Week 15 Preview

By: travis | July 4th, 2008

Oh America. The land that we all love, and the land that is starting to love the beautiful game. Today is a great day for freedom everywhere, and I’m glad the MLS is joining in on the fun, with three games taking place on the momentous holiday. As an American living abroad, it’s times like this when you miss home the most - basically people at home aren’t working while you have to. A bit more to it than that, but leaving overseas teaches you a thing or two about your own country that you may not realize.

If anyone has noticed, I’m no longer including the Thursday night game in my week previews. It’s more of a time thing, as it’s hard to have the chance to write about the Thursday game in time for Thursday. I’m going to try and start a separate preview, but am also concerned about damaging my exemplary picks record. Last night’s game was quite the bore anyways, with a 0-0 draw extending RSL’s unbeaten streak at home.

The other significant event of the weekend is that DC and Houston will be getting a few weeks off for the SuperLiga - although the Dynamo did play last night. They won’t be seen in the league again for a few weeks. Good luck, and do the MLS proud. Here’s a look at this weekend’s festivities:

Dallas v Kansas City
So much for the Wizards travel break. They were in North Carolina on Tuesday for the USOC match against the RailHawks, are in Dallas on Friday, and if I am not mistaken, then hike up to Seattle to take on the Sounders in the quarterfinals of the Open Cup. Not the ideal situation for a squad trying to dig themselves out of a goalless streak that was only broken last weekend thanks to an own goal from Real Salt Lake. Their savior Josh Wolff isn’t eligible to play until the 15th of July because of MLS transfer rules. The Wizards need to use Tuesday’s game against Carolina as inspiration, finding the goal four times in a 4-2 win. Claudio Lopez and Ivan Trujillo lived up to expectations that game, Trujillo with a brace and Lopez scoring one and setting up the winner. On the flip side, Dallas is still searching for their first league win under new coach Schellas Hyndman. Their win over Miami in the Open Cup was their first win under him in all competitions, but he has yet to get over the hump in MLS action. Should be a close one, with both teams struggling a bit, and Dallas relying Kenny Cooper for most of their scoring. They’ll be without Arturo Alvarez and possibly won’t have Dax McCarty thanks to injury.
Verdict: Dallas 1-1 Kansas City

Colorado v New York Red Bull
It’s a battle of the underachievers as NY travels out to Colorado, hoping the altitude will jolt some life into their players. The Red Bull suffered an embarrassing defeat against Crystal Palace USA on Tuesday, bounced by the USL-2 team. That’s gotta hurt. Will they have Angel or Reyna? That could be the difference, as they face a Rapids team that will most likely be missing the services of Argentine playmaker Christian Gomez, who is hurting with a leg injury. New York must be counting down the days until the cavalry arrives, which will be July 15 with the signings of Jorge Rojas and Juan Piatravallo making headlines. Hopefully it isn’t too little, too late for Osorio. Then again, they still need another striker, especially if Angel continues to have consistent injuries. The Rapids are mired in a four game winless streak, and despite the home field advantage this game, will continue that funk.
Verdict: Colorado 1-2 New York

Los Angeles v New England
The Galaxy return back home in search of answers on defense. Their team mentality of ’score more than the other guys’ blew up in their face last Sunday when they couldn’t score five against DC. With talk of possible defensive reinforcements swirling around the Home Depot Center, the Revolution come to town at the top of the league. They’ve gotten there with consistent play from Matt Reis combined with timely contributions on the offensive side of the ball. The likes of Adam Cristman, Steve Ralston, and Kheli Dube have worked well in the absence of Taylor Twellman, who played for 11 minutes last weekend after missing seven games through an ankle injury. His impact on the game is debatable. I think the Revolution should stick with what works - although I can’t see them outscoring the Galaxy this week.
Verdict: Los Angeles 3-2 New England

Columbus v Chicago
A month ago, this would have been a much more enticing matchup. Given the recent play of the Fire, the Crew should now be the heavy favorites, especially with it being a home game and all. Chicago has failed to score in three straight MLS games, and have dropped four in a row. Sandwiched among those has been enough success in the Open Cup to see them make it into the quarterfinals, but what is worrying is the poor finishing that they’ve had at the top - Chad Barrett, especially. Insert lame Fire-related anecdote here - such as ‘The Fire have gone out’, or ‘The Fire are quite… cool.’ Either of those would work to describe woeful offense that couldn’t even score on San Jose last week. The Crew remain steady, and were able to top the Rapids last week thanks to a great individual goal from Emmanuel Ekpo, the Nigerian Olympic player. Expect more from him this week, along with Robbie Rogers and Guillermo. Blanco needs to come the rescue, and fast.
Verdict: Columbus 2-0 Chicago

Chivas v San Jose
The Quakes have done nothing to stand out during this expansion season. And that is usually the case, as it is rare to see a team achieve much in a freshman season. They’ve struggled mightly, at times on both sides of the ball, and have scored the least amount of goals this season. Given time, they should improve and bounce back. It’s a bit early to pull out the ‘wait til next year’ mentality, but there isn’t much optimism coming out of San Jose. Teams that can’t score, can’t win, simple as that. They just need to keep plugging away with the likes of Ryan Johnson and Ronnie O’Brien going forward, two bright spots this season. Chivas has bounced back from their previous struggles, and despite being eliminated this week by Seattle in the Open Cup should have a comfortable win at home.
Verdict: Chivas 2-0 San Jose

Last Week’s record 5-1 Season so far 37-57