So far our way too early predictions for league finish are: hav77 1st Skydog 2nd Bilge 3rd Trickhog 4th LAA 7th 73Bruin ? (1st or 2nd in WC)
I am too lazy to look up the relative strength of schedule for teams in the Eastern conference and the impact of an unbalanced schedule to offer a guess about the supporters shield.
SS is really a bit of a toss up nowadays. You only play 6 teams in the other conference. The consensus is the East is a little tougher this year, so if you play in the west and avoid playing the top eastern teams, this year you might have a SS advantage. We play: Miami home Nashville away Charlotte away Chicago away NYCFC home Atlanta home Those are the teams currently sitting at 1, 14, 9, 13, 8, 7 So not very tough. We avoid the teams considered the strongest in the east other than Miami -- (Columbus, Cincinnati and Philly) and we play the teams higher in the standings at home. So our schedule vs. east teams looks favorable.
I'm thinking, I'm thinking. I don't follow the other teams as much, but still, there's nobody in the WC that I fear. Seattle is good on defense, just like they were last year, but I think they've dug themselves too deep a hole and it will take them a while to figure out the rest. Vancouver and Salt Lake seem like those hard working teams that will be solid on defense and produce team goals, and that kind of team can win a SS. Not surprised if they're towards the top but I expect they'll have some problems with the better teams over time. LAFC worries me just because of the organization. How much will they improve during the summer window? I still think (and I feel crazy writing this) that we have the highest odds of being first in the WC, but if it's Galaxy against the field, I think some other team will succeed in being a steady-eddie team and beat us out. So I'll say 2nd in the West. It may be wishful thinking, but I think of Miami as an old Ferrari. Boy it can go, but you just know one of the old engine parts is going to break at some point. The East has several teams that are solid on defense and can figure out ways to win and I expect at least one of them will put together a real solid season and beat us out. So I'm going to say: Galaxy will be 3rd overall.
So far our way too early predictions for league finish are: hav77 1st Skydog 2nd Bilge 3rd Baysider 3rd <- median prediction Trickhog 4th Surikt 5th LAA 7th
In the end, defense is super important and if we don't improve, it will sink us. But the season is a giant chess match, and we do have some superb pieces. I also really like the team's attitude. But I share LAA's assessment of our likelihood of improving on the defensive end - honestly we have had a bad defense for so many years, it's tough to get confident. I think there are so many basics that our former defender coach ignores - it's kind of mind-boggling. Anyhow - you won't catch me making a prediction on where we'll end up in the table. Too many variables, especially injuries. I love that the team is so intriguing to follow, though, and I hope this scoring-at-will thing keeps going, and I'm so surprised at the quick and early success so far.
Just to clarify - all predictions are for our finish assuming no long-term injuries to our key players. If either Paintsil or Puig, and to a lesser extent Pec, were to (heaven forbid!) miss large chunks of the season due to injury, then we simply wouldn’t be the same team, and our prospects would drop markedly. Personally I would add McCarthy to that list because quality goalkeeping is required for a team to be a title contender.
I don't know if the math works for the Shield, but I'm guessing around 4th or 5th... Aka the two other teams in the West + 1-2 in the East.