7May/120
MLS Weekly Power Rankings: Seattle Sounders Finally Get Past the Galaxy
The Seattle Sounders Jumped to the table of this week's Power Rankings after handling the Los Angeles Galaxy and Philadelphia Union in one week. Sporting Kansas City had a tough week with its first home loss of the season. And Vancouver stepped up with a big win over San Jose on Saturday. 1. Seattle Sounders (6-1-1, 19 pts.) Beating Los Angeles in the midweek game was what the Sounders needed to get that monkey off their back. Following that win up with a solid, 1-0 win over Philadelphia wrapped up an impressive week for a team that was playing under the radar for much of the season.2. Real Salt Lake (7-3-1, 22 pts.) Was there any doubt RSL would beat New England, who was coming off a Wednesday night game? No. But it just proves that this team wins when it needs to, which is vital.3. San Jose Earthquakes (7-2-1, 22 pts.) A goal-fest on Wednesday and a 5-3 win over D.C. was followed up by a disappointing 2-1 loss to Vancouver on Saturday.4. Vancouver Whitecaps (5-2-2, 17 pts.) A Canadian Championship win on Wednesday was followed up by a 2-1 win over a San Jose team that looked unstoppable. Is there a bigger turnaround in MLS this year? ...7May/120
Chicago Fire’s Upcoming Week Presents Challenges and a Familiar Face
The Chicago Fire expect to be very busy this week with two MLS games on the docket.Real Salt Lake visits Toyota Park on Wednesday while the Sporting Kansas City invades on Saturday. A difficult stretch continues for the Fire who defeated Chivas USA 2-1 on Friday behind rookie center back Austin Berry’s first career goal.The Fire were also without coach Frank Klopas, who was suspended for abusive language to the referees during the end of the loss against Seattle. This week's matches against Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City will go a long way in determining how far the Fire can go as MLS Cup contenders. Real Salt Lake are tied for the best record in the league. A win on Wednesday would definitely make a statement. Adding to the drama will be the Ring of Honor induction of all-time great defender C.J. Brown. Brown is the Fire’s all-time leader in starts, minutes and overall games played. The current Real Salt Lake assistant coach is a two-time Chicago Fire defender of the year (2006 and 2010) and three-time humanitarian of the year (2001-03). Emotions will be running high that night. On Saturday, the Fire will have completed a stint in which they would have ...7May/120
LA Galaxy vs. New York Red Bulls: Key Takeaways from MLS Showdown
Playing their third game in eight days, the Los Angeles Galaxy hosted the New York Red Bulls Saturday night at the Home Depot Center. Despite the fact that the Red Bulls were forced to play without several of their stars, including Thierry Henry, the Red Bulls managed to pull off a 1-0 victory over the Galaxy. Here are six thoughts from the game.Begin Slideshow6May/120
Sporting Kansas City Drops 2nd Straight, Loses to Montreal 2-0
Despite dominating the stat sheet in almost every category, Sporting Kansas City fell to the Montreal Impact 2-0 in front of 20,404 fans at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park (LSP). After starting the season with seven straight wins, Sporting KC has now lost two straight.The loss was the first shutout loss at LSP and the first for the team since a 2-0 loss to Chivas USA on July 10, 2010 at Community America Ballpark.Sporting KC outshot Montreal 22-6, had 11 corners to Montreal's one and 66 percent of the possession, but were just not able to get the final pass or finish their chances.During the postgame press conference that Bleacher Report attended, Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes said, "We didn't come to compete today, and that was a big part of why we lost today. I take responsibility for that. That's not happening."The Impact's chances seemed to come close on the heels of missed opportunities by Sporting KC.In the 27th minute, midfielder Graham Zusi took a shot from distance, but goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts made the save, tipping the ball out for a corner.Three minutes later, Sporting KC had a throw-in deep in its own end of the field. After a couple of ...6May/120
David Beckham’s Performance vs. Red Bulls Shows He’s Not Made for Team GB
David Beckham of the Los Angeles Galaxy: I've got some really bad news for you, sir. For all of the honors you have garnered in the Premier League, in La Liga, in international play and in Major League Soccer, the bottom line is this: You are not going to the London 2012 Summer Olympics to waste your time with Team Great Britain. They don't need you. Plain and simple. How you seem to have all these false illusions and sense of security that you would be on the team because you have the icon status is beyond me.You're not going. Look at all the set piece opportunities you had in Saturday's game against the New York Red Bulls. All were cleared or wide of the goal. Your finishing is diabolical. Your style of long-ball passing is worthy of a gong show.And a really hilarious gong show at that. Stuart Pearce, against all my expectations, was at this match. He is going to cut you from the roster and you know it. You knew you couldn't make a mistake in creating chances for the Galaxy attack, so why did you do it multiple times?Heck, you can't even finish a shot from ...6May/120
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Red Bull New York: Rating the Galaxy Players
The Los Angeles Galaxy have discovered a new, revolutionary way of playing the beautiful game of soccer. How do they do this? By sticking both middle fingers in the face of everything that makes it beautiful and sacred, and in effect, turn the game into a comedy show of horrors. That, ladies and gentlemen, is gong show soccer, and no one does it better than Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy. Mutilate the stat sheets, we don't care. What matters is that LA uses it as a create way to drop games. A solid example of gong show soccer: the 1-0 shutout loss to the New York Red Bulls at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. on Cinco de Mayo. Let's go in depth at this tasty little disasterpiece that unfolded in Bleacher Report's player ratings. Don't hold your breath! Bill Gaudette 5 Quiet night. Save for failing to stop the most diminutive of scorers in Joel Lindpere, Gaudette had a quiet night in making stops, and was restricted to collections. Actually, he was better off being quiet, because according to the unwritten rules of gong show soccer, a quiet night is better than a terrible night ratings-wise. So there! ...6May/120
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. New York Red Bulls: 6 Things We Learned
Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy dropped yet another contest in Major League Soccer, this time to the New York Red Bulls, 2-1, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.Joel Lindpere scored the only goal of the match for the Red Bulls (5-3-1, 16 points), while LA drop to 3-5-1 (10 points) and are destined to return to the bottom of the MLS Western Conference standings.Here are six things we learned from Saturday's match.Begin Slideshow6May/120
New York Red Bulls: Player Ratings Against the L.A. Galaxy
The Red Bulls put in a gutsy performance in earning a 1-0 victory in Los Angeles. Considering the Red Bulls were playing three emergency players on their back line, an inexperience keeper and were missing their two designated players (Henry, injury; Marquez, suspension), the win was a surprise.Yet they defended well and took advantage when their chance fell to them. But to be honest, there weren't a lot of chances in this game.The Galaxy look like a shadow of the 2011 MLS Cup championship team. Part of that can be blamed on the absence of Omar Gonzalez, who is out with a knee injury. But that doesn't explain the lack of flair going forward.Still, the Red Bulls' Chad Barrett will be kicking himself for missing a few good chances. And without the steadiness of teammate Ryan Meara, the game could have been very different.Player Ratings (on a 10-point scale)GK Ryan MearaA spectacular performance from the Red Bulls keeper as he seemed to claim all crosses into his box. His performance took the pressure off his back line, allowing them to exceed expectations. He had a few key saves late in the game, but his 82nd-minute save on a long range ...4May/120
10 Key MLS Matchups to Watch This Weekend
Thierry Henry is out with a hamstring injury, but Major League Soccer moves on without him to the tune of nine games this weekend.We've got a team captain returning to his old club, a youngster trying to replace a legend and Toronto just hoping to stop losing eventually.Here are 10 key matchups to watch this weekend in MLS.Begin Slideshow4May/120