MLS rebuilds: Which teams have strengthened in 2024?
MLS preseason is officially underway, and all 29 teams are gathering --many for the first time since October -- to prepare for the 2024 calendar.
Many teams, including the MLS Cup champions Columbus Crew, have been quiet during the offseason, choosing to focus on their winning squads instead of changing things up.
Others have made big moves since the close of the 2023 season, signing new players and coaches in the hopes of improving for 2024.
Who has improved the most? Here are the three sides we've got our eyes on.
New York Red Bulls
The New York got lost in the shuffle last season. It wasn't quite as dire as Toronto and Colorado, so it was spared from the media's most withering takes. But make no mistake about it: New York struggled mightily in 2023, kicking off its season with a racism scandal courtesy of the expensive signing of Dante Vanzeir and ending with a last-gasp wildcard grab that was far more difficult than it needed to be. There was very little to cheer about for New York fans in 2023, but the club has done everything in its power to change that narrative for 2024.
As part of the Red Bull soccer umbrella -- a group that includes Germany's RB Leipzig and Austria's Red Bull Salzburg -- the team has access to coach and player pipelines that aren't available to other MLS sides. New York used this connection to source head coach Sandro Schwarz from Germany, and he should help the team develop its high-pressing style.
New York lacked goals more than anything last season, and new designated player signing Emil Forsberg aims to change that. The Swedish striker is coming off a productive decade with RB Leipzig and, at 32, is still young enough to bed in and make a long-term impact in MLS.
Colorado Rapids
No team in MLS underperforms more spectacularly than Colorado, an organization that has everything going for it -- soccer-mad city, deep youth pipelines, MLS history -- but cannot get out of its own way. The team finished last in the Western Conference in 2023 and needed a full overhaul to become competitive in 2024.
Colorado's owner, Stan Kroenke, hasn't given the team much attention or funding in recent years. (Many American fans, including those of Kroenke's other soccer team Arsenal, don't even realize he owns the Rapids, such is his historical disinterest in the club.)
He stepped things up this winter and encouraged new coach Sam Armas to spend, and the results are intriguing. Former Manchester City goalkeeper Zack Steffen joined in early January and hyped American winger Djordje Mihailovic followed suit days later after a spell in Europe with AZ Alkmaar. Mihailovic in particular is one of the most exciting prospects in the league --Colorado did well to snap him up before anyone else could.
New England Revolution
What a strange season 2023 was for New England. Everything looked so promising in the spring, with coach Bruce Arena leading a strong side to the top of the East, but things fell apart quickly following Arena's controversial departure and the long-term injury of midfielder Dylan Borrero. The Revs made the playoffs, but they didn't go far, and the franchise stretched its trophy-less run into yet another season.
Things are looking up for 2024. New coach Caleb Porter has two MLS Cups under his belt and brings a true winning spirit to New England. He's replaced departed goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic with Slovakian prospect Henrich Ravas, re-signed key players like Tomás Chancalay and Carles Gil and built a solid, if not particularly star-studded, side that looks capable of going the distance. It's going to be fascinating to see Porter's win-at-all-costs ethos imposed upon a perennial under-performer like New England--this team is going to be one to watch in 2024.
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