Player Focus: Key Performers in the 2015 MLS Conference Finals
It’s finally time for the trophies to be handed out, as Major League Soccer contests its Conference finals this weekend. The Columbus Crew and the New York Red Bulls will fight it out in the East, with the Portland Timbers and FC Dallas face each other for the Western Conference title.
All four sides will have their sights set on the MLS Cup itself, having reached this stage of the off-season, but who will be the key players that decide which two teams succeed in making it to 2015’s showpiece event?
By seeing off the Montreal Impact in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, the Columbus Crew have already pulled off quite the coup in the playoffs. Now they must eliminate another MLS Cup contender if they are to make the competition’s final.
Kei Kamara is the player that defines the Crew’s challenge, with the former Norwich City and Middlesbrough attacker 24 goals in 34 appearances this season, making him MLS’ top scorer. The Sierra Leone international is innately productive, averaging 4.2 shots on goal per game and even contributing six assists over the course of the campaign.
Wil Trapp will also be central to the Crew’s chances of making the MLS Cup final, with the 22-year-old the team’s midfield lynchpin, averaging 2.2. interceptions and 2.1 tackles per match, making him the protective barrier in front of the back four. Gregg Berhalter will also need Federico Higuain, who averages 2.4 key passes per match from his position as an attacking midfielder, in top form if they are to see off the Red Bulls.
Jesse Marsch’s side come into this conference final with the best defensive record in the East, and indeed the New York Red Bulls boast a perhaps unparalleled defensive resolution in terms of this season’s playoffs. As DC United discovered over two legs, they are a distinctly difficult side to beat.
That strength was built on the performances of both Matt Miazga (3.3 interceptions and 7 clearances per match) and Damien Perrinelle (4.3 interceptions and 5.3 clearances per match), but that pairing has been broken up for the rest of the season due to injury to the latter. Ronald Zubar has a task on his hands to slot seamlessly into the Red Bulls’ well-drilled backline.
Of course, with 18 goals to his name for the season, many will pinpoint Bradley Wright-Phillips as the most dangerous member of Marsch’s side - and with good reason too, given the 3.3 shots on goal he averages per game - but Dax McCarty has enjoyed a stellar campaign, making an astonishing 71.1 passes per appearance. He is the dynamo around which the Red Bulls revolve.
Caleb Porter wants his team to be among the league’s most dynamic, but in both conference semi-final legs against the Vancouver Whitecaps, the Portland Timbers found their greatest strength in defence - recording two straight clean sheets.
Perhaps that shouldn’t have been of any great surprise, with Alvas Powell and Jorge Villafana two of their best performers this season. The latter has even managed to contribute four assists over the course of the campaign. But the Timbers also boast more than their fair share of attacking threat too.
Darlington Nagbe made his US international debut last week, after earning a call-up on the back of his exceptional form of late. With the likes of Nagbe, Diego Valeri and Fannedo Adi on the pitch, Portland will never be short of potency in the final third. Valeri in particular is one to keep an eye on, with the Argentine playmaker averaging three shots on goal per game, as well as 3.1 key passes.
Unlike many of their MLS rivals, FC Dallas have built their success on a core of homegrown players, with the Frisco franchise now widely heralded as a model of self-sustainability for North American clubs. Don’t paint them as some poor, hard-done-by relation of this season’s playoffs, though.
Mauro Diaz is the epitome of FC Dallas’ identity as a team, with the 24-year-old notching eight goals and nine assists for the season so far. He averages 2.5 key passes per match from his position on the edge of the opposition box, but when coupled with the innate threat of Fabian Castillo (2.8 shots on goal per game) and Michael Barrios (seven goals and two assists for the season as a right midfielder) the potency of FC Dallas’ frontline becomes apparent.
At the back, Matt Hedges is also one of MLS’s best, averaging 4.8 interceptions per game - ranking him as one of the league’s most proactive defenders. What’s more, he plays a crucial role in moving the ball forward from the back, making an average of 32.3 passes per game, with FC Dallas seeking to keep the ball rather than gift it to the opposition.
Who do you think will come out on top in the 2015 MLS Conference finals? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below
