If it wasn't an away game, why was I in Philly?

So I was stuck out in Philadelphia for this one. The fine people at P.J. Whelihan’s put the game on for me and I got to hang out with an old friend I hadn't seen in years, so good all around.

I may have had one beer too many, and I know I was chatting more than watching, so maybe I'm not the best observer for this, but it seems like a lot of local chatter was on how poorly SKC played and how they need to play better in the post season... I personally thought they looked really good. Kept a tight back line (for the most part, there were two almost breakaways I remember that I guess could have turned the game), bossed the midfield, forwards made some good runs into space. I think Philly really never had a chance.

I also noticed a lot of Philly fans complaining about how thuggish SKC is.

I'll be the first to admit a guy like Collin does thug it up. I don't think you can really argue that. But on the whole, SKC is middle of the pack of the league in terms of fouls commited, cautions issued, and ejections. SKC plays a very disruptive midfield which I think other teams don't like, and other teams fans don't like to watch, but it really is a controlled chaos, mosh-pit style of whole team defending, and I, personally, am on board with it.

Philadelphia, on the other hand, is at the bottom of the fair play table, commiting more fouls, getting more cautions, and having more players ejected than almost any team in the league. I saw one Union fan saying he'd rather see SKC win like LA or Seattle, both teams that foul more, get more cuations, and more ejections than SKC does.

I don't really wanna be that guy to Philly fans so I haven't said anything, but I do think a lot of MLS fans don't watch other teams in the league or don't have a good overall picture of what's happening within the league to warrant these comments. If any MLS team is full of thugs and hacks, the stats suggest that it's the Union, not Sporting.

Okay, off my soap box. Let's look at player ratings.



I will say Jimmy's number is inflated due to his pentalty "save" that later went in, but on the whole I think the numbers look about right. Kei with two incredible assists to seal the East for SKC which earns him man-of-the-match honors this week. Kudos, Kei!