Sorry to be getting the recap out so late in the week, but I will always get it written! The biggest story of the weekend was St. Louis CITY dropped their first game, at home to Minnesota United. The bigger story to me is this Minnesota team is playing well. St. Louis was going to lose eventually and it wasn't like they did so in some horrendous fashion.
Nashville came out ahead 2-0 in a battle with Orlando City. It's another disappointing home result from the Lions, while Nashville showed that they are a force to be reckoned with in the Eastern Conference. The Revs drew a home match against NYCFC who are bolstering their squad with the recall of James Sands and recently added Richie Ledezma. I ran a poll the week to see which side would be effected the most by transfers: Atlanta United with Miles Robinson and Thiago Almada, FC Cincinnati with Vasquez and Brenner, and my third late option was the Revs if they were to lose Buck, Gil, and Petrovic. Not to mention that you have to imagine DeJuan Jones would jump at the opportunity to go play in Europe. You all responded heavily in favor of Atlanta United, who won this week 1-0 against the Red Bulls. The Red Bulls are going to have to figure things out sooner rather than later if they want to make something of their 2023 campaign.
Elsewhere around the league Seattle won at the LA Galaxy, who are showing they aren't as good as most thought they would be. Columbus stayed hot with a 4-0 win over struggling RSL. Toronto drew Charlotte 2-2 after taking a 2-0 lead into halftime. Toronto is starting to look incredibly disappointing after all of the talent and star power they have brought in over the last year. FC Cincinnati beat Inter Miami, who are now riding a four game losing streak. Sporting KC got a result at Philadelphia via a 0-0 draw.
The Vancouver Whitecaps absolutely took it to CF Montreal this weekend 5-0. You had to expect some big regression from Montreal after they lost so much talent this offseason, but it's part of being a selling league. I don't think Montreal are just bad for the sake of being bad. They sold off some pieces and are rebuilding. I think that's the positive spin on their season. It also speaks to how the MLS will look in a lot of places. They signed good players, developed them, sold them, and are now looking to build their next crop of talent.
Colorado managed a 0-0 draw at home against LAFC, which can be seen as a positive result for the Rapids. It was good to see a nearly packed house in Colorado, Chicago on the other hand is continuing to put up embarrassing attendance numbers six weeks into the season. They were in the range of 8,000 people in attendance for their 0-0 draw to DC United. Maybe renovating Soldier field will help rejuvenate that fan base, but I think their situation makes a strong case for promotion/relegation in Major League Soccer. This league has come too far and been through too much to be playing games with 50,000 empty seats.
MLS Top 8
I switched from top five/bottom five to top 8/bottom 8 because everyone does top five lists. Plus in theory you would get teams who should be hosting first round playoff games. Here we go:
1. St. Louis City SC 5-0-1; Yes they dropped a game, but they still sit a top the standings, and I'm not going to punish them for losing one game. Klauss, Burki and company will rebound.
2. FC Cincinnati 4-2-0; I almost convinced myself to put FCC number 1 this week. They're still undefeated and currently sitting atop the Eastern Conference. They play Philly at home this weekend, and they'll have the upper hand with Philly likely rotating players and balancing CCL.
3. Seattle Sounders 4-1-1; Jordan Morris has eight goals this season. This team is really good and I think they'll compete for the Supporter's Shield. Leo Chu is on an absolute tear right now playing RF too.
4. LAFC 3-2-0; Another undefeated team LAFC are the monster we all thought they were, and if history is any indicator they aren't done adding pieces this season.
5. Atlanta United 4-1-1; When Almada and Miles Robinson are on the field Atlanta can beat anyone in this league.
6. New England Revs 4-1-1; The Revs drop off on the list for me after drawing NYCFC at home. That had the potential to be a big statement win for Bruce Arena. As it stands I still think they are one of the top teams in MLS.
7. Nashville SC 3-1-2; My first two loss team on the list. Their two losses are to teams ahead of them on this list and they're coming off a convincing win at Orlando City. God forbid if you let Nashville score first, good luck coming away with points.
8. Minnesota United 3-2-0; I don't want to put Minnesota United on this list. They have two good wins against St. Louis and FC Dallas. Their other games are Colorado, Vancouver at home, and the Red Bulls at home which they've won one and drawn two. They're undefeated and they just beat the number one team on my list so here they are.
Bottom 8
22. Toronto FC 1-4-1; I don't think that Toronto is worse than DC or Chicago. But they shouldn't be 1-4-1 either. In fact they've lost to DC, and drawn San Jose and Charlotte. A team with Insigne and Bernadeschi should be pushing the top 8 and no where near this list. Whatever Bob Bradley is trying to do in Toronto he had better figure it out sooner rather than later.
23. NYRB 1-3-2; The Red Bulls shouldn't be here, but they have played some terrible soccer as of late. I'm sure that
24-26. Sporting Kansas City, Colorado Rapids, LA Galaxy 0-3-3 (0-3-2 for the Galaxy). In a rare move I grouped all three of these teams together. I think they could all draw each other home or away right now. They're all winless, none of them are as bad as the three teams below them on this list, but they aren't very good right now either.
27. Real Salt Lake 1-0-4; They beat Vancouver in week one. Since then they have lost all four matches they've played by a combined score of 1-12.
28. Charlotte FC 1-2-3; Charlotte have gotten points in half of their games this season, but I just don't think they are very good right now. Maybe I'll be wrong and they'll leave this list.
29. CF Montreal 1-0-4; Montreal won their home opener against Philly, and they've lost every other game since. They haven't even scored a goal in any of their four losses. I would guess we'll see Montreal on this list most of this season.
I would be remiss in my duties if I didn't at least mention CCL. Philadelphia got a win at home against Atlas in the first leg, but historically you need more than one to win a CCL series against a Liga MX team. LAFC and Vancouver are currently playing in British Columbia and are tied at the moment of writing. It would obviously be a huge upset for Vancouver to take this series. Stay tuned for my week 7 preview and we are quickly approaching the "Continental Clasico"!
Comments
Post a Comment