Philadelphia Union - August 5

Last week the crew over at American Soccer Analysis posted this piece on Philadelphia's struggle to get C.J. Sapong the ball in a position to put shots on goal. It's worth reading.

Then on Saturday the Union scored the goal of the weekend, through excellent build up play.

Not only was this goal an excellent example of creative, accurate, passing in tight spaces it's also the type of goal that Philly needs to create to address their shooting/scoring issues.

Let's break it down:

The sequences starts with Ilsinho picking the ball up relatively deep and making a long, attacking, run with the ball on his feet (Not shown in the MLS highlight). This is something Union supporters having been wanting to see more of –– specifically Ilsinho dribbling at defenders to create space for diagonal off-ball runs. 

The ball cycles back to Haris Medunjanin, who's playing a defensive mid role in the Union's variation on the 4-3-3. Medunjanin takes the ball at Dallas' d-mid, Carlos Cermeño, who steps forward leaving Ilsinho free to create in the middle of the field, 20 yards from goal.

As the aforementioned piece makes clear, this scenario is too infrequent.

However, they've done the work here and Ilsinho delivers a world class one-touch flick back to Medunjanin––who continued his movement without the ball––inside the box. Sapong, meanwhile, had been running the Dallas backline and was waiting for service at the 6. The setup is simple and Sapong puts the cross in the back of the net.

However, Ilsinho is still too removed from the Union attack, even in this game, for what they need going forward (on the field and in general) if they're going to challenge for a playoff spot. Here are his passes and shots from Opta:

As you can see, positionally, he's easy to account for. Likewise, he's equally likely to pass the ball backwards to maintain possession as he is to advance the ball in the attack. Frankly, if this were Medunjanin's passing chart you'd be pretty comfortable with it. But from a player with relatively significant UEFA Champions League experience this level of on-ball passivity isn't what the Union are paying for. 

For comparison (and to continue the thread started by Kevin Shank), here is Diego Valeri's chart from Portland's 3-1 win over LA Galaxy on Sunday (8/6).

This is what playing a creative, offensive, midfield role should look like –– regardless of formation.
(1) Valeri is, positionally speaking, much harder to account for than Ilsinho (though he certainly has his preferences). (2) He's pressing the ball into an attacking position more often than not. And, (3) he's distributing the ball to both sides of the field.

Now, accounting for formation, system, and personnel differences it's not reasonable to expect Ilsinho to mirror Valeri (who's in my view the best offensive midfielder in MLS) but those basic themes should exist in Ilsinho's game.

All of which is to say Ilsinho is capable of more, and the flashes he showed against FCD prove it. But don't confuse those flashes with something bigger or more consistent. At least not yet.

Toronto F.C. - August 2

Through the All-Star game The Reds are clearly the class of MLS. They have the highest goal differential and points per game on the table.

When healthy and playing, they have the two best goal-getters in the league - Giovinco and Jozy. Michael Bradley is playing, perhaps, the best soccer of his career. And, their roster depth is on par with the other leading clubs. Players like Victor Vasquez, Raheem Edwards, Steven Beitashour and Benoit Cheyrou give Head Coach Greg Vanney roster flexibility and consistency.

These are the hallmarks of a championship calibre team, no question.

TFC's recent 4-0 route of NYCFC shows, in my opinion, just how far ahead of the Eastern Conference they are. That said, questions remain in my mind.

Primarily, I'm curious about TFC's ability to run ahead of the pack all season long.

Over the course of July's matches (2-0-2) they've played some brilliant soccer. But they've also played some very bland, uninspiring stretches only to be bailed out by outstanding individual performances – Saturday's (7/29) second goal comes to mind. Up 1-0, but basically playing NYFC neutrally, Giovinco scored an excellent set-piece goal from 23-25 yards out.

And it was Giovinco who took advantage of Pirlo's well documented defensive liabilities to put the Reds up 1-0 in the first place.

Make no mistake, an NYCFC squad basically forced to play Pirlo because of roster depth issues wasn't going to beat TFC in Toronto. On the other hand, the 4-0 result flattered what was honestly a pretty pedestrian effort.

I watched the game live, and took a few notes. The thing that stood out to me most was the 30+ minute stretch between Giovinco's goals. There was basically zero attacking soccer from TFC. In fact, they created only one shot on goal between the first and second goals; which was another Giovinco effort from distance.

To further underscore this point, I've isolated the completed passes time-stamapped between the first and second goals. I've also annotated the graphic to illustrated the field into 1/3rds, which is how most coaches understand possession: defensive-third, neutral-third, and attacking-third.

A couple of things to say here:

First, it's obvious NYCFC weren't threatening during this stretch either. So, TFC were certainly content to posses the ball in the middle-third of the field and control the tempo of the game. However, it's always important to remember time and score. This is the passing chart of a 1-0 game during the middle half-hour of the match. This is exactly when, as a coaching staff, you're pressing your squad to get that second goal. TFC players, however, weren't playing with any sense of urgency (and credit to them, the goals came later).

Second, David Villa was on the pitch for NYCFC until late in the match. In a 1-0 situation, Villa is exactly the type of player––in fact, there's probably no one in better in MLS––who can pull a goal back against the run of play. When coaches game plan opponents these are the scenarios they review with their players. If I were on Vanney's staff, I'd've likely shown each position group cut-ups of Villa creating something out of nothing just to remind them to stay vigilant no matter the time/score scenario.

It might seem like nitpicking, but these are the characteristics of team coasting into the All-Star weekend. Being six points clear of a Chicago team that's stalled out a bit may give Toronto the feeling of inevitability –– frankly, that's probably justified. But, championship level teams don't develop the habit of coasting. 

If this were a points race I don't think anyone would question Toronto's grip on the top of the table. But it isn't. And getting results without being pushed is often cause for concern in tournament play; which is what MLS playoffs are.

Portland Timbers - July 29

At their best Portland's midfield trio of Valeri, Nagbe, and Chara produce the highest level combination play in the league. Their opening goal on Saturday (7/29) is a perfect example of what they're capable of.

Check out the highlight video here.

Nagbe pushes the ball into space until he draws attention from Huston's Juan David Cabezas. Cabezas does enough to make Nagbe release the ball - out wide to Valentin, Portland's right back, who's pushing high as an attacking option.

The thing that makes Nagbe an elite player in MLS is how he uses his movement to create attacking options for his teammates. Nagbe continues his run into the channel behind Valentin – this where most players stand and watch after they move the ball off their foot. Because he's a threat to get the ball back, and attack on the dribble, Cabezas floats with Nagbe into the channel.

These small, seemingly insignificant, details at speed actually lead to major scoring chances.

Valeri makes an attacking run into the space Cabezas should be occupying were he not drifting with Nagbe.

Valentin sees the easy passing angle, plays a simple ball––on the ground––into Valeri's attacking run. Valeri punishes Leonardo, who's caught out diving to make an emergency tackle, and then nets a rocket-shot.

None of this happens without Nagbe's movement. And this the kind of stuff Nagbe does all the time. This is why top-notch coaches love him (Klinsmann jokes aside). And this is the kind of thing people mean when they refer to a player's soccer I.Q. or "feel for the game." These intuitive, subtle, movements transform an attack from easy to defend into complex, layered, works of footballing art – the beautiful game.