2015 MLS Conferences
Eastern Conference
Western Conference Chicago Fire
Columbus Crew
D.C. United
Montreal Impact
New England Revolution
New York City FC
New York Red Bulls
Orlando City SC
Philadelphia Union
Toronto FCColorado Rapids
FC Dallas
Houston Dynamo
Sporting Kansas City
LA Galaxy
Portland Timbers
Real Salt Lake
San Jose Earthquakes
Seattle Sounders FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
So the "best" club in the East moves away. 2 teams are expansion.
East gets even easier....
We're going to tear this conference apart
Man, the East will be a mess next year.
Very good chance for us to break the no playoff streak. Or be a bigger mess. Who knows.
New York City FC will probably destroy us in their first season.
There gonna have issues with squad depth and injury concerns over Lampard.
They are no sure bet.
Another positive for eastern conference teams is that they don't have to travel as much as before now that Houston and SKC are gone.
Matthew Doyle @MLSAnalyst 4m4 minutes ago
Biggest winner in realignment? @torontofc. They'll make the playoffs next year.
Originally Posted by Canary10
They will be playing on a converted baseball field where the nearest fans are farther away then they are at a running track.
There is a lot of potential for ugliness there. Kreis is a great coach, but he's got a lot of expectations to fulfill. His bosses think money buys winners.
Little early in the week to be drunk at work, no?
Moderator
That's nothing we should really be proud of!
But you're right. Orlando and NYCFC coming in gives us a distinct advantage, and having SKC in the west helps too. Though, that's gonna be a lot of powerful clubs in one conference (despite KC not having it's best season this year). Seattle, LAG, and RSL and now SKC? Crazy!
Did the USA , of all countries, just fix soccer? - C. Ronaldo, May 27th commenting on the FBI-led investigations into fraud and corruption throughout FIFA.
With our side's luck, both New York City and Orlando will both make the playoffs and have Supporter's Shields and MLS Cups on their shelves before TFC ever make the playoffs.
TORONTO FC, 2017 MLS CHAMPIONS!!! (Still the greatest in league history!)
I think Kreis is the key there. He knows how to win in MLS. Plus Villa will tear this league apart. Add in Lampard and possibly Xavi and they should be a decent team.
Orlando I'm not so sure about. Kaka is a nice piece but their coach has no MLS experience.
Either way, trading one team above us in the standings for two unknowns is good for TFC. And I can see NY falling out without Henry. Definitely some spots opening up for us.
Post of the year.
the next team in the east will push Chicago Fire to the west
League needs to think about playoff setup. DC and NE are not proven commodities. The top seven teams in the league are in the west.
"There are some people who might have better technique than me, and some may be fitter than me, but the main thing is tactics. With most players, tactics are missing. You can divide tactics into insight, trust, and daring." - Johan Cruyff
A three conference/division setup could have helped that.
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
This is a major problem in North American sports - and the playoff setup they use... Teams in one conference, far superior to another are on the outside looking in...
I would go with (taking into account the MLS needs "playoffs" to attract the American viewer, and needs as many teams "in it" until the end)....
20-teams, single table, play each team twice, top 8 make the playoffs - pure cup football format to decide MLS Cup (Quarters/Semi/Final, all single match)...
Finish top 4 in the league, guarantee a home playoff date. Higher regular season record hosts the playoff match / final...
This does remove 2-teams from the playoffs, it the league just won't have this, then add two more; 7th vs 10th for the 7th spot / 8th vs 9th for the 8th spot... 50% of the teams make the playoffs, which they probably like...
I know the league loves having 'rivals' play more often, but it cheapens the matches - you get one shot at home & away against a rival, that's it! Make the match an occasion...
But anyways...LOL
"...Money wasn't tight, but it like, it wasn't right..."
MLSE and the TFC brass are already figuring out how they can completely screw up this opportunity as well.
My guess - Drama around Defoe continues right through to January, new signings are brought in too late and don't have time to gel with the team, Bez gets canned after roster changes are made, new guy's hands are tied and can't make any other changes, Vanney has a target on his back because he's not the new guys choice, TFC raise prices or come up with some other scheme to leech the fans, Carts finally has enough an launches full beer into MLSE's suite, more drama around in-team fighting, and Parkdale finally snaps and moves to the suburbs of Scarborough.
Did I miss anything??
At first I thought the conferences were listed in alphabetical order, but then I realised they're actually the 2015 final standings.
a ha ha heh he hoo.. ha
The playoffs certainly aren't a lock for this club despite the ramifications of realignment next season. SKC and Houston moving to the Western Conference could benefit a fringe playoff club such as ours, but it would be highly presumptuous to assume that NYC and Orlando are going to be inferior clubs, when there is ample evidence to suggest that both franchises are poised to field very competitive squads.
I think the most realistic scenario is that it will be just as difficult for TFC to qualify for the post season in the East next season bases on the quality of conference rivals. It will be up to management to improve the squad in the off season to bolster our playoff aspirations.
Ha ha. That's what I thought too.
Three Conferences would be harder to seed for playoffs and would take away from the east-west divide that pretty much seems to be the setup in all NA Major League sports. I think Garber eventually will want 28 teams consisting of two 7-team divisions in each conference. That would allow for teams to play home-and-away matches within their division, and alternating home-or-away games with all the other divisions. The 34th game would be against the team from their in-conference division that finished in the same place in the standings they did the previous year. They'd probably break the teams up by:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
Atlanta
DC United
Miami
New York Red Bulls
New York City FC
Orlando City
Philadelphia Union
Northern Division
Chicago Fire
Coulmbus Crew
Minnisota
Montreal Impact
Nashville/Charlotte/Indianapolis/St Louis
New England Revolution
Toronto FC
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central Division
Colorado Rapids
FC Dallas
Houston Dynamo
Las Vegas/Phoenix/Oklahoma City
Sporting KC
Real Salt Lake
San Antonio
Pacific Division
LA Galaxy
LA FC
Portland Timbers
Sacramento
San Jose
Seattle Sounders
Vancouver Whitecaps
This configuration would probably reduce the wear and tear on players the most.
<edit: Changed LA2 to LA FC as per the announcement>
Last edited by Initial B; 10-30-2014 at 01:46 PM.
i will be betting that Orlando city will make the playoffs next year. They have been better than us on and off the field for the last six seasons.
(
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
