MLS Team of Week 16

Picking up right we're we left off before the break: with a 4-3-3.

GK Jeff Attinella (Real Salt Lake): Play a man down on the road for more than 80 minutes and you're likely to get shelled, even by Chivas USA.  That is what happened to RSL this week, and they lost 1-0 to a thunderbolt from Erick Torres. But apart from the exceptional, Attinella stood tall and kept his side in the game the whole way.

RB Karl Ouimette (Montreal Impact): He only played one of Montreal's two games this week, but he did two games' worth of work against Vancouver, getting in 10 tackles and making 18 recoveries in L'Impact's first clean sheet of the week.

CB Aurelien Collin (Sporting Kansas City): It's starting to feel like beating the Timbers at home is no big thing, but they made KC work very hard for the win. Few worked harder defensively than Collin, who was credited with 16 clearances.

CB Matt Hedges (FC Dallas): An utterly lopsided match possession-wise between the Crew and Dallas, in which FCD was very much second best, finished 0-0. But the teams were relatively evenly matched in terms of big chances, and it was Columbus who needed to pull out the desperation saves. Hedges anchored the back-line to a clean sheet Dallas really had no right to, given the amount of time their opponents had to play with the ball.

LB Chris Klute (Colorado Rapids): Vancouver had enough of the ball to get more than one shot on target in a 2-0 road loss to Colorado, but part of their problem was getting past Klute, who racked up seven tackles and five interceptions.

MID Danny Cruz (Philadelphia Union): He pressured Jose Goncalves into the poor header that gave Philly its first goal, and lashed home his team's second.

MID Osvaldo Alonso (Seattle Sounders): It was billed as the marquee game of the week - DC vs. Seattle, the top team in each Conference going head-to-head. What transpired was a messy game between two teams missing key players, which DC absolutely dominated and Seattle won 1-0. Part of the reason for the win: Alonso, tidying up (he led his team in recoveries), getting the ball up the field, and making sure he was remembered even when he made mistakes.

MID Sebastien Le Toux (Philadelphia Union): Cruz buzzed around on one side of the field, while Le Toux got himself into good positions and took his chances well for two of the Union's three goals this week.

FWD Erick Torres (Chivas USA): If he played for a good team, he'd be a poster boy for the league. Last year, Torres scored seven goals in 15 starts - pretty good. This year, he's got 10 from 15 starts - even better. And his latest was a confident, emphatic, beauty.

FWD Jack McInerney (Montreal Impact): You wouldn't call him a clinical striker just yet - his second goal this week was remarkable, but he'll need to do something similar again to convince anyone he really meant it. Still, he got two goals this week, and he's now sitting on six goals for the season off just 10 shots on target.

FWD Jermain Defoe (Toronto FC): It is often said about great strikers that they only need one chance to make an opponent pay. Defoe fashioned seven chances against the New York Red Bulls, was a menace all night, finished one very well indeed, and even won the foul that resulted in Glberto's (somewhat debatably allowed) crackerjack free kick.

Coach Frank Klopas (Montreal Impact): There is a strong correlation between not conceding goals and not losing games. L'Impact didn't concede in both their games this week and took away four points for their endeavors. Yes, it is likely the return had a lot to do with getting to play the faltering Whitecaps and the dismal Dynamo, but getting any points has been a struggle for this team - so four in one week is noteworthy achievement.