MLS 2011 Previews: SB Nation Editors Give Team-By-Team Analysis

Leading into the preseason, many people thought they had a good idea as to who would make up about half of the starting XI on opening night against Chivas USA. The one thing that people couldn’t seem to agree on, though, was who would start at forward, because that was an area that was believed to have a lot of depth and players vying for playing time. A month later, it still remains a talking point, but now, it’s because of the injury situation at the forward spot.

Teal Bunbury suffered a dislocated elbow on Feb. 15 and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks, so that puts First Kick in some doubt for the newly initiated United States national teamer. He has said recently he expects to be available for the season opener, but unless he’s 100 percent and there is no risk of re-injuring that elbow, it would be slightly silly to rush him back; especially with such a marathon season this year. Fellow forward Ryan Smith, who came to the team last year and quickly dazzled the league with his creative dribbling ability and old Arsenal playing style. As someone who gave the defenders of MLS fits last year, Smith was often subjected to brash tackles, so injuries obviously mounted, given his slender frame. It was unexpected coming into preseason that he was injured and would still be unable to participate in his first practice, even now, so he is in serious doubt for the opener.

The biggest strength of the FCD lineup heading into 2011 is the defense. Dallas allowed the fewest goals per game in team history last season and they return everyone except Heath Pearce from last year’s team. There’s a depth that not many teams can match and when Daniel Hernandez is added, Dallas is just plain tough to score on. They’ll look to attack down the wings with Shea and Chavez while freeing up space for David Ferreira to pick out the deadly pass or shot.

That said, here’s who I seeing starting for First Kick: Hartman; Jackson, Loyd, John, Benitez; Hernandez, Chavez, Alexander, Shea; Ferreira, Rodriguez.

A lot is expected of Lenhart as the newest Earthquake to take on the target forward responsibilities demanded by Yallop’s tactical system. With very few changes expected in the list of 18 players that will dress each week in the early part of this season when compared to 2010, Lenhart will be asked to be the difference maker for an offense that was overly reliant on Wondolowski for its scoring punch. He has already proved in the preseason that he can play well alongside the more established Earthquakes, and he should have plenty of opportunities to score in double digits in 2011.

We’ll start off by going through the Western Conference in no particular order and finish up with the Eastern Conference. The previews will be posting over the course of the next couple weeks.

For each preview, we asked people who cover the teams (most of them as the editor of a SB Nation site) to answer five questions and asked them to answer two of their own questions. We wanted to know who would start, which additions and subtractions would have the biggest impacts, at what point the season would be considered a success and whose performance would be most indicative of the team’s.