Well, the playoffs have started in earnest and for every year since 2009, the playoffs open in earnest without the Fire. In 2012 and 2017, the Fire "made" the play-in match and lost both times. The "Wild Card" (f/k/a the "play-in" game) ended with Vancouver destroying Portland 5-0 Montreal and Atlanta drew 2-2, with Atlanta advancing on Penalties Round 1 began last night Pairings for the Playoffs: Inter Miami vs. Atlanta United Columbus Crew vs. New York Red Bulls FC Cincinnati vs. NYCFC Orlando City vs. Charlotte FC LAFC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps LA Galaxy vs. Colorado Rapids Real Salt Lake vs. Minnesota United Seattle Sounders vs. Houston Dynamo Golden boot winner Christian Benteke will not be seen as DC United failed to make the post season. There were four 20+ goal scores this season and TWO (Messi and Suarez) are on Miami. The fourth being Bouanga from LAFC. I have cancelled my MLS stream rip off by Apple, so I won't watch. I really don't care about the league anymore beyond the Fire. I suppose if there is a match on actual tv, maybe I would watch. A couple of matches (Vancouver v. LAFC is the only one so far) and MLS Cup Final on December 7, 2024 will be on Fox, but the vast majority are only the streaming rip off service. The Fire, on the other hand began the offseason by signing a new coach/GM/major overlord, former USMNT head coach Gregg "GGG" Berhalter, with Frank Klopas "failing up" from head coach to VP of something or other. Oh, and the Fire signed former Fire midfielder Michael "Mikey" Stephens for...reasons. Next, the Fire decided to shed some serious deadwood, but not nearly enough. The Fire have to dump a DP, dump some crappy defenders and maybe another CDM and, most importantly, The Fire need to add some real quality players to support the few decent players on the roster. The Fire announced their Year End "Awards" the other day: Fire MVP and Golden Boot Winner: Hugo Cuypers He had a decent season, but really faded in the second half of the season, only scoring ONE goal since July 3rd. Defensive Player of the Year: Chris Brady Really the only choice, as the rest of the defense was pretty dire And, well that's it for "awards." So, that is about it for this Season, at least until the Fire start making some moves in December and January.
Holy gaffe. Guzan. 1-0? VAR situation. I think it was interference. Goal given. That was one of the strangest goals I've ever seen.
Well Atlanta made your dream come true. There will be a game 3. I thought Dax looked VERY effective for a 37 year old. More effective than some of the Fire's holding mids.