Five-a-side: MLS's growing scorers
Analyzing trend of tall strikers; Gold Cup ups and downs
1. Land of giants: More teams seem to be buying into a trend that has MLS strikers growing like weeds in spring time. In a league where physical play is de rigueur, the snipers just seem to keep getting bigger.
The latest is Lithuanian striker Edgaras Jankauskas, who just signed on at Gillette Stadium, hoping to bring some relief to the league's most injury-distressed roster. The veteran frontrunner is 6-foot-4.
He's hardly going to tower above the field where MLS strikers are concerned.
In San Jose, manager Frank Yallop made it an offseason priority to get bigger and more bulky along the front line. So, in came 6-foot-3 Brazilian striker Pablo Campos, who is frequently partnered with Ryan Johnson. Johnson may be only 6-foot-1, but he's plays the position like an NFL linebacker, and he's got the brute strength to brace the ultra-physical style.
Of course, the Earthquakes also had Cam Weaver until about a month ago. The 6-foot-3 forward is now in Houston. He's getting more playing time at Robertson, where Dominic Kinnear is doing everything he can to corner the market on big, strong lads.
If Weaver isn't throwing his big body around and causing havoc inside opposition penalty areas, then 6-foot-3 Kei Kamara or 6-foot-1 Brian Ching is. Ching isn't the biggest of the striker biggies in terms of actual size, but anybody who has seen the U.S. international in action understands his ability in terms target play, aerial strength and bravery. In other words, he "plays big."
Ditto for Brian McBride, who is 6-foot, 175, but plays more like 6-foot-2 or 6-foot-3.
Just north of Houston is Kenny Cooper, who has increased the physical aspect of his game this year for FC Dallas, where the 6-foot-4 goal scorer has sometimes been deployed in a lone-striker role, one that requires more muscle and tussle.
In Toronto, 6-foot-3 veteran striker Danny Dichio continues to arrange much of the offense at BMO through his hold-up play.
Out west, a couple of 6-foot-3 strikers, Seattle's Nate Jaqua and L.A.'s Alan Gordon, have been known to occasionally go right through defenders when they couldn't conveniently scoot around them.
The response will be inevitable, as the collective roster of center backs will have to get bigger to deal with all that bulk at striker. From there, we'll have to see. It could stay that way, or a shrewd manager might eventually take the risk of building entirely around smaller, super-quick forwards who can consistently maneuver past the bigger fellows.
2. Gold Cup ups and downs: There's no MLS match in Seattle this weekend, but a fixture at Qwest will certainly have a major impact on league matters.
The United States will commence Gold Cup play with a contest against Grenada in Seattle. The U.S. roster is built largely of MLS players, and several other Gold Cup rosters are dotted with MLS talent. How certain teams cope will say a lot about MLS results in Round 16.
Friday, for instance, RSL set sail with the second half their schedule while dealing with the absence of their first-choice holding midfielders Kyle Beckerman and Will Johnson. So it looks like Ned Grabavoy and Clint Mathis could step in -- and that could give Jason Kreis' side an entirely different look and feel at home against San Jose.
Colorado dealt fairly well with the loss of in-form frontrunner Conor Casey, who joined the U.S. side in South Africa for the Confederations Cup. Omar Cummings' splendid and spirited play helped soften the blow. Now, Casey is available again but Cummings is away to help in Jamaica's Gold Cup run, leaving the Rapids to readjust after the adjustment.
Dallas must cope with the loss of Kenny Cooper, who has more than twice as many goals as any teammate. On the other hand, two of his strikes came on penalty kicks and one was from a free kick. So, Cooper has just four goals in 15 starts from the run of play. Perhaps Jeff Cunningham, or whoever steps in for Cooper, can fill the big man's shoes after all, which may just alter the calculus as the next round Cooper transfer speculation rises.
Chicago's defense will be weakened due to Gonzalo Segares and Logan Pause being Gold Cup-tied. It may give John Thorrington a chance to increase his value as a viable option at holding midfielder.
Los Angeles gets its third test this year without goalkeeping revelation Donovan Ricketts, whose big presence and big saves have meant so much as the Galaxy tries to hold the proverbial line until David Beckham and Landon Donovan can get on the field together.
Columbus and Kansas City will each be without an important center back and a primary attacker for weekend matches at home. Around the league, every team except for San Jose will be affected.
Real Salt Lake GM Garth Lagerwey said Friday, just a few hours before his team took the field, that while these situations are challenging, they do present a valuable opportunity to dig deeper in the information gathering process on the team.
"You've got to know about your team 15- and 16-deep, because that's how you manage the salary cap and everything about your roster," he said. "So it's great information not just on the first 11 or 12 -- not that those are necessarily the best 11 or 12, but the ones who are starting now -- but it's good information on your entire team, information you need."
3. Best rivalry yet?: MLS fans who heard or read about the U.S. Open Cup match in Portland earlier this week surely had the same thought: Of all the dandy rivalries in MLS, the developing ones and the longer-standing ones, Portland-Seattle has a chance to be the very best.
Portland will become the league's 18th club when it climbs aboard in 2011. Everyone just got a little taste of what things might look like when the two Northwest clubs meet regularly.
A record crowd of 16,382 at PGE Park saw Major League Soccer's Seattle Sounders FC defeat the USL's Timbers in the third round Open Cup clash. Flares, flags and song filled the Portland night as the teams resumed a rivalry launched in 1975 in the old North American Soccer League.
"I've played a lot of games on this pitch," Seattle goal-scorer Roger Levesque told the Tacoma News Tribune afterward. "I've had some good memories and I've also been on the other end of it. ... They've always had a really strong support system -- the best in the USL, hands down. We didn't expect anything less tonight. The atmosphere was absolutely amazing. Whether that Timbers Army is booing you or cheering for you, it's great for soccer in the Northwest."
Vancouver (also joining league play in 2011) might have something to say about Northwest rivalries, of course. And then there's a Home Depot Center skirmish that plays out a few times each season, and other rivalries around the league. But there's something about the funky Northwest that sets that area of the country apart -- and promises to create one of the truly special set of clashes going forward.
4. Stretched in the Open Cup: There was a straight split in U.S. Open Cup results this week as eight matches featured MLS clubs against teams from the domestic soccer structure's second, third and fourth tiers.
Four of eight MLS clubs went out in the third round of Open Cup play. That's one more than in 2008, when three of eight MLS sides fell in the third round.
Stretched rosters certainly have something to do with the high incidence of MLS upsets this year. A perfect storm of heavy wear (Confederations Cup, Gold Cup, SuperLiga, Open Cup and regular MLS action) is taxing personnel in a year that saw rosters reduced from 28 to 24 anyway.
And something else is likely at work here, too. Teams generally lean on the reserve squad to supply extra energy and able reinforcements to the Open Cup effort. But the dissolving of the reserve league has left too many of the occupants of places 18-24 on MLS benches with precious little regular activity.
"So now you're putting those reservists in games and some of those kids haven't played regularly in six months," Lagerwey said. "In some cases, maybe they've only played two or three games in six months."
FYI: Circle next week's July 7 fixture at Charleston's cozy Blackbaud Stadium as the next marquee matchup in the string of these juicy and always-interesting MLS-USL matchups. The Houston Dynamo, current MLS point leader, take on the Charleston Battery, last year's Open Cup runner-up. And the Battery have eliminated the Dynamo each of the last two years, both in their little Lowcountry gem of a ground.
5. The Little Five:
• Here is one of those quirky stats that defies explanation (but one that has reached a great enough sampling that we can only assume it has significance): Colorado is 11-1-1 all-time in their big July 4, fireworks-infused contest. Don't believe the Rapids have a little something extra in the tank for their annual Independence Day fiesta? Ask the Red Bulls, who were on the wrong side of a 4-0 spanking last year. Colorado's only loss came to Columbus all the way back in 1999.
• At least one MLS side -- names withheld to guard against blowback of calling out players for flagging passion -- showed a short video to its players of Kei Kamara's disconsolate reaction after blowing a huge chance in Houston's 1-0 loss Sunday at L.A., a setback that prevented the club from setting a new club record for consecutive unbeaten matches. Kamara, subbed soon afterward, was utterly inconsolable on the bench. "That's the kind of passion was need to see around here," the manager told his players.
• I usually don't pay much attention to "woe is us" sentiment in the injury department, because every club deals with them at some point, and because good teams can often find their way through the sprain-and-strain mire. But what is happening at New England is truly mind-boggling. The Revs had just 15 players healthy and eligible to dress for the midweek U.S. Open Cup loss to Harrisburg. A New England team spokesman said the club brought 17 players to California for Saturday's contest against the Galaxy. They won't know until later how many would actually be fit enough to dress against the Galaxy. Even then, the list includes three goalkeepers.
• Think Dwayne De Rosario just added an extra layer to his quickly sprouting legend around Toronto FC? He already had a special place in hearts around BMO for his long-stated desire, back when he was a Houston Dynamo, to play in his Canadian hometown. Now, along with defender Adrian Serioux, De Rosario has opted to remain with Toronto instead of joining the Canadian national team for Gold Cup duty. At the halfway mark of the MLS season, Toronto is closer to the top of the Eastern standings than to the bottom, but good footing in the playoff race is hardly secure.
• Action has already started to unfold as we approach the July 15 international transfer window opening. Colorado has added French defender Julien Baudet, who played in England's League One last year. Seattle has fortified its young roster with the addition of Costa Rican defender Leonardo Gonzalez. And there are strong indications that Toronto is working hard on efforts to attract Canadian international Julian de Guzman. Currently at Deportivo de La Coruña in Spain's La Liga, the 28-year-old defensive midfielder could represent Major League Soccer's top midsummer signing if he does sign up for action at BMO.
Steve Davis is a freelance writer who has covered Major League Soccer since its inception. Steve can be reached at BigTexSoccer@yahoo.com. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
