Inter Miami is going to be fine.

Vibes are at an all-time low in Miami but they will make it out alive. After the departure of head coach Javier Mascherano, a draw to New England, and a loss to a pretty bad Orlando City side, many fans, journalists, and analysts have claimed that things are falling apart in Miami. While I don’t think they are going to reach the same heights as in 2025, there is no reason to believe they won’t be one of, if not the best team in the East this year. After tearing apart Toronto, they are tied for second place in the conference and only 2 points behind Nashville. Messi’s dominance is inevitable and will continue to be.

Dark Horse Dallas?

FC Dallas taking down Real Salt Lake was a statement result. Sitting 7th in the West, Dallas has one of the most efficient counter attacks in the league. Generating 2.05 expected goals from 27% possession against RSL was a prime example of their counter attacking ability. This makes sense considering how lethal their main man, Petar Musa, has been this year. He is second in the golden boot race 1 goal behind Hugo Cuypers.

The New England Revolution. Legit or lucky?

New England earned another solid result this weekend with a 2-1 win over Philadelphia. The Revs are currently 2nd place in the east. They rank 6th place in goals conceded (per match) and have the 8th most goals (also per match).

That said, the Revs are 24th in the league for expected goals (xG) generated and 23rd in xG differential. They’ve had a pretty easy schedule so far and all of their wins but 2 have come from 1 goal leads. Props to Carles Gil who always seems to get his team out of trouble, but I am not so sure their success is sustainable.

A Fight For Playoffs

Going into matchweek 12 NYCFC and Columbus were both tied on 12 points and fighting to move into a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Both teams look similar according to underlying metrics. NYCFC came out on top thanks to a hat trick from Hannes Wolf. It was a huge win NYCFC, now 7th in the East, who had lost 3 of their last four matches.

CCC Hangovers

Both CONCACAF Champions Cup Semi-Finalists, Nashville and LAFC, had rough weeks. Both fell to Mexican opponents mid week and failed to find 3 points at the weekend. Nashville drew DC United 2-2 thanks to a 2-goal comeback performance from Warren Madrigal. LAFC got cooked 4-1 at the hands of Jack McGlynn who had 2 long range bangers with his diabolical left foot. Mateusz Bogusz also put himself on the score sheet against his old club. Son remains yet to put one in the net in 2026.

Best Player Performances

Hannes Wolf vs Columbus Crew

Wolf had all of the goals in NYCFC’s 3-0 win over the Crew. The 3 goals came from just 3 shots and 3 touches in Columbus’ box.

James Rodriguez vs Austin FC

James Rodriguez had two assists off the bench to earn a tie for Minnesota against Austin FC in what will be one of his last appearances for the club. We hope you enjoyed your vacation stint in the midwest and wish you luck in the World Cup.

Lionel Messi vs Toronto

Like usual, Messi was involved in all of the action in a Inter Miami’s bounce back win against Toronto. He had a goal, 2 assists, and created 4 chances on the day.

Gabriel Pec vs Atlanta United

Gabriel Pec earned the Galaxy a comeback win against Atlanta with 2 goals that were only 4 minutes apart from one another. He took the most shots (6) and had the most completed dribbles in the match.

Cade Cowell vs Chicago Fire

Cade Cowell has been an underrated aspect of Bradley’s young NYRB squad this season. He has been an elite ball carrier and chance creator without the output to match the amount of value he has been consistently creating from the wing. He had a goal and created 2 chances against a Chicago team with one of the most impressive rosters in the east.

Manu Duah vs Seattle Sounders

Duah made things very difficult for Jordan Morris and the Sounders in what was probably his best performance of the season so far. He had 19 defensive contributions to include 5 blocked shots in very dangerous areas of the box.

Jack McGlynn vs LAFC

Jack McGlynn had two of the silkiest long range goals of the season with his trademark left foot. He also provided 2 chance creating passes and 6 final third entry balls. We’ve seen this before from him and this won’t be the last time.

PV+ Team of the Week

Messi balled out against Michael Bradley’s youngsters in a 2-2 tie. There were a handful of chances where the goat put the ball on a platter for teammate Luis Suarez who wasn’t able to put Miami into the lead. Looking forward to see who’s hired after the news of Mascherano’s departure from the club came out today.

Julian Hall, the 18 year old forward, continues to impress this year. He stood out for the Red Bulls this game with 2 assists. He’s currently tallied 5 goals and 2 assists in 7 MLS matches this season.

Despite losing 6-2 to Colorado, Guilherme managed to tally a goal and assist, continuing his impressive start to the season. He’s on 5 goals and 4 assists this year. These numbers are impressive considering how bad the Dynamo have been this year.

In a 1-0 win against Atlanta, Zinckernagel was very effective playing long range diagonal balls into the box and dribbling up the right hand side of the pitch. It was his cut back cross to the middle of the box that directly led to Selassie’s goal to put Chicago ahead early. He also had a solid day defensively with 3 tackles and 6 recoveries clustered on the right hand side of the midfield.

Although Cincy have had a rough start to the year with 2 wins in 7 matches, Evander looked creative in matchweek 7. For this team to have a solid run this year he is going to need to ball out.

De Paul earned the highest possession value added score of the week. Looking at his performance plotted out this isn’t surprising. He was all operating all over the pitch with 5 key passes and 13 defensive actions. He had 1 assist on the night which was dime of a cross to Silvetti making a back post run.

Is Gutman considered the best left back in MLS? He had an outstanding back post header off of a long range out swinging cross that was denied by the post.

Baumgartl had a monster performance to help St. Louis earn a tie against FC Dallas this week. 19 defensive actions and a goal to top it off.

Brandon Bye was key in Portland’s 2-1 win ending LAFCs 2026 unbeaten streak. The outside back contributed 17 defensive actions along with the game winning assist. He contributed 90+ minute assist to win the game for Portland.

Montreal are bad again this year. Does that make Brayan Vera’s inflated number of defensive involvements in matchweek 7 any more or less important. Who knows.

Honorable Mentions

1. Abou Ali

2. Hugo Cuypers

3. Martin Ojeda

4. Milan Iloski

5. Gabriel Pec

6. Simon Becher

Best XI

1. Dejan Joveljic (ST)

   2 goals and a tie for an SKC team that everyone expects to be awful this year. Will they be awful… maybe. Either way, Joveljic shows yet again why he deserves to be in the conversation for the best striker in the league. He had 18 goals and 2 assists last year and the team finished last in the west. I pray one day I get to watch this dude ball out for another top MLS squad like he did for the Galaxy in 2024.

   

2. Thomas Müller (CAM)

   The German legend had 2 goals and 2 chances created in 3-0 win over Toronto. How cool is it that he plays in Major League Soccer.

   

3. Zavier Gozo (LAM)

   If you have been liking the Red Bull’s youthful soccer this season also tune into Real Salt Lake. The 18 year old USMNT prospect had an assist and created 3 chances over the weekend while operating as a wingback. The youngster was vital in RSL’s 2-1 win over the Sounders.

   

4. Lionel Messi (RAM)

   Had 2 magical goals and rage baited a coach on the Orlando City staff by hand signaling his own autograph. Not much else to say here.

   

5. Sebastian Berhalter (CM)

   Sebastian Berhalter was operating as a right midfielder during the weekend against Toronto. He tallied four chances created and 6 defensive interventions. Interested to see where Sorensen positions him moving forward.

   

6. Rodrigo De Paul (CM)

   De Paul had .72 expected assists, 2 big chances created, and 10 recoveries in Inter Miami’s comeback win in the Florida derby. He was effective advancing play up the middle channel of the pitch carrying the ball.

   

7. Nathan Harriel (LB)

   Despite falling to NYCFC, Nathan Harriel did a solid job advancing the ball up the left flank via progressive passing and carries. He also snuffed out a large amount of danger in Nicolás Fernández’s side of the pitch with 3 tackle, 3 interceptions and 8 recoveries.

   

8. Osaze Urhoghide (CB)

   FC Dallas held a really high quality Nashville SC to a clean sheet 0-0 draw. Urhoghide had 23 defensive involvements to get his team there. 15 clearances in one game is absurd.

   

9. Lucas Herrington (CB)

   The Australian 18 year old had a goal and created a big chance during the Colorado Rapids 2-0 win over the Timbers. I think this Colorado Rapids team is pretty underrated this year.

   

10. O’toole (RB)

Operating against Philly on the other side of the pitch as Nathan Harriel, O’toole had a great passing display up the left flank and cut out a fair amount of the Union’s danger with 2 tackles, 1 interceptions, 3 recoveries, and 3 clearances.

Here I’ll go deeper than most “Best XI” articles. The goal here is to unpack why the players ranked so highly and what they actually did to move the needle on the pitch.

Honorable Mentions

1. Sam Surridge — Nashville

2. Anders Dreyer — San Diego FC

3. Cade Cowell — NYRB

4. Son Heung-Min — LAFC

5. Nicolás-Fernández — NYCFC

6. Emil Forsberg — NYRB

Attackers

1. Denis Bouanga — LAFC

• 1 Goal

• 1 Assist

• 1.69 Expected Goals

• 0.85 Expected Assists

• 3 Chances Created

• 6 Shots (3 SOT)

When I set my Sofascore fantasy lineup this week, I left Bouanga out. I figured Inter Miami, the defending champs, would be a tough matchup. I was wrong. Bouanga is inevitable.

2. Julian Hall — NYRB

• 2 Goals

• 2.67 Expected Goals

• 4 Shots (3 On Target)

Seventeen years old. Hall finished two chances from almost identical close-range locations and capitalized on Bradley’s call to start him over Choupo-Moting. He was one of three players aged 17 or younger to start for the NYRB.

3. Guilherme — Houston

• 2 Goals

• 0.77 Expected Goals

The 30-year-old Brazilian has scored 10+ goals in each of his last three seasons in Brazil. I don’t know a whole lot about him but his interplay with Jack McGlynn looked good, especially on his second goal.

Midfielders

4. Marcel Hartel — St. Louis

• 1 Goal (0.32 xG)

• 0.64 Expected Assists

• 50 Passes (90% Completed)

• 5 Chances Created

• 8 Ball Recoveries

Hartel put up some of the best numbers from anyone this week. The link-up play between Hartel and Becher will be a problem for the league.

5. Ronald Donkor — NYRB

• 45 Passes (96% Completed)

• 4 Chances Created

With Michael Bradley at the helm, it feels like a new era in NY — and I am here for it. Donkor is the fourth NYRB player mentioned in this story, which tells you how strong their match-week 1 performance was. He was excellent at playing vertical progressive passes into the half spaces on either width of the pitch.

6. Tsakiris — San Jose

• 0.47 Expected Assists

• 7 Chances Created

The graphic comes off a little inflated due to the number of corner kicks he took against Kansas City. That being said, the Soccerwise guys compared him to a more mobile Jack McGlynn which is enough to get my attention. I’ll be tuning into more San Jose going forward.

Defenders

So far, PV+ seems to do a great job capturing offensive contribution. Modeling defenders is trickier. PV+ highlights defenders who eliminate danger, which means their scores can be influenced by how often they’re forced into high-risk defensive situations. In other words, it may sometimes favor players on teams that bunker and absorb pressure. That’s something I’m continuing to evaluate. For now, we drive on.

If you have suggestions I am all ears.

7. Marín - Orlando City

• 2 Chances Created

• 0.14 Expected Assists

Marín was active up the left flank, generating progressive actions and delivering four cut-back passes into the box. Defensively, he put in a shift as well with 2 tackles, 1 interception, 3 recoveries, and 5 clearances.

8. Munie - San Jose

• 2 Goals (1.28 xG)

• 42 Passes (88% Completion)

After Matchweek 1, Munie is officially on pace for the 2026 Golden Boot. A lot of his distribution came from longer passes into the right half-space which is something worth watching from San Jose.

9. Privett - Charlotte

• 17 Defensive Actions

• 3 of 3 Aerial Duels won

Did the model like Privett because Charlotte absorbed pressure from St. Louis Probably. But the production still counts: 2 tackles, 5 recoveries, 9 clearances and a point secured. That’s a strong day’s work for a center back.

10. Gallagher - Austin FC

• 1 Assist (0.60 xA)

• 33 Passes (90% Completion)

• 2 Chances Created

• 9 Ground Duels (7 Won)

• 3 Tackles

An assist. 90% passing. Nine defensive actions. Gallagher played a major role in Austin grabbing a point in their opening match against Minnesota.