Casey Stoney fired, MLS attendance up again, and more: Tuesday Freedom Kicks
Happy Tuesday! I made a strategic error by going out for a nice dinner and ice cream yesterday and am now extremely grouchy that I still have four days of work left in the week. At least I have a Washington Spirit press conference and some more international soccer to look forward to today! Now, let’s get kicking.
First up: our weekly local player nominations! I gotta put in a plug for you all to vote Rodman, but that Reillyn Turner goal is kind of blowing mind. How did it stay on target?
Loudoun United’s Abdellatif Aboukoura also scored a banger this weekend that is up for goal of the week:
The 7 young standouts who shone in Week 16 in the USL Championship (USL Championship)
Aboukoura was also featured in this week’s Young Player Spotlight.
Major League Soccer on track for another season of record-breaking attendance (MLS)
Total attendance is up 13% compared with this time last year.
San Diego Wave sacks head coach Casey Stoney in surprise move (Pro Soccer Wire)
This was THE big NWSL story yesterday. Stoney had recently signed a contract through 2027 and led San Diego to win the Shield last season. They’ve been struggling on attack this season but are defensively strong and hovering just outside of the playoff cutoff, so it’s a bit odd to end her tenure with half a season to go.
Lucy Rushton resigns as Bay FC General Manager (Bay FC)
D.C. United alumna Lucy Rushton ALSO announced a job change yesterday. Coincidence? Probably, but we’ll see.
Italy stun Croatia with late goal to advance at Euro ’24 (ESPN)
I tried to watch this game between work calls yesterday but somehow missed both goals. Sounds like a real heartbreaker for Modric and Croatia.
France, racial politics and why ‘the Mbappe effect’ is shaping a bitter election (The Athletic $)
A brief history of the intersection of race, extremist politics, and the French Men’s National Team.
There’s just one mid-week game from our local teams, but you’re getting a whole table anyway.
| Teams | When | Where | Watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMV Elite vs. Virginia Dream | Wed., June 26 at 7 p.m. ET | Bladensburg, MD | – |
That’s all from me. Have a good week!
Heartbreaker for Croatia?
What about Scotland?
I was thinking of the last-minute equalizer in yesterda’s game, but after their 5-1 loss in the first match, I probably wasn’t paying enough attention to Scotland.
Scotland just didn’t do enough going forward
But Scotland has Irn Bru!
Not even 7 minutes in to the first matches of the day, and own goal has scored their 7th tally of the tournament. I wonder why no one wants them in the transfer market?
Own Goal is the player of the tournament so far at Euros 2024.
I blame Kasper for letting him slip away….
DCU’s defense has been porous enough that other teams haven’t really needed him.
The Rugby 7s pools have been confirmed for Paris 2024: https://www.world.rugby/news/938141/rugby-sevens-pools-unveiled-for-olympic-games-paris-2024
For the US Men (#9 in the world after and stayed up in HSBC 7s by beating Samoa 40-19 in the Pro/Rel between HSBC 7s and Challenger 7s tourney final round) find themselves in Pool C with Fiji (#6), France (#3), and Uruguay (who finished top of Challenger 7s and won promotion to HSBC 7s by beating Chile 12-10 in the Pro/Rel between HSBC 7s and Challenger 7s tourney final round).
For the US Women (#4) they too find themselves in Pool C with France (#3), Japan (#9 and managed to stay up in HSBC 7s by beating Argentina 26-12 in the Pro/Rel between HSBC 7s and Challenger 7s tourney final round), and Brazil (who are not in the Core/top 12 of the HSBC 7s nor the next 12 of the Challenger 7s).
Hmm….I wonder what the story is on Rushton. That will be fascinating to see. Her comments make it sound like she doesn’t have something else lined up. So either she was pushed. Or she decided this was a bad fit.
And Annie? It’s never a “strategic error” to get ice cream.
I had too much fun on a Monday and tricked my brain into thinking it was the weekend!
Morgan isn’t on the plane for Paris. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5593017/2024/06/26/uswnt-olympics-roster-2024?source=user-shared-article
Fully agree with all the choices, save Albert, but that’s more a values thing, she’s a very gifted player who can play the formation.
A shame Lily won’t go, but there are a few factors that made it unlikely.
Also, congrats to all the Spirit players, both on the roster and in the alternates list! Croix is going places
Hayes intimated that Yohannes wasn’t ready to commit to the USWNT yet. Which, at her age, is probably the right decision.
Yeah, that was one of the factors I was assuming
I congratulate Alex Morgan for achievements with the USWNT and even her effort to make this squad. I hope this is not terribly disappointing to her, as she can certainly take pride in her body of work.
This team is well sorted out and has the flexibility required for the thin rosters at the Olympics. Bonne chance!
The team has officially recalled Hayden Sargis and Goff has suggested that they’ll be recalling Jeremy Garay. Given the farcical number of players available, this was the only correct choice.
It’s okay for them to not be in your future plans. Giving them some minutes in one game in the middle of this year doesn’t obligate you to bring them back next season. But I’ll be happy to see them both get some minutes. I like those bottom of the roster guys. We paid a transfer fee for Sargis! Only Steve Birnbaum and Russell Canouse have been on the roster for a longer continuous time than Jeremy Garay! The team hasn’t allowed a goal when Sargis is on the field! Garay can make sure that Antonio Bustamante remains the only homegrown player that never saw the field for the senior side!
Basically, I have mentally written this game off already, and hopefully this can help give a little bit of relief and avoid injuries due to overuse to any players on the roster.
Tom Bogert is doing a rundown of every team’s needs and approaches at the summer window on his YouTube channel.
For DC, he basically confirms that their cap situation is atrocious and gives them basically no more room to operate. He says that in the past they tried some short term solutions, which came at a long term cost. Which this current front office is trying to dig out from. He says they need to trust the long-term rebuilding process right now, and avoid those short term solutions (reeeeeeeeeeally curious what Badji’s contract is like). They need to look for long term building blocks, and chances to be opportunistic, but he doesn’t expect them to do much. They can get more wiggle room if they can move other players out (similar to David Schnegg coming in because they bought out Mohanad Jeahze). So, Mackay needs to really be offering Colo Colo a sweetheart deal on Martin Rodriguez.
It’s a bit deflating, but strikes me as pretty realistic. This is largely who we are. We should get a little bit healthier. McVey should be back. Schnegg could be a real upgrade at LB. The youngsters should still be getting opportunities to get minutes, and hopefully some of them will start really making the most of those opportunities. And at the end of the year, we should be adding another pretty high draft pick.
This all is very much in line with the evidence of our eyes, so in some ways, it’s a relief
He just hit Portland, and he mentioned that Eryk Williamson isn’t really playing all that much. Hmm. Could a trade happen to bring back the former DC academy product? I’m not sure if they’d have the resources or if Williamson would want to come back, but it just made my ears perk up.
I would be shocked if we convinced Williamson to come back to the organization, new regime or not
I don’t think it’s likely, but it at least seemed somewhat in the land of remotely plausible.
These days, it’s nice to dwell in dreams.
Not to wish anyone ill, but Croix Bethune’s best chance to make the Olympic 18 is to replace the oft-injured Rose Lavelle.
I’m sure that played majorly into their thinking with two midfielders and no defenders in the group
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40432401/why-mls-playing-copa-america-2024-messi-suarez
I love watching Vinotinto best sad Mexico
How about that goalie saving the penalty! If only DC could get someone like him!