What a strange midweek game between St. Louis City and FC Dallas. The game that started weeks ago picked up at the 50th minute and played to a 2-0 FC Dallas win. The US Open Cup now has a final four set with FC Cincinnati playing what will likely be Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF. Then on the other side of the bracket we have Houston and RSL.
All four of these teams have something very meaningful to play for. FC Cincy is looking for their first trophy as a MLS side after a disastrous start to their existence. Houston and Real Salt Lake are both really looking for something to spark their fanbases. The obvious big one is Inter Miami. Other than League's Cup this is their first chance to hoist a trophy with Lionel Messi and add to his legacy and really start their own as a club. Unfortunately we have to wait until August for the semi-finals.
Let's get to those power rankings!
1. FC Cincinnati 12-3-1 39 points Last Week: 1; FCC haven't dropped points since April 29th in a 1-1 draw at New England. They're in the US Open Cup semi-finals and are likely the favorites to win that trophy. They're 8 points clear of second place in the Supporter's Shield race, they're just playing great soccer.
2. Philadelphia Union 9-3-4 30 points Last Week: 5; The Union started the season 2-2-4 while making runs through CCL and during the US Open Cup. Since that start they're 7-1-0 and firing on all cylinders. I'm catapulting them in the rankings because they are coming into form of the team we all expected them to be. They're deep, well coached, and focused.
3. Nashville SC 9-4-3 31 points Last Week: 4; "Get another scorer" says everyone. Nashville continues to hold pat and continues to win Gary Smith style. Walker Zimmerman started last weekend at Dallas and the team is well prepared to be without him for the upcoming Nations League. This team had a great win at FC Dallas over the weekend to move them up in the rankings.
4. LAFC 9-5-1 26 points Last Week: 2; LAFC didn't play a league match for something like 18 days while the CCL Finals were taking place. They lost both legs and the finals to Leon in what we all hoped would be another MLS triumph. I wanted to move them down further, but they've still only lost one league game and Brad Guzan's inane performance prevented them from taking three points midweek against Atlanta. They do have league games to make up still. They currently have three games in hand on Seattle and two on St. Louis. They have one of the most interesting schedules this week as they have a college baseball "home and home" series with Houston on Saturday and Wednesday.
5. St. Louis City SC 9-1-5 28 points Last Week: 3; I'm probably being a little harsh for the 2-0 loss to FC Dallas under the insane midweek match that was the last forty minutes of a game that started weeks ago. Before that St. Louis had ripped off three consecutive wins by a score of 10-1. They still don't have Klauss back and that will be a massive help when he returns to the lineup.
6. FC Dallas 7-5-5 26 points Last Week: 6; FC Dallas were not on a great run before Wednesday's odd win over St. Louis. They hadn't won any of their previous four matches. I believe with Velasco, Ferreira, and Arriola that this team has the talent to be in the top half of the Western Conference, they just need to get back to playing consistently.
7. San Jose Quakes 6-5-5 23 points Last Week: 7; This is where we really start to get into the parity of the league. San Jose is 7th in this week's power rankings, but they sit just 4 points above the playoff line. I do think Cade Cowell's return will be a big boost for them, and they have some big names coming down the pipe but they may need to make moves this summer if they are going to make any kind of playoff run.
8. Atlanta United 6-7-4 25 points Last Week: NR; I had a hard time picking an 8th place team. Atlanta's last five matches have gone W, D, D, D, D. Not really a record of someone climbing the scale. Then you have the Revs who have gone L, L, D, D, D in their last five. I want to put DC in this group, but I don't think they are there yet. Atlanta has the pieces. I think once they get Almada and Miles Robinson figured out, this team could come together for a big push in the second half.
Bottom 5
25. NYCFC 4-5-7 17 points Last Week: 25; This is as much about my disappointment regarding the deviation from my expectations of this team. They should be better than this. They have a lot of talent and a ton of resources.
26. Chicago Fire 3-8-5 17 points Last Week: NR; You would think that since they denied Chris Brady and Brian Guttierez they would've made a bigger impact on the Fire, but it has not.
27. Inter Miami 5-0-11 15 points Last Week: 26; Help is on the way for Inter in the form of the greatest soccer player to ever live. What a wild statement that was to type. I'll be curious how that affects the guys on the team. They all want to play with Messi, and the team is going to look to add pieces to compliment Messi's skills. So I would guess this team is getting ready to start playing a lot better from players wanting to be around to play with him.
28. Colorado Rapids 2-7-8 Last Week: 28; The Rapids are starting to get healthy and Darren Yapi is coming back from the U20 World Cup. If they can get healthy and the Kroenke's start taking this team seriously it could change their fate. The latter is a big if.
29. LA Galaxy 3-3-9 12 points Last Week: 29. To add injury to insult Chicharito was carted off the field in their Open Cup loss. This team needs to dig deep, restructure and look to the future.
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