June 14th Picks

No USL pick this week, I’ll be at the Tacoma FC – BYU Cougars game, and have already posted a bunch of bonus picks for the week So, this time around it’ll be all MLS. (I’ll put up a post for my Gold Cup quarter final picks tomorrow.)

Thursday, June 14

FC Dallas @ Real Salt Lake—1-2 RSL

With Ruiz and Cooper gone the Hoops will have a hard time, though I think Toja will continue to shine. Esky and Adu will get goals in the run of play and RSL gets there first MLS win of the year.

Saturday, June 16

Columbus Crew @ New England Revolution —0-2 New England

A visit by the anemic looking Crew will get New England back into their winning ways, but I don’t think this will be a lopsided game anywhere but on the scoreboard.

Chicago Fire @ DC United—0-3 DC

Emilio and Fred should be able to feast on a poor Fire side. This one will be even more gas on the ‘Sack Dave’ bonfire.

Kansas City @ New York Red Bull—1-2

Angel will net at least another goal, and the Wizards will show everyone just how much the miss Eddie Johnson.

Colorado Rapids @ Chivas USA—0-1 Chivas

The Goats should get three points from a rapidly falling Colorado team.

Sunday, June 17

FC Dallas @ Toronto FC—1-2 Toronto

A game on three days rest at the BMO will be too much for FC Dallas, who’ll hold on to their first place standing in the West, but lose a lot of ground this week.

Real Salt Lake @ Los Angeles Galaxy 3-0 RSL

After a win on Thursday, RSL will really pour it on in this one. In one week they should match their points total from the rest of the season.

11 June Pick Review

5-2-1—this was just what I needed after last week’s 0-fer.

USL1 Friday Night Game

Portland Timbers @ Montreal Impact 0-2 Montreal—1-0 Portland

Congrats to the Timbers for pulling out a huge road win, though riding the bus overnight only to lose at Rochester on Saturday must have really stunk.

Wednesday June 6

New York Red Bulls @ Toronto FC 2-1 NY—2-1 NY

Just about what I expected. The real question at this point has to be, just how good is JPA?

Thursday June 7

Colorado Rapids @ Houston Dynamo 0-1 Houston—1-2 Houston

I really hate that MLS and ESPN scheduled this against the USMNT game. Seeing the Rapids lose softens the sting a bit though.

Chinese MNT @ Real Salt Lake 0-0 Draw—0-1 RSL

I should have stuck to my original pick here. Seitz seems to have played a great game. On the other hand, the RSL FO stunk it up with some incredibly bad moves like kicking fans out of the stadium for protesting the PRC.

Saturday June 9

LA Galaxy @ FC Dallas 0-1 Dallas—1-3 Dallas

Dallas wins the game, but loses Kenny Cooper to a broken leg. This is not good news for the Hoops.

Chivas USA @ Chicago Fire 1-0 Chivas—1-0 Chivas

The goats get the win, and the “Fire Dave” movement keeps on growing.

Sunday June 10

New York Red Bulls @ DC United 1-0 NY—2-4 DC

Wow, I didn’t even see this one coming. Two consecutive hat tricks against New York? Wow. Emilio ended his scoring drought, and Ben Olsen proves that he can score too … I think their may be a fourth team to watch in the east.

Houston Dynamo @ Columbus Crew 1-0 Houston—2-1 Houston

I didn’t watch it, so I don’t know anything more than the score.

MLS Picks for June 6

After stinking it up last week, I’m still game for another try … barely. For the MLS teams, I’m including their adjusted scariness rating

USL1 Friday Night Game

Portland Timbers @ Montreal Impact—0-2 Montreal

I think Montreal wins this one walking away.

Wednesday June 6

New York Red Bulls (2.62) @ Toronto FC (2.15)—2-1 NY

I think New York gets back on track after their loss to KC. Toronto should play this one tought though.

Thursday June 7

Colorado Rapids (1.61) @ Houston Dynamo (1.65)—0-1 Houston

The Dynamo pull off the win at home against a slightly less scary Rapids side.

Chinese MNT (unranked) @ Real Salt Lake (1.46)— 0-1 RSL 0-0 Draw

Rimando gets a clean sheet and Freddy gets a point. Hmm, just saw that RSL is going to be starting a lot of subs this game ... I'm downgrading this one to a draw.

Saturday June 9

LA Galaxy (1.16) @ FC Dallas (0.8) —0-1 Dallas

Dallas pulls out a boring win.

Chivas USA (2.18) @ Chicago Fire (1.00)—1-0 Chivas

Preki gets a win, Dave Sarachan doesn’t.

Sunday June 10

New York Red Bulls (2.26) @ DC United (2.35)—1-0 NY

A tired red Bulls side pulls out a second win in a week

Houston Dynamo (1.65) @ Columbus Crew (-0.12)—1-0 Houston

The Dynamo will get a second win during the week facing a completely non-scary Columbus Crew.

May 30th Picks

Here are my picks for this weekends MLS action (and the Friday Night USL game—you are watching it, right?). I’ve included my current scariness ratings for each team in parens.

USL Friday Night

Vancouver Whitecaps (2.28) @ Montreal Impact (2.60)—1-2 Montreal

This game (along with Saturday’s New York @ KC match) looks like the best game of the weekend. I think it’ll be really close, but Nick DeSantis and the Impact will extend the Vancouver losing streak to two games.

MLS Saturday

Colorado Rapids (2.28) @ Toronto FC (1.38)—2-1 Colorado

Colorado wins this in a tight game. I think Jeff Cunningham will score for his new team though.

Real Salt Lake (0.62) @ New England Revolution (1.96)—1-3 New England

I’d love to be wrong about this (I’d even take yet another tie), but I think New England is just too much for RSL.

New York Red Bulls (2.04) @ Kansas City Wizards (1.96)—2-1 New York

Along with the Friday Night pairing of USL1 powerhouses Vancouver and Montreal, this game is the cream of the crop. It’ll be tight, but I think Jozy and Angel both score, as does Eddie Johnson, and the Red Bulls take 3 points on the road.

DC United (2.16) @ Los Angeles Galaxy (0.76)—2-0 Los Angeles

DC is playing to well and LA will be missing too many players.

MLS Sunday

FC Dallas (1.80) @ Houston Dynamo (0.54)—1-0 Dallas

Kenny Cooper gets another goal, and Dallas beats the slumping Dynamo.

Columbus Crew (0.92) @ Chicago Fire (0.24)—0-0 Draw

This sounds like a painful game to watch. I don’t think either side has it in them to pull out a win.

May 28th Pick Review

Thursday May 24 — ESPN’s Game

Chicago Fire @ New York Red Bulls — (1-3 NYRB) 0-3 NYRB

ESPN must be awfully happy about this game. There was some pretty good soccer on the field, a non-draw, and enough scoring to keep the non-soccer fan interested. Good stuff.

Saturday May 26

Kansas City Wizards @ New England Revolution — (1-2 Revs) 4-3 KC

Wow, I guess Eddie Johnson might be back after all.

Houston Dynamo @ DC United — (0-2 DC) 1-2 DC

Christian Gomez finally scored and Ben Olsen added a goal as well. DC is starting to look like they’re capable of playing. As hot as New York and New England look, it might not be enough.

Toronto FC @ Columbus Crew — (1-0 TFC) 2-2 Draw

Columbus finally got a couple of points and Toronto put up some points on the road, but neither side did enough to win.

Los Angeles Galaxy @ Colorado Rapids — (1-1 draw) 0-1 Rapids

LA went down a man early, and ended up losing on a Herculez Gomez goal following a Terry Cooke cross.

FC Dallas @ Chivas USA — (2-1 Dallas) 0-2 Chivas

Galindo and Razov both scored, putting the goats over Dallas.

Sunday May 27

Real Salt Lake @ Chicago Fire &mdash (2-1 RSL) 0-0 Draw

This was a game that neither team deserved to win. Chicago fans can take heart in breaking their losing streak, and RSL fans can (maybe) find a silver lining in the play of Kipre and Esky.

USL1 Friday Night Game

Miami FC @ Montreal Impact — (1-2 Montreal) 0-1 Montreal

This was a pretty good game. The Montreal crowd seemed pretty engaged. Montreal’s really got to love their win as Vancouver lost to Carolina, setting up a huge Vancouver @ Montreal match for Fox Soccer Channel’s match next Friday.

How’d I Do?

I ended up 3-6-0 this week (4-6-0 if you count the US Open Cup game) and 6-8-2 overall. I’m still doing well enough that I’ll try picking this weeks games, but I’m sure I’m not at the top of anyone’s table.

Hey, I Picked One Right!

Well, I made a USOC prediction back in my post reviewing last week’s picks. Believe it or not, I even got it right (down to the score). From everything I’ve read, RSL fielded a team with a lot of backups/reserves.

Chris Klein got the team’s only goal and Chris Seitz seems to have had a decent night in the net. That the team lost on another late goal is the continuation of a bad trend though.

May 22nd Picks

Okay, I think I’ve recovered enough from my horrible picks last week to try again. I’m also going to try my hand at the USL1 game of the week that Fox Soccer Channel will be showing this Friday.

Thursday May 24 — ESPN’s Game

Chicago Fire @ New York Red Bulls — 1-3 NYRB

The Red Bulls are looking too strong to pick against right now. And this time, Jozy will be on the field, not at his prom.

Saturday May 26

Kansas City Wizards @ New England Revolution — 1-2 Revs

Again, the home team looks like they’ll be too much for the visitors.

Houston Dynamo @ DC United — 0-2 DC

Picking the home side for the third time in a row. I don’t think Houston can pull this one off, DC is starting to put the pieces together.

Toronto FC @ Columbus Crew — 1-0 TFC

I think Toronto will pick up where they left off before the loss to DC last week. Columbus just won’t be able to keep up with them.

Los Angeles Galaxy @ Colorado Rapids — 1-1 draw

A lot is made of Colorado being ahead of LA in the standings, but they seem to be fading. I’m not sure that LA is that much stronger though.

FC Dallas @ Chivas USA — 2-1 Dallas

Dallas is looking pretty good, though there last couple of games haven’t been against strong teams — then again Chivas isn’t a very strong team.

Sunday May 27

Real Salt Lake @ Chicago Fire &mdash 2-1 RSL

If Kreis can get the boys fired up (sorry, I never could resist a good pun) I think RSL can can beat a fading Fire side.

USL1 Friday Night Game

Miami FC @ Montreal Impact — 1-2 Montreal

Miami played well last week, but Montreal is the second best team in the league (behind Vancouver). As well as Nick DeSantis has been coaching them, I’d think some MLS teams might want to tune into this game to see how he does.

Reflecting on my May 18 Picks

Well, that didn’t go so well, did it? Let’s see how I did.

Game	Prediction	Actual
Notes
DC United @ Toronto FC	2-2 draw	2-1 DCU
Looks like TFC was a bit more tired and DCU a bit hungrier than I’d thought. This should be a pretty good series going forward, with great fan support on both sides.
Columbus Crew @ NY Red Bulls	0-1 NY	0-4 NY
I thought Columbus would be beaten, but I had no idea the margin would be this wide. NYRB looks like they’ve regained their form. Now if they can just find some fans for their home games.
New England Revolution @ Houston Dynamo	2-0 Revs	1-0 Revs
I didn’t get the score right, but I did have the result.
Kansas City Wizards @ Colorado Rapids	2-1 Wizards	1-1 Draw
I haven’t seen the game, so I don’t know how exciting it might have been.
LA Galaxy @ Chivas USA	3-1 Galaxy	1-1 Draw
Sounds like this one was a good game to watch … I’ve got it on the PVR so I’ll enjoy it later. Bad break for Chris Albright though. Hopefully it’s not a bad injury.
Real Salt Lake @ FC Dallas	2-1 RSL	1-2 FC Dallas
Wow, this one really floored me. I can’t really believe that an RSL team that came out and fought so hard in their last two games could have looked this bad. I’m still hoping Coach Kreis’ boys get things turned around.

Which means I was 2-4 (2-2-2 Ive’s Method). I don’t think I could have been much more average than that. I’ll try my hand again next week, but if I don’t start doing better I don’t know how long I’ll keep it up.

Since it’s not an MLS game, I’ll pitch in my US Open Cup pick here:

• Wed May 23 — Real Salt Lake @ Colorado Rapids — 1-2 Colorado

I just don’t see RSL being up for this game, and the Carey Talley injury is just going to make it worse.

May 18 Picks

I haven’t tried picking results yet, mostly because I think I’d be really lousy at it. This morning on my drive into work I listened to an AYL Podcast and there fired up about the idea. So, here are my (probably not very good) choices for the weekend:

DC United @ Toronto FC — 2-2 draw

I like Toronto’s energy, but I don’t think they’ll win 3 in 11 days. On the other hand, the BMO might collapse under the fan energy which I think will just keep increasing.

Columbus Crew @ NY Red Bulls — 0-1 NY

I think the Red bulls will start to pull things together, and win a close game in Columbus.

New England Revolution @ Houston Dynamo — 2-0 Revs

Houston didn’t look too good against Toronto last week, and will fall to a really strong looking New England.

Kansas City Wizards @ Colorado Rapids — 2-1 Wizards

I think Kansas City will get a result on the road against a tired Colorado team that hasn’t looked to good of late.

LA Galaxy @ Chivas USA — 3-1 Galaxy

I think the Galaxy is the stronger of the two home teams, and it will show.

Real Salt Lake @ FC Dallas — 2-1 RSL

I think Jason’s boys will get three points out of this match. Freddy might even score a goal.