The last time Mission Valley saw playoffs in a major league sport was January 17, 2010. The San Diego Chargers hosted the New York Jets in a thrilling game where the Jets kicked a late field goal to put an end to the postseason run of the hometown team.

We all know how that saga ended with the Chargers choosing to move to Los Angeles heartbreakingly.

Many San Diegans had deep-rooted love for that franchise, some spanning generations. In a community where the people embrace you if you stand to represent them. In a place where a fanbase is family. Where people choose to pay big to see their teams, even if it means saving elsewhere due to the high cost of living in San Diego.

Standing for their team that has “San Diego” in front of the name means everything to these fans.

Sure, the San Diego Padres have taken over the fanbase in recent years and capitalized on the void left by the fleeing Chargers. The Padres have seen success recently, but haven’t been successful in bringing home trophies. Now the Padres share that excitement with the newest kids on the block – San Diego FC.

On Sunday, Snapdragon Stadium and San Diego FC will feel the atmosphere of the playoffs, the same one that was felt at Petco Park last year.

Playoffs are a Different Tournament

San Diego FC takes on the Portland Timbers in a best-of-three first round of the MLS playoffs. There is something to be said about playing a team three times in a row, potentially four.

The last meeting was in Portland, where SDFC beat the Timbers 4-0 in dominating fashion on MLS Decision Day. That result should not be taken for vain.

“The playoffs are a different tournament. I think we need to forget what we did in the past and focus on what we are going to do on Sunday”, said SDFC midfielder Anibal Godoy.

He’s right — the postseason changes everything. Teams elevate their level, and the opponent you played last week won’t look or play the same when everything is on the line. The Timbers will, without a doubt, reevaluate San Diego FC.

The coaching staff will come up with a new game plan, and the team will learn from their mistakes. San Diego FC will need to be prepared to stay ahead of the game by playing with fresh tactics and trying new things.

Timbers Find Their Form

Portland Timbers beat Real Salt Lake on Wednesday night in a wildcard game to advance to the first round of the playoffs. Felipe Mora was a big contributor for the Timbers as the striker got on the scoresheet twice in the first half.

The Timbers played in a 4-2-3-1 formation, a game tactic that found them more success than the 3-4-3 they instituted just a few days before that against SDFC.

Will the Timbers try the same 4-2-3-1 formation against SDFC on Sunday? It would make sense to switch things up and go with what’s working.

While the Timbers would love nothing more than to come away with three points, their strategy will rely on keeping the SDFC frontmen from getting on the scoresheet. Perhaps, they implement a style that saw other teams have success against San Diego while playing in a low block.

Adjusting in the Right Ways

Patient off-the-ball defending and stacking numbers in the back while hoping for a breakthrough up front has worked well for teams taking on SDFC lately. Head coach Mikey Varas and co. will need to get creative with tactics to be ready to face that kind of opposition from Portland.

Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano is back training with the team this week after a spat with staff in the locker room following his being pulled early from the Houston match.

Chucky acknowledged his wrongs in an Instagram post, noting that he is a passionate player and sometimes the passion gets the best of him. After all, he is human and is allowed to make mistakes. All that matters for San Diego now is that he’s said his apologies and is trending to be back on the field on Sunday.

Chucky provides the much-needed creativity up front that San Diego has lacked for most of the season. While holding possession has its benefits, that playstyle doesn’t clash well with a low block without creativity in the final third.

Anders Dreyer and Chucky will need to work together through Pellegrino, Baird, or Ingvartsen to be dangerous in front of the goal and capitalize on their opportunities.

SDFC’s primary goal will be to find the back of the net early. As seen in Portland, scoring first completely changed the game — it forced the Timbers into mistakes as urgency and panic set in on their defensive end.

It Begins Sunday!

The atmosphere is Snapdragon Stadium will be electric on Sunday night. The fanbase has been starved for a deep playoff run, and SDFC, in their inaugural season, can deliver big time. The million-dollar question is, will they?

Catch the action this Sunday, Oct. 26th, on Apple TV MLS Pass and on the radio by tuning in to San Diego Sports AM 760.

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Dmitry Anisimov

Dmitry Anisimov is a San Diego native who played soccer up to the college level when he represented the SDSU Men’s Club Soccer team. Growing up in San Diego, Dmitry is a fan of all the home teams but he specifically couldn’t wait until San Diego got an MLS team. Once that dream became reality, Dmitry married his love for writing and the game of soccer to portray a voice of the San Diego soccer community. There is a deep-rooted love of soccer culture in San Diego and Dmitry hopes to bring it to light through his pre and post-game coverage of all things San Diego FC.