NWSL pays $5M to restitution fund, DC United trade Ku-DiPietro, and more: Thursday Freedom Kicks
It’s Thursday, and hopefully the ice/snow isn’t too bad where you are. In any event, stay safe on the roads if you have to venture out today.
NWSL will pay $5 million in restitution to players who suffered abuse (Yahoo!)
As part of a settlement, the NWSL will pay $5 million in restitution for current or former players who suffered from abuse while in the league.
On Tuesday, DC United shocked fans by trading Ted Ku-DiPietro to Colorado for $1.25 million in cash, plus an additional $275K if he meets performance thresholds.
There are only 3 players left on the roster who were on the DC United roster at the end of the 2023 season: Christian Benteke, Jackson Hopkins, and Gabriel Pirani.
Chelsea star Sam Kerr feared for her life in taxi, court hears (ESPN)
The court heard more of Sam Kerr’s testimony in her trial for racially aggravated harassment to a police officer. Included in her recalling of events was a taxi ride in which she said she feared for her life.
Statement from North American Soccer League (NASL)
The NASL lost their case against US Soccer and MLS, but it sounds like they’re pursuing an appeal.
UEFA weighs up scrapping extra time for Champions League knockout rounds (The Guardian)
UEFA is considering another dumb thing…this time, it’s the possibility of getting rid of extra time in the Champions League knockouts.
Hey Spirits episode: Sisters, self-belief & comfort shows with Heather Stainbrook (DP)
This was a really fun episode by Hey Spirits with the Spirit’s Heather Stainbrook. If you’re not subscribed…what are you waiting for?!
Loudoun United to play West Chester United in Open Cup play (DP)
Loudoun United will begin their quest for the U.S. Open Cup when they play West Chester United in their first match.
‘I’m back’ – USWNT forward Purce signs new Gotham FC contract (PSW)
Midge Purce will return to Gotham FC after signing a 1-year deal.
National Women’s Soccer League Sets 2024 Playoffs Docuseries Deal With Prime Video (Variety)
The NWSL will have their own documentary on the 2024 playoffs that will air on Prime Video. Just remember, we don’t have to watch until the very end.
Enjoy the day, y’all.
Doyle is pretty high on Kijima being an impact player for us this year, even if he’s not optimistic about the team overall. I doubt we’re getting anyone else unless we lose yet another guy to a long-term injury, so here’s what I’m guessing is our new starting XI:
Hong
Herrera, Bartlett, Rowles, Schnegg
Enow, Peltola
Stroud, Pirani, Peglow
Benteke
What concerns me about this lineup is the lack of connector/box-to-box guy. That should’ve been Klich, or Hopkins, and now possibly Kijima. Pirani has not shown that he wants to play that role or is all that great at involving his teammates unless it’s leading directly to a goal. We’re probably not going to be great in possession/hold the ball well.
Yeah, all our connectors (Leal, Kijima, Servania, Zouhir) are bench guys. Leal could eventually crack the starting lineup. But it certainly seems like we’re going to be building up the wings again. The hope is that the left side has gotten a bit better to catch up with the right.
Leal, Servania, and Zouhir also seem to have pretty decent long range shots. I think that they’re going to try and add that element to the attack, perhaps trying to keep the defense a little honest when it comes to covering Benteke.
As far as Doyle, he was looking at young players from each team that could take a leap forward. Kijima is a fine choice for DC, but I think the more important one is going to be Kim Joon Hong. If he performs well, the team is going to get close to the playoffs simply because they allowed about 20 more goals than expected last year. If he struggles… well, Luis Barraza has been a starter in MLS before, and Jordan Farr won the USL Goalkeeper of the Year once.
But for a team that is “focusing on youth,” per Mackay, really doesn’t have that many impactful young players. Pirani and Peglow might count. Jacob Murrell could be a good bench player. But Hopkins is hurt. Karamoko is hurt. Zouhir is filling the Jeremy Garay role. And Ku-DiPietro got traded to Colorado.
Tom Bogert seemed to hint that United was looking at another attacking player addition, and moving Teddy KDP could seem to hint at that being close. But for now, any predictions of us finishing pretty low in the standings don’t seem offbase to me.
I am feeling pretty good about Kim Joon Hong off of nothing but his career trajectory and hype. He has what should be a solid veteran defense in front of him too. It’ll just be a matter of whether our defensive shape and organization is better than last year.
Yeah, I think that a full year of Schnegg (knock on wood) will be an upgrade over Santos/Dajome, and hopefully Kye Rowles will be an upgrade over Chris McVey. I think that both Rowles and Lukas MacNaughton are going to be pretty good at one on one defending, and it kind of gets lost in Benteke’s aerial dominance, but Lucas Bartlett finished second in aerials won in MLS last year. Toss in both Peltola and Enow acting as shields, and Kim Joon Hong’s pretty stellar clean sheet rate, and hopefully the defense is better. Troy Lesesne also admitted his own tactical errors in the team’s recovery shape last year, so there’s reason to suspect the defense will be improved.
I saw some chatter about that in reply to his skeets about TKDP trade. If this was referencing a youtube chat I found, I don’t think he was really hinting at anything other than it would make sense for DCU to acquire an attacker, especially now that TKDP is gone.
One tidbit I couldn’t find a couple of days ago is that MLS did issue details on the cash trade mechanism, and, in fact, teams can get convert the cash into GAM. I guess the logic is that the acquiring team might not want to part with their own GAM in making the deal, but the selling team might prefer the GAM to keeping the player.
Given that, it seems likely that DC United intend to shift at least some of that cash to GAM. They’re getting cash for Matai, and may get some for Fletcher, but they’re allowed to bank up to $3M in GAM from transfers. So, even if they don’t want to use another DP slot, they could use that GAM to bring in a DP-type player with a similar cap impact. That said, they should have a fair amount of TAM available (Start with $2.25M) too, given that the transfers in are fairly small ball and Kim Joon Hong is on a U22 deal.
So, they certainly ought to be able to bring in an impact player or two in coming months.
One would think/hope.
Seeing the lineup makes me think DC doesn’t have much “pop” on the field. Hopefully the whole is greater than just the sum of the parts?
I fear Stroud has hit his ceiling as an MLS player. His saving grace is that his engine is insane and he plays the press really well.
To your point, Lesesne doesn’t seem to care about possessing, but as most soccer fans know there are circumstances where controlling the ball means controlling the game.
3 goals and 10 assists is a pretty decent output from a winger. Stroud also had a number of big misses, so it’s conceivable that his goal output goes up a little (although it’s also conceivable that his assists come down a bit). His season last year was better than his previous season at St. Louis, but not extraordinarily so. I think this may be his ceiling, but it’s also fairly close to repeatable. He might be a spot that we look to upgrade when we’re actually ready to “compete for the Eastern Conference,” as Mackay and Lesesne are saying should happen in 2026.
Agreed, and we should be happy if Stroud replicates next season. We should instead be disappointed that we couldn’t make him more of a squad player. He gives you a lot of effort and industry, though efficiency is usually lacking. I like Stroud, I don’t like that we still have him as an essential starter.
My fear, more than “control,” is danger. When you’re potentially devastating, things open up for you in a number of ways. Defense gets easier. Teams start to concede possession to you to cover their ass. Refs see you as the protagonist.
I don’t think we’ve made ourselves much more dangerous, and that worries me.
Interesting read from The Athletic ($ wall) on why pro soccer just has not happened in NOLA: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6113980/2025/02/06/super-bowl-nola-soccer/
Of note I didn’t know that New Orleans was under consideration for the 2031 Men’s Rugby World Cup in the US. Though it makes sense since they are home to the NOLA Gold a Major League Rugby original/founding team.
I’ve always thought that NO would be a great place for an MLS team (or at LEAST a USL-C team). I feel like both there and Phoenix would make a lot of sense for expansion in terms of geographic coverage and population. Maybe they’ll be in consideration for the next round of expansion as we steadily work our way up to 36 teams
There are rumblings of a USL 1 team based on the article.
NOLA would be a fun place for a team, but it’s only 58th in metro population, I have to believe that Phoenix, Las Vegas and maybe both Indianapolis and Detroit are ahead in the pecking order. Maybe if the league gets to 36 teams, but Tampa and San Antonio, and maybe even Sacramento or maybe Baltimore (if it starts turning around) would be more likely choices to round out the 36.
Yeah thats totally fair. I was figuring NOLA made sense to fill the gap between Florida/Atlanta and Houston, though the population could be better. Fully agree that Phoenix and Las Vegas are both likely, as well as Indy and Detroit being strong candidates. Selfishly I’d love to see one happen in Hampton Roads, though I dont think that will ever happen. Would also add Raleigh to the list of potentials as well
I could also see Louisville, KY though the USL club there is pretty strong so maybe pull an FC Cincy with Louisville City FC.
I’m hoping that we hear sometime in the next week how Old Glory DC games can be watched this season as the first game is @ Miami Sharks on the 15th.
All regular season and playoff Major League Rugby games will be streamed on ESPN+ this season. The Rugby Network will have a 72 hour delay for replays of matches, highlights, and other Rugby content.
https://www.majorleague.rugby/news/espnxmlr/
Not sure if I missed it in another FK but Moses Nyeman is back! With Loudoun this time around. Hope he can carve out a role with the team.
I think extra time is fun — and sometimes it even produces goals, but I totally get where the players are coming from in wanting to skip it. They really are playing too many games — and for top players who also play for their national teams, it’s almost a year-round thing, with very little time off.
In short, dropping extra time in UCL would not be stupid.