Your Saturday Kickoff: MLS is Back like never before in 2023

What you need to know

MLS is Back!

MLS is Back, starting with 11 Matchday 1 games on Saturday. Even better, it’s all free to watch this weekend via MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Learn more here. And welcome back, y’all. We made it.

LA Galaxy vs. LAFC postponed due to inclement weather

Due to safety considerations resulting from inclement weather and forecasted thunderstorms in the Los Angeles area, Major League Soccer, the LA Galaxy and LAFC announced that the 2023 MLS regular season match scheduled for this Saturday, Feb. 25 between the LA Galaxy and LAFC at the Rose Bowl Stadium has been rescheduled for Tuesday, July 4.

Kamara traded to Chicago Fire from CF Montréal

Major League Soccer’s third all-time leading scorer is on the move just before the 2023 campaign, with Chicago Fire FC announcing Friday they’ve acquired striker Kei Kamara in a trade with CF Montréal. To land the 38-year-old, Chicago are sending Montréal $250,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) split evenly across two seasons. Montréal could also receive an additional $150k in conditional GAM (performance-based incentives) from Chicago. Kamara’s contract with the Fire will run through the 2023 season.

New England Revolution re-sign midfielder Boateng

The New England Revolution have re-signed midfielder Emmanuel Boateng through the 2023 MLS season with an option for 2024. Boateng was a free agent after spending the last two seasons with New England, tallying four goals and seven assists in 39 matches (12 starts) for the club. The 29-year-old winger, who was in preseason camp, was part of the Revs’ record-setting 2021 Supporters’ Shield squad.

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Three Saturday storylines

Would you look at that? You’re reading The Daily Kickoff, the world’s first ever piece of soccer content to reference a soccer vocabulary word in its name (probably), on a Saturday. That can only mean two things. First and foremost, we’re back to seven days a week around here as I continue my unstoppable climb toward surpassing Doyle’s word count record on MLSsoccer.com. And also I guess it means MLS is Back.

We made it. And there’s a whole lot of new to take in on matchday one. Here are your Saturday storylines to keep an eye on.

Our first bite of the Apple

We get our first official look at everything MLS Season Pass on matchday today. Part of me is afraid of turning this section into an ad, the other part understands that this is objectively a huge moment for the league and its fans. There could be some missteps as things get rolling and I guess there already have been to some extent seeing as how MLS caused a blizzard to hit Los Angeles of all places by trying to make El Trafico a little too powerful. But overall, the experience should be much improved for everyone who consumes the league.

Remember, every game is free today. A lot of games will be free throughout the year on Apple TV, but all the games are free today. Today will also see the debut of MLS 360, the new whip-around show that will provide live look-ins and analysis of all the key moments from every match. MLS Countdown, a 30-minute pregame show before Nashville-NYCFC. And MLS Wrap-Up, a 30-minute postgame show after the last match of the night. There will also be team-specific pregame and postgame shows. Oh, and you can do the cool thing where you can switch the broadcast feed to the home radio broadcast if you’re getting mad that the TV broadcasters haven’t realized the referees are actively conspiring against your team yet.

It should look great, it should sound great and I think all the folks who care about this league or just a team in this league are going to be really happy with the final product. We’re talking about a genuinely historic day in sports media here. Try and appreciate it. Or, I dunno, just try and mainline the whip-around feed… kind of feels like that’s going to rule.

A rude welcome for St. Louis

Welcome to the league, St. Louis! Now go and try and take down last year’s second-place team in the West in front of 20,000 very rowdy people and a potentially equally rowdy Matthew McConaughey.

It won’t be a gentle game one for St. Louis. It will be an intriguing tactical matchup though. We know that St. Louis are going to put forward some version of Energy Drink Soccer. Basically, with former Red Bulls assistant Bradley Carnell in charge, we’re going to see a high-pressing, ultra-direct form of soccer that’s going to try and make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. That’s going to be a stark contrast to Austin’s high-possession style and could potentially cause some trouble for the Verde and Black. They didn’t exactly thrive against the Red Bulls in their lone meeting last year.

Of course, we don’t even really know what the parts look like at this point. It’s another year of learning a lot of new faces on a new team. We’ll see if those new faces can put together what St. Louis execs have called a “Designated Team” or if another Designated Player might actually be pretty helpful down the line.

New year, new coaches (kind of)

It feels like there aren’t nearly the same amount of new coaches this season as in years past. The only manager who’s actually new to the league as a head coach is Carnell and we have a pretty solid idea of what things will look like in St. Louis under him thanks to his time with New York. There are a handful of other familiar coaches in new situations though.

Today, we’ll get our first look at Ben Olsen’s Houston Dynamo, Wilfried Nancy’s Columbus Crew, Hernan Losada’s CF Montréal, and Luchi González’s San Jose Earthquakes. That list is very, very weird to see written out, but it’s also super intriguing. Has Olsen tweaked his game model in a noticeable way since we last saw him in D.C.? Has Gonzalez found a way to fix the San Jose defense in an instant? Can Nancy translate what he did in Montréal to immediate success in Columbus? And will Montréal handle the whiplash from going from a possession-based game model to what’s essentially Diet Energy Drink Soccer?

The personalities aren’t new, but a lot may be different this year for some familiar faces. We’ll get our first experience in a few new eras today. Are they going to start on the right foot?

Other Things

Charlotte FC sign three SuperDraft selections before 2023 season: Charlotte FC have signed three 2023 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas selections – forward Patrick Agyemang and midfielders Nick Scardina and Andrew Privett – through 2023 with option years until 2026.

Toronto FC sign homegrown defender Franklin: Toronto FC have signed academy product Kobe Franklin to a homegrown contract through the 2024 MLS season with options for 2025-26. The 19-year-old right back becomes TFC's 32nd academy player to get promoted to the first team.

San Jose Earthquakes sign first-round MLS SuperDraft pick Munie: The San Jose Earthquakes have signed 2023 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas pick Daniel Munie to a first-team contract. The 23-year-old defender had been in preseason training camp with the Quakes following his SuperDraft selection (No. 10 overall) out of Indiana University, scoring goals in exhibition matchups against Monterey Bay FC and Minnesota United. Munie's contract runs through the 2023 season and includes club options through 2026.

Minnesota United, defender Benítez mutually terminate contract: Minnesota United FC and defender Alan Benítez have mutually agreed to terminate his contract, the club announced Friday on the eve of the 2023 MLS season. The 29-year-old Paraguayan right back's exit opens an international roster spot for the Loons. Signed midway through the 2022 campaign from Cerro Porteño of Paraguay, Benítez was brought in as an injury replacement for the since-departed Romain Metanire and Hassani Dotson. Benítez contributed 1g/2a over 12 appearances.

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