As our long-time readers know, MLS Talk likes to provide serious, well-thought out news analysis mixed with offbeat and laughable soccer-related thoughts.  This is the latter type of post.

Prior to First Kick 2011, the MLS Talk writers got together to give some predictions for the upcoming season.  At the time, we promised we’d resurrect the predictions to take credit for everything we got right.  Little did we know that such a post would only be about 1-2 sentences if actually written.  Regardless, as promised, here are our predictions for the 2011 season, and a little bit of analysis/defending from yours truly on the picks.  Feel free to post your wrong predictions (and correct ones) in the comments section.

The Final Standings

Prior to the season, it was common knowledge that RSL was the deepest team in the league and was thus primed to make a run at the Supporters Shield.  What we didn’t know was that their loss in the CONCACAF Champions League final and injuries would derail their season, in addition to improved LA and Seattle squads.  As such, only Kristan Heneage accurately predicted that Los Angeles would finish atop the Western Conference.  In fact, besides flip-flopping RSL and Seattle, he got the conference’s top five correct.

As for the Eastern Conference, the chaos that ensued was reflected in our picks.  We all got New York wrong as the Eastern Conference winner but at least they made the playoffs.  Earl Reed identified three teams correctly that made the playoffs from the East, but probably regrets picking DC to finish above Philadelphia.  Playoff picks are in bold.

Daniel Feuerstein

Earl Reed

Kristan Heneage

Robert Hay

MLS Cup Predictions

We were 0-4 on this one.  Earl and I picked Real Salt Lake to hoist the MLS Cup while Daniel thought Rafa Marquez would be showering Thierry Henry with champagne.  Kristan’s pick (DC United) didn’t make the playoffs.

Most Valuable Player

In our defense, while none of us correctly predicted this category, all of our picks were somewhat in the running toward the end of the year.  Daniel had Thierry Henry taking home the trophy while Earl and Kristan had Landon Donovan.  My pick made a late run but was still misguided: Alvaro Saborio.

The Golden Boot

Only Earl and I were ambitious enough to guess at this category, and my pick (Montero 12) edged his (Saborio 11).

Coach of the Year

Interestingly, none of us had a coach that was remotely in the running, although our picks by the end of the season were setting themselves up as candidates for next year.  All of our coach of the year selections were new MLS coaches, with Daniel seeing Toronto head man Aron Winter winning the award while Earl and I agreed upon DC United’s Ben Olsen.

Newcomer of the Year

Again, our picks were solid choices that for the most part contributed in some way but didn’t merit consideration.  Daniel went with Fabien Castillo of FC Dallas, Earl and I chose Omar Bravo for Sporting KC, and Kristan went with the right team  but wrong player (Erik Friberg of the Seattle Sounders).

Rookie of the Year

Well what can you say.  Who’d have thunk that C.J. Sapong would have played such a large roll for Sporting Kansas City?  Well we didn’t think he’d play a bigger role than Juan Agudelo (Daniel), Will Bruin (Earl and I), and Darlington Nagbe (Kristan).

Most Improved Player

Admittedly, this is one of the hardest categories to predict.  With so many players in the league, who will be the one who exceeds their previous year’s stats to be given an award?  Three of us thought that it would be someone from the Red Bulls: Kristan and Daniel thought that Dane Richards would be that player in 2011, while Earl picked Richards’ teammate Tim Ream.  However, the award for most laughable prediction for 2011 goes to me, and here is a direct quote from my prediction:

Since I wanted to show my Black-and-Red colors a little, I thought the player who would finally fulfill his promise would be D.C. United’s Branko Boskovic.

Would you want to see Guiseppe Rossi this summer?

Earlier this offseason, I posted a poll and question about what EPL teams you would like to see do a tour of the United States.  Since then we have seen Barcelona confirm a three-stop tour of the U.S., where they will be playing both Manchester United (DC) and AC Milan (Miami).  But with as large a country as ours, there is plenty of space and a diverse enough fan base in the United States for other European clubs to pay a visit this year .

Today’s question will expand the original to the other three major European leagues: La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A.  A later post or two will include further European leagues and clubs, so if your favorite European team has not yet been posted, you will have your chance to pick it later.  All three of the other major leagues have diverse styles of play and passionate fans in the U.S. who sometimes have to compete for attention with the more popular (and culturally accessible) English Premier League.  But a major driver of the popularity of these leagues is immigration – fans root for teams in the country of their descendants or from where they originate.  Hence the huge Barcelona and AC Milan followings across the United States.

So here are six clubs that I think would do well to take a tour of the United States this summer who have not already announced any matches.  Of course vote for which ones you’d like to see through the poll below and in the comments section:

Inter Milan:  The nerazzurri hit hard times under Rafa Benitez but slowly seem to be righting themselves.  Even if they are not treble contenders this year, the team is stocked with world class talent from front to back.  Wesley Snejder, Samuel Eto’o, Cambiasso, Julio Cesar, etc. are all big names in the soccer world, and are good draws.  Inter has visited the United States as recently as last year and draws very well.  Dream match – Inter Milan versus AC Milan in Baltimore.  Bring one of the best derbies in the world to the U.S. city with a rich Italian history.

Juventus: Juve is another large Italian club that has fallen on hard times.  But Juventus has traditionally been the face of Italian soccer, supplying the national team with many of its players.  Fans would come out to see Gigi Buffon, maybe when healthy the world’s best keeper, as well as Alessandro Del Piero, Alberto Aquilani, and breakout star Milos Krasic.  Dream match – Juventus versus Ajax in the New Meadowlands.  Replay the 1996 now-Champions League final outside a city with supporters of both clubs.

Real Madrid: Any chance you can see The Special One, you have to take that opportunity.  But besides Mr Mourinho, Real Madrid may have the best collection of soccer talent in the world.  Even a second or half squad would bring out world-class players but fans could hope to see Ronaldo, Higuain, Xabi Alonso, and Mesut Ozil.  Dream match – Real Madrid versus FC Dallas in the Jerry Dome.  Miami gets Barcelona this summer, so Dallas gets Real.

Villareal: The big reason to bring Villareal to the United States is Jozy Altidore.  If he is the future of the U.S. national team, bring him to the U.S. on a tour or for a friendly so Americans can see him with his club.  And Villareal is having a great season, third in the league behind the big two, and they have a ton of talent.  One of their top scorers is Giuseppe Rossi, someone American soccer fans may have heard of.  Dream match – New York Red Bulls and Villareal in New Meadowlands.  Playing the match here allows Rossi and Altidore a chance to play near their hometowns.

Bayern Munich: The Bundesliga pecking order has been upset this year, with traditional clubs like Stuttgart in danger of relegation.  However, even though they are sitting just fifth, Bayern is the premier name in Bundesliga outside Germany.  Big names from the most recent World Cup like Muller and Schweinsteiger populate the roster, and French fans can come out to see Franck Ribery.  Dream match – Bayern visiting Seattle at Qwest Field.  Seattle has been skipped in many of these tours and deserve a big-name competition.

TSG Hoffenheim: Many people may not have heard about this club or think it would be a good draw in the United States, but Hoffenheim, a mid-table club, has a great story in Vedad Ibisevic.  You can read the entire story in this New York Times article, but in brief Ibisevic’s family fled to the United States to avoid the ethnic warfare in Bosnia.  Vedad played for a year with the University of St. Louis before beginning his professional career in Europe.  Dream match – Obviously Hoffenheim should play in St. Louis and the probably opponent should be Sporting Kansas City, the closest professional club.

The list of the 2011 Gold Cup sites was unveiled yesterday and there were two story lines coming out of the announcement: the number of venues that would be hosting their first Gold Cup matches and the number of cities that were inexplicably left off the list.

As a reminder or, if you are new to the sport, an explanation, the Gold Cup is the tournament where in 2011 the winner advances to the 2013 Confederations Cup.  It does not impact World Cup qualifying directly.  What a win in the 2011 Gold Cup does do is allow a team a series of matches against other federation champs in a World Cup-style format.  The United States used a great Confederations Cup run in 2009 (we beat Spain!) to create positive momentum for the 2010 World Cup.

The first round takes place June 5-14, and some of the venues are no-brainers to be on the list.  The Dallas Cowboys’ mammoth stadium will host the first match on June 5, and repeat hosts include Soldier Field (Chicago) and the Home Depot Center (Carson City).  The other four new hosts are Ford Field (Detroit), Raymond James Stadium (Tampa), KC Soccer Stadium (Kansas City), and Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte).  While Detroit and Tampa are huge media markets that make sense for international soccer, CONCACAF seems to be looking to build the culture in Charlotte and Kansas City, and I will be curious to see the crowds for the matches.

The quarterfinals will be held June 18 at the New Meadowlands Stadium and June 19 at RFK Stadium (Washington DC).  The semifinal matches will be held in Houston on June 22 and the final held in the Rose Bowl on June 25.  None of these sites are a surprise except for maybe Houston having the semifinal over the New Meadowlands.

What is a surprise may be the cities left out of this list.  Philadelphia and Foxborough, MA on the East Coast both have MLS teams but failed to get the nod.  Columbus, Denver, Salt Lake City, and San Jose are other MLS metropolitan areas that were not selected.  But the biggest shaft may have been the West Coast, which has two hosts both in California, and none in the Pacific Northwest.  Sounders fans will miss out on the opportunity to see Gold Cup matches next year.

The total list of sites is after the break, but what are your thoughts on which cities were selected and which were left off?  Should the West Coast or the Rockies gotten more matches?

2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup Schedule and Venues

First Round

June 5 – Cowboys Stadium (Arlington, TX)

June 6 – The Home Depot Center (Carson, CA)

June 7 – Ford Field (Detroit, MI)

June 9 – Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, NC)

June 10 – FIU Stadium (Miami, FL)

June 11 – Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, FL)

June 12 – Soldier Field (Chicago, IL)

June 13 – Red Bull Arena (Harrison, NJ)

June 14 – KC Soccer Stadium (Kansas City, KS)

Quarterfinals

June 18 – New Meadowlands Stadium (East Rutherford, NJ)

June 19 – Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium (Washington DC)

Semifinals

June 22 – Reliant Stadium (Houston, TX)

Final

June 25 – Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA)

USMNT Head Coach Bob Bradley annouces roster for January Camp

A pair of Scandinavian stand outs as well as few MLS emerging stars headline Bob Bradley’s 30 man roster for the annual January training camp.  Rising MLS stars, Omar Gonzalez, Chris Pontius and Kevin Alston will have the opportunity to show their skills to Coach Bradley ahead of the opening of camp on January 4th. The camp leads up to the first match of a vital year for the US Men’s National Team, against Honduras on January 23rd.

The January camp typically includes the best players from MLS as well as the Scandinavian leagues which are on winter break. Although typically made up of players from MLS and Scandinavia, the January camp allows the brightest stars of the past MLS camp, a chance to show their worth with the national team. This year, such stands outs include MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Zach Thornton, MLS Champions Nick Rimando, Robbie Findley and Kyle Beckerman as well as MLS Golden Boot winner Jeff Cunningham among others. In addition to their MLS compatriots, several Scandinavian players join the mix including, Marcus Tracy and Alejandro Bedoya who have earned a place on Bradley’s radar with strong seasons in their respective leagues.

Here’s the complete roster:

GOALKEEPERS: Kevin Hartman (Kansas City), Troy Perkins (Valerenga), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Zach Thornton (Chivas USA)

DEFENDERS: Kevin Alston (New England Revolution), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC), Brandon McDonald (San Jose Earthquakes)

MIDFIELDERS: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Jeff Larentowicz (New England Revolution), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Chris Pontius (D.C. United), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)

FORWARDS: Justin Braun (Chivas USA), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake),  Marcus Tracy (Aalborg)

What are your thoughts on this roster? Who do you feel should have been included? Who should have been excluded?

Testify in the comments below.

Even the Space Needle gets made up for the MLS Cup

(Seattle, WA) — Would the big local crowds that have filled Qwest Field to watch their Sounders play all season long come out to watch the MLS Cup Final? Would supporters from Los Angeles and Salt Lake City make the trek to the Pacific Northwest to watch their clubs compete for the Championship. Would the television audience for ESPN’s broadcast continue the strong ratings earned in the previous rounds of the 2009 playoffs? I am here to report a strong affirmative on all counts — well done to all the soccer supporters here in Seattle and across the country. Your enthusiasm for MLS made for a memorable weekend in the Emerald City.

The signs that Seattle had truly embraced the label of being a soccer-mad city were evident from the top of the Space Needle to the streets surrounding Qwest Field. MLS Cup 2009 Banners hung from lampposts, storefronts were decorated with soccer themes, and various vendors were stocked up with Cup merchandise. Meanwhile in Seattle Center Park, crews spent the week painting on the logos of the Galaxy and Real Salt Lake upon the roof of the iconic Seattle tower. Additionally, the pattern of the official MLS soccer ball framed a painted replica of the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy. And while the images were only visible by helicopter (or Space Needle web-cams), they literally capped off the great build-up the MLS Cup generated this year.

On game day, Real Salt Lake fans and Galaxy fans roamed the streets of downtown Seattle resplendent in their team’s colors while wearing a varied catalog of team scarves — definitely needed on a blustery day in the low 40’s! The fish mongers at Pike Place Market gleefully flung the huge halibut and salmon over the heads of the fans, including myself as I ventured too close to the merchant’s wares. I witnessed the occasional dueling chants that rang out from small cadres of Galaxy and RSL supporters groups — complete with drums and horns in many cases — on the streets surrounding the iconic marketplace.

I ran into supporters from other MLS cities as well. Proudly wearing their DC United gear, Art and Nick were taking in the scene for the weekend. They came to Seattle to participate in the MLS Supporters Summit program the day before, but were really looking forward to the final match later that evening. For Nick, this was his 14^th MLS Cup Final — a perfect attendance record since the inception of the league — and he could name no better host city than Seattle. Well, he did promise that DC would represent well if they ever could get a stadium built!

Atop the Space Needle, fans posed for pictures on the observation deck holding aloft their scarves and framing the distant downtown and Qwest Field stadium. Inside, staying out of the lunchtime rain, I ran into the principal owner of the Philadelphia Union, Jay Sugarman, who was enjoying the sights from 520 feet in the air. He hoped that his expansion club would find the same support and excitement in the Philadelphia area that he saw from the Sounders FC fans in Seattle. With progress on their stadium in Chester proceeding well, and the introduction of their home uniform for 2010 this week, Sugarman was looking forward to assembling his club ahead of next season. I asked him not to take any Earthquakes in the expansion draft this Wednesday, but he couldn’t promise me anything!

As the afternoon continued and the weather improved to just overcast skies, the streets near Pioneer Square began filling up with Sounders supporters preparing for their traditional “March to the Match.” But instead of a uniform field of rave green uniforms, hundreds of red and blue clad RSL supporters and blue and gold Galaxy supporters joined in, filling the square to capacity. Kasey Keller and James Riley of the Sounders were there, as well as MLS Commissioner Don Garber, all mingling with the crowd of revelers. The famous Seattle Sounders FC marching band was filling the air with music, though they were often drowned out by the chants of the fans. At just under 2 hours from kick-off, the whole assemblage marched down Occidental Avenue toward Qwest Field in anticipation of the match.

Outside the stadium large groups of Real Salt Lake supporters jumped and danced around, they appeared to outnumber the Galaxy fans by at least 3 to 1. Shame on you Los Angeles fans, I expected better representation!  The celebrations continued, when at one point a group of street musicians were co-opted into providing the backing music for a choir of Galaxy supporters. The spontaneous show of revelry was equally inspiring and entertaining. In the large pre-game celebration zone, MLS players like Stuart Holden, Fredy Montero, Jimmy Conrad, Dwayne De Rosario, and others regaled patient lines of fans with handshakes and autographs. You could even get your picture taken with the MLS Cup.

As the game got underway, a capacity crowd of over 46,000 spectators rocked Qwest Field, with the sentiment certainly leaning toward the underdog Real Salt Lake. An occasional Sounders chant was heard, but more often it was the roars of approval for excellent play from both squads. I counted fans wearing uniforms from all 15 MLS clubs in attendance while wandering through the crowd. Notably, a couple of steadfast Houston Dynamo fans held aloft a bright orange Dynamo banner near midfield for much of the match. And true to my heart, I even met some Portsmouth FC faithful that now called Seattle home — Play Up Pompey!

Confetti storms that turned Qwest Field into the largest snow-globe on earth, cheerleaders urging on fans of both clubs, even a couple of attractive “trophy babes” escorting the MLS Cup into the stadium — the league went all out to provide a fantastic event to crown their champion. Oh yeah, the game was so exciting that no one wanted to see it end — this final goes down as the longest match in the 14 year history of the playoffs. I will never forget the great hosts in Seattle for making the 2009 MLS Cup Final weekend such a wonderful experience. Thank you!