Just a heads-up: No Didier Drogba for Montreal's game at NYCFC on Saturday afternoon (2 pm ET; MLS LIVE). So they'll just have to make do with Jack McInerney and Dominic Oduro, who only have a combined 88 goals between them over the course of their respective careers.
The Impact have a lot of assets. I keep saying I expect them to make trades, and with the deadline coming next Friday, expect a busy week ahead.
Here are a few other blips:
1. Greensight
Since the end of May, Seattle have lost seven of nine. They've collapsed in terms of chance-generation and goals, specifically, with last weekend's 1-0 loss at Montreal probably the nadir.
The main problem was, of course, that both Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins were out, and those two guys combine for a disproportionate amount of the team's total creativity. The Sounders just don't generate much from central midfield -- Sigi Schmid's teams never have, by the way -- and nobody in MLS has replacements with enough quality to fill in the gaps that Dempsey and Martins left behind.
In two years, after Victor Mansaray has been bled in USL and with Jordan Morris (hopefully) on board? Then we can talk a little bit. Years of USL reps will give the kids more ability to step right into the fold and change games. I firmly maintain that this, rather than splashing out on big-name DPs, will be the decisive advantage going forward.
But we're here now, and the Sounders have seen their lead in the West evaporate, and on Saturday night, they're hosting the Vancouver Whitecaps (10 pm ET, TSN1, RDS2 in Canada, MLS LIVE in US). Dempsey will probably play. Martins is questionable.
Brad Evans, though? That guy's back, and Seattle fans should exhale, because this:
Evans' comfort on the ball and understanding of how and where to be available makes the Sounders difficult to press. That's not a huge thing against the 'Caps, who make no bones about being a counterattacking team, but this is: Evans' comfort on the ball and ability to hit passes in rhythm gets the ball to key distribution hubs (Gonzalo Pineda, Ozzie Alonso, and Dempsey when he drops deep) earlier and in a better rhythm.
That forces the defense to scramble, and that is something the 'Caps can't just shrug off.
So expect the Sounders, at the beginning of August, to finally start looking a little bit like they did in the middle of May.
I'll also be watching … It looks more and more like Gershon Koffie has locked down the starting job for Vancouver. His field-coverage is great and his vision -- especially in starting transition -- is underrated. But he's prone to going chasing instead of protecting lanes, which can be deadly against Seattle.
2. Faith of the Eight
Chris Wondolowski has worn No. 8 for the last half-decade, which is always a little bit jarring when you consider the typical role of the No. 8 (cover box-to-box; distribute more than create; score only occasionally) in comparison to Wondo's role (score score score scorescorescorescore).
It was a bold move for Dominic Kinnear to pull his best striker deeper, and the idea was both to get more talent on the field and to get what's arguably his best soccer brain in the center of it all. Wondo is, of course, known mostly as a poacher, but he's also an underrated passer and a willing worker. You can live with that in central midfield -- and, of course, he's managed a couple of classic No. 8 goals along the way.
Castillo is lightning incarnate, an unstoppable force in the open field made even more potent when he lines up on the left side of FC Dallas' 4-2-3-1 so he can play inverted and go directly at goal. This is problematic for the Fire ahead of Sunday night's Brimstone Cup game (7 pm ET, FOX Sports 1, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports GO in US, TSN2 in Canada) in Bridgeview. Matt Polster has filled in as best he could at right back, but there are still huge gaps to exploit, as the Revs showed last week.
Chicago desperately need Polster in central midfield if they're going to spread the game out and break FCD's rhythm.
I'll also be watching … Over the past two seasons, Chicago are 4-1-5 when Mike Magee and Patrick Nyarko see the field together. In that same span, not once have they each gone 90 minutes in the same game.
Chicago have had incredibly bad luck with injuries. Like Seattle, they haven't been able to overcome it. But with the arrival of Gilberto and the growth of guys like Polster and Harry Shipp, they seem to have the pieces to put together a team that can stay together -- and hopefully for Chicagoans, win together -- for years to come. #PlayYourKids
One more thing:
Happy weekending, everybody.
