I probably watch about 250 MLS matches a year, which is mostly sad but also pretty cool.
In order to keep some amount of sanity, I try to go into each game with a slightly different perspective and focus – sometimes trying to figure out the lay of the entire forest, other times zeroing in on one particular tree, and at least once in a while having a few
beers
Heinekens and just seeing what I see.
Thursday's column and subsequent Q&A, which you can read HERE, is going to be my main focus for the next 48 hours. Below is a very brief rundown of three other things that will catch my attention this weekend:
1. Where's BWP getting the ball?
I'm high on this year's RBNY for one main reason: their midfield. It's talented and balanced, and should be able to provide service to the attack while shielding a defense that's currently wearing the old Geocities "under construction" tag:
Here's the issue: In Week 1's 1-1 draw at Sporting KC, RBNY was anything but balanced. Sacha Kljestan was played as a No. 10, but ended up increasingly deep to get the ball, causing a disconnect between the midfield and the front line. Bradley Wright-Phillips ended up on an island up top all by his lonesome, and literally did not get a single touch in the 18:
Kljestan is a ball hunter who will have one of the league's highest usage rates, the type of guy who fits more as a No. 8 than as a pure No. 10. If he's going to play the latter position – and so far it seems like that's going to be his home – he'll have to curb some of his tempo-setting instincts and get himself into spots that are more purely creative in nature, while also being a goal-dangerous attacking partner who can occasionally peel defenders away from the team's DP goalscorer.
New York will face archrivals D.C. United on Sunday (5 pm ET; ESPN 2/ESPN Deportes/WatchESPN), and should have the midfield battle won from the start based purely on numbers. United play a 4-4-2 and generally concede the central midfield, while the Red Bulls play a 4-2-3-1. This should give Kljestan license to stay high in possession, letting more of the game run through Dax McCarty and Felipe, and giving BWP a running-mate to go at United's defense.
I'll also be watching...Bill Hamid getting off his line like a rocket and staying big. He is fearless, and actually somehow underrated. Watch how quickly he makes the goal "small" for any shooter.
2. Kaka can pull the 'Caps apart
Through two games the Chicago Fire are scoreless and on the bottom of the standings. But that was not an outright humiliation they suffered at the hands of the Vancouver Whitecaps last weekend – that was a wide-open, back-and-forth goalfest waiting to happen. Both 'keepers on the day were excellent.
And that's a problem for Vancouver, who've shown a distinct lack of coordination between central midfield and central defense in the season's first two weeks. Toronto FC lit them up in Week 1, while Chicago could have had two or three goals in Week 2.
Their main problem is tracking runners between the lines:
That's Harry Shipp making a clever, aggressive run behind Russell Teibert and in front of the napping Kendall Waston on a play that started when center forward Quincy Amarikwa drifted out wide to pull the defense out of alignment.
In his club career to this point, Kaká has scored 6 billion goals on that exact run. Any time Orlando City's starting center forward flares out wide, watch for a sequence similar to this.
If Vancouver's reactions don't improve, they will be victimized at least once by the Brazilian legend in Saturday's contest (7:30 pm ET; TSN1 in Canada | MLS Live in the US).
I'll also be watching...Kekuta Manneh. He leads the league in chances created from open play with seven through two games, and if his teammates could finish at all, he'd be leading the league in assists as well.
3. Wide on the right, tight on the left
True story: Dom Kinnear remains one of the best coaches in Major League Soccer. He gave us another data point for that understanding in San Jose 3-2 win over Seattle last weekend.
The below Opta chalkboard, which tracks final third pass & cross attempts for the Quakes in that game, tells me a story:
Here's what it says: San Jose are direct, wide and aggressive along the right side, where winger Sanna Nyassi and fullback Marvell Wynne can run (really fast) all day. They play close to the touchline and force the opposing defense to come out to meet them or risk allowing wide open crosses.
This DataViz is so pretty I've got to include it:
On the other side, Kinnear had Chris Wondolowski dropping back to combine with new DP Innocent Emeghara – a much more technical player than Nyassi – as well as DP playmaker Matias Perez Garcia. Left back Shaun Francis, meanwhile, got forward far less frequently than Wynne.
The Fire have a lot of work to do prepping for an attack that's alternately based on raw speed and intricate skill in tight spots ahead of Sunday's Avaya Stadium opener (7 pm ET; FoxSports 1).
I'll also be watching...Eric Gehrig. Seriously. He's a good enough player, but Chicago basically ran their whole game through him last weekend – he had more touches than anyone else in Red, and Manneh gave him a torrid time going at goal. We'll see if Innocent does the same.
