Major League Soccer gets right to it on Saturday, making its earliest season debut ever with Minnesota United facing the host Philadelphia Union at noon (BSN). The league heads toward an early finish as well in order to make way for the World Cup in Qatar starting in late November.
MLS preview: Charlotte joins league; New England and Seattle are loaded
The North Carolina entry gives MLS 28 teams and pushes Nashville to the Western Conference.
By Staff and news services
February 25, 2022 at 11:32PM
Five things to watch in 2022:
- What's new? Expansion Charlotte FC is the league's 28th team (St. Louis will enter in 2023). Notably for Minnesota United, Charlotte's entry pushes Nashville SC, which finished third in the Eastern Conference in 2021, to the West, where there could be a wild scramble for the seven playoff spots. "It's far harder than people think," Loons coach Adrian Heath said of making the playoffs, which his club has done three years running.
- Rich got richer. New England, which earned an MLS-record 73 points last season, added current or former U.S. national team players Sebastian Lletget and Jozy Altidore. All the main pieces return for the Revolution, though USMNT goalkeeper Matt Turner will leave this summer for Arsenal in the Premier League. In the West, Seattle opens with a starting 11 that is almost entirely all-star caliber. Speedy Jordan Morris is healthy after missing all but two games of 2021 with a torn ACL, and midfield star Albert Rusnak arrives from Real Salt Lake.
- L.A. resurgence: Los Angeles FC is trying to rediscover the chemistry it had in 2019, when it was one of the best teams the league has seen. Carlos Vela and MLS newcomer of the year Cristian Arango return, and LAFC made three big offseason moves by acquiring midfielder Kellyn Acosta from Colorado, left back Ryan Hollingshead from Dallas and goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau from Vancouver.
- Minnesota connections: Teal Bunbury, who grew up in Prior Lake, is with Nashville after a trade from New England; the forward turns 32 on Sunday and is a combined eight goals and assists short of 100 for his career. Duluth native Ethan Finlay signed with Austin after spending the past four seasons with the Loons. Medina native Caden Clark, 18, a breakout star with New York Red Bulls in 2021 before being loaned to RB Leipzig of the German Bundesliga, has been loaned back to Red Bulls. Brent Kallman (Minnesota United) and Eric Miller (Nashville) are veteran defenders from Woodbury. San Jose midfielder Jackson Yueill of Bloomington has 15 national team caps. Fred Emmings of St. Paul is a Loons goalkeeper who has not yet played in an MLS game, and Loons forward Patrick Weah (Wayzata High School) will miss most of the season because of a torn ACL.
- Forecast: Associated Press writer Tim Booth predicts these seven teams will make the Western Conference playoffs: Colorado, Seattle, LAFC, Nashville, Sporting Kansas City, LA Galaxy and Portland.
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Staff and news services
Minnesota started only two strikers against Seattle, leaving Sang Bin Jeong and Joseph Rosales to provide the width behind Teemu Pukki and Kelvin Yeboah.
