Roxana Anayat
In late January, around a month before the start of the MLS season, I wrote a preseason analysis of San Diego FC’s inaugural campaign. The forecast was between bleak and cautiously optimistic, projecting a tough first go for what looked to be a young, long-term project. Eight games in, however, SDFC has blown these expectations out of the water.
Within this context, it is worth revisiting this faulty analysis, examining what I got wrong, and, more importantly, what San Diego is getting right.
Holding a 4-2-2 record, SDFC is off to an incredible — albeit not unprecedented — start. MLS expansion clubs have a curious habit of breaking out in their first seasons. St. Louis City SC topped 2023’s Western Conference in its opening season, Austin FC reached the 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs in its second season, and Nashville SC made the playoffs in each of its first four spells.
SDFC currently sits third in the Western Conference, earning 14 points in eight matches. And the team is doing it all without a superstar. Notably, Mexican national team star forward Hirving Lozano was marketed as a savior at the start of the season. However, a hamstring injury in the team’s home opener has sidelined him for three weeks.
The team’s success has come down to, peculiarly, its lack of connection early on. What I interpreted as a lack of chemistry back in January has proven a catalyst for the players and coaches, who stared at a painfully blank slate upon arriving in San Diego. Indeed, SDFC boasts players from all around the world; 20 roster spots are occupied by international talent, from Lozano to Danish midfielder Jeppe Tverskov. To avoid a dysfunctional start to the season, the players were forced to swiftly learn each others’ style.
“It was kind of fun meeting [everyone] and having zero hierarchy,” Tverskov said on The Official SDFC Podcast. “We felt like everyone was at the same level because most of us didn’t know each other and hadn’t played together before. … You’re able to use everyone equally as much.”
True to his word, the players are syncing up better and better with each match.
Luckily, the team did not need this deep connection to win its inaugural match against reigning MLS champions Los Angeles Galaxy. On paper, it was a dream start for SDFC, who outshot, outpassed, and outpossessed the Galaxy en route to a 2-0 win. Yet, the play in the final third displayed a visible lack of trust among the forwards, who frequently kept the ball and took speculative strikes from far out instead of linking up for better chances.
In the current context of the Galaxy’s underwhelming start to the season, it is fair to say that this win was more so thanks to LA than SDFC. That is with the notable exception of Anders Dreyer, who has been a perennial bright spot in these first eight games. The Danish forward has been an early testament to the team’s rapid chemistry-building with his surgical through-balls and otherwise unselfish plays that shine alongside his goal-scoring abilities.
The rest of the club’s first four games, amounting to a pair of wins and ties, conveyed heaps of promise up top, while also exposing a distinct shooting inefficiency. SDFC’s home opener against St. Louis exemplified this problem as the hosts recorded 15 shots, only one of which was on target. A mix of premature shots from deep, undisciplined headers, and overly hasty strikes, SDFC ended the game with an underwhelming 0-0 scoreline.
Regardless, the sequences preceding these shots have been superb. Smart midfield play engineered both of the team’s stoppage-time nettings against Real Salt Lake and through balls posed a constant threat versus Columbus Crew. The latter match showed evidence of SDFC’s shot calibration, as they racked up seven shots on goal from 17 shots, including two goals called back for tight offsides.
The midfield corps has been consistent on all accounts. Luca De La Torre and Tverskov have started all eight matches — Aníbal Godoy missed just one start — and have been stalwart two-way players for SDFC. Godoy’s offensive focus often sees forward Onni Valakari step into this midfield position, a switch that has produced several beautiful assists from the latter.
The most prevalent issue on the defensive end has been at the left-back position. Three-year MLS veteran Franco Negri got the nod to start the season but has shown an inability to track back and sync up with the rest of the backline. This was on full display against RSL, where all but one of RSL’s chances came from Negri’s side; Negri kept a man onside in the outlying RSL chance.
Eighteen-year-old Luca Bombino started over Negri against Columbus, positing a strong first MLS start. In the following match against Austin FC, however, the pace of play combined with the beating Texas sun proved too much for the young defender, who conceded a goal off a quick free-kick transition. To be fair, Austin’s rapid pace and pinpoint passes through the air exposed the entire SDFC defense, which was slow to react and at times looked completely out of position.
The next home game against Los Angeles FC saw standoffish defense open up the opportunity for a second-half LAFC comeback after the hosts went up 3-0 in the first leg; the visitors lined up four post-shaving strikes late in the game. SDFC took care of business on the other end, however, picking apart LAFC’s defense and French keeper Hugo Lloris throughout the 90 minutes.
Luckily, the team quickly tightened its defense against the Seattle Sounders, forcing 10 of 14 off-target Sounder shots. While the defense did begin to falter in the final 10 minutes, a strong first-half performance up front ensured a convincing 3-0 win.
Ultimately, the above problems can be chalked up to growing pains for the new club, especially as they have already shown signs of progress. Most important has been the team’s chemistry-building, evidenced by the 10 players who have scored goals and all but four rostered players having stepped onto the pitch this season.
While they still have several gaps to fill, make no mistake: SDFC’s first season in MLS is off to an exceptional start. On paper and in play, there are no signs of it going south. As I ended my analysis in January, “the only way forward is up,” and they are already very high.