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“There’s an old question common to all sports – e.g., whether you’d rather be entertained versus whether you just want the W however you get it. The Nashville game tested the hell out of that one. Some part of me has always known how I'd answer.”
I tweeted that earlier (and apologies for quoting myself), and I want to finish the thought. Regardless of whether my Portland Timbers opt to bunker-‘n’-counter for the rest of 2020 – and I mean this specifically in terms of, as someone online put it, “grinding out results” - this is me formally objecting to the concept.
Grinding out a result on the road against a good team is a time honored tradition of the game, and that is good and just; I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about adopting it as a style – or, to use a buzzword I hate, an “identity” built around that. Sure, that can win a team some games, but, unless you’re flirting with elite in your counterattacking quality (and I’m not sure the Timbers are in 2020), that’ll never win you a title, and I thought that was the point of all this. And if your team’s goal is to make the playoffs, only to die in the first round, I…I don’t know how to talk to you.
More to the point, I’m a firm believer in the idea that a team should know how to play soccer – i.e., how to advance the ball up the field, and in a controlled way that allows a team to put good shots on goal. That’s one of those things that, 1) a team has work at, and 2) something the players can’t learn unless they get high-rep practice doing that. Because “grinding out a result” trains a team in the opposite direction, I don’t believe it should be encouraged, even on a shitty team. Besides the act of practicing that approach will reveal the players who are up to it. Anyway, all I wanted to say is that there is a time and place for grinding out results, but that isn’t in league soccer – or least not in any league I’d want to watch.
With that li’l rant out of the way, it’s back to regularly scheduled programming. I’ve reviewed the MLS in 15 highlights for all the games in Week 2 – and I went the full 90 on Atlanta v Cincy and Portland v Nashville (links below) – and ranked all the results in the order of their comparative importance; the more important, the higher up on the list it shows. I checked the box scores for each game (not a lot to get excited about this week, fwiw; also, I embed MLSSoccer.com's data-set into the header for each game), and did some light reading, but it’s mostly just notes on the games at this point. Good ones, hopefully, but I’ll be the first to admit I come into these games in various moods and/or states of mind. It’s in the way that you use it, or something to that effect. Oh, and I should still post a link to the 2020 MLS season preview I posted about a month ago; that'll inform some part of the commentary, whether conscious or not, until about Week 5 or so.
I tweeted that earlier (and apologies for quoting myself), and I want to finish the thought. Regardless of whether my Portland Timbers opt to bunker-‘n’-counter for the rest of 2020 – and I mean this specifically in terms of, as someone online put it, “grinding out results” - this is me formally objecting to the concept.
Grinding out a result on the road against a good team is a time honored tradition of the game, and that is good and just; I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about adopting it as a style – or, to use a buzzword I hate, an “identity” built around that. Sure, that can win a team some games, but, unless you’re flirting with elite in your counterattacking quality (and I’m not sure the Timbers are in 2020), that’ll never win you a title, and I thought that was the point of all this. And if your team’s goal is to make the playoffs, only to die in the first round, I…I don’t know how to talk to you.
More to the point, I’m a firm believer in the idea that a team should know how to play soccer – i.e., how to advance the ball up the field, and in a controlled way that allows a team to put good shots on goal. That’s one of those things that, 1) a team has work at, and 2) something the players can’t learn unless they get high-rep practice doing that. Because “grinding out a result” trains a team in the opposite direction, I don’t believe it should be encouraged, even on a shitty team. Besides the act of practicing that approach will reveal the players who are up to it. Anyway, all I wanted to say is that there is a time and place for grinding out results, but that isn’t in league soccer – or least not in any league I’d want to watch.
With that li’l rant out of the way, it’s back to regularly scheduled programming. I’ve reviewed the MLS in 15 highlights for all the games in Week 2 – and I went the full 90 on Atlanta v Cincy and Portland v Nashville (links below) – and ranked all the results in the order of their comparative importance; the more important, the higher up on the list it shows. I checked the box scores for each game (not a lot to get excited about this week, fwiw; also, I embed MLSSoccer.com's data-set into the header for each game), and did some light reading, but it’s mostly just notes on the games at this point. Good ones, hopefully, but I’ll be the first to admit I come into these games in various moods and/or states of mind. It’s in the way that you use it, or something to that effect. Oh, and I should still post a link to the 2020 MLS season preview I posted about a month ago; that'll inform some part of the commentary, whether conscious or not, until about Week 5 or so.
All in all, there aren’t any massive swings to report; that’s too much to expect this early in the season. That said, most of Week 2’s bigger storylines clustered in the Western Conference – which is to say, pick it the fuck up, The Eastern Conference. At any rate, here goes nothing.
Los Angeles FC 3 –3 Philadelphia Union
Fucking crazygoals, Andre Blake playing like he’s got six goddamn arms, goals galore, and both teams with a nitrous-oxide kick’s worth of fighting spirit; this game gets pride of place on principal. I took wild swings at several teams in my season preview, and Philly caught the bitter end of one of them; a performance like this makes me wonder how badly I misread them (and, frankly, gives me hope; I’ve got a soft spot for Philly). Trouble was, Philly could never keep a lead for more than a couple minutes – at least after the first one. On the detail level, both Carlos Vela and Diego Rossi show every sign that they’ll keep rolling; Brendan Aaronson – who, reminder, is 19-goddam-years-old – keeps showing signs that he’s still finding his ceiling, etc. This is why people like this sport, dammit. I'm through naming names...
Book on LAFC: Though not exactly off to a flying start, and this is the kind of game that makes you wonder about them shipping Walker Zimmerman, but they’re strong enough that you have to wait on them counting themselves out.
Basic Stats: 1-0-1, 4 pts., 4 gf, 3 ga; Last 10 (wait for it): WD
Book on Philly: Only one point from a two-game road swing, but they played two strong teams. Back to bullish on them, because I want to be.
Basic Stats: 0-1-1, 1 pt., 3 gf, 5 ga; Last 10: LD
San Jose Earthquakes 2-5 Minnesota United FC
Ike Opara is very good in the air (seriously, check the ups on this one), but not that good, and yet he scored as many goals on his own than the ‘Quakes scored all night, and at home, and that's between getting tackled for the penalty kick that led to Robin Lod’s first goal. Guram Kashia took care of the rest by playing a kind of anti-Ike in this one, most notably when he completely lost track of Luis Amarilla (23 to go!). More briefly, San Jose fucking died on defense, and that rendered what they did anywhere else academic. Gentle reminder, Minnesota just killed a road swing against two teams who, all and sundry agree they’re competing against at the lower end of the Western Conference playoff picture. Anything would struggle to get better than that. As for San Jose, it looks like the box score flatters them: without that chance PK and a deflection, would they have put anything into the back of the net.
Book on ‘Quakes: Still pending, but getting shakier with every game that doesn’t end in a W.
Basic Stats: 0-1-1, 1 pt., 4 gf, 7a; Last 10: DL
Book on Loons: The Supporters’ Shield talk is just plain silly (and yet it happened), but they’re playing a couple steps above pretty goddamn strong. Like Vikings, I tell you…
Basic Stats: 2-0-0, 6 pts., 8 gf, 3a; Last 10: WW
Sporting Kansas City 4–0 Houston Dynamo
In a better world, Johnny Russell’s shot on Marko Maric’s empty would have gone in. Fuck it, because SKC had plenty of goals to toast before the final whistle – and, just to note it, new kids Alan Pulido and Gadi Kinda (with an assist from Alan Pulido) both had moments; the latter had better moments than his goal. Roger Espinoza carried the HIGH-EFFORT torch for SKC teams past – and that bled over into the game as a whole. Houston battled back best as they could, but the box score suggests that 1/6th of the game flattered them in the end. If there’s one point I want to drive home, it’s this: when Russell left the game, Gerso Fernandes came on to replace him; when Kinda left the game, Gianluca Busio replaced him; Erik Hurtado replaced Alan Pulido, and I mean zero disrespect to Hurtado, but Pulido has the bigger pedigree and a poacher’s goal tonight. Referee…ah, who cares, raised four of the game’s seven yellow cards during the first half, so I guess both teams listened in the end. That also states in vivid yellow that Houston tried hard. Bottom line, though, SKC was equal parts ambitious and pissed in the off-season, while Houston stood pat on a bad hand. You do the math.
Book on SKC: This doesn’t need to shut up the critics, but it should put them on the defensive. They won big in front of a home crowd that feasted on disappointment in 2019.
Basic Stats: 2-0-0, 6 pts, 7 gf, 1 ga; Last 10: WW
Book on Hold It Down: Does not look good right now. Looks under-invested, in fact.
Basic Stats: 0-1-1, 1 pt., 1 gf, 7 ga; Last 10: DL
Los Angeles Galaxy 0–1 Vancouver Whitecaps
The talking bobbleheads at The Mothership will move heaven and earth to convince you that the problem here was LA’s inability to find Chicharito. Impatience – particularly from Cristian Pavon – looked like the bigger anchor to me. Both he and Aleksandar Katai (from whom, great two-way game for 59 minutes) wailed shots toward goal, and from too far out too often. Lacking as they were for quality – very much including Pavon’s failure to hit the empty net Maxime Crepeau irresponsibly vacated (what?! no video?!) – the ‘Caps just needed Ali Adnan, Jr. to find Toisant Ricketts just the one time to steal out three points out of…whatever they’re calling the place where the Galaxy plays these days (ah, it’s no longer the Home Despot Center). I heard Cobi Jones griping about LA’s passing from the booth, so I’ll take that under advisement, but it’d take a lot to slip under Vancouver’s Hwang In-Beom for quality. The Galaxy midfield did trip over at least once for every slick move through midfield too, just for the record. Overall, though, it looks like Vancouver played them better than even, so adjust your sets as necessary.
Book on OG LA: Realistically, their first two games have to temper whatever optimism surrounded them.
Basic Stats: 0-1-1, 1 pt., 1 gf, 2 ga; Last 10: LD
Book on ‘Caps: A good result for them, full stop. And they looked pretty comfortable to boot. File it away.
Basic Stats: 1-1-0, 3 pts, 2 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: LW
FC Dallas 2-2 Montreal Impact
If Montreal had a good shot in the first 40 minutes, the highlight reel took a pass on it. The fact that Dallas owned this game until they went down two goals probably says something about both teams – but the balance of the luck seemed to go Montreal’s way. That Maximiliano Urruti’s brace depended entirely on right-place-at-the-right-time magic (especially his second), but that’s more to his credit than Montreal’s as a whole. Dallas, meanwhile, has Michael Barrios’ regular and Zdenek Ondrasek’s late production to lean into in their search for future result…but even the broadcast booth acknowledged Dallas’ history of starting strong and…fad….ing….
Book on Dallas: So far, so good. That said, they are losing hella talent for Olympics qualifying – e.g., Reggie Cannon, Paxton Pomykal, Jesus Ferreira – and that feels important. On the other hand, Cobra and Barrios.
Basic Stats: 1-0-1, 4 pts., 4 gf, 2 ga; Last 10: WD
Book on L’Impact: Luck is awesome, but it rarely lasts 34 games. Still, the most interesting team in the East, this side of Philly.
Basic Stats: 1-0-1, 4 pts., 4 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: WD
Real Salt Lake 1-1 New York Red Bulls
Tim Parker and Kyle Duncan had a little donnybrook of unknown cause about who failed to do what when it came to Damir Kreilach’s equalizer, when they should’ve taken the long view and understood that one moment was the least of New York’s concerns. Start with set-piece defending, only their wasn’t any; move on the wild imbalance in the box score (which absolutely came through in the MLS 15), the visible sloppiness of their game: the only thing that saved the Red Bulls from a first, heavy loss of 2020 was RSL’s wayward shooting and the Red Bulls defense scrambling away a coupleclear goals (still, RSL’s shots on goal number looks low, or at least deceptive). Given that, it makes sense that David Jensen’s save on Kreilach’s first attempt provides a better highlight than Christian Casseres, Jr.’s goal. RSL, meanwhile, hardly looked the well-oiled machine – and, so long as I rate the Red Bulls this low, and given the 21 shots they posted, this has to be three points pissed away for them.
Book on RSL: Expectations were never really that high and chance creation/dispatch has always been the question mark. The math is right there.
Basic Stats: 0-0-2, 2 pts., 1 gf, 1 ga; Last 10: DD
Book on RBNY: I’d be worried. They look like a USL team that borrowed a couple MLS-level-“DPs” at this point.
Basic Stats: 1-0-1, 4 pts., 4 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: WD
Toronto FC 1-0 New York City FC
“It was a very close game, and New York probably deserved a point up to this…point.” That’s both a paraphrase and an overall impression, at least based on what I saw in the MLS 15. TFC definitely had the better of the game – e.g., Ifunanyachi Achara’s offside goal (which I’m still not sure I understand), the penalty Justin Morrow should have had tripping over Julian Sands’ stanky leg, then Achara’s actual goal, etc. – but Alexandriu Mitrita is showing signs of being an X-factor this season (active and eager, if not effective), and this was always going to be a tough out for NYCFC. Overall, NYCFC didn’t get many opportunities, and TFC missed a few, but that’s pretty much what one expects given the home/away dynamic on this one.
Book on TFC: Decent start so far, but I know I don’t trust what I see out of ‘em. Then again, I never do, and I’m often wrong.
Basic Stats: 1-0-1, 4 pts., 4 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: DW
Book on NYCFC: Pending; they started 2020 with two of the toughest outs in the Eastern Conference. Systemic issues continue…and those are the most significant issues…
Basic Stats: 0-2-0, 0 pts., 0 gf, 2 ga; Last 10: LL
Atlanta United FC 2–1 FC Cincinnati
I’ve got extended notes on this one and, oddly, they’re generally positive about both teams: Atlanta because they can still play, even when they’re running around headless, while Cincinnati just looks like they know how to avoid getting run over…if only one half at a time.
Book on Cincy: Yes, I’m already calling them a better team than the 2019 edition; the question is how far that’ll take them.
Basic Stats: 0-2-0, 0 pts., 3 gf, 5 ga; Last 10: LL
Book on Atlanta: If having a useful forward decides Atlanta’s fate, Adam Jahn didn’t deliver. Pity Martinez compensated by having one helluva week.
Basic Stats: 2-0-0, 6 pts., 4 gf, 2 ga; Last 10: WW
Colorado Rapids 2–1 Orlando City SC
Drew Moor scoring the winner is now, and forever will be, the best thing about MLS 2020 Week 2. Perfect elation, etc. Orlando fired at least three powerful shots from range directly at Clint Irwin, and that was in the first half alone, which makes one wonder if they know how this works. They proved they did at the 82nd minute when Chris Mueller split three defenders to slot home a perfect pass from either Andres Perea or Kyle Smith (my money’s on the former), but Moor’s goal erased that. Younes Namli started the scoring, as well as underlined the practical meaning of superior talent with the game’s first goal. Because the MLS15 highlight reel and the box score combine to send a lousy signal, I’ll just highlight some names/performances: Joao Moutinho had a couple real moments for Orlando while Andre Shinyashiki did the same for Orlando. Shinyashiki seems like the real deal to me; he’s quick, both in mind and body, and one of the best candidates I’ve seen for a while as a sneaky-legendary player, a la Wondo.
Book on ‘Pids: A very, very good start for a team with as good a starting eleven as I’ve seen in MLS this season.
Basic Stats: 2-0-0, 6 pts., 4 gf, 2 ga; Last 10: WW
Book on Orlando: They’re still Orlando – e.g., some good pieces, just not nearly enough.
Basic Stats: 0-1-1, 1 pt., 1 gf, 2 ga; Last 10: DL
Seattle Sounders 1–1 Columbus Crew SC
The story for this one was almost certainly Harrison Afful’s baffling hand-ball on Nouhou Tolo’s never-say-die cross; Columbus dogged defensive performance – highlighted by the kid, Aboubacar Keita, scooping away a pass destined for Raul Ruidiaz in the worst possible place (no stand-alone highlight, sadly) – died in that moment. It took Seattle twobites at the PK Afful handed them to finally put the ball in the goal…Lord knows Jordan Morris wasn’t gonna do it with his head. That’s pretty much the story in this way: the Sounders generated more offense than their shots total implied and Columbus answered with an efficient offensive performance (nice goal by Gyasi Zardes, and Luis Diaz’s perfect cross redeems last week’s comic miss). Lucas Zelarayan deserves mention for creating Columbus’ best moments (nice work on the goal, too), and it really would have been something if Miguel Ibarra hadn’t slipped offside, because that was a slick finish by one of the best stories in MLS.
Book on Assholes: Their recent history of slow starts recommends withholding judgment till…shit, August? They’re hardly off to a slow start regardless.
Basic Stats: 1-0-1, 4 pts., 3 gf, 2 ga; Last 10: WD
Book on Columbus: The offense isn’t firing on all cylinders, but they still look solid and they still have real quality in the team.
Basic Stats: 1-0-1, 4 pts., 2 gf, 1 ga; Last 10: WD
Portland Timbers 1–0 Nashville SC
I have in no way recovered from the bitterness of my extended notes; what happened on Sunday makes me 80-year-old man at a computer cranky precisely because I know that I’ll watch (nearly) every goddamn game Portland plays this year (e.g., I’ll have vacations and they don’t do replays), and I have to watch that shit? Nashville, meanwhile, did all right. Hell, at least they tried to play soccer.
Book on Timbers: A mid-table finish looks more and more like their ceiling. They need a transformation in the attack.
Basic Stats: 1-1-0, 3 pts., 2 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: LW
Book on Nashville: The worst thing I can say about them (and did), is that they’re not a particularly threatening team. Solid, but thoroughly unspectacular. Hany Mukhtar impressed me a bit.
Basic Stats: 0-0-2, 0 pts., 1 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: LL
DC United 2-1 Inter Miami CF
Sometimes you believe a goal in the second minute of a game matters; other times, you understand it as a freakish, yet wonderful moment that doesn’t hold up over the next 90 minutes, etc. Moving onto the game’s biggest controversy, the MLS15 highlight treats Roman Torres’, frankly, decisive hand-ball as an isolated incident, and that makes it damned hard to connect said foul to Lewis Morgan’s seemingly just-fine goal; and yet, back it went. Overall, it’s hard to get a clear bead on this game, and that’s all the way down to whether Edison Flores was meaningfully fouled by Victor Ulloa (I mean, probably? technically?). Frederic Brillant, who I’ve always rated, cleaned up another Flores moment – a well-taken free-kick – and, between that, the red card, and the penalty kick, DC won the game…while winning only the belligerent side of the box score, e.g., fouls, yellow cards, and tackles (but let the record show that Miami won the “duels” category).
Book on DC: If there’s a whelming side to them, it falls on the under side of the over/under.
Basic Stats: 1-1-0, 3 pts., 3 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: LW
Book on Miami: An expansion team with pieces still missing, an injured special player (that’s Robbie Robinson, and others, apparently), and a whole lot of open questions.
Basic Stats: 0-2-0, 0 pts., 1 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: LL
New England Revolution 1-1 Chicago Fire
I guess you call that failing to beat a team – or, in this case, just one player. Fabian Herbers was this game’s Zelig, and maybe that’s Chicago’s problem. New England had plenty of good looks - Cristian Penilla flailed one over the bar, Brandon Bye had a shot cleared off the line (as did Adam Buksa), and Justin Rennicks skied a tap in – and better than Chicago’s (though they ended even on shots), and that’s how you throw away two points. Well, specifically, your defense gives three attacking Fire players a clean run onto a cross, but it all ends the same. Based on 1/6th of game, this one looked choppy and free-wheeling; if the game did end with 72% passing accuracy the MLS15 showed all the bad passes. Buksa scored an alert one (aka, Francisco Calvo paid forward the Revs’ later slacker defense), and, for those counting at home, DuJuan Jones caught my eye. No one from Chicago really stood out – except Herbers who did many, many average things.
Book on the Revs: Pissing away a winnable game they could have won (god bless that sentence) puts them on the edge of downgrade territory.
Basic Stats: 0-1-1, 1 pt., 2 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: LD
Book on the Fire: Not much to look at or think about so far, but I saw something this week that hinted at a bevy of replacements, so just file that away.
Basic Stats: 0-1-1, 1 pt., 2 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: LD
All right, there goes MLS Week 2. And, in the event anyone’s worried about my mental health, if you start seeing results tables sneak into this weekly content, you can expect the wheels to come off entirely in five to six weeks. Till next week!
Basic Stats: 0-1-1, 1 pt., 3 gf, 5 ga; Last 10: LD
San Jose Earthquakes 2-5 Minnesota United FC
Ike Opara is very good in the air (seriously, check the ups on this one), but not that good, and yet he scored as many goals on his own than the ‘Quakes scored all night, and at home, and that's between getting tackled for the penalty kick that led to Robin Lod’s first goal. Guram Kashia took care of the rest by playing a kind of anti-Ike in this one, most notably when he completely lost track of Luis Amarilla (23 to go!). More briefly, San Jose fucking died on defense, and that rendered what they did anywhere else academic. Gentle reminder, Minnesota just killed a road swing against two teams who, all and sundry agree they’re competing against at the lower end of the Western Conference playoff picture. Anything would struggle to get better than that. As for San Jose, it looks like the box score flatters them: without that chance PK and a deflection, would they have put anything into the back of the net.
Book on ‘Quakes: Still pending, but getting shakier with every game that doesn’t end in a W.
Basic Stats: 0-1-1, 1 pt., 4 gf, 7a; Last 10: DL
Book on Loons: The Supporters’ Shield talk is just plain silly (and yet it happened), but they’re playing a couple steps above pretty goddamn strong. Like Vikings, I tell you…
Basic Stats: 2-0-0, 6 pts., 8 gf, 3a; Last 10: WW
Sporting Kansas City 4–0 Houston Dynamo
In a better world, Johnny Russell’s shot on Marko Maric’s empty would have gone in. Fuck it, because SKC had plenty of goals to toast before the final whistle – and, just to note it, new kids Alan Pulido and Gadi Kinda (with an assist from Alan Pulido) both had moments; the latter had better moments than his goal. Roger Espinoza carried the HIGH-EFFORT torch for SKC teams past – and that bled over into the game as a whole. Houston battled back best as they could, but the box score suggests that 1/6th of the game flattered them in the end. If there’s one point I want to drive home, it’s this: when Russell left the game, Gerso Fernandes came on to replace him; when Kinda left the game, Gianluca Busio replaced him; Erik Hurtado replaced Alan Pulido, and I mean zero disrespect to Hurtado, but Pulido has the bigger pedigree and a poacher’s goal tonight. Referee…ah, who cares, raised four of the game’s seven yellow cards during the first half, so I guess both teams listened in the end. That also states in vivid yellow that Houston tried hard. Bottom line, though, SKC was equal parts ambitious and pissed in the off-season, while Houston stood pat on a bad hand. You do the math.
Book on SKC: This doesn’t need to shut up the critics, but it should put them on the defensive. They won big in front of a home crowd that feasted on disappointment in 2019.
Basic Stats: 2-0-0, 6 pts, 7 gf, 1 ga; Last 10: WW
Book on Hold It Down: Does not look good right now. Looks under-invested, in fact.
Basic Stats: 0-1-1, 1 pt., 1 gf, 7 ga; Last 10: DL
Los Angeles Galaxy 0–1 Vancouver Whitecaps
The talking bobbleheads at The Mothership will move heaven and earth to convince you that the problem here was LA’s inability to find Chicharito. Impatience – particularly from Cristian Pavon – looked like the bigger anchor to me. Both he and Aleksandar Katai (from whom, great two-way game for 59 minutes) wailed shots toward goal, and from too far out too often. Lacking as they were for quality – very much including Pavon’s failure to hit the empty net Maxime Crepeau irresponsibly vacated (what?! no video?!) – the ‘Caps just needed Ali Adnan, Jr. to find Toisant Ricketts just the one time to steal out three points out of…whatever they’re calling the place where the Galaxy plays these days (ah, it’s no longer the Home Despot Center). I heard Cobi Jones griping about LA’s passing from the booth, so I’ll take that under advisement, but it’d take a lot to slip under Vancouver’s Hwang In-Beom for quality. The Galaxy midfield did trip over at least once for every slick move through midfield too, just for the record. Overall, though, it looks like Vancouver played them better than even, so adjust your sets as necessary.
Book on OG LA: Realistically, their first two games have to temper whatever optimism surrounded them.
Basic Stats: 0-1-1, 1 pt., 1 gf, 2 ga; Last 10: LD
Book on ‘Caps: A good result for them, full stop. And they looked pretty comfortable to boot. File it away.
Basic Stats: 1-1-0, 3 pts, 2 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: LW
FC Dallas 2-2 Montreal Impact
If Montreal had a good shot in the first 40 minutes, the highlight reel took a pass on it. The fact that Dallas owned this game until they went down two goals probably says something about both teams – but the balance of the luck seemed to go Montreal’s way. That Maximiliano Urruti’s brace depended entirely on right-place-at-the-right-time magic (especially his second), but that’s more to his credit than Montreal’s as a whole. Dallas, meanwhile, has Michael Barrios’ regular and Zdenek Ondrasek’s late production to lean into in their search for future result…but even the broadcast booth acknowledged Dallas’ history of starting strong and…fad….ing….
Book on Dallas: So far, so good. That said, they are losing hella talent for Olympics qualifying – e.g., Reggie Cannon, Paxton Pomykal, Jesus Ferreira – and that feels important. On the other hand, Cobra and Barrios.
Basic Stats: 1-0-1, 4 pts., 4 gf, 2 ga; Last 10: WD
Book on L’Impact: Luck is awesome, but it rarely lasts 34 games. Still, the most interesting team in the East, this side of Philly.
Basic Stats: 1-0-1, 4 pts., 4 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: WD
Real Salt Lake 1-1 New York Red Bulls
Tim Parker and Kyle Duncan had a little donnybrook of unknown cause about who failed to do what when it came to Damir Kreilach’s equalizer, when they should’ve taken the long view and understood that one moment was the least of New York’s concerns. Start with set-piece defending, only their wasn’t any; move on the wild imbalance in the box score (which absolutely came through in the MLS 15), the visible sloppiness of their game: the only thing that saved the Red Bulls from a first, heavy loss of 2020 was RSL’s wayward shooting and the Red Bulls defense scrambling away a coupleclear goals (still, RSL’s shots on goal number looks low, or at least deceptive). Given that, it makes sense that David Jensen’s save on Kreilach’s first attempt provides a better highlight than Christian Casseres, Jr.’s goal. RSL, meanwhile, hardly looked the well-oiled machine – and, so long as I rate the Red Bulls this low, and given the 21 shots they posted, this has to be three points pissed away for them.
Book on RSL: Expectations were never really that high and chance creation/dispatch has always been the question mark. The math is right there.
Basic Stats: 0-0-2, 2 pts., 1 gf, 1 ga; Last 10: DD
Book on RBNY: I’d be worried. They look like a USL team that borrowed a couple MLS-level-“DPs” at this point.
Basic Stats: 1-0-1, 4 pts., 4 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: WD
Toronto FC 1-0 New York City FC
“It was a very close game, and New York probably deserved a point up to this…point.” That’s both a paraphrase and an overall impression, at least based on what I saw in the MLS 15. TFC definitely had the better of the game – e.g., Ifunanyachi Achara’s offside goal (which I’m still not sure I understand), the penalty Justin Morrow should have had tripping over Julian Sands’ stanky leg, then Achara’s actual goal, etc. – but Alexandriu Mitrita is showing signs of being an X-factor this season (active and eager, if not effective), and this was always going to be a tough out for NYCFC. Overall, NYCFC didn’t get many opportunities, and TFC missed a few, but that’s pretty much what one expects given the home/away dynamic on this one.
Book on TFC: Decent start so far, but I know I don’t trust what I see out of ‘em. Then again, I never do, and I’m often wrong.
Basic Stats: 1-0-1, 4 pts., 4 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: DW
Book on NYCFC: Pending; they started 2020 with two of the toughest outs in the Eastern Conference. Systemic issues continue…and those are the most significant issues…
Basic Stats: 0-2-0, 0 pts., 0 gf, 2 ga; Last 10: LL
Atlanta United FC 2–1 FC Cincinnati
I’ve got extended notes on this one and, oddly, they’re generally positive about both teams: Atlanta because they can still play, even when they’re running around headless, while Cincinnati just looks like they know how to avoid getting run over…if only one half at a time.
Book on Cincy: Yes, I’m already calling them a better team than the 2019 edition; the question is how far that’ll take them.
Basic Stats: 0-2-0, 0 pts., 3 gf, 5 ga; Last 10: LL
Book on Atlanta: If having a useful forward decides Atlanta’s fate, Adam Jahn didn’t deliver. Pity Martinez compensated by having one helluva week.
Basic Stats: 2-0-0, 6 pts., 4 gf, 2 ga; Last 10: WW
Colorado Rapids 2–1 Orlando City SC
Drew Moor scoring the winner is now, and forever will be, the best thing about MLS 2020 Week 2. Perfect elation, etc. Orlando fired at least three powerful shots from range directly at Clint Irwin, and that was in the first half alone, which makes one wonder if they know how this works. They proved they did at the 82nd minute when Chris Mueller split three defenders to slot home a perfect pass from either Andres Perea or Kyle Smith (my money’s on the former), but Moor’s goal erased that. Younes Namli started the scoring, as well as underlined the practical meaning of superior talent with the game’s first goal. Because the MLS15 highlight reel and the box score combine to send a lousy signal, I’ll just highlight some names/performances: Joao Moutinho had a couple real moments for Orlando while Andre Shinyashiki did the same for Orlando. Shinyashiki seems like the real deal to me; he’s quick, both in mind and body, and one of the best candidates I’ve seen for a while as a sneaky-legendary player, a la Wondo.
Book on ‘Pids: A very, very good start for a team with as good a starting eleven as I’ve seen in MLS this season.
Basic Stats: 2-0-0, 6 pts., 4 gf, 2 ga; Last 10: WW
Book on Orlando: They’re still Orlando – e.g., some good pieces, just not nearly enough.
Basic Stats: 0-1-1, 1 pt., 1 gf, 2 ga; Last 10: DL
Seattle Sounders 1–1 Columbus Crew SC
The story for this one was almost certainly Harrison Afful’s baffling hand-ball on Nouhou Tolo’s never-say-die cross; Columbus dogged defensive performance – highlighted by the kid, Aboubacar Keita, scooping away a pass destined for Raul Ruidiaz in the worst possible place (no stand-alone highlight, sadly) – died in that moment. It took Seattle twobites at the PK Afful handed them to finally put the ball in the goal…Lord knows Jordan Morris wasn’t gonna do it with his head. That’s pretty much the story in this way: the Sounders generated more offense than their shots total implied and Columbus answered with an efficient offensive performance (nice goal by Gyasi Zardes, and Luis Diaz’s perfect cross redeems last week’s comic miss). Lucas Zelarayan deserves mention for creating Columbus’ best moments (nice work on the goal, too), and it really would have been something if Miguel Ibarra hadn’t slipped offside, because that was a slick finish by one of the best stories in MLS.
Book on Assholes: Their recent history of slow starts recommends withholding judgment till…shit, August? They’re hardly off to a slow start regardless.
Basic Stats: 1-0-1, 4 pts., 3 gf, 2 ga; Last 10: WD
Book on Columbus: The offense isn’t firing on all cylinders, but they still look solid and they still have real quality in the team.
Basic Stats: 1-0-1, 4 pts., 2 gf, 1 ga; Last 10: WD
Portland Timbers 1–0 Nashville SC
I have in no way recovered from the bitterness of my extended notes; what happened on Sunday makes me 80-year-old man at a computer cranky precisely because I know that I’ll watch (nearly) every goddamn game Portland plays this year (e.g., I’ll have vacations and they don’t do replays), and I have to watch that shit? Nashville, meanwhile, did all right. Hell, at least they tried to play soccer.
Book on Timbers: A mid-table finish looks more and more like their ceiling. They need a transformation in the attack.
Basic Stats: 1-1-0, 3 pts., 2 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: LW
Book on Nashville: The worst thing I can say about them (and did), is that they’re not a particularly threatening team. Solid, but thoroughly unspectacular. Hany Mukhtar impressed me a bit.
Basic Stats: 0-0-2, 0 pts., 1 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: LL
DC United 2-1 Inter Miami CF
Sometimes you believe a goal in the second minute of a game matters; other times, you understand it as a freakish, yet wonderful moment that doesn’t hold up over the next 90 minutes, etc. Moving onto the game’s biggest controversy, the MLS15 highlight treats Roman Torres’, frankly, decisive hand-ball as an isolated incident, and that makes it damned hard to connect said foul to Lewis Morgan’s seemingly just-fine goal; and yet, back it went. Overall, it’s hard to get a clear bead on this game, and that’s all the way down to whether Edison Flores was meaningfully fouled by Victor Ulloa (I mean, probably? technically?). Frederic Brillant, who I’ve always rated, cleaned up another Flores moment – a well-taken free-kick – and, between that, the red card, and the penalty kick, DC won the game…while winning only the belligerent side of the box score, e.g., fouls, yellow cards, and tackles (but let the record show that Miami won the “duels” category).
Book on DC: If there’s a whelming side to them, it falls on the under side of the over/under.
Basic Stats: 1-1-0, 3 pts., 3 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: LW
Book on Miami: An expansion team with pieces still missing, an injured special player (that’s Robbie Robinson, and others, apparently), and a whole lot of open questions.
Basic Stats: 0-2-0, 0 pts., 1 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: LL
New England Revolution 1-1 Chicago Fire
I guess you call that failing to beat a team – or, in this case, just one player. Fabian Herbers was this game’s Zelig, and maybe that’s Chicago’s problem. New England had plenty of good looks - Cristian Penilla flailed one over the bar, Brandon Bye had a shot cleared off the line (as did Adam Buksa), and Justin Rennicks skied a tap in – and better than Chicago’s (though they ended even on shots), and that’s how you throw away two points. Well, specifically, your defense gives three attacking Fire players a clean run onto a cross, but it all ends the same. Based on 1/6th of game, this one looked choppy and free-wheeling; if the game did end with 72% passing accuracy the MLS15 showed all the bad passes. Buksa scored an alert one (aka, Francisco Calvo paid forward the Revs’ later slacker defense), and, for those counting at home, DuJuan Jones caught my eye. No one from Chicago really stood out – except Herbers who did many, many average things.
Book on the Revs: Pissing away a winnable game they could have won (god bless that sentence) puts them on the edge of downgrade territory.
Basic Stats: 0-1-1, 1 pt., 2 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: LD
Book on the Fire: Not much to look at or think about so far, but I saw something this week that hinted at a bevy of replacements, so just file that away.
Basic Stats: 0-1-1, 1 pt., 2 gf, 3 ga; Last 10: LD
All right, there goes MLS Week 2. And, in the event anyone’s worried about my mental health, if you start seeing results tables sneak into this weekly content, you can expect the wheels to come off entirely in five to six weeks. Till next week!
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