MLS Kits, 2020

[WBeltz]

47 minutes ago, upperV03 said:

Here’s a glimpse at the orange alternate shorts, and the navy socks for Cincy’s new primary:

Still haven’t seen any actual shots of the navy shorts. 

Orange shorts really improve this look for me. The half/half design is still a little dumb, I would've preferred half orange and half royal if they were going to do it, but it is what it is. Also this kit looks to be replaced next year per FCC's website with a uniform history section they have, with them stating the away kit will stay for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

[PaleVermilion81]

I actually really like those orange shorts.

[aawagner011]

Forgive me if I missed it, but how do we know the orange shorts are change shorts? Are we expecting blue shorts for Cincy? I actually like their kit with the half and half design and think it’s one of the stronger 2020 looks.

——

I really like this new line from adidas overall. There are a few duds (Houston, Miami, RSL, etc) but overall, there are definitely some winners. I like what I’ve seen from Atlanta, DC, Cincy, both LAs, SKC, Minnesota, NYC, Portland, and maybe one or two others.

——

I really like Portland’s kit overall, but the adidas stripes are a head scratcher. The entire kit uses a white base, so why are the stripes on the shirt gold while they’re green on the socks? Those should absolutely match. Make the sock stripes gold and that kit would be top class. Also, I find that Portland’s crest is one of the few that works in a single color.

——

Going forward, I’d like for MLS and adidas to find ways to distinguish clubs not just through color and artistic patterns, but through more classic elements such as stripes, hoops, sashes, half and half designs, among other designs. I get that adidas’ current trend is artsy (as seen by these designs as well as their 2020 national team line) but countless teams would look so much better with a classic design ethos rather than a generic pattern (Seattle, Toronto, Columbus, Houston, RSL). I’d also like to see a bit more creativity: get away from white secondary kits and use contrasting shorts or socks. There are a few non-white secondary kits in this launch so that’s hopeful. Lastly, I’ve never been a fan of the one color crests. Few times does it work. It’s the result of matching the crest to the rest of the design but often results in strictly one or two colors and a bland look overall. Many designs would be improved with the traditional crest.

[upperV03]

27 minutes ago, aawagner011 said:

Forgive me if I missed it, but how do we know the orange shorts are change shorts? Are we expecting blue shorts for Cincy? I actually like their kit with the half and half design and think it’s one of the stronger 2020 looks.

——

I really like Portland’s kit overall, but the adidas stripes are a head scratcher. The entire kit uses a white base, so why are the stripes on the shirt gold while they’re green on the socks? Those should absolutely match. Make the sock stripes gold and that kit would be top class. Also, I find that Portland’s crest is one of the few that works in a single color.

From Cincy’s press release on their new kit, ”The full kit features navy shorts, with the FCC crest above the right hem and an orange adidas logo above the left hem. The players’ socks are tri-colored. Primarily navy down the length of the lower leg, they feature orange EQT stripes in a hoop formation around the calf and a royal blue flash of fabric at the top by the knee. As an additional on-field option in 2020, the club will also be able to wear orange shorts with the BOLD kit.”

 

I don’t mind their new kit too much, I just think it’s a mistake emphasizing navy over both the royal and orange. Should’ve at least gone with royal shorts and socks IMO. And I like the idea of them having an orange shorts option, I just don’t think they work with this kit at all unfortunately.

As for the Timbers’ new secondary, I completely agree that the sock stripes should be gold to match those on the shirt. Should’ve looked like this IMO:

I do still think the kit is really solid overall and continues in their long line of strong kits, but that detail does prevent the kit from being top class, like you say. I’ve seen some people on the Timbers subreddit and in twitter and IG replies saying that they should’ve just made the shirt stripes green, but I actually like how they chose to use the stripes as a way to incorporate gold rather than just having the full kit green and white. Just needed the gold stripes on the socks to really tie everything together, but it’s still a really nice look overall IMO. I agree with you about the crest, too. It’s so simple that it works well in one-color or two-color applications. Using the full-color crest would’ve helped tie in the gold Adidas stripes a little more, but on its own I don’t mind the monochrome crest.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

It's a tired observation, but Miami really failed completely this season.

 

I can't believe they went with this:

 

When this already exists:

 

 

They needed WAY more pink. Whether that's a sublimated design, a pink shirt, or whatever else. It's shocking that they're as bland as they are. Totally shocking.

[Digby]

The best defense I've got for Miami is that that's a pretty bad shirt for the Sounders.

 

Some pink stripes, even if only on the front so as not to be "too light" or whatever, would've really gone a long way. Who the hell wears a black shirt in Miami?

[hawk36]

4 minutes ago, Digby said:

The best defense I've got for Miami is that that's a pretty bad shirt for the Sounders.

 

Some pink stripes, even if only on the front so as not to be "too light" or whatever, would've really gone a long way. Who the hell wears a black shirt in Miami?

Agreed. I'd rather they just substituted rave green for the pink and called it a day. Or, how about just go back to the throwback influenced white kit. That was great. 

 

[Beantown77]

So, one thing I just noticed: Sporting KC is using the solid option for the new #MLS font for their names this season. Looks so much better than the open font option most of the league is going to use.

 

 

 

(See 0:54 for the Revs' names)

[aawagner011]

Looks like it has the same inline to me. What is noteworthy, is that the names are positioned on an arc instead of straight.

 

 

[THRILLHO]

2 hours ago, Digby said:

The best defense I've got for Miami is that that's a pretty bad shirt for the Sounders.

 

Some pink stripes, even if only on the front so as not to be "too light" or whatever, would've really gone a long way. Who the hell wears a black shirt in Miami?

[aawagner011]

Small mistake I noticed: One of Toronto’s models had a misprint on the GE sleeve logo. The lower part of the G is solid instead of featuring the cutout. Looking at other photos, it appears his shirt was a one-off.

 

[GFB]

Miami’s kits are fine. The all-white primary kit is both peak-Miami and peak-Beckham, and the black kit is very Miami Heat/Vice. I get that everyone wants a pink kit, but their shade of pink is so soft, it wouldn’t contrast enough from the home whites. 
 

The real shame is that there aren’t league-mandated third kits for the teams to switch up looks for the Open Cups / CONCACAF Champions League / Extra clashes. Ideally, you‘d get a 60% primary, 30% clash, 10% third kit mix like you do in Europe.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

3 hours ago, GFB said:

Miami’s kits are fine. The all-white primary kit is both peak-Miami and peak-Beckham, and the black kit is very Miami Heat/Vice. I get that everyone wants a pink kit, but their shade of pink is so soft, it wouldn’t contrast enough from the home whites. 
 

The real shame is that there aren’t league-mandated third kits for the teams to switch up looks for the Open Cups / CONCACAF Champions League / Extra clashes. Ideally, you‘d get a 60% primary, 30% clash, 10% third kit mix like you do in Europe.

 

But their black kit is not okay when they play in the same league as the Sounders, who have basically the same shirt but done better.

 

Will Miami at least have pink shorts?

[THRILLHO]

3 hours ago, GFB said:

Miami’s kits are fine. The all-white primary kit is both peak-Miami and peak-Beckham, and the black kit is very Miami Heat/Vice. I get that everyone wants a pink kit, but their shade of pink is so soft, it wouldn’t contrast enough from the home whites. 
 

The real shame is that there aren’t league-mandated third kits for the teams to switch up looks for the Open Cups / CONCACAF Champions League / Extra clashes. Ideally, you‘d get a 60% primary, 30% clash, 10% third kit mix like you do in Europe.

The disappointment most likely stems from

the misconception that this would be Palermo for MLS

[Gothamite]

45 minutes ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

But their black kit is not okay when they play in the same league as the Sounders, who have basically the same shirt but done better.

1. I don’t think the Sounders shirt is “done better” at all. 
 

2. the overlap will only be a single season before Seattle changes its shirt (as Miami might as well).

[DG_ThenNowForever]

2 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

1. I don’t think the Sounders shirt is “done better” at all. 
 

2. the overlap will only be a single season before Seattle changes its shirt (as Miami might as well).

 

1. It's more pink than the Miami black shirt. On principle that puts it ahead for me.

 

2. I hope the Sounders never go back to pink.

[upperV03]

4 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

1. It's more pink than the Miami black shirt. On principle that puts it ahead for me.

It has more pink, but doesn’t really make good use of it at all, save for maybe the pink sleeve cuffs. It also has a less attractive shade of pink IMO. And it’s main design element is a random and frankly unattractive gradient stripe design in the side panels, whereas Miami’s shirt has a tasteful and classy embossed heron print on the base of the shirt. Miami’s kit could definitely use more pink (although the fact that it has pink names/numbers helps with that), but it’s also a completely inoffensive design. The same can’t be said for Seattle’s kit.

[upperV03]

Orlando debuted their new secondaries in today’s friendly against Montreal:

When the shirt was first leaked I actually liked it quite a bit, but I’m really starting to sour on it after seeing how the full kit looks in action. I feel like the shirt really needs purple sleeve cuffs, and the different layers of the fading sun graphic blend into each other to the point where the whole thing is pretty indiscernible and just looks like a purple stain on the shirt. The kit is decent, and I really like the idea behind the sun graphic, but the execution just isn’t quite there IMO.

 

 

Atlanta also debuted their new secondaries today:

These kits are pretty clean but also pretty unremarkable. Predictably the embossed pattern is essentially invisible in action, which is fine, but it would’ve been nice if the shirt had a little more visible detail to it IMO. Also, and this shouldn’t come as a surprise, but the gold names/numbers aren’t very legible at all in action, even from relatively close distances. You can get a sense of that here:

The legibility isn’t as bad as the silver/names numbers on LAFC’s current secondaries or Minnesota’s old secondaries, but still not great. Frankly I think this kit could’ve really been something special if it had dark red accents in addition to the gold, with the red being used for the Adidas logo, sponsor logos, and names/numbers, with a gold/red crest. That also would’ve solved the legibility issues and added some more visual interest to the overall package.

[Conrad.]

1 hour ago, upperV03 said:

The legibility isn’t as bad as the silver/names numbers on LAFC’s current secondaries or Minnesota’s old secondaries, but still not great. Frankly I think this kit could’ve really been something special if it had dark red accents in addition to the gold, with the red being used for the Adidas logo, sponsor logos, and names/numbers, with a gold/red crest. That also would’ve solved the legibility issues and added some more visual interest to the overall package.

Agreed.

#ShamelessPlug

[upperV03]

8 minutes ago, Conrad. said:

Agreed.
 

#ShamelessPlug

Nice work on those, they’d all be a significant upgrade over the real thing.