There's always hype and potential around young players, but there's a difference between hype and actual production.
But when hype and production meet? That's when fans can get the most excited, because you start to really see players grow up before your eyes and come of age.
Early in the 2025 MLS season, here are several players doing exactly that.
The USMNT's performance last month at the Concacaf Nations League Finals was frustrating and disappointing. But if there was one player who could leave that tournament with their stock rising more than it fell, it was Diego Luna.
We saw it in January camp when he broke his nose, got an assist and wanted to play more. That’s the type of attitude and mentality you want USMNT players to have. Luna has something to prove every time he’s out there.
But it’s not just toughness and grit. Luna provides the USMNT with something different, a little ingenuity. He can unlock a deep backline. His creativity and goal-scoring, the positions he picks up on the field, the versatility – you can play him as an inverted winger or you can play him as a No. 10 and he's comfortable in those different roles.
Luna is a true X-factor for the USMNT going into the 2026 World Cup. If he ended up earning a place in the starting lineup for the first game of the World Cup, it would not surprise me in the slightest.
Before then, it’s about staying consistent with Real Salt Lake and asserting himself at the Concacaf Gold Cup this summer. And who knows: I could see a world where Luna impresses on that stage, then a really smart and clever club tries to swoop in and get him at a market value below where his stock could be after the World Cup.
I mean…
And then…
In his second season with LAFC, we’re seeing the David Martínez who was so highly-touted for club and country. He’s healthy now, understands his role and is proving electric in transition. He’s arguably faster on the dribble and has a howitzer of a left foot.
The thing that’s impressed me the most, though?
When Denis Bouanga was missing due to international duty, Martínez stepped up and took more responsibility in the attack. If he can do that when playing with Bouanga, LAFC are easily the scariest transition team in the entire league. You have Bouanga's speed on one side, Martínez’s speed on the other side, and their willingness to put a backline under pressure, to run and put players on their heels – that’s frightening for any defender.
Martínez has the technical close control that all great attacking players have. He’s also bold – not afraid to make mistakes, not afraid to take shots, not afraid to take over a game if need be. He’s a rising star for Venezuela and one day is probably heading to Europe for a lucrative transfer fee.
I had questions going into this year about how Austin FC would create chances from midfield. Step in Owen Wolff.
His positional versatility and flexibility give Nico Estévez something more dynamic in the attack. He just looks like a more confident player and has stepped up his game in terms of consistently being one of the best players on the field.
One moment that captures all that came against San Diego a few weeks back:
That's a really high soccer IQ play. I don't think Owen makes that play last year, but he recognizes that no San Diego player is standing in front of the ball, the ball comes to a complete stop, he sees Jon Gallagher with a ton of space in front of him and hits an instinctual pass that ends up leading to the game-winning goal. His growth has been really fun to watch.
In years past, critics said Owen was benefiting from playing under his dad. That’s always a tricky path to navigate, especially as a young player – there will be skepticism. But the fact that he played at a good level under his father and he's playing at an even higher level under a new coach speaks volumes about his quality. That takes clear talent.
In recent seasons, Dagur Dan Thórhallsson was a mainstay at right back for Orlando City. He played really well for a team always in the Eastern Conference mix.
So for Alex Freeman to displace a player like that, it shows how much trust he has earned from his coach, Oscar Pareja. And he's already proven to be an extremely dangerous goal-scorer. He's a threat when overlapping, but also on set pieces. His size is unique in the modern game and can be a real asset on both ends.
What’s really struck me is the way Freeman is used in Orlando City's build-up when they have the ball. He finds pockets of space almost as a false fullback or an inverted fullback. So he’s not just a one-trick pony and doesn’t just stand out on the touchline waiting to run forward and put in service out wide. He’s comfortable enough in possession to go into the middle of the field and be an outlet.
Everyone will talk about Orlando’s Designated Players, and understandably so. Their attack is firing on all cylinders. But don’t lose sight of Freeman’s rise as another key part of their success.
Let’s go with a two-for-one, homegrown special out in Chicago.
When I played against the Fire, they had players who were older and more experienced than Brian Gutiérrez, but he was who I was always most concerned about. We knew he could change the game at any moment.
Now, Gutiérrez is playing as an out-and-out No. 10 under Gregg Berhalter. I love the position switch from him playing out wide. He's gotten more confident and is taking more responsibility with the keys to the Fire’s attack.
In a Berhalter-coached team, when you have a dangerous striker like Hugo Cuypers and two dynamic wingers, you need someone to pull the strings around them. You saw it with Berhalter’s Columbus teams and the role Federico Higuain had; it’s the same dynamic with Gutiérrez in Chicago. He has the vision, the creativity, the defensive work-rate and even the goalscorer’s instinct. It’s all come together.
Then Chris Brady, he’s kept the Fire in games with how Berhalter wants to play – pushing his fullbacks higher and being aggressive. There are times where the backline will be exposed or the center backs are going to have to go 1-v-1 and you're giving up chances. But Brady has made some spectacular saves and is commanding his box better.
There’s also Brady’s frame in goal – it allows him to make the saves that he's supposed to make, but also the ones he's not supposed to make. He’s taken a real step forward this year in so many aspects.
