Welcome back our two-part weekly MLS column here at Backheeled, where we break down all 29 teams in the league.
I’ve got the West. Ben Wright’s got the East. The LA Galaxy have legit trophy aspirations. Let’s chat about the latest for each Western Conference squad, shall we?
To read up on the East, check out Ben’s rundown.
Ben Wright
Austin FC
Result: 2-1 loss at Toronto FC
“The pace of the game is palpable,” Apple TV’s Callum Williams said in the broadcast booth during the 13th minute of Austin FC’s road trip to their neighbors to the north. He was right, of course. The game had some real juice in the early stages. But none of that juice stemmed from Austin FC’s work on the ball.
Every weekend, I’m reminded of just how painfully slow and purposeless Austin’s possession play is. Josh Wolff, a branch of the Gregg Berhalter coaching tree, would prefer his team to be one that’s comfortable on the ball, eager to invite pressure, and sharp when it comes time to play through the opposition and create chances. Unfortunately, this team has mastered basically zero of those traits.
Their most obvious sin? Austin FC are crazy slow to kickstart attacks inside their own third.
I truly can’t even begin to comprehend what’s going on here. You’re six minutes into a game that has massive implications for the rest of your season as you fight for a playoff berth. And yet, Austin don’t look alive to Jonathan Osorio’s basic pressing trigger, they don’t attempt to access the midfield, and they end up wasting the whole sequence with an unnecessary, poorly struck long ball:
— _ (@21LBRB) September 15, 2024
Austin FC entered the weekend fifth-to-last in MLS in direct attacking speed, per Opta. They don’t slow the ball down to do pretty, functional possession stuff like Columbus and Houston. No, they slow the ball down to do stuff like the sequence up above. Not-so-coincidentally, Toronto FC scored on the possession that resulted from that Hedges’ turnover. Austin turned it on when they hit a two-goal deficit on Saturday, but turning it on from the start is probably a better idea.
Colorado Rapids
Result: 2-1 win vs. Portland Timbers
The Rapids have come a long way since the first time they faced the Timbers this year.
Way back on opening weekend, Colorado dropped three points and shipped four goals on the road at Providence Park. They were shell-shocked defensively in that match, struggled to find the balance between their press and their mid-block, and quickly fell in a hole that was too big to climb out of. 27 games later, however, the story turned out to be quite different in their second regular season meeting of 2024.
Yes, I’m ignoring Colorado’s 4-0 loss to Portland in Leagues Cup last month for the sake of this narrative. Please respect my privacy in this time.
Since the start of 2024, the Rapids have become comfortable in their own skin. The players understand the attacking and defensive principles that Chris Armas has set in front of them — one of those principles came into play early on against Portland. “We're not so concerned with having the space near the corner flags,” Armas told me earlier this season. “We want guys running on angles and getting into the box and into the goal zone.”
There’s the call from the manager. Here’s the response from the players:
Jonathan Lewis strikes first for the @ColoradoRapids 💥
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 15, 2024
📺 #MLSSeasonPass: https://t.co/yKqFrrPVWA pic.twitter.com/hkfKjHvE2Q
It was an ugly, janky goal from Jonathan Lewis against Portland, but it was an ugly, janky goal made possible by a consistent emphasis on overloading opposing defenses through the middle.
The Rapids are third in the West not because they have vastly better players than most of the rest of their conference. No, they’re in third because they execute a logical gameplan better than most of the rest of their conference.
FC Dallas
Result: Bye
Based on some back-of-the-napkin math I did ahead of this weekend, only four teams have seen their Designated Players play fewer minutes in 2024 than FC Dallas.
