MLS Western Conference Preview

Yesterday, I gave you the run down of the Eastern Conference and today we have the Western Conference. This one is a little trickier, since any of these teams can pretty much finish anywhere and it wouldn’t be much of a shock (unless San Jose wins it all). I do have to get one thing out of the way before I start. Beckham. Just needed to type it. You know it’s going to be brought up, so it’s good to just get it out of the way early. So, here’s the rundown, from first to worst.

1) LA Galaxy – Ugh, I’m physically sick just typing it. I know a lot of you are thinking I’m some sort of sadist, but hear me out. They have three of the most dynamic players in the game in Landon Donovan, David Beckham, and Carlos Ruiz. If the three can stay healthy, they will have no problems with scoring. Ruiz is back where he wants, so he should flourish again. There new coach is a little bit of a control freak but has a track record for success, so hopefully the team will get behind him. The younger players need to step up, and none more than Steve Cronin, the rookie goalie. Can he stop high scoring teams like Chivas? That’s the main question.

2) Chivas USA – I nearly picked them first, but Brad Guzan stopped me. Yes, I know he’s the best goalie in the MLS, but you’re deluded if you think he’ll be with Chivas all season long. The thing that derailed Chivas last year was the lack of depth at forward, but only got Alecko Eskandarian to help with the problem (the man’s picture is next to “streak” in the dictionary). Plus, there schedule is a bear, with Superliga, the CONCACAF club championship, and the US Open Cup. However, this is a scrappy team that can pull it together and possibly win the whole thing.

3) Houston Dynamo – I feel bad for not giving the two time defending MLS champs some love, but they do their best work in the playoffs. They lost there incredible depth, which could spell trouble due to their schedule (look at Chivas to see what they are facing). With some goal scorers leaving, they will rely on the oft-injured Brian Ching and Dwayne DeRosario to do the bulk of the scoring. If the team gets in trouble, they will do what they always do and trade, but who wants to trade with them? They have one of the best defenses in the league, but they need some scoring.

4) FC Dallas – I was getting all excited about watching Denilson stink it up again, then he goes and leaves. You have to love a team where one of their midfielders rocks a mullet (business in the front, party in the back). It all comes down to Kenny Cooper. He needs to be able to light up the scoreboard, since he will be the main target player. The defense is sketchy but shouldn’t be too bad. There main problem is it’s a young team with no leaders. They need someone to step up and lead this team on the field.

5) Real Salt Lake – Okay, stop laughing. This team actually came on at the end of last season, keeping games close. They must have hypnotized Nick Rimando to believe he was Kasey Keller, because he went from shaky to stable. He will need to do that the whole year. I think the team’s success will be based on Kenny Deuchar, who ripped it up in the Scottish Premier League. He’ll need to do the same here. This team can make a run if everything falls right for them.

6) Colorado Rapids – You know the old saying “defense wins championships”? You actually need some offense to go with it. There leading scorer last year had 6 goals, with 4 coming from penalty kicks. The team has 29 goals in 30 matches! They can’t score and did nothing to fix the problem. There forwards have injury and consistency problems. There goalie gives the coach heartburn every time he’s forced to make a save. They’re only saving grace is there defense. They just need to find a way to score.

7) San Jose Earthquakes – Let’s get this out of the way and say they won’t do much competing this year. Fans should watch Toronto matches from last year to get a vivid picture of how things will play out.