MLS Winners and Losers: Lionel Messi takes the plaudits in front of record Mile High Stadium crowd, but is it time to question Mikey Varas' tactics at San Diego FC?

It's impossible to know what, exactly, was going through Messi's head in the 79th minute of Inter Miami's game against the Colorado Rapids. But it probably went something like "I am not dropping points in front of the second-highest attended match in MLS history." Messi is no stranger to the big occasion, and this guy has played in World Cup finals. But this did feel like one of those moments where something takes over a little. The Argentine had done his typical late-career thing for most of the game against the Rapids, chipping in here and there, floating in and out of the contest.

But late in the second half, he woke up. He picked up the ball a little into Colorado's half, and then ducked, dinked, and dived through the Rapids defense. The finish was a truly lovely one, too: no backlift, around the defender, into the top corner. Messi has scored that goal hundreds of times, and it was no less spectacular here.

Of course, it comes at the end of a weird week for Miami. Javier Mascherano left the club on Tuesday, much to the shock of the MLS world. Miami defender Noah Allen said it was on the players to turn things around:

"Above all else, we needed to take charge of the situation and return to winning ways, which was the unfinished business we had to address. Of course, we also needed to fine-tune a few things during these few days; but, as I was just saying, we need to keep working and keep improving, because we still have plenty of room to grow. So, step by step, we will grow," he said after the game.

A 3-2 win is a fine start.

Principles and tactical ideas are good. Most coaches have them, and if they get them right, then success, whatever that looks like, can be attained. The issue is that no plan is ever really foolproof, and some are pretty uncompromising in their ways of playing (this is known as the Ange Postecoglou theorem). Michael Bradley isn't quite a total systems guy, but he does like to play one style of football. At times, that makes the Red Bulls unplayable. At others they can find themselves woefully exposed at the back.

And that's what happened Saturday when they took on struggling Montreal. The Red Bulls, by every statistical metric, dominated the Canadian side, who fired their coach a week ago. But Montreal were opportunistic and picked them off in transition for two of their four goals in their 4-1 win. Bradley-ball can be excellent. But it's also flawed. This was one of the days when opponents took advantage.

It was a rough start to the season for Diego Luna, who struggled with injuries early on and missed a USMNT camp. In his first two appearances of the season, he managed just 64 minutes and went without a goal or an assist. It was, in short, a start to forget.

But now he looks far more like the attacking midfielder that Mauricio Pochettino loves. He has three goal contributions in his last two games, two of which came Saturday against San Diego. Luna was that typical sort of buzzing presence throughout, starting loosely as a left midfielder before spending the best part of 70 minutes playing everywhere, running everywhere, and creating everywhere. He opened the scoring in the fifth minute with a tidy finish off a San Diego error, and assisted the second soon after.

For all of Luna's delight, there was reason for pessimism for San Diego. They wowed the league with their football last season, and it was good enough to carry them on a deep playoff run.

This year, though, things haven't been as impressive. San Diego face many of the same challenges that have befallen the Red Bulls of late. They are married to one way of playing. And right now, it just isn't working. Modern soccer is far more complex than either "kicking it long" or "playing out from the back". These things tend to be situation-specific and change from game to game. For San Diego, though, it's a question of absolutes. They keep playing short. And they keep getting caught doing it.

Shoutout to Brian Schmetzer, who always just finds a way to get things done. The Seattle Sounders head coach is approaching his 10th anniversary in the job, and it's easy to see why he has stuck around for so long. Seattle, in short, are rarely bad. They are always among the best teams in the West, and even in a rather barren spell, they are perennial playoff contenders who are always a tough out.

It was a rare rough week for Schmetzer, who saw his side get knocked out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup on Wednesday. They needed a rebound win in MLS. And they did just that, putting St. Louis CITY S.C. to the sword in a pretty compelling 4-1 win. Cristian Roldan was back among the goals, and the Sounders are now starting to find their feet in MLS play. There is more to this thing than just having a good manager, but Schmetzer always seems to find a way.

FC Cincinnati are always supposed to be quite good. Sure, they are a little lighter in attack this year - hence the way-too-fun Neymar rumors - but they have quality all over the pitch. Chuck in the fact that Evander and Kevin Denkey are both there, and this should be among one of MLS's best teams. Well, turns out things don't always work out quite in the same way.

It has been a stop-start season for Cincy, who are simply leaking goals. They have conceded 19 thus far, and even if they can take heart from scraping a 3-3 draw, this was yet another disappointing result for a team playing well below its potential.

Timo Werner said he needed a change - that’s what brought him to MLS this year. Bruce Arena and the San Jose Earthquakes needed one, too, after narrowly missing the playoffs. Early on, it looks like both sides are getting exactly that.

San Jose have emerged as one of MLS’s biggest surprises, sitting second in the West and level on 21 points with the league-leading Vancouver Whitecaps. The statement result came in a 4-1 thrashing of Los Angeles FC, one of the preseason MLS Cup favorites, with Werner scoring his first league goal to put the game out of reach.

It’s still early, but Werner and a promising core of young talent have the Quakes trending toward ending a playoff drought that dates back to 2020.