True, obviously you don’t want to leave Rooney alone on the ball. Closing him down is something Bradley probably emphasized over and over again heading into the game. That said, I guess, aside from what you said, Onyewu slows down after getting sucked to the ball. Rooney wasn’t in complete control and nudges the ball to Gerrard.

Of course, he’s coming off a long injury layoff, and while he’s not solely to blame for the goal, he still had a good game.

That said, what happens if Gooch does not go to the ball? Give Rooney the ball unmarked in that spot and I’d wager he scores one way or another.

So if Gooch does go out to break the Nike swoosh look that a flat back four should look like, then Bocanegra should have slipped into his spot but he was drawn out wide which is when Clark should have seen the hole/gap and the danger and slipped into become the 4th and wide left defender.

But it’s still not a widely popular sport in the United States. Television ratings are abysmal, and up until very recently MLS had to pay to even get its games on the air. I’ve yet to see any substantial discussion of MLS goings-on on sports talk radio or PTI, and it’s not water cooler conversation for general sports fans. MLS’s fanbase is still a small group of relatively hardcore fans that actually attend the matches.

So while I think some concessions should and will be made, I generally side with the ownership. I think they’re right in that the league still can’t afford to loosen the pursestrings, they’ve got to keep a tight watch on things to avoid an NASL scenario.

But I certainly agree that a work stoppage would be pretty catastrophic for the league. The new team in Philly, the new stadium in New York, and the enthusiasm of relatively recent additions like Seattle and Toronto present opportunities to grow the league that cannot be squandered.

One more thing to think about is that the NBA and NFL both seem to be careening towards work stoppages of their own, which will present MLS with a real opportunity to capture the attentions and affections of fans which would otherwise be watching those leagues.