Happy Monday, everyone. It was a very rainy Saturday, but that didn’t stop the Spirit from putting on a show! We start with the highlight of the weekend.
Recap: Washington Spirit use four goal first half to top Angel City, 4-2 (DP)
It was a wild 1st half, but the Spirit beat Angel City behind a barrage of goals in the 1st half after an early deficit.
Leonardo Campana! Inter Miami saved by unplanned super-sub (MLS)
DC United was thisclose to leaving Ft. Lauderdale with 1 point, but a Leonardo Campana goal in the 94th minute wins it for Miami.
Brazil to host 2027 Women’s World Cup (SSFC)
As was mentioned in the comments on Friday, Brazil was selected to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup. I’m already beginning my planning, and that includes picking Portuguese back up!
Takeaways from Loudoun’s Jekyll (Open Cup) and Hyde (USL) recent games (DP)
Ryan gives us a breakdown of some of Loudoun’s most recent matches. They beat Monterey Bay 3-0 over the weekend, and are set to take on LAFC in the U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday night.
Arsenal, Chelsea set for U.S. tour to face NWSL duo (ESPN)
This was a fun surprise. Arsenal and Chelsea Women are coming to DC this summer! They will play each other in a friendly in DC on August 19th, with Arsenal sticking around to also play the Spirit in a friendly. Chelsea will also play Gotham FC in a friendly. This should be a fun one!
Which MLS teams have the best chance of winning the U.S. Open Cup? (SBN)
I take a look at the MLS-affiliated teams that were still remaining in the Round of 32 and decide which teams had the best chance of winning it all. So far, a couple of my picks were right.
Pure Joy (The Player’s Tribune)
Manchester City Women’s Yui Hasegawa speaks on her life in England and her road to becoming a professional soccer player at an elite level.
The Atlantic Cup deserves better than relegation to Wednesdays (SBN)
For SB Nation, I opine that the Atlantic Cup deserves a lot better than being played on Wednesdays. MLS needs to do right by its oldest rivalry and put it on the same stage as the other rivalries that they like to hype up incessantly.
Man City win record fourth English title in a row as Foden scores twice (BBC)
Manchester City win the Premier League for the 4th time in a row, beating West Ham and holding off Arsenal to win the title by 2 points.
In the NWSL, more history was set over the weekend as Lynn Williams becomes the most prolific goalscorer in league history!
I knew this documentary was close to debuting, but learned last night that it’s debuting right here in DC! I got a free ticket for Tuesday’s screening at the E Street Cinema, so hopefully I see some of you there!
Om Arvind, 1999 – 2024 (Managing Madrid)
Finally, we end with some tragic news that we all feared was coming, as Managing Madrid’s Om Arvind was found dead after a widescale search for him commenced with him being reported missing last week. Om was a terrific soccer writer, and he represented the Real Madrid community well. We’re saddened by his loss and extend our condolences to his family.
Take care of yourselves and each other.
As a regular EPL watcher, I’ve lost a lot of passion since the whole Man City 115 FFP violations was announced what feels like a decade ago. If I’m not mistaken, fans still have to wait until the end of the 2024-2025 season to get any sort of decision.
It’s not the Man City players’ fault, but I hate how folks are expected to ignore the giant cloud looming over the whole “Four straight titles! No other team has managed this! What a remarkable run!” thing. Anyone else feel the same? Or different?
I feel differently, mainly because as you said it is not the players’ fault. Pep may be a complete *ss (I don’t know that he is, he just seems like he is) but no doubt he’s a exceptional coach and his teams/players play the game (IMO) at it’s finest version of the sport. The beautiful game, indeed. Man City executives may have committed violations, but Foden didn’t cheat his way into his best season, KDB, Walker, Rodri, Bernardo, Ake, perhaps weren’t at their very best but still found ways to play hero when needed. Julian Alvarez shouldered the team in Kevin’s absence. None of that was an achievement of the executives, it was purely the work of the actual team. Arsenal and Liverpool blinked against a team that has always played with resilience, a team that even in defeat still looked like the better team.
My only gripe is that this team, as a whole shouldn’t have been formed. The books were cooked so City was able to stockpile players and create absurd depth that no other team and compete with. All of the players you listed had great seasons (Foden in particular), but this team was created in a way that it doesn’t really matter if one player is or isn’t playing well because 2 or 3 others can simply slot in. It’s an embarrassment of riches that shouldn’t exist.
This is about right. Man City in all likelihood cheated and lied financially in order to dominate the transfer market for spending at a time when others didn’t have that ability, nor should they have had it. There was a period where every major talent and even former team captain was being signed. Whether or not they stopped by the time Pep got there is unclear, but they would never have been in a position to attract Pep with a rich foundation without these violations. They built quality at lightning speed, and that costs money that the rules said they couldn’t.
But they are not the only team (in the Premier league) much less in the world, who have an embarrassment of riches. Liverpool has the following forwards on hand: Nunez, Salah, Gakpo and Lucho Diaz. How is that not an embarrassment of riches? So much richness that Jurgen was willing to sit both Salah and Nunez at the same time. I get what you are saying but I don’t understand why people act like City is the only big team that does this. Is City really spending more money than Chelsea who paid 121 million euros for a transfer fee of a single player? Combined City paid around 85 euros in transfer fees for both Julian and Erling.
Liverpool is a fine example, more so good scouting in my opinion. Chelsea exploited a loophole, which has been closed, not outright cheated. City had the luxury to spend over 200 million for Grealish and Phillips without either seeing substantial playing time (Grealish did feature a fair amount last year, but hard to say he’s been a success there). That type of poor investment would set any other team back years. City is able to throw money at teams to acquire their best players and outbid any competitors without having to think about the ramifications of whether or not said players work out. I’m not arguing that other teams don’t spend money, but they at least do so legally and without having 115(!!!!!) FFP charges against them. Not to mention the financial backing of literally an entire nation.
The best I’ve heard is that congratulating Man City for 4 titles is the same as congratulating Lance Armstrong for 7 Tour de France wins. It’s impressive, but there is also a massive asterisk there.
I hope that the league votes in favor of a salary cap too. The EPL has gotten stale and boring. And now it’s just lopsided with one team playing by a different set of rules. I want to like it because it’s soccer but it’s just so predictable. Play for 9 months so the team that could spend the most money on depth wins because they have 3 guys to slot in if a starter goes down due to injury while the other teams have a drop in talent if a starter gets hurt.
That’s not a soccer competition. It’s a money spending pissing contest.
That’s what Scotland is for!
That description of the EPL is really the same as the description of every single European league. Parity is not something Pro-Rel does well at all as it usually winds up with 3-4 teams dominating each league and the rest as just feeders for those teams.
I think there was a DC United game this past weekend. Couldn’t watch it. I think they were playing some team from Miami who has monopolized league publicity because they have a famous player.
I was wondering if it rained much during that game and and how much that affected the game.
The fans willing to pay – say $500 a year – to support the team have been largely jettisoned and marginalized into a world devoid of DC United related info. Thank you Jason Levein and commisioner Garber.
Darth Garber
DW2, I am sorry for the loss of your fellow Real fan.
Rodman brace, Krueger & Sarr Buzzard Points sink Angel City 4-2. The tally to date:
Buzzard Points (home goals): Sarr (3); Bethune, Hatch (incl pk) & Rodman (2); Hershfelt, Krueger & Sullivan (pk)
Talones (home assists): Bethune (3); Rodman (2); Hatch, Krueger, McKeown & Sarr
Taloncitos (drew home pk): Bethune (2)
The new women’s team is apparently named DC Power FC.
Oof
Like, did an AI generate that?
I’m assuming they’re named for the power distribution station and artwork outside of Audi Field. The distribution lines for SW Washington run under the playing field, which is why the locker rooms in Audi are small and in a weird place.
Actually, the supposedly “abandoned” Buzzard Point PEPCO station, the “transmission” line running under the stadium, and the supposed “switching station” opposite the stadium are all a secret “anti-Galaxy machine” as well as an “Earthquakes suppressant..” You need to revisit Tales from Buzzard Point.
Power was chosen as DC is the seat of power. (WashPost)
Go, Washington Seats!
I wonder if they’ll eventually share the MLS Next Pro stadium with DC’s Baltimore team. That would make more sense than 4 tenants in Audi Field.
Also this name assumes somewhere there is an AC Power SC team in the league.
At least they’ll play direct soccer…..