Preseason invitees 2013 - Western Conference

The MLS preseason is inevitably a blur of players coming and going as teams try to fill out their rosters. Here is an attempt to keep track of who's under contract, who's in camp with whom, and which teams are keeping spots open for the summer.

Information is unofficial, acquired to the best of my ability via team and media reports.

Western Conference:

Chivas USA (7-18-9, 9th West) -- 'Chelís' Sánchez Solá			Signed: 28 / Open: 2
2013 Newcomers: MF Carlos Alvarez (draft, 1990, UConn), MF Eric Avila (trade, Toronto via Colorado), DF Steve Purdy (1985, Portland), MF Carlos Borja (1988, former Chivas, LA Blues), MF Edgar Mejia (1988, Chivas Guadalajara, Mexico), FW Giovani Casillas (1994, Chivas Guadalajara, Mexico), DF Mario De Luna (1988, Chivas Guadalajara, Mexico), DF Joaquin Velasquez (1975, Puebla 2010, Mexico), DF Walter Vilchez (1982, Sporting Cristal, Peru), MF Josue Soto (1989, Houston / San Antonio Scorpions loan), DF Emilio Orozco (1992, Tigres, Fort Lauderdale Strikers loan), MF Daniel Antunez (1986, Inter Turku), FW Jose Manuel Rivera (1986, Chivas Guadalajara, Mexico), Julio Morales (1993, Chivas Guadalajara)
Draft: Alvarez, DF Jose Diaz (1991, UC Riverside), FW Paul Islas (1991, Fresno Pacific), DF Joe Franco (1990, Cal State Northridge)
Trial: MF Rodrigo Lopez (1987, Orlando City), FW Leopoldo Morales (1990, Fort Lauderdale Strikers)
Rumored via Chivas de Guadalajara: Juan Pablo Ocegueda (1993) Not with Team: Ante Jazic

MLS Cup Playoffs Best 11 (+7) so far

My apologies for the lack of posts - I've doing some mix of working and procrastinating, and I'll leave you to determine which has won out. I've also been watching as much of the MLS Cup playoffs as possible and have enjoyed the ridiculous drama, even though I'm often watching on delay and could simply open a new tab to find out who won.

Rather than a whole, long, drawn-out, "I told you so," I'll just point out that one team will have a huge competitive advantage in the MLS Cup final (home field) based on a difference of five points or fewer over its opponent, one which may have played a more difficult regular-season schedule. As long as that schedule is unbalanced and the final is a single game, I believe it must be played at a neutral site, purely for competitive reasons.

But I digress.

Today, just for fun, I'm picking a Best 11 from the first 10 playoff games of 2012. Why? Because I want to inspire an official all-tournament team for the MLS Cup Playoffs. It's gotta start somewhere, right? Unlike most Best 11s, I will use the Arabic numeral 11, rather than the Roman numeral XI. And unlike most Best 11s, I will choose a starting lineup with players in their actual positions. Groundbreaking, I know. OK, here we go:

MLS Cup Playoffs Best 11 (+7) (conference semifinals and knockout round games only)
GK - Nick Rimando, Real Salt Lake - I'm actually not a huge Rimando fan, because I prefer a 6-foot-plus goalkeeper who can control the penalty area, but a shutout with a broken nose and that exceptional save on Brad Evans early in the second half Thursday night make him a must-choose. Honorable mention to Michael Gspurning and Tally Hall.
RB - Robbie Russell, D.C. United - I know he only played one game, but it was a great game, and all the other right backs who played both games did very little. Seriously, count them. Sarkodie, Myers, Franklin, Beitashour, Lade, Johansson, Beltran. I really like some of those players, but Russell's 90 minutes stood out more than their 180.
CB - Omar Gonzalez, LA Galaxy - This guy is a giant. Not only that, he's really good. If LA wins the title, people will complain about how low a seed they were, but LA was 7-2-3 during the regular season when Gonzalez started, and he was excellent against Wondo and Lenhart. How many center backs were secretly pleased when he elbowed Lenhart in the face?
CB - Jeff Parke, Seattle Sounders - The Sounders didn't allow a goal in 180 minutes against a very good team, and while some of that is on RSL's pathetic execution in the final third (they finished the year being shut out in their last five games), Seattle's defense has to get credit, and Parke's the man for that. Honorable, honorable mention to Bobby Boswell.
LB - Seth Sinovic, Sporting KC - I know, I know, you think I'm picking a defender just because he scored a goal, but really I'm going with Sinovic because Boniek Garcia was relatively quiet in both legs for Houston, none of the Dynamo goals came on Sinovic's side, AND he was the only KC player to find the net. With a diving header. Hard to beat. Honorable mention to Corey Ashe, who was outstanding in the knockout round against Chicago.
RM - Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy - This is tricky, because he did play forward in this series, but I thought this was the best spot for him. He silenced a lot of doubts with a two-assist performance on Wednesday, and I never pick against Landon in the playoffs.
CM - Osvaldo Alonso, Seattle Sounders - This guy works his butt off, and even though it seemed like he was fouling Javier Morales every five minutes in last night's game, the Sounders rarely got pulled out of position against RSL's very tough midfield, and he deserves a lot of the credit. Honorable mention to his partner in crime, Brad Evans.
CM - Ricardo Clark, Houston Dynamo - He has been everywhere in the Dynamo's three playoff games, sliding to break up a play and set up the game-winning goal against Chicago before frustrating Roger Espinoza in Houston last week. His range has reminded everybody of why Dom Kinnear's 4-4-2 was so successful from 2005-09.
LM - Mike Magee, LA Galaxy - All he does is score big playoff goals. And occasionally play goalkeeper really well. But really, it's the clinical playoff goals that put him here. Honorable mention to Nick DeLeon.
FW - Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy - Duh. I enjoy disagreeing with statements made by Bruce Arena (he wants you to disagree with most of them), but when he praises Keane as the best player in the league this year, you can't really argue. Especially when Thierry Henry won't take a last-minute free kick with his team down a goal in a playoff series.
FW - Will Bruin, Houston Dynamo - Clinical, clinical finishes. Three of them. Two of which are not the type usually scored by Houston forward. Easy choice here. Honorable mention to his wingman, Calen Carr.

Bench (these players were actually used as replacements in the postseason)
GK - Joe Willis, D.C. United - If he can come off the bench and save a PK, it's good enough for me. Might be better than Bill Hamid right now anyway. He's definitely more composed.
CB - Andre Hainault, Houston Dynamo - He had really struggled in the second half of the year (and he was on the field for Honduras 8-1 Canada), but he looked confident and competent when called upon against KC.
CB - Tommy Meyer, LA Galaxy - I'm cheating a bit here, but the guy had only started 4 MLS games since May, so I don't consider him a full-time starter.
DF/MF - Lewis Neal, D.C. United - Surprise under-the-radar pick-up who helped Orlando City to USL title last year. Makes you want to promote them straight to MLS, doesn't it?
MF - Oriol Rosell, Sporting KC - He got to play with lower-than-usual pressure because of the situation, but I was impressed with his composure and ability to keep things simple from that deep-lying midfield slot.
MF - Mario Martinez, Seattle Sounders - Yes, I'm picking him just because of his one, series-winning shot. It was that good.
FW - Alan Gordon, San Jose Earthquakes - Goonies never say die. Even when they sprain an ankle.

This is why we do it

The chance to be part of this moment is why we do what we do:

FC Dallas vs. Vancouver: What I'm watching for

Vancouver will have to stop David Ferreira on Saturday night.

I’ll return to MLS action for the first time since July 28 this weekend, calling the most critical game so far in the Western Conference playoff race, with FC Dallas hosting the Vancouver Whitecaps. Catch it on TXA 21 Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. CT.

FC Dallas trails Vancouver by four points, but the Whitecaps have a game in hand, so Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi’s quote in the Vancouver Sun that “it is a must-win for them more than it is for us” is a spot-on assessment.

FC Dallas has to win this game to have any realistic shot of making the playoffs; Vancouver could definitely get by with a tie and will still be favored even with a loss. That’s mostly because of an incredibly favorable closing schedule, with Vancouver hosting the bottom three teams in the Western Conference down the stretch. Even seven points of a possible nine in those games would all but secure the last playoff spot, especially given that Dallas is unlikely to take major points at San Jose and at Seattle.

But that’s why they play the games! Dallas can keep itself in the race with a win on Saturday night, and word on the street is that the crowd is likely to be a big one. These teams have been going in opposite directions since June 23, with FC Dallas averaging 1.58 points per game (5-3-4) with Ferreira and Vancouver struggling to the tune of 0.91 points per game (3-7-1) in July, August, and now September. What’s more, the Whitecaps have lost six straight road games, tied for the second longest streak in MLS this year.

With all that in mind, and without consulting my partner, traveling man Brian Dunseth, here are some angles I’m keeping an eye on Saturday night:

Looking back: April 21 Dallas-Vancouver broadcast

I haven’t written a whole lot recently, because I’ve been staying busy preparing for and calling three games in eight days for FC Dallas. I have three more games coming up in May, including two in the next nine days, but I want to recap the April games one by one, starting with the Dallas-Vancouver match.

April 21 – TXA 21 – FC Dallas at Vancouver Whitecaps

The Vancouver game on April 21 was my first to call from a remote studio, which is always a challenge. You prepare for a game done from studio pretty much the same way you prepare for any other, but it’s definitely weird to put on a suit, pick up your color analyst, and drive to an isolated building where you share the parking lot with about 10 cars.

In this case, things got a little rushed because I could not resist watching the end of the perfect game thrown by my former Rice classmate, Philip Humber, and because I’m still learning the ins and outs of North Dallas driving. But I met up with my analyst, former U.S. international Ian Joy, and we set about finding the studio. From exchanging e-mails with Ian and our producer during the week, I could tell Ian was excited about the broadcast, but I don’t think I was quite prepared for his Scottish accent! Once I got used to it, however, we got along well.

I was plenty familiar with Vancouver from seeing the Whitecaps in preseason and in Philadelphia, and I of course watch every FC Dallas minute I can, so I felt confident in my research, but I wasn’t sure how we would be affected by not being there in person (especially a stadium to which I've never been). We found out one effect in short order.

When you call a game remotely, your production team is receiving a video feed from the home team's production at the site of the game. You get pretty much whatever angle they’re showing, but you get it without graphics; this is called a “clean feed.” You also get an audio soundtrack of stadium and field noise without the home commentators; this is called “international audio.” In the end, you’re sitting there with crowd noise in your headphones and a big monitor of the game in front of you, so it’s not quite as hard as you might think.

But when we got word about 10 minutes before we went on air that Kevin Hartman had pulled out due to back spasms and Chris Seitz was making his second FC Dallas start, there was a bit of scrambling to adjust the talking points in our second segment. While there is some communication and coordination between the two production teams in terms of replays, you rarely know which camera angle the feed will cut to next, so we had to wait until the camera focused on Seitz to really make our points about him. Fortunately, the last-minute change was a main storyline for everybody calling the game, not just the Dallas broadcasters, so the Vancouver feed gave him plenty of time.

The game itself went very well, I thought. Ian may be early in his broadcasting career, mostly having done radio work in Salt Lake City, but he obviously knows the game and is excellent at conveying that to viewers. He had faced Vancouver teenager Omar Salgado personally in training in Portland, so that was another nice ‘in’ that we had on a key storyline, namely Salgado’s first start of the year.

Dallas lost the game, playing OK despite rarely forcing Joe Cannon into a tough save, but I thought Ian and I worked very well together and worked with the production team to put together a good show. As it turns out, there were technical difficulties during the first 15-20 minutes of the game, resulting in our graphics and commentary not making the TXA 21 airwaves. Unfortunately, that included the only goal of the game, a great effort from Vancouver’s Camilo, which meant my only goal call of the night was lost to history. That was definitely frustrating to find out after the fact, but I know everybody on the technical end was working hard to get us on the air, and at least Dallas fans did get the clean feed during those early portions of the game.

Additionally, the broadcast was tape-delayed, which meant that when we got to a restaurant around 11:30 p.m., we were just in time to watch the last 15 minutes or so on TV. It’s more than a little odd reading the closed-captioning of your own speech, but it was cool to see the game’s distribution in person, something we don’t usually get to do and a good way to end the night.

I'll follow up with more from the April 25 and April 28 broadcasts later in the week, as well as look at some key trends heading into the FC Dallas matches against Colorado and Seattle.

“There’s no excuses when you get to the game”

Since I'm based out of Philadelphia for the first part of this MLS season, I'll be getting to a lot of games at PPL Park when I'm not working elsewhere. I was there this afternoon, covering the Vancouver side of things for the Canadian Press (link via SportsNet) and Prost Amerika (recap, sidebar).

At the end of the day, even after writing three articles, there were still some interesting quotes that I hadn't used, including the above from Martin Rennie. So I thought I'd share them here, along with a few thoughts on the game:

“It doesn’t matter how far you travel or how you get here: There’s no excuses when you get to the game.” -- Martin Rennie

“I think [Sebastien Le Toux]’s fairly level-headed psychologically, but I do think it’s good for him to get this game out of the way and get on with the season. I think it was obviously a big deal for him – he was a fantastic player for the Philadelphia Union, and I believe he’ll be a great player for the Whitecaps as well. This is a hard-working city, and people love hard-working people, and Sebastien – you don’t get much more hard-working than he is – and we’re glad to have him. His work rate is phenomenal, and I think that’s had a big impact on our team, and we can work hard and follow suit from what he’s done. It’ll be good for him to have got this game out of the way now. He can get on with what he’s good at.” -- Martin Rennie

Disney Day 7: Nothing like a couple of 1-0 games

I don't know where to start with for this one - it's been an exhausting seven hours. I worked on the ESPN3 broadcasts of the Pro Soccer Classic for the second consecutive year, which is a real thrill because the production value (audio, number of cameras, graphics, etc.) is on a different level from anywhere else I've worked. There were some big changes to the setup from last year, and I think they mostly worked out very well - I had a good time calling both games, and hopefully the broadcasts worked for our viewers in Texas, Canada, and wherever they were watching.

Larger-than-life Hassli a happy camper in 2012

Wherever he goes, Eric Hassli stands out. With his size, his tattoos, and his almost-shaved head, he can be seriously intimidating. A minute later, however, his face creased into a smile, he exudes a youthful exuberance that is a magnet for those around him. Standing a head taller than many of his teammates after a Whitecaps training session Friday morning, Hassli was one of the chief jokesters as Jay DeMerit tried to organize the group for a video to be played inside BC Place. Hassli yelled louder than everybody else (often out of turn) and yelled, “Again, again,” when the group broke up after the second take, just to see how many teammates would take the bait and stick around. MLS Insider Shawn Francis caught some additional hijinks on camera.

Almost exactly one year after signing with the Whitecaps as their first designated player, Hassli is a happy camper in his first full preseason with Vancouver. New head coach Martin Rennie has the Whitecaps – and Hassli – set for a 180-degree reversal heading into the new year, with an impressive array of talent, a more cohesive work ethic, and a 3-0 mark with a 7-0 goal differential in the Disney Pro Soccer Classic.

Disney Day 5: Distinct anti-climax

Well, the second game wound up being a playoff game of sorts, with Houston and Montreal battling to determine who would advance to Saturday's third-place match, but the ending was distinctly short on drama. A chippy game ended in a 1-1 tie, meaning Houston, Montreal, and Kansas City all tied with identical 0-1-2 records, having tied games against each other and lost to tournament juggernaut Vancouver. With goal differential as the tiebreaker, Houston (-1) advanced ahead of Montreal and KC (both -3), while Montreal finished third in the group by virtue of its two goals scored. I'm honestly not sure I've ever seen a four-team group end with one team 3-0 and the other three ALL finish at 0-1-2.

Disney Day 3: Quiet afternoon

Sunday's games lacked the compelling storylines of Friday and the in-stadium atmosphere of Saturday, with all four teams putting out lineups laced with reserves. With a threat of rain hanging over the afternoon, we arrived to call the Houston-Vancouver opener and worried a bit about what would happen if it started to rain - more worried about the technical equipment from the broadcast than anything else - but thankfully didn't have to worry about it.

Disney Day 1: Quick hits

I'm exhausted after the first day of this year's Disney Pro Soccer Classic, so I'll just give a brief recap and add the boxscores from today's games. I'll try to post later on the whole experience of the day.

The first game was a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference final, but it was a very different encounter. Kansas City controlled play but created limited chances in a scoreless tie against Houston. The Dynamo got good news in a late appearance from Brad Davis, his first of the preseason, but were outplayed at times by a sharp, fit Kansas City squad. Still, that bend-but-don't-break Houston defense held out for another shutout. Bobby Boswell and Geoff Cameron are tough to break down. Sporting seemed to take the opening game more seriously than any other team, playing every starter available except one (Julio Cesar) and using only three substitutes. Houston played four-fifths of its starting defense and kept the back line on the whole game but used five subs in the offensive half.

The second game came to life after about 15 minutes, and Vancouver wound up with a well-deserved 3-0 win over Montreal. The Impact, playing their first gated game as an expansion club, competed hard but were outclassed in a chippy game. These teams used almost their entire rosters, so the second half got a bit hectic, but Vancouver put together some quality goals. The downside was injuries - Davide Chiumiento and John Thorrington both left hurt, with Thorrington looking particularly devastated at the prospect of yet another serious injury.

Boxscores from both games after the jump

Disney preview: Vancouver Whitecaps

The 2012 Disney Pro Soccer Classic starts on Friday, signaling the final countdown to the MLS season. I’ll be calling games at the tournament for the third straight year, teaming up with Simon Borg as part of MLSsoccer.com’s coverage of the group stage and then working the final day of the tournament on the ESPN3 broadcasts. As the week goes on, I’ll preview each of the eight teams set to participate in Orlando.

The tournament starts on Friday, and Simon and I will call the second game of the doubleheader, pitting Canadian rivals Montreal and Vancouver against each other in a preview of their March 10 opener. With that in mind, I started with a Montreal preview this morning and continue this afternoon with second-year MLS club Vancouver.