Americans at home: The Crew have been saved, again!

In a tradition unlike any other in sports, it really is exceptional how terrible MLS teams are at this, another team rebrand has been rethought after being a total failure that fans hated. This time, the Columbus Crew decided to become more of a soccer team and call themselves Columbus Soccer Club (see, soccer is right there in the name of the team - people who watch the EPL will pay attention now) and adopt a terrible logo.

See, it’s in the shape of Ohio’s flag, one of the most iconic symbols in the world that is synonymous with soccer globally. The little disconnected triangle goatee thing is actually an homage to the book Inverting the Triangle, a book about how to play soccer. Anyway, it was a whirlwind week for the rebrand. The Nordecke and just about anyone with a sense of history or taste said this was a bad idea while MLS and its broadcast lackeys carried water for the league and Haslam family.

There was also some really bad optics and an inexplicable assumption about how good the rebrand would be.

The Fire also gained 40k new fans when they got a rebrand and just look how CF Montreal is doing! After less than a week the name change was dead though.

No word on how the 40k new fans feel about this though.

There was also soccer played by American soccer players and players from other countries in MLS this week. Let’s see how it went!

**All stats via FBref.com

Gregg, go ahead and call Leon Flach

So far the biggest surprise for the Philadelphia Union has been that the manager got lots of text messages saying people agree that American coaches don’t get respect in the league. But something that is more relevant is the play of Leon Flach. The German-American who joined the Union from St. Pauli has made a big impact for Philly. This week he shadowed and didn’t exactly shut down, but effectively slowed down Revs playmaker Carles Gil on Wednesday and led the team with 27 pressures as the teams drew 1-1. He followed that up with 26 pressures over the weekend as Philly won 1-0 against NYRB.

This is a gooooooood pass

Djordje Mihailovic set up Montreal’s opening goal against Inter Miami in the middle of the week. The attacker has stepped up and is leading Montreal as the team has been off to a good start in a tough situation as they’re playing home matches in Ft. Lauderdale. Here, he puts a well placed ball into the path of Bjorn Johnsen for Montreal’s first but of the game.

Busio holding down the no. 10 on one of the best teams in the league

Also playing two games, Gianluca Busio started in Sporting KC’s 2-1 loss midweek to Houston and 3-0 victory Sunday. The 3-0 win against Vancouver was one of the best team performances in MLS all year and Busio contributed with three shot creating actions and completed 93% of his passes.

Cristian Roldan stepping up

With the Seattle Sounders missing Jordan Morris and Nico Lodiero to start the year, the team has needed others to step up. One player who has been a big contributor to the team has been Cristian Roldan. Midweek he scored against San Jose to secure a 1-0 win and went the full 90 against LAFC Sunday.

Cade Cowell also started both of San Jose’s matches over the week but managed just one shot in 64 minutes against Seattle and three shots as the team lost 2-0 to the Timbers on Saturday.

Nice showing for NYCFC

The Pigeons are quietly one of the best teams in the East in the young season with a 2-2-1 record and lead the conference with 10 goals scored. A key reason for this is the steady play of defensive midfielder Keaton Parks and defender James Sands. NYCFC drew 1-1 against Toronto and Parks completed 30 of 32 passes with 17 pressures and Sands went the full 90 with two tackles and one interceptions.

Moses Nyeman getting minutes

In fairly short order Moses Nyeman has established himself as a starter for DC United. The midfielder contributed to the team’s lone goal in their 1-0 win over the Chicago Fire Thursday and played for the first 45 as DCU lost to Orlando 1-0 on Sunday.

The Colorado Rapids are good and fun and score a lot

Things are really coming together for the Rapids to begin the year. After a few forgettable years, it seems like the team has turned a corner and is building an identity as an exciting attacking team. Colorado trounced Houston 3-1 thanks to goals from left back Sam Vines and attacker Cole Bassett.

He’s laughing because this is funny.

Vines’ goal could be described as: run fast, kick ball. It’s effective.

This also happened