TORONTO – The conference semifinal round of Major League Soccer’s playoffs hasn’t even been completed, but an intriguing trend has clearly developed over the course of the post-season thus far.
The Eastern Conference matches have been exciting and entertaining affairs, producing a slew of goals and featuring teams who have gone out to try to win. The Western Conference playoffs, by contrast, have for the most part been dour and defensive contests, with few goals and sides more interested in playing not to lose, rather than trying to win.
Taking a look at the East, there have been 12 goals scored in four matches, and only one 0-0 draw. That goalless result wasn’t for a lack of attacking intent – Atlanta United FC and the Columbus Crew put on a show in the knockout round, creating a hatful of scoring chances in a match that the Crew eventually won in a penalty shootout. Even though they battled to a 0-0 draw after 90 minutes of regulation and half an hour of extra time, it was easily the best match of the playoffs.
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The West has produced half the amount of goals (six) in the same amount of games. Notably, five of those goals came in the Vancouver Whitecaps’ 5-0 win over the Sane Jose Earthquakes in the knockout round. Both opening legs of the Western Conference semifinals ended in 0-0 draws, and the Vancouver-Seattle stalemate was especially painful to watch, with neither team showing a commitment to try to score – the teams combined for just one shot on target.
What’s going on? How come the entertainment value and the number of goals has been much higher in the East than the West in the playoffs?
For starters, the Eastern Conference was genuinely much stronger than the Western Conference during the 2017 regular season. The top five teams in the East finished with the five best records in the league: Toronto FC (69 points), New York City FC (57 points), Chicago Fire and Atlanta United (55 points) and Columbus Crew (54 points). The Portland Timbers, who won the West with 53 points, would have finished as the number six seed had they played in the East.
Looking beyond the final standings, the East won the majority of matches between the two conferences, and Eastern clubs outscored their Western counterparts by a wide margin in those crossover games. Seven of the 11 Eastern teams finished with winning records against Western sides in 2017.
To give you a sense of the quality and the depth of the Eastern Conference, you need only look at Columbus. The Crew finished 15 points back of regular-season champs TFC, and are the fifth seed in the East bracket. However, they were the hottest team in MLS down the stretch, going unbeaten in their last 10 games of the campaign. If they manage to advance to the MLS Cup final they would host the league’s championship game, no matter which team emerges as the Western Conference champion.
So, the Eastern Conference is just plain better. But it’s more than that, according to TFC coach Greg Vanney. He argues that the East has been able to dominate because the top Eastern Conference clubs developed a clear tactical identity of how they want to play over the course of the regular season, and that they have closely stuck to those principles in the playoffs.
“The Eastern Conference teams all year have been better, in my opinion. NYCFC, Columbus, they know exactly how they want to play. They know how they’re trying to accomplish that. Same with us, same with the [sixth-seeded New York] Red Bulls. Even Atlanta and Chicago – there’s an identity there and teams haven’t strayed away from their identity and how they feel they can get results, whether it’s at home or on the road. [Eastern] teams have gone for it in the playoffs,” Vanney said.
The same can’t be said for the Western Conference, with last Sunday’s dire 0-0 draw between the Whitecaps and Sounders serving as the perfect example.
“In the Western Conference, in my view, there’s still a little bit of uncertainty there. You saw the game in Vancouver where neither team really went out to win the game. They both were trying not to lose the game, thinking the return leg benefitted them some way or another at 0-0,” Vanney offered.
TFC’s coach believes such a cautious and conservative approach would not work on the East side of the playoff bracket.
“In the Eastern Conference, you know you have to go out and try to make a difference. One way or another you have to make a difference, otherwise you’re going to go behind because teams are so strong,” Vanney stated.
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