So, dear reader, you want to build a great MLS roster.
You want to take your team to the top of the league by winning Supporters’ Shields and MLS Cups. Maybe you’ll compete for a US Open Cup or two; Of course, if MLS lets you play.
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This is a noble cause. So where do you start? What separates bad rosters in MLS from good ones, or incompetent organizations from savvy ones?
As teams around the league rush to add the final few pieces to their puzzles before the start of the 2024 regular season next week, now is a good time to step back and examine how the best rosters are constructed.
Of course, due to the league’s overly complex roster regulations, even some active MLS front office members don’t fully grasp the ins and outs and best practices of roster construction. But a look around the league can still help us identify a handful of the ‘golden rules’ of MLS roster structure.
Rule #1: Use your XP points wisely
How you use your Designated Player slots in MLS has the potential to make or break your season. To lay the groundwork, each team can sign up for up to three DPs. These are big-money players who can move beyond the league’s basic salary cap structure due to their transfer fees, salaries, or a combination of the two. They are stars.
How do you make the most of your XP points?
Using them all is a good place to start. Yes, CF Montreal, except everyone is staring at you as your cinematographer, Victor Wanyama, sniffs alone in the corner. Signing three DPs gives you the best chance of having the top talent on the field at any given time. You don’t necessarily need to have three DPs to be among MLS’s best – LAFC reached the Concacaf Champions League (now Cup) final last year, finished third in the West and made a run to the MLS Cup. They only have two DPs on their roster.
But after failing in both finals, you can bet manager Steve Cherundolo will want one more piece to take his team to the top.
But convincing three DPs to sign on the dotted line is not a ticket to the trophies. For most teams, there’s little point in tying up one of those roster spots with a player at a lower-cost position. Defenders are important, we cannot deny that. But top centre-backs, full-backs and goalkeepers do not tend to earn the same wages or transfer fees as their more advanced team-mates. At the back, you’re more likely to find value for money, which is crucial in a league where wages are limited.
So, to build a strong MLS squad, use all three DP points and direct them towards the opposition goal rather than your own. As Atlanta United president and CEO Garth Lagerwey preaches, it doesn’t hurt to give players shots in their prime, either. A teenager with a high ceiling is fun until you realize how low his floor is.
Rule No. 2: Find a ball-dominant point guard
There is no faster way to get into the playoff field in MLS than to build your team around a ball-dominant playmaker.
While most of Europe’s top leagues have seen the number 10 moved into the half-courts or deep into midfield, they still thrive in MLS. Because there isn’t enough money at the cap to distribute tons of money evenly across the field, there tends to be a noticeable quality gap between one team’s best DP offensive player and the other’s worst defender. Having a talented playmaker who likes to get on the ball helps maximize that lead, punishing weaker opponents with 70 sharp touches per game.
In MLS, classic No. 10s still get away with doing everything that comes with being a classic No. 10; They don’t have to put in a ton of defensive effort and are allowed to roam to find the game in their hands. Also, they take mercenary. Thanks to the DP rule, MLS teams can pay their playmakers more than similar European teams.
In another reality, New England Revolution star Carles Gil might have stayed in England or Spain and turned into an inverted winger. But this time, he’s a perennial MLS MVP candidate as an attacking midfielder, earning more money than he would on the other side of the Atlantic.
Your ball-dominant playmaker doesn’t necessarily have to be a pure number 10. LAFC rose to the top of the league with Carlos Vela assuming that role on the right side of the 4-3-3. Last summer, the Columbus Crew transitioned from an attacking midfielder pulling the strings in Lucas Zelarayán to a versatile forward in Cucho Hernández and went on to lift the MLS Cup.
Whatever the details, finding a creative center in the attack can take you from imitator to contender.
Rule 3: Pay special attention to the spine
Remember that quality gap we talked about between the best DP offensive player on one team and the poor defensive link on the other team? This gap is real, but most of the real contenders in MLS are trying to close it by investing in their backbone.
One or two strong centre-backs and a number 6 can cover a lot of defensive mistakes.
The Seattle Sounders have been among the best in MLS for over a decade by following this rule. In 2024, Yeimar Gómez Andrade, Jackson Reagan and João Paulo will form the basis of one of the strongest backbones in the league. In the East, Jakob Glesnes and Jack Elliott win everything in the backfield for the Philadelphia Union, while José Martínez grabs all the turf at the defensive midfield spot. With this trio starting regularly, the Union has finished top of its conference in two of the last four years.
Going back one place, a good goalkeeper can have a huge positive impact on your season. New England Revolution won the Supporters’ Shield in 2021, thanks largely to Matt Turner’s performance in goal. According to FBref, the US men’s national team starter saved nearly six more goals than expected that season before transferring to Arsenal in the Premier League in the summer of 2022. Last year, Roman Bürki was the best shot-stopper in MLS based on goals saved. above expected. The former Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper was a major on-field factor behind St Louis City’s rise to the top of the Western Conference.
In recent seasons, we have also seen teams pay less attention to the wings and pay more attention to the spine.
With the arrival of Pat Noonan as its new manager, FC Cincinnati abandoned the idea of playing wingers and moved underperforming winger Álvaro Barreal to the left-back role in 2022. A squad of impressive strikers, number 10 Lucho Acosta, midfield ball-winner Obinna Nwobodo and centre-back Matt Miazga, deserve credit for helping Cincy go from worst to first. But Noonan’s decision to transform a mediocre winger into an elite left-back who now had European suitors was also a key part of their comeback.
Adjustments to Barreal’s role move redefined the purpose of an asset and made more money for the spine.
Rule No. 4: Look outside the squad
The final ‘golden rule’ of MLS roster construction has little to do with the roster itself.
In a league with detailed rules that determine the bulk of the money you can spend on your roster, it’s crucial to look outside the roster to find a competitive advantage. The Columbus Crew did just that before last season, paying a transfer fee to CF Montreal to release Wilfried Nancy from his contract in Canada and send him to Ohio. Fast forward a year and Columbus has another MLS Cup and Nancy’s players tattoo quotes about their bodies.
It would not be wrong to call this creative idea of crew chief Tim Bezbatchenko a success.
Spending money on a coach can help create an advantage. The same goes for a top-notch front office manager; FC Cincinnati is again a great example. After adding Noonan and Chris Albright from the Philadelphia Union as head coach and general manager, respectively, they quickly rose up the Eastern Conference standings over the past two seasons.
Building a shiny new training facility like the Sounders just did is a great way to sell potential signings to your club. If you talk to people involved in football in Europe or elsewhere in the world, you will find that many MLS teams speak highly of the off-field opportunities they provide their players.
If you don’t want to go out and make quality additions to the first team, why not develop a few of your own? A functional academy system can develop inexpensive MLS starting players and generate revenue in the form of transfer fees. FC Dallas has spearheaded this offense for years, producing more than a few USMNT players in the process, but a handful of teams around the league are now really starting to push their own youth initiatives forward.
Even something as small as putting in the time (and some money) to speed up the green card process for foreign signatures can make a difference. Teams only have a certain number of international roster spots in MLS, quickly reclassifying foreign players as domestic players creates flexibility to use or trade international roster spots with other entities in the league.
While there’s no single cheat code that will take your team to the top, these principles, a mix of smart imitation and out-of-the-box thinking, will give you a better chance of getting there.