New D.C. United owner, USL Super League schedule, and more: Friday Freedom Kicks
Happy Friday!! Can you believe we’re already here?
NBA player Jaremi Grant joins D.C. United ownership group (D.C. United)
Grant currently plays for the Portland Trail Blazers but has ties to the region. I find this to be an interesting addition particularly in the context of the related DC Power FC just announcing three celebrity members of their ownership group. Is there a push by D.C. to bring in more big names for some reason?
USL Super League unveils fall schedule of inaugural season and league competition structure (USL Super League)
Speaking of the Super League, their full schedule was released yesterday. Each team will play seven games at home and seven away. DC Power’s schedule is below, and it appears that their first two home matches will both be on weekends that also feature D.C. United and Spirit games at Audi Field.
U.S. Under-19 Men’s National Team heads to South America for final training camp before 2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship (US Soccer)
The group includes D.C. United players Matai Akinmboni and Kristian Fletcher.
“Pedal to the Metal”: Trinity Rodman embraces new era with Emma Hayes (The Guardian)
Rodman talked to The Guardian about recovering from the US’s World Cup loss and getting to work with Emma Hayes, plus coaching changes at Washington this year.
With Copa América near, Gregg Berhalter keeps focus on 2026 World Cup (Washington Post)
In addition to talking about how the Copa America will help the USMNT prepare for the next World Cup (building confidence, playing physical matches), Berhalter talked a bit about repairing his relationship with Gio Reyna and players who could also make the Olympics squad.
Now, just a nicely-made graphic showing how many minutes each of this year’s NWSL draft picks have played in their teams’ first 10 matches. The Spirit rookies got a lot of minutes, but I don’t think anyone’s competing with Utah in this chart.
Finally, your calendar of events for the weekend. With the Spirit on an international break, I am looking forward to a weekend of getting to relax and just be a fan. I hope the rest of you have some things to look forward to as well.
| Teams | When | Where | Watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| FC Frederick vs. VB City FC | Fri., May 31 at 7 p.m. ET | Washington, DC | – |
| Loudoun United FC vs. FC Tulsa | Sat., June 1 at 6:45 p.m. ET | Leesburg, VA | ESPN+ |
| Old Glory DC vs. Anthem RC | Sat., June 1 at 7 p.m. ET | Boyds, MD | MNMT |
| Annapolis Blues vs. DMV Elite | Sat., June 1 at 7 p.m. ET | Annapolis, MD | – |
| Grove Soccer United vs. Alexandria Reds | Sat., June 1 at 7 p.m. ET | Richmond, VA | – |
| D.C. United vs. Toronto FC | Sat., June 1 at 7:30 p.m. ET | Washington, DC | Apple TV |
| D.C. Defenders vs. Arlington Renegades | Sun., June 2 at 12 p.m. ET | Washington, DC | ABC |
| VB City FC vs. Alexandria Rough Diamonds | Sun., June 2 at 7 p.m. ET | Norfolk, VA | – |
FIFA players union look to potentially strike over schedule congestion https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40247573/fifpro-pfa-club-world-cup-players-strike
Hope the players succeed in this, the Club World Cup would be a player killer
The Club World Cup is solely a money grab by FIFA and should just be boycotted. They were super mad that UEFA was getting rich of the Champions League and decided to get in on the game.
Congrats to Kristian and Matai. Hopefully they can have some good showings.
Has anyone seen or heard anything about fixing the turf? Sunday is the Defender’s last home game, and they are out of the playoff race. Since we don’t have another home game until Wed, June 19 it seems like a good time to relay the pitch. At least, that was part of the agreement with the football team in past years, I don’t know if the new UFL version made any changes to that part of the rental.
I was at a “Chalk Talk” before the last home match, and the DCU rep said the turf would be replaced after the Defenders’ season.
I got there late, and apparently missed some comments about the salary cap. I still can’t understand how its possible that the team is that hard up to find cap space. Cutting Jeahze obviously frees up space for a solid signing over the summer, but how is that letting go of Williams, Hines-Ike, Najar, Robertha, Morrison and Ruan didn’t free up considerable space? Stroud and McVey didn’t come cheap, but are much cheaper than Williams and Hines-Ike, Herrera may be costlier than Ruan, at most that eats up the savings for Stroud and McVey. Pirani is making over DP level money, but barely. Not much more than Robertha. Even with his transfer fee… it seems to me that Morrison’s money should’ve opened up space. It’s a mystery to me.
That said, al lot of money is being wasted. Rodriguez’s wage is the biggest problem. Birnbaum’s wage is far too high for his level at this point. MIller is making 3-4 times what a back-up goalie should get. Pirani isn’t worth what he’s being paid. Even at the time, it seemed a bad idea, a decision made because the team didn’t know where else to find a midfielder. I’d love to see him sent back to Brazil. And then there’s the Canouse question. This off-season, the front office has to be a lot smarter, and ruthless where needed.
I don’t know what on earth to make of the new USL league for women, and whether I can support the DC team in any meaningful way.
Money. Money is the reason. It’s also why they’re D1 and not D2, because they can charge more for franchises.
DC had a second team because DC United was trying to get cute with Loudon County as the contract for Segra said at least a D2 team has to play there and now things have changed and the team cannot back out. The DCU front office has had nothing but bad luck on timing when it comes to business.
Yeah, I feel like the shift that MLS imposed on getting rid of USL clubs in favor of MLSNext really caused more disruption than the team will acknowledge. Like you said, the timing was not great for that type of change. At some point the Baltimore thing might come together, but that seems to be turning into a rather long process.
Yeah, I get it’s a weird investment thing, but the players on the field aren’t at fault. So, pretty conflicted. Part of me hopes this whole venture collapses, as short term cruel as that would be for the women.