WVHooligan - Soccer Blog

After yesterday’s discussion of the final playoff spots I got a couple emails wanting to know my thoughts on the Supporter’s Shield race. I figure it is a good time to start breaking that race down as well.

Remember the winner of the trophy gets a bid into SuperLiga next season as well as a bid in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

A look at the current standings:

1. DC United (14-6-4) 46 pts. – Six games left
2. Houston Dynamo (12-7-6) 42 pts. – five games left
3. New England Revolution (12-6-6) 42 pts. – six games left
4. Chivas USA (12-6-4) 40 pts. – eight games left
5. FC Dallas (12-8-3) 39 pts. – seven games left

DC and probably Chivas look to be in the best shape for this race. United have six games left on the season and four of them are at home. The biggest concern I have with DC is in the middle of these games is a series with Chivas of Mexico in the Copa Nissan Sudamericana. Playing well in that could prove to be a lot of worth down the road for United. In the last six games I see at least 14 points out there for the Black-and-Red. I think all the home games are win-able and even the two road games aren’t too bad either. I think though they will drop a game in there somewhere, probably on the road in Chicago. But 60 points could easily help their chances of winning the Supporter’s Shield trophy again this year.

Houston has a lot of work cut out for them if they want a shot at this trophy. Four road games in the last five will be really tough to handle. But all the games are win-able. But even if they do win them all they will only have 57 points on the season. I don’t know if that will even be enough. Plus a trip to face Chivas at the end of the season could probably determine the winner of the west.

The Revs have a lot of work now that they just dropped a game to DC. Currently sitting at 42 points with six games left (3 home and 3 away), not to mention a US Open Cup final in Dallas; the Revs have to find a way to get consistent in the final stretch to even think they have a shot at winning the Supporter’s Shield trophy. All the home games are win-able games and two of the road matches should be wins as well. It all starts with the Dallas game this weekend; a with against the Hoops will help their chances but a loss will pretty much end their hopes in my mind at winning this race.

Chivas has the best chance in my mind still at winning this trophy.  Eight games to go and five of them are at home against clubs that should yield wins. If they hang on and win them all they will probably go down as the best home club in MLS history. The game with LA tomorrow night will show if this club has what it takes to do just that. The three road games could be wins as well; games in Colorado and Salt Lake could be six points. Say they get six points there and the 15 points in the final home games they could easily see 63 points overall, something that will be more than enough to win the trophy.

Dallas is probably the only club on this list that is on the outside looking in for this race. Seven games left, along with a game in the US Open Cup final could be a little much for the Hoops. Thankfully for Dallas five of those eight games are at Pizza Hut Park. Dallas should be able to at least win three of the four league games at home and probably get no less than five points on the road in those three games. But Dallas could still get in the top two in the west if they play well enough. A lot depends on the defense as usual and if Denilson can click quick enough with his new teammates.

Overall, I think it comes down to Chivas and DC in the final stretch here. If New England and Houston get their acts together they could make their own cases for it. Dallas has a lot of work to do but any losses could be killer.

Your thoughts on the Supporter’s Shield race?

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