Diego Luna levels up, Sebastian Berhalter is legit & more from Matchday 10 | OneFootball

By Matthew Doyle

Once again we’ll do the weekend’s games in chronological order, with a big question from each game that’s got me pondering.

In we go:

TORONTO FC 0-1 NEW YORK CITY FC

Are NYCFC’s attacking issues structural or talent-related?

First things first: Going up to Toronto and coming out with a 1-0 win, battling both the Reds and the gale-force wind, was a good result. One, in fact, in which the Pigeons showed a level of toughness that had often been beyond them this season.

But it was also one in which they showed the same attacking issues they’ve had for the best part of a year. To paraphrase a line from Paul Harvey on BlueSky, it’s either a long ball to Alonso Martínez, a mind-boggling error from the opponents, or nothing. All three wingers – Hannes Wolf, Agustín Ojeda and Julián Fernández – remain MIA for reasons I can’t totally pinpoint, and the ability to press teams into mistakes isn’t part of this group’s DNA this year.

Does this get better when Aiden O'Neill, signed just before the transfer window closed this week, is good to go? Slotting in a high-level No. 6 should, in theory, allow both Keaton Parks and Maxi Moralez to attack more freely, and the knock-on effect from that should be more touches in and around the box for the wingers. Fewer aimless long balls, and more purposeful possession.

My analysis of this team all year to this point, though, is a house of cards built on a foundation of “shoulds.” The fact is they haven’t really made any progress in the spots they’ve needed to.

Toronto actually have – their defense is much-improved, and this was their first loss in a month. But this is an underwhelming attacking team, and so the margins are always thin, to the point that one individual error can light everything on fire. As was the case in this one.

“I felt like we were in decent control, we weren't really too threatened,” Toronto head coach Robin Fraser said afterward. “And then in a moment, a defensive moment, we ended up giving [it] away.”

Yup.

FC CINCINNATI 2-1 SPORTING KANSAS CITY

Was this the start of a Kévin Denkey breakout?

Won’t see a better bike than this all year:

A buddy of mine asked me, before the game Saturday, why Denkey’s obvious talent wasn’t yet showing up in the underlying numbers. He’d had some moments and scored goals, but hadn’t yet popped.

My answer before what became Cincy's fifth straight win:

Even after the win, I stand by all of that. Orellano had maybe his best performance of the year, but he’s too eager to rip from outside the box when he should be combining a little more. Lukas Engel had a nice hit that led to Denkey’s first goal, but his movement was actually way too passive – he could’ve been 1v1 on the ‘keeper if he’d read the play earlier.

It’s not just picking nits. This is all real stuff that Cincy have to get better at over the course of the year to become the team they should be.

As for Sporting KC, interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin said afterward that he told his team this was their best performance of the year, and I agree with him.

“It's tough to control the result. It took a goal of the year to beat us today.”

Sporting host the Galaxy next weekend for Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire (7 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+). They’re due a kind bounce or two from the soccer gods.

PHILADELPHIA UNION 3-0 D.C. UNITED

Has moving Nathan Harriel to CB given Philly better attacking balance?

Turning it over to Armchair Analyst Special Correspondent Calen Carr, who was on the 1s and 2s for Philly’s destruction of a struggling D.C. side:

I didn’t ask Calen to give me his thoughts on D.C. I will spare you mine as well.

NEW YORK RED BULLS 1-0 CF MONTRÉAL

Have the Red Bulls made any progress generating chances with the ball?

The lone goal in this win came via a Noah Eile header on a corner. Eile, by the way, has been a major bright spot for this team this season, as his passing ability has been key to the continuing game model makeover we’re seeing head coach Sandro Schwarz attempt to install.

Here’s how that makeover’s coming along:

Over the first month of the season, RBNY were in the top third of the league in passes per sequence, average sequence time, and percentage of their passing sequences that were nine or more passes.

In the month since, they’ve dropped into the bottom third of most of those stats, which are all basically ways of calculating patience with the ball (and none of them are inherently good or bad, mind you; they’re just indicators of how a team is playing).

At the same time, their direct speed with the ball has – unsurprisingly – picked up. It’s nowhere near what it was in the Gerhard Struber era, but it’s starting to trend in that direction.

None of this has had an appreciable impact on their underlying numbers, and I don’t think this is Schwarz giving up on his experiment. But some realities are maybe starting to set in.

Reality has fully set in for Montréal. They’re not getting blown off the field every week – they have only two multi-goal losses all year – but they’ve got three points through 10 games, and would need about 1.7 ppg from here on out to have a realistic chance at the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.

ORLANDO CITY SC 3-0 ATLANTA UNITED

Was this attacking outburst a mirage for Orlando?

Last week, after three straight scoreless draws, I wrote the Cats needed a “get-right game,” and Atlanta at home was very much a get-right game. And so it was, with the Five Stripes, to one degree or another, gifting all three goals.

Throughout this four-game stretch – if you’ve done the math from the above paragraph, you understand it’s a four-game stretch in which Orlando have not conceded, which came after an uncharacteristically loose six-game start to the season – head coach Oscar Pareja has scrapped the back four with dual overlapping fullbacks that has been a hallmark of his for basically his entire time as a first-division manager, instead opting for a back four that instead morphs into a back three with the ball.

You can see it in the network passing graph:

The right back – Alex Freeman, No. 30 – is freed up to become a wide attacker, which lets Marco Pašalić (87) come operate in the half-space. The left back, David Brekalo (4), stays home as a left center back. And the whole thing is now the typical 3-2-5 in possession that most teams around the world play.

I understand why Pareja’s gone in this direction, as the defense really was pretty terrible that first month of the season. He had to do something; this structure has become the default setting for a reason.

Ronny Deila has to do something as well. Atlanta have three straight losses, only one win since First Kick, and zero players living up to expectations.

SAN DIEGO FC 1-3 REAL SALT LAKE

Has Diego Luna made The Leap?

I’m just gonna give Pablo Mastroeni the mic, courtesy of KSL.com’s Caleb Turner:

“I don't think we can talk about Diego developing anymore. He's the guy. He's the guy that plays with the chip on his shoulder. He's one of our best defenders. He's obviously the guy that's putting the ball in the back of the net. He's doing it all for our group,” RSL's head coach said after their 3-1 win at San Diego.

“Really unusual for a player of his age to kind of carry that type of burden for a group, but his shoulders are broad and his heart is big.”

This is Best XI-level stuff:

Luna also had RSL’s second goal, converting from the spot, and a sick backheel flick in the build-up to the third goal. It was the kind of “get on my shoulders, I’m not going to let us lose” performance you’d expect of a DP No. 10, and a necessary one after two straight losses.

The one knock on Luna this year is that he’s not really creating chances, but I think that’s an artifact of the personnel around him. And I’m hoping it changes with the introduction of William Agada into the rotation.

As for San Diego, it feels like they’ve been figured out a little bit – they’ve conceded nine goals in their past three games – as teams are now more consistently getting into those gaps on either side of d-mid Jeppe Tverskov. That’s forced Aníbal Godoy to drop deeper, which has kind of broken not just their attacking shape, but their shape in possession as well. And that ability to keep possession, and to stay compact while doing so (which meant they could win the ball back quickly if they lost it), was a big reason for their defensive success over their first seven games.

Head coach Mikey Varas has some stuff to figure out.

COLUMBUS CREW 2-1 SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Can the Quakes figure out how to fix their defense?

Pass of the Week here from Beau Leroux:

San Jose’s attack is arguably the league’s best and has created chances against anyone. That includes a Crew team that’s still among the league leaders in both goals allowed and xG allowed, even after San Jose generated one good look after another on Saturday night.

The problem is that the Quakes are dead last in xG allowed. Bruce Arena’s tinkered with personnel and formation (it’s lately been a 3-5-2, as it was in this one), and nothing has really worked. Teams can stroll through the midfield when they want to and easily find isolation moments against the center backs (look at Max Arfsten’s game-winner). Or they can just hit long balls over the top (even the Crew, who rarely hit long balls, did a bunch of this). Or they can find looks on set pieces.

San Jose are now 1W-6L-1D since starting the year with a two-game winning streak.

The Crew did not play as well as they did in last week’s 1-0 loss to Miami, but got the win anyway. Funny old game.

CHARLOTTE FC 0-1 NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Who is Wilfried Zaha mad at and is this something to worry about?

Uh, what the hell?

Zaha hasn’t been great – he’s still figuring out how to play his part in Charlotte’s attack – but he hasn’t been bad out there. This is not a DP coming on vacation.

And Charlotte weren’t bad, either. They had most of the ball (nearly 60% possession) and actually used it to generate a ton of good looks. Zaha himself had three of them and created another three for good measure.

Maybe this is just him blowing off some steam after a frustrating loss. I don’t know.

Three wins on the trot now for the Revs, who pulled off a pure smash-and-grab here when Carles Gil’s shot snuck under Kristijan Kahlina. All have come since going to the 3-4-1-2, and I don’t think they’re going to change that formation any time soon.

NASHVILLE SC 7-2 CHICAGO FIRE FC

Did the Nashville attack wake up for good?

I’ve been saying, virtually all season long, that Nashville are doing everything you’d want to see from a team adjusting their game model from pure bunker-and-counter to something more multifaceted and dynamic.

What they haven’t done with any sort of consistency is put the ball into the back of the net. They’d scored just four goals over their previous four games despite generating over seven expected goals.

In this one, they reversed that, generating four xG and scoring seven. It was the “feast” part of feast or famine.

Hany Mukhtar, who had two goals and an assist (and who has finally conceded PK duties to Sam Surridge, who had himself a hambone), is convinced the ‘Yotes are gonna keep eating.

"I had a couple of talks with the coach," Mukhtar said afterward. "I feel like as long as you come into these situations each game and create a lot of chances, it will click... When we look back against Cincinnati, against all these teams, we had chances and that is a good sign. I think we have clear values, clear attacking principles, which helps us to create a lot of chances."

The Fire were a mess in every way – long balls over the top, set pieces, inability to stop the ball through midfield – and are now winless in five. Gregg Berhalter literally apologized for this performance after the game.

This was the first really bad performance of the bunch. Gonna be very interesting to see how they respond next week vs. Orlando City.

HOUSTON DYNAMO FC 2-0 AUSTIN FC

Have Houston figured out how to use the ball for defensive purposes?

I’ve sung the praises of Houston's game model a lot over the past couple of years, as they’ve been capable of playing some pretty and effective attacking soccer.

But the main purpose of their possession dominance was always defensive. This was not a team built to chase the ball, but rather to have it and hold it, and to protect the scoreboard by protecting that possession.

It was always going to be difficult to transport that into this new era without Héctor Herrera and Coco Carrasquilla in midfield, and Micael in the middle of that backline. As expected, they struggled pretty badly out of the gates.

Things have been better lately. The Dynamo went unbeaten in April – two wins and two draws – and allowed 10 shots or less in three of those four games, while logging over 50% possession in each of them. It feels like they’re starting to turn the corner in a meaningful way.

“We played very well, especially in the second half,” head coach Ben Olsen said in the postgame. “This one felt good. It's been an emotional start to the season, but what I like about tonight is that we kept searching for more even after taking the lead. We have to make sure we punish teams after going ahead, so that was a really nice part of tonight’s match.”

Austin’s punchless attack contributed to Houston’s good numbers in this one, of course. Their lack of a midfield creator has been a lot to overcome, as they’ve scored just seven goals in their 10 games.

COLORADO RAPIDS 1-1 SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC

Are the Rapids a 4-4-2 pressing team now?

Colorado switched from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2 three games ago, and have been both winning the ball higher upfield and playing much more direct soccer. It’s suited them – they’re unbeaten over these three games and have been less reliant on other-worldly performances from Zack Steffen (who missed this one sitting out for the red card he picked up after the whistle last week).

You can get a feel for how far upfield they’re willing to come to create the turnovers any pressing team thrives upon, thanks to this graphic from MLS Analytics on BlueSky:

Fifty-one meters is very far! And it speaks to one of the dangers of the high line – the obvious one, where you leave space behind. (That’s kind of how the Sounders got their goal, though really that was more because the Rapids fell asleep during a quick free kick than anything structural from the press).

The other danger of the 4-4-2 is you’re going to be outnumbered in central midfield against good possession teams, which Seattle are. But the Rapids, to their credit, did a good job of preventing Seattle from setting up shop in that central channel, limiting the Rave Green to just one pass into the box from the middle of the pitch all night.

Basically everyone on the Sounders spoke about that press afterward.

It’s not the identity I thought this Rapids team would have this year, but it’s one they’re wearing for now. And I don’t expect it to go away.

I don’t expect Danny Musovski to go away, either. He scored in his third straight game and will be back in the XI again next week after poor Jordan Morris had to come off late in the game with what looked like another hamstring injury.

MINNESOTA UNITED FC 1-3 VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Is Sebastian Berhalter actually this good?

Kid saw Pedri’s goal in El Clásico and decided, “I can do that!”

That’s him making the tackle to start the sequence, and him banging one home to finish it.

He’d come in at the half – in the first 45, the Whitecaps, who’d gone full squad rotation in prep for the second leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals date with Inter Miami later this week, had been holding on for dear life – and become a one-man field-tilt machine. He instantly commanded the game like, well, what he has been all year: the best No. 8 in the league. And then he made the play that changed everything.

Ten minutes after that goal, Pedro Vite, another starter who was catching some rest, came on and turned it into a rout.

On the first goal, you can see the ‘Caps have a vicious counter-press. On the second and third goals you’ll see gorgeous team movements of the sort we’re used to getting from Columbus, and maybe Miami, and very few others. All of this came against a very good Minnesota team that hadn’t lost at home this year.

The ‘Caps are incredible, man.

Minnesota aren’t. They’re pretty good, and the reported addition of Julian Gressel should help them be better than that. But until they start adding some dynamism with the ball, they’re not going to have a pathway to joining the league’s elite.

INTER MIAMI CF 3-4 FC DALLAS

Does Miami have a plan to get pressure on the ball in central midfield?

I think Javier Mascherano has generally done a good job, and he was right to rotate the hell out of his squad on Sunday evening. But that rotated squad took a 3-1 lead, and then Dallas changed their shape – going from a 4-4-2 diamond (that Miami did a great job of spreading out) to a 3-4-2-1 that more or less matched the Herons’ shape – and suddenly the hosts were just completely flummoxed.

The number of times one of Dallas’s deep-central midfielders (or central defenders, striding forward past the Miami attackers) got on the ball with time to pick their heads up and pick the perfect pass… too damn high. It led directly to Dallas’ third and fourth goals, and also to our Face of the Week:

This is an ongoing concern for a team that still really hasn’t hit on a center back, and are thus always vulnerable in the box.

They have enough firepower to win most games anyway (sometimes even without Messi, as their record without him over the past year shows). But there are times when they look so vulnerable because of this exact lack of organization, and it finally cost them their first regular-season loss of the year.

Dallas head coach Eric Quill deserves a ton of credit for both the formation switch and the willingness to go direct into the space behind the Miami backline again and again and again. Los Toros Tejanos have now lost just once in their past six, and have taken four points from the first two games of this little three-game road swing.

LAFC 2-2 ST. LOUIS CITY SC

Are LAFC figuring out how to create chances via possession?

I know what the final score says, and I know LAFC are not happy with their defense these days. And they have concerns with their pace of play – Ante Razov (subbing in as head coach while Steve Cherundolo served a red card suspension) talked about it at halftime with our own Andrew Wiebe.

I also know they generated a lot of chances against a team that was mostly defending in their goalkeeper’s lap, and that’s not something LAFC have traditionally been great at:

That’s not the type of game that typically ends 2-2. And if Denis Bouanga – who had both LAFC goals, and generally looks like himself again after a miserable start to the year – remembered how to take a PK, it wouldn’t have.

So what’s LAFC’s issue these days, then? There are a few:

A lot of this is just individual performance: Players who had previously played well are now playing poorly. Lloris, because he’s the goalkeeper, is the most obvious, but Aaron Long has had a slew of uncharacteristic errors recently, and Marlon hasn’t exactly been putting out other people’s fires back there.

Good on St. Louis for coming away from this one with a point, even if they were surely expecting all three once they went up 2-1 late. I thought Olof Mellberg’s decision to risk opening things up with that switch to a back four for the second half was uncharacteristically aggressive, and in most ways it paid off (even if the underlying numbers are flashing a giant warning sign about the defensive stability of that set-up in the future).

Still, their winless skid has now hit six games. They’re without a lot of key pieces, of course – as many as six starters, depending on how fine you want to cut it – so they have reasons, not just excuses for the poor run of form.

But they’ve really got to start figuring some stuff out. Clock’s ticking.

LA GALAXY 2-4 PORTLAND TIMBERS

Timbers are second in the West. Is this legit?

It’s not not legit. Portland have been a lot better this year at avoiding the kinds of backline catastrophes that have dogged them for the past few years, and James Pantemis has been excellent in goal (both things have been massively important, as this group still gives up a lot of chances). A team that mostly avoids mistakes and has an in-form goalkeeper to ride can go places in a conference where almost everyone else is on the struggle bus.

Further upfield, things have been excellent. First, I’m gonna hand the mic to my editor, Jonathan Sigal:

That attack has produced 20 goals, which is tied for the most in the league. And while there are a few nits to pick at in terms of how they’ve gone about it, they have become very good at collectively punishing little mistakes. As so:

Everybody in green smells that breakout as soon as David Da Costa turns, and if it’s a track meet, I like Portland’s chances of taking home the gold. They have been devastating in moments like that since about the middle of March, and they’re on their best 10-game start to the season in the club’s MLS history because of it.

The Galaxy, of course, are off to the worst start in their own history, and are starting to threaten the worst half-season in MLS history.

They visit Sporting KC for Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire next week (7 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+). They are in desperate need of a win. Not much else to say beyond that.