Avoiding the Drop

Toronto F.C.  v.  New England Revolution (Saturday)

Coming off big wins against Chivas USA and Houston, the Revs could really make some headway this weekend if they can keep their streak going against Toronto.  A win and New England will be no worse than tied for fourth in the Eastern Conference with three matches in hand over all the top four teams other than Chicago.  This means that a strong finish could result in a playoff spot- an outcome that has been pretty much unthinkable in recent months.  Should Toronto be victorious they could, with a little help, move to within a point of the conference lead.  As I’ve mentioned in previous previews, if the Reds could ever string together a few wins they could run away with the Eastern Conference.  Then again, this is pretty much true of all the teams in the conference- except New York.

Kansas City Wizards  v.  F.C. Dallas (Saturday)

This is the game the Wizards need to help them keep pace with the Eastern Conference leaders, whether they take advantage of it is up to them.  Of further help to them will be the fact that today Dallas’ Kenny Cooper was transferred to 2. Bundesliga side TSV 1860 Munich.  We should resist the temptation to say that Dallas has “given up” by selling Cooper.  It’s been clear for a couple of years that he would be leaving and Dallas has been devoting the bulk of it’s time, energy, and finances to bringing along its younger players- Avila, McCarty, Wagner, Shea, etc.- and the club’s share of Cooper’s transfer fee can only help them to continue along this path.  The Wizards have been busy in the transfer market as well, recently signing Hungarian striker Zoltan (ZOLTAN!) Hercegfalvi.

Real Salt Lake  v.  Chicago Fire S.C. (Saturday)

Given the vicissitudes of the Eastern Conference this year it should come as no shock that Chicago could exit this weekend’s match in anything from first to fourth place.  I think Chicago can win this match, but I also think their future is bleak.  Logan Pause and Jon Busch may be back from the Gold Cup, but Brian McBride is out for the season, Blanco is, well, Blanco, and the race in the East is very tight and somebody is going to be on the outside looking in.  I think it might just be Chicago this year, especially if the New England Revolution’s results continue to improve..  RSL, on the other hand, has Kyle Beckerman back.  I still don’t dig the trustafarian dreads, but he did play well in the Gold Cup, I’ll give him that.

D.C. United  v.  Houston Dynamo (Saturday)

Biggest match of the weekend in MLS- probably.  Houston needs to at least earn a draw to ensure staying in the top spot in the Western Conference and D.C. United needs at least a draw to protect their third place spot- and a win to make any headway in the cluttered Eastern Conference table.  Houston also needs to prove that losing three of their last four matches (in all competitions) is an aberration due to losing key players (Brian Ching and Stuart Holden) to the Gold Cup, not the beginning of a worrying trend.  D.C. have played well of late, are very much in the Eastern Conference race, and a late season push could put them over the top.  Having Santino Quaranta back from national team duty will also give them a boost.

Columbus Crew  v.  Colorado Rapids (Saturday)

A win keeps Columbus in first place, it’s that simple.  If not, they could be plunged back into the donnybrook that is the Eastern Conference table.  They will have Robbie Rogers and Chad Marshall back in the fold after their international stints and that will help them more than having Colin Clark back will help the Rapids.  I wasn’t sure Clark had even played in a Gold Cup match, but my crack staff has informed me that he played against Haiti.  Well, bully for him, then.  I hesitate to call this match a “must win” for Colorado, but with Chivas USA dropping points like there is no tomorrow, the Rapids have a great opportunity to improve their place in the Western Conference table with a win.  A loss and they risk falling out of the race altogether.

Seattle Sounders F.C.  v.  San Jose Earthquakes (Sunday)

This match should be a “gimme” for the Sounders.  Their last loss in the league was almost two months ago, Kasey Keller and Fredy Montero looked good in the All-Star game, and Freddy Underwear is over his migraine.  They will have to overcome playing away from home and what might just be the best set of supporters in MLS.  I was going to say that San Jose will be looking for points to help keep them in front of league embarrassments New York Red Bulls, but they’re already three points up on them and they also have three games in hand, so that can’t be the reason.  So, please chose from the following options, a) tickets to the match have already been sold, b) they all signed contracts saying they would play, or c) they want to scope out the Santa Clara coeds taking summer classes.

F.C. Koper  v.  Interblock Ljubljana (Saturday)

I’d like to visit Slovenia at some point.  During the ugly, ugly, UGLY breakup of the former Yugoslavia it was the only region not to experience any violence.  It has alps, a high standard of living and…oh yeah, the match, that’s right.  Interblock has a pentagram on it’s logo and is called “The Devil’s Team.”  Sure, that sounds pretty evil, but it turns out they also have an English player on the roster and that’s just wrong.  This “Ben Gill” is a 21 year old began his career in Arsenal’s youth side and has consistently moved to weaker clubs as his career has progressed.  Apparently, somewhere along the line, he sold his sold to the Devil.  F.C. Koper once changed its name to avoid having to pay its debts.  I can’t think of a scenario in which both teams lose this match, and when that happens I believe I am require to root for…a meteor.

FK Pelister  v.  FK Sloga Jugomagnat (Saturday)

I’m no expert on the Slavic languages, but I think “Jugomagnat” means “southern magnet.”  I guess that’s not all that helpful, is it?  Whatever the case, “Fudbalski Klub Sloga Jugomagnat Skopje” seem to be a pretty decent side in the Makedonska Prva Liga and have been part of European competitions on a fairly regular basis.  My exhaustive research has also revealed that the most interesting thing about FK Pelister is the city in which they play- Bitola, Macedonia.  I’ve never had the desire to visit Macedonia at all, but Bitola looks like a pretty interesting city.  Still, it’s probably not going to be at the top of my vacation list unless I fall in love with a beautiful fan of the green and white.  Fun fact:  I’m pretty sure “Fudbalski” is a made-up word.

Jagiellonia Bialystok  v.  Odra Wodzislaw (Saturday)

I was initially drawn to this match by Jagiellonia Bialystok because I assumed that the team’s name was somehow a tribute to Poland’s Jagiellon Dynasty who once ruled over the largest empire in Europe.  Perhaps this is the case, but the club also has an amazingly long name (Sportowa Spółka Akcyjna Jagiellonia Białystok) a horrible home kit, and begins this season with -10 points as a result of its involvement in various forms of corruption over the past five years.  Odra Wodzislaw seem to be a middling sort of club, but they do have one claim to, er, “fame”- they are the current club of Dariusz Dudek, younger brother of former Liverpool and current Real Madrid goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek.  Hmm…suddenly I’m hungry for pierogi…

Vorskla Poltava  v.  F.C. Shakhtar Donetsk (Saturday)

Why preview this game?  That’s easy, it features Shakhtar Donetsk!  Why is that important?  Because Joe Strummer wrote a song about them, that’s why!  Shakhtar may be the best European team most people have never heard of and that could have something to do with the fact that there are almost as many Brazilians in their starting line-up as there are Ukrainians.  Speaking of rosters, Vorskla Poltava have a bunch of Albanians on theirs.  There’s nothing wrong with that, but it usually suggests a team that is too cheap to even employ mediocre local players and Poltava’s results only back-up my well thought out theory on this.  Uh oh.  They beat Shaktar to win the Ukranian Cup last year- so much for my “expertise.”

SK Sturm Graz  v.  SV Mattersburg (Sunday)

Sturm Graz once played in Arnold Schwarzenegger-Stadion (he was born in Graz), but then he went and did some Republican-y things as governor of Kali-forn-ia and made them mad, so now they play in UPC-Arena.  I’m assuming the outside of the stadium is done up in some sort of “bar code” motif.  Mattersburg is not only the home of SV Mattersburg, but also the best Subbuteo team in the world.  If you know what that is you probably don’t get out of the house very much.  I’m going to pick Mattersburg to win this match for one simple reason:  Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was born in Graz and, well, we all know how that turned out…  Okay, maybe two reasons- Graz have a sponsor’s logo over the crotch area of their shorts and that makes me feel uncomfortable.

Ross County F.C.  v.  Montrose F.C. (Saturday)

The Staggies did their best to live up to my dire prediction last week, but they eventually won their ALBA Challenge Cup match in extra time.  This week the play in the first round of the Co-operative Insurance League Cup against the Gable Endies of Third Division Montrose F.C..  Whatever their struggles may have been in the league in recent years, County have done well in the various cups in Scotland, including winning the Challenge Cup in 2006-2007.  The match against Montrose should be a winnable one and give the team some momentum before they open the season against Livingston.  It will be Livingston, who, despite entering administration, have apparently been bailed out and will compete in the SFL’s First Division after all.  Whether they will be docked points or suffer some other penalty has yet to be determined.