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We’ve got a couple of Sunday games to focus on real quick before we get into some assorted thoughts. Let’s talk it out.
The Rapids took some of the shine off New York City FC’s homestand thanks to goals from Rafael Navarro and Cole Bassett. Navarro scored early on a curler, and the Rapids game-stated NYCFC from there.
So with that win…well, let’s just recap the Rapids' last six games right quick…
In the last month plus, the Rapids have: A 3-2 win over LAFC, a 2-2 draw at Inter Miami (Lionel Messi played the second half), a 3-0 road beatdown of San Jose, a 2-1 win against FC Dallas, a 2-1 loss on the road to FC Cincinnati, and last night’s win over NYCFC. Other than the interlude against San Jose and Dallas, that’s not a gentle stretch. They took 13 points.
This team had five(!) whole entire wins last season. They have five in 11 games this year and four in their last six. Amazing what can happen when you…uhh…add good players to your roster. All of a sudden, the Rapids are earning points, and Navarro, who had one goal and one assist in 888 minutes last season, has five goals and two assists in 895 minutes.
NYCFC will be disappointed to close out their five-game homestand like that, but they came in needing about 10 points from the stretch to inspire some needed optimism, and they came away with 10 points. There’s not much to complain about here. Even if the concerns about their attack haven’t completely dissipated. In particular, TAM striker Mounsef Bakrar is 10 starts into the season and hasn’t scored. He’s 1573 minutes into his NYCFC career and has three goals.
After 11 games, Seattle have 10 points, 13 goals and a goal differential of zero. There’s incredibly little to say at this point. Pedro de la Vega can’t get back soon enough.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy are in an odd scoring drought. After scoring 21 times in nine games, they’ve been held scoreless in their last two games.
We’re pretty much ⅓ of the way through the season. We’re only ⅔ of the season from being able to say anything concrete about any of these teams. Until then, we have some thoughts.
Good Loons Rising
I left Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday night very impressed with Minnesota United. They rolled out a starting XI that included just one of their three DPs, one of their two U22s, and one of their two TAM guys.
They made up for their lack of big-money talent with an outstanding road game plan and a high-effort, collective-dependent performance that tilted things in their favor enough to earn a 2-1 win. They weren’t dominant. Atlanta had their chances. But Eric Ramsay rolled his team out in a stout 5-4-1 that limited Atlanta’s ability to switch play, and the Loons were committed to winning duels across the field. They stifled the Five Stripes long enough to change the game state on a set piece and then capitalized on a bad pass to go up 2-0 via yet another Tani Oluwaseyi goal.
At that point, Atlanta got stuck playing catch up. Minnesota have won three straight, including two road trips to the Southeast. They’re tied for the best points per game rate in the league, and they’re doing it all without Bebelo Reynoso. He seemed so critical to everything this team did. Maybe we’re finding out he was a bit too critical?
To be fair, that might be a mixture of hindsight and recency bias clouding things. Either way, Minnesota are a legitimate contender in the West. They play as a unit, they make life difficult for their opponents, and they’re finding the right people in the right spots at the right time. Oluwaseyi’s rise is one of the best stories of the year, Robin Lod has been excellent and the supporting cast has been fully committed to fulfilling their role. That’s a recipe for a high-floor team that earns a ton of points over 34 games.
Same thing, different week
Heading into the weekend, we talked about a few Eastern Conference teams in a rut. None of them broke out of that rut this weekend.
We already mentioned Atlanta got game-stated to hell and back. They’ve had an incredibly frustrating stretch of creating chances, playing well and then coming up short anyway over the last five games. This weekend’s performance can be chalked up as the worst of the bunch, though. Patience is running thin after going winless in five games.
Philadelphia have had a weird time of it lately. It’s hard to know what to think about their 2-2 comeback draw against D.C. United. Yeah, it’s a road point. But going down 2-0 early won’t make anyone feel much better, even if they did salvage things. They’ve been something close to “outplayed” in each of their last four games.
D.C. United can’t hold a lead. It’s infuriating from the outside, and I feel like we’ve already talked about it too much this year. I can’t imagine what it’s like being a D.C. fan right now. They’re so close to a special season. And yet…
And then there’s Orlando.
We’ve got to say it at this point. We’re 10 games into the season, and we have a decent amount of data points. They threw up a brick this offseason.
Part of that isn’t their fault. Duncan McGuire’s unexpected return came down to a clerical error Orlando didn’t cause. But their failure to bring in an elite No. 10 is a clear misfire. DP forward Luis Muriel has no goals and no assists. And they're still dealing with the fact they can’t find a clear place for last offseason’s DP signing, Martin Ojeda.
They’re struggling in a major way to make the pieces of their roster fit together. And it doesn’t seem like the same near-historic level of xG overperformance they had last year is coming to save them.
So…is the Shield wrapped?
I guess I’ve got to mention Lionel Messi. But what am I’m going to add besides jumping up and down while pointing and shouting “LOOKIT” over and over? The dude had five assists in a single half of professional soccer. What am I going to say about how good he is that you don’t already know?
Inter Miami are something close to unstoppable when he’s available. Nothing else matters. And with their early exit from Concacaf Champions Cup, it’s not like he’s going to need to rest up anytime soon. It seemed like a congested schedule, and injuries would be the only thing to slow down this Herons team. The congested schedule isn’t so congested anymore, and Messi is healthy. It’s hard to see the season ending without Miami holding the Supporters’ Shield.
- Matt Doyle’s column is up and good.
- San Jose bounced back against LAFC.
Good luck out there. Ruin a party.
