DCU Depart Open Cup and Fire Lesesne, Euro and CWC Results, and more: Thursday Freedom Kicks
Happy Thursday everyone! Over the long weekend, I made it back to town to visit family and managed to attend Saturday’s game against Atlanta. It was my first time back at the stadium in over two years and only my second time there since the 2019 regular season finale against Cincinnati. Frustrating results aside, it was genuinely nice to be back as Audi Field, and RFK before that, have always been happy places for me. On to another busy day of soccer stories.
D.C. United coughs up a two-goal lead and exits the U.S. Open Cup (Washington Post $)
DCU’s quaterfinal match in quest for a 4th US Open Cup title started off like a dream. The possibly soon to be departing Gabriel Pirani put DCU ahead with a golazzo from outside the box in the 5th minute. A Nashville own goal extended the lead to 2-0 19 minutes later. After that the dream arguably began to morph into a nightmare. Less than a minute later, Aaron Herrera attempted to clear a ball from the penalty area and blasted it off Lucas Bartlett’s back. The deflection fell perfectly for Jonathan Perez who made no mistake in putting it in the back of the net. Early in the second half, Herrera was called for a handball in the box. Sam Surridge tied it up at 2 on the ensuing penalty shot. DCU showed some life as Dominique Badji just missed the upper left corner of the goal shortly after coming on for Christian Benteke. Immediately after, Nashville raced down the pitch and Surridge bagged his second goal, grabbing the lead. Old friend Andy Najar put the dagger through DCU’s heart with an absolute laser of a shot from distance. In a cameo appearance, Walker Zimmerman scored on a corner to make it 5-2.
After midnight on the East Coast, Steven Goff reported DCU head coach Troy Lesense and his top assistant Zach Prince have been relieved of their duties. United have hired a new coach, but as of the time I am writing this (about midnight Central) the person has not been publicly identified.
The new coach will be DC United’s fourth non-interim coach since Ben Olsen departed less than 5 years ago.
England 4-0 Netherlands: Holders hit Women’s EURO 2025 Form With Lauren James Double (UEFA)
The defending Women’s Euro champions bounced back from their opening match defeat to France with a dominant performance against the Dutch in front of a crowd that included the Prince of Wales. The Netherlands only managed four shot attempts, with only one on target. Lauren James bagged a brace for the Lionesses with Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone picked up the other goals for England. Spirit defender Esme Morgan was an unused sub for the English.
France 4-1 Wales highlights: Grace Geyoro caps confident Les Bleues win at Women’s EURO 2025 (UEFA)
In the other half of Group D, France defeated Wales 4-1. Which teams will emerge from the Group of Death will have to wait until the final match day. Wales’ lone goal, scored by Jess Fishlock, was the country’s first ever in a Euro Final.
USMNT striker Damion Downs joins Southampton from Cologne (ESPN)
Another member of the USMNT will ply his trade in the English second division next year, Damion Downs sealed a move from FC Cologne to Southampton in the Championship. The past season was eventful for Downs as he contributed 10 goals and 5 assists in Cologne’s successful campaign to return to the Bundesliga. Most recently, Downs was with the USMNT as they battled their way to the Gold Cup final.
This is a saga I wasn’t aware of. Current Colorado Rapid, Reggie Cannon transferred to Boavista from FC Dallas and signed a 5 year deal. He filed payment default claims in 2021 and 2023 and then terminated his contract in July 2023 after Portugal’s arbitration commission agreed he had the right to do so. Boavista filed a breach of contact claim against Cannon and his (then) new team Queens Park Rangers. FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber ruled against Cannon and QPR in June 2024. Today, the Court for Arbitration in Sport threw out FIFA’s decision and awarded Cannon $468,000.
Details of the case are still confidential, but some of the rumored details are wild. Various reports suggest that Boavista still owes FC Dallas Cannon’s transfer fee from 2020. Additionally, Boavista was reportedly late, anywhere from 5 to 98 days, on 98 of 99 payments owed to Cannon.
Paris Saint-Germain trounce Madrid, Mbappé to reach CWC final (ESPN)
Kylian Mbappé’s reunion with his former team was not a happy one for him, as Paris Saint-Germain put up 3 goals on Real Madrid in the first 24 minutes on the way to a 4-0 victory. PSG will face Chelsea in the Club World Cup final on Sunday in New Jersey.
And finally, after that downer of a result lets end with something on the somewhat lighter side of things…..
Big Bird: NYCFC Sends 5-story-tall Pigeon on Tour of City’s Waterways (Hudson River Blue)
NYCFC is going all in on the pigeon theme. In a bit of creative marketing timed around the Club World Cup semifinal being played at nearby MetLife Stadium, NYCFC sailed a barge with a 700 pound inflatable pigeon on what was dubbed “The Five-Borough Flight”. Launching from Staten Island and sailed up and then down the Hudson River before heading up the East River to Queens about where their new stadium is under construction. Etihad Stadium will apparently feature a 31 foot tall pigeon will be sculpted into one of the arena’s walls.
I find this odd on a few levels, but also a little endearing and fun. Its kind of nice to see a team not take themselves completely seriously for a moment. Maybe its time DCU embraces some of its history and brings back some acknowledgement of the RFK raccoons?
Until next week.
I could make a joke out of it somehow, but naw, I think I’ll just thank Lesesne for trying, even if the result wasn’t great. Dude clearly cared a ton about the outcome, generally tried to be responsible, and did his best with the resources available.
We may never know if he’d be a competitor with more resources, but he sure as heck didn’t have them in DC. Hope he’s able to bounce back and feels tremendous relief instead of anguish.
Lesesne seems like a genuinely nice dude. He did a lot of the off-field stuff right, and seemed like he really did care about the success of the team. Hopefully the new coach can at least keep that up
I wouldn’t be surprised if Lesesne goes and does well with a different MLS team that gives more support from the owners.
I actually would be surprised if he got another job in MLS, just cuz of trajectory. That said, I suppose anything is possible, but I doubt it would be one of the resource-heavy teams
He seems like he’d be a great USL coach. Meaning that in the best way possible.
Good shout
I would be very surprised if he pops up as an MLS head coach again
I heard the Wizards just offered him the job……(for those wishing for Leonsis to come in….)
I don’t know about that. First, I could see him becoming an MLS assistant for some team. And then when their head coach is fired, he gets elevated. Second, look at Bradley Carnell. His teams in St. Louis were terrible after their first year. And now he’s not too shabby with Philly.
So are we all in a similar boat of hoping the new coach is Jim Curtin, but assuming and expecting it to just be Gary Smith?
I don’t think either of them would want to come here.
Curtin was approached and wasn’t interested.
https://bsky.app/profile/stevengoff.bsky.social/post/3ltmh46xmnk2z
That’s pretty damning. “Hard sell” rejected….
We have truly hit rock bottom.
Scratch that, Tom Bogert reporting that it’s a Swiss guy named René Weiler
https://www.givemesport.com/sources-dc-united-to-name-rene-weiler-manager/
The last sentence of that article is depressing.
Like everyone makes the playoffs in the MLS and somehow it’s been 5 years.
A coach with a proven track record of first division success? That’s different..
I don’t know much about the guy, but the track record of success at different clubs is good to have, but he also hasn’t really stayed in any one place more than like 2 years, which seems odd
He’ll fit right in with our club, then.
He is likely another wack job, and will install glucose monitoring devices on players to monitor their response to swiss cheese consumption
Goff and Pablo are now also reporting this, with Pablo saying an announcement is coming this morning.
Goff also reported that Jim Curtin and a Dutch coach were also considered. Curtin was reportedly not at all interested
Re: Curtin knowing better: Shocker 😅
And a Heineken swilling Dutchman just went to his fridge for a cold one.
Goff further reports that there were 3 other candidates:
Jim Curtin, Gio Savarese, and Jess Thorup.
Interesting to note that Weiler coached Najar at Anderlecht, and Thorup coached Hamid at Midtjylland
You mean “refused to give Hamid a serious shot at Midtjylland…”
And, Jim Curtin coached…Chris Pontius at Philadelphia (I wanted it to be Adu, but Freddy left the Union the year before)/.
Goff is reporting that the team has advanced talks with Weiler. Weiler has coached a gazillion teams in multiple leagues, but he doesn’t stick around. The money DCU is talking about would make him the highest paid coach in DCU history. In the meantime, the coach of the academy (Flanagan) will be interim coach.
I imagine we’ll hear soon enough that speculation is kinda not worth it. Will be interesting to see if they decided not to announce immediately out of respect for Troy or because the candidate is horse crap. We’ll find out.
Oh, wow, real fast
unless they put the Armadillo trophy in a place of honor this is all just marketing nonsense.
They were showing a clip of various supporters clubs leaders gazing on the (offscreen) third jersey. They were all appropriately ga-ga over it. I think they only way this is a winner for me is if they find a way to bring the three stripes back over the chest.
I don’t think Coach Lesense was the problem and I don’t think any new coach will fix the problem.
I don’t think Lesesne was THE problem, but he was kind of proving to be A problem. Or at least not a solution. A new coach might possibly get better results, but the whole structure of the club – from ownership down – is so bad that I agree with your assessment that any new coach won’t fix it.
Worst DC United seasons: 2000 (-19 GD, no one fired b/c they had won MLS Cup the year before); 2010 (-26 GD, coach fired early midseason); 2013 (-37 GD, but at least won USOC); 2017 (-29 GD, no one fired?!?); 2020 (-16 GD, coach fired); 2022 (-35 GD, coach fired early midseason); 2024 (-18 GD, no one fired); 2025 (-22 GD & counting, coach fired).
Half of these terrible seasons have come in the last 6 seasons. Levien/Kaplan reign of error.
2017 especially stings since that was the Farewell to RFK.
I don’t particularly rate Troy as a head coach, but the lineup he was given was just craptastic.
By way of example, I would rank Schnegg as one of the worst defenders I have seen here (I have decided not to name the list). His presence on the left side of the defensive line is an insurmountable chasm in any plan to keep the ball out of the DC United net.
Our new Swiss master should start there. Find a left fullback who can defend.
Interesting take on Schnegg. He’s not perfect by any means, but he seems to be generally thought of as one of our better players. It took a bit for him to get going (as most international players do), but he’s been largely solid. He’s also been asked to do a lot of attacking, which is going to leave the back exposed sometimes. The same goes for Herrera. Sometimes that works fine, other times we get burned. Schnegg could be better, sure, but he’s certainly not where I would start pointing fingers for our defensive woes
He is burned time after time and game after game. Barely better than a traffic cone when an attacker has got the ball in front of him.
With respect, not that bad…but you are certainly welcome to opine as such.
The real problems are far too vast.
We could say this about multiple different defenders and midfielders every game honestly. I sympathize with Troy in regards to the lack of talent he had to work with, but he clearly knew nothing about how to organize a defense properly, and none of the defenders seemed capable of it themselves.
I’m not quite as down on Schnegg, but I will certainly admit to several times watching him and reminding myself that this guy won the Austrian Bundesliga. And I wonder at that.
Agreed. Wilfred Nancy wouldn’t have that many more points with this team. We were hoping to fix the defense last offseason, and unless this new coach knows how to align this group better, it’s hard to see much improvement without some new guys coming in (players, or owners).
On the Downs move…Southhampton nearly made it to the Prem. I would’ve stayed with a club that made the top tier of the Bundesliga where his role was well understood but this may work out for him.
As a closet 1 FC Koeln fan, he played really well there. I too am a bit surprised by the transfer, but it may be a simple as cultural differences or something. Cologne is a very fun city, muticultural, etc.
Who knows?
I’d have to imagine there’s a hefty salary increase, or the allure of playing in the PL at some point and the money/prestige that comes with that.
PJ
Thank you for the racoon……
Any time. Had put something in there to give me some joy on this gloomy news day.
Oh and thanks the awesome NYC floating pigeon! That was simply fun.
Anyone have any suggestions for where to watch the Club World Cup final? Preferably in NOVA?
I’ve found that every time I’ve walked into a foreign run restaurant that has a sports dedicated TV, it’s on. These guys get DAZN.
True! It also just happens to be my birthday this weekend so I’m trying to find a location that can seat me and like 15 friends haha
Not sure what your boundaries are for NOVA, but Park Lane Tavern in Fredericksburg should be showing it, and is good at accommodating larger groups. I haven’t been to that location specifically, but I used to go to the Park Lane down here in Hampton VA all the time to watch big soccer games, so it should be similar up there.
I don’t think any coach will necessairly succeed here till we get new owners.
I full heartedly agree, but I’m morbidly curious to see how well a new manager tills this barren soil.
I’m pretty certain the soil isn’t even barren, but rather non-existent.
Time to remember our United Swiss legends! Dennis Iapichino (2013 US Open Cup winner!), and Alain Rochat (whose gameworn jersey I own for some reason).
Troy was definitely dealt a bad hand, which was then further stripped, and the FO clearly gave up on him early this season given the lack of movement since the start of the season. But if you can’t coach a defense, you’re not a good coach. You have to have something to fall back on when your only talented players are out injured or playing internationally. Perhaps even worse, Troy abandoned the only thing that worked for the team – the high press – probably fighting for his job. All it did was further expose the sieve of a backline we’ve got going right now. Even the switch to Barraza, who is a nominally better shot stopper right now, ultimately doomed the team to being right back on defense because his passing is so bad.
The similarities between now and the Losada/Rooney transition are appalling. The only difference is they’re skipping the “we’re giving Ashton til the end of the season” BS and appointing Weiler guy immediately. More experienced than Rooney yes. Long-term hire? The evidence says not a chance in hell. We’re still on the 18ish month manager cycle, including a (likely) complete 180 in tactical setup, with a roster that is not suited to really win regardless of style. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mackay is dismissed at the end of the season too.
Thankfully our owners are known for nailing their hires!
The sauce on this comment could melt through the hull of a space freighter.
After Andy had himself a night last night, it had me thinking of how good of team we could make out of former DC players that now play for other MLS teams. I’ve been thinking on that today, and I think a pretty solid team could be fielded:
Willis/Bono; Najar, McVey, Hines-Ike, Williams, Smith; Klich/Durkin; Arriola, Lucho, Gressel; KDP
Some stretches in the lineup there, but not the worst looking team honestly.
You stole my thunder, or more accurately reflected what I was pondering.
I am astonished by our personnel moves over time.
I will say the team was nicely constructed to insert Wayne Rooney into the line up (Mattocks was a worthy back up there as well). Canouse, Arriola, Zoltan, Lucho, etc were very nicely collected by the FO. Since then, mind boggling futility. I still feel the Wayne’s first year boasted a team the could have run for the MLS Cup. But good old Columbus tripped us up in a decent effort.
Per Tom Bogert, DC has now officially made an offer to Westerlo for Griffin Yow
…. Is it really possible that United would reach out to Westerlo without doing their due diligence about Yow’s feelings on the matter? We’re about to find out.
To be clear, it’s possible they did find out if Yow has any interest in returning to the club that cast him off, but if not, this is a new low in negligence.
I’m not all that high on Yow personally. I don’t think there’s anyone left from when he was sold either, besides ownership, so who would he be holding a grudge against?
It depends on his thinking. I wouldn’t want to be burnt twice, and that’s a real possibility here. I also don’t know his ambitions, but if he has any, coming back would be a strange move
I would just continue in Europe if he’s not homesick or glued to the bench. Coming back here is unlikely to advance his career except to eventually get himself to another MLS team.
My thoughts exactly. It’s been argued that he wants to get eyes before the WC, but it’s way too late for that, surely
As for his quality, depends on the deal. He’s better than Stroud, but with similar lack of top speed