What If – Hear Me Out – We Asked For Input From Our Fans?

Week 2 of the 2021 MLS season is in the books! As a fun change of pace and in the absence of a new podcast episode, MLS Gone Wild decided that we wanted to hear from you, our wonderful fans. This Monday, we took to Twitter to get your best team-specific captions to the above picture, reflecting on the first two weeks of MLS play. In this post, we share some of the responses we received, as well as our take on them. 

Atlanta United - @dparks97

Of Atlanta United’s new signings, Sosa has had the biggest impact through 5 games, including CONCACAF Champions League. He fits the deep-lying, playmaking “regista” role in Head Coach Gabriel Heinze’s system. We’re still waiting for peak Josef Martinez to re-emerge but, in the meantime, Ezequiel Barco has been picking up the slack offensively. Atlanta are fun again! The 5 stripes are set to play the New England Revolution Saturday evening at 7PM. 

Austin FC – @AustinAnthemES

Listos Verde, Verde Listos? I don’t know, but Austin FC fans are awesome and got to enjoy their first ever victory thanks to a goal from Diego Fagundez goal and Cecilio Dominguez’s brace. Josh Wolff has Austin playing some attractive possession-oriented futbol as they build out of the back. Tomás Pochettino should be back this weekend, after he missed the last match due to a league administration issue, but Austin will be without starting left back Ben Sweat for the remainder of the season due to an ACL injury. Žan Kolmanic will likely step into that role and get the start in their week 3 matchup versus Minnesota United at 8PM. 

FC Cincinnati - @go_pete_go

Some FC Cincinnati fans are already screaming “Stam Out” following their 5-0 loss to NYCFC - perhaps rightfully so, as the club is 4-14-5 since Jaap Stam took over the reins as Head Coach last year. What’s worse is that all 5 of the goals FCC conceded came directly from NYCFC set pieces. There is hope, though - Lucho Acosta looked good in his debut. Keep an eye on how the Brenner/Lucho (Brucho, if you will) partnership develops over the season. Is Franco Fragapane incoming? We shall see. Next up for FCC is Orlando City at 7:30PM on Saturday night, which could be another tough outing. 

Colorado Rapids – @BurgundyBoys96

I think Sammy Vines needs to get healthy, because the Colorado Rapids absolutely need Kellyn Acosta in the midfield rather than defense. The Rapids have scored 1 goal in 2 games, and it unsurprisingly came directly from a set piece. Other than Barrios starting out right, the other 10 starters were part of the crazy 2020 MLS season, in which they finished 5th in the West. However, it’s not time to panic – the Rapids just need to get healthy and put players back in their natural positions. The Rapids close out week 3 at 10PM on Sunday night against a Vancouver team who has beaten Portland and tied TFC. 

DC United - @RfkRefugees

Head Coach Hernan Losada began his tenure at DC United with a 2-1 win over NYCFC, in which DC played smash-and-grab soccer. DCU pressed everything and challenged for every 50/50 ball. If you count last week’s own goal against the Revolution, Hines-Ike has scored 2 goals in 2 games for DCU. With that being said, losing to the high-power Revs on an owl goal doesn’t seem that bad until you look at what DCU did offensively – they recorded just 1 shot on goal and appear to be lacking a legit goal scorer. DCU face off against San Jose at 11PM Saturday night - yes, 11PM, that’s not a typo. I would hit record and watch the match on Sunday. 

Houston Dynamo - @dynamicfoxtrot

In addition to Head Coach Tab Ramos bringing in MLS vets Joe Corona, Tim Parker, Maxi Urruti, and Fafa Picault, he bet on Tyler Pasher’s USL success translating to MLS - the early returns look promising. Pasher has arguably been their most dangerous player through 2 games, notching an assist in their opening match versus San Jose and whipping in the cross that led to the Paredes own goal against Portland.  Defensively, Huston have holes and might have been winless through 2 games if it wasn’t for Wondo missing from inside the net. Houston go again Saturday against LAFC at 2:30PM, live on Twitter. 

LA Galaxy - @ThisweekinMLS

“The Galaxy are back babe, I swear.”

With the LA Galaxy taking all 6 points from their first 2 matches in their 26th MLS season, it seems like they are finding ways to win. How, might you ask? Well, they have this one guy that plays at the striker position. I think his name is Chicharito? Yea, that’s it. Though the last few years have been disappointing, the combination of Chicharito and new Head Coach Greg Vanney has the Galaxy and its fan base BELIEVING AGAIN! In both of their victories, the Galaxy have edged their opponents 3-2 – through two games, Chicharito has 5 goals. Can Chicharito keep this pace going into week 3? We’ll find out on Sunday at 9PM, when they take on the Sounders on FS1.

LAFC – @lafcs2s

“So it’s like this. Atuesta gets a free kick outside of the box. The Sounders goalie is telling the other Sounder players where to line up. All the Sounders guys in the wall jump and Atuesta kicks it underneath them all to score.” 

To start the 2021 MLS season, LAFC have managed a win against new expansion side Austin FC and a tie against the Western Conference giant Seattle Sounders - these results are nothing to be upset about. I mean, they are playing without the likes of 2019 MLS MVP Carlos Vela and 2020 Golden boot winner Diego Rossi at the moment, yet they are still doing just fine. Who knows, maybe Seattle beat LAFC if Stefan Frei listens to Nouhou and has someone lie down behind the wall. LAFC travel to Houston in their next matchup with a Dynamo team the might just shake things up.

Minnesota United - @Dummyrunpod

First thing’s first - David Ochoa’s antics do not have any bearing on getting a result and he got exactly what he wanted out of everyone. I’m not sure if it’s time to panic yet, but there is reason to be concerned for MNUFC. In their first two matches, they have dropped all possible points, losing to the Seattle Sounders 4-0 and Real Salt Late 2-1. Plain and simple, REYNOSO NEEDS HELP! Minnesota have another chance to earn their first point of 2021 this weekend versus Austin FC, who are coming off their first win in club history.

CF Montreal - @jmlesoccer 

So far, so good for Club de Foot in their first couple matches. In their opening match against Canadian rival Toronto FC, they came out in full force and shocked MLS, scoring 4 goals to Toronto’s 2. In their next match against Nashville, Montreal went up 2-0 early on but, being the resilient team they are, Nashville fought their way back to secure a 2-2 result. Montreal’s new Head Coach Wilfried Nancy already has a connection with these players, having been involved with the club for a decade - the players appear to support his outlook on the club moving forward.  Montreal will “host” the defending MLS Cup Champs at 3PM on Saturday.

Nashville SC - @effzehNSC

Nashville has drawn each of their first two matches to start the season – first, against the two-time wooden spoon winners FC Cincinnati and the previously discussed, new-look CF Montreal, both with the same 2-2 result. In both games, Nashville made a comeback from a 2-0 deficit thanks to heroic efforts from Randall Leal and Jhonder Cadiz each time. Playing this way is surely going to wear on the team, so they will look to turn things around in their upcoming match versus Inter Miami at 1PM on Sunday.  

New England Revolution - @NERevsUK

“I’m not sure why Henry Kessler wanted to know your Instagram but I’m not mad.”

If a 6’4” professional athlete wants my girlfriends IG handle, he can have it – she’s actually into kind of short, kind of chubby, semi-athletic, dog dads like me, but that’s beside the point. New England showed resilience in their week 1 tie against the Fire, after conceding 2 goals in the first 11 minutes and fighting their way back for a draw. New England also showed that luck is on their side in their 1-0 win over DCU, thanks to an own goal by Brendan Hines-Ike. Gil & Bou are one of my favorite attacking combinations to watch. However, if someone could tell Bruce to play Tajon as a Right Wing Back, that would be great - that was fun to watch last year! The Revolution will welcome Atlanta United to Gillette Stadium this Saturday at 7PM.

New York Red Bulls - @skinmatt28

Stuber is now 0-3 as head coach of RBNY. To start the season, they have lost to Sporting KC and a Chicharito-led LA Galaxy. Though Stuber had his first whole preseason with the team this year, in order to really implement his system, it’s going to take some time for one of the most youthful rosters in the league to put it all together. In other words, don’t panic. Speaking of youth, be on the lookout for Frankie Amaya’s more advanced role in the RBNY attack. I am here for that and the Caden Clark show! RBNY opens the week 3 action against the Chicago Fire, Saturday at 1PM. 

NYCFC - @Tomsweez

“Who cares that we play in a baseball stadium?! Nobody can touch us at home, especially on set pieces.” 

NYCFC pitched a shutout and recorded 5 RBIs on Saturday against FCC. Wait, that was soccer? Ok, they recorded a shutout and scored 5 set pieces on a defensively inept FCC. I’m not going to talk much about the game, but for crying out loud, when are NYCFC going to get a soccer specific stadium?! The field is narrow and the camera angle for the broadcast are atrocious. But yeah, they are “really good at home”. Excluding their inaugural 2015 season, NYCFC have a home record of 48-9-20 - there is obviously some kind of home field advantage there. It can’t be that they play on a baseball field while every other team plays on a soccer specific field in a soccer specific stadium, can it? Ok, enough with the stadium jokes. Next up for the boys in blue are defending supporters shield winner Philadelphia Union.

Orlando City – @lionsblog1

Orlando has started the season with two draws - the first against an Atlanta United team who is showing signs of play from the 2017/2018 glory years, and an SKC team that they probably should have beaten. This offseason, Orlando signed Brazilian striker Alexandre Pato, in hopes that we would put some goals in the back of the net. Unfortunately for Orlando, he went down with a lower-body injury that isn’t considered serious in his debut.  IF Dike comes back, which is a big “If”, Orlando will be a different team going forward. Head Coach Oscar Pereyra returns from suspension this weekend as they take on FC Cincinnati at Exploria Stadium in Orlando.  

Philadelphia Union - @doopybrothers

“Yeah we lost our MLS regular season game, but, check this out, there’s another tournament we are in. Sure we are playing another MLS side but it’s different. And we’re actually real good in those game.” 

The Philadelphia Union opened up their 2021 MLS season earning just 1 point out of a possible 6. The Union tied the Columbus Crew 0-0 in a tactical battle where Eloy Room and Andre Blake took turns making highlight reel saves, then lost to Inter-Miami’s Higuain brothers 2-1. But yeah, CONCACAF Champions League! Philly just beat Atlanta in Mercedes Benz 3-0 in leg one of the quarterfinals, thanks to some halftime adjustments from Jim Curtin. Sergio Santos replaced Cory Burke after the half and the Union sacrificed possession to play on the counter - it worked to perfection. The 2020 Supporter’s Shield Winners have set themselves up nicely for a date in the CCL semi-finals, barring a crazy Atlanta comeback. Philly plays host to NYCFC this Saturday at Subaru Park. 

San Jose Earthquakes - @FavianRenkel

“You have to understand Cade Cowell is only 17 and he’s on the MLS team of the week. No one has scored and had an assist this young since Alphonso Davies.”

Cade Cowell is only 17?! I mean, I knew that but, WOW! Yeah, he played 1 of the crispiest passes you will ever see to setup Espinoza’s goal and he shoulder-feinted 2 defenders into oblivion before putting the ball in the back of the net, but can we talk about how he absolutely BODIED Tim Parker in their opening match?! Holy smokes, how much does this kid lift? Anyways, you never know what you are going to get with San Jose, but I am here for the chaos! 

Toronto FC - @ryananderson_27

...and straight to the moon they will go. Toronto FC just signed Venezuelan international and former Santos winger Yeferson Soteldo for $6.5M. Once Pozuelo is healthy, my goodness is TFC’s attack stacked, as it includes Soteldo, Alejandro Pozuelo, Jonathan Osorio, and Jozy Altidore and Ayo Akinola. In regards to CCL, it looks like that goal may be out of reach, after TFC lost to Cruz Azul 3-1 in leg 1 of their quarterfinal match. Toronto get the MLS week off to prepare for their 2nd leg versus Cruz Azul.