WE ARE WELL INTO the home stretch of the MLS season and this past weekend revealed a lot about the races that will shape the remainder of the season. We also got a surprising bit of news out of FC Dallas that will certainly raise eyebrows.

With that said, lets talk about the weekend in domestic action.

Luchi Gonzalez fired

On Sunday night, FC Dallas announced that it had fired head coach Luchi Gonzalez after two and a half seasons. The nail in the coffin was Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Houston Dynamo. Gonzalez replaced Oscar Pareja ahead of the 2019 season after he previously held the job as the club’s academy director – which was perhaps the best academy in the country under his command.

The list of players that Gonzalez coached in either the academy or the first team is remarkable – Weston McKennie, Kellyn Acosta, Bryan Reynolds, Reggie Cannon, Tanner Tessmann, Paxton Pomykal, Chris Richards, Ricardo Pepi, Jesus Ferreira, Brandon Servania, and many others. All of those players can list Gonzalez as a key figure in their development.

FC Dallas qualified for the playoffs in each of the past two seasons under Gonzalez but never broke through as among the best in the Western Conference. This season, Dallas looked as if it was going to fall well short of the playoffs.

It’s fair to criticize Gonzalez but the club’s philosophy of being competitive at the first team level made it hard for Gonzalez to succeed. They sold Chris Richards before he even played a first team game. Bryan Reynolds was gone after just a few months at the first team level. Ricardo Pepi might not last into 2022 with Dallas.

The decision to part ways with talent at an early age is fine, but then it makes it harder to blame the coach if you don’t win. Is the philosophy about winning, or is it selling off assets? Gonzalez did a lot to improve the value of a lot of players – which seemed to be what the owners wanted and it seems to fit the objective whenever an academy director is promoted to the first team.

Top players will eventually get sold out of MLS – that is natural for most leagues outside of the top teams within the “Big 5” of Europe. But FC Dallas has sold a bunch of players who clearly looked as if they had a lot of room to grow in this league before making the jump.

Then you combine it with a bunch of foreign imports that never really panned out, it makes you wonder if Gonzalez is really the problem, or is it deeper? How does this club fit the balance of being competitive, developing players, selling players, and scouting foreign players? That balance is off - and that is not on Gonzalez. That's on those who develop the club's philosophy. 

On another note, U.S. Soccer should really be thinking about giving Luchi Gonzalez a call ASAP to talk about the very important open U-20 gig which will attempt to qualify for both the U-20 World Cup and the Olympics next summer.

MLS Youth Report

It was a decidedly mixed weekend for young Americans in MLS. Here are my thoughts on some of the young guns that played.

John Tolkin: It was a positive development for Tolkin to see Red Bull manager Gerhard Struber return him to the left back position after several games in central midfield. In Friday’s 4-1 win over Inter Miami, Tolkin was outstanding and put out a complete performance on both sides of the ball. He remains one of the best “under the radar” young players in the league.

Leon Flach: Flach has had an interesting season so far for the Philadelphia Union. He started off strong but faded a bit in the summer. He’s still good and had a nice outing on Sunday in a 3-1 win over Orlando. He still needs to improve in getting on the ball more. He had 28 touches over 90 minutes against Orlando – which would be low for a striker. It’s very low for a central midfielder.

Ricardo Pepi, Jesus Ferreira, and Justin Che: all got the start for FC Dallas in Saturday’s 3-2 loss that resulted in Luchi Gonzalez getting fired. Ferreira had an assist and was decent. Pepi showed his quality but was not part of a goal. Che, meanwhile, played just the first half.

Josh Atencio and Daniel Leyva both got the start in central midfield for Seattle in a 1-0 loss to Real Salt Lake. Seattle is struggling and are without Nicholas Lodeiro now for the foreseeable future. Leyva and Atencio both played well and are promising but it will be tough for Seattle to contend for MLS Cup with them.  

George Campbell and George Bello: Atlanta United defeated DC United on Saturday on a 3-1 score. Bello played well and scored Atlanta’s final goal. Campbell filled in nicely for Miles Robinson (who is getting rest) and he continues to do a nice job in central defense when called upon. If Robinson is sold, Campbell could be in a position to see a lot of minutes next season. 

Minnesota smashes Galaxy

After losing two games in a row without scoring a goal (both shutouts, a 4-0 loss to SKC and a 1-0 loss to Seattle), Minnesota pounded the Galaxy 3-0 on Saturday. The difference was the return of Emmanuel Reynoso and Robin Lod.

REYNOSO AGAIN! ????@MNUFC GO UP 2-0! pic.twitter.com/U2FgFboCH5

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 19, 2021

Minnesota is not a deep team – at all. But it speaks volumes about the qualify of Reynoso, who is one of the best players in the league. He’s not where he was in 2020 but, it’s not important. If he’s back for the playoffs, Minnesota could be a very tough out.

The Galaxy, they’re improved from last season but they’re not a contender. Like Reynoso, Chicharito is key for the post season. But it will come down to how it was last season – can he get service?

Seattle’s problems

For the first few months of this season, Seattle looked like a contender – and kudos to Brian Schmetzer for keeping the winning culture going. That culture helps the team when adversity comes its way. The early season injuries to Nicholas Lodeiro and Stefan Frei combined with the injury to Jordan Morris on loan were tough. On Monday, it was announced that Lodeiro had to undergo knee surgery and a timetable for his return hasn’t been set.

Seattle has scored just once in its last three games. Raul Ruidiaz can’t do it by himself, both Roldan brothers will be dealing with international games as well. This team has been fighting father time for awhile and the test of a grueling season. It makes you wonder if there will be major shake-ups in the offseason.

Jordan Morris is also close to returning to full team training, and that is good for him. Even if he returns at the tail end of this season, he won’t be himself until 2022. Does he still look to make another move abroad or does he stick through the rebuild? Tough choices.

Giovinco’s return?

Sebastian Giovinco was in attendance in Toronto on Saturday to watch Toronto FC take on Nashville SC. The former TFC legend is without a club after he left Al-Hilal FC after two seasons.

It is an interesting situation, but Toronto is a team that needs a massive overhaul. Is bringing back a relic of the past what the team needs? Perhaps, but it might not be worth spending a lot of money. Toronto needs to get younger and Giovinco is now 34. They also need ways to bring out the best in Alejandro Pozuelo and Yeferson Soteldo.

That being said, there might be other clubs in the league also open towards bringing in Giovinco too. He can probably still help, but crafting out a role for him at this stage is tricky.