Photo by Steven Bisig/USA TODAY Sports
By AARON CRANFORD
While the LA Galaxy have been on fire recently, jumping into first place in the Supporters’ Shield table, the race is as close as ever.
Five teams currently have 40 or more points in the 2015 MLS season, and three teams — the New York Red Bulls, FC Dallas and Columbus Crew SC — are only one win away from hitting that mark was well.
The league’s top teams all have 10 games or less remaining, and while teams like the Galaxy and Vancouver Whitecaps have looked good down the stretch, D.C. United has not looked their best.
Take a closer look at where the top contenders stand below and tell us who you think is the favorite to win the Supporters’ Shield in the comments below:
LA GALAXY
The Galaxy have seven games remaining, but they may also have the toughest road to the trophy.
Aside from Friday’s California Clasico derby with the San Jose Earthquakes, the Galaxy must play three other Supporters’ Shield contenders in their final three matches.
And just like last season, the 2015 season finale — this year against Sporting KC — may be the match that determines the eventual winners.
However, the Galaxy’s recent form would suggest that they are the favorites to lift the trophy by season’s end, as they have won their last six matches by a combined scoreline of 23 to five.
Remaining Schedule:
Aug. 28 — at San Jose Earthquakes
Sept. 12 — vs. Montreal Impact
Sept. 19 — at Real Salt Lake
Sept. 26 — vs. FC Dallas
Oct. 4 — at Seattle Sounders FC
Oct. 18 — vs. Portland Timbers
Oct. 25 — at Sporting KC
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS
The Whitecaps have eight games remaining, one more than current leaders LA Galaxy, and the Canadian club only sits one point behind the 2014 MLS Cup winners.
A draw in the team’s game in hand would be enough to usurp the Galaxy, as they would have one more win than LA, who would fall into second in the table due to the total number of wins tie-breaking procedure.
The Whitecaps arguably have the easiest route to the title in the Western Conference, especially since all three of their September games are played at home. In addition, the Whitecaps have been in good form as well, winning four of their last five.
Remaining Schedule:
Aug. 29 — at Houston Dynamo
Sept. 9 — vs. Colorado Rapids
Sept. 19 — vs. Seattle Sounders
Sept. 26 — vs. New York City FC
Oct. 3 — at San Jose Earthquakes
Oct. 7 — vs. FC Dallas
Oct. 14 — at FC Dallas
Oct. 25 — vs. Houston Dynamo
D.C. UNITED
D.C. United only has seven games remaining, but the team’s schedule arguably looks the easiest out of the top contenders.
Aside from two meetings with the Columbus Crew and one with the New York Red Bulls, D.C. plays four teams ranked 15th or lower in the current standings.
However, the team has struggled as of late, dropping its last two decisions. With goalkeeper Bill Hamid expected to miss some more time after suffering injuries in July, D.C. will have to find a way to prevent more mistakes if it wants to finish atop MLS by season’s end.
D.C. United is currently only two points back of the Galaxy.
Remaining Schedule:
Aug. 30 — at New York Red Bulls
Sept. 12 — at Colorado Rapids
Sept. 19 — vs. Columbus Crew SC
Sept. 26 — At Montreal Impact
Oct. 2 — vs. New York City FC
Oct. 18 — vs. Chicago Fire
Oct. 18 — at Columbus Crew SC
SPORTING KC
Among the top contenders, Sporting KC has the second-most matches left with 10 games remaining.
Sporting KC currently sits six points behind the current leaders, but with three more games to play, Peter Vermes’ side could catch up in no time. The problem is that Sporting KC has a grueling task ahead of it, as it plays five games in an 18-day span in the month of September.
It will have to meet Shield contenders Portland Timbers twice along the way, and a season finale against the Galaxy may be the season’s most important match.
Remaining Schedule:
Aug. 29 — at Colorado Rapids
Sept. 9 — at Portland Timers
Sept. 13 — at Orlando City SC
Sept. 18 — vs. FC Dallas
Sept. 23 — at Houston Dynamo
Sept. 27 — vs. FC Dallas
Oct. 3 — at Portland Timbers
Oct. 16 — at San Jose Earthquakes
Oct. 21 — vs. Colorado Rapids
Oct. 25 — vs. LA Galaxy
PORTLAND TIMBERS
The Timbers have eight games remaining, and they are the six points behind the Galaxy.
The Timbers have a game in hand on the current leaders, and they are undefeated in their last four meetings.
However, a tough road lies ahead. Two matchups against Sporting KC, a showdown at the Galaxy and two tough contests against the Red Bulls and Crew make the Timbers’ chances of finishing at the top slim.
Remaining Schedule:
Aug. 30 — at Seattle Sounders
Sept. 9 — vs. Sporting KC
Sept. 20 — vs. New York Red Bulls
Sept. 26 — at Columbus Crew SC
Oct. 3 — vs. Sporting KC
Oct. 14 — at Real Salt Lake
Oct. 18 — at LA Galaxy
Oct. 25 — vs. Colorado Rapids
NEW YORK RED BULLS
Among the heavy-hitters, the Red Bulls have the most matches remaining with 11 to play.
They currently are seven points behind the Galaxy, but with four games in hand, the Red Bulls have more than enough points to attain.
The Red Bulls have also been on fire in recent weeks, winning five out of their last six matches. And with six contests left against teams currently ranked 15th or lower in the combined standings, including three matches vs. the Chicago Fire, the Red Bulls are the dark horse to take the title.
Remaining Schedule:
Aug. 26 — at Chicago Fire
Aug. 30 — vs. D.C. United
Sept. 11 — vs. Chicago Fire
Sept. 16 — at New England Revolution
Sept. 20 — at Portland Timbers
Sept. 25 — vs. Orlando City SC
Oct. 3 — vs. Columbus Crew SC
Oct. 7 — vs. Montreal Impact
Oct. 14 — at Toronto FC
Oct. 18 — vs. Philadelphia Union
Oct. 25 — at Chicago Fire
FC DALLAS
FC Dallas currently has 10 games remaining in the 2015 season, but the road to glory is not so easy.
FCDÂ must play the Whitecaps twice, face Sporting KC at Sporting Park and take on the current leaders at StubHub Center.
Being only eight points behind first place, FC Dallas must try to recapture the form that saw them win five straight, starting at the end of June and extending throughout the whole of July.
Lately, Dallas has struggled, losing its last three matches.
Remaining Schedule:
Aug. 29 — vs. Real Salt Lake
Sept. 6 — at Columbus Crew SC
Sept. 12 — vs. New York City FC
Sept. 18 — at Sporting KC
Sept. 26 — at LA Galaxy
Oct. 4 — vs. Houston Dynamo
Oct. 7 — at Vancouver Whitecaps
Oct. 14 — vs. Vancouver Whitecaps
Oct. 17 — at Real Salt Lake
Oct. 25 — vs. San Jose Earthquakes
It’ll probably be the Caps in the end, but it’ll be interesting to see what the Red Bulls can do. The extra games in hand are going to mean some fixture congestion, but they can drop some points in those games and still be right there, plus their schedule is weak, plus their depth is now improved, particularly in the spots where the high press leads to the tiredest legs.
edit, I meant Caps or Galaxy
How come the Chicago Fire’s remaining schedule is not listed? Are you suggesting they don’t have a chance to make it?
It’s the Galaxy’s SS to lose, unless Bruce gets bored and decides to rest up/snooze off until the playoffs.
They should just go all out and make it into a massive Game of Thrones style shield. I would definitely play harder for that than a puny silver disc.
It’s actually pretty heavy
The Whitecaps are a serious contender provided Matias Laba stays healthy. He is probably the only player who is not expendable in the line up (Ousted is probably the next least expendable.) Arguably Pedro Morales is their best player. However, he has not played much in the last two months and the team has adapted well. Back to Laba: he is potentially one of the least-known most impactful players in the league. A story on Laba would be an excellent topic for the SBI website.
larry, what you said is absolutely correct, from a certain point of view. i would add this: over the years, the loud and persistent voice of “single table ” supporters has brought the following change: ss winner now gets birth in concacaf champions league, making the ss shield and mls cup theoretically EQUAL. so, which one is the REAL league champion? well, larry, that depends on whom you ask…
good question!
This. But more important still is my fantasy league
Maybe it is just me, but I have not the slightest interest in the Supporter’s Shield. What is it anyway? A cup that fits in a jock? No, really, who cares other than the winners? As far as I can tell, there is far more interest in who wins the MLS Cup. Maybe it shouldn’t be that way. Maybe I my sense of the situation is just wrong and all fans are clamoring for their favorite team to win the SS and rather than the Cup, but it seems to me that the “winners” like the Galaxy are gearing up to win the MLS Cup, while the also rans (Red Bull) hope to win something, with the SS being the only real possibility for hardware.
In most leagues in the world, the Supporters Shield winner would be the league winner. Only in the US is the whole season discarded for the results in a n=handful of games at the end.
I think the Supporters Shield is more indicative of a teams quality than winning the mini tournament that is the MLS Cup.
In other soccer leagues, you play each team twice (home and away) so theoretically each team plays an identical schedule. That is not the case in MLS. In MLS some teams have easier schedules (Eastern Conference anyone?) than others. Playoffs to determine the true champion in MLS makes sense.
Don’t get me wrong though; by no means am I saying that the MLS playoff system is perfect. First problem is too many teams make it. I could go on..
Doesn’t Mexico also use playoffs to determine the champion?
The winner of the Supporters Shield does earn a spot in the ConCaCaf Champions League. MLS teams who win a CCL spot also qualify for more allocation money. I think the Supporters Shield is important in that it identifies the best team of the MLS regular season. Normally, in most foreign football/soccer leagues, it identifies the Champion of the League for the season, but in the US, which has a long history in pro sports of “playoffs” after the end of the regular season, the MLS Cup has superseded the Supporters Shield as the Championship of the League, but that should not diminish the Supporters Shield as an accolade for a deserving team.
As a fan i care much more about the SS. Less so about MLS Cup. SS is a much better indicator for who the best team is.
If you ask me, the build-up to the SS has the much better potential to be exciting(especially if many teams are involved). However, it can also be a runaway, which isn’t exciting.
MLS Cup always has good excitement. Never more, never any less.
While imperfect due to the unbalanced schedule, the SS is a better indicator of which team is the best. MLS Cup playoffs are more about what team is hottest during the playoffs.
Sounds like Larry is more interested in knocking the Red Bulls 2013 SS than in making a substantive point. He’s probably a NYCFC supporter still upset about the zero points his boys picked up in their three games against the Kings of NY.
while i’m a dc united fan (so no less biased), even if dc ends up winning the supporters’ shield, i wouldn’t be that excited about it.
it only indicates you’re the best team in mls if you’re in the best conference (at the time). so when seattle won last year, it meant something. when nyrb won in 2013, it didn’t. when san jose won in 2012, it did. when columbus won in 2009, i’d argue it meant something, since i think the east was better that year.
these people (i know you’re not) equating it to the champions of other, non-playoff leagues are either forgetting or just ignoring the unbalanced schedule that mls has.
Unless the same team wins SS and MLS Cup, you can be sure that the team that wins SS and loses MLS Cup will immediately start to crow about how the SS is the “real” trophy. Happens every year.
They’re both real trophies. I think SS tells you more about which team is best. A mediocre team can’t get hot and win the SS like they can with MLS Cup (i.e. Colorado 2010 for example)
This is right on point.
For sure I agree with the logic of the SS being a good measure of the deepest, best team over the long haul. That said, this point is greatly watered down in MLS by a few details that are not at all minor. The first being the unbalanced schedule which is a rather significant dis/advantage depending on which conference a team plays. The second is the mere fact that agree/disagree, the league standard is it determines it’s Champion and greatest priority by way of a playoff. This greatly influences the decision making process and priorities of a manager during the season. In a scenario in which the playoff did not exist/the SS determined the Champion, in game strategy and all all resources would be directed toward this singular goal. MLS has plenty of quirks, but I do rather enjoy having both trophies and think that over time, with some of the bugs straightened out and memories, battles accumulate, some of these peculiarities will seem less odd and more like fond traditions unique to our league.
The Red Bulls have the best chance to win the SS. They have no CCL games and a relatively easy last 11 games. Check this out: http://www.sportsclubstats.com/USA/MLS.html
Bite your tongue, too early, don’t jinx ’em.
OK actually the link in my last post says Vancouver has the best chance to win the SS. How’s that?
Helps being in the East!
Bye-bye SS. Come home soon. Can’t wait to see you again.
Also worth noting, TFC has 7 of their last 10 games at home and the road games are NYCFC, Montreal, & Seattle, so may work themselves into the mix.
Good point, and Toronto FC did look superb over the weekend, but I don’t think they have enough points with enough games in hand to close the gap on the Galaxy.
Even if TFC wins all three of its games in hand, it would still be three points behind LA with the same amount of games to play.
Granted, the schedule does work in the team’s favor, but the team’s form (aside from Sebastian Giovinco) has been inconsistent. Maybe in a few weeks, the story will change, but we will see how that unfolds.
If they could play Orlando every week maybe.