Anyone notice that MLS posts a single-table view of the teams?

http://web.mlsnet.com/standings/

Click 'Playoff Standings'

Only a matter of time before the 'regular season' table quietly disappears :)

Ugh. This may be the undoing of the Rapids. The Earthquakes are at the bottom of the league, only a few points above shambolic NYRB. IMHO - 4 points lost in the last two games for the Rapids. They could have ascended to 42 points and moved from 6th to 3rd place in the playoff race.

Gary Smith targeted 40 points. I'm not sure the Rapids will get there with away games at Kansas City, Dallas and rival Salt Lake. The final home match against a New England. Granted - all 4 of these teams are below the Rapids in the standings. RSL and New England have a legitimate shot of getting into playoff position. FC Dallas and KC are not mathematically out of it but realistically they are spoilers like San Jose.

It's going to be an interesting final few weeks of the season.

Good show by the MLS, taking the advice of it FANS to take just two small steps toward fútbol legitimacy. However, I agree with John D. The SuperLiga is intriguing alternative for hardware, compared to the other two options for MLS teams : the US Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League.

If our Champions League gets more popular over the next 5-10 years then perhaps SuperLiga's time will end - or maybe it will become the UEFA CUP? :)

Without SuperLiga, MLS teams have little opportunity to learn how to play split squads and win tournaments like Champions League. As it stands today, few MLS teams take the Open Cup seriously when they roll out their youngest lineups for much of the tournament. It has the same feel as the Carling Cup over in England.

I think Colorado will not miss Ihemelu too much. He tended to lose his mark and this created a lot of chances and goals.

Seattle has proven that with the right management, you can build a culture of success rather quickly. Congrats to the Sounders!

It's clear to me that there are plenty of soccer fans in the U.S.

The biggest frustration I hear from MLS fans and non-MLS fans who live in the U.S. is that they want a league with higher quality soccer NOW!

Although I sometimes grow weary of the 'MLS is not quality' argument from fans who are sometimes labeled as 'soccer snobs', the fact is other leagues overseas have higher salaries, better players, and therefore, more exciting / higher quality football.

I have watched hundreds of MLS games over the past 5 years and my opinion is that the league quality of play gets better each year. More teams is providing greater competition. There are also other tournaments to play and this all bodes well for the future of MLS.

If you read the UK press, every season there is talk about how high salaries have escalated and some executives like Arsenal's Ivan Gazidis [an American] have proposed a salary cap to contain costs. So this is the flip-side of unfettered / uncontrolled growth - Manchester City paid £14 million for an average player like Craig Bellamy. MLS could not sustain these types of player prices and transfer fees at their current level of attendance and financing.

So even though MLS fans want it to be on-par with a top tier European league, the league is being fiscally responsible with their growth, including the salary cap. I hope they will expand it in the next collective bargaining agreement and that MLS squads will pay their players better wages and attract better players.

I think we forget that MLS has existed only for 13 years. The league has done a great job of getting soccer-specific stadia and inking major sponsorship deals in such a short period of time. Compare their efforts with other sports like professional lacrosse.

If you look at the history of the Football Association in England, there are many twists and turns - new league folding and forming, etc. throughout the past 100 years of professional football. For example, the English Premier League as we know it today has only existed in its current incarnation since 1992.

Thanks for this post! I was able to get my wireless working on a DELL D610.

jeff

Congrats to El Tri! They just made the final rounds of CONCACAF World Cup qualification much more interesting.

Ricardo -

I'm not sure the USA can win yet in Mexico City - the fans are a huge advantage. A tie would be a good result, a win would crush Mexico's spirit. And Mexico cannot win consistently in the USA - despite the recent Gold Cup Win, this is Mexico's only win in the USA since 1999 - USA holds a 9-1-2 advantage at home.

I disagree that Mexico is a better team than the USA at this point. I'm sure it's hard to admit as a supporter of El Tri, but any minor technical advantage [play on the ball] by Mexico is negated by their inability to break down the organization of the USA team.

Since 1990 the sides have played 29 times, with the U.S. holding a 13-8-8 advantage. That is not dominance by Mexico.

So both teams usually win at home. Since 1990, Mexico has lost both games played at neutral sites - 2-0 loss in 2002 Korea World Cup and 4-1 penalties in 1995 Copa America.

It will be a great game, though because Mexico needs the points to help qualify and the USA is angry about the Gold Cup loss.

If Conor keeps this up, he will displace John Spencer as my favorite striker for the Rapids.