Every week, Sportsnet.ca will chat with Sportsnet soccer commentator Paul Dolan—a former Canadian national team goalkeeper—about the big stories and issues in Major League Soccer.
Toronto FC played Manchester City on Wednesday in a friendly. Are such games useful for MLS teams while the season is still going on? What, if anything, do MLS clubs gain from these friendlies?
From a fan’s perspective I am not a big supporter of these types of games and I really think the clubs have gone to the well too often as witnessed by weakening crowds across North America. But I have to say I enjoyed the game for what it was on Wednesday night. A lot of younger players (and young Canadians for that matter) got the chance to play against some of the biggest names in the game which is always an enjoyable experience. As much as these matches are often rightly criticized for clogging up an already busy schedule, it does give the club an opportunity to look at some new faces, and I have to say I fondly remember the chance to play against AC Milan, Chelsea and Benfica among others in the middle of our regular seasons when I played for Vancouver and they stand out as great memories for me.
I’m sure Jordan Hamilton and Quillan Roberts will say the same over the years after good performances last year against Spurs, and Manny Aparicio and Alex Bono among others will likely feel the same after the Man City match. Fans who don’t want to support these types of games have every right to turn their backs and not show up. But as long as first-team players can get a short run out and avoid injury and squad players can enjoy the experience, I don’t have a big issue with scheduling these games as the teams and their fans all know what to expect at this point.
Soccer Central podcast: SPORTSNET.CA’s Soccer Central podcast, hosted by John Molinaro and James Sharman, takes an in-depth look at the beautiful game and offers timely and thoughtful analysis on the sport’s biggest issues. To listen and subscribe to the podcast, CLICK HERE.
Jack McInerney caused waves last week when he said he should be getting more playing time with Montreal. Is he right? Should Impact coach Frank Klopas be using him more?
Initially, I thought the Impact got the better of the trade that saw McInerney come to Montreal in exchange for Andrew Wenger. He had come off an incredibly hot streak with Philadelphia of scoring 10 goals in the first 14 games of the 2013 MLS season, and had earned a Gold Cup call-up by the U.S. However, he proved to be just that, a streaky player, that the Impact didn’t seem quite sure how to use to their best effect.
You can see he has a nose for goal and he has an attitude I think that is good for a striker, if not for his team and coach sometimes. He should be playing more in my opinion, especially in a club where I think scoring goals will be an issue, but he needs to work in unison with the team and its system. If he continues to score goals, though, he will be impossible to keep out of the team.
The Whitecaps have been shutout in three of their last four MLS games, including last week’s road loss to Colorado. What’s going on? Why have the goals dried up for Vancouver?
I don’t think a lot has changed for the Whitecaps, but where they were winning close games early in the season whereas now they are finding it difficult to convert their chances and paying for it with losses instead of wins. Carl Robinson liked the way his team played in their last two losses, at home to Seattle and away to Colorado, but they ran into a professional road performance from the Sounders after conceding two goals from defensive lapses early at BC Place in that game and the officiating was a major factor in not getting at least a draw in Denver. Octavio Rivero continues to work very hard and I think he will continue to get his chances and finish them but they do need more offensive output from their support players, whether it be Kekuta Manneh who is struggling to have the impact he did a couple of years ago, or Darren Mattocks who will be away with Jamaica at the Gold Cup this summer.
Pedro Morales, Nicolas Mezquida and Mauro Rosales all need to contribute more and I’ve seen enough of Cristian Techera to think he can combine with those other South American style players to pose a bigger threat than we’ve seen in the first 13 games of the year. The question for me is does Robinson now sacrifice a little bit of that strong defensive shape he has relied on, especially away from home, for a bit more attacking prowess? Perhaps a formation change where he moves one of his holding midfielders into a more attacking role could help create more chances?
San Jose Earthquakes’ Chris Wondolowski became the ninth player in MLS history to score 100 goals last week. What’s been the key factors behind his success?
We all see how good a poacher Chris Wondolowski is and there’s no denying he is a confident finisher, but what makes him so good is an incredible work ethic in training. Former San Jose coach Mark Watson told me he would stay late at training practising finishing drills every single day and all he did was smash balls in the net with precision perfecting the craft every forward makes his living from: scoring goals. There is no denying that he has an instinct like no other in MLS for finding open pockets of space as well and the combination of his awareness on the field for where to make that run and his confident finishing from practising so much are the keys to his success.
