After getting off to a bad start, who wouldve thought we would reach this stage as a league? Final week of CCL group play and all 3 MLS teams still have a possiblity of qualifying for the knock out rounds. For the most part the MLS teams have performed better this year playing for the most part with B team lineups.
yeah youre right--sorry for the brainfart---it should of course read October--can a mod please fix the date? Lesson--never type a post while watching a game.
shh...let's not discuss that at the dinner table. Edit: ohh, you were talking about the dates in the thread. Ok, but still: when talking about MLS improvement, we'll leave NY and Toronto aside and focus on the ones that are still alive. Open question: given that DC is still in the domestic fight for the playoffs, and that Marathon has a better chance of getting points out of the whipping boys then they will at 8,000 ft above sea level (oh yeah, and I've heard rumors that Toluca can ball ), how likely is it that they would send down a competitive team for the game? And in my opinion, from least likely to most, the number of MLS teams to make it to the quarterfinals would be: (least) 3 - 0 - 1 - 2 (most). But I'll waive the prediction and just enjoy seeing how it unfolds.
I thought at the beginning we'd get 2/3, and I hold to it. 1) Columbus have the best chance. They are 2 points up on 3rd place Saprissa and have two outs to use poker speak. A draw or better gets them in regardless of the other result. And Saprissa failing to beat Cruz Azul at home also gets them in. Now, getting a result @PR is no easy task, nor is getting a result @Saprissa. PR are out, so don't have as much to play for, but will be at home. Cruz Azul are already in, and don't have as much to play for as Saprissa. Columbus have already secured the #1 seed out East, and would have to lose their last game (on Sunday) while Chivas wins 2 games before that (@Fire, Houston) to lose the Shield. Point being, they should field a full strength team for this one, and some starers (Padula, Carroll, Moreno) were rested on the week-end, and Guille removed early from a game we were trailing. Like I said at the beginning, we may not qualify, but it won't be for lack of trying. 2) Houston are in the most precarious position, standings wise: they are in 3rd three points behind second place Arabe Unido (but hold the tie-breaker). Houston travels to last place (and pointless) Metapan, while Unido travel to Pachuca. Pachuca are already in, but also will probably want some payback after getting hammered in Panama. Houston are already in the playoffs, but are in a three way tie for first, and will almost certainly lose homefield in the playoffs if they lose @Chivas (LA has SJ at home). However, Houston play Tue/Sun, so players should be OK to recover. They tough one is the Sun/Tue before the game. 3) DC are in the biggest pickle, though they currently are in second on the tie-breaker. They must match Marathon's result. DC travel to Toluca, while Marathon travel to pointless Jabloteh. And DC needs a win @KC (+help) to get into the playoffs. In my view, they throw in the towel. I hope not, however.
Just so people know MLS's schedule for this go-around: October 20: Toluca - D.C. United, 8 PM Eastern October 20: Puerto Rico - Columbus, 8 PM Eastern - Win or draw = Columbus advance October 21: Metapan - Houston, 10 PM Eastern - We'll know before kickoff if Houston even has a chance to advance
You can always hope Toluca rolls out the "C Team" since this match makes no difference to them... or root for an outbreak of some sort of non-fatal food-bourne illness to hit....
It will be interesting with Houston as everyone will know if we can advance on paper, yet how the team looks to kill off a winless Metapan on their own soil will be the task of the day for MLS sides.
Since Ching got a red card v. the Galaxy and won't play v. Chivas in the last MLS game, you figure they'll at least use him to full capacity in this one.
We're all crossing our fingers in cbus that a feed pops up on atdhe.net or another site tomorrow. FSC screwed us as well for our match at Saprissa, but we had a viewing at a local pub with a live stream of a spanish station from justin.tv pumped onto the big screens that we had a good crowd for. Hopefully we're as lucky this time with a feed. too many "watch tv like a pirate" days lately...
Thanks for the info, bright side is, if you guys make it to the next round you're pretty much guaranteed decent coverage.
Last time Ching got ejected we had the same situation and Kinnear made a resting sub for Ching. Kinnear believes tired players are much more likely to get injured -- so I can see Kinnear playing Ching for only 45 minutes Wednesday despite the fact that he must sit the following weekend.
currently atdhe.net is listing a live broadcast of the match (8pm EST), hopefully the feed will work!
i get the feeling that due to his cowardice he is going to have a bad week at the helm of his club....most likely his last one to boot
for all the crap MLS takes about this tournament, it's a sign of the league's strength that its ninth place team is still in the hunt.