MLS midseason tiers: Miami, SJ impress, but Atlanta raise concern

MLS Tiers GFX

Lionel Messi and Co. remain favorites, but strong starts from Nashville, San Jose and Vancouver have the league nicely poised heading into a long break.

Midseason breaks are, objectively, a good thing. There is too much soccer all the time for human bodies to handle, really. Legs get tired, sinews get stretched. Muscle injuries are all too common. And MLS is taking a big one. Thanks to the World Cup, there will now be a six-week gap in play, leaving the majority of the players in this league, and the teams that they play for, with not much soccer to take part in for over a month.

That might be bad for the product, but it is a good time for a check in. There are 34 games in an MLS season. Every team has now played around 15. With a summer transfer window coming up and, no doubt, a flurry of activity brought about by the World Cup, it's a good time to reset, reevaluate and take a look.

Some things are predictable. Inter Miami are top contenders - again. Nashville SC are pretty good - again. Seattle Sounders are going to make the playoffs - again. But there are a few surprises. The San Jose Earthquakes are legit. The Chicago Fire are playing some really good stuff. And LAFC are still patching themselves together in the post-Steve Cherundolo era. And then there's a whole bunch of fun stuff in between.

GOAL looks at the pretenders, the contenders, and those who probably want to be on a beach as MLS takes its summer vacation...

Cavan Sullivan Philadelphia Union

Heading for postseason Cancun

Philadelphia Union - No Cavan, no fun. Sure, Philly have suffered an injury or two, but the lack of investment in this squad is pretty damning. Just let Cavan play.

Atlanta United - Manager Tata Martino admitted a few weeks ago that he probably would have lost his job if he hadn't been something of a hometown hero beforehand. That sounds about right.

Sporting Kansas City - You feel for the players, more than anything. They're just severely lacking in quality. There is going to be a long rebuild in KC.

CF Montreal - They've enjoyed a tidy new manager bounce, in fairness. Prince Owusu has nine goals to his name, and Montreal aren't awful to watch. There's just not much depth or any real difference makers. SPEND.

Martin Ojeda Orlando City 2026

Purgatory!

Orlando City - No amount of Antoine Griezmann propaganda can make up for the fact that they are on course to concede the most goals in league history. There is a wonderful irony in the Frenchman arriving in a pretty dire defensive side after spending years at one of Europe's most resolute.

Austin FC - Well, they fired their manager and sporting director, and don't have loads to get excited about on the field. This roster isn't horrific, but there's not much buzz around them. Bonus points for the pretty stadium, though.

D.C. United - D.C. United brought in a new power structure midway through last season and made a couple of big moves this offseason. Have they fully worked? TBD. Tai Baribo will always be a steady provider of goals, but it's hard to get excited about much else here.

Portland Timbers - Shoutout Kris Velde for bringing some electricity to an otherwise pretty dour side. They need a midfielder. Badly.

Toronto FC v New York Red Bulls

Need a bit of help

Colorado Rapids - There is no doubting that Matt Wells is a good manager, and he clearly wants to play the right kind of football. But does he have the guys to do it? Paxten Aaronson hasn't set the world alight, and there are some concerns about Zack Steffen, too. Once again, the Rapids need to spend just a liiiitttleee more.

St. Louis CITY SC - A brutal schedule to open the season did them no favors, and they have recovered a bit of late. Yoann Damet deserves some credit, in fairness, because this roster needs help. A couple of extra attackers and cover in center midfield could have them pushing back towards the top.

LA Galaxy - You can't talk about them without lamenting the loss of Riqui Puig, who is out for the second straight year with serious knee issues. There are still some good players here, but the Galaxy need some midfield additions. The issue? Their top target, Casemiro, seems Inter Miami-bound.

Toronto FC - The extended rebuild to make up for the disastrous signings of Federico Bernadeschi and Lorenzo Insigne has yielded a disappointing start for Josh Sargent and not loads else. The underlying numbers suggest that Toronto are underperforming their expected goals, and a natural progression up the table should come. Let's see.

Pascal Jansen

A good run away

NYCFC - It's been a killer 12 months due to injury for Pascal Jansen, really. Maxi Moralez is the latest to go down, with the veteran No. 10 seeing his season ended due to a torn ACL. Time for the Mo Salah rumors...

Houston Dynamo - The Dynamo swung big over the winter, and brought in some real attacking talent for the always-shrewd Ben Olsen. Guilherme and his 12-goal contributions in MLS alone have been excellent. The issue? Everyone else needs to chip in.

San Diego FC - It's been a weird season for Mikey Varas's side, whose insistence on playing the ball out of the back has seen them throw some games away. There's too much talent here for San Diego to miss the playoffs, though.

Minnesota United - There's a real grit about Minnesota, who remain as hard to beat as always (despite Eric Ramsay's departure from the manager role). They badly need a goalscorer to push them well into the playoff picture.

Columbus Crew - New manager, new Crew? The Wes Abou Ali ACL tear is a heartbreaker, but some fresh attacking ideas from new coach Laurent Courtois could do them the world of good after the football went stale under Henrik Rydstrom.

Evander

In the picture

Seattle Sounders - They're always in the picture. Yes, manager Brian Schmetzer is just that good.

Charlotte FC - A truly interesting case. They're well coached, and Idan Toklomati is one of the more dynamic forwards out there. If they can replace Wilfried Zaha and bring in some extra defensive help, this season could be special.

New York Red Bulls - Quite comfortably the most fun team to watch in MLS, if only because you have zero clue what you're going to get. Julian Hall (nine goals, three assists) has found new levels with Michael Bradley at the wheel.

FC Dallas - A nice surprise. No, it's not just livewire Sam Sarver chugging beers. Croatian international and World Cup-bound Petar Musa is one of MLS's best forwards, and they're well organized. They probably rely on their main man a little too much. A bit more creativity out of midfield and they could be scary.

FC Cincinnati - Evander has started to wake up, and Matt Miazga is quietly having a strong season. Their 37 goals conceded is frightening, though. They need to keep the ball out of the net.

Los Angeles Football Club v San Jose Earthquakes

Getting there

Chicago Fire - Gregg Berhalter was an excellent MLS coach before he took the USMNT job, and has proved to be a pretty good one after. Hugo Cuypers' hot streak might not be sustainable, but his goals have them there or thereabouts.

LAFC - It's been a bit of a rotten run for Son Heung-Min and co, but there's too much talent here for things to go wrong. Once Son's shooting boots return, they will be among the best in the West.

Real Salt Lake - A truly lovely early-season surprise in a conference that needed one. Zavier Gozo is one to watch, but RSL have weapons everywhere. They'd do well to be a little more solid defensively.

New England Revolution - Marko Mitrovic was a bit of a no-brainer pick for an MLS job. He had the coaching nous and big game experience to steer a club on a proper run. And while there remain questions about the players he is working with, the Serbian has the Revs cooking.

Lionel Messi

Proper contenders

Nashville - The best team in MLS so far. Nashville did it by being smart, controlling games, and being hard to beat. Main man Sam Surridge has missed time, but the signing of Cristian Espinoza gives them another sparkplug.

Vancouver - The dominant power in the West. Vancouver are pretty much rolling through the conference without their best player playing well in Thomas Muller. They were one win away last year, and you wouldn't bet against them to go one better.

San Jose - Project Bruce Arena is coming together. Timo Werner will grab the headlines on name value alone, but this is a wonderfully well-rounded side. Only Cincinnati and Inter Miami have scored more goals, too.

Inter Miami - Lionel Andres Messi. If they sign Casemiro, this team gets scary.