Take The MLS 2007 Survey!

Click here. My goal here is to get a look at the state of the MLS fan base. Hence the first three approval/disapproval questions. There's 10 overall, including several on the always heated "Americanized vs traditional" debate. Results will be posted here on Friday, the day before the new season kicks off. I was going to have questions on the results of the 2007 season, but fans will always be biased and we all know who the strong teams are. These are more fundamental issues and more interesting to take a look at. Previously, I posted the results of the 2010 MLS/USMNT survey.

2007 MLS Probable Starting Lineups

This is what I've been able to gather from the message boards, quotes from coaches, and match reports. Shape of the formations is definitely not going to be 100% accurate. CHICAGO FIRE ...............Rolfe.......Barrett.................. ...Guerrero.......Mapp.......Pause........ ............Armas.......Gutierrez............... ......Robinson....Curtin....Brown......... ........................Pickens........................ There's been talk that Pascal Bedrossian will start on the right side of midfield. Can't say much about him, so who knows if he's up to it. Also, there's been talk three up top. If that's the case, then Mapp starts as the left sided forward. Gonzalo Segares and Thiago are both in the mix to start as well. There's definitely a lot of versatility with the Fire's players. COLUMBUS CREW .....Virtuoso.....Herron.....Gaven......... .................Grabavoy.................. ..........O'Rourke.....Oughton............. ...Pierce...Gonzalez...Marshall...Hejduk... ..................Gaudette................... Sigi will go with the 4-3-3 as well. Grabavoy has been supposedly playing well in the preseason. I still think Joseph Ngwenya will likely start, but then where do you put Gaven? Jacob Thomas is another guy who could be in the lineup (for Oughton?). DC UNITED .......Moreno.....Emilio....... ...Gros......Gomez.....Fred.... ......Carroll.....Olsen........ ....Namoff...Boswell...Erpen... .............Perkins........... KANSAS CITY WIZARDS ...........Johnson........Sealy................. ...Harrington...Zavagnin...Victorine...Arnaud... ...Burciaga...Conrad.....Garcia...Jewsbury...... .................Hartman........................ It was just reported that Jewsbury has been playing right back. Very interesting. Harrington is probably the most likely rookie to be a full time starter. Who else do they have there, Will John? NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION .........Twellman.....Noonan.......... ...Franchino.....Dorman.....Ralston... ........Joseph........Hernandez....... .....John.....Parkhurst.....Heaps..... ................Reis.................. If Franchino is out, then Marshall Leonard or Khano Smith are likely replacements. Noonan has been injured, so rookie Adam Cristman may start the first match. He's looked good so far. RED BULL NEW YORK ................Altidore.............. ...v.d.Bergh................Schopp..... ................Reyna.................. ........Stammler.....Kovalenko......... ...Dunivant...Mendes...Parke...Wynne... .......... .....Waterreus.............. The Red Bulls are also going with the en vogue 4-3-3/4-5-1, although here it's probably due to their lack of forwards. They do have talented wingers, though. Colombian forward Juan Pablo Angel is rumored to be on his way. I just read about the Clint Mathis trade, so there's the possibility he could start up top. Is Altidore ready to carry the load at 17? TORONTO FC ........Casey.....Eskandarian....... ...Welsh.....Cancela.....Robinson.... .......Mulrooney...O'Brien.... ......Brennan...Braz...Pozniak...... ...............Sutton............... Edson Buddle could start up top. The defensive picture is still murky; there's also Canadian Marco Reza and New Zealander Andrew Boyens. O'Brien has been called the "leader" of the midfield by Johnston. Maybe he'll take Cancela's spot, and Paulo Nagamura or Maurice Edu will start next to Mulrooney? Or they could go with the 4-4-2. We'll see against Chivas on opening day. CD CHIVAS USA ....................Razov........Galindo........................ ...Mendoza...Marsch...Kljestan...Guevara...... ...Bornstein...Suarez...Hernandez...Zotinca... ..............................Guzan................................... Bornstein is hurt, so it appears Perez will start the season in his spot. When he is healthy, I guess it makes sense for him to play left back because of the strength of this midfield. Also, based on the the match reports, it seems that Zotinca is starting over new addition Jorge Barrera. Preki must have good memories of him from KC. Barrera came on for Perez in one match, so maybe he could start on the left as well. COLORADO RAPIDS ...............Hernandez.......Brown....................... ...Gomez...Beckerman...Mastroeni...Cooke... ...Vanney...Ihemelu...Petke...Prideaux......... ..........................Thornton................................. It seems Gomez will play on the left, not Hernandez. Clavijo has previously stated that Vanney will play left back. As for right back, I assume Prideaux will get the nod over the likes of Dan Gargan. FC DALLAS ..........................Ruiz....................... ...Cooper.......Nunez.........Mina..... ..................Toja.....Richetti............ ...Gbandi...Goodson...Moor...Yi... ...........................Sala...................... 3rddegree does a great job keeping us to date on the FC Dallas roster dance. It appears that Argentine Richetti will be signing and starting alongside Colombian Toja. Bobby Rhine could easily replace Yi in this lineup and Arturto Alvarez could start as well. Shaka Hislop will start the first few games while Sala is suspended. HOUSTON DYNAMO ...................Ching............Dalglish.................. ...........................De Rosario........................... .........Davis.................................Mullan......... ................................Clark............................... ...Barrett...Robinson...Cochrane...Waibel... ..............................Onstad............................. LOS ANGELES GALAXY ......Quaranta...Jaqua...Donovan............. .......Martino...Vagenas...Jones................ ...Jazic...Thomas...Marshall...Albright... .........................Cannon............................. Yallop will go with the 4-3-3. Jaqua can play on the right in a three forward system, but it says here that he'll be the target man. Midfield spots are still uncertain, but David Beckham will take one when he arrives. REAL SALT LAKE ..................Cunningham.................... ...Adu..........Ballouchy.......Klein....... .............Talley.........Kreis.................. ...Forko...Torres...Pope...Stewart... ......................Rimando...................... RSL will play with four in the back and likely will leave Luis Tejada on the bench. They dropped the 3-5-2 when Ellinger realized that they needed more defensive cover. Ballouchy probably isn't going to play on the left, but Adu was brought in to be the AM, so who does? We'll find out. Somebody mentioned on rslfm.com in the comments that he would like to see Adu as a withdrawn forward (or an "SS" if you're a Pro Evo fan). Hmm....

Amado Guevara MLS Comp

Music: Camille Jones vs Fedde Le Grand - "The Creeps" Features some of his best goals and passes with the Metrostars (later the New York Red Bulls). Since his arrival in 2003, he's been one of the league's top players. This offseason he moved to Chivas USA where he will play the 2007 season. Previously he had captained Honduras amazing run at the 2001 Copa America, where they finished third. The last clip is from when he was invited to the White House as part of a Hispanic Heritage thing in 2004. Download-wmv (Rapidshare, 7 mb). Downloadable version doesn't have the url at the beginning.

Which Teams Need To Be Successful In 2007?

To me, following the rise of the league off the field will be just as exciting as anything on the pitch. As a fan of statistics, I've always enjoyed following tv ratings, movie box office receipts, and music charts. So that's why this offseason has been the most exciting in league history. You have the DP rule, new tv contracts, shirt sponsorships, and more. It really feels like 2007 is the start of the long-awaited "rise." And let's face it, certain teams being successful would help the league as a whole way more than others, not to mention the teams themselves. Some could certainly use a winning season. Which teams most need to successful in 2007? My rankings are below. Last season, I also ranked the teams on this topic. Eventual champions Houston were ranked third, while the LA Galaxy were last. My, how things change. 1) Los Angeles Galaxy (2006-12th) A no brainer. With David Beckham's arrival, the eyes of the country and the world will be on them. Having a quality team would be a great story and also would ensure even more exposure. 2) Real Salt Lake (2006-4th) You definitely don't want to be branded as losers. Just ask the Los Angeles Clippers or Arizona Cardinals. So that's why this is a critical year for RSL. Checketts has said he expects nothing less than the playoffs this season. They get better coverage than other other team in the league, so they have the potential to really benefit from success, too. Plus they now have Adu. 3) Colorado Rapids (2006-10th) For the first time, the spotlight will be on them as they open their new stadium. Like Dallas in 2005, this is a chance to reintroduce fans to the team. I don't think anyone expects them to put up high attendance numbers or win new fans overnight, but they will be getting more local attention and this is the time to plant some seeds. They need it given the team's history. 4) CD Chivas USA (2006-1st) Like I mentioned last year, if MLS can draw a ton of Mexican fans with Chivas, it's one step closer to reaching all soccer fans in this country. Not to mention that Chivas has supporters all over the USA. The losses of Palencia and Garcia mean that the team has fewer superstars, so the win/loss record could be even more important. 5) Red Bull New York (2006-2nd) Would've put them higher, but it seems like as usual with MLS teams, the real efforts will be made once the stadium is built. So this is kind of a throwaway year. The history of the team and the size of the market are both important factors. 6) Houston Dynamo (2006-3rd) Why are they this high after 2006? Because, season one of MLS in Houston was a big success. they got a lot of media attention. Two straight years of good media coverage and success would help establish the team as a big time player in Houston sports. Not to mention the search for a stadium, as well as the potential for bigger crowds. With most older MLS teams, a successful year wouldn't mean as much compared to a new franchise establishing a foothold. 7) Columbus Crew (2006-7th) Things certainly aren't as good in Crew-land compared to the 90's. Can a winning team bring the excitement back? 8) Toronto FC Nobody expects much out of an expansion team. Plus they'll have lots of coverage and fan support no matter what. An average season would be just fine. Also, could winning it all right away actually be a negative? 9) Chicago Fire (2006-5th) Like the Crew, seem to be lacking the excitement factor. 10) FC Dallas (2006-6th) They've been pretty good for two years now. So it's hard to see what another good year would do for them. 11) DC United (2006-11th) DC's been the most successful team in league history, and they can afford a down year. You could make an argument that their quality and style of play would make for favorable impressions among new MLS fans. But other teams that would be successful would likely play attractive soccer as well. 12) Kansas City Wizards (2006-8th) They really have nowhere to go but up after the lack of advertising or televised games in recent seasons. With these efforts being made by the new owners, everything should be better (including attendance) regardless of the team's record. Let's also not forget the stadium they play in, and the fact that they'll have to play somewhere else next year. So it makes it hard to keep any momentum going. 13) New England Revolution (2006-9th) The Revs have been very good for years now, and they still have low attendance. Hard to see anything changing this season. Disagree? Post your rankings in the comments.

Christian Gomez Goals Comp

Music: Tiesto f/Christian Burns - "In The Dark" Features some of his best and most memorable goals with DC United from 2004-2006 (and also the 2007 CONCACAF Champions Cup vs Olimpia). Download-wmv (Rapidshare, 7 mb). Downloadable version doesn't have the url at the beginning.

Houston Dynamo Defeat Pachuca

The last victory by an MLS team over a Mexican team in the Champions Cup? That would be the 2003 quarterfinals, Columbus Crew 2:0 Morelia. That coming after a 6-0 loss in the first leg. You have to go back another year for the last series win, the Kansas City Wizards vs Santos Laguna in the 2002 quarterfinals. So they have a two goal lead after the first leg. What are the chance of it holding up? Well, based on the past, you still have to be pretty nervous. MLS matches in Mexico: Leon 4:2 Colorado Pachuca 3:0 San Jose Santos Laguna 2:1 Kansas City Morelia 2:0 Chicago Morelia 6:1 Kansas City Morelia 6:0 Columbus Necaxa 2:1 Los Angeles UNAM Pumas 5:0 D.C. United So things appear virtually dead for DC. Regarding the Dynamo, the only other time an MLS team hosted the first leg against a Mexican team and won was Colorado 1:0 Leon in 1998 qualifying. You can see the second leg result above, not pretty. Chris Henderson was sent off and Leon scored three times before the half. Of course, MLS teams have rarely hosted the first legs in this competition (9 of 27 times). MLS teams have only won the first legs 3 of 9 times (DC 2:1 Harbour View being the other). However, MLS teams have done very well against Mexican teams overall in the USA: 9-4-5 is the record. That's counting the old neutral site games before 2002. MLS results in CONCACAF Champions Cup

CONCACAF All Stars

It's too simple just to pick the best players. So how about this: There are 35 national teams in CONCACAF (not counting the non-FIFA members). If you took one player from each team, what's the best 18 man roster you could come up with? Here's what I came up with. GK Belize-Shane Moody-Orio Trinidad and Tobago-Shaka Hislop D Costa Rica-Luis Marin Jamaica-Tyrone Marshall Mexico-Rafael Marquez Netherlands Antilles-Angelo Cijntje Panama-Felipe Baloy Saint Vincent and the Grenadines-Ezra Hendrickson M Barbados-Paul Ifill Bermuda-Khano Smith Canada-Julian de Guzman El Salvador-Eliseo Quintanilla Grenada-Shalrie Joseph U.S.A.-Landon Donovan F Guatemala-Carlos Ruiz Haiti-Jean Philippe Peguero Honduras-David Suazo Cuba-Lester More Not Used Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Dominica Dominican Republic Guyana Montserrat Nicaragua Puerto Rico Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Suriname U.S. Virgin Islands Turks and Caicos Islands

YA of the Year?

There's no such award. Which is a shame, because Brian McBride would be a lock this season. I've been thinking though, if it did exist, who would've won in previous years? What follows is my picks for each year of this decade. I'm interested in what you guys think of them, and also what about the earlier years? I imagine Eric Wynalda, John Harkes, and Earnie Stewart would win a few in the 1990s. 2005/6-Kasey Keller, Mochengladbach Sure, Bobby Convey had an excellent season with Reading. But they were playing in the second division against teams like Stoke. Oguchi Onyewu, Brad Friedel, and Steve Cherundolo all had good seasons as well. This was probably the closest of the years I'm looking at. I really don't watch European games outside of England, so this is based on what I've read. 2004/5-DaMarcus Beasley, PSV An obvious choice. He came in from Chicago, and ended up playing in the Champions League semifinals versus AC Milan. Scored double digits in goals, as well. Too bad he hasn't matched that success since. Also, too bad for us that the World Cup was a year later. 2003/4-Tim Howard, Man Utd PFA's top keeper in the Premiership, and started in the FA Cup final. The seeds of his downfall as a starter for the Red Devils were planted by the season's end, but he played very well coming out of nowhere. I still remember seeing the ridiculous and offensive English tabloid stories when he joined them, talking about Tourette's. The Charity Shield shut them up, and it was good from there. Only now in his fourth season is he having a second good year, so hopefully Beasley can equal that next year. 2002/3-Brad Friedel, Blackburn Coming off the World Cup, Friedel was in sensational form. Like Howard a year later, he also was named to the PFA Best XI. So including Howard and Beasley, there were three years in a row of slam dunk, obvious choices. 2001/2-John O'Brien, Ajax Make that four? His best season by far, as the team did the double and he was healthy the whole time. According to the link, he played all over the field. He spend the most time at left fullback, though. Which reminds me, if you weren't a US soccer fan five years ago, then you don't remember how people constantly talked about playing O'Brien at LB and Reyna at RB, where they both frequently played for their clubs. 2000/1-Earnie Stewart, NAC Breda This was probably the pick I'm least sure about. I know Stewart scored eight goals that year in the Eredivisie, including one 30 seconds into a match against Feyenoord to beat them 1-0. Any other suggestions? 1999/0-Claudio Reyna, Rangers Another championship season, following a $3.5 million transfer from Wolfsburg in Germany. This was just when I was becoming a soccer fan, so my memory isn't great. But Rangers played in the Champions League, and also Reyna was named the Player of the Month right after he joined. Keller was also doing good around this time with Rayo Vallecano. Also, Joe-Max Moore scored a few right after joining Everton.

The "Club" Expanded

Having updated last week which MLS players have made 200 appearances for their clubs, I thought it would be nice to go one step further and make a list of players with 100 appearances with their clubs as well. 100, 200, and 300 are all milestone numbers, so it makes sense to list all of them in one giant post. And to make things more exciting, I have also figured out the order in which these milestones have been reached. So without further Adu ado, here are the members of the 100 club, 200 club, and 300 club in MLS. (Bold = still with team currently. Also, numbers include all competitions) 100 Appearances For A Single MLS Team 1 Richie Williams DC 7/15/1998 2 Jason Kreis DAL 8/15/1998 3 Jeff Agoos DC 8/22/1998 4 Mark Chung KC 8/29/1998 5 Mark Dodd DAL 9/10/1998 6 John Harkes DC 9/13/1998 7 Ted Eck DAL 9/19/1998 8 Greg Vanney LA 9/20/1998 9 Steve Ralston TB 9/24/1998 10 Steve Trittschuh COL 9/26/1998 11 Tony Meola NY 9/30/1998 12 Mike Clark CLB 10/3/1998 13 Marco Etcheverry DC 10/25/1998 14 Mauricio Cienfuegos LA 4/17/1999 15 Eddie Pope DC 4/24/1999 15 Mo Johnston KC 4/24/1999 15 Preki KC 4/24/1999 15 Cobi Jones LA 4/24/1999 19 Eddie Lewis SJ 4/30/1999 20 Mark Santel DAL 5/8/1999 21 Sean Bowers KC 5/15/1999 21 Vitalis Takawira KC 5/15/1999 21 John Doyle SJ 5/15/1999 24 Todd Yeagley CLB 5/22/1999 25 Robin Fraser LA 5/29/1999 26 Jeff Baicher SJ 6/12/1999 27 Jaime Moreno DC 6/13/1999 28 Richard Farrer DAL 6/19/1999 29 Uche Okafor KC 6/20/1999 30 Robert Warzycha CLB 6/30/1999 31 Brandon Pollard DAL 8/4/1999 32 Marcelo Balboa COL 8/13/1999 33 Brian McBride CLB 8/22/1999 34 Dante Washington DAL 9/11/1999 35 Mike Burns NE 9/18/1999 36 Ted Chronopoulos NE 10/2/1999 37 Peter Vermes COL 10/6/1999 38 Brian Maisonneuve CLB 10/10/1999 39 Jorge Rodriguez DAL 10/16/1999 40 Ansil Elcock CLB 11/13/1999 41 Paul Bravo COL 3/25/2000 41 Danny Pena LA 3/25/2000 43 Miles Joseph NY 3/26/2000 44 Jason Farrell CLB 5/27/2000 45 Carlos Llamosa DC 6/21/2000 45 Kevin Hartman LA 6/21/2000 47 Carlos Valderrama TB 6/28/2000 48 Paul Caligiuri LA 7/25/2000 49 Carey Talley DC 7/26/2000 50 Jesse Marsch CHI 8/9/2000 50 Eric Dade DAL 8/9/2000 52 Matt McKeon KC 8/18/2000 53 Ross Paule COL 8/20/2000 54 Ante Razov CHI 8/26/2000 54 Imad Baba NE 8/26/2000 56 Ezra Hendrickson LA 9/8/2000 57 C.J. Brown CHI 9/9/2000 58 Zach Thornton CHI 9/19/2000 59 Peter Nowak CHI 10/21/2000 60 Jeff Cunningham CLB 4/11/2001 61 Chris Martinez COL 4/21/2001 61 Tab Ramos NY 4/21/2001 61 Ronald Cerritos SJ 4/21/2001 64 Mike Petke NY 5/2/2001 65 Mike Lapper CLB 5/5/2001 66 Chris Armas CHI 5/30/2001 67 Leo Cullen MIA 6/16/2001 68 Diego Gutierrez CHI 6/27/2001 69 Diego Serna MIA 6/30/2001 70 Chad Deering DAL 7/4/2001 70 Pablo Mastroeni MIA 7/4/2001 72 Chris Klein KC 7/29/2001 73 Brian West CLB 8/1/2001 74 Oscar Pareja DAL 8/29/2001 75 Matt Jordan DAL 9/29/2001 76 Simon Elliot LA 10/10/2001 77 Chris Henderson COL 3/23/2002 78 Petter Villegas NY 3/23/2002 79 Wade Barrett SJ 4/17/2002 80 Dema Kovalenko CHI 4/20/2002 81 Chris Brown KC 4/27/2002 81 Richard Mulrooney SJ 4/27/2002 81 Troy Dayak SJ 4/27/2002 84 Joe Cannon SJ 7/4/2002 85 Josh Wolff CHI 7/17/2002 86 Kerry Zavagnin KC 7/24/2002 87 Nick Garcia KC 7/31/2002 88 Ben Olsen DC 8/10/2002 89 Jimmy Conrad SJ 9/14/2002 90 Sasha Victorine LA 10/9/2002 91 Tony Meola KC 4/12/2003 91 Steve Jolley NY 4/12/2003 93 Bobby Rhine DAL 4/26/2003 93 Danny Califf LA 4/26/2003 95 Paul Broome DAL 5/3/2003 96 Carlos Bocanegra CHI 5/31/2003 97 Wolde Harris NE 6/14/2003 97 Ian Russell SJ 6/14/2003 99 Francisco Gomez KC 6/28/2003 99 Ramiro Corrales SJ 6/28/2003 101 Joe Franchino NE 7/16/2003 102 DaMarcus Beasley CHI 8/20/2003 103 Peter Vagenas LA 9/6/2003 104 Joe-Max Moore NE 9/28/2003 105 Evan Whitfield CHI 10/15/2003 106 Rusty Pierce NE 11/1/2003 107 Manny Lagos SJ 11/15/2003 108 Jim Curtin CHI 5/15/2004 109 Landon Donovan SJ 6/17/2004 109 Ronnie Ekelund SJ 6/17/2004 111 Diego Gutierrez KC 6/19/2004 112 Bobby Convey DC 6/26/2004 113 Jay Heaps NE 7/4/2004 114 Duncan Oughton CLB 8/21/2004 115 Dwayne De Rosario SJ 8/28/2004 115 Jeff Agoos SJ 8/28/2004 117 John Spencer COL 10/2/2004 118 Edson Buddle CLB 10/16/2004 119 Ritchie Kotschau COL 10/22/2004 120 Steve Ralston NE 11/6/2004 121 Kelly Gray CHI 4/9/2005 121 Wolde Harris COL 4/9/2005 123 Bryan Namoff DC 5/21/2005 124 Brandon Prideaux DC 6/15/2005 125 Tyrone Marshall LA 6/25/2005 126 Kyle Martino CLB 6/29/2005 127 Taylor Twellman NE 7/22/2005 128 Chris Albright LA 8/10/2005 129 Nick Rimando DC 8/27/2005 130 Kyle Beckerman COL 9/3/2005 131 Davy Arnaud KC 10/15/2005 132 Brian Mullan SJ 10/23/2005 133 Shalrie Joseph NE 4/1/2006 134 Jimmy Conrad KC 4/15/2006 135 Jon Busch CLB 5/20/2006 136 Pat Noonan NE 6/3/2006 137 Logan Pause CHI 6/17/2006 137 Mark Lisi NY 6/17/2006 139 Ronnie O'Brien DAL 6/24/2006 140 Justin Mapp CHI 7/8/2006 141 Amado Guevara NY 7/14/2006 141 Mike Magee NY 7/14/2006 143 Brian Carroll DC 7/22/2006 144 Bo Oshoniyi KC 8/12/2006 145 Nate Jaqua CHI 8/16/2006 146 Jose Burciaga KC 8/30/2006 147 Josh Gros DC 9/3/2006 148 Matt Reis NE 9/20/2006 149 Jose Cancela NE 9/30/2006 150 Freddy Adu DC 10/9/2006 151 Pablo Mastroeni COL 10/14/2006 200 Appearances For A Single MLS Team 1 Jason Kreis DAL 8/4/2001 2 Greg Vanney LA 8/11/2001 3 Mauricio Cienfuegos LA 8/18/2001 4 Mike Clark CLB 8/29/2001 5 Cobi Jones LA 3/23/2002 6 Marco Etcheverry DC 6/19/2002 7 Richie Williams DC 6/29/2002 8 Preki KC 4/12/2003 9 Jesse Marsch CHI 8/20/2003 10 Zach Thornton CHI 8/30/2003 11 Kevin Hartman LA 10/25/2003 12 Brian McBride CLB 10/26/2003 13 Jaime Moreno DC 4/24/2004 14 C.J. Brown CHI 5/1/2004 14 Brian Maisonneuve CLB 5/1/2004 16 Jeff Cunningham CLB 7/10/2004 17 Chris Klein KC 8/14/2004 18 Chris Henderson COL 4/23/2005 19 Chris Armas CHI 6/18/2005 20 Nick Garcia KC 7/20/2005 21 Kerry Zavagnin KC 8/6/2005 22 Oscar Pareja DAL 9/10/2005 23 Ben Olsen DC 4/22/2006 24 Bobby Rhine DAL 8/12/2006 300 Appearances For A Single MLS Team 1 Cobi Jones LA 6/4/2005 2 Kevin Hartman LA 9/6/2006 3 Jaime Moreno DC 10/15/2006 Summary Times First Man 100 Appearances 151 Richie Williams 200 Appearances 24 Jason Kreis 300 Appearances 3 Cobi Jones Williams achieved the milestone in DC's 106th game. Kreis achieved the milestone in Dallas' 214th game. Jones achieved the milestone in LA's 356th game. 100 Appearances With Two Different Clubs Jeff Agoos Jimmy Conrad Diego Gutierrez Wolde Harris Pablo Mastroeni Tony Meola Steve Ralston There have been 1,006 players to play for an MLS team in an official match. That means that 14.3% have made 100 appearances with a club (151-7/1006), 2.4% have made 200, and 0.3% have made 300. Team Breakdown Of Milestone Players 100 200 300 CHI 17 4 0 CHV 0 0 0 CLB 14 4 0 COL 12 1 0 DAL 15 3 0 DC 16 4 1 HOU 0 0 0 KC 18 4 0 LA 14 4 2 MIA 3 0 0 NE 14 0 0 NY 9 0 0 RSL 0 0 0 SJ 17 0 0 TB 2 0 0 TOR 0 0 0 Yearly Breakdown Of Milestone Players 100 200 300 1996 0 0 0 1997 0 0 0 1998 13 0 0 1999 27 0 0 2000 19 0 0 2001 17 4 0 2002 14 3 0 2003 17 5 0 2004 13 5 0 2005 12 5 1 2006 19 2 2 Most Overall Appearances Without Reaching 100 For Any Club 1 Scott Garlick 267 2 Brian Kamler 255 3 Andy Williams 236 4 Roy Lassiter 224 5 Clint Mathis 214 6 Alexi Lalas 203 7 Brian Dunseth 194 7 David Vaudreuil 194 9 Ivan McKinley 193 10 Eric Denton 186

Gold Cup Groups Drawn Announced

I was right on the money with this one. It seemed pretty obvious going into it, as with no Colombia to headline the Miami group, Costa Rica was a natural choice as the third best team. Canada joining them meant that there would be one "North American" team in each group, while Haiti always plays in Miami as well. Cuba then wouldn't be there. The USA are probably looking at Panama in the quarterfinals and Costa Rica in the semifinals, if it all goes to plan. Without the guest teams, it should be easier than normal. No Jamaica as well. Also, kudos to CONCACAF for actually doing something professional. They have a nice video of Chuck Blazer announcing the groups at their web site. The most fascinating story about the Gold Cup may involve Guadalupe, which is part of France and not a full-fledged FIFA member. Because of this, former French international Jocelyn Angloma has come out of retirement at age 41 to help them qualify. He has previously played in Euro 92 and Euro 96, as well as for Valencia. I assume he's gonna be at the final tournament as well. Really, they could have a pretty strong team if they recruited in French league.

MLS 2007: Who Will Join the 200 Club?

A year ago, I blogged about the MLS players who had made 200 appearances for their clubs in all competitions. 22 such players met that criteria a year ago. Now it's time to check it again. You may have noticed that today, Ryan Giggs made his 700th appearance for Manchester United, an absolutely incredible accomplishment (which also reminded me about my previous post). According to Wikipedia, the breakdown is 496 in the league, 118 in Europe, 56 in the FA Cup, and 30 in the League Cup. Overall, over 16 years that's about 44 appearances per year. By contrast, only twice has an MLS team actually played 44 games in one season (1997 DC & 2000 CHI). So don't expect anyone to get to 700 for a long, long time in MLS. Cobi Jones leads MLS in this category, yet he's only slightly more than halfway to Giggs. To make the 200 club in MLS, you need to start pretty much every game for 6 years. The most games any MLS club could play this year is 52 by my calculations. DC United or Houston could advance to the finals of the Champions Cup, Open Cup, Superliga, MLS Cup, and World Club Championship which would mean 22 additional games (6+4+5+4+3) after the 30 regular season games. Most Games With One MLS Team Cobi Jones 362 LA 1996-2006 Kevin Hartman 307 LA 1997-2006 Jaime Moreno 303 DC 1996-2002, 2004-6 Jason Kreis 287 DAL 1996-2004 C.J. Brown 282 CHI 1998-2006 Zach Thornton 272 CHI 1998-2003, 2004-6 Mauricio Cienfuegos 270 LA 1996-2003 Mike Clark 265 CLB 1996-2003 Jesse Marsch 260 CHI 1998-2005 Preki 254 KC 1996-2000, 2002-5 Chris Armas 244 CHI 1998-2006 Nick Garcia 242 KC 2000-6 Marco Etcheverry 241 DC 1996-2003 Kerry Zavagnin 238 KC 2000-6 Chris Klein 235 KC 1998-2005 Ben Olsen 222 DC 1998-2006 Jeff Cunningham 219 CLB 1998-2004 Bobby Rhine 213 DAL 1999-2006 Richie Williams 213 DC 1996-2001, 2002 Greg Vanney 212 LA 1996-2001 Brian Maisonneuve 208 CLB 1996-2004 Oscar Pareja 206 DAL 1998-2005 Chris Henderson 204 COL 1996-8, 2002-5 Brian McBride 200 CLB 1996-2003 (bold = still with club) Ben Olsen (4/22 @ NY) and Bobby Rhine (8/12 @ HOU) joined the club last season. Rhine is barely hanging on to a roster spot in Dallas, while Olsen is a sure starter in DC. Brown is the only guy within reach of the even more elusive 300 game mark. So having seen this, which active players could join the club in 2007? Closest Active Players Peter Vagenas 193 LA 2000-6 Jay Heaps 192 NE 2001-6 Joe Franchino 190 NE 2000-6 Jim Curtin 175 CHI 2001-6 Steve Ralston 161 NE 2002-6 Taylor Twellman 156 NE 2002-6 Bryan Namoff 152 DC 2001-6 Diego Gutierrez 151 CHI 1998-2001, 2006 Steve Nicol's stability means that Heaps and Franchino look to make it very soon, as well as Vagenas in LA. Curtin has an outside shot, but it looks as three is the safe bet for 2007. First to 200? You might also be wondering, who is the first man to reach this milestone? Among the 24, I found that four men got to 200 appearances during the 2001 season: Cienfuegos, Clark, Kreis, and Vanney. After further research, the order goes like this: Kreis 8/4 @ NE Vanney 8/11 vs DC Cienfuegos 8/18 vs TB Clark 8/29 @ CHI So the answer is Jason Kreis with Dallas.