Nashville have eyes on the record, RSL hit a death spiral & more | Matchday 23

It was the final matchday before the end of the transfer/trade window. I'm pretty sure this is the last time we'll see this version of a bunch of these teams – *stares in Colorado Rapids* – but maybe not quite as many as we'd all suspected a few weeks ago.

I have a few theories as to why that is. The big one: MLS front offices know the roster rules are changing soon (hopefully as soon as this winter) and with those changes will come, perhaps, a new meta for how rosters are built. And thus teams are in no rush to lock themselves into any long-term deals that look good now, but might become unwieldy in the years ahead.

That doesn't mean no moves, of course, as I do still expect a flurry of trades and transfers this week. But it's my working theory for why the market's not quite as frothy as it otherwise would have been.

Ok, in we go:

Here You Come Again

There was a time – not particularly long ago – when the basic assignment for anybody playing Nashville SC was pretty straightforward: don’t get caught in transition, don’t give Hany Mukhtar room to operate between the lines, and eventually somebody would hit a cross into the box because, well, Nashville were going to hit a cross into the box. You knew where the danger was coming from.

Good luck with that now.