What We Learned: Seattle Sounders roar back, Atlanta & LA continue slide

We’re officially more than a quarter of the way through the MLS regular season, folks. Things are starting to get real as performances become more indicative of each team’s level.

Today, we’re looking back at the Matchday 9 slate to examine some of the most interesting things we learned.

We’ve got the Seattle Sounders roaring back, Inter Miami’s identity, and so much more. If you want to read up on the rest of Matchday 9 in detail, check out Matt Doyle’s column.

Let’s dive in.

No Jordan Morris or Albert Rusnák in the starting lineup as they work back to full fitness? No problem. No Alex Roldan in the XI, either? That’s okay. No Jackson Ragen, who’s out injured, or Paul Arriola, who will miss the rest of the season after being brought in to start over the winter? It’s all good.

Missing five projected starters on Saturday against Nashville SC, the Seattle Sounders put together their best performance of the season in a convincing 3-0 win. Nashville, lest we forget, are no slouches this year under B.J. Callaghan, beating the Philadelphia Union and outplaying a pair of other Eastern Conference contenders. But against the Sounders? Nashville crumbled.

Playing out of Brian Schmetzer’s 3-4-3 setup, Cristian Roldan and Obed Vargas dominated the midfield. Roldan, who played as the deeper of the two, was quick to recover and recycle play. Vargas, who would range further forward into the attack to help overload Nashville’s double pivot, was more incisive in the final third than I’ve ever seen him:

Results haven’t flowed across Concacaf or MLS play like many – myself included – would’ve guessed. But with a genuinely elite midfield and impressive depth, playing the Sounders is a terrifying proposition yet again.

Let’s not get it twisted: the Columbus Crew played the better game on Saturday against Inter Miami in front of a club-record crowd in Cleveland. Wilfried Nancy’s team set the terms of the match, created the better chances, and controlled the ball high up the field, largely far away from their own goal.

And yet, Inter Miami still snagged a 1-0 win.

What’s the takeaway here? Well, beyond ‘soccer is a weird sport sometimes,' Saturday was less about Miami playing perfectly (or even “well”) and much more about us learning about Javier Mascherano’s tactical approach.

To be specific, we learned Mascherano doesn’t demand that his team keep the ball. In contrast to the Crew, who will possess at any time in any place against any team in this region, Miami were more than happy to drop their lines and defend in a 4-4-2 block en route to a season-low 40.2% possession share this past weekend. That’s not the norm for Miami, who tend to attack early and often in a ball-oriented setup that flows through Lionel Messi. Still, it wasn’t the first time we’d seen Inter Miami play against the ball in the regular season. They did something similar against Charlotte FC back on Matchday 3 (granted, they played most of that game with 10 men).

Even if they were fortunate to head back to Florida with three points, Miami’s tactical flexibility could prove to be a genuine asset as the season progresses.

Three weeks after the Dynamo announced the arrival of Designated Player Ondřej Lingr, the 26-year-old finally made his Houston debut. He played the last 15 minutes plus stoppage time in Houston’s 2-2 home draw with the Colorado Rapids, scoring the late equalizer along the way:

I’ve got to hand it to Pat Onstad, the Dynamo’s president of soccer, because he pretty much scripted this first goal from his new DP in a quote for Lingr’s announcement post:

“Ondřej is a goal-scoring midfielder with experience playing at the highest levels of European club and international football. He will make us a more dangerous attacking team with his verticality and penalty box presence.”

That... sums up the above goal. Lingr found an open pocket in the box and made the Rapids pay. At his best with Slavia Prague, Lingr was putting up double-digit goal seasons, with 14 league goals back in 2021-22 and another 11 in 2022-23. He’s off to a hot start in Houston.

Am I worried about the Dynamo still lacking a creative distributor in the final third to feed Lingr and fellow DP Ezequiel Ponce? You bet I am. But you can’t ask for more than Lingr gave Houston on his debut.

“It's frustrating. You want to win. I want to win. I don't like losing. But I want to win at everything I do. I know a lot of people on the team do. We just have to have that killer mentality. There's two or three moments in games that we just [expletive] ourselves throughout the season.”

That’s LA Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy following his team’s 1-0 loss to Austin FC on Saturday.

He was upset postgame, and understandably so, after the Galaxy extended their winless streak to nine games to start 2025. They’re in the midst of the worst MLS Cup defense in league history, and frustration is bubbling during this 0W-6L-3D start.

Despite McCarthy’s penalty save on Brandon Vazquez, the Galaxy still left Texas without a point. There was plenty of blame to go around, too, just like there’s been all season. For the seventh time in nine matches, Greg Vanney’s team couldn’t break the 1.0 xG mark, according to FBref. Joseph Paintsil, healthy and in the starting lineup, hasn’t been hugely impactful since returning from injury. And without steady ball progression from central midfield, it’s been Gabriel Pec or bust in the attack.

Defensively, an injury to Maya Yoshida has left the Galaxy even lighter at center back. On Saturday, they went with an Eriq Zavaleta-Emiro Garcés pairing and struggled for long stretches.

At this point, the hope is LA can pull a 2023 Sporting Kansas City, who made the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs after picking up just three points in their first 10 games of the season. But they need to get healthy, find answers in midfield and balance the attack. Pronto.

Speaking of a team needing answers, I present to you: Atlanta United.

After reportedly spending more money than any other club in MLS during the Primary Transfer Window, the Five Stripes are averaging just one point per game through the first nine games of the season. They’ve struggled mightily – not to the LA Galaxy’s levels, but they’ve struggled nonetheless. Last weekend's 3-0 loss at the Philadelphia Union was just the latest example.

With Ronny Deila desperate to energize a team with just one win since opening day, the manager awarded central midfielder Ajani Fortune with a start on the left wing of a 4-2-3-1. The whole thing was terribly reminiscent of the Alex “Wing” experiment Deila ran with New York City FC.

Elsewhere, Brooks Lennon just about broke Miguel Almirón by opting to cross the ball into the box instead of hitting the simpler and higher-value ball to the Paraguayan in the half-space:

It was one bad decision after another for Atlanta over the weekend, and they were steamrolled because of them. Fortune, 22, and center back Noah Cobb, 19, were the only players to speak to reporters following the defeat. Cobb, for his part, said he was “heartbroken” about the state of Atlanta United.

Don’t be surprised to see Deila heavily rotate his team against Orlando City on Saturday (7:15 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+; FOX, FOX Deportes). While you're at it, don’t be surprised if the club makes a move before Wednesday’s transfer window deadline. A refresh might be needed.