ExtraTime Radio Podcast
LISTEN: Are you ready for Heineken Rivalry Week? If not, ExtraTime Radio has you covered as Andrew and David sit down with both sides of the NY Derby. New York City FC's Tommy McNamara talks about his US national team future while New York Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles takes over hosting duties. Plus, Ben "The Research" Baer and Calen Carr break down Cascadia and the Texas Derby. Subscribe so you never miss a show!
The San Jose Earthquakes fired the first shot of the transfer window season more than two weeks before the window actually opens, as on Thursday afternoon they announced the signing of Georgian attacking midfielder Valeri 'Vako' Qazaishvili to a DP contract. Vako is 24, plays as a sort of advanced, goal-scoring midfielder, and his numbers in the Erediviside compare nicely to RSL's Albert Rusnak.
Rusnak, though, is more of a pure chance creator. Qazaishvili is, at times, a devastating dribbler and a wonderful striker of the ball, but playing the final ball with precision isn't something he's been known for thus far.
Still, this is the kind of signing Quakes fans have wanted to see their team make, especially if he can provide goalscoring from the left wing.
Neither Qazaishvili (who won't be eligible until the window opens on July 10) nor Rusnak (who's on international duty with the Slovakian U-21s) will take the field when the Quakes host RSL on Saturday (7:30 pm ET; MLS LIVE), but there are multiple young attackers on each side worth keeping an eye on anyway.
Now onto our Heineken Rivalry Week match-ups:
When the Going is Smooth and Good
It feels like this is maybe the week when Mauro Diaz goes from the start for FC Dallas? Since he returned to the field at the end of May he's played nine minutes, 29 minutes, 26 minutes and 22 minutes as los Toros Tejanos have gone 1-1-2. Diaz hasn't looked nimble, exactly, but he's not showing much in terms of ill or lingering effects of his Achilles' injury last autumn.
Given a month of coming of the bench and the presumed work-towards-full-fitness training that's come in between games, as well as the import of Friday's trip to Houston (9 pm ET; UniMas | Facebook.com | MLS LIVE in Canada)... it's gotta be now, right?
Diaz is a pure force magnifier. His ability to release runners into space is just about unmatched in this league, and as he works his way to 100 percent, I'd look for the likes of Roland Lamah and Michael Barrios to suddenly become more consistent in threatening the goal.
I'll also be watching:We've written countless articles on Houston's attack, which has been unexpectedly prolific. We've written almost nothing on their under-the-radar defensive midfielder, Juan David Cabezas. The 26-year-old Colombian has come in and immediately stabilized that part of the pitch, acting as a distributive fulcrum as well as a protector for the still-working-out-the-kinks center defense. He has been a quality addition from Day 1.
He can, however, only do so many things at once. And if he's busy trying to harry Diaz, that could leave the central defense exposed if the rest of the Dynamo midfield doesn't rotate over to cover the gaps. Thus far this season, they've struggled with that aspect which is why clever playmakers who drag Cabezas to the sidelines – Diego Valeri and Miguel Almiron are two examples – give Houston hell.
Something You'll Never Forget
About a month ago, Tyler Adams and Yangel Herrera met in the U-20 World Cup. Adams, playing as a box-to-box midfielder for the US U-20s, was bested by Herrera, who played in a holding role for the Venezuelans.
They'll meet again on Saturday (1:30 pm ET; FOX and FOX Deportes in the US | MLS LIVE in Canada) at Red Bull Arena, and their roles will be mostly reversed. Adams has been a pure-ish defensive midfielder since his return to the Red Bulls, while Herrera pushes up relentlessly as the spearhead of NYCFC's high pressure:
I'll put this succinctly: These were two of the best central midfielders in the world at the U-20 World Cup, and now they're meeting in a blood-and-guts rivalry game.
MLS has never had a mano a mano match-up of teenagers so well regarded on the world stage like this before.
I'll also be watching:Aurelien Collin's return to the RBNY lineup last weekend was expectedly physical and expectedly rusty, especially in his distribution.
Even so, the Red Bulls are 3-1-0 with six goals scored and just one conceded (+5 goal differential) when he plays 90 minutes. When he sits, or plays less than a full game, they're 4-6-2 with 11 scored and 20 conceded (-9 differential). Acquiring him saved what felt like a sinking ship last year, and getting him healthy may have the same effect in 2017.
Fantastic Man
"What's wrong with Seattle?" has been one of the big questions of the first half of 2017, and we've got our top men working on answering that question:
Check back later for Ben's take.
As for me, it comes down to two things with Seattle: First, they build slowly from back-to-front, which constantly lets the opposing midfield and defense reset, and second, too few players make pro-active, field-stretching runs. That has changed a little bit as Will Bruin has become a bigger part of the attack:
Bruin makes the runs I want to see Jordan Morris make. Morris, however, is still so passive – he wants the pass to make his run instead of vice versa. It's a frustrating regression for the second-year player, who's looked something less than fully fit or fully confident over the last few months.
Yet even with Morris slumping, the threat of his speed can and does create space, and when said space means one less defender in Nicolas Lodeiro's grill, magic is often made. Figuring out what part Clint Dempsey can play in the above, though, has proved tricky.
We'll see what they conjure on Sunday night at Portland (10 pm ET; ESPN2 in the US | TSN2 in Canada).
I'll also be watching: With Sebastian Blanco suspended, will the Timbers get more penetration from out wide? Blanco has been one of the more disappointing big-time offseason signings, with just two goals and three assists in 17 games. His skill is unmissable, but he seems to always cut inside toward the ball, which has too often killed Portland's spacing.
Getting a real, chalk-on-the-boots, direct, attacking winger out right to punish Seattle's always overlapping left back might prove to be a net benefit for the hosts.
One more thing to ponder...
Happy weekending, everybody.
