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Week 4 MLS Roundup

 My note from the first game of the week is pretty simple, both LAFC and the Seattle Sounders are good, and the Sounders Bruce Lee kits are absolutely incredible. The Sounders are now back to back weeks without a goal, but I have no doubt they will find their form soon.

There were a lot of surprises this week, I didn't get to send my picks for this week out because I was prepping to travel to St. Louis to cover St. Louis City's historic win to open their inaugural season 4-0-0, you can read more about that here. My main point is I likely would have gone 0-10 on the week because there were some shocking results. 

The Chicago Fire managed a 3-3 draw against FC Cincinnati in front of less than 8,000 fans at a very cold Soldier Field on Saturday night. Speaking of shocking results, I've been pretty hard on CF Montreal this season and they pull off a big win over the Philadelphia Union. I don't see Jim Curtin's side getting distracted by a deep CCL run, but they may want to watch out after this one, though it is worth noting they are without Andre Blake right now. 

The New England Revs got a big bounce back win at home over Nashville SC. A lot of us probably overreacted to the late goals that led to the Revs falling 0-4 at LAFC last week. I still think they are a good team that will very much be in the playoff mix and possibly compete for another Supporters Shield. 

Both New York teams won at home this week with NYCFC getting a win over DC United and the Red Bulls got their first win of the season over the Columbus Crew. Toronto FC topped Inter Miami in the cold, you could tell Miami was looking forward to getting back to the warmth of South Florida. 

The Houston Dynamo got their first win of the season, and a signature win at that over in state rivals Austin FC. Hector Herrera scored his first MLS goal for Houston, and I think that Houston being good is good for the league. Elsewhere Minnesota topped the Colorado Rapids who may have lost Jack Price for the season after sustaining an injury. The night cap featured a draw between the Vancouver Whitecaps and the host LA Galaxy. Both teams will continue to look for their first victory of the campaign. 

Orlando City was shocked on their home pitch by Charlotte, who got their first result of the season. This is one that the Lions will look back on later in the season and kick themselves for not grabbing points. I know they are coming off of a big series against Tigres in CCL, but you have to take points at home from a team like Charlotte at this point in the season. 

Thiago Almada's time in the MLS is probably winding down. The World Cup champion is off to a blazing start for Atlanta United and if I were Atlanta I would be searching the transfer market to try and find anyone with the potential to replace MLS's best player. They spent the weekend destroying the Portland Timbers 5-1. I would be a little nervous if I'm Portland. Other than a first five minutes of the season goal against Sporting KC, they have dropped their last three games by a combined score of 4-10. 

Speaking of Sporting Kansas City they finally scored their first goal of the season with a Daniel Salloi 11th minute rocket against FC Dallas. The problem for SKC is that FC Dallas netted two second half goals from Alan Velasco and Jesus Ferreria to drop to 0-2-2 on the season. Sporting has to get Russell, Pulido and Kinda back, even if they are coming in super sub appearances for 15-25 minutes until they get fully fit. Teams have figured out how to limit Willy Agada's touches and they're focusing in on Erik Thommy and Daniel Salloi, plus Remy Walter has been having to play much further back than he did a season ago. I would personally like to see Radoja start at the six with Walter and Thommy flanking him with Salloi, Agada and Tzionis starting up front until Russell, Pulido and Kinda are back healthy. Peter Vermes has to trust his new guys too. He keeps starting and playing Zusi, Espinosa and Sweat when he needs to start rotating Pierre, Duke, Hernandez, Radoja, Leibold and Ndenbe. Speaking of new players, when is Dany Rosero going to get to make an appearance? I know Fontas and Voloder have held things together but it is a long season still ahead of us. 

A couple of final thoughts from week 4: I know it's early and it truly is an incredibly long season but dropping points at this point of the campaign will come back to bite you in August and September. Whether your team is fighting for a playoff spot, for seeding, or for the Supporters Shield. 



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