The Rest of the Story: 2023 MLS preview, part 2
The Rest of the Story: 2023 MLS preview, part 2
The rest of the East
This is a preview of what paid subscribers are getting. For the other three parts of this preview you’ll need to be a paid subscriber to the newsletter, or a supporter through Patreon.
Paid supporters can expect the last two parts of the season preview to be published tomorrow morning.
Nashville
2022 Record: 13W 11D 10L +11GD 50Pts (5th in West, lost to Galaxy in first round)
2023 Elevator Pitch: Roll it out again. This is a team that has played the same way since it came into the league and is unlikely the change in 2023. What’s that mean? Play tight and wait for some magic from the reigning MVP Hany Mukhtar.
How will it go right? Mukhtar becomes the first player in history to repeat as MVP and only the second player to win the award twice (note: The man that has the award named after him isn’t that player because it was ridicules to name the award after that player). For that to happen Dax McCarty and Walker Zimmerman probably need to turn back the clock too.
How will it go wrong? The form of late 2022 continues. Teams seemed to figure Nashville out. Without any significant upgrades — or a change in tactics — it’s a bit hard to see this team continuing to overachieve, as it has for its existence so far.
New England Revolution
2022 Record: 10W 12D 12L -3GD 42Pts (10th in East, did not qualify)
2023 Elevator Pitch: Was last year a mirage for a team that’s ready to get back to the top? Or, was 2021 the outlier season and it’s time for a re-think.
How it will go right? Bruce Arena will tweak the tactics just enough to unleash Carles Gil again. The 2021 MVP benefited from truly dynamic wing play two seasons ago that simply wasn’t there this year.
Arena is a legend, but does he have one more surprise left?
How will it go wrong? They fail to get Gil the ball in places he can create, without having to fight through a maze of defenders.
New England is truly an enigma in 2023. How they start will tell us a lot.
New York City
2022 Record: 16W 7D 11L +16GD 55pts (3rd in East, lost Conference Final to Philly)
2023 Elevator Pitch: It’s a bit odd to say “Trust The Process” with a team with this much resources, but this really is a Trust The Process kind of team. The core of the championship side is gone. The replacements are underwhelming.
How it will go right? We’ve been here before, haven’t we? City Football Group has the best scouting network in the league and at some level you have to believe that the team that they put out on the pitch will be competitive.
How will it go wrong? It takes too long for the guys CFG brings in to gel and they finally have a down year. On paper, that’s the safe bet, but doubt this team at your own peril.
Red Bull New York
2022 Record: 15W 8D 11L +9 53Pts (4th in east, lost to Cincy in first round)
2023 Elevator Pitch: In a league that’s rarely predictable, there is one certainty. The Red Bulls will be…OK.
Just Ok, but OK. No reason to doubt that this group is much different than the last few years. And, they’ve been OK.
How it will go right? The one difference this year is that they did go out and make an (they hope) impact signing in dynamic winger Dante Vanzeir.
He fits their system. If he can produce, him and Lewis Morgan could be a real handful down that wing.
How it will go wrong? They also lost a player that was arguably their most important in Aaron Long. The defence has questions. They’ll need soeone to step in to replace that, but they have success in doing just that.
Basically, they should be OK.
Orlando City
2022 Record: 14W 6D 14L -9 48Pts (7th, lost to Montreal in first round)
2023 Elevator Pitch: Deep and dangerous on the attack, this is a team that could absolutely win silverware in 2023.
How it will go right? Martin Ojeda does what many think he’s capable of doing — puts up MVP level numbers. Orlando had arguably the best off-season of any team in the league. Outside of Philly, which is on a different level depth wise, this might be the deepest team in the league. That should equal a strong season.
How it will go wrong? They don’t improve the defence. It doesn’t have to be a drastic improvement, but they have to tighten it up a a bit to be a true contender.
Philadelphia Union
2022 Record: 19W 10D 5L +46 67Pts (1st in East, lost MLS Cup to LAFC)
2023 Elevator Pitch: They are the consensus pitch to win MLS Cup. It’s a reasonable consensus.
How will it go right? They avoid injuries and manage the minutes appropriately. They do have CCL to factor in —and they will be looking to win that tournament — so there is some work to do there, but the depth here is outrageous.
The Union truly are the model club of the MLS development model. You can maybe criticise them for not spending for an other level game breaker (and that was the difference in MLS Cup), but other than that this is a near perfect MLS team
How will it go wrong?
Maybe they have a MLS Cup hangover? That was tough way to lose. I think they’ll more likely go the direction of 2017 TFC here though and use it as motivation.
As mentioned, a long CCL run might prevent a Shield attempt, but it’s hard to see this team anywhere other than at or near the top of the East.