Photo credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Photo credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

The MLS offseason is drawing to a close, with opening day in Portland less than two weeks away.

After an exciting 2016 season, MLS sees two new teams join the league for 2017 with Atlanta United and Minnesota United making their debuts.

Here is a preview of the season to come as well as predictions on where the teams will finish in their respective conferences:

 

MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE

 

1. Seattle Sounders

Despite winning MLS Cup in December, Seattle GM Garth Lagerway used this offseason to put the finishing touches on the team he has been building since he arrived in Seattle in 2015.

Will Bruin, Harry Shipp, and Gustav Svensson have all arrived to provide depth, with the likes of Nelson Valdez, Eric Friberg, Andreas Ivanschitz, Ty Mears, and Zach Scott all departing. The Sounders are younger at every position in 2017.

There are only a few questions. The team is devoid of natural wide players, and could end up starting two inverted wingers in Shipp and Nicolas Lodeiro. The other question mark is Clint Dempsey, who is working his way back from the heart problem that ended his 2016.

Depending on how Dempsey progresses and plays, and how the team is situated come June, Seattle could make another mid-summer DP acquisition. With Brian Schmetzer entering his first full season at the helm, the Sounders should be in the Supporters’ Shield mix.

2. FC Dallas

Dallas was the class of the league last year, and very well might have won the treble if not for Mauro Diaz’s ACL injury on the penultimate day of the season.

Dallas has to integrate three new starters in its front four, with Cristian Coleman slotting in up top and Roland Lamah out wide while the great Javier Morales pinch hits for Diaz until he returns in the summer.

One upside is that Dallas is improved defensively, where Oscar Pareja has made upgrades at both full back spots. There is also, as always, a ton of exciting young talent making its way through the pipeline – including David’s son Jesus Ferreira.

This will still be one of the league’s best teams, but, as always, their MLS Cup hopes will rest on Diaz. Will he be himself when he comes back?

Projected XI: Seitz, Grana, Hedges (C), Zimmerman, Chala, Gruezo, Acosta, Lamah, Morales, Barrios, Coleman

3. LA Galaxy

In many ways, this offseason in Carson moving on completely from the group that won three MLS Cups between 2011 and 2014. The Galaxy cut ties with Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard, Landon Donovan, Alan Gordon, and AJ DeLaGarza, while Bruce Arena and his entire coaching staff bolted for the national team.

LA enters 2017 with a younger, leaner, more balanced team. Last year’s backline remains intact, while an attack led by Giovani dos Santos and Romain Alessandrini might be unplayable when its on. This team should be better than it was last year.

But that’s not say that the Galaxy hasn’t made certain gambles. They’re betting big on a 35-year-old Jermaine Jones who has never started more than half of his team’s games in an MLS season to be a focal point.

They’re also betting on Curt Onalfo, well respected at the club but twice failed as an MLS manager, to make the step up from Los Dos and steer the ship with the same skill as Arena did. It’s a big ask.

Projected XI: Rowe, A. Cole, Van Damme (C), Steres, Rogers, J. Pedro, Jones, Lleget, Alessandrini, dos Sanots, Zardes

4. Portland Timbers

This team is going to score a ton of goals. With the additions of Sebastian Blanco and David Guzman, it’s no stretch to say that Portland’s front six of Guzman, Chara, Nagbe, Valeri, Blanco, and Adi is the best in the league – and, unlike last year, there’s all kinds of depth behind it.

But the Timbers under Caleb Porter have always gone the way of their defense, and there’s plenty of reason to be concerned right now. The team is incredibly thin at center back, where – if the season started today – Lawrence Olum would start next to Liam Ridgewell.

The Timbers are likely too talented to miss the playoffs again this year, but that backline will be the difference between Portland being fun to watch and competing for a second MLS Cup.

It will also be interesting to see how Porter wants his team to play this year. The Timbers of the last two seasons have been a direct, counter-attacking group, but you get the feeling that Porter wants to get back to controlling games á la 2013.

Projected XI: Gleeson, Vytas, Olum, Ridgewell (C), Olum, Powell, Guzman, Chara, Nagbe, Valeri, Blanco, Adi

 

 

5. Sporting Kansas City

It’s pretty much going to be the same old Sporting. 4-3-3, high press, Besler, Zusi, Dwyer, etc.

Peter Vermes could have shaken things up in this winter, but, in bringing back the likes of Benny Feilhaber and Ike Opara, he decided to stick with the core of a team that has lost in the Wild Card round of the playoffs in three straight years.

The hope in K.C. is that Gerso Fernandes can provide the kind of production on the wing that Krisztian Nemeth did in 2015. If he can’t, it’s hard to see how this team is going to score enough goals around Dwyer to run with MLS’ elite.

They’re always tough, but last year they simply had to work too hard to manufacture wins. Vermes has given this group one more shot. They need to find a second gear.

Projected XI: Melia, Abdul-Salaam, Besler (C), Opara, Medranda, Mustivar, Espinoza, Feilhaber, Zusi, Fernandes, Dwyer

6. San Jose Earthquakes

This is it for Dom Kinnear in San Jose. A fourth straight year out of the playoffs in 2016 got GM John Doyle run out of town, and if this year ends without playoff soccer, Kinnear too will likely be gone.

The good news is that new GM Jesse Fioranelli has gotten his manager some help. San Jose has been active this offseason, bringing in a number of international players to bolster a squad that was found wanting at every position last year.

Marcos Ureña and Danny Hoesen should see minutes with Chris Wondolowski up top, Harold Cummings and Florian Jungwirth will factor in at center back, and Nick Lima will be penciled in at right back. Jahmir Hyka should start in midfield as well.

Will it be enough? San Jose isn’t going to compete for a title, but there’s enough talent here for Kinnear to plug into his 4-4-2 to get results. The ‘Quakes are going to be a tough matchup in 2017.

Projected XI: Bingham, Lima, Cummings, Bernandez, Francis, Godoy, Alashe, Dawkins, Hyka, Hoesen, Wondolowski (C)

7. Real Salt Lake

There have been a lot of goodbyes for Real Salt Lake in recent years, and this winter brought a big one: Javier Morales, after ten seasons in Sandy, left the club in fairly acrimonious circumstances.

To replace one of their best ever players, RSL went out and got highly rated 22-year-old playmaker Albert Rusnak as a young DP. They also made an eventually unsuccessful run at Landon Donovan, brought back Luis Silva, and got Brooks Lennon on loan from Liverpool.

There has been a lot of wheeling and dealing. Salt Lake is generally younger than they were last year, but their lineup hasn’t changed significantly. They’re still counting on the likes of Beckerman and Rimando, and still fairly unproven defensively.

It’s going to be a big year for Jeff Cassar, who you have to feel is just hanging onto his job by a thread right now.

Projected XI: Rimando, Beltran, Glaad, Maund, Phillips, Beckerman (C), Sunny, Rusnak, Allen, Plata, Movsisyan

8. Colorado Rapids

What the Rapids did in 2016 was fairly incredible. We’re about to see if they can do it again.

Colorado, as you’ll recall, finished second in the Supporters’ Shield race despite tying for the second-fewest goals scored in the league. They won practically every game they touched 1-0, and, if not for a hot Seattle team, might have hosted MLS Cup.

So, improve the offense and make another run at silverware? Not so much. Colorado’s only starting-caliber acquisition this offseason has been Manchester City product Bismark Adjei-Boateng. Alan Gordon will provide goals off the bench.

But the team’s best attacking player from last season, Jermaine Jones, is gone, and it’s hard to see how his production will be replaced. Pablo Mastroeni seems to want to play Kevin Doyle as a #10, which is slightly horrifying. If the Rapids win again this year, they’ll again do it with great defense and against the odds.

Projected XI: Howard, Burch, Sjoberg, Watts, Miller, Cronin (C), Adjei-Boateng, Hariston, Gashi, Doyle, Badji

9. Vancouver Whitecaps

Fredy Montero will help. He’s the first legitimate striker the Whitecaps have had since Camilo left in 2013. Attacking wise, Montero, Kekuta Manneh, and Christian Bolaños can produce, though losing Yordy Reyna for the first part of the year hurts.

But elsewhere, the ‘Caps haven’t done enough to improve a team that more or less fell apart last season.

With Pedro Morales gone, there’s no playmaker or two-way central midfielder. Whether it’s Andrew Jacobson or Russell Teibert next to Matias Laba, the ‘Caps are going to have a hard time winning midfield battles.

The defense is also suspect, with Kendall Waston coming off of what was a very poor 2016 campaign. Vancouver is still a move or two away from getting back to the playoffs.

Projected XI: Ousted (C), Williams, Waston, Parker, Harvey, Laba, Teibert, Bolaños, Manneh, Techera, Montero

 

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming

 

10. Houston Dynamo

The Dynamo are trending in the right direction. There’s no question. But they’re a year away from being competitive in the West.

Wilmer Cabrera is a good coach, and the work Houston has done this winter – pairing a ton of relatively cheap Latin American talent with some MLS vets who know how to win – is smart.

The Dynamo will likely absorb plenty of pressure and try to counter. They’re going to work extremely hard, and likely going to pick some teams off at home. Adolfo Machado and AJ DeLaGarza will drastically improve the defense.

But unless Cubo Torres scores 30 goals – which isn’t exactly out of the realm of possibility – there’s not enough talent here to support a playoff run.

Projected XI: Deric, Beasley (C), Leonardo, Machado, DeLaGarza, Cabezas, Alex, B. Garcia, Elis, Manotas, Torres

11. Minnesota United

Minnesota isn’t going to be as bad as everybody thinks they will be. Adrian Heath’s teams have always played good attacking soccer, and MNUFC has the pieces – namely Kevin Molino – to do the same in 2017.

But there are plenty of reasons to be nervous about Minnesota. The Loons are going to be relying on a large number of their NASL players to log heavy minutes, which is a major gamble – and neither Miguel Ibarra nor Christian Ramirez have had great preseasons.

Fullback, where, god forbid, Heath appears to be preparing to start Jermaine Taylor, is a major problem. Josh Gatt might be an answer there, but there is a striking lack of MLS experience in the back seven. It could show.

The Loons seemed slightly rushed in making the transition to MLS, and this inaugural campaign could be a rough ride. Big picture, however, Minnesota has the right ideas. Heath has been through this process before, and knows what he’s doing.

Projected XI: Alvbage (C), Davis, Calvo, Demidov, Taylor, Schuller, Warner, Molino, Kadrii, Ibarra, J. Venegas

 

MLS EASTERN CONFERENCE

 

1. Toronto FC

It was written for Toronto FC to win its first MLS Cup last year on its home turf at BMO Field. But despite holding the Seattle Sounders without a shot in the season’s final game, TFC fell short in a penalty shootout.

The last several months have been unusually quiet in Toronto. The club is returning all eleven of its MLS Cup starters, with Will Johnson rating as the offseason’s only significant loss after Clint Irwin was reacquired after the Expansion Draft.

The only notable additions to the team have been Chris Mavinga, a Congolese center back from Rubin Kazan, and Victor Vazquez, who arrived Cruz Azul. Both players will push for minutes in Greg Vanney’s 5-3-2.

TFC is primed to make another run at the Cup this year, and as long as the likes of Bradley, Altidore, and Giovinco stay healthy, they’ll be amongst the favorites to finish the job.

Projected XI: Irwin, Morrow, Zavaleta, Moor, Hagglund, Beitashour, Bradley (C), Osorio, Cooper, Giovinco, Altidore

2. New York City FC

Same issue as last year: The defense, which shipped seven goals against TFC in the East semis, isn’t championship quality.

Sean Johnson might be an upgrade over Josh Saunders in goal, but he hasn’t been one of the league’s best goalkeepers in recent years, while center back is still very much a question mark.

Going forward, though, this team should be dynamite. The midfield has gotten younger and rangier around Andrea Pirlo, who will pull the strings, and there are oodles of attacking talent to place around David Villa at the front of the 4-3-3.

One of those pieces is Rodney Wallace, who should add some much-needed nous to the group. It will be interesting to see how what wrinkles Patrick Vieira has up his sleeve in his second MLS season. NYCFC should be one of the league’s best packages.

Projected XI: Johnson, Allen, Chanot, Callens, Matarrita, Ring, Pirlo, Moralez, McNamara, Harrison, D. Villa (C)

3. New York Red Bulls

All does not appear to be well in Harrison. After Jesse Marsch – reportedly – almost bolted for Red Bull Salzburg in January, sporting director Ali Curtis left the club last week.

In the middle of all of that, the longtime Red Bull captain Dax McCarty was traded to the Chicago Fire. Both losses will hurt. McCarty was the heartbeat of the team, while Curtis was its chief architect.

Marsch is confident that the Red Bulls’ up-and-coming central midfielders – namely Sean Davis and Tyler Adams – can replace McCarty, while Sacha Kljestan and Bradley Wright-Phillips continue to provide the goals.

The Red Bulls have already had injury problems in preseason, and will likely be missing pieces to start the campaign. If things don’t go well, Marsch will take plenty of heat.

Projected XI: Robles, Lawrence, Collin, Perinelle, Zizzo, Davis, Felipe, Muyl, Kljestan (C), Veron, Wright-Phillips

4. Columbus Crew

The Crew just never got going last season, with locker-room infighting and a leaky defense ruining a team that hosted MLS Cup two years ago.

Gregg Berhalter’s response was to gut his defense – Columbus has two new center backs and a new goalkeeper heading into 2017 – but, more or less, keep faith with the midfield that steered the Crew to the playoffs in his first two seasons in charge.

That means Wil Trapp and Tony Tchani through the middle, Ethan Finlay and Justin Meram wide, and Federico Higuain pulling the strings – and while there’s no guarantee that Ola Kamara will be able to replicate the career year he had in 2016, goals were never the problem for the Crew.

If the defense is better, Columbus will be back in business. DP signing and Ghana World Cup vet John Mensah will shoulder much of that responsibility, as will the new 21-year-old starting goalkeeper Zach Steffan.

Projected XI: Steffen, Afful, Mensah, Naess, Francis, Trapp, Tchani, Finlay, Higuain (C), Meram, Kamara

5. Montreal Impact

After coming up short in one of the best MLS playoff series of all time in November, Montreal has had one of the league’s quietest winters.

Didier Drogba is gone, of course, and his DP replacement Blerim Dzemaili will arrive in the summer. The club lost some depth in the Expansion Draft, and Chris Duvall came in to play right back.

Other than that, there hasn’t been much to report. Patrice Bernier, still the bee’s knees at 37, is back for one final season, but it’s hard to see how Montreal’s midfield of Bernier, Hernan Bernadello and Marco Donadel is going to hold up for an entire season.

This is a fairly old group, but as Ignacio Piatti can get them to the playoffs, they should be a threat.

Projected XI: Bush, Oyongo, Ciman, Cabrera, Duvall, Donadel, Bernadello, Bernier (C), Oduro, Piatti, Mancosu

6. DC United

It isn’t saying much, but this is the most talented DC United team that Ben Olsen has had since he took over the black-and-red in 2011.

DC, as you might remember, finished last season on something of a tear before being obliterated by Montreal in the Wild Card round at RFK. That team is basically back, with Ian Harkes – son of the recently unemployed John and one of the brightest young talents in the country – added to the mix.

That said, DC still doesn’t have enough game-changers to scare teams. They’re going to mostly take care of business and make the playoffs, but anything beyond that is going to require some magic.

That said, the future is bright. Harkes is a franchise player, and with the move to Buzzard Point now just one year away, the financial outlook of the club has never been better. It’s a good time to be a DC United fan.

Projected XI: Hamid, Kemp, Boswell (C), Birnbaum, Franklin, Sarvas, Harkes, L. Acosta, Nyarko, Sam, Mullins

7. Atlanta United

It’s tough for an expansion team to make the playoffs, absolutely. But it’s not impossible. Seattle did it in 2009, Portland came up just two points short in 2011, and Orlando missed out on goal difference in 2015.

Atlanta this year should be better than all of those teams were when they debuted. They’ve checked all the boxes: Expensive young DPs, proven international players, proven MLS players, incredible fan buzz, and a star manager.

But the league around Atlanta is also far better than it was when Seattle – the easiest and best comparison – kicked off. Every new club goes through growing pains, and it won’t be any different here.

It will also be interesting to watch Tata Martino – whose two most recent jobs were the Argentina national team and Barcelona – try to navigate MLS. Patrick Vieira’s success with NYCFC last year notwithstanding, foreign coaches have traditionally had a miserable time in this league.

Projected XI: Kann, Mears, Parkhurst (C), Pirez, Garza, McCann, Carmona, Almiron, Villalaba, Martinez, K. Jones

8. Orlando City

Orlando is in an odd spot. The club has had a difficult time moving a number of players this winter, and thus the roster is slightly bloated and imbalanced.

Jason Kries has a tough job on his hands in his first full season in Florida, where Orlando will open their beautiful new stadium on the first Sunday of the season.

Will Johnson has been added in midfield, and Jonathan Spector in defense, but other than that, Kries is still mostly working with the pieces he had when he took over from Adrian Heath last summer.

The personnel will shift throughout the season, especially during the summer. But the team’s mentality – they were too soft and too slow all over the field last season – will be an early sign of whether Kreis has things moving in the right direction.

Projected XI: Bendik, PC, Spector, Aja, Toia, W. Johnson, Higuita, Shea, Perez-Garcia, Kaka (C), Larin

9. Chicago Fire

The Fire have turned the corner. After enduring a miserable first season in the Windy City, Nelson Rodriguez and Veljko Paunovic hit their marks in the winter, adding DP forward Nemanja Nikolic and former MLS All-Star midfielders Juninho and Dax McCarty.

Remaking the central midfield with Juninho and McCarty alone should be worth five wins, and an attack with Nikolic, Michael De Leeuw, and David Accam – who is somewhat quietly one of the league’s most exciting players – should score goals.

The defense is still a question mark, though Jonathan Campbell was an exciting SuperDraft pickup, with the club finally parting ways with Sean Johnson and replacing him with the Uruguayan Jorge Bava.

Chicago still has money to spend – and needs a traditional #10 – so look for them to continue to be active well into the season. The Fire want to win now, and they need their fans to come back to Toyota Park. It’s a big year for the club.

Projected XI: Bava, Vincent, Campbell, Kappelhof, Harrington, McCarty (C), Juninho, Goosens, Accam, De Leeuw, Nikolic

10. New England Revolution

This could be a make-or-break season for Jay Heaps in Foxborough, where the Revs were hugely disappointing in 2016.

The team has reworked its central defense, bringing in two new starters at center back, and it finds itself with a glut of attacking talent as Xavier Kouassi prepares to finally make his debut in MLS after missing all of 2016.

Heaps struggled to find the right combination of players last season after the Revs traded for Kei Kamara. There was some success with a diamond towards the end of the season, and that looks like how New England will start 2017.

Between Kamara, Juan Agudelo, Kelyn Rowe, Lee Nguyen, and Diago Fagundez, there are a lot of attacking pieces. My guess is that, barring injury, someone will be moved by the summer.

Projected XI: Cropper, Tierney, Ferrell, Angoua, Watson, Kouassi, Rowe, Fagundez, Nguyen, Agudelo, Kamara

11. Philadelphia Union

After making plenty of progress and getting back to the postseason in 2016, Philadelphia has had a somewhat off-putting winter.

The club’s acquisitions – namely Giliano Wijnaldum and Jay Simpson – have come on the cheap and off the beaten path. Tranquilo Barnetta, this team’s best player last season, hasn’t been replaced.

There are other problems too. Maurice Edu still doesn’t appear ready to play, while shoulder surgery for Josh Yaro means that Oguchi Oneywu – who last year couldn’t latch on with an MLS club to save his life – is going to begin the season starting at center back.

The Union still have some very good young talent, but the beginning of the season has disaster written all over it. With the East improving, the Union might just have fallen behind.

Projected XI: Blake, Rosenberry, Oneywu, Marquez, Wijnaldum, Medunjanin, Bedoya, Herbers, Pontius, Alberg, Simpson