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| Friday, September 14, 2001 24:16 EST |
Looking in on MLS playoff picture
By Jeff Bradley
[ESPN The Magazine]
First of all, here's a look at the MLS playoff seeding, as we head to the All-Star Game:
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Team
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GP
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Pts.
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In:
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1. MetroStars *
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22
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41
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2. Kansas City *
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22
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41
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3. Tampa Bay *
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23
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38
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4. Los Angeles
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24
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37
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5. Chicago
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23
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35
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6. Colorado
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23
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33
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7. New England
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23
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32
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8. Columbus
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24
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31
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8. Dallas
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24
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31
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Out:
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Miami
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23
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26
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San Jose
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23
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23
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D.C. United
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24
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21
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* = Division Leaders
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Now, let's take a look at where each team has been, and where we think they're going.
1. MetroStars
Looking back: After a 3-6 start, the Metros head to the break looking like the best team in the league. Against Tampa Bay on Tuesday night, the level of confidence on display by the Metros was overwhelming. There are cynics everywhere (including here) who have had a laugh about just how the Metros wasted the No. 1 draft pick (took Steve Shak over a boatload of young players who've all turned into 90-minute players in the league), wasted an allocation (on reserve forward Alex Comas), yet managed to rebound in the wake of the Luis Hernandez signing and subsequent "dispersal drraft" and L.A. cap-clearing.
Well, let's give a little credit where it's due. Picking up a few players is one thing, getting them to gel as a team is another. Credit Octavio Zambrano and his staff for turning this group into a team that plays good soccer, and works hard for each other.
Looking Ahead: The East title is a foregone conclusion, but the Metros will get a quick post-break test -- at desperate D.C., at Chicago -- to see if they're going to be good enough secure the top seed and win the Supporters Shield. When Daniel Hernandez was lost for the season on Tuesday night with an ACL tear, the Metros had to be thinking, "Let's hope Lothar Matthaeus is ready to earn his money."
Team MVP: Clint Mathis
Key Man The Rest of the Way: Lothar Matthaeus
Wise Man Says: "There's got to be a bump in the road coming soon."
Wise Guy Says: "Nothing another re-allocation draft can't solve."
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THE FIRST XI
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MLS All-Star ommissions:
11. Mike Clark, Columbus
10. Rusty Pierce, New England
9. Nick Garcia, Kansas City
8. Wolde Harris, New England
7. Billy Walsh, MetroStars
6. Pablo Mastroeni, Miami
5. John Wilmar Perez, Columbus
4. Carlos Bocanegra, Chicago
3. Eric Quill, Tampa Bay
2. Junior Agogo, Colorado
1. Diego Gutierrez, Chicago
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2. Kansas City
Looking back: Couldn't have been better out of the box. From the draft, where they grabbed Nick Garcia and inserted him right into the starting lineup, to their allocation selection, Miklos Molnar, who jumped out as one of the league's best strikers, to their blazing 10-0-2 start, the Wizards could do no wrong. Lately, they've had to deal with some bumps in the road, but KC has managed to stay on course. A non-official poll of players in the league say the Wizards play some of the best soccer in MLS, combining good defensive organization with dangerous attacking players.
Looking ahead: A split of home-and-home with L.A. on Aug. 12 and 16 and the Wizards will surely win the West title. Looks like they'll lose Tony Meola to U.S. national team qualifiers in mid-August, but the Wizards will certainly go into the postseason as one of the favorites to make it to RFK Stadium for MLS Cup Final.
Team MVP: Tony Meola
Key Man The Rest of the Way: Miklos Molnar
Wise Man Says: "Strong character, strong work ethic, the Wizards will be fine."
Wise Guy Says: "No way the league will allow for this."
3. Tampa Bay
Looking back: Capable of both the blowout victory and the blowout defeat. The Mutiny have been the most unpredictable team in the league to this point. Their 4-5-1 system has served them well, and turned Carlos Valerrama back into "El Pibe" again, but when you watch the Mutiny on a bad night (like Tuesday night in the Open Cup), you wonder if their backline is going to be able to get the job done the rest of the way.
Looking ahead: Facing a demanding schedule the rest of the way, but will have a chance to put the Central in their pocket with a pair of home games against Chicago (Aug. 2, 26). Mamadou Diallo is not quite as sharp lately, and the Mutiny will need him in top form come playoff time.
Team MVP: Mamadou Diallo
Key Man The Rest of the Way: Mamadou Diallo
Wise Man Says: "Porous backline will eventually be the Mutiny's downfall."
Wise Guy Says: "Imagine it coming down to PKs between Tampa and Chicago?"
4. Los Angeles
Looking back: Very hard to get a read on this team since they've had to use so many players and lineups, especially in the past two weeks when they lost seven starters to World Cup qualifiers. Even when the Galaxy have been fully assembled, they've still been hard to gauge, mainly because Luis Hernandez is still trying to fit in.
Looking ahead: It's not going to get any easier for the Galaxy, because if it's not World Cup qualifiers, it's the Olympics. The injury to Danny Pena may be the toughest thing for this team to overcome because you can't replace his every-night toughness.
Team MVP: Robin Fraser
Key Man The Rest of the Way: Luis Hernandez
Wise Man Says: "Great players respond at critical times. Hernandez is a great player."
Wise Guy Says: "The USSF has requested Zak Ibsen and Paul Caligiuri for Futsal."
5. Chicago
Looking back: Inside their locker room, the Fire believe they would have the best record in the league, if only they'd been able to lock up four games they led after 88 minutes -- four games that resulted in two losses and two ties. Even without Lubos Kubik, Hristo Stoitchkov, Chris Armas and Ante Razov, the Fire have been a tough team to beat.
Looking ahead: All depends on whether those tough losses and ties will serve as a stigma or a lesson. Of course, if Kubik and Stoitchkov have something left in the tank for the stretch-run and playoffs, the Fire might have an entirely new look.
Team MVP: Peter Nowak
Key Man The Rest of the Way: Lubos Kubik
Wise Man Says: "Real men grow stronger through adversity."
Wise Guy Says: "One down, five minutes to go, got 'em right where you want 'em."
6. Colorado
Looking back: A hardened, bunker-mentality team that is all about results. And who can argue with 32 points, when it seems the Rapids hardly ever have the upper hand in a match? Coach Glen Myernick has had a ton of injuries to deal with -- so many it's hard to remember now who's healthy and who's not. No question acquiring Junior Agogo from Chicago for a third-round pick will go down as one of the all-time MLS steals.
Looking ahead: Just figure every game they play is going to be a war.
Team MVP: Junior Agogo
Key Man The Rest of the Way: Henry Zambrano
Wise Man Says: "This team defies logic."
Wise Guy Says: "Since when does soccer make sense?"
7. New England
Looking back: Like Colorado, it's amazing the Revs have as many points as they do. Their win at Kansas City last week was not the first time this year they've generated one scoring chance in a game and come away with a 1-0 victory. The Revolution may have saved their season with their two recent road wins, since they were in a free-fall.
Looking ahead: Four of their next five games at home will determine whether the Revs will go the playoffs. Does Eric Wynalda have 10 games left?
Team MVP: Wolde Harris
Key Man The Rest of the Way: Juergen Sommer
Wise Man Says: "If Wynalda can come back like Tab Ramos, the Revs could be scary."
Wise Guy Says: "At least they have a great fanzine."
8. Columbus
Looking back: The acquisition of Dante Washington may be the pickup of the year, and with Brian McBride's injury, it's hard to imagine where the Crew would be without him. John Wilmar Perez has gotten better with each week, but as the games get tougher down the stretch, it's going to be imperative for his development to continue. Have to wonder why the Crew didn't push harder for a replacement for Brian Maissoneuve because one more quality player on this team would make them look much more formidable.
Looking ahead: Go on the road for three straight after the break. Finish the season with a home and home with Chicago. Central title is not out of the question. Nor is oblivion.
Team MVP: Dante Washington
Key Man The Rest of the Way: John Wilmar Perez
Wise Man Says: "You can't teach speed."
Wise Guy Says: "You can teach soccer."
8. Dallas
Looking back: This team is just so much better than its record. Ariel Graziani is right up there with Jaime Moreno as the most dangerous player in MLS. He partners well with Jason Kreis. They seem to have a good mix of role players (Oscar Pareja, Zarco Rodriguez) and kids (Sergi Daniv, Lazo Alavanja). What gives?
Looking Ahead: With their talent, no reason the Burn shouldn't make the playoffs.
Team MVP: Ariel Graziani
Key Man The Rest of the Way: Chad Deering
Wise Man Says: "They've just been laying in the weeds."
Wise Guy Says: "Wait until they get Alain Sutter back."
10. Miami
Looking back: Just have to wonder what they were thinking when they acquired Eric Wynalda, Roy Lassiter and Andrew Williams, and added that trio to Henry Gutierrez, Diego Serna and Welton (surely I'm forgetting someone). Every team needs attacking players and strong personalities. But a locker room full of them? Disaster.
Looking ahead: Seems there are bigger issues than wins and losses in Miami, like are the Fusion moving out? Does investor Ken Horowitz belong in the same Country Club as John Kluge, Philip Anschutz and Robert Kraft? Stay tuned.
Team MVP: Jay Heaps
Key Man The Rest of the Way: Ken Horowitz
Wise Man Says: "This is clearly the new 'chaos club' in MLS."
Wise Guy Says: "At least they got rid of Wynalda."
11. San Jose
Looking back: Maybe Jan-Aage Fjortoft would have been the answer. Maybe he would have been a disaster. All we know is Fjortoft is the striker Lothar Osiander wanted way back when, but when Quakes and MLS management finally decided to give the coach his wish, it was too late, and he got stuck with nothing. The coach has his critics, but when you watch how hard this team plays every night, Osiander deserves the credit.
Looking ahead: To next season. Two allocations and a bunch of draft picks.
Team MVP: Dario Brose
Key Man The Rest of the Way: Sunil Gulati
Wise Man Says: "This team hasn't caught a break."
Wise Guy Says: "You make your own breaks."
12. D.C. United
Looking back: Believed that Chris Albright and A.J. Wood would score more goals than Roy Lassiter. They were right. Only they never imagined Lassiter would score four goals. This team's had its share of bad luck, but still has more talent than just about every team in the league. At the end of it all, there's no reason for them to be in the basement.
Looking ahead: New ownership? New issues? Is Rongen to blame? Will D.C. regret trading away all those picks for quick fix Raul Diaz Arce, not to mention entering into a deal that all but ensures Diaz Arce will be a part of their team from here to eternity?
Team MVP: Jaime Moreno
Key Man The Rest of the Way: Marco Etcheverry
Wise Man Says: "It ain't over 'til it's over."
Wise Guy Says: "It's over."
Pub talk
If Ronaldo, or any other big-time star, wants to rehab in MLS, I say, "Cool." Not only do I look forward to watching them play, I look forward to the inventive ways the MLS office will disperse these guys to their respective teams.
"Well, since Ronaldo is 22 years old, let's go to the standings 22 weeks ago, then flip them and, would you believe it? The MetroStars get him."
Not to sound like a crank, but All Star Games are tired, in all sports. I told that to Jeff Agoos this week and he came up with a good solution, come up with some real prize money for the winners. I mean, do any of us want to watch a glorified pickup, non-contact game on Saturday? And don't get me started on the Skills Competition.
Football lines are coming. So, some good news on the stadium front about now would be really nice. And if one more person says to me, "Seattle's building a new stadium for the Seahawks, so they're a likelly expansion market, just point the gun at my head."
The Metros-Tampa Bay game at Mitchel Athletic Complex the other night was sweet, though I'm sure all those people who know so much more than me think MLS can't survive in a stadium that doesn't have a lot of seat backs. Whatever.
I mean, I'm a diehard and watching games on TV from Mile High and Arrowhead depresses me. I contend you could take two top European clubs, dress them in MLS uniforms and put them in Kansas City, in front of 4,000 people, on a Wednesday night and some soccer "experts" would say, "MLS sucks."
Jeff Bradley covers soccer ... among other things ... for ESPN The Magazine. Boot Room hits the web every Thursday evening.
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