FC Cincinnati confirmed its status as the best team in Major League Soccer in 2023, clinching the Supporters’ Shield trophy as the team with the best overall regular season record across both conferences.
Cincinnati has gone from being the worst team in the league for three consecutive seasons on joining MLS in 2019, to one just a year or so later where it was undoubtedly the best.
This has been proven by its Shield win and by its progress to the semi-final of the US Open Cup, where it was only defeated by an inspired Lionel Messi, having given Miami one of its toughest games of that mini Messi-run.
Cincinnati’s position in the league table brings with it Concacaf Champions Cup qualification for 2024 and home advantage in the upcoming playoffs.
Meanwhile, the rest of MLS is still scrambling for post-season positions, with the Western Conference being especially tight in this regard.
Only one team on that side of the league has secured its play-off place, and also its status as the best in the West.
It is to there we travel first for the Matchday 35 Player Power rankings.
By James Nalton, MLS expert
João Klauss 9.1 (St. Louis City)
While Eastern Conference side Cincinnati stormed to the Supporters Shield title, in the West, St. Louis City was doing something just as remarkable.
In its debut season, St. Louis has far exceeded expectations by finishing at the top of the Western Conference.
It was apt that confirmation of this position came complete with goals from the boot of Brazilian forward João Klauss.
It took until the 73rd minute for the deadlock to be broken in the game against Sporting KC. Samuel Adeniran opened the scoring and from there, the floodgates opened, with Jared Stroud adding a second shortly after.
Klauss scored a great volley at the far post from Eduard Löwen’s cross and then an equally impressive second, flicking Stroud’s pass in the air with one touch and volleying home with another.
The game finished 4-1 as Sporting KC scored a late consolation goal.
Klauss’s performances and goalscoring when fit make you wonder if St. Louis could have even challenged Cincinnati for the Supporters’ Shield had its star striker not missed a large chunk of the season through injury, although Samuel Adeniran has impressed too since coming into the side.
It was one of the most memorable debut MLS seasons.
Jonathan Osorio 9.0 (Toronto FC)
The Canadian midfielder turned into a goal poacher as Toronto tried to spoil FC Cincinnati’s party.
There hasn’t been much to shout about for Toronto this season, but it was good to see a club stalwart bag a couple of goals in a high-profile game, even if not high profile because of Toronto itself.
Osorio pounced on a couple of errors from Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano to bring the game to a 2-2 scoreline at one point.
It was a decent performance against the side now confirmed as the best in the league but Toronto, despite the signings of Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernadeschi, has been disappointing in 2023, and hasn’t been able to turn the signing of star names into results on the field.
The Canadian side was one of the first to be confirmed as having no chance of qualifying for the playoffs, which is a real failure given that 18 of 29 clubs in MLS qualify for the post-season.
It also did nothing in the Canadian Championship, meaning 2023 is added to 2021 and 2022 on the list of recent seasons Toronto will want to forget.
Douglas Costa 9.1 (LA Galaxy)
Every now and again you get a reminder of how good the Brazilian winger could be in MLS.
Costa played a part in all three of LA Galaxy’s goals in a 3-3 draw at home to Portland Timbers.
He assisted the opening goal with a great delivery from a corner for Eriq Zavaleta to head home, before netting the second as the ball bounced to him fortuitously on the edge of the area. There was nothing fortuitous about his instinctive, left-footed finish.
It was, though, just his first goal of the season, which sums up some of the disappointment around the former Bayern and Juventus man since his arrival in MLS.
Costa then assisted a second for Zavaleta in a similar manner to the first, whipping in a free kick onto the head of his teammate to make it 3-2.
LA Galaxy couldn’t hang on to the win, but at least Costa put on the kind of show fans might have expected to see from him more often.
Ryan Gauld 8.9 (Vancouver Whitecaps)
Gauld and Brian White combined once again for Vancouver Whitecaps, though the Canadians from the West Coast will have been disappointed to only have drawn 2-2 with DC United.
Gauld’s assist for White was the sixth time the pair have combined in this manner in 2023, making it the most common assister-to-goalscorer combination in MLS this year.
It was a delicate dinked cross from Gauld to the far post, where White was on hand to leap above the DC defence and head home.
Gauld added another goal to his tally from the penalty spot, meaning the prolific Scot now has 11 goals and 11 assists this season.
Vancouver is part of a group of teams in a tight Western Conference table vying for not only playoff qualification but for home advantage in the best-of-three first round.
The Whitecaps could finish as high as second, but at the same time, no team below St. Louis City has mathematically confirmed a post-season spot yet.
Brandon Vazquez 8.6 and Luciano Acosta 8.5 (FC Cincinnati)
Vazquez hasn’t matched his goalscoring feats of 2022 when he burst onto the scene with 18 goals in 33 appearances, having shown signs of this with three goals at the end of the 2021 season.
But the American has still played an important role in this team’s success, and his two goals in the 3-2 win at Toronto put him close to double figures with eight.
Both goals showed a real striker’s instinct in the box, as he was on hand in the right place at the right time to capitalise on two opportunities.
This season there should be no doubt as to who the MLS MVP is. Luciano Acosta played a part in this Shield-securing win, just as he played a massive part in getting Cincinnati to be in a position to win in the first place.
His assist for Aaron Boupendza demonstrated his class and also showed promise that this partnership could give Cincinnati a real chance in the playoffs.
Head coach Pat Noonan and GM Chris Albright brought their experience gained at Philadelphia Union to create a similar atmosphere and environment for success in Cincinnati to produce this turnaround in the club’s fortunes.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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