The best attackers in Major League Soccer were out in full force during Week 10.

Thirty-two goals were scored over the course of six days. Although the week started slowly, with one goal from two midweek games, the action began to heat up Friday.

Only Philadelphia failed to find the back of the net at least once during the wild weekend of play, which featured a five-goal contest in Columbus and a four-goal encounter in Orlando.

Due to the massive amount of terrific attacking displays this week, we formed our MLS Team of the Week into a 3-4-3 formation, along with a bench of players who nearly made our starting XI.

Continue reading on to see which players were named to the list of Week 10's best. 

Begin Slideshow

Source: Click Here

Everyone across the globe is aware of the star power that graces the Major League Soccer rosters. The likes of Robbie Keane, Sebastian Giovinco, Obafemi Martins, Clint Dempsey and others are on highlight reels week after week.

Due to the decent number of superstars in the league, some productive players fly under the radar of the casual fan. Whether the cause is playing in a small market, starting for a struggling team or featuring in an unpopular position, certain players do not receive the attention they deserve. 

With that in mind, we prepared a list of 10 under-the-radar players who have the potential to be stars by the time the 2016 season begins. 

Continue reading on to see which 10 players we selected to become household names over the next 12 months.

Begin Slideshow

Source: Click Here

MLS Week 9 has come to an end, and there were some monumental results that significantly altered the standings. The New England Revolution, D.C. United and FC Dallas picked up huge wins to move into a tie for first place in their respective conferences.

Elsewhere, the Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers battled to a scoreless draw and the New York Red Bulls finally lost.

These games not only influenced the MLS standings but this week's power rankings as well. There are a few teams on the rise, and one of them has claimed the No. 1 spot.

Here are the MLS power rankings after Week 9.

Begin Slideshow

Source: Click Here

The ninth week of play in Major League Soccer taught us one valuable lesson that we should keep in mind from now until the MLS Cup Final. 

Obafemi Martins, Clint Dempsey and Fabian Castillo are the top three players in the league at the moment, and they should be for the rest of the season. 

The trio, who might be caught by Toronto FC's three designated players and Kaka at some point, produced a ton of class in their respective matches in Week 9.

Due to the impeccable quality of the three stars, they all catapulted to the top of our latest ranking of the top 20 players in MLS.

Continue reading on to see which one of the attackers claimed the No. 1 position in the Week 9 edition of the MLS Player Rankings. 

Begin Slideshow

Source: Click Here

With one swift cut to the left and a rocket into the bottom right corner of the net, Bradford Jamieson IV jumped onto the radar of many United States men's national team fans. 

Most people around the LA Galaxy and U.S. Soccer knew the 18-year-old had plenty of talent. But April 26's match against the New York Red Bulls marked the day everyone else started to find out how special of a player Jamieson could be. 

Jamieson's success with the Galaxy couldn't have come at a better time for club and country. At the club level, the young forward is filling in for an injured Robbie Keane. He is also gaining valuable playing time ahead of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which begins May 30 in New Zealand. 

The 18-year-old has impressed many over the last three weeks starting next to Alan Gordon in the Galaxy's two-forward system. 

Thanks to the heavy influence from Keane in training, Jamieson felt ready to fill the void left by the Republic of Ireland international early in the season. 

“(Keane's helped me) tremendously. It’s a huge compliment to him that his play is affecting guys like me. That’s the way you should be benefiting from playing with an experienced guy like that. I have to keep learning things Robbie can teach me," Jamieson told reporters after the 1-1 draw with the Red Bulls. 

“The cut (on the goal) is identical to what he’s doing in training. It’s like second nature really. I wasn’t really thinking about it."

Red Bulls manager Jesse Marsch, who previously worked with U.S. Soccer, had nothing but positive things to say about the young player. 

“When I was with U.S. Soccer, I’d go in with a lot of the national teams. I got to know a lot of the young guys. BJ was a young fringe player on the U15 team that I worked with," Marsch said.

"I spent a lot of time with that team. I like BJ a lot. He comes to training every day with a lot of energy. I think he has a big career ahead of him." 

Marsch's final line is a sentence we've heard all too often when a young United States player scores a beautiful goal early in his professional career. 

The USMNT hype train likes to latch on to young players like a leech, and it doesn't let go until the player either thrives at both levels of the game—or flames out like Freddy Adu. 

While he wasn't specifically referring to all the hype surrounding him after his goal against the Red Bulls, Jamieson understood the pressure will only continue to grow as he sees more time on the pitch. 

"The next game is going to be even harder because you have expectations now," Jamieson said. "Every game after that is going to be the same kind of battle where you’re trying to impress fans and impress coaches.”

Impressing USMNT U20 boss Tab Ramos should be one of the only things on Jamieson's mind at the moment as the battle for roster spots is tight.

Jamieson missed out on the team's most recent training camp in Austria because of his club duties. But despite not being able to impress Ramos in person, the forward has been able to prove his worth up top for the Galaxy over the last three games. 

He is also not the only U20 player working his way into a starting lineup in MLS. Matt Miazga, Jordan Allen, Cristian Roldan, Tommy Thompson and Zach Pfeffer have all appeared for their respective sides in 2015. 

Miazga, who went head-to-head with Jamieson in Week 8, is one of Marsch's two starting center backs. Although he's faced criticism for his mistakes as a young player in a big market, Miazga has responded well to his new challenge over the first two months of the season. 

Allen burst onto the radar in March with a goal off the bench for Real Salt Lake. The product of the RSL academy has played 263 minutes in seven matches for the Claret and Cobalt. 

Pfeffer is turning into one of the centerpieces of the Philadelphia Union midfield, while Roldan and Thompson are coming off the bench in Seattle and San Jose, respectively. 

Not only is the playing time earned by the U20 stars vital to the team's success at the U20 World Cup, it also proves the MLS academies are turning out quality products.

Four of the six players mentioned above came straight through their club's academy, while Roldan and Thompson entered the league from college. Thompson is considered a homegrown player, while Roldan starred at the University of Washington for two seasons before the Sounders selected him in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft. 

Jamieson may be receiving most of the attention right now because of his status at the club level, but he is just the first of many fresh faces ready to take the league, and potentially the world, by storm over the next few months. 

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. 

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. 

Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

Source: Click Here

New MLS team New York City have got to build up a tradition, and the plan to inspire the likes of David Villa and (soon) Frank Lampard to hit the heights includes song sheets with chants for every game.

For fans in England, that sort of thing doesn't sit right.

Being told to sing, "You might have some history, but we don't give a crud" (yes, "crud"), might seem a bit patronising.

And it probably won't take long to learn the words to "N...Y...C...*clap*."

But it's (almost) all forgiven for this Mix Diskerud Kiss tribute: "I, wanna Diskerud all night, and party every day!"

[h/t Balls.ie]

Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

Source: Click Here

Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins combined in style to score for the Seattle Sounders in their MLS clash with New York City FC.

Dempsey's backheel flick was outrageous, splitting the defence and allowing Martins through.

The Nigerian did the rest, applying a cool finish.

Dempsey and Martins look unstoppable. #SeattleSounders http://t.co/4bnVjLyMOR

[@MLS, @TheFantasyFB, Twitter]

Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

Source: Click Here

The first weekend of May brought us a few spectacular attacking displays across the pitches of Major League Soccer.

The two clubs who stood out the most were FC Dallas and the Seattle Sounders, who each boast a trio of players in this week's MLS Team of the Week. 

Outside of the two Western Conference dynamos, a few Eastern Conference stars delivered key showings at both ends of the pitch in two early-season showdowns. 

Due to the large amount of strong attacking performances in Week 9, we molded the best 11 of the week into a 4-3-3 formation.

Continue reading to see who was named in the Week 9 edition of our MLS Team of the Week. 

Begin Slideshow

Source: Click Here

The Montreal Impact were minutes away from a historic CONCACAF Champions League title. However, Club America showed its dominance in the final 45 minutes of the second leg in a 4-2 win in Montreal. It was a not-so-subtle reminder that MLS is still far behind Liga MX.

Even if the Impact won the Champions League, this wouldn't have done anything to boost MLS' reputation. Cynics would have labelled Montreal's triumph as "lucky" and would still say the league cannot be taken seriously.

Some of this criticism is fair. There are plenty of detriments in MLS. The low salary cap hinders teams' chances to compete in continental competitions. ESPN FC's Doug McIntyre claims that America's wages are 10 times higher than Montreal's.

The squad rotation from both sides showed the vast difference in salary. Right-backs Hassoun Camara and Victor Cabrera were injured; plus Eric Miller was inexperienced, so midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker had to start on the right side of defense.

Following goalkeeper Evan Bush's suspension, the Impact had to sign Kristian Nicht from Indy Eleven of the NASL. The team had to acquire Nicht because backup Eric Kronberg was cup-tied and third-choice Maxime Crepeau was recovering from injury.

The Impact squad as a whole isn't the greatest on paper, either. Besides Ignacio Piatti and Laurent Ciman, there aren't any notable names or designated players in Montreal's squad.

Reo-Coker is an ex-Premier League midfielder, and Marco Donadel barely played in Serie A after leaving Fiorentina. MLS journeymen Dominic Oduro and Dilly Duka as well as a relatively inexperienced Donny Toia were also in the starting XI.

This is a decent MLS roster with depth, but it's nowhere near good enough to compete against the most successful Mexican club of all time.

By comparison, America has two regular call-ups for Mexico in Paul Aguilar and Oribe Peralta. Ventura Alvarado, a U.S. international, is also a starter for Las Aguilas. Dario Benedetto is the team's second-best goalscorer, and the dynamic Darwin Quintero are just a few of the marquee members.

Ventura, Peralta and Paolo Goltz didn't even start the first leg against the Impact. Pablo Aguilar and Erik Pimentel slotted into the heart of the defense, with Michael Arroyo replacing Peralta up front.

Manager Gustavo Matosas was able to make these like-for-like changes because his team can buy players in a free market with no salary cap.

Matosas utilized his deep squad to his advantage, which is necessary in these competitions. U.S. international Herculez Gomez said as much on Twitter:

Despite having the superior roster, America was average at the Azteca and slow coming out of the gate in Montreal. However, Los Millonetas dominated from the 50th to 81st minute in the second leg and still cruised to victory.

If Montreal won, MLS may have been persuaded that its teams can compete in the Champions League on a lower budget than the Liga MX clubs. This series proved the opposite.

On paper, the Impact were huge underdogs against Pachuca, but if it wasn't for Cameron Porter's late goal, Los Tuzos would have advanced. The Impact became just the second MLS team to defeat a Mexican side in the knockout stage, per the official league website. 

However, Montreal barely edged past Alajuelense in the semis after it almost blew a 2-0 lead from the first leg. The Impact were close to elimination, but it also shows how incredible their run was as they were able to hold on in the tough atmosphere in Costa Rica.

The odds of this type of run occurring again are low. The league office must realize that it can't compete with Liga MX under the current system, which U.S. international Alejandro Bedoya stated on Twitter: 

If MLS wants to become a top league by 2022, as MLS commissioner Don Garber told ESPN.com, it not only has to raise the salary cap, but it also has to become more transparent and improve the TV ratings. The latter is arguably the most important aspect, because that generates more revenue.

This will lead to teams acquiring better players who will be able to achieve consistent results in the CONCACAF Champions League. For now, that isn't a realistic option.

Peter Galindo covers MLS and U.S. soccer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @GalindoPW.

Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

Source: Click Here

The Montreal Impact's dream run in the CONCACAF Champions League came to a crashing halt on Wednesday. Montreal was beaten 4-2 in the second leg of the final by Mexican side Club America and 5-3 on aggregate. The Impact had a tough test, and they should feel proud of their achievements regardless of the score. ESPNFC's Tom Marshall quotes America head coach Gustavo Matosas:

America, one of the biggest teams in Mexico, possess several quality players. Oribe Peralta, Dario Benedetto, Darwin Quintero, Paul Aguilar and Ventura Alvarado are just a few of the standouts in the squad.

The financial gap is also incredibly wide. America's wage expenditure is approximately 10 times higher than Montreal's, per Doug McIntyre of ESPN FC.

This is exactly why Mexican clubs have won the CONCACAF Champions League every year since the new format began in 2008. The Liga MX teams have better players and can spend a lot more than MLS sides and teams in Central America. Sportswriter Nicolino DiBenedetto had this to say:

Because the Mexican sides don't have the tight restraints of a salary cap or a book full of roster rules, the depth is much stronger than the Impact, and even the Seattle Sounders and LA Galaxy, who are the big spenders in the United States.

Montreal's lack of depth created many problems; among them was its goalkeeping conundrum. Kristian Nicht, who was playing for the NASL's Indy Eleven, was signed by Montreal on Monday. Regular starter Evan Bush was suspended, backup Eric Kronberg was cap-tied and youngster Maxime Crepeau was hurt and inexperienced.

Nicht looked out of his element, which is understandable. He just arrived a couple of days ago and was unfamiliar with his defense, which was evident by the number of times he stayed on his line and strayed out of position.

Another problem for Montreal was Nigel Reo-Coker, a central midfielder, starting at right-back. Impact head coach Frank Klopas had to make this switch due to Hassoun Camara and Victor Cabrera being unavailable due to injury, per Sportsnet's John Molinaro:

Eventually fatigue caught up with Reo-Coker and his teammates. He was out of position when the Impact conceded the first goal and was at fault for the second as well.

While the Impact had to rely on Nicht and Reo-Coker in the second leg, America also had to deal with some key absentees in the first match, but had significantly stronger options.

U.S. international defender Ventura Alvarado was hurt, as was fellow center-back Paolo Goltz and Peralta. The latter came in as a substitute and scored America's only goal in the 1-1 draw.

Nonetheless, Matosas had like-for-like replacements for every one of those players, while Klopas had to scramble to complete his lineup.

Even with the clear gap in quality, Montreal had plenty of chances. Ignacio Piatti had a brilliant opportunity in the first half to double the hosts' lead, but he was stopped by America goalkeeper Moises Munoz.

The Argentinean also missed a beautiful chance in the first leg, but opted to chip the ball instead of placing the shot. It ended up wide, and Montreal drew 1-1.

Montreal played an expansive, counterattacking style, and it worked throughout the first half. America defenders had to foul Piatti, Andres Romero, Dilly Duka and Dominic Oduro to slow down the momentum.

However, despite America's shambolic defending, Montreal's was equally poor; its opponents took advantage, whereas the Impact failed to do so. 

Credit Montreal, though. The Impact became the first Canadian team to make the final and the second MLS team to do so since Real Salt Lake in 2011. 

It was a tremendous, exhilarating run, especially considering the player turnover during the summer and their horrid domestic season in 2014. It's disappointing that it had to end in heartbreak.

Peter Galindo covers MLS and U.S. soccer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @GalindoPW.

Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

Source: Click Here