Western Conference Preview 2026: Pt 1
The first half of the conference previews include some global megastars and some teams that look like they're being held together by duct tape and bondo. Let's go!
The MLS Western Conference is very much looking like it separates into three distinct tranches: the top four, who use all their DP spots on big name players and has a reputable supporting cast; the mid-pack teams that rely on one or two very good players to carry the club into the playoffs; and everyone else. Those top four are almost certainly LAFC, San Diego, Vancouver, and Seattle – although Minnesota’s signing of James Rodriguez is going to give them a shot at clawing their way into that group.
The bottom five this year are all financially unambitious clubs without a clear vision for how to get out the mess they’ve made. If you watched at least 8 MLS matches last year, and I say the name of a team, and you can’t immediately tell me the name of a player on the team, or you can’t identify which player on that team has been deemed a ‘Designated Player’, then congratulations, you can tell me what teams will be missing the playoffs.1
It feels like the distance between the top and bottom has never been farther apart. Blame the DP rule, blame billionaires, blame expansion, blame whatever. Everybody knows that Colorado fans will be exceedingly pumped for Son Min Heung and Thomas Müller and Anders Dreyer; less so when SKC’s Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov or St Louis’ Marcel Hartel come to town. You’ll put on an extra layer to see Seattle come to town, even if its cold out at Commerce City. I’m not even sure you’ll look up from scrolling through your phone when the Rapids play Dallas or Houston this year.
But not every team can be owned by a devil-may-care spendy-spend lunatic that wants to WIN. AT. ALL. COSTS. Some, unfortunately, are owned by undercapitalized or absentee owners that just want their asset to maintain its value with minimal upkeep. And so you have 4 or 5 teams trying to be top of the league, and 10 teams who give their GM a modest allowance and then say ‘we expect you to sneak into the playoffs and earn us a few extra bucks in home playoff game gate revenue.’
It’s the fans that then put their hearts and souls behind the colors and players, hoping against hope that they’ll transcend the spreadsheets and the transfer fees and produce a bit of magic to justify our 40 hour a week drudgery behind a laptop for a rush of adrenaline and a few pints with our gals or our mates. So that even when it’s two bottom-table teams slugging it out for pride at season’s end, it’s still worth it to a bunch of us.
It should be a fun season. Let’s see who’s in the Western Conference and what I think of em.
This year we’re doing the previews in … reverse alphabetical order! Because I’ve done it in so many other ways, and I just figured, why not?2
Vancouver Whitecaps
Finish in 2025: 2nd, 63 pts, 18-9-7 (WTL); Lost MLS Cup Final to Inter Miami
Goals For in 2025: 66
Goals Against in 2025: 38
Key Additions: LW Bruno Caicedo, LW Cheikh Sabaly, DM Oliver Larraz
Key Subtractions: M Ali Ahmed, LW Jayden Nelson, Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau
Got better? Or got worse?: A little worse. ⬇️
The Whitecaps were just on fire for most of last season. From February 22 to June 8, they lost one game. Brian White scored 16 goals. Thomas Müller scored 7 goals in 7 games. Sebastian Berhalter had a breakout season as a sizzling midfield threat at the age of 23. They were fun, and fun to watch - they looked good on the break, they defended well, and goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka did a great job, particularly in the playoffs.
And there’s depth, too! The team had only 4 outfield players with more than 2,000 minutes and were missing offensive spark Ryan Gauld almost all season, and it didn’t really matter - they were still great. The departed Ali Ahmed was a very good player, and it isn’t obvious who on the roster could step up and replace his 8 assists from 2025 in this upcoming season, but overall I’m not that concerned, since he only started 12 games out of 22 played. On the other hand, he did lead the team in Goals Added (G+) at 2.39 in just 1449 minutes.
Vancouver are bringing in an Ecuadoran winger named Bruno Caicedo who is only 21, and a 27 year old veteran of the French league named Cheikh Sabaly who scored 15 goals for Metz in Ligue 2 in 2023-24, plus a familiar face to Rapids fans in Ollie Larraz, who is probably d-mid depth (as he was in Colorado). Most importantly, they’ll have a full season of Thomas Müller, and Ryan Gauld will be back in April, and they have White and Berhalter plus the very dangerous Emanuel Sabbi and capable midfielder Pablo Vite.
All that should put all the attention on the Caps soccering. Alas, it sounds like things are troubling on the business end, and that’ll be a season-long distraction for pundits, fans, and players alike. In the offseason, the team went looking for investors, and when they opened their books, ESPN reporter Jeffrey Carlisle reported that CEO Axel Schuster said “not a single one is interested in buying even 1% of this club.” Apparently the problem is Vancouver are locked into a stadium lease at BC Place that gives them very unfavorable terms. And the lease can’t be broken. And there’s no realistic situation when the team can build their own stadium. Because real estate in Vancouver is basically insane - the team could legitimately construct a floating offshore stadium out of old cruise ships and privately helicopter in all the fans, and it’d probably cost the same as buying land downtown.
Overall, it feels like this team will likely stay in the top four of the Western Conference this year. I think it’s the first time I’ve ever done previews of VWFC and felt confident about that pick, too.
Sporting Kansas City
Finish in 2025: Last [15th out of 15 teams], 28 points, 7-7-20 (WTL); Didn’t collect the Wooden Spoon though! DC United were worse, and technically so were Atlanta and Montreal (tied on points but SKC had more wins).
Goals For in 2025: 46 (20th in MLS, better than the Rapids!)
Goals Against in 2025: 70 (Last in MLS)
Key Additions: W Calvin Harris, LB Jayden Reid, CB Wyatt Meyer; Manager Raphaël Wicky
Key Subtractions: W Eric Thommy, CB Joaquin Fernandez, CB Robert Voloder
Got better? Or got worse?: ⬆️ Better
It’s pretty simple what’s wrong with SKC. In 2026 they had the worst Expected Goals Against in MLS: xGA of 70.69. Not nice. In other words, they let teams get into high-quality shot situations more than any team in the league. Interestingly, the Interrupting G+ numbers of their defenders was pretty much neutral - not great, but not bad either. From what I saw of their games, they were bad in midfield turnovers, bad in transition defense, bad in final third defending, and bad on set pieces. So that would tell me they should change their tactics, change their formation, bring in a solid central midfield defender, and perhaps replace a few defenders.
Well, they brought in Raphael Wicky as the new manager, so maybe some of that happens. Wicky managed the Chicago Fire in the Covid-cursed 2020 season; his team missed the playoffs and he was fired. I have no idea what he’s going to do in 2026 with SKC. But the bar has been set basically as low as possible.
That said, personnel-wise, these are not the droids … I mean the player improvements … you’re looking for. They need some quality players in their prime, or maybe a name DP, to turn things around. Maybe in the summer window? Until then, if you want to make a prop bet on the Wooden Spoon, SKC is probably your best pick.
Seattle Sounders
Finish in 2025: 55 pts, 5th place, 15-10-9 (WTL); Lost in 1st round of playoffs
Goals For in 2025: 58
Goals Against in 2025: 48
Key Additions: D Ryan Sailor3, Max Anchor
Key Subtractions: M Joao Paolo, M Obed Vargas, M Danny Leyva
Got better? Or got worse?: ⬇️ Worse
Hey, remember that time that Seattle missed the playoffs and didn’t win any trophies? No, you know the year I’m talking about: they were bad, they didn’t have any stars, and they played terrible soccer. It was the same year that Sinbad was in a genie movie and the Buffalo Bills won the Super Bowl I think.
That opening paragraph is a silly attempt to express an insane (and annoying) fact: since their first year as an MLS expansion franchise in 2009, the Sounders have made the playoffs every. single. year. Except one. That was 2022, when the club was the first MLS team to win the modern incarnation of the Concacaf Champions League.4 And they’ve always had a star player or two. Clint Dempsey and Nico Lodeiro and Raul Ruidiaz and Jordan Morris and Obafemi Martins and Albert Rusnak and Ozzie Alonso. So no matter what happened in the offseason, you’d be insane as a pundit to pick this team lower than 5th in the Western Conference table, because simply put, in the 17-year history of the club, that’s only happened once.
That said, it does feel like Seattle are a little vulnerable right now, or potentially ‘in transition’. With Joao Paolo retiring and Obed Vargas being sold to Atletico Madrid, the Sounders are entering a reinvention phase. The leading scorers from 2025 are Danny Musovski (14 goals) and Albert Rusnak (11 goals) and Jordan Morris (5 goals) are 29 years old, 30, and 30, respectively. DP attacker Pedro de la Vega is coming back from and injury, and Christian Roldán is 30, and Stephan Frei is 38, so this season is either a ‘last hurrah’ for the old guard or the beginning of the switch to the new.
There are some young guys to potentially be excited about. Sounder at Heart is high on 23 year old Osaze De Rosario. The Sounders also have 17 year-old Snyder Brunell and 19 year-old Reed Baker-Whiting 5and 22 year-old Georgi Minoungou – two homegrowns and an international – maybe ready to take starting spots.
You just don’t bet against Seattle. Brian Schmetzer is an excellent head coach, and the Sounders will reload midseason like they always do – I think they’ll move some things around and go get a DP. This might not be the year they reclaim the top of the WC from LAFC or San Diego or Vancouver. But they will, like always, be very very good.
San Jose Earthquakes
Finish in 2025: 10th place, 41 points, 11-8-15 (WTL)
Goals For in 2025: 60
Goals Against in 2025: 63
Key Additions: F Timo Werner
Key Subtractions: M Christian Espinoza, F Cristian Arango, F Josef Martinez
Got better? Or got worse?: ⬆️ Maybe Got Better? But not at the right spots.
Espinoza, Arango, and Martinez played 7,112 minutes last year for San Jose. Timo Werner will take over for Arango as the primary attacking force. Other than that, it looks like SJ are looking to a youth movement to provide Werner with support. Winger Ousseni Bouda, a 24-year-old from Burkina Faso had 3 goals in 2025. Midfielder Beau Leroux is a local boy from San Jose – he had 5 goals and 3 assists in 2025. And Nico Tsakiris is just 19. There was talk that last year would be his breakout season - maybe we were a year early on that?
I will say that San Jose’s defense was not good in 2025, and they, uh, didn’t bring in a single defender in the offseason. Overall, unless some last minute moves happen before the deadline on March 26, it seems to me that this team is ‘Timo Werner and whole lot of question marks.’ I can see that being good enough to scuffle along in the Western Conference and snag the 9th and final playoff spot. But that’s about as optimistic as I get. I can also see this defense, which was 27th in MLS last year in Goals Allowed, being slightly worse, and San Jose finishing bottom-three.
I will say that their new tie-died kit is a banger. And really, that’s the most important thing in soccer. Merchandising!
San Diego FC
Finish in 2025: 1st, 63 points, 19-6-9 (WTL); Lost WC Final to Vancouver
Goals For in 2025: 64
Goals Against in 2025: 41
Key Additions: CB Osvald Søe
Key Subtractions: W Chucky Lozano
Got better? Or got worse?: Maybe a little worse ⬇️
I’d never heard of Mikey Varas, San Diego’s head coach, before 2025. I also thought, like all the other basic-bitch pundits, that the safe thing to do was to look at an expansion club, don’t give it too much thought, and say ‘they’ll be bad.’ I learned many lessons.
The thing that people thought about San Diego coming into to 2025 was that they’d need some time to develop a tactical identity and that outside of Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano, the team was an unknown quantity. It turned out that they established a tactical identity right from the start - lightning quick attacks, wide spacing, and fast-break, ‘Showtime!’ attacks into the final third. And their best player was not Lozano, but in fact a 26 year-old Right Wing named Anders Dreyer. Dreyer had been acquired by San Diego from Anderlecht in the Belgian League for a $5 million transfer fee.
Dreyer had had a breakout 2023-24 season for Anderlecht, with 19 goals and 9 assists. That was second-most that year to Kévin Denkey of Cercle Brugge; Denkey went the next year to FC Cincinnati, where he scored 15 goals. I’m thinking I could be a successful MLS GM if my simple philosophy was ‘sign a top-five forward in scoring from the Belgian League.’6
The rest of the team built around Dreyer worked, too. Lozano was only good for 1,824 minutes (and missed some of the playoffs) but he had 9 goals and 8 assists. Jeppe Tverskov and Luca De La Torre were fantastic in midfield. The backline, which included Christopher McVey, Luca Bombino, and Paddy McNair, did a great job of ‘bend not break’ on the occasions where the high-flying attack produced a turnover. It worked, and I expect with almost no changes, it’ll work again in 2026.
There is one significant change of course, and that is that at time of writing, San Diego have announced that Chucky Lozano “will not be part of the sporting plans moving forward” according to GM Tyler Heaps. It could be that Chucky thought he was gonna be the star, and when Dreyer emerged as the team’s MVP, Chucky was pissed and wanted out. It’s a bit of a problem for SD that Lozano is definitely not going to play for them, and also that they haven’t successfully moved him to another team. Because having a disgruntled player on the books gives San Diego less leverage for a transfer fee. Plus he’s now identified as a potential clubhouse cancer. And, of course, they’ll miss out on his production. Still, I’m sure they’ll figure it out, and earn a decent transfer fee in the end.
San Diego will be fine. I don’t think they’ll repeat at the top of the Western Conference; maybe more like a second place finish.
Back to the previewin’…
St. Louis City
Finish in 2025: 13th in WC, 32 points, 8-8-18 (WTL)
Goals For in 2025: 44
Goals Against in 2025: 58
Key Additions: M Daniel Edelman, LB Rafael Santos, M Dante Polvara
Key Subtractions: F Joao Klauss, D Henry Kessler, M Akil Watts
Got better? Or got worse?: 📉 Worse.
Forward Joao Klauss had 10 goals for St Louis in 2025, and along with Eduard Löwen and Marcel Hartel formed the attacking core of a team that to be honest was lacking in 2025, again. Well, Klauss was sold to LA Galaxy for $2.4 million. And there’s no clear replacement in attack. Maybe by going out and getting a couple midfielders like Dante Polvara and Daniel Edelman the team wants to shore up the defense and win the battles in the middle of the pitch.
To be honest, I don’t understand what STL are doing. They expanded in 2023 with a good start and a lot of excitement. Then they’ve spent two years struggling, and now they’ve jettisoned one of their better players. It implies that maybe they’re in a ‘rebuild’ mode, and perhaps they’ll give more minutes to young players. MyKhi Joyner, an 18 year old Homegrown, had 15 goals with the MLS Next Pro team, but only earned 370 minutes with St Louis City’s senior team. There’s a few more guys that might have a shot at making a contribution: Jake Girdwood-Reich, and Fallou Fall, and Jaziel Orozco. But I’m reaching here: there’s no evidence that St Louis City will be anywhere above the bottom 3; a playoff spot is positively unthinkable. Not a particularly positive outlook for their new manager, Yoann Damet.
St. Louis really look adrift, and I don’t see this team doing well in 2026. They play the Rapids on May 9 and July 25. So there’s that?
Real Salt Lake
Finish in 2025: 9th, 41 points, 12-5-17 (WTL); Lost in play-in/wildcard round to Portland
Goals For in 2025: 38
Goals Against in 2025: 49
Key Additions: RW Morgan Guilavogui, LB Juan Manuel Sanabria, M Stijn Spierings, F Chance Cowell
Key Subtractions: DM Braian Ojeda, M Wily Agada, GK Zac MacMath
Got better? Or got worse?: ⬆️ Better
In 2025, RSL was Diego Luna, Justin Glad, Goalkeeper Rafael Cabral, and 8 stiffs. That was good enough, though, to slip into the playoffs alongside Pablo Mastroeni’s cautious-but-balanced tactical approach. And a bit of luck – RSL ended in a three-way tie for 9th with San Jose and Colorado, but the first tiebreaker is Total Wins, and RSL had 12 to Colorado and SJ’s 11.
RSL is the only team I previewed here where I can say that they got better in the offseason AND I think it’ll carry them into the playoffs (I think SKC’s upgrades will only be a marginal improvement for now). Morgan Guilavogui comes over from RC Lens in France, the same team that gave the Rapids Hamzat Odejiran. Diego Luna in 2025 was often asked to do it all by himself for Salt Lake, with 9 goals and 3 assists. So if Guilavogui can add a modest offensive threat, it would be a real help to the Real. Really. Dutchman Stijn Spierings has 259 matches played across six different leagues, and helped bring Toulouse back from Ligue 2 to Ligue 1 in 2022. He’ll be critical veteran leadership in midfield for a team that is a bit on the young side.
RSL didn’t make the moves to jump into the rarefied air of the MLS Western Conference top-four. But they’ll be good, and a tough opponent for Colorado. A threepeat of winning the Rocky Mountain Cup looks very much in doubt.7
Part 2 of our Western Conference preview is coming soon…
Doesn’t apply to the Rapids because if you’re reading this article, chances are you are Rapids supporter, and you can probably name one of our players.
Also - tbh, by the time I get to Vancouver every year I’m tired of writing and so my Vancouver entry sucks. And so this year, I’m going to put effort into Vancouver and be exhausted and brain dead when I get to Austin.
Born in Centennial, Colorado, and played at Arapahoe HS and for Real Colorado.
DC United won it in 1998 and LA Galaxy won it in 2000, but in those days, the tournament consisted of just three knockout matches: win those three games, and you win the cup. By 2009, teams needed to play a group stage and a two-legged final, so winning the cup took 12 matches.
Between when I wrote this and when it published, Baker-Whiting was sold off to Nashville SC in a Cash-for deal. Seattle often have another young buck stashed in their academy though, so keep an eye out for that.
Dear Pádraig Smith: The current top goal-scorers in Belgium are Keisuke Goto (10), Jep Erenbjerg (9), and Promise David (9). You’re welcome.
I don’t love that the Rapids won the RMC last year, despite winning once and losing once with RSL, 1-0, on account of being the reigning cupholders from 2024. But that’s just how it goes, and I don’t have a better solution.