In the first few weeks of every new MLS season, there’s a race to gather as much information as possible. Offseason expectations are reformed. New opinions arise. Hot takes are scrubbed from the digital archives.
Welcome to the first edition of the Guardian’s 2024 MLS power rankings, where we’ll be doing plenty of scrubbing ourselves throughout the year.
Now, these aren’t your standard, run-of-the-mill power rankings. We’re still ranking teams from worst to first. But along with the rankings, we’re diving deep into a handful of teams from around the league who are doing particularly interesting things.
The Italians may actually care
29. Austin FC
28. Colorado Rapids
26. Chicago Fire
25. New York City FC
24. Toronto FC
Plenty of folks, myself included, thought Toronto FC would struggle mightily in 2024 after “winning” last year’s Wooden Spoon as the worst team in MLS.
Maybe, just maybe, I was wrong about this team. In the first two games of the year, they earned a point on the road against last year’s Supporters’ Shield winners in FC Cincinnati and toppled the New England Revolution to earn three points in another road clash. John Herdman’s team hasn’t been elite – they were second-best in both of their games so far in terms of chance creation. But there’s been a massive, season-altering change taking place in Toronto: the Italians actually seem to care.
Despite Federico Bernardeschi’s public desire to return to Juventus in the most recent January transfer window, he’s still in MLS. Herdman’s been using him as a right wingback in a 3-4-3 shape, and … it’s kind of been working? Sure, Bernardeschi’s lack of defensive effort is heaping an extra helping of responsibility on center back Shane O’Neill’s plate. But in attack, the 30-year-old is threatening as an inverted wide player when Toronto pushes up the field.
Then there’s Lorenzo Insigne, who not only scored a beauty against New England last week, but he also tracked back to win the ball in midfield in the first half. Yes, you read that correctly.
If Herdman continues to get Insigne and Bernardeschi to buy what he’s selling from the sidelines, Toronto FC will be a genuine threat in every game they play this year. After all, the fastest ticket to success in MLS is for your big-money Designated Players to perform at a high…