Chelsea win Club World Cup, DC United lose, and more: Monday Freedom Kicks
Happy Monday, everyone. I was up in New Jersey yesterday for the Club World Cup Final. So, we start there:
Chelsea destroyed PSG, who had conceded only one goal entering the final, by a 3-0 scoreline to claim the Club World Cup title.
DC United had their first match post-Troy Lesesne firing against the LA Galaxy. The Galaxy won 2-1 with presumed new DC United head coach René Weiler in attendance.
What is DC United Getting in René Weiler? (DP)
PJ breaks down what DC United is getting in the soon-to-be-announced new head coach.
Has this Club World Cup format been a success? (BBC)
Now that the Club World Cup is done, what did we think about the tournament? Was it a success? Does it matter? Will it push teams to want to be involved 4 years from now? All questions that can be debated in the coming weeks and months.
Rebeca Bernal: a Mexican making a name for herself abroad (AFXI)
A nice in depth article on our very own Rebeca Bernal and how she’s attempting to stand out by playing here in DC.
FIFA, global player unions agree to mandatory rest periods (ESPN)
FIFA has agreed with several players unions to have at least a 3 week mandatory break at the end of seasons. However, FIFPRO was not one of the unions invited to those discussions, and they want that mandatory break to be at least 4 weeks. We’ll see if there is some compromise.
World Cup will use more indoor venues for day-time kick-offs to combat heat (The Guardian)
Gianni Infantino says that the indoor stadiums that are being used for next year’s World Cup – Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and Vancouver – will be used for the daytime kickoffs to ease concerns about the heat and weather affecting matches.
Gavin Turner got the start for Chattanooga FC and look at this goal he hit!
USMNT star Tillman joins Bayer Leverkusen in €40 million transfer (PSW)
Malik Tillman is on the move, heading to Bayer Leverkusen from PSV.
The Cosmos return – with a new home, new league and old ideals (The Guardian)
The Cosmos are back for the third time…will this team stick in USL League One?
Enjoy the week, y’all.
A lot to comment on.
Glad we loaned Turner out, we don’t want none of that finishing around here! 🙄
In a bout of despair for the modern DCU, I made a spreadsheet looking at what place each team landed in at the end of the last 10 seasons. In the last five years, only the Fire had a worse average (12.6th place vs. our 11.4th place). In the last 10 years, we’re only 4th worst (Fire: 10.4; Quakes: 9.7; Houston: 8.8; DC: 8.5th place…keeping in mind that as you go deeper in history there are fewer teams, so no one is in 13th/14th place, slightly skewing the data). On the other end of the spectrum for 10 years you have Sounders (3.5); NYCFC (4.5); Metros (4.7)…LAFC is 4.0, but doesn’t have a full 10 seasons. Long way of confirming that it’s bleak, and it’s been bleak for a long time. I may get some coffee in me and do the same on GF / GA.
My ticket agent is leaving for another job. I think the writing is pretty much on the wall for season tickets from here on out.
And the club World Cup is not debatable, should not have happened and should not continue.
Ask Bayern…..
no doubt
Its a FIFA money grab.
It was all a ploy for Trump to steal a medal and hold a shiny trophy
Dammit, I was gonna let it slide, he fucking STAYED on the dais for the Trophy Lift with the players!!! They looked at him like the asshole he is, he just smirked, like “what you gonna do about it?” They were close enough to drop the trophy on his foot, and that would have been karmic justice had it happened.
Oh, it’s that, but the thing about it that is absolutely inexcusable is enticing clubs to sacrifice their players’ welfare in the one break the European based players get before the World Cup a full year from now. Like, why do you think there was an opening here, fucking FIFA? Of all organizations that look at a schedule, they should know better. Though clearly that’s not a concern for these absolute dregs.
Seriously, ask Musiala and Bayern. Was it worth it?
I’m sorry for your player, but this is much bigger than him. It’s not just the possibility or even the reality of getting injured in the tournament, but the ticking time bomb these players become once they’re subjected to months of regular season play and Champions League play with no rest from the previous campaign. And then they play the World Cup in the summer?
We agree.100%. It is simply too much.
It’s indicative that after earva comment, no one cared to comment on DC United. They are rapidly sinking to irrelevance.
I personally thought “yup that sounds about right,” as several others probably did too. With no coach and no news since Troy was sacked, and with another midweek game (missing at least two of our starting defenders, at that), I think apathy is what DC deserves. I would love to see more metrics that show how bad we’ve been in the last 10 years though. Truthfully, the existence of Montreal is probably what keeps us from being the absolute worst, and they had Nancy for a little while as a blip of positivity.
Last time we made playoffs was the 2016 season (9 years ago not 10) when we got knocked out by the then Montreal Impact 4-2 in the wildcard game. Lost to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers 4-3 on penalties in the 4th round. And went out 3-1 on aggregate in the CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinals.
There’s been a good DC-related discussion happening today on BlueSky, spurred by Roche. Mainly in relation to the recent “Honor the Tradition” push the team has been making, and the fact they’re focusing on the Old Guys like Marco, Jaime, etc., with him asking what players they could use after 2010
Bill Hamid, Steve Birnbaum, Dwayne De Rosario, Perry Kitchen, Andy Najar, Bobby Boswell, Lucho, Rooney…
I will say, just got a flash image of Etcheverry serving balls onto Benteke’s head… but that’s neither here nor there
Agreed. Canouse also came up, and I threw in Pontius as well. Also Zoltan Steiber. Not that he was a club legend or anything, but he was a cult hero in our hearts.
Brendan also added Ola Kamara, Rolfe, and Fabi
Rolfe of the Magic Headband
Korb and Kemp were long time. I still feel bad that Korb’s career got ended by that knee injury playing Yankee Stadium….
Zoltan! Zoltan! Zoltan!
One of the things that I low key appreciated about Zoltan was him leaning into the Dude, Where’s My Car reference with his name.
He ran with that pretty well. I have a photo of he and I doing the “Z” hand gesture laughing all the way. He was part of a nice picture frame of players to stick Wayne f’ing Rooney in with. The last decent team we had.
Rolfe was such a treat to watch, I really really hate how his career ended.