WVHooligan - Soccer Blog

6 May 2008

WVH Power Rankings: Week 6

Posted by drew.epperley under: Chicago Fire; Chivas USA; Colorado Rapids; Columbus Crew; DC United; FC Dallas; Houston Dynamo; KC Wizards; LA Galaxy; MLS; New England Revolution; New York Red Bulls; Power Rankings; Real Salt Lake; San Jose Earthquakes; Toronto FC .

Ah, I guess you could say that some things stay the same in Major League Soccer. DC fails to win in Colorado; Houston is still winless; San Jose still can’t score; New England can’t figure out Chicago; Beckham still showing he’s worth every penny; and Columbus is still on top.

Yeah, the parity in the league is slowly revolving into a consistent thing as the weeks go by. Will they keep up? Time will certainly tell as week six proved that this season is certainly a bit bizarre in comparison to recent years.

1. Columbus Crew (15 pts., same) - Finally a club that wants to remain in the top spot. The cast of Sigi Schmid’s Crew are proving time and time again that they are worth the top spot. Plus they proved to me that they are a very solid side all around. The winning at home is certainly nice but I am curious to see how the next two on the road go for the Crew.

2. Chicago Fire (12 pts., up 1) - Their dominance of New England either home or away is impressive here. Seven goals against the Revs this season. They probably wish they’d play the Revs every week with numbers like that but the league doesn’t allow such a thing. But, there is a but, against everyone else the Fire have only scored four goals. I still see this as a very dangerous team in the east as their defense has been very, very good. Only three goals against in six games, that’s impressive.

3. FC Dallas (9 pts., up 1) - I think their tie on the road was a little better than the play of other clubs around them so they get bumped up. Out of the six games this season, the Hoops have given up only five goals. Three of those came against Houston so you do the math about the other two. Three shutouts so far for Dario Sala, so I’m sure he will gladly take the 0-0 draw on the road to San Jose. Their offense however hasn’t been as impressive as their defense as of late.

4. Toronto FC (10 pts., up 1) - Another strong performance by the Reds against New York on Thursday night. I believe this club is still much better than the result that they had against New York. One problem though is the scoring in the run of play for this club. Not too many of those in the past four games (one goal I think actually). That has to improve even with how dangerous they are on free kicks.

5. New England Revolution (10 pts., down 3) - The Revs still can’t beat Chicago this season. They also really need Taylor Twellman back as soon as possible. The offense isn’t clicking, in fact they’ve been shut out three times this season, twice at home. You have to think they are scouting heavily for another forward for the summer transfer window right now too. But they may want to sure up that defense first.

6. Kansas City Wizards (10 pts., same) - I didn’t move them for a couple of reasons. Aside from about 10 minutes in the second half, they never once looked like they were in the match against Columbus. You have to believe they will take this week off here and fix their offensive problems too. I still think their defense needs some help as well. The lack of communication between the backline and Kevin Hartman in recent weeks has cost this club some points.

7. Colorado Rapids (9 pts., up 4) - This is one team I cannot figure out here. A couple weeks of strong play followed by a couple weeks of terrible play. Then they get what the doctor ordered by having DC come to town. It was nice to see former United players Christian Gomez and Facundo Erpen stick it to their old team though. I still need some time with this club.

8. New York Red Bulls (8 pts., down 1) - Another club I’m not quite sure about here as they are starting to get healthy. Kudos to them for playing pretty well through their injuries though. They definitely need a healthy Juan Pablo Angel though here this season. Only six goals this season mainly due to those injuries to Angel and Dane Richards.

9. LA Galaxy (8 pts., same) - Coming back from two goals on the road was nice but for the most part I thought they were dominated in this game by RSL. Beckham’s two birthday goals were great though, a thing of pure class. But when did a player like Abel Xavier have the right to say he wasn’t going to play on turf? It probably worked out in LA’s favor to not have him start or play against RSL. I could see him easily causing another goal.

10. DC United (6 pts., down 2) - Well so much for the come back. This club still can’t figure out how to win in the Rocky Mountains. After a nice result the week before this club moved back into “most disappointing club of the year” category. When is Luciano Emilio going to show up this season or did we only pay for a one year act from him?

11. Chivas USA (5 pts., down 1) - Okay so Brad Guzan is back? Or was that a one-time deal? As good as Guzan looked against Houston, the offense looked even worse. I think this has to be a club on the search right now for another striker for when the summer transfer window opens.

12. Real Salt Lake (5 pts., up 1) - They bounce back but only up to 12 for me. They played well against LA in stretches but the time that hurt them the most was during Beckham’s two goals. Bad time to have a collapse in defense against a side that can score in bunches. Still, I liked what I saw out of their offense and in reality they should have easily won that game against LA.

13. Houston Dynamo (4 pts., down 1) - Still winless but I still cannot place them last here. Brian Ching and Dwayne De Rosario have to learn how to get on the scoreboard here this season. Let’s look at the big picture here though with Houston. Yes they are winless but they’ve only lost twice this season. With the way other teams are playing this year, that isn’t bad at all. But still not great either. The wins will come as soon as the goals do, that much I am certain of after watch this club more.

14. San Jose Earthquakes (4 pts., same) - Still can’t move this club any higher here. Look the home result against Dallas is nice but this club still hasn’t found a way to get shots on goal here. Frank Yallop knew what he was doing when he built the team from the defensive side to the offensive side but he still hasn’t found someone who can put the ball in the back on the net.

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