2016 MLS Preview: Team breakdowns, player rankings, predictions and more
Welcome to theScore's collection of 2016 MLS season preview content, where you'll find everything you need to know about what's shaping up to be a thrilling season.
Detailed team breakdowns, player rankings, predictions, and a bevy of other pieces that will have you more than prepared for the MLS season; it's all here.
Peruse, enjoy, and then walk into the office as the most knowledgeable MLS fan around.
Need to Know
- Power Rankings: Preseason edition
- Welcome to MLS: Top 5 Newcomers
- 2016 Kit Rankings
- Complete 2016 MLS Schedule
- Top 10 MLS Players
Predictions
- theScore's comprehensive predictions for the 2016 MLS season
- How 5 former Premier League stars will fare in their first full MLS season
Individual Team Previews
Transfer dealings, lineup projections, and everything else you need to know about each club's upcoming campaign.
Eastern Conference
This year, the Chicago Fire shed itself of a number of key players, then added new pieces in an effort to avoid the Eastern Conference basement. Chief among those signings is attacking midfielder John Goossens, but will that be enough for new head coach Veljko Paunovic's side? We shall see.
The Crew missed out on an MLS Cup win in 2015, after being shell-shocked by the team of destiny, the Portland Timbers. Gregg Berhalter will hope the mistakes of 2015 don't carry over into this campaign and his side will be looking for redemption, led by freshly-minted Designated Player Kei Kamara.
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Ben Olsen has quietly assembled a well-balanced team that has the potential to surprise the Eastern Conference once more. Largely being written off ahead of this new campaign, D.C. United will hope the role of underdogs serves them well in the first part of the season, before turning to the tag of favorites down the final stretch.
Didier Drogba pulled the Montreal Impact up by their collective boot straps last year and in this, his swansong season, the Canadian club's faithful fans will hope he can replicate the ferocious rate of return he put up in 2015. With 11 goals in 11 games, Drogba dominated in his debut year; he'll hope to take his bow with an MLS Cup tucked underneath his arm.
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Jay Heaps' side threatens to finally come together in meaningful fashion this season after a hiccup year in 2015. The 2014 MLS Cup-finalists will be looking to return to the big show but, marred by inconsistent runs of form, the Revs will need to overcome the long losing streaks that have plagued it in recent years.
Andrea Pirlo. Frank Lampard. David Villa. The stars came to play in the Big Apple last year, and in 2016, under a new head coach in Patrick Vieira, New York City FC will look to turn that star power into tangible success. It won't be easy for this sophomore side but boasting that kind of talent certainly helps.
It's not even funny how much the Red Bulls dominated in 2015, such to the point that their +19 goal differential was far and away the highest of any club in MLS. This Red Bulls team will be without star defender Matt Miazga, though, after the promising young center-back was sold to English side Chelsea. How big a blow will that prove to be?
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While Brazilian icon Kaka made the headlines in the early parts of the 2015 campaign, it was rookie Canadian striker Cyle Larin who stole the show by years' end. The duo combined for an incredible 26 goals and that combination, anchored now by former AC Milan midfielder Antonio Nocerino in support, will be on full display for the Lions in 2016.
Devoid of the sort of spending power befit of the league's fattest cats, the Philadelphia Union have hedged their bets on C.J. Sapong and Tranquillo Barnetta for the 2016 season. Head coach Jim Curtin will hope only to avoid the Eastern Conference basement - anything else is a bonus.
Champions of the off-season, Toronto FC bolstered its defensive ranks ahead of the 2016 campaign with four MLS All-Star players in goalkeeper Clint Irwin, defenders Steven Beitashour and Drew Moor and Canadian midfielder Will Johnson. Those four, combined with the TFC trio of Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco will make their case for the MLS Cup this year.
Western Conference
Young, hungry and full of potential, FC Dallas could just be the most exciting team in MLS in the 2016 season. This group of largely Latin American footballers is highlighted by Fabian Castillo and Mauro Diaz, though some key off-season acquisitions have given depth where once there were limited options.
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The Dynamo are in a period of transformation, having parted ways with long-time captain Brad Davis over this off-season. As such, Owen Coyle's men will have the added task of trying to establish a playing identity in 2016 while competing in a tough Western Conference that has only gotten stronger.
The 2016 season certainly can't go much worse for the Colorado Rapids than last years' offerings. Bolstered by a new key man in Shkelzen Gashi, the Rapids now have a new point of attack and will hope the Albanian can be the difference-maker needed to pull the team out of its miserable spell.
The LA Galaxy have always pushed the boundaries on the league's salary cap and enter this season with what is essentially four Designated Players and a Targeted Allocation Money signing. Nigel de Jong is the big new pick up while Steven Gerrard will take his retirement tour to good heart, too.
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The 2015 MLS Cup winners look to repeat the impossible feat once again in 2016. This team, built on Caleb Porter's vision and crafted not with stars, but with serviceable team players, stormed through the playoffs last year on a hot vein of form but that task won't be as straightforward the second time around.
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Real Salt Lake is banking on nostalgia this year, bringing back a few of its old 2009 MLS Cup-winning team to the current roster; Yura Movsisyan makes his RSL return but as this team ages even further, Jeff Cassar's team might soon be facing the fires as its old core starts to break down.
It's the Chris Wondolowski show as ever for the San Jose Earthquakes and while the pseudo-U.S. international striker continues to score on a consistent basis, there are questions about the team's quality in every other position. A returning star in Simon Dawkins helps answer some of those questions, though.
Obafemi Martins is out, Jordan Morris is in and Clint Dempsey is now the main man at CenturyLink Field. The Seattle Sounders, still without what was once a destined MLS Cup victory in their grasp, watched in horror as their bitter rivals Portland claimed the trophy. They'll be looking to keep the cup in Cascadia in 2016.
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It's pretty much business as usual for Sporting KC as head coach Peter Vermes addressed his team's one position of need: wingers. The club picked up two MLS veterans in Brad Davis and Justin Mapp and the two add plenty of talent and experience to this team of already-proven game winners.
The Vancouver Whitecaps have acquired themselves a talented bunch of midfielders, with Pedro Morales and Matias Laba now joined by Christian Bolanos and Deybi Flores. Head coach Carl Robinson, a Welshman, will be turning to his English-to-Spanish dictionary as his Latin core continue turning heads in 2016.
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Betting Preview
In our 2016 season betting preview, you'll find odds on this year's race for the MLS Cup. theScore's Gino Bottero and Carlo Campo examine the bets that can beef up your wallet.
Other Preview Content
- Off-season champs: 3 ways Toronto FC could line up in 2016
- Philadelphia's rebirth depends on Sapong realizing his potential
- Prized jewel Acosta completes D.C. United's midfield transformation
- Impact man: 3 ways Drogba can surpass the legend of Marco Di Vaio
- How the Seattle Sounders can adjust after losing Obafemi Martins
- Arena's XI: How the LA Galaxy circumvented the MLS salary cap
HEADLINES
- Latest transfer news and rumors: Diaz determined to leave Liverpool
- LA Galaxy fight back for last-second draw in another thrilling El Trafico
- Messi dominates as Inter Miami rout Red Bulls
- Soccer vs. football: What should we call world's biggest sport?
- Yoshida scores 97th-minute equalizer for LA Galaxy 🤯