10 Man DCU Earn Home Win Against Redbulls, Spirit Re-sign Sporting Director, Coffey’s International Car Issues, and More: Thursday Freedom Kicks
Hello, commentariat! Did something happen last night? Oh, right…
In no universe would Donald Wine II and Jason Anderson NOT do a writeup of a DC United home win against the team from NJ. Much like the Dothraki (of Game of Thrones fame) will only follow a Khal when they can ride, the commentariat can expect such efforts to continue. Kudos to Baribo and Hefti for the goals, Avilez for a dynamic regular season debut, and Sean Nealis for doing one of the craziest defensive plays I’ve ever seen to prevent the score from leveling.
The Washington Spirit approve of James Hocken’s initial performance as Sporting Director, and the parties have agreed to contract extension till 2028 with an option for 2029. The moves during his tenure have certainly been significant.
Speaking of moves, Bethi secured a brace for Algeria in a demolition of Central African Republic. Let’s get her back now to finish this regular season strong.
Which USWNT Players Made Their Case Spain?- Sports Illustrated
The article does note that Lindsey Heaps is having difficulty finding her purpose in the midfield. The author opines that “there is no conceivable way that Heaps could lose her place in the squad.” Oh, trust me, Theo, I can conceive of it, even if Emma cannot.
USMNT Stock Up, Stock Down: Unstoppable Julian Hall, Uncertain Folarin Balogun- Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated also covered the current state of USMNT players at their clubs. There is one error in the piece- the author says Max Arfsten is the only one of the 3 American players at Middlesborough who is not factoring in the lineup. There are in fact 4 Americans on Middlesborough’s books, with the inclusion of Rokas Pukštas.
Netflix secures Spanish broadcasting rights for 2030 World Cup- The Athletic
Netflix continues its push to nab sports broadcasting opportunities, this time in Spain for the 2030 World Cup. It may leave a number of Spanish bars pondering internet connectivity.
Winter is Coming- American Soccer Analysis
An illuminating article that breaks down the data surrounding winter play coming to MLS, including foreign leagues with similar setups. Personally, I’m less concerned with median trend lines than with individual circumstances surrounding matches. When winter conditions are bad for a soccer game in North America, they are REALLY bad in a way that makes the statistical average irrelevant to health concerns. Regardless, the article is definitely worth a read.
And finally, Sam Coffey has an EZ Pass problem… in Manchester?! Find out why Coffey might need her adoring fans to post bail due to the infractions of a car she doesn’t drive in a country she doesn’t live in.
That’s all I’ve got! One-up me in the comments, and have a great sporting day!
It was really good to see Avilez make his debut, and to play well besides. He earned some high praise from Weiler, and the timing is quite good. We have a ton of games coming up, and having another player option that Weiler trusts is good to have. Especially since Louis and Bartlett will be out for the next game, and possibly Kijima too.
It would be nice to see if Gavin Turner or Kamil Castillo can get a shot too.
Sean Nealis did some very good emergency defending to see out the win. Will that be enough to get him the starting spot with Bartlett out? Would he be able to run a slightly less desperate defense from the outset? Or does Weiler opt to go with Dozzell, Peltola, or Markovic? It will be interesting to see.
At this point, I feel like anything that gets Peltola on the field is a plus.