10 things we learned from gameweek 33 of MLS

Here are the 10 things we learned from week 33 of the Major League Soccer season.

1. What Got Into Portland?

In another round full of the unexpected, the Timbers’ 5-2 throttling of the LA Galaxy at the StubHub Center has to take the cake. The Timbers are now tied on points for third in the West and can go as high as second and a first-round bye depending on results next weekend.

How did Portland do it? A week ago, they were on the wrong side of the red line, and going into Sunday afternoon, they were still on the outside looking in.

The revival has had plenty to do with a formation change from the momentarily embattled Caleb Porter. With Will Johnson and Jack Jewsbury out, Porter was looking at plugging young central midfielder George Fochive into his preferred 4-2-3-1. Instead, at Real Salt Lake on Wednesday night, he decided to revert to a 4-3-3, with Diego Chara as the single pivot and Darlington Nagbe in central midfield.

The Timbers won 1-0 and then poured in the goals against a Galaxy team that couldn’t match Portland’s physicality or desire in the second half. Chara’s ability to be two players at once and protect a stellar backline has made the look work, and it’s opened up all kinds of space for Nagbe in the middle.

That, plus flashes from Lucas Melano and signs that Fanendo Adi is inching his way towards the league’s upper echelon of strikers, suddenly makes the Timbers a team no one wants to draw in the playoffs. This team has always been able to defend, but if they keep scoring goals, watch out.

2. The Race For The Shield

FC Dallas may still be flying under the radar, but they’ve stomped the Western Conference since the Gold Cup, have locked up the top seed in the playoffs with relative ease and are tied with the New York Red Bulls on points for the Supporters’ Shield.

Dallas beat Vancouver at home and RSL away this week and close the season with the San Jose Earthquakes at home next Sunday. As long as Mauro Diaz stays in the lineup, Dallas, despite not having any big stars, a signature striker, or much experience, is a legitimate MLS Cup threat.

But winning the Shield will take some luck. After pasting the Philadelphia Union in the home finale this weekend, the Red Bulls just need to beat the Chicago at Toyota Park next weekend to lock up their second regular season championship in three years. That shouldn’t be a tough ask. The Fire just got hammered by a mediocre DC United side and have the bottom spot in the league locked up, though New York has traditionally and dutifully been awful in Chicago over the years.

Of course, the Red Bulls exorcised plenty of demons when they beat the Fire on the final day of the 2013 regular season to lock up their first Shield. I’d bet on New York to get the result and the silverware again. There’s nothing Metro about Jesse Marsch.

3. Who Wants To Bet Against Montreal?

The Impact, who beat New England in front of the Revs’ largest regular season crowd ever on Saturday, have a good thing going as they head into the playoffs for the second time in franchise history. Between installing hometown favorite Mauro Biello as manager and signing Didier Drogba – who, as expected, has embraced his new team and ambassadorial status with vigor – there are good vibes swirling around Joey Saputo’s team like few other playoff-bound sides in the league.

Apparently the good vibes have extended to Montreal’s defense, which is now shutting down teams with regularity and frequently without Defender of the Year candidate Laurent Ciman, who seems to be suspended every other week.

There’s plenty to be said for the play of Marco Donadel, who, after a shaky start to life in Canada, has settled nicely in central midfield. Nigel Reo-Coker has somehow revived his faltering career as well, and though it’s often not pretty, few teams can keep Ignacio Piatti and Drogba quiet for 90 minutes.

This just feels like a team that has found the right formula and is destined for some magic. There’s no one in the East this team can’t hang with, except possibly the Red Bulls – and considering all the history the Impact have with New York, it isn’t surprising that those games have been wars this year.

One thing is for sure: Stade Saputo will be off the hook next weekend when Toronto FC comes to town. Winner hosts in the Wild Card round.

4. Time To Panic In Seattle

The Sounders were absolutely miserable in their 1-1 draw with Houston on Sunday. They had no rhythm anywhere on the field, the body language was terrible, and there was zero sense of urgency from a team that is now needs a result on the final day to clinch a playoff berth.

The problems remain mostly the same: Clint Dempsey still doesn’t look good, the central midfield can’t connect passes, and there’s zero production coming from the wings.

Brad Evans, lined up a center back, was Seattle’s best chance creator in Houston. If that doesn’t tell the story, nothing does. The Sounders have never had much of a stylistic identity aside from letting Martins and Dempsey do their thing, and that’s coming back to hurt them now.

Seattle has gotten more luck recently than they did in the summer, but they’re hardly playing better. Martins’ attitude and performance was especially disappointing against the Dynamo. He, along with the rest of this team, appears deeply frustrated – and Seattle hasn’t handled its frustration well in the past.

Sigi Schmid needs to come up with some answers soon. His job will be in question if the Sounders can’t figure what is now a four-month malaise.

5. Houston Exits With A Whimper

The Dynamo were bounced from the playoff race with a soft goal late from the Sounders, meaning Houston will miss the postseason in consecutive years for the first time in club history. Owen Coyle probably didn’t have the talent to compete in this year’s Western Conference, and Coyle probably didn’t get as much out of this team as Dominic Kinnear would have, but there are several worrying trend lines with Houston headed into the offseason.

Against Seattle, and indeed for most of the season, the Dynamo have been borderline unwatchable. They have the creativity of a cement truck in central midfield, and that’s even with Ricardo Clark having a career year. After Giles Barnes went cold after the Gold Cup, Houston could never figure out how to manufacture offense that didn’t involve chucking the ball at Will Bruin. One of the major concerns when Coyle was brought over to replace Kinnear was that his teams would play regressive football, and year one of the Scotsman’s reign has done nothing to dispel those notions.

This is a big offseason for the Dynamo. They need help in central defense and midfield, have to figure out what they’re doing with Cubo Torres, and need to make it clear to fans that they are moving in the right direction.

6. Real Salt Lake Bows Out With A Moan

 RSL’s seven-year playoff streak came to an end with a pair of dispiriting 1-0 home losses to Portland and Dallas.

The real fireworks came after the loss to the Timbers in a make-or-break game on Wednesday night when Dell Loy Hansen commentated on a Facebook article lamenting the team’s idiotic trade of Nat Borchers to Portland. The RSL owner said he was never in favor of the trade, and it, in fact, caused him to fall out with former general manager Garth Lagerway.

In his short time at the helm of RSL, Hansen has proved to be a spectacularly unprofessional and tone-deaf owner. It’s impossible to know what went down when RSL let Borchers walk, but it’s clear that more than losing Lagerway or Jason Kreis, it’s the loss of former owner Dave Checketts that will hurt this club most.

Salt Lake appears to be coming apart. Earlier in the year, captain Kyle Beckerman called the Borchers trade one of the worst in club history. On the field, RSL have all too often looked frustrated and out of sync. The expectation is that Jeff Cassar will keep his job, but this team isn’t close to making a playoff return.

7.  Toronto FC’s Week

TFC has finally done it. For the first time in club history, they’re in the playoffs.

Of course, it was a wonder-goal from Sebastian Giovinco – just hours after returning from Italy duty – that clinched the berth in a midweek win over the Red Bulls, but as November arrives, it’s going to become harder and harder for Giovinco to mask Toronto’s many weaknesses. That was evident on Saturday when TFC was curb-stomped at home by a suddenly impressive Columbus Crew side.

Jozy Altidore is having a miserable year – his red card from the bench against the Red Bulls serving as the new nadir – and without a top-level defense, Toronto needs more attacking production if they’re going to survive from here on in.

Greg Vanney hasn’t gotten his team playing consistent soccer all year. They’re capable of plenty – and with their payroll, they should be – but a loss at Montreal on Sunday would most likely mean Toronto would have to go on the road in a wild card game that it would be favored to lose.

8. Statement For Columbus

The Crew’s domination of Toronto was impressive for it’s defensive resolve. After an entire season of questions, it appears that Gregg Berhalter has finally found Michael Parkhurst’s central defense partner in Gaston Sauro. Sauro is a decent compliment for Parkhurst with his height, and he appears to be far more comfortable on the ball and on the run than Emanuel Pogatetz was earlier in the year.

Toughness doesn’t come naturally to the Crew – Parkhurst is one of the cleanest, most skillful center backs in the league, and the team doesn’t play with a true destroyer in midfield, especially since the return of the similarly skillful but slight Wil Trapp – so it their performance at BMO Field was especially heartening.

With a win over DC on Sunday, Columbus will get a first round bye. A point will be enough to give them a home wild card game. The Crew appear to be positioned to peak at just the right time.

9. Good On Orlando

Orlando City has, for all intents and purposes, been eliminated from playoff contention for the last month. A spectacular late-summer and early-fall swoon saw them fall to the foot of the Eastern Conference, but since getting several key players back in September, Adrian Heath’s team has been sensational. That Orlando is still mathematically in contention on the final day is a minor miracle, and though they’ll need a major miracle to beat out New England and qualify for the postseason, Heath and his team’s leaders deserve plenty of credit.

Their fans do, too. Orlando turned out almost 45,000 for their home finale against New York City, one game after over 35,000 watched them beat Montreal. All season long, the Citrus Bowl has been one of the league’s premier environments, and through plenty of lean times, Orlando fans hardly wavered.

Cyle Larin’s future is worth salivating over, Carlos Rivas has made huge strides, and the core of a team that should make the playoffs next season in a gorgeous new stadium is in place. The future is far brighter for this expansion team than the one they just beat for the first time on Saturday.

10. Decision Day

For the first time in league history, MLS will have a Premier League style decision day. All Eastern Conference games will kick off at 2:00 p.m. Eastern next Sunday, with all Western Conference games following at 4:00 p.m.

Fox Sports 1 will broadcast from DC-Columbus and have look ins at the other action around the league, while ESPN will be at Sporting Kansas City-LA and have the same breadth of coverage.

With so much still up in the air going into the final day, the drama and tension promise to be palpable. Playoff qualification, playoff seeding, the Supporters’ Shield, and CONCACAF Champions League berths will all be on the line.

With all teams playing on Sunday, there will be no Univision game on Friday night – and that means we won’t get a chance to hear play-by-play man Ramses Sandoval this week – a shame, considering one of Sandoval’s goal calls in the Orlando-NYCFC game last Friday was, “This is soccer!”

Never fear, though. The Wild Card games begin a week from Wednesday, and all four contests will be on Univision.