Article by Matt Lichtenstadter
For everyone just catching their breath after an insane weekend in MLS, you’re not alone. It seems that this weekend’s games had everything: incredible goals, horrible red cards, a tenacious derby match, the announcement of the All Star roster, a player born in 2000 taking the pitch, etc. All that’s left is for an MLS team to sign Lionel Messi (kidding, of course). Since there’s so much to talk about, how about an extended column for this week? It certainly seems appropriate.
All Star Roster Filled Out: Hard to believe the MLS All Star Game is in 10 days, and now the full roster of 26 players has been announced. The Fan XI was revealed earlier in the month, and there weren’t any surprises in that group, but the other 15 had a few interesting names to mull over. Most of the names one would expect to be there are, such as Clint Dempsey, Cyle Larin, Ignacio Piatti, etc. but there are some pleasant and welcome surprises. Chicago defender Brandon Vincent deservedly gets a nod for his good first half of the season alongside fellow rookie Keegan Rosenberry, and the two commissioner’s picks of Mauro Diaz and Kyle Beckerman are worthy inclusions, though the latter a little less so. There are plenty of big names that missed out, such as Fabian Castillo, Diego Valeri, both Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard (who deserve to go), Ola Kamara, David Ousted, Dom Dwyer and the list can go on and on. What’s so notable about the long listed of players who were “snubbed” is that the league has had plenty of quality not only at the top end but deeper down too. There will be players that pull out of the game so some of the names mentioned above will get their chance to shine, but since so many players have had great seasons, there are going to be a fair few players watching the game on the couch when they should be in San Jose.
Great Goals: Usually, picking the MLS Goal of the Week is a fairly straightforward process. I don’t envy the job of picking out the best from this week. There’s Fabian Castillo’s rabona assist, Mauro Diaz’s rocket from outside the penalty area, two different Diego Valeri strikes, Jack Harrison’s individual effort, and Sasha Kljestan had a free kick routine that fooled everyone at PPL Park. There are others I’m probably missing too, and most of those goals would win the award on a normal weekend in this league. This weekend wasn’t entirely normal though. What should win? A successful rabona is a way to win my heart over immediately, so Fabian Castillo’s assist to Maxi Urruti would be my pick, but any of those choices would be perfectly fine. Here’s another great indication of how the quality of MLS is improving, not only on a team level but on an individual level too.
NYCFC Continue to be Road Warriors: Patrick Vieira’s side has six road wins this campaign and is also on pace to have the best road record in league history, which says a lot considering how poor they’ve been at Yankee Stadium since they came into the league. While their defense is still poor in many respects, they’re making up for it with an attack that has come alive since Jack Harrison replaced Mix Diskerud as the main creative outlet further forward. He has made David Villa, Andrea Pirlo and even Frank Lampard better than they have been in their short MLS tenures, and because of that Vieira’s system is now thriving. Of course next week there is the small matter of another New York Derby, this one on the road, but with the monkey finally off their back and the Red Bulls in bad form, would it be a surprise to see NYCFC win another one? They’re also first in the East, which is still a remarkable thing to say this late in the season.
Colorado hasn’t lost since April: It has been three months since the Colorado Rapids last lost a game, and they’ve only lost twice all year. One of the themes when this column talks about the Rapids is how resolute their defense is and has been under Pablo Mastroeni, and that has continued to be a defining trait for their season. But what they have lacked in the past is that cutting edge in front of goal, even when all they need is one chance to go in and they’ve likely won. Now, it doesn’t really matter who ends up being the man that finishes off a frustrated team, as on Saturday night it was Marlon Hairston of all players to do the job against Sporting KC. Colorado is firmly second in the West, behind high flying FC Dallas and the surging LA Galaxy and it doesn’t look like they’ll be giving up that spot any time soon.
FC Dallas is the most Talented team in MLS, at least: Beyond their three brilliant goals against the Fire, watch how FC Dallas not only dominated the game, but controlled it to a point that very few MLS teams in history have been able to do. A midfield of Carlos Gruezo, Kellyn Acosta and Mauro Diaz is really unfair to the rest of the league, as is Fabian Castillo pulling the strings further up the pitch. Having a solid central defensive pairing of Walker Zimmerman and Matt Hedges (when healthy of course) is not at all a problem, and with the depth they’ve acquired and built up, it shouldn’t be any surprise that they’re leading the Supporters Shield race, in the quarterfinals of the Open Cup and beginning CONCACAF Champions League play in a few weeks. When they come on TV, watch them. You won’t regret it.
Portland Stings Seattle Again: Every time the Timbers and Sounders meet, crazy is often normal and the insane becomes routine. Derbies often are those types of encounters, and Sunday’s meeting wasn’t any different. In rivalry matches, the best players have to step up and in Portland’s case, Diego Valeri did just that. In a league with so many flashy DP’s and promising South American recruits, Valeri was the first of that breed and also one of the best on a consistent basis. He’s been in the league for three seasons and become of the best playmakers in the league since, and never quite gets the due he deserves. Maybe after Sunday’s performance against Seattle he finally will. Meanwhile, any momentum the Sounders had after thumping FC Dallas on Wednesday was squandered in typical 2016 Sounders fashion: plenty of chances, no finish. Rumored transfer target Nicolas Lodeiro may well fix some of those issues, but at nine points back with 15 games to play, the odds are looking longer and longer by the day.
Columbus Squanders Points Again: This has become the story of their season, no matter who is in Gregg Berhalter’s XI. After Ola Kamara (who has been a revelation, lost in the Crew’s rough season) opened the scoring, it looked like the Crew would finally find a way to end their long nightmare. But as it happened against SKC, Toronto FC among other encounters, they squandered it late. They haven’t won a game in nearly two months and their rut is growing deeper and deeper. There is money to spend on transfers, and their hole isn’t nearly as deep as Seattle’s is, but the defending Eastern Conference Champions are in big trouble. They really need to beat Orlando City next Saturday.
A 15 Year Old Played! This was such a big weekend of games that a 15 year old making his MLS debut (he was born in November 2000, feel old immediately) doesn’t get covered as much as it normally would. Alphonso Davies of Vancouver played in all four of their Canadian Championship games, but he made his MLS debut on Saturday night after signing his first pro contract. Only Freddy Adu made his debut at a younger age, and around the world even the most hyped prospects don’t make their debuts at 15. Davies is a name for the future, especially in Canadian soccer, but a 15 year old playing in any game is pretty insane.
Up Next: The US Open Cup quarterfinals are on Wednesday with New England hosting Philadelphia, Chicago hosting the NASL’s Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Houston and FC Dallas meet in another Texas Derby and the Sounders and Galaxy duel again. This weekend, outside of the final New York Derby of the season, stay tuned for the Timbers/Galaxy, Colorado/FC Dallas and Montreal/Philadelphia meetings on Saturday.
