Toronto FC’s 2019 season started off strong. They picked up 16 points in their first 8 games, including a 4-0 win against NYCFC where their marquee signing, Alejandro Pozuelo, put up 2 goals and 1 assist. Things went south after that - they got just 1 win in their next 11 games. From July onward, though, TFC were pretty good. They lost only twice, and closed out the season on a 10-game unbeaten streak.
Read MoreEarly into the 2019 season, DC United looked like a contender in the East. Through May 15th, they had picked up 24 points in 13 games, including a win over last season's champion, Atlanta, and a 5-0 victory over RSL. Their schedule, though, was pretty soft. Those two games were their only wins over playoff teams, and they lost to NYCFC, LAFC, and Minnesota. After their first 13 games, DC played a tougher schedule, and they hit a slide. They got just 15 points out of their next 16 games, with wins over only Orlando, Cincinnati, and LA. DC United ultimately did save their playoff hopes with a 5-game unbeaten streak to close out the season, but their Decision Day draw to 9-man FC Cincinnati relegated them to playing on the road for the entire playoffs.
Read MoreGoing into the 2018 season, Real Salt Lake’s success depended on a few key signings and the growth of their young talents. Both were mixed bags. Heading into 2019, that mix will tilt more heavily toward their youth, as RSL furthers their dependence on an ability to raise and develop young prospects.
Read MoreFC Cincinnati will face many difficult decisions over the next three months, as they build their expansion team to be ready for the 2019 season. Their next set of choices takes place today, in the Expansion Draft. What the team decides there may not make or break their season, but they do have the opportunity to add important pieces for their inaugural year.
One strategy, the path I’ll discuss here, is for Cincinnati to grab cheap, young players. The hope is that, while they weren’t key contributors for their former teams, those players will continue to develop. A team with enough of these works in progress, and with a sufficient capacity to develop them, might reasonably hope for a few to pan out into full-time starters.
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