Hey, it's Noah Chestnut from The Athletic. If you're into games and sports, pay attention. I'm going to give you four sports terms. You tell me the common thread. Ready? Game. Match. Point. Set. This one's kind of a gimme. The answer is how tennis is scored. Do you want more of a challenge? Check out Connections Sports Edition. It's a new daily game for sports fans. To play now, go to theathletic.com slash connections.
Total Soccer Show and the first part of our MLS 2025 Western Conference Preview. On this episode, we're going deep on Austin, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, LAFC, the Galaxy, Minnesota. And Portland. We're looking at how each of those teams is shaping up for 25, the big movers and shakers, our very specific predictions, and much, much more. My name's Ryan Bailey. Joining me today is your friend. It's my friend, The Taylor.
Hello, Taylor. Hello, Ryan. I love your introduction. It feels appropriate to call this part one. of the Western Conference and then it's part three of our previews overall. That feels very on brand for Major League Soccer in which you have the conference finals and then the cup after that with conference semifinals before. It all gets a little murky and I like that our introduction has reflected that.
Let's not get all Star Wars and start pre-part one-ing, two-ing and three-ing stuff. Let's just keep it simple. Prequel previews. I like it, which I guess is what a preview is. Exactly. By the way, listener, we are available on YouTube. If you're watching, you'll see Taylor is dressed like a cat burglar today. I'm loving it, Taylor.
Because I'm wearing a black shirt. Uh-huh. All right. You got a little black hat to go on it as well? Yeah, you haven't seen my black ski mask and all the other stuff that really helps the cat burglar aesthetic. Good to see. I mean, I'm also wearing black, so we could both be cat burglars in crime. Graham Rovers is here wearing a lovely Portland Timbers shirt. Hello, Graham.
Hello, Ryan Bailey. Yes, I decided I'm trying to keep this up on every episode, something relating to the teams we're going to talk about in every episode. So I'm not previewing the timbers today, but I thought I'd wear this shirt that definitely doesn't have my name on the back of it because it was gifted to me a few years ago. Well, Graham. That's a follow-up question to that. That's only natural. Have you ever been to Portland?
No, I never mention it at all. I'd like to go. I've heard it's really nice. I've heard that MLS pay for people to go there on gifted trips for big matches. Yeah, it'd be great, Joe, to answer your question. Sounds good. We should...
I'll put that on the air sometime, Graham. You'll regale us with your story, because clearly you've never done that before. Joe Lowry, hello, how are you? Hey, Ryan. The reason I was laughing before I just tossed Graham under the bus was... I can't remember if Taylor at one point in response to you trying to roast his fashion sense.
called you this, or if some listener did, when they basically referred to you as dressing like a middle-aged aunt with your cardigans there. Does anybody else remember that? Is that just me? That happened, right? That wasn't just in my head?
Shots have been fired at my cardigan, but I still wear it, Joe. I think it's a good look. And clearly I am not the status fashion symbol over here, so I'm not trying to throw stones. That is just what made me chuckle early on in this episode. I just can't get it.
it out of my head no you got your slippers on ryan your comfies stroking a cat on your knee i don't want to go too far down this road but my kids wear like slippers to school with pajamas occasionally what is this country coming to graham i don't know
I think that's more of a reflection of you. You have control over that. Surely. Who could have done this? They do it because they're all doing it, I suppose, Taylor. Joe, you're right to bring me up for this. I can't be throwing stones from my glass house of sartorial elegance.
So thank you for keeping me grounded. Is that two in a row for you? Sartorial in the intro, Ryan. I like the streak you're developing here. If you want more big words and small ones and medium sized ones, patreon.com slash total soccer shows where we have our bonus content. Bonus episode.
bonus video and access to our disc server where all the cool kids are hanging out patreon.com slash total soccer show please and thank you to everyone who supports us via that medium all right without further ado why don't we get into our western conference previews as a reminder listener you're going to hear
a little bit of a summary of how the team did last year, what's changed in the off season, the moves, the shakes, the front office makey makes, that doesn't work, how we think they'll play, reasons for optimism, reason for pessimism, and our very... specific prediction we start as the alphabet intends with austin fc graham rudman's going to tell us all about austin who of course have uh got a new coach in charge tell us about austin's powers yeah baby
I actually quite like that. Applause for that. Austin Powers. Didn't have the greatest of powers last season, to be honest. 2024 wasn't a good year for Austin. They missed out on the playoffs for the third time in four years. And then in the middle of 2023...
Going back to the previous season, I should mention, Rodolfo Burrell comes in as the new sporting director at Austin. And basically, Josh Wolfe, who was the head coach of this team, was given another season to prove that the team could return to the standards that they set for themselves in 2022. had a very good year.
And that didn't happen in 2024. They finished three points better off in 2024 than 2023, but weren't all that close to the playoff line in terms of points in the Western Conference. They were eliminated before deadline day. Sebastian Driussi wasn't very productive for this team last year. And when he's not productive, this is a team that lacks other ways to harm opponents. And you look at the other players around him in the attack. Osman Bakari came in as the new DP in May.
scored just one goal between then and the end of last season. Jesse Zardes, Diego Rubio scored just seven goals between them at the number nine spot. So not a huge amount of productivity, attacking output from this team. And as a team, as a whole, Austin scored just 30. goals in the regular season last year the fewest of any team in the Western Conference and so coming out of 2024 actually before the end of the regular season
Josh Wolfe was fired as head coach pretty much as soon as Austin were eliminated from playoff contention. And we now have a team entering a new cycle with a new head coach. As you mentioned, Ryan Bailey, that new head coach is Nico Estevez, the same Nico Estevez.
who was fired by... FC Dallas midway through last season, so I don't know if on the face of things that's the most exciting hire, but Burrell, the sporting director, has spoken about wanting Austin to play a fluid style of soccer that can shift between various formations and shape. and so they might have a manager who fits that vision.
And some other things that have changed. Drusie is gone. Somehow Austin got River Plate to pay $10 million for him, which after last season, I presume they cashed that check very quickly because I would say that was above market value. Alex Ring has also gone. gone despite being a key player for this team last year they declined his option and so he's gone back to Finland obviously someone who was around in MLS for a while
Johan Valencia is also gone. So is Yassi Zardes, who had his contract bought out at the end of last season as well. In terms of incomings... Brandon Vazquez is the splashiest addition Austin have made in the off-season. At the time when they signed him, this signing broke their club record transfer fee to go and get him from Monterey for 10 million. That Druze check was quickly cashed and then they went and got Vazquez.
is and he's obviously someone who has a proven track record in MLS we know all about him from his time at Sensei and also with the USMNT of course spoke about him many times he's got a good Penalty box presence and Austin are counting on him being the attacking focal point that they can now build around. They then also, after that, they then broke their record transfer fee again to get Murto Izuni.
Joe, correct me on that pronunciation. Sounds good to me, Graham. Your guess is as good as mine. From Granada. Someone that I'm relatively familiar with from his time in La Liga, but I don't think I've ever said that name out loud. But he's an Albanian attacker who put up really good numbers in La Liga.
last season before Granada were relegated. He's someone who can play on the wing, can play as a second forward, can also play up front on his own as a nine. More on that later. But he's someone who very much fits that vision I was talking about of Borrell. wanting to have flexibility in this team.
And midfield anchor Eli Sanchez is coming over the offseason as well. And Nicolas Dubersarski as well. He's a young Argentinian and is another midfielder. So that's a fair bit of squad reconstruction and a fair bit of money spent as well. austin which i think is welcome for that for this team they needed that um i caught some of the pre-season games that austin have been playing and indeed it's very fluid in terms of their shape and how they've been playing on paper it's a 4-3-3
But you have things within that shape like Izuni cutting inside of the left. Sometimes he'll join Vasquez in the front two. And it'll be more of a 4-4-2 in those instances. Sometimes it's a 4-2-3-1 as well. So in that respect, I reckon Ossner are going to be an interesting... team to watch this season it's broadly a possession based approach they will they will build out from the back they will also go direct at times into the attacking thirds
They'll press at times, but then they'll also be quite comfortable sitting back in the mid-block at other times. So it's a broadly modern style of play, and in that sense, it's not too detached from what Josh Wolfe wanted from this team, but maybe with a little bit more flexibility and hope. hopefully, from Austin's point of view, better execution. And I think the biggest reason for optimism...
ahead of this season for Austin is they have quite simply brought in better attacking players. They have spent big. It's a pretty safe bet, I think, barring injury, that Vazquez and Izuni will deliver more than the attacking players that Austin had last season. That looks like an...
upgrade brad stuver of course if he can remain one of the best goalkeepers in the league then hopefully that that defense holds together in 2025 and then with a new attack you're already making gains there the concern is that this fluidity that austin want actually becomes a negative where things maybe don't quite click. And then you have an expensive attacker in Izuni who doesn't really dovetail with another expensive attacker in Vazquez. Izuni actually played.
most of his matches for Granada as a nine. So Osner may be asking him to play a position that isn't his best role in this team. You also have a defence that, I mentioned Brad Stuber, there's a positive and a negative here. one of the best goalkeepers in the league, potentially underrated, a defence that kind of relies on him to be one of the best goalkeepers in the league. So if he had any kind of dip or if he was to get hurt, then how would that affect things for Austin? They actually have...
quite a volatile defensive line in terms of characters back there. Ibero and Svatok are pretty fiery. They can be baited by opposition teams. And actually, my VSP is related to that. So far, I've kind of gone down the statistical route. with my VSPs I'm going to have a vibesy one here I predict that Austin will be involved in at least one brawl
in the first 10 games of the season, probably involving those fiery defenders. And a brawl, just to clarify, I am counting as something that involves seven players or more. That's a brawl. It needs to be seven players or more. Does a scrum count as a brawl?
you're counting a scrum no scrum would be sub seven for sure scrum is sub seven scrum is less yeah good good clarification yeah totally so yeah there will be a brawl involving this team they seem to be very fire at the back couple of volatile characters um i wanted something to relate related to the
to the attack, but that felt a little bit too easy. So I'll go with the hockey style fight breaking out at some point in the early part of the season. Graham, I love that. I love that shout. Are you thinking of, I think it was Biro who, who kind of two foots Ricky Pooge on the sideline last season. There's a picture. I tweeted about it. Yeah, it's a difficult moment. I tweeted about it and Austin fans got really, really mad at me. And maybe I was a little bit too harsh in the tweets.
But then Ricky Pooch quote tweeted it, and so I felt denigated because that was really my only goal in life. I do think you're talking about these defenders. That is my big area of concern for Austin. Credit to them for going out there and spending money. They've revamped this team. They've added...
I think, by my account, six new starters over the last two transfer windows, and you got to the new attack really well, Graham. Stuver is awesome. He's got a lot of work to do. Like, I don't know if Svatak is very good. They brought him in in the summer. I think Biro is a pretty solid left back in this league.
I don't know if Destler's any good at right back. Like, there's just a lot. I'm pretty sure Brandon Heinz Ike and the other center backs they have in this team aren't very good. Like, there are just some real defensive question marks in this team. Then you look at the attack and think, well, okay, we know Brandon Vasquez. We think...
Brandon Vasquez is a pretty good MLS player. He's also only ever had one season where he scored double digit goals in major league soccer. Like in a weird way, he has proven, but also. Not? And is he really a high-level DP that's worth $10 million? I don't care how much Anthony Precourt spends on this team. That's his money, not mine. But yeah, there are weird questions, even though this team is also really fun and really different and going to be an interesting one to watch.
Thank you for raising the bar of funness for VSPs, by the way, Graham. I do like that indeed. Although, when there is a six-man brawl that erupts in Austin. You're going to feel pretty silly.
You can feel pretty silly. I am, yeah. There'll be a member of the coaching staff or someone. I can count them. I'll take that as a moral victory, at least, if the bench gets involved as well. I'm telling you right now, this is going to the court of arbitration for specific predictions because I feel like a brawl has to have punches.
is thrown and if punches are thrown red cards are coming out suspensions are happening I don't know if that's gonna happen so I feel like we're gonna have to have some litigation on this when there's a brawl we'll know there's a brawl okay
I don't know. A Scottish man telling me that gentle pushing and shoving counts as a brawl feels like a dubious claim at best. A football brawl. There's a lower bar. Not a brawl in the east end of Glasgow. There are different standards here. But a football brawl.
Oh, boy. Yeah, we're not going that far indeed. Thank you very much, Graham, for looking ahead to Austin. We're going now to Taylor Rockwell, who's going to tell us about Colorado. Chris Armisen, his sophomore season, of course, seventh last year into the playoffs, soundly beaten by the Galaxy there. Colorado improve on that day law yep
That's what I say. If you were waiting for me to hit the point where I get way too excited about a team that might not be worth that excitement, Joe is going to temper expectations on this one maybe later on. But I am very excited about the Colorado Rapids, who did finish seventh in the West last season.
50 points, 61 goals, 460 against balance is what we're talking about there. I'm going to steal from Ben Bellman of American Soccer Analysis and his summary of their season because it's quite good. After two middling seasons, the Rapids put together 50 points in 2024, earning the seventh playoff seed in the West. It was a successful year resulting from a cohesive game model built on targeted team presses, great play from the team's attackers, and Moise Bombito's recovery speed.
Colorado climbed as high as third in the West and nabbed a CONCACAMPIONS berth by placing third in League's Cup. But after a hot, rapid summer, the injury bug bit again. Moist Bombita was sold to Nice, and the defense simply collapsed down the stretch. good summary of the rapid season that was but now let's talk about the rapid season that will be where I think they will make the playoffs because I like the business that they have done so far
Rafael Navarro was made permanent in the summer, so that happened last season, but it is still one I'm throwing in there as he is now definitely there for the long run. He is going to start up top. But I really, really enjoy their business that they've done in this window. Josh Atencio coming in from the Seattle Sounders. He's going to be a defensive midfielder. He is going to partner probably Cole Bassett when they are in a midfield two or in a double pivot. And I really love that pairing.
both for the age, I think they're both 23 years old, but also for the... Stability and versatility, I think it gives Colorado. Teddy KDP, Theodore Kudipietro comes in from DC United. He is also 23 years old. He can play centrally. He can play out wide. And I think, again, gives them more different looks in the attack and more different looks through the middle.
That season summary indicated there were some defensive issues last year when you have Mois Pompito leaving for Nice, and then you have Lala Sabubakar. Being the faithful servant that he is, but maybe not being at the level required at this point, he has been moved on. And in have come to Dozie Awaziem from Cincinnati and Ian Murphy, also from FC Cincinnati. Basically, when Cincinnati needed death.
Inspiration center backs, they signed a bunch and then realized, well, that's not great for the salary cap. Now we've got to do something. And what they did was sell both of them to Colorado. bringing in two center backs who played in a back three last season has begged the question, are Colorado going to do that this year? Because they've spent...
almost the entire season last year in a back four until the final game of the regular season when they played in a back three and looked quite good. So I think that is the number one thing to watch for in the first few games of this campaign. Are they in a back three or are they in a back? four because I think Atencio in the middle combined with Bassett.
Would give them stability in a back four, but also gives them even more stability with a back three because he can shield them even more. But they have really capable players in a few different areas that allow them to have that variety, specifically Reggie Cannon. Because with Reggie Cannon... And then Keegan Rosenberry, you have two players who could both start at fullback for Colorado. And...
In Major League Soccer, it feels like kind of a waste to have a starting caliber player just sitting on the bench. Whereas if you move Reggie Cannon to a right center back position, you bring it, you let Maxo kind of be the center center back. You put Awazim as your left center back.
It's a pretty good back three. Reggie Cannon's played in a back three before. We've seen him play as a right back who becomes a right center back. And I think that would then allow them to have Sam Vines as a left wing back, kind of marauding up the left with... in combination with Georgi Mihailovic, who is such an incredibly important player for this Rapids team, with Keegan Rosenberg on the other side, maybe combining with Teddy KDP. I think there's a lot to like about this team, especially...
with the core group moving into its prime. Navarro is 24, Georgie's 26, Cole Bassett's 23, Atensio's 23, Sam Vines's 25, and KDP 23 as well. I'm shortening his name every single time, Teddy KDP. Regarding Cole Bassett especially, I read on some media site, Backheels, I think it's called, Bassett managed to finish tied for second in goal contributions last year among all Rapids players with 16 with top-tier ground...
So they've got quality in defense. They've got quality out wide. They've got quality through the middle. Navarro is good enough and I think will be an exciting player. That just leaves goalkeeper, and that's my specific prediction. Zach Steffen is the starting goalkeeper for the Colorado Rapids, much to some Rapids fans and Joe Lowry's chagrin.
I have a prediction that Zach Steffen's stats will improve perhaps significantly. Joe will still be unenthused, which is not a shot at Joe or Joe's bias. I don't think he has any. I think... If they do shift to a back three, I think that's going to help them be more defensively solid. Even if they don't, I think that to not have your most important center back leave in the middle of a season and to not have the other most important center back be maybe no longer at the level.
I think to bring in replacements to have more depth there is just going to make the defense stronger. I think they will score goals. I think there'll be more attacking. So that will kind of alleviate even more pressure for the Rapids defense. And so I think Stefan will face. fewer shots i think he'll face fewer like high percentage shots essentially and so i think
Like his clean sheets will probably improve. I think his saves will improve. Goals conceded probably improves. But I think the issue in texting with Joe and his concerns about Stefan has long been that he makes sort of individual mistakes. He doesn't make saves that maybe. he should make statistically. And I think those underlying metrics might stay the same.
even if his numbers do improve. So this is a win-win prediction for me because either I'm right and I get the point or I'm wrong and we see him improve as a player, which means older players can learn new things and Joe is officially ageist.
Haha, well done. Yeah, I would be thrilled for Zach Steffen to have a better season. He was the worst goalkeeper in all of MLS last year based off of a goal saved above or in Steffen's case below expected. The way that that statistic is developed is they look at where... shots are going on the goal mouth. And if a shot is headed to the upper 90, then goalkeepers don't really get dinged when they don't make that save because it's going to be really hard.
If the shot is right down the middle of chest height, then it's a much different story. Stefan shipped nine goals more than expected. Last season was the worst in MLS.
Very likely, Taylor, that he will do better this season if for no other reason than it would be hard to do worse, frankly, than he did last year. And you're right. I'm still not going to be very high on Zach Steffen after one season's worth of data. So I think you might as well just chalk that one up as a win on the VSP front right now.
One note, I think that is excellent, Taylor. You're right to be high on the Rapids, in my opinion. Not that I am great at predicting things in Major League Soccer. I have them, I think, fourth in the West or fifth in the West this year or something along those lines. in my predictions that are up over on backfield. I think they're going to be really good. And I love their offseason moves as well. I think Atencio is a starting level player in this league, maybe even a good one in his role.
Same with Cudi Pietro. I think he's a starting level player and a Waziem as well. I'm a little less high on Murphy, but that's three starters. They totally can play in that back three. They did have their first game of the season last night. We should note against LAFC and CONCACAF Champions Cup. They won that game two to one and they played a back four, which is...
from what I understand, going to still be their go-to look. But to your point, Taylor, they now have the flexibility and the depth, I think, that's what they've really added this offseason, to switch out that shape and to move into different looks and to give different players minutes across multiple competitions. I think this Rapids team is really solid. I still think they are a solid tier below the best of the best in MLS, but that's...
That's what you get when you are the Colorado Rapids and you don't spend a lot of money. You're trying to put yourself in a position to be able to upset those teams in the playoffs. You're not going for the shield. You're not going to top the Western Conference, even though we have seen that before. We're not going to see that this year, but we are going to see, I think, a really...
incompetent, and successful Rapids team. Yeah, which I think is a good bar for them to meet. I do think they are sort of a sign of how much the league has progressed and developed that I think that this team a few years ago is probably... Like not going to be fourth or fifth, but maybe more of a like maybe they're a Western Conference contender because I do think there is quality in there, even if there's not maybe that like top tier DP quality.
But I think with the strengths that some teams do have in the development of talent in the league, I think fourth or fifth sounds about right, Joe. But for the Rapids, who... I think the last time I did their preview had like 14 wingers and made no sense on paper. I was very concerned. I'm less concerned about them this time. Can I invent a defense for Zach Steffen? Dick's Sporting Good Park is 5,100 feet above sea level.
harder to track the flight of the ball when the air is thin. Yeah, can we give him that? Yes, especially because Manchester and Dusseldorf and Columbus are also famously 6,000 feet above sea level. So yeah, I think that's the issue. It's the air.
Darn it. I think it's the ball. I think they keep making him play with the Jabalani from the 2010 World Cup. That's it. That's it. That's it. We've got it. We've nailed it. There we go. Let's take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to look at Dallas and much more. Join us then. Total Soccer Show, welcome back to our Western Conference Preview Part 1. We go now to FC Dallas, or FC Dallas, as Texas Hoosier would have us say it. I'm going to tell you all about them. They kick off.
At Houston this coming weekend, a Texas derby. Dallas have won the last three Texas derbies and six of the last seven. Will they win this one? Dunno! They're a team in flux, to say the least. We'll find out a bit more about them now. They had a pretty forgettable campaign in 2024. They finished six points outside playoff contention. Coach Nico Estevez, as Graham mentioned, dismissed halfway through this season. Now Austin...
Of course, we all know the best Estevez in the Estevez family at coaching is Emilio from the Mighty Ducks. We don't need to go anymore into that. Peter Luchin turned things around when he came in, but they fell apart at the end of the season, last season, two wins in the last. Nine. Now.
New head coach, Eric Quill, back in the Dallas family. He spent 2019 to 21 as head coach of North Texas SC, their MLS Next Pro affiliate. Also previously, Quill worked under Wilfred Nancy and Caleb Porter as well elsewhere. And he played... for the team Quill played for FC Dallas when it was the Dallas Burn way back in 2004 olden times black and white times Joe they played soccer then I thought they just kicked bricks around in the yard I don't know maybe that's what Quill did made him tough yep
Pigskin balls and very heavy nylon shirts back then, Joe. What a time to have been alive. We'll tell you about it sometime. Squad-wise, completely restructured roster for that. It's lots of change. They've added 15 new players, drafted three players in the MLS Super...
Draft and said goodbye to 15 more players from last year's squad as well. Not the only MLS side with that kind of churn, of course, but quite a lot of churn, you'd say here. Lost three huge players in the squad, Alan Velasco, Jesus Ferreira and Paul Areola. Of course, Velasco... going to Boca Juniors for $10 million. Ferreira and Areola going to Seattle.
Omar Gonzalez, I think Graham mentioned him in his previous essay with Chicago, had his option declines as well, so he's gone there too. Big change, biggest trade of the season, Lucho Costa. $5 million move from Cincinnati. The deal is the largest yet made using MLS's new internal cash trade system. The cash for player trades. Not anymore. Evander's worth. Evander went for almost twice that. But it was, I believe at the time, probably the first of those dominoes to fall.
I love it because they introduced it this season. That's the thing that keeps getting reported. I think it's been a new record. roughly 45 times at this point, it keeps getting set and broken and set and broken. I think, I think literally all but two, I think there've maybe been five of these moves that have happened so far and all but like two of them have been record-breaking one on top of the other. Yeah, there's been a lot of, we're the first, so we've broken.
the record um and dallas shout out to them they got a good player sorry ryan continue there you go deal was the largest made using mls's new internal cash trade system obviously across the key to since he's turned around uh their big turnaround they went from
basically bottom to winning the support shield in his MVP season, so a good pick up for them. They've also brought in Azazi Oregede, a Dutch centre-back signed from Amiens, his first pro contract in 2018. Graeme, have a guess which club it was with. He was at Celtic, was he not? AC Wimbledon, baby.
Really? He was also at Celtic, though. Yeah, he was, yeah. He played in the AFC Wimbledon youth system, also made his mark in Sunday League football with Hounslow, which is basically Heathrow Airport's team. Awesome. Also, Shaq Moore in from Nashville. I think we explained that in a previous show as well. Patrick Delgado, Ecuadorian midfielder, signed a three-year contract after a loan to Bell last year. And I think Taylor mentioned Lala Sabubakar coming in from the Colorado Rapids.
as a depth option in defense too. Something they certainly needed last season, a depth option there. How are they going to play? Well, Quill has tended to play as a 4-2-3-1 with his New Mexico side, the aforementioned very direct style of play.
press high and be dynamic in transition. It's lots of changes in this team. It's hard to know who's going to fit where exactly, I'd say. But the optimism here is they've got Acosta. They've got a system that's going to probably suit him going forward. Things didn't work.
last season at this club. So change is good. Change is a good thing when things didn't work, right? That's a general maxim that we can all agree with. The concern, perhaps for Dallas, the defence let in nearly 1.7 goals per game last season.
defensive depth as well and the feeling is that Quill might play with his foot on the gas maybe at the expense of a bit of balance and a bit of defensive fortitude as well that could be the Achilles heel that could be how this team gets burned Dallas burned if you will Also concern maybe for the roster construction, will this squad gel? I mean, once again, this is a concern that maybe some other MLS teams share as well. Chemistry might take a while to come through for this team. My VSP.
Dallas will finish 13th or lower in the West with 10 or fewer wins to their name. So I'm sorry to the Dallas fans out there, but I'm saying they're going to be worse, marginally worse than last year, which was 11th and 11 wins. Not sure.
I'm not convinced Lucho's going to discover his finest Cincinnati-esque form here in a team which has been shaken up as it has. I think this is going to be a tough season for Quill as this team comes together, as this squad, as this roster gels. Feels to me, Joe, like it could be a bit of a... transition-y kind of season for Dallas. Dallas, is it fair? Yeah, I think so. I don't think this team is going to be very good. I love the Lucho addition. Like, Lucho is a superstar in this league.
I don't know if he's going to put up Cincy numbers, mostly because he doesn't have the sporting cast in Dallas that he did in Cincy. I think he's still going to be a really good player for this team. And he opens up a path to real competitiveness in a way that Dallas just didn't have open to them last season. So the ceiling is probably a little higher than where it's been. But man, that floor is still really low.
I'm not going to be bold enough to do the former AFC Wimbledon and Celtics center back that's arrived from Ligue 2, but he's arrived and they paid about $3 million for him and clearly have high expectations. Next to him is either going to be Lala Sabubakar or Sebastian Nibiaga, who are both solidly below average center backs.
in this league. I don't love the fullbacks. I think Shaq Moore is a middling player. Same with Marco Farfan on the other side. Midfield is a bit of a question mark and I don't think their wingers are high-level players in this league either. There's just a lot of holes. Lucho raises this team ceiling, like I said, but there are...
Yeah, there's a lot of holes. There we go. Yeah. A bit of meh energy around Dallas, perhaps, this season. But let's keep it to Texas, Joshua. Let's go to Houston, who are they going to be? Texas' best team in Major League Suppers this season? What do we think? Maybe. It's a close race. Austin have done a lot of things. Lucho makes Dallas a more interesting team at the very least.
And Houston have had a decent amount of change this offseason, more than I would have expected in a lot of ways. 2024, they finished with 54 points, fifth in the West, eighth in MLS as a whole. Yet again, they played some of the prettiest possession soccer in the entire league. They landed inside MLS's top three teams in terms of short passes. They led the league in possession. They are a ball dominant team that has an ironclad grip on games and using that as their big tactical foundation.
They had a quite good 2024. They were among the better teams in the West, like I said, and then they fell apart against the Seattle Sounders in the first round of the playoffs. Multiple red cards. Hector Herrera spit at a referee and got sent off. And they were bounced. Their season ended. And in that, they also sort of shifted eras, almost in the same breath. There is...
Looking ahead to 2025, no more Hector Herrera in this team. His contract was declined after that spitting incident, and maybe that was going to happen anyway. He missed a chunk of last year with injury and just wasn't the same player in 2024 as he was in 23.
Koko Karaskia has moved on as well. He's been looking for a change of scenery for quite some time, was hoping for a European move. Ends up going to Pumas and Liga Mequis for a few million dollars. Steve Clark was not brought back. He was our starting goalkeeper last year. Sebas Ferreira, he's gone. He wasn't a key player for them, but he does open a DP spot. That was a failed move as a designated player. And then Mikael.
is reportedly heading to palmeiras in brazil for what would be according to tom bogert's reporting the most expensive outgoing transfer fee in houston dynamo history which means maybe i'm missing one it's at least three million plus palmeiras are a huge club in brazil
And Mikael was one of the best center backs in Major League Soccer. To recap, that's your starting goalkeeper, your most important defender, and probably your two best central midfielders in Hector Herrera and Coco Carrasquilla, and a DP that are all gone and out of this team.
That's a lot of change for a team that was quite good last year. There have been some incoming players, but we are still waiting on a lot as well to actually come together for this group. Jack McGlynn was one of those first cash deals as well that we talked about coming over from the union.
I love that signing. I think he's going to be a really good player for this team. Nico Ladero is reportedly close to being bought out by Orlando. Maybe he will already have been by the time this episode airs. And he's apparently headed to Houston. They've added a couple other death pieces in midfield and at right back. They are still waiting, though.
for the most important player to arrive of this offseason. And that's not even getting to the center back situation, which is still not yet over the line as of recording. They'll need to find a replacement for Mikael if that move to Palmeiras does happen.
They're still waiting for the piece that they've needed ever since Ben Olsen got to Houston, which is a legitimate chance creating number 10. That player has been missing and the Dynamo have not been effective in the final third at any point of Ben Olsen's tenure so far.
I don't think it's on Olsen. I think it is very much a personnel issue that this front office has been slow to sort out. They were hoping that Coco Carrasquilla and Herrera could do enough chance creation-wise, along with Amin Bassey, to feed new DP signing Ezekiel Ponce, who was brought in last year.
It just hasn't happened. They were 20th in the league in non-penalty XG last year. They were 25th in the league in non-penalty XG per shot. Translation, they were not getting a lot of shots and they were not getting a lot of good shots. They just didn't create chances in central areas. A lot of shots from bad angles when they were taking them at all.
That's a problem. So I think that number 10 piece is absolutely massive. They've said that they want to go out there and find a DP number 10. Tom has reported that as well. I have no doubts that that is an area that they're looking at. The season starts on Saturday and it hasn't happened yet. So...
You know, you can't get relegated in MLS. It's not a huge issue. But the Dynamo, if they want to be as good as they were last year, I think with all these outgoings, very much need more talent along the way. Tactically, I kind of already talked about what this team wants to do.
They want to be in a 3-2-5 attacking shape and really smother the ball. Everybody's using that 3-2-5 now. They defend in a 4-4-2 and then keep their left back at home, Franco Escobar, to become that third center back in possession.
And they've got those two players in the half spaces just inside the wide attackers and just outside of the number nine. They need a new chance creator in that part of the field. And I do really think that they're going to find one. I think they're going to make that move. probably in this primary transfer window to add a second DP to this team. The optimistic read is they do that and that player turns out to be a very, very good player.
And they become a much more dangerous team because they're finally threatening in the final third. Then they get Nelson Quinones back on the left wing. They get Lawrence Inali back from his long-term knee injury on that left side. And all of a sudden, they're a much more balanced and dangerous team in the attack.
The other optimistic read is that Jack McGlynn is going to be a fantastic player for this team in central midfield. With Philly, he's not an aggressive player. He didn't really fit in their against the ball mentality, even as Jim Curtin tried to make them a little bit more possession oriented. McGlynn just was not a good fit for that system.
And he is a perfect fit for a Houston team that is going to dominate the ball. We're going to see a lot of left-footed line-breaking passes from Jack McGlynn this year. The other optimistic thing is the defense was great last year. And I think is, yes, dependent on Mikael. And that is a concern, his impending exit.
But it's also based on the fact that the Dynamo dominate the ball. And you can't score on a team when you don't have the ball. That's like the fundamental principle of why so many of these coaches want to use possession is, yes, it needs to be an attacking weapon. And that's an area that the Dynamo need to improve and I think probably will this year.
But also, it is an incredible defensive weapon. So those are the optimistic reads on this team. They're going to add that number 10. The defense is going to be great. And they're going to get a little more balanced across the team. The concern is...
The number 10 isn't here yet. We don't know if that player is going to come. We don't know how good that player is going to be. There are two best central midfielders left in the summer and their best center back is leaving any minute. That's the worry. And those are sizable worries for this team. Even if the 10 is good. What happens if the midfield and the defense take steps back, maybe multiple steps?
I don't know. A goalkeeper is a little bit of a concern as well. Steve Clark had a pretty good year last year. I don't think he's irreplaceable by any means, but this is a good team. Sviachenko and Franco Escobar are good starters in the back line. Griffin Dorsey is a danger moving forward on that right side. Artur is one of the better tempo setters in Major League.
I love McGlynn next to him. I think, I mean, Bassey is a good like third or fourth attacker in this team. They'll get better on the left wing this year. Ponce is a capable number nine. They just need that 10 and they need some answers at the base of their back line.
My VSP for this team is about that attack though, because I think this is the thing to watch. When we talk about VSPs, it's usually to try and give listeners and viewers something to hold onto for these teams and something to monitor throughout the season.
It is the attack for Houston. If their attack is middling to straight up bad again this year, they're not going to win anything. It's as simple as that. My VSP, though, is that they're going to break into the top half of the league in terms of non-penalty expected goals.
by the end of the season. Again, they were 20th last year. That would only mean they need to move up to 15th for this to actually happen. I think they're going to be better, but without knowing who that DP number 10 is or when that player is going to arrive. We just don't know how much better. And even then, we won't really know how much better. But I think the Dynamo are likely to get better.
I don't think they're likely to be an elite team in MLS this year. I think I have them sort of as a middling playoff team. And at the moment with how they stand, that's probably a bit generous, but I've got some faith in this front office to add a couple more key pieces.
Yeah, I think Joe Jack McGlynn is the headline for me. I can't wait. You got to this point. He's going to be much more comfortable in this team. I saw an interview after his first few training sessions after joining the Dynamo. And he was like, they were talking about their set piece drills.
in training, he was like, they seem very amazed that I can just put it on their heads every single time. So I'm looking forward to see if that has an impact on their set piece output during the season. I love it.
It's worth noting that when Joe talked about how good Jack McGlynn was going to be, Ryan and I both nodded. Graham didn't nod. So Graham officially doesn't believe in Jack McGlynn, which is hurtful. Graham, I'll let you make up for it by giving your Steve Clark rankings. Does the Houston goalkeeper rank above Scott? That's difficult. I mean, he used to play for Portland, of course. So, you know, my affinity for that city, I think he has to rank above Scotland's Steve Clarke. Yeah. There you go.
Well played. All right. Thank you very much, Joe, for your Houston preview there. Let's go to the Los Angeles contingent. Why don't we start off, Taylor, with the defending champions, La Galaxy. Ricky Pooj is going to be wheeled around in a... Big ice bucket for a little while longer, it seems. And still complete 87% of passes. It's shocking that he can do that without actually being able to move. Yes, we will not have Ricky Pooj. Let's talk about that. First, let's talk about the Galaxy C.
That was second in the West, 69 goals, 50 against, 15 wins, 14 losses, five draws. Again, balance. Along the way, they had a very deep roster, a potent attack, and an eventually mostly reliable defense for the large part. ultimately lifted their sixth MLS Cup. Ricky Puj and Gabriel Peck balled out, combining for 29 goals and 21 assists in the regular season. Dejan Jovalic was prolific himself, adding 15 goals and five assists. Joseph Paintsville bagged a total of...
of 17 combined goals and assists. Why am I giving you all of those numbers? Because we've got some reasons for concern up front. Those four players therefore combined for 87 goals and assists on the season. It is possible that only one of them will be fit and playing for the Galaxy at the start of the season. Ricky Poosh tore his ACL in the Western Conference Final.
though, as Joe noted over at backhield, still balled out, still hit some passes, is still quite a good player with a torn ACL. So maybe he'll come back and play in his ice tub. Gabriel Peck is good to go to start the season. Joseph Paintsil is not, has a hamstring issue. will miss some time. And then Dan Jovolic traded, sold.
Sold, traded, I forget how the mechanism works, to Sporting Kansas City. So there's a lot riding on the form of Gabriel Peck and the legs of Marco Reus to start the season. In terms of other changes for the Galaxy, the Jovalich sale is an unfortunate one. think for how good he had become and how important he was to the galaxy attack but he had aged out of the u-22 designation which meant that he would have commanded
or demanded a much more sizable chunk of the roster, and the Galaxy couldn't afford that, but they could afford to make a bunch of money by selling him, trading him to Sporting Kansas City. So that explains some aspects of that deal. Gaston Brueggemann, the 2024 MLS Cup MVP. He was traded to Nashville. Mark Delgado, depending on how formal he wants to be, is over with LAFC now. And Jalen Neal, the homegrown center back, was traded to Montreal.
The Jovalich one, I still feel like is going to be a pretty big hit for them. Gaston Brugman was an incredibly important player, as was Delgado as a role player, especially when Puj wasn't healthy. But Jovalich was...
I think just a very good attacker that defenses couldn't kind of not focus on despite all the other attacking pieces the galaxy had, because if you do, he can score goals on his own. And then if you overly focus on him, there are plenty of other people who can help. So how you replace him.
was a big question mark for me in this preview. More on that in a second. In terms of incomings for the Galaxy, Sean Davis, the MLS veteran midfielder, arrives from Nashville in exchange for Brooman plus money. Matthias Jorgensen, who I am, I think, legally... obligated to refer to as Zanka has arrived from Anderlecht. He's a 34-year-old Danish center back. Taylor, you're 100% right. That nickname?
And it's like very much has the feel of, yeah, my name is Matthias Jorgensen, but I make people call me Zanka or whatever, however you're supposed to say it. I don't know. There's probably a cool backstory to it, but I do not understand it whatsoever. But it's been like every single preview is like, he calls him Zanka.
Zenka, we must all call him this. I think it's just any name with a Z reminds us of Zlatan. Zenka's better than Zenka. Zenka sounds like a large pharmaceuticals company. Yeah, they sponsor Shalka now. You didn't know that, Graham? Exactly. I like that.
Yeah, so he will give you more veteran experience in the back line. Lucas Sanabria is a highly rated U22 initiative, defensive midfielder from Nacional in Uruguay. Five-year deal, but he is going to cover ground. He has good control of the ball. He can drive. dribble. He can also pass. He feels like a Galaxy player. I think he makes that midfield pretty solid. I really like that signing.
And I have been talked into enjoying the signing of Christian Ramirez after a trade with the crew. He is probably going to be the starting number nine for the Galaxy, which doesn't feel... like a galaxy number nine, really, especially with the talent and depth they had last year. But with the kind of roster limitations, with the financial situation as it is, and with Puj being out, they needed a cost-effective solution. Ramirez has scored eight goals.
in each of his last two seasons with the crew. And according to Joe Lowry, will be a good sort of discount option that will still score some goals and look just fine. Joe, anything to add there?
Yeah, I don't know why all of Scotland hates seems to hate Christian Ramirez. The dude scored 10 goals for like a really crappy Aberdeen team and has won full season there and has been a fairly reliable striker in MLS. Yeah, I think it's a good pickup. Budget from the pickup, most importantly. He was light. until his partner on Instagram basically compared Aberdeen to...
I don't know, like a third world country or something. So they pulled Orion is what I'm hearing on that. Another third world country, you mean? Yeah. You were mad because it's usually considered a fourth world country and you didn't want them to elevate it without the proper protocols being followed? Well, I mean, if she doesn't like... like Aberdeen, she's not going to like Los Angeles. I mean, the reputation that that place has.
I liked Graham trying to convince himself of what he was saying, that he could even finish the bit. I enjoyed that a lot. He'll be a good player, though. One more signing to discuss. Let's talk Elijah Winder. Yeah, baby. I knew it.
I have in my notes that Joe will now say yes or something along those lines. I didn't make that a prediction. But I was hoping that Joe would jump in. Because he's the most expensive USL to Major League Soccer transfer ever. I think it's around $400,000. He's 21 years old.
box-to-box midfielder he arrives from louisville but i assumed that joe would be excited about the very much major league soccer uh connection We think they will play in a 4-3-3, but with two more defensively-minded center midfielders behind Marco Reus, assuming Marco Reus is able to start and play most games, which I think...
The Galaxy will be hoping he can. I think it will be Lucas Sanabria, the U22 signee, likely partnering Edwin Cerillo in the middle. And without Ricky Puj in there, they will be more direct. I think they're less able to rely on him to control possession. have 6,000 touches a game the way he tends to. So...
With a more maybe direct approach and less possession, I still think they're going to be possession dominant for large stretches. I still think that they're going to be pulling strings and have Marco Reus looking like the Marco Reus prediction of old. But I'm going to say my very specific, I'm going to say heroic prediction here is that Marco Reus will increase his goal scoring from last year by 400%. It's a very bold prediction, and I think I deserve credit for that. So four goals?
Let's not talk about specifics, Graham. Let's just go with that. Yes, that's not my actual prediction. But yes, he scored one goal last season, so it would not take much to exceed that. My actual specific prediction is far more Joe Lowry ranged. Pencil and Gabriel Peck will combine to average more than 10 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes. Last year, Peck was at 4.09. Pencil was at 3.84. That was a total of right around eight. Ricky Puj himself was at 6.3.
three, eight on his own. So there is some shot creating action to be replaced. But I think if you have. Both of those wider attackers in a more direct approach at times, I think you're going to have to rely on them to create more chances, especially without Pooja in there. I think they're going to have to do more individually, and I think they're capable of it. I don't think that will be a problem.
for them. But I do think you're going to see both of them have to do a little bit more and accept that challenge willingly. So I think they're going to create more shot creating actions themselves. I think with Ramirez in there, he's good, but maybe... not quite as mobile as Jovalich. That's maybe more so a stereotype than it is for sure true. But I just think there is a slight downgrade there. So again, the importance of those two very talented wingers will be even greater this season.
Marvellous stuff. Thank you very much, Taylor, for your LA Galaxy preview then. Unless there's nothing else, Taylor has to jump from the recording. I think he's got his little glass cutter. He's going to go take some jewellery out of a...
I know you're occupied right now, and I know that that warehouse of Lululemon material that you have is untended. So I'm going to go steal it and sell it. Goodbye. Watch over the second laser. It's the second laser that always gets you. Everyone is able to skip over the first laser.
It's the second one that people... Well, I didn't know lasers were going to be involved. I'm going to go put on my Catherine Zeta Jones outfit from Entrapment. That's a reference we all get, right? Everybody's on it? I was about to say, I'm picturing Taylor doing some Catherine Zeta moves now.
There we go. I like it. You always are, Ryan. You always are. Bye, everybody. On that note. Bye. Thank you very much, Taylor. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, the three of us are going to talk about LAFC, Minnesota, and Portland. Do join us then.
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A place to match odds 90 market or markets with the 90 icon. Sportsbook exclusive. Terms and conditions apply. 18pluspegamblerware.org. Total Soccer Show, welcome back to our Western Conference preview. We're going to keep things in LA. The land of expensive parking at MLS games. I will never let that go. Graham Ruddman, tell us all about LAFC and what you expect them to be up to this season. Yeah, so first, a quick recap on what happened last year. So 2024 was...
interesting season for LAFC because they made two finals. They won the US Open Cup. They made the final of Leagues Cup as well. And at that point, they'd actually made four straight... Finals in a row. That's kind of how the word straight works. They finished top of the Western Conference. They signed Olivier Giroud in the summer. He scored a goal in the US Open Cup final. He was the attacking focal point that they wanted. And then Danny Boanga.
remained one of the most prolific attackers in MLS he reached 20 goals in the league for the second season running Matthias Bogus took a big step forward in his development he was a real difference maker by the end of the season these are all good things obviously, for LAFC.
But then in the playoffs, they went out at home in the conference semifinals to Seattle. And there was this big old debate around Steve Chirundolo's approach and the way he sets up LAFC for these matches. And of course, this isn't a new discussion.
and a new debate around Chirundolo. This was something LAFC faced after the 2023 season as well when they lost to the crew in an MLS Cup final. And Chirundolo at the start of last season implied that he had maybe gone... too far towards the compact and counter side of the spectrum and LAFC would be a more proactive team in 2024 and that was true for certain parts of their season but ultimately when the crunch games came around towards the end of the season LAFC went back to their default
And it does feel like Trundolo editorialising here a little bit. It does feel like Trundolo could afford to take the handbrake off this team a little bit. So that's me setting the stage for coming into 2025. It's been a relatively busy off-season for LAFC. So in terms of...
outgoings. Remember that bogus guy that I was talking about who had a really good 2024 and became a key part of the team? Yeah, he's gone. So LAFC sold him to Cruz Azul for a fee I've seen reported as $10 million. I've seen it reported as like 10 and a half. half million dollars it's around about that mark I spoke about Atuesta on yesterday's show he was on loan from Palmares but he is now at Orlando for 2025 Christian Oliveira joined Gremio for 4.5 million dollars as well Eli
Sanchez, just spoke about him earlier in this episode, joined Austin. Omar Campos joined Cruz Azul as well. And Carlos Vela left again. LAFC for I think it's for good this time I don't know if he's coming back for another season so that's quite a lot of outcomings coming into the squad Mark Delgado from to use his his weekday name has come in from the galaxy which is interesting i'm not aware of joe maybe you can correct me on this i did a lot of digging on on this um
Not aware of another cross-LA transfer happening before. Like, at least a senior player. I was looking through transfer markets. The only other one I can remember is Raheem Edwards played for both teams, but...
I mean, the trade wrinkled all this. I don't remember how he got from one to the other. Delgado is certainly the most prominent name to have gone. And he also played for Chivas USA back in the day. So he has checked off all three MLS clubs that you could ever play for. He's done something new.
Yeah, I was going to say that he's a real Mo Johnson in that regard, but Mo Johnson never played for Partick Thistle. He only played for Celtic and Rangers. So he's up the level there, Marco Delgado. Yaw Yeboah has come in from the crew where he scored the winning goal in the 2023 MLS. the last cup final against LAFC so that's an interesting wrinkle Jeremy Abobese has signed from San Jose he provides a little bit of attacking depth Odin Thiago Holm has come in from Celtic
Honestly interested to see him play because he barely played over here in Scotland. So honestly, I've read a little bit about how he plays using my own eyes. I couldn't really tell you how he plays because we saw very little of him for Celtic. Igor Jesus has signed from... Portuguese top flight side Estrella Amadora.
Great club name, like that. He's a midfielder. I think the idea is that he's actually going to get a good amount of minutes in that midfield unit for LAFC this season. Artem Smolyakov, a Ukrainian left-back, has also come in with...
Tefari from FC Dallas, and I think the two of those signings will bolster that back line. That's obviously quite a lot. I've run through quite a lot of names there, and LAFC usually have quite a high hit rate with their signings, so there's reasons to be positive. I will say, though...
I looked through that list and there's not really an X Factor signing. Maybe that will be Under, Senjas Under, who's apparently coming in from Fernabache. I'm not sure that deal is quite ratified yet, but that seems to be happening. Maybe he'll be that player.
but there's nobody that I look at in that list and I immediately think they lift the level of this team in the way when I previewed Atlanta with the signings that they made clearly they are just a better team because they brought in better players so not quite
not quite sure about that with LAFC. And you'll notice still no Antoine Griezmann, who they have been keeping a DP spot for a while now. So let's see if he arrives in the summer. I suspect he probably won't. He's desperate to go to the States, isn't he, Graham? He feels like he's always over.
He's over for the Super Bowl every chance he gets. I don't think Cholo will allow him to leave his playing too well. I presume that it's like a house where Alvarez, Giuliano Salioni and Griezmann all stay in the same house. as Diego Simeone, and he's not about to let them. They're too good to leave.
I kind of suspect LAFC will be disappointed again this summer. I've already done a quick beat on LAFC's approach as a team on the pitch. So for the most part, they are a team that likes to stay compact and then hit teams on the counter-attack. This is something that critics of Trundle say.
limits the quality of the team, particularly when they have the talent to play a more proactive possession-based game. We're talking about a team that ranked 23rd out of 29 teams last season for possession share, which is... quite stark and says something about how they play. They're not always the most fun team to watch, but they do have...
Fun players, Boanga being chief among them. He plays off the left, but is still very much a finisher for this team. So he'll look to get into the box, look to get in behind with those curved runs from the left side. Giroud scored that winner. or that goal in the US Open Cup final didn't score a single league goal in 723 minutes last season. So...
Clearly, he has the ability to be one of the best attacking focal points in the league, but are LAFC playing to his strengths? Are they playing into him often enough? That's something to keep an eye on this season, because I do wonder if Giroud's struggles continue as their big-name DP. Is that a...
I don't know. The reason to be optimistic about LAFC this season is pretty simple. They're deep. They have options all over the pitch in pretty much every single position, certainly in the attack. I think the midfield unit of Tillman, Delgado and Jesus at the base.
has the potential to be one of the most formidable two-way midfields in the league. The defensive line has plenty of experience as well, and players who have been here before and proved themselves at the top level, Aaron Long, Ryan Holland's head, Ugo Lloris.
I thought had a decent season last year as well. I think you could argue that from front to back, LAFC possibly have the strongest squad in MLS. They're up there with, you know, the Inter-Miamis and Seattle Sounders. So that's the reason to be positive. The concern relates...
to how they play, not the players that they have. Can they truly impose themselves on teams? Is Tyrundall actually holding back this group of players? Could he maybe lean into what he was... trying to do at the start in the first half of last season where he's a little bit more proactive so those things have been a concern for a while for this team and I don't anticipate that they'll disappear anytime soon in 2025 so to round off I'll give you a VSP and it's related to Olivier Giroud.
I predict that he will average the fewest touches per 90 minutes of any outfield player that plays over 1,500 minutes this season for LAFC. I don't think this team is set up to play to his strengths. We saw that last season after he enjoyed. He joined the team. I don't envisage any real improvement there besides like...
Griezmann joining in the summer and maybe getting him a little bit closer to Giroud, that would move the needle. But as I say, I'm suspicious that that's actually going to happen. I think Boanga will finish top for expected goals again in the league, just as he did last season, because so much of the... attacking players funneled into him.
Giroud feels like a little bit of an afterthought for this team, which is weird given that he's their big name DP. So yeah, I think it'll be another struggle for Oli G in 2025. Graham, as a follow-up on that VSP, just because it feels like if Taylor was here, he would press you on this. Wouldn't we expect a striker to have the fewest touches of any outfield player on a team?
Yeah, so I went back and looked at his AC Milan statistics to try. And so I was trying to draw the line with minutes and I was trying to draw the line with touches. And so Giroud is actually someone who does, I mean, obviously he's played for Deschamps' French team and they kind of play some. that's similar to Chirundolo Ball. He was very successful there. See, he can do it. But actually, when I looked at some of his club teams, he was...
In the top 10, certainly, for touches. I think for AC Milan last season, he was like 10th for Chelsea in the past. So he is someone who wants to have touches the ball. He wants to bring others into the game. He's a little bit different in that regard as a number nine. And trying to draw... the line with the number of minutes as well was was a challenge but i've gone for 1500 i think i think that takes you down to about like
14th or 15th in the squad. So we're talking about like 14 players being ahead of a DP starting central pillar of this team for touches. I accept. I accept your terms. Thank you. Wonderful stuff. Thank you very much, indeed, Graham, for that LAFC look. I believe LAFC have the opening game of MLS 2025 after, yeah, Inter and Miami presumably pushed their kickoff back so they could recover from the game they didn't play on Tuesday night.
I think that's maybe what happened there. Yep, makes sense. They will be playing that against Minnesota United, I'm going to tell you all about right now. Did I get assigned Minnesota because they play Wonderwall and have a Wonderwall? I don't know, but...
Yes. They are, as I mentioned, playing the season opener. So that will be fun. They'll be hoping to play the season closer. But will they? Maybe they're close to it. We'll find out. Last season, middle of the pack kind of finish. 15 wins under Welsh Co... Welsh coach Eric Ramsey. Did you know, Graham, Eric Ramsey represented Wales at the international stage at futsal? Wow, I'm not sure.
I've read a lot about Eric Ramsey, obviously an interesting career path. I don't think I knew that. So you've enlightened me. I didn't know Wales had a futsal team either, so every day is a school day. Minnesota went to the conference semis and, of course, lost to eventual champs, LA Galaxy. Looking at the ins and outs over the closed season, a few midfielders have...
Come in to sort of address the weakness, the potential weakness in the squad in that area. South Korean midfielder Hyun Jung has come in from Gwangju FC. And also Owen Jean, a French 21-year-old, is coming from Amiens, who seem to have a little bit of a pipeline to MLS this.
I think a few players have come from the French second division there. Maybe trying the old Leicester approach there, mining from the French second division. We'll see how that one pans out. Also, Nicolas Romero has come in as an under-22 roster signing Argentine centre.
back, left-footed centre back. The idea, I guess, is for him to work well in the three centre back system on the left-hand side with Michael Boxall in the middle and probably Jefferson Diaz on the right side of that three-man centre back arrangement. Outgoings, Timupuki, gone. Timupuki gone home. Bye-bye, Timu. Franco Fragapane has gone to Union Santa Fe as well. And Miguel Tapias, a Mexican defender, has gone to Chivas as well. In terms of the style, we'll see it, Minnesota.
You know, good attacking side. They like to build from the back. Jefferson Diaz, the aforementioned, likes to carry it out and push it all through Beckenbauer style. One player I do enjoy, very much enjoyed in the playoffs as well, Kelvin Yeboah. Yeboah's nephew. Graham. The famous goal.
Tony Yeboah's nephew with him, him who scores famous bangers. He was obviously being brilliant last season, brought through midway through last season, nine goals and two assists in just 12 games for Yeboah. So very interesting from him. They've also got Tani Oluwanshi. was partnering i'm apologizing if i've butchered that one there but he's partnering potentially partnering about up top as well has done in pre-season um and in pre-season they played both together
Whereas they didn't play both together last season. It was Yeboah's arrival, which put Oliwasei on the bench. So we might see both of them and that will be explosive. That'll be a lot of fun if we do. Also a striker depth option. I'm not sure if he's going to feature at all.
But Patrick Weyer, another famous nephew, nephew of George Weyer in this team. They love collecting famous nephews. Cousin of Tim as well, Patrick Weyer. I'm like 99% sure that the Patrick Weyer thing was all completely made up and that Tim Weyer came out and said, I am not related to this dude. I also think he's now with Atlanta United. But I don't know. Hold on to your Patrick Weahstock, people, just in case. Just in case it ever panned out.
It's hard to know if he's anywhere near Minnesota, to be fair. I was going to add that, yeah, to be fair. I didn't know that was fake. This reminds me of the time when I was in an American Eagle store and a guy working there told me he was Michael Dewberry's cousin. Michael Dewberry used to play for Chelsea. And I had messaged Michael Dewberry and said, I've never heard of this guy.
Why would you pick Michael Dewsbury? It's such a random... Is that because he's thinking, well, nobody's going to follow this up? It's not a notable enough player. Like if you said, oh, Lionel Messi's my cousin.
you'd follow that up. They're big families with a lot of cousins. Maybe you don't know who she cousin is. Maybe it was a second cousin. I don't know. I'm not going to speculate here, but let's move on from this conversation. Bongi Longwane, once again, apologies if I butchered that one. He's obviously on the right side of attack.
playing as a right wing back, very much an enjoyable part of this squad as well. Robin Lodd playing behind the strikers as well. He had 15 assists last season for Minnesota. And of course, we've got your Will Trapps in centre midfield. Johnny Dodson is a decent midfield piece as well for this team. And Michael Boxer, I mentioned him before, basically...
A club legend. A wonderful favourite, if you will, at this point. A reliable centre-back in this team. And Dane St. Clair had a good season last season. He's getting in nets over my boy Clint Irwin. Clint Irwin had a few appearances last season as well. And as implied by the back three, they're going to probably play a 3-5-2 this season as well. Positives for Minnesota.
Pretty well-rounded roster, you know, like to build from the back. And I think they're building the squad here and it feels like they're getting there. They're building on the momentum from last season as well. So a positive trajectory, I would say, for Minnesota. But a weakness.
I think it's probably the midfield, midfield strength. They were kind of overrun by the Galaxy in the end of last season in that particular area. And it's a weak area in the squad. But as I've said, they've tried to address that with a couple of signings. So we'll see how that one... pans out. My very specific prediction for this team, which I'm very excited to see play this season, is that Bongi Longwane and Kelvin Yeboah will combine...
For 28 or more goals. That's Bongi and Yeboah. 28 plus for the both of them. They combined for 20 last season. Yeboah only played 12 games. Bongi's a lot of fun. Obviously 11 goals and two assists last season. Integral to this team's success.
that right wing back position. Massive athleticism from what I'm reading and seeing. That athleticism is only getting better as well. And other teams are maybe expected to be sniffing around him too as well. So Bongi and Yeboah, 28 plus goals. I'm feeling good.
Good joke about Minnesota this season. As you should. I think I had Minnesota fourth in my predictions that went up for backheeled. I think they're going to be a really good team. Also, shout out to you, Ryan. You nailed the tiny Oluwashi and the Bongi Kwanlane pronunciations. It's a toss up for me every time I throw.
Bongi's last name, so I usually just go with Bongi. That's impressive work on your part. Minnesota for me are in a very similar spot to Colorado in that I like what they've done this offseason. I like what they did in the last transfer window as well. I think this is a very good team. To me, Minnesota are still one superstar short of the absolute top tier teams in Major League Soccer. There's good news and bad news there. The bad news is we don't...
really have any evidence that Minnesota are going to go after that kind of player. They haven't really done it before. The good news is, if they do decide to go get somebody, they've got room. They've only got one true DP on this roster, and it's Kelvin Yeboah, who's gotten a lot of deserved praise so far in this preview. I just don't know if that player's coming. I don't know what this team is going to do. It doesn't feel like they have a lot.
lot left to do that they want to do in this window they were great to end last season they were i think playing like on a league best points per game pace but that was fueled by Two wins over San Jose, two wins over St. Louis, and wins over SKC, Colorado, and Vancouver. None of those teams last year by the end of the season or through most of the season were very good at all. And then they made it through the first round of the playoffs with two draws and two penalty shootouts.
victories over RSL. So I think this is a very good team. I just still question a little bit of what their ceiling is, but we'll find out. Yeah, I'm a big fan of Eric Ramsey. I find everything about him really impressive. Especially his futsal ability. Yeah, futsal skills, yeah. The futsal superstar himself. Cash of mine, back to last year, he comes in...
I think the season had already started, actually, by the time he... Yeah, like a couple games in, Joe, or something like that. And Reynoso, that whole saga was still... rumbling away so he's coming this season is a much more stable situation and you would hope that has kind of aided him get his ideas across further so yeah really looking forward to seeing how he molds this team going forward this year
Good stuff. Very good. One more team in the West to discuss in part one of this here podcast. Joseph Lowry. It is you who is the most obsessed with Portland on this podcast. I think it's safe to say. The Evander team. The Evanderform team. Whatever. Tell us about Portland. Yeah, it is a crime that Graham didn't end up with the Timbers. I feel like I bear some responsibility for that, Graham. I mean, this shirt says I did. That's true.
Oh, there it is. I mean, new DP signing Greg Ruffin. Absolutely. Slap him in the number 10 spot. That's fine. Yeah. I mean, yeah, totally. Last season, 2024, Timbers finished on 47 points, ninth in the West, 15th in MLS as a whole.
It was a drama-filled year for Portland, even before Evander took to social media to rant about the Timbers' leadership after they were blown out 5-0 by the Vancouver Whitecaps, a Cascadia rival in the Western Conference wildcard game. Even before all that happened, Portland's on... One field play had been filled with drama in 2024. They scored more goals than all but three other teams in MLS. Evander, Jonathan Rodriguez, and Felipe Moore set records with their production as a trio.
For all of that attacking firepower, their defense was poor, especially on set pieces. They finished 19th in MLS and goals allowed. And their season ended with that absolutely horrible loss that I just mentioned to Vancouver. And then Evander goes off. And there had already been some trouble brewing with Evander. He goes off in the locker room and on social.
And now after months of will he, won't he, what's going on here with Evander, he's gone. He is over with SC Cincinnati, who brought him in as the replacement to Lucho Acosta. Hey, Cincy, at least they've got a type with sort of explosive number 10s. You'll love to see that. I will say this about the Timbers.
They have kept things interesting over the last 12 months, and I think they're going to be an interesting team to watch this season as well, as far as what's changed over the offseason. Evander going out, Eric Williamson going out to Charlotte, which we mentioned earlier this week in the Charlotte preview. Evander's exit... is a huge deal. The guy was sort of a loose MVP candidate last year. 15 goals, 15 primary assists.
was genuinely excellent on dead balls and open play, orchestrating with his through balls as that 10, able to drop a little deeper and progress on the dribble, and is a goal threat as well. He is an awesome player, and replacing him is really, really hard. It's sort of like the Cucho situation where...
You lose 29 gold contributions if you're the Columbus crew. Yeah, you got an eight-figure transfer fee to go reinvest into the squad, but can you really find another guy who can produce like Cucho? If you're Portland, can you really find another guy who can produce like Evander?
I'm skeptical just because those players don't pop up in this league very often. They don't pop up in any league relative to their competition very often. The good news for Portland is unlike Houston, they've got their player. signed with the team and ready to go. And that is David DaCosta, who I do quite like. He's joining from Lens in Liga, L-E-N-S. I literally never know how to pronounce that. Long? Long. Long. He's joining from Long in Liga.
for a reported $6 million deal. And we'll slot right into that Evander position in Phil Neville's 4231. He's 24 years old. He put up solid numbers playing, you know, about 1500 minutes or so. the last couple of years in Ligue 1, he's been maybe an every other game starter for long. He's not a pure through ball, threading, attacking midfielder, but he provides a really nice balance between his clever distribution and some really nice dribbles as well.
He's not going to replace Evander. And I think I already got to that in terms of the production. That is so unlikely to happen, but he looks like a promising addition in the attack. And I think he's an interesting player to monitor in the early stages of this season.
In terms of other incomings, Kevin Kelsey has joined on a big U22 initiative deal. Portland paid $6 million from Shakhtar over in Ukraine for his services. Kelsey was on loan with Cincinnati last year. Zhao Ortiz comes in, Ecuadorian international defensive midfielder.
He is very much part of the Diego Chara succession planning that has been happening for quite some time now. And then Jimmer Fori, who's going to come up later in my predictions, 22-year-old left back, joining from Columbia's top flight. He is Colombian.
The dude is a giant. I watched him play and I thought for sure he was going to be a center back. And then you watch him play a little bit longer and he is a left back. He's going to be a left back for this team, maybe even a left wing back at times. The Timbers are going very aggressive, both in terms of physical profiles. And in terms of how Phil Neville wants his fullbacks to push forward into the attack between Juan Mosquera on the right side and Forey on the left.
I would imagine Forrey's gonna be slightly more reserved, but the dude loves to crash the back post and can get up the field in like three dribbles, Giannis style. He is so much fun to watch, and I'm really intrigued to watch him this year. Tactically, Phil Neville doesn't reinvent the wheel. He coaches sort of like how you would expect. Apologies for the stereotype, like a mid-50s British dude to coach a soccer team. I don't know. It's a lot of 4-2-3-1. It's a lot of mid-block.
It's like a little possession here and there and a decent amount of transition attacking play. They're a pretty middling team, tactically. They don't do anything. in the extreme. It has a lot of more measured stuff. There was an interesting wrinkle to the Timbers last year that I really, really enjoyed. It's Phil Neville using Jonathan Rodriguez as a left winger, but sort of as a target left winger. The guy had played as a striker at times in the past.
down in Liga Meckis, played as a striker a little bit as part of a front two early on after arriving in Portland, but became this almost Mario Mandzukic-esque. left winger for this team where he is an aerial threat more than he is a 1v1 dribbling threat. He helps pin opposing fullbacks and is just an awesome player. Rodriguez is really, really good. It was an excellent addition for this Timbers team last year. I really enjoy watching Portland's left side.
particular function reasons for optimism first of all the west is up for grabs outside of the top three spots that last i think that's the la teams in seattle which we'll get to seattle tomorrow i think The other home playoff spot in the West is up for grabs. And Portland look like they belong in that tier of, I don't know, kind of teams outside of those LA teams in Seattle. Maybe a couple others are probably a little higher up than Portland based off of my evaluations right now.
But between DaCosta and Rodriguez, they will get production from their DPs. And between Felipe Mora and Santi Moreno, who I haven't mentioned yet on the right wing, they'll have some of the best non-DP attackers in MLS. Mora is a really good number nine. Moreno is a very good right winger in this league.
They strengthen the midfield. They strengthen the back line over the last two windows, really. This team is going to score goals. They're going to be better on defensive set pieces. And they've got the talent to be a playoff team. And they've got the talent to win a couple of games once they're in the playoffs. This team, I think, is very capable of...
causing problems for better teams in the West and very capable of beating out some other teams in the middle sort of tier of the Western Conference. The cons and the concerns for this team are kind of obvious, I suppose. They lost a superstar and I don't think they really closed the gap. on the true top teams in this league you think about where portland ended last year
They lost 5-0 to Vancouver with Evander. And I know that's a small sample size, but they didn't really ever look like a team that was truly capable of competing against the best of the best over and over last year. They had some good games against the Galaxy. They had some good moments, but on a consistent basis... I'm just not sure. And when you lose the best player on your team, that adds even more concern to the fire. I think, you know...
I think this team can fight for fourth in the Western Conference. I really do. I don't think it's likely that they end up there, but I don't think they are so far off that pace and it wouldn't totally shock me. I would be surprised, but I wouldn't be shocked. But you know what's better than actually like barely competing for a home playoff spot?
completing competing for trophies and i think it is pretty much impossible to yeah ryan's nodding i think that that does track i think it's i think it's pretty much impossible to picture this team as a legitimate trophy threat in in the shield or in the cup this year
I just don't see it happening. Losing Evander makes this team worse. Even if Tocasta is awesome, he's not going to replace those 30 goal contributions. Felipe Mora, as good as he is and as highly as I rate him, he's not healthy a whole lot. He was healthy for almost all of last year. That has not been the norm for him.
I don't trust Kevin Kelsey as deputy. I don't trust any of the center backs in this team. And they don't have a difference maker in goal. There's a lot of scenarios at Portland that are quite good, quite decent this year. I think there's basically zero scenarios where they win a trophy. And I think there are also... a pretty significant number of scenarios where they are one of the poorer teams, not a spoon threat, but one of the poorer teams in the Western Conference. As far as my VSP...
Let's go back to the fullbacks for a second. Juan Mascara on the right side, one of the best attacking right backs in the league. And Jim Raffori, who I think is going to win that spot over Claudio Bravo at left back. We're going to get at least one fullback to fullback goal from the Timbers in 2025. Mosquera loves to bomb forward. He loves to play these outswinging balls with his right foot. In Jimmer 4, he's a huge dude who likes to crash the back post.
It just feels like we are due for a Juan Mosquera switch or some sort of cross over to Forey on the left side who just demolishes either with his head or slides at the back post and slams this thing home. I've got my eyes on Portland's fullbacks this year. Other things too, but I'm thinking we're going to get some gold contributions from those guys.
I'm getting Dan Byrne vibes about Jimmer Foray. When you look at Dan Byrne, you're like, well, that's a centre-back. Oh, wait, no. He's playing at left-back and is getting forwards into the box. Is that about right, Joe? Well, I watched Foray in Coachella, I guess.
that was it feels like an eternity ago because it's been a blur the last couple weeks on mls stuff but i watched him in person and the timbers were in a like a 5-3-2 because they didn't have any of their attacking players it's not going to be a go-to look for them it was like phil neville basically putting the pieces on the field that he had
And four, he wasn't just playing left back. He was playing as a left wing back. And the dude is not a Dan Byrne level skyscraper, but he's a big guy. He's a big guy. And I think he's going to be a fun player.
Wonderful stuff. Thank you very much indeed for that Portland preview, Joseph Lowry. We've gone long on this episode, so we'll let dear listener go just to say a breaking news story that's happened while we're recording. Olivier Giroud, we shouldn't joke about this, but Olivier Giroud has been... victim of a half million dollar burglary. I'm just saying Taylor's gone and he was dressed in a certain way today. I'm just presenting facts. What a way to bring that full circle. Wow.
It just fell in my lap there, Graham. What can I say? Thank you very much to Taylor Rockwell for his contributions to this here Western Conference preview. As a reminder, we will have part two coming to David very shortly, in which we'll be featuring San Diego, San Jose, Seattle, Sporting KC.
St. Louis and Vancouver. Joe Lowry, thank you very much indeed for your contributions to this part one. Thank you, my friend. And thank you very much, Graham Rutherford. Pleasure as always, my good man. Thank you, Green Ant, Green Ant, Ryan Billy. Thank you. Yeah, there we go. I deserve that. Listener, thank you very much indeed for joining us on this one. We'll be back on the feed with that part two very shortly. But for now, bye.