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Tolkin shines for RBNY, Melia lifts SKC in MLS playoffs while Yanks lackluster in UCL

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ASN’s Brian Sciaretta walks you through his thoughts on the MLS wildcard games and the Americans abroad midweek, including the Champions League.


BY

Brian Sciaretta



Posted

October 26, 2023

9:10 AM

THE MIDWEEK has seen a number of Americans play in the Champions League, the MLS playoffs get underway. It’s a busy time and we’ll break it all down for you.

Here are some thoughts on everything.

 

Red Bulls cruises past Charlotte

The New York Red Bulls continued their strong run of play into the playoffs with a commanding 5-2 win over FC Charlotte. With the win, the Red Bulls have now won five of their last six games and have lost only once in their past eight games.

In this game, the Red Bulls were just on it from the start. Scoring three goals in the first half. In the second half, whenever Charlotte pushed, the Red Bulls had a response, and the final score was 5-2.

 

The top story was Elias Manoel who had the first MLS playoff hattrick since 2019. The Brazilian forward didn’t just score three goals, but rather each of his goals were of very high quality. Then you had John Tolkin who has had an outstanding month, and he had a goal and two assists. The much-maligned Tom Barlow also contributed with a goal.

Here are some thoughts on this game.

 

Tolkin’s rise

 

When you look at the top young American players during the 2023 MLS season (we’ll define young as being Olympic eligible, with a 2001 birth year or younger), John Tolkin should be at or near the top of any list. But the way he has been playing over the past month has seen him take his game to another level. He’s now a difference maker as a left back who can help open up the game for his teammates.

 

“I think he is absolutely hitting the right form and he’s getting more involved, and he deserves more credit for not only what he does against the ball, but what he does with the ball,” said Red Bull manager Troy Lesesne. “This free kick is just special, this has nothing to do with anything coaching, this is JMi again stepping up and creating a big moment. What the coaching part of it is, is trying to get him in a higher position so he can play balls like he did to Tom Barlow for the fourth goal.”

He’s putting himself in a great position to be sold this winter. It’s also not serving as a distraction either. You can tell he wants to leave the Red Bulls on a high note and help take his team on a run.

U.S. Soccer needs to hope that wherever Tolkin is playing next year, he will be released for the Olympics. He should be very important to that team.

 

Unlikely RBNY performance

 

The Red Bulls are easily the most inefficient team in the league. In every game, it seems they create a bunch of chances and end up having few or no goals to show for it. In this game, they didn’t create a ton of chances, but rather they just scored whenever they created.

 

“I don’t think that we had an overwhelming amount of shots and opportunities but we were efficient,” Lesesne said. “The individuals that got on the end of those goals were able to execute in critical moments.”

But is this a new and improved RBNY, or was this a blip? It’s tough to figure out. The team is playing much, much better right now. But it’s still not enough data to suggest the team is vastly different. But again, who knows? This is MLS and maybe everything is just coming together after 34 games.

 

Lesesne to keep the job?

 

Troy Lesesne replaced Gerhard Struber in May and there was some improvement. But Lesesne is only signed through the end of this season. Has he done enough to keep the job?

My take is that the team has overperformed under Lesesne and he probably should keep the job. It wasn’t his fault Dante Vanzier was overpaid and underdelivered (while also creating a giant distraction). It also wasn’t his fault of the lack of scoring options that the team has in the attack. Finally, the front office never replaced Lewis Morgan who was the team’s best player in 2022 with 14 goals but who was injured almost all year. There are a lot of problems with RBNY, but the front office needs to bear most of the blame.

 

Lesesne has had to grow as a manager and at times it seemed as if the job was big for hm. But he has learned, and he has clearly become more effective as the season has gone on. It seems rather harsh if he doesn’t keep the job after this season.

 

Charlotte’s season over

 

The season is over for Charlotte FC, and this was an ugly loss. Yes, they ended the season well, but overall, they are not a very good team. Karol Swiderski is a very good player but his game is designed by getting good service, and during this year Charlotte was inconsistent in getting him the ball.

 

The thing to watch for Charlotte is whether head coach Christian Lattanzio has his option for 2025 picked up. Now would be the time to make a change. You can argue things weren’t his fault and this was only the team’s second year in existence. But in this league, things can change quickly, and expansion teams have found success quickly. This is his first head coaching job and there should be experienced managers on the market.

 

Sporting KC prevails over Quakes

 

After 90 minutes produced a 0-0 stalemate, Sporting KC got past San Jose 4-2 in a shootout. The result was unquestionably fair as Sporting was the better team over 90 minutes with 59% of the possession and a shot edge of 18-5. Sporting had the best chances and were denied on a great goal-line clearance from San Jose’s Rodriguezs and then when Johnny Russell hit the post in the 79th minute.

In the shootout, Tim Melia improved to a 7-0 career record in shootouts. His save on Cristian Espinoza set the tone for the shootout.

Sporting deserved a spot in the first round. They were better and have been playing terrific down the stretch. They are now in a good position to compete against St. Louis, who limped into the playoffs and has never been in such a stage before.

 

Momentum was key

 

The MLS playoffs are always about momentum. Sporting Kansas City had a terrible start to the season. But after the first 10 games, they’ve been a good team, and they played their way into the playoffs with two impressive wins to end the season.

Did anyone really think San Jose was likely going to win this game? They drew their last four of the regular season and essentially limped in. San Jose’s objective was to limp through the playoffs by trying to score goals against the run of play, maybe off set pieces, and/or prevail in penalties.

Luchi Gonzalez did a good job with this team and the Quakes are improved after the Almeyda years. But they had no business winning this game.

 

Look out St. Louis

 

If you’re looking to pick an upset in the first round, there are a few that are enticing. Nashville is a tough matchup for Orlando, and FC Dallas could be tricky for an aging Seattle team. But Sporting KC could be a great long shot pick against St. Louis.

Don’t look at the seeds, look at the recent record. Sporting has been a strong team once you chuck the first 10 games of the season.

Plus, Sporting is a veteran team that is also confident and hungry. St. Louis, meanwhile, is new to the playoffs and hasn’t look great in tournament environments such as Leagues Cup and the U.S. Open Cup. The MLS Cup playoffs is a different tournament, and the mentality of short tournaments is completely different. Sporting just looks like a team that belongs in this tournament right now and is ready to compete hard.

Yes, the last time these teams met, St. Louis routed SKC 4-1. But again, the playoffs are just different. 

Yanks lackluster in UCL

 

The Americans in the Champions League this past wasn’t great and none of the players stood out.

Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah both started for AC Milan in a 3-0 loss to PSG on Tuesday. Both U.S. internationals were far from Milan’s biggest problem on the day, but neither had memorable games. Rafael Leao had a bad game for Milan.

AC Milan still has not scored a goal in three Champions League games. The good news is that they’ve only played one home game. But they’re not in a great position or great form right now.

Sergino Dest started at left back and Malik Tillman started in the midfield for PSV – which drew Lens away 1-1. Ricardo Pepi made a late cameo to help kill the game off in stoppage time. PSV now has two points from three games but have played just one game at home.

Dest again showed that he is not exactly comfortable on the left side compared with the right. He is just not able to make as much of an impact on the left side with the ball and it affects his offense. Tillman picked up an assist on Johan Bakayoko’s 54th minute goal to open the scoring but it was just a simple pass to Bakayoko. Tillman had an average game in this one.

Union Berlin dropped a 1-0 decision at home to Napoli and continues to have a tough year both in the Bundesliga and in the Champions League. Across all competitions, Union has lost nine games in a row. Brenden Aaronson started in this game and was part of a triple substitution in the 70th minute. The former Philadelphia Union homegrown only had 18 touches and was 9/10 in passing. He, long with his teammates, was unable to do much.

Gio Reyna came off the bench in the 79th minute to see out Borussia Dortmund’s 1-0 away win over Newcastle. By the time Reyna came into the game, BVB was just hanging on and bunkering. Reyna had a nice block towards the end of the game but wasn’t able to do much with his team pinned back. But it turned out to be a great win for BVB.

Finally, Cameron Carter-Vickers was the best American on the day in the Champions League where he went the distance for Celtic in a 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid in Glasgow. Carter-Vickers was arguably partially at fault for Alvaro Morata’s goal in the 54th minute but did his best for an overmatched Celtic team. Overall, a decent but unspectacular game for CCV – but still the best of all Americans.

 

Yanks in the Championship

 

It was a lackluster midweek slate of games for Americans in the Championship.

Duane Holmes started and played 89 minutes for Preston North End in a 2-2 draw with Southampton. Holmes left the game with PNE up 2-1 and was not on the field for Southampton’s late equalizer via an own goal. Still, Preston North End remained in fourth place with the win.

Haji Wright came off the bench and played 25 minutes for Coventry in a 2-0 away loss to Rotherham United. Wright had just six touches, was 2/2 in passing, and had no shots. In his last three games, Wright has played 112 minutes and has completed just six passes. Pressure is mounting on Wright who is the club’s most expensive ever purchase and the club sits in 20th place.

Lynden Gooch played the final 14 minutes for Stoke City in a 1-0 win over Leeds on Wednesday. He was on the field for the game’s only goal in the 80th (an own goal).

Finally, Reggie Cannon made his first start for Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday in a 2-0 away loss to West Bromwich Albion. The game was delayed because QPR’s coach was stuck in traffic. It never got any better for the team and Cannon was just average on the day. QPR is terrible and is in 22nd place, now four points deep in the relegation zone.

 





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