Beyond POV-FS – MLS Week in Review and Canadian Content at Canadian Soccer News

The usual weekly posts went up a little late at Canadian Soccer News earlier this week.

The MLS Week in Review covers all the action on the pitch from the latest round of play, while the extended Canadian Content takes a look at the play of the Canadians strewn about the league.

Check them out

Beyond POV-FS – Know Your Enemy: DC United – Meeting the Third at Waking the Red

Preview of Toronto FC’s match against DC United on Wednesday is up over at Waking the Red – check it out

Beyond POV-FS – Know Your Enemy:Sporting KC – Meeting the Second at Waking the Red

Preview of Saturday’s match between Toronto FC and Sporting KC at BMO Field is up over at Waking the Red – check it out

Beyond POV-FS – Round 19 of the MLS Week in Review and Canadian Content at Canadian Soccer News

The usual weekly posts are up over at Canadian Soccer News: the Week in Review covers all the action from the previous week, while the Canadian Content focuses on the performances of the Canadians in the league.

Check them out – MLS Week in Review and Canadian Content

Beyond POV-FS – Know Your Enemy: Houston Dynamo, Meeting the Second at Waking the Red

Preview of this evening’s match, between Toronto FC and the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium, is up over at Waking the Red – check it out.

Beyond POV-FS – Know Your Enemy: Vancouver Whitecaps at Waking the Red

Preview of Toronto FC’s match against Vancouver is up over at Waking the Red – check it out, Parts One and Two.

Beyond POV-FS – MLS Week in Review and Canadian Content Round 18 at Canadian Soccer News

The usual weekly posts are up over at Canadian Soccer News – MLS Week in Review and Canadian Content for Round 18 of MLS action.

Beyond POV-FS – Know Your Enemy: NY Red Bull – Meeting the Second at Waking the Red

    The usual thorough expose of Toronto FC’s upcoming opponent, New York Red Bull, is up over at Waking the Red.

    Check it out

Beyond POV-FS - Caught in Two Minds – the Joys and Consternations of Julio Cesar Representing Toronto FC at the World Cup

    Post about the ramification of Toronto FC being represented at this summer’s World Cup – it’s amazing, but tinged with a hint of desperation.

    Check it out

Got it; got it; need it; got it; need it…The Economics of Panini Stickers

    The Economist dug into the secrets behind the much-beloved World Cup albums in their series, The Economist Explains.

    In an effort to rekindle the joy of youth, I myself have been indulging a little bit of packet opening – it is quite fun, after all.

    Fans lucky enough to attend Toronto FC’s last match prior to the World Cup break would have been able to get their hands on a free edition of the album – the packs however, will cost you.

    It is available in podcast, or written form, here.

    Expensive stuff – needless to say, most albums will be left sadly unfinished; happy hunting!

POV-FS Out Loud! – The Vocal Minority Podcast, Episode 35 #Foreshadowing

The Crew over at VMP, comprised of friends from Waking the Red and The Yorkies, were kind enough to have me on this week’s episode in the role of New Tony, as Old Tony has gone missing over in Blighty.

A review of the opening two months of TFC's season, a chat about the Ottawa Fury Voyageurs Cup debut experience - and my $2-bus ride, and plenty of other pearls of wisdom neatly daubed across the hour.

Do check it out – follow on twitter – subscribe on iTunes – and all that jazz.

It’s great fun; let them know what you think about the show as well, catch up on old episodes, contribute to the bitchyblanks to win great prizes (prizes consist of admiration and appreciative nods and hmms – not and hmms may not be as enthusiastic as one desires).

Beyond POV-FS – Looking Forward, Looking Back – Can Mark Bloom replace Richard Eckersley at Right-Back? at Waking the Red

    The first of the off-season reflection posts at Waking the Red looking back at the season that was and projecting forward into the upcoming 2014 season.

    The question is whether Mark Bloom can replace the outgoing Richard Eckersley or whether another option will come in.

    Check it out

Beyond POV-FS – The Return of the Prodigal Son: Could De Rosario return to Toronto FC? at Waking the Red

    With today’s Re-entry Draft set to determine the final chapter of one of the more sordid sagas in TFC history, Waking the Red takes a look at the possible reasons that Dwayne De Rosario’s return could be a boon, though of course, there are plenty of risks as well.

    Check it out

Beyond POV-FS - MLS Week in Review: Playoff Edition – 2013 MLS Cup Final at Canadian Soccer News

    The first post-MLS 2013 weekend has come to pass – miss it yet?

    Relive the glory of a hard-fought final decided via penalty shootout at Canadian Soccer News

    Check it out.

Beyond POV-FS – Toronto FC 2013 Top 36 Countdown: Number 8 – Bobby Convey at Waking the Red

    The good folks over at Waking the Red have put in a monumental task with the annual player countdown, finally reaching the top ten last week.

    Bobby Convey’s profile, went up on Monday – check it out

    And be sure to follow the remaining revelations and have a look at the entire countdown

Beyond POV-FS – Know Your Enemy: MLS Cup Final Flashback Compilation – Sporting KC vs. Real Salt Lake

    With the MLS Cup Final set for Saturday evening, it seemed a good time to provide some links for the extra studious.

    In that vein, here are all of the Know Your Enemy previews for the two teams from the 2013 season. Granted these are a touch dated – especially for Salt Lake (with their only meeting with Toronto coming back in June), but they should still provide a nice overview of the changes to the team, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.

Sporting KC - Meeting the First; Meeting the Second; Meeting the Third

Real Salt Lake – Part One; Part Two

Beyond POV-FS – MLS Week in Review: Playoff Edition – Conference Championships, Second Legs at Canadian Soccer News

    With the MLS Cup Final set to kick off on Saturday, why not refresh the mind on how the last round ended by checking out the Week in Review summary at Canadian Soccer News.

    Kansas City overpowered Houston to earn the right to host the final, while Salt Lake dispatched Portland easily after a devastating first-leg performance.

    Check it out

Beyond POV-FS – Toronto FC 2013 Top 36 Countdown: Number 25 – Hogan Ephraim at Waking the Red

    Waking the Red’s annual player countdown, going through every player to take to the pitch for TFC this season is well underway – up to number 17, Jeremy Brockie.

    Hogan Ephraim profile, asking the question of whether he was an unappreciated talent or a wasted loan, went up a week or so ago.

    Check it out – and the rest of the countdown can be found here

Beyond POV-FS – MLS Week in Review: Playoff Edition – Conference Championships, First Leg at Canadian Soccer News

    With the second legs set to kick off this evening, seems a perfect time to go back and look over what happened in the first legs some two weeks ago.

    Post is up over at Canadian Soccer News – Check it out

Beyond POV-FS – MLS Week in Review: Playoff Edition – Conference Semifinals, First and Seconds Legs at Canadian Soccer News

    Full recaps of the four conference semifinals are up over at Canadian Soccer News.

    Thus far the playoff have been a rollercoaster with the first two rounds packed into a compressed time span while the upcoming international dates are set to distance the two legs of the conference finals by a full two weeks.

    Hardly an ideal situation; the lack of breathing space has been a combination of exhilarating and overwhelming.

    Like a fine wine, sometimes it is better to let a series simmer and there is some fear that the large gaps between rounds will cause the attention to dwindle.

    Anyways, the reviews – First Legs & Second Legs

Beyond POV-FS – MLS Week in Review: Playoff Edition – Play-In Round at Canadian Soccer News

    Reviews of the two midweek one-match knockout rounds to decide which of the fourth or fifth place teams would move on to the MLS Conference Semifinals is up over at Canadian Soccer News.

    Check it out

Beyond POV-FS – MLS Week in Review - Round 35 and Canadian Content at Canadian Soccer News

    The final regular season review and extended look at the Canadian performances in MLS went up over at Canadian Soccer News earlier this week.

     Check them out – MLS Week in Review and Canadian Content

Beyond POV-FS – Know Your Enemy: Montreal Impact – Meeting the Third at Waking the Red

    Preview of Saturday’s end of season match between Toronto FC and the Montreal Impact at BMO Field is up over at Waking the Red.

    Can the Reds damage Montreal’s playoff bid? Will it be as crazy a match as the 3-3 back in July?

    Check it out and prepare for the match

Canadian Content MLS Round 34 – How did our Canadians do in MLS this week?

An extension to Canadian Soccer News’ MLS Week in Review, this article provides a closer look at the performances of the Canadian players who saw the pitch this week.

With the MLS regular season schedule winding down, the top three spots this round go to a pair of players who each scored their first MLS goal in the midst of a double-game week – Kofi Opare and Karl W. Ouimette - and to a young man who has found playing time severely limited through his rookie campaign, but impressed on Saturday - Kyle Bekker.

Find out what they did to deserve recognition and who else earned their keep this week.

MLS Week in Review – Round 34

The penultimate round of MLS play took place over the past week and with so many teams already entering playoff mode it comes as no surprise that, aside from a few explosive matches, it was another tightly contested weekend.

Ten matches were played – one each on Wednesday and Friday, six on Saturday, and a pair on Sunday – resulting in just two draws, both scoreless, and a single away victory – with New York exerting their dominance over Houston.

Goals were again in short supply with ten of the 21 scored coming in just two matches, though there were some glorious hits – including the new fastest goal in MLS history, courtesy of New York’s Tim Cahill.

Some 34 yellow cards were flashed, though no reds were shown – when perhaps one or two were called for – but the referees were still involved, awarding four penalty kicks and turning away several other decent shouts.

Before the result, the goals of the round: