Another crown in LAFC’s sights

A capsule look at the Western Conference:

LAFC

LAFC won the 2022 Supporters Shield and went on to lift the MLS Cup over Philadelphia. There’s still a lot of firepower on the squad.

Austin FC

Sebastian Driussi was at times one of the league’s best players last season, and wound up leading the club with 22 goals.

FC Dallas

Dallas is loaded with talent, led by forward Jesus Ferreira, who scored 18 goals with the team last season.

LA Galaxy

Right back Julian Araujo was headed to Barcelona for a reported $4 million transfer fee but the paperwork was processed 18 seconds too late, and Araujo was in a strange limbo during the preseason.

Minnesota United

The Loons head into the season with uncertainty surrounding designated player Emanuel Reynoso.

Real Salt Lake

Winger Carlos Andres Gomez was signed in January from Colombian club Millonarios.

Portland Timbers

The Timbers missed out on the playoffs last season and made one big offseason move with the signing of Brazilian Evander.

Colorado Rapids

The Rapids finished atop the Western Conference in the 2021 season then failed to make the playoffs last year.

Seattle Sounders

The Sounders won the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League, snapping a run of 13-straight teams from Liga MX to win the title.

Sporting Kansas City

Sporting may have a battle for the starting spot at goalkeeper between veteran Tim Melia, who had hamstring issues last season, and John Pulskamp, who replaced Melia and performed well.

San Jose Earthquakes

Luchi Gonzalez, who most recently was an assistant on the U.S. national team that went to the World Cup in Qatar, returns to coach the team that drafted him as a player in 2002.

St. Louis City

City has an experienced goalkeeper in Roman Burki, who came to MLS after a long career with Borussia Dortmund in the German Bundesliga.

Vancouver Whitecaps

Veteran forward Tosaint Ricketts, who also played for Toronto FC, retired from MLS but is now on Vancouver’s staff as a club and player engagement liaison.