MLS Power Rankings, 1-30 | Matchday 14

Gonna start this with an announcement:

The next Brown Liquor Special is this Thursday at 9 pm ET. Drinking with me will be Pablo Maurer of The Guardian and our buddy Dan Dickinson, formerly of Gothamist, like a million years ago. And yes, this is kind of a partial OWFSS reunion.

If you're subscribed at the Max TAM or DP level, there'll be an email headed your way on Thursday morning with a link to the live stream on YouTube.

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Ok, into the Power Rankings we go:

1. Nashville SC (-): Not actually playing all that well, but the defense (and goalkeeper) continues to hold up, and if you've got a star like Hany, sometimes that's all you need.
2. Vancouver Whitecaps (-): Four straight on the road, only one win. Tough little stretch.
3. Inter Miami (+4): 5-1-1 in their past seven and they took all nine points last week. Defense still needs work but the midfield and attack has started to click.
4. FC Dallas (+2): They stopped evolving over the past month, which is fine – this part of the schedule is about surviving, and maybe finding new contributors. They've passed both those tests.
5. Seattle Sounders (-1): Brian Schmetzer was pissed after that loss to the Galaxy, and he was right to be. No way should the Sounders have come out that flat.
6. San Jose Earthquakes (-3): Simply not deep enough to handle the grind of this much schedule congestion. Injuries have crushed them and the drop-off from the first-stringers to the back-ups is bigger than anyone else in the top 10.
7. Real Salt Lake (+1): Three wins in four, and did this one without Diego Luna. Pablo keeps finding answers.
8. LAFC (-3): They're struggling. Ben Wright made a fantastic video breaking down why, and if there's one thing to take from that, it's how isolated Denis Bouanga is on that left wing this year.
9. Chicago Fire (-): I hate the 4-4-2, though there are reasons (midfield injuries, and maybe a pre-Lewy test run) to toy around with it. Can't wait til André Franco is back after the break.
10. New England Revolution (-): When you're almost completely reliant on your best players carrying you every week, you can really, painfully faceplant if one of them has a bad outing. Which was the case midweek vs. Nashville.
    The Revs needs to develop more dynamic and repeatable attacking patterns with the ball. It can't just be Carles Gil and inshallah every week.
11. Minnesota United (-): Only one win in seven across all comps. They are short of firepower.
12. Houston Dynamo (+2): They've done a good job of settling into a low-block-and-counter game model over the past month, which has righted a ship that looked like it was sinking at the start of April. Not gonna win any trophies that way but they won't be an easy out.
13. LA Galaxy (-1): Here's their last 10 results: Loss, win, loss, draw, loss, win, draw, win, loss, win.
    I don't see any discernible pattern there. I just see mid.
14. FC Cincinnati (-1): Somehow this team, which has spent more money on the backline than anyone in MLS, has arguably the worst defense in the league.
15. NYCFC (+4): The Maxi Moralez injury is a huge blow, but the Pigeons might have what they need on-hand to replace him. Especially if Malachi Jones is able to log real minutes in the attack, and thus push Nico Fernández into a playmaker role.
16. San Diego FC (+1): Got their first win in two months midweek with that 5-0 over Austin, and followed that up with another result – which makes them unbeaten in four. Still, this is a team struggling defensively and in need of real defensive reinforcements this summer.
17. DMCA Charlotte (-1): Got their first win in a month over Toronto's JV team, which does nothing to convince me their problems are solved. Got a big one this weekend against the Revs in what I'm pretty sure is Wilfried Zaha's farewell game.
18. Colorado Rapids (-3): Too many games, not enough rest, not enough difference-makers. I don't think the commitment's dropped, but the energy level has. Just two wins in nine.
19. St. Louis City (+2): A frustrating end to the week – they should've beaten D.C. But it's still a seven-point week, and this team is very quietly 5W-3L-3D across all competitions since the start of spring. Imagine if they could finish!
20. D.C. United (-): The ceiling is very low, but only one loss in their past eight. They keep hanging in games.
21. RBNY (+4): A seven-point week to pull out of what looked like it was becoming a death spiral. Job well done the first part of this season here.
22. Austin FC (-4): Yeah they're very bad, and were correct to reboot the whole sporting side of the org. Rodo Borrell is probably the worst CSO of the 2020s.
23. Columbus Crew (-1): Tough on Henrik Rydström who, by all accounts, is a good guy. But he was never the right hire, and I give the Crew some credit for recognizing that early and pulling the plug.
24. Toronto FC (-1): Arguably nobody in the league needs the World Cup break more.
25. CF Montréal (-1): They've been a decently solid team under Philippe Eullaffroy, and are 4W-2L-1D in their past seven. Honestly, this might be too low.
26. Orlando City (+2): they had to be frustrated with those dropped points this past weekend, but I'm sure they'd happily trade that for a win in the Open Cup quarters tonight.
27. Sporting KC (+3): I wrote off the Galaxy win as Sporting just having LA's number, but the weekend win over Austin was a legit good performance. We'll see if it coalesces into anything real or long-term.
28. Portland Timbers (-2): Haven't lost two in a row since winter, which bodes well for their final game before the break. Will it be the final game of the Phil Neville era as well?
29. Atlanta United (-2): Got a chance to make a statement tonight.
30. Philadelphia Union (-1): If you're going to bet big on young players you need to make sure your talent ID and player developmental schedule are both elite. And man, have they not been this year for Philly.