Okay … Saturday was rough for the Columbus Crew in the match against the Colorado Rapids. Almost like a repeat of last weekend when the Crew took on the New York Red Bulls. And I honestly have no idea what is going on with this team. And let’s admit it, it’s a pretty damn curious case. It’s getting to be pretty excruciating to watch this team play. The talent is there, the want is there, but what is missing from this set up that head coach Robert Warzycha is playing? The goals!!!! Where the hell are the goals?!?!?!?!?!?!

Photo courtesy of Columbus Crew’s official Facebook.

It’s absolutely driving me nuts! Watching the match and looking at the stats sheet, I could scream. Because it’s clear the Crew are doing things right, … right? They hold the majority of the possession. They get lots of shots on goal to pressure opposing defenses. The midfield is funneling balls through. But they just cannot finish for anything.

The word frustrating comes to mind at this point, but I’m not even sure if that can cover it completely. I know Arrietta would probably agree with me at least. A lot of Crew fans would too. It seems like the team has what is needed. There is a potential in the attacking force. There is a promise in the defense. Things should be adding up. But they just aren’t.

The call from some now is that it is time for Warzycha to be replaced. He’s been coaching the Crew since Sigi Schmid’s departure in 2008 and, admittedly, it’s been a rough road for Columbus. I think several fans – including myself – thought maybe this year, we would finally see some stability in the team. We were hoping to see an unbeaten streak at Crew Stadium well into the latter parts of the season. We wanted goals. So many goals we wouldn’t know what to do with them.

So would getting rid of Warzycha solve the problem? I can’t say that for sure. I admit, over the years, I’ve been ready to see him replaced and get new ideas into the Crew. But it’s easy to think a coach replacement would solve all a team’s problems.

And really, what problems exist for the Crew? The fact the team relies heavily on Federico Higuain to create things all over the pitch? That Dominic Oduro isn’t entirely consistent in his play up front? That Jairo Arrietta seems to always be off sides when headed toward goal? Chad Marshall’s fading physical presence in the back?

I can’t say a coaching change at this point would fix those and other ailments. But something needs fixing and fast. I want to see the Crew get past the first round of playoffs. Hell, I want to see them make a run to be in the final. I don’t think it’s too ambitious for them either. They just have to find the goals and find the rhythm as a team.

Crew players are touted as the hardest working team in MLS. I’ve always believed that for many reasons. Now they need to show it. They have to push for that missing piece right now at this point in the season. Because not only do I want to start believing in their playoff chances …. I want to start writing about them scoring a hell of a lot of goals.

It was an ugly game but someone out there had to have loved it. Tim Cahill’s blast in the 80th minute sealed the victory over the Columbus Crew on Saturday.

Tim Cahill’s got this (photo courtesy of NY Red Bulls Facebook page)

On a day where games were given Star Wars themes by MLS (as a Star Trek fangirl, I personally shook my head at this one…and do not get me started on “Revenge of the Fifth” – I rest my case with this silliness).

But Crew supporters would not be laughing at this game and instead would look at NYRB as Death Star while others, like myself, would dub Tim Cahill ‘The New Hope.’ See? It sounds silly.

But you know what wasn’t a laughing matter? The almost PK for the Crew.

New York Red Bulls traveling supporters (Photo courtesy of New York Red Bulls Facebook page)

The first half of the match left much to be desired for both teams, with the Crew earning their fair share of plays. The Crew’s own Federico Higuain did his best to test New York’s defense but each time, the ball sailed high above the net. It was plays like this that would keep New York’s defense on their toes through the entire first half. Tim Cahill had his own chance from a right wing feed that was dummied from Jonny Steele only to have it sail into the stands.

The second half had both teams come out hungry for a goal. Brandon Barklage would take a bad tackle on the Crew’s Eddie Gavan. With a penalty kick given, it was up to goalkeeper, Luis Robles to come up big. He would read Higuain’s stutter step and kept New York safe this time. “He was huge for us, even aside from the penalty save, which was unbelievable,” Petke said. “Robles was big, he was commanding in the box, and he controlled the tempo of the game at times which is huge for a goalkeeper.”

Tim Cahill would thank Luis Robles for his efforts in keeping the Red Bulls in the game. In the 80th minute, Cahill would take a ball from Andy Gruenebaum’s chest and take control. He would head in a goal and out of the keeper’s reach, netting his third goal in two matches. They don’t call him King Cahill for nothing.

NYRB Goalkeeper Luis Robles coming up big (Photo courtesy of New York Red Bulls Facebook page)

“I mean, three in a row, very, very happy about that,” Petke said. “We played against a good team today and I think defensively we did some very good stuff, exactly to our game plan.” With the teams 4-1 run the last five games, they now sit at the top of the Eastern Conference (which is likely to change but if the Red Bulls keep playing this way – just maybe, this could be their year…for what you ask? Well,  I think you already know the answer to that question but it’s all still early…and yet, October is not that far away).

And in head coach, Mike Petke’s words, “While it probably was not the most beautiful game to watch at home, I could care less; it’s three points.” The Red Bulls are home for a midweek game against the Montreal Impact and we will see if the road games will translate to wins at home for New York.

Ughhhhhhh.

Since this weekend’s Major League Soccer games were themed with Star Wars, I think I can compare the Columbus Crew’s loss to the New York Red Bulls yesterday to the “Empire Strikes Back.”

You know, after the amazing win against D.C. United at home, where Jairo Arrieta, Federico Higuain and others were hailed as heroes (think ending to the first Star Wars movie, “A New Hope”), the Crew went into Saturday’s match with a bit of confidence. They hadn’t lost at home yet, and all they needed to do was keep Thierry Henry quiet and score a goal or two.

Higuain lines up to take a shot yesterday against New York Red Bulls. Photo courtesy of Columbus Crew Facebook page.

However, just like in “Empire Strikes Back,” all hell breaks loose and then ending makes you kind of feel like crap.

The Crew really didn’t have that bad of a game. It wasn’t exactly something to write home about; honestly, it could barely keep my attention. However, as I said, it wasn’t a bad game for Columbus. Personally I think they looked very good. Nice runs, nice possession, nice defending… the team just couldn’t finish.

The biggest glaring example of not finishing would be the penalty Higuain missed in the second half. Eddie Gaven was taken down in the box and gave the Crew the opportunity to get the lead. Higuain stepped up and stutter-stepped the shot. But NYRB keeper Luis Robles saw right through the Argentinean’s trick and made a strong save. Like the evil Empire in the second Star Wars film, it seemed like Robles couldn’t do a thing wrong yesterday. He had five amazing saves to keep his team in the match.

Then, New York got lucky in the form of a header from Tim Cahill that hit the back of the net. The Crew pushed hard to the end, but the equalizer would not materialize.

Look, I’m not going to lie. The play from Columbus was good and promising. But the out come of this game sucked! First of all, the Crew were at home and they – along with the fans – expected the win. Second, the way they played was deserving of a win. The defense was able to shut down Henry effectively and still make runs on goal. They have 15 attempts at goal to New York’s mere seven.

But that’s the way soccer goes. Some times you win the battles. Some times the opposing team gets the best of you against the play. The important thing is to come back fighting for the next round.

Hopefully the Crew’s final home game of a three-game streak will be more like “Return of the Jedi;’ a crazy plan that gets a bit hairy, but ultimately the good guys win and bring peace back to the universe.

And a winning Columbus team at Crew Stadium is definitely good for my universe.

Crew Stadium was on fire tonight. No, literally. It was on fire. As I sat down to start up my live stream to watch Columbus Crew take on Eastern Conference rivals D.C. United at home, I didn’t expect to see news reports of the scoreboard on fire! It was insane! Players, who had come out to the field for their warm ups, were taken back into the locker rooms and the Columbus Fire Department was called in to extinguish the flames.

Luckily, no one was injured in the incident and it seemed to mark the beginning of a pretty crazy night for the Crew.

Crew defender Josh Williams celebrates with fans after his goal tonight against D.C. United.

The black and gold have been winless thus far this season at Crew Stadium, so I was very eager to see them exert some dominance over a struggling D.C. United. And they did not disappoint. First of all, we got a line up change. Finally, FINALLY, Jairo Arrieta got the starting nod as the lone striker. I have been anxiously waiting for this because I think – while Dominic Oduro has been fantastic for the Crew and deserves his starts – Arrieta and Federico Higuain have a great partnership. I’ve been dying to see how that could come to play this season with Oduro in the mix.

This game proved that I would not be disappointed. The game ended 3-0 for the Crew. 3-0! That’s pretty awesome. And no, in case you are wondering, D.C. United weren’t like a lame duck out on the pitch. Their defense line was great at tracking back and Dwayne De Rosario made a little noise now and again in front of the Crew goal.

But it never materialized for them. It did for the Crew. The first goal was fantastic play between Higuain, Arrieta and Oduro. In the 15th minute, Higuain had a fabulous ball to Arrieta up front, who stayed with the ball and provided nice service across goal to the feet of speedy Oduro. United’s keeper Bill Hamid tried to get a hand on the shot, but it slipped past his fingers into the net.

Soon after, D.C. woke up a little bit and charged toward the Crew goal. Pajoy even headed the ball into the net, but the fourth official ruled two D.C. players offside. Pajoy wasn’t one of those players, which begs the question if the goal should have been disallowed. A similar debate occurred in the previous game between the two teams. One might wonder if that goal would have given D.C. a bit more confidence, but we’ll never know.

At the 26th minute, defender Josh Williams would notch his third goal of the season. Higuain took a corner kick which Williams hit hard at the left corner of goal. Again, Hamid could do nothing to stop it. It was awesome to see Josh score another goal and in front of the Nordecke – the supporters section of Crew stadium.

2-0 is always a shaky score line, but I was fairly happy to go into half time with it. But that wouldn’t be the case. During stoppage time, United’s McDonald took Arrieta down in the box and the ref awarded Crew the penalty. Higuain smashed it into the back, getting himself on the score sheet and giving Crew a 3-0 lead going into half time.

The second half was pretty much as you were, without the goals. D.C. were clearly getting frustrated with the situation, but they weren’t going down quietly. De Rosario and Pajoy both had shots on goal and even Korb had a hell of shot toward goal, which went wide. Rafael had his own try at keeper Andy Gruenebaum, but it was for not.

It was a great win for the Crew at home. The team was very solid and had a great energy in their play. It wasn’t easy for them – United had several challenges as I said, they didn’t give up a lot of kicks or fouls to the Crew either and continued to press the defense. But the damage in the first half was too much.

I liked this. I liked this a lot. Next week, the Crew will take on New York Red Bulls and I feel the boys have a great chance. Especially if head coach Robert Warzycha goes with the line up he chose tonight. I’m not sure why Arrieta hasn’t been starting as long as he has – I don’t pretend to know what goes on in Warzycha’s mind – but he definitely proved tonight he deserves the go-ahead. With Higuain and Oduro behind him, it could flourish more into a solid offensive force.

And hey Tyson Wahl, Eddie Gaven, Danny O’Rourke and Josh Williams – keep doing what you guys are doing. These four were fantastic for the Crew in the midfield and back line.

Several might have wondered what the fire at the beginning of the night boded for the team, but it turns out, it wasn’t anything. Or… .maybe it was. Regardless, this Crew fan got to see the dominance she wanted and Columbus got their first win at home.

Okay, so there are some things you can be certain of when you watch Major League Soccer. One of them is that when the Columbus Crew take on the Chicago Fire, it’s going to be interesting. Saturday night was no exception, but not how I was hoping.

It was kind of  strange as I typed this up after the match. Before kick off, I felt pretty confident in the Crew. I even made a prediction that Columbus would come out on top 2-1. That optimism kept up through the first half of the match. It took quite a bit for the Chicago Fire to settle, and while Columbus couldn’t keep possession, I still felt they could get a couple shots off and score some.

Then the second half happened.

Image courtesy of Columbus Crew Facebook page.

Right out of the gate in the second 45, Chicago had at least two threatening shots on goal. The Crew defense held strong, with the backbone of keeper Andy Gruenebaum holding them together. But with the constant pressure from a quick Chicago Fire offense, it was only a matter of time before the Fire hit the back of the net.

What bugs me the most about what happened during this match was the fact offense from Columbus was virtually nonexistent. Dominic Oduro was hardly a part of the match at all and anything Federico Higuain tried to provide was shut down immediately. I mean, Chicago took 21 shots to the Crew’s mere six attempts. Yeah.

There was no pressure, no intensity. It was like they parked a defensive bus and hoped for the best. It was completely frustrating. Where is the Crew from the beginning of the season? Now it’s only been a couple games since we’ve seen that type of play from Columbus, but I fear there is a danger of the Crew falling into a rut.

Teams are going to work hard to shut down Higuain because they know that’s where Columbus’ best plays are going to generate. The Crew should be prepared for that and learn to adapt, not to rely on the Argentinean to create everything for them. Other players in the mid need to step up more: Viana needs to stay on his feet more; Eddie Gaven needs to get a bit more involved, draw in some defenders a bit more and Ben Speas needs to work toward consistency.

Also, the Crew need to get back to a quick pace and counter attacks that can help them pressure defenses. The passing was sloppy Saturday night, no real clean first touches. There was hesitancy. Players would slow down the flow of the game, but then carelessly give the ball away.

It’s just frustrating to see the Crew kind of stumble a bit here in the past couple of weeks. There are good things; Josh Williams has been excellent in my opinion. And I can’t say enough about Gruenebaum; that man has been the Crew’s defense saving grace. He had six saves on the night, most of them pretty massive.

This next week will be crunch time for the Crew. They will be back home against D.C. United, their other East Coast rivals. They have yet to win at home this season – they’ve only tied. And considering that four weeks ago, they dominated D.C. at RFK Stadium, I expect nothing less than that same domination at Crew Stadium.

After Saturday night, however, I feel Columbus have a lot more to work on.

When I watched the Columbus Crew take on the Philadelphia Union last week in Columbus (Yeah, I was there. It was awesome because admit it, Crew Stadium rocks), I have to admit, the Crew were pretty sluggish looking. They were coming off a bye week, which always personally makes me a tad nervous because I never know how the team is going to play coming back from a week off.

But that’s a moot point now. They were a tad sluggish, Ben Speas had a rough game, Federico Higuain was pretty much shut down… but Dominic Oduro had a crazy goal from a wicked angle that would save the Crew and help them draw the Union 1-1.

So, when the Crew traveled to Montreal to take on the Impact this weekend, I was hoping for a bit more of the Crew I had seen before the bye week. Especially against Montreal, who are currently leading the Eastern Conference.

The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, but heavy snowfall forced the game to be postponed to Sunday. A lot of focus had been put on this snow, like it would be an advantage for Montreal. I don’t know what some people were thinking with that – I mean, Columbus has its fair share of snow. But anyway, the pitch was cleared and the game started Sunday as scheduled.

This game was the first of two road trips for the Crew – next week the Black and Gold will head to rivals Chicago Fire’s stadium. Road games have been fairly kind to Columbus thus far this season; it’s the home matches they haven’t been able to put their thumbs on.

I will say this for the Crew – they definitely seemed snappier and more lively in the beginning of this game. But it was Montreal who had their act together for the majority of the half. The Crew’s trouble to keep the ball was still evident even though statistically they had more shots than the Impact. However, as the first half wound down, the Crew finally settled a bit and started to put effective pressure on the back line of the Impact. Montreal’s keeper Troy Perkins even had to make a couple of lively saves.

The second half though was where this game was at. Montreal came out looking far more lethal in the opening minutes of the half than Columbus did. But the Crew backline – which have proven to be stronger this season than in the recent past – were able to shut down the chances.

Still, it would be Montreal that would strike first, shortly after a goal notched by Marco Di Vaio was called back for being offside. It was a close call, in my opinion. He might have been slightly off side, but in the replay it was very close. However, Di Vaio would get his goal five minutes later with a heck of a strike. Montreal had some confidence after that, but it wasn’t to last.

Minutes later, Columbus answered in the form of Dominic Oduro. Josh Williams hit in a cross, which took a knock from a Montreal player. What was great about it from there was that Oduro got a fantastic first touch on the ball with his right foot, which settled the ball enough for him to hit his own amazing swinging shot with his left foot. The ball was buried in the corner and the teams were level again.

The rest of the match was typical back and forth, and a bit chippy as both teams were clearly going for the win. But it would end 1-1 and thankfully, the Crew were able to steal points from the conference leaders.

Overall, I was generally happy with the Crew’s performance this week. It was a definite improvement from the showdown against the Union and I feel pretty confident as they go into preparations to face Chicago. The one thing that still bugs me thus far about Columbus this season is holding the ball in the midfield.

We’ve seen what Higuain, Arrieta and Oduro can do on the offense and we’ve seen Williams, Chad Marshall, Viana, Tyson Wahl and Glauber pull together to make a fairly solid defense. It’s the midfield however that has me frustrated. The Crew can’t seem to get the ball and hold it. There were a few times during the Sunday match up that Columbus looked strong and were able to quickly move the ball through the midfield and toward goal. However, if they were forced to slow down or were ganged up on in the mid, they would lose the ball easily. Oh, and Ben Speas… man, what is going on? Against DC United, he was amazing and on point. The past two weeks though, he seems a bit out of focus.

Against Chicago, I hope the Crew can get more possession and that midfield gets it together to help feed in balls to Higuain, who can then feed them into Oduro or Arrieta. Once they get that set, I believe the Crew will definitely be a force to be reckoned with.

Be sure to keep up with MLS recaps, USMNT news and more on the Aerys Soccer’s twitter account (@AerysSoccer) and on our Facebook page.

Don’t let anyone ever tell you the matches between Columbus Crew and D.C. United are friendly little rivalry games. The two teams may respect each other, but they still want to beat each other in these match ups. I, for one, always look forward to these matches. The D.C. United – Crew rivalry is one of the oldest and the best, in my humble opinion. And it always produces some of the best games from each team. Today was definitely no different.

Josh Williams, center, had a hell of a goal for the Crew today. Columbus would go on to beat DC United 2-1. Photo courtesy of Columbus Crew Facebook page.

I love how Frederico Higuain improves all the players around him. It’s definitely not one of those “your team is a one-player team” instances. Higuain just makes everyone better and provides the opportunities for, say, Josh Williams – a right back – to come up and score a goal. Which was what happened 16 minutes into the match. Get this, Williams’ goal was the first first-half goal for the Crew this season and makes the tally two for the defender. Oh and he’s got the most goals on the team for this season. Pretty cool, even if we’re only a few matches into the year.

Back on point, however. Higuain doesn’t just go for the goal on his own, he picks apart the opposing team and works in all these spaces that he opens up. Today he allowed Williams to come up, worked off the fantastic speed of Orudo and played off some fabulous passes from Ben Speas.

Speaking of, look at you Ben Speas. That kid was on fire today. His control, remarkable. The passing, gorgeous. The way he and Higuain worked the wide open spaces on the wings was great. And then the goal he got in the 60th minute; beautiful off the second ball after a free kick. Pretty awesome for his first Crew goal.

Oh, and can we talk about Andy Gruenebaum for a hot second? Holy crap. In the 74th minute, he had not one save, not two, but three saves that were just miracles. I couldn’t believe he pulled it off. Bill Hamid had his far share of miracle saves in the first half, but it seemed like Gruenebaum didn’t want to be out done. It was just brilliant to watch both of those keepers in this match.

As a whole though, I’m excitedly floored by the Crew’s performance today as a team. The pressing from the get-go was cool and collected. The whole unit had the game in hand very early on, and while D.C. did eventually settle and set on the pressure, Columbus responded well.

The two great bits from the Crew? Set pieces and counter attacks. Both of the goals came from set pieces or chances created by set pieces. There were maybe two instances through the entire match where Columbus didn’t look very dangerous on set pieces. Higuain was a big part of those as well, as you can imagine.

I love beautiful counter attacks. I love teams who constantly have dangerous counter attacks as well. That’s what the Crew pulled off today. It seemed like – especially in the second half – when the Crew got the break away, DC was scrambling to get back and stop them. The pressure was awesome and the movement of the ball lovely to see. I’m praying the Crew keep that up.

In the end, this is the type of game I love to see come out of MLS. A great rivalry, top players, amazing keepers and some gorgeous goals. There was some questionable referring, but hey, it happens. Over all, this match up gave fans a great afternoon of soccer. And as a Crew fan, the 2-1 win at RFK Stadium beating DC United’s home winning streak was just the icing on the cake.

There’s nothing like kicking off your MLS season with a win. Especially when the game wasn’t that pretty and one of your goal-scorer was getting pushed around the entire game. That pretty much sums up the first match of Columbus Crew’s 2013 MLS season last night against Chivas USA in Los Angeles. But hey, there’s nothing like an angry striker to spark a 3-0 win for your team, and I will definitely take it.

In all honesty, I’ve been pumped about the Crew starting their season for weeks now. Following them along during their preseason in Florida has been great. Not only have the veterans shown they are still tried and true, but all the new guys have started to work into the fold really well. This has been something that’s troubled me with this team for a while – a lot of new faces and no real meshing. We’ve had several players leave during the past couple of years; players that have been great, but ones the front office apparently didn’t get along with.

Federico Higuain was exactly what the Crew needed last night to jump start their 3-0 win over Chivas USA. Photo courtesy of Crew’s official Facebook page.

I’m not here to point fingers, but it seems that things have finally settled for this team and starting to click. And all I can say as a fan is, that it is about damn time. The Crew had an excellent preseason in my opinion and now I’m just crossing my fingers that it translates over into the season. Last night proved that it is, although it’s not going to exactly be easy.

Chivas USA are looking to prove themselves too and nothing is more dangerous than a team with something to prove. The Crew may have won 3-0, but Chivas didn’t hand it to us. Juan Agudelo proved several times that he’s still a force to be reckoned with and if it weren’t for Chivas’ keeper Dan Kennedy, the rout might have been even deeper than three goals.

But what I enjoyed most about this match is the fact that, though he was pretty beat up during this match, Federico Higuain didn’t let that stop him from pushing back and sparking what would be a great win for the Crew. I said last season that there were sparks from this guy and if the team had a whole season to see how he and Jairo Arrieta would hook up on the pitch, we would see great things. This game gives further proof it’s going to be a great partnership.

I think defender Josh Williams – who notched the second Crew goal of the night – summed up Higuain’s performance last night perfectly to MLSsoccer.com

“He was getting beat up. They were bullying him around. It kind of lit a fire in him on that shot he had. I though there were a couple of cheat shots in there. They were beating him up but he kept getting up. That says a lot for him.”

 

Damn right it does. And I hope it says a lot about what’s to come this season too.

Stay with the ladies of Aerys Soccer during MLS’ 2013 season and follow us on Twitter at @AerysSoccer!

We are four days away from First Kick for MLS and let’s just say that we couldn’t be happier. Sure we love other leagues and appreciate all they have to offer but MLS always has a special place in our hearts. Here are our favorites players in no particular order (well, a few just rank a little higher than others but we won’t say who), to help you get a bit more excited about the 2013 season!

Seattle Sounders’ Brad Evans is really under appreciated. Everyone should get to know him this 2013 season. And by everyone, I mean Jurgen Klinsman.

We know he might be dressed to play for Columbus Crew but that’s only because Dilly Duka did in fact play for them but has now been acquired by the Chicago Fire.

Justin Braun, what more can we say? Oh right, he’s wearing entirely too many clothes but give him a break – it is 36 degrees today in Toronto and what’s that? Oh, yeah they are expecting a blizzard. Bundle up, Justin – we wouldn’t want you to get sick and miss First Kick!

 Sporting KC’s Teal Bunbury is just giving us a preview and we like what we see…please don’t stop on our account, carry on!

 Dwayne De Rosario of DC United (and NYRB’s Thierry Henry)…sorry, I lost my train of thought…give me a moment.

I know…I know…but you have to admit that this is the best 2-for-1 special and let’s just say after two back-to-back championships,  will we be surprised if there is a third one in the future? Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan definitely hope so. And while we are aware that Landon is on “hiatus” – this is Hollywood afterall and everyone loves a great comeback.

Be sure to check in with the ladies of Aerys Soccer as we get pumped up for First Kick this weekend! And don’t forget to follow us on twitter at @AerysSoccer, where we post articles, morning headlines and more!

Well this is it! We’re are days, just days away from First Kick 2013 in Major League Soccer! Already, the expectations are high and the ladies here at Aerys Soccer cannot wait for the teams to hit the pitches again.

As we gear up for this season, we’re still looking for some writers to cover teams in MLS. Do you love talking about your favorite team? Feel the need to write up a rant or gush about a new player? Need to call out your coach or sing the praises of your favorite forward? Check out the graphic below listing the teams we have openings for and if you’re interested, let us know!

Hmmm, some great MLS teams listed! If you’re a fan of one or of the league in general, shoot me an e-mail at trista.lutgring@gmail.com! We’d love to bring you on board!

And as always, make sure to follow us at @AerysSoccer as we dive into MLS 2013