Week 25 Continues: Reports and Previews

by user The Manly Ferry

Major League Soccer (MLS) had a good bunch of games last night - and with at least two potentially key results. I’ll chat about those on Sunday, after Week 25 is in the books. But, for the record, here are the scores with MLS’s match reports embedded under the digits:

New England Revolution 1 - 1 DC United
FC Dallas 0 - 1 Chivas USA
Colorado Rapids 1 - 0 Chicago Fire

To touch on these quickly, any guesses as to which of these mattered most? I’d point to the second and third and reference the standings for the reason why: let’s just say the bandwagon carrying the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake to the post-season just picked up a flat. While not necessarily fatal to their prospects, wins by Chivas USA and the Colorado Rapids certainly didn’t help.

But, mentioned above, vague, contextual rambling will be applied to those games on Sunday; there are still a bevy of games to play before Week 25 wraps up. Today, I’ll prevew Saturday’s trio and we’ll check in on Sunday’s games tomorrow. Because they’re so damned time-consuming, I’m going to dispense with the “info boxes” in these previews. It’s time to simplify. Only the records, points, the relevant listing between home and away, and the usual “form” listings (dated today from August 12) will follow each match-up. As for the rest, you’ll have to trust I approach these previews with due diligence (not that it’s ever helped) and I’ll mention injuries, suspensions, and the like when they strike me as relevant.

So, here are the usual resources: the standings (which includes yummy things like goals for and against), the most current (yet dated) injury reports, the list of suspensions. Oh, and I’ll come back and embed MLS’s in-house match-reports once they’re up, presumably tomorrow morning.

Good Lord willing, I will neither be tinkering nor talking about how I manage my previews again...

Red Bull New York v. Columbus Crew

Red Bull: Overall, 6-9-11, 29 pts.; Home, 5-2-5; Form, LTLLWTLL

Columbus: Overall, 6-13-8, 26 pts.; Away, 3-7-3; Form, LLWLWL

Good God. Hide the children, or at least cover their eyes: Red Bull hosts the Crew this Saturday. That Amado Guevara will miss this one for Red Bull should only heap the woe higher. Tempting as it is to treat this as a case of the less said the better - and pathetic as it may be - both these teams remain alive for the playoffs, a reality that somewhat requires discussion. In Columbus’ case, who play as well (or poorly) on the road as they do at home, this looks to be the softest game remaining in their stretch run; perhaps the “last chance” angle will raise their game. Red Bull hardly have it easy - funny how being at the bottom of the table makes everything above grow in menace - but they’re overall situation provides greater reason for optimism. Because a player-to-player comparison doesn’t give much reason to choose one team over the other, that gulf between hope and desperation could prove the most relevant factor in this game. Prediction: A modest stretch - RED BULL WINS...and hope trumps desperation.

Real Salt Lake v. FC Dallas

Real Salt Lake: Overall, 9-12-6, 33 pts.; Home, 5-4-5; Form, LWWLWLT

FC Dallas: Overall, 14-9-4, 46 pts.; Away, 4-6-3; Form, LLLLWWTL

FC Dallas has somehow managed to slump without making much noise about it. Before last night’s gut-punch loss to Chivas USA, the talk was when they’d make their place in the post-season official, an optimistic discussion if ever there was one. But in cold, hard numbers, FC Dallas has picked up only seven of the last 21 available points in league play. No wonder the latest edition of ESPN’s power rankings asks, “FC Dallas is in first place, but does this team scare anybody?” That, I suppose, is for Real Salt Lake (RSL) to answer. Moreover, they've got to answer it without MVP-candidate Jeff Cunningham leading the line; he's out Saturday for a suspension. Even so, as with Columbus, this game could be RSL's easiest shot at three points for the rest of the season - and that’s only courtesy of the “bubble” nature of FC Dallas’ position at the top of the Western Conference. In general, RSL isn’t playing all that badly and they’re certainly up to beating a paper tiger like Dallas, even without Cunningham - though that certainly makes it harder. (Still can’t believe all the love I’ve given Dallas down the years...must be some kind of blindspot). Prediction: What the hell? REAL SALT LAKE WINS.

Los Angeles Galaxy v. Colorado Rapids

Los Angeles: Overall, 9-13-5, 32 pts.; Home, 4-6-3; Form (inaccessible)

Colorado: Overall, 11-11-5, 38 pts.; Away, 2-8-2; Form, WTLLWLW

Real Salt Lake wasn’t the only team to watch their playoff hopes dance around the drain; Los Angeles also inched closer to that gateway to the open sewer. Sadly, for them they’re playing at home. That rather unique statement arises from the fact that Los Angeles is the only team in MLS whose away record (17 points earned) tops their home tally (15 points). As for Colorado, it’s worth looking at the match report for last night’s win over Chicago; the reporter claims Colorado opted to play, y’know, soccer, as opposed to “exclusively focusing on frenetic attacks up the wings.” While it’s too much to call that shift in mentality a trend - and it bears noting that Colorado’s winning goal came from a Chicago own-goal - that kind of talk raises some interesting possibilities about this match-up. Then again, they’re not that interesting. Prediction: LOS ANGELES WINS - yeah, I'm that paranoid about another late season run by LA.

Date

Thu 09/14/06, 9:26 am EST