Power Rankings, 1-30 | Matchday 32
A short week with no actual movement
Usually I don’t write on league the league slate during international breaks, but the results were important enough to warrant a mini-Sunday wrap-up column. Here you go:
• Chicago make playoff push, Austin's tactical triumph & more from Matchday 32
We’re into the home stretch starting this week.
Ok, two notes here. First is that you’ll notice that I wasn’t lying in the subhed – there’s no actual movement among the teams relative to last week. Nobody showed me they’re anything other than what I thought they were.
Second is that there’s no actual MLSsoccer.com Power Rankings this week. Folks, I’m straight-up doing this for love of the game!
Seattle Sounders: Kinda wild how much better the USMNT looked with Cristian Roldan on the field, innit?1
Philadelphia Union: How high will Olwethu Makhanya beon this year’s 22 Under 22 list? There is a strong argument for the top 5.
San Diego FC: Is Poch somehow gets himself fired, does Mikey Varas get a call?
Inter Miami: I love the Benja Cremaschi move. Keep that pipeline open and hopefully get him real minutes at a high level. No downside here given where he is on the depth chart now.
FC Cincinnati: Obinna Nwobodo was jogging as of two weeks ago. He can’t get healthy soon enough.
Nashville SC: Second-biggest week in team history coming up.
LAFC: Went back to Brazil to find their Igor Jesus replacement in Jailson, a 30-year-old veteran who spent the past two years in La Liga with Celta Vigo and was with Palmeiras before that. He’s got the profile of a guy who should be able to walk into MLS and perform at a high level.2
Minnesota United: Feels like we’re seeing a lot more long throws around the league. The Loons have changed the meta.
CS Charlotte: Thankfully for Charlotte fans, Tim Ream has looked much better for club than for country.
Orlando City: Still waiting on the Ramiro Enrique deal to be finalized.3
Vancouver Whitecaps: Huge, three-game week coming up. Shield hopes are on the line vs. Philly on Saturday, Canadian Championship on Tuesday, followed by a trip to Sporting KC, which is a must-win if they want to top the West.
NYCFC: Matt Freese looked decisive coming off his line for the USMNT in sweeper-keeper situations, which is an improvement.
Columbus Crew: How bad is the Sean Zawadzki injury?4
Portland Timbers: We know how bad the Felipe Carballo injury is: torn ACL, as per his Instagram.
Chicago Fire: First they left no doubt. Up 3-0 in pretty dominant fashion against a bad Revs team? Cakewalk. Then they filled me with the usual amount of doubt when I watch this team. It’s crazy how sloppy and soft they are.5
RBNY: I still can’t believe they didn’t bring in any reinforcements. Roster freeze is next week.
Austin FC: I really liked CJ Fodrey’s movement once he came on, and given we’re in an era in which guys who came up as wingers are turning into 9s, it’s not too difficult to imagine what the future might bring for him. That said, it’s a lot easier to look like a dynamic potential goalscorer when you’re a big athlete playing exclusively on the break (and set pieces, obviously), than when you’re having to carve out chances with off-ball work in the confined spaces you get while playing with the ball. So… just some thoughts.
San Jose Earthquakes: Probably not a great sign that I don’t really have a strong feeling for what their midfield or backline composition will be this weekend.
LA Galaxy: Chris Rindov is a starter now, right? And maybe Elijah Wynder, too?
Real Salt Lake: Hopefully Diego Luna gives us something positive to say after the Japan friendly. I’d hoped he would solidify his place in the pecking order against South Korea, but instead he’s kind of left the door open.
Houston Dynamo: They are who their record says they are.
Colorado Rapids: Of course, if Houston win this weekend, then what their record says they are is “playoff team.” Rapids have to hold serve at home.
FC Dallas: Utterly ridiculous point to collect, but that’s soccer for you. There is absolutely no reason to think a team playing like Dallas6 have been are about to go on a run, but also… somehow they’ve lost just once in the past two months and are all of one point below the red line if they win their game in hand. Door’s still open!
New England Revolution: That’s a wrap on 2025. Seems safe to expect another offseason of change.
Montreal Impact: Was just thinking about how wild it is that Jalen Neal’s barely played this season. I wonder if they’ll shop him this winter?
Toronto FC: Literally cut Ola Brynhildsen’s loan short to prevent him from getting minutes that should be going to Deandre Kerr and Jules-Anthony Vilsaint.
Atlanta United: Looking forward to a strong final six games here so, come February, I can make it seven straight years of picking Atlanta too high in preseason predictions.
St. Louis City: Did everything you’re supposed to when you go up a man, save for falling asleep on that one throw-in. And, you know, not kicking the ball in the net.
Sporting KC: Neither Jake Davis nor Jacob Bartlett is ever going to be Xavi, but there were so many times in that game Sunday night when they had the chance to play on the half-turn and didn’t. There needs to be individual progress made on scanning and body shape when receiving this winter.
D.C. United: Good win and all but I’m not moving them out of this spot.
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I feel compelled to mention a USMNT pressing analysis piece written by Joe Lowery here. If you've been in a blind fury since the South Korea loss but can't quite put a finger on what's gone wrong, I highly recommend you read this.
I Tweeted (we’re claiming that word for BlueSky) my thoughts in the moment:
…but Joe really did the work of going back and finding clips to show that this isn’t just personnel; it’s a structural thing that’s been destroying the US under Poch.
Always got to be wary of false positives (or negatives) in friendlies, especially when considering game state and sub situation. But I am extremely confident Roldan is the guy he’s looked like at the 6 over the past year. ↩
Like I said: John Thorrington is really good at this. ↩
I understand why they’ll make this move, as they’ll probably triple their initial investment (and Enrique will make BANK). But I do think he’s the best of the three center forwards on the roster, and that selling him decreases Orlando’s chances of winning something. ↩
I’ve heard it’s pretty bad. ↩
And EXTREMELY lucky Jack Elliott didn’t get himself a red card right before halftime.
Also, the No. 1 thing that Gregg Berhalter fixed with the USMNT was the rest defense. That was a very, very difficult group to break down when he was in charge.
The No. 1 thing the Fire are struggling with right now? Rest defense. Any time they turn the ball over it’s a five-alarm fire (pun not intended).
Funny old game. ↩
This team has the largest number of “wait, who’s that guy?” players on any MLS roster I can remember since the early Chivas USA days. ↩
