NYCFC are among the elite in MLS

It’s easy to take New York City FC’s winning ways for granted. Ever since NYCFC’s messy but incredibly entertaining inaugural year was put behind them, New York City have generally recorded strong performances while playing an attractive, attacking style of soccer that’s thrilling to watch and puts points on then table. We go to every game with the reasonable expectation that the Pigeons will win, and will look good while doing it.

What’s more, NYCFC are consistently excellent: No season has gone off the rails, yet. Stumbles are corrected, dips in form are fixed. Year in and year out, New York City are among the very best clubs in MLS.

You can't say that about many organizations. Atlanta United came roaring out of the gate when they joined MLS in 2017, but the now-dysfunctional club haven’t been that impressive since 2019, and missed the playoffs entirely this season. FC Dallas are looking sharp this year, but finished in 23rd place overall last season. Portland Timbers have appeared in three MLS Cup Finals since joining the league 12 years ago — and missed the playoffs entirely three times, including this season.

If you go strictly by the numbers, NYCFC are among the most elite clubs in MLS. Only LAFC and Seattle Sounders have stronger cumulative regular season records than New York City.

It’s all the more remarkable that NYCFC posted this strong of a record despite the late-summer swoon that threatened to upend the year. That interim head coach Nick Cushing was able to correct course and finish the regular season with a three-game winning streak is a testament to the resilience of the team, and the high expectations of the club.

Well done, NYCFC.

A couple of notes about the numbers above. One, Seattle are a machine. They might have never fully recovered after winning the Champions League this past spring, but their track record demonstrates that they go all-in every year. Two, LA Galaxy are impressive. It’s no small achievement to put up strong results since 1996, and keep pace with new-money teams like LAFC and Atlanta.

As you can see from the expanded cumulative table below, many good MLS teams fall into a cyclical pattern of performing well for a few seasons, then stumbling for a season or two. That’s a reasonable model to follow in soccerland, where fortunes rise and fall.

But a handful of clubs put up strong results year after year, and play entertaining soccer for their fans every season. It’s crystal clear New York City are one of those clubs.