Copa América has MLS Players (and Fans) Partying Like It’s 1994
There’s still one lingering question: How will the tournament affect the MLS season?
It’s a week before Copa América Centenario kicks off at Levi’s Stadium, and America’s biggest soccer summer since 1994 is about to begin. The rosters are set, the players are in training camps, but before it starts, there’s still one lingering question: How will the tournament affect the MLS season?
Heading into the season’s 12th week, there are no runaway favorites. Even the improbable run by the Colorado Rapids has experts more anxious than confident. Fans are still adjusting to Pablo Mastroeni’s mustache-less face — to say nothing of his tactics. Real Salt Lake, FC Dallas, and the Los Angeles Galaxy are right behind Colorado in points per game. None of the four are losing too many players to international tournaments.
It’s tough to see Real Salt Lake pull out wins without Kyle Beckerman, or FC Dallas keep time without Ecuadorian midfielder Carlos Gruezo. UEFA Euro 2016 may be a bigger issue for the Los Angeles Galaxy, even if they managed earlier stretches without Robbie Keane. Gyasi Zardes is a lot of fun, but not yet a complete player.
The Western Conference’s second-tier teams have it much rougher. The Vancouver Whitecaps have been maddening enough without having to play without defensive anchor Kendall Waston and reliable contributors Christian Bolaños and Blas Pérez. A Sporting Kansas City side without Matt Besler and Graham Zusi just looks weird. Dog-mowing-a-lawn weird. And that’s before you bring up Soni Mustivar, who was coming into his own both in Kansas City and with Haiti.
It’s the San Jose Earthquakes, who are hosting (sort of) the June 3 Copa América opener at Levi’s Stadium in nearby Santa Clara, who are really getting shafted. They were a fringe playoff team even before learning they’d lose Chris Wondolowski to the U.S. Men’s National Team bench for at least a couple of matches. The strange prisoner’s dilemma surrounding the striker spot between Wondolowski and Seattle Sounders FC’s Jordan Morris had to be tough for fans to process: do you hope your guy gets the honor — and misses important matches against conference rivals? Or do you hope the bright, shining star of the rival Sounders gets the call instead? Either way, it’s tough to see San Jose keeping pace without the beating heart of the team.
It somehow gets worse for the shirtless Quakes fans from there. #Panamaniacs Aníbal Godoy and Alberto Quintero will be working their magic for Panama. Simon Dawkins will suit up for Jamaica. That’s four key starters gone from a team that doesn’t have much depth. Either the young trio of Fatai Alashe, Tommy Thompson, and Matheus Silva will build something special, or the Earthquakes may find themselves looking up at nearly everyone by the time they host the MLS All-Star Game. It’s either incredibly exciting or wrenchingly terrifying, depending on whether you’re a glass-half-full type — or the other kind.
The Eastern Conference is far less damaged, if only because it’s so tightly packed that there’s little room to fall. André Blake may be the only absence for the Philadelphia Union, but he’s also the first goalkeeper the club has truly felt confident about since its inception. Both Matt Jones and John McCarthy remain largely unproven at this level.
Neither New York team — New York City FC or the New York Red Bulls — can feel too bad about missing a defender, since neither has fully solved its defensive issues anyway. The same goes for the Montreal Impact and D.C. United, who are losing important players (Johan Venegas for Montreal; Steve Birnbaum and Álvaro Saborío for D.C.) from sides with identity questions that extend beyond personnel. Neither the Chicago Fire nor the Columbus Crew is losing anyone significant, which is, well, something to celebrate — though they might wonder why they don’t have more Western Hemisphere stars worth poaching in the first place.
Will Toronto FC miss Michael Bradley? The obvious answer is “duh,” but the bigger news out of Toronto camp is that Sebastian Giovinco will not join Italy at the Euros. Compared to the 2015 MVP, Bradley is slightly more replaceable. His stalwart defensive midfield play can be patched together by the likes of Will Johnson and Jonathan Osorio — at least a little bit, and at least for the club thrilled to have “Seba” for June.
It’s a whole batch of wild cards for the world’s wildest summer league, even before injuries start piling up. Copa América may shake things up in MLS, but it won’t be the last factor to test depth — especially for thin squads like San Jose and perhaps Colorado. It could be worse for everyone else. Or, if clubs like Real Salt Lake and Philadelphia Union can’t replace an invaluable cog, the summer tournament could spark a downward spiral.
