Nine straight hours of MLS is available to you on this Sunday, and MLS LIVE is now 50% off if you're still trying to figure out how to watch it all. Strap in, kids.
Here's a few things to keep an eye on:
The Man Comes Around
The first 45 minutes of the post-Nat Borchers era (for now – let's hope he's back on the field sometime in 2017) were actually very good for the Portland Timbers, despite suffering a streak-breaking 2-1 loss to the LA Galaxy last weekend. Portland were able to dominate possession, generate a ton of shots, and generally put the Galaxy defense under more real pressure than their previous three victims had.
It wasn't enough, but it wasn't bad. And many of the better attacks they built started on the foot of center back Amobi Okugo, who's finally healthy after battling a knee injury for the past two years, and who showed the kind of distribution – early, accurate, upfield – that made him so intriguing as a long-term solution in central defense.
Here's Okugo's map of completed passes against the Galaxy:
Compare that to the passing map of his likely partner in central defense on Sunday at Sporting KC (2 pm ET; FOX in US | MLS LIVE in Canada), Jermaine Taylor:
These guys play the same position very differently. Okugo has a midfielder's training and instincts, and shows it in terms of the passes he looks for. And that could be especially useful against Sporting KC, since a center back who has the vision and confidence to split the defense and play directly to the feet – or into the stride – of his forwards is a high pressing team's worst nightmare.
I'll also be watching: Sporting seem to have made a commitment to getting more attackers into the box in recent weeks, spearheaded by the movement of Jacob Peterson. He's not the most elegant player in the league, but he's damn effective.
One Piece At A Time
Nicolas Lodeiro was signed on Wednesday, and then Alvaro Fernandez on Thursday. The overhaul in Seattle has begun in earnest, and the first to test the new look will be the Galaxy on Sunday afternoon (4 pm ET; ESPN in the US | MLS LIVE in Canada).
The Sounders are hopeful Lodeiro, at least, will be in the gameday 18. He's healthy, he's fit, his paperwork has all cleared. He's not going to start, but I'd be surprised if he wasn't out there for the game's final 20-30 minutes, regardless of the scoreline. And that's when it gets really interesting, because I'm not sure exactly how the Sounders will line up from here on out.
Best guess, though, is a 4-4-2 diamond that looks something like this:
A few things would seem to favor this look. First is that it puts three responsible, defensive-minded midfielders behind Lodeiro to clean up. Second is that Dempsey and the 4-3-3 don't seem to work anymore – he needs to play with a frontline partner. And third is that Lodeiro is at his best in the final third, creating through tight spaces rather than opening up the field a la Pedro Morales or Benny Feilhaber.
The issue, of course, is that the diamond is an intricate formation defensively, and difficult to master for that reason. When play moves to one side of the field or another, the midfield has to rotate rather than simply slide from side-to-side. Added to that is the risk of exposure along the flanks any time one of the fullbacks overlaps, since the "wide" midfielders in the diamond play narrower than in any other formation.
I'll also be watching:Gio Dos Santos, presumably on the right wing. He's excellent at finding room in transition, so any time Joevin Jones overlaps a Galaxy breakaway is potentially just seconds away.
Man In White
One of the big mysteries for 'Caps fans this year has been Morales's diminishing influence and productivity. He's still capable of game-breaking plays, and remains one of the league's most reliable penalty takers, but the game-breaking moments that characterized his first two seasons in Vancouver have been fewer and further between.
More often we've seen moments of frustration. I'm not sure the Morales of previous seasons tries to force this particular pass
The question is how Dallas will try to bait him into those risky cross-field passes on Sunday evening at Toyota Stadium (6 pm ET; TSN in Canada | MLS LIVE in the US). FCD can hurt you in a bunch of different ways, but their preferred method is still getting out on the counter -- even without Fabian Castillo on the field.
I'll also be watching: Obviously I'll focus on Dallas's left wing, and see who gets their crack at replacing Castillo.
One more thing:
Ooh, so close...
Happy weekending, everybody.
