WEST 1 - Los Angeles 2 - Seattle 3 - Salt Lake 4 - Portland 5 - Vancouver ------------- 6 - Dallas 7 - San Jose 8 - Colorado 9 - Chivas USA EAST 1 - Kansas City 2 - New York 3 - Toronto 4 - Houston 5 - Chicago ------------ 6 - DC 7 - Philadelphia 8 - Columbus 9 - Montreal 10 - New England I think the top three in the west and top two in the east are close to locks, and the only teams with little chance of making the playoffs are Chivas, Montreal, and New England.
West 1. Seattle 2. LA 3. Salt Lake 4. Portland 5. Vancouver 6. Dallas 7. Colorado 8. San Jose 9. Chivas East 1. New York 2. Kansas City 3. Houston 4. Toronto 5. Chicago 6. Philadelphia 7. Columbus 8. DC 9. Montreal 10. New England
Isn't this what Toronto does best? Get their fans' hopes up and them utterly utterly crush them through epic disappointment. I, like others, think this could be the year they make the playoffs. However, I can't help but feel they are just setting everyone up for another classic let-down.
I'm not an expert on the west, but I see the days of RSL being an elite team slowly fading. I see LA and Seattle as locks, as to the rest it would just be a guess. As for the east I think people don't realize how much stronger some teams have gotten, last year the east was an absolute joke, which explains why some Philly fans delusionally think the team might improve over last year after getting rid of what made them successful, they're fooling themselves. The parity of the past will disappear as teams face each other 3 times, the good teams will beat up on the weak creating space. My East Picks: Chicago - I'm a homer on this one, then again I picked the Fire to be awful last year, so I don't blindly think my team will be good. No one in the East was better then the Fire towards the end of last year, all the Fire did was upgrade at midfield, striker and added depth. DC - I like the moves DC has made this year, the names in that lineup are scary. They should have made the playoffs last year, and they got significantly better. NY - They should be a good team, Backe will play Marquez in midfield and Henry looks to be in form, but another meltdown is possible and they lack depth, but they're certainly playoff/top-tier quality. The Crew and KC will battle for the last two spots, they were near the top of the east because of how awful it was last year, 46ish points will be 5th place territory this year. Toronto will be competitive this year, they seem to have direction for once. Houston was a crap team last year, how did they ever make the MLS Cup, let alone the playoffs? They will hover near the playoff zone, but unless they add somebody to that team I don't see success even with a new stadium. Montreal will do better then expected, maybe staying in the playoff hunt for most of the summer. Philly will be a cauldron of anger, it will get ugly very, very quickly. Probably when LeToux and the revamped Whitecaps come to town and make Philly their bitch. . . . . . Then at the bottom of the barrel a NE team that is excited about signing a 4th division Bundesliga striker coming off an injury. Poor NE.
West LA Seattle Salt Lake Portland Vancouver ------------ Dallas Chivas USA Colorado San Jose East Kansas City Philadelphia Chicago New York DC ------------ Toronto New England Houston Columbus Montreal Before anyone calls me a homer for not putting NE in dead last, let me say that I'd prefer them to do poorly because then our GM might get fired. This is just my unbiased honest assessment based on off-season moves. Houston, C-bus, and Montreal just haven't impressed me with their moves. Meanwhile, people are vastly underrating Phili.
Man is Dallas flying under the radar this off-season. They were the 4th best team in the league last year. They'll get the 2010 MVP back in David Ferreira, and have filled by far their weakest position. Blas Perez will be a huge upgrade at forward from last year. The dynamic Fabian Castillo will fill the hole left by Chavez with ease. (San Jose fans will learn quickly why FCD traded him) Jackson won't be missed. He was a mental garbage disposal. The only real loss from 2011 will be George John. If Hernan Pertuz and Matt Hedges can fill that role...............FCD should be fighting with teams like RSL and Seattle for the 2nd seed in the West. I can't fathom how a person could put Vancouver in the playoffs (who are a markedly flawed team. Tons of forwards. No defense)..........over FC Dallas. FCD was 24 points better than Vancouver last season. As FCD isn't taking a complete nosedive, I can't see Vancouver making up that distance in 2012. They'll be better, but they're not closing that much of a gap. Who have they added to their roster this off-season to convert them from the worst team in the league in 2011 to a playoff team? Le Toux is good, but he ain't that good. A soon to be 35 year old, rapidly declining, Korean fullback? Please........ My prediction for the West: LA (Supporter's Shield winners.) RSL (spots 2-4 will be really close. Any order of RSL, Seattle, and FCD is reasonable) FCD Seattle Portland Colorado Vancouver ChivasUSA San Jose
Seems like you underestimate the losses of Jackson and Chavez. From what I saw they were important weapons for the team and they haven't been replaced. Blas Perez is only a marginal improvement over Maicon Santos. And the biggest loss as I see it is Pareja who seemed like the glue that held together all the Latin elements on the team. Dallas already started sliding at the end of last year and I just don't think enough has been done to right the ship.
Chavez and Jackson should have been major weapons. They weren't. Chavez I can maybe see an argument for, but Jackson was a headcase. Anything is an improvement over Santos. Both he and Chavez were notorious for hitting a ball everywhere but on goal. At least Chavez, though, would keep defenses honest with his speed. Santos was just there. Of course, Perez could end up being a bust too, but with all the lack of scoring the team has exhibited, well, that wouldn't be a downgrade. As for the slide we had last year: the simply wasn't deep enough to handle three competitions at once. They got tired. With only one competition and with a (hopefully) 100% David, the team should be a whole lot better/back to 2010 levels of sweetness. But we shall see.
The addition of Lee,Bonjour and Mitchell allows the Caps to play Rochat at LB for the whole season even if Demerit gets injured again. The Whitecaps hole is still in the midfield not on defense.
Blas Perez should be a major upgrade from Maicon Santos. FCD didn't have any forwards who could score goals last season, and they managed to have the 4th best record in the league. RSL isn't the same without Morales. Seattle isn't the same without Rosales. And FCD certainly wasn't the same without Ferreira in 2011. I think there are people out there who've forgotten how good David Ferreira is. Chavez and Jackson were OK. They didn't need to find replacements for them, because they were already on the roster. That's their Colombian DP Fabian Castillo. FCD's attacking force is gonna be great. By the way, George John isn't playing at West Ham. He might be coming back to FCD for the 2012 season. If that's the case........watch out. On paper a person could make the argument that if that happens, they'd have the 2nd best roster in the league after LA. If John doesn't come back, that position is a cause for serious concern. OK........my prediction for the East. This is harder than the West...........I really have no idea. It's really tight. Kansas City New York Toronto Chicago Houston -------------- DC Columbus Philadelphia New England Montreal There's something rotten in the state of Philadelphia. Nowak is my pick for the first coach fired. Some people have Houston farther down, but Kinnear normally figures things out. I don't know what to make of Columbus. They could win the East or miss the playoffs. Who the hell knows?
Despite some of the comments you've read from some misguided Union Fans, Nowak's job is safe no matter what the results are. He's manager AND Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the Union. I know I'm being a homer, but I love how everyone thinks the Union are taking a huge step back and are in "Rebuilding" mode. Seriously???? This is year THREE of the Union!! They were built from scratch unlike the past FOUR expansion sides who had many years being successful teams in the USL/A-League/NASL. If you look at their acquisitions this off season, they filled areas of need. Last season they had the #2 Defense in MLS, and allowed the least amount of shots on goal and shots in MLS. Now they've added a real LB to that mix, and are moving forward with a younger goalie who had two shutouts and was unbeaten in 7 starts last season. They also added a highly skilled forward who's more versatile then the one they traded. They also added a budding star at forward for the Costa Rican National Team in Josue Martinez. And for good measure we added Gabriel Gomez, the capatain of Panama's National Team who can play multiple positions along the back line and in the MF. They also got Keon Daniel back in MF, now that he finally has his Visa issues resolved. Not to mention the much maligned Freddy Adu is 100% healthy and getting an entire pre-season under his belt for the first time in a LONG time (this can help, stop snickering!!!). So how exactly did the Union suddenly get worse in the off season?
The signings are definitely exciting, but the losses are so noteworthy. Philly's success last year was built overwhelmingly on the backs of Le Toux's clutch production and Mondragon's experience guiding the defense. Some may argue that those 2 were the biggest pieces of the puzzle. Add to that other important pieces like Mapp, Paunovic, Miglioranzi and Nakazawa gone. Now instead Philly has stockpiled a shitload of young talent and sprinkled in some Latin experience from abroad but it might not come together for them overnight. This will be one of the most changed teams in 2012 and sometimes that takes awhile to work out especially with so many young players.
I'll give you Paunovic. Nakazawa didn't play much last season, and most Union fans are in agreement that Migz shouldn't have seen the field as much as he did last season. Mapp tended to make our attack predictable as he heavily favored his left foot and seldom used his right. Mondragon was great in the leadership and organization aspects, but most of the goals he let in were soft, and savable. Now he also did a masterful job tutoring Zach MacMath during the year, which was evident in his 7 starts last season when Mondi was injured. LeToux....let's agree to disagree here. On the one hand yes he did produce for the Union, but he also made our attack one dimensional and predictable. The majority of his goals came off of lobs over the Defense that he got on the end of, or PK's (his goals against NE and SKC not with standing). IMO the Union's Attack will be better organized this season and more fluid as players will be in position for counters and also in their own lanes on the field, and we will have more over all skill and technical ability on the field. And oh yeah.......the defense has gotten better and deeper.
Western Conference 1. LA - well documented by others. The rich get richer. 2. Seattle - offseason is a wash, overall the same - still strong. Got a little worse at keeper but a little better in defense and midfield. Getting rid of Jaqua's albatross helps. 3. RSL - lost Russell but the dominant core is still there... rimando/olave/borchers/wingert, beckerman/johnson/morales/grabavoy, saborio/espindola. Getting rid of Arturo Alvarez's albatross salary should help. Enzo martinez was the STEAL of the draft; Paulo could be a starter on many teams (2 goals and 4 assists in only 468 minutes last year!!), and Gil is improving. 4. Dallas - for a team that finished 4th overall, they only had a +3 goal differential last season. They did not adequately replace the losses of John, Chavez, and Jackson. Ferreira is older, coming off a big injury, will not be 100% (they are sending him back to a foot specialist today ), and is more likely to get hurt and miss most of the season than repeat his 2010 performance. Shea could be sold to a euro club in the summer. Still have many good players like Loyd, Ihemulu, Castillo, and Benitez, etc. and a great coach in Hyndman. 5. San Jose - The bad: lost Burling and Convey; Yallop seems wedded to starting Corrales who is OLD. The many additions: bringing Dawkins back, Lenhart for a full season; added Chavez, Moreno, Bernardez, Guvenisik, and Alexandre. The question marks: can Opara and Dawkins stay healthy? --- 6. Portland - overachieved for a team that was only 4 points out of a playoff spot: they had a -8 goal differential last season. Boyd and Mosquera should help a lot. Their big home field advantage could push them to overtake SJ and Dallas for the 4 spot. 7. Colorado - round peg into square hole... the 4-3-3 will fail miserably as it always does in MLS, especially with a roster like Colorado's full of 4-4-2 style players like Mastroeni, Larentowitz, Mullan, Casey, and Smith. If any of those guys get sick of Pareja's 4-3-3, we would love to have them in SJ they would be perfect fits in Yallop's 4-4-2. 8. Chivas - JPA overachieved and will regress, he's 36. Getting rid of Valentin and Braun were horrible moves. 9. Vancouver - Really surprise so many people have them in the playoffs? Reality check: they had a -20 goal differential last season. Chivas only had a -2 goal differential last year for comparison. They made some nice moves but aside from Le Toux and maybe Bonjour, every one of their new players is stepping into a higher level league than they played in last year (Mattocks was in NCAA, Nguyen in vietnam, Pyo in Saudi Arabia, Davidson J-league 2, Watson in NASL). They are also unbalanced and have too many forwards (perhaps a trade is in order at some point, maybe send a fwd to dallas for bobby warshaw or matt hedges?). Positives: DeMerit and Harris are back from injury.
West: Seattle / LA / RSL / Portland / Colorado. first 3 are basically locks and probably still the three best teams in the league. i don't have a good feeling about Dallas, so i gave Por/Col the nod over them. Seattle/Portland playoff series, please. East: Houston / Kansas City / New York / Toronto / DC. not understanding the Chicago love, though I'd personally like them to be relevant. Houston/KC were automatics at top two. i understand the hesitation to put too much faith in TFC until something is accomplished, but i would only trade rosters with a few teams in the league; i would consider us missing the playoffs to be a notable underachievement performance. my 3-5 were all very close to each other and could go in any order. a Toronto/DC wildcard playoff game would be one of the best ways to introduce us to the playoffs, we always have fun (only Montreal would be better and i see them around 7th-8th in the conference) spoon: NE. a lock? hell no. but what reason do i have to pick someone else as more likely?
Eastern Division: 1.Sporting Kansas City 2.CHICAGO 3.New York 4.Philadelphia 5.DC United Western Division: 1.Real Salt Lake 2.Los Angeles 3.FC Dallas 4.Seattle 5.Portland MLS CUP: CHICAGO vs. FC Dallas
Remember when DC retooled the top Eastern Conference team for no reason? We've seen this show before, it results in sucking. Philly took advantage of a terrible east last year, it was a blip that was mistaken for a huge step, now you got rid of over half of your offense. I will be eating crow if Philly ends up anywhere near a playoff spot.
I'll take a stab at it: East: SKC New York Houston Chicago Toronto West: LA RSL Seattle Dallas Portland But to be honest, the only teams I would be surprised to see in the playoffs are Montreal, New England, and Chivas. Personally, I just think Chivas didn't improve enough compared to their Western Conference counterparts.
i like that RSL is "fading" (as stated by many people) and are still the third best team by most. i'm just hoping we have morales around all season, it was a long season last year without him for most of it. here's hoping the injury bug isnt as bad (for all teams) this year, i hate to think of how it watered down the league a bit last year. RSL losing Russell and Williams is a lot of minutes to replace, but Beltran will step in full time for Russell (and is more than capable) and Grabavoy will step in for Williams (and is rock steady). depth is the only real concern, the spots 15-20 on the roster arent as proven. as for playoff teams, here's my "out of my ass" picks: west: 1. LA- definitely the #1 unless utter disaster strikes via unforeseen circumstances 2-4. then a cluster between Seattle, RSL, and Dallas for 2-4, any of which could finish in any of those positions. 5. Portland- barely missed out on the playoffs last year, made some good signings and got rid of cooper. east: 1. KC 2. NY 3. Tor (lol, wut) 4. Chicago 5. one of DC or Houston.
West: LA Starbucks FC(not sure where this came from but it made me laugh) Salt Lake Dallas Portland ------ East: *puts on homerblinds* My beloved Sporting "Sporks" Houston Chicago Philly Cbus
The West top4 is set imo....LA/RSL/Sea/Dal are pretty close to locks...LA should run away with the shield but CCLX2 plus international duty will put a strain on the roster. The last spot is between the other 2 Cascadia teams and Colorado depending on how they take to Oscar. Vancouver has made some really big moves this offseason, and if they can bring in the DM from Borgh' and Bentley they look pretty set. Portland, I wasn't sold on last year, and think they will be average this year, but average just might get you the 5th seed with Chivas/SJ being well below and Colo/Van also being around average. The East is a whole nother story, basically Sporks/RB then everyone else. With MTL/Revs at the bottom as their roster currently stand.
I'm not surprised. They are an easy team to hate on because they win ugly. But the Dynamo have a lot more stability this year than they did to start the season last year and I think people underestimate a very good defense & set piece team that is well coached. In this league, that has been a great formula for making the playoffs. But I don't think they make the Finals this year without adding a forward (or Bruin stepping up in a big way).
I think slowly fading as an elite team is the term I used, do you think RSL will put up elite team numbers this year? That they'll be in the hunt for a SS and the top two spots in the West? I think they're playoff bound, a good team, possibly 3rd place bound but they only had a point on Dallas last year. They were an awesome team to start 2011 that finished 10 points behind the second place team in the West. They literally faded last year, to beat the metaphor to death.