Morris to Racing, Spirit Building Relationships, Man U Stumbles, and more: Thursday Freedom Kicks
I think I’ve said in the past or at least hinted that when work and family took me out of the DMV, I ended up in Minnesota. Yesterday was an unspeakably difficult day here. It was the kind of day that makes you want to cling tight to your loved ones. It was the kind of day that also puts things in a little perspective. It reminded me that as much as DC United causes my blood pressure to boil, there are more important things in life. It is the kind of day that reminds me I am lucky to complain about United and otherwise discuss soccer with all of you.
Washington Spirit trade Makenna Morris to Racing Louisville, recall Deb Abiodun (DP)
Racing acquires Makenna Morris in trade with Washington Spirit (Racing Louisville)
Its difficult to see someone who grew up a Spirit fan leave, but the move is beneficial for her and the Spirit.
The Spirit seem to be striving to build authentic connections with LGBTQ+ Spirit fans. Commendable doesn’t seem to go far enough or be an adequate description for this effort.
For as good as the on field product is, the NWSL main office just can’t seem to get out of its own way. It reminds me of a cartoon where a character is walking through a yard and keeps stepping on rakes causing them to swing up and hit them in the face. Its just one miss step after another.
Another Michelle Kang team recruits talent out of NWSL, but not from the Spirit.
Lionel Messi’s late heroics lead Inter Miami to Leagues Cup final (ESPN)
And there was much rejoicing (in MLS And Apple HQs).
Kairat stun Celtic in shootout as Bodo/Glimt and Pafos earn first Champions League spots (BBC)
Dennis pointed this out in yesterday’s comments. The geography of this fascinates me. Almaty is the eastern-most team to qualify for the Champion’s League. It’s located further east than the eastern-most point of China’s border. A hypothetical away match at Anfield would be about 3538 miles, which is further than Miami to Vancouver.
Amorim slams Man United players after shock loss to Grimsby (ESPN)
DC isn’t the only Rooney-affiliated UNited not living up to its history.
The State of the USMNT Goalkeeper Position Heading into September Matches (US Soccer)
For those who can’t get enough discussion of position battles and depth charts, US Soccer provides a look at the US Men’s Goalie situation going into the upcoming friendlies.
I’ll end with this,
Report: Jadon Sancho could move to MLS — for love (Pro Soccer Wire)
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. This singer and the footballer are dating……..
I’m on vacation next week. Talonesque has graciously agreed to make sure you don’t go without Freedom Kicks next week. Stay safe.
I watched the Miami/Orlando game and wow, some of the referee and VAR decisions were suspect. It became really clear in the second half that Miami was getting favored, unsurprisingly. Really soft yellows and a missed penalty for Orlando, a dubious penalty and an overall lack of yellows for Miami. It was rough to watch. And this is coming from someone that doesn’t even like Orlando
Yeah, this propping up and favoritism of the NY Cosmos might not be good for the NASL…
Wait…
Brilliant. You never disappoint.
MLS is corrupt.
I sorta feel for Amorim at Man U, but I do wonder if he’s the last high profile coach who walks into that mess willingly. He’s got a lot of talent as an implementer of a particular system, it’s just that Man U has no ethos that connects the organization together other than wanting to be elite again, which is not a coherent one. The pieces don’t fit on the field, and the club is a catastrophe off it.
Manchester is a town built on a working class ethic that gave birth to something that shown brightly as a beacon of excellence for a long time. It fell to the worst America has to offer in terms of ownership ideas. I sorta think the whole organization has to counterintuitively eschew the spotlight, and just figure out how to be a competent EPL club, which it is some distance from right now.
Amorim is just the latest in a long line of decisions that could’ve been made by a delusional fan instead of millionaire executives. Who’s the flashiest player/manager in a significantly weaker league *right now*? That’s who we’re going to hire and “go all-in” on. And by all-in, I mean say yes to a couple of signings instead of addressing real issues in the squad and organization. Not unlike…DCU. But we didn’t have very far to fall from, relatively speaking.
I’ve got no love for ManU, but with several players having success immediately upon leaving the organization, it’s pretty evidently a bad place to work and it’s hard not to feel sorry for some of the people. Truly a shining example of American finance culture.
Kairat just pulled Real Madrid at home in the Champions League! Now that’s an away day that Mbappe and co will probably not be looking forward to. However, they would do well to so some sight seeing in Central Asia while there!