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MLS Analysis

MLS Thoughts: Caps future in limbo, youth report, Arfsten surges, and more

ASN's Brian Sciaretta is here with his latest thoughts around the MLS, including his weekly youth report on U.S. youth internationals. 
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
April 27, 2026
6:50 PM

THE WEEK IN MLS, we saw more progress from U.S. youth internationals and current U.S. national team players pushing to make the World Cup team. On the field, the Quakes continue to be the best surprise in the league while being led by a majority of American players. But then there is the sad story of the Vancouver Whitecaps who will see their terrific season diminished by talk of relocation.

There is a lot to talk about, so let's get started with the youth. 

 

Youth Update

 

As with every  update in MLS, we like to start with an update on the young players in the league and we narrow that down to players eligible for the 2028 U-23 Olympic team and then work our way down.

U.S U-20 midfielder Snyder Brunell continued this run of starts for Seattle on Saturday night in a 2-1 win over FC Dallas and hit a very nice assist to Jordan Morris on the opening goal. Brunell is certainly shaping up to be an important part of the U-20 team and his encouraging performances for Seattle making him one to watch this season.



Across all competitions, Brunell has played 855 first team minutes for Seattle and he is showing a lot of improvement across that span.

In that same game, the only FC Dallas goal came from Nolan Norris off a header. Norris was starter for the U.S. U-20 World Cup team last fall and is now an Olympic hopeful. Norris has been raising his game for Dallas in recent weeks and his versatility to play left back, central defense, or defensive midfield is a huge advantage to him.

 

Niko Tsakris is playing a lot for San Jose and with midweek games in the rotation, he was subbed into the game in the second half on Saturday night as San Jose turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 win over St. Louis. Tsakiris was again a difference maker as he drew a penalty (which was converted by Timo Werder) on the winning goal.

Tsakiris is finally becoming the player he was projected to be. The question is how long will San Jose be able to keep him? Regardless, Tsakiris is likely going to be a key playmaker for the Olympic team.

With all the talk of the youth on Red Bull New York, the best young American on Saturday night in Cincinnati’s 2-0 win over RBNY was Cincinnati central defender Andrei Chirila who got the start in the back because of an injury crisis to Cincinnati’s defenders. Chirila, 17, rose to the occasion in the win with a solid performance in a clean-sheet win. He was nervous at times, but overall looked like he belonged. In March Chirila was called up to the U.S. U-18 team, but he might find his way onto the U-20 team this summer for qualifying if he continues to play well.

As for Andri Mehmeti, Julian Hall, and Matthew Dos Santos, it was a lackluster performances. Do Santos hit the post on a strong free kick, but it was otherwise a learning lesson for all three.

U.S. U-20 midfielder Jude Terry played the final six minutes plus stoppage time of LAFC’s 1-0 away win over Minnesota. In a recent interview, Gonzalo Segares said that he expects minutes for his U-20 players to be even better by the end of the season. Terry seems like a strong candidate for that.

Also, one of the best U.S. U-20 players from the weekend was LA Galaxy winger Harbor Miller who was dangerous all around on the left side in a 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake. In fact, he outplayed start U-20 player Zavier Gozo and impressive rookie Aiden Hazerkani (who is expected to be part of the U-20 team). Other than a shot off the post just before halftime, Gozo was contained – which is tough to do.

The New England Revolution played Inter Miami to a 1-1 draw in Florida, which is a nice result for them. Brooklyn Raines continues to put his slow start to the season behind him and he has been very good these past five games during the club’s unbeaten run. Raines should be a key player for the Olympic team. Peyton Miller wasn’t quite as dangerous as he wanted to be but seeing him return to the starting lineup after a slow start to the season was good. It is unclear if Miller will play with the U-20 team this cycle or instead focus on the Olympic team.

 

Here are some other thoughts from around the league

 

Quakes story is remarkable
 

The San Jose Earthquakes won despite not playing their best with the 3-2 win over St. Louis. The win came on the road, with a heavily rotated squad.

If the Quakes can keep this up, it will be the one of the greatest rehab jobs of Bruce Arena’s long career. What is so unique about Arena is not just his success, but in that he always seems to do it with American talent. On this San Jose team, Timo Werner is obviously Germany, but the rest of the key contributors are all American.

 

There is something old fashioned about Arena. He comes from a time when the league was created to be a home for American players. As the league has moved away from that model, Arena has stuck to it but has continued to succeed with it.

 

 Arfsten surging into the World Cup
 

I don’t think Max Arfsten will be with the Columbus Crew much longer. His play for the Crew got his foot in the door with Mauricio Pochettino’s U.S. national team at a time when he was ignored by the 2024 Olympic team and all major youth national teams before that. But at some point, Arfsten will want to try something else.

Arfsten, 24, is playing great soccer right now heading into the World Cup and it comes at a time when new Columbus Crew head coach Henrik Rydström has moved Arfsten out of wingback and into being a straight up winger.

In his last six games, he has three goals and three assists. On Saturday night he scored the opener for the Crew in its 2-0 win over Philadelphia.

As it relates to the national team, he’s not playing the position Pochettino will likely ask of him but he’s playing well right now and he has momentum. If Antonee Robinson starts at left back, Arfsten can be a useful substitute on the wings. The real worry is about him defending as a left back, but this is only a concern if it is a four-man backline. A three-man backline with Arfsten pushed up the field still plays to his strengths.


 

Other Notes

 

The Red Bulls will continue to win occasional games and it is fun to watch with their talent. But there is just not a lot of talent in defense and with a high line, they are always vulnerable. When they get leads, such as against DC, they are likely not going to be able to hold it. They are bleeding goals and it is demoralizing. The Red Bulls need to add defenders and they need a “Plan B” in the backline.

Cincinnati didn’t play well in the 2-0 win over RBNY, but they played well enough – despite the injuries.

In the New England Revolution's 1-1 draw with Miami, Matt Turner was again first rate. Revs head coach Marko Mitrovic has been quick to talk up Turner as the best goalkeeper in the league and the performances speak for themselves, and Mitrovic might very well be correct. This is very much like 2002 when the U.S. national team did not know its starting goalkeeper until after the World Cup started. Brad Friedel played well and Bruce Arena could not remove him to give Kasey Keller a chance. I do not think Matt Freese is clearly going to start at the World Cup and we might not know until camp begins, or close to the World Cup, who the starter will be. 

 

Brian White scored his 8th goal of the season for Vancouver in a 3-1 win over Colorado. U.S. national team midfielder Sebastian Berhalter played well as well and we are nearing the summer when he will be free to sign with any team as his contract expires after the season. It’s easy to see Berhalter opting for a move overseas. His stock has never been higher and this is the chance to do something different.

The saddest story is, per reports, that Vancouver is strongly reconsidering relocation. Right now, I would say they are the most fun and most aesthetically pleasing team to watch in the league. When Vancouver is playing well, like now, they draw well and the atmosphere is electric. It’s a beautiful city that should have a place in the league. But Vancouver has issues with sports teams there. They lost their NBA team. There are issues with building a stadium. But it still is sad for the fans to watch this happen and ruin what should be a great era for the team.

 

If the Vancouver Whitecaps move, the fault lies with the city. The club is being forced into a lease that doesn’t make financial sense and the inability to build its own stadium in an area that is suitable for the club’s needs. The attendance numbers are there. If the city loses another team, there is a pattern that points to the city and how it works with sports teams to make it a positive endeavor for all involved.

This is not a case of "Save the Crew" where the new owner wanted to move the team to Austin. In that case, the ownership (Anthony Precourt) gave up on Columbus. The subsequent new ownership has proven that Columbus was viable with a new stadium. In this case, the city has made Vancouver unworkable. 

Per the club's statement:

"We are aware of today's reporting. The club has faced well-documented structural challenges around stadium economics, venue access, and revenue limitations that have made it difficult to attract buyers committed to keeping the team in Vancouver. Over the past 16 months, we have had serious conversations with more than 100 parties, and to date, no viable offer has emerged that would keep the club here.

"It remains the strong preference of this ownership group to find a solution in Vancouver. If there is a local ownership group with the vision and resources to chart a path forward, we urge them to come forward."

The LA Galaxy beat Real Salt Lake 2-1 and Austin defeated Houston 2-0. Had the results been the other way, it wouldn’t have surprised me to see Greg Vanney and Nico Estevez have their seat get hot.

The Chicago Fire defeated Sporting Kansas City 5-0 and there really aren’t words to go over just how bad SKC is these days. When all is said and done, we might be talking about the worst team in MLS over the past decade – maybe longer.

Nashville warmed up for their Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal vs. Tigres with a 4-2 win over Charlotte. Sam Surridge is back, and that is absolutely necessary for Nasvhille to make the final. But the defense needs to improve and this was a rare time when a team was able to get two past Brian Schwake. With away goals counting,

 

Grasshopper not happy with LAFC

 

Grasshopper Club Zurich is one of the most storied clubs in Switzerland but has fallen on hard times. The club was a mess when MLS club LAFC bought them two years ago and now in 2026, they’re still a mess. Fans are not happy.



As of now, it looks as if Grasshopper CZ is going to have to fight for its top-flight survival in the relegation playoff (as it sits second from the bottom).

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