#maybe i haven’t given portland much of a chance but seattle feels like home and i can’t stop thinking about it

[knees-bees]

ill say it. i hate portland

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Armchair Analyst: Zlatan's taekwongolazo can't save LA & more from Week 29

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September 16, 20187:35PM EDT

Let’s just get it out of the way at the top: This is absurd:

That goal, the fourth of eight total that were scored on Saturday night in Toronto in TFC’s 5-3 win over the Galaxy, is maybe the greatest goal in MLS history. It’s probably the goal of the year, and the only other contender is Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s first goal, that spectacular 45-yard volley against LAFC in the first ever El Trafico.

It was not enough. Zlatan has 17g/8a in a shade under 1700 minutes, and that hasn’t been enough, either. The Galaxy have spent tens of millions on their roster, and it’s both too much and not enough. Dom Kinnear took charge this week after Sigi Schmid found the door, and that wasn’t enough.

LA are a team in crisis, and a team certain to face another overhaul this offseason, and a team likely to have their fifth new head coach in two years once camp opens in January. I hope Zlatan will be there as well, because he’s been worth the price of admission week after week. Nobody else on the Galaxy can say the same.

The above isn’t precisely true for TFC, who are nonetheless having one of the most disappointing seasons in MLS history. They took a 3-0 lead in this one and looked like they were cruising, then took the foot off the gas and let the Galaxy bring it back to 3-3. Then they found the pedal again with two late goals, and their season is nominally still alive.

But only nominally, because no matter what formation they put out there (they were in a 4-4-2 diamond on Saturday), and no matter how much of the ball they get when all their wonderful attackers are healthy, they still can’t defend.

TFC have shipped 55 goals this year, the same number as Minnesota United. Only San Jose, the Galaxy and Orlando City have been worse.

There is a path to the playoffs for the Reds, who are nine points behind the Impact and with a game in hand. But it’s a path that involves winning at the Red Bulls, at D.C., at Montreal and at home against Atlanta, and it’s a path that involves jumping three teams in the standings. Even if they get Chris Mavinga and Drew Moor back – and we’ve been talking about that particular “if” for four months now so let’s not hold our collective breath – it’s too narrow to traverse unless they score five goals a game.

But they have to score five goals a game, and I think they know it. So what we’re headed for right now: A TFC team with a healthy and motivated Sebastian Giovinco, Jozy Altidore, Victor Vazquez and Jonathan Osorio out there every week trying to drop five. It’s not gonna work, but god I am so here for that.

Runnin’ Down a Dream

As I said, TFC’s charge (if they really do conjure one) isn’t going to work and the biggest reason is because of what Montreal did on Saturday night. It’s conceivable that both New England and D.C. United could flatline and leave the door open for the Reds, but all three teams directly ahead of them in the standings? Nah.

And there’s no mystery here, as what Montreal did is what Montreal does: They sat deep, they got out in space on the counterattack, and they used their dynamism to kill the Union in the open field. I sort of casually dismissed Montreal’s 3-0 win over the Red Bulls two weeks ago, as it was against a RBNY team playing their fifth game in 15 days. I will not make the same mistake of dismissing Saturday night’s 4-1 win over Philly. It was:

A come-from-behind win, and

A multi-goal win

On the road

Against a playoff team

That had been playing well

You could see Philly ease off a little bit when they took a 1-0 lead via Auston Trusty’s header. And you could see them get a little bit sloppy on the ball. And at that point, if you’re on the field, the only thing you can see is Ignacio Piatti running away from you and either creating or scoring a goal (he had a foot in all four Impact tallies and is now the King of Chester).

There is an X-factor these days for Montreal, though – one that didn’t exist in Quebec a month back:

I’m not talking about Saphir Taider, who did a nice job of sniffing out the chance to poach a rebound goal. No, I’m talking about journeyman veteran center forward Quincy Amarikwa, whose rugged work in the attacking third – selfless runs, contesting every header, hold-up play, making opposing CBs feel him for basically the full 90 minutes – has given Montreal a focal point and a bit extra ball security in the attacking third. You can play to his feet, and he can create something.

He can also get out and run on the break with the likes of Piatti and Alejandro Silva, and he draws a ton of fouls, and all of that makes a difference.

“Maybe it doesn’t show directly on the stat sheet but I feel like the guys are learning about me, and through that seeing they’re going to get a lot of opportunities off second chances and second balls,” Amarikwa said to our Dave Zeitlin. “I think Saphir does a great job to follow up my shot. That’s him anticipating it’s going to be on frame … and he’s there to put it away. It’s great to see us come together and figure it out, especially with this run into the playoffs here.”

He’s 30 years old and he’s never been a great finisher, and he’s never going to be a great finisher. But he’s a snug fit for the role Remi Garde is asking him to fill, and through two starts it’s absolutely impossible to quibble with the results.

And the defense is mostly holding up, too (another new arrival, d-mid Micheal Azira, has a lot to do with that). They’ve allowed just a single goal in five of their past six games, and while nobody’s going to confuse them for a versatile, dynamic defensive bunch, they certainly seem to have clarity as to what they’re trying to do, and as of late they’re doing it very well. 

Learning to Fly

Real Salt Lake got let off the hook in a big way on Saturday against Minnesota United, 1) whose 2nd goal was correctly ruled offside, but 2) probably deserved the full three points anyway. They pretty thoroughly dominated RSL in the second half, and only their own lack of finishing (boy they could’ve used a Christian Ramirez-type!) kept it level:

#RSLvMIN xG. The Loons were dominant in the 2nd half and were one offside call from winning. pic.twitter.com/AzWxsFVU0e

— Ben Baer (@BenBaer89) September 16, 2018

Via my colleague Bobby Warshaw: “Damn, RSL. All your fans wanted us to show more respect. This is why were remained hesitant. There’s still a level of naivety to their game, that creates a level of unpredictability. Yeah, they are the team that can be the most fun to watch. But they are also the team most likely to have this weekend happen to them.”

RSL head coach Mike Petke was similarly blunt:

“I’m at a little bit of a loss. In reality I didn’t see this coming and we allowed them to walk out of here with a point. All the good that these players have done in these last three games, with really going for the jugular, we just didn’t seem to have that tonight. We controlled the game still; did well against Quintero which was a main focal point considering how good he is. We didn’t finish them off when we had opportunities and even before that I think our transition was sloppy. We’ll take the point and now we have to find two points on the road, two more points than we were planning on getting.”

That naivety expressed itself via defensive recognition and an overall lack of compactness – i.e., Minnesota actually got more dangerous after subbing out an attacker (Abu Danladi) for a central midfielder (Rasmus Schuller) and starting their attacks deeper. RSL’s backline came out to meet them, the fullbacks in particular played high and a little detached from the rest of the team, and that created the types of gaps or opportunities for overloads that Darwin Quintero et al have feasted upon.

This is a hugely damaging result for the hosts, who desperately need homefield advantage in the Knockout Round. Does anybody think they could go to Seattle or Portland or LA and win a playoff game?

A few more things to ponder…

8. I’m not even sure what to say about D.C. United after the week they had. Somehow they went 1-0 down against Minnesota United on Wednesday, then rallied back for a 2-1 win. Somehow they went one-goal up three times against the Red Bulls on Sunday, but each time squandered the lead – Bradley Wright-Phillips is a legend – en route to a 3-3 draw. 

Do they end the week happy? Well, I’d guess the answer is “kind of,” because they just plowed through the toughest, busiest part of their schedule (six games since August 26), one in which they were missing players via injury and international duty almost constantly, with a 2-2-2 record, which probably falls under “good enough.” They are four points back of the Impact with a game in hand, and are staring at five straight at home, then a trip to Chicago to end the season.

All those games are winnable. The biggest one is the next one, which is almost certain to be the tipping-point game in the Eastern Conference playoff race this season: Montreal’s trip to Audi Field on September 29. 

7. If Colorado’s going to play the diamond, they have to get the basics right. They did not get the basics right in their 3-0 loss to Atlanta United on Saturday:

That basically ended the game, and officially ended Colorado’s season.

6. Columbus went to Frisco and played FC Dallas to a very credible scoreless draw, keeping themselves solidly in fourth place in the East.

Both of these teams have, in theory, another gear they can hit. Dallas haven’t shown it in months, though – they’re just 4-4-3 since July 4 – and Crew SC’s really does only exist “in theory.” Justin Meram’s had his moments since arrival but hasn’t entirely clicked, and on the other wing Pedro Santos continues to get into great spots then fail at turning them into end product.

Columbus have scored 35 goals in 28 games, which is the worst of any team in the playoff hunt.

Two notes from FCD:

Matt Hedges was subbed at halftime with an injury. That’s potentially huge.

Maxi Urruti was good as a No. 10 against San Jose and Houston two weeks ago, but he struggled to find the ball against Columbus, and the few times he did get on it he couldn’t do anything with it.

5. We used to talk about Sporting KC’s goalscoring woes at this time of year, but 2018 is a very, very different time. They went to San Jose and just drilled the Quakes, winning 5-1 via combination play and set pieces and 1v1s and yeah of course this throughball from Felipe Gutierrez is our Pass of the Week:

They have 54 goals through 28 games. That’s their most goals since 1997, when they scored 57 over the course of the entire season.

Sporting are now atop the West, the first time anybody’s jumped ahead of Dallas since mid-June. I feel pretty confident in saying that, for the first time since 2013, they won’t have to go on the road in the Knockout Round.

San Jose’s miserable season beats on, and the fans are calling for changes from the front office on down. It’s understandable.

4. Portland, on the other hand, might end up being out on the road during the Knockout Round as their stop-start form continued on Saturday with a 4-1 loss at Houston. The Timbers got an early lead, then kind of lost their shape, their intensity and their minds – why are you bringing your backline up at Houston? – as the Dynamo put together four unanswered by absorbing pressure, then getting out on the break.

It was a really strange game from Portland, who are now 2-5-1 since their 15-game unbeaten streak came to an end in early August.

Houston, meanwhile, ended their 10-game winless skid. It’s too late to save their season, but this rediscovery of their identity is useful in the week before they host the U.S. Open Cup final against the Union on Sept. 26.

3. Let’s stay on the “home field in the West” theme: LAFC had what should’ve been three points beaten out of them by an, um, physical Revs team in a 1-1 draw in downtown LA on Saturday night:

Effectively disrupted #LAFC, but as a neutral I really didn’t like #NERevs approach to #LAFCvNE. 27 fouls committed, nearly twice many as their #MLS leading 14.4 fouls/gm. Every time one of LAFC’s skill players had the ball in midfield, they were cynically fouled. Tough to watch. pic.twitter.com/Al7YTRQHdI

— #ThankYouDeuce (@JogaBonito_USA) September 16, 2018

It’s easier to destroy than to create, and New England have fully embraced that ethos this year even as they’ve had constant personnel turnover in goal, in defense, in midfield and up top. Truth is they had their chances to win this one, and forced LAFC to scramble like hell over the final 15 minutes of the match.

That the Revs have won just once in their last 11 games, and just five times in the past five months and are still in the hunt for the sixth spot in the East should tell you all you need to know about that race.

LAFC have five straight games in which they should be heavy favorites before finishing the season at Sporting. These were two points dropped, but don’t count them out of that top spot in the West just yet.

2. Don’t count out the Sounders, either! They weren’t great at Vancouver on Saturday night, but they picked up their post-shootout single-season record-extending ninth straight win, taking a 2-1 out of BC Place. They were able to mostly keep the ‘Caps counterattack under wraps – Seattle’s biggest strength is that they tend not to commit bad turnovers – and got some help from a very friendly post.

Seattle are seven points off of SKC’s pace atop the West, but have a game in hand (Wednesday vs. Philly) and the league’s best defense. You could make a case for them finishing atop the conference, and you could make a case for them finishing sixth. The West is a glorious mess and I love it.

1. Chicago came back from Munich and ended their nine-game winless skid with Sunday evening’s 4-0 stroll past Orlando City, who’ve now taken 5 of the last 57 points available to them.

The Purple Lions have now conceded 66 goals on the season. The league record for defensive futility is 70, set by last year’s Minnesota United expansion side.

And let’s bring it back to the top for a bonus Face of the Week, courtesy of the one and only Zlatan…

Usually other players quickly back down from confrontations with Zlatan, and he became quite angry when Michael Bradley refused to be intimidated.

Fascinating interchange between two extremely intense characters. I’d love for that to be mic’d up!#TORvLA #TFCLive #LAGalaxy #MLS pic.twitter.com/tJ8LE1ftyx

— #ThankYouDeuce (@JogaBonito_USA) September 16, 2018

They were, in fact, mic’d up after the game. Bradley said “I’m not worried about perfect. I’m not worried about Zlatan. I’m worried about three points tonight.”

Zlatan, however, gave us a hell of a quote: “He thinks he’s a philosopher of football. I have more goals than he has [played] games, so he should follow my rules.”

For the record: Bradley has 566 pro games, and Zlatan has 500 goals.

Series: 

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Armchair Analyst: Zlatan's taekwongolazo can't save LA & more from Week 29 was originally published on 365 Football

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Armchair Analyst: Sporting's defense, LAFC's attack & more from Week 2

March 11, 20187:44PM EDT

Why does the SuperDraft matter? Because it’s a free way to get talent, and over the years we’ve seen 1) that talent, if given room to breathe and if properly coached up, can compete at the highest levels of this league, and 2) we’re still not at a point — and because of the geographic and demographic realities of North America, will probably never be at a point — where pro teams are efficiently hoovering up all the top talent directly into their programs.

There will be kids who grow up nowhere near a development academy, or kids who grow into their bodies a little later in life, or kids who find the right mentality later in life, or kids who just really want to go to college, or kids who just fall through the cracks. Even if MLS expands to 40 teams and USL to 100, those kids will always exist, and my belief that good coaching can mold them into good players will thus always exist as well.

So, in turn, the draft’s always going to exist, and there’s always going to be good players to find and develop via that mechanism. If you’re committed to that, like Gregg Berhalter and Bob Bradley (to name two) seem to be, you’re going to find players who can get you points. Occasionally you’ll be able to find a Jack Harrison or Cyle Larin, a player you can sell on for millions of dollars. Now you’ve gotten points and money — which is, I’d imagine, a lovely thing to show to ownership the next time you’re negotiating a contract.

The difference between now and five years ago is that if you crush it with other player acquisitions mechanisms, you probably don’t need to draft players who can win you points. Got a booming academy, locked-in USL team and an owner willing to splash on imported talent? There’s mounting evidence you can ignore the draft pretty comfortably and compete at or near the top of the league.

But even in the TAM era, even after just two weeks there’s Joao Moutinho, Tristan Blackmon, Ken Krolicki, Brandon Bye, Chris Mueller, Mason Toye, Luis Argudo, Niki Jackson… that’s a good haul. And then there are players from last year’s relatively shallow draft like Lalas Abubakar, Jake Nerwinski and Jacori Hayes who’ve made obvious year-over-year improvement, and then there are other guys who will tear it up in USL for a year or two before pushing their way into the full MLS team.

That’s not going to be the story after the first two weeks of MLS. The story is going to be — justifiably — “we’re in a new era of young goalscorers coming from Latin America and the academies.” But it’s a story, and one you should be aware of if you want to understand and appreciate the full scope of the way the league’s been developing.

How the Turntables

Sporting KC, in the midst of some lineup flux, went on the road and got three points. Normally that’s an unvarnished good thing, but I’m choosing to be at least a little bit worried about what we’ve seen out of SKC after two weeks.

In their first outing they lost 2-0 at home to an admittedly very good NYCFC side. In their second they took a 2-0 lead at Chicago, then in very un-Sporting-like fashion, coughed it up and went down 3-2. Then in arguably even more un-Sporting-like fashion they grabbed two late goals via some clinical finishing to take a high-scoring, open and dramatic 4-3 road win at the death.

When is the last time you were able to use the words “seven-goal thriller!” to describe an SKC game? Ben a while.

Even though they were on the right end of the scoreline this is pretty shocking to me, and more than a touch worrying how vulnerable they’ve looked on the defensive side:

#CHIvSKC xG. Oh how the tables turned. pic.twitter.com/q9bEOEe8sI

— Ben Baer (@BenBaer89) March 11, 2018

This is an expected goals map provided by Opta. The larger the circle, the better the chance. Yellow circles are goals.

You can see the total xG they allowed at the top of Ben’s graphic, and 3.48 conceded is a monstrous number. Columbus barely got over three even with a penalty, and RBNY got their four goals on 2.72 xG. Only LAFC (4.9) topped Chicago’s number on Saturday.

Look again at that shot map, and focus on where Chicago’s shots came from. Through two games Sporting have allowed five goals. In 34 games last year, they allowed 29. Through two games Sporting have allowed six shots from inside the six-yard box. in 34 games last year, they allowed… 17.

It pretty much doesn’t matter how well Tim Melia plays (or doesn’t); if you’re giving up three shots per game inside the six, you’re roasted even if you’ve got prime Lev Yashin.

The Fire were able to able to simply drive play right down Sporting’s throat in a way that teams basically haven’t been able to do for almost a decade. In the second half they switched from their typical 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2, and then banged cross after cross to the back post. If Aleksandar Katai hadn’t stopped helping out defensively after Chicago took a 3-2 lead — or if Veljko Paunovic had made a sub three minutes earlier — the hosts probably see out the win.

Here’s the scary part about that: In the past, if you switched to a 4-4-2 against Sporting you were dead. They’d just swarm the hell out of you in central midfield, dominate the ball, dominate possession and strangle the game. That didn’t happen on Saturday as Chicago took over 60 percent possession in the second half. SKC’s defensive issues started up top, embiggened in midfield and became almost fatal on the backline.

Peter Vermes has some work to do, and he knows it. He also knows those three points matter more than my nattering.

“I do for sure have to go back and look at the goals that came against us. I have a pretty good idea in my head and I’m not very happy with them but like I said, what’s really easy, especially away from home, you can put your head in the sand and be done. We didn’t do that. And the fact that we got the tying goal and then the winning goal really showed a lot of heart within the group.”

It did. He’s not wrong, and Daniel Salloi in particular deserves some freaking dap. But he’s not going to play like that every week, and they’re not going to finish like that every week. And that means SKC can’t defend like that every week.

They’re not in trouble yet, but if they keep playing like they’ve done through two weeks, they’re pointed at it.

Why Are You The Way That You Are

It’s supposed to be hard to be an expansion team. It’s supposed to be hard to go on the road in MLS. It’s supposed to be especially hard to do so against conference foes, and let’s just add the obvious that it’s supposed to be even harder than that against conference foes who are/were supposed to be good. Seattle made it out of the West and into MLS Cup last year, right? And RSL were the West’s best team in the second half of last season, ok?

Add in the unique-to-MLS experience of going from turf in a rainstorm to the 4400 foot altitude of the high desert in winter, and you arguably couldn’t have drawn up a more daunting “welcome to the league” experience than what LAFC have had over the last two weeks. So naturally they went smash-and-grab in Week 1, then put on an absolute clinic in Week 2. They destroyed RSL by 5-1 at Rio Tinto, and it honestly wasn’t that close.

This game was an avalanche of black-and-gold breakaways with Diego Rossi and Carlos Vela and the ever-underappreciated Marcos Ureña ripping the hosts apart. My colleague Bobby Warshaw broke down the simple principle guiding LAFC’s approach:

As with everything about this game of ours, there’s more than what’s happening on the ball. Bobby points out the direct runs from the wingers, which ripped up RSL’s fullbacks. There were also direct runs from central midfield – notice how Damir Kreilach doesn’t track Benny Feilhaber on that second goal from Bobby’s vid? Never did the fundamental work of checking his shoulder to get a sense of the danger. Add in a sloppy performance from Kyle Beckerman, and that’s how you ship five.

The simplicity and decisiveness of LAFC’s front six (shout-outs to Latif Blessing and Mark-Anthony Kaye, who’s been a revelation) has allowed the back four to play relatively uncomplicated soccer through the first two weeks, and to spend most of their time out there defending a lead rather than chasing the game. Steven Beitashour got two assists this weekend, but for the most part didn’t get that high; Moutinho was asked to support the attack rather than overlap and generate it; the center backs, who can’t really run, were exposed in transition only once.

It feels like this whole thing has been planned out and scripted, down to the touch. Now Bob Bradley’s got three weeks off to do some fine-tuning, maybe add another DP, and see if he can build upon the most impressive start any expansion team’s ever had in MLS history.

A few more things to ponder…

7. Adrian Heath finally got his Orlando homecoming, and it was a very happy one, the least he deserves given what he meant to that franchise during their USL days and then taking them into MLS. Minnesota United won 2-1 behind a pair of goals from Ethan Finlay and Toye made a sterling debut.

Orlando City were shorthanded again, but it’s nonetheless not good enough. Their backline was disorganized, they defend way too narrow and they’ve already dropped five points.

6. Our Pass of the Week comes fromFidel Escobar in RBNY’s 4-0 disintegration of Portland. Bobby and I broke it down:

Here’s what happens when you combine the @NewYorkRedBulls high press with slick, one-touch play.  https://t.co/Hjx57WJFMx

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 11, 2018

This is called a third-line pass – a pass that splits defenders and cuts them out of the play – and if I were a video analyst with a tracking system I would absolutely, positively be collecting third-line pass data. My hunch is that RBNY play both more and a higher percentage than any other team.

Was it the best pass of the weekend? No. But it was the most emblematic of how a given team plays.

By the way, notice Liam Ridgewell jogging behind the play after Derrick Etienne’s backheel? Timbers fans did.

5. Kei 100! In the 28th minute ofVancouver’s (probably significant) 2-1 win at Houston, the well-traveled Kei Kamara got the 100th goal of his regular season MLS career, converting a penalty he himself drew. He’s now scored for six teams, but at age 33 it looks like he’s finally home. Dude’s simply built for how the ‘Caps play – tons of long balls, a predilection for crosses, and not much emphasis on possession at all. The default setting is “get the center forward into isolation on a single CB” and so he’s rewarded them with two goals in two games.

There was nothing shocking or unexpected about how the ‘Caps played in this one. It’s always shocking, however, to see Houston drop points at home.

My initial impression of the game last night was that the Dynamo had lacked ideas in the attack, but upon a second viewing this morning I have to take that back. They did their usual “get out into space on the flank and use overwhelming speed” thing, but there was also a hefty serving of playing right up the gut. If Mauro Manotas could head the ball even a little bit, Houston probably take three points.

They do need, however, to find some reinforcements along the backline.

4. Columbus got up big, took their foot off the gas and nearly paid for it in an eventual 3-2 win over visiting Montreal. Gyasi Zardes got two more goals and through 180 minutes has looked like one of the league’s better center forwards.

The Impact are, as of now, a very week defensive team. But they’re fun as hell in attack and are showing signs of life in midfield. Expect them to grow into the season.

3. Jackson scored a goal in his debut but Colorado lost 2-1 to the Revs after a deflected Chris Tierney free kick buzzed by a strangely rooted Tim Howard in second-half stoppage. The Rapids played 98 long-balls, which is about 20% higher than any other team in the league. They clearly need a dose of on-the-ball creativity in midfield.

As for the hosts, New England attempted 19 open play crosses – a huge number. They connected on two of them, which is not a huge number.

These two teams, for the time being, lack ideas.

2. Atlanta United started looking a little bit more like last year’s Atlanta United in their 3-1 win over visiting D.C. on Sunday. Turns out it helps to have Jeff Larentowicz in there at d-mid rather than miscast as a center back.

United, on the other hand, lacked structure, cohesion and clarity. They didn’t seem to know how to cover for each other, especially when the fullbacks pushed up:

Armchair Analyst: Nobody loves running lanes the way Atlanta United loves running lanes. DC played themselves. pic.twitter.com/PkHhrnoi5d

— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) March 11, 2018

Atlanta’s 3-5-2 was interesting, by the way. But it definitely didn’t look as fluid as what they were trotting out a year ago at this time.

1. And finally, our Face of the Week goes to Galaxy ‘keeper David Bingham, whose team lost 2-1 at NYCFC:

We have a contender. pic.twitter.com/iUhMr3gxBp

— Tom Ritz (@ritzfitznbitz) March 11, 2018

I honestly thought that LA were going to get blown out, but they may have been saved by an otherwise unfortunate injury. Gio Dos Santos popped his hamstring in the first half, and so at halftime he was subbed out for defensive midfielder Servando Carrasco, switching the shape from a 4-2-3-1 to more of a 4-3-3, with the wingers higher and Jonathan Dos Santos – whose turnover led to the first NYCFC goal, and who didn’t track on the second – into more of a playmaker’s role.

It worked. LA were more solid in defense, better in possession and more dangerous going forward in the second half (with JDS getting the goal). NYCFC still fully deserved the three points, but at least it was a contest. In the first 45, it wasn’t.

Whether or not Gio maintains his place as a starter whenever he returns from injury is something worth keeping an eye on.

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Armchair Analyst: Sporting's defense, LAFC's attack & more from Week 2 was originally published on 365 Football