MLS matchday 28: Three big things

Ohio, we have a problem

Both FC Cincinnati and the Columbus Crew came into this weekend with what you think would be a little bit more motivation. Cincy had lost two on the bounce, forfeiting the Supporter’s Shield lead to Miami in the process. The Crew had dropped their first points in six games midweek to Charlotte, also losing ground to their Eastern Conference rivals. Both, however, looked like shadows of themselves on Saturday.

Let’s go to the Orange and Blue side of the Hell is Real derby first. They came into their final league matchup for a month in dire straits. On top of the plethora of center back injuries and absences, they also lost Alvas Powell and Head Coach Pat Noonan to red card suspension, and Luca Orellano and Lucho Acosta weren’t 100% match fit, evidenced by their omission from the starting eleven.

So in that sense, it’s not surprising they lost 3-1 to a New York Red Bulls team that hasn’t lost a single game at home this year (Harrison, stand up!). But still, Cincy’s second half performance was slightly worrying. After 45 minutes of control by New York, Cincy brought on their one-two punch of Orellano and Acosta. You’d think this would give Cincy a jolt. After all, they haven’t won a game since 2021 Acosta hasn’t played in (yikes). But it was more of the same. 

Sure, Acosta had his moments, but Cincy looked thoroughly out-battled. The Red Bulls two goals were a microcosm of the game—Cincy lost the first ball into the box and was slow to react to win the second. Granted, Kyle Duncan’s goal was special, but these two chances were isolated incidents. The Red Bulls had more shots on target, created more chances, and accrued 0.8 expected goals more than their opposition in the second half. On a side note, shoutout to New York’s 19-year-old defensive midfielder Ronald Donkor. He’s looked great since Frankie Amaya’s departure. 

Assistant Coach Dom Kinnear was positive after the game, citing the team’s success up to this point in the season, which is absolutely fair. But the coaching staff, and the front office, need to figure out how to stop the bleeding and to keep chins from dropping during this break from league play. 

Now to the Black and Gold side… I have no idea what happened in Atlanta this weekend. The Crew simply didn’t look like the Crew. In their 2-1 loss, they conceded twice from set pieces and looked incredibly vulnerable in defensive transition. This felt like a fluke—let me explain.

Stian Gregersen scored a brace in this game, which now makes up 20% of his goal tally of his entire career—he’s not exactly a set-piece monster. And Atlanta aren’t a great set-piece team either. Coming into the game, they were 27th in the league in set-piece goals per WhoScored, while the Crew ranked in the top-10 in defending set pieces. 

Also, Atlanta is not exactly a counter-attacking team, especially without Thiago Almada. They ranked last in the league in counterattack goals coming into the weekend, while the Crew were last in conceding goals from counterattacks. I don’t know—barring WhoScored’s stats being grossly incorrect, this performance is just a big shrug emoji. 

The timing of this break couldn’t have been better for both of these teams. 

LAFC grind out a win in Seattle

LAFC and the Seattle Sounders’ matchup on Saturday was, for my money, the most intriguing game of the week. Los Angelinos had dropped points at home in back-to-back games, while Seattle were surging on a five-game winning streak. LA’s Head Coach Steve Cherundolo made sure that intrigue turned to dust before our very eyes—setting his team up to win a one-sided, cagey game 3-0.

Melodramatics aside, Cherundolo won the tactical battle here. He set his team up in a 3-4-2-1, which operated more as a five-back, stole some goals in the first half, and sat back and bunkered. Cherundolo knew he had the quality up front in Denis Bouanga and Mateusz Bogusz to steal a goal or two. And he knew that Seattle operate better with space in-behind and in-front of the backline.

“To win 3-0, of course, is amazing,” Cherundolo said postgame. “The effort from the boys, the tactical discipline, and some players came up with some big plays tonight—Hugo (Lloris) coming up for us big time, finishing some counterattacks, stringing some possession spells together, but everytime we went forward we looked dangerous.”

Seattle Head Coach Brian Schmetzer didn’t seem like he expected the tactical change from Cherundolo. His creative players, Albert Rusnak and Pedro de la Vega, were starved of any service centrally in the first half and the Sounders had no answer to LAFC’s defensive approach. He made some critical changes at halftime to allow his team to play more direct—taking off De la Vega, who wants to get as many touches of the ball as possible, for Paul Rothrock, who is much more comfortable battling in the box. 

As a result, Seattle looked better in the second half, but they really couldn’t create any clear-cut opportunities until after Bouanga scored his second of the game to put the match out of reach. They might’ve won the xG battle 2.36-1.82, but 2.17 of Seattle’s value came after LAFC already had a three-goal lead. That in itself is an issue, as is the finishing overall. Seattle needs some better options going forward—Raul Ruidiaz is no longer a DP-caliber player and Rothrock as your third-best option is not going to cut it in this league. And I think Schmetzer knows it. 

“What I told our guys is, ‘this is a good reset,’” Schmetzer said postgame. “We aren’t there yet. We all need to do more. That performance is not going to cut it.”

It’s not a surprise Seattle are 0-5-5 against the top six of the Western Conference. They just don’t have the talent to beat the upper echelon of MLS. Seattle have roster flexibility going into the summer transfer window, and they need to take advantage. 

Seven-goal thriller in Vancouver

The Houston Dynamo and the Vancouver Whitecaps played easily the most entertaining game of the matchday. The game was back and forth, end to end with bangers galore. That’s how the beautiful game is supposed to be played Cherundolo. 

The game ended 4-3 in Houston’s favor, which broke Vancouver’s five-game winless run, but I think there’s positives to take from both teams. For the Dynamo, it may be more obvious. With the win, they leapfrogged the Cascadian combo of Seattle and Portland to go sixth in the West. And they did so without looking particularly potent going forward. 

I mean, yes, they scored four goals, but two of them were screamers from Griffin Dorsey (especially the game-winner), and another was a missile from Brad Smith. The Dynamo stole the win from under the nose of the Whitecaps in the second half, despite losing the xG battle by over two goals. That’s obviously not sustainable, but if you’re Head Coach Ben Olsen, you have to love the fact that your team pulled out a win before the club’s new attacking signings could make a difference on the team.

Olsen looked almost speechless in his post-game press conference, and as Ben Olsen post-match reactions go, that’s pretty positive. 

Club-record signing Ezequiel Ponce debuted this weekend, while U-22 Initiative winger Lawrence Ennali didn’t make the matchday squad. There’s reason to believe this team will look a whole lot better when the league restarts.  

For Vancouver, the positives are more shrouded in disappointment, but they’re most definitely there. The biggest one, I think, is that they were able to score three goals without Brian White and Ryan Gauld. 

This team has lived and died with the White-Gauld duo for the entire season. Since April, over 82% of Vancouver’s goals have one (or two) of the duo involved as the scorer or primary assister. That’s great when both players are hot, but not so much when they’re cold. 

MLS vet Fafa Picault was dynamic for the Whitecaps on Saturday, scoring two and assisting one. Him becoming a consistent third option in the attack could prove huge for Vancouver going forward. But for the love of all the soccer gods, Vancouver, please invest in your team. A DP attacker to compliment Gauld and White could help this team reach the playoff semi-finals for the first time in the club’s history. Take the leap.