LA Galaxy are packed with stars but they are still lagging behind the likes of Columbus Crew, New York Red Bulls and FC Dallas

1) New York Red Bulls

After the chaos of the 2015 off-season, this year has been relatively tranquil for the Supporters Shield holders, though there was a big move with the departure of Matt Miazga for Chelsea. The young center-half was key to the Red Bulls success last year, and with teams perhaps better prepared for the Red Bulls pressing game this time around (game tape of the Eastern Conference semi-final series against Columbus may be required viewing for opposing coaches) there will be a lot of focus on how Gideon Baah, the nominal replacement for Miazga, holds up.

Beyond that, young players like Sean Davis can expect to see more minutes, especially with Champions League games to add in to the mix, though most of the clutch of homegrown players the Red Bulls signed in the off-season will probably end up with Red Bulls II. Yet the team will continue to place an emphasis on developing from within, even if successes like Miazga are rare in any academy system, let alone an emerging MLS one.

Big key players like Luis Robles, Lloyd Sam and Dax McCarty have signed new contracts too. But if there’s a nagging doubt about the roster it’s that there’s still an awful lot of reliance on Bradley Wright-Phillips staying fit and keeping scoring. The Red Bulls have been experimenting with a 4-2-2-2 where he has played alongside DP Gonzalo Veron in pre-season. The success of that move may define their season. GP

Last season: First in Eastern Conference, lost in Conference finals

Key player: Bradley Wright-Phillips



The new season in one word: Tinkering

2) FC Dallas

Last season’s Western Conference champs are well primed to mount a vigorous defense of their title with a balanced team that has few serious weaknesses and won games in bunches in 2015, including a trio of three-win streaks and one of five in a row.

They lost just two games at home while only the Galaxy scored more (56 to 52) and only Vancouver and Seattle conceded fewer (36 to 39) among their Conference rivals.

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Oscar Pareja was still not happy with their attacking output, however, hence he has moved aggressively in the off-season to add five new bodies to his strikeforce and attacking midfield.

Chief among them is experienced former Vancouver schemer Mauro Rosales and Colombian midfielder Carlos Lizarazo, who Pareja is hoping to rehabilitate after an injury-plagued couple of years with Cruz Azul in Mexico.

The team’s ability to mine promising Latin American sources is further enhanced by the arrival of Ecuador’s Carlos Gruezo and Argentinian striker Max Urruti, fresh from two years with champions Portland, who both add much-needed squad depth with a Champions League campaign in the offing later this year.

Who scores the goals will continue to be Pareja’s biggest challenge. Newly-minted Colombian international winger Fabian Castillo was the team’s top marksman in 2015, but his total haul was only 10, and he was backed up by midfielder Mauro Diaz with eight. Fellow strikers Blas Perez and David Texeira have been allowed to move on, leaving Castillo, Urruti and Tesho Akindele to carry that particular load.

A trade with Colorado for Honduran defender Maynor Figueroa should strengthen an already highly experienced backline that is anchored by American duo Matt Hedges and Walker Zimmerman, but it remains up front where Dallas’ season will wither or flourish. SV

Last season: First in Western Conference, lost in Conference finals

Key player: Fabian Castillo

The new season in one word: Contender

3) Columbus Crew

They might have been the franchise that nobody was quite sure what to do with, but the Columbus Crew became MLS’s most unmissable team last season. New owner Anthony Precourt has changed the club’s badge, hopes to find a new stadium and has even fielded questions on whether the team’s distinctive gold colour scheme will be ditched. There has been no question of the Crew’s on-field identity, though.

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In Kei Kamara, Justin Meram, Ethan Finlay and Federico Higuain, Columbus boast arguably the most irrepressible frontline in the division, with Wil Trapp and Tony Tchani also providing one of the strongest midfield platforms. Such attacking talent took Gregg Berhalter’s side all the way to MLS Cup last season, and with the same starting lineup still in place the Crew might be on the brink of another successful campaign. Continuity can be difficult to find in MLS, but Columbus have plenty of it heading into the 2016 season.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest FC Dallas ran away with the Western Conference last season. Photograph: Kevin Jairaj/USA Today Sports

The Crew, then, are in good shape, with the addition of Ola Kamara and Emil Larsen giving them even greater depth in the attacking positions. The bleachers and early MLS-era vibe may grate, but Mapfre Stadium could be the place to be this season. GR

Last season: Second in Eastern Conference, lost MLS Cup

Key player: Kei Kamara

The new season in one word: Contenders

4) Vancouver Whitecaps

Carl Robinson’s youth movement made big strides in 2015 and the head coach is steering a steady-as-we-go course this year as he banks mainly on the same players to go at least one stage further than their playoff elimination by Portland.

The Welshman has hitched his wagon to a progressive system of building with young talent and is now in his third year of seeing those players mature. Last season showed some encouraging signs, albeit with stumbles in the final weeks. The team won only three of their last 12 games, and failed to score in the post-season series against the Timbers.

Robinson has been in no rush to rewrite his formula, though, bringing in prolific Japanese forward Masato Kudo to push Octavio Rivero; Costa Rican veteran Christian Bolanos to add midfield depth; and young Canadian full-back Fraser Aird (on a year’s loan from Rangers) to provide competition for Jordan Smith.

Vancouver were happy to let right-back Steven Beitashour go to Toronto, while midfielder Mauro Rosales is now in Dallas and Panamanian target man Blas Perez has made the return journey, giving Robinson another option up front, where Rivero and Co rather fizzled out in 2015.

The fast-developing core talent remains firmly in place, which means big things are expected of the likes of Rivero, midfielders Cristian Techera, Russell Teibert and Matias Laba, and young defenders Smith, Tim Parker and Sam Adekugbe.

With the equally youthful Kekuta Manneh and Nicolas Mezquida also providing attacking options, the Whitecaps can expect to benefit from all the continuity at Robinson’s disposal.

The final piece remains the big unknown, however. Chilean midfield creator Pedro Morales missed 19 games last season and Vancouver won only seven of them. If they can keep him on the field more often, progress is on the cards. SV

Last season: Second in Western Conference, lost in Conference semi-finals

Key player: Pedro Morales.

The new season in one word: Improvement

5) LA Galaxy

Bruce Arena and the LA Galaxy aren’t accustomed to having so much free time over the winter. Their off-season this year started a full six weeks earlier than it did the season before, with the Carson club last term enduring their worst playoff run since 2008.

The Galaxy have undergone a renovation, though. If last season was one of transition for the Carson club, this term must be one of fruition. As MLS’s most illustrious club, the Galaxy have lived up to their shimmering billing by drafting in a number of high-profile signings over the off-season – most notably Ashley Cole and Nigel De Jong, on the back of Steven Gerrard and Giovani dos Santos’ arrivals last year. But in Omar Gonzalez and Juninho they have lost a significant chunk of North American soccer nous, with Arena gambling on the swift adaptation of non-MLS types.

Steven Gerrard came to embody LA’s struggles last season, arriving with much fanfare and bluster only to falter when it mattered most. The former England captain has already spoken about the prospect of retiring by the end of the year, and so Arena must find a way to eke what is left from the veteran midfielder.

For much of the 2015 campaign the Galaxy looked to be following Arena’s archetypal MLS Cup trajectory. Their form over the latter part of the summer was exceptional, scoring no fewer than 33 goals across a streak of eight wins from 10 games between June and September. Late season sprints are the Galaxy’s thing, but pla-off stumbles certainly are not - as happened last term. They don’t do back-to-back seasons of discontent either – although the signs are not good after an embarrassing few weeks in the Champions League. GR

Last season: Fifth in Western Conference, lost in knockout round of playoffs

Key player: Giovanni Dos Santos

The new season in one word: Recovery



6) Toronto FC

There are some things in soccer that transcend their immediate pertinence. Arsenal’s long wait for a Premier League title, for instance, or Real Madrid’s pained search for La Decima. In MLS circles, Toronto FC’s struggle to make the playoffs was such a quirk. But with the Reds finally making the post-season for the first time in franchise history last season, what now?

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sebastian Giovinco is an inspirational presence for Toronto FC. Photograph: Chris Young/AP

Progress was undoubtedly made last term, but Greg Vanney must target a more emphatic, commanding campaign this time. Of course, he has Sebastian Giovinco – who enjoyed possibly the most impressive individual campaign in MLS history last season – but too often the Italian was let down by those around him. The Atomic Ant carried his team for much of the season, but he couldn’t carry them through the playoffs.

Vanney has recognised and identified his side’s 2015 failings, though, and acted on them. TFC have completely revamped their defensive ranks, with the signing of goalkeeper Clint Irwin, defender Drew Moor and full-back Steven Beitashour suddenly giving the team one of the most accomplished backlines in the division.

And yet presumptions are often a folly at BMO Field. Toronto FC have the look of a side that should be challenging at the top end of the Eastern Conference, but the Reds have had such a complexion before. There’s still a feeling of fragility at a club which only ever seems two bad results away from a crisis. GR

Last season: Sixth in Eastern Conference, lost in knockout round

Key player: Sebastian Giovinco

The new season in one word: Culmination

7) Seattle Sounders

There’s a significant missing parameter for assessing the Sounders’ prospects this year — and that’s just how and when the team are going to replace Obafemi Martins.

The obvious short-term answer is that the team spent big in persuading Jordan Morris to turn down a contract with Werder Bremen in favor of continuing his development with the Sounders, but it’s important to remember that for all his US national team call ups last year, while still a college student, Morris only played his first professional game a matter of days ago.

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And that debut in the Champions League showed Morris for what he is — a young player with pace and smart movement, yet several degrees of confidence and execution short of the type of attacking flair that Clint Dempsey and Martins offered at their best together.

The 2015 Sounders started in formidable form, lost their way when Martins got injured and Dempsey suspended in their infamous Open Cup loss to Portland, and never fully recovered. By the time they limped out of the playoffs to Dallas, they were a spent force.

They’ve made a switch to 4-3-3 to reflect the off-season changes and to play to their strengths. It’s a formation that requires a lot of running in support, so perhaps it’s fortunate that the Sounders also replaced their notoriously tough-on-the-joints artificial turf in the off-season.

With last year’s Seattle, when they were good they were very, very good, and when they were bad, the losing streaks seemed endless. They might not hit the heights as much this year without Martins, but perhaps there’s a silver lining in that Sigi Schmid will be forced to address certain deficiencies elsewhere in the team that had been masked by the inspirational Nigerian. In the meantime Clint Dempsey has a lot to carry.

Last season: Fourth in Western Conference, lost in Conference semi-finals



Key player: Clint Dempsey

The new season in one word: Consistency



