Revisiting My MLS Preseason Predictions

Photo by Tom Horak of USA Today Sports

Almost every team has officially hit the halfway mark of the MLS season (waiting on you, D.C.) and I figured it’d be a good time to look back on my preseason predictions and bask in my genius.

Or, explain why I was wrong.

Let’s dive right in.

Note: I will be judging the standings off Points Per Game, as not every team has played the same amount of games yet.

Eastern Conference

1. New York City FC (My Prediction: New York City FC)

I had belief the defending champs would be just as successful this season, and they haven’t disappointed.

They’re currently 4th in the standings due to playing less games, and as of now it looks like Taty will be sticking around to try and defend the title.

There is the small hiccup of Ronny Deila leaving for Standard Leige halfway through the season. The Pigeons will need to overcome that.

But they’re still uber talented. They’ll be fine.

2. New York Red Bulls (My Prediction: Columbus Crew)

Well. At least it started well…

The Red Bulls have played some very good soccer, and have done so with an extremely young squad.

I didn’t think they’d make the playoffs at all, let alone be so high up.

As for the Crew, they’re currently 10th in the East.

Even with the every other year magic of Caleb Porter and a super talented squad, they can’t get over the hump.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he was out of Columbus soon.

3. Philadelphia Union (My Prediction: New England Revolution)

I literally said in my preseason post that I should have the Union 3rd in the East instead of 5th and that I’d regret it.

Here I am. Regretting it.

Unsurprisingly, Jim Curtin has his squad playing very well and the Union look set for another playoff appearance.

4. CF Montreal (My Prediction: Toronto FC)

I was not high on Montreal, and I was way too high on Toronto who are doing terribly.

But Montreal has surprised me, mainly Djordje Milhalovic, who was a very good player but this year has turned into a potential World Cup player.

He’s leading the charge, and Montreal goes as he goes.

So far he’s going well.

5. FC Cincinnati (My Prediction: Philadelphia Union)

Speaking of Americans leading the charge…

Cincy were the wooden spoon winners in back to back seasons. I didn’t even think about the possibility of them being a playoff team.

But they are right now, and it’s not a fluke. They belong there.

Brandon Vasquez is playing well enough to potentially squeeze into the US Men’s National Team with their striker questions, Luci Acosta has shown his worth time and time again and Pat Noonan has the club playing a great style of soccer to suit their strengths.

It’s crazy to say, but Cincy is good.

6. Orlando City SC (My Prediction: DC United)

I predicted Orlando to finish 7th, so I still have time to be correct about them.

The main thing I mentioned was how Oscar Pareja has a distinguished style of coaching to get a team to be successful.

The paragraph before them, I mentioned how Hernan Losada had the same style for DC United.

But he got fired and DC United is doing terribly.

So I got that one a little bit wrong.

7. New England Revolution (My Prediction: Orlando City)

The Revs had to deal with the early CCL hit every MLS team takes, but so did NYC and Seattle and they’re doing much better.

The Revs had to deal with no Matt Turner for a lot of the season, Adam Buksa is gone now and I feel they still haven’t recovered from losing Tajon Buchanan.

They still have the talent to climb from 7th and be a higher ranked playoff team, but they’re far from perfect right now.

Western Conference

1. LAFC (My Prediction: Seattle Sounders)

Remember just now when I said every MLS team has an early CCL hit?

For some reason I guess I just forgot the Sounders would have to deal with that too.

But I did have LAFC nipping at their hells in 2nd on my prediction, so I’m not exactly surprised LAFC is leading the Supporters Shield race.

Plus, their great offseason signings are about to be accompanied by midseason signings Giorgio Chiellini and Gareth Bale.

Yeah. This teams damn good.

2. Austin FC (My Prediction: LAFC)

Austin showed some good sparks last year but I sure as hell didn’t think they’d be this good in their second year of existence.

They may be a little boosted due to a relatively easier schedule to start the season, but you can only play who is in front of you, and they’re winning those games.

3. Real Salt Lake (My Prediction: Nashville SC)

RSL made the playoffs last year and made a nice little run to the western conference finals, but everyone expected them to take a pretty significant step back.

They didn’t.

RSL is the MLS equivalent of the “They got that dawg in em” meme.

There’s really no discernable reason RSL should be as good as they are. Even the underlying numbers don’t favor them much.

But they win.

And that’s all they really need to do.

4. LA Galaxy (My Prediction: Portland Timbers)

I predicted that the Galaxy would end up 7th and that year two under coach Greg Vanney would see them as a dangerous team, similar to the 2015 Toronto FC team.

But they look more like the 2016 Toronto FC team who made MLS Cup.

The best quality in a coach is the ability to change up your style and be fluid with what your team is.

Vanney has done that, finding significant results using two strikers instead of leaving Chicharito on an island.

As for Portland, they’re lurking but need to work on not being awful on the road.

5. Seattle Sounders (My Prediction: Sporting Kansas City)

The Sounders had to deal with the CCL bump but are finally getting back to what we expected them to be.

And the club will never say this because they have expectations for themselves, but they could lose every game the rest of the year and this would still be considered a successful season. They were the first ever MLS team to win the Concacaf Champions League.

They’re playing with house money.

I had SKC finishing 5th due to the Pulido injury which would be hard to recover from.

Turns out it’s hard to recover from all of their designated players being injured, and they are super struggling because of it.

6. FC Dallas (My Prediction: Colorado Rapids)

FC Dallas always performs well, but not well enough to actually be title contenders.

I’m not sure why I expected anything different after they added Paul Arriola.

Colorado could be up here, but no designated player signings and Gyasi Zardes underperforming as them on the outside looking in.

I’d tell owner Stan Kroenke to help his team, but considering the Rams and Avalanche both won championships I don’t think he really gives a damn.

7. Nashville SC (My Prediction: LA Galaxy)

Nashville, as usual, rides a smart defensive strategy and expects that to lead to success.

It’s worked well, especially since they started the season on the road while their new home stadium was being built.

The issue is, they finally came back home and have only one twice in seven games.

That was supposed to be what edged them even closer to the top, but it hasn’t exactly become a fortress yet for them.

But there’s still half of a season left. A lot can change.