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SBI MLS Power Rankings: Week 11

Beckham (Getty)

Things have just gone from bad to worse for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

With their first loss to SuperClasico rival Chivas USA in five years, the Galaxy dropped to 3-6-2 and dead last in the Western Conference. And if they're going to climb back up the standings, they'll have to begin doing so without Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane, both of whom are on international duty.

After beginning the year ranked No. 1, Los Angeles has fallen to a tie for 16th in this week's SBI MLS Power Rankings. While the top 10 is largely unchanged, Chivas USA and the Portland Timbers were the biggest climbers of the week, riding victories to the No. 12 and 13 positions, respectively.

Here are this week's SBI MLS Power Rankings (as voted on by SBI staff):

SBI MLS POWER RANKINGS (WEEK 11)

1. (Last week — 1) REAL SALT LAKE (8-3-2, 26 points)

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Last week: Idle

This week: Vs. Dallas, 9 p.m., Saturday

Outlook: Losing Nick Rimando and Kyle Beckerman to U.S. national team duty is a tough blow for Salt Lake. But in a stroke of luck, Jason Kreis' side has drawn a struggling Dallas side that will be without the services of the suspended Brek Shea.

2. (2) SEATTLE SOUNDERS (7-2-2, 23 points)

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Last week: Tied Vancouver 2-2 on Saturday

This week: Vs. Columbus, 10 p.m., Wednesday; at Chivas USA, 10:30 p.m., Saturday

Outlook: A sensational late equalizer from the on-fire Fredy Montero kept Seattle from dropping two straight and instead gave the Sounders a respectable road draw at a tough Vancouver team. But the back line's performance Saturday was still a bit concerning.

3. (3) SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES (7-2-3, 24 points)

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Last week: Tied Columbus 1-1 on Saturday

This week: At Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m., Wednesday; at Kansas City, 4:30 p.m., Sunday, NBC Sports

Outlook: It's probably safe to say Alan Gordon has earned himself a start or two in Chris Wondolowski's international absence, seeing as how the journeyman striker has bailed San Jose out with a last-gasp equalizer in each of the past two weeks.

4. (4) NEW YORK RED BULLS (8-3-1, 25 points)

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Last week: Beat Montreal 2-1 on Saturday

This week: Vs. Chivas USA, 7 p.m., Wednesday

Outlook: The acquisition of Heath Pearce immediately shores up New York's iffy back line, and losing Juan Agudelo in the deal won't be much of a blow if Kenny Cooper keeps on scoring goals. On a five-game winning streak, these Red Bulls are finally living up to the hype.

5. (7) D.C. UNITED (7-4-3, 24 points)

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Last week: Beat Colorado 2-0 on Wednesday; beat Toronto 3-1 on Saturday

This week: Vs. New England, 7:30 p.m., Saturday

Outlook: United didn't miss a beat with leading scorers Maicon Santos and Chris Pontius sidelined by injury, turning to Dwayne De Rosario and Hamdi Salihi for the goals in a pair of home wins. With five goals and a league-leading seven assists, De Rosario could be building a case for a second-straight MVP trophy.

T-6. (5) SPORTING KANSAS CITY (7-3-1, 22 points)

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Last week: Tied Colorado 2-2 on Saturday

This week: Vs. San Jose, 4:30 p.m., Sunday, NBC Sports

Outlook: Just when it looked like things were on the upswing, with slumping striker Teal Bunbury bagging a pair of goals in the first 14 minutes, Kansas City conceded two second-half strikes and settled for a draw against Colorado. Peter Vermes' once-scorching side is now winless in four.

T-6. (6) VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (5-3-3, 18 points)

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Last week: Tied Seattle 2-2 on Saturday

This week: At Portland, 10 p.m., Saturday, TSN

Outlook: Fredy Montero's late moment of brilliance broke the Whitecaps' hearts as Vancouver came so close to its first MLS win over Seattle. Going forward, the return of first-round pick Darren Mattocks from a freak cooking injury gives the Whitecaps yet another lethal option up top, although the rookie missed a handful of chances to put Seattle away early.

8. (9) HOUSTON DYNAMO (3-3-4, 13 points)

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Last week: Tied Portland 0-0 on Tuesday; tied New England 2-2 on Saturday

This week: Vs. Los Angeles, 2:30 p.m., Saturday, NBC Sports

Outlook: After settling for a midweek draw against Portland, Houston was on the verge of defeat at New England before Luiz Camargo struck in the 87th minute. Looking ahead, the loss of centerback Geoff Cameron to the U.S. national team will be a tough blow.

9. (8) CHICAGO FIRE (4-3-3, 15 points)

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Last week: Lost to Portland 2-1 on Sunday

This week: Vs. Dallas, 8:30 p.m., Wednesday; at Columbus, 7 p.m., Saturday

Outlook: Portland took advantage of some lackluster set-piece defending to down Chicago on Sunday as the Fire seemed to miss the calming presence of centerback Arne Friedrich. Chicago will have a good chance to get back its winning ways at home against a beleaguered Dallas side midweek.

10. (10) COLORADO RAPIDS (5-6-1, 16 points)

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Last week: Lost to D.C. United 2-0 on Wednesday; tied Kansas City 2-2 on Saturday

This week: Vs. Montreal, 9 p.m., Saturday

Outlook: After goalkeeper Matt Pickens kept a 2-0 midweek loss to D.C. from being much worse, Colorado showed some heart Saturday against Kansas City, coming back from a two-goal deficit to earn the draw. Perhaps no team this season has been as up and down as the Rapids.

11. (11) NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (4-6-1, 13 points)

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Last week: Tied Houston 2-2 on Saturday

This week: At D.C. United, 7:30 p.m., Saturday

Outlook: The Revolution settled for a draw at home against Houston, something a team that is 1-5-0 on the road can hardly afford to do. Striker Saer Sene continued to make a name for himself in MLS, though, adding two more goals.

12. (17) CHIVAS USA (4-6-1, 13 points)

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Last week: Beat Los Angeles 1-0 on Saturday

This week: At New York, 7 p.m., Wednesday; vs. Seattle, 10:30 p.m., Saturday

Outlook: Combine the acquisitions of Juan Agudelo and Danny Califf with a long-awaited triumph over the rival Galaxy and there suddenly is reason to be excited about this Chivas team. Even with the win, though, Chivas are still just 1-5-0 at home, a mark that must improve.

13. (18) PORTLAND TIMBERS (3-5-3, 12 points)

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Last week: Tied Houston 0-0 on Tuesday; beat Chicago 2-1 on Sunday

This week: Vs. Vancouver, 10 p.m., Saturday, TSN

Outlook: It wasn't pretty, but Portland rode goalkeeper Troy Perkins' heroics against Houston and set-piece proficiency against Chicago to a badly needed four-point week. Next up is a Cascadia Cup clash at Jeld-Wen Field against the Vancouver Whitecaps.

14. (12) MONTREAL IMPACT (3-6-3, 12 points)

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Last week: Lost to New York 2-1 on Saturday

This week: At Colorado, 9 p.m., Saturday

Outlook: Montreal saw its four-game unbeaten run snapped when it couldn't get a result at home against the 10-man Red Bulls, allowing New York to grab the winner on the counterattack. For the first time in a while, the Impact looked like an expansion team.

15. (14) COLUMBUS CREW (3-4-3, 12 points)

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Last week: Tied San Jose 1-1 on Saturday

This week: At Seattle, 10 p.m., Wednesday; vs. Chicago, 7 p.m., Saturday

Outlook: The Crew were moments away from grabbing a stunning road win before Alan Gordon intervened for San Jose. Still, the emergence of second-year player Justin Meram up top is an encouraging development for the goal-starved Crew.

T-16. (13) LOS ANGELES GALAXY (3-6-2, 11 points)

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Last week: Lost to Chivas USA 1-0 on Saturday

This week: Vs. San Jose, 10:30 p.m., Wednesday; at Houston, 2:30 p.m., Saturday, NBC Sports

Outlook: The Galaxy didn't seem terribly inspired by their White House visit earlier in the week when they played Chivas, struggling to a 1-0 loss as centerback David Junior Lopes conceded the deciding penalty kick and saw red for a handball on the goal line. The return of Leonardo from a torn ACL can't come soon enough.

T-16. (15) FC DALLAS (3-6-4, 13 points)

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Last week: Tied Philadelphia 1-1 on Saturday

This week: At Chicago, 8:30 p.m., Wednesday; at Salt Lake, 9 p.m., Saturday

Outlook: Winless in seven games, Dallas will have its hands full trying to ending that skid this week, with road matches against a formidable Chicago side and first-place Salt Lake. And missing the suspended Brek Shea for both of those games sure isn't helping matters.

18. (16) PHILADELPHIA UNION (2-6-2, 8 points)

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Last week: Tied Dallas 1-1 on Saturday

This week: At Toronto, 4:30 p.m., Saturday

Outlook: With a trip to 0-9-0 Toronto around the corner, should the Union be excited about the golden opportunity for three points on the road or concerned that they might be the first team Toronto will get a result against? How Freddy Adu bounces back from his suspension will be key in that contest.

19. (19) TORONTO FC (0-9-0, 0 points)

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Last week: Lost to D.C. United 3-1 on Saturday

This week: Vs. Philadelphia, 4:30 p.m., Saturday

Outlook: Aron Winter may insist that Toronto can still make a playoff run, but Danny Koevermans isn't exactly holding out faith, saying after Saturday's loss that his squad might be "the worst team in the world." Yet Toronto is still one game away from again qualifying for CONCACAF Champions League play.

Comments

  1. not true Dan… Read the last line of the top description again:

    Here are this week’s SBI MLS Power Rankings (as voted on by SBI staff):

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  2. The Sounders – or rather, different incarnations sharing the name “Sounders” – have played a total of 28 seasons. That works out to nearly 6 Seattle-Vancouver fixtures per season. That’s a sh*t load.

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  3. As a TFC fan, I hope they miss the champions league qualification and go back to basics. It shouldn’t take this long to put together even a bad squad, nevermind awful.

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  4. Assuming that stat is accurate, I’m blown away that Seattle and Vancouver have played each other 126 times throughout their relatively short histories. That’s a ton of fixtures for sporadic existence spanning only 38 years. Man United and Man City have played each other 163 times in league play, and that’s over the course of 132 years.

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  5. As much as I like him as a player, Danny Koevermans is out of line for his comment. First of all Toronto is NOT “the worst team in the world.” Secondly, what kind of leader says such a thing? He knew they were re-building when he signed, and the team is rather young and still trying to figure out the scheme that Winters is trying to instill. Koervermans should stay quiet and just play ball…

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  6. Plus, Cameron will only miss 2 full MLS matches max. 3 if Dom decides to rest him for his first game back (assuming he’s in Guatemala on the 12 of June).

    If he makes the final roster, it’s a shame he won’t be able to feature against Valencia. That could potentially put him on the radar for a European transfer.

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  7. Sturgis and Sarkodie will fill in for Cameron and Taylor/Hainault respective. Recio or Creavalle could win out over Kofi, but we’ll have to see how Dom feels. That said, depending on Sarkodie worries me a bit, even though he is much speedier than Hainault/Taylor.

    Watson’s play this year has been far superior compared to last season, but I don’t count his loss as a big one since our ideal Starting XI would have Camargo at AM and Clark at right mid.

    Between Dixon, Carr, and Creavalle, we’ve got backup at every position in the midfield. Sturgis and Creavalle could even switch out between DM and CB.

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  8. First, these lists are inherently subjective. For instance, how do you handle a team that has been playing well but didn’t play that week?

    Second, as to NYRB, here’s the rationale….they’ve won 5 straight. But no-one (other than a few rabid NYRB fans) would look at how the team has played and say that the squad is the most impressive in MLS or that NYRB was clearly the stronger team in each of those games. No, NYRB has done well to win 5 but has sometimes played sloppy, sometimes benefited from breaks, sometimes benefited from good finishing. And you also have to consider earlier form. For instance, if TFC goes out and wins their next match 7-0 does that mean they rank #1? I’d hope not–b/c their previous play in the season counts for something (even though it’s a weekly list). And NYRB’s play before the 5 game winning streak counts for something too.

    On the whole, I feel that the list is accurate. I absolutely believe (having seen all of these teams play–in person and on TV repeatedly) that Seattle, San Jose, and RSL have been more impressive this year…not just for one match but multiple games.

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  9. NY fans should not complain too much because Red Bulls are one spot ahead of the DCU team, which completely obliterated Red Bulls 4-1 not so long ago and is on a hot streak of its own with the same goal difference as Red Bulls.

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  10. Because they didn’t win five matches since the last power rankings were released; they won *one*.

    That said, I would put them ahead of San Jose right now; but that’s a purely subjective judgment on my part.

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  11. The Sounders are 61-45-20 against the Whitecaps all time. Go Sounders.

    Are the Redbulls ever going to play a team over .500 ?

    KC-San Jose will be a great game, even without Wondo.

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  12. this is the most actuate ranking for LA the site has had all season long.
    but it is funny how teams in the west with more points than Houston are below us. A little worried to see what our team will play with the call ups though.

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  13. Yah, despite wins against RSL & Seattle, and a tie on the road against NY, I’d probably rate all 3 higher than SJ right now, considering we’ve had two home draws in a row. If the Quakes could stop allowing the early goals and finish even a 1/3 of our chances it might be different.

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  14. What a joke. “The Crew were moments away from grabbing a stunning road win before Alan Gordon intervened for San Jose.”, yet Columbus drops in the rankings while San Jose stays put above a NY team that pulled off a 10 man victory against a slightly higher ranked Montreal team.

    This means the ranking equation is: Tie at home to a bad team is better than win on road with 10 men against a bad team.

    You wonder why we don’t take this seriously? I hope not.

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  15. Guys — Since when did the reading comprehension skills go out the window? Ives is right up front about the fact that the rankings are voted on by the site’s writers. In other words, they are a composite opinion of several people. They aren’t supposed to be some authoritative BCS-type ranking. There is room for disagreement — which creates lively discussion on the site. Bravo!

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  16. Please…. this ranking is one’s man opinion (though a well informed opinion!). You ARE allowed to disagree with it!! That is the fun of all these rankings!!

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  17. IMO Vancouver is indeed returning to earth, but Houston is a very mediocre team right now….T, Portland, at home (); T, NE, road (5th East). Before that we T Fire; T Crew; L DC; L NY. Leave out the DC home opener win and that looks pretty sorry.

    I know Camargo is a GOTW candidate but the reality is that the midfield struggles to create. Davis aside, Ching has the assist on the run of play goal, and the forwards have often set each other up or fed off Davis rather than being set up run of play by the mids. That’s why we have 10 G in 10 games. That puts a lot of pressure on a less than leakproof defense.

    FWIW, as I understand it Hainault, Taylor, and Cameron may all get called up which leaves us with…..Boswell….and not much else centrally. Those optimistic types who presumed upon our home revival are arguably overrating this mediocre lot, and didn’t even contemplate the impact of callups on the defense. Who’re we planning on playing back there?

    NE looks to me like if they could get a pair for Sene up top, and maybe a back upgrade or two, they could be pretty good.

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  18. I actually do not mind the fact that the Galaxy are crapping the bed right now. With the Galaxy more and more out of the race, Landon can solely focus on winning for the USMNT this summer!

    I just hope the guy isnt burnt out yet. MLS chamionship run, the Everton loan, CONCACAF Champions League, going right into the MLS season, then into USMNT camp. Yikes.

    The USMNT camp will certainly force him to elevate his game higher than the cruise control mode he has been in. Maybe that was his plan all along – cruise control until qualifying?

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  19. I would be tempted to put San Jose ahead of Seattle but with those two and New York, it’s so close it doesn’t matter (actually, none of it matters anyway). But New York and Seattle are so similar. Both have serious defensive weaknesses on paper, yet their defenses have been carrying them while the offense just seems to get the timely goals. It’s a great recipe.

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  20. So what’s the purpose of a weekly ranking? If you’re just going to say, RSL is the best team (which the probably are), whether they win or lose or tie, they are #1. Seattle has only scored 14 goals all year, and all they could do was tie Vancouver, and they don’t move down?? NY isn’t the best team in the league. No argument. But they should have moved up based on their last 6 games.

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  21. I agree. NYRB should be at least second, third at the lowest. This is “power” and 5 Ws get max power. Oh, and aren’t NYRB 1st in east and 2nd in total table standings?

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  22. I’m not do sure that Vancouver deserves to be where they are, Houston and possibly revs could easily hop over them in the coming weeks.

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  23. I never take these lists too seriously, but NY doesn’t move up at all after winning 5 in a row, being the highest scoring team in the league, having one of the top goal dif., and no one above them won their last game?!?! I’m not saying NY is the best in the league, but they are the best right now, that isn’t even questionable!

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