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We have a handful of very important post-Matchday 4 takes to get to in just a moment. But first, weāve got to talk a few games out in a mini recap.
Yeah, not a whole lot happening here for an FC Cincinnati squad coming off Concacaf Championship Cup action and a D.C. United team missing Christian Benteke and Ted Ku-DiPietro. Cincy were the better side, but couldnāt find a breakthrough. Itās just that time of year for CCC teams.
A heavily rotated Nashville side missing Walker Zimmerman due to injury took a surprising 2-0 lead in what looked to be a classic āroad games are hardā game for the Galaxy. Then their attack woke up, and Riqui Puig and Dejan Joveljic got LA back into the game. In the end, itās a solid road point for LA and a disappointing-but-totally-fine home point for Nashville before their Wednesday CCC matchup at Inter Miami. Which, hey, speaking ofā¦
The Herons also rotated heavily, keeping Lionel Messi out of the lineup entirely and putting Luis SuĆ”rez and Sergio Busquets on the bench. CF MontrĆ©al took full advantage. Fernando Ćlvarez found the net off a set piece and Matias CĆ³ccaro and Sunusi Ibrahim put MontrĆ©al back ahead after they relinquished the lead late.Ā
For the first time this year, Inter Miami couldnāt drag themselves to points by sheer force of will. For the first time this year, a team finally made sure they were out cold. Although, it did take a late equalizer from Miami to really refocus MontrĆ©al in this one.
They got the job done, though. And MontrĆ©al have now taken seven points from three road games to start the season. Even if they lose the rest of the three remaining road games on their six-game trip to start the season, the start of the year has been a success.Ā
Which brings us to the main part of our newsletter todayā¦
Are MontrƩal for real?
Itās a heckuva start. Plenty of teams would have come up totally empty over three games on the road to start the season. It seems like new forward MatĆas CĆ³ccaro and his Best XI-caliber mustache are very promising. Theyāre finding ways to get the job done on the road. Theyāve succeeded without dynamic attacker Mahala Opoku as of late. There were seven teams last year who didnāt win more than two road games all year, and MontrĆ©al already have two. Itās going about as well as it possibly could.
But itās only Matchday 4. I think weāre going to need more time.
Verdict: Needs more time
Are New England in trouble?
The Revolution have zero points through their first three games. They got run over on Saturday in Atlanta and looked exhausted by the end. They havenāt been able to find any kind of balance between their CCC form and MLS play. Thatās not unusual, but the scary thing here is there isnāt much margin for error in this yearās Eastern Conference. There are too many good teams.
Itās not going to get much easier either. They have to travel to Costa Rica to face Alajuelense on Thursday for another CCC game. The good news is theyāre up 4-0 and can theoretically rotate their lineup without worrying too much. The bad news is theyāre up 4-0 and are theoretically set to play even more CCC games. It sure seems like theyāre set to take on Liga MX juggernaut Club AmĆ©rica in early April. Theyāll basically get one free MLS game before they start worrying about CCC again. Considering their fixture congestion and their issues at the No. 9 spot, they could be fighting an uphill battle the rest of the way.
Then again, kind of early. Seems like we should probably pump the brakes a bit.
Verdict: Needs more time
What about Orlando City?
Itās kind of the same thing, right? CCC is hard. Even still, they created 4.0 xG worth of chances to Minnesota Unitedās 1.0 xG on Saturday night. They still lost because of some defensive brain malfunctions, but those seem like more of a product of post-CCC fatigue rather than a trend with a group we know pretty well by now.
Still, one point through three games isnāt ideal and Iām going to guess it hasnāt been enjoyable at all to be an Orlando fan the last week. Getting routed by Miami, creating chances but failing to go ahead against Tigres, and whatever happened Saturday night is a tough, tough stretch.
But itās early and Orlando did get much, much better as the year went on last season, even if some of that got inflated by extreme underlying number overperformance. Donāt think we can make a call here yet.
Verdict: Needs more time
Uhhhā¦ New York City FC?
Well, the new stadium looks like itāll be pretty cool. And, yeah, itās all gone sorta pear-shaped on the field for about a year and a half now. Then again, itās also kind of early in the season.
Verdict: Needs more time
Well, the other New York team is good at least, right?
Oh, yeah, Iām close to being all-in on this group. Emil Forsberg has been everything we thought he might be so far, and Lewis Morgan has been outstanding ever since he arrived in MLS. The importance of having Morgan back healthy canāt be understated. And they still seem to have some roster flexibility to potentially add another attacking piece up top. My gut call right now is weāre looking at the best Red Bulls side since 2018.
Verdict: Needs more time
You havenāt mentioned a single Western Conference team.
Right, thatās because itās the West and Iām not even going to try and drag this one out. Anyone saying they have any idea whatās going on over there at this point does not have an idea of whatās going on over there. I think the Galaxy are probably pretty good at least. And San Jose are very not good. Stillā¦
Verdict: Needs more time
ā¦Chicago?
Ok, thatās not going well at all.
Verdict: History repeats itself.
ā¦You want to go back and hedge on that, donāt you?
Yeah, felt kind of mean.
Plus itās only Matchday 4!
- Matt Doyleās Sunday column is up and good.
- CF MontrƩal have been road warriors to start the year.
- Hereās why Lionel Messi missed Inter Miamiās 3-2 loss to CF MontrĆ©al.
Good luck out there. Home is where you make it.
