Soccer FanHouse

Seattle, Charleston Lead USL Charge Into U.S. Open Cup Semifinals

David J. Warner — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 02:00:00 EST

Filed under: Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, Washington, DC, Soccer, Baltimore, Kansas City, MLS, US Soccer

It was a night of knockout soccer that saw three games go to extra time, two games go to penalty kicks, and one famous Mexican lose his temper and get sent off. By the time the smoke cleared, the glass slipper still fit for two USL First Division clubs, who had advanced to the U.S. Open Cup semifinals.

Why isn't this competition on TV again?

The Charleston Battery obliterated FC Dallas, 3-1, at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, TX, scoring before an after an hour-long lightning delay in the first half and shutting down all but one meaningless strike in the 93rd minute. Meanwhile, the Seattle Sounders fought the Kansas City Wizards to a 0-0 draw and advanced 6-5 on penalties, thanks in part to a 12-save performance by Sounders goalkeeper Chris Eylander, who also saved two PKs to help Seattle advance.

Meanwhile, USL Second Division club Crystal Palace Baltimore pushed the defending Open Cup champion New England Revolution to penalties, but lost the shootout, 5-3. In Boyds, MD, Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Mark Burch were shown red cards in extra time, while Bryan Namoff scored the winner in the 99th minute to push D.C. United past the Chicago Fire, 2-1.

The Sounders were nearly undone by poor officiating on their home field for the second straight year in Open Cup play. Early in the first half, a Wizards defender pulled down Sebastien Le Toux in the box on a breakaway, yet the Wizards somehow weren't called for the penalty. Seattle also watched three shots hit the woodwork, which left it to Eylander to save the day.

Seattle will face Charleston in one semifinal, while the Revs will visit RFK Stadium to play D.C. United in the other, thus ensuring that a non-MLS club will reach the Open Cup final for the first time since the Rochester Raging Rhinos won it all in 1999. The Sounders have to be the Cardiff City of this competition. If they win the Open Cup, who gets the CONCACAF Champions League bid? The MLS Sounders that will replace them next season? Technically, those are two different clubs.

Seattle, Charleston Lead USL Charge Into U.S. Open Cup Semifinals originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Wed, 09 Jul 2008 02:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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U.S. Open Cup Matches Won't Be Seen on TV

David J. Warner — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:45:00 EST

Filed under: Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, Washington, DC, Soccer, Baltimore, Kansas City, MLS, US Soccer

D.C. United and the Chicago Fire meet tonight in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals, one month after their testy match in Toyota Park in which three red cards were given and Luciano Emilio got a surprise goal in stoppage time to lift 9-man D.C. to a 2-1 win.

If you want to watch this rematch, though, you'll have to go to the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds and buy a ticket. By all accounts, this match will not air on TV or online. Neither will tonight's New England Revolution v. Crystal Palace Baltimore match, providing further proof that the U.S. Open Cup -- a competition in which the winner receives a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League, no less -- is truly the most disrespected competition in American soccer.

The other two quarterfinal matches at least have online video feeds. FC Dallas v. Charleston Battery will be shown on MLSLive at 8:30 PM ET, while Seattle fans log on to USLLive get a free glimpse of their future MLS club's home when the USL-1 Seattle Sounders face the Kansas City Wizards at Qwest Field at 10:00 PM ET. Let's hope the groundskeepers actually try to cover up the gridiron lines this year.

U.S. Open Cup Matches Won't Be Seen on TV originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Crystal Palace Headlines Open Cup Upsets

David J. Warner — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:40:00 EST

Filed under: Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, New York, Seattle, Washington, DC, Soccer, Baltimore, Kansas City, MLS, US Soccer

Crystal Palace supporters still suffering from the loss of that Premier League promotion playoff last May might be taking a little solace in their American counterparts today.

USL Second Division side Crystal Palace Baltimore upset an uninspired New York Red Bulls side, 2-0, last night in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup. The win prompted many sports fans in Baltimore to say, "Wait, we have a soccer team here?"

Indeed, the club was founded in 2006, 101 years after Crystal Palace FC was founded in London, and it serves as a player development wing for the Coca-Cola Championship club. Clearly, player development is going pretty well there, though as Ives Galarcep notes, too many Red Bulls just didn't come to play last night.

Two other USL clubs pulled off upsets, as USL-1 leaders the Charleston Battery defeated MLS Cup holders the Houston Dynamo on penalty kicks, while the Seattle Sounders topped Chivas USA, 2-0. Other USL clubs didn't get away so easily. The Kansas City Wizards came back from a 2-0 deficit to topple the Carolina Railhawks, 4-2, in extra time, and FC Dallas scored a 2-1 comeback win against Miami FC. D.C. United, the Chicago Fire and the New England Revolution also cruised to victory over USL clubs.

The U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals are scheduled for next Tuesday.

Crystal Palace Headlines Open Cup Upsets originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:40:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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U.S. Open Cup Teams Pay to Play at Home

David J. Warner — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, New York, Seattle, Washington, DC, Soccer, Kansas City, MLS, US Soccer

The 3rd round of the U.S. Open Cup kicks off tomorrow, and if you're looking for the MLS clubs that are taking this tournament seriously this year, just look for which clubs are playing at home.

Unlike England's FA Cup, where the home team is determined by random draw, MLS and USL clubs place bids with the U.S. Soccer Federation to host games, and the highest bidder plays at home. If you look at the schedule for tomorrow's games, you'll notice that the New England Revolution, the Chicago Fire, D.C. United and FC Dallas are all playing at home.

By contrast, the Houston Dynamo travel to South Carolina to face USL-1 leaders the Charleston Battery, and the New York Red Bulls head to Maryland to face USL-2 side Crystal Palace Baltimore. Perhaps Houston and New York aren't quite as interested in the CONCACAF Champions League bid that comes with winning the Open Cup.

D.C. United, however, suddenly seems much more interested in the Open Cup than they were last year.

D.C. hasn't won the Open Cup since 1996 and fielded a reserve side that lost to the USL-2 Harrisburg City Islanders last year. This time around, though, D.C. opens at home against the Rochester Rhinos. In fact, if you look at the D.C. United schedule, you'll notice a two-week gap between yesterday's 4-1 win over the L.A. Galaxy and the first SuperLiga match on Saturday, July 12 -- a gap into which they could fit the 3rd-round (July 1) and 4th-round (July 8) U.S. Open Cup ties.

D.C. has always put extra emphasis on playing internationally. Perhaps the club sees winning four games in the Open Cup as an easier path to the CONCACAF Champions League than winning the MLS Supporters Shield, which they've won the last two years. They are coming into form just in time for an Open Cup run, too.

New England, meanwhile, seems intent on winning every trophy they can get their hands on. The Revs, who won the Open Cup last season, are also the points leader in the MLS standings and a favorite to win the Supporters Shield, which also comes with a Champions League bid. The Chicago Fire, Open Cup winners in 2006, also bid high to get a home match this week.

On the other hand, the Kansas City Wizards seem even less interested than Houston and New York. They face the Carolina Railhawks in Cary, NC, tomorrow night, and Wizards coach Curt Onalfo told reporters he expects to start only a few regulars for that game.

If the Railhawks win that game, they should cheer hard for Chivas USA. According to Railhawks managing partner Chris Economides, the Seattle Sounders outbid Carolina for the quarterfinal match. So if the Railhawks beat the Wizards and the Sounders beat Chivas USA, that quarterfinal would be played in Seattle. A potential Railhawks v. Chivas quarterfinal, however, would be played in North Carolina. The Railhawks and the Sounders both upset MLS clubs on their way to the semifinals last season.

Of course, this begs the question -- if the USL Sounders win the Open Cup in 2008, would the MLS Sounders take their place in the CONCACAF Champions League in 2009?

U.S. Open Cup Teams Pay to Play at Home originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Someone Needs to Tell Eddie Johnson He's Not in Kansas City Anymore

David J. Warner — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Soccer, Kansas City, MLS, Premier League, Soccer Posts

The biggest complaint most fans of European soccer have with Major League Soccer in America is that the regular season has too little value. Eight out of 14 clubs make the playoffs, and teams that finish last don't get relegated to the second division. MLS and CONCACAF are trying to change that by tying regular season performance into international competitions like SuperLiga and the new CONCACAF Champions League, but those events don't quite have enough prestige to convince MLS players to play with the same urgency in the regular season as European players do.

Someone really needs to explain these things to Eddie Johnson.

The former Kansas City Wizard moved to Fulham last January to help the club with its offense, and he's displaced Clint Dempsey in the starting lineup. In three starts, Johnson has produced a grand total of one shot on goal. He's also been easy to push off the ball and less than eager to chase after crosses that aren't put right on his head.

Basically, he's playing with zero urgency. Johnson plays for a club battling for its Premier League life, and he acts like he's just playing out a string and will be back in the top flight next season. That was evident today in Fulham's 2-0 loss at Newcastle.

Johnson might have been able to rack up goals in MLS without much struggle, but it was obvious today that he's no match for stronger defenders. Newcastle's back line didn't look the least bit threatened by Johnson today, and he never gave them reason to be.

It's exactly this sort of lackadaisical play that has Bob Bradley starting Dempsey and Jozy Altidore ahead of Johnson on the U.S. national team. Why Fulham manager Roy Hodgson thinks Johnson is better than Dempsey here remains a mystery. Yes, Dempsey hasn't scored since Boxing Day, but he's still Fulham's leading scorer with six goals on the season, and giving him only 20 to 25 minutes a game to spell Brian McBride is not going to help him out of his slump -- nor will it help Fulham avoid the drop.

The difference between Dempsey and Johnson, though, is that even if Fulham is relegated -- which is looking more likely after today -- Dempsey won't be playing in the Coca-Cola Championship next season. Dempsey understands what a relegation battle is. Johnson does not, and he needs to step up his game quickly, or he might find himself bombing out of Europe getting shipped back to MLS faster than you can say, "Landon Donovan."

Someone Needs to Tell Eddie Johnson He's Not in Kansas City Anymore originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fulham Seals Deal for Wizards' Eddie Johnson

David J. Warner — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:55:00 EST

Filed under: Soccer, Kansas City, MLS, Premier League

Major League Soccer's fourth-best goal scorer is headed to the Premier League -- for the next four months, anyway.

Ives Galarcep is reporting Kansas City Wizards striker Eddie Johnson has secured his UK work permit and signed a 3 1/2-year deal with Fulham. Johnson left the U.S. men's national team training camp a week and a half go to begin negotiations with the relegation-threatened London club, and he's reportedly fetching a transfer fee of $4 million.

There was talk that Johnson's deal might not happen after Fulham reportedly signed Marlon King away from Watford, but that deal was scuttled last week, reportedly because King failed a physical. King denies that claim.

Johnson, who rejected an offer from Derby County last August, will join fellow Americans Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra, Brian McBride and Kasey Keller at the club. He'll also join three other new Fulham transfers -- Norway defender Brede Hangeland from FC Copenhagen, Danish midfielder Leon Andreasen from Werder Bremen and Gabonese striker Daniel Cousin from Rangers.

However, with Dempsey entrenched as a starter, Cousin coming in and McBride expected to return soon from injury, how much playing time will Johnson actually get at Fulham? He won't get any in the FA Cup; Bristol Rovers took care of that. Will Dempsey move back to a midfield spot, or will Roy Hodgson employ a 4-3-3 formation to fit everyone in? And would Johnson be happy playing in the Coca-Cola Championship next year? I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Fulham Seals Deal for Wizards' Eddie Johnson originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:55:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Quakes Trade Top Pick as Draft Thins Out

Irishoutsider — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Los Angeles, Oakland, Soccer, Kansas City, MLS

LA Galaxy manager Ruud Gullitt's early departure from this year's MLS Combine should have been seen as a bad omen. The club has the most draft picks of any team, yet he elected to cut short his talent evaluations. In what had been hailed as a deep draft, especially with defenders on LA's shopping list, the move was a surprise. No sooner did reports surface of his departure, the first real measurement of the 2008 draft was taken by Kansas City by way of San Jose. The Earthquakes traded their first pick overall for veteran defender Nick Garcia (at right). Garcia, drafted 2nd overall in 2000, is a veteran defensive leader, but the move tips a the apparently low market price of the #1.

From San Jose's side, their gameplan appears to be defense first. A smart move considering the abundance of MLS-caliber defensive midfielders and their current roster. While Clarence Goodson's departure to Norway's IK Start was a setback, the 'Quakes are putting the pieces in place to ensure newly acquired keeper Joe Cannon is well protected. Garcia, 29, joins an experienced back line that is should include Ryan Cochrane (from Houston) and Ivan Guerrero (from Chicago). Coach Frank Yallop looks to have a good, if aged, defensive corps in place before the draft begins, but most predictions had the team looking to trade veterans or allocations for additional draft picks. With this move the 'Quakes get a little bit older, but probably more consistent.

As for the Wizards, their eyes appear to be on top striking prospect Patrick Nyarko out of Viriginia Tech. Nyarko has been the consensus #1 for some time and is expected to have an immediate impact. He would be the likely successor to Eddie Johnson, en route to Fulham for an rumored $6 million transfer. The offense may not miss a but, but this places their defense on the back of Jimmy Conrad and a handful of youngsters.

If the prices of draft picks are falling as prospect hype fades into reality, look for the MLS trade market to heat up even more as we head into Friday.

(HT: Soccer Insider and Yahoo! Sports)

Quakes Trade Top Pick as Draft Thins Out originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eddie Johnson in Talks with Fulham

Irishoutsider — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:13:00 EST

Filed under: Soccer, Kansas City, MLS, Premier League

The Americanization of the Cottagers continue as Eddie Johnson is in "serious negotiations" with Fulham. Soccer Insider, Steven Goff, reports that Johnson has left the US national camp to discuss a transfer to the London club. Johnson had been linked to the Premier League since the transfer window opened with Derby County and Reading also rumored to be interested in his services. The KC Wizards striker would be the fifth American player on a roster that includes well-known national players Kasey Keller, Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey, and captain Brian McBride.

Johnson is the latest MLS player to be connected to a move overseas. Recently, New England striker Taylor Twellman, Chicago keeper Matt Pickens, and Chivas keeper Brad Guzan have also been targeted by foreign clubs.

Eddie Johnson in Talks with Fulham originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:13:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eddie Johnson Was Right to Reject Derby

David J. Warner — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Soccer, Kansas City, MLS, Premier League

All the really good American players end up playing in Europe, right? Clint Dempsey, Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra all ended up at Fulham. Freddy Adu may have rejected Benfica for now, but he's bound to end up playing somewhere in Europe before it's over.

So why wouldn't Eddie Johnson, the Kansas City Wizards striker who is currently MLS' leading scorer (12 goals), want to play in the Premier League as well? Why would he reject a transfer to Derby County?

I can give you a good reason -- because it's Derby County. It's a very small club that may have won "the most valuable club match in the world" last May, but it won't win much else in the upcoming Premier League season, and it's the odds-on favorite to be the first team relegated back to the Coca-Cola Championship. A talented striker like Johnson isn't going to lift that team out of the relegation zone by himself.

Meanwhile, the Kansas City Wizards are 7-5-5 and just a point out of first place in MLS' Eastern Division. Those seven wins may be more than Derby gets in the Premiership all year, and while things like Superliga and the CONCACAF Champions Cup don't seem quite as prestigious as the UEFA Cup, Johnson actually has a much better chance of seeing international competition next year with Kansas City than with Derby.

If Johnson had gotten an offer from Reading, with whom he trained last year, this might be a different story. Reading has a much better shot at Premier League success than Derby, and they may pursue Johnson yet if Kevin Doyle gets hurt again. For now, though, Johnson will remain in MLS, and that league probably couldn't be more thrilled that Derby inadvertently gave their league a little boost in reputation.

Eddie Johnson Was Right to Reject Derby originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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