The 2021 MLS season gave us an exciting affair. After seven seasons in the MLS, New York City FC, led by coach Ronny Deila and MLS Golden Boot winner Valentin Taty Castellanos, won their first MLS Cup and did so in surprising fashion. They were the fourth seed out of the Eastern Conference and it seemed like they scraped through to home-field advantage. They powered through Atlanta United, beat New England Revolution on penalties, survived Philadelphia Union with the 88th minute Tallas Magno winner, and then won against the Portland Timbers, once again on penalties. Even though they made a surprising run, many are pitting NYCFC to win the title again. Here are two reasons why New York City FC will repeat as MLS Cup champions.

Reasons for an NYCFC repeat 

Their roster mostly remained the same 

A huge thing in the MLS is being able to keep the roster together. NYCFC has not had a ton of turnover in the last couple of months so they will be attacking the MLS Cup with mostly the same roster they had in the season prior. Now, two important players that were transferred away are  James Sands, who joined Glasgow Rangers and forward Ismael Tajouri-Shardi, who joined Los Angeles FC. Now, these two were fairly important, together with Jesus Medina and Guðmundur Þórarinsson, both starters that left the team in the offseason, but New York still has great players at their disposal.

MLS Golden Boot winner Taty Castellanos was rumored to leave the club in the offseason, but he is still there. He scored 23 goals last season and absolutely exploded, after scoring just 18 in the last two seasons before that. His nose for goal, paired with a stellar midfield and a great defense that was ranked sixth in the league in terms of goals conceded, should still propel NYCFC to a deep run, and a great chance at the MLS Cup repeat. Castellanos has shown he can create for himself and now, as Heber is ready to join the team once again, he should have a mate in the attacking third to compete.

An advantage that NYCFC also has is two designated player spots. They did lose three starters of the 2021 MLS Cup final, but they have room and time to bring in some new faces. With the City group behind them, the same group that owns Manchester City in the UK, they should have absolutely no problems bringing in a big name. There are a few European players that are looking towards the end of their career and while there are no rumors right now, there could be some midseason fire joining the roster.

The NYCFC leadership also resigned veteran midfielder Maxi Moralez, who was integral for their run to the 2021 MLS Cup. The former Atalanta player is 34 years old, but he has been instrumental in leading their young midfield to glory last season. Now, unless there are some changes coming soon, he will once again be leading the way and pull all the strings in the squad, which should bode well for NYCFC. Consistency with the roster, even through losing a few big players, should give the team a chance to capitalize on other teams that have changed their rosters significantly and use that early momentum to get a better seed for the MLS playoffs.

Other teams improved but will need time 

Of course, there are other contenders in the race, besides NYCFC. New England Revolution have added veteran Jozy Altidore to a team that was already great, but they are losing star goalkeeper Matt Turner to Arsenal in the offseason. Atlanta United will have Josef Martinez back in full capacity. He scored 88 goals in his first three seasons but only 14 in his last two, so he should be a major boost for the Gonzalo Pineda-led squad. Philadelphia Union was eliminated from the MLS Eastern Conference Final by an 88th-minute winner, so they should be back to exact some revenge. Of course, no one can forget Toronto FC, the squad who lost Jozy Altidore but will get Lorenzo Insigne after his contract is up with Napoli in Italy.

In the West, the contenders should really begin with the Seattle Sounders, playoff stalwarts at this point. They are joined by Sporting Kansas City, Portland Timbers, Nashville Soccer Club, and the two Los Angeles teams that will also be contending. The biggest addition in the West is probably Douglas Costa joining the Los Angeles Galaxy. He will be joining the team right away on a half-year loan from Juventus and will sign a one-and-a-half-year deal as soon as the six months is done. However, all of these MLS teams and their additions cannot battle with the consistency of NYCFC.

Most importantly, NYCFC should start the season as they have ended it last year – by playing great soccer. All of these other teams will need some time to really get going. Of course, getting names like Insigne, Altidore, Costa, or Xherdan Shaqiri who is joining Chicago Fire, is all great, but they need time and we have also seen big European names fail in the past. In the MLS, it is now always about the strength of the roster on paper, but also about chemistry and getting the players to be on the same page.

When it is all said and done, NYCFC has, more or less, the same squad that already won the cup, they do not have major players to accommodate to the team, and have a consistent culture they have built over the last seven years. Should there be any problems, they have two designated slots that are open, so they can always further solidify their team. All in all, it will not be easy, but New York City FC should be good to go when it comes to mounting a serious case for the first MLS Cup repeat since the 2011-12 LA Galaxy squad.