A year of big games at Sporting Park will end with the biggest

After Houston knocked out New York, the remaining highest seed in the competition was Kansas City, whose home, Sporting Park, will now host MLS Cup.

Sporting Park is a lovely, compact stadium, state-of-the-art in many respects and the epitome of what ambitious MLS clubs can do with the right planning and ownership in what have been traditionally small or underserved markets. Over the past couple of seasons it’s been a minor source of frustration for the league that the team it hosts couldn’t go that one step further and produce a showpiece final at one of the league’s showpiece stadiums.

We also know that the front office will run an excellent program of subsidiary events in MLS Cup week. We know this because they’ve had a dry run already just a few months ago — when Sporting Park was the venue for the All Star game. It's also hosted key international games, including the final home stand for the USA in their World Cup qualifying campaign. There's even been a fairly vociferous campaign to make Sporting Park the default National Stadium, as not just an excellent facility, but a centrally accessible point for the whole country. Perhaps only the continued ritual 2-0 defeats of Mexico in Columbus stop that clamor getting louder.

And now MLS will have its showpiece event there. You suspect that while in public at least league management will be very enthused, that this might not have been the final venue they'd have liked to see — if only because with the big media centers of LA and New York out of the running and the spectacular potential of a big North West final in Seattle or Portland eradicated, then the next best option might be somewhere that didn't recently have an MLS showpiece event. In such a huge country, the logistics of "gathering the tribes" for the biggest games are difficult enough that a lot of league business is crammed in around them, including charitable outreach and local lobbying. Some of the efforts that took place so recently for the All Star game may now seem slightly redundant.

But perhaps to mention that is to begrudge Sporting for finally getting the MLS Cup final that their revival under Peter Vermes and owner Robb Heineman deserves. Ironically they'll be facing a team who do seem to begrudge them that success. On the field at least RSL and Sporting really seem to be oil and water. As Garth Lagerwey, the RSL GM, put it to me about these two earlier this year:

"I think the league has to decide do they want that kind of physical, rock’em-sock’em style, or do they want to play more of a passing, possession, beautiful game. And I think that’s really why the rivalry comes into focus, because you see these two different directions the league could go."

So there'll be yet another party in Kansas City on December 7th. But don't expect the guests to be impressed. GP

Zusi edging towards definitive performance, Feilhaber finds one

In three years of playoff play Graham Zusi has never had a shot on target, let alone a goal. 

That’s a damning statistic for a player who’s the current face of the Kansas City brand, an increasingly established international, and with Kei Kamara and Roger Espinoza gone, more and more the man fans look to to swing games Sporting’s way.

The second leg against Houston was a start. Zusi was energetic and ubiquitous in the midfield - supporting team mates, harrying, running at defenders and on a couple of occasions shooting just over (still not on target mind you) after decisive forward runs.

He also played his part in both goals — closing down Giles Barnes to force the turnover that gave Benny Feilhaber the chance to run at the heart of the Houston defense in the build up to the opener, and combining with Felihaber again to set up the winner just after the hour. If the decisive touches were by Feilhaber in each instance, that’s perhaps the story of the game — both players were very good throughout, but it was Feilhaber who just had that extra menace and sharpness to look like unlocking Houston Dynamo’s defense.

But Feilhaber is no fan favorite yet, having arrived under something of a cloud from New England and never quite convincingly exited from under it. He’s gone a fair way towards doing so with his performances in these playoffs, but the expectation and the scrutiny is still all on Zusi. He’s been making inroads on dislodging Landon Donovan as an automatic starter in the national team, and now he has the chance to prove he can have a similar telling impact on an MLS Cup final as Donovan has done repeatedly. 

There are signs that he’s stirring, but Sporting are looking for a definitive performance from Graham Zusi on December 7th. GP

Ricardo Clark was an absence too far for Houston Dynamo

Watching Feilhaber trick his way through the space in the Houston Dynamo midfield on both Sporting Kansas City goals, and watching Zusi roaming at will to pick up balls and harry players alongside his fellow midfielders, it was abundantly clear that Houston’s midfield was sorely missing the ball-winning skills and big picture vision of Ricardo Clark against Sporting Kansas City.

Will Bruin, who did not even travel with the team, after failing to recover from injury against New York, was arguably missed as well at the end of the game, when Houston were launching balls into the box that were being cleared by the reinforced Sporting KC defense (Ike Opara came in for Feilhaber for the last ten minutes, as Peter Vermes elected to hold what he had). But the big miss was definitely Clark. In his absence Warren Creavalle was stretched in covering for Giles Barnes and Brad Davis, who often ended up redundant on the left flank looking to inspire Houston’s few attacks. By the time they’d adjusted and looked to be getting into the game early in the second half they were about to be hit by the momentum-killing second KC goal.

Arguably this was the strongest Houston Dynamo side of their ongoing playoff series with Sporting, and the weakest Kansas City side, with key players from previous years gone. But with both sides rested and able to go at each other in a surprisingly open game, it was Sporting who made their relative advantage with injuries count, and Houston who were left wondering what might have been had their influential ball-winner been on the field. GP

Real Salt Lake’s center backs made the difference

So much has made of these two Western Conference finalist managers, one of whom is the heir apparent to U.S. national team boss Jurgen Klinsmann – or so most of us figure, anyway. Both carry themselves with a studious, wise-beyond-their-years inclination, and both sides do their business with a reflective, wise and tactical efficiency.

But the game is always about players, as we know, and this series tilted heavily Real Salt Lake’s way because of two critical personnel elements: a yawning gap in the quality of center backs, and midfield playmaker Javier Morales.

Give these two RSL center backs (veteran Nat Borchers and the younger Chris Schuler) to Portland manager Caleb Porter rather than Jason Kreis, and then sprinkle Morales into the midfield mix, and we’re surely talking about the Timbers in MLS Cup today. It’s about that simple.

Yes, speedy Robbie Findley rose for Real Salt Lake, stretching, testing and exposing the Timbers’ rickety back line and scoring vital goals over both legs. Yes, rookie forward Devon Sandoval was surprisingly effective in occupying Portland defenders as he ably replaced Costa Rican high-scorer Alvaro Saborio. And yes, RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando – at the perfect age for a man with the gloves, 34, old enough to know and yet plenty young enough to do – managed 180 minutes without a wobble or bobble. But RSL lives on because of the aforementioned threesome.

Morales’ impact over two legs cannot be underestimated, preternaturally effective in possession, the trusty and willing outlet for defenders or RSL midfield screener Kyle Beckerman. The Argentine vet did drift a bit through the regular season; at 33 years old, what do we expect? But he clearly saved plenty for the playoffs, having also steered RSL past Los Angeles to provide safe arrival into the Portland series.

For these Western Conference finals, Morales was directly involved in four of his team’s five goals. It was Morales who was first to a thoughtless clearance Sunday at Jeld-Wen, quickly finding Luis Gil, whose shot turned into the night’s only goal. Speaking of that clearance …

If we’re honest, it wasn’t just that RSL’s center backs were so doggedly effective – it’s that Portland’s pair wasn’t quite up for the job. So many little mistakes were made over two legs, the kind that may go unpunished against the “regulars” of the regular season but get feasted upon against a locked-in, playoff-tested group like Real Salt Lake’s

Look at Sunday’s goal, the gut puncher that undercut any potential budding Timbers’ momentum, a Findley strike just before the half hour that left Portland trailing by a whopping three goals in the series.

Pa-Modou Kah’s initial clearance on a simple ball near the 18 just was not good enough, spit right back into the belly of the Morales beast. From there, the back line communication in dealing with Findley just was not good enough; the slippery forward sneaked in between Kah and left back Michael Harrington to gather up a rebound left too tantalizingly close to goal.

The series opener was wrought with similar, jayvee bungles from Portland’s back line. How much different this one may have looked if former Manchester United man Mikael Silvestre not crumbled to the turf with a severe knee injury in spring? Because Porter, for all his coaching acumen, just could not do enough to fix the hole in his roster along the back line.

As for Borchers and Schuler: they were so dominant Sunday that a home team, having promised to attack with abandon, finished with just two measly shots on target. We’ll let Timbers manager Porter have the last word on them:

“They were exceptional in the box tonight,” Porter said of Borchers and Schuler. “We threw everything at them, and I thought they managed the box brilliantly.” SD

Timbers moving in the right direction

Portland’s brainy young boss (Porter) will be fine, as will this young club. Yes, this one will sting, yet another loss to a stylistically similar Real Salt Lake bunch that, honestly, does the style with just a little more faculty.

Perhaps no one around Jeld-Wen wants to hear that the club is “moving in the right direction” and all that pat-on-the-back jazz on the chilly morning after. Fans want their moment to grieve, brood and ponder over pints about what might have been, and fair enough. But so long as no one gets carried away, “what might have been” will be in time.

It’s all there for Portland, which has some roster patching ahead, but made such tremendous strides in Porter’s first year of guidance. Darlington Nagbe will torment MLS defenses for as long as he wants to remain in the league. Will Johnson has good years left as captain.

Porter’s squad assembly, overall a more patch-work bunch than a lot of people may realize, had enough to dispatch a limping and desperate Seattle Sounders FC. (Shalrie Joseph at forward? Really?). But playoff experience counts, and Portland just didn’t have the know-how or confidence to unlock its more experienced mirror-image. (Don’t forget, RSL won four of six, along with two draws in 2013 meetings between these clubs.)

In midfield, Johnson, Diego Chara and Diego Valeri just couldn’t deal quite well enough with RSL’s well-drilled diamond or solve the Morales problem. Portland’s forwards couldn’t provide sufficient final-third push. (The bigger gap, of course … well, see the note above about those center backs.)

Portland’s off-season targets: Something better along the back line; one more forward who can spot and exploit the weak spots; a goalkeeper capable of not just the flashy, flying save, but doing all the routine business, too. (Yes, we’re looking at you, big Donovan Ricketts). Once Porter has the roster elements in place, Jeld-Wen Field won’t just be one of the real rocking, teeming grounds of MLS – it will also be the place of some brutally effective playoff soccer. SD