What a difference a win makes. Be it jovial locker room banter, a rise to first place in the standings or a jump in power rankings, three points gets you a lot in this league. It's always nice to see others take notice.
That's the case with this week's power rankings, as the Red Bulls took a nice jump across the board to re-enter the Top 3.
We'll start things off with MLSsoccer.com
. They have the Red Bulls taking a leap from No. 5 overall in Week 15 rankings to No. 2 this week thanks largely in part to a nice public pat on the back for Dax McCarty:
"All we wanted from Dax McCarty, really from Day 1, was for him to channel his inner Didier Deschamps. Now he's finally done it and is the keystone to New York's sprint to the top of the East. Few defensive midfielders cover more ground, and only Beckerman starts an attack as well."
ESPN has the Red Bulls locked in at No. 2 overall
as well after placing them fourth last week. Nothing but heaps of praise for the biggest storyline coming out of the win:
"Brandon Barklage dished out a serious helping of revenge against former club D.C. United, scoring two goals in a 3-2 victory. Even better, his block of a Maicon Santos shot helped preserve the win."
Sports Illustrated seems a bit hesitant to demote Real Salt Lake
too
far down the charts after they dropped two straight this past week, but nevertheless the
Red Bulls lock up third overall in their installment
:
"It's hard to argue with Hans Backe's assessment that the Red Bulls' first 55 minutes against D.C. were the most complete performance that they've turned in this season."
