Top five, six or seven items from the week:

– D.C. United, mired in a horrible losing streak, got the week off. Seattle got two rough road games in four days, and Sigi Schmid’s roster rotation scheme didn’t really pay off, even if they deserved a win in Dallas. Endeavoring to find out why the schedule-makers did that.

– Toronto got terrific performances from O’Brian White and Dwayne De Rosario, but the Reds are still playing an ugly “physical” style.

– The highlights this week are terrific, particularly for NE-COL, CHI-HOU, CHV-SJ.

– Also recommended: MLSSoccer.com’s “Kick Off” feature, highlighting some game coverage from here and there.

– The “Please don’t forget your Wake Forest education” award goes to Columbus keeper William Hesmer for this comment: “They’re walking around as a champion, saying they’re a champion,” Hesmer says of Real Salt Lake, the MLS champion. His beef, of course, is that Columbus was sooooo much better than Real in the regular season, finishing a whole nine points ahead before Jason Kreis’ club won all those playoff games. Better for Hesmer: He saved the Crew early with a fantastic recovery after being beaten and made a few good saves later.

– On-field lowlight of the week: Kei Kamara may have a hard time living this one down — with the ball bouncing along the goal line, the Wizards striker slid to knock it in. He whiffed with his feet. He got it with his arm. Ref saw it. No goal. Yikes. The mitigating factor: The weather was iffy.

– And the bad weather affected crowds all over. Even Toronto had trouble filling seats before kickoff.

The roundup with a new feature: Each team’s lineup, highlighting changes from the last game.

Dallas 2, Seattle 2 (highlights)
– The Thursday ESPN2 game, decided on a dive.
– FCD: (4-1-4-1): Dario Sala; Zach Loyd RB, George John CB, Ugo Ihemelu CB, Jair Benitez LB; Daniel Hernandez DM; Atiba Harris RM, David Ferreira CM, Dax McCarty CM,  Heath Pearce LM; Jeff Cunningham F
– Dallas changes: I had Pearce at the back and Benitez in midfield last week; ESPN listed them the other way around this time. But the same 11 players started.
– SEA: (4-4-2): Kasey Keller; James Riley RB, Tyrone Marshall CB, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado CB, Leonardo Gonzalez LB; Osvaldo Alonso DM, David Estrada RM, Brad Evans CM, Steve Zakuani LM; Fredy Montero F, Roger Levesque F
– Seattle changes: Evans for Peter Vagenas, Levesque for Pat Noonan, Estrada for Freddie Ljungberg. The latter was resting an injury with two games in four days.

New York 2, Philadelphia 1 (highlights)
– NY(4-4-2): Bouna Coundoul; Jeremy Hall RB, Mike Petke CB, Tim Ream CB, Roy Miller LB; Dane Richards RM, Seth Stammler CM, Joel Lindpere CM, Mac Kandji LM; Juan Pablo Angel F, Salou Ibrahim F
– Red Bull changes: Danish midfielder Brian Nielsen made his debut after a single practice.
– PHI (4-4-2): Chris Seitz; Cristian Arrieta, Michael Orozco, Jordan Harvey, Danny Califf; Stefani Miglioranzi, Andrew Jacobson, Roger Torres, Fred; Alejandro Moreno, Sebastien Le Toux
– Philly changes: Danny Califf was out thanks to last week’s red card.
– Challenge to NY fans: Never let us see the Red Bull logo in the seats. Seriously.
– Paul Gardner asks why Peter Nowak keeps taking out Roger Torres, whose incisive passes give the Union the attacking spark they need. Good question.

Columbus 1, Salt Lake 0 (highlights)
– CLB (4-4-1-1): Will Hesmer; Frankie Hejduk RB, Andy Iro CB, Eric Brunner CB, Gino Padula LB; Brian Carroll DM, Eddie Gaven RM, Robbie Rogers LM, Adam Moffat AM; Guillermo Barros Schelotto WF, Steven Lenhart F
– Crew changes: Padula for Danny O’Rourke, Brunner for Chad Marshall (hamstring).
– RSL (4-4-2): Nick Rimando; Robbie Russell RB, Jamison Olave CB, Nat Borchers CB, Tony Beltran LB; Kyle Beckerman DM, Will Johnson RM, Andy Williams CM, Collen Warner LM; Alvaro Saborio F, Fabian Espindola F
– Real changes: Warner gets first MLS start for Nelson Gonzalez
– Schelotto’s penalty kick was the Crew’s only shot on goal. RSL not lucky early this season. I’m not the least bit convinced the late equalizer was offside, either — when the ball was played, a Crew defender had gone back deep in the box.

New England 1, Colorado 2 (highlights)
– NE (4-4-2): Preston Burpo; Kevin Alston RB, Cory Gibbs CB, Darrius Barnes CB, Seth Sinovic LB; Pat Phelan DM, Joseph Niouky DM, Sainey Nyassi RM, Marko Perovic LM’ Kheli Dube F, Zach Schilawski F
– Revs changes: Formation goes to 4-4-2, so Dube comes in for midfielder Chris Tierney.
– COL (4-4-2): Matt Pickens; Kosuke Kimura RB, Marvell Wynne CB, Drew Moor CB, Danny Earls LB; Mehdi Ballouchy RM, Pablo Mastroeni CM, Jeff Larentowicz CM, Wells Thompson LM; Omar Cummings F, Conor Casey F
– Rapids changes: Ballouchy and Thompson on the wings instead of Jamie Smith and Colin Clark. Thompson was traded from NE in the offseason.
– Steve Nicol apparently wants to change the way refs look at the advantage principle.
– Spectacular highlights in this one. All three goals from outside the box, and watch for a clever chip Cummings tries when he’s triple-teamed at the top of the box.

Chicago 2, Houston 0 (highlights)
– CHI (4-2-3-1): Andrew Dykstra; Tim Ward RB, C.J. Brown CB, Wilman Conde CB, Krzysztof Krol LB; Peter Lowry DM, Baggio Husidic DM, Patrick Nyarko RM, Marco Pappa AM, Justin Mapp LM; Collins John F
– Fire changes: Chicago is starting to like the one-striker formation, though it means choosing between John and McBride. John got the call last time; McBride this time. Also Tim Ward for Dasan Robinson. (Note that both “defensive” midfielders scored the goals.)
– HOU(4-4-2): Pat Onstad; Andrew Hainault RB; Bobby Boswell CB, Eddie Robinson CB, Mike Chabala LB; Corey Ashe RM, Lovel Palmer CM, Geoff Cameron CM, Brad Davis LM; Brian Mullan F, Dominic Oduro F
– Dynamo changes: None.
– Fun to watch what the wind does with Onstad’s hair.
– LOVE the shot from Tim Ward to set up Baggio Husidic’s opening goal.
– Great game from Andrew Dykstra, denying Brad Davis a couple of assists.
– Dumb “physical” stuff near the end with red cards for Krol and Houston sub Danny Cruz.
– Fire unis going green. It’s not easy.

Kansas City 0, Los Angeles 0 (highlights)
– KC (4-3-3): Jimmy Nielsen; Michael Harrington RB, Pablo Escobar CB, Matt Besler CB, Roger Espinoza LB, Jack Jewsbury DM, Davy Arnaud DM, Stephane Auvray CM; Josh Wolff RM, Ryan Smith LF, Kei Kamara CF
– Wizards changes: Besler replaced Jimmy Conrad, who rested a calf strain. The broadcast called it a 4-3-3 rather than last week’s 4-5-1, but that really depends on how far forward Wolff and Smith are playing. The three-man central midfield also seems rather fluid.
– LA (4-4-2): Donovan Ricketts; A.J. DeLaGarza RB, Gregg Berhalter CB, Omar Gonzalez CB, Todd Dunivant LB; Charlie Birchall DM, Michael Stephens RM, Juninho AM, Mike Magee LM; Landon Donovan F, Edson Buddle F
– Galaxy changes: Sean Franklin was out with an injured ankle, so DeLaGarza moved from center to right and Berhalter played for the first time this season.
– Most of the game was a goalkeeping duel between Ricketts and Nielsen at Kansas City’s cozy Community American Ballpark.

Chivas USA 3, San Jose 2 (highlights)
– CHV (4-4-2): Zach Thornton; Mariano Trujillo RB, Dario Delgado CB, Michael Umana CB, Jonathan Bornstein LB; Michael Lahoud RM, Blair Gavin CM, Ben Zemanski CM, Jesus Padilla LM; Sacha Kljestan F, Justin Braun F
– Chivas changes: With Lahoud in, Padilla scoots to right, Gavin goes central and Jorge Flores sits. Then Kljestan goes to forward, which is curious, and he and Braun put Maicon Santos and Chukwudi Chijindu on the bench.
– SJ (4-4-2): Joe Cannon; Steve Beitashour RB, Ike Opara CB, Jason Hernandez CB, Ramiro Corrales LB; Joey Gjertsen RM, Brandon McDonald CM, Ramon Sanchez CM, Bobby Convey LM; Ryan Johnson F, Chris Wondolowski F
– Quakes changes: Sanchez for Andre Luiz, who had swelling in his left knee.

Toronto 2, Seattle 0 (highlights)
– TFC: Stefan Frei; Maksim Usanov RB, Raivis Hscanovics CB, Adrian Cann CB, Nana Attakora LB; Dwayne De Rosario RM, Julian de Guzman CM, Martin Saric CM, Nick LaBrocca LM; O’Brian White F, Chad Barrett F
– Reds changes: Hscanovics in center, pushing Attakora to left, with Ty Harden out. De Ro is listed at the unusual spot of right mid, opening a forward slot for White and pushing Sam Cronin to the bench.
– SEA: (4-4-2): Kasey Keller; James Riley RB, Patrick Ianni CB, Tyrone Marshall CB, Tyson Wahl LB; Osvaldo Alonso DM, Sanna Nyassi RM, Peter Vagenas CM, Nathan Sturgis LM; Freddie Ljungberg F, Brad Evans F
– Sounders changes: Sigi Schmid rotated his lineup through the two games in four days, with Ianni for Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Wahl for Leo Gonzalez, Nyassi for David Estrada, Vagenas for Brad Evans, Sturgis for Steve Zakuani, and Ljungberg up front for Fredy Montero. Also, Vagenas is in midfield for Evans, who plays up front for Roger Levesque. Keller was banged up Thursday and had to be replaced, but he returned for this one.
– Another stadium with a visible logo in the stands, though this was technically a sellout. Lots of weird weather this week.
– We don’t want to encourage Preki to persist with this “physical” play (Ljungberg should’ve asked to borrow some Maple Leafs gear at halftime, and Gareth Wheeler provides the latest in a string of excellent analyses of TFC’s “style”), but attacking players White and De Ro created very well. De Ro gets my vote for Player of the Week ahead of LA’s Donovan Ricketts.

For posterity, here’s D.C. United’s most recent lineup (4-4-2): Troy Perkins; Carey Talley RB, Devon McTavish CB, Julius James CB, Rodney Wallace LB; Kurt Morsink DM, Santino Quaranta RM, Jaime Moreno AM, Andy Najar LM; Chris Pontius F, Danny Allsopp F