Week 27: An Ugly, Exciting Finish

by user The Manly Ferry

One, lone exception aside, everything about Major League Soccer’s (MLS) Week 27 surprised me. That, no doubt, is down to the simple fact that few games played to expectations. Before wading into big-picture speculation, it’s worth taking a look at the rock-solid ground of the standings. Two more teams clinched post-season berths: the New England Revolution (yay!) and the Houston Dynamo. Incredibly, no team was knocked out of contention, though the future looks brighter for the Western Conference’s bottom-feeders than it does for the Columbus Crew.

One last thing before digging in: the Week 27 edition of Quick Kicks shed a good amount of light on games that “normal people” (e.g. those one-notch below MLS Direct Kick fanaticism) could not see. And while I’m on the subject of video, could someone watch the New England v. Colorado highlights and let me know whether they agree that Colorado’s Mike Petke (think it was him) could have stopped Clint Dempsey’s insurance goal?

Here are the results for Week 27...

Red Bull New York 1 - 0 Chicago Fire
New England Revolution 3 - 1 Colorado Rapids
Columbus Crew 3 - 1 FC Dallas
Houston Dynamo 1 - 0 DC United
Kansas City Wizards 3 - 3 Real Salt Lake Los Angeles Galaxy 3 - 0 Chivas USA

...and here’s what they’re saying to me.

Red Bull New York - UP: This weekend’s win over heretofore red-hot Chicago returned Red Bull to the right side of the playoff frame, even if only on goal-differential. It’s hard to view that as anything but a plus. With the final game of the season coming against the fifth-place-in-the-East Kansas City Wizards, the game that precedes looms huge for both teams; Red Bull has the Colorado Rapids away, while Kansas City hosts Chivas USA. The murkiness of both match-ups makes it hard to know who will head into that final game with the advantage; likely as not, neither will. Given their season, though, it says something that New York can dream of the post-season instead of dreaming of nextt season. They’re still alive and that’s enough.

Chicago Fire - HOLD: When I wrote my preview for Chicago’s game, I called it for them, but mused about the possibility of a post-Open Cup let-down. That proved more prescient than the final prediction - go figure. Given the relative probability of what they call a “bounce” in horse racing, there’s not a lot to learn from this loss. But we can expect to learn plenty in the season’s final weekend when Chicago visits DC United, not to mention next weekend’s chance to regroup at home against Columbus. Chicago is in the playoffs; it’s what they will do once there remains that remains a mystery.

New England Revolution - UP: How often does a team win by two goals playing that ugly? As much as this team specializes in scrappy affairs, New England was, in fact, up by three till a late penalty changed all that. The good news is, they made the post-season - moreover, they made it by driving forward, as opposed to backing in. Better still, they started and ended strong, something New England hasn’t done much this season. For all that, it’s not yet time for toasting: the next game - against DC United away - is the big one for deciding the post-season vibe.

Colorado Rapids - DOWN: There’s no question this loss hurt. Over the past weeks, the Rapids have fallen from a comfortable playoff perch and into a snarling late-season fight on terra firma. It was one thing when it was Real Salt Lake chasing, but now the Los Angeles Galaxy sits within a six-point spread (e.g. LA wins and Colorado loses) of tying the Rapids on points. Given how this team plays home versus away, one has to assume next weekend’s home game against Red Bull stands as their last, best shot at life after the regular season. They certainly won’t want to rely on that last game - against Houston on the road - to put them over the top.

Columbus Crew - HOLD: It takes optimism of delusional, if not psychotic, proportions to see Columbus’ situation as improved. They still need to win both their remaining games while having both Kansas City and New York completely stall - and that would be a hell of a trick with both teams playing one another in the final game. It’s no doubt nice to win and hold onto the last shreds of one’s self-esteem, but that’s as far as it goes.

FC Dallas - DOWN: Yep, they’ve lost me. There’s an English term for choking, something about having or not having “the bottle” to cope with pressure. FC Dallas does not have “bottle,” not even an airplane-sized serving. Without home-field advantage - which Dallas could conceivably surrender by losing all their remaining games while Houston wins all theirs; and I can totally see Dallas holding up their side of that bad bargain - FC Dallas becomes a sure bet for an early playoff flameout. Even if they hold on for home field, Dallas remains a solid bet for a first-round exit. And that goes double if the Galaxy sneaks into the final playoff spot. They aren’t there; don’t know that they ever will be.

Houston Dynamo - UP: Call this a big-ish win for the Dynamo. Even with DC playing a bit toothless - and Houston complementing that by playing a bit aimless - they looked very solid defensively. In fact, it’s fair to say their defense won this one by giving their somewhat bumbling offense time - as in all friggin’ game - to find DC’s goal. Even then, it took something special (see the video here; almost certainly Goal of the Week fodder). In any case, the cliché says that defense wins championships...not that it will here, but that solidity certainly can’t hurt.

DC United - DOWN: This is a frustrated team - and perhaps a deeply frustrated one. They’re doing nearly everything well - getting up the field quickly, passing sharply, defending well; goalkeeper Troy Perkins has great command of his area and so on - but it’s just...not...happening. DC was simply the better team from start to finish and I spent much of the broadcast thinking that, surely, they’ll score any minute. Nope. Honestly, by the end of the game, all eleven DC players looked exhausted and bewildered. DC United’s 2006 season has warped into a bad dream of running like mad without going anywhere.

Kansas City Wizards - DOWN: KC entered this game needing a decisive result and they couldn’t pull it off. This threatens to prove the difference between playing the final game of the season against your direct competition (Red Bull) wearing the pants and wearing, I dunno, edible underwear (?). That’s all to say this draw leaves KC far more vulnerable to missing the post-season for the second year running. To make it worse, KC went up TWICE in the game and they couldn’t hold it either time. I mean, Josh Wolff scored! Josh Wolff! That usually takes the stars lining up just right... (That would mean, I suppose, that it takes all those stars, a solar eclipse and a couple supernovae to get Eddie Johnson’s name on the scoreboard.)

Real Salt Lake - DOWN: Apart from the names, what applies to KC applies to RSL, if not more. Insofar as they’re hauling down Colorado, RSL remains outside the playoff picture. This team’s wretched start to the season continues to haunt them (hey...the regular season mattered for at least one team!), which means even good, hard-fought results like this will inevitably fall short of what is needed. In RSL’s case, what is needed are wins and only wins. And they’ve got two games left - against Houston at home and Chivas USA on the road - in which to get them. It’s becoming hard to believe in the miracle...

Los Angeles Galaxy - UP: With one team above them almost certifiably fading (Colorado) and the other sputtering (RSL) no matter how valiantly, the three points that separate LA from the final playoff spot don’t look so tall as they did last week. A simple win would have been enough, but the highlights - which featured clip after clip of LA’s yellow shirts storming toward Chivas’ goal with the latter all on back heels - showed a rout that bordered on the comprehensive. LA threatens to go into its final two games with heads full of confidence; and who do they play in both but an FC Dallas team marinating on their recent loss to the league’s worst team? I like LA’s chances for the post-season...and loathe them all the more for them.

Chivas USA - DOWN: This is the toughest call of the weekend because, frankly, I’m tempted to call this a hold. There’s no question these guys got their heads and pants handed to them on Saturday. But there’s also no question that they’re going to make the playoffs, a nice accomplishment for a second-year team. It’s tempting to view Week 27’s loss as an anomaly; the number of goals they allowed was certainly atypical for this team. For what it’s worth, I don’t see a reason why Chivas should fear any team in the West - or in the league for that matter. But there’s always something to think about any time the wheels fall off badly as they did here.

And that’s that. What looked like a weekend of teams jockeying for post-season became instead a time for several teams to jam their feet into closing doors. That’s a good thing for late season drama, but there is a downside as well: no one looks good - I mean genuinely, consistently GOOD. Keep this up and the final will feel like a two-team tie for second.

Oh, and attendance wasn't too shabby this weekend...

Date

Mon 10/02/06, 9:25 am EST