Matt "the Armchair Analyst" Doyle breaks down all of Sunday's second legs of the Conference Semifinals of the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs. Check them all out.
EAST: New York-DC| Columbus-Montreal | WEST:Vancouver-Portland|Dallas-Seattle
I am praying to the Flying Spaghetti Monster for more entertainment from Didier Drogba this week:
Restoring that Finlay-to-Kei Kamara connection is paramount for Columbus. Finlay didn't complete a single pass to his big No. 9 in the first leg, and if that happens again, they're cooked.
How to solve it: Keep doing what you're doing
If the Impact go forward in this one they have to be smart and patient, just as they were in the first leg. Left back Donny Toia barely crossed the midfield stripe, and the three-man central midfield remained rock solid.
That shouldn't change.
What Montreal Will Do: Have Laurent Ciman call the shots
Ciman didn't get my vote for MLS Defender of the Year only because he became a walking red card sometime around mid-July. But in terms of reading the game defensively, and making early reads on the ball in distribution, he is the best in the league.
He showed that in leg one, when he was constantly able to find DP winger Ignacio Piatti with diagonal balls slicing through the Crew SC midfield:
The threat of that exact pass pinned Columbus right back Harrison Afful back, forcing him to keep an eye on Piatti. This was as big a part of Finlay's no-show as anything Toia (or anybody else) did.
Ciman is a game-changing threat.
How to solve it: Push Kamara and Federico Higuain higher
Massive Report did a nice job of breaking it down, and I'll co-sign their work. Higuain has to be more influential regarding where the game is played, rather than simply being a passenger.
If he does that, the rest of the attack will likely find more gaps to create danger.
What's it all mean?
I don't have a gut feeling for this one. The only thing I can really hang my hat on is that Drogba has been one of the world's best big-game players this century, and that is a tough thing to overlook.
So I think Montreal get the result they need to advance.
