MLS season analysis Part II: Electric Boogaloo

I realize this post is a day later but it's definitely not a dollar short. So without further ado:

The (6)Chicago Fire are a difficult team to dissect right now just because they have the unenviable task of starting the season off with 9 straight roads games while their digs in Bridgeview, Il. are having the finishing touches put on them. So far, though, they've done about as well as one could hope, picking up a win here and there and sneaking out of town with a few points they had no business taking (the 5/6 KC game for sure). Chris Rolfe is showing some steady improvement, putting away a couple of goals, and Chad Barrett has been showing well in his time to shine, replacing the recovering Nate Jaqua.
Even more than the having to play consistently in front of hostile crowds at their opponets stadiums, though, is the not being able to stay in one place for more than a week and always being gone. That can wear a team down mentally. But when they finally get to flip the coin and play 9 straight home games they'd best clean up.

The (5) New England Revolution and (4) the Kansas City Wizards are both going to have to figure out how to win without their star players and quick. The Revs are lucky in that only Clint Dempsey is gone for nats duty but he was a big cog in their machine. A disappointed but remaining Taylor Twellman should be able to over compensate for Clint's absence and I anticipate them working their way up the rankings before Deuce returns.
The Wizards on the other hand are three starters lighter for the next month and a half and the strain is already starting to show. The started off the season scoring in multiples but have since settled down into their Wizard normal, posting 5 straight one-goal games. Their lost last weekend at DCU is only the beginning of a stretch of a couple of draws but mostly losses in the days to come. Having your scoring tandem of Josh Wolff and Eddie Johnson gone is going to make scoring really tough and then you have the anchor of the defense in Jimmy Conrad missing too which is going to making keeping goals out tougher as well. The Wizards are only going to go as far as Davy Arnaud can take them before they can finally experience some relief at the end of June or early July.

Apparently the heat and humidity isn't effecting the (3) Houston Dynamo, transplanted from the cooler surroundings of the Bay Area, for their 1st season in the Bayou City. Losing Brian Ching and his goal-scoring noggin is going to hurt, but the Dynamo are one of the most fluid teams in MLS. They still have arguably the best keeper in MLS in Pat Onstad, the have the deft Dwayne DeRosario in the middle, Brian Mullan and his spot-on crosses on the wing, and rock-solid newcomer Adrain Serioux and his By-the-Power-of-Grayskull throw-ins back in the defense. They're the 2nd best team in MLS with maintaining possession and working the ball around. They're only knock is that they just haven't been able to get the wins that their play would suggest they should have gotten. Unfortunately, people tend to remember wins more than losing in style.

(2)FC Dallas might actually contend for the Supporter's Shield and go deep into the playoffs this year. The effort the front office put into keep Carlos Ruiz is paying off and their quick with the catch, slow as molasses with the release GK Dario Sala has shown well between the pipes. They've finally got Richard Mulrooney back from an ACL tear which should really improve the middlefield play and raise the team to a higher level than they already were. Alex Yi and Drew Moor in the backfield are giving the oppostion's attack fits.
Getting beat down in Houston then following it up the next weekend with a heartbreaking draw to the same Houston team is tough but they'll be able to take advantage of most team's USMNT losses.

And finally we arrive at (1)DC United. They're once again showing (for the most part) the same discipline and poise on the ball and with the possession that they've become known for under 3rd year head coach Peter Nowak. Alecko Eskandarian has been producing some firecracker goals, tallying 4 on the young season after coming back from a year off due to residual migranes that stemmed from a concussion he had suffered. The 5/6 Colorado game aside, this team is either finding ways to win or simply dominating from the outset. Troy Perkins is making his claim on the starting GK spot with several outstanding performances in net. Nowak's substitution patterns are still a little suspect but he, like the team, seem to be improving over last year. Seeing them in the MLS Cup championship game again at season's end is a very distinct possibility.