Major League Soccer is often known as a league of parity, where every team has a chance, where the gap between the contenders and pretenders is a collection of small margins. Not this year. 2024 has become the season of the ‘Big Six,' and I absolutely love it.
During MLS 360 last week, Bradley Wright-Phillips, Kaylyn Kyle, Sacha Kljestan and I couldn’t help but notice how the elite are pushing each other to be better. They’re raising the bar and producing winning runs at a rate we’ve never seen from so many teams at once. FC Cincinnati hit Inter Miami for six goals. Statement made. The Columbus Crew did similar up the road, battering Toronto FC 4-0. Real Salt Lake saw these results as they were about to kick off vs. Atlanta United, and they scored within the first minute. They’d add four more. The best are pushing each other, and we’ve never seen it before at this rate in MLS.
Look at the points per game barometer: Last year, only Cincinnati finished with 2+ PPG. In 2022, no team reached 2+ PPG. In fact, we’ve seen two teams finish with 2+ PPG only once in MLS history. That was the New York Red Bulls and Atlanta United in 2018. This season, three teams currently have more than 2 PPG, and three others are within touching distance. Welcome to the era of the elite.
Let me be clear: 2024’s Big Six are FC Cincinnati, Inter Miami, LAFC, Real Salt Lake, LA Galaxy and Columbus Crew. It’s no coincidence these six have taken a leap above the chasing pack, and are now all in the best Supporters’ Shield race MLS has seen. And remember, win the Supporters’ Shield and you have home-field advantage throughout the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.
All six have so much in common, and we’re in for a Matchday 26 treat on Saturday when LAFC host Columbus in a rematch of MLS Cup 2023 (10:30 pm ET | Apple TV - Free). Let’s explore further.
The Landon Donovan MLS MVP conversation is epic right now. I asked Sacha and Bradley about MVP contenders a few weeks ago, and they said it was a two-horse race between Lionel Messi and Chicho Arango. I asked them again last week and Lucho Acosta had leapfrogged both Messi and Chicho into the top spot.
Now, imagine thinking Denis Bouanga is not going to enter that conversation?! Last season’s Golden Boot presented by Audi winner failed to score in his opening four games and had the masses wondering if he’d simply outperformed last season. Think again. Bouanga has 14 goals in his last 17 games and we’re about to see Olivier Giroud, one of the most selfless strikers I can think of, team up with Bouanga.
And if you think last season’s MLS Cup MVP, Cucho Hernández, isn’t skyrocketing into this conversation, you’d be mistaken. The Colombian has seven goals in his last six games, as the Crew are roaring forward while playing the most scintillating soccer in MLS. Cucho provides for his teammates as much as he scores, making him the perfect fit for this Wilfried Nancy-led side. Diego Rossi and Christian Ramírez are scoring for fun too, and Cucho is central to it all. This attacking trident has scored 14 goals in Columbus’ last six games! Think about that!!!
And we can’t talk about stars without bringing the LA Galaxy into this conversation. Riqui Puig is a superstar. Joseph Paintsil wowed us all in the earlier stage of the season, and now Gabriel Pec has taken center stage. And I still think Dejan Joveljic is in the Golden Boot conversation as well. The Serbian striker has already scored an MLS career-best 12 goals. If Joveljic stays fit, he’s a supreme poacher who will benefit from the cast around him.
The Big Six are phenomenal teams that understand the power of the superstar, and said superstars are performing.
These head coaches know how to win.
Pat Noonan (Cincy), Tata Martino (Miami), Steve Cherundolo (LAFC), Greg Vanney (LA) and Wilfried Nancy (Columbus) have all won either MLS Cup or the Supporters’ Shield. In the case of Cherundolo and Vanney, it’s both! They’ve brilliantly navigated these murky waters before and know how to get it done. Nothing down the stretch will faze them, which only helps the players.
The one outlier from the Big Six is Pablo Mastroeni at Real Salt Lake. There’s a first time for everything, and if you’ve seen RSL much this year, you’ll know Mastroeni is working wonders. This team has a superstar in Arango, but look at what Mastroeni has cooked up elsewhere.
Andrés Gómez and Diego Luna are both 21 or younger, yet are playing like veteran ballers. Emeka Eneli jumped from fullback to central midfield and instantly became one of the best in the league (I voted Eneli for All-Star). Then there’s the injury-filled season they’ve endured at center back. Mastroeni has had to get creative amid absentee after absentee – his back four often features four fullbacks – yet this team gets it done.
There was also a coaching shake-up with Mastroeni’s assistants during the offseason. Many questioned what this would mean for Mastroeni, but in classic Mastroeni fashion, he’s taken the positives and accelerated forward quicker than ever. Mastroeni, a former MLS Cup and Supporters’ Shield winner as a player, has a staff that bleeds claret and cobalt. Jámison Olave is a first-team assistant, while Luke Mulholland is head scout. They ooze RSL DNA, plus a culture of togetherness and accountability.
RSL’s recent run of 15 unbeaten was no fluke, and Mastroeni deserves all the praise in the world.
Money matters and the Big Six have all heavily invested, both on and off the pitch.
It spans from splashing on superstars mentioned above (MESSI PLAYS IN MLS!); to the most beautiful stadiums at the likes of Cincinnati, Columbus and LAFC; to the training grounds and facilities behind the scenes that foster growth and sustainable success, often via MLS NEXT Pro (Columbus being the prime example). These Big Six clubs are backing up their ambition with targeted spending and leaving some others in their wake.
We’ve entered a new era for Major League Soccer. With the greatest of all time now playing in our league, global tournaments playing out on our shores across the next few summers, and our matches being broadcast across the world on Apple TV, there’s more interest than ever before. These Big Six teams deserve all the credit in the world. The soccer is great, the atmospheres are sensational, and ambition is there for all to see.
The beauty of this separation is other ambitious and recently successful clubs will despise looking up at those battling it out for silverware. Atlanta United, New York City FC, Seattle Sounders FC, Portland Timbers and Toronto FC have all won MLS Cup within the last decade, and they’ll be desperate to get back amongst the best. FOMO is only a good thing.
As BWP said last week: “These top-six teams have invested at every level. Their game-changers are showing up every week. The level has been raised, and if the other teams don’t keep up, good luck, you’ll be left behind.”
Calen Carr had a different viewpoint on last week’s MLS Wrap-Up on Apple TV. He voiced: “LAFC have made the LA Galaxy have to step their game up. The same thing can be said about Cincinnati and Columbus. One wins the Supporters’ Shield and the other goes and wins MLS Cup. That greed and ambition is what we want to see, and it’s spreading across the league.”
This Big Six should be celebrated. The run-in should be enjoyed. The race for the Supporters’ Shield, MVP and supremacy within Major League Soccer is better than ever.
