MLS Weekend Wrapup and SRS Rankings

I took a break last week to honeymoon with my beautiful wife so I have no predictions to recap for the weekend.  Here are some highlights from last weekend's MLS matches:

• Philadelphia scored 6(!) goals at Toronto.  The Union have been one of the top defensive teams in the league this season.  As you can see from the table below, they have the second best Defensive SRS in the league against the toughest offenses in the league.  However, their offense was one of the worst.  Prior to this match the Union had scored 8 goals in 10 matches overall and only 1 goal in 4 road matches.  We will have to see if this is a fluke or a sign that their offense has woken up.  If it has then matching that up with their stout defense would make this team a serious MLS Cup contender

Total Defensive SRS
Team	GA	SOS	SRS
Real Salt Lake	0.444	1.283	0.838
Philadelphia	0.818	1.313	0.495
Los Angeles	0.800	1.270	0.470
Seattle	0.929	1.296	0.367
New York	0.917	1.276	0.359

• Seattle snapped RSL's 29-game home unbeaten streak with a 2-1 victory at Rio Tinto.  RSL has really struggled since their loss in the CONCACAF Champions League final and the loss of Javier Morales hasn't helped.  I still think they are the best team in the league right now mainly due to their excellent defense.  But their loss to Seattle was the first time they had given up multiple goals in the league this season.  Their defense may be cracking under the strain of an anemic offense.  We will have to see if coach Jason Kreis can pull them out of this funk.
• The season is about one-third complete and we have seen our first coaching casualties.  Vancouver and Chicago both fired their coaches this week.  Each team has only one win this season with slim and fading hopes of making the playoffs.

Latest SRS rankings after the jump:

Team	MOV	SOS	SRS	Change
Real Salt Lake	0.667	0.157	0.824	-0.246
New York	0.583	0.066	0.650	-0.117
Los Angeles	0.533	0.041	0.575	0.079
Philadelphia	0.455	0.107	0.562	0.279
FC Dallas	0.308	0.020	0.328	0.076
Houston	0.154	0.133	0.287	-0.106
Seattle	0.214	0.040	0.254	0.060
Colorado	0.154	-0.064	0.089	-0.082
San Jose	0.000	0.024	0.024	-0.070
Chivas USA	0.091	-0.072	0.019	-0.077
Portland	-0.182	0.020	-0.161	-0.144
Columbus	-0.182	-0.133	-0.315	0.022
D.C. United	-0.364	-0.001	-0.364	0.086
Chicago	-0.364	-0.057	-0.421	0.053
New England	-0.417	-0.027	-0.444	-0.008
Vancouver	-0.333	-0.171	-0.505	0.117
Toronto FC	-0.769	-0.031	-0.801	-0.248
Kansas City	-0.778	-0.032	-0.810	0.124

Philadelphia's blowout of Toronto drove the biggest change in the rankings.  RSL remains on top despite a severe drop.  This was driven by the low number of matches they have played (9) relative to the rest of the league.  All other teams except Kansas City have played at least 11 matches.