{"id":11763,"date":"2012-05-09T18:19:12","date_gmt":"2012-05-09T22:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=11763"},"modified":"2012-05-09T21:54:05","modified_gmt":"2012-05-10T01:54:05","slug":"mls-rankings-week-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=11763","title":{"rendered":"MLS Rankings: Week 9"},"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 Ryan Lanigan contributed rankings. Comments are followed by the ranker\u2019s name and the rank they gave that team.<\/em><\/p>\n

T1.<\/strong> (+1) SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES<\/strong> (7-2-1, 22 points)
\nTough last second loss in Vancouver in what was a fairly even match. Can\u2019t take too much away from the \u2018Quakes since Vancouver\u2019s been strong at home this season. (Sean \u2013 2) \u2026 Yes they lost, but that goal was somewhat controversial given the time it happened. (Ryan \u2013 1)<\/p>\n

T1.<\/strong> (+2) SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC<\/strong> (6-1-1, 19 points)
\nFour wins in a row now for Seattle. What was that about a slow start? (Sean \u2013 1) \u2026 Fredy Montero has found the back of the net finally, and he\u2019s done so in tremendous fashion. Should be a good game against RSL this week. (Ryan \u2013 2)<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> (-2) SPORTING KANSAS CITY<\/strong> (7-2-0, 21 points)
\nSure they controlled most of the match, but losing their second in a row and falling 2-0 at home to expansion Montreal shows Kansas City may not be so perfect. (Sean \u2013 3) \u2026 Absolutely shocking to see the past two results for a team that started so hot. I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s a good thing or a bad thing to be Chicago. (Ryan \u2013 3)<\/p>\n

4.<\/strong> (-1) REAL SALT LAKE<\/strong> (7-3-1, 22 points)
\nSurvived a back and forth affair with New England, including playing an extended period down a man, to grab a more difficult than expected three points. (Sean \u2013 4) \u2026 Not the most impressive performance against New England and they are grateful to have Rimando in net. (Ryan \u2013 4)<\/p>\n

5.<\/strong> (+2) VANCOUVER WHITECAPS<\/strong> (5-2-2, 17 points)
\nImportant win for Vancouver over San Jose shows they truly are a force to be reckoned with. (Sean \u2013 5) \u2026 Revenge for them as they beat the team that handed them their first loss. It marks three wins in a row with a passive New England team on the horizon. (Ryan \u2013 5)<\/p>\n

6.<\/strong> (-1) D.C. UNITED<\/strong> (5-3-3, 18 points)
\nToronto proved just what the doctor ordered for a quick recovery from a loss last week that interrupted their otherwise impressive form. (Sean \u2013 6) \u2026 I always say a win\u2019s a win. Beating Toronto is becoming routine for most teams but they still had to play the game to do it. (Ryan \u2013 6)<\/p>\n

T7.<\/strong>\u00a0 (-1) HOUSTON DYNAMO<\/strong> (2-2-2, 8 points)
\nBig home opener at their new stadium coming up plus a winnable road game in New York on Wednesday and the Dynamo are in good shape despite their tough 7-game road trek to start the season. (Sean \u2013 8 ) \u2026 They have a tough schedule this week but hopefully some home cooking will help them out. (Ryan \u2013 7)<\/p>\n

T7.<\/strong>\u00a0 (+1) NEW YORK RED BULLS<\/strong> (5-3-1, 16 points)
\nSure LA is struggling, but with New York missing Thierry Henry and other key players, while LA had their three DPs, a win at the Home Depot Center is quite an accomplishment. (Sean \u2013 7) \u2026 Beating LA this year isn\u2019t what it used to be but it\u2019s still a result they needed to get without Henry. (Ryan \u2013 8 )<\/p>\n

9.<\/strong> (+1) COLORADO RAPIDS<\/strong> (5-5-0, 15 points)
\n2-0 win at Dallas is huge after the disappointment in New England. Getting Conor Casey back might help get them back on track. (Sean \u2013 9) \u2026 They know they should have done better at New England and they proved so by doing well against Dallas. \u00a0(Ryan \u2013 9)<\/p>\n

10.<\/strong> (+6) MONTREAL IMPACT<\/strong> (3-5-2, 11 points)
\nTwo wins in a row including winning in Kansas City last week and suddenly Montreal looks ready to make a run. (Sean \u2013 10) \u2026 Don\u2019t look now, but they are unbeaten in four of their last five and host a struggling Galaxy team this weekend. (Ryan \u2013 10)<\/p>\n

11.<\/strong> (+1) CHICAGO FIRE<\/strong> (3-2-2, 11 points)
\nThe inconsistent Fire grab a win at Chivas, but still haven\u2019t looked much like a playoff team despite their record. (Sean \u2013 11) \u2026 They got the result they needed against Chivas but a dreadful schedule awaits them this week. (Ryan \u2013 11)<\/p>\n

12.<\/strong> (-1) LOS ANGELES GALAXY<\/strong> (3-5-1, 10 points)
\nCompletely inexcusable to lose at home to a decimated Red Bulls team. Sure they have some injuries, but that\u2019s not enough to explain why the Galaxy are as bad as they are right now. (Sean \u2013 12) \u2026 Not sure what is wrong with this team rather than complacency. I blame Bruce Arena. (Ryan \u2013 12)<\/p>\n

T13.<\/strong> (+2) NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION<\/strong> (3-6-0, 9 points)
\nSolid victory against Colorado and then a strong performance against Salt Lake. Set pieces \u2013 both offensively and defensively \u2013 are inexcusably bad and the team\u2019s Achilles\u2019 heel at this point. (Sean \u2013 14) \u2026 This is a little higher than most people will have them. But they did well to come back against Colorado and didn\u2019t exactly play bad against RSL, a game they deserved a point. (Ryan \u2013 13)<\/p>\n

T13.<\/strong> (-4) FC DALLAS<\/strong> (3-4-3, 12 points)
\nSomeone needs to teach this team some discipline. They aren\u2019t good enough this year to cost themselves points with needless ejections. (Sean \u2013 13) \u2026 Winless in their last four games isn\u2019t a good thing when you have a game midweek against a hot Seattle team. (Ryan \u2013 14)<\/p>\n

15.<\/strong> (-1) PHILADELPHIA UNION<\/strong> (2-5-1, 7 points)
\nTalk about bringing in Raul makes sense. This team NEEDS goals. (Sean \u2013 15) \u2026 After a quick glimpse of positive results, the Union has responded with two straight losses. (Ryan \u2013 15)<\/p>\n

16. CHIVAS USA<\/strong> (3-6-0, 9 points)
\nThree losses in a row and the bad news is Chivas remains at home this week where they are 0-5. )Sean \u2013 16) \u2026 That one has to hurt. (Ryan \u2013 16)<\/p>\n

17.<\/strong> (-4) COLUMBUS CREW<\/strong> (2-4-2, 8 points)
\nWhat a disappointment the Crew has been. This usually steady team might be headed for their worst season in some time if they can\u2019t turn things around. (Sean \u2013 17) \u2026 They desperately needed to get a result from their game against Portland. They just signed Paul Birchall to give the midfield a boost. (Ryan \u2013 17)<\/p>\n

18. PORTLAND TIMBERS<\/strong> (2-5-2, 8 points)
\nI still can\u2019t figure out what went so wrong for Portland, but maybe a bye week will help them figure it out. (Sean \u2013 18) \u2026 Well if there was ever a time to recover their momentum from their win, it was in their game against Columbus\u2026but they didn\u2019t. (Ryan \u2013 18)<\/p>\n

19. TORONTO FC<\/strong> (0-8-0, 0 points)
\nOn the plus side, there\u2019s no MLS game for them to lose this week. (Sean \u2013 19) \u2026 Death, taxes\u2026and Toronto losing in 2012. (Ryan \u2013 19)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kansas City is finally dethroned, but who takes their place? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11764,"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\/soundersearthquakesfeature.jpg?fit=490%2C240&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11763"}],"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=11763"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11763\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11777,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11763\/revisions\/11777"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}