MLS Footnotes: LAFC has work to do in Champions League final
Editor's Note: MLS Footnotes takes you inside the major talking points around the league and across American soccer.
This isn't a just another normal week during another long MLS regular season. All over the league, things are happening.
The Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers square off on Saturday (4:30 p.m. ET, FOX/FOX Deportes) in the latest edition of the oldest, deepest, most authentic rivalry in top-flight American professional soccer.
For the second time in four days, LAFC faces Liga MX club León Sunday (9 p.m. ET, FS1) in the CONCACAF Champions League final; after star striker Dénis Bouanga pulled a goal back late in the 2-1 first leg loss in Mexico, the defending league champs must win the back half of the home-and-home by two goals, or on penalties, if MLS is to capture a second consecutive regional crown.
[LAFC pulls one back late to set up thrilling Champions League final]
Across town, the record five-time champion LA Galaxy fired longtime club president Chris Klein after months of protests and boycotts by supporters groups; the Galaxy promptly snapped its three-game losing streak, during which they didn't score, by beating Real Salt Lake 3-2 in the thin air of Utah Wednesday night.
And in Miami, where rumors of a deal with Lionel Messi continue to swirl, another successful fan revolt combined with another goalless defeat — this one at home midweek to the New York Red Bulls — saw David Beckham and his fellow Inter Miami owners dismiss third year coach Phil Neville, Beckham's close friend and former teammate with Manchester United and England's national team.
There's clearly a lot going on at the 2023 campaign nears the midway point. Let's dive right in.
MLS FOOTNOTES
1. Seattle-Portland highlights weekend slate
What better way to kick off Week 17 than with Sounders-Timbers? Neither club is in optimal form right now; while the Sounders lead the Western Conference, Seattle has lost three of its last four — including at home to San Jose midweek — and has played three more games than St. Louis City and four more than LAFC, the next two teams in the standings. The hosts will also be without their leading goalscorer, Jordan Morris, who is still nursing the groin injury he suffered last week.
Portland's dismal campaign continued last weekend with a 2-1 defeat in Kansas City. The Timbers have just 15 points after 16 games, tied with their worst start to an MLS season with last year, when they failed to make the playoffs. Portland currently sits 10th in the West, two points behind the Houston Dynamo for the final postseason berth. That 2021 MLS Cup final appearance seems a long time these days.
Making matters worse, Yimmi Chará will miss the next few weeks for Portland, the veteran Colombian midfielder just the latest Timber regular to go down with an injury. But as one of the few clubs that didn't play on Wednesday, Gio Savarese's side is rested. It has also owned this rivalry of late, winning all four regular season meetings since August 2021. Portland outscored the Sounders 11-2 in those games.
"I've always said that this rivalry motivates players to a different level," Savarese said on Thursday. "They see our fans, how much they care, how big this game is historically.
"It elevates everything this week."
2. Started at the bottom
The three points earned in Salt Lake City moved the Galaxy off the foot of the overall league standings. Colorado now occupies the bottom spot following Wednesday's 3-2 defeat in Columbus, the Rapids' fifth straight loss. Robin Fraser's squad will try to stop the skid at home versus the Earthquakes on Saturday. After a badly needed bye week, the Galaxy next visits St. Louis June 11.
"You're never too far away if you can let the last game go and focus on the next game, and not let the last game impact your performance," Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said after the club's third win of the season. "One of the things about MLS in the regular season, especially early on, it can be forgiving if you can find your footing and get onto some sort of a run and build some consistency."
After the trip to Missouri, LA plays five of its next eight games at home, including a marquee July 4 El Tráfico matchup with LAFC.
3. Leagues Cup looms large
We're into June now, which means that the start of the first expanded Leagues Cup tournament is now officially on the horizon. MLS coaches are now starting to think about the month-long event, which begins July 19, involves all 47 first division clubs from Mexico, Canada and the U.S., and will halt the MLS regular season until late August.
For some teams, the break could be a godsend from a making-the-MLS-playoffs perspective. A club that sputtered early, Sporting Kansas City for instance, might prioritize getting all of its key contributors healthy and match-fit over going all-out to win the cross-border competition.
"We can use it almost like a mini pre-season," SKC coach Peter Vermes said of the Leagues Cup in an interview FOX Sports last week. "It will give us a chance to prepare ourselves for that push there at the end of the season."
4. Four MLSers get USMNT call
Two days after replacing Anthony Hudson as the interim coach of the USMNT, former Philadelphia Union assistant coach B.J. Callaghan named a 24-man roster for this month's CONCACAF Nations League finals.
[Balogun, Pulisic headline USMNT's injury-ridden Nations League roster]
Just four MLS players made the cut: goalkeepers Drake Callender (Miami) and Sean Johnson (Toronto) and central defenders Miles Robinson (Atlanta) and Walker Zimmerman (Nashville).
There was no place for FC Dallas captain Jesús Ferreira despite his nine MLS goals that trail only Bouanga (10) in the Golden Boot chase. Nashville fullback Shaq Moore was also overlooked.
Morris and Sounders teammate Cristian Roldan are hurt, while LAFC's Kellyn Acosta recently returned to action. If healthy, all five 2022 World Cup veterans should get serious consideration for the Gold Cup squad.
Callender, Johnson, Robinson and Zimmerman will report for national team duty on Sunday — all but Robinson are in action with their clubs the night before.
5. Cincinnati can't stop winning
It was easy to dismiss FC Cincinnati's hot start a month or two ago. Fifteen games into 2023 and atop the Supporters Shield by a whopping eight points over Nashville, it's safe to say that Pat Noonan's team is for real. Noonan is also the likely front-runner for the Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year Award in just his second season at the helm.
There's plenty of credit to go around, though. Cincinnati's success has been a total team effort. FCC doesn't have one player among the league's Top 10 goal-getters. (Luciano Acosta ranks 12th, with six.) Nine players have more assists than Álvaro Barreal, Cincy's leader.
FCC goes for its sixth consecutive win Saturday against the visiting Chicago Fire. The club is a perfect 8-0 at home this year.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
