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The theme of the next five weeks will be "focus", now that autumn has rolled in and the playoff race thinned out. Teams that are able to block out the noise, the worries, the extraneous concerns and lock in on what really matters – the gameplan, the defensive shape, the ability to be sharp and consistent both on and off the ball – are the ones that will be successful.
That tends to favor experience. Veterans are (by and large) better at keeping focused than youngsters, a phenomenon hardly unique to MLS.
So it'll be interesting to see which teams lean more toward their vets as they approach the final games of 2015. More interesting still – especially in the wake of our blast of 24 Under 24 coverage – will be to see which youngsters keep their focus and excel down the stretch.
With that in mind, keep an eye on the Vancouver Whitecaps against NYCFC on Saturday night (10 pm ET; TSN1 | MLS LIVE). Kekuta Manneh, who was No. 2 in this year's rankings, has come on strong each of the last two seasons. Perhaps he has more in store?
Onto the rest of the games:
1. Summertime Rolls
Right now the New York Red Bulls are looking back at the chasing pack, and more or less control their fate with regard to the Supporters' Shield. They've been the best team in the league during the past few months. While everybody deserves at least a little bit of dap for it, the magic formula really combines that central midfield trio of Dax McCarty, Felipe and Sacha Kljestan.
I've written plenty about Dax and far too little about Felipe (sorry), but am going to use this blurb to point out that it's Kljestan's movement off the ball which opens up so much space in the attacking third; that allows RBNY to set the tempo.
You simply can't turn your head for a second, or he's gone:
I love that goal because it illustrates a number of things: the dangers allowing unhindered distribution from deep; how a static 4-4-2 is usually overrun in the modern game; the nature of the "free role" that Kljestan plays; and that with excellent midfield ball- and player- movement), you don't truly need a traditional hold-up man at center forward.
Kljestan's movement in that spot is beyond "excellent." I think it's the best in the league, and what makes it even more effective is that he brings his creativity to bear relentlessly thanks to both his fitness and the sheer volume of service he gets from McCarty and Felipe. They win the ball back more often and play more quickly and accurately than their peers, and thus Kljestan gets more touches in spots where he can unlock the game.
It's been fun to watch from afar. We'll see how Orlando City handle it up close on Friday evening (7 pm ET; UniMas | UDN).
I'll also be watching … That left-sided OCSC attack. They run almost 40 percent of the game down that side of the field when both Brek Shea and Kaká are available, and – guess what? Both Brek Shea and Kaka are available.
It's a huge test for Connor Lade, who's had a solid season but can struggle against pace.
2. Of Course
If you're a fan of a Western Conference team beside the Sounders, this past week had to scare you. They stomped what I think is a pretty good Vancouver team 3-0 at the weekend, behind the same old mixture of ObaDeuce – and then repeated the feat on Wednesday in the CONCACAF Champions League with a mixed squad of starters and (mostly) reserves.
Seattle are looking more and more like the team that led the Supporters' Shield race this spring before everything blew up on that night in Tukwila, and they're really not doing anything different than what they've always done.
Of particular note, is how deep Ozzie Alonso and Gonzalo Pineda played in the weekend win:
Fully three-quarters of their passes came from behind the midfield stripe, none in the attacking quadrant of the field. Seattle love to sit these two guys deep and draw the opposing midfield toward them, because that creates space in the other direction for Dempsey and Martins to break out, which they do to great effect.
This is going to be pretty tough on Sunday for Sporting KC (5 pm ET; ESPN | ESPN Deportes | WatchESPN), who go into this game without Benny Feilhaber and Matt Besler, two guys integral (for different reasons) to their defensive shape and ability to prevent counterattacks.
I'll also be watching … Set pieces. Both of these teams have been bad defending them, and each needs to figure that out if they're to go anywhere come November.
3. Mountain Song
Javier Morales came off the bench to save Real Salt Lake in Thursday's 2-1 CONCACAF Champions League win, picking up two more assists in the process. That gives him 97 across all competitions for the Claret-and-Cobalt, which puts him on the verge of joining exclusive company.
I did this by hand, but I'm pretty sure that Marco Etcheverry, Jaime Moreno, Preki, Landon Donovan, Brad Davis and Cobi Jones are the only other players in league history to register 100-plus assists (all comps) with one team.
Those are six first-ballot Hall of Famers, as is Morales. His centrality to everything RSL have accomplished – have ever accomplished – is summed up nicely here:
And thus the leg injury that hobbled Morales has to have hewad coach Jeff Cassar's stomach in knots ahead of a gigantic Sunday trip to Avaya Stadium (7 pm ET; FS1 | FOX Deportes | FOX Sports GO).
I'll also be watching … San Jose's back line. Victor Bernardez and Jordan Stewart are out injured, and Clarence Goodson is suspended. This does not look good for the Quakes, who've just about blown their chance at snagging that final playoff berth.
4. Ain't No Right
LA got rich this summer with the additions of Steven Gerrard and Gio Dos Santos, and for a while they looked amazing. It seemed like they'd run away with the Shield, until August turned to September and they couldn't score anymore. The last Galaxy goal came in that 5-1 laugher of a win over NYCFC more than a month ago.
The problem is multi-faceted. First, Gerrard's presence in central midfield forces Robbie Keane to play higher, which means …
Fewer touches!
Second, neither Dos Santos nor Keane like to work in the central channel, and neither is adept at occupying single defenders. Both are much better when they can use the space created by the rest of the attack, and they haven't quite figured out how to do that for each other:
As I said above in the RBNY blurb, you need excellent off-the-ball movement to play without a true center forward. LA's been well below that mark when in possession.
They can still kill you on the break, of course, but I wouldn't expect FC Dallas to give them too many looks in the open field on Sunday night (9:30 pm ET; FS1 | FOX Deportes | FOX Sports GO).
I'll also be watching … Victor Ulloa's aggression. He's become a bit more daring with his passing, especially after winning the second ball in midfield. The way to punish the Galaxy right now is to do exactly that – punish them when Juninho gets pushed high and wide to the right, and Gerrard goes for the homerun pass.
One more thing:
Happy weekending, everybody.
