 |
| We all have this moment. |
The bug that crawled up my butt (and took over my brain) has
the crazy urge to glance at the weekend ahead in Major League Soccer -
particularly, what ins & out I can manage with the Portland Timber’s visit
to The Big Wind (Chicago). While I’ll start by previewing the Portland’s game,
this post has just as much to do with taking some time to perform a little due
diligence on the rest of the league - especially now that MLS has yanked our
methadone (i.e., real condensed games, not that median-five-minute bullshit).
So, I’ll read all those editions of The Kick Off I can’t find time to read
all week (because I am a rat addicted to the “rage pellets” of political commentary), and we’ll see what comes out of that.
But first…
Chicago Fire v. Portland Timbers
First, I didn’t know the Timbers have history on their side
for this game - as in the Fire has never so much as singed the Portland Timbers,
never mind burned them. Probably doesn’t hurt that Chicago has struggled for
almost as long as Portland has been in MLS. They’re also struggling this season:
they’ve lost at home, on the road in a shoot-out, and to a barely-revamped Minnesota United FC (yikes!). Who else is also struggling? That’s right! The Timbers are
struggling! Not as hard as Liam Ridgewell (who might be consoling himself in a
room full of trampolines as any man would), but Portland also has yet to win,
they’ve suffered a bigger hurt, but, on the plus side, the Timbers drew a game. And how
you feel about that probably grows a little from how you feel about FC Dallas (Stumptown
Footy’s Chris Rifer called Dallas “their most difficult of the
season-opening five-game road trip,” but I don’t think Dallas has recovered
from their shattering 2017), and a handful of other relevant factors. In no
particular order:
1) Formationz in Flux
If my wrap-up of last week’s game had a unifying point - or
two - it was that Portland’s coach, Giovanni Savarese lined up defensive - and
also that I don’t think he has much choice on that, at least not for now. Because
I start from there, it was interesting to read this passage from C. I. DeMann’s
wrap-up of the same game:
“Three games into Gio Savarese’s reign, I’m finding it incredibly difficult to predict starters. And you know what? Maybe this is a good thing. Or, at least, not a bad thing.”
According to MLS’s preview, David Guzman returns from international
duty this weekend and, with Lawrence “I Can Reach It!” Olum out, the Timbers need
him. While all kinds of tinkering is possible, I’m putting money on the same formation
with maybe some tweaks in personnel - say, Samuel Armenteros starting over
Fanendo Adi. And that’s where it gets weird…or at least where opinions diverge.
The Mothership (MLSSoccer.com) ran a piece in which Savarese
praised Diego Valeri’s contribution, even without putting up numbers. Concerns
exist in that area (see #2), but that same piece outlined what Portland’s
attempting in the attack fairly succinctly:
“Savarese rolled out a 4-3-2-1 formation, commonly known as the "Christmas Tree" for its symmetric, triangular shape. The lineup gave Blanco and Valeri free roles behind Fanendo Adi…”
Sending three guys against an entire defense is a big ask,
and for any three players (yeah, yeah, I know it’s not that), but the defense
had to solidify. All the same, different week, different team, different task. And
that begs some questions, nearly all of them starting with the Timbers back
four. How much good was Bill Tuiloma, aka, can Portland risk a 4-2-3-1
(mythical or otherwise), really? More directly, Olum makes sense as something
closer to a fifth defender, but does Guzman? Does Cristhian Paredes? I don’t
mention Chara there because I want him mobile…
…and that gets to perception/bias. I’ve internalized this
idea that Guzman can only run so far, so I don’t want him playing box-to-box,
never mind getting super-active in the attack. And I just don’t know enough
about Paredes. All in all, and till further notice, Portland doesn’t strike me
as a team with a lot of viable depth. On the other hand, who cares: the real
question is, how much can you gamble against Chicago? More later…
2) The Valeri Situation
“At what point are we allowed to start worrying about
Valeri? I’m not saying I’m worried, I’m just wondering when I should start.
Because that time may be soon.”
DeMann again, whatever Savarese said about Valeri, I’m closer to his
point of view, if for a different reason. For as long as
the team had The Enigma Machine (aka, Darlington Nagbe) Valeri (et. al., when
you get right down to it) enjoyed the luxury of playing higher; they knew Nagbe
could get the ball up the field in transition, so even if they started lower,
they could make runs trusting in Nagbe surging forward behind them. That’s my
theory on what’s ailing Valeri: the team has to re-learn moving the ball up the
field, period. I bought a shit-ton of theoretical stock on the idea that it’s
not that hard. All the same, even when Valeri’s playing high, he’s playing to fewer options.
Probably. Will all this come? Beats me. Goes back to #1 and notes on personnel...
…and I still have theories on Nagbe. It’s like I was married
and my wife died and I’m going through her fucking diaries…
3) Sgt. Savarese
What can I say? DeMann had a good week for thoughts, but
this one really landed for me, and it’s on whatever the fuck is going on with Liam
Ridgewell:
“And that statement is, I’m not afraid to bench any of you. No one is safe. Don’t give me what I expect? You’re benched. Stay home. Watch golf. When you’re ready to rejoin my team – my team – let me know.”
He lost me with his notes on the teams “unpredictability,”
but, assuming he’s correct on that read, I like it.
Okay, that’s much, much longer than I wanted. As for Chicago’s
side, won’t lie, I’m not sure what to expect. My guess is we all know the same top-line
stuff - Nemanja Nikolic is hell to track; Bastian Schweinsteiger’s smarts
improve his speed and stamina by 50% minimum - but, to name other things of
note, their new kid, Aleksandar Katai, showed flashes in the little time I saw
him (very little), and I think their defense is decent…though, in the
highlights for the Minnesota loss, they defended crazy deep, as in trying to
stand on the fucking goal-line deep. Just file that away…maybe both central
defenders (Johan Kappelhof and Kevin Ellis) read more than they step. They also
have the good cop/bad cop duo of Dax McCarty and Tony Tchani, even if it doesn’t
take too much to picture either playing muttering like a veteran cop, “I’m gettin’
too old for this shit.”
What’s gonna happen? I see this as a title bout between Chicago’s
self-doubt and Portland’s “Road Game” (say the prayer with me: may it return to 2015 form, AMEN). Is that exciting? I have no fucking clue, but let’s all hope
so.
Now, for the rest:
News/Due Diligence
Yeah, yeah, Zlatan Ibrahimovic joined the league. I’ll care
when he makes me. Fascinating as he is (decidedly), I’m past giving a fuck
about publicity signings of any kind until they show up on the field. To put that
another way, I see no less reason to get geeked about Andre Horta (LAFC) or Darwin Quintero (Minnesota? [Wide-eyed emoji!] Well done, son! (Hopefully!)).
Give a performance week-in, week-out that looks like what Cristian
Penilla did for the New England Revolution last weekend (also, in case you
missed, Diego Fagundez looks good centrally). Also, I see a couple potentially
arrivals in the Tuesday edition of The Kick Off (Acraf Lazaar and a guy named
Tomane), but I’ve decided to not care about any player till he does the
week-in, week-out thing for a domestic club…and…wait…hold on…are you fucking kidding
me?
Just checked the Power Rankings and saw Portland got the “biggest
climber” award. On the sane side, they liked what DeMann liked, so what the
hell? More to the point, we’re not deep enough into the season for me to argue
too much. I’m confident they know more…still, have my doubts. Like the thing
with Dallas.
Finally, the U.S. Men’s National Team beat Paraguay on
Tuesday, but I got the general feeling that our beloved national team still “lacksfor ideas.” Isn’t that…I mean…that’s the headline for the last 30 years of U.S.
Soccer, at least outside, “find Landon on the break”?
This Weekend’s Best Games
Happily, this is the one section of this series (for as long
as it lasts; good work, Westley, sleep well, I’ll probably kill you in the
morning) that will shrink as time passes, but isn’t this 11 games featuring 22
questions at this point in the MLS season, aka, the best, aka, before you
watching your team subtly turns into hate-watching your team, all but wanting
those fuckers to fail for your entertainment, pleasure, and as a shining
example of your piercing insight, and goddammit, why am I not coaching, I’d
totally be a players’ coach, I’d tell the food and drink guys to pound sand,
etc. (I have a CV, yo! Call me!)
I liked that phrasing: 11 games, featuring 22 questions. Actually,
because I covered Chicago v. Portland up top, that’s really 10 games and 20
questions. Regardless, let’s see if I can do it.
Toronto FC v. Real Salt Lake
And, nope, can’t do it. How much does Toronto write this one
off with the CCL game against Club (Fucking) America looming overhead? Also, if Toronto phones it in with their starters and RSL can’t get a result, where does that leave
them?
Orlando City SC v. New York Red Bulls
No offense to all involved or invested, but I rate this one the
non-game of the weekend. Because they bounced back after outplaying RSL in a
loss (is that a thing?), New York has perceptual wiggle room to lose this. Even
if Orlando wins this at home, it won’t change the plot for either team.
Columbus Crew SC v. Vancouver Whitecaps
And call this one the opposite, even if it’s complicated.
Even where Vancouver is effective this season, I don’t expect them to be good.
As such, a Columbus win only cements Columbus’ “good team” status. If Vancouver
wins - or even draws it, but only in a game where both teams score goals - it’ll
depend on how they score them. I mean percentage-wise.
Los Angeles Galaxy v. Los Angeles United FC
I expect I’ll hate both these teams equally before long, but
I still want to see the Galaxy lose. And, if the Galaxy wins, that’s kind of a
story - and mostly because they’re still getting sorted. LAFC has a pass. A
win, though, builds a legend (that ends as…a myth? history? a middling
season?).
Minnesota United FC v. Atlanta United FC
If Atlanta, say, drops 2-3 goals on Minnesota and shuts them
out, this game becomes a shot across the league’s communal bow. Atlanta can do
it, and that’s the key. Minnesota gutting out a 1-0 win (or even a 2-0 or,
better, a 2-1) does the same.
San Jose Earthquakes v. New York City FC
This one’s actually intriguing. From what I’ve heard, San
Jose is trying to be fun, and perhaps for the first time ever. NYCFC is
intriguing, so the question there is whether they run over San Jose…at which
point we’re talking about the beginning of the end of the dream of San Jose
trying to be fun.
Houston Dynamo v. New England Revolution
If I called any other game the Game of the Week above - all lies, because this is IT! Houston has been both fun and fragile, an echo from the
start of 2017. New England, meanwhile, looked both great and spend-thrift
against one the league’s stronger early teams, NYCFC. Then they ran out of gas…fuck
me, I hate the high press. And, fuck! I left that out of the Portland stuff!
Next week…next week…
Sporting Kansas City v. DC United
If DC comes out of this anything worse than three goals down
and fucking tired, I’d call that a victory. A DC win, on the other hand, should
get people talking about SKC’s defense.
Colorado Rapids v. Philadelphia Union
I doubt I’ll watch this one - not least because the Rapids
were all but unwatchable last week - but stakes is high for Philly. And
probably Colorado. I mean, god forbid, the Rapids try to play the damn ball on the
ground. In all honesty, though I can’t see either team making noise this season,
at least not till further notice.
Seattle Sounders v. L’Impact Montreal
If Orlando v. Red Bulls is this week’s non-event, this game’s
the alternate. Montreal should lose this game, and that puts it on the Sounders
to do anything, but not well. Then again, Seattle started last season 2-4-4 and
made it to MLS Cup (where they sputtered violently, sure), so…unless you give a massive damn amount about the Supporters’ Shield, who fucking cares?
Also, I care about the Supporters’ Shield. And
all for this week.
No comments:
Post a Comment