MLS Weakly, MLS Week 4: Results Round-Up & Some Loose Theories (and Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I Know)

Showed up under "schneid," so...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I said I wasn’t going to post these anymore. Look, I didn’t lie. I just changed my mind.

This will not be long, this will not be detailed. Per the title’s promise, what follows are nothing but loose thoughts on the general state of the 27 teams across Major League Soccer and a sense of their general direction. Here goes…

It was a weekend of eye-catching results, from the San Jose Earthquakes pinching three points against Real Salt Lake in Utah through Nashville SC getting off their early-season schneid - and against the New England Revolution to boot - to Minnesota United FC staying very, puzzlingly attached to what can only be called “The Doom Schneid” and all the way down to the Vancouver Whitecaps getting fitted for the “Kings of Canada” crown - even if they’re as likely to get a brief regency over a full reign.

To pick at those in no particular order, both San Jose and RSL present as capable teams at the moment, with the ‘Quakes seemingly greater efficiency duly noted. Minnesota’s almost tangible lack of belief makes it hard to get a read on the team what beat ‘em (2-3), the Colorado Rapids, but it is worth pointing out that this was Colorado’s second win…the former of which came against none other than Vancouver. As for the whole “Kings of Canada” thing, that’s less about Vancouver - but hold that thought - than what looks like Club du Foot du Montreal bumping against their ceiling in a 0-2 road loss to the 'Caps and Toronto FC doing what it can to satisfy my doubts about both them and Chris Armas. To close out Vancouver, they present as a team that defends well enough and scores just enough - i.e., a formula that brings a middling, yet respectable level of success.

Nashville feels like a harder read for two reasons that point in opposite directions: 1) the way they’ve created chances signaled this result was coming; 2) their current (or present?) strike-force feature Dominic Badji and C. J. Sapong, neither of whom have a great history as high-return strikers. That doesn’t make their 2-0 win over a Revs team most people rate (and still rate, I imagine) any less impressive; it just keeps expectations reasonable.

Club America 3-1 Portland Timbers: A Gordian Knot of Failure

If only it was that heroic. And simple.

I have a couple starting points for this one, but both point to the same broad idea.

The CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) is a strange annual ritual, a sacrifice where misplaced hope dies at the feet of at least two undeniable realities. One, Liga MX teams have bigger, better-compensated rosters and hail from a country with a stronger, longer tradition with the game. Two, the tournament is scheduled when most Major League Soccer clubs will be at their weakest and least prepared. They face a two-fold disadvantage going in every time, in other words, and…I just don’t get that. Trouble is, I can’t think of a better point in any given calendar year that doesn’t pose a problem - e.g., drop it in the late-to-mid summer and you level the playing field for MLS teams, but who wants a cheapened tournament of any kind? It’s a classic Gordian Knot, only in the form of an international club soccer tournament.

Due to when the respective leagues’ seasons happen, it’s possible there is no good way to optimize this tournament…but that doesn’t that beg the question of why it happens at all? I mean, is there a point to walking through a foregone conclusion? Fuck it. I type all that as someone who loves this tournament like one of my kids, unconditionally, even when it starts experimenting with hard drugs, and so on. Next point…

I saw people tweeting all kinds of grief at Claudio Bravo tonight, and there’s no question he struggled out there tonight. I’d throw Juancarlos Van Rankin under the same bus; both fullbacks struggled - not that I’d really fault Van Rankin for the cross that lead to Club America’s first goal, because two dudes v one dude - but even that begs a very sharp question: does it really matter whether or not Portland’s fullbacks struggle against a team they won’t face again until they return to the CCL, and maybe not even then?

The short answer is, no. The only thing that matters going forward is whether both fullbacks are good enough for MLS regular season play. If they hold up there…honestly, why give a shit about what happened tonight?

Allow me to elaborate…and how have I not mentioned that Club America won leg this 3-1 yet?

Portland Timbers 1-1 Club America: Cold Truths & Something I Can’t Readily Identify

Can I interest you in life insurance?

I saw something tonight in the Portland Timbers 1-1 draw against Club America that I can’t help, but bring up - and mostly because it’s the first thought that came to me when I stepped away (taking the dog out for a shit makes room for thoughts). I’ve rarely seen Diego Chara a step beyond like he was over the first 20 minutes of tonight’s game. Club America hardly put on a clinic, but seeing Chara visibly chase the play like that looks like something broadcast from another universe.

It’s also the future that every Timbers fan knows is coming. The same thing goes for watching Diego Valeri watch the other end of a give-and-go roll by; because he can’t cover the ground in a way that really pulls apart the defense, his teammates have to play that ball differently. That or figure out something else to do with the ball entirely.

Valeri had his moments out there, but, because CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) semifinals, this game played at a high speed - i.e., exactly the kind of game that I expect to lose Valeri more and more. He’s not past it or anything…shit’s just changed. As for Chara, he started hip-checking motherfuckers all over from the 20th minute on; I last recorded next-level activity out of him around the 72nd minute, but there were times throughout the game he straight up cheetah-gazelle-d a guy on America (that is, ambushed a player from beyond who thought he had one more second of quiet). One Timbers legend can still play the same game, the other guy…I’m watching. Seasons change, the sun sets lower, it’s life, people.

Back to business, what to make of that 1-1 home draw?

Personally, I count two ways to read it. First, Club America is visibly a better team - and I mean that globally. The speed of thought is better, the movement sharper, the defense reorganizes like one of those goddamn liquid terminators (Terminators? Is it capitalized?), and, as I tweeted somewhere during the game, they shrank space fast enough sometimes that looked like they had 12 players out there. Hell, I’d even call the way they manage the game - e.g., the way they pause it to slow down the game, the flops…just everything - a little bit smoother. It’s one of those, you notice, but it’s never quite enough for you, never mind the ref, to make anything of it. Call it one a pervasive intangible.

Add the first half of the game: given the balance of everything - e.g., the (ballpark) 67-33 split in America’s favor in possession (as of the 33rd minute; it ended closer), and not the dicking around in the back kind by any means, more like bats flying out of a fucking cave - Portland did pretty damn well to give them as little they did. Timbers fans know the end-result, of course, Claudio Bravo gives Richard Sanchez a leg to fall over, etc. Penalty to America…which Roger Martinez buries. While I think every Portland fan would call the penalty stupid and unfortunate, I doubt many would argue it wasn’t earned: America was the clearly the better team over the first half…which raises the obvious problem.

Portland Timbers 5-0 CD Marathon: Exploring the Meaning of "Stacked"

Poor CD Marathon...

To start with the biggest take-away, the Portland Timbers will roll into the 2021 regular season immediately after steam-rolling CD Marathon 5-0. Now, that is how you want to roll into a regular season. Some clammy little fretting aside (which I’ll bury for now), I’ve got nothing but positives about how the Timbers played tonight, so time to get after it.

I keep seeing loose talk about the Timbers being “stacked” at most positions (or "absurdly deep") - especially from pundits circling the orbit of The Mothership - and, in all honesty, that drives me a little batty. I mean, fully armed, equipped, and with the Y-fronts thrown on right (i.e., with Sebastian Blanco, Jaroslaw Niezgoda, and Jeremy Ebobisse whole and healed), sure, Portland is stacked on the attacking side. The central defense, on the other hand, is…not stacked, not unless Zac McGraw shows something when he gets the chance. Moving further up the field, things look better than swell so long as Diego Chara and Eryk Williamson can start - the latter, in particular, show a positively Darlington-Nagbe-esque capacity to play out of pressure in the defensive and defensive side of the middle third tonight - but, every time I read about Portland’s depth, I keep wondering how much time those commenters have spent watching Cristhian Paredes, or whether they’ve seen Octavio Zambrano actually play in some alternate universe I haven’t visited yet. And, sure, you can expand that out to, say, Marvin Loria, even Andy Polo: the under-studies didn’t exactly slay 2020, which leaves me wondering what the hell those people saw that I didn’t…

…and, no, that’s not the clammy little fretting. Wait for it…

This insight doesn’t cut too deep - the broadcast booth picked up in it late in the opening 45 minutes, fer crissakes - but, if Dairon Asprilla can regularly contribute even 2/3 of what he delivered tonight? And if Yimmi Chara’s 2021 matches the second half of his 2020, the Timbers really are stacked, if only in the offense. And that's several miles far from nothing.

Getting at how strange and delightful that concept really is takes some thinking. By that I mean, step back and think about how many conversations you’ve had or read about Portland’s depth over the past…say, four-five years. Once you’re there, ask yourself this: how many times has Asprilla been a real part of that conversation? Now, hold that thought in your head and think about everything a fully-fit version of this Portland roster could throw at the opposition; think of a well-rested Diego Valeri, Blanco and Niezgoda with time to fully recover; think of the possibilities with Ebobisse just about anywhere in that attack. It’d be a like a hydra that grows back two heads for everyone you cut off. (Also, if that’s the way the hydra really works…look, just don’t embarrass me, I’m sensitive.)

CD Marathon 2-2 Portland Timbers: Solutions & Problems

Almost this bad. No exaggeration...

If someone told me at 3:00 pm PST that the Portland Timbers would tie Honduras’ CD Marathon 2-2 in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions’ League home-and-home series, I would have shaken his/her hand and said, "thank you very much." And, some really unnerving details aside, I’m still there. I’ll pass quickly over the caveats - e.g., Portland’s knee-deep in a long off-season, a playing surface composed entirely of divots lumped together, travel, nerves, age, etc. - and offer two big take-aways:

1) Portland did allright despite playing in the soccer equivalent of half-finished sentences; and

2) if the central defense doesn’t tighten the hell up, Steve Clark’s gonna need longer arms.

One final thought: it took me 2/3 of the game to remember that Marathon hails from Honduras, and not Nicaragua, and that realization took the edge off the panic a little. No disrespect to Nicaragua intended, but one of those nations is ahead of the other in real-world soccer terms. Now, some notes on the game…

First things first, I saw both combinations, and attempts thereof (thereto?), that will actually come off at Providence Park and that makes me more optimistic about the second leg. Even when Marathon’s defending forced a hitch in the momentum, Portland’s players generally had sound ideas about how to move the ball forward; the grass grabbed the ball like Velcro on passes and dribbles alike - so many scooped passes, so many stifled first touches, and for both teams, by the way - but the thought process came through. My one caveat on that follows from Marathon’s peculiar defending, especially in the first half: defending can come from either pressure or organization, but the Hondurans offered neither, and even seemed mildly surprised, when Portland played passes in between their lines. I’m not sure how much the Timbers will see that in league play this season, but, what the hell? Fingers crossed.

Drilling down, I saw hints of a couple problems in defense, neither of them good. Seeing Portland’s central defenders struggle that hard with literal basics like tracking runs - see Marathon’s first equalizer and the damn-near go-ahead goal from a disturbing similar spot not even 10 minutes later - puts very direct questions as to much necessary shit the central tandem has sorted out. Based on the highlights (which, son of a bitch, don't appear to allow you to select individually any more), you’d have to ask every player but Josecarlos Van Rankin to explain himself (Larrys Mabiala, more than the rest), but that was nothing less than a tap-in - a real gut-punch given that Portland had at long last broken through via Felipe Mora just…wow, four minutes earlier.

MLS Weakly, 03 14 2021: Olympic Qualifying, Preseason....We Got GAMES, Y'All!

Call it due diligence, call it ass-covering, I'm good.

First, and happily, there will be soccer this week - and in games that’ll count - when the U.S. Men’s Olympic Team (USMOT?) kicks off its crash-course qualification schedule in Mexico. I mean, this thing will be over in a flash.

The USMOT starts with Costa Rica on Thursday (3:30 pm PST), then the Dominican Republic on Sunday (5 pm PST), then the following Wednesday against Mexico (7:30 pm PST; all games airing on FS1). They’ll need to finish either first or second in their Group (A) to qualify for the semifinals and, in order to qualify for Tokyo (assuming it happens), they’ll just need to win that semifinal; the final, as it turns out, is for bragging rights alone. And, to finish the thought, their potential universe of opponents for that semifinal include, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and Canada - and who among isn’t hoping for the 54-40 or Fight Derby?

As for handicapping, I have fan acquaintance-level familiarity with most of the roster (the exceptions: Matthew Freese, Mauricio Pineda, Johnny Cardoso, Ulysses Llanez, Andres Perea, and Sebastian Saucedo, and Sebastian Soto), but, because I don’t know even a quarter’s worth of dick about the opposition, I won’t pretend to have anything insightful, never mind useful to say. Matt Doyle raised a couple questions about the final roster - short version: he’s dubious on the calls at forward (for why no Jeremy Ebobisse?) and the FC Cincinnati 2019-esque midfield construction (for why no Eryk Williamson?) - so I’ll let those points stand. Overall, though, I’m just happy to know I’ll have some familiar faces kicking a ball in anger (and, ideally, joy) late next week - and in games that count.

The meaningless games have started as well - i.e., Major League Soccer preseason is (finally) under way - giving MLS fans the first (meaningless) results of the 2021 season. Not many teams have played so far, and fewer still have played anything bigger than an intra-squad scrimmage, but FC Cincinnati was one of them. I’ll get to that (reported shit-show) when I get to them, but here are the other results that count (e.g., not intra-squad (Dallas? Houston?), not victimizing the local college team, etc.):

Atlanta United 3-0 Tormenta FC (c’mon, they made up that name)
Chicago Fire 2-1 New York City FC
Sporting Kansas City 4-0 Phoenix Rising

To answer at least one person’s question (you, at the back), Jesus, no, I won’t list every preseason result between now and First Kick; blame the little frisson I feel at seeing games between teams I recognize this time ‘round. The SKC result looks about right and maybe I’d have something to add about Atlanta’s result if I knew what a “tormenta” was, but the result in the Chicago v NYCFC game feels worth bookmarking - for now, anyway.

MLS Weakly, 02 13 2021: Negotiations and Aspirations

I am, and always will be, open-minded.

I won’t post a Weakly next week, so praise the soccer gods for giving me so much material to work with this week.

First and foremost and, as assumed last week, there will be a 2021 Major League Soccer season. The regular season won’t start until April 17 (leaving me to wonder what the hell I’ll talk about every week for two months…which perhaps points to the wisdom of not posting stuff when there’s nothing to talk about), but it looks like (most) teams will report to training as of March 1, 2021.

The very next thought: will there be, like, an actual preseason - i.e., the annual ritual of MLS teams thrashing the kids from the nearest college and USL teams? More to the point, will MLS fans get to see one of my most cherished of preseason rituals, those little February (or March) mini-tournaments in Arizona, Florida and, in recent years, Portland, OR? If not, however will they get to see their team’s players from the deepest depths of the bench and/or that year’s draft picks before they go back under or to their team’s USL affiliate for the rest of the year? How else will fans see the players who will absolutely not feature in any part of the upcoming campaign? I know I want to know...

As much as I love the things (I like like them), hosting and arranging preseason games feels like one hell of a risk under the (fast COVID) circumstances. I mean, why risk players getting The Bad Bug before points are on the line - especially if it risks losing points later (but they’ll reschedule games…right?)? Going the other way, why not get ahead on managing game-day settings before the real thing? My guess is, most teams will play and, gods willing, live-stream at least two preseason games in 2021. Even if hitting the ground running isn’t in the cards, why not hit it at a solid trot?

Even if preseason doesn’t happen, fans of four* teams - Atlanta United FC, the Philadelphia Union, Columbus Crew SC, and my Portland Timbers - and general MLS enthusiasts have the treat of hot CONACAF Champions’ League action to look forward to starting on or around the first Tuesday in April. (* If Toronto FC can beat…whatever the hell Forge FC is, MLS will send five teams to the CCL, but, c’mon, who doesn’t want to line up behind Team Forge?) Because I’ve got nothing else for Portland, I’ll do the little CCL handicapping I can in the Timbers section below. Before that, though, I wanted to spend a little time dissecting the agreement/truce that made the 2021 MLS season possible. Yessir, time to talk about…

On Nagbe, and Rallying the Wounded

Klinsi v. Nagbe

A nice, very Will-Parchman-esque post went up yesterday asking whether the Portland Timbers Darlington Nagbe sabotaged his chances of playing for the U.S. Men’s National Team for so long as Jurgen Klinsmann may reign thereover by refusing an invite to the friendlies against Cuba and New Zealand. First, confession time: I totally missed this whole chain of events; honest, I thought Nagbe was not only in camp, but also on the roster; turns out he wasn’t and, factually, I still don’t care. Second, I think Nagbe made the right decision, because 1) bullshit friendlies; 2) he would have played chump minutes, assuming he played any minutes at all; 3) Nagbe’s club very much needed him more, trust me on this.

Parchman’s piece dwelt on the lose-lose nature of this dynamic – i.e., Nagbe screwed himself due to Klinsmann’s essentially vengeful (petty? let’s go with petty) nature, while Klinsmann hurt the National Team by losing a player of Nagbe’s…particular set of skills – but there was one phrase in the whole mess that, me being me, I zeroed in on:

“…it’s fair to say Klinsmann was still attempting to figure out where Nagbe fit in his ever-shifting tactical construct.”

Isn’t this universal, really? Or, to phrase this as an actual question, have the Timbers figured out where Nagbe fits, really?

In spite of playing one of his better attacking games of the season last weekend, this space has argued, and probably will always argue, that Nagbe isn’t a winger. There are multiple reasons for this (e.g. disposition, proclivity, where Nagbe makes the most difference, etc.), but, yes, I believe Nagbe’s best in the middle and I’m good sticking to that argument. Dissuade me if you wanna.

MLS Midweek 3 X 5: Small Montreal's Mad Night and the Ballad of Eddie Johnson

Yea, let him fumbleth the ball.

Time to wrap up Major League Soccer's Week 7 with some deeper observations of trends, teams, and realities. Think I'll call it "MLS Week __, 3 Big Ideas, Five Small Thoughts." The goal is to add this to the weekly post rotation, which, happily, is finally taking shape.

Before getting into those, I do get in a little reading during the week, plus a couple podcasts. The insights I pick up in those readings serve as a nice corrective to my Divine Comedy/Rankings posts, which I very deliberately (or at least very deliberately intend) to post before taking in other people’s thoughts and opinions. It’s sort of an external bullshit detector. With that in mind, I’ll kick off this post with...

The Department of Corrections
Most of my blown calls reside where I do – e.g. the Pacific Northwest. First, Vancouver: a league-leading record and near-universal good opinion strongly suggests that my resistance to their early-2015 success has tip-toed into perversity. A couple podcasts (ExtraTime Radio's and SBI's) pointed out the obvious: in basic terms, the 'Caps play more conservatively on the road and open it up at home like, uh, all smart teams do; in other words, see the win over the Los Angeles Galaxy for their top-end and take keep those four road games (three of them wins) in perspective. Speaking of perspective, the Portland Timbers. My Portland Timbers. Why that win over New York City FC – again, "that win" - got me on the ledge (i.e. prompted me to "abandon all hope," as I did in the Week 7 Divine Comedy) I'll never know. Several people with a little more distance had the perspective to observe that a win, no matter how ugly, works like a savings account. Those three points your club barely earned will still be there if/when the results pick up because, say, a key player comes back from injury and gets the attack going, or maybe the defense full incorporates two new players in crucial positions. So, yeah, I got a little unhinged. The rare feedback I got (I don't get a lot) tells me I'm not alone in my frustration, but, yes, I over-reacted. To a win.

OK, on the main event!