ATLUTD’s 2017 season was a tremendous success - certainly from a holistic on and off field view — but even from the narrower footballing-only perspective, the team was a Giovinco free kick away (or any number of other odd bounces throughout the year) from the #2 seed and a first round bye in a very strong East - a result most teams would consider as high as realistically possible in any season, let alone an expansion season.
On top of that, ATLUTD-17 featured hellishly long road trips, farcically high fixture congestion, two noticeably different playing surfaces and pitch dimensions, key injuries to designated players, and half a season with a backup keeper.