MLS Flavors of the Week: 2021 edition

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by Eleven Bravo, Jan 19, 2021.

  1. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    #5076 Clint Eastwood, Dec 6, 2021
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2021
    Indeed. If folks want to root for the team that has a USYNT/USMNT presence in the final, NYCFC is the way to go. Tayvon Gray is increasingly interesting. Another 2019 U17 World Cup member. Let's not forget that two NYCFC teammates were on that squad. Joe Scally and Gio Reyna. Oh, and Andres Jasson. He's played 20 times this year for NYCFC too.

    Oh, and of course Keaton Parks would be playing if not for his injury.

    Portland barely bothers, although Eryk Williamson would have had a leading role there this year if not for his injury. Their goal is just winning. And they're now in their 3rd MLS Cup final in 11 years. So, good for them. And by the way, that's OK. In European leagues not every club is interested in domestic youth and player development.

    I think Portland only has 8 USMNT-eligible players on their whole roster. 4 of them are the goalkeepers (Attinella, Clark, Sulte, and Bodily. Bodily was on loan in San Diego most of the year. Sulte is from Alaska and Bodily is from Idaho. :) Just for your US Soccer Battle of the States lineups.)

    Its why folks should really respect clubs like Philly and Dallas for going the route they do with young homegrown players. MLS teams can totally win without it. In theory there are foreign player restrictions, but not in practice.
     
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  2. Ray Shoesmith

    Ray Shoesmith Member+

    Valencia
    United States
    Nov 14, 2021
    This is where the purity issue comes in. NYFC is a farm team, they are owned by sheiks, they aren’t grass roots (at least to the eye of the poser), they play in a baseball stadium, this, that, the other. It is tiring. it’s old. it’s predictable.
    I’ve said it before. US soccer owes a lot to NYRB and NYFC. A lot.
    Do I love what Philly and Dallas are doing? Ofc course!
    I want to see at least another half dozen teams getting up to their speed in the next several years.
    However, there are different routes, different options, and different ways to do things. I’m OK with that, and I am going to recognize when the unpure:eek: do things helpful or even well.
    As yo pointed out so well. Gio spent time there, they sold Scally and look at him. Parks if healthy would be playing. They play a decent style also.
    If you want to root against them that’s fine, folks need to just stop posting like you are a “news station.” Only the angles that fit your agenda are highlighted and expanded on, relentlessly.
     
  3. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    And Gideon Zelalem is another former prodigy looking a Parks-like NYCFC renaissance.
     
  4. gomichigan24

    gomichigan24 Member+

    Jul 15, 2002
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I mean I think the thing with Phil Jackson is that while his success has only come with very good players, that's the case for basically every coach in NBA history. The NBA is an extremely star driven league, and he's really great getting the best possible performance from those stars, especially when they haven't been able to win championships with previous coaches. I do think part of the reason he was less successful in New York as a GM is that the NBA has really shifted dramatically, and he was still trying to build a team designed for the NBA of old.

    Pep in also a really awesome coach, but has been fortunate to have super talented teams. But again that's the case with virtually every single good coach out there. I think the difference is he got his start with Barcelona and didn't have spend any time overachieving at a lower-tier club first. That's a bit rare as virtually every other good coach had to start with someone lower down the ladder. But it's not as if any of them were winning league titles or Champions Leagues when they were at said clubs.
     
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  5. Mahtzo1

    Mahtzo1 Member+

    Jan 15, 2007
    So Cal
    The contrast between the way Philly played with 11 out to covid and the way RSL played was extreme. The way RSL played was an insult to soccer and sports in general. Perhaps I'm being a little extreme but it was bad.

    I know that Portland doesn't play youth or Americans in general but I really did not want RSL to win. I didn't watch the game.....no way did I want to watch a game where a team would play as negatively as RSL did vs Seattle. It was bad enough that they did so, but watching the referee enable it and the announcer talk positively about his antics was ridiculous.

    I know that refs don't want to affect the game but when a team or player says "f you" a line has to be drawn. It was bad enough that Ochoa never stopped blatantly wasting time but when he did that rainbow near the end.......
     
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  6. Ray Shoesmith

    Ray Shoesmith Member+

    Valencia
    United States
    Nov 14, 2021
    The posers need to show their worldliness and pander to get their street cred from the rest of the world. Look, we can destroy a game and make a farce of it just like yo do. We hip baby. We savvy and clever. It was pathetic.

    Reminds me of kids in my day who mocked you for liking Kraftwerk. Silly stupid Germans. When they found out Afrika Bambatta, and most of first gen hip hop loved them, sampled them, and used their techniques they changed their tune on a dime. Look how hip those German boys are. They whack!

    Never fails. Want to get instant cool cred in music. Sample Kraftwerk.
     
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  7. OWN(yewu)ED

    OWN(yewu)ED Member+

    Club: Venezia F.C.
    May 26, 2006
    chico, CA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think the Sean Johnson shoutout given the playoff run is fair. Probably the best form of his career. Number 3 spot is earned at this juncture.
     
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  8. IndividualEleven

    Mar 16, 2006
    Portland 2-0 RSL
    Possession: 51-49
    Shots on Target: 6-4
    Corners: 7-3

    The game was not the lopsided affair that had characterized RSL vs Seattle.
     
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  9. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Indeed.

    .................and of course RSL was the 7 seed. Barely scraped into the playoffs over the Galaxy and LAFC. LAFC just made a coaching change and they finished 3 points behind RSL. Mastroeni being praised.

    They were basically a .500 team. 14 wins 14 losses 6 draws. Mediocre.

    So when they went up against the best teams in the conference in the playoffs, they did what was necessary to get a result. It wasn't pretty, but you do what you have to do.
     
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  10. jaykoz3

    jaykoz3 Member+

    Dec 25, 2010
    Conshohocken, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Didn't RSL outplay SKC in the Conference Semifinal??? They parked the bus against Seattle, but the other games they did not play that way.
     
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  11. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    I didn't watch the games against SKC or Portland. I don't watch Portland on principle.

    I watched the game against Seattle in which they were badly outmatched. They did what they had to do.

    Give RSL credit. They took out the 2 and 3 seeds in the West before succumbing to the 4 seed.

    By the way, RSL started 6 Americans against Portland. 5 USMNT-eligibles [Herrera, Glad, Besler, Brody, Rubin] and Ochoa.
     
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  12. IndividualEleven

    Mar 16, 2006
    That's pretty much the case.
     
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  13. 50/50 Ball

    50/50 Ball Member+

    Sep 6, 2006
    USA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I definitely appreciate RSL's American backbone. They then brought in Wood and Meram.
     
  14. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Yup. One of the issues with RSL is that they're academy pipeline seems to have dried up.
    They have two older homegrowns amongst their starters, and Ochoa in goal.
    This was a club at the forefront of academy incorporation and impact.
    They led the league in homegrown minutes a few years ago, ahead of FCD.
    After losing Booth, Ledezma, and Soto on free transfers [all three now with USMNT callups]...............they seemed to take a step back.

    By the way, I think FCD blew the field away in terms of homegrown minutes this season. I'll be curious to see the final tabulation. While nobody was watching down the stretch of the season, they were starting 5 or 6 homegrowns a game. Pepi, Ferreira, Pomykal, Servania, Cerrillo, and Che.] I thought FCD might break their own record for homegrown starters in a match just for giggles, but they didn't. They could have. The record is 6, and they could have gone to 7. They probably would have if Tessmann and Sealy hadn't left in the summer. Roberts was also loaned to Austria, where he immediately got hurt. Figures.
     
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  15. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    In case folks haven't seen this gossip in other threads. Take it with a grain of salt.
    Where there's smoke, there's usually fire.
     
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  16. Pegasus

    Pegasus Member+

    Apr 20, 1999
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I know he's not super young but as a defender teams usually don't play the super young. He's making a case that he can help out any top team that needs a speedy back to pair with a more slower, mature defender. Not hard to notice what he's done and project him doing elsewhere.
     
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  17. Mahtzo1

    Mahtzo1 Member+

    Jan 15, 2007
    So Cal
    I like the idea of him going to Europe if for no other reason than the fact that we will get an immediate upgrade at CB!
     
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  18. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    This tweet reminds me that we actually have an MLS expansion draft in a week. There will be a new club to discuss!!! They've already signed US youth international Adam Armour, a member of the 2019 U17 World Cup team (with Reyna, Scally, Pepi, Busio, etc.)
     
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  19. DrunkOffPunch

    DrunkOffPunch Member

    United States
    Jul 14, 2020
    1466739772228083713 is not a valid tweet id
     
  20. Marko72

    Marko72 Member+

    Aug 30, 2005
    New York
    I suppose a rep is due simply for somehow working a Kraftwerk reference into a soccer post...
     
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  21. ChrisSSBB

    ChrisSSBB Member+

    Jun 22, 2005
    DE
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I saw them in concert back in 1975. I wasn’t big into them but a local radio station was playing their music quite a bit and the tickets were cheap. I guess I didn’t pay attention to the sampling stuff later on.
     
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  22. 50/50 Ball

    50/50 Ball Member+

    Sep 6, 2006
    USA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    All the stats based on event data like Jesus. This is basically what we all expected before the COVID season.
     
  23. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    I think we just throw out 2020 for Jesus.....................

    2019 was really good. He got COVID in pre-season of 2020. One of the first MLS players to do so. He just never seemed to get going once he returned. Now he's gone to another gear in 2021. Looking forward to seeing where he goes from here.
     
  24. 50/50 Ball

    50/50 Ball Member+

    Sep 6, 2006
    USA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    • C. Roldan (CM): Had a Best XI-caliber season playing as a No. 10, but should probably be even better playing next to JP as a No. 8.
    https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/what-the-2021-mls-season-meant-for-seattle-sounders-fc

    Doyle giving Roldan some deserved love.

    Describing the 5-3-2/3-4-2-1:

    The key to how this worked was Cristian Roldan playing as a kind of central winger, making diagonal runs to the right flank to overload that side with his brother (one of the outstanding wingbacks in the entire league this year) while Brad Smith bombed up the other flank. Seattle got a lot of numbers into the attack and did so at pace, and it was dope.
     
  25. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
     
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