Write On Sports LLC - "MLS at the 1/5: The First Good Team + Week 6 Summaries" by Jeff Bull

MLS at the 1/5: The First Good Team + Week 6 Summaries

2007-05-16 14:42:33 | By: Jeff Bull

It took, literally, weeks and the discarding of several pretenders, but it’s possible - just possible - that the first clearly good Major League Soccer (MLS) team of the 2007 season has revealed themselves. That “good” team is the New England Revolution, who currently leads both the league’s Eastern Conference and MLS as a whole.

Naturally, dubbing a team good requires more than the say-so from some random pundit; and fans of other teams, particularly those just a point or two behind New England in the standings, will no doubt need convincing. But the Revolution have not only proved the most consistent side in the league so far, they’ve done it away from home more often than not; count ‘em, five games on the road versus two at home. Add in the fact they’ve played as many quality teams as patsies (Toronto FC, April 14) and you’ve got the foundation of the case.

New England hasn’t been perfect - though in their one loss they went down bombarding the opposing ‘keeper, the Chicago Fire’s Matt Pickens. Since that opening day loss, however, the Revolution went unbeaten over six games and against a variety of teams. They haven’t always played pretty (see DC United on the road, May 3) and they have certainly slipped (see Columbus Crew on the road, April 19), but gutting out results counts for a lot in MLS - and New England has so far mastered that.

More ominous for the rest of the league, Revolution coach Steve Nicol would likely say his team hasn’t played to their potential - at least till their Week 6 win (again, on the road) over the LA Galaxy. Their most recent outing saw the Revolution control a game’s tempo for the first meaningful time in ’07 (again, see Toronto); they moved the ball well and left the home side chasing for more of the 90 minutes than not. Prior to that game, it was often New England doing the chasing and ceding possession both frequently and cheaply.

Credit a precise attack, spearheaded by league-leading goal-scorer, Taylor Twellman, for not only saving a few of those results, but winning a game or two as well (see FC Dallas, April 29). On the other end, the Revolution defense may not be the tightest in MLS - the seven goals and goal-per-game average (very) roughly falls within the mean - but it’s tight enough to make that offense, currently averaging two goals per game, lethal on a practical level. In a league where at least half the teams either can’t score or struggle with defense, the essential, all-around competency of the Revolution sets them apart.

The best case to defuse a claim that the Revs have already settled into the 2007 season relies on a combination of missing data and a fistful of unknowns. To begin, the season is, of course, only six games old. And the “unknown” piece of the argument returns to the reason why picking a good team from the MLS scrum proved so hard to this point (and, arguably, past it): it’s still too hard to judge which teams are good and which are not - hence the difficulty of judging the quality of opposition New England has overcome. That last argument dogs the early-season success of the Kansas City Wizards, who trail New England by only two points, but they built that record with two games against Toronto and another against a struggling DC United. The multiplicity of details - e.g. the Revolution beat Dallas on the road, while the Wizards just lost to them at home; Kansas City beat DC on the road, while New England only managed a draw under the same circumstances - mean this last piece will likely remain unknown for a while.

This case isn’t air-tight, of course. But, in the context of the season as a whole, New England has reached the 1/5 point in the season on top, while early surprises like the Chicago Fire or Red Bull New York have stumbled over the past two weeks. Combine the sense of “completeness” about New England, as well as their position on top the Eastern Conference - which matters more still the Western Conference looking the weaker of the league’s two conferences - and it no longer feels like such a stretch to call the New England Revolution the first good team of 2007.

Now to the game summaries; an asterisk follows the games viewed in their entirety.

Colorado Rapids 1 - 1 Real Salt Lake
Goals: Jack Stewart (Rapids, 3 - own goal (OG); Pablo Mastroeni (RSL, 14 - OG)

Thoroughly weird scoring aside, reports tell of a fairly wide-open, entertaining game. Signs that Real Salt Lake turned in an energetic performance could indicate that the elevation of Jason Kreis to the coach’s position may yet pay off; then again, it may not. The Rapids reportedly played a good game as well, with Herculez Gomez continuing as the team’s most potent threat; it should also be noted that Denver-based media claim a bogus offside call robbed him of a goal. Freddy Adu caused the most headaches for the Rapids’ defense, particulary for defender Dan Gargan - though it was another player, Pablo Mastroeni, who deflected in Adu’s shot for RSL’s lone goal.

Notable: The box score says it all: how many games are settled by dueling own-goals? Well, according to the match report on MLS’s official site, six times in the league’s 11-and-a-fifth existence.

Toronto FC 3 - 1 Chicago Fire*
Goals: Danny Dichio (TFC, 24); Chris Rolfe (Fire, 36); Kevin Goldthwaite (TFC, 51); Maurice Edu (TFC, 75)

And the winner of the contest no team wanted to win: the Chicago Fire! Technically, it’s two contests: the Fire not only surrendered the first goal in Toronto FC’s history, they went on to give the expansion side their first win. The desperate nature of the loss constitutes the area of greatest concern for the Fire, who, for the second week running unraveled against quick counter-attacks. Credit Toronto’s attackers, though, who found wide (wide, wide) open players on both their second and third goals. A thoroughly respectable defensive effort for Toronto only adds to what looked like the finest of days for the Toronto franchise.

Notable: The first man to score for Toronto, forward Danny Dichio, was also the first to get ejected. The same brawl left both teams playing with ten men and one has to wonder whether that extra space aided the win.

Columbus Crew 1 - 1 Chivas USA*
Goals: Ante Razov (Chivas, 2); Ned Grabavoy (Crew, 18)

A tolerable first half ground to a foul-happy halt by the second; play never reached “dirty,” but it made for a less-than-enthralling spectacle over all. Chivas opened with 20 minutes of hungry soccer, only to run out of ideas thereafter; frequent, self-imposed breakdowns in their defensive third should concern the California side more than anything. The Crew, for their part, tried on a new offense featuring Argentine legend Guillermo Schelotto in his second game and Alejandro Moreno in his first. Both showed some promise while 2007 Crew mainstay, Ned Grabavoy, continued his solid season. But it wasn’t enough in the end as the Crew’s struggles with scoring linger.

Notable: With players who can consistently deliver quality free-kicks in short supply, interested parties should take the time to watch Schelotto play; the man doesn’t over- or under-hit much of anything, placing the ball in that sweet spot between too far from the goal and too close to the ‘keeper.

Kansas City Wizards 1 - 2 FC Dallas
Goals: Kenny Cooper (FCD, 19); Juan Toja (FCD, 46+); Michael Harrington (KC, 91+)

Dallas ‘keeper Dario Sala, returning from a six-game suspension handed down at the end of the 2006 season, stood taller than Paul Bunyan in goal to preserve the win for the away team. The Wizards, who more than doubled Dallas for shots on goal, came out flat for the first half - at least that’s how coach Kurt Onalfo saw things - but pinned Dallas into their own half for most of the second. This win confirms a trend for Dallas who have proved better on the road thus far; for Kansas City, on the other hand, the loss ends a formidable shutout streak (306) minutes and handed the team their first loss of the season.

Notable: The Kansas City Star quotes Wizards’ ‘keeper Kevin Hartman as claiming that Juan Toja confirmed suspicions of a hand-ball when scoring Dallas’ second goal; according to Hartman, Toja apologized after scoring.

Los Angeles Galaxy 2 - 3 New England Revolution*
Goals: Kyle Martino (LA, 14); Adam Cristman (NE, 47); Taylor Twellman (NE, 52); Tyrone Marshall (LA, 84); Twellman (NE, 85)

This one lived up to its billing and then some. Both sides played fast and forward-looking soccer, which made for a break-neck pace. As noted above, New England generally had the better of the game, but they couldn’t discount LA’s threat on the counter. LA’s opener came through a wicked cross-angle pass from midfielder Pete Vagenas that Kyle Martino coolly slotted away; New England closed affairs appropriately when they scored the winner by working the ball from the center-stripe to the goal straight from the kickoff without an LA player touching the ball. Don’t be fooled by LA’s lackluster record; they played well enough to beat most MLS teams. New England’s record says plenty about where they are.

Notable: New England racked up the records on Saturday: Steve Ralston not only broke the all-time appearances record with 318, but he moved into second for the all-time assists record with 113. And Taylor Twellman’s brace gives him a league-leading six goals.

Red Bull New York 0 - 1 Colorado Rapids
Goals: Nicolas Hernandez (Rapids, 24)

Colorado dished Red Bull their first loss of the season courtesy of a tactical plan they feel they executed to perfection. According to reports, both before and after “Nico” Hernandez goal Colorado played ten men behind the ball and used quick counters to keep Red Bull honest. With New York missing key players like midfielder Claudio Reyna and ‘keeper Ronald Wattereus, they couldn’t find a way through the Rapids’ defense - though Red Bull midfielder/forward Clint Mathis also didn’t mince words about their sharpness of their performance.

Notable: With this loss for Red Bull, every team in MLS has now tasted defeat. On the upside, lousy attendance on the day meant few people caught it live.

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