Hey friends,

Mason and I watched the Inter Miami collapse at our Aunt’s wedding on Saturday. Sorry Aunt Marianne, the footy doesn’t stop for anything! Here’s what we’ve got for you this week:

• 🏆️ Round One Playoff Recap

• 🤯 ATLANTA WIN

• 🇺🇸 USMNT November Camp

• 🤔 MLS Musings

• ⚽️ Goal of the Week

• 😂 Memes of the Week

Round One Playoff Recap

It’s already been one of the craziest postseasons in MLS history and we’re only through round one.

LAFC ended the Vancouver Whitecaps season for the second year in a row and became the only team to advance to the Conference Semis three years in a row. Mateusz Bogusz scored his 20th goal in all competitions this season to seal the 1-0 win. Steve Cherundolo deserves a lot of credit for his tactical moves. He started Bogusz over Olivier Giroud, then after getting no shots in the first half, they shifted from a 3-4-3 to a 4-3-3. The momentum shifted with the tactical change and now LAFC will face the Seattle Sounders in the Conference Semi’s.

Charlotte had Orlando on the ropes nearing a knockout with 2 minutes left in the game. Then Duncan McGuire won a penalty and proceeded to dislocate his shoulder in the process. Facundo Torres missed the penalty but scored the follow-up and the game went to PKs. Pedro Gallese made two penalty saves and that’s that.

After earning the second most points in MLS since July, the 4th seed Orlando is the highest remaining seed in the Eastern Conference.

NYCFC outlasted FC Cincinnati in a crazy 9-round penalty shootout. 9! Matt Freese came up huge once again making three penalty saves — he absolutely deserves a USMNT call-up. We’ll have a Hudson River Derby in the playoffs for the first time ever🍿 

As for Cincinnati, it’s already looking like an eventful offseason. Tom Bogert reported they’re nearing a club-record fee for striker Kevin Denkey from Cercle Brugge. Oh and Lucho Acosta said this could be the end for him in Cincinnati 😲 

ATLANTA UNITED WIN!!

Atlanta United have pulled off the biggest upset in MLS history. They beat Inter Miami 3-2 in dramatic fashion on Saturday. For the fourth time in three weeks, they needed a win to keep their season alive and they delivered. Three of those wins on the road and two against Inter Miami.

The 34-point regular season difference was the biggest between two teams in MLS playoff history. It was truly David vs Goliath. Of the six games Miami lost this season in all competitions, Atlanta accounted for half of them. This team knew how to stymie the star-powered Miami squad.

Matias Rojas gave Miami the early lead off Messi’s rebound. Then Jamal Thiare responded immediately finishing off a gorgeous ball from Dax McCarty. A minute later Thiare scored a second and the upset became a real possibility. Messi punched home a header to tie it in the 65th minute. Chaos ensued as Leo Campana aggressively pushed Brad Guzan back into his net. Then while Inter Miami were pleading for the ref to stop play after Tomas Aviles laid in the box, Atlanta scored the winner. It was an exhausting back and forth game.

Brad Guzan was the hero in this series. The 40-year-old had 9 saves on Saturday and became the second player in MLS history with multiple games of eight plus saves in a single postseason. His save on Jordi Alba’s header was one of the best you’ll see all year.

Atlanta is 3W-0L-3D this season against the remaining Eastern Conference teams. They’ll play Orlando City, the team they beat on Decision Day to get into the dance, in the Conference Semis. The Cinderella story may not be over.

As for Miami, their season still included some hardware but it’s without a doubt massively disappointing. This team has all the stars and glitz and glamor in the world but they lacked grit when they needed it most. Their underlying numbers were lying in our faces all year. They over-performed their expected point total by 30, the most since 2013. The core is staying put but I imagine plenty of other changes are on the way in South Florida.

USMNT November Camp

Poch’s first competitive games are this week with two legs of the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals against Jamaica. Jamaica has it’s stars like Premier League players Leon Bailey and Michael Antonio who will be a true test for our backline. We arrive missing a few key players but have a others returning from injury as well.

Key Missing Players: Folarin Balogun, Tyler Adams, Haji Wright, Josh Sargent, Gio Reyna, Cameron Carter Vickers

Returning Players: Tim Weah (Suspended for the 1st game)

Most Excited to Watch: With no Balogun, Wright, and Sargent, Ricardo Pepi will get his chance at striker. In his 3 starts for PSV this season he has 5 goals and 1 assist. Fabrizio Romano is reporting that the transfer market is heating up for him.

There’s been more chatter about Poch convincing dual nationals to represent the USA. He addressed it saying “I don’t want to give names, but we are working on other names to see if they want to become committed with us. We don’t need to convince, they want to help us… USA is massive. No one can be over this shirt or over this country.”

I bet we’ll have some additional names joining the player pool pretty soon.

Game 1: Thursday, Nov 14th at 8 pm EST in Kingston, Jamaica

Game 2: Monday, Nov 18th at 8 pm EST in St. Louis, Missouri

More MLS Musings

The Philadelphia Union have parted ways with Jim Curtin. The two-time MLS coach of the year and second longest tenured coach in MLS will not be out of a job long. Sporting Director Ernst Tanner gave reason to the dismissal by saying, “We have been stagnating here.” But it sounds like there was more to it. The Union have been one of MLS’s model franchises by consistently developing and selling young talents like Mark McKenzie, the Aaronson brothers, and most recently Cavan Sullivan. But their resistance to spend big on inbound transfers limited their potential.

Atlanta is the first team that comes to mind as a home for Curtin. But will interim Rob Valentino keep the gig after these performances? It’s possible.

The Houston Dynamo have declined Hector Herrera’s 2025 contract option leaving the 34-year-old without a club. Herrera spent two and a half years with Houston totaling 5 goals and 21 assists in 62 appearances. But his injuries limited him to just 1 goal and 3 assists this year in 1,616 minutes. And yes, the spitting incident played a role in the decision. Houston will now look for a new DP to lead them.

Rumors of a new Leagues Cup format are swirling on Twitter. The report hints at a Champions league format where the games are played mid-week instead of during a month long break. This is more evidence that MLS schedules are likely to change drastically over the next two years.

Goal of the Week

A college soccer goal?!?!

Meme of the Week

Sorry, Miami fans. These were too good 🤣 

Quick Hits

• New reports that Antoine Griezmann could join LAFC this winter (Link)

• Bayern Munich sign 18 year old LAFC forward Bajung Darboe for $1.5M (Link)

• FC Cincinnati midfielder Marco Angulo tragically passes away (Link)

• Charlotte FC goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina wins MLS goalkeeper of the year (Link)

• Chicago Fire name Gregg Broughton as sporting director (Link)

1,249 words for you today — give us your feedback below and see ya next week 🤘 

Max & Mason