Rodri injures ACL, Gotham FC go to the White House, and more: Tuesday Freedom Kicks
Happy Tuesday, everyone! It’s officially fall, and I am looking forward to the activities! I’m talking wearing scarves to soccer matches, watching spooky movies, baking with apples. Did I take things too far by watching a scary movie alone while babysitting last night? Of course. Luckily I had Freedom Kicks to distract me.
Rodri could miss rest of season after serious knee injury against Arsenal (The Guardian)
ACL injuries are just the worst, and this one feels ironic, coming just days after Rodri discussed the possibility of a player strike over schedule congestion.
‘Everyone watches women’s sports’ – Biden honors Gotham FC at White House (Pro Soccer Wire)
I think it’s very cool that the NWSL champions got to go to the White House to take a bunch of glamourous photos and hang out with Joe Biden. It’s the first time for any NWSL team and hopefully not the last! (Also this is how I learned we already had a “White House” tag.)
DC Power Football Club and USL Super League reschedule two matches at Audi Field in October (DC Power FC)
The first of these has been moved from Friday, October 4 to Wednesday, October 2, which (1) is unfortunate, especially since it creates a three-day turnaround for Power FC; and (2) poses a fascinating mystery of what exactly Audi Field is needed for. The public calendar shows no events between October 2 and 12. What are those 10 days for???
Washington Spirit loans defender Waniya Hudson to Dallas Trinity FC (Washington Spirit)
Loans between the leagues continues to be my favorite justification for the existence of the USL Super League. Letting players go somewhere they will have the opportunity to play is great! I do question why the Spirit signed a player only to never once let her play, though.
USMNT to play home Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal leg in St. Louis (Stars and Stripes FC)
The US Men will return to St. Louis on November 18, after playing there twice in 2023.
That’s all I’ve got for today. Share your own kicks in the comments!
Cbus this Saturday is the hardest game left on the schedule. After that we visit Nashville then New England. Both of those should be winnable games, but I still think we miss the playoffs.
Columbus is gonna smack us. I don’t think we win both of the other games; maybe we take one and draw the other (likely Nashville), but our defense isn’t good enough either way. And we run hot and cold on offense at the worst times.
The one positive is that Columbus is playing Club America for the Campeones Cup tomorrow. Since it’s a trophy, they’ll probably play their starters, and then rotate for the game on Saturday.
The bad news is that Wilfried Nancy has been rotating for several games now, and the backups haven’t really missed a beat. Oh, and we’re terrible at home.
And we’re terrible against teams at a disadvantage to us. As soon as a team breaks our press we’re in a terrible spot. Results-wise, it feels no different than what we experienced with Losada, even if the overall vibe seems better. I really hope we do a better job with the roster in the off-season than we did after Losada’s first year.
Don’t think we have any real choice about Lesesne, we need to stick to a rebuild. Another coach and direction next year wouldn’t add anything, only throw the already shitty roster into more upheaval and waste.
That said, I sorta wish that wasn’t the case so we could try someone else
I am giving it one more season. For two seats, I can go Scotland 6 times. I’ll do a dram with Ally there.
Is it me or is DC United more fixated on recruiting fans than retaining the fans they have?
It certainly doesn’t seem like diehard fans are part of the serious calculation. United doesn’t have politically powerful ultras like some European clubs to stoke any real concern amongst the ownership group. That’s in many ways a good thing, but I do agree that they seem to be fine with the casual numbers that just want to see a game, maybe with kids
(And by the no ultras being a good thing, some of those groups are really nasty and warped. Roma’s ultras caused a major female executive within the club to vacate her seat because they literally showed up in the parking lot ominously asking “where is she?” (This was over the De Rossi managerial firing decision after a long spell of bad form). They also tend to take on messed up political extremes, especially right wing ones. So, though I would at times wish the die hard contingent had more clout, not that kind)
“Winnable”?? I mean, I guess on the road at New England isn’t impossible, but coming 3 days after a game in Nashville? Even home against a Charlotte team that blew out the Revolution… Plus, facing the Crew. If I were a betting man, I’d probably bet against DC United even taking another point in the last 4 games, but would definitely not bet on them to win any of those games.
I’m not sure that Chicago or New England have enough in them to catch DCU, but New England has 5 games left to get 5 points to tie DCU (Revs would win the tiebreaker if they do), and Chicago needs 4 or 5 points out of their last 3 games (2 at home). Not out of the realm of possibility that DCU ends up at the bottom of the East, with only San Jose saving us from another Wooden Spoon.
Do you know the way to San Jose?
I think J. Sam Jones has DCU too high in his power rankings: https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/power-rankings-colorado-rapids-real-salt-lake-secure-playoffs
I also think that Megan Swanick has DCU too high in her power rankings:
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/41391951/mls-power-rankings-galaxy-carrasquilla-goal-lifts-houston
Bournemouth are apparently being quite insistent in their efforts to sign Akinmboni. According to Goff they had a second bid rejected by DC with a third on the way in the next week or so.
Gotta say, if Bournemouth can’t put together a couple million, they’re being cheapskates. I can’t imagine the ownership group are holding them to ransom for him