D.C. United hire Flanagan, another departure from DC Power, and more: Tuesday Freedom Kicks
Hello, everyone! I have what I hope is a good assortment of news today, but feel free to share your own Kicks in the comments.
D.C. United appoints Kevin Flanagan as Director of Academy & Player Development (D.C. United)
Some movement in D.C.’s efforts to improve their youth program?
We may also be hearing about some other Black-and-Red hires soon:
Steph Yang hopes to bring honor to us all (The Blazing Musket)
Steph Yang got her start at The Bent Musket and recently moved from The Athletic to a position as communications director at BOS Nation. She talked to The Blazing Musket about her decision to join the club and how she hopes to move them on from their disastrous brand reveal.
PRESEASON RECAP: D.C. United 2 vs.1 Charleston Battery (D.C. United)
For a little information on how preseason is going, D.C. United’s recap of their win against Charleston Battery.
Just days after Jorian Baucom left the team, Mariah Lee has announced she will also be moving on from DC Power FC, and, uh, it doesn’t sound like things are going great over there.
UPDATE: Read Donald’s article about Lee here.
Will Lynn Biyendolo’s robust résumé translate to more Reign goals? (The Seattle Times)
For those following the goings-on at Gotham FC, Lynn Biyendolo talked to the paper in her new city about her hopes for the Reign this season and shed a little more light on her decision to move.
Gotham’s GM has released a fairly vague statement about the whole situation.
Jury sides with MLS, USSF in NASL anti-trust suit (ESPN)
I will admit I don’t fully understand antitrust law, but it sounds like the jury thought NASL failed to prove a basic aspect of their case.
DONE DEAL: Tottenham Hotspur sign Beyonce to four-concert deal through June 2025 (Cartilage Free Captain)
The star and recent Grammy winner will be taking the field at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium June 5 – 12.
Enjoy your Tuesday!
More info about Mariah Lee’s departure was just posted:
https://thedistrictpress.com/2025/02/04/mariah-lee-departs-dc-power-fc/
Thanks, Donald!
Cool read about a new USL One team up in Portland, Maine.
https://www.goal.com/en-us/lists/mostly-maine-partially-brooklyn-how-portland-hearts-of-pine-created-the-trendiest-brand-in-american-soccer/bltfa698f393a4793c4
Uhhhhhh DC just sent Teddy KDP to Colorado for $1.25 Million in Cash. I get that Mackay and Lesesne want their own team…but that’s a big hit in terms of fan favorites
Man, that’s a bummer! Absolutely a favorite of mine. And I thought he meshed well with Benteke in terms of how they played off of each other.
Fully agree. When Ted was healthy, he seemed to be able to link up with Benteke really well. Hopefully this $1.25M actually gets used on a new player. Also cant say I understand signing him to a new U22 deal and then just trading him
I think the “When he was healthy” is probably playing a big role in the thinking here. I’m definitely going to miss him and hope he does well.
In the prosaic sense, it opens up another U-22 slot. United is down to two of those, so they can either get two more, or get one more and one more DP. Either way, it’s a good opportunity to infuse some high end talent to the team. Could a new U-22 signing be expected to outperform Ted? Possibly, but it’s a longshot.
I’m not sure with cash deals how much if any of the fee can be turned into GAM. We’re at 25 players now (counting Servania and Zouhir). Lesesne has said that they were pretty done with adding players, but maybe they’ve got something else on deck. Maybe they’ll at least make another homegrown signing. We’re down to Jackson Hopkins as our only homegrown on the roster, which is pretty inexcusable for a team with the resources of our area.
Anyway, best of luck Ted, and thanks for everything.
Given how things have worked in the recent past, I’m thinking about Nashville players that we could acquire with the $1.25M that would be worth getting (since Mackay REALLY loves getting Nashville players and staff). The one that really stands out to me would be Shaffleburg. Wouldn’t mind seeing him come here and I feel like he’d be a decent replacement. But he doesnt fit the U22 spot
I think we’re out of international spots. This is a weird deal to me. Teddy KDP can’t play right now. Maybe Colorado always coveted him. Armas has been around the league so he’d be aware of Ted’s game, his workrate, how he’s grown. Or maybe Lesesne told MacKay: “I’m desperate for more bodies, I’ve got some gimpy players, others out–I need to add another 1-3 players available now or we’re in big trouble.” Maybe it’s one of those two scenarios.
Otherwise, the only other scenario that makes sense is that DCU is piling up cash to make a bigger signing–like a U-22 player. That makes the most sense timing wise because Colorado has no incentive to make the deal right now and DCU doesn’t have cap/roster issues where we must move a player to be compliant. So DCU pushing this in order to get cash for a new player makes the most sense. And like I said, that’s going to require an international slot.
I’m still curious what they’re doing to get Rida Zouhir on the roster. I haven’t seen whether he has a green card or not. For that matter, they’re also counting on Lukas MacNoughton to get a green card, but that hasn’t been announced yet.
Another academy player gone….
I enjoyed my interactions with him in the club section while he was on the mend. quite a funny guy. I hope he thrives in CO.
If he didn’t have the injury bug, I’d be furious at this, but…
Go get ’em, Ted.
In all honesty, if I get that cash offer relative to the finances in MLS in a video game, I’m taking it. Ted would have the lowest possible injury rating, and his development has been stalled. I don’t think he’s a safe bet to be a dynamic super sub in the future, much less a consistent asset.
Thing is, this isn’t a video game, which are usually skewed toward the player being able to entice high quality prospects whose traits are clearly delineated by numbers. This is a club that will struggle to attract top talent, and the prospects we do have a chance with are mostly gambles.
The money is good, don’t know if the situation is.
Definitely wishing Ted all the best of fortune and success.
As for MLS rules:
What the rule doesn’t say is how much a club would receive — there used to a clear formula spelled out, In any case, this is not a transfer outside MLS.
That said, it’s not 100% clear that they can’t convert the cash.
Next:
There’s no obvious prohibition to assigning transfer revenue as GAM, but another reading of the provisions together is that GAM can be accumulated by transferring a player OUTSIDE of MLS, but the above rule limits how much ($3,000,000) of that could be assigned to GAM. My guess is that’s the scheme. So, in the absence of an express rule allowing GAM conversion for cash from an intraleague trade, none of the cash received can be used as GAM. If you want GAM from an intraleague trade, ask for it from the other team.
I guess they’re also feeling really good about Pirani. They had two U-22 players that were basically sharing one position. Looks like they’ve made their bet on Pirani.
I imagine his injury figures into this. They may not rate his overall production, but they may also see the need to add someone who is healthy now. Another shoe or two may yet drop.
Tom Bogert reporting that the amount is actually $1.125M + $275k in add-ons, so not directly $1.25M, but still functionally that number
We’ll that really sucks. Given we just signed him to a new contract, I would believe Colorado came knocking rather than us shopping him around. He’s going from one struggling team to another. But perhaps it’s better for him – he’s got a good work rate but won’t have to bust his ass for 90+ minutes and get hurt all the time. And they’re not signing a bunch of waived MLS vets or USL guys.
Annie, my take on Yael’s statement is that she does everything she can to avoid addressing the elephant in the room which is: why were so many very good players eager to jettison the ship and go elsewhere?
Yeah, I feel like she was trying to be reassuring but not willing to actually explain what any of the issues were. That said, I don’t really know why she felt compelled to write the letter. Fans didn’t like the big departures, but the team is still pretty stacked and made it to the semifinals last year. It’s not exactly a crisis situation.
ATL drops $22 mil plus add-ons on a new DP from the EPL in Emmanuel Latte Lath of Middlesbrough.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/43690374/atlanta-united-sign-emmanuel-latte-lath-mls-record-sources
You stole my thunder…….I give you the thumb……
ESPNFC takes a look at how MLS is attracting South American talent:
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/43613272/how-mls-convincing-young-south-american-stars-move-north