The League Soccer

 MLS Week 1 has come to a close with exactly ZERO ties. I don't even know how that's possible. Ties or no ties it was a great slate of week one games so let's dive in: Nashville opened up the season just how they wanted to against NYCFC getting an early goal and then being able to sit back and do what they do best, play defense. If you had Walker Zimmerman to score the first goal of the year, you'd probably be sitting pretty off of those winnings right now. Hany Mukhtar came off the bench and had an assist late. It was the perfect Nashville game and I think they will continue to be among the league leaders in 2023. I may have been right to question NYC this year after losing Sean Johnson and Tati Castellanos over the last 8 months. They still have some good pieces but they didn't look like a team that is going to sit at or near the top of the table this season.  DC United and Toronto FC played a wild battle that was one of the bigger upsets of the week. DC led for a...

This is more of a review of the Club than the City SC 2023 season. St. Louis was awarded a MLS franchise in the 2018 season. Unlike others who have jumped into the league using existing infrastructure and hoping a good stadium deal comes along (see all sorts of existing MLS clubs) the City SC ownership group decided to build their perfect stadium in a perfect spot in Midtown, build their academy up and start slowly last season with MLS Next Pro St. Louis City SC2. The patience to get it right rather than diving in and hoping it all works out its going to pay dividends in the long run for owner Carolyn Kindle, the City and the fans. It would've been easy for St. Louis, a soccer crazy market who has been waiting years for a top flight soccer club to have started in the 2020-22 seasons and play in The Dome at America's Center (formerly known as the Edward Jones Dome). The group had the capital and knew the soccer specific stadium would come even if they jumped in, but instead righ...

  Before each week I’m going to do a Matchup of the Week and make 10 picks against the spread which I’ll add up throughout the season to see how I do.     For Week 1 I honestly wish I had to dig a little harder. I wanted to find some hidden gem to write about, but this one is too obvious. LAFC and the Galaxy matchup at the Rose Bowl in front of 90,000 fans and it’s going to be must see TV. This is already a tense rivalry with both clubs looking to be  The Club  in Los Angeles.    Vela, Chiellini, Long, Acosta, Ilie, and company will take on Chicharito, Puig, Alvarez, and the LA’s original MLS franchise. I truly wish I could be there. The atmosphere is going to be out of this world for the Battle for LA. Both teams have a lot to gain and a lot to lose. LAFC’s roster has been overhauled and they want to start the season where they finished last season and expect to end this one, on top. The Galaxy will look to re-establish themselves as a force to be rec...

The big story lines are going to focus around star studded LAFC and defending Concacaf Champions League Seattle Sounders. I love the Western Conference and there are going to be a lot of story lines to follow. I think the Conference could end up being very top heavy, but in MLS anything is possible.       1.       Seattle Sounders  I’m bullish on Seattle to the point I bet on them to win MLS Cup when I was recently in Tennessee. The 2022 Concacaf Champions League winners are just that, winners. Last year they poured their heart and soul into winning that competition and leveraged their MLS regular season in doing so. This year they didn’t qualify for CCL, but instead playing meaningless preseason games they competed in the Club World Cup, losing to Egyptian side Al Ahly. They’re healthy. Jordan Morris and Christian Roldan got some variety of off season after competing in the World Cup, and Brian Schmetzer is a world class coach. They have the...

T he Eastern Conference feels pretty wide open outside of the number one spot this season. Both New York teams have lost key pieces, and Montreal has lost quality players to Europe this offseason. One big story line we’ll all be following is can Toronto’s record signings Italian’s Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi reignite soccer in the North? There are still plenty of players yet to be signed but this is where I believe things stand as of now:   1.       Philadelphia Union  Jim Curtin and the Union have built a juggernaut through their academy system and signing the right veteran players. Paxten Aaronson is gone to Eintracht Frankfurt but returning are stalworth Jamacian National Team keeper Andre Blake, USMNT veteran Alejandro Bedoya, defender Kai Wagner, USYNT forward Quin Sullivan and all of the firing power from last year’s Eastern Conference Champs.    2.       Toronto FC  It’s my belief that all of...

Welcome to “The League” where I’ll be covering Major League Soccer. This is an exciting time for MLS and US Soccer fans. After years of financial struggle and limbo MLS has established a solid fan base and a steady financial footing, in part thanks to the new TV rights deal with Apple TV (which I’ll cover shortly). We’re also three years away from the United States hosting the World Cup for the first time in over 30 years. The 1994 World Cup launched soccer in the United States: multiple generations of talented American soccer players, multiple leagues including the MLS. More people watched the 2022 World Cup Finals in the US than watched the World Series, so we will see what kind of growth the sport has in and around the next World Cup.   2023 in particular is a unique year for MLS. This offseason they announced a 10 year partnership with Apple TV to carry games and the new Leagues Cup (a new competition between all MLS and Liga MX clubs that I will also touch on). Fox Sports will...