1. Next into the 100 club: Jack McInerney?
Everyone is tipping their MLS cap to Chris Wondolowski, and deservedly so. A swell and humble fellow, not to mention one heck of a goal scorer, “Wondo” became the ninth man ensconced into Major League Soccer’s exclusive 100-goal club over the weekend.
Part of the celebration is guessing who else might next join the 100-goal club, so allow me to make my own guess – and it’s a name that you may not have considered:
It’s Philadelphia’s Jack McInerney, who once again scored over the weekend. That one goes down the ledger as No. 34.
Most of the guesswork is revolving around other active goal scoring leaders: Kenny Cooper (75), Eddie Johnson (71), Conor Casey (68), Mike Magee (64), Alvaro Saborío (63) and Kei Kamara (61). High-scoring Galaxy man Robbie Keane (55) is getting outside mention, too.
The problem is that every member of that group is 30 or older. Being on the back side of the big “Three-Oh” doesn’t mean these guys are washed up; it just means the math is working against them on reaching 100 before the career curtain falls. Plus there are other issues.
For instance, Johnson’s career is in danger due to health issues. Casey is 33 and his best goal-scoring years are well behind him. Saborio remains effective, but he is 33 and carries a history of injury.
Kamara has the best chance among this group, although he turns 31 later this year. And could he possibly make one more stab at England or elsewhere abroad?
That’s where McInerney may have a big edge. The kid is just 22 years old, but he already has those 34 goals. (He started with Philly at age 17.) Whereas the next rising star may be bound of Europe (think Fabian Castillo), McInerney has the look of the next Wondo or Jason Kreis: terrific goal scorers, but possibly on the second tier among international level talent.
What that means is that McInerney may be an MLS man for the duration, a la Wondolowski and Kreis (who was the first MLS man to reach the 100-goal milepost). And there is absolutely, 100 percent nothing wrong with that.
Heck, McInerney has stockpiled so many goals at such a young age, he could move into Europe for three, four or even five years and still have plenty of time, either on the back side or the front side of a move abroad, to reach 100.
Book this: if “Jack Mac” stays in MLS, he’ll get there. Possibly even as the next to do so.
2. MVP run ahead for Toronto’s Sebastian Giovinco
With acknowledgment to talented figures like Benny Feilhaber and Clint Dempsey, who have already shown they are going to be players in the coming league MVP debates, we’d like to add another fast-riser. Toronto’s Sebastian Giovinco.
TFC’s Italian playmaker has five goals and four assists; he is currently tied for 7th among league leaders in both categories. If Giovinco keeps up those numbers and drives TFC to the club’s very first playoff appearance – remember, this wandering organization has been around MLS since 2007 – the Atomic Ant’s narrative might be too tough for voters to resist.
If you saw the way he dominated the first half on Saturday against Portland, or if you saw the last 15-20 minutes of the teams’ loss to FC Dallas earlier this season – when Giovinco nearly single-handedly brought the team back from a 3-0 deficit – you know that he can take over a game like few others right now in MLS.
One more thing to know about Giovinco, especially if TFC does secure that elusive, first-ever playoff spot: Yes, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore are important pieces of the BMO Field puzzle. But they will miss big stretches of summer for U.S. national team duty. Barring injury, Giovinco will be right there, getting the MLS business done.
3. Columbus Crew still a bit naïve
Columbus plays a high tempo, attractive style. They have a wonderful playmaker in Federico Higuain, a dependable and experienced goal scorer in Kei Kamara and a classy, defensive marshal for the back line in Michael Parkhurst. Plus, some terrific young talent abounds elsewhere at Mapfre Stadium.
In other words, there is plenty to like about Gregg Berhalter’s team. But there is also an ongoing issue, and it’s why the Crew sits dead level at .500 for now (a 4-4-3 record).
In an pre-season talk with Wil Trapp, who earned his first U.S. cap last winter, the Crew’s promising young midfielder told me the team was probably a bit naïve last year. The Crew finished third in the East but the playoff run went south, and quickly so. Berhalter’s bunch fell at home to New England in the opener, 4-2. The hill to climb from there was too steep, and the Crew tumbled out by a whopping 7-3 aggregate.
Watching the team Sunday against Chicago, you wonder if the lessons were lost. There’s still a lot to like about the Crew, and it was all there as the home team took a 2-0 lead over Chicago.
But losing a two-goal lead at home will raise some red flags. Simply put, teams have to learn the art of safely managing out matches. You get the third goal, or you squeeze all the air out of the game or (best case scenario) you do both.
The Crew simply could not relieve the pressure over the last 10 minutes as Chicago pressed for the late equalizer. It finally came, and there were too many defensive miscues to count as the visitors leveled matters at 2-2.
Getting Trapp back from injury will certainly help. Otherwise, the Crew just has to make sure they are learning lessons from the humps and bumps along the way.
4. Pirlo, yes … but Drogba, no
Ah, the Silly Season, when every European star of a certain age – and a few who aren’t even that old yet – dangle MLS as an option, perhaps with serious intent or perhaps just adding to leverage for the next move. So, remember the two golden rules of Silly Season as it relates to MLS:
1) Not everyone can play in New York or Los Angeles. The math just doesn’t work, so keep that mind – even if some of these guys and their agents have zero understanding of this.
2) Not to put too fine a point on it, but most of the stories of “This guy” or “That guy” coming into MLS are just plain bunk.
The question with the aging stars really boils down to this: can they perform at a level that justifies the skewed salary in a capped league? Because we aren’t just talking about expense, per se; we are also talking about the potential to wreck locker room chemistry when you add some high salaried prima donna who can’t justify his place on the field.
That said, there are two highly intriguing names out there.
On Andrea Pirlo, I say “please let it be true.” The stately Italian midfielder’s days at Juventus appear to be done. Or they will be, that is, following his team’s Champions League final in Berlin. Yes, he’s 36. And, yes, all the inexorable laws of fading human performance will eventually reach Pirlo, even if he has somehow missed the memo to this point.
But he’s such an unbelievably smart player, so wily in his positioning relative to the ball and the nearest defender. Combine that keen awareness with his masterful first touch and Pirlo almost never seems hurried or bothered.
No, he wouldn’t be a guy to sign on a three-year deal. But for a year and a half? That seems reasonable, assuming he gives all the right indicators about truly being interested and emotionally invested (as opposed to winding down his playing days “on holiday,” as they say).
There are very few teams in MLS who couldn’t benefit from Pirlo’s deep-lying playmaking skills (he’s long been the world’s standard bearer in that vocation) or his sensible, skillful distribution from midfield.
The talk of “Didier Drogba to MLS” is also careening about the summer transfer echo chamber.
Drogba is 37. While that’s just one year older than Pirlo, they are “tougher miles,” so to speak. He game has always been about power and pace, and all that tussle with defenders takes a toll. As that power and pace inevitably wanes, so does his effectiveness.
Whereas Pirlo’s best asset (his brain) remains the same or even gets better, Drogba’s best asset has mostly been spent. As much as I loved watching the guy through the years, and as much as I admire his contagious determination, the current Drogba isn’t what he used to be, and he’d be a huge luxury on an MLS roster.
In case this needs reiterating: salary capped MLS rosters can scarcely afford luxuries.
5. The Little Five
5a. Omar Gonzalez and Robbie Keane are the huge Galaxy names, but where in the world would this team be without Alan Gordon right now? Two of the Galaxy’s four wins in 2015 came on Gordon’s stoppage-time goals. With seven of those in his career, you could make a strong case that there has never, not in 20 years, been a better late-game sub than Gordon.
5b. Boniek Garcia is certainly a skillful presence for the Houston Dynamo. But at some point, the numbers simply do not lie. Garcia has three goals and two assists in his 37 Dynamo matches over 2014 and 2015. That’s just not good enough. (Our Opta friends also reveal this: his personal plus-minus on goals has fallen sharply since his first two seasons, 2012-13.)
5c. Timing on Diego Valeri’s latest injury (ankle sprain suffered Saturday in Toronto) could hardly have been worse. While recovery will be nothing like the recently completed, months-long recovery from knee surgery, it could potentially take him out of three contests. The Timbers play three times over the next 11 days, starting with Wednesday’s match at home against D.C. United.
5d. Best team in MLS over Week 12? Mark my vote for Sporting Kansas City. With a patchwork lineup, Peter Vermes’ team rolled over a strong New England team at Sporting Park. Just three nights later, another piecemeal lineup held Seattle scoreless at home.
5e. Longtime U.S. international Oguchi Onyewu is training with NYCFC and apparently on trial. It makes sense for the club (with a caveat): that tiny field at Yankee Stadium means there will always be lots of balls to compete for inside the 18, and NYCFC doesn’t have enough muscle at center back right now. That caveat: It only makes sense at the right salary number. Onyewu, 33, is not a premium player (just released from Charlton, which finished mid-table in England’s second tier) and hasn’t been one in quite a while. He’d have to accept a salary number (way below a DP number) that reflects it.
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.
