Underdogs impacting postseason race
San Jose derails Toronto FC's playoff hopes in Week 30
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Yep, a lot of that has been going around lately. And Round 30 saw it happen again.
There were two matches involving teams either officially eliminated or pretty much done, even if not mathematically, against teams still in the thick of playoff matters. Kansas City held up well against Chivas USA for a half, actually getting the better of the home team before halftime adjustments helped rescue the night for Preki's Red-and-White at The Home Depot Center.
Toronto wasn't so lucky. San Jose, already eliminated from the playoffs, went into BMO and slashed the tires on Toronto's drive for a first-ever playoff appearance.
It was all there for Toronto. Chris Cummins' side was looking at three matches remaining. Taken one at a time, the Reds seemed to have a reasonable chance to win each one. It started with a contest at home against the down-and-out Earthquakes, an under strength version no less, and one coming off a midweek match and cross-country flight.
Never mind all that. Toronto took a second half lead, went a little tentative from there -- just one shot for the home team in the final 30 minutes? -- and suffered the awful consequences. San Jose got loose for a stoppage-time equalizer and, in all likelihood, the Red Patch Boys and the rest of the loyal TFC supporters will have to wait another year still to dine on the sweet playoff melon.
"You know it's the story of Toronto FC for this year," Toronto goalkeeper Brian Edwards said after getting the call in relief of the injured Stefan Frei. "... We don't have enough about us right now -- the confidence to hold a 1-0 lead and it's everybody from the top to the back, it's all of us."
San Jose was on the other end of the whipping stick just a few days earlier, as Dallas won its third consecutive match. And the Red Stripes did so the road, no less. Road teams are 4-3-3 in October.
We also saw an instance where one team desperate for points couldn't seal the deal against a side that has a playoff berth safely stored in the sock drawer.
New England was running out of games in hand, as the psychological edge of having extra opportunities for points slipped away. So Steve Nicol's team really needed all three points at home contest against Columbus, which left five starters on the bench for various reasons.
But the Revs, still missing too much firepower of their own, just couldn't find a way through, not even when afforded a man advantage for 25 minutes.
Round 30 was an abbreviated schedule with just four matches. Not so in Round 31, where it's "double jeopardy" in a full set of eight matches. Everyone plays; Real Salt Lake goes twice. So we'll see if the teams nearer the top of the tables can rise up, regain their balance and finish what they started.
TACTICAL CORNER
• Preki gets the halftime adjustment award of the weekend for bold moves at intermission as his team seeks the cure for whatever poisoned the well early this summer.
The Chivas USA manager rolled the dice with the rare, halftime double change. He had apparently seen enough of a meeker, less energetic version of Chivas USA. So Jesse Marsch came in for Jesus Padilla and Mariano Trujillo replaced veteran Claudio Suarez, whose first start in 2009 lasted just 45 minutes.
Chivas wins by hard work and attending to detail, but the offense really isn't anything formidable. There isn't a lot of wing play and here's no real creative element in midfield beyond Sacha Kljestan's occasional improvisation. What the rojiblancos are good at is pouncing on sloppy opposition possession and then scoring on the counter. Marsch understands that and the extra bite he provided in midfield and the extra knowledge of when to step up and apply the heavy pressure helped turn the match in his team's favor.
"We could tell from the first moment that we weren't up for it," Preki said of the dull first 45 minutes. "We were a little bit slow, sluggish in the first half."
• Here's how the double sub worked from a technical standpoint: With Trujillo's introduction at right back, Carey Talley slid over from the right and into the middle to replace Suarez. Marsch went into the middle as rookie Michael Lahoud slid to the outside, replacing Jesus Padilla.
• Did any player start so fast and then fade so precipitously as Davy Arnaud? Kansas City's slashing attacker had four goals through May and was rewarded with a national team summons for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. In four-plus months since, Arnaud has just one strike. In the first half Saturday, Yamith Cuesta gifted K.C. with an awful back pass, leaving Arnaud in alone on Zach Thornton, albeit at a tough angle. Still, I have a feeling that Arnaud earlier this year, emboldened by the confidence of that early goal-scoring burst, would have taken the more aggressive course of action. Instead, he played a ball across the top of the 18 toward Josh Wolff, who was bracketed by two Chivas defenders. Then, when the ball bounced around and came fortuitously back to Arnaud, he pushed a rather soft shot wide to the right.
• Graham Zusi got his third start for Kansas City this year, filling in for Santiago Hirsig in the middle of the Wizards' 4-4-2 (alongside Jack Jewsbury). The rookie from Maryland (we hear that a lot these days in MLS, no?) had a nice match, but did seem to tire in the second half. That's not completely unexpected considering his lack of starts, the size of The Home Depot Center field (far more expansive than K.C.'s tight home park) and the fact that Chivas introduced a new central midfielder to chase at halftime. Besides, the stamina issue seemed to affect the entire team. "Physically, from a fitness perspective, we died out around the 65th minute and they really started taking a lot of the play," Wizards interim manager Peter Vermes said. "That sort of let us down today at the end of the game."
• Adrian Serioux returned to Toronto's starting lineup at right back for the injured Marvell Wynne. He doesn't have Wynne's speed, but he does give TFC a long throw threat, which resulted in two early chances Saturday against San Jose.
• TFC boss Chris Cummins set up his team in a 4-4-2 for Saturday's desperately needed bid, with Dwayne De Rosario out wide on the right. But San Jose smartly directed balls the other way, over to the side were far-less-dangerous Lesly Fellinga roamed. The result was an offense that rarely found De Rosario, who was frequently stranded on the right.
Meanwhile, rookie Sam Cronin and Julian de Guzman sat in dual holding roles. But without a true target forward and with De Rosario roaming wide, that left a big gap in the offense, with no one to attack the hole in front of defenders, no one to force those center backs to make choices.
• TFC's new Designated Player de Guzman might not be the biggest guy, but he's an effective ball winner because of his keen sense of positioning and his great feet. So when he does start scrapping around in those 50-50 challenges, he's usually able to wiggle away from pressure with the ball at his feet, and can generally do something positive with it from there.
• TFC plays way too many long balls out of the back. Maybe that was the way forward with Danny Dichio around. But why have a classy passer like de Guzman if you're just going to knock it past him?
• And finally this from TFC's wrenching 1-1 draw at home: Afterward Cummins said something quite curious about his limited substitute options. He lamented not having "a defensive midfielder on the bench." But wasn't Amadou Sanyang there? And didn't the young Gambian make three starts at defensive midfielder just a few weeks ago, with reasonable effectiveness by most accounts? Just checking.
• When watching the Crew's new Venezuelan target striker Emilio Renteria, does anyone else get the feeling they are watching a younger, stronger version of the Crew's veteran Venezuelan striker Alejandro Moreno? Just checking.
• You've really got to question the decision making of Revs' center back Emmanuel Osei. The Revolution defender could easily have been ejected by the 10th minute Saturday. Having already collected an early and well-deserved yellow card, he went in recklessly and from behind on Renteria. Canadian referee Paul Ward sternly admonished Osei, which was probably the right thing to do at that point. Still, Osei should have known better. And just two minutes later Osei went in hard and from behind on Crew forward Steven Lenhart, with Ward once again telling the young Gambian "No more!" The Revolution caught a big break there -- especially considering the rather harsh decision made against the Crew later, as Emmanuel Ekpo was ejected for getting his arms up high on an aerial challenge.
• Columbus reserve center back Andy Iro had perhaps his best match in a Crew shirt, gobbling up everything New England put into the air in or around the penalty area.
Steve Davis is a freelance writer who has covered Major League Soccer since its inception. Steve writes for www.DailySoccerFix.com and 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.
