While some aspects of the 2012 MLS season are starting to come in to focus, others remain obscure. There seem to be two teams that are way ahead of the pack, two more closing in on those frontrunners and then a bunch of question marks. And then there’s the Los Angeles Galaxy, perhaps the biggest enigma of all.

But this feature discusses the top 10 teams, and we’ve done what we can to carefully select that group. The gap between some numbers (from 4 to 5) is much larger than it is for others (from 9 to 10).

Interesting times, to be sure. On to the rankings:

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With seven games today, thanks in part to no MLS matches on Easter (and we again applaud MLS for not going up against ridiculously big national sporting events…this makes most of the Final Four and the final day of the Masters they’ve avoided) MLS teams were determined to put the ‘super’ back in ‘superlatives.’ Not really, they were probably just trying to perform well and win games, as the vast majority of players are probably completely unaware of this blog much less this relatively new weekly feature, but there were still some super moments. So here are our picks for April 7: (more…)

The weekend’s marquee MLS matchup, Los Angeles Galaxy’s visit to Sporting Kansas City, is getting all the hype of this week’s build up, but there’s another fixture that, like the teams featured, is flying under the radar.

The San Jose Earthquakes are tied for second place in the West with the Vancouver Whitecaps just behind in fourth. They’ll meet at Buck Shaw Stadium at 4 p.m. Pacific.

The Quakes and Caps are two of the league’s surprise teams at the dawn of the 2012 campaign, with both showing marked improvement from poor campaigns last year. There’s plenty of skepticism about how much of a threat both teams really will be in 2012, though, since much of their early success has come against some of MLS’ lower-tier clubs. The match on Saturday could give fans an indication of which, if either, of these teams are for real or if they’re set to fall to the bottom of the table as the season draws on. (more…)

Real Salt Lake is expected to be one of the best teams in MLS this season, and so far they’ve lived up to those expectations.

Their record is blemished only because of a home loss to Chivas USA by a goal. Yet while the Royals look to be among the league’s elite, they haven’t been winning pretty.

Wednesday night they denied the Montreal Impact a chance to build their MLS point total after winning a penalty kick early, converting it and holding on for the one-goal win. (more…)

Here are 10 of our favorite pieces of writing about soccer from the week. There’s so much good stuff out there each week, and this list isn’t trying to be all-inclusive. With that said, please feel free to tweet suggestions @USA10Kit or at me during the week or just post a comment here – even if you’re just pimping your own blog.

Leander Schaerlaeckens at ESPN on why Hans Backe has kept a relaxed attitude despite New York Red Bulls’ uninspiring start

Michael Lewis at Tropigol reposts his 2010 story on Cubans who defected during tournaments in the United States in the wake of a defection in Nashville this year

Brian Phillips on Grantland asking if Peter Crouch is better than we all think he is

Brian Straus of Sporting News about why the U-23 elimination might not have surprised Jurgen Klinsmann

Neil Davidson from the Canadian Press on Brian Rowe’s life as one of MLS’ reserve goalkeepers

Jack Bell on the NY Times’ Goal Blog about Jesse Marsch’s unique challenge coaching Montreal

Duane Rollins at The Score’s Footy Blog writes about the potential of a U.S.-Canada rivalry breaking out

Rob Smyth for Life’s a Pitch on Leon Britton’s quiet excellence for Swansea

Jonathan Tannenwald from Philly.com on the task ahead for Freddy Adu upon returning to a struggling Union team

Dirty Tackle’s Brooks Peck with another intriguing installment on Andrei Arshavin’s odd life. This time he’s in a small accident and gets a grapefruit for his troubles

 What needs to happen for Colorado 

Last week, the Colorado Rapids sorely missed Jeff Larentowicz and Pablo Mastroeni as the Rapides were thumped 4-1 by the New York Red Bulls. Larentowicz is back after his suspension and provides instant quality into the midfield, but Mastroeni is still out with a head injury.

Colorado will need Jaime Castrillon and the rookie, Tony Cascio, to play well in Mastroeni’s absence. The match also presents an interesting battle between the two fastest players in MLS: Marvell Wynne and Dominic Oduro. Wynne will need to stay with Oduro stride-for-stride as the striker has already scored twice this year.

If the Rapids are going to win they need three things to happen. Cascio must continue his stellar rookie form. The midfielder needs to link up with Omar Cummings and possibly provide a goal or an assist. Brian Mullan and Kosuke Kimura must provide width against the compact Fire midfield. Chicago’s two forwards might have pace, but their midfield doesn’t. if Kimura and Mullan can both provide width down the right, it bodes well for Colorado’s chances. Lastly, the backline cannot lose sight of Oduro and Patrick Nyarko for one second. If they blink they might have already scored. (more…)

Well, that didn’t take long. We delayed the start to our MLS power rankings so we wouldn’t have to be drastically changing them around and seeing a new leader each week as another team falls from the ranks of the undefeated. But with last week’s leader, Real Salt Lake, losing to Chivas USA, a team that didn’t make our top 10, we really had no choice but to knock them from their perch.

First place wasn’t too tough of a decision, but after that it’s starting to get a little hairy. Feel free to tell us how wrong we are in the comments

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Olympic qualifying is officially under way for the United States U-23 men, and they started in pretty convincing fashion, beating Cuba 6-0 in a match that never seemed even slightly in doubt. The performance drew praise from Jurgen Klinsmann on Twitter and fully satisfied American fans hoping for a big margin of victory. From Joe Carona’s goal in the 11th minute to his 88th minute tally to cap his hat trick, the Americans were by far the better side against a Cuban team whose vast disparity in talent heading into the game wasn’t helped by playing a man down for 70 minutes.

It wasn’t a very good test for the U.S. When the rubber meets the road, what’s really important is that the U.S. get to, and subsequently win, the semifinal that will give them passage to the 2012 Olympics in London. As mentioned, they were heavily favored to go through in the first place and once the Cubans went a man down, already trailing by a goal, it seemed their fate was already sealed.

Still, it’s hard to argue with the fact that the U.S. looked really good taking apart their weaker opposition. The big concern for the team was, and still remains, the back line. Cuba wasn’t exactly throwing forward men in numbers, but the defense was solid on the few occasions they were called upon. (more…)

Each site puts their own spin on power rankings. Ours is that we only do 10 teams…cause we’re 10Kit. And because if you can’t crack the MLS’ top 10 teams, then we don’t want to write depressing little quips about you ever week.

Our mantra the past few days has been “It’s too early,” and it remains too soon to cast meaningful judgement on any MLS cubs. Yet, here we are starting our power rankings. So, while we keep an eye on the early birds soaring to the top of the rankings after two weeks of action, we do so while acknowledging some of these teams will be lucky to worm their way into the playoffs this autumn.

This week’s power of 10: (more…)