It's been a good week for Mix Diskerud and New York City FC
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Version 0 of 1. After getting on the end of a 35 pass move to score against the world champions this week, Mix Diskerud was back with New York City on Saturday night, helping them to their first ever winning streak. That that “streak” currently stands at two games (Saturday night’s 3-1 win over Montreal followed the cathartic road win against Philadelphia last week) should tell you everything you need to know about the difficulties New York City FC have had in settling into life in MLS. That period has seen the stock of Diskerud in particular rise, fall and now rise again, as the team has begun to coalesce. In the early going this season, Diskerud’s pass completion in midfield was one of the few bright spots for New York, and he of course got the team’s first ever MLS goal on a memorable night in Orlando. But as results drifted, so too did Diskerud’s influence. By the time NYCFC played the first New York derby, Diskerud was comprehensively overshadowed by Red Bulls counterpart and notional national team rival, Sasha Kljestan, in an ineffective display that saw him subbed out by an unimpressed Jason Kreis. That game may have been something for a nadir for NYCFC, who scored a late equalizer the following week against Chicago, and who have clawed their way back to respectability in the games since. They’ve lost just once in that time, on the road to RSL in Kreis’s return to his former club, and have also begun to settle on personnel in the right positions. Shay Facey has been a revelation at center back, Thomas McNamara has all the makings of a cult midfielder, and New York are generally looking more defined all over the field. And Diskerud, whose substitute appearance upon his return from Europe ended with him scoring the winner against Montreal, will be vital for the continuity of that process, whatever the arrival of Frank Lampard does for the team. And his revival of personal fortune is just in time for some intriguing local referundums – NYC go to newly-crowned NASL spring champions New York Cosmos in the Open Cup on Wednesday night, then, after a visit to Toronto next week, comes the chance for revenge over the Red Bulls at Yankee Stadium the following week. And with the Red Bulls on the slide since that derby victory, it could be Kljestan et al who are on the back foot this time round. GP Scoreline not the whole story for Dallas in Seattle Dallas can be something of a bookmaker’s nightmare. Try analyzing the spread on a team as likely to concede five as score five in any given game (except in March – they always win in March), and you get something of the idea. Dallas lost 3-0 in Seattle on Saturday night, in what, looking at the starting line up, was probably one of the more predictable results of the night – suspensions and injuries had robbed the visitors of three of their usual back four, and the opening exchanges went pretty much as expected, on that basis. Defensive mix-ups and miscommunication made Dallas players themselves the biggest threat to Dan Kennedy’s goal. But that doesn’t tell the whole story, as always. Dallas actually settled and were tormenting Seattle for much of the latter stages of the first half, with Fabian Castillo hitting the post with Stefan Frei well beaten, in just one moment where Dallas threatened to flip the script. Castillo in particular was his usual threat down the right throughout, and that was just one chance he had. In the second-half Seattle asserted themselves. Lamar Neagle’s shot from outside the box fired the Sounders into the lead, Obafemi Martins’ hustled the inch of space he needed to turn and fire a second, and even Leo Gonzalez got in on the action, to score his first goal in five years and add some gloss to the scoreline in injury time. But while Seattle were comfortable in easing to their sixth win in eight games, they will know that this was not really a game where they blew Dallas away. The truth about the relative statures of these teams may lie closer to the tense playoff series that saw Seattle progress on away goals last season and Sigi Schmid and his players will still be wary of Dallas when they meet again. We’re entering the silly season of hot summer days, international absences and results that defy simple readings. Mark this up as one of them. GP Diego Fagundez reminded us that he can still be one of the best in MLS It’s probably time to drop the classification when talking about Diego Fagundez. Hailed as one of MLS’s brightest young players since breaking into the first-team reckoning with the New England Revolution as a teenager four years ago, the Uruguayan – still just 20 years old – transcends his age group. He now has the ability to be quite simply, without qualification, one of the league’s best players. Of course, we’ve known for some time that Fagundez warrants headline billing. His glittering performance in Saturday’s 2-0 win over the Chicago Fire wasn’t a breakthrough display, but by marking his 100th MLS appearance (making him the youngest player to ever reach such a milestone) with a stunning, volleyed opener Fagundez underlined his show-stopping ability. He’s not a star-in-waiting, as some still maintain. He’s fully fledged right now, complete with attention-grabbing peroxide blond racing-stripe hairdo and all. However, this season has been a strange one for the 20-year-old. Fagundez has largely found himself on the fringes of the Revolution first-team, starting as many games as he has featured as a substitute (six). In Jay Heaps’ 4-2-3-1 formation Teal Bunbury has been favoured in the right-side, attacking position, with Juan Agudelo down the left and Charlie Davies up front. But with Agudelo not yet back after midweek USMNT involvement, Fagundez was afforded a starting opportunity and made quite the impression – to such an extent that the player himself called Saturday “the best day I’ve had my whole career.” But Fagundez’s display against the Fire – as exceptional as it was – only served to reiterate the kind of moments he should be delivering on a more regular basis. Wingers by nature often operate on the periphery, but the Uruguayan is a more modern kind of wide-player, possessing an innate goal threat that materialised so magnificently against Chicago. That’s what makes him such a exciting proposition in his best form: it’s just that he can’t always find his best form. Fagundez’s blistering performance couldn’t have come at a better time for New England, with the 2-0 win busting them out of a slump that had carried them six games without a win. Heaps’ team has been somewhat fortunate in that DC United – their primary Eastern challengers – have also suffered a simultaneous dip in form, meaning that the Revs remain just four points short of the conference top-spot. The true impression of Fagundez’s showing will be tested when Agudelo returns. Thumping, 20-yard volleys are kinda difficult to ignore and Heaps would be a snotty-nosed spoilsport were he to dump the Uruguayan back on the bench for next week’s top-of-the-table face-off with DC United. Fagundez, on his day, is one of the league’s best and the Revs must give him the chance to prove so. GR With Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins back Seattle are once again firing That the Seattle Sounders toiled to find traction for much of their clash with FC Dallas was not a surprise – given that Sigi Schmid’s side was without five starting figures. What was surprising was that even with so many missing they blitzed their Texan oppositions in a whirlwind final half-hour, scoring three times to claim a 3-0 victory that for so long looked decidedly unlikely, if not implausible. That explosive goalscoring spell was in stark contrast to the Sounders’ performances and results of late, with Schmid’s side scoring just three goals in their last four games – defying their identity as an inherently attacking outfit. Of course, the theory behind that improvement isn’t so complex – Seattle, like any other team, are better when they have their best players on the field. Both Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins, as well as Brad Evans, all missed the 1-0 defeat to Sporting KC the week before, but returned against FC Dallas. Dempsey’s involvement had been patchy in recent weeks as he awaited the arrival of his fourth child, with Martins out of action after suffering a broken nose against the Colorado Rapids last month. And with Evans also on a jaunt to Europe with the US Men’s National Team the Sounders’ midfield and frontline were short-handed at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. But against FC Dallas Dempsey was selected in the starting lineup, although he didn’t make much of a difference on his own as Oscar Pareja’s side edged proceedings until half-time, with Stefan Frei making one especially impressive save in the opening 45 minutes to deny Kyle Bekker. It wasn’t until the introduction of Martins and Evans at the break that the contest started to turn in Seattle’s favour. From then on the Sounders lineup was awash with attacking hubbub. Pareja is often hailed as one of the best blackboard technicians in MLS, but against Seattle he was outmanoeuvred by a proactive Schmid, who recognised his team’s first-half deficiencies and moved to change things before conceding. While the addition of Martins certainly gave Seattle a cutting edge in attack, it was Evans who made the telling contribution, giving his team more substance through the centre of the pitch. Whether Schmid opts to play Evans in midfield from the start in future could depend on Osvaldo Alonso’s recovery from a hamstring problem, with Marco Pappa also returning to the fold after missing the clash against FC Dallas through international commitments with Guatemala, but the 30-year-old, who has played most of the season in central defence, is at least an able option for the Sounders. Yet it is in attack, where Seattle will be back to full strength with Dempsey and Martins in the team, that the Sounders will receive the biggest bump. Schmid’s side are the highest scoring in MLS this season – with 23 goals from 15 games – and after a momentary dip over the past few games they look set to live up to that benchmark over the summer. GR The expansion teams are stirring It’s not just New York City who have begun to pick up form in recent weeks. Orlando are unbeaten in five, and just as David Villa stepped up to give New York the lead on Saturday night, Orlando’s designated player Kaka was the difference between the Lions and DC United on Sunday night, on a sweltering night in Florida. Kaka headed home cooly after his penalty attempt was parried by DC goalkeeper Bill Hamid, and was part of an Orlando attack whose build up play is showing strong signs of becoming more and more coherent as the season progresses. It was the difference between the two sides on the night, as Orlando’s pass completion rate in the final third surpassed D.C.’s by 74% to 52%. For a team that was in eighth place just four weeks ago and wondering where their goals were going to come from, let alone their first home win, Orlando look to be genuine playoff contenders. And while the big 4-0 win against LA caught the eye, beating DC, the canny early frontrunners who had already beaten Orlando in both Florida and the nation’s capital, was in its own way as significant a marker that Orlando are finding the measure of the teams around them. That last defeat to DC had had Orlando coach Adrian Heath sounding as frustrated as he had done all year at basic defensive mistakes his team had made to hand the opposition the win, but in Sunday those basic errors were (mostly) absent, and even with DC pressing for the final quarter of an hour, Orlando were good value for their win and looking well set for summer. What that summer brings will be interesting. The heat in Orlando was oppressive enough when they hosted New York City in their home opener back in March — and its becoming more and more of a factor as the weeks go on. Between now and 8 August, Orlando have five home games. That pass completion rate will be pretty crucial in that period, as Orlando look to make their visitors work. Right now, that’s a more realistic prospect than it was a month ago. The usual suspects in the East may be sweating for more than one reason soon. GP |