Category: Soccer America Confidential

The good news is that of the 11 MLS postseason games, 10 will be televised nationally. The bad news is that after a regular season that produced a meager 2.54 goals per game, keeping a national audience captivated, or at least tuned in, if goals are scarce won’t be easy. There can be all manner of previews and pre-game hits and studio segments, but the game itself needs as much drama as possible, and that can only be guaranteed by goals, or at least the threat of same.

It’s too easy to cite a team’s failures on the final weekend of the regular season as primary reasons said team missed out on playoff action, so instead, here’s a look on what transpired on the previous 31 weeks to create those no-tomorrow scenarios:

Which team will draw the short straw in the upcoming MLS postseason, and host its home playoff game next Thursday on national television?

Whether or not MLS has let a potentially great head coach slip away with the departure of Paul Mariner back to his native England is open to debate, but what the league and this country have lost is a good chunk of institutional knowledge.

For a few MLS teams, the playoff race has become a lurching stagger, more a case of “The Biggest Loser” than “Quest for Qwest Field,” or whatever postseason marketing slogan the league and ESPN will unveil in a week or so. (MLS Cup 2009 will be played in Seattle Nov. 22)

International travel is a luxury for most people, so when players who must cross time zones and continents to play for their clubs or national teams complain about fatigue and jet lag they don’t always generate a lot of sympathy.

Let’s see if we can make some sense out of this MLS playoff race, shall we?

The updated list of MLS salaries always offers plenty of interesting material, especially regarding who provides the best bang for buck, and those players who are basically stealing money.

There’s a good crop of candidates for MVP this year yet even though there’s another month of the season to go I’m going to have to vote for a player whose team might not even make the playoffs.

“A lot of people don’t like the way I play and that’s fine by me. I don’t care.”

Put Toronto on the list of MLS teams that might be hedging on when it can open the 2010 MLS season at home. Philly, take note.

Unlike many foreign players who’ve come to America and promised much but delivered little, Darren Huckerby gave everything: his zealous commitment to team, his unquenchable daring to scorch opponents, his indomitable spirit, his puckish humor, and ultimately, his health.

The running soap opera that is the Red Bulls (nee MetroStars) notwithstanding, perhaps no MLS team that has attained some success earned less respect than the Kansas City Wizards.

All those voters who last year named Sean Franklin as their top choice for MLS Rookie of the Year are in a real pickle this time around.

Of the five home teams in desperate need of a victory last weekend, three of them not only failed to win, they failed to score a goal.

It’s not one of the major points of negotiation while MLS and the players’ union discuss a new collective bargaining agreement, but something has to be done about the financial strictures placed on international competitions.

As blame cascades down and those in Red Bull land scurry for cover, glaring among the many things the franchise couldn’t do was rebuild from within MLS.

Whether or not he makes his return to RFK Stadium Saturday a winning excursion against the team he led to three MLS titles and other crowns in four seasons, Galaxy coach Bruce Arena has no serious rivals for Coach of the Year honors.

With most of the summer of soccer over, even if the real summer isn’t, it’s back to basics for MLS.

If a modest two-game unbeaten streak had San Jose fans harboring even a smidgen of hope their team could get near the fringe of the playoff race, Saturday night at Candlestick Park snuffed those beliefs.

There’s big news from the world of football, as in American indoor, as well as football played across the pond, as in the English Premier League.

The recent deals involving goalscorers Yura Movsisyan and Kenny Cooper illustrate how valuable such players are in the world market, and how treacherous it can be to deal.

Maybe this is the summer, crammed with games and tours and competitions and scheduling conflicts, in which the philosophies of Major League Soccer and its marketing offshoot, Soccer United Marketing, came into clear focus through the blur of activity.

Additions and subtractions to the MLS All-Star team that will face Everton Wednesday at Rio Tinto Stadium (ESPN2, Galavision, 9:30 p.m. ET) are removing much of the luster that is supposed to emanate from one of the league’s showcase events.

Despite its recent dominance over Mexico, the very idea that the USA could beat its southern rival in a competitive match, or any match, without its top players was ludicrous. It may happen this weekend.