1. Which is worse: Red Bulls offense or Red Bulls defense?
The New York Red Bulls’ attack straight up stinks right now. Which is something we’d be talking about more except for one important little thing: the defense stinks worse.
Journo colleagues around Red Bull Arena reported that Bradley Wright-Phillips’ ongoing struggles have become the big fire sucking much of the conversational oxygen from the press room. The man had a rager two years ago, a sparkling 27-goal season! And following up with a 17-goal campaign isn’t too bad, either. So I get it. We like talking about strikers, especially when they quit striking.
But if I’m paying my money to pass through the Red Bull Arena turnstiles, I would point my arrows of concern elsewhere, toward that porous defense. Not just because Jesse Marsch’s team has conceded a league-high 11 goals – hardly a way to hold Supporters Shield – but also because it is likely affecting the offensive production, as well.
The Red Bulls’ lack of defensive cover, especially at center back, has been well documented. Matt Miazga’s departure, plus injuries to Gideon Baah, Ronald Zubar, Kemar Lawrence and Damien Perrinelle have left the back line looking like one big ol’ New Jersey mess. Just look at a defensive shape that has gone completely wackadoodle on Kansas City’s opening goal last week.
The point about the offense is this: a defense so rickety forces players all over the field to adjust their roles and objectives. When the center back situations is so highly destabilized, outside backs are less likely to scoot forward, which reduces numbers in the attacking end and, therefore, the amount of consistent pressure New York can apply. Don’t forget, pressure all around the field is the bedrock of Marsch’s plan.
Meanwhile, wingers are similarly adjusting their attack/defend priorities. Which is why Lloyd Sam and Mike Grella, while still providing some service to Wright-Phillips, haven’t been as effective in the attack. Sacha Kljestan may be leaning a little more toward the defensive end, as well.
Dax McCarty is struggling, perhaps applying too much pressure on himself in his role as midfield screener, all too aware of the jeopardy afoot once attacks get past him.
Of course, what would really help is if Wright-Phillips would bury a couple of those chances he’s getting, which would give the back line some room to breathe. But strikers are streaky, as we know. Those goals will come. I’d wager that Wright-Phillips and gets himself straightened up before the Red Bulls’ beleaguered back line does.
2. Better decisions coming out of Philadelphia
The suits around stadium formerly named PPL Park made a lot of bad decisions through the years. Well, if we’re being accurate, former president Nick Sakiewicz was most responsible for putting most of the rickety boards into place, but no matter debating percentages of blame now. The point is, Earnie Stewart and his money ball approach is on board and better decisions are being made.
Nowhere is that more 100 percent crystal clear than in goal. “In goal” around Chester has been something of a wasteland thanks to a series of decisions that mostly landed somewhere between bungling and boggling.
Last weekend, Andre Blake did what Blake has been doing for most of 2016: saving Union bacon. The top pick in the 2014 MLS draft looks like the rising star everyone thought he would be back then. In fairness, Sakiewicz was in charge when the Union selected Blake, so he deserves some credit there. But Sakiewicz also signed Raïs M'Bohli, who was a spectacular flop. In fact, he was as the worst kind of spectacular flop – one they never needed in the first place, even if he had not flopped so spectacularly.
Either way, they loaned goalkeeper Zac MacMath to Colorado the next year and, as Stewart came in during the 2015-16 offseason, declined the young goalkeeper’s option. That cleared the way for a more permanent move into Colorado for MacMath, and decluttered the runway for Blake to becoming Philly’s clear No. 1.
So here he is, making the Union look good for the choice. Meanwhile …
MacMath blundered badly for Colorado, providing Real Salt Lake the only goal in a tightly contested Rocky Mountain derby. It was the second time this year a MacMath error in goal cost the Rapids points; it also happened last month at DC United. And it happened with discerning frequency when he was in Philadelphia, still learning the craft at higher levels as a young starter.
Yes, things are looking up at Talen Energy Stadium (which you once knew as PPL Park). Better decisions from the top down will do that.
3. Lamar Hunt’s tremendous faith in soccer keeps paying off
Recognizing history is always an exercise in balance. History clearly means a lot – until it doesn’t. Confusing, I know.
See, every generation wants to create its own history on its own terms, developing a new narrative unimpeded by a bunch of old fuddy-duddies who want to remind the “kids” about why things are how they are. So it is with soccer in this country. In fact, it’s especially true with soccer in our land because so many new fans climb on board all the time, and they generally aren’t as invested in historical framework.
Well, here’s me reminding a few of you “why things are how they are.”
The story told by FC Dallas president Dan Hunt last week, about MLS nearly closing up shop in 2001, needs telling. Not so everyone can worship at the altar of Lamar Hunt, although that’s hardly the worst thing any American soccer fan can do.
It’s important in the context of how we view certain things today. For instance, there is no denying that Mapfre Stadium is a bare bones facility in a bit of an area that is … well, let’s go with “uninspiring.” But that thing was built with unbelievable faith, an unwavering belief that good things were ahead, if only a few of the right people believed in it. Because, as we better understand now, there were no guarantees a league would still be around a few years down the road.
So when Hunt built Crew Stadium (now Mapfre Stadium), it makes perfect sense that it would be built for about $30 million rather than $130 million or $230 million or some number closer to today’s MLS stadium costs.
Same for the location of FC Dallas’ Toyota Stadium. Context is critical for anyone who wants to debate the merits of urban vs. suburban when it comes to ideal MLS venue locations. When facility plans were being ironed out in 2003, MLS had exactly two stadiums, one in Columbus and one opening that year outside Los Angeles.
Hunt was showing more of that tremendous faith by building another stadium (the one in Frisco) back before David Beckham’s arrival, before Seattle’s MLS entry, before today’s way-better TV deals and before lots of expansion fees changed the financial game in a big way. Knowing that history helps explain why Hunt didn’t rush to explore far more pricey parcels of downtown land. Besides, we just didn’t know as much then about how the MLS fan base was developing.
All in all, it’s impossible to underestimate the faith Lamar Hunt had, and the ongoing significance of that faith. MLS today exists because of that faith (and obviously the shared faith and resources of Phil Anschutz and Robert Kraft.) He’s a treasured figure for anyone who knows anything about the professional game’s history here – and for good reason.
4. Sounders missing Obafemi Martins. A lot.
I think a picture of what has happened in Seattle (four points from five matches … yuk) is becoming clearer, and it’s not a pretty one for supporters around CenturyLink.
Everyone knew the club was losing a lot when Obafemi Martins took the money and split. But it seems only now the exact count of “how much” is coming into sharper focus. Simply put, Martins probably obscured more issues than people may have understood. In burger terms: if they thought they would miss him a little slider’s worth, well, turns out they miss him about a half-pounder’s worth.
Martins, now playing in Shanghai, hid the team’s lack of midfield creativity. Everyone is talking about it now, but it was there previously. It’s just that Seattle didn’t need creativity out of the midfield because Martins was good at creating by combining with Dempsey, or creating with cunning, or with his balance and bursts in the dribble or just through sheer will and mayhem making.
Speaking of that ability to combine, street-ball style, with Dempsey: he definitely made Deuce a lot better, too. I suspect that will be reflected more and more in Dempsey’s numbers as the year plods on.
There’s so much talk right now about Seattle’s struggling attack. And because there are so many Sounders fans, it’s a lively discussion, one that is going several different ways. Is the formation right for the players? Do they need another striker, or just that influencer in the middle? How best to use Dempsey now? Or how to get the most from Jordan Morris during his time of ongoing development?
All of which are good and fair topics for discussion. The point here is that they didn’t need to be discussed last year, not when Martins and Dempsey were around to provide such constant threat. Martins’ departure took away more than just his 15 goals and 6 assists (in just 20 matches). He clearly made everyone around him better.
5. The Little Five
5a. No one does an own goal like San Jose’s Victor Bernardez. When he pounds one past his own hapless ‘keeper, the man makes the most of it. This is one darn solid finish Saturday against Dallas! And no one does it as often. Good job here by ESPNFC to remind us that Bernardez has a rich history of this.
5b. There’s a lot of anger on the Galaxy’s Nigel de Jong and his (way, way too predictable) terrible moment. But let’s make sure the toxicity is pointed in the right direction. If you want to say signing a guy with his reputation makes the executives partially complicit (a fair argument to make) be sure you have the right execs on the hook. I see some MLS blaming and shaming out there. But other than occasionally stepping in when teams are about to wildly overspend (and set bad financial precedent around the league), clubs have autonomy on who they do or don’t sign.
5c. China wants to be soccer super power. Good on ‘em. More for the global soccer party, I say. Thing is, I’m certain I remember reading the same story. When I was still a kid. In the early 1980s! It’s not easy becoming a soccer super power. But don’t we know that around here?
5d. Watch this scoring chance come and go for Boniek Garcia in Houston, and then maybe watch it again. Because this has pretty much been the Honduran international’s MLS career in a nutshell. Garcia has 12 goals and 20 assists in 93 MLS matches. For someone who is primarily an attacking player, averaging about 3 goals and 5 assists just isn’t enough. Garcia’s final production just hasn’t been commensurate with his skill level – and certainly not for a player earning around $300,000 annually.
5e. Who knows where U.S. under-23 midfielder Emerson Hyndman, the best player over two legs in his country’s recent Olympic bid against Colombia, will be by this summer? Having declined to sign a new deal at Fulham, the Dallas native looks highly unlikely to remain at Craven Cottage. Either way, he’s going out of West London on a good note, as Fulham has climbed lately from danger of a drop into the England’s third tier (although the Cottagers aren’t completely out of the relegation woods). And how about these American apples: Hyndman hit the stoppage time game winner last week, on his 20th birthday, no less! Well done, young man.
Steve Davis has covered Major League Soccer since is first kick in 1996. He writes on-line for FourFourTwo 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.