As the preseason gets into full swing and rosters begin to stabilize, it’s time to take a look at the men who pull the strings and have the greatest impact on the team itself.  The modern manager is part tactician, part showman, and part PR man.  The best are the ones who can bring a diverse team together and make it into a trophy-winning side.  Rarely can a side win an MLS Cup, Open Cup, or Supporters Shield with a mediocre or poor manager.  However, at times its the team that makes the man and only the perfect marriage of players and manager that can make a championship.  A manager is especially important in MLS, with the salary cap and built-in rules designed to promote parity.

These men are masters of the realm, the best managers in MLS today.  The following ranking is my own top five managers in MLS going into the 2012 season.  Keep in mind this is not an all time list but simply looking ahead to the 2012 season.  Agree or disagree?  Make your opinions known in the comments section.

5.  Piotr Nowak:  Maybe the restructuring going on in Philadelphia is Nowak’s way to challenge himself.  The veteran coach has taken a new franchise and by year two had made the Union into a Eastern Conference championship contender.  Building the team around a stout defense and the timely scoring of his offense, Nowak has made the club in his image and, even with the departures, Philadelphia is now a team to watch every year.  His work with DC United, leading them to their fourth MLS title in 2004, only adds to his coaching resume.  Although he does not have the large number of trophies some of the others on this list have, he is undoubtedly established himself as one of the best head coaches in the league.

4.  Schellas Hyndman:  Although at times his decisions are questionable (Brek Shea as a full back?), Hyndman is a long-time collegiate coach who finally got the right opportunity to prove his worth with FC Dallas in 2008.  His defining win was a 3-0 defeat of Los Angeles in the 2010 Western Conference finals over a team that looked like the best in the league with a healthy David Beckham.  Although Dallas lost the 2010 MLS Cup in overtime, the former SMU head coach has done a good job balancing his roster and replacing departed players, especially in the midfield.  Under his watch David Ferreira blossomed into one of the most dangerous midfielders in the league and with some promising youth coming up through the system this year, Hyndman may soon be able to chase down that elusive MLS Cup.

3.  Sigi Schmid:  For a guy who never played professional soccer, Schmid gets this league.  His uncanny ability to identify talent and his in-game ability to identify mismatches has made the former UCLA Bruin the brain behind the constantly-successful Seattle Sounders.  A team with a rich history and demanding fan base, Schmid gave the league a blueprint for how to compete in MLS from year one, a blueprint that teams as recently as Montreal are looking to emulate.  He is the most successful U.S. Open Cup head coach in the modern era and has guided the careers of many of MLS’s greatest stars.  His LA Galaxy team was also one of two MLS clubs to ever win an intercontinental cup.  He is the winningest head coach in MLS history and has the Sounders poised to challenge for the 2012 MLS Cup.

2.  Dominic Kinnear:  The coach of this year’s Eastern Conference champions narrowly edges Sigi Schmid in my rankings because since 2006, Houston has been one of the league’s most successful teams.  Besides winning back-to-back MLS Cups in 2006 and 2007, this year may have been his best coaching job, leading an arguably less talented team to the MLS Cup.  All of this is even more impressive considering the fact that the team has worked within a tight budget and a changing ownership situation.

1.  Bruce Arena:  The National Soccer Hall of Famer continues to prove that he is arguable the greatest American soccer coach of all time.  Even though he had three famous designated players, it was his work with the Galaxy’s defense that was most impressive about the 2011 Galaxy.  The keys to the defense were that the two major contributors, A.J. De La Garza and Omar Gonzalez, were Arena draftees.  Arena guided a dominant team through a dominant season, essentially staking claim to the MLS Cup early in the season and never relinquishing it.  His history is unparalleled in the U.S., but even going into the new season he is still in a class by himself and recognized by many as the best head coach out there.

The U.S. Soccer Federation yesterday announced an expanded Open Cup format and schedule, one that will incorporate all MLS and lower division teams in a newly and hopefully more condensed way.  In essence, the changes allow the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup to mirror the English FA Cup, where lower division and semi-pro teams have a chance to play against the top level of the country’s soccer hierarchy.

The Open Cup in 2012 will expand from 40 to 64 teams, which means all 16 U.S. MLS teams, 10 USL Pro, and 6 NASL teams will be included in the tournament.  Last season, only half of the eligible MLS teams and all the eligible USL Pro sides had been included in the tournament, so this format change alone guarantees more participation.  Six MLS teams in 2011 had automatically qualified for the tournament while another two came from play-in rounds held prior, a format that in essence had been in existence as long as MLS.  Now, every MLS side will have an opportunity to participate in at least one match.  The larger pool also means an expanded number of amateur teams are eligible to participate, with 16 spots going to the Premier Development League and the remaining to be divided among other amateur leagues.

What does this mean for MLS teams?  First, it means that they do not have to worry about “playing in” to the U.S. Open Cup; they’re in as of May 29 (more on schedule below).  Secondly, it sets up some very interesting potential match-ups.  Soccer fans who watched the FA Cup this weekend saw major upsets like Swindon defeating Wigan; imagine the Des Moines Menace upsetting DC United or the Real Colorado Foxes giving the Colorado Rapids a run for their money.  Those amateur teams would have a shot, if they survive the first two rounds, to take down the big boys and gain a little attention.  While it is unlikely that too many amateur teams will advance too far (again, see how many were in the most recent round of the FA Cup), the possibility exists.  More likely, for the first time NASL teams, who were excluded last year, will have a chance to show how small the gap could be between the top two divisions.

Another change that addressed a major concern with the tournament is the hosting of home games.  Last year, Seattle played five home games on their way to the title.  This season, everyone theoretically will have a chance to host their match prior to the quarterfinals.  When the match-ups are determined, if both teams meet U.S. Soccer specs for hosting an Open Cup match, a “random selection process” will be used to determine the host.  While few non-professional teams will likely qualify to host, for USL Pro and NASL teams there exists a chance that they can bring MLS teams to their venues and make a little extra money off the match.  After the quarterfinals, the old bidding system of submitting financial bids will be used to determine the hosts.  So while the Sounders could again theoretically only play home games on their way to winning the U.S. Open Cup, the potential exists that they would go on the road due to a random draw.

A final major change of note is the timing.  As referenced above, MLS teams join the competition in the third round, but the tournament itself begins on May 15 and wraps up by the first weekend in August.  All matches will be played on a Tuesday.  This condensed schedule allows MLS teams competing in the CONCACAF Champions League and the Open Cup to wrap up the latter before turning their attention to the former.  However, this is where travel can become a factor in these matches.  Since the Open Cup games are on a Tuesday, MLS teams potentially face large travel distances in a short period of time.  For example, San Jose plays at Sporting Kansas City on May 27.  If they hosted an Open Cup match, they’d have essentially a day turn around.  Because MLS teams come in during the Third Round and the schedule is defused to avoid many of these potential conflicts, it may affect only one or two teams doing very well in the tournament (or it may increase the chance of an upset) but the possibility exists.

So what do all of these changes mean?  Do the problems that existed in the previous few years’ Open Cups still exist?  The answer is, potentially, yes.  But the tournament now at least has the look and feel of a European-style tournament, which undoubtedly will please Euro-phile American soccer fans.  The Davids of the U.S. soccer world will get their chance against the Goliaths, and the NASL/USL Pro sides have a slightly better chance to host and ride upsets to the finals.  MLS teams have a chance to juggle their lineups to take the competition seriously, or use it to play younger players and not have to worry about too much schedule congestion.  While the 99 year-old tournament will never approach the Copa del Rey or FA Cup in term of prestige or fan following, it does raise the professionalism of U.S. soccer and makes the tournament a bit more watchable.

This past season in U.S. soccer was certainly an interesting one.  In MLS, two new teams were promoted and the soccer world fell in love with them and their passionate fans.  Coaches were hired and fired, players finally fulfilled their potential, and others failed to inspire.  One MLS team had a chance to make history and win the CONCACAF Champions League, but fell short in a heart-breaking fashion.  During the season, the team that dominated from First Kick forward hoisted the trophy at the end of the season.  Internationally, the U.S. women took Germany by storm but in the end it was Japan that took everyone’s hearts.  The U.S. senior men were underwhelming in the Gold Cup, and seeing Bob Bradley out the door was new coach (and long hoped-for savior) Jurgen Klinsmann.

It was certainly a year of memories, but as we belt out Auld Lang Syne and drink Champagne/sparkling cidar/assorted alcoholic beverages, let’s take a look ahead to 2012.  The upcoming year will hopefully feature a U.S. team in the London Olympics, a new broadcast network, World Cup qualifiers, and a whole host of new heroes and villains.  One of the things we do best at MLS Talk is make bold and informed predictions that are on occasion proved wrong.  Below are twelve such predictions I think we occur in 2012.  Happy New Year!

1. The U-23 team will not only qualify for the Olympics, but contend for a medal.

This U-23 team has a confluence of a good youth coach and good young depth on the team.  While the team is less talented than probably Mexico and some European teams, I think it will well set up to make a run at the Olympics, especially if they add some quality overage players like Carlos Bocanegra looking to supplement their legacy as medalists.

2. Ratings for MLS matches on the NBC networks will exceed those on the Fox network

NBC has three major advantages for MLS over Fox Soccer.  One, it has more platforms to promote the games (imagine MLS commercials showing up on Sunday Night Football, Brian Williams programming, or The Office).  Two, NBC needs its new sports network to succeed and will put the resources behind it to make MLS programming a success.  Three, the network formally known as Versus is available on more television sets than Fox Soccer, making it easier for casual sports fans to find the matches.  The ratings still won’t approach BPL matches on Fox, but the numbers will tick upwards.

3. The USMNT will beat a major European power and drop an embarrassing World Cup qualifier

Rumors are swirling of a U.S.-Italy friendly in the upcoming months, and even if that falls through the U.S. will surely line up one or two more big money friendlies.  Because of its talent and Euro 2012 fatigue, the U.S. will knock off a European power and gain some instant cred in world soccer (see Spain 2009).  However, it will lose to one of the teams in the group stage of World Cup qualifying in embarrassing fashion, adding unneeded drama into qualifying.  Because, after all, this is the Red-White-and-Blue.

4. An MLS team will again play in the CONCACAF Champions League final

Real Salt Lake almost made history this year, and another MLS team stands a good chance of repeating the feat.  In the current round, three of the eight teams are MLS teams and two are facing each other (Galaxy v. Toronto).  All of them have the talent and depth to make a run at the finals, and the Galaxy and Sounders may be among the two or three most talented teams this spring.  Expect to see either Los Angeles or Seattle trying to hoist the CCL trophy this spring.

5. Los Angeles will not repeat as MLS champions

The 2011 LA Galaxy were a truly dominant team.  They had the right mix of superstars, support players, and good coaching plus a friendly playoff schedule to allow them to dominate from start to finish.  The 2012 season will not be as kind.  In addition to two sets of CONCACAF Champions League matches (’11-’12 and ’12-’13) the team will play an unbalanced schedule, which means more matches against the tougher Western Conference teams.  In addition, even if Beckham returns, he and Robbie Keane will be playing in Euro 2012.  Landon Donovan will be coming off a short-term loan and spending time with the USMNT in World Cup qualifying, as could possibly one or two of his teammates.  The schedule glut for the players and team, plus the improvement of the teams around them, mean we will have a new champion in 2012.

6. At least two more fringe USMNT players will come to play in MLS

Last year, Benny Feilhaber, Charlie Davies, and Freddy Adu all returned to MLS to try and get themselves back on the USMNT radar.  I can see this trend continuing as players who are on the cusp on making the team will take pay cuts to play in MLS where Jurgen Klinsmann’s staff can more easily watch them.  In addition to the older players (maybe Carlos Bocanegra?) who will want to wrap up their career on national soil, players like Edson Buddle or Michael Parkhurst will bite the bullet and come play for an MLS team.

7. Arsenal will conduct a summer tour of the United States

While this is not a specific prediction for U.S. soccer, this is a prediction that will have a major impact on the American soccer scene.  Due to Arsene Wenger’s training philosophies, the club has hesitated to play the summer friendlies outside of Europe which has brought the major European clubs to America’s shores.  That will change this summer on the heels of a successful Asian tour in 2011.  Arsenal will announce a multi-city tour in the spring featuring a mix of MLS teams, one or two Euro club matches at major venues, and a match-up against the MLS All Stars.  Arsenal will reap a financial windfall, American Arsenal fans will finally get to see their favorite team without flying across the ocean, and more U.S. fans will become familiar with the Arsenal style of play.

8. A player from one of the BPL big six (not Thierry Henry) will come to MLS midseason

The rumors have been swirling around a number of big name players like Evra and Anelka.  One of them this summer will bite the bullet and sign with New York or LA as the latest designated player.  My prediction is that it will be a Chelsea player, a victim of AVB’s house cleaning who is too old to play in the new style.

9. A Canadian team will not have the first/second pick in the 2013 Superdraft

Obviously there are three Canadian teams in MLS and none of them will have the first pick in the Superdraft (or second if the 20th franchise is ready for 2013).  Even though they are the new team, Montreal has too much talent and too good of a coach to be the worst team in MLS this upcoming season.  Vancouver, while still not necessarily playoff bound, will be improved enough to avoid having the worst record in MLS.  Toronto will make a huge leap forward this year and contend for the playoffs.

10. The New York Cosmos will be announced as the 20th MLS franchise

It’s the worst kept secret in U.S. soccer, and over the All Star break MLS will announce that the New York Cosmos will be the 20th franchise in the league.  Whether they begin play in 2013 or 2014 I will leave to others to predict, but they will be announced to no one’s surprise.

11. DC United will finally find a home, and it will be in DC

Eventually everyone will come to their senses and work this deal out, but one major factor will help with DCU’s push to stay in DC: population growth.  The city’s population is growing, with most of the growth coming from young professionals and Hispanics, two demographics that are likely to support a soccer team in the city.  In addition, the population growth will help stabilize DC’s shaky finances, making a partial funding of a stadium on the Southwest Waterfront seem even more likely.  There will be a major announcement in 2012 and the DC area soccer community will breathe a major sigh of relief.

12. The 4-2-3-1 formation will make the U.S. women’s team unbeatable in international competition

The U.S. women’s team is switching to a more attacking 4-2-3-1 formation for the next World Cup cycle to have more of their dynamic attacking young players on the pitch at the same time.  It’s a change that is overdue and will lead to the U.S. women being the de facto best women’s national team in the world by the end of the year.

There was only one thing DC United fans knew for sure going into the 2011 season, and that was this season couldn’t be any worse than the previous one.  After setting the standard for futility, the team not only climbed its way back into respectability (through its play on the field and front office dealings) but even for a while was positioned for a potential top three finish in the Eastern Conference.  However, a cold dose of reality doused those plans, and for the fourth consecutive season DC was outside the playoffs looking in.

For a team with a good fanbase and decorated history, where do they go from here?  In a sense, the word “forward” will define this offseason in a few different ways.  DC United, you are up next in our Three Questions offseason series:

1. Who will play forward for DC United?

This may be the easiest and hardest question to answer this offseason.  Looking at the roster, the answer looks to be “some darn good options”.  The defending MVP returns and looks to build on his amazing performance for half the season last year, and Chris Pontius also returns from injury after a first half of the season that helped him catch the U.S. Soccer Federation’s eye.

But De Rosario is arguably more effective as an attacking midfielder, and Pontius is definitely more valuable on the wing opposite Andy Najar.  That leaves DC with two forwards under contract: an aging but useful Josh Wolff and young contributor Blake Brettschneider.  With Charlie Davies’ seeming departure back to Europe, the team lacks a pure-forward scoring threat.  The acquisition of one could potentially allow De Rosario to move back into a CAM role and make DC’s attack even more potent, or at least give them some options on offense.  Will the team pursue another forward, or be content with what they have at that position?

2. Will the youngsters take the next step forward?

The Black-and-Red’s youth academy has done an excellent job of churning out talent, including rising star Andy Najar and starting keeper (and USMNT prospect) Bill Hamid.  After the disastrous 2010 season, the team focused on adding more youth especially in the back and have been rewarded with one of the most promising, and up-and-coming, defenses in MLS.

Undoubtedly, players like Perry Kitchen and Hamid are the future of this team and the team has shed some of the veterans that these players had bypassed on the depth chart.  At some point that youth has to realize the potential.  Does Hamid continue to improve his quick thinking and cut down on the poor decisions?  Can Kitchen play as a holding midfielder at the MLS level (he played primarily as a fullback/centerback last season)?  Can the likes of Woolard, Korb, and White push for permanent starting roles?  The success of DC depends on it, and not just in the short term.

3. Will the stadium situation move forward or stay in neutral?

Unfortunately for DC area soccer fans the off-the-field situation is overshadowing the on-the-field progress.  Until the stadium situation is resolved in some way, and by resolved I mean there is at least a 5-10 year plan in place, it is harder to build this team.  And management does need to decide is what kind of team this is.  At the beginning of last year, it was a “youth revolution” both by choice and by necessity, but when the team saw there was a chance at the playoffs in the weak Eastern Conference it acquired Dwayne De Rosario.  This offseason the team shed more of its older, more expensive salaries to free up roster and cap space.

So what does it do? Does it throw academy players like Conor Shanosky into the fire and give them significant minutes to see what they actually have in the academy and fast forward the youth movement? Or does management go “all in” and gamble by signing some expensive overseas designated players/high-salary players?  That strategy backfired in the past but with the Eastern Conference still not dominated by a group of teams like the West, there is an argument to be made that it is the correct strategy.  However, until the team knows what its revenue estimates and home location will be two years from now, these types of decisions are infinitely harder to make.

As our long-time readers know, MLS Talk likes to provide serious, well-thought out news analysis mixed with offbeat and laughable soccer-related thoughts.  This is the latter type of post.

Prior to First Kick 2011, the MLS Talk writers got together to give some predictions for the upcoming season.  At the time, we promised we’d resurrect the predictions to take credit for everything we got right.  Little did we know that such a post would only be about 1-2 sentences if actually written.  Regardless, as promised, here are our predictions for the 2011 season, and a little bit of analysis/defending from yours truly on the picks.  Feel free to post your wrong predictions (and correct ones) in the comments section.

The Final Standings

Prior to the season, it was common knowledge that RSL was the deepest team in the league and was thus primed to make a run at the Supporters Shield.  What we didn’t know was that their loss in the CONCACAF Champions League final and injuries would derail their season, in addition to improved LA and Seattle squads.  As such, only Kristan Heneage accurately predicted that Los Angeles would finish atop the Western Conference.  In fact, besides flip-flopping RSL and Seattle, he got the conference’s top five correct.

As for the Eastern Conference, the chaos that ensued was reflected in our picks.  We all got New York wrong as the Eastern Conference winner but at least they made the playoffs.  Earl Reed identified three teams correctly that made the playoffs from the East, but probably regrets picking DC to finish above Philadelphia.  Playoff picks are in bold.

Daniel Feuerstein

Earl Reed

Kristan Heneage

Robert Hay

MLS Cup Predictions

We were 0-4 on this one.  Earl and I picked Real Salt Lake to hoist the MLS Cup while Daniel thought Rafa Marquez would be showering Thierry Henry with champagne.  Kristan’s pick (DC United) didn’t make the playoffs.

Most Valuable Player

In our defense, while none of us correctly predicted this category, all of our picks were somewhat in the running toward the end of the year.  Daniel had Thierry Henry taking home the trophy while Earl and Kristan had Landon Donovan.  My pick made a late run but was still misguided: Alvaro Saborio.

The Golden Boot

Only Earl and I were ambitious enough to guess at this category, and my pick (Montero 12) edged his (Saborio 11).

Coach of the Year

Interestingly, none of us had a coach that was remotely in the running, although our picks by the end of the season were setting themselves up as candidates for next year.  All of our coach of the year selections were new MLS coaches, with Daniel seeing Toronto head man Aron Winter winning the award while Earl and I agreed upon DC United’s Ben Olsen.

Newcomer of the Year

Again, our picks were solid choices that for the most part contributed in some way but didn’t merit consideration.  Daniel went with Fabien Castillo of FC Dallas, Earl and I chose Omar Bravo for Sporting KC, and Kristan went with the right team  but wrong player (Erik Friberg of the Seattle Sounders).

Rookie of the Year

Well what can you say.  Who’d have thunk that C.J. Sapong would have played such a large roll for Sporting Kansas City?  Well we didn’t think he’d play a bigger role than Juan Agudelo (Daniel), Will Bruin (Earl and I), and Darlington Nagbe (Kristan).

Most Improved Player

Admittedly, this is one of the hardest categories to predict.  With so many players in the league, who will be the one who exceeds their previous year’s stats to be given an award?  Three of us thought that it would be someone from the Red Bulls: Kristan and Daniel thought that Dane Richards would be that player in 2011, while Earl picked Richards’ teammate Tim Ream.  However, the award for most laughable prediction for 2011 goes to me, and here is a direct quote from my prediction:

Since I wanted to show my Black-and-Red colors a little, I thought the player who would finally fulfill his promise would be D.C. United’s Branko Boskovic.

With their 1-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo yesterday, the Galaxy reached their season-long goal of winning an MLS Cup and certain high-profile players notched their first North American championship.  Anytime a team wins a championship, writers and bloggers take to the keyboard to assess where that team or franchise fits in the pantheon of previous winners.

This writer is no different, and for the first time in a few years we have to seriously consider how the 2011 Galaxy stack up against the best of the best in MLS (albeit short) history.  The last two MLS Cup winners (RSL and Colorado) arguably slid into the championship game due to playoff format rather than on-field success, so it has been a while since we’ve had a top regular season club win the Cup.

Ultimately it is impossible to compare this era of MLS to the first few years.  With fewer teams and different rules, can the 2011 Galaxy be compared to the early DC United teams that fielded so many USMNT players, or even the 1998 Galaxy or similar successful teams?  Even Bruce Arena didn’t tip his hand, telling reporters prior to last night’s game: “Couldn’t even compare it [his DC and LA teams].  I don’t even know how you do that.”

But the impressive run for the Galaxy demands we place them in a historical context.  So are the 2011 Galaxy the best team in MLS history?  A few points to consider:

• Their 67 regular season points is the most ever in a post-shoot out season and they finished 5-0 in the playoffs.  They allowed fewer goals than games played (28 total)
• Arguably the Galaxy have the best MLS player ever on its roster, as well as the best international (I’ll define that as non-North American) ever to play in MLS.  With his fourth MLS Cup, Landon Donovan joins an elite group of players with four rings and if he continues to play in MLS and score the way he has, he will eclipse Jeff Cunningham as the league’s all-time leading scorer.  And while Beckham has been rightfully criticized for his lack of commitment to the league based on his salary and expectations, when healthy and committed he has been an unstoppable force for LA.
• While the three designated players get the press, it’s the role players that really propelled this team.  The stout back line led by future USMNT call-up (right?) Omar Gonzalez was a key to the Galaxy being able to play their cobra-like quick strike and down offense.  Juninho was a quality acquisition who gave them some game-winners during the season.  And forwards like Mike Magee and Chad Barrett while not world beaters were the roll players that any successful team needs to be, well, successful.
• The travel.  With 18 teams in the league and a balanced schedule, the Galaxy faced more travel than any previous MLS winner within the league.  Outside of the league, the Galaxy faced even more mileage with the competitive CONCACAF Champions group stage, meaning this veteran team spent a lot of time in the air traveling.  This certainly makes it harder to play at a high level on the road and while other MLS champions have also booked lots of mileage, few I wager would have put in the travel of LA.
• Statistically, the Galaxy’s season makes a strong case.  According to Grant Wahl’s stat work, LA had the third best points-per-game season ever in MLS, behind two teams that did not win an MLS Cup (LA ’98 and San Jose ’05).  The metric is the number of points for the season divided by number of games played, with Wahl adjusting for shoot-outs in the early years.  So according to this metric, a regular season that ended with the Supporters Shield looks even better.

Undoubtedly, expansion is an exciting time for MLS fans, as it allows them to see and experience a “new” market, a new potential rival, and the possibility of the next great soccer city.  With the success of recent expansion clubs in Philly, Portland, and Vancouver (well, at least in the stands), the addition of the Montreal Impact fills MLS fans with anticipation: what will these sometimes French-speaking fans bring to the league?

However, the downside of every new team coming in is the inevitable expansion draft, which occurs right after the end of the MLS Cup.  That backup young forward you think could be a wild card in your team’s playoff run, or that wily veteran who can spot start and save the day? That fan favorite could be gone simply because the Impact need more high-level talent.  While the rules on who can and cannot be protected are somewhat confusing (see the actual rules here), basically every team submits to the league a list of eleven players they want to protect in the draft.  Home grown and Generation Adidas players are generally exempt from the draft.  Everyone else is fair game, and Montreal gets ten picks from those lists, with only one player allowed to be taken from a team.

So who are some intriguing possibilities that Montreal could pick up next Wednesday?  Below are a list of players that the Impact could potentially pick to make, well, an impact in 2012 and beyond.  This is not a prediction post, but simply a list of possibilities that may be available.  Agree or disagree? Let us know in the comments!

In no particular order:

Austin de Luz (DC): The young midfielder was the second steal for DC from New York this year; while not a consistent contributor he showed some flashes of skill and the potential to be a good contributor down the road.  But, due to a numbers crunch, he will probably be left unprotected by DC on Monday.  A potentially good upside pick for Montreal.

Brad Evans (Seattle): Drew Epperly has a good breakdown of the Seattle protected list dilemma, and how it depends on Alvaro Fernandez’s contract.  If Evans is left unprotected, it will be because of his salary (about $130k).  He would be a really good pick for Montreal and would provide an immediate talent upgrade in the midfield.

Anthony Wallace (Colorado): I’d be willing to wager a player is taken off the Colorado unprotected list for the simple reason that pretty much all of their roster has played decent minutes this year due to their injuries and multiple competitions.  Wallace would be the one I suspect would catch Montreal’s eye.  He’s talented, young, and would be a great pick-up if available.

Dax McCarty (New York Red Bulls): Could McCarty be selected in back-to-back expansion drafts?  He’s a bit pricey (salary over $150k) but he’s undeniably talented and could anchor a midfield.  New York will probably leave him exposed to Montreal, and if the Impact want an experienced midfielder looking for a new home, he’ll be there.

Michael Harrington (Kansas City): Another pricey option who has spent some time on the trainer’s table this past season, but if he’s left exposed he should be scooped up quickly.  Like Wallace he’s a fullback but unlike Wallace his career is at a bit of a crossroads.  He was an off-and-on again starter for KC and a new location would allow him to potentially show off his full potential.

Cam Weaver (Houston): Another familiar name for many MLS fan and another injury risk that Montreal may want to add for a veteran presence.  While this “pick” could also end of being Brian Ching, I think Weaver could be left hanging and would be a tempting pick-up for Montreal.

Donovan Ricketts (Los Angeles): It’s very simple – if Montreal wants a veteran keeper through the draft, he’ll likely be the best one available.  While Ricketts and Josh Saunders were kind of interchangeable this year, Ricketts is a respected international with both European and American club experience.

Justin Mapp (Philadelphia): I’m repeating myself a bit at this point, but Mapp was such a good player for Chicago and has been an ok player for Philly, you have to wonder if Montreal would want to give him a chance to try to see if he can be that Chicago Fire version of himself.

The annual MLS State of the League audio conference, held prior to the MLS Cup, is usually good for some news and gossip from the MLS league office.  This year’s conference was no different, as The Commish touched on the hot topics of expansion and relocation, as well as more nuts and bolts like life with 19 teams.

As if the identity of the 20th MLS franchise had not been all but known, Garber made it clear the Cosmos would likely be coming back if MLS could find a place for them to play.  “The issue remains the soccer stadium,” he said on the call.  ”We do believe we have two or three sites that are viable, and we’re going to continue to work as hard as we can to move this as fast as we can.’’  MLS has hired architects and land-use consultants to help build a soccer stadium in New York.  But in terms of owners, he’s a little less concerned.  He noted the league has not spoken with the Wilpons “lately” but plan to re-engage with them once their issues have been sorted out.

But before fans dust off their Cosmos gear to use again, Garber noted that neither the name or location is a done deal.  Garber will meet with the new Cosmos’ ownership group at MLS Cup but said they are keeping all ownership options open.  He also said that the league has met with ownership groups in Detroit, Orlando, and Las Vegas to explore options and locations for their 20th and future teams.

In terms of relocation, Garber further advanced the notion the United’s days in DC are dwindling.  He noted that the financials for the team were damaging (Events DC owns RFK and because of this DCU ownership claims they’ve lost millions on the deal) and that moving them is not out of the question:

“We have to aggressively figure a solution out, and that solution needs to be figured out soon. I am concerned about where this team will be in 2012. They’ve been operating without a new lease. They’ve been in discussions on a lease to try to improve their terms. I’m shocked to say they could be paying more for their lease in RFK than any other team we have in the league. There is no doubt in my mind that it’s a stadium that is substandard to what soccer fans are able to experience in many other markets.”

Garber noted that he would support a move to Baltimore or, if that fell through, to an entirely new market altogether.  He even went as low as to mention the RFK raccoon, a critter that DCU scribes have seen running around the stadium as a symbol of the team’s poor facilities.

As for next season, the league will be moving to an unbalanced 34-game schedule but revealed few details other than that.  The league is also considering doing away with neutral-site MLS Cup matches and instead moving it to the home stadium of the Supporter’s Shield winner.  Of course this year LA is playing at their home stadium but the league has experienced two teams playing at a less than full neutral site as recently as 2010 in Toronto.

Maybe the most interesting topic was his vision for the next ten years of MLS.  Noting the success of the league in merchandise sales (up 35% this year), attendance (7% to an average of over 17,000 a game, although with two new teams), and TV viewership (16% on ESPN networks, 26% on FSC, 10% on Telefutura), Garber stated that by 2022 he wants MLS to be one of the top leagues…. in the US?  No, in the world.

“At the end of the day, we want to be one of the top soccer leagues in the world. And we want to try to achieve that by 2022.  We want to the league of choice, the league of choice for players, for sponsors, for fans.”

Now as a league commissioner you have to talk the talk and set high goals for your league.  But one of the top leagues in the world?  Really?  Maybe he should aim to have passed the NHL by that time period instead of trying to nudge aside Serie A.  I admire the gusto but that goal may be way way too high.

But what do you think about the State of the League address?  Is Garber crazy or spot on, on any of these topics?

On the eve of the second leg of the conference semifinals, the league has stirred some intrigue around one of its teams not in the playoffs.  According to Steven Goff of The Washington Post, soccer fans in the Baltimore, MD area have begun to receive surveys gauging their interest in locating an MLS franchise in the city.  Obviously this is a major issue for fans of DC United, whose franchise has been searching for a home and for the past few years has been rumored to be moving to Baltimore or outside of DC.

According to Goff and Craig Stouffer of The Examiner, the survey asks how likely would fans follow and attend the games of a team in a soccer-specific stadium in the Westport area of the city; the questions ask about a new franchise or a relocated franchise.  The survey then asks which of the following teams residents would lobby hardest to have move to Baltimore: DC United, Columbus Crew, Philadelphia Union, New York Red Bulls, or other.  The final two questions ask specifically about DC United’s relocation to Baltimore.

Some DC fans have already begun to prepare themselves for what seems to be an inevitable move, but I can see a few different reasons why MLS is doing this survey at this time.  Here are my thoughts (and for my previous thoughts on DC United in Baltimore, check out my previous article):

DC United is preparing to move to Baltimore

In an incredibly informative interview last month with Goff, DC United President Kevin Payne was blunt about his team’s courtship with Baltimore:

We’re not hiding anything. We are trying to work through some issues with the District and we are having conversations about how to get something in the District, but we’re having those same conversations with Baltimore. I’m not sure I want to categorize it, but the state of Maryland, Maryland Stadium Authority and city of Baltimore know how to do this. They’ve done it successfully.

DC United last year did an economic benefit study with Baltimore last year so they have some research to back-up potential moves.  And the team has discussed outside of the city stadium sites, including failed negotiations with Upper Marlboro, MD, to build a soccer stadium there (similar to how the Redskins play in Landover, MD, not DC).  Before the end of the season, DCU presented Events DC, which owns RFK Stadium, with almost an ultimatum to either renovate the stadium for soccer use or the team is gone.  How much the city is willing to put into a fifty year old stadium is unknown.  So the most likely reason for this survey is that it is the first step in a multi-year process to move DC United to Baltimore.

DC United is aggressively trying to have DC call its bluff

Despite the negativity surrounding DC United’s stadium situation, it is not all a dark cloud.  The Poplar Point stadium is up in the air, but has never been declared absolutely dead.  In fact, with changing DC demographics and the continued development of the Southwest Waterfront, this may turn out to be an economic option intriguing to the DC Council.  With the grassroots movement Keep DC United picking up combined with the thought of losing what is essentially a business to Baltimore (and the DC government hates losing large businesses to competing regional cities), these tactics by the league and the team are just pressure points to keep the issue on the DC Council’s radar.

MLS is feeling out Baltimore for relocation of another franchise

In all likelihood the inclusion of Philadelphia, Columbus, and New York was a poor attempt to not make the survey all about moving DC United to Baltimore.  But what if MLS is considering Baltimore not just as a landing place for DC United but any other troubled MLS franchise?  If DC works out a stadium deal somewhere in the nation’s capital, could Baltimore be a destination for a team like Columbus, whose attendance has fallen and MLS has publicly worried about its financial well being?   If this was the case, Baltimore would have to compete with cities like Las Vegas and New York, who are also clamoring to get into MLS (or in NY’s case, have a second franchise).  Baltimore is a good location with a good sports tradition, only two major league franchises, and some soccer tradition.  So while maybe the survey was about testing Baltimore as a landing place for any team, I find it unlikely that they would be surveyed now to establish themselves as relocation site #1.

MLS is considering Baltimore to host an expansion franchise

Many of the arguments for the previous idea apply, but I find this even less likely.  The twentieth team will probably be the New York Cosmos, but MLS has publicly courted Minnesota, San Antonio, Las Vegas, and even Miami about housing an expansion MLS franchise.  For Baltimore to suddenly be the new home of a 20th, 21st, or 22nd team, they would have some work to do.  But maybe, just maybe, the survey is designed to see just how much of a possibility this is.

The difference between MLS and most other major American sports leagues is that two teams with losing records can play a low scoring game in the rain and have it be one of the most exciting games of the year. Actually, it may have just been one of the most exciting 20 minutes of the season, as Portland kept their playoff hopes alive (and extinguishes DC United’s) with a 1-1 draw at RFK Stadium last night.

Portland took the lead in the 24th minute on a header by Kenny Cooper, who got free of Brandon McDonald in front of the net to redirect a cross from former DCU fullback Rodney Wallace. Portland dominated the early run of play and looked like the team fighting for a playoff spot, controlling the midfield and pressuring a DCU defense starting two rookies.  DC head coach Ben Olsen went all-in with his lineup by starting Charlie Davies and Josh Wolff in front of Dwayne De Rosario, Andy Najar, and Santino Quaranta.  Despite the offensive firepower, it was Portland who controlled the flow and limited DC’s chances in the first half.

A tired DC and comfortable Portland began the second half stuck in the midfield, but it was Dwayne De Rosario that snapped the home side out of its funk in the 73rd minute. His curling top shelf goal energized the crowd and led to a frenzied final twenty minutes. Before the final whistle blew, fans saw the following:

• Bill Hamid make two incredible saves on Timber break aways that easily should have put the game away for Portland.
• A shot by Brian Umony that got past Hamid but hit the top bar and bounced just in front of the DC goal line.
• A disallowed goal by DC sub Blake Brettschneider late in the match that looked to be the game winner, occurring after Troy Perkins had gone too far outside his goal but earning an offsides flag.
• Joseph Ngwenya continuing his miserable season by missing a six footer with a reaction save by Perkins, followed immediately by another reaction save off Brettschneider’s follow-up.

When the final whistle blew, the score remained deadlocked and Portland lived to fight another day. The Timbers, if New York loses tonight, need to win this weekend at RSL to secure a playoff spot. DC, however, was eliminated with the draw and will now sit home a club record fourth consecutive playoffs.

All eyes now turn to New York where the Red Bulls tonight have a chance to clinch the final playoff spot.  Keep checking the site for more analysis and commentary on the race for the MLS playoffs.