16 games this week. Most teams play twice but Chivas, Columbus, New England, New York only play once while DC United doesn't play at all. Tuesday, July 3 Houston v. Chicago 7:30 pm KPRC-2 Portland v. San Jose 9:30 pm Wednesday, July 4 Montreal v. Kansas City 6:00 pm Dallas v. Toronto 8:00 pm Colorado v. Vancouver 8:30 pm Real Salt Lake v. Seattle 9:00 pm Los Angeles v. Philadelphia 9:30 pm Saturday, July 7 Kansas City v. Houston 7:00 pm FSH/KHLM-43 Real Salt Lake v. Portland 8:00 pm Dallas v. San Jose 8:00 pm Chivas USA v. Vancouver 9:30 pm Seattle v. Colorado 10:00 pm NBCSp Sunday, July 8 Chicago v. Los Angeles 2:00 pm ESPN/Deportes Philadelphia v. Toronto 3:00 pm New England v. New York 6:00 pm Montreal v. Columbus 6:30 pm Seattle at RSL is probably the biggest match based on the standings.
I agree that the RSL x SS game is pretty interesting. You have two teams with lots of talent and solid home-fields who are still toward the top of the standings, but on rough stretches. RSL has three losses in a row. I'd love to hear Jason Kreis behind closed doors right now. And Seattle doesn't have a win in their last five games. It's a timely matchup of two decent teams that each want to get back on track. I'm also curious to see how TFC does this week. There's a good team lurking in that roster somewhere. Mariner just needs to put the pieces together and I'd bet he will at some point.
Re: Toronto, I agree. But I will say he seems to have the pieces coming together already. They are unbeaten in their last 4 after starting 0-fer. They are going to make some noise toward the end of the year.
Lots at stake for the Orange this week, could close the gap on Chicago & KC or by the same token could allow it to grow. With two wins (if RSL continues to struggle) San Jose could open up a pretty good lead out West (and for the SS since DC is off)
BTW, there have been 155 league games played so far out of the total of 323 regular season games this year. The seven mid-week games this week means that the LAG-PHI game on the 4th is the exact mid-point of the season.
My rooting interests this week: Timbers over Quakes, probably hopeless but really don't want a SJ runaway Impact over Sporks, East standings Reds over FCD, easy Rapids over Whitecaps, West standings Royals over Sounders, just don't like Seattle Union over Gals, bury LAG, again Timbers over Royals, West standings II Quakes over FCD, in this case.... Goats over Whitecaps, West standings III Rapids over Sounders, West standings IV Galaxy over Fire, reluctantly Reds over Union, meh Revs over Bulls, East standings II Impact over Crew, East standings III
Two games down: Tuesday, July 3 Houston 0-0 Chicago Portland 2-1 San Jose Wednesday, July 4 Montreal v. Kansas City 6:00 pm Dallas v. Toronto 8:00 pm Colorado v. Vancouver 8:30 pm Real Salt Lake v. Seattle 9:00 pm Los Angeles v. Philadelphia 9:30 pm Saturday, July 7 Kansas City v. Houston 7:00 pm FSH/KHLM-43 Real Salt Lake v. Portland 8:00 pm Dallas v. San Jose 8:00 pm Chivas USA v. Vancouver 9:30 pm Seattle v. Colorado 10:00 pm NBCSp Sunday, July 8 Chicago v. Los Angeles 2:00 pm ESPN/Deportes Philadelphia v. Toronto 3:00 pm New England v. New York 6:00 pm Montreal v. Columbus 6:30 pm Updated Standings: East 1. DCU 18 g.p. 33 pts +12 2. NYR 17 g.p. 31 pts +7 3. SKC 16 g.p. 29 pts +4 4. CHI 17 g.p. 28 pts +2 5. HOU 17 g.p. 24 pts -2 -------------------------- 6. CLB 15 g.p. 22 pts +1 7. NER 16 g.p. 19 pts +0 8. MON 18 g.p. 18 pts -8 9. PHI 14 g.p. 11 pts -4 10.TFC 15 g.p. 9 pts -12 West 1. SJE 18 g.p. 36 pts +12 2. RSL 18 g.p. 32 pts +7 3. SEA 17 g.p. 26 pts +3 4. VAN 16 g.p. 26 pts -1 5. COR 16 g.p. 22 pts +3 ------------------------- 6. LAG 17 g.p. 20 pts -2 7. POR 16 g.p. 19 pts -5 8. CHV 16 g.p. 19 pts -7 9. FCD 17 g.p. 14 pts -10
Midweek games are done: Tuesday, July 3 Houston 0-0 Chicago Portland 2-1 San Jose Wednesday, July 4 Montreal 1-3 Kansas City Dallas 1-1 Toronto Colorado 0-1 Vancouver Real Salt Lake 0-0 Seattle Los Angeles 1-2 Philadelphia Saturday, July 7 Kansas City v. Houston 7:00 pm FSH/KHLM-43 Real Salt Lake v. Portland 8:00 pm Dallas v. San Jose 8:00 pm Chivas USA v. Vancouver 9:30 pm Seattle v. Colorado 10:00 pm NBCSp Sunday, July 8 Chicago v. Los Angeles 2:00 pm ESPN/Deportes Philadelphia v. Toronto 3:00 pm New England v. New York 6:00 pm Montreal v. Columbus 6:30 pm Updated Standings: East 1. DCU 18 g.p. 33 pts +12 2. SKC 17 g.p. 32 pts +6 3. NYR 17 g.p. 31 pts +7 4. CHI 17 g.p. 28 pts +2 5. HOU 17 g.p. 24 pts -2 -------------------------- 6. CLB 15 g.p. 22 pts +1 7. NER 16 g.p. 19 pts +0 8. MON 19 g.p. 18 pts -6 9. PHI 15 g.p. 14 pts -3 10.TFC 16 g.p. 10 pts -12 West 1. SJE 18 g.p. 36 pts +12 2. RSL 19 g.p. 33 pts +7 3. VAN 17 g.p. 29 pts +0 4. SEA 18 g.p. 27 pts +3 5. COR 17 g.p. 22 pts +2 ------------------------- 6. LAG 18 g.p. 20 pts -3 7. POR 16 g.p. 19 pts -5 8. CHV 16 g.p. 19 pts -7 9. FCD 18 g.p. 15 pts -10
That RSL x SS result leaves both teams in their funk. I guess LAG isn't fully back yet. But they got Omar Gonzalez back, so that can only help. Nice job by the Union anyway. Jack McInerney had a backheel goal.
Week 18 is complete: Tuesday, July 3 Houston 0-0 Chicago Portland 2-1 San Jose Wednesday, July 4 Montreal 1-3 Kansas City Dallas 1-1 Toronto Colorado 0-1 Vancouver Real Salt Lake 0-0 Seattle Los Angeles 1-2 Philadelphia Saturday, July 7 Kansas City 0-0 Houston Real Salt Lake 3-0 Portland Dallas 0-0 San Jose Chivas USA 0-0 Vancouver Seattle 2-1 Colorado Sunday, July 8 Chicago 0-2 Los Angeles Philadelphia 3-0 Toronto New England 2-0 New York Montreal 2-1 Columbus Updated Standings: East 1. SKC 18 g.p. 33 pts +6 2. DCU 18 g.p. 33 pts +12 3. NYR 18 g.p. 31 pts +5 4. CHI 18 g.p. 28 pts +0 5. HOU 18 g.p. 25 pts -2 -------------------------- 6. NER 17 g.p. 22 pts +2 7. CLB 16 g.p. 22 pts +0 8. MON 20 g.p. 21 pts -5 9. PHI 16 g.p. 17 pts +0 10.TFC 17 g.p. 10 pts -15 West 1. SJE 19 g.p. 37 pts +12 2. RSL 20 g.p. 36 pts +10 3. SEA 19 g.p. 30 pts +4 4. VAN 18 g.p. 30 pts +0 5. LAG 19 g.p. 23 pts -1 ------------------------- 6. COR 18 g.p. 22 pts +1 7. CHV 17 g.p. 20 pts -7 8. POR 17 g.p. 19 pts -8 9. FCD 19 g.p. 16 pts -10
Standings by PPG: East 1. SKC 1.83 2. DCU 1.83 3. NYR 1.72 4. CHI 1.55 5. HOU 1.39 -------------------------- 6. CLB 1.38 7. NER 1.29 8. PHI 1.06 9. MON 1.05 10.TFC 0.59 West 1. SJE 1.95 2. RSL 1.80 3. VAN 1.67 4. SEA 1.58 5. LAG 1.21 ------------------------- 6. COR 1.22 7. CHV 1.17 8. POR 1.12 9. FCD 0.84
Never realized how loud it gets in Seattle. Having 40,000 fans in the stadium must really get the players going. I wonder what Mauro Rosales thinks when he plays in front of 40,000 (closer to what he's accustomed to in Argentina) versus when he plays in front of 7,000 at FC Dallas.
EDIT: Standings by PPG: Fixed a mistake. East 1. SKC 1.83 2. DCU 1.83 3. NYR 1.72 4. CHI 1.55 5. HOU 1.39 -------------------------- 6. CLB 1.38 7. NER 1.29 8. PHI 1.06 9. MON 1.05 10.TFC 0.59 West 1. SJE 1.95 2. RSL 1.80 3. VAN 1.67 4. SEA 1.58 5. COR 1.22 ------------------------- 6. LAG 1.21 7. CHV 1.17 8. POR 1.12 9. FCD 0.84
The NBC Sports Network did a great job in allowing the stadium to speak for itself. The typical broadcaster in that situation would've blabbered over the crowd. Give NBC (perhaps, really Arlo White) credit for getting it.