Article by Matt Lichtenstadter
With the regular season portion of the MLS is Back tournament finished, it’s worth asking: what does this tournament say about these teams? There are a myriad of reasons to believe this tournament isn’t representative for a team; two teams didn’t participate at all, some games were played in the morning, all games were played in highly unusual, and highly draining conditions.On the other hand, Atlanta United’s shocking performance pushed Frank De Boer’s dismissal, and those regular season games will count towards an eventual season to come. What can be gleaned from this tournament, if anything?
For a select few teams, this tournament confirmed their status as bonafide contenders in this truncated season. The tournament’s best team has been Columbus Crew, who won three games without conceding a goal and controlling play like no other team has. LAFC and Toronto FC proved their credentials once again, even if their defense hampered their ability to register wins. Teams like Philadelphia, Sporting Kansas City, Minnesota and New England proved that they are very solid teams with bright futures but are still incomplete and missing a key ingredient or two.Notions about these squads pre-tournament were largely re-enforced in a good way. Will a team like Orlando City, false started numerous times during their early MLS years use a good performance in this tournament as a needed springboard?
Are teams like the LA Galaxy, Atlanta United, the New York Red Bulls and DC United as bad as they showed at MLS is Back? All came in with a modicum of expectations, and all failed to meet them, some in quite alarming fashion. Both Atlanta and LA were missing key DP’s that certainly affected their performances, but Vancouver was able to advance to the knockout stage missing perhaps 10 key contributors from their squad, and LAFC still performed at their usual standard without Carlos Vela. Both clubs established a culture where excuses aren’t tolerated, even if the excuses could be fair ones, therefore their early exits are all the more alarming. Perhaps this tournament exacerbated the worst qualities of these teams and magnified them, but even with an expanded playoff field to nine teams in each conference, these clubs can’t play the way they played in Orlando and expect to back their way in.
Questions about how “real” this tournament is for the teams may also be asked about players too. Is Ayo Akinola, Toronto FC’s young forward, going to be able to play like this on a consistent basis after the tournament? Five goals in two games is extremely impressive, and he certainly has the tools to continue this form, but is he going to displace Jozy Altidore in the process? Can forwards like Chris Mueller of Orlando and Jeremy Ebobisse of Portland replace frustrating inconsistency from past seasons and translate their three games at this tournament into something greater? The same may hold true for players who didn’t perform at their expected level, such as Pity Martinez of Atlanta, Chicharito before his injury departure, among others. Will this tournament be a blip or something indicative of a larger trend?
Due to the nature of the tournament and the season, it might be hard to draw definitive conclusions for everyone. Some teams may go a month without playing a meaningful game after exiting the tournament, so form could truly be temporary. Will a team that makes a deep run in this tournament carry that form to the resumption of the regular season or will they have heavier legs? With the shape of the regular season still very much uncertain, and with nine teams in each conference making the postseason thanks to the pandemic induced turmoil, will just a couple of good performances be enough to get teams over the playoff line?
In a year where absolutely everything is uncertain, the meaning and significance of performances at the MLS is Back tournament for teams and players is also up for debate. It may take until the regular season resumes to know these answers for sure, but that uncertainty and unpredictability made the group stage of this tournament fascinating, and it will make the hopeful resumption of the regular season just as fascinating if not more.
