Davis: Defense wins championships

Clubs with lowest numbers in goals allowed are all playoff bound

By Steve Davis / Special to MLSnet.com

Kasey Keller and Sounders FC posted five shutouts over the final 13 regular season matches. (Getty)

Please pardon the pun, but the defense rests.

You hear it across so many sports platforms, that defense wins championships. And who could really argue the point?

But let's face it: dissecting the "D" just isn't as much fun as talking up the offense, separating the flash from the dash when it comes to the highly paid attacking sorts. So we naturally point the conversation toward those who run at defenders, toward the men who can shoot from distance, or create their own shot, or provide the best service from wide spots, etc.

I know I get caught up in it, frequently leaning the content toward strikers, playmakers and wing attackers, often at the expense of the men who stop and distribute for a living.

But here we are on the Monday after the final weekend of MLS regular season play, a weekend that wrote the final chapters on a positively intoxicating playoff chase. So what do we find as we put on our CSI caps and begin sorting through the battle scenes?

That defense wins championships.

More to the point in this case, teams couldn't even get into position to win a title without a great defense.

Eight clubs found their way "home," landing in the 14th version of Major League Soccer's playoffs. And you might notice that these very same clubs, without exception, rank 1-8 in league stats when it comes to goals allowed.

There's an undeniable correlation. As I said, once again the defense rests on this old sports bromide. The bottom seven clubs in goals allowed are home now, conducting exit interviews, planning for the offseason and sorting out where it all went wrong.

"They are difficult to break down," San Jose manager Frank Yallop said of the LA Galaxy, who had just blanked the Earthquakes on Saturday to claim the Western Conference's top seed. "I think we had chances against them, but we didn't have a ton. Defensively as a unit, they are tough to get chances against. Goalkeeper is good. Good all around unit."

Bruce Arena's Galaxy finished tied for third in goals allowed, just two goals behind Houston and Seattle.

Wait a minute -- Seattle? All year, didn't we all wax prolific about Seattle's bold offense and its cluster of speedy attackers? I know I did. But in the end, Sounders FC finished level with Houston as the only teams to permit less than a goal a game on average.

At the other end of the playoff seedings, we watched New England narrowly drive itself into the playoffs on sheer will, as Jeff Larentowicz's memorable free kick strike put a punctuation mark on Matt Reis' clean sheet. It was scintillating stuff, to be sure.

But why were Steve Nicol's Revs still sweating it out until the very last minutes of Major League Soccer's 225-game season? Break it all down and it's because they allowed more goals over the season than any other playoff side. There's beautiful symmetry there; the playoff team with the most defensive issues was the last one afforded postseason entry.

Look more closely at the top teams in terms of goals allowed:

Fredy Montero and Freddie Ljungberg get lots of press. Same for brilliant young winger Steve Zakuani, a Rookie of the Year candidate. Kasey Keller gets lots of mentions because, well, because he's Kasey Keller. Enough said.

But the Sounders found their way into the playoffs even after the offense went a little sour toward the back half of the season. Keller and Co. posted five shutouts over the final 13 regular season matches. Jhon Kennedy Hurtado was one of the league's steadiest center backs this year. Alongside him, Tyrone Marshall was able to somewhat reign in his reckless side, focusing a little more on smart defending and a smidge less on enforcing. Osvaldo Alonso was always around the ball in front of the defense, screening and scrapping from his holding midfield spot. Finally, once Leo Gonzalez was brought aboard in the summer to stabilize the left fullback platform, manager Sigi Schmid had a defense he could ride into the postseason.

In Round 32, with a playoff berth stored away safely, Sounders FC still trotted out a field full of first-choice selections. They finished on a high note, with a two-game winning streak and a win over FC Dallas, in large part because Marshall gave Golden Boot winner Jeff Cunningham nowhere to go.

Meanwhile, Houston turned up a gem in Geoff Cameron, who might have been the most responsible for Houston's ability to keep on keepin' on when it came to stingy defense this year. His rise mitigated the loss of injured vet Eddie Robinson. (Anyone notice that he finally got back on the field this week? That's encouraging for the Orange.)

If Houston's place at the top of the defensive charts surprises anyone, then you haven't been paying attention; this marks the third consecutive season that Houston led the league in goals allowed. (The Dynamo had to share the lead this year with Sounders FC.)

Los Angeles' back line was the most organized all year, generally in lock-step, moving forward and backward in a compact and tidy bunch, with all the coordination of a chorus line. A lack of speed sometimes bit the Galaxy, which underscored the importance of Donovan Ricketts' shrewd acquisition. Take away one awful night against Dallas (six goals!) and the Galaxy probably would have led the league in defensive stinginess.

Talk about moving forcefully into the playoffs. Arena's men posted clean sheets in four of their last five regular season matches. The only two goals allowed in that time were a pair conceded in a visit to the reigning champs, Columbus. So that's how the West was won -- punctuated by shutting out San Jose on Saturday in Round 32. Ricketts needed to make just two saves all night, as San Jose aimed just seven shots at the Galaxy goal.

TACTICAL CORNER

After stumbling down the stretch, it's tough to say what will happen at D.C. United. This much is certain: change will surely arrive at RFK, where the Black-and-Red have failed to make the playoffs in consecutive seasons.

There are issues to address all around the park, although some holes look deeper than others. In MLS, managers and technical directors must decide where to spend the money; a relatively tight salary cap doesn't permit the luxury of lavish spending all around the park.

One area where United seems to have struggled in the past two years is in the creative midfielder hole. Two years ago it was Marcelo Gallardo. He finished with 4 goals and 3 assists in just 15 matches, as health issues became problematic. For 2009 it was "back to the future" with Christian Gomez. His final totals (6 goals and 4 assists in 27 matches) were inferior on average to Gallardo's. Plus, Gomez's inability to cover ground and provide some defensive assistance meant that manager Tom Soehn was always having to scheme around that particular position.

You have to wonder if the answer is already in place at RFK, where Fred has been consigned to the flanks but always seems to relish the opportunities to come inside. He would be a bit more of a slasher, a little more in the Landon Donovan mold.

Yes, D.C. United's failure to win Saturday night in Kansas City sealed the fateful deal. But the real reason United aren't in the playoffs is tied more to losing three of their final four at home, scoring just three times in that quartet of offensive deprivation. United have plenty of issues, but the lack of an effective playmaker is surely one.

So, too, do the bosses at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, where the explanation for such a feeble limp to the finish isn't tough at all. Once Colin Clark went down to injury, there really wasn't enough of a flank threat to keep defenses spread horizontally. Manager Gary Smith prefers that his fullbacks remain conservative, so there was little push up the wings from the back. Conor Casey is a target striker who relies on service, the kind he got formerly from Clark and, earlier in the year, from Terry Cooke. Along the back and up the middle, the team looks relatively solid. But they'll have to find attackers who can set up in wide areas to stretch those back lines across the field.

Here's a fantastic example of where a player makes an aggregate difference, even if he doesn't actually produce a goal or assist.

In Seattle, Steve Zakuani was bothering FC Dallas right back Heath Pearce all night. At one point, Pearce got in late on the rookie winger and took a yellow card for it. So, he had even more work to do, forced to take on Zakuani with added caution.

So in the 84th minute Pearce was dispossessed along the outside. Freddie Ljungberg ends up with the ball, forcing FCD's center backs to slide over for the challenge. Meanwhile, Pearce struggled to get back into the play. Why? Well, it's a good bet that Pearce's legs were essentially gone. Having chased Zakuani around all night, he not only lost the ball, but then didn't have the energy to recover with pace. Brad Evans got the goal and Ljungberg got the assist, but Zakuani (who had been removed three minutes earlier) had a lot to do with that goal.

Sometimes it just doesn't seem fair. Landon Donovan has so much speed and ability in those two feet -- and he's getting ever smarter about how to make it all work for him.

Watch the Galaxy's first goal and notice how the Galaxy's leading scorer is afforded too much room by San Jose's defense. As Donovan works the angles and looks for an entry pass from the left, he avoids that natural tendency players have to get as close to goal as possible. Whereas many attackers would align themselves in that situation with the last defender, looking to break in behind the pack, Donovan actually took two steps back toward midfield. That served two purposes.

First, it created momentary confusion in San Jose's defense. If he positions himself a little higher (a little closer to goal), an Earthquakes central defender knows he has to get out there and be closer to Donovan. Or, if he checks back a little further to seek possession, a midfielder will likely recognize the danger and close the space. But Donovan found that perfect spot, where neither a member of the back line nor a midfielder reacted quickly enough, each needing a second to consider the burden or responsibility.

Second, this gave Donovan time to turn and face goal. He was able to deliver an attempted cross, which deflected in for L.A.'s first goal.

In case you're interested, Donovan lined up as a left midfielder, as Galaxy manager Bruce Arena continues to make teams guess about where he'll be positioned, as a second striker or out wide on the left.

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.