The Charm is Gone

The MLS product has improved over the years and currently features a handful of global icons and dozens of internationals from all over the world. This improvement has made the league more attractive to star players, TV networks, wealthy investors and even a few sports fans, but it has also diminished one of the little charms I always liked about MLS. While most domestic leagues around the world are on break this week for the FIFA international date, MLS has a full schedule with eight matches on Saturday and two more on Sunday. MLS has been criticized for not adhering to the international standard of pausing league play during official FIFA dates. But while charging through the domestic schedule with little regard for international play has its drawbacks, I’ve always enjoyed watching MLS during those international breaks. However, now that MLS clubs employ so many active internationals, league action during the FIFA dates isn’t as enjoyable, or charming, as it once was. The week 4 schedule offered MLS fans a brilliant set of matches, but unfortunately the games could not be fully enjoyed. With difference makers out of the lineup for most of the 20 clubs in action over the weekend, the games felt less meaningful and lacked entertainment value. Bringing in stars is a double edged sword; it’s cool when Toronto signs Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore, but then it’s not cool when those two are with the USMNT the same week that TFC has a nationally televised game on FS1. It’s becoming more unhealthy than charming for the league to schedule matches when 50+ of its best players are not available. Taylor Twellman addressed the issue during ESPN2’s Sunday MLS broadcast and recognized the league has smart people that are aware of the situation. I don’t have the entire quote, but the gist of his point was that “This league needs its stars to be playing.” I believe he is right. Somehow, MLS must find a way to schedule around international competition going forward because week 4 was not a fair reflection on the league.

F-Up #1: MLS Scheduling
This is a 3-part rant. I am not outraged and I understand how difficult scheduling is. Still though, I would like to see the league try to improve some of these things:

Gripe 1
For the second straight week we did not get Friday Night Soccer – Boooo! It wasn’t scheduled this week, and likely for good reason. With the FIFA date and March Madness in action, Friday Night Soccer would have really struggled for ratings this week.

Gripe 2
It’s great that MLS has regularly scheduled matches on ESPN2, but this week’s offering of Chicago versus Philadelphia does the league a disservice in my opinion. Chicago and Philly have been struggling and were never likely to play an entertaining match, but it was actually a decent watch in terms of the soccer (Chicago took the match 1-0). The problem was the nonexistent atmosphere at Toyota Park. The match box-score on MLSsoccer.com says there were 12,815 people in attendance, but watching on ESPN2, it sure didn’t look like it. The best part about a TV deal with ESPN is that it allows MLS to showcase the cream of its crop in nearly 100 million American households. There are countless reasons why MLS can’t just hand pick a game with two great teams and a thrilling atmosphere to put up on ESPN2 every Sunday, but I think it’s important for the league to ensure that nationally televised matches have more than that (below) in attendance.

Gripe 3
MLS was guilty of this through three weeks, but now in the fourth week, I must say something. Saturday match overlap has become incredibly frustrating. I understand that scheduling is a massive and intricate puzzle, but it seems the league could do better than what they did this week, where a pair of overlapping afternoon matches were followed by a long break before the final six matches of the day all kicked off within 90 minutes of each other. If the league could pull it off, I’d like to see staggered match times so that MLS soccer is on for eight to nine consecutive hours on Saturdays.

East Conf. Scheduling Blunder from Week 4:
-DCU v LAG kickoff at 7:00 PM ET
-CLB v NYRB kickoff at 7:30 PM ET
Not only two great games for the weekend, but two of the more intriguing matchups so far in 2015. Only separated by 30 minutes, I’d love it if these two matches were separated by 90 minutes or more.

West Conf. Scheduling Blunder from Week 4:
-VAN v POR kickoff at 8:00 PM ET
-FCD v SEA kickoff at 8:30 PM ET
Two great western conference matchups. I think soccer fans around the country would love to have watched all 90 of each game if the start times had allowed.

F-Up #2: Kellyn Acosta
Kellyn Acosta, filling in at left back for starter Moises Hernandez (int’l duty, Guatemala), got his first start of the season and the opportunity to show coach Pareja that he deserves a spot in Dallas’ starting XI. He played an uneventful 17 minutes before a horribly timed challenge found his boot firmly in the stomach of poor Andy Rose (see below). Kellyn will want that challenge back as it cost him 73 minutes to showcase his value to the team and quite possibly cost Dallas two points (Seattle and Dallas played to a 0-0 draw).

F-Up #3: David Texiera
Despite not picking up a red card, striker David Texiera (getting his first start of 2015 in place of Panamanian Blas Perez) accomplished about as much as Acosta on a discouraging night for the young Uruguayan. Jason Poon, who writes about FC Dallas at Big D Soccer, had this to say about David Texiera’s shift against Seattle.

Surprise of the Week:
CLB 1 – 2 NYRB

Week after week MLS matches end in surprising score lines, so I question if I can even label these outcomes as truly surprising. But for me, NYRB going to Columbus and taking all three points was the biggest surprise from this weekend. Columbus were certainly hit harder than New York by the FIFA international date, missing three of their best players in defender Waylon Francis, midfielder Wil Trapp and game changer Justin Meram.

Half Surprise:
MTL 2 – 2 OCSC

A very shorthanded Orlando City picking up a point in Montreal comes as a bit of a surprise, especially after they went down 2-0 (until this week, Orlando had managed just 2 goals in 3 matches!). But Montreal simply cannot be counted on to get a win in MLS under any circumstances these days, so this is only a minor surprise.

The Rest of the Action

NE 2 – 1 SJ
Kellyn Rowe scored a brace for New England’s first two goals of 2015, helping the Revs to their first win of the season on a nasty day in Foxborough. Wondo scored a PK for his third goal of the year.

NYCFC 0 – 1 SKC
Defender Ike Opara scored his second of the season (get him on your fantasy team ASAP) to give SKC their first win of 2015 against a David Villa less NYCFC at Yankee Stadium.

DC 1 – 0 LAG
In typical fashion, LA Galaxy blamed themselves for losing the game rather than crediting their opponents for finding a way to win. LA may have been better on the day, but forward Chris Pontius took all three points for the home side in the 93^rd minute with this header.

VAN 2 – 1 PTFC
Another game where the road side felt they were better, but lost the match late in a week 4 that was filled with extra time drama. Recently acquired Vancouver striker Robert Earnshaw scored the winner in the 90th minute, having just come on in the 87′. David Ousted could be the early frontrunner for GK of the Year at the rate he is saving points for Vancouver.

HOU 0 – 0 COL
This game was not even slightly interesting and these two teams are looking like playoff long shots early in the season. Somehow, I saw this one coming.

RSL 2 – 1 TFC
Olmes Garcia nearly cost RSL two points late with this selfish decision as former Dallas hothead Jackson tied the match just moments later. Sadly for Reds fans, TFC gave up the winner about 75 seconds after equalizing. It was a thrilling conclusion to the game and probably the best action of the weekend. RSL have their first win, but haven’t found top form in 2015 as they continue their transition from the diamond 4-4-2 to the new 4-3-3.

GOTW

Jack McInerney’s brilliant chip takes the cake in week 4, but I would have liked to see Ike Opara’s furious header make MLSsoccer.com’s Goal of the Week video (maybe at the expense of Jordan Allen’s game winner).

Up to this point, the Tweet of the Week (TOTW) has been the funniest tweet I find on Twitter in a given week. But this week I’ll introduce a different TOTW: The Stat or Fact of the Week.