The 2018 season is entering its return leg, so to speak, and that provides us with a good opportunity to look back at some of the most striking impressions from the first half.
Here’s a look – with tongue often in cheek, I admit – at a few moments and storylines that have stayed with me.
The Most Hollywood Thing, Like, Ever Award
No prizes for guessing this one. Whatever happens from here on out, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has already enshrined himself in MLS lore by virtue of making global headlines with his exceedingly dramatic LA Galaxy debut:
“The only wish from Galaxy was please be ready for March 31, and that's the game against LAFC. Just prepare for that game and be ready and be here,” Ibra recently said with a chuckle in his ESPN interview for the “Body Issue” of the outlet’s magazine. “And I say, ‘Don't worry, this is my job. Just make my visa so I have it so I can come over.’”
Most Wrong “Wrong Information”
Sometimes “in the know” media reports are just signs of “silly season,” and sometimes they’re right on target.
Back in May, rumors of Patrick Vieira’s talks with French side OGC Nice were swirling, and New York City FC fans feared their coach was about to return to his homeland in midseason. But even as he admitted he’d just visited France, Vieira poured cold water on all that chatter on May 22.
Patrick Vieira | USA Today Sports Images
“It makes me smile, because of course there’s no contract being signed or anything like that,” he said at an NYCFC training. “This is the wrong information. I’m here, like always. I’m really happy. I really enjoy my work, I really enjoy being part of this football club. I’m just focusing and concentrating about our next game.”
Less than a month later, Vieira was off to Nice, with Dome Torrent coming over from Manchester City as his replacement.
Who’s Your Daddy Derby Sweepstakes
This weekend Torrent will try to restore NYCFC pride in the NY Derby, a rivalry which has reverted to the New York Red Bulls’ control in 2018 after the blue side of Gotham struck back last year. Thus far NYCFC have been comprehensively beaten in twin 4-0 losses to the Red Bulls, one in the league and one in the U.S. Open Cup:
(Runners-up in this category: Atlanta United’s domination of would-be Southern rivals Orlando City SC.)
Top Talent Whisperer
Remember all those Gyasi Zardes first touch jokes, and the depressing low ebb his career hit with the Galaxy last year? Things are better, much better, now for the sunny SoCal kid who had to leave home to get his groove back, and Berhalter deserves most of the credit.
Columbus Crew SC’s boss has been renovating and rehabilitating undervalued players for so long now that he deserves a custom honorific: I humbly suggest “The Oracle of Obetz” after the locale of the team’s training ground. Who will be the next beneficiary of his golden(-and-black) touch?
Best Advertisement for the USL Partnership
Now in its sixth year, the affiliation between MLS and USL has reaped myriad benefits for players, teams and even coaches, with a growing list of talent cultivated in the second division. You’ve probably heard plenty about the Red Bulls’ and Galaxy’s use of their USL sides for developmental purposes, for example.
But for me this year’s most striking case is Mark-Anthony Kaye, a former Toronto FC academy kid who helped Louisville City FC win the 2017 USL Cup before getting an MLS shot with LAFC. The rising Canadian international has been a revelation this year, dominating some central-midfield showdowns against far bigger names as the expansion side contends for top honors in the West.
Sweetest Signature Strike
When Justin Meram shot to prominence as a game-breaking wing presence for Crew SC a few years ago, one of the foundational elements was a distinctive finish where he found space along the edge of the opposition’s penalty box and delivered a curling shot soon dubbed “the meat hook” by his teammates.
LAFC’s Carlos Vela has taken the concept for himself this season, repeatedly hitting paydirt with a bending left-footed hit from the right channel into the far top corner of the net. Goalkeepers surely know it’s coming by now, but the Mexican international strikes the ball with such a devastating blend of spin and loft that they’re still up against it.
Most Unique Stadium Ambiance
What is it about matches at Orlando City Stadium? The combination of a compact, noisy downtown venue, central Florida’s muggy warmth, loud home fans desperate to finally taste the MLS Cup Playoffs and the consistent inconsistency of their Lions team makes for one wild evening after another in Parramore.
Orlando have dropped too many points at home this year and it helped cost Jason Kreis his job, but it tends to make their games enthralling viewing for neutrals. March’s 4-3 shootout win over the Red Bulls was particularly lit:
The Alan Garner Memorial Prize for Worst Hangover
A few short months ago TFC were an absolute machine, rolling over everything in their path en route to a 2017 treble and the best-ever MLS run in Concacaf Champions League. Then they agonizingly lost the CCL final to Chivas on penalty kicks, and they’ve been a shadow of themselves ever since, fading even more dramatically than the Seattle Sounders, their foes in the past two MLS Cups.
Injury crises and the inexorable pull of the league’s tendency towards parity have been major factors, yet the steep slope of their decline remains shocking: surely the soccer equivalent of waking up with a live tiger in your trashed Vegas hotel suite.
The Leatherman Tribute to Versatility
Bastian Schweinsteiger | USA Today Sports Images
Usually the term “Swiss Army Knife” gets tossed around when a player shows the ability to perform at a high level in multiple spots on the field. But we’re talking about a legendary German here: Bastian Schweinsteiger, who’s kept the Chicago Fire in the playoff hunt while bouncing between sweeper, box-to-box, holding midfield and playmaking roles, and in various formations.
Diego Valeri’s Death by Nutmeg Cup
As MLS’s quality has climbed in recent years, the number of skill checks has grown as a result, leaving defenders in constant danger of highlight-reel victimization. Everyone has their own favorite cheeky moment in this department; mine is Valeri’s heartless hoodwinking of Kevin Kratz in the Portland Timbers’ impressive road draw in Atlanta:
So what did I miss? Head to the comments section to share your favorite moments of 2018 thus far.
