Armchair Analyst: What I'll be watching for in Week 6 of the 2015 season | Three Things

At the moment, parity reigns in MLS. FC Dallas went into last weekend unbeaten, then got thumped at Portland. Vancouver took over the top spot after smacking the LA Galaxy, then drew 2-2 at home on Wednesday night against a Columbus team missing several starters. (I wrote a little about the tactics on display in that game HERE).

The Galaxy kinda stink. The Fire are pretty good. D.C. can't score until the clock hits 92, but they're top of the East. And the Red Bulls – "Team Turmoil" this offseason – are playing the best soccer in the league. Only problem is that we've only seen them play three times so far.

This league remains bizarre. It's a feature, not a bug.

Let's start on Friday night...

1. Losing My Edge

We're closing in on the part of the season when FC Dallas have struggled in recent years. It usually begins in mid April and lasts until early summer. Then they go on a tear in July and August and usually – usually! – sneak into the playoffs.

FC Dallas (2012-2014)
April-June: 9-17-15, 1.02 PPG
Rest of the Year: 27-20-14, 1.56 PPG

I think they have too much talent to let that happen in 2015, even if they've been playing without Mauro Diaz, their magic little midfield unicorn, and even if the rest of the attack has looked a little clogged toilet-y so far. Dallas haven't had a lot of ideas, but they've had a very good defense for the most part and on Friday night (7 pm ET; UniMas, UDN) they're playing a Colorado team that hasn't scored a goal in 10 hours of game-time. Rapids fans have to go back six months, as of Saturday, to remember the last time they had a goal to celebrate.

So in true MLS fashion, this one will probably finish 4-3 to the visitors.

Truth is, though, that while Dallas haven't been nearly as good as their record shows, Colorado haven't been nearly as bad as theirs. They're not remotely close to a playoff-caliber team, but they've got some ideas in attack when allowed to play direct:

Dallas have been good at a lot of things this year – look at what they did to poor Alvas Powell last week – but stopping direct, up-the-gut builds is not one of them. The Rapids have a chance in this one.

UPDATE: The Rapids obviously took heart from my words: They thumped FCD 4-0.

2. I Can Change

Porterball is dead. Long live Porterball!

Portland are another team that's better than their record, which they showed last week. Take everything that happened in March with a grain of salt, especially the part where Nat Borchers and Liam Ridgewell stared at each other instead of playing soccer.

On Sunday night (5 pm ET; ESPN2) they'll host a team, in Orlando City SC, who could use any sort of help getting out of an offensive slump that's moving from "dire" to "trainwreck." Kaká's mostly been what we expect, but Kevin Molino hasn't been able to generate much of note and the rotating cast of forwards has been injured, off the pace and off-target.

So teams have figured them out: Against Orlando, just sit deep and force Kaká to go 1-vs-3 off the dribble. Look at these numbers:

Orlando aren't hitting the fewest long-balls in the league because they're dedicated to tiki-taka; they're doing it because they're facing packed-in defenses and haven't figured out the right combination of movements ot unlock them. Everything about their first season in MLS so far has been "game states," and the new, pragmatic version of Porterball seems pretty well designed to cause the Lions big problems. Doubly so if the visitors feel compelled to throw their fullbacks forward.

3. Sound of Silver(ware)

I spent the last two months of last season really, really looking forward to the home-and-home between LA and Seattle to end 2014, a pair of games that would decide the Supporters' Shield. I expected them to be the best regular season games in MLS history, but was disappointed when the two teams – two of the best attacking team the league has ever seen – produced a mostly defensive 180 minutes. For an encore, they gave us more of the same in the playoffs.

Given that, and the departures from both teams, and the fact that it's nice and early in the season, maybe this time we're in for the all-guns-blazing show of attacking prowess I'd been hoping for. Both teams could use a jolt – nobody but Deuce or Oba has scored for Seattle in over 400 minutes, while nobody at all has scored for LA in nearly 300.

When they meet on Sunday night (7 pm ET; Fox Sports 1), it'll be the big names that get the big headlines – Oba, Deuce, Keane, Gyasi, Ozzie, Omar etc. But if I were to wager, I'd say it's the lesser-appreciated guys who'll do the deciding. LA have been at their best when Jose Villarreal has gotten more of the ball on the left flank, while the Sounders (as always) need width generated by their fullbacks.

Look at how wide and high right back Tyrone Mears (No. 4) played last week vs. Houston:

Bear in mind two things: 1) that's his aggregate position for passes he connects, and 2) that includes the last half-hour, when Seattle were a man down. For the first 56 minutes of the game, Mears was basically across the midfield stripe.

Houston couldn't exploit that space in behind, but LA will definitely try to. It's a big ask for Villarreal, who's not only learning a new position, but is coming off an injury and doesn't have the raw pace of the guy he's replacing (some scrub named Don Ovan) anyway.

The other area is, of course, central midfield. LA are floundering in search of someone who can do the Marcelo Sarvas work, while Seattle are without rock-solid metronome Gonzalo Pineda, who will watch this one from the luxury suites after Jackie Chan-ing Ricardo Clark.

I tried and failed to work this GIF into the preview somewhere, so I'm just gonna drop it here:

That's the coolest thing I've ever seen. Happy weekend, everybody.