Los Angeles Football Club: Postseason Previewew

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Los Angeles Football Club: Postseason Previewew

2018 LAFC turned out to be just like 2017 Atlanta United, bowing out in the first round of the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs. In 2019, the comparisons with Atlanta United continue. Second-year club LAFC not only caught, but surpassed the 2018 MLS Cup winner’s marks in 2019. LAFC exceeded their points (72 to 69; 2018 RBNY had 71) and Carlos Vela surpassed Josef Martinez’ shiny new single-season goal scoring record by three goals (34). LAFC also tied the single season goals record (with the 1998 L.A. Galaxy) with 85, set the best goal differential with 48, bettering that same Galaxy team by seven. And Vela finished with 10 primary assists (the only ones we count at ASA). For comparison, the only other player with 10 or more assists and over 20 goals in our dataset was Sebastian Giovinco in 2015.

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Seattle Sounders: Postseason Preview

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Seattle Sounders: Postseason Preview

To say that the Seattle Sounders exist solely to confound me would simultaneously be both incredibly narcissistic and also accurate. I’ve been tasked with the preseason and postseason previews for the perennial contenders for the past few years, and every single time I’m more and more tempted to just submit this as my draft:

 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(Editor’s note: this would not be up to ASA’s stringent editorial standards, as we’re not Bleacher Report… yet.)

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New York Red Bulls: Postseason Preview

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New York Red Bulls: Postseason Preview

At times this season the New York Red Bulls have looked like a very good soccer team, sometimes even harkening back to the 2018 Red Bull team that set (what was then) an MLS record for points in a season. Case in point, nine of New York’s 14 wins this year have come against playoff teams. That included wins over FC Dallas, Atlanta, and Real Salt Lake during a five match unbeaten stretch early in the season and back to back wins over Portland and Philadelphia during a late season run to put them into the playoffs.

There have also been times when the Red Bulls have looked exceptionally mediocre. They’ve looked like a team that not only lost its most important player in Tyler Adams, but also lost a whole lot more of something else as well, despite mostly returning their entire squad from 2018. The flip side of nine wins against playoff teams was picking up only one point from four games against Montreal and Columbus.

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Toronto FC: Postseason Preview

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Toronto FC: Postseason Preview

Toronto FC’s 2019 season started off strong. They picked up 16 points in their first 8 games, including a 4-0 win against NYCFC where their marquee signing, Alejandro Pozuelo, put up 2 goals and 1 assist. Things went south after that - they got just 1 win in their next 11 games. From July onward, though, TFC were pretty good. They lost only twice, and closed out the season on a 10-game unbeaten streak.

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Portland Timbers: Postseason Preview

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Portland Timbers: Postseason Preview

Well, let’s just say that did not quite go according to plan. Ideally, the plan was this: survive the epic road trip to begin the season, then do a 2018 DC United and ride a tsunami of home games in front of the Timbers Army to a high seed in the Western Conference and a home playoff game or two. 

For a while, it even looked like it was working. Portland did better than most expected, earning 4 wins and 2 draws against 6 losses on their road trip to pick up 14 points from 12 games. 

As recently as September 7, Portland sat just 3 points outside of 2nd place, with a game in hand and 5 of 6 remaining games at home. No problem, right? Just Lock up that #2 seed. Or not. Portland won just 1 of their last 6 games and slid into 6th place in the West. Not exactly ideal, but this is MLS, and the Timbers rode a 5 seed into an MLS Cup Final appearance last year, so not all hope is lost. 

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FC Dallas: Postseason Preview

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FC Dallas: Postseason Preview

2019 Review

FC Dallas were expected by many to miss the playoffs in 2019. Following a disappointing early playoff exit in 2018 Dallas came into the season with a new coach and one of the youngest teams in the league. That mostly suggested it should have been a rebuilding year. It wasn’t, though. Luchi Gonzalez got the team playing attractive-ish, solid soccer right out of the gate. They lost just two of their first nine games. The season after that was a little more uneven, but on the whole Gonzalez managed to develop the team’s youth while implementing a fun, possession-oriented, high-pressing style of soccer that has, aside from in front of goal, been pretty effective.

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Philadelphia Union: Postseason Preview

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Philadelphia Union: Postseason Preview

2019 REVIEW

Philadelphia is a city that seems to adorn itself with the pageantry of blue-collar work. The philosophy of determination and deep city grit is a sort of tattoo etched upon the marrow of its teams’ legacy through the years. The Flyers, Phillies, and Eagles all have that reputation, and the city’s adopted mascot/avatar is named “Gritty” for a very good reason. This year’s Union side maybe the iteration that most embodies that most core Philadelphian philosophy.

You sometimes might hear a coach says talk about their system or style of play and they say something like “we want the team to be the star”. There is no other team in this playoff pool that embodies this theme greater than the Philadelphia Union. They’ve been built through almost every available acquisition method in the MLS GM handbook. 

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