Bonjour! I don’t often use this space to talk about personal things, but from here forward (for the next 3 years, at least), I’ll be coming to you from Brussels, Belgium. My wife’s work has taken us overseas, so here I am. This is going to increase the difficulty of keeping up with MLS, as most games will be kicking off at or after 1am here (New England/Columbus this past weekend was live on Belgian cable for some reason), but I have Direct Kick, and I do love a challenge. Anyway, without further ado, let’s get to it.
DCIgnited clocked in with 148 points to lead the league this round. David Villa (NYC, $10.9) scored two goals on the way to an armband-aided 32 points, leading the team. Trailing him were Florian Jungwirth (SJ, $6.3) with a clean sheet and 16 points, and Nemanja Nikolic (CHI, $10.1), with two goals and 15 points. At the top, !BL4CKnRED’s lead jumped to 81 points.
Positional Leaders
Goalkeepers
Matt Lampson (CHI, $4.6) had a clean sheet in each of his two games this round, for 19 points and the positional lead. Tim Melia (SKC, $5.6) had a penalty saved and a clean sheet for 16 points, while Nick Rimando (RSL, $5.9) saved a penalty on the way to 14 points. Bill Hamid ($5.5) earned 6 points for DCU.
Defenders
A triumverate of Chicago Players led all defenders, and they all earned two clean sheets. Joao Meira ($5.9) scored 19 points, Johan Kappelhof scored 18, and Brandon Vincent ($5.0) scored 17. For D.C., Taylor Kemp ($5.5) led with 4 points, followed by the trio of Steve Birnbaum ($5.7), Bobby Boswell ($5.3), and Chris Korb ($4.5) with 2 points each, and Chris Odoi-Atsem ($4.5) with 1.
Midfielders
Kansas City’s Gerso Fernandes ($8.2) scored a hat trick on the way to 21 points, leading the midfielders and all palyers. Not far behind were Miguel Almiron (ATL, $9.5), who scored a hat trick of his own and 19 points, and the pair of Albert Rusnak (RSL, $9.3) and Graham Zusi (SKC, $8.6), who scored 17 points each, with both tallying an assist, and Rusnak adding a goal. The United midfield featured four players scoring two points — Jared Jeffrey ($5.3), Lloyd Sam ($8.3), Marcelo Sarvas ($6.8), and Sebastien Le Toux ($6.3), and two more scoring 1 point — Ian Harkes ($5.7) and Lamar Neagle ($7.3).
Forwards
David Villa’s 16 points led Nemanja Nikolic’s 15 points as the top two scoring forwards. Let the record show that D.C. were the first team to hold Nikolic scoreless in five games. ANYWAY, wrapping up the top three was David Accam (CHI, $9.8), who scored two goals over two games for 14 points. For DCU, Patrick Mullins ($8.2) scored 2 points, and Jose Ortiz ($6.7) scored 1.
Looking Ahead
Dallas plays twice, Montreal is off, and everyone else plays once. I like David Ousted (VAN, $5.4) in goal at home against offensively deficient DCU, and Jimmy Medranda (SKC, $5.5) in defense at offensively deficient Colorado. One FC Dallas player I like with two games is midfielder Kellyn Acosta ($7.2), with games at Chicago and at home against Houston. At forward, I like Cyle Larin (ORL, $9.4) at a Minnesota team that has allowed six more goals (30) than the next closest team (RSL) in one fewer game played.