Philadelphia_union_-_asn_top_-_celebrate_-_8-14-24
Morning update

Columbus, Philly, NYCFC impress in wild night in Leagues Cup

ASN's Brian Sciaretta watched a full slate of League Cup games on Tuesday night and here are his thoughts. Plus, notes on other news around American Soccer. 
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
August 14, 2024
5:50 AM

TUESDAY NIGHT WAS the night when the 2024 Leagues Cup came alive. The tournament had been okay up to this point, but on Tuesday there was a full slate of Round of 16 games that included some intriguing matchups. For the most part, they lived up to the expectations and raised the quality of the tournament.

The quarterfinals are now set.



But let’s look at why the games on Tuesday were so good

 

Leagues Cup Round of 16 games

 

After Seattle took down Pumas on Monday, the remaining seven games of the Round of 16 were on Tuesday night.

Columbus wins thriller over Miami


This was the biggest game of the night, and it lived up to what people were hoping to see. Even with Lionel Messi sidelined, Miami has been playing well and is in the driver’s seat for the Supporters Shield.

But heading into Columbus and defeating the reigning champions would be yet another strong sign that Miami is the league’s top team in 2024. For awhile it seemed as if Miami was going to pull it off.

Paraguayan international Matias Rojas scored in the 10th minute and Diego Gomez added another in the 62nd. It looked as if the Paraguayan connections would put Miami through.

But then things changed, quickly. Columbus put on a terrific display of soccer over the last 25 minutes to sneak through. Christian Ramirez pulled one back for Columbus in the 67th via a header off a cross from Max Arfsten. Then Diego Rossi put the Crew on his back with an equalizer in the 69th and then a winner in the 80th.

 

 

After the game, Crew manager Wilfried Nancy said the comeback was all about “energy” and less about tactical adjustments. He stated that when his team raises the intensity, the second half is more reflective of their quality.

“I didn't like the first half,” Nancy said. “I didn't like the energy that we had. I was not happy with the energy because we can miss passes, we can miss something tactically and so on, but we need positivity. I did not like [the energy] so we discussed with the players. They come back with a better energy and they did their job to be honest with you. Yes, we adjusted certain things tactically, but at the end of the day, this is not about tactics. I don't like to talk about effort because for me effort is a no brainer, I would say, but there is not only the physical effort; it's really important also to have mental effort. We missed that a bit ourselves. In the second half, this is who we are.”

 

Philadelphia downs Cincy in budding rivalry

 

Given the ties between the two teams and how Cincinnati rose to success following the Philadelphia Union blueprint, the two teams now enjoy a rivalry. And while Cincinnati is one of the best teams in the league in 2024, Philadelphia has found its footing and is peaking heading into the final months of the season.

Still, watching the Philadelphia Union head into Ohio and come away with a 4-2 win over FC Cincinnati in a knockout situation is impressive.

Here are some thoughts.

Tai Baribo: The Israeli national team forward is in credible form in 2024 and he scored two goals in the win over Cincy. He now has 11 goals in just under 1000 minutes in all competitions.

Quinn Sullivan: with all the talk over his younger brother, Cavan, Quinn is having himself a very good summer. Against Cincy, Jim Curtin opted for more experience in starting Alejandro Bedoya. Bedoya had a good match, but Sullivan came off the bench in the 75th minute and had an assist (to Baribo) and then a goal. It was a huge shift for Sullivan.

 

Mikael Uhre: has a lot of pressure to perform given his salary and the expectations as a DP forward. This current season has not been up to DP standards but he had a very good game against Cincy and scored the opening goal.

As for Cincinnati, this team is finally showing the problems left with the injuries to Matt Miazga and Nick Hagglund. Those season-ending injuries left holes in the backline that the Union picked apart. Also, when Luciano Acosta is playing a bench role along with Kevin Kelsy, it only went to weaken Cincy.

Like the Seattle Sounders, the Union is a team that struggled but who no one will want to play in the fall.

 

NYCFC gets past Tigres

 

It was a pro-Tigres crowd on hand in New Jersey at Red Bull Arena what watched NYCFC down the storied Liga MX team 2-1. Tigres is always a tough out in these competitions, but their core has been together for a very long time now and could use some rebuilding.

This was still a very good performance from NYCFC who used a combination of youth and experience to come out on top. It was an entertaining but physical game that really tested NYCFC.

Nick Cushing’s New York team has the youngest team in MLS but the lineup is still balanced out with players like Maxi Moralez, who at age 37 is still the glue behind NYCFC. Then there are also prime age players like Santi Rodriguez and James Sands, both 24, who were instrumental to this win.

 

The problem for NYCFC is that with this youth, there is inconsistency. But against Tigres, the team was sharp for the entire game, absorbing blows and then pushing back.

"We've seen patches of real good play, and then we've seen patches of inconsistency. Tonight, we were good from the first whistle to the end," Cushing said.

What remains to be seen is whether this win was permanent set forward in their progress, or if it was just a blip. But it was a great win for their organization.

 
Colorado rallies past Toluca

 

It’s not often that Colorado has a home games against a team that plays at higher altitude, but such was the case when they met a very good Toluca team in Commerce City. In the end, Colorado prevailed 2-1, but an honest assessment of the game is that it was against the run of play. Toluca was very good for long stretches – but Colorado responded well with good defending.

The difference is that Colorado won the battle of the moments. They executed in their chances, Toluca did not. Colorado benefited tremendously from their American imports. Zack Steffen made huge saves, Cole Bassett was very good on both sides of the ball and it was his pass that began the sequence for the opening goal. Sam Vines assisted on the opening goal when he controlled Bassett’s pass with one touch to send it back across the goal. Finally, Djordje Mihailovic took the game into his own hands in the second half.

 

Mihailovic headed home what looked to be a winner, only for there to be an offside call on VAR. Then a few minutes later, Mihailovic sent the pass into the box that led to Yappi’s goal.

I didn’t think Colorado would have anything left in the tank after the FC Juarez win. But they did.

 

Mazatlan’s Cinderella run continues

 

It’s not often when you’d consider a Liga MX team to be a Cinderella run, but the club is doing that. On Tuesday, it was a shootout win over Cruz Azul after a 2-2 draw to send them into the quarterfinal. No one would have predicted that by the quarterfinal, only two Liga MX teams would remain and one would be Mazatlan.

 

But Mazatlan are now here. Cruz Azul was its own worst enemy after going down to 10 men early in the second half. Still down a man, they rallied with two late goals to send the game to a shootout. Former Atlanta United striker Giorgos Giakoumakis failed to convert his penalty along with Willer Ditta and Uriel Antuna – who both scored Cruz Azul’s late goals.

Former USMNT midfielder Ventura Alvarado played the final 30 minutes for Mazatlan.

 

Club America surge past St. Louis

 

Club America is the best chance to have a Liga MX champion at Leagues Cup and they’re also the best team in this entire tournament.

 

St. Louis actually took a 2-1 lead in the 54th minute off a penalty, but the last 30 minutes of this game was tough to watch. Club America was simply overwhelming and even with St. Louis winning, it only seemed like a matter of time before St. Louis collapsed. That ended up happening as Club America won 4-2 in their “home” for this tournament in Los Angeles.

 

LAFC ends San Jose’s run

 

It was surprising that San Jose was still alive into the Round of 16, but the club dominated Necaxa 5-0 in the Round of 32 to earn a spot.

But LAFC looked like LAFC on Tuesday night in a 4-1 win over San Jose. It was convincing and LAFC looks like a team who would be a tough out for Club America, who is the tournament favorite.

 

Denis Bouanga had two goals, and Olivier Giroud made his club debut when he entered in the 71st minute. That extra bit of fire power now gives LAFC a better chance to win Leagues Cup and MLS Cup.

 

Takeaways from Leagues Cup

 

The results for Leagues Cup don’t prove league dominance. While Liga MX teams still enjoy great support in the United States, it’s not a home environment. These teams are travelling for this tournament for several weeks away from their homes, families, friends, training grounds, and familiar ways of life. That’s a tough challenge.

Still, there is enough evidence over the years that MLS is gaining ground on Liga MX. That should continue as teams can spend more money. My theory is that many MLS teams would do fine in Liga MX. The problem then becomes against the elite teams in Liga MX. Club America isn’t an accurate reflection on the rest of Liga MX, they are clearly much better.

Overall, there has been debate whether the tournament is useful. I have always been one that challenged MLS to find new opportunities to test itself with foreign competition. Leagues Cup does offer that. There are still improvements that are needed, but it's something worthy of building. Some critics are criticizing the Leagues Cup saying it is what is ruining the Open Cup. I don't see why it has to be either/or. It might make teams field subpar Open Cup lineups in the beginning, but that's the case around the world with cups. 

 

Other News

 

Days after announcing that Chicago Fire Sporting Director George Heitz would leave the club after the season, on Wednesday it was also announced that Xherdan Shaqiri and the Fire have agreed to mutually terminate his contract.

The Fire have been stuck in quagmire for 15 years. They haven’t even made the playoffs since 2017. The fans have welcomed the news, but wondering why it has taken so long.

A big topic right now is transfers. In MLS, the deadline is tonight. A flurry of deals could happen late (as is often the case).

In terms of the Americans in Europe, the big ones to watch are Weston McKennie, Tanner Tessmann, Gio Reyna, Bryan Reynolds, Matt Turner, Jordan Pefok, Matthew Hoppe, and Reggie Cannon are just a few names I am paying attention.

I like to divide transfers into two categories: 1) Players who are succeeding to the point where bigger suitors are lining up and 2) Players who are in a bad situation and need to get out.

Unfortunately, the “type 2” transfers are dominating the market for American players right now.

Aidan Morris and Paxten Aaronson’s loan are Type 1. If Tanner Tessmann and Bryan Reynolds move, that would be Type 1. But right now, there are too many Type 2 moves.  

Post a comment

AmericanSoccerNow.