Inter Miami win season opener, more U.S. Open Cup updates, and more: Thursday Freedom Kicks
Happy Thursday, everyone. The MLS season opened last night and the W Gold Cup was in full effect, so let’s catch you up on everything:
WATCH: Messi & Suárez lead Inter Miami to season-opening win (MLS)
Inter Miami wins 2-0 over Real Salt Lake in the MLS season opener. Both teams will be back in action over the weekend as the rest of the league has their debut.
As MLS-U.S. Soccer Open Cup saga rumbles on, USL president ‘disappointed’ in leadership (Yahoo!)
The MLS’ desire to rid itself of the U.S. Open Cup is so bad, they even eliminated it from the 2024 season kickoff graphic. The Open Cup was on thin ice, with even USL teams debating on whether to proceed with it if MLS pulls most or all of its teams out. However, the USL has decided to have all of its eligible teams participate.
Over at the W Gold Cup, Colombia torched Panama in their opening match, while Brazil needed a late goal to edge Puerto Rico.
MLS Debut Patches: What to know about new trading cards program (MLS)
This is a pretty cool thing. Any player who makes their debut in 2024 will get a patch on their jersey, which will then be turned into a Topps trading card.
Messi faces Argentina choice in summer (ESPN)
Lionel Messi may have to decide between Copa América or the Olympics this summer, as Tata Martino doesn’t want him gone for 2 months (understandably). I expect the league to push Messi towards Copa América so he doesn’t miss out on Leagues Cup.
German football league drops plan to sell Bundesliga stake after fan protests (The Guardian)
German football fans protested, and the league dropped its plans to sell a stake in the Bundesliga. Bravo, Bundesliga fans.
Bayern Munich: Thomas Tuchel to leave at end of season (BBC)
Thomas Tuchel will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season. He has a lot of work to do if he wants to end it with a chance at a trophy.
Sergino Dest questions decision to host Copa America in United States (The Athletic)
Sergiño Dest thinks that Copa América should be played in South America, not the United States. I agree with him…mainly cuz I wanna go back to South America.
Old Trafford redevelopment: Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants ‘national stadium in the north’ (BBC)
Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to renovate Old Trafford to make it England’s northern national stadium. It still gets quite a few England matches, but it will be interesting for it to battle Wembley to get more games.
Enjoy the day, everyone.
I really think the Olympics should go straight U23 on both the men’s and women’s side at this point.
Agreed. Especially since the best women’s players are all now in professional leagues. They don’t need the Olympics to provide them with half of their “pay” for the year.
Spot on with U23
The team met with the supporters group and apparently it did not go well at all.
https://x.com/dreyesceron/status/1760504578406072467?s=20
This does nothing to dispel the sense that the Saudi trip was really a chance to put the club on display for new investors and maybe even owners
I assumed that was the unspoken idea, investment and/or ownership.
I don’t know if it is productive to outright reject an outreach by the Saudi ambassador, but it wasn’t my call to make. I certainly can understand the sentiment behind the “no way” involved, which go way beyond simple optics.
In my limited experience, embassy initiatives can be informative and even fun at times. I did a visit to the Qatar embassy (reception then dinner) for the Meridian Ball back in the day, and it was a pleasant, generous and informative. Didn’t impact my disbelief about having a World Cup there, or my head-slap when Leonsis climbed into bed with them, but the dialogue was a nice first step for me. (I have not returned)
It will be interesting to see the “Saudi Bowl” between DC United and Inter Miami and the impact of the protest(s) on the programming. Take a bite of that apple (+).
So, we only have 27 (out of a possible 30) players on our roster. Four of those are goalkeepers. Seven have never played a minute in MLS (and another only has 16). Four of them are 33 or older.
Gonna be a long one, and I hope Mackay is making some big summer plans.
Planning on stirring his haggis with a wooden spoon, methinks…..
This franchise has been so rudderless, it’s hard to be optimistic, but I do get the sense that our new GM and coach are not in the excuses department.
I like some of the players he’s brought in. I think Herrera is a good player, I think Stroud will be a good addition. I’m not sure what to expect from Lucas Bartlett on the field, but he seems like he’s a very good locker room guy. Peltola might be something. Pirani (not Mackay’s guy, but Mackay’s decision to make his loan permanent). The vast majority of his signings have been on pretty low wages, too. Herrera and Peltola are the exceptions, but even Peltola is likely low for a DP.
There was talk about what a mess the roster was, and how DC was a top 5 or 6 side in terms of spending. There’s a lot of money locked up in a team that doesn’t make the playoffs. Mackay has to clean all that out. He’s definitely done a really good job of cleaning things up, shipping out 13 players. I would have thought he’d have some more wiggle room to do some more building up, but apparently he’s still up against it. There’s a ton of contracts expiring at the end of this season too, if he doesn’t move them before then.
I definitely think he’s building something. I’m just anxious to see a few more players of real quality get signed.
Oh I certainly agree that he is building something, and also agree that there was/is a lot of cleaning to do. I do not envy him for the cards he was dealt, and I have no real criticism for his moves so far. He wasn’t stuck in a hole, he was stuck in a collapsed mine.
The DC United website does not have Conner Antley or Matti Peltola listed on its team roster page, by the by.
I would never trust an MLS website to have any roster information up-to-date. I would also never trust DC to get anything done quickly, for what that’s worth.
They haven’t updated the injury report since December and I don’t see an updated disciplinary report either.
Correct. I was looking at the LAFC website yesterday and they were still listing both Acosta and Chiellini on their list of players though I understand Kellyn is now in Chicago and Chiellini is retired.
Maybe Acosta is planning on playing for both clubs as a way of doubling his salary (I kid, I kid).
Well, I will say that Neverkusen, I meant Leverkusen, was simply superior to Bayern at all facets of the game when they played. The DC Bayern Club just had no other option but beer to raise the level of cheer. When they dropped to Bochum, we all knew Tuchel was going to be dismissed. Leverkusen is having a tremendous season, and I would recommend catching a game or two (espn+).
While watching the RSL/Miami game last night, a thought occurred to me. Clearly, Miami has received a large influx of new “fans” thanks to Messi and his friends. I genuinely wonder after Messi and Co. all retire or leave, how many of those new “fans” will actually stick around and continue to support Miami. I’d imagine at least some will, especially people in south Florida that may have not known of the team before Messi coming, but there will obviously be a big drop off.
In that same line of thinking, I wonder if DC experienced a similar (albeit on a much smaller scale) phenomenon with Rooney. He had a following of his own, and I’d imagine that his tenure here inevitably resulted in some new DC fans, even after he left. I’d be curious to see how many, if any, DC fans are currently fans because they watched Rooney here
I think the Miami fans will stick to a decent capacity. It is a city with a nice latin/carib/euro vibe all mixed together and it seems that they don’t hesitate to exploit that strength with music and a festive atmosphere. I think apple had a good production going and I enjoyed the game. RSL did show better in the second half, and we should watch the films.
The Rooney effect was great while it lasted, the but the franchise squandered that good will methinks. It’s been rough.
The key for Miami to keeping more of the new fans (which, let’s be real, are there for Messi) is to keep putting out a good product. Once he and his friends leave, if Miami goes straight to the basement, all but a few are jumping ship back to whatever they were doing before. Our ownership messed up the attention Rooney got us, maybe twice, and I think they’re done reaching for the moon.
Miami has been pretty dedicated to having some big megastars (Gonzalo Higuain, for instance). And megastars are going to be inclined to live in Miami. Once Messi, Suarez, Busquets, and Alba leave, they’ll be looking to bring in somebody else. Will it be the level of those four, even without Messi? Probably not Messi, but it’s something that they’re going to be dedicated to.
Steve Birnbaum remains captain, says Lesesne. Benteke, Canouse, and Santos are vice-captains (next year, Teddy!).
ESPNFC ranks the new MLS Jerseys this season and place DCU’s new home kit at #10.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/39563280/mls-jersey-power-rankings-2024-style-icons
Tough but fair.
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.
Is Apple enforcing the game must start at 7:30 this year still? Or is the game time fake like it was in the years before 2023.