Matchday 1 has come and gone.  It was a great weekend for teams out west, 4 wins 2 ties and 2 losses. The East didn’t fair quite as well with only 3 wins and 5 losses.  Kansas and RSL picked up big wins at the expense of DC and San Jose.  Columbus, LA, Colorado, Seattle, and NY started the season off on the right foot. Houston and Dallas were the only teams to tie. Chicago were a little unlucky not to earn a tie. Toronto, Philadelphia, New England, and Chivas have some work to do.

Here are the Green Army’s first power rankings of the season:

MLS Power Rankings after Week 1

1.       RSL: Champs crushed San Jose, Morales is back.

2.       Kansas City: New and improved Wizards.

3.       Columbus Crew: Goal and assist from Schelotto.

4.       Seattle: Zakuani, Montero, and Ljungberg . . . enough said

5.       New York Red Bulls: Lindpere new comer of the year?

6.       Colorado Rapids: Big Wynne on the road.

7.       Los Angeles Galaxy: Sloppy but New England looked worse.

8.       Chicago: Unlucky, but they’ll bounce back.

9.       Houston: Missing Holden . . . maybe.

10.   FC Dallas: Happy with a tie and 8,000 in attendance . . . sigh.

11.   Chivas USA: They have talent, but need more time

12.   San Jose: Lost 3-0 at home, same old Earthquakes

13.   Philadelphia Union: Working class, bordering on no class.

14.   Toronto FC:  Things are different but results are the same.

15.   New England Revolution: No Joseph, no goals. Schilawski is good.

16.   DC United: Just plain ugly.

Share your thoughts on matchday 1.

Colorado Rapids win their home opener against Chivas 1-0. Goal scored by Omar Cummings in the 57th minute.

Here is a full match report by the Rapids: Rapids Defeat Chivas USA 1-0 in 10′ Season Opener

Here is a full match report by the Chivas: Cummings, Colorado Spoil Chivas USA Home Opener

A road victory is a great way to start off the season.  The Rapids played a smart game and got some brilliant performances from a few players.  Overall, I think the Rapids controlled the way match would be played and didn’t allow Chivas to play their style.

The Good:

• First road victory to open a season.
• New signings Earls, Larentowicz, and Wynne
• Colin Clark went 80 minutes and recorded an assist
• Ross LaBauex made his professional debut and almost got an assist
• Rapids put together some solid passing sequences
• Rapids defended and controlled the center of park
• Kept a clean sheet
• Rapids supporters representing at the local Denver pubs

Not So Good:

• The through balls and crosses were off the mark for the most part
• Midfielders had trouble moving the ball forward unless they went over the top
• No width for large portions of the game
• They were exposed a few times and needed Wynne to bail them out
• Finishing was off
• Because of so many new signings there was still some confusion among players about runs, marks, and showing to passes
• Pickens didn’t look confident with his hands

Player Ratings:

Pickens: 6, a little shaky, didn’t look comfortable using his hand but kept the clean sheet.

Kimura: 5, started the game a little out of rhythm but picked it up.  Not his best night but held down the right side of the field adequately.

Wynne: 9, great performance by the new signing. His speed and tenacity kept us in the game. He looked good at center back.

Moor: 7, great game by Drew. He cleaned things up and kept things organized as the verbal leader. Was beat by Galindo a few times but that is why they paired him with Wynne.

Earls: 6, not a bad debut by the young defender. Showed he can play at this level but did get beat a few times and his pass back to the goalie showed a little bit of inexperience.

Ballouchy: 6, wasn’t very influential in the match but he worked hard getting into tackles and making himself available.

Mastroeni: 8, defensively, it was a good night for the captain. He broke up plays and completely frustrated the Chivas midfield.  His touch was a little off, but I think that is the result of being injured for most of preseason.

Larentowicz: 7, a real presence in the midfield.  Looked a little out of sync at times and still a little rusty with the ball, but he got into some hard tackles. A little too hard sometimes, but I won’t complain.

Clark: 6, looked like he was asleep for the first 30 minutes.  Once he woke up he started looking like the Clark of last season. Still isn’t 100% but there were glimpses of what he can do.

Omar: 8, scored the game winner.  He got in behind the defenders a number of times and was dangerous throughout the night. He needs to clean up his passing and ball handling but it’s the first game after preseason and I’d imagine the legs are still a little heavy.

Casey: 6, he needed better service but didn’t capitalize on the chances that did fall his way.  He was handful for the Chivas defense and created plenty of space for Omar.

SUBS:

Thompson: 6, he was brought in to hold the lead and did his part.

LaBauex:6, great debut for the young midfielder.  Did his part to hold the lead and almost had an assist.

Palguta: N/A he played, that is really good news after an injury layoff.

Coach Gary Smith: 8, had some players injured and a few guys out of position.  He got great performances out of the players he put his faith in.  He substituted intelligently to help kill off the match.  The Marvell Wynne move looks like a stroke of genius at this point.

The Rapids home opener is Saturday, April 3 at Dicks Sporting Goods Park.  The Rapids host the Chicago Fire.  If you don’t have tickets yet, the Green Army and FC Denver are selling tickets on the terrace for $16.  Email: fcdenversoccer@gmail.com for more information.