For better and for worse, Major League Soccer is the ultimate “zig when they zag” soccer league. Instead of the typical August-to-May schedule, it goes from February to November. Instead of the customary 18- to 20-team league with round-robin scheduling and relegation, it just keeps on adding teams to the first division. (Hello, Charlotte FC, the league’s 28th new team. See you in a year, St. Louis.)
Capped spending in MLS means that it ends up with few standout teams, good or bad — it’s got plenty of Tottenhams and Crystal Palaces, but few Manchester Cities and Norwich Cities, if you will. While it does have the same chaotic, single-elimination FA Cup-style national tournament running throughout the league (the U.S. Open Cup makes its triumphant return at the end of the month after a two-year break due to the coronavirus pandemic), it also packs the most American of flourishes to…
