The 2018 Major League Soccer season has reached its midway point, and as many predictable trends have emerged, the season to date has been dominated by some big surprises.
Toronto FC and the Seattle Sounders won the past two MLS Cup finals, so few would have imagined them both struggling the way they have this season. TFC made a run to the CONCACAF Champions League final, meaning an early-season hangover in league play was to be expected, but to still be sitting closer to the bottom of the standings in the Eastern Conference than the top is one of the most shocking aspects of the current campaign.