This Tom McManus fellow from Colorado has quite a blistering shot from distance. Word is surely spreading around MLS defenses that the feisty Scot can be deadly from long distance, and that he's not a bit shy about striking from well beyond the 18.
Funny thing is, we might have gone all year without knowing anything about McManus. His story is a prime example of what begins happening about this time each year around MLS.
Rosters get stretched as the schedule tightens, as injuries mount and as international call-ups strip away the top layer of talent.
That puts stress on MLS clubs, of course. On the other hand, it makes room for a fellow like McManus to exploit the opportunity. This relative unknown suddenly has three goals in four starts for the Rapids. He supplied the game-winner over the weekend as Fernando Clavijo's team leapfrogged into first place in the Western Conference muddle.
Two backup goalkeepers in that contest also got their chance in starting lineup. So did a goalkeeper in Toronto, Brian Edwards, who steadily handled all the routine matters in a nice win against Los Angeles at BMO. Toronto teammate Kevin Harmse got back into starting graces, too.
Patrick Ianni and Geoff Cameron are appearing more regularly for Houston, which is slowly rounding into form. The league champs closed out May with a 3-2-1 mark for the month, which can't be great news to the rest of the league.
Injuries at RSL have helped elevate rookie Tony Beltran (the No. 3 overall pick last January) into the starting lineup. And the promising youngster didn't look so young as he boldly attacked from the right fullback spot in his team's 3-1 weekend win at Rice-Eccles.
Still, no one is making more of his opportunity than McManus, who caught on quietly with Fernando Clavijo's bunch after a successful preseason trial.
Conor Casey, Omar Cummings and Herculez Gomez were all stacked ahead of McManus in Clavijo's pecking order of strikers to begin the year. But Casey has had a tough time getting past all the injury hurdles. And Gomez has been tethered to the trainer's table too often this year, too.
Plus, Clavijo often opted for just a single forward. So the opportunities for McManus were fairly limited earlier this year. He made a big splash a week ago by beating Brad Guzan from 35 yards.
Both goalkeepers in Sunday's national telecast were fill-ins. Colorado's Preston Burpo got his chance in Commerce City because Bouna Coundoul was called away for national team duty. He did well, too, racing off his line confidently to clear danger on several occasions. That Burpo performed admirably shouldn't be a surprise. After all, this was a fellow who once kept Guzan on the sideline during his days at Chivas USA.
Across the field, Ray Burse filled in for the injured Dario Sala. The Ohio State man had to race down to Denver from Rochester, where his loan assignment to the Portland Timbers had taken him. The hectic schedule took no apparent toll. While his positioning on one Colorado goal was probably a half-step off, he more than atoned with at least three big saves in the 2-1 loss.
If anyone is making more of his chance than McManus, it might be Chivas USA attacker Jorge Flores, who made his second start over the weekend. And how did teenage winner of the 2007 Sueno MLS competition reward Preki for the faith: with his third goal of an increasingly storybook campaign.
Of course, injuries will heal and the calls to international duty will abate, and the former headliners will probably reclaim their places. But for the backups who shine, their big efforts will hardly have been wasted.
Don't forget that Seattle joins the fold next year, and Philadelphia comes aboard as the 16th team a year after that. That will open 22 more starting spots in MLS, and the backups who excel today will certainly have a chance to fill all those new spots tomorrow.
TACTICAL CORNER
Ruud Gullit responded to the team's first test without highly influential attackers David Beckham and Landon Donovan by giving the 4-3-3 one more try. The Galaxy manager aligned Alvaro Pires at the bottom of a three-man midfield triangle, with Brandon McDonald and Joe Franchino deployed ahead of him.
Mike Randolph was assigned the "Beckham spot," more or less a right wing. Alan Gordon lined up on the left, with Edson Buddle alone up front.
But neither of the wide players looked particularly comfortable, and scoring chances were almost non-existent. So 30 minutes into the match Gullit rearranged the formation, merging his squad back into a more familiar 4-4-2 look.
The Galaxy opponent on Saturday also zigzagged formation-wise. Manager John Carver had effectively devised a 4-2-3-1 to help get Laurent Robert and Amado Guevara into comfortable roles. But with Robert suspended and Guevara away on international duty, he aligned the BMO bunch into a more conventional 4-4-2.
Houston seems more and more comfortable toggling between a 4-4-2 and a 3-5-2. The Dynamo did so successfully last November at RFK, as a tactical shift helped put them over the hump in the MLS Cup Final against New England.
So, shifting in and out of different looks is proving to be no problem in regular season matches. Last week in Dallas, Dominic Kinnear's team began with a four-man back line, then shifted to three in the back before halftime.
It paid off by game's end, as a late Houston equalizer secured a point on the road.
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