Week 4 Power Rankings

Week 4 Power Rankings:

1. Red Bull New York (LW: 1 / 3-1-0)
Waterreus isn’t as flashy as some other GKs in the league, but he’s just as impressive. The Red Bulls have yet to allow a goal and Bruce Arena’s penchant for 1-0 finishes is taking form. Simply put, RBNY is unquestionably the best team in the league right now and should get even better when their Angel comes to the city. The only flaw this team has is its inability to light up the scoreboard but even that should change with Juan Pablo in town.

2. Chicago Fire (LW: 2 / 3-1-0)
The Fire are looking very impressive, largely thanks to Chris Rolfe’s terrific season thus far. With two goals and three assists to his name already, Rolfe is becoming an integral part of the Fire’s midfield attack. They already look in mid-season form and they have several players (Mapp, Barrett, Pause) who should be pushing for All-Star bids later on in the year.

3. New England Revolution (LW: 5 / 2-1-1)
They stepped it up when they had to. Twellman is on a tear and they’re showing no signs of a team dealing with controversy (Shalrie Joseph’s contract issues). This is a monstrous week for them as they play the Fire and reeling DC United. They can theoretically move to first place in the league and bury DC in one fell swoop. Now that’s something to play for.

4. Kansas City Wizards (LW: 8 / 3-0-1)
I take back everything I said last week about Eddie Johnson. I am firmly convinced that EJ will be competing for the golden boot all year long. However, until he starts scoring against top teams (And at this point, I’m not sure whether Toronto even classifies themselves as an MLS-level squad), I’ll still hold my reservations. It’s an overly strict stance, I know, but Wiz fans, take solace in the fact that your team moved up four spots and is one point off from 1st place.

5. Colorado Rapids (LW: 4 / 2-1-1)
It’s only Real Salt Lake but the Rapids still pulled off an impressive performance on the road, with Beckerman opening up his goal account and Roberto Brown coming back nicely from his suspension. I’m not sure whether or not this team is legit yet, which explains the drop in ranking, as their only matches against top teams left them with a tie and a loss. Their next game against Houston should reveal far more about this team than their game against the Utah pretenders.

6. Los Angeles Galaxy (LW: 11 / 1-1-1)
Wow, welcome to the 2007 MLS season, Mr. Donovan. As much as US soccer fans love to bash Landycakes, you simply can’t deny his ability to take over a game at this level (Or against the Mexican National team). I’ve been waiting for a type of performance like this all year, and Donovan appropriately saved it for the SuperClasico. The Galaxy can compete with any team when Donovan plays like this. The only thing that should worry LA fans is the play of Nate Jaqua. The man simply cannot score goals, and quite frankly, I’m not so sure he’s good enough for MLS. This is the 2nd week I’m calling him out. Show me something soon.

7. FC Dallas (LW: 3 / 2-1-3)
What a poor showing for the Hoops this past week, coming out flat against two of the top teams from the East. This team lives and dies by the form of their forwards, but Ruiz’s penchant for yellow cards certainly doesn’t help things either. It’s always a bad statistic when your top forward has more yellow cards than goals. Dallas needs to clean up their play soon or they’ll quickly find themselves hovering near the bottom of the table.

8. Columbus Crew (LW: 10 / 1-3-0)
If someone told you before the season began that the Crew would be one of the last unbeaten teams, would you have believed it? Well lo and behold; the Crew are sitting pretty with six points and zero losses. They’ve already pitched three shutouts this season but I’ll take the wait-and-see approach with this team for now.

9. Houston Dynamo (LW: 6 / 1-1-2)
I find this statistic particularly mind-boggling: In four games, the Dynamo have scored exactly ONE goal. ONE goal. Think about that for a second. The defending champs, a team featuring two of the best forwards in the league, are having a curiously difficult time finding the back of the net. Granted, their schedule has been one of the toughest in the league, but they still need more offensive production than what they’re currently showing.

10. Chivas USA (LW: 7 / 2-0-2)
They sure could have used Kljestan this past weekend. A slight hiccup for the Goats and while their fans are surely displeased to see yet another loss in their “rivalry” with the Galaxy, I still think Preki has them on the right path. They’re just a fun team to watch and the youth on this team will make them a fan favorite across the MLS.

11. D.C. United (LW: 9 / 0-0-3)
I just don’t know anymore. I thought everything could simply be blamed on Erpen, but he didn’t even start against the Crew, and DCU still found a way to look completely inept. The lack of motivation in this team is starting to become quite disturbing. Perhaps they’re taking the complete opposite approach from last season. Instead of blazing through the beginning and then fading towards the end, they’re taking this part of the season off and prepping for a massive unbeaten streak to end the year. Yeah, that’s it….

12. Real Salt Lake (LW: 12 / 0-2-2)
I’m just going to repeat, verbatim, most of what I said last week:
I'm going to be harsh here. This team is pathetic. Their situation is pathetic. And quite frankly, I think I've listed them too high in these rankings. I'm not even sure if Real Salt Lake, in this current iteration, will be around the league in 3-4 years. They are a prime contender for relocation and I don't blame city officials for having a lack of confidence. At least Adu decided to play somewhat decently, although for someone hyped as the future of the US national team, this string of results has to be disappointing.

13. Toronto FC (LW: 13 / 0-0-4)
Their fans are passionate and the atmosphere at BMO field was electric. It’s a shame this team hasn’t found a way to score a goal, especially since they about approximately 67 forwards on the team. Maurice Edu wasn’t impressive, although the kid still has some rust to work off. Ronnie O’Brien can’t come soon enough, eh? And has Toronto placed any phone calls to Fulham yet for Radzinski?