It was announced recently that Adidas would be using the 2012 MLS All-Star game, slated for July 25 in Philadelphia, as a forum to test its new “smart cleat” technology, micoach. Using chips implanted in its soles, the cleats are able to take such stats as player speed and distance run, opening up a whole new ballgame for those who are attracted to on-field metrics.

Don’t think its cool yet? Check out the promo video:

I think this is a pretty sweet event for both the league and soccer as a whole; we get publicity, and fans everywhere get an entirely new way to look at the beautiful game. Really just awesome overall.

Now maybe we should try to win this year’s All-Star game…….

New England’s 2012 season began as we all expected. The Rev’s lost their two opening road matches, including a 1-0 loss at San Jose and a whopping 3-0 spanking by Sporting. Things turned around only narrowly with the club’s home opener, as the club rode past the absences of Darrius Barnes, John Lozano, Stephen McCarthy, and Benny Feilhaber to find a 1-0 win over Portland. But all remained unwell in Foxboro, as the Revolution faced the upcoming challenge of the LA Galaxy. Keep in mind: the Revs’ had only managed one goal in three games, were still trying to gel between a new coach and handful of new talent, and hadn’t tasted victory in the West since 2009. And They were going against the Galaxy, the MLS phalanx many consider a likely candidate for a second consecutive “double”, at its very own fortress of the Home Depot Center.

And shit, they won.

In its first set of back to back wins since 2010, the little team that could beat the Galaxy 3-1 on its own turf. Scoring began in the 10th minute when NE captain Shalrie Joseph set rookie Kelyn Rowe up for his debut goal, a volley that was blocked, but whose rebound landed kindly on Mr. Rowe’s foot for the finish. The Rev’s struck again only three minutes later when a cheeky give and go with Joseph let Kevin Alston drill in a cross for Chris Tierney to finish. From there, New England’s offence came down as heavily on the Galaxy as the rain that flooded the Home Depot Center, with Tierney up shots in the 25th and 35th.

The Revs’ defense shined too, blocking a David Beckham free kick in the 39th and an Edson Buddle breakaway in stoppage.

The last strike from the underdogs came in the 65th, when Ryan Guy outdid two defenders to float a lofty cross into the box. Saer Sène finished with a header, pointing out both the inevitability of New England’s victory and the visible faults in LA’s defense. Pressure remained hot on the Galaxy’s goal and, despite Keane making a surprise finish on an Edson Buddle through ball in the 78th, the Revs flirted closely with the idea of a fourth goal.

And then the whistle blew, and David had beaten Goliath. It’s funny, I still don’t have much faith in New England. Their roster has tons of holes, lacking both solidarity and depth, and needs time to find itself under its new coach Jay Heaps. But I’ll be damned if they don’t have some sparks. Mark my words: we’ll be seeing Kelyn Rowe in a US jersey some day soon. And there is a lot more to Saer Sene than his haircut, as his physicality and field vision make him a fairly deadly striker under certain conditions. I don’t think the Revs will get far past the middle of the pack in 2012, but strong individual efforts could definitely culminate in a surprise playoff run (hint hint).

I guess we’ll see what happens. Until then, though, let’s give kudos to New England. They did what very, very few soccer teams have done in quite some time: beating LA at home. And no shitty 2011 record or lack of attendance can take that away.

There really hasn’t been much “news” news in MLS over the past few weeks: clubs haven’t been rumored to be in talks with international stars, managers have kept things with the status quo, and not a single player was found to me making anything of a ruckus. The season opened smoothly, and attendance looked stronger than ever. So, yeah not too much to talk about. Of course, in the wake of this boredom, my friends and I, being soccer fans and thus at the highest end of sports fandom’s intellectual food chain, couldn’t help but make a few puns after watching the US’s U-23’s smash Cuba 6-0 in Olympic qualifying. Highlights include:

“If this finishes with a clean slate you could say we’ve embargoed Cuba’s goals” *puts pinky to mouth*

“I bet the whole team flies coach on the way back. Gotta make sure everyone has equal treatment”

“Cuba’s team plays at a 1950’s USA level. Much like their cars”

“Hey, at least we know the whole team tries hard. For fear of being punished for not contributing to the collective effort”

“So much for the Teller Amendment. We sure are owning Cuba tonight”

“Cuba may be over that missile thing, but no amount of international intervention can solve their defensive crisis”

Thank you, thank you, you’ve been a great audience. Now for a weekend preview:

Seattle v. Houston (Friday at 10 Eastern, NBCSN): Seattle comes in undefeated, but the equally perfect Houston is a formidable opponent. I’m putting this one in the “too close to call” column, though we all know how powerful the Sounders are at home.

Toronto v. San Jose (Saturday at 1 Eastern): San Jose is coming off a 3-1 opening loss, and doesn’t have much to indicate that this game should be any better. Anything, that is, except that Toronto isn’t quite Seattle. I’ll give this one to the home team, but still point to the weaknesses I outlined in the season preview.

Columbus v. Montreal (Saturday at 4 Eastern): I don’t meant to pick on the expansion side, but if Montreal can’t get a win in front of almost 60K fans, don’t expect much here. I expect that the Crew will open up their home stadium for the season with a victory, if not a fairly lopsided one.

New England v. Portland (Saturday at 4 Eastern): More than what’s on the field, I’m worried about attendance at this one. The Revolution began their season with two road losses, the most recent a 3-0 smacking in Kansas City, leaving Bostonians with little reason to come out to Gillette Stadium. Portland could very well win or tie this one.

Chivas v. Union (Saturday at 8:30 Eastern): Chicago will take this one. With a 1-1 tie at Montreal last week, and with an opponent who’s now 0-2 including its home opener, there’s no reason why the Fire shouldn’t come out ahead.

RSL v. Chivas (Saturday at 9 Eastern): RSL has won its first two games. Chivas hasn’t scored a goal. Guess where I’m going on this one. Better luck next time, Chivas, assuming that next time Angel isn’t listed as “questionable”.

Vancouver vs. DC (Saturday at 10 Eastern): Vancouver’s definitely made huge strides from last year, but DC’s definitely been given some tough competition in the first week (you know, that LA team). This could be a time for De Ro and Le Toux to each shine for their respective teams. Still, Najar’s absence is enough for me to be inclined to award this one to the Whitecaps.

New York v. Colorado (Sunday at 4 Eastern on ESPN): And the Red Bulls have….. flopped. Two games in, the only bright spot on their roster is Kenny Cooper, who isn’t even starting. However, I still predict that, even after beating the Union last week on the road, Colorado will drop this one. That isn’t to say that I think the Red Bulls (or any force on this earth, for that matter) can turn their season around, so much as that they’ll probably squeak out a win here.

KC v. Dallas (Sunday at 7 Eastern on Galavision): Sporting will take this one, and thus claim dominance over the East. Simple as that.

… And there’s your weekend. Best of luck.

Today I looked at my calendar and realized that MLS First Kick is only hours away. I also realized, though, that I hadn’t written any sort of “preview” for the season. My bad. So, with today being a professional day at school, I figured I’d catch up on the 2012 prediction curve and look at what could happen in the coming season. For my preview, I decided to organize our lovely league’s 19 clubs not by conference, but by four categories that, yes, I completely made up. This includes “Stars”, those teams whom we can expect to carry success from 2011 into 2012, “Extra Push-ers”, who are just on the cusp of glory but need that little shove over the edge, “Wild Cards”, who seem to have an equal chance of jumping or tumbling in the standings this year, and “Warning Notice”, who, frankly, need to clean up their act. These groupings are based on how well the team is projected to do in 2012, with consideration of their 2011 outcome and changes made in the offseason. I’m sure I don’t need to explain that this is far from an exact science, and that many of our predictions will inevitably be wrong, but, as our friend Henry would say, c’est la vie. Enjoy.

Stars

LA Galaxy: Come on, even Chivas fans have accepted that Galaxy is the king of MLS. Look at this friggin’ lineup: you’ve got the DP Trinity of Keane, Donovan, and Becks, with backup from both the youth explosion of Juninho, and Edson Buddle, and veterans such as Andrew Boyens and Pat Noonan. Defense could concievably be a problem, given Omar Gonzalez’s injury while on loan in Germany, and international duty could take a toll on the roster in the summer months, but there remains little doubt in my mind that LA will be making a run for a second MLS Cup.

Seattle: We tend to underestimate Seattle. Despite disappointing playoff runs, the team that essentially carries our attendance numbers has quietly gone three for three in US Open Cup runs. Eddie Johnson, back from a run around Europe, could be a powerful addition, though it will be hard for the club to fill in the hole left by Kasey Keller. At the end of the day, Seattle could have another stellar season, but it will take a solid effort from Rosales and Montero to break their postseason blues.

Salt Lake: In 2011 RSL pushed through the injury of their playmaker Javier Morales, going on to knock the favored Sounders out of the Playoffs. It was only in the Western Conference Final against the Galaxy, widely considered the best game of the year, that they lost, rounding out a solid season. Going into their 2012 opener, though, a similar rally will be necessary, as Salt Lake lost a number of key players to trades, retirement and the expansion draft in the off-season. Kreis’s boys will be depending a lot on young talent, such as the newly signed Enzo Martinez, if they should want to make a run against LA or Seattle.

Dallas: There is a certain caveat to saying that Dallas is about to have a good season: it could be their last. With 2010 MVP David Ferreira back to join US star Brek Shea and the Panamanian Blas Pérez, 2012 could surely be the year that Hoops fans have been waiting for. Even with their 2010 MLS Cup appearance, it seems that Dallas has been undervalued in recent years, as we tend to ignore that the team’s victory against Pumas in the CCL was the first ever by an American club on Mexican soil. In 2012, the stars are very literally aligning in Dallas’s favor, and a run at the Western Conference title could easily come to fruition. I submit, though, that, as much as 2012 will be a proud year in Dallas, it won’t last much past that. Success this season will surely draw Shea and Ferriera toward Europe, leaving Dallas in a goal scoring draught. It may be irrelevant to this year, but it’s definitely food for thought.

Extra Push-ers

Kansas City: I honestly think that the degree to which Sporting’s 2011 rebranding was a success was the most criminally understated story of 2011. In 2010, Sporting was lost. They’d floundered in the standings since 2005, and their lack of wins was coupled with a serious lag in attendance. Only a year later, their home at Livestrong Park is the envy of the league, as is consistently filled by supporters coming to see the club that finished atop the East in 2011. Vermes may have lost Omar Bravo, but, with both Teal Burnbury and Graham Zusi, his youth talent is arguably the best in the league. It’s time for Sporting to take the next step, and use its thoroughly deep roster to solidify its position as a force for MLS teams to reckon with.

Philadelphia: Okay, so they lost Le Toux. Get over it. The Union boast Freddy Adu, Danny Mwanga, Josué Martínez, Michael Farfan, and Roger Torres. Their progress since inception has been positive: they played what qualifies as a good starting season in 2010, then made a playoff run in 2011. Should Adu jell with what is admittedly still a fairly new team, Philly may find the extra push they need to dominate the East, a conference still ripe for the taking. That goalscoring potential is definitely enough to claim glory in a Conference whose top team was only the 5th best overall last year.

Houston: It’s the season of solidarity for Houston. They’ve finally found their own home, the gorgeous downtown facility that is BBVA Compass Stadium, which is set to open in May. The real question is whether they’ll able to keep it full after the buzz of their MLS Cup Final run in 2011 wears off. Brad Davis is sure to notch countless goals, but at least one member of his support staff will need to step up. The team will be without Brian Ching, and its top returning scorers (Geoff Camero, Bobby Boswell, and Will Bruin) each managed only five goals last year. If Adam Moffat and Luiz Camargo can invigorate the mid, it could be a stellar 2012. If not, we can only expect attendance at their new home to match their record. Either way, their “push” will come from the midfield.

Columbus: It seems that Columbus’s “rebuilding” has sputtered. Don’t get me wrong, 2011 wasn’t bad, but the offseason losses of Robbie Rogers and leading scorer Andrés Mendoz isn’t going to help a team looking to return to its former Cup-winning glory. Further, the Crew, like many other professional sports teams in Ohio, are having trouble competing with the Buckeyes for fans. Chad Marshall could definitely provide enough of a boost from the back for Emilio Rentería to find the net, but a lot of responsibility is going to fall on Eddie Gaven.

Portland: I don’t know what it is about the Northwest, but these people know how to support soccer. Sure, Portland didn’t quite make their way into “Best Inaugural Season Ever” discussions, but their attendance was a huge part of MLS’s overall attendance rise. Even fans here in New York stood in awe of their rendition of the national anthem, and Timber Joy is probably the most badass team mascot in professional sports. Next time someone calls soccer wussy, remind them that, while they have cheerleaders, Portland has a dude with a chainsaw. As for 2012, the loss of Kenny Cooper could be big, the team has proven that, with Jack Jewsbury at the helm, big things can happen. Jeld- Wen field deserves to strike fear in the hearts of opponents, and it seems that it already has, as eventual champions LA Galaxy lost 3-0 there in August, and Chicago Fire let 4 goals in in April. If not necessarily the Western frontrunner, Portland definitely has the stuff to be a solid mid-to-top team, and will surely help attendance numbers along the way.

Wild Cards

New York: It must be tough to be Hans Backe. He is, for the New York Red Bulls, in a very similar situation as Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos is regarding the Greek economy. Papademos seems to have all the right things in place for the market to start turning around- a bailout from the European Union, the seizing of various toxic debt assets, and new settlements with creditors. But a rebound just isn’t happening yet, and Greece continues to drag the European economy, still clawing back from the brink of the Great Recession. Similarly, Backe’s lineup boasts Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez, Juan Agudelo, Joel Lindpere, Kenny Cooper, Dane Richards, and Dax McCarthy; all big names, but all to no avail. Even with the loss of Tim Ream, New York is really one of the strongest MLS teams on paper, and by all accounts should be dominating out league. But it continues to under-deliver, barely making the playoffs in 2011, and going out in the first round against San Jose in 2010. I’d be lying to you if I were to say that I know why, and I suspect that Backe is at a similar loss. New York will be a wild card in 2012 in the same sense that it has been for the last few years: the club really should be doing well, and may, but could definitely find itself as inept as it often is.

Colorado: What makes Colorado a Wild Card is how much we simply don’t know about the team as a whole. Coming off Cup glory in 2010, the Rapids faced a bomb of a season, finishing 5th overall in the West. 2012 brings in a lot of questions: How will things work out with new coach Oscar Pareja, who didn’t make many big changes over the offseason? Will the attacking playmaker Martín Rivero, who joined on loan from Rosario Central, ease the pressure of Colorado’s stringent strategic outline? And, most importantly, will Conor Casey, the fulcrum of the 2010 Championship team, be in full form after missing the second half of last season to injury? If the answers to these questions are positive, there’s no reason why Colorado can’t succeed in 2012. If not, they’re pretty doomed.

Chicago: The fate of the Fire really rests with Frank Klopas. Taking over in May, he rejuvenated a struggling Fire, bringing them a 7-2-1 record in their last nine games, an appearance in the US Open Cup final, and a position within four points of playoff birth. He’s gone on to use his postseason to the fullest, signing two South Americans, and brokering new deals with Pavel Pardo and Marco Pappa. In 2012, with Dominic Oduro and Patrick Nyarko leading the offense, it’s entirely reasonable to say that the Fire could be playoff contenders. It all depends on how Klopas’s efforts unfold.

Montreal: Look, I’m sure I don’t need to give the “THIS IS AN EXPANSION TEAM” talk. We all know that it would be wrong to expect too much from Montreal, and that most teams don’t soar in their first years. With Brian Ching and Justin Braun on board, it doesn’t look like the club will be so bad, and the defensive strategy they’ve announced under Jesse Marsch could very well be successful. Montreal should focus on building and learning, and I’m sure the club will.

Warning Notice

Toronto:: Five years, no success. And now, no De Ro. Despite having the league’s third highest payroll, TFC hasn’t been able to find any chemistry on the field, missing the playoffs in 2011 for the 5th year in a row. It isn’t pretty, and it’s a shame, given Toronto’s strong base of fan support. The club has done fairly well in the CONCACAF Champions League, but it’s about time that TFC rolled up its sleeves and made the freaking playoffs. Signings like Torsten Frings and Danny Koevermans will definitely help, but a failure in 2012 will surely test the patience of an already disappointed city.

Chivas: There is only one thing going for Chivas, and his name is Juan Pablo Angel. Unfortunately, at 36, Angel may not be “going” at quite the rate he used to. Keeper Dan Kennedy should continue his strong play from 2011, a surprise return given his huge 2012 injury, but the loss of Justin Braun is big. It looks like we’re going to have to wait a few more years for the club’s investment in youth development to pay off, given its tendency to allow its better players finish off their polishing elsewhere.

DC: Even with Chris Pontius, Andy Najar, and the heroic Dwayne De Rosario, our league’s most storied club missed its fourth consecutive playoff birth in 2011. Olsen needs to end this. The acquisition of forward Maicon Santos is a good start, but may not be enough to help DC, who simply lacked luster through most of last year. But that’s only half of Olsen’s responsibility this year, as the coach will have to play a good deal of politics in 2012 and find some solution to DC’s stadium woes. Frankly, I don’t care if the answer lies in Baltimore; what’s best is what’s best. To avoid a move, though, Olsen needs to rejuvenate the club’s field work, perhaps thus renewing interest in soccer locally. I really think that DC can turn it around, but it will be no easy task.

Vancouver: New coach Martin Rennie will be looking to build form among a frenzied Whitecaps in 2012. Like their co-newbies in Portland, Vancouver has a huge fan base, and its home at BP Place is a fine one. But unlike Portland, the Whitecaps totally floundered last year. There is definitely a lot to hope for: Rennie turned the club’s roster on its head, letting 12 players go and adding 15, including his old friend Sebastian Le Toux. But there is a lot of ground to cover, and a whole lot of respect that needs to be earned from the rest of the league. Of all the “Warning Notice” teams, I have to say that this is the one with the most hope.

San Jose: Bobby Convey’s gone, leaving all the pressure on Chris Wondolowski. This isn’t really anything new: Wondo scored more goals in 2010 than the next three top scorers for San Jose combined. But that’s really all San Jose has, and it simply isn’t enough. Their playoff luck in the past few years has been just that, luck, and the clock is about to strike midnight on their succession of Cindarella stories. Sorry, but the facts are the facts: San Jose is going to have a rough 2012.

New England: And the most hopeless team in MLS is, drumroll please…. Come on, there’s no surprises here. Benny Feilhaber was just one of New England’s many disappointments of 2011, a season of thorough folly and shocking futility. If not for keeper Matt Reis, the club’s record of giving up 58 goals in 34 games could have easily been twice as bad. And it’s not like people haven’t noticed. Even in Boston, a huge soccer market and a hub of sports fandom, the Revs were lucky to sneak by with a 13,000 attendance average. Even the new signing Jose “Pepe” Moreno doesn’t seem to want to be there, announcing soon after joining the club that he’d rather be playing at Columbia’s Once Caldas. Ladies and gents, prepare to witness the downfall of a downfall. College teams could beat New England.

Four hours and 2600 words later, there it is. And so, we enter 2012. Let the games begin.

Though most of us will never get far past managing our son’s rec league, entering an MLS fantasy league can help us all channel our inner Sigi Schmid. Luckily, there are countless free MLS fantasy games available online, each with its own nuances and flavors.

MLS offers their own, called MLS Fantasy Soccer: Manager. Connecting through facebook, points are given for both the usual reasons (goals, assists, playing time, etc) and some crafty ones. Midfielders are awarded points when their team keeps a clean sheet (a not to their defensive efforts), goalies see a reward for every three saves they make, and players can get attacking or defending “bonuses” for knocking in a string of crosses or making a strong defensive tackle. The game can be played in a “head to head” league, where teams face of one on one in simulated games each week, or in “Classic” mode, where teams are ranked based on accumulated score.

A favorite of many MLS fans ins Major Fantasy Soccer League. Now in its 17th season, it offers both public and private leagues, with enough graphs and spreadsheets to make any math nerd’s mouth water. It may not be quite as pretty as others, but it’s logic is simple: put 11 players on a field, get points based on individual and team performance, and add. It will take a lot of effort to find success in this game, given that its ranks are composed mainly of die- hard fans willing to not forget about their team after a week, but victory here secures respect among MLS supporters.

Both games run on a salary cap as opposed to a draft, meaning that players are each worth a certain “salary”, and that the manager must then select a team whose total payroll falls under the limit. This prevents teams from becoming too inflated with starts, or trading on a whim. An advantage with the MLS sponsored game, though, is the hundreds of prizes up for grabs, including a VIP trip for two to the 2013 MLS All Star Game.

I won’t lie to you: I gave up on my fantasy team, the Tempe Tantrum, after two weeks. Don’t follow my lead; and MLS fantasy team is a great way to more deeply enjoy the league as a whole, and is a quick way to become much more knowledgeable about players from all corners. And the bragging rights you could win are pretty sweet.

Get to work.

I want to run a bit of a thought experiment. Close your eyes. Okay, don’t close your eyes. Now, imagine Freddy Adu, but only consider the past year of his career. Forget his being drafted while still only halfway through puberty, the magazine covers, and the pictures with Pelé. Wipe away the memory of the buzz that surrounded the US’s wonder kid, and definitely (definitely) make sure to leave behind all thoughts of how very disappointing he turned out to be. No, just think of Adu as he’s existed in the past year, since his MLS return with the Union. In fact, let’s pretend that he’d never gone on his famously failed walkabout in Europe, where playing for four clubs between 2008 and 2010 didn’t help him find any success. Let’s imagine that Adu is a young breakout, whose potential is only just being discovered. At 22, he’s still a young’n, whose talent is being showcased alongside Brek Shea and Juan Agudelo with the US U-23’s. He isn’t doing too bad, either: he’s held his ground with the youth squad, and preformed surprisingly well when called up to the national First Team in the 2011 Gold Cup, assisting both goals of the 4-2 Championship loss to Mexico. He’s got skill, and time to develop. Heck, if he keeps building on his strong debut last year, he could be the marquee player on the Union in the blink of an eye!

Now open your eyes. No, Freddy Adu is not a 22 year old breakout, whose skill is just coming to fruition. Indeed, there is no looking past his history. The hype surrounding America’s “soccer savior”, a beacon of light to the huddle mass of fans across the nation still fighting for respect and desperately awaiting a taste of glory, left the young Ghanaian-American in way over his head. He was playing professionally at only fourteen years old, becoming the youngest person in a century to sign any professional athletic contract in the US, something no young player should be burdened with. We must remember to take the boy with a grain of salt: short of scoring a hat trick in the MLS Cup final, there was no way Adu could have possibly lived up to the expectations the world soccer media placed on his shoulders. His venture into Europe was unfortunate, but can only be expected to have been so, given now hastily it was initiated.

But I’m not here to try to defend Adu’s past. As we enter the 2012 season, we have to consider who could “break out” over the next year, and Adu is a clear contender. Despite obscurity since 2007, his play for the US in the summer of 2011, considered a happy if surprising success by most, was marked by a character we hadn’t seen before: one of an Adu ready to move on from the past, and take a big bite out of the future. That’s why I asked you to imagine Adu from only the past year on- the past few years can justifiably be considered a development phase, with current time being the result. 2012 may well be the year of Freddy’s long-anticipated glory, with his teenage years only a precursor. Adu is still young, only 22, not even nearly at his prime, and still definitely has the potential to become the mainstay of the USMNT that we all hoped he’d become.

Or maybe he’ll just burn out again. Only time will tell. Ill keep my fingers crossed that the US still has a chance to produce its wonder kid.

Thoughts? Disagreements? Rants? Comment box, my friends.

With First Kick only two weeks away, the MLS Preseason is coming to a climax in Arizona’s Desert Cup.

In the first of two games this past weekend, LA overcame a nine-man RSL 2:0, with goals from Paulo Cardozo and Mike Magee. Salt Lake’s ejections included an immediate red for Ned Grabavoy in the 70th minute after a a rough tackle on Marcelo Sarvas, and a second yellow for Yordany Alvarez in the 77th for a challenge on LA’s Cardozo. Galaxy first found the net in the 81st, just after the second ejection, when a scramble before the goal led to a shot rolling right through the hands of RSL’s keeper Nick Rimando, then sealed the deal with Magee finishing a signature Beckham cross in the 87th. Beckham didn’t come on until the second half, subbing in for Kenny Walker in the 66th, but surely made his mark on the game.

Later on, a revitalized New England bested the Red Bulls 2:0, with a pair of goals from the rookie Kelyn Rowe. New York compromised a number of chances early in the first half including Dax McCarty’s 12th minute screamer over the crossbar, and Brandon Barklage’s wide header off of Jose Angulo’s corner in the 19th. Rowe finished first in the 77th, cleaning up a loose ball fro Tyler Ruthven, then again in the 84th, curling a left footed shot into the upper 90 after a pass from Saer Sene.

The tournament continues at 8pm Eastern on Wednesday (the 29th) with RSL v. New England, and LA v. New York. Both games will be streamed live on MLSsoccer.com Channel 1.

The LA/ RSL match really doesn’t show us much; RSL was down on men, and LA played like LA. If anything, it’s surprising they didn’t find a way to capitalize a third time with a two man advantage. The Revs/ New York match, though, could be a very telling preview for the 2012 season. Despite a seemingly stacked lineup (Henry, Agudelo, McCarthy, Lindpere, Marquez, I could go on…) New York’s 1-2-3 preseason hints that 2012 could be another long, frustrating season. The club is still fighting for striker Luke Rodgers to be allowed back into the country, and hasn’t yet found the right formula to create forward momentum on the pitch. New England, though, is just the opposite, as it seems that 2012 could be the end of the club’s plaguing mediocrity. With a handful of new talent such as Saer Sene and Kelyn Rowe teaming up with more senior players like Benny Feilhaber, this could be the most exciting season for the Revs in recent memory.

There you have it. Granted, it is preseason, but there’s still a lot we can take from watching these teams prepare for First Kick. Keep on supporting, and check back for an update later in the week.

Guess who’s got two thumbs and a brand new twitter account? THIS GUY!

Follow us at @TheMLSOffside for all the latest MLS news, opinion, and rumors.

It would be impossible this early in 2012 to predict the “Story of the Season”, that one piece of news that dominates over all others. We know now that more stadiums in the works, including those in Houston and San Jose, that MLS is poised for huge growth, and that a number of talented American youngsters may make big moves into Europe (*cough* Brek Shea and Juan Agudelo *cough*). But when we’re talking about a season that’s still weeks away, the only certainty is uncertainty, and the only assurance we can have is that many predictions will prove false as time moves on.

Still, Edson Buddle may have a huge impact on the league in 2012, as the American’s return to LA from a year off in Germany could lead to a huge breakout.

It’s easy to overlook Edson Buddle in such a busy offseason- having bounced around from club to club until finally breaking out with the Galaxy, Buddle was poised to be the next big American name. His face donned the front pages of the MLS blogosphere, he began scoring for the national team (with a memorable goal against Australia in a 2010 pre-World Cup friendly), and expectations were high. Germany, though, turned out not to be all that it was cracked up to be, and Buddle found himself markedly unfulfilled, struggling to make his mark on a second division side.

But now he’s back, returning to the same Galaxy jersey where he first proved he was capable of doing more than drifting between clubs. The question stands: will 2012 be Buddle’s best season yet? If so, just how good will it be? Biggest Story of 2012 good? Of course, these are questions whose answers can only come with time. It’s more than possible that he could break a scoring record, and it’s more than possible that he could break a leg at Galaxy’s First Kick (knock on wood). But all the starts seem to be very literally in line; Buddle will find himself by a roster including Landon Donovan, David Beckham, Robbie Keane, De La Garza, and more. That attacking team of Keane and Buddle is enough to give even the most seasoned defenders the chills, as the target man- finisher relationship that they embody is a powerful one. Even with Keane gone over the summer to captain the Irish national side, Buddle, the 8th highest goalscorer in MLS history, should find no lack of finishing ability up front with whomever Bruce Arena sends. Buddle is skilled, fast, and effective, and could easily outmatch the 42 goals in 87 games he notched between 2007 and 2010 in LA.

Agree? Disagree? Is Buddle the real deal, or full of hot air? Sound off below.

Bored? Tired? Pissed off because the DP you bought blew out his knee before playing a single game, limiting himself to the bench for 6-12 months?

Well, I can’t preform invasive surgery on Jose Adolfo Valencia, but I sure can give you a wonderful way to waste your time until March. Meet rated90.com, a player rating website, recommended to me by a reader, which lets you gauge the performance of players from MLS and abroad. Sign ups are free, news articles are included, and the site links through Facebook.

Have fun. Yeah, school’s been crazy, so I haven’t been able to blog much. What a shame; there’s been just SO MUCH going on (though I have to say that Buddle’s return and Le Toux’s move are pretty significant). For the record, though, I wasn’t paid to endorse this site. It was just something a reader recommended.

Enjoy