Toronto take down New England
Lorenzo Insigne scored a stunner and Toronto held onto a 1-0 lead in New England. Itās their first road win since Aug. 27, 2022.
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Weāre still too early in the season for anything to be considered an actual ātrend.ā But weāre seeing some clouds start to roll in, the wind picking up and the temperature starting to drop in a few places. Sometimes that means weāre about to get a storm; sometimes itās just some extra clouds. Here are some of those clouds to keep an eye on.
CF MontrƩal are getting results
In their first game under new manager Laurent Courtois, MontrĆ©al came out swinging against Orlando, but failed to break through before eventually retreating. They didnāt get the win, but the first moments of the game left an impression, and they pulled out a draw on the road against a good team.
In their second game, they went to Dallas, scored early, and then took the lead for good thanks to new signing Josef MartĆnez.
Thatās four points across two road games for Courtois and company. It hasnāt been perfect. And they may have potentially lost Kwadwo Opoku to an injury. But they are getting results against probable playoff teams. Even if those results havenāt quite come in the same Nancy-ball, ultra-possession way people hinted at Courtois implementing.
Toronto FC are up for a fight
Look, youāll hear this a few times from me this week probably, but itās worth considering Toronto could be on the edge of a playoff spot in the East when all is said and done. Itās not worth betting your life savings on, but itās worth considering.
Theyāve already taken a huge step the 2023 team didnāt: winning a road game. And, importantly, they arenāt folding at the first sign of adversity. Being relatively solid defensively and letting Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi pull a rabbit out of their hat every now and then isnāt a playoff-level formula. But itās not a Spoon-winning formula either. In a year thatās all about making progress, theyāre already on the right track.
Sam Adeniran is doing cool things
Adeniran put up eight goals in 950 MLS minutes last year. He already has two in 111 MLS minutes this year, and both have been outstanding. Now, other players might have higher ceilings, but Adeniran is a diamond in the rough for St. Louis. Heās the kind of hyper-valuable MLS player who has no real impact on your salary cap, but can produce at a high level.
After sending last yearās co-leading scorer Nicholas Gioacchini away this offseason, St. Louis need someone to carry the goal-scoring burden when JoĆ£o Klauss canāt do it alone. Adeniran seems like he might be that guy. And maybe, if weāre lucky, he can be a little more than that. Heās a blast to watch.
Nashville are crawling along
Thereās been a phrase going around to describe watching Nashville play soccer: āsufferball.ā Itās an apt way to describe what this team wants to do on any given day. When Hany Mukhtar isnāt available, it becomes something more than that.
Things are painful to watch right now, and theyāve started the year with two uninspiring draws. Thereās a good chance theyāll be out of Concacaf Champions Cup with Inter Miami arriving this week. And itās hard to envision this team really making any kind of push for a trophy this year. Yeah, itās early, but nothing feels fun about them. You can only exist that way for so long, even when youāre actually getting results. When youāre notā¦
New York City FC are struggling in attack
NYCFC are putting in Nashville-esque performances, and theyāre not even trying to. Theyāre still looking for their first goal this season and their first win. They havenāt been able to work all of their new attacking pieces into the team yet, but itās important to remember those pieces are young. Itās far from a sure bet theyāll get plugged in and suddenly make this team dynamic.
To be fair, they havenāt played at home yet. And it was always going to take time for new pieces to be at their best. But how long can you wait for everything to come good after a sub-par 2023 season?
The Galaxy are a wagon
I donāt want to get too carried away, but a healthy Galaxy side seems like they might be among the best in the league ā at least in attack. New DP winger Joseph Paintsil is the genuine product, Riqui Puig is one of the best No. 10s weāve seen in MLS, striker Dejan Joveljic looks set to live up to some of his potential, and we havenāt even gotten a real look at what new DP winger Gabriel Pec can do. Theyāre going to score a ton of goals this year and basically only need to be decent defensively to rack up points.
At least, thatās how it seems right now. The Galaxy arenāt a team you want to get too excited for too quickly. Still, the signs are as good as theyāve been in a long time.
- Toronto FC rode a āmagicā moment from Lorenzo Insigne to earn their first win of Herdman era.
- Joseph Paintsil shined in the Cali ClƔsico.
- Lewis Morganās āspecial" goal ignited RBNY's Schwarz era.
- Miles Robinson gave FC Cincinnati their first win of 2024.
- Matt Doyleās Sunday column is up and good.
Good luck out there. Keep everything safe.