D.C. United wins first preseason match, Griffin Yow can’t stop scoring, and more: Wednesday Freedom Kicks
Happy last day of January! Yesterday, Annie stated that January can feel like the longest month of the year. Personally, that “feeling” for me actually is awarded to the shortest month of the year. Winter goes as such: Daylight Savings Time ends, yielding darker and darker days, but with the joy of the holiday season among us. January sees the new year begin and folks really settle into the season, with the added excitement of snow (typically) entering the scene for some winter magic. Then February hits… the darkness, while slowly getting shorter, persists. Seasonal depression kicks in. Memories of miserable summer days have long since past, leaving one longing for the warmth as day after day requires donning the winter coat, gloves, and hat. What once was magical snow now piles about as dirty mounds of mud and ice. February may only last 28 days (29 this year – an extra day of misery), but that’s four weeks separating us from March. While there may still be cold and snow, March promises the end of winter is in sight. Daylight Savings Time returns the sun to us in the evening. Warm weather (you know, the kind we saw last week in January) peckers the forecast. Rumors of cherry blossoms abound as daffodils herald in a new season.
So yes, for me, February is truly the longest month. See me again in August when I complain about the never-ending heat and humidity. To the kicks!
D.C. United 6 – 0 Sudan: D.C. United’s preseason really kicked off yesterday, reminding me of one shining star of February – the MLS season is nearly upon us! Sure, a lot of goals were scored, and the Trialist family returned for their annual appearance in the preseason, but I have my eyes on those gorgeous sponsor-less cherry blossom kits. My credit card is ready, D.C. United… any time now….
Hear what new head coach Troy Lesesne has to say about the win:
Griffin Yow bagged two goals in the first 19 minutes of yesterday’s match, seeing Westerlo beat out Cercle Brugge. I still struggle to think how Yow is not on loan, but actually no longer a United player. In any case, he makes us at the District Press proud!
Which Eastern Conference teams can break into the 2024 playoffs? (MLS): Early predictions for 2024 include a strong Eastern Conference, which some think may present a challenge to D.C. United’s playoff hopes. As the season hasn’t even started yet, and the agony of last season fading into the past, I will dig out my optimism from the closet until I am ever forced to throw it away again.
That’s all for this morning. Brief as it may be, you can add some substance in the comments below!
I had doubts whether Yow would hit his current level without a high top speed- quick feet, but not pacy per se. It seems he’s found his way, and I’m happy for him.
Agreed. He could always hit the ball well, but it looks like he figured out or was taught some other game changing aspects to his game (timing looks better). I hope he keeps it up too. He looked driven the last match I was able to watch. Change of scenery helped. Age helps to get that mindset of self progression ironed in too.
Not for nothing, but I believe DC has s 35% sell on as well
Paul Arriola was very high on him, fwiw.
It’s true that he wasn’t the athlete that Paredes was, but Yow always seemed to be one of those players that just made things happen when he has the ball. Takes a lot of risks and doesn’t hesitate, which can lead to some good chances but Losada seemed to always prefer more conservative wingers.
I think it was the athleticism Losada valued. However, if Yow can get himself closer to goal, and doesn’t have to pass to himself past opponents and blaze, I have no doubt he’s a valuable attacking piece.
Gio Reyna agreed on the loan to Nottingham Forrest: https://theathletic.com/5222444/2024/01/31/gio-reyna-usmnt-transfer-nottingham-forest/
Not the move I wanted for him, he absolutely has to do well now in this stint at a club that has been pretty chaotic. Hope the best for him.
His parents have booked a flight to Sherwood….
Matt Doyle posted an update to his depth chart article, but it doesn’t really say anything new about DC that most here don’t know. That said, he’s still convinced that we have Dobbelaere on the books. I think that’s him in the background of the video of the Lesesne interview around 32 seconds running up to celebrate.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/where-mls-eastern-conference-depth-charts-rosters-stand-for-2024
When DC United released their list of player numbers the other day, Dobbelaere wasn’t on it.
Quite a poetic intro! What I can say about the eastern teams is, with so many managerial changes this off-season, the standings will probably be pretty chaotic, and the football probably pretty sloppy.
Or if not chaotic, at least a lot of “what the heck? That’s not what I expected them to do!” when seeing opposing teams.
You brood despondency today, KHess, but I share your sentiments. I grow weary of the slog of winter. The lowlight of the recent thaw was Mr. Fox footprints on my deck with fur in the mix. The circle of life, indeed.
I love outdoor activities and long daylight.
I’ve been scientifically convinced for decades that February is the longest month!
It is a month of misery and despair
So much February slander! It’s a great month! Black history month, variable length (quirky!), birth month for many important people (Washington, Lincoln, me), all your friends are finally done with Dry January and willing to leave their houses again, etc.
It’s also the birth month for my wife, and even she hates February (she’s a Spring gal). If I have no one on my side but her, I’ll still feel vindicated. 😉
It’s the birth month of my wife as well. Your call about January being the worst month was right.
I seem to recall Ben Olsen saying that Yow was a superb finisher in practice. A combination of composure in front of goal, good positioning, good first touch on goal–all factors. And it seems like it’s just taken some seasoning and acclimation to the pros for him to bring that from the practice field to actual games.
I’m happy to see the butt-kicking from the first pre-season match. I think the games against Saudi sides will be tougher–they’re in mid-season form and we’re just starting. But we did this without Benteke on the field. Good stuff.
As for this season–too soon to tell. I’m not prepared to say Lesesne is a miracle worker. But he’s probably a much better fit than Rooney. He’s likely to have a clear system and consistent approach in mind. He has a good field for MLS and knows the players here better than Rooney. And given Rooney’s performance in his last two jobs (us and Birmingham City), I think he’s (gulp) a better coach.
I think the problem with projecting how teams will do at this point is that people project based on where the team was last year and how they did. Based on that, of course we won’t make the playoffs. But much of our team has turned over, we’ve got a new coach who might be a huge difference maker. As Doyle pointed out last year in his review of DCU, we should have been much better than we were, we under performed. So I think (don’t know, just think) we’re headed in the right direction with Mackay and Lesesne and the focus on youth. We’ll see.
Rooney the player, awesome. Rooney the coach…..not remotely so…..
There’s also the fact that, as much of a hassle as Benteke was for opponents, he could’ve had 20 goals if not for missing some sitters (or near-sitters). He and the other forwards could see an increase in scoring opportunities if Lesesne can successfully implement his more aggressive approach.
I don’t know about the sitters observation. I will say, we didn’t help him get in a rhythm very often last season- there were literally games we put all the chips on Ruan crossing expertly. With a better system around him, and more targets for Klich to find with long balls, I think he’ll do better.
Goff and Tom Bogert are reporting that United is getting Christopher McVey from Miami. He’s a Swedish center back with an American passport. He’s 6’4″, which means we are going to have a TALL back line. I believe that Steve Birnbaum (and Hayden Sargis) is the shortest center back on the roster at 6’1″.
I don’t know a lot about McVey. I think he is talented enough to have a chance to be the other starter next to Birnbaum, but Lesesne may want to give Tubbs or Akinmboni more of a run.
We are giving up an international slot, and some allocation money. I always have dreams for what we can get with those international slots (we have two U-22 slots to fill!), and I had been saying that by my count, that was our last international slot. It could be wrong; fischy had noted Benteke didn’t have an international designation on his roster page, but that’s not really definitive. I think he would be the player next in line to get a green card though.
We’re, like, really close to season kickoff. We need to hit the road with the roster. I, for one, am a huge believer in CB depth- professional teams that only have starters and tempt the injury gods strike me as mental.
With McVey, I think we at least have the numbers at center back.
Birnbaum
Bartlett
Tubbs
McVey
Akinmboni
Sargis
And Peltola could fit back in there with some ease. For a four back system, that’s enough center backs. In a three back, we might want some more, but there’s also been some talk about Herrera playing a Najar role in a back three.
So the numbers are there, but we might want some greater talent. Hopefully Tubbs and Akinmboni and maybe even Sargis see some growth.
Where we’re really lacking is fullback depth. We have Jeahze, Santos, and maybe Dajome on the left, and Herrera and maybe Stroud on the right. Graham Jones is an academy player that’s traveled to Saudi Arabia, and likely played yesterday. There’s a pretty good chance we sign him, but he’s 18, and it took Jacob Greene about three years to even get a chance in an MLS game when he was signed as a homegrown fullback at a similar age.
This group is REALLY lacking in experience, especially if Birnbaum gets hurt. McVey and Bartlett are at least in their prime years, and Herrera is a very good player even if he’s not ordinarily a CB. I guess at some point we had to go younger though.
With their acquisitions (and who they’ve let walk), I’ve been seeing Mackay and Lesesne as building towards 2025 at the earliest. There’s a lot of promising youngsters that will be getting a lot of playing time this year, and be one year closer to their prime next season, with all the game experience and teamwork that they’ve developed this season. Benteke and Klich will finish out their contracts this year, and then you can supplement this talented young core with some really standout, in-their-prime DPs at whatever positions need it in 2025. You could probably even buy down Peltola and get a third DP as well. That’s also why I want them to max out their U-22 signings this year, to make that talented core as big as possible.
This season kind of reminds me of 2010 in that regard. It could be pretty messy on the field, but you’ve got guys like Najar and Hamid and Kitchen that are able to level up.
Doyle seems to think that Strouds best spot is RWB so he may be the starter there if Herrera moves inside. I think Dajome is decent as a WB. His main weakness is final product but he hustles and is fast at least.
We’ve got a decently deep roster, if a little raw in some spots. If the youth can deliver then it will be a decent year.
I don’t necessarily mind Herrera as a Najar-style CB, but I think he’s likely better as a RB. He’s especially renowned for his crossing ability, and when you’ve got Benteke up front, you’d think you’d want someone who’s good at serving in crosses from out wide (and I think we have that in Jeahze on the left). Our midfield seems mostly like it can possess and maybe get the ball up to a playmaker like Ku-DiPietro or Fletcher, but that most of our game is going to be crosses from Herrera, Jeahze and Rodriguez, and trying to find all of our gargantuan center backs on set pieces.
If Herrera is part of a center back trio… well, maybe Stroud can be a RWB, but I sort of see him fitting in there like Durkin. And we don’t have anybody else that’s a right back on the roster. Maybe they sign Graham Jones to play there, but that’s not very much in the way of depth. To me, that’s our weakest spot right now.
To me, this says we’re going with a 3-man backline (and Herrera is part of that group). I think the starters are Birnbaum, McVey, and Herrera.
Also, the last goal scorer (the trialist) is from Clemson: Brandon Parrish.
As a DC fan that lives in the frozen tundra of Wisconsin, you have to embrace the cold. Skate on the frozen pond with a fire pit on the side with friends, hike in the snow. I grew up in the DC area but have grown to love the cold dark north. I now hate the heat more than anything…the summer here…chef’s kiss
I think my feelings toward a season adapt to the location I live. When I was in Michigan, I had no issues with the 30+ consecutive days below freezing, and 90 degrees was sinful. My wife, however, took issue with the glossed-with-ice trees in April and made sure the next winter was back in the DC area. Now, I’m more accustomed to the heat, but I find my tolerance for lengthy cold spells has diminished.