Gio's Random Thoughts: The Impact's Winning Streak, Marco Di Vaio and More

HELLO AND WELCOME to all my fellow Impact fans and those of you who, for some reason that I'll never understand, cheer for another MLS team. It's time for yet another edition of Gio's Random Thoughts. Every week, I wax poetic on everything Impact and MLS. Some good, some bad, some ugly, some poor attempts at comedy and just plain random stuff that I know you are all dying to read.

* Four wins in a row! Four! Twelve points! Let's plan the parade now! Nope... hold on... yellow card... warning... flag on the field... offside... WE HAVE TO STAY HUMBLE!! There are still 30+ games to be played. How about we take this one game at a time?

* The Impact won a close game but let's be honest and clear... the absence of Henry and Cahill along with the Barklage red card were a HUGE help.

* I'd like to see the Impact win a game by dominating for most of the 90 minutes.

* Marco Di Vaio leads the MLS in offsides. Who cares? If he gets called offside 8 times in a game but still manages a goal, I can live with that. Can you?

* Di Vaio's offside numbers will go down when the team learns to feed him the ball properly. It's that simple.

* Di Vaio must be having nightmares of that miss from the Romero cross in the box. A light touch and it would have been 2-0 Impact.

* Justin Mapp returned to action as a sub against New York and quickly proceeded to have bad communication with Di Vaio. It was business as usual. There was even one moment late in the second half where Marco was practically begging for the ball and never got it. Just like in the movie Kicking and Screaming, Mapp needs to ‘PASS IT TO THE ITALIANS'.

* Congrats to Karl Ouimette who played a great, simple game in his first MLS start.

* Andres Romero should be the starter for the rest of the year on the left side. Justin Mapp has now been relegated to a bench role.

* Troy Perkins. Wow. That is all.

* It was the right call by the ref to give the second yellow and red to Brandon Barklage. It was just reckless tackling from the defender.

* What is going on in Chicago? They allowed Chivas to score FOUR goals in a span of about 32 minutes. It's still early in the season but I think there is a shakeup coming in the Windy City.

* Chicago's Nyarko broke the Fire's streak of 334 minutes without a goal to start the season.

* Is there no more coffee in Seattle?? The Sounders only have one point after 3 games. They need to wake up. Whoever switched the team to decaf should be fired immediately.

* Something has to give in New York as well. 2 points in 4 games is just unacceptable. It is safe to say that they miss Kenny Cooper. Very poor decision by the front office to get rid of him.

*The MLS Save of the Week shouldn't belong to a goalkeeper. The vote should feature two defensemen. Colorado's defenseman Calderon had a goal line desperation clearance early against the Galaxy while Dallas' Matt Hedges had a stretched out toe save against RSL. Both were simply breathtaking.

* Watch the goal by FC Dallas' Fabian Castillo. What a laser! Just wow!

* What was Colorado's Moor thinking?? He got a red card for a stupid elbow to the face of the Galaxy's Marcelo Sarvas. He knew he was being sent off as soon as the ref blew the whistle. The play happened in the box so LA got a penalty that Magee buried. The game ended 1-0. Someone in the front office should send Moor a thank you gift basket for those 3 points.

* I'd like to congratulate the referee of the RSL - Dallas game for having the guts to give a yellow to Salt Lake's Alvarez for simulation. It was his second yellow of the game and he was sent off. Need to see more calls like this in the MLS.

* DCU's Rafael had a beautiful wonder strike against Columbus in the 22^nd minute that put the game tied at 1. He took the shot about 35 yards away from the net, off a bounce that saw the ball curl and confuse the Crew GK.

* From all the highlights, it seems that the DCU-Columbus game was THE game of the week in the MLS. Lots of action. A great battle.

* Houston just keeps finding ways to win at home. They have not lost in their new home. They opened their stadium last season.

* Houston GK Tally Hall should offer a new coat of paint to his goal posts. Whitecaps player Camilo, off a free kick, hit not one but both posts and the ball stayed out. A situation like that just deflates a team when they are down by a goal.

* I'll be making an appearance on the Around The League podcast this week. It will be available for download at some point on Tuesday.

That's all for me this week folks. Hope you enjoyed your free look inside my brain. Have a great one and until next time,

FORZA IMPACT!