DCU and Loudoun Meet at Audi, US Defeat Guatemala to Qualify for U20 World Cup, and More: Wednesday Freedom Kicks
We’re in the last month of summer in the US. I could attempt to wax lyrical, but, I’ll just say it: I’m ready for it to be cold.
On to the news!
I would be remise if I didn’t promote the DCU vs LU DMV Derby at Audi Field tonight.
Congratulations to Thor. How often do you get to say that?
DC Power is the landing sight for a promising 16 year old out on loan from NWSL giant, Gotham FC.
The new MLS commissioner might have dismayed pro/rel fans with this statement. It appears he’d rather not tank the financial certainty of first league play in US territories that has greatly inflated the value of franchises relative to most clubs in the global market. Who knew?
Missing from the highlights was some of the most one-sided officiating I’ve ever seen, the bulk of it in the first half before the US equalized. The US are now officially qualified for the U-20 World Cup next year, but CONCACAF asked the question, as it tends to do.
USMNT star Gio Reyna joins Strasbourg from Borussia Mönchengladbach– ESPN
One of those: He can’t just NOT play well at a club, right?! Gio has always had the talent, and has delivered often for the USMNT.
Time to make a living at it.
[Late Addition:]
Middlesbrough sign Columbus Crew winger Arfsten– BBC
Max Arfsten gets a move to join new signing Sebastian Berhalter and current mainstay, Aiden Morris at Middlesborough. The general take is that Arfsten is not a great left back, but I’d simply say, he’s not a left back, at all. He’s a wingback with winger potential. The modern game has seen a tendency to field wingbacks that are simply wide offensive shuttlers with few if any defensive duties to speak of; Bayer Leverkusen won the Bundesliga under Xabi Alonso with this setup. Arfsten can contribute, just perhaps not many great tackles. Let’s see how well he translates to The Championship.
Report: FIFA Swerves Paying Millions to U.S. Host Cities Post-World Cup– Sports Illustrated
FIFA had an excellent meal in US host cities, but seem to have forgotten their ol’ wallet in the car now that the cheque is presented.
Gianni Infantino calls emergency FIFA staff meeting as pressure grows – report– ESPN
It appears that the clear corruption FIFA has demonstrated means only one thing. Target the current narcissist, and leave the spigot open for guzzling.
Pretty seismic quality jump for the young RSL star, but we’re all behind him as he takes on The EPL.
Manchester United set to appoint former Hearts manager Eva Olid as new head coach– The Guardian
Perhaps not the most local of news, but it’s truly a fascinating turn for Manchester United in The WSL that could have significant ripples. Tell me if you’ve heard this story before:
A little known but savvy coach with a reputation for developing young talent wins impressively with a Scottish League team from outside the Glasgow duopoly. They then get tapped by a currently stagnant Manchester United as the game is ready to evolve. There’s only one Sir Alex Ferguson, but I do think the parallels are fun. Given the last coaches lack of return, there’s plenty of room for growth.
Ending on a news tidbit that, in other contexts, would seem a little lame. But Tobin Heath is a legend, and the context is just right.
That’s all I’ve got! One-up me in the comments, and have a great sporting day!
Do we have any word on if there is a streaming option of some sort for the game tonight?
I’ve been told that’s a firm no.
Kind of expecting this to be a final hurrah for Jacob Murrell and Caden Clark. And a “welcome to the club” for Oscar Avilez, Kamil Castillo, and maybe Grant Leveille. And if Gavin Turner doesn’t make an appearance, time to start asking some serious questions.
That’s depressing…there should at least be a YouTube stream…
Think there’s an awareness that, if people could simply watch on YouTube, not even those interested would show.
Fair, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. A weeknight and I have a 4 year old and 2 year old who are both daddy’s girls. My wife and I are hoping to get the 4 year old into rec league soccer in the spring as her birthday was too late in the year to start this past spring.
Loved post-game sportsmanship in the USA v Guatemala match…..sigh…..
The only thing I can say in Guatemala’s defense is, this chance to qualify for an U20 World Cup would have meant so much more for them. Nationally, personally, professionally, it would have been huge.
That said, the tackles and the postgame attempt to start a fight were not in keeping with what the sport is.
I do sorta blame the ref for not managing that aggression better, might not have been as volatile after the whistle, perhaps.
I hope this ref’s tournament is over for the semis and final.
Now that Ian Subiabre has found a new home, and so have Mo Salah and Geo Reyna, it’s time to turn again to DC United’s unused premier player slot. Ownership said after last season that they would fill all the DP slots, but Dr. Sogut kind of poured water on that idea last week.
Which is fine. The time to compete seriously for trophies isn’t this season, but good progress has been made. I’m okay with banking some GAM to roll over to next year when we might more seriously make a run at some silverware. So if we’re not filling up all 3 DP slots, then we need to be filling the 4th U22 slot. These things are a gamble, as we’ve seen by moving on from Kim Joon Hong and Gabriel Pirani (although his numbers weren’t terrible for a prospect). Taking a flyer on someone like Subiabre who has scads of potential isn’t a terrible idea, but I also like searching for talent on other MLS sides like Nathan Ordaz, even though sometimes that nets you a Caden Clark. Either way, young talent is young talent. We should be looking to add some, even if it doesn’t ultimately pan out. We have the international slots, so we could look abroad if we want. Then, whoever we get can continue to develop into next season, and we drop Caden Clark and have the ability to get a third DP in 2027.
That will also leave us with at least one unused international slot and possibly two that we can sell and roll that GAM over to next year too.
I’ve been generally happy with the roster build, even though chance creation remains a big bugaboo. But there’s still roughly a month left in the transfer window, and there are certainly opportunities remaining to improve the club.
I don’t think we “need” to fill all the u-22 spots.
If we make the playoffs, that’s progress. The Peltola saga is maybe the greatest concern to that end, but it’s still achievable- we’re above the line currently for functionality relative to several dysfunctional teams.
We should use the assets, but if the FO thinks they can find a worthy third DP in the next two windows, I’d rather not saddle ourselves with less considered u22 signings.
DCU would be well to be clear of that era
Well, we’re basically in agreement that we “need” to use what we’ve got. Whether that’s a DP or a U22 is a question, but they should be able to sign somebody that can be a good fit and help for this year but especially beyond.
As I said in my post, I think it makes more sense, given where the team is at now, to go young and have that player blossom more in 2027 and 2028, and then add in the real firepower of a DP next year when Caden Clark’s option can be declined, leaving the team very naturally with 3 U22s and an open DP slot.
But yeah. The point is that the team is getting better, there’s still work to do, and leaving an asset unused would be severe malpractice, akin to working in the 3 DP model all of 2025, but only having two signed (and only one actually playing for the team).
Not having an MLS Next Pro team is also severe malpractice, but that seems to continue to be just a Baltimore-fleecing dream.
We’re in slight disagreement, in that I’d rather use our mechanical assets with full affect next year than scramble to fill all 4 u22 slots this window.
Ian Subriare sounded very promising, but filling the slot hastily with a lesser target, I don’t know if we’re that deep into the “win now” cycle, to put it mildly.
I do think they should settle firmly on a configuration idea going into next season, and push the chips to the center then.
I don’t think we quite have the hand right now for that.
Holy crap, I just realized we spent $700k on Clark and he’s literally only started one game. We massively overspent on him.
The most bizarre signing this new FO has made no doubt. He must look awful in practice to have been lapped by everyone in every position he could play.
Since Weiler showed up last year, the ownership has spent:
$700k on Clark
$4M on Baribo
$7M on Louis
$2.375M on Ordaz
Plus transfer fees for Hefti, Kurokawa and Nono, and whatever money they had to use to get out of Badji and Schnegg’s contracts.
That’s $14M+ that we know numbers for, probably well over $15M total when you add in the ones we don’t know for sure. They have been SPENDING since Weiler and Sogut came in
Something I will note, there is some discrepancy in the roster that I’ve come across in my discussions with Jason Anderson. If you look at the MLS Roster Breakdown for DC, Segal is listed in a Supplemental Roster spot. Jason indicated that he’s heard conflicting things from the team, and that Segal might actually be a Senior Roster player. If that is the case (and I will note that I personally don’t think it is, but its something to keep in mind), that means with the addition of Nono, DC does not have any more Senior spots available. They could always transfer or loan someone to try to alleviate that (or move Segal to the Supplemental side of things, if that’s possible), but that could in theory be part of the hold up on getting new guys.
Nice description of Arfsten. I follow Inter Milan closely and they use a similar set up where the “wing backs” have very few defensive duties. DiMarco won Serie A player of the season in this system and Denzel Dumfries earned a transfer to Real Madrid after his exploits over the last few seasons. All of this is to say that the USMNT is currently playing a very similar system that benefits players like Antonee Robinson and Dest who would prefer to attack rather than defend. Having a player like Arfsten ready to step up for A Robinson would be ideal for the next cycle.
Good to see Tobin Heath (Tobinho!) wear the uniform for a day in order to retire.
Tobin deserves all the respect she gets and more
Is there anyone on Loudoun that might be interesting to see if we can bring them into DCU?
Well Richie Aman is there, so it will be good to see what he can do.
I think from what I’ve seen though, the one that stands out to me that isn’t already a DC player is probably Abdellatif Aboukoura. Used to be a DC youth product and is still only 21.
Thor also used to play for Houston, so he has MLS experience.
Tai Baribo’s 11 goals are only 2 behind the 3 way tie for first in the golden boot race. And one of those 3, Hugo Cuypers, is now out of the league. So really Baribo is only chasing NYCFC’s Nicolas Fernandez and FCD’s Peter Musah at 13 and Messi at 12.
Part of me wonders if Cuypers hadn’t been caught, what MLS would have done in the event of him winning.