ExtraTime Radio Podcast
LISTEN: One of the craziest days in MLS is broken down by the crew as Sigi Schmid takes over at the Galaxy and Bob Bradley is hired as LAFC's first head coach. Schmid comes on to discuss his new role and what Galaxy fans should expect going forward. In the second segment, the guys break down USA's Gold Cup triumph while fans make their voices heard in the mailbag. Subscribe now so you never miss a show! Download this episode!
First off, some links:
• Column on the USMNT's Gold Cup win
• Stock Up/Stock Down USMNT report following the tournament as a whole
• Sigi's coming to salvage LA's season
• Bob the Pragmatist makes sense for LAFC
I have no more ledes left in me, so let's just get to the games:
Patience
At the start of this week, the big news was Dom Dwyer's trade from Sporting KC to Orlando City. It seems like a million years ago now, since so much has unfolded in and around MLS in the intervening time.
It's a big deal. Dwyer's scored 91 goals as a pro, and he adds a bunch of stuff – hold-up play, defensive work, motor – that OCSC have been lacking (click on that video for more).
It is a lot, though, to ask one man to fix what's been wrong with Orlando City, and as always when a big piece is added, there will be a period of adjustment. I don't expect Atlanta United to have much sympathy for that on Saturday afternoon (4:30 pm ET; FOX in the US | MLS LIVE in Canada) when the Purple Lions come calling.
I'll also be watching:Anton Walkes at right back. He got forward a ton against OCSC last week, but to little effect because of an inability to pick the final ball. If OCSC are able to coax him into bad, early crosses, that could end up presenting opportunities to break in the other direction against an Atlanta team vulnerable to the counter.
Welcome to the Jungle
As I linked at the top, I wrote quite a bit about why it made sense for the Galaxy to hire Schmid, and some about the talent on hand to work with. Here's what he has to sort out, though:
LA added a bunch of talent at some very particular spots. Obviously Sebastian Lletget's injury means that Schmid doesn't have to deal with quite so much of a glut, but this is a mismatched team that's largely made each other worse rather than better. Finding the right partnerships in central midfield and central defense are jobs No. 1 & 2, and it probably starts with Jonathan dos Santos getting on the ball a ton in deep, central midfield and letting him pull the strings.
The Galaxy need to organize the game a little bit. For far too much of this season they've just been scrambling to try to get ahold of it.
Two other things:
• Gio dos Santos can only play as a second forward. Coaches over the years have tried him on the wing repeatedly, and regretted it. He's also not a central midfield playmaker, and he's definitely not a No. 9.
He should play the same position for Schmid that Clint Dempsey did in Seattle.
• Gyasi Zardes has spent nearly five years as a pro, but only one of them as a center forward. In that one year he scored 16 regular season goals, and then one in MLS Cup itself.
Zardes is never going to lead the league in scoring, but he's a big, active presence who mostly gets in the right spots and works hard for the team. He should be the one clearing out a path for dos Santos to exploit.
Those two in pure attacking roles with Alessandrini and Ema Boateng flanking them is fine. Wind those four up and let them go, and let the four defenders and two central midfielders try to stanch the bleeding defensively.
Schmid's Sounders teams did a great job of rarely over-complicating things. His Galaxy side, who host Seattle on Saturday night (10 pm ET; ESPN, ESPN Deportes in the US | MLS LIVE in Canada), need to do the same from Game No. 1 if they're going to climb back into the Western Conference playoff race.
I'll also be watching: The Sounders have gotten a bit of traction recently by pushing Cristian Roldan higher into the attack. Roldan's smart and savvy so you can use him pretty much anywhere, but with Dempsey and Jordan Morris back from the Gold Cup and Nicolas Lodeiro back from suspension, it'll be interesting to see how often Roldan gets into the attacking third.
Get In the Ring
A week-and-a-half ago, a short-handed Toronto FC group went down to the Bronx and took a 2-2 draw out of Yankee Stadium. On Sunday (2 pm ET; ESPN & ESPN Deportes in the US | TSN4 & TSN5 in Canada) they play the rematch at BMO Field in Toronto.
I'm sure that is going to be on the mind of both teams, at least a little bit. But this is a very big game – one that will likely have significant bearing on not just who's hosting playoff games in November, but perhaps the Supporters' Shield itself. So I want to remind everyone what happened the last time TFC and NYCFC faced off in a truly big game:
I doubt Jozy Altidore's going to play much at all, but you know Michael Bradley's going 90, and Justin Morrow's going to be back, and Sebastian Giovinco wants goals. The last time NYCFC faced (most of) that group they wilted.
This is a gigantic test for the Cityzens. We'll get to see if they're just a good team that plays pretty soccer, or if they're something more than that.
I'll also be watching:Alex Ring had a great first four months but has sort of quietly regressed to the mean in July. He'll need to be at his best in this one.
One more thing to ponder:
Happy weekending, everybody.
