MLS 2025 Season Preview! Real Salt Lake, San Diego, San Jose, Seattle, Sporting KC, St. Louis & Vancouver

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The Total Soccer Show and part two of MLS 2025 colon how the West will be won. Our preview of the Western Conference where we're taking in all the teams we didn't hit in part one. It's RSL, the new boys in San Diego. San Jose, Seattle, Sporting KC, St. Louis, and Vancouver. Without further ado, my name's Ryan Bailey. Joining me today, it's your friend, it's my friend, it's the Taylor Rockwell. Hello, Taylor. Hello, the Ryan Bailey. It is lovely to be here for...

Part two and part four simultaneously of our MLS previews. Yeah. Yeah. It's been a week. It's been a week, Ted. It's been a week. And here we are on part four slash part two. Joining us, Graham Rutherland. Hello, Graham. Hello, Ryan Bailey. This is harder to keep track of than like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. What is this? The TSS? MLS?

universe part two part four you gotta get expanded you gotta get expanded in there somewhere to really drive it home plus whatever Ryan said that's what we're calling it it is it is indeed that's the whole title Joe Larry's here Hello, Joe. Hey, I too have trouble counting to four, just like everybody else on the show. It's just, I can't crack it. Like, one, two, three, and I don't know. It's two and four, Joe, though. I can't get my head around it. Two numbers at the same time. Yeah.

That's tricky. That's hard. Look, Joe, we don't all have your advanced math and analytics background, okay? Some of you are going finger style. I will say somebody said the word expanded. And I think in the spirit of MLS, if someone is willing to submit a $500 million offer. to TSS to be the fifth host of this show. I'm just going to go ahead and make a unilateral decision. In the spirit of San Diego's arrival, we will be accepting that offer. So welcome aboard. We're very excited to have you.

Yeah. Oh, I'm just hearing it's 600 million now, Joe. Oh, my mistake. That's my bad. 600 million. Thank you. There you go. It'll be 700 million tomorrow. We are going to get into our Western Conference preview part two.

By the way, if you haven't checked the feed, we have our full Eastern Conference previews, parts one and part two and part one of the West Conference, which will be live on the feed as well. Go check them out if you haven't already. And also, if you're so inclined, patreon.com slash totalsoccershow. That's the best way to support us.

Bonus episodes. We're talking MLS on the bonus feed this week. Bonus video content and access to our Discord server where all the cool kids are hanging out, including but not limited to Graham Rutherford.

We're not just talking MLS on the Patreon feed today, Ryan. We are talking MLS Kicks, our favorites. I'm wearing one of them here. We'll see where it ranks in my list. I presume the rest of you also have this as number one or is there something else as number one? How many have you purchased, Graham?

Oh, good question. Three. Three. Instead of a shame. I wanted more. I wanted more. I had to stop at three. The best one is the one that Ryan thinks is best. I already know what Ryan thinks is best from the Slack. It's up there. Yeah. We'll get to that very shortly indeed, actually, Joe. I'm just picturing Graham on the phone to his mortgage provider saying, yeah, sorry, lads, can't do it this month. Authentic Kits came out.

My barber told me I needed another haircut, so I gotta make sure I can squeeze that in. All right. Well, we'll be talking about kits and much more on the bonus feed. Patreon.com slash Total Soccer Show. And if you want to see our beautiful visages, head to YouTube. We're putting all our episodes on there.

Link in the show notes. All right, let's get to our Western Conference preview part two. I'm going to kick things off with Real Salt Lake. I'm going straight back on topic. A little teaser for our Patreon show. Best kits in the league? Best kits in the league. The away blue and white checks that Rail Salt Lake have where you can't even read the sponsor. It makes me like it even more. That's what I love. I think they're a great kit. They are my favorite. We'll get more into that later.

By the way, the grid, the checks, inspired by the city's iconic street grid system. Now, I don't know about you, Joe, but when I think of Salt Lake, I think of the iconic street grid system. 100%. So unique. No other American city has a grid system. Actually, one of the things I most enjoy about Phoenix is we do have a very good gridded road system. I'm not so desperate to give my city something that I need to call it iconic, nor do I ever need to bring it up in any context other than this one.

Salt Lake, great jersey. Boavista, move over. It's RSL's time now. They have stolen this kit from you. But yeah, the grid thing, you got to find something else to hype yourself up about. It's not those beautiful Utah vistas. It's the grid system. Iconic. Very well. Let's get into it. RSL kicking off on Saturday at San Jose. So they might get to wear that away shirt. They probably will indeed being on the road for that one. Do they have enough to make a dent in the way? Top three again.

Not sure about that. Last season, though, they did make the top three under Pablo Mastroni. Knocked out in round one of the playoffs by Minnesota. There is a lot of quality in this team. An injection of youth as well, but some uncertainty I would suggest in this one, particularly up top. They had a great preseason, though. Nine goals in the last three games in Coachella. An undefeated preseason. Joe, did you check out RSL in your trip to the desert at all?

I did, but I loop preseason soccer in with the grid system in terms of things that I don't like to talk about. Joe, that is a straight lie. Joe has a whole podcast where he breaks down grid systems, which city has the best one, how to navigate from A3 to C7. It's one of the least listenable podcasts you can find, but he keeps plodding away. Yep. Yep, we're there. We're there every day.

Well, top of the grid for RSL. Undoubtedly, Diego Luna, star player here on left of midfield. Diego Conchalves as well in the number 10 position. I believe the team's lone DP at this point. Looking at the comings and the goings, 12 players left straight.

after the end of last season and five more followed them thereafter. They've lost two forwards. Chico Arengo now at San Jose. Colombian striker was traded out despite being a club record signing but a few seasons ago. Anderson Julio has also gone to Dallas.

Gavin Beavers, great name. First choice keeper has gone to Brondby. Matt Crooks has gone back to England. Journeyman Englishman who had like a random one season in Utah. Love it on the resume. It was the grid system that attracted him, I'm quite sure. Marcelo Silva, centre-back, has gone after eight seasons with the club as well. Coming in, Rafael Cabral, probably the new first choice between the sticks from Cruzeiro, former Napoli keeper, is Rafael Cabral.

Kobe Henry, formerly of Orange County Soccer Club. I mentioned on this here feed by, I believe, Mr. Graham Rutherford, but a few shows ago. Great little centre-back is Kobe Henry. He was sold to Rem in League O by Orange County a couple of seasons back. He is back. in the US on loan with RSL. He's got a number three jersey, so I've got an expectation he's going to get some decent minutes there. I actually, when I spoke with Kobe Henry a few seasons ago when he was doing his transfer...

I was introduced to his agent, by the way, Graham. And his agent said, oh, hi, I'm Brad. Nice to meet you. I'm working with Kobe. I was like, yes, Brad Friedel. I know exactly who you are. It's very nice to meet you. Cool, right? Pretty cool. So please don't yell at me in the parking lot. That would be amazing. There we go. Fun fact for you there. Elias Manuel also coming in Brazilian Strike.

acquired from the Red Bulls for $700,000 of GAM. And Tyler Wolfe, a winger coming in from Atlanta as well. A nice Manuel, though. A tricky one. A tricky one. Joe is nodding his head here because... The MLS site, no less, says he's gone MIA. So basically after signing in December, I don't think he played in preseason at all. Maybe never even came to RSL at this point. Maybe wasn't as committed to the project as RSL might have hoped. So that one, I don't think we'll...

materialized very strange situation maybe a bit of a disconnect between the front office and the player there Joe yeah this is a weird case because you don't really love to see a player not show up for preseason and Elias Manuel did not show up for preseason and I think Elias Manuel is a pretty good player as well I think he could have played a big role for this team

In the same breath, you also have sympathy because these players are getting traded without their consent. That's still something that you can do in Major League Soccer. The NWSL has done away with that. Maybe MLS will at some point down the road. But Manuel decided, yeah, I don't want to go, whether that's a contract thing or something else.

decided that, yeah, I'm not interested in going to Salt Lake. And it seems like RSL are going to move him before he ever plays a minute or shows up at all. So, oh yeah, super weird situation. Striker with Chicho Arango gone, and while not showing up, definitely a question mark for this team.

I think Manuel, the way I understand it, Joe, he was talking to his agent. He said, I've just bought a new sports car. I'm looking for some nice long and windy roads around those beautiful vistas. What have you got for me at RSL? Oh, wait. Yeah. No, no. This is me embodying the bit being bludgeoned to death. Won't stop. Won't stop. RSL are emphasizing a lot of homegrown talent this season as well. I make it Nelly, who featured in Camp Cupcake, of course. Four Academy products.

are coming through. Midfielders Owen Anson, Aidan Hetzikani, Omar Marquez, and defender Juan Giovia have been promoted to the first team. We've probably seen plenty of what Pablo Mastrani does with this team, typically a 4-2-3-1, but with a number of different components probably sorting in and out of that this season. This is his fourth season. Decent midfield and wingers going on here.

And a great defense as well. They conceded fewer than the Galaxy and Red Bulls across the league. The concern here... Seems to be maybe not enough defensive depth for RSL. And the firepower, of course, a big hole in the striker department. Losing Arango and Anderson, who is a big deal for them. So the question is, who plays up top for this team?

I'm not sure that has been resolved at this point. They've got a Forster Iago coming in, perhaps a Canadian striker released by Nashville last season, picked up in the re-entry draft. Is that the caliber of player you want leading the line?

sure about that one. I do ultimately think the team will be competitive, but it might not light up the West. I feel like there's a few too many question marks around RSL going into this season, unfortunately for them at this point. My very specific prediction...

Real Salt Lake will have the fewest combined goals scored and goals conceded in the West. This is a confusing stat. I'll explain it. Last year, Houston scored 47 and conceded 39. That's a total goals in games of 86. Austin had 87. I'm saying... RSL will have 85 or fewer, basically goals in their game at either side of the field. The reason being, I don't see him scoring an awful lot. Got a bit of a problem up top. Also, I think...

The defense will be okay if it stays fit. I don't think to see them conceding too much either. So that's my VSP for them. The fewest combined goals scored and conceded in the West. I love it. I think it's a really good VSP. The defense is going to be good, right? So the personality is strong, and the way that Pablo Massarani sets this team up, they had a big tactical shift last season. They moved into that, I guess, cross it off your bingo card, folks, the 3-2-5 attacking shape.

They shift back into that 4-2-3-1, Ryan, that you mentioned defensively, and it even flattens into a 4-4-2 at times. And they keep a ton of the ball. And if they have the ball, that means you don't have it and you can't create chances. So RSL are going to be a really good defensive team this year. The question is, and you said it, Ryan, the top-end talent.

Arango's gone. Gonzalez wasn't very good after arriving in the summer. He also didn't have much runway. Marsuk over on that right side, who was the Andres Gomez replacement, was promising, but didn't look like a total game changer. And striker is a huge question. I think RSL...

Whether it's in this window, and for their sake, I hope it is, because this window is the move that MLS teams get done most of their meaningful business. They're going to add a DP either now or in the summer. And it's a question of, is that player going to be a striker? Or are they going to go out there and try to find a winger and maybe get a striker from inside the league?

There are at least one, if not two moves to be made to this attack. When those moves get made, we'll define this season. And also, more importantly, Ryan's VSP success. Wonderful. We shall see on that. Thank you very much, Joe. Taylor, why don't you tell us a bit about MLS's 30th franchise, San Diego? Are they going to come out of the gate swinging? I mean, that's a big question for any new franchise, isn't it? St. Louis.

seem to have all started very well but i don't think historically new franchises typically set the world alight will san diego come out with a a non-iconic street grid kind of bang joe you wanna You want to mind the horse again? I guess it will depend on if opposition defenses pass them the ball directly, the way somebody did with...

St. Louis City to start their season. Yeah, yeah. Last season was rough for San Diego in that they did not exist, but they do now this season. Do you all remember in 2019 when there was the weird campaign to storm areas? 51 and then the US government had to remind them that it's a military installation and they will be shot at.

My understanding is that that is what San Diego have had to deal with when it comes to analytics nerds. There are just analytics nerds crowding around that training facility because of what San Diego have been doing and will continue to be doing, starting with the appointment of Tyler Heaps. This is the way. This is the way. They've appointed Mikey.

He is in as manager slash mostly coach. I think he's going to be a coach more so than a manager, former U.S. youth national team coach, USMNT assistant and briefly USMNT interim. But I think the large thing about this club is going to be the structure more so than the coach. And that structure starts with their ownership. They're owned by Mohamed Mansour, chairman of the multi-billion dollar conglomerate, the Mansour Group. Worth noting, they also own.

the rights to or they own the right to dream youth football system that was established in Ghana. It's now a multi club, multi academy group with branches in Egypt, Denmark and San Diego. They're currently building their academy facility. So they're going to have money. connection to global leagues and a reliance on youth development and talent identification.

So I think to answer Ryan's initial question, they will aim to be competitive, certainly, but I don't think that they are targeting a breakout season where they're in the playoffs or anything like that. I have a feeling this is going to be a competent team that slowly builds and gets better and better.

year though they have made some interesting signings they brought in chucky lozano he's quite good still quite good and i think will be important in terms of certainly marketing reach with them being in san diego him being a mexico international uh but having relevance in the united

States as well. I think that is a very smart signing and will make them pretty good. They brought in Anders Dreyer. He's a 27 year old right winger from Anderlecht. So you've got your two sort of wide attackers in there. Then there's Markus Ingvartsen. He will likely start up top. He's a 29-year-old one-cap Danish international from Norgeland. Can anyone guess who owns Norgeland? Huh?

Right to dream. That's right. Yeah, more on them frequently. Thomas Angel is likely to deputize behind Ingvartsen. But they've, I think, made smart signings. I don't think Ingvartsen is going to be... an impact striker necessarily but there are like shades of Jao Klaus in there to me of like lesser known but could break through has a profile and they understand who they are bringing in similar to 22 year old left winger Alex Mitin from Nottingham Forest who they're

brought in and immediately loaned to Nordjylland. There's going to be a lot of movement, I think, between some of the clubs they own. In the midfield, they've got Luka de la Torre.

He can be a box-to-box ball winner. He can be more of a progressive passer when he stays into the attack more often. Obviously, he's doing less defending, so it will be interesting how they use him. I have a feeling he's going to be more advanced for this team because behind... to him, they have Omni Valakari, 25-year-old midfielder on loan from Paphos in Greece, who's more defensive, as is Yippie Dverskov, 31-year-old defensive midfielder from...

Again, a lot of connection to the Danish league you're going to see here. They've got Andres Reyes in via a game trade from the Red Bulls, starting at center back alongside Paddy McNair, the former, former, former, former Manchester United Academy slash Manchester United player. Most recently of Middlesbrough, he's been with West Brom for the first half of this season. Staying fit. Yes, it is, right? He scored in preseason, didn't he? Insert the Ian Wright, he's still alive meme.

So they've made some interesting signings. They've made a couple splashy signings. We'll see if they make more. They have not splashed a ton of cash when it comes to goalkeeper. They're running a core of Pablo Cisniega, CJ DeSantos, and Jacob Jackson. Jackson.

None of those really inspire a ton of confidence. I've seen some people assume it's going to be CJ DeSantos. I've seen some assume it will be Cisniega. The people at American Soccer Analysis seem to think Jacob Jackson will eventually stake a claim. to that goalkeeper spot, but we'll come back to that later. For now, in terms of how they're going to play, it seems like it will be a front office

like mandated style of play, or if not mandated, there will be a sort of overarching philosophy to their play that the coach will have to reflect similar to St. Louis. I would say, he says heaps said they want to avoid 50, 50 duels. They want to. Joe, did you talk to heaps or anybody from San Diego in your Coachella sojourn?

I did. And he told me that they want to avoid 50-50s and they want to avoid long goal kicks. It is a San Diego team that wants to play like the Columbus crew. And whether or not they'll actually be able to do that is a completely different question. But he was more than happy to talk about the...

intricacies of how they want to play which i think is is different than a lot of other chief soccer officers around the league who tend to be fairly cagey heaps is like yeah we want to use the ball we want short passes we kind of care about athleticism but really we need you to be able to play in tight spots to not be phased under pressure. They're going to build from the back at basically all costs is my understanding.

Or at least they're going to do that at the beginning of the season, and we will sort of see how long that lasts. This is the thing, right? Everybody's got to plan until they get punched in the mouth or until they're bottom of the Western Conference. I still think we will see San Diego largely stick with this philosophy.

And I'm buying into the hype. I'll own that up front. I think the start of something is always very exciting. So I think that is reason for optimism for their supporters. But I think with the sort of focus on talent identification, talent recruitment and development. bringing in players from their global system. They might not be the strongest team right away. I have a feeling they will get better and better, as I said, each season.

And then eventually I think they're going to be like a full on talent factory. Again, that might be buying into the hype. Things can go off the rails, but it just feels like they are saying all the right things. They have all of the exciting buzzwords, reliance on modern approaches, but with a bit. of practicality sprinkled in as well, I think. And an allure of San Diego always being what, like 76 degrees and beautiful when they've got a state-of-the-art facility. I think it might not be easy.

Well, that's the downside. You never trust Champkind with sports. He doesn't care about soccer. There's no way Champkind has ever watched soccer, and if he has, he's very befuddled by it. So I don't know if this will be the most successful inaugural season. I don't think it will be the worst one either. But I think that is okay because there is maybe a build towards the future. However...

they could take a swing or two. And that is where my specific prediction comes in. I'm going ridiculous with this one. kind of because I just want it to happen. Matt Turner will play in goal for San Diego this season. That's what I'm saying. I don't have a ton of faith in the trio they've assembled. He is going to need playing time after this season, even if he's playing Intermittent Cup games and the like.

I think he'll need to move. He could move to maybe like a lower tier Premier League club, but who knows if that's going to guarantee minutes. He could move elsewhere on the continent. Again, you're going to have to kind of be competing for a starting spot. Unless you're playing for like a lower tier Bundesliga side who are just going to get shelled. It's kind of, I'm like less convinced of some options for Turner. Whereas...

Come back to Major League Soccer. Go to San Diego. Have a comfortable place where you won't get frostbite. And enjoy your time. Get some minutes. Be ready for 2026. I'm all on board. It's unreal. That is maybe my favorite VSP so far, Taylor. That is so good. And I'm so jealous that I didn't think of that in my San Diego preview that's going up for backheeled.

Oh, that's unbelievable. Because Matt Turner fits the whole, you know, we love stats and Matt Turner's stats are unbelievable. Also, the dude is just really good when you watch him play. And San Diego did not take a lot of big swings in goal. Oh, that's so good. Well played. I mean, it would be ridiculous if that happened, and I would probably never stop celebrating, so all three of you should root against it, but I hope it happens. Wow. Wonderful. Do you expect...

In training, the San Diego players will be jogging with a silent J at any point. I wish I had a funny retort to that, but I just love that line so much. Ron Burgundy discovering what jogging is. That is terrific work by you, Ryan Bailey. Wonderful stuff. Go watch Anchorman Joe if you haven't seen it already. We need to take a quick break. When we come back, we've got San Jose, Seattle, Sporting KC, St. Louis, and Vancouver to talk about. Join us then.

Total Soccer Show, welcome back to our Western Conference preview. We go now to Mr. Joseph Lowry. He's going to tell us all about San Jose, the worst team in MLS last season. But hey, they got a new look, new manager, bunch of players. It doesn't feel, Joe, that they're going to be anywhere near the bottom this season.

I'm not so sure. I don't think they will be nearly as bad this year as they were last year. I think that's the place to start. Last year was really poor. I will let a little stat do the talking. Ryan, you already mentioned them being the worst team. They got the spoon. In 2024, the Quakes allowed 78 goals. There are 34 games in an MLS season, by the way. They allowed 78 goals. That was more than any other team in MLS history.

Okay, that's bad. I know you're thinking to yourself as an educated listener and all three of my delightful co-hosts. Educate. Speak for yourself, Joe. Okay, two of my co-hosts and every listener out there, of course. I know what you're thinking. The MLS season used to be shorter than 34 games. There used to be fewer games in the season. Was San Jose really the worst defensive team ever on a per game basis? And the answer is no.

They were the second worst team ever on a per-game basis, only ahead of the 2001 Tampa Bay Mutiny, who have an incredible name story on their own that I can't recite off the top of my head, but is just delightful. The U was brutal for San Jose. The back line did not play well.

Duh. They're the worst goalkeeping in the league. And the attacking signings just did not hit. Luchy Gonzalez lost his job. And the Quakes won the wooden spoon. If that's something that you win, it's more of a thing you get handed. Earned. Yes, they did, Taylor. They earned that wooden spoon. The good news. And this is where you let me in, Ryan. And I do agree with this. 2025 is going to be different.

In terms of incomings, none is bigger than Bruce Arena, who is the new manager and chief soccer officer of this team. He'll be coaching and running the front office. Five-time MLS Cup champion. Most recently helped the Revs turn their organization around. They won the Shield in 2021. They have since fallen back to earth a bit. Arena is now one of three in MLS who hold that dual manager CSO title, along with Greg Baraltar in Chicago, Peter Vermees in Kansas City.

Sort of a little trend of those higher profile folks in Beralta and in Arena coming back. Arena, it should be absolutely noted here. He left the Revs in 2023. after being placed on administrative leave by MLS amidst allegations of, quote, insensitive and inappropriate remarks. He is back in the league. He was reinstated by Don Garber and now is in San Jose.

Jijo Arango is a key signing for this team. Ryan mentioned him leaving RSL. He was traded to San Jose, who only got six goals out of their starting striker, Jeremy Obobese in 2024. Obobese is now gone. He's moved over to LAFC and free agency. The Quicks put together a big package of allocation money to get Arango. Joseph Martinez is also here. He is far from the height of his powers, but Martinez is still a huge name and a productive striker. He scored 11 goals last year for CF Montreal.

So yeah, he can still put the ball in the back of the net. The defense got stronger with Dave Romney, who joins in the Rebs. He played with Arena in New England and also in Carson with the Galaxy. Max Floriani was drafted and some really smart folks, Mark Machado included, who does great work around the MLS space and covering college soccer as well.

rates him as one of the best players to come out of the draft in the last several years. And we know that you can find good center backs out of the super draft still. The midfield is stronger, but still not very good. Mark Anthony Kaye and Ian Harkes arrived. Bruce's guys from the Revs. Carlos Correzzo is gone. He cleared a DP spot by leaving. They still have all three filled, though. San Jose, Bovis is gone, and Jackson Ewell is gone. Tactically speaking, how this team is going to play...

We kind of know what Bruce Arena likes to do. He's the king of avoiding overcomplicating things. He doesn't drill super detailed buildup patterns. You talk to the players at San Jose, and I talked to a couple of them a couple weeks ago in preseason.

And it's not incredibly intricate and detailed stuff. It is, hey, we're going to empower you to try and make good decisions. And in training, we're going to help you work through that decision tree. And we're going to put you in spots where we think you can succeed.

And that's how we're going to go out there and win a bunch of games. Arena doesn't overcomplicate a bunch of stuff, puts his players in logical spots and gives them pretty straightforward tactical instructions. In practice, that's looked like a lot of 4-2-3-1 in the past with 4-4-2 mid-block and the occasional bit of pressing.

This year in preseason, I know I said it and I said I wouldn't say it, but I do think it's relevant here. They have been, excuse me, playing in more of a 3-4-1-2 setup with Arango and Joseph Martinez starting up top together.

We haven't seen a whole lot of that from Bruce and his teams in the past. I'm also not sure that's going to work. But that could be a look that we see maybe even this weekend. So that's something to watch out for. Reasons for optimism. This team is so clearly better than last year.

And Arena has done this kind of thing before. The bar is also really low. The San Jose Earthquakes haven't finished higher than eighth in the Western Conference in any of their last seven seasons. They've been a bad team. They haven't finished higher than sixth in more than a decade. It's not going to take a whole lot for the Quakes to enjoy their best season in years. And I do think they...

might just end up enjoying their best season in years. They are better and have added proven starters in every line of the field. So there is a scenario where they're enjoying that, you know, seventh place finish.

this season in a way that we just haven't seen before. We know that Chicho Arango can be a very good player in this league. We know that he will thrive when he has great service from the right wing, and Christian Espinosa is one of the best right wingers in this league, especially with his service from that side. We know Joseph Martinez still has goals in him.

that Mark Anthony Kaye and Ian Harkes and Dave Romney and the other veterans that have been brought in, Nick Lima, we know those guys are going to provide at least serviceable contributions in their respective spots. And along those lines, I mentioned the defense being a problem last year.

There was a great stat in American soccer analysis is San Jose Earthquakes preview by the excellent Trevor Wojcik. Apologies, Trevor, if I've butchered your last name there. Go check that piece out. ASA has done a great job this year on their previews. At Arena's last reclamation project in New England.

The Revs saw their expected goals allowed improve by about half of an expected goal a game when Arena took over in 2019 compared to 2018. They got about half a goal per game better defensively from pre-Arena to like in the Arena era.

That bodes well for San Jose. Daniel, their goalkeeper, should be back and healthy all year long. He was elite a couple of years ago. San Jose are going to be better, straight up. The concern is that the team just still isn't better enough and that they don't, frankly, still look very good.

San Jose have a couple of pieces that I really like in Espinoza and Daniel and Arango. They also have some pieces that I don't love. Hernan Lopez is a big money signing. He was signed as a club record $6 million player last year.

24 years old is not a good number 10, or at least certainly wasn't a good number 10 last year, created very, very little in the final third. And outside of those high-level players I mentioned, that trio of Espinoza, Arango, and Daniel, I just don't think there's a lot of... very good players in this team. The midfield is still going to be poor. The back line will be better. The attack will be better, but...

But with the rest of the West getting a lot stronger. This offseason as well. Dallas added Lucho. Austin broke their club record transfer fee twice. You go ahead and look down the list. Sporting Kansas City added multiple DPs. St. Louis got way better last summer.

San Jose have gotten better, but they're just sort of keeping up with the rest of the pack. I don't know that they have wildly passed a lot of that pack. So I do have my worries about this team. My VSP, San Jose, will concede at least 25 fewer goals this season than last.

But they'll still end up with one of the weaker defensive records in the league. A fully healthy Daniel, a couple of new starting defenders are going to help in this way in the back. But to illustrate just how large this hole has been for San Jose to try to climb out of. If they conceded 25 fewer goals last year, going from 78 goals to 53 goals, they still would have had the sixth worst defensive record in the Western Conference.

They have so much work to do. And that's what I'm trying to get at with that VSP. They have a massive hole to climb out of. They're going to start climbing this year. I have no doubts about that whatsoever. Just the big question is... What is that work actually going to get them? And how far up the table is that going to get them? And my suspicion is, yeah, maybe their ceiling is a French playoff team, but they probably end up outside the postseason. Joe.

How mad do you think Bruce Arena was that Greg Berhalter signed Omar Gonzalez instead of him? I feel like we always get Bruce bringing in at least one or two former national teamers. Has he done that yet? We need to get, shoot, who could Bruce Arena bring in instead? I mean, he's gotten his guys, for sure. Marc-Anthony Kaye, Harks, you look at Dave Romney, there's a number of others in this team. Backup goalkeeper as well that they've signed in, Earl Edwards Jr.

I'm trying to think of like a great Bruce Arena era player. Can we get Jorge Villafaña? in this team that would be the move i have no idea yeah oh oh you're right oh he's already on the west coast guys we can't film away from that that job that's way too important from their whole four games a season or whatever it is that they play i think i think we might

be able to snag him the bangers need everything uh all the support we can give them at the moment maybe um bruce arena could bring back darren huckabee my all-time favorite san jose player there was an interview greatest goal of all time right Yeah, I think you're referencing there was an interview where he was reduced as like the EPL legend, Darren Hockerby.

notably embarrassed at this interview. Score of the greatest soccer goal of all time, Ryan Bailey. I believe you'll find, yes. Exactly, yeah. Yeah, so maybe he'll come out of retirement and come back to San Jose, which, you know. Probably won't happen. Anyway, thank you very much, Joe, for your preview of San Jose. Let's turn our attention to Dr. Fraser Crane's favorite team, the Seattle Sounders. Graham's going to tell us all about them. Got a difference maker up top in Jesus Ferreira.

Over from Dallas, what's going on in Seattle, Graham? Yeah, so it's been a fairly busy off-season for Seattle. I'll start with a quick recap of last year. So by a lot of measures, last year was a successful year for the Sounders. They actually had a really poor start to the year. It took them until their six... game of the season to actually win a match I think they then go on another long winless run so first half of the season

Pretty poor, but they ultimately finished fourth in the West, which has sort of become their thing under Brian Schmetzer, where they improve as the season goes on. They made the conference finals after beating LAFC away from home in the semifinals, which was a result that had a lot of people... thinking they had the potential to go all the way. They had the Galaxy at home in the conference final.

But lost that game, narrowly, but nonetheless lost it. And that kind of sums up where the Sounders were in 2024. They were right up there as one of the strongest teams in the league, certainly by the time we get into the second half of the season, the business end of the season. But maybe that... that extra dimension to finish.

top and win silverware. Maybe things would have been a bit different if Pedro De La Vega had not spent so much of the season hurt. He was Seattle's big DP signing last year. The hope was that he would be that difference maker on the... wing, Lodero had left at the start of the year to go to Orlando of course, De La Vega a different sort of player but nonetheless he was the guy the Sounders were hoping would be the final third creator and it didn't really work out that way, he's still at the club

maybe this season will be better for him but last season was a tricky one for him you also had a handover at number 9 where Jordan Morris becomes the first choice option in that position as the season goes on over Raul Ruiz Diaz who I think finally came down the other side of the mountain. His productivity had been dropping for a couple of seasons, but the Sounders declined his option coming into 2025. So it was a mixed bag for Seattle last year. Coming into 2025, I already mentioned Rui Diaz.

Josh Atencio was traded to Colorado like a couple weeks ago for a chunk of gam. Leo Chu was sent to Dallas as part of the deal that took Jesus Ferreira in the other direction. And that is the biggest acquisition for the Sounders in this offseason. They've brought in Jesus Ferreira as a DP. Obviously, he's someone we know all about with Dallas and the USMT. I'm excited to see him.

In Seattle, I'm interested to see how Schmetzer uses him. He is a player who gives you a lot in terms of his ability to drop deep. What will the knock-on be for Jordan Morris is one question that I have. The Sounders played in CONCACAF Champions League this week. Looked like they...

used Morris as the number nine with Ferreira around him. Ferreira could play in the wing. Jordan Morris could play in the wing. Maybe Jordan Morris plays behind his Ferreira. There's a lot of different options in that attacking third, so I'm interested to see how that pans out. Seattle brought in...

Paul Areola, Kim Ki-hee is back as well after a spell in South Korea. And the front office, they've tried to rejuvenate this squad because the Sounders, they had one of the oldest squads in MLS at the start of last season.

And so it's helped that Obed Vargas has emerged as an important player. They have another few depth options as well who have come in and will help freshen this team up in 2025. But that seems to be, they've lowered their age from even the start of last season to the end of last season. and they've lowered their average age quite significantly. And that seems to be a process that they want to continue. The Sounders have one of the deepest squads in MLS. They have options all over.

The pitch, that's certainly a strength of theirs. I think there's still a sense that Seattle don't have that one-man difference maker that some of their other rivals have. So they don't have a Lucio Costa or an Ederson or certainly not a Messi because nobody has a Messi besides under Miami.

But you get my point. Do they have someone who can win a game for all that depth and they're decent enough on the ball, they've got a very good defence, which we'll come on to later. Do they have that player when maybe things aren't going their way like it was in the conference final who can produce a moment out of nothing?

Albert Rusnak had a decent years in terms of his numbers last year, 10 goals and 12 assists, but he's, to my eye anyway, not really quite at that level. But nonetheless, Seattle have one of the best, most organised defensive units in the league. Jackson Reagan was...

Was he defender of the year? He was certainly up there in the voting. In contention. He had a great year last year. Imer Gomez as well. The two of them, that's probably or possibly the strongest centre-back pairing in the whole league. You've then got Stefan Fry behind them as well as a starting goalkeeper.

They are a decent possession team. In terms of their possession share, they don't actually rank that highly or they didn't rank that highly last season. But they make really good use of possession as a defensive tool to keep teams away from their own goal.

aren't always great at converting that possession into reliable chance creation. So again, that's maybe another area where I talk about the one-man difference maker in the final third. That's the player that they're lacking. But they were ranked fifth for chances created from...

dead ball situations last season. So that is certainly a way that they can hurt opposition teams. I think there's plenty reason for optimism for the Sounders coming into 2025. I like the Ferreira signing. I think he should be a good fit in terms of his profile.

he will help with that chance creation those issues that i mentioned as well not necessarily in terms of his own chance creation but opening up space for others maybe it opens up a bit more possibility there and this is also a team and a club with a proven record of

pretty much always being competitive by the end of the season. They're incredibly consistent that way. My concern is, I mentioned CONCACAF Champions League there, they played on Wednesday night against Antigua and won that game, but they've got a packed... This year, the Sounders, they have got the Club World Cup.

They're playing games at home at CenturyLink Field. They've got the Champions Cup, which has already started. They're in League's Cup, as far as I'm aware, plus all the usual MLS stuff, 34 regular season games if they're in the playoffs, which is normally what they do, their thing. They'll have games on top of that.

Their depth is going to be tested this season. So finally, my VSP, to round off my preview, my VSP is that Vargas... So both of these things have to happen. That's a little bit confusing. Both Vargas will finish in the top 10 for tackles per 90 minutes and Eymar... gomez will be in the top 10 for interceptions per 90 minutes both of those things have to happen for me to get a point and another i think another year of that

Backline being together is going to make them even stronger. They've got a good age profile. They're 26 years old, 27 years old, I think Jackson Reagan is. They've got experience even at that age. I think Vargas is going to continue to thrive at the base of the midfield. Obviously, a young player.

who's improving all the time. And EMR is an interception machine. So those two things will happen. I need both to get the point. It's a dual VSP, if you will. Wow. Put it on yourself there, Graham, aren't you? I am, indeed. That's what I do. It's my brand. I didn't hear Matt Turner involved in that.

Well, that was my VSP Taylor, but then you took that. He pivoted. Last minute pivot. He can't play for both Seattle and San Diego in the same season. We also got to give Graham bonus points for wearing the kit of the team he's previewing. I mean, that's a level of dedication that...

None of us managed to strike today. Graham, I love that you mentioned the depth for Seattle because they're going to need it, first of all, across all those competitions. It's them in Miami who are poised for a really, really long season.

even if their Club World Cup campaigns are probably both going to be three games long. First of all, I am stoked to see Seattle play PSG and Atletico Madrid this summer. We've never seen this before. They're going to lose, but it's going to be fun. And I think it's going to be an interesting experiment.

The other thing is this team is so good. This team is really, really good. They kept all their most important defensive pieces, as you talked about, Graham. And then they added Ferreira. They solved their big attacking need. If they get... almost anything out of De La Vega this year and Ferreira, the attack is going to be noticeably better than it was last year when they were already one of the three best teams in the Western Conference.

I think Seattle are going to be in contention for every single game that they play in, except for those games in the Club World Cup. They're going to be, yeah, they might win at least one trophy this year.

There you go. Bullish from Joe Lowry. I must say I did introduce Seattle as having a potential new difference maker in Hesosvera, only for Graham to say I'm worried they don't have a difference maker at all. So I take that as a slight on my character, Graham, but none taken. It's OK. I mean, I guess.

Frere could be a difference maker. As I say, I'm excited to see him in Seattle. It's a team that could play to his strengths, but he's not like Lucho, Costa, or Evander, or a tier one sort of player who'll stick one in the top corner from 20 yards, I say. That's kind of what I meant.

Fair enough. Okay. Thank you very much, Grant, for your preview of Seattle. Gather round, all ye faithful, for Sporting Kansas City, who open at Austin FC this coming weekend. Last season, they were second bottom in the West, the third worst team. in MLS overall. They did not win at all in preseason. They kept that streak going earlier this week on Wednesday with the CCC game against Inter Miami, which was moved because it was very, very cold in the spot in Kansas City. Land?

I don't know which state it's in. That's why I'm getting out here. They lost 1-0 on Wednesday. I think it's in Missouri. Everything's on the Missouri side. Weirdly, it's in Iowa. I've been there and I can't remember. Either way, I always get it wrong. So I'm not going to commit. No, it's in Kansas. That's what I get for going out on a limb. Sorry, Kansas people. My bad. So Ryan actually was closest with Sporting Kansas City Land. Yeah.

Yep, there we go. Accuracy is my keen eye for detail, Graham. SKC have had some great seasons over the years, but despite a playoff run in 23, fans will probably say they haven't been that great lately. necessarily enjoyed the products on the field too much it's probably fair to say and it looks like sporting director Mike Burns is in the midst of something of a rebuild

At this point. So the incomings and outgoings. Big DP arrival, obviously, from the LA Galaxy in Dejan Jovlic. About one goal every three games for the Galaxy. Potential to be a... difference maker Ferreira style up top for SKC he's still only 25 years old and also they've got the DP arrival of Manu Garcia who's arrived from Greece a Man City youth player nonetheless who's come in

as well. And Russian winger Shapi Shulimanov, who's also come in with Garcia from the Greek side. Aris Thessaloniki. Yeah. There we go. What state do they play in? Thessaloniki. Thank you, Taylor. In terms of the outgoings, Andrew Fontas, a much-loved centre-back, has hung up his boots. Veteran keeper Tim Meliat is also done. Johnny Russell. Team captain, Graham's countryman winger, has also appeared to have concluded his time in MLS as well.

Yeah, he is indeed. Striker Alan Bolido has been transferred to Chivas. Also, Remy Walter is gone. He was a fan favourite, but was an expensive player salary-wise, it appears to be. And it's an interesting time because Russell... and Melia kind of legendary from what I can see around those parts in Missouri slash Kansas. Some fans felt their exits were a bit abrupt, but the roster moves generally seem to be...

Let's get these old guys out and get some younger ones in. It seems to be the vibe that's going on in the rebuild happening at the moment. It's an interesting team. Obviously, longstanding coach Peter Vermes tends to play a 4-3-3. Loves his team to keep the ball. the back and Sporting Casey's consistently ranked among the top.

teams in the league when it comes to passes per game, pass completion percentage, used to be heavily reliant on sort of a heavy press. Might see some of that this season with a new attacking core, possibly. We shall see. In terms of the positives for SKC... Two great new DPs, at least one great new DP. Another one, we'll see about that. Clearly, they are fearless in changing out the old guard in this team when it's time to go.

A slight ruthlessness, maybe that's me editorializing on that one, but it looks like they are trying to point this team in the right direction. In terms of concerns, maybe they're still not that good. Overall, holistically, backline might still be an issue for SKC, only San Jose conceded more in the West last year. And cover your ears, SKC fans, for my very specific prediction. I think they're going to finish... below San Diego.

It does feel like a rebuild year. I'm not sure Joe loves that one. No, I love it. I love it. I love it when we go out on a limb. It's a bold statement. If anybody's looked at my team-by-team predictions this year that are up online, I agree with Ryan. Oh, okay. There we go.

Well, maybe it says more about San Diego than it does about SKC, but it feels like a rebuild year. You know, a lot of the heroes are on their way out. I don't think San Diego will necessarily be as bad as some analysts seem to expect. I think it'll be a lot better this year. I think SKC could be right down there at the bottom, maybe with your Vancouver's of the world. I hope, Joe, I haven't been too harsh.

No, I don't think you have. And I don't think Sporting Kansas City will be offended by any of that except for the bit where we forgot where their stadium was. Other than that. I think people are going to be... You can't forget what you don't know. I guess I forgot. Ryan didn't know. This team's going to be better. Sort of like what I said about San Jose. I think this team will be noticeably better than San Jose this year. But...

Are they going to be great? It's still early in this rebuild process. Mike Burns is talking about this being a three-window rebuild, and this is sort of the first of those windows. And it's one that's moved a little faster, I think, than they expected by getting Jovalich from the Galaxy via trade and going out and signing Manu Garcia.

I was expecting one DP, not necessarily two. It's not a bad team. There are just questions, especially as you get into that sort of back six, defensive midfielder, back four and goalkeeper. That is not a... Great area, and Garcia is a bit of a question mark coming over from Greece where he didn't put up crazy numbers, but does look like a good player. I think this team is very much working their way back.

But sort of like we talked about for San Jose, they're working their way back from a pretty large hole. The other thing, just since San Diego was mentioned.

I think San Diego's wingers are going to be awesome and maybe their roster is better than we all think. That's why I'm a little higher on San Diego. I don't think they're going to be amazing this year, but I don't think the squad is horrible. And if you go out there and sign Kevin De Bruyne in the summer, which is far from a guarantee, but is also not impossible. Yeah, that team could be pretty good. Anyway.

There you go. We'll see. That's something I have to say, Mamie Chuck. I was looking at the SKC forums before the CCC game was postponed or moved back a day. And there were fans saying, I know I can bring blankets in, but can I bring a sleeping bag in to wrap myself in? thinking if it's gonna be cold enough where you have to wrap yourself in a sleeping bag like watch it on tv i know i know that's a very fair weather fan thing to say but it literally

Yeah, literally a fair word, a fair thing to say. Yeah, go ahead, Graham. I was just going to say, there are jackets that I wear to Sterling Albion matches in the depth of Scottish winters that are essentially sleeping bags, like just with a zip, like a zip the full length. That's what they are.

I thought you could bring anything into a stadium as long as you had it in a clear plastic bag. That's the rule. I thought that's what the policy meant. It's like you can bring whatever you want. You just need a bag that it's going to fit that item. A 55-gallon clear plastic bag. You're good to go. What more do you need?

Ryan, I will say the group that I think is going to be saddest about Johnny Russell's departure from Sporting Kansas City are Kansas City Uber drivers. I've taken two Ubers in Kansas City. Both of them had stories about Johnny Russell's less than sober antics in a charming. fun, he was a wonderful lad sort of way. But it was amazing to me that 100% of the Ubers I took had stories about Johnny Russell. Not stories like Nicholas Bentner whipping taxi drivers with his belt or anything like that.

No, one was Johnny Russell, I believe, coming out of a nightclub. Like shirtless and demanding to be taken to the best barbecue that the driver could find at like two o'clock in the morning. And I think one was him paying the driver extra to take like seven people. Somewhere, I think, were the two stories. But in a very charming, like, sat in the front seat and bantered the whole time and was very, like, up for it and chappy.

Doing a lot for the Scottish stereotypes there. Johnny Russell in foreign lines. But I think that's why they loved him. I wonder if he was, was he kilted with the shirtless nightclub exit as well? I hope so. I think we should just assume he was. Yeah, just a kilt and a skein do. You all know what a ski and do is, right? It's one of those hoddle-woddle things, right? That's right. Nailed it, Joe. Thank you. You going to tell us? It's a little knife that you put into your sock.

I'm not even kidding. That's not a joke. As long as he was holding it in a clear bag. That's fine. When do you start carrying those? Like elementary school in Scotland? How does that work? Well, Graham was already working in the bar by then, Taylor. Yeah, it's like an early years sort of gift. Yeah, three or four, like toddler age. I thought a ski and do is what Scots do on their winter honeymoons. Self high five.

All right. Shall I take us to our next team swiftly? At least someone gave you a high five. I need some recovery time. So why don't we take a quick break? When we come back, we're going to talk about St. Louis and Vancouver. Join us then. At Betfair, we're about finding different ways to play, like with our 90-minute guarantee. We've all been there. The clock ticks over into 90 minutes, and then a speculative cross into the box ricochets off a knee and goes in, ruining your bet.

But with Betfair's 90-minute guarantee, if your bet is winning at 90 minutes or full-time, we pay out. Betfair. Play different. A place to match odds 90 market or markets with the 90 icon. Sportsbook exclusive. Terms and conditions apply. 18plusbgamblerware.org. Total Soccer Show, welcome back to our Western Conference preview. Taylor Rockwell.

Take us to St. Louis, will you? What's going on at Cat Food Stadium? And I think Luz van den Steele is still very much at the helm there. Very much a big fan of his. And Olaf Melberg. Barkley's legend. It's all going on there. I can't wait for him to be calling Bundesliga games on ESPN on St. Louis game days as well, as is tradition. Yes, St. Louis. I'm excited to talk about them. I really am. Last season.

The nerds were right. That's your abbreviated summary of last season. I was so bullish on them, convinced that the stats would continue to reflect that St. Louis were great and were finding ways to score goals and be very exciting. They were not. They were 12th in the West. They did not score nearly as many goals as they conceded. They had a negative 13 goal difference, which I think was more or less what their expected goal difference should have been.

TLDR summary would be they couldn't get the lead as often as they did in their inaugural season, and so they were having to chase games, they weren't getting as many clear-cut chances, and then they weren't able to defend and counter with the lead the way they were in their first season.

So in having to chase games and having to try to create things or oftentimes having to come from behind, they're then maybe pushing on too much, being too open and not playing the kind of unified system. Second highest expected goal against in the West shows you that they were. maybe way too far open midfield also partially to blame there largely for injuries and absences we'll talk about that in a bit in terms of what's changed this offseason not

A ton. They've brought in a winger slash wingback in Conrad Wallum, 24-year-old on loan from Slavia Prague with, I believe, an option to buy. Who can... Apparently play in like every single position, can play on the right, can play on the left, can be a fullback, can be a wingback, can even be a winger. And that is why they've brought him in is because he is so versatile. They think he can do a number of different things, though I would assume he will play in a more defensive.

attacking fullback role for them to start. They also brought in Timo Baumgartl. It always feels like they stopped writing the name because it ends with the L. It should be Baumgartlinger, is I guess what I'm saying. But instead, it's Timo Baumgartle, 28-year-old center back, who they tried to kind of make seem like they brought over from Schalke, but in reality, Schalke had let his contract lapse.

And then St. Louis brought him in. He left Schalke in August. They didn't lose a ton. Jose Kijima was probably their... biggest departure and they made him up for the expansion draft. So I don't feel like they are too sad about that. The major offseason change would be the arrival of Olaf Melberg, the former international and Juventus player, Villa player, many other clubs. along the way. He is their second ever permanent manager. He's 47 year old.

47 years old, in from Sweden, fresh from managing – here we go – Bromopokarna in the Swedish top flight. What a legend. And they have the question mark at the end. That was amazing. Thank you, Joe. They have the question mark at the end of the name, so I got that in there too. The claim to fame –

Warren Burgundy on the prompter, please. Say it that way. Warren Burgundy? A lot of Anchorman references. Maybe that's going to be in the algorithm soon. They stayed up for three consecutive years, that club. That's the first time they did so in their history. Looking at their numbers, they were, to recap, Bromapagania were basically like middle of the table in a lot of different categories. But with their budget, with their size, that is to their credit, didn't foul a lot.

didn't get many cards and did have a good number in terms of shots converted to goals or something along those lines. So I think basically they have they got better, more clear cut scoring opportunities. I think this is a really fascinating appointment. because of the way that they found Melberg. I was reading an article that had an interview with Diego Giuliani, who's the city general manager.

Also, some quotes in there from Lutz van den Steele. And basically, they found in their data that there is no real benefit to bringing in a coach who has MLS experience. specifically in regards to the way St. Louis want to operate. Basically, they were saying it becomes a matter of short, medium, or long-term thinking. In the short term, it's probably likely that someone who knows the league will have some advantage, but we're making decisions for the media.

medium term and long term versus the short term, said Giuliani. We had the benefit of time to run the hiring process better than most teams can do when they need to replace a head coach. We were able to consult a database of 25,000 head coaches around the world. Once we decided that MLS experience.

wasn't a requirement, were able to cast a wider net. I don't know if he meant wider than the 25,000 already in there. I don't think there have been 25,000 MLS head coaches, unless my math is way off. But then they refined it further and further based on ability.

to get their teams to overperform, ability to get teams to stay up, to play attacking soccer, to do a number of different things that St. Louis wanted. Beard as well, I think, was one of the filters. Take that. A key thing. A key thing as well. The beard is strong. I'm looking at a picture of him being unveiled.

coach in the league right now I think he might be very rugged I mean aside from Bruce Arena sure yes and so I think the other interesting aspect here is that they wanted a coach who ticked

It seems like a number of different boxes, but at the same time, wasn't going to change the style, wasn't going to change the philosophy. Lutz had a quote, we want to have our style 2.0, which means we want to be better with the ball. We want to tighten up our defense, but most importantly, get better with the ball, play some attractive.

to football and that's why I think we made a good choice choice with Olaf Melberg Olaf played the football in Sweden that we want to play the reasons for concern I would say and maybe this is like unfair to go with expert predictions. But I think the MLS soccer expert predictions are really interesting in that some people have them as high as fourth. Some people have them 15th in the West. Most have them in the seven to nine range. And I'm taking that as a, we don't really know what.

this team is going to be because they were so good, but overperformed in their first season. like regressed to the mean and weren't particularly good last season. But again, I think that there are a few extenuating circumstances in there, which gets to my specific prediction, which is that Edouard Loven will return to his Edouard Loven best and get at least five goals.

and tennisists this season. Last year, he missed a sizable chunk of time to be with his wife as she dealt with a brain cancer, excuse me, diagnosis, a decision the club wholly supported and gave him the time off to deal with. But in that same article where they were talking about bringing in Melberg, they noted that –

Upon his arrival in St. Louis, he went out with Melberg went out with Lutz and Edward Loven to a St. Louis Blues hockey game his very first night there. And there's already this sort of focus on bonding and getting them together. They've done a preseason together now in Florida. They all have that shirtless. I'm hoping. One can only help.

But but I guess I feel like there's probably already some rapport developing. And then the key thing to note is that St. Louis last summer brought in Marcel Hartel and Cedric. Toyshirt is how I believe I'm supposed to pronounce that one, according to German pronunciation dot com. But.

Those two were exceptionally good when they come in. Toy Shirts had five goals and four assists in 10 games. Hartzell had three goals and five assists in nine games. So you think a full preseason with them more settled, bet it in. You still have Jao Klaus in there, and then you had Edvard... event coming back, I think they will be better. I don't think that they're going to be...

you know, top of the West or anything like that. But I think it's going to be a much stronger third season for St. Louis City SC, even if I still find their name a little bit annoying. And even if I don't love their Purina shirts, I do think I will love aspects of this team this season. Very nice. Taylor, when they were doing the coach search, those 25,000 coaches, one of the filters, I suspect, was...

has the coach been to the same hair transplant clinic as Antonio Conte? Because he's got a... At the risk of upsetting the firetrucker lawyers here, he's got a lush head of hair compared to when he played. Maybe that was part of the contract. We'll bring you in. We'll give you a lot of money. We'll take you to a blues game and also hair transplant.

But where did they graft the hair from? There's just nowhere to take it from on his face. It's so much beard, Graham. So much beard. Must have done. Anyway. Thank you very much. Was that your joke, Graham, that I stepped on? It was, yeah. There's more beard than face at this point. I understand. I hang my head in shame now. T-Rock, did you VSP for us there, darling? Yeah, Edward Loven will have five goals and ten assists this season at least.

Excellent stuff. Thank you very much indeed. That leaves us one final team in the West and indeed in Major League Soccer, our 30th team to preview. It is the Vancouver Whitecaps and Joe Larry has the privilege of telling us all about them right now.

Last season, Vancouver, 47 points, 8th in the West, 14th in Major League Soccer. In terms of the on-field stuff, we left off in very familiar territory. Good, not quite great roster, led by Ryan Galdon. Brian White finishes on the fringes of the West. Western Conference playoff field. We've seen that story before.

They met LAFC in the first round of the playoffs after dispatching Portland in the wildcard game in one of the all-time great games for this team. They meet LAFC in the first round and they lose, which we've also seen that story before. Stuart Armstrong was a great addition. He was the last DP to join MLS last season.

and he joined in September. He was excellent when he finally worked his way into the starting lineup after getting a bit of fitness come the playoffs. And then they lose, and then Vanny Sartini is fired. And that's where we sort of left off on the field. Off the field...

Things have changed quite a bit. The Whitecaps are now up for sale. As of December, majority owner Greg Kerfoot is looking to get out. They are publicly listed for sale. I don't think they're on Craigslist or eBay, but we could at least check. There are some concerns about relocation. And that's not coming from any insider information, but this is probably fairly natural when an MLS team goes up for sale, given what almost happened with the crew.

Sportico, though, has reported that the, quote, current intent, unquote, of existing ownership in the league is to keep the club in Vancouver. It does seem like that's the way the wind is blowing. But I don't think anybody's super comfortable about any of this. And that is extremely unfortunate. What has changed in the offseason? I mentioned Vanny Sartini out. Well, in his stead. has come Jesper Sorensen, who is a Danish manager who's only ever coached over in Denmark. He will not bring...

A lot of the same sound bites that Vanny Sartini brought. But he does have a decent amount of experience at 51. He hasn't coached in MLS before, which I guess made him a candidate for St. Louis in that 25,000 people as well. But he does seem to have some clear ideas on what he wants Vancouver to look like. And I'll get on to some of those.

later. Other arrivals and departures in just a second, but first another quick beat on Vanny Sartini. There was a lot of outrage when Sartini was let go in November, given that... He spent a lot of the year and a lot of his tenure working with a roster that just wasn't maximized with all three DPs. He pretty much always had less to work with than the other coaches of the top teams in the West.

That said, he didn't really ever seem to make the caps more than the sum of their parts, in my view. I think they pretty much performed right on expectations about right on where they should.

based off of the roster. So Axel Schuster, the chief soccer officer there, made the call that, hey, I think I can find somebody better. And now we're going to see if Schuster was right or not. And I talked about with the Revs the other day about how there's some pressure on Caleb Porter now that he's brought in, quote unquote, his players.

This is pressure on Schuster, who's brought in his guy. And if the Whitecaps aren't able to outperform where they've been, well, then you just threw some money down the drain. So we're going to see what happens on the coaching side. Other incomings for this team. Jaden Nelson has arrived. Former Toronto FC player. Kind of fringed Canadian national for a little bit there. He was over in Europe. He's back. I'm not a...

Big Jaden Nelson fan, but we'll see what he can bring to this team. Emmanuel Sabi. We brought up obscure USMNT players before. Emmanuel Sabi is getting nothing from Taylor right now, and I really thought that it would. A one cap with the US in a January cap back in 2023. He's been over in Denmark. six years and then spent 18 months in Ligue 1. I can't believe he's still playing.

That's where I am. I'm shocked. He's 27 years old. So he is like squarely in his prime. He is 35. I'm not buying that. He's also never been very good. He's the future of the USMNT. How dare you?

No, that's Jonathan Amon, Taylor. Oh, yes, of course. And he still is. And Josh Gatt, I think, also. I don't care about Josh Gatt. But Jonathan Amon, I do still care about. His smile lights up the room. Anyway, Daniel Rios. Graham and Ryan's faces could not be more blank. I know Josh Gatt. He was in Frozen.

much fun i'm having so much fun uh daniel rios is here as a reserve striker too uh those are all all fine none of those moves come anywhere close to replacing the departures that have happened i mentioned sartini already i don't think that's a big loss uh

Stuart Armstrong is a huge loss. He raised this team ceiling and looked amazing when he was on the field. I already talked about that. He's gone now. He wanted to move back to England to have a chance to be promoted to the Premier League with Sheffield Wednesday. And Vancouver said, okay, go for it. I don't know, man. It's a bizarre situation of a DP's here for like three months and then is right out the door.

And now that your team's up for sale, you're probably not going to shell out X million dollars to go sign a new one. Because why would ownership want to do that? It really, really hurts Vancouver's ceiling. And you would really love to have seen Stuart Armstrong stick around because I think this team is a legitimate...

you know, home series threat, top four seed kind of thing. If Armstrong is still on the team, he's not. Neither is Hoffa Pico, who had nine goals last season in 1700 regular season minutes. Those players are all gone. And with them, Vancouver ceiling has...

lowered. Now, how this team is going to play under new manager Jesper Sorensen, I think it's going to be a little steadier and a little more ball dominant than it was under Vanny Sartini. We don't know what this is going to look like, and I'm not going to claim to have watched a lot of Sorensen's teams over in Denmark. But he has been, Sorensen, fairly public about kind of what he might want to do with this team.

He said, quote, possession is important. When you have the ball, you can control the game. When you don't have the ball, you can affect the game, but you cannot control what is going to happen. In this league, there's a guy called Messi. You cannot control him when he has the ball, but you can try to affect him. But if you have the ball, you can better the outcomes.

of what's going to happen. I do expect we're going to see Vancouver play out of a back four, probably either a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3. They've been pretty intentional about bringing in a couple of wingers this offseason in Sabi and Nelson. Although Nelson could also play as more of a box-to-box guy in midfield. But I do think that points to, hey, this is going to be a back four. This is probably going to be a team that uses some real width here. When you look at reasons for optimism this season...

I've got to be honest, I'm not really optimistic that this team is going to be great, but they have a really solid... to elite spine, and a bunch of players that we've seen play really well in MLS before. Ryan Gold's awesome. He's one of the better DPs in this league and has been for the last two seasons. You're welcome, Graham. Brian White is one of the best non-DP attackers in MLS. He's got 15 non-penalty goals in each of the last two.

seasons. If you squint at Brian White, you see Brandon Vasquez's production. And Brandon Vasquez is a $10 million striker for Austin FC. White is a very good player. Like, White is a... Dejan Jovulic, maybe not quite as good as Dejan Jovulic, but a Dejan Jovulic, Brian White, like Petar Moussa.

All those guys are DPs that move for big money. White didn't. He's within the league. He's not a sexy name. He's a really good player. You move down the spine. Andres Kubas is a phenomenal defensive midfielder in this league. He doesn't have a Copa America that's going to take up some of his minutes in the summer this year with Paraguay. Sebastian Berhalter.

Greg Barlathur's son is a really good soccer player and is maybe going to break into the starting 11 for this team on a regular basis in 2025. Ali Ahmed, Pedro Vite are good players, even if they're never going to quite make the leap. The back line is fairly solid. And I think Yohei Takeoka... Taylor's favorite player. He's one of the better goalkeepers in MLS. He's at least above average.

This is a good team, straight up. This is a team that absolutely can make the playoffs. They were close at LAFC last year. Granted, a lot of that was Armstrong making this team better. But when you're in the playoffs, things can happen. And if you're Vancouver...

In the midst of a sale, you hope that you find another owner that absolutely keeps you in Vancouver and maybe even gets you your very own stadium. Maybe this is like a transition year that is still fairly solid on the field that leads you into a really, really nice future with the club. The concern outside of the ownership stuff is that their ceiling's too low. Armstrong made this team better. They were a...

Good team before he got there. They looked like a borderline great team when he was there. Now he's gone. They've gotten worse in the offseason. They're not going to be better this year than they were last year. And last year, they didn't make it out of the first round of the playoffs. So the concern is fairly straightforward. I also absolutely do.

not expect this team to go out there and sign a third DP. Maybe I will be wrong. I don't think that's actually going to happen. My very specific prediction for this team is that they will have yet another season. This will make six in a row.

of years where they finished between 5th and 11th in the Western Conference. I think they're going to be somewhere in that range. They've been there for five seasons. This would make their sixth straight. They finished in that same range, 5th to 11th, in 11 of their 14 years in MLS.

Period. I don't think this team is going to be horrible. Their floor is still well above wooden spoon level, but they're not going to be great either. Fifth is super generous, but the West is really soupy this year outside of the top few teams. So I'm willing to give them some of that ceiling.

But it's going to be another Vancouver year for Vancouver on the field. We've seen this so much, and we're going to see it again in 2025. Thanks very much, Joe. In my unused notes to intro this team, I have the sentence, this team feels quite middle of the pack. So that kind of aligns with your VSP there.

Yeah, after the two LA teams in Seattle, in whatever order at the top of the West, and maybe the Galaxy won't even be in that top tier. I think they probably will be. Maybe then you look at Colorado and Minnesota. After those teams, it is super mushy. You could convince me that Vancouver will finish sixth this year. You could convince me that they maybe even would finish a bit lower than 11th. Dallas, San Jose, Austin, Houston, RSL, you go through the list of teams and man, it is just not clear.

Who's going to be great? Who's going to be horrible? And who's going to be just okay? Not least because the transfer window is still open for another two months. So doing this kind of thing is always difficult. That is the plight of making MLS predictions. But Vancouver, I feel pretty confident, are going to be, yeah, okay.

Joe, I have one final question for you that comes from deep in the memory palace of two seasons ago. How's my boy JC Ngondo doing? He spent last year on loan in USL where he was great. I think he's back with this team last time I checked. Contract extension no less. I got to watch him play Taylor in the flesh last season out here in Phoenix. And I can tell you from the 300 feet away that I was from him, he seems to be doing really well emotionally, physically.

Thank you. Thank you, Joe. I appreciate that. More blank faces from Ryan and Graham appropriately so. That was a deep cut, dude. That's like a deep cut for any MLS episode. I'm just impressed that you can throw anything at Joe Lowry, and he has a competent answer. That's very good indeed. Well done, Joe. Thank you very much to all three of you for the MLS previewing we've done here.

30 teams covered now. We have crossed the marathon line. Congratulations, guys. I hope, dear listener, you have a very good idea of what we're up against when MLS kicks off on Saturday. One final thing to do. Let's preview. a couple of games we're most looking forward to this coming weekend, this first round of MLS. Let's do one from the East, one from the West. Graham, how about into Miami?

who are hosting NYCFC this coming weekend. Kickoff pushback to the evening, maybe for some TV, maybe for some recovery time. What are we thinking about this game? I am just looking forward to watching Messi and MLS again. The novelty of watching him in this league still hasn't worn off for me. And in a sense, I think Inter-Miami not winning MLS Cup last year.

It keeps the storyline going, right? Had they won it last year, it would have been mission accomplished. Maybe we lose a little bit of interest. It is much more interesting to me that they didn't win it last year and that they are still a team with a target on their backs. They are the team that everyone... wants to beat and I think Saturday's game should be an excellent

curtain raiser I don't really know if they're going to be stronger this year I think there are some question marks over I'm more concerned over Leo Campagna leaving this team than I think Joe is just from a point of attacking depth Javier Mascherano is a relative rookie This team is another year older, which is a factor. Maybe I've been watching too much of Man City lose their battle against Father Time this season.

But there will come a drop-off at some point. It's just whether or not it's going to happen this season for Suarez and Messi and Alba and Busquets. But yeah, just always very excited to watch this historically strong MLS team. Not sure what to expect from NYCFC.

But this should be an interesting match. NYCFC are such a weird team right now. This game is about Miami. Sorry, NYCFC. If you had your team sorted out right now, we would be talking about you in a different way. Sandy Rodriguez, their best attacker last year in New York City, is reportedly about to move to both. to fogo for 17 million dollars which is an absurd amount of money for sandy rodriguez that's like you can't turn down sort of deal

And James Sands is both on loan and now injured for NYCFC. So they're down. Two starters are also changing coaches. We don't think Pascal Jensen is going to change a ton for them. But we don't really know what this NYCFC team is going to look like in terms of their absolute ceiling this year because they're just unsettled right now. With Miami, Graham, they are another year older.

I don't think it really matters for this team. We've got Luis Suarez out on frozen ground at Children's Mercy Park trying the most absurd stuff you've ever seen. He's dropping in as a false nine, trying to, like, bicycle kick the ball on through ball to Messi on the right side.

Champions Cup play on Wednesday. These dudes love to play. They love to compete. Yes, they're in Miami for a little bit more balance for their lives, and I don't blame them for that at all. It's a great place to finish their career. But they're also here to win. They're here to win a bunch of stuff. And I love your point about...

MLS Cup still being on the table for them. They flopped in every single knockout competition last year into Miami. They flopped in Champions Cup. They flopped in League's Cup. They didn't make it past the first round of the playoffs. They were on the bad end of the worst, I guess the largest upset.

we've ever seen in MLS history when they lost that series to Atlanta United. This team's hungry, man. Messi does not like to lose. Suarez, Busquets, Alba does not like to lose. I really like a lot of their transfer window business, not just because they've signed a central defender from Chile whose name is Max Falcon.

But also because I think they've legitimately addressed needs. They've replaced Diego Gomez in midfield. Ryan's favorite player of all time. Allende is going to have a phenomenal season up top on the left side. Oh, yeah.

This team got better in the offseason straight up, and they were really good last year. Do we know how it's going to work from the managerial process of making changes? Like if Mascherano wants to make a sub, does Messi have to sign off? Is it Messi Suarez and Busquets who have to sign off before Mascherano can do something tactically? How does that work?

It's the Joaquin Phoenix thing, right? It's the thumb. He just has to wait for the thumb to go up or down. It's like a nuclear sub where two people have to flick the switch at the same time for it to activate, basically. That's the failsafe. I like that Graham went...

Not Roman Emperor style, but specifically Joaquin Phoenix. Does Joaquin Phoenix do that in his daily life? Is that how he orders at restaurants as well? He just waits for them to read the menu? He does it so well in the film that I presume he'd had practice. All right. He was briefly a Roman Emperor. I think you're right.

You could be direct. Okay. Well, I'll be watching this game like a hawk for Max Falcon reasons and otherwise. 7.30 Eastern. You can catch that one on Saturday. Taylor, let's go to the West real quick. Probably the headline game here. Defending Champs LA Galaxy on Sunday. hosting the new boys, San Diego. What are we thinking? We're thinking that's going to be a very fun, if maybe one-sided game. I would assume the Galaxy will...

be comfortable in that one. But as I said in the preview, they have injuries. Obviously, they don't have Ricky Puj. So maybe there will be some fine-tuning in this game or some figuring out of things in this game. But I still think they will have more than enough plus Marco Reus in there.

versus a San Diego team that will obviously want to hit the ground running, but I think also aren't going to prioritize winning everything right away. I think they're going to be more okay with a loss than the Galaxy would be, though I do think if you're San Diego, you go out there and get that win. It is a...

a statement victory. It is a way to kind of cement the beginnings of your campaign and even if you do then lose a few games after that, you still beat the Galaxy on the opener and that's not a bad thing.

Yeah, this is the game I'm most excited about this weekend. I think it is going to be the most interesting one. The Galaxy play fun soccer. Yes, we're going to have to see how they adapt without Ricky Puj, and that's a fascinating storyline on its own. They've done a lot of business this offseason. The Galaxy, it's a team.

that's going to look a little different. And that has me interested. And then San Diego are a blank slate. There are things that we think we know about this team. And there are probably some things that we really do know about this team.

But there's a whole lot that we don't know. Like I said, I think I said earlier, I've got a seeking suspicion that Chucky Lozano and Anders Dreyer, who scored a bunch of goals for Anderlecht last season, are going to be one of the better wide attacking pairs, if not.

maybe like the best in the league. And I love Luca De La Torre. I think there's a lot of pieces. It wouldn't shock me if San Diego look quite good. I think their ceiling is fairly high, not supporter shield high this year, but it's fairly high. It also wouldn't surprise me if they give up.

30, no, 30 is way too high. I don't know, four really brutal chances after failing to build the ball up out of the back. And if their defense looks poor and their goalkeeping looks poor, for as high as I think their ceiling is, their four is significantly lower than that. And the Galaxy are a good team. We're going to see this San Diego side.

Test it in a real way. Plus, we get to see Andrew Wiebe on TV because it's the first Sunday night soccer game for Apple. And we're going to see these featured Sunday night games all the way throughout the year, which I think is a great change from last year to this year on the Apple TV scheduling side.

And getting Weeby involved is amazing, not just because he's a pal of ours, but he is genuinely really informed and excellent at doing TV and covering this league. And having his storytelling on the broadcast is going to be a lot of fun.

Joe, what's the Sickles pick from opening weekend and why is it Nancy Ball versus Berhalter? Oh, Taylor's got his hand up. Taylor, please. Go on, Taylor. I mean, St. Louis, Colorado. It's got to be the marquee matchup that we're all super excited for. No, just me because I did the previews. St. Louis, I think, because of... I think their attack is going to be good. I think Edward Levin coming back is going to be exciting, and I want to see if Olaf Melberg...

Truly is better than the 25,000 coaches St. Louis looked into. Colorado, I think, have done a lot of smart additions in their offseason. I think they were already somewhat strong and I think could get stronger. I think also in my preview I talked about they might be in a back four, they might be in a back three. Seems like they're going to be in a back four, but I still think there are interesting wrinkles for them. But I think both of these teams could be sneaky good.

Or Sneaky Bad, although I think the Sneaky Bad is more so a St. Louis thing than a Colorado thing. But I think this could be a really fun open game with interesting chances, some good pressing, and some good players along the way. Yeah, Taylor has pitched the true hipsters pick there, no doubt. And I'll be watching that game and all these other games. So I'll be right there with you, Taylor. Yeah, Nancy Ball versus Berhalter Ball on Saturday. Columbus, Chicago is going to be a lot of fun.

New look Chicago team in a real way. Not quite a blank slate, but something close to it. And Columbus are in the post-Cucho era. So we're going to see how that looks. The other one is Atlanta-Montreal. Less so for Montreal, although they've got a bunch of kids that are worth watching. Atlanta... are a totally different team this year. And if I had to guess, they're probably going to score three plus goals in this game against Montreal.

That won't tell us that they're going to be a supporter shield threat because I don't think that's going to be the highest of high bars this year against CF Montreal. But Atlanta United look different. They're going to look better. I'm really excited to watch that team. Shaping his ceiling.

The stadium roof still looks the same, though, Joe. That's true. That is a hindrance for sure. All right. Let's close up the MLS previews for now. Thank you very much indeed, listener, for joining us on this journey. We'll be with you throughout the MLS season, of course. But for now, Taylor Rocko, thank you very much. much indeed for your hipster game pick and much more my pleasure I refuse to watch Chicago until they sign Gio Reyna that's an official policy we'll see how it works out

Good luck with that. Joe Lowry, thank you very much. Way to clench this episode shot, Ryan. Well done. Just like a stadium roof. Graham Ruffin, thank you very much indeed, sir. Thank you, Ryan Bailey. Thank you for that imagery. You're very welcome, listener. Thank you once again for joining us on this feed. We'll be back very shortly, but for now, bye. Looks like it's fixed. I'm a slasher.