Lionel Messi sets Conmebol record
Inter Miami CF superstar Lionel Messi wrote more history Tuesday evening, becoming Conmebol's all-time leading scorer in World Cup qualifying after tallying twice in Argentina's 2-0 win at Peru.
Charlotte head to Inter Miami tonight
It’s a massive, massive game for Charlotte. If they can beat Inter Miami twice this week, they’re in the Wild Card round. Even just one win could potentially do the trick. Kickoff is set for 8 pm ET on MLS Season Pass.
Bradley to retire
Michael Bradley will retire after the 2023 MLS season. The news, announced Tuesday afternoon, marks the end of his 20-year career. Bradley’s farewell match will occur on Decision Day this Saturday when Toronto FC host Orlando City SC (6 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
FC Cincinnati sign Pat Noonan to contract extension
FC Cincinnati and head coach Pat Noonan have agreed on a long-term contract extension. Noonan’s extension follows similar deals for general manager Chris Albright and captain Luciano Acosta in recent weeks, securing the club’s long-term future as they build off a 2023 MLS Supporters’ Shield crown and second straight Audi MLS Cup Playoffs trip.
USMNT rout Ghana 4-0 in friendly
The US men’s national team's stars shined bright Tuesday night as Gio Reyna, Christian Pulisic and Folarin Balogun scored inside the opening 22 minutes of a 4-0 win over Ghana at Nashville SC’s GEODIS Park to close the program's October international window.
Sign up for The Daily Kickoff in your inbox! The Daily Kickoff is more than an article – it can be delivered to your email account as well.
The playoffs in MLS aren’t totally random, even if chaos often rules the day. You can generally predict things by picking the home team and going from there. You might be fine. But the reality is the ball can bounce a couple of different ways and suddenly the best team in the league is out of the postseason in an instant.Â
The more I’ve assessed what’s important in postseason formats where success is based more on how favored you are in the eyes of a higher power and/or small sample size luck than it is skill – MLB playoffs, NCAA basketball tournament, any playoff game against Real Salt Lake – I’ve realized all that really matters is the general atmosphere surrounding a team’s recent results and their approach to success. To put that simply and to use a word that became uncool and overused like three months ago: It’s vibes. Vibes are what truly matters.Â
So, I figured we’d check in on each conference as we head into Decision Day. Instead of Matt Doyle’s popular “playoff contender tiers” based on pointless things like logic, analytics, critical thinking and evidence, these are the pre-playoff vibe tiers. West today, East tomorrow.
One of these teams will make the playoffs. Maybe both. But they haven’t really been putting in the work to get there. Both teams have just one win in their last nine games. There’s a decent chance one or both will stumble over the finish line and possibly miss out on the playoffs entirely. They’ve been sleepwalking for a couple of months now, aren’t finding the net consistently and haven’t shown any signs of waking up. Real “sad dad drinking red wine and looking wistfully out the window at the city skyline while mumbling about plot points they’ll never actually turn into a novel” energy from them right now.
It would be unfair to group them with San Jose and FC Dallas. Both of these teams have put together quality seasons and may even finish top-four in the West. But that doesn’t mean the vibes are good. For different reasons, something feels off with both sides.
Seattle have earned points in the most “We’re Seattle so we’re contractually obligated to earn points” way possible. They’ve played great defense, played a lot of low-scoring games and clattered the ball into the net a few times. There’s an energy and confidence that’s missing in everything they do. That doesn’t mean they’re going to crash out of the playoffs immediately. But it doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence they can make their way to MLS Cup.
Meanwhile, RSL have been stumbling since they lost midfielder Pablo Ruiz to an injury. They won just one of their first five games after Leagues Cup. Then, they started to figure it out with wins over Vancouver and LAFC… only to follow it up with a loss to Sporting KC and an untimely injury to DP striker Chicho Arango. Throw in some strange public moments of discontent with Jefferson Savarino debating with the team Twitter account as to why he had to miss a game and Danny Musovski sitting out practice due to contract negotiations and things have been very off.
If they get Arango back at any point in Round One, then that could change. It’s not clear if that will happen right now though.
SKC and Minnesota United will take part in what’s essentially an elimination game on Saturday. The loser definitely goes home for the offseason. The winner might make the playoffs. A draw means the end of the road for both sides.
If one of these two can pull out a win over the other on Saturday and jump over one of Dallas, San Jose or Portland, then they’ll be coming into the playoffs with a full head of steam. SKC have mostly been alternating between wins and losses after Leagues Cup, but have put together 15 points over their last eight games. That eight-game stretch includes wins over San Jose, St. Louis, Minnesota, Houston and RSL. If they make it in, they’re hot enough to take down anybody – maybe even St. Louis on the road. Things didn’t go so well the first time, but it’s a new day, right?
Minnesota are in a bit of a different position. Things got so bad recently they parted ways with the only manager they’ve ever known with two games left in the season. Generally, you’d think that would throw things into flux. Instead, they came out in the first game of the post-Adrian Heath Era and put up five on the Galaxy. If they can find a way into the playoffs, they’ll have to feel confident in a new approach (no approach?) paying dividends. Maybe you just let Emanuel Reynoso do the brunt of the work and see if you can win a few games?
I can’t say I expected these two to be in this tier heading into the final stretch of the season. Vancouver needed to navigate a brutal seven-game road trip, and LAFC were mostly outright bad after going up on Monterrey in Leagues Cup and then losing 3-2. But the 'Caps passed the seven-game gauntlet with flying colors, and LAFC got it together over the last couple of weeks.
Vancouver earned 11 points over that road trip and have earned five points in the three games since, despite facing St. Louis and Seattle. LAFC stumbled through the back half of their schedule, but woke up in the last two games thanks to Denis Bouanga putting up five goals in two matches.
Now, with Brian White and Ryan Gauld leading the way as one of MLS’ most dynamic duos, the Whitecaps should feel good about taking on any team at home or on the road. And with Denis Bouanga going supernova at just the right time, LAFC should feel good about getting the ball to Denis Bouanga against any team at home or on the road. It may not have gone exactly as planned for either club, but it is going.
Here’s the thing, though. These two face off on Decision Day with playoff positioning on the line. Whoever comes out on top on Saturday will have the vibes-based upper hand heading into the playoffs. Saturday’s winner might be the team to worry about in the West.
These teams are playing with house money. For various reasons, no one expected them to be in the spots they’re in. But Portland have thrived since Gio Savarese’s dismissal. Houston have been ahead of schedule in a well-crafted rebuild and already have a US Open Cup title to show for it. And St. Louis surpassed any reasonable expectation by putting together one of the best expansion seasons of all time. Whatever happens next is just a potential bonus to an already surprising run powered by attacks that have found a way to click. And that makes all three of these teams incredibly dangerous.
That said, Portland still have to get into the playoffs. And Houston are standing in their way on Decision Day. What happens when a new manager-bounced object meets a free-flowing, “we don’t need match winners to score” kind of force?
Atlanta United sign midfielder Firmino from MLS NEXT Pro: Atlanta United have signed midfielder Nick Firmino through the 2026 MLS season. The 22-year-old Brazil native will formally join Atlanta’s first team in January 2024 after starring for Atlanta United 2 and earning a spot in this year’s MLS NEXT Pro Best XI.
- Charles Boehm looked at the five biggest storylines fans need to track on Decision Day.
- Charlotte FC are playing their “best football" before their showdown with Inter Miami.
- Tata Martino talked Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez as Inter Miami’s 2023 season wraps.
- If you needed a reminder, here are the tiebreakers for the 2023 MLS regular season standings.
- Take a look at which teams have qualified for Concacaf Champions Cup 2024.
- Here’s who can clinch playoffs or be eliminated Wednesday night.
- Schuyler Redpath has your MLS Fantasy Week 29 Positional Rankings and gaming advice.
- The good folks at Extratime discussed whether Lucho Acosta will “unanimously" win MLS MVP and whether Bradley Carnell is a lock for Coach of the Year.
- Ben Wright gave USMNT player ratings for the Yanks’ 4-0 win over Ghana.
- The USMNT are pleased with their big win but still hungry for more.
Good luck out there. Make sure folks care when you’re leaving.
