Benny Feilhaber on Sporting KC-Real Salt Lake: "It's always a big rivalry"

KANSAS CITY, MO. – Benny Feilhaber is a little more restrained these days. There were no insults, no digs at individual playes or a team’s perception of itself.

But if you think Sporting Kansas City’s veteran playmaker considers the rivalry between his club and Real Salt Lake to have died down in the wake of coaching and personnel changes – you’d be wrong.

“I think it’s always a big rivalry,” Feilhaber told reporters on Wednesday morning. “We’ve played some big games against them. We’ve played an MLS Cup final against them. We always play each other pretty tough, so I think it’s a big rivalry.”

Feilhaber, if you’ll recall, poured gas on Real fans’ smoldering resentment from Sporting’s 10-round shootout victory in the 2013 MLS Cup final when – more than a year later, in 2015 – he declared his dislike for RSL, described the club as “snobby” and pronounced defensive midfielder Kyle Beckerman “a bit of a prick.” Beckerman, in return, called Feilhaber a “bozo.”

Is it still that personal?

It is for Feilhaber, given that – even with Real’s struggles in recent years, culminating in Jeff Cassar’s firing this spring and Mike Petke being hired as the new coach – Sporting haven’t beaten Salt Lake in regular-season play since that frigid December evening.

“They’ve gotten the best of us the last two years,” he said. “So we’ll be looking to reverse that this year.”

Another central figure in the feud, midfielder Roger Espinoza, isn’t quite so sure that the rivalry – which renews on Saturday at Children’s Mercy Park (8:30 pm ET; MLS LIVE) – is quite as heated as it once was, especially with two coaching changes at Rio Tinto since Jason Kreis led the Utah side into the MLS Cup final.

“I think it was over a while ago,” said Espinoza, whose involvement in the feud – he once drew a red card for a hard tackle on Beckerman in 2011 – well predates that meeting, which came while he was playing in England for Wigan Athletic. “In 2013, it was over. A lot of players aren’t there any more. There were, for a little bit, some heated games – but it’s over. I think both teams got over it.

“We probably have more players from that era than they do. A lot of their players are hurt. But still, you don’t want to lose a game at home.”

Center forward Dom Dwyer fell somewhere in the middle, though he declined to revisit his short Twitter feud with RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando or his own declaration that “I hate (Real) very much” – both from the 2014 season.

“They’re a good side,” Dwyer said. “Every time we play them, it’s going to be a battle. We obviously have the MLS Cup against them from a few years ago, and I think that’s where it began. It’s a good battle. They’re a good team.”

Kurt Larson: MLS fans and all of Los Angeles should root for Galaxy revival

Not too long ago the LA Galaxy would have been a lock to beat the last-place Philadelphia Union this weekend. StubHub Center used to be impenetrable by Major League Soccer standards. The Galaxy didn’t just beat visiting teams, they toyed with them.

Once upon a time we couldn't take our eyes off of the league’s last great dynasty. And as much as fans outside LA love to hate one of the league’s flagship clubs, they still watched the Galaxy in numbers. What with Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan and a cast of serviceable MLS contributors, the Galaxy were as dominant as an MLS club can be in this age of parity.

A few seasons later, though, the league’s former flagship team isn’t just trending towards mediocrity, it’s nearing the caboose. With a 2-5-0 record, including three home losses in four matches at StubHub, the Galaxy have started 2017 with the third-lowest points-per-game in the league. An unthinkable loss to the disillusioned Union this Saturday (10:30 pm ET on MLS LIVE) could see the Galaxy hit rock bottom for the first time in a decade. 

Except the league is more alluring when the Galaxy assume their perennial role as league-wide bully while the rest of the field try to take down the most storied organization in the league.

Galaxy seeking an identity

Just last Sunday the Galaxy were booed off the StubHub Center pitch by a disgruntled fan base that haven’t been this upset since David Beckham’s controversial loan spell at AC Milan back in early 2009.

And who can blame them? More concerning than Sunday’s 3-0 shellacking from the Seattle Sounders was the body language on display. The Galaxy weren’t just handily beaten by the defending MLS Cup champs. They looked deflated and discouraged – a side lacking communication and leadership and any idea of how they want to play.

Perhaps it’s too early, perhaps a summer transfer window (although sans an injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic) can still help flip the script. As of now, though, it's feeling like the end of an era for a club that’s missed the playoffs just three times in the league's previous 21 seasons.

A side once defined by winning and glitzy signings is a shadow of what they were under ex-boss Bruce Arena, who boxed up his staff on the way out the door, leaving new head coach Curt Onalfo to pick up the pieces. And just like that, the Galacticos – after shedding Keane and Co. and so many other important players – have been far less dynamic going forward.

Say what you will about Giovani dos Santos, but the Mexican international needs players to combine with rather than runners like Gyasi Zardes and Romain Alessandrini. In the team's current iteration, we're witnessing is a Dos Santos who is a complementary piece instead of a focal point.

And that’s before questioning the midfield tandem of Jermaine Jones and Joao Pedro, the Portuguese transfer who has done little to move the needle thus far. 

The Threat Around the Corner

Add it all up – results, personnel, a grumbling fan base – and the Galaxy are on a path to a down year when it can least afford to have one given what looms, namely expansion side LAFC.

With the Banc of California Stadium under construction, a hip new crest, a Who's Who roster of investors and reports that they are interested in constructing their roster around Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, LAFC will be making a strong play for the hearts of fair-weather fans in Southern California as the newer, trendier, and for some in downtown LA, a more convenient club to follow.

Allegiances undoubtedly will be tested – especially if the Galaxy move away from big "name" signings that once garnered the club worldwide attention.

For now Galaxy supporters are left questioning their club’s direction following a legendary manager’s departure and an uncanny start to this season. The rest of us – the neutral, the pundit, the long-time MLS observer – are left perplexed by the idea of a storied organization's uncertain future when many of us are eyeing a Galaxy-LAFC rivalry that feels something closer to the Boca-River rivalry in Argentina.

A burgeoning, inter-city derby involving soccer-specific venues would take Major League Soccer to new heights in La-La Land – just as the NY Derby and Cascadia Cup have galvanized and converted soccer fans on both coasts for multiple seasons.

They’re matches most fans circle on the fixture list every year.

They’re matches that will be much more intriguing if both sides in LA are competitive next season

Josh Sargent leads US U-17s to first-ever win over Mexico in 4-3 thriller

The United States Under-17 national team marked another big milestone for the country's youth programs on Wednesday night, topping Mexico for the first time ever in official competition thanks to a wild 4-3 win at the 2017 CONCACAF U-17 Championship.

The historic victory came just over two months after the US U-20s recorded their first win over Mexico, also at the CONCACAF Championship, and sent the US through to the next round of the tournament as Group C winners.

Wednesday's victory, a thriller from start to finish, was played mostly in a torrential downpour in Panama City, Panama. The US found themselves in an early hole after Roberto De La Rosa's sixth-minute opener, but the Americans would fight back and eventually take the lead through forward Josh Sargent, whose MLS Homegrown rights were recently picked up by Sporting Kansas City.

Sargent opened his account in the game with a nifty bit of skill in the 26th minute, flicking the ball up over his defender before turning, settling and firing a low shot past the Mexican 'keeper. He would then double his tally in the 40th minute with a decidedly scrappier goal, stabbing home at the third time of asking after a scramble in the rain. The US would lose their lead before the half, though, with De La Rosa heading home his second of the game a minute before the break.

In the second half, however, Mexico found no response to the US. Blaine Ferri restored the US advantage with a low shot from outside the area set up by Atlanta United youngster Andrew Carleton in the 51st minute. The US would ice the game in the 81st minute when Toronto FC Academy product Ayo Akinola, now at TFC II, finished off a 3-on-1 breakaway.

The US, coached by former Philadelphia Union coach John Hackworth, now face one more test against already-eliminated El Salvador on Saturday before they gear up for the next stage. In that second round, dubbed the Classification Stage, the US will be placed in a group with the runners-up from Groups A and B of the first round, with the top two teams in the second-round group advancing to the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India this fall. The group winners will also play for the CONCACAF title on May 7.

In addition to Carleton, MLS first-teamers featuring for the U-17s in Panama include D.C. United's Chris Durkin, FC Dallas' Bryan Reynolds and Atlanta's Chris Goslin. New York City FC's James Sands highlights the strong contingent of current MLS academy players on Hackworth's roster.

MUSES CARS