Tesho Akindele
Akindele made his thirteenth-straight start for Dallas in their 2-1 win over Salt Lake on Friday night – it was his fourteenth start and seventeenth appearance of his rookie campaign.
Taking to the pitch slightly behind Blas Perez who led the line, Akindele was again instrumental in much of the good that Dallas achieved on the night. His best goal-scoring chance came in the 31st minute when he spread out wide right, allowing Andres Escobar to find him with an outlet pass. Akindele would move in-field across the top of the box, eluding defenders, but the chance evaporated before he could settle for a final attempt at goal, settling for a corner kick instead.
That same sort of energy and work would win Dallas a corner kick in the 50th minute that led to the opening goal – Je-Vaughan Watson bodying in a Michel delivery. The Calgary, Alberta-native would get on the score-sheet, picking up his second assist of the season, on Dallas’ second,
With Dallas reduced to ten men before half-time, chances to attack were limited, but Akindele did display some excellent control and hold-up play, eating up time and space, giving his defenders a chance to regroup, breathe, and recover some territory – a much-needed skill from a striker in such circumstances.
He was somewhat unfortunate in the 91st minute, when his effort to aid the defensive requirements saw Olmes Garcia’s consolation overhead-kick bounce off him to beat Raul Fernandez, staining the clean-sheet. But it was of little concern as his Dallas stretch their unbeaten run to ten matches and move alongside Salt Lake to second place in the West, three points behind league leaders Seattle.
Akindele was a guest on MLSsoccer.com’s Extra Time Radio last Monday, discussing his acclimatization to the professional game, as well as how good he is at Smash Bros and what he would be doing if he were not a footballer – hint, something about large power systems (School of Mines and all).
There was some disconcerting news for Canadian fans emerging this week; a familiar tale of a potential Canadian international with options of representing other countries keeping their possibilities open.
The relevant bits: “The Canadian team has contacted FC Dallas and let them know they are interested in me, which is really good. Unfortunately we have some club stuff coming up so I can’t go to the camp they have coming up, but I’m really honored to be contacted by the national team. It feels great.”
So he won’t be in the September camp, but has been contacted.
“I am about to get my US citizenship, hopefully within a month or so. I’ve been going through that process. I just kind of want to focus on my development and make sure I am good enough to play for any of those teams.”
Focusing on club football, understandable, but … sounds eerily familiar.
Wandrille Lefevre
Lefevre started a third-straight match for Montreal in their 4-2 loss away to New York on Saturday – it was his eighth start and ninth appearance of the season.
As the left-sided centre-back, Lefevre was involved in much of the action, struggling to keep a lid on New York’s dynamic attacking duo of Thierry Henry and Bradley Wright-Phillips. He was beat by Wright-Phillips for a header from an early cross, but Montreal keeper Evan Bush bailed him out with a good save, and Lefevre was sharp to clear the danger out for a corner kick. A similar play later saw Wright-Phillips hit the post with his header, but he was whistled for a foul, shoving Lefevre to win the ball. New York’s third goal saw
Henry was a handful on the night; he is simply unplayable when he is in the mood. Their first interaction was a collision off the ball that sent Lefevre sprawling and Henry continuing his run; the second would lead to New York’s opening goal. Henry’s alert move allowed him to
Despite those obvious struggles, Lefevre still racked up six clearances, five recoveries, five interceptions, and a tackle.
The French-born defender was able to show his wonderful passing skills on occasion, picking out Hassoun Camara with one long, cross-field ball that led to a blocked shot from Callum Mallace and then it was his
Lefevre also started and went the distance in Montreal’s 2-3 win at CD FAS on Wednesday – a match he spoke about (en Francais) with the club’s video team.
Jonathan Osorio
Osorio started his fourth-straight match for Toronto FC in their 2-2 draw against Chicago on Saturday – it was his sixteenth start and nineteenth appearance this season.
From the left-side of the midfield, Osorio
The Toronto, Ontario-native got forward well that night, picking his spots – once overlapping on Gilberto to break in alone on goal and cutting onto his right-foot to shoot, but his attempt was deflected wide for a corner kick. Both of his attempted shots were blocked.
Osorio also put in a good shift on the defensive side of the ball, accumulating nine recoveries, two interceptions, and two clearances, while committing a trio of fouls.
He
Will Johnson
Johnson started a 25th-straight match for Portland in a losing effort on Sunday, falling 2-4 to Cascadia rivals, Seattle – only Columbus goalkeeper, Steve Clark, has played more minutes than Johnson (2250 to 2249).
Alongside regular partner, Diego Chara, shielding the back-four from the midfield, Johnson was nowhere to be found on three of the Sounders four goals that afternoon – perhaps an explanation for why Seattle were able to score so freely.
A recurring theme this season has been how Johnson, when at home, has been given more of a free role to get forward, while on the road he is tasked with staying deep, providing cover for a rickety defense. It is possible that their good run leading into Sunday – winning three of five and drawing another - had obfuscated that they were still defensively vulnerable, despite the addition of solid pro Liam Ridgewell. They had given up seven goals through those five matches.
Free to get forward, the Toronto-born midfielder played a simple ball wide that led to a Darlington Nagbe chance before making such a strong burst forward himself, eventually finding space to put a curling effort on goal, but Stefan Frei was equal to the task – one of his two shots in the match, the other drifted high.
And it was a
Defensively, Johnson put in an early lunging challenge that caught DeAndre Yedlin – and was lucky to not see a booking for it – while collecting eight recoveries (five of which were in the opponent’s half), as well as a block and an interception. He would give an earful to defender Norberto Paparotto after the centre-back caught Chad Marshall with a stray arm on an aerial challenge.
Doneil Henry
Henry began TFC’s match against Chicago on the bench, but was called into action after 22 minutes to make just his second substitute’s appearance of 2014, when Steven Caldwell’s recurrent injury forced off the Toronto captain – it was his sixteenth appearance of the season.
Taking up the left-side of the centre-back tandem, alongside Nick Hagglund, Henry adapted well to the match, recovering on a Quincy Amarikwa break to force the Chicago forward wide before preventing the striker from getting a good shot on goal.
The Brampton, Ontario-native was again a threat on set-pieces, getting on the end of a Collen Warner free-kick at the start of the second half, but his header went wide of the near-post. And it was his
Henry would collect two such blocks, as well as five recoveries and three tackles on the night. After a rough outing last weekend in Kansas City, Henry could not be said to be at fault for either of Chicago’s goal – that blame lay elsewhere.
He
Russell Teibert
Teibert started a second-consecutive match for the first time since April on Saturday, as Vancouver fell 2-0 at Los Angeles – it was his twelfth start and nineteenth appearance of the season.
Playing alongside Mehdi Ballouchy in a new defensive midfield pairing, Teibert was rambunctious in his energy, reacquainting himself with Robbie Keane with an early foul, getting in a hard challenge after just minutes; reminiscent of the last meeting when Teibert got under the skin of the Irishman with a few hard tackles.
Keane would seek his revenge, twisting up Teibert near the corner flag to get in a cross after a few turns, and having a hand in both LA goals, including the second from Marcelo Sarvas, who was
Those momentary lapses plagued the entire Vancouver side that night, far too often giving LA time and space to make plays – Teibert was one of many players who were guilty of giving Landon Donovan a clear move to goal to get off a shot; luckily Donovan went wide of the target. One never wants to run around like a chicken with their head cut off, but recognizing when to protect space and when to pressure the ball is one of the tasks that the transition from a speedy attacking winger to a box-to-box midfielder will require of Teibert.
Never afraid of mixing it up, the Niagara Falls, Ontario-native would take a hand to the face from Sarvas on one interaction that saw the Galaxy midfielder yellow carded – more for persistent infringement than that particular trespass. And it was good fun to see Teibert remonstrating with the referee after Johnny Leveron was red-carded – never going to change his mind, but that the Canadian is taking up a vocal role on the pitch is encouraging for his prospects as a leader.
His passing on the night was superb, misplacing just six of many, but he rarely got forward with Vancouver under pressure for large stretches of the match. He contributed six recoveries, two clearances, two blocks, and a tackle as well.
Teibert
Maxim Tissot
Tissot appearance from the bench for Montreal in a third-straight match, replacing Ignacio Piatti in the 69th minute – it was his thirteenth appearance, all bar five from the bench.
Similarly, the Gatineau, Quebec-native entered Montreal’s match in El Salvador as a substitute. He was the subject of a feature interview with the Impact site, speaking about how he got into soccer in the first place.
Anthony Jackson-Hamel
Jackson-Hamel made his third-appearance of the season for Montreal in the waning minutes against New York, replacing Krzysztof Krol in the 81st minute with the Impact trailing by goal. The Red Bulls would seal the result shortly thereafter.
All three of the recently-signed, Quebec City, Quebec-native’s appearances have come from the bench.
The Rest
Kyle Bekker, Karl Ouimette, Patrice Bernier, Issey Nakajima-Farran, Nana Attakora, Kofi Opare, and Sam Adekugbe were all unused substitutes on the bench for their respective sides.
Karl Ouimette and Patrice Bernier both featured in Montreal’s midweek win, 2-3 away to CD FAS, in the Champions League. Ouimette would concede a penalty kick in the 51st minute, sticking a boot in on a FAS attacker.
All video and quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
Each week James takes a look at the contributions of Canadians in the league and the league as a whole.
You can follow James on twitter @grawsee or read more of his writing at Partially Obstructed View