Takeaways after Matchday 2 in MLS

Matchday 2 is in the books, giving us another round of results to chew on as the 2026 season gets going in earnest.

Here are a few league-wide observations coming off the latest weekend of action.

Atlanta United are in trouble

When Atlanta United re-hired Tata Martino over the offseason, the idea wasn't for him to turn the Five Stripes back into an MLS Cup contender right away. It was to raise the floor and re-establish a baseline of competence after their 2025 season went fully off the rails under Ronny Deila. That has not panned out through two games, as Atlanta have taken back-to-back 2-0 losses – first at FC Cincinnati, then at San Jose.

To be fair to Tata, he was given pretty much the same roster that nearly Wooden Spooned last season. He's got one of the toughest Designated Player situations in the league, with Miguel Almiron looking turbo-cooked and Aleksei Miranchuk and Emmanuel Latte Lath both looking like busts. It's a situation that might take multiple transfer windows to fix, which is the same situation they've been in for most of the last five years. There's only so much a coach can do, even one as accomplished as Tata.

What I think will be interesting to watch from here is how far they let this spiral before taking drastic measures. I can't see Tata getting put on the hot seat for taking over a team in this condition, but they do have contract buyouts as a nuclear option to address their DP situation. Unless things turn around, we could see some big names heading out the door sooner rather than later.

Galaxy bounce back

Hand up. I'm one of the people who was highly dismissive of the Galaxy's trade for João Klauss to fill the Designated Player spot opened by Riqui Puig's placement on the Season-Ending Injury List. The big Brazilian looked intent on proving me wrong against Charlotte FC, striking for a brace in a resounding 3-0 victory for the Gs, giving him three goals in two games to start the season. He looks like a good fit playing off Joseph Painstil and Gabriel Pec. Marco Reus (fresh off a contract extension) has shown to be an effective creative focal point in Puig's absence. Throw in the defensive additions they made over the offseason, and the recipe for an improved squad is there on paper.

Are the Galaxy "back"? They'll need to sustain it, but their path back into playoff contention in the West is suddenly looking a little clearer. Either way, they're already well ahead of the pace they were on last year, when they started the season with a historic winless run.

Red Bulls do it again

The Golden Boot leader through two weeks? None other than RBNY's 17-year-old forward Julian Hall, who notched the game-winner against the New England Revolution after striking for a brace against Orlando City over MLS is Back weekend. The assist provider? Sixteen-year-old teammate Adri Mehmeti, who's looking like one of the most exciting young players in the league in his own right. There'll probably be growing pains at some point, but Michael Bradley's early commitment to the youth movement is paying off so far, and it's turning RBNY into a genuinely intriguing team to watch every week, which was not really the case last year.

It's been pointed out elsewhere, but the start of this season has really underscored the upside of giving young players a chance when they earn it on the merits. Bradley is 2-0-0, starting lineups full of homegrowns. Pablo Mastroeni did the same thing for Real Salt Lake against Seattle and they rewarded him with a 2-1 result. Colorado got a game-winning goal from 18-year-old center back Lucas Herrington in their 2-0 romp over Portland. On the flip side, you have Atlanta inexplicably starting 36-year-old Lucas Hoyos in goal instead of homegrown Jayden Hibbert, which has completely backfired on the field and prevented them from getting a look at a potential high-upside option for the future.

Toronto FC make a splash

This one isn't related to the on-field results, but Toronto FC made one of the biggest splashes of the year thus far with their reported $22 million(!) move for USMNT striker Josh Sargent, who had been embroiled in a drama-filled dispute with English Championship side Norwich City.

On first glance, that type of fee seems excessive for a player with Sargent's credentials. And for a Toronto club that has a reputation for spending recklessly (see Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi), it probably deserves even more scrutiny.

An overpay isn't necessarily a bad thing in itself, though. Sargent was genuinely one of the better strikers in the Championship for Norwich, so it at least stands to reason that he should be able to translate that to MLS. For Toronto, they seem to figure it's worth the money as a floor-raising maneuver that can provide a building block in attack, along with last season's big trade arrival Djordje Mihailovic.

They could be right about that, but we've also seen plenty of examples of teams spending big on the No. 9 position, only to find out that it doesn't necessarily lead to positive results if there's not the requisite infrastructure around him. Given Toronto's recent track record, it's fair to wonder if a big-money No. 9 will drastically change their fortunes, even if Sargent gets his goals.