I enjoy doing this every year, and I'm sure others will too. Last season I correctly predicted an L.A. New England MLS Cup, but had the Revs winning. This year is tough. But here it goes. EASTERN CONFERENCE 1. New England Revolution 2. Chicago Fire 3. Kansas City Wizards 4. DC United 5. Columbus Crew 6. Red Bull New York This is a tough one to predict. The Revs had so few changes and really played well last year. The Fire are always a top club. Wizards had an off-season last year, but are still tough defensively and now have an even better attacking unit. Love my DC, but they were off and on last year and I could see them easily struggling for that last spot. It will not be decided until very late in the year. Crew are going to be better, and Sigi is a great choice, but I could still see them struggling this year. Could be hard for them to find goals. Red Bull New York? I like what the new owners are doing, and I think they'll be exciting to watch, but I'm not entirely convinced of their offence. Where will the goals come from? Can Youri go all season again? How long before Amando self destructs and hates MLS again? WESTERN CONFERENCE 1. Houston Dynamo 2. Colorado Rapids 3. Los Angeles Galaxy 4. FC Dallas 5. Club Deportivo Chivas USA 6. Real Salt Lake The four playoff teams will be fighting it out. Dynamo still have a strong squad, and will want to avenge the first round playoff loss after being MLS's best all season long. I think the Rapids can sneak up on teams. Great keeper, good D, and I think the offense will be a bit more potent this season. It seems like everybody underestimates CoRap. Galaxy will be good again, but with Donovan gone so much this summer, I think they'll suffer then. Dallas will be strong with a rejuvenated Ruiz this season. Chivas will be better, but probably too defensive for the hardcore Chivas fans. And still, where will the goals come from? And better then last year is still a bad team. RSL haven't really made major improvements, and they needed to. Ellinger will be gone by MLS Cup 2006. Hopefully the fans don't drop off with two bad seasons. QUEST FOR THE CUP 2006 EASTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFFS #1 New England Revolution over #4 DC United #3 Kansas City Wizards over #2 Chicago Fire Love my United. If they can get consistent, they will be strong like in 2004. If they can't, it'll be 2005 all over again. The Revs are still strong, and have two MLS Cup losses to fire them up. If EJ can reduce the size of his head, and Wolff comes on strong, the Wizards can be potent in the playoffs. In MLS, a team always comes strong late and makes the run to the Cup. CONFERENCE FINAL #1 New England Revolution over #3 Kansas City Wizards WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFFS #1 Houston Dynamo over #4 FC Dallas #3 Los Angeles Galaxy over #2 Colorado Rapids #1 Houston Dynamo over #3 Los Angeles Galaxy MLS CUP 2006 New England Revolution over Houston Dynamo Great crowd, Houston support strong, but I see the Revs finally getting the Cup Monkey off their back.
Due to WC commitments I see the outcomes as: Eastern: 1. DC United 2. New England 3. Chicago 4. Columbus 5. New York 6. KC Western: 1. Houston 2. Dallas 3. LA Galaxy 4. Chivas 5. RSL 6. Colorado
EAST 1 Revolution 2 KC 3 DC 4 Chicago 5 New York 6 Columbus WEST 1 Dallas 2 Houston 3 LA 4 Chivas 5 Colorado 6 Real Salt Lake Playoffs East Revs beat Chicago KC beat DC Revs win east over KC Playoffs West Dallas beat Chivas Houston beat LA Houston win west over Dallas Revs beat Houston for MLS cup 2-1
The World Cup is a real wild card: Eastern: 1. New England - Twellman and Dempsey gone for the Cup, the defense will remain strong - Noonan and Joseph will still be influential 2. DC United - not much WC loss, and will be more consistent all season. 3. Chicago - I don't know why 4. Red Bull - I think the last playoff spot is a battle between Columbus and NY - Sigi will lose as he rebuilds - Redbull has a few more tools already in place - Mo will get mo out of them and Redbull will commit to winning. 5. Columbus - 6. KC - Lots of ties - EJ and Wolff or gone too often. Western: A battle between Houston and everyone else. The Galaxy will go with Donovan. Look for a post-WC letdown from Donovan. The spots 2-5 will be separated by no more then a point or two. 1. Houston - Good 2. Dallas - 3. Colorado - A rocky start will lead to the resigning of Nkong - Internal battle will surround Kirovski not Mathis. Will be strong during the WC 4. Galaxy - How do they handle losing Donovan and the post WC let down? 5. Chivas - 6. RSL still struggling =
EASTERN CONFERENCE DC United - - - - - - - - No big WC losses, although Adu pouts and is sold Chicago Fire - - - - - - - Fine attack, midfield loses a little steam, though Red Bull New York - - - -Get O'brien, land a forward late in the season New England Revolution- Too many WC losses (TT, Dempsey, Noonan) Columbus Crew - - - - - Sigi helps a bit, but not too much Kansas City Wizards - - -No forwards during cup, Victorine can't do it all WESTERN CONFERENCE FC Dallas - - - - - - - - Cooper and Ruiz are amazing Houston Dynamo - - - -No big WC losses Chivas USA - - - - - - -Bradley magic + good players Real Salt Lake - - - - - Kries/Cunningham tandem Colorado Rapids - - - - Mathis effect Los Angeles Galaxy - - -No Donovan, no improvement from last year Western conference will be much better than Eastern. NE upset DC in first round, with all their big names back Fire vs RBNYNJ is a toss up, I'll take the new stadium Much as I hate it, FC Dallas looks great, they beat RSL on 10-9 aggregate Chivas beats Houston, there is much rejoicing in Spanish NE beat Fire, Dempsey continues to stop drop and roll his way to Europe Chivas with a major upset of FCD Final: Chivas beats NE, Bradley takes over national team. You heard it hear first.
Too early to tell because of the following: 1. Where does John O'Brien end up? Will he be damaged goods or healthy? 2. What will Dallas' lineup really look like? Will Mulrooney be back at game fitness, and will he last the season without injury (please, oh, please!) Clarke is still tinkering, and we've got less than a week to start the season. What is he going to do at left mid, and where will Nunez play? 3. What is happening with the Clint Dempsey altercation? If Dempsey gets shipped out, New England is a different team. 4. Is Eskandarian back, or is he a one-season wonder? 5. Is Rimando going to start in goal for DC? If so, Why???? 6. Is Rolfe really a starter? Can Jaqua deliver? 7. Is the Dynamo team chemisty going to be similar to what it was as San Jose, what with all the distractions this off season. And in the end... I think Bradley will have Chivas USA clicking, much to the surprise of the rest of the league. Likewise, Jeff Cunningham will make a world of difference for his squad. And all the Red Bull possibilities... Who knows what the new management/ownership group will do to turn that thing around. It's got to be exciting. The sad thing is that Columbus will most likely suck again. I love Sigi, but his roster is pathetic. Buddle is unpredictable at best, and Wooly Booly isn't a consistent producer, even if his over-the-shoulder goal should have won Goal of the Decade (no offense, Carlos). I love parity! MLS' structure makes it hard for one team to totally dominate the others. Every game is up for grabs.
Well said. I think its amazing how these MLS teams get stronger and stronger every year. i honestly think Chivas is gonna suprise everyone and RSL is going to be a completly different team.. now with klein, pope, and cunningham. It is gonna be quite a race at the bottom fo the west.. I think New York will have some new energy, and if the fans start coming in it could definitly change the team, im also excited to see how Mo coaches. i was never a big KC fan but a signing like EJ is fantastic for them, thats gonna be quite an attacking power, and they have depth one WC time comes around. i think the WC is gonna make new england drop some major points unfotunatly, LA will obviously be hurt too.. If Houston play like they did last year, the rest of the league could be introuble, especially if the new home adds some energy. i dont think DC nor columbus are going to do too well. I think Chicago hass the ability to do very well but still with the youth, you never know. for colorado... Mathis and Maastroeni in the center Mid.. 3 years ago i would of said wow.. but im gonna boldly predict that it is still gonna work out very well Dallas wont lose too much come world up and can rack up some points. IM very excited to see the first texas darby. West. Im having a really hard time predicting this 1. Houston 2. Dallas 3/4/5/6.. Not A clue East. 1. New York 2. New England 3. Chicago 4. KC 5. DC 6. Columbus MLS Cup... Im gonna guess right now on the spot.. New England 3 - 2 Houston
Klein (bubble USMNT), Cunningham (a top scorer), Sequiera (CR Int'l), Garlick (proven GK) ... hmmm, in the parity ruled world of MLS it's hard to say what will happen, but considering the fact that RSL has added at least 4 starters (plus 3-4 prospects like Ballouchy and Harris). As a fan, I think they've made a LOT of improvements (some fairly major) - who knows how they'll compete with the rest of MLS but the statement quoted made me think the reader had no clue of what's been happening in the West. Here's my RSL predicted line-up: -------------Garlick------------ Brown---Pope---Talley---Torres -----------Sequiera------------ Klein-------------------Ballouchy ------------Williams----------- ---------Kries--Cunningham---- Considering I didn't see a line-up last year that could compare to this, I think they are MUCH improved... now the question is - "Is it enough to compete?" My prediction for the WEST: 1. Houston 2. LAG 3. Dallas 4-6 (open) Colorado did not improve in the offseason (too many key losses and Mathis is an enigma). Chivas and RSL seem to be much improved teams.
WEST 1. LA (Donovan and possibly a wing defender will be out in the summer, but if the role players show up then this could be a good year) 2. HOU (New home, but relatively same team. Solid squad that could go far, but defense, without Califf, could be a little shaky) 3. FCD (If Ruiz provides, then they will be a force to reckon with in the West) 4. CHV (Should get into the playoffs with a strong attack[Razov, Palencia, Garcia]. But many problems could arise if they don't fix their defensive problems.) 5. RSL (Added some solid players [Cunningham, Klein] that could very well help this team, but the West is better this year and it will be tough for them to stay alive with Chivas getting better.) 6. COL (By far the worst team in the league with the worst offense and defense.) EAST 1. DC (No World Cup callups should make this a good summer for United) 2. NY (Again, the World Cup will help this team out for sure in a tough conference) 3. NE (Won't have best players around for most of the time which could hurt them) 4. KC (Can Eddie and Josh play well together, even if they will be gone for a good chunk of the season?) 5. CHI (The nine game road trip to kick off the season could hurt them.) 6. CLB (Not enough firepower to survive in a tough conference) Playoffs: WEST LA over CHV, in a great series. HOU over Dallas, another great series. LA beats HOU to go to MLS Cup, 2-1 EAST KC over DC NY over NE A crazy, unexpected Eastern Conference Playoffs end with a shocking Red Bull win, 1-0. MLS CUP 2006 Galaxy 2-0 Red Bulls I can't wait for this season!!!
West 1st Galaxy-Donovan will probably be out only two weeks from the World Cup 2nd Dallas-Ruiz will score 87% of their goals without Johnson (the other13% will come from O'Brien) 3rd Dynamo-Calif held there defense together. Now he is gone to Denmark 4th Real Salt Lake- It will be very close between them and Colorado 5th Colorado- In the future they will be Real's rival 6th Chivas-Expansion team & low Mexican budget, that is all East 1st Revolution-Great players with Ralston, Dempsey, and Twelman 2nd Fire- Chicago will be helpled by Nate Jaqua and Justin Mapp 3rd Wizards- Johnson and Wolff will be key in their performance 4th D.C. United- is Eskandarian back yet? Will Adu start? 5th Colombus-Sigi has a lot of work to do. Also, how can Elliot do well in the Premeirship? 6th Red Bull New York- The name change will be their folly. lol I just want to take the time to make this point. With the group the USMNT is in the squad will probably only miss two games! The World Cup is a large competition however, every team plays two games in a week. Some people need to realize that two games probably won't make a difference to any given team. Food for thought.
If anything, Chivas is an attacking side this year. Their defense is amazingly horrible. But their offense has a chance to see them get into the playoffs.
I think a lot of people are underestimating both Chivas and New York I think they will both be much stronger than last season. Granted NY doesn't have much in the way of striking options and Chivas will most likely field a lot of Dinosaurs in the back, but have otherwise made good improvements. I think that LA won't get as lucky in the play-offs (this may also just be wishful thinking )
East: 1 Chicago 2 NE 3 DC 4 Columbus 5 NY/NJ Redbull Metrostars 6 KC West: 1 Houston 2 FCD 3 Colorado 4 RSL 5 Chivas 6 LA Playoffs Round 1: Chicago over Columbus NE over DC Houston over RSL FCD over Colorado Playoffs 2 Chicago over NE FCD over Houston MLS Cup Chicago over FCD Chicago should be good this year with no WC losses and having more continuity from the end of last season. They should be able to start the same line-up as last year. Dallas will be good with Mulrooney returning and Kenny Cooper having a good season. At the bottom of the league, KC will miss Johnson and Wolff for too long, and LA will be helpless without their WC stars, plus they weren't very good last year.
you pretty much lose any credibility with this part. RSL hasnt made any major improvements in the offseason? are you kidding me? where have you been living, under a rock? they unloaded mathis, picked up sequeira, garlick, cunningham, and klein and they havent made any major improvements? unloading the cancer that is mathis alone is a huge improvement. dumping DJ freaking countess is another good improvement. then picking up a solid keeper in garlick, a proven goal scorer in cunningham, a huge dmid presence in sequeira, and a national team wing in klein is making massive improvements. not to mention that ballouchy has played GREAT this preseason (i know i know, its only the preseason, but he really has played well). i hope you just didnt realize these moves RSL made and didnt take that into account in your analysis. oh and the crapids will finish at the bottom of the west. what have they honestly done that will move them into 2nd in the west? picking up mathis actually makes you worse. 1) houston 2) galaxy 3) dallas 4) RSL or Chivas, close race 6) colorado
Huh? Players going to the World Cup will be out from May 15th through at least June 22nd. That's 5 weeks, and a minimum of 34 games in MLS. To see how that affects certain teams, look at DC United. They get to play LA, NE (twice), and KC during that span with their full squad against teams missing key players. All those teams gave DC a tough time last season, so DC is looking to benefit a lot from the break. To say those games won't make a difference is both ludicrous and naive. Every MLS team will feel the impact of the World Cup on some level.
This is a bold prediction. I can't say I agree, but it'd be very interesting if it shaped up that way.
Everyone can stop reading after this post since it is the definitive prediction in this thread: EASTERN CONFERENCE 1. New England Revolution This has arguably been the top team in MLS over the past three seasons with 1 MLS cup apperance and 2 Conference final extra time losses. They have done it with a strong core of players in Twellman, Dempsey, Noonan, Ralston, and Joseph. Coach Nicol has been incredibly consistant in getting his team results when it matters. The WC will take the sting out of the Revs in July with 2-4 players likely to make the final roster but with a longer pre-season run up they should be poised for another strong start. There are questions about the depth of the team but as long as they stay healthy they are the team to beat in the east in 2006. 2. Red Bull New York With the striker problem apparently solved for now New York may be much better than their preseasonresults let on. There is a lot of pressure to win here this season, Mo Johnston's job is not safe and the new owners have invested much in this team and want to see results. The key to this team this season will be consistancy and chemistry. Under Mo the team's spirit and focus will be kept in check all season and after a shakey start this team should really pick up the pace come WC time as they will have no players going to Germany. Look for Red Bull to make a huge move in the summer after the world cup to land a major star. Resulting in too many "Red Bull wants to be the Cosmos" and "Red Bull will turn us into the NASL" threads on BigSoccer.com. 3. DC United They have a system that works in MLS under Peter Nowak. They have a team that for the most part has been together now for 3 seasons and who understand how to play in this 3-5-2. Problem is that DC is getting older and the loss of their toughness in midfield with Kovelenko leaving for the Urkraine is going to haunt them. Dc will go through swings of form during the season at times looking unstoppable and then looking hopeless. There are so many questions about this team. Is eski healthy again to a level he can regain his 2004 form? Are the Argentinians for real or are they busts. Can Moreno hold up for another season? Will Adu make a mark this year? Too many questions, and from my seat it looks like they are the only team this offseason that didn't improve. 4. Columbus Crew Sigi knows how to win in MLS and he has never missed the playoffs in his coaching career and i don't think that streak will be broken this year. The team is brand new and Sigi will struggle at first to find the right 11 to gel. They will not be challeneging the other 3 teams above, instead they will be locked into a fight with Chicago for the last playoff spot. Trading away Buddle will come back to haunt them as Their stable of forwards will struggle to score and it will end up as a forward by committee approach. But at the end of the day this team will perform much better than any Drooler team in the past. 5. Chicago Fire Despite not making the playoffs the Fire's season will be one of success because of the opening of Bridgeview and the mid-season canning of Dave Sarachan. This team is going to suffer in form and confidence during their rough opening road trip. With no home games until late June Chicago is really going to struggle. They should get strong late as they go on a long home stand but by then the damage will have been done. They should push Columbus for the final playoff spot but i think in the end they will fall just short after a great late season run. The Fire lost its leadership in the middle and Zach is past it. 6. Kansas City Wizards There will be no magic for the Wizards this year. They looked lathargic and uninspired last year when they basiclly gave away the last playoff spot to Metro. This year they have got great forwards but no midfield to supply it, add on that Wolff and Johnson will miss games during the WC run up (don't forget they will be realsed in May for trainign). The defense should be fine but goalkeeping will let them down and their midfield will be dominated every match. As a result Gansler wil resort to bunker ball tactics he loves to employ and we will see many 1-0-2-0 2-1 losses for KC this year. WESTERN CONFERENCE 1.FC Dallas This team just flat out scares me. Their attacking options are amazing with a happy Ruiz, Mina, Cooper, O'Brien and IMO the next big thing Nunez. They have tough midfielders in Valikari and Mulrooney, who if he can return to form should solidify this team as the best in MLS. Of course there are questions about the defense and GK positions but given all the time this team will spend in the attacking third it shouldn't hurt them much. PHP is complete and they should get great support for the first time since the pre-dragon stadium move. If it ever comes to a shoot-out Dallas should win texas style...with gluns a blaze. 2.Los Angeles Galaxy The defending double winner last year will play with heavy hearts for Doug Hamilton this year and despite not being a better team they will still be good enough to be second in this conference. The backline of Albright, Marshall, Igo, and Dunivant along with GK Kevin Hartman will keep this team in many matches. The core of the team is experianced and with Donovan running around this team will win games, especially at the HDC. Questions whether Gomez can have another Herculian type season or if he will hit the sophomore slump. Look for Ned Grabavoy to burst onto the scene as well as Josh Gardner during the WC time period. 3.Chivas USA Bob Bradley has put together quite a team in goat land. No longer will it be Chivas USa the team with a load of second rate mexicans but one of diversity and experiance. Rameriez had a poor 2005 but i think that was more due to the crap that surrounded him. This will be the most exciting team to watch again in MLS but this time it will be for the goals they score not the goals they concead. Palencia, Razov and Garcia should provided more than enough firepower to sink the other teams and with their new defnese and tactical style they should improve on their good late season form of a year ago. Lets remeber that after Aug. 15th last year the team obtained decent results and were in the middle of the pack for points earned in the last 10 games. They should finish 3rd and set up the first inter city playoff derby in MLS history. 4.Houston Dynamo Here's the thing. I think Houston is better than both Chivas USA and LA but i still think they finish 4th. Here's why. The offseason was a major major distraction for the club. The move from SJ, the naming fiasco, and player moral. But most importantly, this team is no longer playing at Spartan Stadium which was thier fortress for so many seasons. No other team had the home record SJ boasted over the last 4 years. the small field played right into their hands and was creditied for many of their wins. Now its gone. Robertson is not Spartan. That advantage has been removed. This team is very balanced but the loss of Califf will hurt. Remeber Sj was struggling until they got Robinson and Califf healthy together last year. This team will take some time getting settled and make the playoffs and could perhaps be the team to pull an LA Galaxy of 05'. BYW, it also sets up the Houston-Dallas playoff rivalry. 5.Colorado Rapids I hate picking against Colorado, beacuse everyone does it and then they make the playoffs out of nowhere. But i think this year they will be on the outside looking in. They are great at home in Dever's mile high altitude but i just see them as being an average team that isn't terrible and will get big results from time to time but i also see them being overmatched by the other teams regularly. Mathis is the key for Colorado and thats kinda of scary since he has benn sub par the last couple years. Pellgero may be going to New York and Mastroeni will miss a lot of time. Dedi should provide some exciting moments. Joe Cannon wil lonce again win games for the team, something no other MLS keeper can do. In the end, the Rapids will barely be white caps in 2006. 6.Real Salt Lake RSL is still a year away from being a major player in this league. They made some shrewd moves to improve by adding Klein and Cunningham but this team still has to many holes, evidenced by signing Douglas Seguira who is crap as a defender in this league. Elliger will show he doesn't have what it takes to be a pro level coach and will likely be back teaching the kids by seasons end. They will be better than last year when they were IMO the worst team in the league at the end of the year. RSL's time in in 2007 when they will be the ones beating on expansion teams. Sp there you have it. Might as well just start the playoffs tommorow since now all know how this season will turn out.
I say this because RSL and Chivas have both made massive improvements, FCD looks great, and mostly because NE and KC will be losing their best players for the send-off tour and the Cup. I don't really believe that NYRB will do well, my guess is that Buddle will end up clashing with Youri (not too mention the re-rearing of the ugly side of Guevara). And then there's the Crew. So the week teams in the East are C-bus, NY, and temporarily NE and KC. Colorado is the only really bad team I see in the West, although I will unfortunately admit that RSL might collapse w/out Sequira and Pope.
I see a high profile summer transfer move, in the vein a "Mexican Artillery" that Chivas did last year, for New York come August. Especially if the results don't go their way in these first few months.
West --------- 1.Dallas 2.LA 3.RSL 4.Chivas 5.Houston 6.Colorado East ---------- 1. DCU 2. Columbus 3. Kansas City 4. Chicago 5. RedBull NY 6. New England Western Conference Final -------------------------------- Dallas beats LA Eastern COnference FInal --------------------------------- Kansas City Beats DCU MLS Champ ----------------- Dallas Beats kansas City in the final USOpen ------------ Cup Chicago beats Montreal Impact whoops err scratch that Rochester DCU(season Points Leader) and Dallas qualify for Concacaf Champs Cup. Dallas Loses Rio Grande PLate 3-2 on Agregate to tigres.