MLS Week 5 Power Rankings

By J.D. Smith, Host of National Soccer Radio

Poor Kei Kamara. His epic fail last week against Los Angeles made the front page of yahoo.com yesterday. Truly, it was one of the worst misses you will see in sometime. At minimum, it cost Kansas City valuable points they could have used after missing their chance at a point last week against Seattle. But the true travesty is that it cost the Wiz a shot at the #1 spot in the power rankings. Maybe in the new stadium they are building in Kansas City, they can slant the pitch towards the goal to help Kei get on track.

But I came not to bury Mr. Kamara. I came to do the Week 5 MLS Power Rankings. Here we go:

1. L.A Galaxy

Because of a narrowly-and-comically-bad-missed opportunity by the Wizards Kei Kamara, the Galaxy have still conceded exactly one goal all season. Their defense is the best part of their game right now (sorry Edson Buddle).

2. K.C. Wizards

I'm a little leery of putting them this high on the list, because in successive weeks they have failed to score a goal. But in two games against the most potent offenses in MLS this season (L.A. and Colorado), K.C. gave up zero goals, the second being a game without their star defender Jimmy Conrad. And K.C. dominated the possession against L.A. on their baseball field. Goalscoring continues to elude them though.

3. New York Red Bulls

The Red Bulls really didn't play well enough to earn a 2-1 win against Philadelphia. Then again, sometimes you create your own luck, and the Energy Drinks continue to create chances. 4 wins out of 5 is good enough for first in the East, but I think K.C. has played better competition, so they get the nod here.

4. Seattle Sounders

2 games within 72 hours isn't something I would wish on my worst enemy. But the last minute iffy call against them in their Thursday night game with Dallas took what little wind they would have had for Toronto out of their sails. Defensive miscues by Tyrone Marshall and Osvaldo Alonso did in the Sounders, and the scoring touch looked to have disappeared again. But we'll chalk up the first game to a bad call, and the second game to fatigue to keep Seattle relatively high.

5. Columbus Crew

2 of Columbus's last 3 goals have come by way of the penalty spot. Still, even in slick conditions in Columbus on Saturday night, they took a very hard shot from the defending champions and came out with 3 points at home. But they are creating too many chances to have scored only one goal last week. Finishing needs to be a priority. It will be interesting to see if either Seattle or Columbus can correct their scoring issues against each other this weekend.

6. Colorado Rapids

8 goals through just 5 games is enough for the overall MLS lead in the category. Some people might wonder how long it will be before Omar Cummings is picked up by some overseas club.  He is very, very entertaining to watch. But Jeff Larentowicz is the player to watch in the midfield for Colorado; he has been playing excellent soccer.

7. Real Salt Lake

4 of their first 5 games on the road? How's that for a Champions welcome? Of course, who wants to play in Salt Lake City in March or April? It's cold.

While I don't have the exact stat in front of me, RSL has only won 12 road games in the clubs existence. I believe they lost 4,347,298, and have tied 11. Something like that. Anyway, 4 out of their next 5 are at home, with cupcakes like Philadelphia and Toronto being just want RSL fans need to help their queasy early season stomach. Besides, anyone who thinks RSL is a bottom half team is crazy. I'll defend them for at least another game. Maybe.

8. Chicago Fire 

Did they just win at home? Is that going to start happening all of the sudden? The Fire look to be on the rise after wins against D.C. and Houston.

9. New England Revolution

Losing to Colorado is not so bad, but losing Shalrie Joseph for an indefinite period of time as he deals with personal matters? That's cause for concerns on multiple fronts.

10. Houston Dynamo

Similar situation to New England. Losing Geoff Cameron for the season with a torn knee ligament is horrible news for a club already missing Brian Ching, who could be sidelined for another month. And, when Ching comes back, he will be leaving for National Team Camp, meaning the team won't see him until the end of June or later.

11. Chivas USA

I'll need to see one more win before I'm convinced they are a top-10 team.  Still

12. San Jose  Earthquakes

I'll need to see more against a team like Chivas before I'm convinced. But slowing down a fired up Quakes team at home has to boost their confidence.

13. Toronto FC

They move up slightly, but don't get a whole lot of credit for winning against a depleted running on fumes team.

14. F.C. Dallas 

No wins means we sing, "How low can you go..."

15. Philadelphia Union 

Not as bad as they look. I honestly believe that there is some real talent on this team. But dumb mistakes in the back have to be cut out before they can move forward.

16. DC United 

Well, at least we didn't have to watch them...

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