The big story lines are going to focus around star studded LAFC and defending Concacaf Champions League Seattle Sounders. I love the Western Conference and there are going to be a lot of story lines to follow. I think the Conference could end up being very top heavy, but in MLS anything is possible.
1. Seattle Sounders I’m bullish on Seattle to the point I bet on them to win MLS Cup when I was recently in Tennessee. The 2022 Concacaf Champions League winners are just that, winners. Last year they poured their heart and soul into winning that competition and leveraged their MLS regular season in doing so. This year they didn’t qualify for CCL, but instead playing meaningless preseason games they competed in the Club World Cup, losing to Egyptian side Al Ahly. They’re healthy. Jordan Morris and Christian Roldan got some variety of off season after competing in the World Cup, and Brian Schmetzer is a world class coach. They have the depth, the fans and city’s backing, I’m expecting a monster year from the Sounders.
2. LAFC My initial thought was of course LAFC is going to win the West, the Supporters Shield, CONCACAF Champions League, Leagues Cup. Give them all of the trophies. But then they made a couple of peculiar moves over the last month. They got rid of Blessing to New England and sold Chicho Arango and Brian Rodriguez. Blessing and Arango are major impact players in MLS. Arongo had 30 goals in 51 games and wasn’t a Designated Player. Most teams can’t buy that level of production. Of course they have Giogio Chiellini, Carlos Vela, Ilie Sanchez, and Kellyn Acosta. They also recently added USMNT Center Back Aaron Long, and while I question his spot on the National Team (you’ll read a LOT more of that if you continue to read) I think he is a very valuable MLS center back in a league that lacks quality at that position. So I’m picking LAFC, but I could see them having a 2021-ish year where they miss the playoffs completely.
3. Austin FC Sebastian Druissi had a marvelous season under American Head Coach Josh Wolf. Austin looks to build on their second place Western Conference Finish last season and their stadium is guaranteed to be rocking every game. They added winger Emiliano Rigoni and Center Back Leo Viasanen as well as USMNT striker and MLS veteran Gyasi Zardes. I have no reason to see any let down from Austin FC.
4. Sporting Kansas City I want to start this off with I’m a partial season ticket holder for Sporting KC, I love the club. 2022 was a rough season from the get go. They lost two designated players before the season even began in Ghadi Kinda and Alan Pulido. With MLS roster rules exactly 0 teams could be competitive without two-thirds of their Designated Players. Without a striker to take attention off of Daniel Saloi and Johnny Russell they both struggled to repeat their 2021 success. New U22 signing Logan Ndembe was injured and missed significant time, and even with all of that they made a run to the US Open Cup Semi-finals. After the summer transfer window where they made two lowkey signings of William Agada and Erik Thommy Sporting went 6-2-2 down the stretch, looking capable of beating anyone anywhere. Thommy provided a boost in the midfield, strong technical ability, and served set pieces. Willie Agada was the real gem of the summer transfer window as he was the Striker SKC had missed without Pulido. He scored 8 goals in 12 games and gives SKC a strong 1-2 punch at Striker this season. SKC is actually 2 deep of really good MLS players at every position….except Center Back.
Center Back was already looking like a big question mark for Sporting this season with the team expecting Ford to play a big role in the upcoming season. Then it was announced that he’ll miss the 2023 campaign after a preseason injury. Fontas is an obvious starter but his pairing will be a giant question mark. Robert Voloder was signed from Germany on the U22 initiative last off-season but failed to make a major impact in his first year. The only two other players on the roster are newly acquired Robert Castellanos from Finnish side KuPS, having earned one appearance with Nashville SC last season. The other is MLS SuperDraft pick Chris Rindov from the University of Maryland. Sporting KC has so much depth at the other eight field positions that I’m bullish on them going into the 2023 season. Maybe Voloder will live up to his potential or we’ll see Rindov or Castellanos develop into a reliable first team starter. There’s also the chance that Vermes brings in another veteran defender during the season to shore up the team.
5. LA Galaxy The Galaxy have quality at multiple positions. The two Center Forwards of Chicharito and Joveljic are going to score enough goals to keep them competitive. Riqui Puig was a nice signing from Barcelona who runs the midfield in Carson. Elfrain Alvarez is another high upside young dual national player who will contribute a ton to this team. I am personally hoping to see a lot of young American Center Back Jalen Neal, who seems to have the tools to be one of the next great USMNT defenders. Gone is Julian Araujo who just signed a $5 million transfer to Barcelona. His speed and skill is not easily replaced on a MLS roster. One big question spot for the Galaxy will be Douglas Costa. He hasn’t lived up to his Designated Player tag and will have to contribute if the Galaxy want to bring home some silver this season.
6. FC Dallas The FC Dallas Academy has produced world class players like Bryan Reynolds (Westerlo, Belgium) Weston McKennie (Leeds United, England) Justin Che (Hoffenhiem, Germany) Ricardo Pepi (Gronnigan, Netherlands) Chris Richards (Crystal Palace, England) and Reggie Cannon (Boavista, Portugal). The problem? Most of those guys never played a game for FC Dallas in MLS. It was always the same old Dallas. Develop talent and send them off to Europe while putting a bad product on the field. In 2022 that changed. USMNT players Jesus Ferreira, Paxton Pomykal, Sebastian Lletget, and Paul Arriola along with Argentinian Alan Velasco made FC Dallas first team a force to be reckoned with. I think Dallas keeps their success up in 2023.
7. Portland Timbers Yimi and Diego Charra. Providence Park. I just enjoy the Portland Timers, their atmosphere, and their historic stadium. They’ve got USMNT midfielder Eryk Williamson, Columbian winger Santiago Moreno, and more passion for the sport than most any other fanbase. They also added Brazilian midfielder Evander for $9.5 million. Never take them for granted, and never count them out.
8. Vancouver Whitecaps My first stadium critique in the Western Conference. I would love for the Whitecaps to not play in BC Place. It’s a dome made for Canadian League Football. I wish they had a soccer specific open air stadium that highlighted the beauty of British Columbia, but real estate is at a premium in Vancouver, so here we are. On the pitch the Whitecaps should be sitting pretty well going in to 2023 with Scottish international Ryan Gauld, American striker Brian White, newly capped USMNT midfielder Julian Gressel and MLS veteran Tristian Blackmon. Manager Vanni Sartini had the Whitecaps playing competitive soccer in the second half of the 2022 campaign and I expect that will continue rolling into 2023.
9. Colorado Rapids In 2021 the Rapids finished atop the Western Conference, and then quickly disassembled their team in a manner that would make former Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Lawrie proud. Gone are Mark-Anthony Kaye, Gyasi Zardes, Cole Basset, Sam Vines, Kellyn Acosta, and Auston Trusty. Folks that is an entire boatload of MLS talent. Kaye and Acosta competed in the World Cup and Bassett, Vines, and Trusty are well on their way to competing for spots on the 2026 roster. After losing all of that talent, I believe the Rapids are well on their way back to contention in 2023. Denver is a hard place to play and it shows. The home field advantage mixed with a quality academy and decent acquisitions should lead to playoff contention for the Rapids in 2023.
10. San Jose Earthquakes Entering the 2nd year of the post Wondolowski era the Quakes are looking to find their groove. They have a heaping of young talent led by USMNT players Cade Cowell, Jackson Yueil and Jeremy Ebobisse. I think there’s reason for optimism in the Bay Area.
11. Minnesota United Reynosa and St. Clair are the big names to watch for Minnesota United in 2023. I’m just not sure if they have the depth or the fire power to compete with the teams above them on the list.
12. Real Salt Lake RSL has one of my most interesting young players in MLS, Diego Luna. The young USMNT player made the jump from USL side El Paso to MLS last season and at 19 I think the sky is the limit for him. They made a couple of signings this offseason in Carlos Gomez and Brian Ojeda that should help. RSL made a deep playoff run with young Mexican-American goalkeeper David Ochoa who started 25 games for them in 2021. In 2022 Ochoa didn’t make a single appearance for RSL before he was dealt to DC United in the summer. I’ll always be curious how a young, looked to be franchise keeper fell so far from glory with his club.
13. Houston Dynamo When Houston signed Mexican international Hector Herrera last season I thought it was a grand slam. Good for the city, good for the fans, and bringing a player with international and European experience into your midfield is never a bad thing. Houston never really clicked after his arrival and lingered around the bottom of the Conference. They haven’t made any game changing signings this offseason and I expect 2023 will be more of the same.
14. St. Louis City SC I was one of 60,000 fans that placed season ticket deposits for the inaugural season. I did not even get a chance to purchase them. St. Louis is a soccer wild city that is pumped to finally have a MLS club. City has named keeper Roman Burki its first Captain. Losing Designated Player Center Back Joakim Nilsson to injury could be a big blow to MLS’s newest club. Missouri State product Kyle Hiebert and Josh Yaro are going to have to step up to play alongside Tim Parker in Nilsson’s absence. City is going to play a high pressing New York Red Bull style, which could help them stay away from the Wooden Spoon. However I’ll be curious how established MLS clubs will take to that. The one fault of the high press system is when you make them control the ball it usually doesn’t go well for the high pressing team.
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