numbers 11 with Danny Califf seemingly on his way from Denmark to make it a healthy dozen at the turn of the year. Nowak selected ten of those players in the recent Expansion Draft, opting for a mix of proven veterans (Stefani Miglioranzi, Alejandro Moreno, Shavar Thomas), established contributors with upside (Jordan Harvey, Sebastien Le Toux and Shea Salinas) and younger players with potential (Andrew Jacobson, Brad Knighton, David Myrie and Nick Zimmerman).

“You always look to build the spine of the team,” Nowak explained. “The keeper, the central (defenders and) midfielders and, in our case, even a striker like Alejandro Moreno, who was on a championship team (in Columbus) and won a couple of championships already. We have a good spine of guys right now. Around them, we have guys who are hungry for success.”

In addition to the expansion draftees, the Union acquired two potential defensive cornerstones by trade. Philadelphia obtained the rights to U.S. national team defender Califf from Houston to provide leadership at the back – “We just have the rights right now, but we'll make a strong effort to sign Danny in the next couple of weeks to bring him to Philadelphia,” Nowak assured – and dished out some of its allocation money to bring in Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Chris Seitz as the likely number one.

Initial reports out of Salt Lake City suggested Seitz's overall price tag nestled just over the $200,000 mark plus a share of any potential sale, but Nowak said “the reports are not accurate about what we've spent” on the deal. Quibbles with the price tag aside, Nowak believes the 23-year-old goalkeeper he selected as part of his squad for the 2008 Olympics has all of the tools to one day break through to the senior team. Nowak warned, however, that he'll have to hold off Knighton in order to grab hold of the number one shirt with the Union.

“He's still very young for a keeper,” Nowak said. “He needs to play and he needs to gain experience. Of course, he's going to make his mistakes. We just need to correct them. There's no better time to give him time in the goal. Of course, Brad Knighton is going to push him for that because he wants the job too. I think both keepers are in very good shape, they're very young and they're hungry for success.”

Players like Jacobson, Knighton, Salinas and Zimmerman will determine whether the expansion draft reaps significant benefits or merely provides a stepping stone for a more perfect Union somewhere down the line. Players like Myrie just raise questions about what the Union knows that no one else does.

Of the ten choices on Nowak's expansion draft list, no name elicited more quizzical looks than Myrie's. The former Chicago defender only joined MLS in September from LD Alajuelense after playing 16 games in 2008-2009 before falling out of the team during the Clausura. Myrie made no league appearances during his brief stint at Toyota Park, so few were surprised to see him left unprotected by the Fire.

Myrie, however, didn't represent an unknown quantity to the Union. Hackworth had seen Myrie play during his days with the Costa Rica youth national teams – Myrie went to the 2005 U-17 World Championship and the 2007 U-20 World Cup with the Ticos – while he coached the U.S. U-17s and reported favorably on him. Add in Myrie's lineage – his brother, Roy, is a defensive stalwart in the Costa Rican side who has made two appearances for KAA Gent in Belgium this season – and the Union believed picking Myrie over more proven quantities was worth the risk.

“That was good because nobody really knows about him,” Nowak said. “John was looking at him and he knows how he plays from his old days with the national team. We have a lot of good reports. His brother's a high profile guy, so his background is important too. He wants to be better than his brother. His brother is a valuable member of a European team, so now he has all of the motivation to be the same. That's one positive sign.”

In order to get the roster to where Nowak wants it to be by opening day, Myrie and a few other uncertainties will have to pay off. The foundation, particularly at the back, shows some promise, but the Union will certainly have to add top-end talent in central midfield and up front to have a chance to compete. There's ample time remaining for future, high-quality additions; for now, Nowak is focused on accumulating depth and developing the team mentality he seeks to instill in his new charges.

“This is a 24-man roster,” Nowak said. “I'd like to have two guys in each position to compete with each other. The depth in our league is very important, so we'll look at every possible position to make our team stronger. If we go through the tough times during the summer when there will be many games, we have to know we have 24 guys ready to go every single day. That's our goal.”

United, Onalfo Face Questions

By Kyle McCarthy

D.C. United completed its thorough and circuitous search for Tom Soehn's replacement on Monday morning by naming former Kansas City boss Curt Onalfo as its new head coach.

“This has been a lengthy process but at the end of it we believe Curt Onalfo will be an outstanding leader for D.C. United,” United president and CEO Kevin Payne said in a statement released by the team.

Payne also called Onalfo the “ideal choice,” though it remains notable that the former Wizards coach was not the first option at any point up until his selection. D.C. pushed hard for Akron head coach Caleb Porter, but Porter turned down United's overtures. With former United midfielder Richie Williams seemingly a poor fit for D.C.'s attacking philosophy and a foreign manager always an outside choice given the circumstances, Onalfo represented the logical next step.

In many ways, Onalfo is the perfect fit for the gig. The Virginia graduate played two seasons with United (1998-1999) and spent a further three seasons at R.F.K. Stadium as an assistant coach and director of youth development (2000-2002). Despite evidence to the contrary during his time in Kansas City, Onalfo prefers an attacking, possession-oriented brand of soccer that dovetails nicely with how United likes to play. The substantial ties to Bruce Arena and the Spanish language skills don't hurt either.

The factors that make this selection a natural one also raise significant questions about why United hesitated for 54 days to pick Onalfo in the first place. Was Porter such an enticing prospect to throw the timeline off all by himself? What were the hangups that didn't make Onalfo the choice from the start? Those questions are likely to remain unanswered, but they do present the rather uncomfortable scenario that United settled for Onalfo.

United's fan base appears just as reluctant if its lukewarm embrace of the appointment is any indication. Onalfo's status as a recycled option ranks among the chief concerns, though his work with Wizards deserves more credit than it has received. Onalfo guided Kansas City to two playoff appearances in his two-and-a-half seasons at the helm, but the Wizards unraveled considerably in 2009 with an extended scoring drought and a lengthy run of poor results leading to Onalfo's sacking this summer. United fans, needless to say, were expecting a sexier appointment, one that didn't smack of recent failure.

United general manager Dave Kasper, Onalfo and Payne will have to make significant strides toward United's fifth MLS Cup in order to persuade the skeptics. Onalfo has more talent at his disposal now than he had during his stint in Kansas City, but United's roster needs significant improvements across the board in order to contend for a title. Improving the attacking options – Luciano Emilio and Christian Gomez should probably make way for others based upon their 2009 performances while Jaime Moreno simply isn't a 90-minute player these days – and bolstering a shoddy defensive core must take precedence on a lengthy list of offseason tasks to accomplish. Signing Salvadoran international winger Cristian Castillo is a nice start, however.

Onalfo must learn from his time in Kansas City and apply those lessons to this high-profile challenge. His knowledge, his track record and his experience indicate he possesses the tools to lead United back to the playoffs. The question remains whether Onalfo can smooth out the rough edges in his style – the personality conflicts and the tinkering tendency, to name but two – to guide United further.

Time will tell whether Onalfo's appointment deserved the skepticism it encountered. For one day at least, his arrival represents progress even amid the questioning chatter.

Unlikely Weather Sets Stage For Intriguing Conclusion To MLS Player Combine
Mother Nature exerted the biggest impact over the first two days of the MLS Player Combine by compressing the remaining two doubleheaders into the final two days of the Combine. Kyle McCarthy takes stock of the revised circumstances in the Monday MLS Breakdown.

By Kyle McCarthy

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Even the best laid plans can get thrown off course by a freak cold snap in South Florida.

In the grand scheme of things, this Monday column would have served as the natural point to review the first two days of the MLS Player Combine and sort through the player evaluation process prior to the final doubleheader on Tuesday morning.

So much for that idea. Thank the chilly temperatures, the rain and the wind for turning the field into a slippery mess and forcing Combine officials to push Sunday's slate of matches to Monday.

The detailed player analysis will have to wait until later considering the lack of Combine action thus far. Here are a few tidbits to bridge the gap until the games kick off on Monday afternoon.

Fitness will sure come in handy over the next two days: The schedule shift will push these college players to the limit with games slated for Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning. In other words, the temporary reprieve allotted by the cool and rainy conditions on Saturday and the unexpected break on Sunday is well and truly over.

“We've gotten through the initial shock of the first day and everything,” Akron midfielder Blair Gavin said. “We have to get ready for the next two days because those are definitely going to be two big games. It's an opportunity for most of us.”

Most players wisely prepared for the rigorous days ahead by lying low in the hotel and resting up for the continuation of their extended job interview.

Who is Danny Mwanga? That's the question on the minds of most Philadelphia supporters these days now that the Oregon State forward has emerged as the Union's overwhelmingly likely selection at the top of Thursday's SuperDraft.

Mwanga is an unknown quantity simply because he hasn't had the exposure of most other players at the top of the draft pool. The Beavers didn't make the NCAA tournament in the past two seasons and Mwanga played all 29 of his collegiate matches inside the Pacific time zone. All of those goals (18 ) and all of those Pac-10 awards (Freshman of the Year despite limited time on the field in 2008 and Player of the Year honors in 2009) only say so much.

In order to get a better read on what Mwanga brings to the table, former Oregon State and current Cal-State Stanislaus coach Dana Taylor provided some insight on the player he recruited and coached for one season.

“Some guys come in with all of the skill, but maybe they don't have that last piece of athleticism to get over the edge,” Taylor said. “Some people come in with the pace and the athleticism, but don't quite have the skill and you try to develop that aspect of their game. Danny came in with all of the technique and all of the athleticism, but he had one extra trait that is rare to find in the American player these days: he played with such composure.”

The Congolese forward has all of the tools – the vision, the ability to feel pressure and the change of pace – to make an impact at the next level, according to Taylor. Considering Taylor sent a quartet of forwards – Robbie Findley, Alan Gordon, Ryan Johnson and Bryan Jordan – to MLS during his decade as coach in Corvallis, he might just have the inside scoop on what it takes for a college forward to succeed as a pro.

International players impact top half of draft: Mwanga is one of three foreign players who could go in the top half of the first round with Teal Bunbury (dual Canada/U.S. citizenship) and Toni Stahl (Finland) also expected to come off the board early. Bunbury boasts the luxury of counting as a domestic player on both sides of the border, but Mwanga and Stahl will both count as foreign players in 2010.

A Twitter follower, @fshires, asked on Friday whether Stahl possessed a green card, so I queried the UConn central midfielder when I had the opportunity to chat with him on Sunday. The answer, in short, is no. Stahl is in the process of obtaining his P1 work visa in order to take the field once training camp starts.

(If that brief reader mention isn't enough to entice you to follow me on Twitter – @kylejmccarthy – for the remaining two days of the Combine, then focus on the updates during the course of Combine play and the brief insights as we progress onwards through the SuperDraft week. The incentive is there no matter how you slice it.)

Paving the way to MLS...from Akron: Akron University hasn't had to worry about this much about MLS scuttlebutt since, well, forever. Two Zips – Bunbury and Gavin – comprise one-sixth of the incoming Generation adidas class and both could go in the first round. One more Zip – head coach Caleb Porter – could have joined them if he had accepted D.C. United's overtures to make him its next head coach.

Both Bunbury and Gavin heaped praise on Akron and the job Porter has done to transform the Zips into a national title contender. As for all of the interest in Akron products from the American top flight, Bunbury said the suitors arrived as a byproduct for the type of program Porter has constructed since taking over in January 2006.

“That's what happens when you have such a successful year, such a great team and such a great university,” said Bunbury, who also collected the Hermann Trophy as the nation's top college player on Friday.

The last word: Wake Forest center back Ike Opara is expected to come off the board early, with defender-needy New York a possible destination with the second pick. The Generation adidas star pondered draft strategy – he noted each team has to weigh its needs as well as the talent available – this weekend, but said he didn't care where he will land once he hears his name called on Thursday.

“Ideally, staying on the East Coast would be nice for me, but beggars can't be choosers,” Opara said. “For a professional career, you're just happy to get started. It could be in the middle of Montana.”

Colorado-New England Deal Addresses, Creates Needs
Colorado and New England finally unveiled their long-rumored trade on Friday. Kyle McCarthy examines the deal in the Monday MLS Breakdown.

Jan 25, 2010
By Kyle McCarthy

There are some personnel moves that appear out of nowhere. The four-player swap Colorado and New England announced on Friday did not fall into that category.

“It's probably the worst kept secret in MLS,” Revolution vice president of player personnel Michael Burns said after the announcement finally turned more than a week's worth of intense speculation into reality.

The blockbuster trade – New England shipped Jeff Larentowicz and Wells Thompson to Colorado in exchange for Cory Gibbs, Preston Burpo, a 2011 third-round pick and allocation money – may have gestated publicly for over a week, but its origins track back considerably further.

The high-profile components in the deal – Larentowicz and Gibbs, both Brown alums – inspired long-term admiration from the other side. Gibbs trained with the Revolution before he signed with MLS in August 2008. New England expressed interest in the former U.S. international defender at the time, but the Rapids were higher in the allocation order and acquired Gibbs instead. The links between Larentowicz and the Rapids weren't as direct, but Colorado technical director Paul Bravo said the defensive midfielder was “a target of ours for some time.”

“He was able to pick his team up and make the players around him better and help them grind out results at a time when they were desperate,” Bravo said. “We know he's going to bring that to the table and that's something that we missed a bit down the stretch last year.”

Interest, however, isn't enough to facilitate a deal. In order to make this particular trade happen, a series of circumstances unfolded to make the swap a logical one for both sides.

The seeds for the deal were probably first sown when Larentowicz's contract expired at the end of the 2009 campaign, seemingly bringing his five-year tenure with New England to a conclusion. The 26-year-old midfielder and the Revolution couldn't find enough common ground to agree to an extension despite holding talks at the end of the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

“I'm happy and excited to look at something fresh and new in my life,” said Larentowicz, who called his stint in New England “awesome” and noted that he didn't “harbor any ill will” about the way things worked out. “I've been in New England for the past ten years, if you include college. I'm looking forward to a new and different challenge.”

Larentowicz planned to explore potential European options as he sought that new challenge, but a lingering right knee injury – a painful bone bruise incurred in early August in a game against Los Angeles – forced him to pull out of U.S. national team camp and undergo minor surgery to rectify the problem earlier this month. Larentowicz may have recovered quickly from the surgery – he was on an exercise bike the next day – but the European dreams were all but eradicated by the medical issues. As part of the trade, Larentowicz agreed to a new, six-figure deal with MLS thought to include at least a four-fold raise on his 2009 salary of $34,650.

While the Revolution wanted to bring Larentowicz back and believed they would eventually persuade him to return, there were other pressing concerns that required immediate attention.

Stalwart Revs defender Jay Heaps retired after the 2009 season, creating a significant need for a versatile defender who could fill multiple spots and slot in primarily as a left back. New England goalkeeper Matt Reis underwent shoulder surgery in early December, sidelining him for 4-6 months and ruling him out for the start of the 2010 season. To compound the goalkeeping difficulties, Philadelphia selected backup Brad Knighton in the expansion draft, leaving untested third-string goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth as the only shotstopper on the roster.

The circumstances left New England with two pressing holes to fill in its starting XI and Larentowicz's rights to peddle. Colorado presented the best fit among the several interested teams because it could offer Gibbs and Burpo – two veterans who probably would have started 2010 as reserves for the Rapids, but could play right away for the Revs – to plug those gaps. This might be an instance of swapping a quarter for two dimes, but Burns said the Revs felt they had to address the gaps at left back and goalkeeper.

“You do a deal because you think you're filling a need or you think you're getting the better of the deal,” Burns said. “Colorado, I'm guessing, feels very good about the deal, but we feel that adding these two guys, without a doubt, fills two offseason needs for us.”

Thompson, the fourth player in the deal, may have gotten lost in the shuffle a bit, but he also fills an acute need for the Rapids. Three wingers – Colin Clark, Jacob Peterson and Jamie Smith – suffered serious knee injuries last season. All three could potentially miss the start of the season, creating a considerable problem for a Colorado side that showed it couldn't generate offense without wide players at the tail end of 2009. Thompson's arrival handed the Rapids an eerily direct replacement for Peterson – functional on both sides of the field, lots of industry and little end product – and allowed them to ship Peterson to Toronto FC in exchange for allocation money.

“We got a deal we couldn't pass up for Jake,” Bravo said, noting that the allocation money TFC passed along “softened the blow” of including a chunk of change in the Larentowicz deal. “We didn't want to trade him, but Preki had been actively pursuing him for some time.”

As often happens in the salary-capped, roster-limited world MLS teams inhabit, making a move to address one need often exposes problems in other areas. This deal is no different for either side.

Colorado will have to strengthen its left back situation with former starter Jordan Harvey in Philadelphia and potential choice Gibbs in New England. Bravo said the Rapids would “most likely announce some signings here shortly” to bolster the back line, including a potential left back option. Burpo's departure leaves a void in the nets, one Bravo said Steward Ceus would have every opportunity to fill after impressing the team with his stint on loan in Charlotte (USL-2) last season. There are also plans to bring in additional goalkeeping options, according to Bravo.

“We just felt that it was too good to pass up with the opportunity to bring Jeff and Wells into the group," Bravo said when asked about the now-paper-thin left back spot. "It's a little bit of a risk, but we're more than willing to take that risk to solidify other spots on the field.”

New England will have fill the significant hole created by Larentowicz's departure. Larentowicz and Shalrie Joseph formed one of the top central midfield tandems in the league over the past couple of seasons, forging a bond that saw Joseph lobby publicly for a new deal for his partner several times during the course of the 2009 season and prompted Larentowicz to say he was “indebted to Shalrie for being able to play next to him” after the deal went down. There are choices in-house – Pat Phelan would make the most sense as a like-for-like replacement – but no one player currently on the books can replace Larentowicz's contribution.

“If (the deal) means we have to go out and try to replace Jeff, then we'll do that, but we feel like we have guys on our roster that can fill that void,” Burns said.

The void in New England might be the most pressing, but it isn't the only one left to fill. Suddenly, there's a vacancy in the worst kept secret category that needs addressing as some MLS training camps open this week. Any takers?

Collaborative Effort Generates MLS Schedule
MLS released its 2010 fixture list last week. Kyle McCarthy chats with MLS president Mark Abbott and vice president of club services Brad Pursel to see how MLS assembles its schedule.

Feb 8, 2010
By Kyle McCarthy

Brad Pursel isn't a familiar name even in the most devout of MLS-worshipping households.

Although he operates in relative anonymity in his role as MLS vice president of club services, Pursel probably wields far more influence than many would suspect because he helms a particularly high-profile project that makes news around this time every year.

Pursel – working in concert with team and television programming executives, MLS president Mark Abbott and other league officials – assembles the MLS regular season schedule.

“It's one of those twisted puzzle things you enjoy putting together,” Pursel said of the effort he has marshaled since 2002 and contributed to since joining MLS in 1997 after a stint as the public relations director with the A-League (now USL First Division). “You take a lot of lumps along the way, but it's part of the process.”

The word process doesn't begin to describe the lengthy and onerous toil of trying to compile a 240-game schedule that satisfies the needs of the 16 member clubs on and off the field, the three national television partners and the league office.

Although the project hums along at varying speeds during the entire calendar year, the schedulemaking process for the upcoming year commences in earnest during the previous summer when MLS executives and team officials determine the competition format for the upcoming season. Philadelphia's arrival as the league's 16th team in 2010 simplified the process considerably for this campaign: a 30-game schedule with each club playing every other side home and away.

The next step involves allocating the home openers. Assigning those dates historically takes place November or December, but MLS pushed up the announcement to September to take advantage of greater venue availability and permit more time to generate buzz for those matches.

Teams get directly involved in the process starting in the fall, typically in November. Each club submits a schedule wishlist for the upcoming season, ranking potential home dates on a priority basis and submitting a handful of blackout dates to avoid hosting matches when its home venue is unavailable.

By the time the final whistle blows to decide the MLS Cup winner in late November and the external tournament participants are determined, Pursel possesses all of the information he needs to set the competition calendar and compile the all-important first draft of the new schedule.

Sketching out the initial schedule offering requires juggling three separate priorities, according to Abbott: maximizing attendance, creating a television schedule to maximize ratings and balancing the schedule from a competitive perspective. The three goals do not always pull in the same direction, a concern that forces Pursel to use his experience to produce the best possible arrangement.

“That's the art of the schedulemaking process,” said Abbott, who also noted the importance of business concerns in laying out the fixtures. “Brad has a familiarity with it after doing it for so many years. He'll balance those things and he also seeks input from other people at the league office. We talk to the technical people when a question arises and we talk with other people about the potential impact (of a date or a change). That's what the job is: trying to balance those priorities.”

Pursel said he uses a combination of computer software generations and manual overrides to produce an initial offering that constitutes much of the final schedule.

“We're getting to the point where we have enough input from the teams and our TV partners that when we assemble those early drafts, they're in pretty good shape,” Pursel said. “When we go through the back and forth with the teams, it's about fine tuning and making some of those harder final decisions.”

Some of the hardest decisions – taking a fortnight off during the group stages of the World Cup, for example – arrive well before the first draft exists. Others – the placement of mid-week matches (35 out of 240 matches or approximately 15 percent of the schedule) and the sequence of long-haul trips – are revealed for the first time to some consternation from the clubs. The mid-week matches, for example, draw considerable scrutiny because they can often lead to fixture congestion and stunted momentum.

The feedback on those contentious issues arrives as the first draft circulates between the MLS office in New York, the respective team offices and the programming executives at each of the three broadcast partners. Both Abbott and Pursel underlined the task of assembling the schedule remains a collaborative process on all fronts, though one that still raises some natural concerns on the team level year after year despite the experienced hands in charge of carving out the calendar.

“We've become better at anticipating what comments might get raised, so we deal with them preemptively,” Abbott said.

Back and forth exchanges address some of the comments and eschew others after some deliberation. Minor tweaks and changes shift a few dates and times around, but the primary framework of the schedule remains consistent with the first draft. The process continues as MLS works towards its target date to release the schedule. Once the end date beckons, the give and take stops and each team has to cope with its assigned slate of games.

“While teams certainly call and advocate their positions and sometimes complain about the schedule assignments they've been given, they are all very respectful of the difficulty of the task,” Abbott said. “At the end of the day, they realize someone has to make a call and that's our role within the league office to make that call.”

Abbott said making those decisions has decreased in difficulty as clubs have entered owner-controlled, soccer-specific facilities. Even with the considerable improvements and the increased flexibility now on offer, venue availability still rates as one of the top hindrances to making the schedule, according to Abbott. Sorting through the additional matches imposed by external competition also makes the list.

Those challenges ensure crafting the schedule remains a fresh task for Pursel from year to year. Although Pursel estimates he spends a third of his year intensively crafting the schedule, there isn't any time to rest and reflect on the accomplishment of releasing the current fixture list. The preparations for 2011, in some way, shape or form, are already underway.

“We keep on marching,” Pursel said.