The MLS All-Star game is here, and Houston is ready to go. A sellout crowd will be on hand to watch as the All-Stars take on Manchester United (ESPN2, Telefutura).
In case you missed it, here is my earlier preview of tonight's game. In what is an exhibition where nothing hinges on the outcome, All-Star coach Bruce Arena will try to manage minutes and keep his side healthy, while Sir Alex Ferguson has a chance to scout his youngsters and decide who is ready to step up and contribute this season.
If you will be watching tonight's action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action.
No Donovan and Buddle starting? Disappointing. I’m sure they’ll be in by half though
Oh no. We have to deal with Harkes tonight. Ugh. Is it being televised in Spanish? I’d rather not know what they’re saying but hear the great GOOOOAAAALLLL call than have to listen to Harkesie’s drivel for two hours.
Missed the starting XI’s can someone post them please.
G’wan MLS!!!
Man, Harkes is calling the game. What happened to Tommy “Somebody needs to put the ball in the old onion bag!” Smith? Too bad Bruce played LD and Buddle played in that horror show yesterday. Wish they didn’t are were starting. Regardless, it should be a good game.
4-5-1
Angel up top. Ricketts in goal. Alston at RB. Pearce at LB. Olave and Marshall at CB. I think Joseph is at Center mid.
And Sebastien Le Toux, Javier Morales, Shalrie Joseph, Marco Pappa and Guillermo Barros Schelotto in the midfield too
They played (and lost 4-1 at home) last night to the Puerto Rico Islanders. Might be a bit tired…
soooo many ManU frontrunners in that crowd. disgusting!
Dam. Too easy. go go UTD.
love the Houston Oiler blue MLS All-Star shirts. holy crap, that’s a quick goal for United!
Wow, what a goal….how sloppy
Way to go Alston! Worthless.
Anyone know if ESPN still has some broadcasting rights to EPL in the Fall this year?
Just great Alston. Eurosnobs “MLS is crap” coming in 3,2,1…
I’m beginning to think that giving up early goals is an American defect that we have. Or Arena’s been chatting with BB.
wow i cant believe they already scored…my excitement bubble has taken a major hit.
Why are there two all stars from NE again?
That light blue shade is one of Dynamo’s colors (along with the black and orange). And yes, Alston sucks.
Le Toux is really kinda weak as well meh.
Until MLS proves otherwise…? See yesterday’s LA – PRI game.
Ya i know. The Manchester United States Frontrunners should be their fanbase name.
Oh Alston..what the eff was that?
Joseph is class.
Alston is crap
MLS doing us proud.
Game. Time for some LA sparkle
Maybe GBS can dive one of them into a card so we can go a man up.
Lol How does crappy KC WIZARDS beat Man u and our MLS “ALL STARS” getting crapped on… lol just makes no sense
I was thinking, the only thing that makes sense is that now MANU are actually trying.
Alston and Marshall for 2014!! Never thought I’d want to see Bornstein play CB this badly ever.
Yeah really.
le Toux looks completely lost and I’m a union fan.
too bad Joseph did not play for USMNT. solid passing on the ground…calm, composed-complete opposite of Rico Clark
Maybe Joseph needs some Mary J
1 of the Top 3 all-time dumbest comments on SBI
I think the KC game ticked off Man U. and made them try. You can’t throw together a bunch of players in a day or two and have chemistry. All-Stars should always lose if playing a good team that’s really trying.
At least MLS has CONCACAF Champions League to fall back on. Oh wait…
Hospital ball from pearce.
New drinking game: chug every time John Harkes says “an indecisive decision: (2 already).
why are you here?
As of right now three mls teams are still in
I Love the MLS and hope it continues to grow but I don’t even think it’s the chemistry.. The line-up is horrible.. I can see why we give Joseph a call but calling players from the 2nd worse team in the league… Is Arena serious? Alston should not even be playing.. I would have taken him off after the blooper
MLS coming back alive somewhat.
They arent allowing Le toux to run around like a chicken without a head which is his only redeemable quality
Give me one goal please. Please.
After being abused by Ryan Smith on every touch, Rafael has to be in disbelief that Smith isnt an “All-Star”.
Angel can only hold the ball up for so long. He’s doing alright but he needs some help. Joseph is the only mid that looks like he has a brain. The others are taking field goals. Marshall and Alston are defending like USMNT defenders right now. Concede early, poor set piece defending…
Our backline is not good.
and Marshall lays an egg for Macheda…offside.
I’m here because my parents conceived me. This is a comment section for opinions. If you can’t handle my sarcastic/frustrated “tough love” comment on MLS, then don’t read my comment.
I don’t know why people are so high on marshall… is it because he’s tall and has decent speed… because every time i see him play for U.S. and this game he does somtheing dumb
WOW le toux was soo lazy there.
I know, I’m just frustrated with MLS’ performance (so far) in the last two days. Fair play to TFC for winning though.
ummmm Arena…. Once your players like they don’t want to anymore..I think it’s time to make a sub
ummmm Arena…. Once your players act like they don’t want to play anymore..I think it’s time to make a sub. ** Sorry for typo
Apparently KC really pissed Man U off. Maybe at halftime Arena can put a new 11 in.
Bruce Arena, Leading another team to embarrass MLS.
+1
If Ryan Smith was in a different market (Seattle, LA) he might have been voted in. He did work Rafael the other day, it was awesome to watch.
Morales is the best MLSer out there
A nod to the Oilers. I think it’s called space blue or something like that.
5 – TFC, LA Galaxy, Seattle Sounders, RSL and the Columbus are all still technically in the CONCACAF Champions League
Pearce and Alston both show they’re not up to top-caliber opposition. Frankly neither of them ever will be. If those are our future options at fullback…no.
Your preaching to the quire….. Last night took a lot out of me, as I am trying to become a follower of MLS, I support NYRB, however I want a quality product.
Oh I forgot about RSL….. LA is as good as gone though in all seriousness.
Is KC Wizards on their way to save the day for MLS? This is EMBARRASSING
Can I ask why do people like Ching? I am at a loss as to why people think he is good.
Hey I hear you man. I follow EPL and European soccer in general, but I’ve been trying hard to stay current with MLS. I’m from Atlanta so i don’t have a natural club so I more just pull for certain players and just for the league as a whole to succeed. I don’t get to see *that* many games though since i’m not in any team’s market.
I also want a quality product. I don’t think this current All-Star game setup of “MLS vs. the World” is the best way to showcase MLS, but yeah.
Man U is freaking awesome!
Took the words out of my mouth.
MLS can probably beat most american division 2 college teams though, i sure do give em that. Maybe on a goood day, they can play with out sunday league teams too.
I wouldn’t give up on Alston yet. I thought he settled down and did some good things after his terrible start.
Ching on for Angel and not Buddle. I sense Bruce sabotage.
Ching is useful if you want a target man to hold up the ball, and he’s good in the last 10 mins if you need someone to hold the ball and take off pressure. But I agree, his strike rate is pathetic and his overall skill level is minimal.
KCW beat ManU.
Difference between Marshall and Goodson on set pieces- Goodson scores them or sets someone up nearly every time.
CHING pays like a bonobo sea monkey
Yep, Bruce protecting his players for the weekend. You might see Buddle and Donovan for 30 mins, tops.
Oh my, is Darren Gibson carrying 10 extra lbs?
all the Giggs love is a bit over-the-top ridiculous. sure he’s a good player, but one of the all-time greatest ever? please
And that was mighty cynical by Evans for a preseason match.
Ching is good in the air, good as a target hold-up forward, and is also a very intelligent passer.
one thing that is very noticeable is how absolutely terrible the MLS players’ touch is compared to the united guys. not even close
ManUre stinks
I don’t disagree. I said he’s a good target forward. He was never USMNT caliber though. And the idea we ‘needed’ him in South Africa bantied about by Harkes and Lalas is lunacy.
And Pearce is shredded once again…
Ching’s first touch…15 minutes after coming on.
agreed. as a dynamo fan, i love the guy but he is not international quality. harkes and lalas are morons.
hell yeah. brian freakin’ ching! suck on that haters
crud…anyone but Ching…
why does chicharito have his nickname on his kit?
That’s why Ching is in… when will you haters finally figure it out?!?
I did forget he is good at standing in one place for set pieces…. But otherwise he is bad,…..
Damn speak of the devil goal Ching on a set piece.
You ain’t savin’ that.
great to see el chicharito has already perfected the infamous mexican diving maneuver
can we say Cleverly done?
Open the flood gates…..
Am i right or am i right!?! BOOOOYYYAAHHH
Ronaldinho would have been proud of that
I think they are actually cheering Pearce getting pulled
Well, now that the game’s in garbage time, LD is put in. Pretty rubbish that he’s one of the selected ‘starting 11′ and he plays 15mins.
KC 2 – Man U 1? NY 3 – Santos 1?
you can tell these players just dont care about the All Star game. its BS
if you are going to do a game like this, it should be west vs east, otherwise it has always been stupid
Gay….
It was a free header. It wasn’t anything he shouldn’t have finished.
I agree 100% about the East v West thing. I said further down that I don’t think the “MLS vs the World” All-Star game setup is the best way to showcase MLS’ growth. The club friendlies (as you mentioned) work much better.
Bigotry. This is an EPL/La Liga/Ligue 1 quality dive. Nothing necessarily Mexican about it. But it’s why the little pea is playing in the Premier.
Also, I think that if we care about the outcome of these games, we might not let the fans choose.
he’ll be wearing it permanently a la Benitez at Birmingham last year wearing “Chucho” on his shirt.
True. There’d be more of a fuss if he hadn’t scored from 3 yrds.
who else would rather like a East vs West all star match than this stupidity?
70k in attendance this format is not changing.
wow. that’s a nice midfield. how many yanks is that?
Harkes is blind. That is not a pen.
PRI?!?!?!?!?! yeah, I’ve often though San Juan is one of the most beautiful cities in europe… WTF?!?!?!?
Yesterday’s result by the Galaxy was a moment I never wanted to relive again. It’s clear that forces beyond my control want to haunt me by showing me a scoreline of 4-1 again.
I’ll take solace in the fact that I am in the fine company of people who loathe John Harkes.
EDIT: 5-1
Offsides but good finish….
This is stupidity because the MLS is losing? This will be the first game the All-Stars have lost since this format began. Makes it worse that the MLS is getting shellacked — and by Man U with their worst jerseys in YEARS — but it brings in the fans.
dude what?
“defending like UNMNT defenders” jeezis that smarts. mainly cause I know exactly what it means without having to read the rest of the comment!
oi vey I hate my american self.
Nothing better than a former international soccer player saying “offsides” all the time. Harkes, you are a legend.
harkes and lalaa are morons.
yes and water is wet, tell us something else we all know….
Laughable.
Wes Brown has been crap all day. Finally caught up with him. He gets megged, pulls up and strains his face like he’s constipated.
well, thats what you get with arena. i don’t give a crap about his LA feifdom he’s a lousy coach.
I mean i get the Harkes hate but tons of people say offsides. It’s not a big deal. Tons of athletes/legendary athletes have awful grammar. Watch some NFL interviews haha
mls will never be as good as euro leagues! dissolve the mls! go usmnt!
Definitely not, but considering that the linesman kept his flag down on Chicarito’s goal to please the crowd, I wouldn’t have minded the penalty there so Donovan could’ve gotten his.
Very sarcastic or very stupid, please elaborate.
Sounders 0-0 Metapan (SLV)
late first half
MLS fans brains are very small.
Manchester United apparently didn’t get the memo that they weren’t supposed to really try to beat our All-Stars.
As much as I LOVE MLS, we still have a looooooong way to go in terms of quality. Maybe we should call it MLS 1.5.
As soon as the old guard is out of MLS the better. Our youth teams are looking promising….
Oh and to prove MLS doesn’t care about CCL, Seattle is playing a “b” squad against Metapan…. Sigh
What was he in town, about 8 hours?
We keep missing opportunities to tell the World we are a good soccer nation, this is a disgrace, can´t wait to see Donovan leave this league and get a much deserve world wide recognition.
Chicharito and Man United bring fans….so why was i hearing boo’s when man u players were diving? Believe me, attendance wouldnt be a problem, especially with players like Henry, Marquez, and possibly Ronaldinho
This is stupid because nobody is trying, the MLS is better than it has ever been and you cant expect these big names to try at all risking their MLS season when Man U is striving to do well going into their new season. As a MLS all star, you play for absolutely nothing and its a waste of time. Ive always thought it was stupid that you have a whole league against 1 team, duh, weve done so well in the past. Football is a game that has to involve chemistry and knowledge of your players as well, the all star concept does not work in this game, especially against an actual team. If the MLS All Stars were an actual team, all the results in the past would have been much higher in favor of MLS
In a East vs. West match, whichever coast wins would have bragging rights of sorts and there would certainly be star power as well. Ofcourse, im fine with not having an All star game at all.
You will never see 70k at an all MLS all-star game, at least not for a long time.
our youth teams are looking promising? how do you figure?
You obviously didnt get the memo that MLS players are in the middle of their season and have no reason for trying and even if they were trying, its near impossible to play with all new team mates within a few days and pull something off against Man U.
Kansas City just beat Man U. What im saying makes sence, you are right MLS has a long way to go, but you should not be taking this game into account whatsoever
Ive always thought it was funny….MLS doesnt care about CCL while FML does and MLS cares about Superliga it seems like, but it certainly doesnt seem like FML teams care about that
they care, but it certainly doesnt show on the field…you always care as a footballer, but your main priority is winning the league title, ALWAYS, sometimes not as much if you are going for a repeat (:
That’s not the only game I’m taking into account. I’m taking into account the lack of effort in Champions League too. Dude, you don’t have to tell me what MLS is and is not doing, I’ve been following this league since like its inception.
MLS Allstars is a bad idea. MLS Clubs against EPL clubs is a better competition. MLS Allstars don’t play with each other enough to have the cohesion that an MLS club, who plays with each other all the time would.
Its not that they don’t care, they can’t care. MLS teams don’t have enough players for two competitions.
um, that post-game was a DISASTER.
MLS Scheduling still needs major improvement.
Arena had one day to get the squad together. There should be an All-Star Weekend like other sports.
Also SSFC practically playing at the same time in Champions League? Ridiculous
Awful jerseys without team logos…
angels free kick was the best chance of the night…basically a missed penalty sums up the night for the all-stars…
I could put together a team of MLS players who didn’t start/play that would slaughter that “all-star” team.
Worst all-star team I’ve ever seen.
Yeah, what was up with Le Toux tonight?! He lost his man on the second goal and then again on a give and go that could have easily been another goal. He’s been playing MUCH better than that for the Union.
How are Heath Pearce and Larentowicz All Stars???
Arena found his Eddie Lewis in Pearce
Where in the heck was MLS goal leader Buddle?
He played last night!
I think even this is a much more interesting exhibition than East vs West would be.
This All-Star game just made an AWFUL impression of the league with 70,000 people watching…
They usually do. Man U dictated the schedule and I can’t blame MLS for agreeing given the $$ and attention at stake.
Some people just don’t pay attention. This was a sub-par performance compared to other MLS All-Star teams because several teams’ players are basically unavailable due to other game commitments.
Arena with 2 embarrassing defeats for US soccer on back to back nights….He crumbles under pressure.
Where is SSFC Coverage? “All-Star” Montero with the match winner. Still were playing a lot of backups. When will MLS take CCL seriously?
Just because you name yourself “England” does not give you credibility. Nobody thinks you are correct in your opinions just because your name is “England.” Actually, most people are thinking F*CK ENGLAND.
Get over yourself.
Heath Pearce is the 2nd best player on a contender and has had a great season? Just my guess.
C’mon, Seattle took the game seriously. You guys are just bitching to bitch.
Seattle had a high energy game on Sunday night and another league game coming on Saturday and then only two days before a 7200 mile trip and back to Salvador.
You simply have to make strategic adjustments to your roster. Nkufo isn’t fully fit yet, Lundberg is unavailable and wasting a valuable roster spot. Montero and Zakuani played a full 90.
Sigi played it smart and tried to win by using FRESH players and holding back Zak and Montero to put in as super subs in the last 25 min or so, and the strategy worked to perfection.And Nyassi ran circles around the Metaplan defense. Only his still frustrating inability to finish chances kept this a close game.
Bottom Line, Seattle took the game seriously, played the most available freshest players, and they won.
KC Wizards have size and speed in the attack, which gave the Man Utd defense fits.
That should be “Metapan” I stand by the rest of my statement
That, I think, is the key. Those of us who follow MLS know the challenges brought about by this format. It is such a disaster, though, in terms of the league’s reputation among those who will see only the scoreline of a Man U “B” team destroying MLS’ best. Definite setback for at least our reputation.
Conde was terrible
Haha, I did notice that. He even stopped himself a couple times. Oh Harkes, you are number one in no one’s book.
I hope someone reads this; anyhow, Heath Pearce was, for me, terrible. He looked completely flummoxed, a word I don’t resort to without consideration, every time he had the ball. MLS is vital to the future of US soccer, and I do enjoy many of the matches, but surely MLS will be considerably better when Heath Pearce is not a member of the All-Star team and Alex Gordon is out of the league. In fact, I think this is how I will end every post now, like Cato demanding the destruction of Carthage, I will finish with: “And Alex Gordon should be bounced from the MLS.”
that was depressing
And please, let us not overreact, they had the Welsh Wizard. Giggs was the best player on the field tonight and it really isn’t even close, even within tonight’s ManU squad. Henry is a huge step forward for this league, a player truly rated as international class. He will make everyone on that team better.
Hint: It is unlikely that ENGLAND is actually English.
None. Lol.
An American owns your precious little club…
We still win.
Suck it.
The MLS Allstars are not a team that play together all the time. Also, they used 2nd string MLS players mostly. It would be better to do away with the MLS ALLstars and use a regular MLS club. Much like Kansas City Wizards. The cohesive play of a team shows among those who practice and play together all the time. The is game was not a true representation of the MLS.
You’re a complete idiot. Considering Joseph is one of our best players out there tonight your joke makes no sense. The man’s a million times better at soccer than you ever will be at anything and youre gonna make fun of him for smoking pot. please
For all the waxing poetic about our players and our league by the Europeans…now we see the reality of soccer in this country….
Maybe you should say too bad Joseph is capped by Grenada’s national team.
Just reading the comment thread. I can’t believe the moronic chatter here.
It. Was. An. All-Star. Game.
It means absolutely NOTHING in terms of the quality of the league, the impression made on the Europeans or others watching, or anything else. It isn’t means to be a competitive game – it is meant to be pure entertainment. My goodness.
Of course the one time ESPN puts MLS on its main page it’s to report this massacre.
Bad, bad format that I’m sure will be re-evaluated by MLS after this. None of these guys seemed to communicate with each other defensively and 2 goals were especially soft (1st and 3rd) and the fifth was a missed offside. Despite being downplayed in the press I’m sure Man U was humiliated after losing to Kansas City and having a relatively tentative victory against the first year expansion Union and they seemed much faster and more focused here.
Probably the biggest stage international MLS has ever had and they embarrassed themselves and the league. This will definitely derail some of the positive momentum the league’s had over the past several years.
international stage…
There was more crap on the pitch last night than you’d find at the Fort Worth stockyards. Alston? Pearce? Marshall? Conde? Larentowicz? Convey? I wasn’t sure why Jaime Moreno was trotted out but the way he’s looking these days I think it was because they actually expected him to cut the grass.
A.S. said…
Just reading the comment thread. I can’t believe the moronic chatter here.
It. Was. An. All-Star. Game.
It means absolutely NOTHING in terms of the quality of the league, the impression made on the Europeans or others watching, or anything else. It isn’t means to be a competitive game – it is meant to be pure entertainment. My goodness.
—————-
Yes, it’s a friendly and it’s entertainment (for that matter, all sports is entertainment) but this still didn’t look good for MLS. Every top athlete competes to win in whatever competition they are in and this was a rare opportunity for MLS to gauge its progress against some of the best talent in the world. Both sides were advertising their product and the MLS product simply did not look good last night. For those who care about the growth of US soccer and its domestic league, Major League Soccer, this was a setback. No, it’s certainly not the end of the world, but a poor effort like this on such a public stage against arguably the preeminent club side in the world isn’t positive.
I ws thrilled to have the match televised, however the moronic commentator who insisted on referring to Manchester United as “ManU” needs a lesson in civility. Maybe he was trying to make a nitch for himself thinking he could coin a new expression, WRONG. Anyone who follows footi, knows Manchester United in just that, Manchester United or if you are in the UK United. to differentiat from Manchester City. NO savvy footie watcher would every consider MANU. he obviously didn’t hear the other commentators remarks. had I allowed it, he could have spoiled the experience for me. GO Manchester United, a great match and some fab players on both teams. Was a delight.
At least some people showed up
+1