Lionel Messi and Co. remain favorites, but strong starts from Nashville, San Jose and Vancouver have the league nicely poised heading into a long break.
Midseason breaks are, objectively, a good thing. There is too much soccer all the time for human bodies to handle, really. Legs get tired, sinews get stretched. Muscle injuries are all too common. And MLS is taking a big one. Thanks to the World Cup, there will now be a six-week gap in play, leaving the majority of the players in this league, and the teams that they play for, with not much soccer to take part in for over a month.
That might be bad for the product, but it is a good time for a check in. There are 34 games in an MLS season. Every team has now played around 15. With a summer transfer window coming up and, no doubt, a flurry of activity brought about by the World Cup, it’s a good time to reset, reevaluate and take a look.
Some things are predictable. Inter Miami are top contenders – again. Nashville SC are pretty good – again. Seattle Sounders are going to make the playoffs – again. But there are a few surprises. The San Jose Earthquakes are legit. The Chicago Fire are playing some really good stuff. And LAFC are still patching themselves together in the post-Steve Cherundolo era. And then there’s a whole bunch of fun stuff in between.
GOAL looks at the pretenders, the contenders, and those who probably want to be on a beach as MLS takes its summer vacation…