Call week eight in Major League Soccer the week of making statements.
Whether it was Houston knocking off Chicago to show that it isn’t dead yet, or the Los Angeles Galaxy taking FC Dallas behind the woodshed, a handful of teams enjoyed strong performances that will help them climb this week’s SBI MLS power rankings.
The top two teams stayed the same, with Chicago holding onto No. 2 despite its loss. Toronto FC moved up after outplaying No. 1 Columbus in their scoreless draw, as did New England, which became the latest team to beat up on San Jose.
The nightmare continues for D.C. United, which lost yet another game to fall further behind the pack in the Eastern Conference. D.C. won’t have an easy time climbing out of the bottom of the standings. Not with two matches against Toronto FC looming.
Here is how this week’s SBI MLS Power Rankings shook out:
SBI MLS Power Rankings
1. (Last week- 1) Columbus Crew (6-1-1)
Crew went to Toronto playing for a tie, which it earned in pretty ugly fashion.
2. (2) Chicago Fire (5-2-1)
The offense sputtered, with its only goal coming on a set piece.
3. (4) Toronto FC (3-2-2)
Dominated Columbus but could not finish any number of chances.
4. (5) New England Revolution (5-3-1)
Snapping its home losing streak was nice, but beating San Jose isn’t exactly a measure of strength.
5. (3) New York Red Bulls (3-1-3)
Showed heart in coming back a man down to tie KC, but missing so many good chances is a cause for concern.
6. (8) Colorado Rapids (4-4)
Is Omar Cummings becoming the forward Colorado has been looking for?
7. (6) Kansas City Wizards (3-3-2)
The bye week didn’t exactly help the Wizards offense find its scoring touch.
8. (10) Houston Dynamo (2-2-4)
Could the champions be building momentum? The West should be worried.
9. (11) Los Angeles Galaxy (3-3-2)
Newsflash: Maybe the Galaxy has more of an attack than Beckham and Donovan.
10. (7) FC Dallas (2-2-4)
Remember how good the Hoops looked early in the year? Right, me either.
11. (12) Chivas USA (2-4-2)
When you consider the lineup on the field for Chivas USA’s stirring comeback against D.C., you can’t help but wonder if it’s the no-names stepping up or D.C. just being that awful.
12. (9) Real Salt Lake (2-4-2)
Not exactly an inspired performance in what was supposed to be a rivalry game.
13. (13) D.C. United (2-6)
Just when things were looking up for D.C., its defense falls apart and another embarrassing defeat leaves Tom Soehn scrambling for answers.
14. (14) San Jose Earthquakes (1-5-1)
James Riley’s world-class own goal makes you wonder if he’s the best finisher the Earthquakes have.
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Share your own thought on the rankings below.
And the Crew had two chances (Roogers, Moreno) that were better than all but one (Robert’s Blast) of TFC’s – so what’s the say exactly? TFC had 14 fouls in the game – but they weren’t hacking, right? Nahh, couldn’t be – must have been phantom calls. My bad – carryon delusional TFC fan.
Skinn –
TFC may have had a lot of possession, but so did Houston, and the Crew’s defense closed ’em both down.
TFC did a lot of hacking, GBS did a lot of posing, and Carver did a lot of whining, while the wind did a lot of blowing – and so did both teams.
In the end, it was a clogged, ugly tie by two teams that never found a rhythm, but neither looked like they were trying that hard.
Fid, what game were you watching? Not the same one as me. The hacking all day long? How about the diving and crying all game long on the part of Columbus. TFC had the ball 70 percent of the time, and they had 6 or 7 chances, but their shooting was terrible.
“Dominated Columbus but could not finish any number of chances.”
Err, Ives – please do explain the “number” of chances they had? Both teams had enough chances combined to count on one hand – the Crew with 2 and TFC with 3 – that were anything to write home about. It was a boring game that was clogged up by Sigi and his tactics – and only made worse by the continuous hacking all game long from TFC.
RSL deserves to be up higher. They had better chances than Colorado and played a better game. They just did what they always do on the road is not finish. Once they get a quality striker they will be top 3.
Yes, Omar Cummings CAN become a solid forward for the Rapids….if he would just learn to not try and take on the entire defense by himself all the time!
He’s got the finishing ability, now if we can just teach him how to dish off to help create.
I’m not too worried about RBNY missing so many chances – I think it was just an outstanding keeper performance. Offense looked pretty strong i thought. And that roll is growing on me.
Conway had 1 save! Nice D!!
forget what I wrote above, still not awake yet.
Omar Cummings product.
Go Bearcats
Crew #1 till the end.
I’d feel sorry for DC United, but they were the ones who let Christian Gomez go. That is their loss.
Missing so many chances is right. Even with the terrible refereeing it could easily have been RBNY 6-3 KC (KC did blow one or two chances, just not nearly as many).
Poor DC Scum. I agree. They don’t have enough rings. Pity party at my house tonight, bring your Waaaaaahing pants.
One defeat through seven matches for RBNY. I’ll take it. They’re creating scoring chances and playing some football. Gotta start finishing those chances though.
Okay, raise your hand if you thought in March that the Week 8 Power Rankings would have Toronto FC #3 and DC United #13. Anyone?
Ives, are we going to get the rest of that Q&A up today?
“Poor D.C. United.”
Heh.
Poor D.C. United. They just absolutely collapsed against Chivas on Saturday. There’s a lot of talent there but it just hasn’t come together. Part of it is they just haven’t been the same since they lost Ben Olsen. Beyond his play in the midfield he’s a locker room and practice leader and the glue for that side. Games I’ve been to you always see him directing guys to their positional assignments and keeping guys in line. Hopefully if he isn’t able to come back he’ll stay with the organization in some capacity.
Here’s a good article and profile on Ben from Mike Wise of the Washington Post about a week ago (with a video interview). Check it out. He’s a smart and funny guy and a great interview (kind of like Jimmy Conrad). It’s also kind of neat that he actually lives in D.C. and not some sprawling McMansion in the suburbs like most successful athletes.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/10/AR2008051002158.html
LA’s place in the standings? They’re in the crappy West. One blowout win against a team that is playing terribly doesn’t all of a sudden make them great. Their three wins this year against San Jose, Chivas and Dallas. Big whoop.
LA in 9th? There place in the standings and the way they dismantled Dallas should have them a couple spots higher.
Tom Soehn may not make it to the first day of summer.