The Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs are underway! And for Round One, at least, we\u2019re settling into a Best-of-3 grind in which we\u2019ll see adjustments and counter-adjustments as underdogs try to pull off the upset and favorites try to hold serve and make it chalk.<\/p>\n
With that in mind, let\u2019s take a spin around the Eastern Conference and see what we saw in Game 1s.<\/p>\n
Game 1 in a nutshell:<\/strong> Nashville<\/a> came out ultra-defensive after they got blasted in the second half of their Decision Day loss<\/a> to the Herons<\/a>, and thus let Leo Messi<\/a> & Friends dictate terms.<\/p>\n This was all pretty one-sided, and I think the momentum chart and stats do a good job of telling the story:<\/p>\n One point I want to make is that while Miami are generally thought of as a pretty, high-possession team \u2013 they like to have the ball, and any time you\u2019ve got Bar\u00e7a DNA in the engine room, you\u2019re going to know how to string passes together \u2013 they\u2019re actually at their best forcing turnovers and then getting out quickly into transition. Which is exactly how they scored their first goal in this one.<\/p>\n Head coach Javier Mascherano deserves some praise here. There\u2019s nothing novel or overly sophisticated about what this team does; they simply have a good structure (most of the time), and everybody buys in. That then provides the platform for Messi, Luis Su\u00e1rez<\/a>, et al to make goals happen.<\/p>\n From Miami:<\/strong> There shouldn\u2019t be any changes. They settled into a 4-2-3-1 down the stretch with Messi playing as a true No. 10 under Su\u00e1rez, Tadeo Allende<\/a> (who got the second goal in this one, which turned out to be the game-winner) on the right, and a secondary playmaker on the left.<\/p>\n That is good! That is balance. I know that Allende, in particular, can frustrate fans \u2013 he had one of the misses of the century in this one \u2013 but the way he stretches the field off-ball is absolutely necessary to make this work, and he\u2019s developed some real synergy with Su\u00e1rez in particular.<\/p>\n I think there will be a temptation, on Mascherano\u2019s part, to drop one of the wingers (it was Allende and Baltasar Rodr\u00edguez<\/a> for the first 70 minutes of Game 1) to add Yannick Bright<\/a> in central midfield and push Rodrigo De Paul<\/a> up into what would nominally be an attacking spot.<\/p>\n He shouldn\u2019t do that, though. Keeping actual attackers out there forces Nashville\u2019s fullbacks to stay deep and defend, and if they\u2019re staying deep and defending, then the \u2018Yotes really struggle with ball progression.<\/p>\n From Nashville:<\/strong> So on the one hand, you could argue that head coach B.J. Callaghan\u2019s big personnel gamble in midfield \u2013 dropping Gast\u00f3n Brugman<\/a> and putting Bryan Acosta<\/a> in at d-mid \u2013 paid off, as the \u2018Yotes only conceded three goals instead of the five they coughed up on Decision Day.<\/p>\n On the other hand, you could say it didn\u2019t, since Nashville simply couldn\u2019t progress the ball. Acosta\u2019s a destroyer, not an orchestrator, and with him pulling the strings, there was a massive dislocation between the midfield and the front line.<\/p>\n I\u2019m guessing we\u2019ll see Brugman in the XI from the start, and maybe Alex Muyl<\/a> for Shaffelburg. I also expect Nashville to press like mad for the first 15-20 minutes.<\/p>\n What shouldn\u2019t be lost in any of this is that they put Miami under real pressure once they switched to their typical 4-2-2-2 for the final 15 minutes, and deserved that late consolation goal. I think it\u2019s a good bet we see them with that look from the start, even if doing so risks opening the game up and turning it into a shootout.<\/p>\n Game 1 in a nutshell:<\/strong> The Jonathan Bamba<\/a> game!<\/p>\n Chicago<\/a>‘s winger had one insane midfield dummy that turned into a 1-0 Philly lead, a soft giveaway that turned into a 2-0 Philly lead, scored a goal to bring it back to 2-1, and then assisted Jack Elliott<\/a>\u2019s screamer to make it 2-2 just before the full-time whistle blew.<\/p>\n Then the teams stepped up for the PK shootout and Bamba\u2026 somehow didn\u2019t take one?<\/p>\n It was a perfectly \u201cchaotic neutral\u201d performance from the DP, and Philly<\/a> \u2013 who pressed in their usual 4-2-2-2, but didn\u2019t turn it into anything truly dangerous until the game\u2019s final 25 minutes \u2013 obviously thrive in chaos. It\u2019s their whole raison d\u2019etre, and they\u2019ll probably be satisfied with what they got out of Game 1 (with the PK shootout win<\/a> being the most important part).<\/p>\n I suspect Chicago head coach Gregg Berhalter will feel the same way. Unlike the two regular-season meetings between these teams, the Fire didn\u2019t look outclassed. Even without Philip Zinckernagel<\/a>, who was a late injury scratch.<\/p>\n From Philly:<\/strong> More of the same \u2013 the Supporters’ Shield winners have a game model that they\u2019re very committed to, as they should be. Their best chance in any game they play is to dictate the tempo by running the game completely off the tracks and making sure there is no tempo. Chaotic neutral, remember?<\/p>\n Now, I expect at least one change: Frankie Westfield<\/a> brings more on-ball quality than Nathan Harriel<\/a>, and there will be moments when 1) Philly need to actually string some passes around, and 2) Fire left back\/wingback Andrew Gutman<\/a> pushes forward on the overlap and gets caught out. When that happens, you want your right back to be able to hit the last pass.<\/p>\n The other personnel question is up top, where Mikael Uhre<\/a> (playing some of the best ball of his Union career over the past month) could get in for either Tai Baribo<\/a> or Bruno Damiani<\/a>. He changed the game once he got on.<\/p>\n The only reason Uhre didn\u2019t start in Game 1 was that he\u2019d picked up a muscle injury of some sort. If he\u2019s good enough to go for an hour in Game 2, I\u2019d expect that hour to be from the opening whistle.<\/p>\n From Chicago:<\/strong> Well, no Sergio Oregel<\/a> for one. He got baited into a very soft and utterly unnecessary red card by Kai Wagner<\/a> after Wagner and Brian Guti\u00e9rrez<\/a> got into a little dust-up immediately following Elliott\u2019s equalizer.<\/p>\n Tough moment from Oregel, but I liked the instinct. It was Guti\u00e9rrez, who only came on in the 73rd minute, who\u2019d taken the game by the scruff and really matched Philly’s intensity. Standing up for him in that moment was the right call and sent the right message.<\/p>\n Understand that Chicago had played pretty well to that point, but when you meet a team like the Union, you need to do more than \u201cplay well.\u201d You need to \u2013 and I\u2019m afraid I\u2019m going to sound like J\u00fcrgen Klinsmann here, but so be it \u2013 play with \u201cpersonality.\u201d Guti\u00e9rrez obviously has a gigantic, fearless personality.<\/p>\n Which brings us to the obvious Game 2 change: Guti\u00e9rrez has to start. And while that might not be ideal in the 3-4-2-1 Berhalter wants to play, there\u2019s really no way to justify keeping him off the pitch. If it is going to be the 3-4-2-1 from the start, then drop Bamba and play Guti inside-left; if it\u2019s the 4-3-3, then obviously play him as a free 8.<\/p>\n The other big personnel question is, obviously, Zinckernagel. I thought Maren Haile-Selassie<\/a> was really good filling in for the Dane, though obviously there was a significant difference in terms of end product.<\/p>\n If Zinckernagel is good to go, he will obviously play as much as possible.<\/p>\n Game 1 in a nutshell:<\/strong> I think you could argue that the Crew<\/a>\u2019s weakness (lack of a cutting edge since Wessam Abou Ali<\/a> got hurt) and Cincy<\/a>\u2019s strength (final-third quality, this time in the form of goalscorer K\u00e9vin Denkey<\/a>) told the whole story. And if you wanted to put it that way, I wouldn\u2019t argue too much.<\/p>\n But I would also say that Cincy\u2019s big weakness all year wasn\u2019t really a weakness in this one. What I mean is they defended quite well from the front and were organized through midfield, which meant Columbus never really kicked things into gear and started controlling the game with the ball. It wasn\u2019t a perfect performance from the hosts, but it was their best against an actually good team in a long, long while, and it was certainly their best against the Crew.<\/p>\n Remember: this team (Cincy, I mean; not Columbus) finished the year with a negative expected goals differential at -6.9. They haven\u2019t won games by controlling them; they\u2019ve won games by having more quality in both boxes.<\/p>\n Well, that wasn\u2019t really the case here as Cincy doubled up the Crew on both shots (12-6) and xGD (1.6-0.8). They weren\u2019t a ton better than the visitors, but they were better. And then when the moment came to win it, they had the talent to make it count.<\/p>\n From Cincy:<\/strong> Given how well the Garys played, I can\u2019t imagine head coach Pat Noonan wanting to make any changes. Yes, that means another start for Yuya Kubo<\/a> at left wingback. And while that limits the type of service they can generate from that spot \u2013 Kubo constantly found space in behind, but because he\u2019s very right-footed, he wasn\u2019t able to swing in a useful cross \u2013 there\u2019s no better option ready to step in as Luca Orellano<\/a> recovers fitness.<\/p>\n And look, I don\u2019t have any issues with \u201cPlay it again, Sam\u201d being the tactical blueprint of the day. Cincy spent the entire year getting stretched, but it barely happened in this one. That keeps the floor for any performance nice and high, and then it\u2019s up to the match-winners to raise the ceiling.<\/p>\n Feels like an Evander<\/a> moment is coming, to be completely honest.<\/p>\n From Columbus:<\/strong> We know that Wilfried Nancy has complete faith in his game model, and I think he\u2019s right to. The Crew aren’t really built to play any other way, and even in a match like this one, in which they were second-best, the game was still there for the taking until almost the 80th minute.<\/p>\n The question is, how do they get that final-third quality they need?<\/p>\n The answer should be trying both D\u00e1niel Gazdag<\/a> (I know, I know) and Taha Habroune<\/a> from the start. Hugo Picard<\/a> might come good eventually, but he\u2019s got no goals or assists in 600-plus all-competition minutes this year. He’s offered little in the attack:<\/p>\n Gazdag hasn\u2019t been great, but he\u2019s been better than that. And while Habroune is more of a connector or orchestrator than a pure playmaker, his IQ in terms of finding spaces on the field and then comfort on the ball in traffic actually compromised Cincy\u2019s shape a little bit. That could have the knock-on effect of freeing Diego Rossi<\/a> (and Gazdag) to drift into high-leverage spots off the ball.<\/p>\n Baked into all this is that Lassi Lappalainen<\/a> is actually a really good card to play off the bench. He\u2019s more dangerous as a super-sub than as a starter.<\/p>\n One other note: This is quite possibly Darlington Nagbe<\/a>\u2019s final professional match, so I would be very surprised if Columbus came out with anything less than full-throttle intensity.<\/p>\n Game 1 in a nutshell:<\/strong> NYCFC<\/a> clearly decided to push the issue in the first half, doing everything they could to get out to a lead because they knew the hosts \u2013 with their game model, and without their two best creators in Wilfried Zaha<\/a> (suspended) and Pep Biel<\/a> (injured) \u2013 aren’t the type of team that can play from behind.<\/p>\n And so they carried the game via possession, but also by pressing the hell out of Charlotte<\/a>\u2019s midfield. A very obvious pressing trigger was \u201cany time Djibril Diani<\/a> touches the ball,\u201d and they definitely generated some chances off of that.<\/p>\n But it was by winning a second ball that they found paydirt:<\/p>\n The idea, throughout all of this, was that the game could (maybe even would?) be won via a single moment. And honestly, what a moment it was!<\/p>\n The Pigeons didn\u2019t precisely drop their lines after that, but they were much more conservative with their wingers, and the fullbacks basically didn\u2019t overlap anymore. It looked like a classic back four.<\/p>\n Makes sense, right? The one thing you can\u2019t do against Charlotte is get caught out; everything else is manageable.<\/p>\n From Charlotte:<\/strong> First off, they\u2019ve got to set the tone with their own pressing and just generally playing on the front foot. There was none of that in this one until about the final 20 minutes, and even going back to last year, they were mostly passive in their three playoff games against Orlando<\/a>.<\/p>\n Second is they\u2019ve got to figure out how to make the game wider. It never really felt like NYCFC\u2019s fullbacks had to come out toward \u2013 let alone to \u2013 the touchlines, which meant that even when they were pushed into their own end, the backline had plenty of numbers in the box to deal with any sort of service. Nobody got dislodged, nobody got behind the play, nobody had to chase runners on or off the ball. It was all very comfortable.<\/p>\n Getting Zaha back into the XI (he will replace Liel Abada<\/a>, who was ineffective) is likely to be the only change, and the best version of Zaha can help. He can beat defenders off the dribble even from a standstill, and obviously he\u2019s still got the ability to deliver the final ball.<\/p>\n They need a big performance from him.<\/p>\n From NYCFC:<\/strong> I was pretty shocked that Pascal Jansen opted to play Kevin O\u2019Toole<\/a> at left wing (he\u2019s a fullback) from the start. It seemed unnecessarily conservative and almost retrograde.<\/p>\n But it worked. O\u2019Toole stayed high and wide, pinning Charlotte right back Nathan Byrne<\/a>. It was a smart, calculated risk on the road.<\/p>\n\n