How Good are the Foxes? Pt. 2

Continuing in this series, "How good are the Foxes?" 

The question for me, this time, is how good is Noah Verhoeven? 

Verhoeven is the one legitimate MLS prospect on the Fresno FC roster in 2018. At 18, Verhoeven is a product of the Vancouver Whitecaps residency training program. He's also been called in to U.S. under-18 and under-20 training camps. 

While Verhoeven profiles ahead of the rest of the roster as a pure prospect he's not the only MLS calibre player in the Foxes XI. 

Pedro Ribeiro, who's recent golazo got international attention, has logged substantial time for Orlando City SC. It was Verhoeven who delivered the ball to Ribeiro to setup the screamer from distance in the 27th minute. 

Cutting in, hard, from left side Verhoeven shows in the highlight the most appealing aspect of his game -- sudden, attacking, movement with the ball on his foot. The lay-off to Ribeiro was the obvious choice; and frankly isn't an overly impressive play in-and-of-itself (it was 99% Ribeiro's individual brilliance). However, the cutback; on to his right-foot, is really good.

For the Foxes to improve, and for Verhoeven to take the next step in his development, he needs to build on his tendency to dribble the ball for the purpose of creating passing lanes and instead push the ball to create his own scoring opportunities. 

Take a look at his chart vs. Tulsa: one shot in Zone 17. 

Now, he's playing wide in a 4-4-2, so his primary responsibility is to find Caffa (and whoever is playing beside him) in the channel he [Verhoeven] has created because of his pace and space. BUT, to truly unlock a dynamic attack Verhoeven simply has to put his head down and go at goal at least a couple of times every '45.

When he gets comfortable enough in the system to play with some ambition, watch out! He certainly has the skillset to do it.  

Playoffs Preview

I've been away from this blog for the past five weeks or so adjusting to the rhythms a new job. In the past, I worked from home and set my own hours; and could write about soccer more. Now, I'm in the office with much more standard hours. Such is life.

Anyway, I've been watching games same as ever and what follows is a brief playoff preview -- this is less of a comprehensive run down of all the match-ups, and more of what I'm interested to see. 

Does momentum matter? This is the question going in to San Jose's game at Vancouver. The Whitecaps mid-season run of form compared to the Quakes mid-season missteps have setup a classic playoff phenomenon: an above average team coasting into elimination play versus a below average team who has played with desperation to make it into the tournament on the last day. On the surface, Vancouver is substantially better than San Jose; who have a -19 goal differential. That said, in their last three results San Jose have two wins and a draw whereas Vancouver have two losses and a draw. 

Can Atlanta find their form again? On Wednesday, September 13th ATL scored seven versus New England. It was emphatic. It also changed the narrative of their season. Instead of an over achieving expansion club content with huge crowds and positive results, expectations shifted towards MLS Cup. Since then,  injuries have cut into the hype. A win vs. Columbus, who haven't lost since August 5th at San Jose, won't come easy. To advance United are going to have to find that mid-September attacking genius. 

Is there one more great run left for SKC? This is surely the end of the line for one of the quintessential groups in league history. The Veremes, Besler, Zusi, Feilhaber, Espinoza core has been great. They've won all there is to win: U.S. Open Cup(s), Supporters Shield's, and MLS Cup; and in so doing created a unique and important soccer fanbase in the heart of the country. In many ways, this group represents MLS's growth into an established global league with real staying power. Can they find the magic one more time?