HE SAID WHAT?
“I‘m not anonymous in this city, and I want people coming up to me and saying, ‘Man, you had a great game on Saturday.'”
– Sounders goalkeeper Kasey Keller, hardly fading into obscurity at age 39. (Seattle Times)
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Brad Davis, Houston Dynamo
Not only did the 27-year-old midfielder add to his club record by registering an assist in his sixth straight game in last weekend’s 3-0 win over Toronto, Davis also tallied his own goal with a heady free kick under the opposing wall. With two goals and seven assists on the year, Davis is well on his way to surpassing his career high of 11 assists in 2006, and he’s done everything right to put himself on the U.S. national team radar for the CONCACAF Gold Cup later this month. His three career appearances (one start) for the U.S. seem far too few.
KEY GAME Colorado at Real Salt Lake, Saturday, 10 p.m., Fox Soccer Channel » The last heated meeting between these Rocky Mountain rivals, a 2-0 Rapids win in Commerce City, Colo., wasn’t surprising given RSL’s struggles on the road. But it also signaled a precipitous decline for the Utah team — the first of six games without a victory — while Colorado has gone in the opposite direction and hasn’t lost since.
STORY LINES
1. Try not to get upset » This year’s leading Western Conference have-nots finally made their first significant move of the season together last week, with San Jose and Dallas each getting at least one victory. But the wins also came with caveats. Dallas went on the road and surprisingly throttled Chicago, 3-0, including a nifty chip by Kenny Cooper. The Fire, of course, sleepwalked through the match just three days after beating Chivas on the road. With Arturo Alvarez’s blistering clincher, the Earthquakes won for the first time since March, beating Real Salt Lake, 2-0. The only team in MLS with a road record worse than RSL (0-5-1) is San Jose (0-5-0), which began the week with a defeat at Columbus.
2. Meddling men in the middle » Whether it’s the NBA, NFL or MLS, referees are a hot topic. Conspiracy theories are always far-fetched — such as MLS aiming to reduce its dearth of ties — but the guys with the whistles had a direct effect on two results last weekend, making controversial calls that have left two teams shaking their heads. Whether Chicago forward Brian McBride and New England forward Taylor Twellman sold officials a bill of goods in drawing late penalty kicks is up for debate. What clearly is disappointing is the referees determining the outcome of a game, not the players.
3. Nowak takes over Union » After being listed as a leading candidate in this space two weeks ago, late last week Peter Nowak was named as the first head coach and general manager of the Philadelphia Union, which begins play in 2010. Expansion isn’t new for the 44-year-old. Before his first head coaching job with D.C. United, he won MLS Cup in 1998 as a player with the Chicago Fire in its first year of existence.
