Season 23 of MLS kicks off with a clear favorite. You could say
Toronto FC won the domestic treble last year: Canadian Championship, Supporters Shield, and MLS Cup champs. Years and years of underachievement are all forgotten as the big-spending Reds finally came through with top honors, with key signing Victor Vazquez providing the consistent link to spring Sebastian Giovinco and co to a record season point total in 2017.
The only other team defending silverware are
Sporting KC, who continued their trophy winning ways under Peter Vermes in 2017 with another Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.
And as the rest of the league wound down preseason this February, 5 MLS teams have already started official competition with the Concacaf Champions League. The quarterfinal stage will continue in March with Toronto,
Red Bulls, and
Seattle still alive with ties versus Mexican clubs Tigres, Tijuana, and Chivas, respectively.
23 seasons, and now 23 teams. Welcome
LAFC, looking to rise from the ashes of Chivas USA and provide a competent foil to the
Galaxy in LA. Welcome Banc of California Stadium, centrally located up the Harbor Freeway from Carson’s Stubhub Center. Welcome Mexican Superstar Carlos Vela. And welcome back Bob Bradley.
The other new venue this season will be the new home of
DC United, who are abandoning its perennial home RFK for Audi Field in July.
Speaking of original 8 teams making a change, will this be the final season for the
Crew in Columbus? Through an agreement with the league not previously disclosed to the public, it seems owner Anthony Precourt has both the means and desire to move them to Austin Texas for the 2019 season. Expect to see #SavetheCrew trending frequently this season.
For the first time in a long time, 2017 saw the rise of the Eastern conference dominance. We saw marked improvements from
Chicago Fire and
New York City, respectively led by Golden Boot winner Nemanja Nikolic and runner-up David Villa. Also, this is thanks in no small part to Tata Martino’s
Atlanta United.
In their inaugural seasons last year, while
Minnesota disappointed Atlanta grabbed all the headlines. Not only did they set all kinds of attendance records, they shone on the field as well, led by South American imports Miguel Almiron and Josef Martinez. As it is monkey see, monkey do in this league, several other teams have looked for younger talent down
south. Some of the new faces to look for in 2018 include :
Ezequiel Barco, M, Atlanta United - ** record-breaking transfer of $15 million** The Argentine teenager will miss the start of the season, but never has there been more buzz around a player *starting* their career in MLS
Josue Colman, M, Orlando City
Kaku Gamarra, New York Red Bulls
Felipe Gutierrez, M, Sporting Kansas City
Efrain Juarez, D, Vancouver Whitecaps
Santiago Mosquera, M, FC Dallas
Andy Polo, W, Portland Timbers
Diego Rossi, W, LAFC
Saphir Taider,, M, Montreal Impact
Gregory van der Wiel, D, Toronto FC
...and a few new
managers
Colorado Rapids-- Anthony Hudson, recent New Zealand manager
Montreal Impact-- Remi Garde, formerly of Lyon and Aston Villa
New England Revolution-- Brad Friedel, in his coaching debut
Portland Timbers-- Giovanni Savarese, 3 time NASL(RIP) champ with NY Cosmos
San Jose Earthquakes-- Mikael Stahre, experienced Swedish guy
One final storyline for 2018: will USMNT goat Chris Wondolowski become the MLS GOAT (goalscorer, at least)? The current SJ Earthquake is currently sitting on 134 MLS goals, starting the season 11 behind former Earthquake, Evertonian, Galaxy, USMNT GOAT, and Liga MX retiree league signee Landon Donovan.
5dimes lines for MLS Cup
Toronto FC +350
Atlanta United +750
Seattle Sounders +800
New York City FC +1000
Portland Timbers +1200
FC Dallas +1600
LA Galaxy +1700
New York Red Bulls +1800
Houston Dynamo +2000
Sporting Kansas City +2000
Columbus Crew +2500
Chicago Fire +2500
Vancouver Whitecaps +3300
Los Angeles FC +3500
Orlando City +3500
Montreal Impact +3500
Real Salt Lake +4500
San Jose Earthquakes +5000
Colorado Rapids +5500
Philadelphia Union +6500
New England Revolution +6500
Minnesota United +7000
DC United +7000
It all starts again Saturday. Let’s mls.