Who Are the Biggest Underperformers & Overperformers in the MLS So Far This Season?

We may only be six weeks into the 2023 Major League Soccer season, but that won’t stop The Cooligans’ Alexis Guerreros and special guest Chris Wittyngham from taking stock of expectations vs. reality among the league’s elite players.

Witty wastes no time in insisting that D.C. United’s Christian Benteke is his pick for the biggest underperformer, despite being one of three players to have played every single minute for D.C. this season. “If D.C. United were going to be ‘good’ good, they’d need Benteke to take a pretty big step forward and be a 20-25 goal scorer in this league,” he reasons. Similarly, he points out Evander’s performance for the Portland Timbers to date this season hasn’t met expectations, especially given his relatively hefty salary.

Alexis believes the LA Galaxy are the most underperforming team, and along with that thinks Riqui Puig’s play so far is a major reason for that - also anointing him as his pick for most underperforming player thus far.

As for overachievers, the pair both agree that Los Angeles FC’s Denis Bouanga and Seattle Sounders’ Jordan Morris have punched above their weight to start the season and are off to a great start. Also in the episode, Alexis and Witty cover a ton of ground in other MLS storylines and beyond, including the competition between the Galaxy and LAFC for supremacy in the city of angels (24:33), an analysis of the MLS playoff format (33:36), a gut check as to whether Real Salt Lake is for real (39:44), and an update on the USMNT’s coaching search (44:47).

Oh, and if you’re wondering where co-host Christian Polanco was for the taping of the latest episode, let’s just say he had more important things to attend to than chopping it up with Alexis and Witty….

SHOW BREAKDOWN

Could LA Galaxy become little brother in Los Angeles? (feat. Chris Wittyngham)

• Week 6 of the MLS season was filled with some incredible action! There were some great matches around the league over the weekend and the Cooligans are here to cover all of them. We delve into the battle for LA as both teams fight for regional supremacy, analyze St. Louis City’s first loss of the season, and question if Jordan Morris could make a return to the USMNT. MLS broadcaster and former Le Batard Show producer, Chris Wittyngham, joins Alexis to discuss all these topics and more!

Watch more below!

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