3 takeaways from the second week of the MLS is Back Tournament
"That isn’t normal to most players. I don’t even think I had these games when I was a kid."
The second week of the MLS is Back Tournament brought the upcoming knockout stage into clearer focus. Several teams, including the Revolution, qualified for a second-round berth in what appears to be a competition without a clear favorite.
While some of the traditional league powers stumbled out of the gate, the less-heralded Columbus Crew have been a success story, finishing the group stage with a perfect three wins from three games.
Columbus, which did not make the playoffs in 2019, has played some of the tournament’s best soccer. In a 1-0 win over Atlanta United Tuesday, eight Crew players strung together 19 passes without an opponent touching the ball, a sequence that culminated in Youness Mokhtar’s winning goal.
Amid the first two weeks of the group stage, one subplot has been the kickoff times. The inevitable issue with hosting a summer competition in Florida (MLS, like the NBA, chose Disney World for its “bubble”) is the heat. Temperatures have soared, making midday games an impossibility.
As a result, games were scheduled for 9 a.m., 8 p.m., and 10:30 p.m. (the knockout round will switch to exclusively nighttime kickoffs). The 9 a.m. kickoff times were, if nothing else, historic: No MLS teams had ever begun meaningful games at such an early time.
“It’s unfortunate that we had to get up early and play these games,” said Revolution midfielder Kelyn Rowe following Tuesday morning’s 0-0 draw with Toronto. “That isn’t normal to most players. I don’t even think I had these games when I was a kid.
“It was a little bit different but we got through it.”
New England, with a win and two draws, finished second in Group C behind Toronto. As a result, the Revolution will face the Philadelphia Union in the Round of 16 Saturday at 10:30 p.m.
Other takeaways as the tournament approaches the knockout stage:
Lingering questions for the Revolution: Bruce Arena’s team flashed its ability at various points in the group stage, with three designated players and a squad that appears to have quite a bit of depth. Yet the team also showed it has a ways to go before it fully realizes its potential.
Despite its attacking ability, New England managed only two goals in three games. A more encouraging sign was the defense yielding just one goal (though it proved a costly one, as defender Antonio Delamea’s errant backpass led to D.C. United’s equalizer in a 1-1 draw).
The other major issue is the status of midfielder Carles Gil. Arguably the team’s most important player, Gil missed most of preseason and the first two regular-season games with a foot injury. After playing in the tournament opener, he exited the second game and was in a walking boot on the bench for the Toronto game Tuesday.
If Gil is unable to return, New England’s aspirations for a long tournament run might be in jeopardy. And if MLS is able to restart the regular season in the fall, the Revolution will need a healthy Gil to make an impression in the Eastern Conference.
Atlanta’s unexpected exit: Though some of the pre-tournament favorites struggled, most recovered to advance to the knockout stage.
The notable exception was Atlanta United. Since joining MLS in 2017, Atlanta has established a reputation for attacking soccer played in front of one of the best home crowds in the league. The tournament was a different story, as the 2018 MLS Cup champions exited with three losses in three games, and zero goals scored.
Star striker Josef Martinez’s absence (he tore an ACL at the beginning of the season in March) provides part of the explanation for the team’s struggles. But with LAFC creating goals even without 2019 MLS MVP Carlos Vela (who opted out of participating), Atlanta’s lack of goal-scoring options outside of Martinez was conspicuous.
An encouraging bubble update: After the early days of the MLS bubble, when multiple teams withdrew because of several positive COVID-19 tests, the situation has stabilized.
In four rounds of testing, spanning eight days from July 12-19, moe than 1,000 players, coaches, and other personnel were tested, without a single new COVID-19 case being detected.
As long as Florida continues to be a hot spot for the virus, a danger lingers. The bubble is far from a perfectly sealed-off environment. Yet MLS has been able to achieve clean test results for more than a week, something that appeared almost hopeless during the early days of the tournament.
Upcoming schedule
(knockout stage)
Saturday, July 25
Montreal at Orlando City, 8 p.m.
NEW ENGLAND at Philadelphia, 10:30 p.m.
Monday, July 27
Real Salt Lake at San Jose, 8:30 p.m.
Tuesday, July 28
Minnesota at Columbus, 8 p.m.
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