MLS Winners and Losers: Rodrigo De Paul delivers for Inter Miami, Timo Werner dazzles on the dribble, and where is James Rodriguez?

It had been a bit of a rough start to the season for Rodrigo De Paul. The Argentine midfielder had thrived towards the back end of the 2025 season, able to roam forward with the increasingly leggy Sergio Busquets forced to sit in front of the back four. The result was a box-to-box player who had the opportunity to show a bit more attacking quality - something that proved vital when he bagged in MLS Cup final.

This year, in a Busquets-less world, things are a bit less steady. Miami are still tinkering with their system and trying to figure out the right balance. In truth, they could probably use another central midfielder and go without a striker. But against D.C. United, he got forward a little more. He bagged the first goal in a tight 2-1 win and gave the Herons a little more midfield bite against a rejuvenated D.C. squad. It's not easy to do it on a Saturday evening in Baltimore, but Miami - and De Paul - navigated the contest very effectively. 

Well, we all have to have our "welcome to MLS" moment, right? To be fair, Bradley has been here before. He knows MLS and he knows American soccer inside out. Any claims of naivety are misdirected. Still, Bradley's new-look New York Red Bulls were badly exposed over the weekend. Bradley wants to play football with a bunch of rather inexperienced pros. He has a system that relies on building out of the back, and building through the thirds. Sometimes, though, you've just got to kick the ball long. 

Montreal capitalized on the Red Bulls' aversion to going long, and showed that a little veteran experience - even from one of the lesser teams in the league - can prove vital. A 3-0 home loss looks bad for Bradley, who will be relieved to have picked up two wins before a truly miserable result against a poor side. There will be moments like this, though. 

You know Wells is doing a good job at Colorado when Spurs fans are openly melting down at their former assistant's departure on social media.  OK, so Wells was always destined for another gig and was probably never going to get the Tottenham one. Colorado was a bit of an unexpected turn, though. And in preseason, it was all a bit intense. Wells spoke about how he wanted to 'dominate' every phase of play and control games. It was an ambitious sentiment for a club that missed out on the playoffs last year.

In the first game of the season, they failed to do so. But after beating LA Galaxy 4-1, the Rapids have now won two in a row, and are playing some remarkably good stuff. Perhaps most importantly, though, Wells pointed out that he still wasn't satisfied after the win. Does that sound like a whole lot of high-performance coach speak? Sure, but it's getting results. 

James Rodriguez was supposed to be the next big-name No. 10 to make it in MLS. And all of the tools were there. Even at the highest levels, the Colombian has more technical quality than everyone around him. He thrives when the game is slowed down a little more. Meanwhile, Minnesota's hardworking unit around him should ensure that Rodriguez has enough protection - and a removal of defensive responsibilities. 

The Colombian wasn't brought off the bench last week - why would he when the Loons were up 2-0 and very much in defense mode? And this week, he wasn't even in the matchday squad amid talk of ongoing fitness issues. In fairness, this would all make sense. Rodriguez hasn't played consistent club football in months, and throwing him straight into an MLS game would seem an immense risk. But it still must be frustrating for Rodriguez and fans alike to see him out of the side, especially considering his current deal is a short-term one. 

Right, so we all knew that Werner was rapid and very effective at running very fast in a straight line in that space between the opposing center back and left back. That is, after all, how he scored a bunch of goals for RB Leipzig and Chelsea earlier in his career. His nickname is Turbo for a reason. But what perhaps wasn't showcased enough was just how effective Werner can be with the ball at his feet, running at an opposing defense. 

This guy, supposedly, is not a dribbler. But on Saturday, he dribbled. The German produced perhaps the assist of the season to date in San Jose's 1-0 win over Philadelphia, evading his man before threading an inch-perfect pass into the feet of Ousseni Bouda. San Jose won, the vibes are good, and there's still plenty more to come from the Quakes' marquee offseason signing. 

Could anyone have predicted the Crew's fall off? Sure, Wilfried Nancy was, by some distance, the best coach in Major League Soccer, who completely revamped the club during his few years in charge there. His move to Celtic - although immensely unsuccessful - was entirely deserved. Still, there was an assumption that the Crew have enough quality to, at the very least, tread water.

Yet three games into the season, they are without a win. It's hard to highlight a single issue here. The Crew don't really have any injury problems, and the Wessam Abou Ali-Diego Rossi attacking duo should be one of the best in the league. But a scoreless draw with Chicago on Saturday looked rather bad. They need to turn things around - and fast.