Open Cup - Home & Away

We all know that the Open Cup matchups are not a random draw like the FA Cup. Teams are matched together by region, and deciding who hosts is based on which teams bid for it. It's hard not to notice how some teams always seem to play at home or away. For example, DC United has hosted every Open Cup match they've played in 2008 and 2009 so far. They'll also host the semifinal against Rochester. It's obvious that everyone would like to see a random draw implemented eventually, but it doesn't make financial sense (especially for the lower league teams) right now. That's not what this post is about. Instead, I thought it would be interesting to see how many Open Cup winners have played more away games than home games en route to the title. The answer? Since 1996, it's happened only once. That would be the 1997 Dallas Burn, who played three away games and won the championship at a neutral site. Right now, Houston has won twice away at Austin and Charleston. They're scheduled to play at Seattle in the semis, so they would join the 1997 Burn if they go on to win the whole thing. I would expect DC not to get the final at home if they make it again. It would be too unfair to have the same team host it twice in a row. That hasn't happened so far in MLS history despite three chances; Columbus hosted instead of LA in 2002, KC hosted Chicago in 2004, and Chicago hosted LA in 2006. Seattle is the obvious choice to host the final if they make it that far with the crowds they've been getting. Houston would likely host against DC (no college conflict, and United play in Dallas a few days later), while the Dynamo against the Rhinos would be up in the air. I'd imagine Houston would probably get to host that matchup too, given the good crowds they've got for important playoff games in the past and the previously mentioned run of away games. Open Cup Winners - Home/Away/Neutral Breakdown 1996 DC United 2-1 1997 Dallas 0-3-1 1998 Chicago 1-1-2 1999 Rochester 3-0-2 2000 Chicago 3-2 2001 Los Angeles 4-1 2002 Columbus 3-1 2003 Chicago 2-2 2004 Kansas City 3-1 2005 Los Angeles 3-1 2006 Chicago 4-0 2007 New England 2-2 2008 DC United 4-0 Notes: The Fire played away matches against the Chicago Stingers/Sockers (same team, just changed the name) in 1998 and 2000, at Forest View Park. Now the Fire did play a US Open Cup match against another team there in 2000, but that was the regular stadium of the Stingers/Sockers so I think officially it was an away match. The 1997 & 1999 finals were hosted by neutral sites. Teams that have hosted the final are 9-2, the only losses were in 2003 (New York) and 2007 (Dallas).

MLS: 1st Half vs 2nd Half Performance

All 149 team seasons from 1996-2008 ranked by the improvement (in PPG) in the second half of the season compared to the first half. Shootouts counted as draws, and for the four teams in 2001 who played 27 games, I counted the first 14 as the first half. Currently, every MLS team except New England has completed their first half of 2009. We just passed the halfway point in overall games over the weekend. See below for more interesting stuff: Change in the Second Half of the Season Difference 1st Half 2nd Half 1 2005 COL 1.063 0.875 1.938 2 2001 CLB 1.000 1.231 2.231 3 2006 LA 0.938 0.750 1.688 4 1997 LA 0.875 1.063 1.938 4 2005 SJ 0.875 1.563 2.438 6 2008 HOU 0.867 1.267 2.133 7 2002 NE 0.857 0.929 1.786 8 2006 RSL 0.813 0.813 1.625 9 2002 LA 0.786 1.429 2.214 10 1996 CLB 0.750 0.938 1.688 10 1999 SJ 0.750 0.875 1.625 12 1996 DC 0.688 1.188 1.875 12 1996 NY 0.688 0.938 1.625 12 1998 MIA 0.688 0.750 1.438 12 1998 TB 0.688 0.875 1.563 12 1999 MIA 0.688 0.688 1.375 12 2006 NY 0.688 0.875 1.563 18 2003 COL 0.667 1.000 1.667 19 2005 CLB 0.625 0.875 1.500 19 2005 DC 0.625 1.375 2.000 21 2004 CLB 0.600 1.333 1.933 21 2007 RSL 0.600 0.600 1.200 21 2008 SJ 0.600 0.800 1.400 24 1997 NY 0.563 0.875 1.438 25 2007 CHI 0.533 1.067 1.600 26 1998 COL 0.500 1.188 1.688 26 1999 LA 0.500 1.563 2.063 28 2007 DC 0.467 1.600 2.067 28 2004 NE 0.467 0.867 1.333 30 1996 KC 0.438 1.125 1.563 30 1997 CLB 0.438 1.125 1.563 30 1998 NE 0.438 0.813 1.250 30 1999 TB 0.438 1.000 1.438 30 2000 CHI 0.438 1.563 2.000 30 2006 CHI 0.438 1.250 1.688 36 2007 LA 0.400 0.933 1.333 37 2001 KC 0.396 1.143 1.538 38 2001 COL 0.385 0.692 1.077 38 2001 LA 0.385 1.615 2.000 40 2000 DAL 0.375 1.250 1.625 40 2000 DC 0.375 0.750 1.125 40 2005 CHV 0.375 0.375 0.750 40 2006 NE 0.375 1.313 1.688 44 2002 COL 0.357 1.357 1.714 45 2007 CHV 0.333 1.600 1.933 46 2003 LA 0.267 1.067 1.333 46 2004 SJ 0.267 1.133 1.400 48 1997 DAL 0.250 1.250 1.500 48 2000 NY 0.250 1.563 1.813 48 2000 TB 0.250 1.500 1.750 51 2002 CHI 0.214 1.214 1.429 52 2003 NE 0.200 1.400 1.600 52 2003 CHI 0.200 1.667 1.867 52 2003 DC 0.200 1.200 1.400 52 2003 SJ 0.200 1.600 1.800 52 2007 COL 0.200 1.067 1.267 52 2008 CLB 0.200 1.800 2.000 58 1996 NE 0.188 1.000 1.188 58 2000 MIA 0.188 1.188 1.375 60 2002 KC 0.143 1.214 1.357 60 2002 CLB 0.143 1.286 1.429 62 2004 DC 0.133 1.333 1.467 62 2004 NY 0.133 1.267 1.400 62 2008 DAL 0.133 1.133 1.267 62 2008 KC 0.133 1.333 1.467 62 2008 RSL 0.133 1.267 1.400 67 1998 SJ 0.125 1.125 1.250 68 2001 CHI 0.071 1.929 2.000 69 2008 CHV 0.067 1.400 1.467 69 1996 TB 0.063 1.875 1.938 69 1997 TB 0.063 1.438 1.500 69 1998 DC 0.063 1.875 1.938 69 1999 CLB 0.063 1.500 1.563 69 2005 KC 0.063 1.375 1.438 75 1996 DAL 0.000 1.375 1.375 75 1997 SJ 0.000 1.125 1.125 75 1998 KC 0.000 1.125 1.125 75 1999 DC 0.000 1.875 1.875 75 1999 KC 0.000 0.813 0.813 75 2000 CLB 0.000 1.188 1.188 75 2001 NY 0.000 1.615 1.615 75 2003 CLB 0.000 1.267 1.267 75 2007 HOU 0.000 1.733 1.733 75 2008 COL 0.000 1.267 1.267 85 1997 KC -0.063 1.625 1.563 85 1998 DAL -0.063 1.250 1.188 85 1999 CHI -0.063 1.688 1.625 85 2000 COL -0.063 1.375 1.313 85 2005 NY -0.063 1.500 1.438 90 2004 COL -0.067 1.400 1.333 90 2004 KC -0.067 1.667 1.600 90 2007 CLB -0.067 1.267 1.200 90 2008 NY -0.067 1.333 1.267 94 1999 NY -0.125 0.688 0.563 94 2006 DAL -0.125 1.688 1.563 94 2006 KC -0.125 1.250 1.125 97 2007 NE -0.133 1.733 1.600 97 2008 CHI -0.133 1.600 1.467 99 2001 NE -0.148 1.071 0.923 100 1999 DAL -0.188 1.875 1.688 100 2005 CHI -0.188 1.625 1.438 100 2006 CHV -0.188 1.438 1.250 100 2006 CLB -0.188 1.125 0.938 104 2004 CHI -0.200 1.200 1.000 104 2003 DAL -0.200 0.867 0.667 106 2002 DAL -0.214 1.643 1.429 107 2001 DAL -0.231 1.462 1.231 108 2000 LA -0.250 1.688 1.438 109 2004 DAL -0.267 1.333 1.067 109 2007 KC -0.267 1.467 1.200 111 2001 DC -0.308 1.154 0.846 112 1996 SJ -0.313 1.563 1.250 112 1997 NE -0.313 1.438 1.125 112 2000 NE -0.313 1.563 1.250 112 2000 SJ -0.313 1.063 0.750 112 2005 LA -0.313 1.563 1.250 112 2005 NE -0.313 2.000 1.688 118 2004 LA -0.333 1.600 1.267 118 2007 NY -0.333 1.600 1.267 120 2002 NY -0.357 1.429 1.071 121 1998 CLB -0.375 1.750 1.375 121 2005 RSL -0.375 0.813 0.438 123 2001 SJ -0.385 1.923 1.538 124 2003 KC -0.400 1.600 1.200 124 2007 DAL -0.400 1.667 1.267 126 2001 TB -0.407 0.714 0.308 127 2002 DC -0.429 1.357 0.929 128 1997 COL -0.438 1.500 1.063 128 1998 CHI -0.438 2.000 1.563 128 2006 COL -0.438 1.500 1.063 131 2008 DC -0.467 1.467 1.000 131 2008 TOR -0.467 1.400 0.933 133 2002 SJ -0.500 1.857 1.357 133 2006 HOU -0.500 1.688 1.188 135 2003 NY -0.533 1.667 1.133 136 2008 LA -0.600 1.400 0.800 137 1996 COL -0.688 1.375 0.688 137 1996 LA -0.688 2.000 1.313 137 1997 DC -0.688 2.188 1.500 137 1998 NY -0.688 1.563 0.875 137 1999 NE -0.688 1.375 0.688 137 2000 KC -0.688 2.125 1.438 143 2007 TOR -0.733 1.200 0.467 143 2008 NE -0.733 1.800 1.067 145 1998 LA -0.750 2.563 1.813 146 2001 MIA -0.846 2.462 1.615 147 2006 DC -0.938 2.188 1.250 148 1999 COL -1.063 2.125 1.063 149 2005 DAL -1.250 2.125 0.875 Average of all 149 teams: 0.046 PPG Average of the 13 MLS Cup winners: -0.077 PPG. Five improved, two had no change, and six did worse. Average of the 104 playoff teams: 0.054 PPG. Average of the 45 non-playoff teams: 0.029. How about the teams that pulled out playoff upsets? Of the 52 quarterfinal series, 15 have ended in upsets. However, the teams that lost (the higher seeds) averaged 0.206 vs 0.100 for the winners (lower seeds). Team Averages Average Better Worse Even RSL 0.293 3 1 0 CLB 0.245 8 3 2 CHV 0.147 3 1 0 HOU 0.122 1 1 1 SJ 0.119 6 4 1 LA 0.094 7 6 0 CHI 0.079 6 5 0 COL 0.032 6 6 1 NY 0.012 5 7 1 NE -0.009 6 7 0 DC -0.021 7 5 1 KC -0.034 5 6 2 DAL -0.168 3 9 1 TOR -0.600 0 2 0 TB 0.182 5 1 0 MIA 0.179 3 1 0 Total 74 65 10 Dallas are second half flops; that's pretty obvious without any statistical analysis. Worst three years are 2005, 2007, and 2004. Funny how 2005 was the year Pizza Hut Park opened and they had 10 of the final 16 at home. As you can see above, it's the worst change in PPG ever. I don't know if I would've guessed Columbus as the top longtime franchise for second half improvment, though. Their 2004 Supporters Shield team only ranks 4th behind 2001, 1996, and 2005. How Teams With A Certain 1st Half PPG Did 1st Half PPG Teams Improved? under 1.08 35 28-6-1 1.08 to 1.27 31 19-7-5 1.28 to 1.48 28 12-15-1 1.49 to 1.68 29 11-17-1 over 1.68 26 4-20-2 Of course, it's a lot easier for bad teams to get better and vice versa. The average of the final PPG for all 149 seasons is 1.38, so that's the basis behind the categories. As you can see, if you're doing exceptionally good or bad things are likely to swing a bit back to normal.

Know Your Gold Cup History

All Time Stats: W-L-D records, top goalscorers, most tournaments scored in. One big record could fall this year. The USA is 3 games away from matching Mexico's 16 game Gold Cup unbeaten streak. Top Ten Moments (ussoccerplayers.com) - Nice article. And why not relive the best Gold Cup ever (2007) by watching the comp I put together of all the goals? That tournament had it all: great goals, controversy (USA vs Canada), cindarellas (Guadeloupe), and a great, dramatic final (USA vs Mexico). You knew from the opening match (Canada vs Costa Rica), which featured a comeback and quality finishing, that it was going to be a good one. Too bad nobody outside of North America noticed.

Open Cup: Pathetic Night for MLS

Number of normal starters in the first xi: 5-Chivas USA 4/5/6-New England (hard to tell with all the injuries) 3-Columbus 3-DC United 1-Chicago 1-Kansas City So that's three per team. That's actually a bit generous, since for example I counted Gruenebaum/Brunner/Zayner for Columbus.

Open Cup Primer 2009

The 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup begins tonight for MLS teams, and I've updated the statistical leaders in many categories for the occasion. Eight qualifiers will take on eight lower league clubs in the next two days in what is always one of the most exciting parts of the season. The past two editions have seen only half the MLS teams (8/16) advance in this round. With only two home games this year, it could be another ugly year for MLS. However, there are only 5 USL-1 teams and several of them face tough matchups (I can't imagine the Sounders going easy on Portland, for example). Traditionally, the trio of Charleston/Minnesota/Rochester are the toughest on MLS teams. On the other hand, CHI/DC/NE should have no problem with teams two and three divisons below them. See below for a list of lower-league wins over MLS teams. And remember, a place in the CONCACAF Champions League is on the line! Teams like Kansas City and Seattle would be smart to put some emphasis on this tournament. BTW, those two teams will meet if they both win (potential quarterfinal matchups). Don't forget to check out the history of MLS & Penalty Shootouts, with a detailed list of every single player's scoring rate. That will certainly be a factor. And now, before you check out the huge list of statistics below regarding MLS teams in the competition since 1996, I want to mention two important things. First of all, player stats include only those while playing for MLS teams. If someone played in the Open Cup for a minor league team, I'm not including those stats here. I also need to point out that Open Cup qualifying games are not part of the tournament proper, and any results/stats from those games are not included here. Be sure to check out usopencup.com for their great coverage of the tournament as a whole. Oh, I almost forgot one very important stat: FC Dallas will not play in the Open Cup this season. They were the only MLS team to participate every single season since the league's inception. Records - Overall GP W L D Pts GF GA GD 1 Chicago 34 25 7 2 77 66 30 36 2 DC United 30 20 7 3 63 61 28 33 3 Los Angeles 28 20 7 1 61 64 30 34 4 Dallas 35 19 12 4 61 66 53 13 5 Columbus 23 15 7 1 46 51 29 22 6 New York 24 12 11 1 37 40 34 6 7 New England 20 10 7 3 33 40 29 11 8 Kansas City 20 10 8 2 32 40 27 13 9 San Jose 18 8 6 4 28 35 18 17 10 Colorado 19 8 11 0 24 20 35 -15 11 Miami 9 5 3 1 16 24 15 9 12 Tampa Bay 10 3 6 1 10 11 20 -9 13 Houston 5 2 2 1 7 9 7 2 14 Chivas USA 5 1 3 1 4 6 12 -6 15 Real Salt Lake 3 1 2 0 3 6 8 -2 DC jumped up to 2nd from 4th last year on their way to a perfect (4-0) championship run. Records - vs MLS only GP W L D Pts GF GA GD 1 Chicago 20 15 4 1 46 38 20 18 2 Los Angeles 16 10 5 1 31 30 20 10 3 Columbus 14 7 6 1 22 24 21 3 4 DC United 12 6 4 2 20 19 16 3 5 Dallas 15 5 8 2 17 17 28 -11 6 New York 12 5 6 1 16 22 19 3 7 Colorado 8 4 4 0 12 10 13 -3 8 Kansas City 8 3 5 0 9 12 12 0 9 New England 8 3 5 0 9 13 15 -2 10 Miami 5 2 3 0 6 8 11 -3 11 Houston 2 1 1 0 3 4 3 1 12 San Jose 6 0 4 2 2 3 8 -5 13 Real Salt Lake 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 -1 14 Chivas USA 1 0 1 0 0 2 5 -3 15 Tampa Bay 4 0 4 0 0 0 10 -10 Only two all MLS matchups took place last season: DC beating CHI and NE in the quarters and semis respectively. Titles/Best finishes 4-Chicago (1998, 2000, 2003, 2006) 2-D.C. United (1996, 2008) 2-Los Angeles (2001, 2005) 1-Dallas (1997) 1-Columbus (2002) 1-Kansas City (2004) 1-New England (2007) 0-Chivas USA (round of 16: 2005, 2007, 2008) 0-Colorado (runners up: 1999) 0-Houston (semifinals: 2006) 0-Miami (runners up: 2000) 0-New York (runners up: 2003) 0-Real Salt Lake (round of 16: 2006) 0-San Jose (semifinals: 2004) 0-Tampa Bay (quarterfinals: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999) Most Goals - Overall (italics = active MLS player) 1 Jaime Moreno 11 2 Carlos Ruiz 9 2 Josh Wolff 9 4 Chris Albright 8 4 Ronald Cerritos 8 4 Brian McBride 8 7 Abdul Thompson Conteh 7 7 Herculez Gomez 7 7 Jason Kreis 7 7 Alejandro Moreno 7 7 Taylor Twellman 7 7 Dante Washington 7 Twellman is the only newcomer to the top ten; he scored once last season to jump into a tie for 7th. Most Goals - Single Season 1 Herculez Gomez 6 LA 2005 1 Welton 6 MIA 2000 1 Josh Wolff 6 CHI 2000 4 A.T. Conteh 5 DC 2001 5 Jeff Cunningham 4 CLB 2003 5 Amado Guevara 4 NY 2000 5 Andy Herron 4 CHI 2006 5 Jaime Moreno 4 DC 2000 5 Diego Serna 4 MIA 2000 5 Taylor Twellman 4 NE 2007 Top MLS scorer by year: (bold = also won or tied for the overall golden boot) 1996 3 goals Jaime Moreno (DC) 1997 2 goals Shaun Bartlett (NY), Ronald Cerritos (SJ), Damian (DAL), Ted Eck (DAL), Lawrence Lozzano (SJ) 1998 3 goals Brian McBride (CLB) 1999 3 goals Jorge Dely Valdes (COL), Bobby Rhine (DAL) 2000 6 goals Welton (MIA), Josh Wolff (CHI) 2001 5 goals Abdul Thompson Conteh (DC) 2002 3 goals Carlos Ruiz (LA) 2003 4 goals Amado Guevara (NY) 2004 3 goals Davy Arnaud (KC) 2005 6 goals Herculez Gomez (LA) 2006 4 goals Andy Herron (CHI) 2007 4 goals Taylor Twellman (NE) 2008 3 goals Luciano Emilio (DC) Nobody has scored more than 6 goals in a single cup since the "professional era" started in 1995. Three minor league players have also scored 6: Marquis White in 1997, Mugurel Dmitru in 1999, and Melvin Tarley in 2005. Most Games Played 1 Jesse Marsch 27 2 C.J. Brown 24 3 Zach Thornton 23 3 Peter Vagenas 23 3 Andy Williams 23 6 Chris Armas 22 6 Cobi Jones 22 8 Chris Albright 21 8 Jaime Moreno 21 10 Diego Gutierrez 20 10 Steve Jolley 20 10 Carey Talley 20 Jim Curtin (19) and Steve Ralston (18) are next in line among active players. Most Regular Season Games Played Without Playing in the Open Cup 1 Pete Marino 100 2 Dave van den Bergh 83 3 Adrian Paz 80 4 Jim Brennan 70 5 Dane Richards 67 5 Carl Robinson 67 7 Robbie Findley 66 8 Juan Pablo Angel 64 8 Guillermo Barros Schelotto 64 10 Danny Dichio 55 Only Schelotto has a chance to get off this list in 2009. Best Strike Rate (goals per game, min 10 games played) 1 Taylor Twellman 0.700 2 Carlos Ruiz 0.643 3 Ronald Cerritos 0.615 3 Brian McBride 0.615 5 Alejandro Moreno 0.583 6 Clint Mathis 0.545 7 Dante Washington 0.538 8 Josh Wolff 0.529 9 Jaime Moreno 0.524 10 Abe Thompson 0.500 Finally eligible, Twellman takes the top spot from Ruiz. Thompson's brace last season pushes Landon Donovan and Ante Razov out of the top ten. Hat Tricks 4-Welton, MIA vs New Jersey (2000) 4-Josh Wolff, CHI vs Dallas (2000) 3-Bobby Rhine, DAL vs Jacksonville (1999) 3-Raul Diaz Arce, DC @ Charlston (2000) 3-Abdul Thompson Conteh, DC vs New Jersey (2001) 3-Carlos Ruiz, LA @ Seattle (2003) 3-Jason Kreis, RSL @ Minnesota (2005) 3-Kenny Cooper, DAL @ Charleston (2006) Top Coaches by PPG (minimum 10 games) 1 Dave Sarachan 2.500 2 Tom Fitzgerald 2.200 3 Greg Andrulis 2.100 4 Sigi Schmid 2.048 5 Bob Bradley 2.043 6 Bob Gansler 2.000 6 Dave Dir 2.000 6 Ray Hudson 2.000 9 Colin Clarke 1.700 10 Fernando Clavijo 1.636 Only a total of 15 coaches have 10+ games in the tournament. Of those 15, the only one with a losing record is Tim Hankinson (4-7-1). Biggest Margin Of Victory 8:0-DC vs New Jersey (2001) 7:1-NE vs Mid-Michigan (2001) 6:0-SJ @ Central Coast (2001) 6:1-MIA vs New Jersey (2000) 6:1-KC vs Des Moines (2006) 5:0-SJ @ Stanislaus Utd (2000) 5:0-LA vs Nashville (2001) Longest Unbeaten Streaks 8 Chicago 2000-01 8 Los Angeles 2001-02 7 Chicago 2003-04 7 DC United 1996-97 7 Los Angeles 2005-06 6 Dallas 1997-98 6 New England 2007-08 5 Columbus 2000-01 5 Kansas City 2004-05 Chicago's streaks both consisted of nothing but wins, as does the second LA streak. Longest Winless Streak 5 New England 2003-06 At least they advanced once after a draw. Can be matched by Chivas tonight. Wins By Lower League Teams Over MLS (shootouts are counted as draws) USL-1/A-League (29) 7-Rochester Raging Rhinos (1996-TB, COL; 1999-CHI, DAL, *CLB, *COL; 2005-NY) 5-Charleston Battery (1999-DC; 2000-NY; 2004-NY, 2007-HOU, 2008-DAL) 4-Minnesota Thunder (2004-LA, 2005-RSL, COL, KC) 4-Seattle Sounders (2003-SJ, 2007-CHV, COL, 2008-CHV) 2-Richmond Kickers (2000-COL; 2004-DC) 1-Carolina Railhawks (2007-CHI) 1-Connecticut Wolves (2001-TB) 1-Long Island Rough Riders (1997-NE) 1-Milwaukee Rampage (2002-CHI) 1-Nashville Metros (1998-KC) 1-Pittsburgh Riverhounds (2001-COL) 1-Staten Island Vipers (1999-NY) USL-2/PSL/D-3 (7) 2-San Francisco Bay Seals (1997-KC, SJ) 1-Chicago Stingers (1997-COL) 1-Crystal Palace Baltimore (2008-NY) 1-Harrisburg City Islanders (2007-DC) 1-Richmond Kickers (2007-LA) 1-Wilmington Hammerhaeads (2003-DAL) PDL (2) 1-Mid-Michigan Bucks (2000-NE) 1-Seattle Sounders Select (2001-DAL) Bold signifies an MLS home game. * signifies a neutral venue. Overall, MLS teams are 98-38-15 against lower league competition. That is 2.05 points per game, or the equivalent of 61 points in a 30 game season.

Near-Record Number of MLS Rookies Contributing

I guess it's to be expected as the league gets bigger and bigger, but this year's rookie class is on pace to equal or break a record. What is it? The most rookies who started at least half of the regular season games. The record is 10, and already 9 rookies this season are virtually certain to hit that mark (15 starts): Darrius Barnes (NE) Matt Besler (KC) Sam Cronin (TOR) Stefan Frei (TOR) Omar Gonzalez (LA) Jeremy Hall (LA) Chris Pontius (DC) Rodney Wallace (DC) Steve Zakuani (SEA) Breaking the record is going to be hard, as some less hyped players will have to lock down a starting role. It's probably up to the foursome of Kevin Alston (NE), A.J. DeLaGarza (LA), George John (DAL), and Nick Zimmerman (NY) to grab and keep starting roles. Alston is a good bet; the others less so. But even if the number stays at 9, that's still the third highest total in league history: Rookies who started 50% or more regular season games 1996 7 1997 1 1998 10 1999 5 2000 8 2001 6 2002 4 2003 7 2004 8 2005 8 2006 10 2007 5 2008 1 Total 80 It's especially noticeable this year after the lack of impact rookies a year ago. Average is 6.2 per season. 1996 KC Gutierrez, Diego 1996 NY Joseph, Miles 1996 NE Keegan, Paul 1996 DC Peay, Clint 1996 DC Pope, Eddie 1996 TB Ralston, Steve 1996 LA Vanney, Greg 1997 TB Duhaney, Mike 1998 SJ Barrett, Wade 1998 MIA Cullen, Leo 1998 TB Houser, Chris 1998 CHI Kotschau, Ritchie 1998 MIA Mastroeni, Pablo 1998 DC Olsen, Ben 1998 NY Petke, Mike 1998 DC Talley, Carey 1998 NE Torres, Johnny 1998 KC Vermillion, Scott 1999 KC Brown, Chris (2) 1999 SJ Clark, Jamie 1999 LA Elliot, Simon 1999 MIA Heaps, Jay 1999 SJ Mulrooney, Richard 2000 CHI Bocanegra, Carlos 2000 LA Califf, Danny 2000 DC Convey, Bobby 2000 KC Garcia, Nick 2000 COL Key, Lance 2000 NE Pierce, Rusty 2000 MIA Rimando, Nick 2000 LA Victorine, Sasha 2001 COL Herdsman, Stephen 2001 DC Lisi, Mark 2001 DC Namoff, Bryan 2001 DC Nelsen, Ryan 2001 DAL Suarez, Ryan 2001 DC Ziadie, Craig 2002 CHI Gray, Kelly 2002 CLB Martino, Kyle 2002 NY Moore, Jeff 2002 COL Stewart, Jeff 2003 COL Borchers, Nat 2003 NY Clark, Ricardo 2003 SJ Dunivant, Todd 2003 NY Magee, Mike 2003 NE Noonan, Pat 2003 CHI Pause, Logan 2003 CHI Ralph, Damani 2004 COL Cila, Jordan 2004 SJ Cochrane, Ryan 2004 NE Dempsey, Clint 2004 DC Gros, Josh 2004 CLB Marshall, Chad 2004 NY Parke, Jeff 2004 DC Perkins, Troy 2004 CLB Wingert, Chris 2005 DC Boswell, Bobby 2005 RSL Cutler, Kenny 2005 CHV Guzan, Brad 2005 LA Ihemelu, Ugo 2005 NE Parkhurst, Michael 2005 CHI Rolfe, Chris 2005 KC Sealy, Scott 2005 CHI Segares, Gonzalo 2006 RSL Ballouchy, Mehdi 2006 CHV Bornstein, Jonathan 2006 RSL Forko, Willis 2006 CLB Garey, Jason 2006 KC Groenwald, Matt 2006 CHV Kljestan, Sacha 2006 CLB Moss, Brandon 2006 COL Peterson, Jacob 2006 CHI Robinson, Dasan 2006 NY Wynne, Marvell 2007 TOR Boyens, Andrew 2007 TOR Edu, Maurico 2007 LA Harden, Ty 2007 KC Harrington, Michael 2007 NY Richards, Dane 2008 LA Franklin, Sean

Jay Heaps' Long Nightmare is Over

No one could've seen his call up to the Gold Cup coming. At the age of 32, he likely will be capped for the first time for the USMNT. He's the oldest member of the squad, and also a current record holder. He owns the title of most MLS games played by an American without being capped. Is there really any shot of seeing him in 2010 (at LB?), or does Bob Bradley just want a veteran to help win this tournament (and also possibly to make sure the callups are distributed evenly among teams)? Carey Talley is next in line, and I'm sure he can't be happy about this development. He was called up before by his former DC coach Bruce Arena, and came ever so close in 2000: "Was seconds away from his first full cap, waiting to come as a substitute against Chile, when the match ended."

OTFATT 2009: Update #3

Previous Updates #1 4/12 68 players remaining #2 5/25 37 players remaining OTFATT is short for "On the field, all the time." In these updates throughout the season, I'll be keeping track of which MLS players have played every minute of every game (regular season only). That feat has been accomplished 35 times in 13 season by 28 different players. Click here for that list. 14 players have been eliminated since the last update, while two more teams have been wiped out completely. The CONCACAF Gold Cup should knock a few players off. Stuart Holden, Will Johnson, and Sharlie Joseph are supposed to be called up. Nick Garcia deserves special mention. He's listed under Toronto below, but in reality Adrian Serioux is their last player to play every minute for the club. Garcia was traded from San Jose to Toronto and has played every minute he's been available for both teams. He could follow in the footsteps of Scott Garlick (TB/COL) in 2000 and Chris Klein (RSL/LA) in 2007 by making it the whole year despite being traded. However, unlike Klein, he won't play more than the actual number of games in the regular season. Garcia could play only 29 in total, whereas Klein played 32 in a 30 game season. Garcia's actually a pretty good bet to last the year. I would put him and Jimmy Conrad as favorites among field players, with Jordan Harvey as a longshot pick. Among goalkeepers, you need to look for the guys with no-name backups. So Jon Busch, Joe Cannon, and Kevin Hartman stand out. EDIT: USA Gold Cup roster has been announced. Busch/Conrad/Heaps/Clark/Holden will all miss games. As always, keep an eye on the discipline situation, which will become a big factor as the season goes on. It hasn't been an issue yet though, but it will. There's no way that somebody like Bobby Boswell will get through the year without a couple more yellows and a suspension. Remaining Candidates (23) 2 CHI Busch, McBride 2 CHV Talley, Thornton 2 COL Clark, Harvey 2 DAL Ferreira, Moor 1 DC Namoff 4 HOU Boswell, Cameron, Holden, Onstad 2 KC Conrad, Hartman 1 LA Gonzalez 3 NE Barnes, Heaps, Joseph 1 RSL Johnson 1 SJ Cannon 2 TOR Serioux, Garcia Order of teams being totally wiped out, with last surviving player: 1. NY-Dane Richards (4/18) 2. CLB-Brian Carroll (5/27) 2. SEA-Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (6/14)

MLS: College Alumni Lineups

Which college soccer program has the best lineup when looking only at the MLS players it has produced (so no Euro players allowed)? Read on and judge for yourself. If a player played for two colleges, I'm only counting the latter. Players are included who have played for an MLS team in any official competition (not just the regular season). Only the 14 colleges that can field a full starting lineup are listed: California Stefan Frei, Tyson Wahl, Steve Purdy, Troy Roberts, Eric Ebert, Nick Hatzke, Mike Munoz, Luke Sassano, Chris Roner, Calen Carr, Peter Woodring Not a good lineup, but at least they can field a team! Clemson Matt Jordan, Nathan Sturgis, Chris Martinez, Ricky Lewis, Eric Quill, Imad Baba, Stuart Holden, Mark Lisi, Miles Joseph, Dane Richards, Wolde Harris Some decent players here, without any real star power. This is a 3-5-2 with Richards up top, in order to get him and Joseph in the lineup. I bumped Eric Eichmann to get both of them in there. He's a little before my time so I can't say if that's justified or not. Duke Mark Dodd, Jay Heaps, Darrius Barnes, Robbie Russell, Evan Whitfield, Brian Kelly, Mike Videira, Jordan Cila, John Kerr, Ali Curtis, Jason Kreis Some pretty solid cornerstones here. Seems like many of the players have suited up for Dallas or New England (plus Germanese, Helton, Loftus). Indiana Juergen Sommer, Danny O'Rourke, Mike Clark, Nick Garcia, Drew Moor, Chad Deering, Brian Maisonneuve, Ned Grabavoy, Dema Kovalenko, Chris Klein, Pat Noonan Serious quality here. O'Rourke is not an ideal LB, but I think they'll be fine. Maryland Chris Seitz, Marc Burch, Danny Califf, Clarence Goodson, Leo Cullen, Robbie Rogers, Seth Stammler, Maurice Edu, Stephen King, Taylor Twellman, Abe Thompson Nice, but not quite as impressive as Indiana I don't think. Portland Curtis Spiteri, Michael Gavin, Wade Webber, Kelly Gray, Scott Benedetti, Andrew Gregor, Darren Sawatzky, Chris Brown, Yari Allnut, Nate Jaqua, Conor Casey I have no idea how this team will line up, but at least they're in the league. Casey-Jaqua up top is a nice combo. Rutgers Jon Conway, Alexi Lalas, Peter Vermes, Jeff Zaun, Josh Gros, Nick LaBrocca, Billy Walsh, Brian Piesner, Hamisi Amani-Dove, Rob Johnson, Steve Rammel Strong defensively, with no attack. Really scrapping the bottom of the barrel to put together a full lineup. Santa Clara Joe Cannon, Amaechi Igwe, Ryan Cochrane, Adam Eyre, Jeff Stewart, Eric Denton, Peter Lowry, Mehdi Ballouchy, Jamil Walker, Jeff Baicher, Paul Bravo Cannon's gonna have to come up big as usual. Midfield is a weakness. Southern Methodist Tom Presthus, Paul Broome, Ugo Ihemelu, Daniel Hernandez, Carl Bussey, Bruno Guarda, Colin Clark, Diego Walsh, Ramon Nunez, Alan Prampin, Luchi Gonzalez I expected a bit better from college that ranked 7th for most MLS players through 2008. Southern Connecticut State Bo Oshoniyi, Mike Petke, Chris Houser, Brian Bliss, Jordan Russolillo, Kevin Anderson, John DeBrito, John Ball, Cristian da Silva, Cordt Weinstein, Carlos Rocha Presenting your USL all-stars... Actually, it's really impressive to see a division two school get enough players into the league to make this list. UCLA Brad Friedel, Greg Vanney, Carlos Bocanegra, Jimmy Conrad, Frankie Hejduk, Eddie Lewis, Paul Caligiuri, Pete Vagenas, Cobi Jones, Joe-Max Moore, Ante Razov The undisputed kings of MLS talent. Several players deep at every position beyond this lineup, as guys like Jonathan Bornstein and Chris Henderson are left out. And then there's the goalkeepers (Hartman, Reis, Rimando). Virginia Tony Meola, Jeff Agoos, Bakary Soumare, Chris Albright, John Harkes, Richie Williams, John Maessner, Ben Olsen, Claudio Reyna, Alecko Eskandarian, A.J. Wood Bruce Arena's boys. Adam Cristman could take a spot pretty soon. Wake Forest Will Hesmer, James Riley, Michael Parkhurst, Pat Phelan, Stephen Keel, Sergi Daniv, Brian Carroll, Sam Cronin, Michael Lahoud, Wells Thompson, Scott Sealy Missing a bit on the attack (thanks a lot Marcus). Washington Dusty Hudock, Mike Chabala, Chad McCarty, Ty Harden, Craig Waibel, Brandon Prideaux, Wes Hart, Joe Franchino, Ian Russell, Jason Boyce, Zach Kingsley Attack of the defenders. I guess Kingsley is going to play up top by himself. Almost There Teams that could've fielded an 11 player lineup, but either were missing a goalkeeper or had too many keepers and not enough field players. Connecticut, Creighton, CS Fullerton, Florida International, North Carolina, Saint John's, Saint Louis, UC Santa Barbara

MLS Week 14 Notes

1) The Colorado Rapids defeated DC United by a score 3:0. This means that next year it will be at least a decade that the Rapids have gone undefeated against DC at home: 2001-07-04 3-1 W 2002-04-03 2-0 W 2003-04-26 1-1 D 2003-06-11 0-0 D 2004-05-22 2-1 W 2005-09-03 1-0 W 2006-05-06 2-1 W 2007-04-07 2-1 W 2008-05-04 2-0 W 2009-06-20 3-0 W 10 matches over 9 years. That's not even the longest streak in the league, however. CHI-SJ, NY-KC, COL-LA, and NE-NY are all current 12 game streaks. And in terms of time, San Jose has never won at Chicago...ever. That does include one shootout win, though. I posted last September which teams couldn't win where, which needs to be updated. 2) Speaking of Colorado, they're looking really good so far. They have the third best PPG in the league, though the standings currently place them fourth in the west. They've also played two fewer games at home than away. One stat that I always remember about the Rapids is the fact that they have never finished above third in their division/conference. Over the past 13 years, their placement has been as follows: 5-4-3-4-3-4-4-3-3-3-4-4-4 Total mediocrity. They've also never finished above 4th on the overall table. Is this their year? Can Pat Noonan make it to yet another MLS Cup? 3) Nick Garcia has switched teams, but he's still played every minute of every regular season match he's been available for. Unfortunately, unlike Chris Klein in 2007 (who played 32 matches in a 30 game season), if he lasts for the entire year he won't play more matches than the length of the season. He'd actually play only 29. More on this in the next OTFATT update. 4) New York may have gone 20 away games winless in the regular season, but that's not a record thanks to the shootout messing things up as usual. I consider the record to be 21 games, jointly held by KC and NY who each were pitiful in 1998-99. Also as usual, I hope this streak can continue for two more games so any confusion is gone. 5) Toronto FC has now had two players change the names that they go by this season since last year: Abdus Ibrahim is now Fuad Ibrahim, while Nana Attakota-Gyan is now just Nana Attakora. Chad Barrett may have to become the third if he doesn't start finishing...

208 to 1: World Cup 2010 Eliminations Timeline

UPDATE: Down to 88. No more eliminations for a few months. Yes, we'll all know pretty soon who ends up qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. At that time and many years into the future, it will be easy to look at the qualifying standings to see how things turned out. However, one thing that can't easily be determined from a simple glance at the standings is exactly when each team fell out of contention. It's fairly obvious if you look at the schedule for a minute or two, but that takes some effort. So what I set out to do is to make a list of exactly when each team was officially eliminated, and here it is. You'll see the overall order of each team to the left of their name, counting down from 208 (the number of FIFA members, hence this post's title). The number to the right of the team is their order of elimination within their region. Order of Elimination March 30, 2007 206 (tie). Brunei Darussalam (AFC-44th, tie) 206 (tie). Laos (AFC-44th, tie) 206 (tie). Philippines (AFC-44th, tie) The only three FIFA members not to enter qualifying. May 25, 2007 204. Papau New Guinea (OFC-11th) Were listed as participating in qualifying but apparently "failed to meet the official accreditation" (Wikipedia) before qualifying started. August 7, 2007 205. Guam (AFC-43rd) Withdrew immediately after the AFC preliminary draw. August 29, 2007 203. American Samoa (OFC-10th) First team out during South Pacific Games. August 31, 2007 201 (tie). Central African Republic (CAF-52nd, tie) 201 (tie). São Tomé and Príncipe (CAF-52nd, tie) These two CAF members withdrew before the preliminary round. September 1, 2007 199 (tie). Cook Islands (OFC-8th, tie) 199 (tie). Tahiti (OFC-8th, tie) September 3, 2007 198. Samoa (OFC-7th) 197. Tonga (OFC-6th) September 7, 2007 196. Solomon Islands (OFC-5th) Only four teams remained after the first round of OFC qualifying (aka the South Pacific Games). The first tiebreaker during qualifying is goal differential, and I have Samoa being eliminated before Tonga because of it. Allow me to explain: With one match in the round robin remaining and the second spot to advance still undecided, Vanuatu has 6 points, Samoa 6, and Tonga 3. Samoa has completed all their games with a +1 goal differential; Vanuatu (+17) and Tonga (-1) face each other in the final match. A Tonga win would mean a three way tie, but it is impossible for Samoa's goal differential to be tops in that scenario. September 13, 2007 195. Bhutan (AFC-42nd) Also withdrew from qualifying. October 15, 2007 194. Macau (AFC-41st) October 26, 2007 193. Afghanistan (AFC-40th) October 28, 2007 191 (tie). Mongolia (AFC-38th, tie) 191 (tie). Timor-Leste (AFC-38th, tie) 190. Myanmar (AFC-37th) 189. Nepal (AFC-36th) 187 (tie). Bangladesh (AFC-34th, tie) 187 (tie). Palestine (AFC-34th, tie) 186. Chinese Taipei (AFC-33rd) 184 (tie). Maldives (AFC-31st, tie) 184 (tie). Pakistan (AFC-31st, tie) 183. Malaysia (AFC-30th) 182. Cambodia (AFC-29th) 181. Vietnam (AFC-28th) 180. Sri Lanka (AFC-27th) 179. Kyrgyzstan (AFC-26th) October 30, 2007 178. India (AFC-25th) First round of Asian qualifying. I'm basing the order on the starting times of the matches as well as the time zones of the host countries. Extra time is taken into account too. There are not really any ties here, but I have no way of knowing which games ended first. I would also be unaware if any games were delayed or anything like that, so keep that in mind. November 16, 2007 177. Somalia (CAF-51st) November 17, 2007 176. Comoros (CAF-50th) 175. Guinea-Bissau (CAF-49th) These three lost in the preliminary round of African qualifying. November 18th, 2007 174. Tajikistan (AFC-24th) 173. Yemen (AFC-23rd) 172. Indonesia (AFC-22nd) 171. Hong Kong (AFC-21st) Four teams gone in the small second round of Asian qualifying. March 25, 2008 170. Eritrea (CAF-48th) Withdrew after the group stage was drawn. March 26, 2008 168 (tie). Turks and Caicos Islands (CONCACAF-34th, tie) 168 (tie). U.S. Virgin Islands (CONCACAF-34th, tie) 167. Dominica (CONCACAF-33rd) 166. Aruba (CONCACAF-32nd) 165. Montserrat (CONCACAF-31st) 164. Saint Kitts and Nevis (CONCACAF-30th) 162 (tie). Anguilla (CONCACAF-28th, tie) 162 (tie). Nicaragua (CONCACAF-28th, tie) 161. Dominican Republic (CONCACAF-27th) March 30, 2008 160. British Virgin Islands (CONCACAF-26th) 159. Cayman Islands (CONCACAF-25th) First round of North American qualifying done. June 7, 2008 158. Turkmenistan (AFC-20th) 157. Lebanon (AFC-19th) June 14, 2008 156. Jordan (AFC-18th) 155. Thailand (AFC-17th) 154. Singapore (AFC-16th) 153. China (AFC-15th) 152. Oman (AFC-14th) 151. Kuwait (AFC-13th) 150. Puerto Rico (CONCACAF-24th) June 18, 2008 149. Bahamas (CONCACAF-23rd) June 20, 2008 148. St. Vincent and the Grenandines (CONCACAF-22nd) June 21, 2008 146 (tie). Fiji (OFC-3rd, tie) 146 (tie). Vanuatu (OFC-3rd, tie) 145. Seychelles (CAF-47th) 142 (tie). Belize (CONCACAF-19th, tie) 142 (tie). Grenada (CONCACAF-19th, tie) 142 (tie). St. Lucia (CONCACAF-19th, tie) June 22, 2008 140 (tie). Iraq (AFC-11th, tie) 140 (tie). Syria (AFC-11th, tie) 139. Mauritania (CAF-46th) 138. Djibouti (CAF-45th) 137. Niger (CAF-44th) 135 (tie). Mauritius (CAF-42nd, tie) 135 (tie). Tanzania (CAF-42nd, tie) 134. Barbados (CONCACAF-18th) 133. Guyana (CONCACAF-17th) 132. Antigua and Barbuda (CONCACAF-16th) 131. Bermuda (CONCACAF-15th) 130. Netherlands Antillles (CONCACAF-14th) 129. Panama (CONCACAF-13th) AFC and CONCACAF are now getting into the heart of their qualification methods. Iraq is the first of the reigning confederation champions to be eliminated. I wonder how many such teams have failed to qualify throughout the history of WCQ? Can't be too many. June 28, 2008 128. Lesotho (CAF-41st) September 6, 2008 127. New Caledonia (OFC-2nd) 126. Namibia (CAF-40th) 124 (tie). Equatorial Guinea (CAF-38th, tie) 124 (tie). Liberia (CAF-38th, tie) 123. Burundi (CAF-37th) September 7, 2008 122. Botswana (CAF-36th) New Zealand became the champion of Oceania and also advanced to the Confederations Cup. They'll now wait a year to play their next qualifiers. Also, South Africa was eliminated from the qualifying competition on this date. Of course, they're still guaranteed a spot in the World Cup. September 12, 2008 121. Ethiopia (CAF-35th) Kicked out of the competition by FIFA, in one of the rare instances where they actually followed through on their threats. October 11, 2008 120. Congo DR (CAF-34th) 119. Zimbabwe (CAF-33rd) 115 (tie). Angola (CAF-29th, tie) 115 (tie). Cape Verde (CAF-29th, tie) 115 (tie). Libya (CAF-29th, tie) 115 (tie). Madagascar (CAF-29th, tie) 114. Sierra Leone (CAF-28th) 113. Swaziland (CAF-27th) 112. Senegal (CAF-26th) 110 (tie). Chad (CAF-24th, tie) 110 (tie). Congo (CAF-24th, tie) 109. Canada (CONCACAF-12th) Angola and Cape Verde were hard to figure out because of the second placed teams advancing. I believe they were officially eliminated at the same time, when groups 5 & 7 were settled. Angola becomes the first team from the 2006 World Cup to be eliminated. Meanwhile, Canada surprisingly is the first CONCACAF team out in the semifinal round. Who would've thought that a year after their great 2007 Gold Cup? October 12, 2008 108. Uganda (CAF-23rd) 107. Gambia (CAF-22nd) We're now done with the second round of African qualifying. First of all, I'm really glad that both Angola and South Africa failed to advance. It makes things a whole lot simpler (due to these qualifiers also counting for the 2010 Nations Cup). Of the final 20 teams, in the previous round 10 were #1 seeds. The only two to miss out were Angola and Senegal. 5 were #2 seeds (Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, and Zambia), 4 were #3 seeds (Gabon, Malawi, Rwanda, and Sudan), and 1 was a #4 seed (Kenya). I have to say I'm disappointed to see The Gambia out. They were my surprise pick for a first time qualifier, due to their youth successes recently. Then, seeing some of their players move to MLS only made me more interested in their fate. They played really well, finishing second ahead of Senegal, so they have nothing to be ashamed of. If they're disappointed, they certainly aren't showing it; the president of the country has declared today a public holiday due to the away draw against Senegal. October 15, 2008 106. Cuba (CONCACAF-11th) 104 (tie). Haiti (CONCACAF-9th, tie) 104 (tie). Suriname (CONCACAF-9th, tie) October 19, 2008 103. Jamaica (CONCACAF-8th) 102. Guatemala (CONCACAF-7th) Semifinal round of North American qualifying ends. The hex is set. April 1, 2009 101. United Arab Emirates (AFC-10th) 100. Malta (UEFA-53rd) 99. San Marino (UEFA-52nd) After a near-six month break (by far the longest in the process) we finally can eliminate a couple more teams. The first European casualties are here, and now the number of teams remaining is reduced to double digits. June 6, 2009 98. Georgia (UEFA - 51st) 97. Andorra (UEFA - 50th) 96. Albania (UEFA - 49th) June 10, 2009 95. Qatar (AFC - 9th) 94. Iceland (UEFA - 48th) 93. Kazakhstan (UEFA - 47th) 92. Liechtenstein (UEFA - 46th) 91. Peru (CONMEBOL - 10th) June 17, 2009 90. Uzbekistan (AFC - 8th) 89. Iran (AFC - 7th) Four teams have qualified from Asia, along with the Europe's first, the Netherlands. Iran becomes the second 2006 World Cup team to be eliminated. That's certainly a more shocking elimination than Angola. There are currently 88 teams remaining, broken down by confederation below. Six teams have qualified, leaving 82 teams for 26 spots. 6-AFC 21-CAF 6-CONCACAF 9-CONMEBOL 1-OFC 45-UEFA

2010 MLS Superdraft Order & Picks

Never too early for this. Here's a list of picks that have been traded already. Unfortunately, many of them are conditional and the conditions have not been made public, which makes it hard to follow. We do know that the 16 teams will draft 64 players over 4 rounds, and that Philadelphia will have the first pick of the draft. The draft itself will take place in Philadelphia, as that's where the NSCAA convention is being held from January 13-17 (if you want to know where the next decade of Superdrafts will take place, click here). Since the 2009 season is almost half over, I feel it's time to now look at the potential order. I used points per game, and assumed that the highest seeded teams would win in the playoffs. Remember, the playoff teams are ranked based on the round they are eliminated, followed by regular season performance. Current Draft Order Before Trades (through games on June 14, 2009) 1 PHI 2 NY 3 SJ 4 DAL 5 LA 6 RSL 7 NE 8 KC 9 TOR 10 CLB 11 SEA 12 COL 13 CHI 14 CHV 15 DC 16 HOU Current 2010 MLS Superdraft Order (several conditional picks not included, see below for details) Round One 1 Philadelphia Union 2 New York Red Bulls 3 San Jose Earthquakes 4 FC Dallas 5 Los Angeles Galaxy 6 Real Salt Lake 7 New England Revolution 8 Kansas City Wizards 9 FC Dallas (from TOR) 10 Columbus Crew 11 Seattle Sounders FC 12 Columbus Crew (from COL) 13 Chicago Fire 14 CD Chivas USA 15 DC United 16 New York Red Bulls (from HOU) Round Two 17 Philadelphia Union 18 New York Red Bulls 19 San Jose Earthquakes 20 FC Dallas 21 New York Red Bulls (from LA) 22 Real Salt Lake 23 New England Revolution 24 Kansas City Wizards 25 FC Dallas (from TOR) 26 Real Salt Lake (from CLB, DAL) 27 Seattle Sounders FC 28 Toronto FC (from COL) 29 Chicago Fire 30 CD Chivas USA 31 Colorado Rapids (from DC) 32 Houston Dynamo Round Three 33 Philadelphia Union 34 New York Red Bulls 35 San Jose Earthquakes 36 FC Dallas 37 Los Angeles Galaxy 38 Real Salt Lake 39 New England Revolution 40 Kansas City Wizards 41 San Jose Earthquakes (from TOR) 42 FC Dallas (from CLB) 43 Houston Dynamo (from SEA) 44 Colorado Rapids 45 Chicago Fire 46 CD Chivas USA 47 DC United 48 Houston Dynamo Round Four 49 Philadelphia Union 50 New York Red Bulls 51 San Jose Earthquakes 52 FC Dallas 53 Columbus Crew (from LA) 54 Los Angeles Galaxy (from RSL) 55 New England Revolution 56 Kansas City Wizards 57 Toronto FC 58 Columbus Crew 59 Seattle Sounders FC 60 Colorado Rapids 61 Columbus Crew (from CHI) 62 CD Chivas USA 63 DC United 64 Houston Dynamo Trade/Pick Movement List Round 1 CLB has COL's pick (Noonan) DAL has TOR's pick (Serioux) NY has HOU's pick (Oduro) Round 2 COL has DC's pick (Gomez) DAL has CLB's pick (2008 picks) DAL has TOR's pick (Ibrahim, conditional) NY has LA's pick (Magee) RSL has DAL's pick (Davies) TOR has COL's pick (Richardson) Ibrahim pick is a 1st rounder if he plays 10 games in 2009. I don't know how that would work, since Dallas already has Toronto's first rounder. The Davies pick is for the lowest of DAL's three second rounders. Round 3 DAL has CLB's pick (2008 picks) HOU has SEA's pick (Ianni, conditional) SJ has TOR's pick (Garcia) If Ianni plays in 20 games, then it becomes a second rounder. Round 4 CLB has CHI's pick (Herron) CLB has LA's pick (Miglioranzi, conditional) LA has RSL's pick (Mathis, conditional) Conditional Picks CHI has CHV's pick (Curtin) CHV has TOR's pick (Guevara) LA has DC's pick (Wicks) NE has DC's pick (John) NY has RSL's pick (Kovalenko) RSL has CHV's pick (Talley) SJ has HOU's pick (Weaver) Soccer America says word is that Chivas is guaranteed a first rounder out of the Guevara deal. Since they got a second rounder in this year's draft, that means they should probably get TFC's 2010 first rounder. Although, they can't give that pick to both Dallas and Toronto. Since the Dallas trade specifically mentions it, it's probably going there. The Talley pick is a second rounder in either 2010 or 2011. The John pick is also in one of those two years, though a round isn't mentioned. Supplemental Draft Wasted Trades CHI has SJ's 4th round pick (R.Johnson) HOU has DC's 4th round pick (C.Thompson) SJ has LA's pick (Kirovski, conditional) Top Seniors? Here are some names worth remembering. Mostly taken from the following links (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). Who do you think belongs on this list? Obviously, it's likely that half of the first round will be made up of Generation Adidas players (underclassmen or high schoolers). Every #1 overall pick since 2003 has been a GA player. Right now, most people think Wake Forest defender Ike Opara is the favorite to be taken first overall, if he signs with MLS. G Joseph Bendik Clemson G Jovan Bubonja UIC G Akira Fitzgerald Wake Forest G Brooks Haggerty North Carolina G Brian Perk UCLA G Misha Rosenthal Northwestern D Mark Blades Northwestern D Nick Cardenas San Diego State D Ben Clack Saint John's D Eric Conklin Wisconsin D Joel Gustafsson Saint John's D David Lozano UC Riverside D Zach Loyd North Carolina D Tennant McVea Loyola (Md.) D David Newton Clemson D David Reed Saint John's D Barry Rice Kentucky D Ofori Sarkodie Indiana D Chris Schuler Creighton D Jamel Wallace San Diego State D Taylor Waspi Wisconsin M Eric Alexander Indiana M Nelson Becerra Saint John's M Austin da Luz Wake Forest M Mauro Fuzetti Michigan M Sunghyun Kim CS Northridge M Stephen McCarthy Santa Clara M Kyle Nakazawa UCLA M J.T. Noone Temple M Conor O'Brien Bucknell M Mike Pezza Connecticut M Doug Rodkey Maryland M Alan Sanchez NC State M Zach Schilawski Wake Forest M Seth Sinovic Creighton M Toni Stahl Connecticut M Michael Stephens UCLA M Michael Strickland Stanford M Michael Thomas Notre Dame M Evan Toft San Diego State M Alex Torda Dayton M Jonathan Villanueva Virginia M Collen Warner Portland M Hanson Woodruff Syracuse M Drew Yates Maryland F Eddie Ababio North Carolina F Andre Akpan Harvard F Cody Arnoux Wake Forest F Ronnie Bouemboue NC State F Devan Carroll UNC Wilmington F Conor Chinn San Diego F Byron Dacy Creighton F Kyle Evans Lehigh F Michael Ferguson Loyola-Chicago F Irving Garcia UC Irvine F Scott Lorenz Wisconsin F Samson Malijani Fairleigh Dickinson F Andrew McGill Ohio State F Ryan Soroka Saint John's F Sl. Ubiparipovic Cleveland State F Steffen Vroom Depaul F Justin Wyatt Elon F Kareem Yearwood Charleston Total picks (conditional picks not included) CHI 3 picks 13, 29, 45 CHV 4 picks 14, 30, 46, 62 CLB 5 picks 10, 12, 53, 58, 61 COL 3 picks 31, 44, 60 DAL 7 picks 4, 9, 20, 25, 36, 42, 52 DC 3 picks 15, 47, 63 HOU 4 picks 32, 43, 48, 64 KC 4 picks 8, 24, 40, 56 LA 3 picks 5, 37, 54 NE 4 picks 7, 23, 39, 55 NY 6 picks 2, 16, 18, 21, 34, 50 PHI 4 picks 1, 17, 33, 49 RSL 4 picks 6, 22, 26, 38 SEA 5 picks 3, 19, 35, 41, 51 SJ 3 picks 11, 27, 59 TOR 2 picks 28, 57

UEFA WCQ Playoffs Outlook

Standings UEFA is the most important confederation to keep an eye on from an American perspective, as those teams will be the toughest come 2010. If any of the top teams fail to qualify, then it helps us immensely. That's because if all the strongest teams make it, then you're looking at the Netherlands and Portugal in that second pot, which means a 25% chance of drawing one of those two plus a seeded team. So it's definitely in our best interests to have the worst teams qualify that possibly can. Many of the teams are virtual locks (Denmark, England, Spain) to finish first, so I'm going to look at who's likely to finish second. Group 1 Sweden blew their chance to take a grip on second by losing at home with Denmark. I actually like Portugal's chance to finish second now, as long as they don't lose away to Denmark. That's unfortunate from our point of view. Both teams are now equal in the standings and because Portugal's a better team, you have to put them as favorites for the runner up spot. The best option would be to have Hungary pull off a few draws and hold them off, but that's unlikely. Group 2 Two important games here: Switzerland is at home against Greece (9/5) and Israel (10/14). If they beat Greece then they should end up qualifying automatically. I expect that to happen, but maybe we would be better off if it didn't. Switzerland is one of those teams that always plays top teams tough, even if they don't win most of the team. I think they would be a much harder playoff matchup for say, Germany or France than Greece would be. Israel is pretty much done for. Group 3 The biggest mess of them all. As I wrote above, Slovakia seems likely to take first. There's a very good chance the second place team here will miss out on the playoffs, along with group 9's. I feel the Czech Republic is still the most likely team to get second. Further analysis here. I would feel much more confident about meeting Poland in 2010 given our history with them. Group 4 If Russia beats Germany at home on 10/10, then they will likely qualify automatically and leave second place for the Germans. A draw would probably send Russia to the playoffs instead. Can you bet against Gus Hiddink? Group 5 Bosnia is very close to being a lock. Turkey must beat Bosnia away on 9/9. Bosnia and Milan target Dzeko are likely to be fodder in the playoffs. Group 6 Ukraine has the upper hand here on Croatia. Remaining schedules: Croatia: @ Belarus, Belarus, @ England, @ Kazakhstan Ukraine: Andorra, @ Belarus, vs England, @ Andorra Not only do they play Andorra twice, but they also get England at home instead of away. Ukraine really should take second here. Group 7 France will probably get second unless they win at Serbia on 9/9. Getting Germany and France in the playoffs is huge, especially if it's possible that they could meet each other. No one knows if the playoffs will be seeded into top four and bottom four based on FIFA rank like they did four years ago. With Platini, I would say there's a decent chance they don't do that. But I wouldn't be surprised to see them continue to protect the top teams, unfortunately. Group 8 Ireland should have second place pretty much locked up, unless Bulgaria beats Italy away on 9/9. Ireland could even get first if they could beat Italy at home on 10/10. Now that would be something. Group 9 The key matchup here is Norway vs Scotland in August. If Norway wins, they should get second. Scotland will likely get 2nd with only a draw, but even then may not make the playoffs. They really need to beat the Netherlands on the final matchday, when they have nothing to play for. Likely Playoff Teams (with possible pots for the draw) Czech Republic France Russia Portugal Bosnia Greece Ireland Ukraine You can see how much not seeding it would help in terms of bigger teams missing out. None of the bottom four would be a favorite against any of the top four.

MLS: Top Ten American Goalscorers by Year

Somebody posted a comment to the Age of MLS Golden Boot Winners post which inspired this post. Man, 2001 was really pathetic wasn't it? Moreso if you look at the full leaderboard. Wynalda was the only American in the top ten. Jeff Cunningham was counted from 2002 on, as he received his citizenship after the 2001 season. In 13 seasons, only 56 different players have made one of these top tens. How many of those guys have never played for the USMNT? A total of ten: Burciaga, Carrieri, Elliott, Magee, Marino, Paule, Rammel, Rhine, Rooney, Wood. 2008 1 Landon Donovan 20 2 Kenny Cooper 18 3 Edson Buddle 15 4 Brian Ching 13 5 Conor Casey 11 6 Chad Barrett 9 6 Chris Rolfe 9 8 Jeff Cunningham 8 8 Steve Ralston 8 8 Taylor Twellman 8 2007 1 Taylor Twellman 16 2 Eddie Johnson 15 3 Ante Razov 11 4 Jozy Altidore 9 5 Landon Donovan 8 5 Robbie Findley 8 7 Chad Barrett 7 7 Brian Ching 7 7 Nate Jaqua 7 7 Pat Noonan 7 7 Ben Olsen 7 2006 1 Jeff Cunningham 16 2 Ante Razov 14 3 Landon Donovan 12 4 Brian Ching 11 4 Kenny Cooper 11 4 Taylor Twellman 11 7 Jose Burciaga 8 7 Clint Dempsey 8 7 Nate Jaqua 8 7 Jason Kreis 8 2005 1 Taylor Twellman 17 2 Jeff Cunningham 12 2 Landon Donovan 12 4 Herculez Gomez 11 5 Clint Dempsey 10 5 Josh Wolff 10 7 Edson Buddle 9 7 Jason Kreis 9 9 Eddie Gaven 8 9 Pat Noonan 8 9 Chris Rolfe 8 2004 1 Brian Ching 12 2 Eddie Johnson 12 3 Edson Buddle 11 4 Pat Noonan 11 5 Alecko Eskandarian 10 6 Josh Wolff 10 7 John Wolyniec 10 8 Davy Arnaud 9 9 Jeff Cunningham 9 10 Taylor Twellman 9 2003 1 Taylor Twellman 15 2 Ante Razov 14 3 Landon Donovan 12 3 Brian McBride 12 3 Preki 12 6 Mark Chung 11 7 Edson Buddle 10 7 Pat Noonan 10 9 Clint Mathis 9 10 DaMarcus Beasley 7 10 Jason Kreis 7 10 Mike Magee 7 2002 1 Taylor Twellman 23 2 Jeff Cunningham 16 3 Ante Razov 14 4 Jason Kreis 13 5 Chris Carrieri 11 5 Mark Chung 11 5 Chris Henderson 11 8 Edson Buddle 9 9 Landon Donovan 7 9 Chris Klein 7 9 Preki 7 9 Bobby Rhine 7 2001 1 Eric Wynalda 10 2 Preki 8 2 Brian Maisonneuve 8 2 Manny Lagos 8 5 Clint Mathis 7 5 Dante Washington 7 5 Landon Donovan 7 5 Roy Lassiter 7 5 Sasha Victorine 7 5 Steve Ralston 7 5 Jason Kreis 7 2000 1 Ante Razov 18 2 Clint Mathis 16 3 Dante Washington 15 4 Jason Kreis 11 5 Imad Baba 9 5 Chris Henderson 9 7 Roy Lassiter 8 7 Manny Lagos 8 9 Paul Bravo 7 9 Cobi Jones 7 9 Josh Wolff 7 1999 1 Jason Kreis 18 1 Roy Lassiter 18 3 Joe-Max Moore 15 4 Ante Razov 14 5 Josh Wolff 10 6 Cobi Jones 8 6 A.J. Wood 8 8 Paul Bravo 7 8 Clint Mathis 7 8 Preki 7 1998 1 Cobi Jones 19 2 Roy Lassiter 18 3 Paul Bravo 11 4 Brian McBride 10 4 Ross Paule 10 4 Preki 10 4 Ante Razov 10 8 Jason Kreis 9 9 Jim Rooney 8 9 Josh Wolff 8 1997 1 Preki 12 2 Dante Washington 12 3 Jeff Baicher 10 3 Mark Chung 10 3 Roy Lassiter 10 3 Lawrence Lozzano 10 7 Paul Bravo 8 7 Jason Kreis 8 7 Pete Marino 8 10 Imad Baba 7 10 Gerell Elliott 7 10 Chris Henderson 7 10 Cobi Jones 7 10 Alan Prampin 7 1996 1 Roy Lassiter 27 2 Preki 18 3 Brian McBride 17 4 Steve Rammel 14 5 Paul Bravo 13 5 Jason Kreis 13 7 Jean Harbor 11 7 Pete Marino 11 7 Joe-Max Moore 11 10 Eric Wynalda 10