I guess that now Zlatan has signed, the LA Galaxy may finally have a buzz around them. Not bad business to get him on a free transfer at less than DP money. Unfortunately only teams in the glamour locales can get away with this.

gonna say he's probably the guy off the top of my head. can't really think of anyone else on their squad who could fill that role of reliable service guy.

The question is going to be if they're able to get the ball out of the back / through the midfield for any of that to make a difference. I'm no convinced Zlatan, post-injury, will be a slam dunk on a relative island in this league any more, but let me be clear -- Zlatan dominating via intelligence against the average backline and elite technique won't shock me, either. Just not quite the sure thing that some of these mid to late 20s signings (shout out to Carlos Vela) have been.

I don't know soccer like that lol but the city is excited about it


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IG @h_n_z

i remember he was very hyped at one point. he might be good in MLS though.

so he's not going to be called on to score goals on a regular basis or anything like that. he's considered a decent addition to an already good team. he's not going to be expected to be the star player so without all that pressure he can probably just play his game and do well. Toronto swept all the major domestic trophies last year (Canadian Championship, Supporters Shield, MLS Cup) so they're pretty stacked already. I don't think they paid a lot for him so it's a pretty good player on a decent deal.

nah but for real, the Zlatan deal is a good look for the Galaxy. they were in danger of being upstaged by LAFC. if The Zlatan can stay healthy it could be really good. he can definitely put some butts in the seats around the league. I think it also says a lot about MLS that this is not more of a big deal. the recent influx of young talent into the league has been nothing short of impressive.

back to my Red Bulls though ... we doing big things in CONCACAF Champions League. we knocked off Tijuana pretty convincingly and i'm excited to see how far we can go. Chivas is up next and it should be fun.

also shoutout to Toronto FC who's playing well in CCL too. that free kick goal by Giovinco against Tigres was a monster.

That would be really nice for a change.

the middle of the rosters have come a long, long way in a short amount of time.

is the funniest thing in the world to me.

I'm down, that's the image I call to mind -- whale Sigi, gut blocking out any sunlight below the waistline, a man who plainly hasn't touched a treadmill since treadmills were invented, whose playing pedigree is top flight college soccer, at GK no less (if I'm not mistaken), yelling "GODDAMMIT ZLATAN, SHOW SOME HUSTLE!"

Nice, big bright smile...

I told you Carlos Vela was good ;-)

hopefully we'll never find out how many virgins Fox execs sacrificed to their pagan gods to produce March mid-day television like that. Don Garber must feel like he's getting laid on prom night for the first time all over again.

that as impressive.

https://youtu.be/J15vfXqnwWw

Like...that first goal is magnificent.

You couldn't have scripted it better.

highlights: https://youtu.be/q9aZwk9ZbNA

https://youtu.be/cuAytnDGKMQ

More than the Hawks (dat tank). Almost as much as the Braves. Years ago that would be an insane thing for me to say.

I saw how many people loved soccer more due to being in South Korea during the World Cup there in 2002 but still wasn't my thing. I kinda kept tabs on the EPL here and there ("is that Henry dude good? Oh it's pronounced THAT way") but it was kinda hard for me to get invested in a team from a place I'd never been to and having to get up early every weekend. I've gotten hype during USMNT matches during the World Cup but that was a lot of the whole patriotism that sweeps everybody during that time.

Then came Atlanta United and now I'm playing Football Manager (best way to understand MLS rule structure with GAM, TAM, different drafts, etc.), yelling at my TV whenever Leandro González Pírez commits another dumb ass decision, and was using Twitter's translate function on transfer rumor tweets to see who AUFC could get in the next transfer window (#BarcoWatch was fun).

Having something close to home I can cheer on with (and eventually frustrate me in the playoffs) the Falcons, Braves, and Hawks really upped the investment factor in the sport for me. I'll still watch the big Champions League matches and I'm under no impression that MLS is anything near the level of the big leagues but I think I finally "get" soccer (on the club level anyway) now because Atlanta United is here.

i played it for a summer in college and i refuse to EVER play it again. one more game turned into refreshing the game during every moment i wasn't out hanging out w/ friends or asleep.

i ended up having to sabotage my in-game career just to quit.

shit was like heroin

i deleted it and vowed to never play it again.

I really think the right analogy is that it's like really rooting / caring for a college team, if you ever feel the need to defend it. Nobody is seriously going to say that LSU is as good as the Patriots, but everybody gets that it's perfectly fun for people to love LSU.

And I don't know how Atlanta is, but part of the fun of MLS is that the athletes aren't on this other-worldly level and you can still just enjoy a hard-working middle tier guy because they're living lives not too different from us. During the Timbers off-week, I just randomly ran into Marco Farfan, our homegworn LB, getting lunch at the same wing spot as me. When Tyler Miller became famous for the wrong reasons for Zlatan hosing that ball past him, I had a pang of pain with the excitement because I've actually spent an evening or two playing video games with that guy online.

So yeah, getting the soccer culture kicking off in your area code is a pleasure that you just can't get watching early morning EPL. Aggressive expansion is a tricky road to navigate, but overall I think it's great as more people discover the fun of being able to follow local futbol.

only reason i'm with Houston is because they were the closest thing to a Southern team

ATL is definitely my EC team tho.

https://youtu.be/O0ppTo1VoEk




we got robbed! very clear handball in the box by Chivas. should have been a penalty kick. all good. next game in RBA next week.

That's not a bad start for you guys in Mexico, getting yourself the second home game both times is solid, winning both legs last time was big but obviously harder to do at this stage. Gotta be wary of the away goal.

I'm happy with TFCs result, better than against Tigres and hopefully with that experience in Mexico last time we can handle the second leg just as well. I don't know how much harder playing in that stadium is going to be, I really hope they can't sell out all those seats like it's a world cup game or something.

i'm not mad at the result at all. it's definitely manageable. wish we could have gotten that away goal though.

I don't think Club America packs out the Azteca like the national team does. it's probably the most full when they play Chivas, but otherwise it's probably not even half full. mind you that's still impressive since it's like a 90,000 seat stadium.

just randomly put NE v. MTL on the desktop while I was killing some time last night and caught that goal. what's funny is that I didn't know the stat (had the sound off) but you could tell that the guy was reaaaaally excited and almost emotional about getting the 2nd against a 10-man team, every person was coming up to congratulate him and the pile was going on a long time, I could just figure out it was probably his first ever. Love moments like that.

was thinking about doing my yearly appearance at the BBVA but that's gonna be a hard pass from me lol

sooo close for the Red Bulls. not sure i've seen so many balls skim across the face of goal in my life. can't be too mad, we had a good run. reaaally wanted this one though. definitely stings more than the Open Cup loss in the final last year.

highlights: https://youtu.be/AY2y-xenu9w


shout out to Toronto FC. if they pull this off, i'm not sure it can be topped. i think beating Tigres (best club) and Club America (biggest club) is impressive enough. they'll probably still be considered underdogs for the final but they're playing great right now.

We've been playing pretty well in Mexico, I've been hating the weather up here but I almost want it to stay cold if Chivas don't like that lol.

I was hoping we'd get the second leg, I don't know if the Finals are decided differently, but if it's like the previous rounds that means they consider their 1-0 better than our 4-2, which feels debatable lol.

I don't think Canada's networks aired the Red Bulls game, Chivas managing it in New York worries me slightly if they're more disciplined. It would have been cool for MLS if we kept MX out of the Finals, but I'll enjoy it if we can take all these MX teams in a row. Club World Cup here we come!

1 point is better than nothing and NYC is a damn good team but fuck I wanted more than that. Was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

Not a great Josef game but you deal with it cause he buries shit other times. Good to see Barco, hopefully he gets use to the fact that other teams are going to be physical as hell towards him. I love Miggy but I wish he was more confident with his other foot shooting.

highlights: https://youtu.be/D37CpZEWjDw

That was disappointing to watch last night. Bono has been amazing for us up to this point, but lets that second goal get over him when it really shouldn't have. I could forgive the slow start if they recovered better. Jozy and Gio didn't seem quite on their game, some chances were there but weren't taken.

And that Chivas team did look like the best team we've come up against to me more than the previous two MX teams. Everyone made a big deal about them being bad in the Closura now but they clearly play solid all around Soccer and are focused on this tournament. It feels like the dynamic changed, TFC may have went in feeling more confident and Chivas probably showed us more respect than the previous teams. That was one of the fairest games I've seen played, one yellow for a time-wasting throw I think, the calls I wish went our way are mostly out of team bias and were probably fair calls, Chivas were there to play soccer and you could sense the respect and lack of BS.

I can only hope our offensive prowess actually benefits from a better field and weather in Mexico next week and we can break them down if they try to park it.

Highlights: https://youtu.be/ww3Iuv8TP-Y

Won in Mexico, but lost the Championship.

I feel like Delgado's always putting stuff over the bar, should've won it. And I can see why America likes to boo Bradley after that pk lol.

I'm proud of them though, hopefully we can come back next year and win it like the MLS Cup. Now our starters have to show our league who's boss.

record MLS transfer fee (Alphonso gets $13M). Alphonso will stay at Vancouver for the rest of the season.

http://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-transfers/story/3573807/bayern-munich-sign-canadian-teen-alphonso-davies-in-mls-record-deal

https://youtu.be/h3lfrMW7MUU

Like, I don't think it's bad, but I don't know how much dude has left in the tank. But him going to a French speaking location isn't a bad deal at all.

The Atlanta Sports Fan Dread will come around playoff time but it's been great to see a season like this up close.

Need the New York clubs to stumble a bit for more breathing room that should already be there if not for dropping points at home this season.

Thanks for the memories. You'll truly be missed.

the combination of talent and swagger that he brought to the game is unmatched. great career.

at least that's what i'm calling it. MLS Supporter's Shield Winners always sounded strange to me, but i digress.

most points in league history - 71
first team to crack 70 points
most wins in a season - 22 (not counting shootout era)
most points at home in league history - 44

fantastic regular season!!! on to to playoffs.

The biggest games of the season have been some of the most flattest, lethargic performances this season. Just horrid defending for a team looking to win a trophy. Guess this goes in the Atlanta Sports Bin.

*sigh*

Congrats to RBNY. They were better head to head and stepped up when necessary.

Onward to the playoffs. Hopefully Tata has had enough of McCann starting (doubt it though).

Please build a Josef Martinez statue.

Maybe losing the Supporters Shield was the shock they needed. Escobar was HUGE this postseason. Really going to miss Miggy and his workrate. Hope they pick a good successor to Tata.

Don't know how to feel. I basically started laughing like the Joker when the Game ended. This whole championship thing is new.

That dude got a raw deal his last year at Villa, so I'm glad to see him succeed, even if it is over my favorite two MLS sides in succession.