DC Power Win, Spirit Sell Out, MLS Calendar May Go Cold, the Men’s International Window Opens, and more: Thursday Freedom Kicks
Happy Thursday everyone. I realized something the other day when I was talking to my Washington State-based in-laws about what’s coming their way with next year’s World Cup. I grumble a lot about organization, prices, and processes related to the event (see below), but don’t always give credit where credit is due. My in-laws and I ended up discussing the artwork created for the different host cities that was revealed a few months back. (For a reminder check out this SI article.) Though not all the posters really speak to me, I really appreciate the overall line. Where I will give FIFA and organizer’s behind the posters credit is in the fact they actually engaged with local artists to create them. It wouldn’t have been to off current trends for them to throw prompts into some Generative AI program and run with whatever the output was. The local flair is a nice touch. Now on to the news!
Dasia Torbert brace leads DC Power in home win over Fort Lauderdale United (DP)
Donald continues his excellent coverage of DC Power’s Gainbridge Super League sophomore campaign. Last night DC Power got their first home win of the year, 3-1 over Fort Lauderdale United, behind Dasia Torbert’f first two goals and a goal from Loza Abera.
Washington Spirit Sells Out Home Semifinal Match in Record Time (Washington Spirit)
Rowdy Audi is going to be loud this Saturday.
The Spirit’s resident brick wall wins a well deserved Player of the Week award.
MacIver will join the Scottish WNT as they face Ukraine and the People’s Republic of China in Cadiz, Spain later this month and early next.
When I first read this, my initial thoughts went to Lando Calrissian’s often quoted line from The Empire Strikes Back, “This deal is getting worse all the time.” FIFA’s approach to this tournament has been so radically different than it has been in the past, I wonder if its sustainable. I’m curious if they know that it isn’t sustainable and this is just one get into the vault at the Bellagio on the night of the big fight, which would be quite sad.
Concacaf qualifying set for dramatic finish (FIFA)
The US, Canada, and Mexico are in, but there are still three automatic qualifier spots and two in the inter-confederation playoffs up for grabs. Ten of the remaining twelve CONCACAF teams remain in contention for those five spots. Many of the teams are striving for some first, whether its qualifying for the first time, or being the first team for the Caribbean to qualify a second time. It should make for an exciting weekend plus of games.
International Window Preview: D.C. United and Loudoun Players Play On (DP)
If you’re looking for a more in depth look at matches with a D.C. United or Loudoun United tie, check out our preview of Australia and Guatemala’s upcoming matches.
Going into an international window where many USMNT regulars are missing, Goal highlights not only Balogun’s importance, but the potential game changing ability of Sergino Dest. ( I will pause here to allow certain parts of the commentariat to scream into the void.)
‘We Make Players Better:’ Pochettino’s Plan to Grow the World Cup Talent Base (FOX Sports)
Interesting insight on Pochettino and his coaching staff’s approach to managing and developing talent. I can imagine some of the USMNT old guard might be screaming into the void reading this.
Aaronson feels more confident in second Premier League go-round (Pro Soccer Wire)
Brendan Aaronson is finding his footing in his second go round in the Premier League with Leeds. It could be beneficial for the USMNT going into next year.
I, for one, look forward to Messi coming to St. Paul to play at Allianz when it’s 5 degrees with a -20 windchill.
Speaking of soccer in cold places, USL and Green Bay are exploring the viability of bringing men’s and women’s teams to Titletown. No announcement is imminent as this phase will only look at considerations like funding models and identifying a suitable location for a stadium.
I feel like I’ve been a bit of a downer, so I’ll end with a bit a fun. If you had your choice to hang out with one team’s fan base at next year’s World Cup, one that isn’t the US or your preferred team, what would it be? For me, it would be the Dutch. They seem to be a lot of fun and it would be a blast to take part in this celebration. (Sound on)
What did I miss?
To answer your question about FIFA and sustainability, they only conceive that America is still designated as the richest country on earth. They won’t grasp that income inequality is rampant, and that only a sliver of the 1% will show, and won’t fill stadiums.
Anyway, basically Infantino:
Ah the David Lynch Dune…a great movie for my opinion. Patrick Stewart as Gurney Halleck and Sting as Feyd Rautha.
The moment when Patrick Stewart shouts “Long live Duke Leto!” before leading a doomed charge with a massive gun in one hand and a small dog under the other? Pure cinema.
Also Chani was written way better in David Lynch’s version that Villeneuve’s version. What Villeneuve did to Chani is the thing I hate the most about his 2 part version of Dune.
I mean, I don’t know if I hated the characterization of Chani in the new movies from a writing standpoint, I think he wanted to highlight the tension between fanaticism and practicality, and making Chani a major voice against the manipulative superstition was narratively interesting, at least. It meant that Paul embracing that path would have personal and visible consequences for the viewer to latch onto. I also think Chani just accepting concubine status in the book is an ending that I’m fine with changing.
That said, Zendaya and Chalamet were cast for their undeniable rizz with the camera lens, it’s genuinely hard to look at anything else when those faces are in frame. But they had 0 chemistry as a romantic scene couple, it was actually quite extraordinary for a film this high profile.
In the books, Irulan is the wife and Chani is the concubine, but Chani is very much THE Wife and Irulan is just there for political reasons.
As for the reason I don’t like what they did to Chani its more they butchered the relationship. You have to remember Villeneuve’s Part 2 basically makes what is a 3 year period in the books a 9 month period as Alia is born and a toddler in the books where she hasn’t been born yet at the end of Part 2. Admittedly this does away with having to make a toddler appear to be an adult given that she was fully awakened when Jessica became a Reverend Mother while pregnant. In the book you also have the fact that Paul and Chani have Leto II who is murdered by the Sardukar while Paul overthrows the Emperor. Honestly this substack article does a great job of breaking it down: https://laurarbnsn.substack.com/p/does-denis-villaneuve-understand
I mean, I read the first book, and even at a younger age, I was pretty nonplussed that Jessica justifying the concubine thing as only nominal was the literal point to end on. What’s the moral? That behind every great man is a woman who has to put on the pretense that she’s not his true partner to support him?
Anyway, in my heart of hearts, I acknowledge that Villenueve’s movies are more highbrow, but prefer the Lynch absurdity more.
I’d pick either the Dutch or the team of my future daughter-in-law: Colombia. And I’ve already got NT jersey’s for each side.
I look good in Orange. Rare moment for me…..
The potential MLS switch to fall-spring is a really tricky thing. I’m against it, but I guess we’ll see.
re: fans, when I went to the 2006 world cup for about ten days, the best fans – hands down – were the Dutch. It’s a non-stop party. And with a few exceptions, it wasn’t riddled with fighting and so forth, despite the large volume of beer consumed.
I think they’re firmly committed to changing the schedule, and don’t care about the consequences for fans or how transfers probably won’t go according to their rosy dreams…
It has me thinking, along with DCU’s continued ineptitude, that USL should probably pounce on any territories that will suffer from the change.
MLS does not care. I bagged my season tickets after 30 years.
Tata Martino said in a press conference today that Atlanta and Josef Martinez have been in contact, and they have a great relationship, but center forward is not a position they are looking to add anyone to currently. If DC ends up not picking up Benteke’s option, I do wonder if they’d go after Martinez and give him a 1 or 2 year deal
We’d need a better attacking support cast to make better use of either Benteke or Martinez. Plus Martinez would be another player we could lose to international call-ups so we’d need cover for when he’s gone.
It doesn’t make a ton of sense to ditch Benteke for having fading legs and replace him with Martinez. Benteke will at least work for the team while he falls apart, I just don’t think Josef cares for much more than his own rep, while also aging out.
Agreed. The last thing we should be doing is putting together another team that is expensive and ages out within 2 years. And while I think Martinez does care, he becomes a problem when you don’t care the same way *he* does.
Really terrible spot we’re in with having few academy prospects, a bad reputation and so many holes on the team (not even getting into the awful stewardship of the organization as a whole).
As stated, I bagged my season tickets after 30 years for reason. We’ll see if the “greatest soccer mind” will do anything but dine at the best restaurants DC has to offer on our tab.
I’ve seen more discussions online about what possible MLS divisions could look like. I saw one that had United in a separate division from Philly and RBNY. Instant negative reaction from me. Do the rest of you have such a visceral reaction or does it not matter anymore?
It would certainly not help my current level of emotional detachment to DC United and the league.
More so than just the division idea, though, is the absurdity of the seasonal change. There’s that Anatole France quote that basically says the law forbids the rich and poor alike from sleeping under bridges and stealing food, and I thought of it when this change was announced.
Cuz the clubs MLS cares about the most are arguably Miami, Altlanta, and the LA teams. Giving Minnesota, Chicago, and the Canadian based teams the same schedule is steamrolling them, and is in effect a way to boost the profits of the favored teams while making it so having full fan attendance will be all the more difficult for a significant stretch of the season. There will also be the tackles on ice hard pitches, and the injury concerns that come with it.
MLS can say that the law stands for everyone equally, but it seems to me the teams that endure harsh winters and the teams with mild ones are equally barred from sleeping under bridges.
My question is this. Is the schedule difference that much of a detriment to player recruitment or is it the pay?
I mean, it’s definitely the pay from a practical standpoint, which keeps the overall quality of the league low while making it a landing spot for expensive stars to dominate.
But it’s not clear to me that MLS execs are doing any of this for practical problem solving reasons. There’s a desire to line up with FIFA and market to the rest of the world and cast aside the isolated status that the league has enjoyed since its inception. But there’s a lot of networking and money reasons for elite interests that MLS fans don’t line up with and will likely not benefit from.
Come on now the Swedish Allsvenskan does exist!
Barely
It’s probably a wash for development. This is all about getting players on the free and transfers.
The number of 2 game weeks will be a load on all the players since they’re effectively losing May, June, and July from the season.
Well, I think the league will be concerned with the temperatures, and avoid scheduling cold weather games in the northern climes, and avoid July in the hottest cities.
I’m not sure where DC would fall in the climate-guided scheduling. Presumably, we wouldn’t open at home in July, so hopefully we get off to a decent start with a couple of road matches to open the year. And those November and early February matches should probably be played further south — but we might be one of the 15 temperate southern and western (California) clubs (or 16, when MLS expands to 32) that have to host those games.
I had to chisel ice off my “club seats” (no roof)
MLS does not care and DCU as the forlorn child will host frozen tundra games ad infinatum
I honestly don’t see MLS prioritizing keeping us in a division with NYRB. They haven’t cared about the Atlantic Cup since NYCFC came in. And we would apparently still play them once a year (not great, but we don’t lose it entirely). They seem to prioritize us being with Philly more, but I can also see an argument being made that it just makes more sense for us to be in the “south east” division with Charlotte, Atlanta, Nashville, and the 2 Florida teams. It’s going to be hard to maintain every current rivalry in divisions. If we want to stay with Philly, they might be able to break it down like this, though:
1: NYRB, NYC, NE, TOR, MTL, CHI(??)
2: DC, Philly, CLB, CIN, Charlotte, NSH (kinda like the current AFC East in NFL, plus the next 2 closest teams)
3: ATL, Miami, Orlando, 3 Texas teams
The west gets kinda messy (mostly thanks to the number of teams in California, but we can ignore that for now lol)
Its not great, but that’s really the only way I can see us getting in with either of NYRB or Philly
Also, think of the bright side. We can’t lose 6-0 to Philly twice a year if we only play them once a year!
No that just means we’ll lose 12-0 and average giving up a goal every 7-8 minutes of play. Which honestly with the defensive performances prior to Weiler would easily be possible.
Not to worry, I’m sure we can lose 12-0 in one match!
DCU’s like “Challenge Accepted.”
I’ve been writing about a division format for years. The league doesn’t need to go to a single table, but I absolutely believe in each team playing each team every year. Just alternating the home-and-home each year, outside of the divisions.
With a 30-team league, they could go to 5 divisions with six teams — as that balances the schedule, but eventually the league will shoot up to 32 teams. Maybe even in time for that 2027 season. In which case, that alignment won’t make the same sense. For a 34-game season, the league would have to go to 8 divisions with 4 teams each.
There’s one alignment, which could see NE Revs shifting into a northern division, with Montreal, Toronto and Chicago, (and DC with Philly and the 2 NY teams), but more likely, they’d align with the 2 NY teams and Philly, while DC would be shunted into a Southern division (likely Charlotte, Atlanta, and Nashville). Long road trips for games with “division rivals.” C’mon high-speed rail!
The Athletic is reporting that Apple is apparently doing away with MLS Season Pass, and the MLS coverage will be moving to the basic Apple TV+ service.
I’m sad that I’ll probably not be getting MLS games for free through T-Mobile…but this has to be great news otherwise. $100 a year for good TV and as much funky soccer as you can handle is more than acceptable. That is until it’s $200 a year, etc.
The MLS Board of Governors made the decision to switch to a summer-to-spring calendar in 2027. There’s a lot to consider here, but now…
I think we should pick up Benteke’s option. Let’s not sign a younger top player when there’s going to be a big chunk of their career missing as the teams switch over following the 2026 season. Let Benteke play out 2026, and then we can get our new star ahead of the new schedule in 2027.
It would be hilarious if the Player’s Union somehow shoots this down or at least throws a wrench into things. Its also rich that one of the “positives” MLS lists is that there will be less conflict with FIFA windows. Like, MLS arbitrarily sets the schedule now. They can just schedule around international windows on the current calendar. They just choose not to.
They are still doing qualification for the US Open Cup when all US based teams should be in it.
Maybe sign him for a year and a half?
A 14-game season in early 2027?? WE got this!!
The new schedule won’t matter. The roster rebuild won’t be done yet. 🙂
Welp, this league is toast. What else is on?
Exactly. This league has over expanded and is sitting on a bedrock of lies
I do think it’s a little hilarious that MLS thinks it won’t have competition for attention during its playoffs. Those games will come right in the middle of the most competitive bits of the NBA and NHL playoffs, but….whatever. I guess it’s better than the World Series, or random NFL regular season matches.
Looking forward to the Audi Field pitch recovering just in time with new sod, after the Defenders playoff games, in April.
Yea. The field will be awful in the most important part of the season. At least it’ll be fine for a huge chuck of the Sprits season as they’ll be the only team using it from May to August.
Also competing with college football and basketball too.