1-     New England Revs

 

 

The most likely side to feature in MLS Cup stole yet another road match. Matt Reis was simply scintillating in goal and if Bob Bradley wants to continue to deepen the goalkeeper pool, despite being in his thirties Reis can contribute.

 

 

2-     Chicago

 

A deep, talented and athletic team that compliments Cuauhtémoc Blanco perfectly, The Fire looks scary good. The back line is incredibly athletic and well positioned. Dennis Hamlet based on the early returns should have been a head coach in MLS years ago.

 

3-     Toronto FC

 

Dropped three points at RFK Stadium when the match was seemingly in the bag. Amado Guevara and Laurent Robert lost their cool, something that cannot happen down the road. Still TFC looks well positioned in the table.

 

4-     Columbus

 

The scoring prowess and attacking nature of the Crew has seemingly been muted the past two weekends. Eddie Gaven may have celebrated his return to the US National Team squad a little too much because he has not shown us much recently.

 

5-     Houston

 

Tough loss to San Jose, but still the Dynamo look like the team to beat out west. The San Jose loss needs to be chalked up to emotion and sentiment as much as any other factor.

 

6-     LA Galaxy

 

Now the fun starts: no Beckham next week and no Donovan probably until late June. The Galaxy have been playing well but honestly, how good would they be without Donovan, even  with Beckham? We will soon find out.

 

7-     Chivas USA

 

A wily old veteran like Jesse Marsch knows exactly how to pull a rabbit out of his hat. Jorge Flores seems to have learned a thing or two in training and all of a sudden Preki’s boys look dangerous. Now they need to work on the crowd building thing.

 

8-     Colorado

 

The Rapids are simply put an inconsistent side that seems to be indicative of the type of teams you find in MLS. Finishing was a problem this week as the Rapids created more than enough opportunities to beat Chivas.

 

9-     New York

 

No Dave Van Den Bergh and the damn breaks. Seriously it appears he is that important to this team. I really believe the league has caught up with Juan Pablo Angel, and Jozy Altidore seems lost half of the time. The Red Bulls need to acquire a player or two to improve things.

 

10- Kansas City

 

The Wizards lack the sort of athleticism and pace necessary to be competitive in today’s MLS. In addition Scott Sealy’s pitiful finishing does not help.

 

11- San Jose

 

I was impressed with the distribution for Ivan Guerrero and Ramiro Corrales in the midfield versus Houston as well as the organization at the back. The Quakes are the best expansion team in MLS since 1998.

 

12- FC Dallas

 

Dominic Oduro again the hero against RSL. Despite a laundry list of “name” players it seems Oduro and Abe Thompson are the guys who always come through for the Hoops when the pressure is on.

 

13- DC United

 

Emilio finally finishes a sitter on a rebound. Could this jump start him? Perhaps, but United still looks lost and desperate. I wonder how bad Jose Carvalho is because if he cannot beat out Zach Wells he is not worth a spot on the squad.

 

14- Real Salt Lake

 

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory seems to be the RSL way. Yet again a match where RSL looked the better side and controlled the flow of the game ends with zero points.