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. Continue Reading…

After a week off from handing out awards, we are fully back from vacation now as it is time to once again hand out awards to the week’s best. There wasn’t as many games to pick from this week as it was a holiday weekend that saw a couple clubs off in other competitions and what not.

A few good choices for player of the week but none stood out more to me when I looked at everything like Columbus Crew midfielder Guillermo Barros Schelotto. The Argentine’s two assists proved to be enough to get the Crew back in their game with Chicago from a 2-0 hole. Both passes to Emmanuel Ekpo and Steven Lenhart were spot on and allowed the Crew to steal a point late from the visiting Fire.

A lot of people don’t realize just how good he is until he makes passes like those two.

So to me, it was Schelotto’s week by far over everyone, including the two goals from New England’s Adam Cristman (who will more than likely take home the award this week). Continue Reading…

Anytime you have a weekend match-up that pits two conference leaders against one another, the game sort of takes over the weekend. That was the case this holiday weekend. Eastern clubs are still leading the way over the west, though one western side did get some revenge at home in some sweet fashion.

Yup, 15 weeks down and couple things are clear to me; New England and Columbus look to be the two most legitimate clubs in Major League Soccer right now; the western winner may end up with a losing record this year or something on the border of .500%; and the apparent log-jam in the middle of the overall table isn’t getting any clearer.

I want to say a western side is going to be a winning club this year. A winning club above .500% and one that competes well with the west. LA right now is tied a top the west but has only one win against the eastern clubs in seven matches now. That won’t get it done come MLS Cup time or MLS Cup Playoff time for that matter. Its almost like the western clubs lack a certain toughness that a couple eastern clubs contain.

In all this holiday weekend offered a lot to the average MLS fan. Some great goals, a couple come from behind draws, and some solid attendance figures. One thing I love about this time of year is things slow down a bit as other competitions kickoff. Soon we have SuperLiga to go along with the US Open Cup that is rapidly going through rounds each week. Later on we will see a couple clubs start up in the CONCACAF Champions League. How those clubs handle the extra games will go a long way and how the clubs not included in those extra games take advantage of that too.

Like I said, I love this time of the year. A few less games to talk about so people like myself can go on vacation. Which by the way, was a great time last week. I hated to see it end but all good things have to come to an end right? Also, if you get a chance to vacation in the western portion of Colorado…do it.

I was able to catch a bit from every game this weekend. Some games were highlights and some I actually got to go back and watch yesterday when I got back from the Rocky Mountains.

Continue Reading…

Half way home here for the MLS season. Sadly enough my vacation in Colorado is almost up as well. Since the weekend games are split between today (July 4) and tomorrow, I will just make these picks quick so I can go enjoy my final day in the mountains.

Kansas City Wizards – at – FC Dallas: Both clubs got wins in the US Open Cup this week and both need a win right now in league play. KC got a lucky bounce last week at home against RSL, while Dallas found a way to win the El Captian from Houston.

This could be a wide open game since both defenses are pretty weak. I just don’t know if KC can keep up with Dallas offensively, more importantly if they can handle Kenny Cooper. Continue Reading…