2011 MLS Power Rankings: Week 22

Scrutiny? What scrutiny? It's called simplicity. No BCS or Harris-style complications in lists like this. Just pure merit and demerit.

And make no fuss about it: for the first time in a while, the defending MLS Cup Champions are at the top of this week's MLS Power Rankings.

We got movers, shakers, and some teams taking part in the CONCACAF Champions League this week. Let's jump right in.

18. Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Tom Soehn's Vancouver Whitecaps came crashing down to the cellar on Saturday when they were absolutely leveled by D.C. United 4-0 at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. on Saturday.

"I am very disappointed," Soehn told whitecapsfc.com's Simon Fudge. "I think we spent a lot of time this week talking about the job we did against Chicago at home and how we did the little things. Last weekend, we worked, we competed, and did all the things that are even required more on the road. Tonight, I thought we let ourselves down in that category. 

"If we got to 0-0 at halftime, that's a good result on the road, but we let in a bad goal in a spot where De Rosario gets through two defenders, and we get beat on the weak side. We talked about it and addressed it at halftime and I think we came out with some energy, but then we give a poor goal up to start the half, and the rest was history."

“It’s those big momentum swings that have been giving us trouble,” captain Jay DeMerit told Vancouver radio station TEAM 1040 following the match, according to MLSSoccer.com's Martin MacMahon. “You look at those x-factors throughout a game, whether it’s a clearance on the defensive end, or the finish on our offensive end. We seem to be on the short end of the stick too many times for that this year, and that means guys need to step up and be more accountable when it matters.

“You look at general play throughout this season, we’ve been fine - it’s those x-factor moments that have cost us, and we need to continue to recognize when those happen and avoid them moving forward.”

Up next in what has been a sorry season for the Vancouver Whitecaps is a Cascadia Cup clash with the Portland Timbers at Jeld-Wen Field in Portland, Oregon. Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET and will be televised by TSN.

17. New England Revolution

Steve Nicol's New England Revolution continued their slump with a 3-1 defeat to the Columbus Crew on Saturday at Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.

Benny Feilhaber gave the Revs an early 1-0 lead in the 45th minute, but they could not hang on, surrendering three second-half goals.

“We got ourselves ahead and they didn’t really give us any problems in the first half," Nicol told the press. "I’m disappointed that we didn’t really finish the chances but we were 1 Nil up, and everything was fine. In the second half when we did get the ball we kept turning it over, which meant we ended up not having a lot of it.”

“At the end of the day we can’t keep the possession, and we can’t keep the ball when we need to and it came back to cost us," captain Shalrie Joseph remarked. "The goal comes from us giving up possession and us not being solid enough defensively. We knew they were going to send numbers forward, but that’s what happens when you’re not solid defensively and mentally and it’s costing us points.”

“There’s stuff that happened with our team, that is week to week and I can’t even understand it," Feilhaber added. "It’s really frustrating and it’s like that feeling like, here we go again.”Honestly, I don’t think we played that bad. We put good combinations together but it wasn’t to be.”

Winless in their last four matches, the Revolution are in dire need of a spark plug of some sorts as they take on the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Kickoff is scheduled for Aug. 17 at 8 p.m. ET and will be televised by Comcast SportsNet.

The home stand continues when New England take on the New York Red Bulls. Kickoff at Gillette Stadium is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by Comcast SportsNet.

16. San Jose Earthquakes

Frank Yallop's San Jose Earthquakes did not put their best foot forward in their 2-1 defeat to the Colorado Rapids at Buck Shaw Stadium on the campus of Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California.

Joey Gjertsen opened his scoring account in the 22nd minute of play, but like New England, the Quakes could not hold on to the lead. Adding insult to defeat was Sam Cronin being given his marching orders in the 50th minute.

"For some reason we’re not getting the breaks, but we can’t give up. I thought we played well enough to win for sure," Yallop told the media. "Even after the red card we played well. You get up to a point where you run out of gas for that last little bit, but other than that I thought we outplayed them and were the better team. But it’s no good when you don’t get any points.”

“We worked hard as a team there were stretches where we controlled the game, even when we went down to 10 men," Gjertsen said. "I think we controlled the ball well and had some good scoring chances. I don’t know what it’s going to take to get some luck to go our way, but tonight we played well and it was unfortunate for us.”

Goalkeeper Jon Busch was aware of what's next for the Quakes.

“It’s never too late when you haven’t been officially eliminated. We just have to pick ourselves up again and dust ourselves off and start to prepare for LA," Busch concluded. "It ‘s very frustrating when I see the boys in front of me and what they put into the game tonight and how well we played even with 10 men only to lose; it’s very disheartening. I thought we played great tonight, absolutely fantastic.”

The Earthquakes will have to hope that no Mike Magee magic will be on display on Saturday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Kickoff at Victoria Street is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 20 at 7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast by KZSF 1370 AM and KDOW 1220 AM.

15. Chicago Fire

Frank Klopas's Chicago Fire held the New York Red Bulls to a 2-2 draw at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. Dominic Oduro scored his seventh goal of the season in the 16th minute of play, and Sebastian Grazzini opened his scoring account in the 24th minute.

The Fire will return home to Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois for a couple of matches this week.

On Thursday, Aug. 18, the Fire will host D.C. United. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. CT/9:00 p.m. ET and will be televised by ESPN2.

Then on Saturday, Aug. 21, the Fire take on Toronto FC at Toyota Park. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT/7:00 p..m. ET and will be televised by Comcast SportsNet.

14. Toronto FC

A 77th minute goal from Joao Plata gave Aron Winter's Toronto FC a stunning 1-0 victory over Real Salt Lake at BMO Field in Toronto, Ontario.

And the manager's bag of tricks had something to do with the win.

“The thing that I want in the future when rebuilding is when an opponent is playing like Real Salt Lake is that you can play also 3-4-3 like we did today,” Winter told MLSSoccer.com's Larry Millson. “I have to give a big compliment to the team because we have done very well.

“If you watched the whole game and the possession we had with the ball, against a very good opponent, everyone is forgetting that Salt Lake is good. I think that is a big compliment for the guys that you are watching also that every game there is progression and improvement.”

With Torsten Frings placed in the back line, the dynamics in terms of communication and delivery changed for the better.

“Having a guy like Torsten [Frings], an experienced guy like him, leading the defense it’s unbelievable,” said goalkeeper Milos Kocic. “We are very fortunate to have a player like that.”

So now the question is, will Winter stick to the 3-4-3 for the rest of the season? The next couple of matches will tell the story.

First is CONCACAF Champions League play against Tauro FC of Panama City, Panama. Kickoff in Panama City is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, Aug. 18.

On Sunday, Aug. 21, the Reds travel to BMO Field to take on the Chicago Fire. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET and will be televised by GOLTV Canada.

13. Portland Timbers

John Spencer's Portland Timbers have been solid back at Jeld-Wen Field, but not so away. That was highlighted in their 2-1 defeat to the Houston Dynamo on Sunday at Robertson Stadium in Houston, Texas.

Jack Jewsbury scored his seventh goal of the season in the 56th minute of play.

“I was disappointed for 15 minutes," Spencer told reporters. "I think we had an opportunity to score a goal. We had a great chance by Eddie Johnson from a back pass that could have put us one-nil up. 

"I keep telling the guys that chances win goals, and goals win games. They then go 2-0 up, and then I think from then we get in at half-time, we reorganize a bit, and we have a chat. In the second half, I don’t think I’d be too far away from saying that we had some great chances to possibly tie the game, if not win it. I think we were very unlucky to not come away with something tonight.”

"Overall, we thought we had a pretty good performance and if we finish a few more chances on the offensive end, I think we at least get one and maybe even three points out of the game," Jewsbury said.

"There was a stretch of about 15-20 minutes where we let those two goals in," added defender Mike Chabala. "You know you can’t rest with that team. Brad Davis, Brian Ching, Colin Clark, all guys we highlighted coming into the game; we didn’t stay with runners and we were punished for it.”

Next up for the Timbers is a road tie with Sporting Kansas City at Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas. Kickoff is scheduled for Aug. 17, 2011 at 5:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by FOX 12 and estrellaTV 8.3.

Then it's back to Jeld-Wen for some home-cooking against the Vancouver Whitecaps. Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET and will be televised by FOX Soccer Channel and TSN.

12. Red Bull New York

The winless streak for Hans Backe's New York Red Bulls continued with a 2-2 draw against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena.

Thierry Henry scored his 12th goal of the season in the ninth minute of play, and Joel Lindpere salvaged the draw in the 63rd minute for his sixth of the season.

“Definitely a step in the right direction comparing to the last two months: perfect, great attitude over 90 minutes” Backe told MLSSoccer.com's Kristian Dyer. “Of course we want to win games, we must win games but the most important things was to see if we could bounce back after the Salt Lake game.”

“The win wasn’t so important for me, it was more important if we played good,” Lindpere said. “I feel if we play good, we’re in the playoffs.”

For forward Juan Agudelo, who was fresh off international duty, New York could have done more to get a better result.

“It’s pretty frustrating just to have so many chances and to play such good football and not come out with [the] three points we’ve been looking for for the past month,” Agudelo remarked.

Up next for the Red Bulls is a match with the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by MSG.

11. FC Dallas

Schellas Hyndman's FC Dallas were on the road against the Philadelphia Union and drew 2-2 at PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Maicon Santos scored in the 16th minute, while Brek Shea made it 2-1 in the second minute of first half stoppage time.

Up next for the Hoops are a couple of matches. First, Dallas take on Pumas UNAM in the CONCACAF Champions League. Kickoff at Estadio Olimpico in Mexico City, Mexico is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 17 at 9:00 p.m. CT/10:00 p.m. ET and will be televised by Fox Soccer Channel and Galavision.

The Hoops will then take on the Seattle Sounders in an important MLS encounter at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 20 at 8:00 p.m. CT/9:00 p.m. ET and will be televised by TXA 21.

10. Philadelphia Union

Freddy Adu, how do you do? After a long stint in Europe, the former D.C. United standout is back in Major League Soccer. Only this time, he's with the Doopers of Peter Nowak's Philadelphia Union, who drew 2-2 with FC Dallas at PPL Park.

Sebastien Le Toux stole the show for the Union, scoring a brace in the 33rd and 84th minutes off of penalties.

“There’s nothing better than being a professional athlete in America, man,” Adu told MLSSoccer.com's Dave Zeitlin. “It was awesome. It brought back a lot of memories when I first came into the league with DC. Philly fans are great, man.”

“I think he’s still trying to find his feet and place on the team,” said defender Danny Califf. “There were flashes of him that were really good and really encouraging. But I think it’s tough to judge him on one training and one game. I think he was really excited and he really wanted to make an impression. It’s tough sometimes to play when you feel like you have to do something extraordinary.”

“When I’m happy, I play my best soccer,” Adu concluded. “And right now I’m really happy to be here.”

Perhaps the home fans will need to change their "Doop, Doop, Doop" chant to "Adup, Adup, Adup" if Adu opens his scoring account in Chester.

Or maybe Adu will open his scoring account in Columbus, where the Crew lie waiting.

Kickoff at Crew Stadium is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by The Comcast Network.

9. Real Salt Lake

Jason Kreis's Real Salt Lake were forced to stomach some strong-tasting humble pie in their 1-0 shutout defeat to Toronto FC at BMO Field.

“Soccer is a very cruel game, that’s what I walk away from this game and think to myself, this is a cruel game sometimes," Kreis told the press.  "I think that we did enough tonight, certainly to pick up a draw, and on a different night we walk away from here with all three points.  

"If we score some of those chances that we had tonight things look completely different.  The goal that was scored was a very fluky one as well, so all-in-all we just couldn’t get the bounces tonight that I feel we needed to get.”

“We were just extremely unlucky," said midfielder Will Johnson. "As far as chances go I think it was pretty one-sided.  But if you don’t put your chances away you are always leave yourself liable for a lucky goal and that’s what happened.”

“We played some good soccer, made some good plays and created some good chances, but we just couldn’t score tonight," added captain Kyle Beckerman.

Real Salt Lake may have three games in hand over the league-leading Los Angeles Galaxy, but a result against Toronto would have helped them in terms of obtaining leverage.

RSL will look to regain that leverage on Saturday, Aug. 20 when they travel to Robertson Stadium in Houston, Texas to take on the Houston Dynamo. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. MT/8:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by KMYU 2.2, Comcast 22 and Dish Network 12.

8. Chivas USA

Robin Fraser's Chivas USA are having a solid year, and one of their best results of the season came in the form of a scoreless draw with the Seattle Sounders at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington.

“We were re-energized after the penalty,” Fraser told MLSSoccer.com's Adam Serrano. “It was huge. In this arena, if you go down a goal with the crowd, it’s extremely difficult to feel like you’re going to get back into the game. To get out of that without giving up a goal was fantastic; it gave the team new energy throughout the half.”

Key to the performance was the play of goalkeeper Dan Kennedy, who made the stop of the match in the 77th minute.

“It was a well-played ball across," Kennedy said of the stop. "(Nate Jaqua) crossed it and was able to get it up and over me while keeping it in play, which is hard to do. The best that I could do was cover angles and stay big and not commit to anything till I saw it, and fortunately that was enough.”

Chivas USA will look to build on this result when they travel to Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado to take on the Colorado Rapids.

Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 20 at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET and will be televised by KDOC TV, and KWHY TV.

7. Columbus Crew

Robert Warzycha's Columbus Crew ran roughshod on the New England Revolution 3-1.

The Revs's Kevin Alston scored an own goal in the 54th minute, Julius James opened his scoring account in the 75th minute, and Emilio Renteria delivered the dagger with his fifth of the season in the 81st minute of play.

“I hit it down because I was so close to the goal,” James said of his goal to thecrew.com's Craig Merz. “I didn’t hit it cleanly enough as a laser. I tried to focus on getting it over. Josh put it in an excellent spot for me. My first goal for the Columbus Crew is a blessing for me.”

“It’s nice [that] Julius can jump six feet in the air,” Crew captain Chad Marshall said.

“That goal was perfect timing,” Warzycha added. “The service was good. The run was good. I’m very happy we scored the first one.”

Up next for Columbus is a match with the Philadelphia Union at Columbus Crew Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 20. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by ONN-TV.

6. Sporting Kansas City

Peter Vermes's Sporting Kansas City were off this week. However, they have a couple of games on tap.

On Wednesday, Aug. 17, Sporting host the Portland Timbers at Livestrong Sporting Park. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT/8:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by KSMO-TV.

On Sunday, Aug. 21, Sporting will take on D.C. United at Livestrong. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT/8:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by KSMO-TV and Galavision.

5. D.C. United

Ben Olsen's D.C. United flexed their muscles in their 4-0 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

Chris Pontius scored a brace in the second minute of first half stoppage time and the 70th minute of play. Other goalscorers included Andy Najar in the 48th minute and Stephen King in the 81st minute.

"It feels like it’s been a long time coming," Olsen told reporters following the blowout win. "I don’t remember the last time we had a game like that. It was good; I think we have been knocking on the door for a performance like that for a while, and to put it all together is a good feeling. Hopefully we can realize the things we did well and use them going forward."

The match marked the debut of goalkeeper Joe Willis.

"At the beginning of the day I had some [nerves]," Willis admitted. "My teammates helped me through the nervousness, they reassured me about everything by letting me know this was a normal game. After warm-ups I was fine, the nerves were gone and I was ready to go.

"It’s great to win, and this being my first game the whole experience was awesome. It was a great team effort, and we wouldn’t have gotten the win without the four goals from our guys."

"This win is big for us – it’s good for our team morale. We needed this as a group," Pontius concluded.

Next up for D.C. United are a couple of matches. First, on Thursday, Aug. 18, D.C. take on the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park. Kickoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET and will be televised by ESPN2.

On Sunday, Aug. 21, United will break out their third kits against Sporting Kansas City at Livestrong Sporting Park. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by Galavision and Comcast SportsNet via tape delay at 9:30 p.m. ET.

4. Seattle Sounders FC

When you can't convert penalties, you won't earn the full points. Such was the case with Sigi Schmid's Seattle Sounders, who blew a penalty conversion attempt by Alvaro Fernandez in the 17th minute to consign themselves to a scoreless draw with Chivas USA.

“We deserved to win the game.  The team deserved better,” forward Pat Noonan told soundersfc.com's Matt Gaschk.  “Offensively, I had one or two chances that I’ve got to finish.  We’ve got a PK, maybe a second.  It just wasn’t clinical in the final third.  I take a lot of responsibility for that.”

The Sounders manager did applaud the defensive performance.

“I’m proud of our defensive effort.  I thought our defensive effort was good.  We really only got exposed one time on the save that [Sounders goalkeeper] Kasey [Keller] made in the first half on a nice little touch by Alejandro (Moreno),” Schmid remarked.  “Outside of that, I thought we were a lot better defensively.  It just didn’t go in at the other end.”

“I think we’re starting to solve them, but there are still some things we’re working on and trying to make sure we resolve and trying to make sure we’re sharp on,” Keller added.  “It’s important offensively for us to score goals and bury our chances, but it’s also important that we try to make sure not to give up things.

"I think defensively we’ve gotten our unit to play a little bit better to make sure we keep the ball in front of us, to stay more compact in our midfield four and that’s been important for us.”

Seattle now have some CONCACAF Champions League business to sort out, along with the usuals in MLS.

First, there's a Champions League match with C.S.D. Comunicaciones of Guatemala City, Guatemala. Kickoff at CenturyLink Field is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 16 at 7:00 p.m. PT/10:00 p.m. ET and will be televised by FOX Soccer Channel.

The Sounders will then return to league action when they travel to Pizza Hut Park to face FC Dallas. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. PT/9:00 p.m. ET and will be televised by KONG 6/16.

3. Houston Dynamo

Dominic Kinnear's Houston Dynamo pulled out a 2-1 victory over the Portland Timbers at Robertson Stadium on Sunday.

Adam Moffat opened his scoring account in the 17th minute, while Brian Ching scored the game-winner in the 27th minute of play.

“We came out pretty good but had some miscommunication in the back and [Moffat’s goal] kind of changed the momentum,” Kinnear told MLSSoccer.com's Darrell Lovell. “After Adam scored, the guys really got a boost and knocked it around pretty well.”

“We give [Moffat] a lot of [ribbing] for shooting, but good for him for keeping going,” said midfielder Brad Davis. “It’s good to have that threat from outside because teams have to step out and be aware of it. It opens space up.”

“It was a great strike and I’m sure it will be up for goal of the year,” Ching added. “He has the heart we need and the team gets a lift from that.”

Kinnear will ask for more production from Moffat, Ching and the rest of the Dynamo when they hit the road to take on the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET and will be televised by KHOU 11.2 and FOX Sports Houston.

On Saturday, Aug. 20, the Dynamo return home to take on Real Salt Lake. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT/8:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by KHOU 11.2 and TV Azteca 51 on tape delay on Sunday, Aug. 21 at 8:30 a.m. CT/9:30 a.m. ET.

2. Los Angeles Galaxy

Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy were off this week, but they do have a couple of big contests on tap.

On Tuesday, Aug. 16, the G's will take on C.D. Motagua of Tegucigalpa, Honduras in the CONCACAF Champions League. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET and will be televised on tape delay on FOX Soccer Channel at 9:30 p.m. PT/12:30 a.m. ET.

Los Angeles will then look to exact payback against the San Jose Earthquakes in the second leg of the California Clasico on Saturday, Aug. 20 at 7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by FOX Sports Prime Ticket.

1. Colorado Rapids

Gary Smith's Colorado Rapids are at the top of this week's MLS Power Rankings after a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes at Buck Shaw Stadium.

Caleb Folan scored a 39th minute penalty, and Jeff Larentowicz delivered the game-winner in the 72nd minute of play.

“It’s five wins out of seven now," Smith told the press. "We are still without Conor Casey, who will miss the rest of the season. We were without Anthony Wallace, who was a big part of the championship team. And then Omar (Cummings) has been away on international journeys. 

"Even though we are not at full strength, we are still getting results and coming together as a team. We have battled and our club has put themselves in a great position to confirm one of those post season berths.”

“You can say we are starting to find our form," Larentowicz said to reporters. "With a season like the MLS, there are tons of bounces and calls that don’t go your way and we went through a spell like that where we tied so many games and weren’t winning. On a night like tonight, where you get a little help from the refs, it works out and you get a win. 

"It’s a little too early to say we’ve hit our stride for the playoffs, but if we continue to play well you’ll start to see a lot more confidence from this group on the field.”

Confidence is of the utmost importance when Colorado open CONCACAF Champions League play against A.D. Isidro Metapan of Metapan, El Salvador. Kickoff against Los Caleros at Dick's Sporting Goods Park is scheduled for 8 p.m. MT/10 p.m. ET.

Colorado will then host Chivas USA in league action on Saturday, Aug. 20. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. MT/9:00 p.m. ET and will be televised by Altitude.