1. 1.New York Red Bulls: NYRB are having a banner year. After the early struggles this team has become more consistent and more aggressive. Thierry Henry and Kenny Cooper, who is more than deserving of a USMNT nod, have made quite a tandem. Enter Sébastien Le Toux and no one can question that the Bulls have the best attack in MLS. Ryan Meara has been a highlight but the Bulls good season was not without controversy. Golden boy Juan Agudelo was shipped out, and has been equally as on and off at Chivas USA, Dane Richards was off loaded for Le Toux. For now the moves have paid off. With the pending arrival of Cahill or even the BIG name of KAKA the Bulls can ONLY GET better. This team is a MLS cup contender no question… Can they hold on to their good form? That is the question. There have been few bumps this year for the long time bridesmaid of MLS, can this be the year NY gets the cup? Oh the red bulls do have one problem, the enormous contract of one Rafa Marquez…. Yes that one… He does play in MLS in case anyone cares. 2. 2.Sporting Kansas City: While the NYRB are glitz and glamour SKC is all team work and unity. After a hot start the team fizzled to a horrid losing streak, they have since bounced back to be a top team in the east. Aurélien Collin is a candidate for defender of the year. And the team has found a huge back bone in the play of Roger Espinoza . Much like last year the scoring, the assists, and the play is spread out. This is a TEAM with all the letters. Jimmy Nielsen leads the back, Graham Zusi the mid, CJ and Kei up top. A team this good is a contender for MLS cup no question. But champions need a player to step up above all the rest. Who will that be? Teal Bunbury continues his slump and after this season could be trade bate if not already. 3. 3. Houston Dynamo: What can we say? They are always there. Always at the top. Always fighting. Dominic Kinnear’s team is always there to say we’re here. One looks at the Dynamo’s roster and one doesn’t get too impressed, but this team clicks. And when it does they are a force. Óscar Boniek García has been a fine addition providing the team a spark always needed. Brad Davis is the most under appreciated American soccer player EVER! As a River fan I see a lot of Santiago Solari in him, a player who can take free kicks, cross the ball, and dribble, all things the USMNT needs, and yet Our German coach does not realize he is American. I guess you have to play in Austria to play in the USMNT. Go figure. Will Bruin having a fantastic season and another USMNT candidate. How will the team handle the loss of Geoff Cameron, if he is sold who knows. But this team while there is more glamour candidates could be the DARK Horse of the East come playoffs. 4. 4.D.C. United: Being back in the playoffs is a prize in and of itself for DC who have struggled greatly since 2008. On the plus side Ben Olsen has established a good playing rhythm in his squad. Dwayne De Rosario continues to dominate in MLS DC has also found goals from Maicon Santos and Chris Pontius. Heck even Branko Boskovic has contributed. So there is a lot to take in account as positive for a DC team 3 games above 500. With a new ownership group and new stadium plans things are looking brighter for DC. True they could use a DP or two, and off load Hamdi Salihi who for all accounts is so so. Making the playoffs Is enough to build off of for what should be a very interesting 2013. (NOTE: DC has a knack for winning MLS cups as a underdog see 1996 and 2004) 5. 5. Chicago Fire: Help is on the way for the Fire. If you want to call it that, Sherjill MacDonald is the new DP in town with a very minimal scoring record. Sebastian Grazzini continues to be MIA, and Marco Pappa carries the weight of his team as much as possible in a stand out year for the Guatemalan. The Fire imports did not live up to expectations Puppo is on loan back in Uruguay, Rafael Robayo has been nothing more than a bench player, Alex and Chris Rolfe the jury is still out on. The Fire are a wild card team if nothing more. Don’t be surprised if they don’t qualify to the playoffs either. And to that Pappa looking for a new challenge and things get more shady. 6. 6.Columbus Crew: The quite Crew. RW team continues its inconsistency, on the outside looking in will need a huge addition to pick this team up. Eddie Gaven continues to lead the team but not much else. When the forwards aren’t scoring and your 2-3 in 5 games it pretty much sums up the scrappy Crew. Milovan Mirošević was supposed to be a much better contributor than he has been. Its hard to pick out a stand out on a team so scrappy as the Crew. With GBS creating a nice buzz since taking over Lanus in Argentina, the Crew FO dropped yet another ball at bringing life to a team as sour as the Crew. RW job is safe from the only person on earth that would have the full support of the fans. NO PLAYOFFS 7. 7.Montreal Impact: welcome to MLS impact. It has been cool having you! What can we ask, the team has been finding its footing in MLS and has been nice to watch. despite losing some games it’s a learning curve. I don’t understand the huge Italian influence. Nesta, Rivas, and DI Vaio are all up in age and really how long can they truly contribute. This team could use a overhaul of KEY players. Getting younger and better DPS. Welcome to MLS Impact. NO PLAYOFFS 8. 8.New England Revolution: Still New England but not as boring. NER have become a better team to watch but are still sagging if we would have told you Saer Sene and Lee Nguyen would be the leading goal scorers would you have believed me? Well they are. New England vastly needs a big player to shake the team out of its inconsistent funk. Benny Feilhaber has been good but not World Cup Benny Feilhaber . Jerry Bengtson could be that spark for the team but for 2012 its too little to late. NO PLAYOFFS 9. 9. Philadelphia Union: This is pretty simple. The problem of this team was called Peter Novak. Case and point how the team has bounced back since his departure. But Novak did his damage sending his core players off to anywhere other than Phili…. Novak is a name most Union will loath for a very very long time. 10. Toronto FC: It could have been even worse… But well another year another coach. Gone was the horrible De Guzman and TFC now has Hassli who can be a huge spark down in Toronto. Things are looking up but TFC is still a work in progress for 2014!