Five things to watch: NY Red Bulls vs. DC United, RSL vs. Seattle Sounders

By Kyle McCarthy

The Houston Dynamo and Los Angeles Galaxy booked their places in the conference finals on Wednesday, while two more teams will join them Thursday night. Here are five points to watch as DC United visits New York (series tied 1-1 on aggregate) and Real Salt Lake hosts Seattle (series tied 0-0 on aggregate):

1. Dealing with Athena’s remnants: Poor weather forced MLS to postpone Wednesday night’s match between DC United and New York. The conditions shouldn’t be an issue on Thursday, but the state of the field could pose significant problems for both teams. The surface at Red Bull Arena does not rank among the best in MLS in ideal circumstances. This scenario certainly does not fall under that heading.

2. Mental and physical hurdles: It isn’t easy to prepare for a match on consecutive days. Keep an eye on potential strains and tweaks as players work their way into the encounter. Also worth noting: United, in particular, wanted to play Wednesday night. Will the lag time diminish that ambition?

Nov

Five things to watch: Seattle Sounders vs. Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake visits Seattle Sounders Friday to kick off the semifinal round. Here are five points to watch ahead of the first leg at CenturyLink Field:

1. Will Eddie Johnson play?: Johnson suffered a left adductor strain in the 1-0 defeat at Los Angeles on Sunday night. Seattle coach Sigi Schmid hasn’t ruled him out of this match, but he probably won’t feature from the start. If Johnson isn’t in the lineup, then Seattle loses its most direct option up front and turns into a side that must operate more intricately in the final third to score goals.

2. If Johnson can’t play, then how will Schmid replace him?: The veteran boss isn’t short of options. Sammy Ochoa offers the physical presence (if not the speed) Johnson usually provides. David Estrada and Steve Zakuani present options to stretch the Real Salt Lake back four. Mauro Rosales supplies ingenuity if he slides up from his usual spot on the right side of midfield. All four players represent viable choices to fill the void. It is up to Schmid to figure out how to best use the pieces available to him.

3. Fullbacks versus wingers: The key tactical matchup likely involves Seattle’s wide players against RSL’s fullbacks. RSL boss Jason Kreis asks a lot of Tony Beltran and Chris Wingert. They usually assume much of the defensive responsibility against the wide players with RSL’s narrow diamond midfield (admittedly, Will Johnson scurries about to provide additional support). The fullback duo must get their positioning and their spacing right to keep Seattle from moving quickly through midfield and piling on the pressure.