Morning DC Footy Folk!

I hope everyone is excited for the start of the European soccer season. La Liga started this past weekend. Premier League and Serie A start this weekend. Champions League qualifying is underway too. Any bold predictions for the season? My hot take; with the addition of Rodri, Barcelona will be damn near impossible to beat. Madrid will win at least one trophy this season, but don’t be able to wrestle La Liga away from Barcelona. Sound off in the comments!

Anyways, let’s dive into the footy!

Team of the Matchday: Mukhtar, Sullivan spark second-half success (MLS)

Johnson had six saves against Montreal. The last time a DCU player was in the Team of the Match Day was oddly enough in the reverse of this fixture when Baribo scored a hattrick in a wild 4-4 draw.

The rise of women’s soccer mini-games (Full Time Podcast)

I’ll go a little longer than usual in this post and I included a podcast today! Definitely worth a listen because it goes over some fun web based soccer minigames that have popped up recently. I think this is a faster and less intensive version of fantasy leagues. Think Wordle but with soccer. Below is my best ever “Road to 75”. I got 77 points but lost in the final. Show off in the comments and let me know if you can beat that!

Sandy McIver is up for Save of the Week in the NWSL!

A USMNT Fan’s Guide to the 2026/27 European Club Season (Men in Blazers)

A solid list of all the Americans who will in Europe this season. DC alum, Kevin Paredes, gets a mention as he completed a transfer to Utrecht earlier in the summer.

Villa close in on Suzuki with Martinez future in doubt (BBC)

An American is about to play keeper for the reigning Europa League Champs! Too bad he’s already declared for Japan…

How a tiny Basque club spawned Premier League’s top managers (ESPN)

I recently read an article detailing how different cultures influence the way they play soccer. It’s just interesting to me how at this moment, the winning coaches of the Premier League, Champions League, Europa League, both mens and womens World Cup winning squads are all Spanish (funnily enough, the champions of Spain are coached by a German).

Fifa chief sacked after criticism of Infantino’s World Cup sell-off plan (The Guardian)

Really gives off “dictator trying to wrangle control and prevent a coup” vibes…

Ted Lasso accidentally stumbles into women’s soccer’s biggest coaching problem ($The Athletic)

Finally, Ted Lasso season 4 is starting to get into the meat of the main plot this season and to me it’s a fascinating one. They are really delving into many of the systemic issues that plague the women’s game. Definitely worth a read and a new episode drops tonight!

Anyways, that’s all from me folks! See you in the comments!