Soccer columnist Paul Gardner certainly hopes that the introduction of Ruud Gullit as L.A. Galaxy coach means that so-called “sexy football,” a phrase coined by Gullit himself, is on its way to MLS next season. If sexy soccer is exciting, attack-minded play that’s easy on the eye, then Gardner says the band played by the New England Revolution and Houston Dynamo, this year’s repeat MLS Cup finalists, should be called “turnoff soccer.” At least, there’s a “depressing likelihood” that that’s what will be on display at RFK Stadium on Sunday.
In fact, he calls last year’s final — a 1-1 draw that was eventually decided on penalties — a “turnoff classic, a game that was dreadful beyond any telling of it.” So this year’s repeat has to be better, right? Don’t hold your breath, Gardner says, since the two teams are relatively unchanged since last year.
New England’s stodgy play in the playoffs (two goals in three games) is puzzling considering that the Revs were the league’s second-highest scorer with 52 goals in the regular season. The Dynamo managed just 43, but has scored six times in its three playoff games. That said, Houston’s games haven’t featured “much in the way of good soccer,” Gardner says. Rather, they’ve been “battles.” We are likely in for more of the same Sunday, which is a far cry from Gullit’s vision of “sexy football.”