Week 5 MLS Power Rankings

1. Red Bull New York (LW: 1 / 3-2-0)
Although the Bulls still managed to hold on to first this week, their seemingly tight grip on the position has been significantly loosened by their performances over the past week. After having the game against Real Salt Lake in the bag, the defense (and some controversial officiating) allowed two goals in the closing minutes to allow Salt Lake to snatch the draw. They also suffered a mid-week defeat and elimination from the U.S. Open Cup against the Galaxy, as backup goalkeeper Cronin had an impressive 14 saves. The defense has been lackluster lately and is something that needs to be corrected immediately for the Red Bulls to have any hope of winning a title this year. At least Juan Pablo Angel finally arrived (And opened up his scoring account in the US with a goal against the Galaxy).

2. New England Revolution (LW: 3 / 3-2-1)
The St. Louis tandem of Taylor Twellman and Steve Ralston is working wonders right now, as the Revs move up to 2nd place in the rankings for the first time all year. They managed to set aside their frustrations from a controversial tie against D.C. United by defeating the Fire 3-1 in an important statement game. They’ve somehow found a way to ignore all the potential distractions this off-season and are simply focusing on playing good football.

3. Kansas City Wizards (LW: 4 / 4-0-1)
There are still some lingering questions as to whether this team is the real deal, but they managed to defeat a good opponent in the Columbus Crew and are currently atop the MLS standings with the most points in the league. Attendance concerns aside, the Wizards are looking sharp and if Eddie Johnson can continue his impressive play, the East will have plenty of formidable squads competing to take back the trophy from the west this season.

4. Chicago Fire (LW: 2 / 3-1-1)
They lost their key match-up against the Revs earlier this week but they’re still a top contender in the East – as long as Rolfe and Barrett provide the scoring, the Fire shouldn’t be too hurt from their defensive lapses. Mapp needs to assert himself a bit more however; he should be dominating the league on a weekly basis. Injuries have hampered him but he needs to be the leader of this team and needs to be unquestionably one of the top players in the league for the Fire to have any chance at grabbing some hardware.

5. Los Angeles Galaxy (LW: 6 / 1-1-1)
Replete with two impressive goalkeepers and a player in Landon Donovan that refuses to let the Galaxy limp out to a poor early season start, the Galaxy will continue to look impressive and won’t be in bad shape by the time Beckham comes. Many were questioning whether the Galaxy could even make the playoffs this years; however, I believe the question should be whether or not anyone in the West will contend with them this year. Perhaps I’m overrating them a bit, but yes, I do think they’re that good.

6. Houston Dynamo (LW: 9 / 2-1-2)
If you’re looking for an answer to my previous question, the Dynamo may just be it. Did anyone see DeRosario last week? Someone must have lit a fire under his ass, because I haven’t seen him play like that all year. The Dynamo finally woke up and realized the 2007 MLS Season was underway because they certainly looked like the defending champions against the Rapids last week.

7. Colorado Rapids (LW: 5 / 2-1-2)
Nice way to come up short Colorado. A win at home over Houston could have moved the Rapids into the upper echelon of the league, but after squandering their one-goal lead, they’ve fallen backwards into the middle of the pack. Besides Roberto Brown, who else is going to step up on this team and provide an offensive spark? Beckerman has failed to live up to much of his preseason hype and Gomez has seemed to disappear at times in the past couple of games. Someone needs to supplement Brown in the attack or this team will have trouble staying in the middle of the league table.

8. FC Dallas (LW: 7 / 2-1-3)
They have a big game against Kansas City this week to see whether or not they can correct their scoring ailment. If they can have an impressive performance on the road against the Wizards then they can perhaps be on their way to matching the potential that their roster (on paper) shows.

9. D.C. United (LW: 11 / 1-1-3)
They finally managed to pick up some points: getting a tie against the Revolution and picking up their first win of the season against Chivas. Soehn’s curious lineup changes seemed to work during the past week but I believe he needs to find a solid starting lineup and stick to it if United want continued success. Playing four in the back was an obvious change and the United faithful have to be glad it was finally done. The offense is finally starting to click as Moreno and Gomez got on the scoreboard, let’s see if Fred can follow up that success.

10. Columbus Crew (LW: 8 / 1-3-1)
Their lack of scoring continues to haunt them. With Scheletto now on the field, perhaps it could all change in their next home game against Chivas, but the front office should still be worried about their poor goal count. McBride as a mid-summer transfer perhaps…..?

11. Chivas USA (LW: 10 / 2-0-3)
The controversy with Guevara obviously weighed them down as they came out flat against D.C. Preki needs to right the ship quickly, as Chivas needs to stay in contention not only in the west, but for a possible wild card spot as well.

12. Real Salt Lake (LW: 12 / 0-3-2)
I was ready to spew some more vitriol at Real Salt Lake after they went down 2 goals to New York but they somehow managed to mount a comeback and that deserves a little bit of praise. Good job by Adu to show some flashes of skill (And finally make it seem that he actually belongs on the field) but more effort is needed if they want to avoid being the last team in MLS to win a game.

13. Toronto FC (LW: 13 / 0-0-4)
Maybe all they needed was a little bit of downtime. You have to hope Mo Johnston did something over their break to correct all the problems this team has, but they’re hosting a D.C. United team that’s just starting to find its groove. Not a very enviable positon to be in if you’re a Toronto fan.