Morning everyone,

A full 1,315 words coming at you. Please enjoy, we’re begging you ;)

• 🗯️ Match Day 16 & 17 Recap

• 🇺🇸 USMNT Update

• ⚫️🟡 LAFC wins the $10M game

• 🤔 More MLS Musings

• ⚽️ Goal of the Week

• 😂 Meme of the Week

MLS Match Day 16 & 17

We’re at the midway point of the season. We now know who’s good, bad, and just okay. Let’s dig in.

Finally… the LA Galaxy are in the win column. They beat Real Salt Lake 2-0 to end their 16-game winless skid. It was also their first shutout of the season. Meanwhile, RSL is winless in their last 7. Besides the brilliance of Diego Luna, there isn’t much going right for this team.

Inter Miami had the best week of their season. They beat CF Montreal 4-2, then followed it up with a 5-1 ass-whooping over the Crew. Messi had 4 goals and 4 assists in these two games. Here’s a thread detailing his performance against Montreal and another one for Columbus. They’re heating up at just the right moment and now get two weeks off before the Club World Cup. The Crew missed Patrick Schulte in this one and it was another sign that they have to address the striker position this summer.

St. Louis City picked up its first win since March 15th to begin the David Critchley era. He’s the 4th manager to lead the charge in the club’s short 2.5-year history. Critchley urged his players to get forward more frequently, a refreshing change from Mellberg’s boring defensive low-block system. It worked with two fortuitous goals off mistakes from San Jose.

For the first time in Seattle Sounders history, they lost to Minnesota at home. Tani Oluwaseyi had a brace, his 7th and 8th goals of the season. His 8.33 non-penalty expected goals are the 4th most in MLS. The assist from Robin Lod on his second was filthy. Minnesota reportedly turned down a $2M fee for him from Maccabi Haifa in January. European teams are also interested in him. Enjoy him while you can, Loon fans.

Nashville SC tied NYCFC 2-2. They blew a 2-0 lead but should have won if not for this atrocious no-call from the ref (see below). The ball clearly crosses the line for what would have been the winner. MLS desperately needs goal-line technology to prevent bad calls like this. But that’s now 10 straight unbeaten for Nashville.

USMNT Update

We’ve entered the offseason for our American lads playing overseas. Here are a few things you should know.

Christian Pulisic will likely renew his contract now that AC Milan has hired Max Allegri as the new head coach and Igli Tare as Sporting Director. Discussions are ongoing, and the contract is expected to be extended until 2030.

Josh Sargent is expected to leave Norwich City after being named to the English Championship Team of the Season. Premier League and Bundesliga clubs are both in the hunt for his signature after scoring 15 goals this season.

Gio Reyna will be leaving Dortmund after only playing 614 minutes all season. He’s been managing injury problems the last few years, but Dortmund don’t seem to value him even when he’s healthy. If Gio wants to be a starter next summer, he has to be playing consistently.

Atletico Madrid leads the race to sign Johnny Cardoso from Real Betis, but the $40 million asking price could be a deterrent. Tottenham are closely watching, but it appears Cardoso would prefer to stay in La Liga.

Pochettino was forced to make three roster changes before the Gold Cup. Folarin Balogun, DeJuan Jones, and Sean Zawadski were all dropped from the roster due to injury. Replacing them are Walker Zimmerman, Nathan Harriel, and Paxten Aaronson. This could be the first time the Aaronson brothers play together on the National team.

Also… Pat Agyemang looks like an NBA player out there👇️ 

LAFC Win the $10M Match

LAFC beat Club America 2-1 in dramatic fashion on Saturday night to book the final spot in the Club World Cup later this month. They’ll join Inter Miami and the Seattle Sounders as the only MLS teams in the tournament (all 8 groups here).

The game went a full 120 minutes after Igor Jesus headed home the equalizer off a Denis Bouanga corner in the 89th minute. Then, in the 115th minute, Bouanga sealed the game with a quick shot after a beautiful build-up from the Black & Gold. Here’s an up-close look at the goal celebration in front of the 3252’s with Steve Cherundolo fist pumping into the crowd. The atmosphere at this match was incredible. Club America fans came out in full force, occupying one whole grandstand. With so much at stake, it felt like a major European Cup final.

A record $1B in prize money will be distributed to the 32 clubs. Each team will receive $9.55M just for qualifying for the tournament, making that goal from Bouanga a nearly $10M goal. The players, however, aren’t happy with how that money is being distributed. Seattle Sounders players wore “World Cup Cash Grab” shirts in the warmups on Sunday. The MLSPA released a statement backing the players, saying they deserve more of the prize money. The players should always receive a sizable chunk of any money, but sigh… this is FIFA we’re talking about. Is anyone surprised? Apparently the Sounders’ owner angrily confronted the players in the locker room after the game.

LAFC kicks off their tournament against Chelsea in Atlanta on June 16th. Of course, we’ll have it all covered for you.

More MLS Musings

Concacaf Champions Cup Thrashing

Vancouver’s storybook CCC run came to a disastrous ending on Sunday night in a 5-0 loss to Cruz Azul. It was over from the get-go with the LigaMX side going up 4-0 in the first half, ending Vancouver’s 15-game unbeaten streak in all competitions. Vancouver didn’t even log a single shot on goal. They’ll move their focus to the Shield race and admit they were simply up against a better team in this one.

Chicago Fire’s New Stadium

On Tuesday, the Chicago Fire unveiled plans to build a brand new 22k seat soccer-specific stadium. The $650M stadium, set to open in 2028, will be privately funded and be located downtown in the South Loop. Fire fans deserve this. They finally have an owner who is willing to invest in the team. It is only right that one of America’s greatest cities has a world-renowned soccer stadium (rendering below).

The Best 17-Year-Old in MLS

That’s Peyton Miller. The New England Revolution left-back doesn’t turn 18 till November, but Premier League teams are already reportedly interested. Tottenham has apparently had talks with the Revs. He scored his first MLS goal on Saturday and also added an assist. USMNT fans, get to know this kid. He will be playing on the big stage very soon.

A Move for Max Arfsten?

The Crew has reportedly rejected an offer from Ligue 1 side Toulouse FC for wingback Max Arfsten. Arfsten has been a huge piece in Wilfried Nancy’s Crew sides of the past couple of seasons and is now consistently getting call-ups to the USMNT. It’s no surprise European clubs are interested. Just want to give a shoutout to Max’s Dad, who subscribes to this newsletter, hey Michael!

Goal of the Week

Worth a watch. Trust us.

Meme of the Week

Rejoice Galaxians!!

Quick Hits

• A thread of fun MLS stats at the halfway point of the season (Link)

• The top US markets for Premier League viewership on NBC/USA (Link)

• Annapolis Blues break USL Two attendance record (Link)

• USMNT legend Michael Bradley will join Canada’s coaching staff for their upcoming friendlies (Link)

• Fan voting for the MLS All-Star game is now open (Link)

• Peyton Manning joins Denver NWSL ownership group (Link)

And that’s a wrap. Thanks for reading 👊 

Max & Mason