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First, a bit of housecleaning: I will be gone from April 19 through the 25th, which means no Q&A, On the Radar or weekend wrap-up columns from me next week. I assume I'll be missed.
And you should assume that I'll be picking all home team wins during the days that I'm gone (Week 8, essentially), just as I picked all home team wins for Wednesday's slate. That was obviously the wrong call, as both Colorado and FC Dallas took full road points.
Here's how my own, personal Pick 'Em looks for the year: Home teams went 4-1-5 last weekend and 1-2-0 on Wednesday, which means they've won 26 of 55 games so far. That puts them (and me) at 47.2% for the season.
I promised I would deviate from my typical pattern for this coming weekend and make some non-home team picks, but I just can't do it. It'll be all home team wins again, and yes, that will take us into May.
Onto this weekend's games:
Cosmik Debris
Much digital ink has been spilled on the plight of the LA Galaxy, who are actually in somewhat better circumstances record-wise than the current narrative seems to dictate. They're above the red line in the Western Conference with eight points from five games, they've done most of it without their Designated Players contributing a damn thing, and they've discovered a bit of youth and depth along the backline thanks to the play of unheralded Daniel Steres (legally changing his name to "Unheralded Daniel Steres" soon).
Everything's kinda sorta mostly all right heading into Friday night's show at Houston (7 pm ET; UniMás), even if they're certain to do so without Nigel De Jong and Robbie Keane, and possibly Steven Gerrard or Robbie Rogers.
The reason things are only "kinda all right" is because LA aren't generating chances. They're not producing the sort of underlying data that says they're likely to pull out of this current scoring slump, and it's not for lack of trying. Bruce Arena's experimented with personnel and lineups over the last few weeks, including trotting out a 4-2-3-1 in last weekend's 1-1 draw vs. the Timbers.
That put Giovani dos Santos in a central role as the No. 10, and he didn't do much with it:
Yuck. The slow recognition of opportunity is one thing, but the turnover -- which stranded half the Galaxy team -- is the type of thing that's often deadly. In the words of Mike Petke, "It's gotta be betta."
That's the bad news. The good news is that Sebastian Lletget was very, very good back in his natural spot on the wing, and LA spent most of the second half trying to play through him. So even if GDS has another disappointing showing, the Galaxy still have at least one guy who can get the ball into the box and make something good happen.
I'll also be watching: Owen Coyle's substitution patterns. The Dynamo have routinely taken late leads, subbed on an extra d-mid, lost control of the game, and then lost points.
- UPDATE: Gio played his best game in Galaxy colors, leading LA to a 4-1 win behind two goals and an assist.
Central Scrutinizer
I have a constitutional predisposition against the term "CAM" or "central attacking midfielder." It's a new-ish term and its meaning is, on the face of it, pretty straight-forward: A central midfielder whose function is primarily to initiate or push into the attack. These guys are generally the No. 10s we talk about and revere.
The secondary meaning is that these are the guys who are in the heart of the lineup -- a left midfielder on one side, a right midfielder on the other. The term basically assumes a 4-1-3-2 or a 4-2-3-1 as the default formation, which is sloppy but acceptable enough.
The underlying implication is what spawns my gripe. For a lot of new-to-the-game folks, "CAM" means "guy who creates his chances from the central channel," and that's just not how the game is played. CAMs have to be smart and mobile, able to seek out both space and combination play anywhere in the attacking third. Most teams are built around this, and while other players are given specific roles the No. 10 is generally offered something close to true positional flexibility, with the idea being that said flexibility allows for true creativity.
To that end, you'll often find New England "CAM" Lee Nguyen operating down the left-hand side, either combining with overlapping left back Chris Tierney or facing up to goal himself with the ball on his stronger, right foot.
Not, however, last week:
That's a network passing graph created using Opta data from New England's 1-1 draw against TFC. The circles represent each player's aggregate position, while the thickness of the lines connecting players represent the volume of passes sent back and forth.
Nguyen is No. 24, and he's got a distinct rightward tilt going on here. He ended up having more touches in the right channel than he did in the central channel or his preferred inside-left position combined. So much for "CAM", right?
On Sunday when the Revs visit Orlando City (3:30 pm ET; ESPN), we'll see if this was a one-off or the start of a new trend for a team that's been struggling out of the gates so far in 2016.
I'll also be watching: How Brek Shea handles the above. He's been a good 1-v-1 defender in his limited time at left back thus far in his career, but can get roasted in combination play.
You Are What You Is
Want to know how FC Dallas are staying afloat -- actually doing more than that, to be fair -- without their best player, Mauro Diaz?
It's through defense. Rugged, dogged, relentless front-to-back defense that starts with forward Maximiliano Urruti, who's proving to be a steal early in his FCD career. He is a one-man high press when Dallas are on the front foot, and a box-to-box, touchline-to-touchline harassment machine when they're on the back foot.
This was from a few weeks back:
That's one of two goals created directly from Urruti's defensive pressure. Oscar Pareja has basically weaponized Urruti's commitment and incorporated it into the gameplan -- he is what he's always been, just better. That's immense on a tactical level, since it's allowed Dallas to get out in transition when, in past years, they've come to a full stop without Diaz.
And guess who they face on Sunday in Frisco (7 pm ET; FS1)? A Sporting KC team that just conceded twogoals off of sloppy play from deep in the midfield.
Consider this a warning.
I'll also be watching: Sporting 'keeper Tim Melia. He's been one of the league's most consistent since winning a starting job midway through last year, but he can still struggle with the ball at his feet. Expect Dallas to try to hurry him into some bad distribution.
One more thing:
View post on imgur.com
Stay on your toes out there, folks.
Happy weekending.
