The current MLS campaign hasn’t lacked for drama.
San Jose’s 4-2 win over Colorado, reversing a 2-0 deficit with the last three goals in the final five minutes, was only the latest in a series of improbable comebacks.
A week earlier, Chicago rallied to beat Dallas, 4-3, erasing a 3-1 deficit on a pair of goals in the last two minutes.
Before that, it was Colorado’s turn to recover from a 3-1 deficit in the second half, beating New England away with three goals in the last 11 minutes.
It all makes for great excitement, but is it good for American soccer?
It’s troubling that five years into MLS play remains so inconsistent.
I’m not just talking about reversals during the course of a game, but also huge swings in performance from one game to the next.
The Quakes looked like potential MLS champs in beating Dallas, 5-0, early in the season, only to go down, 4-0, to Tampa Bay four nights later.
The only two teams that have shown any consistency have been Kansas City and Los Angeles.
Defending champion D.C. United is still considered one of the best teams in MLS, but it’s mired in last place, having lost games in every way imaginable.
U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena, the former United boss, must be worried, not the least because he was counting on as many as eight D.C. players in his national team plans.
Arena says players can play themselves on or off the national team on the basis of their play in MLS, the way players do everywhere else in the world, but it isn’t encouraging that MLS play is so ragged.
For better or worse, the one thing that a player can be counted upon offering when he plays internationally is some consistency, and we’re not seeing that in MLS this season.