What We Learned: Adri Mehmeti is must-watch for Red Bulls

Matchday 2 is in the books.

What did we learn? Did the games confirm our priors or change the complexion of the league?

Let’s dive into some key takeaways from another weekend of MLS action.

Red Bull New York have been starting a trio of top-tier teenage talents so far this season.

There’s left back Matty Dos Santos, a 17-year-old with a golden left foot who thrives in ball progression and service into the box. There’s forward Julian Hall, a 17-year-old who’s tied atop the early Golden Boot presented by Audi leaderboard with three goals. 

Then there’s defensive midfielder Adri Mehmeti, a 16-year-old who’s already managed two assists in 2026. They haven’t been assists via long balls over the top like you might expect of a deep-lying midfielder. Rather, Mehmeti’s assists have come via a route you’d expect from a much older, more physically mature player: in the box off of set pieces.

It’s not as if Mehmeti’s game is exclusively based on physicality – in reality, he’s the smoothest on-ball distributor in the entire US youth national team pool. But those assists serve as a microcosm for Mehmeti’s game, illustrating his maturity beyond his years.

New head coach Michael Bradley hasn’t been afraid to trust the teenager to conduct his team’s midfield, not least because Mehmeti is legitimately an above-average starting defensive midfielder at age 16. His distribution in Saturday’s 1-0 win over the New England Revolution was, like on opening day against Orlando City, exceptional. Mehmeti moves well off the ball, turns on a dime, can hit a huge array of passes, and almost always makes the right choice in possession.

Toss in strong defensive instincts and a sizable frame that’s still being filled out, and you have the makings of a complete No. 6. In Mehmeti, RBNY have the best young midfielder in MLS and the USMNT prospect pool. He is must-watch.

You’ll never guess which MLS player was the fastest to reach the 20 goals and 20 assists mark in the regular season. Alright, fine, you can probably guess: Lionel Messi.

Anders Dreyer, though, with his goal and assist for San Diego FC in their 2-0 win over St. Louis CITY on Sunday night, became the second-fastest to hit 20 and 20. It took Messi just 26 games and Dreyer only 36, ranking the Danish right winger ahead of even Carlos Vela (41 games), Sebastian Giovinco (42 games), and Preki (45 games).

Talk about a superstar.

Even just two games into a new season – or four if you include San Diego’s Concacaf Champions Cup run thus far, where he’s already recorded an assist – it’s become clear that Dreyer is more than a one-season wonder.

The 27-year-old has been immense this year for a sophomore San Diego side. So much runs through the Danish international in the attack, to the point where he’s taking a higher percentage of his team’s touches (11.2%, as per American Soccer Analysis) than every San Diego player bar their two starting center backs and starting No. 6.

And when Dreyer gets on the ball, good things happen:

Tied for the league lead in goal contributions (four), Dreyer looks poised to challenge for any and every award yet again this season.

Against LAFC at the Coliseum on opening weekend, Inter Miami acutely felt the absence of Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.

Without Busquets, a double pivot of Yannick Bright and Rodrigo De Paul struggled to progress the ball into dangerous areas within LAFC’s block. Without Alba, Miami’s attack lacked creativity from wide areas and a left-sided pairing of Noah Allen at fullback and Telasco Segovia at winger left something to be desired. The result? A humbling 3-0 defeat to the West’s premier MLS Cup candidate.

Against Orlando City on Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire, head coach Javier Mascherano didn’t hesitate to make changes. 

From the jump, Miami switched into a version of the 4-3-3 shape they used on last year’s title run, with Lionel Messi as a No. 9 flanked by Tadeo Allende and now Germán Berterame. With a more balanced attack across the width of the field and better progression from De Paul (though his first-half turnover proved costly as Orlando City took a 2-0 lead), Miami looked noticeably better. The defense was tighter and the chances were flowing, even if the goals weren’t for the visitors.

Messi, of course, took the game into his own hands in the second half, fueling a 4-2 comeback victory:

Slowly but surely, Inter Miami are beginning to look like themselves again as they turn the page on last year’s team. Like we saw on Sunday, giving the more defensive Allen a true attacker – either Berterame or Mateo Silvetti – ahead of him and giving De Paul more responsibility in possession may cause this Miami team to become a juggernaut.

It was a whirlwind week for Timo Werner, who traveled across the globe, trained with his new teammates for the first time, and made his MLS and San Jose Earthquakes debut. But even amidst the chaos, Werner’s quality shone through during his 30-plus minutes off the bench against Atlanta United on Saturday.

The Designated Player wasted no time in extending San Jose’s lead to 2-0, which is where the scoring stopped, by picking up a clever assist to Ousseni Bouda. The run in behind, the quick separation from the opposing defender, the well-delivered square ball… it’s all vintage Werner from his best German Bundesliga days:

While Werner’s best moments with RB Leipzig and in the English Premier League came as he raced in behind the opposing backline off the ball, his performance against Atlanta United wasn’t limited to vertical off-ball runs.

He also impacted the game with the ball in deeper areas, showing flashes of conductive brilliance. Here’s a pinpoint switch that allowed the Quakes to push down the right side and create yet another chance for Bouda:

Playing through the middle as a No. 9 before switching over to the left wing, Werner caused major problems for the Five Stripes and may do the same to the rest of the league.

The Philadelphia Union have gotten their Supporters’ Shield defense off to a rocky start, losing both of their MLS games so far this year, just months after being crowned the best team in last year’s regular season.

First, they fell 1-0 on Matchday 1 at D.C. United. Then came Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of New York City FC. Of course, they’ve already advanced in Concacaf Champions Cup play, so not everything has gone awry for the Union. 

Still, it’s worth digging into Philadelphia’s slow start. 

Perhaps the most notable issue for the Union in their MLS clashes has been a lack of chance creation. Even with a penalty kick inflating their xG tally (they’re one of five teams to have recorded one so far this year), Philadelphia sit just 16th in MLS in xG, as per American Soccer Analysis. Two games is a wildly small sample size, but the Union’s creation struggles aren’t just on the spreadsheet. They’re on tape, too.

There’s no clear-cut replacement for left back Kai Wagner, the team’s best provider year after year (though they did just add Philippe Ndinga). On Sunday, it was the naturally right-footed Nathan Harriel who played in Wagner’s old spot. He wasn’t bad, but Harriel certainly wasn’t as effective when it came time to serve the ball into the box. Wagner’s move to the EFL Championship has forced the Union to kickstart an attacking rethink, one that’s still underway and is disrupting their attacking threat level.

Toss in a new center-back partnership post-Jakob Glesnes, early-season fixture congestion, and a red card in each of their first two MLS matches, and you have a Philadelphia team searching for traction.