Howdy folks,

Max here! The weather in NYC is immaculate right now and we’ve got a lot of footy to talk about. Vibes are good. Let’s get into it…

• 🔟 MLS Match Day 10

• 🇺🇸 American Owners Takeover the Premier League

• 🇺🇸 Yanks Abroad Update

• 🔴 What’s Wrong with Atlanta United?

• ⚽️ Goal of the Week

• 😂 Meme of the Week

MLS Match Day 10

BJ Callaghan’s Nashville SC squad spanked his former boss’s Chicago Fire 7-2 (full goal highlights). This one got out of hand very quickly and was 5-0 by halftime. The Fire never had a chance. Everything that could have gone right for Nashville did. Sam Surridge scored 4, Hany Mukhtar had 2 goals and 1 assist, and Andy Najar had 3 assists. Nashville looks like one of the better teams in MLS, and I was not expecting that coming into the season.

The New England Revolution have all of a sudden won three straight and four out of their last five. They’ve looked like a completely different team since changing to a 3-5-2. Carles Gil snuck home an in-swinger to give the Revs a 1-0 win over Charlotte on Saturday. Charlotte didn’t play bad but weren’t able to finish their chances. Wilfried Zaha, who’s yet to make a real impact, took to Snapchat to vent his frustrations with the criticism he’s received.

FC Dallas handed Inter Miami their first loss of the season in a 4-3 thrilling comeback (goal highlights). They took advantage of a Miami team playing without Messi, Suarez, Busquets, or Alba. All of which were resting in prep for their second CCC leg against Vancouver. Miami went up 3-1 before Eric Quill made a tactical change to a 4-3-2-1 formation which made all the difference. Dallas will happily take a big road win regardless of who’s playing.

The Portland Timbers beat the LA Galaxy 4-2 on the road and are now unbeaten in their last 7 games for their best 10-game start in club history. They’ve scored at least 3 goals in 5 of their last 6 games and that’s without Jonathan Rodriguez starting a single game. Although, they may be a little too reliant on the counterattack. As for the Galaxy, phew, there’s a lot more wrong than just the injuries. This team is lost.

American Owners Takeover the Premier League

Something interesting is happening in the best soccer league in the world—Americans are taking it over. In 2004, there were no American owners in the Premier League. Next year, the majority of clubs will be American-owned.

Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, and Man United are American-owned. Add in Leeds and Burnley, who will be promoted from the Championship, and you’ve got 11 teams. Sheffield United or Millwall could join them if they win the promotional play-off.

American billionaires have turned to European soccer as their new passion projects for a few reasons. European soccer clubs are consistently valued lower than the major American sports franchises. And they come with the investment upside of being promoted.

You all know about Wrexham United. Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds purchased the 5th-tier Welsh side for $2.5M in 2021. This weekend, they became the first team in the history of English soccer to be promoted in 3 straight seasons. They’ll play in the Championship next season, England’s second division, now only one step away from the Premier League. Ahh the romanticism of promotion/relegation. There are few things better in sports.

Yanks Abroad

Josh Sargent made the English Championship Team of the Season, holding down the spot for the top forward. He has 15 goals and 5 assists in 27 starts, with only 1 of those being from the penalty spot.

Cameron Carter-Vickers and Austin Trusty won the Scottish Premiership, CCV’s 4th title in the last 4 seasons. We’re still hopeful CCV gets a move to a bigger club this summer before the World Cup.

Johnny Cardoso has Manchester United scouts eyeing him over the last few weeks. There is even potential for a swap deal with Antony. This would be a massive move into a midfield that desperately needs help. Minutes would be harder to come by at United though and he’ll need to be playing consistently before the World Cup.

Christian Pulisic won Man of the Match against Venezia, scoring again, making this 27 goal contributions, surpassing last year’s 26 goal contributions. Pulisic is one of three players in Serie A to be involved in 50 goal contributions in the last two seasons. He leads Serie A in chances created this season with 60, more than anyone else in Serie A. Go on, Captain America 🫡 

What is Wrong with Atlanta?

A little bit of everything is the answer. Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Orlando marked the first time in club history that they’ve lost consecutive games by 3+ goals. It’s their third straight loss, all of which they’ve been shutout in. The most expensive attack in MLS history simply isn’t producing.

They’ve only scored 11 goals on the year, two of which were own goals and another was a penalty. They struggle to break down a low block defense, they lack cohesion in the midfield, and they make dumb mistakes like this giveaway from Brooks Lennon below.

As we’ve seen in this league, talent doesn’t always equate to success. On paper, this team has plenty of talent but on the field nothing is working. Alexey Miranchuk is shouldering much of the blame for his lack of creativity. His 3.97 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes rank 39th in MLS, an unacceptable number from your $13M number 10.

The team at Five Stripe Final wrote up a great piece analyzing their underlying numbers. Spoiler alert, they’re not great! As in, they’re inching close to the worst team in club history based on the numbers. And it doesn’t help that their only wins this season came against Montreal and NYCFC.

They’ll try to right the ship against a hot Nashville side on Saturday. Ronny Deila has his work cut out for him. He’s not without blame either. If things don’t turn around soon his seat will get real hot, real fast.

Goal of the Week

MY LORD 👀 

Meme of the Week

Sorry Five Stripes fans, I had to do it 🫠 

Quick Hits

• NBA star Victor Wembanyama playing pickup soccer with local kids in Costa Rica (Link)

• DC United in talks to sign Paul Pogba (Link)

• Cavan Sullivan to begin training with Manchester City in July (Link)

• How to plan the perfect 2026 World Cup trip (Link)

• Minnesota United acquire Julian Gressel from Inter Miami off waivers (Link)

That’s all, see you next week 🫶 

Max & Mason