The Superdraft is Dead, Long Live the Superdraft

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The Superdraft is Dead, Long Live the Superdraft

The Major League Soccer SuperDraft is just a few days away, but don’t worry if you had no idea. Its importance in the assembly of good teams has diminished over the years, supplanted by academies, homegrown deals, and myriad other player acquisition methods. However, that doesn’t mean the draft isn’t important anymore. Kevin Minkus examined the SuperDraft for ASA in 2017, but the league is in a different place now than it was then. Plus, we have Goals Added now. 

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How Do Teams Expansion Draft?

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Now that the soccer portion of the Major League Soccer season is over we can focus on what really matters: complicated systems by which the league shuttles players from one city to another. Though the 48-hour trade window came and went with little excitement, we’ll get a better look into what St. Louis CITY SC will look like on the field when it kicks off in 2023


The expansion draft doesn’t play as big of a role in team building as it once did but there’s absolutely still value to be found. Just finding average (or slightly below average) contributors can be a boon for franchises in early seasons in the league. As Lutz Pfannenstiel looks to build his Designated Team, he’ll have an opportunity to find contributors already in MLS. So how have the recent teams done in this particular team building exercise?

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When and How MLS Teams use Defensive Pressure

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When and How MLS Teams use Defensive Pressure

In May, I took a look at pressing data, trying to assess where teams had shifted from last season to this one. Considering most places where MLS is played are experiencing summer weather, I figured it was time to check back in on how MLS clubs handled the heat and more than half a season of minutes on players’ legs. Part of the impetus for digging into pressing data now is to try to understand how things have changed since May.

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The Most Pressing Questions in MLS

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The Most Pressing Questions in MLS

Pressing has become a bigger and bigger part of the identity of soccer globally within the last decade. MLS teams have shifted along with the global trends. Take the New York Red Bulls and Philadelphia Union: two teams with an aggressive pressing style fundamental in the clubs’ DNA and instilled from the very top of the organization. More and more MLS teams are pressing aggressively, and though not all teams are following the all-out model set by the Red Bulls and Union, pressing has become a standard element of many teams’ gameplans.

But how widespread is it really? And what are some of the key differences in strategies? Using pressure data from Football Reference and Statsbomb, I tried to make some sense of where MLS teams stand in the pressing landscape.

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