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| Today's area of interest. |
With the finish line looming, I thought I’d circle back to where things are in the Major League Soccer playoff race. And, because I couldn’t handle the constraints of another twitter thread…don’t fence me in, baby…
Here, I’m less concerned with what’s ahead (with the unusual exceptions; see below) than where teams are going into, for most, their 32nd regular season game of 2022. About that, some teams have a game in hand right now – e.g., Orlando City SC, FC Cincinnati, Columbus Crew SC, Inter Miami CF, the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Seattle Sounders – but it’ll take a little aligning of the stars for most of them to make said game come good.
Moreover, this quick post focuses on the middle of the table – i.e., fourth place through tenth in both conferences. I don’t know how the question of who will finish first in each conference remains open – it’ll be the Philadelphia Union in the East and Los Angeles FC in the West – but figure it’s a math thing; the second-place teams look safe as well, even if the math’s a little tighter there, but the battle to finish third ain’t over…though it could get there in either conference or both if the results go a certain way this weekend. And yet all of that strikes me as far less important than the bleached-bones existential question of who will make the 2022 playoffs, hence the focus on (over-)broad middle of the table…
…which, truth be told, reminds of a mosh-pit at a Jimmy Buffett concert – i.e., inexplicable, hard to watch and by and large a race to nowhere. Now, for a closer, narrative look going by conference.
The Eastern Conference Scrum
While I still can’t see New York City FC going under – they’re still seven points over the line – they’ve stagnated badly enough to join the conversation. And if there is a theme to the East, stagnation ain’t a bad fit. Only two teams can lay a positive claim on momentum – Cincy and, of all teams, Atlanta United FC – but neither can argue they’re moving fast: Atlanta kept themselves relevant on the back of two straight wins (v Toronto FC and at Orlando), while Cincinnati has done nothing more than win games they should (v Charlotte FC and v San Jose Earthquakes). Orlando had a good run going till Atlanta tripped them up – four straight wins, a couple of them impressive – but it’s pretty goddamn bleak from there. Each of Columbus, Miami and New England have just one win in their past seven games and all them are fairly agnostic when it comes to whom they fail against and where they do it. With that in mind, here are the match ups for the relevant teams in the East (and where they stand on points, organized according to the standings):
