D.C. United supporters’ protest, W Gold Cup begins, and more: Tuesday Freedom Kicks
Hello, everyone! Hope you all had a relaxing long weekend and can ease into the remainder of the week. Let’s get kicking!
D.C. United supporter’s groups plan protest after club’s partnership with Saudi Arabia (The Athletic)
District Ultras, Rose Room Collective, 202 Unique, Buzzard Point Social, and La Banda del Distrito will be protesting D.C. United’s financial partnership with and preseason training in Saudi Arabia at the first four games of this season. The groups released the following statement yesterday and have said they will not be doing any kind of organized activity for those matches.
Source: U.S. Open Cup gets go-ahead under proposed new format (ESPN)
Despite (or maybe because of?) the news that the subcommittee chairman had resigned yesterday, USSF voted for the Open Cup to go forward this year. Details about MLS’s participation have not been set, but it sounds like at least some teams will be participating in the Cup.
What to look for from the USWNT during the W Gold Cup (BTVC)
The USWNT’s first match of the first Concacaf W Gold Cup is tonight at 10:15 p.m. In this article, André speculates about what kinds of changes we can expect to see from the U.S. on their first big tournament since the World Cup. You can also find his summary of group stage game times here, if you want to catch one of the Spirit’s four players in the tournament.
Welcome to Five Stripe Final (Five Stripe Final)
We’re always down to support our fellow SBNation castaways as they strike out on their own. Five Stripe Final is the newest independent source of Atlanta United coverage.
Philadelphia’s Kai Wagner reinstated for first Union game of the season (AP News)
Wagner, who was disciplined for using a racial slur against a New England player, served 2 of the 3 games of his suspension but has been reinstated after participating in the league’s new “restorative practices” program. Feels a little weak to me.
Hopefully this gif of 2024 MLS jerseys side-by-side with the ones they’re replacing will work, but click through if not. I thought it was a really cool way to look at them and evaluate whether they’ve improved.
Have a good Tuesday!
On the Kai Wagner deal…it makes me wonder if Troy Lesesne (who was red carded in his last match in the playoffs with NYRB) will be suspended for the first game of the season? Or was he “restored” as well in some fashion?
And that’s a big step by the supporters groups.
I don’t think Lesesne will be (or should be) restored.
The only legal wiggle I could envision is that playoff cards do not translate into MLS regular season cards. I have no idea really….
I’m wondering if the strike by the PRO (and the use of replacement referees) is a factor here. As in…sloppiness. So if DCU doesn’t mention anything does the league office fail to check records and follow-up?
I had a bizarre dream that I woke up in DC United’s brain trust….
I introduced the concept of proactive transparency…..
Then I had a a Heineken….and could only speak in Dutch…..
Listen to this Boomer….lay off the hallucinogens, Dear Commentariat….
lol
https://twitter.com/SickosCommittee/status/1759940943069729055
The gif is nice. I’d say that the vast majority of the jerseys were either slight improvements on last year or stayed about the same. Not a lot of regression.
Some were much better. A bit more daring with the Adidas this time around….
Matt Doyle has released his “rankings by tier” column. Despite being oddly bullish on United, he places them in the lowest tier. I don’t think that’s unfair. It’s an almost complete rebuild, of not just the roster but also the coaching staff and GM. Nearly everything but the ownership. That all starts with tearing down before we build up.
Lesesne seems like a good man and a pretty decent coach (thanks, Keefer!). I think we’ll be happy with him. The coaching staff is a bit of a gamble, since they’re basically all USLers. Mackay has done a good job of clearing out a lot of the old roster, assembled under three other coaches. He’s brought in some intriguing talent, but most of them are young or just might not be that good. I feel like Mackay’s roster construction grade is incomplete until he either a) brings in two more U-22s or b) buys down Peltola and brings in another DP. If either of those things happen, it will likely be in summer time, so hopefully until then that youth gets some good playing time.
Our roster lacks a lot of top end talent. Christian Benteke is pretty good, but he’s dominant in a very specific way, and the rest of the roster is kind of stuck in being built around him. I think Klich, Peltola, and Pirani will make a solid midfield triangle that’s able to possess the ball pretty well, but I’m not sure how dangerous they’ll be creating an attack. It seems more like a platform with which to spray the ball out wide to Herrera and Jeahze, or to maybe squeeze a ball through to Ku-DiPietro or Fletcher.
Regardless, the team is kind of playing through the contracts of Benteke, Klich, Dajome, and Rodriguez. That’s about a combined $8 million coming off the books at the end of 2024 (or earlier if the club buys out one of them). That’s $8 million that can go to four new international players, including two open DP slots. The club can dramatically improve its top end talent there with the right acquisitions, and the youth and role players will have had this year to level up a bit under the tutelage of Lesesne, hopefully.
So yeah, this could be a long year. But it’s a building year. And as long as Levien doesn’t fire Lesesne or Mackay (and I don’t think he will unless they do something unrelated to soccer to bring it upon themselves), then that project can take root.
Your assessment, I feel, is spot on. I’d only add that we’re really gonna test some of the younger players to see how foundational (or expendable) they are. If we emerge from this year with Fletcher, Hopkins, Stubbs, and Akinmboni ready to be long term players or lucrative European transfers, that’s a win. It’s actually a little refreshing to have the lack of relegation help us to BUILD toward something rather than being a backstop to negligence. If you’ve ever said something to the effect of “let’s blood these kids,” prepare to mop this season, cuz the blooding is coming
I keep getting 2010 vibes. It sucked, but we got a lot of playing time for Kitchen, Hamid, and Najar. And then we made the playoffs in 2011!
(Okay, we didn’t, but 2012 was pretty good!)
And we have no chance of winning an Open Cup this year….
I just hope that they are competitive and fixated on giving 100% to the fans….
I was also thinking about the impact of a (likely not just Apple TV) nationally televised Miami vs DC in the daytime with a Supporter protest in the thick of it. There is little irony that Miami had as much to do with it, if not more, than DC did….
The latest rumor is that only 8 MLS teams are going to participate in the US Open Cup. Since United isn’t in any continental tournaments and doesn’t have an MLS Next team, I think it’s a pretty good bet that they’d be one of the 8. With 18 of the American MLS teams already out of the tournament, United might actually have a good chance at winning it!
Yes! I thought about that AFTER I read the article. Duh.
I would relish entering Open Cup with an eye fixated on victory.
Lesesne needs to prove that patience is warranted, but three seasons for a turnaround of this magnitude is to be expected.
2012…and Superstorm Sandy reversing the legs against NYRB…Najar’s red card in the home leg…and Nick De Leon coming through plus Joe Willis with the PK save after Hamid got sent off…that was a wild playoffs.
This first portion of the season is going to be brutal. Already short on MLS experience and suddenly two of our steadiest guys in the spine are out. Lesesne sounds like the kind of guy who can keep spirits up while the kids get shoved around for a while, at least. I do think (hope?) the team grows as we enter the warmer months. Playing against Columbus, Cincinnati and Philadelphia is going to suck.
I think Canouse is not ruled out, but is questionable for the opener. We shall see. I guess. Birnbaum is out for a few weeks, my guess being an arthroscopic cartilage clean up or similar procedure.
There hasn’t been an official injury report, but I think that Canouse is out.
Don’t forget to get your Fantasy Teams set up in MLS Fantasy. I’ve created an Open League for District Press that you can register for here: https://fantasy.mlssoccer.com/#classic/leagues/23976/join/C2SPKY72 . It will start in week 2. I’ve also created a head-to-head league that you can register for here: https://fantasy.mlssoccer.com/#classic/leagues/23978/join/HLLTDS9L . It also will start in week 2.
HSBC 7s Series is back in action this weekend with the Vancouver 7s followed by the LA 7s Mar 1-3. The Vancouver 7s will be played in BC Place. Both the Men’s and Women’s 7s Eagles are ready for action.
US Men’s Eagles XV have booked a rematch with Spain for this November. The US is currently ranked 17th in the world, but will not have another test match until this June. While Spain is ranked 19th and recently defeated both The Netherlands and Germany before falling to Georgia in the ongoing Rugby Europe Championship. The US dominated Spain this past November 42-12 to win a mini-tournament for tier 2 nations.
https://www.americasrugbynews.com/2024/02/19/spain-to-host-usa-in-november/
Here’s a look at all the stadiums for Major League Rugby regular season action for this 2024 season. Buried in the snippet on the Maryland Soccerplex is the news that OGDC ownership plan on building their own facility inside the Capital Beltway. Apparently more news will be released on that front later this year. I’ll be watching for it.
https://www.americasrugbynews.com/2024/02/20/stadiums-of-major-league-rugby-2024/
The Athletic Soccer Staff breaks down MLS ahead of the season starting tonight: https://theathletic.com/5289232/2024/02/21/mls-cup-mvp-standings-predictions/
As we roll up against Caleb Porter and NE Revolution to start the season, this is one hilarious thought:
It’s funny, and he will whine every time his team falls apart late in a game, but they’re still a better team at this moment than we are. Taking points from this game will be a good sign if we manage it.
To answer my own question from a few days ago, in case I missed an answer: no free MLS Season pass through T-Mobile this year. Messi needs to be paid properly.
Since Messi gets revenue sharing T-Mobile couldn’t get the bulk deal on the cheap this go around.