Article by Matt Lichtenstadter
With most teams in MLS down to single digit games remaining for the rest of their seasons, and Rivalry Week now in the rear-view mirror, who should be feeling good about themselves and who might feel that time is running short on their seasons? The playoff races are being slowly whittled down in both conferences, and some teams had better weekends than others. Who might now feel that they’ve turned the corner, and who might feel that there is still plenty of work to do?
Feeling Good:
Sporting Kansas City: Every year, SKC teams seem to run out of steam, more than likely because their playing style runs them into the ground. Their intensity isn’t matched by almost any other team in the league, which is taxing on what is usually a pretty thin squad. This year, SKC went through that dip in form from late June to early August, but as they’ve gotten healthier, they look fluid and dynamic again. They might not be the best approximation of the team that won MLS Cup five years ago, but now they have depth and good competition for spots and look to be in the best form in the West. It’s a matter of whether they can keep up the intensity and rotation going forward to perhaps take top spot in the West.
Philadelphia Union: Quietly, the Union have played their way into almost assuredly being a playoff team, and they’ve done it largely under the radar. They don’t spend anywhere near what their competition in the East does, and yet it hasn’t mattered. Their young centerbacks in Mark McKenzie, Auston Trusty and now Jack Eliot have grown all year when called upon. Alejandro Bedoya has been the glue that keeps this young group together, and Cory Burke puts in the goals when called upon in critical moments. They play a good style of soccer, which has meant they run into trouble when playing teams better than them. But now that they’ve turned historic road woes around, and they continue to capitalize on good home form, the Union seem almost as a lock for the postseason. Combine this form with the potential to win a trophy in the US Open Cup, and this could be a historic fall in Chester.
Seattle Sounders: The new definition of the phrase “it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish” could well be now described as “the Seattle Sounders”. Poor to start the year, yet they always find the form when they need to, and after they scratched out a 1-0 win in Portland, they’re on the right side of the red line for the first time all year. Unlike the Union, the Sounders do not play a pretty style of soccer, and win ugly with defensive resoluteness and acumen lead largely by the ageless Chad Marshall. And once they find that goal, which they have a great knack for doing, they lock it down at the other end. Seven straight wins for Seattle took them from on the verge of blowing it up to the verge of the playoffs, which is amazing turnaround, even by the Sounders standards.
Feeling Uneasy:
LA Galaxy: Zlatan Ibrahimovic has not minced words when talking about the Galaxy’s recent lackluster form when he said the Galaxy don’t deserve to make the playoffs. While their 1-1 El Trafico draw with LAFC was improvement defensively (largely because they didn’t make any game destroying mistakes), their margin for error is slim. They only have seven games left this season, fewer than almost everyone around them, and with their penchant for defensive meltdowns, disaster always seems to be a kick away. Their three DP’s are also not fit, creating a major selection headache for Sigi Schmid that he has not been easily able to solve. Their Saturday game at RSL could be a defining one if this team is to make the playoffs, even with Zlatan’s magic in tow.
Portland Timbers: They didn’t win in their first five games and looked lost tactically for their new manager Gio Savarese in those five games. Then, they promptly rattled off a stretch of going 15 unbeaten, when they were defensively stout and always found the goal they needed. Since, they’ve lost four in a row and their defensive solidity is gone, with not much going forward to augment that. Only four players have scored a goal for Portland in open play this year, which is astonishing for a team that was once second in the West. Their saving grace is that they have 10 games left to play this year, and the schedule isn’t arduous. But someone other than Diego Valeri needs to find a way to score goals for this team, because those games at hand in this league are often worth less than advertised. Two decent teams are going to miss the cut line in the West, and Portland could be one of them, but they don’t have as much reason to panic as say the Galaxy may.
Toronto FC: Their 3-1 thrashing of Montreal was a step in the right direction for the Reds in their quest to dig out of their massive hole, but it shows just how much further they have to go if they’re to sneak into the postseason. Greg Vanney said his team needs to win six of its final nine games to make the postseason, and their schedule is not favorable, especially since they play against playoff contenders in both conferences along the way. With their Canadian Championship triumph, they’re in the Champions League again, which will be a silver lining for the club after recent campaigns. But for the defending MLS Cup champions to miss the playoffs, even in these unique circumstances, would be unexpected even considering those circumstances. They have a mountain to climb to get over the red line, and the mountain may be too high Toronto FC this year, even though they began the climb back up well on Rivalry Weekend.
With two realistic playoff spots up for grabs in the East, and three out West, the race is on to try to climb up into those spots with the few fixtures left in the season. There are five teams competing for those two spots out East, and five for three out West. Rivalry Week cleared up some of the picture, but not much of it. As the Sounders often prove, it doesn’t take much to change the narrative of a season in a short span of time, and for some of these teams, they may need that sort of push to get over the red line before time runs out.
