Week 9 SBNhanced MLS Power Rankings
by Martin Shatzer on May 25, 2010 10:17 PM EDT
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| Team | Total vote count | First Tier votes | Last week's Tier |
| Tier 1 - Teams Contending For Cups | |||
| LA Galaxy | 21 | 7 | 1 |
| Columbus Crew | 21 | 7 | 1 |
| Real Salt Lake | 20 | 6 | 1 |
| SJ Earthquakes | 20 | 6 | 1 |
| Tier 2 - Teams Likely in the Playoffs | |||
| Houston Dynamo | 14 | 0 | 2 |
| Colorado Rapids | 14 | 0 | 2 |
| NY Red Bulls | 13 | 1 | 2 |
| Toronto FC | 12 | 0 | 3 |
| Tier 3 - Teams On the Outside Looking In | |||
| FC Dallas | 7 | 0 | 3 |
| Chicago Fire | 7 | 0 | 3 |
| Seattle Sounders | 6 | 0 | 3 |
| KC Wizards | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| Chivas USA | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| Tier 4 - Teams Competing for #3 Draft Pick | |||
| NE Revolution | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Philadelphia Union | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| DC United | 0 | 0 | 4 |
With a shorter slate of MLS matches this past weekend, I was expecting that there wouldn't be too much movement in the rankings. But wow, I never would have expected there would be almost NO changes.
The only change for the week is Toronto FC moving up from the third tier and into the second, based on their 1-0 victory over the New England Revolution. Everyone else held pat. There was some conversation over at Sounder At Heart ast week about whether or not the Seattle Sounders really deserved their third tier ranking. Their loss to the San Jose Earthquakes proved that these voting bloggers know what they're doing.
The biggest surprise of the week is the New York Red Bulls remaining in the second tier, despite currently being on a three-game losing streak. Are the voters leaving NYRB high up in the rankings because we feel they are just suffering through a rough patch, like Real Salt Lake was in April? I reached out to the one individual who gave New York a first place vote, but he declined to comment. We'll see how this plays out.
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New York absolutely does not deserve even the slightest consideration for the first tier. I suppose they merit their 2nd tier spot, but only in the very last spot and only because everyone below them is playing so poorly.
Every time this thing comes out, I find myself going back to my deep concerns over expansion. MLS has no fewer than 8 teams that I’d classify as “poor” or worse right now. Half of the league is crap…and you’re going to thin that talent pool out more?
Red Bulls
They are the second best team, at least in the standings, in the Eastern Conference. They have struggled in recent weeks but only Columbus hasn’t and as we have seen the battle is making the playoffs. Once you are in (they would be today), anything can happen. I do think they have had a very soft schedule, the only winning teams they have faced are the Crew and San Jose. Beating Philly, DC United, New England, don’t seem like much and they seem to have caught Seattle napping.
No one’s talking about the playoffs. I will say that without some improvements, I can see Toronto or even Chicago overtaking NY now that teams have figured out the Red Bulls to a certain extent.
Bottom line: A 3 game losing streak should make it impossible for anyone to stay in the top tier. This applies even more in the context of a New York team that has ranged from looking decent to mediocre. Depressingly, that’s good enough to beat most of the teams they’ve played. That still doesn’t make them a good team.
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