The 2010 Major League Soccer Champions, the Colorado Rapids, nabbed the seventh out of eight playoff spots and went on to win the silverware.  Where will the champs finish this year? 

In 2010, the Rapids finished 12-8-10, with 46 points—which included only two home losses—an impressive 7-2-5 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park and a more pedestrian 5-6-5 record on the road.

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Major League Soccer unveiled its much-improved playoff format for the 2011 season. 

Not only does it address the major criticisms of the previous playoff format, it increases the importance of regular season games, increasing interest across stratified levels, something MLS has been sorely lacking, and will lead to more competition deep into the season and increased fan interest. 

2011 Major League Soccer Playoff Format

The top three teams in each conference gain an automatic berth.  The next four best teams gain wildcard berths.  The wildcard teams play a seeded one-off game to qualify for the final eight team playoff bracket.

Essentially, it's an eight team tournament, with six guaranteed spots, and a four team play-in. 

This is not only a major improvement; it's a clear winner on several levels. 

It addresses the major criticisms of the previous playoff format, which were that the playoff seeding did not reflect the final standings in the full table, and that a conference not only could be won by a team from the other conference, but that the championship could even be played in the other conference.

Conference Games Now Matter

Conference games now matter.  Winning one of the top three slots in the conference is crucial to avoid a risky one-off wildcard play-in game.

In the 2010 Western Conference, the standings were:

Four teams were within four points of that third place guaranteed playoff spot. 

In the Eastern Conference, the race for third place went late into the season, with Kansas City (39), Chicago (36) and Toronto (35) having a shot at a guaranteed playoff spot.  

More people would have watched MLS if Kansas City, Chicago, and Toronto were still in the hunt, which they weren't in 2010.

The Full Table Matters

Specifically spots seven to 10ish.  If you're not in the top three in your conference, you still have a shot at a play-in for the playoffs.  This increases the importance of the playoff race for the mid-table teams. 

Applying the 2011 format to the 2010 season, we have more teams in the playoff mix.

Guaranteed spots:

Wildcard Contenders:

This puts most of the league in contention.  The fourth wildcard spot could have been won by any of the mid-table teams (10-14). 

Each wildcard team has a chance without discriminating against a better conference. 

In 2010 the wildcard games would have been

10. Chicago Fire @ 6. Seattle Sounders

9. San Jose Earthquakes @ 8. Colorado Rapids.

And the final playoffs would have been:

Western Conference

Eastern Conference

2011 Major League Soccer Playoffs Is the Way Forward

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Two out of three ain't bad

Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy ended their Arizona training camp with a 2-0 victory over Teitur Thordarsson's Vancouver Whitecaps to improve their MLS preseason record to 2-1-2.

Adam Cristman opened the scoring off the delivery from Argentinean Miguel Lopez in the 58th minute. Then in the 74th minute, Hector Jimenez found Chad Barrett for the final margin.

“We’re pleased with the progress that the entire group is making, being where we are in preseason,” Galaxy assistant coach Curt Onalfo told MLSsoccer.com by phone on Tuesday. “Having said that, we know that we need to, as we head into the last phase of our preseason, fine-tune things even more and make sure that we continue to get better each day.”

Despite the starters playing the first match and the backups playing the second, Onalfo did have an intention to make it as such.

“Part of preseason—especially when you have a lot of new players—is to make evaluations and try to figure out what the best combinations are and try different sorts of things," Onalfo said. "For us, it’s a continuing evolution of us evaluating the group, seeing guys in different positions so that we can make sure that we have what we feel is a very competitive team to start the season.

“We got ourselves away from Los Angeles for a period of time and it’s a great time to team-build and bond as a group off the field and on the field, make sure we move along physically to continue to get better from a physical standpoint, from a technical standpoint and a tactical standpoint. We certainly achieved what we wanted to so, from that standpoint, we would certainly say it was successful.”

With the team returning to Los Angeles today, the Galaxy will resume training on Thursday ahead of their final preseason game, the San Diego Clasico against Tijuana on Wednesday, Mar. 2. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. PT/10:00 p.m. ET.

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Local schools from Carson, Compton, Gardena, Long Beach, Lomita, Lynwood, Torrance and Beach cities’ elementary schools are invited to participate in the third annual Reading Garden Challenge, a joint initiative of the Los Angeles Galaxy Foundation, The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation and The Home Depot.

The Reading Garden Challenge encourages schools and students (grades K-5) to focus on Earth Day by reading Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax and creating 8.5” x 11” posters based on one of the following environmentally friendly themes: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, Save a Tree, Don’t Waste Water, and Conserve Energy.

The top five schools with the most posters submitted reflecting the themes will be entered into a random drawing conducted by the LA Galaxy Foundation, The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation and The Home Depot to have a Reading Garden built at their school.

More info can be seen here.

The new playoff system

Earlier today, Major League Soccer unveiled its long-awaited revamped postseason structure for the 2011 season on Wednesday, giving 10 teams the chance to vie for MLS Cup in a unique twist on the league’s format from the last two seasons.

The league’s new structure will include the top three seeds from each conference and four wild-card berths—regardless of conference affiliation—but the postseason will now include two play-in games for those wild-card teams.

"While some will say that expanding the playoff field dilutes the regular season, we believe that in a certain way, it actually enhances it,” said Nelson Rodriguez, MLS executive vice president of competition and game operations. “It will mean that the battle and the race for the playoffs will have added intensity and last longer through the regular season. And that, on balance, should be a good thing for the play on the field, and for the fans in the stands and at home.”

How does this work? Well, the seventh seed will host the 10th seed while the eighth seed hosts the ninth seed in a one-off playoff game to reach the final eight. The lowest remaining team will then meet the regular-season Supporters’ Shield winner and the second-lowest remaining seed will meet the other conference champion in the Conference Semifinals.

“It’s the essence of rewarding regular-season performance,” Rodriguez said. “And as we look to the future, we need to continue to construct a playoff format that confers benefit to those teams that do well over a long season."

This system ensures that the Supporters’ Shield winner will play the lowest-seeded team available in the Conference Semifinals—a luxury not necessarily awarded to the regular season’s top team in the past. This also reduces conference crossover.

“We’ve eliminated the possibility of having two out-of-conference teams competing for a conference championship,” Rodriguez added. “And we’ve decreased the likelihood of an out-of-conference team winning an out-of-conference championship.

“In the end, we took the course that rewarding regular-season performance and pitting the No. 1 seed against the worst advancing wild card was more important."

However, the system has its drawbacks. The Supporters' Shield winner is faced with a long travel haul when playing a cross-conference game in the opening leg of the conference semis.

“There are so many variables that any system is imperfect in that regard,” Rodriguez said. “You could be facing the lowest-remaining seed who’s on a 10-game winning streak to close the season and they’re the hottest team in the league. … Any playoff system has within it, some fault or a flaw that could easily be pointed to.

“At the end of the day, you try to create a playoff system that is fair and relatable to the regular season,” Rodriguez said. “And also one that is a compelling format in and of itself. We think this iteration is an improvement over the last and we will spend the next bit of time trying to finalize a long-term playoff situation that can take us into the future.”

An announcement for the location of the MLS Cup will take place later this year.

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Kasey Keller. Alonso. Blaise and Fredy.  

Can it be spring already?  

The Seattle Sounder are set to begin their season against the Colorado Rapids on March 9th at Qwest Field. Before the opening match, though, comes the Cascadia Summit.  

The Sounders, Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps will meet at the Starfire complex for exhibition games to kick off the first MLS rivalry in the northwest. 

A few random thoughts on the upcoming season follow.

Kasey Keller has indicated that this is his last year. Keller, in case you don't know, is a legend in US Soccer—a local boy made good.

Keller represented the US in the World Cup four times. He was the first American to become a regular in the German Bundesliga, the English Premier League and the Spanish La Liga. We are truly fortunate to be able to watch a world class athlete spend his last days on the pitch here in Seattle.  

Fredy Montero is now a designated player. That moniker gives Fredy a certain right to a larger ego, but also gives him the responsibility to be a team leader and a top performer. 

Fredy matured last year and became a high performer. Can he become a team leader? All indications are that he can. It's nice to see high quality players staying in the MLS rather than bolting for Europe.

The Sounders added some key, high level players last year in Blaise Nkufo and Alvaro Fernandez. They bring a presence to the field that few can and they added one of the most underrated superstars in the MLS, Ozzie Alonso.

The Sounders have a very solid base on which to make a run for the cup.

Last year, the Sounders showed they can start slow and still contend. A key to this year will be to start off with a few wins and continue winning. They can't play for their lives every game.

And finally, a big key to winning this year will be the lessons learned by the front office. Last year saw three International Friendlies, the US Open Cup and the Concacaf games. 

The Sounders seemingly were playing in endless runs of games with no breaks in between. Exhausted teams rarely fair well in the playoffs.

So, as part of the 35,000 strong that'll be in the stands of Qwest Field for every home game, Let's Go Sounders!

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Well, the new MLS Cup Playoff format has been released, and to literally no one's surprise, the system is being chewed to death. 

Ideally, it goes without saying that the playoffs should be based upon a single table, have seeds one through eight, or better yet: get rid of the playoffs altogether.

Allow the Supporters' Shield winners to become league champions, and allow playoff hungry fans to cheer on their club in the U.S. Open Cup.

The evident problem with Major League Soccer is their appeasement, and their ongoing efforts to try to appeal to a casual, playoff loving, American audience, and its sharp polar frenemies: the hardcore, anti-playoff, single table-loving group of fans. 

Exactly how evident are MLS' efforts to appeal to the two groups?

First and foremost, the league long ago assembled a playoff format that awkwardly blended a conference-driven playoff format with a single-table playoff format, resulting in more "wild-card" entrants than automatic playoff qualifiers. 

This so called appeasement has resulted in Eastern Conference final featuring an MLS club based in Colorado playing against a team no more than 50 miles away from the Pacific Ocean.

It's also the reason that the only so-called "conference championship" title that the New York Red Bulls earned was the Western Conference. That's more than enough ammo for anti-soccer, let alone anti-MLS soccer fans to deliberately mock the league even more. 

These wild-cards were simply the result of trying to allow the true top eight to qualify for the playoffs.

Unfortunately, the system of retaining the antiquated conference semifinals rather than quarterfinals and semifinals, bit the league in the rear.

As I said earlier, it was a blend of the two, and the top four teams: the conference champions and finalists were deemed the top four seeds. The most recent playoff pairings allowed clubs that had weaker regular season records to play weaker clubs, while forcing stronger clubs to play even stronger clubs. 

Consequently, the league ended up with a nightmare final, a final that was considered a "David vs. David" final, that generating a pathetic, laughable 0.4 TV rating. 

All this being said, this clearly was just as unappealing to casual fans as it would be to hardcore fans. Appeasing for both, but having favors to casual fans, is diluting the very minimal credibility MLS exhibits.

The unfortunate reality MLS must face is the expectations of the uneducated, casual fans. The league would need to be on the strength caliber of EPL or LaLiga, and have star world class players, along with U.S. national team stars. Instead, a stringent salary cap results in domestic talent spring-boarding across the Atlantic into Europe during their prime, and causing the league to strain the forced budgets on aged stars, that can only make a tiny splash for a few months. 

For this to happen, it would require maneuvers that the league would never dare to tackle, mostly in part because of the NASL: all due to the NASL's mantra to buy foreign talent, cause super-clubs, and bankrupt the league.

Secondary and tertiary reasons would be the result of going against current collective bargaining agreements, the need to de-franchise MLS clubs, and allow each MLS franchise to be their own truly independent club, with the club management themselves setting up the budget.

The clear result would be wealthy MLS clubs, such as Seattle and New York buying not necessarily world-class players, but stronger players, creating clubs that aren't world-class, but strong enough to regularly win Supporters' Shield, CONCACAF Champions League and MLS Cup titles, again and again.

In essence, these super clubs would draw popularity; but their popularity would be like the New York Yankees. Certain clubs like the Sounders or Red Bulls would create massive fan bases of casual bandwagons following the select clubs. Yes, these clubs would create intense fan interest, an example would be the Cosmos drawing 50,000 fans a game...in the 1970s. 

Crunching some numbers and making guesses, these newfound super-clubs would likely result in the Sounders unstrapping tarped sections of Qwest Field, and Red Bulls needing a massive expansion to Red Bull Arena. 

The result of this disparity would cause weaker, less wealthy MLS clubs to never have a decent shot at any cup title, and could cause a decrease in casual fan following. A perfect example would, once again be from baseball: look at the Baltimore Orioles, a club who has long underachieved has drawn around 8,000 fans for select games. That's lower than, yes, an FC Dallas match. 

This would put MLS on the map, but it would cause only a select few clubs to gain national spotlight. Yet, this might be a step the league needs to take to appeal to casual fans. 

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If this pre-season is the time when Chef Nicol creates the Revolution main dish that will be served for the MLS 2011 season, then it’s clear that the meal is still half-baked.

Here on Soccer Soap Box, I have occasionally counted on the contrasting perspectives of situations being “Half Full” or “Half Empty” in game reviews, and will apply a modified, point by point, version for reviewing where the team is so far this pre-season.

Half Full: The Revolution has secured two victories in two pre-season games, both 2-0 victories.

Half Empty: The Revolution did not score a goal from the run of play against a team of second string 16-year-olds (no players in that US Under-17 Team scrimmage started today’s important match against El Salvador) and only put two in against a college team, one of which was a deflected (aka, lucky) shot.

Half Full:  Significant press coverage has been given to Shalrie Joseph’s increased focus, acceptance of leadership responsibilities and even direction to pursue coaching someday.   In fact, when talking about the amount of inexperience surrounding him Shalrie offered, “we just have to be leaders for these guys and try steer them in the right direction.”  Great.

Half Empty:  Team experience, skill and salary leader Shalrie Joseph was sent home for unspecified disciplinary reasons.

Half Full:  The Revolution's quality and experience in midfield in Ousmane Dabo.

Half Empty:  While not the team’s fault one supposes, coaches and fans are still waiting for Dabo to join the team as the requisite paperwork goes through.   A tease of potential quality that hopefully fans will get a taste of soon.  

Half Full: The Revolution added quality and experience in wide-defensive cover with Didier Domi.

Half Empty:  Kevin Alston, who would book-end wide defensive responsibilities on the other side of the field, hurts himself within the first half of the first pre-season game and gets sent home with Shalrie Joseph under odd circumstances.

Half Full: Revolution bring in some Latin blood with the addition of a young Argentine.

Half Empty: Fans hopes for Latin creativity are largely unrequited as the new addition, Franco Coria, adds additional cover for the central defense in the form of another (Barnes, Soares, etc.) big, young defender.   While Mr. Coria might be a great player(and I’m all for shoring up what was a weak defense in 2010), the Revolution’s claims that in Argentina’s Chacarita Juniors, “he was primarily a reserve player for the club during the last four seasons” are not enthusiasm inducing.

Half Full:  Significant press coverage of a newfound optimism and energy for the new season, which is exactly what fans are looking to hear.

Half Empty:  Chris Tierney, a player who at least has provided some moments of optimism with a nice free kick and some assists, said what fans are worried about: “I don’t think the level we’re playing at right now is going to be sufficient…”

I’ll leave it to you to decide if this trend is “Half Full” or “Half Empty” at this point, but there’s clearly work to do. I’ll also leave the half-baked proclamation alone, because given our disciplinary concerns and 2010 history of marijuana related suspensions, hoping the team gets fully baked might not be the best idea after all.

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More action from Arizona

Last Friday, training camp in Arizona continued—with seven players training on their own while the others returned to playing a series of five-minute split-squad matches. After the matches, the team went through shooting drills which involved backup goalkeeper Brian Perk, who impressed the team with his tenacity and readiness.

Rains from Alaska did hamper camp over the weekend, as the team were reduced to performing conditioning workouts under the bleachers of the track stadium at Arizona State University in Tempe.


Back on track with a win

Earlier today, the Galaxy took on the expansion Vancouver Whitecaps as the skies cleared. First-half goals from Chris Birchall and Juan Pablo Angel got L.A. back on track in a 2-0 win.

Both the Galaxy and Caps clash once more tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. PT/1:00 a.m. ET.



Fox Soccer telecasts a-plenty

The Galaxy will be featured in seven of FOX Soccer’s national broadcasts this upcoming season, Major League Soccer and FOX Soccer announced today. Last season, L.A. was also featured in seven of FOX Soccer’s telecasts.

Additionally, the Galaxy announced on Friday that the club’s match against D.C. United at The Home Depot Center has changed dates. The game, which was originally scheduled for Saturday, June 4, will now be played on Friday, June 3 at 8:00 p.m. PT.

Also, the club’s games against the Portland Timbers on April 23, San Jose Earthquakes on June 25 and MLS Cup Champion Colorado Rapids on Sept. 9 will now kickoff at 8:00 p.m. PT.

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Philadelphia Union finished their Florida training camp by falling to new USL PRO side Orlando City S.C., 1-0, at the Citrus Bowl in downtown Orlando on Saturday night.

The game went sour for Union very fast as defender Carlos Valdes was sent off at 18' for a bad tackle on City striker Maxwell Griffin just outside the penalty box.

City midfielder Lewis Neal, a trainee who was with English League Two side Shrewsbury Town in January, took the free kick and sunk it into the left corner of the goal for the only score of the match.

Down a man, Union was severely disadvantaged against the third-tier club for the remainder of the match. Danny Mwanga pushed two shots wide of the City goal in the first half for the team's best shots.

Midfielder Kyle Nakazawa took the initiative for Union in the second half, but was unable to make anything out of the opportunities presented to him.

City, for whom this watch was their first ever, tried their best to work for their favor, but was limited to the single goal. Neal and Generation Adidas standout Jamie Watson worked the midfield very well, frequently getting the ball to open up opportunities for their team.

Union finishes their Florida camp with a 2-1-1 record. They got wins over local colleges UCF and USF, and got a draw with the US U-17 men's national team. Their next training stop is a camp in Greece, headlined by a match with Superleague Greece side Ergotelis F.C.

Orlando City, meanwhile, will continue their trial by fire by joining the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic to face more MLS competition. They will face FC Dallas on Feb. 24.

Depending on match results, they will play either Toronto FC or Houston Dynamo on Feb. 26. They will then play Swedish side BK Hacken during ESPN the Weekend on March 3.

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One month from today, the 2011 MLS season will kick off.

As hard as it is to believe given its structure, the league is still surviving. The 17th season will begin March 19 with the Seattle Sounders (once again) host the Los Angeles Galaxy. No brainer there. There is nothing for the MLS than showcasing its opening match in front of 40,000 passionate fans with the glitter players of Landon Donovan and David Beckham along with other fan favorites such as Freddy Montero, Kasey Keller and Steve Zakuani.

Some predictions like the one above are easy, but predicting teams' outcomes as well as Cup outcomes come down to figuring out what teams care about what tournaments and just simply drawing names out of a hat.

Alright, it was not that difficult, and this year might be the season with the most disparity in MLS, which actually might be relishing to hardcore fans at least.

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Switch It Up!

After Wednesday's 4-2 preseason defeat to the defending MLS Cup champion Colorado Rapids, Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy were split into two squads. One squad of 17 defeated the U.S. Under-18 National Team 1-0 while another squad of nine did a 90-minute pool and gym workout at Athletes' Performance.

Midfielder Dan Keat and forward Chad Barrett were both nursing injuries, while forward Adam Cristman had personal business to attend to in Virginia.

DeLaGarza Relishes in Versatility

Defender A.J. DeLaGarza enjoys the role he has on the back line for the Galaxy, but being versatile has its drawbacks.

“I have to keep an open mind,” DeLaGarza told MLSsoccer.com. “I just want to get on the field.

“I think I’ve become a better player. The thing now is just getting one position down consistently, day in and day out, and being able to play there and practice there day in and day out, just getting used to that.”

Last year, DeLaGarza appeared 17 times en route to the Galaxy capturing the MLS Supporters' Shield.

“I can kind of fill in at each spot more so than some of the other guys, but just being ready, as a professional you have to be ready to play when your number is called and I’ve been able to do that the last two years no matter where that’s been,” DeLaGarza said.

The University of Maryland product credits the U.S. Men's National Team camp as a key part of his development as a player.

“The national team camp helped me mature a lot, being able to play with those guys, and I kind of had a preseason before this preseason, getting fit and getting touches on the ball and things like that,” DeLaGarza said. “I came in more confident from that camp, already playing for three weeks hard.

“I’m a lot more confident then I was the last two years, but I’ve still got a lot to show.”


Another International Roster Slot

Yesterday, the LA Galaxy announced that the club has acquired an international roster slot from D.C. United in exchange for allocation money.

With the additional spot which expires after the 2012 season, the Galaxy now have eight international slots on their 2011 roster.


Galaxy's Cobi Jones in Hall of Fame Ballot

Former Galaxy midfielder/assistant coach Cobi Jones is among five new additions to the Player ballot for the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Jones joins Chris Armas, current Real Salt Lake manager Jason Kreis, Chivas USA assistant coach Carlos Llamosa and Eddie Pope.

Others on the ballot include New England Revolution Vice President of Player Personnel Mike Burns, the Galaxy's Mauricio Cienfuegos, Raúl Díaz Arce, Marco Etcheverry, Chivas USA manager Robin Fraser, Seattle Sounders technical director Chris Henderson, Roy Lassiter, Joe-Max Moore, Philadephia Union manager Peter Nowak, Carlos Valderrama, Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes, Earnie Stewart, John O'Brien, Steve Trittschuh, indoor soccer goalkeeper Victor Nogueira and five members of the USA women's national team.

Any player whose name appears on at least 66.7 percent of the ballots will be enshrined.

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