DCU back on local TV, Hometown Hero Kit reveal, and more: Tuesday Freedom Kicks
Morning DC! Much like DC United, my over 30 rec team league is going through a bit of a rough patch. I won’t tell you the score of last night’s game, but let’s just say it was our worst defeat of the season. Anyways, here are your Tuesday Freedom Kicks!
D.C. United Matches to Re-Air Locally on FOX 5 (DCU)
We may be out of the playoffs, but at least we can see the team trudge across the finish line for the next few months on a local broadcaster (albeit, on delay). I’m interested though if this means anything in terms of the broadcast deal with Apple?
Speaking of playoffs, the Spirit only need 17 more points to clinch a playoff spot. Really quite a tale of two teams.
Honestly, it’s a sick looking kit!
Ex-USWNT midfielder Gautrat joins Newcastle, retires from NWSL (ProSoccer Wire)
Remember back a few years ago when every USWNT star was going to England? That trend may have halted, but here is one last player from that two World Cup winning team headed across the pond. Interestingly enough, she has announced her NWSL retirement so this is likely Morgan’s last club.
A break down from the “Hey Spirits” crew where they talk the record setting win over the weekend, the Spirit’s first international tournament game in El Salvador, and the correct nomenclature for what a link from Bluesky should be called (warning: it ain’t PG).
16 year old Rio Ngumoha scored the winning goal in an enthralling game at Newcastle yesterday. Saying he’s only the 4th youngest ever goal scorer in the league seems like not a huge deal entirely, but worth noting is that he’s only one day older than Wayne Rooney was when the DC United legend scored his first professional goal.
Jordyn Huitema helps Reign tie Dash; Sofia Huerta sets assist record (Reuters)
Over the weekend, long time NWSL and sometimes USWNT defender Sofia Huerta got her league leading 32nd career assist in the league. From what I can find online, 2nd place is Huerta’s teammate, Lynn Biyendolo, with 28 assists so she could have the most goals AND assists in the league soon. But we all know that eventually Croix will come along to take the top spot 😉
Anyways, that’s all from me today on this beautiful Fall like day in DC!
Yeah, it is quite a contrast between the Spirit and DCU. That is great news about DCU airing locally. While I commend the big thinking of the agreement with Apple, it has really reduced the visibility of MLS to the rest of America.
I used to catch DCU games on local TV all the time. I honestly can’t remember the last time I watched a game on TV.
I have Apple TV, and I pass on a lot of MLS content. It was simply another Garber money grab. Ultimately, it does give access to all teams, a positive, but it absolutely kills the casual development of local fanbases.
Way to go, Darth Garber. Bite the Big Apple, don’t mind the maggots….
Unrelated, MLS has announced the Miami Expansion Draft where no players are protected in the rest of the league. Existing salaries of the acquired will not count against the salary cap until 2035.
I commend MLS for trying something different. The national broadcasters are an oligopsony (too few buyers in a market allowing them to collude to keep the price of TV rights down). They were working together to keep from paying more for MLS TV rights. If MLS took the collusional lowball deal, they’d risk being lowballed forever, essentially allowing the TV networks to stop the league’s growth.
The owners probably wanted more revenue too. They wanted a market player to pay them closer to what they thought their rights were worth.
That deal was also negotiated in the 2018-2022 time frame, when the conventional wisdom was that streaming services were the future and had infinite growth potential.
The owners (remember that Garber works for the owners) were right to take the better cash offer and get the higher valuation for their rights then try to figure out and unforeseen consequences later.
The obvious unforeseen consequence was that the market started to get streaming fatigue in 2024 and 2025 and the consumer sentiment changed from “sign me up for streaming” to “not another pay TV subscription!”
Keep in mind this deal was a make or break for Apple, Inc. No sports leave wanted to sign a rights contract with them until MLS. Then, boom! MLB sees the good production values and signs up for friday night baseball. They are now a competitor in bidding for rights fees all because MLS said yes first.
Now, we definitely need to do something the restore national visibility but getting more revenues and a higher valuation for TV rights was more pressing back 4-7 years ago.
A very sober view. Thumbs up.
John Morrissey reporting that Loudoun has informed Ryan Martin that he will be relieved of his coaching duties at the end of the 2025 season. Given that Loudoun is currently 4th in the East, and is looking to make the playoffs for the first time ever, this seems…odd?
For some good news, I saw Goff post soccer updates on his Bluesky account.
Oh no has Loudoun ownership caught whatever malaise is infecting DCU ownership?
Yeah the write up about it says that Martin will probably end up being one of the most in-demand free agent coaches because of how well he’s done. I’m sure they have their reasons, but it seems so odd from the outside now that the team is finally successful.
Seems to always happen when new owners take over any business, regardless of success. They want their guys.
This is odd, and I bet it has more to do with advocating for his players with management (recall the ruinous reporting in the spring?). Just speculating.
Also, DCU can learn from Loudoun on the killer jersey roll out. Kudos, LU.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/46077994/usmnt-yunus-musah-missed-gold-cup-needed-switch-off
Being in the midst of a nasty bout of burnout myself, I understand these guys trying to keep themselves afloat rather than playing ultra-competitive soccer year-round. I don’t fully buy what the national team legends say on their mics, even though the grit and intangibles they’re always on about certainly have been missing at times. It’s bad timing, largely on the part of the federation making a coaching change so late in the cycle.
Now, I don’t think continuing to talk about missing the GC for any reason is going to make the big mouths shut up. If anything, it’ll give them more to talk about. Musah and Co. will have to make sure their play justifies their absence, and acknowledge that perhaps one or two guys who were available in the summer have the upper hand in getting a spot on the team next year.
I’m desirous for the USMNT to prove that they have that grit, dedication, and effort in them. It’s not the old guard’s fault they have plenty to criticize, whether you agree they should be calling them out or not.
My concern is that the USMNT stars feel that we’re privileged to have them on the national team, and should take whatever efforts they deign to give us. That they are looking forward to the World Cup, but don’t really see the point in rehearsals and preparation for it. It’s even possible that, instead of proving themselves, they let their hostility to criticism rule their heads and give slack efforts.
Anyway, I’ll believe in character and commitment when I see it. Not showing at the Gold Cup? Fine, get the rest, but they’re still not inspiring a nation, fans, neutrals, or newcomers, for the big event when they have played. It’s the job of a coach to get them onside, but the players need to show up, too.
For all the merited criticisms Pochettino has gotten for our lackluster displays, I fully trust him to exclude guys who don’t respect the team enough to put in a hard effort. He took a hard line with the goalkeeping situation because we can’t have a trio of rusty, out-of-practice players trying to remember what it’s like to catch a cross. There will definitely be at least one “elite” guy playing in Europe who will miss the WC because they haven’t shown that the national team is important to them.
It does seem probable that someone will diva out of the squad, parental tweeting or no. I do wish we had just ditched Berhalter at the beginning of the cycle, instead of keeping him for barely passing WC grades.
I’ll never judge a person for saying they need to take a break for their mental health. Landon Donovan took a sabbatical for his. At the time, he was the face of the USMNT and one of the faces of MLS. Since then, the confederations and leagues have added more games in the form of things like the League Cup and the Nations League in search of more money. Some of these tournaments are arguably duplicative of tournaments that already exist (Gold Cup/Nations League). On top of that, the rise of social media has put players under a microscope like never before. As much as older players speak from experience, their knowledge is somewhat outdated. Given all of this, maybe some more squad rotation would be better for the USMNT. Give some of the players a mental break so they don’t reach that point Landon Donovan did and maybe get better results when it counts. Additionally, rotation builds a better pool to draw from. That being said, results could bear out that I am completely off base.
It’s definitely a good idea to keep testing players even if your “A” team is all performing. For one, give some bubble players the extra motivation they might need to round themselves out. Two, injuries happen, so someone has to be ready to fill in if/when the presumed starter goes down.
The DM situation terrifies me though. No one either than Adams has demonstrated the grit and composure to stabilize our otherwise all-offensive options.