DCU away jersey leaked, Liverpool upset in FA Cup, and more: Monday Freedom Kicks
Happy Monday. The Super Bowl was last night, and the MVP of the game was Kendrick Lamar. And it wasn’t close!
Thoughts on the new away kit? I think it’s fine, but coming after the cherry blossom jerseys, they are missing the wow factor.
‘Don’t mess with the FA Cup – Plymouth teach Slot a lesson’ (BBC)
Liverpool loses to Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup, teaching Arne Slot a valuable lesson on taking the early rounds of the Cup seriously.
Washington Spirit loan Abiodun, Bolt to Dallas Trinity FC for 2025 (DP)
The Spirit send two of the young players on loan to Dallas Trinity. We’ll see them back at Audi Field on May 8th to face DC Power.
MLS and LAFC condemn anti-Israel social media activity by owner Gnanalingam (PSW)
One of LAFC’s owners is now being investigated for his comments on Israel on social media. They dum
Sergio Ramos on Monterrey transfer: In Mexico to win trophies (ESPN)
Sergio Ramos has signed with Monterrey, and he said he’s there to help the team win.
It’s officially time to pay attention to Damion Downs (PSW)
Damian Downs is performing really well in Germany. He might have done enough to earn a call-up to the USMNT.
Finally, in the “we’re getting old” part of the day, Dwayne De Rosario’s son is now playing on Toronto FC II.
Enjoy the day, y’all.
I don’t know if Plymouth so much “taught Slot a lesson” as allowed him to focus on winning the biggest double in the world- Premier League and Champions League. They’re now well positioned for both with a less congested schedule.
Goff reporting that Bill Hamid has signed with Miami FC in USL-C
I was sort of wondering early on in the postseason if he might not see him back here as the team was rebuilding its goalkeeper corps. But that ship has sailed.
One of the highlights in the Rida Zouhir reel is of him providing an assist on a goal scored on Hamid in USL.
Best of luck to Bill in Miami!
Damian Downs had a heck of a game for 1 FC Koeln vs Leverkusen. I look forward to seeing more of him.
The Ted Ku-DiPietro trade is now official. I’m feeling pretty bummed out that we only have one active homegrown player on the roster, and even he (Jackson Hopkins) is out for a couple months with injury. The lack of an MLS Next PRO team is really hampering our ability to sign and develop internal talent. We haven’t signed a homegrown player since 2022, when we signed Matai Akinmboni and Kristian Fletcher. Both of those players could potentially be on Premier League rosters next season, so a pathway exists for our academy players. But we haven’t gotten a lot of impact from most of our homegrowns, and only the first two (Hamid and Najar) passed the 100 game mark with the club. I kind of question how legitimate Ally Mackay’s “organizational commitment to youth” is, but it doesn’t seem out of line to be expecting at least one new homegrown signing each season.
I kind of figure both he and Lesesne need to demonstrate that they’re good at their jobs…which means winning more games now over developing youth players. It’ll take longer than their contracts for the academy to be churning out at the rate Dallas and Philly are.
It’s true that measuring a new management’s true impact on youth development is seen after like a decade. We can’t really blame Lesesne or Mackay for what’s currently in the pipeline.
At the same time, they said youth development, not us.
At the very least we’re not going and signing a bunch of guys on the wrong side of 30. I don’t think ownership wants that kind of expenditure anymore. On the one hand it’s stingy, but on the other hand it’s not a sustainable method of building a team.
Right now, only Benteke (34), Badji (32), and Farr (30) are 30 or older. MacNaughton and Antley both turn 30 in March. So yeah, the team is youthful in that regard, without many players who are 30 or older, and really only one starter out of that. Our most indispensable player is the oldest one on the roster though, which is not great.
Yeah, it’s all a bummer, really. I get the financial/cap movement/analytics piece of all of the moves, but it makes it hard to connect (or reconnect for those of us that have lapsed during this long period of not-great-ness) when none of the people you’ve watched grow up with the org are still around.
Heck, it’s hard to connect with the team at all season-to-season. Half the starting XI from last season is gone, and almost everyone from just 2 years ago as well. The team also lost non-sporting staff like Claudia Pagan and Rory Molleda in recent years. It makes it seem like there’s no permanence in the whole organization.
The Academy has done an OK job. Hamid, Najar, White, Durkin, (Ian) Harkes, Pines. Williamson, Paredes, Yow, Ku-Dipietro and Hopkins, and I guess Akimnboni and Fletcher, though we didn’t seen anything great from them. Not stellar, but decent. However, the team hasn’t really benefited on hte field much beyond Hamid and Najar, and maybe Durkin (but the last two really cut their teeth with other academies before coming to DC). It really is disappointing that even when there’s a good player like Williamson, he wouldn’t sign with DCU. And, then there’s all the local talent that steers clear of the DCU Academy.
So much wrong with this franchise. Really wish I could win a big lottery jackpot.
I would add Pines and Paredes to the list of players that they got good benefit from. A number of academy players have done well in Europe (none at huge teams, but that’s okay). Paredes and Najar brought some good transfer fees, and they’ve gotten smaller fees for a number of others. Even Ku-DiPietro is bringing a solid enough return. The recruiting in the past has been pretty good. Williamson is obviously a big miss, but it was considered to be a job well done to land Harkes, Pines, and Fletcher (though they mostly developed at college or other academies).
Yeah, the academy isn’t a disaster. But it’s a big part of what’s separating Philadelphia from us, for instance (and also absolutely nailing their international signings).
Outside of Hamid, Najar, and Paredes, it’s hard to say that many of our signings have made big leaps with the club, but many of the others also haven’t developed that much at other organizations either. But we also haven’t developed any of our draft picks, and we used to do really well at that aspect too.
So, if we can get some talent retention in place, and some coaching that can actually develop youth, and the goddamn MLS Next PRO team, we might be on to something.
So who else is ready for the Major League Rugby season to kick off this weekend? Old Glory DC starts on the road at Miami Sharks. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and televised locally on Monumental Sports.