MLS Five-a-side:The skinny on five things that matter this week in Major League Soccer:
1. Something special for New England?: No club has been better over the last 90 days that Steve Nicol's Revolution. The side from suburban Boston is on a serious roll -- and the possibility grows that New England could be on the brink of a truly epochal campaign.
On the other hand, the road ahead is an absolute crusher, a real test of physical stamina, will and emotional capacity.
First, for the potential of a spectacular, unmatched season: Nicol's men have a shot at four championship trophies this year. One is already safely in the trophy case, as the Shalrie Joseph and Matt Reis led the way to SuperLiga glory earlier this week. One down.
New England meets D.C. United on Tuesday in one of two U.S. Open Cup semifinals on the night. So, if the Revs can get past United -- no small task, considering that United has played better lately, at least in MLS matches -- then New England would be one win from collecting the crown named for late soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt.
Later this month, the Revs will launch their bid for the newly created CONCACAF Champions League title. Then, of course, all but the most spectacular and implausible of collapses would prevent the Revs from gaining access to the MLS Cup Playoffs. More likely is that New England maintains the pace, or something close to it, and challenges for the Supporters' Shield, presented annually to the team with the best regular season mark.
The way New England is playing -- 11-1-5 in all competitions over the last three months -- would anyone really bet against seeing the Revs in a fourth consecutive MLS Cup Final?
But all is not tea and crumpets, as the old Englanders might say. A bugger of a schedule will make none of this a snap. Consider that Nicol's men must play 10 matches in six cities over the next 34 days, beginning with a league test Saturday against Chicago.
Ten matches in 34 days? That's pretty close to what the Galaxy faced last year, as they failed to deal well with a similarly stacked calendar.
2. Intriguing Open Cup about to be set: No matter what happens Tuesday in the Open Cup semifinals, we already know the 95-year-old tournament will feature an intriguing MLS-USL final. While D.C. United and New England meet at RFK, the Charleston Battery and Seattle Sounders will meet down the coast at Blackbaud Stadium in South Carolina.
Both Open Cup survivors from the USL top flight feature several former MLS players.
While a few USL clubs have advanced to the Open Cup semifinals through the decade, Major League Soccer clubs have dominated the title contests. Not since Rochester appeared in the 1999 final has a USL club appeared in a championship match.
Should it be Seattle, it will provide a brief preview of what's to come in MLS in 2009, when the Sounders merge into Major League Soccer.
While we have a clearer picture of who will appear in next month's final, the when and where remains a bit more complicated. There are four possible scenarios, depending on Tuesday's winners: United would play at Seattle's Qwest Field on Sept. 3; Charleston would play at United Sept. 3; New England would play at Seattle on Sept. 15, or; New England would play at Charleston on Sept. 22.
3. Rounding the corner on Round 20: This weekend sees MLS move into Round 20, which means two-thirds of the season -- can that really be true? -- will have come and gone.
So, clearly, it's time for teams to lean forward, get it together, or live to regret it. Every match is important now.
But perhaps no team is will feel the August heat like the New York Red Bulls, and that's due in some part to the schedule.
Juan Carlos Osorio's men are tied for fifth (or last, depending on how you want to see it) in the East along with Kansas City and Toronto. But neither of those teams have the dandy opportunity that stands before the Red Bulls this month. They have a nice, even schedule with three consecutive Sunday home games.
So there's no time for RBNY to sulk over the 6-2 midweek thumping from Barcelona. D.C. United, Toronto and Houston provide the opposition over the next three weeks, with Tom Soehn's team from the nation's capital up first on Sunday.
After the trio of consecutive home matches, Osorio and his midseason renovation project will spend three of their next four weeks on the road -- and the road is not a place to mount a playoff challenge. Home teams are 63-29-35 this year, a .634 winning percentage.
Meanwhile, other teams will be hitting softer parts of their schedules. Toronto gets three of four at BMO in September. And Kansas City has a favorable slate in early October, with visits from Chicago, New England and San Jose on consecutive Saturdays.
4. They're all interesting ... some just more than others: Goalkeepers, defenders and midfielders all will be equally important during the coming playoff push. But let's face it, we all like to watch the strikers. And interesting stories abound concerning the men who make the dough finding goal. It will be fascinating to see it play out over the season's final third.
Juan Pablo Angel gets more healthy and more fit every week. Assisting the high-scoring Colombian regain his stamina was surely among the reasons Osorio left Angel on the field for the full 90 on Wednesday against the Catalan giants, even if the result was never really in doubt. After not scoring for five consecutive matches, Angel has struck in two of RBNY's last three MLS contests.
Plus, Angel now has Jorge Rojas to feed him passes from the midfield.
Landon Donovan looked to be streaking toward a 20-goal campaign in May. But the pace of production has slowed recently, about the time Galaxy manager Ruud Gullit stationed Donovan out wide on the left instead of tucked in behind Edson Buddle as a second striker. So what happens at The Home Depot Center, starting Thursday in the next SuperClasico, deserves special attention.
Kenny Cooper is currently tied with Donovan in the scoring leadership chase, both on 13 goals. How Cooper partners with newly acquired Jeff Cunningham should be fun to watch, although there's no reason to believe the consecutive MLS Player of the Week winner will slow his torrid pace of late. Cooper has four goals in Dallas' last two games.
And don't forget that Taylor Twellman is healthy again -- or getting there, at least. Limited to just five appearances this year, Twellman was a 58th-minute sub in Tuesday's thrilling SuperLiga final. How he meshes with new, speedier players around him will help determine how many more trophies New England collects in 2008.
And speaking of the Revs: Pat Noonan, back in MLS but not in New England? He has linked up with Columbus following half a year in Norway. He could help push Alejandro Moreno, who struck six times in the Crew's first dozen matches, but has just two in the last seven for Sigi Schmid's team.
Finally, Darren Huckerby is playing wide on the left in San Jose, but he's scoring goals nonetheless at quaint Buck Shaw, with two in his first two matches for Frank Yallop's team. If Huckerby stays hot, the expansion side could mount an exciting playoff challenge. Chicago, in 1998, was the last expansion club to qualify for the postseason.
5. Cunningham reunited with Ellinger: Mercurial striker Jeff Cunningham spent his first six seasons in Columbus, but he's been on the hop ever since. Since 2004, Cunningham, the league's fourth all-time leading scorer with 99 goals, has worn the jersey of Colorado, Real Salt Lake and most recently Toronto.
His spell there ended in a spat with manager John Carver, so Cunningham moved Friday to Dallas, swapped for a third-round pick in the 2009 draft.
At Pizza Hut Park he will be reunited with John Ellinger, now an assistant to Schellas Hyndman. Maybe that can settle Cunningham, who seemed to prosper under Ellinger when they were paired in Utah. Cunningham struck for 16 goals and added 11 assists in 2006, his most productive year yet. The next year, Cunningham hit for three goals in RSL's first seven matches, but was gone soon after Jason Kreis replaced Ellinger at the helm.
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