2011 MLS Season Thread

[GoGo Yubari]

Yeah, I fully expect us to make the playoffs for a third year running, failure to do even that would be disastrous. I would love to see the Sounders go all the way (all things considered it's not impossible at all), but more realistically I'd just love to see general improvement, a higher place than 7th, and just more finishing in general since our bad habit of playing the better-looking game but never fucking scoring reared its ugly head in the Cascadia Summit the other weekend.

A third US Open Cup and a decent showing in the Champions League this year would be nice too, of course. It's Kasey Keller's last season as a pro, he deserves to go out with something special.

[Szumi]

I don't know Meacon, I think the playoffs could feasibly happen this year. I think there have been some solid acquisitions over the break, and Valdes looks like he could be beastly in the heart of the back line. Plus, the East is certainly not looking too great either. Obviously New York should win the Conference with the line-up they have, but from there, anyone can take 2nd and 3rd. Columbus has totally revamped their squad; I don't expect them to be anywhere near as good as last year and could struggle to even make the playoffs. Chicago and New England continue to fall, and Houston look to be crumbling as well. Kansas City should continue to improve with Omar Bravo up top, Toronto are always so inconsistent, and D.C. United can only go up with Davies, Najar, and McCarthy in that roster.

Obviously the squad has improved since last year with Mondragon in goal and Valdes partnering Califf. The full-backs are still an area of concern, but the midfield has been strengthened with Carroll coming in too. Now Le Toux, Mwanga, and McInerney just need to rape face. Hopefully Ruiz can contribute, and I'd love to see little Pfeffer get some game time this year. I'm certainly optimistic.

[HailtotheYo]

This season looks ridiculously "open" ... that said, we'll probably have two teams 15pts above the field

Philly has raw talent all over the place but they need to grow quick. They also had better hope that back line has figured it out because youch. Although Mondragon is a huge pick up.

Seattle should do better than 7th. They've got top 5 talent easily. If they can keep everyone on the field this year I'd suspect they challenge for the Supporter's Shield. I'd love to see NY keep everyone on the field and really make a run at things. That line up winning big would be big for the league.

What I like most about the league this year though is that there are a handful of teams like RSL/Dallas that have "really good" players but no real "superstar" on the team. The middle of the pack is going to be very tightly knitted this year. I'm also expecting some decent summer signings too.

Really looking forward to the season.

VIVA LA FERREIRA ~!

[DMN in the House]

Anything less than a championship, and the season is a failure for the Galaxy. This is the last season of the Beckham experiment (I think. I should follow MLS closer, since soccer has grown on me a lot in the last few years), and they need to win to make it worth it.

Probably going to the LA/NE game next weekend.

Also, to GoGo. Cuz, yeah, Seattle

[GoGo Yubari]

SPOILER: LA Galaxy will not win the MLS Cup.

[Meacon Keaton]

Spoiler: Beckham plays less than a dozen games.

And yeah, Szumi, I agree our team has improved quite a bit. With the expansion of the playoffs, I think we should get in. Much like last year, it's dependent on our backline, because I'm positive we'll be alright putting goals on the board. I'm excited to see what Mwanga does for us this year after ending so hot last season.

[Szumi]

I personally feel LA are a better team without Beckham. When Beckham's gone, Donovan can be the one to control the midfield and play more, and the Galaxy didn't have to slow play down as much. Instead, Donovan and Juninho could keep driving at the opposing back line, creating openings for Buddle. LA has all the tools to win the MLS Cup this season, although that back line is always too inconsistent when it matters, which is a shame since I love Omar Gonzalez and Sean Franklin (De LaGarza ain't bad either). Plus, Donovan is a guy who has consistently buckled under pressure, so even if they play better with him leading the charge, he still isn't reliable come crunch time. So really, they just can't win .

Seattle is a big question mark for me. The talent is there, but it's a matter of will it all come together. Montero, when in form, is the best striker in the MLS. However, he's shown to be quite inconsistent. Nkufo obviously has talent, but didn't impress much last season, but he also was on the back of playing for a year nonstop. The break will hopefully have done him well. Seattle REALLY need to hope Friberg can come in and make an instant impact, and that Fernandez can improve his play. That's the problem with the Sounders; they need everything to go right to really go deep. Plus, it doesn't help that Keller is old and finally starting to show it.

Perhaps I'm blinded by fandom, but I will put my faith in Philly's back line to improve its play. They've had a season to play together, and sometimes you just need some time. Nowak is high on Williams it seems, and Harvey wasn't poor at left back. Califf loses his head sometimes, but hopefully Valdes can cover for his mistakes. Mwanga certainly has a lot to prove this season; his evolution will be key to helping out Le Toux.

Oh, and Meacon, you heading to the night game April 9th against the Red Bulls?

[GoGo Yubari]

Friberg is looking tremendous from his appearances in the preseason. He seems like the guy we've needed for setpieces for a while, I'd like him to start over Brad Evans.

And even if he's showing his age, I believe I read that Keller still had the second-best season in the MLS last year of all the GKs behind Donovan Ricketts, and he played more minutes than Ricketts did. Of course, he needed to because Terry Boss really doesn't measure up as our backup GK.

[Guest mr. potato head]

Toronto will be extremely lucky if they make the playoffs. Don't know about Vancouver.

[Meacon Keaton]

Oh, and Meacon, you heading to the night game April 9th against the Red Bulls?

I'll be there.

[gunnar hendershow]

DC United are gonna be fun to watch this year. Could make the playoffs pretty comfortably or could finish with the worst record in the league, it depends on so many factors.

And JP Dellacamera has moved to FSN to do their MLS broadcasts.

[GoGo Yubari]

Aaaaaand the Sounders and Blaise Nkufo have parted ways out of nowhere.

Unfortunate, sort of. He had a couple of great games last season (the absolute slaughter of Columbus Crew where he got his hat trick), but I'm not sure he was work the $500K and the DP slot. Of course, now the million dollar question (or, uh, five-hundred thousand dollar question) is what the Sounders are going to do with the slot now. For the time being I imagine O'Brian White will be starting for the Sounders since Mike Fucito and Nate Jaqua are battling injuries. Crazy timing, what with the game in fifty minutes and all.

[Meacon Keaton]

Yeah, the news breaking just an hour away from game time is rather odd.

I'm so glad the season is starting. Even if it is a Sounders/Galaxy game. ^_^

[GoGo Yubari]

It's also totally out of the blue, whereas with Ljungberg the writing had been on the wall for a while. Ah, well. Something of value was lost, but something of value was also probably gained.

[Hobo]

Toronto will be extremely lucky if they make the playoffs. Don't know about Vancouver.

If anything Vancouver have Jay DeMeritt! And me to at least keep up with their results!

That's all you need.

[GoGo Yubari]

No Angel or Ricketts for LA tonight. Iiiiiiiinteresting.

EDIT: Or Gonzales, apparently?

[Meacon Keaton]

I missed it. Well, I heard it but I wasn't really paying attention. What is wrong with Juan Pablo?

[GoGo Yubari]

Picked up an injury, I think.

[GoGo Yubari]

Man, Saunders is good. LA's GK situation is waaaay better than ours. Also we're playing waaaaay better than the last time we were up against LA, which is nice.

[HailtotheYo]

WTF Nkufo ... that really fucking blows hot ass for my fantasy squad