MLS Rankings: Week 8

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 Ryan Lanigan contributed rankings. Comments are followed by the ranker’s name and the rank they gave that team.

1. SPORTING KANSAS CITY (7-1-0, 21 points)
Some rest should have done KC well after suffering their first loss before the break. (Sean – 1) … Could there be an upset coming with Montreal coming to town? No, probably not. (Ryan – 1)

2. SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES (6-1-1, 19 points)
Expected win over Philly, but 3 points on the road is still impressive. (Sean – 2) … Lenhart quickly becoming a bad guy to the opponents. (Ryan – 2)

T3. REAL SALT LAKE (6-3-1, 19 points)
RSL is back to winning, albeit with more difficulty than expected against Toronto, and should be able to continue it against a Revolution squad that has had no success in Utah in recent years. (Sean – 4) … RSL has to be excited to have a tired Revolution squad coming to town on Saturday. (Ryan – 3)

T3. (+1) SEATTLE SOUNDERS (4-1-1, 13 points)
Grabbed a victory over Chicago and look set to make a move up the rankings in the West. (Sean – 3) … Solid win over Chicago but now have to turn around quick to play the Galaxy midweek. (Ryan – 4)

5. DC UNITED (4-2-3, 15 points)
D.C. has truly erased their slow start and have now established themselves as the second best team in the East. (Sean – 5) … A really big win for DC United over Houston. Both their offense and defense will have to be on point in the game against the red-hot Earthquakes. (Ryan – 5)

6. (-1) HOUSTON DYNAMO (2-2-2, 8 points)
Tough loss in DC, but Houston is staying in good shape for when they finally return home. (Sean – 6) … A tough loss to DC United proves they don’t have a strangle hold on the East. Despite the loss, the news of the week will be focused on their new stadium. (Ryan – 6)

7. VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (4-2-2, 14 points)
Back-to-back wins and a road victory in Columbus shows the Whitecaps impressive early season from shouldn’t be ignored just yet. (Sean – 7) …They are finding ways to win games and that’s important. Now, rookie Darren Mattocks is back training with the team after six weeks off. (Ryan – 7)

8. NEW YORK RED BULLS (4-3-1, 13 points)
When is a win really a loss? When you lose your best player for a significant length of time. Red Bulls will truly be tested without Henry in the line-up. (Sean – 8 ) … They might have won the game but the loss of Thierry Henry will really be telling of this teams will and skill. (Ryan – 8 )

9. (+2) FC DALLAS (3-3-3, 12 points)
Busy streak and Dallas grabs draws against two of the West’s best squads. (Sean – 9) …  Really solid week for this squad, taking on two talent teams and coming away with a point in both of them. (Ryan – 9)

10. (+2) COLORADO RAPIDS (4-4-0, 12 points)
It might have been Chivas, but getting a good offensive outburst and a solid defensive effort is the key. (Ryan -10) … Put an end to their three game losing streak by thrashing Chivas USA. (Sean – 11)

11. (-2) LOS ANGELES GALAXY (3-3-1, 10 points)
After winning town in a row, a home draw against Dallas was a bit disappointing, but don’t expect Keane to miss many PKs. (Sean – 10) … Robbie Keane sure wishes he did better on his attempt but at least it didn’t cost them all of the points. (Ryan – 12)

12. (-3) CHICAGO FIRE (2-2-2, 8 points)
Sure, it was Seattle, but if the Fire are to contend in the East this year, they’ve gotta get points at home. (Sean – 12) … An own goal is never a good feeling.  (Ryan – 11)

13. (+1) COLUMBUS CREW (2-4-1, 7 points)
After a decent start to the season the Crew is quickly falling down the table. (Sean – 13) … A rough call ended up really being the difference, which is never what you want to happen. (Ryan – 14)

14. (+2) PHILADELPHIA UNION (2-4-1, 7 points)
Two game winning streak comes to an end against one of the league’s best. (Sean – 15) … Not the result they were looking for but they played somewhat better than in previous games. (Ryan – 13)

15. (-2) NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION  (2-5-0, 6 points)
When an already injury depleted Red Bulls squad losses it’s best player early in the first half, that’s a game you should win. The Revs didn’t take advantage. (Sean – 14) … Things aren’t going really well for the Revs, again being shutout in a game they could have won. (Ryan – 17)

T16. (+1) CHIVAS USA (3-5-0, 9 points)
If Chivas USA’s road form deserts them, what do they have left? (Sean – 17) … A rough loss but they have a chance to get a big win over Chicago. (Ryan – 15)

T16. (+2) MONTREAL IMPACT (2-5-2, 8 points)
Big win over the struggling Timbers. Is Montreal starting to turn the corner? (Sean – 16) … A great win for Montreal over Portland, a win people never saw coming at the beginning of the season. (Ryan – 16)

18. (-3) PORTLAND TIMBERS (2-5-1, 7 points)
Just when you thought the Timbers might start to turn things around… they lose to Montreal. (Sean – 18) … Portland should be thankful of the dreadful start Toronto is having because this season is going south fast. (Ryan – 18)

19. TORONTO FC (0-7-0, 0 points)
They don’t look awful, they just seem to have no clue how to win. (Sean – 19) … Seeing how poorly some of the other teams have played should really inspire them to get a win. (Ryan – 19)