This is exactly my concern. Not sure adding some offensive pieces to an already loaded offense offsets losing the biggest piece of a great defense, particularly when we had absolutely no decent depth at CB.
Like most of you I see Seattle being the biggest threat to our second title. Too bad it wont be in the final but it is what it is. I was most impressed by the new european right mid. His crosses and overlapping runs were a threat all game ad his crosses had alot of pace and very well placed. These games are gonna be a battle of two very talented teams. As for LA if we can get in sync as I suspect we will in the midfield we should have control of the games for most of the time. I truly think we have the most talented midfield ever seen in MLS. That being said Seattle and RSL are very close to our level. It should make for some intense matches. I am willing to surrender the Shield for the CCL cup. Another thing our boys are gonna have to deal with is that every away gaime is an event. Any city they go to the crowds are going to be bigger and more intense because they are playing the "powerhouse" club. That means that a win for them is a huge deal. I do think though that our boys know how to deal with it. It's gonna be a fun season.
I tend to agree, though there could be quite a few strong teams in the West. They should relegate the weakest team from the Western Conference (MLS1) this year to the Eastern Conference (MLS2) for next season and promote one Eastern Conference team to the Western Conference.
At this point I would say it's a wash, leaning toward worse this year. And by worse I mean record wise, not beauty of play. Barring injury to any of our key players we should look great when in possession of the ball, and we should score more goals. But we will definitely give up more goals with Omar gone. And it is entirely possible that our improved offense doesn't quite compensate for our weaker defense. To make up an example (I'm bored at work) say for example having Buddle etc. adds up to maybe an extra 0.33 goal/game and losing Omar costs us up to maybe up to 0.40 goal/gm. So if this were true 2011 vs 2012 would look like this: 2011 34 games: 48 goals for, 28 against, goal differential +20. 2012 34 games: 59 goals for, 42 against. goal differential +17. If these assumptions were remotely true our 2012 W-L record likely would be worse. Still at the top of the table, but maybe not SS winner. Additional factor: This year we play an unbalanced schedule this season, weighted toward the tougher WC. This means that even if we are as good as last year overall, or slightly better, we could easily end up with a worse record than 2011. Hopefully either Meyer turns out to be a quick learner with significant talent or Leonardo comes back and plays better than I expect he will and my assumptions about leaking significantly more goals is proven totally wrong. In that case we could really dominate the league, fulfilling our hopes for LA and dashing the dreams of our opponents!
Johansson plays right back (not mid), and has impressive offensive skills for a defender. Seattle's offense has an interesting new look this season. However, Seattle also has a hole at LB that can be taken advantage of by a good RM (I can think of a few...).
Kansas City really took it to DC United in their own house last night - much more than the scoreline indicated. KC has it all - great midfield, great athletes all over the field. Sapong, Bunbury, and Kamara are all a handful. And Zusi is the real thing - great decision maker, great vision, great execution. They look like they are going to one of a handful of contenders for the top of the table this year. Disappointed in how disorganized DC looked. They have some decent players but their spacing, energy, etc. were suspect. Expected better from Olsen.
Also expected better from Olsen - I had listed DCU in my top 10 - I think they have a ton of talent. But clearly, they have not been able to put it together. Question is whether or not they can get it together in the weaker East. I had picked SKC for the Shield, and I'm sticking to it. I would love for it to be us again, but the unbalanced schedule makes it too hard. Watching FCD v NY right now. NY is still a shambles. They just can't get their offense together. Juan Agudelo got the start over Cooper. And their defense - you think we look bad? Yikes. FCD *could* be good, but they are looking a tad slow. Think they will get it together eventually. Brek Shea still looks off. Gotta say, it's only 1 weekend, but there's a growing gulf in class this year. Our game against RSL last night was in general fast paced, the passing was good, and the chances were decent. This game I'm watching looks like it's being played in sand in comparison. Still parity in the league, and anything can happen, but there is a little bit of a rift happening. The top of the West just looks better. I can't wait to watch CCL from '12-'13 as well - the teams in that competition from MLS = wow.
And as I typed that Roy Miller sends an absolutely terrible backpass that gets picked off for a goal. The West teams have won every game this weekend against the East.
Once Kenny Cooper came on, though, that game flipped entirely. NYRB were charging at FCD for the rest of the game and the game became much more fast paced and much more entertaining. The player from Iceland for NYRB also made a very positive impact.
Totally agree. Though FCD bunkered. Still doesn't change the fact the Red Bulls look broken - no central playmaker (Henry kept dropping to play that role cause no one else would) and their defense - yikes. Roy Miller had a horror show. Their GK looks good though. They still don't look like a top team.
They don't have anyone in the middle that can get the job done. Tainio is great at breaking up plays and sending the ball to an outlet, but he's got little skill going forward. McCarty doesn't give them anything going forward and his passing was careless, a la Mike Stephens. They need a better answer in the middle. Lindpere is probably wasted at LM at this point and could probably improve the team a great deal by taking the place of McCarty. On top of that, their outside backs were poor--Roy Miller was bad all last season, but at least Solli had some good moments last year. To add to it, their new CB, Holgersson?, didn't have a great game and Keel is above his level. Keel seems like a solid MLS bench player, not a starter.
Completely agree with all of this, and that's what's being reported this morning. If they don't make some summer acquisitions, it's going to be a short year for NY.
I'm interested to see how they play when Marquez is back in the fold and if Luke Rodgers makes it back from the UK. They have the luxury of playing in the Eastern Conf., so that gives them a decent amount of leeway to improve during the year.
We are going to have to listen to RSL fans be obnoxious this year aren't we? Sigh. In other news, SKC is also looking good. We need to win tomorrow.
I know that 2 weeks is not a relevant sample size, but it is interesting to note that after 17 matches played in total for each division, MLS I (West) has 35 points total and MLS II (East) has 14 points. If I counted correctly, MLS I teams are a combined 9-2 against MLS II (special thanks to Chivas and the Smurfs).
Someone pointed out it's road games for the teams in the East, but I don't think that matters so much. East is least this year (minus a couple, mainly SKC). Chivas can fight it out with the Revs for the cellar though based on play so far.
I expected to see our reserve team as our competition in this thread but o well. I guess some of us are pessimists.....
Sporting KC, that's our main rival this season. They are good, young and hungry and that new stadium has tapped into a fan passion they didn't demonstrate before. I'm just glad my fantasy team is well stocked with their players alongside the LAG ones
HAHAHAHHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHHA. Looks like someone got them in that "fortress" of theirs. Thanks goats for doing us a solid. Feels even better after all of that gloating they were doing.