NOTE: Welcome to the High Five! - A new weekly feature on FCDallas.com from long-time Dallas resident, MLS journalist and radio voice of FC Dallas, Steve Davis. Each Wednesday, Steve will bring us five things he's kicking around in his head from the week that was in American soccer. Tune in to Steve for every FC Dallas match on 100.7FM as well as Sunday mornings on 103.3FM as half of ESPN Soccer Today.
New York City FC manager Jason Kreis gets us started, commenting on the electric atmosphere of the expansion franchise’s first noisy run inside historic Yankee Stadium.
“Everybody dreams and thinks of what this kind of opportunity could look like and what this kind of match could look like. I would say that it fulfilled my dreams."
While we ponder how many goals NYCFC star striker David Villa has in him for 2015 (One very, very big one so far!), here are five storylines to dissect and discuss.
1. Truth be told, 2-0 means very little in MLS
Congratulations to FC Dallas, the only MLS side to have cleared Week two 100 percent unblemished. Suggested chant: “2-and-OH and off we GO!”
But FCD manager Oscar Pareja will surely be the first to warn everyone (especially the players inside that happy locker room) that the season is long, and that being 2-0 means precious little. It means they got things right for a couple of early season encounters … and good on ‘em for that. The team opened with a tight win over San Jose and followed up with a lesser tense 3-1 margin over Sporting KC, with both matches at home.
Now, what are they going to do in Week Three? More to the point, what will they do as they play on the road for the first time in 2015? How will they handle this initial spritz of success? The target is getting bigger on that jersey back. Looking further, how will they handle the inevitable injuries? The questions could go on, but you get the point.
TICKETS - FC DALLAS VS SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC - MARCH 28
Last year, three teams recorded two wins in two matches to open with a flurry: Columbus, Houston and Toronto FC. The Crew finished healthy third in the East, but Houston and Toronto missed the playoffs entirely.
Simply put, fast starts in MLS don’t mean that much. Consider that Chivas USA was undefeated after two matches last year (1-0-1); the Goats finished 9th of 10 teams in the West (and then disbanded). San Jose was unbeaten for the first three weeks (1-0-2); the Earthquakes were the only team to finish beneath Chivas USA last year, placing dead last in the West.
In Dallas’ case, being 2-0 does represent one small, if a bit peculiar, accomplishment: For whatever reason, Week 2 has proven to be a tricky, slick spot for FCD in recent years. The team was 0-3-4 in Week 2 since 2006.
That team in 2006 did, in fact, use the fast start in propelling itself to regular season achievement. That team, under the direction of Colin Clarke, was the club’s last regular season conference champion.
2. The Brad Evans experiment in Seattle
We will see if Seattle can hold its nerve in the ongoing Brad Evans experiment as the cerebral veteran attempts to learn a new position on the fly.
Evans was less than impressive in his new center back spot as things fell apart in the back in a
3-2 loss to San Jose at CenturyLink Field
. Evans’ footprints were scattered throughout the crime scene; he was at least partially at fault on all three Earthquakes goals.
But here are a couple of things to remember as Seattle management thinks its way around this one.
First, Evans remains one of my favorite MLS players for the way he studies the game. If anyone can learn from his errors, and quickly so, it’s Evans. I still believe the man can play pretty much any position on the field that doesn’t require goalkeeper gloves and be pretty good at it, given time to learn the ins and outs.
MLS MATCHCENTER - SOUNDERS 2, 'QUAKES 3
Second, the addition of a sixth playoff spot this year changes the math on all strategic personnel choices; that applies to overall roster choices and to game-day decisions. Simply put, teams have more latitude to experiment (or to play it safe and wait until the summer transfer window to secure the right reinforcements). No team wants to lose games, of course, but that sixth playoff berth (rather than five as in recent years) helps mitigate the potential damage. Put another way, teams can lose more than before and still qualify for the post-season.
Finally this: Being an MLS center back will never be easy. But it is a lot easier with Osvaldo Alonso doing the tackling, the screening and the general hurry-scurry in front of you. The job of center back will not be as easy around CenturyLink until the league’s premier defensive midfielder returns. (Well, let’s go with “co-premier,” along with Kyle Beckerman.)
Seattle might yank Evans for its next MLS contest, March 28 at Dallas. The better choice would be this: play the long game and let Evans learn the position. Here’s betting it would pay off in time.
3. Good news on the field front
No one believes that artificial turf is a great fit for Major League Soccer. Still, in some places it remains best solution for now. Call it the ongoing growing pains of a league that did just turn 20 (Happy B-day!), but remains relatively young, still growing into its best self.
So two developments fell on the “pleasing” side Monday.
First came commissioner Don Garber’s announcement that a Minneapolis group headed by Bill McGuire had pulled ahead in the race to be MLS franchise No. 24. Key to this “pulling ahead” was McGuire’s just-announced intention to develop a soccer-specific stadium. “Soccer specific” also means “grass field.” And praise be for that; the other Minneapolis alternative was partnering with the NFL’s Vikings, which would have put the Minnesota team inside a beautiful building, but would also have placed one more club’s home matches on artificial turf.
Half-a-country away, word escaped that Seattle had signed a CenturyLink Field lease extension, keeping the Sounders at their downtown digs through 2028. Key to the deal: the facility’s artificial turf must be replaced every four years.
If you talk to players around the league, Portland’s artificial turf tops the list. Seattle’s isn’t terrible, but it is much better when properly cared for and replaced in timely manner. Again, it’s not perfect. But for the time being, it’s OK to do a little celebration dance for the least imperfect solution.
FYI, new turf en route at CenturyLink for 2016.
4. Colorado youth initiative disappearing
Who doesn’t love a young, hard-trying bunch? Dallas, Columbus and New England led the league last year in minutes from homegrown signings. A little to the West, Real Salt Lake and (especially) Colorado were integrating young players into their lineups.
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But something appears to be changing in Colorado. Chris Klute was more or less a rookie when he had that fantastic breakout year in 2013. He was a two-year starter at DSG Park, but the off-season saw him traded to Columbus.
Tuesday came word that another of Colorado’s once-promising brigade of talented youngsters is no longer a Rapids man. The club announced Deshorn Brown’s transfer Norwegian club Vålerenga.
Brown was the No. 6 overall MLS draft pick in 2013. He led the Rapids in scoring each of the last two years and probably would have been MLS Rookie of the Year in 2013 but for teammate Dillon Powers, who did claim the honor.
Powers, defender Shane O’Neill and goalkeeper Clint Irwin remain from the ridiculously young team that Oscar Pareja took to the playoffs in 2013.
O’Neill, like another promising youngster around DSG, Dillon Serna, still has to fight his way back into the starting lineup. We’ll see if this is all just down to circumstance, or if the larger trend is that manager Pablo Mastroeni simply doesn’t trust youngsters the way his predecessor did.
5. Forwards in a slump … don’t sweat it too much
The good supporters of Sporting Kansas City are in a bit of a tizzy over Dom Dwyer’s, er, “slump.”
The big day in New York may have gone differently for the debuting home side had once-and-again Revs striker Juan Agudelo put away a couple of his chances. Chris Tierney threatened to steal the day with his steady supply of well-shaped crosses for New England, with the recently re-signed Agudelo lurking. (By the way, well done everyone, from NYCFC to the Third Rail supporters group, because Sunday at Yankee Stadium really did have the feel of something special.)
Here’s why everyone needs to calm down: forwards won’t score every time out of the tunnel. The very best settle in somewhere just north of one goal every two matches on average.
The thing is – and we touched on this last week, in the 4th item – early streaks of flagging production tend to concern supporters more than a little slump in June or July.
Dwyer scored 22 goals last year. In most years that’s a Golden Boot and possibly an MVP. Now he’s gone two games without a goal. Yes, he’s missed some chances in open play as Sporting KC dropped points in the season opening draw with New York. And, yes, he failed to convert a penalty kick in Saturday’s loss to Dallas. But, no, the man hasn’t forgotten how to score.
Agudelo? Heavens, he did make a mess of a couple of chances to make history at Yankee Stadium. But he was the Revs’ best player down the stretch in 2013 (before a wandering year abroad). He’ll get his goals.
Early slumps feel worse than they are. Best guess here: both players will eventually fall into the 12-16 goal range.
By the way, it works the other way around, too. Remember Jack McInerney and his otherworldly breakout in 2013, when he scored 10 goals in Philadelphia’s first 15 games? He was tied with Chicago's Mike Magee and Montréal's Marco Di Vaio for MLS scoring leadership in June. McInerney was the hottest product around; it was Jack Mac’s world!
He scored three times over the next 18 matches. And was then traded to Montreal.
That’s not to pick on the young man. It’s just a reminder: strikers are streaky. So check back with us in mid-April or May.
Steve Davis has covered Major League Soccer since is first kick in 1996. He writes on-line for World Soccer Talk and Fusion TV’s Soccergods, and co-hosts the weekly radio show/podcast ESPN Soccer Today on 103.3 FM in Dallas. Davis is also the radio play-by-play voice for FC Dallas on 100.7 FM.
