I will be posting the weekly PR for the brand new MLS season. Here we go with Week #1.. They've Got The Look MLSsoccer.com
Retarded list. Teams that won dropping in the rankings? Team that lost rising in rankings. Very, very odd.
Revolt's Accu-Rankings: 1. RSL. To be the champ, you've got to beat the champ.. 2. Simply Kansas City. I always reward teams that win on the road. 3. Dallas. Dallas looked really, really good against the Red Bulls. 4. Seattle. Impressive win against a very good Santos. 5. Houston. Clutch goal in extra time to win on the road. 6. Los Angeles. Defense is suddenly a big problem for LA. All will be forgiven with a win versus Toronto tonight. 7. Colorado. The Rapids looked to be in fine form. Amerikwa won GOTW. 8. Portland. Really impressive second half on Monday night. 9. Vancouver. Remember they kicked Toronto's ass on opening day last year, too. If the Caps win again this week, I will be really impressed. 10. San Jose. Nice performance, the Quakes could be back to their 2010 form. 11. Chicago. Only MLS team to not play a game so far. 12. Columbus. I think this might be the high water mark for the Crew this year. 13. New York. By all accounts, I should put them lower, but I'm giving NYRB a pass on a tough opener on the road. 14. DC United. Looked good in patches, but a home loss is a home loss. 15. Toronto. Classic collapse against LA week, but the Reds could be a team on the rise. 16. Philadelphia. I really don't like the Philly makeover. Why the hell did the let Le Toux go? 17. New England. There are some interesting pieces, but for now NE looks pretty inept. 18. Chivas USA. This has the makings of a long, long year. 19. Montreal. The traditional spot for most expansion clubs.
What's retarded is having a published ranking before a game is played. That initial ranking undoubtedly influences subsequent rankings ... unfairly, quite often. And how does Goal.com justify having LA ranked #1 after getting whipped by a 30 minute or so appearance by 2 of RSL's best players. Truly bizarre. That's dumber than anything I see in the mlssoccer list.
Week Two... How high did Sporting KC climb in this week's rankings? MLSsoccer.com Power Rankings: Houston & K.C. give East some respect Soccer America's take on the week two..
Everybody agree with MLS' power rankings that have 7 of the top 9 teams from the West? Kind of hard to argue against it.
ESPN's power rankings: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/powerrankings/_/year/2012/week/2 Goal.com power rankings: http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1110.../20/2978877/goalcom-mls-power-rankings-week-2 SBnation power rankings: http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2012/3/20/2887372/mls-power-rankings-week-2-real-salt-lake random bleacher report rankings: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1110174-2012-mls-power-rankings-week-2 Bay Area News power rankings: http://www.mercurynews.com/earthquakes/ci_20209338/bay-area-news-groups-week-2-mls-power OregonLive power rankings: http://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/index.ssf/2012/03/mls_power_rankings_week_2_real.html NBCSports power rankings: http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/19/the-money-shot-top-o-the-heap-in-mls-weekly-rankings/ i think that's about it, at least that i can find. edit: oops, forgot ives: http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2012/03/sbi-mls-power-rankings-week-2.html
MLS Power Rankings: A Better Statistical Approach mlstalk ProSoccerTalk's weekly MLS rankings – Part II of III NBCSports.com
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1128054-2012-mls-power-rankings-week-4 For those that don't like clicking: Sporting KC San Jose RSL New York Colorado Seattle New England Columbus DC United Dallas LA Galaxy Houston Vancouver Chicago Portland Chivas Philadelphia Toronto Montreal
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20120402/mls-week-4/index.html?eref=sircrc From SI. Probably the worst power ranking this week. -Quakes at 8th? They might have the best defense in the league this year. -LA 5th? What have they shown THIS YEAR to suggest they're good? -Dallas 11th? They've been so "bleh" this season. Until they get some personnel back and get some decent results, color me unimpressed. -NE at 15th? Don't quite get this one either. I think Avi Creditor is stuck in 2011.
He's also prone to hyperbole, on this evidence: "In Seattle, physical San Jose forward Steven Lenhart initiated contact off the ball, running into defender Marc Burch's leg in the area and drawing a penalty call out of nothing from referee Mark Kadlecik." (Emphasis added). WTF? Is that the new euphemism for getting tripped in the box? Burch admitted he fouled Lenhart. I'm not saying Lenhart isn't a sh*t - starter. He most certainly is. But let's get the foul call right ...
I don't see how anyone can have LA in the top 10. They have yet to prove they deserve to be there. Do they have the talent? yes. Should they eventually be in there? yes. Do I like to ask questions that I already have the answer to? maybe.
MLS Power Rankings: The East rises ESPN Week No. 4 MLS power rankings: Not everyone buying into Rapids' start Denver Post
The reluctance of some of these rankers to drop LA further down the table is really pathetic. If they start winning games, they can always move them up the scale. But for now, placing them in the top half of the rankings just doesn't reflect the team's actual performance.
