Major League Soccer’s regular season is quickly approaching its end and some teams are fighting to secure the top four spots while others hope to get over the playoff line. Every match now matters more, regardless of the opponent.
Winners
LAFC
Losing their last three games by scoring just a couple of goals has left the Black and Gold feeling like they are in crisis. It doesn’t live up to the high standards they have set in Los Angeles. Saturday’s El Trafico was the perfect opportunity to stop the noise or sink into routine. As games against Galaxy rivals usually go, there were plenty of goals, but LAFC prevailed 4-2 at home to ease some of the pressure.
“It’s like riding a bicycle: the qualities that players have don’t disappear,” coach Steve Cherundolo said after the win. “Sometimes you get a flat tire, but it’s easy to fix.”
There are still plenty of ways LAFC can get stronger as the playoffs approach. Are they as good as last year’s MLS Cup and Supporters’ Shield winning team? Probably not. But now that they’ve achieved a big win, confidence doesn’t seem to be an issue.
“We believe we can still beat any team in this league and that we are the team to beat in this league,” Ryan Hollingshead said.
When Atlanta United faced Inter Miami on July 25 in Lionel Messi’s second game, it wasn’t pretty for the Five Stripes. But this was the Leagues Cup and a completely different Atlanta team, too.
Saturday’s chance for revenge, at the expense of beloved former coach and player Gerardo “Tata” Martino and Josef Martinez, was perfect. With Miami stealing all the headlines thanks to its summer acquisitions, Atlanta has flown under the radar despite making some major moves as well. These were on full display in the 5-2 defeat at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where newcomers Xande Silva, Tristan Muyumba and Sabas Lobjanidze played an important role with goals and assists. Not only have the additions been successful, but they also allow Atlanta mastermind Thiago Almada to play more freely and create danger.
The person who deserves a lot of credit here is Chairman and CEO Garth Lagerwey. When he was called up after winning the CONCACAF Champions League title in Seattle, it was simply to restore the winning culture that seemed to have slipped away in the ATL. He has done a great job of filling the roster around Almada and Giorgos Giakoumakis, who is tied for the Golden Boot with 14 goals. This is starting to feel familiar again for the Five Stripes, and if they can secure home-field advantage for the playoffs, good luck to the rest of the East.
I’m not sure if it’s possible to overlook a team that’s in 2nd place, but that’s what’s happening with Orlando City. Four wins in the last five games and Orlando is suddenly at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. That ranking will fluctuate a lot in the coming weeks, but the form Oscar Pareja’s team are in right now makes them look like a force. They were down Columbus 3-1 with just 20 minutes left and Facundo Torres helped turn things around in what turned out to be a wild 4-3 victory. Resilience is the name of the game for the Lions, who are now just eight points behind Supporters’ Shield leaders FC Cincinnati. There’s one Florida team that gets most of the attention as they battle for the playoffs, but it’s the other one that we should really be talking about.
Losers
Revolution
Trying to describe what has happened to the Revs in recent weeks is impossible. Bruce Arena, the man who was given the keys to running the organization a few years ago, was forced to resign due to an internal problem and an investigation we don’t know much about. Richie Williams, who was supposed to replace him on an interim basis, ended up being sidelined after the messy handling of this spat and is instead taking a break. Enter Clint Peay, who was coaching the Revs’ MLS NEXT Pro team.
It’s a disaster in Foxborough, but the only way forward is to play and hope that helps with a little distraction. Saturday was supposed to be the one against the worst team in the league, Colorado, who just fired their coach. Instead, the Revs ended up losing 2-1 to make matters worse.
This is a team that had Cup and Shield aspirations months ago. Some major injuries, the sale of goaltender Djordje Petrovic and now this turmoil has put New England in a dire situation. A fall from grace might put her lightly. I don’t want to believe that the locker room is so messy that they could go from being in second place to missing the playoffs entirely, but to look ahead and see Columbus, Orlando, Nashville and Philadelphia as the final four opponents to close out the season… damn.
The exact opposite of what is happening in Orlando is what RSL is going through right now. They were talked about as one of the best teams in the West until an unfortunate injury to Pablo Ruiz seemed to drastically change everything.
RSL has conceded 14 goals in its last six games, including a pair in Saturday’s 2-1 loss at San Jose.
Those good vibes from the summer signings are seemingly nowhere to be found as they have won just one of their last five games since being ousted from the League Cup. The timing couldn’t be worse either as the teams fighting for a playoff spot in the West are no longer that far apart.
Some fans in Atlanta
Attendance at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta is never a problem. It is a football stadium known for hosting major MLS events and moments. Saturday was supposed to be one of those with Lionel Messi and his friends heading to the city.
Then late Friday, reports emerged that Messi would not be traveling with the team, followed by his controversial Instagram post of a “pizza” from a place in South Florida, essentially confirming that he was not in Georgia. When Miami’s lineup came out on Saturday, it was also revealed that Jordi Alba wasn’t even on the team sheet. Messi and his friends became Sergio Busquets and others – and while that included a homecoming for Tata and Josef, it’s not exactly what fans paid for or traveled hours for.
Messi mania gives, Messi mania takes.