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SBI Pre-Season MLS Power Rankings

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The 2010 MLS season is nearly upon is, which means its time to look at how we see the teams stacking up.

The Columbus Crew has been the class of the league for the past two years, and that shouldn't change in 2010. What should change is Real Salt Lake's form in the regular season. With a title under its belt, RSL should have the confidence to start playing up to its ability on a consistent basis.

Who will struggle? We see Chivas USA falling off, and New England could be poised to see a dip in form. Toronto FC looks poised for an awful year unless reinforcements arrive.

Here are the SBI Pre-Season MLS Power Rankings:

2010 MLS PRE-SEASON POWER RANKINGS

1. COLUMBUS CREW

Strongest team in MLS is a good bet for third straight Supporter Shield. The real question is whether Robert Warzycha learned some lessons from last year's playoffs.

2. REAL SALT LAKE

Defending MLS Cup champions have the talent to win the West, and adding Alvaro Saborio could clinch it.

3. LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Defending West champions will struggle to match last season's accomplishments, but with Landon Donovan in the fold, anything is possible.

4. SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Won't win the West in the regular season, but we can see Sigi Schmid's squad winning it all once Blaise Nkufo arrives.

5. HOUSTON DYNAMO

Lost Stuart Holden and Ricardo Clark, but Dom Kinnear still has plenty of talent at his disposal, led by Brian Ching and Geoff Cameron.

6. CHICAGO FIRE

Hard to rank higher considering they just handed keys to an inexperienced goalkeeper, but there's still plenty ot talent to finish near the top of the East.

7. D.C. UNITED

Some late additions to the defense (Juan Manuel Pena, Carey Talley) should help D.C. reach the playoffs, but the attack will need some upgrading to do anything more.

8. COLORADO RAPIDS

Additions of Jeff Larentowicz and Marvell Wynne should boost the defense, but midfield service to the Conor Casey-Omar Cummings tandem will be key to returning to playoffs.

9. NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Adding Cory Gibbs to a defense that includes Darrius Barnes and Kevin Alston is promising, but lack of dependable options at forward leaves Revs in danger of missing the playoffs.

10. KANSAS CITY WIZARDS

Peter Vermes completely overhauled the roster, meaning we might not know for a while whether all the new pieces fit together.

11. NEW YORK RED BULLS

The Red Bulls were just plain awful in 2009, but there are reasons for optimism in 2010. Joel Lindpere, Tim Ream and Roy Miller look legit, but NY probably needs another Designated Player to really challenge.

12.  CHIVAS USA

How does a team that reached the playoffs in 2009 fall this far? Zach Thornton's heroics in goal helped cover up for lots of problems. Osael Romero will need to be a star and Thornton will need another stellar season for the Rojiblancos to return to the playoffs.

13. FC DALLAS

Dallas boasts some dangerous attacking players, but the defense remains suspect and not good enough to help FC Dallas reach the post-season. Loss of Dave Van Den Bergh will also come back to haunt FCD.

14. TORONTO FC

With no reliable forwards and a central defense that looks downright tragic, Toronto has little reason to feel optimistic about 2010. Of course, TFC has been known for making late roster changes, so TFC could move up the charts if they add some high-quality talent.

15. SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

A strong pre-season is something to build on, but it doesn't change the fact that the Earthquakes simply lack star quality in their attack. Even if the defense comes together, San Jose will struggle in the rugged Western Conference.

16. PHILADELPHIA UNION

Peter Nowak built his team with an eye toward the future. With no real stars in attack, the Union will rely on stingy defense to try and gain points. That won't be enough to contend in the club's first season.

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What do you think of our rankings? Who did we rate too highly? Who didn't get enough respect?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. cuz overrated to you mean preseason fit crew scores 4 against one of the best mexican teams. overrated means 2 consecutive supporters shields. overrated means more hardware than chicago, earned by players on the pitch. winning is winning. and yea some weak PKs last year, but moreno (top diver) is gone and actually strikers are filling the void.
    “overrated, nah. just massive, baby.”

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  2. As for the preseason power rankings, I see Houston, NE, Chivas and DC all taking major steps backward this year. I know that Houston, NE and DC have been some of the best and most consistent franchises in the history of the league but I just don’t see enough talent on their rosters this year.

    I thought Houston was lacking talent last year and now they lose Holden and Clark. I know that they have good coaching but you still need quality players to win. Landin had better be all that is advertised or they could fight for the bottom of the table.

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  3. I understand that RSL was inconsistent in the regular season last year, but I have a hard time understanding how the haters would look at the talent they have and say that RSL is a fraud. I mean their backline with Borchers and Olave is the best in the league, they are solid in the middle with Beckerman and Morales and then they add Saborio up front with the emerging star speedster, Findley.

    I mean what exactly are the weaknesses that you see in that lineup? Their goal differential last year was huge even in the regular season. Yes, they struggled with consistency on the road but I just cannot see how you can evaluate the RSL roster and not think they are title contenders again.

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  4. shmenge, comparing Quakes’ “firepower” to DCU is silly. You realize that DCU finished second in scoring last year, right? Thier problems were on the defensive end, but they did not struggle in the scoring department.

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  5. Blake as a die-hard TFC fan there’s a lot of doubt creeping in with regards to this upcoming season..but we finally have an experienced MLS coach in Preki and the hope is that he can make a winner out of what seems to be just an average group of players – except DeRo (I bet he misses the Dynamo).

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  6. Yeah seriously. RSL may have barely slid into the playoffs, but they still have one of the most complete, deep rosters going into 2010, no forseen player absences this summer, and they play great at home and proved in the playoffs that they can beat ANYBODY on the road…oh and for all the unbelievers, yes, they can also win those BIG games too in case you didn’t notice.

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  7. I love that people are still raging on RSL, as if barely making it into the playoffs means anything against doing an outstanding job in the playoffs. 4-2 against the crew, held chicago to a draw at their stadium and won by penalties, then beat the “star studded” galaxy.

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  8. Glad to see Ives rank Toronto as low as he did since everyone else has been projecting them playoff bound. Adding a coach that gets into (and loses) fights doesn’t change the fact they gave up their best defender from last year to Houston for beans. And don’t even get me started on the Wynne trade . . . All of my TFC friends don’t even know who LaBrocca is!

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  9. ya reyna USA its called defense and now we got a magician named juhnino who is going to kick butt along with stephens in the attack and if u got a problem with that than take it to kovalenko 🙂

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  10. L.A. should be lower…They disregard the 1st half of the season and shoot for tie results. Kirovski and Gordon to save the season? Please

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  11. The Crew are horribly overrated, but I doubt that anyone in the east besides Chicago is decent enough to challenge the crew. The west is a bit more competitive. I could easily see Houston or Seattle ranked higher in these powere rankings.

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  12. I think that Real Salt Lake is ranked too high. Yes, they are the defending champions, but they are also the team that barely made the playoffs last year.

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  13. Columbus always leads the league in the regular season because of the questionable penalty kicks they are awarded , the one they got in Chicago last year was a disgrace.

    I remember people on this board whined about the Fire getting one questionable PK call all year long ( at Chivas ), but the Crew got calls like that all year long.

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  14. Who knows? Piotr Nowak has always embraced and utilized the power of youth in big situations. I remember when he used Freddy Adu in the MLS Cup final to help juice up the attack and keep pressure on Kansas’ defense( It was Kansas they were facing right?). While Nowak clearly wants this teams future to be in good hands, we shouldn’t underestimate the power of some of his younger players now.

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  15. Looking at this list reminds me of just how much parity there is in MLS. I can easily imagine just about every team finishing plus or minus five places from where you have them, and that’s definitely a good thing.

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  16. I don’t know if I’d sleep on Toronto. I’m certainly not a fan, but Preki has done more with less talent at Chivas. I’d be surprised to see the reds miss the playoffs with Preki and that midfield. DeRo-De Guzman might become stellar together.

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  17. Disagree about the Quakes offense–Eduardo, Cornell Glen and Ryan Johnson is a solid attacking lineup with depth, while Robles and Alvarez are good in the midfield.

    Quakes have a lot more going on in the attack than DC, for example.

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  18. Ives, you seemed a bit more bullish on the Union in your Q&A last week. Not disagreeing with this week’s ranking; just curious why you seemed to feel differently last week.

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