2020 Major League Soccer Season & American Soccer Discussion

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Eva

Eva

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There's a first time for everything right? As far as I know, GTPlanet has never had a discussion thread for MLS on it's own, and it is growing quite rapidly in the United States, as well as its reputation beyond being a retirement home. So, here we are, just in time for its 25th season! Time for real American football.
mls-cup-seattle-sounders-1.jpg

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Defending MLS Cup Champions: Seattle Sounders (2 times; 2016, 2019)
Defending MLS Supporter's Shield Winners: Los Angeles FC (1st Shield)
Defending U.S. Open Cup Winners: Atlanta United FC (1st USOC Win)

Atlanta United FC
Manager: Frank de Boer
2019 Conference Position: 2nd (18-12-4 WLT)

Chicago Fire FC
Manager: Raphael Wicky
2019 Conference Position: 8th (10-12-12)

FC Cincinnati
Manager: Yoann Damet (Interim)
2019 Conference Position: 12th (6-22-6)

Columbus Crew SC
Manager: Caleb Porter
2019 Conference Position: 10th (10-16-8)

D.C. United
Manager: Ben Olsen
2019 Conference Position: 5th (13-10-11)

Inter Miami CF​
Manager: Diego Alonso
New to MLS in 2020

Montreal Impact​
Manager: Thierry Henry
2019 Conference Position: 9th (12-17-5)

New England Revolution​
Manager: Bruce Arena
2019 Conference Position: 7th (11-11-12)

New York City FC​
Manager:
2019 Conference Position:

New York Red Bulls​
Manager: Chris Armas
2019 Conference Position: 6th (13-10-11)

Orlando City SC​
Manager: Oscar Pareja
2019 Conference Position: 11th (9-15-10)

Philadelphia Union
Manager: Jim Curtin
2019 Conference Position: 3rd (16-11-7)

Toronto FC
Manager: Greg Vanney
2019 Conference Position: 4th (13-10-11)​

Colorado Rapids
Manager: Robin Fraser
2019 Conference Position: 9th (12-16-6)

FC Dallas​
Manager: Luchi Gonzalez
2019 Conference Position: 7th (13-12-9)

Houston Dynamo​
Manager: Tab Ramos
2019 Conference Position: 10th (12-18-4)

L.A. Galaxy​
Manager: Guillermo Barros Schelotto
2019 Conference Position: 5th (16-15-3)

Los Angeles FC​
Manager: Bob Bradley
2019 Conference Position: 1st (21-4-9)

Minnesota United FC​
Manager: Adrian Heath
2019 Conference Position: 4th (15-11-8)

Nashville SC​
Manager: Gary Smith
New to MLS in 2020

Portland Timbers​
Manager: Giovanni Savarese
2019 Conference Position: 6th (14-13-7)

Real Salt Lake​
Manager: Freddy Juarez
2019 Conference Position: 3rd (16-13-5)

San Jose Earthquakes​
Manager: Matias Almeyda
2019 Conference Position: 8th (13-16-5)

Seattle Sounders FC (Defending MLS Cup Champions)​
Manager: Brian Schmetzer
2019 Conference Position: 2nd (16-10-8)

Sporting Kansas City​
Manager: Peter Vermes
2019 Conference Position: 11th (10-16-8)

Vancouver Whitecaps FC​
Manager: Marc Dos Santos
2019 Conference Position: 12th (8-16-10)

Continental Play
Teams Competing in CONCACAF Champions League: Atlanta United FC, Montreal Impact, Los Angeles FC, Seattle Sounders FC, New York City FC
Teams Competing in CONCACAF Leagues Cup: Philadelphia Union, Real Salt Lake, Minnesota United FC, L.A. Galaxy, Toronto FC, D.C. United, Portland Timbers, New York Red Bulls

League Standings
Coming Soon!
 
You know what? Cheers to you, Eva. I always wanted to have some MLS discussion on here. Apparently, this season marks the 25th season of Major League Soccer. I surely want my Houston Dynamo to have a solid season. However, they've sadly never been champions ever since their back-to-back triumphs in the first two years of the franchise (2006 and 2007 MLS champions).

Anyhow, I am looking ahead to the new season.
 
First weekend of the MLS season is here! So here's the game run downs.
Saturday, February 29th (Start Time (EST): Home vs. Away)
D.C. United 1-2 Colorado Rapids
Montreal Impact 2-1 New England Revolution
Houston Dynamo 1-1 L.A. Galaxy
San Jose Earthquakes 2-2 Toronto FC
FC Dallas 2-0 Philadelphia Union
Orlando City SC 0-0 Real Salt Lake
Nashville SC 1-2 Atlanta United FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1-3 Sporting Kansas City

Sunday, March 1st
Columbus Crew SC 1-0 New York City FC
New York Red Bulls 3-2 FC Cincinnati
Seattle Sounders FC 2-1 Chicago Fire SC
Los Angeles FC 1-0 Inter Miami CF
Portland Timbers 1-3 Minnesota United FC

Coming into the weekend, the round of 16 in the CONCACAF Champion's League concluded. Reigning MLS Champions, Seattle, were knocked out on penalty kicks, and were the only MLS team eliminated from the round. LAFC pulled back a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 on aggregate, while NYCFC, Atlanta, and Montreal all also advanced to the round of 8, with the first leg of the round being played on March 10-12, and the second leg being played on March 17-19.

On a personal note, my team, FC Cincinnati, may be starting the season without our star center forward Jurgen Locadia, who is believed to be stuck in the Netherlands waiting on his work visa to clear up, and there's been no clarification as to if or when that happens. Not having Locadia is going to sting massively since another big signing for us, Siem de Jong, also won't be starting the season with us this weekend. It's been a rollercoaster start for us, and I am beginning to think this ride has too many inversions.
 
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Will be updating the post just before this one to include results from the first weekend. Colorado took down DCU after a 92' brace. Was not expecting that.
 
Meanwhile, my Houston Dynamo is in a 1-1 tie hosting LAFC. When I came home, we were down 1-0 in about the 51st Minute. Dynamo evened things up on a nicely angled shot to draw even. It's now the 70th Minute with the score still at 1-1.
 
JohnBM01
Meanwhile, my Houston Dynamo is in a 1-1 tie hosting LAFC. When I came home, we were down 1-0 in about the 51st Minute. Dynamo evened things up on a nicely angled shot to draw even. It's now the 70th Minute with the score still at 1-1.
Click to expand...
You guys held on, kept Chicharito from scoring on debut, well done!
 
San Jose pulled a late equalizer to draw with Toronto, while Dallas beat Philadelphia in a 2-0 win. Orlando and Salt Lake went scoreless, which either says a lot about Orlando's improvement to keep RSL from scoring, or about Salt Lake's inability to beat easy opponents. We'll see! MLS debutants Nashville will be hosting Atlanta United now on the cable Fox channel in the U.S.
 
Thanks, Eva! I meant trying to post an update after I posted in my Facebook profile about the score once the Houston Dynamo knocked down the game-tying goal. It was still a fairly entertaining contest. It is a long season ahead, so favorites and powers still have a chance to make themselves known as the 2020 season goes along.
 
Nashville scored their first MLS goal in their game against Atlanta, but lost by a scoreline of 2-1. Still an impressive showing.
 
Two Sunday games are in the books. Columbus Crew beat NYCFC 1-0, while Red Bulls escaped Cincinnati 3-2.
 
First week of MLS action is in the books. Both expansion clubs lost by a single goal on debut, but the Golden Boot Award has already lost a challenger. Josef Martinez may be out for the entire season after suffering an ACL tear in the match with Nashville. Last couple years, the battle has in large been Carlos Vela vs. Josef Martinez, but that will not be the case this year.

Next weekend is going to be a interesting weekend of MLS action as well, here's the schedule for it, all times posted in Eastern U.S. time. Records are posted in a Win-Loss-Draw format.
Saturday, 7 March 2020
1:30 p.m: New England Revolution (0-1-0) vs. Chicago Fire SC (0-1-0)
2:00 p.m: Real Salt Lake (0-0-1) vs. New York Red Bulls (1-0-0)
3:00 p.m: FC Dallas (1-0-0) vs. Montreal Impact (1-0-0)
3:30 p.m: D.C. United (0-1-0) vs. Inter Miami CF (0-1-0)
5:00 p.m: Toronto FC (0-0-1) vs. New York City FC (0-1-0)
7:00 p.m: Atlanta United FC (1-0-0) vs. FC Cincinnati (0-1-0)
8:00 p.m: San Jose Earthquakes (0-0-1) vs. Minnesota United FC (1-0-0)
8:30 p.m: Sporting Kansas City (1-0-0) vs. Houston Dynamo (0-0-1)
9:00 p.m: Colorado Rapids (1-0-0) vs. Orlando City SC (0-0-1)
10:00 p.m: L.A. Galaxy (0-0-1) vs. Vancouver Whitecaps (0-1-0)
10:00 p.m: Seattle Sounders FC (1-0-0) vs. Columbus Crew SC (1-0-0)

Sunday, 8 March 2020
7:00 p.m: Portland Timbers (0-1-0) vs. Nashville SC (0-1-0)
10:30 p.m: Los Angeles FC (1-0-0) vs. Philadelphia Union (0-1-0)
 
Some transfer news up in Montreal. Victor Wanyama has been signed as a Designated Player for the Impact on a free transfer from Tottenham Hotspurs. His contract with Montreal is for three years. Wanyama has made 150 Premier League starts, and was part of the lineup that played in last year's UEFA Champion's League final against Liverpool, so this is a very valuable addition to Montreal, which has started off blisteringly under Thierry Henry as their head coach.

In expansion news, St. Louis is hoping it can reveal its MLS expansion's name and club logo within the next two weeks, before beginning play in 2022.
 
Some are saying Major League Soccer could one day surpass Major League Baseball and maybe even the National Basketball Association within 10-25 years. While (another form of football) is more popular than MLS, the MLS has come a very long way with a handful of quality teams and players. The league is still going plenty strong.

I hope we can get a few more GTPlaneteers to chime in on the MLS, but I enjoy our conversations here! :)
 
I guess if we're going to use this thread for general discussion of American soccer, I will add these notes.

The NBA has its "Texas Triangle"- the Houston Rockets, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Dallas Mavericks. When Austin FC debuts next season in MLS, there will be a "Texas Triangle" in soccer- the Houston Dynamo, FC Dallas, and Austin FC. This is good for the growth of soccer in America. The more popular football will be with the NFL, but the MLS isn't some fad.

I do tend to follow the Houston Dash of the NWSL (National Women's Soccer League). They seem to do pretty well. Not sure how good they really are against the other NWSL teams. I do support them all the way.


So that adds a little more American soccer talk to this thread.
 
As the 2026 World Cup gets closer, the more MLS will swell with interest I think. It's something to watch to see how MLS evolves if it goes past 30 teams.
 
A lot happened yesterday, since there were 11 games. Here's the scoreline for those games.
Saturday, 7 March 2020
New England Revolution (0-1-1) 1-1 Chicago Fire SC (0-1-1)
Real Salt Lake (0-0-2) 1-1 New York Red Bulls (1-0-1)
FC Dallas (1-0-1) 2-2 Montreal Impact (1-0-1)
D.C. United (1-1-0) 2-1 Inter Miami CF (0-2-0)
Toronto FC (1-0-1) 1-0 New York City FC (0-2-0)
Atlanta United FC (2-0-0) 2-1 FC Cincinnati (0-2-0)
San Jose Earthquakes (0-1-1) 2-5 Minnesota United FC (2-0-0)
Sporting Kansas City (2-0-0) 4-0 Houston Dynamo (0-1-1)
Colorado Rapids (2-0-0) 2-1 Orlando City SC (0-1-1)
L.A. Galaxy (0-1-1) 0-1 Vancouver Whitecaps (1-1-0)
Seattle Sounders FC (1-0-1) 1-1 Columbus Crew SC (1-0-1)

Most notable matches yesterday were the Minnesota/San Jose game, where 7 goals total were scored, as well as the 4-0 thrashing Sporting Kansas City gave to Houston. LA Galaxy continue to struggle to get Chicharito up to gear, losing to Vancouver. Columbus (unfortunately) kept Seattle to a draw, showing they could hang with the defending MLS champs. Atlanta, in their first game without Josef Martinez, beat my FC Cincinnati 2-1, though Cincinnati's off season grabs have definitely helped, with Yuya Kubo scoring his first MLS goal, with Jurgen Locadia and Allan Cruz also showing good form after scoring last weekend.

Tonight's matches are slim, but all on national TV, with the Portland/Nashville match happening right now.

Sunday, 8 March 2020
7:00 p.m: Portland Timbers (0-1-0) vs. Nashville SC (0-1-0)
10:30 p.m: Los Angeles FC (1-0-0) vs. Philadelphia Union (0-1-0)
 
Yeah, Eva. We got shredded yesterday at Sporting Kansas City. It's probably expected you'll get wrecked like this when taking on a solid team like Sporting Kansas City. Hopefully the Dynamo can register a win soon considering they got a loss and a draw so far.


As of the time of this post, the Portland Timbers are currently playing MLS debutantes, Nashville SC. POR is ahead 1-0 in the 33rd Minute. I'm sure Nashville is kind of playing with heavy hearts considering the recent tornado strikes that affected Nashville.
 
Word has it that the tenative date for MLS to return for the 2020 season is around May 10. They hope to play all of their games prior to the suspension of the games from COVID-19/Coronavirus. I read this according to the Bottom Line of ESPN.
 
The rest of the 2020 MLS season may not play all of its games. It is told the league's possible resumption of the season in mid-May seems unlikely. All of us are simply wondering how sports will slowly come back into form once this pandemic slows in intensity.
 
Major League Soccer is now saying that teams can use outdoor practice facilities starting this Wednesday in places where Stay-at-Home orders have been lifted. It is a sign of progress in hopes the season can resume proper.
 
Today, MLS players are returning to practice fields to get themselves into shape for the potential resumption of the 2020 MLS season. Teams like Sporting Kansas City and Orlando SC have returned to practice. I read on ESPN's Bottom Line that some players returned wearing masks. At least this is a sign we can have some kind of soccer and something to talk about outside of the whole COVID-19/Coronavirus pandemic.
 
Happy Wednesday (or "Hump Day"), GTPlaneteers!

Today is the resumption of the 2020 MLS Season. A tournament in Orlando, Florida, USA will help in bringing back Major League Soccer. One of the tournament matches involves the home standing Orlando SC going up against the debutantes Inter Miami FC.
The action will be covered on ESPN and ESPN Deportes at 8:00 PM Eastern.


Enjoy MLS action tonight!
 
This is not Major League Soccer related, but I briefly saw a USL match on ESPN between Louisville hosting St. Louis. The stands were limited to about 5K fans and with social distancing measures in place. It did feel very normal even with this COVID-19/Coronavirus pandemic. Still a far cry from the "old normal." Soccer/Football is one of those sports driven by and embodied by fan support; and when you don't have that sort of support, the sport just feels flat. So it was great to see at least some fan support in the stands.
 
To extend the general discussion of American soccer, the Houston Dash of the NWSL won the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup recently. The Dash will celebrate with a parade here in Houston. There is a catch- it will all be done sort of privately, and fans who attend this parade will need to be in their cars and practicing social distancing.
 
Major League Soccer announced it will continue with the 2020 season starting this coming Wednesday. The MLS had its "MLS is Back" tournament recently. The 2020 season is supposed to go between this coming Wednesday and go until about early November. The MLS Cup Final will be on December 12. More details on this courtesy of Yahoo! Sports: https://sports.yahoo.com/mls-will-r...h-fans-in-attendance-on-aug-12-161554742.html

So uh... get psyched for MLS soccer returning!
 
Heading into September 5, here are the standings of the 2020 MLS season. See where your favorite team(s) lie. This is my first time doing a standings update on any soccer/football league:

(LEGEND: Team (W-L-D; pts.)

--- CONFERENCE EAST ---
01- Columbus Crew (6-1-2; 20 pts.)
02- Toronto FC (5-1-3; 18 pts.)
03- Orlando City SC (4-2-3; 15 pts.)
04- Philadelphia Union (4-2-3; 15 pts.)
05- Montreal Impact (4-2-3; 13 pts.)
06- New York City FC (4-5-0; 12 pts.)
07- New York Red Bulls (3-4-2; 11 pts.)
08- New England Revolution (2-2-5; 11 pts.)
09- Atlanta United FC (3-4-1; 10 pts.)
10- DC United (2-4-3; 9 pts.) <<< -4 goal differential
11- FC Cincinnati (2-4-3; 9 pts.) <<< -6 goal differential
12- Nashville SC (2-4-2; 8 pts.)
13- Chicago Fire (2-5-2; 8 pts.)
14- Inter Miami CF (1-6-1; 4 pts.)

--- CONFERENCE WEST ---
01- Sporting Kansas City (5-2-2; 17 pts.)
02- Seattle Sounders FC (4-1-3; 15 pts.)
03- Los Angeles Football Club (3-2-3; 12 pts.)
04- Minnesota United FC (3-3-2; 12 pts.)
05- LA Galaxy (3-3-2; 11 pts.)
06- Portland Timbers (3-3-2; 11 pts.)
07- Real Salt Lake (2-1-5; 11 pts.)
08- FC Dallas (2-1-4; 10 pts.)
09- Houston Dynamo (2-2-4; 10 pts.)
10- Colorado Rapids (2-3-2; 8 pts.)
11- San Jose Earthquakes (2-3-2; 8 pts.)
12- Vancouver Whitecaps (2-6-0; 6 pts.)

Still a lot of season to go, even in this COVID-19/Coronavirus affected time. So keep playing hard!
 
This past Thursday, I saw my Houston Dynamo play at the Colorado Rapids on a new local network here in Houston called QUEST. The Dynamo were up 1-0 in about the 46th Minute. The Dynamo winning four straight was denied deep into Stoppage Time in the 2nd Half. So we had to settle for a 1-1 tie.

Tonight, my Houston Dynamo will host FC Dallas at BBVA Compass Stadium. A limited number of fans will fill the stands at this stadium as the restrictions of COVID-19/Coronavirus are somewhat relaxing. This stadium is home to the Houston Dynamo, the Houston Dash of the NWSL, and is used as the football stadium for the Tigers of Texas Southern University. I been to BBVA Compass Stadium before, but never seen a game there. I kind of have an idea as to what the atmosphere will be like based on a game in the USL I saw earlier this year. This one other game I saw on TV had about a maximum of 5K fans in the stands in Louisville, KY. There will be fans wearing orange in the stands for the Houston Dynamo.


[UPDATE] Houston Dynamo AT FC Dallas, not here in Houston.
 
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Physically-distanced fans were in the stands tonight at BBVA Compass Stadium as the Houston Dynamo hosted Minnesota United. The Dynamo were inept in the first half, giving up two goals to Minnesota. They'd come back to tie in the 2nd half. Unfortunately, the game ended in a 2-2 draw. The resolve of the Dynamo, though, is highly commendable. There was a moment of controversy as one Minnesota player got red carded for what seemed like throwing a chop or a punch at a Dynamo player. This draw hurt a bit since Minnesota had its own MASH unit and a bunch of injuries.

Hopefully your favorite team(s) won this week. If so, congratulations!
 
This weekend is the first weekend of the 2020 MLS Playoffs. Last night, the New England Revolution downed the Montreal Impact 2-1, and then Nashville knocked off Inter Miami FC 3-0.

I do not have the full playoffs schedule or really know who all are playing (I know my beloved Houston Dynamo didn't make it), but here are the upcoming games:

* Orlando SC vs. New York City FC
* Columbus Crew vs. New York Red Bulls
* Sporting Kansas City vs. San José Earthquakes
* Minnesota United vs. Colorado Rapids
* Portland Timbers vs. FC Dallas
* Toronto FC vs. Nashville
* Philadelphia Union vs. New England Revolution
* Seattle Sounders FC vs. Los Angeles FC

Congratulations to all who advanced to the postseason. Enjoy these games and more.
 
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