By Justin Ruderman and Favian Renkel
Welcome back to week seven of Justin and Favian’s Weekly MLS Awards where SBI staff writers Justin Ruderman and Favian Renkel bring you a glimpse at the best of each week in MLS.
Lionel Messi returned from injury with a goal off the bench, El Trafico created its typical controversy, and the New York Red Bulls went top of the Eastern Conference with a victory over the reigning Supporters’ Shield winners in Cincinnati. Let’s dive in!
Player of the Week
Justin Ruderman: Raúl Ruidíaz (Seattle Sounders)
The past couple of seasons haven’t been typical for Raúl Ruidíaz. Since arriving in Seattle in 2018 until the start of this season, Ruidíaz had scored 64 goals in 115 regular season MLS matches (0.56 goals per game) and another 9 goals in 14 playoff games, but the past two years haven’t been up to par.
Combined, Ruidíaz scored 14 goals in 39 MLS games (0.36 goals per game) across 2022-23. Not a shabby return, but not up to the Peruvian’s lofty standards. Part of this dropoff has been due to fighting through multiple muscle injuries but when available, Brian Schmetzer has left him on the bench in 14 of those 39 matches, including over half of his appearances last season.
All this to say, Ruidíaz recording a brace on Saturday for his fourth goal in seven matches – six of which he started – is a great sign for his fitness and form early in 2024. His first goal will likely win the official MLS Goal of the Week award while his second was a confident penalty from the spot. Seattle’s all-time leading goalscorer is seemingly back to his old self in 2024.
For the cherry on top, in earning his fifth MLS Player of the Matchday selection, Ruidíaz passed Clint Dempsey and Jordan Morris for the most in club history.
Favian Renkel: Sebastián Driussi (Austin FC)
Everybody was anticipating the return of a famous Argentine number 10 from injury to make his mark. That Argentine has not been Lionel Messi, but instead, Sebastián Driussi these last two weeks. With Austin FC securing their first two back-to-back wins in a long time, Driussi has been the catalyst and needs to continue being the reason why the Verde are back into playoff contention.
With Josh Wolff on the hot seat for what seems like forever, Driussi is capable of saving the man’s job if he keeps up the form he is in. With 2 goals in the last match, Austin was able to secure their first-ever win against the San Jose Earthquakes. Through two matches where Driussi has played all 90 minutes, the 28-year-old has 2 goals and an assist, averaging 1.5 goal contributions per game. If Driussi maintains this incredible pace, the Argentine will be in MVP consideration alongside Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, and Chicho Arango.
Young Player of the Week
JR: Brian Gutiérrez (Chicago Fire)
Brian Gutiérrez didn’t start the match against Houston, he finished it.
Guti, as he is affectionately referred to in Chicago, was a second-half substitute for the Fire as they searched for a second consecutive late winner at Soldier Field. Though not as incredible as what Kellyn Acosta produced a few weeks ago, Guti’s winner was just as valuable in returning the Fire to the win column, and he actually meant it.
As soon as Gutiérrez saw the ball at the feet of fellow playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri, the 20-year-old ran directly at Houston’s back line, latching onto Shaqiri’s assist over the top of the Dynamo’s defense, and chipping his first-time shot past Steve Clark for a 2-1 win mere minutes after entering the match. A lesson to all young footballers out there to make the most of every opportunity, whether starting or off the bench.
FR: Aidan Morris (Columbus Crew)
This pick is almost unfair. I was looking at which young players performed well this week, and man, did I stumble across one of the best players in MLS. Can you believe Aidan Morris is still 22 years old? The two-time MLS Cup winner—yeah, you read that right, two MLS Cups before the age of 23.
When the Columbus Crew’s best player, Cucho Hernandez, left the match with a frustration red card, the 10-man Crew needed to do something to salvage some points at home. Morris did just that with a beautiful strike that looked like a laser reaching its target. Man, that ball was hit with some power and was well-struck.
No statistics needed; this section is about Aidan Morris having that xDawg in him and getting the job done for his team when they need it most. I wouldn’t be shocked if this USMNT player is off to Europe by the end of the season and when the time comes, the Crew will have a massive hole in their locker room and lineup. Let’s all appreciate his play and leadership while we still can in MLS.
Goal of the Week
JR: Sebastián Driussi (Austin FC)
Where to start?
After scoring three goals in a span of 5 minutes (62’ – 67’) to flip a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead at home, Austin FC conceded once the equalizer less than 10 minutes later (74’). Heading into a minimum of ten minutes of stoppage time, Austin (or San Jose) needed a hero. Luckily for the home side, they have a pretty good one.
In the 101st minute (11th minute of the minimum 10) Jon Gallagher played a hopeful ball into the box towards Gyasi Zardes who couldn’t quite control it. Waiting on the top of the box, somehow unmarked, was Sebastián Driussi. After giving the ball a couple of bounces to settle, the Argentine struck his shot on the half-volley with the outside of his right boot, bending it into the bottom corner for a late winner.
Cue the green strobe lights. Scenes at Q2 Stadium.
FR: Raúl Ruidíaz (Seattle Sounders)
Que GOLAZO!
Raúl Ruidíaz has made his mark this season by scoring the GOTW in Week 7, and all of MLS is seeing a sleeping giant being awakened in front of our eyes. The Seattle Sounders are finally getting into the groove that we are all accustomed to them playing in.
It’s rumored that this may be Ruidíaz’s last season with the Rave Green, and with the insane career the Peruvian has had in the Pacific Northwest, what’s a couple more POTW and GOTW nominations before it is all said and done?
A Sounders legend through and through, Ruidíaz finds the back of the net from an angle that would impress the world if it were scored in any league in Europe. The goal was such a nice hit that it may even cause the Sounders to think about possibly re-signing Ruidíaz to a more club-friendly deal moving forward.
Team of the Week
JR: Seattle Sounders
It finally happened. The Seattle Sounders won a game in 2024.
Seattle was expected to be one of the top teams in MLS this season after retaining their entire starting XI from 2023 while adding new DP Pedro de la Vega and further reinforcements. Heck, they were my preseason Supporters’ Shield pick. Six games into the season, that was the Sounders team we finally saw on Saturday.
Led by my POTW Raúl Ruidíaz with a brace and assist, the Rave Green put in a true team performance, securing the clean sheet while each of their six attackers (four starters and two substitutes) recorded a goal contribution. Montreal have shown themselves to be a respectable team already under new head coach Laurent Courtois but were dismantled by Brian Schmetzer’s squad, already down 3-0 by the time they went down to 10 men.
Hopefully for the Sounders, this can be the performance they needed to jumpstart their season.
FR: Vancouver Whitecaps
The Vancouver Whitecaps have arrived, and everyone now should put some respect on Vanni Sartini’s name. With MLS fans across the country puzzled by the decisions to bring in some veteran players in free agency, the Whitecaps have seen some insane production from Kreilach and Picault. The Whitecaps were already a playoff-caliber team last season and decided what they needed was some battle-tested MLS veterans, and that is proving to be exactly what was needed.
In the latest match against Toronto FC, the Whitecaps dismantled the team from the 6 as if they were the same last-placed team from last year. Vanni Sartini even had some comments to throw in after the match, saying, “We showed that we are the best Canadian team and have been the best Canadian team for the last two to three years.” Not only do people like winners, but they also like winners who can back up their claims.
Sartini has this team on top of the Western Conference and only a point away from the Supporters’ Shield with a game in hand. Vancouver, with the momentum of all the new fans in the stadium this season, is really looking to leave an impression on this city and may even look to bring in some league silverware if this insane run continues for the Caps.
Best thing we saw this week
JR: MLS X (a.k.a. Twitter) admins
Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole weren’t the only ones beefing this week.
Sports are entertainment and one of the best parts of that, as long as it’s kept respectful, is the banter. In two different MLS matches this weekend, the opposing team admins got involved in the action on Twitter.
Beginning with the blockbuster matchup of the weekend, El Trafico, where the unavoidable sticking point for LAFC fans is that the Galaxy don’t play in the City of Los Angeles, but instead just south in Carson. Flipping the criticism on its head, the Galaxy have embraced their ability to be a team for all of Los Angeles County, not strictly the city.
Of course, they will also never let LAFC forget which team was there first.
The patient LAFC admin waited for a 2-1 win to send their response.
Well done all around and congratulations to LAFC who earned the last laugh on the pitch.
The other teams participating in headline-grabbing banter were the New England Revolution and Charlotte FC. On the surface, this is not a rivalry like El Trafico. The team banter, however, was arguably more intense.
Beginning when Revs head coach Caleb Porter promised a win in a radio interview (which Favian will have more on), Charlotte’s admin cheekily hinted they were ready for Porter to eat his words while they ate popcorn.
Unfortunately for Charlotte, New England won the game 1-0 from a lone Carles Gil goal, prompting the perfect Player of the Match award for the Revs captain.
Well done all around and congratulations to the Revs who earned the last laugh on the pitch.
FR: Caleb Porter gets his first league win with Revs under self-induced pressure
Justin touched a bit on the online banter, let me talk to you a little bit about the head coach banter.
The New England Revolution stole the show this week. With the Tea Party pregame fiasco earlier in the season, a bad pregame tradition last season of slashing the opposing team’s banners in red paint, a mascot that doesn’t make too much sense, changing the most beloved original MLS logo a couple of years back, and playing in the home of the New England Patriots, the Revolution are no strangers to controversy, and they just added to the list this week.
Head Coach Caleb Porter made a comment on a radio show, stating, “We’re going to win Saturday. I promise that.” Right after, one of Charlotte FC’s media members asked Dean Smith about the comments and then told the world, “He shouldn’t make promises he might not be able to keep.”
This matchup was suddenly highlighted as a juicy game. Caleb Porter came out and apologized, trying to clean up his statement by saying it was a “throwaway comment.” Did Caleb Porter not realize that social media is around and everyone hears what you say on any show these days?
That was just one part of the New England Revolution controversy this week. Justin already touched on the other, but I wanted to give the social media team some flowers as they add to the New England Revolution aura.
The social media team gave Carles Gil a massive bag of popcorn for the heroic shift he put in the matchup against Charlotte FC and in retaliation to Charlotte FC’s social media posting some popcorn towards Caleb Porter’s comments.
With Caleb Porter promising a win, can we confirm it wasn’t Caleb himself giving Gil the bag of popcorn for saving him from humiliation if they did not get their first win of the season? This is social media genius, and it’s a club that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Am I wrong to say that the New England Revolution are the most “chill” or relaxed club in MLS?
They might not do things in the best way possible, but we all love that they are trying and having a blast doing so. Aura is something the Revs have, and their social media team is one to give credit to; let’s see if they can turn the club around with on-field performances as well.