{"id":4234,"date":"2011-04-01T19:33:03","date_gmt":"2011-04-01T23:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=4234"},"modified":"2011-04-01T19:35:53","modified_gmt":"2011-04-01T23:35:53","slug":"mls-rankings-week-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=4234","title":{"rendered":"MLS Rankings: Week 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every week, the New England Soccer Today crew will look beyond the standings to rank each of the 18 Major League Soccer (MLS) teams. This week Brian O\u2019Connell, Sean Donahue, Carl Setterlund, and Julian Cardillo contributed rankings. Comments are followed by the ranker\u2019s name and the rank they gave that team.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Real Salt Lake<\/strong> (4 first place votes) (2-0-0, 6 points) \u2013 Last week, I gave the benefit of the doubt to the defending champs. I have since learned the error of my ways. Salt Lake’s slaughter of the Galaxy puts Kyle Beckerman & Co. back where they belong: top of the table. (Brian – 1) \u2026 Quite an impressive win over the uber-talented Galaxy. Currently, RSL is the class of the league.\u00a0(Carl – 1) \u2026. A 4-1 spanking of LA raises many eyebrows.\u00a0 They may not have gone crazy with transactions over the off-season, but Salt Lake is proving they can play soccer against the toughest of opponents. (Julian \u2013 1) \u2026 I had them at number 1 last week and they\u2019re not moving anywhere after a 4-1 thrashing of Los Angeles. (Sean – 1)<\/p>\n

2. Colorado Rapids<\/strong> (2-0-0, 6 points) (+1) \u00a0\u2013 Still haven\u2019t had a tough matchup, but can\u2019t fault them for beating who is put in front of them. The defending champs are in fine form. (Sean – 2) \u2026 I\u2019m not completely comfortable with this ranking, but who else can you put this high? The Rapids do just enough to win, but they seem comfortable in that role. Even though they were mostly without Cummings and Casey, I still would have liked to see a bigger win over lowly Chivas USA. (Carl \u2013 2) \u2026 The defending champs outmaneuvered Chivas USA and have scored 4 goals in their opening two games.\u00a0 The midfield and strikers have lots of power, but that defense might be the most underrated in the league. (Julian \u2013 2) \u2026 Although they’ve gotten six points out of the gate, it isn’t a very convincing six points. One-nil over Chivas USA actually makes their start less impressive. (Brian \u2013 3)<\/p>\n

3. Philadelphia Union<\/strong> (2-0-0, 6 points) (+5) \u2013 El Pescadito’s back…and he’s still got it! The Carlos Ruiz show puts Philly over the Whitecaps, which is about as big a win as you can get on the road versus an expansion team during Week 2 of the season (Brian \u2013 2) … Two games, two wins, two shutouts.\u00a0 Phily has looked solid in defense and continues to impress.\u00a0 Will it continue? (Julian \u2013 3) \u2026 You\u2019ve got to give Philly its due, this is a sufficiently well rounded team to finally compete. Everything sort of lined up in the Union\u2019s favor against Vancouver, but six points is six points. (Carl \u2013 5) \u2026 Another good showing on the road, but have yet to face a top team. (Sean \u2013 5)<\/p>\n

4. New York Red Bulls<\/strong> (1-0-1, 4 points) \u2013 They may have been missing some key players, but the Red Bulls can\u2019t be happy with a draw against the struggling crew. \u00a0(Sean \u2013 3) \u2026 Minus the star power, turns out the Red Bulls supporting cast isn\u2019t at the point yet where they can scrape out wins against bottom-feeders (see: Columbus) on their own. (Carl \u2013 4) \u2026 I get that Juan Agudelo was busy becoming the next Charlie Davies Saturday night, and that Tim Ream, Thierry Henry, and Rafa Marquez were with their national teams, but a lethargic 0-0 effort? To Columbus? I think Red Bull replaced their wings with ankle weights. (Brian \u2013 4) …\u00a0Did a good job keeping Columbus quiet, though you would have expected more goals.\u00a0 Having key players out on international duty, however, has its effect. (Julian – 7)<\/p>\n

5. Los Angeles Galaxy<\/strong> (1-1-1, 4 points) (-4) \u2013 Had to drop Los Angeles a smidge, but I\u2019ll give them a pass because of the absence of key players like Landon Donovan and Omar Gonzalez. I bet they\u2019d also love to have Donovan Ricketts back right about now. (Carl \u2013 3) \u2026 Missing some key players, the Galaxy looked lost against the league\u2019s top team. (Sean \u2013 4) \u2026 Hey, I get that it’s still early and all, but after getting absolutely dismantled by Salt Lake, it’s clear the Galaxy are light years away from RSL. Watch out, Scarlett Johansson – the Galaxy may soon claim the title of “most overrated talent” in Tinseltown. (Brian \u2013 6) \u2026 Finishing and defending.\u00a0 Both are things LA has failed at in their last two games.\u00a0 Too much lax defending and not enough bodies pouring into the box on attack.\u00a0 Disappointing start to the season. (Julian \u2013 8 )<\/p>\n

T6. New England Revolution<\/strong> (1-0-1, 4 points) (+3) \u2013 Luck?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 But everyone has a stroke of luck sometimes.\u00a0 Shalrie Joseph\u2019s leadership is key, not to mention the fact that he\u2019s probably the best holding midfielder in MLS.\u00a0 And the defense?\u00a0 See Colorado up above. (Julian \u2013 5) \u2026 I think we\u2019ve seen in their first two games that the Revs have quality depth on defense from goalie up through midfield and that should be the basis for another winning season.\u00a0 (Carl \u2013 6) \u2026 \u00a0The 4-3-2-1 is working, and with an expansion club in town this weekend, it looks like the Revs are ready to silence the doubters…(silence). (Brian \u2013 7) \u2026 Call them lucky, but the Revs are finding ways to get points this season. (Sean \u2013 7)<\/p>\n

T6. Chicago Fire<\/strong> (1-0-1, 4 points) (+7) \u2013 Not the cleanest start to the season, but Chicago are finding goals.\u00a0 Perhaps those off-season transfers are the real future of soccer in the Windy City. (Julian \u2013 4) \u2026 Three goals from three players gives El Fuego the 3-2 victory over SKC’s tape-delayed defense. A win over Colorado in USOC competition makes Chicago a legit first-half champion contender.\u00a0(Brian \u2013 5) \u2026 I\u2019m not sure I would characterize Chicago as a playoff level squad, but a nice 3-2 win over Sporting KC earns them this spot. They need a player like Marco Pappa to step up as a true star though. (Carl \u2013 7) \u2026 Made it harder than it should\u2019ve been with a man advantage, but came away with a big three points against Kansas City. (Sean \u2013 9)<\/p>\n

8. San Jose Earthquakes<\/strong> (1-1-0, 3 points) (+2) \u2013 Wondo is back!\u00a0 Great brace against FCD.\u00a0 He had the service.\u00a0 Will he break out again and score lots and lots of goals? (Julian \u2013 6) \u2026 Big 2-0 road victory over the defending Western Conference Champs gets this team back on track. (Sean \u2013 6) \u00a0\u2026 I’ll do my best to avoid the Chris Wondolowski\/magician\/rabbit out of hat metaphor, so I’ll just say this: A brace by Wondo has San Jose fans chanting it’s a WONDO-ful world.\u00a0 (Brian \u2013 8 ) \u2026 \u00a0I called him out last week and, in direct response to what I said, Chris Wondolowski stepped it up with a brace. Good win for the Quakes. I might be starting to come around on them. (Carl \u2013 11)<\/p>\n

9. Sporting Kansas City<\/strong> (1-1-0, 3 points) (-3) \u2013 Everyone jump off the Omar Bravo bandwagon! Just kidding, I was actually impressed with how KC dealt with being down a man. Can\u2019t say enough about Teal Bunbury. (Carl \u2013 8 ) \u2026 Played strong, despite being down a man for much of the match against Chicago after a questionable red card. (Sean \u2013 8 ).. Omar Bravo’s red card may have been a bit harsh, but goshdarn, any team that gives up three goals to Chicago can’t be that great. Drrropppppp. (Brian \u2013 9) \u2026 After a great start to the season, a sloppy performance against the Chicago Fire. (Julian \u2013 11)<\/p>\n

10. <\/strong>Seattle Sounders FC <\/strong>(0-2-1, 1 points) \u2013 This team should be a lot better than they\u2019re playing. Never good to start out the season underachieving like this. (Carl \u2013 9) \u2026 \u00a0The skidding continues, but a point is better than 2 losses in a row.\u00a0 Will the Sounders find their form at some point? (Julian \u2013 9) \u2026 The Sounders went silent with zero goals in their first two matches, but finally found the net this weekend…against Houston. Not impressive. (Brian \u2013 11) \u2026 Gave them the benefit of the doubt after losing to two of the top teams, but a 1-1 home loss to Houston doesn\u2019t help their case. (Sean \u2013 12)<\/p>\n

11. D.C. United<\/strong> (1-1-0, 3 points) (-6) \u2013 After an impressive opener, D.C. got off to a slow start against the Revs and never recovered. (Sean \u2013 10) \u2026 Everyone, including my housecat, was high on DC out of the gate. Well, after their loss to New England, Fluffy’s been brooding. As have I. (Brian \u2013 10) \u2026 I wasn\u2019t very impressed with what I saw from Ben Olsen\u2019s squad against the Revolution. Davies\u2019 goal was just a consolation, but United should be a threat offensively going forward. (Carl \u2013 10) \u2026 If only Charlie Davies had gone the full 90\u2026and Boldomero Toledo cleaned up his calls. (Julian \u2013 12)<\/p>\n

12. Vancouver Whitecaps<\/strong> (1-1-0, 3 points) \u2013 Didn\u2019t have the same attacking flare against the Union that they had against TFC.\u00a0 Rivalry games only happen twice a year\u2026 (Julian \u2013 10) \u2026 Weren\u2019t helped by a tough red card, but not much to be ashamed of in a close loss at Philadelphia. (Sean \u2013 11) \u2026 Frustration in Philly after the ‘Caps 1-0 loss to the Union in a foul-filled affair. I could say something about the tenor of that match and the neighborhood surrounding PPL Park, but I digress. (Brian \u2013 12) \u2026 Like I said, fortune wasn\u2019t on Vancouver\u2019s side against Philly, but the truth is that they weren\u2019t able to lock things down and squeeze out the draw after Hassli was sent off. (Carl \u2013 13)<\/p>\n

13. FC Dallas<\/strong> (0-1-1, 1 point) (-6) \u2013 The Hoops should have started out stronger with the opening schedule they had (at home against Chicago and San Jose). (Carl \u2013 12) \u2026 Suddenly, this week\u2019s fixture at Columbus is a big game. Dallas is on the drop after struggling in their opening two matches. (Sean \u2013 13) \u2026 The memories of last season\u2019s unsinkable ship could be fading fast.\u00a0 San Jose swept up Dallas over the weekend. (Julian \u2013 14) \u2026 One – as in ONE – point out of a possible six after going to the MLS Cup final is no way to attract more fans to the Hut.\u00a0(Brian \u2013 16)<\/p>\n

14. Toronto FC<\/strong> (1-1-0, 3 points) (+4) \u2013 A win, finally for TFC.\u00a0 It came against the expansion side Timbers, but for TFC, it\u2019s a step in the right direction. (Julian \u2013 13) \u2026 Getting a win takes you out of the league cellar. At least it does this early along. I\u2019m not ready to pass out any compliments yet though. (Carl \u2013 14) \u2026 A Javier Martina brace was the only thing that kept the proceedings respectable for the Reds. Anything less to expansion Portland would’ve relegated them to NEST’s USL-PRO Weekly rankings. (Brian \u2013 14) \u2026 Grabbing a win moves them up a bit, but still can\u2019t see this team getting many points this season. (Sean \u2013 16)<\/p>\n

15. Columbus Crew<\/strong> (0-1-1, 1 point) (-1) \u2013 The Crew should be thanking the soccer gods for delivering them a weakened Red Bulls to Columbus. But a 0-0 result is a wasted opportunity.\u00a0(Brian \u2013 13) \u2026 Grabbed a point against a Red Bulls squad missing most of their fire power. (Sean \u2013 14) \u2026 Chad Marshall ran a tight ship in the back and the Crew\u2019s top players \u2013 notably, Eddie Gaven and Emmanuel Ekpo \u2013 had plenty of chances to find a winner and couldn\u2019t. This just isn\u2019t Columbus\u2019 year.\u00a0 (Carl \u2013 15) \u2026 They couldn\u2019t score on NY when they had a 3rd<\/sup> string keeper in.\u00a0 Thank goodness NY wasn\u2019t rocking their most robust lineup. (Julian \u2013 16)<\/p>\n

16. Houston Dynamo<\/strong> (0-1-1, 1 points) (-1) \u2013 A road point for the Dynamo should give them confidence going forward. (Sean \u2013 15) \u2026 Houston has invested a lot on the rookies.\u00a0 Still no real life out of Will Bruin.\u00a0 So where will these goals come from? (Julian \u2013 15) \u2026 Stealing a point at Seattle is no easy task. But, the Dynamo still have alot to work on before they can right the ship. (Brian \u2013 15) \u2026 This team isn\u2019t quite as bad as I first thought, although I\u2019d like to see more than a point before putting them any higher. How much do they push Ching as they work him in? (Carl \u2013 16)<\/p>\n

17. Chivas USA<\/strong> (0-2-0, 0 points) (-1) \u2013 Nothing much for the Goats to feel good about these days. As I expected, the scoring dried up against a more formidable defense. (Carl \u2013 17) \u2026 Defense sharped this week, allowing only a single goal to Colorado. The problem? It was the only goal of the game. D’OH! (Brian \u2013 17) \u2026 Two home losses in a row and Chivas is in an early hole (Sean \u2013 17) \u00a0\u2026 Disastrous start to 2011.\u00a0 The defense needs to clean it up or get lost in the LA soccer shuffle. (Julian \u2013 18)<\/p>\n

18. Portland Timbers<\/strong> (0-2-0, 0 points) (-1) \u2013 Lineup change could be in order for Portland.\u00a0 Kenny Cooper can\u2019t always put on a one man show. (Julian \u2013 17) \u2026 \u00a0Could losing to Toronto really give you a legitimate argument for last-place in these rankings? Do wood chucks chuck wood? (Brian \u2013 18) \u2026 Not much positive for the Timbers yet and the injury list keeps getting longer. (Sean \u2013 18) \u2026 Losing by two goals to lowly Toronto can make even an expansion squad feel discouraged. (Carl \u2013 18)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Real Salt Lake is a unanimous choice at number one, but there is some disagreement below them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":723,"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\/2010\/09\/rslfeature.jpg?fit=490%2C225","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4234"}],"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=4234"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4239,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4234\/revisions\/4239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}