Whoever replaces Steve Cherundolo as head coach of the Los Angeles Football Club next season will get to work with a group of players who understand and appreciate one another.
Following consecutive offseasons that featured significant roster turnover, the 2026 team (and beyond) should look a lot like it does heading into the start of the MLS Cup playoffs on Wednesday.
A key member of the group that lifted an MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield and U.S. Open Cup since 2022, defender Ryan Hollingshead will remain with LAFC through 2027, the club announced Friday.
“We’re thrilled to have come to terms with Ryan on another extension,” LAFC co-president and general manager John Thorrington said in a statement. “Ryan is a valued veteran and fully earned this extension through his consistency and team-first attitude. He leads by example, raises the standard every day, and delivers in big moments.”
Opting against exercising his impending free agency, Hollingshead’s second new contract with LAFC represents the club’s fourth contract extension since mid-September.
The 34-year-old native of Granite Bay, Calif., a UCLA Bruin from 2009-2012, joins Sergi Palencia, Timothy Tillman and Nathan Ordaz among the players who recently agreed to stay with the Black & Gold for the foreseeable future.
One of the league’s top scorers along the back line, Hollingshead is tied for the second-most goals by a defensive player in MLS history (31) and leads all active defenders. He added a pair to his tally during the 2025 regular season to go with three assists in 31 appearances, giving him four straight years with 30 or more MLS games and at least 22 starts. In all competitions through 173 games with LAFC, Hollingshead has 20 goals and 13 assists.
A nominee for the 2025 Audi Goals Drive Progress Impact Award, Hollingshead was named MLS Works Humanitarian of the Year in 2017 with FC Dallas, where he played eight seasons before being traded to LAFC.
“Our locker rooms for four straight years have just been unbeatable,” Hollingshead said in August. “The way the group competes together, the way the group fights for each other, it’s been something really special. I’m just grateful to be a part of it. You know in this sport and sports in general that this doesn’t last forever.”
Holding a lead with less than five minutes to go, the Colorado Rapids had the playoffs in their hands late Saturday night.
A few minutes later, their season was over — done in by an awkward bounce and rebound that allowed red-hot LAFC to equalize in the 90th minute and dash the Rapids’ hopes of qualifying for the wild card round of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
With Real Salt Lake choking away a lead of its own against St. Louis, Colorado would have sealed the No. 9 seed in the west had it held on at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
Instead, the 2-all draw kept the Rapids (11-15-8) out of the postseason for the third time in four years and sent them into an offseason filled with uncertainty.
“(It’s) pretty much just the highest highs and the lowest lows,” said forward Darren Yapi, whose 87th-minute header put the Rapids ahead, 2-1. “Scoring that goal, I felt like we were through (to the playoffs) and that we were good, and then, you know, they responded. I can’t even process it right now.”
LAFC substitute Andrew Moran tied the game up in the 90th minute after a shot ricocheted off the post straight to his boot. Son Heung-Min opened the scoring with a rocket in the first half, then Paxten Aaronson opened his Rapids account to equalize in the 62nd minute.
No team has found a solution to Son and Denis Bouanga’s reign of terror since the South Korean icon’s arrival for a league-record transfer fee 10 games ago. But to the Rapids’ credit, both were relatively neutralized aside from Son’s stunner. They’ve done that to plenty of striking powers, especially at DSGP, but it didn’t protect them from the final few minutes, when the mood of the team swung as much as it possibly could have.
That’s been a theme of the 2025 Rapids. Coach Chris Armas and numerous players preached their rule of thumb that mentally, they don’t get too high or too low. According to Cole Bassett, that gets difficult when it seems like peaks and valleys are all that exist.
“It hits a little bit more once the season is over and you know you’re probably not playing a game for three months. That’s tough for all of us to process, and we didn’t want to go out this way,” Bassett said. “I think throughout the season, you definitely need to stay even-keeled, but there’s definitely things we can work on from what (Armas) has said throughout the year, because maybe we did get too high or too low in moments and that cost us games.”
Another core principle of this season has been uncertainty and turbulence, which is now carrying through to the offseason.
Just this summer, Chidozie Awaziem requested a transfer to France for personal reasons, then the club’s talisman, Djordje Mihailovic, demanded a trade to Toronto near the end of the window. Replacements came in for both, but their efficacy in those roles is still to be determined with just a few games under their belt.
The biggest question, though, is whether Armas will be at the helm to see that through.
The head coach didn’t directly respond when asked about his future with the club, but club president Pádraig Smith said multiple times this season that an extension was on the way. As recently as a few weeks ago, Armas said he wanted to stay in Colorado, and after Saturday’s match, he spoke about the team’s future while implying he’d be a part of it.
“It’s fresh, the season just ended,” Armas said. “We’ll have discussions with leadership and continue some discussions. That’s all I can say for now.”
Given the Rapids players’ admiration of Armas and the simultaneous freefall out of the playoff picture, it’s tough to decipher which direction the club will take.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Vancouver got an early goal from a red-hot Ryan Gauld and two own goals from Western Conference top seed LAFC, Yohei Takaoka posted his third clean sheet in five postseason starts, and the Whitecaps breezed to a 3-0 victory on Sunday night to even their best-of-three first-round series for the MLS Cup.
Vancouver, the eighth seed in the West, jumped out to a 2-0 lead 13 minutes into the match and carried it into halftime on a goal by Gauld and an own goal by LAFC defender Ryan Hollingshead.
Gauld gave the Whitecaps the lead with an unassisted goal off a deflection in the 10th minute. Gauld has five goals this postseason after not scoring in his first three playoff appearances. He had a hat trick in a 5-0 victory at home over the Portland Timbers in the wildcard round and scored the only goal for Vancouver in a 2-1 loss to LAFC in the series opener.
The only scoring in the second half came courtesy of an own goal from LAFC defender Eddie Segura in the 68th minute, four minutes after he subbed in for Maxime Chanot.
Takaoka finished with three saves for the Whitecaps.
Hugo Lloris saved one shot in his second postseason start for LAFC in his first season in the league.
LAFC beat the Whitecaps in Vancouver to finish off a sweep in the same round last season on its way to the conference championship.
LAFC entered having won seven in a row across all competitions, outscoring its opponents 16-5.
The Whitecaps were only 6-7-4 at home during the regular season and winless in their last four — including a 2-1 loss to LAFC — but outscored their two playoff opponents 8-0 in the victories.
Vancouver held LAFC’s Denis Bouanga in check after he scored four goals in his first three playoff matches against the Whitecaps.
LAFC will host the rubber match of the series on Friday.
Another championship game against the Columbus Crew, another loss for LAFC.
Columbus once again bested LAFC, riding a Cucho Hernández brace to a 3-1 victory in Sunday’s Leagues Cup 2024 final at Lower.com Field. The game was a rematch of last season’s MLS Cup final, where LAFC was beaten 2-1.
Olivier Giroud scored his first goal for LAFC to tie the score at 1-1 in the 57th minute, but the Crew scored twice in stoppage time to take the title match.
Hernández scored in the 45th minute to give Columbus a 1-0 lead and tallied the game-winner.
During their historic congested schedule last year, the 2023 U.S. Open Cup felt diminished compared to previous attempts by the Los Angeles Football Club at claiming the oldest trophy in American soccer.
LAFC featured in six competitions – going 0 for 6 wasn’t in the conversation – and the early stages of the U.S. Open Cup in the spring felt small fry compared to the weight of a nearly complete CONCACAF Champions League run or a handful of trophies that were up for grabs along the way.
The sense that the Open Cup had been relegated to the back seat was reinforced when LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo left his regular starters and most of their backups in L.A., relying instead on the organization’s MLS Next Pro second team against an opponent familiar to many of them, second-tier USL Championship side Monterey Bay FC.
“It was physically not possible last year to play that many games with our strongest 11,” Cherundolo recalled. “It was a moment where we needed to rotate heavily, and that’s what we did.”
Going with the youngsters created the conditions for a win-win. It provided the first team a break following 15 games in seven weeks. Meanwhile, homegrown talent Nathan Ordaz, Erik Duenas and Christian Torres had an opportunity to rally younger players they knew from the academy and reserve teams and do something special. After 120 minutes and penalty kicks, the outcome ranked among the club’s most memorable days.
“It was a fun game,” said Ordaz, who started and scored in the decisive shootout. “It was really intense. Everybody wanted to win and it was good to pull out that underdog story.”
So much so that despite bowing out of the 109-year-old knockout competition against the rival Galaxy in the next round, the energy inside the club – from the academy through the first team, the coaching staff and the front office – turned the short-lived tournament into a prideful jolt.
“It’s not like they threw a whole party for us but they definitely were proud of us,” recalled Christopher Jaime, a 20-year-old attacking midfielder for LAFC2 who assisted on the opening goal against Monterey. “Everyone in the club, whether it was right after both games or at the facility later, I think everyone from John Thorrington and the players like Carlos [Vela], they were just congratulating us and telling us how proud they were of us because no one really expected us to go through the first round and especially not to fight a full Galaxy starting 11.”
From plucky underdog to clear favorites, LAFC is one of eight MLS teams stepping into the latest edition of the U.S. Open Cup, joining the top eight USL Championship teams from the previous season along with 16 other squads that won their way to this stage.
Fewer competitions and a light league schedule so far in 2024 have flipped the paradigm for LAFC’s Round of 32 Open Cup match against the Las Vegas Lights at Cashman Field, a converted minor league baseball stadium where Cherundolo’s first team should be well represented on Wednesday night.
There will still be some rotation, including goalkeeper Abraham Romero, a former player on the Lights, starting in place of Hugo Lloris.
For two seasons, Las Vegas served as LAFC’s second-team affiliate. That partnership ended when LAFC2 launched in MLS Next Pro last year.
Going further in the elimination tournament than ever before following a 2-1 win against the Spokane Velocity, the Lights have earned the right to engineer a shocker of their own.
Under new ownership, led by retired baseball player Jose Bautista, the current incarnation of the Lights, completely rebuilt a month before competition began in March, are 3-6 in the USL Championship this season.
News of a trip to Las Vegas marked a full-circle moment for numerous contributors in Monterey, including Cherundolo, who coached the Lights in 2021 in his transition from European to American soccer prior to replacing Bob Bradley.
“It’s definitely a story to tell,” said Ordaz, whose pro debut came with the Lights in 2021.
Halftime shows and starting lineup photos that included llamas named Dollie and Dotty; canceled games due to giant potholes in the middle of the turf; daytime bus rides through the desert with busted air conditioners; 3 a.m. return trips straight from Cashman Field to L.A., all the while learning how to be a professional.
“I’d lie if I said it wasn’t emotional,” Cherundolo said. “When we heard the draw I got really excited. I’m looking forward to going back to Cashman with LAFC now.”
Attempting to reach a third straight MLS Cup final, the Los Angeles Football Club seems poised to make another run in a league that comes off like it penalizes success.
Despite this trying reality, LAFC keeps finding ways to compete. Following a ton of roster turnover – again – the 2024 season ought to feel fresh yet familiar whether or not Carlos Vela returns. His status, of course, remains the biggest question about the upcoming season.
Here are a few more:
What happened with the 3252 supporters sanctions?
Fans inside BMO Stadium should not notice anything different about the sights, sounds and feels coming out of the North End of the building, where the 3252 independent supporters union has earned a reputation as one of if not the most passionate and important drivers of fan culture in Major League Soccer.
For about a minute and a half last December, close to 20 supporters lit flares that cast a red glow onto them and their brethren in the standing section before billowing black smoke delayed kickoff.
Smoke wasn’t the issue. (BMO Stadium, like many MLS venues, accommodates “safe smoke,” which manifests on goals and at the start of matches with the consent of the Fire Marshal.) The incendiary nature of the flares and the way they were brought into the 22,000 seat venue was the trouble.
A few days later, MLS fined LAFC $100,000 and revoked the supporters group’s privileges for 2024.
The club, the venue and the league office established a working group that met weekly. They intended to identify anyone involved while reviewing security processes and supporter management.
The people who lit the flares were eventually ID’d or came forward. Each of them is suspended for 2024, and several, including some founding members, face lifetime bans that can be reviewed.
The club is beefing up security at the stadium on game day, particularly in the North End. And LAFC is working on a PSA about the prohibition of pyrotechnic items in the stadium.
The 3252 leadership was included in discussions emphasizing that this sort of thing violates the MLS Fan Code of Conduct and won’t be tolerated. Those sessions proved productive, and, along with putting in place measures to ensure this wouldn’t happen again, the league reinstated the 3252.
Will LAFC play in the U.S. Open Cup?
Will MLS?
It’s all a big TBD.
LAFC players have been told that the Open Cup – the oldest soccer tournament in America – is a tournament they should expect to compete in this year.
“We are preparing ourselves for MLS regular season games, U.S. Open Cup games, Leagues Cup games and playoff games,” said defensive midfielder Ilie Sanchez. “That’s what we’ve been told so far and that’s our mentality and our goals for this following season.”
Are the kids more than alright?
Erik Dueñas and Nathan Ordaz stepped up their contributions in 2023. That progression must continue as the homegrowns play alongside an influx of similarly young prospects who joined LAFC in the offseason.
Ordaz could be the early-season replacement for Vela in the middle of the LAFC attack, and he’ll need to poach and create goals to play above Tomas Angel or David Martinez.
Dueñas needs to be ready to jump into a midfield unit that could get thin quickly if it can’t avoid injury.
Did Eduard Atuesta improve after playing two years in Brazil?
El Profe thinks he is more physical than when he departed LAFC.
An injury during Atuesta’s time with Palmeiras forced the 26-year-old Colombian to live in the gym and “that was good for my body, for my legs,” he said. “Now I have a different intensity.”
Comfortable setting up attackers or playing more defensively as a 6, Atuesta offers several dimensions for Steve Cherundolo to utilize in the middle of the park.
Should LAFC be concerned about its center backs?
The back line needed to regroup after Giorgio Chiellini’s retirement and the departure of consistent contributors. It heads into Season 7 with four center backs on the roster – Jesus Murillo, Aaron Long, Eddie Segura and Lorenzo Dellavale.
Already Dellavale, the 19-year-old Italian, took a knock and is out of the season opener with a right knee injury.
Segura is fully recovered from a torn ACL that took two surgeries to fix last year, and he missed the 2021 season with the same injury. He has to show he can be a regular contributor.
As it sets up right now, Long and Murillo should be solid after getting plenty of minutes together last year.
With Jose Cifuentes and Diego Palacios heading to big clubs in Brazil and Scotland in recent months, the Los Angeles Football Club has quickly reloaded its complement of young talent.
On Thursday, LAFC welcomed perhaps its most intriguing prospect yet: 17-year-old David Martinez.
The Venezuelan forward, who was closely linked to Dutch powerhouse Ajax, joins LAFC through 2027, with a club option for one more year, as part of Major League Soccer’s U22 initiative.
“David is one of the most sought-after young players in South America with an impressive amount of experience despite his age,” LAFC co-president and general manager John Thorrington said in a release announcing the news. “We are incredibly excited about David’s potential and his future at LAFC.”
The U22 designation encourages MLS teams to develop and spend on talent by freeing up the salary budget for three players aged 22 years or younger.
The signing of Mexican fullback Omar Campos, a direct replacement for Palacios at left back, was also announced Tuesday as part of the U22 initiative.
The fee for Martinez, who made his senior team debut with Monagas SC of Venezuela’s first division at the age of 16, approached $3.5 million, according to The Athletic.
Over the past two years, Martinez stood out among prospects around the world who were born in 2006.
For Monagas, Martinez made 38 appearances, including 24 starts, scoring six goals and assisting on five more in all competitions, including a handful of matches in the Copa Libertadores tournament.
He also captained Venezuela’s U-17 side to its first World Cup qualification in a decade. He played for the U-20s at the age of 16. And he debuted with the men’s national team in June in a friendly against Guatemala.
A gifted dribbler, facilitator and finisher, the book on Martinez has him playing on the wing or as an attacking midfielder.
He turns 18 on Feb. 7.
Martinez joins Campos and Uruguayan forward Cristian Olivera, giving LAFC a trio of U22 players to watch heading into 2024.
(Croatian forward Stipe Biuk had signed as a U22 prior to last season, but he won’t count against the current roster following a recent loan to Real Valladolid of Spain’s second division.)
Having three U22s means LAFC is hemmed in as to what it can do with a pair of available Designated Player positions. Talks with Carlos Vela, the club’s longtime captain and first designated player signing, are ongoing. Should the two sides come to terms, the LAFC could still add a Young DP.
SiriusXM is your home for Major League Soccer action — and we have you covered for the 2023 MLS Cup at 4:00pm ET, Saturday, December 9.
Subscribers can hear the live broadcast of the can’t-miss match on SiriusXM FC.
2023 MLS Cup Recap Columbus Crew:
Columbus Crew’s journey to the MLS Cup was marked by strategic decisions and impactful moments. Securing Wilfried Nancy mid-contract from CF Montréal proved pivotal, as the French coach’s influence transformed the Crew into the league’s most dynamic team, leading in goals and possession.
The seamless transition from losing playmaker Lucas Zelarayán midseason to signing Diego Rossi showcased the team’s adaptability, with Rossi’s contributions complementing the Crew’s needs. Cucho Hernández’s stellar performance post-Rossi’s arrival, the contribution of young talents from the MLS NEXT Pro pipeline, and a legendary comeback against FC Cincinnati highlighted the Crew’s resilience and chemistry, bringing them to the brink of winning the MLS Cup.
2023 MLS Cup Recap LAFC:
LAFC’s path to the MLS Cup is defined by Dénis Bouanga’s goal-scoring, securing the MLS Golden Boot with 20 goals and seven assists in the regular season. When LAFC endured a challenging stretch during the summer, a pivotal moment in El Tráfico sparked a turnaround, setting the stage for their impressive late-season form.
The team’s resilience was evident in a grueling schedule of 53 games across multiple competitions, showcasing their deep roster and championship spirit. The return of goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau, with five clean sheets, and unexpected contributions from veteran fullback Ryan Hollingshead, who scored three playoff goals, including the decisive strike in the Western Conference Final, highlighted the team’s collective strength and versatility. LAFC heads into the MLS Cup final with a blend of goal-scoring excellence, defensive prowess, and a battle-tested mentality.
In addition to live play-by-play, SiriusXM FC offers listeners daily soccer talk programming hosted by an expert cast of former players, coaches, executives and journalists from the U.S. and abroad. SiriusXM FC (Ch. 157) is available to subscribers nationwide in their car and on the SiriusXM app.
Gareth Bale of LAFC lifts the championship trophy as he celebrates with teammates during the 2022 … [+] MLS Cup Final at Banc of California Stadium on Saturday.
Getty Images
Not every MLS club has the kind of quality-of-life perks that can convince a star of Gareth Bale’s caliber to play for less than $2.4 million in guaranteed annual compensation. And not every player of Bale’s stature would be content as a late-game weapon off the bench, even if — as we’re told here — that owed mostly to injury.
But when Bale hammered an astounding 128th-minute leveler past Andre Blake to send Satuday’s MLS Cup final to penalties — where LAFC triumphed following a 3-3 draw — he may have also ushered in a new era: The age of MLS role players.
Bale’s role as a sort of late-game, not-so-secret weapon made him just one of several LAFC players who had highly focused parts to play at times during their domestic double-winning season.
Heck, he wasn’t even the only key roleplayer Saturday. Back-up goalkeeper John McCarthy had to be called into action because of an injury to Maxime Crepeau, but his acumen at saving penalties is so exceptional he might have come on as a late-game sub anyway. He was used this way in previous U.S. Open Cup matches at his previous team — the Union.
Elsewhere on the pitch, former LAFC center back Mamadou Fall was a set piece aerial menace before leaving on a loan move to Villareal B. Ryan Hollingshead was originally intended to be LAFC’s offensive-minded right fullback, though injuries conspired to see him start 22 games at right back.
This approach isn’t exactly novel in team sports or even in soccer — although it is far easier in soccer recently in the wake of pandemic-era rules changes allowing up to five subs per team, per match. It is however, very rarely taken to the extent in MLS that LAFC were able to by bringing in stars like Bale and Giorgio Chielini on team-friendly deals. (LAFC’s 15 goals scored by substitute’s were the third-most in MLS history.)
The roster rules in MLS have for most of the league’s life made it difficult for teams to invest money with a focus on depth rather than top-end talent. But those restrictions have loosened slowly over the last decade, with the introduction of general and targeted allocation money to be used on roster spending, and more recently the creation of the league’s U22 initiative. And with the influx of some new money from the league’s new $2.5-billion, 10-year streaming deal with Apple, there’s reason to believe they may loosen even more in the near future.
While not every club can lure a Bale-like player on a below-market-value contract, those developments should lead to salaries being spread more evenly across 30-man rosters. And that in turn will lead to more sporting directors and managers to think not only about spending purposefully on 90-minute players, but only those who can fill a crucial role in shorter shifts.
There are already some signs of this occurring beyond LAFC. The crosstown rival LA Galaxy are a great example. Veteran midfielders Victor Vazquez and Sacha Kljestan inhabited the role of calming influences in the center of the park, though their 90-minute days are mostly behind them. Dejan Joveljic was arguably the best bench scorer in the league, and all the while Greg Vanney mostly resisted the temptation to start him alongside Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez.
Elsewhere, Felipe was chief agitator in reserve at Austin FC. Dom Dwyer had a bit of a career resurrection as a super sub striker for Atlanta United. Philadelphia’s Jack McGlynn and Cory Burke were starting-level attacking options off the bench.
Furthermore, at the most-recent IFAB meeting in June, the governing body of the laws of the game made using five substitutes during a match a permanent option for competitions around the world. Should MLS opt to keep five subs in its league games, it only stands to reason that teams will have more incentive to assemble a wider range of skillsets for managers to be able to deploy at the most opportune times.
Sure, the Black & Gold may be a special case. Everything in Los Angeles generally is when it comes to MLS. But they may also be a test case, one that passed its examination in stunning fashion when Bale scored in the dying moments on Saturday afternoon.
Philadelphia Union striker Cory Burke, left, celebrates his goal in the second half of the 2022 … [+] Eastern Conference Final against New York City FC last Sunday.
Getty Images
If you follow MLS regularly, you know the league has one of the strongest home field advantages in North American pro sports and in global club soccer. And if past history is to be believed, that advantage grows even larger in the MLS Cup final.
Well, sort of.
Home teams have won at least 48% of MLS regular season and playoff matches (after 90 minutes plus stoppage time) in every 34-game season played since 2012, with the percentage rising above 50% in several of those years.
Entering Saturday’s MLS Cup final between hosts LAFC and the visiting Philadelphia Union, 2022 home teams have a 49% win rate, with another 25% of matches finishing level after 90 minutes.
Yet since the league switched to an MLS Cup format where the higher remaining seed hosts the final, the away team in the final has pulled off only one regulation victory in 13 tries. This includes the last 11 MLS Cup finals, as well as the 1997 and 2002 games, in which D.C. United and the New England Revolution, respectively, reached finals they were already selected to host as the “neutral” site.
However, when you add games decided in overtime or penalties, the road team has lifted the cup on four of those 13 occasions, a trend that could be of particular use to bettors or producers of the 6 o’clock news in Philadelphia. The 2002 LA Galaxy won their MLS Cup in New England on a golden goal; The Seattle Sounders in 2016 and New York City FC last year both required penalties.
Home teams have also required extra time on two occasions, making home teams’ 90-minute record 7-1-5 (W-L-D) in those 13 games. Those seven wins in 13 games is statistically similar to the winning rate of home teams in MLS overall. And you might expect it to be a little higher, since the better regular season performer is nearly always the home team in MLS Cup (the lone exception being New England in 2002).
So maybe it’s not home field advantage overall that is greater in the MLS Cup so much as home field momentum. Away teams appear to have just as much of a chance as they always do so long as they’re tied or in the lead. But if they go behind, they can lose their grip on the game more quickly.
There’s two points of evidence for this. The first is there have been more 90-minute home wins by two goals in MLS Cup (five) than by one goal (two). The second is that only one away MLS Cup final team has ever leveled after falling behind — when New England’s Chris Tierney scored in the 79th minute of the 2014 final against the LA Galaxy. (The Galaxy won in extra time on Robbie Keane’s 111th-minute winner.)
The good news for the Union is they might be better equipped than most to lift a trophy in those road conditions, for a couple reasons.
Firstly, there is usually at least a small gap in regular season performance between the higher seeded MLS Cup host and lower seeded visitor. But in this case, the Union are literally having to travel across the continent for the game because MLS uses total wins as its first tiebreaker in the standings. In other leagues that use goal-differential as the first tiebreak, the Union would be hosting after both teams finished with 67 points.
Secondly, it’s the Union who have been the more likely to play from the early lead this season. They’ve entered halftime with a lead in 18 of 36 regular season and playoff games. By contrast, LAFC have held a first-half lead on only nine of 36 occasions, and even at home the Black & Gold have led only six out of 19 times at half.
Gareth Bale has two goals in 12 appearances and 355 minutes playing for LAFC, and doesn’t seem … [+] likely to feature prominently in the remainder of the team’s postseason run.
Getty Images
When news first circulated this June that Los Angeles Football Club would be adding Gareth Bale to an already talented, first-place squad, conventional wisdom suggested the rest of their season would go one of two ways:
Bale would add an extra gear to the Black & Gold as they steamrolled to their first MLS Cup title, or …
He would ruin team chemistry as a square peg inside a round hole and sabotage an excellent season.
Perhaps we should’ve seen envisioned a third scenario that already transpired once in his last season at his former club, Real Madrid: That Bale plays a largely ornamental role, and the most talented team in the league — Bale’s team — wins the title anyway.
There’s still two games to go, of course, but that third possibility now appears entirely credible after LAFC vanquished intracity rival the LA Galaxy 3-2 in the Western Conference semifinals on Thursday night.
That’s not to say LAFC haven’t benefited from their ability to splash cash during the summer transfer window where other teams might not have as many resources.
Cristian Arango, added during the 2021 summer window, scored Thursday night’s match-winning goal, his 31st in 52 MLS regular season and playoff appearances. Denis Bouanga, signed this summer from St. Etienne in France, was man of the match with two goals and a key contribution on Arango’s winner. He also scored the goal that sealed LAFC’s Supporters’ Shield triumph in Portland.
But Bale was not even on the team sheet, officially recovered from a minor injury but not yet fit enough to play, according to the FS1 broadcast. And given how LAFC acquitted itself, it’s hard to imagine a scenario at this point where he is anything more than a bit-part player this postseason.
While Bale started life at LAFC well, scoring twice in his first four matches, it’s been downhill since. He’s played 355 minutes in 12 appearances. His new side failed to score while he was on the field in either of his two starts, and overall LAFC have posted a -5 goal differential when he’s on the pitch. In those same games, they’ve outscored opponents by 11 goals when he’s not on the field.
So while there remains some chance he could be scapegoated as the one piece of the LAFC puzzle that failed to come through if they fall short of MLS Cup, it’s near-equally likely he could leave a somewhat confusing legacy as an MLS Cup winner.
There’s many examples of European stars who come to MLS and immediately lift their new teams to a next level. Among them: Robbie Keane at the LA Galaxy, David Villa at New York City FC and Wayne Rooney at D.C. United. Equally, there are stars whose arrivals seemed to do as much harm as good, at least at first. Exhibit A would be the early years of David Beckham’s tenure at the LA Galaxy, and the most recent example might be Gonzalo Higuain’s first season-and-a-half at Inter Miami.
But what do you make of a star of Bale’s brightness having almost no tangible impact?
One interpretation could be that LAFC have built one of the first MLS brands bigger than a single global icon. But Bale has been — from outward appearances at least — a model citizen since his arrival in Southern California. And this might all have gone differently if he had expressed displeasure publicly with how he had been used so far.
A second potential argument is that his mere presence had a benefit even if it didn’t come with on-field production. The idea that a guy who played at Real Madrid could replace you if you don’t perform could have been a motivator to players like Arango and Bouanga, in particular. Conversely, all the attention given to Bale since his arrival may have actually taken pressure off the rest of the roster.
In the long term, it seems like Bale’s MLS chapter is unlikely to change many minds in front offices about their approach toward signing big stars. Clubs inclined to stay away from big names are likely to look at Bale’s underwhelming impact as evidence that such star power is unnecessary. Clubs who want glitz and glamour might see Bale’s travails as evidence you can swing and miss on one big signing and still succeed on the field if you do other things right.
The opening round of the 2022 MLS Cup playoffs lacked some of the drama we’ve come to expect from the postseason; after all, there was only one upset. Nevertheless, we were still treated to two penalty shootouts, some raucous crowds in Austin and Montreal and a table set for an appetizing final four.
So, with the conference semifinals kicking off on Thursday, ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle, Kyle Bonagura, Dan Hajducky and Austin Lindberg preview the matchups, predicting which clubs will be moving on to the final four and which players will join the league’s other 20 clubs already watching the playoff drama unfold from the comfort of their living rooms.
FC Cincinnati weren’t just bad during their first three years of existence in Major League Soccer. They almost redefined how spectacular a team can get everything wrong, from an on-field perspective, as it entered the league. It came at a time when first-year success had become common and several, replicable blueprints for success had been established around the league. So when things spiraled out of control, the club took a step back, looked around and finally decided to ask itself: What has worked?
And there it was, one state over: the Philadelphia Union. Cincinnati appointed longtime Union executive Chris Albright as their general manager, he hired Union assistant coach Pat Noonan as head coach and … voila, here are Cincinnati in the Eastern Conference semifinals (after beating the New York Red Bulls in the first round), ready to play spoiler to the Union after their historically dominant 2022 season.
That’s an oversimplification, of course, but the speed in which Cincinnati turned things around speaks to the importance of a front office and coaching staff that has experience in the league. Only the wins tiebreaker prevented Philadelphia from winning the Supporters’ Shield during a season in which they were the best team by almost every way to measure it. With the league’s best defense, the Union should be considered heavy favorites Thursday night at home, where they didn’t lose during the regular season. However, there is something to be said about familiarity as an equalizer, so it will be interesting to see what tactical wrinkles Noonan rolls out. — Bonagura
Predictions:
FCC have done well to change the trajectory of the organization, but the Union seem to be a bridge too far, and should prevail over their former apprentices in Cincinnati GM Chris Albright and manager Pat Noonan. — Carlisle
The Union were the best team in the league during the regular season (certainly during the second half), have a historically dominant defense and were undefeated at home. There is no logic in picking against them. — Bonagura
Sure, I’ve said I was a sucker for an underdog, but that Pollyanna notion has an expiration date when Philadelphia is on the opposing half. The Union allowed only 26 goals all season. Twenty-six! Their plus-46 goal differential was the second-best tally in a decade. Andre Blake, who’ll win his record third MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award, is an MVP finalist. The Union and Blake’s storybook season doesn’t end with the Orange and Blue. — Hajducky
The most prolific attack in MLS, the stingiest defense in the league, an MLS-best goal differential nearly twice as good as their nearest rivals, Philadelphia just have too many ways in which they can beat opponents. — Lindberg
NYCFC are the defending champions, they’ve won five in a row, and they looked back to their best in their Round One win over Inter Miami CF at Citi Field on Monday night. And yet, they still look like a long shot to beat Montreal at Stade Saputo on Sunday.
CFM have lost just once in their past 16 games, dating to the middle of July. In that stretch, they’ve earned 36 points (plus a playoff win) from 45 available. For context, Supporters’ Shield winners LAFC and level-on-points Philadelphia took 27 and 34 points, respectively, over the same stretch.
In the two meetings between the Bronx Blues and Montreal this season, it’s the former who took four points but the latter who outplayed their opponents in each game. The Quebecois won the xG battle, 3.2 to 1.99 — despite the aggregate scoreline reading 4-1 in favor of NYCFC — they outshot their rivals 26-15 and outchanced them 16-13.
This is a Montreal team that, if not for the glitz and glamor of LAFC or the model-franchise designation of Philadelphia, would be the talk of MLS in these playoffs. — Lindberg
Predictions:
The Blues seemed to regain some of their championship swagger in eliminating Inter Miami, but Montreal’s consistency means they rarely get flustered, and with Ismael Kone, Djordje Mihailovic and the ageless Kei Kamara clicking, CFM should get the win. — Carlisle
Neither team has lost in more than a month and both looked the part in decisive first-round wins, but Montreal get the edge playing at home. — Bonagura
It’s a testament to how good NYCFC are, top to bottom, that they lost 2021 Golden Boot winner Valentin Castellanos to Girona and still made the conference semis. But New York stumbled to the playoffs, winning only four MLS matches from Aug. 6 to season’s end. The offensive trio of Montreal’s Romell Quioto, Kamara and Mihailovic — each with at least nine goals and six assists — will be too much for the Bronx Blues. — Hajducky
Since the middle of July, Montreal have lost just once, demonstrating consistently impressive play, contrasted against NYCFC’s stretch of one win in ten that preceded their current five-game winning streak. CFM may lack the pedigree and glamor signings, but it’s been one of the best teams — in the truest sense of the word — in MLS all season. — Lindberg
Plenty has changed since LAFC defeated the LA Galaxy 3-2 on July 8. The Galaxy’s midfield has been completely revamped with the additions of Ricard Puig and Gaston Brugman, and Martin Caceres has been brought in to stabilize the back. LAFC haven’t been idle either, bringing in six new players, including Gareth Bale, Giorgio Chiellini and Denis Bouanga.
The new arrivals didn’t quite have the desired effect for LAFC, who endured a 1-4-1 stretch before righting themselves late in the campaign. But while the Black and Gold are largely playing the same, the Galaxy look a different outfit, with the additions of Puig and Brugman having a ripple effect on the rest of the lineup. Douglas Costa can stick to the wing instead of shouldering the creative burden that now belongs to Puig. As a result, the Galaxy’s possession and passing have improved, as has their finishing.
So what does this all mean for Thursday’s Western Conference semifinal? It means a battle royale in the center of the park, with LAFC’s Ilie Sanchez, along with Jose Cifuentes and Kellyn Acosta, tasked with stopping Puig, Brugman and Marky Delgado. Whichever team prevails in that area will then be able to feed their potent frontline, that being Bouanga, Carlos Vela and Cristian Arango for LAFC with Costa, Samuel Grandsir and Javier Hernandez for the Galaxy. — Carlisle
Predictions:
The Galaxy seem to be jelling at the right time, especially with Puig and Brugman operating in midfield. That makes for another Supporters’ Shield winner to fall short of an MLS Cup double. — Carlisle
play
1:46
Sebastian Salazar and Herculez Gomez predict the winner of LAFC vs. LA Galaxy in the MLS Cup playoffs.
The Black and Gold fixed something that wasn’t broken by adding Bale, Chiellini and DPs Bouanga and Cristian Tello during the regular season. The moves all made sense on paper, but it hasn’t worked out according to plan. Meanwhile, the Galaxy turned things around in the second half and appear to be peaking at the right time. LAFC are on notice, but talent should still win the day. — Bonagura
Another conference semifinals El Trafico, the first since 2019. Does the Supporters’ Shield curse — only seven winners have also won an MLS Cup — rear its ugly head? Or do LAFC finally hoist the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy? It’s LAFC’s — and Carlos Vela’s — year. — Hajducky
In the 11 games since Puig’s arrival, the Galaxy have been playing at a 1.81 points-per-game pace, a level of play that extrapolated across a full season would’ve made them a No. 2 seed in the West. Meanwhile, LAFC have lost five of their past nine. — Lindberg
Only two teams in MLS scored more goals than Austin in 2022. Only one conceded fewer than Dallas. This is a classic power-vs.-power matchup, and it’s going to be interesting to see how Nico Estevez organizes his FCD side to try to contain the Texas capital club.
In the Round One shootout win over RSL, Austin got little in the way of chance creation from attackers Maximiliano Urruti, Ethan Finlay, Diego Fagundez, Moussa Djitte and Emiliano Rigoni, which suggests that Dallas could match up favorably. However, that would ignore MVP candidate Sebastian Driussi, who scored both the Verde‘s goals in that win, on top of the 22 he netted in the regular season, and has a knack for running into pockets of space and conjuring opportunities from deeper starting positions.
No one in MLS has figured out Driussi. Whoever lines up at the base of midfield for Dallas, be it Facundo Quignon or Edwin Cerrillo, they’re going to have their hands full shadowing the 26-year-old River Plate academy graduate.
To sweeten an already appetizing pot is the atmosphere in Q2 Stadium. It was loud and rowdy in the city’s first-ever professional playoff game, now add the tension that will arise from Dallas supporters driving 200 miles to the south for a postseason Texan derby. And with Formula One in town for the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday (1:30 p.m. ET, stream live on ABC), fan excitement won’t be higher anywhere in the world than it will be in Austin. — Lindberg
Predictions:
There isn’t much separating the two teams in this all-Texas matchup, but in Driussi, the Verde have just a smidgen more quality, and that should prove to be enough to get Austin the victory. — Carlisle
This should be an incredible atmosphere at Q2. In fact, maybe one of the best MLS has ever had in the state for this Texas derby. Austin is the pick based on their explosive offense, despite FC Dallas owning the best defensive goal-scoring record in Western Conference this season. — Bonagura
Last time, I said the MLS Cup playoffs might be a fitting farewell to Jesus Ferreira before he gets poached by a European club. Well, Ferreira won the Young Player of the Year award on Tuesday, and everything seems to be bouncing right just weeks from Qatar. Austin beat LAFC 4-1 in late August and then won only once the rest of the season, allowing twice as many as they scored in that span. The ingredients are there for something spectacular for Dallas. — Hajducky
As hypnotic as Driussi’s play is, Dallas’ organization and their deep and variable attack will present Austin with problems that Josh Wolff will struggle to solve. — Lindberg
The curtain has come down on the 2022 MLS regular season, with 14 teams now preparing to contest the MLS Cup playoffs and another 14 waiting to watch them from home. There will be sides in both of those camps that likely are surprised to find themselves in the positions they occupy, for better or worse; such has been the unpredictable-as-ever nature of this campaign.
Few could’ve predicted Austin FC would be near the top of the Western Conference after a ho-hum inaugural season, while the New England Revolution following up a record-setting 2021 by missing the playoffs would’ve been met with similarly long odds eight months ago. That LAFC and the Philadelphia Union fought over the Supporters’ Shield all season, that was perhaps less surprising.
To definitively explain how these teams performed in 2022, ESPN asked Jeff Carlisle, Kyle Bonagura, Bill Connelly, Cesar Hernandez and Austin Lindberg to think back to the start of the year, consider each team’s expectations and deliver a final letter grade for all 28 sides.
Record: 10W-10D-14L Standing: 40 points, 11th in the East Grade: F
Based on points, Atlanta wasn’t the worst team in MLS, but considering the fact that its payroll of $21 million was the highest in MLS, combined with the fact that it finished 23rd out of 28 teams in the full league table, a failing grade is appropriate.
Sure, the numbers provided by the MLSPA don’t paint a complete picture. Season-ending injuries to the likes of defender Miles Robinson, midfielder Ozzie Alonso and goalkeeper Brad Guzan didn’t help. Neither did the continued drama surrounding striker Josef Martinez, but there was still enough talent on this team to at least get into the playoffs, and the Five Stripes didn’t get it done. The 2023 campaign is shaping up to be a put up or shut up year for manager Gonzalo Pineda. — Carlisle
Record: 16W-8D-10L Standing: 56 points, 2nd in West Grade: A-
FiveThirtyEight gave them a 31% chance of making the playoffs before the season and listed them as one of six teams with a less than 1% chance of winning the MLS Cup. But their early play was so strong that they had all but locked up a playoff spot by July, and now only LAFC, Philadelphia and Montreal have demonstrably better title odds.
They wobbled over the final month, losing five of their last 10, and we’ll see what legs they have left for the playoffs, especially in defense. But they’re here. Sebastian Driussi finished with 22 goals and seven assists in a possible MVP season, Diego Fagundez had six goals and 15 assists, and all in all, Austin FC enjoyed a miraculous second season. — Connelly
Record: 13W-3D-18L Standing: 42 points, 9th in East Grade: B+
They were top-3 in attendance, and thanks to a late hot streak they weren’t eliminated from the playoff race until the final week of their debut season. (And they pulled that off with an interim coach, Christian Lattanzio leading the way for more than half the season.) That is a success story in and of itself.
In the end, they just didn’t have enough firepower. They were 21st in goals scored — only Karol Swiderski hit double digits for the season — and opponents attempted far more shots than they did. But you can see the makings of a proper possession club here, and it will be interesting to see how they attempt to build on that this coming offseason. — Connelly
Record: 10W-9D-15L Standing: 39 points, 12th in East Grade: C-
There was a significant amount to feel positive about in the Windy City in 2022. Xherdan Shaqiri accumulated 18 direct goal contributions in his first season in the league, 18-year-old Gabriel Slonina emerged as one of the brightest goalkeeping prospects in recent memory (and subsequently sealed a transfer to Chelsea in the process), and 18-year-old forward Jhon Duran‘s debut campaign was so impressive (eight goals and three assists in just 1,274 minutes) that he earned a senior call-up with Colombia.
And yet, despite all that momentum, the Fire still finished 12th in the Eastern Conference and were eliminated from playoff contention with two matchdays left in the regular season. If Chicago’s reward for their promise in 2022 is the transfer fee generated by Slonina’s exit (and potentially Duran’s, too, with Chelsea and Liverpool credited with interest), then it’s hard to escape the conclusion that the club is facing another season of rebuilding in 2023. — Lindberg
Record: 12W-13D-9L Standing: 49 points, 5th in East Grade: A+
Qualifying for the playoffs for the very first time after spending the previous three seasons with the worst record in MLS? Not bad from FCC. It took until Decision Day and a result over bottom-of-the-table D.C. United, but Cincinnati made a statement with a 5-2 victory in the final weekend of the regular season.
The rebuild project under general manager Chris Albright and head coach Pat Noonan has undoubtedly been a success in 2022. They may not last long in the playoffs with their fragile defense, but they’ll be fun to watch if attack-minded players such as Brandon Vazquez, Luciano Acosta and Brenner continue to step up. — Hernandez
Record: 11W-10D-13L Standing: 43 points, 10th in West Grade: C-
A year after topping the Western Conference with 61 points, the Rapids swiftly fell back into obscurity. Only one team in the conference (San Jose) allowed more than the 57 goals conceded by Colorado, which gave up just 35 a year ago.
At the most basic level, the regression is easy to understand. Over the last year-plus, the Rapids have lost midfielders Kellyn Acosta and Cole Bassett and defenders Sam Vines and Auston Trusty without coming close to replacing them with players at the same level. The most high-profile acquisition was striker Gyasi Zardes, who in 26 matches scored nine goals. However, the Rapids won just twice in his first 11 appearances, which derailed the season by the middle of the summer. — Bonagura
Record: 10W-16D-8L Standing: 46 points, 8th in East Grade: C-
Is this a good time to bring up the fact that head coach Caleb Porter said, “I’d bet my house” on Columbus making the playoffs?
Needing at least a tie on Decision Day to earn a playoff spot after failing to qualify last year, the Crew tripped over themselves once again through a 2-1 loss to Orlando. The defeat, which featured a second half game winner for Orlando from Facundo Torres, felt indicative of a Columbus squad that has become accustomed to closing out games all season.
Questions will need to be answered by Porter, who often found himself stuck in draws and narrow results. Over the past year, it’s difficult to say that much progress has been made by the players or the coach. — Hernandez
Record: 7W-6D-21L Standing: 27 points, 14th in East Grade: F
The District was a case study in Murphy’s Law in 2022. Paul Arriola was transferred to Dallas, where he enjoyed a career year; Julian Gressel was shipped to Vancouver, where his rate of a direct goal contribution every 346 minutes was slashed to one every 220; manager Hernan Losada was fired; new coach Wayne Rooney finished the year with a 2W-3D-8L record; and star forward Taxi Fountas is being investigated for using a racial slur in a loss to Miami last month.
This was a season when D.C. were meant to establish themselves as postseason contenders. Little more than seven months after the campaign began, it’s hard to name a club further away from contention. — Lindberg
Record: 14W-11D-9L Standing: 53 points, 3rd in West Grade: B+
In his first season with the club, manager Nico Estevez has been decisive in the efforts that have helped Dallas return to the playoffs after missing out in 2021. With only 37 goals allowed all season and important saves from Maarten Paes, Dallas’ defensive prowess was influential in their top-third finish in the Western Conference table.
Which isn’t to say that their frontline should be ignored. Twenty-one-year-old USMNT striker Jesus Ferreira was one of the best in the league with his 18 goals and six assists. In support, others such as Paul Arriola, Alan Velasco and Sebastian Lletget also stepped up in crucial moments. — Hernandez
Record: 10W-6D-18L Standing: 36 points, 13th in West Grade: D
The growing pains of a new era? Even with majority owner Ted Segal taking charge since 2021 through front-office hirings (including a first-ever role for a technical director) and the marquee signing of Mexican international Hector Herrera, nobody was able to halt a dismal run of form that led to a failure to qualify for the playoffs and the firing of head coach Paulo Nagamura.
Nagamura’s replacement will be tasked with not only finding the right combination to work with Herrera, but also reviving a team that hasn’t earned a playoff invitation since 2017.
Record: 14W-6D-14L Standing: 48 points, 6th in East Grade: B
Inter woke up! After finishing 10th and 11th in the East, respectively, in their first two seasons of existence, Phil Neville’s squad looked well on the way to making it three straight playoff-free years before turning on the jets. After August 1, they generated more points than any MLS team besides Montreal, nearly succumbing to a late-August funk but rallying — thanks in part to one last hot streak from retiring striker Gonzalo Higuain — to snare the No. 6 seed in the Eastern playoffs.
This is neither a young nor particularly creative team, but making the postseason was the goal and they did so. — Connelly
Record: 21W-4D-9L Standing: 67 points, 1st in West Grade: A
After compiling an 18-4-3 record, LAFC’s procession to the Supporters’ Shield took a minor detour at one point. But a 1-4-1 stretch run raised all kinds of questions, such as if adding the likes of Gareth Bale, Denis Bouanga and Giorgio Chiellini might have unsettled the squad with the playoffs approaching. Philadelphia, all of a sudden, was in with a shout of catching the Black-and-Gold, but timely wins against Houston and Portland allowed LAFC to finish with a kick and claim the Shield.
Considering that this side missed the playoffs last year and underwent a considerable overhaul in terms of personnel, it’s an impressive accomplishment for the club and first-year manager Steve Cherundolo. Now the MLS Cup beckons. — Carlisle
Record: 14W-8D-12L Standing: 50 points, 4th in West Grade: B
What a second half of the year for the Galaxy. At the All-Star break point, they were floundering in ninth place in the Western Conference, with the postseason not worth discussing. Since then, the conversation has changed. Los Angeles rose all the way to fourth in the conference to earn a home playoff game (Nashville, Oct. 15) and are very much among the contenders to win the whole thing.
A lot of that turnaround has be credited to the acquisition of Riqui Puig. In his 10 appearances (9 starts), the Galaxy is 4-5-1 and he contributed eight goal contributions (3 goals, 5 assists). In the 22 games prior to Puig’s arrival this season, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez had 11 goal contributions (10 goals, 1 assist) and averaged 0.5 goals per 90 minutes. In the 10 games after Puig arrived, Chicharito’s production took off. He averaged 0.91 goals per 90 minutes and had nearly as many goal contributions (8 goals, 1 assist) in fewer than half as many games. — Bonagura
Record: 14W-6D-14L Standing: 48 points, 6th in West Grade: B-
There was no more up-and-down team in MLS in 2022 than the Loons. From May to the end of June, Minnesota lost seven of 10 games — including a U.S. Open Cup round-of-16 defeat to third-tier Union Omaha — before following that up with a stretch of nine wins in their next 12, only to finish the campaign by losing five of their last seven. In the end, this was a team that did just enough to sneak into the playoffs.
Injuries undoubtedly played a role: Hassani Dotson played 630 minutes before he was lost for the season to a torn ACL, Romain Metanire featured for just 22 minutes as he rehabbed a series of hamstring injuries, and Bakaye Dibassy missed the final seven matches of the season (and won’t be available for the playoffs) after suffering a ruptured quadriceps tendon. However, the Loons had the fourth-oldest squad in MLS in 2022, and their young players have done little to suggest they’re ready to take this team to the next level. — Lindberg
Record: 20W-5D-9L Standing: 65 points, 2nd in East Grade: A
Behold, the power of continuity. Montreal came into 2022 having missed the (full-season) playoffs every year since 2016 and only made a couple of real offseason moves (and kept manager Wilfried Nancy), but they enter the playoffs with the East’s No. 2 seed and the third-best title odds thanks to a couple of prolific veterans (Romell Quioto and Kei Kamara combined for 24 goals and 13 assists) and a breakout season for 2021 addition Djordje Mihailovic (nine goals and six assists from 57 chances created).
In short, their front office was patient, and the patience paid off. — Connelly
Record: 13W-11D-10L Standing: 50 points, 5th in West Grade: C+
After finishing third in the West in 2021, Nashville flirted seriously with the idea of missing the playoffs, but what they lacked in general watchability – it’s not much of an exaggeration to say that every Nashville match this year was a 1-1 draw — they made up for in resilience. A six-match unbeaten streak in August and September assured them of a fifth playoff bid in five tries. Still, the defense grew leakier and the team got older, and they will head into the offseason with more questions than they had a year ago.
Unless there’s a deep playoff run coming, this season was a step backward. — Connelly
Record: 10W-12D-12L Standing: 42 points, 10th in East Grade: F
We’ll let head coach Bruce Arena summarize the 2022 season for the Revs: “I’m not going to miss it.”
One year after setting MLS’ single-season points record and lifting their first-ever Supporters’ Shield, New England faltered in 2022 with a spot outside of the playoffs and a dramatic collapse in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League. Although the expectation wasn’t to hit the same heights of 2021 (especially with the exits of Tajon Buchanan, Matt Turner and Adam Buksa to Europe), qualifying for the playoffs was the minimum goal.
Things didn’t go as planned either through injuries and the additions of veterans such as Sebastian Lletget, Jozy Altidore and Omar Gonzalez. Over the summer, Lletget was transferred to FC Dallas, while Altidore went on loan to Liga MX’s Puebla. As for Gonzalez, he was never able to establish a starting role. — Hernandez
Record: 16W-7D-11L Standing: 55 points, 3rd in East Grade: C+
As June beckoned, the reigning MLS Cup champions seemed to be making a solid push toward a repeat. On June 1, NYCFC was actually a point ahead of Philly, but then manager Ronny Deila left for Standard Liege, reigning Golden Boot winner Taty Castellanos was loaned to Girona, and things began to go wobbly They’ve gone just 7-7-5 since. Not awful, but not great either, and NYCCFC seemed to lose the high-pressing ethos that Deila instituted.
A three-game winning streak to end the season hints that things are improving under Nick Cushing, but the playoffs will be the ultimate judge of NYCFC’s season. — Carlisle
Record: 15W-8D-11L Standing: 53 points, 4th in East Grade: B+
The Red Bulls needed goals in 2022 if they were to have any chance of returning to their status as consistent Eastern Conference contenders. Striker Patryk Klimala registered just five this year, falling short of the impact expected of the Young DP signing from Celtic, but Lewis Morgan has been a revelation in New York, scoring 14 times in league play from the wing since his big-money arrival from Inter Miami in the offseason. As such, the Red Bulls saw their goals-for record improve from just 39 in 2021 (only three teams in the conference were worse) to 48 this season (sixth best).
This is a much improved team over last year, as evidenced by earning a Round One playoff contest at home, and Morgan’s emergence has a lot to do with that. Just imagine how dangerous Gerhard Struber’s side would be with some genuine productivity from the No. 9 position. — Lindberg
Record: 14W-6D-14L Standing: 48 points, 7th in East Grade: C+
The Lions remain one of the league’s enigmas. They broke through to win the U.S. Open Cup and also snuck into the playoffs on the last day of the season. Given that success and failure is largely playoff qualification-based, the tendency will be to look at the season as a positive. But looked at another way, Orlando finished seventh in a 14-team conference, basically midtable.
Given the money spent on the likes of Facundo Torres and Ivan Angulo, more was expected of an attack that ranked tied for 21st in the league with 44 goals scored. The minus-9 goal differential speaks to a lack of consistency on the defensive side of the ball as well. With a playoff spot secure, Oscar Pareja looks set to continue as manager, but plenty of questions need to be asked in terms of addressing the team’s weaknesses during the offseason. — Carlisle
Record: 19W-10D-5L Standing: 67 points, 1st in East Grade: A
The Union finished the year level on points with LAFC and only lost out on winning the Supporters’ Shield by virtue of having two fewer wins. From another vantage point, it’s easy to make the case the Union were the most dominant team in the league this year and had one of the best regular seasons in league history.
Their plus-46 goal differential was 18 better than LAFC this year and stands as the second-best mark in MLS history, behind only LAFC in 2019 (48). They led the league in goals scored (72), had the fewest goals conceded (26) and were the only team in the league to go unbeaten at home. Daniel Gazdag (22 goals) finished one shy of the Golden Boot and combined with Julian Carranza (14 goals) to finish as the top goal-scoring duo (tied with FC Cincinnati’s Brandon Vazquez and Brenner).
For all the Union accomplished, though, the only way to ensure a lasting place in history is to add an MLS Cup-size exclamation point. — Bonagura
Record: 11W-13D-10L Standing: 46 points, 8th in West Grade: D+
The Portland Timbers’ prominent role in Sally Yates’ report into systemic abuse in women’s soccer has deservedly overshadowed anything the team has done on the field in recent weeks. Not that there was much on the field to write home about: All Portland needed on Decision Day was a point against Real Salt Lake to ensure a place in the postseason. Instead, they came out disinterested and were outplayed in a 3-1 loss that saw the host jump out to a 3-0 lead before a late consolation goal.
It sets up an offseason in which the most important questions will be asked about Merritt Paulson’s future as owner, rather than how the Timbers will rebuild following a rare playoff miss. — Bonagura
Record: 12W-11D-11L Standing: 47 points, 7th in West Grade: C+
Let’s make sense of this: RSL lost longtime designated player Albert Rusnak in the offseason to Seattle and star midfielder Damir Kreilach appeared in just five games due to injury. Yet, the club still finished in seventh place, the same spot it did the prior season when it made a run to the Western Conference finals.
RSL beat Portland 3-1 on Decision Day to earn the final playoff spot and while that’s not exactly a conventional formula for postseason success, last year’s run should inspire some confidence that lightning can be captured in a bottle once again. No other playoff team scored fewer goals than Salt Lake, which outscored only four teams during the regular season. RSL also managed only 16 goals on the road, which doesn’t bode well for its trip to Austin, an offensive juggernaut. — Bonagura
Record: 8W-11D-15L Standing: 35 points, 14th in West Grade: D
The decision to keep Matias Almeyda as manager to start the season still looms large, though the 1.32 points per game the team has earned under Alex Covelo since then reveals that this side was always a borderline playoff team at best. A defense that conceded a whopping 67 goals, worst in the league, made it was even more of an uphill climb. Now this is new manager Luchi Gonzalez’s problem.
A trio of defenders — Carlos Akapo, Rodrigues and Miguel Trauco — have been brought in to start the defensive rebuild, but there’s frankly not enough data yet to determine if it will work. A space-covering holding midfielder is still needed. The attack looks in good shape with Jeremy Ebobisse, Cristian Espinoza and Jamiro Monteiro. Cade Cowell has promise, as does 17-year-old Niko Tsakiris, but 2023 has the makings of another “trying to sneak into playoffs vibe.” — Carlisle
play
1:44
Herculez Gomez debates which team has had the worst MLS season out of Atlanta and Seattle.
Record: 12W-5D-17L Standing: 41 points, 11th in West Grade: C-
This grade very much takes into consideration that the Sounders claimed the CONCACAF Champions League. It was the first time in two decades that an MLS side reached the continental promised land, and the first since a home-and-away was used in the knockout rounds, but Seattle paid for it in the long run.
Joao Paulo went down in the CCL final with a torn ACL. His replacement, Obed Vargas, later suffered a long-term back injury as well. Emotional leader Cristian Roldan underwent surgery, and influential forward Raul Ruidiaz logged just 1,306 league minutes. And so it went. The Sounders could never quite get going and failed to make the postseason for the first time in 14 seasons.
Now the question looms large: Can Seattle rebound? The roster seems locked up for next year too, with its complement of DPs already in place. It will amount to a tricky job for president of soccer Garth Lagerwey and manager Brian Schmetzer. That said, if everyone can just heal up, the talent is definitely there. — Carlisle
Record: 11W-7D-16L Standing: 40 points, 12th in West Grade: D+
Despite having a promising end to the season with just two losses in their last 10 games, very few will be content with how 2022 went for SKC. Hit by major setbacks through two lengthy injuries for DPs Alan Pulido and Gadi Kinda, head coach Peter Vermes and his roster never found much-needed rhythm until August and were subsequently left out of this season’s playoffs.
They have the potential to bounce back in 2023 — keep an eye on goal scorer William Agada next year — but some serious roster questions will need to be asked during the winter offseason. — Hernandez
Record: 9W-7D-18L Standing: 34 points, 13th in East Grade: D
Giving your rivals a five-month head start is rarely a recipe for success, yet that’s essentially what Toronto did in 2022. From the starting XI that opened the season in Dallas, just four names remained in the XI that hosted Miami little more than a week ago. The Reds averaged a point a game before the secondary transfer window opened, when the likes of Lorenzo Insigne, Federico Bernardeschi, Mark-Anthony Kaye and four others arrived, leaving the team in a position to need a points-per-game pace of 2.27 after the window closed if they were to make it into the playoffs. For context, Supporters’ Shield-winning LAFC averaged 2.03 PPG all season.
Maybe the 2022 season was an acclimation period for new coach Bob Bradley and his stable of star signings, and Toronto will put it all together for an almighty run in 2023. If not, this year’s D grade will look a lot worse. — Lindberg
Record: 12W-7D-15L Standing: 43 points, 9th in West Grade: D+
The Caps were six points worse off in 2022 than they were in 2021, when they made a surprise run to the MLS Cup playoffs. They also scored five fewer goals — the third-worst goals-for metric in the league — despite having another season to work together while adding coveted wide creator Julian Gressel.
There is an argument to be made that Vancouver even being in the playoff conversation on Decision Day was a mirage. Only Wooden Spoon winners D.C. United boasted a worse goal differential than the Whitecaps’ minus-17. It’s another offseason of “back to the drawing board” in British Columbia. — Lindberg
FCC have done well to change the trajectory of the organization, but the Union seem to be a bridge too far, and should prevail over their former apprentices in Cincinnati GM Chris Albright and manager Pat Noonan. — Carlisle
The Black and Gold fixed something that wasn’t broken by adding Bale, Chiellini and DPs Bouanga and 
