MLS: five things we learned in week 10

World Cup aspirants make final cases to Klinsmann

US Soccer is expected to announce its 30-man preliminary World Cup roster on Monday afternoon, making this weekend the final audition for the handful of Major League Soccer players hoping to leap off the national team bubble. Unfortunately for those players, once you take account for the 24-25 players destined to be named, only a few spots are up for grabs. Factor in players from beyond MLS with inside tracks on those spots, and only a couple of domestic-based players could have conceivably swayed opinion.

The most talked about of which is Benny Feilhaber, but by virtue of not being called into camp for last month’s friendly against Mexico, the Sporting midfielder’s odds were always long. Thanks to Collen Warner’s early red card in Montreal, the former Hamburg midfielder had little chance to make his case, with his team playing 11-on-10 for most of its afternoon. Having already told NBC Sports’ Kyle Martino that he doesn’t expect to be called up, the 2010 World Cup selection won’t be surprised to miss out on the camp in Palo Alto.

Maurice Edu, conversely, looks like a lock to go. Like Feilhaber, the former Rangers midfielder went to the 2010 World Cup, but unlike his former international teammate, Edu was called up for Mexico. This weekend for Philadelphia, Edu showed the same ranging, poised presence in the middle that he’s exhibited all season. The 28-year-old’s return to the States has started to look less like an audition than verification, with many expecting Edu to play his way onto the final 23-man squad.

Others frequently considered doubts don’t carry that status for the 30-man roster. Though fan opinion of players like Kyle Beckerman, Brad Davis, Brad Evans, Eddie Johnson and Chris Wondolowski remains divided, it would be a shock to see any of their names left off Monday’s list. Each did enough before May to book a trip to Stanford. Once there, however, players like Davis, Johnson, and Wondolowski will enter a three-week competition to claim one of the final tickets to Brazil.

Here’s what Monday’s squad could look like, though don’t be surprised if Timmy Chandler (Nuremburg), Joe Corona (Tijuana), or Tim Ream (Bolton) end up claiming one of these spots:

Goalkeepers (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

Defenders (8): DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (San Jose Earthquakes), Michael Parkhurst (Columbus Crew)

Midfielders (12): Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Mikkel Diskerud (Rosenborg), Maurice Edu (Philadelphia), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Jermaine Jones (Besiktas), Julian Green (Bayern Munich), Danny Williams (Reading), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

Forwards (7): Juan Agudelo (Utrecht), Jozy Altidore (Sunderland), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders), Aron Johansson (AZ Alkmaar), Eddie Johnson (D.C. United), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)

RF

Seattle can still collapse without notice

If wins over Sporting and Toronto didn’t announce New England’s status as a contender, consider Sunday’s result the type of message an Aurèlien Collin red card or TFC slump can’t obscure. Scoring four times in the first half, the Revolution embarrassed a Seattle team many considered MLS’s best. By the end of Sunday's performance, Jay Heaps’ team had made its own claim to a spot amongst the favorites, its 5-0 victory giving New England 13 points from its last five games.

As most five-goal wins are, New England’s was a total dismantling of the opposition, one that looked like it was going to go another way over its first 10 minutes. Seattle seemed the better side, monopolizing possession while creating better chances. In the 14^th minute, however, Patrick Mullins cleaned up some chaos in front of goal, it became clear that living without the ball was New England’s plan. The first two goals of the season from Diego Fagundez highlighted the rout.

As impressive as the performance was for New England, the big talking points rest with the Sounders; primarily, why Sigi Schmid’s team seems predisposed to this type of result. For the seventh time in 18 months, Seattle’s been blitzed like this, and while some of those results end up like last year’s playoff loss in Portland (a 3-2 loss come full time), most finish like last October’s in Colorado (5-1). Why does this keep happening to a team of Seattle’s talent?

The other problems are less nebulous. For the third time this season, it appeared as if DeAndre Yedlin’s flank was being targeted, with all four first half goals coming from New England’s left. In addition, the team continues to have problems in the midfield, only inexplicable given the presence of Osvaldo Alonso. But partnered with Gonzalo Pineda in a two-man middle, the balance isn’t right. Having trouble reading each other, the duo is leaving the defense exposed.

For a team that came into the game as the best in the league, a lot of doubts surfaced in one 90-minute stretch. With Seattle, however, the tendency to get exposed goes well beyond Sunday. Though the start of the 2014 season hints this may be a new, more dangerous Sounders team, Sunday revealed the same problems that have undermined the last three postseasons. This team, for whatever reason, can’t seem to go very long without a disastrous result. RF

Formation changes for Union and Chivas

When all else fails, go back to what works. And nothing’s worked? Well, just try something you did last year. That seemed to be John Hackworth’s logic as D.C. United visited Chester on Saturday, with the Philadelphia boss, for the first time this season, switching to the 4-4-2 setup that kept his team on the edge of the playoffs last season.

Given Philadelphia’s roster, adding a striker at the expense of a midfielder may have been the worst solution for Union’s scoring woes. Whereas with most teams it would make sense to throw numbers at the problem – moving from a one-front to a two – the Union don’t have one forward that’s working right now, let alone a pair. Between Conor Casey, Sebastien Le Toux, and Andrew Wenger, Philadelphia are only getting one goal every 504 minutes. This wasn’t change with a purpose. It was change from a team that’s run out of ideas.

Perhaps predictably, the plan’s flaws were exposed. After a blocked shot fell to Chris Rolfe above the spot in the sixth minute, D.C. United not only had a lead but had the first piece of a scenario it’s begun to perfect. For the fourth time this year, took an early lead, and for the fourth time this season, Ben Olsen’s team saw out a result, with only a Hector Jimenez stoppage time equalizer in Columbus three weeks ago preventing United from keeping a 100 percent record when scoring first.

Holding Philadelphia without a shot on target for 64 minutes, D.C. went on to claim its fourth win of the year (1-0), already eclipsing its record low win total from last season. In the process, the team won an MLS game away from RFK Stadium for the first time since Nov. 2012. Even if the Union is a mess, D.C.’s ability to take advantage of struggling teams stands in stark contrast to last season’s struggles.

For Philadelphia, however, the outlook is far more gloomy. The 4-4-2 proved such a poor idea, Hackworth switched out of it at halftime, leaving Union fans to ask what’s next. Though some are assuming the team will go out and find a striker this summer, the transfer window seems so far away. If Philadelphia waits until the second week of July to address its attacking problems, Hackworth will be left with a team defined by its own impotence.

With two midweek moves, Chivas USA – winless since its opening day victory over Chicago – appeared to hit the panic button in the face of its eight-match unbeaten run. Adolfo “Bofo” Bautista, who harbored faint hopes of playing his way to Gaudalajara, left the team, while former Aston Villa forward Luke Moore was traded to Toronto, leaving the team light two forwards. When midfielders Martin Chávez (Colorado) and Ethan Finlay (Columbus) were brought in, Wilmer Cabrera was left with Erick Torres and little else up top.

Thus the team not only switched formations going into Colorado (moving to a 4-2-3-1) but also appeared to be waving a white flag. Coming off a 4-1 loss to Houston that reminded fans of 2013, the team’s moves seemed to return the squad to that level. Going into Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Chivas USA looked like Torres and a bunch of spare parts.

That’s why it was such a surprise when, after dominating the ball in the first half, Colorado walked into the dressing rooms tied 0-0. An even bigger surprise came 11 minutes into the second half when, assisted by ex-Rapid Martin Rivero, Torres gave his team a shock lead, converting the visitors’ first shot on target. Eleven minutes later, it was the man Colorado let go, Chávez, who scored his first of the game, eventually celebrating his fourth day as a Goat with a brace as he iced the match in the 76^th minute. For the second time this season, Chivas USA had managed to score three times; and for the second time this season, Cabrera’s team left victorious.

The first time they did so, we wrote: “Los Angeles’s other team is allowed to be good.” While it would be an exaggeration to say that one strong performance in Colorado suddenly makes Chivas USA a good team, over the last eight weeks we’ve fallen into the same traps we wrote about in March. The Goats recent history doesn’t make failure a foregone conclusion, and a few midweek roster moves don’t mean the team’s raising a white flag.

At some point, we’ll start looking at Chivas USA the same way we look at other struggling sides. We’ll greet their victories with surprise instead of absolute shock. That we don’t already speaks to the damage Jorge Vergara did to this club, but before Chivas USA ceases to exist, it would be nice if we gave the team a fair shot. RF

Chicago’s Shipp comes in

When the dust had settled on a wild night at Red Bull Arena, New York coach Mike Petke was asked if there were any positives to take from his team’s 5-4 loss to Chicago Fire:

“Yes. I’m going to go and have a vodka.”

In the Chicago locker room, Frank Yallop was shaking his head at the manner of his side’s first win of the season, where they’d turned a 2-1 half-time deficit into a 5-2 lead with a 15 minute four goal burst just after the restart, before enduring a squirming last ten minutes at 5-4. When I told Yallop Petke’s comments he rolled his eyes and said, “I think I’ll join him.” It was that kind of game.

Nine goals, two hat tricks, bizarre refereeing decisions and a game whose result was in question right until the last kick of the game, when Bradley Wright-Phillips, one of the hat-trick scorers, sent a bicycle kick straight at Sean Johnson — this was not a game you necessarily learn a lot from — all you could do was enjoy the ride, as the Fire finally clicked, and the New York defense roller skated to disaster in the second half.

What the game did do was announce to the rest of the league what Chicago fans have been quietly coming to appreciate all season — the emergence of Harry Shipp. This was his night, as he opened the scoring after just four minutes, in controversial circumstances (Mike Magee was flagged offside and looked to be distracting New York keeper Luis Robles, as Shipp’s chip floated across both of them and into the far corner), before going on to complete his hat trick during that second half Chicago salvo, when everything seemed to come off.

Had New York prepared for Shipp? Petke looked incredulous at the suggestion afterwards, as he pointed out that this was a young professional who’d played maybe ten games. But when Chicago pushed up after half-time, at Yallop’s suggestion, and their three man midfield began to overrun Dax McCarty (whose poor distribution is becoming an increasing concern for New York) and a still unfit Tim Cahill, Shipp was able to repeatedly attack New York’s full back Kosuke Kimura, with increasing returns. He’ll not fly under an opposing coach’s radar again.

At the other end, Bradley Wright-Phillips hat-trick took his tally to eight goals in four games, including the goal that gave New York a 2-1 lead just before half-time. At that point you’d have bet on the hosts putting the game away, with Chicago looking bereft of confidence and the Red Bulls, while clearly showing their problems (McCarty’s passing, a less than 100% Cahill, a sloppy display from central defender Armando, Thierry Henry’s increasingly fine margin between poor performances masked by key interventions) looked to have the platform to go on and win the game comfortably.

Instead they imploded. And despite a spirited comeback, behind unusually proactive Petke attacking substitutions, they could not overhaul Chicago, who finally rid themselves of the tag of “the only winless team” in the league. The fact that they needed all five of their goals to do so may yet be an issue on the training field for both these coaches this week…after that stiff drink. GP

Montréal is back! To losing.

There is at least one positive for Montréal following their 0-3 loss to Sporting KC at Stade Saputo: they didn’t lose by more. Montréal played a man down as of the 17’ after midfielder Collen Warner handled the ball several times in a scuffle in front of goal, and after Dom Dwyer converted the penalty, there was very little hope for the Impact to recover. Paulo Nagamura scored a second for Sporting KC before the half, and Dwyer scored the game winner and earned himself a second brace against Montréal this season in the 64’.

The three unanswered goals were not as impressive as the possession statistics. Sporting KC dominated the match with 78.2 percent possession, a League record since Opta began recording the statistic in 2011, and boasted a 92 percent passing accuracy. Oriol Rosell (who, if you haven’t heard, played for Barcelona’s B team) completed an impressive 160 of his 166 passes attempted while Montréal completed 212 passes. Total. As a team.

All that possession for Sporting KC led to 12 attempts at goal and five shots on target compared to the 14 attempts at goal and six shots on target in their game against Columbus last week where they had 50 percent possession and won 2-0. At one point in the second half of Saturday’s match, Sporting KC completed 52 consecutive passes that failed to result in a goal.

The Impact competed midweek in the Canadian Championship where they lost 2-1 to NASL side FC Edmonton. Montréal, the defending champions, host the second leg of that semi-final series next week. With a CONCACAF Champions League spot on the line, it was good reason for resting forward Marco Di Vaio and defender Matteo Ferrari against Sporting KC. With a 1-5-3 record in League play, the road to silverware does not cross the Canadian border.

As Sporting KC went to the top of the Eastern Conference with their three-point gift from Montréal, the Impact maintain their place at the bottom of the table. There is hope for the Impact in Justin Mapp’s creativity, a focused Di Vaio and an acclimated Jack McInerney. The Impact’s big losses have come against teams that were (Dallas) or are (Seattle, Sporting KC) in top form; they’ve managed to score against every opponent except Houston, Seattle and Sporting KC. Their young defenders came up together through the academy and have an opportunity moving forward to help make up some points for their team.

This match was Coach Frank Koplas’ 100th regular season match coaching in MLS. Montréal operates a revolving door for head coaches, having been through five since they joined the League in 2011, so Koplas has probably been worried about losing his job since joining the organization earlier this year. Assistant coach Mauro Biello has been a constant for the Impact; perhaps some of the blame for the Impact’s lack of, well, impact lies with him. MB