(as of 10/16/17) EASTERN CONFERENCE 1. Toronto FC 68pts. 33GP. 2.06PPG. 1GR. 0 Home. 1 Away 10/22 at Atlanta 2. New York City FC 56pts. 33GP. 1.7PPG. 1GR. 1 Home. 0 Away 10/22 vs Columbus 3. Chicago Fire 55pts. 33GP. 1.67PPG. 1GR. 0 Home. 1 Away 10/22 at Houston 4. Atlanta United FC 54pts. 33GP. 1.64PPG. 1GR. 1 Home. 0 Away 10/22 vs Toronto FC 5. Columbus Crew SC 53pts. 33GP. 1.61PPG. 1GR. 0 Home. 1 Away 10/22 at New York City FC 6. New York Red Bulls 47pts. 33GP. 1.42PPG. 1GR. 0 Home. 1 Away 10/22 at DC United WESTERN CONFERENCE 1. Vancouver Whitecaps FC 52pts. 33GP. 1.58PPG. 1GR. 0 Home. 1 Away 10/22 at Portland 2. Portland Timbers 50pts. 33GP. 1.52PPG. 1GR. 1 Home. 0 Away 10/22 vs Vancouver 3. Seattle Sounders 50pts. 33GP. 1.52PPG. 1GR. 1 Home. 0 Away 10/22 vs cRapids 4. Sporting Kansas City 49pts. 33GP. 1.48PPG. 1GR. 0 Home. 1 Away 10/22 at Real Salt Lake 5. Houston Dynamo 47pts. 33GP. 1.42PPG. 1GR. 1 Home. 0 Away 10/22 vs Chicago 6. San Jose Earthquakes 43pts. 33GP. 1.3PPG. 1GR. 1 Home. 0 Away 10/22 vs Minnesota 7. FC Dallas 43pts. 33GP. 1.3PPG.12GR. 1 Home. 0 Away 10/22 vs LA Galaxy 8. Real Salt Lake 42pts. 33GP. 1.27PPG. 1GR. 1 Home. 0 Away 10/22 vs Sporting KC Overall Table TFC NYCFC CHI ATL CLB VAN POR SEA SKC NYRB HOU SJ FCD RSL NER MTL PHI ORL MIN CRP DCU LAG
The East is all about avoiding the play-in game. TFC has spot number one locked up, but spot 2 could go to 4 different teams. The Crew could, if everyone ahead of them lost or tied, jump from 5th to 2nd. The NYCFC v CLB game, in particular, will be heavy in determining who goes where. I'm curious to see what kind of lineup we see from NYRB. They are 6th, no way out of it, so do they rotate here to save legs for the playoffs? The West winner will come from Cascadia. Any of the 3 teams could win it, Vancouver and Portland control their destinies the most. They play each other on the last day in Portland. That should be a fun one to watch. If Portland wins, they'll also win the Cascadia Cup for the first time since 2012. I fully expect them, with the form they're in, to take it. Seattle hosts a poor cRapids team. Unlike RSL, I expect Seattle to take advantage of their opponent. So long as there is a winner in the VAN/POR game, Seattle will jump to 2nd and get a bye with a win against the cRapids. ******** Sporting KC. Two games with HOU and they only get a point. SKC could finish 2nd if SEA and POR both shit the bed and tie or lose and SKC beats RSL. None of that is happening. In fact, they are (much) more likely to finish 5th and have to travel for their wildcard game That's because Houston will likely pickup a win against the visiting Fire. Suddenly Houston looks in form. Granted, they took 4 points off the same team so it's hard to say who that is more of a reflection on. For the last spot, San Jose controls the situation. A win against MIN and it's theirs, no way around it. I'm curious to see what kind of team Minnesota shows up with. Is it contract day for guys on the fringes or do they really want to play spoiler? Dallas hosts the Gals. If they win, RSL cannot finish 6th regardless of the SJ result. I expect this to happen. Then there is RSL. A team that had 2 road games against the worst 2 teams in the West and picked up a single point. That point was hard fought, for sure, but it's still pretty damning when you have to write it out. It's nice to have got this close, but stings to fall short in this fashion.
With all the results we still actually have a chance, but now I'm not so sure we get in. We had the perfect opportunity to be able to control our own destiny, and all we needed was a draw. It's still somewhat doable since a draw against SKC could still get us in, and a win probably does as well, but it's rough without Sava.
We pretty much have to win and hope LA and MIN care enough, on the road, to get a result. In other words, it's not happening.
It's pretty fun that RSL is still in the playoff chase even if it's slim to none. Especially considering how the season started. It's also eye opening hopefully in that this team is far from being a contender. It just feels like they are. The end of the season feels like trying to catch a playoff mirage. It's all just right there for the taking. They can almost touch them. I think Perke has proven, at least this year, that he can get a team playing well and competitive. What he hasn't shown is that he can win the big games. The must wins like Sunday or when you have 3 games in a row at home. One could argue that RSL should actually be comfortably in the playoffs already if they had played or been coached a little better. I don't believe that but it could be argued. I think the only reason they are still in the playoff chase is because other teams have lost just enough to keep them close. Ultimately I think that RSL still needs some major changes and upgrades to their depth in some critical positions and hope that the FO hasn't been fooled into thinking that theyre really close to the mirage that has been the playoff chase this year.
I think Petke proved that the roster, as currently constructed, was a fringe playoff team. Not a competitor for any type of silverware. That was pretty much the consensus here and in other RSL circles I participate in at the beginning of the season. Waibel has to certainly improve certain parts of this roster to compete. I'm nervous in how that will play out. When CW's got it right, he's nailed it (Savarino and Rusnak). But the CB situation still makes me incredibly nervous
I've said this elsewhere, but in this league even if all the key players on a team stay, you need to add at least one major contributor (in the top 5 on the team) each off-season to keep from falling backwards. Having a team as young as this may mean there's more potential for growth from within, but trouble spots need to be addressed; right now one is at center forward.
Didn't realize those were the opponents. Still, stranger things have happened. This could be like the '09 run where we get in on the last day.Realistically it won't happen. Looks like that FCD point may be the decider in the end. As far as the team goes, I have no doubt we'd be in the playoffs had Petke been coaching the whole season. Number 1 priority is still a forward. We really need a great starter, and a decent backup, with Silva as the 3rd option. I'm not counting on Barrett for anything since he has yet do to anything. If anything, he could be the 3rd option.
Silva as option 2 is likely what will happen, and isn't a bad situation. However, he reminds me of Luke in that he's a good player but not a starter on an MLS contender.
I'm sure that will likely be true. It won't be the worst thing, but I think ideally we should get a quality starter and good backup. It also probably depends on what we do with Barrett. I would hope we don't keep him, but I guess if he's not taking much cap space, he wouldn't be the worst 3rd option if he can actually play a game. I agree about Mulholland, but I still think CM is our 2nd area of concern. We really do need some kind of KB replacement soon. (Not 3 years later CB soon)
It will all come down to how much money we have available for our needs. A reliable goal scoring forward is the most expensive thing to bring into a team on average. Just look at how much we spent to bring in Yura. I do think it is a need, but if the money isn't there due to other players (Like Yura not leaving) we may not have enough to sign an upgrade without giving up a guy like Savarino in the process. In a salary cap league, unless you have a lot of low cost HGP's, you wont tend to have too much in the way of depth. So that being said, I think we are good defensively (though we could do with someone more system oriented than Beltran on the right side). The center midfield 3 need a boost. Beckerman has become a roller coaster of performance, so we need someone to plug in next to him that brings it every day. Rusnak is a complete lock. Could be better than Morales if he stays here long term. Wings we are set, hopefully Bofo can develop, he seems to not see the field much. Sava is a beast, I still wouldn't mind selling Plata at a premium and having Lennon and Bofo fight for the left wing spot (They both work better in our system cutting inside from the left than staying out wide on the right.) In fact, it is how Plata generally plays on the left side too. Which is why they aren't playing there often... we have Plata there. Then obviously a forward upgrade. So IF we have the money, forward is the number 1 priority. If we don't, then bring in an upgrade in the center midfield and find someone who can challenge Silva for starting minutes up top, pushing both to fight for it. Selling Plata might open up the money needed for a top forward though. Just rambling thoughts.
There are 3 massive dominoes that will dictate the rest of the 2017-18 offseason. They're named Yura, Kyle, and Nicky. How Waibel handles this will dictate what he can and can't do with the roster.
Sadly, I am unsure of what he can actually do with the Yura part of it. Does buying out the contract take the cap hit away? If so, will DLH be OK paying for Yura AND another big contract replacement? Can we find a team that will take him and a majority of his salary on loan? It will be a very big piece of business for him to work out. I imagine that Beckerman and Rimando will be offered much lower salaries, it will be interesting to see how they react. Beckerman is already quoted as not knowing what to expect due to how this team has treated vet's in the past, namely Morales. But we still have 2 completely different stories to that who breakup.
The buy-out portion has been confusing to me, as well. Many writers/bloggers have cited that a team is allowed to buy out a single players salary in a year, but nothing has been confirmed on the cap implications of doing that. Are we handcuffed to only 2 DP slots because of it? Do we still take his DP cap hit? etc. KB referencing Javi is a scary thing, IMO. No matter what your opinion on that may be, you can't argue that Javier took it very personally. To do that to KB would be troublesome. Hopefully communication efforts have been much more frequent and much more transparent.
Can someone educate me on allocation money differences between a team that makes the playoffs and one that doesn't? I am torn, if the money is significant, about a weak one-and-done playoff game vs. more money to improve the roster for a run next season.
This is MLS, shit like this is never published. Though, based on interviews with people that would know, it sounds like the money for missing is "worthwhile" or "significant". Here is the thing, though, this team could really make some noise in the playoffs if we made it. If we could somehow get Savarino back, I don't see anyone in the West that I would say we couldn't beat in a 2 leg series. No, I'm not saying we are MLS Cup favorites in the west. But I am saying nobody really is. So while I see a big advantage monetarily in missing the playoffs, I also see a possible opportunity in making them. It's.... weird.
Word is that TAM will be increased by a large amount. That plus a reduced salary for Beckerman would go a long way. But if KB doesn't know what the team is thinking, it has already made a mistake.
Not watching any of the last game and then only getting parts of the one before that has made me blind to reality.
how does it not? The pool of soccer talent isn't limited to what is already in the league. Unlike most other sports, the pool is vastly larger than any one or few leagues can handle. An increase in TAM means we can target players that were previously just outside our budgetary capabilities. It doesn't bloat current MLS players salaries.
But it helps all other teams equally. So RLS can sign a better player, in theory everyone else does the same. The level of play overall gets better, but RSL from a standings perspective doesn't improve.
Even if/though the money may be equal that each team receives that doesn't mean that the players that will be brought in will be equal in talent or value. A couple more Rusnak's and Savarino's and RSL's standing can't help but improve. Of course the inverse is also true but I will have a little hope/faith that Waibel and Co. can make a few more quality signings. Fingers crossed.