The Fun and Thrills of Major League Soccer

'Soccer' is growing fast in the States. We all saw that with their sterling performances in the World Cup, progressing through a group they were given no chance in and giving Belgium a hard time in the knockout rounds. The USMNT (United States Mens National Team) progressed further than England in the competition, and while that is not difficult, they won over a lot of American fans who had previously thought the game had no passion or excitement, now all we need to do is get them to stop calling it the S word. 

But how does the MLS work? The country is not like England, it is roughly 37.5 times bigger and the UK as a whole could fit in to the state of Oregon. The rules can be complicated for it is not a simple 20 teams play each other home and away, but it is fun. 

Conferences 

Due to the fact the country is absolutely massive, it does not make geographical sense to have every team in the top flight play each other. Imagine if the space between Chelsea and Newcastle was 37 times further, would players and fans really be expected to make that distance on several different occasions for various teams in those areas? No. 

Therefore in America, the MLS is split in to an Eastern and a Western conference. 

You may notice that there are 10 teams in the Eastern Conference and 9 teams in the Western Conference. Each team will play 34 games in the season. For the Western teams this is simple, play each other three times, once at home, once away and then the opposite to what they did the previous season so home to 5 and away to 4 or vice versa. For the ten Eastern teams, they simply play a couple of the sides only twice rather than three times, to ensure they are not playing more games. 

You may be thinking, these numbers don't add up. Well, each Eastern team also plays each Western team home or away depending on the same fixture in the previous season. After all of these games have been played, every one of the 19 teams will have played 34 games. 

The point system is very much the same as in England, 3 points for a win, one point for a draw and nothing for a defeat. 

The table is ordered by points won but if teams are level on points by the end this is the sorting order: 

Game Rosters 

On match day, the sides must submit an 18 team 'roster' therefore allowing them to have 7 substitutes as well as the 11 on the pitch. Similarly to English football, teams are allowed to make three substitutions per game. 

Yellow Cards

One interesting thing about the MLS is their 'good behaviour' clause. In the MLS and the BPL, 5 yellow cards means a one match ban. In the MLS every subsequent three yellows means another ban. However, if a player receives a yellow card and then plays three consecutive matches without picking up another booking, the yellow they received is expunged. However they can only use this clause once per player per season. 

The Playoffs 

Who are they between? 

Once the two Conferences have finished, the top 5 teams from each table qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs. Here is how they work: 

Round 1:  West 4th V West 5th 

                 East 4th V East 5th

Round 2: West 1st V West 4/5th - West 1

                West 2nd V West 3rd - West 2

                East 1st V East 4/5th  - East 1

                East 2nd V East 3rd - East 2

* These semi final rounds are decided over two legs with away goals rule applied and extra time/penalties if necessary 

Round 3: Winner of West 1 V Winner of West 2  - W1

                Winner of East 1 V Winner of East 2 -E1

*These games are 2 legs the same as round 2

MLS CUP FINAL : Winner of W1 v Winner of E1 - the host is decided by whichever team won the most points during the season. 

The current holders of the MLS Cup are Sporting Kansas City who beat Real Salt Lake 7-6 on penalties to take the title in 2013. 

The league has not been sorted for next season yet, however with no relegation, teams have to apply to join and the number of teams can be changed. Next season, Frank Lampard's new club New York City are joining as well as Orlando City SC. 

Qatar: 8 years to go and no one knows what is happening

The latest twist of the already extremely controversial 2022 World Cup in Qatar developed today, as FIFA Executive committee member Zwanziger has revealed that he does not believe the World Cup will be held in the country. Zwanziger's comments are the first time a current member of FIFA has said that they do not believe it will happen, although the FIFA executive committee have been quick to point out he was not speaking for all of them.

Did they not realise it would be hot? 

The biggest problem with Qatar is that it is extremely hot in the summer, even today for example, the temperature there is nearly 40degrees Celsius, a quite frankly ludicrous heat to be playing football in. 

"The Qatar technical report indicated clearly that it is too hot in summer, but the executive committee with quite a big majority decided all the same that the tournament would be in Qatar," - Sepp Blatter

To get around the temperature, it has been proposed that the tournament instead be played in the winter. However, as you can imagine this had not gone down very well with domestic leagues, which would be severely disrupted. The premier league for example, would have to be halted for a whole month, right in the thick of the action, let alone time before this for the players to join their national sides and get ready. Is that really viable? Although Qatar was voted, the vote was for a summer World Cup, surely now that the facts are out and if it would need to be winter, there should be another vote.

Another suggestion is one that I can barely even contemplate. It has been suggested that games may be played in 3 thirds rather than 2 halves. This is one of the worst ideas I have ever heard, even worse than having a 'B' league placed below league 2. I will never, ever watch a game of football in three thirds I can promise that much.

 You do have to question the brains of FIFA however, as Qatar has not suddenly become a hot country…


Corruption 

The whole decision stinks of corruption. There has been a 200,000 page report in to corruption handed in to FIFA to investigate, however it is unclear as to who these reports refer to and how many people may have been involved, if any, in any corruption in the decision making process.

There is no doubt that Qatar is a very wealthy country. The allegation is that they have been 'buying votes' from members of FIFA and it would not surprise me in the slightest if this was true. Otherwise, how an earth would Qatar, slaved with racism, homophobic violence, slavery and terrorist threats be considered the best location to hold a World Cup?

FIFA is hardly full of angels. Many of the voters in 2010 when the decision was made, have since resigned while under investigation of financial wrongdoing. Much like a suspected robber, fleeing from the Police, it is fairly likely that this would indicate their guilt.

The problem though, is that the report is to be investigated by FIFA… Something needs to be done about this organisation running football, how can everyone be sure that this investigation won't also be corrupt? It is insulting to everyone who loves the game for this organisation to continue to run football the way it does.

USA 

The United Sates of America are waiting in the wings for the chance to host the World Cup, and I say, why not? USA is a nation where 'Soccer' is growing at an extraordinary rate. The last time they hosted the World Cup was the year I was born and so I did not get to catch any of the action but am told that it was a fantastic tournament.

USA's side won the hearts of their nation and others across the world with their display in the 2014
World Cup in Brazil. They progressed further than England and put in an awesome performance against a much fancied Belgium side, nearly getting past them. Tim Howard became an American hero with his record number of saves in a World Cup game (16).

When Manchester United recently played a friendly in LA, a crowd of over 100,000 attended. America has an atmosphere like no other, they would make the world cup fun. Everyone would be welcomed in the typical American fashion. There is far less racism, homophobia, slavery, bribery etc.

The USA deserves another World Cup, and I am all in favour of giving them this one.

"I believe that they will win"

Lewes 1-0 Bognor

Ollie Rowe scored a late winner to knock Bognor out of the FA Cup in the first round of qualifying. A corner from Jack Dixon was met with a bullet header from Rowe as he out jumped the Bognor defence.  Both keepers had kept their sides in the game with each making one superb stop for their respective sides. Bognor pushed on in the last five minutes but Lewes held on to win the tightly contested replay. 

-  Lewes reach the 2nd qualifying round for the second year running 

- Lewes are now unbeaten in five games having kept a clean sheet in the last 4

With Saturdays game at Bognor finishing 0-0, Lewes welcomed the Rocks to the Dripping Pan for the replay of the fixture, a similar result would result in extra time and ultimately penalties. Last season Lewes made it to the 3rd qualifying round before being knocked out by Conference South side Sutton United. 

Bognor started the first half on top, dominating the possession without creating any real chances or causing the Lewes defence much of a problem. The Bognor full backs provided them with some width however despite his best efforts, James Crane struggled to put in a decent cross after doing the hard work and getting in to the right position. 

Bognor's Stuart Green was trying to pull the strings up front for the Rocks, cutting inside from the left on a couple of occasions, his best moment coming when he found some space and fired the ball at goal forcing Rikki Banks to palm the ball away out for a corner. 

Lewes fought their way back in ten minutes in and the game evened out, both teams getting forward although neither seeming to have the cutting edge needed to get on front. The Rooks had their first effort on goal when a free kick was floated in and met by a Gary Elphick header. However there was no power in the effort and Chris Winterton had a simple task to stop the ball. 

Lewes fans thought they were going to take the lead when a ball in to the box from Nick Wheeler found Nathan Crabb, however he somehow missed the goal from inside the 6 yard box. Although he was spared his blushes as the linesman raised his flag for offside. 

Lewes had decided to start with Luke Blewden up front in place of Elliot Romain who had caused Bognor problems on Saturday. It was Blewden who flicked a long ball forward with his head, looping the ball over the Bognor defence and in to Crabb who burst through on goal. However, Chris Winterton spread his body out well denying Crabb a second goal in successive home games. 

Lewes were beginning to get on top of the game and Phillip Appiah broke forward before a poor challenge over the ball from Doug Tuck stopped him in his tracks. The referee failed to take any action to the frustration of the home fans. Jack Dixon blazed the resulting free kick over the bar, the score remaining goalless. 

Bognor came flying out of the traps for the second half, almost immediately forcing Steve Brinkhurst in to a goal line clearance. 

Again, both sides were creating decent chances but neither were able to get the ball over the line. A headed effort from Jack Dixon went wide before Rikki Banks was forced in to a brilliant low diving save at the other end. 

Elliot Romain and former Bognor striker Terry Dodd were brought on for Lewes with thirty minutes to go. Bognor had fought their way back on top and could have taken the lead when Harvey Whyte found himself in plenty of space after some sloppy play lead to Jack Dixon giving the ball away. Whyte lined up the shot as he cut in from the right hand side of the box but sliced his effort sending it crashing in to the advertising boards behind the Lewes goal. 

After a spell of being on the back foot, in a game of swings and roundabouts, Lewes took control again for the final ten minutes. It was mid way through this spell in which Elliot Romain won a corner after he chased down a Jack Dixon shot and forced another fine save from Chris Winterton. Despite both keepers being in fine form, neither of them would have kept out Ollie Rowe's blasting header from the resulting corner, placed perfectly by Jack Dixon. Ollie Rowe flew in from the back of the area, planting the ball firmly in to the back of the net. 

Bognor threw everyone forward for the final five minutes but ultimately, the game was already decided, Lewes progressed after two very close encounters with their local rivals and will now travel to Whitham Town on the 27th September for the next round of the FA Cup.