HalfSpaces MLS,usmnt USMNT/MLS Interest Rankings: Week #2

USMNT/MLS Interest Rankings: Week #2

March 10, 2019March 10, 2019 BenBen 2 Comments

The second week is in the books and teams are starting to show their true colors. Which teams are worth the watch for USMNT fans without an MLS loyalty?

Here’s the link to last week’s Interest Rankings.

Tier 1: Must Watch for a USMNT fan

NYCFC – Interest Level – Holding Firm: Weirdly, Sean Johnson may have been the most impressive NT candidate on display for NYCFC this week. With his foot skills and distribution he may be your Steffen backup going forward. James Sands started again and Jonathan Lewis came off the bench for 20 minutes or so. Still an intriguing watch for the USMNT fan in your life.

Dallas – Interest Level – Proud Dad: I was nervous last week after no real kids got a start, but this week Pomykal started and balled out. Plus with Barrios doing his best Edin Dzeko impersonation a Jesus Ferreira start can’t be too far off. Right?

Sorry, not sorry

Kansas City – Interest Level – 👀: Busio got the start. He didn’t look great, but he did draw a foul off the ball to draw the penalty for the opening goal. I saw some criticism for the dive, but you know what? I’m sick of US players being the good guy, being “above it.” Take a dive, grab some sack, win the game.

Tier 2: There’s an intriguing reason/player to watch

NYRB – Interest Level – It’s not you, it’s me: Don’t get me wrong, I still love them. It’s just that the guys that are playing right now are a little older and don’t have quite the upside of Busio, Sands, Pomykal, etc. Also, they didn’t play this weekend.

D.C. United – Interest Level – Fun but not elite: Arriola is making a case for a starting wing spot with the full NT if Pulisic does play one of the 10 spots. He’s not the most exciting winger, but he’s a “dawg.” That’ll go a long way in a lot of games.

Chicago – Interest Level – Still high, but this team might suck pretty hard: Mihailovic started, but did you watch this game? I tried. It was hideous. I finally gave up and just waited for @usmntvideos to make the all touches video. He came through, as usual.

LA Galaxy – Interest Level – Drippin’: Efra man, Efra. I know the fanboy thing to do is scream about calling Efra up now. Promise him the Gold Cup, etc. Sciaretta, Galarcep, etc. will tell us to calm down, he has to earn it…I don’t care. The Galaxy were toothless and boring all game and started creating chances when he came on. He also did this 👇. Get it done, Gregg.

Seattle – Interest Level – *shrug emoji*: Roldan and Morris played. Neither player has a ceiling higher than “depth option” for the NT. Ho hum. (Give me all the Daniel Leyva stock though)

Tier 3: I guess I could watch this

Heads up, Jim.

Philadelphia –Interest Level – Captain, is that ice berg going to be a big deal?: McKenzie was hurt, so I guess that’s a good enough excuse not to play him, but Aaronson didn’t get on again, Derrick Jones didn’t play. Get your *stuff* together, Philly.

Columbus – Interest Level – Lather, rinse, repeat: Zardes started and scored two goals. Trapp started. People are still gonna freak out when Zardes is on the roster that drops Tuesday.

Atlanta – Interest Level – Better, but worse?: Miles Robinson looks like a locked in starter, but I don’t know how excited to be about him. Carleton got 20+ minutes, but Atlanta looks toothless. Imma let Jose sum this one up…

Toronto – Interest Level – Didn’t play: TFC didn’t play this weekend and tbh I didn’t notice. Although, I am looking forward to people losing their minds when Bradley gets called up this week. lol

Tier 4: I really like watching soccer and I guess I can justify this in my mind…

Colorado – Interest Level – Lowered Expectations *imagine old SNL skit jingle*: After a mildly surprising start for Cole Bassett in a 3-3 draw with Portland, Colorado went back to meeting our extremely low expectations by losing 2-0 to Seattle and playing no one of any interest.

The Audi Player Index is awesome

Orlando – Interest Level – So far, so good: Acosta started his second straight game and scored Gangnam Style on the Audi Point Index.

RSL – Interest Level – Probably should be higher, but still boring to me: Lennon and Baird started and Saucedo got 20 minutes off the bench. I just can’t get excited about these guys. Is there something wrong with me?

Portland – Interest Level – Getting a flu shot: Ebobisse played and scored a goal. They are still actively trying to replace him though. This is another player that probably warrants more interest, but I just don’t think he’s an actual candidate to play for the NT.

LAFC – Interest Level – Back up center back – Let me tell you I am super pumped to watch the 5th choice center back play in Prime Time. Yeet.

San Jose – Interest Level – Just got crushed by Minnesota: Maybe cool down on the Lima for USMNT right back forever hype? I didn’t watch this one but apparently he got toasted by Quintero regularly. Shockingly, Tommy Thompson and Jackson Yueill remain nailed to the bench.

New England – Interest Level – Bob Kraft passing a massage parlor: They stink and there’s a pretty good chance Brad Friedel doesn’t know what he’s doing, but hey, Jeremy Rennicks got 45 minutes and looked pretty good.

Tier 5: “These teams do nothing for the pool, they have betrayed us and deserve our scorn.” ~Greg Velasquez

Still no reason to watch any of these teams from a USMNT perspective.

Minnesota, Houston, Montreal, and Vancouver

Hey. This piece didn’t get a lot of readers last week so I may move it to a bi-weekly or monthly schedule. We’ll see what I feel like next Sunday.


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2 thoughts on “USMNT/MLS Interest Rankings: Week #2”

  1. Keep up the weekly posting and the views will come. Don’t make yourself irrelevant by decreasing your posting.

  2. Keep up the fantastic work. No one else does stuff like this as far as mls/usmnt interests.

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