TYH'S MLS BEST 11 (Week 2)

GOALKEEPER

W. Hesmer (CLB)

DEFENDERS

J. Conrad (KC),  G. Peralta (DC),  B, Soumare (CHI)

MIDFIELDERS

S. Kljestan (CHV), M. Gallardo (DC), D. Beckham (LA), D. van den Bergh (NY)

FORWARDS

L. Donovan (LA), T. Frankowski (NE),  Kenny Cooper (DAL)

MLS Goals of the Week (week 2)

Beckham nutmegs Joe Cannon


Jimmy off the noggin'


Was he offside? Doesn't matter. Pretty passing


Quite a consolation goal by Edu


Nice goal, but Max Bretos is still a douche

'FutboLucha' night at DSG Park

Donovan left out of MLS Millionaires Club

Washington Post soccer blogger/journalist Steve Goff recently posted the MLS player salary sheet, and the most surprising thing wasn't that that there were five players whose base salary was over one million dollars. The surprising thing was that Landon Donovan wasn't one of them, while Claudio Reyna still was.

Current Captain America Donovan's base salary is listed at $900,000, over $4.5 million less than his teammate David Beckham, but more shocking is the fact that the former Captain America Claudio Reyna makes $300,000 more per year in guaranteed salary. Putting aside for the moment that Donovan is the current captain of the USMNT, while Reyna is retired (Donovan is Bucky to Reyna's Steve Rogers), it is hard to understand why Reyna continues to be part of the Millionaires Club in MLS.

Given Reyna's age (35 in July) and his pedestrian performance in MLS last season, one would imagine that the MLS brass would sit him down prior to this season and attempt to re-negotiate his salary. Reyna appeared in 21 of 30 matches last season, helping the Red Bulls in a late season push into the MLS Cup playoffs, but even Reyna himself would acknowledge that he's lost a step, that he's not the player he was.

But my point is not really that they are paying Reyna too much. If his agent was able to finagle a nice contract when he entered the league in 2007, so be it. Good for him. He's certainly not over the hill and if he can stay healthy, the Red Bulls will be more successful with him than without him. But if you're LD, the new Cap America, you have to be a bit peeved that you aren't getting paid slightly more -- that MLS appears to be valuing the past a bit more than the present. After all, all five players in the Millionaires Club are over the age of 30. The youngest player on the list is MLS "rookie" Marcello Gallardo, midfielder for DC United, who just turned 32 in January.

For many American fans, Donovan, 26, is the face of MLS or at the very least the American face. He is certainly the most well known player on the U.S. national team and although there are LD haters out there (see Steve Davis' column on this phenomenon), no one can deny that he is one of the most talented American players since ... well, since Claudio Reyna.

Of course, LD is at a bit of negotiating disadvantage when compared to other the other young Americans in MLS. He can't threaten Europe. He wants to play here. He hated Germany and one doesn't get the sense in interviews that he is looking longingly across the pond.

Sure, $900,000 is a lot of money to regular folk, but doesn't the new Captain America deserve to be the first under-30 member of the Millionaires Club in MLS?

CCC: Dynamo, not so

The Houston Dynamo played Costa Rican side Deportivo Saprissa to a scoreless draw last night at Robertson Stadium in their home leg of the CONCACAF Champions' Cup semifinal.

The failure to convert scoring chances doesn't bode well for the defending MLS Cup champions either for the second leg in Costa Rica next Wednesday or for their hopes to win a second regional club cup.

Deportivo Saprissa -- Keilor Navas, Gabriel Badilla (Bryan Jimenez 75), Jervis Drummond, Victor Cordero, Try Bennett, Andres Nunez, Armando Alonso (Michael Barrantes 81), Celso Borges, Jose Luis Lopez, Jairo Arrieta (Cezar Elizondo 63), Ronald Gomez.

Houston Dynamo -- Pat Onstad, Bobby Boswell, Eddie Robinson, Wade Barrett, Patrick Ianni, Richard Mulrooney (Geoff Cameron 75), Ricardo Clark, Dwayne De Rosario, Corey Ashe, Brian Ching, Franco Caraccio (Chris Wondolowski 80).

Larent Robert to join Toronto

According to reports out of Toronto, French winger Laurent Robert is close to a deal with MLS and will join Toronto FC within the week. One blog, The Footy Blog, reported that he took physical with the club yesterday and called the move "a done deal."

Robert, a 32-year-old left winger, has seen little success on the field since the early part of the 2000s at PSG and Newcastle. His most recent stints came with Spanish La Liga side Levante and English club Derby County. He made just four appearances for Derby. He has been on an extended trial with TFC this offseason.

Despite a decent professional resume, Robert isn't really a significant improvement for the Reds who really need more help up top rather than out wide. He's a slight improvement over Todd Dunivant, but Robert won't be a game changer. No one seemed to want this guy in Europe, and he has a reputation as an inconsistent player.

CCC: United, they fall

Despite a well-played first half, DC United's defense finally caved before the home team Pachuca (Mexico) 2-0 in last night's CONCACAF Champions' Cup semifinal first leg.

After consecutive scoreless matches, DC United have to be wondering how long it will take before their new orchestrator Marcelo Gallardo will gel with his South American compatriots Emilio and Franco Niell. But fans can take heart in the fact that DC, who won the Supporter's Shield (aka the real league championship) last season, after going 0-for-April. In fact, it wasn't until May 6 that United won their first match (a 2-1 home win over Chivas USA) and then MLS's most decorated club went on a tear losing just six matches over the next six months.

Plus, not many pundits expect MLS clubs to steal points south of the border; it's just not realistic given the home advantages (flying bags of urine and batteries, 3am wake-up calls by fans camped outside of the visitor's hotel room, Montezuma's revenge, etc.)

DC will host Pachuca at RFK on April 9 in the second leg, needing to make up the two goal difference. Tonight, MLS Cup champions Houston host Costa Rican club Deportivo Saprissa at 9pmCT in the other semifinal of CCC.

Ruiz, Double-T out 4-6 months

New England (and sometimes USA) striker Taylor Twellman will be out four-to-six months with torn cartilage in his right knee. Revolution doctors said Tuesday that the 2005 MLS MVP will undergo arthroscopic surgery on the injury, which was sustained in training last week, tomorrow. Steve Ralston is also sidelined with a dislocated shoulder that he sustained in his side's 3-0 win over Houston on Saturday.

Second-time Galaxy guy Carlos Ruiz will also be out four-to-six after also suffering a right knee meniscus tear in Saturday's humiliating 4-0 loss to Colorado.

It will be a difficult adjustment for the Revolution, but perhaps not as difficult as one would have imagined prior to Saturday's match that might have been a preview of two of Twellman's replacements had he gone to Europe this summer -- Adam Cristman and Sainey Nyassi. As for the Galaxy, Alexi Lalas better work the phones to get some scoring help because Edson Buddle, Alan Gordon and rookie Ely Allen won't get the job done in Ruiz's absence. Of course, after this recent interview, I'm not sure who would answer the phone.

Alexi Lalas: Every coach and every team wants a proven striker that they can rely on. We're no different. Carlos is here to score goals. What he did in the past is only used to hedge our bets. Carlos is a more mature player and person since we last saw him in L.A. He needs to lead on and off the field and I believe he will.

Ouch.

Here are the highlights of the Revolution's 3-0 dismantling of the defending MLS Cup champions.