1. Columbus Crew (Last week: #2, tied #6 Toronto away)
So it was ugly. I'm still not sold on the Crew, and Toronto put them under serious pressure, but right now, picking up points at BMO is an accomplishment.
2. New England (Last week: #3, beat #13 San Jose at home)
Beating up on the Earthquakes at home isn't much of an accomplishment, but the Revs got it done. Sadly, though, with Twellman's latest injury, it's back to the drawing board for the Revs' front line. Since this is a Steve Nichol team, you never know who the hero will be. This time it was Kheli Dube, scoring the go-ahead goal. I hesitate to rank them too highly without Twellman, but all of the teams are vulnerable these days.
3. Houston (Last week: #5, beat #8 Colorado at home)
For the second week in a row, Houston benefitted from a somewhat flukey goal-- who knows how many times Dwayne DeRosario's goal deflected before reaching the net (incidentally, it's hard to see how Rico Clark can really be credited with an assist on that pinball strike). Still, I have a feeling Houston was due a little more luck after a tough-luck start to the season.
4. Chicago Fire (Last week: #1, lost to #4 Houston at home)
A week after everyone was talking about this team fought for each other, we saw a performance without much fight. And how must Thomasz Frankowski feel about being behind Chad Barrett in the starting spot pecking order?
5. Toronto (Last week: #6, tied #2 Crew at home)
John Carver got apparently his first exposure to Latin American soccer the other day as the Crew came to town looking for a point. Guillermo Barros Schelotto spent an awful lot of time on the ground. Carver wasn't too pleased by the diving: "If that was back in England, everybody would be up in arms screaming and shouting it's bad for the image of the game. I'll have to be honest, I certainly agree with it."
And it's true: in England, they don't have much tolerance for diving. But it's always seemed to me that "back in England", they tolerate fouls that aren't acceptable in the international game. Carver needs to shut up and learn a little bit about how the game is played here, as opposed to how he thinks it ought to be played. Is that fair or right? No. I'm sympathetic to how the guy feels, but until he figures it out, his team will continue to drop points at home because its opponents will bunker. This is the by-product of now being a tough team to play. Toronto needs to kick it up a notch if they really want to join the elite.
6. New York Red Bulls (Last week: #7, tied #10 KC at home)
New York needs to do better. They put Kansas City under serious pressure but were still waiting for an equalizer when Danleigh Borman struck in the 81st minute. They shouldn't be dropping points to Kansas City, which is still struggling to fit together as a team.
And Danleigh Borman's goal celebration-- A mixture of an athletic cartwheel with a grade school tumbling class move? Everyone assumed that it was a mistake last week, but he went and did it again this week, claiming that he was just trying to emulate his father. I'm not sure-- I suspect he felt so stupid about it last week that he's just making up stuff this week. See for yourself from SBI.
7. Colorado (Last week: #8, beat #14 RSL at home)
Omar Cummings does it again. The whole team looks good. But it was only RSL.
8. Dallas (Last week: #5, lost to #12 LA Galaxy at home)
What a disaster: a 5-1 defeat to the Galaxy at home. The Gals lined up in a 4-5-1 and FCD's D didn't know what to do about it. Looking at the scoresheet, you'd say that Donovan and Beckham didn't have as much influence on this game, but I don't think that's true. The freedom and space they had in midfield left FCD completely disoriented, opening up the field for the Galaxy's lesser stars to have career days.
But what's most disappointing about the game? Dallas's offense. Despite a four goal deficit at half-time, the Hoops created enough chances to make it a competitive game. They just didn't show up.
9. Kansas City (Last week: #10, tied #7 NYRB away)
So Jimmy Conrad is now their leading scorer? Yes, this team needs work.
10. Los Angeles Galaxy (Last week: #10, beat #5 Dallas away)
What a surprising match. Not because the Gals scored 5 goals, but because their defense only gave up one goal. It wasn't for lack of trying to be predictably sieve-like.
And Edson Buddle scored a hattrick. As the MLSnet write-up reminded us, he once scored four goals for Columbus. Buddle does this sort of thing periodically. The only problem is that he likely won't score again until 2010, which made his celebration of his hattrick a little bittersweet.
11. Chivas USA (Last week: #11, beat #9 DCU at home)
Here was Chivas USA's backline: Marsch, Burling and Curtin. Yikes. And they still won... I'm not sure the Goats' injury situation is going to improve much over the coming weeks, though. Can they keep pulling this off? It's still a paper thin squad and, with the exception of Kljestan, none of their offensive studs have really got their seasons started.
12. DC United (Last week: #9, lost to #11 Chivas away)
Gallardo scores a wonder goal-- United's first away goal since *October 2007*. DCU loses due to a monumental late collapse. They don't have the horses.
13. San Jose (Last week: #13, lost to #3 Revs away)
The E-quakes have had a rough schedule. Yes, they aren't generating anything against the league's top teams. And it doesn't get any better with Houston on deck. I'm circling my calendar for the next RSL-SJ game.
14. Real Salt Lake (Last week: #14, lost to #8 Colorado away)
Yes, they showed flashes of being capable of doing something constructive against Colorado. But they need to start getting results...
Next week
TOR-DC-- Toronto win
SJ-HOU-- Houston win (but what an event, right? The first vist of the Dynamo back to the community that lost them...)
CBUS-REV-- Columbus win (that's what the rankings say, but I have a hunch that the Revs' big game experience might help them get a result)
DCU-TOR-- tie
FCD-RSL-- FCD win
COL-CUSA-- Colorado win
LAG-KC-- Galaxy win
NYRB-CHI-- NYRB win
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