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MLS notebook

MLS Youth Report: Tsakiris and Ellis shine, plus other thoughts from the league

ASN's Brian Sciaretta offers up another MLS Youth Report along with other thoughts from the league's midweek slate of games
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
September 10, 2026
6:00 PM

IT WAS A VERY busy week in MLS with a midweek slate of games that helped shaped the playoff races over the next month. There is also the international front where many players, particularly on the younger side, are trying to build their cases to be part of the U.S. national team, the Olympic team, or the U.S. U-20 team.

First, we’ll start with a U.S. youth report in MLS followed by other thoughts from throughout the league.

 

MLS YOUTH REPORT

 

Ellis superb vs. Orlando: Another game, another assist for U.S. U-20 attacker Justin Ellis who continues to find Antoine Griezmann in dangerous spots for Orlando. This time, it was in the 77th minute when he played the French legend into the box for the final Orlando goal of a 3-2 win in Atlanta.



Ellis is clearly one of the best players in the 2027 U.S. U-20 player pool and one of his biggest strengths is his versatility to play numerous positions. Since Griezmann (and Daryl Dike) arrived over the summer, he is playing either out wide or centrally in a withdrawn role. But he is making an impact anywhere he plays.

Tsakiris named MOTM: Niko Tsakiris was rusty when he initially came back from an injury which sidelined him over three months. But now he looks fully back to the excellent form he showed early in the season. On Wednesday night, Tsakirs had two assists and a goal to factor into all three of San Jose’s goals in a 3-2 win over San Jose. The only blemish on his scoresheet was a missed penalty.



Tsakiris is likely the key playmaker for the U.S. Olympic team as it prepares to begin its cycle in November.

 

Cavan Sullivan with 2 assists: The Philadelphia Union faced a big test on Wednesday night against a good Cincinnati team. But that test was made a lot easier when Cincinnati’s Obinna Nwobodo was sent off in just the 16th minute for a foul on Frankie Westfield. From there, Philadelphia was able to dominate possession and pick Cincy apart. Cavan Sullivan got in on the action with two assists to Bruno Damiani (who had a hat trick).  



If Sullivan had been playing the whole season the way he has since the post-World Cup restart, he would be in the MVP discussion.

Raines, Kohler, and Miller lead Revs: The New England Revolution came away with a big 2-1 away win over New York City FC thanks to goals from Charls Gil and Daniel Gazdag in stoppage time. Head coach Marko Mitrovic started his trio of Olympic hopefuls in Brooklyn Raines, Peyton Miller, and Ethan Kohler with Miller going 80 minutes and Kohler and Raines playing the full 90. Raines was part of the "build-up" to the Gazdag's winner with a "hockey assist."

 

For Kohler, it was one of his best games of the season and it came a good time as the Revs recently acquired central defender Josh Wynder who will soon join the team. With Kohler’s starting job in jeopardy, he stepped up to deliver the win. Meanwhile, Raines was arguably the best central midfielder in the game and helped the Revs control the middle of the field.

Terry scores for LAFC: Midfielder Jude Terry, 17, got a rare start for LAFC in a 2-0 win over the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday in California.  The 2025 U-17 World Cup midfielder played 60 strong minutes and scored LAFC’s first goal in the 22nd minute. He is young and still fighting for minutes, but he continues to do well in the time he sees. He is stetting the table for what he hopes will be a big year in 2027.

 

Tate Johnson continues to impress: one of the steadiest and consistently solid young American players in MLS is Vancouver left back Tate Johnson, 21, who has never played much for youth national teams and has never had much hype. Since coming through the draft early in 2025, he has been very important to the success of the Whitecaps helping them to reach MLS Cup and the CONCACAF Champions Cup last year and now, once again, in first place this year.

Johnson went the full 90 minutes against Vancouver in a 3-0 win over the Galaxy on Wednesday night where he went 59/63 in passing, 7/10 in long balls, 8/10 in ground dules, three tackles - all while drawing four fouls.

Concerns in the youth arena: As mentioned in previous columns, much of the heavy lifting comes from limited number of teams. Still, only a minority of MLS teams are aggressive in playing young, homegrown developed players.

But even then, it is important to remain competitive while doing so. Red Bull New York is frequently boasting about the average age of its starting lineup and how it is one of the youngest teams in league history. But one thing it has not been bragging about recently was the results. What is the end game? Is it to play these kids in hopes they become good to help Red Bull win? Or is it to play these players in hopes they get sold? Then the team can play another batch of young players who will also not help the team before they’re eventually sold.

 

The current Red Bull contingent with Adri Mehetmi and Julian Hall along with Matthew Dos Santos and Dennis Nelich (who started against LAFC) are all talented but are not yet capable of leading the team to a run in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Mehetmi came off injured in the 33rd minute for RBNY but is unclear how healthy he is.

But it wasn’t a great night for many players who have otherwise been having a good period since the post-World Cup restart. Johnny Shore did not get off the bench for NYCFC, Harbor Miller and Oscar Verhevoen did not have positive games in losses. Taha Habroune was subbed out at halftime for Columbus in a 2-1 loss to DC United. Aiden Hezarkhani is getting on the field for Real Salt Lake but the club remained in a terrible downward spiral after a 2-1 loss to Houston.

FC Cincinnati central defender Andrei Chirila, 18, is a promsiing young dual national (USA and Romania) who should be in contention to start for for the U.S. U-20 team. He found himself in a tough situation against Philadelphia when Cincy went down to 10 men in the 16th minute. The game quickly got away from Cincinnati after that in a 5-0 loss but hopefully the experience does not rattle Chirila's confidence. 

Youth development is never going to be smooth and it is normal to see struggles. But more teams need to be getting young players on the field.

 

MLS Thoughts from Wednesday

 

Richter’s job in Philly: Philadelphia continues to win under interim head coach Ryan Richter. After the 5-0 pounding of Cincinnati, Philly is now above the playoff line and is yet to lose in MLS play since the league restarted from the World Cup. He has made a compelling case to be given the head coaching job fulltime. The team is not just winning, but are playing fun and dominating soccer.

Chicago and Miami antics: A full house packed Soldier Field for Inter Miami’s 1-1 draw with the Chicago Fire. The stars were on display as Robert Lewandowski scored the Fire’s goal while Casemiro headed home a corner delivered by Lionel Messi. But at the end of the game, tempers flared as Inter Miami’s Rodrigo De Paul confronted Lewandowski, one of the best forwards of his generation.  



Nashville upset in Toronto: In one of the biggest upsets since the World Cup restart, Nashville squandered a 1-0 lead and lost to Toronto 2-1 in what was only the Tennessee club’s third loss of the season. Emilio Aristizábal scored a late goal to push Toronto to within a point of the play-in game. Toronto has not been great, but the club is still climbing upward towards a surprising return to the playoffs.

St. Louis rising: Rafael Navarro made a big splash in his first start for St. Louis City, scoring a brace in a 2-2 draw with Portland. Now unbeaten in 15 games, St. Louis is up to sixth place.

Vancouver remains atop the West: Vancouver easily got past the LA Galaxy 3-0 to remain atop the Western standings. Brian White scored to move into fourth in the league’s scoring race with 14 goals. After a brief period of adjustment to life without Sebastian Berhalter, Vancouver is back to being one of the league’s best.

 

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