USMNT advance in Gold Cup over Canada
The US menās national team defeated Canada at FC Cincinnatiās TQL Stadium Sunday night and advanced to the Concacaf Gold Cup semifinals 3-2 on penalties after the rivals played to a 2-2 draw following 120 minutes.
Atlanta loan Ibarra to Toronto
After going beyond the three-player limit for U22 Initiative signings, Atlanta have become roster compliant by loaning defensive midfielder Franco Ibarra to Toronto FC through the end of the 2023 MLS season.
Update your preferences to get the best Messi coverage straight to your inbox. We'll send you everything you need to know as the Argentine legend prepares to join Inter Miami CF this summer.
Sign up for The Daily Kickoff in your inbox! The Daily Kickoff is more than an article ā it can be delivered to your email account as well.
Another Matchday gone and weāve officially reached the point of the season where many of our established understandings of who teams are and how good they can actually be are challenged for seemingly no real particular reason. How can you not be romantic about MLS?Ā
There were a handful of surprises this weekend. Letās talk it out.
LA took down Philly and LAFC in the same week. If weāre basing it on points in the regular season over the last few years, that can be reframed to āLA took down the two most consistently successful teams in MLS in the same week.ā Thatās a huge deal. It shows what theyāre capable of when things are actually clicking, and when luck is breaking their way.
We havenāt mentioned it in a while because generally at this point you are who your record says you are and because the vibes around the team have been atrocious up until this week. But LAās underlying numbers project them to be about seven points better than they actually are and to have a totally normal +1 goal differential instead of a -10. If the underlying numbers were a lot more overlying, that would basically make them more FC Dallas than a team needing to scrap and claw their way up the standings to escape from a possible Wooden Spoon win.
Still, theyāre working from a position with little leverage. They have a long way to go to truly get back into this one. Theyāll likely need about 42 points to get into the ninth spot, and that means something close to 1.54 points per game from here on out. Thatās right around LAFCās current season-long place. On top of that, the Secondary Transfer Window restrictions theyāre currently under have limited their options for improving areas of need.
That being said, itās not like this roster is terrible. They genuinely have one of the best midfield units in the league. Riqui Puig will get all the attention after an outstanding week, but Gaston Brugman is incredibly underrated. Heās been one of the more effective midfielders in MLS this year. Itās honestly shocking theyāve managed to be quite this bad with those two on the team. They might just be able to carry LA the rest of the way.
Them andā¦ Tyler Boyd? He had an excellent week as well, as did Douglas Costa. Finally, LAās wingers started producing. I have no idea if that will continue, but the Galaxy will be so much better if it does.
At the very least, weāve reached a realm of plausibility for LA that didnāt really seem all that possible last week. They can clearly compete with any team in the league when theyāre on. But can they stay on?
After a number of upsets this week, I count one, two, three, fourā¦ five teams tied for the ninth and final Audi MLS Cup Playoffs spot in the East. Amazing. What a league.
Anyway, real quick, letās speed run a check-in on the probability of each team rising to the top and claiming that last spot:
CF MontrĆ©al: Just brought in Mahala Opoku, but canāt win on the road and have lost two straight at home after being excellent there all year. Feeling decent, but not good about their chances.
Chicago Fire FC: Oh honey, theyāre just going to hurt you.
Charlotte FC: They looked sharp for a while against FC Cincinnati this weekend, but blew an early two-goal lead. They just donāt have the defensive chops. Unless they make big moves in this window, that wonāt change.
NYCFC: Theyāve played more games than everyone in this group and honestly just seem kind of jinxed this year. Still, a striker could change so much for them if they find him this window.
New York Red Bulls: A team that literally has some of the best underlying numbers in the history of the league. Iām not joking. American Soccer Analysisā Goals Added metric has them right up there with 2018 Atlanta United and not too far behind 2019 LAFC. Their plain old xG numbers arenāt quite at that level, but still some of the best in the league. Iāll take them versus the field. Honestly, they might even have enough in them to catch D.C. in eighth.
Told yāall. Feels good to get one right. Probably feels pretty good for RSL fans to watch Chicho Arango almost immediately find the net in his first start. And after a huge 4-0 win over Orlando, itās starting to feel like RSL might have the juice to truly challenge for the top spot in the West.Ā
Donāt get me wrong, Iām not saying they will. But they definitely seem like at least a team set to earn a spot in the top four. Theyāre only five points back from St. Louis. Itās not hard to envision them continuing to grab plenty of points over their final 12 games and pushing for a surprise finish at the top. Obviously, LAFC, Seattle and St. Louis will have plenty to say about that, but no one in that group has been perfect this year. RSL could easily sneak in and find themselves in a place reminiscent of 2021 Colorado.
- Jonathan Sigalās Sunday column is up and good.
- Ben Wright has your USMNT player ratings.
- Matt Turner is proving to be a Gold Cup difference-maker for the US men's national team.
- LA Galaxy are getting the "best of" Riqui Puig right now.
- LĆ©o ChĆŗ showed off his "lights-out" potential in a huge Seattle Sounders' win.
- Chicho Arango made an instant impact in his Real Salt Lake debut.
- SebastiƔn Driussi denied a Pukki party as Austin FC routed Minnesota United.
Good luck out there. Reintroduce yourself when necessary.