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| So...goes he become dicky? |
First: if you came here looking for a comprehensive review of Major League Soccer’s 3rd week of action, hit this link (which goes to Matt Doyle’s weekly self-flagellation), listen to ExtraTime Radio, or your favorite local soccer podcast, etc. etc.
Think of this as a review for the casual fan – i.e., people who want to a big-picture sense of which teams look good versus the teams they can see and breathe a sigh of relief when they come to play their local team. In other words, expect the analysis to top out at “they looked good for the win” and “this player seems to be working out” instead of arcane mathematical formulas, charts that look like five-pointed explosions, or chatter about false 9s, inverted fullbacks, and xDAWG...which sounds like something that comes after “bro” sometime around 2:00 a.m.
I say that less to disparage that level of analysis (even as I despair of making sense of those 5-pointed explosions...and don’t even think of trying to explain them because LA LA LA LA LA!) than to more or less admit that I don’t want to think that hard about the game. Knowing the specific ways your team uses its right back and in what formation is neat, sure, but it’s decidedly less significant than the Greatest Question of All: Is It Working? I put aside my “Nate the Great” fantasies a couple decades ago.
Now, let’s kick around MLS Week 3...and I’m going to pull something from Doyle’s column for framing:
“Matchday 3 is in the books, and it gave us all a wonderful reminder of what a grind early-season MLS typically is. Year after year this is the lowest-scoring point of the season because teams just don’t have enough reps to be sharp with the ball – they’re more likely to disorganize themselves than their opponents up until about Matchday 6 or so.”
Confident as I am that he crunched the numbers, I’m looking at Week 3’s four draws and four 1-0 wins and thinking it doesn’t look so different than what we’ll all see come late summer/early fall. There’s an inverse to that argument – specifically, the idea that, as the season (very seriously) wears on, defenses get better, struggling teams invent new and shittier ways to suck the fun out of games, and so on. Maybe I’m wrong, but I doubt that argument's a hard to sell to anyone who endured the final months of the 2022 regular season.
For all that, I can’t say nothing happened last weekend. A couple heretofore undefeated teams – looking at you Inter Miami CF and Seattle Sounders – absorbed their first solid blows of 2023 (damn the 0-1 losses), while the New England Revolution went down, oh, four times harder. Other teams continued their slow, sweaty promenades through hell – e.g., Club de Foot Montreal, the Colorado Rapids and, this year’s leading candidate for the poster-boy for pain, Charlotte FC – and Austin FC dodged another round of ridicule by pulling out their second win of the season...if with a little help (see below). There’s more pain and joy sprinkled on both sides of the median, but, c’mon, none of it means anything yet beyond “vibes” this early in the season.
The rest of this post dips into the details of...shit(!?), four of those games. Starting next week, and going into the indefinite future, I’ll be topping these posts with notes on FC Cincinnati’s latest game, but I covered them in a separate and...again, vibes-heavy post (i.e., it’s short AF on details; didn’t even mention Junior Moreno). The short version of that post: Cincy done good. And Seattle suffered. And Seattle suffered....
Think of this as a review for the casual fan – i.e., people who want to a big-picture sense of which teams look good versus the teams they can see and breathe a sigh of relief when they come to play their local team. In other words, expect the analysis to top out at “they looked good for the win” and “this player seems to be working out” instead of arcane mathematical formulas, charts that look like five-pointed explosions, or chatter about false 9s, inverted fullbacks, and xDAWG...which sounds like something that comes after “bro” sometime around 2:00 a.m.
I say that less to disparage that level of analysis (even as I despair of making sense of those 5-pointed explosions...and don’t even think of trying to explain them because LA LA LA LA LA!) than to more or less admit that I don’t want to think that hard about the game. Knowing the specific ways your team uses its right back and in what formation is neat, sure, but it’s decidedly less significant than the Greatest Question of All: Is It Working? I put aside my “Nate the Great” fantasies a couple decades ago.
Now, let’s kick around MLS Week 3...and I’m going to pull something from Doyle’s column for framing:
“Matchday 3 is in the books, and it gave us all a wonderful reminder of what a grind early-season MLS typically is. Year after year this is the lowest-scoring point of the season because teams just don’t have enough reps to be sharp with the ball – they’re more likely to disorganize themselves than their opponents up until about Matchday 6 or so.”
Confident as I am that he crunched the numbers, I’m looking at Week 3’s four draws and four 1-0 wins and thinking it doesn’t look so different than what we’ll all see come late summer/early fall. There’s an inverse to that argument – specifically, the idea that, as the season (very seriously) wears on, defenses get better, struggling teams invent new and shittier ways to suck the fun out of games, and so on. Maybe I’m wrong, but I doubt that argument's a hard to sell to anyone who endured the final months of the 2022 regular season.
For all that, I can’t say nothing happened last weekend. A couple heretofore undefeated teams – looking at you Inter Miami CF and Seattle Sounders – absorbed their first solid blows of 2023 (damn the 0-1 losses), while the New England Revolution went down, oh, four times harder. Other teams continued their slow, sweaty promenades through hell – e.g., Club de Foot Montreal, the Colorado Rapids and, this year’s leading candidate for the poster-boy for pain, Charlotte FC – and Austin FC dodged another round of ridicule by pulling out their second win of the season...if with a little help (see below). There’s more pain and joy sprinkled on both sides of the median, but, c’mon, none of it means anything yet beyond “vibes” this early in the season.
The rest of this post dips into the details of...shit(!?), four of those games. Starting next week, and going into the indefinite future, I’ll be topping these posts with notes on FC Cincinnati’s latest game, but I covered them in a separate and...again, vibes-heavy post (i.e., it’s short AF on details; didn’t even mention Junior Moreno). The short version of that post: Cincy done good. And Seattle suffered. And Seattle suffered....
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| Like, I'm okay, but not the hugest fan. |
That’s it for the preamble. The rest of this will follow the same format I always use: I list all the results, bold and underlined, and with link to The Mothership’s Match Packet embedded in the score. I watched all of Portland’s Timbers kick-in-the-ding-ding loss at (fucking) home to St. Louis CITY FC (which I’ll always say the way Howard Stern said “WNBC” in his autobiopic) and, as noted above, FC Cincinnati’s win over Seattle. With the rest, I’ll list the periods of the game I reviewed by the minutes– which, yes, means I might have missed something; if you’re so moved, feel free to point it out in the comments – and, when I say “Glance,” that means I watched the official highlights and checked the box score. And, in the event I just didn’t feel like watching a game or ran out of time, I’ll just link to it. Because I’m trying to dial back the masochism in 2023.
And, what the hell? I’m going to attempt to rank the results in their order of importance.
FC Cincinnati 1-0 Seattle Sounders [whole damn thing; see above link for the notes]
Los Angeles FC 4-0 New Revolution [Glance]
LAFC peppered the Revs with quality shots – and topped the xG by dang close to a factor of 10 – and, by a couple of accounts and the highlights, paraded the gap between the best and the good for all to see. Related, but for New England’s Dorde Petrovic...eight saves, people, three of them quite good. So, no, nothing about this one looked close and the manner of it pushes one team deeper into The Conversation (e.g., who contends?) and the other further out. I didn’t look like the Revs put up much of a fight, but the didn't have Carles Gil, so...maybe keep dreaming? I’d still keep an eye on the Revs. The two wins that built their record came against the early strugglers...but, when you think about it, didn’t New England contribute to those early struggles? Anyhoo, the fact they ain’t LAFC has now been confirmed.
Nashville SC 2-0 Club de Foot Montreal [Glance]
Assuming it paints an accurate picture, credit to AppleTV’s highlights team for squeezing in clips that showed Montreal holding and moving the ball to little effect and Nashville getting straight to the point and/or goal. I mostly see this one as important for Montreal eating a third straight L and Nashville getting off to a respectable start in their new conference. Seven points and two wins against once and former Eastern Conference powers, New York City FC and, just now, Montreal; not bad for three weeks into the season. And they finished it with Taylor Washington’s first goal, and my Goal of the Week. Great run, better finish, he looks fun...and, Lord knows how badly Nashville needs people around Hany Mukhtar...who, for the record, did a lot of the getting to the point. He assisted on both goals, I think, and could have had a third.
Portland Timbers 1-2 St. Louis CITY FC [I know what Hell looks like]
Behold, my bitter lament, aka, extended, pitying notes on that game. On the one hand, congrats to St. Louis. On the other, don't expect me to thank you for kicking me in the tenders.
Real Salt Lake 1-2 Austin FC [Minutes 3-35, 75-90]
First off, the details would like a word. Almost 25 minutes passed before RSL got their big guns – e.g., Damir Kreilach and Jefferson Savarino - rolling and their game improved from there...beats Rubio Rubin running up top like a headless, brick-legged maniac, certainly. Another bright spot: their new young DP, Andres Gomez (also invisible for the first 20+ minutes) got loose and breathed some fire up the channels; also, he’s quick and didn’t miss by much. If there’s anything to report, it’s that, after going down 0-1 by way of a Jon Gallagher bomb from deep right field, RSL battled back – and to the tune of matching Austin for quality looks...only to see the defense undo it all and in a mirror-image failure to boot. After letting it happen once, only Pablo knows how RSL let Owen Wolff cut inside and score another banger from deep left field. Credit where it’s due, Austin played through RSL as if they held a standing invitation to RSL’s defensive third. Then again, what does seeing a team give up those kinds of goals do but make you weigh what was done versus what was allowed? My take on the hard truth about RSL: they’ve got some good players – e.g., Justen Glad, Kreilach, Savarino and, again, Gomez looks to have upside, plus Bryan Oviedo played a couple menacing crosses - but they’re a team that has to play above themselves to go anywhere. As for Austin, this was a solid response to getting T-boned by the biggest upset in CONCACAF Champions League 2023 [Ed. - They did not recover. As it happens.] Probably ought to keep an eye on ‘em....
And, what the hell? I’m going to attempt to rank the results in their order of importance.
FC Cincinnati 1-0 Seattle Sounders [whole damn thing; see above link for the notes]
Los Angeles FC 4-0 New Revolution [Glance]
LAFC peppered the Revs with quality shots – and topped the xG by dang close to a factor of 10 – and, by a couple of accounts and the highlights, paraded the gap between the best and the good for all to see. Related, but for New England’s Dorde Petrovic...eight saves, people, three of them quite good. So, no, nothing about this one looked close and the manner of it pushes one team deeper into The Conversation (e.g., who contends?) and the other further out. I didn’t look like the Revs put up much of a fight, but the didn't have Carles Gil, so...maybe keep dreaming? I’d still keep an eye on the Revs. The two wins that built their record came against the early strugglers...but, when you think about it, didn’t New England contribute to those early struggles? Anyhoo, the fact they ain’t LAFC has now been confirmed.
Nashville SC 2-0 Club de Foot Montreal [Glance]
Assuming it paints an accurate picture, credit to AppleTV’s highlights team for squeezing in clips that showed Montreal holding and moving the ball to little effect and Nashville getting straight to the point and/or goal. I mostly see this one as important for Montreal eating a third straight L and Nashville getting off to a respectable start in their new conference. Seven points and two wins against once and former Eastern Conference powers, New York City FC and, just now, Montreal; not bad for three weeks into the season. And they finished it with Taylor Washington’s first goal, and my Goal of the Week. Great run, better finish, he looks fun...and, Lord knows how badly Nashville needs people around Hany Mukhtar...who, for the record, did a lot of the getting to the point. He assisted on both goals, I think, and could have had a third.
Portland Timbers 1-2 St. Louis CITY FC [I know what Hell looks like]
Behold, my bitter lament, aka, extended, pitying notes on that game. On the one hand, congrats to St. Louis. On the other, don't expect me to thank you for kicking me in the tenders.
Real Salt Lake 1-2 Austin FC [Minutes 3-35, 75-90]
First off, the details would like a word. Almost 25 minutes passed before RSL got their big guns – e.g., Damir Kreilach and Jefferson Savarino - rolling and their game improved from there...beats Rubio Rubin running up top like a headless, brick-legged maniac, certainly. Another bright spot: their new young DP, Andres Gomez (also invisible for the first 20+ minutes) got loose and breathed some fire up the channels; also, he’s quick and didn’t miss by much. If there’s anything to report, it’s that, after going down 0-1 by way of a Jon Gallagher bomb from deep right field, RSL battled back – and to the tune of matching Austin for quality looks...only to see the defense undo it all and in a mirror-image failure to boot. After letting it happen once, only Pablo knows how RSL let Owen Wolff cut inside and score another banger from deep left field. Credit where it’s due, Austin played through RSL as if they held a standing invitation to RSL’s defensive third. Then again, what does seeing a team give up those kinds of goals do but make you weigh what was done versus what was allowed? My take on the hard truth about RSL: they’ve got some good players – e.g., Justen Glad, Kreilach, Savarino and, again, Gomez looks to have upside, plus Bryan Oviedo played a couple menacing crosses - but they’re a team that has to play above themselves to go anywhere. As for Austin, this was a solid response to getting T-boned by the biggest upset in CONCACAF Champions League 2023 [Ed. - They did not recover. As it happens.] Probably ought to keep an eye on ‘em....
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| Get well soon! |
New York City FC 1-0 Inter Miami CF[Glance]
The biggest news out of this game could be whatever it turns out Matias Pellegrini (an ex-Heron!) did to Gregore (didn’t make the highlights, fwiw). Dude was massive in all the long views I’ve watched him in...and yet I read that NYC’s press forced Jean Mota into some record number of mistakes, a detail that goes even deeper against the things I've seen lift Miami this season. A good press doesn't show up in the highlights, but the big and important things are that NYC got the home win and against a team that has looked the visibly better team over the past two weeks. And Miami looked good in the highlights...though, for the record, it's possible they showed every single Miami shot on goal. On the minus side, NYC won it on an own-goal (in defense of Doyle’s quote, there has been an early plague), but they also created good chances, even if the burned most of them making Miami's Drake "Soap Opera King" Callendar look even sexier in goal. Anyhoo, big picture, they both look fine so far and all this does is move NYC closer to the picture, but without knocking Miami out of it
Minnesota United FC 1-1 Red Bull New York [skipped]
I read it was ugly. Still, probably looks like what it is: two tough teams just kind of hanging around.
Charlotte FC 0-3 Atlanta United FC [Minutes 1-20, 35-45+, 75-90+]
For the record, I only watched the final minutes to see if Charlotte had any fight left. The answer: Atlanta created better chances, maybe even more of them, by the end. It probably had a lot to do with Charlotte hosting the early game, but they got dunked harder than any other team last weekend. And, what with the way they left the back door wide-the-fuck-open for Caleb Wiley not once, but twice, yeah, they deserved it. To stick up for Charlotte a little, they looked like a better bet to get back into during the portions of the first half I watched and/or Wiley’s first-half stoppage time goal (aka, No. 3), but Karol Swiderski looked useful (though, fwiw, Doyle says they’re playing him wrong) and new kid Ashley Westwood serves a decent ball. Going the other way and, based on that donut hole I see dancing with their three losses, Enzo Copetti sniping at Kamil Jozwiak and the numbers the latter’s posting (zero goals and four assists over 22 games) strike me as more significant details. For those who don’t know, the Timbers travel to Atlanta next weekend and, I gotta say, I’ve felt better about a road trip. I’ll have more in the preview post, but Atlanta moved the ball really well against Charlotte and....well, they press. Dammit.
San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 Colorado Rapids [Glance]
With all respect to Drake Callendar – who, despite me flaking to mention, played a great game against NYC - the Save of the Week goes to Colorado’s William Yarbrough via FedEx...the dream he denied Cristian Espinoza....at least until the 78th minute, when Espinoza finally cracked the nut. That Clash of the Titans aside, I sincerely value it when highlights splicers care enough to include segments of teams doing nothing – both teams in this case. By all indications, the ‘Quakes played the better game, but, despite having zero shots (and the handful of very unhappy Rapids fans that bubbled up on twitter), Colorado made a few chances. And, seeing as I named the Rapids in my roll call of the damned, the fact it took San Jose 78 minutes to break through sounds something less than heroic. Still, I lifted it up here due to San Jose showing signs of being playoff-competitive...or more than some, certainly. AHEMMM!
DC United 1-1 Orlando City SC [Glance]
Hey, hey, Orlando finally scored in open play! Forward Duncan McGuire knocked it home from the...right, after Lions attackers sent the ball flying to either side of the goal, but Orlando probably owes the draw more to Pedro Gallese making like a rock in front of goal. Like a priest chasing out spirits, DC compelled Gallese’s performance; Christian Benteke got at least three good cracks, but I kept seeing DC’s No. 7 doing good things and, wondering who he could be, I checked it out and, whadayaknow, Pedro Santos? It took DC forever to equalize, but it Chris Durkin’s goal was worth the wait (runner-up GOTY). Still, that makes two, “oh, okay” results at home for DC. Orlando, meanwhile, has yet to crack the elusive 10 shots barrier, but five points plus life in the CCL ain’t bad.
Toronto FC 1-1 Columbus Crew SC [Minutes 15-30, 65-80]
To answer the obvious question, no, I don’t know why I chose this game. I’d also follow up with why it didn’t seem so crazy. TFC have made some big investments over the past year, starting with the Italians, Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi, then (or was he before?) Mark-Anthony Kaye, and continuing over the offseason with the additions of Matt Hedges and Brandon Servania. The ROI...has not been good – 0-1-2, with none against the league-elite (at DC and Atlanta, home against Columbus) – and I caught what might have been a glimpse of why, but who knows given this was my first full half hour with Toronto? At any rate, they under-hit passes all over on Saturday – and I mean collectively, as in a real team effort. The fact that so many of those under-hit passes fell behind good and wise runs makes that a tragedy. Kaye and Michael Bradley snapped out of the funk first and more of the team joined them – and Deandre Kerr turned Milos Degenek outside-in when he scored TFC’s goal – but none of that stopped Columbus from, 1) out-shooting their hosts and 2) breaking past a half-conscious high defensive line for an easy equalizer, or at least one that Columbus’ new signee, Jimmy Medranda made it look that way. After that, Columbus looked, more or less, like Columbus – if with Lucas Zelarayan teeing up a perfect shot at redemption that Degenek missed late in the game – i.e., that general, yet non-menacing level of effectiveness that parks a team at the middle of the table. Anyhoo, that’s why this game’s down here with the lurkers...
Vancouver Whitecaps 1-1 FC Dallas [Minutes 1-30, partially distracted, plus a glance]
I actually watched the first half hour of this one and the story there is the way Vancouver recovered after going down 0-1 after Dallas’ very first attack. On the down side, Dallas straight-up shelled ‘em before that one broke through, Paul Arriola got a great look just two minutes later and they pinged another shot off the bar about 28 minutes after that. If the numbers show an even game (they do), the ‘Caps did fire more shots than the equalizer – and, factually, Arriola kicked that one into Dallas’ net – and, more good news, Brian White found some good looks (three, I believe), even if Maarten Paes was equal to every one he didn’t miss. Still, nothing to surprising about this one.
Philadelphia Union 1-0 Chicago Fire FC [Minutes 80-90+/multiple fruitless pockets in the 1st half]
To be clear, the one and only reason I watched half this game is because Chicago hosts Cincy next weekend...related, this ranked as a significant result – e.g., Philly recovering from a CCL-weighted schedule – until I saw Philly hosted. More than anything else, I wanted to see how Chicago lost – I mean besides the two red cards, even if Kei Kamara didn’t get his second (and deserved) yellow (his first was deeply stupid, fwiw) until a couple minutes after Joaquin Torres’ winner...and you have to ask how much of his soul Torres had to sell to get that shot through four Chicago defenders, and then Chicago ‘keeper Chris Brady after that (who, in fairness, could have done better). With all the shots Philly fired from about 20 yards out prior to Torres’ goal, I didn’t think much of it, but in it went. And maybe Torres will bring that ol’ time Ilsinho, late-game magic back to Philly. After watching the end, I rewound to the middle because, what with Fabian Herbers getting sent off for his second yellow somewhere around the 50th (again, his first was deeply stupid), I wanted a look at Chicago at their best. As such, I bounced around all the minutes between the 25th and (nearly 54th) minute looking for a period of dominance, or even coherence. All I found in all that was...look, it didn't make sense, not unless Chicago got credit for possession for all the time Andre Blake spent staring at the heavens and asking his groin, why? He wasn't alone either.; I saw a lot of dudes laying on the ground waiting for treatment over that stretch. And, wait. Hold on. There’s the issue. The Fire’s xG actually spiked during the 15th through the 30th minute...and, yet, does that matter? I’m filing that under no and yes, as in, no, because Chicago still lost and, yes, because I’ll sit through those 15 minutes later this week searching (like in vain) for a reason to worry about Chicago vis-a-vis Cincinnati.
Sporting Kansas City 0-0 Los Angles Galaxy [Skipped]
Despite appearances, I do have a life.
That’s it for this week, see you for the previews.
The biggest news out of this game could be whatever it turns out Matias Pellegrini (an ex-Heron!) did to Gregore (didn’t make the highlights, fwiw). Dude was massive in all the long views I’ve watched him in...and yet I read that NYC’s press forced Jean Mota into some record number of mistakes, a detail that goes even deeper against the things I've seen lift Miami this season. A good press doesn't show up in the highlights, but the big and important things are that NYC got the home win and against a team that has looked the visibly better team over the past two weeks. And Miami looked good in the highlights...though, for the record, it's possible they showed every single Miami shot on goal. On the minus side, NYC won it on an own-goal (in defense of Doyle’s quote, there has been an early plague), but they also created good chances, even if the burned most of them making Miami's Drake "Soap Opera King" Callendar look even sexier in goal. Anyhoo, big picture, they both look fine so far and all this does is move NYC closer to the picture, but without knocking Miami out of it
Minnesota United FC 1-1 Red Bull New York [skipped]
I read it was ugly. Still, probably looks like what it is: two tough teams just kind of hanging around.
Charlotte FC 0-3 Atlanta United FC [Minutes 1-20, 35-45+, 75-90+]
For the record, I only watched the final minutes to see if Charlotte had any fight left. The answer: Atlanta created better chances, maybe even more of them, by the end. It probably had a lot to do with Charlotte hosting the early game, but they got dunked harder than any other team last weekend. And, what with the way they left the back door wide-the-fuck-open for Caleb Wiley not once, but twice, yeah, they deserved it. To stick up for Charlotte a little, they looked like a better bet to get back into during the portions of the first half I watched and/or Wiley’s first-half stoppage time goal (aka, No. 3), but Karol Swiderski looked useful (though, fwiw, Doyle says they’re playing him wrong) and new kid Ashley Westwood serves a decent ball. Going the other way and, based on that donut hole I see dancing with their three losses, Enzo Copetti sniping at Kamil Jozwiak and the numbers the latter’s posting (zero goals and four assists over 22 games) strike me as more significant details. For those who don’t know, the Timbers travel to Atlanta next weekend and, I gotta say, I’ve felt better about a road trip. I’ll have more in the preview post, but Atlanta moved the ball really well against Charlotte and....well, they press. Dammit.
San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 Colorado Rapids [Glance]
With all respect to Drake Callendar – who, despite me flaking to mention, played a great game against NYC - the Save of the Week goes to Colorado’s William Yarbrough via FedEx...the dream he denied Cristian Espinoza....at least until the 78th minute, when Espinoza finally cracked the nut. That Clash of the Titans aside, I sincerely value it when highlights splicers care enough to include segments of teams doing nothing – both teams in this case. By all indications, the ‘Quakes played the better game, but, despite having zero shots (and the handful of very unhappy Rapids fans that bubbled up on twitter), Colorado made a few chances. And, seeing as I named the Rapids in my roll call of the damned, the fact it took San Jose 78 minutes to break through sounds something less than heroic. Still, I lifted it up here due to San Jose showing signs of being playoff-competitive...or more than some, certainly. AHEMMM!
DC United 1-1 Orlando City SC [Glance]
Hey, hey, Orlando finally scored in open play! Forward Duncan McGuire knocked it home from the...right, after Lions attackers sent the ball flying to either side of the goal, but Orlando probably owes the draw more to Pedro Gallese making like a rock in front of goal. Like a priest chasing out spirits, DC compelled Gallese’s performance; Christian Benteke got at least three good cracks, but I kept seeing DC’s No. 7 doing good things and, wondering who he could be, I checked it out and, whadayaknow, Pedro Santos? It took DC forever to equalize, but it Chris Durkin’s goal was worth the wait (runner-up GOTY). Still, that makes two, “oh, okay” results at home for DC. Orlando, meanwhile, has yet to crack the elusive 10 shots barrier, but five points plus life in the CCL ain’t bad.
Toronto FC 1-1 Columbus Crew SC [Minutes 15-30, 65-80]
To answer the obvious question, no, I don’t know why I chose this game. I’d also follow up with why it didn’t seem so crazy. TFC have made some big investments over the past year, starting with the Italians, Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi, then (or was he before?) Mark-Anthony Kaye, and continuing over the offseason with the additions of Matt Hedges and Brandon Servania. The ROI...has not been good – 0-1-2, with none against the league-elite (at DC and Atlanta, home against Columbus) – and I caught what might have been a glimpse of why, but who knows given this was my first full half hour with Toronto? At any rate, they under-hit passes all over on Saturday – and I mean collectively, as in a real team effort. The fact that so many of those under-hit passes fell behind good and wise runs makes that a tragedy. Kaye and Michael Bradley snapped out of the funk first and more of the team joined them – and Deandre Kerr turned Milos Degenek outside-in when he scored TFC’s goal – but none of that stopped Columbus from, 1) out-shooting their hosts and 2) breaking past a half-conscious high defensive line for an easy equalizer, or at least one that Columbus’ new signee, Jimmy Medranda made it look that way. After that, Columbus looked, more or less, like Columbus – if with Lucas Zelarayan teeing up a perfect shot at redemption that Degenek missed late in the game – i.e., that general, yet non-menacing level of effectiveness that parks a team at the middle of the table. Anyhoo, that’s why this game’s down here with the lurkers...
Vancouver Whitecaps 1-1 FC Dallas [Minutes 1-30, partially distracted, plus a glance]
I actually watched the first half hour of this one and the story there is the way Vancouver recovered after going down 0-1 after Dallas’ very first attack. On the down side, Dallas straight-up shelled ‘em before that one broke through, Paul Arriola got a great look just two minutes later and they pinged another shot off the bar about 28 minutes after that. If the numbers show an even game (they do), the ‘Caps did fire more shots than the equalizer – and, factually, Arriola kicked that one into Dallas’ net – and, more good news, Brian White found some good looks (three, I believe), even if Maarten Paes was equal to every one he didn’t miss. Still, nothing to surprising about this one.
Philadelphia Union 1-0 Chicago Fire FC [Minutes 80-90+/multiple fruitless pockets in the 1st half]
To be clear, the one and only reason I watched half this game is because Chicago hosts Cincy next weekend...related, this ranked as a significant result – e.g., Philly recovering from a CCL-weighted schedule – until I saw Philly hosted. More than anything else, I wanted to see how Chicago lost – I mean besides the two red cards, even if Kei Kamara didn’t get his second (and deserved) yellow (his first was deeply stupid, fwiw) until a couple minutes after Joaquin Torres’ winner...and you have to ask how much of his soul Torres had to sell to get that shot through four Chicago defenders, and then Chicago ‘keeper Chris Brady after that (who, in fairness, could have done better). With all the shots Philly fired from about 20 yards out prior to Torres’ goal, I didn’t think much of it, but in it went. And maybe Torres will bring that ol’ time Ilsinho, late-game magic back to Philly. After watching the end, I rewound to the middle because, what with Fabian Herbers getting sent off for his second yellow somewhere around the 50th (again, his first was deeply stupid), I wanted a look at Chicago at their best. As such, I bounced around all the minutes between the 25th and (nearly 54th) minute looking for a period of dominance, or even coherence. All I found in all that was...look, it didn't make sense, not unless Chicago got credit for possession for all the time Andre Blake spent staring at the heavens and asking his groin, why? He wasn't alone either.; I saw a lot of dudes laying on the ground waiting for treatment over that stretch. And, wait. Hold on. There’s the issue. The Fire’s xG actually spiked during the 15th through the 30th minute...and, yet, does that matter? I’m filing that under no and yes, as in, no, because Chicago still lost and, yes, because I’ll sit through those 15 minutes later this week searching (like in vain) for a reason to worry about Chicago vis-a-vis Cincinnati.
Sporting Kansas City 0-0 Los Angles Galaxy [Skipped]
Despite appearances, I do have a life.
That’s it for this week, see you for the previews.
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