Which teams are most improved since 2018? Year-over-year points explain

With Week 28 of the MLS regular season in the books, a clearer sense of a team’s year-over-year progress is continuing to emerge. Clubs have between three and five games remaining to write their entire script, though much of the picture is already complete.

So, what can we glean when looking at some of the trends up to this point? Let's take a look at the amount of points each team had this point in their seasons last year compared to this one.

For starters, although the San Jose Earthquakes are in a bit of a skid of late, they have still enjoyed the largest turnaround in MLS this year, already making up a 24-point gap. With new head coach Matias Almedya, they have already more-than-doubled last year’s 21 points and league-worst return.

Keeping in the Western Conference, there are also a 14-point turnaround for Supporters’ Shield leaders LAFC, while recent U.S. Open Cup finalist Minnesota United and the transitioning Colorado Rapids are also 12 points better.

The teams atop the East are also there due to improvements over last year, though more modest ones.Conference leaders New York City FC is seven points better than a year ago, while the second-place Philadelphia Union are six better.

As for those who have slumped compared to 2018? Most notably, 2018 Supporters’ Shield winners New York Red Bulls are down 18 points as compared to last year. Sporting Kansas City, are down 15 points from a season ago as they appear likely to miss the postseason for the first time in nine years.

Full table