MLS, Week 1: Timbers, Red Bulls entertain

MLS is finally back, and it gave us plenty of entertainment in week one. We saw some of the league’s best teams live up to the hype and show us what elite MLS play looks like, while Montreal gave us one shocker to quench our upset thirst.

There were some signs of the rust that usually accompanies the first weeks of the season, but on the whole, the matches were entertaining and relatively sharp. The teams were aggressive and adventurous. There was some clever coaching and some bright new talents. It was the rare weekend without anything to complain about in MLS.

And then, more defensive errors for Portland. The next two goals were even more inexcusable than the first. In the 24th minute, Silvestre completely misplayed a hopeful, but harmless against a competent defense, ball forward to Espindola. As the ball bounced past Silvestre, Espindola ran by him with it and finished off his second goal of the night. New York made it 3-1 just four minutes after that, with both Silvestre and Jean-Andrew Baptiste looking bad on the goal. Baptiste lost Jamison Olave after an initial corner was cleared out, and Silvestre failed to deal with a ball back into the box that he should have got something on.

At that point, New York conceded that they were going to have to bunker and play on the counter. They tested Ricketts a couple of times on the break, but Baptiste and Silvestre improved in the second half and contained the Red Bulls’ forwards. New York’s best chance of the second half came in the 65th minute, when Ricketts had to come off his line to deny Henry, who gave Ricketts a chance to clear what looked like it was going to be a dangerous breakaway with a poor touch.

Prior to Zusi taking over, the Union seemed to playing with the kind of fire rarely seen last season.

After salvaging a first-half tie, Sporting KC looked like a completely different team in the second half. Their pressure was effective and won several free kicks in dangerous areas. That was more than enough opportunity for Zusi, who once again showed why he’s widely considered one of the top players in MLS.

We start the 2013 season in many ways just like we began the 2012 season, but the league is also very, very different in many ways. We tapped up Ryan Rosenblatt, Jeremiah Oshan, Alicia Rodriguez, Kevin McCauley and Zach Woosley to discuss the MLS offseason gone and the season to come.

1) Which team had the best offseason?