While Jozy Altidore’s goalscoring record for Sunderland will always torment him like a black spot, a piece of low-hanging fruit for doubters who refuse to recognize his enormous talent, those who’ve followed his career of late will know that it’s his troublesome hamstrings which remain his personal Kryptonite.
The big kick off is here, and, wouldn’t you know it, the stars have aligned in the perfect manner for fans wanting to do nothing but watch football all weekend.
It’s as if Premier League, Liga MX, MLS, Olympic, Bundesliga and La Liga representatives all got together and did this for us. Head to the store tonight, grab all the sustenance you need to survive Saturday and Sunday, and bunker down.
Football is back.
It’s been more than two calendar years since the Chicago Fire last won an MLS road match. That’s 36 futile attempts at claiming three points dating back to their 1-0 victory over the New England Revolution on July 12th, 2014.
For a bit of perspective, Chivas USA (the defunct MLS club which folded after the 2014 season) experienced their last road win on that same date. It’s a staggering statistic that’s unbelievably damning for the club that’s won an MLS Cup (1998), MLS Supporters’ Shield (2003) and has won the US Open Cup four times — more than any other MLS club.
MLS used to be a league where everyone played a 4-4-2 and large, slow defenders would kick the ball really hard toward big forwards, who were good at winning headers but not much else, who would then try to either outrun the defense or take a long shot. It was painfully boring.
Frank Lampard was unstoppable for New York City FC throughout July, registering six goals, one assist and one MLS Player of the Month award.
It was only last May that Lampard was being booed by his own supporters, but he’s transformed into the toast of New York after leading his team to the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
When we last reported on Charlie Davies back in April, it was to celebrate his remarkable recovery from a 2009 car accident that could’ve claimed his life. The subject of an ESPN documentary entitled “The Unrelenting Charlie Davies”, the New England Revolution forward was looking forward to a successful 2016 MLS season.
Didier Drogba is usually in the news for scoring a cool goal, or scoring a buch of goals or refusing to play in artificial turf, but this weekend he made headlines for doing a very stupid thing in Montreal's 1-1 draw with DC United. Every dirty player knows you have to be aware of where the ref is at all times. Drogba must be out of practice.
Sebastian Giovinco is putting the pain of being omitted from Italy’s Euro 2016 squad firmly behind him by recapturing the form that saw him named the 2015 MLS MVP. His performance in Toronto's 3-0 victory over Columbus was one of the best we've seen in 2016.
Through the first 30 minutes of the 2016 MLS All-Star Game, there was an interesting contrast between the midfields of Arsenal and the MLS All-Stars. Andrea Pirlo anchored the setup for MLS, in tandem with Kyle Beckerman and Kaka, while Arsenal chose the strength of Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny to support Jack Wilshere.
The average age of the duel was 24 for Arsenal and 35 for MLS, but one couldn’t help but be in awe of the play of MLS’s old guard — particularly the sumptuous, metronomic style of Pirlo.