MLS Cup Contenders - Week 1
When looking at MLS results week after week, one of the toughest things to do is figure out where teams stack up, often known as “power rankings”. How do you determine the seventh best team and differentiate them from the twelfth best team, week in and week out? When you boil it down, though, we only really care about the winners. With this in mind, rather than rankings, I am going to give you the teams that I feel have proven themselves to be MLS Cup Contenders each week. My list is likely to shorten as the season goes on, but with so many unanswered questions early on, there are a lot of potential contenders.
Heading into the 2022 MLS season, I had nine teams that I felt could realistically win MLS Cup. After Week 1, I have increased that to twelve. Granted, this is only Week 1 and things are likely to change by the last week of the season, but half the fun of sports is speculation. Let’s look at the top of my MLS Cup Contenders grouping.
Top Tier
New York City FC
The reigning champs are still one of the most likely teams to win the MLS Cup in 2022. Though a Week 1 loss on the road against the Galaxy is tough, it’s early in the season. Also, the Galaxy totally should have had a red card - had they been down a man, would Chicharito have been able score late? I don’t know. What I do know is that NYCFC is still a good team and still at the top of MLS.
New England Revolution
After the uncertainty surrounding their CONCACAF Champions League matchup versus Cavaly, which was eventually canceled, New England came out of their first competitive game with a 2-2 draw on the road against the Portland Timbers. Sebastian Lletget scored on his Revs debut, Brandon Bye and DeJuan Jones were flying up and down the wings, and Carles Gil looked sharp. The Revs are ready to run MLS again.
Philadelphia Union
The Union looked strong defensively at home against Minnesota in Week 1. Andre Blake was a game winner, Kei Wagner was impactful, and El Brujo Jose Martinez was a bull in the defensive midfield. If this group can get their DPs to gel and their youngsters to make an impact off the bench, they may end their season with an MLS Cup.
Seattle Sounders
Nobody in MLS has the talent and roster depth that the Sounders do. They have a Best XI player at nearly every starting position, as well as multiple game winners, and I think can walk across any MLS teams on any given day. In saying all of that, they lost 1-0 at home to a strong Nashville side. I think Seattle will find their form and, with a leader like Brian Schmetzer, will be in the top tier of MLS all season long.
Nashville SC
The previously mentioned Nashville SC round out the top tier of MLS. After making the jump from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference in the offseason, they made an early season splash with a road win versus the Seattle Sounders. Nashville is going to be tough to break down defensively, but it will be up to Hany Muhktar and the Nashville offense to create attacking consistency and, most importantly, goals to stay an MLS Cup Contender.
Middle Tier
LAFC
LAFC’s ability to stay an MLS Cup Contender is largely based on one factor and one factor alone; Carlos Vela. A 3-0 Week 1 win against the Colorado Rapids, which featured a hat trick from Vela, was an amazing start. If Vela is motivated and healthy, he can be the best player in MLS and push LAFC into an MLS Cup. With a brand new core of MLS talent and young stars around Vela, LAFC may push their way into the top tier soon.
Atlanta United FC
We heard it all off-season: Atlanta United will return to their winning ways in 2022. Josef Martinez is now a full season removed from his knee injury, Luiz Araujo has had a full off-season with the team, Andrew Gutman is back at the left-back spot, Miles Robinson has turned into a star, and the list goes on and on. Well, Atlanta proved it in Week 1 versus Sporting Kansas City, with a monster 3-1 win. Josef had two assists and Gutman had an amazing game, leading to a strong start to 2022 MLS season for Atlanta. Atlanta United have re-tooled and look to have finally found a long-term manager that fits the team, so watch out for them this season.
Orlando City SC
One thing you may not realize about Orlando City is they have sneaky roster depth. The Purple Lions beat Montreal 2-0 over the weekend and had the likes of Junior Urso, Ercan Kara, Sebastian Mendez, Silvester van der Water, and others on the bench to start. Under the leadership of Oscar Pareja, Orlando City has the capability to reach the top of MLS, but it will come down to being consistent and beating the better teams in MLS.
Portland Timbers
I didn’t think that the Timbers belonged in the upper portion of MLS to start the 2022 season, but a comeback versus one of the best teams in MLS warrants recognition. The Timbers did not look amazing, but they looked very good in Week 1. Though they lost steam in second half against the Revs, if they can continue to rely on Sebastian Blanco as a spark plug off the bench, I think the Timbers have a shot to be back in the MLS Cup this season.
Bottom Tier
Sporting Kansas City
I had such high hopes for SKC coming into 2022. Their main core of Graham Zusi, Roger Espinoza, Tim Melia, and Johnny Russell is intact, and Daniel Salloi is coming off of the best season of his career. Although Salloi scored SKC’s lone goal in their loss to Atlanta, he did not appear to have last season's quality. I know it’s only Week 1, but when was the last time we’ve seen a stellar performance from SKC? SKC need to get better or they will fade away as potential MLS Cup contenders.
Colorado Rapids
After being bounced from CCL in an embarrassing fashion, I was expecting to see the Rapids come out swinging Week 1 and really put the pressure on LAFC. Well, that didn’t happen - the Rapids got smoked by LAFC 3-0 behind a Carlos Vela hat trick. To be fair, this could happen to any team. However, my main issue with the Rapids remains. I’ve mentioned it in previous blog posts, the MLS Aces podcast and on the MLS Aces Twitter account: Colorado don’t have a goal-scoring forward. Come on, Kroenke - go out and sign a DP striker - please!
Columbus Crew SC
Columbus pushed themselves into the Contender group real quick with a dominant 4-0 win versus the Vancouver Whitecaps. Their game winning #10 Lucas Zelarayan looked back to his usual form, notching a goal and an assist in a dominant performance. Along with strong performances from Derrick Etienne Jr., Yaw Yeobah, Pedro Santos, and Miguel Berry, Columbus could be back to their 2020 Championship form.
