By James NaltonInter Miami underwhelmed on the opening weekend of the new season, though they did face what will likely be the toughest fixture in the league this year: a trip to Los Angeles FC. They won’t be the first team to go there and lose by multiple goals.Their second game of the new campaign offered a chance to get back on track, but it wasn’t exactly a gimme as they travelled up the Florida peninsula to face Orlando City, a place they had yet to taste victory.As Orlando took a two-goal lead in the first half, it looked like Miami’s poor record there and their stuttering start to the season would continue.Then Lionel Messi happened, but not before a wonderful strike from halftime substitute Mateo Silvetti gave the No. 10 the platform from which to complete the comeback.Messi scored twice from outside the area, including a 90th-minute free-kick for good measure, getting his eye in for the rest of the season, as he’ll be the favourite to be named MLS MVP once again.…with support from Telasco SegoviaThis is where the top performer of the week, per the FotMob ratings, might normally get a mention, but we’ve already spoken about Messi, so, instead, it offers a chance to talk about the second-highest rated player of the week, Messi’s teammate, Telasco Segovia.The 22-year-old Venezuelan has been an important part of Messi’s supporting cast since joining the club last season.His role has naturally increased in 2026 following the retirement of Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, and Luis Suárez’s legs being another year older.The replacements for those players don’t necessarily come in the shape of positionally like-for-like successors, but in difference-makers across the pitch who can contribute alongside Messi.Segovia showed he could step up to be one such player, providing assists for Silvetti and Messi before adding a goal of his own, which gave Miami the lead.Repeat performance from Red Bull wonderkidsWhen praising young players who’ve impressed in one particular game, the worry is that it can be some time until they follow that up and back up the hype.The nature of the pathway from a youth academy to first-team, senior football means inconsistency can be expected, as lessons are learned and players find their feet.This was not the case for the New York Red Bulls contingent, who made the league sit up and take note on opening day and followed that up with another influential performance this weekend against New England Revolution.This was epitomised by the game’s only goal as 17-year-old Matthew Dos Santos crossed to 16-year-old Adri Mehmeti, who headed on for 17-year-old Julian Hall to finish at the far post.Hall was named the league’s Player of the Matchday last weekend, and though this week’s accolade is likely to go to Messi, the young Red Bulls continued to impress.The excitement around these players will surely see more fans flock to the Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, as they show that MLS is as much about developing players as it is offering a home to headline-grabbing older stars.Nectarios Triantis: good at footballAs mentioned earlier, there is no like-for-like replacement for Sergio Busquets, not for Inter Miami, not for anyone, but you do wonder if David Beckham’s lot considered Triantis as the Spaniard’s successor in South Florida.Instead, Minnesota United moved for the Aussie-born Greek international central operator in August, signing him from Sunderland following his spell on loan at Hibernian. The Loons seem to have a player on their hands.Though no one is really like Busquets, Triantis’ height and comfort on the ball, especially in tight situations in midfield, bear brief resemblance.He’s also able to use his physique to power out of situations, making him worth a watch, and he was part of a 1-0 win for Minnesota against Cincinnati this weekend.Matt Wells vs. Phil NevilleColorado Rapids new head coach won one of MLS’s battles of the English head coaches, defeating Neville’s Portland Timbers this weekend.It was a convincing performance from Wells’ side in their home opener, as the former Spurs assistant joins Neville and Dean Smith as the league’s English head coaching contingent.Müller speaks and scores twice in Canada clashThomas Müller is a thinker on the pitch and off it. He scored twice in Vancouver Whitecaps’ 3-0 win against fellow Canadians Toronto at the weekend, and has also had some interesting things to say about football’s place in the sporting landscape up there in the west of Canada, specifically.Müller’s heatmap vs. TorontoSpeaking to German outlet Kicker, translated by Derek Rae on Bluesky, Müller said:“You must separate two different things. Football here still has no big significance in the life of the general population. It’s not spoken about in the office on a Monday morning, but the football bubble is not in fact so small. “In the stadia, there’s a euphoric atmosphere. The people are interested in the game, but the rest of the population doesn’t know the football bubble at all, they have other topics and other sports.“They grew up with ice hockey, basketball, and [gridiron]. The ranking of football is perhaps comparable to handball in Germany. Due to the topography in Canada, there are significantly fewer football pitches than ice hockey rinks. However, in the playoffs, our stadium was packed with 50,000 spectators.”Müller’s compatriot Timo Werner also made an impact this weekend, getting an assist for San Jose Earthquakes after coming off the bench for his debut in their 2-0 win against Atlanta United.LA Galaxy’s five-minute trebleGoals from Lucas Sanabria in the 8th minute and João Klauss in the 11th and 13th minutes left Charlotte stunned on Saturday night.The linkup for the second goal, between Gabriel Pec and fellow Brazilian Klauss, was very encouraging for the Galaxy, who are looking to return to the form that won them the MLS Cup in 2024.This 3-0 win was a sign they might be able to do so.(Cover Image from IMAGO)You can follow every match from MLS with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including player ratings. Download the free app here.