6Apr/150
Javier Morales Scores Brutal Volley After Free Kick Blocked for Real Salt Lake
Javier Morales scored a quite brilliant volley for Real Salt Lake in their MLS clash against San Jose on Sunday.The veteran's free kick was blocked, but the ball parried back to him—and with a perfectly struck shot, he drilled the ball into the goal via the underside of the crossbar.As the commentary puts it: "If at first you don't succeed, try again."[@MLS]Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com6Apr/150
MLS Team of the Week: Vancouver Trio Headline League’s Best from Week 5
After four weeks of mostly lackluster matches, Major League Soccer came to life in Week 5 with plenty of exciting contests. One of the top performances of the weekend came from the Vancouver Whitecaps, who dominated the LA Galaxy on their way to claiming the top spot in the Supporters' Shield table. Vancouver's two rivals to the south also starred in Week 5, with Portland and Seattle both earning key victories. As such, two Timbers and one Sounder also feature in the MLS Team of the Week. Although certain positions did possess more quality than others, we decided to align our team in a 4-4-2 formation because of a few standout performers at other spots on the pitch. Continue reading for the complete list of the best players from Week 5 in MLS.Begin Slideshow5Apr/150
FC Dallas Coach Oscar Pareja Offers Caleb Porter a Tissue at Postgame Handshake
In terms of postgame handshake rows, this has to be far and away one of the best ones yet. Oscar Pareja-coached FC Dallas fell to the Portland Timbers 3-1 on Saturday in Major League Soccer, but Pareja won the award for bitter congratulations.At the full-time whistle, Pareja greeted Timbers boss Caleb Porter with a tissue he had just blown his nose with as opposed to his hand. Porter was not amused. He dismissed the tissue and gave Pareja a not-so-subtle "scoreboard" mention. "I walked over to shake his hand and he had a tissue that he put over his nose and tried to hand me a tissue," Porter said afterward, per MLS. "So I thought it was very poor sportsmanship out of (Pareja). "I never said one word to him the whole game and he obviously wasn't happy with the loss." In the aftermath, former United States star and Fox Sports analyst Alexi Lalas weighed in on the issue and sided with the Timbers boss. [Major League Soccer, h/t Deadspin]Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com3Apr/150
How Major League Soccer Can Fix Its Early-Season Scheduling Issue
If there's one thing we've learned over time about Major League Soccer, it is that the league has plenty of quirks other top divisions of soccer don't have. One of the unique qualities to MLS that was put in the spotlight over the last week was the scheduling of regular-season games during an international break. Due to the league's decision to play on, stars like Robbie Keane, Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley missed early-season matches for their respective clubs. The full total of players called up to a combined 21 national teams was 59, which is an impressive number for MLS to boast. However, some sides with a plethora of international players were forced to scramble in order to assemble a functional starting 11. No team was hurt more by this than Orlando City, as the Lions lost seven players to the FIFA window. Luckily for the expansion side, it still had Kaka in the fold for its 2-2 draw with the Montreal Impact on Saturday. But a few other clubs were not so lucky, including the Seattle Sounders. Sigi Schmid's team lacked Clint Dempsey and Marco Pappa in its starting 11 against FC Dallas due to international duty. With two key components of its attack ...3Apr/150
Kenny Cooper Fiasco Highlights MLS’ Issues and Proves It Won CBA Negotiations
The Seattle Sounders waived forward Kenny Cooper on Thursday, per the team's official website. However, the comments from general manager Garth Lagerwey signify that the league is benefiting more from the new CBA and has made little effort to gain transparency. Cooper attracted interest from the Montreal Impact, according to the official MLS website, but Montreal has not completed a deal. The reasoning behind this could be down to the 30-year-old's hefty salary, per Duane Rollins of Canadian Soccer News: The cap number seemingly influenced the Sounders' decision. Lagerwey told reporters "there has not been a market for [Cooper]," per Matt Pentz of The Seattle Times. Lagerwey also said that the lack of suitors was due to teams expecting an increase in cap space after the CBA negotiations last March. As a result, nobody wanted to take a risk in acquiring Cooper. The former FC Dallas striker is a nine-year MLS veteran and is 30 years old. Under the new CBA regulations, he is eligible for free agency since he has at least eight years of experience in the league and is over 28. However, this is not the case according to what Lagerwey said to the press, via Pentz: There is no free agency (now). ...2Apr/150