Winners and losers from the first half of the 2024 MLS season

Loser

St. Louis City SC. St. Louis managed the impossible last year: it won the MLS Western Conference in its debut season as an MLS club. Fans hoping for a repeat in 2024 have been let down, though, as St. Louis struggles with the reality of competing in a league as deep and physical as this one. 

The attackers haven't been firing, the defenders haven't been blocking and the on-field tactics have been odd at best any mystifying at worst. To make matters worse, Marco Reus — the German superstar St. Louis has discovery rights for — appears to be shunning the Midwest to join the Los Angeles Galaxy instead.

Winner

Colorado Rapids. The Rapids were so terrible in 2023 that their own fans staged a walkout protesting the team's ownership and demanding better for the club. Looks like that protest worked: the Rapids are a completely new team in 2024 and they're looking likely to pick up a playoff spot for the first time in three years. 

Canadian defender Moise Bombito has been excellent (and is coming back from a strong Copa America showing) and American youngster Djordje Mihailovic is impressing in his first season at the club.  

Loser

Philadelphia Union. Philly started off this season as playoff contenders, with Argentine playmaker Julian Carranza looking like one of the most creative midfielders in the league. It's closing out the first part of the season in dead last place with Carranza gone to Feyenoord in the Netherlands. 

Philadelphia has long been known for its thrifty approach to building an MLS roster, and it's managed to compete despite not having the game-changing players of its peers ... but in a post-Messi MLS landscape, Philadelphia has to change its approach.

Winner

Ryan Gauld, Vancouver Whitecaps. If you'd been asked to pre-select MLS' most valuable attacker before the 2024 season began, chances are good you would've gone for the obvious choices: Miami's Luis Suarez, Columbus's Cucho Hernandez, Real Salt Lake's Chicho Arango, LAFC's Denis Bouanga. 

But Gauld, the 28-year-old diminutive Scotsman, has made a real case for the title from his position in one of the league's most surprising teams. He's got nine goals and nine assists for the Whitecaps this season and is second in MLS for key passes ... and he cost Vancouver a fraction of what it would've paid for a big name. 

Everyone else in MLS must be kicking themselves for missing out on Gauld.

Loser

Hugo Cuypers, Chicago Fire.  Chicago has been struggling for a long time, but there was a feeling around the club that a tried-and-tested striker might lift it out of the doldrums. Cuypers, signed from Gent over the winter break, was meant to be that striker, but he's turned out to be just another misfire instead. 

Cuypers has struggled to mesh with his teammates and seems overawed by the pace and physicality of MLS. He wasn't cheap, either--Cuypers was signed for a club-record $12M transfer fee. 

Chicago now must make a difficult call about whether it should cut Cuypers loose and lose out on that money, or invest in him for multiple seasons and lose out on the Designated Player spot. Neither option looks great.