Alexi Lalas MLS blog: Everything you wanted to know about the playoff Wild Cards... but were afraid to ask

By Mirror Football in Mirror Football Blog

Published 13:26 26/10/11

Welcome to MirrorFootball's new MLS blog, brought to you in conjunction with ESPN. Every week USA legend Alexi Lalas will be on hand to bring you the latest news from the States, and you'll also be able to watch the week's best goals and highlights...

***

Rejoice! The MLS Cup Playoffs are upon us. And this year, like a new and improved laundry detergent, we're promised more of everything.

More teams, more games, more excitement.

MLS, of course, is notorious for tweaking the playoff structure nearly every five minutes. This year is no different. The change involves the introduction of unique "Wild Card" play-in matches, which will take place mid-week.

These are one-and-done matches. Winners move on. Losers go golfing.

The wild card extravaganza — something that has existed in other American sports for a while now — features FC Dallas hosting the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday and the Colorado Rapids hosting the Columbus Crew on Thursday.

Now, as you know, I'm here to give you a Cliff’s Notes version of MLS. (Do you have Cliff’s Notes?) Stuff you can mention at the pub that will impress your mates without the hassle of actually watching every game.

So here are a few nuggets regarding the two Wild Card matches:

For New York, Thierry Henry returns to the field after serving a red card suspension. Hopefully he knows he let his team down with a stupid foul that brought about that red mist, so this is a chance to make up for it and justify the paycheck.

The Red Bulls drew 10 times on the road this season. Thankfully, it's impossible for them to tie on Wednesday, although it doesn't mean that coach Hans Backe won't have them try. If the score stays knotted they go into penalties — though, oddly, Backe said on Tuesday that he did not have his side practice them. Swedes are always so contrary

If you're a lover of drama and theatre, you want the Red Bulls to win this game, because it sets up a scrumptious series between them and the LA Galaxy in the next round, which kicks off on the weekend.

But winning will not be easy. Why? Because FC Dallas have the latest, greatest “it” kid of American soccer: Brek Shea. You may or may not have heard of him, but trust me, he is worth the price of admission. And someday, maybe someday soon, you’ll see him plying his trade closer to you: supposedly about 20 European clubs are watching him, including several EPL heavies.

Shea and Dallas, however, need to step up from the opening whistle and dash any notion the Red Bulls may have of becoming a Cinderella story. They have the talent to beat New York, but do they have the resolve?

The other Wild Card match features the Colorado Rapids, a.k.a. the defending MLS Cup champions. Though you wouldn’t know it from their play. They possess little swagger and have basically played this year as if apologizing for winning.

Their quality rests in their midfield engine: Jeff Larentowicz and Pablo Mastroeni. Just imagine a Scholes/Gattuso tandem, complete with the ginger hair.

Columbus is, well, Columbus. Nothing particularly exciting, sexy or dynamic. But they have a 13-goal scorer Andres Mendoza, and a pair of mercurial wingers in Robbie Rogers and Eddie Gaven. Bonus: Gaven’s beard makes him look like the lead singer of a band like the Decemberists.

Columbus won MLS Cup in 2008 with a team of quality, personality and style. But times have changed, and against Colorado, it will be all about getting down and dirty.

I'm really looking forward to these Wild Card games. They are something we've never seen before in MLS. And who knows how long the concept will last?

Next year we may see a new version of the MLS playoff structure. Of course it will be bigger and better.

After all, that's what happens with laundry detergent.

Alexi Lalas is a lead football analyst for ESPN - the live and exclusive broadcaster of Major League Soccer in the UK. Watch ESPN’s live coverage of the MLS Playoff Semifinals at 1am on Sunday 30th October. ESPN and ESPN America are the home of major sports from the US, including NBA, MLB, NFL Monday Night Football and NCAA US college sports. For details visit For details visit www.espn.co.uk/tv