We asked a few of our writers what they thought would happen in this year’s MLS playoffs. Who will win the West? Who will win the East? Who will win the Cup? That and more, after the jump.
Western Conference Winner
Max Aguirre – Seattle. Ugh.
Phillip Bupp – Seattle Sounders
Rob Ditta – Seattle Sounders
Mike Drickel – LA Galaxy
Seth Macomber – Seattle Sounders
Dustyn Richardson – Real Salt Lake. New coach, same winning.
Kasey Shadow – LA Galaxy
Allison Stahley – Seattle Sounders
Heath Waddingham – Real Salt Lake. LA and Seattle are definitely strong teams, but my personal feeling is that among RSL, Seattle, and LA, it’s a complete toss-up, so of course I’m picking the side I cover. Additionally, in MLS Playoff competition, RSL has never lost a two-leg aggregate score competition in which the first game is played at home (wins vs Chivas 2008, Columbus 2009, Seattle 2011, and Portland 2013). Conversely, where RSL has played the second leg at home (i.e., when RSL is the higher seed), RSL has advanced only once in three tries (win vs LA 2013; losses vs FC Dallas 2010, Seattle 2012). RSL would start both the conference semifinal and conference final at home, so we’ll see how well the pattern holds.
Eastern Conference Winner
Max Aguirre – DC United
Phillip Bupp – New England Revolution
Rob Ditta – New England Revolution
Mike Drickel – New York Red Bulls
Seth Macomber – New England Revolution
Dustyn Richardson – New England Revolution. Seen them play a lot this year and think they’re the best team in the East.
Kasey Shadow – New England Revolution
Allison Stahley – New York Red Bulls
Heath Waddingham – New England Revolution. They certainly seem to have built up a head of steam since the Jones acquisition. Besides, DC United has seemed vulnerable to me all season; they’ve done well against most Eastern Conference competition, but against the top 3 teams in the West, they’ve gone 0-3, losing by a combined 8-1 score line.
MLS Cup Champion
Max Aguirre – Seattle Sounders (double ugh)
Phillip Bupp – Seattle Sounders
Rob Ditta – Seattle Sounders
Mike Drickel – New York Red Bulls
Seth Macomber – Seattle Sounders
Dustyn Richardson – Real Salt Lake. Rimando, Borchers, Beckerman make up an experienced spine and I think they’ve got another Cup run in them. This time they lift the silverware.
Kasey Shadow – LA Galaxy
Allison Stahley – New York Red Bulls (I like to dream big)
Heath Waddingham – Real Salt Lake. With New England coming out of the East, RSL wins hosting duties for MLS Cup. RSL won the only regular season meeting between the two teams by a 2-1. Both teams have made acquisitions since then, so it would be an entertaining rematch.
Possible Upset
Max Aguirre – Vancouver over Dallas
Phillip Bupp – RSL beats LA
Rob Ditta – New England over DC in East Final. Vancouver over Dallas and Whitecaps beating Seattle in first leg.
Mike Drickel – Vancouver over Dallas
Seth Macomber – New York over DC
Dustyn Richardson – Vancouver over Dallas. New York over DC. RSL over LA and Seattle.
Kasey Shadow – Vancouver victory in Dallas and possibly giving Seattle all they can handle.
Allison Stahley – New York over Seattle in the final
Heath Waddingham – Besides the obvious RSL upsets I’ve listed above, I’ll go with Sporting KC over DC United. I think Sporting manages to find its way past New York, then goes to RFK and manages to beat DC for the first time this year.
2 Players to Watch
Max Aguirre – Lee Nguyen and Ethan Finlay. Should be an intense battle between them.
Phillip Bupp – Patrick Mullins and DeAndre Yedlin
Rob Ditta – Lee Nguyen and Obafemi Martins
Mike Drickel – Wil Trapp and Pedro Morales
Seth Macomber – Fabian Castillo and Lee Nguyen
Dustyn Richardson – Nick Rimando. The best keeper in MLS can singlehandedly carry RSL. Jermaine Jones. Since coming to MLS, be changed New England. They will go as far as he takes them.
Kasey Shadow – Lee Nguyen and Obafemi Martins
Allison Stahley – Bradley Wright-Phillips and Obafemi Martins
Heath Waddingham – Lee Nguyen and Obafemi Martins. Both MVP candidates, both needing to make a splash for their teams to advance. That goes double for Martins if Vancouver advances out of the 4/5 game: Seattle is 0-2-1 against the Whitecaps this season and lost the only meeting at Century Link.
Controversy We’ll Be Discussing
Max Aguirre – “Veteran calls” for Dempsey and Henry. A red card for a defender due to a diving attacking player.
Phillip Bupp – Landon Donovan announces that because he’s found a new sense of motivation, he’s coming back next season.
Rob Ditta – Vancouver getting screwed over by a Canadian ref.
Mike Drickel – The new interpretation of the offside rule not being upheld leading to a team being knocked out of the playoffs.
Seth Macomber – Thierry Henry and turf
Dustyn Richardson – There will be a goal line technology decision that causes someone to lose.
Kasey Shadow – Refs
Allison Stahley – Mark Geiger and the inevitable controversial, game-altering decision(s).
Heath Waddingham – Artificial turf is going to play a role in causing an injury, whether it’s in New England, Vancouver, or Seattle. Everyone will wring their hands when it happens, especially if it happens in Seattle.
(image courtesy of Mike Gunnoe/Sporting KC)
