{"id":13627,"date":"2012-07-11T22:22:06","date_gmt":"2012-07-12T02:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=13627"},"modified":"2012-07-17T18:14:56","modified_gmt":"2012-07-17T22:14:56","slug":"13627","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=13627","title":{"rendered":"MLS Rankings: Week 18"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every week the New England Soccer Today crew will look beyond the standings to rank each of the 19 Major League Soccer (MLS) teams. This week Sean Donahue and Julian Cardillo contributed rankings. Comments are followed by the ranker\u2019s name and the rank they gave that team.\u00a0<\/em>*Note: Games played on July 11th were not included in these rankings.<\/p>\n

1. San Jose Earthquakes<\/strong> (11-4-4, 37 points)
\nRough week for the \u2018Quakes. First a loss to the struggling Timbers and then a draw against a dismal Dallas with only one goal in two games and a red card to Ramiro Corrales. Minor blip or the start of a slide? (Sean \u2013 1) \u2026 The truly look like a force and are definite favorites to win the West. Great form both at home and on the road (Julian – 1)<\/p>\n

2. DC United<\/strong> (10-5-3, 33 points)
\nSome extra rest for the resurgent D.C., but will it cool them off? (Sean \u2013 2) \u2026They\u2019ve had a good string of results and have a lot to cheer about with new owners. \u00a0(Julian \u2013 2)<\/p>\n

T3.<\/strong> (+3) Sporting Kansas City<\/strong> – (10-5-3, 33 points)
\nMuch needed road win in Montreal, but then struggled to break down Houston\u2019s defense at home on the weekend. (Sean \u2013 4) \u2026 After a bit of a skid, KC are back in first in the Eastern Conference. They\u2019re still playing solid soccer and are tough to beat at home and away. \u00a0(Julian \u2013 3)<\/p>\n

T3.<\/strong> (+1) Real Salt Lake<\/strong> (11-6-3, 36 points)
\nCrushing win over Portland and watching Alvaro Saborio score three times in 15 minutes has to bring confidence back to Salt Lake as they look to find some consistency again. (Sean \u2013 3) \u2026 Like KC, they have been skidding. But leave it to Jason Kreis and co. to find their form again. (Julian \u2013 4)<\/p>\n

5. <\/strong>(+3) Vancouver Whitecaps<\/strong> (8-4-6, 30 points)
\nBig road win in Colorado and back to back shutouts, but have to be a bit disappointed to only take a point from Chivas. (Sean \u2013 5) \u2026 Their last few results have been a bit inconsistent, but few will bet against a team with that good of a defense record. (Julian \u2013 5)<\/p>\n

6.<\/strong> (-2) Chicago Fire<\/strong> (8-6-4, 28 points)
\nHeld to a scoreless draw by Houston and then fall 2-0 at home to the inconsistent Galaxy. Offense clearly needs some help and more ideas in the attack. (Sean \u2013 7) \u2026 The Fire are slowly putting things together, though they have a ways to go before being a top conference team. (Julian \u2013 6)<\/p>\n

7.<\/strong> (-4) New York Red Bulls<\/strong> (9-5-4, 31 points)
\nThe Red Bulls are struggling, but are still within striking distance of the top of the Conference. Still a favorite to win the East if healthy, but if New York has to play on turf in the playoffs will their stars stay home? (Sean \u2013 6) \u2026 A loss against the Revolution stings, but the Red Bulls are still just a stone\u2019s throw from first place. Just wait until they get their starters back. (Julian \u2013 9)<\/p>\n

8. <\/strong>(+3) Seattle Sounders<\/strong> (8-5-6, 30 points)
\nAwake from their slumber with a win over Colorado. Eddie Johnson\u2019s getting the job done, Steve Zakuani\u2019s back, and when Frey Montero gets going, this will be one heck of a team to watch (Sean \u2013 8) \u2026 They\u2019re at three games unbeaten, though they seem to need a bit of a spark to bring back memories of 2009. (Julian \u2013 8)<\/p>\n

9.<\/strong> (+2) New England Revolution<\/strong> (6-7-4, 22 points)
\nA fantastic first half and defense does the job in the second as the Revs pick up a vital 3 points and go five games unbeaten. The Revs lead the league with 107 shots on goal, but are only 8th in goals \u2013 if Jerry Bengtson can help them finish more chances and the defense can perform as it did on Sunday against New York, expect the Revs to continue to rise. (Sean \u2013 10) \u2026 With their unbeaten streak at 5, the Revolution have certainly been in form. While their defense still has some questions, Heaps\u2019 men can definitely find solace in the fact that their offense has been superb. (Julian \u2013 7)<\/p>\n

10.<\/strong> (-1) Houston Dynamo<\/strong> (6-5-7, 25 points)
\nHouston\u2019s backline decides to return and their offense goes into hiding. Will the potential loss of Geoff Cameron be too much for them to overcome? (Sean \u2013 9) \u2026 Still trying to figure themselves and their identity out. Only one win in their last five, but we know they\u2019re capable of doing very well. (Julian \u2013 11)<\/p>\n

11.<\/strong> (-1) Los Angeles Galaxy<\/strong> (7-10-2, 23 points)
\nSure they recovered with a win over Chicago and Omar Gonzalez\u2019s return is huge, but a midweek home loss to Philly demands a drop in the rankings. (Sean \u2013 12) \u2026 Los Angeles has been helped out by Omar Gonzalez returning. To bet against them to not make the playoffs at this point is risky. (Julian \u2013 10)<\/p>\n

12.<\/strong> (-5) Columbus Crew<\/strong> (6-6-4, 22 points)
\nOffensive struggles continue and defense wasn\u2019t enough to bail them out at Montreal. (Sean \u2013 11) \u2026 Very disappointing this season, though they continue to eek out results with solid midfield play. (Julian \u2013 13)<\/p>\n

13.<\/strong> (+1) Montreal Impact<\/strong> (6-11-3, 21 points)
\nGrab the win over the struggling Crew to end a three game losing streak, but really need to find some consistency. Is Nesta the answer? (Sean \u2013 13) \u2026 With Nesta at the helm, look for a late season push by the Impact. (Julian \u2013 12)<\/p>\n

14.<\/strong> (-1) Colorado Rapids<\/strong> (7-10-1, 22 points)
\nTwo disappointing losses for the Rapids, especially to Vancouver at home. The Rapids have to be hoping Pablo Mastroeni makes a miraculous recovery soon. (Sean \u2013 15) \u2026Have the firepower, but defense has really let them down. A -1 goal differential shows that. (Julian -14)<\/p>\n

15.<\/strong> (+3) Philadelphia Union<\/strong> (5-9-2, 17 points)
\nDon\u2019t look now, but the Union have won two straight and in impressive fashion. Was a regime change really all they needed? (Sean \u2013 14) \u2026 Should be better with a new beginning, but the team is struggling to find its identity. (Julian \u2013 16)<\/p>\n

T16.<\/strong> (+3) Toronto FC<\/strong> (2-11-4, 10 points)
\nCrushing defeat in Philadelphia temporarily halts Toronto\u2019s improved form. (Sean \u2013 19) \u2026 Paul Mariner has renewed faith in Canada, though it may be too little too late. A game in New England this week will be hard to get a result from. (Julian \u2013 15)<\/p>\n

T16.<\/strong> Portland Timbers<\/strong> (5-8-4, 19 points)
\nShock win over San Jose brings hope, only for a crushing defeat in Salt Lake to bring the end John Spencer\u2019s tenure as head coach. (Sean \u2013 17) \u2026 The Timbers are in flux with John Spencer departing and growing pains can be expected in the coming weeks. (Julian \u2013 17)<\/p>\n

T16.<\/strong> (-2) Chivas USA<\/strong> (5-7-5, 20 points)
\nIn the midst of a modest three game unbeaten run, but you expect them to finish their chances with their improved strike force. (Sean \u2013 16) \u2026 A very boring team to talk about. Nothing seems to be working as they continue to be in the shadow of their city rival Galaxy and sit near \u00a0the basement of the West. (Julian \u2013 18)<\/p>\n

19.<\/strong> (-2) FC Dallas<\/strong> (3-9-7, 16 points)
\nDefense has been solid lately, but just two goals scored in the last four games. Good news is Blas Perez could be back soon \u2013 they need him. (Sean \u2013 18) \u2026 David Ferreira and Brek Shea better reawaken Dallas fast. They\u2019re quickly fading in the background in a tight Western Conference race for the final playoff spot. (Julian \u2013 19)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

San Jose clings to first while the Revs continue their rise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/earthquakesfeature.jpg?fit=490%2C240","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13627"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13627"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13871,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13627\/revisions\/13871"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}