A mediocre first half to the season notwithstanding, San Diego FC\u2019s leaders seem to still know what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n
They spoke with appropriate candor about how things have gone this year. They left the soccer spin to what happens on the pitch.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot hide, we cannot make excuses,\u201d coach Mikey Varas said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt probably wasn\u2019t how any of us had it planned,\u201d said Tyler Heaps, SDFC\u2019s sporting director.<\/p>\n
The honeymoon has ended for a franchise that last year became just the second expansion team in Major League Soccer\u2019s three decades to reach a conference championship match.<\/p>\n
SDFC is 4-6-5 and sits 12th in the 15-team Western Conference standings.<\/p>\n
But a new opportunity comes with Wednesday\u2019s MLS restart \u2014 a road game against 13th-place Colorado and a playoff format that will admit nine Western Conference teams.<\/p>\n
While San Diego FC will try to master its high-altitude test in its first match following a nearly two-month World Cup break, the franchise\u2019s business side made numerous tweaks meant to improve fans\u2019 game day experience. The unveiling will come Saturday, when the team returns home to Snapdragon Stadium to face FC Dallas.<\/p>\n
SDFC began this season well, winning three MLS games and drawing two. From there, what beset a San Diego franchise that last year hummed to the conference\u2019s top playoff seed?<\/p>\n
Varas noted a \u201cstew\u201d of circumstances, while also pointing out, not incorrectly, that his second team has also \u201cplayed a lot of good football.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heap and Varas have focused on the way SDFC finishes. The club has missed out on 11 points after fading late, a sign that the depth wasn\u2019t up to snuff.<\/p>\n
Underlying factors included a spate of red cards far exceeding anything San Diego FC went through last year, injuries and schedule-related fatigue. Evident too: Opponents better understand how to attack Varas\u2019 club.<\/p>\n
The Hirving \u201cChucky\u201d Lozano saga, still unresolved, created headwinds that may not have fully subsided.<\/p>\n
A lot more could be said about the stew Varas referenced. It included a grueling stretch in the Concacaf Champions Cup, sending San Diego FC to the high-altitude Mexico City area twice as part of a four-game schedule.<\/p>\n
But the introspection must include a gaze at the big picture.<\/p>\n
Every MLS team must contend with chaos, some of it dished out by a schedule that won\u2019t be aligned with the international soccer world until next summer.<\/p>\n
MLS is a parity-driven league in the extreme. As such, San Diego received several gifts, not just headaches.\u00a0Three of the team\u2019s four wins have come against reduced opponents who looked ripe before the ball was first kicked.<\/p>\n
SDFC rolled by a combined 13-0 against CF Montreal, which fired its coach soon after; Austin FC, whose coach appeared to punt the game due to severe travel-and-attrition fallout; and Sporting Kansas City, which has the league\u2019s worst goal differential at minus-23<\/p>\n
San Diego\u2019s only other win came against a St. Louis City club that\u2019s 5-6-4.<\/p>\n
The long break for the World Cup has already brought one tangible benefit \u2014 the return of captain Jeppe Tverskov from injury.<\/p>\n
Able to work with a recharged and much healthier cast of players in recent days, Varas said he emphasized creating immediate turnovers, rather than just long balls, and speeding up the tempo overall.<\/p>\n
Heaps signed a defender and a versatile attacker while also continuing to seek a deal for Lozano.<\/p>\n
The summer transfer window remains open through the end of August.\u00a0The plan, said Varas, is to acquire both a difference-maker in the highest line and an attack-minded fullback.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s imperative that SDFC build up its depth. Next month\u2019s Leagues Cup will match Varas\u2019 club against three Mexican teams. Beginning with the Aug. 15 road test against LAFC, nine matches are scheduled in a 43-day stretch.<\/p>\n
The talent gap between SDFC and most of the teams it is chasing isn\u2019t great, offering hope of a second-half surge up the table.<\/p>\n
The chasm in points between San Diego and the conference\u2019s top four clubs, on the other hand, argues against Varas\u2019 club earning a top-four seed and home-field advantage for the MLS Cup playoffs.<\/p>\n
Count the Vancouver Whitecaps of 2025 and 2026 as San Diego FC\u2019s most capable rival, yet one that may also provide inspiration about what can be accomplished.<\/p>\n
Vancouver played nine Champions Cup matches last year yet remained an energetic force, going on to tie San Diego atop the conference standings.<\/p>\n
The Canadian club struck gold last summer, adding German star Thomas M\u00fcller \u2014 a brilliant reader of the game who, at 36, was looking for a late-career landing spot.<\/p>\n
Enhanced by M\u00fcller\u2019s rapid acclimation, Vancouver made its first MLS Cup final.<\/p>\n
The Whitecaps are now atop the Western Conference alongside coach Bruce Arena\u2019s much-improved San Jose Earthquakes.<\/p>\n
Why did M\u00fcller choose Vancouver?<\/p>\n
He ticked off several reasons. His comfort with sporting director Axel Schuster, a fellow German, and with coach Jesper S\u00f8rensen, a Dane who\u2019d played the midfield in Europe. M\u00fcller also cited his belief that Vancouver could win the MLS Cup, and Vancouver\u2019s standing as \u201cone of the world\u2019s most beautiful cities\u201d.<\/p>\n
San Diego\u2019s charms would seem a comparable recruiting advantage.<\/p>\n
SDFC\u2019s roster boasts two team-oriented stars. Anders Dreyer and Marcus Ingvartsen stand among the league leaders in assists and goals, respectively.<\/p>\n
If Vancouver\u2019s summer splash panned out, why can\u2019t SDFC do the same?<\/p>\n
San Diego FC (4-6-5) vs. Colorado Rapids (5-9-1)<\/p>\n
When: 6:40 p.m. Wednesday<\/p>\n
Where: Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, Colo.<\/p>\n
Streaming: Apple TV<\/p>\n
Radio: 760-AM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A mediocre first half to the season notwithstanding, San Diego FC\u2019s leaders seem to still know what they\u2019re…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407331,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[181,74,1254,76,75,1083,127],"class_list":["post-407330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-latest-headlines","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-fc","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}