EAST 1. Chicago 2. DC 3. Toronto 4. Houston 5. New York 6. Kansas City 7. Columbus 8. Philadelphia 9. Montreal 10. New England WEST 1. Salt Lake 2. Los Angeles 3. Dallas 4. Colorado 5. Seattle 6. San Jose 7. Chivas USA 8. Vancouver 9. Portland
Well, now that we're picking the whole league, I'll try again: West: LA Seattle Vancouver RSL FCD Portland Colorado San Jose Chivas East: SKC Union TFC NYRB Chicago DCU Houston Columbus Montreal New England I can't believe how stacked the West is. It's going to be a tough, tough conference this year.
New England, Montreal, and Chivas are the only teams no one here has picked to make the playoffs. So we all agree that there are 16 playoff contenders this year. Sounds about right for MLS. I just hope the the end of the wildcard format doesn't lead to a situation where the top 5 in a conference are already pretty much determined with weeks to go in the season. Not likely to happen given the parity in this league. But I hope the 5th spot in each conference is still up for grabs on the final day of the season. And then I hope the team that gets that 5th spot doesn't go on to win MLS Cup because f*ck you, you sucked all season and one little hot streak at the end makes you the champion?
Anyone else watch Gary Smith coach Stevenage to a hard-fought draw and earn a replay against Spurs in the FA cup today? I think Pareja is a good coach but I think too many are discounting the coaching change effect in Colorado. It is going to take time for Pareja to assemble a team of his style of players and ship out Smith's guys like Mastroeni/Larentowitz/Mullan/Smith/Casey. Similar to how it took Kreis and Hyndman a season or two of losing before they made the playoffs. http://www.mlssoccer.com/blog/post/2012/02/19/gary-smith-stevenage-will-go-white-hart-lane-belief
You seem to be discounting Pareja's comments where he plans to use those players, not ship them out. The only one I could see being shipped out in that list is Smith. Mullan and Casey are Denver natives, they'll be here until they retire (which for Mullan will be fairly soon). This is Mastroeni's last year on his contract I am expecting him to retire or take a much smaller contract to be a backup after this year. Pareja has called Larentowicz the perfect midfielder to play the pivot in his 4-3-3. I do think the Rapids will take a step back this year and miss the playoffs as we adapt to Pareja's new style, but if you can't see Casey and Larentowicz playing in that system you haven't been watching the Rapids, just listening to the misplaced "thug life" rep. I expect us to be back in the playoffs in 2013 and playing better than we did in 2011.
West: LA Seattle RSL FCD Portland Vancouver Colorado San Jose Chivas East: SKC Union TFC Houston Chicago DCU NYRB Columbus Montreal New England ...Yes, you read that right. DC will take their rightful place in the standings...above NY, but out of the playoffs. That being said, I fully expect the final two playoff spots to be an absolute bloodbath with NY, Columbus and DC all missing out by a combined total of <5 points. Expect hilarity to occur with NY's demise. MLS Cup: KC v RSL
What's with people predicting an inevitable NY demise? The same core is there (8 of 11 starters), with much needed depth in. Cooper, Palsson, Borrajo, Lade + we'll see more from the huge batch of trialists we have in. This and a better defense, and less losses to international matches (both because of the schedule changes and because there's no Gold Cup) makes us one of the best teams in the league for sure. Last year we were maybe 14 players deep at best, while this year we are arguably 18 or 19 players deep. And we have to account for the inevitable 3rd DP in the summer and hopefully another goalkeeper as well.
I think its the midfield. Nyarko----Grazzinni----Pappa ------pardo--Pause---- Find the weak point in that midfield. Maybe pause..but not really, they'll need someone to stay back and play the pure DM role and just backpass 'til the cow comes home. Of course, if Robayo lives up the hype, say goodbye to Pause. As mediocre as the fire were, not only did they miss out playoff by a few points (3). Their overall record was 9-16-9. They key number is the 9 losses. A shockingly low number. It was the same number that KC and Houston had, it was less than RSL or Dallas. You have to say that they at least have an extra win or two in them, with a whole season of Pardo/Grazzinni. 48pts doesn't seem like too much of a stretch and that will probably get them in the playoffs. They could do even better.
I have no clue about the east, so I won't even try there. The only two teams I've been keeping an eye on through the offseason are Portland (for obvious reasons) and Vancouver (a friend of mine is a Rennie fan), so those are the only ones I have any strong notion about. I think only one of Portland and Vancouver will make it to the playoffs, if either of them do. I also gauge Portland as having the better chance by a little bit, but I think that Vancouver will likely have the slightly better team by the end of the year. Vancouver will have issues with gelling on the field early in the year, and that will cause problems for them in race for the playoffs at the end. They'll be chasing a spot, if they are even in contention. Portland may have some issues early on, but I think they'll be much much better off than Vancouver early on, and will probably be sitting in the 5 spot, or in a close 6 come September/October. Yes, this does mean that I think Vancouver will be directly competing with Portland for a playoff spot, and that will make those late season Cascadia Cup games between them much more interesting.
Western Conference Los Angeles Real Salt Lake Portland Seattle Vancouver -------------- FC Dallas Colorado Chivas San Jose Eastern Conference Toronto FC Sporting Kansas City Philadelphia DC United Columbus --------------- New York Houston Chicago Montreal New England
The Metro way is to get knocked out in the first round of the playoffs year after year filled in with an occasional last place finish.
Because non-RBNY fans have no faith in either your front office or your coaching staff. You guys certainly could make the playoffs, though. The East is wide open. Somebody below actually picked TFC to win the East. This from an organization that's never made the playoffs in a league where every team makes the playoffs. If you don't make the playoffs we know what'll happen. Bye-bye Backe. Actually, he better have a good start to the season. If he doesn't..........his seat will start getting hot really fast.
West: 1. LAG 2. SSFC 3. RSL 4. Dallas 5. Portland ------------ 6. Colorado 7. Vancouver 8. SJ 9. Chivas East: 1. SKC 2. Toronto 3. Houston 4. Chicago 5. NYRB --------- 6. Philly 7. Montreal 8. Columbus 9. DC Eleventy-billionth: Revs I admit to knowing much more about the West than the East. The West will be very competitive and tough this year. I think LAG, Seattle and RSL are pretty much locks. That leaves 6 teams fighting for the last two spots. Dallas are proven winners who haven't lost much and will get their MVP back. Colorado is only two years removed from winning the whole thing, though I agree that they will likely struggle a bit coming out of the gate with the changes they've made. Portland and Vancouver will both be better than last year. Vancouver will be much more stable. Portland hasn't added tons of starting quality (I predict three new starters), but will be much deeper all over. And I expect San Jose and Chivas to be in the thick of things, too. I think any of my top six in the East could make it, and any could finish first in the conference. I see lots of parity at the top, but a fall-off in terms of depth past that. The off-season is way too long.
Question: Everyone seems to have the Revs dead last by far. Are they really that much worse than the other consistent bottom dwellers (Montreal)? I, like many Rev fans, would prefer that we suck as much as possible because then Kraft will have to $hit or get off the toilet, but they've made a number of improvements this off season. IMO we're only 1 or 2 moves away from a reasonably competitive team. It would take a miracle to qualify for the playoffs, but are we really that much worse than Montreal?
Well, you were 14 points worse than the expansion Timbers in 2011, and even on points with the expansion Whitecaps. In 2010 you were one only point better than the expansion Union (with a worse goal differential) In 2009 you were five points worse than the expansion Sounders. Betting against the Revs recently has been the safer bet.
Agree, to a certain extent. But with the number of changes they've made this off-season, are they really going to get worse? The organization added a 100% new coaching staff, new trainers, replaced 6 starters, and added a few of depth players. The team still has a long way to go (and with Kraft they probably won't even try to get "there"), but will they really be last in the league by a mile?
I agree, I see virtually no daylight between NE, Columbus, Philly and Houston on paper. NY and Toronto look superior on paper, but we all know how snake bitten and prone to turmoil these 2 clubs are. DC is coming off 4 years of crap, and even though they added a lot this offseason it'll take awhile for the team to gel especially with an inexperienced coach. Montreal will have the expansion blues, no doubt. So really the only 2 clubs that look poised to rise above and show some consistancy will be KC and Chicago. And of those 2, Chicago will still be beatable. So even in a scenario where NY and Toronto fulfill their potential and climb to the top 3 that should leave the 5th and maybe 4th place spots pretty accessible to anyone in the East who can come through in the clutch.
I think the problem here is that non-Revs fans (and maybe even Revs fans) have zero faith in your front office. Zero. And people don't know how your "100% new coaching staff" is going to work out. It's not like you're replacing Nicol with any kind of known quantity. A poster above says he sees "no daylight" between your club and Philly, Houston, & Columbus. All three of those clubs are managed by either an MLS Cup or Supporter's Shield winner. And all three finished ~20 points ahead of you last season. I'm not as pessimistic about your Revs as other people, though. You do have some talent out there. If you can find some goals, you'll be OK. I don't think you'll qualify for the playoffs, but I don't think you're gonna be as bad as people say.
Rev fans have even less faith in our front office. I just don't think there's going to be a huge difference between teams at the bottom of the eastern conference.
I'll be honest. Picking the Revs dead last for me was mostly aspirational. I think lots of dedicated MLS fans, who want to see the league prosper, see the Revs organization as an anchor on league growth. I want the Revs to be punished for their lack of vision and ambition. I don't see that situation improving until they hit absolute rock-bottom, and the sooner that happens the better. Ergo, Revs In the Eleventy Billionth place for me.
A lot of Rev fans want to see the same exact thing, but it's just not going to happen. Kraft is committed to keeping this team for some reason.
Hard to say without seeing the teams on the pitch, but here goes.. EASTERN 1. Sporting Kansas City 2. Chicago Fire 3. Houston Dynamo 4. New York Red Bulls 5. Toronto FC in no real order, but I could see it shaking out like this. Hard to pick against my United, but I'm not sure this is the year. WESTERN 1. Los Angeles Galaxy 2. Seattle Sounders FC 3. Real Salt Lake 4. Portland Timbers 5. FC Dallas And since we're guessing wildly in February, I'll go whole playoffs on your asses. EASTERN CONFERENCE 1. New York Red Bulls over Toronto FC to get into it 2. Chicago Fire over Houston Dynamo 3. Sporting Kansas City over New York Red Bulls EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL 4. Sporting Kansas City over Chicago Fire WESTERN CONFERENCE 1. Portland Timbers over FC Dallas 2. Seattle Sounders FC over Real Salt Lake 3. Los Angeles Galaxy over Portland Timbers 4. Los Angeles Galaxy over Seattle Sounders FC MLS CUP: Los Angeles Galaxy over Sporting Kansas City at HDC Although, Seattle could win the West and the MLS Cup.