The winter holidays really are a great time of the year. You get to spend time away from your job or your schoolwork, or both. You get to celebrate Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Festivus/New Year’s/whatever the going occasion is these days.
But the real hidden gem in this joyous season? Cleaning up after all the partying and get-togethering is said and done and finding stuff that you either thought was long gone or was never there at all.
It could be the nice bottle of wine shoved into the very back corner of your wine rack, discovered after you clear out everything else on December 31. Maybe it’s that extra present you were longing for that got hidden behind all of your decorations. Hopefully it isn’t like a certain Christmas past of mine, where it was some mouldy fruit found in my stocking nearly two weeks after the big day.
Just like all of us, our favourite MLS clubs will be busy sorting and cleaning and trying to get their lives back in order over the next little while. Here’s a breakdown of what each Western Conference club will be hoping to discover at the bottom of their stockings looking ahead to the 2015 season. Check out my review of the East here.
TWC: “Bottom of the Stocking” Gifts for the MLS Western Conference
Colorado Rapids: A star-type player that can get fans excited.
This Colorado Rapids team is not even within ten-foot pole touching distance of the team I saw win MLS Cup 2010. Whereas the small clubs used to be able to dominate, it’s all about the big boys now.
Deshorn Brown and Dillon Powers are the clear cornerstones, and there are some other interesting young faces around them. That league-worst backline is in need of help, and in new loanee Zac MacMath they have at least made a start.
But who was the last significant player to put on a Rapids shirt? Exactly. And for the person in the back row who just yelled out Zat Knight, you’re sadly mistaken.
They won’t spend “Toronto money”. And they aren’t the most attractive of destinations. But if Stan Kroenke could take his eyes off a Los Angeles football stadium for all of two seconds and bring in an exciting player or two, fans might have reason to be excited about this club again.
FC Dallas: A cherry on top
FC Dallas scored 55 goals in 2014, which was tied for the best in MLS among teams that weren’t the L.A. Galaxy or Seattle Sounders (69 and 65 goals, respectively). And despite a well-regarded goalkeeping tandem of Raul Fernandez and Chris Seitz, as well as a top-drawer centre-back in Matt Hedges, the Hoops were only seventh-best in goals conceded (45).
This season, we’ll get to see how Dan Kennedy fares on not just a competent team but a very good one. Hopefully we’ll also see a full season out of Mauro Diaz, who had an MVP-like start to the season before getting hurt in April and missing ten games.
Apart from a quality partner for Hedges, finding one more goalscorer (and long-term replacement for Blas Perez) will be what FC Dallas fans hope for as they clean up from the holidays.
Erick Torres would have been the perfect fit. Joao Plata also comes to mind. But neither are available, so somebody else in that mold would be a real coup.
Houston Dynamo: A “good enough” year from C.D. Guadalajara
Speaking of Torres, the crown jewel of the Houston Dynamo’s offseason, the Mexican star-in-the-making is back in Mexico for as much as the next six months. Perennial Liga MX powerhouse Guadalajara has taken a page out of ex-sister club Chivas USA’s notebook and have played themselves into relegation territory. They’ve brought Torres back on loan to help save the ship.
Note the “as much as” in front of “the next six months”. From all indications Guadalajara gets to choose how long to keep Torres within that window.
If they pull a D.C. United and find themselves in the playoff hunt, you can be sure they’ll be holding onto Torres for as long as possible. If they stay the course (can we even call it a course anymore?) and find themselves on the precipice of disaster, you can still be sure they’ll be holding onto Torres for all six months.
But if they play at a mid-table level, Dynamo fans might get to see that six-month loan shortened. Even if he stays in Mexico for six months, I still believe Torres can score 10 goals in MLS. He comes back earlier though, and I’m not putting 20 out of the question.
L.A. Galaxy: A significantly increased salary cap in the new CBA
That new CBA, mind you, would be one heck of a bottom of the stocking gift for all MLS fans.
We’re all expecting the salary cap to go up from $3.1 million. Some people are saying a fourth Designated Player slot could be added, which may or may not be smart.
The Galaxy are undoubtedly a big club. So are Toronto, Seattle, and the New York Red Bulls, according to MLS’ most recent salary numbers. An increased salary cap, especially a significant increase (say, to $4 million?), will widen the big club-small club gap, at least in the short term.
Allowing clubs to spend more money will help the Galaxy run up the score even more regularly against low spenders. And as for the other rich teams, Toronto’s cursed, New York is losing Thierry Henry and has owners who don’t seem to care, and Seattle’s postseason record against the Galaxy is pretty ugly.
First to Six anyone?
Portland Timbers: A “magic spray” that actually works
I don’t mean the whipped cream the officials now use to mark where free kicks have to be taken. I mean the Febreze/Deep Woods Off hybrid-in-a-can that trainers carry in the carton load that instantly heals injuries.
Will Johnson has a broken leg, while Diego Valeri has a torn ACL. Both are expected to miss time at the start of the season. Both have been nothing short of excellent since joining the Timbers in 2013.
Those are two gaping holes that need to be filled. End of story.
Real Salt Lake: Either one last synchronized kick at the can, or a completion of the rebuild.
After losing Nat Borchers, I would have said to embrace the rebuild. But bringing back Jamison Olave is pretty much a like-for-like swap, so enough of that MLS Cup 2009 winner and MLS Cup 2013 runner-up roster is still there.
They’ve lost a bunch of names, mainly to ex-coach Jason Kreis’ guinea pig that is NYCFC, but their trouncing to the hands of the Galaxy aside this is still the “team is the star” side that has been captivatingly good over the last six seasons.
Both Beckerman and Saborio, the youngest of the old guard, turn 33 in 2015. You might be able to argue up or down a year, but that’s around the time when old becomes old old, at least in soccer terms.
Like 2013 and 2014, this year will (and probably should, for RSL’s sake) feel like a transition into a new era. But the last two seasons have ended sourly, and I can’t imagine the core wanting anything more than to end their time together on a high note.
San Jose Earthquakes: A clearer understanding of the path ahead
Finally being able to play in their own soccer-specific stadium helps. But even though it was only two seasons ago, that 2012 Supporter’s Shield winning side is long gone, and the current group isn’t the most assuring.
They lost a Bash Brother in Alan Gordon during the 2014 season, and the other two (Steven Lenhart and Chris Wondolowski) have likely seen their peaks come and go.
The Quakes had a great Re-Entry draft, picking Andy Gruenebaum, Marvell Wynne, and Sanna Nyassi. But a read through the roster still gives me the impression that this is a bad combination of expired 2012 holdovers and new signings that have underwhelmed.
We’ll need about a dozen more of these from Kris Tyrpak this season before I’m convinced that this is a side worth watching. Unless, that is, they make a few more interesting moves ahead of First Kick.
Seattle Sounders: Another defensive rock
Chad Marshall is one, without a doubt. DeAndre Yedlin sure as heck wasn’t, yet he was considered the Sounder’s second-best defender. It remains to be seen whether recently-signed Premier League veteran Tyrone Mears can become a solid partner for Marshall.
Regardless of if he does or doesn’t, it’s clear that the Sounders need to improve their defensive efforts.
The Sounders scored 65 times in 2014, behind only the Galaxy. Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins were spectacular, while Lamar Neagle and Marco Pappa combined to make a third Dempsey/Martins equivalent. Oh, and Kenny Cooper and Chad Barrett, scorers of a combined 126 MLS goals, rode the bench for most of the season.
If they keep up those numbers in 2014 and add in a better defensive showing (10-12 fewer goals maybe), they could play for their first MLS Cup.
Sporting Kansas City: Dom Dwyer’s new girlfriend Syndey LeRoux, along with her USWNT pals, to come by, grab the players by the shoulders, and shake them aggressively for a minute or so
These were the guys that won MLS Cup in 2013, remember?
These were the guys that fell flat on their faces after the World Cup, remember?
Aurelien Collin aside, this SKC side hasn’t lost anyone of significance this offseason. Better yet, they’ll actually be getting Roger Espinoza back after two seasons at Wigan. He wasn’t around for the MLS Cup, but was part of the squad that won the U.S. Open Cup in 2012.
Collin’s replacement, Jalil Anibaba, played every minute of the 2013 season. If he can become that reliable partner alongside Matt Besler, then with a good wake-up shake and an improved display in goal, Sporting KC might have a chance at returning to glory, even as they join the more difficult Western Conference.
Vancouver Whitecaps: A second Kendall Waston
Add the Whitecaps to the list of teams that Erick Torres would have been a great fit for.
Octavio Rivero was signed instead to a Young DP contract. If he can spark a young frontline that severely underperformed last season, especially considering the loaded midfield behind them, that offense could get nasty.
I’ve never liked David Ousted in goal, but it says here that he’s actually earned a lot of praise from fans for his solid play. So, unfortunately, he isn’t the issue.
So all that’s left is finding a new centre-back. Their last find in that department, Kendall Waston, was an exceptional one who has the potential to lead from the back over the next five seasons. But his incumbent partner, Andy O’Brien, is 35. Find a young replacement for him, and that would make Pedro Morales, who turns 30 in May, the oldest important outfield player on the roster.
And that’s a very good thing.
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