Historically speaking, MLS is no country for invincibles.
While rare, it’s not unheard of for European heavyweights to go undefeated in their league campaigns. Arsenal, Juventus, Porto, Dynamo Kyiv and both Scottish giants Celtic and Rangers are among those to have achieved it in this century.
Here in North America, it’s proven exceedingly difficult. My research shows that it’s never been done in the modern history of Liga MX and its predecessor, the Mexican Primera Division. No team in MLS has done it, with the 2005 San Jose Earthquakes, 2019 LAFC and last year’s Philadelphia Union (Supporters’ Shield winners) coming closest, each of them losing four times in the regular season.
In the post-shootout era the 2000 Kansas City Wizards (10W-0L-2D), 2010 LA Galaxy (10W-0L-2D) and 2014 Real Salt Lake (6W-0L-6D) teams share the honor of longest unbeaten start to an MLS season, both avoiding the bitter taste of defeat for their first 12 games. Meanwhile, the Columbus Crew hold the record for longest unbeaten streak with a 19-match stretch across 2004 and 2005.
Here in 2021, it’s taken just five weeks to trim the list of undefeateds down to a mere three clubs:
- Supporters' Shield-leading Seattle Sounders (5W-0L-1D), head and shoulders ahead of the pack in the early going
- Orlando City (2W-0L-3D), tied with Seattle with just two goals conceded
- Nashville SC (1W-0L-4D), who have dropped precious points via three home draws to start the year, though remain among the most organized defenses in MLS
As you can see, the trio involves distinct cases with their own contexts. But refusing to lose is a laudable trait and suggests a level of ruggedness that can portend great achievements, like the 2019 Sounders who won MLS Cup after being the league’s last team to lose in the spring months.
With the scene set, here are three key traits shared by this year’s remaining undefeated teams.
No surprise that these are three of the league’s top defenses, in terms of both backlines and collective commitment across the XI.
Orlando and Seattle are joint tops in the goals conceded category with two apiece, while Nashville are one of several teams a step behind at four goals conceded. Notably, Nashville have posted three consecutive clean sheets after allowing two first-half goals in each of their first two matches.
When we look deeper through a glance at xGA (expected goals allowed), Seattle’s current form in this department may be more unsustainable given that their 6.9 xGA over six matches puts them closer to the Western Conference mean. For their part, Nashville and Orlando are two of the top three Eastern Conference teams in xGA, trailing only New York City FC’s 3.1.
Organization and focus are hallmarks of contenders, and restarts are a key proving ground for this quality.
Among this trio, Orlando and Nashville are yet to concede from a set-piece this season, aside from Brenner’s 12th-minute penalty kick for FC Cincinnati in the wild 2-2 draw at Nissan Stadium on opening weekend. Conversely, the Sounders have only leaked goals via free kicks, with stunning shots from outside the penalty box by LAFC’s Eduard Atuesta and Portland’s Bill Tuiloma, the latter launched from an odds-defying range.
This isn’t generally from a lack of opposition opportunities. All three teams have absorbed sustained pressure over significant phases of their games.
Nashville conceded 12 corner kicks and five set-pieces in their own half at Real Salt Lake last weekend, but didn’t give up a single shot on target in the 0-0 stalemate. D.C. United took 10 corner kicks and eight free kicks in Orlando’s half in the Lions’ 1-0 road win at Audi Field, ending the night with a mere single shot on goal.
Travel distances, varied climates and busy schedules can be hugely influential on MLS results, making it easy for even the most talented teams to lose. Squads with Shield or Cup ambitions have to adapt to a wide range of environments and navigate various game states from week to week.
A rare few like LAFC are ambitious or purist enough to insist on remaining protagonists in most or all situations. But for most, the tactical approach usually means knowing how and when to concede space, ball possession or both, and to keep a thumb on the tempo of matches even when forced into a reactive posture.
Nashville are built on a conventional but effective 4-2-3-1 that's anchored by a spine of dependable veterans like Walker Zimmerman, Anibal Godoy and Dax McCarty that’s made them competitive from day one in MLS. They’ve flashed a deeper-lying, more conservative 4-4-2 as of late that's spearheaded by the physicality of strike partners Dom Badji and CJ Sapong; both setups have reliably limited opponents’ space and time in the final third.
“It takes all sorts of qualities to do well in this league,” Nashville coach Gary Smith said after using the latter to stymie RSL, “and tonight we've shown yet again that we can roll our sleeves up, we can be tough to play against and we can earn a point when maybe many other teams may not come out of here with a point.”
With in-form wingbacks logging the hard miles out wide and previously erratic defenders like Nouhou Tolo and Xavier Arreaga looking assured in a back three, Seattle’s shift to a 3-5-2 has made them tougher to carve out clear chances against without throttling down their rapid-fire flows into transition. In a 2-0 win over LAFC last Sunday, they created the same number of shots on target as their visitors and nearly tripled their expected goals number with less overall possession and less time in the final third.
Thus far, Orlando have looked like the best Oscar Pareja teams of his FC Dallas tenure with their savvy control of the game's rhythm. The Latin American influence was clear in D.C. on Sunday when they carved open United early for the match’s only goal. They then killed off the game with a blend of clock-milking, clearances (D.C. lobbed in 21 crosses at a modest completion rate of 20.7%) and emergency box defending (the Lions blocked five shots on the night).
D.C.’s players, coaches and fans were driven to distraction by Orlando’s soft-pedaling tactics as Nani & Co. hit the deck to draw fouls and took their time restarting play, an occasional sly smile flickering as the boos rained down. Hernan Losada didn’t enjoy what he saw, but Pareja happily carried all three points home to Florida.
