DC United Achieve Home Win Over Columbus, Spirt Secure New Promising Striker, Poch Continues Media Blitz, and More: Thursday Freedom Kicks
Apologies for the late posting, but stuff happened! Certainly two somethings, thanks to a Tai Baribo brace, all adding up to one something, which was a win, which secured us three somethings in the form of points which we desperately need for our pursuit of a playoff berth! OK, no more rambling.
On to the news!
D.C. United hold off Columbus Crew for crucial 2-1 win: Match report- Green Line Soccer
Two blog writers affiliated with DC United (namely our very own Donald as well as writer emeritus, Jason Anderson) posted writeups of last night’s triumph at home against The Columbus Crew. It’s been a looonnng time since we’ve defeated them (apparently August 5th 2021 was our most recent prior victory over Columbus), but it was good to snap a winless run and give our playoff qualification chances a shot in the arm. Not sure why The Crew didn’t mark Tai Baribo twice on pretty conventional services, but I’ll take it.
The Athletic has a helpful tip for anyone wondering why Trin isn’t planning to skip Sunday’s clash to see if her boyfriend plays in the U.S. Open Final: Get a grip!
In case you missed the news (and speedy post) by Andre yesterday, The Spirit have signed a young, dynamic, and exciting striker to hopefully power them through the rest of the season. Make no mistake, a central striker was a glaring need for the squad, as the playoffs are rapidly approaching.
Pochettino says USMNT contract no longer unbreakable post-World Cup: ‘It’s different’- The Athletic
If you’d like to be fully caught up on Mauricio Pochettino’s recent statements, well, that’s gonna be tough, cuz he’s been talking a quite a bit to the press the last few days. Let’s just say, he’s been exceedingly approachable for comment this week.
The U.S. U-20 Women’s National Team has secured their first group stage point in this summer’s U-20 tournament after two matches. It’s been a tough group phase, but group advancement is still achievable (though not entirely in their own hands) as the U.S. moves on to their final group game against New Zealand.
The goal is included in the post. Chelsea continue to be a shootout juggernaut against most opposition, but Aaronson is cementing himself as a vital part of Leeds United’s lively offense. He’ll hope it’s enough to keep them above the relegation fray where dysfunctional and flawed clubs go to suffer.
Charlotte FC’s Ashley Westwood fined by MLS Disciplinary Committee- MLS
I will humor those who constructed this title by not altering it, but open this link, and scroll down. Keep scrolling. You’ll find the rare mention of French superstar, Antoine Griezmann, receiving a fine for throwing a ball into/at the crowd. While video is offered for the other two infractions, MLS declined to show the Griezmann incident. Send in the clowns.
The future, secure home of NWSL MVP frontrunner, Ashley Sanchez, is an ongoing question for the owner of The North Carolina Courage. The pressure to achieve a resolution is building, for sure.
Tottenham’s Mykhailo Mudryk out until at least October with ankle injury – sources”- ESPN
Whether you’re familiar with the journey of the player making a real case for “unparalleled champion of false dawns, setbacks, and dysfunction,” or if you’re new to the narrative and interested in a rabbit hole, this one’s for you. Simply box office in all the wrong ways.
Finally, just a fun clip of Trinity Rodman’s good humored befuddlement as Ben Shelton forgets how her job works in the haze of his U.S. Open Cup knockout win. Oh, to be young.
That’s all I’ve got! One-up me in the comments, and have a great sporting day!
Thanks to Donald and Jason, as always. There was an announcement yesterday of the launch of a new news organization – the Washington Sun – that has a lot of WaPo vets and other members of the local news scene. They did promise to have a large sports department, and it would be great if they put someone on the local soccer beat. I don’t think that Steve Goff is involved (yet), but there’s great opportunity and great available talent to write about it.
With Tai Baribo’s brace, he’s matched Christian Benteke’s second-best scoring season for DC United. He has also entered the list of the top 150 goalscorers in MLS history. He’s tied for 146th with Camilo and Daniel Royer.
I’m certainly glad he’s with us now, but man, it’s just so odd that Philly wasn’t willing to give him the money he deserved after all he did for them. Their loss, though.
Its also good to see Baribo, Louis, and Nono really starting to link up. Glad to see that chemistry building
I think Philly undervalued a lot of the talent they had. And Baribo requires service–he rarely creates chances but man does he finish them and clinically. I think Philly just saw him as a limited player who was easily replaced. Our luck.
Baribo has certainly justified the financial outlay for his services. Hoping Munteanu can continue to play a sort of wide forward role and provide some assists as well as the odd goal. With Munteanu on the left and Ordaz on the right, we could have a decent forward line.
Peglow and Nono could be good subs as well and a midfield of Dozzell and Peltola with maybe one more solid midfielder would make me feel better.
There’s an obsession in sports with getting the special thing, or getting the massive gamble that pays off hugely that others overlooked,
But Baribo was a locked in investment that pays out regularly, and there’s real value in that, as well. If we had rolled the dice for a higher ceiling, but gotten someone who delivered less, we’re not anywhere near playoff contention at any point this season.
Nono and Peglow are starters for our market, not subs. If anything, I’d like something more dynamic but less stable off the bench to throw on late when shape and discipline matter less as legs tire.
There are plenty of pieces to jettison, more effective pieces are surely incoming if this rebuild continues.
Munteanu is up to 10 goal contributions on the season. It’s not amazing numbers, but it’s not too bad. And still plenty of time to add a few more!
Baribo makes the MLS Team of the Matchday
MLS set a league wide record for both incoming and outgoing revenues in the 2026 transfer windows.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49882716/mls-league-sets-record-incoming-outgoing-transfers-2026
I know the DCU owners have spent some money this year, but they haven’t changed the team. I think the DCU owners should recognize they have to spend more than what they have already to be competitive. In power rankings DCU is still in the lower third. I think Weiler has put players in odd positions to test to see if they are adaptable and play with some soccer intelligence. I believe he keeps mentioning the quality of players is poor. This is how I interpret that. At each position, how do our players compare to teams in the top of the league? Would any top team want any of our starting players? There may be a few. I look at many of the players we moved on and I don’t think we are getting much in return, but at least we are making space for a rebuild.
According to the ESPN article DCU is one of 8 teams that broke their incoming transfer fee record with Louis. STL broke their own record twice.
Yeah, we could spend more money. But the big issue IMHO is the MLX Next team. Fricking have them play at Audi. Or Germantown. Or Loudoun. We could be making a couple million per year selling off 1-3 youth players who aren’t a fit for our team or have eyes on Europe. And that’s a low estimate. If we every other year got a player who was a gem of an attacker, it would be a lot more.