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| Yeah. You feel the breeze, don't ya? |
I’ll start with a brief bad news, good news set-up. It might
be good news, good news, depending on a couple things.
First, I’m busy enough with other stuff I’m excited about
(music, mostly*), that I only want to delve deeply into soccer only once a
week. I might sneak in a post here and there and, ideally, kick out a steady
stream of polls on twitter, but I haven’t yet rearranged my mental space to
make that work. Sit tight. And if you start hating the music stuff (and the
politics…so, SO sorry), feel free to ignore/unfollow. Not trying to piss off
anyone, just going where the spirit moves me.
Second, I count flagging Toronto FC’s Victor Vazquez early as
one of my brighter insights of 2017. As such, I want to more of that and less
long-form explanations and about 10 fewer “brain-farts.” Also, I intend to
raise the brain-farts to the dignity of “thoughts.”
Finally, I will keep watching one game besides Portland
Timbers v. _________ every week (this week's write-up, btw). Reviewing that, plus the 10 thoughts will be
my weekly Major League Soccer post. And that’ll go up Sunday nights. And, hey,
done with the preamble. Eat shit, Thomas Jefferson…
Minnesota United FC 1-2 Los Angeles Galaxy (of which, I
really only saw the second half)
Sincerely ugly for stretches, (the second half of) this game
played out with everything rolling Minnesota’s way…except when it came to
moving the ball up the middle with any sort of menace. And when you think that
little of LA’s Joao Pedro (like me), that reads like the Loons don’t know how
to get up the middle. What they do (or just what they did against LA) well,
however, is slowly compress the opposing team until they can start shelling
them with crosses – and that’s not a terrible idea with Christian “7 goals” Ramirez
roaming the box. (And who got the assist?)
Still, careful readers might have noticed that LA won the
game – and in Minnesota (home team first, and all that). Credit LA’s Brian Rowe
for that…and probably also Minnesota’s reliance on crosses for offense. For all
the pressure they put on LA (and on other teams, generally), they can get
impatient with their timing, and that makes a low-upside tactic go a little
lower. Minnesota fought like hell for that equalizer, which only makes Ramirez’ own-goal more of a shame.
LA, for their part, has no business feeling smug. The
problem begins with how a player as hot as Romain Alessandrini can produce so
few goals. Gyasi Zardes has been a big part of the problem, that’s by way of
being gone to start the season and rusty as nails in an old barn against
Minnesota. Again, when someone’s supposed to be your team’s star…
The other thing about LA, they are wimps in the tackle (well, apart from you know who).
Minnesota picked up most of its momentum just by way of sticking into their
tackles. Part of me says this wasn’t an isolated incident…
And, that’s it for the game of the week. Moving on, now, to
10 thoughts, random ones. Things that struck me as most important. Forgive me
if they’re obvious. I’m just watching games now; I barely read a thing anymore.
Also, any time I make a direct, confident statement below, the reader is
directed to insert, “from the looks of it,” afterwards because, STANDING
DISCLOSURE, I only watch the condensed version for every game except the
Timbers game an the Game of the Week. OK, carrying on…
1) DC United has been crap this season, and a big part of
that grows from their (now) three straight home losses (but, hey, just six goals against. Oh, but...). Bill Hamid has been his
usual heroic self, but DC's attack embarrassed itself against the Chicago Fire (again,
the Chicago Fire).
2) If you need a sign as to the magnitude of Chicago’s
turn-around, they can field a player like Michael de Leeuw, who is very much
the Fire’s version of the Colorado Rapids’ Kevin Doyle – e.g. a striker/forward
who attends to everything but The Prime Directive (e.g. scoring). Chicago can cover Doy...I mean, de Leeuw because they've got some
good horses; feels like it’s just about rebuilding the culture now.
3) Comments after both goals in the New York Red Bulls’ draw
against TFC noted the same thing: that Toronto was the better team. So
continues Toronto's solid run (6-1-3 in their last 10 games, and in a 13-game season?) – which has now gone on long enough that it’ll take a
couple weeks’ bad results to shift perception. This team has it figured out, so
the challenge becomes remaining whole. And Drew Moor was back.
4) Miguel Almiron finally had his break out game for Atlanta
United FC…if it becomes his breakout game. He dug in harder than ever before, to his credit, and Almiron put most of
it together technically, showing his separation speed all over against the
Houston Dynamo….who have been a terrible road team this season. Great game for
Almiron and Atlanta, by the looks of it; just file away the caveats.
5) There’s no ignoring, the Philadelphia Union’s Glory Week.
The good times come from a number of things – among them, C. J. Sapong looks
like the crazy, muscular daddy long legs he’s long threatened to be, the
remarkably elegant Haris Medunjanin acting as metronome (but how does he
defend?), a return of the good moments for Chris Pontius (two assists v. Houston, and a smart ducking act v. Colorado Rapids) – but I’d keep on eye on
new kid/defender, Jack Elliott. Nothing would make me happier in 2017 than
Philly being this year’s Colorado. It’d be better still if they didn’t follow
that up by being 2017’s Colorado…
6) Carrying on, Colorado presented a good contrast with
Philly. The Union played complacent at times, while Colorado, fielding some new faces, carried
the momentum early, and scored the first goal. The game turned in the end, with
Philly well in control by the start of the second (and up a man after the
70th), but, if you need an explanation for why things worked. See #5.
7) The Vancouver Whitecaps are on a bonafide tear (well...at 5-3-0 in their last eight, they're winning more than they're losing), they’re
lined up as their best possible selves, a conundrum for other teams to solve
till they do (and they will, see Portland Timbers start of 2016), and, sure,
Sporting Kansas City started a B-side, no question, but they also brought in players and chased the game. Vancouver still shelled Tim Melia’s
goal. More than anything else, watch Cristian Techera on his goal; that
movement was prescient and clear-headed enough to make that shot happen. Watch
Vancouver. Till further notice...wait, see #9, because it's the same basic idea, only better for Vancouver.
8) Roger Espinoza should get nailed by the Disciplinary
Committee for this atrocity (no, no, wait till 1:00 on that video; then decide). Justice only started when Vancouver scored off the
ensuing free kick.
9) The New England Revolution overcame the lights-out GOTW
(yes, even better than the morning line favorite) to beat Columbus Crew SC 2-1at home (and damned fine pass by Wil Trapp…but two “Ls,” son), and I’m guessing
they did it to prove the point that they can bestir themselves to beat any
team, on any given day. Watch their equalizer, count the key players: that’s
what I’m talking about (and they’ve got a couple others on the bench like Juan
Agudelo (and…shhh…it’s late)). Like, say, Diego Fagundez…
10) Whatever’s wrong with the Seattle Sounders this season
has nothing to do with Jordan Morris (well, except insofar as he’s been absent).
Seattle had enormous success feeding runs through Real Salt Lake’s defense and
Morris had a lot to do with that…along with RSL’s defense…who forced a heroic and
doomed performance for the ages out of Nick Rimando. That’ll be his, “remember
when I used to stone you little shits?” speech at the old folks’ home.
And, done. Sorry go short, I did a lot of shit today, at
least half of which you didn’t see. Also, won’t lie: I didn’t watch every
condensed game this weekend. Still, goal is to watch my two games, talk about
those, and then catch/comment on the rest, best as I can. This is what I have
the energy and inspiration for these days. So long as the time I put in on
these reasonably matches the traffic I pick up (and, so far, it does), I’ll
keep going…otherwise, I’ve got other stuff going on that roughly as many people
read…and, frankly, I enjoy that stuff more right now. How do I know? When I
post it and no one seems to read it, I don’t care. Guys, again, Lou Reed is really cool. Just…yes, pushy. But what if you don’t know?
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