Armchair Analyst: On the radar for Week 12 of the 2015 MLS season

I hope you all watched the midweek game, which was one of the year's most entertaining. Both Sporting KC and New England are defined by their willingness to attack, and their ability to do it well.

Sporting won 4-2 in a game that could have finished 6-5. Obviously some defensive adjustments need to be made on both sides (Sporting just need warm bodies, for a start), but after a low-scoring first few months, Wednesday's feature felt like a breath of fresh air.

And I'm just going to say it: Benny Feilhaber is playing the best soccer of any American right now. I don't think that means he's getting called into the Gold Cup squad, but damn would I like to see it.

Benny and Sporting travel to Seattle on Saturday (10 pm ET; MLS LIVE) to face another Yank in pretty decent form:

That's a legitimate "Holy **!" play, one that only a couple other players – Obafemi Martins, Darlington Nagbe, maaaaaaybe Fabian Castillo – could make. 

Just as important is the defensive tracking he's done, applying back-pressure which allows Will Bruin to stay high. That in turn pushes opposing defenders back, which means the midfield has more room to work, which means DaMarcus Beasley can get forward, which means actual, pretty soccer.

It's been a lot of fun to watch Owen Coyle figure things out tactically and personnel-wise. Managers who come to MLS cold haven't had much success in the past, but in getting the best out of Barnes while simultaneously figuring out the defense, Coyle is taking postive steps toward breaking that trend.

The Dynamo travel to LA to face the Galaxy on Friday night (10:30 pm ET; UDN | UnivisionDeportes.com). A signature performance at the reigning champs' house would solidfiy Barnes' status as a PotM candidate as well as raise his profile as a "must-watch" attacker.

I'll also be watching... LA's central midfield. Especially if Bruce Arena makes room, from the start, for newly acquired Sebastian Lletget, who was promising in his debut vs. Orlando City last week.

2. Everything is Fair

You're going to want to try to go ahead and get a handle on RBNY's central midfield trio:

In our game, numbers can often be lies – ask any stats type about goalkeeper save percentage to see what I mean.

But in the above chart, the numbers tell the truth. New York have been all over the ball all season, running everything through that holy trinity of McCarty, Felipe and Kljestan and finding new ways and angles of attack. And while their overall record doesn't "wow" you, they've played the strongest schedule in MLS with wins over D.C., Columbus and San Jose, and draws at Sporting, D.C. and Dallas. Their only loss? A 2-1 nail-biter at New England a couple of weeks back.

New York are good, and daring, and they play right through the middle. This is a big problem for the Philadelphia Union on Sunday evening (5 pm ET; FoxSports 1 | Fox Deportes | FoxSports GO). The Union fought out a win last weekend, but they're still figuring out who their starting defensive midfielder is, and who plays along their back line, and – naturally – who their goalkeeper is.

You can't come against RBNY with that many questions, because they don't let you get on the ball enough to find the answers.

I'll also be watching...Zach Pfeffer from the start, I hope. He's very smart at finding spots in the attacking third, one of those "right place, right time" players. I'm still trying, however, to get a read on how well-rounded his game is.

This should be an excellent test for the youngster.

3. Excursions

Three months ago, Brek Shea was busy remaking himself into an endline-to-endline left back. He's a fearsome open-field runner with good instincts for combination play and a left foot created to whip in a cross. He also showed early promise on the defnsive side of the ball, reading combinations early and well and only rarely exposing himself – and consequently his team – to counters.

Fullback is not an easy job to learn, but Shea has the tools to learn it well. Unfortunately, his conversion has been sidetracked thanks to the raft of injuries currently besetting the Orlando City midfield, and Shea has been asked to push back up to his old spot in an effort to help patch the boat.

Let's check in on his progress there...

OK yeah, it's going pretty well. Doubly so when Kaká is drawing three defenders every time he's within 10 yards of the ball, leaving Shea to operate with time and space on the wing.

This switch, born of necessity, has opened up the game so much that it now looks impossible to justify moving Shea back to left back, a turn of events both unexpected and unfortunate for his national team career.

We'll see what OCSC come up with on Sunday night when they travel to San Jose to face the Earthquakes (7 pm ET; FoxSports 1 | Fox Deportes | FoxSports GO).

This is a trap game for the Quakes, by the way. 

I'll also be watching... Wondo's on 99, playing in front of 40,000 fans at Levi's Stadium against a defense that absolutely will concede "Hey, how'd he get there?" chances.

Just imagine if our best athletes did freestyle wrestling:

Happy weekend, everyone.