The Week That Was - October 29th

Here are the updated standings:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3qPRqJFXHoRaVhYdm0yWUxoZ2c/edit?usp=drive_web

Toronto FC

We did our part but the necessary results did not fall our way to eliminate Montreal from the playoffs but what we did do was make them have to take the hardest path to MLS Cup and probably, with the poor form they showed against us, will not make it past the first round.

But on to what we did right.  Earnshaw made a goal-scorer’s deflection to put us up early in the game and we continued to push and could have scored 2 or 3 more if not for the framework and Troy Perkins.  Finally Bendik showed again why Stefan Frei has been able to get games making two incredible game saving stops in the 53^rd and 87^th minute.

But it could have been completely different if the referee had made the correct call in the Earnshaw skirmish where he hit a Montreal player in the face and should have received a red card for his actions.  This kind of officiating is one of the major roadblocks to the growth of MLS and the refs need to be called out on every bad call not just the ones that affect each supporters own team.  If we do not speak up nothing will be changed in the quality of officials in MLS.

The win was a good way to end the season but now is when the real work begins and we will see if something will finally change with this club and if this group of people in control does not change it I don’t see many people being around for when the group that does change it comes around.

Movers of the Week

The Western Conference kept the same order of the 5 playoffs teams after this weekend’s games.  But the Eastern Conference saw a lot of shake ups.  Chicago fell from 4^th to 6^th just outside of the playoffs, which New England took advantage of and jumped from 6^th to 3^rd. Houston followed suit and moved up from 5^th to 4^th as Montreal slipped from 3^rd to 5^th.  All of this movement will surely lead to some exciting playoff soccer.

Predictions

Last Week

Chivas USA @ Real Salt Lake	RSL Win	Correct RSL Win 2-1
Sporting Kansas City @ Philadelphia Union	SKC Win	Correct SKC Win 2-1
Montreal Impact @ Toronto FC	TFC Win	Correct TFC Win 1-0
FC Dallas @ San Jose Earthquakes	SJ Win	Correct SJ Win 2-1
Portland Timbers @ Chivas USA	POR Win	Correct POR Win 5-0
Houston Dynamo @ DC United	HOU Win	Correct HOU Win 2-1
New England Revolution @ Columbus Crew	NE Win	Correct NE Win 1-0
Chicago Fire @ New York Red Bulls	NY Win	Correct NY Win 5-2
Colorado Rapids @ Vancouver Whitecaps	VAN Win	Correct VAN Win 3-0
LA Galaxy @ Seattle Sounders	SEA Win	Wrong Draw 1-1

Last Week’s Prediction Record	9-1
All Time Record	67-62

For a 51.94% success rate in my predictions across the season since July 23^rd

Playoffs

Knockout Round

Colorado Rapids @ Seattle Sounders	SEA Win
Montreal Impact @ Houston Dynamo	HOU Win

Conference Semifinals (Home & Away)

Houston Dynamo vs New York Red Bulls	NY Win
New England Revolution vs Sporting Kansas City	SKC Win
Seattle Sounders vs Portland Timbers	POR Win
LA Galaxy vs Real Salt Lake	LA Win

Conference Finals (Home & Away)

New York Red Bulls vs Sporting Kansas City	SKC Win
Portland Timbers vs LA Galaxy	POR Win

MLS Cup Final

Portland Timbers @ Sporting Kansas City

POR Win

The Week That Was - October 22nd

Here are the updated standings:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3qPRqJFXHoRYlpOQndiODFJeFE/edit?usp=drive_web

Toronto FC

What an amazing save, that is why Stefan Frei has been one of my favourite Toronto FC players and it was good to see him play what was probably his last game with the team.  But other than that the game was just infuriating we had barely any attacking prowess and the referee lost the game for us.  What should have been a nil-nil draw turned into an example of the horrible officiating calls that go on in MLS.  First a hand ball call outside the penalty area that was suspect and Toronto players were arguing with the ref over, but no good camera view showed what actually happened.

But on the ensuing free kick Mike Magee lines up a shot and as it travels around the wall it hits Jonathan Osorio’s upper arm which is right against his body and he has turned sideways to shield his face.  With hand ball calls one of the first things that goes through a ref’s mind is if it was ball to hand or hand to ball, this was a clear example of the ball travelling and hit the players hand/arm and the said player having no time to move it out of the way.  Furthermore the next step that I would take as a ref would be to imagine if their hand/arm had been in a different spot would the ball still have been blocked by a different part of their body such as when a player has their arm against their chest, the handball did not give an unfair advantage to the defending team so I would not call a penalty.  As you can see in the highlights of the match around the 4:00 minute mark Osorio’s arm is tight to his body as he turns and the ball hits his upper arm/shoulder area if he had for some reason had his arm raised it would have hit him in the under arm which would not have led to a penalty kick and game winning goal. So in my opinion if MLS is to be one of the top soccer leagues by 2020 calls like this need to be eliminated and the overall quality of refereeing needs to increase.

Movers of the Week

In the west, Portland, Salt Lake, Los Angeles, and Seattle all clinched playoff spots this past week.  And the fifth spot is all but wrapped up by Colorado who would have to lose 6-0 and San Jose would have to win 12-0 to swap places.  Vancouver was eliminated from playoff contention after a hard fought 3-2 loss and probably sealed the release of Martin Rennie as coach.  While in the east no new teams clinch a playoff spot but Columbus was officially eliminated.  But Chicago had the biggest rise getting 4 points closer to clinching a playoff spot through a win and the highest max total points of a non-playoff team dropping by 1.  Philadelphia had the biggest drop of 5 points through a loss and 5^th place points total increasing by 2.

Predictions

Last Week

Montreal Impact @ LA Galaxy	LA Win	Correct LA Win 1-0
DC United @ Sporting Kansas City	SKC Win	Correct SKC Win 1-0
Philadelphia Union @ Montreal Impact	Draw	Wrong MTL Win 2-1
Seattle Sounders @ FC Dallas	SEA Win	Wrong FCD Win 2-0
Vancouver Whitecaps @ Colorado Rapids	COL Win	Correct COL Win 3-2
Columbus Crew @ New England Revolution	NE Win	Correct NE Win 3-2
Toronto FC @ Chicago Fire	CHI Win	Correct CHI Win 1-0
Real Salt Lake @ Portland Timbers	POR Win	Wrong Draw 0-0
New York Red Bulls @ Houston Dynamo	NY Win	Correct NY Win 3-0
San Jose Earthquakes @ LA Galaxy	LA Win	Wrong Draw 0-0

Last Week’s Prediction Record	6-4
All Time Record	58-61

This Week

Chivas USA @ Real Salt Lake	RSL Win
Sporting Kansas City @ Philadelphia Union	SKC Win
Montreal Impact @ Toronto FC	TFC Win
FC Dallas @ San Jose Earthquakes	SJ Win
Portland Timbers @ Chivas USA	POR Win
Houston Dynamo @ DC United	HOU Win
New England Revolution @ Columbus Crew	NE Win
Chicago Fire @ New York Red Bulls	NY Win
Colorado Rapids @ Vancouver Whitecaps	VAN Win
LA Galaxy @ Seattle Sounders	SEA Win