Mentality and motivation trumps tactics in Major League Soccer.
That's the contention made by Colorado Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni this week, who says that the league's competitive balance has elevated the importance of confidence and intensity.
After struggling for most of first two years in charge, the streaking Rapids have vaulted to the top of the league in recent weeks and Mastroeni cites his players' burgeoning self-belief as a major factor.
“In this league the parity is such that anyone can beat anyone on any given day. The edge that you get in this league is more psychological than it is anything tactical,” Mastroeni told the Denver Post. “And when you believe that you're a good team, and you start to play to that standard, other teams perceive you as that team.”
Friday night's Viernes de Futbol matchup between D.C. United and the New York Red Bulls may have bolstered his point. The defending MLS Supporters' Shield holders carried a three-game unbeaten streak into a rivalry match with a slumping side that they've dominated for the better part of the last two years, only for RBNY to be comprehensively beaten by a more committed D.C. side.
“I felt like I could’ve made a bunch of subs before halftime. 20th, 30th minute, we’re so flat,” Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch said afterwards.
“I have to take a big load of responsibility here. We came into a rivalry game, one that we knew that would require a team that would be in all ways up for the competition, and for the night, and we came up 0-for-11 on that. So that, you have to look at me. For whatever reason, maybe I didn’t have enough urgency in preparation for this, maybe I didn’t make it clear to them exactly what this was gonna require.”
