D.C. officially sign Peglow, 2025 Euro draw, and more: Tuesday Freedom Kicks
Happy Tuesday! I’ve got a decent smattering of news articles for you all today, as the offseason signing news continues to pour in. Will we be getting more today? MAYBE.
D.C. United adds young Brazilian winger in push to bolster its attack (Washington Post)
It’s official! D.C. United have signed João Peglow to a three-year deal and reportedly paid a transfer fee of $700,000. Steven Goff also reported yesterday that the signing of goalkeeper Kim Joon Hong is all but complete.
Loudoun United FC extend forward Wesley Leggett through 2026 with option for 2027 season (Loudoun United)
More signing news! Leggett joined Loudoun in 2022 and scored 10 goals this past season. Loudoun have certainly been busy re-signing players so far this offseason.
Euro 2025 draw: England get tough group with France, Netherlands, Wales (The Guardian)
Groups for the 2025 Women’s Euro were drawn yesterday, and I do think returning champs England got the toughest group. Games begin July 2 next year.
MLS looks to make Season Pass more accessible in 2025 (Awful Announcing)
It sounds like the big changes will be marketing games better generally and giving some their own time spot so they can be treated as appointment viewing. I’m not sure how successful those ideas will be at getting more MLS viewers.
Barely a passing resemblance: Why women’s football stands out from the crowd (Oxford Academic)
Women’s soccer is more exciting; the science says so! Hopefully this will inspire some more of you to follow our local women’s teams (but let’s be honest, my primary goal is startin’ shit).
San Antonio FC announces Carlos Llamosa as head coach (San Antonio FC)
Former D.C. United player Carlos Llamosa will be taking over at USL Championship side San Antonio FC. This will be his first head coaching gig; he most recently worked as an assistant coach for the Portland Timbers.
Pulisic spared as AC Milan fans heckle players at 125th anniversary party (Pro Soccer Wire)
Well, thank God. Wouldn’t want to see Christian Pulisic get heckled.
Have a good week, everyone!
I’m watching some guy’s YouTube video that’s going over USL and MLS jersey reveals and leaks. He got a lot of the base colors for the MLS clubs. For DC’s, the jersey this year is the secondary one, and apparently the base is ecru. Close to white, but more of a beige. Kind of dirty looking from a distance.
I don’t love going away from white, but United has been doing a good job of being creative with their last couple secondary jerseys. It’s not immediately clear to me what about the DC area would have an ecru base. Possibly the marble of the monuments, but they also just did that before the cherry blossom jersey. We will see.
Maybe they’re going for a “paper that official documents and laws are printed on” approach? I can see a hand-waivey argument for “what’s more DC than the declaration of independence or constitution? And what color are they? Yellowish white!”
Yeah, possibly.
I can see that, and I’ll shake my head if that’s true. The Declaration of Independence is very much a Philadelphia document, and while the Constitution led to the creation of the District, it too was a Philly creation.
You know who else had ecru away kits for the last two years? Philly.
Ecru: The Pentagon comes to mind…..
Awful Announcing is such a troll site towards MLS. They just say everything sucks without any data or evidence to back it up. They have no idea about revenue or profitability and Apple does not release subscription data.
It’s so silly that when Don Garber did not comment on subscription data, saying that commenting on the data is Apple’s choice, not his, Awful Announcing then said he didn’t comment because it’s awful. How about Garber being held by an NDA? Nope, he’s just hiding data.
Why even bother giving clicks to a bunch of boomer trolls?
It’s the off season, need to talk about something.
This is the reason
Here’s an Awful Announcing story that does use data regarding MLS viewership: https://awfulannouncing.com/soccer/did-anyone-actually-watch-the-mls-cup-final-on-apple-tv.html
I firmly believe this deal has been a disaster that will set back the growth of the league for many years. No one but the most diehard fans are watching anymore.
a total disaster
I concur
Matt Doyle has his list up today of the five Eastern Conference clubs he expects to be the busiest, or have the most interesting offseasons. DC isn’t one of them, but they are his dark horse. He notes all the players being moved on and the salary space available. He notes that they could buy down a DP slot and bring in a new DP this window, which they would if they’re a big-spending club, but they’re not so he doesn’t expect them to.
That’s not exactly unfair. However, the club has made noise about putting anything on the table to move on from Mateusz Klich. So that suggests that they are targeting at least one potentially new DP this window. Goff has suggested that he doesn’t believe that would include a buyout (so, I guess not EVERYTHING is on the table, and that also doesn’t do anything to cut against the perception of not being a big-spender).
It could also be that they want to wait until the summer to go in a big DP. That way you get half a season of Peltola’s friendly cap hit, the incoming cap hit of a DP isn’t as egregious in 2025, and there will be a greater quality of player available then (Benteke, Rooney, and Arriola were all summer DP signings, for instance).
Even if they don’t get a new DP this window, or if they replace Klich, I think it would still make a good deal of sense to buy down Peltola, and then you could go with the two DP, 4 U22, +$2 million GAM approach. Two of the U22s are spoken for in Ku-DiPietro and Pirani, and I have a hunch that Kim Joon Hong will be a U22. That would leave an option to buy another intriguing prospect (or two if Pirani is moved on), but also give a lot of flexibility with that added GAM to beef up the depth of the roster with a lot of good-but-not-elite players. Ally Mackay has been quite good at identifying MLS assets so far to fill out an approach like this, and while DC ownership would be on the hook for that additional $2 million, it seems like a figure they’d be comfortable with spending.z
Anyway, DC definitely has the potential for a really interesting offseason (and has made a lot of interesting moves already!). I’m just hopeful that reality hews a bit away from Doyle’s somewhat pessimistic take.
Excellent analysis, Brendan. We’ll see.
It seems like Mackay is waiting for other MLS teams to make moves. Within MLS, things are always a bit reactive, but also unpredictable, so it probably pays off. I certainly hope they’re making headway moving on Klich and maybe buying down Peltola to supercharge the attack with pieces that fit Benteke.
I wouldn’t say he’s waiting. Some teams have made no moves, Mackay has already brought in three players (including two MLS vets), is on the verge of adding another, has likely sold a homegrown, and got some allocation money from a player he wasn’t bringing back.
Mackay hasn’t added a high end difference maker yet, but neither has anyone else (your opinions on Jack Elliott and Aaron Long notwithstanding). But he hasn’t been waiting.
There’s going to be a flurry of activity within the league later, is what I’m getting at. He secured what he can for now, but we have gaping holes in the roster that will not all be filled with international transfers.
He brought in four starters last year via trade. So far it’s probably been his biggest strength as a GM, and was a lot of how Nashville did business. I’m fully expecting plenty of intra-MLS moves.
Also, I think once the new goalkeeper is in hand, we only have one international slot available (assuming MLS’s designation of Kijima was correct).
There are a lot of things about the DC United operation which are really embarrassing — and some are far more consequential, but why can’t the team ever do a decent job of updating the roster on the team’s own website? The front page reports 3 acquisitions — not rumors, but 3 players who are now officially part of the DC United roster, with Barraza, Kijima and now Peglow. Why aren’t they listed on the roster? Such a simple task – a few minutes work.
Then, in theory, we might know what Kjima’s status is — but the team suddenly isn’t listing any international player status. So, that wouldn’t really help us understand the roster situation. Not sure though why you think the slots are tied up. Schnegg I can assume occupies a slot. Kim would take one. Kijima is a maybe. MLS lists Klich as an Int’l, but I’d bet he’ll be green card eligible by now. Same with Benteke. Pirani might also be on the verge. Peltola won’t be too far behind. I’d bet the current roster will have no more than 5 int’ls, and if Klich isn’t resigned, we might be as low as 3, depending on the green cards.
Each team has 8 international slots.
For DC:
Pirani actually did get his green card last year, and that arguably was one of his largest contributions. Benteke has been here for two and a half years, so you’d hope a green card was incoming. Klich has been here for two, so maaaaaaaaybe he could get one. Or he could be moved. I would be pretty shocked if anyone else gets one (although Pirani’s acquisition of one was a surprise, so who knows).
United can of course always trade for extra slots.
You are 100% correct about United’s neglect of the roster page. It still lists Steven Birnbaum on the roster. For a long time, they didn’t have any consistency when it came to the format of listing hometowns of the players either. Maddening.
Professionalism is an art form….or something….
Ben Olson is still the coach…..
Goff is reporting that Kijima and MacNaughton are in the process of getting their green cards and won’t count as internationals. Not sure about anyone else.
I forgot Enow. My bad.
Kim, Schnegg, Enow, Peglow for sure. If Benteke and Klich don’t have them soon, I’d bet they’ll get them by mid-season, and maybe Peltola, too. Hopefully making for a great summer window.
To your first point, it’s very possible there are like 2 people that know the roster status of each player. It’s also very possible that the team doesn’t have a person in charge of keeping the website up to date (maybe by committee). Just a guess. Still embarrassing no matter what the reason. That’s not even on Mackay.
Something else that isn’t necessarily in his wheelhouse is getting guys their green cards. There are teams in this league where it seems like their international players get one as soon as they step on the field (an exaggeration given the laws, but it’s fast). I’m certain those teams are paying lawyers to make sure it gets done as soon as possible. We’re… probably not.
DC requires heavy bribes…..
Sure looks like Cincinnati added a high-end difference maker. Not sure DC United are in position where they need to worry about what the top teams in the Eastern Conf are doing, but FC Cincy has landed one of the top 4 scorers in Europe. That seems a lot more ambitious than signing a dude with 2 goal and 2 assists in Poland.
Good point.
Top 4 scoring is overrated
We are supreme
Becky Sauerbrunn has officially retired from soccer. What a legend, what a pro, what a soccer mind.
For those that want to dive deeper, here’s a link to her podcast interview with The Women’s Game.
https://youtu.be/EGRGIrnC8cA?si=8KXSD9lnOmb99hs0
DC has traded for Lukas MacNoughton, a center back from Nashville. He turns 30 in April, and is coming off a pretty horrific leg break last year. He does play in the Canadian national team, but I believe he does not count as an international player for MLS roster purposes.
He seems like either the replacement for Matai Akinmboni or maybe Christopher McVey. He made $100,000 last year, which is a savings over McVey, and roughly the same salary level as Akinmboni.
We need CB depth and he will help provide it. I still think we’re in for a major center back signing this winter.
In relation to this and your earlier point, Goff just reported that both MacNoughton and Kijima are in the process of getting Green Cards and will both be counted as domestic
Houston has signed Jimmy Maurer. Maurer had been reported as possibly being a target of DC for their goalkeeper spot. I’d say that with Farr and Barraza already signed, and Kim Joon Hong all but ready to be announced according to Goff, United is probably done shopping for goalkeepers.
Sorry for everyone that wanted to see Tim Melia in black and red.
The league site had a rundown video of every team’s best goal. United’s was Cristian Dajome’s second against Nashville. I might have chosen Jared Stroud’s volley against Atlanta in League Cup, but I think they were just choosing from MLS competitions.
Anyway, four other teams (Chicago, New England, Philadelphia, and Red Bulls) had their season’s best goal come at the expense of United. Now, DC actually went 2-1-1 in those games, but it helps go some way to explaining the large number of goals that United let in. A bunch of them sure seemed to be on low-percentage shots, so maybe United was just unlucky. Combine that with everybody else’s profligacy in front of goal (besides Benteke), and us ending up where we did makes a lot of sense.
Maybe there’s some reversion to the mean in both directions next season, but we’re also changing out about half the team, so that’s probably meaningless.
While I do feel like we conceded multiple “how TF did they score that” goals every season, we also have just conceded a lot of dumb ones due to poor defense. I’m not sure we can bank on the former returning to baseline, but an improved backline should make up for the rest.
I can’t find the article at the moment, but I remember reading that we gave up a crap ton of goals off rebounds from saves.