Once again into the breach, dear friends. This is our 30th MLS season, and almost as many runs at Power Rankings.

Wow are there a lot of teams in flux right now. Who is TFC? Minnesota? D.C.? And what in the wild wild world of sports happened in Chicago?

Last week we talked about volatility, and this week raised the bar.

The start of a Major League Soccer season is crazy with all the new players trying to fit into their new teams, battling other teams with their own new players, and there just is no way to project how good they will be.

And 2024 is upon us, and isn’t it wonderful? Twenty-nine MLS teams, most of which are some level of good and they will give your favorite team a game.

The Leagues Cup has given us some amazing drama, and some great soccer, and on top of all that, one of the greatest players to ever play the sport has joined Inter Miami and, along with a friend or two, turned the worst team in the league into a juggernaut.

Still the only team with a positive Pace rating, Cincinnati again did what needed to be done to fight back from a 2-0 road deficit to salvage a tie in Charlotte.

This time, I took the time to detail some of our key metrics because one, in particular, seems very relevant and needs to be put under the spotlight – Pace.