MLS Player Rankings: BWP, Bradley Surge; Kljestan, Salinas Debut
After watching their respective Week 26 matches, it is hard not to talk about the New York Red Bulls and the San Jose Earthquakes in every article written about Major League Soccer.
The Red Bulls earned the majority of the weekly headlines for their trampling of D.C. United at home on Sunday, while San Jose earned rave reviews for their control of the midfield battle against the LA Galaxy on Friday.
Because both teams are flying at the moment, they have a combined seven players in the latest edition of the MLS Player Rankings. Three of the seven are new to the list, thanks to impressive outings in midfield.
Outside of the players from MLS' two hottest squads, one United States international made a big leap on the list of the top 20 players in the league due to his recent attacking form.
Our player rankings take into account form over the last four matches, with the player's most recent performance holding more stock than the other three.
Continue reading to see which stars landed where in the MLS Player Rankings after Week 26.
On the Way Out
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Three of the five players who fell out of the top 20 this week were handed red cards in their respective matches. The other two saw a drop-off in performance, while other stars on the bubble just outside the list impressed enough to make their way into the top 20.
Players Dropped out of Rankings
Cristian Maidana (Philadelphia Union; Previous Ranking: 10)
Matias Laba (Vancouver Whitecaps; 15)
Kendall Waston (Vancouver Whitecaps; 17)
Quincy Amarikwa (San Jose Earthquakes; 19)
Sebastien Le Toux (Philadelphia Union; 20)
20. Andrew Farrell, CB, New England Revolution
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Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
The New England Revolution defense recorded their third clean sheet in five matches on Saturday night against the Philadelphia Union.
One of the key contributors to the Revolution's turnaround since July 18 has been Andrew Farrell, who made the shift from right-back to center-back at the start of the season.
New England's recent hot spell of form has allowed it to distance itself from the bottom five teams in the Eastern Conference. The Revs are basically guaranteed a play-off spot now, but they still have time to improve on their current No. 5 seed.
19. Giovani Dos Santos, FW, LA Galaxy
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Previous Ranking: 14
Giovani Dos Santos had his first bad game in a LA Galaxy shirt on Friday night, in the California Clasico loss to San Jose.
The Mexico international was rarely a threat in the final third and could only muster one shot on target in the 1-0 loss.
Friday marked the first time Dos Santos failed to contribute to a goal starting for Bruce Arena's side.
18. David Accam, FW, Chicago Fire
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Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
David Accam is doing his best to shatter the stigma surrounding Chicago Fire designated players. While many expect the Fire roster's big-name signings to disappoint, the Ghanian has been a model of consistency in the Chicago attack.
During Week 26, Accam played a role in two of four goals netted by Frank Yallop's side against the New York Red Bulls and Orlando City. Accam dished out his second assist of the season on Wednesday in the 3-2 win over the Red Bulls and scored the lone Chicago strike at the Citrus Bowl on Saturday.
The scorer of seven goals in 2015 will be relied upon during the final two months of the season to keep the Fire in the race for the Eastern Conference's sixth seed.
17. Ethan Finlay, RM, Columbus Crew
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Previous Ranking: 18
A week after getting back on track with a goal and an assist, Ethan Finlay was lively in the Columbus Crew attack at Yankee Stadium on Saturday.
Finlay attempted the most shots of any Crew player, with four, putting two of them on target in the 2-1 win over New York City FC.
More pressure will be put on the midfielder's shoulders in Week 27, as he will have to make up for the loss of Kei Kamara to international duty in Sunday's match with FC Dallas.
16. Juninho, CM, LA Galaxy
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Previous Ranking: 12
Juninho experienced a rare frustrating night in the defeat to San Jose on Friday. The 26-year-old, who usually sets the pace of the game for the Galaxy, was thrown out of his rhythm by the San Jose pair of Anibal Godoy and Marc Pelosi.
The Brazilian, who is consistently over 60 touches per game, only made 59 touches during his 87 minutes on the pitch. His passing accuracy also dipped as he completed 86.3 percent of his 51 attempted passes. The poor totals dropped his season averages down to 84.1 percent and 58.3 per game, respectively.
15. Anibal Godoy, CDM, San Jose Earthquakes
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Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
Anibal Godoy is one of two San Jose players entering the list this week, thanks to his impressive form over the last month.
The Panamanian midfield enforcer announced himself to the rest of the league on Friday as he shut down the passing lanes usually occupied by Juninho and Steven Gerrard.
Since Godoy entered the starting lineup on August 14, the Earthquakes have earned 12 points and recorded four clean sheets.
14. Sebastian Lletget, LM, LA Galaxy
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Previous Ranking: 7
After tearing through the first four games of August with ease, Sebastian Lletget's run of form slowed down considerably against the Earthquakes.
The left-sided midfielder, who usually finds open spaces in the opposing defenses, thanks to the distribution of the central midfielders and the movement of the forwards, found little or no open field to work with during his 75 minutes on the field at Avaya Stadium.
The Galaxy attackers will have some time to work on their weaknesses since they don't play again until September 12 versus Montreal.
13. Benny Feilhaber, CM, Sporting Kansas City
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Previous Ranking: 6
Just as we thought we had figured out Benny Feilhaber and Sporting Kansas City, they trended in the opposite direction.
Since their come-from-behind win over Vancouver on August 15, Peter Vermes' side has lost three straight games and has been outscored 10-3 by San Jose, Columbus and Colorado.
During the three-game losing streak, Feilhaber has one red card, one shot on goal and zero assists.
12. Chris Wondolowski, FW, San Jose Earthquakes
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Previous Ranking: 13
Chris Wondolowski may not have scored in Week 26, but he was more productive in the final third than Lletget and Feilhaber, which warranted a one-spot jump.
During San Jose's four-game winning streak, Wondolowski has contributed three goals, including two in the surprising win over Sporting KC.
Wondolowski has a good chance to improve on his goal total in Week 27, as Philadelphia makes the long trip to Avaya Stadium for a Saturday-night contest.
11. Javier Morales, CAM, Real Salt Lake
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Previous Ranking: 5
Javier Morales and Real Salt Lake had a chance to continue the momentum earned from a win over Seattle in Week 25 on Saturday night, but they instead dropped a match on the road to FC Dallas.
In the 2-0 defeat, Morales hit the right post with a 78th-minute penalty that would've leveled the match at one goal apiece. Unfortunately for the Claret and Cobalt, Fabian Castillo went on to score a minute later to seal up the match.
With Morales at the helm, RSL must find a way to conquer the Texas heat on September 12 against Houston in order to stay in contention for a play-off berth.
10. Shea Salinas, LM, San Jose Earthquakes
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Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
There have been a lot of surprising things about San Jose's run up the Western Conference standings, but the most shocking of them all has to be Shea Salinas' resurgent form.
Before San Jose started its four-game winning streak, Salinas had one goal and two assists to his name. In the last three matches, the winger has two goals and two assists, including the lone strike in the Earthquakes' 1-0 win over the Galaxy.
With his 18th-minute strike, Salinas earned the highest goal total of his career, with three. He is still four assists away from matching his career best of eight assists in one year.
9. Sacha Kljestan, CM, New York Red Bulls
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Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
Sacha Kljestan showed the national audience on Sunday night what he's been doing all season in the New York Red Bulls midfield.
The United States international was a relentless force in the final third against an overwhelmed D.C. United back four.
The 29-year-old dished out seven key passes and assisted on Bradley Wright-Phillips' goal in the 64th minute, but he did so much more than that as the pulse of the Red Bulls midfield.
With Kljestan and the rest of the Red Bulls on fire at the moment, there is a strong chance they could catch D.C. atop the Eastern Conference standings by the end of October.
8. Michael Bradley, CM, Toronto FC
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Previous Ranking: 16
Since his return from the CONCACAF Gold Cup and a brief injury, Michael Bradley has been a dominant force in the Toronto FC attack.
A week after handing out a trio of assists against Orlando City, Bradley scored the opener for the Reds in their win over Montreal.
With Sebastian Giovinco hurt and Jozy Altidore away with the United States men's national team, Bradley will be a bigger factor in the Toronto attack against Seattle on Saturday night.
7. Matt Miazga, CB, New York Red Bulls
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Previous Ranking: 9
After the slip-up on Wednesday against Chicago, Matt Miazga and the Red Bulls could've regressed back to the mean, but instead they turned in a strong cohesive performance against D.C. United.
In the 3-0 victory at Red Bull Arena, Miazga made eight clearances and won seven aerial battles against a D.C. attack that never got going in the Eastern Conference showdown.
The win kept the Red Bulls in second place, but it helped them gain ground on D.C., which is only two points in the clear atop the Eastern Conference standings after Week 26.
6. Dax McCarty, CM, New York Red Bulls
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Previous Ranking: 8
While Dax McCarty may not have been the best Red Bulls player on the pitch on Sunday, he has been one of the most consistent players in Jesse Marsch's lineup all season.
The captain sat back in his defensive midfield role and limited D.C. United to two shots on target, while Kljestan, Mike Grella and Bradley Wright-Phillips were busy ripping apart the United defense.
Although it is unlikely to happen given his age and Jurgen Klinsmann's preference for younger players, McCarty is deserving of a call-up to the United States' men's national team at the moment.
5. Sebastian Giovinco, FW, Toronto FC
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Previous Ranking: 4
All of the notable news about Sebastian Giovinco this week came from off the pitch as he was named to the Italy squad for the Azzurri's matches against Malta and Bulgaria.
Unfortunately for the Toronto FC forward, he picked up an injury in the win over Montreal on Saturday and was ruled out of the international matches on Monday with an abductor injury, per John Molinaro of Sportsnet.
Now the attention around Giovinco will focus on his recovery as Toronto continues the push toward its first-ever play-off berth.
4. Kei Kamara, FW, Columbus Crew
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Previous Ranking: 3
Just like many of the forwards near the top spot this week, Kei Kamara struggled to gain a foothold in the final third.
Kamara only put one of his four shots on target in the Crew's win over NYCFC on Saturday. Luckily for the Sierra Leone international, Federico Higuain stepped into the role of attacking star in the 2-1 victory.
Kamara will be one of nine Columbus players who will miss Sunday's clash with FC Dallas due to international duty.
3. David Villa, FW, New York City FC
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Previous Ranking: 2
David Villa received the attacking help he requested for Saturday's clash with the Crew, but his team was let down by the defensive deficiencies that still haven't been fixed.
The Spanish forward did put three shots on goal in the loss to the Crew, but he was unable to leave the pitch happy after his defense handed Higuain and Justin Meram plenty of space to score. The worst mistake of the match came on Higuain's first-half strike as Andrea Pirlo gave up on marking the Argentinian.
Although Villa has two goals and one assist in his last four games, NYCFC has only earned four points from those contests.
2. Bradley Wright-Phillips, FW, New York Red Bulls
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Previous Ranking: 11
The lone star in the top seven who found the back of the net in Week 26 was Bradley Wright-Phillips.
The Englishman struck for his 12th and 13th goals of the season in the Red Bulls' 12th victory of the 2015 campaign. His first goal came on a terrific volley, while his second was allowed to happen after he beat an offside trap. Wright-Phillips also earned an assist on Lloyd Sam's opener.
While he will not reach his total of 27 goals from a year ago, Wright-Phillips is poised to make a late run at the Golden Boot. He is five behind Kei Kamara with two months left in the season.
1. Robbie Keane, FW, LA Galaxy
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Previous Ranking: 1
We were close to removing Robbie Keane from the top spot, but when you compare his recent run of form to Wright-Phillips, it is hard not to choose the LA Galaxy man.
Despite suffering from a rough night up top against San Jose, Keane is still one of the league's hottest players, with five goals and three assists in his last four matches.
Keane will not have a chance to add to his scoring record in Week 27 due to a bye week. The next time he steps on a MLS pitch will be on September 12, against Montreal.
Joe Tansey covers MLS for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter, @JTansey90.
All statistics obtained from MLSSoccer.com and WhoScored.com.
