Dallas-New York highlights play-in round

Major League Soccer’s first foray into wild card playoff soccer commences this week, and while the new post-season format adopted by the league this year is built to make wild card teams endure a brutal road to have any hopes of a championship, it would be premature to write off the 2011 wild card class as incapable of making an impact in these playoffs.

You have a returning MLS Cup finalist, as well as the most expensive team in the league. Then you have two teams who have each won MLS Cup titles in the past three years.

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You also have plenty of star power in the wild card round, mainly in tonight's FC Dallas-New York Red Bulls tilt (9:00 p.m. Eastern, FOX Soccer), which will be drawing considerable interest from European scouts.

On one side you have Brek Shea, arguably the hottest prospect in American soccer; a player who has gone from promising newcomer to emerging US national team starter. Dallas also boasts European transfer target George John, who has small English clubs lining up to make him a winter transfer acquisition.

On the other side you have the Red Bulls and French star Thierry Henry, as well as US national teamers Juan Agudelo and Tim Ream. Agudelo should get the chance to showcase his talent in the absence of regular Red Bulls starter Luke Rodgers, while Ream will reportedly have scouts from Arsenal in attendance to watch him play.

The showcasing of transfer targets is merely a side note on tonight’s MLS playoff opener though. The bigger storyline is the battle between an underachieving and overpriced Red Bulls squad and a tired but talented FC Dallas squad.

The Red Bulls enter the playoffs intent on proving that they are, in fact, as good as we thought they were supposed to be when they were labeled a pre-season title contender. They spent much of the year falling well short of those expectations, but a strong finish to the season has New York looking like the lower seed most capable of making a deep run.

Key to the Red Bulls' hopes will be Henry, who will look to make a mends for his nearly-disastrous red card in the team's loss to Sporting Kansas City two weeks ago. Henry's red card could have cost New York the playoffs, but with that incident behind them, Henry will be called upon to provide goals as he has all season.

New York’s first step toward an improbable championship run will involve having to knock off an FC Dallas team that spent much of the season as one of the best sides in MLS. The grind of a heavy fixture schedule and the inevitable consequences of losing much of their impressive depth last winter led to a Dallas side that hit a wall in August, enduring an eight-match winless streak in all competitions before showing signs of recovering late in the regular season.

Now, instead of looking like the dynamic and dangerous side that knocked off favorites Real Salt Lake and Los Angeles in the 2010 playoffs, FC Dallas looks like a vulnerable team who might not have enough gas for another deep playoff run. Schellas Hyndman’s team can’t be written off, though: not with Brek Shea and Marvin Chavez providing dangerous attacking threats; not with a defense that can still stifle opposing offenses.

The Colorado-Columbus wild card match on Thursday doesn’t have the same star power, but will offer its own intrigue. On the surface, Colorado seems an easy favorite, with much of the same team that lifted the 2010 MLS Cup being back and with Columbus fielding a relatively young team that, lacking star power, ended the regular season in less than convincing fashion.

Colorado will look to trouble Columbus with its speed up top, something that worked well for the Rapids in last year’s playoffs, when Omar Cummings ran the Crew defense ragged. Yes, the Rapids did dispose of the Crew in the 2010 playoffs, but it came by the slimmest of margins (via penalty shootout), and the reality is these teams have completely changed how they're constructed.

The Crew completely overhauled their roster after last season, choosing to part ways with many of the players who helped Columbus win the 2008 MLS Cup. In the absence of players such as Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Frankie Hejduk, Columbus has relied on players like enigmatic Peruvian striker Andres Mendoza as well as centerback Julius James, two players key to Columbus’s successful survival in a season that was supposed to be a painful year of transition.

For the Rapids, the 2011 season has gone much the way the 2010 regular season did. Riding a strong defense and central midfield, the Rapids have coasted along as a second-tier Western Conference team. The big difference this year is that, unlike 2010, the injury bug caught up with the Rapids and they have been forced to cope without standout striker Conor Casey.

Casey’s absence forced Gary Smith to try speedy Sanna Nyassi at forward, an experiment that has exceeded expectations at times, but one that can’t be considered as reliable an option as the Casey-Cummings strike force was last season.

Whether Cummings-Nyassi can get Colorado to the playoffs or not, the speedy Rapids tandem should at the very least help Colorado navigate the first step of what will have to be a long and difficult road to a repeat MLS Cup title.

Here is a closer look at the MLS Wild Card Playoff Match-ups:

FC Dallas's late season stumbles have cast them into MLS's play-in round. (Photo: Brandon Wade/Getty Images)

FC DALLAS vs. NEW YORK RED BULLS

Season Series: The teams tied, 2-2, at Red Bull Arena on Aug. 13th; the Red Bulls won, 1-0, at Pizza Hut Park on Oct. 12th.

Players to Watch: FC DALLAS - Brek Shea, George John, Marvin Chavez, Daniel Hernandez. RED BULLS - Thierry Henry, Joel Lindpere, Rafa Marquez, Tim Ream.

Match-ups to Watch: Brek Shea vs. Jan Gunnar Solli along Dallas's left. Thierry Henry vs. George John through the middle.

Shea has been the toughest winger in the league to stop one-on-one, but Solli has proven to be a very smart and disciplined defender who can also force wingers to work defensively. George John has had an outstanding year, but he will have his hands full with Henry, who will come in rested and ready to shine.

FC Dallas wins if: Shea and Chavez have success finding space on the wings and getting into scoring positions. George John successfully shadowing Thierry Henry will also be vital.

New York wins if: Joel Lindpere and Dane Richards can make Dallas fullbacks work and can feed Thierry Henry with enough service. Jan Gunnar Solli must keep Shea from going wild.

Outlook: The Red Bulls are playing with confidence, something vital for a team with as much talent as they have. Conversely, FC Dallas looks like a tired team that still hasn’t found a reliable option at forward to keep defenses honest. If New York’s defense can avoid mistakes, the Red Bulls offense should create enough chances to knock off the home team at Pizza Hut Park. That said, if New York’s defense can’t contain Brek Shea, he’s capable of wreaking enough havoc to help FC Dallas hold off the Red Bulls.

Prediction: Red Bulls 2, FC Dallas 1.

Columbus will have to finally figure out Omar Cummings if they're to advance Thursday. (Photo: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

COLORADO RAPIDS vs. COLUMBUS CREW

Season Series: Series tied 1-1, with the home team winning both games (Colorado, 2-0, on Aug. 5th; Columbus won 4-1 on June 26th).

Players to Watch: RAPIDS - Omar Cummings, Jeff Larentowicz, Sanna Nyassi, Drew Moore. CREW - Andres Mendoza, Chad Marshall, Eddie Gaven, Will Hesmer.

Match-up to Watch: Chad Marshall vs. Omar Cummings. Eddie Gaven vs. Miguel Comminges along Columbus's right.

Cummings has often caused problems for the Crew, and his ability to attack from the wing can sometimes make him tough to track, but Marshall or Julius James must be assigned to keep tabs on the speedy Jamaican or he will once again find the gaps in the Columbus back-line. For Columbus, getting Eddie Gaven involved is a priority, something that could prove more difficult with the presence of newly-acquired Rapids left back Miguel Comminges.

Colorado wins if: Cummings and Nyassi can unsettle the Columbus centerbacks and Jeff Larentowicz can control things in the middle of the field.

Columbus wins if: The Crew’s central defense can shackle Omar Cummings and the Columbus midfield can win the battle on the wings, thus providing enough chances for Andres Mendoza.

Outlook: The Rapids will have the home-field advantage, and an experience edge against a Crew side that simply lacks the offensive punch to threaten a tough Colorado defense. If Comminges can shackle Gaven, and Drew Moor and Marvell Wynne can keep Andres Mendoza quiet, the Rapids offense will surely provide enough offense to give Colorado the home victory. In order for the Crew to escape with a road win, they will need to stifle Cummings and, more importantly, find a way to win the battle on the flanks.