MLS Weekend Preview: Consistency, quality fuel D.C. United's success
LA Galaxy coach Bruce Arena held court on a wide variety of topics this week. He discussed the foibles of MLS rules and regulations and pondered the possibility of division-based play moving forward. Those thoughts merited consideration as always, but his observation about the MLS regular season perhaps proved most pertinent given the action in midweek.
"Major League Soccer right now is survival of the fittest actually over 34 games," Arena told reporters earlier this week. "There are so many things that are challenging."
The demands place a premium on showing up every week and working through the hurdles. It is a measure of endurance and persistence. Those bedrock principles are present in a few teams, but they are currently most visible at the club where Arena once made his name.
D.C. United grasps the routine better than any other club in the league at the moment as it nurses an eight-match unbeaten run ahead of a visit to Philadelphia on Sunday (live, 7:00p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1). Other sides boast bigger stars and nurture higher profiles. Other teams move the ball around more fluidity or provoke swooning plaudits for their approach to the game. United casts those considerations to the side and relies on the mentality and the quality of the squad to churn out results week after week instead.
United stands out as one of the most fundamentally sound teams in the league. The resolute structure establishes a firm, savvy foundation in front of the excellent Bill Hamid. The players within the ranks make few glaring mistakes and pounce when other teams pursue the game too earnestly or slip up in their own duties.
Most importantly, this team musters the necessary quality to take advantage of the opportunities presented. Bobby Boswell -- now with 300 MLS appearances under his belt -- marshals a back four capable of bending without breaking with Hamid as the safety valve in case of emergency. Davy Arnaud and Perry Kitchen establish a defiant tone in midfield. Fabian Espindola and Chris Rolfe punish teams on the break. And perceived depth players -- Kofi Opare serves as the most recent example at the moment -- step in seamlessly to plug the holes when necessary.
It is supremely difficult for a MLS side to reach the point where it produces consistent performances week after week even as the personnel inevitably changes. United hit it by cobbling together a core group of players, espousing the necessary principles throughout the squad and then implementing them each and every week. Those measures are not particularly flashy, but it is exactly the formula required to navigate through the gauntlet and survive it relatively intact.
New York City FC -- Chicago Fire, Friday, 7:00p.m. ET (Univision Deportes)
NYCFC coach Jason Kreis expects a response from Mix Diskerud and David Villa after their early withdrawals in the derby defeat to New York Red Bulls on Sunday. Diskerud and his teammates vented their frustrations in midweek, but they must improve their incisiveness to issue the ideal response. If they lack the cutting edge, then the Fire -- no strangers to frustrations in front of goal -- plan to produce their own riposte with David Accam back in the side after a one-match suspension.
FC Dallas -- New York Red Bulls, Friday, 9:00p.m. ET (Univision Deportes)
The opening minutes of this affair loom large for the Red Bulls. Jesse Marsch's side travels to Frisco on short rest after an emotional victory over NYCFC on Sunday. It cannot afford to allow Fabian Castillo, Mauro Diaz and Blas Perez to secure an early foothold in the game. If the Red Bulls can start well at Toyota Stadium, then they might sidestep the evident potential for a letdown in this affair.
Montréal Impact -- Real Salt Lake, Saturday, 4:00p.m. ET (TSN, RDS2)
Portland handed Montréal a timely reminder of the demands left to fulfill in league play with the victory at Stade Saputo last Saturday. Dominic Oduro and the Impact promptly responded in midweek by securing safe passage into the Canadian Championship final despite a defeat at Toronto FC. The demands against RSL are a bit different, though. Montréal must cope with RSL's effective switch to a 4-4-2 and figure out ways to stretch the field vertically in order to claim a first league win of the campaign.
Vancouver Whitecaps -- Seattle Sounders, Saturday, 7:00p.m. ET (TSN)
Sounders coach Sigi Schmid ripped a page straight from Bruce Arena's playbook this weekend when asked about the potential fitness of Obafemi Martins (undisclosed injury). Martins' potential absence reduces the Sounders' threat a bit, but the visitors still boast Clint Dempsey and a bevy of midfield options to hit the Whitecaps if the home side is injudicious pressing forward. Look for Pedro Morales to spend most of his afternoon trying to elude Osvaldo Alonso and supply Octavio Rivero with the necessary opportunities to turn the game.
New England Revolution -- Toronto FC, Saturday, 7:30p.m. ET (Sportsnet 360)
TFC encountered a rather bump return to BMO Field this week with a loss to Houston and a Pyrrhic victory over Montréal in the Canadian Championship semifinal second leg in midweek. Reds boss Greg Vanney used Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley, Sebastian Giovinco against Montréal. The key for TFC at Gillette Stadium: cutting out those errors inside the defensive half. New England feasts on teams that play out of the back raggedly and turn the ball over in poor areas.
Sporting Kansas City -- Colorado Rapids, Saturday, 8:30p.m. ET
This is a trickier fixture for Sporting than it appears at first glance. Colorado enters this game with a five-match unbeaten streak away from home. Pablo Mastroeni's side keeps its shape well on the road and looks to punish teams on the break through the improving Gabriel Torres. Sporting must strike the right balance between endeavor and prudence in order to avoid yet another dispiriting home result.
Houston Dynamo -- Portland Timbers, Saturday, 8:30p.m. ET
Both teams enter this affair after creditable results in Canada a weekend ago. Houston must build on its assured display at Toronto FC by retaining some of the tidy work display on the ball at BMO Field. Portland must try to break up the play as efficiently as it did a week ago and then place Diego Valeri in positions to test the Dynamo back four consistently as the match unfolds.
San Jose Earthquakes -- Columbus Crew SC, Saturday, 10:30p.m. ET
This match pits two teams with vastly different approaches. Columbus operates most potently in possession with an emphasis on retaining the ball and then using the width of the field to provide supply to Kei Kamara. San Jose struggles to keep the ball for any length of time (the Quakes' 72 percent passing accuracy ranks last in MLS, per Opta statistics) and tries to conjure chances through free kicks and set pieces. The key here is whether the Earthquakes can break up the game enough to prevent Crew SC from establishing dominion over it.
Orlando City -- LA Galaxy, Sunday, 5:00p.m. ET (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
D.C. United taught Orlando City yet another painful lesson with its comeback victory in midweek. Orlando City boss Adrian Heath expressed his displeasure with simplistic errors in the wake of that defeat with one eye on the Galaxy's visit. Bruce Arena is in top form (just witness his comments in midweek on the vagaries of the Discovery Player mechanism), but his players are floundering a bit without Robbie Keane. Even with those wobbles in mind, Orlando City must take special care to sidestep the one or two critical errors to prevent the Galaxy from grinding out a result.
Philadelphia Union -- D.C. United, Sunday, 7:00p.m. ET (FOX Sports 1, FOX Deportes)
United continues to hum along and post results along the way. This date with Philadelphia offers only a modest obstacle in that path given the Union's suspect approach to defensive spacing. If United can claim the ball at the right time, then it should find plenty of opportunities to exploit a Union side short of both confidence and quality at the moment.
