That would be a great banner for one of the supporters groups to unfurl if appropriate at minute 90 or minute 120 at Buck Shaw stadium!* *We have the worst selection of smileys to choose from. To get a real laughing one I have to go pink a la or green a la . Why can't we have something like this? I'm thinking about organizing a Big Soccer Posting Slowdown until they provide us with the smiley's we deserve!!
So Ives rates SKC as the team most likely to hoist the Cup and other metrics are giving SJ a more than 80% chance of winning it. I like it. I like underdog status. Chip, meet shoulder. Let's do this thing.
I’m going negative nelly. We get past Vancouver, but crash out against San Jose. I’d be grudgingly content with knocking out San Jose, anything beyond that is gravy this year.
LA with something to prove is super scary. I'd pray for any team that has to deal with us when we have a chip on our shoulder.
Grant Wahl agrees with some of us in his predictions. LA beating Vancouver, then SJ, but losing to RSL.
I'll go one better and tell you how I see the entire Playoffs unfolding. I see us getting past Vancouver without a real issue. Especially if their DP's get relegated to supersub roles. If they are that crazy, then they are really going to get owned. I also see us getting past San Jose. However it will not be easy at all. As a matter of fact I can easily see it coming down to penalties against SJ. If we keep our composure though, we should beat them soundly. That is the secret to winning against them. COMPOSURE!! It will be what gets us a win inspite of ref calls against us, brutal fouls(you know they are coming so just get ready for it) or late game scoring from them. We have got to treat them the same way we treat South American teams in the Champions League. Do this and not only do we win the series but we could do it in epic fashion ala the "Mike Magee Becomes Legend" game. I see RSL taking down Seattle and that team finally being broken up next year. Steve Z. is not ready yet, Montero is to inconsistent, Becks & Juni can contain Alonso & Rosales, and EJ is their wildcard who gives them their best chance to win. RSL are going to lock EJ down and Seattle are going to knock at the door but aren't going to get in. Expect RSL to win with very few goals. We will then face RSL and all get to witness some of the best footy in MLS. The fact that we get 2 shots at this puts the odds in our favor. If it were a one-off game it could go either way, inspite of them having fewer goal scoring threats than we do. However, I expect a repeat of what we did to NY last year. As for the east. This is how I see it going down. Houston takes out Chicago 1-0. NY and DC battle it out big time. They hate each other about as much as we hate SJ. In the end though NY wins. They have to many weapons that are too consistent on offense to be denied. Henry is not going home early this year. Just not gonna happen. SKC barely defeats Houston who will give up a series goal lead in game 2. NY and SKC will be another epic battle of skill with SKC finally getting to the Cup game. MLS CUP 2012 LA vs SKC Both teams have gone through the fire and now One Shall Stand and One Shall Fall. My money is on LA, but I could see SKC pulling it off also. In the one and only game we played this year against this team we were without Beckham, LD (coming off a quad injury) was in midfield and not playing next to Keane. We had an out of form and slightly injured Buddle in the game, we had Mikey Stephens and a totally out of form Juni in the center of the park. We also had Chad Barrett and a not yet ready for primetime Meyer in for Omar. SKC was at home and at full strength as I recall and only were able to get one goal in this game after we waisted chance after chance. Buddle, Juni and Meyer are now in form. LD is sore but now plays next to Keane primarily. We have Chippen now instead of Barrett and Becks is entering the playoffs at pretty much 100%. Like I said my money is on LA. I would call the season a good one if we got to this game, especially with the way we started. I do think that LA would need all hands on deck to win it though.
I'll start with the East: Houston goes on to SKC but get shut down. Zusi scores first and SKC takes the lead, but Houston but are able to tie with a goal from a set piece. Unfortunately, SKC score 2 on them in their own yard, and are able to coast into the semis. 1-1/2-1 New York and DC will begin the battle of the Eastern Seaboard with a trip to RFK. New York's arsenal (pun intended) of good players, especially msrs. Henry and Cooper fire at will against DC's helpless defense. However, a careless mistake by one Mexican douchebag results in gifting a goal to DC, via Pontius or Santos (lol). On the second leg, DC's switch in schedule ends up biting the team in the ass as they have no way of coping with the rain-soaked pitch at Red Bull Arena. They end up being on the wrong end of lopsided score in both legs. 3-1/3-0. By the power invested in thy Guido, the Red Bulls advance. New York faces off against SKC, where they back the adage, "form is temporary, class is permanent." Via penalties, high scoring shootouts, or 1-0 nailbiters, New York advances to the final. The West: We f**king SCORCH the very earth the Whitecaps dare tread on in our house. By the end of the game Vancouver's team will be officially renamed the "Bloody Redcaps" and a criminal charge of major rapeage will have to be lodged against the likes of Robbie Keane, Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle, Juninho and David Beckham. 4-0. RSL and Seattle will be nailbiters, low scoring games due to the scoring troubles of both teams (Eddie Johnson's injury pending). RSL pop the bra straps off of Seattle's jerseys and manage to skid by 1-0 in both fixtures. Now, screw the shiny trophy (though it is important)...The Smurfs vs Gs. I think many agree with me in saying this is the real finale. The only vengeance for snatching the Supporter's Shield away from LA must be complete victories. I don't care if it comes via defensive bunker tactics which result in 1-0 wins, or if Keane and Donovan combine to score at will to shut down the blue shit once and for all. 1-0/2-1. LA vs. RSL: Donovan invokes his inner ninja like the previous game at Rio Tinto, stealths through RSL's defense to score the winning goal. 2-0/1-0. Final: LA vs NY, dream MLS matchup, resulting in a 3-2 victory with LA successfully defending their cup.
Interesting note: I have a friend who is a die-hard SKC fan, and he is scared spitless about facing Houston. I guess they didn't beat Houston this year, we all know what happened last year, and that's the one team that seems to have their number with Dom Kinnear's playoff magic. That's going to be an interesting series. Don't pencil SKC into the conference finals just yet.
Being stuck here in Dallas, i'd rather it be SKC as it's the closest game for me to hitchhike too, but if that managed to be the title game and we got to host another, how amazing would that be?
The kind of exposure that could come from hosting the MLS Cup in NY/NJ, in the biggest television and urban population market of the US would be tremendous for the league and both clubs involved. Classic matchup of DP vs. DP; Backe would be extra motivated to win so he can make the suits shut the f**k up about his management skills, appease Henry, get a fat new contract and keep building his project. Il Bruce would be gunning for the successful repeat. It would be an amazing matchup of skill, grit, strategy and teamwork. Would this happen, Garber should be smart enough to capitalize on the game by announcing the Cosmos as the next expansion team on the day of or even at the game. Hopefully the Sandy situation gets fixed, not only for the sakes of the affected residents and our economy, but also for the sake of advancing soccer in this country. Oh and don't forget to vote! Two words: Soccer Caucus - figure out if someone who represents you is in one: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-co...-washington-s-9th---adam-smith?xrs=share_copy Of course some stupid WA Sounders fans would have a representative in the Congressional Soccer Caucus - warning: Hilarity ensues.
Well those of us who picked us to knock off San Jose due to their shaky defense deserve a pat on the back, let's hope i'm wrong on my next prediction about us losing the conference final.
Glad I was right about San Jose. Leave it to SKC to ruin my bracket/prediction for the Eastside though. Now it's looking like it will be either NY or Houston in the final; and I think Houston would upset NY in the same way SKC got put out.
Well, a lot of the predictions came true---we found a way past SJ. I certainly doubted we'd get there after Sunday's game, even though my own prediction was that we'd find some way past. In my defense, this was the FIRST game this year where we looked like world-beaters and Champions. The season (particularly the failure to win games at eh end when we needed playoff positioning) and the start of the playoffs were not at ALL convincing. Incredibly pleased with the heart the team showed. It gives me HUGE pleasure to knock San Jose out. I did NOT want to be a speed bump on their way to the MLS Cup. That would be just pretty much the worst possible result fromt he playoffs. That said, I agree with those who have said they feel a bit bad for Wondolowski. I can't hate him. Maybe it's because I have too much hate focused on Lenhart that there's none left over. So I am sorry for him in a way, but the flip side is he has to look in the mirror---he got shut down over a 2 game playoff series where his team needed him. That's why, even when SJ was scoring TONS of goals, I would still take our forwards over theirs. They've been there before, know how to come through under pressure, and man did Keane rip it up last night. I do think the team is going to be tired. That's 3 really high-intensity games following a brutal end-of-the-season schedule. We can beat either RSL or the Sounders, but I sure hope the tired legs don't start catching up with us. We are not exactly a young team.
Oh, and also: I don't think anyone should be talking crap about the SS this year. If we'd been beat out by a hair or something and there was an argument that the unbalanced schedule gave SJ an advantage that made the difference then OK, but the fact is, we weren't close and they earned it. Congrats to SJ for winning it, it IS a big accomplishment, and I am sorry that we lost it this year. Let SKC argue with SJ about who should have won the shield and who had a harder road. After all, they both have plenty of time for the argument, and we have a game to prepare for.
Agree with 90% of your post. But there were a few games earlier in the year where we did look like world-beaters and champions. The best one of them was at home against Vancouver (the earlier season Vancouver which was a better team than the later one) and it was the best performance by an MLS team I had ever seen. The one touch passing was something to behold and everyone was getting in on the act. Back then Becks was in great shape and uninjured and his touch on the ball was sublime. Unfortunately he isn't anywhere close to that form these days and his work rate has dropped precipitously so it is hard to duplicate those performances from last spring. But I agree that last night we were in a tough spot -- down a goal, playing our third game in a week away vs the best team in the league -- and yet our team found a way to win and in that sense we were champions.
After watching the past few games, my main prediction: Omar is in Europe this time next year. Signed,