A month and a half ago, the Kansas City Wizards appeared to be decided underdogs to qualify for the MLS playoffs. Plagued by inconsistency and struggling to find an identity, the team languished in last place of the Eastern Conference in mid-September and seemed destined to miss the postseason for the third time in four seasons. However, thanks to a few player acquisitions, a change in tactics, and a large number of home games, Kansas City finished strong, winning five of their last seven, even clinching a playoff spot before their final game of the season.

Their reward is a home and home series against the Columbus Crew, the runaway winners of the Supporter’s Shield, and with such a deep and balanced roster, it is not hard to see why. Veteran Frankie Hejduk and Chad Marshall, a favorite to win both defender and comeback player of the year awards, anchor the back line. Brian Carroll’s steady performances in central midfield allow Robbie Rogers and Eddie Gaven to push forward on the flanks, and Alejandro Moreno’s always delivers a yeoman-like work up top. The club is so deep that coach Sigi Schmid has the luxury to bring Pat Noonan and Emmanuel Ekpo off the bench.

Despite the Crew’s embarrassment of riches, Guillermo Barros Schelotto is the true engine of this team. Operating in a free role in front of the midfield four, the former Boca Juniors legend has delivered an MVP-type performance for the Crew with seven goals and a league-leading nineteen assists and is a threat from both set pieces and open play. With Schelotto pulling the strings, the Crew finished second in the league with fifty goals even though no Columbus player turned in a ten goal season, a testament to Schelotto’s talent’s and the Crew’s incredible balance.

This season, Columbus dominated the Wizards, including a 3-0 drubbing at Community America Ballpark in June, one of only two games Kansas City lost at home in 2008. However, all three of those games took place before the All-Star Game, and the Wizards have made many changes since they have faced Columbus. Herculez Gomez and Abe Thompson were both acquired early in September, and both have contributed to Kansas City’ late season resurgence. Thompson has become an Alejandro Moreno-type forward for Kansas City whose hard work helps open up the game for other players. Gomez, meanwhile, has been a constant presence on the right side of the Wizards midfield, and he scored perhaps the biggest goal of the season for Kansas City with a last second game winner against San Jose in the team’s penultimate regular season game.

Head coach Curt Onalfo also made a key change in his midfield by pairing Davy Arnaud and Jack Jewsbury in central midfield. Both are industrious players in the middle of the park, but unlike previous Wizards central midfield partnerships, both are also capable of scoring goals as well. The Wizards have also received more production from their forwards since September. Josh Wolff celebrated his return to Kansas City with a goal in his debut in the 3-3 draw against the Crew, and the American international accumulated three goals and three assists in twelve games. Wolff suffered an injury before the match against San Jose, but Wolff’s absence has opened the door for the reemergence of Claudio Lopez. The Argentine’s play dropped precipitously by midseason, and he was actually benched for several games in September and October. However, Lopez seemed rejuvenated in his return to the starting lineup with two goals and three assists in the final two games of the regular season.

If the Wizards have one clear advantage over the Crew, it could be in goal. Kansas City’s Kevin Hartman has won two MLS Cups in his career, and the veteran’s play this season has at times kept his team in the game. Meanwhile, for the Crew, Will Hesmer will be playing in his first postseason.
The Wizards know they can rely on Hartman to make a big stop in key situations, but despite Hesmer’s solid play this season, there will be questions about his reaction to the spotlight of the playoffs.

The Wizards may be hot entering the playoffs, and the MLS post-season has seen its share of major upsets. However, they still face a daunting task. The Crew are well-coached and possess several players capable of turning a game. As cliche as it may sound, every player for Kansas City must turn in a superlative effort in order to win this series.

Advertisers and media buyers, along with 24 players from two lacklustre teams, may be questioning exactly what happened on Thursday evening as two professional teams within the sport of soccer agreed to wait until the Nov. 6 to give their full effort. The once resurgent Chicago Fire visited the personnel depleted New England Revolution and traded hard yet not ruthless fouls for approximately 93 minutes to earn a 0-0 result. Neither team really threatened each others goals for most of the match as safe and tactical (ie gutless) play plagued both teams. Read on here.

What is the biggest rivalry in Major League Soccer? Besides the choices below, there are other, less obvious ones that may qualify (Houston-New England? Toronto-Columbus? San Jose-LA?) You tell us one you think is biggest. Don’t forget to defend your vote by posting a comment.

The New England Revolution and Chicago Fire kicked off the Major Soccer League playoffs with a tightly-contested scoreless draw at Gillette Stadium Thursday night. The match was not great entertainment but soccer purists were able to get their fill with some of the tactical aspects of the game that were on display. Mostly, though the match was physical; Referee Alex Prus let a lot go but still handed out five yellow cards.

Neither team was willing to risk much on offense. The underdog Revs seemed content to let Chicago dominate possession but did not give the Fire enough space to establish a creative flow. Denis Hamlett’s team for its part was happy to let the game play out in midfield, while making sure the Revs did not hit them with any quick counters.

The predictable result was a battle for attrition where both teams took jabs at their opponents in the hope that a defensive error would give way to a scoring chance. But that was not to be, as the game saw very few unforced errors, despite the cold weather and plastic turf. A testament to the improving skills of MLS players, perhaps? Only toward the end of the game, as players began to wear down did things open up a bit.

The game’s best chances for a goal came in the waning minutes. Around minute 82, the Fire’s Brian McBride headed a cross past Matt Reis but the goal was whistled offsides. McBride and his teammates didn’t like the call but replays showed it was on the money. Finally, in stoppage time the Revolution decided to throw some numbers into attack and it paid off with two solid scoring chances. On the first, Sainey Nyassi blew by Fire defender Wilman Conde only to get tackled by Bakary Soumare right before he was about to pull the trigger from close range. Moments later, Kenny Mansally drove in from the right wing but his shot was deflected over the end line. The ensuing corner bounced to Nyassi at the edge of the penalty area but his shot was saved with ease by Jon Busch.

In the end, both teams accomplished their primary mission, to not yield a goal. But with Chicago home in the return leg (and the crowd expected to be more numerous than tonight’s 5,221), the Fire will like their chances. On the other hand, Steve Nicol may just have a trump card or two up his sleeve. Injuries or not, don’t expect the Revs to go quietly. The return leg, on Thursday, Nov. 6, should at the very least be worth watching.

ASN’s Chicago correspondent with a more outspoken take on tonight’s action (or severe lack thereof).

Match Facts

Chicago Fire vs. New England Revolution
MLS Playoffs Eastern Conference semifinals, first leg
October 30, 2008 — Gillette Stadium

Scoring Summary:
None

Lineups:
Chicago Fire — Jon Busch, Brandon Prideaux, Wilman Conde, Bakary Soumare, Gonzalo Segares, Chris Rolfe (Mike Banner 85), Logan Pause, John Thorrington, Justin Mapp, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Brian McBride,

Substitutes Not Used: Diego Gutierrez, Stephen King, Nick Noble, Patrick Nyarko, Marco Pappa, Dasan Robinson

New England Revolution — Matt Reis, Chris Albright, Michael Parkhurst, Jay Heaps, Chris Tierney, Sainey Nyassi, Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz, Mauricio Castro (Wells Thompson 86), Kenny Mansally, Kheli Dube.

Substitutes Not Used: Gary Flood, Joe Germanese, Amaechi Igwe, Brad Knighton, Pat Phelan, Rob Valentino

Statistical Summary:
New England Revolution / Chicago Fire
total shots: 13 (Mauricio Castro 4) / 9 (Cuauhtemoc Blanco 3)
shots on goal: 4 (Mauricio Castro 2) / 5 (Cuauhtemoc Blanco 2)
fouls: 12 (Chris Albright 3) / 10 (4 tied with 2)
offsides: 1 (Kheli Dube 1) /2 (Cuauhtemoc Blanco 1, Brian McBride 1)
corner kicks: 6 (Mauricio Castro 5) / 4 (Justin Mapp 3)
saves: 5 (Matt Reis 5) / 4 (Jon Busch 4)

Misconduct Summary:
CHI — Bakary Soumare (caution; Reckless Foul) 16
NE — Kenny Mansally (caution; Reckless Foul) 42
CHI — Logan Pause (caution; Reckless Tackle) 59
CHI — Cuauhtemoc Blanco (caution; Dissent) 69
NE — Mauricio Castro (caution; Reckless Tackle) 73

referee: Alex Prus
Referee’s Assistants: Craig Lowry; Michael Salyers
4th official: Jorge Gonzalez
time of game: 1:45
attendance: 5,221
weather: Cloudy -and- 37 degrees

Hey Revs fans, how do you feel about your team’s chances for the return leg? Go here to vote on it and discuss with your brethren.

Fire fans, don’t forget to get your correspondent’s view here.

The New England Revolution have broken the hearts of the Chicago Fire and their fans the last few seasons. The 2008 playoffs look to have been penned by a different scriptwriter, as the obstacles have been stacked against the Revs to make it out of the first round against their Eastern Conference foes.

From a Revolution perspective, this looks bleak.

Taylor Twellman has been ruled out this season due to injuries related to a concussion sustained a few weeks ago. The tough-as-nails forward appears to have put his body through the grinder one too many times and has now paid the price. Playmaker Steve Ralston is out with a broken leg, Khano Smith and Gabriel Badilla are sitting out due to red cards earned in their last match and Adam Cristman is out due to toe surgery.

The Fire have a wealth of talent, have everyone healthy and routed the Red Bulls one week ago 5-2. They have outscored their Thursday night opponents 15-5 this season and swept the three game series with the Revolution scoring nine and allowing one goal.

Continue reading the three keys to a Fire victory from ASN’s Chicago correspondent.

The Los Angeles Galaxy and FC Dallas ended their respective 2008 campaigns against each other at the Home Depot Center on Sunday afternoon. Even though both teams will be watching the 2008 MLS playoffs on their television sets, the two teams still left everything out on the field, which ended in a 2-2 draw.

The match did feature the league’s top two goal scorers; Landon Donovan of the Galaxy and FC Dallas’ Kenny Cooper. Donovan was one ahead of Cooper in the golden boot race with 19 goals heading into Sunday’s match.

Donovan came out the winner, as he notched up his 20th goal of the season on a penalty kick in the 78th minute. Eddie Lewis was fouled harshly by goalkeeper Dario Sala while chasing down a David Beckham pass. Referee Tim Weyland awarded the penalty kick and Donovan successfully buried the shot to the far right post.

Read the rest of the story here.

If you asked me a question about the New York Red Bulls hopes for the playoffs last Thursday night, how would I have responded? Perhaps an old friend of mine could sum it up for me. The Red Bulls went 2-5-1 in their last eight games, giving up 18 goals in the process. Their starting goalkeeper, in fact the only goalkeeper on the roster with any MLS experience at all, is suspended until sometime around Memorial Day, 2009. Jeff Parke, oftentimes the only effective defender on this squad, joins him on his sojourn to the methadone clinic. Playoffs? Are you kidding me? Read on.

Jozy Altidore is set to make his first start for Villareal when the Yellow Submarine face Polideportivo Ejido in their Copa del Rey matchup later today. "I need to get some games under my belt and this is a good time for me to play a game," Altidore wrote in his New York Times Goal blog. More here.

Taylor Twellman has been sidelined indefinitely due to complications resulting from the concussion he suffered in the Revs Aug. 30 game against the L.A. Galaxy. Despite missing 14 regular season games, Twellman notched eight goals and two assists, one short of 100 career goals, and is tied with Steve Ralston as this season’s goal leader. The Revolution now head into the playoffs missing their three most prolific strikers: Twellman, Adam Cristman an Ralston. Gabriel Badilla and Khano Smith will not suit up as a result of red card suspensions. Read more about the Revs preparations, including quotes from Steve Nicol, here.

Separately, the team moved to retract statements made by Shalrie Joseph after the team’s season-ending loss to Kansas City. Speaking of Wizards forward Herculez Gomez, Joseph said “the guy ended Ralston’s season for the rest of the year and he didn’t get a yellow – he didn’t get suspended or fined or nothing. We knew coming in today we definitely wanted to give him payback and make him know we didn’t appreciate what he did to Ralston.”

Joseph changed his tune Monday. “I want to apologize for my comments after our game on Saturday night against Kansas City,” he said in a statement issued by the Revs. “I was still caught up in the heat of the match. I regret implying that we were looking for payback. I know my comments don’t reflect the feelings of my teammates or the club.”

The Revs added a statement of their own. Read on here.

With their playoff places already set, Houston Dynamo and Chivas USA, played only for the three points, but came away with a share of the spoils instead tying 1-1, Saturday night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Houston’s Dwayne De Rosario scored on a controversial penalty kick in the 50th minute and the Red and Whites’ defender, Jim Curtin, tied the game in injury time. Read it here.