But somethings haven’t changed all that much since last week. Sure we had an All-Star game that was a success and five decent games during week 18 but for the most part things haven’t really change, especially up top here.

Let’s see how things shake down (and yes, I did include last night’s game in these rankings):

1. New England Revolution (33 pts., same) – The Revs have to be smiling at the fact that a few teams have now played more games than them and they are still on top of everyone in the league. Still kind of weird to not see them play in the league for a couple weeks here. They’ve been sitting on 33 points for almost a month yet it hasn’t hurt them at all. Amazing.

2. Columbus Crew (31 pts., up 1) – Inching back up the standings are the Crew. Yeah, nice road win Sunday night despite being down a man for the majority of it and getting out shot and out set pieced and everything else by the Rapids. I keep saying it and it must be true but they are they toughest team to beat in this league right now. What’s more impressive is they did it without two of their young stars who were at the Olympics (Ekpo and Rogers). That’s good news for Sigi Schmid.

3. Chicago Fire (26 pts., up 1) – They get the bump because DC has seemingly played themselves back into a funk as of late. Sounds like they finally got some resolution on the Brian McBride deal and they may end up walking out on top of that deal with the way Chad Barrett shots the ball. Still they won’t get McBride until later next month after the Olympics. Let’s hope its not too late for him to get back in gear here for the stretch run because they need some offensive help right now.

4. Real Salt Lake (27 pts., up 1) -Solid win last night at home. I think another draw at home would raise some concerns about this club getting the job done but the late goal definitely erased those concerns for now. Still this club has to get the job done when they get on the road.

5. Houston Dynamo (23 pts., up 1) – Maybe just maybe they are going to carry that SuperLiga momentum back into league play. I have some high hopes that they do and with some of the recent moves that they’ve made they have the chance to really make a run for things if all stay healthy here. They have the experience and the talent to do it, they just have to start winning some games.

6. DC United (22 pts., down 4) – Let’s face it injuries hurt anyone and right now they are killing this club. Too many key players are out (again) with something and it is starting to really show up on the field again. The possession isn’t there and the defense is starting to open back up again. Not a good time for that to happen if I am Tom Soehn.

7. Toronto FC (22 pts., down 1) – Probably lucky not to fall a little further down the list. In all competitions lately they’ve  been a bit of a miss. Ten goals in their last 11 games. Not gonna be good enough. Lucky for them there is a lot of crap below them right now, but clubs like Chivas and KC are getting closer to passing them.

8. Chivas USA (22 pts., same) – No game and no reason to move up or down this week for me. I think this is a solid spot for them based on the teams above them and below them.

9. Kansas City Wizards (22 pts., up 1) – Another draw huh? One thing remains the same about this club though any more, they are getting better. Still got a ways to go both offensively and defensively but can’t deny the seven shutouts that Hartman has this year, they’ve all been earned.

10. FC Dallas (22 pts., up 2) – Big win at home but sadly this may be the highest they will go for a while if Kenny Cooper does indeed leave this club for Europe. The moves are starting to happen with this club as they’ve already made two trades this week and are set to look at some more players on trial as well. The ball is rolling but its still a little slow if they aren’t going to be able to keep Cooper.

11. LA Galaxy (23 pts., down 2) – Blame the heat, blame whatever. This club still shows its inability to stop even a decent offense on a given night. Their lack of possession in the middle of the park is putting too much pressure on their defense, thus still giving up easy goals. Also, they need to dump Carlos Ruiz as fast as possible.

12. New York Red Bulls (22 pts., down 1) – So I suppose these new players aren’t really working out after all. Jorge Rojas looked terrible as a withdrawn striker and had it not been for an own-goal this club would probably be even further down the charts here. Juan Carlos Osorio has to do something soon or his ass will be grass by the end of the year.

13. Colorado Rapids (21 pts., same) - Oh look the Rapids played inconsistent yet again and paid dearly for it. How can you have 17 more corner kicks than the other team and be a man up and still not win at home? I just don’t get it really. Are they even trying to improve this club right now in the transfer window? It doesn’t seem like they are.

14. San Jose Earthquakes (15 pts., same) – They may be in last still but there is a lot of hope and promise out of this club to start to make some moves here up the charts. I like the moves that they are making and I think over time we will see them work out. If they don’t fully work out this season you can bet this club will be much improved going into 2009.

Not only is Kenny Cooper the hands down favorite for Player of the Week this week, he also is my nod for goal of the week as well with this beauty below. Believe me, seeing it live was special and then seeing it over and over again on replays just show how much skill this guy has and how damn good he is.

Take a look for yourself:

Only four games but all had an impact on the standings. Dallas moved back up in the west, San Jose and New York remained at the bottom of each conference and the biggest may be Columbus who moved within two points of league leading New England.

Aside from one Beckham game in Dallas, it wasn’t a great day yesterday for attendance. It was HOT everywhere it seemed and the early start in San Jose probably didn’t help out too much, but the worst may have been Colorado’s game with the Crew…only 10k showed up for the night game. Must have been something better going on in the area.

So some overall thoughts from each game:

San Jose Earthquakes 1 – 1 New York Red Bulls:

• Early own-goal should have help the Red Bulls get three points but defensive mistakes (again) give up the points. All of these new players really haven’t done much yet for them so far, sure it may be early but before long some better play should happen/
• Nice to see Darren Huckerby get on the board, I can’t say enough how good of a signing that will end up being for the Quakes. Yes, I am a big fan of Huckerby.
• Joe Cannon was really hardly ever tested in this one other than the own-goal. Just a weird play that was.
• For the most part San Jose had a lot of decent possession in this one and were a bit unlucky to not get the three points in the end.
• Defensively the Quakes looked pretty solid too, probably due to the early start (that would have been a 9am game for the Red Bulls).

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FC Dallas 4 – 0 LA Galaxy:

• I should have some soundbites from this one later on today. Check back for that.
• What can you say, Cooper had one hell of a game. If you are to go out on a high note, then Cooper did just that. Two goals and an assist, very nice.
• LA looked totally disorganized in the midfield, which lead to a couple breakaway goals for Dallas.
• It was hot but that was a poor excuse for LA. They tried not to use it but its what they kept talking about afterwords.
• Nice to see Schellas Hyndman get his first league win. Also nice for the fans who had a nice show put on for them in that 102 degree heat.
• Dominic Oduro had one hell of a game too. As good as Cooper was, it was Oduro’s speed that just torched the Galaxy.
• Wing play was really big for Dallas in this one, the 4-4-2 formation was key in that. Hyndman talked about it afterwards and said he hopes to continue using that formation.
• This game could have easily been 6-0 or 7-0. About three of four really good chances for Dallas, a few off the post or crossbar.
• Give a lot of credit to the Dallas defense in this one though. They didn’t just bunker with an early lead but they just stopped the three-headed monster up top with Donovan, Buddle, and Ruiz.
• What will Dallas do next…that will come up later on today.
• What will LA do next here…find some defense and find a stronger central midfielder. They have NO ONE in the midfield that controls the possession. Yes they have strong wing play but you also need a strong central midfielder to control things. Plus a strong central midfielder should help out on defense and lighten the load on the backline.

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Kansas City Wizards 0 – 0 Chicago Fire:

• Not a lot from this one, lot of back and forth possession but no one was able to find the back of the net.
• Only a couple chances for each club but the finishing was just lacking in this one. Both Kevin Hartman and Jon Busch had a couple decent stops each but were never really tested.
• After watching most of this game I felt Chicago was the better club in this one. They had some good possession that lead to those few chances.
• KC has been playing good lately though, not great, but definitely see an improvement from earlier in the year. Still, they need Ws and not Ts in the standings right now. A win would have moved them into the playoff picture. The draw doesn’t help that at all right now.
• Decent draw for the Fire though, yes a win would have been nice but they remain on pace with Columbus and New England and are still in reaching distance of them.
• Seventh shutout of the year for BOTH Hartman and Busch. Amazing really, both had had really good seasons.

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Columbus Crew 2 – 0 Colorado Rapids:

• Steven Lenhart had an interesting night. He made the first start of his MLS career, scored his third goal in six games — and then got tossed late in the first half when he threw an elbow in the penalty box. All in a days work I suppose.
• Jason Garey had a nice evening though as he put away the insurance goal late in the game. Even a man down the Crew had no problems in this one.
• William Hesmer was easily the man of the night, a bunch of key saves in big spots.
• The Rapids pressed but still that lack of finishing in the final third hurts. But also hitting the post a couple times could have changed this game for the Rapids.
• Another loss for the Rapids. That makes nine, the same as the Quakes who are the worst club in the league. Yikes, no wonder only 10k showed up for this one.
• Solid win for the Crew, they now are really within reach of the Revs (just two points back). Sounds like a really exciting race here to me.

Some good match-ups this weekend, both in and out of conference play. Let’s hope that this weekend isn’t a draw-fest like last weekend too!

New York Red Bulls – at – San Jose Earthquakes: The battle of two bottom teams in each conference meet in an early afternoon contest out west. Both clubs have taken on some moves in the past couple weeks since the transfer window opened up, will we finally see some different play out of these two clubs because of those moves? Let’s hope.

Both clubs really need a win, San Jose hasn’t won since the start of June and the Red Bulls are winless in their last four games. The Red Bulls easily won the first contest of the season between these two clubs back at the start of the year 2-0 but the Big Apple side isn’t a great road team this year (1-5-3, 17 goals against).

San Jose has played fairly well at home this season at Buck Shaw Stadium. I look for them to use the cozy atmosphere to get the best of the Red Bulls today. The big reason I say that is because of keeper Joe Cannon, his play lately has been stellar and he is really the lone reason why the Quakes have been in some close games this season.

But what do you get when you mix a club that has little offense against a club that has little defense? A mess of a game. These two historically (yes I know that was an old San Jose club) play some wild games with scorelines like 4-4 or 5-5.

I don’t expect to see that many goals tomorrow but I do see a crazy game like that. San Jose’s offense should get better this week as newbies Darren Huckerby and Scott Sealy have had another week to get adjusted to their new club. Same can be said for New York’s new group of players and for me this game will get bogged down in the midfield. New York should win that battle but on a smaller field I actually like the Quakes.

A draw sounds good though for this one.

WVH Prediction: San Jose 2, New York 2

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LA Galaxy – at – FC Dallas: Ah, another home game for this guy to attend. The last time these clubs met in Frisco it was a bad day for the home side, as LA downed FC Dallas 5-1. Shortly after Steve Morrow was released from his position as head coach of the Hoops and seemingly the wheels started to come off for Dallas then. LA however since then has been the same, loads of offense and no defense.

This should be an interesting one for Dallas. Will it be the last game for Juan Toja and Kenny Cooper? Both pretty much sound like they are on their way out here. LA has a similar situation with Edson Buddle or Carlos Ruiz.

As much as I am wanting to see Dallas turn the corner here this season under new coach Schellas Hyndman, I just don’t see it happening right now. LA may have a bad defense but their offense will be more than capable of putting a few by the Dallas defense tomorrow evening.

Landon Donovan and David Beckham put on another show in Frisco. But Cooper does get one back for the home side.

WVH Prediction: LA 3, Dallas 1

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Chicago Fire – at – Kansas City Wizards: Finally another home game for the Wizards right? It just seems like they hardly ever have home games this season. It should be a stern test for this club who seems like they are turning a corner here this summer as they host the surging Fire.

This eastern battle could be the best match-up of the weekend too. When they played back at the start of the season it was a great game that saw KC steal three points from the Fire at Toyota Park. It was one of those games where nothing went right for Chicago and one bounce go right for the Wizards.

This game should be close as Chicago has a nasty defense and for some reason play really well away from home. KC needs to continue what they did in Columbus, get the ball wide with Claudio Lopez and find guys in the middle like Josh Wolff to finish things home.

I like Chicago mainly because of the play of Blanco right now. After watching his All-Star performance, I see him continuing that hot play tomorrow evening in KC. The Wizards defense is coming around but Blanco will create too many holes in between that backline.

WVH Prediction: Chicago 2, KC 0

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Columbus Crew – at – Colorado Rapids: The second time in a month these two clash as the Crew travel west for an important meeting with the Rapids. Both clubs looking to find that consistent play as they head for the stretch run here. The Crew want to keep pace with New England in the east and Colorado is hoping to climb the charts in the west.

Colorado has been good at home this season but finding some consistent play hasn’t really been their strong suit. Columbus is still the toughest team to beat in my mind right now. Time and time again they continue to show how hard they are to stop. But Colorado isn’t their favorite place to play in, only one win the Mile High City since the start of MLS back in 1996. That one victory was way back in 1999 too.

I see that continuing here though, Columbus will be missing a couple Olympic players (Robbie Rogers and Emmanuel Ekpo) which will be too much for them to overcome I think. Colorado won’t win by much but they do have enough offense to do some damage.

WVH Prediction: Colorado 2, Columbus 1