MLS Winners and Losers: St. Louis CITY go 20 games unbeaten, Inter Miami's Luis Suarez silences his critics - and is Andre Luiz now the league's best player?

Is it time to write an official apology to Luis Suarez? Perhaps. The Uruguayan's benching in the 2025 playoffs was basically the key to Inter Miami winning the MLS Cup. He was too old, too slow, and not scoring enough goals to validate his inclusion in the side. He is a champion because he accepted watching from the sidelines.

Retirement might have made sense after that. But when Messi penned his new contract, Suarez elected to stick around. And while there has been plenty of turbulence on the Miami bench - the Herons are now on their third manager of the season - Suarez has proved his worth. He has 20 starts in 24 appearances. And after bagging twice in a 4-0 battering of DC United Saturday night, he is in the top 10 in the league in goals scored with 15. It has been a fine season for the Uruguayan - and a worthy final act.

So much for that new manager bounce, eh? There are probably deeper problems at LAFC. It's not hard to see some of them. Son Heung-Min's form has dropped off a cliff. The midfield balance isn't quite right. The wide players haven't quite clicked. This is basically a Denis Bouanga hard-carry job.

And so it proved once again Saturday evening. Such is the attention on a surging St. Louis that the significance of this fixture - LAFC vs. Vancouver - was lost a little bit. The victor of this one could still win the West. And LAFC were handed a golden chance when Tristan Blackmon was shown his marching orders for denying a goalscoring opportunity early in the first half.

Yet with a new man, Xavi Tamarit, in the dugout, they failed to capitalize. In fact, it took Bouanga heroics once again to earn a point. LAFC are now winless in four, sixth in the West, and in real danger of missing out on home-field advantage.

On Aug. 18, Sporting KC officially announced the signing of Andre Luiz for $18 million - a club record fee. They also handed the relatively unheralded Brazilian winger a five-year contract. It looked a bit odd. This was a club, remember, that was once linked with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Mo Salah. This guy had endured six disappointing months with Olympiacos. What were we all missing?

Well, quite a lot, it seems. Luiz has been magnificent since arriving in Major League Soccer. In seven games (and less than 400 minutes of actual football), he has registered seven goals and one assist. This is video game stuff from a guy who didn't scream "exciting DP signing." Want a harsh truth, though? Sporting KC, for all of Luiz's attacking output, have won just two of those games. They are the worst side in MLS, and are basically in a race to avoid the Wooden Spoon this year.

And Luiz could yet be handy in that effort. He helped Sporting overturn a two-goal deficit Saturday evening and clinch a vital point. Considering his form, there's a very good question to ask: Is he the best player in MLS right now?

There's this concept on the internet known as a "mid off." Basically, it's when a number of parties, all of which are trying to win something, fail to do so in equally disappointing circumstances. Or, more simply: everyone is just a bit rubbish. And with that, attention turns to places eight through 14 in the Western Conference. The really funny thing about MLS is that it's literally harder to not make the playoffs. Sure, sports is complex, and there is no such thing as total parity. But, in theory, everyone will feel they have a chance of playing postseason soccer in some form.

That's bad news for the purists, but a lifeline for teams that hardly look like playoff contenders. String together a couple of wins, avoid being totally woeful, and suddenly the postseason is within reach. Just seven points separate eighth from 14th in the West, with ninth enough to earn a wild-card game. Even 14th-place Minnesota United are still in the hunt. Yet those seven teams managed just one win between them this week - and none played one another.

A mid off.

The golden boy! The stat doing the rounds during the international break was that only two players in football history have scored in each of their first three starts for their country. The first was a Brazilian kid named Pele. The second is Julian Hall (don't compare them, just enjoy them).

Hall might not be in GOAT conversations, but he is certainly on fire at the moment. He actually ran a bit cold for a few months in MLS, part of a Red Bulls attack that sort of quietly struggled (Michael Bradley's front-footed approach was so apparent that it was easy to lose track of the fact that this is actually a bottom-10 attack in MLS).

However, things might be changing, with Hall at the forefront. He bagged again, this time for the Red Bulls, in a 4-1 win over San Diego, an equally chaotic opponent. Nothing about the win looked particularly assured, but Hall's goal - a smart run and tap-in - was the stuff of a veteran striker. If he can grab a few more, the Red Bulls should be back in the postseason.