MLS: Week 11 Power Rankings – Change is in the air
Coaching changes, general manager changes, and player changes are being made. But are the results changing? Here are the Week 11 MLS Power Rankings.
The Week 11 Major League Soccer Power Rankings have the usual suspects pulling up the rear and the same leader as always. The ownership situation between those two teams differs greatly. One team is led by a hermit owner’s distracted son, the other has Will Ferrell, a few billionaires, and a hundred other millionaires. Success starts from the top, and it’s all about owning the results.
Markets big, small, and otherwise have had to face some hard truths recently. Kansas City wrote a new book on successful re-brands. Chicago is slowly finding inroads back into the city, New York is either looking for a home or pointing at all the other New York teams playing in New Jersey. New England’s ownership is busy in Florida trying to buy laws and hide videos.
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This week’s MLS Power Rankings show that success comes from the top. Most teams have ownership, management, and playing talent in line with each other. They may replace coaches, players will come and go over time, but ownership is usually the last change forced. Some teams have been forced to change already this season.
For, some it was to great benefit; for others, it seems more of the same is likely.
Results = Bad
24. Colorado Rapids – Two points in eleven Games. Bottom of the table, bottom of the rankings. At least the players are still fighting, in spite of the Rapids coaching situation. Twice the players have battled back from a 0-2 deficit; twice the Rapids have given up a late goal to lose 3-2.
23. FC Cincinnati – I keep checking to make sure new interim coach Yoann Damet is still in his twenties. FC Cincinnati completed as many passes in the first half as they averaged per game under Alan Koch. Still, the impressive game came against a team on two days rest. Montreal fans might also point to a questionable offside ruling to argue a draw was the most justified result.
22. San Jose EarthQuakes – Matias Almeyda’s influence is beginning to show. The last month of games prove as much. The roster’s lack of quality will show as well, as it did in the game against New England. But two wins and two draws in the last four is a great haul considering the opposition. A loss was bound to come eventually, but how many wins will follow? San Jose’s goal differential is tied for second-worst in the West.
21. New England Revolution – Bye bye to Brad and Burns, and welcome to the….Bruce Arena era? If an American soccer coach could be compared to Bill Belichick, it would be the Arena of the past. But the present MLS game is different than when Arena last won a title. Still, if Kraft wanted to find a steady hand to gain some trust from the remaining fans, he could have done no better than if he does hire Arena. Well, perhaps if those rumors of a downtown stadium next to the Celtics arena pans out…oh, and it turns out, if you just play your best players against one of the worst MLS teams, you’ll usually win at home.
20. Orlando City – Losing to rival Atlanta United hurts more than most losses already. With Atlanta United video board operators displaying in-game shade, Orlando City could have taken umbrage and upped their intensity. Instead, they shrank from the moment, sinking back below the playoff line. Two-straight losses to Toronto FC and Atlanta have shown this year’s Orlando City squad will not bother the best MLS teams very often.
19. Vancouver Whitecaps – Marc dos Santos has gotten points from the last three games. Another defensive effort at home led to a hard-fought 1-0 win against a decent team. Vancouver let Portland take 27 shots and complete 86 more attacking half-passes. And yet, dos Santos steered his team to victory. The result is not as sexy as some fans may like, but it’s still more attractive than the Carl Robinson era. At least dos Santos is building his initial culture while accruing points, though a season of average home results and poor away ones shows the team is a year away from truly competing.
18. Real Salt Lake – Mike Petke’s team took care of business against the historically awful Rapids. Real Salt Lake lost focus, and if not for Sam Johnson’s heroic performance, might have lost the three points. To borrow a boxing analogy, Real Salt Lake are a gatekeeper team in MLS; they are also treading water until the summer transfer window.
17. Sporting KC – Trust in Peter Vermes, the Blue Hell always will. So do these rankings, to an extent. It is still a smart wager that Sporting KC will make the playoffs. Vermes, leader of the overlooked, is working with a wounded crew. Missing their best defenders, and with only a few subs available, the skeleton crew Sporting KC scrapped out a tough 1-0 loss at D.C. United. Once a few more of the starting eleven are fit, Vermes will find a way. But a warning: injuries have derailed seasons before, and they will do so again.