By now it can be described as old news, the microscopic expectations ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC trounced in a debut MLS season that should go down as one of the most successful in American professional sports.
I bring it up only to note how the goalposts shift.
A team not long ago described as undertalented (wrong) and too one dimensional due to its style of play (wrong again) faces a different kind of skepticism entering season two.
What was a hot start in ºüÀêÊÓƵ, the so-called soccer experts are now cluck, is due for a reality-check regression. Don’t be offended. It’s a sign of progress, really.
And hey, picking City SC to take some sort of regular-season step back from a 17-win romp to a Western Conference title is smart.
I’ve said it before and will say it again, if season two swaps a more vanilla regular season for a more rewarding postseason experience, that’s a trade you gladly make.
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It would be proof coach Bradley Carnell and his team learned from and fixed whatever caused last season’s slow leak, which started immediately after the Western Conference title clinch and resulted in an immediate first-round playoff ejection by rival Sporting Kansas City.
Some can and will point to that slow fade of a season’s end as proof of regression to the mean. Maybe. But I actually think it could become a season-two spark. Not for a firecracker burst, either. One that fuels a slow burn.
Teams either play their best when it matters most, or don’t.
This one didn’t a season ago. It doesn’t mean it can’t flip that for season two. Seeing all that was accomplished in season one should embolden that belief instead of erode it. Upon further review, it’s not all that surprising to me that a first-year team filled with many players who were new to this league looked somewhat unprepared in the playoffs. What would be more concerning is if the underwhelming showing wasn’t learned from the second time around.
A recent conversation with the player most capable of leaving fingerprints on everything City SC does indicated the right dots are being connected.
“The regular season was really good, but then, when it counted, we did not have enough energy left,†City SC goalkeeper and captain Roman Burki said. “We have to play it smarter.â€
City SC no longer can be described as a team without star power. It is a team with stars that other teams could have had but didn’t find in time.
Midfielder Eduard Lowen is one of the best all-around players in the league. Striker Joao Klauss can score with the best of them and can be an even bigger difference maker this season if his health holds. Defender Tim Parker went from being a glue guy to an All-Star. Opportunities for others are there for the taking as well, for both newcomers and the internal options City SC loves to promote.
None have a bigger profile than Burki, though.
Need proof?
Starting this weekend, he is one of just a handful of MLS stars to join international superstar Lionel Messi in an Apple ad promoting the upcoming MLS season. Good company. For good reason.
City SC’s often-questioned (wrong times three) decision to bet big on a goalkeeper as a team cornerstone has paid off handsomely.
Burki, who was the highest-paid MLS goalie last season, became the first person in 25 years to win the league’s goalkeeper of the year award while playing for an expansion club. He notched 17 wins, the most of any first-year MLS goalkeeper in the post-shootout era, totaled the league’s second-best save total (123) and finished fourth in save percentage (74.55%) among goalies with at least 20 appearances.
According to MLS Data compiled by Stats Perform, Burki faced the third-most shots of any goalie and, factoring in how many of those shots were of the high-danger variety, allowed 12 fewer goals than analytics expected. That was another league best, by more than four expected goals.
Similar to City SC’s romp of a regular season, some see Burki as due for a step back. His incredible production can’t possibly be sustained, right? Counterpoint: Why not?
“I’d start by saying, in my opinion and I’m pretty sure everybody else’s on the team and staff, and everyone around here and in ºüÀêÊÓƵ, that it’s sustainable,†midfielder Indiana Vassilev said. “We see it every single day on the training field, where he probably does one thing a day where it’s like, ‘That’s pretty freaking good.’ And then, in games, he always comes up big. You kind of get to a point where you kind of get used to it. But we don’t take it for granted. We don’t.â€
“He’s a security blanket for us, for sure,†Parker said. “We know that if we make a bad mistake, there’s a really good chance he will be able to bail us out of it. At the same time, we hope he doesn’t have to make those kind of saves that get people talking.â€
“He’s played in two World Cups, Champions League. Bundesliga,†Klauss said. “He’s a world-class keeper. He played these kind of games because he has these skills. Great keeper. Great career.â€
And now he has a season’s worth of experience in this league, in this system, with these teammates and these coaches. He’s entrenched as a leader who inspires confidence and sets a tone. He’s starting season two by reminding everybody who will listen — and they all listen to him — about where it needs to end.
So, before it’s declared in definitive fashion that City SC took some big step back the moment regular-season adversity stirs, let’s see if this team is better prepared for its rematch with the postseason when that time comes. I think Burki will make sure of it.
“Obviously with the team we have, once again, the goal has to be playoffs, and then do better than last year,†Burki said. “That’s one thing we want to change. We need to figure out how to keep the energy after the regular season.â€