Rise and shine! Your Freedom Kicks are here!
B.J. Callaghan has announced the USMNT Gold Cup roster. They will join Jamaica, Nicaragua, and another team (to be determined in prelims) in Group A. 16 of the 23 players will come from Major League Soccer.
Peep Julian Gressel getting the nod. We love to see it!
Lena was asking the tough questions at Audi Field over the weekend. Check out the great interviews!
A passport mixup saw Lionel Messi in a tense situation in Beijing. The star had traveled to Taiwan with his Spanish passport rather than his Argentinian passport and ran into trouble as he tried to depart from Beijing. Eventually, he was granted a visa and let through, but not before drawing attention.
Will Messi catapult Inter Miami to the playoffs? Learn more.
If you’ve been following ticket prices since the Messi announcement, you know the situation is out of hand. But how much has the “Messi effect” impacted MLS? According to the Miami Herald, a match ticket was recently listed for $20,000, and Inter Miami’s Instagram is up to 7.9 million followers.
MLS Team of the Matchday has arrived, but the Black-and-Red didn’t make the cut. Atlanta’s Andrew Gutman features in the XI.
Both Orlando teams remembered the 49 victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting with beautiful tributes.
Happy anniversary to D.C. United coach Wayne Rooney and his wife, Coleen. They celebrated their 15th anniversary yesterday.
Sarah, in Monday’s Freedom Kicks I
expressed frustration with the Commentariat’s lack of engagement with DP’s outstanding coverage of Loudoun United and, especially, the Spirit and NWSL. There were a couple of interesting responses.
Is there a way to connect the Spirit organization and Spirit fans with The District Press? I receive the Spirit’s excellent newsletter but there’s never a mention of The District Press nor of any Spirit-oriented blog.
Annie and Andre et al efforts deserve better.
Your thoughts?
I’m a little disappointed to not see Paredes on the Gold Cup roster. But he probably needs some time off and a full offseason with Wolfsburg.
DC doesn’t really have anyone close to a USMNT spot right now. I think Canouse and Durkin are probably on the same level as Christian Roldan, but they lack his experience at that level so it would be hard to bring them over him. Pines has been having a good year but CB is deep enough at the national team level that he’s going to have to continue with his growth all season to try and earn a shot.
My take is that if you haven’t been following Paredes for years, you don’t see him as close to a USMNT slot (even a “B” team). And that’s a shame–because he is good enough. And he fills a unique role–he’s close to a Jedi Robinson clone (at least in terms of how the USMNT played under Berhalter).
Hopefully with more seasoning Paredes can make it into the picture.
He should be in the picture now. But we’re talking an interim-interim manager right now. It’s not someone who was closely following him in MLS than talked to him a couple of times once he got to Germany then watched him play a few matches (even if only partial).
Durkin’s been too inconsistent for me to see him in the NT landscape, though he’s been more steady this year. Imo what’s held Campuses back, aside from Roldan already being in the picture, is his long passing game. That’s much improved under Rooney, but the midfield is still crowded with younger talent. I’d still love for him to get some looks for the Gold Cup and regional competitions, it’s just all up to whichever mystery character takes charge of the team.
Maybe, I continue to be flummoxed by Roldan’s past and continued inclusion. Canouse needs a DM partner to unlock his abilities completely, but his tackling is pretty excellent- however, the US hasn’t played a 2 DM system in long enough that I get his exclusion. Roldan has no, and I mean no, outstanding characteristic. He’s not even a poor man’s Gundogan scenario where his soccer IQ conquers all, he’s just an ordinary MLS CM. I can only assume he is called in because he will Rudy (the Astin character) shame other players in camp with sheer effort and desperate desire to play. Completely truthfully, there is NO scenario I want him playing in important games against technical players.
While I think you’re being overly harsh on Roldan, you’re right that he’s not going to be lining up in a do-or-die game at the world cup if the primary guys are healthy. Truthfully, none of the guys we’re discussing except for Paredes are likely to play in that scenario. And even then, who knows what the next coach sees as his ideal set-up. It might make all this a moot point.
Additionally, it’s a no-brainer not to call Durkin in, he’s like a video game avatar that the user looked at all the options and settings, and said “I want to be tall!” And then just put in random mental and physical stats.
Just a reminder that Donovan Pines was on the last Gold Cup roster, and is in fact a reigning Gold Cup champion.