Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Week 5, 4/18/11

Major League Soccer has just finished Matchweek 5, with all but two of the teams having played at least five matches. Real Salt Lake and Sporting KC have played 4 matches.

Time for me to introduce my MLS Power Rankings. At this point in the season, I think I have a pretty good idea of how the league is sorting out, so I'm going to share my thoughts on a weekly basis. My rankings combine overall season performance along with current form, so it's my attempt to show the 18 teams as I currently see them.

Real Salt Lake #1, Week 5

Week 5 Power Rankings (wins-losses-draws):

1)   Real Salt Lake, Western Conference (4-0-0) 12 points
2)   Philadelphia Union, Eastern Conference (3-1-1) 10 points
3)   LA Galaxy, Western Conference (3-1-3) 12 points
4)   Colorado Rapids, Western Conference (3-2-0) 9 points
5)   Houston Dynamo, Eastern Conference (2-1-2) 8 points
6)   Columbus Crew, Eastern Conference (2-1-2) 8 points
7)   New York Red Bulls, Eastern Conference (2-1-2) 8 points
8)   Portland Timbers, Western Conference (2-2-1) 7 points
9)   D.C. United, Eastern Conference (2-2-1) 7 points
10) Seattle Sounders FC, Western Conference (1-2-3) 6 points
11) Toronto FC, Eastern Conference (1-2-3) 6 points
12) New England Revolution, Eastern Conference (1-2-3) 6 points
13) San Jose Earthquakes, Western Conference (1-2-2) 5 points
14) FC Dallas, Western Conference (1-3-1) 4 points
15) Sporting Kansas City, Eastern Conference (1-2-1) 4 points
16) Chicago Fire, Eastern Conference (1-3-1) 4 points
17) Vancouver Whitecaps, Western Conference (1-2-3) 6 points
18) Chivas USA, Western Conference (0-2-3) 3 points

A few comments:

- Real Salt Lake continues to dominate.
- The Portland Timbers are the biggest early season surprise. Two big victories this week earned them the 8th spot in my rankings.
-Sporting KC is the biggest early season disappointment. Their first home game can't come soon enough.
-The Chicago Fire started the season well, but have since gone into a 3 game tailspin.

Remember, the CONCACAF Champions League Finals begin this Wednesday, April 20th. The game is on Fox Soccer Channel, 8pm MST, 10pm EST. On Twitter, use the #MLS4RSL hashtag and support Real Salt Lake!

Mountain Time

Real Salt Lake Advances to CONCACAF Champions League Final!

Real Salt Lake just finished the second leg of their semi-final match-up with Saprissa of Costa Rica, advancing to the CONCACAF Champions League Final 3-2 on aggregate.

This is a big deal for the MLS! Real Salt Lake is the first MLS club to make it to the finals!

They will have to wait till tomorrow night to see who they will be playing. Two Mexican clubs, Cruz Azul and Monterrey will be playing the second leg of their semi-final match-up. Monterrey won the first leg 2-1.

Congratulations Real Salt Lake!

Random Soccer Thoughts-MLS, CONCACAF Champions League, ESPN Broadcast

Major League Soccer (MLS) kicked off it's 16th season last night with the Los Angeles Galaxy beating the Seattle Sounders at Qwest Field 1-0. I'm thrilled that the season finally started!

The environment at Qwest, the Sounders home field, was fantastic. I'm sure the Galaxy are very happy getting 3 points out of the match. The MLS should be pleased with the opening match broadcast on ESPN, except for the fact that Real Salt Lake was playing the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League semi-finals at the very same time on Fox Soccer Channel.

MLS executives have said many times that success in the CONCACAF Champions League is very important for MLS clubs. Real Salt lake is the first MLS club to reach the semi-finals in the current format of the league. They ended up winning at home against the Costa Rican club Saprissa, taking a 2-0 lead into the second league which will be played at Saprissa's home field on April 5th. I just don't understand why they would have scheduled the MLS season opening match on the same night as an historic match for Real Salt Lake.

Speaking of scheduling snafus...March 26th is a FIFA International fixture date. Several National teams around the World will be playing friendlies, including the US Men's National Team. Another problem. The MLS continues to schedule regular season games on International fixture dates. On March 26th, the Columbus Crew play the New York Red Bull at home and the Red Bull will be missing 6 potential starters due to various International call-ups. Obviously this is good for the Crew, playing a weakened Red Bull team, but as a season ticket holder of the Crew, I would rather see them play the Red Bull at full strength.

Another thought:

-Taylor Twellman has joined Alexi Lalas and Max Bretos as an analyst on the ESPN MLS broadcasts for the 2011 season. Alexi Lalas is over the top in his opinions, but fairly entertaining. Taylor Twellman has improved since I saw him last year on ESPN broadcasts. But both were extremely critical of David Beckham last night regarding his training regimen and for not joining the the Los Angeles Galaxy until late in the preseason. I actually agreed with some of their points, but I think both made it a bigger deal than it actually is. I'm actually rooting for David Beckham to have a great year for the Galaxy!

ESPN Broadcast Analysts Max Bretos, Alexi Lalas and Taylor Twellman

Columbus Crew lose 4-1 at Real Salt Lake

This one was ugly. The Crew got it close early in the 2nd half on an Andres Mendoza goal off a cheeky pass from Eddie Gaven. It was 2-1 at that point.

But Real Salt Lake scored two more times (the first should have been disallowed due to a missed offside call) and clinched a spot in the CONCACAF Champion's League semifinals.

Rooting for Real Salt Lake to win The Champion's League, and they definitely have a shot as it seems no one can beat them at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Don't know what to make of The Crew. Thoroughly dominated tonight. Defense porous, very few chances on goal. It's early, the MLS season hasn't even started, but I'm worried.

Crew man of the match? Eddie Gaven for the assist. Mendoza played well too.

Not so good? Robbie Rogers, Jeff Cunningham, Ray Burse and Andy Iro. Ray Burse is the third goalkeeper on The Crew, so expectations are low for him anyway. But the other three need to step it up.
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Columbus Crew vs Real Salt Lake CONCACAF Quarterfinal First Leg-Opportunity Lost For The Crew

2/22/11: Sitting in my hotel room trying to warm up after attending the first leg of the CONCACAF quarterfinal match between the Columbus Crew and Real Salt Lake in Columbus, Ohio. Don't know what the temperature was, but at least it wasn't windy. I'm guessing 25 degrees at best.

I'm a Crew season ticket holder so please excuse my bias towards the Crew as I write this.

I really didn't expect much from the Crew this match. Their roster has changed dramatically since last season and based on the fact that Real Salt Lake was very strong last year and fielded essentially the same team as last year I felt that a 1 goal loss was the best that the Crew would do tonight.

I was pleasantly surprised and ultimately disappointed in how the match turned out. It ended in a 0-0 draw. Suprising in that the Crew was missing William Hesmer in goal, Shaun Francis at left back and Chad Marshall at centerback, yet played very well in the first half in dominating Real Salt Lake. Disappointing in that Real Salt Lake was a man down for the last 38 minutes of the match (a second caution resulting in a red card in the 52nd, then both teams receiving red cards in the 72nd) yet the Crew couldn't mount a sustained attack to get a home goal. They looked pretty tired in the second half.

The Crew will have a chance to advance when they play the second leg March 1st in Salt Lake City. Away goals are a tie-breaker in the elimination rounds this year, so a 1-1 draw would do the trick for the Crew in the match.

Who stood out for the Crew tonight? Rich Balchan at center back, Sebastian Miranda at right back and Emmanuel Ekpo in the midfield.

Who struggled for the Crew? Josh Gardner at left back

Match report: http://www.thecrew.com/news/2011/02/crew-rsl-finish-scoreless-testy-ccl-opener