The case for Jose Burciaga Jr.
Or would it be a certain left back playing currently in the Heartland? The stat geeks among us, those who bow to the alter of the raw number, might propose that Jose Burciaga Jr. should be your guy.
Burciaga had a big midweek match against Chicago, supplying a goal and two assists in the Wizards win. It's just more ammunition for the argument that Kansas City's longtime left back is perhaps the most prolific offensive producer ever among MLS defenders.
Burciaga has 13 goals and 17 assists in 109 career matches. That's a goal or assist every 3.6 matches.
Among the higher scoring defenders in MLS history, only Marcelo Balboa has a better rate of production. And Balboa's ratio of a goal or assist every 3.2 matches is attached to a huge asterisk -- he played a significant number of matches in midfield.
So, if you don't count Balboa, Burciaga has a better rate of production than any other defender in league history who has at least 100 matches.
Following the Kansas City left back and his rate of scoring or assisting every 3.6 matches are: John Doyle (a goal or assist every 5.1 matches); Frankie Hejduk (5.3), Greg Vanney (5.4), Chris Albright (who has played frequently as a midfielder and began as a forward, 5.5), Wade Barrett (5.6), Steve Trittschuh (5.9), Alexi Lalas (6.0) and Jeff Agoos (6.2).
Denilson could land soon: FC Dallas officials are somewhat optimistic that new signing Denilson can get his work permit quickly and might even be available for the club's next match, Sept. 1 at home against D.C. United.
Name recognition can sometimes help in these cases. Club officials believe that's why Juan Pablo Angel was able to get his work visa expeditiously for Red Bull New York earlier this year, while Pablo Ricchetti and Ricardinho and others have needed to wait longer to join Dallas.
It may be a few more weeks before the club's newest addition can play alongside Kenny Cooper. The sophomore forward is now able to put weight on the leg that he broke back on June 9, but not much more. He's still doing light rehabilitation work and has yet to begin jogging, according to team officials.
Denilson is the first player in MLS outside of the New York market to arrive with a World Cup medal in pocket. Branco, Lothar Matthaus and Youri Djorkaeff were the other three.
The David Beckham hangover effect: Real Salt Lake, here's your chance.
Jason Kreis' team plays Chivas USA this weekend, just three nights after the Los Angeles club faced down the significant emotional strain of facing David Beckham, the Galaxy and all the attached histrionics.
It seems that so far teams aren't faring too well in the game after wading through all the Beckham hoopla.
D.C. United defeated the Galaxy in a league match in the nation's capital, but then lost when the teams met a few nights later in Carson in SuperLiga play.
New England defeated the Galaxy outside Boston, but then looked listless in a 3-0 loss at Colorado four nights later.
The Red Bulls defeated Beckham and the boys in that instant classic at Giants Stadium last weekend. But then Bruce Arena's Red Bulls were shut out a few nights later at D.C. United.
Even when Beckham doesn't play, there is some evidence that teams suffer a letdown after dealing with the hubbub. He didn't appear in matches at Toronto or Dallas, although his potential appearance dominated all chatter concerning the match.
Toronto and the Galaxy drew 0-0 when they met at BMO Field. Toronto then made a mess of its next match, falling to the New York Red Bulls 3-0.
Dallas met the Galaxy in a SuperLiga clash at Pizza Hut Park on July 31, falling in a wild 6-5 match. Steve Morrow's club did win the following match. But anybody who saw the 1-0 victory a few days later at home over Colorado saw an exhausted Dallas side barely hanging on under a Rapids siege for the final 15-20 minutes.
So this weekend, Chivas USA hopes to buck the trend as it follows Thursday's bit win with a match at home Real Salt Lake.
Emilio's fabulous campaign: Luciano Emilio still has an outside shot at putting together a record season at D.C. United.
He has 14 goals already in 20 matches. So United's first-year attacker already has matched Christian Gomez's team-leading total from last year. He's got a good shot at establishing the 2007 season as the second best ever at United for an individual scorer. He'll need five more goals over United's last 10 games to do so.
Roy Lassiter struck for 18 in two seasons, 1998 and 1999.
But he'll have to significantly up the strike rate to eclipse the club's best season: Raul Diaz Arce scored 23 goals in 28 matches in the league's first season, 1996. And it's not helping Emilio's cause that he picked up a slight injury and might miss this weekend's contest at Toronto.
If he gets healthy quickly, perhaps Emilio can record the league's first 20-goal season since 2002, when Carlos Ruiz tallied 24 goals and Taylor Twellman supplied 23.
Crowds up for Beckham: Not that it's a huge surprise, but the Crew's Sept. 30 match against the L.A. Galaxy is already sold out, more than a month away. Officials there are selling standing room only tickets.
Ditto for Colorado, where David Beckham could play for the Galaxy on Sunday, depending on the condition of his ankle. Officials in Commerce City are selling standing room only seats at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
Kansas City has already sold 26,800 tickets for its Sept. 27 match against the Galaxy at Arrowhead Stadium. That's before the team has rolled out any of the advertising for the high-profile contest, and before the club's group sales numbers come in.
Officials there are peaking at the Kansas City all-time record for attendance at a soccer game. A crowd of 37,319 watched a 2001 World Cup qualifier between the United States and Costa Rica. Arrowhead's lower bowl holds 39,000.
And in Utah, Real Salt Lake officials have already sold 25,000 seats for their Sept. 19 spin on the Beckham wheel. Officials there say they already are at their MLS capacity and are in the process of determining how many additional seating areas at Rice-Eccles they should open.
Attendance at the Galaxy's five league matches since Beckham arrived has averaged 39,169.
Nunez getting it done: Officially speaking, Ramon Nunez has played 22 minutes over two matches for Chivas USA since his trade from Dallas two weeks ago.
And yet, despite minimal minutes, he's already played a big part in two goals for Preki's side. Nunez's early ball out of midfield released Paulo Nagamura last weekend at Toronto. That turned into the clincher in a 2-0 win.
Thursday against Los Angeles a sharp Nunez pass once again sprang the break, as Francisco Mendoza finished calmly to punctuate the Super Clasico win.
Since a four-goal loss to Houston back in late June, Chivas is 5-2-1 and well positioned for a run at the Western Conference leaders. Preki's men have their next four matches at home, where they are undefeated in seven matches this year.
Three in 17 might spell trouble: Is Frank Yallop's job on the line in Los Angeles? History suggests that it might be.
The team has three wins after 17 matches, with injuries certainly playing a role in the current state of affairs.
But with a two-year record of 12-16-10, his winning percentage is just a little better than Steve Sampson's, who was fired during the middle of last year with roughly the same ratio of wins to games played. (He had two wins in 11 matches.)
Yallop's winning percentage is .447 with the Galaxy; Sampson's was .431. Sigi Schmid, removed from the Galaxy sidelines in 2004, had a .528 winning percentage there.
This year, former Chicago coach Dave Sarachan had four wins at almost the same point (after 16 matches) when he was stripped of managerial duty at Toyota Park.
Greg Andrulis had won four of 16 when he was let go in Columbus in 2005. Overall, his winning percentage with the Crew was .524. Two years before that, Mike Jeffries had four wins in 20 matches when fired from Dallas.
Perhaps the closest analogy came from Tampa Bay in 2001, when Alfonso Mondelo's three wins in 16 matches wasn't enough to keep his job. Three years before that, also at Tampa Bay, John Kowalski was let go after posting three wins in 15 matches.
It seems to have always been this way, going back to the league's earlier days. Laurie Calloway had won five of 15 (some victories came via the shootout) when he was fired from San Jose in 1997. And that same year, in Los Angeles, Lothar Osiander lost his job with the Galaxy after posting three wins in a dozen matches.
Mighty Kasey and MLS might never work out: The Kasey Keller-to-MLS dream probably died once and for all this week with the news that the venerable U.S. international is now property of Fulham FC in west London. Keller, who turns 38 in November, joins three MLS alumni there: Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey and the injured Brian McBride.
Keller came close to joining MLS two years ago, before the 2005 season. It was so close to happening then his family was in town for early recon on the housing situation in and around Salt Lake City.
But a source said it never got close this time, as Keller and the club weren't close at all as they talked preliminarily about terms.
Steve Davis is a freelance writer who has covered Major League Soccer since its inception. Steve can be reached at BigTexSoccer@yahoo.com. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
