Soccer <\/p>\n
We\u2019ve got a Galaxy<\/a> team that can\u2019t stop setting records, a Revs<\/a> team that\u2019s found themselves a very good formula, what a player like Evander<\/a> gets you, and some good news for Dallas<\/a> during a season of frustration.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n We\u2019ll start, though, with a Chicago Fire<\/a> side that got a much-needed win on Saturday, and what Gregg Berhalter\u2019s project is starting to look like:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n So let\u2019s talk about the Chicago Fire, who got their first home win of the Berhalter era with a 2-1 result<\/a> over Atlanta United<\/a> on Saturday afternoon. It was what\u2019s become a typical Fire performance: they threw numbers forward with something approaching reckless abandon from the jump, mostly couldn\u2019t take advantage of it, and conceded what looked like a back-breaking equalizer for what was sure to be another draw and more lost points.<\/p>\n But this time, Rominigue Kouam\u00e9<\/a> pushed forward late on a near-post run for a pullback from an overlapping fullback (who\u2019s actually a converted winger) to give the Fire all three points. That snapped a six-game winless skid and at least partially buried the frustration of last week\u2019s scoreless draw<\/a> and the week before\u2019s 7-2 humiliation<\/a> at Nashville<\/a>.<\/p>\n This is some textbook \u201cdisorganizing the opponents with the ball\u201d that Berhalter has always loved his team to do:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n ???????? Rominigue Kouam\u00e9 finishes off a lovely team move and the @ChicagoFire<\/a> retake the lead! ???? pic.twitter.com\/RL0YvPIveE<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 10, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n The Fire have done a lot of that this year. What they haven\u2019t done as much is finish those chances off.<\/p>\n \u201cUp until now, we haven’t [won at home] and you just have to focus on the next game. And in particular, I think this week that we had with, you know, after the Nashville game, moving into the week where Orlando, we got a red card, we hung out and we fought,\u201d Berhalter said on Saturday. \u201cWe had the Open Cup, we cruised through that, and then to win this weekend, it shows a great response from the group.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s coachspeak for \u201cphew,\u201d which is understandable. The Fire have been one of the most wildly up-and-down teams in the league this year, with that six-game slide belying some good soccer, but the 7-2 loss showed how fragile they could be.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Two-and-a-half minutes from the opening whistle! That\u2019s how long it took Berhalter\u2019s side to throw eight men (count \u2018em, I\u2019ll wait) fully into the attack. This is a sequence during which there was a fullback underlapping and a d-mid setting up shop in Zone 14, ahead of the ball, just because.<\/p>\n Lose the ball there and you\u2019re asking your center backs to make a big play in emergency defense. Chicago\u2019s center backs have had A LOT of moments where they haven\u2019t made those plays, and it has been brutal watching at times.<\/p>\n Audentes fortuna iuvat though, right? Because 10 minutes after that literally every field player is 35 yards (or less) from goal, pinning Atlanta in and ready to call Alexey Miranchuk<\/a>\u2019s handball in unison:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Hugo Cuypers<\/a>, who finished the weekend tied for the Golden Boot presented by Audi lead (and who leads the league by a mile in xG), converted the penalty. He’s liking things this year after a tough 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole structure is better. I think you see, even when the results are not with us, the whole team still feels confident in the way we play and we stick to our principles,\u201d Cuypers said post-game. \u201cI think that’s the biggest difference.\u201d<\/p>\n That difference is why the vibes remained good after the 7-2 defeat, and why the Fire \u2013 who are second-to-last in the East in both goals allowed and expected goals allowed \u2013 are happy to keep playing in search of a 4-2 win rather than a 1-0 scoreline. And it\u2019s allowed them to work a crop of homegrown players into the rotation, including breakout midfielder Sergio Oregel<\/a> and 16-year-old center back Christopher Cupps<\/a>. They are finally reaping the rewards of being based in one of the talent hotbeds of North America.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know our style,\u201d left back Andrew Gutman<\/a> said in the postgame. \u201cWe know how we want to play. It doesn’t matter who’s playing in what position. We’re always going to play how we want to play.\u201d<\/p>\n I think, in the long term, that\u2019s what the Fire needed. There\u2019s a clear vision now, and that vision lets them take risks with a purpose, even if the outcome isn\u2019t always what they want.<\/p>\n Atlanta feel like they\u2019re the polar opposite. Endless crosses, no coordinated off-ball movement, no clear build-out philosophy. They are now on a six-game winless skid of their own and have just two wins all season.<\/p>\n Seven points below the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs line in May is not \u201cseason\u2019s over\u201d stuff, but they desperately need the week ahead, with a trip to Austin<\/a> on Wednesday and then a visit from Philly<\/a> next Saturday, to be a good week. Because things can start slipping away pretty quickly once the games pile up.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n My favorite games are ones where there are two really good teams with completely different philosophies, with both determined to impose that every single week. No quarter asked, and none given.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what we got from Columbus<\/a>\u2019s trip to Philadelphia<\/a>, with the Crew (MLS\u2019s premier possession team) trying to methodically control proceedings and the Union (MLS\u2019s premier all-gas-no-brakes pressing team) trying to run them right off the rails.<\/p>\n Armchair Analyst special correspondent Calen Carr was on the sticks for that one, and I\u2019ve enlisted him to give the full tactical rundown:<\/p>\n While much of the attention rightly went to D\u00e1niel Gazdag<\/a>\u2019s return to Chester, it was the \u201cmy way vs. your way\u201d tactical battle between Bradley Carnell and Wilfried Nancy that made the 2-2 tie<\/a> between top-of-the-East teams even that much better.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n The first half saw the Union\u2019s box midfield frustrate a Columbus side that seems mostly impervious to pressure. Carnell\u2019s narrow, 4-2-2-2 structure sent numbers at Darlington Nagbe<\/a> and Dylan Chambost<\/a> while the center backs, Jakob Glesnes<\/a> and Nathan Harriel<\/a>, released well from the backline to force Gazdag and Aziel Jackson<\/a> to drop deep to get on the ball instead of finding space in the pockets. And while the Crew continued to probe centrally, their best moment came after halftime when Chambost ceded the middle to overlap wide, where he then found a great cross to Max Arfsten<\/a> on the far side to equalize:<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 11, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n While most clubs hold their No. 6s in central areas, Nancy encourages Chambost (who has the most mileage of any player in MLS this year) to make movements like this to adapt to a narrow Union shape and drag 10 players to one side to leave one alone \u2013 in this case, Arfsten \u2013 to put in the dagger.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n Carnell has also weaponized his twin 6s but in a different way. Jovan Lukic<\/a> and Danley Jean Jacques<\/a> are not so quietly becoming the Union\u2019s best chance creators (all due respect to Quinn Sullivan<\/a> for picking up his seventh assist of the season for their opener) through a mix of the press, combination play at full pace, and as of late, the ability to pick the right pass or finish themselves. It was Jean Jacques\u2019 deep run and 1v1 duel that set up 19-year-old homegrown right back Frankie Westfield<\/a>\u2019s smash winner (hahaha nope! \u2013 what a way to score your first MLS goal though). It is Jean Jacques\u2019 fourth match in a row (three wins and a draw) with a goal contribution.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n That said, I couldn\u2019t help but hold my thoughts in the dying moments of this one on this being the first convincing loss for Columbus this season (remember, their 1-0 \u201chome\u201d loss<\/a> to Inter Miami<\/a> was in front of 60k+ in Cleveland in a match they thoroughly dominated but couldn\u2019t finish). Sure enough, in the last 30 seconds Sean Zawadzki<\/a> crept in past Kai Wagner<\/a> on a corner (kudos to Diego Rossi<\/a> for the flick header) to remind everyone why this team is consistently fighting for silverware.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n It\u2019s a painful lesson for Carnell\u2019s squad in a litmus test that four months ago no one thought they had the ingredients for. The fact they mostly passed against easily one of the best teams in MLS over the past three years \u2013 one that just bought Philly\u2019s best player \u2013 is a testament to how far they are ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n 13. The Galaxy traveled to Harrison<\/strong> for a rematch of last year\u2019s MLS Cup. Greg Vanney changed the team\u2019s shape \u2013 he went to a 4-4-2 diamond, which his Toronto FC<\/a> teams regularly played \u2013 in a desperate attempt to find any kind of life for his side.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Last weekend the Galaxy became the first-ever team in MLS to lose without conceding a shot.<\/p>\n This weekend they tied the record for largest margin of defeat (7-0) while setting the record for a winless streak to start the season (12). pic.twitter.com\/4EmQJ4OkYk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) May 11, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n The seven-goal loss has happened several times before, but the 12-game winless streak to start the season? That\u2019s brand new, never-been-done stuff.<\/p>\n There\u2019s nothing to say about this team other than that it\u2019s all gone wrong in every conceivable way.<\/p>\n For the Red Bulls<\/a>\u2026 was this an aberration? A 90-minute kickaround in the park against opponents who have more or less checked out, or an indication that the emphasis Sandro Schwarz has put on building via possession is taking hold?<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know. I just feel like it\u2019s dangerous to read too much into this one either way.<\/p>\n 12. The reason the Galaxy stand alone<\/strong> in that 12-match winless streak to start the season is CF Montr\u00e9al<\/a> went to the Bronx and left with all three points thanks to a 1-0 win<\/a> over New York City FC<\/a>, courtesy of a Prince Owusu<\/a> blast.<\/p>\n Montr\u00e9al are playing a pretty classic 4-4-2 under interim head coach Marco Donadel, trying to shape the game into winnable moments rather than a prolonged back-and-forth. They\u2019re doing relatively well with it \u2013 they could\u2019ve had that first win last weekend against Philly if they\u2019d caught a couple of breaks \u2013 so this shouldn\u2019t come as too much of a shock, especially since NYCFC are just a different, and vastly inferior team without the injured Keaton Parks<\/a> running things in central midfield.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Keaton Parks is not available for us, we have to do some homework to shape our midfield,\u201d is how head coach Pascal Jansen put it, and if anything, he\u2019s understating it. Parks is the one who tilts the field, which allows Maxi Moralez<\/a> to play as a true No. 10. When he\u2019s not out there, Maxi doesn\u2019t really get on the ball in good spots, which in turn sort of dislocates the entire attack.<\/p>\n 11. There are few things in MLS right now<\/strong> funnier than Minnesota United<\/a> doing this every single week, no matter who they\u2019re playing:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n football heritage pic.twitter.com\/e7rUUMltS3<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ben Wright (@benwright) May 10, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Such was the case in their 4-1 win<\/a> over a suddenly slumping Inter Miami. The Loons have built the entire plane out of set pieces, counterattacks and long throw-ins. What even is possession?<\/p>\n For the Herons, there is always plenty of defensive blame to go around, and right now head coach Javier Mascherano is feeling the wrath of supporters<\/a>. But let\u2019s point the finger at Jordi Alba<\/a> this week. Obviously he completely shuts off on the second Minnesota goal \u2013 that one\u2019s easy to see \u2013 but his work on the opener was actually worse. Noah Allen<\/a> had covered for him and done well shuttling play into the corner, so all Jordi had to do was take up the left center back role and chill in that channel. Contain the play. Instead, he goes walkabout<\/a> and Bongi Hlongwane<\/a> scores the goal from the exact spot where Jordi should\u2019ve been.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Jordi! Stop!<\/p>\n Just an insane lack of discipline from a legendary player who should know better, and whose status makes him undroppable<\/em>. I\u2019m emphasizing that for a reason, as it\u2019s something Mascherano needs to have a long think about with a Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire derby against Orlando City<\/a> coming up next weekend.<\/p>\n 10. Toronto FC got their second win of the season<\/strong> with a 2-0 at home<\/a> over visiting D.C. United<\/a>, thanks to a diving header from Lorenzo Insigne<\/a> and a D.C. own goal.<\/p>\n TFC head coach Robin Fraser opened his postgame comments with a heartfelt \u201cf— yeah!\u201d which probably tells you something about the relief he and his staff are feeling.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t blame him, as wins have been difficult to come by. But the Reds, who were in the first game without center back Nicksoen Gomis<\/a> (out the rest of the season with an Achilles injury), have become a decently tough team to beat. Since March 29, they\u2019ve lost just twice and conceded just four times in seven outings. Between that and the development of young players like Theo Corbeanu<\/a> and Kosi Thompson<\/a>, it feels like they\u2019re heading in the right direction both tactically and philosophically.<\/p>\n United didn\u2019t play poorly, but it continues to be Christian Benteke<\/a> or nothing in front of goal.<\/p>\n 9. Orlando took a 2-0 lead by the<\/strong> 33rd minute of their home date with New England and had given it back by the 44th. They took a 3-2 lead in the 55th minute when Mart\u00edn Ojeda<\/a> completed his hat trick \u2013 just the second in the team\u2019s MLS history \u2013 but gave it back in the 85th minute of what was a pretty wild 3-3 draw<\/a> down in central Florida.<\/p>\n The first Revs\u2019 goal, which came from Alhassan Yusuf<\/a> pushing forward cleverly during a good string of possession, broke Pedro Gallese<\/a>\u2019s shutout streak at 563 minutes. That was the sixth-longest in league history.<\/p>\n So what happened?<\/p>\n Since the Revs have shifted to that 3-4-1-2 of theirs they have done a really good job of boiling everything down to \u201cHey, can you stop Carles Gil<\/a> and our forwards? Bet.\u201d And even when Orlando were up 2-0, and in the midst of that record shutout streak, they could not.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was pretty challenging to be honest because Gil is] a really good player, a really good number 10, his left foot especially,\u201d is how d-mid [Joran Gerbet<\/a> put it, before really putting his finger on how New England\u2019s structure causes problems.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cHe goes pretty far from my zone, so I have to come out from my zone, which is pretty hard for the center back because I leave a lot of space behind me.\u201d<\/p>\n If you\u2019re gonna stop the Revs (who are now unbeaten in five) these days, you have to solve for that.<\/p>\n Orlando, of course, will be tasked with stopping Messi<\/a> & Friends next weekend.<\/p>\n 8. And if you\u2019re gonna stop RSL<\/strong> you have to solve for Diego Luna<\/a>, who\u2019s started to vibrate at a frequency few players in the league can match. FC Dallas were the better overall team in the sides\u2019 1-1 draw<\/a> at Toyota Stadium, but Luna did this, so RSL<\/a> got a point:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) May 11, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n That\u2019s four points from a successful three-game road trip for the Claret-and-Cobalt. It hasn\u2019t been pretty, but this is starting to feel like a Pablo Mastroeni team a little bit.<\/p>\n Dallas\u2019s lone goal came from an incredible solo effort by Anderson Julio<\/a>, but this team is still trying to figure out what works and what doesn\u2019t. Head coach Eric Quill changed his shape at halftime (from a 4-4-2 to a 4-2-3-1), and while you could argue it gave them better attacking moments, I\u2019m not sure the shape gave his side the pitch control they were looking for.<\/p>\n The good news for the hosts? Both Petar Musa<\/a> and Paxton Pomykal<\/a> returned from injury.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n 7. San Diego showed their adaptability<\/strong>, simply capitalizing on the St. Louis<\/a> backline\u2019s penchant for self-destruction to walk out of town with all three points thanks to a 2-1 win<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nothing about this was los Ni\u00f1os at their best \u2013 they had a lot of possession and weren\u2019t able to do much with it until the hosts became too generous \u2013 but the sign of a good team is the ability to go out on the road and come away with a result even when they\u2019re not really humming.<\/p>\n Olof Mellberg once again crammed his XI full of center backs, this time starting four of them, with the wrinkle being they man-marked the visitors for 90 minutes (St. Louis usually play zonal). Once again it didn\u2019t work, and in what I felt was a pretty predictable way:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u00a1Milan Iloski pone en ventaja a @sandiegofc<\/a> aprovechando el pase de An\u00edbal Godoy????????! pic.twitter.com\/HblYFNCOgr<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 MLS Espa\u00f1ol (@MLSes) May 11, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Josh Yaro<\/a> gets caught thinking zonally for a split-second there, then tries to recover and close Milan Iloski<\/a> down. But he\u2019s too late and Iloski uses Yaro\u2019s desperation against him, then that\u2019s all she wrote.<\/p>\n St. Louis are now on an eight-game winless skid and have conceded eight goals in their past three games. The wheels are coming off.<\/p>\n 6. Seattle\u2019s season has gone in the other direction<\/strong>, as they\u2019ve been one of the league\u2019s best teams over the past month after a tough start. This time it was a relatively ho-hum 3-1 win<\/a> in Houston behind another Danny Musovski<\/a> one-touch finish and two very nice team goals that Albert Rusn\u00e1k<\/a> got onto the end of.<\/p>\n The good for Seattle:<\/p>\n The big, flashing warning sign:<\/p>\n That one\u2019s weird! The Sounders<\/a> have been one of the league\u2019s best on restarts for a long, long time.<\/p>\n Houston<\/a> probably feel hard done by with Femi Awodesu<\/a>\u2019s red card (which came after he\u2019d scored his first-ever MLS goal getting onto the end of, yes, a set piece). I\u2019ll leave that up to Andrew Wiebe on Instant Replay.<\/p>\n 5. I\u2019m going to<\/strong> borrow a line<\/strong> from my buddy Arman Kafai<\/a> in summing up Austin<\/a>\u2019s 2-1 loss<\/a> at Cincinnati<\/a>, in which the visitors \u2013 who mirrored Cincy\u2019s shape by playing out of a 3-4-1-2 \u2013 were not bad at all: Their performance against Cincinnati was fine; players like Evander change games and that\u2019s what you saw.<\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s not helping though that they\u2019re now leading the league in goals scored under expected at 7.4 though.<\/em><\/p>\n Brandon Vazquez<\/a> and Myrto Uzuni<\/a> are both culpable. Osman Bukari<\/a>, who\u2019s been in and out of the starting lineup (justifiable), is culpable. You go out and spend that money on players who are supposed to win you games, and when they\u2019re doing the opposite, it\u2019s very tough to scrape together a workable blueprint.<\/p>\n Evander (1g\/1a) is doing that, he being what he has been gives Cincy the cushion they need to figure out how all the pieces fit together most optimally.<\/p>\n It\u2019s still a work in progress, but they\u2019ve won six of their past seven and are atop the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n 4. Santiago Moreno, take a bow:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 11, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n And a happy Mother\u2019s Day to Santiago Moreno<\/a>\u2019s mom (and all moms!) after that one, which was the only goal in Portland<\/a>\u2019s 1-0 win<\/a> over visiting Sporting KC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n This goal was the culmination of an opening 10 minutes in which Portland built from the back, patiently possessed the ball, and kept the visitors under constant pressure. It was really good soccer of the sort Phil Neville has been asking for all year long, and his team has taken clear steps toward delivering in meaningful ways.<\/p>\n Did their level drop after the goal? Yes. Did they have some trouble killing the game off with the ball? Yes. But this was still meaningful progress toward becoming a team that can do damage in more than one phase of play.<\/p>\n The last two goals Sporting have conceded have been bikes, by the way. They\u2019re another team making progress, though it\u2019s coming only in fits and starts.<\/p>\n 3. Are we hitting the crisis point yet<\/strong> in Commerce City? It feels like the Rapids<\/a> should be feeling some level of desperation after a pretty dispiriting 2-0 home loss<\/a> in which they mustered almost nothing in the second half (they went down 1-0 just before the break when DeJuan Jones<\/a> got his first for San Jose<\/a>).<\/p>\n They\u2019re now winless in four, and the switch to a more direct, transition-oriented 4-4-2 has maybe tilted too much toward conceding both the flanks and central midfield over the past two weeks. With Zack Steffen<\/a>\u2019s form regressing towards, if not necessarily to<\/em> the mean, the margins have gotten thinner, and too often Colorado have found themselves on the wrong side of them.<\/p>\n To be fair, this was probably San Jose\u2019s best all-around performance of the season, and their third strong overall showing in a row. Their ability to get both wingbacks involved (Jones\u2019 goal was assisted by V\u00edtor Costa<\/a>, the left wingback) since shifting to the 3-4-2-1 has made them devastating.<\/p>\n 2. Borrowing a line from my guy Charles Boehm<\/strong>: \u201cGrimly hanging on to a 2-1 halftime lead, the XI collectively dropping deeper and deeper while the pressure dials up as the second half ticks away… that’s LAFC<\/a> football.\u201d<\/p>\n To be fair to LAFC, they came damn close to finding a winner several times in the final five minutes of what ultimately became a 2-2 draw<\/a>. To be fair to Charlie, his assessment was 100% correct for the first 40 minutes of the second half.<\/p>\n So:<\/p>\n This result doesn\u2019t really change how I feel about either team: the \u2018Caps are the best side in MLS, and once they get to full strength they\u2019re going to be utterly terrifying.<\/p>\n LAFC are very good and getting better, and maybe even deserved a win in this one \u2013 Yohei Takaoka<\/a> was heroic in the 90th minute. But to be the team they want to be, they need more comfort and incisiveness on the ball.<\/p>\n Really good game, though. These teams were really going at it.<\/p>\n 1. And finally our Pass of the Week<\/strong> goes to Alex Muyl<\/a>, who showed a bit of prescience with this backheel flick to Hany Mukhtar<\/a>:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Take a bow, Hany Mukhtar ????@NashvilleSC<\/a> immediately respond! pic.twitter.com\/iiFRZXYeGU<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 11, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Jacob Shaffelburg<\/a> added a banger of his own just a few minutes later to give the \u2018Yotes all three points with the 2-1 home win<\/a>, which was not, in any way, a vintage performance. Nashville<\/a>, at their best, have been capable of some flowing, back-to-front movements that are Crew-esque. Charlotte<\/a>, for one, did a good job of shutting that down without the ball, but also did really good work of moving the game around and dictating tempo with<\/em> the ball.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a game we should have won and we\u2019ve given the game away today,\u201d is what Charlotte head coach Dean Smith said afterward. And while I don\u2019t necessarily agree with that, in the bigger picture I think it\u2019s a positive step towards being a more dimensional team overall.<\/p>\n By that I mean they got thumped by the Crew last week, in what I\u2019d consider a structural, process-based loss. This week the structure was better and the process was good \u2013 they just switched off twice and got punished for it.<\/p>\n Cold comfort in the middle of what\u2019s become a three-game losing streak, I\u2019m sure. But info that\u2019s worth filing away after they looked so helpless a week ago.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
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