MLS winners and losers

It was a good week for the grafters in MLS, but there were struggling superstars and the wrong kind of teenage kicks.

Winners

Hollywood’s mentality monsters

Since Major League Soccer’s inception almost three decades ago, no club has dealt as strongly in star power as Los Angeles Galaxy. From homegrown heroes such as Cobi Jones and Landon Donovan through to iconic imports like David Beckham, Robbie Keane and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the game’s biggest names have flocked to ply their trade in the shadow of the Hollywood Hills.

And the current incarnation of the Galaxy are not short of name recognition; former Barcelona prodigy Riqui Puig has been one of the most entertaining and productive playmakers in MLS since his 2022 arrival, veteran former Southampton defender Maya Yoshida brings vast top-level experience, and Ghanaian winger Joseph Paintsil – a $9million signing from Genk – has hit the ground running in MLS.

But LA’s surge to the top of the Western Conference this season is not due to their appetite for glitz and glamour but a newfound embrace of grit and grind. Unbeaten through their first six MLS games of the season, Greg Vanney’s side are the frontrunners in the race for the Supporters’ Shield thanks to their ability to eke out results in tight matches.

This weekend’s 1-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders was the perfect example of the Galaxy’s resilience this season. Thrust into a fourth-minute lead when Brazilian forward Gabriel Pec finished a slick passing move with a powerful strike, LA found themselves outplayed and under pressure for much of the second half. But with Yoshida anchoring the backline, they prevailed. It was the Galaxy’s first clean sheet of the season and their first 1-0 win since the 2022 play-offs.

“When I looked at our schedule, to be honest with you, at the start of the season I thought, ‘S**t, this is going to be a really difficult start to the season,’” Vanney said. “In our own way, we’ve managed each of these [games] to get something out of them, which has been special.”

With cross-city rivals LAFC up next in the derby creatively dubbed ‘El Trafico’, the Galaxy will happily forgo the glamour to win ugly once more.

Unionisation

The notion of unionisation, collective bargaining and labour strikes are nothing new in US sport. Disagreements between players’ associations and club owners or league brass have seen play halted for months on end in American football, baseball and basketball.

But meaningful collective representation and the withdrawal of labour are seldom seen in a soccer context. So it was viewed by the rest of the watching world as something of a curious episode when the 2024 MLS season began without its professional referees, with games instead overseen by scab officials from lower-ranking leagues while the regular top-flight refs were locked in negotiations for better pay and working conditions.

The dispute was between the Professional Soccer Referees Association (PSRA), which is the referees’ union, and Professional Referee Organization (PRO), the MLS-funded administration body that governs refereeing in North America. The refs were arguing for a pay rise and for increased travel provisions. When the two sides were unable to come to an agreement before the new season began, the PRO prevented the referees from taking to the field.

The strike only served to prove the worth of the regular MLS referees. There was widespread criticism of the stand-in officials from coaches and fans alike, and in the early weeks of the season ESPN reported that instances of VAR intervention had doubled compared to the previous campaign.

Last week, the PSRA and the PRO finally ratified a new seven-year agreement and the referees returned to work. The new deal includes a significant pay rise and a minimum of 15 match fees a year to give the referees an assurance against games missed due to injury.

“Standing strong with each other, we have been buoyed by the support of players, fans, supporters’ clubs, and other unionised work groups during our employer-imposed lockout,” said a PSRA statement.

“Together, we have won much-needed improvements while demonstrating the value of having the best referees in Major League Soccer on the pitch.”

Join a union.

Losers

The Follies of Youth

Los Angeles FC’s David Martinez was headed firmly for the ‘winners’ category 76 minutes into his side’s trip to Colorado to take on the Rapids on Saturday. The Venezuelan winger, who turned 18 just last month, had come off the bench to fire LAFC into a 2-1 lead with his first goal for the club since joining from Monages in his homeland ahead of the 2024 season.

And it was a magnificent effort, too. Cutting in from the right flank, he swerved past two defenders before slotting a low, left-footed strike past former Manchester City goalkeeper Zack Steffen.

Just two minutes later, Martinez mustered another first – this time his first booking in MLS. Flashing a petulant streak befitting a teenager, he was shown a yellow card for kicking the ball away when a minor midfield decision went against him.

Chalk that one up to inexperience, the exuberance of youth, an understandable instance of emotions overspilling after an adrenaline spike from his maiden MLS goal.

But then, seven minutes later, shortly after Djordje Mihailovic had bent a 20-yard free kick past Hugo Lloris to level the score, Martinez did it again. Another yellow card for kicking the ball away and another unwanted first – a first career red card.

Down to 10 men and under the cosh for the closing minutes, LAFC gave up a game-winner in the 89th minute when Mihailovic scored his second of the afternoon, brilliantly improvising to finish from close range with his knee. With that, the Rapids secured a first home win of the season and dealt Martinez a valuable – if painful – lesson in self-control.

Messi-less Miami

Although, technically speaking, they were not losers this weekend, Inter Miami’s failure to see off New York City FC – who had opened the 2024 campaign with five defeats from their previous six fixtures – was a worrying sign of their dependence on Lionel Messi.

It is not unreasonable for any team that counts arguably the greatest player of all time among their number to be diminished when he is not available. But for a Miami line-up that included Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba to have been kept at arm’s length by the Eastern Conference’s second-from-bottom side evidenced a concerning lack of cohesion without their 36-year-old megastar.

It was the third MLS game in a row Messi had sat out with a hamstring injury. In the first of those fixtures, Suarez was required to come off the bench against DC United to turn a 1-1 scoreline into a 3-1 victory with a pair of goals in the final half-hour. A week later, with Suarez a starter, they were smashed 4-0 by the New York Red Bulls.

Against NYCFC, the former Liverpool striker was back among the goals, netting his seventh in nine appearances for the Herons. But a combination of uncharacteristically profligate finishing from the Uruguayan and a stellar performance from NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese meant more points dropped for Miami. The David Beckham-owned club were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw at Chase Stadium, despite racking up chances worth 2.48 expected goals to the visitors’ 1.19.

Messi is on course to return for Wednesday’s game against Monterrey in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, a tournament the Argentinian’s presence makes them favourites to win. But if Miami hope to compete for multiple trophies this season, they’ll need find a way to fare better when their ageing icon sits out.