Power Rankings, 1-30 | Matchday 24
Miami's scary and it's not just b/c of Messi, the Rapids look good again, and D.C. really, really don't.
Went long on the Sunday column this past week. Wasn’t intending to – I always intend to write about 3000 words, and it usually ends up at around 4000. This week… 5000. I think it’s because we had a couple of excellent games between excellent teams at the top of the heap, and then some very interesting developments/outcomes1 on the undercard.
• Inter Miami's foundation, Columbus Crew's comeback & more from Matchday 24
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And now, real quick, I just want to get ahead of the angry Philly fans here:
It’s not about your team’s performance. That was obviously excellent. It’s about the other teams in the top five registering the types of results or types of performances that mean they needed to jump (or, in Nashville’s case, couldn’t fall too far). Based upon that, and underlying numbers, and previous results against other teams at the top of the MLS heap, someone had to take it on the chin this week. And it ended up being y’all2.
This is why I prefer Tiers, by the way. Nos. 1-8 in the Rankings are the top tier, with just fractional differences between the teams. You’ll sleep easier if you think about it that way.
And now, my vote for this week’s MLSsoccer.com Power Rankings:
Inter Miami: The first big segment in Sunday’s column was about how Miami are just a much better team, especially in rest defense, than they were last year. Five straight wins now, six unbeaten, the best PPG in the league, and that historic Club World Cup showing… I’m feeling good about my pre-season Supporters’ Shield prediction here.
San Diego FC: Not feeling good about predicting this team to miss the playoffs!
Columbus Crew: That was a statement win.3
Nashville SC: First time in a while I got that “one piece away” feeling about the ‘Yotes. They do have an open U22 slot, but do not have much room to maneuver against the cap.
Philadelphia Union: Commanding win. And a very manageable schedule the rest of the way.
Seattle Sounders: They’re like 90% of the way towards what I thought they’d be.
FC Cincinnati: They’re not actually playing particularly great soccer. But I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for them to put together, like, two straight all-around performances, at which point I’ll be all-in.4
LAFC: They now officially have the best underlying numbers in the league, and have lost once in three months. But losing Aaron Long this weekend… bad bad.5
Minnesota United: Chance to make a gigantic statement on Wednesday.
Orlando City: Wrote a bit in the Sunday column on what I think are primarily personnel issues. Oscar Pareja, of all people, really does need to be more aggressive about integrating some of the young guys in the attack.
Vancouver Whitecaps: The miles and injuries have been too much. Still no return date for Ryan Gauld. It was a dream first half of the season, and everything since that trip to Mexico City has been a nightmare.
NYCFC: I’m giving them a mulligan.
Chicago Fire: Yes, they’ve lost four of five, but all four of those losses are against Tier 1 teams. Against everyone else this year: 8W-5L-4D with a +7 goal differential.6
RBNY: Yeah I dunno. Nobody from 12 downwards is really distinguishing themselves, so they’re in this spot because of inertia.
San Jose Earthquakes: Same.7
Portland Timbers: Same.
Charlotte Calcio 2019: Best result in a long time stopped the bleeding, at least temporarily. As my guy Calen pointed out in the Sunday column, Idan Toklomati’s really got something with his brains and movement.
Colorado Rapids: That might’ve been their best performance of the year. I really believe in the attacking talent this team has, and the d-mids and defense should be good enough. Question is, can they get the structure right? They allow so, so many transition moments straight through central midfield, it’s wild.
Real Salt Lake: Took advantage of a soft schedule. The next seven – and nine of the next 10 – are gnarly. Gonna need big xDAWG.
Houston Dynamo: I like so much about what the Dynamo do, but none of it is going to matter if they can’t figure out how to get Ezequiel Ponce to be more dangerous off the ball in the attacking third.
Austin FC: Great midweek result at the expense of a brutal, season-ending injury to Brandon Vazquez. For what it’s worth they have probably the most manageable remaining schedule of the teams in the hunt for the 9th spot out West.
LA Galaxy: They’ve come out of their coma and are playing pretty good ball. I’d be shocked if this resulted in a climb up the standings, but like I said in the column, if they win on Wednesday then things get kind of interesting.
New England Revolution: One win in 12 across all comps.8
Sporting KC: They’re fun, and they’ve got fight. But they’re not very good.
FC Dallas: Not much fun, not much fight, not very good.
Toronto FC: Hard to say what this is all pointed at as they continually field one of the older teams in the league despite sitting on one of the true talent hotbeds of North America.
Montreal Impact: Good result. Good transfer fee for Georgie Campbell. Still bottom of the table, tho.
St. Louis City: Showed some attacking direction and incisiveness.
Atlanta United: Please get well soon, Garth.
D.C. United: Me watching this team sink toward the bottom of the standings while not developing any academy kids:
Colorado getting healthy and looking awesome, the return of xDAWG, Orlando needing a personnel change, etc. ↩
Youse guys. ↩
Imagine how good this team will be if Daniel Gazdag ever remembers where the goal is. ↩
The over-reliance on veterans is getting to be a bit much, by the way. ↩
For now, I will say that I don’t really believe the Gio Reyna DP story. But I don’t not believe it either, if you know what I’m saying. ↩
D-mid and center back continue to be sore spots. They need to find their version of 2021 Joao Paulo. ↩
Must-win game vs. Dallas on Wednesday. ↩
"We had good players here... they just didn't happen to be the right players, once we got in here. They're still good players, but now we have the right players. Now this is my team. These are, these are my players. I've picked them, and I'm confident in the blueprint that I have." – Caleb Porter ↩
