Has MLS really moved to a different level?
All the numbers were impressive last week: an average attendance of 25,838 across the league, 539,000 watching Orlando City’s debut on ESPN2 and 341,000 watching UniMas’s coverage of LA Galaxy v Chicago Fire. There was a buzz around opening weekend, perhaps influenced by the tension caused by the last-minute deal with the players’ union or perhaps generated by having two new clubs and new arrivals such as Kaka, David Villa and Sebastian Giovinco in action.
If you had come across the Vancouver-Toronto game while channel-hopping, you could have easily been tricked into thinking if was a European match. A high-tempo game with good technical players, performed in front of a loud 21,000 crowd, it was hopefully a glimpse of a new standard in MLS. While there were some poor games, the tactical approach of the majority coaches seems to be to try to play progressive, passing football.
While those on-field trends should continue, it will be interesting to see whether the off-the-field numbers remain steady after such a strong kickoff. Has MLS finally started to make inroads towards a new, bigger television audience? Or was that just a blip caused by the hype around week one? The average attendance will drop without a similar crowd to Orlando’s 62,500 but will other teams making their home debuts also get a boost in numbers? Has MLS really moved up to a new level?
New York’s Yankee Stadium debut
Last week New York City FC made their MLS debut but Jason Kreis’s team were very much the supporting act in front of that huge crowd in Orlando. This week they take headline billing at their home, for now, Yankee Stadium – and they will be keen to make a strong first impression.
Fans will be curious to see how the baseball park works as a soccer venue, particularly given the reports of the grass being in far from ideal condition, and the players will be keen to see how they are received by fans of a team manufactured by an alliance of the iconic baseball club and the Premier League’s Manchester City. Will there be the kind of passion we saw in central Florida? Will NYCFC be able to win the hearts of those New Yorkers who haven’t been prepared to make the trip over to Harrison, New Jersey to watch the Red Bulls?
On the field, the New England Revolution, last year’s runners-up in MLS Cup, and the team that ended the Red Bulls’ hopes in the playoffs, should provide a sterner test than Orlando did. The task for Kreis at this very early stage with the expansion team will be eased somewhat by the absence of Revs’ US international midfielder Jermaine Jones, who is out with a groin injury. Lee Nguyen, New England’s creative force, was back in training this week and could feature, although forward Teal Bunbury is questionable after he picked up a shoulder injury in the opening-day defeat at Seattle.
Are Toronto for real this year?
We won’t really know the answer to that question until playoff time but a lot of eyes will be on Saturday’s game at the Columbus Crew to see if TFC’s impressive 3-1 win at Vancouver last week can be repeated. There were plenty of encouraging signs in that display for coach Greg Vanney. The two expensive designated-player strikers - Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore both looked sharp, the latter scoring twice. Michael Bradley and Frenchman Benoit Cheyrou suggested they could evolve into a very dominant central midfield pairing. Former Marseilles midfielder Cheyrou has gone somewhat under the radar with all the attention on the big-money arrivals but his class was evident in Vancouver and the 33-year-old could prove to be instrumental to Toronto’s efforts to break their playoff duck this year.
Columbus provide an interesting test for Vanney’s team and they are likely to ask several questions of a Toronto defense that was caught out once, when playing a high line, at Vancouver. The Crew’s Argentine designated player Federico Higuaín, likes to roam just behind the front line and can be hard to pick up, while former Sporting KC forward Kei Kamara, back in MLS after spells in England with Norwich City and Middlesbrough, is also a handful to mark. With Wil Trapp anchoring a midfield that can produce an eye-pleasing possession game for Columbus, Toronto are likely to have to play a more patient and disciplined game than in last week’s high-tempo derby at BC Place. How they cope with that will, at least, give us some clues as to how far Vanney is along with creating a real challenger.
How will Orlando cope on the road?
The excitement and emotion of their magical opener is over and on Friday Orlando will get a taste of the more mundane business of trying to pick up points on the road in MLS. While the Lions showed impressive determination, down to 10 men, to snatch an injury-time equalizer against NYCFC, it will be very telling how they cope with a Houston side which showed plenty of promise in their 1-0 win over Columbus in week one.
The game matches two former English league coaches against each other, with curiously both Dynamo’s Owen Coyle and Orlando’s Adrian Heath, both having made their managerial names at Burnley before choosing to leave of their own accord – with mixed results. Coyle’s influence was certainly evident in Houston’s opening game - Dynamo looked to attack down the flanks and looked far more dangerous once English forward Giles Barnes was given the main striker’s role rather than less mobile target man Will Bruin. Orlando will have to make a change at the back where French center-back Aurelien Collin is suspended after his sending off against New York. Irish international Sean St. Ledger will likely partner Seb Hines in the middle of defence. Orlando may be able to ride a wave of excitement in front of big crowds at home, but has Heath been able to instill the tactical discipline needed to grind out results on the road?
Are the tighter Portland worth keeping an eye on?
The Timbers’ problems at the back were largely to blame for their disappointing 2014 campaign, but they looked solid against Real Salt Lake in last week’s goalless draw. With the talent they have up front they could be contenders for the post-season this year if they can show that kind of defensive cohesiveness throughout the campaign.
The Galaxy will provide the ultimate test of just how improved Caleb Porter’s new defense is: Robbie Keane and Gyasi Zardes are not only goal threats themselves but they stretch the back line and create gaps for the likes of Jose Villarreal and Stefan Ishizaki to exploit. The Timbers’ new central defensive pairing of Liam Ridgewell and Nat Borchers looked solid against RSL and another display like that will suggest this year’s Portland is made of sterner stuff then the previous editions.
