The 2021 MLS season started with Houston beating San Jose 2-1 at home on Friday. Memo Rodriguez scored the first goal of the new season, putting the Dynamo up in the 39th. Maxi Urruti doubled the lead in the 55th. Paul Marie pulled a goal back for the Earthquakes in the 74th minute. "We are happy we could start with the three points, most importantly I liked the way we played," Houston coach . . .
MLS Power Rankings: The 2021 season begins
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Apr 14, 2021) US Soccer Players - Columbus Crew supporters notwithstanding, 2020 is a year that many Major League Soccer onlookers would rather just crumple up and toss into a garbage can. The year was nothing like the league had ever seen before. No fans, months without a game, and a strange but rather entertaining and gripping midseason tournament. This season, . . .
MLS Power Rankings: Regular season ender
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Nov 11, 2020) US Soccer Players - The strangest regular season in league history has come to a close. Nobody could have ever imagined a season that saw a complete shutdown after two games, a midseason tournament, and games with no fans in the stands. Yet, the league persevered with some not-so-minor setbacks, and now the playoffs are looming. In a season like this, . . .
MLS Power Rankings: East is stronger, but Portland goes top
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Oct 14, 2020) US Soccer Players - MLS is heading full steam toward the finish line, but the realities of life still affect the league. Several matches have been postponed due to Covid-19 outbreaks, with Colorado the hardest hit. Empty stadiums are the norm, with a scant few games featuring fans. Through it all, the teams are starting to separate themselves. The . . .
MLS Power Rankings: One week in
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Mar 4, 2020) US Soccer Players - Two new teams came into MLS this year, but neither figures to be as successful as recent expansion sides LAFC and Atlanta United. Both sides will try not to flop like FC Cincinnati did in its first season a year ago. The Power Rankings expand to 26 teams with the additions of Inter Miami FC and Nashville SC. In this first edition, . . .
MLS Power Rankings: 2019 Season Ender
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Dec 5, 2019) US Soccer Players - The 2019 Major League Soccer season has been over for a bit now, with Seattle beating Toronto FC to lift the MLS Cup early last month. With the offseason already in full swing and two new clubs on the horizon, the focus has begun to shift to the start of a new decade and a continuation of the league's unofficial expansion era. Before . . .
MLS Power Rankings: Counting the Cup
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Nov 7, 2019) US Soccer Players - The two clubs left standing in the 2019 season are not the top two teams in these rankings. LAFC slipped from the top spot, but the club's season was so stellar. That's still better than Toronto FC's even though the Reds are playing for the MLS Cup title and not the second-year Los Angeles club. For the rest of the teams involved, . . .
MLS Power Rankings: The end of the regular season
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Oct 3, 2019) US Soccer Players - The playoffs are almost upon us. There is one matchday left in the regular season that will determine the final rankings of the bottom half of this table. Everything else will be left up to the postseason finish of most clubs. If form holds, LAFC will host NYCFC for MLS Cup. Of course, form never seems to hold in this league. Upsets . . .
MLS Power Rankings: The problem with the East
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Sep 5, 2019) US Soccer Players - Every three months, there is a great number of coaching casualties. At least that's the trend that exists in MLS in 2019. It happened in May when three coaches got the sack. It happened again in August when another three coaches joined the MLS unemployed. MLS Teams have either become frustrated with the performance or, in the case of . . .
MLS Power Rankings: Plenty of changes but LAFC stays top
By Luis Bueno – RIVERSIDE, CA (Aug 1, 2019) US Soccer Players - The theme in the league this year seems to be inconsistency. One week, teams look like MLS Cup contenders and the very next, they look like they are in preseason form. This has made it quite difficult for teams to settle into a rhythm here in these rankings. LAFC has shown consistency from the start and remains atop the league. Two . . .
