OK Gomez at #10 makes everyone better, eh? Time to predict the future........ Last year, the Rapids did *not* take advantage of their home field, nor the Houston "Championship Hangover" (at least i predicted that correctly...). Anyway 1) Houston will be tough, Chivas, too 2) SJ & RSL will be at the bottom 3) LA will not be that bad 4) Dallas...worse or better? 5) Can the Rapids make third, or challenge the leaders??? My Bets: Houston Chivas Colorado (it's our turn) LA (Posh will help....) Dallas (becomes the new Red Bulls) SJ RSL RLH
Enjoy the RMC this year, because it is coming back!!!! Chivas Colorado Houston DallASS LAG FSL SJ I chose Colorado going in second because we are already a solid team. Great back line, solid mid. And hopefully a good goal scorer (cue HERCZ), someone please tell me our other new signing is a ST....
And I say one table is worth more than that: Chivas USA 53 Houston 43 FC Dallas 44 Colorado 35 Los Angeles 34 Real Salt Lake 27 So newbie why don't you get back to me when you've actually, oh I don't know, played in a playoff game or won an actual USOC game, OK?
Chivas LA Dallas Houston RSL Colorado SJ sorry, i just wanna see RSL make the playoffs and I really think they can. You guys probably could finish higher especially with Gomez but I'm not sure who is gonna drop off from the top. Maybe i'm over-rating Dallas. This is what I love about MLS, it's really up in the air.
Dallas Chivas Houston LA Colorado SJ FSL I think with a different coach with different leadership the Rapids could jump up to 3rd or 4th.
la is gonna be good this year i have the feeling us on the other handi hope we do better then last season or atleast more goals
Houston is going to struggle with the loss of Ngwenya and Jaqua. Ching is getting older. Chivas USA FC Dallas Colorado Houston LA RSL SJ
So, Chili, what do you think about "predications"? My response is predicated on that question. Obviously, we are really talking about predictions. Chivas, Houston,Dallas, and LA have to be considered the most likely to be high finishers. I just finished reading Bradley's article about RSL. They are due to find their way into the playoffs just by the odds that you have to eventually stumble in regardless. They are definitely starting with a better team than they have shown in the past to begin a season. The only likely finish would be for SJ to be down for at least a season. With an entirely new roster, it is going to take a while to gel, and I don't see a lot of sure fire stars on their team yet. That obviously brings us to Colorado. As a Rapids fan, I want to put us up near the top, but right now, I just can't do that. Our most notable player, Pablo, seems to be becoming a little less notable, and everything else is question marks. We have the same coaching contingent that so far hasn't proven that they can take the pieces we have and meld them into a "team". Bouna is strong and only going to get stronger, so we start with a great beginning in the goal, but after that, it remains to be seen. FC is getting his chance to go 4 years in and if he can take the new and old players and get them together on the same page, we have potential. The likely signing of Gomez certainly should strenghten our team considerably, but I feel like it is way too early to predict what this team will do. We will know much more after the first real month of the season. We started well last year, but then reality set in, and the team began to realize its shortcomings. I hope and pray that July will see us on fire and moving towards the top, but only time will tell.
I think Chivas aren't going to be as good this year, same with Dallas. I haven't heard either team do much of anything this off-season so far. The field is tilting towards the HDC in my opinion. I loathe the Galaxy, but if they can get their defense fixed, they already have the best offense in the league. Houston will drop a little bit without Jaqua and Ngwenya, but they still have the best midfield and one of the most consistent defenses in the league. The Rapids will improve. The question is will it be enough? I think another playoff squeak (4th place finish) is the best we can hope for, honestly. And it won't be enough to save Clavijo's job. He'll see out his contract, but that's it. So where does that leave everybody. Well, something like this... LA Houston Chivas Colorado/Dallas SJ RSL
I'm almost afraid to make a prediction. Especially after I thought the Rapids were poised to make a run in 2007 and they proceeded to stink up the Dick. Yes, the Rapids have added a pretty good midfielder, but he's in the last couple of years of his career and he's going to be working with the worst coach in MLS, a guy who seems to think offense is a necessary evil. When you put a good player with a team that's playing well, he tends to get better. Houston last year was able to win the title with a couple of hand-me-down forwards because the rest of their team was so well organized. But when you put a good player with a team that's always out of sync, nobody knows what's going to happen. So I'm not going to make a prediction. It would be worthless anyway.
Do people actually think that the Galaxy are better than Houston, Chivas, Colorado, or Dallas? Take a look at the Rapids potential lineup once Gomez takes a step in/and all of our injuries are dealt with..... Bouna Ugo------Petke-----Erpen------Burciaga Pablo Cooke-------------------------------Clark C. Gomez Herculez------------------Casey Now take a look at LAG..... Ruiz Donovan Babayaro---Beckham----Klein Harmse Randolph--Harden--Xavier--Franklin Cronin Right there tha Rapids have a good advantage over them, and so does Chivas and Houston. I can say FCD and LAG may be around the same area but I don't think they are better than us....
How soon b4 Casey is 100%!? We do have a solid squad, but it all depends on how it's used... In case you forgot... we still have Clavi-hoe as the Rapids coach! It's just a prediction, so I hope I'm wrong...
I remember this debate last year- will the Rapids come in 2nd or 3rd?, said I. Whoops. FWIW, I say Houston trades midfield depth for an underrated striker (Wolyniec? Thompson?) and doesn't slip very far. Dallas will be improved so long as Cooper stays healthy. Chivas have no depth and there's no way that get as lucky as last year and stay healthy for seven months. LA and SJ should be poor at best. that leaves FSL, who have no defensive depth or wide players. So... Dallas Houston Colorado FSL Chivas LAG Quakes Whoever comes out of this truly stellar conference should get destroyed by the East champion.