USMNT Olympics group set, best NWSL stadiums, and more: Friday Freedom Kicks
Another Friday is here! I was hoping to have some news about the Washington USL Super League team to share with you all, as they teased recently that they would be making an announcement this week. That seems to have been rescheduled, though, and the Twitter page now says “Coming Soon.” So we will all just have to wait and content ourselves with the news that DID come out.
Players union threatens to take FIFA to court over Club World Cup calendar concerns (Pro Soccer Wire)
FIFPro and the World Leagues Association are concerned about calendar congestion and the impact on player health as the number of international tournaments increases.
Ranking every NWSL stadium from best to worst (ESPN)
I was a little surprised how well Audi Field ranks in this list (in the top half), but it takes game day atmosphere into account, which I agree is a big asset for the Spirit.
The U.S. Men’s Youth National Team finally has their full list of opponents for the group stage of the Olympics. Guinea beat Indonesia 1-0 in the AFC-CAF playoff to qualify.
Roundup: 2024 NWSL Collegiate Draft (Sportico)
Now that the season is about a third of the way through, Sportico examines how the NWSL draft picks are faring, from numbers signed per team and contract lengths to playing time. Their choice for most-impactful trade? Washington’s trade of Sam Staab for the third pick of the draft, which they used to select Croix Bethune.
Here’s an interesting CONCACAF rumor:
Briggs: Human remains and helicopters cloud Indianapolis’ MLS pursuit (Indianapolis Star)
HUMAN REMAINS
Nacho, Sergio Ramos, Marco Reus and more: Europe’s free agents who could land in MLS (The Athletic)
I’m not sure there are even solid rumors about most of these players (Olivier Giroud excepted), but it is fun to speculate. Tom Bogert identifies Paddy McNair as a player who could fit in well at D.C.
Finally, the schedule of games: only Loudoun United and D.C. Defenders are home this weekend. Have a good one!
| Teams | When | Where | Watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loudoun United FC vs. El Paso Locomotive FC | Fri., May 10 at 7 p.m. ET | Leesburg, VA | ESPN+ |
| Washington Spirit vs. Racing Louisville FC | Fri., May 10 at 8 p.m. ET | Louisville, KY | Amazon Prime |
| D.C. United vs. Atlanta United | Sat., May 11 at 7:30 p.m. ET | Atlanta, GA | Apple TV |
| Old Glory DC vs. Chicago Hounds | Sat., May 11 at 6 p.m. ET | Bridgeview, IL | MNMT |
| D.C. Defenders vs. Michigan Panthers | Sun., May 12 at 12 p.m. ET | Washington, DC | ESPN |
Man, CONCACAF teams playing away qualifiers… in Greenland?!?! Inconceivable.
I’ve often said that the US should play their home games in Barrow, AK. Time for Greenland to shove my words right in my face.
Hey, Turkey and Iceland were once matched up in Euro qualifying and they played in Iceland in sub-zero temps. I had a chance to see the second leg of the qualifier in Istanbul at the Besiktas stadium. Those Turkish fans smoke so much–there was a visible cloud of cigarette smoke above the stadium that night.
Audi Field is an excellent venue by any measure. It’s modern with modern amenities and modern crispness. The verticality of the stands also makes for an incredible in-game experience. The verticality means that every seat has a good view and the verticality also makes it loud. The location is incredible. How many cities have their major league stadiums near a Metro station in a downtown-adjacent neighborhood?
I think we did well for ourselves to get such a good permanent home for DC United and the Spirit.
Wait…when did we stop playing at Buzzard Point?
XD
I’ll second … even triple that, Ryan. But I also agree completely with Cavan’s assessment. Plus, as the Buzzard Point neighborhood develops more and more, there will be a myriad of restaurants , bars, and perhaps even more public transportation . Plus hundreds if not thousands of DCU and Spirit fans living within a few blocks walk.
As far as Paddy McNair goes, United can certainly stand to tighten up a bit on defense, but center back isn’t really our problem. McVey has been outstanding, Bartlett has been quite good, Birnbaum is back and signed through next year, and we have two promising youngsters in Akinmboni and Tubbs back there (and no lower division team to give them minutes). We also saw that Matti Peltola can do well in a three back system, and I bet that Aaron Herrera could do a good job in there as well. I would mostly see McNair as being an upgrade over Bartlett, but what United needs more than anything is to get a left back.
A lot of the goals that United gives up originate from that side of the field. Pedro Santos and Cristian Dajome give lively efforts, but those tend to pay off better on the offensive side of things. Conner Antley can maybe fill in, but he’s more of a right sided player. And of course, there’s Mohanad Jeahze. Bringing in a top player from Sweden and making him one of the highest paid left backs in MLS would have seemed to be the answer to that issue, but my god, it is not.
Our primary focus in the summer window should be moving Jeahze or buying him out, and bringing in a left back. Secondary focus should be getting a central attacker to facilitate the attack in a way that Gabriel Pirani just doesn’t.
I agree that we have other priorities, but this may signal a permanent shift to a back three, and Peltola should probably be used elsewhere, as solid as he was last game. A three back system’s bane is CB depth, so having a CB suggested is not outlandish
Imo, the bane of a three back system is not having good enough depth at WB/wide mid. They’re asked to do a ton of running in three back systems and you need to keep them fresh.
I’d have to imagine Jeahze doesn’t get along with the coaching staff or the rest of the team (or both) for him to get shadowrealmed this hard. Rodriguez has gotten minutes even if he’s not in Lesesne’s long-term plans. Having two expensive and absolute flops (between Jeahze and Morrison) over the last twoish years is pretty debilitating for our ability to field a good team. And there could be another one if Pirani doesn’t become a key contributor.
All of which makes me want to tear my hair out that Dave Kasper still hasn’t been fired. To have missed that hard and left our roster in such shambles, and apparently still hard up against the salary cap, I don’t get why you don’t just take the final step and show him the door. Yeah, he had some successes, and yeah, he’s been reassigned into irrelevance, but every other single person responsible for United’s dreadfulness (except the owners) was pink-slipped. Why not Kasper?!
And I don’t hang Pirani on him. Mackay made very clear that the decision to bring Pirani back on a permanent deal was his alone, and that Kasper found out in the papers. It’s been Mackay’s one big miss so far.
Sometimes I daydream that Rooney brought Johnny Evans over instead of Ravel. What an improvement that would have been.
I haven’t watched him much recently, but I agree that Paddy McNair would be a bit of a luxury signing. There are other holes we need to fill first even if we stick with a back three.
Loudoun not doing so well tonight in the mess at home. Locomotive El Paso scored in the 1st minute and have had the better of the play and as I type there is a 2nd goal for El Paso.
El Paso gets away with what should’ve been a pk with a handball in the box, but no VAR in USL Championship.
Loudoun pushing and creating some chances but leaving themselves open on the counter to giving up a 3rd here in the 2nd half. Several great saves so far from the El Paso goalie to keep Loudoun off the board.
El Paso withstanding the siege of their penalty area by Loudoun and definitely getting chances for a 3rd on the counter. So LUFC needs to watch it.
Lleget misses on the late break….damn it the attempt went high and wide.