Power Rankings, 1-30 | Matchday 17
Miami back? Kind of. Columbus gone? Kind of. LA win? I don't really care.
We hit the midway point of the year this past weekend. I’ll have a couple of columns coming over the next week to reflect that – one breaking down the Supporters’ Shield race, and another handing out league superlatives (MVP and such) for the half-year.
Here’s the link to the Sunday column. Do me a solid and click through:
• Nashville's new identity, St. Louis find a spark & more from Matchday 17
Now, here’s my vote for this week’s MLSsoccer.com Power Rankings:
Vancouver Whitecaps: There were warning signs that something bad was coming, but… woof. Usually a whuppin’ like that1 would drop you no matter how good you’ve been otherwise, but nobody else has made a strong enough case to be No. 1.
Philadelphia Union: Which do you like more: Only one win in three or no losses in nine? Personally I think they’re both pretty informative.
San Diego FC: Took care of business with a 5-1-1 stretch against the soft part of the schedule. They’ve now got two weeks to catch their breath before it toughens up quite a bit.
Nashville SC: Really love how this team is playing. Just need one of the wide midfielders to start providing end product and they become a very real Shield threat.
LAFC: One of the three biggest wins vs. international competitions in MLS history, right?2
Minnesota United: My buddy Wes calls it Champagne (of Beers) Soccer and there’s a bar up the street from me that sells High Lifes by the bucket. I’m in some trouble here.
Inter Miami: They back? Not sure! I do know they looked like they were having fun out there for the first time in months, which seems important.
Orlando City: So I might’ve been a little over-enthusiastic last week when I had them third. Got to remember this is still a team that’s starting Rodrigo Schlegel.
Columbus Crew: They look gassed, they’ve got a ton of injuries and they’re not getting any help from Daniel Gazdag. They badly needed this break.
FC Cincinnati: Dropped five home points to bad teams this week. Guess who’d be No. 1 in the Shield race if they hadn’t?3
Seattle Sounders: Another group fighting through injuries. That backline is now paper thin, and it’s still not clear what the best attacking mix is.
New England: Not exactly dominating these games, but they’re getting results – nine unbeaten in league play, and just one loss in 11 overall since shifting to the 3-4-1-2.
RBNY: They’re beating the teams they should beat and have clawed their way into the Open Cup quarters. Two weeks ago it felt like the season was getting away from them, but they stuck the landing over the final 10 days of May.
NYCFC: The opposite of that. This team’s schizophrenic.
Portland Timbers: Survived the toughest part of their schedule and started a run in which they’ve got 6 of 8 at home with a win. Could come out of this with MUCH MORE POWER!!!!
San Jose Earthquakes: Bruce Arena was right when he said this team had a hell of a month.4 16 might be too low, though if you look closer at the schedule you won’t see any wins over quality sides.
Chicago Fire: 5-1-1 across all comps since that 7-2 humiliation in Nashville back in late April. A lot of young players stepping successfully into bigger roles, and a lot of reason for optimism. They’re not winning the ball back quickly enough, though, which is why they’re giving up so many chances.
Charlotte Town: Needed that win as they’re getting chucked straight into the blender over the next three games.
Houston Dynamo: Bad loss to Sporting, but 19 is probably too low. I love the way this team has been playing, and with Lawrence Ennali back… I’m buying all the Dynamo stock.5
Sporting KC: Kind of the opposite. Sporting have been collecting points (they’re 4-3-3 since Kerry Zavagnin took over) and are fun, but this doesn’t really look sustainable to me. They’re really slow to get pressure to the ball so that backline is in a constant scramble.
Colorado Rapids: Let’s hope they used the 10 days off to figure some stuff out.
Atlanta United: Definitely been playing better over the past 4-5 games, and earned their wins. But also earned their losses.
Austin FC: Was hoping they’d have shown some signs of figuring things out by now. They haven’t.6
FC Dallas: They’re a tough watch.
D.C. United: I’m sorry but Gabriel Pirani celebrating like that was hilarious. Dude’s a well-paid No. 10 with six assists in 6000 career minutes. I’m no Troy Lesesne defender, but I’m thinking there was maybe a reason the kid was spending some time on the bench!
Toronto FC: Zero points from a three-game homestand.
St. Louis City: A good (maybe more fortunate than good, but whatever) start to the post-Mellberg era. Hoping that the new guy can get Hartel & Teuchert cooking again, because those guys were fun last year.
RSL: It’s all gone to hell.
LA Galaxy: They were bound to get one!
Montreal Impact: I don’t think it’s gonna work with this group.
Two notes: first is that I never thought they were going to win in Mexico City in a final. Sorry. Just too hard. Second is that I always consider form in other competitions when voting on the Power Rankings, and think it’s dumb not to. It’s not the standings, it’s “how good is this team?” and how well they play when they’re actually, you know, playing soccer, is a pretty useful data point! ↩
Seattle’s 2022 CCL final win.
D.C. United’s 1998 Copa Interamericana win over Vasco da Gama, maybe?
LAFC’s win over Club America.
Hard to overstate how abominable Cincy’s underlying numbers are. Real concerns here. ↩
Key to this has been Bruce’s ability to develop the young guys, which he never quite gets enough credit for. Beau Leroux has been exceptional, and SuperDraft picks Max Floriani and Reid Roberts have mostly been good (though Roberts struggled this weekend), and mid-career vets like Preston Judd, Daniel Munie and Ousseni Bouda have become major contributors.
I’ve got massive hopes for Niko Tsakiris and Noel Buck once they get healthy. ↩
Imagine if they had even a league-average No. 9. Ezequiel Ponce is very much not it. ↩
I take some joy from the fact that they’re bad in the exact way I said I expected them to be bad. I was wrong, however, in anticipating a quick transition to MLS-level competence form Myrto Uzuni, who has stunk so far. ↩
Honestly, I probably have Nos. 2 & 3 reversed for oldhead reasons. Still, that Vasco team was loaded – literally a dozen guys who got Brazil caps in the ‘90s and early 2000s, led by the legend, Juninho Pernambucano. That’s still the best side any MLS team has beaten in a competitive game. ↩
Hard to overstate how abominable Cincy’s underlying numbers are. Real concerns here. ↩
Key to this has been Bruce’s ability to develop the young guys, which he never quite gets enough credit for. Beau Leroux has been exceptional, and SuperDraft picks Max Floriani and Reid Roberts have mostly been good (though Roberts struggled this weekend), and mid-career vets like Preston Judd, Daniel Munie and Ousseni Bouda have become major contributors.
I’ve got massive hopes for Niko Tsakiris and Noel Buck once they get healthy. ↩
Imagine if they had even a league-average No. 9. Ezequiel Ponce is very much not it. ↩
I take some joy from the fact that they’re bad in the exact way I said I expected them to be bad. I was wrong, however, in anticipating a quick transition to MLS-level competence form Myrto Uzuni, who has stunk so far. ↩
