MLS talking points: Inter Miami sees red, Crew misses Cucho and more
Sounders fighting the weight of history
Itās time for celebration in Seattle ā the Sounders have vanquished their bogey team. After knocking LAFC out of the playoffs with a 2-1 win in November, Saturdayās 5-2 result felt like conformation that LAFC no longer has Seattleās number after they knocked the Sounders out of the Open Cup and Leagues Cup in 2024. Those results were part of a 10-match unbeaten run against Seattle that dated back to May 2021.
āYes it feels really good,ā admitted Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer, ābut our record against them is still 4-9-4, so we still have some work to do.ā
Despite the five goals scored, this was hardly a Sounders team at its best, with Schmetzer resting some of his top players ahead of a critical Concacaf Champions Cup contest against Cruz Azul on Tuesday. After being unable to build any advantage in last weekās scoreless draw, the Sounders need to score in Mexico and likely will have to do it without Pedro de la Vega.
The Argentine attacker has provided a spark in CCC contests, an encouraging sign after the clubās record signing missed much of 2024 with injuries. Unfortunately, that trend continued ā de la Vega left the field in the 36th minute Saturday. Luckily, the Sounders got attacking contributions from Paul Rothrock, JesĆŗs Ferreira and from Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, a second-team member who may have earned a first-team deal with his performance during an emergency loan spell this month.
Getting past La Maquina in Mexico City will be daunting. The Sounders havenāt won in their last seven matches in Mexico and have been eliminated four times when playing the second leg of a series on the road. They did, however, advance with a draw against LeĆ³n during their historic run to the title in 2022. Have the Sounders vanquished a domestic bogeyman only to be cowed by another? Or will Schmetzerās streak-breakers do it again? That would be real cause for a party in Seattle that even the manager wouldnāt try to tone down. JA
Missing Cucho
Until Saturday, the Cucho HernĆ”ndez-less Columbus Crew still looked like the dynamic Columbus Crew weāve come to know in recent years. HernĆ”ndezās replacement, Jacen Russell-Rowe, netted in back-to-back games as Wilfried Nancyās side started the season with wins over Chicago and New England. Against the Houston Dynamo, though, Cuchoās absence was obvious ā this was the sort of game he would have decided in the past.
In fact, he had decided this sort of game in the past. Cucho was crucial in a Champions Cup meeting between these sides almost exactly 12 months ago, scoring to knock out the Dynamo when the Crew otherwise struggled for attacking ideas. With the Colombian now a Real Betis player, though, there was no knockout blow on Saturday in a goalless draw.
Many of the usual Nancy-ball hallmarks were there in the Crewās performance. Wingbacks Max Arfsten and Mo Farsi pushed into central areas ā and frequently into the opposition box. Russell-Rowe and Diego Rossi drifted between the lines as Columbus dominated the ball. And yet from 64% possession came just 0.65 expected goals (xG) and one ābig chance,ā per Opta. Russell-Rowe failed to muster a single shot.
A new designated player will surely arrive to boost the attack at some point in 2025. Palmeiras forward JosĆ© Manuel āFlacoā LĆ³pez has been linked. For the time being, though, Columbus must find a way to recreate Cucho in the aggregate because Saturdayās draw against Houston proved itās unrealistic to ask Russell-Rowe to step up in every game. GR
Minnesota United: Just chuck it
Itās the second year of a new era for Minnesota United, one marked by new leadership in sporting director Khaled El-Ahmad and head coach Eric Ramsay. With them in place, the club has shown impressive commitment to finding every little advantage possible. Thatās demonstrated off the field with the recently-announced a partnership with stats blog American Soccer Analysis, which will aid them with player recruitment and opposition analysis.
On the field, Ramsay has shown a clear commitment to maximizing value on set pieces. Both of Minnesota Unitedās goals in 2025 have come in solid 1-0 wins, and both have come from long set pieces finished off by star striker Kelvin Yeboah.
The first, against CF Montreal, came from an intentional long throw-in routine from the left side of the field. Itās not a coincidence that Minnesota are chucking the ball into the box: The Athletic found that throws into the penalty area result in more than twice the amount of xG as short throws in the final quarter of the field in the Premier League. Minnesota United know the value of a free box entry, where theyāre one bounce away from a shot on goal:
A similar principle led to Minnesotaās second goal of the year against the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday, where a long free kick led to a scramble in the box and a finish from Yeboah:
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Minnesota United havenāt been winning flashy this year. But theyāve been winning smart. JL
Struggling Kansas City
At the beginning of the 2010s, Sporting Kansas City was known throughout MLS as an example of the value of strong, decisive change. The MLS original altered its name, built a stadium, drew bigger crowds, and experienced a renaissance on the field led by Peter Vermes, the teamās technical director who added āmanagerā to his responsibilities in 2009.
Today, SKC may stand as a testament to the dangers of staying the course. With their 2-1 loss at DC United on Saturday, Sporting has now lost 10 consecutive competitive matches in all competitions going back to last season. The picture gets worse if you include noncompetitive matches ā KC failed to win any of its six preseason games, bringing the grand total winless run to 16 games, with the last victory coming on 18 September 2024.
Making matters worse: streaks like this are nothing new for SKC. The team suffered a seven-game winless run in 2022, a 10-game winless run to open 2023, and another 10-game winless run earlier in the 2024 season (all in the league). The last of those streaks ended with seven straight losses, and when the team won to end the run, they then lost three more in a row. The Sporting KC team that was once a reliable contender has failed to qualify for the playoffs in two of the last three seasons, and 2025 isnāt looking too promising so far.
Vermes has been in charge for all of this, only recently shedding his front office title to focus on coaching. He has said he wants to lead a rebuild, and unlike virtually any other coach that had overseen the exact same record, there is no indication he is on the hot seat. That rebuild may yet come to fruition, but in the meantime KC looks to be playing the same uninspiring soccer that got them into this mess. Unlike 15 years ago, if change is coming, it wonāt come quickly. AA
Seeing red in Miami pink
The record-breaking 2024 MLS Supportersā Shield winner Inter Miami has not done things the easy way so far in 2025. Javier Mascheranoās team being without Lionel Messi for three of its six games has gotten headlines, but the team has also played 44% of its MLS matches down to 10 men.
TomĆ”s AvilĆ©sā sending-off in the first half of Februaryās opener against New York City FC was described as āInter Miamiās first red card of the season,ā inadvertently suggesting there were more to come soon; that the tally had merely just begun. Ian Fray was sent off after the final whistle in the subsequent MLS fixture against Houston Dynamo and goalkeeper Oscar Ustari was shown red after felling Wilfried Zaha in the first half against Charlotte FC on Sunday. Of the six sendings-off in all of MLS so far in 2025, half of them have been Inter Miami players.
This has not stopped Mascheranoās mostly Messi-less team from picking up points. They drew that opener against New York City thanks to a late goal from Telasco Segovia, and held on to a 1-0 lead against Charlotte after Tadeo Allende scored less than 20 seconds into the second half.
Messi or no Messi, 11 players or 10, Miami is once again finding a way to get results and stack points in 2025. JN
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