A week ago, we thought the Sounders were the best team in MLS, but the Revolution had other thoughts. Meanwhile, Dallas and Houston have some thinking to do, while Harrison Shipp grabbed a pretty bright spotlight.
MLS, Week 9 in review: Revolution make statement, Shipp shines and Dynamo have problems
Are the Revolution MLS’s best? And what do Dominic Kinnear, Harrison Shipp and FC Dallas have in store for us?
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Revolution punch hole in Sounders
Just when we were all starting to think there might be some order to the MLS universe, something like Sunday happens. The Seattle Sounders, riding a five-game winning streak and looking pretty much unstoppable on offense, were, simply, curb-stomped by a New England Revolution team that may actually live up to some of that preseason hype after all.
This being MLS, the random 5-0 result happens. In fact, the Revolution did this exact thing to the LA Galaxy last year. So, we should resist reading too much into this one.
But for a team whose offense had been spinning its wheels for most of the year, this was big. The Revolution had scored nine goals in their previous nine games, teen phenom Diego Fagundez had been scoreless, Teal Bunbury had been struggling and, aside from Lee Nguyen, this offense seemed to be far less than the sum of its parts.
Until Sunday, anyway. Fagundez looked every bit like the kid that was last year's breakout players, bagging two goals, nearly getting a third and generally looking dangerous most of the afternoon. Bunbury figured into two goals as well, scoring one and forcing an own-goal. But the guy who seems to be making the most difference is rookie Patrick Mullins, who scored for the second straight week in his second straight start as a lone forward. The Revolution had hoped Bunbury would be able to fill the shoes vacated by Juan Agudelo, but he's looked far more comfortable on the wing, while Mullins has stepped in admirably.
In back-to-back weeks, the Revolution have now beaten star-studded squads in Toronto and Seattle. There are still reasons to think of them as less-than-elite, but they are showing they have that potential.
By Jeremiah Oshan
Dominic Kinnear has his work cut out for him
The Houston Dynamo are fourth place in the Eastern Conference, which is about the norm for them in recent regular seasons, but they still have a lot of work ahead of them. A midweek win over the Columbus Crew wasn't the result of wonderful play, then they were thumped by Real Salt Lake at home as their struggles to balance attack and defense continued.
Too often, especially with Ricardo Clark out, they either had to commit too much back to attack, or they couldn't protect their goal when they tried to attack. The preseason concerns about their back line have proven to be valid, and they only seem capable of compensating for it adequately with Clark. Unfortunately, he has been hurt and good teams can cause them problems even with the midfielder.
Even once Clark returns, the Dynamo will have to deal with the absence of Brad Davis to United States World Cup camp, once again making things tough on Houston. Mark Sherrod scored two goals in his first start on Sunday, but he remains unproven and Will Bruin still isn't the star striker the Dynamo hoped he would be so they're going to have trouble getting through Davis' absence, especially if he makes the trip to Brazil and misses more time.
Dominic Kinnear is a miracle worker, and that the Dynamo have 14 points from 11 matches is proof of that, but Houston have problems with Clark and Davis, so how are they going to get them through a continued spell without them together?
Harrison Shipp busts out
There was quite a show at Red Bull Arena this weekend, with the Chicago Fire topping the New York Red Bulls 5-4. There were no shortage of story lines from that one - including Bradley Wright-Phillips bagging his second hat trick of the season - but the star of the day belonged to Fire Homegrown Player Harrison Shipp.
The former Notre Dame standout has quietly been having a solid year, but lacked a signature game to really announce his arrival. That came against a star-studded Red Bulls team. Shipp got his first goal on a somewhat controversial play in which his free kick ended up in the back of the net when the offside Mike Magee seemed to make a play for the ball but never touched it. His next two goals, though, were far more impressive.
On the first, which put the Fire back on top, came when he showed some good control to handle a pass in the penalty area, work through a couple defenders and place a shot inside the far post. Just five minute later, Shipp was able to pick the pocket of Red Bulls defender Kosuke Kimura, fought off the defender who was literally hanging on his back and put it inside the far post again. Not only was it Shipp's first hat trick, but the first hat trick for any Homegrown Player. Just for good measure, he added an assist on what turned out to be Patrick Nyarko's game-winner.
After the game, Shipp poked a little fun at Red Bulls fans, drawing the ire of Dax McCarty. Even thought Shipp apologized, it was good to see a young player having a bit of fun. MLS could use more of that and if this game was any indication, that should be in healthy supply.
By Jeremiah Oshan
The FC Dallas free fall continues
The question remains in Dallas: can the Hoops manage without Mauro Diaz?
On Saturday, Dallas couldn't put anything together without their Argentine playmaker, even despite playing half of the match up a man. Shea Salinas' red card gave FCD a chance, and while they were already 1-0 down at the time, they couldn't find a distinct upperhand. They even allowed a goal, falling behind 2-0 before scoring to get them back in the match.
Blas Perez was neutralized by Clarence Goodson and Fabian Castillo wasn't able to get involved with regularity. More than anything, the ball moved much slower. Without Diaz to get the ball to, Dallas seemed unsure about how to go forward and by the time they sorted out an avenue, San Jose were able to get men behind the ball.
Diaz is slated to return by the end of June, but it’s clear that Dallas’ hot start was more about the Argentine’s fine play than anything else. Now they have an opportunity to develop an alternative way to play, which they are going to need even once Diaz is back. He can’t be counted on to do everything and there’s no guarantee he’ll find his old sparkling form.
The Hoops were always going to need a Plan B and now they’ve been forced into finding it. So far, they’ve come up empty.
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