Trend: MLS Table, Previous 10 Weeks

Here is a look at the overall MLS table since the last week of June.

Team	PPG	GD
New York Red Bulls	2.20	1.50
L.A. Galaxy	2.00	1.11
FC Dallas	2.00	1.00
Columbus Crew	1.91	0.09
Colorado Rapids	1.80	0.10
New England Rev.	1.63	-0.13
Vancouver Whitecaps	1.60	0.60
Sporting Kansas City	1.60	-0.10
Portland Timbers	1.50	-0.10
San Jose Earthquakes	1.45	0.18
Toronto FC	1.36	-0.09
Houston Dynamo	1.36	0.09
Chicago Fire	1.18	-0.09
DC United	1.11	-0.56
Montreal Impact	1.10	0.00
Real Salt Lake	1.10	-0.60
New York City FC	1.00	-0.55
Philadelphia Union	1.00	-0.11
Seattle Sounders FC	0.90	-0.70
Orlando City	0.60	-1.50

...and here it is when teasing out just the Eastern Conference teams.

Team	PPG	GD
New York Red Bulls	2.20	1.50
Columbus Crew	1.91	0.09
New England Rev.	1.63	-0.13
Toronto FC	1.36	-0.09
Chicago Fire	1.18	-0.09
DC United	1.11	-0.56
Montreal Impact	1.10	0.00
New York City FC	1.00	-0.55
Philadelphia Union	1.00	-0.11
Orlando City	0.60	-1.50

A couple quick notes:

► NYRB and Crew SC are the only teams with a + goal differential

► Crew SC are on pace to catch DC United for the 2nd playoff spot (bye)

► DC United has an atrocious goal differential over last 10 weeks

► Outside the top 3, the East has been tough to watch. Lots of bad soccer this year.

THE EASTERN CONTENDERS 

NEW YORK

It's looking like the Red Bulls have the mojo going into the final set of games. On top of the results, they appear to have great team chemistry (comradery, spirit). They've been on an unbelievable run over the last 10 weeks, near perfect, and doing it with an astonishing +1.50 goal difference. What separates them from the rest of the pack is their balance. Overall, on the season, they are 3rd in GF and 4th in GA. The observation over the years has been thus: Good defenses get you through two-legged series. You have to be able to lock a team down.

COLUMBUS CREW SC

"Surging" is the best way to describe Columbus after an inconsistent first half of the season. No question they have qualified for the MLS Cup, but they do have some false horizons during this recent run, however. In their last four they have played an inconsistent (but improving) Colorado, a bad NYCFC (twice), plus a shorthanded Sporting KC. Another red flag for me is that they are not able to stop opponents from scoring. It's been an issue Gregg Berhalter has been willing to live with, but it will hurt them when playing a stout defense (which, in the East, only NY has).

Team	GA
New York Red Bulls	0.90
Montreal Impact	1.30
Chicago Fire	1.36
New England Rev.	1.50
Philadelphia Union	1.56
DC United	1.89
Columbus Crew	1.91
Toronto FC	2.09
New York City FC	2.45
Orlando City	2.60

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
Here we are again with a healthy Jermaine Jones fixing most of the issues the team had early in the season. The Goals Against (GA) above is a little misleading as Jones has grown back into the line up they have shut out 3 teams in the last 5. Albeit weaker opponents, not many MLS teams have been able to do it. Outside of stellar recent results you have the concrete surface they play on to consider. No team is going to want to face New England.

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That's all I've got for my stretch run analysis this week. Feels good to finally get to this part of the season (the first part can be a bit of a slog). One thing not touched on here this week was the impact of international week(s) coming up. It will hurt the jockeying for spots and may trip of some of the form for some of the better teams. That's MLS though. Managing league quarks is half the battle. Stay tuned for more next week.