Bradley Wright-Phillips got it wrong. He will be the first to admit it. The New York Red Bulls legend tried to get clever with the MLS Cup. He saw the Vancouver Whitecaps throughout the season and said they would beat Inter Miami in the final.
"Vancouver are probably, on their day, the best team in the league. I'm talking about every position. They're so flipping good, man. I actually had them as favorites to win, like an idiot," the former New York Red Bulls star says to GOAL, before pausing.
"But it doesn't matter against Miami."
That turned out to be a pretty succinct summary of the final, which Miami won 3-1. Vancouver played better. But Lionel Messi is Lionel Messi, and he makes a difference pretty much every time.
"Watching him play the last two games of the season, that's the quietest I've seen him still. He still had a very big impact. That is the difference between him and the rest of us mere mortals. He can quickly go by two players, get his head up, and play the perfect ball in for an assist," he says
But for Wright Phillips, who works for Apple TV as an analyst and has been a stalwart of the American soccer scene for nearly 15 years, there's more to think about. Most of it is in the future. MLS announced a switch to a fall-spring calendar. He loves it.
"It just makes sense. I think we're going to hear what the rest of the world is saying in terms of the transfer window. It gives us here in America the chance to get those big players, to compete with the rest of Europe and the rest of the world," he adds.
And then there's next season to think about - already. Every year, MLS shifts. Sure, Miami and Vancouver will be around. But LA Galaxy, he thinks, will be back to their best after a rotten campaign.
Wright-Phillips looked back at the MLS Cup final and made some far-too-early predictions for the 2026 season in another edition of Mic'd Up, GOAL’s recurring feature that brings the perspective of analysts, announcers, and other voices on the state of soccer in the U.S. and beyond.
NOTE: This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
