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Sunday was full of mediocre soccer and some interesting news on the international and national fronts as it relates to 'the MLS.'
New York Red Bulls 1, Chivas USA 1
It was a battle of two clubs the Fire know well when Chivas USA paid a visit to the New York Red Bulls. It was also a game that made me sad the Fire could not defeat either of the sides, as the teams played some less-than-amazing football en route to a 1-1 draw.
New York was awful in the first half. Fire fans know well the Red Bulls love to foul and foul they did on Sunday. Erick 'Cubo' Torres, who was the victim of many of the fouls, forgot to bring his blanket and pillow to New York because he was trying to make the pitch his bed. Yes, he was legitimately fouled, but he embellished every single one to an annoying degree.
The Red Bulls fatal foul came from Richard Eckersley who continues to be generally terrible along with his defense mate Armando. Thomas McNamara made a run through the middle of the box hoping to be on the receiving end of a Mauro Rosales cross. Eckersley, like any normal person, wanted to rip the mullet off McNamara but missed his hair and instead took him down by his right arm. That is illegal in soccer. Torres took the spot kick and scored.
Thierry Henry was generally dissatisfied with his awful teammates and tried to make something happen. He delivered a pair of great passes into the box for Tim Cahill and Jamison Olave who rewarded Henry by completely missing their header attempts. So Henry decided to have a go at it from about a million yards away and still had the best chance of the first half with that lob.
The half got worse when Tim Cahill went down. It appeared to be a hamstring issue that might keep him out a couple weeks. Eckersley also went out with a minor injury but he walked off fine.
The second half was ALL New York as they threw everything at Chivas for 45 minutes. The attack was led mostly by the light of my life and recipient of my unconditional love Lloyd Sam. Sam put the shake-and-bake on defenders time and time again setting up his teammates for great scoring chances. Sadly for Sam, Bradley Wright-Phillips did everything he could to not score.
It was not all missed chances though. Dan Kennedy was absolutely insane. I'm pretty sure at one point in that game he was so completely in the zone that he could have stopped cancer. His highlight came with an indescribable save against Dax McCarty.
New York refused to be completely embarrased and scored in the 94th minute on a corner kick from Eric Alexander as Luyindula headed it home. It was a fair result after the domination New York showed in the second half but a part of me felt bad for the flop-happy Goats.
Drogba to Seattle
So it looks like Didier Drogba could end up in Seattle. The rumors have been swirling for a while but it seems it is getting closer, according to a report from soundersnation.com. If that were to come to fruition, it appears Obafemi Martins may have to leave in the summer. But adding Drogba is more than a consolation for that loss. MLS as a league seems to be getting stronger, which is good.
USMNT News
Jurgen Klinsmann made a few decisions both on his staff and on the pitch. Brad Evans was dropped from the roster because of injury and in his place Real Salt Lake right back Tony Beltran was called in. Beltran competed in the Gold Cup last year and was an MLS All-Star last year. I think he will perform well but Evans seemed to be regaining some form before the injury. Off the pitch, Klinsmann added Tab Ramos as an assistant and dropped Martin Vasquez from that capacity, though he will stay with the national team in some unidentified role. Ramos has been head coach of the U-20 national team since 2011.
Berti Vogts, a German international who won the 1974 World Cup as a player, will also serve as a special advisor to Klinsmann. Vogts coached Klinsmann when he played for Germany.
Are you sad when you think about the Fire not beating either the struggling Red Bulls or Chivas? Does Drogba scare you? Is Klinsmann still super cool? Comment below and let us know.
