MLS Recap, Orlando's season ends while DC United are surging

Article by Matt Lichtenstadter There are only two full weeks left in the 2016 MLS regular season, and while there is far more clarity than there was just two short weeks ago, there is still much to be decided and many stories to be written, though many are now in their final chapter. For the first time in league history, it’s possible that both MLS Cup finalists from the year before will miss the playoffs the next year, and a team will complete maybe the greatest in-season turnaround in league history. With the league taking a brief pause for the international break, now is the chance to reflect on this craziness and try to look ahead at the manic sprint to the finish that awaits us.   Seattle’s Story: One of the themes in this weekly column is how in-season turnarounds in MLS aren’t just common, they’re kind of normal. But for the Seattle Sounders, this turnaround is different. They were second from last in the entire league at the All-Star Game, 10 points behind the sixth place team in the West. Now, as October starts, they’re in fifth, and a playoff spot seems like a certainty. They do have some problems, namely a Clint Dempsey sized hole in their lineup, but the fact that they’ve gotten here despite all of the adversity they faced, firing a coach and the roster issues is absolutely amazing. They’ve made the playoffs in every MLS season thus far, and it looks like that will continue. What makes it even sweeter for Sounders fans is that this success could easily come at the expense of their great rivals from Portland, who are spiraling out of the playoffs with only two games to save themselves. Seattle does have a game during the international break against Houston, which should be a win that seals their destiny.   The Shield: In the Supporter’s Shield race, FC Dallas notched a key win over LA which in all likelihood, sealed MLS’ best regular season team, although Colorado has a pair of games over the international break which they can win. They still play some beautiful soccer even though they lost their talisman, Fabian Castillo, this past July. Playing against them in the playoffs is a thankless task no matter what team ends up with that task. Colorado as mentioned is only five points back with two games at hand against weak teams, and NYCFC/Red Bulls are also five points without those extra games. Last season, FC Dallas lost out on the Shield via a tiebreaker to the Red Bulls, so to see the remarkable consistency from year-to-year in a league where finding that is the toughest challenge shows how well run the club is.   DC United’s Surge: One of my favorite Alexi Lalas quotes is that form is fallacy. However in MLS, form is never fallacy when a team hits its stride in October entering the playoffs. Last year, Portland hit its stride just as the playoffs came around and rode that wave to the Cup. Might this year’s example be Ben Olsen’s DC United? At times they’ve been absolutely awful to watch, inept and staid tactically, but recently they’ve been vibrant, exciting and tantalizing. Those are not words normally used to describe Benny-ball. After a late surge against Columbus, they won on the road at Toronto FC to further cement their place in the playoffs. Right now, maybe behind FC Dallas, they’re the team I’d least like to play in the postseason because of their form, deep well of forwards who can score such as Lamar Neagle and Patrick Mullins, and their ability to be defensively sound when needed.   A Candle for Those who are Out: Orlando City and Vancouver’s seasons both officially ended with thuds at home this weekend, and both teams are massive disappointments. This writer was a big fan of the Whitecaps and their roster, but they could never quite get the mix right despite it all, though they were fantastic in CCL. Meanwhile, Orlando City has been well and truly lapped by its expansion brother from last year in NYCFC, as they’ve now failed to make the playoffs in their first two campaigns. Jason Kreis needs to re-build that squad from inside out and needs someone in the front office to work in tandem with him to make sure that he can get the players he needs, as he did when he transformed Real Salt Lake. That’s easier said than done of course, but that’s the task facing the Lions as they prepare to move into their new stadium next year. Chicago and Houston are also both finished in the playoff race, as two of the teams that most projected to be at the basement of their conferences ended up there. They both have major work to do though they have promising players and coaches forming a solid base to build on, but that process is still in its infancy both in Bridgeview and Houston. Columbus and San Jose aren’t both out just yet, but any dropped points next midweek ensures they won’t be in the playoffs.   An ode to Union-Red Bulls: If you couldn’t watch the Union-Red Bulls game Saturday night for whatever reason, you missed out on a fantastic game of soccer that is emblematic of the best the league has to offer. High pressing, frenetic back-and-forth soccer with some great technical quality and great individual efforts to boot; that’s what the league is like at its best. It’s exciting to watch that kind of soccer when it’s played with some sort of desperation, and both teams were desperate Saturday night. The Union are in a bit of a precarious position playoff-wise though they’ll still likely make the dance, but they have some issues to work out before that happens. And for the Red Bulls, how about the return of their captain, Dax McCarty? He can do so much from a leadership perspective, and also chipped in one of the most important goals in their season thus far. If the Red Bulls are to break all of their playoff stereotypes, he is going to have to play a major role. Hopefully there are some playoff games played at the quality of this one.   Bob Bradley now the Manager at Swansea: Bob Bradley is now the manager at Swansea City, and while this is a major development for so many reasons, here we’ll take a look at the MLS angle of the move. Swansea’s new owners are also the owners of DC United (and Inter), and those MLS connections could become interesting when it comes to transfer moves. Do Swansea look to MLS to find some players to bolster a weaker squad? The connection and the pipeline is there to tap into. But beyond that, Bradley coached in MLS, although it was more than a decade ago, and to see his evolution from manager of those early Chicago Fire teams to US manager and now the first American manager ever in the English top flight. All of American soccer should be proud and excited about this move, and let’s hope Bradley finds success in South Wales.   What to watch for: Only a handful of games during this international break: Colorado-Houston, Seattle-Houston, Chicago-Columbus and Colorado-San Jose. They’re most notable for the Rapids Shield chances as well as Seattle’s push to cement their playoff spot.