MLS Examiner Week 11 Power Ranking: my ballot

June 3, 12:41 AMChicago Fire ExaminerRoman Kashuba

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Chicago Fire Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Shaking off the rough start to the season, the Crew are ready to
reassert themselves (AP / Mary Schwalm)

Chivas USA held on to the top of the rankings despite losing to the Fire, but the margins are narrowing.  Houston continues its climb up the ladder, leaving Toronto behind.  Meanwhile, Colorado continues to impress many, just not me.

1)  Chivas USA - They didn't outplay the Fire as much as they outmuscled them.  Still, the Goats' loss was a bit unfortunate.  Add that to the Fire's flat performance against bottom-feeding Dallas and you have yourself a teetering king of the mountain.  

2)  Chicago Fire - Finally getting the bounces to go their way led to 3 consecutive wins.  Getting soundly thumped by Dallas keeps them out of the top spot.

3)  Houston Dynamo - Five wins in the last six week have put the Dynamo back into the Supporters' Shield conversation.  Friday's test at Toyota Park should clear up the race a bit.

4)  D.C. United - Getting robbed by the officials seems to be United's M.O. It's hard to take much away from a game decided by the refs (see Chivas USA).

5)  Toronto FC - Bobbing between pretender and contender, this club needs to put together some wins or risk falling behind in the congested Eastern Conference playoff race.  

6)  Kansas City Wizards - Probably should be ahead of Toronto, but a draw with the Galaxy is really par for the course.  

7)  Columbus Crew - A draw with Seattle on the road seems to have set the table for a climb up the standings.  But the next two games (@ Kansas City, v. Chivas USA) will tell us just how far along the Crew have come.  

8)  Seattle Sounders FC - That's five draws in a row in league play, including two at home.  The Sounders have come back down to Earth (and fallen behind the '98 Fire for best start to a season by an expansion team).  So far it's been a gradual decent, Chivas may try to speed up their demise.  

9)  Colorado Rapids - The Rapids drop despite the win, because really who hasn't beaten New York at this point? 

10) New England Revolution - Twellman's impact has been immediate, even if he isn't winning any friends in the process.  

11) LA Galaxy - It's a war of attrition at the bottom of the table and the Galaxy are the only team keeping their heads above water.  

12) Real Salt Lake - Losing to the punchless Earthquakes is the cherry on top of an awful May, putting Salt Lake into unenviable company.   

13) FC Dallas - The Fire's fatigue and utter lack of imagination had more to do with Dallas retaining the Brimstone Cup than Dallas itself did.  The bright spot had to be Brek Shea's spark off the bench, even if the game had already been decided.  

14) New York Red Bulls - June's going to be tougher than May was for the Red Bulls (@ D.C., @ N.E., @TFC, v. Seattle, @ TFC, @ Columbus).  If JCO's job wasn't already in jeopardy, it will be soon.  

15) San Jose Earthquakes - Any win is impressive for San Jose, but knocking off a struggling team won't move them up the rankings.

LATER: Wednesday Morning Hot Links and the long-delayed FC Dallas match report

RELATED ARTICLES:

MLS Examiner Week 10 Power Ranking: my ballot
MLS Examiner Week 9 Power Ranking: my ballot
MLS Examiner Week 8 Power Ranking
Fire stumble in Week 7 Power Rankings
Fire 3rd in inaugural Examiner Power Rankings