MLSAces Week 3 - Team of the Week
Three weeks down and, unfortunately, it is our first week without a Chicharito goal. But don’t fret, we have plenty of other stars that really picked up the slack. Shame on you Chicha, SHAME! (Just kidding, we love you, Javier). Anyway, let’s get into this one and see who made the MLSAces Week 3 Team of the Week:
GK: Carlos Coronel - New York Red Bulls
DEF: Brandon Bye - New England Revolution
DEF: Andrew Brody - Real Salt Lake
DEF: Kyle Duncan - New York Red Bulls
DEF: Brad Smith - Seattle Sounders
MID: Carles Gil - New England Revolution
MID: Damir Kreilach - Real Salt Lake
MID: Alex Ring - Austin FC
MID: Jackson Yueill - San Jose Earthquakes
FWD: Rubio Rubin - Real Salt Lake
FWD: Cade Cowell - San Jose Earthquakes
Bench:
GK: JT Marcinkowski - San Jose Earthquakes
DEF: Diego Palacios - LAFC
DEF: Ryan Hollingshead - FC Dallas
MID: Eric Remedi - San Jose Earthquakes
MID: Caden Clark - New York Red Bulls
FWD: Fabio - New York Red Bulls
FWD: Raul Ruidiaz - Seattle Sounders
When I’m making my Team of the Week, I usually do my best to spread the love around MLS squads. However, this week was difficult - we saw some great player performances from the likes of Real Salt Lake, Red Bull New York, San Jose Earthquakes, and Seattle Sounders. There are a few players here I want to spotlight, but let’s start with the youngster from San Jose, Cade Cowell. This shredded teenager is taking no prisoners this season - in week 3, Cowell scored a goal and bagged two assists in a big 4-1 win over DC United. Follow that up with another amazing match by Rubio Rubin, who scored a brace against Sporting KC, and it’s easy to see that there were some big goals from strikers this weekend.
In the midfield, Alex Ring made his presence felt, as did the likes of Damir Kreilach and Jackson Yueill. With that said, Carles Gil is the standout this week - when Gil is on, the Revs are easily one of the top teams in the East. Lastly, we’ve got a sturdy defense this week. Despite a weaker-than-average goalkeeper group, Carlos Coronel gets the Week 3 spot, with a four save shutout in the Red Bulls’ win over the Chicago Fire. Brandon Bye and Brad Smith both had standout performances in the backline. Not only was Bye effective defensively with four tackles, he also put away a goal in New England’s win over Atlanta. As far as Brad Smith goes, the transition to wing-back has clearly upped his game - Smith scored for a second straight week, and even hit an assist to Raul Ruidiaz (who made the bench this week).
As we roll into Week 4, everyone is starting to hit their stride. Who is this week’s biggest snub? Let me know if the comments below!
