MLS Week 6 breakdown: Philly’s process and other takeaways

The Philadelphia Union’s slow and steady progress and more from MLS Week 6.

What happened and what it means in a truncated, but still Zlatan-heavy, MLS Week 6:

Too Young

Four young studs — Matt Real, 18, Auston Trusty, 19, Jack Elliott, 22, and Keegan Rosenberry, elder statesman, 24 — made up the Philadelphia Union’s backline on Saturday for the second straight week. Seven days after giving up a hat-trick to Dominique Badji, the Union finished Week 6 a little bit less unseemly: Philly managed a 1-1 home draw against San Jose.

The point, salvaged by Alejandro Bedoya’s second-half equalizer, gave the Union five from four games. Last week’s 3-0 loss in Colorado was the blemish on an otherwise ok set of matches. They cruised past 10-man New England in Week 1, sleepwalked to a 0-0 draw at home against Columbus and now walk away from the San Jose game with a mixed bag, part of a fittingly Philly Process that seems to be underway in Chester.

Their ultra-young backline needs time to learn how to play top-tier professional soccer. Real, the high school senior-aged right-back, can whip in a quality ball, but he tends to get caught upfield. Trusty, partnering with Elliott in central defense, is a physical presence and capable on the ball, but he comes with the usual young center-back errors: ball-watching, indecision on when to step and overly-aggressive tackling.

Elliott and Rosenberry have been around longer than their younger counterparts, but Elliott is in his second pro season, and if you account for last year’s Union purgatory, Rosenberry also is only a sophomore. There’s going to be an adjustment period. But given what we’ve seen so far, and the week-to-week improvement shown from the Colorado game to the San Jose game, it’s going to be worth it. Trust The Process on that end.

On the other end, where recently-signed Borek Dockal is the Overseas Creative Number 10 they’ve needed for so long, they have to question whether early returns are satisfactory. The answer could go either way.

Dockal struggled in his first two games, but he looked much sharper against the Quakes. He was on the ball a lot, drifted everywhere, and did stuff like this:

He’s finding runners in the channels and reading plays well enough to create effective timing. He’s setting up in the half-space between the center-backs and deep midfielders, freeing Philly’s skillful wingers to attack off the dribble and taking part of the creative burden off of CJ Sapong.

Basically, he’s doing number 10 stuff. His soccer IQ is verging on elite, as well:

Dockal drew a San Jose midfielder to the right with a quick dribble and, recognizing that David Accam will have been left alone as a result of this action, lofts a ball back in the Ghanaian’s direction. Accam registers a shot on goal. This happens fast, and Dockal shows little hesitation. An “eyes in the back of the head” play if there ever was one.

Philly registered 22 shots, eight on goal, but only knocked one (assisted by Dockal) past Andrew Tarbell. San Jose’s keeper made some saves, but in a tight and talented Eastern Conference, the Union can’t afford to drop home points with missed chances.

Wingers Accam and Fafa Picault were particularly wasteful, both with shots and final passes, and Philly sometimes looked clunky with the ball in threatening positions. Seven of their shots were taken from long, long range; Zlatan range, even. You don’t take those shots if you have ideas in attack.

They have kinks to iron out. It might have to be a “Trust The Process” situation for the time being. But this will be a far less extended process than the one their basketball counterparts experienced. Dockal is adjusting well, and the backline only gave up one goal to a team that unabashedly heaves numbers forward. They’ll stick around.

No Option

Long, marauding dribbles have become an essential Vancouver Whitecaps thing. As much as they don’t like to possess the ball, they certainly do like to put their heads down and run:

Bernie Ibini, occasional center midfield starter, weaved his way through the entire Real Salt Lake midfield before clunkily, but effectively laying a ball off to Alphonso Davies. His touch isn’t exactly delicate and his skill moves aren’t great, but he has a way of bursting through gaps with momentum and a sort of lumbering agility. Davies thrives on it:

The danger is putting on blinders. Often, the best option is to stop sprinting forward and use the space you’ve created with a pass or cross, or at least change your direction. You can only take long touches and just barely tip them past tackles for so long. Davies, above, has to get his head up sooner.

But they’re useful, to a certain extent, for a team that likes to sit in a deep block and attack in transition.

Next: The 10 best teams in MLS history

Awards

The best team in the league

No one who actually played in Week 6 is here to take the throne from NYCFC, so the Light Blues continue their reign. Toronto FC, who probably would have this title had they not been (understandably) far more worried about the CONCACAF Champions League, face what could be the biggest game in their history on Tuesday. They take a 3-1 aggregate lead into the Estadio Azteca as they go up against Club America in the CCL semifinals. The first leg was bonkers. There’s no reason to believe the second leg won’t be as well.

The worst team in the league

Sorry D.C. United, but no matter how tempting it was to put LAFC here, you’re going back down to the bottom. DCU didn’t play this week, but the Rapids, reigning cellar dwellers, picked up a road draw at Dallas a week after handily beating the Union. Colorado are organized, well-drilled and are making themselves tough to play against, making up for a persisting talent deficiency. Dominique Badji’s career-best run of producing goals doesn’t hurt.

Random result of the week

Chicago beat Columbus with Bastian Schweinsteiger starting from kickoff as a libero — a real, 21st-century sweeper in a 3-5-2. Alan Gordon started up top next to Nemanja Nikolic in what might be the most bruising pair of strikers MLS has seen since the 2012 Quakes’ goonies, a team that, of course, also featured Gordo.

Predictable result of the week

Yet again, the New England Revolution participated in a match that featured at least one red card. Against the Impact on Saturday, Saphir Taider crunched Luis Caicedo with a studs-up tackle in the 12th minute, and despite an Evan Bush penalty save, the Revs hung four in a 4-0 win.

Three of their five games have seen one team go down to 10 men for an extended period of time. Two of those were Revs opponents, and both opened the door for victories. Judgement still has to be reserved, but New England have been surprisingly impressive. They sit deep and counter into space, and they do it pretty well.

Goalkeeper howler of the week

Zack Steffen passed the ball directly to Nikolic, handing the Fire the eventual winning goal:

Steffen, for as well as he’s played for the past year or so, is susceptible to disastrous errors like this playing out of the back.