Marquez still slacking; top players yet to get a call-up by Klinsmann

Know your Major League Soccer -- Five things we learned from Round 29:

1. The weekly Red Bulls report: What would a week look like without some hot talk on Rafa Marquez? We may never know.

Marquez still doesn't seem to have the stomach for the fight, and the Red Bulls seem to be stuck in place, unable to see the truth about their $4.6 million Mexican international. To be fair, it wasn't just Marquez who was zombie-esque Saturday at BMO Field, as plenty of Red Bulls lacked the zip, energy and fight you might expect from a team so solidly up against it.

In the end, a wonderful goal by Thierry Henry -- he hasn't been in vogue recently as a league MVP candidate, but is apparently not done stating his case -- rescued a point for the Red Bulls in a 1-1 draw at Toronto. Henry's body language wasn't always the best Saturday, but he did put teammates into wonderful scoring positions at times, in addition to that critical, late equalizer.

As for Marquez, who was in a central midfield role (that Red Bulls coach Hans Backe recently pronounced wasn't his best spot): Backe apparently sees something the rest of us don't.

What did everyone else see? Marquez had all the motivation in the world to prove he wasn't dogging it, to bust his rear and demonstrate unequivocally to teammates that he was on board, that he was willing to pay the price. But he didn't. Rather, he jogged around passively, a difference-maker with little apparent interest in making a difference.

Until, that is, in the 50th minute. Oh, did he make a difference. His errant pass from the midfield started a Toronto counter attack. Any central midfielder worth his weight in shoelaces would have busted a gut to get the ball back, or issue a challenge at the very least. Instead, Marquez trotted behind the play, content to watch defenders clean up his mess. It really was outrageous.

Backe finally removed the ineffective Marquez for Dax McCarty, who was in on the equalizing sequence. And the evidence just keeps mounting: the team appears to be better when Marquez is off the pitch.

2. Big noise in the Pacific Northwest: The justification for adding even more teams to this year's postseason field was -- as always -- to froth up the MLS stretch run through crackerjack postseason races.

But as MLS keeps adding to its geographical imprint and grows older, perhaps league leaders will discover that fans (real fans, the kind of tattoo their side's crest in strange places and plan their lives around fixtures) care about more than playoff races. There are MVP races to sort out and Golden Boots to chase, for instance, and perhaps their top man is in the mix.

And what about those rivalries? Yep, those will fill seats, playoff races or no.

For instance: Portland could still sneak into the playoffs, but don't go rushing to Las Vegas with fists full of cash to bet on it, because the odds remain slim. Vancouver? Already eliminated.

But when you're talking about this cascading Pacific Northwest rivalry, who cares? Sunday's match (A 1-0 Portland win) brimmed with edgy emotion and desire on both sides. It had the added luster of being MLS Match No. 1 inside BC Place, the Whitecaps' refurbished downtown ground. Kenny Cooper decided it in the first half, but the fans remained on high frenzy throughout.

Any match between Portland, Seattle and Vancouver will look and feel similar, no matter what the standings look like. To watch Whitecaps' striker Eric Hassli scrap desperately with Portland defenders and pound the turf in frustration at one particular miss, you certainly wouldn't know the home team was out of any playoff pictures.

(By the way, inside chatter is that next year's schedule, for the oddball number of 19 MLS teams, will be heavy on conference contests. That means an imbalanced schedule, but one replete with even more rivalry matches.)

Of course, there were significant matches in Round 29 that were solidly in play for the standings- and scoreboard-watching endemic around MLS at this time of year. So, here's a lightning quick rundown of big weekend doings:

It was a pretty bad week for D.C. United, which lost at Philadelphia and then three days later at Columbus. Just like that, all those games in hand don't look quite as promising for Ben Olsen's young side (although three of the last four matches are at RFK).

Eddie Gaven may have scored the biggest goal of the Crew season, the game-winner Sunday against D.C. United to snap Columbus' six-game winless streak. Even without his deliciously audacious diving header goal Sunday, the return from injury of Columbus' underrated, two-way midfielder was huge news for Robert Warzycha's team.

Diego Fagundez, just 16, hit a goal for New England in a 3-2 loss. The homegrown attacker made good runs all night, and this stuff is important around a Revolution side that has nothing left in 2011 but to evaluate talent.

Fredy Montero, perhaps the streakiest man in MLS, has launched another run; he has a goal or an assist in each of the Sounders' last five matches. Anybody want any of Seattle in the MLS playoffs?

It was a pretty miserable week for Real Salt Lake, losers of one at home to Chicago and one on the road to the league-leading Galaxy. On the other hand, Javier Morales did get back on the field for the final half-hour of a midweek loss to Chicago. Then Morales, out of action since May 7, started and looked surprisingly sharp in Saturday's loss at Los Angeles. In the end, 80 minutes of "get fit" for one of the league's premier playmakers is more important than a singular result.

3. Chicago finishing on the upswing: Some folks love playoff soccer. It's anathema to others, a pitiful pander to the general American sports fan and a slap in the face to those who dote on the world's game.

Whatever your opinion, the reality is that a playoff system means ultimate MLS success comes down to one thing: timing. Is your bunch hot at the right time?

Chicago is 5-1-3 since a bad loss to Vancouver back in early August. Just one loss in nine games means Chicago and coach Frank Klopas are getting a lot of things right at the moment. A respectable weekend draw down in Houston capped yet another strong week. It started when Marco Pappa finally cut loose, hitting for a hat trick in a convincing 3-0 midweek win at Real Salt Lake. Four days later, Pappa and Pavel Pardo were rested (both did come off the bench) in a draw at Robertson Stadium.

Right now, this looks a lot like a run FC Dallas assembled near the end of 2009, one that came right down to the final 90 minutes of the MLS season. That sprint to the finish ended one point short of playoff grace; the deficit created over five and a half months was just too much to overcome in the final six or so weeks.

Real Salt Lake strung together a strong, late run in 2008 and did sneak in with a result on the last day. So, could something similar be happening at Toyota Park?

Chicago does have something else on its side: a chance to win hardware on Tuesday in Seattle, when they visit the Sounders with designs on taking the U.S. Open Cup that currently resides with Sigi Schmid's group.

Then again, Schmid's men are on a heck of streak, too. With Fredy Montero hot again (two goals in the most recent win), the Sounders are 11-2-2 over the last two months, navigating a brutal schedule far better than anyone could have reasonably expected.

4. Choices come home to roost: Players change addresses around MLS more than college students. Some choices regarding trades, expansion drafts and waivers are hits, some are swinging misses. So in the big picture it really is difficult to make sweeping pronouncements on which clubs are best at this stuff; the sheer volume of movement means everyone has a few stinkers.

But this much is certain: it stings a little more when guys you let go return to bite you square in the doggone back side.

Colorado gained three huge weekend points in a 1-0 win over Dallas. The goal was supplied by Drew Moor, who has been a quality, versatile MLS defender in his two-plus seasons at DSG Park since being traded by FC Dallas. (Dallas got Ugo Ihemelu, so the trade in the big picture was probably a wash.)

Chicago's Dominic Oduro has found his MLS feet this year, now with a team-leading 12 goals for the Fire. Not bad for a fellow whose career high had been five goals over six previous seasons. You just know No. 12 was super sweet for the speedy fellow on Saturday. He notched it against Houston, which had been his previous address.

Oduro (who was at Dallas and New York before spending two and a half seasons at Robertson Stadium) moved to Chicago in exchange for Calen Carr, who has a lone goal and no assists in limited minutes for Dominic Kinnear.

5. Team of the Week:

Goalkeeper: Kasey Keller (Seattle)

Defenders: Steven Beitashour (San Jose), Torsten Frings (Toronto), Marvel Wynne (Colorado).

Midfielders: Michael Farfan (Philadelphia), David Beckham (Los Angeles), Diego Chara (Portland), Marco Pappa (Chicago).

Forward: C.J. Sapong (Kansas City), Sebastien Le Toux (Philadelphia), Fredy Montero (Seattle).