Shkëlzen Gashi stands over a corner kick
By Matt Hoffman
Colorado is the feel-good story of this MLS season and rightfully so. Anchored to the bottom of the league table for the last two seasons, that’s where many pundits (myself included) had pegged them to remain this year. Instead they are one of only a handful of teams that can deny Dallas the Supporter’s Shield.
It’s quite easy, in fact, to get caught up in the narrative that Colorado’s path to glory is inextricably linked to USMNT stalwarts like Jermaine Jones and Tim Howard. Certainly both have played extremely well in their time in Colorado. However they’ve only played in eight and seven games, respectively, and only once together: a scoreless draw against Portland on the 4th of the July.
Jones did not play in the All-Star Game but was Colorado’s only All-Star. Leaving Houston with the ignominy of being the only team without an All-Star on their roster. To add salt to their wounds, they still probably had to pay royalties to Smashmouth for usage fees.
But to say it’s the acquisitions of Howard and Jones alone that pushed Colorado towards the stratosphere is not only over simplistic. It’s wrong. Don’t misunderstand; Tim Howard and Jermaine Jones would make any MLS club better. Sure, two of the team’s three losses occurred without Jones or Howard on the field. Both were away, early in the season and decided by a goal. Really the only troubling loss was the demolition derby at NYCFC where the team’s solid defense was eviscerated for five goals.
Under Pablo Mastroeni, Colorado has always been a solid defensive club. The trouble was on the other side of the ball. You can be forgiven for thinking of the Rapids as the Mastroeni’s Wayward House for Defensive Midfielders. On a team already comprised of Sam Cornin. Micheal Azira. Marco Pappas, Mastroeni put Jermaine Jones in the hole!!
MLS is the rare league where you could conceivably run a streak of scoreless draws to championship glory. Mercifully, this hasn’t been the case for Colorado this year having only two 23 games so far this season. Contrast that to last year where the team started the season with three consecutive scoreless draws.
So what’s changed? Most teams have one or two players who do the bulk of scoring. Not Colorado. Most of those players are strikers or center forwards. Not Colorado. Portland coach Caleb Porter remarked at a recent presser a tendency to move your creative players wide.
For many teams the risk (defensive exposure) outweighs the potential gains. However with a fantastic defense behind them, Colorado’s wingers are wreaking havoc. Marlon Hairston has owned the summer scoring or assisting in four of his last five matches. Hairston has been able to thrive because MLS teams have warmed up to the fact that Shkelzen Gashi is really freaking good.
Gashi’s season, like his signing, has flown under the radar. The Albanian international’s four goals might seem underwhelming for a game changer. But Gashi is a game changer and has played no small part in Colorado’s return to relevance. Let me borrow some parlance from basketball. Gashi can space the field like few wingers can. He is one of the few wingers capable of scoring from anywhere. Like Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors, you simply can’t let him drift off in space 35 yards out.
Even though he misses here, you can see that he is a threat. Despite his relatively low goal count, Gashi is sixth in shots on goal. One day Opta, ProZone or Joe’s Hot Heaping Soccer Stats Engine (TM) will track near misses and shots off the woodwork. My guess is Gashi will be near the top of that list as well.
Part of what makes Gashi so dangerous are his instincts. Watch him run into the box completely unmarked for the poacher’s choice. It doesn’t always work, but he is consistently dangerous as he able to both finish and create.
Talk about flying under the radar. Despite having a goal against the LA Galaxy, Gashi did not appear in the MLS Audi Rating.
Only a significant drop in form will keep Sebastian Giovinco from becoming the only person to win back-to-back MVP awards. When you are losing out to the only person more amazing than Fiona Apple’s (presumably) ex-boyfriend, that’s not necessarily disrespect. That also doesn’t mean what Gashi does is not as important to Colorado’s success as Giovinco’s form is to Toronto.
Sport in America has two obsessions that not prevalent elsewhere: MVP awards and the distraction of statistics. There are exceptions to that sweeping generalization, of course (The FIFA Ballon d’Or being the most obvious). One of the arguments against the award is it’s unclear what exactly you are measuring? Is it for the best player on the best team? The player who influenced the game the most? It could be the player who scored the most goals. How about the player who was the most “clutch”?
If, as the adage goes, you win championships with defense, why has been twenty years since the NFL has had an MVP who wasn’t a quarterback or running back? If defense takes a backseat in this award (it does), it’s no wonder that most leagues shun this sort of accolade. It makes strange bedfellows considering the “The team is the star” ethos that is MLS team building.
Other than spelling bees, Gashi won’t be winning too many individual awards this season. That should not detract from what has been a revelation. Gashi brings things that don’t show up on a stat sheet but I highly encourage you to watch Gashi and see how teams shuffle their form to keep him marked. Shooters in a slump are universally given two words of simple advice: “Keep shooting.”
If he’s this entertaining when he’s off, just imagine what will happen when he’s on. Something tells me, we have not seen the best of him yet.
