MLS WEEK 8: MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER

    

Week 8 of the MLS season had plenty of interesting developments. Both on and off the field.

From commissioner Don Garber talking with certainty about expanding beyond 24 teams to seeing two routs and an eight-goal thriller, Week 8 was plenty eventful. There were also some real standout individual performances, including a two-goal outing from Sporting Kansas City Benny Feilhaber that showed that his international career might not be over just yet.

It was not all good, however. The Philadelphia Union returned to their struggling ways in a lopsided and embarrassing loss to the Columbus Crew that raised concerns over whether players might already be giving up on the season.

Here is what SBI took away from Week 8:

FEILHABER DESERVING OF USMNT CALL-UP

It wasn’t just the two goals – though they certainly helped – but rather a strong overall showing from Benny Feilhaber that helped to earn Sporting Kansas City a dramatic road point in a wild, wild shootout against the Houston Dynamo.

Feilhaber was a man possessed in the thrilling and controversial 4-4 draw at BBVA Compass Stadium on Saturday, actively seeking and getting on the ball and pinging a range of passes to teammates to help jumpstart Kansas City’s attack. He also scored not one but two late equalizers, including a stunning half-volley in the 95th minute, to prevent his side from suffering a loss.

What Feilhaber also demonstrated in the match is that his defensive skills have come a long way. While he was beaten on the set-piece that gave the Dynamo a 4-3 lead, Feilhaber tracked back well and got stuck in in ways that he would not have in the past. Defending was long seen as one of the biggest holes in his game, but the veteran midfielder has developed a more effective two-way style under Sporting KC head coach Peter Vermes that allows him to do both the grunt work without the ball and show off his vision and technique with it.

That’s not exactly a new development. The 30-year-old Feilhaber has been playing like this all season – he also showed this in good spurts in 2014 – and his form is deserving of a U.S. Men’s National Team call-up. Jurgen Klinsmann has not been big on Feilhaber during his term as U.S. coach, selecting him only a few times during his four years in charge. But if Klinsmann wants to really try and implement a more proactive approach then bringing in Feilhaber makes plenty of sense given the way he’s playing right now.

UNION IN A WORLD OF TROUBLE

The much-needed goalkeeper switch provided a good moment of respite, but the Philadelphia Union are still a team that is in big trouble.

The Union endured their latest setback in a season already full of them by getting dismantled, 4-1, on the road by the Columbus Crew. Getting beat by such a wide margin happens over the course of the year to almost every team, but what’s more alarming is how poorly Philadelphia’s players performed.

Jim Curtin’s side had only 38.5 percent of the possession in the match, and were down 3-0 before the halftime whistle even blew. Curtin talked after the match about how some of his players kept grinding through the match while others “bailed out”, which is not exactly a great development when you’re only in the second month of the season.

Look, Curtin deserves some blame for what has gone on this season, but it’s not entirely his fault. He was handicapped by the disastrous and, still to this day, head-scratching addition of Rais Mbolhi and never got true replacements for the solid starting duo of Amobi Okugo and Carlos Valdes.

Curtin has promised to make changes to the lineup next week, but there’s just not a whole lot for him to work with on the squad right now. Throw in the fact that it sounds as if some players are already losing hope, and it’s shaping up to be a terrible season in Philadelphia.

MIAMI AS GOOD AS IN AS MLS SHOWS PATIENCE

Before the round of games began, MLS commissioner Don Garber answered some questions about the state of the league. One of the more revealing things to come out of it all was that MLS is being patient for once when it comes to expansion, particularly with regards to a team in Miami.

Garber was asked about David Beckham’s efforts to bring a team to the South Florida metropolis on Friday, and admitted that finding a suitable plot of land for a soccer-specific stadium has so far been difficult. Garber, however, added that MLS, Beckham and other interested parties have faith that things can be worked. When pushed for a timeline for when a Miami team would join the league, Garber said with a laugh, “by the end of the decade.”

That willingness to wait for things to get resolved is quite the change of pace from MLS’s rapid expansion in recent years. It speaks to the league’s desire to want to bring a franchise back to Miami – especially since Sacramento is making progress in its pursuit of a stadium – and also serves as a reminder that Garber and all league officials always carefully stated that they’d have 24 teams by 2020.

MLS awarded the 21st, 22nd and 23rd spots in a pretty short window as part of its aggressive push to expand, but we are still four-and-a-half years away from the “end of the decade”. Nothing is stopping the league from waiting a bit longer now to iron out the details for a stadium in Miami, which means Beckham and his group are all but guaranteed to lock up that 24th spot at some point.

IMPACT’S EMERGENCY GOALKEEPER LOAN A JOKE IF TRUE

Reports began to surface over the weekend that the Montreal Impact might be able loan in a goalkeeper from another MLS club on an emergency basis. The player would allegedly be available to play in between the pipes in Wednesday’s CONCACAF Champions League second leg final against Club America, an area of concern for the Impact given that starting goalkeeper Evan Bush is suspended due to yellow card accumulation, primary backup Erik Kronberg is ineligible after being cup-tied to Sporting Kansas City, and third-choice netminder Maxime Crepeau is still dealing with an injury.

It’s all one bad joke if true.

MLS wants and needs to have a team that finally wins the CONCACAF Champions League, there’s no doubt about it. The Impact stand a good chance of doing so after grabbing an impressive 1-1 road draw against Club America last week, and returning home to play in front of a big crowd on familiar turf surface.

Still, it is cheap and ridiculous that another unheard of rule could be used to allow the Impact to boost its chances of winning the regional crown. If that’s the case, why not go for the whole shebang and allow Montreal to loan in the MLS All-Stars team? Let them bring over Obafemi Martins, Kaka and Michael Bradley while they’re at it.

It’s understandable that Montreal wants to address its goalkeeping situation ahead of this do-or-die second leg, but adding a starter from another MLS club would be farcical and unsportsmanlike.

If the Impact need a goalkeeper, there are other avenues to get one. There’s the “pool” goalkeeper rule that was made public last year, and also the ability to trade. The latter might not be ideal given that the club only needs a quick-fix, but it’s a more legitimate move than adding another club’s starting goalkeeper for a championship match.

Sounders FC 2 earns road draw against Whitecaps FC 2 in second meeting of the season

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – Seattle Sounders FC 2 (3-2-1, 10 points) secured a road point Sunday with a 1-1 draw with Whitecaps FC 2 at Thunderbird Stadium. S2 is now tied for second place in the Western Conference with Portland Timbers 2 following three straight road matches, but returns home this Friday, May 1 against the undefeated Orange County Blues FC (3-1-0, 9 points) at 7:30 p.m. PT.

WFC 2 forward Robert Earnshaw capitalized on a backline miscommunication between goalkeeper Charlie Lyon and defender Damion Lowe in the 16th minute, putting the ball in the net for his first goal in USL play.

S2 defender Nick Miele scored his first goal of the season to draw the Rave Green level in the 24th minute. A corner kick taken by midfielder Aaron Kovar found Andy Craven, who flicked it on to find Miele for the score. The defender is the ninth S2 player to record a goal this season, and the second defender to score in the last three games.

Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson's side will face Whitecaps FC 2 for the third time with a road match on April 26, 2015. S2 beat the Whitecaps 4-0 on March 29, 2015 at Starfire Stadium. The game will be live-streamed on SoundersFC.com.

MATCH SUMMARY

Seattle Sounders FC 2 |1 - 1| Whitecaps FC 2
Sunday, April 26, 2015

Venue: Thunderbird Stadium, Vancouver, British Columbia
Referee: Juan Marquez
Assistants: Chris Wattam, Evan Fryer
Fourth official: Darnell Smith
Attendance: 2,056
Weather: Overcast, 55 degrees

SCORING SUMMARY

VAN – Robert Earnshaw 16’
SEA – Nick Miele 24’

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

VAN – Robert Earnshaw 28’
SEA – Aaron Kovar 28’
SEA – Damion Lowe 84'

LINEUPS & STATS

Seattle Sounders FC 2 - Charlie Lyon; Oniel Fisher, Damion Lowe, Nick Miele, Aaron Long; Andy Craven, Amadou Sanyang, Giuliano Frano, Aaron Kovar (Duncan McCormick 71’); Pablo Rossi (Oalex Anderson 66’), Darwin Jones (Sam Garza 77’)

Substitutes not used: Choong Sil Lim, Saif Kerawala, Kasey French, Lorenzo Ramos

Total shots: 15
Shots on goal: 5
Offside: 1
Corner-kicks: 6
Saves: 4

Whitecaps FC 2 – Paolo Tornaghi; Deybi Flores (Billy Schuler 82’), Christian Dean, Tim Parker, Ben McKendry, (Tyler Rosenlund 75’); Kianz Froese, Jackson Farmer (Ethan Sampson 45’), Jordan Haynes, Brett Levis; Sahil Sandhu (Mackenzie Pridham 82’), Robert Earnshaw (Caleb Clarke 65’)

Substitutes not used: Spencer Richey, Chris Serban

Total shots: 15
Shots on goal: 5
Offside: 2
Corner-kicks: 6
Saves: 4