Rise and shine! It’s Freedom Kicks time!
MLS Team of the Matchday looks decidedly Black-and-Red. Wayne Rooney was named coach while Mateusz Klich and Derrick Williams feature in the XI.
Michele Kang talks about the business of soccer and plans for the future to ESPN on the heels of her recent acquisition of Lyon.
Trinity Rodman reflects on her journey from California youth soccer to the World Cup roster in WSJ.
Will they or won’t they? Rumors abound over a D.C. United deal for former Everton player Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Pablo Maurer states there are ongoing talks in The Athletic while Steve Goff of the Washington Post writes off the rumors as just that:
Looks like we will have to wait and see as the summer transfer window approaches.
Lastly, a big congratulations to Julian, Casey, and Sophie who welcomed Ellie to the world yesterday!
We hope you have a great day!
Damn you’re an early bird Sarah! Thanks again for the early morning content. District Press–a perfect way to start the morning.
Congrats to Julian and family. Very cute pictures.
Good morning, Joe! Hope you have a great day!
Congratulations to Julian and Casey!
They’re doing great stocking our women’s national team in the next 20ish years 👀
So, Apple’s been great for me being able to watch DCU while living in Richmond, but watching the US without cable or streaming is pretty difficult. I’m not aware of an over-the-air channel to catch the games…
You can “Pay the Piper” and add apps to you apple tv from cbs (paramount) and foxsports, along with espn.
Just a suggestion. ( I have an apple tv unit plugged into my tv, it is useful in this regard. )
Maiden Buzzard Points by Santos and Williams bury Cincinnati 3-0. The tally to date:
Buzzard Points (home goals): Benteke (4); Ku-DiPietro (3); Dajome, Durkin & Klich (2); Fountas, Greene, Pines, Santos & Williams
Talones (home assists): Benteke (3): Klich, Ku-DiPietro & Ruan (2); Canouse, Fletcher, Jeahze, O’Brien & Santos
Taloncitos (drew home penalty kick): Fountas.
I saw a tweet yesterday that mentioned the average signing age in MLS was 25.
When I looked at DCs transfers over the last year, only three players have been 25 or younger out of 15 players signed since Rooney came here (Jeahze, LOB, and Akimboni). Of those three, LOB is a loan signing, Akimboni a homegrown, and Jeahze is still a massive question mark. This makes me both question are scouting team and reinforces the thought that this team is being built for short term success, putting a lot more pressure on the results this year.
Of course, signing new players is only half the puzzle in modern MLS. We could go the route of the Union instead and rely on a homegrown pipeline, but the numbers there aren’t particularly convincing the me. We’ve only had three players 21 and under with more than 90 minutes of MLS action this season. Two of them, Akimboni and Greene, probably wouldn’t even have 90 minutes of play if it wasn’t for injuries to the people ahead of them. KDP is the third one and seems to be the main youth player Rooney sees as ready for the first team, but injuries have taken him away from the team just when he could have tried to cement a place and now Dajome is making his case.
Bottom line for me is that I really want us to sign a prospect or two this summer instead of another aging veteran.
Luis Zamudio was also 24 when he was signed, but a third string goalie signed from USL probably doesn’t refute your argument.
There’s definitely a lot to be said for veteran leadership, and most of the signings have done well for us. But you’re right that we need to be looking at some younger players. However, Rooney and the team are in a “win now” mindset, so it might fall to our next coach to bring in the future of DC.
Another rebuild?
Sorry……
Even if Rooney were to stick around, the team’s going to be torn up in no more than 2 seasons. Klich, Benteke, Santos, Birnbaum, and Najar are all starters that are either on the wrong side of 30 or injury-prone. That’s not including anyone up for a contract in that time period. We may have a few youngsters to fill the roles now, but either we can bring some people to start filling in the slots soon or try to do the veteran stopgaps again when the time comes. Not that those are the only options, but it seems to be what we’re trying ..
Christian Benteke and Tyler Miller are All-Stars, both selected by Wayne Rooney. Miller is maybe a bit of a stretch, but gets the benefit of his coach doing the picking. And having Miller hoof the ball up to Benteke and scoring against Arsenal is something that I think we’ll all enjoy.
Hopefully nobody gets hurt.
Seems like reasonable choices. Miller is no slouch and Wayne is likely rewarding him for coachability. Benteke is certainly a worthy pick.
I suspect Rooney looked at the league pool of goalies and said “Right, who wants to play Sweeper Keeper?” He then turned to see Miller standing ahead of the rest. Most think Miller stepped forward to volunteer, but actually, that was just Miller already at the field’s halfway line. “Just like that,” Rooney nodded.
Thus, Tyler Miller’s place on the All-Star roster was secured.
People on Twitter are so funny complaining about Rooney coaching the All-Stars and I’m like who better than a Brit, a Man U legend at that, coaching against a Premier League side? Besides, it might be interesting to see the first head to head contest between Rooney and Arteta, because that may be something we might see more of in the future once Rooney makes his way to the PL, as we all suspect he will sooner rather than later.
Good grief, we are at home for Pete’s sake….
You’ve got to be impressed both with the sweep of Michele Kang’s vision for women’s soccer and her actions to implement it to date. Is there a more impressive soccer owner/investor anywhere in women’s or men’s soccer? Candidates, anyone?
The 51% ownership (Supporters/STH) of the Heart of Midlothian Football Club, including Women’s team!!!!
(sorry David, I had to stretch….)
It is a stretch as your example involves just one club supporting both the men’s and women’s teams (which is certainly praiseworthy). But are the resources equal? Salaries? Travel budgets?
Unknown, but doubtful at this time. Women’s SPL football is in its early stages of development.