2021 MLS Season Preview/Predictions

Photo credit: LA Galaxy

Much like last year this piece will be split into two parts – a season preview and season predictions. Also, like last year, I will begin with the former.

Season Preview:

With the announcement today that the U.S. Open Cup will be postponed and perhaps even cancelled for 2021 the LA Galaxy will only have MLS to focus on this year. In all honesty, I think this is a bit of a shame. It does mean that Kansas City, Portland, and Seattle are the only teams in our conference that have to play in more than just MLS which is certainly a disadvantage to them. This being because they are to participate in the Concacaf Champions League and Leagues Cup depending on the team. But, I would like to see the Galaxy get to show in Open Cup. With the young depth pieces we have I think a run in the tournament would be very plausible and an exciting prospect for our year, alas we will just have to see if we will get that chance or not.

The Covid-19 pandemic has not only cancelled the Open Cup, but has also jumbled our schedule for 2021. 32 of our 34 games will be within our conference, and weirder yet the only two that aren’t will be our first two games of the year. In addition, we will face every team in the Western Conference three times, barring Austin, Colorado, and SKC who we will face twice each. This I do hope will help us. Traditionally, we have had trouble in cross-conference away games due to the extremely long distances we would have to travel from Los Angeles. So, ideally by eliminating those our away record will be better than usual.

Another thing that could bolster our away record is our youthful squad. The Galaxy of years passed (2020 included) have been on the older side and sluggish on the road, but with our 13 players aged 23 or younger, stamina should not be an issue down the stretch. However, despite the advantages it may bring, I do fear a lack of experience will likely hinder us this year.

The 2021 LA Galaxy, as it sits today, is not yet a contender. I am sorry if that is news to anyone reading, though it does seem to be true. There are likely more acquisitions on the way, I am just saying as of today I don’t see us winning MLS Cup. Yes, the additions of Jonathan Bond, Kévin Cabral, Samuel Grandsir, Víctor Vázquez, Jorge Villafaña, and Derrick Williams look like great pieces of business, but that doesn’t mean we’re ready. Cabral, Grandsir, and Williams are huge question marks. Cabral isn’t even in the U.S. yet, Grandsir was only fit enough to play 25 minutes in our final preseason game, and Williams was injured all the way through preseason. If all three of them turn out to be great then I might just stand corrected, and hopefully so. But, I am going to learn from the mistakes I made last year. In 2020 I bet on all of our risks paying off, and majority failed. I predicted we’d win MLS Cup! We finished 10th in our conference and were taken out of playoff contention before the last day of the season! Did I know I was being optimistic? Absolutely. Did I know just how optimistic? Clearly not.

It is not just players brought in from elsewhere who will be looking to have seasons to remember either. Cameron Dunbar who was with the first team last year, but only recorded four appearances, Jonathan Pérez who signed with the first team last year, but never got on the field, and Jalen Neal and Adam Saldaña who both came up this year all look like they could be set to be the breakout star of this season. Pérez netted a goal against the Revolution in preseason and Neal started a few games, also in preseason, but frankly I am looking more at the other two. Dunbar showed real potential in his few minutes last year and backed it up in Tucson. He looks fast, he looks unafraid, and he looks like he might just be ready. He is not the biggest player on the field, but it will be tough to find anyone who can keep up with his pace. As for Saldaña, he looks like a bulldog in the middle of the park. No passes played through the middle are safe when he is in there. He runs and runs and has rather solid vision as well. He did let quite a few passes go astray in our friendlies, but if he can reel that problem in, he could be a dangerous player to have this year and going forward. Plus, a bulldog in the middle from the Valley? I’m getting some déjà vu to Rafael Garcia.

However, this year is not just one of new looking faces to the first team. It is also time for some more well-known ones to break out. Most notable is Efraín Álvarez. Yes, he is only 18 currently, not even a year older than myself, yet this is his third season as a first team player, it is time to start seeing results. In 2020, he made 16 appearances, and in that time he scored just one single goal and recorded only one single assist. I’m not sold on Efra. I’m aware that Zlatan adored him, and I’m sure he of all people can spot talent better than I can, at the moment, I just don’t totally get what he saw. Our other rising star, is my local hero – Julian Araujo. Growing up just about 20 miles from Araujo and presumably attending some of the same all-star soccer tournaments as a kid, I can’t help but love him. That, topped with his tenacity always makes me excited to see him play. However, he also is yet to all the way prove himself. In my opinion, he has proven more than Efra so far, but until his disciplinary record looks better, he will still not quite be elite in MLS.

Even still, if we are to have a good run in the playoffs this year, it will need to be backed by more than just teenagers and newcomers. That means we will need some long-standing veterans to do their part as well. Sebastian Lletget had what in my opinion was his best ever year in blue, white, and gold in 2020 – he will need to have a similar year this time around. Jonathan dos Santos was injured for most of last year – he will need to stay fit in 2021. Most of all, the elephant in the room heading into 2021 – Javier Hernández. Chicharito only netted twice for the Galaxy in all of 2020, that is unacceptable even in the shortened season we had last year. He is going to need to put up at least 10 goals to be okay this year and 15 to be considered an at all worth it investment. Will he do that, though? I am not so sure. He looked good in preseason, but didn’t even snag one. I don’t think you’d be a smart better to say he certainly will not score 10-15 or even more this year, but you also wouldn’t be to say he will.

There are too many question marks around us this year for me to be at all sure what will happen to us this year, but the last thing I will say before I discuss predictions is this – 2021 appears to be a rebuild year above all. Even if all goes wrong and we miss the playoffs by a mile, I still see the pieces there to a bright future. We have a lot of talented looking young players and even a mostly youthful squad for the first time in a long time. Greg Vanney seems to have a system that he is engraining into this team in order to be successful for years to come. In short, this is the first time I have truly felt good about the next five or so years of the LA Galaxy in quite a while.

Season Predictions:

Predicted starting XI (of players we have today and once everyone is fit):

• GK: Jonathan Bond
• LB: Jorge Villafaña
• CB: Derrick Williams
• CB: Daniel Steres
• RB: Julian Araujo
• CM: Jonathan dos Santos
• CM: Sebastian Lletget
• CAM: Víctor Vázquez
• LW: Kévin Cabral
• RW: Samuel Grandsir
• ST: Chicharito

Points tally: 48

Postseason finish: Playoff first round

Best player: Samuel Grandsir

Leading scorer (# of goals): Chicharito (13)

Assist leader (# of assists): Samuel Grandsir (14)

Best defensive player: Julian Araujo

Breakout player: Cameron Dunbar (I’d say Cabral, but being a DP it’s more of an expectation to do very well than it is “breaking out”)

Western Conference Standings:

1. Minnesota United
2. Sporting KC
3. Portland Timbers
4. LAFC
5. Seattle Sounders
6. LA Galaxy
7. Colorado Rapids
8. FC Dallas
9. San Jose Earthquakes
10. Austin FC
11. Real Salt Lake
12. Houston Dynamo
13. Vancouver Whitecaps

Eastern Conference Standings:

1. Columbus Crew
2. Orlando City
3. Atlanta United
4. New England Revolution
5. Philadelphia Union
6. Nashville SC
7. Toronto FC
8. Inter Miami
9. FC Cincinnati
10. New York Red Bulls
11. New York City FC
12. CF Montréal
13. Chicago Fire
14. D.C. United

That’s all from, so, let’s celebrate a new season and a new era under Greg Vanney! G’z up.