{"id":5750,"date":"2011-07-29T10:17:02","date_gmt":"2011-07-29T14:17:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=5750"},"modified":"2011-07-29T15:10:37","modified_gmt":"2011-07-29T19:10:37","slug":"mls-rankings-week-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=5750","title":{"rendered":"MLS Rankings: Week 19"},"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

T1.\u00a0Los Angeles Galaxy <\/strong>(11-2-9, 42 points) <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Galaxy keep getting points even with stars such as David Beckham missing matches due to suspensions or injuries. (Photo by Art Donahue\/artdonahue.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

Sure, they keep avoiding the loss column, but putting together a few more wins \u2013 even if it\u2019s of the 1-0 variety like the one against\u00a0Columbus last week \u2013 is a must if they want to climb back into the first spot. (Brian \u2013 2) \u2026 Haven\u2019t lost since May 13th, a stretch of 13 games. They may not be blowing out opponents, or even winning every game you\u2019d expect them to, but they keep finding a way to keep getting points regardless of whose missing from the line-up. Impressive draw with Manchester City should further aid confidence. (Sean \u2013 1)<\/p>\n

T1. Seattle\u00a0Sounders <\/strong>(10-4-8, 38 points)<\/strong>
\nIdle last week, but have a favorable matchup against the sinking Houston Dynamo this weekend that should see their winning ways continue.\u00a0(Brian \u2013 1) \u2026 Nine games unbeaten in league play, but you have to wonder if the 7-0 trouncing by Manchester United and subsequent loss in the CONCACAF Champions League to Panama\u2019s San Francisco F.C. will have dented their confidence. (Sean \u2013 2)<\/strong><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Real\u00a0Salt\u00a0Lake <\/strong>(9-3-6, 33 points)<\/strong>
\nUnbeaten in their last seven thanks to their 4-0 shellacking of\u00a0San Jose, it looks like\u00a0Salt\u00a0Lake\u00a0is finally back to its former self. (Brian – 3) \u2026 I think it\u2019s safe to say Salt Lake are out of their post-Champions League funk. I picked these guys to win it all at the start of the season and they\u2019re still my favorites to take home the title. (Sean \u2013 3)<\/p>\n

4. FC Dallas <\/strong>(11-5-6, 39 points)
\nSqueak past\u00a0Toronto\u00a01-0, but a late equalizer at\u00a0New York\u00a0deprives them of maximum points on the road. Even so, they\u2019re still one of the top 4 teams in MLS right now, and I think they\u2019ll get even better as the season goes on. (Brian \u2013 4) \u2026 Frankly these top four teams in the West look like the only title contenders in the league right now, but after their last four games, Dallas are firmly in the fourth spot behind Los Angeles, Seattle, and Salt Lake. (Sean \u2013 4)<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0Philadelphia\u00a0Union <\/strong>(8-4-7, 31 points)
\nHandily beat the Revs 3-0 at Gillette, but their A-1 defense will be tested by\u00a0Colorado\u2019s pace this weekend.\u00a0 (Brian \u2013 5) \u2026 It looked like the Union were slipping up in June, but they\u2019re back to being the best in the East with a win at home, draw on the road strategies over the last four games. (Sean \u2013 5)<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0Colorado Rapids <\/strong>(7-6-10, 31 points)
\nHumiliated <\/em><\/strong>New York\u00a0with a 4-1 pounding, and almost went 2 for 2 before giving up a late equalizer against the Revs. If the Rapids attack can continue their current form, they may get hot down the stretch. (Brian \u2013 6) \u2026 Impressed with a crushing victory over New York, but then didn\u2019t at all in a draw with New England. In the six spot, but doesn\u2019t look at all like a contender yet. (Sean \u2013 6)<\/p>\n

T7. Columbus Crew <\/strong>(8-6-7, 31 points)<\/strong>
\nInconsistencies crept into the Crew\u2019s form last week with a 1-0 loss to the Gals, then only managing a single goal\u00a0\u00a0– an own goal, to boot – in their win over the Timbers.\u00a0(Brian \u2013 8 ) \u2026 They aren\u2019t scoring many goals, but their defense has been rock solid this month. If they can get their offense on track, they\u2019ll give the Union a fight for the top spot in the East the rest of the way. (Sean \u2013 7)<\/p>\n

T7. Sporting K.C. <\/strong>(6-6-8, 26 points) <\/strong>
\nKei Kamara and Omar Bravo each score a brace against a hapless\u00a0Toronto\u00a0team, and, like the Galaxy, K.C. keeps itself out of the loss column. (Brian \u2013 7) \u2026 I can never give a team much credit for beating Toronto and I just haven\u2019t been impressed with Kansas City this month, despite their unbeaten record. Losing Aurelien Collin for a while to injury won\u2019t help. (Sean \u2013 8 )<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0New York\u00a0Red Bulls <\/strong>(6-5-12, 30 points)<\/strong>
\nYou have to wonder what the heck is going on with this team. Look away loss to the Rapids, and a 2-2 draw against\u00a0Dallas\u00a0only add more to the argument that this team is, by far, the underachiever of the season. (Brian \u2013 9) \u2026 New York just can\u2019t seem to find the winning formula this season, but they now have the Emirates Cup to get things right before returning to league play and it seems to be coming at just the right time. (Sean \u2013 9)<\/p>\n

T10.\u00a0Chivas USA <\/strong>(6-7-8, 26 points)<\/strong>
\nOffense \u2013 or should I say, Justin Braun \u2013 awakens with the striker\u2019s second hat trick of the season over a stingy Dynamo defense. Braun\u2019s legit, but the jury\u2019s still out on the rest of the offense. (Brian \u2013 11) \u2026 Unbeaten in July, but I\u2019ll need to see them maintain their form even longer before I push them any higher. (Sean \u2013 10)<\/p>\n

T10. D.C. United <\/strong>(5-6-8, 23 points) <\/strong>
\nIf Charlie Davies\u2019 penalty is accurate, D.C. gets a point. But instead, the former BC Eagle launches a duck against his hometown team, and allows the Revs to win their first road victory of the season. (Brian \u2013 10)<\/p>\n

T12.\u00a0San Jose Earthquakes <\/strong>(5-7-9, 24 points)<\/strong>
\nShould have drilled\u00a0Vancouver, but instead, settle for a 2-2 draw. And yeah, there may have been controversy with Saborio\u2019s dive in the RSL game, but giving up four goals is inexcusable. (Brian \u2013 13) … It\u2019s hard to separate the former Earthquakes (current Dynamo) for the present Earthquakes right now, but I give San Jose a bit more credit despite the huge defeat to Salt Lake considering their ridiculously busy July schedule and the circumstances of the loss. (Sean \u2013 12)<\/p>\n

T12.\u00a0Houston Dynamo <\/strong>(5-7-9, 24 points)<\/strong>
\nThe Dynamo continue to shoot themselves in the foot, and their loss to the Goats is proof of that. Going down to 10 men with a 2-goal deficit? Not brilliant. (Brian \u2013 12) \u2026 Zero wins on the road isn\u2019t going to get them very far. (Sean \u2013 13)<\/p>\n

14.\u00a0Portland Timbers<\/strong> (6-10-3, 21 points)
\nLosers of four out of their last five, this time thanks to an own goal against\u00a0Columbus. Now, they\u2019re thinking of trading Kenny Cooper. Huh? (Brian \u2013 14) \u2026 Portland has been finding new ways to lose each week this month. You\u2019d think their friendly wins might build confidence, but it hasn\u2019t happened yet. (Brian \u2013 14)<\/p>\n

15. New England Revolution <\/strong>(4-9-8, 20 points)<\/strong>
\nFinally win on the road with 1-0 at D.C. and avoid disaster with an improbable 2-2 comeback draw at\u00a0Colorado. Still, the Revs have a ton of work to do as the final third of the season approaches. (Brian \u2013 15) \u2026 I\u2019d be a lot more impressed with the Revs recent results if they actually maintained some possession during the matches or scored from the run of play. Leading the league in red cards doesn\u2019t help\u2026 (Sean \u2013 15)<\/p>\n

16. Chicago Fire <\/strong>(2-6-12, 18 points) <\/strong>
\nWhen your only measure of success this season is putting a goal on the board against Manchester United, well, you might have some problems. Those problems may get worse when they face Philly next week. (Brian \u2013 16) \u2026 Winless since June 12th and haven\u2019t scored two or more goals in a match since May. 0-0 and 1-1 draws aren\u2019t going to be enough to make the playoffs. (Sean \u2013 16)<\/p>\n

17.\u00a0Vancouver Whitecaps <\/strong>(2-10-9, 15 points)<\/strong>
\nEric Hassli single-handedly steals a point from\u00a0San Jose\u00a0in their 2-2 draw. <\/strong>This team\u2019s already in dire straits, but imagine how much worse they\u2019d be without Hassli? (Brian \u2013 17) \u2026 There is a lot of talent on this team, but they still haven\u2019t been able to put it together. (Sean \u2013 17)<\/p>\n

18.\u00a0Toronto\u00a0FC <\/strong>(3-11-9, 18 points)<\/strong>
\nThrottled by K.C. 4-2 and fall back to the cellar of the Eastern Conference. Hey, there\u2019s always CONCACAF Champions League! (Brian \u2013 18) \u2026 New additions, same results. The quality might be there, but maybe it has come too late to make a difference. (Sean \u2013 18)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Galaxy have some company at the top.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5752,"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\/07\/laseattlefeature.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\/5750"}],"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\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5750"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5768,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5750\/revisions\/5768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}