I thought there was already a thread for this but I can't find it...

Bruce Arena has been named the new Head Coach of the Red Bulls. He didn't have to wait long to land on his feet eh?

Bruce Arena and Frank Yallop both coaching in the MLS again...kinda neat I'd say.

Oh my f**king god I'm so excited! Bruce Arena! WOOOO!

I won't forgive his errors at the 2006 World Cup, but what a huge boost to RBNY. We'll see if Bruce is the savior RBNY/Metros fans have been promised since 1996...

Topic: MLS 2006 Season

Here's the other MLS topic you couldn't find. Maybe the administrators can join them. How does that work??

How did you find that old thread?

Under the main soccer page, I clicked on the the drop down list and chose "Show topics from the last 100 days" and it was listed.

FYI
I sent an e-mail to the administrator to join the 2 topics.

Anyway, there are a lot of European teams coming to the US now. Celtic played here, and Chelsea & Barcelona are coming. Has anyone gone to the matches? I'm going to see Barcelona next week on the 9th here in Houston. I'd love to see Chelsea play in the MLS All Star game.
:cool:

Real Madrid & DC United are here August 9th at Qwest Field. Tickets range from $30 - $125.

While I am not a soccer fan, many of my co-workers (more than I would have expected) are going to the game. People want to see DC United's Freddy Adu and Real's David Beckham (if he plays), Robinho and thier other stars. If it wasn't a Wednesday night, I would have gone to the game since it is a chance to watch some of the best in the world play.

MLS to come to Philadelphia finally? This is from the Phila. Daily News:

Or how about Rochester, NY? Don't be surprised....see here.....

(July 13, 2006) — Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber said Wednesday he expects the owners of the Rhinos and Real Salt Lake will discuss a deal that could potentially move the MLS team from Utah to Rochester and PAETEC Park.

"It's too early to say whether these discussions will take place on a serious level, let alone whether they get a deal consummated," Garber said from his office in New York City. "But I believe (Rhinos president Frank DuRoss) will engage in discussions with Real Salt Lake about some type of arrangement."

DuRoss admitted he already has had preliminary discussions with Utah officials and is "confident we'll be talking in the future."

All this comes a day after Salt Lake County Council's second rejection of a proposal that would generate $30 million for Real Salt Lake to build a soccer stadium in Sandy, Utah, and a report in Salt Lake's Deseret Morning News that named Rochester and St. Louis as potential relocation cities that are actively making bids to buy the two-year-old team.

It probably sounds all too familiar for area soccer fans, who just two years ago heard similar speculation swirl that the Kansas City Wizards (MLS) might move to Rochester after a failed attempt for public stadium funding. K.C. still doesn't have a stadium and has been for sale for more than a year.

Were Rochester and other cities pawns then in K.C.'s bid for funding?

While Garber admitted negotiations between the Rhinos and the K.C. owners took place — the first time any league or team official has admitted that — he would only address Real Salt Lake. The Utah team has played in a college football stadium and needs its own park to survive financially, he said.

"This isn't about leverage or positioning, it's really about what needs to happen for soccer to be successful in America," Garber said. "It's the same as it was for the Rhinos, who were playing in a minor-league baseball stadium.

"We can't remain secondary or tertiary tenants in NFL stadiums or college stadiums and be successful long term. If (RSL owner) Dave Checketts can't find a solution in Salt Lake, then we collectively have to think about the future of that team."

Checketts is the former president of Madison Square Garden who also ran the New York Knicks and Rangers. He could not be reached for comment after an interview request was made through the team's media relations department.

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson is pushing for a different stadium site in Utah. The Rhinos face another obstacle if pitted against St. Louis.

Although St. Louis doesn't have a stadium, it has an indoor pro soccer team and a decent history of supporting the sport. Two weeks ago Checketts bought the St. Louis Blues National Hockey League team and the arena in which it plays.

DuRoss wouldn't elaborate on any discussions with Real Salt Lake, but said, "We wouldn't do anything that doesn't make (financial) sense."

Getting an existing team would mean the Rhinos could dodge the $30 million expansion fee. While the Rhinos still might not have the money to buy Real Salt Lake from Checketts, he could become a part owner of the team or PAETEC Park, the $40 million facility that opened June 3, while DuRoss and Co. run the franchise.

DuRoss said there is no truth to a report in the Salt Lake Tribune that said the Rhinos offered Checketts "three times" what he paid for RSL.

"I have no idea where that figure came from," DuRoss said.

Garber sounded upbeat about Rochester's MLS prospects, which have been debated for years.

"I've said this since I became commissioner: At some point we want to find a way we can have an MLS team in Rochester," he said.

The obstacle in the past was a lack of a stadium, but now PAETEC is built. Garber said he plans to come to Rochester for a Rhinos match some time this season, possibly as soon as Aug. 2 if the Rhinos play New England (MLS) in the U.S. Open Cup fourth round.

Garber also said for the first time that Rochester could be an MLS team despite not having a stadium with at least 20,000 seats.

OK, so if Kansas City moves east to Philadelphia they'll still be in the eastern conference. If Real Salt Lake moves to Rochester they'll move from western conference to eastern. Then the new Toronto FC will definitely be in the eastern conference. So that'll make it 5 teams in the west and 8 teams in the east. I think this would be the perfect opportunity to get rid of the conference set up and go with the single league standings, which they already do for the Supporters Shield winner. And now the Shield winner will have the opportunity to play in the CONCACAF Club Championships. The rules changed after last season so the MLS Cup winner and the Shield winner will advance.
You can still have the playoff system (if you want). The top 4 teams will have a playoff for the MLS Cup. If the MLS Cup winner is also the Shield winner the runner ups will play for the second spot. Easy peasy!
As of August 3, 2006, this is how single league standings would look:

D.C. United - 45
FC Dallas - 39
Houston - 32
Colorado - 28
Chivas USA - 26
New England - 26
New York - 24
Chicago - 22
Kansas City - 21
Columbus - 20
Los Angeles - 20
Real Salt Lake - 20

[Note: For simplicity, ties were just put into alpha order instead of breaking it down by WLD records and goal differential.]