American round-up, Galaxy fading, Miami rising, NY questions, Bale debut, & more
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American round-up, Galaxy fading, Miami rising, NY questions, Bale debut, & more

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ASN’s Brian Sciaretta writes up his thoughts on the weekend in MLS, with a look at how the Americans in the league performed, plus notes on the Galaxy’s problems, LAFC’s debuts, Cucho’s remarkable Columbus start, the Hudson River Derby, Inter Miami’s impressive team culture, and more.


BY

Brian Sciaretta



Posted

July 18, 2022

1:00 PM

THE WEEKEND IS OVER and MLS had a full slate of games on Saturday and Sunday.  These games concluded rivalry week and it was a fun time. As always, there were winners and losers. Some teams and some players have acquitted themselves well, others not so much.

Here are my thoughts from the weekend of games.

 

American report

 

We now like to kick off this weekly column with a glimpse of how some of the more notable American players performed. This includes a bunch of U.S. national team players and youth internationals.

The big winner of the week on the youth front was Jack McGlynn. As I have written in the past, most of us knew that after the U.S. U-20 team returned from winning the CONCACAF U-20 Championships, Union manager Jim Curtin would probably then start to turn to his promising core of young homegrowns that were instrumental to the U.S. U-20 team’s success in Honduras. On Saturday against the New England Revolution, Curtin started both Paxten Aaronson and Jack McGlynn.

McGlynn had the best game of his very young professional career in helping his team find a 2-1 victory. McGlynn helped his team own the center of the field. His passing and decision making were essentially mistake free. The concern over McGlynn is that whether he handle the physical side of the game well? Is he athletic enough? On Saturday night, he was all over the field and covered a ton of ground. He did well and likely will continue to start for the Union.

 

The rest of the U.S. youth players on the Union were up and down. None of the contingent of Leon Flach, Paxten Aaronson, or Nathan Harriel were poor but also didn’t have a significant impact on the game. Flach was deployed in a more advanced wing position, which is highly unusual for him, and he still struggled to get enough touches.

Paul Arriola and Jesus Ferreira make up two thirds of the front line for FC Dallas. The other is Alan Velasco, the teenage Argentine winger, and together on Saturday against Austin FC, the three teamed up for a nice goal that was finished by Arriola. It finished a disappointing 1-1 draw for Dallas. Dallas has made a lot of nice steps this year, although they’re still not quite a contender yet. The movement from everyone, including Arriola and Ferreira, was strong on this goal.

 

Gabriel Slonina is rumored to be heading to Chelsea sooner than later. It’s a great move for his bank account but is it the best move for him in terms of development? It’s going to be difficult for Chelsea to find a place on loan where he can start in the short-term future. Chicago offers him that chance. On Saturday, Slonina kept a clean sheet for Chicago in a surprising 1-0 win over Seattle. Slonina wasn’t pressed to make many big saves, but he played well. Chicago continues to be a great spot for Slonina. Back in May, Slonina was struggling badly but the fact that Chicago believed in him and didn’t force him to the bench, allowed Slonina to work through his slump. Leaving Chicago does present risks for his development.

In that Chicago – Seattle game, Cristian Roldan and Jordan Morris started for Seattle in that loss. It’s a tough time for everyone at the club since it won the CONCACAF Champions League. The offense has completely fallen flat with zero goals in its past three games.

One American who is kind of falling under the radar right now is Aidan Morris. The Columbus Crew defensive midfielder is close to his form before his ACL tear. In the Crew’s 2-0 win over Cincinnati, Morris completed 52/60 of his passes, including 5/8 with his long balls. He won 4/4 if his tackles. Morris looks like a good candidate for U.S. U-23 call-ups next year.

Another American who is flying heavily under the radar is Bryce Duke in Miami. The midfielder is Olympic eligible and has been coming up big for Miami this season. Over the weekend, he assisted on the stoppage time winner in an impressive 3-2 rally over Charlotte.

 

In the Hudson River Derby, the New York Red Bulls fell to NYCFC 1-0 but most of the RBNY American players played well. Frankie Amaya is a very good central midfielder. Aaron Long was solid in central defense. John Tolkin was good moving forward but when he gets into an advanced position, his weak right foot is a problem. In the second half, he had a great chance to score but didn’t trust his right foot. When he tried to shift back to his left, the opportunity was gone.

Finally, Kellyn Acosta had one of his stronger games of the season for LAFC in the 2-1 away win over Nashville. Acosta, who will likely be the U.S. team’s backup No. 6 in Qatar, was effective in his passing and in his defense as LAFC continues to strengthen its claim on the Supporters Shield.

 

Galaxy fading

 

The LA Galaxy lost on the road to Colorado, 2-0, and the team seems very far off from where they should be. This is a team that has spent a fortune since the Robbie Keane, Landon Donovan, and David Beckham days but nothing has worked. Zlatan played well, but the team didn’t win. The Dos Santos brothers, and now Chicarito.

The disappointing question right now is whether Greg Vanney has control of his team. Derrick Williams blew the lid off the story after the game.

 

“We’re not playing as a team. There’s a lot of people playing as individuals,” said Williams. “The manager gives us clear instructions and there’s times where people don’t want to do that….. It’s frustrating and we can’t just keep going on like this because it’s not good enough and we’re sick of losing. It’s just not good enough.”

Vanney is now in his second season as the team’s manager. If players aren’t listening to his instructions and are playing as individuals, it’s up to Vanney to get it right.

All this comes at a time when LAFC is soaring and earning top-notch press.

 

Bale, Chiellini debut in LAFC win

 

Giorgio Chiellini started and played about an hour and Gareth Bale played the final 20 minutes for LAFC in a 2-1 win over Nashville on the road. It was the club debut for both.

 

LAFC was not yet firing on all cylinders as both players were still getting up to speed but LAFC won this game without necessarily getting out of third gear.

Figuring out how to effectively put together this lineup is on Steve Cherundolo, but the upside of this team is through the roof.

 

As for Nashville, they should be okay but the team continues to underperform at Geodis Park.

 

NYCFC takes the Hudson River Derby

 

NYCFC took the Hudson River Derby on a delightful second half goal from Taty Castellanos. The league’s best No. 9 over the past two years was probably playing his last game in the league as a transfer seems looming.

This game gave warning signs to both teams. The Red Bulls were the better team for most of the game, but what they lacked was a goal-scoring difference maker. This is a problem that has plagued them since Bradley Wright-Phillips left. Finding an ideal goal scorer is so hard and throwing money to import goal scorers in other leagues doesn’t always translate to success.

The Red Bulls recently let Ashely Fletcher’s loan expire because he wasn’t a fit. In this game, Gerhard Struber elected not to start Patrick Klimala and Tom Barlow. With a decent No. 9, the Red Bulls would probably be running away with the Eastern Conference.

 

Even if NYCFC reinvests the money it will receive for Taty, the likelihood of replacing Taty’s output seems rather low. Castellanos has been a remarkable story in MLS and he delivered goals and silverware for NYCFC.

Assuming Castellanos leaves, both NYCFC and RBNY are in the same spot. A good team in search of a No. 9. The Red Bulls are probably the better team but NYCFC has a bigger budget to at least take a bigger swing – but that doesn’t always translate.

One more note: it was great seeing such an electric atmosphere at Red Bull Arena. When that stadium is full, it is one of the best atmospheres in the league.

 

Cucho wows for Columbus

 

Staying on the topic of a No. 9, Cucho Hernandez has been unbelievable in his first three games for Columbus. His goal in the 13th minute opened the scoring for Columbus in a 2-0 win over FC Cincinnati at home. Hernandez now has four goals in his first 136 minutes in Columbus.

 

But unlike other teams which have fallen flat with integrating a No. 9, Hernandez seems like a perfect fit with the Crew. His partnership with Lucas Zelarayan has gotten off to an explosive start.

The Crew are looking very much like a team that is going to be extremely difficult to beat in the post season. They have a good core, a good home field advantage, and true difference makers.

 

Opposite directions of Seattle & Chicago

 

Two months ago, if you were to say that Chicago was rising quickly and Seattle was sinking, few would have believed you. At that point in time, Seattle was just crowned the CCL Champions and the Chicago Fire looked to be a “Wooden Spoon” contender.

But Seattle has never gotten back on track after winning the CCL. Mentally, they put everything they had into that tournament – which is very admirable – but then getting back into the swing of the season after that historic triumph has been elusive.

Yes, there are injuries. The Joao Paulo injury was huge and the injury to his backup, 16-year-old Obed Vargas, has compounded the problem. But it’s not the reason why they are struggling. The issues are completely mental and they’re not the same team as they were that defeated Club Leon, NYCFC, and Pumas in that tournament.

“We’re not the same team,” Nicholas Lodeiro said. “We’re definitely not the same team that played at the Concacaf tournament. And not only on these games but also all the other games. We feel tired, without inspiration.”

Then you have to add in the fact that every team wants to beat Seattle right now because they are the champs in the eyes of many. Seattle, has exhausted itself keeping up that momentum. They don’t look like Seattle right now. They are playing as if nothing is on the line.

Meanwhile, Chicago is quickly improving. Ezra Hendrickson’s team now has two wins in a row and three in their last five.

“I think it’s just that we are fighters,” Slonina said. “We didn’t want our season to be over. Coming and losing 3-2 versus Columbus at home, that hurt a lot. It meant a lot, but we added it as fuel to our fire. We didn’t sit back and let it hurt us. We used it as an advantage, so I think that’s how we bounced back.”

Chicago is heavily motivated by the playoffs. This year has seen the unlikely success of teams like Miami and Charlotte in the Eastern Conference. But three of the next four will be on the road and that will be a huge measuring stick.

“We have to be a team that’s gonna have to go on the road and win,” Hendrickson said. “We showed that we could do it in D.C., but we have to do it once, maybe a couple more times this year, if we want to get to where we want to be, and that’s in the playoffs.

“You know, once the regular season is done, we want to be one of the teams that’s still playing.”

 

Pozuelo’s Miami debut in big win

 

When Inter Miami hosted Charlotte, it pitted two teams who have been the most surprising this season in the Eastern Conference. It turned out to be one of the best and most entertaining games of the weekend.

Charlotte took a 2-0 lead, but Miami rallied thanks to key substitutions made by Phil Neville. 60th minute substitute Gonzalo Higuain scored the equalizer and two more substitutes combined for the winner when Bryce Duke found Emerson Rodriguez.

“They’re creating their own culture, they’re creating their own identity,” Neville said. “And I suppose the identity that we’re seeing is that this team never knows when it’s beat, it never knows when to give up, and it scores late goals. I think they’re a team that scores late goals and never knows when it’s beat. I think it’s a team that’s going to be successful in the future.”

Alejandro Pozuelo started and played almost the entire game before coming out as a stoppage time sub to kill off the game. The former MVP showed no real signs of rust and his quality was a huge asset to Miami. As he gets more integrated and familiar with the team, Miami is going to be tough to beat.

Miami is a very positive team these days and the body language of the team is optimistic. Even when they’re down, they believe they can win.





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