Miguel_almiron_-_asn_top_-_atlanta_united_return_presser_-_2025
MLS Analysis

MLS Eastern Conference Previews & Predictions: Atlanta, Cincy, & Miami lead the way

ASN's Brian Sciaretta attemps the impossible with his preview and predictions for the Eastern Conference ahead of this weekend's first round of matches. 
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
February 21, 2025
5:00 AM

IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR again where we are days away from the start of the MLS season and journalists, pundits, and analysists try to preview and predict the upcoming season. This year will mark the 30th season in the history of the league, which is reason to fans to celebrate. But even after all these years, the league remains just as unpredictable as ever. a

Of course, that doesn’t mean I won’t try. I try every year and at the end of every season I look back in near embarrassment. Whether or not this unpredictability is a good thing is a question for another column. But once again, I’ll attempt the impossible – and I’ll start with the Eastern Conference today and the West tomorrow.

When looking at the Eastern Conference, it’s especially difficult given that nearly all of the top teams had significant changes to either their designated players or their coaching staff. On paper, nearly all designated players arrive into the league with a resume that suggests they can have a lot of success. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. Predicting which ones live up to billing and can carry a team deep in the playoffs is very tricky.

With the amount of that turnover in the Eastern Conference, it will be fascinating to see who succeeds and who doesn’t.

Here is how I see things.

 

Atlanta United

Predicted finish: 1st Place

 

There are a lot of changes with Atlanta United in 2025 and the biggest one is a blast from the past as Miguel Almiron is rejoining the club. This is a great move for Atlanta because at 30 years old, he still has plenty of good soccer left in him. His first stint with the club was wildly successful as he led the club to MLS Cup in 2018. What makes his return big news is that he has always been and will always be a player who gives first-rate effort. That becomes even more apparent given his love for the club.

The club has also added Emmanuel Latte Lath from Middlesbrough as a striker.

There is a lot of talent on Atlanta. That doesn’t always predict success but Atlanta now has a new manager in Ronny Deila who has won titles both in Europe at Celtic and in MLS with New York City FC.

Atlanta United has spent a lot of money, but it really seems like they spent it wisely. A healthy Atlanta United team should be a tough team to beat.


FC Cincinnati

Predicted finish: 2nd Place

Cincinnati made some bold changes to the team ahead of 2025 and I like where they stand. Last year, Kevin Kelsy didn’t quite replace Brandon Vazquez but new DP forward Kévin Denkey arrives with a big resume with Cercle Brugge where he won the Belgian Golden Boot the season before. He was expensive for a good reason.

Luciano Acosta is a huge loss as he has been the engine of their success in recent seasons, but Evander is about as good of replacement as you can hope as he put up big numbers as Portland’s DP.

While not a newcomer, Matt Miazga is now back from injury and will serve as an upgrade to their lineup at the end of last season. A long with Miles Robinson, the backline is in good shape.

Cincinnati should be a contender for the title this year.

 

Inter Miami

Predicted finish: 3rd Place

 

The glamour team of the league is coming off a historic regular season Supporters Shield campaign as well as a shocking regular season ouster in the second round (but the first round for Miami, which had a bye).

It’s hard to bank on the same level of regular season success. For one, the key players are another year older – including Lionel Messi. That only increases the potential for injuries and the need for squad rotation.

The club has also brought in a lot of younger South American talent including defender Gonzalo Luján from San Lorenzo, defender Maxi Falcon from Colo Colo, forward Tadeo Allende from Celta Vigo, and midfielder Telasco Segovia from Casa Pia AC.

That’s all good. But the biggest concern is over new coach Javier Mascherano. The former Argentine international has struggled in his only coaching assignments so far, which have been with Argentina’s youth national teams. Those teams did not come together well and for Mascherano to have success, he is going to need a lot of leadership from the veteran established players.

That could happen but it is also questionable how the new younger players will fit in.

 

Orlando City SC

Predicted finish: 4th Place

 

The departure of Facundo Torres will be a test for Orlando, but the team continues to be on the way up under Oscar Pareja. Most of the team’s core should be back and while the season ending Achilles injury to Wilder Cartagena is a setback, the signing of Eduard Atuesta gives them a dependable midfielder up the spine. Marco Pašali? arrives as a DP winger but he will not be able to directly replace the production levels of Torres as he is a different player.

But another wild card will be Duncan McGuire who is out through April due to shoulder surgery. His injury adversely impacted him last year but if he can get back to his top form, he should be a 15-goal a year scorer. 

Then there is the wild card of Luis Muriel, who only scored five goals in all of 2024 despite a DP deal. He described it as a “transitional” year. The question is how he moves beyond that.

There are question marks with this team, but they have a good coach, talent, and enough returning players where there should be continuity.

 

Charlotte FC

Predicted finish: 5th Place

 

Dean Smith did a good job in his first season with Charlotte, leading them to a fifth-place finish. Like just about everyone in the Eastern Conference, Charlotte has will be dealing with a big change. Karol Swiderski is the all-time leader scorer for the club and he is gone. Those goals will have to be replaced.

Former Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha joined and he should be a significant addition. But offensively, the team will need Patrick Agyemang to continue to build off his 10-goal season in 2024. The USMNT hopeful is going to be  key to the team’s success.

Defensively, the should be find so long as Tim Ream’s age doesn’t catch up to him.

 

New York Red Bulls

Predicted finish: 6th Place

 

While it was just a few months ago that the New York Red Bulls made an inspired run to MLS Cup, the club looks different now. Whether it is for the better remains to be seen. Dante Vanzier seemed to be a bust ever since joining, but he took off towards the end of the season into the playoffs. He is now gone just as things were trending upward. John Tolkin was sold to Holstein Kiel and also had a very good 2024 season. Andres Reyes was also very good in the playoffs until he bailed on MLS Cup.

There are replacements for each of these players. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting is a big-name DP forward. Canadian fullback Raheem Edwards will attempt to replace Tolkin, and does boast experience. Alexander Hack arrives under the U-22 Initiative from the Middle East but was previously with Mainz (where he played under Sandro Schwarz. He should fit into the backline nicely.

Age is actually a concern with this Red Bull team right now in the starting XI. It will be important to see how some of their youth players develop. Julian Hall is one of the best players on the U.S. U-17 team and he scored two big goals last season. Peter Stroud missed most of last season but was effective before his injury. Tim Parker returns to his first club, and he should provide depth.

A sixth-place finish could be conservative for them. The wild card is midfielder Felipe Carballo, who never got going for them and was injured after their playoff win over NYCFC. If he gets settled in, they could do much better than sixth. If not, then  they need several other things to break their way.

 

Columbus Crew

Predicted finish: 7th Place

 

There should be a lot of concern with the Columbus Crew heading into the 2025 season. While the Crew has been the best team in MLS over the 2023 and 2024 seasons, the club lost a lot this offseason and didn’t add nearly enough by way of replacements.

Cucho Hernandez, one of the best players in the league, is gone. Backup forward Christian Ramirez is gone. Darlington Nagbe is old. This also comes on the heels of them not replacing Aidan Morris from the summer window. The architect of the club’s rise, former Sporting Director Tim Bezbatchenko, left last summer. 

This season can very well be the end of the current Crew era.

Still there is hope for Columbus. They have an elite coach in Wilfried Nancy. He has a system and most of the current players are experienced with it. That can go a long way in this league. But they will need to make moves during the season.

 

Philadelphia Union

Predicted finish: 8th Place

 

The Philadelphia Union’s decision to fire Jim Curtin was one of the more surprising moves of the entire offseason. Curtin was held in such high regard among Union fans and fans of the league for so long, it seemed as if one bad season wouldn’t be seen as grounds for firing. But his relationship with Ernst Tanner just wasn’t healthy.

Now we are entering the Bradley Carnell era for the Union, and it should be a bit simpler with an aggressive Red Bull pressing system. That worked for him with him for the first year in St. Louis but then fell apart. But with that system, the loss of Leon Flach could be painful as he might have thrived in that system. Meanwhile, Jack McGlynn really doesn’t seem like a great fit for Carnell.

The Union has goal scorers. Daniel Gazdag, Tai Baribo, Mikael Uhre, and new import Bruno Damiani from Nacional in Uruguay

The Union failed to make the playoffs in 2024 but their goal differential was still +7. That’s very good for a non-playoff team and it suggests they were better than their record indicated. Luck wasn’t on their side. The loss of Curtin brings some uncertainty, but they should be improved in 2025. How much remains to be seen.

 

Chicago Fire

Predicted finish: 9th Place

 

The Chicago Fire have been an afterthought in this league for over 15 years since the last time it advanced out of the first round of the playoffs. Since then, the Fire have only managed to make the playoffs in 2012 and 2017 (its most recent postseason berth).

The good news for the Fire is that they have brought in several new players and a new coach – former U.S. national team head coach Gregg Berhalter. Also, a lot of the players who left were underperforming, including DP Gastón Giménez.

The players who were brought into the mix have a big range. Jonathan Bamba comes in from Celta Vigo and expectations are high for the winger. Jack Elliot is a central defender who had a lot of success in the league with Philadelphia. Philip Zinckernagel wasn’t a big player in Belgium but he is well experienced.

Chicago didn’t make blockbuster moves, but the moves they made sense. For Chicago, that is a start and enough go give optimism that they’ll end their seven-year playoff absence.

 

New York City FC

Predicted finish: 10th Place

 

Last season was a year to forget for NYCFC. While the club finished in sixth place, there were long stretches where the team didn’t play well and it was ousted in the playoffs by rivals, the New York Red Bulls. This led to head coach Nick Cushing being removed.

For the most part, NYCFC did not make many changes among its key players in 2024 although the loss of James Sands to a loan and subsequent injury is more significant than many at the club realize. He’s a tricky player to replace.

New manager Pascal Jansen comes in from Ferencvaros in Hungary and will try to right the ship. He is a wild card of a manager with no experience in the league. He is tasked with getting the current core to improve and getting younger academy players (who are talented) to be able to contribute significantly. That’s one tough assignment.

It almost feels like NYCFC is biding its time until its new stadium opens in 2027. Then we might see things take off for this team.

 

Nashville SC

Predicted finish: 11th Place

 

Nashville has essentially had one formula for years. Hany Mukhtar runs the offense, Walker Zimmerman runs the defense, and then it’s hoping for the best. Sam Surridge has helped give the offense another point of attack, but the team is unlikely to scare opponents this year.

The hope for Nashville fans is that manager BJ Callaghan can get a lot of value of some of the younger players from abroad. Central defender Jeisson Palacios joined from CD America  in Colombia. Swedish winger Ahmed Qasem joins from Elfsborg. Norwegian midfielder Edvard Tagseth joined from Rosenborg.

If those players can all bring value in addition to Surridge, Mukhtar, and Zimmerman all performing up to their level, then maybe they can push for the playoffs.

 

CF Montreal

Predicted finish: 12th Place

 

CF Montreal might end up with the youngest starting XI in MLS, at least to start the season. That doesn’t mean it will translate to wins. Montreal impressed last year towards the end of the season and the team got great value with Josef Martinez (who found the fountain of youth), Caden Clark, and Bryce Duke. Now with Martinez gone (which doesn’t seem like a smart move for Montreal), Giacomo Vrioni will need to fill the void. In the backline, former U.S. youth internationals Brandan Craig and Jalen Neal have joined up after struggling for minutes at their last clubs.

Montreal has done well in helping players who have hit tough spots in their careers. But it’s always risky and needs to be supplemented with established talent as well. I am not sure who will be the adult in the room with Montreal.

 

New England Revolution

Predicted finish: 13th Place

 

Last season was tough for the Revs under its first-year coach Caleb Porter, but they managed to get a little better in the second half of the season. But that doesn’t mean much when you consider that the Revs have brought in many new faces with the goal that they will be a better fit for Porter’s system.

This is now all on Porter.

It will be interesting to see how the newcomers will fare. Most arrive from clubs outside the league. Leo Campana is the top arrival from within MLS and he did well for Miami but had to play behind Luis Suarez. Jackson Yueill also joins after years with San Jose.

Rebuilds to this extent are tough to translate into immediate success. Essentially any progress from the previous season is halted and the foundations must be built all over again. It can be done but  it seems like there are a lot of teams ahead of them right now.

 

DC United

Predicted finish: 14th Place

 

It’s not a happy time in DC United. There isn’t much direction these days. Success completely depends on Christian Benteke. What is unfortunate is that the team lost some interesting young players. Matai Akinmboni is a top U.S. U-20 central defender and DC United sold him before ever really getting the benefit of playing him. Ted Ku-DiPietro was a useful attacking midfielder who made things happen – and he’s now out.

It's tough to figure out what the team’s plan is entering into this season.

 

Toronto FC

Predicted finish: 15th Place

 

Last year, John Herdman began his first full season with Toronto FC and his goal was to fix the club’s broken culture. By the end of the season, Herdman had resigned and the culture was just as broken. Federico Bernardeschi played well but also picked up dumb red cards in important moments that set his team back. Lorenzo Insigne didn’t seem happy.

Robin Fraser is now in charge and he did well to fix Colorado’s problems three years ago. But beyond the Italians, there isn’t much of a supporting cast. Norwegian forward Ola Brynhildsen joins on loan from Midtjylland where he had a good season in 2024 on loan in his home country with Molde. His arrival is a drop in the bucket of what is needed to fix Toronto.

Electing not to bringing in many new players after the 2024 season they had is quite a choice.

Post a comment

AmericanSoccerNow.