{"id":1124,"date":"2010-10-01T01:11:40","date_gmt":"2010-10-01T05:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=1124"},"modified":"2010-10-01T10:36:07","modified_gmt":"2010-10-01T14:36:07","slug":"mls-rankings-week-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=1124","title":{"rendered":"MLS Rankings: Week 26"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every week the contributors to New England Soccer Today will look beyond just the standings to rank the 16 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 the team was given. Note: This week’s rankings were submitted before Wednesday’s matches. Apologies for the delay.
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1. Real Salt Lake<\/strong> (13-4-9, 48 points) \u2013 Even if they hadn\u2019t equalized late against Colorado, Salt Lake has done nothing to hurt its position at the top of the class. Dare I say it? Salt Lake has proven the critics that they are for – wait for it – \u201creal\u201d this season. (Brian \u2013 1) \u2026 Draw with Colorado, despite resting several players, shows just how deep the team is. (Sean \u2013 1)<\/p>\n

2. FC Dallas<\/strong> (11-2-13, 46 points) (+1)\u2013 Thoroughly disposed a recently-impressive Kansas City on the road. With Jeff Cunningham starting to resemble his 2009 self, things are looking good in the Big D \u2013 well, at least for FCD. The Cowboys are an entirely different matter. (Brian \u2013 2) … Poor start against New England, but impressive fight back. Great win over a streaking Kansas City. (Sean \u2013 2)<\/p>\n

3. Los Angeles Galaxy <\/strong>(15-6-5, 50 points) (-1) \u2013 Their failure to appear for the so-called \u201cGame of the Season\u201d last Friday showed that this club still hasn\u2019t shaken its second-half woes. Beckham\u2019s return hasn\u2019t done the trick. Nor has Bruce Arena\u2019s pouty face. (Brian \u2013 4) \u2026 Poor performance against New York. Another like it and the Supporter\u2019s Shield will be going to Salt Lake. (Sean \u2013 3)<\/p>\n

4. Seattle Sounders<\/strong> (11-9-6, 39 points) (+1) \u2013 I have no reservations whatsoever about naming them the third best team in the league. Aside from RSL, this is the hottest club in MLS at the moment. Probably the only club that could beat both FCD and RSL in the playoffs. (Brian \u2013 3) \u2026 1-0 over Chicago as they continue strong form heading towards the play-offs. (Sean \u2013 5)<\/p>\n

5. New York Red Bulls<\/strong> (13-8-5, 44 points) \u2013 There\u2019s a new king atop the Eastern Conference standings. Their impressive form against LA was the formal announcement that this club has arrived, and it drinks Red Bull, and so should you if you don\u2019t want to be a loser. (Brian \u2013 5) \u2026 Huge victory over Los Angeles puts the pressure on Columbus in the battle for the top seed in the East. (Sean \u2013 4)<\/p>\n

6. Columbus Crew<\/strong> (13-7-6, 45 points) (-2) \u2013 Their Champions League commitments may have hurt their form in league play, but the simple fact is that this an experienced side that won\u2019t be deterred by bumps in the road. I mean, they\u2019re named after construction workers after all. (Brian \u2013 6) \u2026 Another unimpressive performance, this time against New England. Did they peak too early? (Sean \u2013 6)<\/p>\n

7. Colorado Rapids<\/strong> (11-7-8, 41 points) \u2013 Nearly eked out a victory at Rio Tinto thanks to a gift non-penalty call, but the fact remains they could hang with the big boys. Whether this was an aberration or reality, only Chuck Norris knows. (Brian – 7) \u2026 Debating whether a 1-1 draw at Salt Lake should be considered should be considered a positive, despite Salt Lake resting many players. (Sean \u2013 7)<\/p>\n

8. San Jose Earthquakes<\/strong> (11-8-6, 39 points) \u2013 Chris Wondolowski\u2019s singular performance catapulted the Quakes to an impressive 3-2 road victory. Insert corny magician\/rabbit\/hat trick line here. (Brian \u2013 8 ) \u2026 Got 3-2 over win Toronto thanks to Wondolowski\u2019s hat trick. 5-1-1 in their last 7 games. (Sean – 8 )<\/p>\n

9<\/strong>. Kansas City Wizards<\/strong> (9-10-6, 33 points) \u2013 Losing a tough match to FCD is nothing to be embarrassed about. But this league is about results, and losing three late-season points at home never help\u2019s one\u2019s playoff chances. Just an FYI. (Brian \u2013 9) \u2026 Excellent comeback victory against Houston on Wednesday put them in a good spot to move closer to a play-off spot, but then ruined by an unimpressive 3-1 home loss to FC Dallas. (Sean \u2013 9)<\/p>\n

10. Toronto FC<\/strong> (8-11-7, 31 points)\u2013 After getting bounced from CONCACAF Champions League last night, the Reds can now focus on the league. Whether they have to resources to muster up a late-season run is another matter entirely. Spoiler alert: they don\u2019t. (Brian \u2013 10) \u2026 3-2 loss to San Jose all but ends their play-off hopes. De Ro\u2019s stunt only further compounds the team\u2019s problems. (Sean \u2013 10)<\/p>\n

11. Philadelphia Union<\/strong> (7-13-6, 27 points) (+1) \u2013 If MLS followed the August-May schedule season seen overseas, Philly would probably be early contenders. Although that\u2019s obviously not reality, I sometimes like to dream about these scenarios. That and a trio of Revs Girls on a trampoline in my backyard. (Brian \u2013 11) \u2026 Team is rounding into form with a big 3-0 win over Chivas (Sean \u2013 11)<\/p>\n

12. Chicago Fire<\/strong> (7-10-8, 29 points) (-1) \u2013 Dropped a heartbreaker to Seattle at home, which effectively extinguished the Fire from the playoff conversation. Get it? Fire extinguisher? Yes? No? Can\u2019t win them all, I guess. (Brian \u2013 12) \u2026 Continue to fall out of the play-off picture. No excuse not to be doing better with the roster they have. (Sean \u2013 12)<\/p>\n

T13. Houston Dynamo <\/strong>(7-14-5, 26 points) (+2) \u2013 Moved out of the Western Conference cellar thanks to a 3-1 effort against their former neighbors, DC United. Dominic Oduro\u2019s 100th minute goal proves anything is possible when you play DC. (Brian \u2013 13) \u2026 Showed life against Houston before suffering an epic collapse. Win over D.C. United does little to change the fact they\u2019ve been awful this season. \u00a0(Sean \u2013 14)<\/p>\n

T13. New England Revolution <\/strong>(7-14-5, 26 points) (+1) \u2013 Giving up back-to-back late-match goals to earn petty draws shows that while the club may have finally learned how to start, they still haven\u2019t figured out how to finish, among other things – like winning. (Brian \u2013 13) \u2026 A couple of strong performances against two of the top teams in the league, but an inability to close out games leaves them with just two points. (Sean \u2013 14)<\/p>\n

15. Chivas USA<\/strong> (7-14-4, 25 points) (-3) \u2013Getting thumped to an expansion side is not the way to move up the rankings. In fact, the only thing it assured the Goats is a reservation for the basement of the Western Conference. Don’t forget to check the radon detector! (Brian \u2013 15) \u2026 Things are just getting worse for Chivas. Dreadful performance against a first year team. (Sean \u2013 15)<\/p>\n

16. D.C. United<\/strong> (5-18-3, 18 points) \u2013 Like the Revolution, they couldn\u2019t hold a lead to save their lives. D.C. needs about nine more Andy Najars before they can even dream of returning to the MLS mantle. Nine more Andy Najars, and maybe an Iker Casillas clone. And Jose Mourinho, the real one, for comedy. (Brian \u2013 16) \u2026 Another blown lead and D.C. is looking at setting several club records; among them is most losses. (Sean \u2013 16)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every week the contributors to New England Soccer Today will look beyond just the standings to rank the 16 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 the team was given. Note: This week’s rankings were submitted before Wednesday’s […]<\/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&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1124"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1124"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1128,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1124\/revisions\/1128"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}