We're down to the US Open Cup quarterfinals, and with MLS teams slotted into seven of the eight spots, we asked our editors: Which squad most needs to raise the Cup?
BEN COUCH: Lighting the Way Forward
Nelson Rodriguez and Velkjo Paunovic are making a lot of the right long-term moves, but it's been a rough season in Chicago. The standings aren't friendly – and yet, the recognition of progress is there. Jonathan Campbell has been a Rookie Rankings mainstay and left back Brandon Vincent just landed on the MLS All-Star Gameday Roster. The transfer window addition of Dutch striker Michael de Leeuw should put more punch in the attack alongside speedy striker David Accam and Kennedy Igboananike.
The Open Cup represents an opportunity for Paunovic – a globally respected coaching prospect after leading the Serbian national team to the FIFA U-20 World Cup title – to hang hardware on the mantle and offer a strong talking point for fans to take into 2017 … and beyond!
And it looks like he knows it.
SAM STEJSKAL: Starting the climb
The Sounders are the obvious choice here. Seattle are mired in ninth place in the West after Sunday’s loss at Portland, nine points behind the Timbers for the sixth and final playoff spot. Their only silver lining? They have two games in hand on Portland and three on seventh-place Sporting KC, who they trail by eight points.
Their climb to the red line will be steep, but they still have time to catch those two clubs, as well as eighth-place San Jose. They’ll need a serious injection of confidence if they’re going to get there, however. A win against the high-powered Galaxy at StubHub – where LA never lose – would be a great place to start.
ANDREW WIEBE: Cementing a Legacy
In 2 1/2 seasons, Oscar Pareja has turned FC Dallas into arguably MLS’s best club. They’ve become the harbinger for youth development in a country obsessed by it. They’ve fallen a few goals short of the Supporters’ Shield and taken consecutive steps forward in the playoffs. As I write this, they sit atop the standings and Power Rankings.
Thing is, lasting legacies – and legit USMNT head coaching candidacies – are built one way and one way only: championships. FC Dallas’ only silverware came back in 1997 in this very tournament, and Pareja’s professional coaching trophy case is still empty. Neither should be desperate to win this season’s US Open Cup, but there’s no doubt both the club and its coach need it.
DAVE ZEITLIN: Sealing the deal
As soon as Jim Curtin took over as the Philadelphia Union’s head coach two years ago, he stressed the importance of the Open Cup and what winning the club’s first trophy could do for the city and the franchise. Since then, he’s done a remarkable job in the tournament, guiding Philly to a 10-2 mark while enjoying some wild wins that have seen extra time, shootouts, ejections, weather delays and more. But in each of the last two years, the stirring run ended in the final as the Union lost back-to-back heartbreakers to the Seattle Sounders and Sporting Kansas City.
And yet while both of those losses were absolutely devastating – even more so because they happened at home – the truth is probably that the Union played as well as they could have in each of those games, falling victim in the end to not having quite enough talent and depth. That’s not the case anymore, as a far deeper and improved roster has the Union near the top of the Eastern Conference standings while still chasing Open Cup glory following two gutsy tourney victories.
Unlike the past two years, when the playoffs were mostly out of reach, the Union don’t need a deep Open Cup run to validate their season. But, more than any other MLS team, they do need to wipe out the bitter memories of the last two title games and show that their Open Cup magic can do more than just get them to a final … but have them lifting a trophy once they’re there.
