DC United loses, Vincent Kompany named Bayern coach, and more: Thursday Freedom Kicks
Happy Thursday, everyone. Hopefully you’re getting through the short week. DC United played last night, so we start there…
And it wasn’t pretty. DC United lose 4-2 on a night where Christian Benteke scored a brace, the team looked really bad on defense, Matti Peltola received 2 yellows before halftime, and Cristian Dájome also received a yellow which will cause him to miss the match on Saturday due to yellow card accumulation. Everyone better start stretching and warming up now…DC United will only have 14 outfield players available for that match this weekend.
Vincent Kompany named new FC Bayern head coach (Bayern Munich)
Vincent Kompany’s Burnley was relegated in their first season back in the Premier League. He will not be in the Championship, instead taking over Bayern Munich in a shock move. We’ll see how it works out for them.
District Press teams with Stimulus Athletic for new DC-themed apparel (DP)
ICYMI, we have launched a new apparel store, teaming with Stimulus for some real cool merch! You will absolutely want this for the summer and fall months to support our local teams, so click the link and order today!
25-man men’s Olympic training roster named ahead of June friendly against Japan (SSFC)
Former DC United homegrowns Kevin Paredes and Griffin Yow both make the Olympic roster for a June friendly against Japan. It’s not the final roster of players that will go to the Olympics, but it’s clear those two have a great shot at being on the 18-man roster that will head to France.
Hey Spirits: Squidward & John Madden (Spirit vs. Reign review, United Spirits II, and more) (DP)
A new Hey Spirits episode is out to recap the win against Seattle last weekend and the 7 Spirit players who are in USWNT camp!
Barcelona appoint Flick as new boss (BBC)
Hansi Flick will take over at Barcelona this season, replacing Xavi. He will have his work cut out for him.
SSFC Spotlight: Hal Hershfelt vaults into USWNT (SSFC)
Over at Stars & Stripes FC, Hal Hershfelt gets the laser focus as she enters the national team picture.
Sanchez recounts USWNT World Cup letdown: ‘I was told I wasn’t going to play’ (Pro Soccer Wire)
Former Spirit Ashley Sanchez was on The Women’s Game podcast speaking with Sam Mewis about her World Cup experience. It makes me mad all over again.
Inside the effort to bring promotion and relegation to American soccer (The Athletic)
It’s a deep dive on how USL is trying to bring promotion/relegation to America, and how they’ve found it super difficult to actually do what they said was easy. Stability isn’t there yet, and the system won’t begin until we have it within our soccer pyramid.
Amy Griffin speaks on excitement of U.S. Deaf Women’s National Team playing on historic stage (SSFC)
On my USA Soccercast, I speak with the head coach for the U.S. Deaf Women’s National Team, who are competing in a historic match on Saturday as part of a televised doubleheader with the USWNT. It’s a great interview, so highly encourage you all to check it out!
Enjoy the day!
Obviously a lot of things to talk about today, I will gently suggest a slight edit- Sam Mewis’ podcast is The Women’s Game, not the Woman’s Game. I normally wouldn’t call for an edit, but I really enjoy this podcast, and want people to be able to seek it out more easily
Yep, just a typo. Fixed!
Y’all, the squad is in danger. They need a break, and MLS isn’t giving it to them quite yet. There’s sometimes legitimacy in fielding a less experienced or weaker lineup to give key players a rest, but outside of starting Murrell for Benteke, I don’t think we have a single player we can do that for.
As bad as this last game was, this could get really ugly.
I’m frustrated at Lesesne after that game. No excuse to not use your bench until the 75th minute. I understand there’s hardly any depth, but as you said, sometimes you have to prioritize certain games. A midweek away game is less of a priority for me than an upcoming home match. Rotate the squad. DC realistically needs to bring in 3 fringe starters to compete for the rest of the season, and I’m not sure how feasible that is.
Addressing just the bring people in thing, I don’t know if we have sufficient cap space and clarity of scouting mind to do that in a summer. If we could get some temporary loans, awesome. Otherwise, as much as it would help prevent injuries, long term it could ruin the rebuild
Mackay needs to be figuring out how to move Martin Rodriguez, and then identifying two more U-22 players that can come in and help. Getting Rodriguez off the books should also leave enough cap room to bring in at least one more player, though it would likely be a depth signing.
I felt the same way about his negligence in subbing people off. I was certain that Stubbs would have come in the second half. But the coach for some reason preferred to have poor Dajome run around all over the field without consideration for the game on Saturday. Also, when Birbaum came back he said that he would ease Steve back into the team to make sure no setbacks occur, that resolution lasted two/three games, by the fourth Steve was playing the entire game. I hope there are no setbacks with him as we have no one else.
Sometimes, I don’t get coaches. You are already losing and you are on the road with a man disadvantage, take the loss and play your bench. You may not be content with Pirani’s lack of effectiveness but in his last two appearances before this one, he was responsible for creating chances in his limited minutes, that those did not become goals were not his fault. Meaning Pirani may not be the playmaker you are looking for but he’s not horrible either. You are already losing, giving Pirani or Rodriguez 40 minutes of play, wasn’t going to make that worst. The only hesitation I had was perhaps bringing in Kristian Fletcher, mainly because Kristian’s biggest problem is that he can be turnover machine.
The way this game unfolded wouldn’t have been so disappointing, had we not dropped points against a weak team like Chicago. But this is who we are. Feel bad for Benteke, you can start to feel his frustration.
I don’t know what happened from the start of the season to now, but this team is tough to watch as of late. DC started the season being well organized and tough to play against (decent results away to Cincy and Cbus to start the season). Now though? Awful defending, players chasing the ball and getting pulled out of position. Not to mention half the attack goes missing for long stretches (Ku and Stroud).
I don’t want to pile everything onto Lesesne, but he’s the coach. There’s no excuse for this team getting worse, at least by the eye test. On top of that, why is he not using his subs recently??? You’re down a man, away from home on short rest. USE YOUR DAMN BENCH. He prefers Hopkins in a hybrid midfielder/center back role rather than bringing in Tubbs? I’m honestly perplexed.
Three things- formation, tiredness, and lack of options. Although all stem from that last one.
It’s hard to press effectively from a 3-5-2. It’s better as a bunker and counter setup. Tiredness ensues from inefficient press. Why can’t he change much of either? Lack of options in the squad.
I don’t know how easily we could change formation at the moment- can’t add numbers to the midfield, we don’t have any. Not a ton of dynamic wingers. We’re getting a left back soon, yay, but man, bad roster right now despite a few effective acquisitions this offseason.
The only way we could fix the tiredness issue is to forfeit games and simply not play them, but the penalty is too steep.
The only thing way to fix the roster is to remake it in the offseason.
I’m uneasy about finishing composure in the system, but I don’t think Lesesne is doing any worse than these factors allow.
Agreed. A lot of my frustration is stemming from impatience, for sure. This roster needs to be turned over but that takes money and time, of course.
At the same time, I’m frustrated at Lesesnse for staying so dogmatic. Different, albeit better, teams have been able to press out of a 3-back system. If Lesesne has noticed it isn’t working then why not be flexible and adjust the playing style until you have personnel to fit?
I guess my question is, where is the line between “well Lesesne is a pressing coach and this roster isn’t setup for that, so it’s not his fault the team is playing bad.” And “Lesesne needs to figure out how to get this team playing well, or else”? Those are obviously two extreme sides of the argument, but hopefully you get what I’m trying to say.
I do, I just think the scenario has more problems than immediate answers due to extremely long term mismanagement. I don’t think we’ll really know the answer to that dynamic until we get another offseason. Based on the acquisitions of Bartlett, McVey, Antley, and Stroud, I think we’re heading in the right direction in terms of remaking the squad. That’s about all the silver lining.
Yeah, I’ve been wondering about that line too – and some things concern me with the way the last month or so has played out that I’d argue would be at least questions for the coaching staff:
I know, the roster isn’t great, and our depth is non-existent, but man, I feel like we’re making it harder on ourselves than it needs to be with what we’ve got.
I feel like there’s a big Pirani-sized hole that could potentially alleviate some issues. A central midfielder that could push the offense from the inside, playing further up than Klich, and who could also be a threat to shoot would keep defenses a bit more honest. And either he shoots and scores or causes a rebound, or he’s able to kick it out wide where Stroud and Dajome (or whomever) have a bit more time to aim it back in to Benteke as the defense is getting stretched again to react to the ball being out wide.
Klich has been really good running the offense and has racked up a good deal of assists (he’ll have another one if the stat nerds do end up recognizing secondary assists from last night), but he’s doing it from further back and mostly just kicking the ball out wide, or providing set piece service.
And Ku seems like he wants to dribble through everybody these days. Sort of like early Lucho syndrome. He can get past the first guy or two, but then the third or fourth defender strips him. And the ball is getting stuck under his feet, without giving him a good set up to shoot. I keep feeling like things will trend better, but it’s been awhile.
Ted might just be struggling with form due to his recent injury, and could really use a purple patch.
Hopefully he benefits from the break between Saturday and our next game. Get his head right, get his legs fully back under him. I hope that’s all it is.
Pirani is a problem, and one of the reasons we’re doubling down on CB’s instead of adding numbers forward in terms of formation
Yeah, it would be nice if Pirani was able to impact the game. Or if we were able to get more than a token few minutes out of him at all. But he hasn’t really dazzled in the few minutes he’s been out there recently. Not a lot of good options.
I’d like to see Hopkins being played in that advanced role, with Peltola/Klich in the double pivot behind him. It’s not the most tactically advanced setup, but it’s tried and true and would give the team a solid midfield base.
Your last line is speaking to me. DC is making it harder for themselves, while also NOT making it hard for the opposition. It’s covering and frustrating to watch.
In the lead up to United’s second goal, there was a flash of recognition, like, “Oh! This is how the team was playing during the first part of the season!” Intensity and overloading the right side, pressing, and then service in for Benteke to finish off. It lasted about five minutes, and then Peltola got his second yellow.
I think Lesesne has done a great job in motivating some of the team and shaping them in his image. The main problem, imo, is that he’s working from too small of a group. Most of that blame can be laid at the feet of Kasper/Rooney, but good managers learn to use what they’ve got so I agree that he needs to change the system up somewhat.
Mainly, Peltola isn’t really working as a CB at this level and Pirani/Rodriguez don’t really fit a pressing system. I think a switch to a 4-3-3 would suit the personnel he has better. The lack of a LB was probably why he’s been going with the three in the back, but it’s just been leaving us exposed without a true DM in front of them (Hopkins has been doing good, but he’s still more of an AM at this point).
If it was me, then I’d be trying Stroud out either as RB (with Herrera moved to the left) or at LB. KDP could probably fill Stroud’s role on the right with some coaching.
Lastly, the Jeahze situation really hamstrung us and I really hope it was because he was a super negative presence and not just a poor fit.
I don’t pay the closest attention to the women’s game, but it is baffling that you would name someone to your World Cup roster, and then just make up your mind before the tournament that you’re not going to play them. I don’t think you even do that for a backup goalie. It can happen that during the course of a tournament, a player might not get minutes, but usually the schedule is so compact and the play is so intense that you need contributions from everyone on the squad.
Just baffling, and really unfair to Sanchez.
The stat nerds at MLSsoccer.com are seemingly back to not giving secondary assists. Very weird.
A perfect storm of being punished for an undersized roster. Very untimely cards, unfortunate injuries, have exposed what we all noted on day 1: thin bench. I don’t want to roast MacKay, but a couple Olsonesque-Era utility chaps were missing from our overall roster at the onset. Hang on for dear life until the transfer window, and recall our loaned out players pronto.
My assumption, without any proof, is that Garay/Rodriquez/Jeahze/Graham Jones were meant to be the utility type players when MacKay was building the roster. But none of them have really worked out so far, for various reasons. If two of those four are at least competing for minutes off the bench then we are in better shape.
This is also probably true. If Lesesne doesn’t have use for a player, he has no problem NOT playing that player.
Maybe to the detriment of the rest of his players? How long can you have Dajome run around all over the field without injury or exhaustion?
Mackay’s biggest job was clearing out players from the previous regime. He did that quite well. Should we have held on to one or two (like picked up Jacob Greene’s option, or something)? Maybe. Seemingly, despite shedding all these players and not really adding much in the way of big salaries (Herrera is on $700,000+, but nobody else was particularly pricey. Lucas Bartlett is an absolute steal.), we were still hard up against the cap and not really able to add anybody else.
[my scheduled rant on this level of roster mismanagement not being enough to put Dave Kasper out on the high road.]
So, we have cleared out most of the dead wood now, and the rest should basically be gone by the end of this year. And then they can start adding.
At the start of this year, I was expecting very bad things from this roster. Then we started pretty well, and Christian Benteke has been in full beast-mode all year. Absent that, we’re starting to see that yes indeed, very bad things are possible. The goal was always next year.
Apparently Jerami Grant just bought an ownership stake in the club. I don’t follow basketball, so I have no idea who he is. He was born in Portland, plays for the Blazers, but apparently went to DaMatha High School (alma mater of Bill Hamid), and I guess that’s the connection to DC. It’s nice for some capital infusion, but this means about as much to me as when Christian Laettner was an owner.
Jerami Grant’s a good player. He’s bounced around the league, but is from here. He comes from a family basketball players. His dad, Harvey Grant, played for the Bullets/Wizards on 2 occasions, his uncle is Horace Grant (was on the Bulls teams with Jordan), and his brothers Jerai and Jerian also have played basketball in the pros. Nice investment for him, and you got more local star power in the owner’s box.
Horace Grant. Memorable player. That is the era when the NBA was at its greatest, stopped watching when that generation retired.
Part of me wonders if DC’s recent slump is partially due to other teams having figured out our system. It seems to me like Herrera and Stroud, while still doing well, haven’t had as much luck in the last few games and the other teams seem to have been able to prevent them from getting involved as much. And with Dajome having to defend more, that means we don’t have as much going forward. Benteke can do a lot on his own, but he still needs some help.
They know if they can stop our right side then we can’t really attack down the middle or the left.
A few observations.
First, as I indicated before they seem to get torched in a 3 back system. It leaves too much space on the wings since our wingbacks tend to be far forward. The team looks better with 4 back regardless of personnel.
Next, the team is wearing out from all the pressing. I know Lesesne values pressing, but when you have limited personnel you have to be more flexible. Dajome gave up a goal just because he was exhausted and could not make the cross difficult. The Herrera Stroud combination looked bright early, but now just looks tired.
Not subbing until the end of the game was ridiculous.
Peltola was clearly better at defensive midfield. I’m not sure why the coach did not get the message. I know he wants to play Hopkins there but Hopkins is below average at the position. He isn’t great at winning the ball and does not position himself well. He is good at being aggressive, but that also has it limitations.
Scoring two goals should put you in a position to win the game.
Finally, why did they loan out a defender? He is not the greatest, but could fulfill a roll with all the injuries.
Lesesne has a lot to think about. Plowing ahead will not work. He needs to rethink the starting players, the formation, and pressing frequency. They proved they can play a different style in Miami.
In terms of loaning out a defender, they’ve loaned out two CBs. The first was Hayden Sargis, and he was last on the depth chart. USL might be his level, but he’s still young and I have a soft spot for him (and recall that DC paid a transfer fee for him!), but he’s never seemed close to breaking in to regular playing time, and I don’t think Troy Lesesne has him in his plans. His contract ends after this season, and I’d be pretty surprised to see him back.
The other CB loaned out was Matai Akinmboni. It was kind of an open question over who would get playing time at CB at the beginning of the season, especially with Birnbaum out injured. Akinmboni is a 17 year old with very high upside. He’s been pretty consistently called the top prospect in our system, Wayne Rooney thought enough of him to sign him as a 15 year old, and clubs from Spain were putting in offers. He needs playing time somewhere. Lucas Bartlett and Christopher McVey came in and were very good to start the season, and also until recently had played every minute. Then Birnbaum came back, Garrison Tubbs overcame his injury, and Peltola was starting to get minutes on the backline. Akinmboni wasn’t getting the minutes in DC, so he got loaned to Loudoun.
Well, now McVey is injured and Peltola got red carded, so the CB depth got a lot scarcer. I suspect Akinmboni will likely be recalled from Loudoun, but we’ll see.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40247573/fifpro-pfa-club-world-cup-players-strike