DC Power win, DC United lose, and more: Monday Freedom Kicks
Happy Monday, y’all. It was a nice weekend and this week it’s going to be hot. Like summertime hot. No me gusta. But you know what I do gusta? Soccer. So, let’s get to the soccer:
DC Power FC get crucial road win over Tampa Bay Sun (DP)
DC Power get back in the win column, and they needed it to stay in the playoff hunt.
DC United fight but fall short in loss to New England Revolution (DP)
DC United had a ton of chances, but they couldn’t finish any of them in the loss in Foxborough. Here’s Jason’s match report on the loss as well.
Rose Lavelle’s goal and assist help USWNT hold off Japan (SSFC)
Rose played great in getting the goal and assisting Lindsey Heaps on the second goal to beat Japan in their first of 3 friendlies during this window.
The Spirit have a new spirit animal…it’s a coyote!! This team’s vibe is just so great sometimes.
Union Berlin make Eta 1st woman to lead Bundesliga men’s team (ESPN)
This is pretty darn cool. Marie-Louise Eta is the first ever woman coach of a men’s team in any of the top 5 European leagues in taking over Union Berlin. She has a tough task as she seeks to keep Union Berlin afloat and avoid relegation.
‘Big punch in the face’ – could Arsenal really blow title from here? (BBC)
In England, all anyone’s talking about is Arsenal’s loss to Tyler Adams and Bournemouth. A big match looms next weekend against Manchester City. With 1 match in hand, City could catch Arsenal in the Premier League race with the win over Arsenal and getting max points from that extra game.
USMNT left back John Tolkin suffers potentially serious knee injury (USA Today)
JMi becomes the latest USMNT player who leaves a match early with a serious injury. This time, it’s his knee, and if it’s what is feared, he will be likely out until 2027.
‘I just went for it’: Washington Spirit’s Gabby Carle details MCAT journey (WTOP)
Gabby Carle talks about her medical education journey, including acing the MCAT. She’s going to be an amazing doctor whenever she’s done playing.
Some cities are mulling over whether to bid for hosting matches for the Women’s World Cup in 2031 or the Men’s Rugby World Cup that’s taking place the same year. With some of the FIFA guarantees in peril due to the government coupled with what’s been happening for this summer’s World Cup, a lot of cities are considering saying, “thanks, but no thanks.”
The latest on Argentina’s dubious World Cup run-up, Messi’s odd lack of commitment (The Athletic)
Argentina fans have not been happy with Argentina’s preparations to defend their World Cup title. This article goes in depth about how some of their matches came together, including their warm up matches that will take place at the stadiums of Texas A&M and Auburn, and why people are worried about Lionel Messi’s commitment to lead the team this summer.
Luton beat Stockport to win EFL Trophy final (BBC)
Did you know Jack Wilshire was a head coach? Well, he is the coach of Luton Town. And in his 40th match as the head honcho on the sideline, they won the EFL Trophy over Stockport County this weekend. The EFL Trophy is like the League Cup but for League One, League Two, and U-21 teams from the Premier League and Championship. It’s another chance to win silverware, and Wilshire and Luton have it.
Defenders Cruise Past Houston in Record-Setting Victory (UFL)
The DC Defenders had their home opener at Audi Field on Saturday. The defending UFL champions had a record-setting day as they destroyed the Houston Gamblers 45-7. Their 28-0 halftime lead was the largest in UFL history, and their 38-point win also set a UFL record. They will have another game at home next weekend.
Enjoy the day, everyone.
Week 7 and Louis is only a sub and he has no impact on the game. Sometimes a super sub is good, like Suarez, for instance. I am ready to say that United made a mistake. It happens but this is a big one for a rebuild.
Yeah, I’m hoping it’s just an owner fun money loss, and that we move him on even if the owners eat a most of that transfer in loss this summer.
I said it after the opener, and I think most would agree now this was a devastatingly bad signing. You don’t always hit the ground going during your first game, but, if you’re worth millions in transfer, it should become clear what combination of attributes the money was spent on.
I happened to be on his side of the field when he got subbed on and with a clear view of the half he was attacking. I quickly realized he wasn’t physically dominant- not a ton of top speed, quickness of feet, or power, not going to overwhelm anyone with strength. But, other than quick feet, that could have also described Iniesta, and we all would have taken him as second striker, so I waited for the technical ability and soccer IQ to show. I hadn’t seen Markovic play yet, but I genuinely think he’s got a better touch than what I saw from Louis Munteanu that night. In terms of combination play, eh, sorta?
I know it seemed premature then, but I stand by it- this signing was and is a scandal. I don’t think this can be purely down to scouting, there’s a money relationship down the chain we could use a full time reporter sifting through. Someone got paid a chunk of cash this player obviously wasn’t worth, and I’d like to know the primary players, how they know each other, and how this transfer was unlocked.
Its certainly been a lackluster start for him, but I’m inclined to give him at least a little more time to get it figured out. Hell, it took Peltola until like June of last year to really start coming into his own, and he was also signed as a (Young) DP. Louis has really only ever played in Romania before this, I have to imagine there was going to be at least some kind of learning curve there to get used to the league, which is something we see with a lot of players.
As far as the financials of it go, Cluj did initially want like $10-15M for him, if I remember correctly. We essentially got him for half of what they actually wanted.
Well, let me know when you give up on this one. At his age, his skills won’t get better, just applied. And I haven’t seen those skills at all.
If Cluj wanted more money, that’s a bigger grift.
I’m noticing his defenders are especially are saying he’ll come good, not that they’ve seen good.
Just to clarify, I’m not at all saying that I’ve even seen good from him. I’m in full agreement that he absolutely needs to do more, and hasn’t shown much of anything yet. He might get it figured out, he might not. And I’m not saying that he definitely will. I know our history of signing DPs better than that. I’m just willing to give him a bit of a longer leash to try to get it figured out compared to most, it seems.
Benteke scored 1 goal in his first 7 games here in 2022 and looked like a waste. Then he figured it out and was great in 2023 and 2024. Edison Flores came here from a league that’s much more similar to MLS than the Romanian league, and then proceeded to never really do anything while he was here.
Louis could very well be a bust. Our history of DP signings says that that’s probably likely. But sometimes it does just take time, regardless of the price tag tied to it. Just given how things have gone in the past, I’m at least willing to give him more time to figure it out. For the team’s sake, I hope he does better.
We went from Luchoroo (the pairing) along with Arriola to just Flores, and it was bad.
Flores wasn’t nearly dynamic enough, but, and this pains me to say as someone who definitely wants him to be remembered as the worst, Louis means he’s not anymore. Flores had more quality, it just wasn’t enough, and he was pretty passive with it. Louis should be surprising unfamiliar defenders with something, even if it takes time to come online.
You don’t go from what he’s shown to impact with a flipped switch.
And Peltola showed some real quality early, and if we had competent coaching and a quality squad since his signing, he wouldn’t have looked lost. He’s really popping now, but to say he looked as meek and fruitless as Louis when he came is not accurate.
I gaveLouis the benefit of the doubt for 7 games. Helfti and Kurokawa are new and seem to have adjusted from the beginning of the season. Baribo is a DP and he contributed since the start. Looking at 7 games in and why is he only a sub? Herrera is back from injury and he is getting playing time. I have to think that for DP money a player should be good enough to start this far in the season. Actually, he should be like Baribo and playing full minutes and having an impact.
The Romanian Messi is a disaster. There has to be more to this story, but we’ll likely never know.
FWIW, the J-League is considered similar in quality to MLS. Kurokawa was a bit of a risk, and he’s shown that that risk was a good one to take. He’s been great. Hefti has played in the Bundesliga, Serie A, and Ligue 1. I would certainly hope with that pedigree that he could adjust here, and he has. Louis has literally only ever played in Romania. Doing some quick searching on this, it seems like the Romanian League is thought to be somewhere between 30th and 40th in terms of league quality worldwide, while MLS is 10th-15th. The adjustment there was always going to be a steeper learning curve. He very well could be a bust, and we probably overpaid for him (as a team, we’re not exactly in a position to get players on good deals). But he’s played 5 games. I’m just inclined to give him more time to try to figure it out.
I’d agree that it’s too early to put him on the “why is he still here?” list. He got here after a long transfer saga, got hurt, and is coming into an attack in the embryo stages of development.
Putting aside the player, Doyle’s “wtf DC, do not do this” still applies. Why TF are we spending a club record fee on (barely) developmental projects when teams (including DCU!!) can bring in-their-prime veterans that immediately contribute for substantially less? Kurokawa and Hefti are solid. Baribo is a legit striker, known in this league, and somehow Munteanu cost more. On the flip side, Caden Clark can’t win a starting spot after we spent $700k getting him and was supposedly going to be a “key” player this year. It’s not a grand sum, but we were so lacking in talent last year that it’s astounding we didn’t get someone who instantly took a starting spot instead.
Yeah, I’d have patience playing a stats based video game character that just needs some leveling killing rats or whatever, that’s not how 23 year olds work, regardless of the league they came from
I think the only changes in our starting line up from last year are Baribo, Helfti, and Kurokawa. Its the same line up with the same attacking problems. The difference is Benteke isn’t there for the long ball and crosses. I think Weiler said it would take a few transfer windows to improve the team. They started with defense and it shows. Our defense is generally better. Our attack looks the same and is producing the same results.
(Sean Johnson is also a change to the starting lineup.)
Gamblers is a crazy team name. Is Houston known for gambling?
I think Messi will be at the World Cup but I do find it strange how he’s being so coy. He’s so competitive that I can’t see him missing out on one last chance to add to his legacy.
Might be a combination of “I wrote that chapter” and very real concerns for how his body holds up, and how a bad tournament would affect his rep.
The figure we remember from 12 years ago I think isn’t around anymore. He’s more of a global image and financial ecosystem than a team participant.
So, with DC’s Open Cup game this week, what are we expecting from Weiler? I can’t imagine Baribo plays coming off of his injury, outside of maybe a late sub appearance. Otherwise, do we think we get the usual starters, or do we give the other guys a go?
I’ll be more disappointed than I already am if we don’t start Louis….just to see what the hell can happen when he’s on from the start to just be able to say we treid it.
Yeah, unless he’s still injured to the point that he still can’t even play 45 minutes (which would be an issue in itself) I feel like this is one you’ve gotta start him in. Unless Weiler is fully planning on only playing the more fringe players I guess.