ESPN Jeff Bradley Blog

The MLS Web site is aglow with advertisements, trumpeting the arrival of David Beckham to Los Angeles. But as I've been saying since the day Becks signed, if you take away the gate aspect, he's not the most important player on the Galaxy.

That player is Landon Donovan.

Donovan returned to the Galaxy last night and promptly helped his team deliver a much-needed victory. He scored twice from the spot (though you have to wonder when keepers are going to force him to do something other than hit the ball down the middle) as L.A. beat Chicago 2-0. The Galaxy have a full five games in hand on Colorado and trail the Rapids by just five points. As far as I'm concerned, L.A.'s season started last night.

Speaking of the Western standings, that was an important victory for Dallas yesterday over Chivas USA. A win for Chivas yesterday would've moved the Goats to within three points of FCD with four games in hand. Even with the victory for FCD, the West is far from decided. If Houston can defeat Red Bull New York tonight on ESPN2, the Dynamo will suddenly be within three points of the lead.

And what about the turnaround for D.C. in the East? After a horrendous start, DCU is now in first place after a 1-0 road victory over Kansas City yesterday. D.C. has lost just once in its last 10 games and is looking like the team to beat in that conference.

Then again, only nine points separate last-place Chicago from first-place D.C. in the East. The MLS regular season, often mocked for being "meaningless," is looking pretty meaningful at the moment.

Confession time, once again … with what's going on in Venezuela and Canada, I've had a tough time focusing on MLS these past couple of weeks … can someone please tell me when and how Facundo Erpen ended up in Colorado?

Thursday was certainly an up and down soccer night for me and my two sons, but I promised when I returned to the blogging part of the world, there were certain things I'd leave alone. I think most of you out there understand what I'm feeling today.

Bittersweet for sure. And to make the feeling linger, I'm sitting in Newark Airport with lots of time to kill, since my flight to Milwaukee was canceled.

Glamorous sometimes, this sports writing life.

But, anyway, there's MLS to deal with and last night, Houston continued its Robertson dominance over Chivas USA, and then some. Brad Davis scored some beautiful goals and you'd have a hard time finding a more precise left foot anywhere in the league.

I do think, however, last night is one of those games where Houston is not as good as they looked and Chivas is not as bad as they looked. One thing is for sure, however, when this team moved from San Jose to Houston, they maintained one thing that had been a ClashQuakes tradition, and that's home-field dominance.

Good job by the Houston fans making that place a cauldron.

I'm sure everyone's heard the buzz that the MLB's Mets are interested in running an MLS team. Jack Bell of the New York Times wrote about it.

The idea of an MLS team in Queens, N.Y. is nothing new, just that the Mets would be interested in running the show.

My personal opinion is that a team in Queens would not have any kind of negative effect on the Red Bulls current attendance (how much worse can it get?), and won't in the future when the Red Bulls move into their stadium in Harrison, N.J. I think perhaps the only thing that would get people to trek from Queens to Harrison would be a local derby involving the two teams. So, for me, it's all good.

And I like the way the Mets have reached out to Latino fans. I'm not going to pretend I'm smart enough to know if the bulk of those fans are from béisbol countries like the Dominican Republic, or if there's a significant number from Colombia and Ecuador.

Of the five MLS games we've got this weekend, the one that intrigues me the most is D.C. United at Real Salt Lake. Why? Well, maybe it's the tabloid baseball writer in my (NY Daily News, 1992-95) that roots for streaks…and we all know RSL's got one going.

More to come this weekend from the Brew City.

With the Gold Cup quarterfinals set for this afternoon, it's easy to forget a marquee MLS matchup that's on tap for tonight when the Red Bulls host the Kansas City Wizards at Giants Stadium. I know my DVR will be set up to record this one.

The K.C.-N.Y. matchup is intriguing for me as it shows clearly what the right change at the top can do for a team. In New York, the turnaround under Bruce Arena has been nothing short of miraculous. A team that was among the most disorganized in the MLS a year ago now ranks as perhaps the best-looking unit in the league. In K.C., where they've missed the playoffs the last two seasons, Curt Onalfo has the Wizards looking like Cup contenders.

Of course, this being MLS during Gold Cup action, we've got player absences to deal with, most notably Golden Boot leader Eddie Johnson missing for K.C. Perhaps promising youngster Yura Movsisyan will get a start up front.

For the Red Bulls, it's been amazing how Juan Pablo Angel always seems in perfect position to score. Most of his goals have been of the can't-miss variety and that's no coincidence. He has a fantastic sense of where to be on the field.

I know there are many folks out there who will downplay this matchup because, well, in the MLS the regular season always seems meaningless come playoff time. But, for me, matches like this are what you make them. I think both Arena and his former U.S. assistant Onalfo will have their teams jacked up for this game and have them wanting to take control of the Eastern Conference.

The other game that I'm excited to see tonight is that between Colorado and Chivas USA. From what I've seen of Chivas this season, they play the most exciting brand of soccer in the league, moving the ball quickly, looking to generate chances on the fly. They'll be missing Jonathan Bornstein on the left, but I don't expect them to change their style.

As for Colorado, the Rapids are just one of those hard-to-play-against units, they grapple a team every step of the way, play a lot of crosses into the box, and do it effectively. Having one team that wants the ball on the ground and another that wants to muck it up always makes for an interesting match.

In the beginning of the season, I commented in my First XI column on MLSNet that the league is just incredibly balanced. When you look at the standings and see nine teams with between four and seven wins, at the quarter-point of the season (some teams have played a few more games), I think it illustrates the evenness pretty vividly.

When you break from the pack, however, you can't help but want to pay close attention to the bottom-feeders ... and Sunday's Real Salt Lake-Los Angeles Galaxy match is the game that sets up as a very intriguing game. How can it be that RSL has not won a game? How can it be that the Galaxy have won only one? Can L.A. compete without Landon Donovan? Is David Beckham's arrival going to fix what needs to be fixed? I don't know why, but I have a hard time keeping my eyes off the Galaxy and their predicament.

It was almost an all-soccer weekend for me. Both of my sons played in tournaments, the national team had a game on Saturday and, of course, there was a full slate of MLS.

I used the word "almost" up top because, there's always baseball in my life (Little League and Big League) and there was also the hour I reserved for the final episode of "The Sopranos".

Do I even need to state what the biggest disappointment of my weekend?

After watching "The Sopranos" from Day One, I think I speak for all fans of the show, especially those of us who grew up in North Jersey, when I say, "What the …?"

The setup was working nicely, the family gathering at Holsten' Ice Cream Parlor in Bloomfield. Phil Leotardo already popped in front of his wife and grandkids. All kinds of tension as Tony eyed up the patrons and Meadow struggled to parallel park the car.

And then, black.

Three words. Worst. Ending. Ever.

So, back to soccer.

And what jumps out at me in MLS today, is that for the first time I look at the Eastern Conference and realize that three (not two) teams will miss out on the playoffs. I guess that's a sign that the league is growing.

I'm serious. I took a look at the East today to notice that, for example, Columbus will have to jump Toronto, Chicago and D.C. just to get into the fourth position. That's a daunting task for the Crew, even if there is a lot of season left.

Also, and I'm not sure why I'm fixating on the bottom feeders, but the Galaxy and Real Salt Lake have to be getting a little antsy about now, sitting six points with the season a quarter over. When you look at what's above them … Dallas, Houston, Colorado and Chivas USA … there's got to be a feeling that some wins cannot come soon enough.

And just how can L.A. and RSL turn their seasons around? Well, one of them will get the chance this Sunday at the Home Depot Center when they battle each other.

I'll be watching that game closely, but something tells me it'll end up in a 0-0 draw. In other words, it'll be a soccer version of that final "Sopranos" episode.

That's my guess, anyway.

It's been a while since I've blogged about soccer, but I've been convinced that it's time for me to try and get back into the rhythm of the game.

Why'd I walk away from this blog in the first place? Well, as most of you know, about six months ago, my brother Bob was named interim coach of the U.S. national team. At that time, I just kind of figured there was no way I could comment on anything related to American soccer, some sort of conflict.

I've never backed away from the fact that, when it comes to my brother, I cannot be unbiased. Throughout his career, I've not only rooted for the teams he's coached, I've lived and died with them. From Princeton to D.C. United to Chicago to the MetroStars and Chivas USA, when one of Bob's teams is playing, I'm a full-fledged fan.

To that end, even as I've written about soccer for ESPN The Magazine since 1998, I've pretty much tried to avoid anything related to Bob's teams. Of course, that hasn't stopped many e-mailing fans from calling me biased on any number of issues. But I've always just taken it with a grain of salt.

But when it became Bob's job to coach the U.S. and, in effect, every player with an American passport, I just figured there was nothing I could write about anymore. I told my bosses that I thought it best if I stick to baseball, golf and the other sports I cover.

And that's one thing I'd like readers to understand. I've been a sportswriter, covering a variety of sports, since 1989. That means I was a sportswriter when Bob was cutting his teeth at Princeton. So, contrary to what many soccer fans seem to think, I did not suddenly decide to write about sports when my big brother became a coach. He and I really got started in our respective careers around the same time.

Of course, his rise was faster than mine.

This brings me to the present and my decision to return to the blog. One thing Bob and I have in common is that we both love the game of soccer. And, to be honest, I miss writing about it. After talking it over with some friends and colleagues, I figured, if I write about MLS without mentioning anything about a player's standing on the national team, I'm free and clear of any real or perceived bias.

Yeah, right. I know I'll still get e-mails from people who will rail me for my Princeton/D.C./Chicago/MetroStars/Chivas USA slant to everything, but I'll try to deal.

Just understand this about me: When the U.S. is playing (like last night), you don't even want my analysis. Why? Because I can barely watch the games these days. I have an eye on the score and an eye on the clock, but little else. Unless you've got a family member who's coached or played in big games, you can't possibly understand what it's like.

It's not a lot of fun.

However, I've noticed that I'm able to watch MLS games pretty closely this year. I no longer watch the games with a constant eye on what my brother's team is doing.

So, I'll try to stick to MLS.

And if you see me at a U.S. game, know I'm just like you. . .I'm a fan.

So, Friday MLS gets its first Canadian franchise up and running, when it holds Toronto FC's (TFC) expansion draft.

Must admit, it's odd that it's even called a "draft" because it's only one team and there's no reason for a draft order or anything, basically Toronto gets to pick 10 players, no more than one per team, off the list of unprotected players, which is right here.

And, because this is a Canadian team, there are a number of odd roster restrictions that, ultimately, TFC will have to deal with.

For example, the bulk of their roster will be "domestic players," meaning Canadian citizens or Canadian residents.

But up to three "domestic players" will be guys who would qualify as domestic players on a U.S.-based MLS team. In other words, they can be American citizens or American Green Card holders.

After that, TFC can have the usual four Senior Internationals (non-domestic players who turn 25 or are older during the year).

And five Youth Internationals (up to 24 years old); two of these slots expire at the end of the team's 2008 season. The catch here is that these "Internationals" can be American.

I used the word "ultimately" up top because it's not like TFC manager Mo Johnston is going to have to be rules-compliant on Friday. So, my guess is that Johnston is going to use his 10 picks as if they were chips in a poker game. He'll be working the phones this week to find out a lot from the other 12 MLS teams. A few questions he might be asking the GMs of opposing teams:

1. Is there anyone on the unprotected list, from another team, you'd like? If so, I can pick him and you can give me something in return.

2. If I take one of your guys, would you give me a draft pick in the upcoming SuperDraft to get him back?

3. Better yet, if I take a guy you want, would you give me some of your allocation money back in return?

With that in mind, I present my 10-best team-building selections Mo Johnston should make on Friday afternoon.

1. Adrian Serioux. He's Canadian and he can start in the back for TFC. Really, I know Mo wasn't wild about Adrian last year when he had him in New York during preseason, but this is a no-brainer.

2. Nate Jaqua. Young and versatile.

3. Jesus Morales. Youth International forward from Chivas USA.

4. Rod Dyachenko. Youth International from D.C. United.

5. Clarence Goodson. Solid, experienced MLS center-back from FC Dallas.

6. Guillermo Gonzalez. No harm taking another youngster.

7. Jeff Larentowicz. Another young American who got good minutes this year.

8. Danny O'Rourke. Mo traded Serioux for him when he was in New York.

9. Andy Williams. Born in Toronto, and he is destined to play for every team.

10. Mike Petke. Take him and trade him back to Colorado for a pick.

From where I am sitting (this week, catching all of my MLS action on my iBook G4 from baseball press boxes in St. Louis and Detroit), the first week of the MLS Cup playoffs could not have played out any better. All four series are a long 90 minutes (and perhaps more) away from being decided. These things are going down to the wire.

I'm excited because there's nothing like a goal to open up a soccer game, right? Well, with DC, Chicago, Dallas and Chivas entering the second leg of these aggregate series with one-goal advantages, the trailing teams have to force action. That, in turn, opens up things in their own defensive ends. MLS has developed a lot of things in 11 years, but I've yet to see an MLS team that's really good at playing for a 0-0 draw. Thank goodness for that, I say, and I'll be shocked if any of the games this weekend end scoreless.

The longest shot of them all, or so it seems, is the Red Bulls at D.C. The last time these teams met at RFK, D.C. emerged with a 4-3 victory. Yeah, that's three goals allowed by D.C., so it's not impossible to think they'll give up one or two on Saturday. If the first goal is scored by the Red Bulls, the pace of this game will become frenzied. The fear here is that if D.C. gets the first one, it will do what it does better than any MLS team, and that's commit tactical fouls and waste time. If the game stays on a one-goal margin, I fully expect the Red Bulls to get their chances. I believe the Red Bulls can win, even though I do not like the stat that shows they've won a grand total of one match (of 13) this season against the other three Eastern Conference playoff teams.

The other home team that dropped Leg One, the Rapids, is also a team fully capable of a victory. If not for some remarkable goalkeeping by Dario Sala (I'll leave the ref- and linesman-bashing to others, to me that's part of the game you deal with), Colorado is at least tied going into Game 2. A lot of people I talk to in the soccer business have been saying all year that the Rapids are not a good team and I disagree wholeheartedly. To me, they're one of those hard-to-figure MLS teams. They have enough grit with guys like Pablo Mastroeni and Mike Petke to create turnovers and force the other team into errors, and they have a goalkeeper in Joe Cannon who is fully capable of standing on his head in any game. Tell me you can't see this series going to penalties. I'm not listening.

The Revolution have too much firepower with Taylor Twellman, Clint Dempsey, Steve Ralston and Andy Dorman to bow out quietly. They are not going to get shut out at Gillette, so unless the Fire can get a goal or two, this series is totally up for grabs for 90 more minutes. Of course, the suspension to Shalrie Joseph is going to hurt, and I might add, was not justified. Check out the video and try to tell me how that's worthy of a suspension. Am I wrong? To me, Joseph has two of Ivan Guerrero's arms wrapped around him and tries to push him away with a stiff arm. What's Joseph supposed to do there, let Guerrero hang all over him?

Chicago, to its credit, is playing well and seems to be the best "team" in the tournament. Translated, there's cohesion and trust on display out there and you get the feeling that Chris Armas is on a mission to get back to another MLS Cup.

If Chivas USA thought for a second that even a 2-0 lead was going to be safe at Houston, they got slapped right across their collective faces, surrendering a goal to Brian Ching and conceding a penalty in the final 20 minutes on Sunday. Brad Guzan came up with a big save on Dwayne DeRosario to preserve the one-goal advantage, but if Chivas surrenders as many free kicks (by my count, Houston had 654 restarts inside of 30 yards on Sunday), they'll pay.

Houston probably will have the best homefield advantage of any of the four teams hosting this weekend. Yeah, I know that sets D.C. fans off, but you get the feeling that the Red Bulls would rather play anywhere but on the FieldTurf of Giants Stadium. The players hate to use it as an excuse, and the Red Bulls were a pretty good home team this year, but in a playoff game against a D.C. team that is (justifiably) more concerned with keeping a clean sheet than scoring a goal, it's not the ideal surface for attacking soccer. It's also rarely mentioned, but the field at GS is hardly regulation width.

Robertson Stadium, which should be rocking pretty good (I get my info from ESPN2's Houston resident PBP man Glenn Davis), will be a hostile environment for Chivas USA. Robertson's pitch is narrow and fast (though it's hardly Spartan Stadium), so the Dynamo will try to come out flying from the start and make the pace of the game dizzying. My gut here is the same as the Chicago-New England series. It's too tall an order for Chivas to keep a clean sheet in this match, so Ante Razov and Paco Palencia and Juan Pablo Garcia are going to have to put a chance away.

For New York, I think Youri Djorkaeff has a moment of magic left in him. He dropped a few hints in the last game, eluding defenders with the ball at his feet on several occasions, that he's going to do something great before he hangs up his boots. If Bruce Arena can get wide play on the right side, either from Markus Schopp or Marvell Wynne, that mirrors what he got from Todd Dunivant, D.C. can be pinned back. And, this is no knock on Jon Conway, who has been great, but if I have to win one game, I go with Tony Meola, because he's always had a lot of "I'll Show You" in him. Would it be classic, or what, to see Tony going up against D.C in a PK shootout?

For Colorado, I don't know what it is about this team, but the Rapids just have a way of doing things the hard way. I've seen them score some late equalizers and winners this year, and I can see this game staying on a one-goal margin until the last 15 minutes and the Rapids pulling even on some late-game heroics. If it goes to penalties, as good as Sala was last week, the edge goes to Cannon.

I haven't even looked at the Weather Channel (except as it pertains to St. Louis and Detroit) but I'll be shocked if I turn on my miniature MLSLive screen (can I make it larger, anyone?) and don't see the Revs and Fire playing in some type of monsoon at Gillette. Against that backdrop, I see Twellman sliding on his butt to knock one in. Yeah, I can definitely see penalties here, too. I've picked Chicago to go to the finals on the USA Today writers poll, so I have to stick with my pick, even though Reis is a dynamite PK stopper.

And my predicted final has Houston taking on Chicago. So even as Chivas USA carries a lead into Leg Two, I'm picking the Dynamo to advance on (why not?) penalties. This one going to PKs, actually, makes a lot of sense as Chivas have been a hard team to beat by more than a goal all season long. Chivas USA went to PKs once this year, in their miserable Open Cup loss to that FC Roma amateur team, and isn't it too much to ask Guzan to stop any more PKs? At any rate, I'm sticking with all my original predictions, which means I have only the Fire holding onto their lead. Do I believe a thing I've written will actually happen? Uh, no. Except that nothing's decided.

And I'll be relying on my 13-inch screen for all the action.