Who's up for a weird MLS season? All of the things that most people predicted might happen a few short months ago have been proven wrong. Inter Miami were supposed to be very good, and instead look like a middling playoff team. Atlanta United seemed poised to return to the top after spending big, but are markedly worse.
The Vancouver Whitecaps are literally on the market. No one wants them. And they are probably the best team in MLS. Meanwhile, everyone thought the dialogue around the Philadelphia Union would be about Cavan Sullivan. He's still mostly MLS Next Pro - or occasionally on the senior side's bench - while the first team dominates the Eastern Conference.
It's s been a bit of a mad first half, and no one can say, with any conviction, that they know what will happen come playoff time. It's an apt moment to check in, though, with the midseason point upon us.
Are Miami and Lionel Messi still presumptive favorites? Who's the front-runner for MVP? And, for the billionth time, what the hell is wrong with Marco Reus and the LA Galaxy?
GOAL US writers discuss answer all of those questions and more in an MLS edition of ... The Rondo.