Why Each Team Will/Will Not Win MLS Cup: Western Conference
With the East taken care of, it’s time to see which Cascadia Team will represent the Western Conference in MLS Cup Final, considering it’s happened every year since 2015.
But while all 3 Cascadia teams have strengths, they all have flaws as well. As does every other team in the West.
Here are the reasons each Western Conference playoff team will/will not win MLS Cup.
Colorado Rapids
Will: Remember when England played Iceland in Euro 2016?
England was, by far, the more talented team and yet they lost.
That’s because Iceland, despite a clear talent gap, had clear cut tactics from their manager that they stuck with.
That’s the Rapids to a T.
They don’t have the superstar players, but they have a full 11 and bench that plays together and a manager who gives them the tools to succed.
The Rapids have no business winning MLS Cup on pure talent, but they had no business being 1st in the West by season’s end.
And here we are.
Will Not: The game after Iceland beat England in Euro 2016? They got schooled by France in the quarterfinals.
The simple fact is that in a one game playoff, it’s extremely hard for a team with no superstars to run the table.
Not impossible by any means, but extremely hard.
Their playoff schedule has them facing guys like Reynoso or Sebastian Blanco in round 2. Then the possibility of Raul Ruidiaz or Daniel Salloi in the Western Conference Finals.
The odds of them shutting down that firepower for 3 straight games seems like too much of a mountain to climb.
Seattle Sounders
Will: The Sounders had to play actual teenagers for a huge part of their season due to injuries, and they still finished 2nd in the West.
Injuries are still an issue, as it looks like Nicolas Lodeiro won’t be able to play next Tuesday in their first round matchup, but they have Ruidiaz, Joao Paolo and crucially Jordan Morris back from injuries.
This is the same team who has won four of the last five Western Conference titles, and they’re finally getting healthy.
They are plenty dangerous.
Will Not: This isn’t the same Sounders team of the last five years.
Those seasons, the Sounders were heating up heading into the playoffs and a threat to every team they faced.
This season? The defense seems to be getting worse and they are crawling their way into the postseason.
With the attacking options the rest of the West has, that’s going to be a huge problem for the Sounders.
Sporting Kansas City
Will: SKC has always been good, but they’ve lacked that extra oomph in their attacking play.
They had GOOD attackers, but not as good of a group as they have this year.
Johnny Russell is playing like a man possessed, and Daniel Salloi who I mentioned earlier is a candidate for league MVP.
Pair that with a great coach and a great goalkeeper, and they’ve got as good a shot as any.
Will Not: This is Sporting Kansas City.
They won MLS Cup in 2013. That was cool!
After that, they went 4 straight years losing in the first round, got bounced in the semis in 2018 by Portland as the 1 seed, missed the playoffs entirely in 2019, and got destroyed at home as the 1 seed in 2020 by Minnesota United.
SKC has not been a successful postseason team in almost a decade.
Add in their terrible run of form in the last week of the season, losing 3 games in a row which saw them go from in the driver’s seat for 1st in the West to 3rd in the blink of an eye, and it’s already starting to look like another lost season.
Portland Timbers
Will: This team is hot.
Like, really hot.
Things looked bad after their embarrassing 6-2 loss at home to the rival Sounders, but since then Portland finally got healthy and went on a tear, climbing all the way up to 4th in the West.
Blanco is finally fully healthy, and they go as he goes.
I said it in the East preview, you need match winners.
Portland won the coveted MLS Is Back tournament thanks to his stellar play.
And while that may sound dumb and a little sarcastic, it does show that when Sebastian Blanco turns it to 11, the Timbers can win the whole damn thing.
Will Not: Blanco will help them score goals.
He won’t exactly help them prevent goals being scored on them.
And while the Timbers have a proven and solid goalkeeping core, the defense ahead of those goalkeepers doesn’t exactly inspire a ton of hope.
It’s the same issue with the Sounders, but like I said at the very beginning one of these two teams have made MLS Cup Final every year since 2015 so I’m sure their defensive woes won’t exist come this weekend.
Minnesota United
Will: Don’t let their 5th place rank fool you.
This team started dreadfully, losing their first four games.
Only 3 teams before them were able to overcome that and make the playoffs, so they’re already in a good group.
Not to mention, Minnesota has a superstar just like Portland does thanks to Emanuel Reynoso.
Portland vs Minnesota is my favorite round 1 matchup, because it will feature two playmakers giving it their all, and possible springing a run towards MLS Cup.
I mean, Reynoso had the Loons up 2-0 with 10 minutes left in the Western Conference Finals last season before they blew it and officially became a Minnesota sports team. Why couldn’t he do it again?
Will Not: Because if he doesn’t do it, nobody else will.
This isn’t the same team for Minnesota as a year ago.
There’s no Kevin Molino to start an onslaught against Kansas City like he did last season.
If Reynoso gets hot, they’re dangerous.
If he doesn’t? They unfortunately don’t stand a chance.
Vancouver Whitecaps
Will: Remember what I said earlier about Portland being hot?
Vancouver is even hotter, and that’s all thanks to the play of American striker Brian White.
Well, maybe not all the thanks.
But he’s American and his name is Brian so I’m going to give him the credit.
Still, you need match winners if you want to win MLS Cup, and Brian White sure seems to be proving that he is one.
Plus, new manager Vanni Sartini not only is very smart, but incredibly fun.
Fun, light hearted soccer teams tend to do well in short tournament situations like these.
It’s why Bob Bradley never won MLS Cup with LAFC.
(I had to get a Bob Bradley shot in somewhere since they didn’t make the playoffs).
Will Not: Vancouver just isn’t good enough.
It sounds lazy and maybe a little mean, but it’s true.
And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
This Whitecaps team is in the first season of their new identity. This is a big first step for them.
It’s ok that they don’t have the talent to win it all this year.
Use the offseason, and prepare for a run next season.
I fully think they have the ability to do it. Just not this year.
Real Salt Lake
Will: Salt Lake made the playoffs in the dying embers of the season with a 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City.
That win kept Greg Vanney, Chicharito and the LA Galaxy out of the playoffs.
It was a huge goal for what has been a tumultuous season for RSL. It’s the kind of goal that springs a team into a hot streak where they can’t be stopped.
Plus, it was cool as hell.
That’s not a reason they’ll win it all, but it was in fact cool as hell.
Will Not: Just copy and paste what I said about Vancouver above.
A new manager, and it’s great that they made the postseason.
But they aren’t good enough. Not this season.
