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
