Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Week 9

FC Dallas and the Montreal Impact maintain the #1 and #2 spots for the 3rd week in a row and the Portland Timbers move into the top 5 for the first time all year. The New England Revolution and Seattle Sounders move out of the bottom 5, replaced by the Chicago Fire and San Jose Earthquakes.

Biggest moves up this week: New England Revolution, Portland Timbers, Columbus Crew

Biggest drops: Philadelphia Union, Sporting Kansas City, San Jose Earthquakes

This week's rankings (+- vs last week):

1) FC Dallas (West)

2) Montreal Impact (East)

3) LA Galaxy (West) +2

4) Portland Timbers (West) +3

5) Houston Dynamo (East) -1

6) Sporting Kansas City (East) -3

7) New York Red Bulls (East) +1

8) Columbus Crew (East) +3

9) Chivas USA (West)

10) Philadelphia Union (East) -4

11) Colorado Rapids (West) +1

12) Real Salt Lake (West) -2

13) New England Revolution (East) +5

14) Seattle Sounders FC (West) +1

15) Chicago Fire (East) -2

16) Vancouver Whitecaps (West) +1

17) San Jose Earthquakes (West) -3

18) Toronto FC (East) -2

19) D.C. United (East)

2013 Major League Soccer Power Rankings Week 6

Big drops in the rankings this week by Real Salt Lake, DC United and the New York Red Bulls. Nice move up by the Portland Timbers and Colorado Rapids.

Montreal Impact maintain the top spot, with the LA Galaxy and FC Dallas swapping the #2 and #3 spots.

This week's rankings (+ - from last week):

1) Montreal Impact (East)

2) LA Galaxy (West) +1

3) FC Dallas (West) -1

4) Chivas USA (West) +1

5) Houston Dynamo (East) +1

6) Columbus Crew (East) -2

7) Sporting Kansas City (East)

8) New England Revolution (East) +1

9) San Jose Earthquakes (West) +1

10) Philadelphia Union (East) +2

11) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

12) Portland Timbers (West) +4

13) Real Salt Lake (West)  -5

14) Toronto FC (East) +1

15) Colorado Rapids (West) +3

16) New York Red Bulls (East)  -3

17) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

18) D.C. United (East) -4

19) Chicago Fire (East)

2013 Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Week 5

Were are 5 weeks into the 2013 Major League Soccer season, and we now have a pretty good feeling on the quality of the teams to date.

Here's my inaugural Power Rankings for 2013, Week 5:

1) Montreal Impact (East)

2) FC Dallas (West)

3) LA Galaxy (West)

4) Columbus Crew (East)

5) Chivas USA (West)

6) Houston Dynamo (East)

7) Sporting Kansas City (East)

8) Real Salt Lake (West)

9) New England Revolution (East)

10) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

11) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

12) Philadelphia Union (East)

13) New York Red Bulls (East)

14) D.C. United (East)

15) Toronto FC (East)

16) Portland Timbers (West)

17) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

18) Colorado Rapids (West)

19) Chicago Fire (East)

Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Matchweek 18, 7/10/12

Welcome to the top D.C. United!

D.C. United grabs the top spot this week by the slightest of margins over the San Jose Earthquakes.

Biggest move up in this week's rankings? The Philadelphia Union 7 spots to #11 and the New England Revolution up 6 spots to #7.

Biggest drops? The Colorado Rapids drop 7 spots to #18 and the Columbus Crew drop 6 spots to #10.

My Matchweek 18 Power Rankings:

1) D.C. United (East)

2) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

3) Chicago Fire (East)

4) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

5) LA Galaxy (West)

6) Sporting Kansas City (East)

7) New England Revolution (East)

8) New York Red Bulls (East)

9) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

10) Columbus Crew (East)

11) Philadelphia Union (East)

12) Houston Dynamo (East)

13) Real Salt Lake (West)

14) Portland Timbers (West)

15) Chivas USA (West)

16) Montreal Impact (East)

17) Toronto FC (East)

18) Colorado Rapids (West)

19) FC Dallas (West)

Major League Soccer Match Winner Predictions, Matchweek 8, 4/28/12

Time to pick a few winners based on this week's Major League Soccer Power Rankings.

Just winners. Note I also take into account the Major League soccer historical advantage to home teams in making these picks:

Montreal wins at home against Portland
New York wins at home against New England
San Jose wins at Philadelphia
Columbus wins at home against Vancouver
D.C. United wins at home against Houston
Real Salt Lake wins at home against Toronto
The LA Galaxy wins against FC Dallas at home

A Great Atmosphere, But the Crew Disappoint. LA Galaxy 1, Columbus Crew 0 9/24/11

It was great to see a sold out match at Columbus Crew Stadium. The Plaza in front of the stadium was packed. There was a huge line to get into the Crew store. The Nordecke was in full throat! And the weather was perfect.

The Nordecke Was Awesome Last Night!

I would like to think the crowd came to cheer on the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference leading Columbus Crew against the Western Conference leading LA Galaxy. But I do understand that the casual fans who came out wanted to see the Galaxy's Landon Donovan, David Beckham and Robbie Keane. As it turned out, David Beckham flew back to Los Angeles earlier this week as he was being rested, Robbie Keane had a minor injury that kept him out of the 18 for the match, and Landon Donovan didn't start.

But the fans were absolutely treated to a very exciting match that ended with the Galaxy scoring a second-half extra-time goal to give them a 1-0 victory. I hope the fans make it back to more Crew matches!

Crew Coach Robert Warzycha started the match in a 4-5-1 formation, which didn't make a lot of sense to me when the Galaxy's two best midfielders, Donovan and Beckham weren't in the match. Predictably the Crew couldn't produce quality chances in the first half, although they played very well defensively.

It was only when Coach Warzycha brought on Emilio Renteria in the second half, switching to a 4-4-2 formation that the Crew started getting great chances at goal. But ultimately they couldn't finish.

And when the Galaxy's Chad Barrett knocked in a deflected Landon Donovan shot in the 93rd minute (both were second half subs) the Crew were left with a home loss, and find themselves in 2nd place in the Eastern Conference.

Left defender Shaun Francis had a horrible match, giving the ball away on multiple occasions. The Crew also missed the injured Eddie Gaven as a stabilizing force in the midfield.

The Crew are in trouble and may not make the MLS Playoffs. They are currently playing worse than all of the other MLS Clubs based on their last five matches. They have four matches left, with only one of those at home. They will be lucky to get 4 points total out of those matches if they don't play better.

I'm an optimist when it comes to my favorite sports teams (the Columbus Crew, the Cincinnati Reds, Ohio State and Purdue football) but I'm not real confident we are going to see the Crew in the playoffs come the end of the MLS regular season.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

I've Got Some Explaining To Do...Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Week 27, 9/19/11

I've spent some time on past Major League Soccer Power Rankings posts documenting my philosophy when compiling them each week.


I still like to tweak my formula, but since there are a few surprises (at first glance) in the top ten this week I thought I would post a little more detail/philosophy.


My overriding philosophy in my rankings is to rank the teams from top to bottom in Major League Soccer on who is playing best at that point in time based on a formula. I am not trying to predict how the season will end with these rankings. Theoretically, the top team in my rankings on any given week should be able to beat the other seventeen on a neutral field that given week, the second team should beat the sixteen below them, etc.


I don't purely go by this when I make my MLS match predictions, as I look at each teams' ranking score in my formula and their differential to determine whether the match can be predicted. So if the #1 team's score in my rankings has a very small differential with #2, I wouldn't necessarily pick the #1 team to win. I also take into account the predominant home field advantage that historically exists in the MLS to make my pick.

So what is my formula? I take season to date points per game (not goals, but points earned) as I feel teams should be rewarded for their long term performance in my rankings.  I combine that with points per game in a team's last five matches (a reflection of who is currently hot) to come up with a team's score. I weight season-long performance 60% in my formula and the last five matches' performance 40%. In the last five matches' average I give a higher weighting for away wins, and will punish a team for a home loss.

The LA Galaxy are #1

My Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Week #27:

1) LA Galaxy (West)

2) Real Salt Lake (West)

3) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

4) Portland Timbers (West)

5) Toronto FC (East)

6) Chicago Fire (East)

7) D.C. United (East)

8) Houston Dynamo (East)

9) New York Red Bulls (East)

10) Sporting Kansas City (East)

11) Philadelphia Union (East)

12) Colorado Rapids (West)

13) FC Dallas (West)

14) Columbus Crew (East)

15) New England Revolution (East)

16) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

17) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

18) Chivas USA (West)

At first glance, I'm thinking that readers are going to look at this week's rankings and are going to wonder why two teams with a slim to none chance at making the MLS Playoffs, the Chicago Fire and Toronto FC are ranked so high, and virtual locks for the playoffs, FC Dallas and the Columbus Crew are ranked so low.


The reason is current form (last five matches) and it's 40% weighting in my formula. Here are the teams ranked by current form this week:

1) Real Salt Lake (West)

2) LA Galaxy (West)

3) Toronto FC (East)

4) (3-way tie) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

Portland Timbers (West)

Chicago Fire (East)

7) D.C. United (East)

8) (2-way tie) Houston Dynamo (East)

New York Red Bulls (East)

10) (2-way tie) Sporting Kansas City (East)

New England Revolution (East)

12) (2-way tie) Philadelphia Union (East)

Colorado Rapids (West)

14) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

15) (3-way tie) FC Dallas (West)

Columbus Crew (East)

San Jose Earthquakes (West)

18) Chivas USA (West)

Toronto FC (last 5, WLTWW) and the Chicago Fire (TWWLW) are playing very well right now and are ranked in the top six in MLS for their last five matches. FC Dallas (TLWLL) and the Columbus Crew (WLLTL) are currently playing very poorly and are ranked in the bottom four.

I have admittedly questioned the 40% weighting on current form, but if I'm going to use these rankings to predict match results, I feel I have to look at who's hot and take that into account.

So that's my explanation. Not perfect, but it entertains me.

Four for Four! Good Weekend For Me and My Major League Soccer Picks! 9/18/11

That's more like it! My strategy of only picking Major League Soccer matches that I thought were locks worked.

I picked four matches this weekend, and got them all correct. As a review I had the Chicago Fire, Seattle Sounders, Real Salt Lake and the LA Galaxy all winning, and they did! I am now 13 for 34, or 38% for the season.

Here are three picks for the coming week. I will wait to see the results of all the Wednesday, 9/21 matches before I look at the matches played by those teams on Saturday 9/24.

Locks for the week:

Wednesday 9/21:

DC United will beat Chivas USA

The Portland Timber will beat the San Jose Earthquakes

Sunday 9/25:

The Chicago Fire will beat the New England Revolution

Major League Soccer Picks For Week 27, 9/15/11

Last week was horrible for me. I only predicted two out of the ten Major League Soccer matches correctly, the home victory by the LA Galaxy over Colorado, and the draw between the Philadelphia Union and Portland Timbers. Combined with me incorrectly picking the Columbus Crew over the Houston Dynamo last night, I'm now nine for thirty, or 30%.

But I will keep trying.

I'm gonna change this week and only pick matches that I believe are locks. If it's not a definitive in my model, I'm not going to pick'em.

Here you go:

9/17 Matches:

The LA Galaxy will beat Vancouver

The Chicago Fire will beat Chivas USA

The Seattle Sounders will beat DC United

Real Salt Lake will beat Sporting KC

The Galaxy Will Be Big Winners Saturday!

The Galaxy Will Not Relinquish #1! Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Week 26, 9/13/11

The Galaxy is #1 Again

The Los Angeles Galaxy continue to maintain the top spot in my rankings this week. It doesn't look like anyone will overtake them!

Biggest jumps up in the rankings this week? Sporting KC jumped up 7 spots and the New England Revolution jumped up 4 spots.

Biggest drops? Chivas USA dropped 6 spots and the Columbus Crew dropped 5.

Best current form? Real Salt Lake, the Seattle Sounders and the LA Galaxy.

Worst form? Chivas USA and the Philadelphia Union.

My week 26 Major League Soccer Power Rankings:

1) LA Galaxy (West)

2) Real Salt Lake (West)

3) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

4) Sporting Kansas City (East)

5) D.C. United (East)

6) Colorado Rapids (West)

7) Houston Dynamo (East)

8) FC Dallas (West)

9) Portland Timbers (West)

10) Columbus Crew (East)

11) Toronto FC (East)

12) Chicago Fire (East)

13) New England Revolution (East)

14) New York Red Bulls (East)

15) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

16) Philadelphia Union (East)

17) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

18) Chivas USA (West)

Breathe...Toronto FC 4, Columbus Crew 2, 9/10/11

Final score, Toronto FC 4, the Columbus Crew 2. At COLUMBUS CREW STADIUM!

Breathe, deep breaths...

Tell yourself everything is going to be OK with the Columbus Crew.

Tell yourself that giving up 10 goals in their last two matches is nothing to be concerned about.

Tell yourself that seeing William Hesmer play his worst game...ever...is nothing to be concerned about.

Tell yourself that the starting back four of Sebastian Miranda, Chad Marshall, Julius James and Josh Gardner will communicate better in their next match.

Trillium Cup Goes to Toronto FC (Getty Images)

Tell yourself that the Crew midfield will not fail to connect on their passes like they did last night.

Tell yourself that losing to Toronto FC...FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER is only a blip, the Crew will recover.

Tell yourself we will see Eddie Gaven return to the line-up.

Tell yourself that the Crew will get things together in time for their Wednesday night home match against the Houston Dynamo.

Tell yourself the Crew will still be in playoff position after their next five matches, where they play four other teams in Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference who are in playoff position (the Houston Dynamo, Philadelphia Union, Sporting Kansas City and DC United) and the best team in all of Major League Soccer, the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Breath...

Predicted The Sporting KC/LA Galaxy Draw Correctly...Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Week 25, 9/5/11

I was a perfect 2 for 2 on my predictions for this weekend's Major League Soccer Matches, getting both the Real Salt Lake victory and the Sporting KC/LA Galaxy draw correct. I am now 7 for 19 on the year, a 37% accuracy rating.

The LA Galaxy Are #1 Again!

There were just a couple of changes to my Major League Soccer Power Rankings this week with only two matches played.

Real Salt Lake's victory over Philadelphia pushed them up two spots in this week's ranking to #4 overall, while Sporting Kansas City's home draw this evening against the LA Galaxy dropped them two spots to #11 in this week's rankings.

My week 25 Major League Soccer Power Rankings:

1) LA Galaxy (West)

2) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

3) Colorado Rapids (West)

4) Real Salt Lake (West)

5) Columbus Crew (East)

6) FC Dallas (West)

7) D.C. United (East)

8) Houston Dynamo (East)

9) Portland Timbers (West)

10) Chicago Fire (East)

11) Sporting Kansas City (East)

12) Chivas USA (West)

13) Philadelphia Union (East)

14) Toronto FC (East)

15) New York Red Bulls (East)

16) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

17) New England Revolution (East)

18) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

My Predictions For This Weekend's Major League Soccer Matches, 9/2/11

I had a horrible week last week with my predictions. Out of eight matches played I only got one prediction correct, the Seattle Sounders win over the Columbus Crew.

I am now 5 for 17 for the year, a 29% accuracy rating.

Undaunted, I will forge ahead...

There are only two Major League Soccer matches this weekend. What will the results be?

In the Saturday, September 3rd match, I predict a Real Salt Lake Victory over the Philadelphia Union.

And on Labor Day, Monday, September 5th, I predict a draw between Sporting Kansas City and the LA Galaxy!

Real Salt Lake! A Big Winner This Weekend!

Your #1, The LA Galaxy! Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Week 24, 8/31/2011

#1 Again, The LA Galaxy!

Quick post this week...

My week 24 Major League Soccer Power Rankings:

1) LA Galaxy (West)

2) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

3) Colorado Rapids (West)

4) Columbus Crew (East)

5) FC Dallas (West)

6) Real Salt Lake (West)

7) D.C. United (East)

8) Houston Dynamo (East)

9) Sporting Kansas City (East)

10) Portland Timbers (West)

11) Chicago Fire (East)

12) Chivas USA (West)

13) Philadelphia Union (East)

14) Toronto FC (East)

15) New York Red Bulls (East)

16) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

17) New England Revolution (East)

18) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

The LA Galaxy Will Not Relent! Predictions From This Weekend and My Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Week 23, 8/22/11

Another week, another week on top of the Rankings...or so says the LA Galaxy.

But first, a look at my Major League Soccer match predictions from this past weekend.

I picked the nine matches that were played this past Saturday and Sunday based on my rankings system, and taking into account the home field advantage so prevalent in Major League Soccer.

My results?

I correctly picked the result in four of the nine matches played. (The New England/New York draw, and the wins by Columbus, Portland and Los Angeles.) My prediction rate is a whopping 44%. I'm going to stick with the system next week.

The LA Galaxy Are On Top Again!

Some notes regarding this week's Rankings:

- Biggest jumps up? Chicago climbed 6 spots, Sporting KC climbed 5.

- Biggest decline? FC Dallas dropped 5 spots.

- Best current form? The LA Galaxy, Columbus and Colorado.

- Poorest current form? San Jose.

My week 23 Major League Soccer Rankings:

1) LA Galaxy (West)

2) Columbus Crew (East)

3) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

4) Colorado Rapids (West)

5) Houston Dynamo (East)

6) Sporting Kansas City (East)

7) D.C. United (East)

8) Chivas USA (West)

9) FC Dallas (West)

10) Portland Timbers (West)

11) Real Salt Lake (West)

12) Chicago Fire (East)

13) Philadelphia Union (East)

14) New York Red Bulls (East)

15) Toronto FC (East)

16) New England Revolution (East)

17) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

18) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

Major League Soccer Match Predictions, 8/20/11 and 8/21/11 Matches

This week I decided to put my Major League Soccer Power Rankings to the test and try to predict the outcomes of this weekend's matches.

Here you go:

The New England Revolution and New York Red Bulls will finish in a draw.

The Columbus Crew will defeat The Philadelphia Union.

The Houston Dynamo and Real Salt Lake will finish in a draw.

FC Dallas and The Seattle Sounders will finish in a draw.

The Colorado Rapids will defeat Chivas USA.

The Portland Timbers will defeat The Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Los Angeles Galaxy will defeat The San Jose Earthquakes.

The Chicago Fire and Toronto FC will finish in a draw.

Sporting KC and DC United will finish in a draw.

What do you think?

The The LA Galaxy Maintain the Top Spot! Major League Soccer Power Rankings Week 22, 8/15/11

The LA Galaxy Maintain the Top Spot!

My Major League Soccer Rankings are pretty much for my own entertainment. I like messing around with numbers, and am a big fan of the MLS, so why not combine the two.

I have been publishing my rankings since matchweek 5. My intent with the rankings is to judge who are the best teams top to bottom at this point in the season. My intent is not to predict how the season will end.

I have been trying to figure out a way to look at how accurate my rankings are. Haven't really figured out a way, but I think the best way would be to try to look at the rankings for the current week and how those rankings predict the results on the field. More to come on that.

I have made a minor adjustment to my formula this week. Specifically, the way I was calculating the rankings prior did not take into account the number of matches played. Theoretically a team who had played less matches could be hurt in my formula, so now I have made the proper adjustments to take number of games played out as a factor.

Some quick notes for this week:

- Biggest jump up? The Houston Dynamo jumped up 3 spots.

- Biggest decline? Real Salt Lake dropped 4 spots.

- Best current form? Colorado, The LA Galaxy and Seattle.

- Poorest current form? San Jose and Chicago.

My week 22 Major League Soccer Rankings:

1) LA Galaxy (West)

2) Colorado Rapids (West)

3) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

4) FC Dallas (West)

5) Columbus Crew (East)

6) Chivas USA (West)

7) D.C. United (East)

8) Houston Dynamo (East)

9) Real Salt Lake (West)

10) Philadelphia Union (East)

11) Sporting Kansas City (East)

12) Portland Timbers (West)

13) New York Red Bulls (East)

14) New England Revolution (East)

15) Toronto FC (East)

16) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

17) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

18) Chicago Fire (East)

The LA Galaxy Are Still #1! Major League Soccer Power Rankings Week 21, 8/8/11

The Galaxy Are Still #1!

Quick post this week. Heading out of town.

My week 21 Major League Soccer Power Rankings:

1) LA Galaxy (West)

2) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

3) FC Dallas (West)

4) Colorado Rapids (West)

5) Real Salt Lake (West)

6) Columbus Crew (East)

7) Chivas USA (West)

8) D.C. United (East)

9) Philadelphia Union (East)

10) Portland Timbers (West)

11) Houston Dynamo (East)

12) Sporting Kansas City (East)

13) New York Red Bulls (East)

14) New England Revolution (East)

15) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

16) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

17) Toronto FC (East)

18) Chicago Fire (East)

The LA Galaxy Are Back On Top! Major League Soccer Power Rankings Week 20, 8/1/11

The LA Galaxy Are #1 Again!

After a 4 Week hiatus the LA Galaxy regains the top spot in this week's Major League Soccer Power Rankings. The Galaxy continue to dominate MLS play, and opened up a huge gap between themselves and the 2nd ranked team, Seattle.

Spots 2-5 are separated by the closest of margins in this week's rankings. Seattle, FC Dallas, The Columbus Crew and Colorado could overtake one another in the coming week's depending on results of their future matches.

Biggest move up the rankings this week? DC United moved up 4 spots.

Biggest drop? Sporting KC dropped 3 spots.

Who has the best current form? The LA Galaxy and Columbus Crew.

The worst? Vancouver and Toronto.

My Week 20 Major League Soccer Power Rankings:

1) LA Galaxy (West)

2) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

3) FC Dallas (West)

4) Columbus Crew (East)

5) Colorado Rapids (West)

6) Real Salt Lake (West)

7) Philadelphia Union (East)

8) D.C. United (East)

9) Houston Dynamo (East)

10) Chivas USA (West)

11) Sporting Kansas City (East)

12) New York Red Bulls (East)

13) New England Revolution (East)

14) Portland Timbers (West)

15) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

16) Chicago Fire (East)

17) Toronto FC (East)

18) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)