MLS Week 7 review: Chicago’s need for a number 10 and more

FC Dallas’s possession problem, Chicago’s passing problem and more MLS Week 7 analysis.

The focus is on Dallas and Chicago for this week’s MLS review.

FC Dallas, too slow

FC Dallas have played five games, four at home. Three were 1-1 draws, one was a 3-0 skate past the 10-man Sounders and the most recent one was a 1-0 road win over New England.

They did the minimum with a season-opening run of home games against four conference opponents. You don’t get far in MLS by dropping points at home, a lesson Dallas might have to learn the hard way.

They’ve at least looked better than last season’s notorious second-half splat. A low bar, sure, but they’ve survived well enough without Kellyn Acosta, and Mauro Diaz has rounded back into Magic Unicorn form. Roland Lamah has three goals and an assist and the defense has plugged a lot of leaks despite the departure of Walker Zimmerman.

None of their games have been particularly watchable. That in itself isn’t a bad thing, but it’s indicative of their enduring struggle — they’re stagnant in possession and slow to move the ball, struggling to advance from back to front and put attackers into space.

They naturally play a deep defensive line, which, again, is fine, but you have to use that to create space farther up the field or you risk trapping yourself deep. All you end up with are ultimately meaningless center-back-to-center-back passes. Watching Dallas in possession is soporific — their slow, aimless style will put you to sleep. Just look at the accurate passes map of central defenders Matt Hedges and Reto Ziegler from their most recent 1-1 draw against Colorado:

They exchanged a lot of passes within that blue rectangle, prime Boring Passing Territory. It’s hard to tell because there are so many, but a good percentage appear to have gone sideways, probably to each other.

As much value as there is to playing out of the back, at some point you have to use it to draw the opposition out and get the ball into the feet of your best attackers. Against the Rapids, Diaz had the ball plenty, but he was often boxed in, a problem only compounded by striker Maxi Urruti’s lack of fit with his fellow Argentine.

Oscar Pareja has been successful at slowing the game down in the past. He did it in Houston last year, and his best Dallas teams were conservative and tightly-wound. Now, though, the focus on gradual buildups and cautious organization only serves to diminish their effectiveness in possession.

Maybe the 4-4-2 they played at New England, which left out Diaz, will prove to be a solution. But to stop tying 1-1 at home every game, they have to break out of this funk.

Chicago’s need for a 10

The Sunday morning headline on MLSsoccer.com, a day after the LA Galaxy’s 1-0 victory in Chicago, read: “Zlatan on blustery win: The sun was stronger today.” What does that mean? Who knows.

It was indeed a cold and windy afternoon in the Windy City, though. Chicago continued to struggle, as the loss gave them their third from five games. The perils of playing Bastian Schweinsteiger at sweeper once again revealed themselves, particularly on the play that won the Galaxy the game.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (of course!) scored the eventual winner in first-half stoppage time, inserting himself on the back of Schweinsteiger and finishing Ashley Cole’s cross:

Believe it or not, the 33-year-old legendary midfielder is not a natural center-back. You can play him there, but you risk defensive lapses like the above, and given the Fire’s inability to connect passes in midfield — which should never happen with Schweinsteiger on the field — it might be best to try something else.

Veljko Paunovic’s 3-5-2 featured workhorses Elliot Collier and Tony Tchani ahead of Dax McCarty in midfield and a brutish pairing of Alan Gordon and Nemanja Nikolic up top. Schweinsteiger and McCarty were tasked with doing most of the Fire’s distribution from their deep-lying positions. They played pretty well, but the Fire looked clunky and disconnected higher up the field.

Collier and Tchani are not difference-makers in possession. Their skill sets come down to covering ground and pressing more than moving the ball. Ideally, they’d keep Tchani on the field (he’s good at what he does, and he’s much better with the ball than the second-round rookie Collier) and add a real number 10 to the mix.

Without David Accam’s dynamism on the ball and field-stretching tendencies, their clever Bastian and Dax-led buildups are struck down by problematic attacking sequences. Nikolic, last year’s Golden Boot winner even without a number 10, has no room to run in behind without other attackers drawing attention away from him. Accam was more important to this team than we realized.

Playing Gordon next to Nikolic was an attempt to use Gordon’s size and hold-up play to open space for the Hungarian. It didn’t work:

That is Gordon’s passing map. He wasn’t effective as a target forward, and his level of hold-up play wasn’t pulling defenders out of place for Nikolic.

The Fire need a number 10, plain and simple. They missed out on the Sacha Kljestan sweepstakes in the offseason — although the Fire could have easily matched Orlando City’s price — and now should be on the phone for Lee Nguyen, who is not making Brad Friedel’s gameday rosters in New England. Nguyen’s age (31) and awkward situation (he clearly wants out) should decrease his market value.

More intriguing yet is the 27-year-old Diaz. There is no indication he wants out, but FCD just picked up a road win by putting him on the bench. Oscar Pareja should at least listen to offers for him.

The $1.2 million of allocation money Chicago received from the Union for Accam will come in handy. Diaz is better than Accam and Darlington Nagbe, who fetched $1.05 million plus $600,000 of incentives for Portland, so Dallas could look for as much as $1.5 million flat for the Argentine. There is no recent precedent for a player as good as Diaz being moved within the league. The bar should be high for FCD.

It just might be worth it for Chicago. A midfield of McCarty, Schweinsteiger and Diaz would be unbelievable. Add Nikolic getting on the end of Diaz’s magical through-balls and the overlapping of full-backs Brandon Vincent and the soon-to-return Matt Polster and you’ve got one heck of a starting XI.

For Dallas, it’s not an unreasonable idea. You can do a lot with $1.5 million of allocation money. It would be an opportunity for a new start, which they desperately need, and it would free them to go in a new direction. Worth considering.

Next: The 10 best teams in MLS history

Awards

The best team in the league

NYCFC held the title with a fun and entertaining 2-2 draw in Atlanta. Those are two of the most interesting tactical teams in MLS, so it’s always a joy when they meet up.

The worst team in the league

Yep, we’re going with the Seattle Sounders, who picked up their first point of the season on the road at Sporting KC. 2-2 was the final score as Seattle actually escaped a game without going down to 10 men at any point.

It doesn’t feel right to have the Sounders in this space, but they’re solidly at the bottom of the league table. The rule of law is in effect: No team, no matter how recently they played in MLS Cup, is exempt from this section.

Unheralded player of the week

Kemar Lawrence was fantastic in the Red Bulls’ 3-1 cruise past Montreal at home. No CCL hangover for NYRB, who looked great in a clinical dispatching of an Impact team lacking ideas in attack. Lawrence bombed forward all game and picked up an assist on the third goal.

Random result of the week

Despite falling to 10 men with plenty of time remaining in the second half, D.C. United held on to a goal they scored in the first minute as they defeated the Crew 1-0 at the Navy football stadium. Ben Olsen’s squad was organized and capable, for once.

Predictable result of the week

Toronto FC’s second team lost to the Rapids in Colorado as TFC prepare for the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League final on Tuesday against Chivas. Heading into a rivalry match next week against Real Salt Lake, the Rapids are unbeaten in four and have taken eight points from those games.

Goalkeeper Howler of the Week

This one goes to Sean Johnson, who gave up an easy rebound to Greg Garza for Atlanta’s first goal:

https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2018-04-15-atlanta-united-fc-vs-new-york-city-fc/details/video/149431

Pretty solid week for the keepers.