Welcome to Starting XI, our Friday rundown of what to watch for this weekend in MLS and beyond. And don't forget to get your Spanish-language fix with FutbolMLS.com.
Our recommended listening for this holiday weekend comes from New Media Editor Nick Rosano: "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues.
1. HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS: 'Tis the season to...start planning for the 2015 MLS season. The home openers were announced on Friday, including who the 2015 expansion clubs Orlando City and New York City FC will face to start thier MLS lives. And it comes just in time for anyone looking for a last-minute gift idea: Can you say, "season tickets"?
2. ROAD TO EL DORADO: Brek Shea is latest US international to return to this side of the pond. He completed a move back from Stoke City, signing with Orlando City on Friday. Meanwhile, fellow USMNTer Mix Diskerud is reportedly in talks with Liga MX's Club Tijuana (more on that -- and other stuff -- below). These two relatively young talents are just the latest Yanks to choose this side of the Atlantic (maybe). Who'll be next...? – NICHOLAS ROSANO
3. ...WELL, MAYBE THIS GUY: The "Jozy Altidore at Sunderland" era feels very, very, very much over after last weekend's horrifying miss. And maybe that's for the best. Jozy's shown he can score in a good league (50 goals over two years in the Netherlands) as well as for the USMNT, and is now being linked to clubs all over the world. Was he the right guy for Sunderland? Clearly not. Now it's time to stop throwing good money after bad, so to speak, and find a situation where he fits. – MATT DOYLE
4. WINDS OF CHANGE: It's conventional wisdom at this point that the Western Conference is going to be absolutely brutal in 2015. The double-winning Sounders will be back at full strength; the Galaxy will want to defend their MLS Cup; nobody was hotter down the stretch than Portland, other than perhaps Vancouver. And the only team to finish the playoffs unbeaten? None other than FC Dallas.
That'll leave a bit of work to do for two newcomers in a state of flux as well as one old standard that's finally started a rebuild. "Next Year" is coming in a hurry for Sporting, Houston and RSL. – MATT DOYLE
5. IF YOU BUILD IT...: It was a big week of news on the stadium front in MLS, with D.C. United's proposed Buzzard Point stadium getting the green light from the D.C. Council, and a similar vote -- and result -- taking place later in the day for a proposed Las Vegas stadium earmarked for a potential future MLS expansion club. No shovels are in the ground, but more reason to dream of the day when every team in MLS has a soccer stadium to call theirs and theirs alone. – NICHOLAS ROSANO
6. AN AGE-OLD QUESTION: Last Sunday the College Cup was played between UCLA and Virginia with Virginia winning the Cup in PKs after a scoreless 110 minutes. A common criticism of the Cavaliers in their title run was their lack of willingness to attack:
On Wednesday, Virginia’s statistical analyst presented an alternate viewpoint, that the strategy used by head coach George Gelnovatch was the best way for Virginia to win the game. This brings up the age-old question as to what is more important: the results, or how you get them? – BEN BAER
7. NO UNITED REDUX: Last offseason, D.C. United cleaned up in the Re-Entry Draft, getting three starters in Bobby Boswell, Fabian Espindola and Sean Franklin. Those were probably the three most crucial pick-ups of the winter for the Black-and-Red, who'd go on to take the top spot in the Eastern Conference as well as sweep their CCL group.
Now that the 2014 RED (are we calling it that?) is over, it feels like nobody scored that kind of bonanza. San Jose got a dose of much-needed speed in Marvell Wynne and Sanna Nyassi, Houston got a bit of depth thanks to Nathan Sturgis and Chandler Hoffman, and Montreal may have found themselves a backline regular in Bakary Soumare. But there's no game-changer in that group, which means the chances of a United-like turnaround (they were 43 points better in 2014 than in '13) just got that much slimmer. – MATT DOYLE
8. LIGA M(I)X: Looks like Mix wants to live in America, but may ply his trade south of the border. It seems that might be with the growing American diaspora at Club Tijuana, where Diskerud's Instagram indicated he spent some vacay time recently, but it's just talk for now and we've seen deals involving the USMNT midfielder die quickly before. Vice Sports has a look at why, exactly, it's difficult to negotiate with the Diskeruds (warning: NSFW-language in that article). – ANDREW WIEBE
9. TWEET OF THE WEEK: That Orlando City-NYCFC season opener on March 8 can't come fast enough.
10. TRUTHINESS: Stephen Colbert's final show was Thursday night, and "Our Game" had a presence. No, it wasn't just former William & Mary midfielder Jon Stewart (seriously, he was a scholarship athlete for a good team that went head-to-head vs. Bruce Arena's Virginia Cavs of the early '80s), but also newly minted Fox Soccer analyst Alexi Lalas. – MATT DOYLE
11. ONE KING: Colbert's done, and Thierry Henry made it official this week as well. Let's say farewell one last time, shall we? The man made the entire league better, and will be truly missed. – MATT DOYLE
