Colorado heads across the country for an inter-conference clash against D.C. United, and in the booth for the English broadcast will be Chris Wittyngham. The play-by-play man has been calling MLS matches for close to ten years now, having seen plenty over his time as an announcer. Wittyngham has also worked with CBS Sports on both UEFA Champions League and the Italian Serie A television coverage. He will be joined by Lori Lindsey on the English broadcast for Apple TV and MLS Season Pass this weekend.
Having been around MLS for close to ten years now, can you describe the growth of the league from then to now?
I think the overall level of the average player is considerably better than it was when I started calling games in the league. Obviously, with the influx of all the spending mechanisms for teams to bring in players, I still think there's a level of interest in the league entering the international transfer market as sellers rather than as buyers, but the buying aspect is still there too. Everything that happened around COVID, and then with the Messi era beginning, I just feel like there's that evolution of the internal transfer markets. The external transfer markets have made the league considerably more interesting and global.
Colorado will be travelling across the country to face D.C. United, in your opinion what kind of difficulties does that pose for a road team?
It’s always been interesting for me, because it definitely is something that you talk about before the game, but then when the ball kicks off, you don't really think about it after that and then the game just plays out in front of you. Yes, there are external factors that we don't think about, but realistically, the game is decided on the day. I do think that for teams that maybe are more international, that's a bigger deal to play in different stadiums, different services, the long flights. I feel like it'll be decided on the day, and stylistically, it's an interesting matchup of two teams that are fairly similar in my judgment, and it will come down to execution. So, I don't think anyone in the Colorado camp will be thinking about the distance. Every team, every day, is going for three points, right? I don't think that materially changes based off of the traveling circumstances. I think in the aggregate, over a long season, it obviously is very difficult. But on each individual basis, with a week to prepare, it's not like you're playing a midweek match, you have a week. You can get it to the market and play it as if it is any other away match.
What have your thoughts been on Djordje Mihailovic’s impressive campaign so far this season?
Yeah, he’s been sensational. A number of Team of the Matchday performances. I think this is a player that is in his prime years. For Mihailovic, a player who I still think probably wants to have another crack at Europe at some point, without wishing to already sell him off the Colorado Rapids, I think he wants to have another chance. If you're going to be somewhere, you have to be the main man on that team, and I think he is really taking on that role of main man on a level that maybe he hasn't previously in his career. The way that this Rapids team is now catered around him, he plays off that left side, but obviously he'll spend plenty of time in the middle as well. He's obviously a player that has all of the talent. It's always about making that talent turn into consistent game in and game out performances, and that's always the most difficult step to take. Through this early season, it appears as though he's taken it.
What have your thoughts been on the Rapids season so far?
You look at the last match against Seattle. The Sounders had just got done absolutely destroying Nashville the week before. That's a really good Seattle team. A point at home, for me, isn’t the worst result. That game for Colorado the week before against Houston, to give up a goal in stoppage time was incredibly tough. I think overall it's kind of easy to forget, because Colorado has been a bit more consistent in the last year and a half, but you can go back a few years, and this was a team that was regularly in the bottom half of the Western Conference and missing the playoffs. For the club to now be consistently in that playoff chase and to, game in and game out, know that they are giving the opposition a difficult game, that is something to be appreciated by the supporters and by everyone involved in the organization. Obviously, each individual result will get taken as it is. For me, looking at how the Rapids have been over the course of the last 10 years, this is a very good arc that they've gone through. We mentioned Mihailovic, but Zach Steffen is also having a great season in goal as well. You're getting a level of individual performance in this team that I think is something to be excited about. So, you win four of your first 10 games and you’re fifth in the West right now, level on points with Austin and Minnesota. This isn't a Western Conference where I think any team is terribly consistent. You look at how jam packed it is, it's really only Vancouver that has emerged, which no one would have had at the start of the season. Everyone is kind of flawed, and there is definitely MLS parity in the Western Conference. So, I think it's just surviving game in and game out and trying to turn some of those late results that go against you into three points.
How do you see Saturday’s match playing out?
This is an interesting one. Obviously, Chris Armas and Troy Lesesne both come from that Red Bull school of pressing, getting the ball high up the pitch, and playing direct to try and make life uncomfortable. Armas has always done it a little bit differently. I think Lesesne is this year as well. Last year, they were a little bit more direct. This year, they're trying to play a bit more to mix success. I think some of the issues that D.C. United have been defensive. You're starting to see a player like João Peglow come online for them. They've always needed a secondary goalscorer to play with Christian Benteke. For the Rapids to go there, I think it's going to be one of those games that looks more like a scrap and a fight rather than a game of pretty football. So, I think that's kind of what we're going to be in for in this game. I'll be interested in who can control that physical battle. D.C. is a team that plays in periods. So, they'll have their period where they're on top, they'll have their period where they're making some mistakes and things are going against them. So, I think it's who takes advantage of the period of the game where they're dominating. If you can get some goals on the board in that period when you're feeling good and things are going your way, then things maybe can turn into a victory.
