2024 MLS Eastern Conference Contenders And Pretenders
Time to separate the wheat from the chaff, at least on paper!
The 2024 MLS season is here!
After a few months off, and a couple of Champions League games, MLS teams are returning to the field … so it’s prediction time.
Who should have hope for glory in 2024 … and who should be rushing through to 2025? A team of almost 20 MLS experts submitted their predictions.
The experts were more agreeable in the Eastern Conference, so let’s begin there:
Who Are The Contenders Heading Into 2024?
Six teams received a vote as the preseason-Eastern-Conference-Champion, these six are the true contenders. But there is separation amongst this group, the two favorites according to the experts are:
· Columbus, and
· Cincinnati.
These two teams ranked numbers 1 and 2 when all of the predictions were aggregated and they have the lowest standard deviation amongst the contributors, meaning … they are ranked the highest amongst all of the eastern conference teams and there is little argument amongst the experts that they are the best.
But where is Miami?
Inter Miami was not ranked first or second, but they must be third … right …
Try fifth!
Inter Miami’s preseason has been so disastrous that they have fallen all the way down to fifth in the East according to the experts! Despite the injuries and last-minute salary cap drama, they do know who is on the team, right?
Apparently they remember, but even so, the MLS experts have Miami falling just behind Atlanta and Orlando, who are nearly inseparable according to the MLS pundits.
The final ‘contender’ is the furthest stretch. Philadelphia is surprisingly running their core back for another season after significant contract drama in 2023. While only one expert predicted Philly would raise a Conference trophy, every pundit believes that the Union is a playoff team.
The Playoff Contenders … aka The Forgotten Middle
The pundits assume there will be four teams competing for the final three Eastern Conference playoff spots … but there is potential for disaster from each:
· New England,
· Nashville,
· New York Red Bulls, and
· NYCFC.
No single pundit predicted that one of these four teams would host a playoff series in 2024, however, the majority believe that they are playoff caliber.
But unlike the six teams listed above, each of these four received predictions that included them being OUTSIDE of the playoff picture. As a Revolution fan, this would be a disaster … and I am sure that every other fanbase in this category feels the same way.
Better Luck Next Year
The final five Eastern Conference teams will sadly have to wait until next year for a taste of success:
· Chicago,
· Montreal,
· Charlotte,
· DC, and
· Toronto.
Let’s be honest, these teams are a mix of hoping that their new big signings gel in time or that their old signings can be offloaded to make room for new hopeful additions.
But each of these teams is currently tied with the 10 above them. So, they have all the hope in the world that they can make a surprise run to the playoffs.
In fact, four of these teams received a prediction that included them in the playoffs (surprisingly DC, and not Toronto, was the team to receive no votes).
The Games Are Not Played On Paper!
Luckily these games are not played on paper, so who do you could surprise in 2024? Please check back in tomorrow for my review of the MLS Western Conference predictions.
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