Saturday, April 7, 2007 at 3:30 pm EST:  DC United vs. Colorado Rapids

My projected 2007 MLS Standings:

Eastern Conference
1. DC United -- Last year's Supporters Shield winners ran away with the best record in the league before folding down the stretch.  They lost some of their 2nd-tier talent, but they added some new 1st-tier talent.  A thin defense is their weakness.  Returning are the League MVP, the Defender of the Year, and the Goalkeeper of the Year.  Anything less than an MLS Cup appearance (which, at RFK, should equal a win) will be a disappointment.

2. New England -- Perennially the 1st or 2nd place team in the East, the Revolution always seem to get it done when it matters.  The loss of Clint Dempsey will go largely unnoticed because he didn't play much last season.  If they lose Shalrie Joseph, things could come apart.

3. New York Red Bulls -- It hurt me to even type that.  There's no way that Claudio Reyna and Bruce Arena can't conjure up a respectable season.  Actually, the Red Bulls' hopes lie solely on whether or not Claudio can stay off the injured list.  He never could at Sunderland nor at Manchester City.  So, I'm not sure how he'll make it through the hot Meadowlands summer playing on the bad turf at Giants Stadium.

4. Toronto FC -- Had Ronnie O'Brien not gotten injured, I would have had the expansion club at #3 in the East.  They're loaded with talent in their front 6.  The backline consists of players without MLS experience--possibly without MLS pedigree.  Still, this team was assembled intelligently--their moves in and around the expansion draft were all winners.  If they develop some team chemistry, they will be successful.  Plus, they'll have a sold-out stadium at each game, and the 12th man tends to add a few to the win column.

5. Kansas City Wizards -- This team disappointed a lot of people last year.  They may end up disappointing a lot of people this year, too.  Whereas Toronto will be pushed to succeed by a packed house every night, the Wizards struggle to get 9,000 people to come to cavernous Arrowhead Stadium.  This team will probably move to St. Louis.  In the meantime, enigmatic Eddie Johnson needs to score a few goals.  He has world-class potential with rec-league field sense and maturity.  Adding Kevin Hartman in goal is a significant improvement.

6. Chicago Fire -- Every year, I say that Chicago is overrated.  And every year, they make the playoffs.  This year, I think I will finally be correct, even though this is as good a team on paper as they've had in a few years.  Losing Nate Jacqua is a classic case of addition by subtraction, however they got nothing in return.  Cuauhtemoc Blanco will hopefully put some fans in the stands, but his attitude will likely rub some teammates the wrong way.  At the end of the day, their success relies too heavily on inconsistent youngsters (Matt Pickens, Justin Mapp, and Chris Rolfe).

7. Columbus Crew -- The worst team in the East last year did very little to improve their roster.  This team was hit hard by injuries in 2006, but it's not like the original roster was destined for greatness.  It will take a lot for this team to overtake any of the other teams in the East.

Western Conference
1. Houston Dynamo -- The Dynamo won the MLS Cup in 2006 and return their talented roster largely intact.  They have all-star caliber players at every position and are just as likely to score 2 or 3 goals as they are to shut out their opponents.  If Dwayne DeRosario can get any support from the rest of the midfield, a repeat appearance in MLS Cup will not be out of the question.

2. Los Angeles Galaxy -- Two words:  David Beckham.  David Beckham is not coming here to look pretty.  He is coming here to be the best player in MLS.  If Landon Donovan, the current best player in MLS, can somehow get this team--which is already pretty good--to the All Star break in 3rd place, they're going to be scary down the stretch.  Why anyone traded with the Galaxy this offseason is beyond me.  History shows that Landon gets better as the season progresses.  The Galaxy will be Houston's biggest competition.

3. FC Dallas -- Dallas lost a lot of talent in the offseason, including their best player, Ronnie O'Brien.  However, these changes were orchestrated by the team's new head coach, Steve Morrow, and appear for the better.  For a while in 2006, Dallas was the only team that could match DC United.  The 2007 Dallas roster lacks some of the star power on last year's team (no more Ronnie O'Brien, Richard Mulrooney, or Greg Vanney), but an appearance in the playoffs is expected.

4. Colorado Rapids -- The Rapids made some strange offseason moves, trading away some of the better players on their roster for players other MLS teams couldn't wait to get rid of.  Trading Clint Mathis to the Red Bulls was a good move, even if the end result is Clint actually trying for his new club.  Several MLS pundits are predicting good things for this club.  If the patchwork defense can hold up, they should be in the mix for another playoff run.  Remember, this team lost in the 2006 Western Conference Finals.

5. Real Salt Lake -- RSL probably has the worst front office of any club in MLS.  RSL went through another offseason of questionable personnel decisions:  they gave up Jason Kreis in the expansion draft, then reacquired him later that afternoon; they traded for Nick Rimando then traded him away for less to keep Scott Garlick in goal only to watch Garlick retire requiring the team to trade for Rimando again; they paid a king's ransom for Freddy Adu to play on the team for 1 season.  Still, I predict that 2007 will be better than 2006--even if it is through dumb luck.  This team can score goals in bunches.  The question remains:  can they defend?

6. Chivas USA -- Robert Spuhler is the resident Chivas expert.  I think 2007 will be a rebuilding year for the Goats.  They lost a lot of their best Mexican players, and they haven't really replaced the talent.  A few quality young American players will keep Los Angeles' other team afloat, but the loss of talent and the new coaching staff may be too much to overcome.

Playoff teams:
East:  DC United, New England
West:  Houston, Los Angeles
Wild Cards: Dallas, Colorado, New York, Toronto

Eastern Conference Final:  DC United vs. New York
Western Conference Final:  Houston vs. Los Angeles

MLS Cup:  DC United vs. Los Angeles