NYCFC's new look, Miami's impressive return & more from Matchday 22 | OneFootball

By Matthew Doyle

The FIFA Club World Cup and Concacaf Gold Cup haze is fading, and into the final third of the season we go.

Here's what caught my eye from Matchday 22.

Battle Lines

I want to point out this excellent work from Justin Egan over at The Outfield on New York City FC head coach Pascal Jansen's tactical flexibility and problem-solving skills.

The short version: because of backline injury and attacking underperformance issues, Jansen had to get creative in terms of creating attacking width while still maintaining even numbers (or even creating numerical superiority) through central midfield this spring. He did so by pushing the indispensable Justin Haak – a defensive midfielder by trade coming through the academy – into the “John Stones Role” a few months ago.

What is the John Stones Role? It’s that of a center back in a back four who, instead of maintaining his spot along the backline in possession, steps into midfield with the ball. That means neither fullback overlaps. Rather, they stay deep and pinch more central to form a back three, while the central midfield becomes a four-man box, and attacking width is provided by the wingers.

It’s just another way of creating the 3-2-5 that every possession-heavy team in the world tries to build now. And it’s called the John Stones Role because this type of rotation was most famously and successfully employed by NYCFC’s sister club in Manchester a few years back, with Stones stepping into central midfield to give Pep Guardiola the positional superiority he believes in above all things.

Here’s how the Pigeons’ version looks on the network passing graphic. Haak is No. 80, and I will remind you once again that he is a center back:

That’s from last week’s 1-0 loss at Montréal. And while that result was disappointing, it wasn’t because of the structure. As Justin (Egan, not Haak) laid out in his deep dive, the structure is actually what’s given NYCFC both direction and the ability to keep their heads above water this season, from a defensive point of view, while the attack’s been misfiring (i.e., not finishing their chances).

Jansen's proved to be a clever tactician; his team was 22nd in the league in expected goals allowed, as per American Soccer Analysis, before Haak moved into this role. Since then, they’re eighth-best.

He’s also proved to be a pragmatist – not the type to become besotted by his own brilliance – and the pragmatic thing to do this past Thursday, with Toronto FC in town, was to move back to a more traditional back four and release the fullbacks to attack. It resulted in a 3-1 win, with the fullbacks involved in all three goals. Mitja Ilenič, the right back, had an assist on Hannes Wolf’s opener and scored the second goal of the evening. Left back Kevin O’Toole, who came on for the final 20 minutes, got the third on the underlap via some champagne football:

“Today, me and Kevin, two fullbacks, scored goals,” Ilenič said. “I think it shows our versatility, if that's the correct word. Just really happy for that, and we'll keep riding.”

Here’s the network passing graphic from Thursday. Again, Haak is No. 80:

Very different from Montréal, right? These are very valuable clubs to have in the bag, and this team’s showing the ability to play both of them.

That’s not to say it hasn’t been an up-and-down year – it very clearly has been. But with Alonso Martínez back and a new No. 10 rumored to be on the way, this feels like a team ready to cook.

Invasive Procedures

I’m going to kick it to Armchair Analyst special correspondent Calen Carr, who was in Montréal with Callum Williams to see Inter Miami come back from the Club World Cup and take out their PSG-related frustrations on the home side in a 4-1 final:

Two notes here (hi, this is Doyle again).

First is we’ve seen basically every variety of classic Messi goals since he arrived in MLS, except for the jaw-dropping, solo effort where he eliminates six defenders off the dribble. We can now scratch that one off the list.

Second is I thought Miami head coach Javier Mascherano struck the right note in the postgame presser:

"It was not easy to get back into the competition after spending a month playing in the Club World Cup, and I think the players handled it perfectly,” he said. “The team had to work hard to turn it around, and they did an excellent job – right in line with the level we showed throughout the Club World Cup.

“So, honestly, it was a great night. We’re taking three much-needed points back to Miami to shift our focus back to MLS.”

I agree with his assessment of Miami’s performance, both at the Club World Cup and this weekend. They are now fourth in the East on PPG (1.88) with four games in hand on all the teams they’re chasing, and every reason to think they can spin this toward a second straight Supporters’ Shield.

A few more things to ponder…

12. As limited as Minnesota are in some phases of play, my god, this team is incredible on restarts. They are… honestly, is this the best MLS team I’ve ever seen from set pieces? When you include throw-ins – they have religion on the value of long throws – they probably are.

Anyway, their first goal in their 2-1 win at FC Dallas on Friday night came from Julian Gressel’s inch-perfect service, and their second goal came from yet another Michael Boxall long throw, which marks the third straight game in which they’ve scored off one of those. Real “This one trick gets you a goal a game – other managers hate it!” stuff.

Interestingly, the Loons ended up with 46% possession despite having a lead for the final 55 minutes. It’s been well-documented how possession-averse Minnesota are (you might’ve read a thing or two about it in this column), and, obviously, game states tend to mean that teams protecting a result get on the ball less. Most wins this year they’re down around 35%.

I’m not sure if this is a philosophical shift given all the dropped points (11 dropped from leading positions is second-worst among Audi MLS Cup Playoffs teams, behind only Chicago’s 13) or just a one-off happenstance, but I’ll be watching with real interest next weekend.

Dallas ended their three-game homestand with zero points and have won once in 10.

11. Colorado’s dominant performance against Sporting KC on Friday night was the fourth-highest xG differential for a single MLS game in American Soccer Analysis’s database, which goes back to 2013. They were relentless and dynamic attacking out of what I’d call a 4-4-1-1 (Djordje Mihailovic was in more of a free role than operating as a true midfielder), getting constantly into transition and generating one great chance after another.

They lost 2-1. It is by far the biggest positive xG differential for a losing team in the ASA database, and honestly, I’d bet my net worth it was the largest in MLS history. I’m not guaranteeing I’ve never seen one like that, but I can’t think of one worse off the top of my head.

Rapids fans, shield your eyes:

“Sometimes ball not go in” is not a satisfying narrative, especially when you’re fighting for your playoff lives and just dropped a six-pointer at home. But… I mean, that was Colorado’s best performance of the year. If they keep playing at this level, they’ll make the postseason.

They’ll need to stay at or near that level over the next five games, though, as into the woodchipper they now go: at LAFC, home vs. Vancouver, at Seattle, at Philly, at Minnesota. I don’t think anyone in the league has a tougher five-game stretch this year.

Sporting are somehow hanging around, just three points back after taking seven points from their past three games, and looking at three of their next four at home. Of course, each of their next seven are against playoff teams, and they’ve probably exhausted the goodwill of the soccer gods after this one. So they’ll need to find better form or they’re done.

10. Orlando roared back over the game’s final 25 minutes to turn a 2-0 deficit into a very good 2-2 draw at Charlotte, one that felt like it would’ve ended 3-2 if the game had run five minutes longer.

The Crown really had no answers for Orlando’s left-sided overload once Rafael Santos – a true left back – started pushing forward on the overlap, which is not something we’ve seen from the Cats for most of the year (instead it’s been a third center back pinching in to form a back three). I don’t think this signals a tactical shift, but instead serves as a reminder that this is a look Orlando are still very comfortable shifting into when the moment calls for it, a la NYCFC.

“The feeling is that we could have, or we should have, gotten the three points here in Charlotte,” Orlando head coach Oscar Pareja said in the postgame. “We paid the price for our distractions on those two [Charlotte] goals, and there was much more on our responsibilities on a couple of duties there that we had to control.

“Then, we needed to push in many different ways to find that equalizer and try to get the winning goal, but it was not enough.”

I think that’s an accurate assessment.

One note: After a miserable start to the year, forward Ramiro Enrique has found his form. He scored another goal in this one, which gives him 3g/1a in three games since returning to the starting XI. Since the beginning of May, he’s now got 7g/1a in about 800 minutes across all competitions, along with some of the best counterpressing in the league.

Charlotte’s winless skid hit four with this late collapse, and they’ve now won just twice in their past 12 in the league.

9. Our Pass of the Week comes courtesy of Marco Reus:

He wasn't technically awarded an assist on this since the ball deflected slightly off the defender, but still, the vision and intent were there. And that kind of run out of midfield is exactly how you’re supposed to turn possession into penetration.

The Galaxy have been doing that more lately – they’re 2W-1L-2D in their past five – and they did it a lot in Friday’s shocking 3-0 win over a Vancouver side that are finally, officially, crashing back down to earth (three losses in their past four). Oh, and that’s Joseph Paintsil finally dispensing with the Kévin Cabral impersonation; he had himself a brace.

Is it too little, too late for LA? Probably. Even with this good run, they’re still 14 points below the red line and have just 12 points on the year. But they’ve now won the xG battle in four of their past six outings after having done so just twice all year before this stretch (one of those being the hilarious 1-0 loss to Sporting KC in which Sporting failed to register a shot), so… they’re better, at least.

I don’t think they’ll claim the Wooden Spoon.

8. Atlanta and D.C. United played to a tepid scoreless draw on Saturday night in which they combined for two shots on goal.

7. At the other end of the Eastern Conference table, Nashville leapfrogged Philly into second place with a late, dramatic 1-0 home win despite playing the final 30-plus minutes down to 10 men.

This one felt destined to end in a stalemate, as Nashville mostly weren’t sharp enough to play through Philly’s defensive pressure (Andre Blake and the post combined to save the Union the one time Hany Mukhtar got loose), but were sharp enough to avoid falling into the pits of ChaosBall inflicted by the same said pressure.

In the end, Philly got desperate and undisciplined, so the seas parted and Hany did what an MVP-caliber player is supposed to do, drawing and then finishing the winning PK. Make it 12 unbeaten for the ‘Yotes, the last four of which have been wins.

For Philly, since starting the year with six points against FC Cincinnati and Orlando City:

I’m going to borrow (and lightly edit) a line I saw from a Union fan on social media: When Philly can’t create chaos they can’t score. [This is] why they beat bad teams but not good ones as [good ones] don’t succumb to the chaos.

They’ve got four of their next five at home, with only one of those against a playoff team (next week vs. the Red Bulls). So I’m expecting them to return to their winning ways, but will remain skeptical of their ability to beat the league’s best until they start showing they can do so.

6. Those Red Bulls crossed the country and got themselves a very credible draw out in San Jose, taking an early lead via Emil Forsberg’s fancy footwork in the box and mostly holding on from there.

In spite of the point, I think there will be some frustration in Harrison. They spent the final half-hour up a man and didn’t make it count (the closest they came was a goal that, I think, was correctly flagged offside; make sure you watch Andrew Weibe on Instant Replay this week).

There was a lot of this:

It’s very tough to unlock a packed-in defense, which is what the Quakes immediately became once DeJuan Jones was sent off in the 64th minute. You need to have coordinated and aggressive movement of and off the ball, and you can see that while RBNY are good at doing that in the build-up – Noah Eile’s passing from the back has been a real weapon, and Alexander Hack’s not bad, either – it’s all a lot more uncertain and stilted once they reach the final third.

San Jose are sixth in the West, but just two points above 10th-place Austin and have won just twice in their past nine. They’re not losing much (only once since the start of May), but with four straight home draws they’ve squandered the chance to create a little separation.

5. The Evander & Kévin Show rolled back home to TQL Stadium for the first time since late May, and Cincy’s DPs treated the home crowd to the full three points thanks to the type of match-winning brilliance you want from your best players.

Hit it like it owed him money:

Props, as well, to DeAndre Yedlin for making that dead sprint up the right touchline to pull Chicago left back Andrew Gutman out of the channel, giving Evander a little bit more time to really step into that shot. Yedlin 100% knows he’s not getting the ball there, but sacrificial off-ball runs to take opposing defenders out of high-value areas are the type of thing that good teams do.

Cincy are clearly a good team – they are atop the Shield standings, after all – and have now won the xG battle in four of their past six outings. That’s important, since they’ve actually been overperforming their underlying numbers to a greater extent than some of the all-time “regression to the mean” sides like 2022 Austin and 2023 St. Louis.

As pointed out by the good folks at The Lantern: six of the Fire's eight losses have been against the top four of the Eastern Conference. The other two were NYCFC and the Red Bulls.

Chicago are ninth in the East. Seems just about right.

4. For a while it looked like New England were going to reel in the East playoff teams, but following Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Portland, they’ve taken just one point from the past 12 on offer and have won just once in their past nine league games going back to early May.

The lack of urgency (or maybe just pure confusion) to get pressure to the ball you see here after the initial clearance, and the gap between the defense (which often includes the defensive midfielders) and the attack has become a tactical staple (derogatory):

There’s less and less connective tissue out there for the Revs, and there doesn’t seem to be any defensive plan beyond simply getting numbers behind the ball. Good players, like David Da Costa here, take advantage of that (and to be entirely fair to the New England outfield players, goalkeeper Aljaž Ivačič should have done better).

Portland, who head to St. Louis next weekend for Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire, needed this bounce-back after last week’s disappointing 3-0 loss at Toronto. They weren’t great, but three points are three points.

3. For the first time all year San Diego dropped points from a leading position, as they saw a late 3-2 lead (and an early 1-0 lead, so to be fair they dropped points twice) against Houston turn into a 4-3 loss. Ezequiel Ponce grabbed an 87th-minute equalizer from the spot and an inexplicably easy winner 10 minutes into 17 minutes of second-half stoppage.

Mikey Varas has pushed every right button and pulled every correct lever this year. He’ll get the chance to do so again this week in film session, because a goal like that can not happen.

A goal like this, though…

That is outrageous. And the Dynamo, folks, are finally above the red line, up to eighth in the West after this very unexpected win.

“It is our best performance to date. The team brought the right level of intensity and quality, and we put those two together throughout this whole match,” head coach Ben Olsen said in the postgame. “We were resilient and kept fighting back to secure those three points.

“Hopefully this is the type of game that can change a season.”

I’ve mentioned before in this column that I’m betting on them to have a strong second half of the season, especially once Jack McGlynn is back. The pieces seem to be in place.

2. Seattle’s delightful 1-1 home draw against Columbus on Sunday night was a wonderful example of the level of tactical sophistication you can find among the best teams in the league.

All of this was happening within the context of ever-shifting midfield match-ups as well, as the teams traded control of the match throughout the full 90 and beyond. The draw was probably the right result in the end, though Seattle had most of the better chances.

I’m not going to speculate on the severity of Stefan Frei’s scary late injury. Just hope he’s ok.

1. And finally, our Face of the Week goes to Diogo Gonçalves for this tribute to Diogo Jota:

Gonçalves, who was a teammate of Jota’s on various Portuguese youth national teams, has struggled since coming to MLS last summer. He played probably his finest game in the Claret-and-Cobalt this weekend in RSL’s 3-2 win over visiting St. Louis, getting loose in transition to score a banger of a goal and generally impacting play at a good level on both sides of the ball.

RSL have now taken seven points from their past three outings and have lost just once in their past five, so there might be something percolating here. St. Louis are in a full-on tailspin, with three straight losses and just one win in nearly four months. They’ll try to pull themselves out of it next week when they host the Timbers for Sunday Night Soccer.