It’s the halfway point of the Major League Soccer season, and while there’s no teams separating from the pack as the New England Revolution did a year ago to set a league record for points in a season, there’s enough of a sample size to hand out midseason grades.
Which teams are the brainiacs? Which teams need some tutoring help? The answers lie below.
Grade: A
New York City FC, LAFC, Real Salt Lake
New York City FC ended last season as MLS Cup champions. But they’re arguably better this season. Through 14 games — the teams around them in the Eastern Conference standings have played 2-3 more games — NYCFC are first with 27 points. That’s 1.93 points per game — second behind LAFC overall. They’re young, dynamic and deep, but the question that looms large is will star striker Taty Castellanos be sold during the summer transfer window.
Under new head coach Steve Cherundolo, LAFC look more like the squad that won the Supporters’ Shield in 2019 than the squad that missed the playoffs altogether last year. They were smart in the offseason by acquiring goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau, defender Ryan Hollingshead and No. 6 Ilie Sanchez to solidify a defense that leaked goals a year ago. And they’re using the summer transfer window to make a big splash, reportedly set to sign superstar Gareth Bale from Real Madrid after landing legendary center back Giorgio Chiellini from Juventus.
Real Salt Lake are proving last year’s unexpected push to the Western Conference final was no fluke. They are off to the best start in club history and have again made Rio Tinto Stadium a fortress — they’re 6-0-1 at home, where they’ve played in front of a sellout crowd seven times. Impressively, they’ve done this without Albert Rusnak, who was scooped up by the Seattle Sounders and Damir Kreliach, the versatile captain who has been sidelined with a back injury. There’s been no Best XI/MVP-type hero this first half of the season, outside of head coach Pablo Mastroeni.
Grade: B+
The New York Red Bulls look a better version of themselves from last year, Gerhard Struber’s first as head coach. They were the road warriors in the first half of the season, accumulating more points away from Red Bull Arena (16) than in it (10). The part that’s been a struggle in recent years is in the attacking third, which is where the moves for winger Lewis Morgan and No. 10 Luquinhas were massive.
Austin FC have leveled up in Year 2. The naysayers complained of a soft early-season schedule, but outside of a 4-1 defeat at LA Galaxy, Austin FC have been the model of consistency this season. And they have a legitimate MVP contender in Sebastian Driussi, who is third in the league with eight goals, all scored inside the 18-yard box, and has four assists in 15 matches.
Grade B
The Philadelphia Union entered the season with high expectations and they’ve largely lived up to them, having lost just once. There’s not many weaknesses in the side with Daniel Gazdag and Nathan Harriel among those who have raised their level in 2022 and they’re among the best clubs in developing and promoting academy products. But head coach Jim Curtin is missing a clinical No. 9, something he lamented following a draw against FC Cincinnati — the club’s league-leading eighth in 15 matches.
Speaking of MVP contenders, FC Dallas can lay claim to two who have largely sparked their attack under head coach Nico Estevez. Jesus Ferreira has filled in for Ricardo Pepi as the team’s No. 9 and is tied with Jeremy Ebobisse of the San Jose Earthquakes for the league lead with nine goals to go along with four assists. Paul Arriola, the club’s big offseason acquisition from D.C. United has seven goals (tied for his MLS career-high) and two assists.
Grade: B -
Seattle Sounders, FC Cincinnati
The Sounders have done what no other MLS team have done — winning the current iteration of the Concacaf Champions League. So, we kind of grade the Rave Green on a curve because of how taxing that accomplishment was on their early season results. That title also came at a cost with the loss of Joao Paulo to an ACL injury, but Seattle are absolutely loaded throughout the field, led by the fearsome foursome of Raul Ruidiaz, Jordan Morris, Cristian Roldan and Nico Lodeiro in attack.
FC Cincinnati have made the biggest gain from what would have been an F at the end of the 2021 season to a B-. The club hit the reset button after a third straight Wooden Spoon for the worst record in the league, handing the keys to Chris Albright (GM) and Pat Noonan (head coach) from the Union. Brandon Vazquez (8g/3a) and Luciano Acosta (5g/7a) have reaped the benefits of the change in leadership, while Cincy did good business for defensive solidity by signing Nigerian defensive midfielder Obinna Nwobodo and selecting goalkeeper Roman Celentano No. 2 overall in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft.
Grade: C
Orlando City SC, CF Montreal, LA Galaxy, Atlanta United
Orlando City are arguably the toughest team in the league to grade. They’re good, but rarely wow you like the other three teams in their category can. They’re as meh and meh gets and isn’t that what a C on a report card really is?
CF Montreal also had an MVP candidate, arguably the favorite, in Djordje Mihailovic before the midfielder suffered an ankle injury that sidelined him since late May and unfortunately from what was a call-up to the US men’s national team.
With Chicharito, Kevin Cabral, Diego Costa and Dejan Joveljic, the Galaxy are an attacking juggernaut — when they’re all on the same page, which hasn’t happened consistently in the first half of the season. And Chicharito and Joveljic have played well together, when Joveljic has come off the substitute’s bench. Greg Vanney doesn’t appear willing to part with the 4-2-3-1 formation to get both forwards on the field together from the start.
On paper, Atlanta United should be one of the best teams in the league. But the club have been ravaged by injuries, losing goalkeeper Brad Guzan and starting center back Miles Robinson both to season-ending torn Achilles and defenders Andrew Gutman and Ronald Hernandez to long-term injuries. As a result, head coach Gonzalo Pineda has been busy trying to fill those voids, signing former Chivas Guadalajara goalkeeper Raul Gudino and defender Juan Jose Purata on a season-long loan from Tigres UANL with additional moves likely on the horizon.
Grade C -
Charlotte FC, Nashville SC, New England Revolution
Consistency, or a lack thereof, and not playing up to expectations are the common themes among this trio.
Charlotte are in their expansion season and those rarely yield immediate success. An early-season coaching change that’s apparently not results based is also a troubling sign. All six of Charlotte’s wins have been at Bank of America Stadium.
Nashville SC were expected to be in the top tier of MLS clubs after their trajectory the last few years. While Hany Mukhtar is another player making their case for MLS MVP, Gary Smith’s side hasn’t dominated. That could change with a home-heavy schedule coming up in the second half after a move into Geodis Park on May 1.
The New England Revolution set an MLS record for points in a season to capture the Supporters’ Shield a year ago. So naturally, anything short of the same form would drop their grade. After transferring Canadian winger Tajon Buchanan at season’s end, the 2021 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, Matt Turner, just left for Arsenal in the English Premier League, which followed the move of forward Adam Buksa to RC Lens. That’s a lot of roster turnover, especially in key spots. Expect Bruce Arena to be busy during the summer transfer window.
Grade: D
Inter Miami, Toronto FC, Columbus Crew, Vancouver Whitecaps, Colorado Rapids, Portland Timbers, Minnesota United, Houston Dynamo
No team changed over their roster more than Inter Miami, so it’s bound to take more time in South Beach, Toronto FC have a new boss in charge with Bob Bradley making the move from LAFC, and while Lorenzo Insigne’s arrival will be exciting, it won’t shore up a leaking defense.
Columbus and Minnesota have two of the top playmakers in MLS in Lucas Zelarayan and Emanuel Reynoso, but not much help in attack (though the Crew just made a club-record signing at the No. 9 spot), Colorado are underperforming after last year’s rise to the top of the West and the same is true of Portland after hosting MLS Cup in December.
The Whitecaps could be on the rise after signing Paraguayan international Andres Cubas and the Dynamo hope they are when Mexican national team star Hector Herrera arrives in a few weeks.
Grade: F
D.C. United, Chicago Fire, San Jose Earthquakes, Sporting Kansas City
D.C. United fired their head coach in late April and have continued to struggle since. There doesn’t seem to be a clear plan to dig out of their quagmire.
The Fire had a plan, and spent heavily in the offseason, but Xherdan Shaqiri, the highest-paid player in the league, has just three goals and six assists in 12 appearances. The Earthquakes also made an early-season coaching change, but not even Ebobisse sitting atop the Golden Boot race has lifted them out of the Western Conference basement.
And while they’re not at the bottom of the West table, only the Fire have a lower points per game average than Sporting KC (0.89), who have struggled for results following season-ending injuries to Alan Pulido and Gadi Kinda.
