New York Red Bulls manager Hans Backe feels his club has achieved the impossible in world soccer, compiling 30 more points than the season before to win the Eastern Conference after a 2-0 win over the New England Revolution on Thursday night. (WATCH VIDEO HERE)
Revolution captain Shalrie Joseph left with a parting shot, calling it “stupid” to let Juan Pablo Angel go and asking his team to make a bid for RBNY's Colombian forward.
Expect Revs manager Steve Nicol to ring in the changes for 2011 as he repeats to the Boston Globe that he doesn’t feel there’s enough quality on the team.
The Crew, who led the East for most of the season, saw the title slip away from them for good on Thursday. They did, however, get some consolation in defeating Joe Public 4-1 in their final Champions League group match despite fielding a reserve squad.
The Seattle Sounders could be the Crew’s first-round opponent depending on how the results work out this weekend. For anyone counting, it’s been six weeks since Freddy Montero’s last goal but he says he’s a playmaker first. Regardless, the fact that he’s purchased a house must bode well for the future.
In addition to the Eastern Conference, the Western champions and Supporters’ Shield winners are left to be determined. The LA Galaxy’s Todd Dunivant says he hopes the Galaxy have to earn the Supporters’ Shield by being forced to beat FC Dallas on Sunday in the final match of the 2010 MLS regular season.
Real Salt Lake will hope to dial up the pressure on LA with a win at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday. RSL’s captain is a former Colorado player who outlines the fundamental difference in his experience at the two clubs.
What would make an RSL conquest of the Supporters’ Shield all the more impressive is that they also finished first in their CONCACAF Champions League group and traveled twice as much as Manchester United during the course of a season in all competitions, as MLS Commissioner Don Garber points out in this interview.
San Jose’s MVP candidate Chris Wondolowski will hope to also nip Edson Buddle for the MLS scoring title. If he makes history it will be made at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, which will host its final MLS match this weekend with the Kansas City Wizards opening a new soccer stadium next year.
Here’s a write-up ahead of Jaime Moreno’s final MLS match which compares him to a couple of Washington Redskins and outlines his career as a practical joker.
Chicago Fire legend C.J. Brown may have gone out without a proper send-off, but he does want MLS clubs to know that he wants to be back in the league as a coach.
There are MLS teams that are already preparing for the Expansion Draft, including the Philadelphia Union who have conducted their own mock draft.
Meanwhile, the Sounders are resigned to the fact they will lose a good player in the Expansion Draft in November.
D.C. United are planning for next year and club chief Kevin Payne reiterates that Ben Olsen will not be a candidate for the manager’s job in 2011. He also says that Baltimore may be a real opportunity as a new home for his club.
Here’s the inside track into the players likely to join the first four signings made by the Portland Timbers this week. One of those first four Timbers players earned the MVP award for his performances in the recently concluded USSF D-2 season.
One player who will surely be on the Timbers' and Vancouver Whitecaps’ SuperDraft radar is US Under-20 forward Omar Salgado, who talks about his experience coming off a two-week training stint with Everton.
At the conclusion of the current MLS season, there will be a fair share of debate and discussion on a potential change in the quota of Canadian players for clubs based in Canada.
The base of the D-2 Austin Aztex will likely move from Texas to Orlando, Fla., after a report says the club has found new investors from overseas.
Former Houston Dynamo midfielder Stuart Holden, who is based overseas with Bolton, has asked his family to leave their scarves at home for the upcoming weekend derby against Wigan.
Few owners in pro sports have had as rough a go of it in 2010 as much as former Liverpool owner Tom Hicks who comments on the EPL club and his other sports teams in The New York Times.
Lastly, there is news from the Peruvian second division that four players fainted on a field after ingesting water that was spiked by the home team.
MLSsoccer.com Must-Reads:
Download Thursday’s edition of ExtraTime Radio with Gregg Berhalter and John Spencer
The Throw-In: Goodbye to a hero, Brian McBride
Fire’s C.J. Brown chooses retirement without fanfare
Jaime Moreno finale growing into an A-list event
A decade later, New York and Mike Petke are champions again
