NWSL releases new kits, USWNT stutter in Gold Cup, and more: Wednesday Freedom Kicks
Welcome to the last Wednesday of February! I find myself waist-deep in work and some other of life’s attentions, so I’ll spare you all of any particular anecdotes and dive right into the kicks!
State of the (District) Press (The DP): If you aren’t yet aware, The District Press has celebrated its 1st birthday, and Sarah has had a few words to say on the matter. Thank you all for your support!
Washington Spirit unveil two new kits, and a brand new color (The DP): The Spirit’s age of yellow and black is upon us. The full rebrand is expected next year.
I welcome folks’ positive opinions on this, because I’m still lamenting the departure of blue and red, and my poor decision to not get the 2020 kit when I had the chance.
NWSL new kits 2024: Tracking all of the looks (Pro Soccer Wire): The Spirit aren’t the only team in the league with a new look this year. In fact, the entire league decided it was time for an entire kit makeover.
USWNT boss after rare Mexico defeat: No ‘easy games’ anymore (ESPN): The USWNT are moving on to the quarterfinals in the Gold Cup after the 2-0 defeat to Mexico. While I will always want the red-white-and-blue to win any and all matches, I always hope that losses like this are a sign of the rest of the world rising up to the USWNT tier and not the other way around.
Power Rankings: FC Dallas, Portland Timbers soar after MLS is Back (MLS): With a new season of MLS here at last, the return of arbitrary rankings is ready for scrutiny!
From the rumor mill: there was some confusion as to the status of Mohanad Jeahze after he did not appear on the gameday roster for the season premier. Perhaps he may be on his way out?
NASCAR saw one of the most exciting finishes it has ever seen, straight out of the Cars movie. See the last lap below:
At a winning interval of 0.003 seconds, this is the third closest finish in NASCAR history, behind a pair of 0.002 second finishes.
That’s all this morning. Get kicking in the comments!
Still pulling for Argentina to be one of third place teams to advance. 1 win- 1draw-1 loss, 4 points, -2 goal differential.
Jeahze had a lot of success at Hammarby, so them wanting to have him back makes sense. United is looking to clear a lot of cap room while also turning over the roster to folks that Mackay and Lesesne want, so them wanting Jeahze gone makes a lot of sense.
I still had some really high hopes for Jeahze because he never really got a chance to show what he could do last year before getting hurt and then some legal troubles in Sweden. We had two left backs contribute assists to Benteke against New England, and it seemed like his ability to play into the box was going to be instrumental to the team’s approach this year. But perhaps Lesesne isn’t liking what he’s seeing in practice, or maybe Jeahze never quite fully recovered. Either way, letting him go is fine.
That said…
Mackay is going to need to put those freed up resources to use right away. Pedro Santos and Conner Antley filled in well on the offensive side of things from the left back role, but Santos had some pretty poor giveaways and nearly caused a penalty. Antley had plenty of hustle and looked fine in his minutes, but the USL-to-MLS pipeline tends to miss more than it hits. Check out the minutes that Hayden Sargis and Gaoussou Samake have gotten for this team. Samake, actually, is back in the USL.
Even if Antley is a totally fine left back… then who is the backup for Aaron Herrera? Longtime fans may remember when our fullback depth on both sides was basically just Chris Korb. Moving Jeahze would be fine, but the team needs to be ready to bolster its flanks in a hurry.
We won’t miss him.
Well, that’s too bad that Jeahze apparently didn’t work out. But it’s wise to move on quickly rather than continue to invest a roster spot, money, and a foreign player slot on a player who either isn’t a fit or the coach doesn’t favor. Note: this does open up some international options for bringing in talent. Also, I’m not so quick to discount Antley just because he’s coming from the USL. Using Sargis and Samake as examples don’t work here–Samake was from LU and the best option we had on the cheap (meaning–not investing serious scouting or player acquisition money). Lesnesne has a good background in USL and I bet he’s had to coach against Antley. It’s only half a game we’ve seen him play. But Antley has better credentials from USL than I think any other USL talent we’ve ever signed.
We literally signed the all-time leading USL scorer for us, once. He played 3 minutes in MLS.
Personally not a fan of the black and highlighter yellow look, but maybe it’ll grow on me. Hopefully the rebrand makes it all come together, but I kind of doubt it.
Yeah, it’s a pretty ugly shade in my opinion. As far as rebrands go, I think they could conceivably improve on the badge, but I’m not sure if they can do better than the Spirit as a name. The NWSL has mostly avoided the Geography FC team name construction, and I’m really hoping that DC isn’t going to embrace that.
Ben Olsen continues to do well with the Dynamo. His team was down 2-1 in the Concacaf Champion’s Cup after playing the first leg in St. Louis, but then won 1-0 at home and advanced on away goals. Advancing in knockout rounds of any format was always kind of a bugaboo of his time here (especially after 2013), so it’s good to see him put that in his rearview.
He and the Dynamo face a really stern test in Columbus next, though.
OGDC games that aren’t nationally televised will be televised on Monumental Sports Network and of course stream for free on The Rugby Network with a free account.
https://monumentalsports.com/2024/02/monumental-sports-network-to-broadcast-slate-of-old-glory-dc-games-during-2024-season/
Regarding USWNT. It’s not just “the world is catching up.” It’s worse. The world doesn’t fear us one iota. They see opportunity. This team is not accelerating and hasn’t for a long time.
I call it “payback, with fondest karma regards, from Bangkok.”
Yup they’ve been sitting on their laurels for too long. Being knocked out by Sweden in 2016 should’ve been a wakeup call. It appears that wakeup call wasn’t heeded in the almost 8 years since.
I’m gonna push back on this “laurels” and complacency narrative a bit. The squad that got narrowly, millimeter margins edged by Sweden was plenty motivated, was extremely hard working, it just wasn’t effective. It’s true that the women’s game isn’t entirely eclipsed by athleticism anymore, and the US has to adapt. But to not give any credit to the rest of the world for what they can bring to the table, but couldn’t because of funding, support and development… this whole business of the USWNT becoming lesser because they’re not shooting fish in a barrel anymore, I find it generally pretty toxic. We should celebrate that there could be a potential regional rivalry growing, Mexico should NOT be a layup if the women’s game is strong. The US women’s dominance was built on inequality and some patriarchal bias in the competition. We’re seeing those two elements breaking down a bit. That’s a better future than one in which the US trounces Mexico every time.
I think talent-wise, the US has fine individual talent. But as a team we’ve relied on intimidation and then quick breaks. Our ability to deal with a team with good possession has been an issue. Our ability to break down a low block has been an issue. And a game plan on “how to beat the US” seems to have developed. High-pressure and our backline (especially if Girma isn’t there and with the retirement of Ertz) can’t handle it. And/or flood the midfield with bodies, forcing the US to pull one of its frontline attackers back. And suddenly the US frontline is starved for service.
During the recent WWC final, someone tweeted Julie Foudy about the Spanish women saying that the US women didn’t have that kind of possession and positional play and Foudy tweeted back that the US women have NEVER played like that. And that’s true. I’m not sure the USWNT can continue to play a 433 against the top 8-10 teams in the world anymore.
The US Men’s Eagles XVs are set to participate in the Pacific Nations Cup (PNC) for the first time since 2019 as will the Canadian Men’s XVs. They join PNC regulars Fiji, Somoa, Tonga, and Japan. The US is in Pool B with Canada and Japan. The bottom team from each group will play in the 5th place playoff game. While the top 2 from each group will be in the semifinal round. The US hosts Canada in LA on 8/31 then travels to play Japan in Saitama on 9/7. The playoff matches will all be played in Japan.
https://www.americasrugbynews.com/2024/02/27/pacific-nations-cup-dates-and-locations-confirmed/