10 things we learned from MLS gameweek 23 of the 2016 season

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 23 of the 2016 MLS season. History for Bradley Wright-Phillips The New York Red Bulls were back in the winner’s circle on Saturday night at Red Bull Arena, pasting the Montreal Impact by three goals to one. The Red Bulls were led, once again, by the goals of Bradley Wright-Phillips. The striker scored two times, and the latter tally, his 59th goal for the club, broke the Red Bulls’ MLS scoring record held by Juan Pablo Angel. It’s an extremely impressive achievement for a player who never found sustained success in

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Here are the ten things we learned from Week 23 of the 2016 MLS season.

1. History for Bradley Wright-Phillips

The New York Red Bulls were back in the winner’s circle on Saturday night at Red Bull Arena, pasting the Montreal Impact by three goals to one.

The Red Bulls were led, once again, by the goals of Bradley Wright-Phillips. The striker scored two times, and the latter tally, his 59th goal for the club, broke the Red Bulls’ MLS scoring record held by Juan Pablo Angel.

It’s an extremely impressive achievement for a player who never found sustained success in England, and came to America in the middle of the 2013 season looking to revive his career as something of a reclamation project for the Red Bulls. All he’s done since then is score goals – season after season, game after game.

It’s hard not to like Wright-Phillips. He works extremely hard – not that he has much choice in Jesse Marsch’s system – and goes about his business with refreshingly little drama for a player of his stature.

Plenty of people thought that Wright-Phillips would fade after Theirry Henry’s retirement, but there’s an argument to be made that BWP has been better in the last two seasons without Henry than he was when he scored 27 goals with Henry in 2014.

Wright-Phillips isn’t going anywhere. He’s a talented striker who scores goals in a number of ways, a good teammate, and one of the cornerstones of the Red Bulls franchise. Hats off to him for a tremendous accomplishment.

2. Here Come The Sounders

It might have very little to do with Sigi Schmid and everything to do with Nicolas Lodeiro, but the Seattle Sounders are back.

Saturday’s 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake at CenturyLink Field was Seattle’s second straight victory and third straight result. The Sounders are now just five points out of the playoffs, with two games in hand on the sixth-placed Portland Timbers.

And the good news doesn’t end there. Seattle’s next two games are both against Portland. Win them, and this season looks entirely unrecognizable from where it was when Schmid was fired three weeks ago.

The trajectory of this Sounders team looks a lot like the trajectory of the 2015 Montreal Impact – another side that fired its manager, made a franchise changing signing, and sprung into the playoffs from virtually nothing.

Lodeiro has been that good. He scored his first goal for the club against RSL, added an assist, and continues to put in the work on the defensive side of the ball. Everyone in rave green looks like they’ve gotten new life. Dempsey, Morris – even Joevin Jones looks good.

The teams at the edge of the Western Conference playoff picture should be plenty worried. Seattle’s season is just getting started.

3. Seattle’s Player of the Year

Lodeiro is deservedly grabbing all the headlines, but Seattle’s player of the season has, by a long way, been Osvaldo Alonso.

Alonso, a veteran of all eight of the club’s MLS seasons, was reportedly on the trading block last winter after a subpar 2015. But no move materialized, and Alonso has been as good this year as he ever has been for the Sounders.

In a conference with a bevy of excellent destroyers – Chara, Beckerman, Mustivar, De Jong, etc. – Alonso has been second to none. Tenacious, intelligent, good on the ball, and, noticeably so this year, still at an extremely high level athletically.

It might be worth mentioning that the change in the United States’ diplomatic relationship with Cuba has had a major impact on Alonso’s life.

Alonso’s father was able to travel to the US to see his son play in the playoffs last season, while Alonso was able to visit home for the first time since he defected in Houston at the 2007 Gold Cup during the offseason. That he’s looked so rejuvenated this year might not be coincidental.

4. Vancouver Stares Into the Abyss

The free-falling Whitecaps took their worst loss of the season on Friday night, falling at home against the San Jose Earthquakes in a game that establishes the ‘Quakes as the primary playoff threat from outside the West’s current top six.

The ‘Caps have now lost three straight – all against Western Conference teams – and are without a win in their last five. Vancouver now sits in eighth place, with the division’s worst goal differential.

Pedro Morales’ down-year has certainly hurt the ‘Caps, as has Kekuta Manneh’s recent injury, but this team’s regression wasn’t hard to see coming.

Even throughout last season, when they finished second in the West, Vancouver was average at home and struggled mightily against other playoff teams. They were blanked over 180 minutes by Portland in their first playoff series, and failed to upgrade significantly in the offseason.

With the defense taking a small step back due to various injuries and the loss of Steven Beitashour, and the already-mediocre offense losing production from its two best players, it’d be something of a surprise if Vancouver finishes above ninth when it’s all said and done.

5. Columbus’ Struggles Continue

Columbus has just three wins this season in 22 games. It’d be a staggering statistic for any team, but the defending Eastern Conference champions? It almost defies belief.

The latest chapter in the Crew’s 2016 season was one of its most surreal: A weather-delayed circus of a game against NYCFC that Columbus led 2-1, went behind in 3-2, and clawed back in at the death for a 3-3 draw.

Columbus’ offense should improve now that Federico Higuain is back healthy – and Ethan Finley appears to be back in form – but the team’s defense and general mental state are showing no signs of improvement.

6. DC To Sneak In?

No one will ever accuse DC United of being a great team. But while DC defines MLS mediocrity in many respects, Ben Olsen has built a competent team. And competent, in this year’s Eastern Conference, might just be enough.

DC is back in the playoff places after beating Portland 2-0 at a sweltering RFK Stadium on Saturday night, above New England by a point in what looks very much like a three-way race for the conference’s final playoff spot.

There’s one reason in particular for DC to be excited about the end of the season: Luciano Acosta can play. The 5’3 playmaker on loan from Boca Juniors has been up and down for most of the season, but it looks like he’s found his footing.

He was the best player on the field against the Timbers, scoring the second goal and creating a number of chances. Patrick Mullins looks good ahead of him, while the return of Patrick Nyarko to the field has provided a boost as well.

If DC can hang onto Steve Birnbaum, stay stingy defensive through Birnbaum, Bobby Boswell, Bill Hamid, and decent fullback, and rely on Acosta and the glut of MLS journeymen with a point to prove around him, they might just sneak in.

7. New England in Crisis

Make no mistake: It’s 4-0 home losses to conference rivals that get coaches fired.

Jay Heaps is well-liked and well-respected in New England, but his team’s display at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night against Philadelphia was incredibly distressing.

The Revs lost 4-0. Heaps’ team now has the worst defensive record and worst goal differential in the league, and they’ve fallen to eighth place in the Eastern Conference – in serious danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

Heaps’ job is probably safe for the moment – the Revs did come within a whisker of winning MLS Cup two years ago – but apart from moving Lee Nguyen around the field, he doesn’t appear to have any answers at the moment.

With the array of talent, both young and old, that New England has, it’s entirely reasonable for their fans to expect better. They badly need a response next weekend at home against Columbus.

After that, their next five games are against San Jose, the Red Bulls, Colorado, NYCFC, and Montreal. Points aren’t about to get any easier to come by.

8. Draws Everywhere

Of the ten games across the league this weekend, five ended in draws – including two big matchups in the Western Conference, with Colorado and Sporting nabbing road points against LA and Dallas.

The impact that Robbie Keane has on the Galaxy’s offense – even at this stage of his career – is staggering. Without him this year, LA has struggled mightily to score goals.

That said, they’d have won on Saturday night if not for Tim Howard. The US legend is earning every penny of his considerable Rapids paycheck so far.

9. UniMas, Year Two

While it’s great that MLS has a Friday night game and a viable third television partner in Univision, what hasn’t been great is Univision’s coverage of the league.

In Sunday’s broadcast of Orlando City–Chicago, viewers missed Chicago’s late equalizing goal off of a corner kick because the broadcast was still in a replay.

But the production is superb compared to the commentary of English language announcer Ramses Sandoval, who continues to assault both the eardrums and intellects of viewers well into his second season calling the league week in and week out.

Sandoval is a comically bad broadcaster, but even though the network brought Keith Costigan aboard last year after it became clear that Paul Caligiuri wasn’t working out, it doesn’t seem like the play-by-play man is going anywhere.

In fairness, it certainly doesn’t help that Sandoval and Costigan aren’t on location and instead have to call their games off of monitors in LA. The English language production continues to be an embarrassment for the league and a frustration for its fans.

10. August…

Portland’s game against DC United was pushed back an hour due to oppressive heat in the nation’s capital, Houston’s game against Toronto was moved to Sunday, and a potentially marquee home game for Columbus against NYCFC was delayed due to severe weather.

MLS avoids playing in the continent’s brutal winters, but there’s no getting around August. It always does its damage.

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