{"id":5880,"date":"2011-08-11T21:39:12","date_gmt":"2011-08-12T01:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=5880"},"modified":"2011-08-11T21:41:01","modified_gmt":"2011-08-12T01:41:01","slug":"mls-rankings-week-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=5880","title":{"rendered":"MLS Rankings: Week 21"},"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 and Sean Donahue contributed rankings. Comments are followed by the ranker\u2019s name and the rank they gave that team.<\/em><\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> (+1) LOS ANGELES GALAXY<\/strong> (13-3-9, 48 points)
\nBounce back from the Portland loss with a convincing 3-1 win over FC Dallas and get some breathing room between them and the footballers in the Big D. (Brian \u2013 1) \u2026 There hasn\u2019t been consistency at the top of our rankings since Salt Lake suffered their post Morales\/post-CCL drop in form. LA retakes the throne after beating FC Dallas. (Sean \u2013 1)<\/p>\n

T2.<\/strong> (-1) FC DALLAS <\/strong>(12-6-6, 42 points)
\nNo shame in losing to the best team in league, but they\u2019ll face another tough test against Philly this week. (Brian \u2013 3) \u2026 Disappointing loss to LA after taking an early lead, but Dallas advance to the group stages of the CCL and David Ferreira may be nearing a September return. (Sean \u2013 2)<\/p>\n

T2.<\/strong> (+1) SEATTLE SOUNDERS<\/strong> (11-5-8, 41 points)
\nImprobable two-goal extra-time comeback against K.C. keeps from the loss column, but a win\u2019s a win, especially on the road. (Brian \u2013 2) \u2026 Certainly got a bit lucky in their list minute comeback win at K.C., but Seattle remains one of the hottest teams in the league and did well to advance to the group stages of the CCL. (Sean \u2013 3)<\/p>\n

4.<\/strong> (+2) COLORADO RAPIDS<\/strong> (9-6-10, 37 points)
\nBeat the best team in the East, and all of a sudden, the Rapids are rising up the conference table. But can they sustain it down the stretch? (Brian \u2013 4) \u2026 Big win over Columbus and the Rapids have won three of their last four. A late season run seems in the cards. (Sean \u2013 4)<\/p>\n

5.<\/strong> (+2) REAL SALT LAKE<\/strong> (10-5-6, 36 points)
\nShort-lived funk is snapped with a solid 3-0 win over the struggling Red Bulls. Now, if they can avoid another hiccup, Salt Lake will be a team to keep a careful eye on for the rest of the season.\u00a0 (Brian \u2013 5) \u2026 Recovered quite nicely from a two game losing streak with a 3-0 win over New York, but can they build on it? (Sean \u2013 5)<\/p>\n

6.<\/strong> (-2) COLUMBUS CREW<\/strong> (9-7-7, 34 points)
\nLoss to Colorado is more of the same from one of many Eastern Conference clubs that fail to assert themselves on the table. Does anybody actually want to win the conference? (Brian \u2013 7) \u2026 Tough road loss to the defending Champs, but the Crew still maintain their position at the top of the East as the entire conference goes winless this past weekend. (Sean \u2013 6)<\/p>\n

7.<\/strong> (+5) CHIVAS USA<\/strong> (7-8-8, 29 points)
\nDisplayed the firepower that\u2019s been absent nearly all season with a 3-2 win at New England. It\u2019s a shame that Chivas can\u2019t play New England every week (Brian \u2013 6) \u2026 Sure they took advantage of a makeshift Revs backline to score three goals and grind out three points, but they made an anemic Revs offense look better than it had in months. Still not impressed. (Sean \u2013 9)<\/p>\n

T8.<\/strong> (-3) SPORTING KANSAS CITY<\/strong> (7-7-9, 30 points)
\nAt the start of stoppage time against Seattle, K.C. had a 1-0 lead. At the end of stoppage time, Seattle had a 2-1 lead. Gah, and goodbye unbeaten streak. (Brian \u2013 9) \u2026 Completely unnecessary tackle by Omar Bravo snaps K.C\u2019s 14-game unbeaten run and costs them three points. (Sean \u2013 7)<\/p>\n

T8.<\/strong> PHILADELPHIA UNION<\/strong> (8-5-9, 33 points)
\n1-1 draw to struggling Houston is a missed opportunity to leapfrog the Crew for the top spot in the east. Tough test against Dallas this week. (Brian \u2013 8 ) \u2026 Outplayed at home by Houston. Can Freddy Adu save their struggling offense? (Sean \u2013 8 )<\/p>\n

10. D.C. UNITED <\/strong>(6-6-9, 27 points)
\nDeRo scores the hat trick, but dumb ejection to Bill Hamid leaves Toronto with the man-advantage and the opportunity to score three of their own. What is it with these guys? (Brian \u2013 10) \u2026 De Rosario just might push D.C. into the play-offs\u2026 if the rest of the team doesn\u2019t blow it for him. (Sean \u2013 10)<\/p>\n

T11. HOUSTON DYNAMO<\/strong> (6-7-10, 28 points)
\nNorth Attleboro\u2019s Geoff Cameron scores the equalizer in the 85th minute to steal a point against Philly. Now, if they could only figure out a way to win on the road. (Brian \u2013 12) \u2026 Possibly the Dynamo\u2019s best road performance as they out-possess and outshoot Philly to grab a point. Interested to see Costly\u2019s impact as it\u2019s not too late to make a playoff push for the Dynamo. (Sean \u2013 11)<\/p>\n

T11.<\/strong> (-3) NEW YORK RED BULLS<\/strong> (6-6-12, 30 points)
\nHumbled by Salt Lake 3-0 as the Red Bulls continue their winless ways, now going to five straight. If they don\u2019t beat Chicago this weekend, I\u2019ll refuse to put the words \u201cplayoffs\u201d and \u201cRed Bulls\u201d in the same sentence. (Brian \u2013 11) \u2026 Crushed by Salt Lake and New York has just two league wins since April.\u00a0 Those two wins came against the struggling Toronto and New England. I thought the Emirates Cup win would spark them to life\u2026 I was wrong. (Sean \u2013 12)<\/p>\n

13. PORTLAND TIMBERS<\/strong> (7-10-5, 26 points)
\nAfter their resounding 3-0 win over L.A., they fall short over getting their second in a row as they settle for a 1-1 draw to San Jose. (Brian \u2013 13) \u2026 Road draw at San Jose and Portland might just be on the verge of a late season playoff run. (Sean \u2013 13)<\/p>\n

14.<\/strong> (-1) NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION<\/strong> (4-10-9, 21 points)
\nGet lit up for three goals by the Goats for the second time this season, and all but sealed New England\u2019s fate as a non-contender this season. (Brian \u2013 14) \u2026 Diego Fagundez and Milton Caraglio give hope\u2026 for next season. The loss to Chivas USA, barring a miracle, ends any playoff hopes. (Sean -14)<\/p>\n

15. SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES<\/strong> (5-8-10, 25 points)
\nTheir draw to Portland extends their winless streak to ten and all but kills any dreams they had about returning to the postseason. (Brian \u2013 15) \u2026 The MLS playoff format means it\u2019s not too late for the \u2018Quakes to make a run, but it\u2019s awfully close. Nothing from their recent performances says they\u2019re capable of putting together the winning streak it would take to move up the standings. (Sean \u2013 15)<\/p>\n

T16.<\/strong> (+1) TORONTO FC<\/strong> (3-11-11, 20 points)
\nVictimized by their former midfielder, Toronto nonetheless showed life on the attack with three goals from three different goalscorers. (Brian \u2013 16) \u2026 Bill Hamid tried to give Toronto the game, but they couldn\u2019t take it. New players, same results. (Sean \u2013 17)<\/p>\n

T16.<\/strong> (+2) VANCOUVER WHITECAPS<\/strong> (3-11-9, 18 points)
\nPut up a four spot against Chicago and win for the first time since June 18th. With Martin Rennie coming in as manager next season, the remainder of the season will focus on who\u2019ll be back next season. (Brian \u2013 17) \u2026 Big win over Chicago gives a rare highlight in the Whitecap\u2019s poor inaugural season. (Sean \u2013 16)<\/p>\n

18.<\/strong> (-2) CHICAGO FIRE<\/strong> (2-7-13, 19 points)
\nGood news and bad news. The bad news: the Fire lose to the worst team in the league. The good news? The Fire are positioning themselves well to get the second overall pick next year\u2019s SuperDraft. (Brian \u2013 18) \u2026 Three games in hand on Toronto means they might still be able to avoid last place! (Sean \u2013 18)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Galaxy reclaim the top position in our rankings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4829,"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\/2011\/06\/galaxylogofeature.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\/5880"}],"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\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5880"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5882,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5880\/revisions\/5882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}