There was a time when MLS teams making a deep run in the CONCACAF Champions League was a major deal not just for that club, but for fans of every MLS club. The whole league got behind Real Salt Lake in its run to the final for the #MLSforRSL movement, and it was a major moment in MLS history.
Do the league’s fans care about continental success anymore? The Seattle Sounders finally broke through and won the tournament last year, so there’s no more history to be made. There’s also increasingly less belief that an MLS club winning the tournament meaningfully moves the needle for the league as a whole, especially since the new Leagues Cup adds more games between MLS and Liga MX clubs.
So as LAFC gets ready for the final of this season’s Champions League against Club León, we know that the Black and Gold faithful will be at a fever pitch, but that probably won’t be the case elsewhere, and MLS will be business as usual. Anyway, that is a matter for Wednesday, when the first leg of the final kicks off. Right now, we have to rank the teams for how they play in MLS matches.
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Previous ranking: 1
The Black and Gold got the weekend off to get ready for the CONCACAF Champions League final.
Previous ranking: 2
You can sit here and say that the Garys’ attack still hasn’t clicked, but they’re still top of the league after winning in Colorado. And how terrifying might they be if that attack does get going?
Previous ranking: 3
NSC have struggled at times when teams put numbers behind the ball and don’t allow them to play in space, making it especially important they do not allow the first goal. And yet, after falling behind Columbus on Saturday, Nashville stormed back with three straight goals. This team is looking better by the day.
Previous ranking: 5
The Red Bulls have struggled this season, but it hasn’t been because of their defense. RBNY have been one of the stingiest defensive teams in the league and the Sounders had no problem generating chances against them. They probably should have scored more than one goal, but they got the win and the attack really clicked against a very good defense. It was a good day in Seattle.
Previous ranking: 7
City capitalized on every Whitecaps mistake to win, 3-1. They are now up to 2.14 points per home match, but have a negative xGD in matches at CITYPARK. Try to make sense of that.
Previous ranking: 8
Remember all those quick attacks that made the Union one of the best teams in the league? You’d be forgiven if you forgot about them when they disappeared early this season, but they are back and so are the Union. NYCFC was the latest team to fall to Philly.
Previous ranking: 4
New England’s defense imploded against Chicago and their winless streak stretched to three, but at least they got a draw out of it and Noel Buck’s banger of a goal.
Previous ranking: 6
There’s no shame in losing at Nashville and everything about this team indicates they are good, but they’ve lost four of their last six. Wilfried Nancy’s system is still taking hold and it’d be smart to bet on them getting better, but if they wanted to start winning a few more matches now, that’d probably be a good idea.
Previous ranking: 9
The Five Stripes were god-awful in Orlando and somehow stole a point. Run, don’t walk, home to Atlanta.
Previous ranking: 10
The Quakes had played a decent match up until Benji Kikanović scored to give them a 70th minute lead over Dallas. The problem is they stopped playing after that goal and the point they took was maybe more than they deserved.
Previous ranking: 11
Jimmy Maurer standing and watching the ball slowly bounce off the ground, off the post and in was not the best bit of goalkeeper, but Nkosi Tafari’s equalizer four minutes into stoppage time was a nice way to leave San Jose.
Previous ranking: 14
The Dynamo had a lot of work to do when new ownership took over and appointed Ben Olsen the new coach. It was never going to be a quick fix, but taking control of Texas would be a great first step. After a draw with Dallas last week, they beat Austin this week and guess who’s on top of the state?
Previous ranking: 12
The Caps were, once again, mostly good, in St. Louis, but they were a disaster in front of their own goal and beaten handily. The middle third continues to be a strength for Vancouver, but they’ve got to figure out the two boxes.
