Canouse out indefinitely, USWNT’s Albert apologizes, and more: Friday Freedom Kicks
Happy Friday! After a few days of rain and chilly weather, it looks like we’re heading into a nice weekend. Perfect for a pair of home games at Audi Field (and the one-year-old’s birthday party I will be attending tomorrow afternoon).
D.C. United’s Russell Canouse sidelined indefinitely with health issue (Washington Post)
Lesesne said the health concern was “noninjury related.” Here’s hoping it’s nothing serious and that he recovers soon!
Rapinoe offers biting response amid Albert social media controversy (Pro Soccer Wire)
This story has been the talk of the WoSo internet since Wednesday night, when a twitter user shared some videos that USWNT newbie Korbin Albert had reposted, featuring some homophobic and transphobic beliefs. Fans then resurfaced an Instagram post Albert liked a few months ago mocking Megan Rapinoe’s injury in her final match. The 20-year-old has posted an apology, but it will be interesting to see how this develops.
D.C. United Extend Partnership with iHeartMedia Washington D.C. to Deliver Local Radio Broadcast for the Rest of the Club’s 2024 MLS Season (D.C. United)
Club legend Dave Johnson is back! Listen on 1190 iHeart Sports DC, 104.7 FM, 101.1 HD2 and the iHeartRadio App.
USL Introduces Young Player Sporting Initiative (USL Soccer)
I thought this was an interesting rule change. Teams can increase their gameday rosters to 20 if two players were signed on U18 or Academy contracts.
SSFC Spotlight: Kristian Fletcher making progress with D.C. United (Stars and Stripes FC)
An overview of Kristian Fletcher’s career so far and how it was impacted by his brief stint in Wales.
FC Cincinnati sign midfielder Yamil Asad (MLS)
Asad’s contract is for one year, with an option for 2025.
Finally, our schedule for the weekend. There’s no Loudoun United game, but the D.C. Defenders season is starting, so I’m adding them to the chart.
| Teams | When | Where | Watch |
| D.C. United vs. CF Montréal | Sat., Mar. 30 at 6 p.m. ET | Washington, DC | Apple TV |
| Washington Spirit vs. Utah Royals | Sun., Mar. 31 at 1 p.m. ET | Washington, DC | NWSL+, MNMT |
| Old Glory DC vs. Anthem RC | Sat., Mar. 30 at 6 p.m. ET | Charlotte, NC | MNMT |
| D.C. Defenders vs. San Antonio Brahmas | Sun., Mar. 31 at 12 p.m. ET | San Antonio, TX | ESPN |
Have a good weekend, everyone!
Huh. My initial take on the Korbin Albert thing is, maybe she’s done? No doubt she’s quite talented to get looks in central midfield when we’ve played a 3-4-3, and that’s a nuanced and difficult role.
All that said, I don’t know how much grace this particular type of prejudice has in this group of women, and it’s not like she’s indispensable. Heck, Press and Heath are now a power couple in the podcast world, there are former and current queer icons to list, and there will likely be more out queer players coming in, not less. How she navigates that personally is one thing, how apt this group is to accept her going forward is another.
Ultimately, this might be in Emma Hayes’ hands to decide, but it’s a bit of a hot grenade.
PS- the apology strikes me as truly weak sauce, you need to fully go into the “I was wrong, both in my intentions and standing theory on queer culture” territory. This to my mind falls far short. This isn’t Horan apologizing for some comments about fans to get through an issue, this is attempting to make amends with players whose personhood and humanity she has, at best, made light of. Hoo boy.
Hot grenade, indeed. (So well phrased)
Yet, it’s not like Rapinoe has ever avoided a china shop.
I hope that the spirit of Good Friday brings accountability and forgiveness, and that Easter demands rebirth for this situation.
I look forward to our Saturday together. Let them eat poutine….
I’m quite concerned about the vagueness of the Canouse news.
Will have to be patient and not speculate, but I was really looking forward to him coming back into this squad, and hope it’s still a possibility- he’s not even 30 yet
For sure. It’s his health, and his right to share or not share as much as he’d like, but it certainly leaves things open to a wide range of speculation. But basically, we just hope that Russell is okay and gets past whatever needs to be gotten past.
I’m also concerned. It’s definitely personal enough where he doesn’t want it out in the public. I’m optimistic that he’ll be back with the group at some point later in this long season. From a squad point of view, it makes our non-existent depth at DM even more serious of an issue to address. Any free agents we could kick the tires on (it really seems like Garay isn’t in the teams plans).
I think it is universal that we wish him well and respect his privacy. I hope he feels our support.
I was a little surprised that Asad wasn’t resigned by us for this season. He’s not great, but he offers cover for a variety of positions and, at least last year, was affordable. My only guess is that Garay was seen by Mackay as being able to fill his role.
Speaking of free agents, Kei Kamara was just signed by LAFC. I don’t actually think he would have been a great fit for DC – especially given Lesesnes pressing demands – but can you imagine sending crosses into the box in the 90th minute with both him and Benteke?
I always kind of hoped that Kei Kamara would end up here, allowing us to have fielded the trifecta of MLS Kamaras (Kei, Ola, and Alhaji). I think that ship has definitively sailed, but also imagine Jacob Murrell getting to learn from both Benteke and Kamara?
Murrell, I am bullish on him. (Hoya bias)
I watched the highlights of the Cincinnati game yesterday, and was salivating over how he struck the ball. He’s still learning the speed and nuance of the MLS game, but he’s not afraid to take his chances when they come.
BTW, the Apple TV coverage of DCU-Montreal is free this weekend. I think this will be a fascinating match. If there is every “irresistible force meets immoveable object” it’s these two systems. Montreal is coached to own the ball and move it around, hit channels. Our guys are coached to take it away, disrupt patterns, dictate where the other side passes the ball, and take it away and transition in to attack quickly. Both sides can’t play well this match–something’s got to give.
And that’s a bummer about Albert and her comments–just downright stupid of her. I tend to think that athletes and other people in the social eye are best off never posting on social media. I’m recalling Arriola’s posts when he was “young and stupid.”
That is really bad news to me about Canouse. No timeframe and not injury-related. I won’t speculate–it could be a wide range of things. But it’s not “1-2 weeks” kind of response. It increases the need to add some more depth to the team. We are so dependent on Klich–he’s a fine player but also just in terms of our ability to replace him–not good. And Klich is effectively our D-mid when Peltola is out and is replacing Canouse when Peltola is on the field.
We definitely need at least two players to give us some semblance of depth. Ideally a fullback and a CDM, but if Jeahze can get out of the doghouse then we could squeak by with a single central midfielder. Not being able to fill out a bench is not a good look and I also wonder how having less players available affect team practices. It seems like it would pretty severely limit the types of drill you can run.
Curses why do OGDC and DCU have to be on at the same time. Now I’ll have to watch 2 screens at once.