MLS All-Star Game marks halfway, and will Frank Lampard finally appear?

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/jul/30/mls-all-star-game-new-york-city-frank-lampard

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All-Star Game marks half-time for playoff-seeking MLS clubs

The MLS All-Star Game happened, an event which provided the slightly surreal sight of David Villa and Kaka both scoring for the “home” side at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Colorado. Sadly, despite Don Garber’s two “commissioner picks”, injuries denied American fans first-hand knowledge of whether Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard can effectively occupy the same pitch at the same time.

There was, as ever, little to take away from the match itself, a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur packed with unnecessary rabonas and a lovely Harry Kane finish. We did get a brief interview with Garber and Clint Dempsey’s ingenious proposal to have the East and West battle it out for a chance at home field advantage in the final, too.

However, the occasion does mark the middle point the season, the beginning of a crucial three-month lead-up to the playoffs. Despite half a season worth of matches, there’s little so far to separate the pack in either conference. In the West, the LA Galaxy’s struggle for away form has done little to threaten the likelihood they’ll make the postseason, and the same goes for the Sounders’ recent woes – seven league losses in their last nine outings. Meanwhile, though there is some daylight now between the top five spots and the bottom five in the Eastern Conference, that could all change within a month, particularly with the possible debut of Frank Lampard in New York and the arrival of Didier Drogba in Montreal, a prospect which could have a few clubs – including the recently nosediving New England Revolution – slightly nervous.

In other words, it’s the business end of the season. Though the trade deadline extends to August 6, injuries, drop offs in form and other catastrophic events could decide the futures of more than a few clubs in the hunt to stay above the red line.

Will he or won’t he?

One of the key matches in determining that race will kick off the weekend’s action. The Montreal Impact visit New York City FC on Saturday, two clubs which have not only sloughed off their slow starts to 2015, but also provided global headlines in accruing several of the biggest (and, yes – oldest) current names in the sport.

If Andrea Pirlo’s sumptuous Gotham debut in his club’s 5-3 victory over Orlando City last week wasn’t enough to turn heads, the news of Didier Drogba’s arrival in Montreal spurred a mob scene at Pierre Elliott Trudeau this week, along with hopes that L’Impact – a club whose owner Tony Saputo once lamented as lacking a “buzz” before the current season – will step on the gas between now and October.

Somewhat left behind in all this fervour is the seemingly forever-delayed introduction of Frank Lampard to NYC FC, struck down of late by calf-strain. To give a sense of the epic wait, New York Daily News columnist Sam Bondy snarkily noted that Pirlo’s debut match last weekend coincided with the year-long anniversary of the first announcement of Lampard’s arrival, and proceeded to list all the major global (and other-worldly) events that transpired in the same timespan.

New York City coach Jason Kreis did, however, give fans hope ahead of this weekend, telling reporters: “I’ve said this every single week, but this time I think I can say that I actually feel it – [Lampard] should be ready,” a statement that sounded more like a prayer than a promise. Nevertheless, there should be enough talent in the side to see City leapfrog the visitors into the final Eastern playoff spot, Lamps’ absence be damned.

Can New England continue turnaround against Toronto FC?

The New England Revolution haven’t had a great summer so far, losing six consecutive league matches, a trend which ended with a win (1-0 vs NYC FC) and a draw (2-2 with the Chicago Fire). That streak was two matches shy of their eight-game losing skid at roughly this time last year, the season in which they went on to be MLS Cup finalists.

Though it was not the single cause, that 2014 comeback was spurred in part by the late August arrival of Jermaine Jones, the same American player who watched last week’s game against Chicago from the sidelines after a two month-long surgery-related absence.

The chances that Jones will spark another miraculous repeat are slim. Heaps noted Jones is “day-by-day,” and it’s not clear whether the coach will play him ahead of the defense, if he starts at all against Toronto FC. Meanwhile, New England can at least take solace in the fact that while Toronto have been scoring bags of goals thanks to the Atomic Ant Sebastian Giovinco (who is doubtful ahead of this weekend), they’ve conceded nearly as many – 12 in their last four matches. Moreover, TFC will be arriving at Foxborough without several key starters, as Michael Bradley is out and Jozy Altidore questionable.

Seattle needs to start scoring yesterday

The Sounders are hardly the Bad News Bears but boy, things aren’t going so well in Sigi Schmid’s universe. The club have lost seven of their last nine matches, but perhaps more worryingly, they’ve stopped scoring: their last goal was a Tyrone Mears winner in early July against DC United. Meanwhile their three previous matches have been 1-0 losses, with all three losing goals conceded after the 80th minute. Statistical noise perhaps, but certainly not fun to endure as a player and with possible, unseen consequences for team morale.

This weekend, they host the still competitive Vancouver Whitecaps, a team with an impressive 6-2-4 away record this season and with various players like Nicolas Mezquida who have stepped up to fill in for their injured or absent peers. Last weekend, despite the continued absence of Pedro Morales, Carl Robinson’s Caps managed a convincing 3-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes. Sigi will hope in the short term for a derby win, and in the long term, for the long overdue reunion of Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey up front.

LA Galaxy have golden opportunity to right road wrongs

It’s an old adage in MLS circles – you generally do well in this league by winning at home and aiming for at least a point a game on the road. Of course, this is nonsense; one can’t plan for these things, and clubs are likely better off playing the opponent in front of them rather than worrying about nebulous concepts like “away form.” Nevertheless, the Galaxy have perfected the home bit. Their statistics at the StubHub Center speak for themselves. Nine wins, two draws, and a single loss. Normally, for an MLS Cup champion, that would mean first place over all.

Yet as of now, Bruce Arena’s side are in third in the West, four points behind the white hot FC Dallas. Their road record this season is appalling, with no wins, five draws and six losses. Their latest road loss, a 3-0 disaster against a Houston Dynamo side for which the Galaxy defense practically rolled out the red carpet by conceding acres of space to the likes of Will Bruin and Brad Davis, was indicative to say the least. Moreover, hopes that Gerrard would hit the ground running so far seemed to have been premature, and Panamanian keeper Jaime Penedo made a shock exit this week, replaced in hasty fashion with Orlando City’s and former Galaxy keeper Donovan Ricketts.

It appears a visit to the still struggling (though not utterly lifeless) Colorado Rapids is just what the doctor ordered.