Major League Soccer effectively rounded the quarter pole this past weekend, giving us enough of a sample size to start making some evaluations in a 2018 season that has moved past the breaking-in stage.
The Eastern Conference remains the stronger of the two conferences, with a reasonable argument existing that the league's top five teams are all in the East. Toronto FC's record may not reflect its place as a title contender, but anyone paying attention knows how much the reigning MLS Cup winners' efforts to win a CONCACAF Champions League title played a role in TFC's poor start to the regular season. TFC returned to its winning ways last Friday, and will only get tougher as its defense gets healthy.
Orlando City has shaken off a slow start to 2018 and rattled off six straight wins to put itself on the conversation among the East's elite. Jason Kreis' squad has slowly integrated its plethora of new faces and is now looking like the serious contender we expected when the Lions enjoyed one of the best offseasons in the league.
Atlanta United further cemented its standing as the most impressive team at the start of this season with its road win in Chicago. The Five Stripes are now unbeaten in eight, having navigated through a challenging schedule. Things don't get any easier though, with Atlanta's next three opponents being Sporting Kansas City, Orlando City and the Red Bulls.
Out West, Seattle's woes continue after a goal-less draw with Columbus that felt very much like a defeat. The Crew played a man down for 75 minutes but the Sounders still couldn't score a goal, and managed just one shot on goal during that time. Seattle's inability to make any reinforcements before the end of the primary transfer window is beginning to look more and more like a serious cause for concern, and with upcoming matches against TFC and Portland, things aren't going to get any easier.
The LA Galaxy's defensive woes continue to spoil the Zlatan Ibrahimovic show, as they watched a well-earned draw turn into a late defeat in Houston on Saturday. That's three straight losses for the Galaxy, who will have to wait until the summer to reinforce a defense clearly needing new pieces.
The Portland Timbers just might be the hottest team in the West, having won their third straight match with a late triumph in San Jose on Saturday night. It wasn't exactly a dominating performance — and it required goalkeeper Jeff Attinella to have a monster game — but Giovanni Savarese appears to have settled in well after a shaky start to his first season in Portland.
Here is a closer look back at Week 10 in MLS:
Mixed bag for first-year MLS coaches
This weekend saw a pair of matchups featuring first-year MLS coaches, making it a good time to see how the new faces on the sideline are faring so far.
The newcomer quintet has delivered a mixed bag through the season's first quarter, with Brad Friedel's New England Revolution getting off to the best start of the bunch. They couldn't keep the success going in Montreal, where the Impact responded emphatically after being called out during the week by a frustrated Remi Garde, who received the reaction he had to be hoping for in Saturday's 4-2 victory, which snapped Montreal's four-match losing streak.
Garde's Impact have been plagued by some terrible defending, and some ugly second-half collapses, but the good news for the French manager is that Montreal is expected to make some big additions this summer, and owner Joey Saputo isn't likely to fire Garde without giving him at least a full season in charge. That said, there are nine matches between now and the opening of the summer transfer period, and Garde's team is going to have a very tough time staying within striking distance of the playoff places in the stacked Eastern Conference.
The loss to Montreal halted New England's momentum, but doesn't change the fact Friedel has enjoyed a successful start to his first pro managerial position. He navigated the tricky Lee Nguyen situation, benching and eventually trading away the disgruntled playmaker. In the process, Friedel moved Diego Fagundez into the playmaker role, which has worked out excellently. He also made the shrewd decision to hand starting goalkeeper duties to Matt Turner, who has been strong in goal.
The challenge for Friedel will be continuing to earn results between now and a summer transfer window that will allow the Revs to use the allocation money they netted in trading Nguyen to Los Angeles FC. Right now the Revs are in sixth place in the East, but TFC is fully expected to climb back into playoff contention, so holding onto a playoff spot in the loaded Eastern Conference won't be easy.
Giovanni Savarese came into the year boasting more head coaching experience than Friedel, having enjoyed several years of success with the New York Cosmos in the NASL. That, along with the fact he was inheriting a strong team after the surprising departure of Caleb Porter, meant Savarese walked into the job carrying higher expectations than any of the other five MLS coaching newcomers. A winless five-match road trip to start the season raised some serious questions about his ability to replace Porter. Those fears have been eased in recent weeks thanks to a three-match winning streak that included Saturday's win in San Jose.
"I think the unity has been much better. Everybody’s covering each other, everybody is working for each other," Savarese said after Saturday's win. "They sacrifice defensively, and they believe offensively, so I think that’s the key factor so far. We need to continue to grow, but I’m seeing growth game by game.”
San Jose is still waiting for that type of breakthrough under first-year coach Mikael Stahre, who has seen his team go six matches without a win after beginning the season with a victory against Minnesota United. Saturday's loss, which saw San Jose create more chances, but fail to capitalize, surely felt like a gut punch for the Swedish coach.
"I'm super disappointed from the results perspective, but I think we played with structure and I think we played with lots of commitment," Stahre said. "The only thing we can do is to analyze, go home, and practice and do it again with a little bit better performance. Ten percent more. It's really hard now, having just one victory after eight games, so we need victories for sure, but the only thing we can do is to just move forward, analyze, practice harder and hopefully we can get the victory really soon."
Colorado Rapids coach Anthony Hudson is also hoping for a turnaround after watching his Rapids suffer a third straight defeat, losing to Sporting Kansas City on Saturday. Hudson helped reshape the Rapids roster alongside general manager Padraig Smith, and the Rapids' 2-4-2 record doesn't offer much of a sense of improvement, especially given the fact Colorado's two wins have come against the Philadelphia Union and a reserve-laden Toronto FC side. The slow start in Colorado hasn't stopped Hudson from being mentioned as a potential candidate to be hired as coach of English side Sunderland, an odd rumor considering Hudson is only now in his first season coaching a professional first-division team.
It is far too early to say any of the five MLS coaching newcomers are on the hot seat, but right now it looks as though Friedel and Savarese have held their own in the early going, while Garde, Stahre and Hudson have raised more questions about their capabilities than they have answered.
Red Bulls' improved defense the key to title aspirations
New York Red Bulls fans were rightfully enthralled by the "Kaku Watch" of the past offseason, which saw the Argentinian playmaker's transfer to the Red Bulls prolonged to the point where some wondered if it would happen at all. What received much less attention, but may be just as important to the team's hopes of winning its first MLS Cup, was another newcomer, one who came with much less fanfare.
Tim Parker's arrival in New York came with modest buzz, but the former Vancouver Whitecaps central defender has stepped in and provided a missing piece to the Red Bulls' defensive puzzle. More athletic and much less mistake-prone than veteran Aurelien Collin, Parker has formed an excellent partnership with Aaron Long, giving the Red Bulls one of the best center-back tandems in the league. With Kemar Lawrence at left back, and Michael Murillo blossoming at right back, the Red Bulls now have what has the makings of the best defensive unit in the team's history.
"The one thing that's a little bit different about this team than years past is even when there are breakdowns in our pressure, our back line is our best we've ever had," Marsch said after Saturday's 4-0 win. "So they can defend 1-v-1 and they can physically handle moments and they are really good defenders."
Long enjoyed a breakout 2017 for the Red Bulls, earning a promotion from the team's USL affiliate and immediately establishing himself as a capable defender and skilled passer. What Long may lack in the physicality department, Parker has helped provide and the balance they strike as a unit has allowed those around them to take more chances.
"Last year I would say that I took chances stepping out, and trying to get guys," Tyler Adams said when asked about the team's improved defense. "This year I know that I can really, really step out and take chances."
The Long-Parker tandem has been especially stingy since Marsch put them together, with the Red Bulls having allowed just seven goals in the five matches the two have started together in a four-man defense.
The Red Bulls fullbacks also deserve credit for the team's early defensive success. Lawrence has long been one of the best defensive left backs in MLS, but Murillo's clear improvement in his second season in MLS has taken the defense to a new level, giving the back four balance.
The team's defensive depth will be tested once Murillo leaves for the World Cup with Panama, especially after the Red Bulls lost Kyle Duncan to a torn ACL, but with veteran Connor Lade working his way back, the Red Bulls should have the defensive depth to handle the squad rotation that will be necessary during the warm summer months, and in case there are any more injuries. Collin gives the Red Bulls a capable third center-back, while Fidel Escobar provides versatility.
The Red Bulls strong back line, partnered with an impressive defensive midfield tandem of Adams and Sean Davis, could help make the Red Bulls one of the best defensive teams in MLS, which is a scary thought considering the attacking weapons they also possess. It remains to be seen whether that combination will be able to deliver the first MLS Cup in team history, but after the way they destroyed a very good NYCFC team on Saturday, the rest of the league has been put on notice.
Best of MLS Week 10
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Ignacio Piatti demolished the New England Revolution, scoring a goal and assisting on three others to help Montreal snap its winless slide.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: The New York Red Bulls thoroughly dominated New York City FC in one of the most impressive performances of the season to date.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Corey Baird not only scored a goal in RSL's 3-2 loss to Orlando City, but he hit the post and forced some tough saves on a day when he looked far from being a rookie.
GOAL OF THE WEEK: Diego Valeri's 88th-minute game-winning free kick was the easy call this week:
He's a magician.✨
— Portland Timbers (@TimbersFC) May 6, 2018
The match-winner in San Jose, courtesy of Diego Valeri. #SJvPOR #RCTID pic.twitter.com/8CZSxWQ5be
