WEEK 8

Welcome to MLS MATTERS. This week, we look ahead to the 8th round of fixtures, as well as back at some of the talking points of the past week. The time to get stuck in is now...


WEEK 7 RESULTS:

NEW YORK CITY FC 1-1 PHILADELPHIA UNION
NEW YORK RED BULLS 2-0 SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
DC UNITED 1-1 HOUSTON DYNAMO
COLUMBUS CREW SC 3-0 ORLANDO CITY SC
FC DALLAS 3-2 TORONTO FC
COLORADO 1-3 SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC
REAL SALT LAKE 0-1 VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC
LOS ANGELES GALAXY 2-1 SPORTING KANSAS CITY
PHILADELPHIA UNION 1-2 NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
NEW YORK CITY FC 0-1 PORTLAND TIMBERS



TALKING POINT 1 Rafael Ramos Red Card: 34 minutes in to the Columbus Crew match with Orlando City, a tight 1-0 match sprang to life with a straight red card from referee Ricardo Salazar for Orlando City right back Rafael Ramos. Seconds after believing he was fouled, Ramos sprinted up the pitch and slid in to the Crew's left back Waylon Francis, studs up. With Francis down on the ground and Crew SC players closing in, Ramos, then began making his way back down the pitch, ignoring calls from the referee to come to him. At this point Orlando City captain Ricardo Kaka attempted to calm the young player down, unsuccessfully. With referee Salazar closing in on him, Ramos began giving the ref a piece of his mind. Not a smart move when you consider that the original card pulled out of his pocket was yellow. Possibly after a word from his assistant in his ear, Salazar pulled out a red card. At this point, Ramos started playing the victim, throwing a small hissy fit, taking the long way off the pitch, slowly walking through the Columbus technical area before an Orlando staff member finally got him to the dressing room.

In what was a tight game gently moving in the Crew's favor, Ramos, who had settled in well to his first MLS season prior to this event, saw the red mist descend and gifted an easy victory to the home side. Just another example of a player forgetting his team and throwing away a chance at points for momentary vengeance after a perceived wrong doing on him. The reputation Orlando City is gaining for being a cynical and dirty team is becoming more and more justified as their debut season goes on.


TALKING POINT 2 Wacky Weather: After a stellar start for FC Dallas, scoring after just 29 seconds, they pushed on, scoring again at the 10th and 27th minute marks. Nothing it seemed could slow Dallas down. Then, lightning struck. Literally. A bad storm and lightning caused the match to be halted after 42 minutes. 206 minutes later, the teams came back out to play the final 3 minutes of the half, then return to the locker room for half time. Upon the start of the second half, both teams looked as if the lengthy delays had taken their toll on them. It took until the 84th minute for the match to spring to life again, with the first of Giovinco's 2 goals for Toronto FC, the second following in the 89th minute. In a final rush, Toronto fell short, with the match ending as it should have, a bit of lightning, and a whimper.


WORST PERSON(S) OF THE WEEK: This week, we debut a new section, "Worst Person of the Week", where I shame someone MLS related for their shocking, ignorant, or outlandish behavior. While it would be easy to give the debut gong to Orlando City's Rafael Ramos, instead I would like to give the nod to the Unimas in English commentators. For 90 minutes I had to listen to them call Sacha "Rasputin" Kljestan as "Klechan", and Dax "The Ginger Metronome" McCarty as "McCarthy". Mistakes that would make even the ignoramuses of FOX cringe. Shockingly bad.

Paul Caligiuri and Ramses Sandoval, the Worst People of the Week.



TACTICAL CORNER: Welcome back to the tactical corner, quickly becoming the most popular segment of MLS Matters. This week, we look back at Adrian Heath's tactical decision of using Amobi Okugo as a sitting midfielder in front of his center back pairing of Seb Hines and Aurelien Collin.

To the casual fan, this would automatically be considered to be a master stroke. With a lone striker in Kei Kamara, and Crew talisman Frederico Higuain playing in a central attacking role behind Kamara, putting 3 strong defenders in the middle of the pitch should equate to a clean sheet. The problem here lies in that anyone who watches the Crew can tell you, the Crew attack mainly through the wide areas of the pitch with Justin Meram and Ethan Finley, and Higuain drifting around from touchline to touchline trying to enter the space created by the wide men. And in this match, so it was.

Even before Orlando went down to ten men, handing the match to Columbus, it was the wide play that helped them control the match. The first goal of the match was created by Ethan Finley, slotting in to Higuain, who tapped it in for his first goal of the season, and Finley's third assist.

Columbus' second came after Kamara won the ball in Orlando's box, pushing it back out wide to Meram who knocked in a rocket from distance.

The third came just minutes later as Orlando, who isolated Kaka up front on his own after the red card and began to watch for the wide play, allowed Higuain to slide a ball right up their gut to Kamara, who cheekily chipped Orlando City keeper Donovan Ricketts.

For me, what on the surface could have been tactical genius, was in the end tactical naivety by Heath. Plugging up the middle on a team known for their wide play, was foolhardy and could have cost hi team points. The learning curve in MLS is a steep one, as Heath is well aware. Lets hope he and his staff learn from their mistakes as the season progresses.



MLS MATTERS WEEK 8 POWER RANKINGS:

1) VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC 16 POINTS ON 8 PLAYED
2) NEW YORK RED BULLS 11 POINTS ON 5 PLAYED
3) FC DALLAS 13 POINTS ON 7 PLAYED
4) DC UNITED 11 POINTS ON 6 PLAYED
5) LOS ANGELES GALAXY 11 POINTS ON 7 PLAYED
6) NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION 11 POINTS ON 7 PLAYED
7)SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC 10 POINTS ON 6 PLAYED



WEEK 8 PREVIEW AND PREDICTIONS:

CHICAGO FIRE 2-1 NEW YORK CITY FC: The Unimas Friday Night Match of the Week, Chicago enters having played just 5 matches, having had the last two weekends off. NYCFC enter having not won in their last 5 matches. This week, as Harry Shipp goes, so goes Chicago.

COLORADO RAPIDS 1-1 FC DALLAS: The road team has taken this fixture the last two matches, with Dallas winning three in a row prior to their meeting earlier this season. Three weeks ago, Colorado entered with a goalless and winless streak, but ended up thrashing Dallas 4-0 in Dallas. This week I expect the world to return to normal and Dallas to nick a point at the very least.

COLUMBUS CREW 2-1 PHILADELPHIA UNION: The Crew won all three meetings between these two last season, with a Union win and a draw preceding that. Overall, the Crew have won five of their six all time meetings on home soil, having yet to lose to the Union in Columbus.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION 2-2 SPORTING KANSAS CITY: RSL enters with a three match win streak against New England, having not lost in their last seven meetings. They also have an overall five match undefeated streak entering into the match. The X Factor for New England could be the return last week of Jermaine Jones to the mix, shifting from his usual midfield position into his new proposed USMNT position of center back.

HOUSTON DYNAMO 2-2 SPORTING KANSAS CITY: The road team took both meetings last season, with both clubs entering with identical records this season. Houston got a draw at DC last week, as KC saw their unbeaten streak of 4 snapped in LA.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC 2-1 DC UNITED: Vancouver has two draws and two wins in their last four against DC, drawing at home in their only meeting last season. United are undefeated in their last four, but haven't beaten Vancouver since their first ever clash back in 2011.

NEW YORK RED BULLS 3-1 LOS ANGELES GALAXY: ESPN2's Sunday Night Match of the Week, each club has two victories in their last four meetings. NY enters as the only undefeated team in MLS, having only played five matches, while LA enters with a two match win streak after a four match losing streak. NY has won their last two home meetings with LA. Marsch v Arena should be a tactical feast on par with the football. Could be the match of the week.

ORLANDO CITY SC 1-1 TORONTO FC: The first ever meeting between the two sides is the first of a FS1 Sunday Night Double Header. Toronto enter with a four match losing streak, as Orlando enter having yet to win at home. While I wanted to predict a 0-0 here, with Orlando allowing 8 goals in 7 matches, and TFC allowing 11 in just five, its hard to see a clean sheet for either side in this one.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC 3-1 PORTLAND TIMBERS FC: FS1's second part of the Sunday Night Double Header sees Seattle coming in with a two match win streak against Portland, with a draw proceeding it, and two Portland victories before that coming in the 2013 season. In 88 all time meetings, Seattle leads 45-31-12. With Portland conceding a goal per match and Seattle giving up just under a goal per match, as well as 16 goals being scored in their three meetings last season, there should be goals in this one. Another potential match of the week. Still suffering from some major injuries, look for Seattle to continue their winning streak against their arch rival.



WEEK 8 INJURY REPORT:

OUT:

Mike Magee and Patrik Nyarko of Chicago Fire
Markus Halsti, Eddie Johnson, Steve Birnbaum, Collin Martin of DC United
Coy Craft and Stephen Keel of FC Dallas
Brian Perk of LA Galaxy
Adrian Lopez, Justin Mapp, Maxime Crepeau, Caleb Porter of Montreal Impact
George John, Tony Taylor, Jason Hernandez of NYCFC
Tally Hall, Pedro Ribeiro, Martin Paterson of Orlando City
Eric Bird of Philadelphia Union
Will Johnson, Diego Valeri, Michael Nanchoff, Ben Zemanski, Rodney Wallace of Portland Timbers
Joao Plata and Chris Shuler of Real Salt Lake
Chance Myers and Ike Opara of Sporting Kansas City
Clement Simonin of Toronto FC
Andre Lewis and Marco Bustos of Vancouver Whitecaps


QUESTIONABLE:

Michael Stephens of Chicago Fire
Sam Cronin, Marc Burch, Dominique Badji of Colorado Rapids
Wil Trapp of Columbus Crew
Dan Kennedy of FC Dallas
Boniek Garcia of Houston Dynamo
Kenny Walker, Leonardo, Robbie Keane, Jose Villarreal of LA Galaxy
Daigo Kobayashi, Chris Tierney, Jose Goncalves, Darrius Barnes of New England
David Villa, Mix Diskerud, Shay Facey, Josh Williams of NYCFC
Roy Miller and Ronaldo Zubar of NYRB
Lewis Neal and Tony Cascio of Orlando City
Fabinho, Raymond Lee, Vincent Nogueira of Philadelphia Union
Sebastian Jaime of Real Salt Lake
Mark Sherrod, Steven Lenhart, Shuan Francis, Jordan Stewart of San Jose Earthquakes
Damion Lowe of Seattle Sounders
Seth Sinovic and James Rogers of Sporting KC
Steven Caldwell and Mark Bloom of TFC
Diego Rodriguez of Vancouver Whitecaps




Thank you for your time, I hope you enjoyed this weeks look back and forward covering MLS action. The time to get stuck in is now, spread the word. Until next time, as always, remember, MLS Matters.