Another matchday is in the books and the past two weeks have been pivotal in the Supporters’ Shield race.
I had six teams in the race for the regular season title two weeks ago. Inter Miami were already in control, but now it seems a foregone conclusion Lionel Messi & Co. will bring the Shield home to South Florida.
Let's take stock of that race before we jump into Stock Up, Stock Down:
- Miami have back-to-back wins since Leagues Cup.
- Columbus Crew now look like the only team with an outside chance.
- FC Cincinnati lost the all-important match they needed to win to catch Miami.
- LA Galaxy lost at St. Louis CITY.
- LAFC lost at home to Houston and looked physically exhausted after an emotional week/month.
- Real Salt Lake lost at home to San Jose!
Here’s the bigger question: Can Miami set the all-time regular season points record before the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs begin? The current mark is 73, set by the 2021 New England Revolution.
Of course we are starting here again!
Miami just keep chugging along without the best player of all time. Do they even need Messi to win the Supporter's Shield? Probably not. That's how deep their roster is.
The Leagues Cup champs have enjoyed a seriously impressive stretch.
After winning another final against LAFC, Wilfried Nancy rotated nearly the entire starting lineup for a midweek trip to Philly and still took home all three points! Yaw Yeboah secured the 1-0 win late. Columbus followed that up with a home win against New York City FC, with substitutes DeJuan Jones and Jacen Russell-Rowe icing the 4-2 victory.
Nobody would have blamed Columbus if they experienced a letdown after capturing an emotional title the week before. But this shows the depth and mentality Wilfried Nancy's team has. Impressive!
Why not the Rapids?
After their impressive run to third place in Leagues Cup, the Rapids went to FC Dallas, who had been on a great run themselves. Chris Armas’ team still grabbed all three points via a late winner from young striker Darren Yapi.
The 3-2 result keeps Colorado fourth in the Western Conference and on pace for the coveted home-field advantage that comes with it during Round One of the playoffs.
Colorado have won 19 points from losing positions this season, good for second most in MLS behind Inter Miami. Mentality!
There isn't much positive to say about Montréal right now.
It looks like the players have given up. After a 4-1 defeat at FC Cincinnati, that's three losses in a row for head coach Laurent Courtois' team by a combined score of 10-1.
The belief isn't there anymore, the fight is gone, and I am not sure there is enough quality in this squad to compete.
Refer to last week's column and replace "seven straight losses in the league" with "eight straight losses in the league."
I have been in this position before when I played for Orlando City, sitting bottom of the table. But the beauty of MLS is that with nine teams making the playoffs in each conference, you are never out of it.
With things so tight in the East, two wins in a row and you're back in a playoff spot. However, my hopes for Nashville are dim.
