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.

A very interesting weekend to say the least. We had plenty of goals, plenty of nasty weather and plenty of movement in the standings. The western conference is slowly coming along here as a couple clubs inched their way over the 10 point line, though all would still be forth or worse if we were in a single table here.

The attendance wasn’t to0 shabby this weekend. Beckham and that Galaxy sold out Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, actually they did a little more than sold out the place as it was a standing room only kind of ticket to some. But aside from the 22,000 in Dallas the weekend saw the typical sellout in Toronto, and a bunch of 13 – 17k figures. Not too shabby considering the weather in New York and Chicago.

While I don’t have the time this week to break down each game, I will throw out some points from each game.

• Both Toronto and New York should have won their home games. New York more so than Toronto, as the Red Bulls had plenty of solid chances on goal.
• Speaking of that Red Bulls – Wizards game, that may have been the best performance out of Kevin Hartman in some time. He nearly won the game for his club. Too bad once again his defense let him down late in the game.
• Houston showed up in a very chippy game with the Fire. Loads of fouls (26 between the two sides). Wilman Conde got some PT for the Fire but my feelings are still he didn’t help out on that second Houston goal. Instead of getting back into place for the free kick, Conde yelled at the ref about the call, Houston then took a quick kick and Bobby Boswell headed home the game winner. Chicago needs to get rid of him I think.
• What’s up with the Fire at home, they’re just 2-2 at home while 3-0-1 on the road. Starting to get ugly here in the Windy City.
• Speaking of ugly, how about that own-goal on San Jose’s James Riley? Geez, it takes some skill to head the ball over your own keeper from 18 or 20 yards out.
• We keep saying that San Jose is starting to come around but shutout for the sixth time in eight matches this year? That isn’t improvement at all folks. I know its early but even Toronto didn’t get shutout that badly this early in the year.
• New England finally looked good at home again. Then again, I think it was a combination of San Jose making them look good at home. Nice goal by Kheli Dube early in the game.
• How about Marcello Gallardo’s goal against Chivas? Probably goal of the week, too bad it wasn’t enough against Chivas who had their first come-from-behind win against United.
• Just how bad are things in DC right now? The GM  and President won’t talk after the games, the coach looks lost out there. I suppose Soehn’s days are really numbered here (more on that later).
• Kudos to Jorge Flores on his first goal. I must say that kid is a hell of a story. Why the league doesn’t hype him up more is beyond me. He wins a competition, earns a roster spot, gets called up nationally, and finally scores his first goal. Where’s the love on him?
• Good job by Chivas for coming back in that one, they were down nine guys to injury and six of those were defenders. It didn’t hurt that DC couldn’t hit anything Saturday night.
• Ugly amount of red cards this weekend. Serioux in Dallas on a nasty tackle against Beckham, Dave van den  Bergh in  New York’s tackle on Davy Arnaud. And Juan Carlos Osorio’s ejections. Too bad, he will miss the Chicago game next week. Think he planed that?
• Welcome back Edson Buddle. We were talking in the press box yesterday how he looked. Probably his best in a couple years, since his Columbus days. But in all honesty, he had his moments yesterday. At times he was classic Buddle, on the ground, looking for calls rather than going against defenders and shotting on goal.
• Beckham helped out nicely though, that cross on Buddle’s third goal was very nice.
• Quiet game by Landon Donovan, but anyone realize he got two  assists? Yeah his season totals now stand at eight goals and five assists. Wow.
• Something fishy is going on in Dallas. The team is definitely going through a rough patch or some growing pains. I don’t think its time yet to call for Steve Morrow’s job, or Michael Hitchcock’s GM position but before long something has to be done.