More than any other sport, it's the players, not the managers, who decide soccer matches.
But that doesn't mean that a man with a plan -- in this case, a manager with a plan -- can't make a big mark once the anthems are over and the opening whistle blows. That's even more true in matches as close as the ones we saw over the weekend.
Shrewd moves with second-half subs had a major influence in two matches during Major League Soccer's opening round of the "second season." Three ties and a one-goal squeaker told the story of the first leg of the home-and-away conference semifinals. They were tightly played, with just five goals in the four matches.
Replacements struck for late equalizers in two of the contests, both of which leave the series favorites (the higher seeds) in good shape for return legs coming up this weekend.
Columbus manager Sigi Schmid nailed the weekend's perfect note with Steven Lenhart's late introduction as the Black & Gold trailed 1-0 at fourth-seeded Kansas City. Lenhart's quickly unleashed shot in added time prevented the Crew from returning to Ohio on the wrong side of a one-goal deficit.
Lenhart's 83rd-minute introduction, Columbus' first change, was an intriguing choice by Schmid. Pat Noonan, with plenty of playoff experience, was available on the bench. Noonan has five goals in 17 postseason matches, all for New England. Also on the bench was potential game-changer Emmanuel Ekpo, a crafty attacker who struck twice this year as a reserve.
But Lenhart is more of a scrapper, a big body who can mix it up inside the penalty area. That seemed even more important on smaller field at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. So he was first off the bench and his choice seemed prescient as the well-placed equalizer bounced past Wizards 'keeper Kevin Hartman. The rookie Californian from unheralded Azusa Pacific University was in the right place, but still needed the nerve to hit a solid first-time shot from inside a crowded penalty area.
Similarly, Houston manager Dominic Kinnear made clever moves, which paid handsomely in the 1-1 draw at Giants Stadium. The tone of his subs, all of which were fairly offensive-minded, might have seemed to some managers as a bit of a risky move on the road.
The Dynamo trailed 1-0 when Kinnear made the first of his three changes. In one school of thought, the manager could have simply protected the goal difference, kept the general team shape and mentality and gone back to Robertson Stadium in search of a one-goal victory, at least. It wouldn't have been such a daunting task. After all, the Orange was down by a goal after the conference semifinal first legs in both of the last two seasons. And we all know how that worked out; Houston rolled in the home half of the set and used the momentum as a catapult right to the MLS championship.
So what did Kinnear do? He removed starting striker Nate Jaqua in favor of speedy and powerful Kei Kamara. That was a fairly straight swap. Then Kinnear removed Brian Mullan, the two-way workhorse in favor of Stuart Holden's younger legs.
That was a move intended to pep up the attack. Red Bulls left back Kevin Goldthwaite, with lots of help from left midfielder Dave van den Bergh, had done a good job of denying Mullan with opportunities to serve from the right wing. Holden, more prone to drift inside, gave the Red Bulls defense, which was bunkering increasingly as the second half wore on, something different to deal with.
Finally, in the 83rd, Kinnear removed offensive linchpin Dwayne De Rosario in favor of rookie Geoff Cameron.
Cameron has played all over the field. In this case, he went to the right midfield spot, while Holden came into the center. So, in this case, there wasn't much a defensive slant on De Rosario's replacement.
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With five minutes remaining, the younger legs of Holden and Kamara were close to goal during a bit of a scramble, with Kamara poking home an important goal in his first playoff appearance.
Of the weekend's five goal scorers, three came from playoff debutantes: Kamara, Lenhart and Yura Movsisyan.
TACTICAL CORNER
• Revolution manager Steve Nicol has a couple of options for the return leg at Toyota Park on Thursday, in a series deadlocked after a scoreless draw in New England -- a result that surely favors the Fire.
Nicol can either scheme up a way to conjure a goal or two, or he can set up the side in a defensive crouch, hope for 120 minutes of low-scoring soccer, and then try to claim the series in penalty kicks.
The Revs are injury-smacked along the front line, with their top three scorers out due to injury. Not surprisingly, his young strikers looked overmatched by Chicago's salty back line for most of the match. The Revs managed just four shots on goal at home, and even that is a little deceptive. Two of those came after the 87th minute as New England pressed matters in a late flurry.
Starting New England forwards Kenny Mansally and Kheli Dube just couldn't get much going against Chicago defenders Gonzalo Segares, Bakary Soumare and Wilman Conde. Lesser-heralded right back Brandon Prideaux had a nice match, too. So don't look for any changes along the back line for Chicago manager Denis Hamlett when the sides meet in Bridgeview. That means another tough night looms for the Revs' young attackers.
• This might have been in the back of Kinnear's mind, too, as the Dynamo manager removed his attacking midfielder in the 83rd minute. De Rosario had six fouls at that point, and was already a bit lucky not to have collected a caution for persistent infringement. "De Ro" had four fouls, including a couple of pretty tough ones, within the game's first 25 minutes, although he did settle down some after that.
• Manager Juan Carlos Osorio's made some interesting choices for the opening leg as his Red Bulls attempt to escape the first round for the second time in club history.
Upset by the team's flagging performance in final regular-season match (a 5-2 loss in Chicago), Osorio kept decorated midseason additions Jorge Rojas, Gabriel Cichero and Juan Pietravallo on the bench.
Rojas and Pietravallo looked like they could form the core of the side, a balanced pair of central midfielders, when Osorio brought them in during the summer transfer window. Instead, they were on the sidelines as Osorio preferred a pair of youngsters for the 2008 Giants Stadium playoff opener.
Osorio's choices at attacking and defensive midfielder: MLS sophomore Sinisa Ubiparipovic and rookie Luke Sassano.
It worked to a point, as an energetic midfield largely denied space and opportunity to the Dynamo's stable of skillful midfielders. On the other hand, without the passing and possession skills of more experienced type, the Red Bulls struggled to feed useful balls into Dane Richards on the right or to Juan Pablo Angel up front.
• Injuries forced manager Preki to shuffle the deck at Chivas USA -- and what else is new?
Jonathan Bornstein, a natural left back who has also played in the midfield during this injury-troubled year for Chivas, was moved to a center back spot.
And Sacha Kljestan, who has been the Red-and-White's main midfield attacking conduit, usually lining up on the right side, slid over to the left to start Saturday's match beneath the mountains at Rio Tinto. Instead, Alex Zotinca manned the right side for Chivas.
But the midfield wasn't working early as Real Salt Lake overwhelmed the center of the park, leaving Chivas USA with precious little possession. Within 15 minutes, Kljestan had moved back over to the right, where he seems a little more comfortable. It also served to get Zotinca matched against RSL's Andy Williams, a more potent offensive force for RSL than young Will Johnson on the other side.
It helped the visitors a bit as a firestorm of an attack was tamped down slightly. Still, Real Salt Lake outshot the visitors 21-3 and generated a huge edge in shots on goal at 8-1. The lack of ruthless (or accurate) finishing could eventually crunch Jason Kreis' side; RSL put only one past Chivas goalkeeper Zach Thornton, and that 1-0 lead looks a bit thin as the series moves back to The Home Depot Center.
• Kansas City rookie Jonathan Leathers hasn't gotten much press this year. But he did hold his own against Columbus flanker Robbie Rogers. Rogers did managed to cause some trouble, but Leathers was able to limit the damage, at least, surely assisted by the smaller field in Kansas City.
• Lenhart obviously deserves credit for uncorking the Crew's equalizer on the road. But this must be said, too: Kansas City's calamitous inability to clear the ball on a sequence that lasted 20-30 seconds might eventually prove ruinous for the Wizards' postseason ambitions.
Wizards defenders had three or four chances (maybe even more) to knock the ball from danger, then regroup and ensure that everyone was adequately organized. Instead, balls went high into the air or, in one case, the wrong way. It all served to keep the danger looming, and Kansas City finally paid the price.
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