Graham Parker and Graham Ruthven 

MLS Cup: It’s Portland v Columbus, but do the playoffs need to change?

Both teams deserve their place in the final but do the playoffs rules detract from the importance of the regular season?
  
  

Portland Timbers
Portland Timbers celebrate after winning the Western Conference championship. Photograph: Brad Loper/AP

A second leg at home isn’t the advantage it’s designed to be

If this year’s MLS playoffs were weighted in favour of the higher seeds – as they are meant to be – they did a good job of hiding that advantage. Playing at home in the second leg should have given both FC Dallas and the New York Red Bulls the edge their regular season form warranted, and yet the two sides missed out on an MLS Cup final place, losing their respective conference finals on aggregate.

It’s not so much that formulated scheduling favoured the wrong team – it’s that it apparently made no difference, calling into question whether the playoffs are actually weighted towards the higher seeds at all. Both Eastern and Western Conference finals went against time-honoured soccer convention, with FC Dallas and the Red Bulls seemingly suffering from playing on the road first.

Indeed, the structure of the MLS playoffs is a little muddled. Scheduling in the conference semi-finals and final, as well as the MLS Cup final itself, seeks to support the higher seeds, whilst away goals serves to undermine that. The league seems unsure of whether it wants to reward its strongest regular season sides or not.

Away goals were used as a tie-breaker in the MLS playoffs for the first time last year, and the rule’s implementation was criticised by some as yet another reduction of the regular season’s significance. It wasn’t needed in either conference final – or any of the semi-finals – but the rule’s presence could well have influenced the dynamic of the contest in each case. The tactical benefit of an away goal often favours the team that plays at home first, contrary to presumed custom.

Apart from anything else, the away goals rule is now widely regarded as unnecessary in Europe, where it originated in the 1960s, when teams would face genuinely taxing journeys by planes, trains and automobiles (and ferries), sometimes over several days, to away games all over the continent. In contrast the Portland Timbers traveled to Frisco on a chartered flight two days days before Sunday’s Western Conference final. Was there any real need to reward Caleb Porter’s side for opening up in a game played after a trip that probably doesn’t even warrant an in-flight meal on most airlines?

Although, a primary criticism of the away goals rule often aired in Europe isn’t really applicable in MLS. In Champions League and Europa League ties, as well as international qualification playoffs, it is often claimed that the consequence of an away goal weighs too heavy on the minds of players, only succeeding in making big games somewhat stodgy and insipid, robbing the continental game of its inherent spectacle.

In MLS, that doesn’t appear to be much of an issue, given the drama produced by this season’s playoff series. The 2-2 draw between FC Dallas and Portland, following on from the 3-1 result registered in the first leg, was just another enthralling episode in what has been a captivating post-season unaffected by the away goals rule or the favourable scheduling afforded to higher seeds.

Of course, that’s probably not the way it should be if MLS wishes to underline the regular season’s importance, preventing the undermining of everything that comes before the playoffs, but for the sake of entertainment and rip-roaring post-season contests it’s a welcome current. GR

Tchani and Trapp run the show for Columbus Crew SC

It wasn’t pretty at times, but the bravura way Columbus Crew SC repeatedly broke the New York pressing game, set the tone for the entire encounter.

So much of that was due to the aggression of Tony Tchani and Wil Trapp in supporting their defenders, winning the ball back quickly and instantly finding attackers. It meant that the best chances of the first half went to Columbus, and also meant that by the time Crew SC settled into defense for the Red Bulls’ final assault, the hard work had largely been done.

Tchani could have been forgiven some quiet satisfaction back at a stadium he briefly called home – before the series of trades that ultimately took Dax McCarty to New York. Not that there was much quiet about Tchani’s performance – though he’ll have his fingers crossed that he’s stayed under the radar of the disciplinary committee after going head to head with Mike Grella in a first half flashpoint.

It wasn’t the only such incident, in a physical game that the referee Baldomero Toledo allowed to flow, or verged on losing control of, depending on your perspective. Not that Tchani minded – the game suited his qualities.

When he left New York he was raw, but with promise as a defensive midfielder, even if at times his enthusiasm outstripped his composure. But on Sunday night that dog-with-a-balloon phase looked long gone, as he and Trapp repeatedly drove the Red Bulls off their rhythm, and helped his forward men find theirs. It was a vital part in not allowing momentum to build for the hosts, and a constant reminder that Crew SC only needed a goal to virtually guarantee themselves a spot in the final.

And for a team that has had a soft defensive center for much of the year, the protective job done by Tchani and Trapp has been vital in their progress, especially against the Red Bulls. The Crew went within a couple of minutes of shutting out the Red Bulls over 180 minutes, and while they weren’t exactly long shots to win an evenly matched series, nobody was predicting that scenario being part of how they advanced.

Whoever now wins MLS Cup will likely owe a big debt to their holding midfielders, given the dominance of Diego Chara over the past month or so, in ensuring Portland’s progress. We’ll no doubt be talking about the attacking forces of Nagbe, Valeri, Kamara, Higuain et al this week, as we look forward to the final but by next Sunday night we’ll be talking about how half that list was negated. Tchani and Trapp made their case for the defense in style on Sunday. GP

The future remains bright for MLS’s most exciting, young team

Like so many of those trying to make their way into Toyota Stadium for Sunday’s Western Conference final, FC Dallas’ attack took until well into the second half to finally show up. Unlike the thousands of fans prevented from watching the opening hour of action due to increased security checks in Frisco, Oscar Pareja’s side had scant excuse for their absence against the Portland Timbers, though. They came close to staging a remarkable fight back – and giving their supporters an extra 30 minutes of soccer to make amends for what they had missed – but ultimately FC Dallas left it too late.

But while Pareja will rue a dismal opening hour of play from his team, there are good reasons to be encouraged by the club’s 2015 campaign. Coming so close to the Supporters’ Shield title, as well as finishing second best to the Timbers in the Western Conference final, was undoubtedly a disappointment, but the future is one of much promise for FC Dallas.

Their young team will have garnered invaluable experience from their playoff run, standing them in good stead for future post-season campaigns. They will know how to deal with the big occasion better, and perhaps how to deal with a feverous home crowd in full playoff frenzy, as they did at Providence Park last week. They have time to add function to their flair - of which they have plenty.

FC Dallas have an identity. Their homegrown model is among the strongest – if not the absolute strongest – in MLS, with players like Victor Ulloa, Kellyn Acosta, Danny Garcia and Moises Hernandez all coming through the club’s Frisco academy. It’s not just the way they produce players either, but the way they make them play too. Under Pareja the Texas side have become the dynamic, possession-based outfit owner Dan Hunt wants them to be, with Fabian Castillo and Mauro Diaz in particular among two of the league’s most enthralling performers.

And so 2015 must be regarded a year of progression for FC Dallas, the year they went from romantic idealists to genuine contenders. They might lose Castillo, whose rapid ascent with the Texas club could take him on to bigger and better things on a steeper upward arc, and there remains questions over the number nine position, following David Texiera and Blas Perez’s respective struggles to make the role their own, but FC Dallas have given themselves a basis on which to build. GR

If the Portland Timbers want elite success they’ll need their elite players back

With every incident the live broadcast of Sunday’s Western Conference final would quickly flash up a packed Crystal Ballroom scene, just to gauge the reaction of the Portland Timbers fans left back home in Cascadia. There must have been over a thousand supporters watching on the big screen, and undoubtedly countless more in bars around the city. It gave a stark illustration of how, in MLS terms, the Timbers are a truly elite club and now they can claim some elite success to go with their standing.

Sunday’s display against FC Dallas certainly wasn’t Portland’s best, but the Timbers – perhaps MLS’ most coherent team unit – deserve their place in the league’s showpiece event. And yet their success or failure against the Columbus Crew next week could hinge on the fitness of just two players.

Liam Ridgewell missed Sunday’s 2-2 draw in Frisco after sustaining a calf injury in the first leg, while Fanendo Adi was forced off in the latter stages against FC Dallas following a rash challenge from Kellyn Acosta. Both players are doubts for next week’s MLS Cup final at Mapfre Stadium – and that is a pressing concern for Porter.

Norberto Paparatto proved an able deputy in Ridgewell’s absence, but the Englishman was missed in the latter stages when Portland were faced with a Texan barrage. While Ridgewell can sometimes be over eager, verging on reckless, he has the presence and confidence to take control of a situation in the way Paparatto or even Nat Borchers does. His cockiness is an asset to the Timbers.

The injury to Adi could be even more damaging, though. As Portland’s top scorer for the season – with 18 goals from 28 starts – his loss would have an obvious impact, but also a more subtle one too. In fact, the Nigerian’s absence from Sunday’s MLS Cup final could have just as a big an effect on the Timbers’ defence as it would on their attack.

As demonstrated against the Crew, Adi’s hold-up play is of crucial importance to Portland’s game-plan when they have something to protect. Max Urruti is a talented player with a decent goalscoring record – and there are goals to be found elsewhere in the team too – but Adi is the Timbers’ only player of such a mould. He, perhaps more than any other, can be credited with driving Portland’s late season renaissance. So while the Timbers as a club appear ready for their first MLS Cup final, it may come a little too soon for Porter and his players. GR

New York Red Bulls’ blunt force not enough

The frantic last couple of minutes of New York Red Bulls’ MLS Cup exit at Red Bull Arena put a theatrical gloss on New York’s performance over two legs.

Even leaving aside the question of offside, had Bradley Wright-Phillips header somehow squeezed inside the post in the dying seconds, it would have been testimony to the spirit of the New York team under Jesse Marsch, rather than their attacking style.

There was more subtlety in New York’s final stand, as opposed to the hopeful crosses that peppered the first leg, but until Anatole Abang’s stoppage time goal gave the Red Bulls hope, it looked like New York were relying more on “will” than “guile” to try and force the two goals they needed.

Abang at least injected some urgency and aerial competitiveness when he came on (and Jesse Marsch might spend part of the next few months weighing up whether he should have trusted the young forward sooner in a game where Bradley Wright-Phillips was mostly effectively marshalled by Crew SC’s back line), but up until that point the Red Bulls were, as Dax McCarty admitted after the game, “outplayed, outworked, outcoached”.

McCarty himself had a better game than in the first leg, but still the Red Bulls couldn’t impose their will on the Columbus midfield – for stretches of the evening, as tight passes went astray, particularly from Sacha Kljestan, they resembled the intermittently effective team from earlier in the season, when Kljestan was still getting used to his new team-mates, and yet to see his personal assists tally rise, or to see teams struggle to cope with him ghosting into space between the midfield and defense. Kljestan, Felipe and McCarty spent a lot more time second-guessing or anticipating Crew SC counters in this game, than they did on the front foot.

If New York are looking for positives, it’s a very different looking team than the one that reached the same stage last year — though the record books will show that they were eliminated at the same stage. For one thing, the narrative about Henry’s career winding down gave last year’s campaign a more valedictory feel. This feels like a building block of the Jesse Marsch project, and the core of this team should be back next year.

That said, Marsch arguably needs to either commit to Abang’s future or look again at the attacking options supporting Bradley Wright-Phillips. If there was a stylistic knock on this Red Bulls’ team, other than their vulnerability to speed on the counter, it was an inability to break down bunkered teams. When not sweeping teams aside with quick routes to goal, New York can appear easily frustrated. And in the playoffs, the defensive performance of DC United rather masked the fact that New York had become blunt in front of goal at precisely the wrong time. They were made to pay. GP

 

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