Herrera makes Team of the Match Day, MLS All-Star game details, and more: Tuesday Freedom Kicks
Hello and happy Tuesday, everyone! Loathe as I am to admit it, it appears that March has brought us some real spring weather. I could smell blossoms on the trees on my walk home from work last night! What a delight.
Of course, today, we are expecting some common spring rain.
Chelsea and Australia star Sam Kerr pleads not guilty to racially aggravated harassment of a police officer and faces trial next year (Daily Mail)
It’s a bit early to judge, since we have next-to-no facts about what happened, but this is not a good look for Sam Kerr. Somewhat unrelatedly, it feels crazy to me, as an American, that you can be prosecuted for “using insulting, threatening or abusive words that caused alarm or distress” to a police officer in the UK. Like, that could cover a lot of innocuous speech!
MLS All-Star Game set to host best of Liga MX for third time (ESPN)
The game will take place on July 24 in Columbus, OH. ESPN notes this is the third All-Star game match-up between the two leagues in 4 years and says MLS also considered playing other leagues or the East-versus-West format. What do you all think: would you have preferred something else?
Trinity Rodman delivered a hat trick of chaotic good against Colombia (BTVC)
In praise of Trinity Rodman’s performance for the USWNT on Sunday evening. Truly, the reaction gifs are impeccable.
Younger, fresher D.C. United is already displaying plenty of resolve (Washington Post)
Two games in may seem a little early to review the team’s performance, but Steven Goff is feeling high on D.C. United’s season.
After all, for the second week in a row, a Black-and-Red player has made the Team of the Matchday. Aaron Herrera appears after goal assist this past weekend.
Former D.C. United player and Terp Donovan Pines also made a Team of the Week, having scored a goal for League One team Barnsley FC.
That’s all from me. Stay out of the rain and share your Kicks in the comments.
In case anyone wants the cliff notes for this week’s “Extra Time” podcast:
1) Miami is the best team in the league and are signing another really good player (stop asking about salary cap)
2) Galaxy are back(?)
3) Portland are good even though they blew a 2 goal lead at home
4) Teams are making more signings
This just highlights my disappointment in MLS’ team. Just when I think they will highlight how DC dominated Portland for most of the game and jumped on Portland when the timbers switched formations, they stick to a lazy and superficial analysis.
Doyle went on a mini rant saying something to the effect of “I don’t get why everyone wants Miami to be the villains this year. They are a fun team to watch. I guess that’s just what happens when you get good players together.”
For those who are hungry for better MLS podcasts I’d recommend the Total Soccer Show and Caught Offside. Both are more global shows but still find a way to have much better analysis.
“I don’t understand why a team that is allowed to operate as a mega-star’s private fiefdom outside of any rules concerning salary cap or parity of signing structure, which we give outsized, institutional regard and preference to, that makes every stadium a nightmare when they travel and shits on away season ticket holders, what is there not to LOVE?!?!”
Funny that Doyle is also meekly talking up DC as a competitive team (at least in his columns). I think he’ll abandon that and the rest will continue ignoring us after Messi & friends dump a few goals on us.
I would argue the villains should be fun to watch.
Gressel Mania!
Coming soon to a stadium near you….
Aaron Herrera is two (important) assists in two games.
Uh, yeah, bye, Ruan, you did your best!
I’ll admit, I knew Herrera was a good MLS level player for Montreal, but I didn’t realize he was objectively an upgrade over Ruan. Better dribbbler, better passer, better crosser, and so far a better defender. Nice bit of business by Mckay
We also just have more connectivity and understanding across the squad, but he’s been a bright spot. Ruan was a pacy weapon that we ended up building a lot of our attack around, but that made him less a defender and more an athletic winger- and his crosses were usually bad, regardless of position or space to execute. Herrera is doing it all, and providing some knifing service.
Herrera’s play with RSL got him a call up to the USMNT, before he switched to representing Guatemala. Julian Gressel gets all the attention, but Herrera is right up there in terms of crossing ability.
Ruan had six assists last year, which is pretty decent for a fullback. Herrera is a definite upgrade, but it’s not like Ruan was worthless for us.
I’m not claiming he was. But the difference between having to build a weird structure around Ruan to make him our only real width and the play we’re seeing from Herrera in a more holistic system where he’s looking extremely effective… it’s maybe not the most flattering comparison for Ruan and his efforts; but it’s accurate.
Speaking of building structures around fullbacks, there’s an MLSstats Twitter page that tracks something called Expected Threat (xT), which I think has something to do with offense generated by passing. Pedro Santos has been the top player each of the last two weeks. Against Portland, his xT was 1.71, almost a full point ahead of Herrera’s 0.74, which itself was good for 9th best in the league.
Again, I don’t have a great handle on what exactly xT is all about, but it was pretty clear that the idea going into this season was to generate opportunities from our fullbacks, and our fullbacks have been executing that game plan basically to perfection (except for Jeahze).
Now, Santos has also been largely responsible for most of the goals that we’ve allowed, but on the offensive side of things, he’s been stellar.
I mean, if you are caught up field as much as he is, and have little ability to run back and help….
I wonder if a slight tactical tweak ala what Arsenal do would help cover this. Rather than shooting both backs forward, leaving the CBs to cover all that space, swing the back line over to that weak side creating more of a 3-back. This of course would eliminate the possibility of Herrera’s overlap that created Flecther’s goal, but you need to have some give and take with a defensively-limited fullback.
I’m also fully aware that DC is, in fact, not Arsenal.
I meant to talk about this in the recap, but it dropped extremely late- by the middle of the second half of the Portland game, we were essentially playing a 3-1-1-5, and Herrera was still picking moments to bomb forward which made it even more top heavy. Thing is, Portland did nothing in the second half, basically giving into the sense that they would not attack but only defend their lead, which is both dumb to do tactically and baffling at home.
Santos might have looked good in the second half, but read the above again. This was a scenario where he was allowed to simply take up a position on the halfway line, and keep shuttling it forward without anyone running in behind. Kudos to us for getting the two goals, but this will never work long term.
I admit, it’s only been 2 games. But Goff is a good judge. He’s seen a lot of MLS. And he sees the team in practice and talks to players. And his observation mirrors what Mackay said in the offseason–about how we wanted a team of players who can run, press, and play for 90 minutes and so DCU needed to get younger and more athletic.
I second these observations. I’m very hopeful for this season.
As Garber’s Flamingos (Herons?) come to town…..
(I hope we make them miserable)
For The Athletic Tom Bogert and Jeff Reuter talk take aways from MLS week 2: https://theathletic.com/5314296/2024/03/04/mls-yedlin-paintsil-kansas-city-takeaways/
Hayden Sargis has been loaned to Las Vegas. I have a soft spot for the guy, and would like to see him get some time. But since we’re playing a back four, and McKey and Bartlett are off to a good start, and Birnbaum will be coming back and is the captain, and Matai Akinmboni is a strong prospect and Garrison Tubbs looks promising as well… there’s just not a lot of playing time available.
Hopefully he rocks it out in Las Vegas and can earn a spot for DC down the line.
That brings our roster size down to 26. Jeremy Garay might be getting a similar loan, and Mohanad Jeahze may not be long for the club either (perhaps also Martin Rodriguez?). The rebuild continues, and hopefully Mackay can find a way to work the cap.
What are everyone’s thoughts on Garay? He seemingly has been part of the team for a long time (since 2021) but just hasn’t broken into the team. We’ve seen guys come and go much faster, despite seeing more first team minutes-Greene comes to my mind.
Just curious if I’m the only one thinking if he’s MLS quality it would’ve shown already.
I give him no thoughts, except to think that he’s clearly not playable. Someone would have, otherwise.
I have absolutely no clue as to his level given how little he’s played for us (and I unfortunately haven’t watched Loudoun when he’s there). But DM or CM is probably the toughest position to play well, and we constantly have excellent guys there (Canouse, Peltola, Pálsson eventually). We’ve let go of guys who don’t fit the plans much earlier than him. It’s hard to say why he’s been here so long if there’s not some indication he can contribute eventually.
As far as All-Star games, I was told that there’s fixture congestion. Scrap it.
Power Rankings are out, and after the impressive performance in Portland, United… dropped four places.
It’s almost like power rankings are both subjective and without nuance!
(This is not a dig at you, only the power ranking system).
The description also says “D.C. looked dead and buried in Portland”. When did we look ‘dead and buried’ during that game? If we did, I don’t remember it. I mean, we were down 2-0 but the resolve and intensity of the team never wane.
Prior to the pk, DC bossed the game in every aspect except the scoreboard. Apparently no one at MLSsoccer.com stayed up to watch this game.
I agree completely. We outplayed Portland both statistically and by the eye test throughout the match. Eight shots on goal to three or four plus one off the post. Sixty percent possession. Eight corners to four.
Our expected goal count was 3.45. We were unlucky on the finish (and Portland’s goalie made our luck on a bunch of attempts).
MLS just doesn’t dig us, at most every level.
We haven’t been liked by the MLS Writer’s Bureau and Darth Garber for years.
While part of me thinks it’s a harsh drop, the wording of DCs blurb makes me think they’re basing the drop off of Bentekes injury more than the DC performance. Which is a legitimate reason to question DCs current strength imo. Without Benteke we have a lot less goal threat, not to mention his hold up play that helps tilt the field.
Looks like Pines scored again. He’s adjusting pretty well to Barnsley, it would seem, which is great to see!
I had an appointment with a chiropractor for the first time today. I mentioned that I liked DC United, and he said he had a friend that used to play for Portland but now is with San Jose. Turns out he’s good friends with Jeremy Ebobisse!
Wow…”Its a small world afterall”
Ali Krieger’s dad Ken Krieger has passed away.
https://www.insidenova.com/sports/ken-krieger-one-of-the-winningest-high-school-soccer-coaches-in-virginia-history-has-died/article_5d2ea990-87e0-11ee-b5a9-0b1d01593e49.html
What a rough year for Ali. Hope she’s alright
OMG. I played ball with him in the NVSL back in the day. Nice guy. This is very sad indeed. RIP Kenny.
Something I forgot to mention in my coverage of the US Men’s 7s at the LA tourney. Perry Baker, who passed up an NFL career when he was drafted by the Detroit Lions, became the 2nd place all time try scorer in the Men’s HSBC World 7s Series with his 280th try during the tournament this past weekend. Baker passed Kenyan Collins Injera who finished his career with 279 tries. He still trails Englishman Dan Norton who in a career spanning from 2009 to 2022 scored 358 tries.
I’d love to know how the hell Miami is under the salary cap?https://theathletic.com/5319332/2024/03/05/inter-miami-mota-rojas-transfer/
Think it’s pretty straightforward: They’re not playing by the same rules.
I appreciate how some teams like Seattle have been trying to combat this by voluntarily offering their roster designations to the media. A few other teams have done it as well. Great little jab at MLS and Miami by Lagerway, but I doubt the league cares. It’s the worst kept secret.
Darth Garber is very pleased.
It really makes me wonder quite a bit when Miami’s doing what they’re doing, and Cincinnati is signing Miles Robinson and DeAndre Yedlin, and United is entirely out of cap space. AND Dave Kasper somehow still was never fired.
I was looking at the club’s stat page on its website yesterday, and noticed that it had an entry for Ravel Morrison and Ethan Dobbelaere. It’s my understanding that Ravel was bought out last year, and that Dobbelaere was never offered a contract, but if I’m wrong on those counts, that might go some way to explaining our bad cap situation.
Darth Garber is very very pleased.
Now, feel the power of the Pink Side….
That will be just another example of just how badly the club does with maintaining website content. One of the long list of things that I think they do worse than any other club in MLS.
I don’t think the team ever bought out Morrison’s contract but he was signed through 2023 with an option for 2024. His contract is off the books by now.
https://www.dcunited.com/news/d-c-united-sign-former-derby-county-midfielder-ravel-morrison
I’m going to be interested to see the updated salary figures from the MLSPA whenever those come out. I can make sense of most of Miami’s roster:
Messi and Busquets are DPs and can get paid whatever they want
Campana is a Young DP, which is a lower cap hit (~$200k, I believe) and allows them to have 3 U22 players
Speaking of U22s, they have 4, but one is loaned out to relieve that problem. So they’re ok there, and each of these guys hits the roster at the same cap hit as a YDP.
Based on the story by the Athletic, the new guy theyre looking at could come in as a free agent, which would make more sense in that he could come in as a TAM or GAM player (or lower), since having no transfer fee would make him less likely to hit the roster as a DP.
That, however, leaves us with Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez. Based on the MLSPA salary guidelines from last year, Jordi Alba made $1M, or $1.2M guaranteed. That, however, was for only half the year. Generally with those situations, they’d get paid higher the next year. If they kept him at that value and he’s just a TAM player, ok. I think I remember seeing something that he was still in some way getting compensated by Barcelona, so maybe that plays into things here. Suarez though? Having Alba and Suarez BOTH as TAM level players or under is fishy to say the least. Maybe they took pay cuts to play with their friends one last time. But that’s a LOT of TAM to be thrown at players, before you even consider guys like Gressel that are assuredly using some as well.
I thought that some of the sanctions against Miami were still in place too, but it’s possible they ended last year.
They are on double-secret probation.
(A little know clause in the MLS Charter that passes unlimited power to Darth Garber.)
Sanctions? What sanctions?
The optics of Miami are certainly making people “skeptical.”
I have been very impressed with Peltola so far. He is very good defensively, especially at stepping in front of the layer to win the ball. He also seems to have a very high game IQ knowing where to position himself for the best outcome. His passing is miles ahead of Canouse. I know it is a small sample so far, but he seems like an excellent addition to the team.
It’s like we upgraded Lewis O’Brien.
Absolutely agreed. It’s rare to find a DM who can ball as well as he does, takes up excellent positions, and has both physicality and grace in the tackle. He’s also just sorta massive, so headers in the midfield are going to be improved.
It also allows us, maybe once Canouse is fit, to maybe let him be more of a shuttler, while Klich takes the AM role and Pirani becomes a sub.
Remember when Canouse was a right back?
Desperate times indeed.
Before you posted this, I genuinely thought to myself “I wonder if Canouse could play left back.” Probably not as effective as PS going forward, but surely he’d be better at defending, right?
For the love of the Buddha, there better be a freedom kicks tomorrow so we can talk about the USWNT competing in what is best described as a swimming match.
Agreed. But looks like USA defensively has figured out that the best thing is to just boot it over the sideline. Offensively, just boot it up the field. Never try to pass the ball on the ground.
Holy crap the field for tonight’s USWNT Gold Cup match in San Diego is absolutely soaked and the rain keeps coming. The ball is dying on passes. It was on exactly an under hit pass, given field conditions, from a defender to the goalie for Canada the US scored.
😮😮😮😮😮 there better be a freedom kick tomorrow, all I’m saying