Are You Ready for Some Football?

As football fans worldwide now know, when the calendar turns to November it means it is time for playoffs - MLS style. The question the world wants to know is will the LA Galaxy's reign of terror be stopped? Here at IMOTGP we have the predictions!

WILD-CARD ROUND

EAST - NEW ENGLAND 3, DC UNITED 0

United was hammered over the weekend to drop into the knockout round and its only hope is if the Revs are intimidated by RFK Stadium. The coaching matchup is one to watch - Ben Olsen v. Jay Heaps - both are infinitely smarter than the USMNT coach.

MONTREAL 3, TFC 1

Didier Drogba is looking to become the first player to win the English Premier League and the MLS Cup in the same year. We think he'll take the first step and give Golden Boot winner Sebastian Giovinco the boot.

WEST - SEATTLE 2, LA GALAXY 1 - extra time

This is being billed as the greatest knockout game ever in the history of MLS. On one side, you have Steven Gerrard, Gio Dos Santos and Robbie Keane. On the other you have US star Deuce Dempsey, Oba Martins and Andres Ivanschitz. We'll take the Sounders and their 12th man in a squeaker.

SPORTING KC 2, PORTLAND 0

We say experience counts in a matchup like this and Benny Feilhaber will return from the doghouse and drag his side to a victory over a Timbers squad that IMOTGP believes is overrated.

QUARTERFINALS

MONTREAL OVER COLUMBUS 

Drogba will likely be too tough for a high-scoring Crew team that has choke written all over them.

NEW ENGLAND OVER NEW YORK

The Revs are a Red Bulls nemesis. Expect New York to get someone sent off in the first leg and fall short at home in the second as the evil Revs get through.

SPORTING KC OVER DALLAS

Kansas City routed Dallas twice this year and has the better side, no matter what the table says. Expect FCD to wear the dunce cap, as usual, with ridiculous blunders.

SEATTLE OVER VANCOUVER

The 'Caps were throttled by the Sounders in the CONCACAF Champions League decider and will end up on the wrong side of this matchup again in an anti-climactic rout.

CONFERENCE FINALS

MONTREAL OVER NEW ENGLAND

Expect the Impact to use a raucous crowd in the second leg to slip by a Revs team that will be on fumes at that point. Jermaine Jones will be sent off and announce he will move next to China.


SPORTING KC OVER SEATTLE

Peter Vermes' side will stroll into MLS Cup by beating a Seattle team that won't have Dempsey after the aging vet gets injured playing for the U.S. in a World Cup qualifier in Trinidad.

MLS Cup - SPORTING KC wins it all!

Canada will host the league's showpiece event for the second time after Colorado beat FCD in Toronto in 2010. This time, Sporting KC will complete the double by adding to their U.S. Open Cup with their second MLS Cup in three years. Are they the real MLS dynasty?

Any comments or predictions, let us know below and thanks for following!

JacKass or Just Kidding?

Well folks, the United States' latest calamitous loss has brought major questions to the state of the program as well as the fact that our nation's Olympic dreams are in real jeopardy on one of the worst days in U.S. soccer history Saturday.  Here at IMOTGP, let's look at the aftermath.

1. Is it the fault of the JacKass or are we Just Kidding?

The person in the crosshairs, and rightfully so, is head honcho the bossman himself Jurgen Klinsmann, aka JK. So does that stand for JacKass or Just Kidding? MLS analyst Matthew Doyle provided a solid takedown of the Klinsmann era, and SB Nation's Kevin McCauley confirms, that yes, JK is a JacKass in his piece.

Well anyone who knows football didn't need to watch Saturday night to already know that. But does Klinsmann deserve to lose his job? The surprising answer is no. Yes, he's a mediocre and clueless coach. But we have a mediocre team with a complete mediocrity in charge of the program. There really is no reason to change anything, we'll keep losing to the teams in our region when it counts.

Who cares anyway if the people in charge of the program don't? These dummies will keep showing up regardless.  The JoKe is on us!!!

2.  Outside of Bradley, this team mostly sucks.

Michael Bradley is a fabulous player and showed it once again. Geoff Cameron is a true professional and we have good goalkeepers. But that's about it.

Clint Dempsey performed like a corpse. That was probably as good a performance as you can expect out of Jozy Altidore but what does that say? Fabian Johnson wasn't great and Gyasi Zardes was forced to defend most of the time. These are your attacking players?

When a lineup features Bradley, Jermaine Jones and Kyle Beckerman, you are saying you really don't want to attack. Our previous coach was derisively called 'Bunker Bob.' yet he would cringe if his team looked that insipid Saturday. 

3.  Stop saying "We beat Germany and the Netherlands."

Any idiot should know that friendly results are meaningless but U.S. fans seem clueless to this. At any rate, beating these countries isn't even impressive, and not just because they didn't care.

Since winning the World Cup, Germany have lost four times - including Euro 2016 qualifiers to Ireland and Poland. They needed a late goal from this loser to tie Australia at home. They barely beat Georgia at home to qualify for the Euros. Germany are the world champions but they are hardly a powerhouse.

The Dutch probably won't didn't qualify for the Euros. They are not very good. Things are so bad they are regularly using a player also eligible to play for India, a country known more for their cricket superiority. The Netherlands aren't 'total voetbal,' they are a total disgrace.

3. Mexico really wasn't great either

Mexico will represent CONCACAF in the Confederations Cup but they weren't great Saturday. They managed seven shots on target over 120 minutes for a pathetic total given they had the lion's share of possession. Chicharito finally scored against the U.S. but also missed chances. Mexico were timid in creating chances and were ripe for the picking. The game was screaming for Tecatito Corona, but he only came in in extra time.

Which brings us to number 4 ...

4. The real winner is ..

What Saturday proved is that Costa Rica is the real top team in the region. They had the best World Cup last year and won the real 'Group of Death.' They would have beaten Mexico in the Gold Cup if not for a joke of a call. If you love friendlies, they played Spain tough. That's meaningless but so many people focus on friendlies. Does anyone think Costa Rica would not beat the United States in a match that matters since they basically beat El Tri?  Costa Rica beat the U.S. 1-0 on Tuesday.

It says here that Costa Rica is the real king of CONCACAF - whatever that means. 

STATS spotlights Hertha's Darida!

Any football fan tell you about the exploits of superstars like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Alexei Sanchez. There are, of course, many unheralded players that do not get the recognition they deserve.

We would like to credit STATS, a global powerhouse of sports information based in the United States for their amazingly, well-done insightful piece on Hertha star midfielder Vladimir Darida. You should check it out and enjoy learning about the Czech superstar.

It's an extremely enjoyable piece as part of the STATS insights blog. It's clear that the Bundesliga being on FOX in the United States is getting players like Darida more notoriety.  Also it's nice to see an Indian author like Santosh Venkataraman get involved with the world's most exciting football league. Herr Venkataraman is no doubt a huge cricket supporter who saw his defending champions lose in the World Cup to Australia.

Here's hoping a successful Hertha season will cheer up disconsolate Indian cricket fans worldwide!

When Lewandowski scored 10 times!

Robert Lewandowski has gotten worldwide acclaim for his five-goal haul Tuesday.

Long-time followers of the Pole know he scored double that on one occasion, as the video above shows!

Bundesliga tops Premier League once again!

It has been confirmed yet again that the Bundesliga is better than the Premier League in giving fans value for their euros (or pounds or dollars).

The GoEuro Football Price Index says that the average price of top-flight football in Germany is about 23 quid compared to over 53 for a boring Premier League match where you can eat the terrible local cuisine. 

The story also notes how 1,000 Britons each week go to Union Berlin games. This highlights the idiocy of the English fans, who could easily support Europa League candidate Hertha instead.

Also notable is Argentina ranking fifth and Brazil at 10th on the list with no sign of our MLS, which likely was not considered.

"It was crazy"

We would like to congratulate all football fans who were treated to a magical moment Tuesday night. Robert Lewandowski's magical five-goal haul in nine minutes has brought joy to the usually scandal-ridden footballing world.

As our loyal followers know, this blog usually spends time lamenting the lack of a superstar club in Berlin, as this brilliant expose highlights the situation in the German capital.  And our heroes from Hertha BSC were victorious on this night with an easy 2-0 win over 1. FC Koln.

But the Polish superstar Lewandowski simply was a joy to behold, performing a footballing feat that defies the laws of athletics. It was something usually produced by superstars like the NFL's Aaron Rodgers, tennis' Roger Federer and cricket's Sachin Tendulkar - all legends in their respective fields.

Lewandowski does not rate at that level but give him time. With Bayern trailing 1-0 at the half, he unleashed a master class that he could only say "was crazy." That doesn't even begin to describe it. It was out of this world, heavenly and quietly reaffirming that football can be a force for good rather than evil.

Folks, the football world and sports in general is very commercial in nature and even this blog has been forced to turn to Google ads - so watch for them. In a world where money reigns supreme, it was nice to see the joy of the game personified by one Mr. Lewandowski, who proved yet again why we all exist - because of football and the beautiful game that it is. Danke, Herr Lewandowski, danke.

'People in America don't understand'

Credit U.S. No. 1 goalkeeper Brad Guzan for explaining just what top-level European football is all about in his latest column for club side Aston Villa.   The shot-stopper is preparing for a double-dose of derbies with a Premier League matchup with West Bromwich Albion before a "Second City" clash with Birmingham City in the Carling Cup.

Guzan knows that Villa Park will be rocking. But do American fans know what that means?

Said Guzan: "People in America don't understand how passionate and how big rivalries are in this country when it comes to football matches."
"In the US you could go and watch a match between two big rivals in baseball or American football and you could sit in the same bar or pub and have a pint."
"There's no division in terms of home and away supporters in America. Everyone's scattered around the stadium and sits where they want. It's more passionate here."

Guzan is right. American MLS fans don't have that passion. Credit the Premier League for being the best in the world when it comes to that and we can't wait to watch more exciting Aston Villa football to see this. The larger point is what U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann says in declaring that the public here isn't educated enough about the game. 

Let's face it, Americans: we don't understand football.