Graham Zusi
In what was a very scattered vote, Zusi got 10 first-place votes out of the 27 ballots cast by the North American Soccer Reporters. With no player really having a career-best game or a head-turner, the voters had no clear consensus.
But, like a Canadian election. Zusi got the prize despite earning only a little more than a third of the vote.
Read the rest of this entry »
Dejan Jakovic: Now the No. 2 highest paid Canadian in MLS.
The MLS Players’ Union released its salary update Monday, the day when the layers of secrecy are peeled away from the contracts that have been signed by the league’s players.
And what have we learned? That there are five Canadian players making US$35,125 this season, while eight more are on the books for base salaries of $46,500 each. Of those, only DC United’s Kyle Porter and TFC’s Kyle Bekker were able to squeeze some extra dough out of their deals to get a little bit more than their base contracts.
With Julian de Guzman now playing out the string with relegated Bundesliga 2. side Jahn Regensburg, he gives up his No. 1 spot on the Canadian rich list. Dwayne De Rosario, with a base number of $600,000, now takes over as the highest paid Canadian in MLS.
Read the rest of this entry »
Jack McInerney
The Philadelphia Union forward scored twice in a 3-2 win Sunday over D.C. United, and earned enough votes from the membership of the North American Soccer Reporters to take the MLS Player of the Week honour. McInerney got 17 of the 27 first-place votes cast by the members.
With six goals on the season, McInerney has taken over the MLS scoring lead.
Read the rest of this entry »
This season, MLS began its season earlier than ever, opening more dates for international games and creating a schedule that had more breathing room and less fixture congestion.
But, have the results been worth it? According to ESPN’s MLS attendance monitor, after April 14 — or week seven of the season — the league’s average attendance stood at 17,743. Last year, according to the league’s official count, the average attendance was 18,807 per game.
Now, obviously, comparing the attendances from March and part of April of 2013 to all of 2012 is apples and oranges. Attendances fluctuate month by month. There are traditionally good months and poor months for attendance, depending on the respective leagues we’re discussing.
So, let’s compare apples to apples. According to the MLS Attendance blog, through eight weeks of the 2012 MLS season, the average MLS crowd stood at 18,368. That’s a fair comparison to the 17,743 average through the first seven weeks of the 2013 season. (By the way, the MLS Attendance Blog has the so-far average attendance at 17,744, +1 from ESPN, that may be a case of rounding) So, comparing like to like, we can say that MLS attendances are down after years of steady increases thanks to expansion and new stadiums. The attendances are off more than 600 a game.
Read the rest of this entry »
Kenny Miller
Scottish designated player Kenny Miller came off the bench to score a well-taken header on 64 minutes to get his side within a goal, but a pile of squandered opportunities meant the Whitecaps couldn’t come back from two goals down.
Avila’s winner came 55 minutes in, as he smashed home a cross from Carlos Alvarez into the bottom left corner, just beyond the fingertips of Joe Cannon.
That doubled Chivas’ lead after scoring 12 minutes in with Alvarez also involved — this time as he attempted a cross which ended up deflecting off Davidson and into the Vancouver goal for the opener, as Cannon was initially going toward the left corner of his goal before the redirect.
Read the rest of this entry »
Patrice Bernier: Getting lots of votes, week after week
Agudelo set up Edgar Mejia’s goal and scored on a lovely curler as the surprising Goats won 4-1 over the Fire, who can claim to be the league’s worst team through four weeks.
But, for Canadian soccer followers, the interesting story is who finished second. Montreal Impact midfielder got five first-place votes as his team shut down the New York Red Bulls 1-0 to keep its perfect start to the season alive.
This week, Bernier got five votes and finished second in POTW voting. Last week, he got seven votes and finished second. Three weeks ago, Bernier finished third in POTW voting. Every week, Bernier is getting votes, and they are coming from all across North America.
Read the rest of this entry »
Philip F. Anschutz Trophy, the big prize at the end of the season
With the MLS season moved up to its earliest start ever, forgive us if we don’t feel 100 per cent totally prepared for First Kick. Judging by the way many MLS teams finished preseason, with tentative matches and still looking at trialists with a week to go before the games count in the standings, a lot of coaches aren’t quite ready for the early start, either.
And that could be telling. The teams that got the jump and have their ducks in a row could have a real advantage in these March matchups; and they could find some bonus points that could help them in the fall.
Steven Sandor, Editor of The 11 and contributors Randy Davis, Aman Dhanoa, Mark Polishuk and Gavin Day all submitted their picks. We tallied the scores and we present our picks below.
Read the rest of this entry »
With no real consensus No. 1 pick at this year’s MLS SuperDraft, Toronto FC decided to take the money.
On Wednesday, the Reds, who had the No. 1 and No. 3 picks in Thursday’s draft — sent that top pick to the New England Revolution. The Reds get an undisclosed amount of allocation money and the No. 4 pick.
And the first thing that comes to mind is Kyle Bekker. The Oakville, Ont. midfielder has been the story of the combine, dominating the competition with the ball and his feet and scoring a couple of goals, to boot. He likely hasn’t done enough to be a top pick, but he’s certainly entered that top-five debate.
Read the rest of this entry »
Eric Avila: Selected by Colorado
Of the 14 players taken in the second stage, six can claim that they’ve spent part of their careers at Toronto FC.
From the 2012 roster, TFC lost central defender Ty Harden and midfielder Eric Avila. Harden, who began the season as a starter in central defence, spent the majority of the second half of the season on the TFC bench. He moves to San Jose. And Colorado chose Avila with the sixth pick overall.
Conor Casey, who played with TFC in 2007, went to the Philadelphia Union. As the main scoring threat in Colorado, Casey was named MVP of the 2010 MLS Cup, which was held at BMO Field. New England nabbed Chad Barrett, the ex-TFC forward who spent part of last season in Oslo, teaming with Canadians Lars Hirschfeld and Tosaint Ricketts at Valerenga. New England also got Hunter Freeman, who spent part of the 2008 season with TFC before heading to Scandinavia.
Dan Gargan, the master of the long throw who was a fan favourite in Toronto, was picked up by San Jose, where he and Harden can swap TFC stories, provided they both come to contract agreements with the Earthquakes.
Read the rest of this entry »
Chris Wondolowski
Wondolowski leads MLS with 22 goals this season. He set an MLS record with 11 game-winning goals in a season. In September, he scored twice in a 2-2 tie with the Portland Timbers and scored winners against the Seattle Sounders and Chivas USA. Wondolowski’s goals lead to points for the Quakes — and he’s the major reason why the club is closing in on the Supporters’ Shield.
Read the rest of this entry »
on Ottawa Fury FC unveils three logo possibilities
on TFC waives little-used forwards Morgan and Bennett
on Ottawa Fury to unveil its NASL logo on May 25 on Canadian striker Cox named NASL Player of the Week
on Atlanta’s goalkeeping errors gift FC Edmonton a victory
