WVHooligan - Soccer Blog

Round 15 had plenty of hits and misses for each club involved. Some stories were more compelling than others. Some players shine, while others came up short. Some coaches complained their way through a match, while others coached their way to victory or to a come from behind draw.

But after 15 weeks a lot still remains the same. The eastern conference is tight, the western conference is just as tight but rather weak and a couple clubs remain above all others.

We are slowly getting to that point were a hand full break away, a hand full fight their way in the middle of the pack and the last six or so clubs try to battle it out for those final playoff spots.

1. New England Revolution (33 pts., same) – One thing remains constant for the time being, New England is by and far the best side in the league. Their win over western leader LA in the Home Depot Center should have given enough people reason to believe in this club yet again this year. Oh yeah, they are the first club to 10 wins on the year too, that’s usually a good sign of things to come. SuperLiga is next up, a couple at home and then one on the road I believe. I’m curious to see how well they do in it this year.

2. Columbus Crew (27 pts., same) – Let’s face it, the Crew aren’t going away anytime soon. Toughest team to beat in my book, even tougher than New England in some respects. That kind of toughness will continue to come in handy down the line. Also, the next month or two while New England, DC, Chivas, and Houston are all busy, the Crew just have the league slate to worry about. That may be good for their Supporter’s Shield hopes.

3. DC United (22 pts., same) – No games this past week in league play. Tough part is they are hot right now in league play and don’t have another league match until July 22. Will that slow them down? We will see, SuperLiga is coming up for them.

4. Toronto FC (21 pts., same) – The home loss in the Canadian Cup to Vancouver didn’t effect their league standings but it did hurt a bit. Losing at home is never a good thing and seeing how that was the first one in 8 or 9 months is even worse. Still, they are hovering here due to lack of quality play by clubs around them. Also, some big moves are about to happen with this club, the next couple of weeks sound very interesting.

5. Chivas USA (21 pts., up 2) – If this club can remain healthy, look out. They seriously have the talent in place to make another run of things this year but that jammed schedule coming up could bump them back down if anyone else gets hurt. They need to go after another scorer to sure up things though.

6. LA Galaxy (21 pts., down 1) – This much we know, the Galaxy will steam roll for the most part through the west but come up short time and time again against the east. One single victory over a eastern club (KC) doesn’t look good at all. I think it is high time they traded Carlos Ruiz for some defensive help.

7. Chicago Fire (21 pts., up 1) – The scoreless drought is over but the winning hasn’t picked up in the process. Are they ready to move back up the charts? Maybe, but some changes are gonna take place soon to ensure that I believe.

8. Houston Dynamo (20 pts., down 2) – Two goals in the last four games (no wins by the way in that stretch). When will they listen to everyone and go out and find another quality striker? It may be time to bite the bullet and spend money on a DP. With SuperLiga coming up they need some depth up top.

9. Real Salt Lake (20 pts., up 1) – I have to admit, its more fun to watch Jason Kries and his coaching staff bitch over the officiating in MLS than what the players actually do on the field. Anytime a coach is complaining about the calls on the field it means only one thing, his club isn’t that good and he is trying to find some reason for it. Lucky for RSL the west is pretty terrible this year so leading the conference isn’t out of the question at this point.

10. FC Dallas (18 pts., up 1) – Okay, this is my stopping point for this club until they make some changes and win some games in league play. They are getting use to Schellas Hyndman but before long some things have to start clicking. I think they are with guys like Abe Thompson and rookie Eric Avila. Still should have grabbed three points on the 4th against the Wizards.

11. Colorado Rapids (19 pts., up 3) – They woke up from the dead offensively against a defense that was due to give up goals in bunches like that. The result saved Fernando Clavijo’s ass yet again. Thing is it won’t save it for long. They are still battling with San Jose to be the first club to 10 losses on the year. Yikes.

12. New York Red Bulls (20 pts., down 3) – Is Juan Carlos Osorio really any better than any of the previous New York coaches? Unless these new players that are coming on board can bring some fresh life into this club it looks like Osorio will be another one and done manager in the Big Apple.

13. Kansas City Wizards (17 pts., same) – Almost bumped the Wizards up based on the road draw but they collapsed late and gave up another three points. They can’t blow ones like that, especially that late. But seeing Scott Sealy and Claudio Lopez hook up for their first real goal (not an own-goal) in a few weeks was very promising.

14. San Jose Earthquakes (12 pts., same) – We knew the offense would be bad this year but can it get any worse? Ten goals in 15 games just is heartbreaking if you are a Quakes fan. Can Darren Huckerby be the answer to their offensive problems? More importantly what will they have to do to get him? Toronto still holds the cards to that answer.

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