MLS Round-up: Vieira loses his cool, as Drogba and Giovinco shine

The LA Galaxy remain unbalanced in attack

When written down, the LA Galaxy’s squad list is an enviable collection of players. Particularly blessed in attack, the team can call upon the veteran talent of Robbie Keane & Steven Gerrard, as well as explosive forwards such as Giovani Dos Santos and Gyasi Zardes.

However, amid their strength also sits a complexity. Bruce Arena has yet to find a perfect balance to his side, with Saturday’s win over Portland Timbers highlighting that once again. Zardes and Keane started up front, while Dos Santos was moved to the right of midfield. Dos Santos prefers a number 10 role, and while that could work with Keane, it would mean moving Zardes away from his best position as a striker.

Add to that, Gerrard’s willingness to play off Keane and the situation complicates itself further. Based on this season the best situation for the Galaxy remains Zardes playing as a number 9, with Keane alongside him. The American’s hard work and running creates space for the Irishman to float into, with any other pairing making it easier for Keane to be marked by the opposition. A fact proven by the opening 11 minutes on Saturday, the duo’s two goals allowed LA to sit deep against the Timbers and absorb pressure.

Only just managing to hold on for their victory, (the Galaxy were outshot 18 to 9 by the Timbers) the lack of defensive work put in by Dos Santos will be a concern if he remains in his current role. With Keane nearing the end of his current contract, the club may feel the situation will fix itself in the off-season, but it is risky to wait that long.

Clearly not impacting the team’s results that much, (they are unbeaten in six) it certainly isn’t troubling Bruce Arena either. “We won the game,” Arena said. “That’s what you do in soccer. We were on the road in a venue where the team does pretty well at home. What are we complaining about? Then some moron will write that they had more shots than us thinking that’s important.”

Ahead of the All-Star match two of the league’s best start firing again

The nature of the Designated Player mechanism in Major League Soccer breeds some obvious consequences. With every salary made public, those on the highest wages face an expectation to perform week in week out, and when their team needs them most.

That feeling only intensifies when the player has arrived from a major European league with a pedigree or reputation. For Didier Drogba and Sebastian Giovinco, that spotlight was starting to intensify. Giovinco was undergoing a lengthy goal drought of over 650 minutes heading into Saturday’s clash with D.C. United, while Drogba faced awkward questions about whether the Montreal Impact side were better suited to playing without him in the side.

By the end of their respective games against D.C. and the Philadelphia Union on Saturday, both men had a hat-trick to their name. Giovinco’s trio of goals was inspired by a duo of inch perfect free-kicks. The Italian was also able to release the ball quicker and use his teammates in a more intelligent way than his outing against San Jose Earthquakes last week.

“I kept hearing it all week, ‘he hasn’t scored, and he hasn’t scored!’” D.C. head coach Ben Olsen said afterward. “That’s the last thing you want to hear as a coach, but again you have to do a good job on him. Everybody on the field, you know it’s everyone, if you clog one area he’ll go to the fair end of another one. He thinks smarter and quicker than everyone

Two of the best. Giovinco & Drogba both bagged hat-tricks last night. Who’s was better? #TFC #IMFC #MLShttps://t.co/0H46HTz5BC

Meanwhile for Drogba, the weekend represented was a far more recognisable performance. Clinical in the penalty area, (he scored with 3 of his 4 attempts inside the box) Drogba also showed his creativity by producing 3 key passes during the course of the 90 minutes. That was more than the team’s other star man Ignacio Piatti, who provided an assist for one of the Ivorian’s three goals.

Despite their struggles, both Giovinco and Drogba will be in attendance at the MLS All-Star game against Arsenal this week. A showcase for MLS against top European opposition, Giovinco and Drogba will represent known commodities to Arsene Wenger and his players. Perhaps that spectacle focused the minds of both this past weekend, with the hope now for Toronto and Montreal that this weekend does not prove the peak of their season, but rather the start of their ascent.

Managerial squabbling takes centre stage in the Hudson River Derby

Sir Alex Ferguson was often famed for his use of psychological warfare. Whether it was Rafa Benitez or Kevin Keegan, the Man United boss could often rile his rival with a subtle dig, or well timed quote in the press.

Jesse Marsch appeared to dabble in something similar this week. “If [David Villa], Pirlo or Lampard get touched, they go down, they draw fouls, they draw yellow cards,” Marsch said. “It’s an epidemic across the league of these referees who just want to give the benefit of the doubt to star players. We’ll see who gets assigned to this game and we’ll see if he can handle the business.”

4 - This is the 4th time NYCFC has conceded 4+ goals in a @MLS match since the start of 2015 (second time vs. @NewYorkRedBulls). Strenuous.

Marsch was promptly fined for his outburst, but the damage had already been done in the eyes of Patrick Vieira, with Frank Lampard later calling it, ‘the oldest trick in the book’. The Frenchman was sent off after a first half disagreement with Marsch, and saw his team eventually fall 4-1. The time apart did little to quash their tempers though. “The conversation to Jesse was just to stop crying and stop complaining,” Vieira said. “I think his team was playing really well, but he was constantly frustrated and I feel sorry for him.”

Choosing to also criticise referee Mark Geiger, the NYCFC coach cited Marsch’s claims in midweek as an influencing factor. "Today the referee made more decisions in favour of Red Bulls because their manager was crying all week,” he said.

.@Tommy_Mc15 from deeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. #NYDerby #NYvNYC https://t.co/wj3ZtJRgYI

Not one to back down, Marsch’s evaluation was somewhat different. "I thought Geiger was fantastic,” he said. "Ive seen this from him [Vieira] after the game before. The game was decided by the players.”

The most important contribution of the day came from Bradley Wright-Philips. He netted twice against NYCFC to make it 8 goals in 6 games against their city rivals. Meanwhile, for NYCFC the day represented a repeat of their most glaring frailties. Defensively poor from set-pieces, they struggled in the heat and were simply outworked by the Red Bulls. In particular, youngster Alex Muyl put in a dominating display that shut down the entirety of NYCFC’s right side.

Amazingly Vieira’s team still sit top of the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the Red Bulls, with a goal difference of -4. Highlighting the bizarre season that NYCFC are having, today’s spat showed this rivalry is quickly running deep, with even the managers impacted by the competition. “Obviously when a team loses 4-1, they’re going to try and come up with excuses as to why they lost the game,” Dax McCarty said afterwards.

Sigi Schmid running out of time to save Seattle’s season

In the same weekend that Bruce Arena dismissed analytics and the majority of statistics, the numbers for the Seattle Sounders did not make good reading.

The Sounders conceded 3 goals against Sporting KC, and in truth it could easily have been double that. Failing to produce a single attempt on Sporting’s goal until the 88th minute, it was met with ironic cheers from the traveling fans, and stopped Seattle becoming the first team in MLS history to finish a game without a single shot.

Sigi Schmid could only sit and watch as his team produced one of the meekest showings MLS has ever witnessed, during which they enjoyed just 35% of the possession. Forced to compete with temperatures in the region of 36°C, it was little excuse for a performance that lacked any real passion or fight. Most troubling of all was the fact the team contained veterans like Clint Dempsey, Brad Evans, and Chad Marshall in it, but was still unable to muster some motivation.

Sounders sinks to 6-12-2. First time in 42 yrs a Seattle team has been 6 wins under .500. #OTD 2014: SFC was +8 (12-4-2). #mightyhavefallen

The fourth time in six league games that Seattle have failed to score, up next they face an LA Galaxy side that put 4 past them in the US Open Cup last week. A game that looks frightening on paper, they may take to the field without Schmid at the helm. Sunday’s performance was slow, ponderous, and the kind of showing that often precedes a manager’s departure.

Exemplified by Sporting’s third, which only gets worse with each viewing, to exit on such terms would be a disappointing way for Schmid’s tenure to end. A reality that seems unlikely given his importance to the club, there remains one consensus in Seattle, something has to change. “I’ve never played in a game like that – mental lapses when it starts to get hot, and they are pressing and pressing,” defender Brad Evans said. “Credit to them, they stuck to their game plan and it worked.”

The goal that sealed all three points for @SportingKC. #SKCvSEA #SoccerSunday https://t.co/ApQBHYhVTw

Results - Week 20

Friday
Real Salt Lake 1-1 San Jose Earthquakes

Saturday
Portland 1-2 LA Galaxy
New England Revolution 1-0 Chicago Fire
Montreal Impact 5-1 Philadelphia Union
Toronto FC 4-1 D.C. United
Columbus Crew SC 2-2 Orlando City
Colorado 1-1 FC Dallas
Houston Dynamo 0-0 Vancouver Whitecaps

Sunday
New York Red Bulls 4-1 New York City FC
Sporting KC 3-0 Seattle Sounders