So you, dear reader, want to build a great MLS roster.
You want to catapult your team to the top of the league, winning Supporters’ Shields and MLS Cups along the way. You might even compete for a US Open Cup or two – that is, if the MLS lets you play in them.
It’s a noble cause. But where do you start? What separates the bad rosters from the good, or the clumsy organizations from the smart ones in the MLS?
As teams from around the league rush to add the final pieces to their respective puzzles before the 2024 regular season kicks off next week, now is a good time to take a step back and examine how the best selections are formed.
Certainly, with the league’s overly complex roster rules, even some active MLS front office members don’t have a full understanding of all the ins and outs and best practices when it comes to team building. But a look around the league can still help us identify a handful of the “golden rules” of MLS roster construction.
Rule #1: Use your DP spots wisely
In the MLS, how you use your Designated Players spots can make or break your season. To lay the foundation, each team can register up to three DPs. These are players who earn a lot of money, either from their transfer fees, their salaries, or a combination of both, which can extend beyond the league’s base salary cap. It’s the stars.
How do you get the most out of your DP spots?
Well, using them all is a good start. Yep, CF Montreal, everyone’s staring at you while your lone DP Victor Wanyama rummages alone in the corner. Signing three DPs gives you the best chance of having the most top talent on the field at any time. You don’t absolutely need three DPs to be among the best in MLS – LAFC reached the Concacaf Champions League (now Cup) final last year, finished third in the West and reached the MLS Cup with just two DPs in their team.
But after falling short in both finals, you can be sure manager Steve Cherundolo would have liked one more piece to put his team over the top.
However, simply convincing three DPs to sign on the dotted line isn’t a ticket to trophies. For most teams, it doesn’t make much sense to commit one of those roster spots to a player at a cheaper position. Defenders are important, there’s no denying that. But the best centre-backs, wing-backs and goalkeepers don’t tend to receive the same salaries or transfer fees as their more advanced teammates. You’re more likely to get value for money at the back, which is crucial in a salary-constrained league.
So to build a strong MLS roster, use all three DP spots and aim them at the opponent’s goal instead of yours. Looking for players in their prime, like Garth Lagerwey, president and CEO of Atlanta United preaches – doesn’t hurt either. A child with a high ceiling is fun until it becomes clear how low his floor is.
Rule No. 2: Find a ball-dominant playmaker
There’s no quicker way to enter the MLS playoff field than by building your team around a ball-dominant playmaker.
Even as the number 10s have moved into the half-fields or deeper midfield in most of Europe’s top leagues, they still thrive in MLS. Because there isn’t enough money in the cap to spread tons of it evenly across the field, there is often a noticeable difference in quality between one team’s best DP forward and the other team’s worst defender. Having an experienced playmaker who likes to get on the ball helps maximize that gap, with weaker opponents punished with 70 sharp touches per match.
In the MLS, classic number 10s still get away with doing all the things that come with being a classic number 10: they don’t have to put in much defensive effort and are allowed to move around to find the play in possession. Moreover, they get paid. The DP rule allows MLS teams to pay their playmakers more than they would earn at comparable European teams.
In another reality, New England Revolution star Carles Gil might have stayed in England or Spain and developed into an upside-down winger. In this one, though, he’s a perennial MLS MVP candidate as an attacking midfielder and makes more money than he does on the other side of the Atlantic.
Your ball-dominant playmaker doesn’t absolutely have to be a pure number 10. LAFC rose to the top of the league with Carlos Vela filling that role on the right side of a 4-3-3. Last summer, the Columbus Crew transitioned from an attacking midfielder in Lucas Zelarayán pulling the strings to a versatile forward in Cucho Hernández and went on to win the MLS Cup.
Regardless of the details, finding a creative hub on offense can take you from pretender to contender.
Rule No. 3: Pay special attention to the spine
Remember the quality gap we talked about between one team’s best DP attacker and another’s weak defensive link? That gap is real, but most of the real contenders in the MLS are trying to close it by investing in their backbone.
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One or two strong centre-backs and No. 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 spines in the league. In the East, Jakob Glesnes and Jack Elliott win it all at the back for the Philadelphia Union, while José Martínez covers every blade of grass from his defensive position in midfield. With this trio starting regularly, the Union has finished at the top of their conference in two of the last four years.
If you take a step back, a top goalkeeper can have a major positive impact on your season. The New England Revolution won the Supporters’ Shield in 2021, largely thanks to Matt Turner’s performance in goal. The US men’s national team starter saved almost six more goals than expected that season, according to FBref, before moving to the major Premier League from Arsenal in the summer of 2022. Last year, Roman Bürki was the best shot stopper in MLS based on goals saved. above expectations. The former Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper was the biggest factor on the pitch behind St. Louis City’s rise to the top of the Western Conference.
In recent seasons we have also seen teams pay extra attention to the spine, by paying even less attention to the wings.
FC Cincinnati abandoned the idea of playing with wingers when Pat Noonan arrived as their new manager, moving underperforming wide forward Álvaro Barreal to a left-back role in 2022. A cast of impressive goalscorers, No. 10 Lucho Acosta, midfield ball winner Obinna Nwobodo , and center back Matt Miazga all deserve credit for helping Cincy go from worst to first place. But Noonan’s decision to turn a mediocre winger into an elite left-back who now has a bunch of European candidates was also a key part of their turnaround.
By adjusting Barreal’s rolling motion, an advantage was reused, freeing up more money for the spine.
Rule No. 4: Look outside the grid itself
The final “golden rule” of MLS roster building has little to do with the roster itself.
In a league with detailed rules that determine much of the money you can spend on your roster, looking outside the roster to find competitive advantages is crucial. The Columbus Crew did just that prior to last season, paying CF Montreal a transfer fee to sign Wilfried Nancy from his contract in Canada and to Ohio. A year later, Columbus has another MLS Cup and so do Nancy’s players tattoo are quotes on their bodies.
You can safely call that piece of creative thinking from Crew president Tim Bezbatchenko a success.
Spending money on a coach can help create an advantage. The same goes for a prominent front office manager – again FC Cincinnati is a good example. After adding Noonan and Chris Albright as head coach and general manager, respectively, of the Philadelphia Union, they have skyrocketed in the Eastern Conference standings over the past two seasons.
Building a brand new training center like the Sounders just done is a great way to sell potential signings to your club. When you talk to people in the sports community in Europe or other parts of the world, they are quick to praise the off-field amenities that many MLS teams offer their players.
If you don’t want to look for quality additions for the first team, why not develop some yourself? A functional academy system can develop low-cost MLS starters and generate revenue in the form of transfer fees. FC Dallas has been leading that charge for years, producing more than a few USMNT players in the process, though a handful of teams in the league are now really starting to push their own youth initiatives.
Even something as small as putting in the time (and a little bit of money) to speed up the green card process for foreign signatures can make a difference. Teams are only allowed a limited number of international roster spots in the MLS, so quickly reclassifying foreign players as domestic players creates flexibility to use or trade international roster spots for other assets within the league.
While there’s no single cheat code that will rocket your team to the top, these principles, with a mix of clever imitation and outside-the-box thinking, will give you a better chance of getting there.