Happy Monday, y’all. There was a lot of soccer on, but it was led by a local team getting a win and the USWNT getting another one!
Allie Flanagan’s brace leads DC Power FC to first ever home win (DP)
DC Power get their first ever home win behind Allie Flanagan’s brace in her professional debut!
USWNT rallies to beat Iceland, keep Hayes unbeaten as coach (ESPN)
Emma Sears scored and provided an assist in her USWNT debut to help the team come back and beat Iceland, 3-1. They move onto Louisville, where they will round out the October international window with a friendly against Argentina on Wednesday.
D.C. United announces sweeping changes to roster (DP)
There are a ton of players who will not be back with the Black-and-Red next season as the team begins its roster overhaul.
Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Holden Trent passes away at 25 (MLS)
Sad news from Philadelphia as Holden Trent passed away over the weekend. Condolences to his family, friends, and teammates.
Brazilian soccer fan dies after ambush by rival supporters (ESPN)
Cruzeiro supporters were ambushed by rival supporters from Palmeiras while attempting to return home from a match by bus. This is the absolute worst part of our game, that people feel they need to kill over it. Makes no sense.
Real Madrid-Barcelona: Vinícius slams racist ‘criminals’ (ESPN)
Barcelona thrashed my Real Madrid in El Clásico over the weekend, and there were some racist remarks made towards young phenom Yamile Lamal. Unacceptable, and I hope the people who did it are caught, charged, and banned from ever stepping foot into a soccer stadium again.
Enjoy the week, y’all.
Donald, what a meaty post to kick off the week. I’m glad that the DC Power notched a win. I’m glad the USWNT notched a win and a debutant was on the scoreboard. I’m a Barca fan and I’m so happy that Real Madrid and Vinicius in particular set great examples on this matter. It’s on thing when you’re acting to support your local player (ie: when Real Madrid called out racists abusing Vinicius). It’s another all to-gether when you call out some of your own fans–bravo for Real. I’ve not read any details about Holden Trent and if this came unexpected or there was a health issue that had him at risk.
As to DCU, to me, last year was about Lesesne and MacKay operating with minimal flexibility and doing the best they could. An example is–signing McVey–who was a solid performer on a budget but clearly wasn’t “the answer” in central defense. Or Lesesne and how he used Dajome as a “make do” wingback. Now we have a true test of Lesesne and MacKay–they’ve cleared out most of the roster now in 12 months, they’ve got more cap room. The only returning player that I’m not sure the two would have wanted back if they had that flexibility is Klich (and that’s only because he’s really a holding mid/D-mid now, he’s expensive, and he’s aging). And maybe they would have wanted him back even if he wasn’t contract-tied. Personally, color me a major “Klich-fan.” I think he’s a great teammate and example. But anyway, this is the big test of Lesesne and MacKay–given time, a chunk of the cap, and roster space, what does a team look like they resembles one they both want–versus something thrown together only able to work around the margins?
Klich is great example of how to not be a consistent impact DP on the scoresheet, while getting useless yellows and suspensions therefore. Example? Of what, a slightly better touch?
I don’t hate him personally, but I do hate that we couldn’t move on from him at 35.
Like, if you’re a DP, you have to win us games when no one else can. Raising the standard of play marginally in build up isn’t good enough. His floor isn’t atrocious, but did we just collectively forget what a ceiling should be for someone whose salary could be anything? I also think people project leadership onto this player that just doesn’t actually exist at levels that would justify the lack of statistical dominance. If anything, he lets us down with the shithousery in moments that are far from helpful. He’s a player designed for a league where he can be subbed after such plays, not linger on the field.
At this point, I’d grimace at offering him Canouse’s salary that we apparently had to offload
To your point of an “example”. I think Klich sets a poor one particularly for younger players. Almost always starting something with opposing players or the officials. Almost a guarantee to make a retaliatory challenge if he didn’t get a call he wanted. He doesn’t help DC’s image of a “dirty team”.
Not to mention my well-voiced issues with him initiating a press without support. He was a huge reason as to why our midfield was so easy to play through. Because he wasn’t there!!!
I think you’re selling Klich a bit short, but I’ve said from the beginning that he’d have been an awesome TAM signing. Even after this year, I was ready to move on and bring someone else in the DP slot, but offer him a two year TAM deal just to see if he’d say yes.
So, he’s back at DP thanks to Kasper/Rooney GM’ing. He’s not worthless there. He had 13 assists this season, along with 2 goals. That lines up pretty nicely with TAM players like Jordi Alba (14 A, 4 G) and Julian Gressel (12 A, 1 G), and a little bit behind a DP player like Albert Rusnak (16 A, 4 G). The other DPs that had similar assist rates to Klich also had like double digit goals.
He can contribute, but it is a little wasteful use of a DP slot while we’re in the Benteke window.
Joe identified a lot of the challenges that face Mackay and Lesesne this offseason. It leans a little more on Mackay in terms of player acquisition.
Another big issue that you identify with Klich but certainly wasn’t exclusive to him is Lesesne figuring out a way to get the team to still be aggressive but cutting down on the yellow cards.
I sorta hope Lamal helps Spain grow up a little over time in terms of racism amongst fans. Y’all, he his going to be an incredible asset to your league and national team for as long as his legs go. Get. A. Grip. On. This.
My general take from the Iceland game is that Murphy and Moultrie’s stock will go way down, while Sears and Williams will be seen more often.
Also, Albert’s distribution was unfortunate. Not focused or precise, often forced.
And Hayes called her out on this.
https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/former-mls-team-president-says-pro-rel-would-benefit-us-soccer/
I’m not too pressed on pro/rel, although I can understand why everyone else is. What I really want to see is expansion stop, I know people want 32 teams, but I want to see the league coast for a while and enjoy what it has.
I can’t really see pro/rel ever actually working in MLS as we currently know it. The salary cap/roster rules, single entity nature of MLS, and the geography are all working against it. If a big European team is struggling to the point that they might get relegated, they can, in theory, throw as much money as they want at new players in the mid-season transfer window to try to correct course. MLS teams decidedly cannot do that. So, if you start bad, you’re just kinda screwed. And while getting relegated might be something manageable to soccer purists, I can envision a lot of American fans not wanting to support a team if it all of a sudden just becomes a “minor league” team, which is how I envision a lot of casual fans would view it.
In recent years, MLS would have seen DC, the Galaxy, and Toronto all be relegated. There’s no way Garber would ever let the Galaxy not be in the top division of MLS. We also wouldn’t have seen Cincy make its meteoric rise from what was essentially last place for what, 3 years straight, to Supporter Shield 2 years later.
The geography issue is one that I don’t think a lot of people think of either. With pro/rel, you could end up with a scenario where you have only a couple of teams on one coast having to play every other team on the opposite coast. We’ve seen recent years where one conference is far, far stronger than the other. Its not unheard of to end up in a situation where you have LAG, LAFC, and Seattle being in a league with 12 teams in the eastern time zone. That level of travel would be brutal.
On top of all that, it’s worth pointing out that we’d have to manage pro/rel significantly better than major European markets that have done it for ages. Believe it or not, MLS financial stability is the envy of the world right now.
Also, can’t design a league around parity and then punish the inevitable stragglers.
Wonderfully said on both points. Don’t introduce pro/rel unless you’re prepared for teams to fold. And “anyone can win” also inevitably means “anyone can also lose,” and that’s really something I love about MLS. Even if you’re bad, you’re never that far away from being good, and vice versa.
The big Champion’s League level teams in Europe are only realistically in danger of getting relegated in their own leagues if they have a financial collapse. MLS teams could be in danger if 1 important player on their team got an injury
Yep. I get that people want to encourage more competitiveness and mobility for teams that have a good model, but I can’t think of a single pro/rel league that has succeeded in, well, rewarding the behavior that league and fans actually want to see. I don’t think fans in England want to root for the best lawyers and loophole finders.
Basically, it’s a money scheme no matter how you look at it, and MLS has achieved a more stable model arguably without this mechanism.
Darth Garber has announced the promotion of Inter Miami to the Super Major League Soccer.
Just wanted to chime in and say well said fellas! I want to screenshot this so I can show it to my Euro-snob friends who won’t watch MLS because of no pro/rel.
Ha, maybe don’t do that literally, I specifically come here in part to avoid them
I can fully understand why Europeans would like pro/rel. It can give you hope that your small, local team could eventually make it to the big leagues and that has got to be special when it does happen (though, lets be honest, it doesn’t happen that often. In reality I feel like most pro/rel is the same few teams yo-yoing back and forth). But just adding pro/rel to a league does not guarantee that it will make it better, especially in a country that has no history with it whatsoever. I look at things like NBA and NHL. There are basketball and hockey teams all over the world. In most countries, their leagues are organized like the soccer leagues are, where pro/rel is built in to them. There’s also not a single league in the world that can even think about holding a candle to how big and successful the NBA and NHL are, and they have never had pro/rel. I’m not saying at all that I expect MLS to become the premier soccer league in the world, but when you exist in a country with some of the most successful sports leagues in the entire world that all do things a different way than the rest of the world, it tends to be a better decision to sort of follow that model than to go out and do something drastically different just to fit in with other leagues around the world
I remember one season when this talk came up and I pointed out that if MLS had this, both DCU and NYRB would be relegated (two bottom teams) and there was no NYCFC at that point. Imagine Spain where there are no teams from Madrid or Barcelona playing in La Liga. Or no teams from London and Manchester in the Premiership. And they’d go “can’t happen, there are a dozen pro teams in London alone, 3-4 every year just in the Prem” and that’s the point. You can’t getl TV money if you then say “but we’re not going to have any clubs in 2-3 biggest markets in the US.”
Maybe Pro-rel will eventually happen in MLS. But it can’t happen right now. Or it would have to combine with a massive expansion (maybe to 40 teams) and then the top division is 20 clubs and the relegated “second division” is the remaining 20 clubs. And then you slowly look to expand to another 6 clubs or so over the next 2 decades. Given the current structures (for both MLS and the USL), I can’t see how that would work with both of those leagues. You’ll have no incentive to pay an MLS expansion fee. You’d just join USL and then seek to get promoted.
People think about the excitement of pro-rel and the pressure it puts on the players. But they aren’t dealing with a country the size of the US with so few first division clubs.
To that same extent, I think what’s telling is when you look at competitions like the FA Cup vs the US Open Cup. This year, the FA Cup involved 745 teams. Last year, with full MLS participation, the Open Cup involved 99. That’s 99 “professional” level teams over the continental US as opposed to 745 in England alone, which is roughly the size of Alabama. The history and structure just isn’t there in the US to have a healthy intermingling ladder.
I’ve kept thinking about this, and here’s my last point: You don’t get teams to rival Real Madrid or Liverpool (among other chief examples) just by adopting pro/rel. It’s not that simple. Seems like a lot of eurosnobs think that’s a possibility. I’m not saying that MLS is perfect, or that pro/rel is too flawed, but I do think MLS can find its own way without the total shift.
To JoeW’s point: I could see MLS kind of go Bundesliga. Meaning MLS 1, MLS 2 (Bundesliga 1, Bundesliga 2). There are some pretty storied teams in Bundesliga 2, for example. Dunno, maybe not even worth thinking about, but MLS is getting pretty big.
I think this is how MLS could continue to expand without it being wildly unreasonable. You’d either have a Division One and a Division Two. Or you’d have the equivalent of the “National League/American League) so MLS is split in half and you play just a few games outside of your Division or League.
Europe will drop pro/rel before the US implements it. The Latin American leagues are slowly dropping it or making it impossible for a big team to get relegated. The SuperLeauge in Europe had a token pro/rel where the big teams were exempt. It’s slowly going away and the sooner the better.
https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/nwsl-disciplinary-committee-issues-discipline-to-chicago-red-stars-forward-ludmila-washington-spirit-forward-rosemonde-kouassi
Thanks for sharing this.
I was actually half expecting that Kouassi would escape further discipline, given the hair pull, which is about as outside the game as you can get. Spirit will endure
Sucks that we’ll be missing her for both the regular season final game and the QF round match.
BTW, I don’t know if this means anything but all day “Soccer Insider” has been “the page you’re looking for can’t be found.” Given all the turmoil at the Post (with a number of people resigning), I don’t know if this is just a broken web link or whether or not to read anything more in to this. Has anyone seen a recent tweet from Steve Goff?
Oof. We’ll find out…
I would be surprised if Goff left. He doesn’t strike me as an editorial type.
https://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/story/2024-10-29/mls-playoff-format-lafc-galaxy
On pro/rel:
I could see a scenario where MLS swells to 36 clubs – something that that masses definitely aren’t clamoring for – and instead of an East/West structure going to a Prem/Champ structure. Perhaps as many as the bottom third go down and the top third go up, just to make every match somewhat relevant and feel like one big happy family. It’s all MLS, all matches streamed, revenue sharing not impacted, ..
I like this idea, especially because within both tables there would be a balanced schedule. The Supporters Shield (or its equivalents) would mean something for the first time in a long, long time.
Don’t intend to ruin anyone’s day, but Dave Kasper will be back in 2025 as a senior consultant according to Steve Goff…
I’m not particularly bothered. It’s pretty obvious that MacKay and Lesesne run the show. Levien and co probably aren’t going to hamstring the team by subtracting his salary or anything stupid like that from the transfer budget. Either he’s got a contract and they’ve got some use for him, or they have some side project he can handle.
Yeah, I think he’s more about covering the bases of the archaic in terms of Mackay can lean on him as he continues to adjust to league mechanics. I don’t think Kasper staying is a harm to the club. It doesn’t show accountability, either, for the mess it’s been, but I don’t begrudge him a voice if he’s not the final say.
He is a pleasant fellow to chat with, but I agree: I doubt he has the final say. And that is key.
While we don’t really get to play cake or death with the roster (since MacKay was so fast with the decisions), we can still think about reinforcements…does anyone around the league in either free agency or underuse intrigue us? There’s also the possibility that we trade for an area of need.
The completely blank slate at GK is the biggest mystery. Maybe we pick up a backup from among the league’s out of contract players, but my guy tells me MacKay is going to make a bigger move than just that.
I think we could still play cake or death
One of the biggest potential free agents that stands out to me is Dayne St Clair. I can’t imagine Minnesota lets him actually leave, but if they do, he’s easily the best goalie on the board.
Outside of goalie, the other name that really jumps out to me is Jack Elliott, the CB from Philly. Once again, I don’t think he’s leaving Philly, but if he does, I think he’d be a really good pickup