Shortly after one of a series of surprising results in Major League Soccer this past weekend, Columbus Crew coach Gregg Berhalter said what many found themselves realizing by the end of a wild weekend.
“This is a tough league,” Berhalter said after the Crew's 2-1 loss to Philadelphia. “You guys see the results today? You see what’s happening in this league? You can’t predict any results right now.”
As much as two weeks isn't enough time to panic about bad starts, or jump the gun because of surprisingly good starts, there still has been enough anarchy in the season's opening the weeks to wonder just what is going on.
Consider this: Every team that finished in the top six in the 2015 Supporters' Shield standings lost in Week 2. Four of those teams have begun the new season with 0-2 starts, while another — FC Dallas — suffered a 5-0 thrashing against the Houston Dynamo.
On the other side of the coin, the Montreal Impact and Sporting Kansas City have jumped out to 2-0 starts despite beginning the year with consecutive matches against playoff teams, and despite each starting the season without their best players from 2015 (Didier Drogba and Benny Feilhaber).
The other team to start the year 2-0? The San Jose Earthquakes, who just handed the Portland Timbers their first loss since Oct. 3.
So which trends should we believe, and which should be seen as blips? Here is a look at the four teams that have started 2016 with an 0-2 record:
For the New York Red Bulls, concerns about defensive vulnerabilities were paramount after Matt Miazga's move to Chelsea. Newly signed Gideon Baah looks like a capable replacement — well, at least before he completely fell apart in the second half of Saturday's 3-0 loss to Montreal. As much as the defense has raised some red flags, the fact that last year's highest scoring team in MLS has been shut out twice to start the season is a definite head scratcher.
The Columbus Crew's slow start looks to be more a case of lacking sharpness to start the season. Losing on the road to the defending champions wasn't a big shocker, but falling at home to a Philadelphia Union team in transition certainly was. Poor finishing and defensive breakdowns have helped cause the early slump, but we have seen the Crew show glimpses of their quality, which would lead you to believe Berhalter will have his team rolling again before long.
The Seattle Sounders' slow start can be attributed to a few different factors, including competing in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, and, more importantly, losing star forward Obafemi Martins just before the start of the season. With roster reinforcements expected to arrive, and defender Roman Torres working his way back to health, the Sounders shouldn't stay in their slump for long.
The Vancouver Whitecaps can point to a tough set of match to start the season as being part of the reason for an 0-2 start. Another big issue has been defensive breakdowns, and by none other than standout central defender Kendall Waston, who has been at fault on goals in Vancouver's two losses. The Whitecaps also have shown their immaturity at times as well, which is to be expected from one of the league's youngest teams.
As far as the teams off to fast starts?
Sporting Kansas City's defense has started the season in excellent form, having yet to allow a goal from the run of play. Offensively, Feilhaber's absence has been felt, but Dom Dwyer showed with his two-goal effort against Vancouver on Saturday that he's ready to have a big season.
The Montreal Impact's start is probably the most surprising because of the fact it has come with Drogba missing both victories in order to avoid playing on artificial turf. When word first hit that Drogba would miss four of his team's first five matches to avoid playing on turf, it sounded like the season could get off to a rough start. Instead, Ignacio Piatti has played some of the best soccer in the league and the defense has picked up where it left off last year.
The San Jose Earthquakes are riding Chris Wondolowski's consistent finishing and one of the league's stingier defenses to a very important start for a team shooting for the playoffs this year. It is easy to forget how close the Earthquakes came to making the postseason last year. Dom Kinnear is now in Year 2 in charge, and he has San Jose playing very well.
Week 3 should make things even more clear as some very intriguing matches fill out the schedule. Seattle and Vancouver face each other, while the Red Bulls play host to a dangerous Houston side that just thrashed Dallas.
Maintaining perfect records won't be easy for any of the 2-0 teams, with Sporting KC playing host to Toronto FC, Montreal traveling to Texas to face Dallas, and San Jose visiting the LA Galaxy.
ANDREA PIRLO SHINES IN NEW NYCFC SYSTEM
Though New York City FC's 3-4-3 formation didn't produce a victory Sunday, it did help Andrea Pirlo produce one of his best matches in an NYCFC uniform.
Pirlo turns 37 in May, and a big question facing NYCFC before the season was how would the team support Pirlo in midfield. Sunday's 3-4-3 formation provided a glimpse of one alternative. NYCFC played a high line, which helped limit the space Pirlo had to help cover. With ample support in midfield, Pirlo bossed proceedings, both in terms of possession and defensive contributions.
Pirlo finished Sunday's 2-2 tie with six successful tackles, the highest total any MLS player has posted this season. He also won 12 duels, tied for second-most in MLS in Week 2.
Toronto FC did its part to try and limit Pirlo's impact on the match, which worked to some degree since he failed to register a goal or assist. That said, he had the ball more than any player on either team, completing 68 of his 84 passes.
What will be interesting to see is how opposing teams attempt to neutralize Pirlo away from the cozy confines of Yankee Stadium's narrow playing field. Friday's meeting with Orlando City at home should show us whether we can keep expecting big games from Pirlo.
THE BEST OF MLS WEEK 2
Player of the Week: Andrew Wenger. The Houston Dynamo winger scored a goal and assisted on two others in Saturday's 5-0 rout of FC Dallas.
Team of the Week: Philadelphia Union. The Dynamo's 5-0 romp was impressive, but it came at home and FC Dallas made plenty of mistakes. The Union went on the road and beat a very good Columbus Crew team.
Rookie of the Week: Kip Colvey. The San Jose left back helped limit the impact of the Timbers right flank, which is one of the most dangerous in MLS.
Goal of the Week: Quincy Amarikwa. The San Jose forward raced past three Timbers players at midfield before lofting a long-range chip over Portland goalkeeper Andrew Kwarasey for a Goal of the Year-worthy finish.
