D.C. United starts postseason moves, Spirit quarters match set, and more: Tuesday Freedom Kicks
Happy Tuesday, everyone! I know it was a rough weekend for many of you, sports-wise, but I hope you’ve been able to enjoy the beautiful fall weather and are looking at a nice, easy week.
With the end of the MLS season come the retrospectives. First up, a look at average attendance for every team in the league. D.C. United is in 25th with an average of 18,061 fans per match or 90.3% of stadium capacity.
D.C. United, missing the MLS playoffs again, enters Phase 2 of its overhaul (Washington Post $)
There could be a lot of movement coming this offseason, as Ally Mackay continues overhauling the roster. I didn’t realize so many United players were out of contract after this season!
The Post’s Steve Goff has also reported on a number of staffing changes, including the departures of long-serving assistant coach Chad Ashton and head of performance Luke Jenkinson.
Loudoun discuss improved business with Attain, season finale (The DP)
In case you missed it, on Saturday Ryan Keefer published an interview with Doug Raftery, executive business officer for Loudoun United. They discussed Loudoun’s season so far and how things standing going into the final matches (now just one!) of the season.
Final NWSL playoff spots remain undecided after late drama for Bay FC, Louisville (Sports Illustrated)
Both of the named teams are still in race for playoff spots, with Portland Thorns the only other contender.
Washington Spirit home quarterfinal match set for Sunday, November 10 at 12:30 p.m. EST (Washington Spirit)
Speaking of NWSL playoffs, Washington’s quarterfinal match is set. I’d say to try to make it out to Audi Field to watch them if you can, but if not, the game will be on ABC.
Netherlands ‘working on’ recruiting USWNT prospect Yohannes (Pro Soccer Wire)
My response in meme format:
D.C. rejected some of Ted Leonsis’ requests for a Capital One Arena deal. But the billionaire Is still getting plenty of city money (Washington City Paper)
Not exactly soccer related, but some D.C. sports news. More details have come out about the city’s proposed deal with Monumental Sports. It’s a mix of ok and bad, in my opinion, and Ted Leonsis continues to come off like a real jerk.
Have a good week!
Still feeling pretty good about Lily’s chances of playing for the USWNT. She seemed to really enjoy training and playing with and scoring for the full team, was practically gushing with contentment when interviewed about it. She also admitted in a candid moment interviewed by Sam Mewis that she rooted for the US when they last played Netherlands at the failed World Cup effort, but did so silently cuz she was watching with all her Dutch teammates.
There’s also the fact that she grew up in the US, and that the USWNT is undoubtedly the program with the more promising immediate future. She’s talented enough to blow through midfield competition in that creative role in both pools, and she likely knows that.
In short, I’m not sweating the Dutch overtures
The Dutch overtures are, metaphorically, Heineken 0.
Goff noted both in that article and on Twitter that Klich met a performance clause in his contract (related to minutes played) this year that automatically triggered his option pickup for next year. So, barring a trade or a mutual termination, Klich should be back with the team next year
I’d like there to be a trade, I doubt Klich parts mutually.
We need that DP spot for an impact attacker, and it makes sense to do so this next season to integrate whoever it is for the three year rebuild process
Yeah, that was kind of a kick in the gut. I think Klich has brought a lot to the team, and hasn’t been a waste of a DP spot. I’ve advocated bringing him back on a TAM deal. But if this team wants to compete for trophies, they need that DP slot going to someone else. Running things back with Benteke, Klich, and maaaaaaaaaybe a new DP if they buy down Peltola isn’t really a great recipe for success in my mind. My expectations for 2025 took a pretty big dip with that news.
At the very least, let’s hope Klich and Benteke both get green cards, though.
Klich is not dead weight. This could be (historically) worse, and, as you point out, there are intriguing options.
If he has a similar season to this year in 2025, he could wind up in the top 5 all-time assists list in DC United history. That’s obviously not nothing. But will he have a similar season? And is what he brings what United needs to make the leap?
Guess we’ll see.
Fwiw, I do think there may be a mechanism to essentially make Klich a TAM-level player, even with him staying. If they take the 2 DP and 4 U22 approach, they could, in theory, use that $2M in D-GAM they get through that program to pay down his salary to open up another slot. Changing Peltola to a U22 slot instead of a DP at the same time would leave the current roster with 1 DP (Benteke) with one slot open and 3 U22s (Pirani, KDP, Peltola) with one slot open. So with those two spots, the D-GAM left over after buying down Klich, and whatever TAM and GAM they have otherwise, it would give them some wiggle room
I don’t think Peltola is eligible to be a U-22. He can just be bought down (although that would likely mean a larger cap hit than his Young DP designation is providing).
I think going with a 2 DP, 4 U-22, and the ability to spend $2 million isn’t necessarily a bad idea. I would rather have that money available to spend on quality depth rather than buying down Klich, but it could still conceivably work, and would also require Mackay nailing two U-22 signings (and his other U-22 signings – Pirani and Ku-DiPietro – leveling up).
Ah yes, I didn’t realize Peltola turned 22 this year, I was thinking he turned 21. But yeah, he could in theory be bought down if we wanted to open up his spot. It would result in a much higher cap hit as you mentioned though, changing from ~$250k to senior roster maximum (which I think is around $700k off the top of my head)
It was a hair above $650,000 this season, but might go up next year. I’m not up on the labor agreement.
Peltola made $681,000 last year, so it wouldn’t take that much to buy him down. It wouldn’t even be too onerous to buy him down to his current cap hit, although he might be getting a raise next year.
Mostly, he got a Young DP deal specifically to manage his cap hit. As a reminder, Rooney and Kasper apparently borrowed against future cap space to be able to sign players like Ravel Morrison for $1 million, and that bill came due this year, meaning that the team was HARD up against the cap. I don’t know if they borrowed against 2025 as well, but hopefully with a lot of the large salaries coming off the books and our cap level being returned to normal levels, the ability to get players should be a bit rosier, and not leave us with drastically short benches.
This is where I again express my continued disbelief that Dave Kasper continues to draw a paycheck from this club.
Peltola likes Kasper, he bought him bottle of Finlandia at the liquor store on South Capitol Street….
Yeah, I’d be interested on Kasper’s continuity in perpetuity with the club, but I don’t want to ask him. He is nice and routinely in the club section, so I don’t want to flip the switch on the garbage disposal….well, I don’t want to wait in line to do so…
I’m not saying this to rag on Peltola, who definitely filled some glaring holes in the squad as we lost our core pieces at DM ans CB. Acquiring him seems to me like a poor use of our resources so far though. He’s a regular in the Finnish national team, and so misses a fair number of games. We’ve yet to really find where he best fits for us, and now have Boris Enow also at one of his positions. I’m skeptical that he’s the elite CB we desperately need, until our goals against drops to prove me otherwise.
He played in 31 games last year, so he didn’t miss too many. You’re right about not really being certain where his best spot is. As a center back, I think he makes most sense in a three back system, which we might see. As a CDM, perhaps he and Enow could play in a double pivot, but that doesn’t really seem to be like something that Lesesne prefers to do.
He’s a talented player, and talent is good to have on the team. But yes, it will be up to Lesesne to figure out how to get the most out of his talent.
I think this is ok. Maybe they can still pay him but buy him down against the salary budget in other ways. Klich is an excellent defensive center mid. His engine is nonstop and he brings calmness and control when he is on the ball. He can be a starter and a key piece in the spine on a rebuilt team.
In the 2025 Women’s Rugby World cup next August and September in England the US has landed in Pool A with the hosts. They will also face Australia and Samoa. They just lost to England 61-21 earlier this month in the WXV Division 1 series. They did upset Australia back in May 32-26.
With this 10th appearance in the Women’s Rugby World Cup the US continues its streak of having appeared in every single one of them going back to the first in Wales in 1991 where they were the champions. They were 2nd place at both Scotland 1994 and Netherlands 1998. They were 7th at Spain 2002, 5th at Canada 2006, 5th at England 2010, 7th at France 2014, and 4th at Ireland 2017. New Zealand 2021 introduced the replacement of the classification playoffs with the knockout rounds and the US went out in the Quarterfinals losing 32-11 to Canada who eventually finished in 4th place.
https://www.si.com/onsi/rugby/ireland-confident-ahead-of-women-s-rugby-world-cup-draw-01janeracx79
https://www.americasrugbynews.com/2024/10/22/match-schedule-for-womens-rugby-world-cup-2025/
Actually have a question for Annie: Who do you want The Spirit to face in the first round?
DC United. Should be compelling and Levien can tout that we made the playoffs.
This is a good question! I think the main team to avoid is North Carolina Courage, who they’d only face if they fall to 4th place. Portland have been in pretty poor form, but I agree with André Carlisle that Sophia Smith is likely to return from injury for the playoffs, so best to avoid them as well.
I think Louisville (who Spirit recently beat 4-1) would be my preferred opponent, although I guess they’d have to be prepared for Racing to make some changes in response to that match.
I’m not up on the format. I’d take Carolina if the Spirit are hosting. But if it’s home and away–ugh! I’d also take the Red Stars (and not just because of the recent result).
A lot of comments about the ownership on the Goff article. I tend to agree. I think we need new owners. Someone even said they want Kang to buy the team, which I have to say I would support. I doubt that ever happens though. I’d think Kang is more likely to get tired of paying rent and build a stadium for the Spirit in DC than she is to buy DCU.
Think it’s more likely we “preseason” in Saudi again, and Levien’s crew look for deeper pockets. This is clearly a real estate investment for them, don’t know if Kang has the cash or interest in that move
I’m not clamoring for new owners, but wouldn’t hate to see it either. That being said, and perhaps this is a bit of a hot take, I absolutely would NOT want it to be Kang if they were to sell.
I don’t really know what a new owner would really get us at this point. The current group made the investment into Mackay and Lesesne, which seems promising but still needs time to fully work, and has shown that they aren’t afraid to spend on players (Benteke is one of the highest paid players in the league). Could it be more? Sure, we could have Miami’s, Atlanta’s, or Toronto’s owners. But do we really want to be Miami? And lets not pretend like Toronto and Atlanta have always seen success with their huge amounts of spending. Both of those teams have had success, sure, but if anything they’re great examples of throwing money at the problem doesn’t always solve the issue
I’m not clamoring for new DCU ownership either. As one fan who lobbied hard for Buzzard Point to be approved by the DC Council, I’ll never forget that we could have lost DC United completely. It wouldn’t have happened without Jason Levien. Plus all the points that Sweet Buck makes.
Though she’s a multi millionaire, I doubt that Michele Kang has enough money (much less the interest) to buy an MLS franchise at current evaluation levels.
But she needs a better deal from Levien to stay at Buzzard Point forever. And DCU needs to ditch having gridiron football played at Buzzard Point. We deserve a high quality soccer pitch.
Very true point on Levien. He’s actually nice to talk to. I alerted him about the supporter issues when Buzzard Point first opened, and he had no idea…wow. He promised to get into it, and he did so quite promptly.
Meaning in such context, is he apparently aloof, or is kept aloof. I want him to succeed, but especially with the portion on the pitch. I do think MacKay and Lesense are a good attempt at making that a go. A most interesting offseason awaits, and hopefully 2025 will be a memorable one.
Let’s take a look at the Cleveland Browns vs the Columbus Crew. Same owner, very different rates of success. He handed off the Crew to an excellent group of people, let them do their thing, and they have multiple trophies as a result. Meanwhile, after drafting a fan favorite (and good) QB and putting together a solid team, the Browns are back to being losers because they kicked out said fan favorite in favor of a guy who not only has a long history of assaulting women, but one who hadn’t played in years *and* they gave him the largest contract in the league’s history at that point, fully guaranteed.
What’s the point of all that? It depends on who the owners put in charge. They went with a known, successful, respected guy in Bez. He built a good foundation that Nancy and Co are now benefiting from even with a fair amount of change since. He either meddled with the signing of Watson or didn’t push back on doing something that dumb.
Levien seems fairly hands off, which can be a detriment in that his clubs often feel abandoned, but it could mean that once he finds that group of people who can make things tick, he’ll let them do their thing.
It definitely beats being “hands on” like Dan Snyder. I think he’s trying to make it happen with Mackay and Lesense.
I want to see how the Mackay and Lesense era unfolds. This is the first time the current owners have hired a duo who are on the same page and gave them the time and resources to build something. They were sort of stuck with pieces from the 2010’s and it has taken a while for them to get to the point of hiring a new technical staff with new ideas.
I think this season was a step in the right direction despite the disappointing final game. The team played like more than the sum of their parts and had a tactical vision. Coach Lesense was also flexible game in and game out and adapted his best to the personnel available on game day and to the opponent. I think they deserve three years to make it work, barring abusive bullshit like Coach Losada.
Props. Yeah, Losada really blew it up.
Something I made at the beginning of the season and subsequently forgot about until yesterday 😉
I almost cannot remember a time before Chad Ashton was on the staff. Almost.
Filed under “ways to feel old.”
Yeah, I’m pretty sure he’s been there during my entire fandom.
Let’s give Kevin Payne full recognition for the first decade of DCU’s trophy- winning dominance.
Absolutely.
Kevin was such a rare breed. I remember we were both suit shopping at Joseph A Banks in Reston, and I had a DC United jersey on. We had a blast, talking for a good hour plus a drink at Clyde’s. He really understood MLS 1.0.
Those were spoiled rotten days for the fans…..
https://worldsoccertalk-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/worldsoccertalk.com/amp/news/us-soccer-plots-massive-change-that-would-affect-youth-system/?amp_gsa=1&_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQGsAEggAID#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17296776228924&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fworldsoccertalk.com%2Fnews%2Fus-soccer-plots-massive-change-that-would-affect-youth-system%2F
In 2016 USSF switched age groups to 1 Jan to 31 Dec which is what FIFA uses for tournaments. US Soccer is moving back to the previous system which was school year 1 Sep to 31 August. Basically all youth teams now need to adjust again after adjusting previously 8 years ago.
Small update on Klich’s contract situation from Tom Bogert. The performance clause for his option pickup was actually triggered in 2023, not 2024. He also notes his contract will not be able to be bought down, so he will have to occupy a DP spot
Tom Bogert is confirming some news items that Steven Goff broke, and adding a few more details.
First, DC is going to reject Bournemouth’s offer of $1 million for Matai Akinmboni. For this to be Bournemouth’s third offer, and just now getting to $1 million, makes absolute sense for DC to reject it. I’d still rather them not hold out for something outlandish, though. If they got an offer for like $2million and a sell-on percentage, I think I’d be okay with that.
The second item is confirming that Mateusz Klich’s option year automatically became guaranteed by hitting certain threshholds back in 2023. It hasn’t been reported until now, but presumably Ally Mackay was aware that he’d have at least one DP slot spoken for in 2025 when he took the job. Bogert is also reporting that the contract will be above the threshhold that could be bought down. That is, Klich WILL be a DP next year. United can either add one more U-22, or potentially buy down Matti Peltola and a new DP and a new U-22, or two new U-22s.
So, the ability to add impact players for 2025 is definitely lessened. Obviously Benteke is an elite MLS striker, and Klich has plenty of attributes, though tough to say he’s at an All-Star level or anything. Peltola, Pirani, and Ku-DiPietro all have potential, but will need to take steps forward.
I guess it really boils down to if the club can find a DP player that fits and can potentially take them over the top, like getting a Christian Gomez or a Nico Lodeiro or Diego Valeri. Anything short of that, and they should probably buy down Peltola, go for two more U-22s, and then most importantly the ability to add $2 million in cap space, and really try to get quality to the end of the bench.
Pretty disappointed by the Klich thing. At 35, a transfer is unlikely. I wanted to build toward something in 2026 whil Benteke’s legs hopefully move. Doesn’t look likely.
Yeah. My goal prior to this season was to get a Young DP (check!) and two more U-22 players (half a check, sort of), and giving players like Ku-DiPietro, Akinmboni, and Fletcher time to develop (ehh), and maybe even a draft pick (ehh). Basically, loading up on as much good young talent as we could and develop them while we play out Benteke and Klich’s contract, then moving on with two new DPs in 2025.
Obviously, Benteke had a way better season than I was expecting, and earned his new deal. Klich was fine, although I’ve always felt he would have been best as a TAM player here. Our Young DP and U-22 were inconsistent-to-okay. Our other young players didn’t seem to take many big leaps. It was our MLS veterans that came in that really played well.
We’re in the Benteke Window now. But it’s tough to see if this is a trophy-winning squad with Benteke and Klich as the DPs. So, do we play out the string and try to develop the squad again and hope for some more impactful DPs afterwards?
The news has really curtailed my expectations for 2025.
I don’t think DC would be getting a trophy next year regardless of who they let go or brought in, other than maybe the Open Cup (if they’re allowed the privilege of participating). With the current juggernaut that is Miami, as well as Columbus, it would be difficult to out-duel them over the course of the season, let alone the playoffs. Had some things gone DC’s way this year, and had injuries not ravished the team for like 3 months, I think it would have been reasonable to think they could have gotten to 4th or 5th in the East. If they ended up in 4th next year, I’d consider that pretty successful and would personally be pretty happy about that. We all want more championships, but I think just asking for a good, solid season should be the hope at this point. Once we get there, build on that to get back to championship form. If you told me right now that in 2025, DC finished 4th in the East and won 1 playoff series before getting knocked out, I think that would be a good success. I think that sort of finish is reasonable and doable, and would have been my hope with or without Klich (there is also no guarantee had they moved on from Klich that whoever came in to replace him would actually be any better. We hope they would be, but that’s far from guaranteed)
Some good news is that United had three of the top 7 players that underperformed their xG (Ted Ku-DiPietro, Jacob Murrell, and Jared Stroud). If they can revert to the mean, that would help a bunch.
Except Klich’s getting old. That baseline is going to drop
I think that’s the biggest worry with both him and Benteke. If the two of them can just repeat what they did this year, we get some new pieces that do well, and everyone else finishes like they should, we could be really good. If they hit the age wall or one of (or both of) those other options don’t pan out, it could be painful.
Hopefully Peltola’s status can be rearranged, at least we can open that spot up. I’m still choosing to be hopeful that between the expiring contracts and options we can decline, we’ll have the ability to fill the roster with guys who are more suited to Lesesne’s vision for the team. Nearly everyone bought in this year (which is great), but maybe through the re-entry mechanism or free agency, we can improve.
What might have been department: Atlanta ousted Montreal last night 5-4 on pks after 2-2 in regulation. On to Miami.