Here is a quick and dirty look at the Western Conference.
Austin FC
Austin hit the transfer market hard over the past couple of windows. The Verde and Black have scored $25M+ on their attacking lineup of Brandon Vazquez, Osman Bukari and Myrto Uzuni.
The attack certainly looks like one of the best in the West on paper. However, with Nico Estevez at the helm, I worry about him being able to put all of the pieces together. His FC Dallas team had the second worst xG created last year, albeit with less talent.
Colorado Rapids
The ‘Pids are a mini-USMNT under head coach Chris Armas. The key player in 2025 will be Djordje Mihailovic in his second year with the club. He can continue his development path to produce 25+ goals and assists in 2025.
Oh, and he scored a banger free kick in his first CCC game this week.
FC Dallas
In the interleague 3-team mega “trade,” FC Dallas finished the musical chairs with Lucho Acosta. Pretty good.
Lucho will look to immediately contribute goals and assists. The classic ‘small and tall’ partnership with Lucho and Petar Musa could take the league by storm.
Outside of Acosta and Musa, I worry about the talent in the midfield and defense. The absence of talent and new head coach, Eric Quill, lead me to think FCD will miss the playoffs in 2025.
Houston Dynamo
The Dynamo surprised me last year. Their 5th place finish looks good on paper, but over performing their xG by 10 goals says otherwise. Further, entering 2025, their two most important players, Hector Herrera and Coco Carrasquilla, have left Houston for Liga MX.
Another key interleague transaction was Houston signing Jack McGlynn from Philly. McGlynn played 2300 minutes last year and looks to make 2025 a breakout season. He should be consistently given opportunities in Houston to produce.
LA Galaxy
2025 MLS Cup Champions. 3 straight years the Cup Champ went from missing the playoffs to lifting in consecutive years.
Unfortunately, league rules and roster bonuses mean the Galaxy had to shuffle their cup-winning roster. In addition to significant injuries (Puig and Paintsil) already, I think the Galaxy won’t go back-to-back.
With the early-season injuries, it leaves the attack in the hands of Brazilian Gabriel Pec. Gabriel had a great 2024 season, and I am curious how he performs being the main man for the first few months of the season.
LAFC
The other side of Los Angeles will certainly look to regain the spot in MLS Cup Finals. But lemme drop this bombshell and walk out..
Is this the profile of a striker for an MLS Cup winning squad?
That is all.
Well one more thing, Yaw Yeboah is good. He will feed Bouanga goals. #analysis
Minnesota United
I really like this Minnesota squad. It has the *chef’s kiss* amount of underrated talent that EPL hipsters would love them too. Robin Lod, Hlongwane, Yeboah, St. Clair all underrated.
They made a bunch of moves over the summer 2024 window. And they paid dividends.
Look for Minnesota United and young manager Eric Ramsay to be the surprise team in 2025.
Portland Timbers
The big news in Portland is Evander’s falling out with the front office and departing for Cincinnati. To replace him, Portland signed Lens player David Da Costa. hmmmm…
Maybe DdC will improve moving from Ligue 1 to MLS. Or maybe DdC struggles in his first year playing outside of France since he was a kid. The traditional red pill, blue pill conundrum, right?
Plus, Portland’s defense is old and not very good at defending. Yikes. I could certainly see things blowing up at Providence Park in 2025.
RSL
Consistently underrated by the pundits, RSL could have competed for a championship last year. However, they elected to capitalize on transferring Andres Gomes to Rennes and were unable to regain that same form after the summer transfer window.
Keep your eye on Diogo Goncalves and Kobi Henry. Good ball players.
San Jose
You might find yourself asking the question, what do MLS players Henry Kessler, Omar Gonzalez, Sean Franklin, Marvell Wynne, and Reid Roberts all have in common?
Glad you asked, they are all Center Backs selected in the first round of the SuperDraft by Bruce Arena. Pretty good list. No pressure, Reid.
On a serious note, Arena will get this team aligned at the back first. He will take the mentality that 0-0 is one point, and let’s go to the next game. In my opinion, the floor for the Quakes is a lot higher than others believe. I think they will scare the playoff spots.
San Diego FC
I am excited for the atmosphere Sunday night. It should be absolutely fantastic in beautiful San Diego. Chuckie will undoubtedly have tons of support. I think it could be enough to steal 3 points away from the reigning champs.
However, I have questions about the squad long-term. The DPs, Chuckie and Anders Dreyer, are both inverted wingers who love to cut in onto their strong foot. They could be enough to propel them into fringe playoffs.
Seattle Sounders
If Seattle and Colorado combined teams, they are basically the USMNT Gold Cup roster. They were the best defense in the league last year, and I see no reason why that would be far off their output this year.
For the first time in a while, Raul Ruidiaz is not in Seattle. Instead, it is Jesus Ferreira who will be asked to lead the Seattle attack. Definitely a different profile than prime Ruidiaz. Ferreira will play more false 9 which could open up space for JoMo and Paul Arriola.
Sporting KC
SKC are interesting in that they don’t have a ton of talent, but there is something there. I think. A fairly impressive performance against a mostly healthy Miami team in freezing temperatures was a good start for Vermes’s men.
Vermes will have to figure out how to best use the new signing Dejan Joveljic with last season’s striker, William Agada. But the two can combine for 30+ goals in 2025. That alone will keep SKC in the playoff race.
One note/rant here. I am so glad Joveljic got his due. He was stuck behind Chicharito in his first couple of years at LAG. And Chicharito was terrible, yet Dejan was forced to be the super sub that bailed them out late a few times. I am glad he was able to be the main #9 and lead them to MLS cup. Just a classic MLS triumph.
St. Louis SC
St. Louis brought in Olof Mellberg as new manager to replace Bradley Carnell. Mellberg averaged just 1.2 points per game with Brommapojkarna in 70 games across all competitions in the Swedish first division.
Certainly, StLSC are dedicated to their style. The energy drink, high-press chaos will be there. Will goalkeeper Roman Burki be able to stand on his head again to keep StLSC in games? He has been one of the best goalies in the league since their inaugural campaign.
Vancouver Whitecaps
I have a bad feeling about the ‘Caps. New manager, not many new players, players leaving, key players aging. It’s all a bad combo up North.
If Minnesota United is the team for the hipsters, Vancouver is the team for MLS sickos.
Sorensen did lead Brondby to a second place finish in the Danish league. So, maybe there is some hope for the ‘Caps and they have Brian White.
Predicted Standings
- LAFC
- Seattle
- Minnesota United
- Austin FC
- LA Galaxy
- Colorado Rapids
- San Jose
- RSL
- San Diego
- Portland
- Sporting KC
- Vancouver
- FC Dallas
- Houston
- St Louis
Bets
Minnesota United: +5000
Austin FC: +9000, maybe it all clicks?
The4thDP 
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