Week Two Preview: Inernationals already?

By: travis | March 27th, 2009

It’s only the second week of the season and here we have international break — once again duly ignored by the MLS head honchos — meaning that a number of crucial players will be missing action. I know that the issue has been debated to death, and it is a hard balance for a sport trying to discover its niche in North America to find. As difficult as it is to understand playing games over the weekend, it’s not much of a possibility to start up last weekend and then have a break. I don’t think that would happen.

Politics of the game aside, top players will be missing from across the league. The Galaxy were conveniently handed an unofficial “bye” created by the odd number of teams currently making up the league so they won’t play sans Donovan. Toronto, another team that was notable wrecked during previous international dates won’t miss out on much thanks to the failure of the Canadian National Team to qualify — although the loss of Amado Guevara will be felt.

Before taking a look at this week’s previews, three contact/business notes. The first? MLS Offside is on twitter. Follow us now for the latest breaking posts. The second is an email address — mlsoffside[at]gmail.com. Any tips, news, questions or concerns you have for yours truly can be directed there. Any questions pertaining to the Offside in general should still be leveled in Laurie’s direction — I wouldn’t mind seeing fun ideas to help this blog grow. The last is outlined further at the bottom, but I’m trying to open things up to a MLS prediction contest. See below for details. Thanks for reading, and the picks are coming at you after the jump.

Saturday, March 28
Columbus v Toronto
I’m a little bit tired of reading reports about “the invasion of Columbus” by Toronto fans. Not sure why that is the case, considering the number of away supporters at an MLS match is usually few and far between. What I am excited for is to see whether or not Toronto has turned over a new leaf and can get results away from BMO Field. Their patchy away form ended up being their undoing as they were unable to pick up much needed points on the road. With Dwayne DeRosario leading the way, they look like a new animal — though as mentioned the loss of Guevara this weekend will stymie their attack a bit. Columbus is looking to win their first appearance at home since capturing the MLS Cup. They weren’t bad on the road against Houston, though a poor field didn’t really do them any favors. Neither did the referee for that matter. Regardless, it should be a close match up between two sides looking for an early edge towards the playoffs. The loss of Guevara will mean that the Crew emerge victorious, albeit by a narrow margin.
Verdict: Columbus 2-1 Toronto

D.C. United v Chicago
A contest of two long standing rivals, this should be an interesting one. United lost a two goal lead in the last ten minutes courtesy of a questionable call, defensive lapse and a clash of two heads. Already missing Fred and Santino Quaranta, the injury bug bites deeper with Greg Janicki and Devon McTavish most likely not playing on Saturday. Making the task even harder is a deep Chicago Fire team heading to town. The Fire will be missing Bakary Soumare and Gonzalo Segares, so that depth will surely be tested against a United team that will be hungry to please its fans. I can see the Black-and-Red somehow winning this one.
D.C. 3-1 Chicago

New York v New England
Who do I like for this one? That is a good question. The Red Bulls looked decidedly pedestrian while being picked apart by the Sounders, while the Revs squeaked a 1-0 win on the road last weekend. New England is already suffering through injury problems while New York is trying to figure out how to accomplish things on the pitch. New England got some great times from their younger players, including first round pick Kevin Alston, and they’ll need more from him to help curb New York’s speed. I think that the Red Bulls will get themselves sorted out in time to score a couple of goals and come away with a hard fought victory.
New York 2-1 New England

Colorado v Kansas City
Two winless sides square off in Commerce City, hoping that snow isn’t in the forecast when they take the pitch. I was expecting to see more from Kansas City this season — and while it was just one game, they now may be missing Davy Arnaud and Josh Wolff, two vital cogs to their attack. Santiago Hirsig looked very good in his half hour cameo last week, and they’ll need more of him to secure a result on the road. The Rapids, on the other hand, lacked any sort of offensive bite against Chivas and scored only thanks to a terrible goal keeping error. Look for both sides to remain winless after the weekend.
Colorado 2-2 Kansas City

San Jose v Houston
The always intriguing past vs. present storyline shows up in California this weekend. One thing San Jose fans will be itching for is a goal or two, considering last weekend’s match did nothing to suggest this squad will have what it takes to find the back of the net on a consistent basis. Cam Weaver, Darren Huckerby and Ryan Johnson need their finishing boots, and they need them badly. Meanwhile, Houston will be without Brian Ching and lacking any kind of obvious scoring threat with Ching in El Salvador with the USMNT. Goals will be at a premium. A 0-0 draw anyone? I can see it happening.
San Jose 0-0 Houston

Seattle v Real Salt Lake
Can the magic continue out in Seattle? Fredy Montero is a force to be reckoned with, but with at least one tape of him already RSL has a bit more information than the Red Bulls had. I don’t expect that Salt Lake will come out flat in the same vein as New York, but they will no doubt be facing an uphill battle. The Sounders seem set in their ways, and will also get a chance to welcome Freddie Ljungberg to MLS. Whatever happens, I have a hard time thinking that Real has a chance to win this one.
Seattle 2-0 Real Salt Lake

Sunday, March 29
Dallas v Chivas
Nothing looks like it has changed out in Dallas. Sure, the “it’s only been one game” mantra is important to keep in mind, but Dallas struggled mightily on defense last weekend is not a good sign for a successful turnaround this year. Kenny Cooper might be counting down the days until he can kiss Frisco goodbye, but they’ll need a lot more than just one goal a game from him if they are anticipating any sort of success this year. The Preki-led Chivas train keeps on rolling along, no matter who is in goal or who is missing through injury. The loss of Sacha Kljestan might make this a more winnable game for Dallas, but I see things ending all square at the end of 90 minutes.
Dallas 1-1 Chivas

Last week’s picks: 2-5
Season total: 2-5

You pick ‘em
Off to a great start. Adding a new element to the preview section. Think your picks can stack up against mine? It can’t be that hard to beat me — leave your picks in the comment section and I’ll recognize the winner next week. Also, I know when you post your comments — they need to be in before the first game kicks off Saturday at 4:30 PM EST.