Bruce Arena becomes San Jose coach, Neymar hurt again, and more: Thursday Freedom Kicks
Hey all…this one’s going to be short because quite frankly, I’m still lacking the energy. Here we go…
Bruce Arena eyes new challenge with hiring as San Jose coach, GM (ESPN)
Bruce Arena is back on the sidelines as a head coach in MLS. What did that man say to get himself banned? We’ll apparently never know. And now he’s with San Jose.
Al Hilal star Neymar forced off with injury in second game since return (PSW)
Neymar just got back after recovering from his ACL injury, and now he has a hamstring injury which will keep him out a while longer.
Another trophy for North Korea: The story of the best national team that nobody knows (Equalizer)
North Korea has won the U-17 and U-20 Women’s World Cups this year, but how? There’s an inside look at the most unknown team in soccer.
Houston Dynamo move on from Héctor Herrera: “He turned this club around” (MLS)
Hector Herrera’s last match with Houston will be when he spit at the referee. Now, he will be looking for a new club.
Take care of yourselves and each other…
I think it’s worth acknowledging something- we’re rooting for Washington DC centered teams. The district just voted overwhelmingly against the man who will be the next president. That fact alone, eschewing all other factors that also surround it, this means the vibes will be bad for our sports teams for years. And in an industry dominated by fans and enthusiasm, that’s gonna make a difference.
I don’t envy Lesesne and Giraldez especially.
United also has an ownership that’s shown it’s pretty comfortable being cozy with autocratic regimes, given their Saudi Arabia junket earlier in the year. Good thing ownership is already so beloved by fans!
To that point, I could see The Spirit and their fanbase embrace a counter cultural role and get some headway in the defiant club category. However, defiance will likely be… not encouraged by the new administration
And yet, fuck that new admnistration.
100%
Yet, the last time we were in the playoffs, the President-elect was in the White House…..
/s
Oh, recommend highly The Onion for the past two-three days for unrelenting satire. Really funny and mercilessly non-partisan.
More economic freedom and lower energy prices and lower inflation will be positives going forward? Maybe even a much more controlled border would be a good thing?
He talked much more about persecuting, seeking vengeance, and inciting violence against perceived enemies than any of those issues. We achieved a soft landing, and were ready to build on that.
This isn’t a political blog, I just didn’t want the overall change in the atmosphere around the city to go unremarked upon. I think you’re expecting the same level of liberty and better egg prices.
I’d say “we’ll see.” Nope, you’ll see.
The song Money Game from Ren. Should give it a try. “And those who rise through distorted lies. Poison in the veins.” Sadly, Ren is right, a lot of us turn a blind eye to these types of ‘leaders’ just so we can get more money. We are all part of the Money Game.
Possibly for MLS, especially for NWSL, if the money and lifestyle are more agreeable, it may be more difficult to draw talent here.
According to the Athletic, Jim Curtin is out as Philly’s head coach
If anyone is interested: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5906223/2024/11/07/jim-curtin-philadelphia-union-leaves?source=user-shared-article
The commenters on the article seem to think he may have finally told Union’s owner they need to spend money.v
Yeah I don’t think in any way that Curtin was the problem there. Honestly, even saying they had a “problem” was a bit of a stretch. Even with missing the playoffs this year they’ve been one of the most consistently solid teams over the past few years. Though I do think theyve hit their ceiling with their current roster building strategy
The ceiling is “can crush DCU 5-0 anytime anywhere”
1) Happy for Bruce. Whatever he did, he paid dues for it. Hopefully, his mindset has come back into our mainstream.
2) Loving Houston more with this move. That was a zero excuse event, spitting at a ref.
3) Sorry, North Korea championships are entirely suspicious. Hate to feel that way, but really? They just became Spain? The USA?
The U-17 WWC semifinal US game came down to who scored first as both teams were good defensively. The winning goal was the first goal the US gave up since losing their group opener to Spain 3-1. The NKs kept the US pinned in their own half for most of the match with a fairly high press that the US failed to deal with effectively. Additionally, North Korea just generated more offensive opportunities than the US.
If you’re referring to the age cheating theory for NK, I mean, maybe? It’s not outside the realm of possibility. It’s also possible they’ve really just beefed up their women’s soccer program over the years and let them play together more than most in an effort to show dominance in a competition that that makes a difference.
Basically, if they’re age cheating, their players have already likely peaked and will not do as well at the senior level. Either way, I don’t begrudge this group of women a little joy and triumph, regardless of the regime they didn’t and couldn’t choose.
You are egalitarian, and nicely so. We’ll see at the next senior World Cup.
I simply have no trust for NK. I would have loved it if they defected.
I like your attitude better, however.
To the Houston moves: Onstad noted that the option could have been triggered by HH himself (based on performance? Minutes?). I think they saw that he had peaked in 2023 and decided they can upgrade instead of hoping he gets there again. I’m sure Onstad has memories of us trying to run it back with guys who were unlikely to reach their old highs again and decided it’s not even worth negotiating for a better deal.
Regarding NK, I read during the U-20 Women’s World Cup that the NK squad is like the Soviet Hockey team of yesteryears— full-timers (all were on the Soviet Army team — competing against part-timers (and amateurs back then). NK women’s soccer players are together year round competing against other countries’ squad that are brought together briefly before major tournaments.
Levien and Kaplan are selling their stake in Swansea City, per Pablo Maurer (Athletic link). Taking a big loss on it, too; which is probably bad for us whether they stay in charge here or sell off… in the former case, they’re poorer stewards, and in the latter case, they’re less likely to be picky about the investors succeeding them.
Well, I don’t know if any pickiness they would have had about those succeeding them potentially would extend to things like “do you care about United” and “are you going to be responsible to the fanbase?” This is a real estate deal that has dragged on a while here in the district, they’ll take the money
I think It was said best that we are a private equity real estate firm with a soccer team.