MLS Soccer update
NEW JERSEY, NJ — Real Madrid make offer for Chicago Fire’s Slonina: Real Madrid have had a bid rejected for Chicago Fire FC and US youth international goalkeeper Gaga Slonina, sources tell MLSsoccer.com. The offer didn’t match Chicago’s valuation, and the MLS side responded with a counter offer. Slonina’s preference is to join Madrid. Slonina’s agent, Jaime Garcia of Starting XI Player Management, told MLSsoccer.com that Slonina “cannot say no to Real Madrid” and hopes an agreement can be reached between Chicago and the La Liga giants.
FC Dallas standout Arriola named MLS Player of the Month for May: Amid a torrid run of form for FC Dallas, Paul Arriola has been named MLS Player of the Month for May of the 2022 season. The US men’s national team attacker led all players with six goals since May 4, a stretch that included a streak of five straight games with a goal from May 7 to May 28. That hot streak brought his goal total on the season up to seven, which already ties his career-high that was previously set in 2018 with D.C. United.
Real Salt Lake captain Kreilach undergoes successful back surgery: Real Salt Lake captain Damir Kreilach has undergone a successful surgical procedure on his lower back. The 33-year-old Croatian made five MLS appearances (three starts) this season before getting sidelined with the injury, scoring one goal in 298 minutes, with an exact timeline for his return to be determined in the coming weeks. Head coach Pablo Mastroeni shed more light on a potential return to action for Kreilach, saying that a three-month time frame is “typically the best-case scenario” in a radio interview on Salt Lake’s ESPN 700. That would leave the club without their standout DP until September.
This week, the good folks at Extratime gave out grades to every MLS team. The problem with listening to podcasts is they don’t hear you when you’re on a run and yelling about how a team deserved a B+ instead of a B. Because great artists and lazy newsletter writers steal, we here at The Daily Kickoff are going to hand out our own grades for the season so far. We’ll grade the East today and check in with the West soon.
Atlanta United: C+
Sometimes you have to recognize there are factors outside of the student’s control that are holding them back. Atlanta United have been more injury-ravaged than literally any team in any sport I can remember in recent history. The list of long-term non-contact injuries they’ve had this season is the length of a CVS receipt.
A large chunk of those injuries have been to defensive players. Brad Guzan, Miles Robinson, Ozzie Alonso, Andrew Gutman and Ronald Hernandez are all out for either a few months or the season. Atlanta now have a makeshift backline prone to giving up extremely soft goals and an attacking front that can create chances but is missing a truly quality striker to finish it off.
Considering the number of casualties though, it could be worse. It honestly might get worse. But for now, Atlanta keep turning in 2021 LAFC-esque performances where the underlying numbers suggest the team’s getting unlucky while the eye test suggests the team can’t stop letting preventable goals change the outcome of winnable games.
CF Montréal: A+
I think a jump forward in Wilfried Nancy’s second year seemed like a reasonable projection. They missed the playoffs by inches last year and returned all of their core players from a season where they had to spend half of their time in Florida. With Nancy’s ability as a coach, it just seemed likely.
Well, it hasn’t been so much of a jump as it’s been a Bob Beamon leap. They’ve gone from a fringe playoff team to a surefire home playoff team. It’s the kind of shift that no one really saw coming even after they dismantled Santos Laguna in the Concacaf Champions League. Djordje Mihailovic has obviously played the biggest part in that, but guys like Joaquin Torres and Ismael Kone have made surprising impacts as well.
The underlying numbers like them as much as the eye test and ASA has them fifth in the league in expected goal differential. The only worry for this team right now is Mihailovic. I’m not really talking about his recent ankle injury either. I’m more focused on the fact that he’s probably been a little *too* good. Don’t be surprised if European teams swoop in with offers this summer. At that point, CFM will have a few tough decisions to make.
Charlotte FC: B-
This would have been a B+ or even an A at the start of the week. But now, just 14 games in, Miguel Angel Ramirez is out as manager and I have absolutely no idea what the direction of this team is going to be. Before MAR got fired, Charlotte were one of the better expansion stories in recent memory. They started the season by breaking the all-time MLS attendance record and had continually put in impressive performances at home on their way to sitting just below the playoff line 14 weeks in. They looked tactically sound and appeared to be improving on how well they could execute within that framework game by game. Essentially, they were doing exactly what you want to see from a mid-market expansion team.
Now, just a few days later, it doesn’t feel that way. Maybe that progression continues and they bring in key transfers over the summer that suggest a special year two bump is on the way. But it’s hard to be confident in that right now.
Chicago Fire FC: D
D is for defense. The thing that came and went from Chicago’s season with no real pattern.
Chicago started the year as one of the league’s most stifling (boring) teams. The idea seemed to be your classic “Establish the backline and build the attack along the way” strategy. Totally valid. The problem is that the defense and young goalkeeper Gaga Slonina began to falter before the attack could catch up.
The Fire are sitting at the bottom of the conference with a negative-7 goal differential and just two wins. But it does seem like they’re actively working on improving their situation. The additions of Chris Mueller and Jairo Torres have seemed to instantly improve their plodding attack, and now it just kind of seems like Chicago are getting unlucky. I’d be shocked to see them at the bottom of the table by the end of the year. I’d be shocked to see them in the playoffs too, but crazier things have happened in this league.
Columbus Crew: C-
The Crew haven’t been good. They’ve looked lethargic in attack and there are no discernable signs that they’ve taken any kind of step forward from last season’s struggles. And yet, here we are, with Columbus just two points below the playoff line with a game in hand. The fact they aren’t even in a hole is enough to earn them a C.
Honestly, that might be enough to get them into the playoffs this year. Especially if they add a DP forward this summer who can actually make a noticeable difference. And the last time I made a whole bunch of jokes about the Crew powering through the season with a “C’s get degrees” mentality, they showed up for the final test and won MLS Cup.
D.C. United: D-
D.C. United haven’t been good. They fired their manager just a few games in. I don’t know what to say other than it’s hard to give a team a totally failing grade halfway through the season. They’re, at least for now, a legitimate Wooden Spoon contender.
FC Cincinnati: A
Speaking of Wooden Spoon contenders!
Get your jokes in now, because this is the last season we’ll be able to make any jokes about the three-time defending champions of being in last place. Cincinnati have struck gold with year-two Luciano Acosta and the league’s most constantly moving striker, Brandon Vazquez. The defense still struggles – they still look a bit too much like their old selves at times – but they just might be a playoff team. Especially if the defense can sort itself out. Even a little bit. Perhaps DP midfielder Obinna Nwobodo will help with that as he gets more comfortable.
What’s really important though is that Acosta and Vazquez keep doing what they’re doing. All signs are that they won’t slow down too much. Both of their underlying numbers are great, and Vazquez’s movement has rocketed to a whole other level this year. He’s going to keep finding chances.
Inter Miami CF: B+
This could be going so much worse! In fact, I expected it to. I’m pretty sure I picked Miami to finish last and I’m pretty sure a lot of my colleagues did too. To be fair, they were trotting out what appeared to be an expansion roster despite being in their third season of existence. It honestly still kind of looks like that. But they’re an expansion roster with Leo Campana. And that’s a solid expansion roster.
Campana has established himself as one of the best forwards in the league and has totally altered the makeup of an attack that initially seemed doomed to be centered around Gonzalo Higuain. His performance has covered up a few cracks though and it’s probably safe to assume that this isn’t a playoff team. Just the fact we have to stop and think about the possibility of the Herons in the playoffs is a massive success though.
New England Revolution: C
This is going to seem a little harsh considering how well they’ve been playing the last few weeks. But all of that is about to come to a halt, I believe. Matt Turner (definitely) and Adam Buksa (surely) are on their way out, and so is the momentum they’d built over the last month. After June, this is an entirely different team than the one that won the Supporters’ Shield last year.
That’s not great news for a team that bombed out of CCL in spectacular fashion, made some less-than-encouraging signings that seemed geared towards supporting that CCL attempt, and is still sitting in 11th place after a few weeks of resurgence.
The good news is that Carles Gil is still there. I hope he’s stretched his back.
New York Red Bulls: A
The Red Bulls are doing Red Bulls things and making life miserable for nearly every team they face. Aaron Long looks healthy and Lewis Morgan and Luquinhas look like pitch-perfect Red Bulls signings. The only thing keeping them from an A+ is the lack of consistent play from their forwards and the fact that they just now figured out they’re allowed to win at home. Other than that, it’s been a perfect start.
New York City FC: A
It would have been a super A+++ if they’d won CCL, but they lost to Seattle in the semifinals. I guess they’ll just have to settle for being the clear best team in the conference so far and a genuine Supporters’ Shield contender. The only worry is whether or not Taty Castellanos stays around for the season or heads elsewhere this summer.
Orlando City SC: B-
They’ve spent the first few months of the season alternating between looking like one of the league’s worst teams and a playoff side. I am deeply confused by everything they do. Mostly. A quick look at the underlying numbers suggests they’re just a classic overperforming team that will level off sometime soon. That being said, there’s still a ton of upside here as a handful of new pieces get comfortable.
If Ercan Kara and Facundo Torres can start to click by the end of the season, they’ll have a chance at making some waves in the playoffs. And I think they will probably be in the playoffs, all things considered. It might go to the last day before we know that for sure. But I think they’ll have enough juice in the end.
Philadelphia Union: A-
The Union are doing Union things by controlling games and being even more suffocating at doing Red Bulls things than the Red Bulls. They just need someone to step up and find the net consistently besides Daniel Gazdag and they’ll easily move into an A or even an A+ spot. You shouldn’t be surprised at this point. This is just who they are.
Toronto FC: C-
It would feel mean to give what’s essentially a bunch of kids a grade below C-. But I still felt tempted to do it. From the eye test to the underlying numbers, this team has a claim at being the worst in the league. The fact that they’re not completely submerged underwater at this point, despite playing a U-23 roster, is enough to hold off on a D or a failing grade. The new kid, Lorenzo Insigne, is going to have to carry a lot of weight when he gets added to the group project. There’s a lot of work to do in Toronto.
AND OTHER THINGS
Orlando sign goalkeeper Stajduhar to contract extension: Orlando City SC have signed goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar to a contract extension that will take effect in 2023 through the 2025 season with an option for 2026. Stajduhar, 24, joined the Lions’ first team in 2015 after representing their academy team at the youth levels, becoming the fourth homegrown player in club history.
