Europe - Time to Wrap Up & MLS - Time to Clean Up

As Man U appear to wrap up a 19th title, AC Milan, Porto, and Dortmund have all clinchedtitles in their respective leagues, with Lille and Barcelona waiting in thewingsto lift their trophies. Man City clinched the last Champions League spot in England, making the only worthwhile matches in England involving West Ham, Wolves, Wigan, Blackburn, and Blackpool, aside from those involved with the Championship Playoffs, with QPR now avoiding point deductions and Norwich pushing out the other teams for 2nd.

It is in this point that I have questions for the FA about the proposed point deductions: When Faurlin joined in 2009, why would investigations have not have started then? Why also would you tack a point deduction on after a team had believed that they had clinched the 1st place position/promotion? Asthis controversy fades because of the lack of any point deduction and the controversy of Qatar buying FIFA votes, the MLS is running into its own controversy, more related to that of player conduct.

Colorado Rapids midfielder Brian Mullan and Chivas USA forward Marcos Mondaini, amongst others, are coming under attack of MLS fans for near-season ending injuries to Seattle's Steve Zakuani and RSL's Javier Morales, respectively. Watching these challenges are not for the squeamish, and the punishments are not either, with Mullan receiving a 10 match ban.

One must consider what else can be done to prevent these kinds of tackles, which you may have noticed are occurring on playmakers of teams. It is strange to look at this and see that Red Bulls' DP Thierry Henry has yet to be fouled in 6 games. This point aside, should the MLS enact rules similar to that of the NFL to protect offensive players from hard fouls?

Beautiful vs. Tactical

In the watching of the FC Dallas vs. Colorado Rapids MLS Cup Final, I was thinking about two previous finals this year and the two teams involved: UEFA Champions League Final with Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, and the World Cup Final with Netherlands and Spain.

Bayern vs. Inter was a classic example of beautiful attacking team, Munich, with Ribery, Robben, Muller, Klose, Olic, and others, battling a well-organized defensive minded team, with players each having the task of shutting down the attack of the other team. Inter only needed three players going forward on the attack: Sneijder, Eto'o, and D. Milito. Mourinho's well rehearsed team knew exactly what it needed to do to win: absorb the Bayern attack and release the ball for a counter attack. Love or hate Mourinho, he won the battle of the minds against the equally impressive This battle was won by the team with an uglier game but a more disciplined defense and rigid positions; Tactical 1 - 0 Beautiful.

This summer's World Cup was an amazing show of the beautiful game, but had ugly too (as evidence from Luiz Suarez's goal against Japan and his 'prevention' of a goal against Ghana). The final was perhaps not as great of a game as everyone had billed it, but a very great show of talent. Spain had been playing their well-branded, passing, possession-based game, with Xavi and Iniesta playing those incisive, quick, through ball passes. Netherlands can't really be pinned as the defensive side in this game, as they did have a slightly Total Voetbal style approach to their attack, with Kuyt, Van Persie, Robben and Sneijder interchanging their positions, but compared to Dutch teams of the 70's, this was a little more on the defensive side of the coin. With only one goal being scored in the Final, many people would say that neither of these teams lived up to their potential, but when looking at the respective teams defeated in the earlier games, these teams potential was supremely undercut. Spain's ability to find that one perfect pass to Iniesta made it 1-0, where it finished. Tactical 1 - 1 Beautiful.

This past weekend's MLS Cup got me thinking about these two previous finals and I predicted that Tactical would win out, calling the score 2-1 Dallas. It was hard to call Colorado the beautiful team, with the way Conor Casey was playing, and the appearance of Matt Pickens beard, but they're style of scoring with Cummings and Casey linking up so many times throughout the season made them appear more of the flag bearers of beautiful futbol. Adding Mac Kandji to this, as he scored the game winner, and Colorado had the more potent attack, despite Dallas fielding MVP David Ferreira. It is perhaps no coincidence that FC Dallas played a summer friendly against Inter Milan and that Colorado is a sister affiliate of Arsenal FC, two teams well known for their brand of football.

Through these finals, from May to November, one could draw the conclusion that perhaps non-beautiful football is on the way out again, as Inter are already fading in Serie A, but watch this space and expect another final to include a greatly-coached, defensive-minded team.

MLS Cup Final 2010: FC Dallas v. Colorado Rapids

Update: Colorado Rapids are your MLS Champions for 2010! Be on the lookout for my Twitter commentary and a Post-Match report.

Update: My commentary from the match has been posted below. As before, the beginning of the commentary is at the bottom of the post.

Follow my commentary on Twitter, post-game coming tomorrow morning.

 zach_crest1st : @~RapidsSoccer is the #MLS Champion of 2010! Congrats Colorado

 zach_crest1st : Penalty clearly skipped over. Guess it equals out with the one not called in the 1st half

 zach_crest1st : #FCDallas is making Pickens prove himself these last 5'

 zach_crest1st : Pickens with a great save to possibly win this game for the #Rapids

 zach_crest1st : Ferreira gives another effort but Pickens makes another save. 2-1 #Rapids in the 118'

 zach_crest1st : 2nd time Conor Casey has gone head-to-head with a #FCDallas player, both go down.

 zach_crest1st : Best scoring opportunity for #FCDallas to try to equalize but Ihimelu sent it over the bar. #MLSCup

 zach_crest1st : Questioning the reasons behind so many empty seats at a #MLSCup.

 zach_crest1st : Kandji is injured, taken off the field. I guess #Rapids are playing with 10-men

 zach_crest1st : John #14 scores own goal in the 107'. #Rapids 2-1 #FCDallas

 zach_crest1st : I'm cheering for penalties at this point. #MLSCup

 zach_crest1st : This game has exponentially lost my attention. I was definitely focused during the first 90', but I've maybe seen 2 mins of this OT

 zach_crest1st : wouldve been a good ball...had not there been a #Rapids defender actually watching the ball.

 zach_crest1st : #Rapids sub: Kandji in for Cummings

 zach_crest1st : OT has begun. Both teams have 1 sub left

 zach_crest1st : I'd formally like to congratulate the #MLS for getting a game on #ESPN, not just #ESPN2 or online. this trend should continue.

 zach_crest1st : end of regulation. 2 halves of 15 mins coming up. if still level, penalties will decide the MLS Champion

 zach_crest1st : Hey! Those fellas in yellow have cards in their pockets. I almost guarantee one of them is a yellowish card and one is redish. #refisawanker

 zach_crest1st : Rapids sub: Baudet in for Wallace, 91'

 zach_crest1st : #FCDallas free kick 91' with 2 mins of stoppage time

 zach_crest1st : Ref has lost all control of this game. People were on the ground wrestling for a solid 10 secs before the whistle blew

 zach_crest1st : #Rapids sub: Thompson in for Smith 89'

 zach_crest1st : Mastroeni is on the side of the field, we'll see if he comes back

 zach_crest1st : Mastroeni for the #Rapids down in the box injured in the 85'

 zach_crest1st : Casey for #Rapids and Benitez for #FCDallas both booked. Hopefully this will calm both of them down.

 zach_crest1st : Chavez goes down injured, on the side of the field. 82' #MLSCup

 zach_crest1st : good punch by Pickens to keep out yet another #FCDallas set piece

 zach_crest1st : Cummings takes one too many touches and the #Rapids clear it

 zach_crest1st : accurate header by #FCDallas, but Pickens makes the save

 zach_crest1st : Cunningham (F) for Shea (F) #FCDallas

 zach_crest1st : long shot from Hernandez but no where close. goal kick #Rapids #MLSCup

 zach_crest1st : close shave, Hartman makes a spectacular save to keep the #Rapids from taking the lead #MLSCup

 zach_crest1st : free kick #Rapids, goal opportunity

 zach_crest1st : my roommate is convinced Conor Casey is #teenagemutantninjaturtle. The jersey's close enough to red to assume hes Donatelo

 zach_crest1st : #Rapids with another scoring opportunity but Hartman saves another one

 zach_crest1st : #MLSCup #Rapids 1-1 #FCDallas

 zach_crest1st : GOAL #Rapids! Conor Casey gets down on the grass and kicks in a rebound

 zach_crest1st : great attacking position for the #Rapids.

 zach_crest1st : Smith booked for #Rapids foul on McCarty in the 50', looks injured but hes still on the

 zach_crest1st : game back underway

 zach_crest1st : thats HT. seems like a lot of players have been injured/gone down. hopefully the goals will continue to come in the 2nd half. #MLSCup

 zach_crest1st : Casey and another #FCDallas player down in the box, they had some head-to-head contact

 zach_crest1st : About to head into halftime, score is #Rapids 0 - 1 #FCDallas #MLSCup

 zach_crest1st : Wallace for #Rapids gets booked

 zach_crest1st : GOAL #FCDallas!! MLS MVP Ferreira scores in the 35'

 zach_crest1st : Jackson from #FCDallas back on the field after his run-in with Casey

 zach_crest1st : great header attempt from #Rapids, but went wide of the far post

 zach_crest1st : apparently the referee cant see two #FCDallas players molesting Conor Casey in the box.

 zach_crest1st : first referee intervention with Matroeni and a #FCDallas in the 23'

 zach_crest1st : excellent tackle by Moor to stop a #FCDallas attack.

 zach_crest1st : shot on goal by Mullan for #Rapids but is was right at Hartman. #MLSCup

 zach_crest1st : free kick by the #Rapids was so close to a goal, but Kimura couldnt get there. #MLSCup

 zach_crest1st : im not rooting for anyone in particular, but my prediction is a 2+ GD by #FCDallas. im thinking either 2-0 or 3-1.

 zach_crest1st : crazy close first attempt on goal by #FCDallas, this looks like its going to be a entertaining game.

 zach_crest1st : bringing you commentary of the #MLSCup, @~FCDallas vs. @~RapidsSoccer