Though the finals are yet to kick off, this tournament has already seen its share of drama.

Argentina, for one, likely wouldn’t be involved if not for the heroics of Lionel Messi. His hat trick in the final game of qualifying in Quito secured his team’s place on a day that started with the Argentinian health ministry issuing instructions on how to avoid heart attacks during the game.

But not every nation had Messi to act as fail safe, and several high-profile countries paid the ultimate price.

Back-to-back Copa America champions Chile failed to qualify for the first time since 2006. While Ghana and the Netherlands missed out for the first time since ’02. The United States will be absent for the first time since 1986 and Italy, four time World Champions, are gone for the first time since 1958.

In their places, the tiny nation of Iceland (population: 327,386) and Panama will make their tournament debuts. Morocco returns to the finals for the first time since 1998 and Egypt for the first time since 1990. Lastly, soccer-mad Peru graces the tournament for the first time since 1982.

Getting to the World Cup at all is half the battle. Getting there healthy and harmoniously is much of the other half.

Egypt saw their talisman, the brilliant Mohamed Salah, exit the Champions League final in tears after injuring his shoulder in a clash with Spain’s captain Sergio Ramos. He’ll be at the tournament, but the level of his participation is still a question mark.

Peru’s talisman, striker and captain Paolo Guerrero, will lead them at the tournament but only after his 14-month doping ban was lifted. He would have missed the finals but was cleared at the eleventh hour by a Swiss court.

Guerrero went into his final appeal with a letter signed by all of the captains of the three other teams in Peru’s group, France’s Hugo Lloris, and Denmark’s Simon Kjaer, and Australia’s Mile Jedinak.

It was a big gesture, and a nod – as were Salah’s and Dani Carvejal’s tears in Kiev – to the regard with which participation in the World Cup is held by those who play the game.

Guerrero thanked god after his reprieve was granted. Writing in a statement that “there are no impossible dreams now,” and then went out and scored a brace in Peru’s warm-up win over Saudi Arabia.

Such are the stakes, the highs and the lows, at the World Cup finals. There is no substitute for the pressure, and it’s pressure that, for several countries, has already told.

Four teams, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and Serbia, parted ways with the managers who qualified them in the buildup to the tournament. Australia’s new coach, Bert van Marwijk, was previously in charge of the Saudis. Saudi Arabia’s new coach, Juan Antonio Pizzi, arrived after failing to get Chile to the finals.

Hosts Russia are a team that could have made a coaching change – they’re riding a miserable seven game winless streak into the finals – but haven’t.

They’ll struggle to avoid the ignominy of a group stage exit but were boosted by being drawn, coincidentally, into what is statistically the weakest World Cup group since the tournament expanded to 32 teams in 1998.

Russia’s hosting the tournament at all is, questionable indeed. Apart even from the conduct of Vladimir Putin’s autocratic government, Russia’s history of racially abusing players, homophobic laws and supporter violence have led some fans and families to stay away.

Russia is of course eager to present well over the next month, but we’ll see what happens. On the field, at least, and in the spirit of the vast majority of supporters, there is no chance that the tournament will disappoint.

How Can I Watch The Games?

After their marvelous coverage in 2010 and 2014, ESPN is giving way to FOX Sports as the tournament’s American English-language broadcaster.

That’s deeply unfortunate news. FOX has always been American TV’s worst soccer broadcaster. In part because of the US’s failure to qualify, expect their coverage to be watered down.

While FOX has a ton of programming scheduled, four of FOX’s six announcing teams will call the tournament off TV monitors in a Los Angeles studio. The two crews in Russia, led by John Strong and JP Dellacamera, are nowhere near the quality that American viewers have become accustomed to at the World Cup.

If broadcasters calling games off of TV screens aren’t your thing, you can watch the games on the Spanish rights holder Telemundo (coverage led by legendary Andrés Cantor) or get a stream of the international feeds.

What Will Be The Best Stories To Follow?

Depends what you’re interested in. This is, in all likelihood, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s last World Cup and last chance to win the game’s greatest prize.

Portugal did win a major tournament two summers ago in France, but Messi’s Argentina has lost three major tournament finals in the last four years and the psychological weight of those failures looms large.

Speaking of psychological weight, Brazil is looking for redemption after their implosion on home soil in 2014, and Mexico is hoping to reach a quarterfinal after falling in the Round of 16 in five straight tournaments.

Iceland were the darlings of Euro 2016, and for good reason, while a number of African sides, including 2002 quarterfinalists Senegal, could be poised to set the tournament alight.

Who Is Going To Win?

Colombia, Uruguay and Portugal could threaten, though likely neither are threats to win. Meanwhile, England – the tournament’s youngest team – simply look to not self implode.

There are a few outside threats, Argentina among them, but the consensus is that there are five major threats to win the tournament: Germany, Brazil, Spain, France, and Belgium.

The Germans are the defending champs, returning much of the spine of the squad that triumphed in Brazil, along with their indomitable manager Joachim Low.

Brazil, thrashed on home soil by the Germans four years ago, look rejuvenated under the leadership of Tite. It’s a similar story for Spain, who have gotten younger and are playing faster than they have in years under new boss Julen Lopetuigi.

France and Belgium are in a similar boat and, while carrying some of the world’s brightest talent, have the same expectations to win but for different reasons.

As always, it’s going to be an unforgettable month.

Group A

1. Uruguay

Uruguay came comfortably through qualifying and are headed to a third straight World Cup with the same spine – Muslera, Godin, Suarez, and Cavani – that led them at the last two. This time with the addition of a bevy of promising new midfielders.

The blend of youth and experience in this team is hugely promising and should make easy work of this group. If they can establish some attacking rhythm before heading into the knockout stages, they’ll be a threat to make the semifinal again.

2. Egypt

It’s all about Mo Salah, and, in particular, after his tearful exit from the Champions League final, Mo Salah’s health. His goals were the catalyst for Egypt’s return to the World Cup after 18 years away and Egypt is not built to survive his absence.

That’s largely because manager Hector Cuper’s deeply conservative approach has limited the team’s ability to generate offense as a unit. The Pharaohs are difficult to break down, with no attacking outlet without the Liverpool star.

3. Russia

South Africa was the first World Cup host to fail to advance out of the group stage in 2010. The Bafana Bafana did beat France and drew wth Mexico before bowing out. This Russia team is going to be much, much worse.

There are a few attacking players of note, like Euro 2012 starlet Alan Dzagoev, but a poor defense, a stodgy and uninspiring coach in Stanislav Cherchesov and two year’s worth of terrible friendly results draining confidence.

Despite drawing – luckily, eh? – the easiest group in the tournament, expectations are low.

4. Saudi Arabia

The one team that Russia should beat is Saudi Arabia, who returns to the World Cup for the first time since 2006. The Saudi squad is almost entirely domestically-based, undersized, and short of international experience. They’re not ready for this stage.

They’ve also changed coaches since qualifying, going first to Edgardo Bauza and then Juan Antonio Pizzi after he failed to make it to the finals with Chile.

He has a huge job in front of him, not least because a number of his players – whom the Saudis arranged to go on loan to Spain before the tournament – have hardly played in the last six months.

Game to Watch: Egypt vs. Saudi Arabia — Monday, June 25 10am on FS1, Telemundo & fubo

Players from both teams have highlighted this as the “Red Sea Derby,” and their most important game. Both teams will need to win if they want to move on with both likely attacking as a result in what should be a tremendous atmosphere.

Player to Watch: Mohamed Salah, Egypt

He’s the key to this group – the hopes of every team except Uruguay ride on the level of his participation – and he’s, at full health, also one of the game’s most electrifying, wonderful players.

Group B

1. Spain

Spain look rejuvenated, led by a new coach in Julen Lopetegui and going unbeaten in qualifying with a +33 goal differential. They remain as skillful as any side in the world in possession, but are playing faster than they have in years.

Spain were flat overrun by the Netherlands and Chile at the World Cup in Brazil and Italy in France two summers ago. While they’re never going to play fast and direct, Lopetegui has added a pressing element which has upped their energy.

The big personnel concern is at center forward. Spain won Euro 2012 without one, but the goals have dried up at the last two major tournaments. Diego Costa has always been an awkward fit, but may be in line to start.

2. Morocco

Led by the excellent French coach Herve Renard, few teams qualified more impressively than Morocco. The Atlas Lions scored eleven goals and conceded none across their six games. They played pressing, attacking, fearless soccer.

The team is stocked with European-based players, many of whom weren’t born in Morocco, and led by Juventus center back Medhi Benatia. It’s a cosmopolitan group, and it’s more than capable of advancing through the first round.

3. Portugal

Portugal’s triumph at Euro 2016 was all about their defense. They conceded just one goal in four knockout games. At the heart of that defense remains 35-year-old Pepe and 36-year-old Bruno Alvas.

That’s a concern. The attack has gotten somewhat fresher, with young players like Andre Silva and Bernardo Silva claiming places around Cristiano Ronaldo, but this team is still all about brute force and grinding out results.

It’s not going to be pretty. Will it be as effective as it was at the Euros? We’ll see.

4. Iran

Iran were the third team into the tournament after hosts Russia and Brazil, and for a familiar reason: they were impossible to break down. Former Real Madrid and Portugal boss Carlos Quieroz is a defensive specialist and his squad has bought into his philosophy.

There is also, more so than there was four years ago, some counterattacking punch. The problem is that Iran isn’t built to play from behind and might not have the technical ability to play itself out of pressure against its group stage opponents.

This is certainly a team capable of upsetting, or at least frustrating, one of the big European nations. Quieroz certainly knows Portugal well but getting the minimum four points needed to progress is a big ask.

Game to Watch: Portugal vs. Morocco — Wednesday, June 20 at 8am on FS1, Telemundo and fubo

Spain against Portugal on the tournament’s second day is must-watch, obviously, but this group has depth. Morocco in particular, with their attacking approach, could put the negative Portuguese under serious pressure.

Player to Watch: Andrés Iniesta, Spain

Don Andrés bid farewell to Barcelona in May and he’ll say goodbye to international football after this tournament. Until then, for the next month, one of the most brilliant players of his generation will act as Spain’s metronome for a final time.

Group C

1. France

France are in the midst of a talent boon, with their best generation since Zinedine Zidane’s approaching maturity, and competition for places is fierce. Only nine players from the Euro 2016 squad that reached the final are going to this tournament.

But questions about the team’s mentality and cohesion abound. Qualification wasn’t overly impressive and one of the big players, Paul Pogba or Antoine Griezmann most likely, must step up and lead.

The ceiling for this French team is extraordinarily high, but, as always, so is the potential for a flameout.

2. Peru

The buildup to Peru’s tournament has been dominated by their captain and star striker Paolo Guerrero who was suspended for the tournament after testing positive for trace amounts of a banned substance.

Guerrero has appealed his ban and is now back with the Peru squad.

This team’s odds are long but not insurmountable. They haven’t lost a competitive game since 2016 and play with a real sense of urgency. Returning to the finals for the first time since 1982, they will be backed by frenzied support.

3. Denmark

It’s not a particularly special Denmark side that is returning to the World Cup after missing the 2014 edition, but it does have a special player: Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen, who scored a hat-trick in the decisive qualifier against Ireland.

The Danes are well organized around Eriksen and boast a strong central defense but they’re largely a mediocre team. They won’t play themselves out of games but, Eriksen aside, they won’t do much to inspire either.

4. Australia

The Aussies took the longest road to the tournament, winning exhausting playoffs against Syria and Honduras to finally qualify before their coach, Ange Posteceglou, quit.

Former Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk has taken over and he has his work cut out for him. In terms of talent, Australia is one of the tournament’s weakest teams.

That said, Australia have always played hard and together. Under Posteceglou, the Socceroos were unafraid of going forward and trying to win games proactively. They put a serious scare into the Netherlands at the last World Cup and could do something similar here.

Game to Watch: Peru vs. Denmark — Saturday, June 16 at Noon ET on FOX, Telemundo and fubo

Barring any big surprises, France should finish first and Australia last. This game, then, between Peru and Denmark, should decide second place.

Player to Watch: N’Golo Kante, France

There are bigger stars in this group, but Kante is a marvelous destroyer, perhaps the best in the world, and he needs to be a centerpiece of this team if France wants to win the tournament.

Group D

1. Argentina

Argentina were a mess in qualifying, much as they were before the 2010 tournament, going through three managers, improving little, and only being dragged over the line and into the tournament by the incomparable Lionel Messi.

This team is spoiled with attacking talent – not just Messi, but Dybala, Higuain, Aguero, Di Maria, etc. But they still have no established system or style of play going forward and aren’t nearly as talented on the other side of the ball.

There’s also this: Argentina’s core has lost three major tournament finals in the last four years and, apart from Messi, went to pieces when the qualification campaign went south. Do they have the mental toughness required to threaten?

2. Iceland

The darlings of Euro 2016 are back, having qualified for their first ever World Cup by winning a group that included Croatia, Turkey, and Ukraine. They’re taking to the tournament, for all intents and purposes, the exact same squad that knocked off England two summers ago.

Their continuity and experience will be a huge benefit. This is a national team with the familiarity and chemistry of a club team and they won’t be overawed by the stage or array of attacking talent they’ll face in this group.

Injuries and a general lack of pace and athleticism could be tournament-enders, but Iceland will compete and their fans’ll win plaudits from around the world again.

3. Nigeria

The only African holdover from the 2014 World Cup, Nigeria should be all kinds of fun to watch and not just because of their spectacular kits.

The Super Eagles are one of the tournament’s youngest sides. With a crop of thrilling young attacking players leading the way alongside veterans like John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses, they are suspect defensively and have a huge question mark in goal.

4. Croatia

Croatia have, easily, one of the best midfields in the tournament. Between Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic, Ivan Perisic, Mateo Kovacic, there is talent and experience here that every side except Spain and Germany would covet.

The problem is that atmosphere and leadership of the team is dysfunctional. All of Croatia’s managers post-Slaven Bilic have been underwhelming and there’s no established style of play as a result. Meanwhile, the media, star players, Modric in particular, and the federation are constantly at each other’s throats.

Croatia have certainly shown flashes in recent years, like when they beat Spain at Euro 2016, but they largely haven’t been able to get out of their own way. There’s not reason to believe that will change in Russia.

Game to Watch: Argentina vs. Nigeria – Tuesday, June 26 2PM ET on FOX, Telemundo and fubo

This is probably the best group in the tournament. All four teams are credible and the margins between them should be thin with every game a compelling match to watch. But Argentina and Nigeria played a five-goal thriller in Brazil, and this game, on the final day of the group, should be wide open.

Player to Watch: Lionel Messi, Argentina

Messi is probably the best ever, no matter whether he wins a World Cup or not, but the torment he’s suffered on the international stage during this decade has been excruciating. This is likely his last World Cup, and he should shine in it.

SEE MORE: World Cup Predictions: Groups E-H

Group E

1. Brazil

After the humiliation of the 7-1 defeat to Germany in 2014 and the two dreadful years under Dunga’s leadership that followed, new manager Tite has Brazil swaggering again.

The talented coach has built a system that emphasizes crisp defensive rotations and pressing, but not at the cost of attacking expression. It’s cohesive, and it was pretty well unstoppable during South American qualifying.

Dani Alvas was a big loss and Neymar’s fitness and fragility are concerns, but there’s no reason why this shouldn’t be Brazil’s best team since 2002.

2. Serbia

There is plenty of reason to be pessimistic about Serbia. They fired their coach shortly after securing qualification, largely because he refused to call in star midfielder Sergej Milinković-Savić. He was replaced with a former player, Mladen Krstajić, who has no previous managerial experience.

With all that said, there are plenty of reasons for optimism too. The team has a ton of experience and an excellent midfield, plus a striker in Newcastle’s Aleksandar Mitrović who is in terrific form.

You wouldn’t think of Serbia as a team with an especially high ceiling and low floor, but that’s what this edition seems to be.

3. Costa Rica

The Ticos exceeded expectations at the last World Cup. They reached the quarterfinals after beating Uruguay and Italy and only falling to the Netherlands on penalties.

Much of that 2014 team is back for this tournament, and Costa Rica will play a similar style of soccer in a 5-4-1 that relies on wide playmaking and defensive strength through the middle.

But whereas Costa Rica took everyone by surprise in Brazil, they won’t have that luxury in Russia. A lack of pace and skill in midfield could prove fatal.

4. Switzerland

Switzerland have been reliable qualifiers and reliably average at major tournaments for the last decade, and more of the same is expected here.

Xherdan Shaqiri, still the star man, is a fairly maddening player – capable of brilliance, but temperamental and selfish – while there is still no forward capable of stretching opposing defenses or scoring goals.

If Serbia flop, Switzerland should be in a position to advance. But if Shaqiri doesn’t score in bunches, this team will struggle regardless.

Game to Watch: Switzerland vs. Serbia — Friday, June 22 at 2pm ET on FOX, Telemundo and fubo

It won’t be all that thrilling, but it’ll be a battle between players who know each other well and will likely – though Costa Rica can’t be counted all the way out – decide the destination of second place in the group.

Player to Watch: Neymar, Brazil

Brazil is nowhere near as reliant on Neymar as they were in 2014, but he’s still the talisman, and he’s coming off of a broken foot. How quickly can he get up to his best after not playing a competitive game for more than three months?

Group F

1. Germany

The defending champions have kept whirring away over the last four years, and return to the World Cup with a squad that might just be better than the one that won in Brazil.

Timo Werner promises to add quality up top, while there’s so much depth in midfield that Mario Gotze didn’t make the squad. Joachim Low is international football’s best coach, and his players know his system inside and out.

What could go wrong? The last two defending champions have failed to advance from the group stage. Captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer hasn’t played since September. This team also doesn’t have the raw attacking talent of some of their top rivals. That’s what hurt them at the Euros, and could make them pay here.

2. Mexico

Mexico enters this World Cup with what, on paper, is easily the second best team in this group. There’s plenty of talent in the attack and midfield, a passable defense, and, apparently, belief in the eccentricities of manager Juan Carlos Osorio.

But will this team hold up mentally? Mexico, remember, has fallen at the Round of 16 stage at each of the last five World Cups, and went to pieces in their first knockout game at major tournaments in 2016 and ’17.

Osorio will use all of his players, rotating and changing systems based on the opposition, but whoever and however they play, Mexico is good enough to advance. They’ll be judged on what happens after that.

3. Sweden

The Swedes – minus Zlatan Ibrahimovic – claimed two prestigious scalps en route to the tournament, making the finals at the expense first of the Netherlands, then of Italy.

Manager Janne Andersson smartly turned down Ibrahimovic’s overtures to rejoin the squad for the finals, as the team has improved since the striker retired from international football. They’re committed defensively, play for each other, and have a difference maker in Emil Forsberg.

That said, Sweden have very, very little top-shelf talent in this team. They like to defend but don’t have the pace to counter, and their target forwards don’t score many goals. If they fall behind Germany or Mexico, they’re in serious trouble.

4. South Korea

It’s been a down cycle for Asian teams, and nowhere was this more apparent than in perennial qualifiers South Korea. Outside of Tottenham’s Son Heung-min, this team has very few players who would start for any other team in the tournament.

If Son doesn’t get going – and manager Shin Tae-yong has voiced concerns about his energy level after the European club season – goals will be hard to come by. Either way, they’ll be conceded in bunches.

Game to Watch: Mexico vs. Germany — Sunday, June 17 at 11am ET on FS1, Telemundo and fubo

If Mexico loses this game, their likely Round of 16 opponent will be… Brazil. Not ideal. Germany also thrashed El Tri, with a B team, 4-1 at the Confederations Cup last summer. The pressure will be squarely on Osorio and Co.

Player to Watch: Thomas Muller, Germany

Muller was tremendous at the World Cups of 2010 and 2014, but he’s endured a difficult couple of seasons at Bayern Munich. Germany needs him to be on song if they want to repeat.

Group G

1. Belgium

The incompetent coaching of Marc Wilmots held Belgium’s greatest ever generation of talent back at the last two major tournaments, but even with Wilmots gone now, replaced by former Everton manager Roberto Martinez, coaching remains the primary concern.

Martinez loves to attack, but because Belgium don’t have any fullbacks – a recurring issue – he has his team playing a very unusual kind of 3-4-2-1 formation. Star man Kevin De Bruyne blasted the tactical setup late last year.

And yet, there’s no doubt that Martinez is more capable than Wilmots, and no doubt that Belgium have the talent to win the trophy. Whether they can all pull together before they reach the knockout stages could decide the fate of the entire tournament.

2. England

This England team is nowhere near the favorites, but give manager Gareth Southgate credit: he’s tackled one of football’s most difficult jobs with an admirable clarity of purpose: turning the team over to young players, and installing a clear system of play.

That system is a 5-3-2, with two attacking midfielders in the trio, and the Three Lions are comfortable in it. That’s promising, as is the feeling that this squad has baggage – psychological and otherwise – than England teams of the pass.

There is a lack of passing quality in midfield, and concern over who will occupy the three center back spots, but Southgate’s team, with low expectations, could be a pleasant surprise.

3. Tunisia

Africa has plenty of exciting representative teams at this tournament, but Tunisia is not one of them. The Eagles of Carthage battle, but they’re desperately short of quality in midfield and up top.

And as if they weren’t in trouble before, star striker Youssef Msakni tore a knee ligament in April. Tunisia could frustrate England or Belgium, but their chances of progressing look extremely slim.

4. Panama

Tunisia does have hope, however, against Panama – a tournament debutant that embodies “happy to be here” cliché: the captain, Roman Torres, is getting a statue outside of the national stadium for scoring the decisive goal in qualifying.

Panama have very few players who have played outside of CONCACAF, and a number of their better talents are on the wrong side of 30.

They’ll play extremely physical soccer and try to bring the likes of Belgium and England down to their level, but they could easily end the tournament with one of its worst goal differentials.

Game to Watch: Belgium vs. England — Thursday, June 28 at 2pm ET on FOX, Telemundo and fubo

It’s a shame that this game comes last for each of these teams as opposed to first or second, but it will still be an excellent test for both sides heading into the knockout rounds.

Player to Watch: Kevin De Bruyne, Belgium

The Manchester City star excoriated Martinez’s tactics last year, which doesn’t bode well – De Bruyne needs to be bought in and at his best if Belgium is to compete for the title.

Group H

1. Colombia

Colombia exploded back onto the world stage in 2014, led by an effervescent James Rodriguez, and they’ve stuck around since: semifinalists at the Copa America Centenario, and qualifiers, at the very end, for this year’s World Cup.

The quarterfinals are, again, a realistic aim. The defense is younger and more athletic than it was in Brazil, led by Davinson Sanchez and Yerry Mina, while Falcao’s resurgence with Monaco gives the team a top-line forward.

With all that said, James will have to be magnificent again. Colombia plays fast and physical, but they don’t have the firepower of the likes of Brazil and Argentina. To make a run at the trophy, they’ll need to punch above their weight.

2. Senegal

Much as they did when they knocked off defending champions France in 2002, Senegal could steal the show this summer. They’ve got pace up top, are muscular through the middle, and have star power on both ends of the field in winger Sadio Mane and center back Kalidou Koulibaly.

But there’s not yet been a clear indication that this team can realize its potential. There are huge doubts over the quality of manager Aliou Cisse, the captain of the 2002 team, who is inexperienced and hasn’t settled on a system or first-choice starting lineup.

Qualification was secured comfortably, but the team still looks better on paper than it does in practice. Whatever happens, it should be an entertaining ride.

3. Poland

Poland have had to wait 12 years to return to the World Cup, but they’re doing so with a team that reached the quarterfinals of Euro 2016 and is built to compete. Robert Lewandowski is the main man, but he has plenty of support going forward.

But good as Poland can be going forward, their aging defense is susceptible – see the 4-0 loss Denmark handed them in Copenhagen in qualifying – and a number of their key players are coming off of difficult seasons.

Poland has the misfortune of playing Colombia and Senegal first, so they’ll need to hit the ground running. If they don”t, despite their status as the top seed in this group, they might go home early.

4. Japan

The Samurai Blue will be at their sixth straight World Cup, but they’re arriving in a troubled state: manager Vahid Halilhodzic, who led Algeria out of the group stage in Brazil, was fired in March and replaced with the veteran Akira Nishino.

Nishino has reinstated waning stars Shinji Kagawa and Keisuke Honda, whom Halilhodzic had cast out of the team, so while that crisis has been solved, the age and physical capability of the side is a major concern.

Japan have long played pretty football, and are capable of scoring goals, but they’re in desperate need of a generational reset and unlikely to keep pace in Russia.

Game to Watch: Colombia vs. Senegal — Thursday, June 28 at 10am ET on FOX, Telemundo and fubo

These should be the two best teams to watch in this group, and chances are that one of the sides is going to be playing for its tournament life when they meet on the final day of group play.

Player to Watch: Sadio Mane, Senegal

Mane took a backseat to Mohamed Salah this year, but he was a huge part of Liverpool’s run to the Champions League final and could light up the tournament.

SEE MORE: World Cup Predictions: Groups A-D

There are few positions in sports as pressure-packed as that of World Cup manager. Here is a look at the 32 men privileged with that pressure heading into the start of the tournament in just three weeks time.

Group A

Stanislav Cherchesov, Russia

The man tasked with leading the home nation this summer? Not a foreign emissary like Guus Hiddink or Fabio Capello, not the popular former CSKA coach Leonoid Slutsky, but the comparatively underwhelming 54-year-old Stanislav Cherchesov.

Cherchesov, a former goalkeeper whose last job was in Polish football with Leiga Warsaw, is regarded coolly in Russia. He’s emphasized hard work and transition play, but friendly results have been terrible and the squad is bereft of talent.

Juan Antonio Pizzi, Saudi Arabia

With money no object, and patience in short supply, the Saudis have rifled through three managers in the last year. Former Netherlands coach Bert Van Marwijk qualified the team and then left after clashing with the FA, Edgardo Bauza had the job for two months, and then Pizzi – who failed to qualify Chile – was appointed.

The Argentina-born has a big job in front of him. He’s only been in charge for some six months, and the upheaval of the last year has taken its toll on the almost entirely domestically based team. Expectations are low.

Héctor Cúper, Egypt

The Argentinian Cúper took the Egypt job in 2015, and his timing couldn’t have been much better: two years later, thanks in very large part to Mohammad Salah, the Pharaohs qualified for the first World Cup in 28 years.

Cúper’s résumé includes stops at Valencia and Inter Milan, and he’s known as a fairly conservative coach. He and his team will go as far in this tournament as Salah can take them.

Óscar Tabárez, Uruguay

The oracle of modern Uruguayan football, Tabárez has been in charge of the national team for the last twelve years and is preparing to lead his country into the World Cup finals for the fourth time.

His hold over the program cannot be overstated. Of Uruguay’s ten most-capped players, all ten played for the man and eight for the majority of their national team careers. With a strong team and a weak group, expectations are high for Russia.

Group B

Fernando Santos, Portugal

His teams don’t play particularly enjoyable football, but Fernando Santos is a dead-eye tournament coach. He got Greece to within a penalty shootout of the quarterfinals at the 2014 World Cup, and then took an ordinary Portugal side all the way to glory in France at Euro 2016.

Santos’ teams are extremely hard to break down – Portugal didn’t conceded just one goal in four knockout games at the Euros – and completely bought in. They’re not going to blow teams away in Russia, but they’ll be an awfully tough out.

Julen Lopetegui, Spain

Lopetegui tasked himself with adding a pressing element to Spain’s measured, possession-based style after taking over from Vicente Del Bosque after Euro 2016, and the results in qualifying were excellent – a 3-0 dusting of Italy at the Santiago Bernabeau serving as a pièce de résistance.

Lopetegui cut his teeth coaching youth football, both with Real Madrid’s B team and the Spanish U19s, 20s, and 21s, and he’s also made a point of injecting youth into the team while maintaining its experience core.

It’s been a balancing act, but Spain appears poised to contend in a way they weren’t at the last two major tournaments.

Hervé Renard, Morocco

There are few more successful coaches in the history of African football than Renard, who is the only coach to win the African Cup of Nations with two different countries – Zambia in 2012, and the Ivory Coast in 2015.

Now, Renard is taking Morocco to the World Cup for the first time since 1998. His team was airtight defensively in qualifying, and they work extremely hard for one another. That, along with Renard’s track record in knockout competition, should have Spain and Portugal ever so slightly worried.

Carlos Queiroz, Iran

A failure with Real Madrid and Portugal, Queiroz has found new life as manager of Iran. He’s been in charge of Team Melli since 2011, and has gained considerable acclaim for qualifying them for consecutive World Cups.

Queiroz is colorful – he dared the Iranian FA to fire him in December, has clashed with opposing coaches, and criticized Iran’s preparation – but his team, while short on talent, is well organized and confident. He’ll have them up for the Portugal game in particular.

Group C

Didier Deschamps, France

Deschamps survived his team’s upset loss in the final of Euro 2016, and his reward has been the opportunity to continue his work with France’s most talented generation since the one he captained to the World Cup title on home soil in 1998.

In an illustration of their depth, just nine of the squad from two summers ago have made the team for Russia. But though Deschamps had his contract renewed for four more years, he’s been criticized for not getting more, more consistently, from his exceptionally capable team. The pressure is on.

Bert van Marwijk, Australia

Australia had a tumultuous road to Russia – going through two playoffs and traveling more miles than any other team in the world – and, though it ended happily, manager Ange Postecoglou decided he’d had enough: he resigned after the final qualifier, and is now coaching in Japan.

Postecoglou was hugely influential, playing an extremely attacking brand of football, and van Marwijk has big shoes to fill. He’s a pragmatic coach (as the 2010 final attests) but he’ll do well not to tinker too much with Postecoglou’s formula.

Ricardo Gareca, Peru

Soccer-crazed Peru’s qualification for its first World Cup since 1982 was one of the best stories of qualifying.

Their buildup to the tournament, though, has been dominated by star striker Paulo Guerrero’s drug ban. He’s now set to miss the tournament, though the country’s president has called on its law enforcement apparatus to intervene on his behalf.

Whatever happens, the well-traveled Ricardo Gareca, tasting the tournament for the first time after being left out of the Argentina team that won it all in 1986, has molded a well-balanced, aggressive team. A win or two, and he’s a national hero.

Åge Hareide, Denmark

Morton Olsen’s resignation after he failed to qualify Denmark for Euro 2016 marked the end of an era. Olsen had been the longest-tenured manager in international football, in charge of the Danes since 2000.

In his place, Denmark opted for more experience. The former Norway coach Hareide has won titles at the club level in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, and he’s a fairly commanding presence.

Group D

Jorge Sampaoli, Argentina

Sampaoli made Chile one of the world’s most fearsome teams earlier in the decade, and, having guided Sevilla into the Champions League, was the obvious choice to take over from Bauza with his native country struggling in qualifying last year.

The hope was that Sampaoli’s Marcelo Bielsa-inspired frenetic, high pressing system would give Argentina an identity outside of Lionel Messi, but that has yet to happen. It took a Messi hat trick to secure qualification, and the team is still lost without him.

Sampaoli is a hugely capable coach, but he has big job in front of him to get Argentina in shape mentally and tactically before the tournament starts.

Heimir Hallgrímsson, Iceland

Co-manager with Lars Lagerback at Euro 2016, the native Icelander Hallgrímsson, a trained dentist who has also coached professional women’s football is now alone in charge and preparing to lead his side into their first ever World Cup.

Hallgrímsson has kept the team from the Euros almost completely intact, and because of how long they’ve played together, Iceland functions more like a club team than a national team. It’s an extremely tight-knit group, and the coach is an integral part of it.

Zlatko Dalic, Croatia

As is typical, there was drama abound in qualifying for Croatia. No one was particularly sad to see Ante Cacic go when he was fired just days before the final qualifier against Ukraine, but neither was anyone particularly heartened when they learned the identity of his successor.

Dalic’s appointment came out of left field. The 51-year-old was known to his bosses from his stint coaching the country’s U21s, but he had been coaching in the Middle East since 2010 and was only a middling player.

He’s appointed a famous assistant coach in Ivica Olic, but he’s fighting an uphill battle for respect ahead of the tournament.

Gernot Rohr, Nigeria

A stalwart defender for Bordeaux in the 80s, Rohr moved from France to Africa in 2010 and took the Nigeria job in 2016 after spells in charge of Gabon, Niger, and Burkina Faso, and worked wonders almost immediately.

Rohr is known as a disciplinarian and a perfectionist, but he’s done well to trust younger players during his two years in charge rejuvenate a team that has endured a difficult decade. What kind of freedom he allows them to play with in Russia remains to be seen.

Group E

Tite, Brazil

Brazil should have hired Tite after the 2014 World Cup, but they made the baffling decision to rehire Dunga instead and paid two years’ worth of moribund performances. Tite finally got the call in the summer of 2016, and he hasn’t disappointed.

The longtime Corinthians coach is a renowned tactician, and he’s done his part to Europeanize Brazil. The team is improved in transition and more cohesive on both sides of the ball than they have been in years.

Tite can communicate too – former Uruguay captain Diego Lugano once called him a “snake charmer” – and Dani Alvas said he’s best coach he’s ever played for. He has his country believing again.

Vladimir Petkovic, Switzerland

A Bosnian-Croat migrant to Switzerland shortly before the outbreak of the Bosnian War, Petkovic is a fascinating character: he speaks eight languages and worked for a Catholic social services organization while launching his coaching career.

He’s now coming up on four years in charge of the Swiss, and has already had his contract extended for another two after this summer’s tournament. Results during his tenure thus far have been solid if unspectacular, reflecting the team’s talent level, and a knockout round appearance would likely qualify this summer as a success.

Oscar Ramirez, Costa Rica

A legend with Costa Rican club giant Alejuelense, Ramirez signed on to be Paulo Wonchope’s assistant with the Ticos in 2015 but was thrust shortly thereafter into the hotseat when Wonchope departed after getting into a fight at a game in Panama.

So far, things have gone smoothly. Costa Rica qualified in style, winning the Hexagonal, and Ramirez’s 5-4-1 has been extraordinarily difficult to break down. No one in Costa Rica expects a repeat of four years ago, but this team should compete.

Mladen Krstajic, Serbia

A star center back for Serbia and Montenegro’s combined 2006 World Cup team and Bundesliga veteran as a player, Krastajic was a part of Slavoljub Muslin’s staff and took over when Muslin was fired shortly after qualification had been secured.

With no prior management experience, Krastajic faces a steep learning curve. He’s changed Serbia’s formation from a 3-4-3 to a 4-3-3 and stripped Branislav Ivanovic of the captaincy, and still has questions to answer before the tournament starts.

Group F

Joachim Low, Germany

Low is an institution with Germany, and twelve years into his reign, he no plans to go anywhere: despite being linked to Arsenal and Bayern Munich in recent months, he just extended his contract with the national team through 2022.

Low leads hugely sophisticated, data-driven German program, and his teams are consistently cohesive and mentally tough. A seventh straight major tournament semifinal is the minimum expectation, but victory would cement his place in history.

Juan Carlos Osorio, Mexico

Osorio is an eccentric, and he has been criticized mercilessly in Mexico – especially for his squad rotation policy – and his having made it to this stage as Mexico coach at all, after humiliating tournament defeats in the last two summers, is a minor miracle.

And yet, the Colombian is popular with his team and apparently turned down the opportunity to extend his contract earlier in the year. His name has been floated for the US job, but much will depend on how far he can take El Tri this summer.

Janne Andersson, Sweden

Andersson took over after a poor Euro 2016 campaign, and did a fabulous job to get Sweden to this World Cup – going through the Netherlands and Italy, and doing it without Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

To his credit, Andersson turned down the chance to bring Ibrahimovic back into the fold ahead of the tournament. The team as it stands doesn’t have a ton of talent, but works hard and is difficult to play against.

Shin Tae-yong, South Korea

Shin coached the U20s and U23s in recent years while serving as assistant for the senior team before taking charge with South Korea laboring towards the end of the final qualification round.

Shin’s hopes are pinned on Tottenham star Song Heung-min, whom the boss fears might be burned out after the long European club season. Expectations are low, and the game against Sweden is a must-win.

Group G

Roberto Martinez, Belgium

Belgium has a stupendously talented team, but the incompetent coaching of Marc Wilmots hamstrung it at the last two major tournaments. Martinez, a football intellectual and an absolute gentleman, makes them real contenders.

But, despite an unbeaten qualifying campaign, challenges remain. Kevin De Bruyne criticized Martinez’s tactics last year, and the Spaniard’s preferred 5-3-2 is liable to be overrun in midfield. The team’s mentality is another question – one that helps explain Thierry Henry’s presence as an assistant.

Hernan Dario Gomez, Panama

Gomez is a hugely experienced coach, previously taking both Colombia and Ecuador to the World Cup, and he did a superb job to navigate a meagerly talented Panama team to their first ever appearance at the finals

Gomez isn’t exactly a feel-good story, however. His second spell in charge of Colombia ended in 2011 after he was observed assaulting a woman outside of a Bogotá nightclub.

Nabil Maaloul, Tunisia

The former Tunisian international took the reigns of the national team for a second time just over a year ago, and led the The Eagles of Carthage back to the World Cup for the first time since 2006 after failing to get them there in 2014 and promptly resigning.

Maaloul has injury concerns to deal with, and the unenviable task of contending with both Belgium and England. But his team are well disciplined and strong, especially in midfield, and he’ll relish the chance to finally participate in the finals.

Gareth Southgate, England

Happy with his role leading the U21s, Southgate refused a promotion to the senior management job after Euro 2016, but was pressed in service by default when Sam Allardyce had to resign in a transfer bung scandal.

Southgate’s appointment inspired little fanfare, but the 47-year-old done good work in his eighteen months in charge – turning the squad over by trusting younger players and shedding declining veterans, and experimenting with a back five.

No one expects much from this England team, but Southgate has at a minimum set them – and himself – up for future success.

Group H

Adam Nawalka, Poland

Polish football is in the midst of a renaissance of sorts, and the Krakow native Nawalka has overseen it since 2013 – taking the national team to the quarterfinals of Euro 2016 and now to a first World Cup since ’06.

The coach is popular at home, and his side scored almost three goals per game in qualifying. Robert Lewandowski is to thank for much of that production, but there’s more to the team than just him. Another quarterfinal place is the target.

Aliou Cissé, Senegal

Cissé was handed the Senegal U23 job just six years after the end of his playing career in 2013, and he took over the top job two years later. At 42, he’ll be the tournament’s youngest coach.

He has a talented team, the best Senegal has produced since the 2002 side that beat France, but there are doubts centered on his lack of experience and tactical acumen. Should Senegal fail at this tournament, he’ll face the music.

José Pékerman, Colombia

The Argentinian Pékerman, one of the game’s most respected elder statesmen, was made a Colombian citizen after qualifying the national team for the 2014 World Cup – an accomplishment he called one of the proudest of his life.

The good times have continued to roll from there. Colombia went to the quarterfinals in Brazil, and appear capable of a similar run in Russia. Pékerman connects with his players, and his experience is unmatched in this group.

Akira Nishino, Japan

Vahid Halilhodžić’s Algeria team was one of the best stories of the 2014 World Cup, but the Bosnian ultimately couldn’t survive a rocky qualification campaign and his decision to drop aging stars Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa. He was fired in April.

In his place, on extremely short notice, Japan tapped Akira Nishino, the football association’s technical director and a former AFC Champions League winner with Gamba Osaka. Nishino has reinstated Honda and Kagawa, but morale is low.

On March 3, MLS will kick off its 23rd season featuring a new team in Los Angeles, a new stadium in DC, and new investments in first-teams and academies across the league that have raised the bar again.

1. Portland Timbers

What’s To Like: Despite losing two franchise cornerstones in Caleb Porter and Darlington Nagbe in November and December, Timbers fans are almost giddy for 2018.

There are a few reasons why. One is that Gio Savarese, brought in from the New York Cosmos to replace Porter, looks like the real deal – a bilingual coach with energy, ideas, and the same natural command that Porter himself showed when he took the reigns so memorably in 2013.

The other plus-note is that the roster – which was good enough to win the Western Conference last year before injuries derailed the team’s postseason – has been improved.

Nagbe might be gone, but ten starters are returning and the bench has been completely overhauled with young, TAM-level players who should log big minutes.

What’s Not To Like: The Timbers were hugely reliant on Diego Valeri last season, all the more so after Fanendo Adi went down in August, and while there’s no reason to believe Valeri won’t be great again in 2018, he also likely won’t score 21 goals.

Like Seattle, and though there certainly has been an infusion of youth, Portland’s best players are older and/or coming off of injuries. Valeri, Adi, Diego Chara, Liam Ridgewell all fall into that camp.

Injuries crushed both the team’s Supporters’ Shield hopes last year as well as their MLS Cup hopes, but the other big problem was defense – and between Jeff Attinella and Jake Gleeson, the goalkeeper spot is still unsettled.

We’ll also get a good idea fairly early of just how important Nagbe was for all he did for this team that didn’t show up in the boxscore – holding the ball, connecting passes, shifting the field, etc.

Watchability: Best in the Western Conference. Providence Park is still the gold standard for per-person passion in MLS, and the Timbers will play with intensity and verve.

In the booth, Jake Zivin and Ross Smith will comprise the club’s best broadcast team since the halcyon days of John Strong and Robbie Earle.

Projection: Savarese has waited a long time to jump into MLS, and his debut season is going to be worth watching. The Timbers will compete for the West title again.

2. Seattle Sounders

What’s To Like: Seattle made MLS Cup at a walking pace last season, and are just a year and change removed from winning the championship. The club has still never missed the playoffs since it’s been in the league. These guys are about as reliable as it gets.

They’ve had a good winter too. A younger center back is on the way, and Magnus Eikrem is important attacking depth. A fully acclimated Victor Rodriguez won’t hurt either.

The spine of the team remains tough – especially in midfield and defense – and there’s a lot of veteran leadership.

What’s Not To Like: Losing Jordan Morris to a torn ACL is a huge, huge blow. That’s the first line. Morris seemed primed to take a step forward in his third pro season, and the Sounders have no one else who can stretch defenses like he can.

Joevin Jones was really effective for this team last year, whether it was from fullback or midfield, and Waylon Francis is going to be an attacking downgrade.

But the big red flag is the age of the core. Chad Marshall and Roman Torres are both on the wrong side of 30, Clint Dempsey is nearing the end, and Osvaldo Alonso was a shell of himself last year.

The age of the team might explain, at least in part, why the Sounders have gotten off to such slow starts the last two seasons – both in terms of pace of play, which was glacial at times last year, and results.

The slow starts didn’t matter in 2016 because of how strong they came on once Nico Lodiero came aboard, and didn’t matter last year because the Western Conference was abysmal, but it’s going to be harder to overcome this year.

Watchability: The Sounders are always entertaining, even if they don’t play one of the league’s more watchable styles. CenturyLink is a big time atmosphere, and even Kasey Keller has improved behind the mic in recent years. Seattle is a first-rate franchise.

Projection: It remains to be seen whether the Sounders can get out of first gear, but even in first gear, they’ll contend to make it three straight MLS Cup appearances.

3. Real Salt Lake

What’s To Like: This is a club that’s feeling awfully good about itself heading into 2018. Mike Petke was a jolt of energy when he replaced Jeff Cassar last year, and he’s got a young, hungry team backed by an owner who has seemingly gone from one of the league’s worst to one of its best overnight.

At their best last year, RSL pulsated. Their attacking line, with Jefferson Savarino, Joao Plata, Albert Rusnak, Brooks Lennon, or whoever it was, could run teams off the field like no other club in the league besides Portland, Atlanta, or TFC last year – and Salt Lake did it without an elite striker.

Petke and Craig Waibel think they’ve solved that problem with the signing of Alberto Ortuño from Spanish football. Luis Silva is still serviceable, but Ortuño was the big pickup in an offseason marked by youth signings and the outright purchase of Lennon from Liverpool.

Justin Glad and Marcelo Silva anchor a defense that should be among the league’s better units this year.

What’s Not To Like: Kyle Beckerman will be 36 and Nick Rimando will be 39. Rimando in particular showed signs of slipping last year, which is the last thing anyone – at RSL or not – wants to see.

There’s also a question of consistency. Petke’s teams have always been up-and-down, and this is largely a young team without a lot of MLS experience. How will it navigate a long season as a contender?

One thing last year made clear is that RSL needs Glad on the field. Their record without him was abysmal, and they haven’t improved lacking depth in central defense or midfield.

Watchability: This was an extremely fun team to watch in the second half last year, and while there’s nothing fancy about the Rio Tinto, it’s a good atmosphere when Salt Lake is winning. Brian Dunseth’s commentary, while sharp, is overbearing.

Projection: After just missing out last year, RSL should be solidly in the playoffs this year and better-positioned to compete once there than at any point since Jason Kreis left.

4. LA Galaxy

What’s To Like: Since taking the reigns last summer, Sigi Schmid hasn’t looked back. The Galaxy have been completely remade, and have gone from one of the conference’s least talented teams to one of its most talented teams.

Perry Kitchen, Ola Kamara, David Bingham, Jørgen Skjelvik all fill gaping holes, and picking up pieces like Chris Pontius and the potential Rookie of the Year in Stanford’s Thomas Hilliard-Arce won’t hurt either.

All of the sudden, this team has – so long as it finds the right center back pairing – everything it needs: an excellent central midfield partnership, a playmaker, a #9, a couple of goal-dangerous wingers, and a goalkeeper. It was a ruthlessly effective offseason.

If that’s not enough, Zlatan’s arrival is likely just a matter of time.

What’s Not To Like: This team made a big call when it bought Jonathan dos Santos last summer, and, thus far the younger dos Sanots has been less than convincing.

Bigger picture, Schmid needs to figure out who the personalities in his team are. Ashley Cole has been a stalwart, but it says something when he’s your captain.

In the last couple of years, the club has lost Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane, Jelle Van Damme, and a whole host of other players who set the right tone – not to mention Bruce Arena, whose ability to set a good tone was always, at least until last year, one of his best traits.

Who steps into that leadership void? Romain Alessandrini is a big personality, but is there a leader in the middle of the field? Last year, when there wasn’t, the team cratered.

Watchability: Joe Tutino is a great game-caller, Cobi Jones is pleasant alongside him, and the Galaxy will benefit in every way from the new rivalry with LAFC – not to mention the vastly improved team.

Projection: The Galaxy are going to be good. How good depends on the how well all the new players mesh, and how dialed in the dos Santos brothers are.

5. Sporting Kansas City

What’s To Like: Defense, defense, defense.

Tim Melia had a monster season in goal last year – close to anything Nick Rimando has ever done – and the team only conceded 29 goals all of last season. Back to front, it was a phenomenal effort.

Offense, as usual, was the problem. But Peter Vermes has taken more drastic steps to fix the goalscoring issues this season than he has the past several years, bringing in attacking players from Yohan Croizet to Khiry Shelton to Felipe Gutierrez.

Dom Dwyer and Benny Feilhaber are gone, and Sporting probably sold both guys at the right time. As a dealer, Vermes is unrivaled in MLS. This is a first rate club with seven straight playoff appearances and a lot of hardware. There’s been a lot of success, and that isn’t about to change.

What’s Not To Like: There’s still no obvious elite attacker, or, with Feilhaber gone, a true #10. Shelton has been good in preseason, and the club likes Daniel Salloi and Diego Rubio, but none are guys you’d bank on making an MLS Cup run behind.

But maybe the even bigger question is why Sporting collapses in the second half every year. The team always starts hot, fades late, and loses on the road in the Wild Card round. It’s happened every year since the club won MLS Cup 2013.

The intensity of pressing system very well might be to blame. Can Vermes stomach letting up in the first half to help save his players’ legs? So far, it hasn’t happened.

Watchability: Sporting’s fans are fantastic, and Children’s Mercy Park is an excellent venue. The issue is its size. The stadium is one of MLS’s smallest, and it’s due for an expansion.

On the field, Sporting is great to watch because they’re so well coached and play such good defense. They won’t give you a lot of goals, but they’re a fairly unique MLS club in how defined Vermes’ ethos is.

One drawback last year was color man Matt Lawrence, who was nearly unlistenable. Here’s hoping he improves drastically in his second season in KC.

Projection: Sporting has some new faces, but they’re going to play the same game they’ve always played under Vermes. The defending will be excellent, they’ll play hard and smart, and they’ll struggle to get goals in the fall.

6. FC Dallas

What’s To Like: 2017 is over.

Dallas’ free-fall out of the playoffs and down to eighth place last season was one of the most shocking in-season collapses in MLS history. It was a mess. No one in the locker-room was happy, for various reasons, and Oscar Pareja didn’t handle it at all well.

The offseason, then, has been a breath of fresh air. Walker Zimmerman is gone, but Maxi Urruti seems recommitted to the cause, and Santiago Mosquera – a big buy from Millionarios – should help with the goalscoring load.

What’s Not To Like: For all their good work in finding young talent, Oscar Pareja and Co. have done pretty, pretty poorly in buying senior players in the last couple of years. They desperately need Mosquera to come good. It wouldn’t hurt if a couple of those busts – Roland Lamah or Cristian Coleman – came around either.

The player Dallas needs at his best most, though, is Mauro Diaz. The playmaker never got right last year coming off of an ACL tear suffered at the end of 2016, and there’s no replacing him.

Overall, it’s a big year for Pareja. Last season did a number on what was an excellent reputation, without which he almost certainly would have been fired. He needs a bounce-back campaign.

Watchability: Low. The team was last in the league in attendance last season, and – though Mark Followill is getting some FOX love – the broadcast is no better than average.

US Soccer Hall of Fame or not, as long as the stadium is in Frisco, it’s going to be one of the league’s worst atmospheres.

Projection: It’s hard to imagine that this season will be the nightmare last season was, but Dallas’ ceiling is still likely lower than it was in 2015 and 2016.

7. Los Angeles FC

What’s To Like: LAFC have certainly done more right than they’ve done wrong in the buildup to their first season.

Bob Bradley was a slam-dunk coaching hire, and he and John Thorrington have done good work in assembling a roster that is full of big résumés, well balanced between youth and experienced, and set up to score a ton of goals.

Carlos Vela, Diego Rossi, and Andre Horta should be one of the best trios of DPs in the league, and the defense will be anchored by a pair of center backs – Laurent Ciman and Walker Zimmerman – who have both been at a Best XI level in the last two years.

What’s Not To Like: This will change, we assume, but LAFC is really, really thin. They have the fewest players of any team in the league, and need some proven depth at pretty much every position except fullback.

The team also doesn’t have a lot of players who are in their age primes. There’s a contingent of young players – prospects – and a significant number of important players who are older.

Benny Feilhaber slowed somewhat last season with Sporting KC, and LAFC is about to hand him a lot of attacking responsibility.

Watchability: This team should be really, really entertaining. Bob Bradley is an attacking coach, and he’s assembling a team that’s going to have a lot of forward-thinking players. The preseason games have had some crazy scorelines.

Banc of California Stadium looks like it’s going to be a gem, and tickets have sold extremely well. It’s unlikely that any LA team will ever have a truly rabid fanbase, but this team might come close. We’ll see.

Then there’s the TV deal with YouTube, which is a big risk. We’ll get a better idea of how that’s playing pretty quick. Max Bretos as lead announcer, though, is a move no one can argue with.

Projection: We had a pretty good idea that last year that Atlanta was going to compete and Minnesota wasn’t. It’s less clear where this LAFC team will fall in the league pecking order, but they should be entertaining at the very least.

8. Houston Dynamo

What’s To Like: Wilmer Cabrera did an excellent job with this team last year, constructing with Matt Jordan a roster that blended some legitimate young Central American talent with a bunch of MLS vets who know how to win.

Alberth Elis and Romell Quioto were both unplayable at times, and Mauro Manotas had his moments too, and the Dynamo took advantage of a soft Western Conference to run all the way to within a series of MLS Cup. It was a great year.

That frontline of Elis, Quioto, and Manotas is back for 2018, and should be even better. Manotas is now the fulltime starter with Cubo Torres mercifully gone, and the central midfield of Eric Alexander and Juan David Cabezas is strong too.

Houston is a stout team with some game-breakers – more than you can say for at least half of MLS.

What’s Not To Like: Much like the next team on this last, Houston’s reliance on the counter to score their goals is troubling. They need another gear – one that would look a lot like Tómas Martinez playing the DP ten he was brought in to be.

Houston caught a lot of teams off guard last year, but that isn’t about to happen again. How can Cabrera diversify the team’s style? That’s a make-or-break question this year.

It’s also tough that Houston will be without AJ DeLaGarza, one of last year’s stalwarts, until at least the late summer as recovers from a torn ACL. That, along with the goalkeeping situation, leaves big question marks on the backline.

Those questions haven’t really been answered. Alejandro Fuenmayor is an intriguing singing, but he, Chris Seitz, Darwin Ceren, and Arturo Alvarez doesn’t constitute much of an offseason haul.

Watchability: BBVA is never more than half-full – a real blemish for MLS, considering that it’s a very nice stadium in a good location – and it hurts that the Dynamo aren’t relevant in their own market.

Glenn Davis isn’t for everyone, but he’s MLS through-and-through, and Eddie Robinson does a really good job alongside him. Any chance to watch DaMarcus Beasley is a blessing.

Projection: I think the Dynamo are due for a slide down what will be an improved Western Conference, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see them surprise either.

9. Vancouver Whitecaps

What’s To Like: You – and should – hate the way the Whitecaps play, but it was effective in 2017. Vancouver finished just one point off of the top of the Western Conference and finally got a playoff win before bowing out against Seattle.

A lot of the ‘Caps success last year had to do with Kendall Waston, who got the captain’s armband, settled down, and turned in a campaign that easily could have won him Defender of the Year.

That said, Vancouver was pretty, pretty good on the counter last year. They scored 50 goals, and got a lot of production from their fleet of fast attackers that includes Yordy Reyna, Nico Mezquida, and Christian Techera.

Fredy Montero is gone this year, but Kei Kamara – who’s a stylistic fit, for better or worse – will come and get on the end of a lot of crosses.

What’s Not To Like: Vancouver plays terrible soccer, they overachieved last year, and they’re going to come back to earth this year.

The ‘Caps aren’t nearly as challenged offensively as the Colorado team that won West in 2016, but playing exclusively on the counter with no ability to generate chances from midfield is not a recipe for sustainable success in MLS.

Vancouver’s playoff exit against the Sounders was a perfect example of why. A competent defensive team simply won’t let you play on the counter. In that series, even though they were chasing or should have been chasing a goal nearly the entire time, the ‘Caps got off just one shot on target over 180+ minutes. One.

With Kamara in the fold, you’re going to see Vancouver hit even more long-balls and crosses than ever. Carl Robinson is all in.

That’s not all though. Matias Laba and Tony Tchani were good for this team in midfield, and they’re both gone – replaced by a longtime fullback in Efrain Juarez and maybe Jordan Mutch? On balance, I don’t think this has been a good offseason.

Watchability: That run-and-gun style the Whitecaps play can be fun at home in the right game, but this team is pretty miserable to watch on the road. Peter Schaad is a fun broadcaster, though, and BC Place – while not Portland or Seattle – an above-average atmosphere.

Projection: The Whitecaps will get their wins at home, but they’re going to be passed by a bunch of better teams this year – much like they were in 2016 after a strong 2015.

10. Minnesota United

What’s To Like: From about late May on last year, Minnesota really wasn’t bad. They weren’t great, by any stretch of the imagination, but they were a middle-of-the-pack Western Conference team.

Because of that – because Adrian Heath and Co. righted the ship after that historically bad start last spring – the Loons have a lot to build on heading into their sophomore season.

Christian Ramriez, who scored 14 goals in 2017, finally got a look at a national team camp. Ethan Finley has some charge, Kevin Molino produces, Ibson is a ton of fun, Sam Cronin is nails, Abu Danladi might be a star – there are pieces here.

Regardless, this year will be easier. United was so, so rushed in trying to get itself ready for last season, and this year they have their feet under them. It will help.

What’s Not To Like: It wasn’t exactly for a lack of trying – the club made runs at Sacha Kljestan, Yamil Asad, and Nicolas Benedetti – but the Loons are not measurably better right now than they were in October.

Furthermore, though Benedetti still might get done in the summer, it’s a little troubling that the club’s front office wasn’t able to pull a big move off. Minnesota still doesn’t have a DP, and that’s just not going to fly in MLS in 2018.

The concern about the offseason isn’t just about the moves that didn’t happen. The Loons are still stockpiling wingers, to what end no one knows, and a defense that conceded 70 goals last year hasn’t been significantly improved. Bertrand Eko’o might help, but Tyrone Mears is washed up and shouldn’t be playing.

It’s a particularly big year for Heath. The club will make a fresh start when they move into their stadium in St. Paul next year, and there must be marked improvement if the club is going to stick with him. He could use a real playmaker.

Watchability: The Loons have a nice broadcast – and just signed a deal with Fox Sports Minnesota that will get their games on TV across the state, as well as in Wisconsin – and Heath himself is excellent television.

Last year’s Minnesota team played some fun soccer, and, at the very least, their games were reliably entertaining.

Projection: A lot depends on whether they can pull off a big move or two in the summer, but I don’t think Minnesota can be consistent enough this year to make the playoffs.

11. San Jose Earthquakes

What’s To Like: San Jose was a playoff team last year, they’ve got an interesting collection of players, and a new coach in Swede Mikael Stahre whose vision is firmly in line with GM Jesse Fioranelli’s.

That vision, in part, is to play better soccer – something San Jose needs to do to get back to winning consistently, and one of the big reasons why Dom Kinnear lost his job last year even with the team in a playoff spot.

It was also the right move to return Chris Leitch to the front office. It was a short audition, but he didn’t have the chops for the full-time job.

The hope for this year is that some of the team’s younger players – Tommy Thompson, Nick Lima – make big steps. Yeferson Quintana should be a good pickup at center back.

What’s Not To Like: They might have made the playoffs this year, but that 5-0 loss in the Wild Card round in Vancouver was a solid indicator of how good the ‘Quakes really were last year. They weren’t.

I’m not totally sure that changed this offseason. Stahre was an extremely strange hire, and the process of getting to him from Kinnear was uneven at best.

I don’t know what the plan is in central midfield, but it’s likely not going to be pretty. It’s also unclear how the ‘Quakes are going get wide spacing, especially if they play two natural tens – Vako and Jahmir Hyka – in wide positions. The team is unbalanced.

There’s also the fact that Chris Wondolowski has been this team’s only reliable producer for years, and he’s now 35. Can he score his thirteen goals again? Is Magnus Eriksson’s success in Sweden going to translate? The jury is very much out.

Watchability: Pretty low, though the team might play better soccer under Stahre than it ever did under Kinnear/Mark Watson/Frank Yallop.

The atmosphere at Avaya is badly hampered by the fact that no one is ever in their seats. The bar under the scoreboard is a cool feature, but there’s a real drawback.

In an attempt to improve the atmosphere, the club is moving their incorrigible supporters’ group, the 1906 Ultras, down to field level behind the goal opposite the scoreboard. It’s a good move on balance, though the Ultras’ numbers are small.

Projection: 11th is probably low for San Jose, but I don’t think this is a playoff team and I don’t think it’s going to be particularly close.

12. Colorado Rapids

What’s To Like: Uh, Dominic Badji maybe?

The cupboard remains pretty bare in Colorado. Anthony Hudson gives the Rapids a sense of forward momentum that they lacked last year, and always lacked under Pablo Mastroeni, and the club is certainly going an interesting route with its player recruitment – mining for talent in the English second and third divisions, instead of South and Central America like the rest of the league.

It also looks like Hudson will import his 5-3-2 from New Zealand, so there’s that. The Rapids aren’t following the playbook, and for that, you might applaud them.

What’s Not To Like: There’s a 98 percent chance that this team is going to be abjectly terrible again.

These guys scored less than a goal per game last year, and their response was to hire a coach with an extraordinarily thin résumé and no MLS experience and load him up with a guys from Wolves and Ipswich.

I don’t think this team knows how to play offense, and there’s no reason right now to believe that Hudson can teach them. The backline should be strong, but there are real question marks at this point about Tim Howard’s effectiveness in goal. He was statistically a below-average goalkeeper last year.

Watchability: Never watch the Rapids.

Projection: Another last place finish.

On March 3, MLS will kick off its 23rd season featuring a new team in Los Angeles, a new stadium in DC, and new investments in first-teams and academies across the league that have raised the bar again.

1. Toronto FC

What’s To Like: Pretty much everything. Toronto more or less returns the best team in MLS history and should threaten to win the CONCACAF Champions League.

To replace the one starter they lost in Steven Beitashour, TFC went out and got a World Cup finalist in Gregory van der Wiel. They’ve also got a 24-year-old attacking midfielder coming in from Athletic Bilbao in Ager Aketxe.

This team has been firing on all cylinders for a year. There are no signs of it slowing down.

What’s Not To Like: Defending champions usually struggle. Repeats in MLS are exceedingly rare, and slow starts for the previous year’s winner exceedingly common. The urgency just isn’t there like it is, say, when you lost last year’s final on penalties.

How does Toronto avoid that? For one, the expanding cap has allowed the Reds to keep most all of their championship-winning roster intact – one benefit they have that many former champs haven’t.

People are certainly excited about Gregory van der Wiel, and for good reason, but he’s struggled the last couple of years and is a question mark in a lineup without many of them.

Watchability: Never has TFC been more popular in Toronto, where they are expecting to fill BMO Field night in and night out this season. TSN’s Luke Weilman is the league’s best announcer on either side of the Canadian border, and former Toronto center back Steven Caldwell is solid accompaniment.

But the premium entertainment remains Giovinco, whose every free kick is must-watch television.

Projection: I don’t think TFC is going anywhere. This club feels focused enough to become a dynasty – or at least win the Eastern Conference again trying.

2. Atlanta United

What’s To Like: Smashing the MLS transfer record? Atlanta didn’t have many ways to raise the bar after their debut season, but spending more than $15 million to snatch Argentine starlet Ezequiel Barco was one.

Bringing in Darlington Nagbe for nearly a $1 million from Portland didn’t hurt either. Atlanta is adding to the best offense in the league two of the most talented attackers now in the league.

The club also held onto Miguel Almiron and Josef Martinez, and if they can keep both healthy, one should win MVP. The offense, if you haven’t gotten the gist, is phenomenal. The defense, with a full year of Brad Guzan in goal, shouldn’t be bad either.

What’s Not To Like: Carlos Carmona, who unexpectedly returned to Chile for family reasons during camp, is a huge loss. It was his tenacity in central midfield, along, to maybe a lesser extent, with Jeff Larentowicz’s, that allowed Atlanta’s attackers to wreck havoc so often last season.

If Atlanta doesn’t bring in a six, they’re in trouble. Nagbe is excellent going forward when lined up in central midfield, but he’s not going to win the ball.

Chris McCann shouldn’t be an everyday starter at this point in his career, and Larentowicz has been lining up at center back thus far in a preseason that has seen Atlanta ship a lot of goals.

If this team doesn’t improve in central midfield, it’s going to be exposed defensively. And how long is Michael Parkhurst – and Michael Parkhurst’s 33-games-a-season health – going to hold up?

Watchability: It’s off the charts. With respect to a bunch of good teams down the years, Atlanta last season was more compelling than anything the league has ever produced.

The support was staggering, and it was only matched by a team that was stacked with young talent, played a million miles an hour, and ran teams off the field week after week. Martinez was scary, and Almiron was mesmerizing.

This year should be no different. The only drawback is that the great Alan Green will not be returning to call games. With Atlanta on national TV 20 times this season, there simply aren’t enough games for him to call to make leaving England worth it. Such is the price of success.

Projection: The defensive midfield situation is a serious concern, but this team is going to score a ton of goals and win a lot of games. It should be a seriously fun year in ATL.

3. New York City FC

What’s To Like: NYCFC has been a surefire winner the from the minute Patrick Vieira set foot Stateside, and last year’s team – which was one of MLS’s best from start to finish – has been improved upon.

That’s largely because Andrea Pirlo’s DP spot is now occupied by 20-year-old Paraguayan playmaker Jesus Medina, who should slide into the lineup in Jack Harrison’s place.

Grabbing Saad Abdul-Salaam from Sporting for Khiry Shelton was an excellent move, as was hanging on – unexpectedly – to Yangel Herrera.

Between Herrera and Alex Ring, plus the likes of Rodney Wallace and Ronald Matarrita, NYC has bite. They don’t overwhelm teams, exactly, but they’re consistent. They’ve been beating the Red Bulls the last two years too.

What’s Not To Like: David Villa’s age. The captain has always been spry, and he’s showed no signs of slowing, but he’s 36 this year and NYC is hugely reliant on him for goals.

Compared to Atlanta and Toronto, and even Chicago last year, NYCFC was playing with finer margins. Their goal difference was good, but it was only one better than Houston’s.

There’s also the fact, down the line, but relevant, that this team has flamed out in the first round of the playoffs each year Vieira has been in charge. That’s a trendline that has to change.

Watchability: The team is good, Joe Tolleson is great, but Yankee Stadium is an absolute killer. Games there are unwatchable. It’s a terrible look for MLS.

Projection: It’ll be another good year for NYCFC, but it’ll be judged by what they do in the postseason.

4. New York Red Bulls

What’s To Like: Jesse Marsch continues to do his thing. The Red Bulls traded their captain again this winter, sending Sacha Kljestan to Orlando, and they may be sending another franchise cornerstone, Felipe, to Vancouver.

No one is untouchable in Harrison, where the system – and, these days, Tyler Adams – are king.

What will the system be this year? It’s anyone’s guess. The high press will be involved, but whether it’s a 3-3-3-1 or a 4-2-2-2, it’s going to be innovative and it’s going to force teams to get creative.

Marsch is an excellent coach, and he’s going to mold a competitive team. He’s going to need Kaku to be worth the wait, but with or without Felipe, the spine of the team is younger and very well might be stronger than it was last season.

What’s Not To Like: Moving on from Kljestan is a big gamble. This is a player who had 37 assists in the last two seasons and 51 in his Red Bulls career. He was really, really good for this team. Without him last year, they couldn’t create any offense.

There’s also this to consider: losing Dax McCarty last year hurt. The Red Bulls were still good, and a mighty tough out in the playoffs, but they weren’t nearly as good as they were in Marsch’s first two seasons.

The Red Bulls should be trying to win now. But it feels like they’ve made lateral moves two winters in a row.

Watchability: The Red Bulls are a fun team to watch, if only because they are tactically more interesting that just about anyone else in MLS, and they reliably play hard.

The broadcast is largely enjoyable, but you do wonder how much better the atmosphere at Red Bull Arena would be if it had 5,000 fewer seats.

Projection: Similar to last year. This is a really well-coached team with some strong characters, and they’ll be in the mix. But it likely isn’t championship material.

5. Orlando City

What’s To Like: This was a tour de force of an offseason for Orlando. They’ve brought in the reigning assist king, a star winger, a championship-winning defensive mid, a Bundesliga center back, the reigning NASL goal king, and a 19-year-old DP playmaker.

No team was more aggressive this winter with TAM than the Lions, and the result is a stacked roster. The Lions have upgraded nearly every position on the field, and finally evened out a roster that was bloated with big, underperforming contracts in 2016 and ’17.

Kljestan and Meram are better players than anyone Orlando started last season with, while Jason Kreis is extremely high on that young DP Jouse Colman. Stefano Pino, who lit up Orlando in the Open Cup last year with Miami, is going to be important to supplement Dom Dwyer.

What’s Not To Like: How is everyone going to fit on the field? A lot will depend on where Kreis decides to line up Kljestan and Coleman. Either way, one will be playing slightly out of position.

Kreis could go with the diamond, which would likely see Kljestan in a wide role, or he could play with two holding midfielders to get more defensive cover with Christian Higuita or Will Johnson in the lineup alongside Uri Rosell.

There’s always pressure in Orlando, and there’s even more pressure right now with the team having missed the playoffs in three straight years. If the Lions get off to a slow start, things could go downhill fast.

One other area to watch: this team has also picked up a ton of muscle injuries in the last year – Dwyer is the latest victim – to the point that it’s likely not merely coincidence. It’s something Kreis has to figure out.

Watchability: Orlando was absolutely rocking when the team opened its new stadium with all of those wins in the spring, and it should be that way again this year. It’s easily a top-five atmosphere in the league.

Orlando has been a tough watch because they’ve been so slow on both sides of the ball in recent years, but that’s going to change this season if they rebuild goes as expected. The broadcast, unfortunately, is one of the league’s worst.

Projection: Kreis hasn’t had a winning season between two clubs since 2013, but this is the team to break that run. Orlando gets to the playoffs for the first team.

6. Columbus Crew

What’s To Like: Gregg Berhalter, who, at this point, is MLS’s hottest coach. Berhalter has been credibly linked with the Galaxy and Timbers in the last two offseasons, but – along with the rest of his team – is in Columbus for at least one more year.

To his credit, Berhalter handled a difficult winter about as well as he could. He had two stars – Ola Kamara and Justin Meram – ask for trades, and his responsiveness to those requests netted him Gyasi Zardes, a ton of allocation money, and a roster full of committed players.

Two of those players Berhalter did very good business to bring in – young Milton Valenzuela as a DP fullback to replace Waylon Francis, and Artur on a permanent, DP deal.

What’s Not To Like: Between Kamara and Meram, the Crew have lost 31 of the 53 goals they scored last season. No matter how big the system is, that’s a ton of production to replace.

You also have to worry – though this will be the least of Crew fans’ concerns – about the competitive effect of relocation. If Anthony Precourt announces he’s taking the team to Austin in September, the season very well might fall apart. We’ve certainly seen that happen in other American sports.

Watchability: MAPFRE is outdated and half-full, and the broadcast is poor. That said – as the last six months have proven – the love for this team in Columbus runs incredibly deep. No one with a heart in American soccer wants them to lose their team.

Projection: The Crew took TFC pretty damn far in the Eastern Conference Final last year before Jozy Altidore won that series. They won’t be that good again this year, but they still have a playoff team.

7. Chicago Fire

What’s To Like: This team underwent a remarkable transformation last year – from a footnote in this decade to a real contender. In the late spring and early summer before Bastian Schweinsteiger’s injury, no team in the league was playing better soccer.

The team did good work to bring Schweinsteiger back for another year, as the team pretty much went how he went last season.

Schweinsteiger was key to a lot of what Chicago did last year, which, at its best, was pretty as hell. They controlled games through possession and moved the ball really well, getting their fullbacks – the great duo of Matt Polster and Brandon Vincent – involved, and getting tap-ins for Nemanja Nikolic.

Veljko Paunovic is a sharp coach, Nelson Rodriguez is a good, aggressive GM, and it’s year three for both of them in Chicago. Moving time.

What’s Not To Like: David Accam’s departure – which was understandable given his history with the club and the money he commanded – does leave a big hole.

Accam might not have been Chicago’s best attacking player last year, but he was certainly their most dangerous. He attracted a lot of attention from defenses and won a handful of games on his own.

Who replaces him? There’s no obvious answer. The club hasn’t yet landed a winger or #10 in the transfer market, and Arturo Alvarez and Michael deLeeuw, good depth last year, are both gone.

There’s also the matter of Schweinsteiger’s health (the chances he plays 30 games seem extremely low), and the eminent regression of Nemanja Nikolic, who scored all 24 of his goals last season from inside the box.

Right now, the Fire are slated to start the season with less talent than they ended last season with. That’s cause for concern.

Watchability: Chicago was a really good passing team with Schweinsteiger and Dax McCarty in the lineup last year, and while Toyota Park is rarely full, Dan Kelly is one of the league’s best game-callers.

Projection: The East is better than it was last year, and it looks like Chicago is going to be slightly worse. They’ll be in the hunt for the playoffs, but a cut below where they were in 2017.

8. DC United

What’s To Like: DC, to their credit, have assembled a lot of talent in a pretty short amount of time. The big move was to get Yamil Asad last week, but dating back to last summer, there are plenty of players here who would play big minutes for most every MLS team. That wasn’t the case last year.

There’s bonafide depth in midfield, where a Paul Arriola-Lucho Acosta-Asad line could relegate Zoltan Steiber to the bench. They’re four-deep in central midfield as well, where Ulysses Segura and Junior Moreno will compete with Ian Harkes and Russell Canouse.

David Ousted is a worthy replacement for Bill Hamid in goal.

What’s Not To Like: The decision not to get a proven goalscorer is baffling. DC is heading into the season with Patrick Mullins and Darren Mattocks as their forwards, two players who have never scored double-digit goals in eleven combined seasons.

Mullins is useful – and Mattocks can be too, especially off the bench late in games – but this team is going to need a ton of goals from its midfield.

The defense is a question mark too. I’m not sold on Frederic Brilliant as an everyday starter at center back or Nick DeLeon at right back. This team still needs to go get a DP or two in the summer. The hope is that the huge road-trip to start the year hasn’t taken the team out of contention by then.

Watchability: Olsen’s teams have never played pretty soccer, but for longtime fans of MLS, it’s going to be immensely cool to watch DC open Audi Field in July. The stadium, and the fans that will come with it, will completely change the experience of following the club.

Dave Johnson is a stalwart on the mic. If anyone deserves to work in the new building, it’s him.

Projection: Between “not moribund” and “not one of the East’s best teams,” it’s hard to say. The effect of playing 12 of 14 on the road to open the season will either put DC in a big hole, or set them up perfectly to return to the playoffs.

9. Philadelphia Union

What’s To Like: The Union haven’t had very many good teams in recent years, but they’re always fairly competitive. That’s why Jim Curtin (one playoff game since taking over in 2014) still has his job.

David Accam was the big splash on draft day, and he’s the biggest threat attacker the Union have had since… 2010 Sebastian Le Toux?

That’s a good thing. Also good news is that Austin Trusty appears to be progressing at center back, and Keegan Rosenberry should be a key contributor after his sophomore slump last year.

Including the likes of Alejandro Bedoya and Andre Blake, the Union have a number of players to build around.

What’s Not To Like: The club was linked yesterday to Czech Borek Dockal, which would solve the #10 question, but, until he puts pen to paper, the lack of a playmaker is a primary concern.

As usual, and in the bigger picture, the concern is that the Union are having to compete with less. The roster isn’t absent investment, but Philly isn’t pouring money into their team they way Orlando, Toronto, or Atlanta is and it shows in a lack of depth and proven imported talent. This feels like a very small-market franchise.

Even the big investment has its risks: Accam was incredibly moody in Chicago, and it remains to be seen whether he can carry a team for an entire season and/or get along with everybody in the process.

Watchability: Huge points for JP Dellacamera and Tommy Smyth on the calls, and Talen Energy Stadium is a very fun atmosphere when the team is winning.

The soccer isn’t going to be great, though, and whether the team will win is an open question.

Projection: Not enough firepower. Accam was a big move, but they haven’t invested enough elsewhere to improve an eighth-place team.

10. Montreal Impact

What’s To Like: The Impact badly needed a recharge after last season, and they’re getting one.

Remi Garde is just a few years removed from a good run at Lyon and a cup of coffee in the Premier League, and he’s a coach with a strong record of developing young players at a club where young players have struggled to break in.

Consequently, and necessarily, Montreal will be much, much younger this season. Laruent Ciman and Hernan Bernadello are gone, Patrice Bernier and Hassoun Camara have retired, and a bevy of players 26 and younger have arrived to take their minutes.

Saphir Taider could be one of the best signings of the winter, and Ignacio Piatti is still a top-five player. At the very least, it feels like the Impact are headed in the right direction.

What’s Not To Like: It’s MLS and you never know, but this very well might be a rebuilding year in Montreal. The Impact are thin in a lot of areas, and while Taider is a big signing, losing Blerim Dzemaili was a huge blow.

There’s reason to be excited, but the club has a couple of bad contracts (Dominic Oduro, Mauro Mancosu) it needs to get out of before it can bring in a couple of centerpieces to compete.

Watchability: It’s hard to say, exactly. This is going to be a much different Impact team than Mauro Biello’s teams were.

Stade Saputo might be the league’s most bare-bones arena, and support in Montreal can suffer if the team isn’t winner, but Vic Rauter’s calls on TSN are always an absolute joy.

Projection: They might surprise, and Garde looks like a good hire, but the Impact are most likely a year away.

11. New England Revolution

What’s To Like: The Revs easily could have been a playoff team last season – they finished seventh and underperformed their expected goals total by a huge margin – and there’s still plenty of talent here.

Juan Agudelo, Kelyn Rowe, and Diego Fagundez are three very good players, and new manager Brad Friedel should, at the very least, clean up the defense.

What’s Not To Like: The process that led to Friedel’s hiring, for one, and then, pretty much everything else.

Lee Nguyen’s trade request/strike/return to camp means that the Revs’ best player is deeply unsettled, and there have to be questions about the entire locker room as a result.

New England is despised by MLS players, and the club’s handling of the Nguyen situation – in contrast to Columbus’ handling of their players’ trade requests – has only exacerbated that antipathy.

Even outside of Nguyen, it’s been a weak offseason. The Revs have only brought in two potential starters to replace the three they lost, and Friedel is an untested coach who has no established system or style of play.

Watchability: With DC moving into Audi Field, the Revs are in a class of their own in MLS. Gillette is easily now the worst venue in one of the worst locations in the league, and football lines there have only gotten more prevalent in the last several years.

The broadcast is poor, and the team isn’t going to be very good. This franchise is more than any other proof that MLS still has a long way to go.

Projection: The Revs will scratch out some wins, but they’re going to be worse than they were last year and nowhere near the playoffs.

Photo credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the five things we learned from MLS Cup 2017.

1. Toronto Claims Its Place in History

It hadn’t been the easiest of journeys through the playoffs for Toronto FC, but on Saturday evening at BMO Field, they left no doubt as to their place as one of the best MLS team ever assembled.

The game might have hung in the balance until second half stoppage time, but TFC played the Seattle Sounders off the field in their MLS Cup rematch.

Had Stefan Frei not made nine more saves – several of them exceptional – Toronto would have had the game won in the first half. They outshot Seattle by more than three-to-one, had nearly 60 percent possession, and carried the game from start to finish.

It was, at last in the playoffs and especially after last year’s final flop, a championship-worthy performance.

2. Schmetzer Gets The Tactics Wrong

Perhaps with a mind cast back to last year, Sounders manager Brian Schmetzer sent out his most attacking team with the intention of going toe-to-toe with TFC.

It didn’t work. Put quite simply, the Sounders – missing Osvaldo Alonso – didn’t have enough quality to keep the ball and generate offense consistently.

Michael Bradley killed them in midfield, Joevin Jones had his worst game in a month back at fullback, and a team that didn’t give up a goal in their first four playoff games was only saved by Frei from getting blown out in the first half.

Once they got to halftime at 0-0, the Sounders should have brought on Nouhou, moved Jones into midfield, and done anything possible to disrupt Bradley’s rhythm and slow the game down.

Schmetzer made similar adjustments all season, but he was too optimistic here. He waited until after Altidore’s opener to make his first change, and by then it was too late for the Sounders.

Greg Vanney, on the other, got his lineup right. Moving to a seldom-used diamond for the final was a big call, but Vanney has marshaled this team with assuredness and flexibility all year. It paid off in a big way.

3. Redemption for U.S. Stars

No two players have worn the U.S.’s failure to qualify for the World Cup as much as Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore, and no two players were bigger on Saturday night.

After spending the last two months getting booed in American stadiums, Bradley – with a staggering 28 defensive actions – put in one of the all-time MLS Cup performances. Altidore, with his one chance, slotted home the winner.

Giovinco and Victor Vazquez were great, as were others, but Bradley and Altidore were TFC’s heart on this run. They were both immense, and they’re both champions. That doesn’t erase the qualifying failure. But legacies, as we know, are complicated things.

4. A Remarkable Turnaround

It is amazing to think about just how far Toronto has come in the last three years.

In the fall of 2014, the club hit a nadir. They had fired manager Ryan Nelsen, Jermaine Defoe had checked out, and the club was in the process of missing the playoffs for an eighth consecutive season.

Things began to change in 2015 when Giovinco and Altidore came aboard, but even that season ended in ignominy: a landslide loss at Montreal in TFC’s first ever playoff appearance.

Since that game, however, Toronto has been the class of the league. They should have won the title last year, and, in adding Victor Vazquez before this season, they stomped to a treble this year.

In the process, TFC has gone from laughingstock to one of the league’s premier clubs both on and off the field. This was a well-deserved triumph.

5. Looking Ahead

We’re entering one of the most pivotal stretches in the recent history of MLS and U.S. Soccer.

In the next several months, MLS will name its next two expansion teams, U.S. Soccer will elect its next president and hire its next senior national team manager, and a decision could be made on the future of the Columbus Crew.

The league, meanwhile – thanks to a huge influx of Targeted Allocation Money – will continue to improve as it builds towards a 2018 season will see the debut of a new stadium in DC and a new team in LA.

It’s going to be an eventful winter.

The World Cup draw took place at the Kremlin on Friday. Here’s a breakdown of what to expect from all eight groups as the buildup to next summer’s tournament kicks into high gear.

Group A: Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uruguay

This is a remarkably weak group. It has the lowest ELO score of all the groups by a substantial margin, and Nate Silver tweeted that the Russians couldn’t have done much better if they had tried to rig the draw.

With that in mind: this group should have plenty of intrigue, the soul-sapping prospect of an opening game between Russia and Saudi Arabia aside.

The Saudis are rifling through managers, and have just replaced Edgardo Bauza with Juan Antonio Pizzi – the man who failed to get Chile to the tournament. Pizzi will have to ready his team for a Red Sea Derby against Mo Salah’s Egypt, while Uruguay, by hook or by crook, can always be counted upon for entertainment.

The South Americans are favorites here, but it’s a wide-open group.

SEE MORE: Schedule of World Cup games on US TV and streaming

Group B: Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran

Portugal and Spain will square off in Sochi on the second day of the tournament, and that game will likely determine first and second place.

But both teams – especially Portugal – should beware: Iran and Morocco conceded two goals between them in their final rounds qualifying. It’s not going to pretty, but those aren’t going to be easy games for either European power.

Iran, remember, shut out Argentina for 91 minutes in Brazil until Lionel Messi struck – and their manager Carlos Queiroz was born in Portuguese Mozambique and led Portugal at the 2010 World Cup.

Group C: France, Australia, Peru, Denmark

This looks like a straightforward group for the much-fancied French, who might need the group stage games to figure out their tactics and personnel as they did on their run to the final in 2006.

That leaves Peru and Denmark to battle for the second spot, with Australia, currently manager-less, again standing as one of the weakest teams in the field.

You’d tip Peru to finish second, but no player anywhere on the globe was better in qualifying than Christian Eriksson.

Group D: Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria

Likely the best group in the tournament, and maybe the only group where all four teams have a legitimate chance of advancing. Argentina is the favorite, but their struggles over the last two years have been extensively documented.

The hope for Argentina is that, given time and space buildup to the tournament, manager Jorge Sampaoli can now install the high-press system he ran with such great effect during his time in charge of Chile.

But even if Sampaoli does get Argentina back to its best, there won’t be any easy games in this group. Croatia might be due for a big tournament, but Iceland just beat them to top their qualifying group.

Nigeria, meanwhile, top scorers in African qualifying, might be one of the most fun teams in the tournament.

Group E: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia

Brazil is going to take some beating at the top of the group, but if Costa Rica shows up with anything close to the fortitude they showed in 2014, the battle for second will be hugely competitive.

The Swiss will be competent, if nothing more, while Serbia, playing close to home, could be one of the tournament dark horses.

Group F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea

This draw won’t trouble Germany, though that first game against Mexico in Moscow should be one of the highlights of the group stage.

The Zlatan Ibrahimovic question looms over Sweden, which has to weigh their former captain’s talent against his age, health, and the fact that the team has been markedly better since he retired after Euro ’16.

The problem is that Ibrahimovic can force Sweden’s hand somewhat. It would take some amount of fortitude to leave Zlatan out if he announces that he’s available for selection.

Mexico has considerably better players than Sweden does, but the Swedes, as Italy would attest, won’t be easy to break down. South Korea should finish a distant fourth.

Of course, what Mexico really wants is to finally reach the quarterfinal. On that front, the draw was not kind. If El Tri finishes second, they’ll likely face Brazil in the Round of 16.

Group G: Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England

As good as Belgium-England looks, it’s very possible that both teams could already be through by the time they meet in Kaliningrad on the group’s final matchday.

All told, this should be a cakewalk for the European powers. Tunisia has won just one of their twelve past World Cup games, while Panama – making their debut in the finals – might be the field’s weakest team.

Group H: Poland, Senegal, Colombia, Japan

Colombia brings back much of the team that made the quarterfinal in 2014 – plus Falcao – but they stumbled over the finish line in South American qualifying and haven’t looked like their best selves for the better part of a year.

Poland look very much like a one-man team, while Senegal boast Sadio Mane and are managed by their 2002 World Cup captain Aliou Cisse.

Japan wasn’t all that good in qualifying, but Vahid Halilhodzic might have been the coach of the tournament in Brazil with Algeria. We’ll see what he can conjure this time.

Final Thoughts

1. FIFA’s decision to group teams based on their ranking and not geography was a good one. It’s given us better-balanced groups than we’ve had in years past, which should help the tournament from start to finish.

2. But while that change helped prevent a Group of Death, the fact that so many big name countries – Italy, the Netherlands, the U.S., Ghana, Chile – are missing this tournament was also a major contributing factor.

3. As was the case in Brazil four years ago, travel is going to be much more an issue for some teams that it will for others. An early look at the schedule suggests that England, for one, had a long ways to go to play its first three games. There won’t be anything like a trip to Manaus next summer, but travel could still have an impact.

Welcome to the apocalypse. For the first time since 1958, Italy has failed to qualify for the World Cup.

It’s a shock to the system. No team apart from Germany had qualified more World Cups consecutively, and only one, Brazil, has won the tournament more times. Italy is a giant of world soccer in a way that only a handful of other countries are.

Italy’s absence from Russia next summer was confirmed on Monday night at the San Siro in Milan, where the Italians were held scoreless by a determined Sweden and condemned to aggregate defeat by Jakob Johansson’s deflected winner in the first leg.

The great Gianluigi Buffon, playing a competitive game for Italy for the last time, wept as he left the field. When you’re Italy, no matter how poorly you’ve played, you cannot possibly be prepared to miss the World Cup.

The majority of the fans who filled the San Siro, as well as all of the players who represented their countries on, had never seen Italy miss a World Cup finals.

But in a strictly footballing sense, you could have this failure coming a mile away.

At Euro 2016, Antonio Conte’s brilliance was on full display. Though they eventually fell on penalties against Germany at the quarterfinal stage, that Azzurri team was a marvel.

Their achievements – which included, ironically enough, a win against Sweden but were highlighted by stunningly comprehensive victories over Belgium and Spain – were made all the more impressive by the fact they were working with team had very, very little talent.

The team’s two most significant midfielders, Marco Verratti and Claudio Marchisio, both missed the tournament due to injury. It’s doubtful that a single Italian midfielder or forward in France could have gotten into the Belgian or Spanish team.

But that was the beauty of their performances. Individually, they made up an average side. But together, under Conte’s masterful direction, they were a buzzsaw.

But Conte’s brilliance, along with Buffon and the outstanding Bonucci-Barzagli-Chiellini defensive triumvirate, covered up the true state of the team. When Conte departed after the tournament to take the reigns at Chelsea – a decision that has worked out rather well for him – things pretty well fell apart.

Lacking any outstanding candidates fill the manager’s position, Italy turned to 68-year-old Serie A journeyman Gian Piero Ventura almost by default.

Ventura tried to develop a new formation, but he was unsuccessful. By the time the playoff rolled around, Italy was back in Conte’s signature 3-5-2 and truly looking like a shadow of itself.

All the passion from last summer was gone. Ventura never found his system, or his personnel, and his team never found their belief.

Sweden’s performances in these two games had a winning quality similar to Italy’s last summer. The Swedes have just one noteworthy talent, chief creator Emil Forsberg, but they played together with heart and desire.

At times, especially in international football, cohesiveness and passion count most. Good coaching is what breeds both qualities, and good coaching is what Italy lacked in last year and change.

Things were so bad that Ventura might have been fired even if Italy had overturned its aggregate deficit on Monday and qualified.

Ventura’s early results in the job, which included a draw against Spain in Turin, weren’t terrible. But Italy’s recent form was. They were blown out in Spain on the return date in September, drew Macedonia at home in October. Failing to score in 180 minutes against Sweden was a fitting conclusion to Ventura’s reign.

What most damns Ventura is that he, unlike Conte, did have several exciting young attackers to call on. Problem was, he mostly left them on the bench.

Despite knowing he needed two goals at least on Monday, Ventura kept Lorenzo Insigne, Andrea Belotti and Stephan El Shaarawy on the bench. The result was a familiarly punchless performance.

Italian football needs a reboot. The larger trends since the triumph of 2006, even before this failure and considering the run to the final of Euro 2012, were not good.

Despite several strong performances at the European Championships, Italy had only won one of its last six World Cup games – exiting at the group stage in both 2010 and 2014.

The likes of Totti, Del Piero, and Pirlo from the generation that won the country’s last World Cup have never been replaced. Now, the legendary defensive core that carried Italy since that victory is aging out as well.

For Buffon, who had nothing to do with Italy’s undoing in this qualifying process, your heart breaks. Speaking of giants, the international game is seeing one bow out some eight months too soon.

But the truth is that this hackneyed version of Italy wasn’t World Cup quality. They didn’t deserve to go to Russia – same as the Netherlands, and Chile, and Ghana, and the United States.

Places at the World Cup have to be earned, and those teams didn’t earn anything. In Italy, the recriminations for missing the tournament will be fierce and unremitting. The show will go on without them.

In a week’s time, the field for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia will be set. All that’s left to settle are four playoff ties in Europe, two pitting teams from across continental divides, and three groups in Africa.

Drama is guaranteed. The tournament, as we approach the new year, lies just around the corner.

UEFA (EUROPE)

Northern Ireland v. Switzerland: Switzerland had an excellent campaign – winning their first nine games – but it was undone on the final day of group play when they were beaten soundly in Portugal and lost the top spot on goal difference.

Nevertheless, the Swiss should still have enough to reach a fourth straight World Cup. Their opponents in this tie, Northern Ireland, haven’t been to a finals since 1986 and enter this game having lost two straight in October.

Switzerland has, by some distance, the better team. If Northern Ireland is to have a chance, they need to take the lead to Basel for the second leg. If they don’t, they won’t have enough offense to get through.

Croatia v. Greece: Greece, after a nightmarish Euro 2016 qualifying campaign in which they picked up just seven points from ten games and finished behind the Faroe Islands, is out for redemption.

Despite their still considerable talent, Croatia has had an uneven campaign. They only secured progress to the playoff round after replacing manager Ante Cacic awith Zlatko Dalic before a win on the final day of group play in Ukraine.

If Croatia can run up the score in the first leg in Zagreb, they should get through. If they don’t, Greece – as it’s done so many times before – is primed to take advantage.

Sweden v. Italy: The glamour tie of the four. Sweden has improved immensely in its first two years without Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and, to point, it was their eight-goal explosion in Luxembourg on the penultimate day that was the difference in their progression ahead of the Dutch.

Italy, meanwhile, looks fairly insipid in the post-Antonio Conte era. The Azzurri are still short on attacking talent, and still led by the Barzagli-Bonucci-Chiellini triumvirate at the back.

This tie is a tossup. Sweden is playing the better soccer, but the Italians do have a wealth of big-game experience to draw upon. Manager Gian Piero Ventura said Monday that Italy is “always there when there’s something important to play for.” We’ll see.

Denmark v. Ireland: A classic Martin O’Neill smash-and-grab in Wales sent Ireland improbably through on the final day of group play, while the Danes locked up the second spot in their group more comfortably thanks in large part to the goalscoring heroics of Christian Eriksson.

Ireland’s calling card throughout qualifying has its resilience – especially on the road – and they won’t be bothered by having to travel to Copenhagen for the first leg.

Both teams, but especially Denmark are facing significant injury problems, while Ireland has ten players sitting on yellow cards. It’s likely going to be a tense, physical, unyielding affair.

CAF (AFRICA)

Group A: While the Democratic Republic of the Congo is still mathematically alive, this group is Tunisia’s to lose. All the Carthage Eagles have to do to return to the World Cup for the first time since 2006 is get a point against lowly Libya.

Congo DR has to run up the score on Guinea, and hope for a miracle.

Group B: Nigeria is qualified.

Group C: It all comes down in Group C to Morocco’s trip to Cote d’Ivoire on Saturday.

The Ivory Coast needs a win, while Morocco – under the direction of the accomplished Herve Renard – needs just a draw to make their first World Cup appearance since France ’98.

Group D: The big drama in this group came in September, when FIFA ordered that a qualifier between South Africa and Senegal in November 2016 be replayed after the match referee was found guilty of match manipulation and banned for life.

The replay, which overturned a 2-1 Bafana Bafana win, means that the two countries will meet twice in this window while Burkina Faso and the Cape Verde Islands – who both currently trail Senegal by two points – will play in Ouagadougou.

Whatever happens in that latter game, one point should be enough for Senegal to qualify.

Group E: The Pharaohs of Egypt clinched their World Cup return – at the expense of Ghana, among others – in dramatic fashion a month ago.

CONMEBOL/OFC (SOUTH AMERICA/OCEANIA)

New Zealand v. Peru: A wild final day of South American qualifying saw Chile bite the dust and Peru reach the playoff stage, their dream of reaching the finals for the first time since 1982 nearly realized.

Peru is the prohibitive favorite to finish the job in this tie. The gap in talent between the two teams is huge, and while the Kiwis did survive a playoff to make the World Cup in South Africa, they were trounced at this hurdle by Mexico 9-3 four years ago.

That said, the buildup to these games has not been smooth for the South Americans. Their captain and talisman Paolo Guerrero will play no part after failing a drug test.

CONCACAF/AFC (NORTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND CARRIBIAN/ASIA)

Honduras v. Australia: Neither Honduras and Australia are boasting vintage teams, but both will feel they have gotten a fairly favorable playoff task.

There, however, myriad uncertainty in the Australia camp. Manager Ange Postecoglou is set to quit after this tie regardless of its result, while the ageless Tim Cahill is a fitness doubt for the first leg at least.

The first leg, which is set for Friday, is where Jorge Luis Pinto’s team will look to do its damage. San Pedro Sula is a horrible place to play for visiting teams, and Australia’s trip there will take nearly an entire day.

Here’s the TV/streaming schedule for all of the World Cup qualifiers for soccer fans in the United States (kickoffs are listed as Eastern Time):

Thursday, November 9

Croatia vs. Greece (1st leg), 2:45pm, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and Sling Latino (7-day free trial)

Northern Ireland vs. Switzerland (1st leg), 2:45pm, ESPN2, ESPN3 and Sling Latino (7-day free trial)

Friday, November 10

South Africa vs. Senegal, Noon, beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español, Sling World Sports and fubo Premier (free trial)

Algeria vs. Nigeria, 2:30pm, beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español, Sling World Sports and fubo Premier (free trial)

Sweden vs. Italy (1st leg), 2:45pm, FOX Sports 1, FOX Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Honduras vs. Australia (1st leg), 5pm, beIN SPORTS, Telemundo, Universo, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo App, TelemundoDeportes.com, Sling World Sports and fubo Premier (free trial)

New Zealand vs. Peru (1st leg), 10:15pm, beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español, Sling World Sports and fubo Premier (free trial)

Saturday, November 11

Zambia vs. Cameroon, 8am, beIN SPORTS Connect and fubo Premier (free trial)

Gabon vs. Mali, 9:30am, beIN SPORTS Connect and fubo Premier (free trial)

Africa World Cup qualifiers whiparound, 12:30pm, beIN SPORTS, Sling World Sports and fubo Premier (free trial)

Congo DR vs. Guinea, 12:30pm, beIN SPORTS Connect and fubo Premier (free trial)

Ivory Coast vs. Morocco, 12:30pm, beIN SPORTS en Espanol, Sling World Sports and fubo Premier (free trial)

Tunisia vs. Libya, 12:30pm, beIN SPORTS Connect and fubo Premier (free trial)

Denmark vs. Ireland (1st leg), 2:45pm, FOX Sports 2, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Sunday, November 12

Congo vs. Uganda, 9:30am, beIN SPORTS Connect and fubo Premier (free trial)

Ghana vs. Egypt, 10:30am, beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Espanol, Sling World Sports and fubo Premier (free trial)

Switzerland vs. Northern Ireland (2nd leg), Noon, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and Sling Latino (7-day free trial)

Greece vs. Croatia (2nd leg), 2:45pm, ESPN Deportes, ESPNEWS, ESPN3 and Sling Latino (7-day free trial)

Monday, November 13

Italy vs. Sweden (2nd leg), 2:45pm, FOX Sports 1, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Tuesday, November 14

Burkina Faso vs. Cape Verde Islands, 2:30pm, TV/streaming TBD

Senegal vs. South Africa, 2:30pm, beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Espanol, Sling World Sports and fubo Premier (free trial)

Ireland vs. Denmark (2nd leg), 2:45pm, FOX Sports 2, FOX Soccer Match Pass, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Wednesday, November 15

Australia vs. Honduras (2nd leg), 4am, beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Espanol, ESPN3, Sling World Sports and fubo Premier (free trial)

Peru vs. New Zealand (2nd leg), 9:15pm, beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español, Universo, Sling World Sports and fubo Premier (free trial)

Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the ten things we learned from the 2017 MLS Conference Semifinals.

1. Toronto Loses Its Cool

Jozy Altidore is great player, but his conduct in the first half of Toronto’s game on Sunday against the Red Bulls was phenomenally stupid.

Whatever the particulars of the tunnel incident with Sacha Kljestan were, Altidore was so easily wound up in the first half, so willing to instigate, it was just matter of time before he ended up in the serious disciplinary trouble.

It wasn’t just Altidore. The sequence in which the forward and Kljestan first quarreled started with an ugly and completely unnecessary foul from Giovinco – who, unsurprisingly, would later draw a booking for dissent and is now suspended for the first leg of the Eastern Conference Final.

All game long, Toronto chaffed. Michael Bradley got a yellow for dissent, Victor Vazquez swung out at Tyler Adams, Greg Vanney got into it with Jesse Marsch. It was a total meltdown for the leaders of a team that had, until Sunday, faced virtually no adversity this year.

Passion is good, but that was a display of pure idiocy. The Red Bulls had everything to gain by making the game a mess, and TFC had everything to lose. Now, the Reds will go into Columbus with two of their biggest players.

If Toronto is going to lose in these playoffs, they’re going to contribute heavily to their own downfall. That process has begun.

2. US Failure Taking Its Toll?

You have to at least ask the question. Altidore and Bradley have been booed relentlessly in opposing stadiums in recent weeks, and the pressure to bring Toronto MLS Cup is immense.

We saw Altidore crack on Saturday, and we saw signs of the same from his captain teammate.

The psychological weight of the U.S.’s failure to qualify for Russia will be felt for a long time – for the soccer in this country, for the program, and especially for the players involved. We might be seeing signs of that too.

3. Red Bulls Come Up Just Short

This playoff failure won’t sting as badly as a myriad of others for the Red Bulls, but the manner of how they ended up succumbing to TFC will sting.

The Red Bulls got just about everything they needed on Sunday. They were under Toronto’s skin. They kept a clean sheet. They even got an improbably lucky opening goal. And nonetheless, they were bounced out of the playoffs again.

Bradley Wright-Phillips had the golden chance to fire New York into the East final when he went clean through on the hour mark, but his effort was meek and saved by Alex Bono.

After what transpired in the first leg, New York would have done just about anything to get their 100-goal striker a chance like that with the series on the line.

Wright-Phillips did officially get the one goal – though he didn’t know much about it – but his failure to put that chance away was in equal parts devastating and familiar. For the Red Bulls, the wait for playoff triumph stretches on.

4. The Crew March On

Don’t look now, but Columbus keeps coming up aces.

The Crew survived a nervy performance at Yankee Stadium on Sunday night to see off New York City FC 4-3 on aggregate and advance to the Eastern Conference Final – where they’ll get a suddenly shorthanded Toronto FC.

Things continue to set up perfectly for Columbus. They’ll host a Toronto team down Altidore and Giovinco in their next game, and if they win that series, they’ll host MLS Cup in December.

Team of destiny is cliché, but the Crew believe. They’re playing for much more than a championship.

5. Playoffs Sting City Again

New York City got its first playoff win on Sunday night, but it came up one goal short of overturning the 4-1 deficit it left Central Ohio with on Tuesday.

For NYCFC, the problems at the end of the season were myriad. The attacking players around David Villa went cold, the defense struggled to overcome the loss of Maxime Chanot, and the discipline in the playoffs – again – was lacking.

The second half they had in Columbus, culminating in Harrison Afful’s goal and Patrick Vieira kicking a water bottle, will knock you out of the playoffs nine times out of ten.

NYC will have Andrea Pirlo’s DP spot to play with next year, and they’ll have to battle to hang onto the likes of Yangel Herrera and Jack Harrison. If those processes go well, they should be right back here next year.

6. Wilmer Cabrera For Coach of the Year

One year removed from finishing bottom of the Western Conference, the Houston Dynamo are two games away from MLS Cup.

The Dynamo went into Portland on Sunday night and won 2-1 without four of their five backline regulars. The decisive goal? It was scored by backup fullback Dylan Remick, and set up by backup fullback Jalil Anibaba.

What Wilmer Cabrera has done with the Dynamo this year has been incredible. Houston has a maturity and grit that is well beyond its experience. All of the players who have contributed this year – and there are plenty – have proved that time and again.

A few deserve special praise. Eric Alexander, an old favorite of Thierry Henry’s, was composure defined in central midfield. His moxie on the ball worked the Dynamo out of a number of tough spots.

Equally important was Alexander’s central midfield partner Juan David Cabezas, who did an excellent job on Diego Valeri. Then there’s Phillipe Senderos, who took the armband on Sunday night and was excellent. He’s playing his best soccer in years.

Houston has come through its share of peaks and valleys, plus Hurricane Harvey, to get to this point. With nods to Vanney and Tata Martino, Cabrera should be Coach of the Year.

7. Injuries Derail Portland

Take nothing away from Houston, but here’s what Portland was dealing with injury wise during this series:

– Fanendo Adi was out long term.
– David Guzman sprained his knee on Decision Day.
– Sebastian Blanco burned a layer of skin off of his foot.
– Larrys Mabiala hurt his hip.
– Diego Chara broke his foot.
– Darlington Nagbe tweaked his hamstring.
– Roy Miller ruptured his Achilles in training.
– Darren Mattocks was concussed.
– Vytas hurt his ankle.

This wasn’t the Timbers. This was a team that relied in its season finale on the likes of Jack Barmby, Jermey Ebobisse, and Amobi Okugo. They gave it a good run, but Houston had all the daylight they needed to knock Portland out.

Had the Timbers stayed healthy, they would have won the West. They would have had too much offense for Seattle, and a defense that was good enough from August on to see that series out.

But luck is a kingmaker as much as anything else at this time of the year, and as much as it was meant to be for this club in 2015, it wasn’t meant to be this season.

8. Dempsey Still Key For Seattle

The Sounders had the third best defense in the league this year behind Sporting Kansas City and Toronto, and they’ve kept six clean sheets in their last eight games. They haven’t conceded at home in nearly two months.

The big question for Seattle then, is whether they’ll have enough offense – and that’s why Clint Dempsey, one of the best goalscorers in the history of U.S. soccer, remains vital.

The second leg of the West’s all-Cascadia semifinal on Thursday night at CenturyLink Field was Dempsey’s. His first goal, the series-winner, was sensational. His second was instinctual.

The Sounders are the favorites in the West, and, apart from the outstanding defense, Dempsey is the biggest reason why.

9. Disgrace for Vancouver

It’s impossible to overstate how badly the Whitecaps played in this series. In 180 minutes, they managed one shot on target. They

The crime of it is that the Whitecaps aren’t simply without good attackers like the Colorado Rapids were on their playoff run last year. As the five-goal outburst in the Wild Card game showed, Vancouver was plenty capable of creating offense.

That they didn’t falls on Carl Robinson, who set his team up so conservatively in both legs they hardly had a chance. Even after Clint Dempsey’s goal gave the Sounders the lead on Thursday night, Vancouver was still attacking with three players. The ‘Caps looked like a poorly, cowardly coached team.

In fact, Robinson’s management over the last month in total was bizarre. He benched longtime starting goalkeeper David Ousted, replaced Tony Tchani with a player in Nosa who made his debut on Decision Day, and continuously seemed content or downright giddy with negative results.

Under Robinson’s leadership, Vancouver is a small club. They’re not anywhere close to winning a championship.

10. Conference Championship Previews

Right now, both of these ties feel like tossups.

As great as Toronto is, karma is playing for a Columbus team that wasn’t half bad even before Anthony Precourt announced his plans to move the club to Austin.

The Crew get the first leg at home, and if they can keep the Reds – down Giovinco and Altidore – off the scoreboard, they’ve got enough offense to get the kind of scoring draw or result at BMO that could get them through.

That said, there’s every chance that Toronto could regroup and make a statement against the Crew. They’ve won without Giovinco and Altidore a number of times this season, and those two will be chomping at the bit to play in the second leg.

In the West, meanwhile, Houston has every chance of knocking out Seattle. The Dynamo are unbeaten in nine and – shockingly, considering all the injuries they’ve suffered – playing lights out defense.

The Sounders need a goal in Houston, a place where they haven’t historically played well. If they don’t get that, they could suffer the same fate as their southern rivals did last night.

Photo credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the ten things we learned from the 2017 MLS Wild Card games.

1. Glory To Columbus

No one gave Columbus much of a chance on Thursday night in Atlanta.

But thanks first and foremost to a stupendous performance from young goalkeeper Zach Steffan, the Crew held the high-flying MLS debutants off for 120 minutes and then knocked them out 3-1 on penalties.

It sets up on Tuesday night what promises to be one of the most extraordinary, surreal spectacles in MLS history.

Columbus owner Anthony Precourt waited until after the Crew’s final regular season home game of the season to announce that he was pursuing a deal to move the club to Austin.

Now, though, the Crew have forced their way home. They’ll play New York City FC at all-but-condemned MAPFRE Stadium on Tuesday night in the first leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinal.

Will Precourt dare show up? The move he’s been so duplicitously seeking hasn’t happened yet. Fate still has time to intervene. For the Crew’s desperate fans, Wednesday night’s victory must have felt nearly divine.

Precourt has had his say over the last week. Now though, thanks to one of the most incredible MLS playoff victories in recent memory, the city of Columbus is going to take center stage.

2. And Heartbreak For Atlanta

It was a special, special season in Atlanta. They did this bigger and better than just about any MLS team ever has. The heartbreak they experienced on Thursday night, though, is part of the bargain.

Tata Martino will have plenty to answer to for this first heartbreak. For all he did so well this year, two career-long weaknesses – squad rotation and substitutions – came back to bite him at the end of the season.

Martino didn’t rotate his team all year, and that lack of rest showed down the stretch as the Five Stripes – frequently playing twice a week due to their back-loaded scheduled – failed to win any of their final five games.

Martino’s substitutions on Thursday night, meanwhile, were just bizarre. He put on a defender for an attacker midway through the second half, changed both of his fullbacks, and then took off the team’s primary penalty taker Josef Martinez right before the shootout.

Just as bizarre, meanwhile, was Martino’s reliance on rookie midfielder Julian Gressel – who, despite barely being able to move by the end of the game, wasn’t removed and was instead asked to take the first penalty, which he missed.

3. How Good A Game Was It?

For quality and drama, it was an all-timer. Per ESPN’s Paul Carr, Atlanta-Columbus had the most expected goals in a scoreless MLS game since at least 2012.

Throw in the largest crowd ever to watch an MLS playoff game, Michael Parkhurst’s game-saving goal-line clearance, the stakes for the Crew and the stakes in general, and you have a game that will be remembered for a long time to come.

Give Atlanta all the credit in the world. The MLS world might be jealous of all the adoration they’ve received over the last eight months, but they earned it week in and week out.

But this was the Crew’s night. Greg Berhalter coached an excellent game, and his team gave as good as it got. Columbus easily could have won the game in normal time.

Now, unbeaten in eleven, the Crew heads into a matchup with NYCFC – a team that they just played to a 2-2 draw in Queens on Decision Day. This storybook run might just be getting started.

4. Red Bulls Impress

The Red Bulls haven’t had a lot of big results go their way this season, but from the summer on, they’ve mostly been the same well-drilled, athletic, dangerous unit they were in 2015 and ’16 under Jesse Marsch.

They came into Wednesday night’s Wild Card game in Bridgeview against the Chicago Fire well rested, having been locked into the sixth seed for weeks, and they more or less ran the Fire off the field in a 4-0 rout.

If the game was a referendum on the Dax McCarty trade, the Red Bulls came away looking just alright. Sean Davis was solid in central midfield, and Tyler Adams continued his standout play at fullback.

Going forward, though, is where the Red Bulls can really hurt you. Daniel Royer has gotten healthy, Gonzalo Veron has found his feet, and Sacha Kljestan has hit his 2016 form. Bradley Wright-Phillips was amongst the goals on Wednesday night too.

The Red Bulls get one of the all-time great MLS teams in Toronto FC in the next round, but they have a puncher’s chance. As far as TFC goes, it will be a rude welcome to their Eastern Conference title defense.

5. Letdown For Chicago

The 4-0 defeat was, to say the least, a disappointing end to the Fire’s year. They didn’t look ready to play.

But the truth is that Chicago weren’t particularly good at any point during the second half. They lost seven of eight starting in July, and then lost Bastian Schweinsteiger for an uneven last two months of the season.

You want to go into the postseason playing your best soccer – as Columbus is – and the Fire didn’t do that.

In total, though, this was still a great year for Chicago. Between Schweinsteiger, the All-Star Game, Nemanja Nikolic’s Golden Boot, and the playoff appearance, the club made itself relevant again. Next season should be even better..

6. Vancouver Gets First Playoff Win in Style

The Whitecaps’ failure to lock down a top two seed in season’s final weeks had a silver lining: it meant that Vancouver got to open the playoffs with a gimme – a home game against San Jose.

It might have been just what the ‘Caps needed. This was a franchise, remember, that had scored two goals and no wins in their previous four playoff games. They could have done with some positive postseason experience.

On Wednesday night at BC Place, that’s exactly what they got. Vancouver smacked the Earthquakes 5-0, scoring four times in the second half, for their biggest win of the entire season.

Fredy Montero broke his playoff duck, new goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic played well and kept a clean sheet, Christian Techera scored a fabulous free kick, and just about everyone else contributed. It was a good night.

Vancouver has had much more success against Seattle in recent years than they have against Portland, and though the Sounders will be favored in that series, the ‘Caps will like their chances.

7. San Jose Shouldn’t Have Been Here

You likely know the numbers by now, but here they are again: San Jose finished the season with a -21 goal differential. They lost more games than they won. Their road goal differential under Chris Leitch was -24.

That’s not a playoff team. That’s a bad team.

Since Leitch took over in late June, they’d lost 5-1 at the Red Bulls, 4-0 at Real Salt Lake, 4-0 at Toronto, and 4-0 at DC United. They’d lost 3-0 at Houston and Seattle too.

Regardless of competition and regardless of the formation they played, San Jose wasn’t able to keep road games close all year. So it wasn’t a surprise, when, on the biggest stage of their season, the ‘Quakes were blown out 5-0 at Vancouver.

They might have snuck into the playoffs this year, but Leitch and GM Jesse Fioranelli have a ton of work to do to make San Jose a competitor going forward. They’re not close right now.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

8. Houston Sees Off Sporting

Sporting have played some great Wild Card games in recent years. This wasn’t one of them.

As good as the Atlanta-Columbus game was, this was the polar opposite – slow, physical, and totally devoid of quality for a full ninety minutes and about twenty-nine minutes after that.

In the end, three minutes into extra time, it was Houston’s evergreen 37-year-old playmaker Vicente Sanchez who set up Alberth Elis for the game-winner to take the Dynamo into a matchup with Portland in the West semis.

That Sanchez missed a penalty with the last kick of the game was fitting. Good for Wilmer Cabrera and his team to continue a remarkable turnaround season, but the Timbers are heavy favorites next week.

9. The End For SKC?

Sporting has now lost in the Wild Card round four years in a row – at New York, at Portland, at Seattle, and this year at Houston – and again this year, they ran out of gas down the stretch.

After winning the U.S. Open Cup on September 20 and beating the LA Galaxy that weekend, Kansas City failed to win any of its last five games.

Maybe that’s Peter Vermes’ punishing pressing system talking. But the New York Red Bulls, the league’s other foremost pressing team, are showing no sings of slowing down.

More likely, it’s Sporting’s lack of quality showing. Early in the year, when most teams are trying to figure themselves and their systems out, Kansas City takes advantage. At the end of the year, when the good teams have figured it out, SKC gets caught short.

Expect big changes in Kansas this offseason. Sporting’s core is aging, and they haven’t gotten the job done since the MLS Cup win four years ago. It’s likely the end of an era.

10. Bad Crowds

Chicago drew a paltry 11,647 to Toyota Park for their game on Wednesday night. The Fire’s performance obviously didn’t help, but the stadium felt dead. It felt like an early round U.S. Open Cup game.

For Chicago, and MLS in general, these Wild Card attendance woes aren’t new. In 2012, for a similar weeknight Wild Card playoff game, the Fire drew an announced crowd of 10,923.

Those numbers tell you a couple of things. One is that MLS shouldn’t be holding its Wild Card games on weeknights – when suburban stadium locations make it that much more difficult for fans to get to games.

The other is that the league still has a ton of work to do. For all the success stories, there are clubs in big cities like Houston and Chicago who are struggling, and – by this one metric at least – have made little progress from where they were in five years ago.

Photo credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 33 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. San Jose Sneaks In, Ignominy for Dallas

There was only one playoff spot up for grabs on the season’s final day: the Western Conference’s sixth and final seed.

San Jose, by virtue of its wins tiebreaker over FC Dallas and point advantage over Real Salt Lake, held the keys going into the day. Beat Minnesota United at home, and they’d make their first postseason trip since the Goonies’ magical 2012.

But on a day when Dallas and Salt Lake – seemingly for the first time in months – both won, the ‘Quakes nearly fumbled their golden ticket away. They entered stoppage time in a 2-2 tie, when Marco Ureña, from a Chris Wondolowski assist, scrambled home the game-winning goal.

San Jose, which finished the season with a -21 goal differential and more losses than wins, doesn’t deserve to be in a playoff game. But FC Dallas, who would have gone had the Loons held on, deserved it less.

Their collapse – starting with a 4-0 home loss to Vancouver at the end of July – will go down as the most extraordinary and most improbable in MLS history.

2. Timbers Top The West

The Western Conference crown – not to mention the Cascadia Cup – was on the line in Portland, where the Timbers faced the Vancouver Whitecaps needing a win to take both titles.

A win – for the sixth straight home game and third time this year over Vancouver – is just what they got, with goals on either side of halftime from Liam Ridgewell and Darren Mattocks overturning Kendall Waston’s opener.

The Timbers are playing the West’s best soccer right now, and they have been since August. Ridgewell and Larrys Mabiala have turned one of the league’s worst defenses into a decidedly above-average one, while Mattocks has done more than enough in Fanendo Adi’s absence to keep the attack humming.

The Whitecaps, meanwhile, have to be worried. They were thoroughly outplayed in this game – unable to generate any offense from the run of play – and, considering they were shutout over 180 minutes in their last playoff trip, that can’t feel good.

3. Farewell to RFK

DC United bid RFK Stadium farewell in front of one of its biggest crowds in years – announced at more than 40,000 – and a bevy of its great former coaches and players.

It was a wonderful occasion at the end of an extraordinarily trying season for DC, who – despite taking an early lead through Paul Arriola – lost the finale 2-1 to the New York Red Bulls.

DC should be quite a bit better by the time they open up their new Buzzard Point stadium next fall, and should that process go smoothly, MLS will have seen the safe passage of another of its original clubs to long-term viability.

RFK held plenty of memories, but moving on from it – for the future of DC United – should be one of the best. The likes Dallas, New England, Colorado, and, sadly, Columbus, haven’t yet been quite so lucky.

4. Great Show in Atlanta

The best game of Decision Day was played in front of the largest crowd to ever watch an MLS match: more than 71,000 fans in Atlanta saw their team go blow-for-blow with Toronto in what finished as a thrilling 2-2 draw.

Whether it’s in the Eastern Conference semifinal or final, it feels like we’re heading for an Atlanta-Toronto playoff series. With a nod to New York City, those have been the two best teams all year.

The head-to-head matchups tell the story. Atlanta has scared and drawn TFC twice, while the Reds have pretty well run over every other Eastern Conference team at least once this year.

If they play twice more in the coming weeks, it will be a fantastic showcase for MLS.

5. Is Sporting Out Of Steam?

Sporting fans know the record: Since lifting MLS Cup on that frigid Kansas night in 2013, Sporting KC has lost in the Wild Card round of the playoffs in three consecutive years – at New York, at Portland, and then at Seattle.

They could be headed for a similar fate this year.

A month ago, Sporting was in position to win the West. Today, they finished fifth – having gone winless in their final five games, two of which were against teams that didn’t make the playoffs.

The team looks exhausted. At the very least, they’re playing exhausted. It’s been the theme with Peter Vermes’ hard-running system over the last three years: Sporting is great out of the gates, when they’re fresh, expends a ton of energy, and fades down the stretch.

Houston away is a tough, tough ask – and if Sporting exits after one playoff game for fourth straight year, Vermes will have to take a hard look in the mirror.

6. Dempsey Strikes Again

Great though he may be, Clint Dempsey has always been a petulant, selfish player – and those unseemly traits were on full display in Seattle’s 3-0 win over Colorado at CenturyLink Field.

In the game’s 24th minute, Dempsey was sent off for an off-the-ball elbow on Mike DaFonte. Dempsey’s reaction to this was to sarcastically clap at the referee – who had just watched the video review – and then try to pick a fight with DaFonte.

Was it the worst thing Dempsey has ever done in his career? Hardly. But there was absolutely no need for it, and now, the longtime U.S. star will be suspended for the Sounders’ playoff opener.

That’s no small matter. Dempsey is a big-game player. Unfortunately, as always, he’s a classless one.

7. A Legend Says Goodbye

Patrice Bernier, the heartbeat of the Montreal Impact, made his final professional appearance on Sunday in Quebec.

Though the Impact lost the game 3-2 to New England, Bernier went out in style. He scored a first half penalty, after which his parents rang the famous Stade Saputo bell, and walked off the field in the second half to a stirring ovation in tears.

Bernier is staying with the Impact next season as an academy coach, but he’ll be missed. MLS has seen few players with as much talent, grace, and commitment.

Bernier will be able to say he lived the dream: captaining his hometown club. But really it was Montreal that was lucky to have him – and the Impact don’t call on Bernier to manage them one day, I’ll be plenty surprised.

8. Wandering Pigeons

Citi Field made its MLS debut this Decision Day, as NYCFC was displaced again from its home in the Bronx with an eye on keeping Yankee Stadium primed for potential World Series games.

The good news, as far as NYCFC is concerned, is that their co-tenant’s season is over – the Yankees falling in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Saturday night. That means that NYC won’t have to find alternative arrangements for its first playoff game.

The bad news is that the Yankees figure to be making deep postseason runs for the next five years. NYCFC needs a stadium, and they need it as soon as possible.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

9. The Playoff Schedule Is A Mess

The MLS playoff schedule has been in disrepair for years, partially due to circumstances – the November international break, stadium conflicts – out of the league’s direct control.

This year, however, the postseason schedule is on an entirely different level.

The league is currently scheduled to play the majority of its playoff games on weekdays – when MLS crowds and MLS atmospheres are, in most markets, terrible.

Not only that, but all the weekday games have built into the schedule not insignificant differences in rest days. Seattle, for instance, will play a team on short rest in their next game while Portland – the higher seed – will play a team on normal rest.

The March to December calendar is mostly great for MLS. It puts games for much of the year against little sports competition in good weather. But a terrible playoff schedule is a significant price to pay.

10. Save The Crew.

What Anthony Precourt is trying to do with the Columbus Crew is disgusting.

Austin, Texas doesn’t want an MLS team. Columbus does. Not just that, but Columbus is one of the bedrock cities of American soccer. From the league’s earliest days, to all of the national team games, it is one of the few places we have a legitimate history of our own.

Is it a perfect MLS city? No. Support could be stronger. A new stadium would be nice. But this isn’t a moribund market. The Crew had their second best season of attendance ever just last year.

The league’s other owners cannot let this move happen. If Precourt wants out of Columbus, he can sell. Soccer clubs belong to their cities, and MLS best not forget it.

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 32 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. What Is MLS’s Role In The USMNT’S World Cup Failure?

It’s huge.

Whether you think MLS is an underlying cause of the U.S.’s failure to get the 2018 World Cup, there’s no denying this: MLS played a bigger role in this edition of the USMNT than any other since its founding. And this was the one to fail to reach the World Cup.

This was MLS’s show. Bruce Arena was an MLS coach, and he trusted MLS players to get to Russia. Of the eleven who started the Panama and Trinidad games, nine play or played for years in the league.

In many ways, Arena’s appointment and tenure was MLS’s revenge against the blatantly and consistently anti-MLS reign of Jurgen Klinsmann. It didn’t work.

Costa Rica, Panama, and Honduras can thank MLS for their World Cup lives. Those countries have benefitted hugely from the league’s rising standard. The U.S. will, in the long run, benefit too.

But maybe it hasn’t happened yet to the extent we might have thought. In MLS’s hands, the U.S. missed its first World Cup since 1986. It’ll take a long time to get over.

2. Besler’s Experience

The common refrain, repeated with renewed urgency in the days following the collapse in Trinidad, is that American players don’t face any real pressure.

Jurgen Klinsmann, when he was the coach, talked frequently about wanting his players to be made uncomfortable in post offices and bakeries after bad performances. Taylor Twellman made similar points throughout the week.

On Sunday, none of the returning national teamers were booed. Most, if not all, were cheered by their home fans – welcomed back with open arms. This account of Matt Besler’s experience, from the Kansas City Star, is hugely informative.

Is it a bad thing that U.S. Soccer fans want to pick their players up? I don’t think so. On the whole, it’s a more a good than not. The soccer culture here tends to be positive and healthy.

But would more pressure – more fear of facing home – have made a difference in Trinidad? We’ll never know. Perhaps it might have.

3. Jermaine Jones’ Criticism

One voice that emerged during the fallout from the qualifying failure was that of LA Galaxy and former national team midfielder Jermaine Jones.

Jones, in an Instagram video, was heavily critical of U.S. players for not testing themselves in Europe. Jordan Morris’ decision to stay in Seattle rather than go to Germany was highlighted.

Leaving aside the very real possibility that Morris would have spent the last two years on a bench in the Bundesliga, Jones’ criticism was hugely one-sided. He was a Klinsmann guy, rightly dropped by Arena, and he seemed none too disappointed on Tuesday that the team didn’t qualify without him.

Jones is plenty intelligent, but you wonder how many bridges he’s burned in American soccer circles. My guess – mostly because he’s been so bad this year – is that he’s not in MLS next season.

4. Race To The Bottom in the West Continues

Playoff race? In the Western Conference, it’s a playoff crawl.

With eleven of the twelve playoff spots locked up heading into the season’s final weekend, all that remains is the West’s sixth and final berth.

The three teams contesting it, San Jose, FC Dallas, and Real Salt Lake, have won just five of their last fifteen games. On Sunday, they picked up one total point from their three respective games.

On Sunday, Sports Illustrated’s Brian Straus advocated decreasing the number of playoff teams in each conference from six to four. Doing so would increase the game-to-game pressure on MLS teams and players, and for that reason, it’s a good idea.

But it’s also a good idea because there are never twelve legitimately good MLS teams. In the past, the East has had weak playoff teams. This year, the West will likely give a playoff spot to a team with more losses than wins. It has to stop.

5. Backbreaking Loss For RSL

While Dallas was trounced 4-0 in Seattle, Real Salt Lake’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of their Rocky Mountain rivals from Colorado was the weekend’s most devastating result.

Salt Lake had 72 percent possession and outshot the Rapids 30-2. They sent in 50 crosses. Colorado’s early goal – improbably – stood up.

It didn’t matter. Pablo Mastroeni, if he was watching, must have been mighty proud.

6. Martino Caught Up in Controversy Again

As far as 0-0 draws go, Atlanta’s against the New York Red Bulls in Harrison on Sunday afternoon was a good one.

The Red Bulls controlled proceedings, with Brad Guzan – who should have been in goal for the U.S. on Tuesday night – making several excellent saves to keep the game scoreless.

It was a good contest between two strong playoff teams. But the biggest fireworks would come after the final whistle, when Jesse Marsch told the media that Atlanta boss Tata Martino had been encouraging his players to kick out at Red Bulls.

Martino denied Marsch’s claims, but it’s the second time this year that the Argentine coach has been involved in a spat with a Northeast manager. Earlier this year at RFK Stadium, Martino refused to shake Ben Olsen’s hand.

Whether Martino has a petulant streak, or whether opposition coaches are envious of Atlanta’s status as the league’s favorite son, or both, there appears to be some legitimate bad blood brewing in the East.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

7. Is Vancouver For Real

The Whitecaps could have locked up the regular season Western Conference championship with a win over San Jose at BC Place on Sunday night.

It didn’t happen. Though they took an early lead through Yordy Reyna, the ‘Quakes – an abysmal road team under Chris Letich – hit back through Vako to boost their playoff hopes with a 1-1 draw.

It was the kind of letdown we’ve come to expect from a Vancouver team that, when push has come to shove, hasn’t been all that menacing on the playoff stage.

If the ‘Caps are a real threat to reach MLS Cup, they’ll need to make a statement next weekend in Portland – where a draw should be good enough to win the West. We’ll see what happens.

8. Nikolic Locks Up Golden Boot

With a hat-trick on Sunday afternoon in Bridgeview, the Chicago Fire’s Nemanja Nikolic kept his side in the running for a top two spot in the Eastern Conference and likely locked up the Golden Boot.

Nikolic is sitting on 24 goals with one game to play – three in front of Diego Valeri, four in front of David Villa, and six in front of Josef Martinez.

Considering that Nikolic went nine games without scoring early July to early September, that’s quite an achievement.

One key? Nikolic has started every one of Chicago’s games this season. He’s been healthy, but he also hasn’t had national team commitments. With the way the MLS calendar is set up, that’s a not insignificant advantage.

9. Valeri Joins Exclusive Club

Though Nikolic has poured in goals this year, Diego Valeri is the league’s MVP. He’s having one of the greatest seasons in league history.

Valeri had a goal and two assists in Portland’s 4-0 dismantling of DC United on Sunday night at Providence Park, and that first assist – to Alvas Powell, of all people – put Valeri in rarefied air.

The Argentine is just the second player in MLS history to tally 20 goals and 10 assists in the same season, joining Sebastian Giovinco who put up 22 and 16 in his inaugural 2015 campaign.

Valeri right now is sitting on 21 and 11 with a game to go. His Portland team, if the playoffs started today, would be a slight favorite to come out of the West.

10. Decision Day Next Sunday

What’s on the line next Sunday, when all eleven games kick off simultaneously?

The last playoff spot in the West, which San Jose could clinch despite its -22 goal difference with a home win over Minnesota. If the Loons play spoiler, Dallas – which hosts LA – has an easier matchup than RSL, which gets Sporting KC.

The Timbers and Whitecaps, who play each other, can both win the conference. So can SKC, though the two draws they were held to by Houston this week were hugely damaging.

In the East, spots two through five are up for grabs. NYCFC has gone slightly cold, so the door remains open for the red-hot Columbus Crew, Chicago, and Atlanta to grab a bye.

Patrick Vieira’s team closes the season at Citi Field against the Crew. In a bizarre American soccer moment, that somehow feels quite fitting.

In the aftermath of the United States’ stunning failure to quality for the World Cup for the first time in more than thirty years, it’s clear that U.S. Soccer has serious structural problems that need fixing.

We need to lower costs and remove barriers to entry for young players across the country – especially in lower-income, urban areas. We need to raise coaching standards.

But those structural problems aren’t new, and they aren’t what prevented the U.S. from getting to Russia next summer. Pay to play is a travesty, but we’ve had a pay to play system in this country for years.

Entering this qualifying cycle, The U.S. had gone to seven straight World Cups and advanced into the knockout stages at three of the last four and four of the last six. What happened? The team lost a core piece of its identity.

The U.S. has had some good teams over the last two decades, but they haven’t had any great ones. The respect national team won had everything to do with its tenacity, its togetherness, and its desire. No matter what, the U.S. were fighters.

That changed under Jurgen Klinsmann, whose penchant for divisiveness and disorganization was his undoing when his team absolutely quit on him in that humiliating 4-0 loss in Costa Rica.

Bruce Arena was brought in to revive those bedrock traits. The fundamentals. It didn’t happen.

The first half on Tuesday night told the story. Arena simply didn’t have his team ready to play. If he were a bad coach who never had his team ready to play, that’d be one thing. That was the frustration with Klinsmann.

But it’s not like Arena was incapable of motivating his players and game-planning during his year on the job.

His preparation for the Mexico game, for example, was impeccable. Arena had his team begin training in the 3-5-2 he was going to roll out in the Azteca on the first day of that June camp.

He made seven changes from that window’s first qualifier – a comfortable home win over Trinidad – each carefully thought out, each communicated with the team well in advance of the trip south.

It was a job very well done. His players were prepared, they knew what they needed to do, and they ground out a result.

That’s what was expected from Arena. He didn’t need to be a visionary. There was more than enough talent on hand to get to Russia. He just needed, with all of his CONCACAF experience, to get his team locked in.

Yes, absolutely, developing better players is the end goal for U.S. Soccer. But a lack of talent isn’t the reason the U.S. isn’t going to Russia.

On its good days, this U.S. team was a force. On paper, it was better than the team that advanced from the group stage of the last World Cup, and better than the team that advanced from the group stage of the World Cup before that.

Perhaps Arena thought the U.S. could waltz into the World Cup. The highs in this campaign, after all, were splendid. The 6-0 mauling of Honduras, the 4-0 shellacking of Panama – both must-win games, both handled with tremendous aplomb.

But of all people, Arena should have known better. CONCACAF qualifying might be forgiving, but it isn’t mundane. It’s a grueling process. The road trips are miserable. The refereeing is terrible. There’s always drama.

Arena seemed to understand this. When he made his comment about wanting to see “hotshot teams from Europe” play in CONCACAF, he was referencing about all of that.

But Arena’s actions told a different story. Whether it was overconfidence or simple miscalculation that led to the manager fielding an unchanged team with one central midfielder for the Trinidad game, we don’t know.

What we do know, however, is that the U.S. didn’t show up for the first half on Tuesday. They didn’t start the game with the requisite fire of a team playing a do-or-die road World Cup qualifier. They started it like a team that was already in.

“It has nothing to do with formations or not making changes,” Arena told The Washington Post on Thursday. “We didn’t get the job done. If we played the first half like we played the second half, there is no question we win that game or at least get a point. There’s no finger-pointing or excuses; it’s all on us.”

Whatever you think about Arena’s long-term prognosis for U.S. Soccer – basically that nothing has to change for the program to move forward – he’s right about that.

Alejandro Bedoya, speaking at Philadelphia Union training on Thursday, was in a similar frame of mind. “For me, sitting on the bench, watching guys not really getting stuck in – I just didn’t feel the proper energy out on the field,” he said. “We were kind of complacent. It was kind of lethargic.

“We should have been through easily,” he continued. “All we needed to do was freaking fight to get a draw in Trinidad, and we didn’t make it happen.”

Amen. The U.S. had better players than every team in the Hex except Mexico. Panama’s forwards couldn’t get on the field in MLS. This is the worst Honduras team in a decade. But those sides played like their lives depended on it. The U.S. did not. Perhaps they didn’t realize they needed to.

Arrogance was a theme throughout the campaign. It started with Klinsmann, who spent his last days on the job belittling the U.S.’s supporters, its soccer media, and blaming his players for the losses to open the Hex – which came just months after the third-round qualifying loss in Guatemala.

Want to talk about arrogance at the federation? Look no further than the scheduling of the return match against Costa Rica for Red Bull Arena.

The split venue wasn’t the reason the U.S. lost to the Ticos that night. But three, two, and even one cycle ago, U.S. Soccer never would have chanced playing a game at a venue where the opponent would get significant support. It wasn’t worth the risk.

Traditionally, the U.S. had taken every advantage it could get. That’s why it’s spent the last fifteen years playing Mexico in Columbus, preferably in the freezing cold. Home field advantage mattered. Making opponents uncomfortable mattered.

Scheduling such an important game just outside of New York City said, in essence, ‘home field advantage? We don’t need it.’

Arena, in hindsight, criticized that decision. He’ll soon be out of the job, with a once-giant legacy in pieces and little time left in his career to pick them up. Arrogance, ironically, has been one of Arena’s celebrated traits over the years. Not anymore.

The U.S. played on Tuesday night like missing the World Cup was an impossibility. They could not have been more wrong.

The unthinkable has happened. The United States will miss the 2018 World Cup.

Needing just a point at Trinidad and Tobago – or even a slice of luck in Panama or Honduras – the U.S. fell behind 2-0 in the first half and watched a nightmare unfold.

Honduras came from 2-1 down to beat Mexico 3-2. Panama came back from 1-0 down to draw level with Costa Rica, and then, in an instant, fired themselves into their first ever World Cup with an 88th minute goal from center back Roman Torres.

That was it. For the first time since 1986, the U.S. will miss the world’s greatest sporting event. The party will go on without them. But for soccer in this country, time has stopped.

Failure to qualify for the World Cup is cataclysmic. The result – a bloodbath unlike anything U.S. Soccer has ever seen – is forthcoming.

Bruce Arena will be gone. The international careers of a cadre of U.S. legends – Dempsey, Howard, and Beasley – will be over. Sunil Gulati, the boss for more than a decade, might not survive either.

His favorite son, Jurgen Klinsmann, lost the team to start the Hex and put the U.S. in a hole. His handpicked replacement, Arena, never quite figured out the fix.

Arena had a particularly bad night. His decision to name an unchanged team from the win over Panama on Friday backfired. The U.S. was painfully sluggish to start, and paid dearly.

Squad selection – and Omar Gonzalez over Geoff Cameron was a disaster – was one thing. More than that, though, the team didn’t come out with any kind of desire. The effort in the first half was anemic. Whether that was pressure or a lack thereof speaking, we don’t know. Not that it matters much.

This team’s failure went beyond its managers. This was one of the most talented groups of players the U.S. has ever had. It featured a transcendent player in Christian Pulisic, but it also was also stacked with World Cup veterans and emerging talent.

Those players didn’t get the job done. Trinidad came into Tuesday night 1-8 in the Hex, losers of six straight. They had nothing to play for. They barely had anyone to play in front of.

As far as qualifying closeout games go, this was a gift. The U.S. blew it.

All told, the U.S. took just three points from their five away games. They lost more Hex qualifiers than they won. They finished behind two teams – Panama and Honduras – who they beat by a combined score of 10-0 in home qualifiers.

SEE MORE: Blame Sunil Gulati for USA’s failure, not the players nor Bruce Arena

In the end, they let themselves down. Qualifying for the World Cup is no country’s divine province, and the U.S. – under the direction of two drastically different coaches, across nearly a full year – weren’t consistent or tenacious enough.

That stings. No matter what kind of shape they’d been in over the last several decades, the U.S. had always been reliable. They’d have their good and bad moments, but they could be counted on when the chips were down in CONCACAF. Not anymore.

It is, of course, a different story today if we have video review and Gabriel Torres’ phantom goal for Panama isn’t given. It’s a different story if Clint Dempsey’s shot hits the other side of the post, or Benny Feilhaber’s header sneaks in.

But you don’t always get lucky, and the game has a funny sense of justice. After knocking Panama out in 2013, Panama tonight returned the favor. After the U.S. saved Mexico in 2013, Mexico tonight in Honduras did not.

Gonzalez said post-game that his own goal “will haunt [him] forever.” Jozy Altidore couldn’t speak above a whisper. Those players will never get over this. Never. It will be with them, no matter what, for the rest of their lives.

For everyone else, the enormity of a missed World Cup – in dollars and eyeballs and experiences – will reverberate in the coming days.

Pulisic, perhaps the only American player above reproach on Tuesday night and throughout qualifying, will have to wait for his bow on the world’s biggest stage. Some of these players, the McCartys, the Villafañas, will never get theirs.

Whether or not the team deserved to qualify, that’s heartbreaking. The World Cup is a universal touchstone in world soccer. Without it, a page from the story of countless careers will be missing.

The wind has been strongly at the back of soccer in the United States since Paul Caligiuri’s Shot Heard Round The World – also in Trinidad, also on the final day of qualifying – nearly thirty years ago.

There have been squabbles and missteps, but progress has been steady. The game has grown immeasurably, with the national team, every fourth summer, rousing the nation and leading the way.

That progress has been broken now. Not dismantled, by any means, but broken. In the long run, that might be a good thing. It might not. We’ll be sorting the repercussions from this failure out for years to come.

In the short run, though, it is nothing but agony. For the players, the coaches, and everyone who has ever banged the drum for the game in this country, it is boundless devastation.

The next World Cup the United States will have a chance to participate in will be hosted by Qatar in 2022. It feels a lifetime away.

Over the next week, nearly twenty teams from around the globe will punch their tickets to Russia as 2018 World Cup qualifying builds to a grand finale some three years in the making.

Here’s what to watch for in the coming days, broken down by region.

EUROPE (UEFA)

Group A: Despite being held to a 0-0 draw Luxembourg in Toulouse in their last qualifier, France controls its destiny – needing only to beat Bulgaria and Belarus to clinch the group.

The Bulgarians, meanwhile, need a win in that game in Sofia to stay in the race for second, which could come down to the game between Sweden and the Netherlands in Amsterdam on the final matchday.

The Dutch need a minor miracle to stay alive. They trail Sweden by three points, but, just as importantly, by six goals on the goal differential tiebreaker.

If the Swedes can run up the score against Luxembourg on the seventh – no forgone conclusion, as the French will attest – the Netherlands may be all but eliminated by the time the two sides meet in the Dutch capital.

Group B: It’s a two-horse race in Group B, with Switzerland still leading Portugal by three points and all roads leading to the game between the two sides in Lisbon on the last day.

Thus far, the Swiss have had a remarkable campaign – winning their first eight games by a combined score of 18-3.

But, remarkably, it might not be enough. Portugal has been perfect since their opening day loss in Basel, and their prolific attack has given them a sizable goal difference lead. If they can win at home, they should be World Cup-bound.

Group C: Germany needs just one point from its final two games against Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan to punch its ticket, and, considering that they’ve yet to drop a point yet in this campaign, qualification is expected to be academic.

The real story in this group is the Northern Irish, who have clinched at least a second place finish and will vie in a November playoff to reach their first World Cup. Mexico 1986.

Northern Ireland clinched its second-place-or-better finish on the last matchday with a resounding win over the Czech Republic, which is limping through a miserable campaign. Their glory days of the mid-2000s seem a long time ago.

Group D: There was a degree of separation in this group in September, when Serbia won away to the Republic of Ireland to take a four-point lead at the top of the table.

The Serbs are followed by Wales and then by Ireland. The Welsh and the Irish drew their first meeting in Dublin back in March, and the return encounter in Cardiff on the final matchday could determine the destination of the group’s playoff spot.

If Wales is to get through – and keep their hopes of a first World Cup appearance since 1958 alive – they’ll have to do so without Gareth Bale. The Real Madrid winger is out with a calf injury.

Austria, on just nine points, is all but eliminated – but they can put the top spot back in play by knocking off Serbia in Vienna on Friday.

Group E: For the better part of a year in Group E, it looked like Poland were cruising towards the finals – that until they were smacked 4-0 by Denmark on the first of September in Copenhagen.

Now, it’s a three-team race. Poland still leads the way with nineteen points, but Montenegro and Denmark – both on sixteen – are within shouting distance.

Montenegro, which has never been to a major tournament as an independent country, controls its own destiny. It gets Denmark at home on the fifth before traveling to Warsaw to finish the campaign on the eighth.

Poland travels to Armenia before that, while the Danes host Romania on the final day.

Group F: England, a win at the most away from qualification, will win the group comfortably.

The intrigue rests with the battle for second place – which has Slovakia, Slovenia, and Scotland all within a point of each other with two games to go.

Slovakia has the easiest path to the playoff. If they can get a point or more in Glasgow on the fifth, all they would likely only need to beat minnows Malta at home on the eighth to wrap up second place.

Slovenia faces an uphill climb. They have to go to Wembley to play England on the fifth, before finishing the campaign with a potentially decisive home game against Scotland.

As for the Scots, major tournament-less since France 1998, they control their own destiny. The atmosphere at Hampden Park for the Slovakia game should be something very special indeed.

Group G: Spain got what looked like the decisive win in this group over Italy back in September, but the politics threaten to rip its team apart.

On Sunday, Catalonia – an autonomous community in Eastern Spain that includes Barcelona – held an independence referendum. The referendum passed with some 90 percent support, but violence from Spanish police marred the day and result.

The Spanish government claims that the referendum was unconstitutional and does not plan to recognize it. Catalans plan, in accordance with the referendum result, to pursue a split from Spain. It’s a standoff that threatens to plunge the country in crisis.

Gerard Pique – a native Catalan who supports independence from Spain – was booed lustily by Spanish fans at the team’s training camp in Madrid on Monday, and his international future is unclear.

Spain finishes its campaign with games against Albania and Israel, from which they need a maximum of four points to wrap up qualification. Italy needs only a point from Macedonia’s visit on the sixth to seal second place.

Group H: Belgium is in. The race is for second, with Bosnia and Herzegovina leading Greece by one point and Cyprus by four.

The latter two teams need a favor from the Belgians, who have nothing to play for, when they travel to Sarajevo on the seventh. On that same night, Cyprus will host Greece – needing, in all likelihood, a win to stay alive.

Even if they do win, Cyprus has to end the campaign with a trip to Belgium. Greece finishes against Gibralter, while Bosnia concludes with a game at Estonia.

Group I: In Europe’s most competitive group, everything is up in the air.

Croatia and Iceland both sit on sixteen points going into these final matches, while Turkey and the Ukraine trail close behind on fourteen apiece.

The games to circle are Iceland’s trip to Turkey on the sixth, and Croatia’s visit to the Ukraine on the ninth. Finland – with games against Croatia and Turkey – can play spoiler. They did beat Iceland in September.

If the awarding of places comes down to goal differential, Croatia is well positioned. The Croats are +9, while the other three nations are +4. But Iceland’s finale – a home game against Kosovo – could change that equation considerably.

SOUTH AMERICA (CONMEBOL)

For competition and quality, South America’s World Cup qualifying leaves every other region in the dust. Now, after each team has played sixteen teams, it’s decision time.

Brazil won’t have to sweat out the final week. The Selecao is in, having gone a dominant 11-1-4 with a +27 goal difference to this point. That said – their final game, in Sao Paulo against Chile, could have massive implications.

Chile, twice Copa America victors in this cycle, is in trouble. After dropping games against Paraguay and Bolivia in September, the Chileans sit in sixth, on the outside looking in, needing a win against Ecuador on the fifth to keep their campaign alive.

Argentina, after being held to a draw by Venezuela in their last game, is in only slightly better shape. Jorge Sampaoli’s team finishes with games against Peru and Ecuador. Two wins will put them in, at worst, the playoff spot.

That game against Peru is a blockbuster. The Peruvians are the upstart story of this qualifying campaign, without a World Cup appearance since 1982, but going toe-to-toe with the region’s top dogs. They currently sit in fourth, the final automatic qualifying spot.

To finish the job, though, is going to be a big ask. There’s the game at La Bombonera against Argentina before Colombia comes to Lima on the final day of qualifying.

The Colombians, along with Uruguay, have a measure of room to breath. Barring any collapse, those two nations should be in. Paraguay, minus Miguel Almiron, needs two big results against the Colombians and Venezuela and a lot of help.

NORTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND CARRIBEAN (CONCACAF)

Mexico, back on track with four points in September, is in. Costa Rica needs just a point at home against Honduras to punch its ticket.

All eyes, then, are on the United States’ clash with Panama in Orlando on the night of the sixth. Panama currently leads the US by a single point for the final automatic qualifying spot. The winner of that game is a heavy favorite to finish in the money.

Panama will finish its campaign at home against Costa Rica, while Bruce Arena’s team travels to Trinidad.

Honduras desperately needed to beat the US in San Pedro Sula to position themselves to reach the finals or the playoff spot, and, thusly, Bobby Wood’s late equalizer in that game was a dagger.

The hope for Los Catrachos is that Costa Rica and Mexico, their final two opponents, will be sluggish with nothing to play for. Honduras needs three, maybe four points to stay alive.

SEE MORE: Get our four free soccer viewing guides

AFRICA (CAF)

Group A: It’s down to Tunisia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with Guiana and Libya already eliminated. Tunisia comes into this window leading by three points.

Their game this month is at Guiana, while the Congo, at Libya, needs a win and help.

Group B: Group B has a trio of heavyweights, but two of those teams have had miserable campaigns. Cameroon and Algeria, on three points and one respectively, are already out.

The group is Nigeria’s for the taking, with the Super Eagles unbeaten thus far. If they beat Zambia on the seventh, they’re in for the third straight tournament and fifth in the last six.

Group C: There’s a three-team battle in Group C, with Cote d’Ivoire leading Morocco by a point and Gabon by two.

The winner of the Morocco-Gabon game in Casablanca will be in primary position to challenge Cote d’Ivoire, assuming the Elephants take care of business in their game against Mali.

Group D: It’s also a good race in Group D, where Burkina Faso and the Cape Verde Islands – two would-be first time qualifiers – are tied atop the standings, leading traditional power Senegal by a point.

That makes Senegal’s visit to the Cape Verde Islands all-important, while South Africa must beat Burkina Faso in Johannesburg to stay alive.

Group E: Egypt have raced out to the top of Group E, with Ghana – the continent’s most successful team in this century – clinging to fading hopes.

The Black Stars have reappointed 2014 World Cup coach Kwesi Appiah, and he has dropped Asamoah Gyan and both of the Ayew brothers for the upcoming game at second-placed Uganda.

Egypt host the Congo, and a win would do a world of good for their nerves heading into their trip to Ghana – an old house of horrors – on the final day.

ASIA (AFC)

A dramatic final day of Asian qualifying in September saw South Korea and Saudi Arabia join Japan and Iran in punching their tickets to the big dance next summer.

Syria, of course, stayed alive with a dramatic stoppage-time equalizer in their game against the Iranians. They now get Australia in a two-legged playoff, the winner advancing to play CONCACAF’s fourth-placed team for a trip to Russia.

Because Syria cannot host games, the first leg of the playoff will be held at a neutral site in Malaysia with Syria serving as the home team. They likely need to take a lead into the second leg next month in Sydney.

OCEANIA (OFC)

OFC qualifying concluded as New Zealand finished with its dispatching of the Solomon Islands in the continental playoff in September. The Kiwis now wait to take on the fifth-placed CONMEBOL team in a home-and-home playoff in November.

Here’s the schedule of World Cup qualifiers on US TV and streaming (Eastern time zone):

Thursday, October 5

Syria vs. Australia (playoff), 8:30am, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Armenia vs. Poland, Noon, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Azerbaijan vs. Czech Republic, Noon, FOX Sports 2, FOX Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

San Marino vs. Norway, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Match Pass

Northern Ireland vs. Germany, 2:45pm, FOX Sports 2, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Montenegro vs. Denmark, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

England vs. Slovenia, 2:45pm, FOX Sports 1, FOX Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Malta vs. Lithuania, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Scotland vs. Slovakia, 2:45pm, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Romania vs. Kazahkstan, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Plus and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Bolivia vs. Brazil, 4pm, beIN SPORTS, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Venezuela vs. Uruguay, 4:50pm, beIN SPORTS en Espanol, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Argentina vs. Peru, 7:20pm, beIN SPORTS en Espanol, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Colombia vs. Paraguay, 7:30pm, beIN SPORTS, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Chile vs. Ecuador, 7:30pm, beIN SPORTS Connect and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Friday, October 6

Georgia vs. Wales, Noon, FOX Deportes and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Spain vs. Albania, 2:45pm, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Italy vs. Macedonia, 2:45pm, FOX Sports 2, Univision Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Liechtenstein vs. Israel, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Turkey vs. Iceland, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Plus and fuboTV (free 7-day trial)

Croatia vs. Finland, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Match Pass

Ireland vs. Moldova, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Austria vs. Serbia, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Kosovo vs. Ukraine, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Mali vs. Ivory Coast, 3pm, beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Espanol, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

USA vs. Panama, 7pm, ESPN2, Univision, Univision Deportes, ESPN3, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Orange and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Mexico vs. Trinidad and Tobago, 9:15pm, FOX Sports 1, Univision, Univision Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Saturday, October 7

South Africa vs. Burkina Faso, 9am, beIN SPORTS en Espanol, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Uganda vs. Ghana, 9am, beIN SPORTS Connect (live), beIN SPORTS (joined in progress at 10am) and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Nigeria vs. Zambia, Noon, beIN SPORTS, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Cameroon vs. Algeria, Noon, beIN SPORTS en Espanol, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Gibraltar vs. Estonia, Noon, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Belgium, Noon, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Faroe Islands vs. Belarus, Noon, FOX Soccer Match Pass

Sweden vs. Luxembourg, Noon, FOX Soccer Plus, FOX Deportes and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Guinea vs. Tunisia, 1pm, beIN SPORTS Connect and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Libya vs. Congo DR, 1pm, beIN SPORTS Connect and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Cape Verde Islands vs. Senegal, 1pm, beIN SPORTS Connect and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Switzerland vs. Hungary, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Plus and fuboTV (free 7-day trial)

Andorra vs. Portugal, 2:45pm, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Bulgaria vs. France, 2:45pm, FOX Sports 2, FOX Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Belarus vs. Netherlands, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Cyprus vs. Greece, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Match Pass

Costa Rica vs. Honduras, 5:50pm, beIN SPORTS en Espanol, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Sunday, October 8

Poland vs. Montenegro, Noon, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Slovakia vs. Malta, Noon, FOX Soccer Plus and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Lithuania vs. England, Noon, FOX Sports 1, FOX Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Kazakhstan vs. Armenia, Noon, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Denmark vs. Romania, Noon, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Slovenia vs. Scotland, Noon, FOX Sports 2, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Czech Republic vs. San Marino, 2:45pm, FOX Deportes and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Germany vs. Azerbaijan, 2:45pm, FOX Sports 2, UniMas, Univision Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Norway vs. Northern Ireland, 2:45pm, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Monday, October 9

Serbia vs. Georgia, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Moldova vs. Austria, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Wales vs. Ireland, 2:45pm, FOX Sports 2, FOX Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Albania vs. Italy, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Macedonia vs. Liechtensten, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Match Pass

Israel vs. Spain, 2:45pm, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Finland vs. Turkey, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Match Pass

Ukraine vs. Croatia, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Plus and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Iceland vs. Kosovo, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Tuesday, October 10

Australia vs. Syria (playoff), 5am, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

France vs Belarus, 2:45pm, FOX Sports 2, Univision Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Portugal vs. Switzerland, 2:45pm, FOX Sports 1, FOX Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Latvia vs. Andorra, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Hungary vs. Faroe Islands, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Match Pass

Netherlands vs. Sweden, 2:45pm, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Luxembourg vs. Bulgaria, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Estonia vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Belgium vs. Cyprus, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Plus and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Greece vs. Gibraltar, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Match Pass

Brazil vs. Chile, 7:30pm, beIN SPORTS Connect and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Ecuador vs. Argentina, 7:30pm, beIN SPORTS en Español, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Uruguay vs. Bolivia, 7:30pm, beIN SPORTS Connect and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Peru vs. Colombia, 7:30pm, beIN SPORTS Connect and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Paraguay vs. Venezuela, 7:30pm, beIN SPORTS Connect and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Honduras vs. Mexico, 8pm, Telemundo, beIN SPORTS Connect and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Panama vs. Costa Rica, 8pm, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, beIN SPORTS Connect and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Trinidad and Tobago vs. USA, 8pm, beIN SPORTS, Universo, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Photo credit: Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 30 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. Toronto Clinches The Shield

In a coronation months in the making, Toronto FC won its and Canada’s first Supporters’ Shield on Saturday night at BMO Field with a resounding 4-2 win over the suddenly-reeling New York Red Bulls.

With 32 games in the books, Toronto has amassed 65 points and lost just five games – two of which came last week with both Jozy Altidore and Giovinco sidelined.

Getting Altidore back certainly helped on Saturday night, as the U.S. striker won the decisive penalty and had a hand in three of TFC’s four goals.

Altidore has had a huge season – easily his best since rejoining MLS three years ago – but the fact that it was Justin Morrow, a wingback, who had a hat-trick in this Shield-clincher sums up TFC’s regular season rather well.

Toronto has slugged all comers from all angles this season. Home and away, with and without their top players, TFC has hardly missed a beat. MLS has had few more deserving regular season champions.

2. Seattle Continues To Flounder

With Sporting Kansas City and Portland both losing on Saturday, the Seattle Sounders went into their Sunday game at Philadelphia with a golden opportunity to jump ahead of the chasing pack for a top-two spot in the Western Conference.

It didn’t happen. Against a Union team with virtually nothing to play for, the Sounders were familiarly listless. They didn’t get a single shot off in the first half, went behind 1-0, and lost by two.

Injuries – Roman Torres, Ozzie Alonso, Christian Roldan, and Victor Rodriguez all missed this game – didn’t help the Sounders’ cause, but the lack of offensive punch isn’t a new concern. Seattle, shutout three of their last four games, has scored multiple goals in just one of their last seven.

The Sounders end the season with two very winnable home games, but time is running short to get the attack in.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

3. Last-Gasp Equalizer for Real Salt Lake

The most dramatic moment of the weekend came late on Saturday night in Carson, when Real Salt Lake’s old battle-axe Kyle Beckerman equalized for the ten-men Claret & Cobalt with the last kick of the game.

It might have been the biggest goal RSL has scored since Alvaro Saborio’s in MLS Cup 2013 in K.C. Salt Lake played more than 75 minutes of this game down a man, and more than fifty minutes of it down a goal.

But thanks in large part to the work of David Horst, who came on after the red card and played his best game of the season, RSL hung in – and, ultimately, got the equalizer from an unsurprising source. Of Beckerman’s last five MLS goals, three have come in LA.

RSL is still facing an uphill battle to make the playoffs. Jefferson Savarino is hurt, Marcelo Silva is suspended for next weekend, etc., etc. But at this point, it’s hard to bet against Petke’s men. Their hearts and souls are in it.

4. Don’t Sleep on the Red Bulls

With their loss in Toronto on Saturday night, the New York Red Bulls are now winless in eight – nine if you include the tremendously disappointing loss in the U.S. Open Cup Final to Kansas City.

The Red Bulls are headed for a sixth-place finish in the Eastern Conference, which will be their worst since 2009. For the first time since 2011, they’re unlikely to crack 50 points. The odds of any significant playoff run look slim.

That said: things aren’t all bad in Harrison. There are several reasons for optimism heading into October.

Gonzalo Veron, two full years into his MLS career, has figured it out. Daniel Royer has slotted back into the lineup and looks good. Tyler Adams continues to grow.

The attacking firepower is there. The team has been on plenty of big stages over the last several years. If Aurelian Colin can get fit in time for the Wild Card game, one of NYC, Chicago, or Atlanta is going to have a mighty difficult matchup on their hands.

5. The Mess Out West

There is, from spots one through eight, zero clarity in the Western Conference. What we have are three tiers of teams: the teams fighting for a first-round bye, the teams fighting to get in, and the teams who are out.

Of the first grouping, Vancouver had the best weekend – grabbing a 1-0 win at SKC, while Seattle and Portland lost on the road.

Of the second grouping, Houston got a much-needed 2-1 home victory over Minnesota, Dallas saved a point in Orlando on a Jesse Gonzalez face-save, RSL got that draw at LA, and the Earthquakes won a do-or-die game against the Timbers.

That leaves the Loons, who have had a nice fall, the Rapids, who have discovered a nice player in Stefan Aigner, and the Galaxy, who are now 2-9-5 at home.

There are three teams tied on points for second, and three teams tied on points for sixth. It’s been a down year in the West, but it’s going to be plenty dramatic over the next month.

6. Biello in Trouble?

Mauro Biello is a Montreal Impact legend – a Quebec native who has been with his hometown club in its various iterations as a player, assistant, and manager for more than two decades total.

That said: Biello might be in serious trouble. The Impact have been one of MLS’s most disappointing teams this season, and over the last two months, they’ve absolutely fallen apart.

After losing in Colorado on Saturday in a game that finished nine-against-nine, Montreal has dropped seven of eight. They’re now level on points with New England, Philadelphia, and Orlando.

For a team with as much talent as the Impact have, that’s inexcusable. A rumor midweek linked Alessandro Nesta to the managerial job, and whether Joey Saputo pulls the trigger on that move or not, it’s going to be an uncomfortable couple of months in Montreal.

7. Credit to the Crew

Columbus punched its playoff ticket in its home finale on Saturday, comfortably beating DC United 2-0 behind goals from Josh Williams and Justin Meram.

The Crew are a cut below the East’s best sides this year, but they’ve done an awful lot with what they have – and, just as importantly, they’re playing their best soccer of the year at the right time.

Columbus is now 5-0-3 in their last eight. Two players in particular have led the way.

One is Justin Meram, who has smashed his career high in goals this year and is in the form of his life. The other is Federico Higuain, who, on what is likely his last tour with Columbus, is quietly in double-digit assists for the first time in his MLS years.

This team, despite sharing some of the personnel, is a much changed from the one that lost MLS Cup on home soil two years ago. But unlike last year, Gregg Berhalter has figured out how to make the Crew a contender.

8. To Vancouver As Well

With just three weeks remaining in the season, the Vancouver Whitecaps – defying every odd – lead the Western Conference by a full four points.

All the ‘Caps have done recently is roll up points. They’ve lost just one of their last nine, taking care of business at home, and gutting out the win at SKC this weekend on short rest.

Vancouver has gotten contributions from nearly all of its fleet of young attacking players – from Yordy Reyna to Fredy Montero to Christian Techera to even Erik Hurtado on Saturday – and gotten enough defense to manufacture results. It’s been an impressive run.

It’s still hard to see this Whitecaps team as a legit title contender – they’ve only had one multi-goal win in their last eleven – but in a bad Western Conference, they very well might be one.

9. Chicago Gets Schweinsteiger Back

Though they didn’t beat New York City on Saturday night at Toyota Park, the Chicago Fire had an altogether decent week. It included a big win in San Jose on Wednesday night, and Bastian Schweinsteiger’s first appearance since September 2 against NYCFC.

The Fire seem to have righted the ship somewhat since losing six of seven across July and August, but they’ve been overtaken by Atlanta United and are almost certainly going to have play a Wild Card game at the end of the month.

Getting Schweinsteiger back in the fold before then is key. The Fire lost Michael de Leeuw to injury on Saturday, and their midfield – so good in the June and July – has been inconsistent of late.

With a tough game against Columbus or the Red Bulls looming in the playoffs, the Fire need all hands on deck.

10. All Eyes On Qualifying

Most of MLS is off next weekend for World Cup qualifying, and many of its players will be in action around the globe.

But all eyes around the league will be on the United States’ clash with Panama in Orlando on Friday night, and, after that, on their trip to Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday.

If things go well and the US qualifies, the end of the season in MLS will proceed as normal. But if things don’t go well, and the US is forced into a November playoff, those games will loom large over the end of the league season.

It’s obviously in MLS’s interest for the US to qualify next week. If that doesn’t happen, the American soccer scene will be an awfully dark place.

Photo credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 29 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. Dallas’ Nosedive Continues

FC Dallas entered this weekend without a win in their last nine games dating back to July 22 – having fallen from first place in the Western Conference to below the playoff red line.

In Minneapolis on Saturday night, the tailspin continued. Dallas had an early goal ruled out for offsides, missed a penalty, had a player sent off, and was walloped 4-1 by Minnesota United. It was a sight to see.

Dallas has a litany of problems. The team doesn’t look bought in. The body language on Saturday was poor, and the defending – especially from Maynor Figeuroa – was shocking.

But talent is a major issue as well. With Matt Hedges and Kellyn Acosta out injured, and Mauro Diaz starting again on the bench, Dallas didn’t even field as much quality as the expansion Loons did on Saturday night.

Dallas has always overachieved under Oscar Pareja. But right now, they’re certainly no more than the sum of their parts.

2. Another Road Collapse For San Jose

San Jose, in prime position to capitalize on the points dropped by Dallas and Houston, went to moribund DC United on Saturday night and let Patrick Mullins score four goals in less time than any other player in MLS history in a 4-0 loss.

If you’re scoring at home, the ‘Quakes are now 1-7-0 on the road under Chris Leitch’s management, having been outscored 27-6 in those games.

Leitch has done some good things in his half-season in charge of San Jose, but there’s no question that the ‘Quakes are more competitive right now on the road if Dom Kinnear is still in charge.

At this rate, even if San Jose does sneak into the playoffs, they’re going to get pummeled in a road Wild Card game. For the league’s sake, it might be best if they miss out.

3. RSL Moves Into Position

Of the four clubs battling for the West’s final two playoff spots, only one is playing postseason-worthy soccer: Mike Petke’s Real Salt Lake.

RSL knocked off the Seattle Sounders 2-0 at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night, winning their fourth-straight at home, and jumping into fifth place in the conference. Now, for the first time all year, FiveThirtyEight’s Soccer Power Index has the Claret and Cobalt as a slight favorite to reach the postseason.

It’s been an amazing turnaround. At the beginning of July, RSL was 5-12-2 and shipping goals left and right. Since then, Salt Lake is 7-2-3, and playing some of the league’s best soccer.

Petke, for one, has a Coach of the Year case – and if his team makes the playoffs, they’re going to be a mighty tough out.

4. Revs Move On From Jay Heaps

After a week in which they were outscored 10-1 in games at Atlanta and Kansas City, the New England Revolution became the fifth MLS team to fire their manager this season, parting ways with longtime head coach Jay Heaps.

The Revs have unquestionably been disappointing this year, but the club’s problems run deeper than their now-former coach.

The club’s player acquisition over the last several years – especially on the defensive side of the ball – has been dismal. GM Michael Burns, who was hired alongside Heaps six years ago, now stands directly in the firing line.

And outside of a purely soccer realm, the Revs remain one of the league’s worst clubs. Ownership isn’t engaged, the stadium situation is terrible, and the club’s reputation with players is abysmal.

Heaps has spent nearly his entire professional life with New England – as a player, analyst, and then manager – and it’ll be interesting to see where he lands. The club he leaves behind, meanwhile, has a ton of work to do.

5. NYC Doesn’t Draw in East Hartford

With the Yankees playing a makeup game at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, NYCFC was forced play its Saturday afternoon match against the Houston Dynamo at Pratt & Whitney Stadium in East Hartford, Connecticut.

The result wasn’t pretty. The announced crowd of 10,165 was the smallest to watch an MLS match all year.

That the crowd was so small – the actual attendance was significantly smaller than the 10,165 announced – wasn’t a surprise. East Hartford is several hours away from New York City, and NYCFC doesn’t have any sort of significant following across state lines.

It was an embarrassing afternoon. A club co-owned by City Football Group and the New York Yankees – two of the world’s most powerful sports brands – exiled to play in front of a paltry crowd the middle of Connecticut.

At this point, New York City needs its own stadium more than it needs a championship. The odds are against it getting either any time soon.

6. Seattle’s Winless Run Continues

The Seattle Sounders had their thirteen-game unbeaten streak snapped on Saturday night in Sandy, but it’s their winless streak – which now sits at five games – that is weighing on Brian Schmetzer and Co.

The primary problem, which has popped up at various points throughout the year, is that Seattle can’t score.

With the loss on Saturday, the Sounders are without a goal in almost 200 minutes dating back to Christian Roldan’s late equalizer against LA two weeks ago at CenturyLink.

Take away a pair of games against Minnesota, and Seattle hasn’t tallied multiple goals in a game since a 3-0 win over San Jose in July – just one day after Dallas got its last win against Montreal.

Time is running out for the Sounders to figure out their attacking woes. If they don’t, their title defense might not make it to November.

7. Minnesota Continues To Make Strides

Slowly but surely, Minnesota United is beginning to hit its stride.

With three wins and a draw in their last five, Minnesota is playing its best soccer of the season – and their 4-1 walloping of FC Dallas on Saturday has the club on its first-ever MLS winning streak.

But even outside of the recent results, there’s plenty for Loons fans to be excited about.

Minnesota sold out the lower bowl of TCF Bank Stadium for the third straight time on Saturday night, after going without a sellout for twelve games between March and July, and the atmosphere has improved accordingly. It’s leaps and bounds ahead of where it was in the spring.

It hasn’t hurt, of course, that the team has improved tremendously. The Loons have a tremendously fun young attacking core, and they’ve played with some real verve over the last two months.

Meanwhile, in St. Paul, after several fits and starts, construction is underway on Allianz Field – which, when it opens in 2019, should be one of MLS’s premier venues.

They might not be Atlanta, but it looks like Minnesota is going to be just fine as an MLS club.

8. Hamid On His Way Out?

With contract negotiations at a standstill, DC United benched Bill Hamid for their game Saturday against San Jose – instead handing a debut to former Columbus Crew goalkeeper Steve Clarke.

The timing of the move was curious – especially in light of a report from Ives Galarcep that a representative of Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt was reportedly in DC to scout Hamid on Saturday.

If the decision to take Hamid out of the lineup was in any way influenced by the knowledge that a European club was in town to watch him, DC should be ashamed.

Whatever the case, it seems unlikely that the club’s longtime starting goalkeeper will be in town to ring in the new stadium in 2018.

9. Michael Ciani A Bust?

It sure looks like it.

The Frenchman has only played three games for the LA Galaxy since signing on a free transfer to replace Jelle Van Damme in August, but he’s been exposed in all of them.

Ciani has had a long and distinguished career in Europe, but at 33 years old, he looks slow in every phase of the game – a la Steven Taylor in Portland at the end of last season.

If LA goes into next season with Ciani as its #1 center back, Galaxy fans should be livid.

10. More Hardware For Sporting

Sporting Kansas City picked up another trophy on Wednesday night, beating the New York Red Bulls in the U.S. Open Cup Final in a game that never felt in doubt.

Though they’ve won just one MLS Cup under Peter Vermes, Sporting’s run since opening their stadium in 2011 is one of the most impressive in MLS history.

Since then, SKC has the MLS Cup, three Open Cups, made the playoffs in six – soon to be seven – straight seasons, sold out more than 100 straight games, and done it all without any big-name stars.

Peter Vermes is MLS’ longest-tenured coach by a mile, and he’s proven time and again to be one of the league’s best technical directors as well. When the U.S. job comes open next, his name should be at the top of the federation’s list.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

Photo credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 28 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. Toronto’s March Continues

Toronto FC’s season for the ages continues to pick up steam.

TFC have now won their last six games by a combined score of 21-3. They pounded the LA Galaxy 4-0 on Saturday night in Carson with Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore resting back in Canada.

Should they take care of business next week against Montreal and New England, or if NYCFC drops points against Houston in Hartford, the Reds will clinch the Supporters’ Shield earlier than any team in the history of the league.

Depth has been a massive reason why. Tosaint Ricketts, who hadn’t started since May, walked into the team in LA and scored twice. Nick Hasler, signed from Liechtenstein in July, has been tremendous – and the list goes on and on.

TFC has the kind of depth that an MLS club couldn’t possibly have amassed even five years ago. The vision for TAM is that it would better the middle of clubs’ rosters, and Toronto has been a shining example of how it’s working.

2. Meanwhile For LA…

After a very solid performance yielded a point in Sigi Schmid’s return to Seattle last weekend, the Galaxy went limp again on Saturday night – losing at home for a staggering ninth time this season.

LA’s performance so riled their manager that the club had to clear reporters away from the locker room door so that they couldn’t hear Schmid lay into his team after the game.

Considering the Galaxy’s stature – and considering their financial outlay – their 2017 season has to be considered one of the most shocking in MLS history.

After eight straight seasons of playoff soccer and three championships, LA sits in 21st place in the league – behind an expansion team in Minnesota United that some thought could be one of MLS’s worst sides ever. It’s been an amazing fall from grace.

3. What Happened to Montreal?

About a month ago, it looked like Montreal Impact were gearing up to go on another one of the late-season runs that colored Mauro Biello’s first two seasons at the helm of the club.

The Impact had, at that point, won four straight and climbed up to the Eastern Conference red line after a characteristically slow start to the season.

Since then, however, the wheels have fallen off. Starting with a loss to Toronto at the end of August, the Impact have dropped four straight – and their 3-2 to Minnesota on Saturday night at Stade Saputo seems like the back-breaker.

Montreal now trails the Red Bulls by six points for the East’s final playoff spot – and with Patrice Bernier’s retirement looming, the futures of Igancio Piatti and Ballou Tabla up in the air, and Joey Saputo at the helm, this could be the end of the road for an Impact team that ever-so-close to MLS Cup last season.

4. How About Houston?

FC Dallas’ slide over the last two months has been well documented. Oscar Pareja’s team, which drew Seattle 0-0 in Frisco on Saturday night, hasn’t won since July 22 and now sits, incredibly, in eighth place in the Western Conference.

But the Houston Dynamo, such a good story over the first half of the season, haven’t been much better of late.

The Dynamo lost 1-0 on Saturday in San Jose, and were passed in the standings by both the Earthquakes and Real Salt Lake in the process. The Dynamo still have two games in hand on RSL and one on the ‘Quakes, but their return to the playoffs is not by any means the sure thing it seemed in June.

Houston has only won once in its last seven – and that win, over San Jose at home, came over a month ago.

The big problem is that the club’s attack – so potent early on – has gone completely flat. The team, full of players who have never played meaningful MLS games in October, looks like it’s running out of gas. Wilmer Cabrera has a big job in front of him.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

5. RSL Believes

San Jose finished the weekend in fifth place, but Real Salt Lake has been the more worthy beneficiary of the Texas clubs’ respective swoons.

Since the start of July, RSL has been one of the league’s best teams – and with their 2-1 win over another of the league’s best post-July teams in Portland on Saturday night in Sandy, Mike Petke has his team in sixth place with four games to play.

Salt Lake is still something of a long-shot to make the postseason because of how many games they’ve played, but it’s remarkable how far this team has come since the beginning of the year.

Attacking talents like Jefferson Savarino and Albert Rusnak get plenty of credit for that, but the center back partnership of Justin Glad and Marcelo Silva has been equally as important of late.

6. What’s The Matter With Seattle?

The Sounders might be on a thirteen-game unbeaten run, but they’re not fooling anyone: their attack looks just as listless right now as has at any point in the last two seasons.

Seattle has their defense to thank for their unbeaten run, because the offense has just about disappeared. It’s been nearly a month since Seattle scored multiple goals in a game, and the majority of the goals they’ve grabbed have been off of set pieces.

And while Jordan Morris’ being out for the foreseeable future and maybe the season is an issue, it’s the lack of production from Nicolas Lodeiro that is proving killer.

After lighting up the league in his first half-season last year, Lodeiro has had a rather quiet sophomore campaign. In his last eight games, the Uruguayan has just one goal and two assists.

It’s not been enough for the Sounders’ attack, which is plagued by familiar problems – slow transition play, slow ball movement, and bad spacing between a group of attackers that don’t quite seem to fit together.

Seattle is a postseason lock, but Brian Schmetzer has to use the rest of the regular season to figure out an attacking alignment that gets the most out of Lodeiro and gives the team’s defense a few goals to work with come playoff time.

7. Meanwhile in Portland…

Diego Valeri is making history.

With his header past Nick Rimando two minutes after halftime of Portland’s game at Real Salt Lake on Saturday night, Valeri became the first player in MLS history to score goals in eight consecutive games.

It’s a remarkable accomplishment by a remarkable player. Valeri, who has also this season broken the Timbers’ single-season and all-time scoring records, is now just one goal off of David Villa’s league lead and the only midfielder in the top six of the Golden Boot race

But the most amazing thing? In his first four MLS seasons, Valeri never scored a headed goal. This year, he’s got five.

8. Nemeth Disgraces Himself in Kansas City Return

Krisztian Nemeth made first start back in MLS on Saturday night for the New England Revolution at his old club Sporting Kansas City, and lasted just twelve minutes.

That’s when, with the Revs leading 1-0, he elbowed Graham Zusi in the face and was sent off.

It was that kind of week for New England, who had two players dismissed after video reviews in Atlanta on Wednesday night, lost that game 7-0, and then went on to lose 3-1 at Sporting.

Nemeth’s meltdown was rather bizarre. The winger’s disciplinary record going into the game showed just three yellow cards in 30 MLS appearances – and Zusi is not a player at all known for winding others up. It’s going to be, needless to say, a long offseason in Foxborough.

9. NYCFC Needs To Get Healthy

It’s been tough sledding of late for New York City, who, after drawing Colorado 1-1 in Commerce City on Saturday night, have won just once in their last four games and let the Chicago Fire back into the race for second in the Eastern Conference.

The good news coming out of Saturday night’s game is that David Villa got back on the field, playing the final 18 minutes.

The bad news is that NYCFC is still without Alex Ring and Yangel Herrera in midfield, two of the players who, along with Villa, have been most central to their success so far this season.

To have any chance of toppling Toronto – and to secure a first-round bye ahead of Chicago – NYC needs to get their first-choice team back on the field. Next weekend’s game in Hartford against Houston, for all kinds of reasons, will be one to watch.

10. Another Milestone For Atlanta

With over 70,000 fans in attendance to watch their thrilling 3-all draw with Orlando on Saturday afternoon, Atlanta United broke the single-game MLS attendance record – en route to breaking the league’s full-season attendance record later this year.

Atlanta’s crowd on Saturday was the fourth largest in the world this weekend, trailing only the crowds at Bourissa Dortmund, Manchester United, and Wembley for Tottenham Hotspur. It dwarfed the size of most NFL crowds on Sunday.

And not only was Atlanta’s crowd big, it was loud. Extremely loud.

For MLS, both because of their support off the field and how they’ve played on it, Atlanta United has been the gift that’s kept on giving. Here’s to many more Saturdays like this last one.

If you’re trying to find out how you can watch Barcelona vs. Juventus, you’ve come to the right place.

Studio coverage on Tuesday begins at 2:00 PM ET with host Rob Stone and analysts Alexi Lalas, Brad Friedel and Warren Barton. Studio coverage on FOX Deportes begins at 1:00 PM ET with hosts Claudio Suarez and John Laguna.

Game: Barcelona vs. Juventus

Kickoff: Tuesday, 2:45pm ET

Looking to watch Barcelona vs. Juventus online from work, home or on the go? If you live in the USA, there are several options to catch all the action.

We Recommend:

US Only.

Here are all of the details of where you can watch it on television and via legal streaming:

Who: Barcelona vs. Juventus
What: UEFA Champions League, gameweek 1
When: Game kicks off at 2:45pm ET / 11:45am PT; Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Where: Live on FOX Sports 2, FOX Deportes, FOX Soccer Match Pass, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

With fubo Premier, you can watch Barcelona vs. Juventus and tons of soccer games with a 7-day trial. With the legal streaming service, you can watch the game on your computer, smartphone, tablet, Roku, Apple TV or hook it up to your TV with Google Chromecast.

Now with fubo Premier, you can stream NBCSN, FS1, FS2 as well as beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español, beIN SPORTS Connect, NBC (in select cities), CNBC, USA, FOX (in select cities), FOX Soccer Plus, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports Net, Telemundo, Univision, Univision Deportes, UniMas, One World Sports, CSN and YES.

Plus fubo Premier, the legal streaming service, also streams Premier League, La Liga, Liga MX, World Cup 18/22/26, Women’s World Cup 2019, MLS, UEFA Champions League, Europa League, FA Cup, Primeira Liga, Serie A, Ligue Un, CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers, NASL, Bundesliga, select USMNT games, select USWNT games, select Mexico games, select England games and Euro 2020 qualifiers.

The fubo Premier app is available for Windows PC, Mac, Apple iPhone, Apple iPad, Apple TV, Android smartphones, Android tablets, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Amazon Kindle.

SEE MORE: Schedule of Champions League games on US TV and streaming

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 27 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. The Playoff Picture Clears Up

With Real Salt Lake and San Jose losing this weekend – and despite the fact that Dallas continues to stare into the abyss – the Western Conference playoff race appears to be settled.

Houston and Dallas both have games in hand on the ‘Quakes and RSL, and points to spare. Positioning is very much up for grabs in the West, but there’s a clear top six and bottom five.

The Eastern Conference is coming into focus as well. Montreal’s loss to New England on Saturday night leaves the Impact firmly on the outside looking in for a playoff berth, three points below the red line and a distant seventh on points-per-game.

Even if Montreal wins their two games in hand on Columbus, they’d still be trailing the Crew by a point – and two of the Impact’s next three are at Toronto and at Atlanta.

2. As the Supporters’ Shield Race Ends

The Supporters’ Shield race, meanwhile, is over as early as it ever has been.

Patrick Vieira conceded the regular season championship to Toronto FC several weeks ago, but his team’s loss to Portland on Saturday – coupled with TFC’s win over San Jose – makes it official.

Toronto is nine points clear atop the league, with a goal difference 18 better than the next best team. They’ve been dominant.

How dominant? Last year’s Shield winners Dallas finished the season with 60 points. The 2015 Shield-winning New York Red Bulls finished with 60 as well. TFC this year – with six games remaining – is already at 59.

3. Atlanta Opens New Home With A Bang

The league’s second best team on goal difference? That would be Atlanta United, who raised the curtain on Mercedes Benz Stadium with a comprehensive 3-0 win over free-falling FC Dallas.

The win was Atlanta’s first since July 21, and it could be the beginning of a run to threaten the likes of NYC and Chicago for the second spot in the East.

The Five Stripes have five more home games before the end of September, and finish with seven of their last nine in Atlanta – where they’re 6-0-1 since the beginning of May.

By every metric, Atlanta has been one of the league’s best teams all season. By the end of the month, the standings should reflect that.

4. Dallas Continues to Slide

We’ve seen our fair share of bad runs in MLS this year – Philadelphia to start the season, Orlando since May, Portland in June and July, – but FC Dallas’ slide might be the most shocking.

With their blowout loss in Atlanta, Oscar Pareja’s team is now winless in eight – having picked up just three points since July 22 in a stretch in which they’ve been outscored 19-7.

Dallas has seen Mauro Diaz go in and out of the lineup over the last month-and-a-half, but they certainly haven’t been decimated by injuries. This is, more or less, the same team and same manager that won the Supporters’ Shield last season.

It’s been a shocking run. Philadelphia is a small club. Orlando has never made the playoffs. Portland has missed them twice in the last three years. But Dallas under Pareja has been juggernaut – not always the league’s best team, but always one of its consistent. Not anymore.

5. A Stunning Defeat For Houston

The Houston Dynamo could have virtually locked up their return to the playoffs, and provided a lift – however small – to their fans trying to put their lives back together after Hurricane Harvey with a win on Saturday night at BBVA Compass Stadium.

But it wasn’t to be. A goal from Dominic Badji in stoppage time gave the Colorado Rapids a 1-0 upset victory. It was the first time Houston had been shutout at home all season.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

The Dynamo – who had a game cancelled due to Harvey and hadn’t played in 17 days – were clearly rusty. Said Wilmer Cabrera after the game, “I have to leave the stadium today just comfortable, at peace with myself and at peace with the players because they fought and they are tired.”

The win was the Rapids’ first in more than two months and first since Pablo Mastroeni was fired, but, interestingly, their second victory this year over Houston – making this matchup the West’s answer to Atlanta-DC in the East.

6. Another Big Win For Portland

No team in MLS has run hotter and colder this year than Portland, and right now, the Timbers are as hot as they’ve been since they shot to the top of the league when the season opened in March.

On Saturday afternoon, they did what no Western Conference team has done for fifteen months – beat NYCFC at Yankee Stadium.

A goal one minute before halftime from Diego Valeri – more on it a minute – was enough to extend Portland’s unbeaten run to four games and send them back to the top of the West.

Valeri – who tied an MLS record by scoring in his seventh straight game on Saturday – has been integral in the run, but so has Larrys Mabiala – whose signing in July has remade what had been one of the league’s worst defenses.

We’ve seen the Timbers put together a fall charge before. Caleb Porter’s record at this time of year is as good as anyone’s in MLS, and his team appears to be putting it all together at just the right moment again.

7. Pirlo’s Embarrassment

No great athlete wants to stay on the field past the point where he or she can no longer compete at a recognizable level. Sadly, Andrea Pirlo is a long ways past that point.

Pirlo was responsible for giving the ball away on the goal that decided his team’s 1-0 loss to Portland on Saturday, being stripped by Darren Mattocks deep in the NYCFC half and then, instead of chasing after the Jamaican, stopping cold to appeal for a foul that never occurred.

It was embarrassing. Even if he was exposed defensively on occasion, Pirlo was quite good for New York City in 2015 and 2016.

This year, though, he’s just been sad to watch. Despite his incredible body control and despite his extraordinary soccer intelligence, Pirlo appears as overmatched physically as anyone in recent MLS history has been.

He played well on Wedensday night against Sporting Kansas City, but NYC can’t afford to play him – and with one or both of Alex Ring and Yangel Herrera slated to return to the NYC lineup next weekend, we might never see Pirlo on the field again.

In any case, it’s a shame that one of the game’s all-time greats is going out in such pitiful fashion.

8. Cascadia Reigning

Portland isn’t the only ascendant Cascadian team out West. In fact, heading into the final month-and-a-half of the season, it’s the Seattle Sounders, Timbers, and Vancouver Whitecaps who occupy the conference’s top three positions.

The ‘Caps, 3-2 home winners on Saturday night against RSL, are quietly having a very nice season. They’re second in the conference on points-per-game, and, with three straight at home before finishing the season with games at Seattle, Sporting, and Portland, have a path to the top spot.

Seattle, meanwhile, still has to be the odds-on favorite to represent the league in MLS Cup. They’ve not been great of late, but new signing Victor Rodriguez has thoroughly impressed in his first three appearances. They have the guns.

9. Shared Spoils in Chicago

The biggest game of the weekend on paper was Saturday afternoon in Bridgeview, where the Chicago Fire and New York Red Bulls battled to a 1-1 draw.

Both teams got goals from their main strikers – no small feet for Nemanja Nikolic, who had been scoreless in nine – and both came away none too disappointed for the result.

While it wasn’t the win Chicago would have liked to get its season back on track, there was plenty to like. Nikolic got on the scoresheet, and Brandon Vincent and Matt Polster both started for the first time since July.

The Red Bulls, meanwhile, are now unbeaten in five. They’re getting better play from Sacha Kljestan, whose up to fourteen assists, and the defense – still without a clean sheet since July – mostly took care of the talented Fire attack.

Both clubs are firmly in contention as we head towards the final push.

10. Orlando’s Nightmare Season Continues

Despite their finally getting a road win on Saturday night in DC, it was another nightmarish week for Orlando City.

Firstly, there’s the specter of Hurricane Irma, which has the team holed up in Atlanta ahead of their game there next weekend.

Then there was the news that midfielder and vice-captain Will Johnson was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday morning and charged with domestic battery after he allegedly charged his wife and tackled her to the ground following an argument.

Johnson is the second Orlando player to be arrested this year, following his compatriot Cyle Larin, and, if he’s guilty, his time at the club and in MLS should be over. There is no place in the game or the world for domestic violence.

An out-of-nothing 85th minute rebound goal for Bobby Wood gave the United States the 1-1 draw it needed to remain on the inside track to qualify for Russia 2018 in Honduras on Tuesday.

In a vacuum, this was a good result for the U.S. All points taken on the road during World Cup qualifying are good points, and San Pedro Sula in particular is a nightmarish place to play.

Per Soccer America’s Paul Kennedy, the U.S. has now gone unbeaten in three straight Hexagonal away games for the first time since 1997. That’s no small feet.

This wasn’t such a bad result in the big picture either. The U.S. remains the favorite to finish third in the Hex, with eminently winnable games against Panama and Trinidad and Tobago to close out the campaign in October.

But this wasn’t a pretty 90 minutes. They U.S. barely escaped in this game – one in which they were run off the field in the first half and looked ragged and shaken throughout. Bruce Arena has a big job ahead of him.

Here are the player ratings.

Brad Guzan, 6: Didn’t have a prayer on the goal, and while he wasn’t forced into any spectacular saves, he was solid under sustained pressure the rest of the day.

DaMarcus Beasley, 4: Worked his tail off, but was overpowered from the first minute by his Houston teammate Alberth Elis – a player fourteen years his junior.

Matt Besler, 7: The lone strong performer on the backline. Smooth defensively and in possession, and integral to keeping the play alive on Wood’s goal.

Omar Gonzalez, 3: Made several nice open field tackles, but his indecision on the goal was very nearly a killer.

Graham Zusi, 3: Faced with a difficult matchup in Romell Quioto, Zusi looked every bit the converted right back he is. DeAndre Yedlin was a big miss for these games.

Michael Bradley, 5: Put in the typical good shift defensively, but was largely marked out of the game – which was one of the main reasons the U.S. couldn’t keep the ball.

Kellyn Acosta, 7: Hard to think where the U.S. would have been without its young central midfielder in this one. Acosta covered a ton of ground in central midfield, slid over to right back in the second half, and belted in the free kick that resulted in Wood’s goal.

Darlington Nagbe, 4: Neither the conditions nor the game particularly suited Nagbe, who had limited space to operate and drifted out of the game.

Christian Pulisic, 5: Was full of energy and purpose, and – even if he was mostly stifled again here – that industry resulted the set piece that led to the equalizer.

Clint Dempsey, 5: Was inventive with the few touches he got, but never really found the game.

Jordan Morris, 6: Though there was some concern about his playing in the heat, Morris put in a worthwhile performance – getting involved as much as possible up top, and getting the crucial flick on Wood’s goal.

Substitutes

Paul Arriola, 6: Came on at a position he hasn’t played all summer and was strong. Becoming a very valuable player for this team.

Geoff Cameron, 7: Came on locked in and shored up the defense. If only he’d been half as good on Friday.

Bobby Wood, 8: Was brought on to find a goal, and find a goal he did – scoring the biggest U.S. goal since July 2014 and, perhaps, salvaging the country’s bid to qualify for an eighth straight World Cup finals.

Success in soccer is a fragile thing.

The United States entered Friday night’s showdown World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica unbeaten in fourteen straight games under Bruce Arena, one more big win away from all but locking up its trip to Russia next summer.

It felt like a sure thing.

And then – an uneven opening half hour, a pro-Costa Rica crowd in New Jersey, an opening goal from Marco Ureña, and all the confidence culled from the last seven months went up in smoke.

The U.S. never recovered on Friday night. Costa Rica put them away 2-0. And just like that, this qualification campaign – which was plunged into crisis in Costa Rica last November – is right back on the brink.

When Arena took this job for the second time last November, he knew that the margin for error was thin. Now he’ll find out just how thin.

SEE MORE: Player ratings for USA’s performance against Costa Rica

For the first time since Arena retook the reigns, the U.S. is legitimate adversity. Lose in San Pedro Sula on Tuesday, and the U.S. will be on the outside looking in for an automatic qualifying berth.

Mexico is in. Costa Rica will likely join them on Tuesday. It’s down to the U.S., Honduras, and Panama to scrap for the region’s final spot and a half, with the fourth place finisher bound for a playoff with a correspondingly placed finisher in Asia.

Needless to say, it’s not where the United States thought they’d be when this Hexagonal opened nine months ago. The U.S. had, after all, won the Hex in 2005, 2009, and 2013.

Now, with this defeat, headed for their worst Hex finish since 2002 or ever, the U.S. has done something it hadn’t done previously since 1957: Lose two home qualifiers in a single cycle.

The Americans took one on the chin at Red Bull Arena. Arena said his team was both “outplayed and outcoached,” and he wasn’t wrong.

Costa Rica came ready to play. They overran the U.S. in central midfield, swarmed Christian Pulisic, and, in the big moments in both boxes, got the plays they needed to win.

Was the U.S. overconfident? There’s plenty – including the decision to hold the game in the New York City area – to suggest that it was.

Neither Arena nor Sunil Gulati, of course, could have predicted that Geoff Cameron would choose this night to have his worst U.S. game in years, or that Ureña would spend the night finishing like Paulo Wanchope.

But this is a wakeup call. The U.S. hasn’t tasted a shred of adversity since the coaching change, and its success this year created a false sense of security.

CONCACAF qualifying might be forgiving – as evidenced by the fact that the U.S. still controls its own destiny to get to the World Cup – but those back-to-back losses to meant that the team was never likely to sail into Russia unabated.

It’s now that the Arena era starts in earnest. The honeymoon is over.

Now, over the next three days, the best manager the U.S. has ever produced will have to pick his team up off the mat and get them ready for the national team’s most important road qualifier in recent memory.

Playing in Honduras is hard enough under any circumstances. But in these circumstances? With a newly-weakened U.S. team standing as the only obstacle between Los Catrachos and a straight line to the finals?

It’s going to be crazy in San Pedro Sula on Tuesday. An absolute cauldron.

How will this team respond? The last time the U.S. lost a home qualifier, of course, they followed it up by getting walloped on the road in the game that cost Klinsmann his job.

We’ve heard plenty said this summer from the likes of Tim Howard and Michael Bradley about how the team’s mentality, thanks in large part to Arena, is much improved since that 4-0 drubbing last November – how players understand their roles and are playing for each other.

Easy enough to say when you’re winning. But it’s in difficult times that the character of teams is tested, and for the U.S., that test is now looming.

They should embrace the challenge. Friday night’s effort was an embarrassment. The U.S. wasn’t just outplayed. It was also out-competed. Pushed around. Costa Rica took the game to the U.S., and in this region, no matter the competition and no matter the location, that’s a recipe for disaster.

Tactically, Arena will make the adjustments. Darlington Nagbe won’t be deployed as a central midfielder in a 4-4-2. Tim Ream and Fabian Johnson will be gone, in favor of the Beasleys and the Dempseys who know CONCACAF inside and out.

Then it will be up to the players to get after it. All teams have bad nights. The U.S. certainly had one against Costa Rica. But if this U.S. team is good as we think it as, as good as it’s said it is, it’ll bounce back next time out.

If it doesn’t, it might not deserve a World Cup berth in the first place.

The United States’ World Cup qualification campaign suffered a massive blow on Friday night, as Costa Rica ended the Americans’ fourteen-game unbeaten run under Bruce Arena with a comprehensive 2-0 win at Red Bull Arena. Here are the player ratings.

Tim Howard, 3: The U.S. needed a big performance from its goalkeeper, and Howard didn’t deliver – especially on the first goal. The difference in goalkeeping was the difference in the game.

Jorge Villafaña, 4: Villafaña’s performance won’t assuage anyone who questions whether he’s up to starting against elite competition. Caught out several times in multiple phases of the game.

Tim Ream, 3: Was a somewhat surprising selection considering the availability and experience of Matt Besler and Omar Gonzalez, and looked overwhelmed in the first half. Most culpable on the opening goal.

Geoff Cameron, 2: A shocker. So good this year for the U.S., Cameron was in this game so loose on the ball that the killer turnover – which led directly to Ureña’s second goal – felt inevitable.

Graham Zusi, 6: Got forward well from left back and held his own defensively. Didn’t do his stock any harm.

Michael Bradley, 7: Given a mountain of work in the heart of midfield, Bradley was tireless – he pressed, tracked back, and distributed well. Just needed some help.

Darlington Nagbe, 6: Nagbe, as always, was tight on the ball and valuable in transition. But he’s a liability defensively at this level in central midfield. Should have played out wide in Johnson’s place.

Fabian Johnson, 3: Johnson hasn’t started a Bundesliga game all season with Borussia Mönchengladbach, and he looked well off the ferocious pace. Had zero impact and should have been taken off early.

Christian Pulisic, 3: It was a rough night for Pulisic, who appeared to press as the U.S. struggled to generate offense. How will he bounce back from the first real adversity he’s faced on the international stage?

Bobby Wood, 3: Didn’t link up particularly well with Altidore, and didn’t get many looks. Will we see him in Honduras?

Jozy Altidore, 5: Plenty of fight – laudable in the midst of such a tepid performance – but the yellow card that will see him suspended for the Honduras game was needless.

Substitutes

Clint Dempsey, 3: Couldn’t make anything of a great free kick chance just after coming on, and was lucky the referee didn’t take a hardline view of his late elbow.

Jordan Morris, 5: By the time he was able to get onto the field, the game was over. Does he take Altidore’s place on Tuesday?

The start of the World Cup in Russia is less than ten months away, and the U.S. has a new lease on life.

Since Bruce Arena replaced Jurgen Klinsmann at the helm of the national team last November, the U.S. has gone unbeaten in fourteen straight games – winning the Gold Cup, taking a point out of the Azteca, and jumping from last to third place in the Hex in the process.

It’s been a dramatic turnaround – and the rest of the region has taken note.

“Their players feel happier,” Costa Rica manager Oscar Ramirez said of the U.S. at the Gold Cup in July. “With Klinsmann there was a certain tension, perhaps because several had problems with him.

“But now you can tell there is a happier environment, an environment in which the players apply themselves and play with more freedom. Bruce has brought that calmness in the Hexagonal… [he] has restored their level,” he continued.

When next they take the field, tonight at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, the U.S. can come full circle.

It was a humiliating defeat to Costa Rica that cost Klinsmann his job last year; if the U.S. wins the rematch against the Ticos this evening, their World Cup qualification will be virtually assured.

That’s not to say that the U.S. will have an easy time. Ramirez is a canny coach, and his team is stocked with American and European-based players who won’t be daunted by tonight’s occasion or their opposition.

Costa Rica is a legitimately good team – arguably more talented now than they were when they advanced to within a penalty shootout of the 2014 World Cup semifinals – and they’ll be in Russia next summer.

But the clear and overriding expectation tonight is that the United States will win. That’s the kind of confidence Arena has restored – both in his team, and in those who follow it.

Confidence is a key word with Arena. We heard it after the Gold Cup from goalkeeper Tim Howard, when he said, “Bruce has lit a fire under us. He’s got us going again. [He] has come in and given us a lot of confidence and I think we’ve repaid him through these results.” 

Arena’s own confidence – especially in MLS, in the American player, and in the American game at large – is clear.
The squad that was trounced in Costa Rica and November featured just eight MLS players. The one that trounced Honduras 6-0 in Arena’s first game the following March featured eighteen. So will the one that takes the field tonight.

Some of that is MLS continuing to improve and continuing to increase its financial outlay.

Klinsmann came in to shake up the system. He was openly critical of MLS and seemed distrustful of players who chose to play in.

SEE MORE: Schedule of World Cup qualifiers on US TV and streaming

That wasn’t all bad. No orbit like U.S. Soccer improves unless it is challenged. But it’s hard to create a cohesive, positive atmosphere as U.S. Soccer coach if you’re at war with much of U.S. Soccer.

Klinsmann’s team was heavily reliant on the dual-nationals he recruited – and while many of those players have represented and continue to represent the team well, it’s clear from listening to the U.S.’s leaders that the team was fractured towards the end of Klinsmann’s reign.

“For me, the biggest thing is always the mentality of your group,” Michael Bradley said Tuesday. “How the group of guys, with the staff and with the coaches, feel they’re in something together and it’s not just a bunch of guys who come in and who are looking to do their own thing and who only care about themselves and what is good for them as individuals.”

“The only chance you have is to have, again, a team full of guys and people around you that understand that everybody has to give a little bit of what they are to make everybody around them better. You can create this mentality. [Arena] and his staff have done a really good job of getting that part back to where it needed to be.”

Arena’s tenure hasn’t just been marked by its success thus far. It’s also been marked by its harmony. For the first time years, it feels like everyone involved with the national team is pulling in the same direction.

Has it helped that Arena is an MLS guy who has drawn heavily from MLS to revitalize the team? No question. American soccer can be clannish, and were Arena not following Klinsmann, his impact might not have been so great so soon.

But whether Arena’s tenure has been the revenge of the MLS sector of the U.S. Soccer world or not, there’s no arguing with the results its produced. And with the World Cup on the horizon, that’s all that matters.

As Arena – who has now coached the U.S. in each of the last three decades – can attest, this is the deepest, most talented, best-experienced player pool the national team has ever had.

Howard, who was first capped fifteen years ago, agrees.

“The makeup of this team, I keep talking about, is probably the best I’ve ever seen,” Howard said on Tuesday. “From top to bottom the team is structured really well to not only be a good team, but [to] compete.”

Win tonight, and the U.S. will have the chance to do just that next summer.

Here’s our preview of many of the games to keep an eye out for during the next week:

EUROPE (UEFA)

Group A: It’s a cracking race in Group A, where the French – thanks to that incredible Hugo Lloris mistake in Solna in June – have lost their grip on the top spot to Sweden, with the Netherlands trailing just behind.

The game to watch will be France’s showdown with the Dutch at the Stade de France, while the Swedes will have to be sharp in trips to Bulgaria and Belarus.

Should France beat the Netherlands – under new management Dick Aadvocat – they’ll have the inside track on the automatic qualifying spot as they finish with games against the group’s bottom three teams.

Group B: It’s a two horse race in Group B, where Switzerland and Portugal are duking it out for the automatic bid.

The Swiss are on top at the moment thanks to their win over Portugal to open the campaign last September in Basel, and the two sides don’t meet again until the final day of qualifying in Lisbon.

Hungary is the only team in the group that could pose either Switzerland or Portugal problems, and they do get Fernando Santos’ side at home in this window.

Group C: Germany’s qualifying campaign has been about boring you’d expect it would be – six wins from six with a goal difference of +26 – and they could clinch qualification by the end of this window.

Northern Ireland, for one, will be hoping the Germans continue to roll. They lead the Czech Republic by four points for the group’s second spot, and the Czechs have to face Germany on September 1st before traveling to Belfast for a huge showdown at Windsor Park on the 4th.

Northern Ireland is trying to qualify for its first World Cup since 1986, and their defense is carrying them – they’ve only conceded two goals in their first six qualifiers.

Group D: The Group D race is wide open. Serbia and Ireland lead the way with twelve points, but Wales and Austria, on eight points, are very much within touching distance.

Every game in this group matters, but the big games to watch in this window fall on the second matchday – when Wales hosts Austria, and the Republic hosts Serbia. None of Wales, Ireland, or Serbia have lost yet in this campaign.

Group E: There’s a clear favorite in Group E, where Poland is rolling towards its first World Cup Finals since Germany 2006.

The Poles are out in front with 16 points, while Montenegro and Denmark – both on ten points – vie for the playoff spot. Romania could get itself into the argument with a win over Montenegro on the 4th, while Copenhagen will be alive for Poland’s visit on the 1st.

Group F: Gareth Southgate’s England leads the way in this group, two points ahead of Slovakia, three ahead of Slovenia, and – thanks only to Harry Kane’s stoppage time equalizer at Hampden Park in June – six ahead of Scotland.

The Scots face an uphill battle, but they could give themselves a chance going into the final window by taking maximum points from games against Lithuania and Malta.

England, on the other hand, can seal their qualification with wins over Slovakia and Slovenia, as both countries visit Wembley.

For those two countries, however, the trip to London will matter little. Of greater import will be the game they play against each other in Slovakia. Scotland will be praying for a draw.

Group G: Spain and Italy are running away with this group, tied on 16 points at the top with a World Cup ticket on the line in Madrid on 2nd in what is most likely the biggest qualifier happening anywhere on the planet in September.

It’s a can’t-miss game. Spain don’t often draw big crowds or atmosphere, but the Santiago Beranbeau should be bouncing for this game – with the Spanish, plsu David Villa, looking to exact a measure of revenge on the Italians for Italy’s win at Euro 2016.

Group H: Belgium – now under legitimate management in Roberto Martinez – are cruising towards Russia with a four point lead over Greece atop this group. A win over the Greeks on the third could see the Red Devils clinch qualification.

The race for second, then, between Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina, is where the action is. The Greeks have the inside track. Unless Bosnia can take points off Belgium, all Greece needs to do is win its remaining games against Estonia, Cyprus, and Gibraltar to take second.

Group I: It’s an excellent battle in Group I, where Croatia, Iceland, Turkey and Ukraine are in the running and, in several cases, in turmoil.

Turkey has recently lost their larger-than-life coach Fatih Terim to a resignation, tendered after Terim drove the length of the country to beat up restaurant owner he was in a dispute with.

Mircea Lucescu, last with Zenit, has taken the reigns. His first act was to talk star man Arda Turan out of an international retirement induced by Turan’s refusal to apologize for grabbing the throat of a reporter on the team plane in June.

Croatia has legal problems as well. Its star player Luka Modric is under investigation for perjury after testifying at the trial of a former Dynamo Zagreb executive charged with embezzlement and tax fraud.

The Croatian public has turned against Modric, and it’s unclear if he will be called into the national team for its upcoming qualifiers.

Turkey and Croatia will meet on the second matchday of this window, as will the comparatively serene sides of Iceland and Ukraine. Each side has everything to play for.

SEE MORE: Schedule of World Cup qualifiers on US TV and streaming

SOUTH AMERICA (CONMEBOL)

Brazil, so pitiful in the aftermath of its landslide defeat to Germany at its World Cup three years ago, is back in a big way.

Under the direction of new manager Tite, who replaced Dunga after the 2016 Copa America in the U.S., the Brazilians have won their last eight games by a combined score of 24-2. They’re in.

That has left the likes of Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, Argentina, and Ecuador to duke it out for the region’s final three automatic bids and single playoff spot.

It’s been a troubled campaign for Argentina, currently placed fifth and coming off of a loss at Bolivia in March. To rectify the situation, Argentina has turned to the continent’s best, Jorge Sampaoli, who led Chile to the 2015 Copa America title.

Sampaoli will have Lionel Messi available for his first two games against Uruguay and Venezuela, as Messi’s ban for verbally abusing an assistant referee was overturned by the FIFA Appeal Committee.

That Uruguay-Argentina game is the biggest in this region, while Peru and Paraguay need wins over Ecuador and Uruguay respectively to get into the conversation. The overwhelming likelihood is that the picture will still be congested going to October.

NORTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, & THE CARABBEAN (CONCACAF)

Mexico remains top of the Hexagonal after six games, but the mood around El Tri has soured considerably during a summer in which the team was bounced from the group stage of the Confederations Cup and upset by Jamaica at the Gold Cup.

Embattled Mexcio manager Juan Carlos Osorio will serve the last of a six game ban for conduct in Russia when Panama visits the Azteca, but he’ll be back on the bench for a showdown against Costa Rica after that.

Osorio needs results badly, but he’ll be without his captain Rafa Marquez who was sanctioned by the U.S. government for his alleged ties to a drug trafficking organization.

Though they have fewer points than their southern rivals, things are much rosier in the U.S.’s camp, where the Americans won the Gold Cup in July and still haven’t lost under new manager Bruce Arena.

The U.S. is currently three points behind Costa Rica in third, but they can close that gap at Red Bull Arena on the 1st of September when the Ticos visit.

With Mexico, the U.S., and Costa Rica clearly the class of this region and likely to take the three automatic spots, the battle for the playoff spot seems to be down to Panama and Honduras with Trinidad and Tobago stuck on just three points.

Both teams play Trinidad in this window, but while Panama has to travel to Mexico, Honduras gets the U.S. in San Pedro Sula – where they beat the Americans in 2013.

AFRICA (CAF)

Group A: Africa has revamped its qualifying format for the better. In the past, African teams were split into ten groups, with the winners facing off in two-legged playoffs to determine the destinations of the continents five bids.

Now, it’s simpler: five groups, the group winners go to the World Cup.

In Group A, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tunisia have started their campaigns with two wins. The two sides play each other Kinshasa on the 5th. Winner is the favorite to advance.

Group B: This group is loaded with three of Africa’s perennial qualifiers – Nigeria, Algeria, and Cameroon – vying for a single spot in Russia. The fourth team, Zambia, won the Africa Cup of Nations as few as five years ago.

Nigeria has had its way so far, leading the group with six points. They have a home-and-home with Cameroon upcoming, while Algeria, currently last in the group with just one point, will face Zambia twice.

Group C: This group should be Cote d’Ivoire’s for the taking. Most of that country’s golden generation are retired or in their twilight years, but they’ve got more than enough talent to qualify ahead of Morocco, Gabon and Mali.

Gabon gets the Ivory Coast twice in this window, while Mali and Morocco square off.

Group D: Group D features an interesting mix of teams, with Burkina Faso, South Africa, and Senegal sitting on four, four, and three points atop the standings.

All three are proud footballing countries mostly starved for success – South Africa missed out on the last World Cup after hosting in 2010, while Senegal hasn’t been to a finals since ’02 and Burkina Faso has never qualified.

South Africa has a chance to make a move in this window, as they face the Cape Verde Islands while Senegal and Burkina Faso square off.

Group E: Though Uganda has made a nice start to its campaign with a win and a draw, this group is all about Egypt – trying to reach the World Cup for the first time since 1990 – and Egypt’s longtime foil Ghana.

The Egyptians beat the Ghanaians 2-0 last November and lead the group with six points, while Ghana needs points fast have only managed a draw with the Ugandans in their other game. The Black Stars have just reappointed 2014 World Cup manager James Kewsi Appiah, replacing Avram Grant.

Egypt controls its own destiny, but it’s hard not to feel that their final game – against Ghana in November – will go a long way in determining this group’s fate.

ASIA (AFC)

Group A: Iran, under the leadership of former Real Madrid and Portugal manager Carlos Queiroz, has torn through this group and qualified in June.

South Korea and Uzbekistan are battling for the final automatic bid, with South Korea leading the race by a point with Syria – whose potential qualification would be the story of the tournament – three back.

Syria is playing its home qualifiers in Malaysia, and that’s where they’ll face Qatar – one of the group’s also-rans alongside Marcello Lippi’s China – on August 31. The Syrians need to win that game, and then win in Tehran four days later. It’s a big order.

South Korea controls its fate – a win over Iran at home would mean they’d just need to get a draw in Uzbekistan to qualify.

Group B: Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Australia will finish one-two-three, but the two automatic bids are very much up for grabs.

Japan lead the Saudis and Aussies by one point, and face them both in the coming window. Saudi Arabia first plays the United Arab Emirates, while Australia finished with Thailand.

The good news for this trio is that whichever team finishes third will likely go into the playoff as a substantial favorite over either South Korea or Uzbekistan. It should be a hell of a race.

OCEANIA (OFC)

Group A: The Oceanic region is split into two groups of three this cycle, with the winners of the groups meeting in a playoff to determine which country will represent the confederation in its playoff against the fifth-placed South American team.

Those group winners are New Zealand and the Solomon Islands, and they’ll meet in a two-legged playoff – on the 1st in Auckland and on the 5th in Honiara.

The Kiwis are big favorites, but whoever wins this tie will be heavy underdogs against the South American team lying between them and Russia. Last time around, New Zealand was trounced in that final playoff by Miguel Herrera’s Mexico.

World Cup qualifiers on US TV/streaming (all times Eastern):

Thursday, August 31

Japan vs. Australia, 6:30am, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

South Korea vs. Iran, 7:30am, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Uganda vs. Egypt, 9am, beIN SPORTS Connect and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Guinea vs. Libya, 1pm, beIN SPORTS Connect and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Portugal vs. Faroe Islands, 2:45pm, FOX Sports 1, FOX Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Bulgaria vs. Sweden, 2:45pm, FOX Sports 2, Univision Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

France vs. Netherlands, 2:45pm, ESPNews, ESPN Deportes and Sling Latino (7-day free trial)

Belgium vs. Gibraltar, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Plus, FOX Soccer Match Pass and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Luxembourg vs. Belarus, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Match Pass

Hungary vs. Latvia, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Match Pass

Switzerland vs. Andorra, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Greece vs. Estonia, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Cyprus vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Venezuela vs. Colombia, 4:40pm, beIN SPORTS en Español, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Chile vs. Paraguay, 6pm, beIN SPORTS, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Uruguay vs. Argentina, 6:55pm, beIN SPORTS en Español, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Brazil vs. Ecuador, 8:30pm, beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Peru vs. Bolivia, 10:45pm, beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Friday, September 1

Ghana vs. Congo, 11:30am, beIN SPORTS Connect and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Nigeria vs. Cameroon, Noon, beIN SPORTS Connect and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Cape Verde vs. South Africa, 2:30pm, beIN SPORTS Connect and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Czech Republic vs. Germany, 2:45pm, FOX Sports 1, UniMas, Univision Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Denmark vs. Poland, 2:45pm, FOX Sports 2, FOX Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

San Marino vs. Northern Ireland, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Plus, FOX Soccer Match Pass and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Norway vs. Azerbaijan, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Romania vs. Armenia, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Slovakia vs. Slovenia, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Lithuania vs. Scotland, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Match Pass

Malta vs. England, 2:45pm, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Tunisia vs. Congo DR, 4pm, beIN SPORTS en Español, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

USA vs. Costa Rica, 6:30pm, ESPN, ESPN3, Univision, UniMas, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Orange and fuboTV (7-day free trial) [TICKETS]

Trinidad and Tobago vs. Honduras, 7:45pm, beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español, Universo, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Mexico vs. Panama, 9:30pm, FOX Sports 2, Univision, Univision Deportes, DIRECTV NOW and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Saturday, September 2

Zambia vs. Algeria, 9am, beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Gabon vs. Ivory Coast, Noon, beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Georgia vs. Ireland, Noon, FOX Sports 2, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Serbia vs. Moldova, Noon, FOX Soccer Plus, FOX Deportes, FOX Soccer Match Pass and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Finland vs. Iceland, Noon, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Spain vs. Italy, 2:45pm, FOX Sports 2, FOX Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Croatia vs. Kosovo, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Plus, FOX Soccer Match Pass and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Albania vs. Liechtenstein, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Ukraine vs. Turkey, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Israel vs. Macedonia, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Match Pass

Wales vs. Austria, 2:45pm, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Sunday, September 3

Estonia vs. Cyprus, Noon, FOX Sports 2, FOX Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Belarus vs. Sweden, Noon, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Netherlands vs. Bulgaria, Noon, ESPN2, ESPN3, DIRECTV NOW and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Hungary vs. Portugal, 2:45pm, FOX Sports 2, FOX Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

France vs. Luxembourg, 2:45pm, UniMas, Univision Deportes, FOX Soccer Plus, FOX Soccer Match Pass, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Faroe Islands vs. Andorra, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Greece vs. Belgium, 2:45pm, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Gibraltar vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Match Pass

Latvia vs. Switzerland, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Monday, September 4

Armenia vs. Denmark, Noon, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Azerbaijan vs. San Marino, Noon, FOX Soccer Match Pass

Germany vs. Norway, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

England vs. Slovakia, 2:45pm, FOX Sports 1, Univision Deportes, FOX Soccer Match Pass, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Northern Ireland vs. Czech Republic, 2:45pm, FOX Sports 2, FOX Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Montenegro vs. Romania, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Poland vs. Kazakhstan, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Plus, FOX Soccer Match Pass and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Slovenia vs. Lithuania, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Match Pass

Scotland vs. Malta, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Libya vs. Guinea, 3pm, beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Tuesday, September 5

Australia vs. Thailand, 6am, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Uzbekistan vs. South Korea, 11am, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Saudi Arabia vs. Japan, 1:30pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Ivory Coast vs. Gabon, 1:30pm, beIN SPORTS Connect and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Congo DR vs. Tunisia, 1:30pm, beIN SPORTS Connect and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Italy vs. Israel, 2:45pm, FOX Sports 1, FOX Deportes, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Iceland vs. Ukraine, 2:45pm, FOX Sports 2, DIRECTV NOW, Sling Blue and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Ireland vs. Serbia, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Plus, FOX Soccer Match Pass and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Moldova vs. Wales, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Match Pass

Austria vs. Georgia, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Liechtenstein vs. Spain, 2:45pm, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Macedonia vs. Albania, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Kosovo vs. Finland, 2:45pm, FOX Soccer Match Pass

Turkey vs. Croatia, 2:45pm, ESPN3 and Sling Orange (7-day free trial)

Mali vs. Morocco, 3pm, beIN SPORTS Connect and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Algeria vs. Zambia, 3:30pm, beIN SPORTS Connect and fubo Premier (7-day free trial)

Bolivia vs. Chile, 4pm, beIN SPORTS Connect and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Colombia vs. Brazil, 4:15pm, beIN SPORTS en Español, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Ecuador vs. Peru, 5pm, beIN SPORTS Connect and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Honduras vs. USA, 5:35pm, beIN SPORTS, Universo, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Argentina vs. Venezuela, 7:15pm, beIN SPORTS en Español, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Paraguay vs. Uruguay, 8pm, beIN SPORTS, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Panama vs. Trinidad and Tobago, 9:30pm, TbeIN SPORTS Connect, elemundo Deportes En Vivo App, TelemundoDeportes.com and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Costa Rica vs. Mexico, 10pm, beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español, Telemundo, Universo, Sling World Sports and fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 25 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. The King of Rivalries

The third and final MLS Rivalry Week came and went this weekend, with editions of the 401 Derby, the Rocky Mountain Cup, the Hudson River Derby, the Texas Derby, and the California Clasico all on show.

They were plenty entertaining. But of the marquee games, the Red Bulls couldn’t sell out their stadium for their game against NYCFC. The StubHub Center was barely half full for LA Galaxy against San Jose.

The truth is that one rivalry continues to stand head and shoulders above the rest. On Sunday night, in the weekend’s finale, its showpiece event, more than 50,000 fans packed CenturyLink Field for a thrilling game between Portland and Seattle.

There is no other part of the continent where soccer matters, where it leads, like it does in Cascadia – and there is no rivalry on the continent that can match the history, the enmity, and the sheer size of Portland against Seattle.

We saw another firecracker between the two teams on Sunday night, and, the way things are going, a playoff series in November isn’t at all out of the question. We should be so lucky.

2. Portland Looks For Real

Entering Sunday night, Portland had lost every game it had played at CenturyLink Field dating back to the 2013.

In fact, in their entire MLS history, the Timbers had never won a regular season game in Seattle – and while they didn’t win on Sunday night, the 1-1 draw they got didn’t feel far away.

Portland dominated the first half, conceding only on a fairly bizarre goalmouth scramble, and was well worth its point. All of the sudden, the Timbers are on a nice run – unbeaten in three, with three wins and two draws in their last six.

The defense, aided by the addition of Larrys Mabiala, has made huge strides from where it was in the summer, while the attack – led by Diego Valeri, who, with goals in six straight games, is in the best form of his considerable career – remains one of the league’s best.

Most importantly, though, the Timbers seem to be toughening up and believing again, as they did in the early spring, that they can play with and beat any club in the league. They’re going to make their fair share of noise from here on in.

3. Dallas Imploding

FC Dallas, on the other hand, has fallen off a cliff.

Last year’s Supporters’ Shield winners and one of the best teams in the league through the first half of this season, Dallas has now gone winless in its last six games and fallen all the way down to seventh place in the Western Conference.

The latest setback was a 2-1 defeat in Columbus on Saturday night in a game that wasn’t as close as the score-line suggested.

What’s gone wrong? Dallas’ attack lives and dies with Mauro Diaz, and Diaz is still clearly dealing with the aftershocks of the ACL tear he suffered on the penultimate day of last season. He’s currently out injured and hasn’t played in two weeks.

The defense, meanwhile, has taken a step back as well. Matt Hedges and Walker Zimmerman were excellent last year, but Hedges has had an uneven campaign while Zimmerman missed nearly the entire summer injured.

But the bottom line is that with Diaz out, Dallas just doesn’t scare teams. They don’t have any players who can consistently create their own offense. If Diaz doesn’t return to his best soon, Oscar Pareja’s team is done.

4. Chicago Too

It’s also time to worry about the Chicago Fire. Squarely in the Supporters’ Shield race in June and July, Chicago has now lost four straight and six of their last seven – including, on Saturday night, a shocking 2-1 home loss to Minnesota.

Defensively, the Fire have been a mess in August. They’ve conceded multiple goals in their seven of their last eight games and haven’t kept a clean sheet in nearly two months.

The goalkeeping has been poor, and there’s been regression along the backline, and Matt Polster has been a big miss at right back.

The other issue is that Nemanja Nikolic – who was at one point running away with the Golden Boot – has stopped scoring entirely. After opening the season with sixteen goals in his first eighteen games, he’s now scoreless in eight.

The Fire are in a precarious position. They have two teams behind them, Montreal and the Red Bulls, who had very good Augusts, and another team, Atlanta, about to play eight of their next ten games at home.

Chicago’s next two games? At Montreal, where they were pasted two weeks ago, and home against the Red Bulls. All of the sudden, the Eastern Conference playoff race has gotten awfully interesting. One good team is going to miss out.

5. Orlando Hits Rock Bottom

Orlando City’s season hit its lowest point yet on Saturday night, when the Lions lost 2-1 at home to the Vancouver Whitecaps.

It was a shocking result. Orlando was off midweek, while Vancouver played its first-choice team in a massive home game against Seattle, flew six-plus hours across three time zones, and fielded a weakened team.

Part of that weakened team was Brek Shea – discarded by Orlando in preseason and scarcely used by Vancouver all year – and lo and behold it was Brek Shea who popped up to score what would be the winner early in the second half.

Orlando should be ashamed. Rebuilding year or not, this team has far too much talent and far too much support to have won just two of its last nineteen games. It’s been an absolute embarrassment.

The club’s season is over. The inquest into its future, however, is just beginning.

6. What Has Gotten Into Minnesota?

Minnesota United put in their best road performance of the season last weekend in Seattle, but were punched in the gut by a highly dubious stoppage time penalty call that gave that handed the Sounders a last-gasp 2-1 win.

But that was still a promising performance – and on Saturday night, the Loons finally broke through, winning their first MLS road game 2-1 in Bridgeview over the sliding Chicago Fire in front of a band of a 300-plus traveling supporters from the Dark Clouds and True North Elite.

It was a cathartic night. Abu Danladi, who missed a fistful of chances last weekend in Seattle, scored both goals. The long-beleaguered defense, led by Minnesotan Brent Kallman, held on against Chicago’s second half push.

This win, and the celebration that followed it, will serve as much-needed fuel and goodwill for the club as they look towards their offseason. It will serve a similar purpose for Adrian Heath, who has been under pressure in recent weeks.

Far from being the worst team in MLS history, Minnesota isn’t even one of the Western Conference’s worst teams this year.

7. Salt Lake Soars

There are few teams in the country more fun to watch right now than Real Salt Lake, which rung up eight goals in two home matches this week and is, all of the sudden, within a point of the Western Conference red line.

And while RSL remains a playoff long-shot, having played more games than all the teams around them, the fact that they’re in the race at all is a testament to the work that Mike Petke has already done and the talent he has already collected.

In short, this team has been reinvented. Petke started on Saturday night just four of the players, including goalkeeper Nick Rimando, who started the team’s Wild Card loss to LA in the playoffs last year.

Between Joao Plata, Brooks Lennon, Jefferson Savarino, Albert Rusnak, and Luis Silva, RSL can run half the league off the field. Add an elite central midfielder to replace Kyle Beckerman, and this should be a playoff team for years to come.

8. Signs of Life in DC

It’s been a dismal year for DC United, but – as they’d very much hoped when they spent big in the summer transfer window – it looks like they’ll be heading into their new Buzzard Point home next season with some buzz.

With the likes of Paul Arriola and Russell Canouse in the fold, DC has won three straight games by 1-0 scorelines. Canouse has been excellent, Arriola has been bright, and the East’s worst defense has tightened.

The nucleus of an exciting team – an exciting young team – is coming together. Add an international star, like a Wayne Rooney or a Gary Medel, and this team is going to be hot in the District come June when Audi Field opens.

9. David Villa Called Up

The feel-good story of the week in MLS came on Friday morning, hours before NYCFC’s clash with the New York Red Bulls, when it was announced that Spain was calling up David Villa for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

It’s Villa’s first call up since the 2014 World Cup, and a tremendous reward for a player who has done nothing but score goals and lead from the front from the moment he pulled on an New York City shirt in the spring of 2015.

Sitting on 97 caps, Villa had longed for a return to the Spain setup for years. Now, aided in part by Diego Costa’s standoff with Chelsea, he’s getting a shot just in time for a massive game against Italy at the Santiago Bernabeau.

The decision to draft Villa back into the national team is another sign that sentiment towards MLS in Europe – and indeed around the world – is softening. Coming to this league no longer means ending your international career. In many cases, it means aiding it.

10. Galaxy In The Twilight Zone

The San Jose Earthquakes entered the weekend with a 0-5-0 road record and accompanying -16 road goal differential under new manager Chris Leitch.

That all changed on Sunday night. The ‘Quakes traveled down to Carson for the final California Clasico of the year and walked all over an LA Galaxy team who had one fullback badly injured, saw another sent off, and went down 3-0.

LA’s season is sitting firmly in the twilight zone. The team has scored one goal in Sigi Schmid’s first five games. They haven’t won since June 21st.

Most incredibly, though, the 2017 Galaxy is on pace for the single worst home season in MLS history. They’ve won one – one! – of their first thirteen home games. It’s been a fall from grace like the league has never seen.

Photo credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 24 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. Toronto Takes Control

The game of the weekend took place in Bridgeview, where those in the Chicago soccer community were calling the Fire’s clash with Toronto FC the biggest game at Toyota Park in five years.

In front of a sellout crowd, with all their big names in the lineup, it should have been an evening to remember for Chicago. Instead, the home team was handily beaten.

Michael Bradley said that Toronto came into this game wanting to “send a message,” and send a message they did. The Reds led for over an hour in total, scoring early, scoring late, and putting in just about as good a road performance against quality opposition as we’ve seen from any team this season.

In the last three weeks, TFC has demolished one Shield rival 4-0 at home and beaten the other 3-1 on the road. They’re averaging two points per game, and have an outside chance to finish with the best goal differential in MLS history.

MLSSoccer.com’s Matt Doyle broke down what Toronto needs to do the rest of the way to be considered the league’s best-ever team on Saturday. The short version? They have a shot.

2. San Jose In Deep Trouble

The Western Conference playoff race cleared up in a hurry this weekend, as the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps both won at home while the San Jose Earthquakes – facing the lowly Philadelphia Union – failed to do so.

San Jose is now firmly on the outside looking in at the playoffs. They’re seventh in the West on both points and points-per-game, and are about to hit the road for three straight and four of their next five.

Of that trio of teams, San Jose has – by far – the worst goal difference, the worst offense, and the least talent. They’ve also got a man at the helm in Chris Leitch who has a total of ten games of MLS coaching experience.

The ‘Quakes aren’t out of the race yet – they play both Portland and Vancouver in back-to-back weeks in October – but they’re on their last legs. A fifth straight season without postseason soccer is the overwhelming likelihood in the Bay.

3. Rapids Facing Steep Rebuild

The first match of the post-Pablo Mastroeni era in Colorado was about as miserable as could have been imagined: a 1-0 home loss to DC United, the league’s worst team, on a near-comical own goal.

The Rapids made the right move in parting ways with Mastroeni, a man who – for all his fine qualities – had his team playing soccer fit for the dark ages.

But there’s still very little sign that the Rapids front office, which produced and published this abomination of an op-ed in The Denver Post on Wednesday, has any clue what it’s doing.

The team’s roster needs serious work and serious investment, especially in the attacking position where the club has been outgunned by its Western Conference rivals since before Mastroeni took over.

Colorado needs to hire a manager with vision, and give that person a significant say in player personnel matters. The Rapids have a huge job in front of them, and their work is only just beginning.

4. Piatti Shines For Montreal

The Montreal Impact, winners of four straight and fresh off of a six-point week, are above the Eastern Conference red line for the first time all season.

Outside of Toronto, the Impact are playing the conference’s best soccer. That’s thanks in large part to the brilliance of Ignacio Piatti, who has six goals over the club’s winning streak and scored first-half braces in both of their games last week.

But all’s not well concerning the Argentine. Piatti is out of contract at the end of the season, and he told the Stade Saputo crowd after Wednesday night’s 3-0 Montreal win over the Chicago Fire that he might be playing his “last ten games here.”

The comment could merely have been a negotiating tactic meant for team president Joey Saputo. Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush said after Saturday’s win over RSL that “If he is, I hope Joey just keeps ignoring the message and [Piatti] keeps sending it.”

The bottom line is that Montreal needs Piatti more than Piatti needs Montreal. He’s the franchise – one of the five best players in MLS, and, currently, the primary reason that the club appears playoff-bound for the third straight season.

If Montreal doesn’t pay Piatti whatever he wants, there are about fifteen other clubs in MLS who will.

5. Dallas’ Woes Continue

It was a potentially dire weekend for San Jose in the Western Conference playoff chase, but it wasn’t such a good weekend for FC Dallas either.

Oscar Pareja’s team went to Sporting Kansas City and was summarily dispatched 2-0, conceding goals in both halves and never really threatening.

Dallas is now winless in four, having lost four of its last six, and is down to fifth place in the Western Conference. They have games in hand on the teams above them – starting with a big matchup against Houston in Frisco on Wednesday night – but the things have gone recently, those games in hand might not count for much.

Dallas’ schedule isn’t about to get any easier. Their next five are against playoff teams, and Mauro Diaz – who hasn’t been himself since returning from injury in late May – didn’t make the trip to Kansas City. It’s all cause for serious concern.

6. Big Win For Portland

The best game of the weekend was played on Friday night in Portland, where the Timbers survived a late red card, got a world class save from Jeff Attinella, and a stoppage time goal to beat the New York Red Bulls 2-0.

Jesse Marsch rotated his team heavily for the game after his regulars went 120 minutes in Cincinnati in the U.S. Open Cup midweek, and came away much more pleased with his side’s performance than he was displeased with the final result.

For the Timbers, however, the result was all that mattered. They badly needed a win, and – for the first time all season in a tight, physical battle against a quality team – they got the job done.

It could be a turning point. Caleb Porter’s teams have traditionally been strong in the fall, and the Timbers remain one of the West’s most talented teams. If they stiffen up defensively and get stuck in like they did on Friday night, they’re going to make some noise in the coming weeks.

7. NYCFC Guts One Out

Speaking of teams gutting out games: NYCFC was not particularly good and fell behind the New England Revolution in the second half on Sunday night at Yankee Stadium, only to save themselves in the final fifteen minutes.

David Villa grabbed the equalizer on a goalmouth scramble with fifteen minutes to go, before rookie Jonathan Lewis turned in a deflected shot in the fourth minute of stoppage time to make it 2-1.

The victory keeps NYCFC in the Supporters’ Shield race, but it also, more importantly vaults them ahead of Chicago – with a Wild Card game at the end of October looming for whichever club finishes third in the East.

This NYC team is good, but it’s also tough. The third New York Derby of the year next week in Harrison should be a war.

8. As Does Seattle

Much like NYCFC, the Seattle Sounders hosted one of their conference’s worst teams in Minnesota United on Sunday, fell behind, got level, and scored a slightly fortuitous winner deep into stoppage time.

That winner – a dubious Clint Dempsey penalty – was a hammer blow to the Loons, who, just two weeks after being walloped 4-0 by the Sounders on their home turf, gave a very good account of themselves.

But Seattle won’t care. The Sounders are back on top of the West, unbeaten in nine, and winners of six of their last seven.

The question for Brian Schmetzer remains how to configure his front six. The Sounders were punchless in this game until Will Bruin came on up top, while Nicolas Lodeiro’s production has slowed of late. Seattle still has room to improve.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

9. Maurice Edu Returns

There was a bit of good news out of Bethlehem on Sunday, as U.S. World Cup veteran and former Philadelphia Union captain Maurice Edu made his return to the field for the Union’s USL affiliate Bethlehem Steel after almost two years away.

It’s been a tortured two years for Edu. The midfielder first went out of the lineup after partially tearing a groin muscle in September of 2015.

He was expected to return for the start of the 2016 season, but he suffered a stress fracture in his left leg in preseason, spent some seven months rehabbing, returned to training in October, and almost immediately broke his left fibula.

At just 31 years of age, Edu – if healthy – can still be a significant contributor for the Union. Here’s hoping his luck finally begins to turn.

10. Another Achievement For Atlanta

20,000 fans at training? Atlanta’s infatuation with its soccer club shows no signs of ceasing.

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 23 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. Sporting Kansas City’s Gamble

When Sporting Kansas City shipped Dom Dwyer to Orlando two weeks ago, the thought was that SKC would use the boatload of money it was receiving to strengthen its attack before the end of the summer transfer window.

But despite rumors of a reunion with 2015 star Krisztian Nemeth, the transfer window slammed shut on Wednesday with Kansas City having made a grand total of zero moves.

Nemeth would have helped immensely, and he was available, but Sporting didn’t exactly move heaven and earth to get him.

Peter Vermes is betting that some combination of Daniel Shalloi, Gerso Fernandes, Soony Saad, and Latif Blessing can scratch together enough goals to both replace Dwyer and compete for MLS Cup.

It’s quite the gamble. Vermes is a system guy, and he certainly has a great defense, but it’s hard to find a team that has won a championship in this league with as little attacking firepower as SKC is going into the stretch-run with.

2. Four Teams A Cut Above

Despite that great defense, it’s hard to classify Sporting as a top-tier title contender right now. Same goes for Dallas, a team that has scored just one goal in its last three games and looks out of sorts.

Right now, four teams are the class of MLS. Toronto, Chicago, and NYCFC have all been there all year. The new addition is the defending champion Seattle Sounders, who, somewhat quietly, are on an eight game unbeaten run and have won four of five.

Seattle is now tied with Houston for the Western Conference lead and is playing its best soccer of the season.

That’s thanks in large part to Clint Dempsey, whose goals – he scored his fiftieth for the Sounders on Saturday and has six in his last seven – have been crucial with Jordan Morris still not producing.

Most impressively, though, this Sounders run has come without an injured Osvaldo Alonso. But Alonso returned to action as a substitute on Saturday, and with three of Seattle’s next four coming at home, the race in the West could be over by the end of September.

3. What Is New England Doing?

The Revolution entered the summer transfer window in need of defensive help and trying to trade one of their many forwards.

They left it with no defensive help, all of their forwards, and – at considerable cost – another forward in Nemeth. Go figure.

Nemeth is a great player, but there’s no obvious place to put him. New England now has Lee Nguyen, Deigo Fagundez, Kei Kamara, Teal Bunbury, Kelyn Rowe, Juan Agudelo, and Nemeth – and room for four attackers in their lineup.

How Jay Heaps plans to keep all seven of those guys happy and involved is a mystery. More importantly, Nemeth doesn’t fit a need for New England. He’s a great attacker, but this team hasn’t struggled to score goals. They’ve struggled to stop conceding them.

The Revs aren’t any better now than they were a month ago – and in a salary cap league where every dollar counts, moving for another attacker when the attack was already overstaffed is simply baffling.

4. Philadelphia’s Season Is Over

Saturday’s game against Montreal at Talen Energy Stadium was just about a must-win for the Philadelphia Union.

They didn’t get the job done. Instead, the Union went down to a 3-0 defeat, and now find themselves six points below the red line – tenth in the Eastern Conference on points per game.

Of Philly’s next five games, four are on the road – and the one home game comes against Atlanta United, one of MLS’ best away teams. The Union had a nice early summer run, but their lack of talent and depth has caught up to them. They’re done.

Meanwhile, Montreal, just as they have down the stretch the last two years under Mauro Biello, is starting to stir. The Impact are up to seventh place in the East – five points behind Columbus, but with a full three games in hand.

5. Video Review Struggles

Video review is good for MLS and good for soccer in general, and, at the same time, it’s bound to frustrate – especially at its onset. This weekend, two incidents especially rankled.

The first came at the end of Columbus’ game against Chicago, when the Crew were awarded an extremely dubious penalty to put the game away by referee Armando Villarreal.

Chicago goalkeeper Matt Lampson wanted the play reviewed – and, seeing as he clearly got the ball, he was quite sure it would be – but either Villarreal or video assistant referee Hilario Grajeda didn’t flag the play to be checked.

Lampson was infuriated, and for good reason. Close penalty decisions should be reviewed. The game has already stopped.

The second incident came in Harrison, where Kaka was sent off after a review for – jokingly, it seemed – grabbing the head of New York’s Aurelien Colin. On the field, that incident looked fairly benign. It should have stayed that way.

6. Good Night at Red Bull Arena

Though it came to a rather acrimonious end, that game Saturday night between the New York Red Bulls and Orlando City at Red Bull Arena was the best of the weekend.

New York came from behind after Carlos Rivas opened the scoring with three straight goals to claim a 3-1 win in front of a sellout crowd. Sean Davis, who scored the third goal, was excellent. So was Bradley Wright-Phillips, who got the winner.

The Red Bulls now travel to Cincinnati, where they will play the U.S. Open Cup semifinal on Tuesday as one of MLS’s hottest teams – up to fourth in the Supporters’ Shield standings.

Orlando’s incredible slide, meanwhile, continues on. The Lions have, incredibly, won just two of their eighteen games since the start of May. If Jason Kreis was Adrian Heath, he’d be long gone.

7. Who Wants The West’s Last Two Playoff Spots?

Seattle, Houston, Sporting, and Dallas will all comfortably qualify for the playoffs in the Western Conference. That leaves Portland, San Jose, and Vancouver vying for the conference’s last two playoff spots.

Problem is, none of the trio seem to want to take charge of the race. The Timbers easily the group’s most talented team, but they’ve won consecutive games just once since March.

Vancouver, 1-0 losers at New England on Saturday, have games in hand but haven’t taken advantage of their chances to gain ground – namely with their loss at home to Portland three weeks ago.

San Jose has improved at home under new manager Chris Leitch, but they’ve been terrible on the road – outscored 15-3 in their last four matches outside of Northern California.

The one other team that is still in the running? Real Salt Lake, just three points back of the red line.

8. Carlos Vela to LAFC

LAFC finally inked its first DP last week, signing Mexican national team star Carlos Vela from Real Sociedad.

Commitment is the question with Vela, but talent is not. This is an elite player – someone who has produced in La Liga for years and been the focal point of Mexico’s attack under Juan Carlos Osorio.

Vela is also a better, more impactful signing for LAFC and the league as a whole than Jonathan Dos Santos was for the LA Galaxy. Players who create and score goals will always be more valuable than players who don’t, no matter what else they do well.

Vela can create and score goals with the best of them. This is a big move for a club that continues to push all the right buttons in the buildup to its MLS launch.

9. Minnesota’s Front Office

If you’re a Minnesota United fan, this is just about the last thing you want to see.

That’s Ron Waxman, about as well-respected and well-connected an agent as there is in American soccer, telling the world that your front office is more or less incompetent.

Waxman aside, Minnesota’s front office has done a terrible job this year. Many of the club’s best players already played for the NASL Loons, while the offseason misses on the likes of Demidov, Schuler, Alvbage, and on and on and on tanked what little chance Minnesota had of being competitive this year.

Of Minnesota’s signings in this window, Michael Boxall and Sam Nicholson don’t look like MLS quality players.

Manny Lagos should be on the hot seat. If Waxman had his say, New England GM Michael Burns would be as well.

10. One More RFK Memory

RFK Stadium is going out with a bang. DC United’s game against Real Salt Lake was halted in the 28th minute on Saturday night when a massive storm in DC rendered the RFK field unplayable.

This was the scene in the tunnel leading to the field from the RSL locker room. Play resumed Sunday night, with Salt Lake winning 1-0 behind a goal from former DC midfielder Luis Silva.

RFK is down to its last five games. They can’t happen soon enough.

Photo credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the five things we learned from the 2017 MLS All-Star game, as Real Madrid beat the MLS All-Stars on penalties in Chicago.

1. Adidas Pays Up

The big news at the All-Star game had nothing to do with the game itself. It was the announcement that Adidas has agreed to a new six-year, $700 million deal to continue as MLS’s official apparel supplier.

The numbers are eye-popping. Under the terms of this new agreement, Adidas will pay MLS $117 million per year. Adidas had been paying the league just $25 million per year since 2010.

So while MLS isn’t getting Real Madrid money, this deal is still impressive. Adidas’ deal, beginning this year, with the NHL? It’s for just $70 million per year for the next seven years.

The NBA is set to make just $130 million from Nike this year – and it’s worth keeping in mind that both the NBA and the NHL have 30 teams while MLS currently has just 23.

It’s a sign of the times. MLS continues to make financial inroads into the upper echelon of the American sporting landscape – and the growth of the league’s financial resources will be seen on the field. Another increase in TAM is coming for next season.

Don Garber called the announcement of the new Adidas deal a “seminal moment” for the league. He’s not wrong. On the apparel front at least, MLS has stepped firmly into the big leagues.

2. Miami Draws Close

The long odyssey to bring Major League Soccer back to Miami may finally be drawing to a close.

Garber said Wednesday that he is negotiating directly with Todd Boehly, who is set to become the majority owner of the club, on the final details of the deal – which could be announced by September 1st.

David Beckham, whose name has been associated with this project for so long, presented to MLS owners on Wednesday as well – and was complimented by Garber as “passionate, articulate, and focused.”

For the first time in years, the Miami bid is in a strong spot. Boehly, who is part of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ ownership group, has serious money. Tim Leiweke, who has run both the LA Galaxy and Toronto FC, in onboard as well. A stadium site has been identified in Overtown on the city’s west side.

This being Miami, there are still potential roadblocks – including an eminent domain-related lawsuit threatening the stadium site – but the announcement of Miami as the league’s 24th club now feels inevitable.

Here’s hoping this venture into South Florida goes better than MLS’s last one did.

3. More Expansion News

Garber reiterated on Wednesday that the league plans to announce its 25th and 26th teams at MLS Cup. It currently plans to stop expanding at 28 teams.

Sacramento Republic, which began work on its new stadium intended last week, is a prohibitive favorite to land one of the next two spots this December.

Last week was always a good one for Detroit, whose prospective owners Dan Gilbert and Tom Gores took another step towards securing a downtown stadium site.

Meanwhile, Cincinnati – fresh off thrilling the American soccer world with that U.S. Open Cup win over Chicago at the end of June – is in that competition’s semifinals in will host the New York Red Bulls in two weeks’ time.

MLS has recently visited North Carolina, where the Charlotte and Raleigh areas are bidding for a team, and Nashville, whom Garber complimented that city’s support for the Gold Cup last month.

The expansion race, with twelve teams currently vying for four spots, is highly competitive – and it will only get more competitive as we move towards a vote this winter.

4. So Long Jelle Van Damme?

For reasons entirely personal, the LA Galaxy’s captain center back Jelle Van Damme could be on his way out of MLS.

Van Damme’s family has not relocated to the U.S., with his wife and two young children living back in Belgium. That separation, after a year-and-a-half away, is taking its toll.

“If I think about myself, I’m good in LA. If I think about my kids, I just want to go back,” Van Damme told MLSsoccer.com on Tuesday. “[LA] always respected my situation and they helped me out wherever they could. But I feel the second year is getting harder and harder.”

There aren’t many must-watch defenders in MLS – or in the world at large – but Van Damme, ever a free spirit, is one of them.

More than that, though, Van Damme has in many ways been the face of the Galaxy over the last two seasons. He’s taken MLS seriously, is extremely well liked within the club, and has been one of LA’s few standout players.

The Galaxy have said that Van Damme isn’t going anywhere before the end of the season, but unless his family situation changes, he’ll likely be back in Europe come 2018. If that is what happens, LA and MLS will miss him dearly.

5. And As For The Game…

It was, save for a dose of excitement at the end, rather flat. The intensity from both sides was low, and the All-Stars’ lack of familiarity with each other was debilitating.

All-Star games work best in sports like baseball that are mostly – and in that sport’s case, almost exclusively – about individuals and individual matchups. It doesn’t work all that well in soccer, the ultimate team game.

That said, Dom Dwyer’s late equalizer for MLS and the resulting penalty shootout helped to give the crowd of more than 61,000 at Soldier Field their money’s worth.

Standout performers? Old man DaMarcus Beasley was forced into action after just three minutes when Greg Garza was forced off with an early injury, and was excellent in the face of considerable pressure. He remains an absolute marvel.

Diego Valeri, whose corner set up the MLS goal and took his penalty with panache. He’d show well on any field in the world.

As for Real Madrid? Looks like they’ll be just fine again this season. For Los Blancos, as well as the All-Stars, the real games resume in the blink of an eye.

Photo credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 21 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. Should Atlanta Stay Put?

It is extremely rare and perhaps unprecedented in the annals of MLS history that a club or its fanbase has second thoughts about moving out of a college football stadium and into new digs.

But with Atlanta United signing off at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Saturday evening with a thoroughly entertaining 1-1 draw against Orlando, that barrier might be broken.

When next the Five Stripes take the field in Georgia, they’ll be doing so at Mercedes Benz Stadium – the new home built by Arthur Blank for both Atlanta United and the Atlanta Falcons, and it’s hard to say whether the experience of an Atlanta United match will ever be the same.

Where Bobby Dodd was outdoors, had a grass field, boasted a beautiful view of downtown, and was the perfect size for Atlanta United, Mercedes Benz is indoors, has a turf field, and a maximum capacity of over 80,000.

Though the new stadium is nice – and though it was built with soccer in mind – this feels like a pretty significant downgrade. Soccer should be played outside on grass, and the atmosphere at Bobby Dodd will be hard to replicate in a vastly bigger building.

Atlanta is confident that its success will carry over to Mercedes Benz, and there’s a good chance that it will. Fans aren’t going to stop coming to games. But there’s also a chance that it might feel in a month like the rug has been pulled out from under this club all too soon.

2. Red Bulls On A Roll

Forget the early season funk. The New York Red Bulls on a tear – all of the sudden just five points off of the Supporters’ Shield lead and marching up the Eastern Conference table.

With a 4-0 beatdown of Montreal at Red Bull Arena on Saturday, New York has now won four straight by a combined score of 15-3.

They’re rolling. Why? One reason is that Red Bulls are finally getting goalscoring production from someone other than Bradley Wright-Phillips. Daniel Royer has taken the lead on that front over the last month, but Sacha Kljestan is beginning to round into form, and the team’s fullbacks are pitching in as well.

Safe to say, Jesse Marsch’s switch to a 5-3-2 at the end of June has paid dividends. For the first time this year, the Red Bulls are playing with the kind of swagger they did in 2015 and 2016.

Next up on the schedule? NYCFC at Yankee Stadium on Sunday and a chance to avenge the derby loss in Harrison in June.

3. The System Rules in Kansas City

Dom Dwyer was always likely to leave Sporting Kansas City at the end of the season, and in light of that fact, Peter Vermes was more than happy to take Orlando’s money and see him off this week.

Make no mistake: Sporting will miss Dwyer. There was no forward in the league better suited to their turbo-charged high-press than Dwyer was, and his dirty work was essential to making their system hum.

But Saturday’s 3-2 K.C. win over Chicago at Children’s Mercy Park was a good indicator that Sporting will survive losing its striker.

Vermes is confident that Latif Blessing and Daniel Salloi – both amongst the goals on Saturday – can pick up the goalscoring slack, Krisztian Nemeth could be on his way back in from Qatar.

Regardless, the team’s back eight will remain its star. No one at Sporting is irreplaceable. Matt Besler, the club’s hometown captain, benched last season, can attest to that.

Few teams in MLS are better run than Sporting, and Vermes may have pulled off another coup here. This team has been the Western Conference’s best all year, and that isn’t about to change.

4. Questions Remain In Orlando

It was a big week for Orlando City, who welcomed Dom Dwyer back with a rapturous reception at Orlando International Airport on Tuesday, and then came within a stoppage time goal from winning in Atlanta on Saturday.

Orlando is much closer to the team that hung with Atlanta twice in the last two weeks than the team that has been in a tailspin for much of the summer. They’ve got good professionals throughout their squad and a smart coach to line them up.

But the team remains criminally imbalanced. It’s difficult to create offense when you start four central midfielders every week, and that’s what Orlando has done all season.

The result is that they’ve scored the third fewest goals in the league, and while getting Dwyer is great, forward play hasn’t really been the problem.

Getting Dwyer provided a big lift for a club that badly needed one. But with Cyle Larin in the fold until the end of the season, it doesn’t solve any problems for Orlando. They’re still in trouble.

5. DC Plunges To A New Low

Minnesota fans have accused their club of giving their MLS team a soft rollout for this season, waiting to invest in both players and marketing until the club moves into Allianz Field in Saint Paul for the 2019 season.

But Minnesota’s soft rollout is nothing compared to what has happened to DC United this season ahead of that club’s move to Audi Field in Buzzard Point next year.

After being pasted 4-0 by the Loons on Saturday in Minneapolis, DC is 5-14-3 with a -24 goal differential. The infamous 2013 DC team, for comparison, finished at -37.

Help could be on the way in the terrifying shape of Nigel de Jong, but with The New York Times reporting that the club might be going on the market and Daniel Synder has been contacted, things have taken a rather dark turn at the nation’s capital club.

6. Reason To Be Concerned About Mauro Diaz?

FC Dallas was obliterated 4-0 at home by Vancouver on Saturday, and has fallen out of the Western Conference lead and nine points off the Supporters’ Shield lead.

Bad games happen. Dallas lost Carlos Gruezo to a red card and ran into a Vancouver defense that, with Kendall Waston back in the lineup, entirely shut off entry into its penalty box.

The big picture question for Oscar Pareja’s team is the same as it was at the start of the year – it’s whether Mauro Diaz, Dallas’ chief creator and biggest attacking weapon, is going to contribute at the level he did last season before tearing his Achilles.

In the two months since Diaz made his season debut, that question hasn’t been answered. Diaz has chipped in four assists, but he hasn’t scored and is still clearly short of full fitness. He’s yet to play 90 minutes, and has only once gone past 70.

It’s a long, hard road to get back to full strength after an Achilles injury. Dallas is right nurse Diaz along, and good enough to stay near the top of the West while it does so.

But at some point, Dallas is going to need more from its playmaker. Their season, once again, rests on his health.

7. Does L.A. Have A Pulse?

Sigi Schmid took the reigns in Los Angeles on Saturday night, and led the Galaxy to a 0-0 draw against his former colleagues from Seattle.

There were positive to take away. LA kept its first clean sheet since June 3rd, and got some order in central midfield with Jermaine Jones ordered to sit deep and Joao Pedro given license to get forward.

That said – a 0-0 draw at home against a mid-table team like the Sounders is a very bad result for a team that is in ninth place and looking to climb back into the playoff picture.

Schmid has a huge job in front of him. The Galaxy have no attacking cohesion, play with very little urgency, and are led by guys like Gio dos Santos and Jelle Van Damme who either lack fire or lack discipline.

Most of LA’s big players are veterans with long résumés in the game. Can Schmid light a fire under them? The Galaxy season might depend on.

8. Jake Gleeson’s Promise

As Timbers fans will tell you, Portland goalkeeper Jake Gleeson has plenty of holes in his game. He struggles in the air, struggles with his distribution, and, this season, has struggled with consistency.

But damn if there’s a better out-and-out shot-stopper in MLS. Andre Blake certainly has a shout, but this save on Mauro Manotas was one of the best we’ve seen in the league this year – and it’s the kind of save Gleeson makes just about every week.

Saves like those forced MLS Cup-winning goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey out of Portland, and kept a sorely mediocre Timbers team in the playoff hunt until the final day of last season.

Gleeson certainly has ample room to improve. He was at fault on the first Dynamo goal in his team’s 2-2 draw in Houston on Saturday night. But that kind of save-making ability isn’t taught – and it’s not ignorable when found.

9. Giovinco Mesmerizes Again

It’s worth taking a moment here to again appreciate the brilliance of Giovinco, who might be the best player in MLS history.

The Italian’s two goals and one assist carried Toronto FC to a resounding 4-0 win over their Eastern Conference rivals NYCFC on Sunday afternoon at BMO Field, and out to a five point lead atop the Supporters’ Shield race.

In the process, with a signature second half free kick, the Atomic Ant scored his 50th career MLS goal and broke the league record for most goals direct from free kicks.

Giovinco’s reaction upon being notified of his free kick achievement after the game? “I’m happy to have the record, but there are still more games to come.”

10. Berhalter Loses It

Last week in MLS gave us Mike Petke’s fabulous refereeing tirade. This week we got its ugly step-brother – an absurd rant from Columbus boss Gregg Berhalter after his team had two players sent off in a 3-0 loss at Philadelphia on Wednesday night.

Berhalter’s main criticism – that MLS referees aren’t focused on MLS games because some of them also sometimes ref international games or friendlies – makes very little sense.

Perhaps there’s an argument to be made that referees who have international profiles, like Mark Geiger, call different games than referees who don’t.

But it’s worth noting that Ismail Elfath, the referee for the Union-Crew game, was not on duty for the Gold Cup and is generally considered one of the league’s better officials, and it’s also beside the point. Berhalter was calling referees distracted. It just doesn’t add up.

The news dropped like dueling sledgehammers on Wednesday morning: First, the LA Galaxy announced that they had fired manager Curt Onalfo and replaced him with Sigi Schmid.

Then, not two hours later, the Galaxy’s new cross-town rivals answered. LAFC announced that it had landed former U.S. national team manager Bob Bradley as its first ever head coach.

The battle to own Los Angeles is very much on – and, amazingly enough, it’s the Galaxy, with their six MLS Cups and global brand name, seem to be playing from behind.

Mired in ninth place in the Western Conference and owners of a shocking 1-6-3 home record, the Galaxy are turning to Schmid to salvage a season that is well on its way to robbing the Galaxy of its reputation the league’s gold standard.

Schmid, 64 and entering his eighteenth season as an MLS manager, begins his second stint as Galaxy boss with a point to prove. After seven wildly successful years in Seattle, Schmid was fired midway through last season – and had to watch as the Sounders won their first MLS Cup without him.

“I definitely want to continue coaching,” Schmid told FourFourTwo last August. “For me, my passion, my desire, my fire is still there to coach. I definitely still want to win another title, win an MLS Cup. I definitely want to do that. So we’ll relax a little bit, wait and see, and look for the right opportunity, and, hopefully, that will present itself.”

Now, after a year on the unemployment line, it has. In a duel profile of Schmid and Bruce Arena on MLS Insider last year, Schmid – comparing his two zero MLS Cups to Arena’s five – tried to take solace in the fact that his teams have, over the years, produced more national team players than Arena’s have.

It was, in a way, a rather pitiful claim. It’s Arena, after all, who is in his second spell and ninth year in total in charge of U.S.

And in many ways it’s Arena – who won three of his championships with L.A. – who Schmid is chasing, trying win the last title that the Sounders marched to without him last winter.

Schmid now inherits a team in need of a jolt and a club feeling the heat. To put it simply, this is the worst possible time for the Galaxy to be having their worst season in a decade.

LAFC – with a sparkling new stadium going up in Exposition Park and a superstar team of owners eager to spend – is ready to take the Los Angeles soccer market and MLS at large by storm next spring.

The Galaxy, due simply to their location in Carson, were always going to be susceptible to a market incursion from a club in the city proper. But a bad Galaxy team in Carson? Competing with what could be a very good team next to the L.A. Coliseum? That’s a recipe for disaster.

So Onalfo, after twenty games of his first season in charge, is gone – and a club that announced at the start of 2017 that it would be moving away from big-name signings is inking Jonathan dos Santos after making runs at the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Dario Benedetto.

Thus, the pressure is on for Schmid from the jump. His contract is reportedly only guaranteed through the end of this season, with the club holding an option on its manager for 2018.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

Fail to make the playoffs, and Schmid’s coaching career could be over – along with the nascent GM career of his former player Pete Venagas.

The irony here is that Schmid takes over the Galaxy in almost exactly the same place the Sounders were in when he was fired in Seattle last season – team badly underachieving but about to be reinforced in a big way with dos Santos arriving just as Nicolas Lodeiro did in the Emerald City at this point last year.

Brian Schmetzer, the hometown coach who got the Sounders job, secured his future by winning MLS Cup. Schmid, back at the controls of his hometown club, might need to make a similarly big splash.

Even more so because a big splash is certainly what the Galaxy’s budding rivals made on Thursday morning with the announcement that Bradley – who stands alongside Arena as a giant of American soccer coaching – will be their first manager.

Luring Bradley back to MLS after eleven years away – with the national team, in Egypt, in Norway, in France, and in Wales – is a significant accomplishment.

It both speaks to LAFC’s ambition and serves as a strong signal: Bradley is taking this club and all that surrounds it seriously. You probably should too.

After all, it was going to take a project with significant allure to get Bradley to abandon a European coaching odyssey that was halted so abruptly at Swansea last winter. This is that project – a club that promises to be one of MLS’ biggest and boldest.

But more than that, MLS is where Bradley’s compatriots, coaching protégés, players, son, and brother are. For an American coach, it’s the place to be now in a way that it wasn’t when Bradley turned down the Vancouver job to go to little Stabaek before the 2014 season.

Bradley is returning a very different league than the one he departed in 2006. His last MLS club, Chivas USA, no longer exists. That league had just twelve teams. David Beckham and the Designated Player rule hadn’t yet arrived. The stakes now are considerably higher.

Bradley’s Chicago team won MLS Cup in its expansion season of 1999, but Atlanta this year have reset expectations for what a club can accomplish in its first season in the league’s modern era – and LAFC will expect to contend from the start.

They’ve now hired a manager who can both manage big egos and, as his time with Egypt and Stabaek, is an exceptional evaluator of talent with connections on all over the world.

It should be an enjoyable challenge for Bradley, so often the underdog, to recast himself with his new club as an alpha dog. The first step on that path for LAFC and its new manager? Beating the Galaxy, both off the field and on it.

The battle for the City of Angels is very much on.

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 20 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. Atlanta Are Cup Contenders

Atlanta United got what is arguably the best win of their expansion season on Friday night, beating Orlando City 1-0 in Florida on a stunning late goal from Hector Villalba.

It was a gutty performance from Atlanta, and it resulted in a win on night when they didn’t have Josef Martinez in the lineup or Miguel Almiron at his best.

This team is for real, and the numbers are beginning to tell the same story. Atlanta is fourth in the league in points, tied for second in wins, and tied for first in goals scored. They’ve won five of their last six, and have a boatload of home games upcoming.

But the most promising news for Atlanta is that their defense is beginning round into form. The Five Stripes have three clean sheets in their last four games, and have upgraded significantly at right back where Antone Walkes has replaced the declining Tyrone Mears.

Atlanta’s offense has been championship-caliber from day one. Now their defense is approaching that clip. Forget playoffs. In its first year, Atlanta should be thinking silverware.

2. Orlando’s Spiral Continues

On the other side of that result on Friday night was Orlando, a club that has now won just two games since April, and is currently tenth in the Eastern Conference on goal difference.

The Lions have scored three goals in their last five games, and continue to get next to nothing from the league’s highest paid player in Kaka.

Between Jason Kreis saying before Friday’s game that the stadium has gone quiet in recent weeks, reports of fan violence continue to spill out on social media, and the team not scoring any goals, the feeling around the club continues to be unpleasant.

A Dom Dwyer trade could, of course, change all of that very quickly.

3. Timbers Get Gut Check Win

Heading into their game on Sunday afternoon at BC Place against Vancouver, the Portland Timbers had just two wins in their last fourteen games, no wins in their last six, and were missing a whopping twelve first team players.

They won, 2-1.

That’s MLS for you. But while the result was odds-defying – Portland rounded out its matchday squad of sixteen with two players called up from its USL reserve team – it wasn’t at all undeserved.

The Timbers got a goal and an assist from number four overall draft pick Jeremy Ebobisse in his first MLS start, and three massive saves from goalkeeper Jake Gleeson in what was his best game of the season.

It was a hugely needed result for the Timbers, who, despite their dreadful form through the last three months, are in still a fairly comfortable position in the Western Conference playoff race.

4. Goalkeeping Woes in LA

There are no shortage problems right now with the LA Galaxy, who lost two more games this week – including another at home on Wednesday night against Vancouver – but the team’s goalkeeping has, all year, been near the top of the list.

Clement Diop has been a well-publicized mess in his time in goal, but Brian Rowe – such a steady performer in 2016 – hasn’t been much better.

Rowe struggled again over the weekend in New England, and you have to wonder if Onalfo’s rotating him with Diop the beginning of the season – an odd move even before anyone got a good look at Diop – took a toll.

Rowe has also dealt with a groin injury this year, and LA’s rotating cast of defensive characters hasn’t exactly made things difficult for opposing attacks. Still – goalkeeper was one spot where the Galaxy should have been sound this year. When it rains, it pours.

5. What Will New England Do?

The Revs, with the help of Rowe and that atrocious LA back six, got back in the win column in front of a big crowd at Gillette Stadium on Saturday.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that New England is still in tenth place in the East and eight points off the red line with the season now almost two thirds gone.

The Revs should be active in the coming days. The club appears to be actively trying to move Kei Kamara and Teal Bunbury – who combined for three goals with Juan Agudelo on Gold Cup duty over the weekend – and it desperately needs help defensively.

As always with New England, the attacking talent is there to make a run. Lee Nguyen, Kelyn Rowe, Diego Fagundez and Agudelo should make up one of the league’s best front fours.

The issues are around defense, chemistry, and consistency. It’s a big stretch for manager Jay Heaps and GM Michael Burns.

6. Conference Imbalance Continues

With the New York Red Bulls picking up two wins this week, and Columbus beating Philadelphia over the weekend, the Eastern Conference now has six teams that have won ten or more games this season.

The Western Conference has none.

In Toronto, Chicago, NYCFC, and Atlanta, the East has the league’s four best teams on points. The West’s fourth placed team, Portland, would be in seventh in the East.

Why the dramatic shift in conference power? Atlanta’s expansion success – especially compared to Minnesota’s lack thereof – has been a big factor. But so has the sudden revival of Chicago, and the sudden fall from grace of LA.

7. San Jose Comes Back To Earth

The Earthquakes had made a bright start to life under new manager Chris Leitch before the Gold Cup breaking, getting a couple of strong results headlined by that heart-stopping Cali Clasico win over the Galaxy at Stanford.

This week, though, they came crashing back to earth – outscored by a combined 8 goals to 1 in Harrison and Seattle against the Red Bulls and Sounders.

The ‘Quakes’ problems haven’t often been on the defensive side of the ball over the last several years, but they were exposed in both games in Leitch’s new 3-5-2.

If that’s San Jose’s formation for good, and Leitch continues to attacking through his fullbacks and center mids, the ‘Quakes are going to have to get quicker at center back. Fatai Alashe should see some minutes there going forward.

8. Chicago Close To Quintero?

Taylor Twellman reported Sunday that the Chicago Fire continue to negotiate with Colombian playmaker Juan Quintero, and their Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup hopes may just rest on getting a deal done.

The Fire have had a wonderful season, and they’re a fabulous team to watch. But as Saturday’s loss at NYCFC showed, Chicago remains one piece away from a becoming top-level title threat.

The Fire played the game on Saturday up a man for nearly 80 minutes, but lost 2-1. David Villa was excellent, and Chicago had all kinds of chances late on, but the story was similar to that when the Fire were eliminated from the U.S. Open Cup by Cincinnati: Chicago needs a true game-breaker in the last third.

That’s because the Fire have plenty of elite third-line playmakers – Dax McCarty, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Juninho – but they lack a true #10. With Quintero on board, they’d have one of the best 10s in the league.

9. Game of the Week…

Next week’s marquee matchup? Look no further than TCF Bank Stadium, where the two worst teams in MLS – DC United and Minnesota United – will meet for the first and only time this season.

This last week was not kind to either club. DC blew a 3-0 lead and lost 4-3 at Seattle on Wednesday – the biggest meltdown in MLS history – and then were brushed aside 3-1 at home by Houston on Saturday.

Minnesota, meanwhile, dealing with all kinds of injuries and international absences, clung on for a 0-0 draw against Houston midweek before being pasted 3-0 at home by the Red Bulls over the weekend.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

What do DC and Minnesota have in common? They are two of the most cheaply constructed teams in the league. Perhaps that will change when their new stadiums open in the next two years, but for now, the struggles of both clubs can’t be particularly surprising.

In MLS’s third decade, you have to spend – on your academy, your first team, and everything in between – to win. These days, there are no shortcuts.

10. Petke’s Rant

Mike Petke’s tirade after Real Salt Lake’s 1-1 draw with Sporting Kansas City, complete with visual aids and a tale of a broken printer, has already passed into MLS lore.

Petke, already stewing over the red card shown to RSL captain Kyle Beckerman on Wednesday in Portland, was sent off after series of calls went against Salt Lake midway through the second half.

Petke is a show in and of himself. He’s a good coach – RSL is leagues ahead of where they were at the start of the season – but he also makes the club relevant in a way that Jeff Cassar never could.

For Dell Loy Hanson, an owner who craves relevance above all else, Petke is a perfect fit – and that’s a good thing. MLS is better with Petke in it.

Photo credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 19 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. The Fourth of July Massacre

There were plenty of entertaining and important games in MLS’ midweek, fourth of July-centered Week 19 slate. But for pure shock value, nothing we saw over the last two days compared to what happened on Tuesday night at the StubHub Center.

Real Salt Lake – the league’s worst club – dumped six goals past Clemont Diop and beat the LA Galaxy 6-2 in Carson. It was as jaw-dropping a result as we’ve seen in the recent history of MLS.

Consider: RSL entered this game having been outscored 18-6 in their last six games. They woke up Tuesday morning on pace to finish the season with the worst goal differential in MLS history.

LA, meanwhile, had only been defeated in its annual July 4th home game twice in the last fifteen years. The Galaxy had only lost four times at home in the last three seasons.

But they didn’t show up on Tuesday night. And while a certain amount of disorganization would have been understandable, given that the Galaxy are still missing the majority of their starting lineup, the abject indifference that LA played with – in front of a sellout crowd, no less – was stunning.

Especially troubling was that many of the players who simply stopped in the second half were young players who have played for Curt Onalfo for years and should be doing everything in their power to stick with the first team.

There was clearly a void in leadership on Tuesday night. Jelle Van Damme’s absence had something to do with that, but it doesn’t bode well for Onalfo.

In the bigger picture, this isn’t a good time for the Galaxy to be fielding their worst team since 2008 and sending big crowds home with bad impressions. LAFC, now being linked to international stars and finishing its stadium in the heart of the city, debuts in just eight months.

The pressure is on.

2. Sebastian Blanco Settling In

Sebastian Blanco has been plenty good all season for the Portland Timbers, but – considering what the club paid for him and what it is paying him now – his production through the first half of the year had been somewhat disappointing.

But that could be changing. Blanco scored his first goal at Providence Park on Wednesday night in the Timbers’ hugely entertaining 2-2 draw with the Chicago Fire, capping a fantastic all-around display.

Along with Diego Valeri, his former youth teammate at Lanus, Blanco ran the game for Portland – cutting infield from his position on the left wing, distributing out of the deep midfield, and making slashing forward runs like the one that resulted in the goal.

Blanco is an excellent competitor with an excellent motor, and there’s little question about his vision or ability on the ball. If he can start producing more regularly, the Timbers’ attack – the talk of the league in March – can get back to its best.

3. Put A Fork in the Revs

A hugely disappointing season in New England hit a new low on Wednesday night, as the Revolution were beaten 3-2 at home by the New York Red Bulls with Gonzalo Veron scoring the winning goal in stoppage time.

The Revs now sit in tenth place in the Eastern Conference, with just five wins and twenty points taken from their first nineteen games, and their problems are myriad. The team remains poor defensively, and while there is attacking talent, the pieces don’t quite fit.

There have been rumors about the team trying to move Teal Bunbury or Kei Kamara in the coming weeks, but regardless of what happens this summer, the playoffs seem a distant hope.

There are only two postseason spots legitimately up for grabs in the East, and New England would have to get around four clubs – including the Red Bulls – to reach sixth. It doesn’t seem likely.

4. Dempsey Earning New Contract?

Clint Dempsey picked up right where he left off in Portland at the end of June on Tuesday night, scoring twice and leading the Seattle Sounders to a convincing 3-1 win in Commerce City over the Colorado Rapids.

Dempsey played from the start as a second striker behind Will Bruin, and was excellent. His second goal was his 200th in all competitions over the span of what has become a long and storied career.

Dempsey’s contract is up at the end of the year, and the consensus during the spring was that this would be his last season with the Sounders. But if he keeps producing, then there could be a chance that Seattle brings him back for 2018 on less money.

Regardless, Dempsey’s playing well opens doors for next year around MLS and keeps him firmly in Bruce Arena’s mind as the U.S. manager prepares for the World Cup.

Dempsey has reached the stage of his career where he’s again going to have to earn – on a game-to-game basis – his minutes and his money. Odds are he’ll be duly motivated.

5. Hat Tip To Toronto FC

The Chicago Fire have taken plenty of plaudits over the last month or so and are currently leading the Supporters’ Shield race, but no one should lose sight of the fact that Toronto FC is continuing to have a phenomenal season in its own right.

TFC went down to Florida on Wednesday night and easily dispatched Orlando City by a score of 3-1 behind another fabulous pair of performances from Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco.

Toronto has now won games this season at Vancouver, Seattle, Columbus, and Orlando. They’ve lost just three times, and, unlike the Fire, they won their domestic cup championship last week over Montreal.

Toronto is humming in a way that teams coming off of a trip to MLS Cup rarely do. Considering what has happened to Seattle, or Portland and Columbus last season, Greg Vanney should be in contention for coach of the year.

6. Houston Rolls On

But while Vanney several others should be in contention for coach of the year, the frontrunner at this point in the season for that award should be Houston’s first year manager Wilmer Cabrera.

The Dynamo currently sit in third place in the Western Conference, above the Timbers, Sounders, and Galaxy, having dispatched Montreal 3-1 at BBVA Compass Stadium on Wednesday night for their eighth home win of the year.

It’s hard to emphasize enough how good Houston has been at home. They’ve only dropped four points at BBVA all year, and have scored multiple goals in nine of their ten home games.

Road form remains a concern, but there’s little doubt that the Dynamo will return to the playoffs for the first time since 2013 – and the Houston attack is about to get even better: Tomás Martínez is rumored to be on his way in from Braga.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

7. Yordy Reyna Makes A Splash

One of the most exciting games of the week was played at BC Place in Vancouver, where the Whitecaps beat NYCFC on an 88th minute goal by Vancouver’s Peruvian international Yordy Reyna.

Reyna was supposed to be one of the centerpieces of the Vancouver attack in his first season with the club, but an injury suffered in February saw him miss the first four months of the season.

Reyna made his debut late on in the ‘Caps’ game against Chicago over the weekend, and made the difference off the bench on Wednesday night back in Canada.

Vancouver is by no means a great team, but they absolutely can sneak into the playoffs in the West. Reyna continuing his fast start – and Fredy Montero getting back amongst the goals – would a huge help.

8. Adrian Heath Upset

You have to feel somewhat for the sanity of Adrian Heath, who has spent two of his two-and-a-half years as an MLS manager in charge of expansion teams.

Heath’s Minnesota United, who lost 1-0 at home to Columbus on July 4th, are in their worst run of form since their catastrophic start to the season. The Loons have lost six of their last seven games in all competitions, and Heath is fed up.

Already drastically short of players through injury and international duty, Heath benched Miguel Ibarra and hit out at the Loons NASL star and “three or four others” for lacking energy.

There’s only so much Heath can do. He has one of the thinnest, cheapest teams in MLS, and it’s a long, hard season. Expect the Loons to try to strengthen significantly when the transfer window opens.

9. Pour One Out For The Human Spirit

Remember Colorado’s human spirit-induced four game winning streak to close May and open June? It feels a long way away right now.

The Rapids, 3-1 losers at home on Tuesday, have now lost four of five and given up eleven goals in the process. The defense that kept them in games last year has been shaky, and the attack, as per usual, sub-average.

Outside of Marlon Hariston, who has been a genuine bright spot, Colorado is struggling for answers. They may be looking to move Kevin Doyle, who has never been worth his considerable salary, but they need help in almost every position.

The problem is that since Oscar Pareja left, Colorado has struggled mightily to identify talent. It’ll be a surprise if they’re still in the playoff race come September.

10. Transfer Window Opening

There might not be any games in MLS over the next two weeks, but there shouldn’t be any shortage of activity with the summer transfer window opening next week and numerous clubs looking to strengthen their teams ahead of the stretch run.

LA, Columbus, Minnesota, New England, and RSL are all expected to be active, with LAFC continually linked to big names and several clubs waiting to integrate players they’ve already signed in the past weeks.

As always in MLS, one good summer move can unlock a season. Just ask Seattle.

Photo credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 18 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. Get Cincinnati to MLS

The game of the year in American club soccer was played – get this – in the U.S. Open Cup round of sixteen on a warm Wednesday night in June in Cincinnati, Ohio.

FC Cincinnati, of the USL, knocked the MLS-best Chicago Fire out of the tournament on penalty kicks after a heart-stopping 120 minutes in front of a jam-packed sellout crowd of more than 32,000 at Nippert Stadium.

It was an incredible scene. On this night, the U.S. Open Cup felt like the most important competiton in the world. Bastian Schweinsteiger, whose previous extra time games include the World Cup and Champions League Finals, certainly played like it was.

But even he couldn’t crack Cincinnati goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt, the 28-year-old veteran from Livonia, Michigan, who is unlikely to be playing USL soccer for much longer.

And Cincinnati shouldn’t be playing in USL for long either. All but a handful of teams already in the league would kill to boast the kind of atmosphere that Cincinnati had on Wednesday night – and it wasn’t the size of the crowd. Those fans were loud, knowledgeable, and decked out in the club’s colors. This wasn’t their first soccer game.

Cincinnati has to figure out its stadium deal – and Cincinnati has been burned by stadium deals in the recent past – but MLS can’t afford to miss out on adding the Queen City to its ranks.

Chicago, it’s worth mentioning, went home on Saturday and decked Vancouver 4-0 for their eighth consecutive win at Toyota Park. But something special happened in Cincinnati on Wednesday night. Hopefully its only the first of many.

2. Speaking of Great Games…


Since the tradition started six years ago, no MLS fixture has been as reliable for drama as the California Clasico at Stanford Stadium – and this year’s edition, played in front of some 50,000 on Saturday night, was of vintage quality.



LA took an early lead through Jelle Van Damme, but, as they always do, San Jose clawed its way back – first tying the game on a fabulous goal from Chris Wondolowski, and then winning it in stoppage time on a strike from Shea Salinas.



No matter who San Jose’s coach is, no matter where they are in the table, and no matter who they have on the field, there’s something about that game at Stanford. For one day a year, the ‘Quakes seem to have the power of god at their beck and call.

LA, meanwhile, is hurting. The Galaxy only traveled sixteen players up the coast for this game, and had just three legitimate starters on hand. Gio dos Santos can’t get back from Russia soon enough.

3. RSL On Record Pace

Real Salt Lake under Jeff Cassar was clearly – ever more so in the last six months of his tenure – a club in decline.

But the wheels didn’t really come off the wagon in Sandy until after Cassar was fired three games into this season.

Since then, RSL has posted a -18 goal differential and lost ten games – and with the loss to Orlando at home on Friday, the club is now on pace to finish with a worse goal difference than the -36 posted by Chivas USA’s 2005 expansion team.

This is dire stuff. Salt Lake isn’t as bad as that Chivas team was, but considering that it was just last year that RSL was in the playoffs, the scope of the futility this season has been staggering.

4. Lean Times in DC

You’d think that between Minnesota’s struggles in March and RSL’s struggles after March, the Western Conference would have the market on futility cornered this season.

But thanks to DC United and their twelve goals scored in eighteen games, the East is in on the action too.

DC was blanked for the twelfth time this year on Saturday in Montreal, losing 2-0. The black and red have now been shut out in two thirds of their 2017 games, and, the ho-hum acquisition of DeShorn Brown aside, no help appears to be on the way.

DC appear to be in something of a holding pattern until their new stadium opens next year, which, of course, says that the club isn’t truly serious about winning. New stadium or not, that’s highly concerning.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

5. Union Revival

The Philadelphia Union beat up on the New England Revolution in the final game of the weekend on Sunday afternoon in Chester, winning 3-0 and pulling themselves within a single game of the red line in the Eastern Conference.

It’s been a remarkable turnaround for Jim Curtin, whose job now appears as safe as it has been at any point in his Union career. Philly has won seven of twelve since the beginning of May, and has been excellent at home.

Curtin really has done a remarkable job. The starting lineup for Sunday’s game included just three players who started the club’s playoff game in Toronto last October.

This is a completely new team – and one that, by today’s MLS standards of player investment, was pieced together on the cheap. But Curtin has made it work. After starting the year so poorly, Philly is right back in the thick of the playoff race.

6. Blerim Dzemaili Starring For Montreal

Outside of Atlanta’s star duo of Miguel Almiron and Josef Martinez, there’s an argument to be made that Blerim Dzemaili has been the MLS Newcomer of the Year.

Since joining the Impact in May, Dzemaili has chipped in with three goals and four assists – the latest of which came in a comprehensive victory over DC United at Stade Saputo on Saturday.

Dzemaili, in baseball parlance, has pop – he’s one of the best ball-strikers in the league – and his presence has taken a measure of pressure off of Ignacio Piatti.

There’s little question that Montreal is still one of the East’s better teams. The Impact played Toronto evenly over two legs of the Canadian Championship final, only losing the title on Wednesday night to a Giovinco strike in stoppage time.

Montreal needs some defensive help – especially with Ambrose Oyongo out for the year – but they’re going to score enough goals over the second half of the season to get back in the playoff race. Dzemaili is the single biggest reason why.

7. Columbus’ Downward Spiral Continues

Montreal is one of the clubs in the East that stands to benefit from the continuing slide of the Columbus Crew, whose own marquee signing – Ghanaian World Cup vet Jonathan Mensah – has been a nightmare all year.



The Crew lost 2–0 to Atlanta on Saturday at MAPFRE Stadium, with Mensah getting beat by a goal kick for the opening goal.

Columbus has lost six of its last eight games across all competitions and has kept just one clean sheet in its last ten.

No team in the Eastern Conference has shipped more goals, which isn’t all that surprising. Missing on any DP is bad, but missing on a DP like Mensah defender is an unmitigated disaster. The Crew look like they’re going to pay with their season.

8. Does Orlando Have A Kaka Problem?

Maybe – and not just because the Brazilian was substituted after 72 minutes of the Orlando’s game at Real Salt Lake on Friday night and walked straight down the tunnel without acknowledging Jason Kreis.

The bigger problem – and the reason he didn’t finish the game on Friday night – was that he hasn’t been particularly effective this year.

Kaka is slowing down. He’s started fewer than half of Orlando’s games so far this year, but even when he has been healthy, he’s had trouble impacting games. In five games in June, he had no goals and only two assists – one of which came on a free kick in Seattle.

Kaka will always always be one of the faces of Orlando City – one of MLS’ premier clubs – but his contract is up after this year, and, the way things are going right now, there will little reason to bring him back.

9. Sporting Hangs On To Home Unbeaten Streak

It wasn’t at all pretty, but Sporting Kansas City – severely shorthanded – hung onto its home unbeaten streak by the skin of its teeth with a 1-1 draw against Portland on Saturday night.

Sporting, missing Graham Zusi, Matt Besler, Dom Dwyer, and, after a half hour, Gerso, had only two first half shots and one shot on goal in the entire game.

But the struggling Timbers couldn’t put them away. Diego Valeri had a penalty turned away late by Tim Melia, and just after that, an unmarked Lawrence Olum sent a header from point-blank range flying over the bar.

Kansas City’s unbeaten run at Children’s Mercy Park stretches back to last summer, and likely won’t be tested again until Chicago and Atlanta come calling in a month’s time.

10. Poku

New York City might be one of the best teams in the league, but there are few NYCFC fans who wouldn’t like to see Kwadwo Poku back in the sky blue.

The young starlet burst back onto the MLS scene on Wednesday night when his goal – with the final kick of the game – sent Alessandro Nesta’s Miami FC to a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal berth at the expense of Atlanta United.

Poku remains an effervescent player – powerful, creative, and unendingly confident – and he should be in MLS. He’s not, though, and neither are any number of Cincinnati players who stopped that great Chicago attack cold.

There are more and more quality players and quality games in the lower levels of U.S. Soccer, and at least one lower division club will be represented in the semis of the Cup for the first time in years. This is as exciting a time to love soccer in this country as there ever has been.

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 17 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. Dempsey Saves Seattle in Portland

The continent’s best soccer rivalry didn’t disappoint – and on a scorching night in Portland, it was that rivalry’s greatest recent figure who stole all the headlines.

Clint Dempsey didn’t start for Seattle on Sunday night at Providence Park, but, when it was all said and done, it was his 94th minute header that rescued a point for the ten-man Sounders and left their southern rivals in a state of shock.

Dempsey has now scored nine goals in his career against Portland – despite missing the last three games played in the series at Providence Park through injury and suspension – and more than half of those goals have been result-changing.

Dempsey isn’t the player he once was – and credit to Brian Schmetzer for having the guts to start him on the bench in this game – but he’s still capable of great moments, and, just as importantly for Sounders fans, he still owns the Timbers.

2. Dom Kinnear Bites The Dust

The San Jose Earthquakes fired manager Dominic Kinnear on Sunday afternoon, unceremoniously ending the tenure of a decorated coach who never quite got his project in San Jose off the ground.

In the grand scheme of things, this is an understandable decision. Kinnear didn’t make the playoffs in his first two seasons at Avaya Stadium, and his teams never played particularly good soccer.

That said, the timing of the move is extremely curious – starting with the simple fact that the ‘Quakes won on Saturday, beating Real Salt Lake 2-1 to move into fifth place in the Western Conference.

San Jose hasn’t been great this year, but they are firmly in the playoff picture – which, considering the marginal talent that Kinnear had at his disposal, was just about all that could have been reasonably asked of him.

What makes this move even more curious is that Chris Leitch – the technical director – has been named the permanent manager.

Not only would there have been plenty of high-profile interest in the job from outside the organization, but within the organization, Steve Ralston – a Kinnear assistant who has long been tabbed as a future manager – was passed over for a man who has not a second of first-team coaching experience.

Kinnear was not new GM Jesse Fioranelli’s guy, and, with a new DP on his way in, this firing a lot like Sigi Schmid’s in Seattle last summer.

Short of a miracle, however, San Jose isn’t going the way of the Sounders in 2016. With Kinnear out, along with his longtime assistant John Spencer, the ‘Quakes’ performance is all on Fioranelli from here on in.

3. The Magic is Gone in Harrison

The New York Red Bulls were formidable in the last two years because they had a collection of big, fiery personalities all pulling in the same direction.

But now, with Dax McCarty in Chicago and Jesse Marsch’s mind on Europe, that formidability is gone.

The Red Bulls team that we saw lose 2-0 to NYCFC on Saturday afternoon at Red Bull Arena wasn’t just worse than the Red Bulls teams that dominated the rivalry in 2015 and 2016, it also looked less focused and less driven.

Marsch said after the game that his week-long sojourn to Europe to work on his UEFA coaching badges “had nothing to do” with the loss, but in the grand scheme of things, there’s no question that the coach’s ambition is elsewhere and his attention is divided.

That might not be why the Red Bulls lost this game, but it certainly isn’t helpful. Neither was the McCarty trade, which – no matter how good Tyler Adams becomes – was a terrible miscalculation.

This franchise feels adrift – and in the increasingly competitive Eastern Conference, that’s not going to cut it.

4. Winning Culture Taking Hold at NYCFC

Contrast the Red Bulls’ situation with that of New York City’s. NYCFC’s coach is all-in, its captain and best player is in top form, and all the other pieces are falling into place.

Saturday was one of the banner days of NYCFC’s short existence, as the club won its first ever game at Red Bull Arena in comprehensive fashion.

Patrick Vieira and his team have done a wonderful job identifying talent – second half goal-scorer Ben Sweat was picked up off the NASL scrap heap and Finnish midfield enforcer Alex Ring arrived on the cheap from FC Kaiserslautern in Bundesliga – and they’ve put together a complete team.

It’s been a job extremely well done, and as Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano soaked in the celebrations, it was clear that this rivalry – somewhat against the odds – has been turned on its head.

These days, it’s NYCFC that is a force to be reckoned with.

5. Orlando Reeling

Orlando was absolutely pasted by the red-hot Chicago Fire on Saturday night at Toyota Park, losing 4-0 in a game that they trailed from the second minute on.

It was a massacre. Orlando couldn’t get close to the Fire in midfield and had all kinds of problems with the speed of David Acaam – who scored a hat trick – going forward.

The Lions have now won just one of their last eleven MLS games – one in their last twelve across all competitions – and have given up multiple goals in seven of those games.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

Things aren’t about to get any easier. After Orlando travels to Real Salt Lake on Friday night, their next three games are against Toronto, Atlanta, and Atlanta again. Cyle Larin remains out indefinitely.

6. Position Change Working for Zusi

When Peter Vermes decided to make Graham Zusi his starting right back in 2017, it was an odd move. Sporting already had a quality young right back in Saad Abdul-Salaam, and Zusi lacks speed and isn’t by an means an elite defender.

But both Vermes and Zusi deserve credit: the position change has been absolute boon for both club and player.

Zusi plays his new position more like a wingback, and ability on the ball has helped Sporting dominate possession this year – one of the reasons they’ve given up so few goals – and made them more dangerous going forward.

It’s also revitalized Zusi’s career. Zusi had never exactly lit the world on fire on the right wing, but his production had dipped severely in 2015 and 2016 – just four goals and nine assists in 46 league games – and he was falling out of the national team picture.

Now, though, as he heads to Gold Cup camp, Zusi’s versatility makes him a solid bet to be with the U.S. in Russia next summer.

Sporting is about to hit a tough stretch in its season – Zusi, Matt Besler, and Dom Dwyer are with the national team, while Benny Feilhaber could miss significant time through injury – but they’ve easily been the West’s best team so far this season.

7. Kekuta Manneh Lives

It’s not been Kekuta Manneh’s year.

Since being traded from Vancouver to Columbus at the end of March, Manneh has barely been able to get on the field. He entered Saturday’s game against Montreal with just three starts and two substitute appearances in his three months with the Crew.

For a player who had been the focal point of Vancouver’s offense and began the year with a call-up to Bruce Arena’s January camp, it’s been a somewhat staggering fall.

But we might just have seen the turning point. The Gambian-born winger had a game-winning goal and an assist off the bench in a span of just three minutes on Saturday, driving Columbus to a much-needed 4-1 win over Montreal.

Talent-wise, Manneh can be one of the best players in the league. Here’s hoping that we see more of him for Columbus the rest of the season.

8. Loons’ Offense Impresses

Minnesota United – back down to last place in the West at the end of Week 16 – had a make-or-break week, with two home games against conference foes. It went, all things considered, rather well.

The Loons beat Portland 3-2 on Wednesday night, and then battled back from two goals down to draw Vancouver on Saturday night in a game that they easily could have won.

And while it was an improved defense that helped Minnesota right the ship after March and become a competitive MLS side, it’s on the attacking side that this team is doing its damage right now.

Minnesota’s front six – Sam Cronin, Ibson, Miguel Ibarra, Kevin Molino, Abu Danladi, and Christian Ramirez – is one of the league’s stronger units.

Ibson and Ramirez have been revelations, while Molino looks more than capable of repaying the huge financial gamble Minnesota took by acquiring him in the offseason.

This is a fun team to watch – and fans are beginning to respond. Attendance is ticking up for the first time this season, and the atmosphere at TCF Bank Stadium is rapidly improving.

The Loons are off the bottom of the table, and still in the hunt as July approaches.

9. Hats Off To Fair Play

A rather extraordinary scene unfolded on Saturday night in Chester, when the Philadelphia Union’s Harris Medunjanin convinced referee Sorin Stoica to rescind the red card he had just shown DC United’s Luciano Acosta.

Stoica had shown Acosta the red card for appearing to kick Medunjanin as he lay on the ground after being fouled by the DC playmaker, but Medunjanin told the referee that he hadn’t been kicked.

“I’m always honest,” Medunjanin said after the game. “I try to win and I don’t want to win with a dirty play or something like this. For me, it’s important that we won and we played a fair game.”

A similar sequence played itself out earlier in the year, when Seattle’s Jordan Morris told referee Ricardo Salazar that he’d taken the last touch after Salazar had mistakenly given the Sounders a corner in a game against San Jose.

Morris earned a heartfelt Facebook-post from Salazar after that episode, while DC manager Ben Olsen, amongst others, after Saturday’s game, praised Medunjanin after Saturday’s game. Chivalry, it would appear, is not dead in MLS.

10. Updated Playoff Picks

We’ve hit the halfway point of the season, with the Gold Cup break looming after the July 4th holiday, and teams are beginning to separate themselves. Here are updated playoff picks for each conference.

Western Conference: Sporting Kansas City, Dallas, Houston, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver

Eastern Conference: Toronto, Chicago, New York City FC, Atlanta, Orlando, Columbus

Photo credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 16 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. Is Columbus’ Season Falling Apart?

It was a bad week for the Columbus Crew, who lost to Cincinnati in the US Open Cup and then were handily beaten by Atlanta on Saturday night.

This loss to Cincinnati was particularly stinging. The Crew played what amounted to a first-choice starting eleven, and were shut out in front of crowd three or four times as big as what would have shown up in Columbus. There’s an argument to be made that the Crew aren’t even the biggest club in their own state.

With the loss in ATL, the Crew have now lost six of their last eight games across all competitions, and won just three times since they put together a three-game win streak at the end of March.

Kekuta Manneh, the team’s major midseason acquisition, has barely played and is now injured. The defense is just as bad as it was last year, and blown leads continue to be a problem.

Manager Gregg Berhalter – who cuts a rather dour figure even in good times – left the Cinncinati game jawing with traveling Crew supporters, and there have been suggestions that he’s lost the locker room.

Berhalter has been Anthony Precourt’s guy in Columbus since he bought the team almost five years ago, and this is the first real test of his ownership. It will be interesting to see how he reacts.

2. How About Orlando’s?

Jonathan Spector’s stoppage time equalizer in front of The Wall on Saturday night aside, it was a terrible week for Orlando City.

First, the team was pretty well humiliated on Wednesday night – getting bounced out of the US Open Cup by NASL Miami FC in a game that was hardly even as close as its 3-1 score-line indicated.

Then, on Thursday, the club’s star player Cyle Larin was faced with a much more serious humiliation: arrest for a DUI after driving the wrong way on an Orlando highway with a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit.

That news, in conjunction with the Open Cup loss, drew players a visit from club CEO Alex Leitão on Friday morning that was described by Alicia DelGallo of the Orlando Sentinel as “stern.”

Then on Saturday, the Lions blew 1-0 and 2-1 leads at home against the Montreal Impact, getting a late goal from Spector to salvage a point against a team that is tied for the fewest wins in the league.

It was a week that took plenty out of Jason Kreis, who didn’t register any sort of reaction when Spector’s header hit the back of the net. With Larin out for the foreseeable future, Kreis has a big job ahead of him. His team needs to pull together.

3. And Seattle?

The Seattle Sounders lost again on Saturday, 2-1 at New York City FC, and currently sit in eighth place in the Western Conference having won just five of the first sixteen games of their title defense season.

It’s by no means a dire situation for Seattle, but Brian Schmezter has reason to worry.

The Sounders’ 2016 season bottomed out in late July with the loss at Sporting Kansas City that got Sigi Schmid fired, but Schmid was already in deep trouble by this point in June as the Sounders had lost five of six games.

Seattle’s recent form isn’t nearly that bad – thanks to a trio of recent 1-0 home wins – but it’s not pretty – and whoever the Sounders sign this summer, it likely won’t be someone who has the impact that Nicolas Lodeiro had when he arrived to save the ’16 season.

The problems that plagued Seattle last spring and summer – a sputtering offense and a generally lethargic approach – have reappeared early this season. Schmetzer has his work cut out for him.

4. Meanwhile in Chicago…

The Fire are on a tear. Chicago is unbeaten in ten straight games – nine in MLS play – with five of those results coming on the road.

This is an elite team. They have a good blend of youth and experience, quality in midfield, and firepower up top. Veljko Paunovic has outfitted the Fire with several different tactical looks, but they’re beginning to control games whether they play with three, four, or five at the back.

That’s thanks in large part to the work of Bastian Schweinsteiger, who has been central to all of Chicago’s success over the last two and a half months.

Fire GM Nelson Rodriguez said that he was willing to bet his job on Schweinsteiger, and, thus far, he’s come up roses. It hasn’t hurt that Rodriguez’s other two main offseason acquisitions – Nemanja Nikolic and Dax McCarty – have been lights out as well.

Rodriguez is highly thought of in U.S. Soccer and MLS circles, and it’s nice to see him succeeding after taking on the impossible job of leading Chivas USA in its final season. Rodriguez’s coach from that final Chivas season, Wilmer Cabrera, is also doing good things this year in Houston.

5. Signs of Life in Salt Lake

Minnesota might have started the season as the league’s laughingstock, but Real Salt Lake took that baton with gusto just after the beginning of the Mike Petke era. From the middle of April through last Wednesday, RSL was outscored by a total of 30-7. It was rock bottom.

But just as the Loons weren’t as bad as their first month suggested they might be, RSL isn’t nearly as bad as their last two months have been.

Salt Lake was hit hard by the spring’s youth international tournaments, but with a full compliment of players on Saturday night at the Rio Tinto, Petke’s team put in one of its best performances of the season and found a way to get past Bobby Shutleworth and those Loons 1-0.

Justin Glaad was excellent in central defense, while Brooks Lennon and Jefferson Savarino were both bright going forward. Even Yura Movsisyan and Joao Plata – veterans who have run afoul of Petke in the last month – looked bought in.

In this Western Conference, RSL’s season isn’t over. We’ll see what they make of the next month.

6. Play Your Kids, LA

The LA Galaxy under Bruce Arena were never great about turning their academy and young players into first team regulars, but they didn’t need to be. LA spent money and stockpiled talent, and didn’t truly need their kids to contribute consistently.

But in 2017, with Arena gone and LA trying to cut its spending, that was supposed to change. This Galaxy season was supposed to be about turning a number of those young players into starters.

But through the first half of the season, that hasn’t happened. Jack McBean started several games in the spring when Gyasi Zardes was hurt, and Nathan Smith has gotten time at fullback, but other than that, LA’s next generation still can’t get on the field.

Saturday night was a frustrating example of why. With Sebastian Lleget, Gio dos Santos, and Jermaine Jones all out, Curt Onalfo opted to start Baggio Husidic, Jack McInerney, and Rafael Garcia and leave the likes of Jose Villarreal, Bradford Jamieson, and Ariel Lassiter on the bench.

Even if Husidic, McInerney, and Rafa Garcia were better players than Villarreal, Jamieson, and Lassiter – which they aren’t – it’s malpractice for Onalfo to start them. Hugo Arellano in place of the suspended Jelle Van Damme? That’s more like it.

The Galaxy aren’t going to contend for MLS Cup. To get anything substantial out of this season, they need to their young attackers minutes and improve – and it’s worth noting that once they entered the game on Saturday night, Villarrael and Jamieson combined to assist Romain Alessandrini’s stoppage time equalizer.

7. Josef Martinez Returns

Josef Martinez is back, and this finish was just scary.

Atlanta beat Columbus 3-1 on Saturday night in front of another wild crowd at Bobby Dodd Stadium, and got all three of their Designated Players on the scoresheet in the process.

The Crew couldn’t handle the intensity of Atlanta’s high press, which is ferocious — especially at home — and is only going to get better now that Martinez is back.

Atlanta is now above the red line in the Eastern Conference, and they’ll likely stay there for the rest of the season. The defense is still shaky, but the attacking unit is going to continue to overwhelm teams.

8. Sporting’s Defense

SKC’s defense, which got Matt Besler and Graham Zusi back from international break this weekend, continues to operate on another level.

On Saturday night at Avaya Stadium, it held the San Jose Earthquakes to just five shots – and none in the first half. It was the fewest shots that the ‘Quakes have ever taken in a home MLS game.

Sporting has conceded just eleven goals in seventeen games this year, and is on pace to best Colorado’s mark from last year and break the record for fewest goals allowed in a single season.

9. Revival of the Human Spirit

Since Pablo Mastroeni’s epic tirade after his Colorado Rapids beat Sporting Kansas City on May 30, during which he stormed out of his press conference after declaring that “stats will lose to the human spirit every time,” the Rapids have not lost.

Their come-from-behind 2-1 win over the Portland Timbers on Saturday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park was their third straight MLS win and fourth straight win in all competitions.

In their last three wins, the Rapids have conceded the first goal before storming back with multiple goals in the second half.

It’s not sustainable – and it’s worth mentioning that all of this success has come at home – but Mastroeni must be feeling pretty good about himself and his team right now.

10. Alan Green Takes MLS

The famed BBC Radio commentator Alan Green made his MLS debut on Saturday night, calling Atlanta United’s 3-1 win over the Columbus Crew for Fox Sports South.

Green got a turbo-charged game to call, and – despite a clear lack of familiarity with the players and league – he did well with it.

The Northern Irishman was plenty enthusiastic next to Dan Gargan, and nailed all four of his goal calls.

It’ll be fun for Atlanta fans to listen to Green in the coming months as he gets better acquainted with MLS. Even in the broadcast booth, Arthur Blank’s club is making waves.

When the United States began the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying against Mexico in Columbus last November, then-U.S. manager Jurgen Klinsmann gambled – sending the Americans out in a never-before-used 3-5-2 formation.

The result was a disaster. The 3-5-2 was abandoned after a half hour, with Mexico ahead 1-0. They would win the game 2-1, and Klinsmann would be fired just ten days later.

Fast forward to Sunday night, with the U.S. preparing for the return match against Mexico in the cauldron of Estadio Azteca, and another gamble by an American manager.

Bruce Arena, never shy, decided to flip seven players from his team’s Thursday night win over Trinidad and Tobago, and roll out a hybrid 5-2-3 formation that recalled the U.S.’s shock win over Portugal to open the 2002 World Cup in South Korea.

But there was nothing haphazard about this risk. Arena knew even before his team assembled in Salt Lake more than two weeks ago he how wanted them to approach this game.

The U.S. began preparing to play the 5-3-2 on the first day of camp. They used it in the second half of the Venezuela friendly, and they trained in it all week. There were no last-minute surprises.

“We told the team on day one of this camp that we would play that way in this game,” Arena said. “I’m proud of the result.”

He should be. This was a job awfully well done. Arena knew what he wanted, he communicated it clearly, and his team executed. Simple as that.

No details were spared. To acclimate to the altitude of Mexico City, the U.S. played its first game in Sandy, Utah (4,449 feet), moved on to Commerce City, Colorado (5,146 feet), before moving onto the Azteca at 7,200 feet up. Altitude tents, simulating breathing at 10,000 feet, were specially ordered for each player.

All the lineup changes? They were planned and relayed well in advance too. Arena wanted fresh players in this game – including in goal – and he ended up starting a team that was neither tired nor overawed in one of the world’s most intimidating atmospheres.

There was explicit planning there too. Brad Guzan shut out Mexico in this game in 2013. Paul Arriola plays in Liga MX, as does Omar Gonzalez. DaMarcus Beasley has played in every Azteca game since Vietnam.

The result of all the preparation was that the U.S. started the game with energy and purpose.

Their first fifteen minutes were arguably their best, and – thanks to a moment of absolute genius from Michael Bradley, a player who often saves his best for Mexico – they got a goal that would tilt the final scoreline.

Though they only had 26 percent of the ball, the U.S. even had their chances to win the game. Bobby Wood missed a sitter on a scramble after a first half corner kick, while Bradley hit the outside of the post with a volley late on.

Defensively, Arena’s team was stout. The center back trio of Geoff Cameron, Gonzalez, and Tim Ream was solid, with Cameron leading the way. DeAndre Yedlin was excellent in the second half, while Beasley persevered – despite taking a beating – on the opposite flank.

Save for a moment of brilliance from Carlos Vela, Mexico’s best chance came on the free kick that Hector Herrera rang off the bar. From open play, El Tri – rampant of late – were quiet.

It really couldn’t have gone much better. None of the five American players one booking away from being suspended for the September game against Costa Rica – including Bradley, Cameron, and Altidore – were booked.

If anything, the game should have turned on a call that the U.S. did not get. Carlos Salcedo, who was sent off after coming on as a substitute in Columbus, should have seen red after blatant elbows on Beasley and Wood within the first three minutes.

But the U.S. wasn’t rattled. They had a job to do, and they did it well.

There were no calamitous errors, no egregious refereeing decisions, and no lasting injuries. Just two great goals, a competitive game, and an open road ahead to Russia 2018.

Bradley said after the game that the U.S. was guilty of letting “a lot of little things drop” during their calamitous start to the Hex last year. Arena has fixed that, and in the process, with a slim margin for error, has gone unbeaten in his first four Hex games.

Arena knows his way around this region and this job. Against Mexico, his team reflected that.

Arena is also evolving. One of the knocks on the manager throughout his career – revived when he was tabbed to replace Klinsmann last winter – is that he has often been slow in trusting young talent.

But that hasn’t been the case since this year. Many of the stars of the last week – including Christian Pulisic, Darlington Nagbe, and, Sunday night, the exceptionally assured Kellyn Acosta – have been new faces.

It’s all very promising for a U.S. team that is playing its best soccer since 2013, when the Americans also got a World Cup qualifying point at the Azteca.

But the Mexico team that the U.S. drew 0-0 that night was reeling: in the midst of a stretch in which they would win just one out of eight qualifying games and only make it to Brazil thanks, as we know, to Graham Zusi.

The Mexico team that the U.S. drew Sunday night was on a four-game Hex winning streak, hadn’t conceded a competitive goal since November, and hadn’t trailed in a competitive game since last summer’s Copa America.

This was, thanks to Arena’s work, Bradley’s moment of genius, and everything in between, a statement result. All of the sudden, the U.S. national team is a force to be reckoned with again.

At various points in the last year, both the national soccer teams of both Mexico and the United States have been in crisis.

Last summer, Mexico was an excellent start to the centennial Copa America – beating Uruguay 3-1, winning its group, and being touted as a contender to raise the trophy in New Jersey.

Then, a shock: In the quarterfinal, Mexico was handed a Brazil-esque humiliation – a 7-0 drubbing at the hands of Chile. It was the worst competitive loss in the history of the Mexican national team.

Manager Juan Carlos Osorio was raked over the coals. His squad rotation policy – he started three goalkeepers and eighteen field players in Mexico’s four Copa America games – and tactical unconventionality were mercilessly mocked.

Osorio’s Colombian heritage didn’t do him any favors either. He offered, as any coach would, to resign.

But the Mexican Federation – having burned through four coaches on its improbable road to the 2014 World Cup and with the turbulence of the Miguel Herrera era still fresh in the memory – decided to let Osorio stay on.

It was a decision nearly as improbable as the defeat that led to it. But Osorio, who said that he went “almost 50 days without sleeping” after the loss, had a new lease on life.

He stayed the course, and, in the first game of the Hexagonal in November, led Mexico to one of its best results in years – a 2-1 win in Columbus against the United States.

It was a vindicatory moment for Osorio, who now, almost a year exactly after massacre against Chile, has Mexico playing its best soccer since the heady days of 2011 and 2012.

Osorio – thanks to his honesty, his meticulousness, and, perhaps, that liberal squad rotation policy – has gotten a notoriously fractured group of players to buy into his system.

Carlos Vela, who skipped the 2014 World Cup and hadn’t played consistently with the national team in years, is back in the fold as one of the team’s foremost leaders. Javier Hernandez even compared his coach to Sir Alex Ferguson.

Mexico is undefeated to this point in the Hex, having racked up four straight shutouts. Their eight goals have all been scored by different players. Osorio’s team is deep, and – just possibly – tougher mentally than Mexico teams of the past have been.

Osorio is a coach fascinated, as many of the great ones are, with the psychology of the game. That November result – won in the tensest of environments just three days after Donald Trump was elected U.S. president – spoke to that newfound toughness.

But if that game in Columbus was a turning point for Osorio and Mexico, it was the beginning of U.S. Soccer’s own crisis – which would climax with the firing of manager Jurgen Klinsmann just ten days later after the U.S. was tattooed 4-0 in Costa Rica.

With the U.S. pinned to the bottom of the Hexagonal standings with zero points from their first two games, the program turned to Bruce Arena – the country’s most successful ever coach – to lead the team to Russia.

SEE MORE: Where to find the Mexico-USA game on US TV and streaming

The results, to this point, have been resounding. The U.S. is unbeaten in the first six games of Arena 2.0, picking up seven points from three crucial qualifying matches and outscoring opponents 9-1 in the process.

Arena’s first competitive game – a must-win qualifier in San Jose against Honduras in March – was a statement: A 6-0 U.S. win that smashed the record for the program’s biggest-ever Hex win.

The U.S. looks revitalized. That’s thanks in large part to Arena – who, as a straight-shooting players’ coach with a fundamental belief in American soccer and American players, is in many ways Klinsmann’s opposite – but it’s also thanks in large part to Christian Pulisic.

Pulisic, at just eighteen, is a sensation unlike anything the U.S. national team has ever seen. He’s been directly involved in the team’s last eight goals, and, in the space of roughly three months, has become the team’s most important player.

The U.S. has had plenty of good players over the years, and one of them, Clint Dempsey, is about to break the national team’s all-time scoring record. But Pulisic is different. He’s world class, and, for his team, he’s been a shot in the arm.

Around the Hershey native, Arena has sorted the rest of the team out. He’s found a left back in Jorge Villafaña, given Darlington Nagbe an expanded role, and moved Michael Bradley – for good – back into holding midfield.

SEE MORE: Mexico-USA preview, TV times and team news

This is the U.S.’s most talented team ever, and it’s in good hands.

On Sunday night at the famous Estadio Azteca, Mexico and the United States will renew one of the world’s greatest football rivalries with what should be a superb game.

Pulisic, who might just be the most talented player on the field for either team, announced on Thursday after his brace led the U.S. over Trinidad and Tobago – almost as an afterthought – that the Americans would win.

If they do, it will be a historic evening. The U.S. has never won a competitive game in Mexico, having taken just two points from their thirteen all-time qualifying meetings south of the border.

But regardless of what happens on Sunday night, both the United States and Mexico are in stronger positions than they have been in years. Both teams are on their way to Russia, and both could do plenty of damage once they get there.

Photo credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

The United States continued on the path to the 2018 World Cup Finals, beating Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 in Commerce City behind a pair of goals from eighteen-year-old wunderkind Christian Pulisic. Here are the player ratings.

United States

Tim Howard, 6: Wasn’t convincing on the early cross that Kenwyne Jones headed off the crossbar, but was steady from there to collect another qualifying clean sheet.

DeAndre Yedlin, 8: Looked confident coming off of a tremendous season with Newcastle – getting forward with aplomb, and getting a terrific game-breaking assist.

John Brooks, 5: Bit of a mixed bag for Brooks, who was solid defensively but unnecessarily adventuresome going forward. He’ll need to be cleaner in the Azteca.

Geoff Cameron, 6: Solid night for Cameron, who did his job well and, crucially, avoided the yellow card that would have seen him suspended for Mexico.

Jorge Villafaña, 8: One of the best things to happen to this team in the Bruce Arena era. Villafaña was excellent once again, almost scoring in the first half, and dominant defensively. A gem.

Michael Bradley, 6: Bradley had a big job to do with Arena opting to play a sort of 4-1-3-2, and he did it well. Common sense suggests that he’ll have a central midfield partner against Mexico, but Arena has been aggressive so far in this campaign.

Darlington Nagbe, 8: Nagbe was very, very good – more or less creating the opening goal – and he looks comfortable in a setup where he can support the likes of Pulisic and Dempsey and play within himself.

Fabian Johnson, 5: Wasn’t one of the team’s most dangerous attackers, but covered plenty of ground and didn’t make any mistakes. It was good enough.

Christian Pulisic, 10: There’s something pretty special going on here. Pulisic was brilliant in this game, and – if he’s not already – he’s about to become the face of the national team and soccer in the United States.

Clint Dempsey, 4: Not Dempsey’s best night, and he cut a frustrated figure when he exited early in the second half. His wait to break Landon Donovan’s goalscoring will go on.

Jozy Altidore, 7: He didn’t score, but Altidore was one of the U.S.’s best players. He worked extremely hard, made a number of intelligent runs, and opened up space for the likes of Pulisic. The goals will come.

Substitutes

Kellyn Acosta, 6: Helped shore up the U.S. midfield when he entered for Dempsey, and could be in line to start in Mexico City.

Alejandro Bedoya, 4: Didn’t win any style contests by wiping out while chasing a breakout pass shortly after coming on. He’s a substitute on this team at best.

Bobby Wood, 6: Very nearly got the third goal after coming on for Altidore, but his effort stung the post. Is he competing with Dempsey for a spot in the lineup?

SEE MORE: Schedule of World Cup qualifiers on US TV and streaming

Up next for the United States? A Sunday night showdown with a Mexico team that pasted Honduras on Thursday night and is sitting comfortably at the top of the Hex.

The U.S. doesn’t need any points – let alone three – to stay on course for Russia, but a result in the Azteca would be a statement of intent for a team that looks reborn. It should be quite an occasion.

Photo credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 13 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. The Once And Future King?

The Seattle Sounders held off the Portland Timbers to win the first meeting of the storied rivals in 2017 by a score of 1-0 on Saturday.

It was another frustrating afternoon at CenturyLink Field for the Timbers, who outshot Seattle 15-5 in the first half and had two legitimate penalty claims waved away by Mark Geiger. Portland is now winless in five.

The Sounders, meanwhile – even after back-to-back wins – don’t look themselves. They were pretty well handled by the Timbers on their home field on Saturday, to the point that goalkeeper Stefan Frei got a yellow card for time wasting in the first half.

Seattle’s attack, despite boasting so much firepower, looked out of sorts. It’s an issue that Sounders manager Brian Schmetzer has to figure out sooner rather than later.

Schmetzer is a beloved figure in Seattle soccer – he was the featured figure in the Emerald City Supporters’ tifo before the game – but he has work to do this season to prove that last year’s post-Nicolas Lodeiro surge to MLS Cup wasn’t a fluke.

2. Atlanta Continues To Roll

There’s no stopping Atlanta United right now.

Atlanta poured in three goals in the space of seven first half minutes and coasted to a 3-1 win over NYCFC – one of the league’s best teams – on Sunday afternoon at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Atlanta may be back in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, but they boast the league’s second-best goal differential at +10 and lead the league in goals scored with 27.

Taylor Twellman said on the ESPN broadcast that he’s never seen a team as explosive as Atlanta in the history of MLS. He’s right. It’s awfully hard to think of another team that could bury you in the blink of an eye like Atlanta can.

Miguel Almiron, by the way, now has five goals in his last two games. He’s one of the early frontrunners for MVP.

3. California Clasico Delivers

No rivalry in MLS is as dependable for fireworks as is the California Clasico, and LA and San Jose delivered again on Saturday night at Avaya Stadium.

San Jose struck first through Chris Wondolowski, but this was the Galaxy’s evening. After six goals in all, LA ended the night with a 4-2 win and Jelle Van Damme screaming “California is Los Angeles!” into a camera as he walked off the field.

The Galaxy are feeling themselves right now. They’ve won three straight road games and scored nine goals in the process, with Giovani dos Santos reemerging as one of the league’s best attacking players alongside another MVP candidate in Romain Alessandrini.

When LA plays the kind of offense they have since Jermaine Jones got hurt, teams like San Jose simply can’t score with them – and the Galaxy attack will only improve when Gyasi Zardes, still without a goal this year, begins to round into form.

What’s clear is that Jones has to be kept as far away from this team as possible. Perhaps Curt Onalfo should call Patrick Vieira for lessons on how to make an aging star midfielder disappear…

4. Adrian Heath’s Big Day

Saturday’s Minnesota United win over Orlando City at TCF Bank Stadium was all about Loons manager Adrian Heath.

This was Heath’s first meeting with Orlando, the club he coached into MLS, since being fired and replaced by Jason Kreis last summer. His new team won it, 1-0, on Christian Ramirez’s league-leading eighth goal of the season.

Though Orlando dominated the run of play, it wasn’t such a surprising result. Minnesota has been – by some distance – the better team since March. What’s arresting, in hindsight, is that it took Heath just three games and one very good trade to transform a laughingstock expansion team into playoff contender.

Heath knows what he’s doing. He’s a good coach, who, if Ramirez’s goal celebration showed anything, is beloved by his team. The Loons are in good hands.

5. Victor Vazquez Stars For TFC

When Victor Vazquez arrived in Toronto this winter from Cruz Azul, he wasn’t exactly billed as a major signing.

Certainly, Vazquez – a Barcelona product who was once named Belgian footballer of the year during his time with Club Brugge – was known as a crafty attacking player. But in a team with Jozy Altidore and Giovinco, he wasn’t expected to be a main attacking attraction.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

But through a spring for the ages, no player has been more instrumental for the Reds than has Vazquez. The Spaniard, who scored twice in Friday’s 5-0 demolition of the Columbus Crew, is playing sensational soccer.

After Friday’s game, Toronto manager Greg Vanney called Vazquez “the most clever attacking midfielder in the league by a long shot.” He’s not wrong. Vazquez already has eight assists, and might threaten Sacha Kljestan’s 20-assist mark from last season.

It’s mainly because of Vazquez that TFC has continued to win ever as Giovinco and Altidore have missed time through injury. He’s been a game-changer for a team that didn’t need all that much help to begin with.

6. Mensah A Bust?

To get back to their winning ways this season, the Columbus Crew knew that they needed to improve their defense. In that pursuit, the Crew signed Ghanaian international Jonathan Mensah was over the winter as a DP center back.

But so far, Mensah has struggled. The Crew is just 3-5-1 with Mensah in the lineup, having conceded multiple goals in all but two of those games. Columbus’ best stretch of the season, in fact, came with rookie Alex Crognale starting in Mensah’s place.

Certainly, the Crew have defensive problems that go beyond Mensah. The fullback play has been spotty, Wil Trapp has struggled, and young goalkeeper Zack Steffen has had some bad moments.

But Mensah was brought in to right the ship. That hasn’t happened. His performance in Toronto – when he gave away an early penalty and struggled to track quick attacking play – was a microcosm of how his MLS experience has gone thus far.

Columbus has every reason to be worried about the trajectory of their season, and this is a big reason why.

7. Moving Story in Colorado

Colorado rookie center back Kortne Ford scored his first MLS goal and did as much as anyone to help steer the Rapids to gritty 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night at Dicks’ Sporting Goods Park.

It was a momentous day for Ford, and a badly needed victory for his team. But the goal was special for another reason: It was scored for Ford’s mother, Laurie, who is battling Stage 4 bone cancer.

The Rapids’ supporters’ group, Centennial 38, has set up a GoFundMe to help support Laurie’s treatment, and helped raise awareness and money with a standing ovation in the 24th minute of their May 5th game against the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Kortne Ford has a very bright future in soccer – but whatever he goes on to do in the game, his goal on Saturday will always stand apart: a deserved moment for him, and, more importantly, for the woman without whom he wouldn’t be where he is today.

8. Good Times in Chicago

Toronto is, as of now, running away with the Supporters’ Shield. Their closest competitor? That would be the Chicago Fire, who, with a win over FC Dallas on Thursday night in Bridgeview, have stretched their winning streak to four.

Chicago has looked legit ever since bringing Bastian Schweinsteiger aboard three games into the season, but they’ve been especially good of late.

Matt Polster has gotten fit and locked down the troublesome right back position, while Nemanja Nikolic is banging in goals at a league-leading rate.

Through it all, Schweinsteiger has been omnipresent. He hasn’t missed a start since making his debut against Montreal on April 1, and has been heavily involved in the Fire’s resurgent attacking play.

Schweinsteiger goes to show that, despite all of MLS’ very real progress in building stronger and deeper squads, a major signing can still have an outsize impact. Chicago landed their big signing, and their reaping the rewards.

9. Carlos Carmona

MLS’ primary midfield instigators have been in the headlines of late. We saw Diego Chara sent off for Portland in Montreal last weekend, and Roger Espinoza dismissed for Sporting in Colorado this weekend.

But one player to keep an eye on for disciplinary reasons is Atlanta’s Carlos Carmona.

The Chilean midfielder – who was sent off in his MLS debut on Opening Day – has consistently toed the line this season. He’s picked up several more well-earned bookings, and was in the middle of a dustup in the game against NYC this weekend.

None of this should be a surprise. Carmona has, after all, racked up 78 bookings in his career – and now that he’s arrived in MLS, the likes of Chara, Espinoza, Kyle Beckerman, and Osvaldo Alonso have more company.

10. Mauro Diaz Returns

FC Dallas might slumping, but even after a 0-0 home draw with Houston, there is reason for optimism in Frisco.

That’s because Mauro Diaz, seven months after tearing his ACL in the penultimate game of the 2016 regular season, made his return to play on Sunday night – coming on as a substitute in the 81st minute.

It was a welcome sight. Diaz is one MLS’ best players, and Dallas isn’t the same without him. The faster he returns to full fitness, the better.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino was in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar on Tuesday, visiting the stadium of the city’s Russian Premier League side and surveying the scene in the country ahead of the upcoming Confederations Cup.

It was a polished occasion. Infantino smiled and posed for photos with the Russian president Vladimir Putin, and proceeded to stamp his approval on Russia’s preparations for its hosting role this and next summer.

“As FIFA president — and what is more important as a football fan, I can invite the entire world to come to Russia to watch the Confederations Cup and the World Cup games and to discover this beautiful country,” Infantino reportedly told the state-run Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

It was a glowing endorsement. But the truth is that with this summer’s Confederations Cup kicking off in less than a month, and next summer’s World Cup just over a year away, Russia has never been less fit to welcome to the world.

Put aside politics for a moment. The simple fact is that Russia that has made it abundantly clear – time and again – that non-white, non-heterosexual players and fans are not welcome within its borders.

There is a litany of reasons to be leery of Infantino’s statement inviting “the entire world” to Russia. Let’s start here: Racial abuse is rampant in the country’s footballing culture.

According to Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE), the number of racist incidents at football matches in Russia is on the rise – from 80 during the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 seasons to 93 in the 2014-2015 season alone.

The opening game of the Confederations Cup is scheduled for Saint Petersburg, where supporters of the biggest local club, Zenit, issued a decree five years ago demanding the club cut ties with its black and gay players.

At Euro 2012, Russian fans racially abused Czech fullback Gebre Selassie. Christopher Samba had bananas thrown at him when he played in the Russian Premier League for Anzhi Makhachkala. Roberto Carlos was treated similarly.

Hulk, formerly of Zenit, said in 2015 that he encountered racism “in almost every game” in Russia. Spartak Moscow fans charmingly unfurled a Nazi flag during a cup game in 2013.

CSKA Moscow, the biggest club in the country’s capital city, had to play its European matches behind closed doors in 2014 due to an unrelenting series of racist and violent incidents involving its fans.

After being racially abused by CSKA fans in 2013, Ivorian Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure suggested that African players might boycott the World Cup in Russia altogether.

To combat the systemic failure of Russian soccer to reign in racism in its game, the Russia Football Union appointed former national team midfielder Alexi Smertin as its “anti-racism and discrimination inspector.”
This is the same Alexi Smertin who, invited on the BBC’s World Football Programme in 2015, stated glibly, “There’s no racism in Russia, because it doesn’t exist.”

“Racism in Russia is like fashion,” Smertin shared. “It comes from abroad, from different countries. It was never, ever here before. Ten years ago, some fans may have given a banana to black guys – it was just for fun. I think the media is making the wrong image of Russia.”

Smertin’s appointment should come as no surprise. After all, in 2015, the former Vice President of FIFA Vyacheslav Koloskov, who also worked on the Russian bid, suggested that monkey chanting isn’t even racist.

In 2016, Alexander Verkhovsky – who directs the SOVA Center, a Moscow-based think tank that works primarily on Russian nationalism and racism – said, “The likelihood of a racist incident [during the World Cup] is very high. It’s not just that it might happen but that it happens very often.”

In January, the SOVA Center was placed on the Russian government’s “Foreign Agents” list.

The news does not get any better when it comes to the rights of LGBTQ individuals.

SEE MORE: Schedule of Confederations Cup games on US TV and streaming

Russia has long been hostile towards gay and lesbian people – with Putin signing a law effectively banning the promotion of LGBTQ rights and culture in 2013 – but reports in April that gay men are being targeted, tortured, and killed in Chechnya have upped the ante.

According to the Novaya Gazeta, as of April 1, Chechen authorities had detained more than 100 gay men. 26, the Gazeta reports, have been killed so far. The Chechen government, backed by Putin, denies that gay men even exist in the region.
One of the journalists instrumental in breaking the Chechnya story is now in hiding. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that 34 journalists have been killed in the country since 2000.

According to Freedom House, Russia currently ranks 180 out of 190 countries in the world – behind Iraq, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo – for press freedom.

That issue is only tangentially related to the country’s ability to host the World Cup. But it is important to note that even those who have no political agenda won’t necessarily be safe Russia this or next summer.

That’s because Russia is also riddled with hooliganism and anarchists who have taken the opportunities provided by major soccer tournaments throughout this decade to wreck havoc and terror.

At Euro 2012, Russian fans attacked stewards during that Czech Republic game and sent four to the hospital. They also fought Polish fans in the streets of Warsaw before unfurling a banner referencing the Soviet Union’s invasion of Poland during World War II.

Last summer, at Euro 2016, Russian ultras injured more than 100 England fans and left several in critical condition after days of violence in Marseille that culminated with a vicious, coordinated attack inside the Stade Velodrome.

One fan who was in Marseille told the BBC, “It was like a war scene. The six that I went with, there was a guy who had served in Iraq, he said he was more scared there than he ever was in war… It was like they wanted to kill people.”

Back in Russia, the violence was applauded. The first move of Igor Lebedev, deputy chairman of the Russian parliament, was to congratulate the attackers for defending Russia’s honor. Putin condemned the attacks – under heavy pressure from UEFA – with a quip about 200 Russians beating several thousand Brits.

In February, a BBC documentary warned that England fans will again be targeted next summer – with Russian hooligans promising of the World Cup, “For some, it will be a festival of football; for others, it will be a festival of violence.”
Well then.

The Confederations Cup will be hosted by Russia this summer. The World Cup will follow in 2018. There is no chance of reassigning the tournament to a safer country, and no chance of a boycott.

But what Infantino’s warm words mean that FIFA is embracing the specter of holding its showpiece event in a footballing country where racism is rampant, LGBTQ individuals are in danger, and organized violence looms.

No supporter, coach, or player should ever have to risk their lives to participate in a sporting event – let alone one with so much real power to affect positive, if temporary, joy and togetherness.

But that’s where we’re at with Russia’s year at the center of the soccer world rapidly approaching. What’s more troubling? Compared to Qatar, it still might be a picnic.

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 12 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. LAFC Makes A Splash

Los Angeles Football Club doesn’t have a coach, doesn’t have senior players, and doesn’t kick off their first MLS season for another nine months. But it’s becoming clear that LAFC could be one of MLS’ banner franchises as soon as next year.

At a fan rally on Saturday, LAFC announced that it will have a safe-standing supporters’ section, a la Orlando City’s, in its Banc of California Stadium’s North End.

In turn, six LAFC supporters’ groups announced that they have joined to form The 3252 supporters’ union and will stand together in the supporters’ section during matches. The section will have 3,252 seats, priced at $20 per game.

LA – obviously – isn’t known as a rabid sports town. But neither was Atlanta before this year. With a stadium much more centrally located than the LA Galaxy’s Carson-based StubHub Center, the early returns for interest in LAFC have been phenomenal.

The club has sold out its most expensive premium season tickets and, as of February, had 14,000 season ticket deposits. The Galaxy only have around 11,000 season ticket holders, and LAFC’s stadium, set to open next year, is only going to seat 22,000.

When LAFC start bringing in players – Chicharito has been rumored – and a coach, who could be Bob Bradley or Guillermo Barros Schelloto, interest will continue to heat up. This could be unlike anything we’ve ever seen before in LA sports.

2. New York City Finally Get Past Orlando

Although they haven’t been the better team during their time in MLS, Orlando City has had New York City FC’s number over the last three seasons.

Orlando had already beaten NYCFC twice this year – once in Florida and once at Yankee Stadium – heading into Sunday night’s showdown at the new Orlando City Stadium where the home team was undefeated.

But this game was all NYCFC. Patrick Vieira’s team took the lead on an early David Villa penalty, doubled their lead before halftime on a lovely team goal scored by Rodney Wallace, got another goal from Villa, and ran out 3-0 winners.

It was an impressive showing from an NYC team playing its third game in eight days. Orlando, meanwhile, is winless in five and has to be slightly worried about its big players.

This was a rough outing for both Kaka – who was completely ineffective and substituted midway through the second half – and Cyle Larin, who missed a penalty and now has just one goal in his last six games.

It’s been a trying month for Jason Kreis. That blistering start to the season is starting to feel a long ways away.

3. Another Show in Atlanta

If ever there was going to be a week for Atlanta’s tremendous home support to fall off slightly, it would have been this week: a game against a fairly low-profile team in Houston kicking off late after an hour-long lightning delay.

But Bobby Dodd Stadium was as raucous as it was in its first three games, and the crowd of almost 45,000 that braved the weather delay was treated to an absolute show.

Miguel Almiron scored Atlanta’s second ever hat-trick in a game that Tata Martino’s men led 4-0 before a late Cubo Torres penalty got the Dynamo on the board and made the final 4-1.

Atlanta is, without question, the most electrifying team in MLS right now. In Almiron they’ve got a player in a class with Ignacio Piatti, Diego Valeri, and Sebastian Giovinco, Nicolas Lodeiro, and David Villa as one of the very best in the league.

But the support transcends any one individual. Every Atlanta home game – in a traditionally subpar sports city where soccer was once an afterthought – has been an incredible spectacle. For MLS, it’s the best story of 2017 so far.

4. Huge Win For San Jose

Dallas’ unbeaten streaks – both to begin the MLS season and at Toyota Stadium – are over thanks to the San Jose Earthquakes, who beat Dallas 1-0 on Saturday night thanks to a wonderful late goal from Jahmir Hyka.

It was the result of the season for a ‘Quakes team that has taken ten points from its last five games and is up to fourth in the Western Conference.

The good news for Dom Kinnear is that San Jose is the contributions it needs from its offseason pickups. Hyka has been good, Danny Hoesen and Marco Ureña have contributed, and Florien Jungwirth has been excellent in central defense.

San Jose isn’t going to light the world on fire, and they’re going to have their off days, but they’re mostly going to scrap and be tough to beat. In a down Western Conference, that should be good enough for first playoff berth since 2012.

5. DC Mired in Tailspin

DC United lost again at home on Saturday, falling 1-0 to the red-hot Chicago Fire. The loss was DC’s third straight at RFK Stadium, and it keeps the team at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

Injuries have been a problem for DC, who have had key contributors out at various points all year, but this was still an exceedingly ugly homestand, with all three losses came against Eastern Conference opponents.

Ben Olsen said after the game that has team has a talent problem, and he’s not wrong. On paper, DC isn’t a playoff team – especially in this year’s improved East landscape.

But until Audi Field opens next year and DC starts spending money, that talent problem will remain. Olsen has been working around it since he took over as manager in 2011, and it’s far too early to count him and his team out.

6. Good Times in Vancouver

The Vancouver Whitecaps have hit a rich vein of form, beating Western Conferece-leading Sporting Kansas City 2-0 at BC Place on Saturday.

Carl Robinson was able to name an unchanged team for the fifth consecutive match – a record during his stint in Vancouver – and it’s clear that he has a confident team.

Vancouver’s opening goal, scored by Cristian Techera, was one of the best we’ve seen in MLS this year, while the defense – led by a seemingly reformed Kendall Waston – was been excellent.

The ‘Caps have now won three straight home games dating back to the beginning of April, and they have three home games to come to kick off June. If they continue to play well, they’ll be firmly in the playoff picture by the start of the summer.

7. The Union Are Back

The Philadelphia Union are rolling, and, for the first time all year, the bounce was back at Talen Energy Stadium on Saturday night as Jim Curtin’s team came from behind to beat the moribund Colorado Rapids 2-1.

The Union, after going winless in March and April to start the season, have now won four straight by a combined score of 11-1. Caleb Calvert’s goal to open the scoring for Colorado take the lead in this weekend’s game was the first goal that the Union have conceded since a game against Montreal on April 22.

Jim Curtin deserves all the credit in the world for his team’s turnaround. He found a center back pairing in Oguchi Onyewu and Jack Elliott, went with Raymon Gaddis over Keegan Rosenberry, and got Alejandro Bedoya going by giving him a box-to-box role.

But more than all of that, Curtin kept his team believing through its abysmal start. Now Philly is just a point out of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference and has set a club record for consecutive wins.

8. Portland Struggling

The Portland Timbers – after a scintillating start to the season – have crashed back down to earth.

Portland has mostly been treading water since March, but Saturday afternoon’s trip to Montreal was a nadir. The Timbers lost Diego Chara to an idiotic red card after just eighteen minutes, and were pummeled 4-1.

The Chara red is especially damaging, as Portland has to go to Seattle next weekend ahead of a stretch of seven straight games against Western Conference opponents.

With Chara out, there will be even more pressure on a Timbers’ defense that has, so far, been one of the league’s worst. Both Alvas Powell and Vytas have struggled, and Liam Ridgewell looks unrecognizable from the player he was when he arrived in MLS. Jake Gleeson, to boot, has had a shaky start to the season in goal.

As long as the Timbers can get their first-choice front four on the field together – a problem in May – they’ll score goals. But unless the defense improves, they’re not going anywhere this season. A big game against the Sounders awaits.

9. Minnesota Support Disappoints

It was, of course, always going to be tough for Minnesota to live up to Atlanta on or off the field this year. But even by an objective measure, support for the Loons has been disappointing so far.

Minnesota drew its biggest crowd since its home opener for Sunday afternoon’s game against the LA Galaxy, but that crowd was announced at just over 19,000. The four previous home games all drew around 17,000 fans.

Those numbers are about average for MLS, but they’re a considerable dip from what we’ve become accustomed to from recent expansion teams like Atlanta, Orlando, and New York City.

Some of Minnesota’s struggles are understandable. The Twin Cities are a saturated sports market, and TCF Bank Stadium – the team’s home for at least this year and next – is a terrible venue to watch soccer.

But some of the problems are disappointing. The atmosphere at TCF is very flat, with neither of Minnesota’s supporters groups boasting big numbers or noise. The bar for support is high for new MLS clubs, and, thus far, the Loons are falling short. The new stadium can’t be built soon enough.

10. Gargan Shows Promise

Atlanta’s first three home games, against the New York Red Bulls, Chicago, and DC United were all broadcast on national television.

The game on Saturday night against Houston, then, was the first time that the club’s broadcast team of Kevin Egan, Dan Gargan, and Brittany Arnold had the chance to work a home game. The result was impressive.

Gargan, just over a year removed from the end of his playing career with the LA Galaxy, was especially good as a color analyst – incisive, relaxed, and knowledgeable. A cringeworthy remark about Arnold’s hair notwithstanding, it was a strong showing.

And as if Atlanta fans need more good news, English broadcast legend Alan Green will arrive in June after the Champions League final to call games through the end of the season.

Photo credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 11 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. A Return To The Spotlight For Chicago

For one night, at least, Chicago finally returned to the center of the MLS universe.

With ESPN and the defending champion Seattle Sounders in town for a Saturday night primetime clash, the Fire sold out Toyota Park for the first time since the fall of 2015 – and the more than 20,000 on hand in Bridgeview got their money’s worth.

Chicago poured four goals past the Sounders, with three coming in the space of sixteen minutes midway through the second half to put the game away.

It was the Fire’s night. The club got the aid of several poor calls from rookie official Nima Seghafi – more on him in a minute – in the first half, and pulled away late.

The result left Bastian Schweinsteiger – the man most responsible for the sudden soccer revival in Chicago – bouncing around the field at full-time in celebration.

For a club that has had very few good nights in the last four years, this was a cathartic night. The Fire haven’t truly mattered since the Cuauhtémoc Blanco era ended. That’s finally about to change.

2. New Referee Struggles

It’s always positive to see PRO adding young referees to its MLS roster, and Seghafi – at just 28 years old – has followed the kind of developmental path that PRO wants to see: he refereed college soccer, then worked in the USL, and then served as an MLS fourth official for two years before making the step up to refereeing MLS games.

Going into Saturday night, Seghafi had worked three games this year – most recently San Jose’s win over Portland last weekend – without major incident.

He was assigned to Chicago-Seattle when Jorge Gonzalez, the veteran official originally scheduled to call the game, was scratched. Gonzalez had left the Colorado-Vancouver game on Wednesday night with an injury.

As important as import referees like Alan Kelly can be for MLS, the key to improving the overall standard of refereeing in the league – just like the key to improving the standard of play – lies with homegrown talent.

The hope is that Seghafi has a long, successful career ahead of him. He will not, however, look back at his work on Saturday night fondly.

Seghafi called an extremely uneven first half, gave Chicago a dubious penalty, and then ordered that penalty retaken for encroachment on Seattle after it was originally missed even though Fire players were in the box as well.

Seghafi’s positioning on the penalty – standing behind the penalty taker instead of level or just ahead of the penalty spot – was wrong as well. It’ll be interesting to see if he gets the whistle for any more MLS games in the near future.

3. Concussion Protocol Failure

Speaking of referees, Kelly was unwittingly caught in the middle of a terrible situation during the Portland-Atlanta game on Sunday when Yamil Asad took a ball to the face from point-blank range, collapsed to the turf, and then reentered the game without going through any sort of concussion protocol.

The Timbers’ team doctor rightly protested Asad’s resuming play, to the point that Kelly stopped the game again to check on Asad, but his power to act was limited. Asad played on, and went the full 90 minutes.

The whole incident made a mockery of the league’s concussion protocol. Atlanta’s staff, which cleared Asad to return in about four seconds, appeared to have no interest in protecting their player’s health.

MLS, and soccer as a whole, must act once and for all to stop the epidemic of players playing on through concussions. It’s extraordinarily dangerous.

Offering teams a temporary sub, putting a neutral medical professional on the sideline to evaluate players who suffer head injuries, or mandating a minimum amount of time that players who suffer head injuries must leave the game for would all work as deterrents to what we saw happen at Providence Park.

4. RSL Hits Rock Bottom

Real Salt Lake, after a temporary spike in form after the hire of Mike Petke, is hitting rock bottom.

On Saturday night, a depleted Salt Lake side gave up four first half goals in Foxborough en route to a humiliating 4-0 loss to the Revolution. RSL has now been outscored 13-1 in their last four games, with NYCFC up next on Wednesday.

Petke’s candor and heart make him as good a coach as any to weather a storm with, but he’s got a huge job in front of him. RSL leads the league in losses, is last in points per game, and, hasn’t even been competitive – no matter who has been on the field – for most of the season.

There’s never a good time to lose your job, but Jeff Cassar is probably sleeping pretty well right now.

5. LA Breaks Out

After an extremely trying start to the season, the LA Galaxy broke out on Sunday night – handing the New York Red Bulls their first loss at home in over a year with a 3-1 drubbing at Red Bull Arena.

It was, by far, the Galaxy’s best performance of the season. Take away the Red Bulls’ late consolation goal, and LA is outscoring its opposition 5-0 over its last three halves of soccer.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

It’s not coincidental that the Galaxy’s revival has coincided exactly with Jermaine Jones getting hurt and leaving the lineup.

Without Jones’ freelancing, LA looks entirely more comfortable. Curt Onalfo has gone to a straightforward 4-4-2, gotten solid central midfield out of Joao Pedro and Baggio Husidic, and freed up space for the likes of Romain Alessandrini and Gio dos Santos going forward.

Onalfo is finally having some success. The maligned coach made a huge call last weekend when he benched Jelle Van Damme in the first half of the Chicago game, and he got the desired response this weekend with Van Damme playing his best game of the year.

All is not lost for Onalfo or his team. LA’s season may just be getting started.

6. Meram Saves Columbus

The Crew continued their hot start to the season with a rollicking 3-2 win on a drizzly Saturday afternoon in Montreal, with Justin Meram continuing his red-hot start to the season with a hat trick.

Meram, who already has seven goals and is just one short of his career high, is in the form of his life. Columbus is up to second in the East, and looks much more like the side that made MLS Cup in 2015 than the side that missed the playoffs last year.

But there’s reason for concern. The defense that blew so many leads last season still inspires zero confidence. The Crew has already dropped points late against Chicago and TFC this year, and blew a two-goal lead against the Impact before being bailed out by Meram in stoppage time.

This team’s underbelly is still soft, and that doesn’t bode well for the dog days of summer and beyond.

7. Atlanta Impresses Again

Though they didn’t win the game, Atlanta’s performance on Sunday afternoon against the Timbers in Portland was still hugely impressive.

Tata Martino’s team played with the kind of swagger and commitment dictating tempo and playing out of the back that precious few teams in the league – maybe just NYCFC – can muster on their best days.

The result for Atlanta was a whopping 70 percent possession. There was not a single five-minute interval of the game in which Atlanta didn’t have the majority of the ball.

Possession obviously isn’t a perfect measure of success – and the Timbers had the better chances in the game – but considering that Atlanta has been playing competitively for less than three months, this was some display.

The Five Stripes have now gotten results at Seattle, Portland, and Toronto, and are about to enter a significantly easier portion of their schedule. They won’t be below the red line for long.

8. Houston Continues To Roll

How about this: after eleven weeks of the season, the Houston Dynamo are leading the Western Conference.

The Dynamo are on top of the West for the first time after beating Vancouver 2-1 on Friday night at BBVA Compass Stadium and watching Dallas, Sporting, and Portland all draw over the weekend.

Houston has now won six of its first seven home games, and scored nineteen goals in the process. Wilmer Cabrera – always a better coach than his year at Chivas USA indicated – is the early front-runner for Coach of the Year.

Expect the Dynamo to come back to earth as they face a stretch of road games to finish May and begin June, but don’t expect them to fall apart like they did after a hot start under Owen Coyle last year. This is, without question, a playoff team.

9. East Over West

One of the reasons that it’s possible to so bullish on Houston is that the Western Conference is weaker than it has been in years.

Two of the conference’s 2016 playoff teams, RSL and Colorado, are 21st and 22nd in MLS respectively after eleven weeks. LA is down, and the middle of the conference – San Jose, Vancouver, Minnesota – is mediocre at best.

The Eastern Conference, meanwhile, is having something of a resurgence. The revival of the Fire has helped, as has Orlando making the jump to contender in its third MLS season.

The East went 3-1-1 against the West this weekend, and that kind of cross-conference dominance is something that we should expect to get used to as the year rolls on.

10. Toronto’s Winning Streak Hits Six

Only three teams in the last ten years of MLS play have put together winning streaks reaching ten games. Toronto FC, as of Saturday afternoon’s rollercoaster 3-2 win over Minnesota United at BMO Field, has made it four.

TFC has six straight wins since April 21 – beating Chicago, Houston, Orlando, Seattle, Columbus, and, on Saturday, the Loons. They’ve gotten a number of those wins on Giovinco, on short rest, with multiple goalkeepers, and rotated teams.

It’s been a mighty impressive run for a club that has, over the last twelve months, finally come into its own.

It’s also a wonderful reflection on the coaching talents of Greg Vanney, who is rarely mentioned amongst MLS’ best bosses but has handled his first coaching job – one of the league’s toughest – with aplomb.

TFC has a six-point lead in the Supporters’ Shield race, which, even at this early stage of the season, is just big enough to feel significant. As special as last season was for Toronto, this one could be even better.

Over a span of four months, from October 2015 to January 2016, the FIFA Ethics Committee removed the three most powerful men in football – Sepp Blatter, Jerome Valcke, and Michel Platini – from office, and banned them from the game.

It was an extremely hopeful stretch in the dark history of the world’s governing body. There was, at that time, legitimate hope that FIFA might be rid of the corruption that was its defining characteristic during Blatter’s seventeen-year reign.

That hope feels very far away right now.

On Tuesday, FIFA – under the leadership of new, US-backed president Gianni Infantino – decimated the Ethics Committee that was so instrumental in toppling the previous regime by firing all but two of the committee’s members.

It was the kind of brazen, self-preserving move that was commonplace under Blatter. According to The Guardian, hundreds of ethics committee investigations will now be stalled indefinitely.

The departing prosecutor, Cornel Borbély, said in a press conference on Wednesday in Bahrain that “This is a huge setback. The reform process has at least stepped backwards for several years.”

The decision was especially damning because, if anything, the ethics committee as it was constructed was a shy police force.

The body failed to move against FIFA’s top officials until after the US Department of Justice started making headway in 2015, and refused to release the findings of a high-profile report on FIFA corruption, especially as it related to the Qatar World Cup bid, by its former top investigator Michael J. Garcia.

The only takeaway here is simple: Infantino, along with FIFA’s top officials, do not want any semblance of an independent committee investigating their dealings.

Infantino was investigated but ultimately not charged by the ethics committee last year when the Panama Papers implicated him in a corruption scandal involving UEFA’s TV rights deals.

Borbély and outgoing judge Hans-Joachim Eckert said in a joint statement that the decision to gut their committee was “clearly politically motivated.”

FIFA has put forward replacements for the dismissed committee members, but it’s awfully difficult to imagine that those new appointees will have the independent authority they would ostensibly need to do their jobs effectively.

The likes of Borbély and Eckert weren’t the only ones to lose their jobs at FIFA’s annual congress this week. Miguel Maduro, who chaired the governance committee, was also sent packing.

Why? Maduro, last March, refused to allow Russian deputy prime minister Vitaly Mutko to run again for the FIFA Council because FIFA bars its officials from active political engagement.

Mutko, one of the highest-ranking officials in the government of Vladimir Putin, was clearly in violation of that rule. But considering Russia’s power and status as the next World Cup host, Maduro’s decision was still a strong one. He paid the price.

The faces have changed, but FIFA’s modus operandi has not. The rules do not matter. No one is allowed to cross those at the top, no matter how corrupt they may be.

FIFA is not an appreciably different organization from what it was when Blatter and his cronies were running the show.

Infantino hasn’t yet – so far as we know – bought elections or sold World Cups, and he doesn’t suffer from Blatter’s senility, but he does not appear at all interested in cleaning FIFA up. The actions of the last week would suggest that he wants to do business as it has always been done.

For Sunil Gulati and US Soccer, whose support of Infantino in the second round of last year’s FIFA Presidential Election was integral in helping the European score an upset victory, that should sting.

Of course, FIFA handing the 2026 World Cup to the US, Mexico, and Canada should help keep Gulati in line.

It’s not just in the ethical arena where FIFA has failed to progress in the Infantino era. Important and long-overdue reforms to increase the power and visibility of women in FIFA have also, as Grant Wahl put it on Wednesday, have become a farce.

As of last year, FIFA requires that each continent have a woman fill a council seat. But the elections for those council seats are decided by federation presidents, and all but two of those presidents are men.

That’s how you get the results Australia’s Moya Dodd, who Wahl called “the most influential woman in FIFA in recent years” losing her seat to a Bangladeshi candidate who didn’t know which country won the last World Cup.

That candidate, who first guessed that Japan had won the tournament, defeated Dodd by a 27-17 margin. Strong women appear as unwelcome at FIFA as they ever have been.

To date, Infantino’s landmark accomplishment was expanding the men’s World Cup from 32 to 48 teams – a lucrative move designed to boost the non-European federations that, as a bloc, hold considerable power within FIFA.

Those countries will have more bids, more money, and more reason to support the existing power structure. Problem is, World Cup expansion will destroy the tournament as we know it.

Qualifying, currently considered cause for a national holiday in smaller countries, will become bloodless. The format of the tournament will become clunky; it’s early stages lopsided, mediocre, and full of bad teams and competitive mismatches.

Considering that the men’s World Cup is FIFA and the sporting world’s crown jewel, ruining it seems like a bad thing for the federation’s president to do.

When Infantino was elected two February’s ago, he announced in his victory speech that “FIFA has gone through sad times, times of crisis. Those times are over. We will restore the image of FIFA.”

So far, he and those around him have done no such thing – and, considering the events of the last week, there is no reason to believe they ever will. FIFA is no different today than it ever has been.

Photo credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 9 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. Dax McCarty Returns To New York

Dax McCarty made his first trip back to Red Bull Arena as a member of the Chicago Fire on Saturday afternoon, and a fantastic Red Bulls crowd of almost 23,000 gave him a hero’s welcome.

They also got to see a very good early-season encounter. The Red Bulls won 2-1, but not before McCarty stung his former team with a game-tying assist – setting up Nemanja Nikolic with a fabulous show-and-go around his Red Bull replacement Tyler Adams.

It mostly remains to be seen whether Jesse Marsch’s Red Bulls system can withstand the loss of such an integral player as McCarty without missing a beat.

It seems unlikely. The early returns, however, aren’t bad. The Red Bulls, after a disjointed start to the season, have now won three straight games by a score of 6-1.

But anyone who watched McCarty sign autographs and take pictures with supporters almost a half-hour after full-time understands that the Red Bulls lost a true lion.

If you are one of those Red Bulls fans – and of the belief that there is more to soccer clubs than just winning games – the loss of McCarty will continue to sting for a long time to come.

2. Portland Shows Well in Dallas

Saturday night’s marquee fixture was a top-of-the-Western Conference clash between Portland and FC Dallas in Frisco, and while the game underwhelmed somewhat, the Timbers still had a very good night.

Dallas never led in a game that easily could have resulted in their first league defeat of the season. It took a moment of magic from Maxi Urruti and a late slip by Portland’s Alvas Powell to salvage a 2-2 draw.

That the Timbers got a result in Frisco minus Diego Valeri – without whom they scored just two goals in four games last season – goes down as one of the most impressive achievements of an impressive young season.

Sebastian Blanco was excellent for Portland in Valeri’s stead, scoring his first goal for the club and setting up a number of other chances.

Blanco’s engine and competitiveness, if maybe not his stature and attacking style, are reminiscent of Rodney Wallace – a player who the Timbers missed immensely last season and who has added immensely to NYCFC on his return to the league this year.

Getting some of that bite back through Blanco has been a boon for the Timbers, who have taken seven points from their first four road games after failing to win a single away match all of last season.


3. LA’s Woes Continue

The LA Galaxy, badly in need of a good performance after being pasted by Seattle last weekend, got the opposite on Saturday night: a dire 0-0 draw against the winless Philadelphia Union at the StubHub Center.

“We have a group that, let’s be honest, we feel pressure,” Curt Onalfo said afterward. “It’s been a very frustrating and difficult start for us.”

Indeed. LA is only ahead of the Union and Colorado in the Supporters’ Shield standings, but more troubling than that has been the bloodless nature of the Galaxy’s recent performances.

The team looks shot, and to make matters worse, the schedule is about to get tough: after getting Chicago at home next weekend, LA has a four-game road trip going into the Gold Cup break looming.

If things haven’t improved by then, Onalfo might not see the summer transfer window. With LAFC ready to make what, by all accounts, will be a grand entrance to the league next year, the Galaxy won’t want to be left behind.

4. Meanwhile in Colorado…

As bad as LA has been, Colorado has been worse.

The Rapids lost and were shutout again on Saturday afternoon, falling in Orlando 2-0 on Kaka’s return from injury. Colorado has now failed to score in five straight halves. In 90 minutes on Saturday, they only managed three shots.

Again, as we’ve said for several years now, it seems like Colorado has no long-term soccer vision. The club traded Sam Cronin and Marc Burch as part of a sudden push to play more attacking soccer, but they have a coach in Pablo Mastroeni who has shown absolutely zero ability to put together competent attacking teams.

It’s been incredibly ugly, and, unlike last year, the Rapids don’t have a dominant defense to compensate.

5. Sporting KC Blows By RSL

2017’s edition of one of MLS’ most underrated rivalries was as about one-sided as they come.

Sporting Kansas City pounded Real Salt Lake 3-0 on Saturday night in a torrential downpour at Children’s Mercy Park, picking up their fourth win of the season against the Western Conference.

It’s early days yet – and SKC have labored considerably down the stretch in recent years – but this feels very much like the first Sporting team since 2013 that has a legitimate shot to win MLS Cup.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

Both Ilie Sanchez and Gerso Fernandes look like good signings, with Sanchez especially providing the kind of technical ability in central midfield that Sporting haven’t had week in and week out since the days of Uri Rosell.

But SKC has always been about defense, and if Kansas City’s defense continues to give up less than half a goal per game – as the 2016 Rapids can attest – they’re not going to need very much offense anyway. It could be a fun year in the Heartland.

6. Another Blown Three-Goal Lead

The weekend’s wildest game was played at CenturyLink Field on Saturday night, where, for the second consecutive week, an MLS team blew a three-goal lead.

Last weekend it was the Union. This weekend, it was the New England Revolution who stormed out to a huge advantage in Seattle – only to fall apart as the Sounders made a furious late charge.

Seattle scored all three of its goals after the 75th minute, with Osvaldo Alonso netting the equalizer just two minutes from time. It was a fitting end to a game that started with a Rob Green-esque goalkeeping error from Stefan Frei and could have finished 5-5.

The Sounders are missing Chad Marshall, but one player who appears to be taking a next step is Joevin Jones – whose two assists from left back in this game gives him five on the season. He had just three all of last year.

7. Montreal Limps to Another Defeat

I’d be a little bit worried if I were Mauro Biello.

The Montreal Impact have, unquestionably, been a second half team over the last couple of years. But Impact owner Joey Saputo isn’t known for his patience, and Montreal has made an exceedingly slow start to 2017.

The Impact lost to Vancouver 2-1 at the Stade Saputo on Saturday, and still have just one win – sealed in stoppage time against ten-man Atlanta – to show for their eight outings thus far this season.

A significant reinforcement is on the way for Montreal in Blerim Dzemaili, who should join the team in the coming days, but the Eastern Conference isn’t as weak as it was in 2015 and 2016. The Impact need to kick it up a notch very soon.

8. Acosta A Revelation For DC

Ten minutes into their game in Atlanta on Sunday afternoon, DC United was being played off the field.

Atlanta had forced Bill Hamid into two massive saves in the first two minutes of the game and led 1-0 through a Kenwyne Jones goal.

And then, out of the blue – at a point in the game in which they were enjoyed just 28% of possession – DC struck back, Lamar Neagle forcing an own goal off Michael Parkhurst.

Then, ten minutes later, Luciano Acosta scored a phenomenal solo goal to give Ben Olsen’s team the lead. A counter-attack goal from Sebastian Le Toux in the second half gave DC, incredibly, a reasonably comfortable 3-1 win.

It wouldn’t have happened without the early heroics from Hamid, but on a field with all of Atlanta’s young starlets, Acosta was the best player in the game. For DC to contend, their #10 has to be of the caliber of Piatti, Valeri, and Almiron. On Sunday, he was.

9. Revs’ Suffer Stadium Setback

Friday was another brutally disappointing day for New England Revolution fans, who learned that their club will not be going forward with a project to build a stadium on Boston’s Bayside Exposition Center site.

According to a statement from the Krafts, the team had been trying to reach an agreement to build a privately funded $250 million stadium on the site since 2015. But, for reasons that the Revs deemed “beyond our control,” it’s not going to happen.

The Revolution, 21 years into their existence, will still be stuck in a football stadium in Foxborough for the foreseeable future. With DC United moving to Audi Field next season, the Revs the only original MLS club still playing without their own home.

It’s a bad situation for MLS, which has never truly made a dent in the Boston market, and a sad situation for Revolution fans who are watching the league move forward as their team gets left behind.

10. Pirlo Benched

The end of an era is nigh.

With Patrick Vieira wanting more mobility in midfield against Columbus’ expansive attack on Saturday afternoon, the French manager left Andrea Pirlo out of his team against the Crew – instead opting to start 19-year-old Yangel Herrera in his place.

Pirlo, despite being available off the bench, didn’t see the field. His team won the game without him 3-2, with Jack Harrison starring and scoring twice.

It was an odd sight. There was a time when seemed like Pirlo might play forever. But time does funny things. At the end of his career, the Italian legend will have to fight for minutes like he’s nineteen again himself.

Photo credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 8 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. A Triumphant Return to NYC For Kreis

Orlando City is top of the Eastern Conference, and their manager Jason Kreis couldn’t be sitting prettier.

The Lions beat New York City 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium in Kreis’ first trip back to the Bronx since NYCFC fired him at the end of the 2015 season.

It was a fairly vindictive afternoon. Kreis was canned after just a single season with NYCFC – after leaving Real Salt Lake and taking a year to prepare for the job – and he then watched last season as Patrick Vieira led his old team to the playoffs in emphatic style.

Now, the tables have turned. Cyle Larin was unplayable in New York again, and Kreis’ team has won five of its first six games while looking as committed and as skillful as Vieira’s side looked last year.

This Orlando team looks very much like what Kreis’ RSL teams looked like five, six, and seven years ago – and, perhaps, what NYCFC could have looked like had they given their first coach more than their expansion season.

2. The Pirlo Problem

Andrea Pirlo lasted just 55 minutes of this game before being substituted for a player named Yangel Herrera, and it’s safe to say that the whispers about the Italian legend’s role with NYCFC aren’t going to become whispers anymore.

To recap: Pirlo has now been substituted in five of NYC’s last six games. On Sunday, the team was drastically better once it shifted to a 3-4-3 after he was removed.

With Ronald Matterita injured, making that 3-4-3 Patrick Vieira’s best option for the foreseeable future, it’s an open question whether Pirlo is going to lose his starting job. Why?

Defensively, Pirlo might as well not be on the field. But Pirlo was just as nonexistent on the defensive end last season. The difference this year is that he hasn’t been nearly as effective offensively.

Pirlo last season posted 11 assists and by almost every measure – touches, passes completed – was the fulcrum of NYC’s attack. This year, the Italian is without an assist in his first seven games and his influence over games has waned considerably.

It’s an ugly sight to watch any player – especially a player of Pirlo’s brilliance and style – lose the battle to time. How Pirlo handles the rest of this, what is likely his final season, will be one of the great tests of his career.

3. LA Goes Down Again

The Galaxy were run over 3-0 by the Seattle Sounders on Sunday afternoon at the StubHub Center in a game that was over by halftime.

LA has now lost three games at home to Western Conference opponents already this season, which is more home losses than the suffered all together in 2015 and 2016 combined.

Curt Onalfo remains upbeat, but all signs point to trouble in Carson. There were tactical problems in this game, but beyond that, the Galaxy aren’t putting pressure on the ball, aren’t rotating effectively defensively, aren’t getting anything out of far too many of their attackers.

This team is in bad shape. It needs a jolt of energy – especially with LAFC ready to enter the league with a bang at the beginning of next season.

4. Seattle Puts On A Show

The game was also, certainly, a reminder of why the Sounders were so good in the second half of last season.

Nicolas Lodeiro, Clint Dempsey, and Jordan Morris – roughly playing on the same line behind Will Bruin – were all excellent.

Bruin’s presence up top approximated that which Nelson Valdez provided last season, and he’s likely a starter for Seattle for the foreseeable future in Harry Shipp’s spot in the lineup.

The Sounders are an experienced team, and there won’t be any reason to panic if they just pick their spots until the fall. But there’s also a chance that, with Bruin in the team and Morris looking fully fit, Seattle is about to go on a run up the West table.

5. Union Sink Lower

Saturday should have been the day for the Philadelphia Union to stop the bleeding. They were at home, facing a pedestrian Montreal team, and then 3-0 up inside the first 40 minutes.

But Ignacio Piatti pulled a goal back just before halftime, young Anthony Jackson-Hamel came into the game and made it 3-2 with twenty minutes to go, and then Jackson-Hamel pounced on a rebound to tie the game in the 87th minute.

It was an extraordinary meltdown. The last time an MLS team blew a 3-0 lead, that team, the Columbus Crew, responded by shipping Kei Kamara to New England.

And the Crew were the defending Eastern Conference champions. The Union, on the other hand, are winless in their last thirteen games dating back to August of 2016. Something is about to give.

6. Dallas’ Hot Start Continues

Dallas is quietly enjoying an extremely impressive start to the league season, and, on Saturday night, they did what Portland was unable to do last week: beat Sporting Kansas City at home.

Dallas got that win in an expectedly tight game 1-0 on a back-post header from recently maligned fullback Maynor Figueroa. Dallas is leading MLS in points per game, and they likely will be for the long haul.

The team has great depth – Michael Barrios and Cristian Coleman started this game on the bench – a defense that is giving up half a goal per game, and Mauro Diaz resuming soccer activity ahead of his return in the coming weeks.

Oscar Pareja has built a juggernaut in Frisco, and it shouldn’t be bet against to win another Supporters’ Shield.

7. Don’t Look Now…

But here come the Loons. Minnesota United beat the Colorado Rapids 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at TCF Bank Stadium, and it was a thoroughly deserved result.

The Loons were good on the ball, generated plenty of pressure in the second half, and, most importantly – save for one lapse that resulted in Dominic Badji hitting the bar – solid defensively.

The first clean sheet in franchise history will give the team a lift, as will having Miguel Ibarra back in the team and amongst the goals. With a very winnable home game against San Jose to come, Minnesota could be in the playoff places by this time next week.

Colorado, meanwhile, is in free-fall. This Rapids team could easily be as bad as the one that finished at the bottom of the West in 2015. It’d be something to see them play the Union right now.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

8. Atlanta Marches On

Whatever Minnesota can do, of course, Atlanta can do better – and this weekend was no exception, as Tata Martino’s team got back in the winner’s circle with an easy 3-1 win at the Rio Tinto Stadium over Real Salt Lake.

Few teams in the league have answers for Atlanta’s attacking pace. Hector Villalba and Yamil Asad both scored, as Atlanta jumped all over RSL’s central midfield and backline early. Luke Mulholland only completed 60% of his passes in the game.

That Atlanta is getting results on the road – without Josef Martinez – this early in the season is bad news for the rest of the East.

If they can keep themselves in and around the top of the league, Atlanta could make a real Shield push with a very favorable schedule and a lot of home games down the stretch. It’s not exactly likely, but this team hasn’t looked overmatched once this season.

9. A Message From Giovinco

Giovinco is back. Just as people had begun to talk openly about his slow start to the season, the Italian delivered his best performance of 2017 on Friday night at BMO Field – scoring twice to power Toronto to an emphatic win over the Chicago Fire.

At his best, Giovinco is a buzz saw – energetic and aggressive almost to a fault – and that’s what he was in this one. Few other players in this league would be so irate if substituted with a three-goal lead five minutes from time.

The Reds need that kind of fire from their star. Their start to the season, much like Seattle’s start to the season, has been slightly flat.

Friday was a breakout performance. With two more home games coming, Toronto seems ready to kick off their title charge in earnest.

10. Wonder Goal in Portland

Saturday afternoon offered a brilliant reminder that when Darlington Nagbe wants to be, he’s virtually unplayable.

This was a staggering goal, and it’d been coming – Nagbe hit the post with a similar long-range effort last weekend against Kansas City, and scored from outside the box two weeks ago in Philadelphia.

The early signs from his permanent move to the left wing this year in Portland look very promising. USMNT fans should be licking their lips.

Photo credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 7 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. Orlando Puts On A Show

There’s something pretty special going on in Orlando.

The Lions have turned heads from the moment they entered MLS with Kaka and a sellout crowd of more than 60,000 at the Citrus Bowl, but what has happened since this club opened its new stadium has been on another level entirely.

With a stoppage time goal from Cyle Larin, Orlando beat the LA Galaxy 2-1 on Saturday afternoon in what is, to this point, the best game of the 2017 MLS season.

Will Johnson opened the scoring early with a sensational goal for Jason Kreis’ team, but the Galaxy – with the help of the goalposts – kept themselves afloat and drew themselves level with ten minutes to go on a fantastic solo goal from Romain Alessandrini.

But in the dying moments, Larin fought off Jermaine Jones and blasted a Johnson corner past Clement Diop for the game winner. Kreis, in response, looked to the heavens as the stadium erupted.

There aren’t many settings across MLS that would have prompted that dramatic a reaction from a coach as accomplished as Kreis in the middle of April. The scene in Orlando – the color, the intensity, and the noise – is something else.

The Lions have now won their first four games at the Orlando City Stadium. The last team to open a building in such style? The Portland Timbers, who won their first five at what is now called Providence Park as an expansion team in 2011.

Orlando, after plenty of tumult in their first two seasons, has arrived.

2. Sporting Impresses in Portland

Since Caleb Porter was hired ahead of the 2013 season, no team in MLS has played the Timbers tougher in Portland than has Sporting Kansas City.

SKC beat the Timbers at Providence Park in 2014 and 2015, and came within a post of knocking them out of the playoffs there in the latter year. Sporting is the only team currently playing in the Western Conference to have more wins than losses in Portland.

On Saturday night, Kansas City was at it again.

Peter Vermes’ team put on a clinic in a convincing 1-0 win over the Timbers, with Dom Dwyer’s goal early in the second half standing up as the winner thanks to the defense of a team that has given up just two goals in their first six games.

The player at the heart of the SKC defensive performance was Ike Opara, who did as good a job on Fanendo Adi as any MLS center back has done in recent memory. Along with Matt Besler, Opara erased Adi from the game.

From front to back, starting with the likes of Dwyer and Benny Feilhaber, Sporting’s buy-in to Vermes’ high-pressing, hard-running system is extraordinarily impressive.

By virtue of moving Graham Zusi to fullback and replacing Soni Mustivar in midfield with Ilie, SKC also appears to have a little more quality on the ball than they have in years past.

Whether this team can score enough goals or keep up this pace remains to be seen. But this was a masterful away performance – one that the Timbers and their supporters know all too well.

3. Montero Bites Seattle

In his first game for Vancouver against the club he made his name with, Fredy Montero didn’t disappoint.

His two goals were enough for the Whitecaps to see off the Seattle Sounders on Friday night in front of a big crowd at BC Place, giving Vancouver back-to-back marquee home wins and putting a charge into what had looked not long ago like a rapidly deflating ‘Caps season.

Vancouver got big performances out of their best players – including David Ousted, who came up with a series of outstanding saves on Clint Dempsey early on – and was rewarded for it.

Seattle, interestingly, is off to an extremely slow start with just six points from their first six games. As they did last year, the team looks labored. It’s a worry for Brian Schmetzer.

4. Union in Crisis

Philadelphia lost 2-0 at home by NYCFC on Friday night, and is now sitting at 0-4-2 to start the season.

It’s gotten ugly for Jim Curtin, who, for the second home game in a row, was booed when introduced by the crowd at Talen Energy Stadium. But only so much blame can be placed at Curtin’s feet. He has the least talented team in MLS.

To compete on their budget, the Union needs to find great players at low prices. This offseason, Ernie Stewart did not do that. This isn’t going to get better for Philadelphia any time soon. They are far behind most of the rest of the league.

In response, fans have stopped showing up in Chester – and, as Taylor Twellman, who was on hand for ESPN, talked about after the game, those fans who have shown up are mostly sitting on their hands. The club is a long way from its early heady days.

5. Colorado’s Home Unbeaten Streak Ends

If Philadelphia is clearly the East’s worst team on paper, Colorado is in the same position in the West.

The Rapids, now temporarily down both Axel Sjoberg and Tim Howard, saw their long home unbeaten streak end on Saturday night when RSL struck two times in the last ten minutes to snatch a 2-1 win at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

Colorado has now, after not conceding two goals at home all of last season, conceded two at home to both Salt Lake and Minnesota. It’s a worrying trend for the Rapids, who simply – whatever system Pablo Mastroeni deploys – aren’t going to have their offense carry them to the playoffs.

Mike Petke, meanwhile, is off to a 2-0 start as RSL boss. Brooks Lennon looks like a keeper for them.

6. The Red Bulls Get Their Second Wind

The New York Red Bulls’ start to 2017 wasn’t as phenomenally slow as their winless start to 2016 was, but it hasn’t been pretty.

Going into Saturday’s game against DC United at Red Bull Arena, Jesse Marsch’s team was winless in four and averaging just over a point a game.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

Much of that – and Sacha Kljestan’s struggles – was down to the 4-2-2-2 formation which the Red Bulls, for whatever reason, started the season in. New York’s attack was a shadow of the juggernaut that finished atop the East the last two years.

Then, against DC, Marsch went back to the 4-2-3-1 and his team responded by barely breaking a sweat in a 2-0 win.

It was the seventh game of 2016 when the Red Bulls finally got their first win, and – though they’ve pummeled DC United at home over the last several years – the hope is that, like last year, the victory will be a springboard for a string of positive results.

7. Hope for Minnesota

It wasn’t perfect by any means, but Minnesota United got arguably the best result of its short MLS life on Saturday night in Houston by coming from two goals down in the second half to draw the Dynamo.

Though it came with some truly horrifying set piece defending – and a very, very poor outing from Francisco Calvo, who has to be this team’s best player on the backline – this was another positive night for the Loons.

Christian Ramirez is the real deal up top, and, throughout the game, Minnesota created the better chances from the run of play – and if the comeback showed anything, it’s that this team is still very much bought in and fighting.

The Loons now get four of their next five at home against the likes of Colorado and San Jose. They might be in the thick of the playoff race by this time next month.

8. Tests Upcoming For Chicago

The signing of Bastian Schweinsteiger, schedule wise, came at a very good time for Chicago.

The Fire got Schweinsteiger’s first three games at home – a plus both from a competitive and marketing prospective – and they took advantage, drawing Montreal, beating Columbus, and pasting the ten-man New England Revolution on Saturday.

The next three weeks, though, will give Schweinsteiger a better introduction to the league and test the Fire’s mettle.

Chicago now has to go to Toronto, to the Red Bulls, and to LA. Veljko Paunovic would likely take three points from the trip. We’ll see what they can muster.

9. Poor Decision by Alan Kelly

Alan Kelly doesn’t miss many calls, but the Irishman’s sending off of Atlanta United’s Gonzalez Pirez on Saturday afternoon at Stade Saputo was as costly a mistake as we’ve seen from a referee all season.

Pirez was dismissed just before halftime for, in Kelly’s view, grabbing a goal-bound Mauro Mancosu. It was an extremely harsh decision. Kelly had a tough angle on the play, but Pirez – though he left an arm out – barley made contact with the Montreal attacker.

Ignacio Piatti would convert the resulting penalty, and the Impact, in stoppage time, would score the winner and bag their first victory of the season.

It was a relief for Mauro Biello, but even in defeat, Atlanta could hardly do wrong. They were the better team at full-strength, and easily could have escaped with a point. They go to RSL in what should be a very interesting game on Saturday.

10. David Villa’s Wonder Goal

You likely won’t see a more stupefying goal in MLS this year than the one scored late on by the great David Villa for NYCFC at Philadelphia on Friday night.

Few players would even have attempted what Villa pulled off, hitting a volley between two defenders and beating Andre Blake from 50 yards out.

Villa is quickly becoming one of the best DP signings in league history – and, thankfully for City fans, he shows no signs of slowing down.

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 6 of the 2017 MLS season.

1. Changed Calculus For Orlando

Orlando City was plenty entertaining during their first two years in MLS, but their inability to do two things – play defense and win home games – meant that they were never a legitimate contender.

But in the first full year of the Jason Kreis era, that appears to be changing.

Orlando beat the New York Red Bulls 1-0 at Orlando City Stadium on Saturday afternoon, winning their third straight home game of the season and keeping their second clean sheet.

The biggest difference this year? Orlando is a far, far more disciplined team than it was under Adrian Heath.

Jonathan Spector has been immense in central defense, Will Johnson has brought an edge, Antonio Nocerino is finally fit – though he did go off injured on Sunday – and, even if he still can’t find the goal, Kreis has worked wonders with Carlos Rivas.

The Lions are currently in second place in the Eastern Conference with two games in hand on first-placed Columbus, they haven’t dropped a point at home, and they’ve got a defense that is conceding less than a goal per game.

The team looks focused and bought in. With or without Kaka, that’s a recipe for success in MLS.

2. What Is Colorado Doing?

The Rapids lost 3-1 in Kansas City on Sunday afternoon, and, plainly, they missed Sam Cronin and Marc Burch – the duo traded to Minnesota two weeks ago.

Colorado struggled to generate pressure in midfield, where Cronin was the team’s best player last year, while the Rapids conceded the opening goal to Sporting fullback Seth Sinovic on Burch’s vacated left side.

Pablo Mastroeni has talked about the Minnesota trade as a way to jumpstart the team’s offense and get the Rapids playing more progressive soccer – which is, in the long run, certainly a good thing.

Here’s the problem: The Rapids aren’t currently equipped to play attacking soccer. Not in the slightest. They simply don’t have the players or the tactical structure to carry games and create more than a handful of quality chances.

What this trade does is make the team’s defense – which carried them to the Western Conference Final last year – that much worse. It’s a ham-handed route to playing better soccer, and it’s could tank the Rapids season.

It seems, somewhat bizarrely, that Mastroeni is willing to make that tradeoff.

3. Thriller at BMO Field

The best game of the weekend was at BMO Field, where Atlanta United again went toe-to-toe with an MLS Cup finalist on the road and gave as good as they got.

Toronto got a first goal of the season from Sebastian Giovinco – who otherwise has gotten off to a slow start in 2017 – and led 2-1 at halftime after wingbacks Steven Beitashour and Justin Morrow connected for the go-ahead goal.

But Tata Martino responded by changing to a back five, Atlanta got the equalizer two minutes after the restart, and Toronto was mostly stymied going forward – even after Yamil Asad was sent off for elbow.

It was an excellent game played at high tempo in front of an excellent atmosphere at BMO Field. It might just have been a preview of the Eastern Conference Final.

4. Fire Win First Game of Schweinsteiger Era

The Chicago Fire won their first game of the Bastian Schweinsteiger era on Saturday afternoon at Toyota Park, with Nemanja Nikolic scoring the winner in a 1-0 victory over the Columbus Crew.

With Juninho suspended for a questionable red card last weekend against Montreal, the Fire started with just Schweinsteiger and captain Dax McCarty in central midfield – and the result was McCarty’s best game thus far for the club.

McCarty had the assist on Nikolic’s goal, and put in a familiarly tireless shift. Schweinsteiger was full of praise for his midfield partner after the game, and rightfully so – he was the best player on the field.

Veljko Paunovic still has to figure out what how to all three of his central midfielders when Juninho returns next week, but it’s safe to say that the Fire are, for the first time since the Blanco years, both relevant and competitive.

5. Petke Opens RSL Career With Snow Win

Mike Petke took charge of Real Salt Lake for the first time on Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium, and, in an April snowstorm, coached RSL to their first win since last August against the beleaguered Vancouver Whitecaps.

It wasn’t much of an evening for soccer – and the Whitecaps never looked up for the fight after falling in the Champions League midweek – but Petke was characteristically colorful and there’s more reason for optimism now in Sandy than there was for all but a few months for the Jeff Cassar era.

Petke, in his both his profile and his confidence, cuts a few significant parallels to Kreis. If he can exhibit the same kind of tactical chops, RSL could get back into the playoff race in a soft Western Conference.

6. The Dynamo Hit A Wall

If New England’s convincing 2-0 win over the Houston Dynamo Saturday afternoon in Foxborough, showed us anything, it’s that the Dynamo will struggle mightily to score goals if they can’t counter.

The Revs, coming off of a very good result in Portland last Sunday, were conservative enough at home to stop Houston getting any big opportunites in transition and were rewarded for it.

The Dynamo still might need a true playmaker in their midfield, while the Revs seem to have found a keeper in rookie center back Josh Smith.

7. Jermaine Jones

The USMNTer scored his first goal for the LA Galaxy in his club’s 2-0 victory at home over the still-winless Montreal Impact on Friday night, but Jones again made headlines for the wrong reasons.

This time – a week after bitterly complaining about MLS’ vendetta against him after MLSSoccer.com’s Matthew Doyle wrote a column suggesting he shouldn’t start for the US anymore – it was for a dive that got Montreal’s Marco Donadel sent off.

For all of Jones’ talent, his victim complex is extraordinarily grating. It’s no wonder that, despite his effectiveness, he hasn’t lasted more than a year-and-a-half at either of his previous MLS clubs.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

8. San Jose Draws Seattle Late

The Earthquakes recaptured some of the old Goonies magic at Avaya Stadium on Saturday night, with Chris Wondolowski scoring just minutes from time to deny Seattle a win in San Jose.

It was a game that the ‘Quakes mostly dominated, but poor finishing – especially from their wingers – was a problem again before the Sounders took a late lead through a fabulous goal from Nicolas Lodiero.

The encouraging sign for the ‘Quakes is that Wondolowski seems to be forming a good understanding with Costa Rican import Marco Ureña. If Dominic Kinnear is to save his job, he’s going to need that partnership to continue to develop.

Aside from the implications for his team, though, Wondo remains an MLS marvel. He now has 30 goals in 48 appearances against Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver.

9. Something A Bit Different

In a league competitively best known for its unpredictability, Saturday’s 2-0 win by FC Dallas over Minnesota United had a decidedly unusual feel.

As MLS continues to expand, and as certain clubs continue to invest more and more in their development systems and first teams, the gap between the top and bottom of the league should widen.

Dallas is years ahead of Minnesota as a club, and the result this weekend was the kind of ho-hum affair we’re accustomed to seeing when the likes of Chelsea play Burnley. We’ll likely see more of this in MLS going forward.

10. Adi Sets Timbers Goalscoring Record

With a penalty at the tail end of his club’s 3-1 win in Philadelphia on Saturday night, Fanendo Adi passed Scottish midfielder John Bain to become the Portland Timbers’ all-time leading goalscorer.

It’s a historic achievement for Adi, who, three short years after arriving in Cascadia from Copenhagen via Lagos, has written himself into the history books of one of the country’s most storied clubs.

Adi’s improvement as a soccer player in the last three years – thanks in large part to the work of Timbers assistant coach Sean McAuley – has been phenomenal. He’s gone from a player who had no idea how to use his body to one of the most dominant forwards in the league.

But Adi has hit this mark so soon in his Timbers career because, through plenty of adversity – some of it self-inflicted – he’s just kept scoring goals.

He hit braces off the bench in 2014 and 2015 when he was stuck behind Maxi Urruti, he continued to score goals last year after having a transfer request denied, and he bounced back from missing a flight last year with two goals against Seattle.

Adi is hugely personally popular with the Timbers – earnest, committed, and upbeat – and like he’s finally getting his due as the best out-and-out #9 in MLS.