Write On Sports LLC - "Major League Soccer 2007 Western Conference Preview" by Jeff Bull

Major League Soccer 2007 Western Conference Preview

2007-04-02 12:52:44 | By: Jeff Bull

Major League Soccer (MLS) kicks off its 2007 season Saturday, April 7, at 12:30 p.m. EST (on ABC). That first game, in which a new-look Colorado Rapids will host league powerhouse DC United, begins a season that will end in November with MLS Cup. So much will happen between Saturday and the championship game - additional competitions like the SuperLiga, hot streaks, scoring droughts, or even more mundane things like injuries and locker-room meltdowns - that it seems foolhardy to predict how the regular season will pan out for any of the teams.

But foolhardy has never stopped me, or any pundit, before.

A look at the MLS’s Western Conference appears below, containing a short list of expectations and individuals to watch for each of the West’s clubs; you’ll also see how I expect those clubs to stack up against one another. Changes in the league’s playoff format renders who will and will not make the playoffs a complicated affair - so complicated, in fact, that I’ll look at that closer to the end of the season. But let’s start with the foolhardiest call of all: who finishes where in the Western Conference; the why of each decision follows.

1. Colorado Rapids
2. Houston Dynamo
3. Los Angeles Galaxy
4. Real Salt Lake
5. FC Dallas
6. Chivas USA

Colorado Rapids

Key Losses: Joe Cannon (GK); Clint Mathis (M/F); Eric Denton (D)

Key Additions: Zach Thornton (GK); Greg Vanney (D); Roberto Brown (F); Herculez Gomez (F)

Key Men: Terry Cooke (M); Nicolas Hernandez (M/F); Pablo Mastroeni (M); Kyle Beckerman (M)

Overview: Few teams made changes on the same scale as Colorado this off-season, but they had plenty to address: a lack of reliable scoring and one of league’s worst defenses in 2006. They made plenty of changes in offense - Gomez and Brown, in particular - who will benefit from great service and support from Cooke and Hernandez. The biggest question mark remains in defense with the loss of Cannon and whether there’s enough mobility and experience in the defense. Still, that they play at altitude provides an in-built home-field advantage, one that will only grow when they open their new stadium next weekend; that gives them a leg-up with, literally, half the games they’ll play in the regular season. For all that, and this is a lonely call, I see great things coming out of Denver this year - though they’ll get some help.

Houston Dynamo

Key Losses: Adrian Serioux (D/M)

Key Additions: A bunch of unproven rookies.

Key Men: Dwayne DeRosario (M/F); Brian Ching (F); Craig Waibel (D); Brad Davis (M)

Overview: Last year’s champions didn’t add much - and they don’t need much. Houston will return strong this season, but will suffer from playing too many games. They struggle when their depth gets tested and they’ll get plenty of that with the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup already underway and SuperLiga, a competition that pits MLS clubs against Mexico’s top clubs, later this summer. Though the grind of the season will test their endurance, Houston’s starting eleven matches with any team’s - and tops most of them, especially in midfield with DeRosario, Davis, and holding midfielder Ricardo Clark. Any time they can focus on one competition - think the playoffs here - Houston will be dangerous.

Los Angeles Galaxy

Key Losses: Kevin Hartman (GK); Herculez Gomez (F); Ugo Ihemelu (D)

Key Additions: Joe Cannon (GK); Nate Jaqua (F); Shavar Thomas (D); David Beckham (M)

Key Men: Landon Donovan (M/F); Tyrone Marshall (D); Chris Albright (D)

Overview: The impact of Beckham goes far - so far - beyond what happens on the field: between the league forcing them on a late-season road-trip to cash in on the Brit’s notoriety, SuperLiga, and self-imposed silliness like the “World Series of Football,” the Galaxy has overloaded its season to the point of fatigue. If a modestly-sized MLS roster can bear that strain, the Galaxy has clearly mastered squad rotation. Still, this is a solid team, especially in the back, which surrendered the second-fewest goals in 2006 and only improved with the arrival of Cannon. On his day, Donovan is the best player in MLS, but he could positively thrive with the arrival of Beckham and the emergence of a target forward - which puts pressure on Jaqua or Alan Gordon to step up.

Real Salt Lake

Key Losses: Douglas Sequeira (D/M); Scott Garlick (GK)

Key Additions: Freddy Adu (M/F); Nick Rimando (GK); Chris Lancos (D); Luis Tejada (F)

Key Men: Jason Kreis (M/F); Mehdi Ballouchy (M); Jeff Cunningham (F); Eddie Pope (D)

Overview: With the order coming down from the front office, Real Salt Lake (RSL) knows that failure to reach the playoffs isn’t an option this season (except, of course, that it is). The arrival of Adu automatically makes RSL one of the stories this season, but the team the rest of this team bears watching as well. They missed last year’s post-season by a sliver, and due mainly to a painfully slow start. The pieces - Pope in defense, Adu and, now, Kreis in midfield, Cunningham at forward - are all in place for a good year, but the transition from a good-on-paper team to one that’s good on the field can be tricky.

FC Dallas

Key Losses: Greg Vanney (D); Ronnie O’Brien (M); Richard Mulrooney (M); Simo Valakari (M)

Key Additions: Juan Carlos Toja (M); Adrian Serioux (D/M); Steve Morrow (Coach); Pablo Ricchetti (M - assuming he comes)

Key Men: Carlos Ruiz (F); Kenny Cooper (F); Drew Moor (D); Ramon Nunez (M)

Overview: Another team that undertook a major off-season overhaul, Dallas didn’t do it in the place where they needed it most: defense. Moor appears in the “key men” field because he stands in for a green defense that proved all too exploitable last season; Serioux may help, but he won’t arrive till mid-summer courtesy of a knee injury. On the other end of the field, Dallas boasts the best offensive tandems in MLS; the key experiment of the season involves giving Ramon Nunez the task of feeding Ruiz and Cooper, though the quality of the two other additions - Toja and Ricchetti - could help there. If an extra year’s seasoning gives Dallas’ defense the composure to keep out, say, five more goals, and if the offense performs nearly as well as it might, this prediction will be one of the biggest busts in this entire preview project.

Chivas USA

Key Losses: Juan Francisco Palencia (M/F); Juan Pablo Garcia (M); Tim Regan (D)

Key Additions: Amado Guevara (M); Maykel Galindo (F); Alex Zotinca (D); Preki (Coach)

Key Men: Ante Razov (F); Jonathan Bornstein (D+); Jesse Marsch (M); Claudio Suarez (D)

Overview: Chivas had a break-out season in 2006, going from the worst team from the previous year to an outside contender. The central question about the coming season is the extent of the role then-Chivas, and now-U.S. National Team, coach Bob Bradley played in that turn-around. One thing is for sure: a talented head-case like Guevara means Chivas possesses a powerful weapon, but it’s one with high chances of misfiring in the hands of a new coach. The second question comes in defense, where some young players and new-to-MLS players from Mexico may lead to some struggles. But if the stars align, Chivas will boast a potent offense, especially with Razov leading the line.

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