Without a full slate, it wasn’t really clear for all teams what should happen, but we definitely got some clear statements from a certain team. Not all of them were good though.
Top Shelf
1. Seattle Sounders (Previously 1).
Another typical result for the clear leader.
Quality
2. Sporting Kansas City (2).
No game so no reason to move them.
3. Colorado Rapids (4).
A home win over Minnesota moves them up both by their own result but also how poorly the Revs did.
4. LA Galaxy (6).
The pattern of struggling against the best but beating most of the rest continues as they trounced a poor Dallas side.
5. New England Revolution (3).
Play a team that fired their coach and often you get a rather motivated side. The question is whether this was only that or a sign that the Revs have issues. Time will tell.
6. Portland Timbers (8).
No game but they move some due to other results.
7. New York City FC (7).
We move them up then they lose to Montreal. Hm. At least it was on the road and only by a goal.
8. Orlando City (5).
Uhm, either Chicago is very revitalized or the Lions are starting to struggle. This is possibly a mix of both.
9. Philadelphia Union (9).
After losing on the road to Nashville, the Union go get a tie against the Red Bulls.
10. Columbus Crew (10).
A road tie is good, especially against what appears to be an improved Cincinnati side.
11. New York Red Bulls (13).
“A big win over Orlando on the road is a strong statement. Can they back it up?” A tie against the Union isn’t as big a statement as maybe it could be, but Philadelphia is solid.
12. Los Angeles FC (15).
“[I]t is safe to say LAFC is getting it back together. They probably don’t stay in this tier long.” Nope. Not even a week as their 2-0 win at Austin shows they are quite back.
13. Nashville SC (11).
A home tie to a not-too-good Atlanta team is probably not how they wanted to follow up their win over the Union.
14. Austin FC (12).
A loss against LAFC is another sign they are not who many hoped they could be.
Middle of the Road
15. Real Salt Lake (17).
Will the real Salt Lake please stand up? Please stand up? Please stand up? (Sorry, feel free to groan as long as you like.) But seriously, can they make up their mind? Yes, it was only Vancouver, but a 4-0 road win certainly makes a statement. Compare that to many of their other results, and boy these guys are inconsistent.
16. Houston Dynamo (14).
It’s hard to judge them too much because Seattle is tough.
17. Atlanta United (19).
Finding a way to get a road tie against a not-poor Nashville side is a good thing.
18. Minnesota United (16).
“The Loons have been making progress and getting away from the horrid start to the season they had, but their game against San Jose was a stumble.” As is their loss to the Rapids, although Colorado is quality so the slide isn’t much – for now.
19. FC Cincinnati (18).
Is a home tie against Columbus an improvement? From where they were prior to recent form for pretty much for their entire existence? Yes.
20. D.C. United (20).
No game means little reason for movement, but definitely keep an eye on this squad.
Lots of Questions and/or Concerns
21. Chicago Fire (24).
“Two goals late in the first half gave them some real energy and they rode it to a 3-0 home win over Atlanta. A sign of change or just a one-off?” Definitely not a one-off as they beat Orlando soundly.
22. San Jose Earthquakes (22).
We still have very real questions about this team, but a win over Minnesota prior to their break is solid and just because they didn’t play doesn’t mean we can move them down.
23. Toronto FC (26).
So they went on the road after a coaching change and got a result against the Revolution. That does not suck. But it also is only one game.
24. CF Montreal (25).
“A win over Miami doesn’t change what we said last week – The rebuild is still in progress.” Add a win over NYC and that rebuild might be gaining traction.
25. FC Dallas (21).
We take no joy from putting Dallas here, but despite the “bubbling potential” and some key results (Portland, New England) we can’t ignore the consistently poor results, especially on the road – and they have a lot of road games coming up.
26. Vancouver Whitecaps (23).
Yikes – almost as bad as Miami at this point.
27. Inter Miami (27).
“So much talent, so little cohesion.” At least they didn’t have a game so they didn’t lose…