MLS returns this weekend less than four months on from one of the most exciting MLS Cup finals in league history.
Plenty has changed since Los Angeles FC beat the Philadelphia Union on penalties in early November.
Gareth Bale, who scored the dramatic LAFC leveller in a 3-3 draw, has retired, the Seattle Sounders made an underwhelming MLS bow in the Club World Cup, and Josef Martinez has left Atlanta United.
That is even before considering the arrival of expansion side St Louis City for the new season.
Those factors all contribute to Stats Perform's preview of the most interesting MLS teams to watch this year.
Inter Miami
There were finally signs of progress from Miami last year as they finished sixth in the East, only to be routed by New York City FC in the first round of the playoffs.
That was Gonzalo Higuain's final match before retiring, but the club looked to have already recruited his replacement in Leonardo Campana, who averaged a goal every 145 minutes in his debut season.
Miami have not settled for that solution, however, instead trading for Martinez from Atlanta.
While Martinez was the Golden Boot winner, MVP, All-Star MVP and MLS Cup MVP in the same season back in 2018, more recent campaigns have been slightly tougher.
Quite how Miami fit Campana and Martinez together remains to be seen, but they will hope to be a real force – at least in attack – in 2023.
Atlanta United
With Martinez gone, Atlanta no longer resemble anything close to the team who dominated in 2018, yet that does not mean they could not also be in for a big year.
Giorgos Giakoumakis has been signed to supply the goals up front, having led the Eredivisie and the Scottish Premiership in scoring in his past two seasons.
Giakoumakis should get plenty of opportunities to hit the ground running, with Atlanta ranking fifth in expected goals last season (57.5) but no team underperforming their xG by a wider margin (9.5).
Atlanta, like Miami, may have issues elsewhere on the pitch, but there will be understandable optimism about the prospect of the new forward linking up with Thiago Almada.
Almada was the Newcomer of the Year in 2022 and ended the year by winning the World Cup with Argentina.
Los Angeles FC
The last season could scarcely have gone better for LAFC, who pipped the Union to the Supporters' Shield and again to MLS Cup.
But as Philly no doubt prepare to fight back in 2023, this could be a trickier year for the reigning champions.
Far more damaging than Bale's exit was the sale of top scorer Cristian Arango, who could now be an opponent in the CONCACAF Champions League with Pachuca.
LAFC are on a collision course with the Union again in that competition, but last year's hard-luck story might prefer to focus on ending their wait for an MLS Cup title.
If LAFC do go all out for Champions League glory, they will risk derailing their league campaign – as has happened so many times in the past.
Seattle Sounders
No team can provide a better example for LAFC than the Sounders – both in how to do it and how not to do it.
Seattle won the CCL last year, completing their trophy cabinet, but it came at the cost of an awful MLS season.
So consistent in reaching the playoffs in each of their first 13 years in MLS, the Sounders fell well short in 2022, hurt by Joao Paulo's ACL tear in the second leg of the Champions League final.
The midfielder returned in the Club World Cup earlier this month, but Seattle fell at the first hurdle against Al Ahly.
Joao Paulo rejoins a highly talented squad, yet the wonder will be if largely the same group can run it back after following four MLS Cup final appearances in five seasons with two down years.
St Louis City
St Louis arrive in MLS in 2023 with a squad that looks every bit as short as one might expect from an expansion franchise reluctant to spend big.
Led by sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel, St Louis have shopped the German market with some fairly underwhelming results.
Neither of their two Designated Player signings, forward Klauss and midfielder Eduard Lowen, look especially likely to tear up the league, while their biggest name recruit is former Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki.
That perhaps hints at a realistic approach, knowing a top-class keeper is required to stay competitive in their debut season, but Burki was hardly that by the end of his team at BVB.
He lost his place in the team in the 2020-21 season, having had the third-lowest save percentage in the Bundesliga (59.2) the previous year among goalkeepers with 10 or more appearances.
Southgate envisages central role for 'brilliant' Foden at Euro 2024
Gareth Southgate believes Phil Foden's starting position is less important than the spaces he is allowed to attack, pledging to find a way of letting him operate centrally at Euro 2024.
Foden was included in England's 33-man preliminary squad on Tuesday, and he is expected to be among the first names on the teamsheet after enjoying a fine campaign.
Foden was named Premier League Player of the Season as he helped Manchester City win an unprecedented fourth straight title, scoring 19 goals and adding seven assists.
Only three players in the league bettered Foden's goal tally, while he also ranked seventh in the division for chances created (73) and fourth for possession won in the final third (35 times).
Foden scored two excellent goals as City clinched the title with a 3-1 final-day win over West Ham, drifting infield from the right to find space between the lines and in the penalty area.
While the presence of Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham and Arsenal's Bukayo Saka has led many to conclude Foden will be stationed on the left in Germany, Southgate is aware of the need to grant him positional freedom.
"Phil has played off the right, off the left, the key is where he ends up, not his starting position," Southgate said at a press conference on Tuesday.
"He plays on the left with City, sometimes he stays wide, but he's allowed to drift, and it has always been the same with us. He's allowed to drift.
"Then there's where a player has to defend. Jude has played as a 10 all season, and sometimes he has defended on the left for Real Madrid.
"It's about where these players arrive and where you allow them to drift, that's the key. I think if you spoke to all of our players, we never pin them to a touchline, that's not how we work so there is that freedom."
Foden produced a series of talismanic displays for City in the run-in, scoring match-winning hat-tricks against Brentford and Aston Villa and masterminding a vital comeback against Manchester United with two goals in March.
The 23-year-old stepped up while players like Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland were sidelined through injury, and Southgate has been impressed by his ability to shoulder that responsibility.
"It's obvious the brilliant season Phil has had, how he stepped up in big games not only when big players have been out but when he's been playing alongside them as well," Southgate added.
"You want him in central areas as you do one or two others, so we have to find the best way of making that happen."
Shaw a 'long shot' for Euro 2024, says Southgate
Despite including him in his preliminary squad, Gareth Southgate says it is a "long shot" that Luke Shaw will be fit for Euro 2024.
Shaw has been sidelined since February with a muscle injury but is the only recognised left-back in Southgate’s 33-man squad as Ben Chilwell also misses out due to injury.
Joe Gomez is an option for the position after filling in for Liverpool at times this season, while Kieran Trippier has also played at left-back for England in the past.
However, Shaw has been the first-choice left-back for the last two major tournaments, and Southgate admits that he will give him every chance to be fit.
"[Luke Shaw's] up against it," said Southgate. "He's missed a lot of football.
"The fact that he has been our first choice in that position, we've probably given him a lot longer than we would have done.
"I’ve talked with him and the medical team, we’ve been liaising with Manchester United, I'm not sure what's realistic at this time. I have to say, he's a long shot."
Southgate may have other injury problems on his hands. Harry Kane missed the end of Bayern Munich’s season due to a back injury, while Harry Maguire has not played since April.
"The job here is to adapt to the hand of cards you're dealt with," Southgate added.
"The injuries are a very complex thing. Sometimes players have had to play more than they might have done. Some players have come back earlier than they might have done.
"There's definitely been a lot of matches in the calendar. But it's too easy to say it's just the [fault of a] winter World Cup. It's lots of different reasons."
Southgate will cut his squad down to 26 players after England face Iceland in their final pre-tournament friendly at Wembley Stadium on June 7.
Southgate: Henderson will be a miss to the England squad
Gareth Southgate says Jordan Henderson will "be a miss" after omitting the midfielder from his preliminary 33-man England squad for Euro 2024.
Henderson has 81 senior caps for England but saw his place fiercely debated after joining Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq last year from Liverpool.
The 33-year-old was booed by some England fans during a friendly win over Australia last October, having suggested his presence in Saudi Arabia could be a "positive" thing for LGBTQ+ rights in the country in a widely criticised interview with The Athletic.
In January, he secured a move to Ajax but has only made nine Eredivisie appearances as the former Dutch champions finished fifth.
Asked about Henderson’s absence, Southgate said: "[Jordan Henderson] will be a miss. He's an exceptional individual and a fantastic human being. He's been in that leadership role for a long time.
"We've got young players with a lot of caps. There's no reason why young players can't lead.
"The 33 isn’t quite a fair definition because we’re taking a longer squad with some younger players to look at. Hendo has given himself every chance.
"From the last camp, he missed five weeks through injury, and he hasn’t been able to get to that tempo since then. It’s a big call to make, the three players from last time, he, Ben [White] and Marcus [Rashford] all had excellent professionalism."
Marcus Rashford is another one of the names overlooked after a poor season for Manchester United.
He scored just seven goals in 33 Premier League games this campaign after netting 30 in all competitions for the Red Devils in 2022-23.
"These are of course difficult calls," Southgate added when asked about Rashford.
"You are talking about players that are very important players. With Marcus, in that area of the pitch, I feel that other players have had better seasons, it’s as simple as that."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
