MLS Kits 2022

[Red Wolf]

The yellow over black look is spectacular. I hate how many MLS teams default to mono looks.

[BlazerBlaze]

Watching RSL in the snow at NE, I’m now of the hard lined opinion that Adidas needs to create a high visibility Orange/Yellow/Green snow kit. 
 

 

[Digby]

Would’ve been a nice night for red shorts for RSL. Though, unlike the CCL game midweek with Pumas in town, this much snow wasn’t forecasted for today. Still sucks, gotta be hard when your own teammates are camouflaged.

[Jer15]

20 hours ago, MJWalker45 said:

Columbus wearing black shorts and TFC wearing black socks. Looks good for the Crew, looks weird for TFC. 

Yup. Hate it for TFC. 

[upperV03]

I was pleasantly surprised by how much contrast there actually was in last night’s Portland/Austin green vs. green matchup. On TV, Austin’s mint green looked lighter than in these pictures and from afar the overall effect was pretty similar to if the kit was white or grey. In close-ups you could definitely tell it was the more saturated mint color, but there was still plenty of contrast with the Timbers’ dark green. Certainly not the best, but still miles better than the green vs. green Timbers/Sounders matchups from the last two years.

 

Austin hosts Seattle this next weekend, so it’ll be interesting to see if both teams wear their primaries like they did last year in Austin (which worked but was far from ideal with the similarities in green on the shirts) or if both teams wear their secondaries.

[upperV03]

Random, mostly meaningless observation: none of the socks for this year’s new kits have any team embellishments on them (wordmarks, logos, etc. on the calf). Most of the 2021 kits still had something team-specific on the socks, but it appears like Adidas has scrapped that starting with this year’s new kits. You can see an example of what I mean in the Portland/Austin pictures that I posted above. The Timbers’ socks (from a 2021 kit) have the crossed axes on them, while Austin’s socks (from a new 2022 kit) just have the Adidas logo. I’ve looked at pictures of all of the new kits for this year and I’m pretty sure none of the socks for this year’s new kits have any team embellishments. 

[DrJack]

That Timbers / Austin matchup was beautiful on tv, just my 2 cents.  

[upperV03]

Week 4 kit matchups:

https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/kit-matchups-what-your-club-is-wearing-for-mls-week-4-x8807

Of note:

 

- Four weeks in and still rolling with last year’s keeper kits across the league.

 

- Toronto wearing their white secondaries at home against DCU.

 

- RBNY wearing red/white/red at home against Columbus is yellow/black/yellow. Should be a really nice looking matchup.

 

- Austin is wearing their mint kit at home against Seattle in their Hendrix secondaries. Probably the most sensible choice since the greens in Austin & Seattle’s primaries made for a tough matchup last year. Still unfortunate that a home team is effectively forced to change because the away team doesn’t have a kit combo that provides sufficient contrast.

 

- NYCFC/Philly, Chicago/SKC, and Charlotte/NE are all blue vs. blue.

 

- FCD/Portland will be red vs. pink, but it shouldn’t really be an issue since the Timbers’ kit is such a light pink and they’ll be in their white shorts while Dallas will be in their blue shorts and socks.

[PaleVermilion81]

11 minutes ago, upperV03 said:

- Austin is wearing their mint kit at home against Seattle in their Hendrix secondaries. Probably the most sensible choice since the greens in Austin & Seattle’s primaries made for a tough matchup last year. Still unfortunate that a home team is effectively forced to change because the away team doesn’t have a kit combo that provides sufficient contrast.

 

Yet another reason to hate Seattle.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

23 minutes ago, upperV03 said:

- Austin is wearing their mint kit at home against Seattle in their Hendrix secondaries. Probably the most sensible choice since the greens in Austin & Seattle’s primaries made for a tough matchup last year. Still unfortunate that a home team is effectively forced to change because the away team doesn’t have a kit combo that provides sufficient contrast.

 

I agree Seattle needs a clash kit, but this wasn't so bad, was it?

 

 

 

[upperV03]

13 minutes ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

I agree Seattle needs a clash kit, but this wasn't so bad, was it?

 

 

 

I’d say this was/is a case where the overall contrast is probably sufficient for TV purposes and for fans in the stands, but for the players and refs on the field the shades of green on the shirts are too close for comfort. Even with how black-heavy Austin’s kit is from the back and from the waist down, the greens could definitely blend in up close, especially with players and/or refs having to make quick movements and take quick glances around the pitch. If one team had white shorts (and even socks as well) then MAYBE it would work because of how stark and immediately discernible the white would be from everything else, but as is I think it’s a no-go. 

[Digby]

4 hours ago, upperV03 said:

Austin is wearing their mint kit at home against Seattle in their Hendrix secondaries. Probably the most sensible choice since the greens in Austin & Seattle’s primaries made for a tough matchup last year. Still unfortunate that a home team is effectively forced to change because the away team doesn’t have a kit combo that provides sufficient contrast.

i don’t disagree but also get big “wear the new secondary kit at home for half the games” vibes from Austin. I’m sure they don’t much mind.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Miami looks so awesome in real pink. I think I need one of those shirts.

[upperV03]

This weekend’s matchups will at long last feature the debut of the new keeper kits:

As you can see, Charlotte will be debuting their black and mint secondaries at home against Cincy and their keepers will fittingly be in the mint colorway of the new keeper kits. The Timbers will also be in their secondaries at home, setting up what I believe will be the first pink vs. purple kit matchup in league history. As much as I love the rose kits, I really don’t want to see the Timbers making a habit of wearing them at home this year. I am glad to see them back in the crimson shorts this time, though.

[Digby]

Am I the only one who thinks MLS plays it loose with keepers wearing clashing kits? Mint green with light blue, black with the very dark purple, orange with pink? Kinda pushing it IMO! Consequence of this most boring era of keeper kits. (I believe Adidas has this one in gray, yellow and red as well, curious to see if all colorways end up in MLS too.)

[MJWalker45]

5 minutes ago, Digby said:

Am I the only one who thinks MLS plays it loose with keepers wearing clashing kits? Mint green with light blue, black with the very dark purple, orange with pink? Kinda pushing it IMO! Consequence of this most boring era of keeper kits. (I believe Adidas has this one in gray, yellow and red as well, curious to see if all colorways end up in MLS too.)

Each team should have at least three different colors for their goalkeepers to avoid all clashes. But when Orlando's wearing purple, why is the keeper in black? 

[upperV03]

1 hour ago, Digby said:

Am I the only one who thinks MLS plays it loose with keepers wearing clashing kits? Mint green with light blue, black with the very dark purple, orange with pink? Kinda pushing it IMO! Consequence of this most boring era of keeper kits. (I believe Adidas has this one in gray, yellow and red as well, curious to see if all colorways end up in MLS too.)

 

1 hour ago, MJWalker45 said:

Each team should have at least three different colors for their goalkeepers to avoid all clashes. But when Orlando's wearing purple, why is the keeper in black? 

I think the contrast in each of these cases is good enough but certainly could be better, especially when there are gray, yellow, and red color ways available like you mentioned. I think part of the problem is that a lot of teams do only pick three colors each year and some teams and/or keepers have favorites that they almost always go with unless it’s impossible to do so. For example, Orlando almost always used the black keeper kit last year unless their opponent was in black. They’ve stuck to that so far this year. It does seem like they should have to go with a color that contrasts the purple more, but the league allows it and it’s apparently Orlando’s first choice. Portland’s keepers have worn orange in every game so far this year, even when they’ve been in the pink kits, and I’m assuming it’s because it’s Ivacic’s favorite (their starting GK). Having watched every Timbers game, I will say that there hasn’t been an issue between the orange of the keeper kits and the pink of the rose kits, but of course something like yellow would provide more of a stark contrast. 

[4_tattoos]

12 hours ago, MJWalker45 said:

Each team should have at least three different colors for their goalkeepers to avoid all clashes. But when Orlando's wearing purple, why is the keeper in black?

Honestly thought goalkeepers were given every color option their club's manufacturer provides, and selects what they'll based on overall contrast against their teammates and the opposing team 

[MJWalker45]

53 minutes ago, 4_tattoos said:

Honestly thought goalkeepers were given every color option their club's manufacturer provides, and selects what they'll based on overall contrast against their teammates and the opposing team 

That's what should happen, but Adidas seems to avoid handing out too much product to MLS. 

[tigers]

1 hour ago, 4_tattoos said:

Honestly thought goalkeepers were given every color option their club's manufacturer provides, and selects what they'll based on overall contrast against their teammates and the opposing team 

 

There have been a few close calls in the MLS so far.

 

52 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

That's what should happen, but Adidas seems to avoid handing out too much product to MLS. 

 

When's the contract up?

You'll see improvement then.