There was plenty of excitement across Major League Soccer in Week 8, which featured seven matches, 19 goals, two red cards and a whole lot of ups and downs in the fantasy world. Here this week is a no-frills assessment of the performances of several key players that found themselves in the middle of the action. Enjoy.
Carlos Marinelli (Kansas City Wizards) - The Argentinean playmaker made his first start since pulling a hamstring on April 12, though he saw some time off the bench the last couple of weeks. But as Marinelli approaches full fitness, he is also getting back to the best part of his game: passing. He has great forward options, particularly in countryman Claudio Lopez, and he certainly helps that Marinelli is often the go-to guy on set pieces, giving him a number of built-in assist chances per game. One of those paid off this weekend when Jimmy Conrad headed home a corner kick. Assessment: Buy
Zach Wells (D.C. United) - The struggles continued for the Black-and-Red Saturday, this time the 2007 Supporters' Shield winners blowing a one-goal lead on the road to go down to an injury-plagued Chivas USA 3-1. Was Wells the only one that should take the blame? No, but he didn't have a great game and could have done better on the ball that Jesse Marsch slid home to start the Chivas comeback. This is not Wells' first mistake of the season; don't be surprised if he finds himself watching at least one of D.C.'s games against Toronto FC this week. Assessment: Sell
Kheli Dube (New England Revolution) - Making his first start in MLS, Dube put the Revolution in front of the San Jose Earthquakes after just six minutes. A native of Zimbabwe, Dube is part of the new African movement going on in New England. The Coastal Carolina product is likely to see a good deal more time up front for New England in the coming weeks as Taylor Twellman returns to the treatment room with a sprained right ankle. Assessment: Buy
James Riley (San Jose Earthquakes) - Yes, James Riley now plays for the San Jose Earthquakes. You may have been confused if you saw his sweet finish at Gillette Stadium Saturday. A lovely looping header into an empty net was only soured by the fact that he put it into the wrong net. Riley is a very tenacious player, but he is prone to egregious errors in judgment that can lead to mistakes and harsh fouls. Perhaps more importantly, his team is at the bottom of the league table with just just four points. Assessment: Sell
Marcelo Gallardo (D.C. United) - Perhaps the only positive for United emerging from Saturday's loss in L.A. was the return of Gallardo, who scored his second spectacular goal of the season. The former Argentina international had to be pulled with a quarter-hour remaining as this was his first game back from injury, and without him in the game, D.C. crumbled yet again. This is a man that is not used to losing. Don't expect him to just stand by and let it keep happening. Assessment: Buy
Dave van den Bergh (New York Red Bulls) / Adrian Serioux (FC Dallas) - Each of these players let his frustration get the better of him Saturday. They lashed out with silly fouls and ended up with a red card and an early shower for their efforts. And if you are unlucky enough to have either (or even worse, both) on your roster, that means you got docked five points. As if that's not reason enough to dump them, the mandatory one-game suspension makes it a necessity. Assessment: Sell (and send to anger management classes)
Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy) - After completing his hat trick against FC Dallas Sunday, Buddle held up three fingers to show off his three goals on the afternoon. They also happen to be his first three goals of the season. With David Beckham and Landon Donovan also on the field, perhaps defenses can't concentrate on Buddle as much as they should. He's also sure to get plenty of good service. In any event, Buddle's sure to be in the starting lineup against the Wizards next Saturday when L.A. returns to The Home Depot Center. Assessment: Buy
WOW (Worst of the Week) Award - There were plenty of candidates on this week's short list, including Dave van den Bergh, Adrian Serioux, all of D.C. United and James Riley. However, the honor will go to the people of Denver, only 11,000 of whom showed up for the Rapids' Primetime Thursday match against regional rival Real Salt Lake. Come on, people! Even the Red Bulls drew more than that this week in a driving rainstorm. A great new stadium, a spectacular new player in Christian Gomez and a team at the top of the Western Conference. What more do you need?
A few quick tips to wrap things up:
* Toronto FC and D.C. United meet twice this week (Wednesday and Saturday) so players from those teams will have two chances to rack up points in Week 9.
* Keep an eye on the league Discipline report. The longer the season goes, the more players are going to pick up cautions and resulting suspensions.
* Don't miss next Sunday's Fire-Red Bulls match on Telefutura. It's the first meeting between the teams following Juan Carlos Osorio's abandonment of the Windy City for the Big Apple, and there's plenty of tension between the two clubs.