Which MLS team is the best to watch? | MLS Update

Taylor Rockwell (0:21)

Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Total Soccer Show. My name is Taylor Rockwell, and it's Tuesday, which means it's time to talk some Major League Soccer. I'm excited to do so, because last week, we talked about that Western Conference. Who needs to talk about that? It's time to talk about the Eastern Conference. We're going to be buying and selling some teams when it comes to the playoffs later on in the episode.

But for now, Joe Lowry, we're talking our favorite games of the weekend. Are you prepared?

Joseph Lowery (0:46)

Oh, I'm so prepared. I have a favorite game of the weekend, and that's all you need to be prepared for that sort of thing, isn't it?

Taylor Rockwell (0:51)

That's pretty much it.

Joseph Lowery (0:51)

Yeah, yeah. Box checked, folks. Box checked.

Taylor Rockwell (0:56)

Jeff Rooter, do you have that box checked? Are you also prepared in the minimal amount of way?

I chose to bump something we were going to talk about in segment two to segment one.

Joseph Lowery (1:08)

That counts.

Taylor Rockwell (1:08)

I don't know. I think that this was a kind of interesting, in a very Midwestern way. Let me put it a different way.

This weekend, there worked a ton of bangers.

Joseph Lowery (1:17)

Like in the past, like we had some weekends.

Taylor Rockwell (1:18)

Interesting in a Midwestern way. Well, like interesting usually means underwhelming or like you're skeptical or something, but you're trying to be too polite, so you're hiding it under interesting and making people guess for the rest of their life what you actually meant when you said, oh, your hair looks really interesting today.

But I think that this was a game where we're still sorting out the table in both conferences. I think that there were some teams that missed opportunities that could have made that crystalline clear where they sit. When you look at like the Philadelphia Union, and then you have some other games where teams buck trends that we thought were pretty crystallized. Now we have to see if that was a one-off or if it was an omen ahead of the playoffs, which are rapidly approaching after what has felt like a very long and listless 2026 MLS season. I'm all about the sprint season these days. Even with the playoffs, let's get to that sprint season. It's going to be something. Joe, did you marry into a Midwestern family? Did you marry into a Plains family? Okay, we're going Midwestern.

Joseph Lowery (2:17)

Yeah, Midwestern. I don't really know what describes Plains versus Midwestern. I'm still a novice in that whole.

Taylor Rockwell (2:22)

I think that might be the Sioux.

Joseph Lowery (2:24)

Okay, well, I guess Midwestern it is then.

Taylor Rockwell (2:27)

So Midwestern and Arizona blending together, so desert Midwest.

Joseph Lowery (2:31)

That's right. That's right. We've got the food advantage. They've got the politeness advantage. I mean, everybody got to play to their own strengths here, really.

Taylor Rockwell (2:38)

We went north south over here. It's spicy, but it works.

Joseph Lowery (2:40)

Yeah, I like it.

Taylor Rockwell (2:41)

Jeff, are you double Midwest?

You betcha. Well, you betcha. Okay then. All right. Joe, if you would, tell us about your favorite game from this past weekend.

Joseph Lowery (2:53)

I would love to. My favorite game, and I think the most viral game of the weekend, truly, Orlando City 4, DC United 1 Orlando City, for my money, are truly the must watch team of Major League Soccer. I mean, they are one of the only two teams in MLS who are in the top five in goals scored and goals allowed. FC Cincinnati is the other one in that top five. Orlando seemed to be doing it in a more productive way, and they seem to have tilted their scales a little bit more recently towards the attack. But I'll drop one more stat before I get into this game. In Orlando City's last seven games, at least one team, not necessarily always Orlando, has scored at least three goals. I mean, their games have goals. Their games are almost guaranteed these days to have at least a three goal scorer on either side of the matchup. They were the three plus goal scorer against DC United. They again, 4-1 win for Orlando City.

The reason this game was viral was not because Orlando City just scored goals. It was because Orlando City scored unbelievable goals. Jeff's nodding, so I know he's seen the Martino Hada goal. Taylor, I'm not sure if you have. My word, man.

It was such a good goal that I was seeing on social media, clips from accounts that usually don't heat praise on MLS talking about, wow, MLS has come a really long way. What are they feeding these MLS players these days? That stuff of clearly people that just haven't watched and don't really care about the league but are farming engagement, but the goal was good enough to farm engagement off of. You don't see a whole lot of that in MLS, or really in most leagues on the planet. Martino Hada's finish was unbelievable. It's off of this great ball in from Antoine Griezmann.