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Toronto FC part ways with head coach and sporting director Bob Bradley
The club announced Monday they’re moving on without Bradley. Additionally, assistant coach and technical director Mike Sorber has been relieved of his duties. Terry Dunfield has been appointed interim head coach of TFC after serving as head coach of the club’s U-17 academy team.
Atlanta, LA, New England & New York bring home silverware at MLS NEXT Cup
MLS NEXT Cup has concluded with four new champions. New York Red Bulls’ U15s took home a title, as did Atlanta United’s U16s. The Galaxy took home the U17 championship and the Revolution pulled off a repeat at the U19 level, winning their second straight trophy.
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Another week gone and the big ol’ confusing mess in the middle of the pack keeps getting bigger and messier. Who’s actually good? Who’s actually bad? I have no idea and neither do you. Most teams are at least 19 games in, and I still don’t know what any of this is. And I’m scared. Let’s talk it out.
The Power Rankings are going to be wild this week. How do you even begin to sort out the middle of the pack? There’s a nine-point gap in the Supporters’ Shield standings between fifth-place St. Louis and 21st-place Chicago. So, just for my sanity, let’s go back real quick and take a look at the critical questions I asked earlier…
Well, I think we can definitively point to a few teams in the East. FC Cincinnati are actually good, even if they got blown up by a solid D.C. United team this weekend. They were missing a handful of key players, and it’s just their second loss of the season. They’re still actually good.
New England, Nashville and Philly are all actually good too. The Revs are getting production at striker, and are undefeated at home. Nashville have the best player in the league, have added a couple of complimentary pieces to help him and have one huge addition on the way in the form of whatever DP striker they go for. And the Union have been the best team in the East over the last half-decade. We know for sure they’re good.
In the West…well, it’s weird. LAFC have lost three of six since the CCL final, including this weekend’s loss to Vancouver. They’re definitely still good, but their packed schedule may keep them from piling up points the way you’d expect a good team to do. St. Louis showed some resilience this weekend and pulled out a huge win at San Jose despite missing their two DPs due to injury. That being said, it’s still not entirely clear if they’re \good\ or just a middle-of-the-pack team that’s been more opportunistic so far. You’d just like the underlying numbers to inspire a little more confidence.
And then there’s Seattle, who I think might genuinely be good, but sure haven’t looked like it lately. At least on the surface. Over the course of a rough 14-game stretch that began with a loss to Portland, American Soccer Analysis’ expected points model has Seattle at 1.54 points per game. They’ve averaged 1.14 points per game over that span. That doesn’t make them the unluckiest team over that span (oh, hiya, Minnesota), but they’re near the top of the unlucky list around the league.
So, yeah, not totally clear right now if anyone is truly good in the West. It’s honestly time to start wondering if the conference is on track to have the lowest point total for a first seed that we’ve seen in a long time. LAFC’s 1.78 points per game rate has them at about 60 points on the season. It’s fair to consider a world where that rate is a little lower at the end of the season. Now, I’m not saying they’ll finish with fewer points than 2017 Portland’s 53. But maybe we’re looking at slightly less than 2021 Colorado’s 61.
Inter Miami, LA and Colorado. Anyone got any problems with that? No? Cool.
Ok, yeah, there are a handful of teams below the playoff line right now that are worth discussing. In the East, you have Toronto, NYCFC, Chicago, New York and Charlotte. My gut call here is each of those teams is just as middle of the pack as the rest of the league, but are stuck dealing with a stacked conference.
NYCFC have talent and I think they’ll eventually sort this out. Chicago are totally average and just had a six-point week out of nowhere. Charlotte are also totally ok. And, most notably, the Red Bulls might just be regressing to the mean. They’ve been one of the best teams in the league by the underlying numbers all season, and it doesn’t feel like a fluke at all they scored six goals over two games this week despite having just 11 goals entering the week. I remain convinced the playoff streak will continue.
Toronto…ok, it’s getting to the point where nothing feels inexcusable anymore. They may not have it, and now they’re hitting the proverbial reset by parting ways with head coach and sporting director Bob Bradley. And the Gold Cup couldn’t have come at a worse time.
In the West, Portland, Sporting and Minnesota are all below the line. But the six-point gap from fourth place to 12th place is barely a gap at all. Portland is Portland…they’re…I mean, they’re just Portland. They do Portland things. That’s good enough to be average and eventually above the playoff line with a few breaks.
Sporting KC have been significantly better since getting their DPs back, even if they haven’t necessarily been “good.” And, like we mentioned earlier, Minnesota United have been right there with Red Bulls as one of the league’s two unluckiest teams. Now that Bebelo Reynoso is officially back in the starting lineup, they feel like a sure bet to eventually start grabbing points by the handful.
Yeah, like 20 teams all jammed into the middle. MLS! A few teams we haven’t discussed are close to “good” though. And very well might be in that category by the end of the year. Columbus are playing excellent ball and are just a couple of key signings away this summer from being a true contender in my opinion. Orlando seem to be putting it together and may be able to find another gear when all is said and done. Atlanta have a huge summer window on the way, but their needs are so clear and their resources are so Scrooge McDuckian that it feels like they could nail this in a Seattle kind of way.
All that to say, there’s still so much to solve with this MLS season. And it truly feels like we’ve only kind of begun to understand the league this year. We could absolutely be heading into Decision Day and still learning a ton. No one get too comfortable.
Portland Timbers closing deal for center back Araujo: The Portland Timbers appear to have backline help on the way, as The Athletic’s Tom Bogert and The Oregonian’s Ryan Clarke are reporting the club’s finalizing a deal to acquire center back Miguel Araujo from Dutch side FC Emmen. Araujo, 28, is an established Peruvian international defender and would join a center-back group that includes Zac McGraw, Dario Zuparic and Larrys Mabiala. The Timbers have searched for help at the position since trading Bill Tuiloma to Charlotte FC in preseason.
- Jonathan Sigal’s Sunday column is up and good.
- Matt Turner reinforced his value as the USMNT avoided a setback against Jamaica.
- Vanni Sartini says the Vancouver Whitecaps can be the best team in MLS.
- St. Louis CITY forward Samuel Adeniran had a "fairy tale" game after his loan recall.
- Austin FC got "validation" from a dominant Copa Tejas display.
Good luck out there. Big things are on the way.
