New Post: The Best MLS Team Nobody Is Talking About

By, Kyle Gibson

This isn’t going to be a scientific blog. 

It’s more of a “Hey, we should be paying more attention to these guys,” kind of blog. 

After all, in all the fuss over the LA Galaxy signing Giovani Dos Santos and NYCFC trying to fit old men Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo in its midfield, one team is performing great right in front of our eyes and we aren’t seeing it. 

It’s the New York Red Bulls. 

They defeated NYCFC handily, 2-0 on Sunday, winning all three of the games in the first season of the New York Derby. 

But It still seems like the Bulls are the Rodney Dangerfields of the MLS. 

It may be that there are no earth-shattering signings. Here’s the thing, though. This club seems to make the right signings. 

Bradley Wright-Phillips is a star and proven goal scorer. Yeah he started off slow, but he’s really catching on fire and now has his brother Shaun to play with. 

Sacha Kljestan may not score a ton of goals, but he does a great job setting up his teammates. 

I’m also very partial to Dax McCarty, the diminutive midfielder that has a knack for helping his teammates and doing a solid job in the midfield. 

The entire team is solid and the credit should partly go to manager Jesse Marsch. Last year the team caused a stir for firing manager Mike Petke after narrowly losing in the semifinals. However, the team’s vision now looks clear and Marsch has this team playing some of the best soccer in the league. 

They sit in second place of the Eastern Conference, just eight points shy of DC United. The kicker is that they have played three less games than United. 

Take a look at the Red Bulls last five MLS games. They are 4-0-1. This team is heating up at the right time. 

They may very well win the title. I did a similar blog on LA last time year and they won the whole thing.

You’re welcome, Jesse Marsch. 

New Post: Three Reasons Why Andrea Pirlo to @NYCFC is a Great Transfer

By, Kyle Gibson

Rumors have been flying around for awhile now about New York City FC (NYCFC) and a transfer for Italian legend Andrea Pirlo, currently with Serie A Champions Juventus.

Pirlo’s contract is set to expire soon and the 36 year old midfielder is more than likely eyeing a larger payday and an ease to a more low-stress league.
Not that MLS doesn’t provide some stress. Players are quick, summers are hot and not every team has grass, something players like Thierry Henry could not cope with.
However, to me, this deal (if it indeed is finalized) demonstrates that NYCFC is indeed an ambitious club that’s trending in the right direction.
Here are three reasons why Pirlo is a good move.
1) This will be the club’s fourth big signing. The team sprang quickly to sign Spain and Barcelona legend David Villa as its first player. Villa alone was a marquis signing.
The club didn’t stop there, also adding Chelsea and England legend Frank Lampard. Lampard is due to play soon after spending the season at NYCFC parent club Manchester City.
To add American flair to the side, it also signed American midfielder Mix Diskerud. Pirlo will be just the latest star to join the blue side of the Big Apple.
Many were worried that Manchester City would just treat its New York club as a side project, but these signings would seem to suggest an “in it to win it” attitude.
2) Pirlo’s age isn’t a huge factor necessarily. Even though he is 36, Pirlo hasn’t seen a big regression in recent years. Deep-lying midfielders are thought to not age as fast as other players, because the position is more about instinct than physicality.
The American heat may cause problems, but I think Pirlo still has a few strong seasons in the tank.
3) Pirlo can only help this team. I’m thinking in terms of the other designated players here. Pirlo is the kind of player that can make all of them better. He will provide better service for Villa, who still has tight control, but can’t beat as many defenders 1v1 like his glory days.
He can also free Lampard and Diskerud to play further forward and can hit the speedy wingers with ease from way back in the midfield.
He’s also a major scoring threat from long shots and free kicks.
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This is a deal that could really help NYCFC get over the hump and push for a playoff spot.

New Post: Bold MLS Musings From Guest Blogger @BraxtonCrisp

By, Braxton Crisp

The MLS season ended early last month with the LA Galaxy winning the Cup in Landon Donovan’s final game. Since then, excitement has been building for the upcoming season, particularly with the welcoming of expansion franchises Orlando City SC and New York City FC.

Speaking of New York City FC, I would like to bluntly say that its majority owner, City Football Group, and parent club Manchester City, are screwing the Empire State’s newest professional soccer team because the corresponding British club has decided to hold onto Frank Lampard beyond the start of the MLS season.

The deal was that when Lampard signed with New York City FC during last summer’s transfer window, he would officially be on loan from New York to Manchester so he can still compete and stay fit until the start of the 2015 MLS season. But Lampard has chipped in 5 goals and an assist in City’s quest to track down Premier League leader Chelsea. That performance, plus his solid play in the midfield, City Football Group has elected to keep Lampard in Manchester until the end of the Premier League season.

In my opinion, that’s bush league on the part of City Football Group. Lampard was the signing that got potential fans excited and on board to buy tickets and merchandise in support of the American club’s inaugural season at Yankee Stadium. It’s the British big brother taking away American little brother’s favorite toy.

On to other news regarding the move of a British star to the United States, where Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard has signed to join the LA Galaxy on an 18-month deal following the conclusion of the Premier League season. But this deal, looking in retrospect to some other signings of British stars coming to the United States (Lampard, David Beckham, etc.) has started a theory that the MLS is still trying to make a name for itself by bringing in older, high-priced talent from abroad and those players essentially using the MLS as a place for those players to go into semi-retirement.

This theory goes on to say that the MLS should be focusing more on bringing up young, American talent, and I tend to agree with that. Gerrard is a perfect example of young talent being signed and developing with Liverpool into a fantastic professional career. The MLS should be doing the same and along these lines, I think Seattle made a mistake selling DeAndre Yedlin to Tottenham, but that’s another post for another day.

Finally, Mike Petke has been fired by the New York Red Bulls. Yes, you read that right. And it’s an absolute travesty. The Red Bulls made it to the MLS Playoffs, where they defeated Sporting KC in the opening playoff, then knocked off Eastern Conference No. 1 seed DC United in the conference semifinals, before falling in the Eastern Conference Finals to New England. So that warrants a firing?

This is a lot like the Los Angeles Clippers firing Vinny Del Negro after the 2012-13 season, in which the Clippers finished with its best record in franchise history.

These three events happening in quick succession certainly have not helped the image of the MLS, besides the fact that Robbie Keane is once again going to have a top-level midfielder on the pitch with him next season. As for the Red Bulls, shame on you for firing a successful coach, and shame on City Football Group for robbing the fans of MLS and New York City FC of 3 months of Frank Lampard.

Follow @BraxtonCrisp and @kickingitsoccer on Twitter.

Would Steven Gerrard Really Be a Big Help to an MLS Team?

By, Kyle Gibson

There has been big, justifiable excitement that Steven Gerrard is coming to the United States after his announcement to leave Liverpool after this season.

He has announced he is coming to the US to play in MLS, with the L.A. Galaxy and New York clubs as the favorites to sign him.

However, will the Liverpool legend and former England captain be providing much when he gets to the new club, besides ticket sales?

Gerrard is 34 years old (very advanced for the average soccer player) and has played almost 500 league games for Liverpool and made 114 caps for England. That’s a ton of games. While he hasn’t had many serious injuries, the toll of such a career can be grating. How will he hold up in the American heat?

The benchmark for MLS Designated Players is David Beckham, who played in L.A. from 2007-12. It is worth noting, though, that Beckham was 32, two years younger than Gerrard, when he signed to MLS and was still a high caliber player with plenty left to provide.

Gerrard has also changed his position at Liverpool to be more of a defensive player. This reduces his running workload, but also has raised questions about how much gas is left in the tank.

It’s very clear that the Gerrard we are watching now is nowhere near the player he was in his prime.

Sure, the quality of competition won’t be as strong, but the MLS has improved even since Beckham last was in the league. Players are young, fast and very technical.

I’m not sure if a 35 and 36 year old Gerrard will be able to keep up with these guys as well as he might need to.

Even if he isn’t asked to do much running (and I doubt he will), what will Gerrard really provide for a team offensively? He’s never been as high volume a goal scorer as Frank Lampard, or as clinical a crosser as Beckham was.

It will be great to have a legend playing stateside, but outside of free kicks, I’m really not entirely sure what Gerrard will be able to bring, besides people in the seats.

Quick Post: Lampard and Villa are just latest examples of MLS star power

By, Kyle Gibson

With David Villa and Frank Lampard all but certain to join New York City FC for its first season, Major League Soccer continues to add global stars on the world stage.

What started with David Beckham continues now through Lampard, a Chelsea and England legend, and Villa, who has shone for Valencia, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, as well as the Spanish national team.

I know many players join the league perhaps past their prime and at very advanced ages, but the amount of names in the MLS has been impressive in recent years.

Here’s a list of guys off the top of my head that have been stars in their country or the world stage and have come to ply their trade in MLS.

Freddie ljungberg, Guillermo Barros Schelloto, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Tim Cahill, Robbie Keane, Julio Cesar, Jermaine Defoe, Alessandro Nesta, Bradley Wright-Phillips, Federico Higuain, Clint Dempsey Michael Bradley and more.

These are big name guys, or in the case of Higuain and Wright-Phillips, the brothers of big name guys that have found success in the US.

Now add Lampard, with more than 400 Chelsea appearances and more than 100 England caps, to that list. A three time Chelsea player of the year, Lampard set the EPL record with 164 consecutive games. He’s a gamer and is fully dedicated to the cause.

Though his form has slacked since his transfer to Barcelona, David Villa has largely been a goal machine in Spain. Villa has scored 154 league goals since his 2005 move to Valencia and has an astounding 56 goals in 94 Spain appearances. Villa returned to highly relevant soccer this year with Athletico Madrid, winning La Liga, playing in the Champions League final and scoring 13 league goals. He is on the Spanish roster for the World Cup, but it remains to be seen whether Spain will actually start a striker. Scoring a boatload of goals in New York could help his national team form.

I understand that Lampard is 35 and Villa is 32, but it will be very fun watching these two play on the same squad. It is true that the MLS will one day have to add world stars at a younger age to become a world class league, but let’s enjoy the legends playing in America however we can get them.