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pictures are worth 1000 words, that’s why there’s not photo. too many painful words.

MLS playoffs. I’m gonna try to have this not sound horrible, so I’ll keep it short. I’d love to hear the reaction out there in soccer-land. Here we go, after the jump…

For the first time in my life I’ve watched every MLS playoff game. I made it my job, which I guess it kind of is in a self-imposed imprisonment kind of way. Even with a few games going down to the wire – most notably the Fire-Revs game and the Dynamo-Chivas USA game, and a certain Clint Mathis goal – the soccer itself was pretty ugly. Forget the overtime and the last minute goals, what about the 90 or 120 minutes in between? Teams are supposed to be running at full bore at this point in the season. Meanwhile, the defensive line with the ‘best defender’ looked horrible against a team that didn’t even deserve to be there. Soccernet’s Jeff Carlisle wrote, “There were heart-stopping goals, enough controversy to fill an entire season and a slew of clutch performances.” That’s not what I’m looking for down deep. Every game has clutch performances and goals, heart-stopping ones at that, and I’ll trade controversy for just an ounce of the beautiful game any day. Maybe I should be tempering my expectations, but a pro team is a pro team, and I expect them to play as such, especially in the playoffs. While no doubt there were some strong individual performances, not a single team seemed to play as one for any length of time – the Rapids probably faired best, which of course is the team I am least familiar with (something to change come next weekend). It left me frustrated and needing to watch a non-MLS soccer saved on my DVR to recover. Lets hope the conference finals bring out the best, or at least better.

Maybe it’s because my last memory is of the Houston game, which even Carlisle calls “death by a thousand cuts.” Or maybe I’m just salty because my Chicago pick burned out while Grant Wahl’s pick, which I chastised no less, is sitting pretty right now (as long as Clint Dempsey returns to complete his so-called Swan Song). But as with the rest, Chicago didn’t play well, trying to protect their aggregate lead instead of playing the game they were in, something I disdain as much as diving, and so far, no matter what Jeff Carlisle says (I have nothing against Jeff, I’m just kind of in shock over how praise-worthy he thinks these playoffs have been), MLS has been going head-first into the deep end.

Think it’s just me? Kyle Brent, one of our TIAS contributors - read his Diary Project entry here - had this to say of his first live MLS experience…

“Went to the DC v. NY playoff game last night. My first MLS game. I was thoroughly surprised with the turnout and enthusiasm in the crowd. Much like the world cup though, the fans outperformed the players. What was most remarkable to me was the lack of pace and organization on the field. I expected the live game to be quicker. Passes were soft and slow. judgment was piss poor. Quite frankly, I expected more out of the playoffs with more at stake (theoretically). I can’t say I’d travel outside my city to see the finals.

Perhaps the greatest deficit I’ve noticed in the American game is vision. It’s a much more cerebral game than most sports. Raw ability only goes so far, and strict assignments don’t work very well b/c the game is too organic and fluid. I fear this is a by-product of our timeout-happy sports culture where coaches can micro-manage and pause every time an adjustment is made.”

Can anyone disagree? I desperately want something positive to say, but I guess I’ll have to wait and hope for next week, or just go re-read Carlisle’s column.