MAR 17, 2013; Frisco, TX, USA; The FC Dallas fans celebrate FC Dallas forward Kenny Cooper (not pictured) game winning goal against Houston Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall (1) during the second half at FC Dallas Stadium. FC Dallas defeated Houston Dynamo 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
For most American soccer fans this week, their attention spans have been directed toward U.S. men’s national team play as they prepare for upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Costa Rica on the 22nd and Mexico on the 26th. Many spent their weekend wondering who might get called up for the fixtures and reacting on Twitter (a bunch) about the final selection by head coach Jurgen Klinsmann.
That selection, whether lionized of vilified, shows that the Yanks’ German coach has not eschewed the talent on offer in the domestic league in favor of solely culling his selections from the Europe-based ranks. While Aston Villa’s Brad Guzan is almost certain to start in goal for the USMNT, the other two selections — Sean Johnson of the Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake’s Nick Rimando — are both MLS-based keepers. Either is a Guzan misstep away from seeing international duty.
The back line, seemingly the team’s greatest weakness at the moment, features four MLS defenders among the six selections, with just Geoff Cameron (Stoke City) and Clarence Goodson (Brondby) based overseas. The attacking half of the roster shows Klinsmann’s eye for talent playing across the Atlantic and south of the border, though Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City), Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake) and Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders) managed to claim spots on the final 23-man roster.
Major League Soccer has increasingly become a valuable tool for both developing and evaluating national team talent. Even the overseas stars — players like Clint Dempsey, Brek Shea, DaMarcus Beasley and Jozy Altidore — largely spent some of their early playing career in the American league. More than ever, the conscientious fan of the U.S. men’s national team needs to pay attention to the trends of MLS play to realize who might factor into future incarnations of the roster.
SATURDAY/MARCH 16
SUNDAY/MARCH 17
Fans who did use the weekend to scout potential squad members of the qualifying effort had ample opportunity to see some of those domestic stars succeeding on the MLS stage. And they had perhaps the best stage of the budding season on which to observe those talents — Rivalry Weekend.
Much has been said about the newfound focus by MLS on nurturing and promoting the derbies between its biggest geographic foes. The grudge matches provide some of the greatest intensity of the season, with fans filling stadiums in droves and players finding an extra gear on the pitch. Offering the kind of blood feud that American fans cherish in other sports, the rivalries fostered over the seasons provide an opportunity for the league to captivate even casual fans with the energy being showcased at stadiums around the continent.
They also provide some negative publicity for the league as they try to supplant the supporters’ groups that created many of the rivalry totems that pass between the teams each season. Their sale of sponsorship rights to the Rocky Mountain Cup to Subaru — without either consulting or remunerating the fans who created the trophy in 2005 with nary an ounce of support from the league — and the current battle over the Cascadia Cup trademark illuminate the greedier side of MLS promotion of these rivalries.
The fact remains that rivalries develop organically. Toronto and Montreal had incentive to stage a derby before either side ever reached MLS, as is also the case with the teams in the Pacific Northwest. As soon as Chivas USA entered the league, it was a given that they would become a perpetual foe of the Galaxy in Los Angeles. Once the original incarnation of the Earthquakes relocated to Houston, the natural enmities between two cities on the I-45 ensured there would be a Texas Derby with FC Dallas — with or without league intervention.
Time and time again fans have stepped up to the plate, joining forces with the supporters of their biggest rivals to pool resources and purchase trophies like the Cascadia Cup or the Rocky Mountain Cup to award to the annual victor in the derbies. El Capitan, awarded to the winner of the Texas Derby, was purchased not by the league but by FC Dallas as a public-relations boost. Battles like the California Clasico and SuperClasico have matured mostly without any action by MLS.
But whoever “owns” a rivalry, they inevitably provide some of the greatest sparks of the entire MLS season. This weekend’s action was no different, providing plenty of storylines to discuss as we dive into this week’s Tuesday Scrimmage…
TAP TUESDAY SCRIMMAGE STARTING XI
TAP Tuesday Scrimmage – Week 3 MLS Starting XI (generated at footballuser.com)
There were a lot of solid choices to sift through this week as I sat down to determine the TAP Tuesday Scrimmage Starting XI. To fit the best candidates into the lineup this week, we’re going with a 4-2-3-1 formation. At the back, everything is anchored by Bill Hamid of DC United, who saved seven shots — including a swat off the goal line in the final minute that may or may not have been a goal, but was astutely sold by the keeper as a save — to earn the clean sheet in a 0-0 draw against the feisty yet winless New York Red Bulls.
The central defense is provided by Glauber, the Columbus back who scored the Crew’s only goal in a 1-1 draw against San Jose and was also a key linchpin in keeping high-powered Earthquakes attackers Chris Wondolowski and Adam Jahn in check. Beside him is Dallas’ George John, who chipped in the opening goal and helped hold off a late onslaught by the Dynamo for a win in the Texas Derby. The left fullback is Carlos Borja, who came into the California Clasico for Chivas USA and helped solidify both the defense and the attack after losing Oswaldo Minda to injury and Joaquin Velasquez to expulsion. Lining up on the right side (at least for the purposes of making this team) is San Jose’s Justin Morrow, who tirelessly patrolled the flank for the Earthquakes and hit the late equalizer that neutralized Glauber’s goal.
Making yet another appearance in the Starting XI in central midfield is Montreal’s Patrice Bernier. With a penalty-kick goal as well as an assist in the Impact’s all-Canadian showdown with Toronto FC, Bernier continues to bolster his case for the top player of March with superb box-to-box control of Montreal’s midfield. Beside him in the second level of the 4-2-3-1 this week is Sporting Kansas City’s Oriol Rosell, who helped his side generate twenty scoring opportunities and played a physical lockdown brand of soccer against Chicago’s strikers and midfielders.
The front trio of the midfield is anchored by Columbus Crew stalwart Federico Higuain. Not only did Higuain swing in the cross that yielded Glauber’s go-ahead goal, but he consistently served as the catalyst for Columbus’ chances upfield. To his right is Jackson from FC Dallas, who was the team’s most consistent player on the pitch all day and would have had a goal but for a marginal offside call. The other flank is manned by the other catalytic presence in the Texas Derby, super-sub Andrew Driver. Entering the match in the 69th minute, it took Driver less than five minutes to score the Dynamo’s first strike as the visitors narrowly missed an opportunity to steal back at least a draw against Dallas.
Up top, there were plenty of choices that could lock into the striker spot. Marco Di Vaio, Alvaro Saborio and Jack McInerney all received consideration. But it was ultimately a forward whose goal of the weekend was not a game winner who got the selection. Seattle’s Eddie Johnson scored a 13th minute wonderstrike volley for the Sounders as they dueled Cascadia rival Portland at CenturyLink Field and tested Timbers keeper Donovan Ricketts throughout the match; only a late Portland goal kept Johnson from scoring the winner.
TAP TUESDAY SCRIMMAGE TOP FIVE
Another shuffle comes to the TAP Top Five in this week’s Tuesday Scrimmage, as one newcomer to the MLS scene continues to assert its dominance over anybody and everybody in their path:
Mar 16, 2013; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Impact fans behind a sign “Yesterday, today and forever” before the first half against Toronto FC at the Olympic Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports
MONTREAL IMPACT (3-0-0/+3) — After knocking off Seattle and Portland on their opening road swing through Cascadia, Montreal returned home to welcome Toronto FC to a special home opener at Olympic Stadium to accommodate the overflow crowd. The Impact, thanks to Patrice Bernier and their stable of Italian veterans, won their third straight to open the season as they lock down on pole position in the Eastern Conference.
Mar 16, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Union forward Jack McInerney (9) celebrates his goal with forward/midfielder Sebastien Le Toux (11), midfielder Brian Carroll (7) and midfielder Michael Lahoud (13) against the New England Revolution during the second half at PPL Park. The Union defeated the Revolution, 1-0. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
PHILADELPHIA UNION (2-1-0/+0) — Somehow, someway, Philadelphia continues to pull victories out of nowhere. After surprising Colorado last weekend in the Rocky Mountain snow, Jack McInerney came through again at home to knock off the New England Revolution. Sebastien Le Toux continues to provide a complimentary spark up front, and the Union have proven themselves to be a formidable opponent both at and away from PPL Park.
STOPPAGE TIME
While there have been just three match weekends so far in the regular season, I couldn’t resist taking a look at the statistics compiled so far. What I found most interesting was the fact that, of the six players who have multiple goals so far this season, only one — Real Salt Lake’s Alvaro Saborio — was among the top ten scorers last year. Instead of names like Chris Wondolowski, Robbie Keane or Thierry Henry, it is guys like Fabian Espindola and Mike Magee and Robert Earnshaw who sit atop the scoring tables.
While the cast of characters atop the goalkeeping charts are all familiar, we are slowly seeing a new crop of scorers emerge from the younger ranks. Everyone wonders who the next Designated Player will be for MLS, yet the real measure of the league’s depth is not the big names like Henry and Keane and new Seattle signing Obafemi Martins that arrive from overseas but the younger players that emerge through the draft process. Guys like Carlos Alvarez at Chivas USA, Ryan Finley at Columbus, Deshorn Brown in Colorado and Kekuta Manneh in Vancouver represent the future direction of the league as much as any big-name acquisition.
SCOUTING AHEAD
(The top three matches on my radar next weekend)
- NEW YORK @ MONTREAL — The Impact have obliterated every team in their path so far, and now they have the advantage of facing the Red Bulls while they are in a slump period of the season. After squandering leads in each of their first two matches, New York at least held DC United to a scoreless draw last weekend — though some would say that it was DC that clamped down, a third straight team to thwart the plethora of offensive firepower at New York’s disposal. The biggest question is whether center back Alessandro Nesta (who sustained an adductor muscle injury in last weekend’s win over Toronto) will be ready for this match, and if not whether likely replacement Dennis Iapichino can be effective in helping shut down Henry, Espindola and the rest of the Red Bulls attack.
- VANCOUVER @ HOUSTON — The Whitecaps had the advantage of a bye week during Rivalry Weekend, remaining undefeated after two games played. They take that perfect record to Texas, where they will test it against the two-time defending Eastern Conference champions. Can the Dynamo, who were unable to complete the comeback against their state rival on Sunday in a 3-2 defeat, find the right lineup combination from the outset that will let them showcase their full potential? Or is Vancouver seriously emerging as a legitimate threat in a Western Conference that looks increasingly up for grabs in 2013?
- SEATTLE @ SAN JOSE — Which team will finally take the steps to right their ship in 2013 after a shaky start to the season? Both squads, expecting to be among the Western Conference elite, find themselves outside of the playoff picture after the first three weekends of the season. The Earthquakes are struggling to find their offense as two-time league leader in goals Chris Wondolowski has just one in March. Seattle has squandered its first two home matches, losing to Montreal before squandering a late lead against Portland last weekend. Will a departure from CenturyLink Field benefit the Sounders, or will San Jose finally get its offense firing on all cylinders?